Jeff Todd | MLB Trade Rumors

Dodgers Have Diversified Slate Of Future Commitments

By Jeff Todd | June 26, 2020 at 2:34pm CDT

2020 salary terms may finally be sorted out. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.

Every organization has some amount of future cash committed to players, all of it done before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. There are several different ways to look at salaries; for instance, for purposes of calculating the luxury tax, the average annual value is the touchstone, with up-front bonuses spread over the life of the deal. For this exercise, we’ll focus on actual cash outlays that still have yet to be paid.

We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Dodgers:

*Includes buyouts on club options over Joe Kelly, Max Muncy

*Reflects remaining portion of David Price salary owed by Red Sox

*Includes 2023 player option of A.J. Pollock (due $5MM buyout if he declines)

(click to expand/view detail list)

Giants’ Zaidi Expects Fewer Transactions In 2020

By Jeff Todd | June 26, 2020 at 6:59am CDT

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi tells Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic that he anticipates a reduced volume of player transactions during the 2020 season, both for his club and around the game. (Zaidi also thrashed the hideous recent remarks of a Scottsdale city council member in the chat, which is well worth a read in full.)

Zaidi’s most notable transactional strategy to this point in his tenure has been the constant working of the waiver wire. The Giants’ immense roster churn has resulted in the discovery of a few gems and helped the team build in some depth that suits Zaidi’s vision.

That approach also seems a tenuous one in the midst of a pandemic. Zaidi acknowledged as much, calling it a “fair concern” that bringing in new players too often might increase the risk of disease transmission. He predicted that, “under the circumstances, I think you’ll see fewer transactions around baseball — certainly transactions in which you’re bringing in guys from outside the organization.”

It certainly will be interesting to see how this holds up under the pressures of a campaign — particularly one in which there’ll be a much shorter horizon for finding success due to the compressed schedule. Pitching health is a particular concern given the short ramp-up period. That seems also to be the primary potential source for roster movement.

Of course, most teams turn over their 40-man roster far less often than the Giants did last year. Zaidi indicates he doesn’t expect to continue that frantic pace, coronavirus or not. It seems last year’s blitz was more a one-off farm reshaping than an ongoing strategy.

Per Zaidi: “I think we’ve got a group of players that could get us through the season. I don’t think there will be as much motivation to look outside the organization because we like our depth.” The Giants “felt really good about the group of guys we had in camp,” he says.

No doubt the Giants will still be quick to act if and when they see a chance to achieve significant value through the waiver wire. But it appears that the bar will be raised a bit in 2020.

Rays To Add Wander Franco To 60-Man Player Pool

By Jeff Todd | June 26, 2020 at 6:00am CDT

The Rays will add uber-prospect Wander Franco to their 60-man player pool, according to Jesse Sanchez and Juan Toribio of MLB.com. He’ll participate in the pre-season ramp up and be eligible to continue training with the team during the season.

As with the Tigers, and surely all other teams, the Rays are considering developmental prerogatives alongside competitive demands in deciding which players will participate in Summer Training and be available as the season gets underway. Franco, the consensus top prospect in baseball, will get invaluable experience to help make up for what’s tracking to be a lost minor-league season.

Just because Franco is in the player pool does not mean he’ll debut in 2020. The preternatural hitter could likely hold his own in the majors already, but he doesn’t even need to be added to the 40-man roster until next winter.

It’s certainly possible — expected, really — that Franco will force his way onto the big league club before the team must grant him MLB status to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. And that could yet occur in the sprint of a campaign we’re about to witness.

The odds of a 2020 debut likely went downhill when the coronavirus intervened, as Franco won’t have the chance to get reps (and put up outlandish offensive numbers) in the upper minors. The 19-year-old has been outstanding at every level thus far — in particular, his unmatched plate discipline jumps off the page — but he has yet to appear above the High-A level.

Franco may yet force the hand of the Tampa Bay brass in training, though it’s likelier that any promotion to the active and 40-man rosters would occur if a need and/or opportunity arises. This short season format could give the Rays a stronger chance of toppling the division-favorite Yankees or at least snatching a Wild Card. While service time will surely weigh in the calculus, the ability to call upon a unique talent may prove compelling.

For now, the key point is that Franco’s foot is in the door. At minimum, he’s on track to polish off his development in 2020. If he doesn’t debut this year, it’s reasonably likely we’ll be holding service time manipulation debates next spring.

Looking At The Rockies’ Post-2020 Payroll

By Jeff Todd | June 24, 2020 at 11:54am CDT

We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Rockies:

*Nolan Arenado may opt out after 2021

*Includes Charlie Blackmon 2022 & 2023 player options

*Includes buyouts on club options over German Marquez, Ian Desmond, Daniel Murphy, Jake McGee, and Bryan Shaw

*Includes buyout on mutual option in Wade Davis contract

(click to expand/view detail list)

Cardinals Sign First-Rounder Jordan Walker

By Jeff Todd | June 23, 2020 at 2:53pm CDT

The Cardinals have announced the signing of first-round draft selection Jordan Walker (h/t Mark Saxon of The Athletic, on Twitter). He’ll forego his commitment to Duke University.

The Georgia high school third baseman will receive a $2.9MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). He was taken with the 21st overall selection, which came with a $3.13MM slot allocation.

Many draft watchers graded Walker as an early second-round player, but he went a fair bit higher to the Cards. Keith Law of The Athletic had the highest overall grade (#29). That viewpoint is presumably reflected in Walker’s signing value.

That’s not to say there’s a lack of excitement surrounding the big and athletic high schooler. Walker is a fleet-footed masher with a powerful throwing arm. The questions creep in with Walker’s relatively undeveloped hit tool. Here’s how MLB.com frames the situation:

“There are some mixed opinions on his hitting ability because his size creates a naturally long swing and he needs to improve his ability to recognize breaking balls. But he also shows some feel for hitting and the ability to make adjustments, so he should make enough contact to tap into his pop.”

It sounds as if Walker will be a fun player for Cards fans to watch as he develops. There’s upside aplenty, even if he ultimately moves to right field or first base.

MLB Announces 2020 Season

By Jeff Todd | June 22, 2020 at 11:59pm CDT

9:26pm: The players are indeed expected to respond favorably to the league’s requests regarding reporting timeline and health and safety protocols, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports on Twitter. So long as the final points can be tidied up, it seems the resumption of play will be underway within a week.

7:29pm: The 2020 season is now slated to proceed under the terms of the late March agreement previously reached between MLB and the players’ association. The league has issued an announcement stating that the owners unanimously agreed to launch the campaign after further negotiations with the players failed to result in a new deal.

The campaign will ultimately be established at sixty games in length, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, though the league announcement doesn’t so specify. Rather, the announcement asks that the players inform the league as to the readiness to begin Spring Training (part deux) before assessing schedule length. It seems the season will go for sixty games so long as the players agree to report for preparation by the first of July. Assuming the players do indeed report by that point, Opening Day would be set for the weekend of July 24-26.

The other key element left open in the league’s announcement is agreement upon a health and safety protocol. Recent reporting indicates that the sides were working through a few final issues, with a general expectation that there’d be a deal. Indeed, the union’s own statement indicated as much earlier tonight.

While there’s now a clear path to a 2020 campaign, it’ll leave both sides without some of the key benefits they had sought. The league wished for an expanded postseason, while the players sought more regular season contests. Each side clearly stood to benefit somewhat from those concessions — the players would’ve had a cut of the playoff revenue; the owners would’ve had a longer season to boost long-term branding and earning opportunities — but they still couldn’t bridge the final gap for a fully negotiated new agreement.

This move comes right on the heels of the players’ decision to reject the owners’ final offer for a settlement. The players may well have done better if indeed the campaign comes in at sixty games, as the league’s final proposal provides. But the acrimony on both sides has shown no signs of abating. And the lengthy and public standoff over money — all in the midst of a pandemic and social unrest — has certainly not made the best impression on fans.

The league may have avoided a heftier labor cost in 2020; the players may finally have found some unity. But the game isn’t exactly glimmering at the moment. And the stage is clearly set for a monumental labor standoff with a wildly uncertain free agency and collective bargaining negotiations on the horizon.

Resolving things by reverting back to the late March agreement means that there are some open questions left to be debated. The sides have debated the meaning of the deal — in particular, how it’s to be interpreted in the case of a fan-free season — ever since it was signed. The union has reportedly threatened a grievance even if a season is installed by the commissioner, though the prospects for that course of action are uncertain at the moment.

Athletics Announce Three Draft Signings

By Jeff Todd | June 22, 2020 at 11:41pm CDT

The Athletics announced that they have inked three drafted players. Second rounder Jeff Criswell, third rounder Michael Guldberg, and fourth rounder Dane Acker are all now under contract.

With these additions, the A’s have two remaining unsigned players. First rounder Tyler Soderstrom and fifth rounder Stevie Emanuels have yet to put pen to paper.

Criswell landed a $1MM bonus, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. That leaves over $200K for the club to put to use on other signings. Acker landed right at the slot value of $447,400, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). It’s not clear yet what Guldberg will take home.

Both Criswell (Michigan) and Acker (Oklahoma) are right-handed collegiate hurlers. Baseball America rated the former 53rd among draft-eligible players, citing his sturdy mid-nineties heater and suitably robust frame. The latter doesn’t possess loud tools, but is considered a well-rounded hurler who could perhaps end up in the back of a rotation one day.

As for Guldberg, he was an on-base machine at Georgia Tech, posting a silly .465 OBP over 393 career plate appearances. Unfortunately, his hit tool isn’t accompanied by power and scouts aren’t convinced he’ll remain a center fielder over the long haul.

Latest On Mets’ Sale Efforts

By Jeff Todd | June 22, 2020 at 9:48pm CDT

Reporting earlier today made clear that Alex Rodriguez and Jenifer Lopez have had success lining up some wealthy investors to join them in pursuit of the Mets.

It seemed initially that there was another deep-pocketed participant in the A-Rod-J.Lo group. Per Charles Gasparino of FOX Business (Twitter link), Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola had joined the fray along with previously rumored Mike Repole.

It turns out that is indeed the case, but that Viola’s public emergence doesn’t really add to the pot. As Tim Healey and Jim Baumbach of Newsday report, Viola is actually working with Repole. The pair are said to be willing to invest to the $250MM level.

It seems there could be other contributors as well — as one might expect, given the anticipated cost of a New York baseball franchise. While the sale price will obviously droop due to the coronavirus uncertainty, it’s still a marquee asset in the sports world.

The current Wilpon ownership group is interested in wrapping up a deal by the end of 2020, per the Newsday report. And it seems the current package of assets would not include the revenue-producing SNY network, which will obviously bear on the level of outside interest and price that can be achieved.

That timeline is of interest, as it makes clear that this is a near-term proposition. Those who followed the recent sale of the Marlins will recall that there was still plenty of uncertainty at this point on the calendar. A deal was consummated in August, in time for the new ownership group to prepare for a full first offseason.

Manfred Not Expected To Immediately Order Resumption

By Jeff Todd | June 22, 2020 at 6:15pm CDT

Earlier tonight, the MLB Players Association voted against a MLB proposal to start the 2020 season — seemingly setting the stage for commissioner Rob Manfred to order a season schedule based upon the late-March agreement between the parties. But there’s no imminent plan for Manfred to do so, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (via Twitter).

Just what Manfred and the owners are planning next isn’t yet clear. Further delay could provide some public relations cover for ownership, which has sought to drive down labor costs by staging a shorter season. But such a tactic risks strengthening the players’ case in a potential future grievance action. The agreement required Manfred to make “best efforts to play as many games as possible.”

Manfred and all thirty team control persons will speak on a conference call this evening, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). But the league’s next move may not even be decided on the call. One might have anticipated that there’d be greater internal clarity by this point, but it seems the league still has a need for further deliberation before it decides how to handle the players’ (widely anticipated) rejection.

Giants Have Trimmed Long-Term Payroll Obligations

By Jeff Todd | June 22, 2020 at 5:59pm CDT

2020 salary terms still need to be sorted out. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.

We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Giants:

*Includes buyouts on club options over Evan Longoria, Johnny Cueto, Buster Posey, and Wilmer Flores

*Reflects remaining portion of Evan Longoria salary owed by Rays

*Includes remaining signing bonus obligation to Johnny Cueto

(click to expand/view detail list)