Pedro Strop Weighing Multiple Offers
Free-agent righty Pedro Strop is mulling offers from multiple clubs, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter links). The longtime Cubs setup man has three offers in hand at the moment, Nicholson-Smith adds, citing the Marlins, Brewers, Cubs and Rangers as teams who’ve been showing interest of late.
While it’s not clear which combination of that group has offers on the table, it’d be a surprise to see the Cubs make a competitive offer following ownership’s recent spending limitations and the team’s general lack of offseason activity to date. Nicholson-Smith does indicate that two NL clubs and an AL team have put an offer out to Strop, which at least speculatively speaking, would make the Marlins, Brewers and Rangers a trio that fits the description. Miami was already tied to Strop two weeks ago when FNTSY Sports Radio’s Craig Mish reported their interest.
Hamstring and neck injuries limited Strop to just 41 2/3 innings in 2019 and quite possibly hindered his on-field production; the typically hard-throwing righty logged a 4.97 ERA and saw his heater dip from an average of 95.1 mph in 2018 to 93.6 mph in 2019. That said, Strop still racked up strikeouts at an impressive clip (10.6 K/9) and notched a quality 13.5 percent swinging-strike rate.
And, of course, prior to his down year in 2019, Strop was a consistent force in the Chicago ‘pen. The right-hander posted five consecutive sub-3.00 ERA seasons from 2014-18, pitching to a combined 2.61 mark (3.10 FIP) with averages of 10.1 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9 with a ground-ball rate well north of 50 percent. The Marlins have seen considerable turnover in their bullpen already this winter and are said to be eyeing a veteran addition along the lines of last year’s Sergio Romo pickup. The Brewers, meanwhile, already have a deep collection of arms but never shy away from a late-offseason value play. And the Rangers, of course, have been aggressive in reshaping their club in preparation for the opening of their new stadium in 2020.
Twins Notes: Donaldson, Polanco, Sano
The Twins’ initial four-year offer to Josh Donaldson was for $84MM, per Phil Miller and La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Shortly thereafter, the team grew pessimistic about signing him, as reports that Donaldson was seeking a $110MM guarantee surfaced. Minnesota’s addition of a fifth-year option with a huge buyout ($16MM option, $8MM buyout) not only boosted the contract’s guarantee to $92MM but also increased the possibility of Donaldson eventually reaching the $100MM mark, which was important to his camp. That increase, of course, also helped the Twins to outbid the rest of the field, which included the Braves, Nationals and, to a lesser extent, the Dodgers and Rangers.
Donaldson himself chatted with Alison Mastrangelo of Channel 2 WSB News in Atlanta about his decision to choose the Twins over the Braves (Twitter links, with video). “Ultimately it wasn’t in the same realm for me [financially],” Donaldson said. “This is going to be my 13th year in the big leagues. I’ve been on a lot of one-year contracts, and the Twins were in a position to where they could offer me a lengthy deal where I thought it was right for me and my family.”
The third baseman called the opportunity to suit up for the Braves, who he grew up watching a “dream come true,” but added that Atlanta wound up “offering me late — like a day or so before.” A return simply “didn’t work out,” Donaldson summed. On the Twins, he expressed excitement over joining a contender with a deep lineup and noted that he’s had success hitting at Minneapolis’ Target Field throughout his career.
More from the Twin Cities…
- Shortstop Jorge Polanco, who underwent surgery to repair a chronic ankle issue in November, is likely to resume baseball activities this week, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North radio. There was no expectation at the time of the surgery that Polanco’s rehab would extend into Spring Training or the regular season, though it’s nevertheless a positive for the Twins that the 26-year-old’s rehab is seemingly on track. Polanco turned in a strong .295/.356/.485 slash and a career-high 22 home runs in 2019, but he also posted some of the game’s lowest marks in Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average. Ongoing ankle troubles surely didn’t help Polanco’s mobility, but it’s still tough to expect him to make significant contributions on the defensive side of things.
- Miguel Sano will shift across the diamond to first base now that the Twins have emerged victorious in the Donaldson bidding, and the slugger has no issue with that move, writes Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Sano has been working out at first base all winter and said he’s plenty willing to make the switch. (In the aforementioned Star Tribune column, Sano even revealed that he sent a video message to Donaldson in the final days of his free agency, urging him to come to Minnesota to “join the Bomba Squad.”) Moreover, Sano made clear that he hopes to stay in Minnesota well beyond the 2023 season — the final year of club control on the $30MM extension he just signed: “I think regardless of winning or losing, I’ve made up my mind,” Sano said. “I want to spend my entire career here, so this is the first step.”
Orioles, Cesar Valdez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Orioles have agreed to a minor league pact with right-hander Cesar Valdez, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.
Valdez, 34, has had an odd career arc, debuting with the D-backs in 2010 and then going seven years before returning to the Majors in 2017. He split that 2o17 season between the Athletics and Blue Jays organizations but struggled with both clubs. In all, he’s tossed 50 2/3 innings at the MLB level and yielded a 7.64 ERA.
Valdez hasn’t played affiliated ball since that 2017 campaign but has thrived in the Mexican League. His 2019 campaign, in particular, was a dominant effort in which he posted a 2.26 ERA with an immaculate 122-to-17 K/BB ratio in 147 2/3 innings. He’s continued that K/BB mastery in this year’s Dominican Winter League, running up a 1.11 ERA with 40 strikeouts against just four walks in 40 2/3 frames. Across parts of five Triple-A campaigns, Valdez has a 4.24 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9.
Diamondbacks Sign David Huff, Joe Mantiply To Minor League Deals
The Diamondbacks picked up a pair of lefties, signing David Huff and Joe Mantiply to minor league contracts. Both signings were recently announced by Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno.
Huff, 35, wrapped up a four-year run of pitching abroad this past weekend. A veteran of parts of eight MLB seasons, Huff logged a 2.66 ERA in 199 1/3 innings with the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2016-17. He then signed with the Yakult Swallows in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and posted a combined 4.50 ERA in 160 frames there from 2018-19. Huff made his MLB debut with the Indians back in 2009 and has also pitched for the Yankees, Angels, Dodgers and Giants. In 393 1/3 innings, he has a 5.17 ERA with 5.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.35 HR/9 and a 38.8 percent ground-ball rate. He’s worked as both a starter and reliever in his career and spent the ’19 season in the bullpen.
Mantiply, 28, tossed three innings for the Yankees in 2019 — his first year back from Tommy John surgery. The longtime Tigers farmhand only has 5 2/3 innings of MLB experience but has posted a combined 3.13 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 in 126 1/3 career innings of Triple-A.
AL East Notes: Pearson, Orioles, Rays, Chavis
Blue Jays’ top prospect Nate Pearson and his triple-digit fastball blitzed through three minor league levels in 2019, but Pearson is likely to begin the season in Triple-A, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The 23-year-old only briefly reached Triple-A Buffalo at season’s end in ’19, and while his overall 2.30 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 marks are impressive, Pearson acknowledges that he may have to wait a bit for his MLB debut. “Obviously, I want to break with the team out of spring training,” he tells Davidi. “The odds are that may not happen. I’m expecting to go out to triple-A and put up some good numbers and hopefully get a call-up sometime next year.” As Davidi explores, Pearson was on an interestingly structured workload limit in 2019 and will likely have his innings monitored again in 2020 after logging 101 frames a year ago.
More from the division…
- The Orioles, as currently constructed, will head into the season with plenty of questions around the infield, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Rio Ruiz didn’t seize the opportunity in 2019, and while prospect Ryan Mountcastle should debut at some point next summer, there’ve been plenty of questions regarding his ultimate position on the diamond. Hanser Alberto has experience there but figures to factor in more prominently at second base. Non-roster invitee Dilson Herrera will get a look at the hot corner, but he’s not even a lock to make the club — let alone to log regular innings anywhere. There’s ample room to add a veteran option if they see fit — Matt Duffy, Logan Forsythe, Brock Holt and others remain available — and the O’s did pick up a veteran option at shortstop in Jose Iglesias. But free-agent spending has been negligible during the early stages of Baltimore’s rebuild, so it shouldn’t be assumed that any sort of move is on the horizon.
- The Rays could use openers much less frequently than in recent seasons, per MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. With Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough fronting a deep group of pitchers, there’s less urgency for manager Kevin Cash to get creative at the beginning of games. Beyond that quintet, two-way player Brendan McKay could be in line for some starts as well, although Toribio notes it’s possible he returns to Triple-A Durham to start the season.
- Michael Chavis logged starts at first, second, and third base as a rookie for the Red Sox in 2019. He’s preparing for more of the same in 2020, with some outfield time also potentially on the table, he tells Chris Cotillo of MassLive. That versatility should come in handy for the Sox, who face particularly uncertain mixes at first and second base. There are myriad low-cost options available in free agency who could be brought in as insurance, but no slam dunk everyday players remain on the open market at those positions. Chavis hit .254/.322/.444 (96 wRC+) with 18 home runs in a decent debut season.
Reds Interested In Brock Holt
The Reds are among the teams with interest in free-agent utilityman Brock Holt, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The report comes just one day after Cincinnati president of baseball operations Dick Williams indicated that his club may not yet be done adding pieces prior to the season.
The 31-year-old Holt landed on MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents heading into the offseason after putting together a solid campaign in the last season of a seven-year run with the Red Sox. An eye injury (scratched cornea) kept Holt off the field for several weeks early in the season, but he returned to post a quality .297/.369/.402 slash through 295 trips to the plate. That output aligned closely with what Holt managed to produce a year prior, and his combined .286/.366/.407 slash in 662 plate appearances dating back to 2018 marked a decidedly above-average output.
Holt’s strong showing of late is all the more valuable when factoring in his defensive versatility. He’s been primarily a second baseman over the past two seasons (914 innings) but has also seen time at third base (57 innings), shortstop (186 innings), first base (61 innings), left field (50 innings) and right field (107 innings). Holt has brief experience in center field as well but hasn’t lined up there since 2015. Not only is he versatile, but Holt has racked up +9 Outs Above Average playing around the infield over the past two seasons, per Statcast.
For the Reds, it’s unlikely that Holt would be viewed as a starter at any one position, but he’d give them a nice backup option for any of Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, Freddy Galvis or Eugenio Suarez. His ability to play virtually any position on the diamond is all the more appealing to an NL skipper who’ll be making frequent double-switches, too. And Holt provides a particularly nice safety net in the event of an injury to Suarez; in an extended absence for Cincinnati’s excellent third baseman, Moustakas could slide over to his natural position at the hot corner with Holt stepping in for regular reps at his own best position, second base.
From a payroll vantage point, the Reds could surely work what would figure to be a modest salary for Holt into the mix. Cincinnati is currently projected to open the year at roughly $128MM, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez, with only $148MM in luxury obligations. That’s only marginally higher than the roughly $126.5MM payroll with which they opened the 2018 season, and ownership has shown increased aggression and a willingness to move payroll forward.
It’s been a relatively quiet winter with regards to Holt and the rumor circuit, although with most of the top options now off the free-agent market, several clubs should have interest in bolstering their infield mix with a player who boasts this level of versatility.
Cubs, Tyler Olson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs and left-handed reliever Tyler Olson are in agreement on a minor league contract, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll have a $650K base salary if he makes the club and will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Olson is represented by the Ballplayers Agency.
Olson, 30, rattled off 20 scoreless innings of relief for the Indians back in 2017 but hasn’t come close to replicating that success in the subsequent years. Over the past two seasons in Cleveland, he’s tallied 58 innings with a 4.66 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate.
Lefties have posted a miserable .210/.296/.341 slash against Olson in his big league career, which spans parts of five seasons and includes a total of 94 innings pitched and a composite 3.83 ERA (4.01 FIP). However, right-handed batters have teed off at a .309/.398/.487 clip, which doesn’t bode well in light of the impending three-batter minimum that’ll be installed for pitchers in the upcoming 2020 season. That said, Olson has a respectable track record both in the Majors and in the upper minors, and he’ll give the Cubs some affordable, no-risk depth to take a look at this spring.
Blue Jays, Ruben Tejada Agree To Minors Deal
The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran infielder Ruben Tejada, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Tejada, a Primetime Sports Group client, will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.
Tejada, 30, was a utility player with the Mets from 2010-15 but began to bounce around the league in the following years, briefly appearing with the Giants, Cardinals and Orioles. After a big league in 2018, he returned to the Majors for a six-game cup of coffee with the Mets in 2019.
A career .250/.324/.317 hitter through nearly 2400 big league plate appearances, Tejada has played shortstop, second base and third base at the MLB level and will give the Jays a versatile bench option if he’s able to crack the Opening Day roster. He enjoyed a big season in Triple-A Syracuse in 2019, slashing .326/.404/.471 through 314 plate appearances with the Mets’ top affiliate.
MLB Found No Evidence Of Wearable Devices During Astros Investigation
It took all of 72 hours for another Astros-centric controversy to bubble up on social media, as allegations that Houston players wore electronic “buzzers” inside their shirts during the 2019 season surfaced Thursday. However, Major League Baseball issued a statement to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez indicating that the just-completed investigation of the Houston organization included a probe into the potential of utilization of wearable devices during the 2019 season but found “no evidence” that could substantiate any such claim.
The origin point of the latest controversy includes an anonymous Twitter account that previously claimed to be Carlos Beltran‘s niece, although the Beltran family has denied the legitimacy of that user’s identity (and there’s little reason to think that Beltran, a 2019 Yankees employee, would have knowledge of a new Astros scheme anyhow). The Twitter account has since been deactivated.
Right-hander Trevor Bauer threw some fuel on the flame when he tweeted that he’s heard similar permutations of the rumor “from multiple parties.” Video of Jose Altuve imploring his teammates not to tear his shirt off before jumping onto home plate following his ALCS Game 6 walk-off home run only further drove speculation. That escalating level of speculation prompted Altuve’s agent, Scott Boras, to issue the following statement on behalf of his client to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman:
When this came up today, Jose Altuve immediately contacted me and this is his statement: ‘I have never worn an electronic device in my performance as a major league player.’ … [Altuve] has never been involved in any information with the use of an electronic device that is triggered during the course of the game. Fans need to keep in mind that there are a lot of players who are in the spider web, but they are not the black widow just because they are a member of the team or the league.
The latest wave of claims comes without the benefit of the quality reporting that brought the initial scandal to light. The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal broke the initial story open back in November with a report that included on-record confirmation from former Astros right-hander Mike Fiers. This latest controversy is more speculation-driven, although Bauer’s comments at least create some intrigue. Certainly, one would imagine that the emergence of new evidence could lead to further exploration from the league, but at this juncture there’s no indication this situation has even approached that point.
The emergence of the new “controversy” only underscores the importance of Fiers’ willingness to speak on-record. Many who are rightly angry with the Astros are quick to latch onto new allegations in hopes that additional punishment will be levied, but outside of Bauer’s comment, which stopped well short of an allegation, the “buzzer” controversy is predicated on unvetted, anonymous hearsay. That’s not to rule out the possibility of additional wrongdoing, of course, but a since-deleted Twitter account and subsequent conjecture is far from a smoking gun. Until someone follows Fiers’ lead and puts their name on something concrete — or at the very least until a credible reporter finds someone (or multiple persons) of import who is willing to speak on the condition of anonymity — there’s little sense in accepting wholly anonymous accusations as fact.
Carlos Beltran Out As Mets’ Manager
8:13pm: Beltran will not receive any of the approximately $3MM owed to him over the course of his three-year deal with the Mets, the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff reports. The team has instead made a $200K donation to Beltran’s charitable foundation.
12:25pm: The Mets have formally announced Beltran’s ousting. COO Jeff Wilpon and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen issued the following statement:
We met with Carlos last night and again this morning and agreed to mutually part ways. This was not an easy decision. Considering the circumstances, it became clear to all parties that it was not in anyone’s best interest for Carlos to move forward as Manager of the New York Mets. We believe that Carlos was honest and forthcoming with us. We are confident that this will not be the final chapter in his baseball career. We remain excited about the talent on this team and are committed to reaching our goals of winning now and in the future.
12:07pm: Carlos Beltran‘s time as manager of the Mets will apparently come to a close before he even suits up for a game. Yahoo’s Tim Brown reports (via Twitter) that Beltran has informed the Mets he feels it is best if he steps down.
Beltran was named in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the findings of his investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme earlier this week. While Beltran was a player at the time and wasn’t expected to be disciplined by the league as a result, reports over the past 24 hours have indicated that the Mets have been mulling his future in light of his connection to the scandal.
Whether the decision truly rested with Beltran or whether the wording of the reports (and, presumably, the forthcoming announcement) was structured in a way to allow Beltran to save face to some extent isn’t known at this time. Regardless, his ousting as manager now means that every person listed in Manfred’s Astros report — Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, Astros manager A.J. Hinch, Red Sox manager Alex Cora (formerly Houston’s bench coach) and Beltran — have now lost their jobs in the wake of a scandal that has increasingly shaken Major League Baseball as a whole.
It’s worth emphasizing that The Athletic’s report that broke the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal wide open was published two weeks after Beltran was named Mets manager. As such, there’s no reason to believe that Beltran was asked about the scandal during the interview process — let alone any reason to believe that he was untruthful with the Mets during interviews. That said, Beltran did tell the New York Post’s Joel Sherman shortly after the scandal was brought to public light that he was “not aware of that camera,” denying any improper utilization of technology.
Two months later, Manfred’s report indicated the following: “Approximately two months into the 2017 season, a group of players, including Carlos Beltrán, discussed that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter.”
The Mets, incredibly, are now the third team seeking a new manager in mid-January. They’ll likely interview a mix of internal and external candidates, and it’s worth noting that the club did interview bench coach Hensley Meulens and quality control coach Luis Rojas in its initial search following the firing of Mickey Callaway. While other clubs throughout the league might be less inclined to allow members of their coaching staff to interview now that Spring Training looms in the near future, ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez was also reported to be a leading candidate in New York’s most recent search. One would imagine that he could once again factor prominently into the club’s hunt for a skipper.