Winter Meetings Previews: Royals, White Sox
In advance of the winter meetings, let’s take a moment to quickly preview a couple teams from the American League Central…
- The Kansas City Royals will look for value buys on the free agent market, per Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star. Given the sale of the team and the managerial transition underway, the Royals have more justification than usual for patience this offseason. With Kansas City, however, there’s often a sense that internal valuations of the talent on hand differs from those of the general public. The Royals continue to present the idea that they are happy with their core, an impression bolstered by the “moon, sun, and stars” type packages the Royals are demanding for players like Whit Merrifield, Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy. Senior VP of Baseball Ops & GM Dayton Moore refined his fence-walking trick recently while saying both, “…we’re very encouraged with where we are based on how our players performed individually last year,” and also, “I think we’ve got to upgrade everywhere, really.” Pitching is definitely a target, and Moore has been active in trade discussions already, enough to have a sense of where trades might happen – though from Moore’s comments, it seems the Royals are disinclined to be major players on the trade market unless opposing GMs become more amenable to Moore’s ask(s). They do have four open spots on the 40-man roster and should be active in the Rule 5 draft, per The Athletic’s Alec Lewis.
- After being spurned by Zack Wheeler, the White Sox remain in the hunt for starting pitching, per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Chicago was also among the teams in on Jordan Lyles before the righty signed with the Rangers, tweets the MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Their rotation candidates are currently made up of high-ceiling but largely-unestablished youngsters, fronted by 2019 breakout superstar Lucas Giolito. Speculatively, Dallas Keuchel fits nicely from a culture perspective as the perennially-attention-starved White Sox have already added Yasmani Grandal from the nobody-believes-in-us free agent pool – and they like playing with a chip on their shoulder on the southside. As for position players, Chicago boasts close to a full house now that Grandal and Jose Abreu are officially on board. With prospects Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal expected to play a large portion of 2020 in the big leagues, they have one of the more intriguing groups on that side of the ball. Still, there’s definitely room to tinker around the edges, especially in the outfield, where Luis Alexander Basabe, Daniel Palka, Leury Garcia, Adam Engel, and Luis Gonzalez make up the flexible collection of candidates to join Eloy Jimenez and Robert in the outfield.
Yankees’ “Total Focus” On Gerrit Cole
The Yankees “total focus” remains on reeling in the winter’s big fish: ace starter Gerrit Cole, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. That Cole is a priority for the Yankees is old news, though Heyman’s characterization certainly seems to stake a higher degree of urgency to the Yankees’ intent.
The nostalgic among us can take this opportunity to think fondly of the Yankees of yore, who routinely targeted their man in free agency with this kind of fervor. It’s been a few years since a free agent made this kind of impression on the Yanks, though they attacked the opportunity to trade for James Paxton last offseason with similar drive.
The urgency isn’t shocking coming off 2019, which proved an interesting campaign in New York. Injuries decimated the roster, but the offense never missed a beat no matter who stepped into the void (hello, Gio Urshela). They coasted to 103 wins and a division title, defeated the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs as they are wont to do, only to see the favor repaid in full by the new powerhouse of the day Houston Astros. The Yankees found themselves booted from the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons by the Astros, making this pursuit of the ex-Astro Cole feel all the more crazy-eyed. That said, there is rarely a free agent with Cole’s pedigree, and if they’re going to channel the ghost of Steinbrenner and go all-in for a free agent, Cole is a worthy target.
Which is, of course, exactly why interest in the right-hander runs so rampant. As Heyman put it, the Yankees “don’t want to be denied” in their pursuit of Cole, but there is no shortage of contenders, including both LA teams, the Rangers, and the Phillies (who are a little crazy-eyed themselves these days). All five clubs have ample cause to pull out all the stops for Cole – on paper, they’re not alone.
White Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Twins Among Runners-Up For Jordan Lyles
Before Jordan Lyles signed his two-year, $16MM deal to join the Texas Rangers rotation, there was no shortage of interest in the big righty. Though we don’t know which (if any) of these teams made official offers, we do know that the White Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers and Twins were among the teams with interest, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Without financial specifics, it’s presumptuous to assume much in regards to the interest level of these four clubs, but the size of the contract inked by Lyles at least hints at a low-scale bidding war for the back-end rotation arm.
The Brewers interest is not surprising, given they acquired Lyles around the deadline in each of the past two seasons and he pitched to a 2.45 ERA (4.42 FIP) to close out 2019. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out that the Brewers have now lost the bidding on each of their free agent targets thus far (except Justin Grimm!), suggesting either limited payroll flexibility or disciplined judiciousness on the part of GM David Stearns. Of course, Lyles signed for more than most would have guessed, and Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas signed for a combined 8-years, $137MM, a stratum the Brewers were hardly expected to reach. On the plus side, should the Rangers scuffle and Brewers stay in the race, we could see the rare baseball trade turkey, when a team successfully strikes for the same player at the deadline for three consecutive seasons.
The Twins and White Sox are two of the more eager starting pitching hunters this offseason, so their inclusion on this list is no surprise either. Both teams are likely to sign a couple of veteran free agents before the winter is out. As for the Blue Jays, they have less urgency given their timeline, though Lyles certainly fits the mold of the type of free agent they are likely to target.
Winter Meetings Preview: Rangers, Rockies
In advance of the winter meetings, let’s take a moment to quickly preview a couple teams out west…
- The Texas Rangers have their sights laser-focused on Anthony Rendon, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Recent additions have more-or-less locked their rotation class, with Kolby Allard, Joe Palumbo and Brock Burke looking like the 5 through 7 options behind Lance Lynn, Mike Minor, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. Should prices drop on starters like Dallas Keuchel or Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Rangers could add further pitching in the right deal and potentially explore flipping Lynn or Minor, tweets Grant, though that’s less a strategy and more of the “open to anything” ethos employed by most front offices. Otherwise, the group of internal candidates, if expanded, would include Taylor Hearn and Tyler Phillips, plus any vets they are able to grab on minor league deals in the mold of Edinson Volquez (though Volquez himself is more likely ticketed for the pen if he makes the team). The Rangers reportedly offered Zack Wheeler a $100MM contract before he signed with Philadelphia, so the pursestrings have been loosed. For now, however, they’re stuck in traffic waiting to see if the “Adrian Beltre treatment” can sell Rendon on playing the latter half of his career in Arlington.
- The Colorado Rockies need for starting pitching is clear, but they are highly unlikely to walk away from the winter meetings with a new arm atop their rotation, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Irrespective of the financial crunch – which is significant and detailed in MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook – the history of Coors Field continues to scare away free agent pitchers. Not to mention, the haunted past of big-ticket hurlers signed by past regimes in Colorado is no less an impediment to building through free agency. Denny Neagle, Mike Hampton, and Darryl Kile can all profess their tale of woe, but Kile’s case is particularly damning given the success he enjoyed in St. Louis once freed from Coors. Speculatively speaking, the Rockies aversion/inability to add frontline pitching via free agency could be a factor in their bearish resistance to trading Jon Gray. If internal development is the only path to roster improvement, trading a talent like Gray would be an even greater white-flag move than under most circumstances.
Quick Hits: Streaming Rights, Minor Leagues, KBO Changes
MLB is opening up the streaming market, per Thomas Barrabi of Fox Business. Each team will now be allowed to sell its streaming rights to local markets prior to the 2020 season. The change marks another point in the slow but inevitable shift from broadcast to digital. Teams are still beholden to contractual agreements with regional sports networks, but the change will eventually empower teams with a potentially impactful degree of agency. The return of digital rights to the franchises themselves also ought to help the sport expand its digital footprint and allow for streaming on further platforms such as Amazon and YouTube, who enjoyed a successful partnership with MLB last season.
- It may be the trade action that butters our bread here at MLB Trade Rumors, but for Major League Baseball itself, the Winter Meetings are an important venue for discussion of an array of league issues. Yesterday, for instance, MLB met with minor league reps for the first of many sessions negotiating the proposed new structure for the minor league system, per David Waldstein of the NY Times. The proposal on the table calls for large-scale retraction, which unsurprisingly does not sit well with minor league owners. There’s much progress to be made, and this will hardly be the last time these two sides meet to discuss this issue. MLB cannot force the retraction, but the current contract runs out in September, by which time the two sides hope to have a new agreement in place – though that’s hardly a sure thing.
- Changes are coming to the KBO, per Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net (via Twitter). The Korean Baseball Organization Players’ Association voted to shorten the amount of service time needed to reach free agency from nine years to eight years for players entering out of high school and from eight years to seven years for those entering from college, per Yonhap News Agency. Another change apropos to those free agents still looking for clubs, the KBO will now allow three foreign players to appear in the same game. Presently, teams can roster three foreign players, but only two were allowed to appear in the same game. The change could embolden teams to be more aggressive in their pursuit of foreign players, especially given the success of a player like Josh Lindblom, who plans to return stateside after an MVP-winning season in the KBO. Other changes include the raising of the minimum salary and the implementation of an injured list. The KBOPA differs from the MLBPA in that it is not a union, though clearly, the leagues struggle with many of the same sticking points in negotiations with players.
Dimensions For Globe Life Field
The Rangers have announced the dimensions for Globe Life Field via a press release posted to Twitter by Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News. The 2020 season will mark the Rangers’ first in their new ballpark in Arlington after 26 seasons in the stadium original known, aptly, as the Ballpark In Arlington. Globe Life Field is set to open officially on March 23, 2020, just across the street from Globe Life Park.
The distances of the wall from home plate has been orchestrated with a rather inventive flourish to honor players whose numbers have been retired by the Rangers. The new park will be 329 feet down the left field line, to honor Adrian Beltre‘s #29, 407 feet to straight away centerfield, in honor of Ivan Rodriguez‘s #7, 410 feet to the deepest parts of the ballpark just to the left and right of dead center, in honor of Michael Young‘s #10, and 326 feet down the right field line, in honor of Johnny Oates‘ #26, who managed the club from 1995 to 2001.
Franchise history is also immortalized in the power alleys: 372 feet to the left field power alley to commemorate the team’s first year in Arlington (1972) and 374 feet to the right field power alley to commemorate The Turnaround Gang, the 1974 squad that went from 59 to 84 wins to record the first winning season in Rangers’ team history. The walls will be eight feel tall from foul pole to foul pole. Not to be forgotten, there will also be a distance marker 334 feet from home plate in left to honor Nolan Ryan‘s #34.
In a recent piece from the Dallas Morning News, Evan Grant quotes Rob Matwick, the Rangers’ VP of Business Operations, as saying, “We think the park is going to play fair. We have taken the design and done testing in wind tunnels. But in fairness, until we start playing games, we won’t really know.”
There is certainly the possibility that the park will play differently depending on if the dome is open or closed, as well. The 5.5 acre retractable roof was closed for the first time yesterday morning. Work will continue for the next few months in preparation for the official opening just before Opening Day.
Quick Hits: 40-Man Rosters, Cubs, Japanese FAs
As we approach the non-tender deadline and the Rule 5 draft, many of the 40-man roster changes may seem inconsequential from a league perspective. But for those players involved, a spot on a 40-man roster can be life-changing. As noted by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper, a minor league player’s pay will jump from $2000 a month to at least $46,000 for the year once added to the 40-man. That’s a significant pay bump, but their potential for future earnings also gets a jolt as they receive an invite to spring camp and a longer look from major league coaches and executives. Even one day on the ML roster during the season will earn a player more in a week than he’d likely ever made in a month of minor league ball. Given the roster churn that happens over the course of a season and the high rate of injuries, a spot on the 40-man roster gives a player a pretty decent chance of making an appearance in the show. Feel free to take a moment this morning to reflect on baseball’s greater economic landscape, then follow up with a couple quick hits from around the league.
- The Cubs are in the market for pitching, but probably not the top names on the free agent market, per The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney. The Cubs haven’t been able to put together a pitching staff like the one that took them to a World Series title in 2016, and they no longer have the financial leeway to make a big splash like they did with the signing of Jon Lester. Only Kyle Hendricks remains close to the guy he was in 2016 when Hendricks, Lester, and Jake Arrieta each put together seasons worthy of Cy Young consideration en route to the curse-breaking championship. The Cubs of today will have to hit on below-the-radar type acquisitions, as they did in acquiring Arrieta and Hendricks in the first place. Willson Contreras could fetch a noteworthy piece, but that’s a theoretical valuation that requires a trading partner willing to move the right young arm.
- While ardent fans are familiar with most of the names in the free agent pool, there are a few newcomers from Japanese professional baseball who remain relatively unknown commodities to American followers. Thankfully, Jason Coskrey of Baseball America provides scouting reports on a host of Japanese ballplayers who could find themselves on MLB rosters in the not-too-distant future. It’s a list that includes three players who have already been posted—Ryosuke Kikuchi, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, and Shun Yamaguchi—and Shogo Akiyama, an international free agent, all of whom are eligible to negotiate with big league clubs. Coskrey also names a number of players who could be next in line to make it stateside via the posting system or international free agency, including the famed Tetsuto Yamada. For those readers who are interested in familiarizing themselves with the newest influx of international talent to the MLB landscape, Coskrey’s piece is worth a look.
MLBTR Originals
On a relatively slow post-holiday Saturday morning, let’s round up the original work posted by the MLBTR staff this week…
- The Offseason Outlook series continued in earnest this week with status checkups on the Braves, White Sox, and Astros.
- Steve Adams and Jeff Todd rounded up the Top 25 Offseason Trade Targets and ranked them by a combination of trade value and trade likelihood.
- Jeff Todd took some time earlier this week to examine the fast-moving catching market, which has seen not only the top option come off the board, but a number of backups options as well.
- With the non-tender deadline looming Monday, a list of potential non-tenders – aka future free agents – can be found here.
- We also reached out to you, the masses, for your opinion on a number of different topics: best November transaction, the Kyle Gibson contract, the Brewers/Padres swap, the managerial carousel, Rockies’ trade assets, and potential targets for the Reds.
- Last but far from least, the MLBTR staff is here on a weekly basis to chat. You can find this week’s transcripts here and here.
MLBTR Poll: Best November Transaction
As we approach the winter meetings, most of the offseason action remains ahead of us, starting with Monday’s non-tender deadline. There has been some early movement, however, as two free agents signed their qualifying offers, we got an early need-for-need challenge trade, and 9 of our Top 50 MLB Free Agents have already left the board.
The splashiest signing of November was the White Sox snagging of Yasmani Grandal on a four-year, $73MM deal. MLBTR readers largely approved of the deal in this poll from Connor Byrne. The Southsiders also locked up their long-time lineup fulcrum in Cuban first baseman/designated hitter Jose Abreu. After he accepted the qualifying offer, GM Rick Hahn committed two more years to 2019’s AL RBI leader.
The Braves win November’s volume award, moving early on many fronts. They returned vets like Darren O’Day, Chris Martin, and Nick Markakis, solidified Tyler Flowers and Travis d’Arnaud as their catching tandem, and brought in the top bullpen arm on the market in lefty Will Smith.
The Padres also came to play this winter, signing Drew Pomeranz to a lengthy four-year contract. Pomeranz impressed in a 26-game stint in Milwaukee, and he’ll now pair with Kirby Yates at the back end of San Diego’s bullpen. The Rangers, meanwhile, turned three-year, $30MM rotation arms into a tradition when they signed former Twin Kyle Gibson.
Lest we forget, November also gifted us with an always-exciting pre-debut extension when the Mariners inked first baseman Evan White to a six-year, $24MM pact despite finishing 2019 in Double-A. On the flip side, we lost some players from the pool through the overseas departures of former major leaguers Gerardo “Baby Shark” Parra, Justin Bour, Tyler Austin, Mike Wright and Aaron Altherr.
November also gave us the rare controversial waiver placement. 28-year-old Jonathan Villar appeared in every game for the Orioles in 2019, putting up 4.0 bWAR with a .274/.339/.453 line while moving capably between second and short. He is likely due a somewhat heady $10.4MM through arbitration, but given Baltimore’s lack of financial commitments, stated desire for a veteran shortstop, and general need for talent of all shapes and sizes, it’s somewhat surprising to see them make Villar available for common claim.
As for the rest of the market, the Cards saved us the trauma of seeing Adam Wainwright in a non-Cardinals jersey, the Nats brought back Patrick Corbin‘s personal catcher Yan Gomes on an affordable two-year deal, the Mariners plucked a low-cost rotation flyer off the pile in Kendall Graveman, the Diamondbacks gave Carson Kelly a veteran partner behind the plate in Stephen Vogt, and a few vets conceded early to minor league deals: Ryan Goins (A’s), Blaine Hardy (Twins), Josh Harrison (Phillies), A.J. Cole (Blue Jays).
The rumors continue to swirl, and though there’s still more than 12 hours left in the month, it’s a good time to see what y’all think was the best move made in November.
(Poll link for app users)
What was the best move made in November?
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White Sox sign Yasmani Grandal. 35% (4,874)
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Braves sign Will Smith 17% (2,408)
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White Sox extend Jose Abreu 13% (1,814)
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Brewers trade for Luis Urias, Eric Lauer 10% (1,432)
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Twins get Jake Odorizzi back on a one-year qualifying offer 6% (884)
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Padres trade for Trent Grisham, Zach Davies 4% (512)
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Rangers sign Kyle Gibson 3% (385)
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Mariners sign Kendall Graveman 3% (369)
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Mariners extend Evan White 3% (360)
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Cards re-sign Adam Wainright 3% (354)
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Padres sign Drew Pomeranz 2% (304)
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Braves sign Travis d'Arnaud, Tyler Flowers 2% (258)
Total votes: 13,954
Phillies Interested In Dellin Betances, Austin Romine
The Phillies are reportedly expressing interest in reliever Dellin Betances and catcher Austin Romine, per George A. King III of the New York Post.
Along with their reported interest in free agent shortstop Didi Gregorius, that makes three former Yankees the Phillies have been connected to since their hire of Joe Girardi as their next manager. All three ex-Yankees played multiple seasons under Girardi’s tutelage.
Betances certainly makes sense for a Phillies’ bullpen that was middle of the pack by ERA and a bottom-10 unit by measure of FIP. MLBTR’s Steve Adams provided a more succinct review in his Offseason Outlook by noting: they were “not a strength in 2019.” The group dealt with their share of injuries, of course, but that’s cold comfort for a team keen on competing in a difficult NL East. The bullpen currently has a number of high-ceiling arms, but very few established roles after injuries derailed the seasons of David Robertson, Seranthony Dominguez, and Tommy Hunter. Nominal closer Hector Neris arguably put together a decent 28-save campaign, but he was not without his hiccups either. Not for nothing, with Girardi taking over, usage patterns could shift entirely for this unit. Betances’ career 2.36 ERA and 14.6 K/9 would be a good addition on paper, but after missing essentially all of the 2019 season, Betances’ shutdown back-end talent comes packaged with further uncertainty.
Romine is the less likely of the two to end up in Philly, as the backup catcher is coming off a career-best .281/.310/.439 campaign and there’s no shortage of catching opportunities elsewhere. The backup spot in Philly doesn’t have as much playing time to offer as most – J.T. Realmuto is one of the few frontline catchers that demands a heavy majority of playing time. Philadelphia can probably get by with any number of veteran backups. They also have Deivy Grullon, 24 this season, waiting in the wings after a strong .283/.354/.496 seasons in Triple-A. Presumably, Romine would look for a position with a more obvious path to playing time.