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Cubs Sign John Lackey

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DECEMBER 9: Lackey gets a full no-trade clause, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. Brett Taylor of Baseball Prospectus had tweeted that the deal included at least some such protection.

DECEMBER 8: Chicago has announced the signing.

DECEMBER 4: The Cubs have reached agreement with righty John Lackey on a two-year deal worth $32MM, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Lackey will receive $16MM in each of the next two seasons, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. Yahoo! Sports’ Tim Brown had reported earlier today that the Cubs were intensely interested in Lackey and that the two sides were discussing possibilities for two- and three-year deals. Lackey is represented by Steve Hilliard of Hilliard Sports Management.

USATSI_8850480_154513410_lowresLackey will be a mid-rotation starter in Chicago, pitching behind Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester (a friend from his days with the Red Sox). He had a terrific season with the Cubs’ division rivals in St. Louis in 2015, throwing 218 innings and posting a 2.77 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. He pitched for the league minimum last season due to a clause in the contract he initially signed with the Sox (although the Cardinals did add $2MM in bonuses); it appears his new deal will pay him closer to the $15MM-plus he received in the other years of that contract.

The 37-year-old Lackey is no spring chicken, so it’s no surprise that the Cubs aren’t making a lengthy commitment. After having Tommy John surgery and missing the 2012 season, though, Lackey has been very durable, making a total of 93 starts and pitching over 600 innings in the three years since. His velocity and peripheral numbers have also remained fairly constant in that time frame. That’s not to say, however, that he’s likely to post another 2.77 ERA in Chicago next season — like many Cardinals pitchers last season, his numbers with runners in scoring position were outstanding (opposing batters hit .200/.296/.273 against him). Lackey seems unlikely to sustain those numbers, although he would still be very productive even if he gained half a run or so in ERA.

The Cubs had previously been connected to starting pitchers like Jeff Samardzija (via free agency) and Shelby Miller (via the trade market). They also met with David Price before Price agreed to terms with the Red Sox. Obviously, Lackey costs significantly less than Price did or Samardzija seems likely to, and will not cost the Cubs any prospects other than a draft pick. (Lackey rejected a qualifying offer from the Cardinals, so the Cubs will lose their first-round pick in the 2016, 28th overall. The Cardinals will gain a pick at the end of the first round.) With Lackey in the fold, the Cubs’ rotation lines up as Arrieta, Lester, Lackey, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Central Notes: Cubs, Perez, Nolasco, Reds

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Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein says his team’s deal with Ben Zobrist and its trade of Starlin Castro to the Yankees were a matched pair, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago writes. “This was a multiple-bank shot,” says Epstein. “We needed all the components of both deals to line up. That included the medicals and timing to sync up. We were not counting any chickens before they had hatched.” The pair of moves, in which the Cubs essentially used the money they would have had to pay Castro to fund most of Zobrist’s contract, will not limit the team’s options as its offseason continues to unfold, Epstein says. “Really, all the moves we were pursuing previously are still potentially alive for us,” Epstein said. “We don’t have to act out of need or desperation now. We now can be pretty selective.” Here’s more from the Central divisions.

  • The Rangers have had recent trade talks with the Indians, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. The Rangers are looking for a catcher, Sullivan notes, and the Indians’ Roberto Perez would make sense for them — he’s a good defender with a bit of hitting ability.
  • Ricky Nolasco’s contract with the Twins allows him to block trades to three teams each year, and Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN tweets that those three teams are the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. As Wolfson suggests, that might not matter much right now — Nolasco has two years and $25MM remaining on his contract, and it doesn’t appear likely the Twins could trade him after two ineffective seasons, except perhaps in a swap of bad contracts.
  • The Reds have promoted Nick Krall and Sam Grossman to assistant GM, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Krall had been the Reds’ senior director of baseball operations, and Grossman their senior director of baseball analytics. The team recently promoted assistant GM Dick Williams to GM.

East Notes: Bethancourt, Orioles, Yankees

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After having agreed to terms with catcher Tyler Flowers, the Braves seem likely to trade Christian Bethancourt, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. With Flowers likely to share the Braves’ catching duties with A.J. Pierzynski, Bethancourt now appears to be on the outside looking in. The 24-year-old hit just .200/.225/.290 in 160 big-league plate appearances in 2015 (although he did fare much better at Triple-A, batting .327/.359/.480) and struggled with passed balls. He’s still young and spent several years regarded as a top prospect, so one would think he would be an interesting option for a rebuilding club. Of course, the Braves themselves are rebuilding, and the Flowers signing suggests quite strongly that they’re skeptical, at the very least, of Bethancourt’s long-term prospects. Here are more notes from the East Coast.

  • The Orioles have turned to the trade market to find a starting pitcher to replace Wei-Yin Chen, MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli writes (Twitter links). They have “a few” standing offers out to teams in return for starting pitching. With Chen gone, the Orioles’ top four currently includes Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Kevin Gausman, all of them righties. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun reported this week that the team would prefer to add a lefty, although one option could be using lefty reliever Brian Matusz as a starter. “We’d be OK with five righties, but ideally we’d like to get some balance to our lineup and our rotation,” Orioles exec Dan Duquette said.
  • Other teams have asked about Orioles minor leaguers Jomar Reyes, Chance Sisco and Tanner Scott in trade talks, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski tweets. Reyes, an 18-year-old third baseman, ranks fourth on MLB.com’s list of the top Orioles prospects, with the writeup noting his terrific raw power; Sisco, a catcher, ranks eighth, and Scott, a lefty, ranks 21st.
  • The Yankees’ current plan is to trade Brett Gardner or Andrew Miller for a starting pitcher, or to keep them both for next season, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. Yankees exec Brian Cashman said last weekend that the most likely outcome is that the team will keep both players.

Mets Notes: Murphy, Niese, Walker, Cabrera

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The Mets were surprised by Ben Zobrist’s decision to spurn them for the Cubs, but that doesn’t mean they’re likely to re-sign Daniel Murphy as a backup plan, Mike Puma of the New York Post writes. Puma notes that the Mets would have interest in Murphy on a one- or two-year contract, but they expect him to get four years elsewhere. The Mets are also “lukewarm” on Howie Kendrick and Asdrubal Cabrera. Ian Desmond is another possibility, with Wilmer Flores moving to second, but the Mets are wary about his defense. Puma notes that the Mets could just go with 21-year-old Dilson Herrera at second and focus on upgrading elsewhere. That option strikes me as a fairly good one — Herrera is young, but he’s hit brilliantly in the upper minors and certainly looks like he’ll be ready to start soon if he isn’t already. Here’s more on the Mets.

  • The Mets have listened to trade offers regarding lefty Jon Niese, Puma writes. If they were to deal Niese, they could use Rafael Montero as their fifth starter until Zack Wheeler is ready to return after having had Tommy John surgery in March.
  • The Mets are interested in Pirates second baseman Neil Walker, but aren’t optimistic they’ll be able to swing a deal, Puma tweets. Walker could conceivably take over at second base for the Mets in 2016, after which he’ll be a free agent.
  • The Mets met with Ben Zobrist’s representatives at Octagon yesterday, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York tweets, but the two sides actually talked about other Octagon players. That could mean anything, but via MLBTR’s Agency Database, Octagon clients who could be of interest to the Mets include Cabrera, Gerardo Parra, Fernando Rodney and Edward Mujica. Cabrera and Parra have both recently been connected to the Mets.

Reactions To The Shelby Miller Trade

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Here’s a collection of reactions to the Diamondbacks’ shocking trade of outfielder Ender Inciarte, pitching prospect Aaron Blair and 2015 No. 1 overall draft pick Dansby Swanson to the Braves for pitchers Shelby Miller and Gabe Speier.

  • The Braves’ return for Miller was gigantic, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider-only). Law notes that he’s a fan of Miller’s and that the trade and the Zack Greinke signing make the Diamondbacks much better next season, but that the price the Diamondbacks paid was “comically high.” Swanson is a polished and very talented college player who could move through the minors quickly, the way Michael Conforto and Kyle Schwarber did. Blair gets plenty of ground balls and has “a hint of Brandon Webb” to him. And Law writes that he would rather have six years of Blair or five years of Inciarte for the three years of Miller the Diamondbacks will receive.
  • The deal “looks like a clear, obvious mistake” for the Diamondbacks, FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan writes. If they can make the playoffs a few times or win a championship with Miller, the deal will have worked out well (as, Sullivan suggests, the Royals’ then-controversial trade for James Shields did). But Miller isn’t an ace, says Sullivan, and some of his impact will likely be muted by the loss of Inciarte in the outfield. And then there’s Swanson, who’s the kind of prospect who can be the main piece in a deal for an ace, and Blair. Arizona’s front office hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt that it can properly value its young players, Sullivan writes.
  • The Diamondbacks don’t care that executives around the game think the Braves won the trade in a rout, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. (“Worst trade I’ve ever seen,” said one.) The trade helps the Diamondbacks become contenders, and with Miller joining a core that includes Greinke, Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock, they’re too good to become next year’s Padres — a team that swings for the fences but misses spectacularly.
  • Swanson joins Adrian Gonzalez and Shawn Abner as the only first overall draft picks to be traded while still in the minors by the teams that drafted them, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo writes. (Gonzalez, the No. 1 pick in 2000, was one of three players the Marlins traded for Ugueth Urbina in 2003. The deal was a lopsided one on paper, but Urbina did help the Marlins win the World Series that year.) Swanson’s situation is unusual in that he could be traded at all — it’s been just six months since the Diamondbacks drafted him in the first place. Last December, the Padres agreed to trade Trea Turner to the Nationals as part of the Wil Myers deal, but due to a rule that draftees could not be traded until a year after they signed, he had to remain in the Padres organization until June. MLB changed that rule so that newly drafted players could be traded after the World Series, and Swanson is just the second player to be traded under those circumstances, following pitcher Logan Allen, who went from Boston to San Diego in the Craig Kimbrel deal.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/9/15

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Here are a couple minor moves that were lost in the shuffle during a very busy Tuesday.

  • The Dodgers have signed 25-year-old righty Lisalverto Bonilla to a minor league deal, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. They non-tendered Bonilla earlier this month, six weeks after claiming him from the Rangers. Bonilla missed the entire 2015 season after having Tommy John surgery in the spring, but he struck out 11.1 batters per nine innings at Triple-A Round Rock in 2014 and held his own in the big leagues. He might have some upside as a reliever once he gets healthy.
  • The Angels have signed outfielder Quintin Berry to a minor league deal, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Berry hit .228/.329/.287 in 426 plate appearances with the Red Sox’ Triple-A Pawtucket affiliate in 2015, then caught on briefly with the Cubs at the end of the season. Between the two stops, he stole 37 bases. Though he has only 342 career regular season plate appearances in the big leagues, he played in the postseason with the Tigers in 2012 and Red Sox in 2013, also suiting up with the Cubs in last season’s playoffs. His speed could perhaps make him an October weapon again at some point despite his age (31) and limited offensive ability.

Reactions To The Zobrist Deal & Castro Trade

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Here’s a roundup of reactions to Ben Zobrist’s reported four-year, $56MM pact with the Cubs and their trade of infielder Starlin Castro to the Yankees for Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan.

  • The Cubs are hoping Zobrist’s decreased production last year was due primarily to his knee injury and that he can approach the levels of performance he had previously established, ESPN’s Jonah Keri writes. WAR rated Zobrist as one of baseball’s best players from 2009 through 2014 and, as Keri notes, Zobrist’s versatility added value that WAR doesn’t reflect.
  • Zobrist’s deal should help move the markets for hitters like Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and Alex Gordon, August Fagerstrom of FanGraphs writes. Fagerstrom also notes that the structure of Zobrist’s contract (which only pays him $10MM next season) and the salary-shedding trade of Castro to the Yankees strongly suggest that the Cubs can continue to make moves, particularly given that they were willing to bid heavily on David Price.
  • The Zobrist contract and the Castro deal improve the Cubs, but perhaps not enough to justify the expense, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider-only). Exchanging Castro for Zobrist and Adam Warren should improve the Cubs by “a couple wins” next season, but the end of Zobrist’s contract could be ugly, given that advanced fielding numbers suggest his defense has already declined.
  • Zobrist is a great match for the Cubs, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi writes. Since Zobrist rarely strikes out, he fits well with the strikeout-heavy Cubs offense, and since he can play multiple positions, he’ll help the Cubs find the best spots to use young players like Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez. Meanwhile, they can effectively pay three quarters of Zobrist’s contract with money they previously owed Castro.

NL Central Notes: Chapman, Cubs, Pirates

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The domestic violence allegations against closer Aroldis Chapman will likely make it very difficult for the Reds to trade him, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Police records indicate that, in late October, Chapman allegedly choked his girlfriend, shoved her against a wall and fired eight gunshots in his garage. The allegations appear to have derailed the Reds’ trade of Chapman to the Dodgers. “I know we can’t touch him. Our owner would never go for that. And I’m getting the sense from other teams that they feel the same way,” one NL executive says. “Yeah, we know talent can cover up some character flaws, but domestic violence is such a hot topic now.” Spurred by cases involving Ray Rice and others in the NFL, domestic violence has become a high-profile issue in sports, and a team trading for Chapman would likely now be opening itself to a barrage of criticism. It doesn’t look like MLB’s investigation into Chapman’s situation will be resolved quickly, either. Nightengale notes that Chapman’s situation could lead to changes in the way MLB teams announce player acquisitions, potentially including language about completing background checks as well as physicals. Here are more notes from the NL Central.

  • The Cubs have maintained steady contact with Jason Heyward’s representation, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets. It’s uncertain, however, whether they’ll continue to have interest after agreeing to terms with Ben Zobrist. Heyward has lately been connected to the Giants, Angels and Cardinals.
  • One possibility for the Cardinals if they can’t re-sign Heyward is to sign Alex Gordon for less, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests (Twitter links). With the savings, they could then pursue NPB starter Kenta Maeda. Gordon could play right field in 2016, then move to left if the Cardinals decline Matt Holliday’s option for the following season.
  • The Pirates are interested in re-signing Sean Rodriguez, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. Rodriguez batted a modest .246/.281/.362 with the Bucs in 2015 but helped with his versatility, playing competent defense while splitting his time between first and the corner outfield positions (and also occasionally helping elsewhere in the infield).
  • The Bucs are exploring a variety of possibilities at first base, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. Specifically, Berry writes that the Pirates have expressed interest in Mike Napoli, although the right-handed Napoli seems like a slightly awkward fit given the presence of the right-handed Michael Morse on the Bucs’ roster. After non-tendering Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates are looking for a new first baseman to form a bridge to top prospect Josh Bell.

Gerardo Parra Has Received Three-Year Offers

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Free agent outfielder Gerardo Parra has three-year offers “currently in hand” but would like to receive a four-year deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo writes. It’s unclear which teams have made those three-year offers, although Cotillo notes that the Giants, Royals and Cubs all have serious interest. Giants GM Bobby Evans told MLBTR on Tuesday that he had spoken with Parra’s camp, although he also noted that he had spoken with representatives of other available outfielders as well. FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi recently reported that the Royals liked Parra as a backup plan in case they were unable to retain Alex Gordon. In addition to the Giants, Royals and Cubs, the Mets have also recently been connected to Parra.

The 28-year-old Parra’s relative youth and solid .291/.328/.452 2015 season should help him land a healthy new contract this winter. He also has a strong reputation as a defensive outfielder, even though his fielding statistics took a surprisingly big step backward last season. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in August, a four-year deal wouldn’t be a shock for Parra if teams still view him as having plus defense.

Athletics Pursuing John Axford

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The A’s are “moving in on” free agent righty John Axford, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The Athletics’ signing of Axford would be yet another move to change the composition of their frequently frustrating 2015 bullpen, following their recent agreement to sign Ryan Madson to a three-year deal, recent trades for Liam Hendriks and Marc Rzepczynski, and tonight’s deal of Evan Scribner to Seattle.

Axford elected free agency after the Rockies outrighted him last month. He had been projected to make $6.5MM through the arbitration process. Axford spent the 2015 season closing in Colorado, posting a 4.20 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 55 2/3 innings while recording 25 saves. The 32-year-old Axford’s control troubles have caused him to bounce from team to team in recent years, but his mid- to upper-90s fastball remains formidable, and he has a long and reasonably successful history pitching in the ninth inning (although he likely wouldn’t supplant Sean Doolittle as Oakland’s closer).

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