Still reeling from last night’s Troy Tulowitzki trade? In this week’s free newsletter, I discuss possible fits if the Rockies decide to flip Jose Reyes. Sign up below! There are no strings attached with the MLBTR Newsletter; just a free article every week. Those of you viewing this post in our app can use this link to sign up.
Rosenthal On Gomez, Rangers, Choo, Gyorko
The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez is attracting interest from contenders and non-contenders alike. The Rangers and Indians have reached out, while the Giants and Astros find Gomez appealing. Rosenthal notes that the Giants may not have the prospects required, while the Astros “appear more focused on bullpen help.” Gomez is under contract next year for just $9MM, after which he’ll reach free agency as a 30-year-old. In a June 1st poll, 80% of MLBTR readers said the Brewers should trade Gomez this summer. He would appeal to many teams beyond the four listed by Rosenthal.
- The Rangers are “acting aggressively as both buyers and sellers,” according to Rosenthal. That explains the interest in Gomez and Cole Hamels and their willingness to listen on pitchers Yovani Gallardo and Wandy Rodriguez, who will be free agents after the season. I should note that Colby Lewis will also be a free agent after the season, but he’s chosen to stay with Texas multiple times when given the opportunity to shop around. On Friday, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had quotes from Rangers GM Jon Daniels about the team’s deadline stance.
- Rosenthal says the Indians are similarly looking at both additions and subtractions this week, “exploring deals for players who could fit for next season and beyond while listening to proposals for their starting pitchers and corner players such as David Murphy and Ryan Raburn.” Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca wrote yesterday that the Indians came close to trading pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the Blue Jays, but the deal fell apart for unknown reasons and is no longer on the table.
- The Rangers are expected to trade Shin-Soo Choo this offseason, Rosenthal writes. I imagine that may require some kind of bad contract swap, as Choo recently turned 33, can block deals to ten teams, and is owed $102MM from 2016-20.
- The Padres are shopping second baseman Jedd Gyorko hard, tweets Rosenthal. The 26-year-old signed an extension under the previous Padres regime, and at the deadline he’ll be owed more than $33MM through 2019. MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about Gyorko and all the other second base trade candidates last week. Rosenthal suggests the Padres could rid themselves of Gyorko’s contract by attaching him to a more desirable player, pitcher Tyson Ross for example. The Braves employed this tactic in April, pairing Melvin Upton with Craig Kimbrel.
Royals Nearly Acquired Cueto; Deal Fell Through
SUNDAY, 10:38am: The Royals remain “hopeful” they can revive the Cueto deal with the Reds, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
8:47am: The two sides are still discussing a deal that would send Cueto to Kansas City, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com tweets.
SATURDAY, 11:46pm: The Royals were close to acquiring Reds ace Johnny Cueto tonight, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The reporters hear that one of the players the Reds would have acquired “did not check out medically,” causing the deal to fall through.
Tonight at Coors Field, Cueto tossed eight scoreless innings in what might have been his final start in a Reds uniform. The deal with the Royals was apparently close enough that Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen had been warming up before the game, prepared to take Cueto’s place. Cueto was not happy, later telling reporters, “I don’t want to use a bad word in this location, but it was really bad how I found out what happen.” Mark Sheldon and Dargan Southard of MLB.com quoted catcher Brayan Pena describing Cueto, “I’m telling you, today he was on a mission. I saw something in his eyes that I never saw before.”
Cueto, 29, now sports a 2.62 ERA in 130 2/3 innings this year. He’s months from his first shot at free agency, and the fourth-place Reds seem likely to trade him by Friday’s deadline. Along with the Royals, the Dodgers and Blue Jays are among the teams that have been linked to Cueto. The first domino in the starting pitching market dropped Thursday when the Astros acquired Scott Kazmir.
Exclusive Free Weekly Article From MLBTR
The MLBTR Newsletter is a free, exclusive weekly article delivered to your inbox, no strings attached. I’ll be weighing in on deals, rumors, and all the hot stove-related topics MLBTR has been known for since I launched the site a decade ago. These articles will be exclusive to MLBTR Newsletter subscribers and will not appear on the website. I may also provide occasional updates on what’s next for MLBTR. It’s completely free.
I’ll be honored if you give us your email address and join the thousands of MLBTR readers already enjoying the Newsletter. We will never sell your email address or market anything to the mailing list, and you can unsubscribe easily. My newest post, coming this afternoon, discusses the price paid for trade deadline rental aces. Sign up now! Those of you viewing this post in our app can use this link.
Give Us Your Scorecard
The MLBTR team works hard to keep you updated on all the latest rumors and deals. We sincerely appreciate your readership, and we want to ensure we’re doing everything we can to keep you coming back. Please rate this site to let us know what you like and what we could improve. It only takes 4-6 minutes. Thanks!
Give Us Your Commenting System Feedback
Last month, we rolled out a new commenting system at MLBTR for various reasons. Yesterday, we implemented the great wpDiscuz plugin to add back some of the features you’ve been missing. The following features were added:
- Upvoting and downvoting
- Ability to edit your own comments
- Live update of new comments for logged-in users
How can we further improve the commenting system? Please let us know in the comments of this post and we’ll get to work.
Try The Free MLBTR Newsletter
It’s time to give the free MLBTR email Newsletter a try! We’ll deliver an exclusive article to your inbox every week – no strings attached! I’ll be weighing in on deals, rumors, and all the hot stove-related topics MLBTR has been known for since I launched the site a decade ago. These articles will be exclusive to MLBTR Newsletter subscribers and will not appear on the website. I may also provide occasional updates on what’s next for MLBTR. It’s completely free.
I’ll be honored if you give us your email address and join the thousands of MLBTR readers already enjoying the Newsletter. We will never sell your email address or market anything to the mailing list, and you can unsubscribe easily. My newest post, coming this afternoon, has my predictions for trade candidates Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, and Scott Kazmir. Sign up now! Those of you viewing this post in our app can use this link.
2016 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
We’re about 45% of the way through the 2015 MLB season, and free agency looms for several of the game’s star players. It’s time for a new installment of the 2016 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings.
As a reminder, these rankings represent earning power in terms of total contract size, assuming everyone reaches the open market after this season and goes to the highest bidder. Here’s MLBTR’s full list of 2015-16 free agents.
1. Justin Upton. Upton hasn’t shown much power in the last month or so, but he still tops our list. He’ll need to pick the pace back up to exceed his career high of 31 home runs. The Padres’ playoff chances don’t look too promising, so Upton could become ineligible for a qualifying offer with a trade next month.
2. David Price. Price has been stellar in his seven starts since we last checked in, and his 2.42 ERA ranks fourth in the American League. He’ll turn 30 in August, and seems poised for a record megadeal. I’m not quite there yet, but I could see Price passing Upton on this list before the season is through.
3. Jason Heyward. With home runs in his last three games, Heyward reminded us that he does still have some pop in his bat. Here’s some cherry-picking: he’s hitting .304/.350/.489 since April 23rd. If this winds up being Heyward’s best offensive year since 2012, he could get $200MM.
4. Johnny Cueto. Cueto remains one of the best pitchers in the National League, but he went 13 days between starts in late May/early June due to a sore elbow. A May 26th MRI showed no structural damage. Cueto returned and looked fine in four starts, but then had his turn skipped earlier this week. The conspiracy theorist in me says the Reds are being a little cagey here, avoiding putting Cueto on the DL so far for the purpose of trade value. Still, it’s not as if suitors wouldn’t be fully aware of the state of Cueto’s elbow. What we know for sure: it’s not nothing. For now, Cueto’s free agent value takes a little dip.
5. Zack Greinke. It’s tough to move Greinke up this high, because his earning power is limited by his age. Greinke turns 32 in October, which may be too old for a six-year deal. Still, he leads all of baseball with a 1.70 ERA. Greinke will be a year older than Jon Lester was, but will have a better resume.
6. Alex Gordon. Gordon’s 2015 season looks a lot like his 2014, but with more walks and HBPs sprinkled in. He may not strike you as a superstar, but Gordon is probably the game’s best left fielder right now. One team might be willing to go well over $100MM for his perceived dependability.
7. Jordan Zimmermann. Zimmermann’s season, and free agent value, is still kind of up in the air. I’m not sure exactly what he is, though I know he’s not at the level of Price or Cueto. At 29, Zimmermann has youth on his side, but this year the strikeouts have been lacking and he’s allowed ten hits per nine innings. I wouldn’t want to go five or six years at $20MM+ for him. His market could be weird – his age should get him a better deal than James Shields, but he’s not going to be at the status Lester was.
8. Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes has been raking in the last month, and his 2.8 wins above replacement on the season ranks first among all free agent hitters. He’ll be just 30 in October, and could ascend a few more spots up these rankings with a strong second half. Bonus: he’s ineligible for a qualifying offer.
9. Ian Desmond. Desmond’s 2015 season has been a disaster so far. If he finishes the season as a replacement level player, how can a team place a value on him? One-year contracts have not been in vogue lately, even for free agents coming off disappointing seasons, but that might be best for Desmond.
10. Jeff Samardzija. The results haven’t been there for Samardzija, who sports a 4.53 ERA and has allowed 10.5 hits per nine innings. This month alone, he’s allowed 10+ hits in three different starts. But you have to wonder if Chicago’s defense has something to do with his .338 batting average on balls in play, and maybe he’d be a 3.50 ERA workhorse on a different team. A trade seems inevitable, giving Samardzija a chance at a midseason do-over.
Matt Wieters made his season debut on June 5th, having recovered from Tommy John surgery performed a year prior. The 29-year-old has looked good in a brief sample, serving as catcher in 11 of the Orioles’ 19 games. He’s definitely a free agent to monitor in the coming months. Wieters’ teammate and fellow impending free agent Chris Davis has also been playing well of late. On the pitching side, Yovani Gallardo, A.J. Burnett, and Scott Kazmir have been on a roll.
HoopsRumors.com Has The NBA Offseason Covered
Thursday’s draft will touch off a wild few weeks of movement around the NBA, with free agency starting next week and trade talks heating up. The Lakers are reportedly pushing to deal for DeMarcus Cousins with apparent turmoil in the Kings organization, uncertainty surrounds LaMarcus Aldridge’s next destination, and the Cavs and Warriors face massive expense if they’re to keep together the rosters that took them to the Finals. Check out our sister site Hoops Rumors to keep up with all of the latest as the NBA offseason reaches its peak!
Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter
Why not try the free MLBTR email Newsletter? We’ll deliver an exclusive article to your inbox every week – no strings attached! The weekly article is completely free, and exclusive to newsletter subscribers. This week’s entry is entitled, “How The Red Sox Should Have Rebuilt Their Rotation.”
I’ll be honored if you give us your email address. We will never sell your email address or market anything to the mailing list, and you can unsubscribe easily. Our next article is coming this afternoon, so sign up now! Those of you viewing this post in our app can use this link.
