Rangers, Pirates Interested In Tyson Ross
The Padres non-tendered Tyson Ross last week in lieu of paying the injured right-hander an estimated $9.6MM via arbitration in 2017. Now a free agent, Ross is looking for similar money – $9MM to $11MM – on a one-year deal, and that likely doesn’t include incentives, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
Having already added ex-Padre Andrew Cashner to their rotation this offseason, the Rangers have “done significant homework” on Ross, sources told Grant (via Twitter). A healthy Ross would fill out Texas’ rotation on paper, giving the reigning American League West champions a group consisting of him, Cashner, Martin Perez, Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels.
Like Darvish and Hamels, Ross has front-line ability, having logged a 3.03 ERA, 9.35 K/9, 3.58 BB/9 and 59.2 percent ground-ball rate in 391 2/3 innings from 2014-15. However, the soon-to-be 30-year-old spun only 5 1/3 frames last season – all of which came on opening day – because of shoulder issues. Ross underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in October, and the expectation is that he’ll recover sometime between February and April.
Along with the Rangers, the Pirates have shown interest in Ross, reports Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). While Ross would give the Pirates and ballyhooed pitching coach Ray Searage an interesting reclamation project, his health troubles could make his asking price problematic for the low-payroll franchise. Nevertheless, with Ivan Nova perhaps set to leave Pittsburgh as a free agent and 2016 innings leader Jeff Locke now a Marlin after the Pirates non-tendered him, the club has obvious holes in its rotation. Clearly cognizant of that, the Pirates have checked in on a few other starters – including Doug Fister, Jorge De La Rosa, Derek Holland and the Rays’ Jake Odorizzi – at this week’s winter meetings.
Outfield Trade Notes: Bruce, Hamilton, Jankowski
It’s well known that the Mets would like to make a trade, particularly a trade involving Jay Bruce, since the team currently has an abundance of outfielders. But the Mets are adamant that they receive a player in return who will help them, rather than just a fringe prospect and relief from Bruce’s 2017 salary, Newsday’s Marc Carig writes. “It does put you in a different situation, and it affects other clubs’ expectations and it affects our expectations,” says GM Sandy Alderson. “But it only takes interest by two or three teams in a player to overcome all of that. That’s why we don’t jump at the first opportunity.” The Mets have received trade offers for Bruce, Carig writes, but they’ve mostly been proposals for salary dumps. Here are a couple more quick trade notes involving outfielders.
- Before acquiring Adam Eaton, the Nationals spoke to the Reds about a trade involving center fielder Billy Hamilton, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes. The Nats came away feeling, though, that the Reds are in no rush to make a deal. As we noted yesterday, the Reds believe Hamilton hasn’t peaked yet and would have a hard time replacing his defense. For the Nats, a Hamilton trade surely wouldn’t have been the blockbuster deal the Eaton one was — Hamilton’s speed obviously is spectacular, but his struggles to hit surely would have limited his value. He also has only three years of control remaining, compared to Eaton’s five.
- Manager Andy Green confirms that other teams have contacted the Padres about outfielder Travis Jankowski, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America tweets. We noted yesterday that the Rangers had asked about Jankowski, with some writers speculating about a deal involving Jankowski and infielder Hanser Alberto. Since then, the Rangers have re-signed Carlos Gomez, which makes their need for outfield help less acute. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson tweeted today, though, that while the Rangers anticipated Gomez would play center field for them, they were still looking for center field help. So perhaps Jankowski could still be a fit in Texas, albeit a somewhat more speculative one. The Rays could also be a fit for Jankowski, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
Edwin Encarnacion Rumors: Wednesday
Edwin Encarnacion has seen a number of potential suitors sign alternatives in the past week, as the Astros (Carlos Beltran), Yankees (Matt Holliday), Blue Jays (Steve Pearce) and Rockies (Ian Desmond) have all signed players that project to see time at first base/DH with their new clubs. He’s the clear top bat in free agency, but his market is murky for the time being. Here’s the latest on the former Jays slugger…
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels says the team is unlikely to sign a top free agent like Encarnacion, MLB.com’s TR Sullivan tweets. “I don’t know how else to say it,” Daniels says.
- The Blue Jays don’t think it’s likely they can land Encarnacion, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets. “If there’s a way, I don’t see it. I don’t think Paul (Kinzer) sees it either but we haven’t stopped trying,” GM Ross Atkins says.
- Encarnacion is currently in “wait and see” mode, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). At present, offers aren’t even in the three-year, $60MM range, according to Passan, although he quotes one GM that suggested that Encarnacion is too talented to see his market dip much more: “Teams shouldn’t overplay their hands with him, either. He’s too good for the price to go much lower.”
- The Indians and Rangers are both still talking with Encarnacion’s camp, according to ESPN’s Marly Rivera (Twitter link). Both teams have an obvious spot to put a highly productive first base/DH bat, though the price tag will be a significant factor, of course. Cleveland routinely deals with payroll constraints, and while they received a World Series windfall, it’s still difficult to envision them outbidding all other interested parties. And as for the Rangers, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Rangers don’t currently have the available funds to land Encarnacion.
Ian Desmond Focused On One Team, Working To Finalize Deal Today
9:27am: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Desmond won’t be returning to the Rangers, either.
9:17am: Free agent outfielder/infielder Ian Desmond has narrowed his focus to one team, and his representatives are “in the process of finalizing his deal today,” reports ESPN’s Jim Bowden. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears the same (Twitter link), adding that the Cardinals have been been discussing Desmond. However, Goold isn’t sure if St. Louis is the team on which Desmond is focused. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post also tweets that Desmond is likely to sign today, but he won’t be returning to the Nationals.
[Related: Ian Desmond’s Free Agent Profile]
Desmond, 30, has been connected to the Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles and Nationals over the course of his second trip through free agency, though many teams are likely to be interested in him after he proved a capable outfielder and hit .285/.335/.446 with 22 homers and 21 steals in a rebound campaign with the Rangers.
That production at the plate has led to a notable shift in the demand for Desmond when compared to his market an offseason ago, when he remained available into February and signed a one-year deal with the Rangers. Speculatively speaking, in addition to the above-listed teams, Desmond would be a strong fit for the Blue Jays, Giants, Mariners, Indians and Phillies.
Rangers To Re-Sign Carlos Gomez
Veteran center fielder Carlos Gomez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Rangers, pending a physical, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets. He will receive $11.5MM, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (on Twitter). Gomez is a Scott Boras client.
That Texas would have wanted to re-sign Gomez perhaps isn’t surprising — the Rangers, who were set to lose both Gomez and Ian Desmond to free agency this winter, were short in the outfield and had lately had talks about a variety of off-the-beaten-path outfield options, including Travis Jankowski and Matt Szczur. They’ve also shown interest in Jarrod Dyson.
Gomez gives the Rangers a more obvious solution to their hole in center field, where he’ll be flanked by Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo. After struggling with the Astros to start 2016, Gomez signed with the Rangers as a free agent at midseason and hit a terrific .284/.362/.543, looking a lot like the Carlos Gomez who played his way to the fringes of the NL MVP race with the Brewers in 2013 and 2014. While advanced metrics suggest Gomez isn’t quite the defender he once was, he’s also still very much a legitimate center fielder. MLBTR ranked Gomez 19th on its list of the top 50 free agents this winter, predicting he’d re-sign with the Rangers. (Desmond also looked like a candidate to return, but Gomez re-signing would seem to suggest Desmond will sign elsewhere, although that’s not yet certain.)
That Gomez, who’s still just 31, would receive only a one-year deal is surprising, but perhaps he’s hoping to continue rebuilding his value after his ugly performance in Houston. If he were to do so with another strong year in Texas, he could position himself for a big payday next winter. The deal is a favorable one for the Rangers, who are assuming very limited risk despite Gomez’s somewhat erratic performance history — even given Gomez’s success with the Rangers, his total line for 2016 was still just .231/.298/.384. If, for whatever reason, Gomez’s 2017 looks more like his Astros performance than his 2016 Rangers performance, the Rangers are still only out $11.5MM.
SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo wrote that Gomez and the Rangers met today (Twitter links), with Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan tweeting that a deal could come together quickly. Yahoo!’s Tim Brown tweeted the length of the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trade Notes: Gio, Wilson, Tigers, Rangers, Szczur, White Sox, Kelly, Cardinals
The Nationals failed to land Chris Sale today, and instead have reportedly turned their attention to another White Sox starter, Jose Quintana. If they had acquired Sale, though, they likely would have tried to trade lefty Gio Gonzalez, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes. As Stark suggests, the 31-year-old Gonzalez would make an attractive trade candidate in his own right — he’ll make a reasonable $12MM in 2017, with a club/vesting option for another $12MM in 2018, and he’s eaten over 1,300 innings over the past seven seasons. His 4.57 ERA in 2016 was among his worst, but his underlying numbers (8.7 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 47.6 GB%) don’t suggest a massive change in ability. Here are more quick notes on potential trades:
- GM Al Avila says the Tigers player who’s been most popular lately among teams hoping to make trades has been lefty reliever Justin Wilson, MLive.com’s Evan Woodberry writes. “The highest level of interest has been on Justin Wilson,” Avila says. Avila has also fielded calls about Shane Greene, but Woodberry writes that the Tigers are less likely to trade Greene, since, unlike Wilson, he’s under team control for the league minimum salary next year.
- The Rangers continue to be among the teams interested in Wilson, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Grant reported yesterday that the two teams had had conversations about Wilson.
- The Rangers have also asked the Cubs about Matt Szczur, Grant tweets. The 27-year-old Szczur batted .259/.312/.400 while playing all three outfield positions for the Cubs last season. He might be a better fit on a team like the Rangers that’s currently a bit short on established outfielders, rather than one like the Cubs who have plenty.
- The White Sox are interested in acquiring young catching, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. If they end up trading Adam Eaton to the Cardinals, one player they might target is 22-year-old backstop Carson Kelly, who batted .292/.352/.381 for Triple-A Memphis in 2016. Kelly currently ranks 11th on MLB.com’s list of the top Cardinals prospects.
Rangers Ask Padres About Travis Jankowski
The Rangers continue looking for a center fielder following the potential departures of Ian Desmond and Carlos Gomez, and it appears one possible answer could be the Padres’ Travis Jankowski, according to T.R. Sullivan and AJ Cassavell, both of MLB.com.
Jankowski, of course, is not a big, or even medium, name, as Desmond, Gomez and potential trade target Billy Hamilton are. Jankowski graded as an outstanding defender in 2016, however, and could keep the Rangers strong up the middle. He posted an excellent 12.8 UZR and 8 Defensive Runs Saved in 2016, accumulating 2.1 Wins Above Replacement even as he batted just .245/.332/.313.
“[The] reality is that the better that we get defensively, the better we’re going to make our starting pitching and relief pitching core,” says Rangers manager Jeff Banister, via Sullivan. “The situation last year, [we were] a club that won 95 games; however, we still need to get better on defense.”
Another possible current option for the Rangers in center field is Delino DeShields, although it appears he is available in a trade, as Comcast SportsNet California’s Joe Stiglich tweets. DeShields struggled to get going in 2016, batting just .209/.275/.313.
The Padres, meanwhile, have Manuel Margot to man center field in the long term, and could have interest in Rangers 24-year-old infielder Hanser Alberto, who’s struggled to get established in the big leagues over the past two seasons. Alberto also hit a modest .275/.302/.411 at Triple-A Round Rock in 2016, suggesting he’s unlikely to hit much. He could, however, hold interest for Padres GM A.J. Preller, who helped sign Alberto as a member of the Rangers’ front office in 2009. Also, like Jankowski, Alberto has fared well defensively in limited big-league time, grading out well at both shortstop and second base. While the Padres have plenty of options at second, they don’t have as many at short, where their depth chart is topped by youngster Luis Sardinas. A possible Jankowski-for-Alberto swap, then, could help both teams upgrade defensively at positions of need.
Royals Making Progress Toward Trading Jarrod Dyson; Athletics Interested
The Royals are advancing toward a potential trade of outfielder Jarrod Dyson, with the Athletics as a potential suitor, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes (all Twitter links). (Jon Heyman of FanRag adds the Rangers and Orioles to the list of interested teams.) The idea, Sherman reports, is that with a number of key players set to become eligible for free agency following the 2017 season (including Dyson, Wade Davis, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar), the Royals need to think about how the team will look in the future. Meanwhile, they can capitalize on the market’s current demand for center field help by trading Dyson, while also dealing Davis and moving Kelvin Herrera to the closer’s role.
The 32-year-old Dyson batted a relatively modest .278/.340/.388 in 2016 and only collected 337 plate appearances, but still contributed 3.1 fWAR thanks to his excellent defense. The Athletics need outfield help and have, in recent years, acquired outfielders like Coco Crisp, Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry whose profiles when acquired were heavily oriented around defense. Dyson is also relatively cheap, at a projected $2.5MM for 2017. It makes a degree of sense, then, that the A’s would want to add him.
Rangers Discussed Deal With Reds For Starting Pitching
The Rangers and Reds have discussed a trade potentially involving either Anthony DeSclafani or Dan Straily, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. Sullivan adds that another option for the Rangers as they attempt to address their rotation could be a reunion with free agent Colby Lewis. The Reds, meanwhile, are interested in reliever Jeremy Jeffress.
DeSclafani, it would seem, would be the more valuable of the two Reds trade chips. The 26-year-old righty posted a 3.28 ERA, 7.7 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 123 1/3 solid innings in 2016, and with less than three years of service time, he could be a solid middle-of-the-rotation piece for years to come. The 28-year-old Straily, though, also had a surprisingly solid year after arriving in Cincinnati via a waiver claim, posting a 3.76 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 while eating 191 1/3 innings.
Lewis, now 37, posted a respectable 3.71 ERA in Texas in 2016, but with underwhelming peripherals (5.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9). He also missed time to a strained lat.
The Reds’ interest in Jeffress is somewhat difficult to understand at first glance. The veteran Jeffress’ strong 2016 season and closing experience would make him somewhat of an odd fit as a luxury item for a rebuilding club, unless perhaps the Reds’ plan upon acquiring him would be to flip him to another team. The Reds could also potentially be thinking that Jeffress’ personal issues, including a recent DWI arrest, could reduce his price, although the Rangers have shown little reluctance in recent years in dealing with troubled players. The Rangers do, however, have significant relief depth.
Red Sox, Indians Reportedly Pursuing Mitch Moreland
4:05pm: There is “strong buzz” at the Winter Meetings suggesting the Red Sox could sign Moreland, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN tweets.
10:27am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that Boston is “strongly in the mix” for Moreland.
10:17am: The Red Sox are in on first baseman Mitch Moreland, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who also notes that the Indians are in the mix for Moreland. The Rangers, according to Wilson, are “out” on Moreland, who has spent his entire career to date in a Rangers uniform. Moreland could be nearing a decision, Wilson further reports.
The 31-year-old Moreland had a big 2015 in Texas (.278/.330/.482) but slipped up in 2016, struggling to a .233/.298/.422 batting line in 503 plate appearances. Moreland would give either club a left-handed option at first base/designated hitter, but he’d need a platoon partner, as he’s a career .240/.295/.378 hitter against left-handed pitching. He has, however, hit at least 22 homers in each of his past three healthy seasons (an ankle injury limited him to 52 games in 2014).
Boston obviously has an opening at DH and has reportedly been averse to the idea of signing a designated hitter to a long-term deal. Moreland could present a shorter-term option. As for Cleveland, the reigning AL champions could lose Mike Napoli to free agency, and given Napoli’s reported preference for a lucrative three-year deal, Moreland could represent both a younger and more affordable option for Cleveland. The Indians have also been tied to Edwin Encarnacion, but it’s not clear exactly how high they’d be able to go in that pursuit. At the very least, it seems that president of baseball ops Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff and the rest of the Cleveland front office are exploring multiple avenues as they look to add some offense at first base/DH.