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NL Notes: Ramirez, Dodgers, Harvey

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Manny Ramirez was known for his unusual attitude as a player, and his current role with the Cubs is unclear, but he’s latched on with the organization as a coach, the Associated Press writes. Ramirez isn’t listed as an official member of the Cubs’ coaching staff, but he regularly works with all the team’s hitters, and Jorge Soler and Javier Baez, especially, look up to him. His metamorphosis into an admired coach has been unusual, given that he was suspended for PEDs and that he himself was known for being less than coachable as a player. He was, however, a hard worker, and his appetite for improving his game has also helped him as a coach. Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Dodgers’ playoff ouster shows that Andrew Friedman needs to adjust to the demands of baseball in a big market, Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times writes. While the Dodgers did win 92 games and the NL West, Dilbeck writes, they were still disappointing because they didn’t advance further than the NLDS and didn’t show appropriate “urgency” by making high-profile deadline moves. From my perspective, that sounds somewhat harsh, given the seemingly limited amount of control a front office has over how its team plays once it reaches the roller coaster of variance that is the postseason. Dilbeck has a point, though, that this winter will be an interesting one for Friedman, who will likely have to strongly consider signing, for the first time in his career, at least one player to a nine-figure contract.
  • The Mets’ unexpectedly strong season has placed starter Matt Harvey in an awkward position, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. He continues to pitch in the postseason despite a controversy earlier in the year about his innings total this season as he returns from Tommy John surgery. Including the playoffs, Harvey has now pitched 194 1/3 innings this season. Pitching more might risk further injury, but as the reaction to the initial controversy showed, Harvey would be a “pariah” throughout the game if he stopped. And it isn’t hard to understand why the Mets might want to get everything they can out of him now, while they have a chance — clear shots at championships aren’t easy to come by, even for teams that appear to have bright futures.

NL Notes: Heyward, Reds, Desmond

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The Cardinals need to re-sign impending free agent Jason Heyward, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Heyward’s traditional stats don’t jump off the page, but he makes a difference with his fielding, throwing and baserunning, says Hochman, who also points to Heyward’s age and clubhouse presence. The Cardinals aren’t showing their hand  yet, but they believe they have enough talent that they won’t let the situation with Heyward slow them down. “[H]istorically we’ve had that issue come up where are you held prisoner until you get something accomplished. The good news for us is I don’t think that’s the case here,” says GM John Mozeliak. “I think we have enough internal flexibility where we can still look to do other things and still accomplish what we need to do.” In a recent MLBTR Newsletter, Tim Dierkes examined 25 teams as potential suitors for Heyward, concluding that the teams most likely to sign him were the Yankees, Astros, Angels and Mariners along with the Cardinals. Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Reds have a long road ahead as they attempt to catch up with the Cardinals, Cubs and Pirates, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. The Reds need help offensively and won’t have much money with which to acquire it this offseason. “We have really, really stiff competition in our division,” says Joey Votto. “We can’t go in with a half effort because of how good those three teams are. … They’re good it seems at every aspect of the game. We have to exceed them.” Earlier this week, I looked for the Reds’ path forward as part of MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook series.
  • After a down season in 2015, it looks highly unlikely shortstop Ian Desmond will re-sign with the Nationals, Chase Hughes of Nats Insider writes. The Nats won’t want to add another risky long-term contract, given that they already have the Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman deals on the books. And Trea Turner’s emergence gives them a potential replacement for Desmond at shortstop.
  • North Carolina State’s 2011 recruiting class has already produced Turner and Carlos Rodon, and four other players from that class were also drafted, as Baseball America’s Jim Shonerd notes. That kind of haul is noteworthy not only for the talent involved, but because NC State got all those players in the last year before the new CBA limited the abilities of teams to spend heavily on late-round draft picks. The Wolfpack had, for example, also recruited righties Jake Junis (who ended up signing with the Royals for $675K) and Jason Creasy (who signed with the Pirates for $250K).

Cubs Notes: Berry, Wilken

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The Cubs’ transformation corresponded with improvements in their infrastructure, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal writes. When owner Tom Ricketts arrived in 2009, the Cubs were keeping up with trade rumors by having a staffer find articles on the Internet and then print them out for executives. Much of the staff worked in trailers in the parking lot at Wrigley Field. They’ve since developed their own computer database and moved their staff to a building near the ballpark. As Costa notes, many of the Cubs’ improvements were far from revolutionary compared to what other teams were doing, but they were great leaps forward from where the Cubs had been. Here’s more out of Chicago.

  • The Cubs have announced their NLCS roster, which includes outfielder Quintin Berry in place of infielder Addison Russell (who has a hamstring strain). Berry had been on their Wild Card roster, but he hasn’t on their roster for the NLDS. The 30-year-old Berry has become something of a postseason specialist. He only has 342 career regular-season plate appearances, 330 of those coming with the Tigers in 2012, but once he appears in a game with the Cubs, he’ll have played in the postseason with three different teams, also including the 2012 Tigers and 2013 Red Sox. The reason, of course, is his speed: Berry has 27 stolen bases and has been caught just once in his big-league career, and he swiped 35 bases in the minors this year. The Cubs signed Berry to a minor-league deal in August.
  • Cubs special assistant Tim Wilken is leaving the team for a new job with the Diamondbacks, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports. Before being promoted, Wilken had served as the Cubs’ amateur and professional scouting director, and Gonzales notes he played roles in the signings of Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija, Andrew Cashner, Josh Harrison, DJ LeMahieu, Javier Baez and Darwin Barney. Before joining the Cubs, Wilken had worked with the Blue Jays and Rays.

NL Notes: Mets, Cubs, Schwarber, Almora, Cardinals

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The National League Championship Series is notable for its opposing forces: the young pitching of the Mets against the young bats of the Cubs. Indeed, that same dynamic has often been cited by observers as possible reason for those two clubs to match up on a trade. But Mets GM Sandy Alderson said today that the teams have never gained much traction in talks, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports on Twitter.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • One of the most interesting players in the NLCS is Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber, who was always known for his advanced bat but who has nevertheless exceeded expectations. As MLB.com’s Jim Callis explains, the team picked him much higher than expected because it believed in his bat, even if his positional outlook was foggy. He’s hit well enough that it doesn’t much matter where he ends up in the field, of course.
  • Another key Cubs prospect that has yet to reach the big leagues is center fielder Albert Almora. As Gordon Wittenmyer writes for Baseball America, the youngster turned around a disappointing season after receiving some strong words from a rehabbing Miguel Montero. It will be interesting to see how Almora’s development — Wittenmyer says he ought to crack Triple-A next year at age 22 — will impact Chicago’s offseason plans as current center fielder Dexter Fowler hits free agency.
  • The Cardinals will spend some time assessing their strategic approach after following a well-earned NL Central crown with an early post-season exit, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. GM John Mozeliak says he’ll be looking at the team’s deployment of reserves, acquisition of amateur players, and trade deadline approach. Some of those initiatives could be geared towards helping the club thrive in the post-season as much as it has in the regular season, though Mozeliak rejected the notion that it was really possible to do that. “When you do get there, there are elements of luck and timing in the postseason. We’ve been an example of that,” Mozeliak said. He further explained: “I don’t think there is a strategic plan that can make you change how you approach October. The fact is you have to get there first, and that’s how we think about building a club. Trying to reverse engineer an October strategy might be a little tougher. But food for thought.” In theory, at least, fatigue and injuries could be alleviated by a deeper roster, Goold writes, and Mozeliak gave indications that he’d be weighing such matters in preparation for the winter.

Heyman’s Latest: Greinke, Mattingly, QOs, Gordon, Anderson, Hunter

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Jon Heyman of CBS Sports kicks off Friday morning with a pair of columns — the first being a piece on Zack Greinke’s opt-out status and the second being his weekly Inside Baseball column. Heyman writes in the first piece that Greinke will indeed opt out of the remaining three years and $71MM on his Dodgers contract, as has been widely anticipated for the better part of a year. One general manager suggested to Heyman that Greinke will receive, “at minimum,” multiple offers of $125MM over the next five seasons. That GM wagered a guess at the winning bid: $150MM over five years. Heyman notes that while many teams — the Cubs, Giants, Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, D-Backs and Rangers, among others — will be in the mix for Greinke this winter, the right-hander enjoyed 2015 with the Dodgers more than he enjoyed his first two seasons, and L.A. will attempt to bring him back. Per Heyman, Greinke didn’t mesh with Josh Beckett and Hanley Ramirez in previous years but had nothing but positive feelings about the 2015 campaign.

Onto some highlights from his second column…

  • There’s no certainty on the job status of Don Mattingly right now despite three consecutive division titles, Heyman writes. Mattingly is well-liked by the new Dodgers front office on a personal level, and the team is pleased with how he handled Andre Ethier’s shift to a part-time role, A.J. Ellis’ shift to a backup role in favor of Yasmani Grandal, and the emergence of Corey Seager over Jimmy Rollins late in the year. Mattingly’s people-managing skills are valued by the Dodgers, even if his in-game tactics aren’t quite as strong. Heyman notes that with the Dodgers unconvinced of Mattingly as their long-term option, they may allow him to interview with other clubs, and both the Nationals and Marlins would show interest.
  • The Orioles are believed to be hesitant to make a qualifying offer to Matt Wieters and will only do so if they’re convinced that he won’t take it. (I can’t imagine a Scott Boras client that plays a premium position in the midst of his prime age doing so under any circumstances.) The White Sox will make a QO to Jeff Samardzija, who will not accept it, as has been suggested multiple times over the past couple of months.
  • Colby Rasmus, on the other hand, is not expected to receive a $15.8MM qualifying offer from the Astros despite 25 regular-season homers and a strong postseason showing. Heyman writes that Alex Gordon will be “a name to keep an eye on” in connection with the Astros this offseason, as the team may look to inject its lineup with more on-base percentage and batting average than the 2015 crop. They’ll also look for more steady production at first and third base this winter after a season of boom-or-bust results from Luis Valbuena and Chris Carter.
  • The Dodgers are set on making a qualifying offer to Howie Kendrick and are also planning on making a QO to Brett Anderson despite his injury history. The latter of the two drew some surprise when Heyman shared it with execs around the league, though as he points out, L.A. is in need of pitching. If Anderson accepts — again, a scenario I find unlikely given his age and strong 2015 results — he’d solidify a spot in the rotation behind Clayton Kershaw. And, I’ll point out, Anderson’s 2016 salary would then check in just $3.4MM north of the $12.4MM he earned in total after receiving a $10MM base salary and earning another $2.4MM worth of innings-based incentives this season.
  • The Twins are willing to pay a premium to bring Torii Hunter back to their clubhouse if he’s willing to take a reduced role. Hunter, though, has been resistant to that idea in the past. He’s not yet decided whether or not he’ll return to the Majors for his age-41 season or call it a career.
  • Other qualifying offer notes from Heyman throughout the column indicate that Padres people have suggested that they’ll make a QO to Ian Kennedy, though rival execs remain skeptical. Current expectation in the industry is that the Mets won’t make a qualifying offer to Daniel Murphy, and the same is true of the Nationals with regard to Denard Span, who suffered through an injury-shortened season. Kennedy and Murphy seem like easy calls to decline the qualifying offer to me, whereas Span is a tougher case due to his age and injuries, which included season-ending hip surgery. I can see a case for Span taking the $15.8MM payday — the initial contract extension he signed with the Twins, after all, was only for $16.5MM guaranteed, though that rose to $25MM after his 2016 option was exercised.
  • The Nationals have received permission from the Giants to interview bench coach Ron Wotus to fill their managerial vacancy. Wotus has coached on the Giants’ Major League staff for the past 17 seasons and is a two-time Minor League Manager of the Year.

NL Notes: Russell, Asche, Rockies, Cardinals

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The Mets rode a big night from Daniel Murphy, a gutty performance from Jacob deGrom and strong relief work from Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia to an NLDS victory over the Dodgers tonight. Here’s the latest from the Senior Circuit as the Mets celebrate their first NLCS appearance since 2006…

  • Addison Russell has been ruled out for the NLCS, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes. Russell, who suffered a mild hamstring strain when running out a triple in the NLDS, will be replaced by Javier Baez as the Cubs’ starting shortstop for the League Championship Series. Russell could be ready for the World Series, should the Cubs advance that far, and the Cubs are still deciding who to add to the NLCS roster to replace him. Muskat notes that one option is outfielder Quintin Berry, whose blistering speed would be a late-game asset and potential difference-maker for manager Joe Maddon in close games.
  • Cody Asche might be running out of time to prove himself with the Phillies, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. Already forced to the outfield to make way for budding star Maikel Franco, Asche now sees the outfield picture growing a bit more crowded. Odubel Herrera has claimed the center field job, and Aaron Altherr’s strong play earned him a look in a corner. The Phillies will likely sign a veteran outfielder this winter, be it Jeff Francoeur or someone new, and top prospects Nick Williams and Roman Quinn will open next season at Triple-A. Asche, who hit .245/.294/.395 with a dozen homers this season, admits that he isn’t quite sure where he stands heading into spring training. “That’s the unanswered question,” he tells Zolecki. “I really think the answer lies within myself, and how I come out and play in Spring Training. It’s up to me to take advantage and force my way back into the lineup.”
  • Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tackles a number of offseason topics in his latest mailbag column, including the possibility of a Carlos Gonzalez trade. Asked if the Rockies could move the remaining money on Jose Reyes’ deal by packaging him with CarGo, Saunders points out that doing so would require an acquiring club to take on $81MM over the next two seasons. The Rockies’ best hope at moving Reyes, he writes, is to eat a large chunk of his salary, but owner Dick Monfort doesn’t typically operate that way. Saunders also writes that he believes Tom Murphy will back up Nick Hundley next season before inheriting the starting role in 2017, at which point Murphy and Dustin Garneau could comprise Colorado’s catching tandem.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak will look for an upgrade over backup infielder Pete Kozma this winter, writes MLB.com’s Jen Langosch. As Langosch writes, manager Mike Matheny was hesitant to insert Kozma — an excellent fielder but very weak hitter — into the lineup over either Jhonny Peralta or Kolten Wong, possibly leading to each wearing down this year. Mozeliak will also look for more depth on the pitching staff, though he’s content with the internal starting options he has on the roster. Per Langosch, there will be “a shakeup” in the bullpen this winter, however.

Latest On Eddy Julio Martinez, Cubs, Giants

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TODAY: MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports some additional details on the situation. San Francisco’s claim to a signing is based upon “a series of texts and emails” that were exchanged with BHSC. The Giants filed paperwork with the league, per the report, but it appears that Martinez has yet to sign anything with the club. Chicago, meanwhile, struck its deal with Martinez’s Dominican representatives.

YESTERDAY: The controversy surrounding Cuban center fielder Eddy Julio Martinez is now in the hands of Major League Baseball officials, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. MLB is working to decide whether Martinez, 20, will become property of the Giants or Cubs and hopes to have a ruling by the end of the week, per Heyman.

One of the most sought-after prospects on this year’s international free agent market, Martinez agreed to a $2.5MM signing bonus with the Giants about two weeks ago. Giants general manager Bobby Evans publicly acknowledged the agreement, though the team never made an official announcement of the signing. Shortly after, ESPN’s Keith Law reported that Martinez would not be signing with the Giants and remained on the free agent market.

Following that unusual sequence of events, Martinez reportedly agreed to sign with the Cubs for a larger bonus of $3MM. However, since that time, Evans has come out and said that the Giants are still in the running for the highly touted Martinez.

According to Heyman, the heart of the issue here is that Martinez has multiple representatives negotiating on his behalf. While he is a client of MLBPA certified agents Rick Thurman and Rafael Nieves of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, Martinez also has multiple “buscones,” or “street agents” as Heyman terms them. Multiple people are laying claim to the role of agent for Martinez and, as such, there’s uncertainty regarding the validity of Martinez’s deal with the Giants.

It’s not known which parties negotiated which deal, but MLB is working to determine whether or not the agreement with the Giants was binding. That deal was struck before the agreement with the Cubs, and the Giants, according to Heyman, believed it to be binding at the time it was made.

Martinez, a right-handed hitting center fielder, draws praise for his power and speed, though some scouts believe his pop will only translate to doubles power in the end, and he’s more of a corner outfielder than a true center fielder. Those that are more bullish have likened his tools to those of Andruw Jones, though that’s a lofty comparison and obviously a best-case scenario as opposed to a likely outcome. Both the Giants and Cubs have already incurred the maximum penalty level for exceeding their allotted international bonus pools. That means that either would pay a 100 percent luxury tax on Martinez’s signing bonus, so he’d actually cost the Giants $5MM and the Cubs $6MM in total.

Prospect Notes: AFL, Morejon, Moncada, Rankings

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The Arizona Fall League kicks off today, and as always there are a number of interesting players participating. Baseball America’s Bill Mitchell previews the action with a closer look at Dodgers righty Jharel Cotton and Astros third baseman J.D. Davis. For a full breakdown of the notable names, check out these videos from BA’s John Manuel and take a look at MLB.com’s Jim Callis preview of the top prospects to watch.

Here are the latest prospect notes from around the game:

  • Young Cuban lefty Adrian Morejon has left the island in search of a deal with a big league club, Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports. The 16-year-old is better compared with traditional July 2 prospects from elsewhere in Latin America than he is to the generally older Cuban prospects we’ve seen in recent years, and Badler says that Morejon is a high-end talent by that measure. His market timing remains to be seen, but he has a chance to be deemed eligible to sign in the current July 2 period based on recent policy precedent, which would potentially make him available to teams that will otherwise begin serving $300K+ signing bans next summer. Morejon’s move could be the latest sign of a potentially growing exodus of younger Cuban talent, Badler notes.
  • The Cubs may have been closer to getting Yoan Moncada than has previously been known, despite the fact that the team was not eligible to sign him last winter. According to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (Twitter links), Chicago asked the budding Cuban star to consider waiting until this July to sign, and even dispatched skipper Joe Maddon to spend a full day with him and his camp. That effort nearly worked, says Sanchez, though obviously Moncada ended up heading to the Red Sox in March. Chicago went on to make a big splash in the international market without Moncada, but somehow managing to land him would’ve been a true coup.
  • Baseball American has wrapped up its series of prospect rankings in each of the minor leagues. Most recently, it covered the best youngsters from the International League, many of whom have already ascended to the majors. You can find all of BA’s league-based rankings here.

Quick Hits: Martin, Fowler, Phillies, Padres, D’Backs

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It was on this day in 1948 that the Cleveland Indians clinched the World Series with a Game Six victory over the Boston Braves.  This marks the Tribe’s last Series championship, the second-longest title drought in baseball behind only the Cubs (who still have a shot at breaking their curse this year).  Here’s some news from around baseball as we head into another four-game day of postseason action on Monday…

  • Leonys Martin has declined to report to the Rangers’ instructional league team, Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News reports.  The club kept some players in training should they be needed for a postseason call-up, though GM Jon Daniels said that Martin “apparently was miffed” over being left off the playoff roster in the first place.  Given how Martin struggled this season and lost the center field job to Delino DeShields, you wonder if this incident could lead to the Rangers non-tendering Martin; the outfielder is projected by MLBTR to earn $1.6MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility.
  • Dexter Fowler is focused on the NLDS and isn’t thinking about his pending free agency, and Cubs GM Jed Hoyer agrees that “it’s not the right time to talk about it.”  Still, Hoyer tells the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan that “we’d love to have him (back). We’ve loved everything about his game and the way he has gone about his business for us.”  Fowler hit .250/.346/.411 with 17 homers, 102 runs and 20 steals over 690 plate appearances for the Cubs in 2015, though his center field defense was below-average according to the UZR/150 (-1.9) and Defensive Runs Saved (-12) metrics.
  • The seven players outrighted off the Phillies roster earlier this week aren’t necessarily out of the club’s plans, interim GM Scott Proefrock tells MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.  “I can’t tell you we would rule out resigning any of these guys,” Proefrock said.  “We’re just trying to clear up space on the roster. These guys were the first group that we decided to take off.”  Ken Roberts is the only one of the seven who will automatically remain in Philadelphia’s system; Jordan Danks, Chase d’Arnaud, Justin De Fratus, Erik Kratz, Adam Loewen and Jonathan Pettibone can all elect to become either Major League or minor league free agents.
  • The Padres will add a left-handed bat this winter or else MLB.com’s Corey Brock “would be stunned” (Twitter link).  San Diego’s lineup tilted heavily to the right last season and the paid for it, finishing at or near the bottom of several offensive categories against right-handed pitching.
  • The Diamondbacks are expected to target a front-line starting pitcher and a back-end reliever this offseason, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert writes in a position-by-position look at the team.  The club has to step carefully with regard to top-tier free agents like David Price due to budget concerns, but they have plenty of trade pieces available if they preferred dealing for an ace.  (It has already been reported that Mike Leake could be a D’Backs target this winter.)  Gilbert notes Patrick Corbin as the lone lock for a rotation spot but there are a lot of players competing for spots behind him.
  • The Diamondbacks are happy with Brad Ziegler (who’s likely to see his club option exercised) in a late-inning role but they want more depth around him, Gilbert writes.  A trade for Reds closer Aroldis Chapman remains a possibility for if the Snakes want to make a big upgrade to the bullpen.

MLBTR’s Brad Johnson also contributed to this post

Cubs Designate Tsuyoshi Wada For Assignment

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The Cubs announced that they have designated Tsuyoshi Wada for assignment, as Carrie Muskat of MLB.com tweets.  The move will help create room for Taylor Teagarden on the 40-man roster.

Wada, 34 (35 in February), is set to hit the open market this offseason.  Signed to a one-year, $4MM deal with Chicago in 2015, Wada only made seven starts and one relief appearance this past season.  Overall, he posted a 3.62 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.  In the year prior, the left-hander made 13 starts and pitched his way to a 3.25 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.  Following a distinguished nine-year career in Japan, Wada signed a two-year, $8.15MM deal with the Orioles in December 2011, though he never threw as much as a pitch for the O’s thanks to Tommy John surgery.

Teagarden will not join the Cubs’ playoff roster, but he could be called upon in the event of an injury.

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