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Heyman’s Latest: Quintana, Lindor, Rays, Rangers, Coghlan, Nathan

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The Cardinals have shown at least some interest in White Sox lefty Jose Quintana, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, though he makes clear there’s no indication that Chicago is likely to strike a deal for the lefty before the start of the season. It seems that the Cards’ interest is something worth bearing in mind as the season progresses and their rotation needs come into focus, though certainly other teams will also continually monitor the asking price for Quintana. St. Louis, of course has already lost young Alex Reyes for the year due to Tommy John surgery and will reportedly place Trevor Rosenthal on the disabled list to open the season.

Heyman also has new notes columns on both the American League and National League, and here are a few highlights from those pieces…

  • Extension talks between the Indians and star shortstop Francisco Lindor do not appear to have gained much traction, per Heyman. There’s just not enough incentive for him to take a deal, Heyman suggests, due at least in part to the fact that Lindor has landed a significant marketing contract with New Balance. It’s also perhaps worth noting that Lindor received a $2.9MM signing bonus when he was drafted eighth overall back in 2011.
  • The Rays are still on the hunt for outfield help, though the addition of Peter Bourjos to the organization gives them one potential fourth outfield option. Heyman lists free agent Angel Pagan and the Cubs’ Matt Szczur as speculative fits, though the out-of-options Szczur made Chicago’s Opening Day roster, which seemingly lessens the chance of a trade. Heyman also notes that the Rays “came close” to locking up right-hander Alex Cobb on an extension on multiple occasions in the past, but the deal was never quite completed. Given Cobb’s arm troubles over the past two years, perhaps that’s somewhat of a dodged bullet for the Rays (though the 29-year-old is certainly a candidate to bounce back).
  • Rougned Odor’s representatives were prepping a counter-offer to the Rangers’ six-year, $49.5MM extension proposal when they were informed, firmly, that the $49.5MM sum was the team’s best and final offer, according to Heyman. Ultimately, the 22-year-old and his reps at the Beverly Hills Sports Council elected to take the deal, locking in the powerful young second baseman’s first massive payday. While there have been talks with another promising young Rangers talent, Nomar Mazara, Heyman adds that there’s “nothing substantive” between the two sides to this point.
  • Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill suggested he has high hopes in comments to Heyman. He says he believes the team’s rotation is “solid” and that its pen “is the best in the league, collectively.” While some may raise an eyebrow at that statement, given the lack of name value in the Marlins’ relief corps, the Fish do have a rather deep collection of bullpen arms. As it stands, A.J. Ramos, Kyle Barraclough, Brad Ziegler, Junichi Tazawa and David Phelps make a formidable one through five in that ’pen. Also of note is the fact that the Marlins are hopeful that injured third baseman Martin Prado, who suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain in the World Baseball Classic, will be back at some point in April. The team plans to use Derek Dietrich, who hit .279/.374/.425 in 412 plate appearances last year, in Prado’s absence.
  • It seems the Phillies would have carried veteran Chris Coghlan, except that he declined to sign a 45-day advance consent form. While not an oft-discussed clause, the 45-day advance consent allows a team to cut or option a healthy veteran — the clauses can only be offered to players with five or more years of service — for any reason within the first 45 days of the season. Former MLBTR scribe Zach Links (now the editor of our sister site, Pro Football Rumors) took a much deeper look at advance consent clauses back in 2014 after veteran left-hander Randy Wolf somewhat surprisingly requested his release from the Mariners when asked to agree to such a condition.
  • Veteran righty Joe Nathan is still looking to latch on elsewhere after being released by the Nationals earlier this week. The former All-Star was appreciative that the Nationals allowed him to pitch once more in a game even after that decision was made, as it allowed scouts from other clubs to see him in a game setting. The 42-year-old Nathan logged a 3.86 ERA with 15 hits, three walks and nine strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings this spring. That showing comes on the heels of 6 1/3 shutout frames between the Cubs and Giants last year as well as a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 minor league innings. Despite his age, Nathan is attempting to reestablish himself after undergoing Tommy John surgery as a 40-year-old in 2015.

Notable Roster Decisions: Orioles, Park, Wheeler, Severino, Judge

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With Spring Training beginning to wrap up, details on teams’ Opening Day rosters are beginning to surface. Here are some notable decisions from around the league (decisions that directly impact the 40-man roster more directly are being kept track of in a separate post). Here’s the latest from around the league…

  • The Orioles will place left-hander Wade Miley on the 10-day disabled list to open the season, but he’s not actually expected to miss a start, according to Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. Miley’s DL stint will be backdated, and his first start wasn’t expected to come until April 9 anyhow. Also on the DL will be right-hander Chris Tillman, as has been previously reported, and Rule 5 outfielder Anthony Santander, who is dealing with elbow and shoulder issues.
  • First baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini has made the Orioles’ Opening Day roster, as has outfielder Joey Rickard, per Meoli’s colleague, Eduardo A. Encina. It sounds as if veteran outfielder Craig Gentry will be making the roster as well, though Encina suggests that Gentry’s fate is ultimately tied to that of Rule 5 pick Aneury Tavarez, whom Meoli reported to be on waivers yesterday. If and when Tavarez clears or is claimed by another club, a 40-man spot for Gentry will be opened. Meanwhile, slugger Pedro Alvarez and second baseman Johnny Giavotella are Triple-A-bound to open the season, as are right-handers Alec Asher and Logan Verrett, per a club announcement.

Earlier Decisions

  • The Twins have decided against adding Byung Ho Park to the Opening Day roster, leaving him destined for Triple-A, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports on Twitter. Adding Park would have required the clearance of a 40-man spot since he was outrighted last year. Lefty Adalberto Mejia — picked up in last summer’s Eduardo Nunez deal — has earned the club’s fifth starter job, Neal further tweets, seemingly bumping Tyler Duffey back to the pen.
  • Right-handers Zack Wheeler and Robert Gsellman will fill out the Mets’ rotation to to open the year, Marc Carig of Newsday was among those to report on Twitter. It wasn’t clear for much of the spring whether Wheeler would be ready to go at the start of the year, but he showed well late in camp and will now attempt to regain the form that once made him one of the organization’s core players. That leaves Seth Lugo and Rafael Montero fighting for the final bullpen spot, with the other likely to report to Triple-A to stay stretched out in case a need arises.
  • Yankees righty Luis Severino will take the club’s final open starting job, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. He will look to regain the momentum he had as a rookie and leave a disappointing sophomore campaign in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, the club has decided to option Rob Refsnyder, leaving Aaron Judge in line to make the roster and receive regular playing time in right, as Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com reports on Twitter.
  • The Red Sox announced today that lefty Drew Pomeranz will open the season on the 10-day DL due to a flexor strain in his left forearm. That does not appear to be a new injury, though; instead, the club is lining him up to pitch as scheduled while opening the door to carrying an extra player to open the year.

Trevor Rosenthal To Open Season On DL

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Cardinals righty Trevor Rosenthal will open the season on the DL, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Sam Tuivailala will take his place on the active roster. St. Louis has three other righties heading to the DL as well: Alex Reyes (who’ll miss the year after Tommy John surgery), John Gant and Tyler Lyons.

A lat issue had slowed Rosenthal earlier in camp, but he had seemed on track to start the year back in the bullpen. Though he had been working to stretch out as a starter, the club did not seem to have a rotation spot open — and Rosenthal’s delay apparently nixed that idea.

It seems that the lat injury is to blame, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes on Twitter, though it’s not apparent whether there was any kind of setback. Rosenthal had been able to throw ten spring frames, allowing two earned runs on ten hits while compiling 11 strikeouts against five walks.

Agency Changes: Archer, Feliz, Franco

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As always, we track player representation through our agency database. Here’s the latest on a few late-spring agency changes:

  • Rays ace Chris Archer has switched to the Legacy Agency, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The righty probably won’t require much contractual work for some time, as he’s still controlled by Tampa Bay through the 2021 season under the early-career extension he signed back in 2014. Of course, agency representation involves more than just MLB salary, and Archer will surely be looking to build out his marketing opportunities — especially if he can right the ship after a disappointing 2016 campaign.
  • Brewers righty Neftali Feliz and Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco have each switched their representation to California Sports Management, the agency announced on Twitter. Feliz inked a one-year pact to join the Milwaukee pen over the winter; he’ll be looking to set himself up for another foray into free agency after the conclusion of the upcoming season. Franco, meanwhile, is in an interesting situation. He’ll likely qualify as a Super Two next winter, and could conceivably profile as an extension candidate, though he has already agreed to a deal with Fantex that would provide him an up-front guarantee in exchange for a cut of his earnings.

Orioles Reliever Oliver Drake Clears Outright Waivers

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The Orioles will likely assign right-hander Oliver Drake to Triple-A after he cleared outright waivers, according to Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline.com (via Twitter). Drake entered the spring out of options, meaning he had to make the active roster to keep his 40-man spot.

Drake, 30, has shown some swing-and-miss ability in 33 2/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons, and has been quite productive in the upper minors. Indeed, he has compiled a 13.5% swinging-strike rate in the majors with his intriguing forkball.

While it seemed Drake had a reasonable shot at cracking the O’s pen, he struggled quite a bit this spring. He allowed 13 earned runs on 23 hits over 13 1/3 innings, though he did record 13 strikeouts to go with just three walks.

Nationals Name Blake Treinen Closer

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Nationals manager Dusty Baker said today that righty Blake Treinen will take the team’s closer role to open the season, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post was among those to report on Twitter. He won a camp battle with young righty Koda Glover, who’ll instead slide into a setup role for the time being.

There was quite a bit of intrigue all winter long surrounding the ninth inning for the Nats. The team pushed to re-sign Mark Melancon and made a run at Kenley Jansen in free agency, but came up just short on both players. That led to speculation that the organization might pursue a trade for a veteran such as David Robertson, but nothing ended up coming to fruition.

Treinen, 28, was dominant this spring and impressed last year with a 2.28 ERA over 67 innings. He did continue to exhibit his long-standing control problems in 2016, with 4.2 BB/9, and recorded only an 8.5 K/9 strikeout rate that falls in range of league average. But Treinen is also among the game’s best groundball pitchers; aided by a power sinker that sits in the 95 to 96 mph range, he induced worm burners on 65.9% of the balls put in play against him.

Whether that will translate into success in the ninth remains to be seen, but the opportunity to rack up saves for an anticipated contender portends good things for Treinen’s future earning capacity. He is on track to qualify for arbitration for the first time next winter.

The Nats do have other internal options if Treinen falters, including Glover, Shawn Kelley, and perhaps even pitchers such as Sammy Solis and Joe Blanton. (Though Kelley has seemed a natural fit for the role, the team has long insisted it prefers to handle him differently given his injury history; Baker affirmed that again today, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets.) But it wouldn’t be all that surprising if D.C. ends up looking into the trade market again this summer after dealing for Melancon and Jonathan Papelbon at successive deadlines.

Steven Matz To Open Season On DL

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TODAY: Matz has undergone a PRP injection and will not throw for at least three weeks, Marc Carig of Newsday reports (Twitter links). While there’s still no apparent structural concern, that course of treatment seems likely to portend a fairly lengthy absence. Once Matz is able to resume throwing, he’ll still need to build back his arm strength and perhaps progress through a rehab stint.

YESTERDAY: Mets lefty Steven Matz isn’t likely to be ready for the Opening Day roster, skipper Terry Collins told reporters including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links). The southpaw has been dealing with elbow soreness and is headed for an examination — likely an MRI, per the manager — to further determine the root of the problem. At last check, reports on Matz indicated that there’s no ligament damage in his elbow. Regardless of the upcoming test’s outcome, Matz is a candidate to require at least a short stint on the DL to begin the season.

While New York certainly doesn’t lack for depth options, it is obviously concerning to see Matz again dealing with health issues. Elbow and shoulder problems have limited him of late, with both being addressed (bone spur surgery for the former; a PRP injection for the latter) over the offseason. The talented 25-year-old also wasn’t quite himself this spring, as he recorded only seven strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings, with six earned runs crossing the plate on 16 hits and four walks.

It’s still unclear just what the Mets will do to fill in the immediate void, but Seth Lugo would seem to be a solid bet to step into the starting mix in the absence of Matz. Right-handers Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Robert Gsellman all appear to be penciled into the New York rotation at this time. In addition to Lugo, who shined in a strong rookie campaign last season, right-handers Zack Wheeler and Rafael Montero are in the mix for a rotation spot, tweets Newsday’s Marc Carig. Much has been made of the desire to limit Wheeler’s innings this spring after 2015 Tommy John surgery wiped out his last two seasons, though it stands to reason that Wheeler could occupy a starting slot for a brief time early in the year before transitioning to the ’pen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/30/17

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Here are the most recent minor moves of note from around the game:

  • Righty Jair Jurrjens has agreed to a minor-league pact with the Dodgers, Hudson Belinsky of Baseball America reports on Twitter and PG Sports first tweeted. The 31-year-old, who once seemed like a budding ace, last threw in the bigs in 2014 and did not pitch last year after a rough Triple-A stint the season prior. But Jurrjens reappeared in the World Baseball Classic, throwing 11 1/3 innings of 2.38 ERA ball for the Netherlands, and earned another shot at a comeback.
  • Speaking of former Braves standouts, the Rays have brought back lefty Jonny Venters on a minors deal, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old finally threw his first competitive pitches last year in the Tampa Bay organization, but again stalled out in his attempt to return from three Tommy John surgeries. The once-excellent southpaw hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2012.

Tigers Release Mike Pelfrey

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The Tigers have released veteran righty Mike Pelfrey, per a club announcement. Detroit will remain obligated for the $8MM owed to him for the coming season.

Pelfrey, 33, has struggled since inking a two-year pact with the team last winter. In 2016, he worked to an unsightly 5.07 ERA with just 4.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 over 119 frames. And he was torched for 15 earned runs on 24 hits in his 17 innings this spring.

The Tigers were said to be looking for a taker for the righty, even offering to pick up some or all of his remaining salary, but it seems no other organization was interested in adding Pelfrey to its 40-man roster. Still, he seems an easy bet to land a minor-league deal from a club looking to bolster its depth.

Ryu, McCarthy Named To Dodgers’ Rotation; Wood To Bullpen

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MARCH 29: Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets that McCarthy has, indeed, been tabbed for the final spot in the rotation. Roberts told the L.A. media today that McCarthy will start the fourth game of the season in Los Angeles, with Ryu getting the nod in Colorado in the following contest. Those decisions land Wood in the bullpen, though certainly, given the injury concerns that constantly surround McCarthy, Ryu and the currently-injured Scott Kazmir, Wood could find himself with a rotation opportunity at some point during the season.

McCullough further tweets that Stripling will not be going to Triple-A but will instead begin the season in long relief. The Dodgers will trot out a rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, McCarthy and Ryu with Kenley Jansen, Sergio Romo, Grant Dayton, Luis Avilan, Chris Hatcher, Wood and Stripling in the relief corps.

MARCH 27: The Dodgers will utilize lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu out of the rotation when camp breaks, manager Dave Roberts told reporters including Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). That leaves Brandon McCarthy and Alex Wood still battling for the fifth and final rotation job, though both will end up on the MLB roster.

It’s not altogether surprising at this point to hear that Ryu will join the staff, though it’s certainly promising news that the Dodgers think he’s ready to handle the load. He seemingly locked the job up with his outing today, which extended his spring stat line to 14 innings of 2.57 ERA ball, over which he racked up a dozen strikeouts with just one walk.

Ryu, who just turned 30, has basically missed all of the past two seasons with arm issues. And it is certainly an open question whether he can stay healthy for the long haul. But the upside is obvious — he posted a 3.17 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 over 344 innings from 2013-14 — and there’s little reason not to hand him the ball and see what happens with two years and $14MM left on his contract.

After all, the Dodgers are clearly set up to get what they can out of health risks such as Ryu while covering when the need arises. In this case, one of McCarthy and Wood will be on hand in the bullpen. And while the news seemingly tickets Ross Stripling for Triple-A, he’ll be among the arms ready to step into the rotation. Los Angeles has already stashed a not-so-secret weapon there in outstanding youngster Julio Urias.

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