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Brewers Promote, Extend David Stearns

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The Brewers have promoted David Stearns to the position of president of baseball operations, per a club announcement. He has also received a contract extension of unknown length.

The news comes as little surprise after a strong Milwaukee run in 2018, with the club taking the NL Central title and advancing to the NLCS. Stearns, who took over as the club’s GM in the fall of 2015 (on a contract of still-unknown duration), drew interest from other organizations this winter but was obviously viewed as a critical piece in the Brewers’ own long-term plans.

Also receiving a title bump from the organization was Rick Schlesinger, who becomes the president of business operations. He had previously functioned as the chief operating officer for eight years.

While the news is certainly not without its ramifications — a longer, presumably better-compensated tenure for both men, along with new business cards and office placards — it largely represents a confirmation that the Milwaukee club is pleased with its current trajectory. In addition to the successes on the field, the announcement lauds the business-side efforts to continue improving Miller Park and launch a new Arizona facility.

Of course, the organization also had a significant announcement yesterday: Miller Park will have a new name after two more seasons. It’s not yet known exactly what the facility will be called, but American Family Insurance will own the rights for the next 15-year period. That will help boost revenues, with a prospective new television rights deal also on the horizon as a means of potentially enhancing the income stream.

If owner Mark Attanasio has his way, the business and baseball ops departments will continue to boost one another — the former helping to charge fan interest and the latter providing the funds needed to boost payroll. According to Schlesinger, that’s how things have gone to this point. “David and I both understand the importance of our two disciplines working together as one, cohesive unit, and we embrace that approach throughout the organization,” he said.

From a hot stove perspective, it seems that things will largely continue on as before. Presumably, Stearns will continue to function in much the same capacity. Whether or not assistant GM Matt Arnold — who joined the organization shortly after Stearns did — will get his own new title remains to be seen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Epstein, Cubs, Broxton, Braves, Dodgers

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The Cubs’ reported lack of spending capacity has been the offseason’s main storyline out of Wrigley Field, though in a recent radio interview on 670 The Score (partial transcript here), president of baseball operations Theo Epstein dismissed the idea that the Competitive Balance Tax is “dictating any of our actions or inactions this winter at all.”  In regards to the $206MM threshold, “there are times when strategically you want to make sure you’re under it or where you don’t mind going above it. This isn’t one of those offseasons where strategically it makes a heckuva lot of difference to us,” Epstein said.  “It’s just sort of traditional budgeting. You spend what you have. You don’t spend what you don’t have….We have more than enough resources to win, and that’s the way we’re going to continue to approach it.”

It should be noted that the Cubs are already over the CBT threshold, as Roster Resource calculates a luxury tax figure of slightly under $228.5MM for the current 40-man roster.  If crossing the $206MM line altogether isn’t a concern for Epstein and his front office, a bigger issue could be the $246MM threshold, which would trigger a larger tax payment for the Cubs and a ten-position drop in the first round of the 2020 draft.  If this estimated $17.5MM of payroll space is what the team really has to work with, it still doesn’t leave room for a major addition like Bryce Harper, who has been rumored as a target if the Cubs can shave some more salaries off the books.

Here’s more from around the National League…

  • The Brewers’ deep outfield and Keon Broxton’s out-of-options status made him a trade chip for the club, GM David Stearns told reporters (including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt) in the aftermath of the trade that sent Broxton to the Mets.  “Teams are smart, so they looked at our outfield situation and saw we had a couple of out-of-option players who are talented,” Stearns said.  “Teams have been poking around on Keon since the end of the season. We discussed scenarios with different teams and this is the one that finally went over the (finish) line.”  In regards to any outfield additions, Stearns said the team will do its due diligence, but overall, “we are comfortable with the options we have at this point.”
  • “There’s no timetable for a resolution” in the dispute between the Braves and first-round draft pick Carter Stewart, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  As detailed by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) in early October, the MLBPA filed a grievance claiming that Stewart failed to reach an agreement with the Braves after his physical turned up ligament damage in his wrist, and he’s now seeking to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball. The grievance alleges that the Braves did not offer Stewart 40 percent of his slot value, which is the minimum offer that must be made to a player in order to receive a compensation pick in the following year’s draft.  Stewart was the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft, so Atlanta stands to be picking ninth overall in the 2019 draft unless Stewart’s grievance results in a favorable ruling for the young right-hander.  Needless to say, it would be a big setback for the Braves if they missed out on such a high pick and received no compensation whatsoever, so this situation is certainly worth monitoring in the coming weeks or months until some decision is finally reached.
  • “The degree to which the Dodgers pursue [Bryce] Harper will say a lot about where they are headed as a franchise,” Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times opines.  The Dodgers have been rumored to be suitors for Harper all winter, particularly since the team created outfield space and luxury tax space in the Yasiel Puig/Matt Kemp trade with the Reds.  Rather than a long-term mega-deal for Harper, however, the Dodgers have reportedly been more interested in offering shorter-term contracts with a higher average annual value, though Hernandez wonders why money is suddenly an object for a big-market franchise that spent freely for years.  Hernandez argues that L.A. fans won’t be impressed by a sudden restraint in spending, particularly after a season that saw the Dodgers duck under the luxury tax threshold and thus perhaps leave themselves short-handed for the World Series.

Brewers Notes: Murphy, Moustakas, Kikuchi, Miley

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The Brewers have interest in signing Daniel Murphy to address their second base hole, while the team has also had talks about re-signing Mike Moustakas for third base, The Athletic’s Robert Murray reports (subscription required).  Signing Murphy would perhaps be the cleaner fit, as it would allow Travis Shaw to remain at his ideal third base position.  Murphy’s second base glove is below-average, though being paired up the middle with an outstanding fielder like shortstop Orlando Arcia would at least somewhat mitigate that issue, and Murphy’s bat is still potent.  Bringing Moustakas back to Milwaukee would require Shaw to return to second base, a position he filled last season after the Moose was brought into the fold.  Murray also notes that the Cardinals “also like” Moustakas, though it’s hard to see where he would fit in St. Louis now that Paul Goldschmidt’s presence means that Matt Carpenter will be playing third base.

More from the dairy state…

  • The Brewers have an “extensive history” of scouting left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, GM David Stearns told media (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) today at the Winter Meetings.  It isn’t clear, however, if the Brew Crew will be able to afford Kikuchi.  Stearns seemed to imply the team may be outbid, saying “generally those types of players command a large amount of money and can dictate where they want to go.”
  • Also from Stearns’ meeting with reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy), he noted that the team is open to the idea of re-signing Wade Miley.  The free agent lefty is testing his options in free agency, though Stearns is “keeping in touch” with Miley’s camp.
  • The front office has been “fielding incoming calls in certain areas of depth, and that’s normal. The key for us is we’re only going to move from areas of depth if we can get meaningful value,” Stearns said (all links to Haudricourt’s Twitter).  Haudricourt speculates that the GM is referring to first base, outfield, and maybe starting pitching, as Milwaukee has some level of surplus in all three areas.  In terms of spending, Stearns said the team won’t be forced to shift salary to make other moves, noting “I don’t see us putting ourselves in a position where we make a signing or acquisition that necessitates moving dollars elsewhere.”

NL Central Links: Votto, Reds, Nova, Schoop, Brewers

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By Joey Votto’s lofty standards, batting .284/.417/.419 counts as a down year, and the Reds first baseman tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that he is aiming for a return to form in 2019.  Votto plans to refocus on his hitting during his offseason preparations, while also putting a greater emphasis on conditioning.  “It’s not like I dogged it or anything, but there are levels to it,” Votto said.  “If I was 99 percent ready, to be at your very best you need to be at 99.9 percent. I would never have once come into Spring Training and a Major League season without feeling like I’m ready. There are really extremes. I do feel like that’s something I fell short on.”  While Votto still led the league in his OBP, his power dropoff was pronounced, as he posted the lowest full-season slugging percentage, isolated power, and home run numbers of his career.  Votto has been a remarkably productive and consistent player over his career, though since he did just turn 35 in September, so some manner of decline wouldn’t be a surprise going forward, assuming Votto doesn’t get things figured out this winter.

More from around the NL Central…

  • The Reds have some extra payroll to spend and they’ve been linked to several available pitchers this winter, though president of baseball operations Dick Williams threw a bit of cold water on the many rumors swirling around this team thus far in the offseason.  Speaking to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters at the Redsfest fan event, Williams said that “the reports as a whole I’ve been surprised by how inaccurate they’ve been. They’ve taken us by surprise because they were so off base.  I’m not going to comment on which ones they were. I’ll just caution that in general that those statements on a guy we’re in on or not in on….I just don’t know where that comes from.”  Free agents and trade targets ranging from Dallas Keuchel, J.A. Happ, Patrick Corbin, Sonny Gray, and (before he was dealt to the Yankees) James Paxton have all reportedly drawn some interest from Cincinnati.
  • Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova has changed agents and is now being represented by the Wasserman agency, The Athletic’s Robert Murray tweets.  Nova is entering the last season of a three-year, $26MM free agent deal he signed in the 2016-17 offseason, and the righty has been solid over the first two-thirds of that contract, posting a 4.16 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and 3.45 K/BB rate over 348 innings for the Bucs.  Similar numbers in 2019 would put Nova in line for another multi-year deal, though he will be 33 years old by Opening Day 2020.
  • The Brewers’ ill-fated midseason acquisition of Jonathan Schoop was summed up by GM David Stearns “as a bad deal and that’s on me,” as Stearns said during a phone call with reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) on Friday.  Stearns surrendered some notable talent to the Orioles in order to land Schoop, who hit just .202/.246/.331 with four home runs over 134 PA as a Brewer, plus an 0-for-8 showing in the postseason.  Between this poor performance and Schoop’s projected $10.1MM salary in 2019 through the arbitration process, the Brewers chose to non-tender the second baseman on Friday.  Milwaukee did reach agreements with infielders Tyler Saladino and Hernan Perez, each of whom Stearns mentions as possible options for second base, though the team will no doubt explore external options via trades and free agency in the coming weeks.  Travis Shaw played some second base down the stretch once the Brewers acquired Mike Moustakas, and while Stearns noted that Shaw’s versatility “is a nice asset to have” in regards to the team’s offseason options, reinstalling Shaw as the everyday third baseman is the team’s “default scenario.”

Farhan Zaidi “Top Choice” To Run Giants’ Baseball Ops

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At the end of a disappointing 2018 campaign, the Giants decided it was time to shake up the leadership of the baseball operations department. President of baseball operations Brian Sabean will work to find replacements for himself and Bobby Evans, who had held the general manager role. It’s the end of a successful era in San Francisco that culminated in three World Series championships in a five-year span. Whoever takes the reins will be put in charge of one of the game’s most venerable, highest-budget franchises, and tasked with implementing the strategic pitch that wins them the job.

Equal parts opportunity and challenge await a new ops boss. Here’s the latest on the search:

Latest Update — Nov. 5

  • There are increasing indications that the Giants would like to hire Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi. Morosi cites a rival official for the proposition that the San Francisco organization is “prepared to offer a position” to Zaidi, who has worked alongside president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for the past four seasons. (Twitter link.) An unnamed source tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter) that Zaidi is the “top choice” of the Giants’ brass, with Bloom “seen as a fallback.” At this point, though, it remains unclear whether Zaidi is interested in moving over from the rival Dodgers.

Click to review other candidates and prior updates to the Giants’ front office search:

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Stearns On Brewers’ Offseason, Future Outlook

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After a deflating coda to one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, Brewers GM David Stearns held court with the media yesterday to discuss the team’s position heading into the 2019 season.  Though obviously disheartened with the club’s Game Seven performance at home last Saturday, the third-year boss sees little reason for pessimism in the near future.

“From an organizational perspective, I’m incredibly proud of how our organization presented itself throughout the season and particularly on a national stage in October,” Stearns said. “Another rewarding aspect is we genuinely believe we are set up to succeed going forward. We return the vast majority of the core of this team. We return that core for multiple years going forward.”

Indeed, the Brewers boast just three players – lefties Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez, along with 37-year-old Curtis Granderson – who stand to hit free agency this offseason.  With a glut of emerging rotation candidates, including Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, and Corbin Burnes, and regulars with lengthy track records entrenched at multiple positions, the 2019 Brewers figure to look strikingly similar to the current version.

“From a specific standpoint, a positional standpoint at the major-league level, we have the vast majority of our team returning,” said Stearns. “So, I don’t know that I would pinpoint a particular area or two that we see that absolutely must be addressed. But there are going to be opportunities to improve our team in the off-season, and we’re going to work hard to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Milwaukee will face difficult decisions with Joakim Soria and Mike Moustakas, over whom the club holds contract options for the upcoming season, and Jonathan Schoop, whose $10.1MM projected arbitration salary (per MLBTR’s Matt Swartz) is hardly congruent with his recent output.  The Brewers hold a $10MM option over the 34-year-old Soria, who stands as one of the game’s few relievers able to sustain success for more than a decade – the two-time All-Star enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2018, posting his highest strikeout rate (11.13 K/9) in nine years and again limiting walks and homers at an elite rate.  His 92.4 MPH average fastball sits in perfect harmony with his marks in the category over the last few years and again ranked as one of the league’s most effective, per FanGraphs’ pitch value ratings.  He’s surely worth the figure, but might be a luxury item for the mid-market club already possessing of an elite back-end bullpen.  Moustakas, 30, has a mutual option with the Crew for $15MM in ’19 and seems most likely to be cut loose – his presence, after all, would mean an unorthodox return to second base for the 6’4, 230 lb Travis Shaw, likely rendering Schoop – for whom the Brewers gave up a package that included Jonathan Villar, who easily outperformed Schoop last season, and highly regarded hurler Luis Ortiz – a platoon bat at best, if retained.

The only clear area of upgrade may be shortstop, where former top prospect Orlando Arcia sputtered to a dreadful 54 wRC+ and .235 xWOBA this season.  Arcia’s defense, long seen as sufficient to overcome a hole-ridden swing, has received mostly ambivalent reviews in his three-year career thus far, with UZR (-5.3 total) being a bit more skeptical than DRS (+8).  The Crew could turn to Schoop, though his mostly average marks at the keystone wouldn’t seem to portend well at a more demanding position, or pursue a trade, though the options, much like the free agent market at the position, are far from promising.  Catcher could be another option, though Stephen Vogt hopes to be ready by Spring Training in his recovery from a shoulder tear.  For bait, the club could look to deal from its a long-standing surplus in the outfield, where even former middle-of-the-order stalwarts Domingo Santana and Eric Thames struggled to find at-bats down the stretch.

In all, the Brewers project to have a ~$25MM payroll bump (to an estimated $115MM, per Roster Resource and MLBTR’s Jason Martinez) before the option decisions, so the team doesn’t figure to be major players in free agency, though Stearns certainly didn’t rule it out: “I certainly imagine that we are going to show up in spring training with a slightly different-looking roster than the one we have right now, perhaps in ways that we don’t envision.”

Brewers Notes: Santana, Attanasio, Pitching

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Despite a lackluster Spring Training performance, Domingo Santana doesn’t believe he was distracted by the trade speculation that followed him all winter, the outfielder tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  Though he said he didn’t worry about the rumors because they were out of his control, Santana admitted that “it would have been hard to get traded. I’m really attached to this group of people here. Even the staff, they have been really good to me since Day 1.”  Since Santana didn’t get dealt, he now faces some type of reduction in playing time with Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain moving into everyday outfield roles and Ryan Braun also in the mix for left field or a first base timeshare with Eric Thames.  It remains to be seen how the Brew Crew will juggle all of these players, though it also isn’t out of the question that a trade could still solve this logjam.

Some more from the Brewers’ camp…

  • In an appearance on the “Power Alley” show on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link), Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said that the team exhibited “a little bit of discipline in some of our signings” during the winter in order to save some resources for potential trade deadline pickups.  “Some of the decisions we made in the offseason here were more keeping our powder dry for midseason acquisitions,” Attanasio said.  The team will already go into 2018 with an estimated payroll of almost $93.5MM, as opposed to just over $70MM at the end of last season, with the Cain and Yelich salaries representing the biggest new outlays.
  • It could be that the Brewers explore adding a pitcher at midseason, though in another piece from Haudricourt, Brewers GM David Stearns discussed how the Brew Crew simply weren’t comfortable spending at the levels necessary to land a major free agent arm like Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, or Alex Cobb.  Stearns feels his team already has some good pitching on hand, which he realizes runs counter to criticism from pundits and fans that the Brewers still need rotation help.  “We’re flying against what the common perception is of our team.  We understand that.  We’ve also done that a lot since I’ve been here,” Stearns said.  “Look, we’re wrong plenty. But we’re as wrong on the conventional moves as we are on the unconventional moves.  We have to do what we think is right and not necessarily do what convention says….We might not necessarily agree with conventional wisdom on some players.  If someone is willing to pay more than you, then you’re not going to get the player.  When we’re willing to be the high bidder, as we were with Lorenzo Cain, you get the player.”

Central Notes: Brewers, Tigers, McCutchen, Kluber

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Second base is “a position we’re going to have to take a long look at,” Brewers GM David Stearns said during the team’s end-of-season meeting with reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).  Jonathan Villar’s struggles required the Brew Crew to trade for Neil Walker in August, and now with Walker headed for free agency and Eric Sogard (another free agent) perhaps best suited for utility duty, a decision will need to be made about giving Villar another chance or perhaps looking for another addition.  Starting pitching is another need given the uncertainty surrounding Jimmy Nelson’s return from a labrum procedure, though manager Craig Counsell said it was too early to consider whether Josh Hader could be moved into a rotation role.

Here’s more from both the NL and AL Central…

  • The Tigers will interview Marlins third base coach Fredi Gonzalez and White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing this week about the managerial vacancy, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports.  Angels bench coach Dino Ebel is also on Detroit’s list of candidates, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets.  Several other internal (coaches Lloyd McClendon, Omar Vizquel, Dave Clark) and external (Phil Nevin and Charlie Montoyo) have already been linked to the Tigers’ search, which reportedly began with around 50 names in consideration.
  • Andrew McCutchen is the key figure of this Pirates offseason, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, as the team faces a big decision about trading the long-time star outfielder.  Dealing McCutchen would essentially mark the end of an era for the franchise, though it would free up $14.5MM in payroll for 2018 (Brink rightly figures McCutchen’s club option is sure to be exercised by the Pirates) that could then be used to fill other roster holes.  McCutchen turns 31 next week and is coming off a solid 2017 season that revived his value following a very disappointing 2016 campaign.
  • Corey Kluber was a promising but unheralded young arm in the Padres farm system when he was acquired by the Indians in July 2010, as Cleveland.com’s Bud Shaw revisits the trade that gave the Tribe its ace.  Kluber was acquired as part of a three-team deal that saw the Cardinals send Ryan Ludwick to the Padres, while St. Louis picked up Jake Westbrook from Cleveland and Nick Greenwood from San Diego.  Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, then the team’s GM, said they received good scouting reports and “great analytical information” on Kluber that caught their interest, but “at the same time, no one sat there and said we were trading for a future Cy Young winner. We had no idea.”

NL Central Notes: McCutchen, Brewers, Greene, Reds

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Andrew McCutchen’s NL Player Of The Month-winning performance in June ended over a year of frustration at the plate for the longtime Pirates star, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes.  The hot streak also reinvigorated trade speculation about McCutchen’s future, and he reiterated to Crasnick that he wants to stay in Pittsburgh.  Bucs GM Neal Huntington stated that the team isn’t shopping McCutchen but, thanks to the Pirates’ struggles in the standings and their payroll limitations, all options must be kept open:

“We anticipate Andrew continuing to be a Pirate until something changes — whether it’s through free agency or someone coming in [with an offer] that we believe can help this organization over the big picture,” Huntington said.  “That’s the hard reality. We’ll listen on anybody. We have to. It doesn’t mean we’re looking to move him or actively engage. There’s active and passive engagement, and we’ll always be open for passive engagement if somebody wants to come to us.”

Here’s more from around the NL Central…

  • Brewers GM David Stearns spoke to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters about his team’s deadline plans, largely reiterating his statement from May about the Brewers’ improved play not throwing off their overall long-term rebuilding strategy.  While the club will “certainly explore every avenue” to improve the roster,  Stearns implied that the Brew Crew will pursue controllable players over rentals st the trade deadline.  “I never want to say never, but if there’s going to be an acquisition cost, it needs to be an acquisition that’s going to be here for more than one year.  Players that have multiple years of control are naturally better fits,” Stearns said.
  • Pitchers like Jose Quintana and Sonny Gray would fit as upgrades on multi-year contracts, though Stearns downplayed reports of the Brewers’ interest in the two hurlers.  “I think this time of year, we along with all 29 other teams, do background work on a number of different players.  That’s natural.  It’s league-wide and across the board,” Stearns said.
  • Talks between the Reds and second overall draft pick Hunter Greene came right down to the wire yesterday, as president of baseball ops Dick Williams tells Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters.  Both sides expressed worry that a deal couldn’t be reached before Friday’s 5pm deadline, and it was apparently a matter of seconds before a final agreement was reached, Williams said.  There was pressure in both camps, as Greene faced either a year in limbo or three years away from re-entering the draft if he chose to attend UCLA, while the Reds didn’t want to face the stiff penalties that would’ve been imposed on them for exceeding their draft bonus pool.  In the end, Greene signed for a record-setting $7.23MM bonus.

Central Notes: Thames, Turner, Tigers

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After three years in Korea, Eric Thames is back in the big leagues with the Brewers on a three-year, $16MM deal the team hopes will make him a better deal than former first baseman Chris Carter, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes. Carter, of course, hit 41 home runs last season but struck out 206 times and contributed little defensively, making him a potentially poor value if the Brewers had taken him to arbitration. Thames hit 124 home runs in 1,634 plate appearances in his three seasons overseas. “We expect a productive Major League player,” says Brewers GM David Stearns. “That can take shape in a variety of ways. With a signing like this, there’s a fairly wide variance of potential outcomes, and we think there’s a lot of upside there.” Stearns notes that one difference between the Majors and the KBO is that big-league pitchers are likely to throw Thames more fastballs than KBO pitchers did. Here’s more from the Central divisions.

  • Catcher Stuart Turner faces an uphill battle as he attempts to make the Reds’ roster, writes MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.  Stuart, who the Reds selected from the Twins in the last Rule 5 Draft, at least has the advantage of already being on the Reds’ 40-man roster, as Sheldon points out. But with two big-league catchers in front of him in Devin Mesoraco and Tucker Barnhart, Stuart will have to make the team as a third catcher (unless, of course, someone gets hurt, a possibility that’s perhaps worth keeping in mind given Mesoraco’s injury history). Turner also spent the last two seasons in Double-A, so the big leagues would be a big jump for him. “We get a six-to-seven week look at him to see if he’s ready to handle what would be a year of big league service time,” says Reds manager Bryan Price. “He’d have to play. I just don’t think we’re in a place to carry a player just to keep him.”
  • The possibility of rebuilding, or something like it, lingers in the minds of some veteran Tigers players, MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery writes. When the offseason began, the possibility that the team would trade veterans was seemingly on the table. The team kept its core of older players, but those older stars are now aware that they or their teammates could be headed elsewhere if the team doesn’t succeed. “We’ve got a chance to play one more year together,” says Miguel Cabrera. “We know we didn’t go to the playoffs the last two years, but I think if we stay together, if we stay healthy, we’ve got a chance to compete every day.” Cabrera, of course, is under contract through at least 2023. But J.D. Martinez and Francisco Rodriguez will be free agents after the season, Justin Upton can out of his deal next winter as well, Ian Kinsler only has one more year and an option left on his contract, and Victor Martinez is only signed through 2018.

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