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Harper/Machado Notes: Braves, Mets, Cardinals, Giants

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Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will drive the action of the 2018-19 free agent market, as the two 26-year-old stars are in line to land the two biggest contracts in baseball history.  Here’s the latest buzz on what teams may or may not be preparing to pursue either of the duo…

  • The Braves have been mentioned as speculative suitors for Harper and Machado, and Atlanta even had some interest in Machado at the trade deadline.  A pursuit of either player this winter, however, might not be in the cards, as per GM Alex Anthopoulos’ comments in an interview with Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on Siriux XM (audio link).  “We can be in on any player, we certainly have the dollars to do that.  I don’t know that it makes a lot of sense….to do deals that are ten years in length and longer at significant dollars with the payroll that we have,” Anthopoulos said.  “It’s not a rule for us, but I tend to not see a ton of value from our club that that would make sense for us….That doesn’t mean we won’t at least explore some things and see if we could line up on the right deal and the right term, but I am reluctant to go extremely long in terms of length.”  Freddie Freeman’s eight-year, $135MM deal (signed in February 2014, long before Anthopoulos was with the franchise) is the biggest contract in Braves history, though that extension was signed while Freeman was still 24 and in his first arbitration-eligible year.
  • Could the Mets take a run at Machado?  Recent history would seem to indicate against it, though the New York Post’s Joel Sherman lays out the case why pursuing Machado wouldn’t be so far-fetched an idea, starting with new GM Brodie Van Wagenen’s statement about how the team is planning to contend in 2019.  Signing Machado would obviously be a big help on that front, and Sherman also notes that keeping Machado away from the Yankees would also be of interest to the PR-conscious Wilpon family.  In terms of payroll, the Mets don’t have any salaries whatsoever on the books beyond the 2020 season, plus even Machado’s 2019 salary could be covered via injury insurance payouts from David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes’ contracts.  Sherman also speculates that adding Machado would turn young shortstop Amed Rosario into a very valuable trade chip the Mets could use to address other needs, or the team could try a scenario where Machado plays shortstop in 2019 and Rosario moves to second base, with Machado potentially moving back to third base in 2020 once Todd Frazier’s contract is up.
  • The Cardinals will check in on Harper as part of what could be a busy offseason for the team, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.  As one industry source puts it, the Cards are “sending signals they are out to be a player” as a response to their three-year postseason drought, and also because they’ve missed out on other some major winter targets (i.e. Giancarlo Stanton, David Price) in recent years.  While the Cardinals still have some hesitations about extended long-term commitments to players, they could agree to such a contract in unique cases — as Goold notes, the team’s willingness to take on Stanton’s contract could hint that they are open to the record-setting deal it would take to land Harper.  Installing Harper as the everyday right fielder would make Dexter Fowler expendable, though St. Louis could also give Harper some time in center field while platooning Fowler and Harrison Bader between the two outfield spots.
  • The Giants also made a run at Stanton last winter, and San Francisco makes a lot of sense as a landing spot for Harper, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes in a subscription-only piece.  Beyond the major upgrade Harper would bring to the Giants’ shaky outfield, Harper could find the Bay Area as much of a fit as another often-controversial star (Barry Bonds) did years ago, though obviously Bonds had the hometown factor in his favor. Olney notes that Giants owner Charles Johnson “was all-in on the idea of adding Stanton,” and the club’s traditional willingness to spend big on free agents could be more indicative of future plans than what the Giants’ yet-to-be-named new general manager has in mind.

Reds Claim Matthew Bowman From Cardinals; Dilson Herrera, Mason Williams Outrighted

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The Reds announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Matthew Bowman off waivers from the division-rival Cardinals. Additionally, infielder Dilson Herrera and outfielder Mason Williams have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville.

Bowman, 27, was a quality middle-relief option for the Cards from 2016-17, working to a 3.70 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9 in 126 1/3 innings. He stumbled in 2018 however, requiring multiple DL stints for ongoing blister issues and generally performing poorly when on the field. In 23 innings this past season, he posted a 6.26 ERA with a career-best 10.2 K/9 mark but also a career-worst 4.1 BB/9 mark. Bowman does have a minor league option remaining, so he could be a flexible ’pen option for the Reds in 2019.

The 24-year-old Herrera went unclaimed after hitting .184/.268/.414 in 97 plate appearances for the Reds late in the 2018 season. It’s been a couple of years since he was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jay Bruce from Cincinnati to the Mets, but Herrera’s late cup of coffee was actual his team debut. The former top prospect’s career has been utterly derailed by shoulder troubles, and while he finally surfaced in the Majors with the Reds, he didn’t do enough to secure a roster spot for the 2019 season. Because he’s previously been outrighted by the Reds, he can now elect fre agency, leaving the Cincinnati organization with nothing to show for that Bruce swap; lefty Max Wotell, the only other player in the trade, was cut loose earlier this season.

The 27-year-old Williams is a former top prospect in his own right, though it’s been quite some time since he was perceived in that light. He inked a minor league pact with Cincinnati and made his way to the big league roster, hitting .293/.331/.398 in 132 PAs. Solid as that showing was, he couldn’t stick on the 40-man nor did another team claim him, so he, too, can head to the open market as a minor league free agent by virtue of that fact that he’s also been outrighted previously (by the Yankees in 2017).

Cardinals Outright Francisco Pena

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In addition to trying to pass Greg Garcia through waivers yesterday — Garcia was claimed by the Padres — the Cardinals also put catcher Francisco Pena through outright waivers, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Pena, unlike Garcia, cleared waivers (as also noted on the team’s transactions log) and will become a minor league free agent.

The 29-year-old Pena registered career-highs in games played (58) and plate appearances (142) this past season while filling in for the injured Yadier Molina. Long regarded as a glove-first option behind the plate, Pena managed just a .203/.239/.271 batting line in his time with the Cards. He’s a career .252/.296/.452 hitter in 1376 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, though, and he’s controlled the running game well in the minors even if he struggled to do so in his limited run with St. Louis. He’ll surely latch on somewhere this offseason on a minor league deal, as there’s never enough catching depth to go around in the Majors and he’s a viable third or fourth option to bring up to the big leagues in the event of injuries.

Padres Claim Greg Garcia

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The Padres announced today that they have claimed infielder Greg Garcia off waivers from the Cardinals. He’ll head out west after spending his entire professional career in the St. Louis organization.

Garcia, a native of the San Diego area, has received significant MLB playing time in the past three campaigns. All told, he’s a .248/.356/.339 hitter in the big leagues. With just ten career home runs, there isn’t much pop, though Garcia has managed a 12.3% walk rate in the bigs.

Unfortunately, the 29-year-old oversaw a downturn at the plate last year, with his walk rate sinking into the single digits and his overall output falling along with it. Garcia managed only a 72 wRC+ on the year.

With experience playing all over the infield, Garcia could represent a utility option for the Pads. At the moment, the San Diego organization is largely unsettled on the left side of the dirt.

Marcell Ozuna Undergoes Shoulder Procedure

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Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna underwent a “clean up” procedure on his right shoulder, per Craig Mish of Sirius XM (Twitter link). The work was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

It had not previously been anticipated that Ozuna would require any kind of procedure, though it also does not seem to be a particularly concerning outcome at this point. The rehab schedule is not expected to limit Ozuna’s ability to report for full participation in Spring Training.

Ozuna’s ailing shoulder was a significant problem for him over the course of the 2018 season. The issue seemed to place a drag on his productivity all year long, until a late-season cortisone shot that helped spur a strong run to finish out the campaign.

In the aggregate, the Cardinals did not get the kind of output they hoped for when they acquired Ozuna, who compiled a career-best .312/.376/.548 slash with 37 home runs for the Marlins in 2017. He completed his first of two seasons of club control for the St. Louis organization with a merely above-average .280/.325/.433 line and 23 long balls. Ozuna projects to earn $13.4MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility.

There are several questions going forward. For one, there’s still some reason to wonder whether Ozuna’s big ’17 campaign was truly representative. After all, he rode a career-high .355 batting average on balls in play. The Cards obviously felt the outburst was sustainable and now believe he can get back to that level in what will only be his age-28 season. But the team will first need to see whether Ozuna’s shoulder can recover.

That’ll depend in part upon Ozuna’s own efforts at rehab, of course, and that’s a subject that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak raised recently. As MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reminds, Mozeliak offered some notably public advice for Ozuna. “If he’s diligent and puts himself in a position to prepare and have himself in a place where his shoulder is not preventing him from playing at his full potential, then I think the sky’s the limit for him,” said the club’s top baseball ops executive.

Cardinals Re-Sign Adam Wainwright

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OCTOBER 29: Wainwright receives a $2MM guarantee, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link) has details on the extensive list of incentives. Wainwright can earn the following salary boosts:

  • For games started, he’ll earn $500K upon his fifth start, $1MM upon his tenth and 15th, $1.5MM for his twentieth, and $2MM apiece for his 25th and 30th. Maxing out this run of bonuses would add $8MM of salary.
  • For relief appearances, Wainwright can earn $500K apiece for every fifth appearance, beginning at #35 and ending at #60. That provides an avenue to $3MM in extra money.
  • For games finished, Wainwright will receive $500K for the 25th and 30th game in which he records the final out and $600K for every fifth game finished beginning at #35 and ending at #55. If Wainwright serves as the Cards’ closer and meets all of those thresholds, he’d tack on another $4MM, meaning he could in total earn up to an additional $7MM in a relief capacity.

OCTOBER 11, 2:18pm: Wainwright’s contract includes incentives based on both starting and relieving, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (on Twitter). The contract’s base salary remains unknown.

12:24pm: The Cardinals announced Thursday that they’ve re-signed right-hander Adam Wainwright to a one-year contract for the 2019 season. Wainwright, who recently turned 37, had been slated to hit free agency. He’s a client of Aegis Sports Management.

Adam Wainwright | Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The 2019 season will mark the 15th Major League season of Wainwright’s illustrious career — each of which has come as a member of the Cardinals. A two-time NL Cy Young runner up and four-time top-three finisher in that voting, Wainwright has now tied righty Bob Forsch for the third-most seasons as a Cardinals pitcher in team history.

This past season was an injury-plagued campaign for Wainwright, who pitched just 15 1/3 innings in April before hitting the disabled list due to elbow inflammation. He returned after a few weeks only to land on the disabled list after just 2 1/3 innings. That second DL stint, which was also initially due to elbow inflammation lasted nearly four months.

Once healthy enough to return to the mound, Wainwright reeled off 17 shutout innings on a minor league rehab assignment and returned to the Cards to make four starts in September. He was tagged for four runs in three of those four starts and turned in an unsightly 4.84 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, but he also notched an impressive 25-to-4 K/BB ratio in that time and saw his fastball jump back up to the same levels at which it sat in 2016-17.

The question for St. Louis now is one of just how Wainwright will factor into the 2019 staff. The Cards weren’t lacking rotation options even without Wainwright, with Carlos Martinez, Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Michael Wacha, Alex Reyes (if healthy), Luke Weaver, Dakota Hudson, John Gant, Daniel Poncedeleon and Austin Gomber all on the roster. It’s not clear that he’ll be promised a rotation spot at this point, but perhaps a return to the bullpen shouldn’t be entirely discounted. The Cardinals’ relief corps was somewhat jumbled late in the season after a massive overhaul prior to the non-waiver trade deadline in which Greg Holland, Sam Tuivailala and Tyler Lyons were all sent packing.

Bud Norris, who spent much of the season closing in St. Louis before ceding that role to Martinez in the latter’s return from the disabled list, is a free agent and isn’t any sort of lock to return. August addition Tyson Ross is bound for the open market, too. Meanwhile, 2017-18 offseason pickups Luke Gregerson (two-year, $11MM free-agent deal) and Dominic Leone (acquired from the Blue Jays for Randal Grichuk) combined for just 36 2/3 innings due to injury.

The 2018 season wasn’t all bad for the Cards in terms of bullpen developments, though. Flamethrowing young righty Jordan Hicks arrived on the scene and established himself as a potential long-term piece, while righty John Brebbia somewhat quietly turned in an excellent sophomore season. Wainwright could certainly be penciled in to join that pair, along with some of the rotation candidates who don’t ultimately secure starting jobs, though perhaps the team will simply wait until Spring Training to see how the staff comes together. The Cards, after all, figure to have a busy offseason ahead of them as they look to rework a flawed roster, and it’s possible that some of those younger pitching options could land elsewhere via the trade market.

Regardless of his role, Wainwright will return to serve as a leader on a staff of considerably younger arms, and his new contract will give him one more year with Yadier Molina — one of the most iconic pairings in franchise history.

NL Notes: Kershaw, Roberts, Cardinals

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After a second straight year of coming tantalizingly close to winning his first ring, Clayton Kershaw has a decision looming. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets some of his conversation with Kershaw (Twitter links), who has until end of day Wednesday to decide whether to opt out of his current contract. Said Kershaw, “I know the future questions are obviously coming for myself…. I’ve got three days now to think about all of that stuff before anything happens. And so it will be an eventful three days for me, and I’ll try to figure it out.” MLBTR readers voted on Kershaw’s future here, but it’s up to him now, and he has until midnight ET Thursday morning to decide. Now, some coaching notes around the NL…

  • Dave Roberts’ future resides in contract limbo as well, as his contract situation with the Dodgers remains unresolved, per the Athletic’s Pedro Moura. Roberts made some questionable tactical choices this postseason, mostly regarding bullpen use, but winning back-to-back pennants is no small feat, and it would be surprising to see the Dodgers move in a different direction so soon. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes that the Dodgers could simply pick up their $1.1MM option for 2019, but going into a lame duck season might not be the path either side is most interested in pursuing. 
  • The Cardinals have named Jeff Albert as their new hitting coach, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Albert started his coaching career in the Cardinals organization, but moved to the Houston Astros in 2013, spending four seasons from 2013-2017 as their minor-league hitting coordinator. Last season, Albert joined A.J. Hinch’s staff in Houston as an assistant hitting coach. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds that Triple-A manager Stubby Clapp will become the team’s new first base coach. Clapp received some consideration for managerial openings this October, but he’ll instead move to the big-league club in St. Louis.

NL Notes: Cubs, McGwire, Nationals

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By renovating the historic Fenway Park in 2002, Boston augmented their baseball ops department with the quickening revenue streams from an improved stadium experience – a strategy Theo Epstein brought with him to Chicago, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Additionally, both Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, under Epstein’s leadership, have benefited from in-stadium advertising along the outfield walls – much like your local little league field. In Boston, the seats added above the Green Monster came complete with the ad billboards above. In Chicago, the bleachers were devoid of ad content until 2010 when a 360-foot Toyota sign was installed over the left field bleachers. Baseball purists may balk at these eyesores becoming a focal point of such historic stadiums, but the financial welfare afforded both franchises by these towering facades have produced previously-unmatched eras of on-field success. Lest we forget, Wrigley Field was called Weeghman Park until it was acquired by the chewing gum tycoon, so while it’s not as obvious a money grab as southside rival Guaranteed Rate Field, the Cubs’ northside stadium has long been financially-inspired – Epstein’s major contribution is making these influxes of cash obvious on the field.

Now, some coaching updates around the National League…

  • Mark McGwire won’t be returning as the Padres bench coach for 2019, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. McGwire is reportedly stepping down to spend more time with his family after two seasons as the bench coach in San Diego. Big Mac had previously spent three seasons apiece as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. For the Padres, they will seek to avoid an extended search to fill their three coaching vacancies for 2019 (bench coach, hitting coach, and infield coach).
  • In other coaching news, the Washington Nationals will not be making any changes to their coaching staff prior to 2019, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Manager Dave Martinez returns for the second year of a three-year deal, hoping for a turnaround after a disappointing first year in Washington. Bench coach Chip Hale, hitting coach Kevin Long, and pitching coach Derek Lilliquist will return to buttress Martinez in the Washington dugout. Rounding out the coaching crew: former infielder Tim Bogar returns to the first base coaching box, Greg Maddux’s former personal catcher Henry Blanco returns to coach in the bullpen and longtime third base coach Bob Henley returns in his usual role.

Central Notes: Schoop, Davidson, Cardinals

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Second baseman Jonathan Schoop has endured a dreadful couple months since the Brewers acquired him from the Orioles at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Nevertheless, considering what the the Brewers gave up for Schoop, they’re “unlikely” to non-tender him in the offseason, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. Schoop’s projected to earn $10.1MM in his final trip through arbitration, and that salary figures to help weigh down the 27-year-old’s trade value if Milwaukee tries to move him. Schoop was one of the game’s best second basemen in 2017, but his numbers dipped in the first half of this season with the Orioles and have gone in the tank in Milwaukee, with which he batted .202/.246/.331 in 134 regular-season plate appearances. And while the Brewers will advance to the World Series if they win Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday, Schoop hasn’t been a factor in their playoff run, having gone hitless in seven at-bats. Unsurprisingly, Schoop’s not in the starting lineup for the Brewers’ series-deciding game against the Dodgers.

A bit more from the majors’ Central divisions…

  • Fresh off his second straight 20-home run season, one which featured unspectacular overall production (104 wRC+) across 496 plate appearances, White Sox DH/corner infielder Matt Davidson would like to do more pitching in 2019. Davidson, who chipped in three scoreless innings of one-hit ball as a reliever in 2018, will spend the offseason working to become a legitimate two-way player, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reports. The White Sox have okayed Davidson’s plan and will be able to monitor his progress in the offseason, given that he lives close to their Arizona-based complex, according to Levine. Davidson was a high school pitcher, notes Levine, who writes that Chicago’s coaching staff sees “decent movement” in his 92 mph fastball. Should Davidson achieve his goal, the soon-to-be 28-year-old would work out of the bullpen – albeit not in high-leverage situations – as a way to help keep the team’s conventional relievers fresh, per Levine.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier this month that the Cardinals would seek left-handed relief help in the offseason. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak confirmed as much this week, saying (via Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com): “When you’re looking at last year versus this year, I do feel like we’re looking at more depth than we had a year ago at this time. I also recognize that I think the biggest Achilles’ [heel] right now in our bullpen is the left side.” The Cardinals shuffled through numerous southpaw relief options during the season, but none inspired much confidence, as Langosch details; moreover, they don’t seem to have a dominant lefty under control going into 2019, Langosch points out. Notably, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd took a look at the lefty relief market for the upcoming offseason earlier this week. That piece should be of particular interest to Cardinals fans in light of Mozeliak’s comments.

Latest On Manny Machado

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As he continues to play a key role on a big stage for the Dodgers, star infielder Manny Machado is of course also making last impressions in advance of his entry onto the free-agent market. His controversial run through the NLCS has certainly sparked quite a lot of attention. In particular, Machado was fined for dragging his foot and striking the leg of Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar and had some eyebrow-raising comments on his effort level. It is perhaps debatable whether or not those developments — and whatever else may emerge in the postseason — will impact his earning power. After all, Machado has a long record of productivity on the field despite his quirks.

Here are some notes on these interesting developments:

  • Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic got the comments from Machado that sparked so much controversy, and they really are something to behold. (Subscription link.) “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ’Johnny Hustle,’ and run down the line and slide to first base,” said Machado. “… That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I am.” He does perhaps deserve bonus points for his honesty, along with his acknowledgement that he “should … have given it a little more effort.” And Machado does say that it’s “just my mentality when I’m in the game” — presumably, the same ingrained approach that often produces moments of brilliance and generally excellent results. Still, that line of thinking will certainly be a tough sell for some fans.
  • The outcome of Machado’s free agency will depend in no small part upon the extent to which he’s able to generate strong interest from multiple organizations. Media pressure is perhaps overstated as a causative factor, but at a minimum it can reflect general fan sentiment. It is worth noting, then, that Machado’s recent hijinks have sparked some questioning in some markets. Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch argues the Cardinals should “steer clear of the Machado suspense and nonsense.” Meanwhile, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia says that these public developments dovetail with other concerns from some in the Phillies organization, in addition to posing problems given the Philly fanbase’s predilection for lunchpail-toting athletes.
  • Of course, the Phillies baseball ops department includes several key people who have prior experience with Machado in Baltimore — the only place he had played until the July swap that sent him to Los Angeles. Orioles coach Bobby Dickerson discussed his interesting relationship with Machado with Dan Connelly of The Athletic (subscription link). You’ll obviously want to read the whole piece for all his thoughts, but Dickerson interestingly echoes Machado’s own self-awareness of his suboptimal traits. The coach says that Machado is “a good guy” with “a good heart,” at core, even if “Swaggy Machado” is often the impression given to opponents and the general public.
  • The Yankees have long been tabbed as a possible pursuer of Machado. To an extent, speculation waned with the rise of several talented infielders, but the recent Tommy John surgery performed on shortstop Didi Gregorius seemingly increases the merit of a fit. Indeed, per Jon Heyman of Fancred, there is real interest on behalf of the Yanks — though the precise extent of that may not quite be clear. As Heyman emphasizes, and has reported previously, there’s a sense also in some quarters that Machado would like to land in New York.
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