Camp Battles: New York Yankees
The vast majority of the Yankees’ roster looks set as the season approaches, but the retooling franchise still has a few areas that will need clarification during spring training. In most cases, relatively young players are vying for the youth-oriented Yankees’ open jobs.
Starting Rotation (two spots)
Luis Severino
Age: 23
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 2
Chad Green
Age: 25
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 2
Bryan Mitchell
Age: 25
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 1
Luis Cessa
Age: 24
Throws: R
Contract status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 2
Adam Warren
Age: 29
Throws: R
Contract status: One year, $2.29MM (second of three seasons of arbitration eligibility)
Options remaining: 2
The Yankees entered the winter with Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and C.C. Sabathia as their only established starters and exited the offseason in the same situation. Only Tanaka is a top-end option at this point, which made it all the more surprising that the Yankees didn’t bring in more veterans either through free agency or via trade. But it’s clear they’re committed to giving a cadre of unproven right-handers opportunities to seize the last two spots in their rotation this season. Severino, who wasn’t able to follow an outstanding 11 starts in 2015 with a quality showing last season, leads the way.
In terms of run prevention, Severino bombed as a starter over 47 2/3 innings (8.50 ERA), but he did provide some hope with 77 1/3 frames of 3.49 ERA ball out of the Yankees’ Triple-A rotation and another 23 1/3 innings with a microscopic ERA (0.39) as a major league reliever. Despite Severino’s brilliance from the bullpen last year, the Yankees understandably would prefer for the former high-end prospect to develop into a capable starter, so they’re going to leave him in that role for the time being.
Among Severino’s fellow hopeful starters, Cessa threw the most innings last season (70 1/3) and turned in 51 2/3 frames of 4.01 ERA pitching as a starter. The former farmhand of the Mets and Tigers also yielded just 1.39 walks per nine as a starter, which helped offset a below-average K/9 (6.1).
Green, whom the Yankees acquired with Cessa in a 2015 trade with Detroit, had more difficulty preventing runs last year than Cessa did (5.94 ERA in 36 1/3 innings as a starter). However, Green averaged a robust 94 mph on his fastball, induced whiffs on 12.3 percent of swings and registered an outstanding 10.9 K/9 from the rotation.
Mitchell’s average velocity was similar to Green’s in 2016 (93 mph), though he only totaled five appearances – all starts – after April toe surgery knocked him out for the first few months of the year. While Mitchell put up a stellar 3.24 ERA and an above-averaged 48.2 percent ground-ball rate during his 25 innings, he also tallied more walks than strikeouts (12 to 11) and allowed home runs on an unsustainable 3.7 percent of fly balls.
The sole member of the Yankees’ potential back-end starter contingent who isn’t at a prime age is Warren, who will turn 30 in August. However, Warren could be the only one who’s guaranteed to make the major league roster, as manager Joe Girardi said Saturday the ex-Cub will be on the Yankees’ 25-man as either a starter or reliever (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Nearly all of Warren’s career has been spent as a reliever (205 appearances, 21 starts), and it’s likely he’ll again fill that role at the outset of 2017. The normally competent Warren will try to bounce back from a 65 1/3-inning season in which he threw to a 4.68 ERA and 5.12 FIP, both of which represented enormous drop-offs from his career numbers (3.63 and 3.96).
Prediction: This is a difficult one to forecast, but Severino is loaded with upside and should be a leading candidate to garner a spot. The Yankees could allow Severino to sink or swim in the majors in the early going, and if he scuffles again, they’d be able to reassess whether to try him in the bullpen again or give him more minor league seasoning as a starter. And we’ll also bet on the bat-missing Green to join Tanaka, Sabathia, Pineda and Severino.
Right Field
Aaron Judge
Age: 24
Bats: R
Contract status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become a free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 3
Aaron Hicks
Age: 27
Bats: S
Contract status: One year, $1.35MM (first of three seasons of arbitration eligibility)
Options remaining: Out of options
The Yankees acquired Hicks from the Twins last winter with the hope that he’d build on a promising 2015 in which he hit .256/.323/.398 with 11 home runs and 13 stolen bases across 97 games and 390 plate appearances. But Year 1 of Hicks’ tenure in the Bronx was a disaster, as he slashed a paltry .217/.281/.336 and swiped just three bags over 361 trips to the plate. The switch-hitting Hicks was particularly ineffective against lefties (.161/.213/.271 in 127 PAs), which hadn’t been the case during his three years in Minnesota.
Hicks’ struggles in 2016 helped open the door for Judge, who logged a woeful .179/.263/.435 line with 42 strikeouts in his 95-PA major league debut. The 6-foot-7, 255-pound Judge packs a wallop, though, and has held his own in the minors since the Yankees selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. As a result, Judge currently ranks among the game’s top 50 prospects on lists by ESPN’s Keith Law (44th) and MLB.com (45th), while Baseball Prospectus (63rd) and Baseball America (90th) also regard him highly.
Prediction: Judge wins the starting job, but the out-of-options, cannon-armed Hicks stays in the fold as New York’s top reserve outfielder.
Bullpen (one to two spots)
Jon Niese
Age: 30
Throws: L
Contract Status: Minor league contract ($1.25MM on active roster)
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent
Chasen Shreve
Age: 26
Throws: L
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become a free agent until the 2020-21 offseason
Options remaining: 1
Ben Heller
Age: 25
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become a free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 3
Jonathan Holder
Age: 23
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-arbitration; cannot become a free agent until at least the 2022-23 offseason
Options remaining: 3
With Aroldis Chapman, Randy Levine favorite Dellin Betances and Tyler Clippard locked in, and Warren, Mitchell and Tommy Layne perhaps in line to join them, the Yankees should have a good idea of what their bullpen will look like. The picture isn’t fully clear, though, as the likes of Niese, Shreve, Heller and Holder figure to push for roster spots in the coming weeks.
Niese is easily the most experienced, having collected 211 major league appearances. Although 197 of those have come as a starter, the Yankees are intent on seeing what he can offer as a reliever. Niese doesn’t seem like an overly appealing option as anything but a long reliever, however, as he doesn’t throw hard or dominate same-sided hitters (lefties have hit .266/.326/.412 against him). Shreve, on the other hand, hasn’t fared well since a successful 12 1/3-inning stint with the Braves in 2014 and a terrific first half as a Yankee in 2015. He also hasn’t been any kind of solution against lefty-swingers, who have slashed .264/.361/.462 against him. Heller and Holder, meanwhile, have done nicely in the minors – the latter was especially great last season – but didn’t carry that success to the majors in small sample sizes in 2016.
Prediction: The Yankees tab Niese as a third lefty behind Chapman and Layne, who would accompany four righties (Betances, Clippard, Warren and Mitchell) to comprise their season-opening bullpen.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bucs, Jays, Braves, Cubs, Royals
This week in baseball blogs:
- North Shore Nine examines Pirates left fielder Gregory Polanco‘s career to date and looks at what’s in store for him this year.
- Dan Grant of Same Page Team shoots down comparisons between Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman and former major leaguer Tom Gordon. Stroman endorsed the piece on Twitter.
- Chin Music Baseball asks if Braves outfielder Matt Kemp will be able to sustain his late-2016 success going forward.
- Bleeding Royal Blue tackles the pace-of-play issue.
- Cubbies Crib previews Cubs infielder Javier Baez‘s 2017.
- NatsGM (links: 1, 2, 3) ranks the Nationals’ 30 best prospects.
- Big Three Sports suggests Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera could eventually bring back a massive haul in a trade.
- Call To The Pen analyzes the Braves’ offseason.
- Mets Daddy argues against an extension for second baseman Neil Walker.
- Clubhouse Corner laments the underrating of Brewers outfield prospect Lewis Brinson.
- District On Deck projects the Nationals’ Opening Day roster.
- Underthought looks for a better way than saves to evaluate closers.
- Jays Journal assesses Toronto manager John Gibbons.
- Pirates Breakdown forecasts the Bucs’ batting order.
- The K Zone wonders how much batting order really matters.
- The Unbalanced measures Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper against Angels center fielder Mike Trout.
- The 3rd Man In speaks with well-regarded pitching prospect Jacob Heatherly, a left-hander who could go early in this year’s draft.
- Wayniac Nation chats with a couple under-the-radar draft prospects.
- Real McCoy Minor News interviews Rays righty prospect Brandon Lawson.
- Pinstriped Prospects profiles young Yankees righty Luis Medina.
- Off The Bench Baseball highlights five must-watch players for the spring.
- The Runner Sports (links here) looks into the Astros’ fifth starter choices and lists takeaways from the Yankees’ spring training opener.
- Outside Pitch MLB delves into the Royals’ second base possibilities.
- Bat Flips & Nerds (podcast link) talks with Jenny Fromer, the CEO of Baseball Softball UK, about baseball’s growth in the United Kingdom.
- Rascals of the Ravine details a trip to Dodgers FanFest.
- Everything Bluebirds and Jays From the Couch have pieces focusing on Toronto’s bullpen.
- The Loop Sports writes about the White Sox’s center field candidates.
- Camden Depot likes some of the Orioles’ recent pitching depth pickups.
- Call To The Pen expects lefty Sean Burnett to claim the last spot in the Phillies’ bullpen.
- Ladodgerreport reacts to the Dodgers’ recent signing of reliever Sergio Romo.
- Rotisserie Duck shares some baseball trivia.
Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmail.com.
Quick Hits: Manfred, Rockies, Padres, A-Rod
Rob Manfred “doesn’t realize the fight he is picking,” a player told FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal in light of the commissioner’s plan to implement rule changes against the union’s wishes in 2018. The player also suggested Manfred’s actions could lead to serious labor strife when it’s time to negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement in 2021. “Four years from now, he will see absolute wrath if he makes the moves himself,” the player said, also adding that “the union is listening to the players, and the players don’t want the changes.” Unlike Manfred, MLBPA chief Tony Clark doesn’t believe the league has pace-of-play issues. However, Rosenthal points out that the average time of game went up by 4 minutes, 28 seconds last year. At the same time, balls in play hit an all-time low and relief pitcher usage reached an all-time high. Thus, despite the union’s objections, changes are on their way, writes Rosenthal, who opines that they’re “necessary.”
More from around the majors:
- After adding Ian Desmond, Greg Holland and Mike Dunn in free agency, Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich expects the club to make a postseason push in 2017, writes Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. “I do feel like we’re ready to take that next step,” said Bridich. “We accomplished that goal of playing meaningful games in August and September (during 2016). It didn’t work out for us in terms of postseason last year, but we accomplished that. It’s time for us go from a talented group to a good team that challenges for the playoffs and truly is a playoff team.” The Rockies haven’t won more than 75 games in a season since an 83-victory 2010 – their latest plus-.500 campaign – and are mired in a seven-year playoff drought. Colorado will have to take enormous steps to meet Bridich’s expectations this year, then, though it undoubtedly possesses some enviable talent.
- Given their underwhelming selection of rotation candidates, the Padres are open to trying a radically different approach with respect to starting pitcher usage this season, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Manager Andy Green could opt to deploy a certain starter once through the order before switching to another one, perhaps based on handedness, Cassavell explains. On why that’s not a popular strategy, Green offered: “My perspective would be it’s a little bit more counter-cultural than anything else. It hasn’t really been done before. But matchups are becoming more and more prevalent.”
- The officially retired Alex Rodriguez doesn’t have any interest in becoming a major league manager, he told Jack Curry of YES Network (Twitter link). Despite his controversial past, Rodriguez’s much-ballyhooed baseball IQ could have made him an interesting candidate down the line. The 41-year-old is currently working with his longtime team, the Yankees, as a spring training instructor – a role he seems to relish, as Billy Witz of the New York Times details. “I think my value for these kids is going to be taking them out to dinner, a three-hour dinner,” he said of mentoring the team’s young players, “and the first hour and a half recognizing that they’ll probably be pretty nervous and pretty tight, and by the second half of that dinner, they’ll start asking real substantial questions. There’s so much that’s expected here in New York, and it’s so difficult to play in New York. And I think as staff mentors, that’s the best thing we can do, is get them ready for what’s expected, because it is a handful.”
- Free agent right-hander Henderson Alvarez feels “great” and plans to throw for major league scouts in March, tweets Manolo Hernandez Douen. Alvarez, who will turn 27 next month, revealed that seven teams have checked in on him as he attempts to work his way back from two shoulder injury-plagued years. In 2015, the then-Marlin threw just 22 1/3 innings. As an Athletic last year, Alvarez didn’t throw a pitch above the Triple-A level, where he only logged 18 2/3 frames.
East Notes: Wieters, Rays, Mets, Phillies, Orioles
The offer the Rays made to catcher Matt Wieters before he agreed to join the Nationals on Tuesday fell well short of Washington’s $21MM guaranteed proposal, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays were willing to hand Wieters $6MM in guarantees and give him a chance to exceed the $10MM mark via incentives on a one-year contract. While Tampa Bay would have been happy to reel in Wieters at that price, it’s not too broken up about losing out on his services, per Topkin. As the Rays await the return of injured free agent signing Wilson Ramos, they’ll be “very content” with Curt Casali, Luke Maile and Jesus Sucre as their top options at catcher, manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday.
More from the AL/NL East:
- Meanwhile, Wieters’ agreement bolstered the confidence of an NL East rival – Mets backstop Travis d’Arnaud – because it ended speculation that the former would end up in Queens, writes Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “For them to back me up like that means a lot,” d’Arnaud said. “I definitely worked harder to prove them right, to show them that I do care about it. I want to be here, to help this team get to the World Series and win it all.” The Mets didn’t seriously pursue Wieters, according to DiComo, and manager Terry Collins explained Tuesday that there’s plenty of belief in d’Arnaud within the organization. “If you’re a player and your front office and your manager support you and believe in you, you’d better have a good feeling about yourself,” Collins stated. “When you talk to Travis, you say, ‘Hey look, when you first came here, everybody talked about potential, potential. We’ve seen it in action, so we know it’s in there. We’ve just got to get it back out.'” The 28-year-old d’Arnaud is a former high-end prospect who was terrific as recently as 2015, though he has an extensive injury history and is coming off a highly disappointing season.
- In the weeks between the opening of free agency in November and Andres Blanco‘s December re-signing with the Phillies, the utility infielder refused to entertain other teams’ advances, he told Matt Gelb of Philly.com. “Just wait. They will call,” Blanco advised his agent, referring to the Phillies. They finally did – with a $3MM offer – in part because Blanco’s a respected figure in the team’s clubhouse and a favorite of manager Pete Mackanin, per Gelb. It helps that the 32-year-old has also been quite productive in Philadelphia, having slashed .274/.337/.457 in 523 plate appearances since 2014.
- Orioles closer Zach Britton won’t pitch in Wednesday’s intrasquad game because he’s showing symptoms of an oblique injury, manager Buck Showalter told reporters, including Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Showalter downplayed the severity of the ailment, saying the O’s are only holding out the star left-hander for precautionary reasons. While oblique injuries often lead to disabled list stints during the year, Showalter indicated that Britton would be able to pitch through this if it popped up in the regular season.
Latest On Potential MLB Rule Changes
6:54pm: It now appears there will be one big change in 2017: MLB will switch to a dugout signal for intentional walks, team and union sources informed Howard Bryant of ESPN The Magazine (Twitter link).
6:12pm: Clark has responded to Manfred’s comments (via FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal):
“Unless your definition of ‘cooperation’ is blanket approval, I don’t agree that we’ve failed to cooperate with the Commissioner’s office on these issues.”
“Two years ago we negotiated pace of play protocols that had an immediate and positive impact. Last year we took a step backward in some ways, and this off season we’ve been in regular contact with MLB and with our members to get a better handle on why that happened.”
“I would be surprised if those discussions with MLB don’t continue, notwithstanding today’s comments about implementation. As I’ve said, fundamental changes to the game are going to be an uphill battle, but the lines of communication should remain open.”
“My understanding is that MLB wants to continue with the replay changes (2min limit) and the no-pitch intentional walks and the pace of Game warning/fine adjustments.”
4:01pm: Major League Baseball proposed some notable rule changes to the MLBPA earlier this month, but none of those will take effect in 2017, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday. A frustrated Manfred explained to various reporters, including Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, that the union’s “lack of cooperation” will prevent the adjustments from coming to fruition this year (Twitter link).
Manfred, who cited the need to improve “pace and action” of games, revealed that the league and the union discussed implementing a pitch clock, introducing automatic intentional walks, changing the strike zone and cutting down on mound visits (Twitter link via Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan). Placing a runner on second base during major league games which go to extra innings didn’t come up, and nor will it, as Manfred said that rule’s only use will be in “developmental leagues” (Twitter link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).
While it will be business as usual with big league rules this year, that won’t be the case in 2018. The collective bargaining agreement enables owners to make changes unilaterally, and Manfred indicated that they will next year (Twitter link via Shaikin). Even though the owners and the union agreed to a new CBA back in December, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said it’s not yet official. However, the sides are “in the process” of finalizing it and “everything has been agreed to with respect to the big moving pieces” (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald).
After touching on potential rule changes, Manfred mentioned a desire for each franchise to have a “major league-quality stadium” and opined that the Diamondbacks’ 19-year-old facility, Chase Field, “needs work” (via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, on Twitter).
“It’s absolutely clear from the material that has been made available to me there are serious maintenance needs that need to be met with respect to the stadium,” he continued. “Unfortunately, they have not been able to reach a consensual agreement on how that was going to happen.”
The Diamondbacks’ goal to land a new stadium came to the fore nearly a year ago, and the team brought a lawsuit against Maricopa County, which owns Chase Field, last month. While there’s no indication the D-backs plan to leave Arizona, Manfred did note that the league might eventually consider placing a team in Las Vegas, saying that “it could be a viable market” (Twitter link via Passan). He also brushed off the notion that the city’s status as the gambling capital of the United States would be a deterrent.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/21/17
The latest minor moves from around baseball:
- Right-handed reliever Casey Janssen has signed with Acereros del Norte of the Mexican League, the team announced. The 35-year-old Janssen pitched in the majors for most of 2006-16, a 533-inning stretch in which he logged a 3.63 ERA, 6.18 K/9 and 2.77 BB/9. Nearly all of Janssen’s pro career has been spent in Toronto, where he was particularly strong across 172 frames from 2011-13 (2.46 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 1.99 BB/9 and 56 saves). Janssen spent 2015 with the Nationals and some of last season in the Boston organization, which released him in August.
- One of Janssen’s ex-Blue Jays teammates, Josh Roenicke (another righty reliever), has also joined the Mexican League. Roenicke will compete for a spot with Pericos de Puebla, club president Jose Melendez announced (Twitter link). The 34-year-old last took a major league mound in 2013, when he threw 62 innings with the Twins. In 220 1/3 big league frames with four teams, Roenicke has combined for a 4.17 ERA, 6.86 K/9 and 4.76 BB/9. He spent the past three seasons at the Triple-A level with four other organizations.
West Notes: Angels, Dodgers, Mariners, Diamondbacks
Angels right-hander Ricky Nolasco hasn’t eclipsed the 200-inning plateau since 2011, but he’s motivated to log at least 202 1/3 frames this year, writes Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times. That would give Nolasco 400 innings from 2016-17, meaning his $13MM club option for 2018 would vest; otherwise he could end up with a $1MM buyout next offseason. “It’s a big deal to me,” Nolasco told Moura. “I know what’s at stake — something that, obviously, I want to get to, no matter what happens. When I first signed that contract with the Twins, I thought, ‘Well, as long as I stay healthy, this is a five-year deal.’ It’s kind of been on my mind since day one.” Nolasco came close to 200 innings last year, when he combined for 197 2/3 with the Twins and Angels, and Halos general manager Billy Eppler is rooting for him to surpass the mark this season. “I hope Ricky takes the ball every fifth day and does his thing and goes deep in games and wins a lot of ballgames,” said Eppler. Manager Mike Scioscia, meanwhile, stated that he doesn’t “even want to hear about” Nolasco’s contract, adding that “he’s gonna pitch, and hopefully pitch well.”
More from the West Coast:
- Another Angels starter, left-hander Andrew Heaney, is recovering well from his Tommy John procedure last July and holding out hope for a return this season, per Moura. Scioscia isn’t optimistic, however. “From the information I have available right now, there is nothing that would make him available to pitch this year,” he said. “I just don’t see it happening.” Heaney took the mound only once last season, in a six-inning start on April 5, and attempted stem-cell therapy treatment on his elbow before opting for surgery. That worked for teammate Garrett Richards, but not Heaney.
- Before the Dodgers traded southpaw Vidal Nuno to the Orioles on Sunday, they offered him back to the Mariners, who declined thanks to a lack of roster space, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Nuno spent most of the past two seasons in Seattle, which sent him to Los Angeles for catcher Carlos Ruiz in November.
- The Diamondbacks are “looking into building the industry’s most intelligent catchers,” including focusing on pitch framing, catching coach Robby Hammock told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “The catching staff tries to throw out attempted base-stealers 80-120 times a year as opposed to receiving 20,000 to 25,000 pitches a year,” Hammock said. “What do you want to emphasize?” Hammock’s views explain the Diamondbacks’ offseason decision to jettison Welington Castillo, a poor framer, in favor of the defensively adept Jeff Mathis. Fellow free agent addition Chris Iannetta, on the other hand, hasn’t fared too well as a framer (via Baseball Prospectus), though the D-backs are optimistic they can help fix his issues. “It’s a skill,” analytics head Mike Fitzgerald observed. “So if it’s a skill, you can improve at it or decline at it. There’s a decent amount of empirical evidence that guys can improve on this.”
Eric Hosmer: “I Never Said Anything About A 10-Year Deal”
While the Royals and first baseman Eric Hosmer will discuss a contract extension until Opening Day, there’s only a “remote” chance a deal will come together by then, per Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star.
Kansas City has “been nothing but supportive,” Hosmer said Monday, but Dodd writes that the Scott Boras client regards the idea of reaching the open market next winter as intriguing. Hosmer could end up with a $100MM-plus deal between now and the 2018 campaign, Dodd notes, though the 27-year-old indicated that rumors he’s pushing for a decadelong accord are false.
“That’s where you guys get everything mixed up,” Hosmer said. “I never said anything about that. I never said anything about a 10-year deal.”
It’s debatable whether Hosmer would be worth a major investment. After all, the former star prospect hasn’t exhibited much consistency since breaking into the league in 2011, having mixed productive offensive seasons with underwhelming ones. Hosmer was at his best in 2015, when he posted a .297/.363/.459, 3.4-fWAR season in 667 plate appearances and helped the Royals to their first World Series title since 1985. But he took sizable steps backward last year, another 667-PA campaign, as he slashed a mediocre .266/.328/.433 and logged a negative fWAR (minus-0.2) despite swatting a career-high 25 home runs.
Across 3,722 major league plate trips, Hosmer has recorded an unspectacular .277/.335/.428 line to go with just 5.6 fWAR. As FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan pointed out earlier Tuesday, Hosmer has been as valuable per 600 PAs as Mitch Moreland since 2014. Moreover, projections for 2017 place Hosmer in the same company as Mike Napoli and Chris Carter. Moreland, Napoli and Carter, all first basemen, had to settle for one-year pacts ranging from $3.5MM to $8.5MM guaranteed in free agency this winter. Those are obviously far cries from substantial paydays in today’s league.
Hosmer, in fairness, is several years younger than each of those 30-somethings, and Sullivan noted there could be reason to expect better from him going forward. Whether it will hold up is debatable, but Hosmer has performed well in clutch situations. He also could be a better defender than the metrics give him credit for, and there might be untapped potential on the offensive end, Sullivan observes. Still, as Sullivan concluded, it doesn’t seem as if Hosmer has done enough up to now to justify an enormous contract.
For the Royals, locking Hosmer up by April would likely mean awarding him a deal more valuable than the franchise record-setting, $72MM pact they gave outfielder Alex Gordon as a free agent last year. That would be difficult for a medium-payroll club that also has decisions to make on soon-to-be free agents like outfielder Lorenzo Cain and third baseman Mike Moustakas by next winter.
Orioles Acquire Vidal Nuno
5:03PM: The trade is official, as per a Dodgers press release.
4:23PM: The Orioles are close to acquiring left-hander Vidal Nuno from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league right-hander Ryan Moseley, reports Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun.
If Baltimore does acquire Nuno, it would be the second trade involving the 29-year-old in the past three-plus months. The Dodgers previously sent catcher Carlos Ruiz to the Mariners in November for Nuno, who has three years of club control remaining and will make a paltry $1.125MM in 2017. The swingman would provide the Orioles someone with extensive experience as both a starter and reliever – something they lost when Vance Worley departed in free agency – and perhaps push out-of-options southpaw T.J. McFarland off their roster.
In stints with the Yankees, Diamondbacks and M’s, the soft-tossing Nuno has combined for 126 appearances (42 starts) of 4.02 ERA pitching with 7.38 K/9 against 2.32 BB/9. He has been particularly tough on left-handed hitters, having held them to a .217/.285/.356 line, while righties have slashed .270/.320/.479. Nuno’s currently coming off a two-year stretch in which he recorded a 3.66 ERA, 8.05 K/9 and 2.01 BB/9 over 147 2/3 innings, though he generated ground balls at just a 39.7 percent clip.
The Orioles will have to create 40-man roster space for Nuno, Encina notes, while Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets that dealing the pitcher will enable the Dodgers to open up a spot for newly signed outfielder Franklin Gutierrez. They’ll also pick up the 22-year-old Moseley, whom the Orioles selected in the eighth round of last June’s draft. Moseley disappointed in 2016 at Texas Tech, per Baseball America (subscription required/recommended), which lists a “power-reliever future” as the best-case scenario for the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder. Moseley debuted professionally in short-season ball last year and registered a 3.20 ERA, 8.24 K/9 and 4.12 BB/9 in 19 2/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Quick Hits: Betances, Pace Of Play, Rox, Schwarber, Rays
Ace reliever Dellin Betances had more to say Sunday regarding his arbitration-related dispute with Yankees president Randy Levine, telling reporters – including George A. King III of the New York Post – that he has no regrets over comments he made Saturday. Betances added that he isn’t going to seek out Levine to potentially clear the air between the two. “I don’t feel I need to speak to him, I don’t know how [the Yankees] feel,’’ Betances said. “I am just going to try and prepare for the season and help the team as much as I can.’’ Further, on the heels of MLBPA executive Rick Shapiro calling Levine’s remarks “totally unprecedented” Saturday, union chief Tony Clark weighed in Sunday and referred to them as “unprofessional” (Twitter link via Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan).
More from around the majors:
- In an attempt to shorten games, MLB is interested in placing a runner on second at the beginning of extra innings, but that’s not something the players are ever going to sign off on, Clark told the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner (Twitter link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Clark actually laughed at the idea while shooting it down, but he did note that players are open to changing the intentional walk (Twitter links via Passan).
- While Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon‘s name came up in trade rumors during the winter, GM Jeff Bridich didn’t show any interest in dealing him for anything but a massive return. Should a trade come together in the next two years, Blackmon’s final seasons of team control, it seems he’d understand. “I just think they value me pretty high, I guess, and that’s why nothing happened,” Blackmon told Thomas Harding of MLB.com. “I think that’s good. But it’s my opinion that if a deal had come along where they had gotten a deal worth more than what I was worth, then they would’ve made the deal. And I would expect that to happen.”
- Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber caught a bullpen session Friday for the first time since he tore multiple knee ligaments last April and informed Carrie Muskat of MLB.com on Sunday that he “loved it.” Schwarber realizes that he must “take it slow with the knee and the injury and everything like that,” though, and likely won’t do much catching this season with Willson Contreras and Miguel Montero on Chicago’s roster. “I’ve got to be ready at any time to come in late in the game from left field to maybe come catch and give those guys a blow,” Schwarber said. “It’s not like I’m going to be the everyday starter.”
- Although he emerged as the Rays’ best first base option last season, Brad Miller indicated Sunday that he’s on board with moving to second base this year to take over for the departed Logan Forsythe. “I’m not going to prepare for first at all this spring,” Miller told Bill Chastain of MLB.com. “Just try to get as many reps at second and short right now with the makeup of the team. Obviously, I know it’s a long year. I’ve been through changing positions before. So I understand.” After the Rays’ workout Sunday, manager Kevin Cash opined that Miller “looked outstanding” and was “really fundamentally sound.” The middle infield is nothing new for Miller, who has played 369 games at shortstop and 37 at the keystone. The results haven’t been pretty, however, as Miller has posted minus-27 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-12.3 Ultimate Zone Rating in nearly 3,300 combined innings at the two positions.