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NL News & Rumors: D-backs, Cubs, Padres, Reds, Marlins

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The Diamondbacks are aiming to improve their bullpen and have reached out to a pair of familiar free agent relievers, Brad Ziegler and Daniel Hudson, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Ziegler previously spent parts of six seasons with the Diamondbacks, who traded him to Boston in July. New D-backs executive vice president and general manager Mike Hazen was the Red Sox’s GM at the time, of course, so he’s familiar with Ziegler. Hudson, meanwhile, has been with Arizona since 2010. The 29-year-old has recorded a 4.50 ERA, 9.07 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 128 innings as a reliever over the past two seasons.

More from Arizona and a few other NL cities:

  • Along with bolstering his bullpen, Hazen hopes to add left-handed hitters, he told Piecoro. “I think being a little more left-handed could certainly help us,” Hazen said. “Pigeonholing it into one specific focus, I think, would be too complicated to try to pull off. I think we can be opportunistic about that.” The Diamondbacks have four established or potential regulars who are either lefties or switch-hitters in third baseman Jake Lamb, outfielder David Peralta, catcher Chris Herrmann and infielder Ketel Marte, notes Piecoro. They could trade outfielder Yasmany Tomas in an attempt to become less right-handed, but there’s not much of a market for him, sources informed Piecoro. While Tomas belted 29 home runs in 2016, the 26-year-old’s .272/.313/.508 line wasn’t great overall; further, he doesn’t provide defensive or baserunning value and still has $48.5MM coming his way through the 2020 season.
  • The Cubs made attempts over the past couple years to acquire right-hander Tyson Ross from the Padres and could pursue him in free agency, according to Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago. “The Padres were close to trading Ross to the Cubs for Starlin Castro,” a major league source who worked for one of the teams told Levine. “San Diego execs were mixed on asking for Castro or Javier Baez. The deal went down to the wire in late July of 2015 but never got to the point of exchanging medicals.” Ross was a front-of-the-rotation starter at that point, but he only threw 5 1/3 innings last season and is currently recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. The Padres non-tendered him Friday.
  • The rebuilding Reds are committed to giving regular playing time to young middle infielder Jose Peraza in 2017, general manager Dick Williams and manager Bryan Price told C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). That’s particularly notable with two up-the-middle veterans – second baseman Brandon Phillips and shortstop Zack Cozart – in place. Cincinnati attempted to deal Phillips last offseason, but he took advantage of his ability to block a trade. Phillips, who has one year and $14MM left on his contract, is reportedly more open to waiving his no-trade clause this offseason. Cozart also has one year of club control remaining, and he nearly went to the Mariners prior to last summer’s non-waiver trade deadline. Seattle has since acquired Jean Segura, taking it out of the running for Cozart, but he could still interest other shortstop-needy teams looking for a capable and affordable stopgap. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $4.7MM arbitration award for Cozart.
  • With Jeff Mathis headed to Arizona, the Marlins are in the market for a veteran backup catcher, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Free agents like Geovany Soto and Dioner Navarro are candidates to end up in Miami as the main reserve behind J.T. Realmuto, writes Frisaro.

2016-17 National League Non-Tenders

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The deadline to tender 2017 contracts to players is tonight at 8pm ET. We’ll keep track of the day’s non-tenders in the National League in this post (all referenced arbitration projections courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)…

  • Departing the Rockies’ 40-man are righty Matt Carasiti and infielder/outfielder Stephen Cardullo, the club announced. Neither was eligible for arbitration.
  • The Braves non-tendered righty Chris Withrow, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.
  • The Pirates non-tendered lefty Jeff Locke, as had been increasingly expected, as Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Catcher Eric Fryer was also dropped; he was not eligible for arbitration.
  • The Cubs non-tendered four pre-arb players to clear 40-man space, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets. Lefty Gerardo Concepcion and righties Zac Rosscup, Conor Mullee, and Christian Villanueva were all taken off the roster.
  • Righty Louis Coleman was not tendered a contract by the Dodgers, per a team announcement.
  • The Reds have non-tendered three players, as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Catcher Ramon Cabrera, righty Keyvius Sampson, and outfielder Gabriel Guerrero were all dropped from the roster.
  • As expected, outfielder Ben Revere has been non-tendered by the Nationals. (The non-tender was first reported by the TalkNats blog on Twitter.) The club’s other eligible players — including shortstop Danny Espinosa — have been offered contracts. Revere projected to earn $6.3MM despite an abysmal 2016 campaign, his first in D.C. The 28-year-old still offers speed and defense, but will need to improve quite a bit upon his .217/.260/.300 slash. He has been a near-average bat in prior years, so there’s reason for some optimism, but at that rate it proved too costly.
  • The Cardinals have cut ties with righty Seth Maness rather than tendering him a contract, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. St. Louis has tendered all its remaining players with arb eligibility. While Maness, 28, has been a steady pen presence for the Cards, he underwent surgery on his UCL in mid-August. He did manage to avoid a full ligament replacement, and comes with another year of control, but evidently the price was too high for the Cards to roll the dice. Maness had projected to receive a $1.6MM salary and would have commanded at least that again in 2018.

Cubs Sign Brian Duensing

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The Cubs have agreed to a one-year, $2MM deal with free agent lefty Brian Duensing, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter links). Chicago has announced the signing.

Duensing, 33, spent much of the 2016 season in the minors. But he performed rather well there — with a 2.23 ERA and 9.5 K/9 versus 1.7 BB/9 over 32 1/3 innings — and earned a late-season promotion with the Orioles. In fourteen appearances for Baltimore, Duensing allowed six earned runs on 13 hits while recording ten hits against three walks.

Chicago had a need on the southpaw side of its pen, particularly assuming that Mike Montgomery will become a part of the rotation. But it’s still a bit surprising to see the defending World Series champs place a bet on Duensing, who is perhaps best characterized as a steadily useful arm. Over his eight-year major league career — the vast bulk of which came with the Twins — he has allowed 4.13 earned per regulation game while striking out 5.9 and walking 2.9 batters per nine to go with a solid (but hardly world-beating 46.3% groundball rate).

Market Notes: CBA, Astros, Encarnacion, Napoli, Cubs-Sox, Puig, A’s, Greinke, Bucs

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With the CBA now in place, teams and players that were waiting for clarity can move toward new agreements. While plenty of organizations have gone right ahead with their plans, others seemingly have waited. That includes the Yankees (per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, on Twitter), Nationals (per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, on Twitter), and perhaps also the Red Sox (via Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, in a tweet). Whether we’re in for a rush of moves remains to be seen, but the stage is set.

Here’s all the latest chatter on the market:

  • The Astros continue to strive to add another bat, with the team confident it will land either Edwin Encarnacion or Carlos Beltran, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Still, the Yankees, Blue Jays, and a “couple others” remain involved on Encarnacion, Heyman tweets. All three of those teams, along with the Red Sox, are in on Beltran, Nightengale adds on Twitter.
  • Several former employers of first bagger Mike Napoli have interest in a reunion, per Heyman. The Red Sox, Indians, and Rangers are perhaps the three teams most heavily invested in his market. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Astros appear to be involved at the periphery at present.
  • There have been some rumblings of late suggesting that the Cubs and White Sox likely won’t do business with one another this winter, at least not on any significant deals, and Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times rounds up the latest. Ultimately, it seems, there’s not much new to chew on here: both teams say they’re open working with one another, even if they acknowledge what GM Jed Hoyer suggests is an unsurprising reality that the clubs are unlikely to to match up on an impactful swap given their market competition.
  • The Dodgers are still open to considering trades involving outfielder Yasiel Puig, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times recently noted on Twitter. Meanwhile, the Athletics continue to chase a center fielder after signing Matt Joyce, per GM David Forst (via MLB.com’s Jane Lee, on Twitter). It seems that Oakland is considering options via trade and free agency to fill the void up the middle.
  • There’s “minimal trade interest” at present in Diamondbacks righty Zack Greinke, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. His massive contract remains an obvious impediment, though rival execs tells Rosenthal that they don’t believe Arizona can afford to carry that huge commitment. It’s certainly a notable dilemma for the team.
  • The Pirates are looking into the trade market for relief help, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). It’s possible that Pittsburgh could consider moving Tony Watson, who is in his final season of team control and comes with a projected $5.9MM salary. The team does have two other solid pen lefties; while Watson currently profiles as the closer, moreover, there are a variety of potential alternatives on the open market.

Cubs Sign Jon Jay

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The Cubs are in agreement with free-agent outfielder Jon Jay on a one-year, $8MM contract, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). The team has now announced the signing as well. Jay, 32 next March, is a client of CAA Sports.

[Related: Updated Chicago Cubs Depth Chart]

Jon Jay

Jay missed nearly two months of the 2016 season with a broken forearm that was sustained when he was hit by a pitch, but he was productive when he was healthy enough to take the field. The longtime Cardinals center fielder batted .291/.339/.389 with a pair of homers and 26 doubles in 374 trips to the plate. Jay was leading the National League with 24 doubles at the time he sustained his injury, batting .296/.345/.407 to that point in the season, but he tallied just three extra-base hits over his final 84 plate appearances upon returning from the disabled list.

With Jay in the fold, it now seems likelier than ever that Dexter Fowler’s time with the Cubs has drawn to a close. Jay joins an outfield contingent that also includes Kyle Schwarber, Ben Zobrist, Jorge Soler, Jason Heyward, Albert Almora Jr. and Matt Szczur. He’ll bring a left-handed bat that doesn’t have a significant platoon split to manager Joe Maddon’s roster and will pair well with the highly touted but inexperienced Almora, a right-handed hitter, in center field. Both Gonzales and CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney suggest that Jay will be paired with Almora in center field (Twitter links). Alternatively, Almora, who has just 80 games at the Triple-A level in his career, could get some additional seasoning in Iowa if it’s deemed necessary in Spring Training.

The addition of Jay gives manager Joe Maddon even more matchup options with his day-to-day lineup, and it also gives the Chicago front office more options to pursue on the trade market this winter. Addison Russell and Javier Baez look to have cemented themselves as the Cubs’ regular middle-infield duo, which should push Zobrist to the outfield more often than not. It’s also conceivable that Schwarber will do some catching for the Cubs again in 2017, freeing up some corner outfield at-bats on those days. Nonetheless, it certainly seems plausible that the Cubs could look to deal from their outfield surplus this winter. Soler has long stood out as a possible trade candidate, and the addition of yet another outfield bat to the mix further frees up president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer to explore trade scenarios involving the former top prospect.

The exact machinations of the Cubs’ 2017 lineup can’t yet be determined, but as the 2016 team illustrated, cultivating this level of depth at the Major League level can prove vital in the event of a significant injury to a key player, as was the case when Schwarber suffered a pair of torn knee ligaments.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees, Mariners, Cubs Pursued Brett Cecil

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The Yankees, Mariners, and Cubs were among the organizations that pursued free agent lefty Brett Cecil, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Cecil ultimately struck a four-year, $30.5MM pact with the Cardinals.

Those three teams figure as plausible landing spots for other top southpaws. Indeed, per Sherman, the Yankees are looking to bolster their left-handed setup corps. One possibility, he says, is high-K southpaw Boone Logan, who played in New York before departing for the Rockies and is now again a free agent. Though the report doesn’t further address the situations in Seattle and Chicago, both organizations lack impact lefties in their otherwise solid bullpens and could sensibly pursue alternatives after missing on Cecil.

[RELATED: Yankees, Mariners & Cubs Depth Charts]

While the Yankees never made Cecil an offer, the team is said to have kept a close eye on him up until the Cards emerged with a significant contract. The team is still seriously interested in bringing back Aroldis Chapman, notes Sherman. Since Chapman would likely slot in as closer, it stands to reason that another lefty could still be added even if the fireballing star lands in New York.

All told, it seems there are several possible approaches in mind with regard to the Yankees’ bullpen. The ultimate moves could be impacted in some part, too, by whether the organization is able to land the high-profile bat that it reportedly seeks. Last we heard, New York was pushing for Carlos Beltran and dabbling in the markets for top sluggers Edwin Encarnacion and Yoenis Cespedes (see here and here) — all while still weighing a move for starter Rich Hill and other rotation pieces.

Spencer Patton Signs With Yokohama BayStars

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Right-hander Spencer Patton is headed to Japan’s Yokohama BayStars, per a club announcement (via the Japan Times). The Cubs sold Patton’s contract to Yokohama, per MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (Twitter link), and released him from the big league roster to facilitate the move.

The 28-year-old reliever has shown swing-and-miss stuff at the major league level, but hasn’t yet translated that to effective innings. Over his 54 2/3 frames in the bigs over the past three seasons, Patton has worked to a 6.26 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9. Those free passes have combined with a few too many home runs and an unfortunate 58.5% strand rate to produce the inflated earned-run tally.

Though Patton doesn’t have a huge fastball, his slider allows him to generate plenty of whiffs, and he has long posted double-digit K/9 rates in the minors. He was rather dominant last year in his 36 Triple-A frames, posting a 0.75 ERA with 14.8 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 while allowing just 21 base hits.

Originally a 24th-round pick by the Royals, Patton was dealt to the Rangers in the deal that sent veteran righty Jason Frasor to Kansas City in July of 2014. He ended up in Chicago in exchange for infielder Frandy De La Rosa in a swap last November.

Rangers Claim David Rollins

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The Rangers announced on Tuesday that they’ve claimed lefty reliever David Rollins off waivers from the Cubs. Chicago had claimed Rollins off waivers from the Mariners last week and unsuccessfully attempted to sneak him through waivers.

[Related: Updated Texas Rangers Depth Chart]

The claim by Texas is a mild surprise, as the Rangers passed on claiming Rollins last week when the lefty fell to the Cubs in waiver priority. However, the Rangers now have a clearer picture of their 40-man roster after making some determinations in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. Texas may yet attempt to sneak Rollins through waivers themselves in similar fashion, though that’s just speculation on my behalf.

The 26-year-old Rollins (27 next month) is a former Rule 5 pick himself. Seattle selected him out of the Astros organization back in 2014, and Rollins wound up receiving an 80-game PED suspension before he threw a pitch for the Mariners during the regular season. In a bizarre way, that helped the Mariners keep him in the organization, though their selection of Rollins ultimately never paid dividends anyhow. The former 24th-round pick has a 7.60 ERA in 34 innings with the Mariners across the past two seasons and has averaged 7.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 with a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate. He’s been rather unlucky, as evidenced by a .379 BABIP, but even the most optimistic ERA estimator pegs him in the mid-4.00s (4.41 SIERA). Rollins does have minor league options remaining, so if he’s able to survive the offseason on Texas’ 40-man roster, the team could option him and use him as a depth piece in the ’pen next year.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Yanks, Cubs, Rays, Padres, Cardinals, Rangers

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With their payroll flexibility increasing, their farm system among the majors’ elite and their attendance down, the Yankees could be in position to make major splashes, observes FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Even if New York signs closer Aroldis Chapman and designated hitter/outfielder Carlos Beltran, which it’s interested in doing, general manager Brian Cashman might not stop there. Picking up another reliever to team with Chapman and Dellin Betances would become possible, writes Rosenthal, who adds that the Yankees could also improve their pitching by using their prospect pool to acquire a top-tier starter via trade. The Yankees do have Tyler Clippard on hand as an accomplished option capable of setting up Betances and Chapman, though, and Rosenthal concedes that the Bombers could decide this offseason is too early to surrender a haul for a starter.

More from Rosenthal:

  • The Cubs have done background work on Kenley Jansen, arguably the top free agent closer, but it doesn’t appear they’re seriously pursuing him, major league sources told Rosenthal. The World Series champions don’t want to overspend on a closer because it could preclude them from making a big signing in the near future (Japanese superstar Shohei Otani, for instance), notes Rosenthal. That would seemingly rule out the Cubs re-signing Chapman, who joins Jansen as one of the two best relievers available. MLBTR projects record contracts for both Jansen and Chapman, and Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer has already indicated that the team isn’t necessarily looking to splurge on a reliever.
  • The Rays are primed to base their 2017 approach on which starting pitcher they trade, writes Rosenthal. If the Rays deal right-hander Alex Cobb or southpaw Drew Smyly, both of whom have two or fewer years of team control remaining, they’re likely to make an attempt at competing next season. On the other hand, shipping righties Chris Archer (five years of team control) or Jake Odorizzi (three) out would signal a rebuild. Even if Tampa Bay chooses the latter route, it’s still unlikely to move third baseman Evan Longoria, the longtime face of the franchise. Longoria has demonstrated remarkable durability since 2013, missing just six games, and has Rays officials convinced he could be part of winning Tampa Bay teams down the line. The 31-year-old is controllable through the 2023 season.
  • The Padres are high on first baseman Wil Myers and won’t trade him unless they’re “blown away” by an offer, sources informed Rosenthal. San Diego and Myers are in the early stages of long-term extension talks, so the plan is to retain the soon-to-be 26-year-old for the long haul. Myers, a 2016 All-Star who slashed .259/.336/.461 with 28 home runs and 28 steals in 676 plate appearances, is set to make his first of as many as three arbitration trips.
  • The Cardinals have floated right-hander Michael Wacha’s name in trade talks, according to Rosenthal, who’s skeptical that the club would receive much in return for the 25-year-old because of his injury issues. Wacha threw 181 1/3 innings in 2015, but he missed significant time each of the two seasons in between because of shoulder troubles. He was terrific from 2013-15, recording a 3.21 ERA, 7.95 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 in 353 frames, though he posted a bloated ERA (5.09) in 138 innings this past season. While Wacha’s strikeout and walk rates of 7.43 and 2.93 per nine were close to previous norms (he also registered a career-high ground-ball rate of 46.6 percent), it’s possible the Cardinals will move him to the bullpen next season in his first of three arb-eligible campaigns.
  • The Rangers had interest in right-hander Edinson Volquez before reaching an agreement Friday with fellow righty Andrew Cashner, per Rosenthal. Volquez began his career with the Rangers, who signed him as an international free agent in 2001, and went to Cincinnati in 2007 in the trade that brought outfielder and eventual five-time All-Star/2010 American League MVP Josh Hamilton to Texas.

Players Added To The 40-Man

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We’ll use this post to keep track of the players being added to their teams’ respective 40-man rosters today, which is the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Players must be added to the big league roster within either four years (if they were 19 or older at the time of their original signing) or five years (if 18 or younger) of their signing year in order to be shielded from selection.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo took a look at some of the biggest names who face roster decisions, though most of those won’t be much in question. At the fringes, teams must also consider the major league readiness of the player, since that factors heavily into whether they’ll be taken and kept. Any drafting team, of course, must keep a player on its active MLB roster for the full season (with certain exceptions relating to the DL) in order for their control rights to vest. Adding a player to the 40-man too early can have its own risks, because it limits flexibility and could require a team to expose that player to waivers if a need arises. With 26-man rosters reportedly under consideration, the Rule 5 draft could be quite intriguing this year, and that may bleed into today’s decisions as well.

Below is a division-by-division rundown of the names that were added to each team’s 40-man roster (plus the various waiver claims that spawned from teams trying to outright players to protect Rule 5-eligible prospects). We won’t delve into each player’s background, but if you’re looking to a little more about the names that were added, I’d highly recommend this tremendous, in-depth examination of each team’s additions by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper. If you want to see how the moves look in the context of a team’s roster, head over to Roster Resource for your club’s depth chart.

Onto the moves…

American League West

American League Central

American League East

National League West

National League Central

National League East

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