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Duquette On Davis, Matusz, Walker

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Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette spoke to the media (including Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) on the eve of the Winter Meetings, and here are some of the highlights…

  • Duquette didn’t have much of an update on the Orioles’ talks with Chris Davis, only to say that the team is still involved since “I don’t know what the other teams’ market is for him.”  As Kubatko put it, there are several baseball people at the Winter Meetings “wondering if the Orioles are the frontrunners by default.”  Baltimore has been the only team clearly linked to Davis thus far, though the Cardinals and Red Sox have both been rumored to have at least some interest.
  • The Orioles’ shopping list includes an outfielder and Duquette said the team would prefer to add a left-handed hitter to help balance the lineup.  As expected, Duquette didn’t comment on specific free agents, such as when he was asked about Baltimore’s rumored interest in Alex Gordon.  “He’s a free agent, right?  He’s a left-handed hitter. There’s some good players on that market that are outfielders. There’s some good players there,” Duquette said.
  • The bullpen is also a need area, and Duquette didn’t comment on how close the O’s were to any sort of final agreement with Darren O’Day.
  • Duquette also said that “ideally” the team would add some lefty balance to both the lineup and the pitching staff, though the Orioles would “be OK with five righties” in the rotation.  If the O’s don’t have a left-handed starter by Spring Training, Duquette said the team could consider moving Brian Matusz back to the rotation since the southpaw usually stretches out in the spring in order to work on all of his pitches.  Matusz struggled as a starter over his first four MLB seasons before reviving his career as a very effective lefty specialist out of the bullpen since 2013.
  • First base prospect Christian Walker is receiving “quite a bit of interest” from other teams.  Walker has hit .280/.348/.453 with 57 homers over 1723 PA in the minors, though he has only a .751 OPS at the Triple-A level, something Duquette believed could be due to Triple-A Norfolk’s large ballpark.  Baseball America ranked him as the third-best prospect in Baltimore’s system prior to the 2015 season.

Kenta Maeda Joins Wasserman Media Group

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Right-hander Kenta Maeda has hired Adam Katz of the Wasserman Media Group (WMG) to represent him in talks with MLB teams, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports.  Maeda will soon be posted by the Hiroshima Carp and free to negotiate with any Major League club who meets the $20MM posting fee.

MLBTR ranked Maeda 14th on our list of the top 50 free agents in terms of earning power, predicting he would land a five-year, $60MM contract (on top of the $20MM posting fee his chosen team would pay Hiroshima).  Given how so many top pitchers have already been signed to higher-than-expected prices, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Maeda’s eventual contract exceed our prediction by a healthy margin.  Maeda was already expected to draw a healthy amount of interest, and the rapidly-thinning number of free agent aces will only intensify his market.

Maeda joins such stars as Giancarlo Stanton, Nolan Arenado, Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez, Kendrys Morales and Jeff Samardzija in the WMG fold, to name just a few of the dozens of players represented by the agency.  The client list also contains some very prominent Japanese talents, including Hisashi Iwakuma and Hideki Matsui.

For information on more than 2,000 Major League and minor league players, check out MLBTR’s Agency Database. If you see any notable omissions or errors, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

NL West Notes: Kemp, Ross, Greinke, D’Backs, Gallardo

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The Padres have been shopping Matt Kemp and asking about shortstops, sources from rival teams tell Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).  The Padres “may be reluctant to eat a lot of money” in such a deal, which could make things tricky given Kemp’s poor 2015 season and the $72MM owed to him through 2019.  It isn’t clear if San Diego would be willing to attach highly sought-after righty Tyson Ross to Kemp, which FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal speculated about last month as a way to entice a club into taking Kemp off the Padres’ hands.  Here’s some more from around the NL West…

  • The Diamondbacks’ surprising signing of Zack Greinke was conceived and concluded in under 12 hours, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes.  GM Dave Stewart tells Nightengale that the club had only discussing Greinke “in passing” before owner Ken Kendrick and president Derrick Hall gave Stewart the go-ahead on Friday morning.
  • With so much committed to Greinke, however, the Diamondbacks are already pushing the limits of their payroll, a source tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.  The team is thus looking at trades to further bolster its pitching, rather than free agent signings.  As such, Piecoro reports in a tweet that D’Backs people aren’t too optimistic about their chances of signing Mike Leake.
  • One rival executive thinks the Diamondbacks will be busy at the Winter Meetings, telling Piecoro that “If they’re going to sign Greinke, I would expect them to try to go get more.”
  • The Dodgers are expected to meet with Yovani Gallardo’s agents during the Winter Meetings, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets, and the free agent righty could be a plan-B option for L.A. after missing out on other pitching targets.  The Dodgers are on the verge of landing one new arm, as they’re close to an agreement with Hisashi Iwakuma.
  • The Rockies are “open-minded” about trading outfielders like Carlos Gonzalez or Charlie Blackmon, sources tell FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).

Bullpen Notes: Chapman, Gott, Albers, Blevins

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It’s been a huge day for reliever signings, as Joakim Soria, Ryan Madson, Mark Lowe and (probably) Darren O’Day all reaching agreements on new contracts.  If that wasn’t enough, the Dodgers and Reds are also discussing an Aroldis Chapman trade, so the biggest bullpen trade chip of them all could also soon be off the table.  Here’s some news on the relievers who have left the market, some who remain, and yet others who could be on the trading block…

  • The Nationals continue to have interest in trading for Chapman but are wary about the prospect cost, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson writes.  There’s also the difficulty involved in trading current closer Jonathan Papelbon, and Papelbon’s grievance against the Nats is just the latest in several obstacles that will make it hard for Washington to find a taker for the controversial righty.
  • The Angels are getting interest in right-hander Trevor Gott, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  The Halos want a player of similar value in return.  Gott made his MLB debut in 2015 and posted a 3.02 ERA, 5.1 K/9 and 1.69 K/BB rate over 47 2/3 innings.  Owner of a 96.2mph fastball, Gott posted much higher strikeout totals over his three minor league seasons and is controlled through the 2021 season.
  • Righty Matt Albers has received interest from multiple teams, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (Twitter link).  Albers missed most of 2014 due to shoulder problems and signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last winter, only to miss quite a bit of time after fracturing his pinkie during a bench-clearing brawl with the Royals in April.  Still, Albers ended up posting a very impressive 1.21 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 3.11 K/BB rate over 37 1/3 innings with Chicago last year.
  • Yakult Swallows right-hander Tony Barnette didn’t reach a deal with any of the five teams who met his $500K posting fee, according to a story from the Sanspo news outlet (hat tip to NPBTracker’s Patrick Newman for his translating tweets).  Barnette is set to return to Yakult, though there’s a chance the Japanese team could allow him to pursue a deal with a Major League team anyway.
  • The Mets will meet with lefty Jerry Blevins’ agent during the Winter Meetings, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports.  Assistant GM John Ricco confirmed the club’s interest in re-signing Blevins and expects it will take a Major League contract to get the veteran southpaw back in the fold.  Blevins pitched only five innings for the Mets in 2015 as a result of two forearm fractures — one from a line drive, and another suffered while slipping off a curb.
  • In another piece from Rubin, he hears from Ricco that the Mets weren’t in on O’Day or Madson due to their high price tags.  “We didn’t see ourselves playing in that top end where O’Day was,” Ricco said. “But I think that next tier, we’re going to be keeping an eye on….We’re going to meet with a lot of the representatives for the relievers here over the next couple of days.”
  • Part of the reason the Athletics agreed to a deal with Madson was because they can’t afford to land any of the top free agent hitters and thus have to “spend money where they can,” according to Rosenthal on Twitter.  The A’s are also still looking at more starting pitching as well, as evidenced by earlier reports of their interest in Scott Kazmir.
  • Before signing Lowe, the Tigers made one more try for Soria but talks went nowhere, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets.  The Pirates, another of Soria’s former teams, didn’t have any interest in re-signing him since the club prefers to build low-cost bullpens, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.  The Blue Jays looked into Soria in the name of “checking options,” a source tells Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, but Toronto wasn’t seriously interested.

Rangers Notes: Frazier, Moreland, Napoli

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Here’s the latest out of Arlington…

  • GM Jon Daniels cited a right-handed hitter who can play left field and first base as an “important” need for the team, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.  Such a player could both platoon with Mitch Moreland and fill in for Josh Hamilton in left, or possibly act as cover should Hamilton again miss significant time with injuries.  Ryan Rua or Patrick Kivlehan are internal options who lack experience in such a role, while the free agent market offers some possibilities at both positions (Steve Pearce, Sean Rodriguez) or one or the other.  The best-case scenario for Texas, of course, would be that Hamilton stays healthy, and with that still a possibility, the Rangers aren’t likely to invest in a major left field upgrade like Justin Upton.
  • Also from Wilson’s piece, he interestingly notes that the Rangers checked in with the Reds on Todd Frazier, though “nothing came out of [the] conversation.”  Frazier, who played some left in the minors, would’ve been used as that first base/left field bat rather than his usual third base spot, which is obviously spoken for by Adrian Beltre.  Presumably Frazier would’ve gotten more regular playing time than a regular platooner, and with Beltre a free agent after 2016, Frazier could’ve then been an option to replace him at the hot corner.
  • The Rangers like Mike Napoli but the first base/DH situation is already pretty filled by Moreland and Prince Fielder, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes.  “Mike probably fits us best if there is another move where we get presented with something on the trade front that opens some playing time up,” Daniels said.  Moreland is clearly much more likely to be dealt than Fielder, and Grant opines that the Pirates could be a good fit due to Moreland’s long relationship with Bucs manager Clint Hurdle and their need at first base with Pedro Alvarez gone.
  • In another piece from Grant, he talks to Daniels about how the Rangers will go about acquiring starters in what has become a particularly expensive market for pitching.  As Daniels notes, the Rangers “were kind of anticipating this kind of market” which is why they instead got a long-term ace in Cole Hamels last summer.  That deal cost them a hefty sum in prospects but it could end up costing Texas less than what other teams have paid to sign or acquire top-of-the-rotation arms this winter.  Daniels doesn’t anticipate making another major deal of minor leaguers to add another pitcher.  Grant suggests a few lower-cost options, like re-signing Colby Lewis or signing non-tendered free agents like Henderson Alvarez or Mike Minor who could be buy-low candidates.

Bullpen Notes: Storen, Sipp, Astros, Rodney, Soria, Soriano

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Here’s the latest on a number of free agent or trade candidate relievers…

  • The Astros have discussed former Nationals closer Drew Storen as a potential backup plan, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets.  Storen could become of more interest to Houston if it fails to land one of its bigger-name targets like Aroldis Chapman, Jake McGee or Ken Giles.
  • The Astros’ search for bullpen help is the major focus of this Houston Winter Meetings preview piece from MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.  Within the piece, McTaggart notes that there’s mutual interest between the Astros and free agent Tony Sipp for the lefty to return to Houston though the price tag remains an issue.  It could be that the Astros will focus on landing a big name closer first and then address other relief needs like adding a sorely-needed lefty to the bullpen.
  • The Cubs, Padres and Twins have shown the most interest in Fernando Rodney, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.  Rodney would ideally prefer to return to closing, a source tells Berardino, so the Padres could have the edge in this respect since the back of their bullpen is wide open with Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit gone.  Rodney followed up three years of excellent closer numbers from 2012-14 with a disastrous stint in early 2015 that cost him his stopper job with the Mariners, though he regained some old form after catching on as a setup man with the Cubs late in the season.
  • There haven’t been any developments between the Twins and Joakim Soria since the team made its initial contact, Berardino tweets.  The Royals, Blue Jays, Giants, Rangers, Tigers and Red Sox have all been among the other teams linked to Soria this winter, though the latter two are said to be out of the running after their respective acquisitions of Francisco Rodriguez and Craig Kimbrel.  Soria is looking for a big salary in the form of a three-year deal in the $27MM range, which may eliminate at least a couple of those teams who were only looking at Soria as a setup reliever.
  • Also from Berardino (via Twitter), Rafael Soriano is pitching well in the Dominican League and has drawn attention from a few MLB teams.  The Twins aren’t one of those clubs.

Cubs Looking At Trades For Top Closers

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The Cubs are “actively exploring a trade for” a star closer, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter link).  Most of the speculation surrounding the Cubs this winter has been focused on their search for pitching or outfield help, as Chicago’s bullpen was strong last year and current closer Hector Rondon has posted two seasons of excellent relief work.

Rondon did run into some difficulties in May of last season, though those struggles essentially consisted of two rough weeks that include two of his four blown saves.  Otherwise, Rondon was mostly spotless, as evidenced by a tiny 0.88 ERA and 51 strikeouts (against just 10 walks) over his last 51 regular season innings.  Pushing Rondon to a setup role would, theoretically, make the Cubs’ relief corps even stronger and closer to the Royals model of a shutdown bullpen that shortens games.

Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Mark Melancon, Ken Giles, Jonathan Papelbon, Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger are some of the closers who have been floated as trade candidates in what has been a crowded relief market this offseason, with Craig Kimbrel and Francisco Rodriguez already changing teams.  Chapman and Melancon could be difficult fits for the Cubs, however, depending on how the Reds and Pirates feel about dealing within the NL Central.

Braves Notes: Miller, Pollock, Flowers, Cox

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Here’s the latest from the ATL…

  • The Diamondbacks have “pushed on” Shelby Miller in talks with the Braves, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (via Twitter).  Atlanta, meanwhile, seems to be focused on outfielders, particularly A.J. Pollock.  Olney wonders if this could lead to an expanded deal between the two clubs; for the record, the D’Backs has already turned down at least two offers from the Braves involving Pollock and Miller.  It could be more likely that Arizona won’t deal Pollock at all, as team CEO Derrick Hall recently intimated, especially now that the D’Backs seem to be aiming to contend in 2016 after signing Zack Greinke.  This could mean that other outfielders like Ender Inciarte or David Peralta could be floated by the Snakes as trade bait in order to land Miller, though this is just my speculation.
  • The Braves have interest in catcher Tyler Flowers, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports.  The White Sox non-tendered Flowers earlier this week rather than pay him a $3.5MM salary (as projected by MLBTR) in the arbitration process.  Flowers was originally drafted by Atlanta in the 33rd round of the 2005 draft before being traded to Chicago as part of the Javier Vazquez deal in December 2008.  If the Braves did bring him into the fold, Flowers would not only be rejoining his original club but also his old White Sox battery mate in A.J. Pieryzynski.  Atlanta has been rumored to be looking for more catching options due to dissatisfaction with Christian Bethancourt’s development.
  • The Braves announced on Thursday that Bobby Cox has signed a two-year extension to continue acting as a consultant for the team (hat tip to Buster Olney).  Cox signed a five-year consulting contract after retiring as the Braves’ manager following the 2010 season, and this new deal will keep him in the fold through the 2017 campaign.

Starting Pitching Notes: Leake, Iwakuma, Maeda, Chen, Marlins

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The red-hot free agent pitching market will only help the Indians in trade talks, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.  With so many top starters commanding giant salaries, the Tribe’s collection of young arms becomes more attractive both to teams who are hesitant to overspend on pitching, or to teams who missed out on their free agent targets.  President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti could be making a career-defining move, Pluto believes, if he chooses to deal one of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar or Trevor Bauer for a big bat since such a trade could put the Tribe over the top as contenders.

Here’s more from the ever-shifting pitching rumor mill…

  • The Giants are still interested in Mike Leake, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets, even after signing Jeff Samardzija.  Leake’s market is “now more defined” with so many other top pitchers off the board.  The Giants may not be willing to give Leake a Samardzija-esque deal, however, as reported by Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter).  This could take them out of the running for Leake given how several other teams also have interest.
  • Also from Olney, the Royals are in the mix for starting pitching.  Chris Young has been the only starter directly tied to Kansas City in reports, though there has been speculation that the World Series champs could aim higher in their search for rotation help.
  • The Dodgers and Giants both fell short in their search for Zack Greinke, but MLB Network’s Peter Gammons wonders if the two arch-rivals could compete again for Hisashi Iwakuma.  Both teams have already shown interest in the Japanese righty, and while the Mariners also have a long-stated interest in re-signing Iwakuma, I would guess the presence of these two big-market teams could drive Iwakuma’s price out of Seattle’s comfort zone.
  • There has been speculation in the Japanese media that Kenta Maeda would prefer to pitch for the Dodgers, according to NPBTracker’s Patrick Newman (Twitter link).  The Dodgers have a long history with Japanese talent and they have a need in the rotation, so a connection makes sense.  L.A. will get a chance to negotiate with Maeda if they’re one of the teams who posts a $20MM bid for his services.
  • Wei-Yin Chen has become a “hot topic” for the Cubs, 670TheScore.com’s Bruce Levine tweets.  Chen is another free agent whose market should benefit from other pitchers disappearing off the market.  Chicago, for instance, had interest in Price, Zimmermann and Samardzija before all of those pitchers signed elsewhere, though the Cubs already made one rotation-bolstering move in signing John Lackey.
  • The Marlins are exploring a wide range of pitching options as they head to the Winter Meetings, president of baseball operations Michael Hill tells MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes.  Frisaro suggests that James Shields or Wade Miley could be trade targets since Miami has been interested in both pitchers in the past, though the Marlins are trying to hang onto their core position players in deals (presumably trade candidate Marcell Ozuna isn’t necessarily part of this equation).
  • The Marlins are open to the possibility of signing Cliff Lee, Frisaro reports.  Presumably Miami would be one of several clubs interested in seeing if the former Cy Young Award winner has anything left in his comeback attempt.
  • The Astros could look to deal 26-year-old lefty Brett Oberholtzer, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  Oberholtzer has a 3.94 ERA, 2.86 K/BB rate and 5.9 K/9 over 253 2/3 career innings, all with Houston since 2013.  He’s one of many young arms the Astros have on hand beyond the five-man rotation, and the southpaw could be expendable if Houston is satisfied with its other depth options.  Heyman speculates that the Orioles, Phillies, Rangers and Reds could all be fits as trade partners.
  • The Twins aren’t one of the reported 10 teams interested in Henderson Alvarez, 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson tweets.

More Reaction And Analysis Of The Zack Greinke Signing

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We’ve already published some early reactions last night to Zack Greinke’s six-year, $206.5MM contract with the Diamondbacks, yet the baseball world has plenty more to say about the industry-shocking deal.  Here’s some more opinions and news…

  • It will take more than just Greinke to make the D’Backs the NL West favorites in 2016, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello writes.  That said, the team was on track to improve even without Greinke, and his addition obviously greatly upgrades the rotation, which was Arizona’s greatest need.
  • The Dodgers made a curious choice in not spending more to land Greinke, FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi opines.  While Arizona surpassed all industry expectations for Greinke’s contract, the Dodgers have the financial might to never be outbid on any player they truly want, and the fact that they were willing to offer Greinke a five-year, $155MM deal indicates that there was legitimately interest on Los Angeles’ part.  With Greinke gone, the Dodgers now have to spend either money or prospects to acquire another ace.
  • Had the Dodgers been willing to part with some top prospects, they could’ve landed Cole Hamels from the Phillies last season and already had another long-term ace on hand to cushion the blow if Greinke left, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal notes.  While the Dodgers, like any team, are loath to move their best minor leaguers, Rosenthal argues that L.A. is in unique position to instantly reload the farm system given how much they’ve spent to dominate the international talent market.
  • The Dodgers’ offer already put them beyond their comfort zone, and the team believed they were on the verge of welcoming Greinke back, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes.  The Dodgers thought “the issue was more about how to structure a deal and less about whether there would be one.”  For Dodger fans, this is the clearest sign yet that the team wants to get a younger roster, as it is “terrified” of being hamstrung by too many unreliable veterans on huge contracts, a la the Yankees and Phillies of recent years.
  • Despite this fear, the Dodgers don’t really have all that many long-term salary commitments, as ESPN’s Buster Olney points out in his latest subscriber-only column.  Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Brett Anderson and Alex Guerrero all come off the books after 2017 while Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig, Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy are all free agents after 2018.  Like Morosi and Shaikin, Olney points out that the Dodgers now face extra pressure from their fans as, after years of exorbitant spending, a star player has now left for financial reasons.
  • From the Diamondbacks’ perspective, Olney reports that some around the industry feel the club could eventually have to cut costs due to the signing, as the Snakes did for spending so freely in the years leading up to their 2001 World Series title.  Still, Arizona’s payroll is greatly helped by the fact that Paul Goldschmidt’s contract has become a huge bargain.
  • Other teams aren’t pleased with the signing, ESPN’s Jayson Stark tweets, noting that the D’Backs have received almost $80MM in revenue sharing payments over the last three years.  (As other writers have responded in other tweets, however, it seems like teams would be just as upset if the D’Backs pocketed the money instead of spending it on players.)
  • With the Greinke market escalating to such incredible heights, Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle argues that the Giants were fortunate to get out of the hunt rather than commit so much money to a 32-year-old pitcher.  Jenkins feels the Giants could pivot to signing both Mike Leake and Jeff Samardzija, just to increase the heat on the Dodgers.  One of those steps has already been taken, as the Giants agreed to a five-year deal with Samardzija today.

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