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MLBTR Originals

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A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the last seven days:

  • On a conference call, MLBTR asked Steve Cishek about his decision to sign with the Mariners and whether he had opportunities to close elsewhere.  “There were a couple other teams [with significant interest], but not too many closing opportunities out there.  For me, Seattle was the No. 1 place I wanted to go when I heard that they wanted me to be their closer,” Cishek said.
  • On the most recent edition of the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, free agent Todd Coffey joined host Jeff Todd to talk about his career in the pen and his current comeback attempt.  Coffey, who plans to throw for teams in January, says he feels healthy and wants to be able to pitch multiple innings for his next MLB club.  Steve Adams also chatted with Jeff about what’s up ahead in the hard-to-predict offseason market.  A new episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is released every Thursday and can be accessed on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.
  • On Thursday, MLBTR was the first to report that the Braves designated right-hander Brandon Cunniff for assignment.  Cunniff, 27, made his big league debut with the Braves in 2015, working to a 4.63 ERA with an impressive 37 strikeouts in 35 innings of work out of the Atlanta bullpen. However, he also yielded 22 walks in that time, which contributed to his somewhat elevated earned run average
  • Recently, MLB Trade Rumors launched a brand new official Instagram account:@TradeRumorsMLB.  Each day, we’re€™ sharing conversation-inspiring images about the hottest topics in baseball.  From there, we invite you to give us a like, weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section, and even share the link with a friend.  So, what are you waiting for?  If you don’€™t have an Instagram account, this is the perfect excuse to sign up and get one.  Follow us on Instagram today!

Dodgers Notes: Cueto, Friedman, Chapman

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Here’s a look at the Dodgers:

  • In an interview with MLB Network Radio, agent Bryce Dixon said that the Dodgers were in on Johnny Cueto “up until the last couple days” (Twitter links via Jon Morosi of FOX Sports).  Dixon thought that Cueto would have been a “real good fit” for the Dodgers, but, in the end, the Giants made the stronger offer.  At the Winter Meetings in Nashville (before a deal was struck with the Giants) Dixon told MLBTR that he thought Cueto could help form a strong rotation alongside Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles.
  • Mark Whicker of the Los Angeles Daily News isn’t sure that he understands Andrew Friedman’s plan for the Dodgers.  He doesn’t feel that Friedman has made unwise deals, but he also doesn’t feel that Friedman’s moves fit together well.  Whicker is also concerned about the Dodgers’ lack of a clear No. 2 next to Kershaw after the departure of Greinke and Cueto signing with the Giants.  He opines that landing Jose Fernandez from the Marlins would be the best way to fill the No. 2 spot in the rotation and also supports the idea of trading for Rays hurler Jake Odorizzi, something L.A. has explored.
  • The Dodgers are damned if the do and damned if they don’t, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.  If the Dodgers retained Zack Greinke, signed Hisashi Iwakuma, and dealt for Aroldis Chapman, they’d get slammed for spending too much.  Now that they haven’t made those moves (for different reasons), some folks are critical of what they view as inaction on the part of Los Angeles’ front office.  “I remind the thin-skinned people in front offices of the smart words Hyman Roth gave Michael Corleone in that hotel room in Havana — ‘This is the business we have chosen,’ ” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said by phone. “The criticism and fishbowl scrutiny is just part of the business. … I am really proud to represent a team that has won 90 games and the division title [each of the last three years]. Yet, that is not good enough for our fans, the media, ownership and me. That is the way it should be. We are the Dodgers, we represent Los Angeles. We should expect to compete for the top every year. Criticism is what goes along with that, which is just fine.”

Wei-Yin Chen On Nationals’ Radar

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The Nationals are on the lookout for starting pitching now that Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister are out of the picture and their hunt has led them to at least consider one of the best options still available.  Free agent Wei-Yin Chen is on the Nationals’ radar, a source tells Bill Ladson of MLB.com, though that source isn’t sure whether Washington would give him the five-year deal that he is seeking.

Every team in the league would obviously love to add a solid starter like Chen, but his price tag has so far left him dangling on the market without a ton of buzz as to where he might land.  Last week, it was reported that the Scott Boras client is seeking a five-year, $100MM commitment.  Earlier this offseason, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes projected that Chen would land a five-year deal worth $80MM.  Chen is – at least for now – aiming a whole lot higher.

The Nationals were recently said to have some interest in right-hander Mike Leake and GM Mike Rizzo even confirmed that an offer was made.  However, the price tag was apparently too rich for their blood and their interest quickly cooled off.  Overall, Rizzo indicated that the club hasn’t been very active on the market for starters.  The Nats already have a top three of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez plus Tanner Roark and Joe Ross in the backend.  Beyond them, youngsters like A.J. Cole and Lucas Giolito knocking on the door.

The 30-year-old Chen is coming off a nice four-year run with the Orioles which was highlighted by a particularly strong two-year platform in 2014-15.  Over the past two seasons, he’s logged a 3.44 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 to go along with a 40.8 percent ground-ball rate in 377 innings of work.  Chen turned down a qualifying offer from the Orioles earlier this offseason, so signing him would require a team to forfeit its first eligible draft pick.  That’s a notable disadvantage for Chen compared to quality pitchers remaining on the free agent market such as Mike Leake, Scott Kazmir, and Kenta Maeda.  Late last month, Tim took an in-depth look at Chen and speculated on the type of deal he could land.

Right now, there isn’t an obvious landing spot for Chen.  Cardinals appeared to be a solid fit for a pitcher like Chen but GM John Mozeliak recently said that the team is unlikely to make a “dynamic” signing at this stage of the offseason.  The Giants were known to have some level of interest in Chen, but they are almost definitely out on high-priced pitching after adding Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto this winter.

Cafardo On Victorino, Cahill, Cubs

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe spoke with managing general partner of Sapient Global Markets Dave Donovan, who is trying to apply banking principles to baseball in order to help limit risk on the part of teams.

“Because there’s such an emphasis by teams on acquiring the right players, especially now where you have financial constraints with luxury taxes, etc., we’re looking at it the same way as we do with banks,” Donovan said. “Banks want to make as much money as they possibly can. Their constraint is regulation. They have stress tests they have to do for the government after banks almost took down the world because they weren’t financially compliant. We’ve been working with these banks to measure their risks and you can apply the same concepts in sports…Your roster is no different than a portfolio of securities. Those are your assets. That’s what you’ve put your investment in, so it only makes sense that you should monitor your assets”

When considering risk management, Cafardo wonders aloud if the Red Sox’s decision to sign David Price to a seven-year, $217MM was a prudent one.  Cafardo speculates that the hedge fund operator in owner John Henry probably wasn’t thrilled about the move.  However, in the short-term, he knew that Boston needed an ace pitcher.

Here’s more from today’s column:

  • Shane Victorino’s agent, John Boggs, said a couple of teams have shown interest in his client, but no deal is imminent at this time.  Boggs added that the veteran is looking to sign a one-year deal in order to re-establish his value.  The Flyin’ Hawaiian hit just .230/.308/.292 in 2015 in 204 combined plate appearances for the Red Sox and Angels.  Still, he’s only two years removed from his 2013 campaign in which he slashed .294/.351/.451 with 15 homers for Boston.  Victorino, who plans on getting back to switch-hitting, celebrated his 35th birthday in late November.
  • Right-hander Trevor Cahill had an opportunity to sign with the Pirates or Orioles as a starting pitcher, Cafardo writes.  However, he opted to stay with the Cubs where he will be used in a relief role.  Cahill’s clear preference was to start again, but he also didn’t want to leave Chicago.  Cahill gave the Cubs 17 brilliant innings of relief down the stretch, yielding just four runs and recording an outstanding 22-to-5 K/BB ratio to go along with a ground-ball rate of 61.8 percent. He also pitched 5 1/3 innings in the postseason, allowing two runs on seven hits and no walks with eight strikeouts (3.38 ERA).
  • Ron Gardenhire lost out on the Padres’ job but “the feeling” is that he could always go back to the Twins organization and work in some capacity.  However, Gardenhire’s preference would be to manage for a major league team again.  Gardenhire has extensive postseason experience from his time with the Twins, having led the club to six AL Central Division titles in 13 seasons and also bringing the team to a Game 163 tiebreaker that was lost to the White Sox in 2008. However he also has a disappointing 6-21 record in the playoffs, having only captured one series victory (against the A’s in 2002).

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Harper, Upton, McCutcher

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Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere:

Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

Nationals Notes: Phillips, Profar, Desmond

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The latest on the Nats:

  • Among the issues the Reds needed to resolve with Brandon Phillips was the question of money deferred in the six-year, $72.5MM contract extension he signed in 2012, Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post writes.  The Nats appeared to be on the cusp of trading for the second baseman earlier this week until Phillips declined to waive his no-trade clause.
  • Now that the Phillips deal appears to be dead – or at least on hold – the Nationals could consider Jurickson Profar of the Rangers as a trade possibility, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com.  However, Profar’s health situation probably means that a deal wouldn’t take place until March.  GM Jon Daniels told reporters back in November that he was getting trade interest on the oft-injured Profar, though he added that teams were looking to buy low on him.  Profar, who missed the entire 2014 season after twice tearing a muscle in his shoulder, underwent right shoulder surgery in February.  Profar ranked as the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball heading into the 2013 season, receiving that distinction from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com and ESPN’s Keith Law. He made his debut as a 20-year-old that season and homered in his first big league plate appearance, though he went on to struggle, relatively speaking, to a .234/.308/.366 batting line in 324 plate appearances that season.
  • On Saturday night, ex-GM Dan O’Dowd (writing for MLB.com) ran down five players who he feels won’t be signing anytime soon.  At the top of the list is Nationals free agent shortstop Ian Desmond.  O’Dowd feels that Desmond will be driven to get an offer as good as the seven-year, $107MM extension he reportedly turned down from the Nats last offseason and that could lead to a prolonged stint in free agency.   Perhaps the game’s best shortstop from 2012-14, Desmond only produced a .233/.290/.384 batting line in 2015.  At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted that Desmond would net a five-year, $80MM deal on the open market.  Of course, he comes with a qualifying offer attached.

Latest On Braves, Ender Inciarte

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Ender Inciarte has been a member of the Braves for less than three weeks and teams are already trying to pry him away.  Since acquiring the outfielder, Braves GM John Coppolella says that he has been contacted by more teams with interest in Inciarte than there were with Shelby Miller (Twitter links via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports).  The GM says that like Miller, the Braves are not necessarily looking to move Inciarte.  Of course, the Braves wound up trading Miller when they got a sizable offer from the D’Backs.

Ultimately, Coppolella says that he is open to dealing “any player not named Freddie Freeman” if the price is right.  It has been reported that the Braves’ plan is to keep Inciarte in the organization and use him as a leadoff hitter and center fielder for the foreseeable future.  Still, if there are more teams in on Inciarte than there were on Miller, than it stands to reason that Atlanta could get a package strong enough to part with him.  It was reported in late November that “as many as 20 teams” checked in on the right-hander.

Inciarte, 25, was largely unheralded as a prospect but has batted a combined .292/.329/.386 in his first two Major League seasons, including a stellar .303/.338/.408 line in 2015.  Inciarte is an elite defender at any of the three outfield spots; he’s amassed 52 Defensive Runs Saved in just 1972 innings at the Major League level or, if you prefer, +33.7 runs, per Ultimate Zone Rating.

While he lacks much in the way of power and may see his surface-level rate stats decline by moving away from the hitters’ haven that is Phoenix’s Chase Field, Inciarte is expected to help the Braves’ chances both in 2016 and into the next planned phase of the team’s status as contenders.  Of course, with five years of club control to go, there are tons of clubs who would like to add Inciarte to the fold as well.

Bronson Arroyo Drawing Interest From Multiple Teams

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Free agent hurler Bronson Arroyo is drawing interest from multiple teams this winter, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark (on Twitter).  So far, the Nationals, Pirates, Orioles, Padres, Braves, Reds, and Phillies have all called on Arroyo.

Arroyo, 39 in February, is now 17 months removed from Tommy John surgery.  For his part, Arroyo tells Stark that he is “perfectly fine.”  It’s been a while since Arroyo took the hill, as he missed about half of 2014 and all of 2015 after going under the knife. He bounced between organizations as part of the salary-swapping elements of a pair of trades, but he has said in the past that he expects to be ready to go in the spring.

The Reds’ interest in Arroyo was reported back in November, but GM Dick Williams indicated that they would only have interest if if he can first demonstrate that he’s healthy.  Arroyo enjoyed a solid eight-year run with the Reds before departing for the D’Backs via free agency after the 2013 campaign.  He contributed nearly 1700 innings in that stretch, carrying a 4.05 ERA with 5.9 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.

Considering all he’s been through in the last year-and-a-half and the money he’s earned over his career, no one would fault Arroyo for considering retirement.  However, now that he’s apparently healthy and has interest from at least seven teams, it sounds like the right-hander has no intentions of hanging up his spikes.  For his career, Arroyo has pitched to a 4.19 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 across 15 big league seasons.  He’s not hurting for cash either, as he has raked in more than $90MM in the sport.

Mets Re-Sign Bartolo Colon

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DEC. 18: The Mets have announced the one-year deal (Twitter link).

DEC. 16: The Mets and Bartolo Colon have reached agreement on a one-year, $7.25MM deal, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).  Sources tell Rosenthal (link) that Colon had better offers from other teams, but he wanted to remain with the Mets.  Colon’s affinity for the Mets’ fans, his teammates, and the organization led him to re-up in Queens.

All in all, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the 42-year-old can continue functioning as a useful MLB pitcher. Colon signed a two-year, $20MM deal to join the Mets after putting up two stellar seasons with the A’s. He hasn’t quite matched the results he had in Oakland, but has contributed a remarkable 397 innings of 4.13 ERA pitching with 6.5 K/9 and a sterling 1.2 BB/9.

Now, it remains to be seen how Colon will factor into the Mets’ plans for the 2016 season.  Colon probably wouldn’t hold down a rotation spot all season in Queens barring an injury to one of the Mets’ excellent young starters, he could be a valuable stopgap early in the year as Zack Wheeler progresses in his Tommy John rehab.

New York figures to roll out a rotation fronted by Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, and Noah Syndergaard and also likely including highly-rated prospect Steven Matz. Still, will Jonathon Niese out of the picture and Wheeler still working his way back, Colon will help to ease uncertainty in the Mets’ rotation. Beyond Colon, the Mets could also turn to players like Rafael Montero and Logan Verrett if they need additional support in the starting five.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dodgers Talking With Rays, Indians On Starters

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TODAY: The Dodgers are also talking with the Indians about Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. Those two names have long been in play, of course, but it’s notable that Los Angeles is back in discussions after seeing several other moves fall through in recent weeks.

Cleveland is not in any rush to deal its starters, as the front office has continued to emphasize in public statements and ESPN.com’s Buster Olney explained earlier today. But the club still seems entirely willing to talk about its power arms, and certainly seems amenable to trading them in the right scenario.

YESTERDAY, 6:15pm: ESPN’s Jayson Stark tweets that there’s a good deal of buzz in the industry that the Dodgers could look to a trade with the Rays in their quest for rotation upgrades. Odorizzi’s name is generating more speculation than most, he notes, although Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to several sources and got the sense that there’s nothing imminent between the two teams at this time (Twitter link).

1:02pm: The Dodgers are in talks with the Rays regarding Jake Odorizzi, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).  The Dodgers’ three-year, $45MM agreement with Hisashi Iwakuma could be up in the air and it’s possible that the Dodgers are weighing their alternatives.

Odorizzi, 26 in March, has pitched well for the Rays in each of the past two seasons, though he missed some time in 2015 due to an oblique strain and was thus limited to 169 1/3 innings. Odorizzi doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging about 91 mph with his fastball, but he’s shown an ability to pick up strikeouts at an above-average clip nonetheless. Over his past 337 1/3 innings (2014-15), Odorizzi has a 3.74 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. A pronounced fly-ball pitcher, Odorizzi does have a rather low 33.5 percent ground-ball rate in that time.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Rays were in extension talks with the right-hander.  Odorizzi’s agent referred to the proposal as a “very nice initial offer,” which suggested that while there was a good starting point, nothing was imminent on that front either.  Odorizzi is not yet arbitration eligible and won’t be until next offseason. He’s controllable for another four years, so it stands to reason that the Rays would like a significant haul to part with him.  Of course, after Wednesday’s three-way deal, the Dodgers are sitting pretty in terms of prospects, so they can afford to make a strong offer to the Rays.

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