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Offseason Outlook: Toronto Blue Jays

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MLBTR is publishing Offseason Outlooks for all 30 teams.  Click here to read the other entries in this series.

With many of their best young position players now in the majors, the Blue Jays will focus on augmenting that group with some pitching.

Guaranteed Contracts

Other Money Owed

  • Troy Tulowitzki, SS: $18MM through 2020 ($14MM salary, $4MM buyout of 2021 club option)

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

The Blue Jays wasted little time in adding to the rotation this offseason, acquiring righty Chase Anderson from the Brewers and exercising the $8.5MM club option on Anderson’s services for the 2020 season.  The soon-to-be 32-year-old Anderson is also controllable via a $9.5MM club option for 2021, making him more than just a pure single-season pickup.

Anderson hasn’t been overly impressive over the last two seasons, totaling 1.5 total fWAR and a 105 ERA+ over 297 innings. He has worked mostly as a starter, though Milwaukee also tended to limit Anderson’s outings before he faced batters for a third time last season.  Still, he has been a relatively durable pitcher over those two years and there is some potential in a change of scenery, even to the tough AL East.

As a pitcher with some degree of success over six MLB seasons, however, Anderson still represents an upgrade for one of the league’s shakiest rotations in 2019.  Trent Thornton and Jacob Waguespack are also tentatively penciled into the 2020 starting five based on their generally average results from last season, while Ryan Borucki is an even bigger maybe given that he only pitched 6 2/3 Major League innings due to recurring elbow problems.  Matt Shoemaker is also looking to return from an injury-shortened year, though perhaps due to some unease about his projected $3.8MM arbitration salary and how Shoemaker will rebound from a torn ACL, the Jays haven’t gotten far in contract talks with the veteran righty.

Anthony Kay, T.J. Zeuch, Sean Reid-Foley, and Thomas Pannone will also be competing for spots in Spring Training.  Top prospect Nate Pearson is likely to debut sometime in 2020, if almost certainly not on the Opening Day roster (for both service-time reasons and because Pearson has only 18 IP at the Triple-A level).

Since 2020 will be another rebuilding season for the Jays, they will have time to evaluate these and probably many other young arms to see who could factor into the plans for 2021, the date that team president/CEO Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins have loosely (though far from officially) mentioned as the starting point for a new era of competitive baseball in Toronto.  The front office has been clear, however, that more new faces will be added to the pitching mix, and the Blue Jays will be willing to spend beyond the level of just veteran reclamation projects, i.e. their acquisitions of Clayton Richard or Clay Buchholz last offseason.

There’s certainly room in the budget, as Roster Resource projects the Jays for a payroll of just under $70.25MM, and even that number could drop by a few million if a few arbitration-eligible players are non-tendered.  Looking ahead to 2021, the Jays will have only Randal Grichuk and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the books since Troy Tulowitzki’s contract will finally be up.

There isn’t any financial reason Toronto couldn’t make a notable signing now, perhaps in the spirit of the Nationals’ deal with Jayson Werth in the 2010-11 offseason, which served as an announcement that a rebuilding team was ready to turn the corner.  That being said, the Jays might have to severely overpay to convince a top-tier free agent (who surely would prefer to join a ready-made contender) to join a club that might not be ready to compete by 2021 at the earliest.

Yet while the likes of Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, or Hyun-Jin Ryu probably aren’t feasible, names such as Kyle Gibson, Julio Teheran, Tanner Roark, Wade Miley, Rick Porcello, or maybe even Dallas Keuchel (who the Jays reportedly had some interest in last winter) could be possible fits, perhaps in some cases just on one-year contracts.

Beyond free agency, the Anderson acquisition could hint at the Jays’ optimal strategy for using their payroll space.  The Blue Jays only gave up a minor prospect to take over the rights to Anderson’s option years from Milwaukee, and Toronto could similarly target other mid-range or better pitchers on teams that are looking to cut spending, whether it’s mid-market clubs like the Brewers or bigger-spending organizations who are looking to avoid the luxury tax.

This strategy could also be used to land position players, though the Blue Jays hope they have most of their everyday core already in place.  Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be at third base, Bo Bichette at shortstop, Cavan Biggio at second base, and Gurriel in left field as the most promising cornerstones of the rebuild.  Catcher Danny Jansen, first baseman Rowdy Tellez, and outfielder/DH Teoscar Hernandez are the somewhat less settled members of the group, with Reese McGuire also perhaps vying for a timeshare with Jansen behind the plate.  Grichuk is the veteran member of the bunch with the long-term contract, though he’ll be looking to bounce back after a subpar 2019 season.

Justin Smoak’s free agency leaves a hole in the first base/DH mix, and the Jays have a vacancy in either center field or right field (whichever position isn’t filled by Grichuk).  Derek Fisher is the favorite for one outfield job, competing with other unproven candidates like Anthony Alford, Billy McKinney, or Jonathan Davis, while Brandon Drury is a utility option at multiple positions but has to rebound from a sub-replacement performance.

It’s possible Toronto could simply stick with all of these in-house options in a development year to see what they really have for the future.  For instance, the exact alignment and/or multi-positional ability of the current players may still be in question, as Atkins has suggested that Gurriel could potentially again be a candidate for second base work or Hernandez could even see some time at first or second base.  Biggio has also already bounced around a few different positions besides second base, and speculation persists that Guerrero could end up as a first baseman sooner rather than later.

The Jays might prefer to save any major acquisitions until the team knows what additions are specifically needed to be a contender.  Rather than splurging on a Nicholas Castellanos or Marcell Ozuna, the Blue Jays could look for players on one-year deals.  A veteran middle infielder (this year’s version of Freddy Galvis or Eric Sogard, essentially) would be useful, or a left-handed bat to balance out a mostly right-handed collection of outfielders.

Speaking speculatively, a reunion with Sogard would make sense.  Bringing back Smoak could also be a fit, while a bounce-back candidate like Travis Shaw might also be someone who gets a look for the first base position.  Free agent Jason Kipnis is a left-handed hitter who can play at second base and in the outfield, and has past ties to Shapiro and Atkins from their time in Cleveland.  Atkins has also said that the Jays have some interest in a trio of Japanese players (corner outfield slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, rangy center fielder Shogo Akiyama and glove-first infielder Ryosuke Kikuchi) who will be available via free agency or the posting system at what should be a relatively modest price.

It wouldn’t be out of the question to see Toronto clear some room by packaging one or two of their surplus players in a trade.  Jansen and McGuire have already drawn interest, and players like Hernandez, Tellez, or any of the less-established outfielders could be trade bait if the Blue Jays feel they could consolidate two players they feel okay about into one player they really like.

Speaking of trade chips, while Atkins hasn’t heard many trade rumblings yet about Ken Giles, the closer clearly seems like perhaps the least-likely Blue Jay to be with the team come Opening Day.  Giles quite probably would have been dealt already, had it not been for an ill-timed injury in the days leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.  Giles is coming off an outstanding season that will push his price tag to a projected $8.4MM in his final arbitration year, though there figures to be some solid interest given the long list of teams in need of bullpen reinforcements.

That list actually includes the Jays themselves, who will be in the market for extra relievers even before their eventual need to replace Giles at closer.  Toronto has made a habit of acquiring veteran relievers (i.e. Daniel Hudson, David Phelps, Seunghwan Oh, Joe Smith) to short-term deals and then flipping them at the trade deadline, so expect the team to again revisit this tactic this winter.  Left-handed relief is a priority, as since Tim Mayza will miss 2020 due to Tommy John surgery, the Blue Jays only have three southpaws (Borucki, Pannone, Kay) on their current 40-man roster.

The Jays have already added one veteran with upside in claiming right-hander Anthony Bass from the Mariners.  A reunion with Ryan Tepera could also be a possibility, even though Toronto outrighted him off the 40-man roster, leading Tepera to opt for free agency.

Though the Blue Jays had the fifth-worst record (67-95) in baseball last season, they find themselves in position for a much more intriguing offseason than some of the other lesser lights who are in earlier stages of rebuilds.  While there’s still a lot of uncertainty throughout the roster, the Jays have graduated their first wave of young players to the big leagues who can be reasonably counted on as building blocks, so there’s room for the club to be aggressive if it feels the end of the rebuild is near.  The types of pitching additions Toronto makes this winter could provide some interesting hints about where the Jays feel they are in their path back to contention.

Offseason Outlook: St. Louis Cardinals

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MLBTR is publishing Offseason Outlooks for all 30 teams.  Click here to read the other entries in this series.

The Cardinals had a middling 58-55 record as late as Aug. 8, yet a blistering stretch run saw St. Louis win the NL Central and end a three-year (lengthy by Cardinals standards) postseason drought.  The Cards also defeated the Braves in the NLDS before falling to the Nationals in the NLCS, and the one-sided nature of that NLCS sweep continued the somewhat inconsistent nature of the Cardinals’ season.  The focus will clearly be on upgrading the offense as the Cards look to take a step forward and get back to the World Series in 2020.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Paul Goldschmidt, 1B: $130MM through 2024
  • Miles Mikolas, SP: $68MM through 2023
  • Matt Carpenter, 1B/3B: $39MM through 2021 (includes $2MM buyout of $18.5MM club/vesting option for 2022)
  • Dexter Fowler, OF: $33MM through 2021
  • Carlos Martinez, SP/RP: $23.5MM through 2021 (includes $500K buyout of $17MM club option for 2022; Cards also have $18MM club option for 2023 with $500K buyout)
  • Paul DeJong, SS: $22.5MM through 2023 (includes $2MM buyout of $12.5MM club option for 2024; Cards also have $15MM club option for 2025 with $1MM buyout)
  • Yadier Molina, C: $20MM through 2020
  • Andrew Miller, RP: $14MM through 2020 (includes $2.5MM buyout of $12MM club/vesting option for 2021)
  • Kolten Wong, 2B: $11.25MM through 2020 (includes $1MM buyout of $12.5MM club option for 2021)
  • Brett Cecil, RP: $7MM through 2020
  • Jose Martinez, 1B/OF: $2MM through 2020

Other Obligations

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

Four straight seasons without a playoff berth would’ve led to rumblings about changes within the St. Louis braintrust, though in the wake of the Cardinals’ solid finish, the organization gave contract extensions to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, GM Mike Girsch, and manager Mike Schildt.

The front office now faces the challenge of upgrading a lineup that already has a lot of personnel in place.  One look at the “guaranteed contracts” section above indicates how much money the Cards have already invested in position players, but none of that group showed much at the plate in 2019.  Paul Goldschmidt led the pack with a modest 116 wRC+, which was the lowest of his nine-year career and perhaps a red flag given how the first baseman was just signed to a pricey five-year extension last spring.

Kolten Wong (108 wRC+), Dexter Fowler (103), Jose Martinez (101), Paul DeJong (100), Matt Carpenter (95), and Yadier Molina (87) all fell into the average-to-disappointing range in terms of offensive production.  This isn’t to say that there wasn’t significant value here — Wong and DeJong are arguably the best defensive middle infield combo in baseball, and Fowler’s season actually represented a solid bounce-back after a disastrous 2018 campaign.  But with this core group all likely to return in 2020, the Cardinals have only a few empty positions to add some extra pop to the lineup.

The infield is set with Goldschmidt at first base, Wong at second base, DeJong at short, and Carpenter penciled in at third base and looking to rebound from a career-worst year.  Carpenter is another player who signed an extension last spring, and while his track record is strong enough that St. Louis likely might have brought him back anyway under the terms of his original contract (an $18.5MM club option for 2020, which became guaranteed under his new extension), there also isn’t any guarantee that he’ll avoid further decline as he enters his age-34 season.

Carpenter’s struggles made Tommy Edman’s emergence all the more critical to the Cardinals’ success in 2019.  Edman hit .304/.350/.500 in 349 plate appearances as s rookie, getting increased playing time at third base down the stretch in addition to some time spent at second base and in right field.  Edman spent the bulk of his minor league career as a shortstop, making him a valuable multi-positional bench piece for the Cards heading into next season.  Ideally, the Cardinals hope to use Edman all over the diamond rather than require him to continually step in at third base, since a resurgent Carpenter would go a long way toward rebuilding the offense.

Fowler can play center field in a pinch but is best suited to right field at this stage of his career, thus leaving Harrison Bader as the Cards’ best in-house option up the middle.  Bader’s center field glovework is so outstanding that St. Louis could probably live with him as just a defense-first regular, if the rest of the lineup could better pick up the offensive slack.  The Cardinals would be overjoyed if Bader replicated his 2018 numbers (107 wRC+ in 427 PA), but if not, the club could go with some kind of a timeshare with Fowler in center.  Fowler did play 377 innings there in 2019.

That still wouldn’t be a big solve in a St. Louis outfield that is full of question marks, though it isn’t to say that the Cardinals are short on personnel.  Beyond Fowler, Bader, the defensively-limited Martinez, and utilitymen Edman and Yairo Munoz, there’s also top prospect Tyler O’Neill ready for a longer look, Lane Thomas and Randy Arozarena as two more youngsters who looked good in limited action during their rookie seasons, and another star prospect in Dylan Carlson down at Triple-A.

It’s a group that is long on potential, but there isn’t guarantee that that potential will manifest itself in everyday solutions for the 2020 roster.  Free agents like Corey Dickerson, Kole Calhoun or other veterans who could be signed to relatively inexpensive shorter-term deals would add some proven ability to the mix.

In terms of longer-term commitments, the Cards have had some recent discussions with Marcell Ozuna’s camp about a possible reunion.  The common thinking had long been that the Cardinals would let Ozuna walk in free agency after two decent but unspectacular years in St. Louis, with the Cards collecting a compensatory draft pick via the qualifying offer that Ozuna is likely to reject.

That extra pick could also make the Cardinals more likely to surrender a pick of their own to sign one of the other nine QO free agents.  Of that group, Josh Donaldson has long been a Cardinals target, though signing him would create the problem of what to do with Carpenter.  Will Smith would help firm up a bullpen that has some ninth inning questions — if Mozeliak and Girsch aren’t hesitant about committing another big contract to a reliever after the underwhelming results from Brett Cecil and Andrew Miller in St. Louis.

Gerrit Cole will likely fall beyond the Cards’ price range, but Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, Jake Odorizzi or even Stephen Strasburg could be targeted in an effort to further solidify an already strong rotation.  Jack Flaherty emerged as the Cardinals’ ace down the stretch, while Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, and Adam Wainwright all provided quality innings.

Wainwright seems likely to be re-signed, but given his age and the shaky peripherals that underlined Hudson’s seemingly sharp 3.35 ERA, one more veteran arm would definitely add some reinforcement to the starting five.  Beyond the qualifying offer types, names like Cole Hamels, Dallas Keuchel, or Kyle Gibson would make sense.  The grounder-heavy attack of the latter two pitchers would make them particularly good fits for a strong defensive team like the Cardinals.

In terms of in-house rotation depth, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Austin Gomber, or Genesis Cabrera could be deployed as starters or relievers.  Former top prospect Alex Reyes is also technically in the mix, but it’s anyone’s guess as to what Reyes could add to the bullpen or rotation after yet another injury-plagued year.  At this point, he’s thrown all of 67 1/3 innings between the majors and minors over the past three seasons combined.

Perhaps the more realistic X-factor is Carlos Martinez, who will be given another look as a starting pitcher in Spring Training.  Shoulder problems forced Martinez into the bullpen in the last two seasons, though the righty made the most of the situation by delivering some strong numbers in 2019 (3.17 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 2.94 K/BB over 48 1/3 IP) and even taking over closing duties in the wake of Jordan Hicks’ Tommy John surgery on June 26.  Hicks could return late next season.

Depending on what additions are make to the starting five, Martinez might well end up as the closer again, though St. Louis could still look to add another reliever with closing experience to the pen.  Smith would be the biggest possible get, but even a lower-tier option like Sergio Romo would be much less costly and perhaps all the cushion the Cardinals need given Martinez’s success in the closer role.  Among internal options, Miller has saved some games in the past, and breakout reliever Giovanny Gallegos could also be considered for save situations.

Backup catcher is the most obvious bench need, and re-signing Matt Wieters might be the easiest potential option.  The Cards would likely prefer Wieters or another experienced backstop ahead of Andrew Knizner, who made his MLB debut last season and has been tabbed as the Cardinals’ catcher of the future….assuming the ageless Molina ever retires, that is.  Molina is looking for a rebound season after his play, particularly his offense, was hampered by thumb problems in 2019.

One wrinkle to the team’s underachieving play for much of the season is that St. Louis might already have a good idea about what some of its assets might net on the trade market.  Such players as Carlos Martinez, Jose Martinez, O’Neill, Thomas, and more were mentioned in trade rumors last summer and even last offseason.  Given the crowded roster, one can certainly make the case that the Cardinals are well-suited to be a popular figure in trade negotiations this winter.

Aside from Goldschmidt, Flaherty, Molina, and probably Mikolas and Gallegos, it could be argued that every player on the Cardinals’ big league roster could be a trade candidate, depending on how big a splash the club feels it needs.  Packaging a young outfielder with Fowler to clear the outfield logjam and get Fowler’s contract off the books?  Likewise, maybe packaging a young player with Carpenter, if another team wants to take the risk on a Carpenter bounce-back?  Selling relatively high on Wong or DeJong?  There are no shortage of scenarios that could be floated, as the Cardinals have an on-paper surplus at multiple positions and have shown the willingness to spend in free agency to address any other roster holes.  Currently, the Cards project to an Opening Day payroll of about $162MM, which would match their Opening Day mark from 2019.  Trades could lower that total outlay, of course, and it’s possible that ownership is willing to push a bit further on the heels of an NLCS return.

The Cards have more questions than most teams coming off a League Championship Series appearance, but there’s enough talent on hand and enough potential for future moves that they could be one of the offseason’s more fascinating teams to watch.

NL West Notes: Friedman, Giants, Oracle Park, Padres

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As the Padres unveil some sharp new uniforms, let’s look at some news from around the NL West…

  • It has been close to a month since Andrew Friedman said he was close to finalizing a contract extension to remain as the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, though there hasn’t since been any word about a deal.  There doesn’t appear to be any real reason for concern, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets, as the two sides are “still dotting I’s and crossing T’s” on the new contract.  Friedman has also been battling the flu for the past week.
  • Construction has begun on Oracle Park’s new bullpens, which will result in a slightly moved-in portion of the outfield fence, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.  Relievers for both the Giants and visiting clubs will no longer have to warm up in foul territory, as the new bullpens will be located behind the center field and right-center field fences.  As a result, the area of fence that runs across center field into the “Triples Alley” triangle will be lowered by about a foot and moved four-to-six feet closer to home plate.  The apex of the triangle will also be a bit shorter to home plate than its current 421-foot distance.
  • Also from Schulman (Twitter links), he reports that as of Friday night, the Giants still hadn’t made a decision in their managerial search, though one should be coming relatively soon.  Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro and former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler are reportedly the final three candidates in the running.
  • The Padres had some interest in Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara last summer, so Dennis Lin and Jamey Newberg of the Athletic (subscription required) tried to figure out a Mazara trade package that could help both clubs, in a lengthy exploration of how San Diego and Texas match up as trade partners.  Some obvious links exist between the two franchises — Padres GM A.J. Preller and new manager Jayce Tingler both came to San Diego from the Texas organization, giving the Friars a lot of familiarity with Rangers players on both the MLB and minor league rosters.  Lin and Newberg settle on a scenario that would see Mazara and right-hander Jonathan Hernandez go to the Rangers for Joey Lucchesi and catching prospect Blake Hunt.

Latest On Mets’ Coaching Staff

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The Mets will be interviewing Jeremy Hefner for their pitching coach vacancy on Monday, the Athletic’s Marc Carig reports (subscription required).  Hefner, currently the Twins’ assistant pitching coach, is a familiar name to Mets fans, as the right-hander tossed 224 1/3 innings for New York in 2012-13.

This 50-game stint comprised Hefner’s entire Major League tenure, as his career was derailed by a pair of Tommy John surgeries.  After pitching in the Cardinals’ minor league system in 2016, he decided to hang up his cleats and pursue a post-playing career as an advance scout for Minnesota.  After two years in that role, he became an assistant pitching coach for the Twins in 2019.

Hefner is only 33 years old, almost 49 full years younger than Phil Regan, who worked as the Mets’ interim pitching coach after Dave Eiland was fired in mid-June.  Hefner’s youth and knowledge of analytics make him a “conduit” of a coach, in Carig’s words, able to relate to players as a virtual peer in terms of age and recent playing experience, which helps in presenting analytical information in an easily digestible fashion.

One veteran voice who won’t be in the Mets dugout is Terry Collins, as Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the former manager isn’t a candidate to be the club’s new bench coach.  There was speculation last week that Collins could serve as an experienced right hand to first-time manager Carlos Beltran, though Collins will instead remain in his current role as a special assistant within the Mets organization.

Blue Jays’ Catchers Drawing Trade Interest

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Pitching is the Blue Jays’ top priority this winter, and Toronto has already made one notable move on that front with its acquisition of Chase Anderson from the Brewers.  It remains to be seen whether the Jays will look to free agency or further trades to upgrade its staff, though in regards to the latter option, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports that Toronto’s “catchers have also been drawing interest from other clubs” in preliminary trade discussions.

Danny Jansen handled the bulk of the work behind the plate for the Jays last season, hitting only .207/.279/.360 over 384 plate appearances but displaying some excellent defensive prowess in his first full MLB campaign.  Both StatCorner and Baseball Prospectus cited Jansen as one of the league’s best pitch-framers, with BP also highly praising Jansen’s blocking skills.  The 24-year-old held his own at throwing out baserunners, stopped 19 of 61 stolen base attempts.

It was quite a performance for a player who was more touted for his offensive skill coming up through the farm system, and if Jansen can improve to even average production with the bat, he’ll be a very valuable catcher going forward.  This could also make him an interesting trade chip, though since Jansen is controlled through the 2024 season, the Jays would certainly want a solid return for his services.  It could ultimately make for a tough negotiation since a rival team could rightly argue that Jansen hasn’t yet shown much hitting skill at the big league level.

Ultimately, there’s probably more evidence that the Jays still see Jansen less as a trade chip and more as their catcher of the future, so that could make Reese McGuire more expendable.  An oblique injury sent Luke Maile to the injured list in July and limited him to just three games for the remainder of the season, as McGuire went on a hot streak and more or less entered into a timeshare with Jansen down the stretch.

Selected 14th overall by the Pirates in the 2013 draft, McGuire was rather surprisingly traded to Toronto in a 2016 deadline deal, packaged with fellow prospect Harold Ramirez and veteran lefty Francisco Liriano for right-hander Drew Hutchison.  The trade was mostly about unloading Liriano’s $18MM in remaining salary for the Bucs, leaving the Jays to potentially reap the benefits from a catcher who has hit very well (.297/.343/.539 with seven homers in 138 PA) in his brief Major League career.  McGuire also has above-average blocking and framing grades — something of the opposite of Jansen, McGuire was considered more of a glove-first catcher during his time in the minors.

This leaves Maile looking like a potential non-tender candidate unless the Jays can find a trade partner.  The veteran is projected to earn only $800K in arbitration this winter, though may no longer have a spot on Toronto’s roster if Jansen and McGuire are the new regular duo.  Maile turns 29 in February, and hit a respectable .248/.333/.366 over 231 PA in 2018, though that solid season was sandwiched between two very poor years at the plate in 2017 and 2019.

The Blue Jays could also look to move younger catchers from within their farm system.  Gabriel Moreno (#8), Alejandro Kirk (#12), and Riley Adams (#27) are all ranked within MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 30 Jays prospects.  Adams is the most developed, with 81 games at Double-A last season, while Kirk reached the advanced A-ball level and Moreno spent all of 2019 at Single-A Lansing.

Yankees Notes: Givens, Galvis, Lefty Hitting, Spending

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Some items from the Bronx…

  • The Yankees “tried hard” to land Orioles reliever Mychal Givens at the trade deadline, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reports.  The right-hander was a popular figure on the rumor mill last July, with such clubs as the Indians, Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, and Nationals all reportedly showing interest in acquiring his services.  It isn’t any surprise that the Yankees were also involved given how New York is constantly looking to reinforce its already strong bullpen, and it isn’t out of the question that the Yankees could ask about Givens again this winter.  The 29-year-old is under team control for two more seasons (and projected to make $3.2MM in arbitration this winter), though Givens is coming off the worst of his five big league seasons.  Givens posted a 12.3 K/9 and 3.31 K/BB rate over 63 innings but his ERA ballooned to 4.57, due in large part to a lot of problems keeping the ball in the park (1.9 HR/9).
  • Sticking with Sherman’s piece, he wonders if the Yankees could perhaps try to land both Givens and Jonathan Villar from the Orioles in a package deal that would also address another team need — a lack of left-handed hitting.  Interestingly, Sherman writes that there is some strategy behind this lineup imbalance, as the Yankees have preferred to deploy right-handed bats with opposite-field power rather than actual left-handed hitters, as lefty bats can be more easily hampered by defensive shifts.  If the Bronx Bombers did decide to add more pop from the left side, however, Sherman feels the best possible solution would be switch-hitting superstar Francisco Lindor, if the Indians made him available in a trade.  Beyond Villar, Sherman lists a few other players (old friend Didi Gregorius, Freddy Galvis, Tucker Barnhart, Jason Castro) who could be signed or acquired in trades to add left-handed balance to either the lineup or bench.  In Galvis’ case, Sherman reports that he was the Yankees’ second choice as shortstop depth last offseason before they landed Troy Tulowitzki.
  • The Yankees’ decision to exercise some financial restraint has drawn criticism from some fans and pundits, particularly since the club has now gone 10 full seasons without a World Series title.  As Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards observes in a look at the last 20 years of Yankees spending, the franchise made a gigantic payroll spike in 2003-2004 (up into the $200MM-$240MM range, around three times as much as the average payroll) that possibly “outstripped what might have been reasonable compared to their revenues and financial status, and that staying at around $240 million reflected a necessary correction.”  The Yankees’ average payroll increase hasn’t matched the rest of the league’s overall increase over the last decade, however, even while the Yankees franchise has increased its revenues.

AL East Notes: McNeil, Rays, Didi, Shapiro

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“The Rays were focused on” super-utilityman Jeff McNeil in trade talks with the Mets last offseason, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.  McNeil’s multi-position ability and pre-arbitration salary status make him an ideal target for the Rays, making Sherman wonder if Tampa Bay could again target McNeil this winter, though the Mets’ asking price has surely gone up in the wake of McNeil’s outstanding 2019 season.  Sherman’s piece floats some potential trades to help the Mets address their center field need, including his speculative suggestion of a Kevin Kiermaier/Yonny Chirinos for McNeil swap.  The Rays would get their desired “low-cost Swiss Army Knife” of a player and also get Kiermaier’s contract off the books, with Chirinos involved to add a young arm to New York’s rotation and entice the Mets to swallow Kiermaier’s $36MM in remaining salary.  Sherman looks further within the AL East to cite the Red Sox as another possible trade partners for the center field-needy Mets, as Jackie Bradley Jr. could be available, or there’s always the “pipedream” of a one-for-one swap of Mookie Betts for Noah Syndergaard.

More from around the East…

  • The Yankees decided against issuing a one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer to Didi Gregorius, leaving SNY.tv’s Andy Martino wondering if the shortstop’s days in the Bronx could be over.  One industry source describes the chances of Gregorius returning to New York in 2020 as “a very close call,” especially since Martino notes that Gregorius and his representatives believe they can find a multi-year deal in free agency.  Even after an injury-shortened down year, Gregorius is still the best shortstop option on the free agent market; MLBTR ranked him 12th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents and predicted he’d land a three-year, $42MM contract.  It’s worth noting that this deal would work out to less in average annual value than the one-year cost of the QO, so it isn’t out of the question that the Yankees could still try to bring back Gregorius for multiple years, though at a smaller hit to their 2020 luxury tax number.
  • Blue Jays president/CEO Mark Shapiro discussed Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s offseason training regiment, baseball labor relations, and some hot stove business amidst a variety of topics in a radio interview with The Fan 590’s Scott MacArthur, Ashley Docking, and Mike Zigomanis (audio link).  The Blue Jays are known to be looking for pitching this winter, with Shapiro saying “we’re going to have to be aggressive on every level of the free agent starting pitcher landscape.”  This could mean at least checking into the top-tier names on the pitching market, though given Shapiro also noted that “if you look at the history of free agent pitching contracts, it is a really, really, really high-risk area to play in.”  All things considered, the odds seem to be against Toronto landing an elite arm like Gerrit Cole at this point in their rebuilding process.  “Dollars are not going to be our challenge, which hasn’t always been the case,” Shapiro said.  “It’s going to be where we fit with Gerrit’s alignment of interests…same thing with every free agent we pursue.  What I am confident is, that throughout the free agency process we’ll be able to get better this winter, and we’ll have the resources to do it.”
  • There have been rumors about a possible extension between Shapiro and the Blue Jays since 2020 is the last year of the CEO’s deal, though he didn’t give any new details on that front.  Shapiro did reiterate his desire to stay in Toronto and “I’ve received nothing but positive feedback from the people that I report to about wanting me to remain here.”

Pirates Considering Ben Cherington As Baseball Operations Head

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Blue Jays VP of baseball operations and former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is a candidate to be the Pirates’ next head of baseball operations, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  Cherington has worked for Toronto for the last three-plus seasons, after taking a little over a year away from baseball after being fired by the Sox in August 2015.

Cherington joins Pirates assistant GM and current acting general manager Kevan Graves as the only known candidates to take over the Pittsburgh front office.  Other notable names have already been mentioned as potential candidates, including another name from the Jays in senior VP of player personnel Tony LaCava, and another former Red Sox GM (and Orioles GM) in Dan Duquette.  Interviews with potential candidates were expected to begin this week, though there isn’t yet any indication that Cherington has officially sat down with Pirates top brass.

The Pirates cleaned house after 69-93 season that was disastrous on and off the field, as the club parted ways with manager Clint Hurdle, team president Frank Coonelly, and GM Neal Huntington, though all in somewhat staggered fashion over the course of a month.  Travis Williams has already stepped in as the new team president, though the managerial search that was already weeks old was put on pause while Huntington’s replacement was found.

After Theo Epstein departed the Red Sox following the 2011, Cherington (following 13 years in various role in Boston’s front office) took over as general manager.  His tenure with the club saw the Sox finish in last place in the AL East in 2012, 2014, and 2015, yet win the World Series in 2013, giving him one of the most unusual resumes of any top executive in recent memory.  While several mid-tier acquisitions were key to the 2013 championship, Cherington was hampered by bigger-ticket signings that didn’t pan out, most notably Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.  Cherington was credited, however, with the development of such young starts as Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, and Eduardo Rodriguez, all of whom were either drafted or largely developed during Cherington’s time as general manager.

Multiple teams have had interest in hiring Cherington for GM openings in recent years, though he declined interviews last year, with Rosenthal reporting at the time that Cherington was mostly interested in a situation that would allow him to completely rebuild a team.  The Pirates could represent such a situation, as while the team has talent on hand, an argument could be made that a revamp could be necessary before the Bucs are able to again be truly competitive in the tough NL Central.

Yankees To Hire Matt Blake As Pitching Coach

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The Yankees will hire Matt Blake as their new pitching coach, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  Blake is being hired out of the Indians front office, as he was promoted to the role of Cleveland’s director of pitching development just two days ago, after working as a pitching coordinator and assistant director of pitching development for the previous three seasons.  Blake also has past ties to the Yankees, as he worked for the Bronx Bombers as an area scout before heading to Cleveland.

At only 33 years old, Blake will provide the younger and more analytic-based approach that the Yankees were seeking to find as they looked to replace longtime pitching coach Larry Rothschild.  Of the four known candidates for the job, three (with former Yankees star David Cone as the outlier) were younger names in their 30’s without much any direct coaching experience on an MLB staff.  University of Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter and Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs were the two other names linked to the Yankees’ search.

It’s difficult to say the Yankees pitchers exactly struggled last year, as both New York’s starters and relievers ranked in the top half of the league in most major statistical categories despite some key names (Luis Severino, Dellin Betances) lost to injury for virtually the entire season.  However, a lack of reliable innings from the rotation quickly became an issue in the ALCS, as the Yankees leaned hard on their bullpen and ultimately came up short to the Astros in six games.

It will be up to Blake to modernize the Yankees’ handling of their arms, and it perhaps isn’t surprising that New York hired someone from a Cleveland organization that has excelled at developing homegrown pitching in recent years.  Indians manager Terry Francona recently praised Blake’s work in preparing young hurlers such as Jefry Rodriguez, Zach Plesac, and Aaron Civale, with the latter two making their Major League debuts in 2019.

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