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Rockies Have Considered Signing Daniel Murphy

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The Rockies have considered the possibility of signing Daniel Murphy to play first base, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The Mets did, of course, extend Murphy a qualifying offer. The Rockies’ top pick — fourth overall — is protected, although they would have to give up their Comp Round A pick he rejects the qualifying offer and they sign him.

The timeline of the Rockies’ interest in Murphy is unclear, but if they’ve seriously considered signing him, it’s possible they could be planning to make a surprising impact this winter. Murphy doesn’t figure to be cheap — MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicts he’ll get four years and $56MM. The market at first is rather thin, though, and Murphy does figure to be less expensive than the top first base option, Chris Davis, who should get at least twice as much. Korean slugger Byung-ho Park is another possibility, although it’s not yet clear which team won the rights to negotiate with him.

The Rockies headed into 2015 with Justin Morneau topping their depth chart at first base, but they declined their mutual option on him after he hit .310/.363/.458 in 49 games but struggled to stay healthy. Ben Paulsen ended up playing at first for much of the year, but the Rockies’ interest in Murphy suggests they won’t be wedded to Paulsen as their starting first baseman.

Murphy, of course, figures to draw interest from any number of teams, many of whom want him to play second or third, where his bat will have a greater impact. (The average first baseman last year hit .259/.336/.444, not significantly worse than Murphy’s .281/.322/.449, although Murphy did hit in a tough home park.) It will be interesting to see whether the Rockies are willing to pay a premium for Murphy’s bat (and postseason heroics) when other teams might be able to get better value from him by having him play elsewhere on the diamond.

Royals Notes: Starters, Gordon, Holland

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Even though the Royals just won the World Series, they acknowledge they have flaws to address this offseason, including the need for their starters to pitch more innings, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. “We have to address the issue of innings from our starters,” says GM Dayton Moore. “It’s important to get more innings out of our starters.” Royals starters pitched just 912 2/3 innings this season, last in the American League, and as Moore notes that can strain a bullpen, even a terrific one, over a full season. The Royals currently have Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy and Kris Medlen in the fold for next season, and they’ll be on the lookout for another starter this winter. Here’s more out of Kansas City.

  • Royals owner David Glass says the team is interested in Alex Gordon but doesn’t yet know what it will offer him, Flanagan writes (Twitter links). Somewhat ominously, perhaps, for Royals fans, Glass adds that’s he accepts the possibility that Gordon could sign elsewhere. “We want what is best for Alex,” he says. “If another team offers him a big contract that is out of our range, then he needs to do what is best.”
  • When the Royals non-tendered injured reliever Greg Holland, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that the team would consider re-signing him to a two-year deal. Via Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter), Moore confirms exactly that — the team would like to keep Holland with the Royals on a deal lasting more than a year.

Cubs Notes: Qualifying Offers, Samardzija, Fowler

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The Cubs will likely pursue top starters this offseason, and Jeff Samadzija is a possibility as well, Paul Sullivan and Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune write. Samardzija, along with highly ranked pitchers like Zack Greinke and Jordan Zimmermann, were among 20 players who were extended qualifying offers. But GM Jed Hoyer says the qualifying offer won’t be a decisive factor for the Cubs, who currently have the 28th pick in next year’s draft. “(Losing a compensatory) draft pick is important. We’ve built this team through the draft in large part, and through trades,” says Hoyer. “But when you’re in a winning window, you look at that consideration differently than you might have when you’re building.” Here’s more from Chicago.

  • ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers has more from Hoyer, who confirms that the Cubs will be hunting for not just one starter this offseason, but several. “We want to add at least one [major leaguer] but we do need to impact our starting pitching depth,” says Hoyer. “We will look to add multiple starting pitchers at various levels of the organization. That’s the best way to say it.” That means that, in addition to elite starting pitchers, the Cubs will also be in the market for less expensive ones. Rogers adds that the Cubs’ focus on pitching this winter means they aren’t likely to spend heavily on Dexter Fowler, and won’t pursue an expensive replacement if he departs.
  • The Cubs are, however, “doing homework” on top free agent outfielders Jason Heyward and Alex Gordon, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago writes. Given their focus on pitching, it would be surprising, to say the least, if the Cubs signed either player, especially since they’re both corner outfielders and they Cubs have two promising youngsters in Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler currently penciled into the corners. It does, however, make sense for the Cubs to do their due diligence on just about everyone, given that they should have a fair amount of money to spend.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/7/15

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game (including a number of roster additions that actually took place yesterday).

  • The Mets have outrighted catcher Anthony Recker and infielder Wilfredo Tovar, as ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin notes. Both players have become free agents. Recker was the Mets’ backup catcher in 2013 and 2014, but with Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki now at the big-league level, the Mets no longer had a spot for him. He’s hit .185/.260/.334 in parts of five seasons. The 24-year-old Tovar hit .283/.327/.356 in hitter-friendly Triple-A Las Vegas this season while playing shortstop, second and third. In 2013 and 2014, he collected a combined 22 plate appearances in the big leagues.
  • The Mets have added lefty Josh Smoker to their 40-man roster, Rubin tweets. Once a top draft pick of the rival Nationals, Smoker experienced a surprising rebound as a reliever in the New York system, reining in his command issues and putting up double-digit strikeout-per-nine numbers at the A, High-A, and Double-A levels. The Mets obviously feel he can contribute in 2016, and made today’s move to prevent him from qualifying for minor league free agency.
  • The Indians have announced that they’ve outrighted catcher Adam Moore and that Moore is now a free agent. They also activated pitchers T.J. House and Nick Hagadone from the 60-day DL. The 31-year-old Moore has appeared in all of the past seven seasons in the big leagues, although he’s collected only 45 total plate appearances in the past five. He spent most of the 2015 season with Triple-A Columbus, batting .282/.328/.397.
  • The Royals have added 27-year-old outfielder Jose Martinez to their 40-man roster, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star writes. The 6-foot-7 Martinez broke out in his ninth year in the minors, batting a ridiculous .384/.461/.563 in 396 plate appearances with Triple-A Omaha. (None of the numbers in that sentence are typos.) That .384 figure isn’t sustainable, surely, although Martinez does have a good record of hitting for contact in the minors, even as he struggled to establish himself in the White Sox and Braves systems. By adding him to their 40-man, the Royals have prevented him from seeking minor league free agency. McCullough notes that many scouts consider Martinez an organizational player. It’s easy to understand why the Royals protected him, however, given the absurd season he just had.
  • The Cardinals have announced that they’ve added outfielder Anthony Garcia to their 40-man roster. The move keeps the 23-year-old Garcia from becoming a minor league free agent after a season in which he hit a strong .283/.391/.477 in 410 plate appearances split between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis.
  • The Orioles have announced that they’ve selected the contract of 27-year-old lefty Chris Jones. Jones took a significant step forward in his ninth season in the minors in 2015, pitching 150 innings for Triple-A Norfolk with a 2.94 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Week In Review: 10/31/15 – 11/6/15

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Here’s a look back at last week at MLBTR.

Key Moves

Signings

Options

Non-tenders

Claims

Outrights

Retired

Released

  • Yankees – P Chris Martin (link; Martin will sign with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan)

Other

Jarred Cosart Switches To Boras Corporation

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Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart has changed agents and is now represented by the Boras Corporation, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. The 25-year-old Cosart is not yet eligible for arbitration this winter, but he has just over two years of service time and could be eligible next offseason if he spends most of 2016 in the Majors.

In 2015, Cosart split his time between Miami and the minors. In the big leagues, he pitched 69 2/3 innings, working mostly as a starter, and posted a 4.52 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9. Along the way, he also missed a chunk of the season due to vertigo. He’s already been involved in two significant trades in his young career, heading from Philadelphia to Houston in the Hunter Pence deal in 2011 and then to Miami as the key piece the Marlins received when they traded Colin Moran and Jake Marisnick.

Cosart’s agency change is now included in the MLBTR Agency Database, which lists over 2,000 players. If you notice any significant omissions or inaccuracies, please contact us at mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Offseason Outlook: St. Louis Cardinals

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Check out all the entries in the 2015-16 Offseason Outlook series here.

After racking up more regular-season wins than any other team in 2015, the Cardinals are set to contend again, as they usually do. First, though, they’ll need to address Jason Heyward’s impending free agency.

Guaranteed Contracts

Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections by MLB Trade Rumors)

Contract Options

  • Jaime Garcia, SP: 2016 club option for $11.5MM with $500K buyout (exercised). The Cardinals also have a $12MM 2017 option with a $500K buyout
  • Jonathan Broxton, RP: 2016 club option for $9MM with $1MM buyout (declined)

Free Agents

After winning 100 games and then losing in the NLDS, the Cardinals will try to fly even faster into the wind this offseason. Whatever solutions they come up with to their immediate roster issues, it will be difficult for them to continue to perform at such a toweringly high level. Of course, they should still be a strong team. The problem of how best to maintain a 100-win team is a great one to have.

The possibility of losing Heyward looms large. Heyward, acquired last winter after the tragic death of Oscar Taveras, had the kind of season he usually has — his offensive numbers were, on the surface, a bit disappointing, but he contributed all sorts of value with his fielding and baserunning, frequently changing games with his glove and arm. His youth and broad skill set will make him a mint in free agency, although he could receive somewhat less per season than the usual top free agent might. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently predicted Heyward would receive a ten-year, $200MM contract, perhaps with an opt-out. Any contract at or near that level is a risk, and the Cardinals will have plenty of competition, but they could certainly bid for Heyward at that price, given their modest payroll commitments in 2017 and beyond.

If Heyward signs elsewhere, the Cardinals can be flexible. They could pursue a lower-cost free agent outfielder, but it’s more likely they’ll simply go with veterans Matt Holliday and Jon Jay plus some combination of young outfielders Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty and Tommy Pham, all of whom had surprisingly strong seasons in 2015. The Cardinals could then spend their available funds on other positions.

One of those positions could be starting pitcher, but likely only if they’re acquiring a top-flight player. The Cardinals have Lance Lynn, Michael Wacha and a healthy Adam Wainwright under control for 2016, along with Jaime Garcia, whose option they’ve already decided to exercise after a successful comeback season. They also have Carlos Martinez, although a season-ending shoulder strain makes his short-term future somewhat uncertain. Their depth options, like Tyler Lyons and Tim Cooney, are also fairly good ones, and top prospect Alex Reyes could potentially enter the picture late in the season. So despite the impending departure of John Lackey, there’s little reason for the Cardinals to pursue an innings-eater type.

They could, however, conceivably aim higher — they’ve already been mentioned as a possible bidder for this winter’s top free agent, David Price. Pursuing a free agent like Price (or Heyward, for that matter) does seem a bit tricky from a budgetary perspective, at least in the short term; the Cardinals’ Opening Day payroll was $122MM in 2015, and between their $90MM or so in existing commitments for 2016 and arbitration-year salaries on top of that, they don’t appear to have much room for a highly paid player. Given their very limited future commitments ($65MM in 2016, $33MM in 2017, and practically nothing after that), though, it would seem possible for the Cardinals to increase their payroll somewhat for 2016 with the understanding that they can limit their spending in the future if they need to.

Besides, if the Cardinals were to decide to pursue top free agents, they would have ways to trim payroll. In addition to non-tendering Brandon Moss, Peter Bourjos and Steve Cishek (all of whom had subpar 2015 seasons), the Cardinals could conceivably clear payroll space by trading someone like Garcia, especially if they sign a top starter. Garcia had a brilliant comeback season in 2015 and is well worth his option, but the Cardinals could look at his injury history and figure they might be able to get more certainty by spending their money differently. The Cardinals have also already declined Jonathan Broxton’s option, and they could also attempt to save a bit by non-tendering light-hitting backup catcher Tony Cruz.

The Cardinals could also potentially upgrade at first base, particularly if Heyward leaves. They were 25th in the big leagues in home runs last season, with 137, and first could represent one way to address that problem. Chris Davis would represent a huge improvement, and Korean slugger Byung-Ho Park might be a lower-cost option. Of the two, Park might be somewhat more likely — the Cards bid on Jung-Ho Kang last offseason, and GM John Mozeliak said at the time that the organization was interested in delving further into the market for Asian players. If the Cardinals do re-sign Heyward, they could pass on first base upgrades and have Piscotty spell Matt Adams there on occasion, particularly against lefties. Adams could also become a trade candidate in that scenario — he didn’t hit well in 2015, but a team with a bigger hole at first (or a need for DH) could have interest in taking a flyer on his bat.

Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist and Seth Maness will all presumably be back in the bullpen. The Cardinals can also hope for more from Jordan Walden, who missed most of 2015 with a shoulder injury. A variety of other pitchers, including Sam Tuivailala, Miguel Socolovich and Lyons, could also contribute. It wouldn’t be a surprise to the Cardinals add a lefty to complement Siegrist, though, particularly if they plan on saving Lyons to start if needed. Lefty Randy Choate is a free agent, and the Cards might benefit from adding someone who they trust a little more against righties. Someone like Antonio Bastardo or Tony Sipp would make sense, although those pitchers figure to be in demand this offseason, with a relatively thin group of lefty relievers on the market. If the Cardinals can’t find someone from outside the organization, minor league southpaw Dean Kiekhefer could be a possibility. The Cards will also likely at least consider re-signing righty Carlos Villanueva, who was effective in multi-inning stints last season, although the need for him would be lessened somewhat by replacing Choate with a lefty capable of pitching full innings.

The Cards will also need to address their bench somewhat. They have solid outfield depth, but they’re a bit thin on catching and infielders. At catcher, Cody Stanley would probably have been the next man up if Cruz departs, but he’ll be serving an 80-game PED suspension for much of next season. The Cardinals can also use a somewhat stronger backup catcher than they’ve had recently, too, with Yadier Molina getting older (he’s now 32) and coming off a subpar offensive season. And now that the Cardinals have outrighted Pete Kozma, they only have Greg Garcia as an obvious backup to Jhonny Peralta and Kolten Wong, unless they want to push Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz to the big leagues after only 58 Triple-A plate appearances (or use minor league vet Dean Anna, who remains on their 40-man roster even though they showed little interest in him last season).

Beyond the roster tweaking, though, a key problem for the Cardinals this season is how to maintain, or even approximate, the amazing pitching results they got in 2015. The Cards’ 2.82 team ERA ran a full run behind their xFIP and about three quarters of a run behind their SIERA. They held batters to a .275 wOBA with runners on base and .266 with runners in scoring position. Each mark was at least 20 points better than their nearest competitor. They left 79.4% of runners on base, more than four percentage points better than the next-best team. Ed Feng of the Power Rank calculates that the Cardinals saved 105 runs more than expected via the clustering (or lack thereof) of their opponents’ hits.

The Cardinals gave about a third of that cluster luck back on offense. Still, as Ben Lindbergh of Grantland suggested in August, it’s difficult to find reasons that fully explain how the Cardinals’ pitchers got such great results last season. It’s probably unwise, therefore, to expect them to do so again in 2016, just as the Cards’ 2014 offense didn’t maintain anything resembling the amazing .330 average with runners in scoring position they’d posted the previous year.

Obviously, though, there isn’t much the Cardinals can do to address that problem other than to attempt to upgrade their roster the way they normally would. And, of course, they won 100 games last year, and it generally takes some good fortune to be that successful, even if you’re great. The Cardinals could win ten fewer games in 2016 and still be competitive. If they’re able to re-sign Heyward, or compensate for his departure with additions elsewhere, they should be right in the thick of the NL Central race yet again.

Quick Hits: GMs, Johnson, Honeycutt

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GM Alex Anthopoulos’ departure from the Blue Jays’ GM job is connected to the phenomenon of “title inflation” thoughout the industry, FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron writes. Previously, the GM was typically the top executive in charge of baseball personnel decisions, but increasingly, teams are hiring former GMs to be presidents of baseball operations, to whom GMs report. For example, Theo Epstein is the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, while Jed Hoyer is their GM. The Red Sox, Dodgers and several other teams have similar arrangements. In Anthopoulous’ case, the Blue Jays are replacing former president Paul Beeston with Mark Shapiro, who was formerly the Indians’ GM. Under Beeston, who did not have a baseball operations background, Anthopoulos had a great deal of authority to make player personnel moves. The Blue Jays have denied that the nature of Anthopoulos’ job would have changed under Shapiro, and there appear to have been personality differences between Anthopoulos and Shapiro that contributed to Anthopoulos’ decision to leave. One potential portion of the problem, though, likely was the perception (or reality) that the Blue Jays installed a baseball operations employee above Anthopoulos. As Cameron notes, it’s becoming increasingly common for teams to do just that, reducing the power of GMs for a dozen organizations around the game. Perhaps, Cameron suggests, Anthopoulos’ position with his next club could be president of baseball operations. Here’s more from around the game.

  • Red Sox lefty Brian Johnson was unharmed in a carjacking yesterday in Florida, Florida Today reports (hat tip: CBS Sports’ David Brown). Johnson was with a group of people at a convenience store when the accused assailant allegedly approached a member of Johnson’s party, demanded the keys to the vehicle in which Johnson was riding, and shot a bullet into the ground, a fragment of which hit one of Johnson’s companions in the leg. Gould was then arrested after a high-speed chase. Johnson, who MLB.com currently ranks the Sox’ fourth-best prospect, is coming off a successful season at Triple-A Pawtucket and made his big-league debut in July.
  • Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt is about to sign an extension with to stay with the Dodgers, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi reports (Twitter links). The plan is for Honeycutt to remain as a pitching coach for two more seasons, then transition into a special assistant role. The Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly recently parted ways, of course, but the Dodgers hope that retaining Honeycutt will help the team ease the transition to a new manager.

Indians Notes: Coaches, Payroll

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The Indians are keeping Terry Francona’s entire big-league coaching staff for 2016, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes. That means they’ll retain bench coach Brad Mills, pitching coach Mickey Callaway, hitting coaches Ty Van Burkleo and Matt Quatraro, first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., third base coach Mike Sarbaugh and bullpen coach Jason Bere for next season. The White Sox contacted Alomar about their bench coach job this offseason, but he declined to pursue the job and signed a two-year extension, plus an option for a third year, to remain in Cleveland. Here’s more on the Indians.

  • The Indians don’t have much money available for splashy free agent signings this offseason, so they’ll need to look to the trade market to upgrade, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com tweets. It should, perhaps, be noted that the Indians only have about limited obligations for 2016 after having an Opening Day payroll around $88MM last season. Some of the difference will be used to cover salaries for arbitration-eligible players, but they could still have over $20MM to work with this offseason if they’re going to get back to the $88MM range by Opening Day. (Whether $88MM will represent the Opening Day target for next season, of course, remains to be seen, and the answer might depend somewhat on how the team accounts for the money and contracts changing hands in last summer’s complex Michael Bourn/Nick Swisher/Chris Johnson deal.) That won’t allow them to be bidders for top free agents, but it would allow them at least a bit of flexibility on the free agent market. Of course, they could conceivably use that flexibility to take on salary in a trade as well.
  • The Indians haven’t had the recent run of success the Royals have had, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com writes. One reason for that, though, is that the Indians mostly also haven’t been as bad as the Royals were from 1997 through 2012, when they lost 90-plus games 12 times. That disastrous stretch netted the Royals a number of top draft picks, which they used to acquire players like Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Zack Greinke (who they later traded for a package that included Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar). The Indians, meanwhile, have quietly had three straight winning seasons, and they’ve lost 90 or more games only four times since 1997.

Heyman’s Latest: Blue Jays, Wieters, Gordon, Yost, Cespedes

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Here’s the latest from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman:

  • Executives throughout the game hold new Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro in high regard, and they’re surprised that GM Alex Anthopoulos would have the fortitude to walk away from a five-year extension when there don’t seem to be any other similar jobs out there. They do note, however, that the deliberative Shapiro and the fast-thinking Anthopoulos seemed like they might not work together well. The course of their discussions following Shapiro’s hire might demonstrate why — Heyman writes that Shapiro felt like he was being appropriately supportive, while the overworked Anthopoulos might have needed a little more encouragement. With Anthopoulos gone, Shapiro will likely hire assistant GM Tony La Cava, who Shapiro once worked with in Cleveland, as interim GM. La Cava and Indians exec Ross Atkins could be candidates for the permanent position. Manager John Gibbons, meanwhile, will likely return next season.
  • There’s a “decent chance” the Orioles will extend a qualifying offer to Matt Wieters. If they do, they’ll hope he doesn’t accept it, but they might think there’s a good chance he doesn’t, given that Scott Boras is his agent.
  • The Royals would like to keep Alex Gordon and could offer him a four-year deal, although Gordon might be able to get five from another team. The Cubs, White Sox, Astros and Orioles are among the many teams that could be interested.
  • The Royals appear likely to look for an outfielder and a pitcher this winter, although they know they don’t have a chance of re-signing Johnny Cueto. They could also extend the contract of manager Ned Yost after the season, and GM Dayton Moore’s contract could also be a priority. Both are signed through 2016.
  • The Mets appear increasingly likely to allow Yoenis Cespedes to depart via free agency, Heyman writes. The Mets could then focus on spending their available funds on keeping their young pitchers.

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