Shohei Ohtani Has Sprained UCL In Throwing Elbow
Newly-signed Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani has a first-degree sprain in his right ulnar collateral ligament, according to medical reports from late November viewed by Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan. It was reported yesterday by SI’s Tom Verducci that Ohtani received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow in October, which was known to teams pursuing the 23-year-old two-way star. Ohtani’s agent Nez Balelo said the PRP shot was just “a preventative measure,” though it appears as though the injection was meant to help treat the pain caused by the UCL sprain.
A first-degree sprain is the least-serious type of UCL sprain, though clearly any type of elbow damage is of concern. Passan also notes that the medical reports state that a “small free body” is floating around Ohtani’s elbow area, close to his UCL.
Angels GM Billy Eppler didn’t express any concern with the report, in a statement to Passan this evening:
“Shohei underwent a thorough physical with MRI scans to both his elbow and his shoulder. Those are scans we conduct whenever we sign a pitcher. Based on the readings of those MRIs, there are not signs of acute trauma in the elbow. It looks consistent with players his age. We are pleased with the results of the physical and we are very happy to have the player.”
Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News believes the UCL sprain (along with the PRP injection) was disclosed in the medical records made available to teams. Furthermore, a scout for an unknown team tells SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo that “we already knew” about the elbow issue.
The news creates even more intrigue over Ohtani’s entrance into North American baseball, as if the unique circumstances of his posting, the near league-wide pursuit for his services, and his attempt to be a legitimately two-way player weren’t already enough. It should be noted that Ohtani is still roughly a month away from beginning normal baseball activities as a result of minor ankle surgery in October, so it won’t be known until then how his arm is holding up in the aftermath of the PRP injection. (Passan notes that Ohtani was recently seen playing catch in Japan.)
Some hurlers have been able to continue pitching through even more severe UCL damage, though that is a risky endeavor to say the least, and perhaps not a bet the Angels would want to make on a highly-touted player just beginning his Major League career. In another tweet, Grant notes that even if Ohtani does require Tommy John surgery, he still represents an enormous bargain for the Angels given his potential value and the relatively low cost they paid to obtain his services.
Angels Notes: Ohtani, Rotation, Bench, Longoria
Some items from Anaheim…
- Shohei Ohtani received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow in October, Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci reports. The treatment was simply “a preventative measure,” in the words of Ohtani’s agent Nez Balelo, who added that PRP injections are commonly used in such a fashion in Japanese baseball. Teams were made aware of the treatment during Ohtani’s recruitment process, and the two-way star underwent a physical to confirm his health to any interested clubs. One team official said that the PRP information “didn’t change the equation” about Ohtani’s value and potential.
- The Angels are still weighing the possibility of using a six-man rotation next year, though GM Billy Eppler told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that they’ll make their decision before Spring Training. Using a sixth starter would provide extra rest for the rotation, which is no small concern given how most of the Halos’ starters have undergone significant arm injuries in recent years. In Ohtani’s case, pitching in a six-man rotation would more closely resemble his regular schedule in Japan, while also allowing him more time to recover from getting at-bats as either a DH or outfielder when he isn’t on the mound. Eppler suggested that Los Angeles could also use J.C. Ramirez as a reliever and frequent spot starter, rather than a full-on six-man rotation.
- The club still plans on a seven-man bullpen, so if the six-man rotation idea comes to fruition, that will leave the Halos with 13 pitchers on the roster and one less spot available for a bench player. With a shorter bench a possibility, the Angels will be focused on adding a versatile player that could fill more than one of their remaining needs (backup shortstop, fourth outfielder, and right-handed hitting platoon third baseman). “I always put a premium on flexibility, but it might be a little bit more now,” Eppler said. Fletcher suggests that Eduardo Nunez or Freddy Galvis could be fits for the Angels in terms of handling multiple duties.
- “Some industry chatter” has identified the Angels as a potential trade partner with the Rays for Evan Longoria, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It isn’t yet clear if the Rays will even be shopping their longtime star, though if they did, it would take a shift in the Halos’ thinking for them to pursue Longoria. Beyond the financial cost (Longoria is owed $81MM through the 2022 season), the Angels were planning to use Luis Valbuena and a right-handed platoon partner to handle the hot corner, while focusing more attention on their more pressing need at second base. Adding Longoria as the everyday third baseman would create a logjam for first base/DH playing time between Valbuena, Ohtani, Albert Pujols, and C.J. Cron, though potentially Valbuena or Cron could be dealt, maybe even as part of a Longoria trade package.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/12/17
Here are the latest minor league moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Mariners have re-signed infielder Gordon Beckham to a new minor league deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Beckham spent 2017 on another minor league contract with Seattle and spent the majority of the season at the Triple-A level, appearing in just 11 games in an Mariners uniform. The light-hitting veteran utilityman will continue to provide the M’s with some infield depth in the minors, though it seems unlikely Beckham will get much time on the 25-man roster unless injury strikes.
- The Angels signed outfielder Rymer Liriano to a minors deal, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Once ranked as a top-60 prospect in baseball during his time in the Padres farm system, Liriano has a .274/.346/.432 slash line over 3599 career PA in the minors but he has appeared just sparingly in the majors, posting a .580 OPS over 167 PA with the Padres and White Sox. Forty-six of those plate appearances came last season for Chicago, as Liriano got his first taste of big league action since 2014.
- The Dodgers have agreed to sign Colombian right-hander Guillermo Zuniga to a deal with a $205K bonus, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (Twitter link). Zuniga was one of the 12 former Braves prospects who were declared free agents in the wake of MLB’s investigation into signing improprieties within Atlanta’s front office. Each of the other 29 teams received an extra $200K in international bonus pool funds to sign any of these players, so the Dodgers only slightly dipped into their pre-existing pool money for Zuniga. The Braves originally signed Zuniga, 19, to a $350K bonus.
Latest On Corner Infield Market
There are quite a few moving pieces on the market for corner infielders, so it’s conceivable that things could go in any number of different directions. At this point, it’s not even clear when or where the first dominoes will fall. Here’s the latest:
- Fresh off of a non-tender by the Braves, first baseman Matt Adams has drawn interest from a few organizations, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Specifically, the Indians, Royals, and Nationals have all reached out to Adams’s representatives. While Cleveland and Kansas City could offer fairly significant roles to the left-handed hitter — who really is best utilized in a platoon capacity — the Nats unsurprisingly would consider him as a frequently used bench piece who might take some of the burden from Ryan Zimmerman. Atlanta was not able to find a taker for Adams before the tender deadline; he had projected to earn $4.6MM via arbitration, so it’d be surprising if he ended up receiving more than that on the open market. For the Indians, it seems, adding a player such as Adams would represent something of a “fallback,” as Crasnick terms it, if the team is unable to strike a new deal with Carlos Santana. MLBTR’s Kyle Downing just analyzed Santana’s free agent case and we have also rounded up the latest market chatter on one of the market’s top bats.
- Having missed out on Giancarlo Stanton, the Cardinals are now scanning the rest of the market for offensive upgrades. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag looks at the team’s possible options, including free agents Eric Hosmer and J.D. Martinez. He notes that several upper-echelon third basemen might hold appeal on the trade market — which will come as little surprise to those that have followed the Cards’ trade rumblings for the last several months. Of course, it’s still unclear whether the Blue Jays (Josh Donaldson), Rays (Evan Longoria), or Orioles (Manny Machado) will make their stars available.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post tackles that subject, discussing the relative likelihood that any of those three will be shopped. And Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times addresses things from the Rays’ perspective, reporting that Longoria has not been given any indication from the organization about their plans. While he says he hopes to remain in Tampa Bay, he also acknowledges he could be “somewhere in limbo.” If a trade comes to pass, says Longoria, “I suppose my family and I will adjust.”
- The top free agent third baseman, of course, is Mike Moustakas. His market is still taking shape, but the Angels have (as expected) engaged with his camp to some degree, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter links). That said, there’s no indication of momentum. From an outside perspective, it also seems less likely that the Halos would line up on Moustakas after landing Shohei Ohtani. Even less likely is Logan Morrison, though Fletcher adds that he’s also still on the radar.
- Hosmer and Martinez are conceivably also targets for the Red Sox, as are Santana and others. As Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes, the organization has engaged agent Scott Boras on both players; perhaps unsurprisingly, he also suggests that Boras is pitching Boston on signing the pair in a bold move to revamp its lineup. Interestingly, Cafardo also says that Hosmer’s former club, the Royals, once reached an internal assessment that Hosmer could swat forty long balls annually at Fenway. Of course, the notoriously heavy groundball hitter has never launched more than 25 in a given season (that’s a mark he reached in each of the last two campaigns).
Angels Held Talks With C.C. Sabathia
The Angels have spoken to free agent hurler C.C. Sabathia, George A. King III of the New York Post reports (Twitter link). The Halos made one big rotation addition earlier this week by landing Shohei Ohtani, but Sabathia would bring more veteran stability to a pitching staff that is full of question marks after two injury-ravaged seasons.
Of course, Sabathia himself comes with significant health questions, as it wasn’t long ago that it seemed as if the southpaw’s persistent right knee problems were threatening to end his career. Despite this lingering injury and other DL stints for hamstring and groin issues over the last two years, Sabathia enjoyed a late-career resurgence as a productive innings-eater at the back of the Yankees’ rotation. Sabathia posted a 3.81 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.37 K/BB rate over 328 1/3 innings in 2016-17, accumulating 4.5 fWAR over that stretch.
The Yankees were also recently in touch with Sabathia, who has previously stated that he would prefer to remain in the Bronx. That desire probably only grew stronger in the wake of the Yankees’ acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton, though with the team now boasting an outfielder surplus to go with their wealth of prospects, New York has the means to acquire a starter with more long-term potential than Sabathia if it chooses.
If Sabathia did choose to return to his home state of California, he’d join an Angels rotation that includes Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs and a wealth of other candidates like Andrew Heaney, J.C. Ramirez, Nick Tropeano, or Parker Bridwell. Any of the latter group of arms could be Triple-A starting depth or moved to the bullpen to fill the Angels’ need for multi-inning relief options.
AL Notes: Hosmer, Royals, Ohtani, Rangers
The Royals are interested in re-signing first baseman Eric Hosmer, but their pursuit of the longtime franchise cornerstone isn’t going particularly well, Jon Heyman of FanRag suggests (Twitter link). Kansas City’s belief is that “there are much bigger deals elsewhere” for Hosmer, according to Heyman, though he points out that the club was similarly pessimistic before it managed to re-up free agent outfielder Alex Gordon two offseasons ago. Gordon landed a four-year, $72MM pact, which stands as the largest deal in Royals history. Hosmer figures to obliterate that total, with MLBTR projecting a six-year, $132MM payday.
More from the American League:
- The Angels introduced newly signed Japanese ace/slugger Shohei Ohtani during a Saturday press conference, at which general manager Billy Eppler told reporters that the team “definitely” expects him to continue as a two-way player in the majors (Twitter links via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). Ohtani won’t play the outfield, however, which comes as no surprise considering the Angels already have Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Kole Calhoun occupying spots in the grass. As for the Angels’ pitching staff, Eppler noted that the club is “very open minded” to utilizing a six-man rotation. That would seem to benefit not only Ohtani, who pitched once a week in Japan, but the rest of an Angels staff that dealt with a spate of injuries in 2017.
- Speaking of six-man rotations, the Rangers could be prime candidates to go that route in 2018 if they manage to bring back Yu Darvish, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News observes. The Rangers didn’t enter the offseason planning to spend big money on a single player, but Grant wonders if they’ll pivot from that strategy after failing to reel in Ohtani. As such, he proposes offering a four-year, $80MM guarantee to Darvish and including incentives and a fifth-year vesting option. While that seems light for the longtime Ranger and recent Dodger, Grant posits that both Darvish’s affinity for Texas and the prospect of going with a six-man rotation – something the hurler advocates – could help sway him toward a reunion.
- In another piece, Grant runs down a Winter Meetings to-do list for the Rangers, arguing that they should look to spend on a top-tier free agent starter (Darvish would qualify), improve their bullpen, attempt to trade Shin-Soo Choo and retain their key prospects. Regarding the bullpen, the Rangers are more inclined to target multiple affordable relievers than sign one of Wade Davis or Greg Holland, per Grant.
Angels Sign Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani has decided to sign with the Angels, agent Nez Balelo of CAA Baseball announced today. Balelo issued the following statement on his client’s decision:
“This morning, after a thorough, detailed process, Shohei Ohtani has decided to sign with the Los Angeles Angels. Shohei is humbled and flattered by all the time and effort that so many teams put into their presentations and sincerely thanks them for their professionalism. In the end, he felt a strong connection with the Angels and believes they can best help him reach his goals in Major League Baseball.
I want to thank the clubs and everyone else for respecting our intent to make this very important process as private as possible. We were resolved to having a fair, methodical process. Teams clearly put in a lot of work, and we are grateful for that. The past few weeks also further demonstrated Shohei’s incredible thoughtfulness, attention to detail and determination to make an informed decision. He read every page of every presentation and listened to every word in each meeting, and he was so impressed that it was not an easy choice. While there has been much speculation about what would drive Shohei’s decision, what mattered to him most wasn’t market size, time zone or league but that he felt a true bond with the Angels. He sees this as the best environment to develop and reach the next level and attain his career goals. More than ever, I believe this is not only a special talent but a man of special character, and like everyone else I’m excited to see him in Major League Baseball.”
The Angels were one of seven finalists for Ohtani, joined in that regard by the Mariners, Rangers, Cubs, Padres, Dodgers and Giants. At various points in recent days, there’s been speculation about the perceived favorites to secure his rights, but few pegged the Halos as any sort of favorite to acquire his services.
The Angels can offer a signing bonus of $2.315MM, which is about $1MM less than the Rangers or Mariners could’ve offered but $2MM greater than what any of the NL clubs were able to pay. They’ll also be on the hook for a $20MM posting fee that will go to Ohtani’s former team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
Because of his age, the 23-year-old Ohtani is considered an amateur under Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, meaning that his actual contract will be a straight minor league deal that comes with a league-minimum salary of $545K in the Majors. Like any other player, he’ll be eligible for arbitration after three years of Major League service and will qualify as a free agent after si years of service in the Majors.
Ohtani will jump to the front of an Angels rotation that includes Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker, with names like Parker Bridwell, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano among the contenders for the remaining spots. Given that Ohtani is used to pitching only once per week and was limited to five starts by an ankle and leg injury in 2017, the Angels would seem a good candidate to pitch with a six-man rotation. (That’d also help to manage the innings of Richards, Skaggs, Heaney and Tropeano — each of whom has had elbow issues in the past two years.) For all of his merits — a career 2.52 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 543 NPB innings — Ohtani has never pitched more than 160 2/3 innings in a season.
How the Angels will work him into the mix at the plate remains to be seen, but the signing could push the Angels to give Albert Pujols more time at first base than many would’ve expected. The Angels’ outfield is full with Justin Upton, Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun, leaving designated hitter as the most obvious spot for Ohtani, a career .286/.358/.500 hitter in 1170 NPB plate appearances, to receive any sort of regular plate appearances.
Ohtani’s addition to the Angels is a transformative move for a franchise that was in contention for a Wild Card spot up until the final week of the 2017 season despite a cavalcade of injuries on their pitching staff. With Ohtani and a full year of Upton now on hand, the Angels will enter the 2018 campaign in considerably better position than they did this past season, and that’s before even considering the fact that they’re still widely expected to make an upgrade at second base.
While there’s some skepticism that Ohtani can serve as an above-average bat on a regular basis, there’s little doubt among scouts that he’s a legitimate front-of-the-rotation arm, as MLBTR’s Chuck Wasserstrom wrote in a detailed scouting report after speaking with five high-ranking international scouting officials from MLB clubs earlier this year. The Angels, who already have deep pockets and vast spending capacity, are in many ways winning the lottery by acquiring an MLB-ready pitcher of that caliber whom they can pay at a league-minimum rate (or close to it) for the next three seasons. That luxury should allow them to spend more aggressively on other areas of need.
There’s been an enormous amount of speculation about whether the team that ultimately signs Ohtani would negotiate some type of early extension for him to compensate for his limited earning potential, though Major League Baseball has made clear to teams that it won’t stand for any circumvention of the international bonus structure by signing Ohtani to a precedent-breaking contract early in his career. As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes examined recently, that may not mean that Ohtani is forbidden from signing any type of extension, but a contract would likely have to fall under the guise of recent precedent as pertains to other players in his service class.
Clearly, based on the fact that Ohtani even requested to be posted this offseason, money isn’t his primary motivation in coming to the Majors, however. The need for a lengthy contract extension for Ohtani is ever less glaring in light of recent reports that he could earn in excess of $20MM annually via marketing and endorsement deals both in the United States and in Japan. Assuming he lives up to the hype, it would still eventually behoove the Halos to try to keep Ohtani around longer than his initial six years of control, though his lack of financial motivation in his initial foray into free agency could push that desire several years down the road. Presumably, commissioner Rob Manfred has some degree of statute of limitations in mind as to when a team could initiate extension talks without raising red flags or concerns about a preconceived deal.
Even with Ohtani on board, the Angels still face an uphill battle in the American League West, where the reigning World Series Champion Astros trounced the division and closed out the year with a 21-game lead. There’s little doubt that Ohtani will help to bridge that gap, but GM Billy Eppler and his staff will nonetheless still have work to do despite the coup of adding perhaps the most intriguing player on the planet to a team that also happens to include the the consensus best player on the planet over the past half-decade (Trout).
As for the other six teams that are left wanting, they’ll now shift to various Plan Bs and Cs as they deal with the disappointment of coming so close to a scenario they’ve envisioned for the past five years, when Ohtani was drawing MLB interest as a high schooler in Japan. The Mariners and Rangers each have more than $3.5MM worth of international funding that they can spend as a result of their pursuits to acquire Ohtani — money that’ll now be reinvested into the farm system (either via directly signing players or trading those allotments for young players). Teams like the Cubs and Giants, each with only clear spot to fill in the rotation, will now look to other means of filling that void — both in trades and free agency.
The most fascinating free-agent pursuit in recent memory has come to a close with the Angels standing on top, and we’ll now all wait for one of the most anticipated debuts in Major League history.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Heyman’s Latest: Ohtani, Machado, Cards, Pads, Hosmer, Ellsbury
It’s possible that Shohei Ohtani could make his decision on where to sign “by early next week,” according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). That gives us an idea of a potential timeline, though there’s still plenty of wiggle room.
Here’s more from Heyman on a variety of subjects:
- The Orioles have been receiving calls on third baseman Manny Machado, writes Heyman. While the O’s aren’t shopping Machado and don’t wish to move him, Heyman notes that Baltimore is also willing to at least entertain offers on any of its players, even Machado. Presumably, it’d take a staggeringly high offer to convince the O’s to part with Machado even in spite of the fact that he’s just a year removed from free agency. The Orioles have reportedly been pursuing upgrades in their rotation all winter as they seek to bolster their club for one more run with Machado, closer Zach Britton and center fielder Adam Jones at the forefront of their roster. Heyman notes that the O’s are also having internal discussions about whether to try for a Machado extension, though doing so would likely require a precedent-setting deal for the 25-year-old superstar, as Machado currently projects to hit free agency at the abnormally young age of 26.
- Sticking with the Orioles, Heyman says in his weekly notes post that the Rockies (previously reported) and Cardinals are among the teams that have shown some interest in Britton. It seems reasonable to suspect that Britton is more readily available than is Machado, given that Baltimore went well down the line on a possible deadline deal for the lefty. But that doesn’t mean the team will simply accept the top bid; in all likelihood, prying him loose will mean meeting the O’s asking price.
- Some around the game believe the Cardinals could at least consider trading outfielder Dexter Fowler, Heyman adds. St. Louis would only do so, he suggests, if they were able to move most of the salary. That seems mostly reasonable to expect, given that Fowler posted a sturdy .264/.363/.488 slash with a career-high 18 long balls in his first season with the Cards. As for whether a trade is likely, that seems dubious. Fowler has a no-trade clause and sounds like he is settling in nicely in St. Louis. And president of baseball operations John Mozeliak kicked off the offseason by telling Fowler he wasn’t planning on trading him.
- There’s more indication that the Padres are fairly serious about going after Eric Hosmer, says Heyman. He also reported yesterday that first baseman Wil Myers would be amenable to moving to the outfield to make way for Hosmer to play at first. Of course, whether the Pads are really willing to hand out a big enough contract to get a deal done remains to be seen.
- At shortstop, the Padres have taken a look at Phillies veteran Freddy Galvis, says Heyman. The team is also weighing free agent Alcides Escobar. Either would seemingly make sense as a stop-gap option for the rebuilding club.
- The Angels are looking harder at second basemen and first basemen than they are at the hot corner, says Heyman. It seems, then, that the club feels fairly content with Luis Valbuena taking the bulk of the time at third, though perhaps that could change depending upon what opportunities arise over the winter — and whether or not the team lands Ohtani. At second, the Halos have at last “looked at” Neil Walker, who’s said to be asking for three or four years.
- The Mets have taken looks at free agent first basemen Mitch Moreland and Adam Lind, relays Heyman. With 22-year-old Dominic Smith in place, Heyman suggests the Mets may opt for a short-term first base option with outfield experience. Both Moreland and Lind check those boxes, though Heyman notes that the Mets are unlikely to sign the former.
- Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is slated to serve as a reserve yet again next season, but he’d like to remain with the club, per Heyman. Ellsbury’s full no-trade clause and the nearly $70MM left on his contract (including a $5MM buyout in 2021) figure to make dealing the 34-year-old a rather tall order for the Yanks.
Twins Acquire Jacob Pearson From Angels In Exchange For International Bonus Money
8:35pm: The Twins announced the trade and confirmed that they’re sending $1MM in international allocations.
8:22pm: Rosenthal tweets that the Angels, like the Mariners, are adding $1MM in their deal with the Twins. That pushes their pool up to $2.315MM.
8:18pm: After trading away $1MM of their international bonus pool to the Mariners, the Twins are set to trade away another portion of their pool to the Angels in exchange for outfield prospect Jacob Pearson, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Minnesota has $2.245MM available to send to Anaheim in the deal. Pearson, Rosenthal notes, was the Angels’ third-round pick in the 2017 draft and received a $1MM signing bonus.
The Angels still trail the Rangers ($3.535MM) and Mariners ($2.5575MM) in overall international bonus money, but they’re nevertheless positioned to put forth one of the best financial offers to Shohei Ohtani. All four of the NL clubs reported to be among the finalists — the Cubs, Padres, Giants and Dodgers — are capped at a $300K offer as penalization for prior overages in international free agency.
The Twins will pick up a recent third-rounder who was considered to be the fifth-best prospect in the Angels’ farm, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and now slots in 22nd among Twins farmhands per those same rankings.
Pearson, 19, batted just .226/.304/.284 in 40 games this past summer in his pro debut with Anaheim’s Rookie-level Arizona League affiliate. However, Callis and Mayo laud his bat speed in their free scouting report and tout him as a plus runner who will eventually have 20-homer, 20-steal potential. Arm strength is an issue following a torn labrum in high school, Callis and Mayo note, though it’s certainly possible that he improves in that regard as he distances himself from surgery. Pearson played 60 innings in center during his debut campaign and another 278 in left field.
Market Chatter: Rays, Angels, Kintzler, Feliz
In a series of analytical pieces, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times checks in on the Rays‘ offseason in advance of the Winter Meetings. He explains that the club seems to have been slowed, in particular, by the as-yet-unresolved Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani situations. Topkin also analyzes the team’s options for dealing a starter, explaining that the team’s history suggests it’s quite likely that at least one arm will be on the move. He pegs Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi as the likeliest candidates to be dealt. He goes on to discuss the potential for a deal involving third baseman Evan Longoria, who’ll attain full no-trade rights early in the 2018 season, though it’s important to note that there is no clear indication as of yet that he’s on the block.
Here are a few more notes on a slow-moving market for players that has only just begun to show signs of thawing:
- The Angels are still keeping an eye on the market for corner infielders, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets, even as they continue to direct their immediate attention to Otani. Landing the Japanese star would presumably impact the organization’s plans regarding adding hitters, since he’d occupy some at-bats and perhaps force Albert Pujols to spend more time at first base — thus reducing the need for another corner option, particularly with C.J. Cron having been tendered a contract. Still, Carlos Santana remains an option, per the report. It’s worth noting, too, that Pujols is said to be trimming up and leaving the team with some optimism of a bounceback, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group tweets.
- As the Cubs look to bolster their late-inning mix after non-tendering Hector Rondon, they have made contact with Brandon Kintzler‘s representatives, according to Morosi (via Twitter). The veteran groundball specialist might conceivably add a new element to the Chicago pen, though Morosi cautions talks have not advanced very far at this point. Kintzler has drawn fairly wide interest after a strong campaign with the Twins and Nationals, over which he turned in 71 1/3 innings of 3.03 ERA pitching.
- Right-hander Neftali Feliz is hoping to show he’s healthy and throwing well in a bid to earn a bounceback opportunity, per a report from Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). The 29-year-old, who caught on with the Royals after being cut loose by the Brewers in the middle of the 2017 season, went in for a checkup from Dr. James Andrews but was reportedly cleared of any arm issues. He’s also set to hold an audition for an unnamed team today. Despite his rough results in his 46 innings in the most recent campaign — a 5.48 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 — Feliz showed a typically strong 96.5 mph fastball and 11.6% swinging-strike rate that matches his career average.