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Mets Still Pursuing Sale Efforts

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If you presumed the Mets had suspended their efforts to find a new owner, think again. Per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic (subscription link), the club’s representatives are continuing to seek purchasers.

It’s hard to believe it was less than two months ago that the club broke off its anticipated deal with minority owner Steve Cohen. Under that arrangement, the current Wilpon ownership group would’ve retained operational control for a five-year period. The team is now offering an arrangement with no strings attached.

Suffice to say the economic picture for a baseball franchise is rather more complicated now than it was then. Still, it sounds as if the Mets are sticking to their $2.6B asking price and still pressing forward in an effort to find a taker.

As Kaplan writes, some initial leads have already dried up with the sudden economic downturn. Ongoing uncertainty, both generally and in the operation of a major-league organization, will surely give added pause.

Still, this represents quite a rare opportunity to take over a New York-based baseball club. If indeed the team is able to maintain traction on the sale effort, it could make for an interesting test of the value of franchises.

It’s often said that operating profit isn’t the true source of a team’s value; rather, like a piece of fine art, the investment lies in capital appreciation. That may well be. But teams have increasingly shown an appreciation for the end-of-year bottom line. Cash flow is a significant part of the picture when it comes to the game of baseball. In this case, the spigot seems sure to turn back on, but it’s possible it may sputter for a time and may not flow in quite the same way once it steadies.

Blaine Hardy Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Southpaw Blaine Hardy, who was in camp with the Twins on a minor-league deal, will now be sidelined until 2021. He underwent Tommy John surgery last Friday, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. (Hardy’s wife notes on Twitter that elective procedures were fully permissible in Minnesota at the time it was performed.)

The 33-year-old Hardy has thrown plenty of innings against the Twins over his six seasons with the Tigers. His tenure in Detroit wrapped up after 289 2/3 innings of 3.73 ERA ball.

While he has turned in solid overall results over the years, Hardy has had some ups and downs and never really wowed with the peripherals. All told, he has averaged 7.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, and a 43.1% groundball rate.

Hardy managed to get outs despite averaging less than 90 mph with his heater. Perhaps the Twins had extra ideas for how to maximize Hardy’s typical four-pitch mix. He’ll now have to mount a comeback next spring.

Brewers Option Five Players

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The Brewers have answered the last call for optional assignments, sending down a handful of players to their top affiliates. Jim Goulart of Brewerfan.net tweeted the news.

Catcher Jacob Nottingham is on his way down, indicating he’s not expected to crack an eventual Opening Day roster. Soon to turn 25, Nottingham has seen brief MLB action in each of the past two seasons but faced an uphill battle to earn a job with Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina locked in behind the plate.

Also sent out on options were four hurlers: southpaw Angel Perdomo and righties Bobby Wahl, Eric Yardley, and J.P. Feyereisen. Only Perdomo has ever actually appeared in regular-season action with a Milwaukee affiliate. He worked to a 4.28 ERA with a hefty 13.9 K/9 but equally voluminous 6.0 BB/9 in 69 1/3 upper-minors innings last year.

Yardley received his first ten MLB appearances last year with the Padres. The Brewers claimed him off waivers in the offseason. Wahl also has seen the majors, receiving brief looks with the A’s and Mets. He came to Milwaukee in the Keon Broxton swap but ended up missing the 2019 season due to a torn ACL. As for Feyereisen, he landed with the Brewers in a rare September swap with the Yankees, who obviously didn’t expect to have room for him on the 40-man roster in advance of the 2019 Rule 5 draft.

Extension Talks Halted During Roster Freeze

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We just wrapped up a series of posts regarding potential extension candidates, with part of the premise being that the ongoing MLB pause could afford opportunities for negotiations. But that won’t be possible under the terms of the Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter.

It turns out that contract talks between teams and their own players will not be permitted while MLB rosters are frozen. Once a second Spring Training resumes, then further negotiations can take place.

In theory, there’s no impact to the likelihood of deals being struck. But in practice, this could make quite a difference. Added time and space without other business on the calendar might’ve helped. Perhaps the uncertainty of the global pandemic would’ve made some players more inclined to seek the safety of guaranteed salary — a factor that may have led the union to agree that talks shouldn’t be allowed.

Now that teams are precluded from further exploring deals, it may actually make it tougher to move past the finish line in situations where talks had already advanced during spring camp. After all, there will be myriad complex matters to sort out and innumerable distractions once the go-ahead is finally given for a ramp-up to the season. And there’ll be ample uncertainty of different kinds, creating a potential wrench for any talks.

Indication was, prior to the shutdown, that quite a few younger players had been targeted. But at this point, it’s tough to guess how many deals will end up being made.

It’s worth noting also that, per Nightengale, optional assignments can still occur until Saturday. In concert with yesterday’s flurry of options, it’s worth wondering just what the impact is. That will presumably be answered once the full details of the coronavirus adjustment agreement are known.

Generally, a player injured while on optional assignment will not earn service time while he is sidelined; whether that would have an impact in this case isn’t entirely clear. Likewise, the modifications to the collective bargaining agreement provide different payments to different classes of players, though it isn’t quite evident whether a late-breaking decision to option a player would change his earnings in the event the season isn’t played.

Extension Candidates: AL Central

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It’s now official: MLB rosters are frozen. We won’t see any players coming and going for some times. And it’s unlikely that any new long-term extensions will be announced. But that doesn’t mean such deals won’t be explored. Some may already have advanced nearly to completion before the global pandemic intervened.

While we may have to wait to learn who the targets are and see what deals get done, there’s a silver lining: more time for rampant speculation! Okay, we’re not going to speculate here; rather, we’ll tick through some interesting possibilities on paper. Remember, we’ve seen an increasing prevalence of deals with less-experienced players (even some without any MLB service) and with new player types (early-career relievers and utilitymen).

In the present MLB environment, value is king and the old forms are fading. We’ve already checked in on the NL East, NL Central, NL West, AL East, and AL West. To round things out, here are some possible extension candidates from the AL Central …

Indians

Francisco Lindor is the big story. Unfortunately, that ship seems to have sailed: he informed the team he’d like to halt talks since the sides weren’t making progress. Unless there’s a change of heart and another attempt during the current pause, Lindor is not going to sign onto a long-term deal (at least, before he has reached his final season of arbitration eligibility later in 2020).

There are a few other interesting candidates. Top hurlers Mike Clevinger and Brad Hand would be of interest, but the Cleveland org may not be able to afford these high-end veterans. Perhaps a few others would be more achievable targets for the cost-efficient Indians. Outfielder Oscar Mercado has only 139 days of service under his belt, meaning he’s two full seasons away from likely Super Two arbitration qualification. Young starters Shane Bieber and Adam Plutko are each in the 1+ service class, so they shouldn’t cost all that much and could convey significant upside.

Royals

There are certainly some interesting questions for the K.C. organization to consider. Slugger Jorge Soler had an eye-popping 2019 … but is he going to keep it going and should the team lock into a player who profiles best as a DH? And how about exciting young shortstop Adalberto Mondesi? There’s no real limit to his ceiling but he had some struggles last year and is still working back from a shoulder injury.

The situation is equally uncertain on the pitching side. Righty Brad Keller has had success through two full MLB seasons but isn’t exactly a top-of-the-rotation arm. You could perhaps make a case for relievers Scott Barlow and Tim Hill, though there doesn’t seem to be a pressing reason to push for a deal with either.

Tigers

The Detroit MLB roster turned in a roundly awful 2019 season. But it still has a few potential targets. The versatile Niko Goodrum could be a part of quite a few rosters around the game, though there’s no particular need to lock into him for the long haul. There are more interesting candidates on the pitching side: starter Matthew Boyd and reliever Joe Jimenez. The former has a whole lot of upside and three more seasons of team control remaining; perhaps the club could take a bit of a gamble. As for Jimenez, 2020 is something of a boom or bust year — rack up a lot of saves and he’ll get a big first-time arbitration payday; stumble and he may not do very well at all. Perhaps he and the club could take share the risk over a longer term.

It’s probably a bit too soon to consider the top of the farm system for deals. But this time next winter, the Tigers could have a host of interesting candidates.

Twins

Both of last winter’s extensions turned out well; the team struck again more recently with Miguel Sano. Perhaps the most obvious remaining candidate is quality young righty Jose Berrios, who is entering his first season of arbitration eligibility. Now that he’s in line for bigger money, it’ll cost more to do a deal. The sides have struck out in previous talks. Byron Buxton is also a 3+ service-class player. There’s likely too much uncertainty in his outlook to structure a deal, but it’s not out of the question.

It’s tempting to stake out a case for a deal with breakout catcher Mitch Garver, but he’s already 29 years of age and still a full season away from arbitration eligibility. Outfielder Eddie Rosario is two seasons from the open market, but that also gives him greater leverage for a higher price tag. Would the Twins really want to commit?

How about a few wild cards? Infielder Luis Arraez should at least be a nice utility player for years to come. There might be upside in an early deal for the plate-discipline magician. And reliever Taylor Rogers is another interesting target. He’s still three seasons from free agency but gets more impressive with each successive campaign. The Twins will owe him a big raise on his $4.45MM salary if he keeps racking up saves; perhaps a deal could suit both sides.

White Sox

The South Siders have already extended a wide swath of their roster. You might wonder whether there are any candidates left. But the team is exceptionally aggressive in this arena and can’t be counted out on exploring deals with just about anyone of interest.

The most obvious candidate at this point is righty Lucas Giolito. We recently broke down his case for an extension. You could perhaps argue for fellow starters Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease, or even injury rehabbers Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodon, but there’s likely too much uncertainty in each of those situations for the sides to see eye to eye. The same is true of outfielder Nomar Mazara.

If you’re looking for a sleeper candidate … how about second baseman Nick Madrigal? The Sox haven’t been shy at all with pre-MLB extensions and the former fourth-overall pick is just about ready for a run at the game’s highest level.

MLB Rosters Frozen; Conditions Set For Resumption Of Play

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As anticipated, an agreement regarding the coronavirus-driven suspension of the 2020 season has resulted in a freezing of MLB rosters, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. A date for the resumption of transactions will be set in the future.

As part of their negotiations, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have also reached a set of understandings regarding the resumption of play. Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (Twitter links) reported the details. Roster movement will be permitted once a new Opening Day can be scheduled.

It isn’t fully clear whether the sides have specifically agreed to restrictions as part of their collectively bargained special exceptions to the Basic Agreement. But it seems at minimum the mutual intention is to wait until baseball can conduct business in much the usual fashion before starting the season.

Per Passan, the league and union do not wish to begin play if fans cannot be present. Thus, a lifting of bans on mass gatherings will be a precondition to the start of the season — though he adds there’s a “caveat” by which neutral sits and empty stadiums can be considered as needed.

It’s good there’s some flexibility baked into this set of understandings, as there are no guarantees as to whether and when typical staging of ballgames will be possible. Even if some number of fans are ultimately permitted in to watch a contest, that would always be subject to change.

Much the same holds true of one of the other requirements for resuming play identified by Passan: a lack of travel restrictions. We don’t yet know what kinds of domestic transportation modifications we’ll end up facing in this crisis, but it seems likely the approach will evolve over time as needs change in various areas.

The final main consideration for holding contests is the review of medical experts to ensure it is safe to those on hand. MLB’s precise plans aren’t clear; perhaps the league will engage a consultant to guide the process.

It’s certainly good to hear that the league and union intend to ensure their actions won’t pose a health risk to those involved in the game and/or the broader public. But the set of requirements also seems rather steep given where things stand now in the effort to contain the deadly pathogen. In particular, much as we’d all love to see the game played in front of live audiences, it seems as if that’ll be awfully difficult to pull off in the near term given the vast ongoing uncertainty.

Extension Candidates: AL West

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We don’t really know whether or to what extent extension talks will continue during the coronavirus hiatus. But as I wrote recently, it seems reasonable to think they’ll be explored. Some may already have advanced nearly to completion before the global pandemic intervened.

While we may have to wait to learn who the targets are and see what deals get done, there’s a silver lining: more time for rampant speculation! Okay, we’re not going to speculate here; rather, we’ll tick through some interesting possibilities on paper. Remember, we’ve seen an increasing prevalence of deals with less-experienced players (even some without any MLB service) and with new player types (early-career relievers and utilitymen).

In the present MLB environment, value is king and the old forms are fading. We’ve already checked in on the NL East, NL Central, NL West, and AL East. Here are some possible extension candidates from the AL West …

Angels

It seems the Halos have some level of interest in trying to keep peerless defensive shortstop Andrelton Simmons from reaching the open market. He’d be quite an interesting player to value after a down, injury-filled year. If he can continue producing otherworldly defensive work in 2020 while returning to league-average hitting, he’d be a fascinating player to watch in free agency.

There are a few other guys nearing free agency that could be considered. Tommy La Stella had a breakout in an injury-shortened 2019 season. He’s already 31 and there’ll be questions about sustainability. But perhaps the sides could share the risk and upside with a relatively modest accord. Reliever Hansel Robles and starter Andrew Heaney are both two years from free agency, though there’s no particular reason to rush into a commitment in either case.

Things get quite a bit more interesting when you look at players much further from the open market. Shohei Ohtani put a ton of faith in himself when he came to the majors for a pittance of a bonus. His two-way ability and near-limitless upside on the mound make him a highly intriguing extension candidate, though sorting out a fair value won’t be straightforward. There’s a clear map for a deal for elite outfield prospect Jo Adell, if both sides are interested, as the White Sox have reached successive pre-debut pacts with Eloy Jimenez ($43MM) and Luis Robert ($50MM). Beyond Ohtani and Adell, the Angels could consider much more modest pacts with utilityman David Fletcher and/or reliever Ty Buttrey.

Astros

There’s an abundance of star power to contemplate for a Houston organization in turmoil. Most pressing: outfielder George Springer, who’s entering his final year of arbitration. This is the final window to get a deal done; whether that’s a realistic possibility isn’t known. Not far behind him is shortstop Carlos Correa, who is two years from the open market. His huge ceiling and more modest recent play make this a suboptimal time to work out a deal, unless both sides are in the mood for compromise.

The ’Stros have a pair of slugging young left-handed hitters that could conceivably be candidates for aggressive early extensions. Yordan Alvarez burst onto the scene last year, but he has had a balky knee this spring and is mostly viewed as a DH. Meanwhile, Kyle Tucker is a surefire big leaguer with star upside, but he’s rather less established. On the pitching side, the Astros could potentially chase value by holding talks with Jose Urquidy, Josh James, or even Bryan Abreu. It may be early in all of those cases, but this organization did reach a then-unprecedented deal with Jon Singleton.

Athletics

The Oakland org has a bunch of candidates that leap off of the page in just about every service class. After a monster 2019 season, shortstop Marcus Semien is slated to reach free agency at the end of 2020. It would probably take a franchise-record deal to keep him from testing the market. Perhaps there’s more room to work out a palatable price tag with reliever Liam Hendriks, who has emerged as one of the game’s most effective relievers since being designated for assignment and then called back up late in the 2018 season. Outfielder Mark Canha had his own recent breakout; perhaps he’s also a candidate with two years left until free agency.

What the A’s really hoped for was a pair of long-term pacts with corner infielders Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. But both were not wooed by prior efforts and they’re both now within a season of arbitration. There is certainly still a window, but the Oakland organization will really have to open the wallet. Striking major pacts with either or both (not to mention Semien) would mark a big vote of confidence in the team’s plans for a new ballpark.

Further down the line in terms of service class are a host of intriguing candidates. Outfielder Ramon Laureano, catcher Sean Murphy, and prized southpaws Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk all carry eyebrow-raising talent. They’re also already controlled for quite some time. But this may be the optimal point for the A’s to achieve big value with a few of those players.

Mariners

Having already inked lefty Marco Gonzales and pre-MLB first baseman Evan White, the M’s have already accounted for their most obvious candidates. And the best of the rest aren’t likely in consideration this winter. Mitch Haniger still needs to get back to full health; top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez are probably a bit too green for even an aggressive deal.

But there are a few more to consider. Shed Long and J.P. Crawford each had solid showings last year and could make sense at the right price. Perhaps the Mariners could even consider less-experienced outfielders Kyle Lewis and Jake Fraley, though that’d make for a surprise in either case. It’s frankly difficult even to suggest another candidate; reliever Austin Adams could’ve been of some interest but he’s rehabbing a major knee injury.

Rangers

You could make a case for a few guys here. Young slugger Willie Calhoun might be a worthwhile target after a strong 2019 showing, though it took the club some time to find him a spot in the majors and he’s now nursing a broken jaw. Veteran starters Mike Minor and Lance Lynn are nearing free agency, with the former entering his walk year, though the Texas org already took on some pitching risk this winter and may not want to over-extend itself with older hurlers.

Really, the Texas extension situation is all about one man: slugging outfielder/first baseman Joey Gallo. The game’s preeminent three-true-outcomes batter, Gallo is in his first of three arbitration-eligible campaigns, so he has entered the big earning stage of his career but hasn’t yet been paid huge money. He was limited by injury (oblique, hamate) in 2019 but put up monster numbers when available, with 22 long balls and a .253/.389/.598 slash over 297 plate appearances. It’s easy to forget that Gallo is a valuable outfield defender and baserunner, making him one of the higher-ceiling all-around players in the game.

More On MLB’s Plans To Adapt To Coronavirus Stoppage

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4:35pm: MLB’s latest proposal includes a delayed draft and would provide players with the same service time they accrued in 2020, tweets Rosenthal. It seems the league aims to contend that such a proposal only shorts players who’d make their MLB debut in 2020, although notable mid- and late-season call-up would also consequently fall shy of a full year of service. Second-half call-ups like Bo Bichette, Gavin Lux, Jesus Luzardo and many others would receive some big league service time under that scenario but still fall shy of the requisite 172 days of service that constitutes a full year. It remains to be seen if that’s a trade the union is willing to make.

That proposed scenario would be a nightmare scenario for a club like the Dodgers, who traded young talent and took on considerable financial obligations in order to acquire the final season of club control over Mookie Betts. It’s unclear just how the league and union would allay any concerns that would surely arise from the Dodgers and other organizations who traded for one-year rentals.

1:01pm: We checked in last night on the latest talks between MLB and the MLBPA regarding the many complicated issues presented by the coronavirus-driven stoppage of play. While it seems players will be assured of recording full service time if the season is played, there’s plenty more to sort out.

ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel provide an update on the latest plans, and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman has penned a column with additional updates of his own. Unfortunately, the overriding concern — the ability to safely stage games — remains wholly subject to the unknown whims of the future.

The goal is to shoehorn in as many games as possible once that becomes possible. At the moment, it seems the most optimistic outcome would be a June resumption of play, with July perhaps more likely. That’ll dictate how many contests can be staged.

To maximize the number of games, the plan appears to call for numerous double-headers and perhaps even an accelerated second Spring Training. Active roster expansion would be offered to help allay concerns with overworked pitching. The postseason would be pushed into the deep fall, or perhaps even the winter, at neutral sites. As Sherman points out, the league has some concern about television broadcast rights when major networks will be carrying key games from other sports (e.g. Sunday NFL coverage).

It’s not just teams and the league that are pushing to do as much as possible. In large part, all parties are in this together. MLB’s most powerful agent, Scott Boras, still thinks a complete season is plausible, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports. Even a mid-summer start would permit a 144 or even 162-game regular season and full postseason slate, says Boras — if the tail end was played at neutral sites right through late December.

The talks also involve quite a few other matters, some of which are more concrete. MLB has committed to advancing $150MM in salary to be distributed to 40-man roster members. There’s also consideration of issuing payment to minor-leaguers at something close to their regular salary for at least some stretch of time.

So long as there’s a season to be played, it stands to reason that most matters will be sorted out so long as there’s sufficient good will between the sides. But even that will require some adjustment; as Passan and McDaniel note, the arbitration system is one of many areas that will have to be modified temporarily.

The draft, too, is a hot-button issue. It seems the two sides have discussed a wide range of scenarios. Sherman writes that the event could pushed back or shortened, with signing bonuses paid out over a longer term rather than in an up-front lump sum. SportsGrid’s Craig Mish suggests (via Twitter) that shortening the event — perhaps to as few as 10 rounds — could be likeliest.

But the real trouble lurks beyond: what if there is no 2020 season? That would unveil a host of thorny matters. MLB and MLBPA negotiators have evidently had less success agreeing on how to respond to such a drastic development. They’ve tabled those talks for the time being while hoping, along with the rest of us, that dealing with that outcome doesn’t prove necessary.

Teams & Players Adapting Opt-Out Plans Amid Coronavirus Uncertainty

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Typically, late March is a time in which we see a lot of roster movement as clubs sort out their Opening Day rosters. Veteran free agents on minor-league deals can often force the action by virtue of opt-out clauses in their contracts. But the situation looks quite a bit different under the unusual circumstances of the delayed 2020 season.

League rosters have not been frozen. And there’s no rule suspending the operation of those opt-out clauses. Accordingly, teams and player agents have been left to sort things out on a case-by-case basis.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports (Twitter link) that there are a variety of approaches being taken around the game. In some cases, teams and players have effectively pushed back the decision by reaching new agreements pegged to some future date — from the start of a second Spring Training or eventual Opening Day. The Phillies, Blue Jays, and Pirates are in the latter camp.

In other situations, it seems, the sides have more or less tabled the details, leaving for another day a determination on the operation of the opt-out clause. And in still other cases, there’s still uncertainty. The Royals, for instance, are still trying to decide how best to handle the immediately pending (March 26th) opt-outs of veteran relievers Greg Holland and Trevor Rosenthal.

It’s certainly possible that those and other players will simply exercise their opt-out rights as originally negotiated. We’ve already seen some players — Joe Panik with the Blue Jays; Ryan Buchter with the Angels — earn 40-man roster spots in recent days, so some clubs have obviously been willing to make commitments.

Curious how this might impact your favorite team’s plans? Our 2019-20 Free Agent Tracker includes links to all of our posts on minor-league signings, with simple filters to help you isolate the signings of interest. At minimum, you’ll see many of the players who were brought into camp as non-roster invitees. And the linked posts on the signings include opt-out details, if they were reported.

GM Trade History: Brewers’ David Stearns

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It’s not always fair to judge baseball operations leaders for free agent signings. In many cases, the biggest contracts are negotiated to varying extents by ownership. The same can hold true of major extensions. It’s just tough to know from the outside.

There’s obviously involvement from above in trade scenarios as well. But when it comes to exchanging rights to some players for others, it stands to reason, the role of the general manager is all the more clear.

In any event, for what it’s worth, it seemed an opportune moment to take a look back at the trade track records of some of the general managers around the game. After covering the Diamondbacks’ Mike Hazen and former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, today we’ll move to David Stearns of the Brewers. (In chronological order and excluding minor deals. Full details at transaction link.)

2019-20 Offseason

2019 Season

2018-19 Offseason

2018 Season

2017-18

2017 Season

2016-17 Offseason

2016 Season

2015-16 Offseason

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How would you grade Stearns for his overall work on the trade front? (Poll link for app users.)

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