Fernandez Notes: Marlins, Diamondbacks, Giants
The Marlins seem unlikely to trade Jose Fernandez, or make other major moves, before the end of the Winter Meetings, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes. “I think that’s a possibility, and we’re not upset,” says Marlins executive Michael Hill over the possibility that they’ll leave Nashville mostly empty-handed. “I don’t think we’d be disappointed, because it’s not over.” Hill adds that the Marlins are looking for starting pitching, but could also pursue bullpen upgrades if they deem the cost of acquiring pitching too high. Here are a couple more notes on Fernandez and the trade rumors swirling around him.
- After making a very costly trade for Shelby Miller, Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart should follow his plan to its logical conclusion and find a way to trade for Fernandez also, Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan writes. The Miller trade and the Zack Greinke signing indicate that the Diamondbacks believe they can be competitive for the next three seasons, after which Miller and Patrick Corbin can depart. Arizona has an option on Paul Goldschmidt for 2019, and then he can leave, too. Stewart’s trade of Aaron Blair and 2015 No. 1 overall pick Dansby Swanson show that he lives in the moment, which makes Fernandez a perfect fit. The Diamondbacks could include Corbin, Braden Shipley, Archie Bradley and others in a five-for-one or six-for-one type of deal to make a trade happen, Passan suggests. (That might not be too farfetched, as the Marlins and Diamondbacks reportedly discussed a deal centered on Corbin and Swanson before the Snakes dealt Swanson to Atlanta.) That would give the Diamondbacks a top three of Greinke, Fernandez and Miller, making them terrifying — at least in the short term.
- The Giants are still looking for another starting pitcher. That pitcher could come via trade, and John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the Giants would be “all in” on Fernandez (who they’ve recently discussed with the Marlins). The price for Fernandez appears, obviously, be extremely high, and the Giants don’t have an exceptionally strong farm system, so making a trade work would probably tricky even if the Marlins were clearly willing to make one.
Rangers Notes: RH Bat, Barnette, Moreland, Catchers, Nathan
The Rangers are “making progress” in talks with a yet-unknown right-handed hitter, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. That hitter isn’t Mike Napoli, Grant hears, and while he initially noted that the Rangers have some interest in Steve Pearce, he’s since tweeted that it’s not Pearce, either. Ideally, the Rangers want a player that can handle first base and also spell Josh Hamilton in left field against left-handed starters, Grant notes. There aren’t many right-handed first base/outfield types on the market at present, though I wonder if Ryan Raburn could be of interest in such a role, provided he can prove capable at first.
A few more Rangers notes…
- General manager Jon Daniels “hasn’t been motivated” by any of the trade talks he’s had regarding Mitch Moreland, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (links to Twitter). Wilson adds that if the Rangers are to make any trades, they’ll likely trade away prospects or Major League relievers rather than dealing from their core of position players or starting pitchers.
- Wilson also reports that the Rangers are among the teams with interest in right-hander Tony Barnette — a former D-backs farmhand that broke out as a dominant closer with Japan’s Yakult Swallows in recent seasons. Yakult set a $500K posting fee on Barnette, and MLBTR reported recently that five teams were in the mix for his services. Daniels confirmed the interest to Wilson tonight when speaking to the media.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Rangers checked in with the Orioles on Matt Wieters after Wieters accepted the one-year, $15.8MM qualifying offer. Wieters, of course, would’ve had to approve any trade proposal that may have arisen (as is stipulated by the CBA for players who accept QOs), but talks went nowhere anyhow, according to Rosenthal.
- The Rangers like Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy but consider the cost to acquire him to be prohibitive, Rosenthal further tweets. That shouldn’t come as a surprise in light of a tweet from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt, who says the asking price for Lucroy begins with highly touted minor league slugger Joey Gallo.
- The Rangers were one of eight clubs to visit with right-hander Joe Nathan in Nashville, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Giants and Tigers also met with the former All-Star at the Winter Meetings as he seeks a new team while recovering from 2015 Tommy John surgery.
Giants, Cardinals Interested In Wei-Yin Chen
The Giants and Cardinals are both interested in left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, who calls the Royals another possible fit and says the Nationals may take a look at Chen if they don’t sign Mike Leake (a deal between the Nats and Leake is said to be unlikely at this point).
Chen, 30, is coming off a nice four-year run with the Orioles which was highlighted by a particularly strong two-year platform in 2014-15. Over the past two seasons, he’s logged a 3.44 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 to go along with a 40.8 percent ground-ball rate in 377 innings of work. A move to any of the clubs listed could benefit Chen’s production, as he’s struggled with home runs in the American League East (career 1.24 HR/9). The Giants and Royals, in particular, play in spacious parks that tend to suppress home runs.
St. Louis offers, in my eyes, the best mix of both need and financial capability of the listed clubs. The Giants have already inked Jeff Samardzija — though they’re still connected to other arms and could bring in a second starter — while the Royals have a number of needs and have never spent the type of money which Chen figures to command. (MLBTR projected a five-year, $80MM contract.) Then again, Kansas City has a good relationship with Chen’s agent, Scott Boras, and the reigning World Champs could use a boost in the rotation.
Johnny Cueto remains the top arm on the market, but Chen is joined by Leake and Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda as one of the more intriguing arms remaining in free agency. To this point, he’s also been linked to the Cubs, whereas a return to the Orioles has been deemed unlikely. Earlier today, MLBTR’s Zach Links was on hand when Boras held court at Nashville’s Winter Meetings. Boras characterized Chen’s market as “strong” and, as Zach noted, made one of the types of comments we’ve come to expect of Boras over the years, noting that Chen’s ERA within the AL East over the past two seasons is lower than that of David Price.
Mets Deep In Talks On Neil Walker With Pirates
2:16pm: Then again, Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears a deal is indeed near. (Twitter link.)
2:05pm: Ackert’s source now tells her a deal is “definitely in the works” but is “not close to being done.” (Twitter link.)
2:02pm: The Mets are “closing in” on a deal for Walker, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports (via Twitter).
1:00pm: It appears that the Pirates are targeting starting pitching in any deal for Walker, according to a series of reports.
Jon Niese of the Mets is one name that has come up in talks as a “possible return” for Walker, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. He’s owed $9MM for the coming season, which is close to Walker’s expected cost, and can also be controlled via successive $10MM and $11MM options.
As for the Angels, it’s not clear which of several possible players could make the most sense. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times suggests on Twitter that Hector Santiago would make for a “good fit” in Pittsburgh, but I’d have to think the Bucs would need to add to Walker to pry him free. Meanwhile, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes in a tweet that C.J. Wilson could be a part of a trade, though he notes that the Halos would have to add cash for that to line up.
Meanwhile, the Nationals do have interest but it is “nothing serious,” per MLB.com’s Bill Ladson (via Twitter).
11:35am: The Angels are also among the teams with strong interest, according to reports from Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter) and Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link). The Dodgers also have interest, he adds, though it’s not as significant.
11:22am: The Nationals have joined the Mets with interest in Pirates second baseman Neil Walker, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Both teams heavily pursued Ben Zobrist in free agency and are now apparently looking at backup options.
Notably, the Mets were spurned by Zobrist despite feeling confident that they would get a deal done. And the Nationals joined the Giants in topping the offer that he eventually took with the Cubs, according to a report from James Wagner of the Washington Post. It’s apparent, then, that both clubs had serious interest.
Given that the division rivals were said to be looking at Zobrist primarily as a second baseman, Walker represents a less-versatile, less-accomplished, but younger alternative. The 30-year-old is also a switch hitter, though he’s been far better against righties than lefties. He’s never put up the numbers that Zobrist has at the plate, but does own a strong .272/.338/.431 career batting line.
Walker is quite a different asset from Zobrist, though, as he’s only under team control for one more season. MLBTR projects that he could command $10.7MM through the arbitration process.
Pittsburgh also had talks with the Orioles, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets, but those discussions were ended when they failed to develop any traction.
Giants Sign Jeff Samardzija
DECEMBER 9: The Giants have officially announced the signing.
DECEMBER 5, 2:20pm: Samardzija’s contract breakdown is provided by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). The righty will receive a $9MM salary in 2016 then $18MM in each of the next four years. Samardzija gets a $3MM bonus immediately and then another $6MM in signing bonus money will be spread out over the last four years in equal $1.5MM installments. The no-trade clause allows Samardzija to block deals to eight teams per year.
12:06pm: The Giants have agreed to sign right-hander Jeff Samardzija to a five-year deal, CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic reports (Twitter link). Samardzija will earn $90MM from the contract, according to Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown (via Twitter). The contract contains a limited no-trade clause (as per CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman) and is pending a physical.
With the Giants coming up short in the Zack Greinke sweepstakes, they pivoted towards another of the top remaining arms on the free agent market. The Giants were known to be looking for pitching help this winter and they were connected to Greinke, David Price, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann and former Giant Mike Leake in various rumors throughout the offseason.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Giants add yet another top starter to the rotation, as was speculated in the wake of the Greinke signing. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that the Giants are still interested in Leake and also like free agent Hisashi Iwakuma, so Samardzija could perhaps just be the first step in the team’s rotation upgrades.
In signing Samardzija, the Giants add a workhorse who has averaged 216 innings in each of the last three seasons. This type of durability is sorely needed for a San Francisco rotation that has a lot of question marks behind ace Madison Bumgarner. Jake Peavy was effective but limited by injuries in 2015, Matt Cain is coming off consecutive injury-shortened seasons and was very ineffective last year, and rookie Chris Heston is still something of an unknown quantity as he enters his sophomore year. Even more depth could be added if the Giants indeed do land another starter, as Heston could conceivably take over the swingman role left by the non-tendered Yusmeiro Petit.
Of course, Samardzija himself isn’t a complete sure thing given that he’s coming off easily the worst of his four full seasons as a starting pitcher. The righty posted a 4.96 ERA, 3.33 K/BB rate and 6.9 K/9 over 214 innings with the White Sox in 2015, allowing a league-high 29 homers and 118 earned runs. That K/9 total was Samardzija’s lowest since 2010 and his grounder rate also plummeted to 39% after sitting at a very solid 49.2% in 2013-14.
The Giants clearly have faith that Samardzija can rebound in 2016 and beyond, however, and that he’ll return to his impressive 2012-14 form. Samardzija turns 31 in January and has many fewer innings on his arm than most pitchers his age, thanks to extra years spent as a reliever and a relatively late start to his baseball career due to his stint as a star wide receiver for Notre Dame. “The Shark” will also now be working in one of the game’s most pitcher-friendly stadiums (AT&T Park) and will have the Giants’ excellent defense behind him. Samardzija’s 2015 numbers could be partially explained by the combination of the brutal White Sox defense, hitter-friendly U.S. Cellular Field and perhaps even just pitching in the American League, though the righty was excellent in his half-season with the A’s in 2014.
It may seem unusual that a pitcher coming off such a rough season would land a $90MM contract and yet MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes projected Samardzija for a five-year, $80MM deal (also correctly picking him to land with the Giants, to boot). That extra $10MM bump may well have come due to the speed in which free agent aces are flying off the board. With well-heeled teams like the Dodgers, Cardinals and Cubs still in need of pitching, it bodes well for Cueto, Leake, Wei-Yin Chen, Kenta Maeda and other remaining free agent starters that the supply of available arms is so quickly dwindling.
Since Samardzija rejected a qualifying offer from the White Sox, the Giants will have to give up their first-round draft pick (18th overall). Chicago receives a compensation pick between the first and second rounds.
Photo courtesy of Kelvin Kuo/USA Today Sports Images
West Notes: Giants, Gordon, Giles, Santiago, Wilson, Rangers, DBacks, Padres
The Giants are seen as the frontrunner for outfielder Alex Gordon by some “rival evaluators,” ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. One other possible target for GM Bobby Evans and co. is Dexter Fowler, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Of course, we’ve also heard San Francisco connected to some of the other top free agent outfielders available, so there still seems to be plenty of uncertainty and opportunity for the organization in that area.
More from out west:
- The Astros are “still trying to pry” young closer Ken Giles away from the Phillies, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. He’d cost some significant prospects if a deal is struck, Heyman suggests.
- The Angels are receiving the most hits on lefty Hector Santiago, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports on Twitter. He certainly represents an interesting chip after putting up 180 2/3 innings of 3.59 ERA pitching last year. The Orioles are among “many” clubs that have inquired on Santiago, Heyman tweets.
- Teams are not showing much of an appetite for C.J. Wilson, Gonzalez adds. Los Angeles would need to hold onto about $15MM of Wilson’s $20MM salary to get something done, which wouldn’t offer enough salary relief to make sense.
- The Rangers and Diamondbacks have been talking about a possible deal, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Arizona “may have extra pitching,” suggests Sullivan, in light of its two major recent rotation upgrades. Meanwhile, Heyman says on Twitter that the D’backs might be hunting for relievers, which could be a target area with Texas.
- It does not appear as if the Padres intend to utilize Jon Jay in left field, writes Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune, meaning the team will be looking for another option there. GM A.J. Preller discussed the possibility of Hunter Renfroe stepping in there, but it seems as if he won’t be an option until the middle of the season at the earliest. That could leave the organization searching for an outside addition.
Starting Pitching Notes: Maeda, Angels, A’s
The Red Sox will not submit a bid to negotiate with Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda, a source tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. While Maeda at one point looked like a possibly intriguing target for Boston, the team has plenty of mid-rotation options beyond ace David Price and probably won’t seek to add another, Bradford writes. Earlier Tuesday night, Giants GM Bobby Evans told MLBTR’s Zach Links that his team is having internal discussions about Maeda, though John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle hears that a match between the two sides is “unlikely.” Here are more notes on the starting pitching market.
- The Athletics are hunting for a “No. 2” type of pitcher, Joe Stiglich of Comcast SportsNet California tweets. Manager Bob Melvin says the team is looking at veterans to fill that role. The A’s have recently been connected to free agent and former Athletic Scott Kazmir, who would certainly fill the bill as a veteran No. 2 starter.
- The Angels are willing to trade not only C.J. Wilson (as was reported Monday), but also Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. Of the three, Santiago has attracted the most attention, Sullivan’s colleague Alden Gonzalez tweets. Teams want the Angels to eat at least $15MM of the remaining $20MM on Wilson’s contract, which Gonzalez suggests is “too much.” Santiago, though, is effective as well as relatively young and cheap — MLBTR projects he’ll make $5.1MM next season, a very reasonable sum for a pitcher who threw 180 2/3 innings with a 3.59 ERA in 2015. One might think Shoemaker would also be an attractive target — his ERA last season was a run higher than Santiago’s, but his peripherals (7.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) were solid, and he’ll be making the league minimum again next season.
Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.
Gerardo Parra Has Received Three-Year Offers
Free agent outfielder Gerardo Parra has three-year offers “currently in hand” but would like to receive a four-year deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo writes. It’s unclear which teams have made those three-year offers, although Cotillo notes that the Giants, Royals and Cubs all have serious interest. Giants GM Bobby Evans told MLBTR on Tuesday that he had spoken with Parra’s camp, although he also noted that he had spoken with representatives of other available outfielders as well. FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi recently reported that the Royals liked Parra as a backup plan in case they were unable to retain Alex Gordon. In addition to the Giants, Royals and Cubs, the Mets have also recently been connected to Parra.
The 28-year-old Parra’s relative youth and solid .291/.328/.452 2015 season should help him land a healthy new contract this winter. He also has a strong reputation as a defensive outfielder, even though his fielding statistics took a surprisingly big step backward last season. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in August, a four-year deal wouldn’t be a shock for Parra if teams still view him as having plus defense.
Giants GM Bobby Evans On Fowler, Maeda, Soria
After missing out on their top pitching target this winter, the Giants knew that they had to act fast in order to shore up their rotation. When Diamondbacks acted completely sub rosa and shocked the world by landing Zack Greinke, the Giants quickly pivoted to Jeff Samardzija, giving him a five-year, $90MM deal. Even though the deal carries an average annual value of $18MM, Giants GM Bobby Evans tells MLB Trade Rumors that there’s still potentially enough in the coffers to make another impact signing at a similar level.
“There’s flexibility, yes,” Evans told MLBTR. “I think [last year] we didn’t go as far on multi-year deals and we did shorter term deals. It does give you some flexibility this time around.”
Right now, Evans is looking to allocate some of those funds towards the left field position. The Giants GM indicated that he has talked with reps for Dexter Fowler and Gerardo Parra this week, but, he also went on to say that he has been in touch with “almost everyone on the outfield market.” The idea of flexibility goes beyond payroll for Evans as the Giants refuse to lock in on a limited group of left field candidates.
While left field is a priority for Evans, the bullpen is admittedly “on the back burner.” The Giants were long connected to veteran reliever Joakim Soria, but Evans explained that he was not especially desperate to sign him because of his confidence in the current ‘pen and the minor league depth backing it up. Without taking anything away from Soria, who signed for $25MM over three seasons, Evans explained that it was “too early” in the offseason for the Giants to allocate money towards relievers. In other words, Evans & Co. have bigger fish to fry before they get to fortifying the late innings.
As it turns out, that big fish could be a Carp. Evans confirmed that the club is having internal discussions about Japanese star Kenta Maeda, who was formally posted on Tuesday. Factoring in the expected $20MM posting fee that it will take to have an audience with the right-hander, the total outlay for him could be $80MM or more. Suffice it to say, a flirtation with Maeda while also adequately filling the left field vacancy could really test the limits of the Giants’ budget.
Outfield Rumors: Giants, Cespedes, Ozuna, Royals, D-Backs, Angels
The Giants are monitoring the market for outfielders, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. San Francisco is prioritizing Jason Heyward, Alex Gordon and Dexter Fowler over Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes for defensive reasons, Morosi adds. That rationale is a bit odd, considering the fact that Cespedes is generally regarded as a stellar defender in left field. Heyward and Fowler, of course, are better fits to see occasional or even regular time in center field than Cespedes would be. But, with Angel Pagan under contract for 2016 and Hunter Pence entrenched in right field, left field would seem to be an area of need.
Here are a few more notes on the outfield market…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Giants, Angels, Tigers and Royals have been the most interested clubs in Cespedes’ market thus far in the offseason. However, Sherman adds that the Royals quickly came to realize that Cespedes is going to be beyond four years. It should be noted, of course, that Detroit general manager Al Avila said yesterday that his team is not in the mix for either Cespedes or Gordon. (Though that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some earlier talk between the two sides, and, as Sherman notes, the Tigers could circle back if Cespedes’ market doesn’t pick up.)
- Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna has drawn trade interest from “at least seven to 10 teams,” Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. Spencer adds that an eventual trade of Ozuna seems to be likely.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore told reporters today that the club feels Jarrod Dyson will likely get a chance to hold down a regular job in the corner outfield, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. Filling one corner outfield spot from within would obviously reduce the team’s needs and potentially increase the team’s flexibility to spend on another outfielder.
- Diamondbacks outfield prospect Socrates Brito is “getting some play” at the Winter Meetings, Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports tweets. The 23-year-old reached the majors last year, slashing .303/.324/.455 in just 34 plate appearances, and has shown an intriguing power/speed combo in the minors.
- Angels GM Billy Eppler has spoken to the agents for all of the major free-agent outfielders — including Heyward, Cespedes and Upton — according to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times (Twitter link). However, DiGiovanna cautions that we shouldn’t expect the Halos to set the market by being the first to agree to a major deal for an outfielder.
- Via, MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli (Twitter link), Orioles GM Dan Duquette said that his club has been “aggressive” in its efforts to add a left-handed hitting corner outfielder.
- The Twins had interest in Rajai Davis two offseasons ago when he signed with the Tigers, and they have some interest again this winter, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). However, their interest is somewhat limited, he notes, as a fourth outfield type isn’t a high priority for the team right now. Davis is said to be in talks with the Indians.