Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for January 2021

Mets, Brad Hand Discussing Deal

By | at

The Mets are working to sign free agent reliever Brad Hand to a two-year contract, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). A contract is not yet signed, however, and the two sides may not be particularly close to resolution, writes MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Rosenthal adds two other sources in concert with Feinsand’s assessment that the two sides are not as close to a deal as it was first reported.

Hand unwittingly became an emblematic figure for this winter’s free agency when the Indians surprisingly chose to waive him rather than bring him back on a one-year, $10MM deal. When none of the other 29 teams claimed Hand, despite the seemingly favorable terms of his one-year pact, the tenor for the winter was set. Interest has picked up in recent weeks for Hand, however, as the Astros, Blue Jays, and Dodgers all expressed at least some degree of interest along with the Mets, obviously, and the Red Sox, we learned today from Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter).

The White Sox have expressed interest in the past, though they would seem to be less likely to win the bidding for Hand after their pricey accord with Liam Hendriks. Hand would be an equally impactful signing for the Mets, should they ultimately get him. The Mets bullpen ranked 21st in the Majors last season with a 5.01 ERA, 16th by fielding independent pitching with a 4.46 FIP. That said, Hand would buoy any bullpen after a 2020 season with a 2.05 ERA/1.37 FIP over 22 innings with a 33.7 percent strikeout rate, 4.7 percent walk rate, and 26.5 percent groundball rate.

2020-2021 International Signing Period Opens Today

By | at

It may be January 15th, but it feels like July in the baseball world. The 2020-2021 international signing period kicks off today after a six-month delay from the usual kickoff date of July 2. Teams are officially able to begin signing amateur talents from countries outside of the United States and Canada. The signing period extends from today until Dec 15, 2021, providing teams with an 11-month window to spend their international prospect pool funds. Prospects aged 16 and up – born after Sept. 1, 2004 – are eligible to sign minor league contracts with teams for signing bonuses that fall within the constraints of a league-allotted bonus pool.

Those looking to brush up on the top prospects this class has to offer will want to look at the invaluable work put into the subject by Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required) and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. As ever, Badler provides an abundance of information on expected destinations/bonuses for the top free agents in the 2020-21 class. Sanchez provides his own Top 30 with free scouting reports (and likely destinations).

After all of that — here’s a quick primer on the specifics of the international free agency system.

Unlike the system that was in place from 2012-16, in which teams would routinely shatter their international bonus pools and take two-year signing penalties in exchange for one enormous haul of amateur talent, the system under the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement contains a hard cap that cannot be exceeded. Teams are typically permitted to trade for up to 75 percent of their originally allotted bonus pool, however, and any team is free to trade away as much of its pool as it wishes. International pool allotments must be traded in increments of $250K — unless it includes the last remainder of a team’s pool. This season, however, teams are not able to trade international bonus pool space.

Penalties from the previous international signing periods carried over with the new system, but those have all now run their course. There is one team that continues to face limitations on spending, for a different reason. The Braves continue to operate under significant long-term penalties as punishment for violating international spending guidelines. They have been stripped of half their league-allotted bonus pool in the 2020-21 period.

The Competitive Balance lottery that awards 14 teams with additional picks based on market size and total revenue also has an impact in international free agency. The teams that were awarded Competitive Balance picks in Round B (between rounds two and three of the draft) will have the largest bonus pools. Teams that were awarded selections in Competitive Balance Round A (between rounds one and two) will have the second-largest pools.

Beyond that, free agency itself can have an impact. Teams that sign players who have refused a qualifying offer (QO) are subject to forfeitures in their international bonus pool in some instances. Specifically, a club which exceeded the luxury tax threshold in the previous season and also signs a QO free agent surrenders $1MM of its international pool in the following period. Teams that did not exceed the luxury tax but also did not benefit from revenue sharing will forfeit $500K of international pool for each QO free agent signed.

This year’s international spending pool amounts were announced back in June. For those who missed it, this year’s allotments are…

  • The Brewers, Reds, Marlins, Rays, Tigers, and Twins have the highest availability at $6,431,000.
  • The Cardinals, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies, Indians, Royals, and Orioles are next at $5,899,600.
  • A dozen teams (Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, White Sox, Mets, Nationals, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants) can spend $5,348,100.
  • The Angels and Phillies are capped at $4,372,700, while the Yankees are limited to $4,232,700.
  • The Braves bring up the rear because of their penalties, limited to a spending cap of $1,572,700.

This post was adapted from a prior post written by MLBTR’s Steve Adams.

Danny Hultzen Retires, Joins Cubs’ Front Office

By | at

Former major league left-hander Danny Hultzen has retired from playing, but he’ll remain in the game as a member of the Cubs’ front office, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports. Hultzen will work as a pitching development assistant under Cubs assistant general manager/vice president of pitching Craig Breslow.

The Mariners selected Hultzen second overall out of the University of Virginia in the 2011 draft, choosing him instead of such current stars as Trevor Bauer, Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez and George Springer, but the pick proved to be a mistake in hindsight. While Hultzen did rank among the game’s top prospects in the ensuing couple years after his draft, shoulder injuries and the surgeries that accompanied them dogged him as a professional player. He missed most of 2013 and all of 2014, barely pitched from 2015-16 and then took 2017 off to complete his degree.

Hultzen returned to the pros in ’18 on a minor league contract with the Cubs, finally making his MLB debut in September 2019 with 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Although the Cubs then re-signed him to a non-guaranteed pact, Hultzen didn’t get back to the mound during a 2020 season devoid of minor league baseball. Now, though, the 31-year-old will have a chance to impact the organization in a different role.

Dodgers, Dylan Floro Avoid Arbitration

By | at

The Dodgers and right-handed reliever Dylan Floro have avoided arbitration with a $975K agreement, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. MLBTR projected that Floro would make anywhere from $900K to $1.2MM in arbitration.

[RELATED: MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker]

Floro, a 13th-round pick of the Rays in 2012, bounced around among a few teams earlier in his career before finding a home in Los Angeles. The Dodgers first acquired Floro on waivers from the Cubs in 2017, but they lost him when the Reds claimed him before the 2018 season. However, LA re-acquired Floro from Cincinnati in a July 2018 trade that has paid off for the Dodgers.

As a member of the Dodgers, Floro has managed a 3.10 ERA/3.68 SIERA in 98 2/3 innings, thanks in no small part to an ability to induce grounders (52.7 percent) and limit walks (7.1 percent). He posted a 2.59 ERA with career bests in grounders (56 percent) and walks (4.1 percent) in 24 1/3 frames last year.

Giants Sign Alex Wood

By | at

The Giants have signed left-hander Alex Wood to a one-year contract, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. It’s a $3MM guarantee that includes up to $3MM more in performance bonuses for the ACES client, per Maria Guardado of MLB.com.

Wood, an ex-Dodger, will now reunite with Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who was the Los Angeles general manager earlier in the southpaw’s career. Wood had some of his best seasons when Zaidi was in LA’s front office, and the 30-year-old has largely held his own since he broke into the majors with the Braves in 2013. Overall, Wood has logged a strong 3.45 ERA/3.72 SIERA in a combined 851 2/3 innings, though his drop-off over the past couple of years made him a buy-low type this offseason.

LA sent Wood to Cincinnati as part of a blockbuster deal before the 2019 campaign, and the Reds were surely expecting him to give them quality innings that year. However, nagging back issues held him out for most of the season and limited him to just 35 2/3 frames of 5.80 ERA pitching.

The Dodgers brought Wood back in free agency almost exactly one year ago (Jan. 12, 2020) on a $4MM guarantee, but the reunion didn’t go quite as planned. Wood struggled with shoulder problems in the regular season, in which he tossed 12 2/3 innings and yielded nine earned runs (mostly out of the bullpen). But Wood did rebound during the Dodgers’ World Series-winning playoff run with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts against three walks. Four of those innings, all of which were scoreless, came during the Fall Classic against Tampa Bay.

In an ideal world for the Giants, Wood will perform more like he did in last year’s playoffs than in the regular season. Either way, it’s not all that surprising that they’re bringing him into the fold. Not only does Wood have connections to Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler, another former member of the Dodgers’ front office, but Giants GM Scott Harris made it known earlier this week that acquiring a lefty starter was a priority for the team.

The Giants lost southpaw Drew Smyly to the Braves earlier in free agency after he served as an inexpensive steal for the club in 2020, which temporarily left them with a righty-laden projected rotation. Wood should provide some balance to a Giants starting staff that figures to rely heavily on two of Wood’s former Reds teammates – Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani – as well as Johnny Cueto and Logan Webb.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rockies, Mychal Givens Avoid Arbitration

By | at

The Rockies and right-handed reliever Mychal Givens have avoided arbitration with a $4.05MM agreement for 2021, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. MLBTR had projected a $3.4MM to $4.3MM arbitration salary for Givens, who’s entering his last season of arb control.

[RELATED: MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker]

Givens joined the Rockies in a trade with the Orioles last August, a time when the Rox were hoping to earn a playoff berth, but the team fell out of contention during the last month of the season. Givens didn’t necessarily help their cause, as he allowed seven earned runs in 9 1/3 innings during his Rockies debut. Between Colorado and Baltimore, Givens finished the season with an acceptable 3.63 ERA/4.31 SIERA and a 26.9 percent strikeout rate across 22 1/3 frames, though a 10.8 percent walk rate and a career-low groundball percentage of 23.2 percent helped lead to his issues.

Since he debuted in the majors in 2015, Givens has pitched to a 3.41 ERA/3.35 SIERA with a 29.1 percent strikeout rate and a 9.4 percent walk rate over 345 1/3 frames. Putting up numbers like those in 2021 would make it easier for Givens to cash in as a free agent next winter.

Pitching Notes: Kluber, Teheran, Ramos, Mets, Hand

By | at

The Royals and Giants were among the previously unreported teams that were on hand for free-agent right-hander Corey Kluber’s well-attended showcase on Wednesday, per reports from Alec Lewis of The Athletic and Mark W. Sanchez of KNBR. Most of the league’s clubs showed up to watch Kluber, a two-time AL Cy Young winner who’s coming off a pair of rough years because of multiple injuries. Kluber reportedly looked healthy during his throwing session, though, and could sign with someone in the near future.

  • Righty Julio Teheran will hold his own showcase for teams Tuesday in Miami, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The former Braves innings eater typically did a nice job keeping runs off the board in their uniform from 2011-19, which led the Angels to sign him to a one-year, $9MM guarantee last offseason. The move didn’t go well at all for the Angels, however. The 29-year-old Teheran threw 31 1/3 innings with the team and finished last among all pitchers with 30-plus frames in ERA (10.05) and second from the bottom in K-BB percentage (2.7).
  • Kluber’s event also included Anthony Swarzak, Steve Cishek and, as Cishek revealed on MLB Network Radio on Thursday, AJ Ramos. The right-handed Ramos was an excellent reliever with the Marlins earlier in his career, especially from 2012-16, but has struggled in the bigs with a couple of other teams since then. After missing a large portion of 2018 and all of 2019 with shoulder problems, Ramos returned last season to spend time with three different organizations in the Dodgers, Cubs and Rockies. The 34-year-old returned to the majors as a Rockie in late September and threw 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball and a strikeout, though he allowed four hits and three walks in that short span.
  • The Mets have not bowed out of the race for free-agent reliever Brad Hand, Andy Martino of SNY tweets. As of earlier this week, Hand was discussing multi-year deals with teams, but the Mets were hoping to reel in the lefty on a one-year contract worth less than $10MM. With Hand as one of the standout relievers on the open market, the Mets may have to up their offer if they’re going to land the three-time All-Star.

Phillies Interested In Freddy Galvis

By | at

Former Phillies infielder Freddy Galvis is among the free-agent options the team is “eyeing” at shortstop, according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Galvis was a Phillie from 2012-17, during which he blended below-average offense with defense that typically received solid grades at both short and second base. The switch-hitting Galvis closed his Phillies tenure as a .245/.287/.372 batter in 2,440 plate appearances, though that production has gotten better since they dealt him to the Padres for right-hander Enyel De Los Santos prior to the 2018 season.

Since the Phillies parted with him, Galvis has combined for a more powerful .250/.299/.408 line among the Pads, Blue Jays and Reds over 1,404 PA. In 2020, despite an abnormally low .231 batting average on balls in play, the 31-year-old managed a career-best walk percentage (8.2), ISO (.184) and wRC+ (91) with the Reds.

While Galvis would be a reasonably priced and passable shortstop option for the Phillies or any other team, he’s hardly the most exciting shortstop available in free agency. Didi Gregorius, who spent last season with the Phillies and performed well, is at or near the top of the class. The Phillies haven’t closed the door on a reunion with Gregorius, who’s joined by Marcus Semien (whom the club is also interested in) and Andrelton Simmons. Galvis can’t match those players’ track records, but if the Phillies lose out on the bigger fish at the position, he may be their best choice.

Mets Sign Jose Martinez

By | at

2:40pm: The Mets have announced the signing. A corresponding 40-man roster move wasn’t necessary, as the Mets already had multiple open spaces.

1:46pm: The Mets have agreed to a one-year, split contract with free agent outfielder/first baseman Jose Martinez, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). If he makes the Major League roster, he’ll receive a $1MM salary with up to $500K available in additional incentives. In the minors, he’ll earn at a $225K clip, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link). Martinez is represented by Octagon.

The 2020 season was a forgettable one for Martinez, who posted an awful .182/.265/.295 slash in 98 plate appearances between the Rays and the Cubs. That line included a particularly woeful stretch following a trade from Tampa to Chicago that saw him go hitless in 22 plate appearances as a Cub.

Prior to the 2020 season, however, Martinez was a highly productive part-time player with the Cardinals. From 2017-19, Martinez batted a combined .296/.361/.458 with 41 homers, 56 doubles and three triples in 1270 trips to the plate. His right-handed bat was a menace to left-handed pitching, in particular; Martinez owned southpaws with a .323/.401/.570 slash in that time.

Martinez still has a pair of minor league options remaining, so he doesn’t necessarily need to make the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training. He finished up the 2020 season with just over four years of service time, so he’s controllable through the 2022 season at present, although if he spends even three or four weeks in the minors, his path to free agency would be pushed back a year.

Of course, Martinez first needs to make the big league roster and reestablish himself as a credible big league hitter before that’s even a consideration. A rebound with the bat is of particular importance for the 28-year-old, as he doesn’t bring any real defensive value to the table. Martinez has ample experience in both outfield corners and at first base, but he rates as a well below-average defender at all three positions.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top