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East Notes: Rodriguez, Red Sox, Orioles

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New Braves utilityman Sean Rodriguez and his family were recently struck in a car crash in Florida, WSVN TV in Miami reports (hat tip to FanRag’s Robert Murray on Twitter). A man stole a police cruiser and hit Rodriguez’s car. Rodriguez was not hurt, although his wife Giselle and two young children were taken to hospitals. Giselle Rodriguez is in fair condition, while the two children are in serious but stable condition. The man who stole the cruiser died in the crash. “We are aware that Braves player Sean Rodriguez and his family were involved in a very serious car accident Saturday night in Miami,” said the Braves in a statement. “At this time our thoughts and prayers are with the health and well-being of Sean’s family as they look to recover.” We here at MLBTR wish Rodriguez and his family the best in what sounds like a very scary time.

Here’s more from the East divisions.

  • The Red Sox’ signing of Hanley Ramirez two years ago prevented them from taking advantage of a glut of right-handed power on this year’s free agent market, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. After a poor first year in Boston, Ramirez bounced back last year, hitting .286/.361/.505. But while numbers in that vicinity made Ramirez a unique commodity in an offense-starved context in 2014-2015, times are different now. After an increase in home runs throughout the game over the past two seasons, right-handed power hitters like Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo and Jose Bautista have landed much cheaper deals than the $88MM Ramirez received, and the Red Sox have sat on the sidelines.
  • The Orioles haven’t made a significant move to address their rotation this offseason (other than their trade of Yovani Gallardo for outfielder Seth Smith), but they still feel their starting pitching will be better next season, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes in a report from the team’s FanFest this weekend (more on Orioles FanFest here and here). “Our starting rotation, I hope, is a little bit stronger,” said O’s vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. “We had really good starting pitching late in the year in September, and we’re returning that rotation.” The Orioles’ rotation ERA of 4.72 was third worst in the AL last year, better than only the Twins and A’s. The team can hope for more from Kevin Gausman (who got better results last year in the first half than the second, although his underlying numbers didn’t change much), and Dylan Bundy (who didn’t transition to the rotation until July and had a modest degree of success once he got there). Joining Gausman, Bundy and ace Chris Tillman will be Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez, who have both mostly struggled in their Orioles tenures.

NL Notes: Braun, Gennett, Reds, Diamondbacks

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Outfielder Ryan Braun has been the subject of trade rumors going back to last summer, in which he was connected to the Dodgers in a deal that might have included Yasiel Puig. Nonetheless, it’s now late January, and he remains with the Brewers. That doesn’t surprise owner Mark Attanasio, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “No, I’m not surprised,” Attanasio says. “I think there was a lot of momentum [toward a trade] last summer, given the challenges the Dodgers had in hitting left-handed pitching and how strong a season he was having. … But after it didn’t happen, I actually thought if it wasn’t going to happen then, it wasn’t going to happen. We’re delighted he’s back.” Though Braun remains under contract through 2020 with a mutual option for 2021, it wouldn’t be surprising, in my view, if he reemerged as a trade candidate in the future as the Brewers continue their rebuild. McCalvy notes that the Brewers plan to be generous with time for young players this season. “It is essential that we do this rebuild correctly, and I think if we get too hung up on wins and losses, we’re maybe not doing it [right],” Attanasio says. Here’s more from the NL.

  • Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett will try his hand at multiple positions, including the outfield, in Spring Training, according to manager Craig Counsell (Twitter link via McCalvy). Excluding pinch-hit appearances and one inning in the outfield, Gennett has come close to playing his entire career at second (396 games there, one as a designated hitter). However, Jonathan Villar is moving from the left side of the infield to the keystone, thereby relegating Gennett to a bench/utility role. He’ll also have a hard time garnering playing time in the outfield, though, as Braun, Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton are firmly entrenched as starters.
  • The Reds haven’t been able to trade Brandon Phillips or Zack Cozart and thus still have a logjam at middle infield, where they also have youngsters Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera. The Reds say that they aren’t worried about Peraza’s playing time, however, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Peraza’s ability to play second, shortstop and outfield will help the team keep him on the field. “Going into the season with Brandon, Cozart, [Adam] Duvall, [Billy] Hamilton — those are our guys going into the season who will take the lion’s share of the playing time at those positions,” says manager Bryan Price. “That being said, Peraza is going to play. How I get him in there has yet to be seen, but he’ll get in there. It may just have to be rotation through different spots until an everyday spot comes to light.” Herrera, who only plays second base, is trickier, and Price says the plan will be for him to play at Triple-A if he can’t play second regularly in the big leagues. GM Dick Williams says, meanwhile, that the team’s ongoing situation with Phillips (who has repeatedly used his no-trade clause to reject potential trades, including one in November to the Braves) is “hard to predict” going forward.
  • Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall expressed regret Sunday over the team’s previous front office alignment, telling MLB Network Radio: “We probably had too many cooks in the kitchen. If we had to do it over again, we probably wouldn’t have done it that way.” Tony La Russa, Dave Stewart and De Jon Watson were the most prominent members of the Diamondbacks’ baseball department from 2014-16. Only La Russa remains now, and Stewart’s replacement – new general manager Mike Hazen – had a hand in keeping him. “It was another skill set Mike Hazen thought he needed around him,” Hall said of La Russa, whom he called a “team player” (Twitter links).

Dipoto: Mariners “Plainly” In “Win-Now Mode”

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The Mariners have been among MLB’s busiest teams this offseason, acquiring players like Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, Drew Smyly, Jarrod Dyson, Yovani Gallardo, Danny Valencia, Carlos Ruiz and Shae Simmons in a long list of transactions. GM Jerry Dipoto stresses, perhaps unsurprisingly but in strongly worded language, that those moves have been made with a clear goal of winning in 2017, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune.

“I’ll say it as plainly as I can,” says Dipoto. “When you have Robinson Cano, who arguably had the best year of his career last year and is playing in his mid-30s at an All Star level; when you have Nelson Cruz, who’s roughly led the league in homers for three years running; when you have Felix Hernandez at 31, a former Cy Young Award winner who last year failed to throw 200 innings for the first time in about a decade; when you have one of the preeminent third baseman (Kyle Seager) in the league who can do a lot of things offensively and defensively, and you’ve committed at roughly $75 million annually for those players, you are in a `win-now’ mode.”

Those players are among the few remaining on the Mariners’ 40-man roster that Dipoto inherited when he took the team’s GM job near the end of the 2015 season. By my count, the only other players on the Mariners’ 40-man who remain from that time are Hisashi Iwakuma (who Dipoto re-signed in the 2015-16 offseason), James Paxton, Tony Zych, Mike Zunino and Shawn O’Malley.

“It doesn’t shock me,” says Dipoto of the Mariners’ roster turnover. “It wasn’t necessarily by design but, again, we have not done this with pandemonium in mind.”

Dipoto’s trades have included a large number of young players and prospects, but Dipoto suggests that he hasn’t mortgaged the Mariners’ future. He’s kept top prospects like Kyle Lewis, Tyler O’Neill and Andrew Moore, as Dutton notes. And while many of Dipoto’s trades have privileged short-term assets rather than longer-term ones (like the trade that bought one year of control of Dyson for four of Nate Karns), Dipoto points out that he has also made trades that have featured players at similar points in their careers (including, perhaps, the one that sent former top prospect Alex Jackson and pitcher Tyler Pike to Atlanta for young starters Robert Whalen and Max Povse). Dipoto further notes that he has acquired several players with limited service time, including Haniger, Dan Vogelbach and Ben Gamel (the last two of whom the Mariners acquired during the 2016 season), who could make an impact in the big leagues in 2017.

Top 10 Remaining Free Agents

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We last checked in on the top available free agents almost a month ago, and since then, four of our top ten — Jose Bautista, Mark Trumbo, Michael Saunders and Neftali Feliz — have come off the board. Here’s a look at the top ten remaining at this point, with rankings from MLBTR’s November Top 50.

15. Jason Hammel. Hammel’s reported market has been curiously quiet all winter despite a typically solid 2016 season in Chicago. Since the new year, he’s been connected to the Orioles, Rangers and Yankees, although the Orioles look less likely now than they did before adding Trumbo. Hammel also changed agents this winter; one imagines it’s been a frustrating offseason for him.

16. Matt Wieters. Mark Polishuk took a close look at Wieters’ market earlier this weekend. The Braves’ recent signing of Kurt Suzuki would seem to limit Wieters’ options somewhat. A return to the Orioles to share the catcher position with Welington Castillo is a possibility, although, as Mark pointed out, that arrangement doesn’t seem to bode well for Wieters’ chances of landing a big free-agent contract in the future. Wieters has also been connected to the Angels.

Mike Napoli21. Mike Napoli. With Edwin Encarnacion and Trumbo off the board, Napoli could be the next 1B/DH domino to fall. A return to the Rangers might be the strongest possibility at this point, and since the Rangers had interest in Trumbo, it might make sense for talks to intensify now that Trumbo is off the board. Texas has also recently been connected to fellow righty slugger Chris Carter, however.

23. Greg Holland. Holland reportedly could pick his team in the next week, capping an offseason in which he’s been connected to nearly everyone. Holland reportedly hopes for a two-year deal with an opt-out after the first year; it’s unclear which teams might consent to that arrangement, given that such a contract would require Holland’s new team to assume most of the risk of his return from injury while limiting its reward.

24. Travis Wood. Reports on Wood’s market have been few and far between this month. One potentially interesting development, though, has been the Rangers’ signing of Tyson Ross. Ross had also been connected to the Cubs, and it appeared possible the Cubs could attempt to re-sign Wood as a backup plan as they search for rotation depth.

30. Brandon Moss. Most of the news surrounding Moss in the past month has connected him to teams that no longer seem especially likely to sign him, such as the Orioles (who re-signed Trumbo), Blue Jays (who re-signed Bautista) and Phillies (who signed Saunders). The Rays have been connected to a variety of veteran hitters this offseason and would seem to be a possibility for Moss, although they might prefer a right-handed hitter. With a number of sluggers still available (including Napoli, Carter, Pedro Alvarez and Mark Reynolds), Moss might have to continue to wait for his rolling stone.

31. Joe Blanton. The veteran righty makes his first appearance on this list after a strong season (2.48 ERA, 9.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9) in the Dodgers bullpen. He’s recently been connected to the Rockies, although there have been few reports on his market.

34. Sergio Romo. As with Blanton, there has been little recent reporting on Romo’s destination, although it recently emerged that the Brewers had interest in Blanton before adding Feliz. Feliz and Santiago Casilla recently signing could conceivably lead teams still looking for late-inning help to turn to Romo, however.

38. Fernando Salas. There’s been virtually nothing on Salas this winter, except one report that made him one of an extremely long list of relievers connected to the Marlins’ before that team’s additions of Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa. One would think, though, that the 31-year-old would attract some late interest, particularly given his excellent 2016 stretch run with the Mets. Unlike Holland and Romo, he doesn’t have much closing experience, although he was successful in a half-season run as the Cardinals’ closer in 2011.

39. Boone Logan. The veteran lefty is one of several solid southpaw relief options remaining on the open market, including Wood (although it’s unclear whether Wood will start or relieve next year), Jerry Blevins and J.P. Howell. Other lefties (including Brett Cecil, Mike Dunn, Marc Rzepczynski, and, of course, Aroldis Chapman, although he’s clearly in a different category than the rest) have done quite well for themselves this winter; it’s unclear whether the crop of remaining lefty free agents will be able to do the same.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Luhnow: Astros Likely Done Making Significant Additions

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Speaking with reporters yesterday, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said the team was likely done making big-league additions this winter, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. Luhnow is effectively saying the team is unlikely to add a big-name pitcher such as Jose Quintana, Chris Archer or Sonny Gray, all of whom they’ve been connected to lately. He is not, however, ruling out the possibility that the Astros could still make a move.

The Astros’ roster at the moment is “probably the roster that we’re going to have to start the season,” Luhnow said. “We’re always open to considering ways to improve it, but right now I’d set the expectations low that there’s going to be any major changes.”

Health permitting, the Astros will have Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Collin McHugh in their rotation. After receiving a $14MM contract this winter, Charlie Morton is a reasonable bet to win a job as well, although that’s not a certainty. Mike Fiers, Joe Musgrove and Chris Devenski are also in the picture, and top prospect Francis Martes could eventually emerge as a possibility.

“We feel like we’ve got enough depth in the rotation that we’ll have five guys in our rotation that are going to be able to compete every night, and our offense is going to keep us in games,” Luhnow said. He added that it’s possible the Astros could use the early months of the season to evaluate their starting pitching and then either try to trade for a pitcher or “save ourselves a few prospects” if it turns out they don’t need one.

Reactions To The Passing Of Yordano Ventura And Andy Marte

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This morning, Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura and former big-league infielder Andy Marte died in separate car crashes in the Dominican Republic. Here are a few of the many reactions to and reflections on today’s tragic events.

  • MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement about Ventura and Marte earlier today. “Today is a very sad day for our entire game and particularly for the many loyal fans in the Dominican Republic, the home of both Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte,” said Manfred. “Yordano was a key figure in the Royals’ recent success. His electric talent on the mound helped lead the Royals to two American League pennants and the 2015 World Championship. Andy was a respected member of six organizations who played seven Major League seasons, including for the Cleveland Indians from 2006-2010.  On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to the families, teammates, friends and fans of both players.”
  • This morning was perhaps even more difficult than expected for Royals GM Dayton Moore, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports relate (Twitter links). Moore first heard about Marte’s death, then received a call about Ventura and thought it was a mistake. Moore and Royals assistant GM Rene Francisco were close with both players — Moore and Francisco were both in the Braves organization when Marte was a top prospect there.
  • Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star offers a beautifully written remembrance of Ventura, who he describes as a fighter with sharp edges but a good person and prodigious talent. “[H]e was relentless and unapologetic and desperate to be great — both for himself, and for everyone back home for whom it meant almost as much,” Mellinger writes. “His teammates and coaches might occasionally grow frustrated at some of the rougher moments, but they saw a good soul, a big heart, and an earnest learner.”
  • Rosenthal offers similar sentiments in a column for FOX Sports, noting that Ventura’s sometimes rough on-field demeanor was not all of who he was. “The Yo that I knew had the warmest of smiles, the most engaging of personalities, a genuine, effusive love for the game,” writes Rosenthal. “[H]e was a diligent worker, one of the Royals’ most regimented pitchers — a kid who was engaged between starts, watched film, worked on pitches, looked and acted the part.”
  • Ventura has “always had a zest for life, an innocence about the game, a freshness, a fearlessness,” says Moore, via Dodd. “And he’s been really the same guy from day one, as far as his character traits and what made him special. He’s just a really passionate human. He loved to compete. He no doubt challenged us. But that made us better.” Dodd adds that police will take three weeks to complete a toxicology report, but there was no sign of alcohol at the scene of Ventura’s crash. The pitcher was not wearing his seat belt and lost control of his vehicle while driving through dense fog on a mountainous road.
  • Ventura was the opposing starting pitcher in Marte’s last Major League game in 2014, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince notes. In contrast to the fiery Ventura, Marte (formerly one of the top prospects in the game) was “an easygoing guy” who took his career disappointments in stride. Marte never could stick in the big leagues after coming up as a top prospect with the Braves and Indians (and, for a month, the Red Sox), and after stops in the Pirates, Angels and Diamondbacks organizations, he finally excelled in Korea, where he totaled 44 home runs with the KT Wiz between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. “The only thing I know how to do is play baseball,” he told Castrovince. “That’s why I didn’t stop.”

AL Notes: Park, Trumbo, Bass

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Twins first baseman Byung Ho Park’s season ended in August after a wrist injury that required surgery, but he’s now able to work out without restrictions and he has returned to batting practice, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press writes. Park, formerly one of the top power hitters in the KBO, will try to bounce back from a disappointing first season in the Majors in which he batted .191/.275/.409 and struck out 80 times in 244 plate appearances. The Twins owe him a total of $9.25MM through 2019. Here are a couple more quick notes from the American League.

  • A couple details on Mark Trumbo’s market — first, Peter Gammons tweets that the Orioles’ previously reported offer to Trumbo was for three years $40MM, not $50MM-plus. That’s a relatively small offer for a player who swatted 47 home runs last season, but perhaps it’s somewhat reflective of the evident change in the market for one-dimensional sluggers, many of whom linger in free agency. A second, and perhaps related, tidbit is that the Athletics don’t seem likely to be key players in the Trumbo market, as John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group writes. The A’s strongly pursued Edwin Encarnacion, but it doesn’t appear they’re as interested in Trumbo, to whom they were connected last week.
  • Free agent righty Anthony Bass has been in contact with five or six teams, and the Tigers are among them, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets. Bass would prefer an opportunity to start, but he is also open to pitching out of the bullpen. It’s probably unlikely he’ll get a chance to do either in the Major Leagues right away — the 29-year-old is coming off a decent but not overwhelming season with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan, for whom he posted a 3.65 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 over 103 2/3 innings. He last appeared in the big leagues in 2015 with the Rangers.

Cafardo’s Latest: Crawford, Victorino, Manny, Wright

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Here are the highlights from this week’s notes piece by Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

  • One Dodgers official says Carl Crawford’s career is likely over. At last check, the 35-year-old seemed likely to try to make a comeback next season. There’s been no official word from Crawford about any retirement plans, however. The Dodgers designated Crawford for assignment last June, then released him, even though he still had $35MM remaining on his $142MM contract at the time. At the time of his release, he was batting .185/.230/.235 in 87 plate appearances, and he had missed time due to a back injury.
  • Another veteran outfielder, 36-year-old Shane Victorino, has an offer on the table, but his agent is waiting to hear back from his client about whether to take it. The deal would almost certainly be of the minor-league variety. As of last month, Victorino was working out in Las Vegas in preparation for next season. The Cubs released him in May after just nine minor-league games. He last played in the big leagues in 2015 with the Red Sox and Angels, batting a modest .230/.308/.292 in 204 plate appearances.
  • 44-year-old Manny Ramirez recently signed with the independent Kochi Fighting Dogs in Japan, and MLB execs express guarded optimism about the possibility that his comeback attempt could lead him back to bigger things, even though he hasn’t played in the Majors since 2011. “We’ll have to see how his body holds up,” says Braves president of baseball operations John Hart. “If it does, he’s best suited for the American League as a DH at this point, but would I be surprised if he could still hit? Absolutely not.”
  • Red Sox righty Steven Wright is rehabbing his shoulder (which he injured while pinch-running late last season), but he should be ready for Spring Training, Cafardo writes. The knuckleballer last pitched last August 31, finishing his year with a 3.33 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 156 2/3 strong innings.

NL Notes: Moss, Arrieta, Rockies

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Brandon Moss lingers on the free agent market despite a relatively successful season with the Cardinals in 2016. According to ESPN’s David Schoenfield, that’s due not only to the logjam of 1B/OF sluggers still available via free agency, but to the fact that teams would increasingly prefer to find the next Brandon Moss than to sign the existing one at something close to market value. Moss’ own history is a data point in favor of this approach — he struggled for several years after his first taste of the big leagues before performing well as a cheap acquisition for the Athletics, giving the A’s much better value than they likely would have gotten with a big-name signing. Also, in the past several years the game has gotten younger as players have begun their decline phases at earlier ages, meaning that players at Moss’ current age (33) are less likely to be meaningful contributors. Here’s more from the National League.

  • Cubs ace Jake Arrieta doesn’t sound optimistic about his chances of receiving an extension in his last year before free agency eligibility, but his team still says it’s willing to try to negotiate one, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. “Years and dollars are always complicated, but I’m sure we’ll take a stab at it,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told fans today. Arrieta and the Cubs avoided arbitration by agreeing to terms on a one-year, $15.6375MM deal on Friday.
  • The Rockies have been speculatively connected to various catchers this offseason (including, for example, Matt Wieters). But the team is comfortable with its young duo of Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. “We are certainly monitoring the catching market, but we are extremely high and positive on the group that we have and we feel like there is a good, young core there,” says GM Jeff Bridich. Wolters entered the season with no big-league experience and a limited minor-league track record behind the plate, although he hit a reasonable .259/.327/.395 and received good marks for his framing. Murphy has played sparingly in the big leagues, but he batted .327/.361/.647 with 19 homers in 322 plate appearances in the admittedly hitter-friendly context of Triple-A Albuquerque last year.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Saturday

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The filing deadline was yesterday, but deals to avoid arbitration continue to trickle in. Here are the latest contracts from around the league.

  • The Padres have agreed to deals with lefties Christian Friedrich for $1.79MM and Brad Hand for $1.375MM, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Both pitchers have three-plus years of service and are going through the arbitration process for the first time. The 29-year-old Friedrich joined the Padres on a minor-league deal prior to the 2016 season and posted a 4.80 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over 129 1/3 innings. Despite those somewhat unimpressive numbers, the Padres elected to tender him a contract, perhaps thinking of the lack of depth in their 2017 rotation. MLBTR projected he would receive $2MM through the arbitration process this season. The 26-year-old Hand arrived in San Diego in April via a waiver claim and was very useful out of the bullpen, with a 2.92 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 in a league-leading 82 appearances. MLBTR projected he would make $1.4MM in 2017, landing very close to his actual salary.
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