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Angels’ Arte Moreno On Joc Trade, Rotation, Eppler

By Connor Byrne | February 18, 2020 at 12:59am CDT

The trade that would have sent Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling to the Angels for infielder Luis Rengifo and outfield prospect Andy Pages appears to be dead. A report last week indicated Angels owner Arte Moreno was the one who put the kibosh on it. Moreno confirmed Monday that he did shoot down the LA-LA trade, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, though he wasn’t willing to say why.

“It wasn’t all impatience. There were other things,” Moreno said of the causes for the failed swap, which fell through as the Dodgers waited to acquire Mookie Betts and David Price from the Red Sox (that ended up happening). Now, according to Moreno,  the Angels have “moved on.”

Had the Angels gotten Stripling, he’d have looked like one of their most talented starters on paper. The club entered the offseason needing rotation help, and it has added a couple durable veterans in Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy. It looks as if the the Angels continue to need front-end aid, though, especially with Shohei Ohtani set to stay off the mound for at least the first month and a half of the season.

The Halos did make a legitimate attempt to sign the No. 1 free agent available, right-handed ace Gerrit Cole, as they offered him $300MM over eight years back in December. But the Southern California native instead accepted the Yankees’ record-setting offer of nine years and $324MM. Moreno discussed the Angels’ Cole pursuit, indicating they simply couldn’t match the Yankees’ aggressiveness. “Walking in there and you knew, no matter what I bid, we’re going to get outbid,” he said. “We had a pretty big number out there.”

With the season getting closer, it may now be too late for the Angels to land an impact starter. However, if all goes well into the summer and the Angels are contending, Moreno’s hopeful they’ll find one via trade. The team has “the financial flexibility” for such an addition, according to Moreno, who noted it’s seeking someone “who can substantially help us, not a No. 4 or No. 5.”

General manager Billy Eppler may be tasked with finding that type of starter in a few months, but his future’s uncertain beyond 2020. The Angels exercised his option for this season late last year, though they haven’t made the playoffs since hiring Eppler before 2016, so he could be on shaky ground. It doesn’t seem they’re going to rush into an extension for him just yet. Rather, “As a group, we need to win,” said Moreno, who added, “I probably should fire myself” for the franchise’s recent performance.

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Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Billy Eppler Gerrit Cole Joc Pederson Luis Rengifo Ross Stripling

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This Date In Transactions History: Odo On The Move

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2020 at 11:57pm CDT

It has been exactly two years since the Twins bolstered their roster with a trade that continues to benefit their rotation. On Feb. 17, 2018, the Twins acquired right-hander Jake Odorizzi from the Rays for shortstop prospect Jermaine Palacios.

Jake Odorizzi | Ben Ludeman-USA TODAY Sports

Odorizzi had two years of control left at the time of the deal and was entering a season in which he’d earn a reasonable $6.3MM via arbitration. The trade brought an end to months of rumors centering on Odorizzi, who garnered interest from a variety of clubs leading up to the Twins’ acquisition. It was already the third trade in Odorizzi’s career, as the 2008 second-round pick of the Brewers previously went from the Brew Crew to the Royals in a 2010 blockbuster and from Kansas City to Tampa Bay in another headline-grabber two years later.

Then entering his age-28 season, Odorizziwas coming off a successful four-year run when he arrived in Minnesota. From his first full season in 2014 through 2017, he registered 120 starts and 668 1/3 innings (30 and 167 per year, respectively) of 3.81 ERA ball. ERA indicators such as FIP (4.23) and xFIP (4.33) weren’t as favorable, but they still painted him as a quality big league starter.

Odorizzi helped his cause by logging 8.31 K/9 against 2.96 BB/9 in his four full years as a Ray, but he generated groundballs at a meager 33.9 percent clip. He still managed to dodge home runs as a member of Tampa Bay, with which he gave them up on just over 11 percent of fly balls. But Odorizzi yielded long balls more than ever in 2017, when he surrendered them a career-worst 15.5 percent of the time. He also posted a relatively bloated walk rate (3.83 per nine, compared to 7.97 K/9) en route to a 4.14 ERA with a far worse 5.43 FIP/5.10 xFIP over 143 1/3 frames.

Although Odorizzi’s last season as a Ray was mediocre, he has rebounded as a Twin. Minnesota’s version has worked to a 3.78 ERA/3.88 FIP across 62 starts and 323 1/3 innings. He still isn’t inducing grounders that often, having done so at a 31.5 percent rate, yet has recorded sub-9 percent HR-to-FB marks in both seasons with the club. Odorizzi was especially effective in 2019, which went down as his first All-Star campaign. He amassed 159 innings of 3.51 ERA/3.36 FIP ball to help the Twins rack up 101 wins and take home their first AL Central title since 2010. Along the way, Odorizzi set career highs in K/9 (10.08, against 3.00 BB/9) and swinging-strike percentage (12.7), thanks in part to a noticeable increase in velocity. His fastball sat in the 90-91 mph range in previous years, but the mean jumped to 92.9 last season.

Once his personal-best campaign ended, Odorizzi looked likely to parlay his success with the Twins into a lucrative multiyear deal. Instead, though, he decided to accept the Twins’ $17.8MM qualifying offer, setting him up to stay with the hopeful World Series contenders for at least one more season. The Twins, for their part, are now in line to get three years of an important rotation cog for the affordable sum of $33.6MM (including 2018-19; Odorizzi made $9.5MM last season).

On the other hand, the Rays haven’t made out as well in the trade. Owing in part to its innovative opener strategy, the team has carried on just fine without Odorizzi, having combined for 186 wins since parting with him. The Rays made the playoffs last year and look like strong bets to challenge for the postseason again in 2020. However, it’s highly questionable whether they’ll ever receive any contributions from Palacios.

Twenty-one years old at the time of the trade, Palacios ranked as one of the Twins’ 30 best prospects during his time with the franchise, though he simply hasn’t panned out in the minors with the Rays. Palacios has reached Double-A ball in each of his two seasons with the Tampa Bay organization, but he has combined for a meek .192/.255/.272 line with three homers in 320 plate appearances at that level.

Always willing to experiment, the Rays did dabble in using Palacios as a pitcher in the minors last season, and he did show encouraging velocity during that brief stint on the mound. Still, it’s anyone’s guess whether he’ll make it to the majors in any capacity. Meanwhile, the Twins will go forward content with landing one of their most valuable starters for a prospect who hasn’t found his niche to this point.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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MLBTR Originals Minnesota Twins Tampa Bay Rays This Date In Transactions History Jake Odorizzi

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Latest On Miles Mikolas

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2020 at 11:12pm CDT

Right-hander Miles Mikolas, one of the Cardinals’ top starters, is dealing with flexor issues at the outset of spring training. Mikolas underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection after last season, but it’s possible he’ll need another one, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Surgery doesn’t seem to be on the table at this point, though the Cardinals should make an announcement on Mikolas’ status in the “coming days,” Hummel writes.

This is no doubt a less-than-ideal start to the spring for Mikolas and the Cardinals, who made a significant investment in him a year ago. Then fresh off a great return season to majors after dominating in Japan from 2015-17, the Cardinals signed Mikolas to a four-year, $68MM extension in February 2019. That deal won’t take effect until this year, giving St. Louis all the more reason to hope he’ll get past his current injury troubles unscathed.

Now 31 years old, Mikolas didn’t thrive in 2019 to the same extent he did in the previous season. He performed well nevertheless, though, and was perhaps the Cardinals’ most effective starter after budding star Jack Flaherty. Mikolas turned in 184 innings of 4.16 ERA/4.27 FIP ball with 7.04 K/9, 1.57 BB/9 and a 47.4 percent groundball rate.

If healthy, Mikolas will again join Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson in the Cardinals’ rotation. Meanwhile, Carlos Martinez figures to head back to the rotation after a year spent as a reliever. That’s a strong quintet on paper, but if Mikolas or someone else ends up unavailable to open 2020, the recently signed Kwang-hyun Kim could have the inside track to begin as the No. 5 for the reigning NL Central champions.

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AL Notes: C. Davis, Choo, Tigers

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2020 at 10:53pm CDT

Then among the most threatening sluggers in baseball, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis re-signed with the team on a seven-year, $161MM contract prior to the 2016 campaign. Davis was coming off a 47-home run, 5.4-fWAR season at the time, but his output has tanked since he signed his contract. The lefty swinger was stunningly unproductive from 2018-19 – an 854-plate appearance run in which he hit .172/.256/.308 with 28 HRs. Davis easily ranked last in the majors in fWAR in the process, accounting for minus-4.5.

The 33-year-old Davis, cognizant of how far he has fallen with the Orioles, admitted Monday (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) that he recently considered retiring. “I’d be lying if I told you that wasn’t at least talked about toward the end of the season last year and this offseason,” he said. “I know what I’m capable of. I know what I expect of myself and I don’t want to continue to just struggle and be a below-average, well below-average producer at the plate. And I don’t think that’s fair to these guys. And I don’t think, honestly, it’s fair to our fans, or to anybody that’s associated with Baltimore.”

For now, Davis is hanging around and hoping for a better showing in 2020. If that doesn’t occur, though, it’ll be interesting to see if he walks away or the Orioles cut him. The soon-to-be 34-year-old still has another $69MM left on his contract (including deferrals), so an early breakup wouldn’t be easy for either side.

  • Speaking of uncertain futures, Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is going into the last season of his own lucrative the deal – the seven-year, $130MM contract he inked with the club before the 2014 campaign. It could prove to be the final season in the majors for the 37-year-old, who hasn’t decided whether to play in 2021, per Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. If Choo does elect to play past this year, though, he’d like to remain a Ranger, according to Wilson. Overall, the gamble the Rangers took on Choo in free agency hasn’t necessarily worked out as planned, but he remains a solid offensive player and an on-base machine. Choo slashed .265/.371/.455 with 24 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 660 trips to the plate last season.
  • Tigers left-hander Joey Wentz halted his live bullpen session Monday as a result of forearm soreness, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes. Wentz brushed it off as fatigue, though it could still be worth monitoring going forward. After all, Wentz is one of the most promising arms in the Tigers’ system. The 22-year-old joined the organization last July in a trade with the Braves centering on reliever Shane Greene. Wentz then finished the season in dominant fashion as a member of the Tigers’ Double-A team, with which he pitched to a 2.10 ERA and put up 13.0 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 across 25 2/3 innings.
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NL Notes: Senzel, Pirates, Cespedes, Cardinals

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2020 at 10:12pm CDT

As of a few weeks ago, the Reds were reportedly “considering” trade scenarios centering on Nick Senzel. However, president of baseball operations Dick Williams then suggested the outfielder/second baseman isn’t going anywhere. That’s fine with Senzel, who said Monday (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer): “I’m happy to be here. I want to be here for my whole career. I want to play in Cincinnati for these fans and my teammates. Any time those talks come up or anything, there is literally nothing I can do about it. I have no control over it. The less I worry about it, the better.” Senzel then noted trade rumors are “part of the business, especially when top names are getting thrown around.” Indeed, it never seemed as if the Reds would move Senzel during the winter without getting back a star-caliber player in return.

Here’s more from the National League…

  • To say this has been an offseason low on impact acquisitions for the Pirates would be an understatement. They’ve signed three major league free agents – catcher Luke Maile and a pair of outfielders Jarrod Dyson and Guillermo Heredia – all for modest prices. Thanks to its offseason decisions, including the trade of center fielder Starling Marte to Arizona, Pittsburgh’s projected to enter 2020 with a microscopic payroll of $60MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. It’s not an ideal way to build a team, but the Pirates are in a rebuild. Once (and if) the Pirates begin to turn things around, new general manager Ben Cherington expects to have more money at his disposal. “I’m confident [payroll] will increase over time as we get deeper into our team build, there’s opportunity and we get closer with those opportunities,” Cherington stated Sunday (via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). “I’m confident we’ll have the means to build a winning team and add pieces. We’re not putting any kind of date on when that could happen. We’re going to try and get there as soon as we can. That’s an every-day thing.” The Pirates have come under fire for a lack of spending, though Cherington added that he’s “really confident that the total investment in baseball operations is not just enough but really competitive within the industry,”
  • It has been a trying couple years for Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, a former star. The 34-year-old missed a sizable chunk of time from 2017-18 and didn’t take the field at all last season as a result of various injuries, including one suffered during a run-in with a wild boar. The Mets then amended Cespedes’ contract back in December, dropping his 2020 salary from $29.5MM to $6MM. Cespedes is now working to return to form in the wake of a long layoff, but he wasn’t cooperative with the media Monday after the Mets’ first full-squad workout, as Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News relays. Asked if he’d discuss his offseason, his general health or the boar encounter, he offered, “Not today, not tomorrow, not at all this year.”
  • With Jordan Hicks recovering from Tommy John surgery and Carlos Martinez on his way back to their rotation, the Cardinals will hold closer auditions all spring, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Andrew Miller, Ryan Helsley, John Gant, Giovanny Gallegos, John Brebbia, Alex Reyes and offseason signing Kwang-Hyun Kim could all be candidates to land the job, though the Cardinals may choose to fill the role by committee. “Having one guy who is a lock down guy is fine,” manager Mike Shildt told Goold. “If we don’t have that then clearly the multiple options are going to be necessary.”
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Cincinnati Reds New York Mets Notes Pittsburgh Pirates St. Louis Cardinals Nick Senzel Yoenis Cespedes

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Danny Santana Changes Representation

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2020 at 9:22pm CDT

Rangers utilityman Danny Santana has changed representation and is now a client of Gene Mato of Mato Sports Management, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

For the 29-year-old Santana, the agency switch comes on the heels of one of his most productive seasons. He burst on the scene as a member of the Twins in 2014, totaling 3.9 fWAR in his 430-plate appearance rookie campaign, but then struggled in the next four years. Between the Twins and the Braves from 2015-18, Santana batted a disastrous .219/.256/.319 line with six home runs over 735 plate appearances. Just three hitters managed a worse fWAR than Santana’s minus-2.3 during that span.

Thanks to his years-long stretch of posting subpar numbers, Santana had to settle for a minor league contract with the Rangers in December 2018. The signing has worked out swimmingly for both sides so far. The switch-hitting Santana wound up totaling 511 PA of .283/.324/.534 of offense at the big league level last season. He was one of seemingly countless MLB players to power up during a home run-happy season, bashing 28 HRs en route to a 20-20 year (he also had 21 stolen bases) and 1.9 fWAR. However, it was alarming that Santana struck out in just about 30 percent of trips to the plate while walking a little under 5 percent of the time.

While skepticism may be warranted in regards to Santana’s 2019 offensive outburst, he should at least continue to give the Rangers a versatile, affordable performer. He saw quite a bit of action at every infield position and all outfield spots last season, and remains someone Texas expects to lean heavily on heading into 2020. Santana’s due to make $3.6MM this year – his second-last season of arbitration eligibility.

Santana’s change in representation will be reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains agent info on thousands of Major League and Minor League players. If you see any errors or omissions within, please let us know: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

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MLBTR Poll: Stripping The Astros’ 2017 Title

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2020 at 7:20pm CDT

It doesn’t take a die-hard baseball fan to know the past few weeks have been an utter nightmare for the Astros. The club was among the game’s elite from 2017-19, but its accomplishments from that span are now in question as a result of a sign-stealing scheme. That scandal has forced major changes in the front office and in the dugout, with the Astros having let go of suspended GM Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch in favor of James Click and Dusty Baker, respectively. At their most successful, Luhnow and Hinch oversaw the Astros’ first-ever World Series-winning team in 2017. But that seven-game victory over the Dodgers is now tarnished in the eyes of many around the game.

Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger, a member of the 2017 runners-up and the reigning NL MVP, went so far as to declare last week that the Astros “stole” a championship from him and his teammates. However, Major League Baseball did not formally strip the Astros of the title they won (it obviously would have been a drastic measure for MLB), and commissioner Rob Manfred explained why over the weekend.

“First of all, it had never happened in baseball,” Manfred said.  “I am a precedent guy.  The 2017 World Series will always be looked at as different, whether not you put an asterisk or ask for the trophy back.  Once you go down that road as for changing the result on the field, I just don’t know where you stop.”

Manfred went on to state, “The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act.” That didn’t sit well with one of Bellinger’s teammates and another member of the Dodgers’ 2017 team, Justin Turner. The third baseman fired back that Manfred set “a weak precedent” with his punishment of the Astros, continuing: “For him to devalue [the trophy] the way he did yesterday just tells me how out of touch he is with the players in this game. At this point, the only thing devaluing that trophy is that it says ’Commissioner’ on it.”

“Now anyone who goes forward and cheats to win a World Series,” Turner added (via Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times), “they can live with themselves knowing that, ’Oh, it’s OK. … We’ll cheat in the World Series and bring the title back to L.A. Screw [manager] Dave Roberts and screw [general manager] Andrew [Friedman]. It’s just those guys losing their jobs. I still get to be called a champion the rest of my life.’ So the precedent was set by him yesterday in this case.”

Strong comments, to say the least. Which side are you on here? Would Manfred have gone too far in taking away the Astros’ championship?

(Poll link for app users)

Should MLB have stripped Houston of its 2017 title?
Yes 76.04% (23,331 votes)
No 23.96% (7,352 votes)
Total Votes: 30,683
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Camp Battles: Rangers’ First Base Situation

By Connor Byrne | February 15, 2020 at 1:11am CDT

After a run as a well-regarded prospect, Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman made his major league debut in 2018. Since then, though, few teams have gotten less from the position. Guzman’s defense has drawn praise, but that only goes so far when you struggle to hit at an offensively charged position. He’s coming off a two-year stretch in which he slashed a less-than-stellar .229/.307/.415 with 25 home runs in 723 plate appearances. Guzman accounted for just 0.1 fWAR along the way, and his lack of production even led the Rangers to option him to Triple-A Nashville last season.

In the wake of Guzman’s weak 2019, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Rangers make an improvement at first base in the offseason. Even for modest prices, there were apparent free-agent upgrades available (Eric Thames and Justin Smoak come to mind). The Rangers even considered signing pricey outfielder Nick Castellanos and putting him at first, but he wound up with the Reds.

Having struck out on Castellanos, the Rangers have just about stood pat at first in recent months. Therefore, Guzman’s the front-runner to start again in 2020. He does have an option remaining, however, so the Rangers could send him back to the minors and still retain him if he doesn’t win the job in camp.

Cognizant of the fact that he may be in a make-or-break situation, the 25-year-old Guzman worked hard to better himself during the winter. He sought help from one of the game’s best offensive players in recent memory, former Ranger and current Twin Nelson Cruz, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explained earlier this week.

On the heels of his work with Cruz, both Guzman and the Rangers seem optimistic he’ll finally begin realizing his potential in 2020. If that doesn’t happen, though, there are other in-house first base choices to whom they could turn. Granted, there may not be a clear answer on the roster at all.

The Rangers brought in former Yankees first baseman Greg Bird on a minor league contract Feb. 4. As a prospect and then as a rookie in 2015, when he batted .261/.343/.529 with 11 homers in 178 plate appearances, Bird looked like a possible long-term answer at first for the Yankees. But a series of injuries – including to his foot, shoulder, ankle and knee – helped take a sledgehammer to his Yankees career. Bird missed all of 2016 and was unproductive from 2017-19, appearing in a paltry 10 games in the last of those seasons. The Yankees let the 27-year-old Bird go a few months ago, and he now has to prove himself all over again.

The Rangers also took a low-risk flier on former Red Sox first baseman Sam Travis over the winter. Like Guzman and Bird, Travis was once a quality prospect. Now 26, Travis wasn’t especially impressive at the Triple-A or major league levels from 2017-19. Consequently, the Red Sox – despite needing a first baseman at the time – moved on from Travis a month ago.

If you’re not inspired by Guzman, Bird or Travis, it’s hard to blame you. Problem is that the Rangers aren’t teeming with obvious solutions otherwise. In theory, veteran third baseman Todd Frazier could man the position, but that seems improbable unless the club puts Nick Solak or Danny Santana at the hot corner or does the unlikely and acquires the Cubs’ Kris Bryant or the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado in a blockbuster preseason trade. Should no trade occur, Solak or Santana may see some time at first, but the Rangers might prefer to move the versatile duo around the diamond.

Considering their current options, it looks as if it’ll be another bleak year at first base for the Rangers. The club has made real improvements elsewhere, particularly to its starting staff, but it doesn’t appear that’ll happen at first before the season opens. The spot’s devoid of impact players in free agency, so it would take an unexpected trade in order to find a slam-dunk upgrade now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Josh Hader Discusses Arbitration Defeat

By Connor Byrne | February 15, 2020 at 12:04am CDT

Brewers reliever Josh Hader just barely earned Super Two status this offseason, setting him up to take four trips through arbitration instead of three. Hader then filed for a $6.4MM salary – a far cry from the $4.1MM the Brewers proposed. The decision on the case came down Friday, and the Brewers emerged as the victors. Even in defeat, Hader’s now set to make significantly more than he’d have hauled in had he not gotten to arbitration this early. But this loss will negatively affect Hader’s earning power in future years, and he’d like to see a change in the system.

Speaking on Friday, the 25-year-old left-hander said (via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com): “We definitely knew that we were the underdogs going into it. But it’s something that needs to be put out there: Baseball’s always changing, and we’re at a point now that we’re continuing to change, and I think the system needs to change with that. You can see it in baseball now — a lot of relievers aren’t in certain roles that they once were.”

Hader added that the current arbitration setup is “outdated” with respect to reliever usage, and it’s difficult to argue against that. The present system puts a great deal of emphasis on racking up saves and holds, which doesn’t seem fair to dominant relievers who aren’t just used in those spots (Hader, for example). Hader does have 49 saves and 39 holds since he debuted in 2017 (including 37 and six in those respective categories in 2019), but the Brewers utilized him in various high-leverage situations in his first two seasons, thereby hurting his counting stats. That tactic, while perhaps wise on the team’s part, didn’t do Hader any favors in his initial arbitration hearing.

No matter how they’ve used him, Hader has been lights-out. A two-time All-Star and a back-to-back NL Reliever of the Year winner, Hader owns a superb 2.42 ERA/2.74 FIP with 15.35 K/9 and 3.17 BB/9 through 204 career 2/3 innings. Furthermore, he has regularly recorded more than three outs per appearance. Given Hader’s excellence to date and Friday’s results, he’s not unreasonable to contend that the arbitration process is behind the times for those in his position.

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Zack Wheeler Heard “Crickets” From Mets In Free Agency

By Connor Byrne | February 14, 2020 at 10:49pm CDT

Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and the Mets are engaged in a public feud. Wheeler, a Met from 2013-19, joined the Phillies on a five-year, $118MM contract during the offseason. However, Wheeler indicated Thursday that he had hoped to remain with his longtime team, revealing (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post) that he reached out to the Mets to gauge their interest in re-signing him before he became a Phillie. But Wheeler said he only heard “crickets” from the Mets, adding: “Because it’s them. It’s how they roll.”

Wheeler went on to suggest the Mets are a dysfunctional organization, but general manager Brodie Van Wagenen took exception to his comments. Van Wagenen expressed “surprise” in regards to Wheeler’s statements, per Tim Britton of The Athletic. The GM also noted, “I feel like this organization supported him in giving him the opportunity to reach major league success.” He then took a shoot at Wheeler, contending, “Our health and performance department, our coaches, all contributed and helped him parlay two good half-seasons over the last five years into $118MM.”

It should be pointed out that Wheeler has produced palatable results in every season but 2017 – his first year back from a March 2015 Tommy John procedure that helped cost him two campaigns. He has otherwise totaled three seasons with at least 180 innings and ERAs somewhere in the threes. The hard-throwing Wheeler was statistically one of the most effective starters in baseball from 2018-19, during which he put up a 3.65 ERA/3.37 FIP ERA with 8.91 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 377 2/3 frames. Considering that, Van Wagenen’s snipe doesn’t ring true.

Neither side may look great in this situation, but the spat does make a division rivalry even more interesting. Both teams are looking up at the Braves and the Nationals in the NL East, though all four are arguably good enough on paper to at least compete for the division. Wheeler was the Phillies’ big-ticket acquisition during the winter, while the Mets still boast a strong rotation even in the wake of his departure. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz lead the group, and the Mets have added Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha since free agency opened.

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