Astros Rumors

West Notes: Kemp, Cabrera, Kendrick, Upton

By edcreech and Zachary Links | December 7, 2014 at 5:31pm CDT

With the Winter Meetings beginning in San Diego, this could be the week the Dodgers finally deal from their glut of outfielders, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers would prefer to hang onto Matt Kemp, according to Shaikin, but Major League players are not being offered for either Andre Ethier or Carl Crawford.

Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports the Mariners were close to a deal for Kemp with Seattle paying roughly half of the $107 million remaining on his salary over the next five years, but things fell apart when the Dodgers insisted on the inclusion of either Taijuan Walker or James Paxton. In a second article, Dutton lists the Padres and the Orioles as the Mariners’ primary competition for Kemp, with Shaikin adding the Giants are a possibility, if they fail to sign Chase Headley. With Nelson Cruz now in Seattle, Dutton opines the Mariners’ interest in Kemp will depend on what other offers the Dodgers receive. Those other offers may not be to the Dodgers’ liking, as Shaikin notes the Braves (Justin Upton and Evan Gattis), Red Sox (Yoenis Cespedes and Allen Craig), and Phillies (Marlon Byrd) also have right-handed power bats available to trade.

Elsewhere in baseball’s West divisions:

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says the constant rumors that come with running a major market team are “comical,” but he doesn’t necessarily mind it, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “Misinformation can be a powerful tool,” Friedman said.
The Mariners are reluctant to part with their young pitching to acquire an outfield bat, according to Dutton. “That’s a little bit of a dangerous road,” said GM Jack Zduriencik. “You look at our pitching staff, and when you analyze it, a couple of those young starters didn’t pitch a lot of innings last year.“
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets the Mariners are very serious about their pursuit of Melky Cabrera. Last week, it was reported the M’s are believed to be willing to offer something similar to the four-year, $57MM deal that they used to sign Cruz.
In a separate tweet, Rosenthal posits the Angels are reluctant to trade second baseman Howie Kendrick because of offensive concerns including uncertainity about Josh Hamilton, an unsettled DH situation, and no clear backup catcher.
Sources tell ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) the Giants and Reds are great fits for Justin Upton, but neither match up well with the Braves and may need to involve a third team to swing a deal.
Olney also tweets the Astros continue to pursue closer David Robertson and his most lucrative offer might come from Houston.
Rockies GM Jeff Bridich tells Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post there has been interest in catcher Wilin Rosario, but Colorado “could very easily go into the season with Wilin.“

Minor Moves: Maxwell, Gearrin, Turley, Tigers

By Mark Polishuk | December 6, 2014 at 2:18pm CDT

Here are the latest minor league transactions from around baseball….

The Giants signed outfielder Justin Maxwell, righty Cory Gearrin and lefty Nik Turley to minor league contracts, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports (Twitter link). Maxwell received significant playing time with the Astros and Royals in 2012-13, but he posted only a .397 OPS over 45 PA in 2014 as Kansas City moved on to other outfield options. He elected to become a free agent in October. Gearrin posted a 4.28 ERA, 8.8 K/9, and 2.06 K/BB rate in 69 1/3 IP out of the Braves bullpen from 2011-13 and missed all of 2014 due to Tommy John surgery. Turley, a 50th-round draft pick for the Yankees in 2008, has a 3.41 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 2.1 K/BB rate over 551 1/3 career minor league innings in New York’s system.
Also from Eddy, the Tigers signed right-handers Rafael Dolis and Alberto Cabrera to minor league contracts. The two righties are both 26 years old, both originally signed amateur contracts out of the Dominican Republic with the Cubs and both last pitched in the majors in 2013. Cabrera has a 5.20 ERA over 27 2/3 IP in the bigs, while Dolis has a 5.48 ERA over 44 1/3 IP. (Dolis spent last season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.)
The Rockies signed left-hander Buddy Boshers to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports. Boshers’ Major League resume consists of 15 1/3 relief innings for the Angels in 2013, and the 2008 fourth-rounder has a 3.67 ERA, 2.43 K/BB rate and 448 strikeouts over 446 1/3 IP over seven seasons in the Angels’ farm system.
Right-hander Anthony Bass has elected to become a free agent, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter link). Bass was outrighted off the Astros’ 40-man roster last month. As Drellich notes, Bass was hampered by an intercostal strain in 2014 and only pitched 27 innings for the Astros, posting a 6.33 ERA and an equal amount of strikeouts (seven) and walks.
The Indians signed catcher Adam Moore to a minor league deal that contains a Spring Training invitation, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reports (Twitter link). Moore appeared in 60 games with the Mariners in 2010 but has since appeared in only 20 Major League games scattered over the last four seasons with Seattle, Kansas City and San Diego. The Padres outrighted Moore off their 40-man roster last month.
The Angels signed left-handers Adam Wilk and Edgar Ibarra, the team announced (via Twitter). Wilk, 26, appeared in eight games with the Tigers in 2011-12 and has since pitched in South Korea and for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate. Ibarra is only 25 years old but already has nine years of pro experience, posting a 4.13 ERA, 2.03 K/BB and 7.8 K/9 over 654 innings in the Twins’ minor league system.

Free Agent Notes: Top Pitchers, Rios, Royals, Everth, Astros

By Steve Adams | December 5, 2014 at 8:37pm CDT

With the Winter Meetings nearly upon us, ESPN’s Jayson Stark spoke to nine baseball executives regarding the “Big Three” starting pitchers on this year’s free agent market — Max Scherzer, Jon Lester and James Shields — and asked when and where they will sign. While answers as to when Scherzer will sign varied, there was a much tighter window on Lester, with all nine believing he will sign between Dec. 8 and Dec. 13. The execs polled by Stark feel that Shields’ market is tied so closely to Lester that he will sign within two weeks of Lester and perhaps even as soon as next week’s Winter Meetings. Many identified Shields as a fallback for teams that miss on Lester. Execs picked Lester to sign with the usual suspects at this point: the Red Sox, Cubs, Giants or Dodgers. Interestingly, Scherzer’s landing spot was predicted to be the Yankees, Nationals, Cubs or Tigers, by the five who were willing to wager a guess on that outcome.

A few more notes pertaining to free agency…

The Mariners, Royals, and Indians have all checked in on Alex Rios, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Rios, who joined the Boras Corporation earlier this offseason, has had a fairly quiet market to this point, though one would expect interest to pick up now that Nelson Cruz, Torii Hunter and Yasmany Tomas are off the market.
The Royals are looking for a right fielder and a starting pitcher but likely only have the available funds to make a “significant” investment in one of the two areas, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. The Royals may have to bargain shop for the other, he notes. Kansas City has invested a modest amount of its available funds to the bullpen in the past week, re-signing righties Jason Frasor and Luke Hochevar. However, it’s at least worth noting that Hochevar’s contract reportedly contains performance incentives tied to starting (though it also contains relief incentives).
Though the Mets are in need of a shortstop, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin writes that recently non-tendered Padres speedster Everth Cabrera is not a consideration. Though he’s talented and has twice led the NL in stolen bases, Cabrera has a good deal of off-field issues on his record, including a 50-game PED suspension and more recent legal issues, as he’s been charged with resisting arrest after being stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence of marijuana. (Cabrera plead not guilty to those charges today, per the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders.)
Lefty reliever Craig Breslow is drawing significant interest, but his timetable to sign is currently dependent on the rest of the relief market, tweets WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. Breslow is coming off a down season but has a strong track record. Interest in Breslow and other relievers could intensify now that Andrew Miller is off the board, I would think.
Though the Astros missed out on Miller even after offering him more money than the Yankees did, they’re still on the hunt for relievers, tweets Heyman. Houston remains interested in David Robertson, Sergio Romo and others.

Details On The Pursuit And Signing Of Andrew Miller

By Jeff Todd | December 5, 2014 at 7:05pm CDT

Southpaw reliever Andrew Miller is headed to the Yankees. GM Brian Cashman addressed the signing in a conference call, and his comments will appear shortly in a separate post.

Here are some notable links regarding the signing:

The Astros and Red Sox appear to have been the other finalists for Miller. Houston was in it “to the end,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. In fact, the Astros were the high bidder, and were the team that had a $40MM offer out for the lefty, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports on Twitter.
There are conflicting reports on just how high Boston was willing to go. The team made a four-year offer that Miller “strongly considered,” according to Jason Mastrodonato of MassLive.com. On the other hand, GM Ben Cherington left Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) with the impression that his club was not willing to bid up to the level of the Yankees and Astros, and may not have offered a fourth year. And Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald tweets that the Sox were not willing to guarantee the final year of the pact.
UPDATE: The Red Sox were willing to go to four years at a lower AAV, with more incentives involved, per a tweet from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. And indeed a four-year offer was on the table, Cafardo tweets.
The Dodgers were not willing to add a fourth year, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. Contract length also played a role in the team’s decision not to push for Zach Duke, though Los Angeles had interest in him, Rosenthal adds.
One reason that the Yankees upped their bid for Miller was that the team found other possible upgrades to be too expensive, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Cashman told reporters that the team added $4MM to its offer upon learning that Miller had $40MM on the table.
In an interview with Rosenthal, Miller explained that the Yankees were able to offer a total package that no other team could. Specifically, Miller said that he placed a high value on the fact that the Yankees train in the Tampa area, where he lives. He also feels comfortable staying in the AL East. “Money wasn’t everything,” Miller explained. “The teams that negotiated with us were fully aware of that as well. In the total package, the Yankees had the best offer for me personally.” Miller added that the Astros made a very appealing overall bid.

AL West Notes: Astros, Iwakuma, Happ, Rangers

By | December 4, 2014 at 11:55pm CDT

Astros GM Jon Daniels talked Winter Meetings with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Among the topics were rumors surrounding Dexter Fowler and Jason Castro. Luhnow says teams have called on both players, but Houston is not actively seeking to deal either of them. Luhnow is particularly happy with his catching depth, which includes Castro, Hank Conger, Carlos Corporan, and Max Stassi. He also pointed out the club is open to trading prospects in the right deal, as they did with Jordan Lyles, Jarred Cosart, and Nick Tropeano.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik reiterated that pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma will not be traded, tweets Greg Johns of MLB.com. Iwakuma, 34 next season, has been excellent when healthy. Unfortunately, he’s also missed parts of two out of three major league seasons.
The Mariners are already receiving calls on recently acquired starter J.A. Happ, tweets Kevin Shockey of SportsRadioKJR.com. My guess is that teams are looking to gauge how the Mariners plan to use Happ. The southpaw quietly added two mph to his fastball last season and adjusted his repertoire as a result. Some clubs may view him as a possible breakout target.
One option to replace outfielder Michael Saunders is infielder Brad Miller, writes Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle. The club’s outfield coach called him a natural, and he does appear to be blocked by Robinson Cano, Chris Taylor, and Kyle Seager in the infield. Taylor is obviously the weak link of the trio. After a solid but flawed debut, he could relinquish the job back to Miller.
Rangers GM Jon Daniels would like to add at least one more starter, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Another area of concern for the club – catcher – could be solved by a familiar face. When asked about former Ranger Geovany Soto (via Twitter), Daniels said “the door’s open.” Soto spent parts of the last three seasons as the Rangers backup catcher.

Andrew Miller Nearing Decision

By Steve Adams | December 4, 2014 at 7:59am CDT

TODAY, 7:59am: Miller is expected to make a decision today or tomorrow, an executive who had been involved with the bidding tells Sherman (Twitter link).

YESTERDAY, 10:00pm: The Astros appear unlikely to land Miller, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports.

9:40pm: New York appears to be willing to give Miller a fourth year, Heyman adds on Twitter.

8:08pm: The Yankees appear to be one of two or three finalists, Heyman writes. He says that the Dodgers seem to be back in the pack now, while the Astros remain a “possible threat.” The Red Sox, meanwhile, “seem to be out on Miller at the moment,” according to Heyman.

2:25pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Yankees do have serious interest in Miller, but their stance is much the same as it is regarding David Robertson: they’ll give three guaranteed years but are hesitant to lock in the fourth season.

1:38pm: Andrew Miller is moving closer to a contract that will guarantee him close to $40MM over a four-year term, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, and the Yankees and Dodgers are two of the teams in play. Heyman writes that the Red Sox appear to be out of the bidding at this point, and Miller could reach an agreement within the next 48 hours.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports recently indicated that the Red Sox are still showing strong interest, and he also listed the Astros as a club with serious interest. The 29-year-old Miller is coming off an elite season in which he posted a combined 2.02 ERA with 14.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 62 1/3 regular season innings between the Red Sox and Orioles. He added 7 1/3 scoreless frames with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio in the postseason as well.

The proposed figures would shatter the record for a non-closing reliever. Scott Linebrink previously signed a four-year, $19MM with the White Sox, which stands out as the largest guarantee. Tim Dierkes made a fairly aggressive four-year, $32MM projection back in late October, and it seems that Miller is poised to top that number.

Free Agent Notes: Melky, Ervin, Headley, Miller, Soto

By Steve Adams | December 3, 2014 at 1:11pm CDT

The Royals have reached out to a familiar name in the form of Melky Cabrera, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. It’s not clear if the Royals are able to afford Cabrera, who is said by Heyman to be seeking “at least” a five-year deal. He notes that the Reds have also contacted Cabrera’s camp. Additionally, Heyman lists the Mariners, Orioles and White Sox as speculative fits. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets that the Blue Jays are still in touch with Cabrera as well. As many have pointed out, Toronto has just three outfielders on its 40-man roster at present. I profiled Cabrera in early October and projected a five-year deal worth just over $66MM.

Some more notes from the free agent market…

Also seeking a five-year deal is right-hander Ervin Santana, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. Santana is among the best of the bunch in the second tier of free agent starters, and he’s been rumored to have mutual interest with the Royals. However, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets that the Royals’ comfort level is at three years with Santana. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes projected a four-year, $56MM contract for Santana.
Continuing on the theme of five-year contracts, Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York reports that the Yankees aren’t willing to give Chase Headley a five-year deal, and it’s believed by some that five years is now his asking price in the wake of both Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez signing in Boston. An alternative for the Yankees, Matthews writes, is to play Martin Prado at third base regularly and give prospect Rob Refsnyder a chance to be the everyday second baseman.
The Yankees, Red Sox and Astros are all continuing to show strong interest in free agent lefty Andrew Miller, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Miller is believed to be headed for a four-year deal, and the Astros have been somewhat surprisingly linked to him and fellow top reliever David Robertson.
Geovany Soto is currently talking to five or six teams, tweets Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. A reunion between Soto and the Rangers is a definite possibility, per Cotillo. The free agent market for catchers has few options remaining, putting Soto in a relatively good spot.
Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports that 10 teams, including the Tigers, have reached out to free agent righty Ronald Belisario after he was designated for assignment by the White Sox and chose to elect free agency (Twitter link). Belisario has a track record of success but struggled in 2014 despite maintaining his velocity and ground-ball rate.
Nyjer Morgan is eyeing a return to the Majors and has drawn interest from both MLB and Asian clubs, tweets Cotillo. The 34-year-old spent a bit of time with the Indians last season but had his Cleveland tenure cut short by injury.

2014-15 American League Non-Tenders

By Jeff Todd | December 2, 2014 at 11:18pm CDT

Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2015 season. We’ll run down the list of American League non-tenders here, and update it as reports come in. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR’s Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates (in the estimation of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes). Also important for reference is the set of arbitration salary projections from MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz. Click here for an explanation of the process, and be sure to check out this piece featuring some interesting observations from Tim regarding non-tender considerations.

Slade Heathcott, Jose Campos, and David Huff have all been non-tendered by the Yankees, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter.
The Twins have tendered contracts to all arb-eligible players, per MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (Twitter link).
Third baseman Carlos Rivero is the only non-tender for the Mariners, the club announced. Rivero was not yet arbitration eligible.
The Astros have tendered contracts to all arb-eligible players, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports on Twitter.
The Royals have non-tendered lefty Francisley Bueno, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports on Twitter. He was not yet eligible for arbitration.
As expected, the Tigers have offered arbitration to all eligible players, Anthony Fench of the Detroit Free Press tweets.
The Athletics have declined to offer arbitration to Kyle Blanks and Andrew Brown, the team announced. Both had previously been designated for assignment. Oakland will retain control over the remainder of its eligible players, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
As with several other clubs, the Rays will proceed without any non-tenders, the club announced (per a tweet from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times).
Likewise, the Orioles have tendered contracts to each of their eleven arb-eligible players, the team announced.
The Indians have tendered contracts to all five eligible players, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). Cleveland had a fairly straightforward group. Indeed, Dierkes did not list any players as reasonable NT candidates.
Scott Snodgress and Scott Carroll have been non-tendered by the White Sox, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com tweets. Both players were pre-arbitration eligible, meaning that Chicago could have renewed them at the MLB minimum.
The Red Sox have non-tendered third baseman Juan Francisco but will otherwise tender contracts to all eligible players, the club announced (h/t to Jason Mastrodonato of MassLive.com, via Twitter). Francisco had already been designated for assignment, making this one of the day’s least surprising moves.

Trade Notes: Hamels, Fowler, Cespedes, Murphy

By Jeff Todd | December 2, 2014 at 10:46pm CDT

In the midst of a run of arbitration information, there were a few interesting reports on some trade situations percolating around the game. Let’s have a look …

The Phillies are conducting “intensive homework” on the Dodgers’ minor league system in anticipation of trying to work out a deal involving Cole Hamels, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. The trade market for Hamels still seems to be in a holding pattern, along with much of the rest of the non-Jon Lester pitching market.
Dexter Fowler’s name has come up in trade talks between the Blue Jays and Astros, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports (Twitter link). Fowler, who projects to earn $9MM through arbitration (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) in his final year of team control, would be an interesting potential add for Toronto. The 28-year-old switch-hitter is capable of playing center but could also line up in the corner. He has been a consistently solid performer at the plate, though defensive metrics have wavered on his value in the field.
Reds GM Walt Jocketty says that his club has not discussed Yoenis Cespedes with the Red Sox, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports via Twitter. There has been some speculation recently about a possible match, fueled in part by a recent spate of rumors, but it appears that nothing is in the works in that respect.
There has not been much of any action surrounding Daniel Murphy of the Mets, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The second baseman may have a “greater perceived value” to his current club, and their fans, than to outside entities, Sherman suggests. New York may prefer to try other means of opening payroll flexibility now, holding onto Murphy and reassessing at the trade deadline.

NL Notes: Tomas, Liriano, Marlins, Harper, Braves, Gattis

By Jeff Todd | December 1, 2014 at 10:07pm CDT

The Phillies never made an offer for outfielder Yasmany Tomas, agent Jay Alou Jr. tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Alou said that the club was engaged throughout the process, but that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. gave the impression that he had to “clear salary” before he could put dollars on the table. “His hands were tied,” Alou said in reference to Amaro. For his part, Amaro said only that “it was clear the Diamondbacks valued him higher than we did.” The ownership group has not created any “impediments” to his baseball operations staff, he added.

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