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Derek Holland

NL West Notes: Giants, Altherr, Anderson, Cordero, Jankowski

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Yesterday’s news that Derek Holland was being moved to the Giants bullpen came with some eyebrow-raising comments from the left-hander, who was critical of the front office’s decision and claimed that his April 29 injured list placement due to a bruised index finger was a “fake injury.”  Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Saturday that Holland’s injury was legitimate, and further discussed the matter today with reporters (including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group).  “I think every organization would like to create an environment where guys feel comfortable talking about their concerns in-house,” Zaidi said.  “To the extent guys don’t feel comfortable, that’s on me. Maybe I haven’t been around as much as I should be.”  The entire situation, Zaidi intimated, could be due to the shared displeasure between the front office and the players over the Giants’ lackluster start to the season: “If we’re 23-16, I don’t think we’d be sitting in this room right now. I understand it. I’m as frustrated as anybody. But again, I want us to have a culture of accountability where people are looking in the mirror and asking what they can do better.”

More from around the NL West…

  • The Giants claimed Aaron Altherr from the Phillies yesterday, though the outfielder has been on San Francisco’s radar for a while.  According to NBC Sports.com’s Alex Pavlovic, the Giants first asked the Phils about Altherr two months ago, when Bryce Harper’s arrival created a surplus in the Philadelphia outfield.  Giants skipper Bruce Bochy said Altherr’s arrival won’t impact Mac Williamson’s status as the team’s regular left fielder, as Williamson will be given an extended look as an everyday player.  Altherr, meanwhile, “be eased in,” Pavlovic writes, both because Altherr hasn’t played much in recent weeks and because Altherr has struggled since the start of the 2018 season.
  • Rockies southpaw Tyler Anderson will have his bothersome left knee examined by a specialist on Monday, manager Bud Black told the Denver Post’s Sean Keeler and other media.  Anderson missed two weeks in April due to knee inflammation, and he been hit hard in five starts this season (an 11.76 ERA over 20 2/3 IP).  He was optioned to Triple-A in the wake of another rough outing on May 3, though Anderson hasn’t since pitched.  Anderson emerged as a solid, if unspectacular, innings-eater for Colorado last season, with a 4.55 ERA and league-high 30 homers over 176 frames.
  • In other injury updates, Franchy Cordero and Travis Jankowski aren’t expected to return to the Padres’ active roster anytime soon, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes.  Cordero has begun to hit in the batting cage, though “the work is limited” as Cordero continues to recover from an elbow sprain that has kept him on the IL since April 9.  Jankowski has yet to play this season after breaking his right wrist in early March, and the injury “is not healing as fast as anticipated.”  Jankowski was originally estimated for a three-month IL stint, though it doesn’t seem as though he’ll meet that timeline.

Giants Move Derek Holland To Bullpen

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The Giants are moving struggling left-hander Derek Holland to their bullpen, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Righty Tyler Beede will take the ball in Holland’s place Tuesday.

This is the second noteworthy change of the day in San Francisco’s rotation, as the team previously demoted 2018 rookie sensation Dereck Rodriguez to the minors in response to his discouraging start to the season. Likewise, Holland has thus far failed to follow up last year’s quality performance – one that convinced the Giants to re-sign him to a one-year, $7MM guarantee in the offseason.

A year ago at this time, Holland was in the early stages of a renaissance season after the former Ranger and White Sox accepted the Giants’ minor league offer. Holland ended up notching a 3.57 ERA/3.87 FIP with 8.88 K/9 and 3.52 BB/9 over 171 1/3 innings, making him one of the majors’ top bargain pickups of 2018. Now, though, the 32-year-old’s sitting on a 6.75 ERA/6.35 FIP with a bloated walk rate (5.19) and a sky-high 27 percent home run-to-fly ball rate in 34 2/3 frames. While Holland’s strikeout rate has surged to 10.9 per nine, it hasn’t come close to offsetting his flaws.

Furthermore, it seems bad blood has developed between Holland and the Giants’ front office, as the hurler accused the club of putting him on the IL with a “fake injury” last month (via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Holland added he’s “not happy about” that IL placement, which occurred April 29 on account of a bruised left index finger and ended quickly when he returned May 9.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi responded to Holland’s comments, per Schulman, saying in part: “He had a finger issue that he had back in spring training. It flared up. We got an MRI. He felt he could continue pitching. We felt it would be prudent to give him the time off. The decision was collaboratively made. We have extensive medical records of it.”

Zaidi also noted that “players and the staff and front office people sometimes have differences of opinion when they should or shouldn’t play.” It seems Holland’s not the only Giant who has differences with Zaidi & Co., though, with Pavlovic tweeting there’s unhappiness within the clubhouse regarding the team’s recent IL placements and roster moves.

Now, with Holland losing his spot in favor of Beede, the Giants’ staff still has two vacancies after Drew Pomeranz went on the IL on May 9 with a left lat strain. Aside from Holland, Beede, Rodriguez, Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija, the only experienced, healthy starting options on the Giants’ 40-man roster are Triple-A arms Andrew Suarez and Ty Blach. Those two don’t inspire much confidence, however, which could lead the Giants to make another 40-man promotion (Shaun Anderson’s a possibility, according to Schulman) or deploy an opener.

West Injury Notes: Pollock, Tatis, Olson, Holland, Smyly

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With center fielder A.J. Pollock having undergone right elbow surgery Thursday, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters that adding another righty-hitting outfielder “would be ideal.” However, Friedman noted the Dodgers “have a fairly high bar with our mindset being to giving our current guys more of a runway.” Even without Pollock, the Dodgers have no shortage of quality outfield options at the big league level, though nearly all of them hit from the left side. Pollock could come back later in the season to balance out the group, but there’s still no timetable for his return. For now, Pollock’s “resting and recovering” in the wake of surgery, per manager Dave Roberts.

  • Padres manager Andy Green expressed optimism Saturday that shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will come off the injured list in relatively short order, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. Tatis went down with a hamstring strain Tuesday, meaning he’s eligible to return as early as May 10. When he does come back, the 20-year-old rookie will try to pick up where he left off before the injury sidelined him. Tatis has burst on the scene by slashing .300/.360/.550 with six home runs and six steals in 111 plate appearances.
  • Injured first baseman Matt Olson could rejoin the Athletics as early as Tuesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle relays. The 25-year-old slugger has only totaled six plate appearances this season as a result of late-March surgery on his right hand, an injury that spurred the A’s to acquire Kendrys Morales from the Blue Jays. Morales has since amassed more appearances at first than any other Athletic, but the 35-year-old switch hitter has batted an uninspiring .200/.310/.271 with just one home run in 100 trips to the plate.
  • Giants left-hander Derek Holland will come off the injured list Wednesday for a start in Colorado, according to manager Bruce Bochy (via Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group). It’ll amount to a short stay on the IL for Holland, who landed on the shelf April 29 because of a bruised left index finger. Holland, 32, revived his career with the Giants last season, which convinced the team to re-sign him to a one-year, 7MM guarantee over the winter. The investment hasn’t paid off in the early going for San Francisco, as Holland has only managed a 5.34 ERA/5.15 FIP in 32 frames.
  • Texas will activate southpaw Drew Smyly from the IL to start Sunday against Toronto, Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake announced. The oft-injured Smyly, who missed 2017-18 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, has been on the IL since April 20 because of mid-arm nerve tightness in his left arm. While the 29-year-old seems to have dodged a serious ailment this time, his return from TJ surgery has been a struggle thus far. Smyly has averaged fewer than four innings a start across four tries and posted a 7.80 ERA with six walks per nine and a meager 26.7 percent groundball rate.

Giants Place Derek Holland On 10-Day IL

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The Giants have placed lefty Derek Holland on the 10-day injured list, the club announced and reporters including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweeted. He’s dealing with a bruise to his left index finger.

It’s certainly possible this’ll be a brief IL stint of limited consequence. There’s no indication at present as to how long Holland will be sidelined, but it doesn’t sound like a particularly worrisome injury. That said, the Giants’ pitching staff remains one of the most interesting in baseball from a hot-stove perspective, so it’s worth a quick look at the move.

The 32-year-old Holland has struggled to a 5.34 ERA in his first 32 frames, with home runs (seven already) and walks (16) largely to blame. But he’s also striking out 11.3 per nine on an 11.4% swinging-strike rate, with ramped-up usage of his slider helping to change his profile. Holland could yet be a mid-season trade candidate if he can refine his new approach.

For the time being, Ty Blach is coming up to take the open roster spot. But as Pavlovic notes on Twitter, the IL placement may end up opening the door for former 14th overall pick Tyler Beede. As he closes in on his 26th birthday, Beede could get his second shot at the majors after a rough debut last year.

The Giants are said to be pleased with what they’ve seen from Beede thus far in 2019. Indeed, he has run up 22 2/3 innings of 1.99 ERA pitching with 13.5 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 this year at Triple-A. At some point, the Giants will want to get a full MLB look at the former Vanderbilt hurler.

Giants Re-Sign Derek Holland

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The Giants have made the first addition to their rotation under new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, announcing on Monday that they’ve re-signed left-hander Derek Holland to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2020 season.

Derek Holland | Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Holland’s contract reportedly comes with a $7MM guarantee in the form of a $6.5MM base salary for the 2019 season and a $500K buyout on a 2020 option that has the same $6.5MM base. The option year’s base salary will increase to $7MM if he makes 24 starts in 2019, $7.5MM if he makes 28 starts and $8.5MM if he makes 32 starts. All told, the Martini Sports Management client can earn $15MM over the next two seasons if he remains healthy and the option is exercised.

Holland, 32, enjoyed a career revival with the Giants last season. Once a promising young lefty with the Rangers, Holland missed the vast majority of the 2014 season due to microfracture surgery in his left knee, and shoulder issues plagued him in each of the next two seasons. A one-year deal to rebuild his stock with the White Sox in 2017 didn’t pan out, but last year’s minor league deal with the Giants proved to be one of the season’s most productive minor league signings.

Holland led Giants pitchers in games started (30) and in total innings (171 1/3), pitching to a 3.57 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.00 HR/9 and a 39.8 percent ground-ball rate. Holland’s velocity didn’t return to it peak levels (94.3 mph) and probably never will, as he averaged just 91.6 mph on his heater last season. However, that’s not to say his success isn’t sustainable; the lefty’s swinging-strike rate jumped from 7.1 percent to 10.1 percent from 2017 to 2018, and his opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches jumped by a hefty 5.6 percent (from 25 percent to 30.6 percent).

Mutual interest between the two sides was no secret, with Holland saying near the end of the season that he would like to return to the Giants in 2019 and beyond. The lefty also drew interest from other clubs, most recently including the Mets and the Reds, and the Rangers were also said to have interest in a reunion. Instead, he’ll return to one of the game’s premier pitchers’ parks — the recently re-named Oracle Park — for at least the forthcoming season.

With Johnny Cueto likely out for the season following Tommy John surgery, Holland will slot in behind top starter Madison Bumgarner and line up alongside the likes of Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez and a hopefully healthier Jeff Samardzija in 2019. Left-hander Ty Blach and righties Tyler Beede and Chris Stratton represent alternate rotation options on the 40-man roster, should the need arise.

The addition of Holland pushes the Giants’ projected Opening Day payroll north of $167MM and brings their luxury tax ledger north of $172MM. It seems likely that some additional moves — be they trades or further free-agent signings — will change that calculus, although Farhan Zaidi strongly downplayed the chances of an offseason Bumgarner trade over the weekend. Of course, if Holland is able to replicate last season’s success but the Giants are unable to rebound as a collective unit, then both he and Bumgarner could find themselves being marketed to contending clubs come July.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract (Twitter links).

Rosenthal’s Latest: BoSox, JBJ, Mets, Grandal, D. Holland, A’s, Anibal, Astros, Keuchel

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Of the pricey veterans the Red Sox reportedly considered trading last month, they “pushed” center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. harder than anyone else, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears (subscription required). However, the Red Sox couldn’t find a deal to their liking for JBJ, Rosenthal notes. The Diamondbacks were the only team publicly connected to Bradley around that time, though there were conflicting reports about whether they were truly interested in him. As of now, it seems the soon-to-be 29-year-old Bradley will once again man center in Boston in 2019, his second-last second of arbitration eligibility. Bradley will make a projected $7.9MM during the upcoming season.

Here’s more from Rosenthal:

  • The report that free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal rejected a four-year, $60MM proposal from the Mets earlier this winter is “essentially accurate,” Rosenthal writes. While the Mets didn’t submit a formal offer to Grandal, the two sides did discuss a deal in the $55MM to $60MM neighborhood, per Rosenthal, who adds the 30-year-old was aiming for a contract worth closer to $65MM. The Mets balked at Grandal’s request, though, and then signed the No. 2 catcher available, Wilson Ramos. There’s now “doubt” Grandal’s next contract will approach what the Mets were willing to give him, Rosenthal relays.
  • More from Rosenthal on the Mets, who – in need of starting depth – are considering left-hander Derek Holland and righty Josh Tomlin in free agency. Holland easily had the stronger year of the two in 2018, which figures to make him the more difficult hurler to sign. He should be able to net a major league contract this winter, whereas the Mets are hoping to land someone on a non-guaranteed pact, Rosenthal reports. With that in mind, Tomlin may be a more realistic option, as he endured a miserable 2018 with the Indians. However, the 34-year-old was successful at times from 2014-17 under ex-Tribe pitching coach and current Mets manager Mickey Callaway.
  • Before righty Anibal Sanchez signed a two-year, $19MM guarantee with the Nationals last month, the Athletics made him a three-year offer, according to Rosenthal. It’s unclear how much the A’s were willing to pay Sanchez, but Rosenthal points out that the proximity of Washington, D.C., to the the 34-year-old’s South Florida home helped tip the scale in the Nationals’ favor. Further, the Nats train in West Palm Beach, Fla., while the A’s are headquartered in Mesa, Ariz. Based on his bounce-back 2018 in Atlanta, Sanchez would’ve provided a much-needed upgrade in Oakland, which hasn’t improved its rotation this offseason.
  • Southpaw Dallas Keuchel stands as the most decorated starter remaining on the open market, but if the Astros had their way, he wouldn’t be available. The Astros offered Keuchel a five-year, $90MM extension early in the 2016 campaign, but he turned it down, according to Rosenthal. At that point, Keuchel was a 28-year-old coming off an AL Cy Young-winning season. Now 31, Keuchel hasn’t been quite as effective since his career-best campaign, though he remains an above-average starter and should rake in a high-paying multiyear deal before the offseason is out. Having made $22.35MM in salaries since he rejected the Astros’ offer, Keuchel will need to sign for $67.65MM as a free agent in order to match what Houston offered him, Rosenthal notes.

Quick Hits: Reds, Holland, Mariners, Royals

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Free agent left-hander Derek Holland has been in contact with the Reds, tweets MLB Network’s J.P. Morosi. After a resurgent season with the Giants, which came after signing a minor league contract late last offseason, Holland appears poised to reel in a far more valuable big league contract for the 2019 season. At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR pegged him to receive a two-year contract worth $15MM. The 32-year-old Holland has thus far been tied to the Rangers as a potential suitor; he previously played in parts of eight seasons with Texas after debuting with the club in 2009. The Reds, meanwhile, have made it clear that they intend to play more competitive baseball in the coming season, with much of that improvement tied to the starting rotation. Having already acquired Tanner Roark and Alex Wood, the Reds would still like to add another arm to join the two newcomers, budding star Luis Castillo, Anthony DeSclafani, and Tyler Mahle. Though the Reds have been linked to big names such as Dallas Keuchel and Corey Kluber, those avenues appear unlikely; Sonny Gray remains a potential trade target for Cincinnati, and Holland’s name is now being thrown in the hat as a more affordable option to fill out the team’s starting staff.

Some other notes from around the major leagues…

  • Though the Mariners have been perhaps the offseason’s busiest club to date, the team likely has more moves yet to come. Greg Johns of MLB.com lists a number of trade candidates that general manager Jerry Dipoto may still move. Though it hasn’t yet been a month since Edwin Encarnacion was traded from Cleveland to Seattle, Dipoto seems intent on finding a trade partner for the veteran slugger. With Nelson Cruz now off the market, a team like the Rays, who at a time appeared to be in position to acquire Encarnacion, could move to fill their DH spot with a right-handed impact bat. Johns also names veteran right-hander Mike Leake, as well as infielders Dee Gordon and Kyle Seager, as other Mariners on the block. However, Gordon and Seager each seem less likely to find suitors, given that both turned in underwhelming 2018 seasons and are still owed significant dollar values over multiple years. As for Leake, many teams would certainly be interested in adding a durable, consistent (if unspectacular) innings-eater like Leake, who has now pitched upwards of 175 innings in each of the last seven seasons.
  • In other news out of Seattle, TJ Cotterill of The News Tribune writes that the Mariners have leveled their own allegations against former employee Lorena Martin, who in November accused team leadership of racism and gender discrimination. In addition to stating that Martin’s allegations are false, the Mariners claim that they received multiple complaints that Martin “created a hostile work environment” and that she “misrepresented herself as a medical doctor.” According to Cotterill, the Mariners have received reports that Martin implemented her own practices for treating injured players in place of doctors’ orders. In their defense of Martin’s lawsuit against the Mariners, the team is seeking to void the remainder of Martin’s contract, as well as damages for her accusations on social media that team officials made discriminatory remarks about Latino players. An investigation into Martin’s accusations was launched by MLB, which has yet to make public its findings.
  • Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com offers his outlook on the Royals’ remaining plans for the offseason, suggesting first and foremost that the team would like to add a pair of inexpensive free-agent relievers before Spring Training. While they won’t be targeting any of the marquee bullpen arms that have yet to sign, Flanagan proposes that, due to limited payroll flexibility, general manager Dayton Moore will take a more patient approach to the market, pursuing bargain veterans whose demands have lowered late in the offseason. The bullpen, of course, is a glaring need for the team that finished with baseball’s second-worst record in 2018. And while the Royals have yet to make any significant additions in that area, Flanagan also notes that the club expects to have a surplus of candidates vying for a rotation spot, and those who fail to make the cut will likely shift to a bullpen role. This depth could make for some natural improvement, even if the Royals cannot invest big money in improving the unit.

Rangers, Derek Holland Discussing Possible Reunion

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The Rangers are discussing a reunion with free agent lefty Derek Holland, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The hurler is said to be “intrigued” at the possibility of returning to his original professional organization.

Holland’s time with the Rangers came to a disappointing end after the 2016 season. He had battled through injuries but not proven capable of recapturing his former promise, leading the club to decline an option and bring an end to the extension he had signed just before the 2012 campaign.

That looked like a wise call after Holland’s forgettable 2017 showing with the White Sox, which left him sifting through minor-league offers in the ensuing winter. Holland wisely settled on a match with the Giants, who had ample and early opportunity on offer.

As it turned out, Holland would turn in more productive innings tan he had since way back in 2013, which stands as his most successful season in the bigs. The lefty worked to a 3.57 ERA in 171 1/3 innings in San Francisco, with a career-high 8.9 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9.

Now 32, Holland is certain to draw MLB offers from multiple teams. He showed an ability to function as both a starter and reliever while sitting at a 10.1% swinging-strike rate that’s near his career peak. As Grant points out, the veteran hurler was outstanding against same-handed hitters, who managed only a .164/.252/.189 batting line against him, so there’d certainly be some intriguing possibilities even if Holland is not utilized as a rotation piece.

MLBTR predicted that Holland would secure a two-year, $15MM deal, though it’s worth noting that some other similarly situated starters have failed to secure second seasons of guaranteed money. Of course, the Rangers themselves somewhat surprisingly promised a third year to Lance Lynn, who was recently added to the staff. The nature and degree of the club’s interest in Holland may well depend upon the outcome of its recent talks surrounding fellow southpaw Mike Minor.

Pitching Notes: Cueto, Kikuchi, Holland, Happ, Howard

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MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes spoke with agent Bryce Dixon about Nelson Cruz’s market yesterday at the Winter Meetings, and Tim also got an update on another Dixon client, Johnny Cueto.  It isn’t yet clear when the Giants right-hander will be back on the mound in the wake of Tommy John surgery last August, though Dixon is optimistic about both a full recovery for Cueto and potentially a return late this season.  Dixon’s full comments:

“The rehab is progressing on schedule. He says his arm feels great, he’s working out a ton. At the earliest, he could throw in the minors like middle/end of August, maybe see some Major League action in September. But it’s a wait-and-see, once he starts throwing, how it reacts. But the good news is he’s told me that his arm feels great. He doesn’t have any pain. The pain that he felt is all gone. The way he’s working out right now, I believe that when he comes back and he’s back in top form – obviously it’s going to take him a little bit of time to get back to that form – I think he’ll be as good if not better. If he can get back to how his arm felt prior, he’s such a different guy mentally than he was when he first came up when he was throwing so hard, that he’s got so many more tricks in the bag than he had back then, that I think about it, I’m like man, if he comes back 100% and is throwing like he did earlier in his career, wow, he could come back and be really, really special. Even more special than he had been before the surgery.”

Here’s more on some notable hurlers….

  • Yusei Kikuchi will meet with interested teams later this month in Los Angeles, Kikuchi’s agent Scott Boras told reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle) today.  The Japanese left-hander has received interest from several teams but it will still be a matter of weeks before he signs with a Major League team.  Kikuchi’s 30-day posting window opened on December 4, so there isn’t any rush towards a deal.
  • The Rangers have yet to check in on Derek Holland, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter).  The club is known to be on the hunt for relatively inexpensive pitching, and the Rangers have at least internally discussed the possibility of trying to lure Holland for another stint in Texas.  Sullivan notes, however, that Holland’s preference would be to remain with the Giants or stay in the National League.
  • The Phillies aren’t willing to go beyond a two-year deal for J.A. Happ and expect the left-hander to sign with another team, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb tweets.  Several teams have offered Happ two-year contracts, though the latest reports have the veteran southpaw closing in on a three-year agreement to remain with the Yankees.
  • Before the Mariners dealt Jean Segura to the Phillies for Carlos Santana and J.P. Crawford, Seattle also tried to obtain pitching prospect Spencer Howard in the trade, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.  The 22-year-old Howard was a second-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft, and he has posted big strikeout numbers over his first two professional seasons.  Salibury figures other teams will also ask, or have already asked, about Howard’s availability, though the Phils surely aren’t too eager to part with such an intriguing young arm.  There is a fair amount of other pitching depth in Philadelphia’s system, however, to potentially make Howard somewhat expendable at the right price.  MLB.com ranks Howard a fairly modest 18th in their ranking of the top 30 Phillies prospects, with seven other pitchers ahead of Howard on the list.

Trade Rumors: Cubs, Hardy, A’s, Tigers, Holt, Yankees

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The Cubs have been linked to the reliever market, though they may wait until January before making any new acquisitions.  As one source speculates to the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales, the Cubs might first need to clear some payroll space before adding to their bullpen.  Rumors of a lack of a spending capacity have loomed over Chicago’s offseason, and the crunch could be tighter than anticipated if the team will have to move other salaries to afford even mid-tier relief pitching signings.  Gonzales runs through a few of the names on the Cubs roster that could possibly be dealt in salary-clearing moves, though he notes that several of these options don’t look too feasible, as players are either coming off down years (i.e. Brian Duensing, Brandon Kintzler) or they’re coming off good years (i.e. Jose Quintana, Ben Zobrist) and thus still have value to a Cubs team looking to contend in 2019.

Some more trade rumblings from around the Winter Meetings…

  • The Athletics have some interest in Tigers left-hander Blaine Hardy, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports.  Hardy started 13 of his 30 appearances in 2018 and posted some generally solid (3.56 ERA, 3.00 K/BB rate) numbers, though he didn’t miss many bats with a 6.9 K/9.  Hardy is only projected to earn $1.2MM next season and he is controllable through two more arbitration-eligible seasons beyond 2019, making him a particularly good fit for the budget-conscious A’s.  With a rotation still dotted with injury question marks, the A’s could use Hardy as a swingman again, deploying him as a starter on occasion or possibly coming in to pitch after an “opener” starts the game.  Despite this need for pitching, Oakland could be playing the waiting game on starting options, as Slusser notes that the club has yet to contact free agent arms like Derek Holland, Gio Gonzalez, or Lance Lynn.  Also from Slusser’s piece, he notes that the Athletics will still look to re-sign catcher Jonathan Lucroy even after acquiring Chris Herrmann yesterday.
  • There have been a number of names on the Red Sox roster (some surprising) mentioned as trade candidates within the last 24 hours, and the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo mentions that Brock Holt is another name that has received interest.  A deal seems unlikely, however, as the super-utilityman is slated to handle second base if Dustin Pedroia isn’t ready for the start of the season.  Holt rebounded from a poor 2017 campaign to hit .277/.362/.411 over 367 PA for the World Series champs last season, spending most of his time as a second baseman but also making starts at shortstop, third base, first base, and both corner outfield slots.
  • As usual, a ton of trade speculation has swirled around the Yankees, and GM Brian Cashman told reporters (including George A. King III of the New York Post) that he has been asked about virtually every player on his roster.  That list even includes James Paxton, as teams checked in to see if New York would consider flipping the star southpaw after acquiring him from the Mariners last month (needless to say, the Yankees declined).  Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were the only two players Cashman said he hadn’t yet been asked about.

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