Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Guardians Rumors

Arbitration Breakdown: Trevor Bauer

By | at

Over the last few days, I have been discussing some of the higher profile upcoming arbitration cases. I rely partly on my arbitration model developed exclusively for MLB Trade Rumors, but will also break out some interesting comparables and determine where the model might be wrong. 2019 arbitration projections are available right here.

Trevor Bauer enters his third year of arbitration following a career year, in which he had a 2.21 ERA and struck out 221 hitters in 175 1/3 innings. Although he only recorded 12 wins and started 27 games, Bauer is still projected for a sizable $5.075MM raise to propel him from $6.525MM in 2018 to $11.6MM in salary for the 2019 season.

Trevor Bauer

Bauer’s season is somewhat tricky in that his ERA is extremely low and quite rare for an arbitration-eligible pitcher in his service class. However, he also didn’t throw many innings compared to the few pitchers in this class who posted similarly low ERAs. Among pitchers in his service class over the past five years, Max Scherzer and Jeff Samardzija both had ERAs just below 3.00. However, with 214 1/3 and 219 2/3 innings, respectively, they had considerably larger workloads. Scherzer won 21 games en route to a Cy Young back in 2013, so that netted him a service-class record $8.8MM raise. Samardzija got a $4.46MM raise — lower than Bauer’s projected raise — but he also only won seven games back in 2014. As such, it makes sense that Bauer would be projected for a larger raise. Clayton Kershaw actually had an ERA of 1.83 going into his third year of arbitration, but he signed a multi-year deal and is probably not a relevant comp for that reason.

The most relevant may be Doug Fister in 2015, who had a 16-6 record (four more wins than Bauer at 12-6) and a 2.41 ERA (similar to Bauer’s 2.21). Importantly, Fister’s 164 innings from that season are only 11 1/3 fewer than Bauer threw in 2018. That was four years ago, and it was good for a $4.2MM raise. The big advantage that Bauer has over Fister is that he struck out more than twice as many hitters. Fister fanned a mere 98 batters, while Bauer recorded a third strike against a whopping 221 hitters. It seems like this should make Fister’s raise a floor, although the four fewer wins could prove important. Still, I think the $5.075MM raise my model projects for Bauer is a defensible one.

If we step away from ERA to find reasonable comparables other than Fister, we find a couple interesting starters who recently had 200-plus strikeouts in fewer than 200 innings. Tyson Ross got a $4.38MM raise in 2016 after a 10-12 season with a 3.26 ERA, in which he whiffed 212 men in 196 frames. Michael Pineda racked up 207 strikeouts in 175 2/3 innings the following season, though he only received a $3.1MM raise thanks to an ugly 6-12 record and decidedly sub-par 4.82 ERA. Ross is the more logical comp, but with Bauer producing an ERA a full run lower, he should land north of Ross’ raise.

Jake Arrieta is another somewhat interesting and relevant comp. Two years ago, the right-hander struck out 190 batters in 197 1/3 innings, with more wins (18) than Bauer but an inferior ERA (3.10). Arrieta received a $4.94MM raise.

Between Fister, Ross, and Arrieta, we have three starters who received raises between $4.2MM and $4.94MM when they were in this service class. All three fall short of Bauer in one category or another. With natural salary inflation, I think the model is probably in the right neighborhood for Bauer for his 2019 salary forecast.

Latest On Indians’ Top Starters

By | at

The Yankees and Mariners pulled off a blockbuster trade on Monday, when New York sent three prospects – including left-hander Justus Sheffield – to Seattle for southpaw James Paxton.  But before that deal went down, there was a possibility of the Yankees returning Sheffield to the Indians, his first professional organization.

Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com reports the Indians likely could have accepted a Sheffield-fronted package for any of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer, whom they’ve discussed with the Yankees. In the end, however, the two sides couldn’t match up, as Hoynes writes that the Mariners placed a higher value on Sheffield than the Indians did. According to Hoynes, Cleveland still likes Sheffield, whom it chose in the first round of the 2014 draft but later traded to the Yankees in a 2016 deal headlined by reliever Andrew Miller. Still, it’s no surprise that the Tribe elected against trading any of its ace-caliber starters to reunite with the 22-year-old Sheffield.

If Cleveland’s going to move Kluber, Carrasco or Bauer, Hoynes relays that it’ll need to receive a return that would unquestionably help the club stay atop the American League Central, a division it has won three years in a row. Conversely, the Mariners don’t figure to contend in 2019, so they were more willing to accept a future-oriented package for Paxton. In addition to the well-regarded Sheffield, Paxton brought back a pair of non-elite prospects in righty Erik Swanson and outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams.

Even if the Indians were to subtract one of Kluber, Carrasco or Bauer, starting pitching wouldn’t be a weak point for the club, as it also counts Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Danny Salazar and Triston McKenzie among its rotation possibilities. The team’s outfield is an obvious concern, on the other hand, and as Kyle Downing of MLBTR pointed out in previewing the Indians’ offseason, it would make more sense for a Kluber, Carrasco or Bauer trade to net them a cheap, controllable solution in that area.

If the Indians do part with any of their three right-handed stars this offseason, each would warrant a greater return than Paxton. The Big Maple, who’s down to his final two years of arbitration eligibility, hasn’t been as durable as any member of Cleveland’s trio. There’s also a rather strong case to be made that he simply isn’t as good as Kluber, Carrasco or Bauer.

Few have been able to combine dominance and durability like the 32-year-old Kluber dating back to his 2014 breakout. The two-time AL Cy Young winner also comes with up to three years of team control. Kluber’s due $17MM next year, and after that, his employer will have decisions to make on a $17.5MM club option in 2020 and an $18MM option in ’21. Barring major injury issues or a noticeable downturn in performance, those options will be exercised.

Like Paxton, both Carrasco and Bauer have two years of team control left. Carrasco will earn $9MM in 2019 and perhaps another $9.5MM by way of a club option in 2020, though that figure could increase based on AL Cy Young voting. Bauer’s future salaries are less certain than his two teammates’, but he’s projected to earn an affordable sum – $11.6MM – in his second-last year of arbitration eligibility. Although the 27-year-old doesn’t yet have the long-term track record of Kluber or Carrasco, Bauer may have been better than both of them in 2018, when he logged a 2.21 ERA/2.44 FIP with 11.34 K/9 and 2.93 BB/9 in 175 1/3 innings.

It’s unclear whether the Indians will trade any of their three No. 1 starters in the coming months, but their futures will undoubtedly be among the majors’ most interesting storylines this offseason. Kluber, Carrasco and Bauer, along with Noah Syndergaard (Mets), Zack Greinke (Diamondbacks), Madison Bumgarner (Giants) and free agents Patrick Corbin and Dallas Keuchel, appear to be the best starters who have at least some chance to end up on the move prior to the 2019 campaign.

Mets Interested In Yan Gomes

By | at

The Mets and Indians have engaged in trade talks involving catcher Yan Gomes, according to SNY.tv’s Andy Martino.  Reports from earlier in the winter indicated that Cleveland was open to offers for some of its higher-paid veteran players, and while much of that speculation has centered around the Tribe’s available starting pitchers, Gomes has also generated “significant trade interest.”

Gomes would be a particularly good fit on a Mets team that is looking for an upgrade behind the plate.  With Travis d’Arnaud recovering from Tommy John surgery (the latest in a long string of injuries for d’Arnaud), Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido are New York’s top two catching options, leaving lots of room for improvement.  Gomes would bring not just solid defense and game-calling to the mix, but also a revived bat that saw him hit .266/.313/.449 with 16 homers in 2018, following three seasons of below-average offensive production.  Since payroll is always a factor for the Mets, Gomes is also an attractive option due to a reasonable contract — $7MM in 2019, then a $9MM club option for 2020 ($1MM buyout) and an $11MM club option for 2021 (with another $1MM buyout).

Signing free agents like Yasmani Grandal or Wilson Ramos would cost the Mets much more money, though obviously the team would have to part with assets to pry Gomes out of Cleveland.  The Mets are short on minor league depth, though the Tribe is probably looking for a more immediately helpful return for Gomes than just prospects, as the Indians fully intend to make another postseason appearance in 2019.  Cleveland has a need for outfielders, though it would surely take more than just Gomes for the Mets to part with Michael Conforto or Brandon Nimmo.

The Indians and Mets collaborated on a notable trade in August 2017, which send Jay Bruce to Cleveland.  The two sides also came close to finalizing a deal last offseason that would’ve sent Jason Kipnis to New York, before Mets ownership reportedly nixed the trade for financial reasons.  While Kipnis is still with the Tribe, it isn’t clear if he would still be on the Mets’ radar now that Brodie Van Wagenen has taken over as New York’s general manager.

Indians Acquire Walker Lockett

By | at

Nov. 22: The Indians announced the trade, revealing that they sent 19-year-old righty Ignacio Feliz to San Diego in return. Feliz spent the 2017 season with Cleveland’s affiliate in the Dominican Summer League and the 2018 campaign with their Rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona League.

After some significant control issues in 2017, Feliz took a huge step forward in 2018 against older competition, pitching to a 3.00 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate well north of 50 percent in 45 innings. Encouragingly for Padres fans, Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen opined that Feliz was the best prospect traded on the day of the 40-man deadline and provided a brief scouting report on the athletic young righty.

Nov. 20: The Padres are in agreement on a trade that’ll send right-hander Walker Lockett to the Indians, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports (via Twitter). In exchange, San Diego will receive a minor league pitcher who doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the 40-man roster.

For San Diego, the trade boils down to clearing some space on the 40-man as they look to protect as much of their vaunted farm system from next month’s Rule 5 Draft as possible. It’s the second such trade they’ve made today, having already sent Colten Brewer to the Red Sox in an earlier swap. Quite likely, there’ll be more moves for the Friars when all is said and done.

It’s also the second such trade that Cleveland has made, as the Indians yesterday acquired righty Chih-Wei Hu from the Rays. Like Hu, Lockett will present Cleveland with some optionable depth for the pitching staff. The 24-year-old Lockett was hammered for 16 runs in 15 big league innings this season, but he showed strong ground-ball tendencies and solid control while pitching in the minors. Through 133 1/3 innings in Triple-A last season, Lockett posted a 4.73 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate. The ERA, of course, isn’t pretty, but the Indians clearly believe he can improve with some adjustments under their watch.

Trade & Free Agent Rumors: Dodgers, Indians, Phils, Harvey, Goldschmidt, Brantley

By | at

Always active on the offseason trade market, the Dodgers have been having “lots” of discussions with the Indians regarding a variety of potential scenarios, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Los Angeles unsurprisingly is intrigued by Cleveland’s pitching — as all teams would be — and Rosenthal notes that catcher Yan Gomes could make sense there as well. Conversely, Cleveland has a significant need in the outfield — an area of depth for Los Angeles. There’s no indication that there’s anything especially close to fruition between the two sides, and Rosenthal even notes that both clubs are chatting with several other teams. The Dodgers, for instance, are one of the many clubs with interest in Marlins star J.T. Realmuto.

Some more chatter on the trade and free-agent markets…

  • Carlos Santana’s name has come up on the rumor mill early in the offseason, but Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Phillies also have relievers Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter “on the block.” Reports since the team’s late-season collapse have indicated that the Phillies will be open to trading just about any player other than Aaron Nola and Rhys Hoskins, so it’s only reasonable that they’d be open to moving either relatively high-priced setup man. Neshek is owed $7.75MM and has a $750K buyout on an option for the 2020 season, while Hunter is owed $9MM and will be a free agent next offseason.
  • Heyman also tweets that in addition to the Reds, Matt Harvey is drawing some level of interest from the Athletics. Cincinnati’s interest in Harvey has been well-documented, as he won over some decision-makers in the organization during his four-month run with the Reds. As for Oakland, their search for rotation help is no secret. It’s unlikely that the cost-conscious A’s will be players for the highest-priced options on the free-agent market, making second- and third-tier options
  • The Twins checked in on Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com, though the report describes the talks as “preliminary.” While Minnesota has an obvious opening at first base following the retirement of Joe Mauer, though, Dan Hayes of The Athletic downplays the possibility of a Goldschmidt pursuit for Minnesota (Twitter link); Hayes notes that the Twins did make some form of inquiry but adds that this “doesn’t appear to be a path the Twins will go down.” The fit is obvious, but Arizona’s asking price on the perennial MVP candidate will be quite high, and he’s a free agent after the 2019 season.
  • Morosi also tweets that the Cardinals have “maintain[ed] interest” in free-agent outfielder Michael Brantley, although Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests (via Twitter) that Brantley isn’t a top priority for St. Louis. Per Goold, the Cards would need to miss out on more preferable targets and perhaps move other pieces of the roster before embarking on a legitimate pursuit of the 31-year-old. Brantley is coming off a strong season in which he hit .309/.364/.468 with 17 homers, 36 doubles and 12 steals, but the Cards do have in-house alternatives and are known to be looking at bigger fish (i.e. Bryce Harper).

Leonys Martin, Danny Farquhar Receive Medical Clearances

By | at

Leonys Martin and Danny Farquhar both endured rather terrifying medical situations during the 2018 season. It’s incredibly promising, then, to see both receive clearances that will allow them to try to make it back to the big leagues.

Martin, who was sidelined by a bacterial infection, is now able to participate in “full offseason strength and conditioning activity,” as MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince was among those to tweet. Of course, we had already been given some reason to suspect that good news was coming on his availability for the season to come, as the club agreed with him on a $3MM (non-guaranteed) arbitration salary.

That’s also good news from a baseball standpoint for the Indians, who had acquired Martin to help out down the stretch in 2018 and into the future. As things stand, the 30-year-old is perhaps the clearest piece of the outfield picture for a Cleveland organization that is facing quite a lot of uncertainty in that area.

As for Farquhar, James Fegan of The Athletic writes (subscription link) that the right-hander has, rather remarkably, been cleared to resume his career. That was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind when Farquhar collapsed with a brain aneurysm. Here, too, the news is not entirely unexpected. Farquhar has been working out for some time and is obviously chomping at the bit, as he tells Fegan he even held out hopes of making it back late in 2018. Instead, Farquhar had to wait for his skull to heal fully.

From a pure baseball perspective, Farquhar’s future is more up in the air than is Martin’s. The reliever is a free agent and will likely be looking for a minor-league pact and a new opportunity, which certainly could come again with the White Sox. Farquhar is still just 31, has had significant success at times in the past, and has had little trouble generating swings and misses in the majors, so he’ll surely be pursued by multiple organizations.

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

By | at

Tonight marks the deadline for players to be added to their respective organizations’ 40-man rosters. Over the nine hours, there’ll be a flurry of moves, ranging from minor trades (like the one the Indians and Rays made yesterday), waiver claims and players being designated for assignment or outrighted. Each will be made to clear room for players who need protection from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. As a reminder, players who signed at 18 years of age or younger and have five professional seasons are eligible, as are players who signed at 19 or older and have four professional seasons under their belts.

Here’s a rundown of players who’ve been added to their respective 40-man rosters (which will be updated throughout the day)…

Read more

Offseason Outlook: Cleveland Indians

By | at

MLBTR is publishing Offseason Outlooks for all 30 teams.  Click here to read the other entries in this series.

The Indians endured the heartbreak of another early exit from the postseason in 2018, and they’re likely to suffer the mass exodus of nearly a dozen free agents. That, combined with several impending player salary increases, a shortage of top prospects, and the looming return to relevance of some rebuilding AL Central teams, poses some difficult questions about the Tribe’s contention window. They’ll enter the offseason foraging for creative (and budget-conscious) ways to address them.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Edwin Encarnacion, 1B/DH: $25MM through 2019 (includes $5MM buyout on 2020 club option)
  • Corey Kluber, SP: $19MM through 2019 (includes $2MM in buyouts on 2020, 2021 club options)
  • Jason Kipnis, 2B/OF: $17MM through 2019 (includes $2.5MM buyout on 2020 club option)
  • Carlos Carrasco, SP: $10,412,500 through 2019 (includes $662.5K buyout on 2020 club option)
  • Yonder Alonso, 1B: $9MM through 2019 (includes $1MM buyout on 2020 vesting/club option)
  • Brad Hand, RP: $14.5MM through 2020 (includes $1MM buyout on 2021 club option)
  • Yan Gomes, C: $9MM through 2019 (includes $2MM in buyouts on 2020, 2021 club options)
  • Jose Ramirez, 2B/3B: $21MM through 2021 (includes $2MM option on 2022 club option)
  • Roberto Perez, C: $6.9MM through 2020 (includes $900K in buyouts on 2020, 2021 club options)
  • Dan Otero, RP: $1.4MM through 2019 (includes $100K buyout on 2020 club option)

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

[Cleveland Indians Depth Chart | Cleveland Indians Payroll Outlook]

While the Indians have enjoyed a sustained run of dominance over the rest of the American League Central for the past three seasons, they’ve fallen short of a championship each year, and every time in a fashion more disappointing than the last. Three consecutive losses have bumped them from the playoffs all three times, and they’re now facing yet another club record payroll (north of $145MM) in a market too small in size to support such a figure.

Worse yet, that payroll estimate comes in spite of the very likely departures of several players who’ve been key contributors during the Tribe’s run of success, including Brantley, Allen, Miller and Chisenhall. The subtraction of those contracts from the books are more than negated by gargantuan expected arbitration raises for Bauer and Lindor, in combination with 10 players who are contractually guaranteed raises on their 2018 salaries. Put more simply, Cleveland is set to subtract talent while adding payroll.

It’s not as though there’s significant cavalry on its way from the farm, either. Four of the club’s five top prospects are still playing at Class A or below, and their highest-ranked outfield prospect (their biggest area of need) in the upper minors is Oscar Mercado, who sits at #15 on MLB Pipeline’s Indians prospect rankings. Only #1-ranked Triston McKenzie appears primed to make an impact in 2019, and the Tribe’s rotation already has five locks in the form of Kluber, Carrasco, Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber.

That’s perhaps a large part of the reason the Tribe is reportedly willing to listen to offers on Kluber and Carrasco this winter, in addition to some other pricey veterans. The logic behind it makes plenty of sense: if the Indians can deal from a strength by trading one of their top starters for a cheap, controllable outfielder who can help now, they’d receive some salary relief while improving their outlook further down the road, and all without greatly diminishing the strength of their 2019 ballclub. After all, McKenzie’s ceiling is nothing to scoff at, and without much divisional competition to worry about (again) in 2019, the club might be less concerned with its regular season starting five than it is with its postseason starting four. And one could certainly argue that there’s no better time to reap a generous return for a premium starting pitcher, given the number of pitching-needy contenders and relative dearth of alternatives on the trade market and in free agency.

Of course, with Kluber being a two-time Cy Young winner and one of the main faces of the franchise, it might be hard for fans to stomach losing him in an effort driven in part by a desire to shed salary. Meanwhile, trading Carrasco for even a player owed the league minimum would save the club less than eight figures next season, so while such a move could still help to fill a hole elsewhere on the roster, it wouldn’t go as far in the way of shedding financial obligations. These factors, along with the immense value each pitcher is expected to deliver on his contract in 2019 (and beyond), make it far from a sure thing that either will end up in a different uniform before Opening Day. Rather, the notion of the Tribe trading one of their top two arms should be seen only as one potential card in their hand as they work to solve a complicated roster puzzle headed into next year.

The biggest gap in that puzzle, as we touched upon earlier, lies in the outfield. Brantley, who’s been a mainstay since his MLB debut in 2009, is set to test free agency for the first time in his career; reports say he’s almost certainly not returning to Cleveland. Cabrera, Davis and Guyer, likewise, are vulnerable to being signed by rival teams at this juncture. Martin, for whom they traded prior to the 2018 non-waiver deadline, is expected to make a full recovery from a life-threatening bacterial infection in time for opening day, but outside of him — assuming he is indeed able to get back to full health — the club’s options are extraordinarily fallible. Kipnis hasn’t had a productive offensive season since 2016. Greg Allen has played below replacement level thus far in 330 career plate appearances. Naquin’s career is full of ups and downs and there’s no telling whether he’ll completely rebound from his recent hip surgery. Former top prospect Bradley Zimmer limped offensively in 2018 and won’t return for quite some time due to a shoulder injury he suffered in Triple-A.

Outside of trading a starting pitcher, the Tribe would appear to have few ways to address their outfield need. They already swung a minor trade with the Pirates that netted them major-leaguer Jordan Luplow, though he’s more of a lottery ticket than an established, reliable piece. One possible avenue would be to cash in prospect capital for a talented corner outfield option; certainly MLB Pipeline’s #84 prospect Nolan Jones could get a conversation started for some solid targets. And with monetary funds largely tapped out as things stand at present, they’re highly unlikely to afford a reliable solution on the free agent market.

Then again, that financial outlook could easily change if the club is able to find a taker for some of their more expensive veterans. Encarnacion and Kipnis, for example, are both on the wrong side of the aging curve. The two combined for just 3.2 fWAR in 2018 but are owed a massive sum of $36.5MM for their services next season. Certainly neither player would be viewed as having any sort of surplus value on his respective salary — quite the contrary — and that’s without even considering the $7.5MM in total buyouts on the pair’s contract options for 2020. Still, either could provide a method of shedding salary if the right team were to show interest. Encarnacion has plenty of pop left in his bat, and could be a fit for a handful of American League clubs. Young OBP machine Yandy Diaz could perhaps step in and fill the DH opening should the parrot fly out of Cleveland. Kipnis, meanwhile, could theoretically be replaced with the addition or promotion of an infielder or outfielder, so there are plenty of options to fill his shoes. Certainly plenty of teams would be interested in bringing a league-average middle infielder into the fold.

Of course, the Tribe’s questions marks are not limited to the outfield. Perhaps an even more pressing issue is the club’s bullpen, which finished in the AL’s bottom three in ERA, FIP and fWAR, and has been ravaged by the free agent departures of Allen, Miller and Perez. Of the group set to return, only Hand finished 2018 with an ERA below 4.00. It’s worth mentioning that Salazar is somewhat of a wild card, but overall the outlook is bleak.

It’s unclear what viable options the club has in the way of improving its relief corps to the level necessary to compete with other powerhouse teams, but the “throw a bunch of spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks” method employed by the club in 2018 was a pronounced failure and hopefully won’t be employed again next season. The in-house group is likely to see some positive regression, of course, but creative methods of bringing in reinforcements are likely to be high on the club’s priority list.

While there are certainly plenty of issues to address for 2019, the long-term outlook brings an entirely different cornucopia of questions. While the Indians have a wide variety of high-end young talent locked up for the near future (Lindor, Ramirez, Clevinger and Hand all come to mind), those players will continue to get significantly more expensive over the next three seasons. During that time, their already-expensive veterans are more likely to decline than they are to repeat their recent performances, and unlike in years past they’ve got very few promising players under team control beyond the next three seasons. The AL Central won’t be a cakewalk forever; teams like the White Sox and Tigers are already past the initial teardown phases of their respective rebuilds and figure to be on the upswing in the coming seasons. All of a sudden, the Tribe is facing some very real longevity concerns, and it’s not unthinkable that they could make some creative moves this offseason as a means of addressing them.

Of course, even if they made next to no major moves from this point through spring training, they’re a contender in every sense of the word. Their rotation remains one of the best in baseball, and they have two of the game’s best young position-player talents in Lindor and Ramirez. The path to a fourth consecutive AL Central Championship doesn’t have much in the way of serious obstructions, so any and all acquisitions the Indians make this winter will simply culminate in slight statistical improvements upon their postseason odds. While they aren’t likely to enter next October as favorites, they’ll have a chance, and as we saw with the 2016 club, sometimes an outside shot can carry a team a long way.

The recently (and unofficially) extended Mike Chernoff has a wide variety of issues to address this offseason, but he’s also got a wide variety of options at his disposal and a relatively low floor as far as overall competitive makeup. There will be some suspense as far as who might stay or go, however, and that very aspect of the club’s offseason outlook means that there will be several interesting storylines to follow. Tribe fans will certainly have an entertaining winter ahead of them in that regard.

Trade Chatter: Segura, Goldschmidt, Astros, Gomes

By | at

After last winter’s deep freeze, many in the game are surely wondering when the action will truly get underway this time around. We’re still awaiting a monster free agent pact, but the first blockbuster trade is now in the books. For the Mariners, sending James Paxton out for a package featuring two near-MLB pitchers was designed to open a new contention window in one or two years, GM Jerry Dipoto acknowledged today in an interview on 710 ESPN. (H/t TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune, via Twitter.) That largely fits the prior indications that Dipoto has given, perhaps helping set the stage for the club’s remaining offseason work. Certainly, there could be quite a few more deals for the ever-active Dipoto to explore with that goal in mind. As we recently covered in breaking down the club’s offseason situation, the M’s have several other assets that could make sense as trade chips.

Now that the ice has been broken, here’s the latest trade chatter from around the game:

  • In an interesting side note following tonight’s major swap, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets that the Yankees also sought to discuss Jean Segura in their talks with the Mariners. Segura has now established himself as a quality regular at short and is playing on a reasonably priced contract extension. He’d obviously help the Yanks fill in for the injured Didi Gregorius — which would presumably all but take the club out of the running for free agent star Manny Machado. Obviously, the Segura side of the talks did not progress. Whether the possibility of a deal could be revisited is not clear, but it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see the clubs circle back.
  • While the Astros had interest in Paxton, they weren’t willing to budge on including top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley to get a deal done, Morosi adds on Twitter. It’s rather unsurprising to hear that the Houston organization drew a hard line there, as the 21-year-old has one of the loftiest ceilings of any pre-MLB hurler in baseball and perhaps isn’t far from cracking the majors. Presumably the ’Stros had a different package on offer that was simply deemed inferior to the one that got the deal done. Houston GM Jeff Luhnow will no doubt move on to a series of other potential targets, as rotation improvement remains a clear need.
  • Trade talks involving Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, meanwhile have seemingly yet to get going in earnest. To this point, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets, the Astros and Cardinals “have had the most meaningful discussions” of any organizations in baseball. But that’s just relative to their peers, not an indication that either club is particularly likely (let alone close) to striking a deal for one of the game’s best and steadiest offensive performers. Of course, it’s also still entirely unclear just what the D-Backs will look to do with such a key player. An extension still does not appear to be out of the question, though there have been no hints that one is in the works. Even in a trade scenario, the team will have to decide whether to try to use Goldschmidt as a vehicle to shed salary (by attaching another contract) or recoup talent.
  • As they seek to make some tweaks to an increasingly expensive roster, the Indians are receiving “significant trade interest” in backstop Yan Gomes, Rosenthal tweets. It’ll be interesting to see how the market ends up valuing Gomes, who’s due $7MM in 2019 and then another $2MM in buyouts on successive options (if they aren’t exercised). That seemed a bargain when he was turning in big offensive numbers back in 2013 and 2014, but his multi-year lull left the contract seemingly turned the back end of the contract sour. Now, though, the 31-year-old is coming off of his best showing with the bat in years. In 2018, he slashed .266/.313/.449 and swatted 16 home runs in 435 plate appearances. That said, it’s far from clear whether the bump in productivity was the result of a sustainable improvement. Gomes walked at an anemic 4.8% clip and rode a .336 batting average on balls in play — though he did produce a greater hard-hit rate (38.7%) and average exit velocity (88.9%) than he ever had previously. He also set new personal high-water marks in launch angle and line-drive rate, accomplishing the latter by significantly paring down on the number of balls he put on the ground. Given his strong reputation as a defender, Gomes would seem to be quite an appealing target as a league-average hitter, so teams that find cause to believe in the bat will surely have interest.

Indians Acquire Chih-Wei Hu From Rays

By | at

The Indians announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Chih-Wei Hu from the Rays in exchange for minor league infielder Gionti Turner. The 25-year-old Hu brings Cleveland’s 40-man roster count to 36 players, while the deal gives the Rays organization some flexibility in advance of tomorrow’s deadline to protect additional players from the Rule 5 Draft.

Chih-Wei Hu | Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

Hu, 25, made his big league debut with Tampa Bay back in 2017 and, over the past two seasons, has pitched to a 3.52 ERA with a 21-to-7 K/BB ratio in 23 innings of big league relief. He’s averaged 93.2 mph on his heater in that time and generated a solid 11.6 percent swinging-strike rate in addition to a 32.2 percent chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone. As an extreme fly-ball pitcher, he’s been a bit homer-prone in his small sample of Major League work.

Tampa Bay initially acquired Hu from the Twins in a 2015 swap that sent Kevin Jepsen from the Rays to the Twins. Minnesota initially signed the Taiwanese-born righty as an amateur free agent back in August 2012. He’s done the entirety of his work in the Majors as a reliever, though the bulk of his minor league career has been spent as a starter. He could give Cleveland some depth in both regards, though given the current state of the Indians’ roster, the clearer path for him to contribute in the big leagues is in a relief capacity. Hu does have a minor league option remaining, so he can be sent to Triple-A Columbus to open the season without being exposed to waivers. In 174 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, he has a 4.07 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9.

The 18-year-old Turner had an exceptionally brief tenure as a member of the Indians organization. Cleveland selected him the 27th round of this past summer’s draft, and he went on to appear in 46 games for the club’s Rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona League. He acquitted himself well, hitting .296/.348/.396 with a homer, 10 doubles, two triples and nine steals in 187 plate appearances. Turner spent 261 innings at second base, 103 innings at shortstop and 34 innings in center field during that brief professional debut.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top