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Dodgers Interested In Trading For Dylan Cease
The Dodgers and White Sox have discussed the possibility of Dylan Cease heading to Los Angeles, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. There isn’t any indication that a trade is particularly close, or whether or not this was a due diligence inquiry from the Dodgers given the club’s obvious need for pitching.
While the White Sox aren’t exactly rebuilding, new GM Chris Getz has directly said that he is open to trade offers as the Sox look for ways to address their many needs. Thursday’s trade of Aaron Bummer to the Braves saw Chicago pick up at least starting middle infielder (Nicky Lopez) and perhaps two (Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster) new arms for the starting rotation, bringing some depth onto a depleted roster.
Apart from trading Luis Robert Jr., dealing Cease would be the biggest move the White Sox could make to quickly add a lot more talent to the organization. MLBTR’s Nick Deeds recently explored Cease’s trade market, citing 14 teams that make sense as trade suitors given Cease’s past quality and his relatively inexpensive price tag over two remaining arbitration-eligible seasons. Cease is projected for an $8.8MM salary in 2024, so even if a big performance next year raises his 2025 salary significantly, that still adds up to two seasons of front-of-the-rotation pitching for around $22MM.
Over three full seasons as a starter, Cease was solid in 2021, outstanding in 2022, and then fairly ordinary last year, struggling to a 4.58 ERA over 177 innings. A 4.10 SIERA is a little more flattering, as Cease’s .330 BABIP and 69.4% strand rate certainly contributed to his issues, plus it is fair to wonder if he was affected by the overall malaise of the Southsiders’ disastrous 101-loss season. Cease’s subpar walk rates and his tendency (apart from in 2022) to surrender hard contact are red flags, but there’s still a lot to like about the right-hander as he enters his age-28 season.
From the Dodgers’ perspective, Cease represents a much surer thing than most every other pitcher in their projected 2024 rotation. Walker Buehler returns from a 2023 season entirely lost to Tommy John surgery, Dustin May will miss at least the first half of 2024 due to flexor tendon surgery, and swingman Ryan Yarbrough is the only other experienced arm within a pitching mix that includes a lot of rookies and second-year pitchers. Bobby Miller has claim on one rotation spot behind Buehler, but Ryan Pepiot, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Gavin Stone are all varying degrees of question marks.
Trading from this pitching depth might be a risk for Los Angeles, given all the uncertainty about their rotation. However, on paper, this is still a good crop of young arms that would be attractive to other teams, particularly a club like the White Sox in need of controllable pitching. Speculatively, one would imagine Miller is off-limits for the Dodgers in trade talks, but moving one or even two of the other pitchers might be feasible for a Los Angeles club that clearly wants to win now. Or, L.A. might try to tempt the Sox with some of its many quality position players in the minors — top prospects Dalton Rushing and Diego Cartaya might have particular appeal to Chicago since the Sox are very thin in the catching ranks.
Braves Interested In Sonny Gray
The Braves have interest in Sonny Gray, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (X link) describes Atlanta as “one of the top suitors” for the right-hander’s services. The Twins (Gray’s former team), Cardinals, and Phillies have all been linked to the free agent at various points this winter, though Philadelphia is probably off the board after re-signing Aaron Nola earlier today.
Intriguingly, Morosi and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Atlanta also made a push to sign Nola, indicating that the Braves have their eyes on a big rotation upgrade. Reports from last week suggested that the Braves were targeting pitching help, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier today that “at least front-line starter” seems to be on Atlanta’s wishlist
As Rosenthal and others have observed since Friday’s non-tender deadline, the Braves made a flurry of cuts to their arbitration class, as a series of trades, releases, and non-tenders resulted in 10 open spots on the 40-man roster and almost $14MM shaved from the budget. The Braves were planning to increase payroll anyway in 2024, yet naturally every dollar counts in a situation where Atlanta might have to outbid other teams for a top free agent hurler.
MLB Trade Rumors projected a four-year, $90MM deal for Gray, who ranked ninth on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents. The three-time All-Star has been solid for most of his 11-year career, but 2023 was arguably Gray’s best season, as he delivered a 2.79 ERA over 184 innings for the Twins and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting. While Gray’s past injury history is a little checkered, his performance last year likely helped calm some doubts over whether or not Gray can remain a productive and durable arm as he enters his age-34 season.
It is possible that the Braves view Gray as, at the very least, a successor to Charlie Morton as the rotation’s veteran stalwart. Morton came to Atlanta in advance of his age-37 season and has been very effective over his three seasons with the team, to the point that the Braves exercised their $20MM club option to bring Morton back for 2024. Morton is now 40 years old and often considering retirement, while Max Fried can be a free agent next winter, so Atlanta could use another longer-term pitcher to pair alongside Spencer Strider.
Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has been pretty measured in his free agent pursuits in his six years running the front office. Marcell Ozuna’s four-year, $65MM deal is easily the largest contract the Braves have given out in the Anthopoulos era, with most of their other signings trending towards one- or two-year deals with experienced veterans (i.e. Kenley Jansen, Josh Donaldson, Morton’s initial deal). Because the Braves surpassed the luxury tax threshold in 2023, they’d also have to give up two 2024 draft picks and $1MM in international draft pool money to sign a qualifying-offer rejecting free agent like Gray.
However, it could be that this is simply an extra price that Anthopoulos is willing to pay to bolster the rotation. While the Braves’ starting pitching has been more than solid in recent years, it has fallen short in the playoffs the last two years, plus the Braves navigated a lot of rotation injuries last year in particular. Since there’s no indication that Atlanta’s powerful lineup is going to slow down, improving the pitching staff might be the last step necessary in getting the Braves back to the World Series.
Padres Sign Mason McCoy To Minor League Deal
The Padres have signed shortstop Mason McCoy to a minor league contract, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports (via X). The deal contains an invitation for McCoy to attend San Diego’s big league Spring Training camp.
The Blue Jays outrighted McCoy off their 40-man roster in late September, and he became a minor league free agent after the season. Originally a sixth-round pick for the Orioles in the 2017 draft, McCoy is changing teams for the third time in his career, after previous playing with the Mariners and Jays. Seattle dealt McCoy to Toronto in July in exchange for Trent Thornton, and McCoy ended up making his MLB debut, making six appearances as a late-game sub with one plate appearance.
McCoy has hit .257/.330/.393 over 2796 career PA in the minor leagues. Twenty-one of his 51 career homers in the minors came with Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate in 2022, though he was unable to keep that surprising power surge going, and the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League might have played a role in McCoy’s sudden extra pop. McCoy is more of a threat on the basepaths, stealing 90 bases in 106 tries in the minors.
Most of McCoy’s playing time has been at shortstop, though he has seen a lot of work as a second baseman and some action at third base and in left field. With Manny Machado set to miss some time at the start of the year while recovering from elbow surgery, the Padres in need of extra infield depth, so McCoy might have a decent chance to win himself a backup job in Spring Training.
Report: Mariners Not Expected To Sign Shohei Ohtani
The Mariners have long been considered a candidate to pursue Shohei Ohtani this winter, yet chances may be slim that the reigning AL MVP will head to the Northwest. According to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer, “industry sources” say “that landing Ohtani doesn’t appear to be within the Mariners’ realistic agenda this offseason.”
Why this is the case isn’t specified, or whether or not this might represent a shift in the Mariners’ thinking after having some early talks with Ohtani and his representation. Kramer cites some possible reasons, several related to the record-setting price tag that Ohtani is expected to land this winter. It could be that the M’s are wary about committing what will likely be over $500MM to a single player, even one of Ohtani’s stature and ability.
Seattle hasn’t been exactly shy about payroll in the past few years. After all, the franchise could end up spending $470MM on Julio Rodriguez, and will owe the young star at least $210MM based on the terms of his elaborate contract extension from August 2022. Luis Castillo and J.P. Crawford signed lucrative extensions in their own right, and the Mariners inked Robbie Ray to a $115MM free agent deal in the 2021-22 offseason.
These deals notwithstanding, the Mariners are currently projected for a $143.3MM payroll in 2024, putting the team around the middle of the pack in spending. The $143.3MM figure does represent one of the higher payrolls in franchise history, and adding Ohtani for what could be $50MM in average annual salary would put the M’s into uncharted financial territory for them.
As Kramer notes, splurging on Ohtani might leave little in the budget for the front office to address other needs. Obviously adding Ohtani would be a major way of addressing Seattle’s broad need for lineup help, “yet, it’d also be imprudent to suggest that Ohtani’s bat alone would solve all the Mariners’ problems,” Kramer writes. If president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto did get the green light to boost payroll by $50MM, using that money on multiple players might be a wiser way of upgrading the roster than spending it all on a DH-only player whose pitching future might be somewhat murky after a second major arm surgery.
In theory, an early pivot away from Ohtani might help the Mariners in some other winter pursuits. There has been a ton of speculation and very little fact about exactly how Ohtani and his camp plan to approach his free agency, yet recent reports indicate that Ohtani might pick his next team before the Winter Meetings begin on December 4. Even if Ohtani is planning to leave the market relatively early, that still gives the Mariners a couple of weeks to pursue other free agents or trade options while many of the bigger-spending teams are still tied up waiting for Ohtani’s decision.
Even though there are plenty of other ways for the Mariners to improve the club besides signing Ohtani, there is sure to be some disappointment from Seattle fans that the two-way superstar might not be on the radar. The Mariners had a somewhat quiet offseason last winter, and as Kramer points out, this relative lack of aggression coming off a playoff berth was interpreted by some as a sign that the M’s were financially gearing up to make a big run at Ohtani this year.
The Mariners were one of the seven teams who were the finalists for Ohtani when he first came to the majors from Nippon Professional Baseball during the 2017-18 offseason. With some speculation still existing that Ohtani might prefer teams on the west coast, the Mariners were seen as a natural potential landing spot this time around, especially since Ohtani has spent time in Seattle in past offseasons and stated that “I felt like it’s a very nice city. I really liked it.” As well, the Mariners’ longstanding connection to Ichiro Suzuki (one of Ohtani’s baseball heroes) has made the team a popular destination for Japanese talent, and the thinking was that signing Ohtani would only strengthen that bond for a new generation of fans.
Even if Seattle is out of the picture, Ohtani’s market is still very active. Teams like the Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers, Cubs, and probably other big-spenders like the Yankees, Mets, Padres, and Phillies have all been linked to Ohtani to varying degrees, so it could be that the Mariners felt they weren’t going to win a bidding war with so many clubs involved. Given how Ohtani’s camp is prioritizing secrecy in negotiations, we might not hear much concrete news about his next destination until a signing is imminent.
Mets Interested In Luis Severino
Luis Severino’s trip through free agency could lead him to another New York borough, as the former Yankees right-hander has gotten some interest from the Mets, The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports. Mets officials are planning a meeting with the 29-year-old to explore the possibility of a deal between the two sides.
A reunion with the Yankees doesn’t appear to be happening for Severino, but at least eight teams were known to have some level of interest in the two-time All-Star. It’s probably safe to guess that an even higher number will at least check in before the offseason is over, given the widespread need for pitching around the league and Severino’s potential as a reclamation project.
Severino’s career got off to such a promising start that the Yankees signed him to a four-year, $40MM extension prior to the 2019 season, a rare move for a team that usually doesn’t explore contract extensions on general principal. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they perhaps should’ve stuck to their policy in this case, as Severino’s career went into a tailspin due to injuries. He pitched only 18 total big league innings from 2019-21, primarily due to Tommy John surgery but with shoulder, lat, and groin problems also contributing to those three lost years.
More lat injuries limited Severino’s availability in 2022, but he at least returned to pitch 102 innings and post a 3.18 ERA, so the Bombers exercised their $15MM club option on the righty’s services for 2023. This was another transaction that backfired, as Severino again battled injuries (an oblique strain and another lat strain) en route to a 6.65 ERA in 89 1/3 frames.
In all likelihood, Severino and his agents at Rep 1 Baseball will be aiming for a one-year contract this winter. (MLBTR projected him for a one-year, $14MM pact.). This would allow Severino to re-enter the market next winter, theoretically after he has enjoyed the type of healthy and productive season that would serve as a better platform for a pricey multi-year commitment. As noted earlier, many teams would be fits for Severino, and his willingness to take a one-year deal would open the door to offers from both big spenders and smaller-market clubs.
This means that in lieu of a bidding war based purely on money, Severino might prioritize environment and an organization with a track record of rejuvenating pitchers’ careers. The Mets themselves don’t have that kind of reputation, but new president of baseball operations David Stearns is coming from a Brewers team that had a knack for developing and finding plenty of hidden-gem arms over the years. Heading to Queens would also allow Severino to remain in New York, and once again play for Carlos Mendoza, as the new Mets skipper spent the previous six seasons on the Yankees’ coaching staff.
Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana are the only locks for the Amazins rotation in 2024, so it isn’t any surprise that the Mets are looking to acquire at least two more arms to a staff that also has Tylor Megill, Jose Butto, Joey Lucchesi, and (after a midseason return from hip surgery) David Peterson in the mix for starts. Severino may not be the most stable of options given his long injury history, yet with the Mets willing to spend at high end of the market, the team has the flexibility to pursue both frontline arms and slightly lower-cost fliers like Severino.
Angels Hire Johnny Washington, Jerry Narron To Coaching Staff
The Angels have announced two new members of their coaching staff, as Johnny Washington has been hired as the Halos’ hitting coach and Jerry Narron will be the new Major League catching coach.
The 39-year-old Washington has been the Cubs’ assistant hitting coach for the last two seasons, coming off a one-year stint in South Korea for the KBO League’s Hanwha Eagles. Before that trip abroad, Washington was a longtime coach in the minor leagues with the Dodgers and Padres, and San Diego promoted him to the big league staff in 2017 to act as the first base coach and eventually the hitting coach.
There’s no relation between the new hitting coach and new Angels manager Ron Washington, and the two just missed crossing paths during Johnny’s playing career, as his time as a prospect in the Rangers’ farm system ended just before Ron became the Texas manager prior to the 2007 season. However, the Angels have had Johnny Washington on their radar in the past, as they interviewed him for their managerial vacancy in the 2019-20 offseason before eventually hiring Joe Maddon.
Under ex-hitting coach Marcus Thames (who is now taking over the hitting coach job with the White Sox), the Angels had mostly decent to middle-of-the-pack batting numbers across the board in 2023. Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout naturally contributed to lot of the offense, and L.A. got good results from Luis Rengifo, Taylor Ward, and Brandon Drury, though injuries plagued the Halos on the whole. 2024 could be a transformative year in Anaheim if Ohtani departs in free agency, so Washington’s to-do list includes continued development for younger bats like Nolan Schanuel and Logan O’Hoppe, and seeing if Anthony Rendon can get his bat back on track if the third baseman can finally avoid the injury bug.
Narron celebrates his 68th birthday in January, and he brings almost 50 years of experience as a player, coach, manager, and several other roles at the Major League and minor league levels. Narron is best known for his two stints as a big league manager, helming the Rangers in 2001-02 and the Reds from 2005-07. He played for the then-California Angels from 1983-86, and he was back in the organization last year as a minor league catching coordinator.
Reds PBO Nick Krall Downplays Idea Of A Jonathan India Trade
Because the Reds are loaded with up-and-coming young infield talent, Jonathan India has been seen a logical trade candidate since prior to summer’s trade deadline, and it is widely considered possible or even probable that the former NL Rookie of the Year could be moved this winter. However, Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall threw some cold water on the concept of an India trade when speaking with Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters Friday, saying “I wouldn’t say we are motivated. If a deal comes around, we have to be open to anything. But just motivated to move players off your roster just because ’that guy might not fit (a specific spot).’ That doesn’t make any sense.”
Naturally, some gamesmanship could be at work here. Openly admitting that India was being shopped would do nothing for the Reds’ leverage in trade talks, and it might not play well within the Cincinnati clubhouse since India is a beloved team leader. Krall’s “open to anything” stance in regards is common within front offices around baseball since you never know when a rival team might unexpectedly make a big offer, yet while he didn’t close the door on India being dealt, Krall also made several logical points about why the Reds would want to retain the second baseman’s services.
For one, it wasn’t long ago that India was seen as a key member of Cincinnati’s rebuild, after capturing NL ROY honors in 2021. He has since been hampered by hamstring problems in 2022 and then a bout of plantar fasciitis in 2023, limiting him to 222 of a possible 324 games and an uninspiring .246/.333/.394 slash line over 960 plate appearances. That works out to a 98 wRC+ over the last two seasons, and 1.7 fWAR total when also factoring in India’s subpar defensive numbers at second base.
While the emergence of Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Spencer Steer, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand has led to a crowded state in the Cincinnati infield, Krall disagreed with the concept that his team necessarily even has a surplus.
“You look at our club, and I think most guys were injured at some point last year. So if you have a deep bench of guys that can play every day, that’s not a fault in our roster. That’s a good thing,” Krall said. “I would welcome that, to have guys who have experience to be able to play multiple positions, to be able to step into a spot and be a good player….[India is] a first-time arbitration-eligible player; we’ve got him under control for three more seasons. He fits our club. He fits our group.”
“If you said, ’Hey, you’ve got guys coming behind him or you’ve got guys that are pushing him out or that he doesn’t have a spot to play,’ that’s one thing. But he does have a spot to play here. There are at-bats here. Are they going to be 650, 700 plate appearances in a season? No, but that also gives you the ability to give guys days off and keep guys fresh and healthy throughout the course of the year.”
Krall isn’t wrong in extolling the benefits of depth, to say nothing of the fact that Steer (who debuted in 2022) is the only member of the younger group who has any big league experience prior to 2023. In the event of an injury or even just a sophomore slump from one or two members of the prospect core, and suddenly the Reds might go from a surplus to a bit of a shortage of reliable infield possibilities. That being said, if depth is what the Reds want, they could also look to add another infielder for more of a clear backup role, while trading India for help elsewhere on the roster.
While India’s fate is yet to be determined, the Reds did part ways with one infielder yesterday when Nick Senzel wasn’t tendered a contract before the Friday evening tender deadline. Krall told MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and other reporters that the Reds first explored trading Senzel, saying “we talked to a handful of teams and obviously didn’t find the interest to move him. So we decided this was probably best for our organization, to move on and let him find a place where he can play every day.”
Moreso than the $3MM salary Senzel was projected to earn in arbitration, the Senzel decision ultimately down to a roster crunch. As Krall put it, “we’ve got seven infielders still on the 40-man. We looked at where Senzel was and it was a little bit of, ’How does all this work?’ ”
It seems quite likely that Senzel will land a guaranteed contract with another team, and perhaps might yet be a late bloomer with a change of scenery heading into his age-29 season. Debuting in 2019 as one of baseball’s top prospects, Senzel has a modest .239/.302/.369 slash line over 1366 career plate appearances. Health problems and a number of positional changes have marked Senzel’s career, which Krall acknowledged in making the tough non-tender choice.
Mets Hire Andy Green In Player Development Role
The Mets have hired Andy Green for a senior role in their player development department, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (X links). Earlier today, Sherman reported that Green had been fired from his previous job as the Cubs’ bench coach, but Sherman corrected himself by saying that Green wasn’t fired, but that he turned down the Cubs’ offer to remain as bench coach or in another job in the organization.
This isn’t the first link between Green and the Mets this winter, as it seems likely that the groundwork for this hiring was laid when Green interviewed for New York’s managerial opening a few weeks ago. Though the Mets opted to hire Carlos Mendoza as their new skipper, obviously the club liked Green enough to still want him within the organization. With Craig Counsell unexpectedly supplanting David Ross as Chicago’s new manager, Green might have decided it was also time for a change, as Green’s stint as bench coach coincided with Ross’ four-year tenure as the Wrigleyville manager.
Green is no stranger to the Big Apple, as his last three seasons as a player were spent in the Mets organization, including his last four MLB big games in 2009. Upon retirement, he became a manager in the Diamondbacks’ farm system and then Arizona’s third base coach for the 2015 season. Green was then hired to be the Padres’ manager, compiling a 274-366 record from 2016-19 while initially overseeing a rebuilding San Diego club.
It remains to be seen if this player development job could lead to a new career path for the 46-year-old Green, or if he’ll eventually look to return to an on-field role. Green’s managerial aspirations obviously haven’t left him, given his interviews with both the Mets and the Guardians within the last two months.
Cubs Part Ways With Bench Coach Andy Green
Cubs bench coach Andy Green won’t be back with the team in 2024, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Green was “dismissed.” It isn’t known exactly when Green was let go, yet Chicago has already started looking for a replacement, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via X) reports that Marlins first base coach Jon Jay received an interview but won’t be hired.
The somewhat under-the-radar nature of Green’s firing is a little surprising, though in the bigger picture, a change of bench coach commonly coincides with the hiring of a new manager. With Craig Counsell now running the Cubs’ dugout, it makes sense that he would get some say in picking and choosing his staff — particularly at bench coach since the role usually serves as the manager’s top lieutenant. For instance, Green was one of David Ross’ first hires when Ross became the Cubs’ manager during the 2019-20 offseason.
Beyond his four years of experience as Chicago’s bench coach, Green is best known for his four-year stint as the Padres’ manager from 2016-19. San Diego didn’t have any winning seasons during Green’s tenure, though the Padres were rebuilding during the first few of those years before expectations were raised after the Manny Machado signing. The lack of success with the Friars didn’t entirely dim Green’s prospects as a skipper, since he interviewed with both the Mets and Guardians just this winter about managerial vacancies.
The 38-year-old Jay only just retired in April 2022, hanging up his cleats after 12 MLB seasons (which included a stop with the Cubs in 2017). It didn’t take long for Jay to jump back into the game, however, as Jay was named Miami’s first base coach shortly after ex-teammate Skip Schumaker become the Marlins’ manager last year. Jay has been cited as a potential future managerial candidate himself, as he fits the trend of clubs looking to hire younger managers more recently removed from their playing careers.
