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Deadline Notes: Red Sox, Giants, Relievers, Torres, Verlander, Cozart, Cabrera

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The Red Sox do not need to stay under the luxury tax line in making their deadline moves, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in an appearance today on WEEI (h/t to Rob Bradford, on Twitter). Recent estimates put Boston about $9MM shy of the threshold, which has added implications under the new CBA since the tax escalates when it is owed in consecutive seasons. While the Sox will no doubt weigh that factor in assessing possible trades, it’s notable that the organization doesn’t feel compelled to stay within those limits. Boston is likely to be involved in the market for third basemen — I looked at possible targets recently — and could also add pitching.

Here’s more …

  • The Giants are clearly in position to deal a few veterans, but it’s not yet known just how significant the moves will be. Signs are, though, that San Francisco is willing to listen to offers on just about any player, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi writes. The Giants are not interested in moving Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Brandon Crawford, per the report. That could leave some other interesting names available, with Morosi even suggesting that first baseman Brandon Belt could be available. He calls the Angels a potentially “intriguing fit” — though it’s not clear whether there’s any firm interest from Los Angeles — while noting that several other buyers will be looking at a variety of left-handed-hitting first basemen on what seems still to be a wide-open market.
  • Unsurprisingly, interest in relief pitching will be robust at this year’s deadline, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com writes. Executives suggest that there’ll be a premium on pen arms, as usual, though the expectation remains that none will fetch the kind of immense returns that Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller commanded last year.
  • The Padres have inquired with the Yankees about elite shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. That said, there’s no indication the Yanks have any interest in parting with the talented youngster — even though he is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. That injury doesn’t really change his long-term value, of course, and it’s not altogether clear what Padres players the Yankees might target that could command that kind of trade value. Lefty Brad Hand and former New York infielder Yangervis Solarte may well be of interest, as Heyman notes, but it’s tough to imagine the Yankees parting with such an elite prospect for either or both of them.
  • Heyman also weighs in on veteran Tigers hurler Justin Verlander, who has seen his name begin to come up in trade rumors. At this point, a deal seems less than likely, a source tells Heyman, but there is a real possibility that the righty (and his contract — which promises $56MM over 2018 and 2019) could end up on the move. Three or four teams are said to have participated in exploratory talks on Verlander, per the report, though any deal would require Verlander to waive his no-trade protection.
  • Reds shortstop Zack Cozart, a clear trade candidate with his strong play and expiring contract, tells Heyman that his preference would be to remain in Cincinnati. While he says he understands and accepts that a deal “is more than likely to happen,” Cozart noted that he has informed the front office that he’d be amenable to exploring a long-term contract instead. It’s not terribly surprising, particularly given their internal options, that the Reds haven’t yet made an offer to the 31-year-old.
  • Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera is walking back his recent call to be traded after being moved from short to second, as Dan Martin of the New York Post writes. Cabrera explains: “In that moment when I said that, I wasn’t saying I want to get traded. I was just saying it didn’t seem like they had a plan for me. … If they’ve got a plan, they should tell me.” He went on to say that he is “fine with playing second base,” saying that his complaint related more to a lack of communication. In any event, it remains unclear just how much demand there’ll be for the veteran, and also how inclined the Mets are to bring him back next year at a $8.5MM price tag (versus a $2MM buyout).

NL Notes: Cardinals, Belt, Bucs, Lincecum

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In 2012, before shortstop Aledmys Diaz had left Cuba, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak wondered why the Redbirds hadn’t been active in the Cuban market and pushed for organizational changes, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details. “I was trying to find different ways to look at the future, and we were hearing a lot about Cubans signing, all the time, and not hearing much from us,” Mozeliak said. He added that the Cardinals “needed boots on the ground wherever a Cuban team played. We needed more information. We needed to learn more about the market so we could make better decisions.” The organization’s newfound focus on Cuba eventually led it to Diaz, whom it signed to a four-year, $8MM deal in March 2014. The Cardinals were patient with Diaz (now 25) – as evidenced by the fact that he didn’t make his major league debut until this year – which was a factor in his decision to sign with them. “I think in the end you’re looking for a good bonus, a good contract, but you also want a good reason (to sign),” Diaz said. “They showed me a lot. They gave me a lot of time.” Diaz has repaid the Cardinals’ patience with an astounding .400/.436/.695 batting line, five home runs and nearly as many walks (six) as strikeouts (eight) through his first 101 major league plate appearances.

More from the National League:

  • With a .324/.447/.552 line in 132 PAs, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been one of the majors’ premier hitters this year. Belt has long been a terrific offensive player, but he’s easily on track for his best season and his 2016 outburst has come thanks to some notable changes, writes FanGraphs’ Owen Watson. Belt has shown remarkable strike zone mastery in walking 18.9 percent of the time and striking out at a 14.4 percent rate. Those marks are significantly better than his career rates (10.3 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively). He’s also swinging at far fewer pitches outside the strike zone (and fewer pitches in general) while making more contact with the offerings at which he does swing. The 28-year-old now clearly holds his hands lower than he used to before the ball is thrown and isn’t standing as upright – two adjustments that could be helping him see the pitch longer – Watson notes. Belt’s also combating defensive shifts, which teams commonly deploy against him, by hitting the ball to the opposite field more often.
  • The Pirates sent a scout to watch Tim Lincecum’s showcase Friday and have done their “due diligence” on the free agent right-hander, general manager Neal Huntington said Sunday (Twitter link via Dan Zangrilli of 93.7 The Fan). Given Ray Searage’s reputation for reviving pitchers, it would be fascinating to see how Lincecum would fare as a Pirate. A Searage-Lincecum union probably isn’t in the offing, though, as Orioles GM Dan Duquette said earlier Sunday that Lincecum is likely to sign west of the Mississippi. That would obviously rule out Pittsburgh.

California Notes: Scully, Angels, Belt, Butler, Fisher

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Fans traveling to Dodger Stadium from Sunset Boulevard to Stadium Way can now make the journey on Vin Scully Avenue.  The city of Los Angeles officially renamed the street formerly known as Elysian Park Avenue in honor of the legendary voice of the Dodgers in a dedication ceremony today.  This will undoubtedly be just one of many well-deserved tributes to Scully as the iconic broadcaster enters his 67th and final season calling Dodger games.  Here’s the latest baseball news from California’s teams…

  • Even with Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson coming off the books next winter, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times doesn’t expect the Angels to be huge spenders in the 2016-17 free agent market.  Assuming the Halos don’t pass their high of $165MM on player payroll, they will only have around $40MM to spend on 16 roster spots.
  • Brandon Belt’s five-year, $72.8MM extension with the Giants is “a reasonable common ground” between the two sides, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards writes in an analysis of the contract.  Belt may have sacrificed some extra money by not hitting free agency after the 2017 season, though since he’s had a bit of inconsistency in his career, landing a big nine-figure deal wasn’t a guarantee.  (Edwards doesn’t mention Belt’s concussion history, which may have also played a factor in his taking a big payday now.)  Edwards also notes that Belt is just the third player in the last three years to sign an extension two years away from free agency, along with teammate Brandon Crawford and the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton.
  • In an interview on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link), Athletics manager Bob Melvin implied that Billy Butler will indeed be a part-time player for the club, saying that “for the most part he’s gonna be playing against lefties.”  The veteran slugger has “been great about” accepting the reduced role.  Obviously, neither Butler or the A’s have to be happy that it has come to this, given the three-year, $30MM deal Butler signed prior to the 2015 season.  Butler has been the least-valuable player in baseball as per the fWAR metric since the start of the 2014 season, as he provides no defensive value as a full-time DH and his once-fearsome bat has badly declined.
  • Athletics majority owner John Fisher is taking a larger role in the club’s quest for a new ballpark, Phil Matier and Andy Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle report.  Fisher appears to be interested in a downtown Oakland location for a new stadium, possibly a site near Laney College if the team can purchase the land.  Since purchasing the A’s with Lew Wolff in 2005, Fisher has largely been publicly silent on team matters, with Wolff taking a more visible role as the Athletics’ managing partner.

Giants Extend Brandon Belt

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The Giants announced Saturday that they’ve signed first baseman Brandon Belt to an extension through the 2021 season.  The deal will pay Belt $8.8MM in 2017, and then $16MM in each of the next four years for a total of $72.8MM.  There aren’t any options included in the contract, though Belt receives a partial no-trade clause that allows him to block trades to 10 teams, beginning next season. Belt is represented by Excel Sports Management.

Belt’s deal just tops the the six-year, $75MM extension Brandon Crawford signed with San Francisco in November.  Belt’s $6.2MM contract for 2016 allowed him and the Giants to avoid an arbitration hearing, and Belt would have been arb-eligible for the third and final time next offseason before hitting the open market after 2017.  Instead, this new extension will cover that last arbitration year and Belt’s first four free agent seasons.

Brandon BeltBelt becomes the latest Giant signed to a major multi-year contract into the 2020s, joining Crawford, Buster Posey, Jeff Samardzija and (if he doesn’t exercise his opt-out clause) Johnny Cueto.  While the Giants have the financial might to afford a large payroll, the club has some extra financial breathing room thanks to Matt Duffy and Joe Panik still being on pre-arbitration contracts, as well as Madison Bumgarner controlled through 2019 on what has become a very team-friendly extension signed between the ace’s first and second seasons in the bigs.

Belt, who turns 28 later this month, has a .272/.349/.456 slash line and 63 homers over 2061 career plate appearances.  The advanced defensive metrics are very impressed by his glove, as Belt has +23 Defensive Runs Saved and a +6.1 UZR/150 over his career at first.  Belt also has relatively even career splits against both left-handed (.784 OPS) and right-handed (.813 OPS) pitchers, though the Giants were prone to sit him against southpaws early in his career.

Despite these strong numbers, however, there is still a sense that the best could be yet to come.  It took a while for Belt to firmly establish himself as the Giants’ regular first baseman, and he has also had a couple of notable injury concerns — he played in only 61 games in 2014 due to a broken thumb and a concussion, and he also missed time last season due to another concussion.

Perhaps with these injuries in mind and the fact that Posey may need more time at first base as the years go on, there were rumors earlier this winter that the Giants could be looking to trade Belt.  As the offseason went on, however, trade speculation gave way to talk of an extension between the two sides, particularly after Crawford’s deal was finalized.

Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com was first to report that Belt and the Giants had agreed to terms. Shea was first to tweet that the deal was complete. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the year-to-year breakdown. Pavlovic, Jon Heyman, Shea and FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal all reported details of the contract’s structure.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Wierzbicki/USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: Preller, Belt, Susac, Story, Skaggs, Wandy, Cotts

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The Padres very nearly passed on A.J. Preller in the club’s 2014 general manager hiring process, Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. President Mike Dee says he had settled on another candidate — very likely, now-Angels GM Billy Eppler, but took Preller up on his request for a final sit-down “just as a kind of courtesy, because he was so good throughout the process.” Preller obviously made a great final impression, because Dee left the meeting convinced in the young executive and told San Diego chairman Ron Fowler the next morning that he’d “had a change of heart overnight.” The story details how the organization’s current leadership group came together, and is well worth a full read.

Here’s more from out west:

  • The Giants plan to meet with representatives of first baseman Brandon Belt this week to discuss a long-term contract, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Baggarly takes a deep and excellent look at the complicated matter of valuing the soon-to-be 28-year-old, talking with Belt and GM Bobby Evans about the upcoming talks. For his part, Belt says he hopes to remain in San Francisco but notes: “It’s all going to come down to what’s fair. And, you know, I hate to say it like that, but that’s the reality.” Evans declined to offer any thoughts on what might be fair from the team’s perspective, but said that the organization “believe[s] in his bat, his defense, his character and the continuity that he, if healthy, can add to our lineup.” He went on to note some of the matters that may hold down the team’s bottom-line on price: “Strikeouts are certainly a challenge for him, but he’s also a guy who gets on base at a pretty fair clip. It’s a fair debate in the sense of the different perspectives. But on some level, injuries have been more of an issue than performance.”
  • While Angel Pagan is showing well this spring, the Giants are dealing with concerns at the catching position, Baggarly further reports. In particular, presumed backup Andrew Susac is struggling with soreness in his right wrist, which was operated on last fall. While there are options on hand, including veterans George Kottaras and Miguel Olivo, and the younger Trevor Brown, Susac has long been viewed as a legitimate talent and will be looking to play an increasingly important role in support of the great Buster Posey.
  • Trevor Story has made a strong case to take over at shortstop for the Rockies this spring, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. GM Jeff Bridich wouldn’t commit to a decision, but praised Story’s ability and approach in camp and certainly suggested he’d continue to have every opportunity to win the job as camp draws to a closer — regardless of service-time considerations. Meanwhile, promising backstop Tom Murphy has been sent down to minor league camp, with expectations that he’ll get plenty of time at Triple-A, but could well find his way to the majors at some point during the season to come.
  • Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs will return to competitive action on Thursday for the first time since his Tommy John procedure, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. The Halos’ rotation hasn’t developed quite as hoped this spring, making Skaggs’ already-important comeback all the more critical. Fletcher suggests he could be ready for regular season action as soon as late April.
  • The Astros are getting close to making some decisions in rounding out their bullpen, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart explains. Lefties Wandy Rodriguez and Neal Cotts have opt-out dates of Saturday, per the report, and they are embroiled in competition with a group of other arms — including the out-of-options Dan Straily.

Giants Notes: Belt, Lincecum, Sabean, Internationals

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Here’s the latest from the City by the Bay…

  • Brandon Belt and the Giants avoided an arbitration hearing by a mere 45 minutes, and executive VP of baseball operations Brian Sabean tells reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News) that the one-year, $6.2MM agreement could be a good platform for a multi-year contract.  Both sides expressed interest in an extension that would keep Belt in San Francisco beyond his two remaining years of team control.  “If we had a settlement figure of $5.3 (million) or $7.5 (million), it might not be as good of a springboard,” Sabean said, citing the arbitration figures submitted by the club and Belt.  “But I think we ended up in the joy spot, which is palatable for both sides. It’s a good place to start the conversation.”  The Giants already have a significant amount of future payroll tied up in long-term contracts, though Sabean said that this wouldn’t impede the club’s ability to extend Belt.
  • Sabean also told Baggarly and other reporters that Tim Lincecum is a “long shot” to pitch for the club in 2016 since the Giants already have rotation depth in Chris Heston and Lincecum wants to start rather than pitch out of the bullpen.  That said, the team is sending pitching coach Dave Righetti and others to watch Lincecum’s showcase for scouts later this month.  Righetti spoke highly of Lincecum’s importance to the team in recent years and he hopes a reunion could still somehow be possible.
  • The Giants may yet make some depth additions but Sabean tells CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic that the team is pretty much out of payroll space.  It’s also unlikely that the club will make any more significant international signings.  This is notable since it means the Giants won’t be adding any more pool-eligible talent while they still can — the Giants have already exceeded their international bonus pool for this signing period, meaning that the team will be limited to signings of $300K or less until July 2018.  San Francisco went into the penalty area to sign Bahamanian shortstop prospect Lucius Fox to a $6MM bonus last July.

Giants Avoid Arbitration With Brandon Belt

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The Giants have avoided arbitration with first baseman Brandon Belt by agreeing to a one-year deal, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He’ll receive $6.2MM, Jon Heyman tweets.

The sides had seemed headed for a hearing. MLBTR projected Belt to earn the exact amount he ultimately received in his second (and second-to-last) trip through arbitration. He filed for $7.5MM, with the team countering at $5.3MM to create a $6.4MM midpoint.

Soon to turn 28, the smooth-swinging lefty has been a steady and excellent performer for San Francisco. Since debuting back in 2011, he’s racked up just over 2,000 plate appearances with a cumulative .271/.347/.456 batting line and 63 home runs. And he not only delivers a high-quality glove at first, but has shown the ability to fill in at the corner outfield in a pinch.

After an injury-shortened 2014, Belt got back on track in 2015 and was running numbers comparable to his excellent 2013 campaign before running into concussion issues late in the year. He is expected to be ready for a full spring, though, and health matters don’t appear to be much of a concern for the team.

There are indications that a long-term deal could be a consideration. And, indeed, the Giants already struck a deal with fellow 4+ service-time stalwart Brandon Crawford. Belt has always seemed a more tenuous fit in an extension scenario, though, as he occupies a position that could eventually house star catcher Buster Posey depending upon how things progress.

NL Notes: Belt, Lamb, Phillips, Hill, Plawecki

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The Giants and first baseman Brandon Belt have an arbitration hearing set for tomorrow, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News tweeted last night. The two sides are facing a $2.2MM gap between Belt’s $7.5MM salary figure and the $5.3MM counter from the team (as can be seen in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker), and Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that with the hearing so close, the sides are focused on a one-year deal rather than a longer-term pact. Of course, long-term negotiations can always resume and carry on into Spring Training, so it does make some sense to focus efforts on avoiding the dreaded arbitration hearing for the time being.

Here’s more from the NL…

  • Reds left-hander John Lamb, who had been expected to compete for a spot in the team’s rotation this spring, had back surgery in December, reports MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. In an MLB Network appearance with Chris Russo today (video link), Cincinnati manager Bryan Price  revealed that Lamb will eventually be in the rotation mix but isn’t expected to be ready until mid-April. Per Price, right-handers Anthony DeSclafani and Raisel Iglesias are locked into rotation spots heading into Spring Training, but the remaining three spots will be up for grabs, with names like John Moscot, Cody Reed, Robert Stephenson and Brandon Finnegan all in the mix for one of the three spots until Homer Bailey returns, which the team expects will happen on May 1. Price went out of his way to state that despite some opinions that Finnegan is best-suited for the bullpen, the Reds like him as a starting pitcher.
  • From that same interview, Price said that he’s “not really surprised” that Brandon Phillips vetoed a trade that would have sent him to the Nationals despite the Reds’ rebuild. “Brandon, I think, just absolutely loves Cincinnati,” Price explained. “He loves the fans. He loves the team. He loves the ball park. I think he really values the fact that the Reds threw a lot of trust in him when they acquired him from Cleveland and gave him a chance to play.”
  • Tom Haudricout of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel spoke with Aaron Hill and Brewers manager Craig Counsell about the trade that sent the veteran Hill to Milwaukee. Hill explained to Haudricourt that being traded to a rebuilding team isn’t necessarily a bad thing, stressing that the emphasis on competition still exists and adding that he has a tremendous amount of respect for his new skipper. Of Hill, Counsell said that the Brewers look forward to Hill working with the team’s younger players and expect there to be “a lot of playing time” for Hill. “I do think his experience is valuable on this club with a lot of new faces and a lot of young faces, and a lot of players who are going to go through experiences in the big leagues for the first time,” said Counsell. Haudricourt notes that Hill will platoon with Scooter Gennett at second base and also receive some starts at third base against right-handed pitching.
  • Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki underwent offseason sinus surgery, he tells Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. The operation, according to Plawecki, was performed with the goal of alleviating persistent bouts of dizziness. Plawecki says that his right sinus became completely blocked, preventing airflow through that side of his nose and leading to extreme dizzy spells that were aggravated each time the team would fly. “It was almost like a drunk feeling without having anything to drink, that’s the best description,” said Plawecki. The soon-to-be 25-year-old figures to serve as the primary backup to Travis d’Arnaud for the Mets this season and would step into a starting role in the event that d’Arnaud’s injury problems persist.

2016 Arbitration Filing Numbers

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MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker is the place to go to see the arbitration contracts agreed upon thus far, as well as the figures exchanged between teams and players that were not able to reach agreement before today’s noon deadline to swap salary positions. Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections are available here.

As MLBTR has previously explained, 156 players officially filed for arbitration (after some eligible and tendered players had already reached agreement). Of those, 34 players have yet to reach reported agreements with their clubs. Of course, those players can still reach agreements before their hearings (which will take place between February 1st and 21st). If the case goes to a hearing, the arbitrator must choose one side’s figures, rather than settling on a midpoint.

We’ve gathered the highest-stakes arbitration situations remaining — those where the player files for at least $4.5MM — in this post, but you can find them all in the tracker (with two as-yet-unreported exceptions).

Olney’s Latest: Price, Greinke, Carrasco, Shark, Cubs, Heyward

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ESPN’s Buster Olney begins his latest Insider-only blog post by offering his take on David Price’s deal with the Red Sox. Olney notes that while the blame for Boston’s failure to retain Jon Lester as its ace lies on owner John Henry and not former GM Ben Cherington, Henry deserves credit for recognizing the mistake and going to the measures necessary to bolster his rotation. Rival evaluators have wondered to Olney how Price will adapt to losing his velocity as he ages, but for the short-term, Price gives Boston exactly what it needed — an ace to front the rotation and shift names like Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, Eduardo Rodriguez and the injury-prone Clay Buchholz down the rotation.

Some more highlights from Olney’s column…

  • Price’s signing creates a perfect storm for Zack Greinke, who now stands alone as the top free agent starter on the market with a pair of division rivals — the Giants and Dodgers — bidding against one another to secure his services. One person close to the situation suggested to Olney that Greinke could land a five-year deal worth $165MM (an average annual value of $33MM), which meshes with a recent report from ESPN’s Jayson Stark that said Greinke could take a five-year deal if it meant a sizable increase over Price’s AAV.
  • The Indians have been listening to offers on their young starters, but the price tags for pitchers like Price and Greinke have underscored the value of controllable, young arms like Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, leading to a perhaps exorbitant asking price. For instance, the Indians asked the Giants for a package that included both Brandon Belt and Joe Panik in exchange for Carrasco in recent talks, according to Olney. While some Giants fans may recoil at the notion, Olney writes that with pitchers such as J.A. Happ commanding $36MM over three years, Carrasco’s four-year, $22MM contract and two club options come with incredibly high value. Carrasco talks between the two sides are dead at this point, he adds.
  • The Cubs have been positioning themselves for a run at Jeff Samardzija since before Price made his final decision. The Giants are among the other clubs with interest in Samardzija, according to Olney, who wonders if the teams that missed out on both Price and (eventually) Greinke will then check in with Johnny Cueto as an alternative.
  • The Cardinals have at least spoken to Greinke, but there’s no indication that they’re prepared to compete with the Dodgers and Giants for his services, making it seem unlikely that they’ll emerge as a late dark-horse candidate in his market.
  • The Cubs weren’t comfortable with the notion of roughly $55MM per season for a pair of pitchers each season for the foreseeable future, referring to a potential combo of Price and Lester. Olney calls a swap of Jorge Soler and Braves right-hander Shelby Miller a potential plan B for Chicago, which would then free up the club to make a run at Jason Heyward.

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