Alex Gordon Hopes To Play “A Few More Years”
Royals icon Alex Gordon was at least pondering retirement within the past year, but the 36-year-old now tells Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that he’d like to play “at least a few more years.” Like many other veterans who’ve had additional time to reflect thanks to the COVID-19 shutdown, Gordon wants to go out on his own terms rather than letting the health crisis dictate when he hangs it up. “I’ll tell you I definitely don’t want to end like this,” says Gordon.
Gordon also notes that he sees similarities between the current Royals and the group that blossomed into Kansas City’s World Series clubs from 2014-15. The seven-time Gold Glover spoke fondly of how “special” it is to be a part of a group that grows together through a rebuild and comes out the other side as a postseason contender. Gordon “definitely” wants to see at least one more postseason run in his career, he adds.
There’s no talk of playing anywhere else in Gordon’s interview with Worthy, which K.C. fans in particular will want to read in full. Gordon said almost one year ago to the day that he plans to finish his career in Kansas City and retire as a Royal. “I’ve established my family here with my kids,” he said at the time. “This is home.”
If Gordon’s postseason aspirations are to come true, he’ll likely need another couple of years at least. The Royals have an increasing number of intriguing bats in the lineup, with Adalberto Mondesi, Hunter Dozier, Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler all blossoming in recent years. (Soler will be a free agent after 2021, though the club hopes to extend the slugger.) The pitching side of things is a bit further behind, but the Royals have several quality young arms bubbling up toward MLB readiness. Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch, Jackson Kowar and Kris Bubic all could’ve conceivably debuted in the big leagues this year, although that timeline is a bit less certain given the circumstances. All four appeared on various top-100 prospect lists prior to the 2020 season.
Gordon himself remains a reasonably productive player, having batted .266/.345/.396 with 13 home runs, 31 doubles and a triple in 2020 to go along with above-average glovework. Defensive metrics weren’t as bullish on him in 2019 as they were in an excellent defensive 2018 campaign, but Gordon has never rated below average in either Defensive Runs Saved or Ultimate Zone Rating since moving from third base to left field a decade ago. And while those offensive numbers are just shy of league average, Gordon was mostly solid in ’19 outside of a disastrous month of August (.167/.238/.219). Setting aside that brutal month, he kept his OPS above the .800 mark. We of course can’t simply ignore that woeful August showing, but it’s only fair to point out that he was a largely solid at the plate otherwise.
Gordon is on a one-year, $4MM deal with the Royals, so this winter, he’ll need to once again negotiate a new contract with the only club he’s ever known. But general manager Dayton Moore has made perfectly clear how important Gordon is to the team and clubhouse, and his teammates have offered similar sentiments. Merrifield, for instance, gushed to Worthy about how vital Gordon has been in his own career and what his leadership means to the Kansas City roster.
Matt Harvey Throwing Bullpens, Hoping For Offer Once Transaction Freeze Is Lifted
Matt Harvey isn’t calling it quits. The former Mets ace tells Dan Martin of the New York Post that he’s throwing bullpen sessions once or twice per week in hopes of landing a contract once the leaguewide transaction freeze has been lifted. Harvey reportedly tried out for the Blue Jays in February and didn’t receive an offer, but the 31-year-old feels he’s used the additional downtime to correct some “bad habit from last year” that he might’ve otherwise rushed through.
“I hope somebody gives me a shot,” Harvey tells Martin. “I feel like I have many more years in me. … I’ve grown up and matured on and off the field.”
Harvey’s swift fall from grace has been well documented. Injuries decimated what looked to be an extraordinarily promising career for the former No. 7 overall pick, who pitched to a 2.53 ERA/2.65 FIP with 9.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 through his first 427 MLB innings. In a span of less than three years, though, the touted righty underwent Tommy John surgery and thoracic outlet surgery. The injuries were followed by a sharp downturn in his results on the field, which combined with a reputation for partying off the field and a questionable clubhouse presence to sully the general opinion of the former “Dark Knight” in Queens.
[Related: When the Dark Knight Left Gotham]
However, Harvey had a rebirth of sorts following a trade to Cincinnati. The right-hander didn’t completely return to form, but his velocity improved as he worked to a respectable 4.50 ERA in 128 frames out of the Reds’ rotation in 2018. Harvey was clobbered in two of his 24 starts with the Reds (15 runs in a combined nine innings), but outside of those poor showings was quite solid (3.70 ERA). He held opponents to three or fewer runs in 17 of his 24 starts with the Reds. By all accounts, he appeared to be a good clubhouse fit there.
The improved velocity and relative stability he showed with the Reds prompted the Angels to bring Harvey in on a one-year, $11MM deal. It was a somewhat steep price to pay for a pitcher who many still viewed as a reclamation project, but the upside with a pitcher of Harvey’s pedigree was alluring enough to pique the Halos’ interest. Instead, Harvey delivered a disastrous 7.09 ERA and 6.35 FIP that were worse than even his lowest points with the Mets. He latched on with the A’s on a minor league deal but was never called to the Majors.
Harvey made a couple of relief appearances with the A’s in Triple-A and was said to be open to trying out a reliever role, so perhaps he’d be open to that this time around. At this point, a “beggars can’t be choosers” mentality seems like a necessity, so a short relief role doesn’t seem to be out of the question. The league’s proposal to the Players Association reportedly will expand rosters to as many as 30 players and could have a taxi squad of 15 to 20 additional players available to every club. That type of roster expansion could seemingly help Harvey’s chances, as clubs will likely aim to stockpile as much pitching depth as possible.
It’s been nearly five years since we’ve seen Harvey at his best, but he’s still just 31 years old. A return to prominence may be a long shot, but we’ve seen longer shots make successful comebacks in recent years (Rich Hill, Scott Kazmir among them).
World Baseball Classic To Be Pushed Back To 2023
2:00pm: The WBC will be pushed back to March 2023, pending the approval of the tournament board, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
12:44pm: The fifth World Baseball Classic, which had been set to take place in March 2021, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will not be played, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reports. There’s no official word on the tournament’s cancellation or when it will next take place, although Hector Gomez of Z101 Deportes in the Dominican Republic tweets that it could perhaps take place in 2023.
The 2021 WBC was slated to expand from 16 teams to 20 teams and would have taken place across three countries: the United States (Marlins Park and Chase Field), Japan (Tokyo Dome) and Taiwan (Taichung Intercontinental Stadium). Japan won the first two WBC tournaments, with the Dominican Republic taking the crown in 2013 and the United States capturing the first-place trophy in 2017.
All 16 of the entrants in 2017 were granted automatic bids this time around, while a series of qualifier tournaments comprised of teams from Panama, Nicaragua, Brazil, the Philippines, Germany, Great Britain, France, the Czech Republic, Pakistan and South Africa were slated to vie for the four newly created seeds.
Given that the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo were already pushed back a year and still remain in jeopardy even on that delayed timeline, it’s not particularly surprising to learn that the WBC won’t take place as scheduled. Still, it’s a disappointing blow for fans of the tournament. While it never reached the same levels of popularity in the United States, the WBC is wildly popular among fans in Latin American and Asian countries that participate. As Daniel Kim of MBC in South Korea tweets, the Korean team’s deep run in 2006 and 2009 helped to spur a baseball renaissance in South Korea that has led to steady growth in the KBO and increased popularity since that time.
In the United States, with a title to defend and an aggressive recruiting pitch from reigning tournament MVP Marcus Stroman that had elicited interest from the likes of Walker Buehler, Pete Alonso, Mike Clevinger and others, it’s possible we might’ve seen the strongest iteration of Team USA yet in 2021. Sadly, that no longer seems to be realistic, and WBC fans will have an indefinite wait for the next event as the organizing committee charts out a new course.
Owners Finalize Proposal For Resumption Of Play
1:07pm: Owners approved the proposal for the union, Rosenthal tweets. The league and union are expected to sit down to discuss the proposal tomorrow. Sherman tweets that the MLBPA considers the league’s revenue sharing proposition a “nonstarter,” further underscoring that substantial hurdles need to be navigated.
11:50am: The league is preparing to present the Players Association with a proposal for the resumption of play in 2020, and the team’s 30 owners will vote on the final iteration later today, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Once finalized, the proposal will be presented to the union.
Many elements of the proposal have already been leaked to various media outlets. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich reported over the weekend that a revenue-sharing plan with players was being “floated,” and Nightengale adds that such a plan is indeed on the table today. The proposal would see owners share “at least 48 percent” of revenue with the MLBPA in 2020. Similar setups exist in the NBA and the NFL. Owners will also vote on a universal DH for 2020, as Joel Sherman suggested over the weekend.
A couple of previously reported elements have already been agreed upon, per Nightengale: the expansion from 10 to 14 postseason teams in 2020 and a limited travel schedule wherein teams play only division rivals and the five teams in the opposite league’s corresponding division (e.g. the Padres play only the other four NL West clubs and the five AL West clubs during the regular season). A mid-June reboot for spring (summer?) training and an early July return to regular-season play remain the hope and best-case scenario, though scheduling is still dependent on input from government officials and public health experts.
The owners and commissioner’s office are also hopeful that teams will be able to host training camp and regular-season games (sans fans in attendance) at their home parks. Nightengale does make mention of a possible facility share between close-proximity rivals in the event that one team’s state government regulations render play at its home stadium not feasible. Such clubs could also look into moving games to their spring site, per the report, though in some cases, that would seemingly run counter to the more stringent travel restrictions this proposal seeks to establish.
There’s still no word on what sort of plan is in place in the event of a positive test or tests among active players and coaches — or of a larger outbreak within a tightly packed clubhouse. To that end, Rosenthal spoke with a number of players with underlying medical conditions in order to get their feelings on a return to play (subscription required). David Dahl, Scott Alexander, Adam Duvall, Jordan Hicks, Carlos Carrasco, Kenley Jansen, Anthony Rizzo and Jon Lester all spoke with Rosenthal about their intentions to play despite some current or previous health concerns. Dahl, who had his spleen removed in 2015, acknowledged that it’s “definitely scary” and said his immune system is “pretty bad.” Still, he expressed trust in Rockies medical officials and the broader expertise of public health experts in voicing his willingness to return to the field.
That said, Rosenthal also notes that there are numerous players with underlying medical conditions which are not public knowledge, and there are plenty more with higher-risk immediate family members that are the source of concern. It’s a complicated scenario for players in those circumstances — one that has reportedly led some to inquire with the union about what would happen should they opt not to play in 2020 (via last week’s report from Jeff Passan of ESPN.com). It’s also a reminder that ownership approval of a proposal today is just one of many steps that need to be taken before play actually resumes.
Poll: Universal DH In 2020?
When MLB commissioner Rob Manfred spoke back in 2018 about the possibility of adding a designated hitter to the National League, revealing that the dialogue “probably moved a little bit,” MLBTR readers responded in what was probably the most evenly-split poll we’ve ever conducted here; among 13,118 respondents, there was a 50.07 to 49.93 percent result ever so slightly favoring the status quo and keeping the DH to the American League only.
Circumstances have changed in 2020, to say the least. Over the weekend, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the proposal the league is preparing to present to the Players Association includes a designated hitter in both leagues for the 2020 season — a measure aimed at keeping pitchers healthier during a shortened schedule that could include an abnormally brief ramp-up period, increased doubleheaders and/or fewer off-days.
If such measures are put in place this year, that will surely serve as a litmus test of sorts for a more permanent implementation of the rule. Adding a DH in the NL has been a hotly debated and oft-discussed topic for years now, as NL purists lament the potential loss of strategy while those in favor of the DH point to the general futility of pitchers at the plate.
The primary reason the league would favor the change, in the long term, would be to increase the regularity of balls in play. Pitchers batted a combined .128/.160/.162 last season in 5173 plate appearances (a negative-18 wRC+) — and that was their best offensive showing in the past five years. But that was also due in part to a BABIP spike, it seems, as pitchers struck out at a woeful 43.5 percent clip — their worst mark ever. Conversely, the league-average non-pitcher hit .256/.327/.443 with a 22.4 percent strikeout rate. Dropping pitchers for even league-average bats in those DH spots would have resulted in about 1100 fewer strikeouts over the course of the season (plus another 606 bunts).
On the other side of the coin, fewer double-switches would occur, and managers would be spared the occasional decision of whether to let a hot pitcher hit with runners aboard in a close or scoreless game. Those decisions are among the most cherished strategic elements of the game for many fans — particularly those who grew up up in NL cities or prior to the implementation of the DH entirely. We just passed the four-year anniversary of Bartolo Colon‘s iconic home run, and there’s nary a more universally rejoiced oddity than watching Big Sexy’s home run trot against the audio backdrop of an elated Gary Cohen roaring, “Bartolo has done it! The impossible has happened!” Highlights of that nature are rare, but it’s that very scarcity that makes them such instant classics and treasured memories.
With all that in mind, and recognizing the unprecedented circumstances under which the league and union are working to put together some semblance of a season, let’s check in on some thoughts regarding the addition of a DH to the senior circuit. I know many in the anti-DH crowd would vote to remove the DH in the American League. However, it doesn’t seem that either the union or league would have cause to prefer that route, so I opted not to include it as an option — but feel free to voice it in the comments (link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users).
Should MLB add a DH to the National League?
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I'm all for a permanent universal DH. 49% (5,955)
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I'm fine with it for 2020 and 2020 only -- whatever it takes to get a season played. 27% (3,277)
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I don't ever, under any circumstances, want a DH in the NL. 25% (3,045)
Total votes: 12,277
Tigers Get A Good Run From A Budget Pickup
Niko Goodrum‘s lone brush with free agency lasted all of eight days. Cut loose by the Twins at the end of the 2017 season after eight largely uninspiring seasons in the minors, Goodrum signed a minor league deal with the rebuilding Tigers. A last-place club signing a little-known non-prospect drew about as much attention as you’d expect: virtually none. Goodrum got a quick 115-word write-up here at MLBTR after his agents announced the signing on Twitter. You’d be hard-pressed to find any sort of lengthy column penned at the time of the signing. It was a garden-variety minor league depth pickup.
Goodrum somewhat surprisingly broke camp with the Tigers in 2018 and received sparse playing time that April (19 games, 10 starts). By mid-May, he was hitting under .200 with a sub-.600 OPS. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Tigers cut bait, but the versatile switch-hitter slowly began to turn things around. After his OPS bottomed out at .597 two years ago to the day — Goodrum bounced back with a .253/.320/.450 slash in his final 428 plate appearances. Along the way, he played all four infield positions and both outfield corners. He finished out the season with a slightly above-average batting line, per wRC+, coupling that with good baserunning.
An average hitter whose manager feels comfortable slotting him pretty much anywhere on the diamond would be a shoo-in for most rosters, and given the state of the Tigers, it was clear that Goodrum had punched his ticket to a 2019 roster spot. Goodrum added center field to his defensive resume early in the 2019 season, but as the year wore on and Jordy Mercer struggled with injuries, he found himself seeing more and more time at shortstop.
The Tigers surely value Goodrum’s versatility, but his strong work at short in sporadic batches this past season should ensure that he opens the year as the Tigers’ everyday option at that position. In just 326 innings there, Goodrum tallied 4 Defensive Runs Saved, a 3.2 Ultimate Zone Rating and 6 Outs Above Average. Among the 38 players who played at least 300 innings at shortstop this past season, Goodrum’s 8.6 UZR/150 ranked seventh.
With the bat, Goodrum took a slight step back but still turned in a solid enough .248/.322/.421 with 12 homers and 12 steals apiece. There’s some reason for additional optimism, too, as Goodrum had an above-average hard-hit rate and upped his walk rate from 8.5 percent in 2018 to 9.7 percent in 2019. And despite an unassuming stolen base total, Goodrum ranked in the 92nd percentile of MLB players in terms of average sprint speed. He’s been successful in 77 percent of his career stolen base attempts (24-for-31), so there’s room for him to create some additional value on the basepaths. Making consistent contact has been a problem for Goodrum, though it’s also worth pointing out that his spike in punchouts last year coincided with some knee and groin injuries over the summer. He still whiffed in 26.8 percent of his 2018 plate appearances, so contact will probably continune to be an issue, but last year’s near-30 percent mark might be higher than should be expected.
If there’s work to be done for Goodrum, it’s in handling certain pitches. The 28-year-old feasted on fastballs (.320/.412/582) and curvevalls (.280/.321/.460) but took home a participation award against most other offerings. Changeups befuddled him (.193/.230/.337), and sliders were downright unfair to him (.157/.214/.216). Given those woeful slash lines, it’s not surprising to see that Goodrum had a swinging-strike rate greater than 20 percent against both those pitch types.
Goodrum clearly isn’t a star, but the Tigers can control him for four more seasons and he won’t be arbitration-eligible until this winter. A plus defensive shortstop with high-end speed and even average skills at the plate is a nice piece to have, though, and if Goodrum can maintain his stellar glovework at short over a larger sample, he’s the type of player who could surprise a lot of onlookers with a three- or four-WAR season. The Tigers have reportedly received trade interest in him in the past, and given the positives laid out here, that’ll likely continue in the future.
Goodrum’s trajectory in some ways mirrors that of Marwin Gonzalez (sans the trash can, presumably), as he’s slowly risen from a versatile defender without much bat to an average switch-hitter who can be be played pretty much anywhere. With the Tigers, that’ll continue to be shortstop, but if he’s eventually traded, he could resume his jack-of-all-trades role. We hear a lot about some of the Tigers’ misses and missed opportunities these days, so it’s only fair to give them credit here for finding an asset that the Twins probably wish they hadn’t let slip through their fingers. They’re the ones who ultimately signed Gonzalez, after all. While it hasn’t been a bad signing, that $21MM might’ve been spent elsewhere if Goodrum were still in the fold.
Dodgers, Turner Hadn’t Discussed Extension Prior To Transaction Freeze
Justin Turner is in the final season of his four-year, $64MM contract with the Dodgers, but the star third baseman tells Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times that he hasn’t discussed a contract extension with the team yet. Extension talks are prohibited while the league is under a transaction freeze, but it’s nevertheless notable that they’d not yet broached the topic of a new contract when such negotiations were permissible.
Turner missed some time back in 2018 due to a fractured wrist and a hamstring strain but has mostly avoided the injured list in recent seasons. While he’ll turn 36 in the offseason, he’s been nothing short of excellent at the plate. Given all the star power up and down the Dodger lineup, it’s easy for Turner to get lost in the shuffle. Over the past three seasons, he’s posted an outstanding .307/.397/.519 batting line with 62 homers, 87 doubles and a triple. He’s been one of the toughest players in the league to strike out in that time — just 13 percent — while drawing a walk in just over 10 percent of his trips to the plate. Since 2017, the only qualified hitters in baseball with a better OBP are Mike Trout, Joey Votto, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Christian Yelich.
The Dodgers have some internal options. Edwin Rios and Chris Taylor are both capable of playing third base, and on a speculative basis, Corey Seager could slide over with Gavin Lux taking over at shortstop. Max Muncy has also appeared in at least 30 games at the hot corner in each of the past two seasons.
On the one hand, Turner’s outstanding offensive production and the relatively short-term commitment he’d command due to his age make a reunion a sensible pursuit for the Dodgers. Then again, the club pursued Anthony Rendon this winter with an eye toward Turner changing positions, so perhaps the preference is to lock in a younger third base option with better defensive contributions. (Turner once rated as a premium defender but has seen his numbers deteriorate a bit in his mid-30s.)
[Related: 2020-21 Free Agent Third Basemen]
If Turner ultimately reaches the open market, he’ll be among the best bats available in free agency, although he spoke fondly of the Dodgers when chatting with Castillo. “Obviously there’s a possibility that there’s no season and my Dodger career could’ve ended last year in the playoffs, which would be tough,” said Turner. “It would be sad. Sad to think about.”
Wainwright Discusses Playing Beyond 2020
Adam Wainwright has been a fixture on the Cardinals’ pitching staff since 2006, and while the right-hander’s career looked to perhaps be drawing to a close a few years ago, he now tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) that he hopes to return to the Cardinals for another go in 2021.
Wainwright, who’ll turn 39 in August, details that as recently as 2017, “my arm hurt taking a spoonful of cereal.” Had the current shutdown occurred back then, the three-time All-Star candidly acknowledges that he “would have retired so fast it wouldn’t have been a second thought.” Now, however, his arm feels as healthy as it’s been since 2013-14. Wainwright is playing long toss with newly signed Cards lefty Kwang-hyun Kim from distances of close to 300 feet.
The improved health in his arm is apparent in his results on the field as well. The 2019 season marked just the second time since 2014 that Wainwright has been able to make 30 starts, and last year’s 171 2/3 frames were his second-highest single-season total of the past five years. Wainwright worked to a 4.19 ERA last year, averaging 8.0 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 1.15 HR/9 to go along with a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate. He was slightly better than the league-average hurler, per ERA+ (102), and he was right at the league average in terms of FIP- (100).
Certainly, it’s a far cry from the Cy Young-caliber ace that Wainwright once was, but the Cardinals weren’t asking him to be that — nor were they compensating him as such. Young Jack Flaherty has taken up the mantle as the team’s ace, while Wainwright gave the Cards 171 league-average frames while pitching on a $2MM base salary and maxing out an incentives package that earned him another $8MM. He re-upped on a one-year, $5MM deal this winter (with another set of incentives), as the organization hoped he could again serve as a steady source of innings and mentor for the younger pitchers.
While he’s open to and even hopeful of playing another year in 2021, Wainwright didn’t sound like a player who has much interest in relocating to another club. Longtime teammate Yadier Molina recently went on the record to state a newfound willingness to play anywhere next season, but Wainwright focused his comments specifically on another year with the Cards:
My wife loves St. Louis. My family loves St. Louis. As long as (the Cardinals) will have me, I’d love to play again next year.
Presumably, Wainwright will play out the remainder of his career on a series of one-year deals in St. Louis, with similar incentives packages to those negotiated over the past two offseasons. Interestingly, both contained incentives based on both starting and relieving, so it seems that a return to the ‘pen hasn’t been entirely ruled out for the longtime starter. For now, though, the expectation is that he’ll serve as a starter whenever play is able to resume.
Astros Hope To Extend George Springer
Whether a game is played in 2020 or not, George Springer is slated to become a free agent for the first time this coming winter. The Astros, however, hope to broker a long-term deal with their star outfielder, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. While he was overseeing the baseball ops department in between the firing of Jeff Luhnow and hiring of new GM James Click, owner Jim Crane “made it clear” to Springer’s representatives at Excel Sports Management that his club was interested in a long-term deal, Rome writes. Such talks aren’t permitted during the league’s transaction freeze, though the two sides can come back to the table once that freeze is lifted.
Crane made that desire clear not only in his words but also through his actions. As we noted at the time the two sides avoided arbitration, it’s uncommon these days for a team and player to agree on a one-year arrangement after arbitration numbers are filed. But Crane not only bucked the “file-and-trial” trend that permeates the game with regard to Springer — he inked the slugger at a $21MM rate that checked in north of the $20MM midpoint between Springer’s $22.5MM submission and the club’s $17.5MM figure.
Paired with Rome’s report on the situation, that seems like a clear show of good faith that the club hopes to keep Springer around for the long haul — keeping him in Houston alongside already-extended stars Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. Bregman’s five-year, $100MM extension and Altuve’s $151MM extension both run through the 2024 campaign.
Keeping Springer would be a critical move for the Astros, who currently stand to lose four of their nine 2019 everyday players to free agency this winter. Beyond Springer, each of Michael Brantley, Josh Reddick and Yuli Gurriel is slated to hit the open market. While top prospect Kyle Tucker should be ready to slot into one of those outfield vacancies and Abraham Toro could perhaps occupy first base, that still leaves the club with a pair of holes in the lineup.
The financial feasibility, of course, remains to be seen. Houston has $116MM on the books in 2021 — including $134MM in total luxury tax obligations. That’s not including what should be significant arbitration raises to Roberto Osuna (earning $10MM in 2020), Carlos Correa ($8MM in 2020) and Lance McCullers Jr. ($4.1MM in 2020) — plus smaller raises for Chris Devenski ($2MM in 2020), Aledmys Diaz ($2.6MM in 2020) and Joe Biagini ($1MM in 2020). The Astros barely spent in free agency this winter as the team seemingly eyed a 2021 dip under the luxury threshold, but there’s certainly room to pay Springer on a long-term deal and still successfully make that luxury maneuver next season.
Springer, 31 in September, landed third on MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings back in late February — trailing only Mookie Betts and J.T. Realmuto. Skeptics will surely question the legitimacy of his excellence at the plate in the wake of the team’s sign-stealing scandal — and it’s only fair to point out that Springer had one of his best seasons amid that trash-can scandal in 2017. But the slugger’s best season was actually in 2019, when he laid waste to opposing pitching with a .292/.383/.591 slash line (150 OPS+, 156 wRC+) and ripped 39 home runs in just 122 games/556 plate appearances.
It should also be emphasized that while Springer and his teammates surely benefited from that sign-stealing operation, his offensive ability has never been in doubt. He was the 11th overall pick in the 2011 draft and posted an OPS of .900 or better at each minor league level (plus in the Arizona Fall League) on his way to the big leagues. Springer posted a 129 wRC+ in three seasons prior to that nefarious 2017 campaign and, over the course of his MLB career, has been 31 percent better than the league average hitter per OPS+ and 33 percent better per wRC+. He also rates well defensively in both center field and right field.
A long-term deal for Springer would be likely be expected to cover at least five years under normal circumstances, although the loss of revenue presents some uncertainty as to what to expect with regard to contract negotiations — extensions and free agency alike — whenever transactions do resume.
AL West Notes: Mariners, Rangers, Astros
Some news and notes from around the American League West…
- While Spring Training impressions were limited due to the mid-March shutdown, the Mariners were still encouraged by the progress demonstrated by some expected key players, manager Scott Servais said this week on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). In particular, lefty Justus Sheffield and righties Justin Dunn and Logan Gilbert looked to have taken notable strides. Sheffield, the centerpiece of the Mariners’ James Paxton return, allowed two runs on five hits and no walks with 12 punchouts in eight spring innings. Dunn, acquired alongside Jarred Kelenic in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster, whiffed 10 hitters in six innings while holding opponents to two runs in 6 2/3 frames. Gilbert, Seattle’s first-rounder in 2018, pitched four shutout innings with four strikeouts, no walks and one hit. The M’s are hopeful that this trio can soon ascend to the big league rotation alongside Marco Gonzales as the organization emerges from an accelerated rebuilding process. There’s clearly more to the belief that strides were made than those surface-level stats, but the trio’s showing nevertheless was heartening for Mariners fans.
- Rangers slugger Joey Gallo spoke with reporters about the dimensions of the newly constructed Globe Life Field, noting that the team’s new home park was “playing big as hell” during his batting practice session (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Gallo pointed out that the park is particularly deep in center field, where it’s 407 feet straightaway. That said, as Grant points out, the distance may not make a huge difference for Gallo, whose home runs to center field have averaged 434 feet in distance. GM Jon Daniels added that Gallo has been hitting with the roof closed, and opening it while hitting game balls against live pitching could change things. Still, it’d be a notable change for the Rangers to suddenly find themselves in a pitcher-friendly or even neutral park after long playing in one of the game’s most hitter-friendly stadiums. Gallo did offer positive reviews of the park’s artificial surface, calling it the “best turf I’ve ever been on” and touting its lack of “lingering side effects.” Gallo acknowledges that Rangers players were worried about the surface heading into the season, but his early experiences have allayed some of those concerns.
- The Astros are facing a potential exodus in the outfield this coming offseason, and Jake Kaplan of The Athletic notes in his latest mailbag column that they’re looking at a similar slate of departures post-2021, when Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers Jr. could all hit the open market. Houston will see George Springer, Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel and Josh Reddick hit the market after whatever type of 2020 season we get. Given their poorly regarded farm system — not to mention the loss of draft picks in 2020-21 — the ‘Stros are faced with an increasingly precarious position. It’s of course possible that the Astros could yet work out some extensions with various members of that core, but it’s also eminently apparent that a fair bit of roster turnover can be expected in the next couple of years — with several high-profile names likely to depart.