Quick Hits: Giants, Brewers, Spangenberg, Orioles
First-year Giants President of Baseball Ops Farhan Zaidi isn’t feeling the pressure of the offseason quite yet, in part because the offseason action has shifted later and later into the winter. Zaidi doesn’t care to comment publicly about any specific trade talks or which free agents the team might be targeting, but he knows the San Francisco fanbase is growing restless, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Madison Bumgarner remains their biggest trade chip, but assuming the World Series hero stays in the Bay, relievers Tony Watson and Will Smith have drawn the most interest around the league. Still, their new President is in no rush to jump the market. Despite coming to SF from LA, Zaidi is a small market strategist who spent his first ten years in the game with Oakland before working under long-time Rays’ GM Andrew Friedman. Large market teams like SF and LA have poached front office personnel from smaller markets in part to better avoid the exact type of splashy free agent signing that fans crave. All signs point to Zaidi bringing the Dodger model to the Bay – which isn’t huge payrolls and headline free agents – it’s creative, innovative “small market” thinking first, and dipping into the reserves of their large market second.
- The Milwaukee Brewers are fairly confident that offseason signee Cory Spangenberg has room to grow in a couple areas of his game, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. GM David Stearns sees some unrealized power potential in the 6’0″ infielder, but the more actionable area of growth for Spangenberg is his versatility. He mostly played second base and third base as a Padre, with occasional spurts in the outfield (in 2017, he got 25 starts in left field). Stearns sees Spangenberg continuing with outfield work, as well as picking up some time at shortstop in the spring. Defensive metrics haven’t raved about Spangenberg’s work at any position, but even if he’s only a passably below-average defender, there’s something to be said for being passably below-average all over the diamond.
- The hallways at Orioles HQ aren’t exactly bustling with activity, but the analytics, coaching and front office teams are beginning to fill out. With less than six weeks before the opening of Spring Training, GM Mike Elias is comfortable being in the early stages of building, shaping and refining those departments. Nonetheless, Baltimore’s front office team is – in the fateful parlance of the Emperor – fully armed and operational, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. After clearing out much of the staff both before and after the hiring of Elias, those remaining staffers have been given more responsibility until key vacancies are filled. Koby Perez takes over one of those key roles as the new senior director of international scouting, a position with greater import in Baltimore than perhaps any other organization in the league, as his responsibilities include the management of their robust international bonus pool money. Though they have until June 15th to spend that money, Elias and Perez recognize that the international scouting process is typically a years-long, not a months-long process, per MLB.com’s Joe Trezza, and they are in no rush to spend to the limit. Though they can spend close to $6MM in that area, they are by no means required to, and there are many areas internally where that sum of money could be put to use.
Orioles Claim Austin Brice, Designate Breyvic Valera
The Orioles have claimed right-hander Austin Brice off waivers from the Angels, as announced by both teams. In a corresponding move to clear roster space, the O’s have designated infielder Breyvic Valera for assignment. Baltimore now has a full 40-man roster.
This is the second time the hard-throwing Brice has switched organizations this offseason, as he was claimed off the Reds roster by the Angels back in November, but then DFA’ed by the Halos last week once they signed Jonathan Lucroy. Brice, 26, has a 5.68 ERA over 84 career innings with the Reds and Marlins from 2016-18. His main issue at the big league level has been the home run ball, with an ungainly 1.9 HR/9 over the last two seasons. Despite his homer woes, Brice has generated ground balls (career 51.2% grounder rate) at an above-average rate. It’s a fairly low-risk acquisition by the Orioles, who will be exploring any number of young players as they begin their rebuilding process.
Valera has a .529 OPS over 86 career Major League plate appearances with the Orioles, Dodgers, and Cardinals, and he is perhaps best known for being included as part of the trade package L.A. sent to Baltimore last summer for Manny Machado. Turning 27 next week, Valera does own a pretty solid .299/.357/.388 slash line over 3659 career minor league PA and he offers some utility depth. Valera has spent much of his pro career as a second baseman, though he has experience playing any position on the diamond except catcher and pitcher.
East Notes: Harper, Cespedes, O’s, Perez, Yankees, Tulo
Bryce Harper and agent Scott Boras had a five-hour meeting with Nationals owner Ted Lerner on December 22, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports. Sources from within the team declined to confirm that such a meeting took place, which Janes describes as “a departure from their relative openness about their status with Harper this winter.” One possibility is that Lerner held the meeting without informing anyone else in the organization, which Janes notes “has happened before,” though it could be that the front office is keeping quiet on details either as a gamesmanship tactic (to drive up Harper’s price for other teams), or because an ardent pursuit of the free agent outfielder is underway.
This is the latest twist in the perhaps-ongoing courtship between Harper and the Nats, as ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reported earlier today that Harper had had “multiple” meetings with team representatives. Boras and Lerner have a longstanding professional relationship that has resulted in several high-profile Boras Corporation clients (i.e. Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer) sign extensions or free agent deals with Washington. Boras has also often bypassed general managers to negotiate directly with ownership in some particularly major contracts, and he has signaled this intent in regards to Harper’s market this offseason.
Some more from around both the NL East and AL East…
- There had already been some indication that the Mets weren’t expecting Yoenis Cespedes to play in 2019 as the outfielder recovers from a pair of heel surgeries, and special assistant Omar Minaya reiterated as much in an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (hat tip to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo). “If [Cespedes] gives us anything this year, that is great, we’re happy for that,” Minaya said. Cespedes’ first procedure in late July carried a rough timeline of eight-to-ten months before a return to baseball activities, and no update to that timetable was made after Cespedes underwent his second surgery in late October. Cespedes has long been plagued by a variety of lower-body injuries, and since signing a four-year, $110MM deal with the Mets prior to the 2017 season, the outfielder has played in just 119 games. As it stands, New York’s starting outfield consists of Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo in the corners, Juan Lagares in center field, and the newly-acquired Rajai Davis as the fourth outfielder. The Mets have been linked to other outfielders on the rumor mill, however, so it is quite possible more changes could come before Opening Day.
- The Orioles have hired Koby Perez as the team’s new Senior Director of international scouting, as per a team press release. The 40-year-old Perez spent the last three seasons as the Indians‘ director of Latin American scouting, his most recent stop in a career that has spanned 12 seasons and included roles as a crosschecker and scout with Cleveland, Philadelphia, and St. Louis (Perez and Orioles GM Mike Elias both worked as scouts in the Cardinals’ organization for two years). Under his new title, as per the press release, “Perez will oversee all aspects of the Orioles’ international scouting operations and management of the club’s bonus pool.” The Orioles have been notoriously indifferent to the international market for years, though this focus began to change even prior to Elias’ hiring, as Baltimore made a strong attempt to sign both the Mesa brothers and Sandy Gaston this fall. Going forward, it certainly seems as if the O’s will now be as aggressive and thorough in locating and signing international prospects as any club in the sport.
- The Yankees‘ signing of Troy Tulowitzki doesn’t mean the team is out on Manny Machado by any means, Joel Sherman of the New York Post opines as part of a seven-tweet thread (all linked here). That said, the Yankees wouldn’t publicize being out of the Machado sweepstakes anyway, as such a statement would violate Collective Bargaining Agreement rules about teams weighing in on free agents. It also makes strategic sense for the Yankees to at least appear to still be in on Machado, if for no other reason than to force rival teams to spend more to sign him. If Machado indeed doesn’t land in New York, Sherman feels the Yankees could address their infield needs by signing a player like Neil Walker or Adeiny Hechavarria to provide short-term help until Didi Gregorius is able to return. Sherman suggests that infield help could also be found as part of a Sonny Gray trade package.
Quick Hits: LeMahieu, Rangers, O’s, Senzel, Calhoun
While DJ LeMahieu played his high school ball in Michigan, a return to his old stomping grounds in the form of a Tigers contract “isn’t likely,” MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. Detroit figures to wait until closer to Spring Training to land a second baseman, so LeMahieu will likely be off the market by then, plus his desire for a multi-year deal probably also doesn’t fit with the Tigers’ plan to acquire a short-term bridge to prospect Dawel Lugo. The Nationals, Dodgers, and Athletics have all been linked to LeMahieu at various points this offseason, though it’s probably safe to count Oakland out of the running after the team’s acquisition of Jurickson Profar. In general, Beck feels the Tigers could wait until later in the offseason to address several needs, looking for low-cost veterans or potential bargains to fill holes in the rotation, bullpen, catcher, or on the bench. The Tigers may also have to hold off on dealing Nick Castellanos until after Bryce Harper signs with a new team, in order to take stock of a newly-shuffled outfield market.
Some more from around baseball…
- Is Adam Jones a fit for the Rangers? MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan believes so, opining that Jones’ right-handed bat would help balance out the team’s heavily left-handed outfield mix, plus Jones could provide clubhouse leadership to an increasingly young team. There’s certainly an argument to be made for such a signing, or at least for a player of a similar mold, should Jones himself be a bit too expensive for the Rangers’ liking or if he only wants to play for a team aiming to contend in 2019.
- Speaking of signing veterans, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski argues that the Orioles should see what they have in their young pitchers rather than acquiring an experienced innings-eater for the rotation. Barring a trade, Baltimore will have Andrew Cashner, Dylan Bundy, and Alex Cobb as its top three starters, which perhaps provides enough of a veteran base to allow the O’s to audition any number of young arms through the other two rotation spots.
- Nick Senzel is on pace to make his Major League debut sometime in 2019, though without a clear position to play in the Reds‘ lineup, the team could deploy Senzel as a multi-positional threat, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale writes. Senzel was drafted as a third baseman and has spent much of his minor league career at the hot corner, though he saw more time at second base last season at Triple-A and even started one game at shortstop. The Reds also intended to use Senzel as a corner outfielder in Arizona Fall League play, though he was sidelined after surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow. The biggest priority for the Reds and Senzel is simply to make sure that the top prospect is healthy in the wake of an injury-shortened 2018 season, and to get him everyday at-bats no matter what position he fills around the diamond. Senzel could even be considered for some time in center field, which is the only open position the Reds have at the moment.
- Trading Kole Calhoun would help free up some payroll space for the Angels to go after pitching, though MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger isn’t sure how much the Halos could really save in such a deal. Calhoun is owed $11.5MM next season, counting both salary and a buyout of his $14MM club option for 2020, and it seems like the team would have to eat at least some of that given that Calhoun is coming off a replacement-level season. Los Angeles could also conceivably swap Calhoun for another player with a contract his team would like to unload, if such a fit could be found. Of course, the Angels are hoping for a rebound year from Calhoun and have him penciled in as their everyday right fielder, so dealing him would create another roster hole to be filled.
AL Notes/Rumors: Realmuto, Astros, Keuchel, Orioles, A. Jones
The latest from the Junior Circuit . . .
- The Marlins’ asking price for J.T. Realmuto has put off many a suitor, but the Astros are “still interested,” reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Per Morosi, the Fish are still insisting on one of either Forrest Whitley or outfielder Kyle Tucker, each near-consensus top-1o prospects, to headline the deal, so there’s been “no traction” in discussions. To say Whitley, 21, is drawing rave reviews in scouting circles would be to critically undersell the case – the 6’7 Texan is described by some scouts, per Baseball America, as the “best [pitching prospect] they’ve ever seen,” and has done little to discredit that view (aside, perhaps, from a 50-game suspension in early 2018 for a supposed positive banned-stimulant test) in his ascent through the system. Tucker has earned some detractors with his unorthodox swing and supposed nonchalance on the field, but he dominated (.332/.400/.590) the AAA-Pacific Coast League at age 21 and slots even higher than Whitley on some major-publication rankings. GM Jeff Luhnow, in the past, has been reluctant to deal from the cream of his system, though he did splurge in 2015’s deal for Carlos Gomez, departing with top-50 prospect Brett Phillips, top-100 Domingo Santana, and 2018 All-Star Josh Hader in the trade. Still, there is nothing close to precedent in the current Houston regime for a move of this scale.
- In a video segment for MLB Tonight, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart addressed the likelihood of Houston reuniting with free agent lefty Dallas Keuchel, calling the chances “slim.” Houston, apparently, has balked at the desired length of a proposed deal from Keuchel’s camp, but McTaggart believes the club could circle back if it hasn’t acquired a rotation piece by “late January.” As of yesterday, Keuchel was still believed to be seeking a deal of five years in length, and the many teams interested were far less so when broached with those demands. The Astros, with a righty-heavy, thin-back-end rotation, could certainly use their former ace, but with dual rotation-headliners Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole set to hit free agency after next season, the club may be stashing its funds in preparation.
- Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports paints a bleak portrait of Adam Jones‘ future with the Orioles, noting in a Friday mailbag that Jones’ likely earning power on the market is “more than the Orioles would give him.” Jones, 33, spent 11 seasons with the club, amassing an excellent 29.4 fWAR over the frame. His production – and in particular, his defense – has steadily waned in recent years, cratering with a dismal -18 DRS in center field last season. Jones’ days at the position are likely finished, though he may yet have value to add in a corner spot – the five-time all-star, after all, still projects around league-average next season, per Steamer, and has kept his strikeout rate low in the dawn of the swing-and-miss age.
Offseason Outlook: Baltimore Orioles
The final entry in MLBTR’s annual Offseason Outlook series is (obviously) rather late to the party this year. My apologies to Orioles fans for the delay. I made an error when we were determining who on the MLBTR staff would write which Outlook this winter, and the result was that the Orioles Outlook regrettably slipped through the cracks. Thankfully (or perhaps not if you’re an Orioles fan), it’s been a rather quiet offseason in Baltimore for the new front office thus far, leaving a pretty wide slate of possibilities to explore. Here’s a look at where things stand in Baltimore as a rebuild that has been a long time coming is in its nascent stage.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Chris Davis, 1B: $92MM through 2022 ($6MM annually deferred, without interest, all the way through 2037)
- Alex Cobb, RHP: $43MM through 2021 ($4.5MM annually deferred through 2032)
- Mark Trumbo, 1B/OF/DH: $13.5MM through 2019
- Andrew Cashner, RHP: $8MM through 2019 (plus incentives; deal includes $10MM vesting option that will trigger with 187 IP in 2019)
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Jonathan Villar (4.113) – $4.4MM
- Dylan Bundy (3.026) – $3.0MM
- Mychal Givens (3.069) – $2.0MM
Free Agents
- Adam Jones, Tim Beckham (non-tendered), Caleb Joseph (non-tendered)
[Baltimore Orioles depth chart | Baltimore Orioles payroll outlook]
The Orioles won more games than any team in the American League over a five-year span from 2012-16, but even toward the end of that run, there were some cracks beginning to show in the foundation. The team’s core was largely headed for free agency at the same time, the rotation often appeared thin even when things were going well in Baltimore, and owner Peter Angelos made the bizarre decision to wholly ignore international amateurs in free agency (while simultaneously re-signing Chris Davis to an albatross contract), which didn’t exactly position his front office for long-term success.
The result was perhaps more catastrophic than even the most pessimistic observers could have forecast. Baltimore lost a stunning 115 games in 2018. Orioles pitchers yielded 270 more runs than the team’s feeble offense could generate. In the field, the Orioles’ collective -94 Defensive Runs Saved was the third-worst mark among MLB teams. Nearly anything that could go wrong in Baltimore did go wrong, and now-former GM Dan Duquette saw the writing on the wall this summer when he gutted the roster in advance of the non-waiver trade deadline. Gone were Manny Machado, Zach Britton, Brad Brach, Darren O’Day and Kevin Gausman. Adam Jones, too, would have been shipped out had he not invoked his no-trade rights.
Months later, it’d be Duquette who was shown the door, along with longtime manager Buck Showalter, as Lou and John Angelos (the sons of Peter Angelos who have taken a prominent role in team control over the past year) opted to clean house from top to bottom. Newly minted general manager Mike Elias was plucked from an Astros organization that has long been on the cutting edge of data-driven baseball operations decisions, and Elias subsequently hired Brandon Hyde away from the Cubs (another progressive organization) as his new skipper. Former Astros executive Sig Mejdal has joined Elias in the Baltimore front office as an assistant general manager, while incumbent farm director Brian Graham and scouting director Gary Rajsich were ousted from the organization as well.
So where does the new-look front office turn as it looks to bring about the next wave of competitive baseball in Baltimore? Elias will no doubt be aggressive in adding to his analytics department, his international scouting staff and player development department as he looks to serve as the architect for a more modern organizational infrastructure. Most of those additions won’t be headline-grabbing news and won’t be of particular interest even to some O’s fans (let alone the broader base of MLB fans), but those will nonetheless be critical steps in a process that should span several years.
Looking at the roster, Duquette’s regime acted fairly aggressively in shipping out trade assets at the deadline, leaving the Orioles with few pieces to legitimately dangle on the trade market. Dylan Bundy would be of interest to other teams given his remaining three seasons of control, but he finished the season extremely poorly, and it doesn’t seem likely that the O’s would sell low on him. The last thing Elias wants to do as an incoming GM is to trade a longtime top prospect only to watch him break out in a new setting, and a strong first half or even a strong 2019 season on the whole would enhance Bundy’s trade value.
Alex Cobb also seems unlikely to be moved, with the $43MM he’s owed still looming large. Baltimore could perhaps eat a notable portion of that remaining sum in an effort to clear that ill-fated contract from the books, though that won’t be an easy sell. Cobb did pitch more effectively after the All-Star break, but his strikeout rate in the second half actually went down slightly (from 6.1 to 5.9 K/9) as his walk rate increased (from 2.3 to 2.7 BB/9). He allowed less hard contact and fewer home runs, but the O’s would probably need to eat half the contract to even find a taker. Andrew Cashner is a similarly unappealing trade asset, and if we were all impressed that Jerry Dipoto managed to shed the remainder of Robinson Cano‘s contract, we’d have to consider it a legitimate miracle if Elias somehow found anyone to absorb a decent chunk of the Chris Davis contract. There may be a Trumbo taker out there if the Orioles agree to eat $9-10MM in salary, but the return wouldn’t be meaningful.
The O’s do have one particularly appealing trade chip, however, in the form of presumptive 2019 closer Mychal Givens. He may not be an elite reliever, but Givens is a hard-throwing (soon to turn) 29-year-old with three seasons of club control remaining and a strong 10.3 K/9 mark across the past three years. His 3.99 ERA in 2018 was elevated a bit due to a bizarre plummet in his strand rate (64.5 percent in ’18; 76.2 percent career), but Givens does an excellent job of limiting hard contact and missing bats. With a $2MM projected salary in arbitration, he’s affordable for any club in baseball and represents a nice alternative for teams that don’t want to spend $7-8MM+ on an annual basis for free-agent arms. There’s a glut of relief options available for now, but the O’s would be wise to float Givens’ name later in the offseason if there are contending teams who missed their top targets and are underwhelmed with the remnants of the free-agent class.
Frankly, though, the Orioles themselves should look to benefit from that swarm of relievers on the open market. Invariably, there’s a handful of solid bullpen pieces that is left standing each winter, and a rebuilding team like the Orioles is well positioned to add some bargains with an eye toward flipping them to contenders in July. While Baltimore surely wants to see what it has in younger relievers such as Tanner Scott, Cody Carroll, etc., there’s plenty of space in the bullpen to add a veteran or two while still leaving ample opportunity to evaluate in-house options.
The same should be true in the starting rotation. There’s zero sense in Baltimore doing something outlandish like signing Dallas Keuchel, of course, but there’s also good reason to roll the dice on a veteran starter who lingers on the market and is struggling to find a fit. If a Drew Pomeranz or Ervin Santana is available on a cheap one-year contract two months from now, signing a veteran bounceback candidate could eventually yield a summer trade chip and would create some depth to take pressure off younger arms like Josh Rogers, David Hess and Luis Ortiz (among others). At the very least, the O’s should be adding a fairly hefty number of pitchers, both starters and relievers, on minor league contracts with invites to Spring Training.
It’s a similar story in the lineup, where there are few established names. Trey Mancini will get another crack in left field (or at DH if the Orioles move on from Trumbo) and look to bounce back from a disappointing .299 OBP in 2018. Cedric Mullins will get a lengthy audition in center. DJ Stewart could get the same in right field, but there’s room for this team to add a veteran outfielder in the Jon Jay or Cameron Maybin mold for some insurance. The O’s are also the type of team that could afford to buy low on a bounceback candidate like Avisail Garcia in hopes of turning him into a prospect this summer.
Turning to the infield, Davis will be at first base and hoping to rebound to whatever extent possible from his disastrous 2018 struggles. Jonathan Villar could hold some appeal on the trade market after a solid run in Baltimore, but if he stays put, he’ll be in line for a middle-infield spot. His ability to play multiple positions should free up the Orioles to pursue veteran infielders on one-year deals and prioritize overall rather than pigeonholing themselves into finding one player at a specific position; a half season hitting homers at Camden Yards before being flipped to a contender might not sound like a bad plan for a rebound candidate like Brian Dozier, for instance. Renato Nunez may have been intriguing enough following his waiver claim (.275/.336/.445) to earn a longer look at third base. Rule 5 picks Richie Martin and Drew Jackson, too, could figure prominently into the infield mix since the Orioles know they won’t be contending anyhow. Behind the plate, Chance Sisco will eventually need to be given another chance to prove he can be the team’s catcher of the future, and the O’s have both Andrew Susac and Austin Wynns on the 40-man roster as backup options.
Outside of a few salary dumps and perhaps some bargain-bin shopping, it doesn’t figure to be an extremely active winter for Elias, Mejdal and the rest of the Orioles’ front office. It’s always possible that a newly hired executive will be surprisingly active — Jerry Dipoto wasn’t bashful about making trades immediately in Seattle, and A.J. Preller was hyper-aggressive in his first year on the job in San Diego — but the bulk of the heavy lifting from a trade perspective was already completed this past summer. There’s enough uncertainty on the Orioles’ roster that some short-term veteran additions should be expected, but the Angelos family hired Elias knowing that this rebuild was going to be a marathon rather than a sprint.
Orioles Add Two To Coaching Staff
The Orioles have added two former Cubs staffers to new manager Brandon Hyde’s coaching staff, according to reports.
Per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (Twitter link), former Cubs minor-league field/catching coordinator Tim Cossins will join the Orioles’ coaching staff. Cossins, 48, previously managed in the Marlins’ system before joining the Cubs in 2012. He also had an eight-year playing career in the minors and served as the Royals’ bullpen catcher after he retired. Mooney cites Cossins as a “key behind-the-scenes figure” in Chicago’s ascension over the last few seasons.
Jose Flores, last year’s first-base coach for the Phillies, will also join the Baltimore staff in the upcoming season, reports Joe Trezza of MLB.com (also via Twitter). Flores, 47, also joined Chicago’s staff in 2012 and remained there through the 2017 season before being added to Gabe Kapler’s staff with the Phillies last season. Flores also has a fair bit of managerial experience under his belt, having managed in Puerto Rico for eight years in addition to a one-year stint managing the Indians’ Dominican Summer League affiliate and as the manager for Team Puerto Rico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Quick Hits: Kevin Cash, Orioles
Good news Rays fans, Kevin Cash is rising the ranks, up to 9th from 15th on nbcsports.com’s list of most handsome managers, per Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Apparently winning agrees with him. There’s not much action around the league here on the morning of Christmas Eve, clearly, but MLBTR will be here throughout the holiday season to keep your baseball appetite sated. For now, let’s check in with the Baltimore Orioles…
- It’s a slow burn offseason for the Orioles and new decision-maker Mike Elias, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The new Executive VP and GM has tempered expectations since taking over last month, but even after checking the first box on his to-do list in bringing new manager Brandon Hyde over from the Cubs, player acquisition remains on the backburner. Given that Elias wasn’t installed until the offseason was already underway, it’s a good sign that Baltimore seems focused on the organizational recalibration of a new regime. The work of installing new operations and philosophies organization-wide isn’t sexy work, and it doesn’t produce much fodder to keep fans interested, but as Kubatko notes, it’s more pressing than roster construction at this juncture for the Orioles.
- That said, the additions they have made aren’t wholly irrelevant, not for a team likely to give extended tryouts to younger players at the major league level: Richie Martin, 24, is a former first rounder who hit .300 his second time through Double A last season, Drew Jackson, 25, spiked his power output to .196 ISO as he, too, repeated Double A, and Rio Ruiz, 24, has struggled at the major league level, but he’s also a known commodity for Elias, who drafted him with the first pick in the fourth round in his first season in Houston. Granted, there’s always a little smoke and mirrors when a player’s production jumps the second time through a level, and in Ruiz’s case, it’s hard to tell the difference between familiarity as a positive and sentimentality. Still, though it may not seem like much, some of Theo Epstein’s first moves in Chicago were taking Hector Rondon in the Rule 5 draft and trading for a player he’d previously drafted who had struggled to that point in the big leagues. That’s not to say Ruiz will turn into Anthony Rizzo – Rizzo was a highly touted prospect prior to his struggles in San Diego whereas Ruiz was a waiver claim – but these minor moves always have the potential to snowball into something more, and they’re the right kind of gambles for Elias and his team to be making barely a month into their Baltimore tenure.
AL East Notes: Bundy, Cobb, Soria, Morton, Rays
Some rumblings from around the AL East…
- The Orioles have received some calls about Dylan Bundy and Alex Cobb, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reports. We’ve heard already about some level of trade interest in Cobb, and while this is the first time this winter that Bundy’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, it stands to reason that teams are checking in on every veteran name on Baltimore’s roster as the O’s are entering into a lengthy rebuild. Bundy would be the most obviously valuable target, as he still has three years of control remaining and has tossed 341 1/3 innings over the last two seasons, after struggling with injuries in the early stages of his career. Bundy posted a 5.45 ERA last season due in large part to problems (2.1 HR/9) keeping the ball in the park, as his overall peripheral numbers were more solid. Cobb pitched well in the second half of 2018 after enduring a rough first few months as an Oriole, though one would think the O’s might have to eat some money to accommodate a Cobb trade. The veteran righty is still owed $43MM over the next three seasons.
- Before Joakim Soria signed with the Athletics, the Red Sox had interest in the veteran reliever, NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich reports. Talks between the two sides “never got anywhere concrete,” Drellich writes, and Soria ended up going to Oakland on a two-year, $15MM deal. Boston has been linked to several relievers this offseason as the team looks to replace Joe Kelly and (potentially) Craig Kimbrel at the back of the bullpen, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has thus far held off on making any major additions. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Dombrowski had acquired Soria; the Tigers traded for Soria in July 2014, back when Dombrowski was Detroit’s general manager.
- There was a lot of mutual interest between Charlie Morton and the Rays, the right-hander told reporters (including MLB.com’s Richard Justice) after his two-year deal with Tampa Bay was officially announced. Beyond what the Rays offered on the field and contract-wise, they had the added bonus of proximity to Morton’s offseason home in Bradenton, Florida. “The thought of being able to play close to home and with such a talented group, a young group, an exciting group, seemed something too good to be true,” Morton said. “I guess I was looking for a really good situation overall more than a dollar amount, more than a year amount. The quality of the character in the clubhouse, those things are really important to me.”
- The Rays‘ use of the “opener” was one of the major baseball stories of 2018, and MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince details how the strategy not only aided in Tampa’s on-field success, but also how many other teams around the game are considering (or have already deployed) openers of their own. Of course, the Rays’ own pitchers first had to get used to the idea, and that required the participation of the initial opener, longtime reliever Sergio Romo. “What if I knew that I wasn’t going to be the only one asked to do this?” Romo said. “What if I understood that part of the reason they asked me first was to maybe get the younger guys to say, ‘Hey look, he bought into it. He’s supposed to be the veteran on our team, and he had no problem doing that.’ Yeah, I did see that and understand it. In a sense, I knew I wouldn’t be the only one.” It would be interesting to see if Romo’s experience as an opener becomes a selling point for the reliever in free agency, as teams planning to use an opener in 2019 could look to Romo to begin games in addition to serving in a more traditional late-game relief role.
Troy Tulowitzki Hosts Workout For MLB Clubs
At least 11 teams were on hand to watch Troy Tulowitzki work out earlier today, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. The Giants, Angels, Red Sox, Cubs, Padres, White Sox, Orioles, Yankees, Phillies, Tigers and Pirates were all represented at the showcase, Brown reports (as were other, unnamed teams), with some clubs even sending their top executives to get a first-hand look at the former Rockies star. Angels GM Billy Eppler was in attendance, per Brown, as were new Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi and manager Bruce Bochy.
Since being released by the Blue Jays last week — with two years and $38MM remaining on his contract — Tulowitzki has been separately connected to a handful of teams including the Pirates, the Yankees, the Cubs and the Giants. His agent, Paul Cohen, recently told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that Tulowitzki is open to playing second base or third base with a new team. Brown, notably, writes that the biggest appeal for Tulowitzki will be the promise of regular at-bats at one positions (as opposed to moving between those three spots in a utility role).
It doesn’t seem as though there’s any early favorite to add Tulowitzki, who’ll cost his new team only the Major League minimum of $555K next season. (Toronto is on the hook for the remainder of his salary.) At that price, it’s justifiable for virtually any team to take a look at Tulowitzki and see if he can rediscover some of the form that once made him one of the game’s premier players. While few would expect him to return to his 2013-14 levels of output, that type of performance is hardly necessary from someone whose new team will pay him the league minimum. Tulowitzki’s bat was at least league-average in both 2015 and 2016, so if he’s healthy there’s plenty of reason to believe he can at least be fairly productive at the dish. How he adjusts defensively after undergoing surgery on both heels last year could be a more pressing question — particularly if he’s also adjusting to a new position after spending his entire pro career at shortstop.