Astros, Dallas Keuchel Have Not Talked Extension This Offseason
The Astros and reigning AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel have not discussed a contract extension this winter, agent Darek Braunecker tells MLB Network Radio (via Twitter). The two sides have talked about a new deal in the past, but that apparently hasn’t taken place in the last couple of months.
“At this point, we have not engaged the club in any sort of long-term discussions. It’s common knowledge that we had some discussion during the season last year and it was just preliminary seeing where one another stood. They approached us, kicked the tires, and got a sense where both parties were at that time,” Braunecker said.
The 28-year-old Keuchel was fighting for a rotation spot as recently as Spring Training 2014, but his remarkable transformation into a bona fide ace atop the Houston rotation was completed with a dominant follow-up to a breakout 2014 season. Keuchel led the AL with 232 innings (trailing only Clayton Kershaw’s 232 2/3 innings for the MLB lead) and worked to a pristine 2.48 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and an AL-best 61.7 percent ground-ball rate.
Keuchel is eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason and is set for a significant payout in 2016 thanks to his dominant performance in 2015 capped by a Cy Young award. A deal could make sense for both sides, but Keuchel will be demanding a hefty pay day. The hurler is currently slated to hit the open market heading into his age-31 season and the Astros, presumably, would want to lock down at least one of his free agency years. Delaying his free agency by even one year would probably put a five-year max on the free-agent deal Keuchel could secure, as teams rarely guarantee pitchers’ age-37 seasons in long-term deals. Then again, the two sides could conceivably work out a deal that only covers Keuchel’s arbitration years, leaving his potential future free agent fortune unaffected.
West Notes: Dodgers, Prospects, Closers, A’s
Let’s take a look in at the latest from the game’s western divisions:
- The Dodgers‘ front office has “underwhelmed” since taking command after the 2014 season, argues Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. In particular, he says, the team erred this offseason when it failed to meet the pre-offseason “expectations” that it would “re-sign Zack Greinke and lure David Price to L.A. with an astronomical offer, creating a rotation for the ages.” The FOX Sports reporter goes on to argue that letting Greinke go to the division-rival Diamondbacks — who swooped in at the last minute with an astronomical contract offer — sapped Los Angeles not only of half of its outstanding top-of-the-rotation duo but also the “swagger of outspending any team in the industry, on any player, whenever it fancied them.”
- With all due respect to Morosi, it seems rather odd to suggest there was ever any realistic likelihood of one club adding both of those top starters. And, frankly, I don’t think I’m alone in disagreeing with his assessment that it would have been wise to meet or exceed Arizona’s stunning offer to the 32-year-old Greinke, even for a team with L.A.’s deep pockets. After all, getting the best player by dangling the most money is easy enough to do; the real trick is knowing when to pull out of the bidding. Whether or not the D’Backs’ investment will pay off remains to be seen, but it is laden with risk, and no team operates without financial limitations. It bears noting, too, that it’s a bit premature to place final judgment on the roster construction efforts of the Friedman administration — or, for that matter, most other teams around the league — with such a large portion of the offseason business still left to be transacted. The proof will be in the pennants, but in assessing the Dodgers front office’s efforts to date, it’s worth remembering that the organization still has financial flexibility and extremely valuable young players to work with (both now and over the course of the season).
- As always, prospects make for powerful trade currency, and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America rates the youngsters that were dealt over the last couple of months. Teams from the game’s western divisions featured heavily. They combined to enrich the Braves‘ system with the three top names on the list (Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair, from the Diamondbacks, and Sean Newcomb, from the Angels). The Padres got two of the next three youngsters in Cooper’s ranking from the Red Sox in Javier Guerra and Manuel Margot. And there were others, too, as the Astros sent Mark Appel to the Phillies and four of the players involved in the three-team Todd Frazier deal either went to (Jose Peraza) or from (Frankie Montas, Trayce Thompson, Micah Johnson) the Dodgers.
- Of course, a good portion of the players just listed featured in the winter’s trade activity for closers, a topic recently taken up by BA’s John Manuel. While Craig Kimbrel and Ken Giles drew returns featuring some of those well-regarded young players, of course, Aroldis Chapman ended up bringing a much less hyped return due to the stunning domestic violence allegations that emerged. (It’s worth remembering, in assessing the Dodgers‘ efforts to date, that they were lined up to add the top-shelf reliever before the controversy erupted.) Manuel goes on to discuss the interesting question of the difficulty of rating and valuing premium relief prospects.
- The Athletics are in a nice position to roll the dice on an expensive but potentially undervalued asset this winter, per a recent SB Nation/Athletics Nation blog post, but it’s not clear whether there’s a worthwhile investment on the market. Previously, Oakland hit it big by landing Yoenis Cespedes for just $36MM over four years before the 2012 campaign. I certainly agree that there don’t appear to be any players with quite that profile, but it does seem plausible to think — and this is all my speculation — that the A’s could line up to bail out someone like Denard Span, Ian Desmond, Austin Jackson, or Ian Kennedy, should their markets collapse, or make an upside play for Cuban pitcher Yaisel Sierra.
Astros Sign Eury Perez To Minors Deal
The Astros have announced the signing of outfielder Eury Perez to a minor league pact. Houston also added righty Cesar Valdez and invited both to major league training camp this spring.
Perez, 25, received his first chance at extended big league action last year with the Braves. Over 133 plate appearances, he slashed .269/.331/.303 and contributed three stolen bases. He was non-tendered by Atlanta earlier this winter.
While he’s always been light on power, the center field-capable Perez has shown quite a bit of speed in the minors and owns a .307/.358/.402 batting line in 1,115 Triple-A plate appearances. He was once a fairly highly-regarded prospect with the Nationals and could still have some function in the majors if he can reach base enough.
The 30-year-old Valdez saw brief MLB action back in 2010, but has pitched exclusively overseas since 2012. His return to affiliated ball was likely driven by his 2015 performance in Mexico. Working for the Olmecas de Tobasco, Valdez threw 160 2/3 innings in 23 starts and racked up 9.0 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9.
The ‘Stros also announced their non-roster spring camp invites, which include some notable names from the minor league system. Among them are recent draft picks Alex Bregman and Derek Fisher as well as prospects A.J. Reed, Tony Kemp, Colin Moran, and J.D. Davis.
Quick Hits: Baez, Baker, Prospects, Market
Barring a late-breaking move as the ball drops, this’ll be the last post of 2015 on MLBTR. Thanks for another great year! Be sure to join us bright and early tomorrow for a new one that will start with an arguably unprecedented slate of unsigned free agents.
Here are a few stray notes from around baseball:
- In a piece for Baseball America, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times explores the question whether Javier Baez can turn into a Ben Zobrist-esque player for the Cubs. Baez has been getting a look in the outfield this spring, as has previously been reported. “It just adds to his versatility,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. “He’s someone who always enjoyed taking fly balls during batting practice out in center field shagging, and he’s always looked really good doing so.” Of course, Chicago will enjoy Zobrist regardless, since it just signed the genuine article this winter
- The Cubs have hired former backstop John Baker as a baseball operations assistant, as Wittenmyer also notes. The veteran wrapped up his seven-year MLB career in Chicago with a 68-game run in 2014. MLBTR wishes him the best of luck in his new gig.
- MLB.com’s Jim Callis lists his ten breakout prospects for the coming year. Among the interesting names to watch is Jake Bauers, a little-known piece of last year’s blockbuster three-team trade that sent Wil Myers to the Padres and netted the Rays Steven Souza. The rising youngster could make that deal sting even more for San Diego than it has already. Likewise, pitchers Josh Hader of the Brewers (added in the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers deadline swap), Frances Martes of the Astros (who came from the Marlins in the deal that sent Jarred Cosart to Miami), and Cody Reed of the Reds (a part of the Johnny Cueto flip this past summer) could change the calculus of the transactions that brought them to their current organizations, in the estimation of Callis.
- ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden provides his breakdown of the single most important missing piece for every team in the league in an Insider piece. Looking down his list, it’s notable how many clubs he cites as needing a corner outfielder. That market figures to explode at some point early in 2016.
Reactions To The Dodgers’ Signing Of Scott Kazmir
The Dodgers officially agreed yesterday to a three-year, $48MM deal — which also includes an opt-out after the 2016 campaign — with free agent southpaw Scott Kazmir. Here are some reactions to the deal from around the game:
- Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi addressed the signing yesterday, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. Giving in to an opt-out clause after just one season fit the team’s situation in several ways, he suggested. For one, there are several quality pitching prospects that could be ready to step in for 2017. And if Kazmir triggers the clause, then L.A. will be able to recoup a draft pick by making a qualifying offer. “In Scott’s case, he and his representation are aware that next year’s free-agent starting pitching market will probably be a pretty good seller’s market,” said Zaidi. “From our standpoint, we have a lot of good young pitching that we feel is going to be ready to contribute at some point in 2016 and certainly by 2017.”
- The move to add Kazmir wouldn’t necessarily preclude other rotation additions, said Zaidi. Indeed, the club has since reportedly reached agreement with Japanese righty Kenta Maeda. “There are some guys coming back from injury,” Zaidi said. “To the extent that adding more certainty to the rotation is an option for us over the next couple of months, we’ll definitely continue to look.”
- The Astros had interest in Kazmir “all along,” Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets. But the team simply wasn’t willing to reach the salary level that the Dodgers offered the lefty. As Drellich explains in a post on the signing, Houston could stand to add a rotation arm after losing Kazmir and giving up some depth via trade. Whether or not that might come via free agency remains to be seen, as Drellich notes that it’s possible to imagine the organization dealing for an arm and then signing a position player off of the open market to compensate for whatever trade chips are utilized.
- Missing on Kazmir hurts the Orioles, who look in need of some upgrading in the rotation. But while noting his value, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com also questions the wisdom of including an opt-out clause one year into a three-year pact.
- MLB.com’s Mike Petriello likes the signing for the Dodgers, noting that Kazmir’s recent durability has flipped the script on the idea that he’s an injury risk. Petriello explains that the lefty has varied his arsenal and proved effective over a long enough stretch to warrant this kind of payday. But, he argues, it’s also a nice value for the team given the price of other pitchers this winter.
- MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette argues (audio link) that the Dodgers can find value late in the free agent market after inking Kazmir. (Of course, the club has already gone on to reportedly strike a deal with Maeda.) He suggests that bringing back Howie Kendrick would make a good deal of sense — presumably, by deepening the infield and bumping Kike Hernandez to an outfield role — though Zaidi downplayed that possibility.
Heyman On Cespedes, Parra, Davis
There could be more great star free agents still available as we head into the New Year than ever before, in the estimation of CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. The question now is – where will they land? Here’s the latest from Heyman:
- Angels owner Arte Moreno has indicated that he’s not going to make a major free agent splash between now and Opening Day, but Heyman hears that the Halos have been in contact with Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and perhaps Alex Gordon as well. It’s not clear how serious they are about signing one of the three, however.
- Gerardo Parra is said to have “seven or eight” teams in on him and the Rockies are in “serious” pursuit. Colorado has been considering trades involving Carlos Gonzalez and their other outfielders, so a Parra signing could be a part of a serious outfield overhaul for them. Parra slashed .291/.328/.452 in 2015 and he boasts a strong reputation as a defensive outfielder, though his fielding statistics took a big step backward last season. The Royals are also known to have interest.
- When asked about free agent slugger Chris Davis, one person connected to the Astros said the player is “not in our plans.” Davis would be a strong fit for Houston, in theory, but he is out of their price range. The 29-year-old Davis is the top power bat on the open market, as he has led the Majors in homers over the past three seasons.
- When approached, the Yankees asked the Astros for Lance McCullers Jr. in exchange for Andrew Miller, and Houston quickly rebuffed that attempt. The Yankees are seeking a No. 1 pitcher in order to part with Miller, so it seems unlikely that he’ll go anywhere.
- Word is that new Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman is unlikely to serve a lengthy suspension for his alleged domestic violence incident. Heyman reasons that the Bombers wouldn’t have made the deal if they felt that Chapman was in store for a long ban.
- The Padres still need a shortstop but one person with Padres connections wondered whether an investment of “$60MM to $70MM” (his estimate) made sense for them given that they are not expected to contend this year. However, Heyman notes that president Mike Dee and GM A.J. Preller are aggressive and they might not want to pass up on the chance to ink a player like Desmond at a sensible number. Heyman also IDs the Rockies and White Sox as dark horse teams for Desmond.
- The Cardinals were another club that downplayed the possibility of a major move, but GM John Mozeliak went out and signed Mike Leake after publicly stating that he wasn’t going to make any “dynamic” moves. Could they have another significant move in store? Heyman has heard buzz that the Cards may also be looking again at a big bat at first or in the outfield.
- When asked about the possibility of Cespedes, one Nationals-connected person said, “Probably not, at least not at the moment.” That doesn’t make a signing likely by any means, but it also doesn’t rule out a pursuit.
- There are still “about six to seven teams involved” when it comes to Cespedes, Heyman writes.
- The Dodgers are still looking around after signing Scott Kazmir, so they are not out on Japanese star Kenta Maeda. The Yankees, meanwhile, can be crossed off the list as they are not interested. Maeda, 28 in April, is widely considered to be one of the best pitchers in Japan. He just wrapped up a season in which he pitched to a 2.09 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 across 206 1/3 innings, marking his sixth consecutive season with an earned run average of 2.60 or better.
- Marlins president president David Samson contends that owner Jeffrey Loria still has “no interest” in selling the club.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12-29-15
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles and veteran infielder Paul Janish have agreed to a minor league contract with an invite to big league Spring Training, reports MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. The 33-year-old defensive specialist will return to the same organization with which he spent the entire 2015 campaign, where he’ll again serve as infield depth. Per Kubatko, the Orioles love Janish’s glove and consider his defense to be at least on par with starting shortstop J.J. Hardy, and while he may begin the season with Triple-A Norfolk, there’s a good chance that the O’s will ultimately select his contract due to his defensive prowess, as they did in 2015. Janish batted .235/.313/.272 in 344 minor league plate appearances with the Orioles last season before hitting .286/.278/.371 in 36 Major League plate appearances after being moved up to the bigs. Janish can provide strong defense at three positions and drew interest from the Astros as well, as Kubatko adds that Houston was a finalist before Janish elected to return to Baltimore.
Astros To Sign Cuban Pitcher Carlos Sierra
2:50pm: The deal won’t be for “big money,” according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Sierra is not viewed as a major pickup, but Houston is quite high on him.
2:24pm: The Astros have reached agreement on a deal with Cuban pitcher Carlos Sierra, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). Sierra, 21, will be subject to international signing rules. Terms of the deal are not yet known.
Interestingly, Sierra was permitted to leave Cuba legally to play in Spain, with plans to come stateside, because he was able to achieve Spanish citizenship. This past season, Sierra looked strong as he pitched in the Canary Islands for the Tenerife Marlins in the Division de Honor de Beisbol, the top baseball league in Spain.
As Sanchez wrote back in April, Sierra boasts a 90+ mph fastball that he can hurl at three different angles. He also throws a slider, a curveball, and a circle-change. Back in October, Sierra displayed his stuff in a showcase for MLB teams and he obviously made a strong impression on the Astros. Sierra showed his stuff again earlier this month and the cash-flush Dodgers were one of eight clubs on hand for that session, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group tweets.
Unlike many Cuban players who must defect in order to establish residency elsewhere, Sierra was granted Spanish citizenship due to his grandfather’s roots. He left Cuba legally, flying from Havana to Madrid in February.
Astros Claim Danny Reynolds From Dodgers
The Astros announced that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Danny Reynolds off waivers from the Dodgers, who had previously designated the 24-year-old for assignment to clear room for lefty Tyler Olson.
Reynolds is making his way around the waiver wire right now, as he’s already gone from the Angels to the Dodgers via waiver claim, making Houston his third organization of the offseason. Last season, Reynolds, a former sixth-round pick of the Angels (2009), reached Triple-A in 2014 but spent the 2015 campaign back in Double-A, where he posted a 4.57 ERA with 10.4 K/9 vs. 5.8 BB/9 in 43 1/3 innings of relief. Reynolds’ strikeout rate has trended significantly upwards since he was moved from the rotation into the bullpen. The control issues he battled in 2015 were the first notable problems he’s had with walks as a professional, so the Dodgers will hope that they’re able to correct the situation in 2015 and get him back on track.
Latest On Scott Kazmir’s Market
Over the weekend, the Royals and A’s were among the clubs linked to free-agent lefty Scott Kazmir, and this morning, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale calls those two teams, along with the Orioles, Cardinals, Nationals and Astros the finalists for Kazmir (links to Twitter). That’s a fairly lengthy list of finalists, of course, and with so many clubs in the mix, it’s not entirely surprising to see Nightengale add that no deal is imminent.
On Friday, it was reported that Kazmir has received multiple three-year offers in the range of $12-13MM per season. With a number of comparable offers of that nature already in hand, Kazmir may very well be holding out for a fourth guaranteed season or, at least, a notable increase in average annual value. Of the listed clubs, only Oakland has added arms to its rotation picture this offseason (Rich Hill and, reportedly, Henderson Alvarez, though his deal has yet to be announced by the club). The Royals struck a deal to retain right-hander Chris Young but haven’t penciled in a replacement for the departed Johnny Cueto just yet. The Astros have been more focused on their bullpen and parted with a significant package to pry Ken Giles away from the Phillies. The Cardinals made a significant run at David Price but ultimately came up short, while Baltimore’s focus has been on Chris Davis. The Nationals have pursued both Jason Heyward and Mike Leake this winter — the former more aggressively than the latter — but didn’t sign either (Leake remains a free agent) and have lost Jordan Zimmermann to the Tigers. Any of the involved parties stands out as a reasonable fit for Kazmir, though from a financial standpoint, if one club is to separate itself from the others, the Athletics and Royals seem less likely to do so than their reported competitors for Kazmir, if history is any indication.
Kazmir, 32 in a month, recorded a 3.33 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 and a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate from 2014-15 — the duration of a two-year, $22MM contract initially signed with Oakland. A fourth guaranteed season for him could understandably be cause for hesitation among interested clubs, as he comes with quite a lengthy injury history and has wilted somewhat late in each of the past two seasons. However, he’s also a more affordable alternative to five-year hopefuls Wei-Yin Chen and Mike Leake. And, unlike some of his competition (Chen, Yovani Gallardo, Ian Kennedy), Kazmir won’t require a signing club to forfeit a draft pick.