Nationals Hire Matt Borgschulte As Hitting Coach
The Nationals announced what appears to their full coaching staff at this afternoon’s Winter Meetings (relayed by Andrew Golden of The Washington Post). The hiring of Matt Borgschulte as hitting coach is now official, after TalkNats reported six days ago that he had accepted the job. The Nats also added Victor Estevez as third base/infield coach and Dustin Glant as assistant pitching/bullpen coach.
Borgschulte spent the 2025 season as Minnesota’s hitting coach. The Twins moved on from him after one year following a managerial switch from Rocco Baldelli to Derek Shelton. Minnesota hitters ranked 23rd in scoring and finished between 16th and 22nd in all three slash stats. They were a middle-of-the-pack group in strikeouts and walks while tying for 11th in home runs.
It was a step back from a ’24 season in which they finished 10th in the majors in runs and were narrowly better than average in every slash category. The usual caveats about separating coaches from their personnel apply, of course. The 35-year-old Borgschulte had spent the prior three season as a co-hitting coach with the Orioles. He replaces Darnell Coles in the nation’s capital.
Estevez gets his first job on a big league staff. The 37-year-old had spent more than a decade coaching and managing in the Milwaukee farm system. He has seven seasons of minor league managerial experience, the past two of which have been at the High-A level. Estevez has also managed in the Dominican Winter League. He’ll have his work cut out for him with a Washington infield that ranked 28th in MLB with -60 Outs Above Average over the past three seasons.
Glant jumps to the professional ranks after spending four seasons at Indiana University. He’d been the Hoosiers’ pitching coach since 2022. Glant had spent the prior six seasons at Ball State as their pitching coach. The 44-year-old pitched parts of six seasons in the Arizona farm system in the 2000s.
The remainder of Blake Butera’s first staff, all of which had already been reported: bench coach Michael Johns, pitching coach Simon Mathews, assistant hitting coach Andrew Aydt, assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle, first base/outfield/baserunning coach Corey Ray, catching coach Bobby Wilson, field coordinator Tyler Smarslok, and development coach Grant Anders. It’s almost an entirely new group after the managerial change. Doolittle is the only holdover from Dave Martinez’s and Miguel Cairo’s 2025 group.
A’s Not Inclined To Move Luis Severino Solely For Salary Relief
The Athletics made Luis Severino the highest-paid player in franchise history last winter. The first season of his three-year, $67MM free agent contract was mixed at best. The veteran righty had a poor first half, allowing a 5.16 ERA over 20 starts. He was at the center of controversy in late June after he bemoaned pitching at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park in a conversation with The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty.
Those comments reportedly didn’t sit well with A’s brass. There was speculation that the team would try to move Severino before the deadline, but his contract and poor performance made that easier said than done. Severino rebuilt some value with a better showing after the All-Star Break. He concluded the season with a 3.10 ERA over his final nine appearances. He struck out a solid 21.8% of opponents while holding them to a .226/.289/.333 batting line over that stretch.
Aside from a three-week injured list stint due to an oblique strain, the second half performance was what the A’s front office had in mind when they signed Severino. As they enter another offseason that’ll be focused on pitching, they seem less inclined to move him than they had been a few months ago. Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic write that the A’s are not interested in trading Severino in a pure salary dump. While they’re not taking him off the table in talks, it seems they’re demanding a legitimate return on top of another club taking his contract off the books.
Severino is still owed a $5MM signing bonus, which will be paid next January 15. (The A’s would be responsible for that even if they traded him within the next month.) He’ll make a $20MM salary next year and has a $22MM player option for the 2027 campaign. It’s a total commitment of two years and $42MM with the possibility that Severino opts out after the first season. He received and rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets last winter, so the A’s would not be able to make him another QO if he retests the market.
It’s not a terrible contract, but it’s also not one that has much upside for the team. Severino is coming off a 4.54 ERA with a below-average 17.6% strikeout rate across 162 2/3 innings overall. There’s been a lot of attention to the three-run gap in his ERA (6.01 vs. 3.02) at home versus on the road. However, Severino’s 17% strikeout rate and unsustainably low .249 average on balls in play during his away starts suggest his road ERA is a bit of a mirage. There’s a much narrower gap in his FIP (4.34 vs. 3.87) in his home/road splits. The overall picture looks like that of a league average starter.
The ideal outcome for the team is that Severino pitches like a #3 starter next season and opts out. He’d only exercise the player option if he pitched poorly enough that he doesn’t feel it’d be smart to walk away from a $22MM salary. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t appear teams are willing to offer the A’s a strong trade package. Sammon and Rosenthal write that interested clubs would only take on Severino’s contract if they don’t need to give up significant talent.
That doesn’t achieve a whole lot for the A’s, assuming the front office and ownership aren’t shopping him solely because of his criticism of the temporary stadium arrangement. Severino and Jeffrey Springs are their only returning starters who topped 100 innings. The rotation had a 4.85 ERA overall, the fourth-highest mark in MLB. Rookies Jacob Lopez and Luis Morales showed promise, but starting pitching remains the team’s biggest need. That’s particularly true given how hitter-friendly the Sacramento park plays — putting a greater toll on the A’s young arms. They may face similar challenges to last offseason in convincing free agent starters to sign there.
Severino, Springs, Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler are the only players on guaranteed deals. They have one of the lightest arbitration classes in MLB. RosterResource projects their luxury tax number around $105MM, which was their reported target last winter to avoid a revenue sharing grievance. Their actual payroll estimate sits at roughly $75MM. That’s also right around where they opened the ’25 campaign. In addition to their rotation need, they’re aiming to add a high-leverage reliever and could pursue second and/or third base help.
Mariners Finalize Coaching Staff
The Mariners announced their 2026 coaching staff on Friday morning. There are three news additions to Dan Wilson’s group: bullpen coach Austin Nola, third base coach Carlos Cardoza, and field coordinator Jake McKinley. MLBTR covered Nola’s hiring last month.
Cardoza, 39 in January, gets his first job on an MLB staff. The Puerto Rico native has coached professionally for a decade, spending the majority of that time working in the Texas farm system. He served as a minor league manager and has led the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate for the past three seasons. Seattle needed a new third base coach to replace Kristopher Negrón, who departed to take over as Don Kelly’s bench coach with the Pirates.
McKinley is also making his debut on a big league staff. He makes the jump from the college ranks after spending the past three seasons as the head coach at the University of Nevada. (Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball reported that McKinley was leaving the Wolfpack to join the M’s as field coordinator earlier this week.) The 2025 Mountain West Coach of the Year, McKinley led Nevada to a 19-11 record within conference play to win the regular season conference championship. He’d previously worked in the professional ranks as part of Milwaukee’s player development department.
The rest of Wilson’s staff returns on the heels of the ALCS berth. Bench coach Manny Acta, senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes, pitching coach Pete Woodworth, assistant pitching coach Danny Farquhar, director of pitching strategy Trent Blank, first base coach Eric Young Jr., and infield coach Perry Hill are all back in their previous roles.
Latest On MacKenzie Gore Trade Talks
Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore is one of the biggest names to watch as the Winter Meetings approach. The All-Star southpaw is Washington’s biggest trade chip, and they’re unsurprisingly getting plenty of calls.
Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic write that the Nationals have heard from upwards of 15 teams with interest. Buster Olney of ESPN relays that executives from multiple front offices expect a Gore trade to come together within the coming days. ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel wrote earlier this week that the Nats had a high asking price — as one would expect for a mid-rotation starter who comes with two affordable seasons of club control.
Gore, who turns 27 in February, took the ball 30 times this year and posted a 4.17 earned run average. That’s not all that impressive in aggregate, but he flashed the talent that once made him a third overall pick. Gore’s first half was excellent: 110 1/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball with a 30.4% strikeout rate. Things unraveled down the stretch. He was tagged for a 6.75 ERA in 11 starts after the All-Star Break. His strikeout percentage plummeted by 10 points as the whiff rates on his curveball and slider dropped. Gore struggled to throw strikes and twice landed on the injured list. He missed the first couple weeks of September with shoulder inflammation, then was scratched from his final start because of an ankle impingement.
The ankle is unlikely to be a concern moving forward. The shoulder could raise a little more alarm, but his velocity wasn’t much affected when he returned. His fastball averaged 94.8 MPH in September, only marginally below its 95.3 MPH mark for the season. Gore’s scattershot command and start-to-start inconsistency are the bigger questions. There’s nevertheless going to be ample interest in a lefty with plus stuff who pitched like a #2 starter for the first three months of the season.
Gore ranked as MLBTR’s top trade candidate entering the offseason. That reflected both his value and the likelihood that he’d be on the move. The Nationals don’t appear close to coming out of their rebuild. They fired GM Mike Rizzo midseason and are starting fresh with president of baseball operations Paul Toboni. Gore is two seasons away from free agency. The Nats almost certainly won’t be competitive next season and face an uphill battle to making the playoffs in 2027, making it difficult to envision Gore remaining in D.C. beyond next year’s deadline at the latest.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Gore for a $4.7MM salary in his penultimate arbitration year. That’s unlikely to climb beyond $8-10MM in 2027. An acquiring team would be getting two years of a mid-rotation arm for a total around $12-15MM. That’s a bargain even if Gore never reaches another level, but there are surely clubs that believe they can coax a better full season than he has shown so far.
The Padres reportedly made the strongest push to bring Gore back at last summer’s deadline. They still need controllable starting pitching, though a deal could be difficult to manage after they moved top prospect Leo De Vries to the A’s for Mason Miller instead. The Cubs were also linked to Gore at the deadline and remain on the hunt for a high-end starter.
The Giants, Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox and Rangers could all pursue a top arm in trade. The rotation isn’t necessarily a need for the Mariners, but they’re in win-now mode and have the kind of farm system that could allow them to jump in on any available trade candidate. The Orioles and Mets are also chasing rotation upside, but a huge trade with the Nationals could be complicated. The O’s and Nats have long had a contentious relationship related to their decade-plus long dispute over TV rights, while the Mets face the challenge of pulling off a trade within the division.
Diamondbacks Sign Jacob Amaya, Taylor Rashi To Minor League Deals
The Diamondbacks signed infielder Jacob Amaya and relievers Taylor Rashi and Gerardo Carrillo to minor league contracts, as announced by their Triple-A affiliate in Reno. All three players will get non-roster invitations to Spring Training.
Amaya joins the system after spending the 2025 season with the White Sox. He appeared in a career-high 36 games but only batted .106 with one extra-base hit (a double) in 73 trips to the plate. The 27-year-old spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Charlotte. He hit .250/.352/.420 with nine homers across 219 plate appearances. He posted decent batted ball metrics but struck out in 29% of his trips to the dish.
A former 11th-round pick of the Dodgers, Amaya is a light-hitting utility player. He has nearly 5000 professional innings at shortstop and has logged more than 1100 frames at second base. Amaya has played some third base as well and should provide a solid glove around the infield. He’ll compete with Tim Tawa for the utility job in camp but is probably ticketed for Reno to begin the season.
Rashi returns after being non-tendered a couple weeks ago. The Snakes dropped him from the 40-man roster to make room for James McCann, whom they re-signed that day. The 29-year-old righty pitched 10 times this past season, allowing eight runs across 16 1/3 innings. He recorded 22 strikeouts while issuing eight walks. Rashi only throws 90 MPH but turned in an impressive 3.48 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents over 67 1/3 innings in the Pacific Coast League this year.
Carrillo has yet to pitch in the majors. A former Dodgers prospect who was traded to the Nationals as part of the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner deal in 2021, he topped out at Double-A in the Washington system. The 27-year-old righty briefly got to Triple-A last year with the Rangers but spent the bulk of the season at Double-A Frisco. He posted a 3.69 ERA with a 26.8% strikeout rate against generally younger competition.
Latest On Michael King’s Market
Michael King is one of the bigger risk-reward plays in the starting pitching class. He’s arguably a top 10 pitcher in MLB when healthy but is coming off a platform season that was wrecked by a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder. He’s also attached to draft compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Padres.
That hasn’t deterred plenty of teams from expressing interest. King was already known to be a target for the Cubs, Tigers and Yankees, while even the Marlins checked in as a long shot suitor. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Joel Sherman of The New York Post each write that the Mets are involved. Feinsand adds the Orioles, Angels and incumbent Padres as teams on the periphery of the market. Sherman reports that the Red Sox have also shown interest in the 30-year-old righty.
King converted to the rotation late in the 2023 season as a member of the Yankees. He pitched well enough to stick as a starter after being traded to San Diego as the centerpiece of the Juan Soto deal. King finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, pitching to a 2.95 ERA while striking out 201 batters over 31 appearances. He’d pitched even better over the first six weeks of the ’25 campaign. King reeled off 10 starts with a 2.59 earned run average and punching out 28% of opponents before the injury.
Durability is the big question. The shoulder issue wasn’t structural but proved a lot more problematic than initially expected. He wound up missing almost three months and showed signs of rust when he returned late in the season. King gave up 12 runs while tallying all of 17 1/3 innings over five starts in the second half. His velocity was fine but he only managed 12 strikeouts while issuing nine free passes.
King appeared on track for a nine-figure contract amidst his hot start. That’s tougher to envision now, as the 2024 campaign remains the only season in which he has reached even 105 innings. That’s largely because of his usage with the Yankees, but he also missed a couple months in 2021 with a finger injury and suffered a season-ending elbow fracture the following year.
MLBTR predicted King to receive a four-year, $80MM contract. It’s also possible he prefers a two- or three-year deal with an opt-out to get back to free agency next winter. King declined the straight one-year qualifying offer, but a multi-year deal with an out clause would give him a little more security than the QO would have provided. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this morning that King is willing to sign for a shorter term than the top free agent arms (e.g. Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez). That wouldn’t necessarily rule out a four-year deal, as the best starters are expected to command five or six-year contracts. Dylan Cease already pulled a seven-year guarantee.
The Mets should come away with a mid-rotation or better arm via free agency or trade. They stayed away from the top of the rotation market last winter. That worked out early in the year but collapsed down the stretch. Only the Rockies, Nationals and Angels had a higher second-half ERA from their rotation than the Mets’ 5.31 mark. Nolan McLean looks like a budding frontline starter, but he’s their only pitcher who allowed fewer than 4.20 earned runs per nine after the All-Star Break.
Baltimore, Boston, San Diego and the Angels have all been in the rotation market. The Red Sox should probably focus elsewhere after acquiring Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo in trade. The Angels have landed a pair of starters this offseason as well, but Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah both have significant health questions. They still need a starter and are also in the mix for Zac Gallen. The O’s are involved on Valdez and Suárez; no pitcher seems to be off the table for them. The Padres are unlikely to spend what it’d take to bring King back, though they’ll need multiple rotation adds after also losing Cease to free agency and Yu Darvish to elbow surgery.
Tigers Have Shown Interest In Brad Keller As Starter
The Tigers are among the teams that have expressed interest in free agent righty Brad Keller as a starting pitcher, Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free-Press wrote this afternoon. That report preceded Detroit’s agreement with swingman Drew Anderson, but it’s unlikely a one-year deal with a pitcher who hasn’t appeared in MLB since 2021 would take them out of the mix for starting pitching.
Keller is coming off a breakout year working out of the Cubs bullpen. The 30-year-old righty fired 69 2/3 innings of 2.07 ERA ball. He emerged as Craig Counsell’s most trusted leverage arm by the end of the season. Keller recorded 25 holds and a trio of saves while relinquishing just three leads all year. He was fantastic in the second half, allowing one run while striking out 35 hitters across 27 2/3 frames. He picked up two more saves and a hold while tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the playoffs.
While the underlying metrics weren’t quite so dominant, Keller posted solid peripherals across the board. He punched out 27.2% of opponents against a manageable 8% walk rate. Keller got ground-balls at a 56.5% clip, the 10th-highest rate among relievers with 50+ innings. The only slight area of concern was a modest 10.8% swinging strike rate that checked in a little below the 11.5% league average.
Keller’s performance was obviously going to have plenty of teams interested in him as a reliever. As we noted on our writeup of the Top 50 Free Agents, it made sense that some clubs would view him as a rotation conversion candidate. Keller has plenty of starting experience. He was a starter for most of his six seasons as a member of the Royals. The 6’5″ righty found some early-career success as a grounder specialist at the back of the K.C. rotation.
His numbers tanked between 2021-23, and he underwent surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome before the ’24 campaign. Keller didn’t find much success in limited MLB looks with the White Sox and Red Sox that year. He was forced to settle for a minor league contract with the Cubs last winter. Keller looked rejuvenated in a relief role, earning a roster spot out of camp and pitching his way to the top of the bullpen hierarchy before long.
While the thoracic outlet surgery could give some clubs trepidation, there’s reason for optimism if he does return to starting. He has continued to use a five-pitch mix out of the bullpen. He had no issues handling left-handed hitters this year, holding them to a .223/.293/.277 slash with a 26% strikeout rate over 123 plate appearances. Keller doesn’t have pristine command but has shown good enough control to work into the middle innings as a starter. While he obviously wouldn’t maintain this past season’s 97.2 MPH average fastball velocity in longer stints, it’s not unreasonable to imagine him sitting 94-95 over five-plus innings.
MLBTR predicted Keller for a three-year, $36MM contract. That baked in the possibility that he could sign somewhere as a starter. ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote this morning that Keller indeed seems on track to pull a three-year deal. The Tigers have yet to sign a free agent for more than two seasons under fourth-year president of baseball operations Scott Harris.
Keller would nevertheless fit their general operating procedure of targeting the middle tiers of free agency. Detroit has also been linked to Michael King and Zac Gallen and have been more loosely floated as a potential Ranger Suárez suitor. They also reportedly kicked the tires on a reliever to starter move with Ryan Helsley, but he’s off the board on a two-year deal to close for the Orioles.
The rotation currently lines up with Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize in the top four spots. Rookie Troy Melton is probably the in-house favorite for the fifth starter role. He’d compete with Anderson, Keider Montero and Sawyer Gipson-Long for that job. They can certainly use another starter, and Keller would have the fallback to pitch in high-leverage relief if he doesn’t win a rotation spot out of camp.
Giants To Hire Jesse Chavez As Bullpen Coach
The Giants made a handful of notable moves on the coaching staff and in the front office. The club announced the hirings of former big leaguers Javier López and Curt Casali as front office advisors. They’re adding another longtime MLB player in the dugout, as newly-signed reliever Sam Hentges tells reporters (including Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle) that Jesse Chavez will be the new bullpen coach.
Chavez, 42, jumps into coaching a few months after the end of his playing career. He announced his retirement in July after being waived by the Braves. Chavez became a staple on MLBTR pages for a series of transactions that tended to land him back in Atlanta. He made four MLB appearances this year, reaching the big leagues for an 18th season.
A long reliever for the majority of his career, Chavez posted a 4.27 ERA in 657 appearances. He pitched for nine teams overall. The Giants were not one of them, but he spent four seasons in the Bay Area with the Athletics. He’ll replace Garvin Alston, who held the role for the past two seasons. San Francisco had arguably the sport’s best bullpen for the first few months of the 2025 season. Trades of Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval and a late-season Tommy John surgery for new closer Randy Rodríguez leave them with a lot of work to do this offseason.
As for the new advisors, both have ties to the organization. Casali caught in the big leagues for parts of 11 seasons. He had separate stints in San Francisco from 2021-22 and again to close his career last year. He was in camp with the Braves this past season but retired after the team announced he wouldn’t be on the Opening Day roster. He jumped into front office work with the Reds and now heads back to San Francisco.
López was a longtime reliever who spent his final seven seasons in orange and black. He was an effective left-handed specialist for the 2010, ’12 and ’14 World Series teams. López was obviously a longtime teammate of president of baseball operations Buster Posey. He retired in 2017 and has remained adjacent to the organization as a color analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area.
San Francisco also made one notable personnel move that does not involve a former big leaguer. They promoted vice president of analytics Paul Bien to assistant general manager. He joins Jeremy Shelley as the club’s assistant GMs, who work underneath Posey and general manager Zack Minasian. Bien, a UCLA graduate, has been in the organization since 2012. His background is in data and technology, and he has worked alongside the scouting/player development groups as well as providing analytic information to the MLB staff.
The Best Fits For Framber Valdez
Each offseason at MLBTR, we take a look at the potential markets for some of the top names in free agency. We've already covered the two best free agent hitters, Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette. With Dylan Cease off the board on what is likely to be the biggest pitching contract of the winter, we'll look at the market for the best left-hander: Framber Valdez.
Valdez has been one of the most durable and consistent pitchers in the sport over the past six seasons. This year's 3.66 earned run average was his highest since he established himself as a starter with the Astros in 2020. Valdez has surpassed 175 innings in four straight seasons. He sits in the 95-96 MPH range and is capable of both missing bats and keeping the ball on the ground. Valdez doesn't have the strikeout ceiling that Cease brings to the table, but he has fanned an above-average 23-25% of opponents in four straight years. His true standout trait is a ground-ball rate that annually ranks among the sport's highest, including a huge 58.6% mark this past season.
The plus stuff from the left side and combination of whiffs and grounders makes Valdez fairly similar to Max Fried. He's not going to match the eight-year, $218MM contract that Fried commanded when he was headed into his age-31 season. Valdez, who turned 32 last month, is probably looking at a five- or six-year deal at a premium annual rate. MLBTR predicted a five-year, $150MM contract that made him our #6 free agent. He's tied with Tatsuya Imai for the second-largest predicted contracts among pitchers (behind Cease, whom we had at $189MM over seven years).
Valdez rejected a qualifying offer from the Astros, who are not expected to make much of an effort to bring him back. They'll receive a compensatory pick -- specifics of which won't be determined until MLB finalizes the 2025 luxury tax calculations -- while the signing team will forfeit draft and/or international bonus pool space. That shouldn't be much of a deterrent for arguably the best immediate rotation upgrade available.
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Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Anthony Franco
- Good afternoon everyone, hope you're well!
- There's a lot already queued up so apologies in advance for anything I can't cover. Let's get rolling
Black and Gold Bleeder
- Do the Pirates have a reasonable shot at either Suarez or Okamoto?? They need power from the third base position before anything else.
Anthony Franco
- Yeah it seems like either of those should be viable with their current spending posture, especially if Geno ends up at two years. Not sure how a low-OBP righty bat would play at PNC but agree that third base is a need and they should be after offense wherever they can get it
Giants fan
- As a giants fan im confused on the direction they should go. Signing a pitchers to longterm contracts doesn't seem to be the giants course. The giants have money to spend a knowledgeable fan base too. 10 outfielders on the roster not enough infield depth. The giants as mentioned in your trade rumors comments today lists a solid core of young pitchers but lacking experience. Trades are possible. Please give your thoughts.
Anthony Franco
- Well I think they should sign Kyle Tucker but that's an ownership question more than a front office one. If they're limited to the Gallen/King tier in free agency (I'd prefer the latter for any team), then they're probably leveraging some of those upper level starters for an outfielder
- Nootbaar's available and Cardinals are targeting high level starters. I wouldn't give up Roupp for Noot but if STL likes Whisenhunt or McDonald, maybe that gets the ball rolling
- Similar logic with Ketel (Roupp/Birdsong should be on the table there), but I have a tough time seeing Arizona moving him at all -- much less in division
Mariners
- What/who do you think makes the first major move at the meetings? What team/free agent? Is it a trade or a signing?
Anthony Franco
- Based on my annual last place finishes in the Top 50 contest, I recommend ignoring any of my predictions
- But give me Framber to Baltimore
David
- Stearns says he wants to prioritize defense this off-season which he proved with the Semien trade. However there is always talk of moving Vientos to first which would probably be a drop from Alonso since he’s never played there. What do you think the Mets will do at 1B if they don’t resign Pete to bolster the defense
Anthony Franco
- Disagree a little with the premise, not like Pete's an elite defender there either. I think having Vientos log any meaningful time at 3B would cut against the infield defense priority, so the question is whether they think he'll bounce back enough at the plate to warrant 1B/DH time or whether it's time to move on entirely
- If the goal is solely to upgrade the defense, they'd probably be best off signing Bregman and moving Baty to first. I think that's too far in the other direction and still expect them to get something done with Alonso personally
Gonzo for Gonzo
- Thoughts on the Pirates-Red Sox deal? Losing the best nickname in baseball and a RH OF plus having to dump Criswell seems like a steep price for the Sox, they must believe they can unlock something with Oviedo. Makes lots of sense for Pirates if the Password can hit at the MLB level.
Anthony Franco
- Yeah I like it more for Pittsburgh but I'm not super enamored with either player, so I get the logic on both sides
- Oviedo's probably the seventh-best starter that Pittsburgh had. They ran out Tommy Pham and Alexander Canario in LF for most of last season. I'm concerned about Garcia's approach and still think they should be in the outfield market, but he has minor league options and enough promise (power, youth, upper minors track record) that he's a guy they should absolutely be willing to roll the dice on
- Wasn't going to have the opportunity for everyday reps that he'd need to develop the approach, so I'm fine with Boston moving on. Would've expected them to do better than Oviedo, but Tim Dierkes's immediate response was "not sure why Garcia is considered a Top 100 prospect, but I'll leave that to the experts" and I tend to agree
- I don't think Oviedo's more than a five-and-dive starter unless the Sox can teach him a splitter or something, but he'd be more interesting to me out of the bullpen so maybe he becomes a surprise relief weapon in the playoffs
Matt
- How about Brandon Lowe for one of Roupp/Birdsong?
Anthony Franco
- More than I'd give up for one year of Lowe
- Like the player and fit in SF though
DodgerFan
- Seeing the initial reports that Teoscar Hernández was being discussed on the trade market didn’t sit well with me, but after thinking it over, I can understand why the Dodgers might explore it. Two-part question:
- What kind of return could the Dodgers realistically get for Teo, and would they be able to move his full contract?
- Do you view Bader as a legitimate fit for an everyday center-field role, or is it more likely they fill that spot internally (Edman, Kim, Pages)?
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