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Central Notes: Molina, Walden, Rosenthal, Mesoraco, Reds, Plouffe

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The Cardinals will increasingly need to consider a long-term replacement for Yadier Molina, to say nothing of preparing for a season in which he’ll be looking to return from two thumb surgeries, as Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Frederickson spoke with two potential future options behind the dish, Michael Ohlman and Carson Kelly. He adds that St. Louis GM John Mozeliak is still looking to add another veteran option to the mix this spring for depth purposes. While the Cards remain confident that Yadi will be ready to go for 2016, he’s still sporting protection for his thumb at present. Of course, the club still seems committed to relying on Molina — along with new backup Brayan Pena — for the bulk of its backstop duties this year.

Here’s more from the game’s central divisions:

  • MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch provides some notable Cardinals pen updates in a reader mailbag post. Reliever Jordan Walden is expected to go through a normal spring ramp-up, though she says there’s still uncertainty in his shoulder. The organization does not appear to have any immediate interest in extension talks with closer Trevor Rosenthal, Langosch adds, though there’s little urgency since he only just reached arbitration.
  • Reds backstop Devin Mesoraco says that he’s feeling well and looking forward to a return after undergoing hip surgery last summer, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. “I’m good. I’m anxious to get back out on the field here,” Mesoraco said. “It’s been a long haul with rehabbing and working out. Everything is feeling the way that it should, the way that we planned.”
  • There’s no shortage of left field options for the Reds as camp approaches, Sheldon writes, listing Yorman Rodriguez, Adam Duvall, Scott Schebler, Jake Cave, and Kyle Waldrop. “Those are the guys,” said GM Dick Williams. “Some of those guys can play multiple positions. There are guys that can play multiple outfield spots. [Juan] Duran will be in camp, and [Tyler] Holt. [Jesse] Winker, Waldrop and some of the younger guys, too.”
  • The Twins never had serious conversations with third baseman Trevor Plouffe about a long-term deal while negotiating his arb salary this year, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets. Of course, there’s plenty of time to chat this spring if there’s interest, but it’s not clear that Minnesota would or should pursue a lengthy pact with the 29-year-old, who remains under team control for one more year via arbitration.
  • Meanwhile, the Twins are not interested in southpaw reliever Eric O’Flaherty, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on Twitter. O’Flaherty was said to be showcasing for scouts yesterday, but it seems that Minnesota won’t be one of the clubs taking a closer look.

Mesoraco Expects To Be 100 Percent For Spring Training

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  • Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that his surgically repaired hip is 100 percent, and he’ll be ready to go when pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. Mesoraco suffered a hip impingement in the first month of a four-year contract extension and was limited to 23 contests last year before undergoing surgery in June. However, the 2014 All-Star says he’s been hitting for “a couple of months” and has also progressed to catching drills, including blocking/receiving pitches, throwing across the diamond. Mesoraco says in terms of work behind the plate he is doing “just about everything with no pain.”

Arroyo Has Minor League Offer From Nats; Four Other Teams Interested

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Veteran right-hander Bronson Arroyo has a minor league offer on the table from the Nationals and is receiving interest from four other clubs, including the Reds, reports MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. In addition to that pair of teams, the Marlins, Pirates and Padres all have interest, though the interest of those three clubs does not appear to be as serious as the interest in Cincinnati and D.C. Sheldon tweeted earlier today that the Reds could make an offer soon, and in his column he notes that Arroyo expects to make a decision in the near future.

Arroyo tells Sheldon that he threw a bullpen session with Reds catching coach Mike Stefanski on Friday this past week. Sheldon adds that while the Reds didn’t have other personnel present to watch the session, they’ve received video and are determining a course of action. Arroyo sounds like his hope is to return to the Reds, though he doesn’t explicitly state that. He does, however, say that he hopes the Reds make an offer today, and he also adds: “I wanted to give the Reds every opportunity to keep me. Bryan Price has told me he’d love to have me in their locker room. I think it benefits both sides. It’s an opportunity for me to come into a less-stressed situation after a surgery and help young guys on the staff. If we can get something that’s in the ballpark [financially], I’d be happy.”

It’s unclear if Cincinnati, or any team, would be comfortable guaranteeing Arroyo a spot on the 40-man roster, though a minor league deal with a decent base salary and plenty of incentives could easily afford Arroyo several million dollars by season’s end if he remains healthy and proves capable of replicating anything close to his previous levels of performance. Arroyo does tell Sheldon that his arm feels 100 percent, though he admits that it took a full 16 months to get to that point, and he’s also frank in stating that he’s uncertain what to expect in terms of workload. “I’d be lying if I said I knew I could throw 200 innings with this arm,” said Arroyo. “I just don’t know.”

Arroyo, 39 next month, spent the 2006-13 seasons in a Reds uniform, pitching 199 innings or more in each of those eight campaigns. In total, he amassed a 4.05 ERA in 1690 1/3 innings, averaging 5.9 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings pitched. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2014 and missed the entire 2015 season as he worked his way back. The Nationals currently project to have a rotation consisting of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Joe Ross and Tanner Roark, while Cincinnati’s rotation is far more in flux. Homer Bailey is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery, while Anthony DeSclafani and Raisel Iglesias seem like easy calls for starting gigs. Beyond that, Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, John Moscot and Michael Lorenzen will compete for jobs in the rotation. Top prospect Robert Stephenson could eventually join that mix as well, though he has just 55 2/3 innings above the Double-A level.

Clearly, the Nats offer a better shot at contending than do the rebuilding Reds, and Washington can also offer a reunion with Arroyo’s former manager, Dusty Baker. However, Arroyo knows the Cincinnati organization quite well and has a clearer path to a rotation spot there. Additionally, as Sheldon notes, Arroyo’s girlfriend lives in Cincinnati, adding to the appeal for him on a personal level. The other three clubs, of course, have their merits as well, but they’re characterized more as secondary considerations than prime suitors by Sheldon for the time being.

Cameron On Notion Of Teams "Tanking"

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  • “Tanking” has become a popular buzzword due to the number of rebuilding clubs in the National League, but Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron rejects the idea that any of the so-called tanking teams is actually trying to lose as many games as possible. The Brewers have held onto the likes of Lucroy and Will Smith thus far despite favorable contracts that appeal to other clubs, and they haven’t paid down a significant portion of Braun’s deal to move his bat, either — a reasonable expectation for a club gunning for the No. 1 pick. The Reds have prioritized proximity to the Majors over long-term upside in trades of veterans and haven’t made an effort to move their best player, Joey Votto, Cameron writes. The Braves have signed Nick Markakis and targeted MLB-ready help like Shelby Miller, Ender Inciarte and Hector Olivera in trades over the past 15 months, to say nothing of their Nick Markakis signing (and, I might add, the complementary signings of A.J. Pierzynski, Jason Grilli, Jim Johnson and others). The Phillies are the only team that could reasonably fit the definition of “tanking” we see in the NBA, writes Cameron, but the best players in baseball can’t influence a team in the same manner they can in basketball. And, he rhetorically asks, would baseball truly be better off if the Phillies followed the path the Rockies have for the past several years — staunchly refusing to trade veterans (prior to this summer’s Troy Tulowitzki deal) and remaining in a noncompetitive state as opposed to “bottoming out in the hopes of bouncing back to high levels?”

Marlins, Nats, Reds Interested In Bronson Arroyo

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JAN. 25: MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reports that the Marlins, too, have interest in adding Arroyo as a veteran option in their rotation (Twitter link). Miami has been said to be seeking a veteran to add to the rotation even after signing Wei-Yin Chen to a five-year deal. To this point, they’ve been connected to names like Doug Fister, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Alfredo Simon and Kyle Lohse.

JAN. 24: The Nationals and Reds are interested in veteran starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. We heard rumors earlier today that Arroyo had recently visited Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. As Rosenthal reminds us (via Twitter), Arroyo bounced around three teams last season – the Diamondbacks, Braves, and Dodgers – while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The right-handed starter will turn 39 in one month. From 2004 through 2013, he was arguably the most durable pitcher in the game. Nobody made more starts than Arroyo over those 10 seasons (326 starts). Only CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle threw more than his 2,074 innings. While never the most dominating pitcher in the league, Arroyo provided consistent value with a contact oriented, low-walk approach (career 5.81 K/9, 2.44 BB/9).

Cincinnati’s interest in Arroyo makes perfect sense. The club has a rotation chock full of unproven youngsters, giving Arroyo room to serve as a much needed veteran and inning-eater. The team also has plenty of experience with him – he pitched for the Reds from 2006 through 2013. In terms of opportunity for Arroyo and value to the Reds, there appears to be a strong fit.

Arroyo’s former manager Dusty Baker now manages the Nationals. The club would seemingly view Arroyo as depth. Tanner Roark and Joe Ross appear to have a claim on the final two rotation jobs, although neither pitcher is guaranteed to pitch well. Initially, Arroyo would likely have to compete with Yusmeiro Petit for a long relief role. In wooing Arroyo, the Nationals do have one major advantage over the Reds – they’re a contender.

Bronson Arroyo Threw For Reds In Cincinnati

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Free agent starter Bronson Arroyo was recently at Great American Ballpark, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Robert Murray of Baseball Essential also recently reported that Arroyo threw for the Reds in Cincinnati. These reports, while somewhat circumstantial, point toward a possible reunion between Arroyo and the team for which he pitched from 2006 through 2013. Previous reports had suggested that the Reds were among the teams that had interest in the right-hander, although much would depend on Arroyo’s recovery from Tommy John surgery. The 38-year-old last pitched in the big leagues in June 2014, when he was with the Diamondbacks. Here’s more from the Central divisions.

Reds' Peraza Could See Time At Multiple Positions

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  • Because Brandon Phillips elected not to waive his no-trade rights earlier this offseason, Reds fans could see newly acquired prospect Jose Peraza at a number of positions in 2016, writes MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. “I think it’s important to remember that Peraza has played a lot at shortstop,” GM Dick Williams tells Sheldon. “He has played center field. There’s a chance we could see him in different spots. I don’t think getting playing time for him will be an issue. We’d gladly take an approach where we get him some time at different areas and see where he can be of assistance to the team.” Sheldon notes that one means of enticing Phillips to approve a trade would be to reduce his playing time somewhat in favor of Peraza, though that could result in some clubhouse problems by making a still-productive veteran feel slighted by the organization.

Marlins Made Marcell Ozuna Trade Offers To Rangers, Reds

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The Marlins made separate trade offers to the Rangers and Reds for Marcell Ozuna earlier this winter, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.  The Fish wanted starting pitching back in both proposed deals, and it seems as if there was little-to-no room for further negotiations in these offers; Jackson writes that the Marlins “decided internally that they would trade [Ozuna] only if those teams met their exact asking price.”

It should be noted that these offers were both made before Miami signed Wei-Yin Chen, so the team’s need for rotation help is no longer quite as dire.  Still, as the Marlins feel “a team can never have enough pitching,” Jackson thinks the Fish would revisit trading Ozuna if Texas or Cincinnati agreed to their demands.

Ozuna has been mentioned in rumors for months as a major trade chip Miami could use to acquire at least one solid young rotation piece.  Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria reportedly had developed some bad blood with Ozuna and agent Scott Boras over Ozuna’s demotion to Triple-A (which Boras claimed was done to stall Ozuna’s service time and not for developmental reasons) so it was seen as just a matter of time before a trade was finalized.

While at least 10 teams showed interest and at least one deal (with the Mariners) was heavily discussed, however, the tide had seemingly turned towards Ozuna staying in Miami.  Personal issues aside, Loria and the front office were insisting on a very big return for Ozuna and weren’t willing to just give such a promising young outfielder away.  New manager Don Mattingly and new hitting coach Barry Bonds were also lobbying to keep Ozuna, which undoubtedly played a factor.  Since Chen is also a Boras client, it stands to reason that relations between Loria and the agent have also somewhat improved.

The Rangers have been connected to Ozuna in trade rumors for months, though it’s something of an imperfect fit since while Texas has some intriguing young arms (i.e. Chi Chi Gonzalez, Nick Martinez), they could use those reinforcements themselves in the Major League rotation.  Delino DeShields also emerged as a good center fielder for the Rangers in 2015 so they didn’t have a huge need at the position, though Ozuna would’ve been an upgrade.

This is the first time we’ve heard of the Reds attached to Ozuna, though their interest makes sense given their outfield needs.  Right fielder Jay Bruce is entering his last guaranteed year under contract and is available for trades, while the Reds are currently planning to use a platoon of unproven youngsters in left.  Of course, Billy Hamilton is already Cincinnati’s regular center fielder, and he’s shown such a spectacular glove that if Ozuna did join the Reds, he’d be the one moving to left.

While the Reds have been in rebuild mode by dealing Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Marlon Byrd, Aroldis Chapman and Todd Frazier in the last seven months, Ozuna (25) is young enough to fit Walt Jocketty’s plan to quickly reload and contend again by 2017.  Even moreso than Texas, however, Cincinnati is lacking in pitching depth — they were using an all-rookie rotation for much of last season after Cueto and Leake were dealt.  The Reds have righties Robert Stephenson and Keury Mella and southpaws Amir Garrett and Cody Reed among their top prospects, and the club may prefer to see if those young arms can develop into long-term pieces for their uncertain rotation rather than deal one or more of them for Ozuna.

Reds Sign Jordan Pacheco To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed catcher/infielder Jordan Pacheco to a minor league deal, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. Pacheco is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Pacheco, who turns 30 later this month, collected 78 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks last year, batting .242/.333/.333. They then designated him for assignment in June. That Pacheco did not catch on in Arizona despite the Diamondbacks’ issues at the catcher position at the beginning of last season is perhaps revealing. Pacheco has caught only four of the 34 runners who have attempted to steal on him in his career, and he’s been a below-average pitch framer in each of the past several seasons, so he doesn’t rate as a strong option behind the plate. Also, Pacheco’s career batting line of .278/.317/.372 is skewed by the fact that he’s spent almost half his career plate appearances in Coors Field.

Nonetheless, Pacheco possesses the ability to play multiple positions — in addition to catcher, he has bits of experience at first and third, and he also appeared in 33 games at second base in Triple-A in 2015. That versatility could give him a shot at a bench job, particularly for a Reds team that will be thin on veteran players this year.

NL Notes: Parity, CarGo, Cubs, Reds, Appel

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The National League has rather a pronounced divide between its better teams and its anticipated bottom-dwellers, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes, and that poses a significant problem. While commissioner Rob Manfred says that the league’s less talented clubs are in a routine phase of the natural winning/rebuilding cycle, some rival executives believe that at least some organizations are looking to strip down their MLB rosters, pursue top draft picks, and aim for a relatively distant competitive timeline. There are a host of interesting quotes, particularly from Manfred, who says that outright tanking efforts would be “self-correcting” in that, “if too many teams try to follow this strategy, the effectiveness of that strategy will be naturally undermined.” The piece is well worth a read.

Here’s the latest out of the N.L.:

  • Rockies GM Jeff Bridich has been in touch with veteran outfielder Carlos Gonzalez to tell him not to pay any heed to trade rumors, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports. While that’s hardly any guarantee, multiple rival GMs say they have received the impression that Colorado will not move its most recognizable player this winter, Jon Heyman tweets. Nevertheless, the recent signing of Gerardo Parra still seemingly leaves the club with good cause to move an outfielder. If it isn’t CarGo, of course, then the two obvious candidates would be Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson.
  • Chances are “slim” that the Cubs will make another major addition before the season, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said today, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports on Twitter. We’ve heard plenty of suggestions of ways Chicago could look to add yet more impact after an already-busy offseason, but it certainly doesn’t appear as if the club really needs to do anything to its roster at this point.
  • The Reds are still working on various trade scenarios, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via TwitLonger). Jay Bruce seems the most plausible trade piece, Crasnick indicates, but his market is complicated by Colorado’s trio of possible left-handed bats for sale. And he arguably hasn’t performed to the standard of his rather expensive contract in recent years. “Once you start down this road, it is important to continue with the tough decisions and not pull up in the middle of the project,” said GM Dick Williams. “That being said, we cannot force deals so I cannot guarantee we will do more.’’
  • New Phillies hurler Mark Appel has a lot to prove, Crasnick writes. But the 24-year-old says he is determined and able to live up to his former billing as a top-end pitching prospect.
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