Cardinals Rumors

Cardinals Interested In Japanese Closer Yoshihisa Hirano

By Steve Adams | October 4, 2017 at 11:16am CDT

Intent on fortifying their bullpen for the 2018 season, the Cardinals have interest in Japanese closer Yoshihisa Hirano, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Set to turn 34 years of age next March, Hirano has long been a dominant closer in Japan, amassing 143 saves with a 2.62 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 through 271 1/3 innings from 2013-17. Hirano started his career in the Buffaloes’ rotation, and like many starters who struggle early in their career eventually found new life as a member of the Orix bullpen. Since shifting to a relief role full time in 2010, he owns a 2.32 ERA and a 564-to-123 K/BB ratio in 515 1/3 innings, although this season’s 7.5 K/9 mark was his lowest since becoming a full-time reliever.

Hirano easily exceeds the age and experience limitations to qualify as a professional under Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, meaning he won’t be subject to international bonus pools. He’s also spent 11 seasons pitching professionally in Japan (all with the Buffaloes), giving him the requisite service time in Nippon Professional Baseball to qualify as a free agent that is exempt from the posting system. In other words, Hirano is free to sign with any professional club on the planet for any amount this offseason.

The Cardinals are no stranger to dipping into the international market to bolster their relief corps, having done so two offseasons ago when signing right-hander Seung-hwan Oh. Certainly, their level of interest figures to be preliminary at this stage. The NPB season is still in progress over in Japan, and the Cardinals have no way of knowing exactly what type of contract Hirano will be seeking, nor do they know how he’ll fit in alongside the asking prices of the upcoming winter’s crop of free-agent relievers. Given his success in the Orix bullpen over the past several seasons, however, Hirano will be a name worth remembering as the offseason wears on and teams explore all possible avenues to deepen their pitching staffs.

Other teams figure to at least kick the tires on Hirano this offseason, as they’ve had no shortage of opportunities to scout the righty over his lengthy NPB career. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer doesn’t explicitly state that the Reds have interest in Hirano, though he does note (Twitter link) that GM Dick Williams’ most recent trip to Japan was likely for the purposes of scouting more than just Shohei Otani, specifically listing Hirano as an example of another player that Williams could have been evaluating.

Cardinals Notes: Offseason, Closers, Hitting, Fowler, Lynn

By Mark Polishuk | October 3, 2017 at 6:26pm CDT

Some items from the Cardinals’ season-end press conference, as per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (link one, link two)…

The Cards will be looking for a middle-of-the-lineup slugger this winter to boost the lineup. “For us, we have a talented team, but when you look at our club, no one stood out as an All-Star, that threat,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. Seven Cards regulars were above-average run-creators in 2017 as per the wRC+ metric, though injuries and a lack of regular playing time impacted that group. Josh Donaldson has been rumored to be one of the Cardinals’ offseason targets, and would certainly fit the bill as a big lineup upgrade if St. Louis is able to pry him away from the Blue Jays.
With Trevor Rosenthal sidelined by Tommy John surgery, the Cards will look into adding ninth-inning help, even if they’re wary of shopping at the high end of the free agent closer market. “Ideally, you don’t pay retail for closers if you can avoid it, and we’ve been lucky for the last long period of not having to dip into that end of the market. But we don’t have an heir apparent at the moment, so we will have to evaluate what our options are,” GM Michael Girsch said.
Flexibility seems to be the key word for this Cardinals’ offseason, as with so many multi-positional players on the roster, the club has several options in deciding who could potentially stay or go. (And who could be added, in regards to acquiring that big bat.) Mozeliak said that catcher Yadier Molina is the only position player who has his spot on the field firmly established for 2018. This means that Dexter Fowler could potentially move out of center field, which Mozeliak said will likely be discussed in the coming weeks. 2016 was the only season of Fowler’s career that saw him post positive numbers in the Defensive Runs Saved and UZR/150 categories, as he struggled to minus-18 DRS and -9.9 UZR/150 last year over 933 1/3 IP in center field.
The Cardinals have yet to decide whether or not to issue a qualifying offer to free agent starter Lance Lynn. If Lynn rejected the QO, the Cards would be in line for compensation (an extra draft pick just prior to the third round) if he signed elsewhere. If he accepted, then he’d return to St. Louis on a one-year deal worth in the neighborhood of $18.1MM. After missing all of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery, Lynn returned to post very solid numbers this season and pitched 186 1/3 innings, which could quiet concerns about his post-surgery durability. Even with such a major recent injury on his record, Lynn is likely to find a good multi-year deal on the open market, so one would think he’d reject a QO.

Coaching Changes/Notes: Rays, Cards, Mariners, Eiland, Mets, Brewers

By Kyle Downing | October 3, 2017 at 4:46pm CDT

Since the Mets shook up their staff earlier today, a flurry of other coaching changes have been announced by teams that didn’t make the playoffs. We’ve also gained some insight into the hunt to fill some of the sudden coaching vacancies. Here’s what we’ve learned so far…

Latest Updates

The Rays intend to promote Triple-A pitching coach Kyle Snyder to the big league job, and also move third base coach Charlie Montoyo to bench coach, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Snyder spent parts of five seasons with the Royals and Red Sox from 2003-08, including tossing 54 1/3 relief innings for Boston during its World Series championship season in 2007. Snyder has been a pitching coach in the Rays organization since 2012 and he has been at Triple-A Durham since 2015. Montoyo has been part of Tampa’s organization since 1997, serving at a minor league manager at all levels before taking the third base coaching job in 2015. The Tigers and Mets have both reportedly shown interest in Montoyo as a managerial candidate, so his promotion to bench coach could presumably be short-lived if he is offered a managing job.
Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey won’t return to his position next year, as he and the team have mutually decided to part ways, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (via Twitter). One of the game’s longest-tenured pitching coaches, Hickey has been with the Rays since November 2006, overseeing the development of several notable Rays arms. Prior to coming to Tampa, Hickey served as the Astros’ pitching coach for two and a half season, plus over eight more years as a pitching coach in Houston’s minor league system.

Earlier Today

Tom Foley will not return as the bench coach for the Rays in 2018, Mark Topkins of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The decision was mutual. Foley has been a coach for Tampa Bay since 2002; he’ll now reportedly take on a different role within the organization.
Derek Lilliquist has been informed that he will not be the Cardinals’ pitching coach next year, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). The search for his replacement is ongoing, but Goold adds in a separate tweet that Cardinals’ Triple-A pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd is a potential candidate. In yet a third tweet, Goold mentions that bullpe coach Blaise Ilsley also did not have his contract renewed, but that president of baseball ops John Mozeliak expects that all other coaches will return.
Mariners bench coach Tim Bogar and first base coach Casey Candaele will not return in 2018, the team announced in a press release. In addition, bullpen coach Nasusel Cabrera will shift to another job within the organization that has yet to be determined. Third base coach Manny Acta will serve as the team’s new bench coach, while assistant coach Scott Brosius will replace Acta as third base coach. Special projects coach Chris Prieto, who was also responsible for replay in 2017, will replace Candaele as the first base coach for the Mariners. Edgar Martinez and Mel Stottlemyre will return as the team’s hitting and pitching coaches, respectively.
After being let go from his position as the Royals’ pitching coach yesterday, Dave Eiland wants to “jump right back into it,” according to a tweet from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. With six seasons in Kansas City and another three years as the Yankees’ pitching coach under his belt, Eiland seems quite likely to find other opportunities elsewhere.
In addition to the changes made earlier today, Mets GM Sandy Alderson has forecasted a “major changes” at Triple-A Las Vegas, James Wagner of the New York Times reports via Twitter. In another tweet, he quotes Alderson saying that hitting coach Kevin Long will be given “strong consideration” for the Amazins’ managerial opening.
Brewers GM David Stearns announced in an end-of-season press conference that the team will retain its entire coaching staff for 2018.

NL Notes: Cubs, Cards, Fowler, Braves, Marlins

By Connor Byrne | October 2, 2017 at 9:56pm CDT

The reigning World Series champion Cubs stumbled through the early months of the season, which led president Theo Epstein to inform teams in early July that he’d consider selling impending free agents such as Jake Arrieta and Wade Davis, Patrick Mooney of NBC Sports Chicago reports. The Cubs were at their lowest point of the season on July 9, when they dropped to 43-45 with a 14-3 loss to the Pirates in the last game before the All-Star break. Regarding his thought process at the time, Epstein told Mooney: “Not blowing it up. But when you’re five-and-a-half out, if you have a bad road trip and a bad homestand and then you’re 10-and-a-half out, absolutely, we would have sold.” Instead, Epstein swung a blockbuster trade with the White Sox for left-hander Jose Quintana on July 13, the final day of the break. The Cubs proceeded to go 49-25 in the second half of the season to finish 92-70 and run away with the National League Central.

Cardinals Notes: Outfield, Tuivailala, Pitching Staff

By Steve Adams | October 2, 2017 at 10:34am CDT

Outfielder Randal Grichuk ended not only his 2017 season but possibly his Cardinals career with a solo home run on Sunday, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cards have an oft-discussed glut of outfielders with Grichuk, Dexter Fowler, Stephen Piscotty, Tommy Pham, Harrison Bader and Magneuris Sierra all on the big league roster, plus prospect Tyler O’Neill in Triple-A Memphis. St. Louis will look to reduce its redundancies on the roster this winter, and Goold points out that the arbitration-eligible Grichuk carries a similar profile to the powerful-but-strikeout-prone O’Neill. Controllable through 2020, the 26-year-old Grichuk brings significant power (career .239 ISO) and a center-field-capable glove to the table but has also continually struggled to make contact. Through 1386 MLB plate appearances, Grichuk has a 29.9 percent strikeout rate. In 442 PAs in 2017, he hit .238/.285/.473 with 22 long balls and a 30.1 percent strikeout rate.

More out of St. Louis…

Right-hander Sam Tuivailala will be out of options in 2018, and his strong finish to the season looks to have earned him a spot in next year’s bullpen, writes Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch. “He’s continued to move his way up in how we viewed him,” said manager Mike Matheny. The 24-year-old Tuivailala was optioned to the minors on three different occasions in 2017, his final option year, but wound up totaling 42 1/3 innings with a 2.55 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate and a strong 23.4 percent weak-contact rate. President of baseball ops John Mozeliak tells Hummel that he’s long been excited about “Tui,” but the righty simply hasn’t had consistent opportunities until late in the year. “I think he finished strong, and I think he helped himself,” said Mozeliak.
While the Cardinals’ bullpen gets much of the blame for the team missing the postseason, Bernie Miklasz of ESPN 101 points out that St. Louis relievers ranked well in both ERA and Win Probability Added — even late in the year after the loss of Trevor Rosenthal. However, the starting rotation faltered significantly, Miklasz writes, failing to make it to the fifth inning in six of the team’s final 13 games and posting an ERA just shy of 5.00 over the Cardinals’ final 42 games of the year. While there’s undoubtedly work to be done in the ’pen this winter, the rotation indeed looks like an area in need of reinforcements as well. Lance Lynn is set to hit the open market, and Adam Wainwright is undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery tomorrow — further creating uncertainty on the starting staff.

Central Notes: Jaso, Montoyo, Tigers, Carpenter, White Sox

By Mark Polishuk | October 1, 2017 at 9:50pm CDT

John Jaso may have played his last big league game, he told reporters (including Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and MLB.com’s Adam Berry) following the Pirates’ season-ender today. “Honestly, this is probably it for me, as far as baseball goes,” the veteran utilityman said, though he stopped short of entirely confirming his retirement. “We’ll see. I mean I can’t say anything for sure. I can’t really tell you what the future holds or whatever. But if I left now, it would be a really good feeling to leave right now, if I did. These last couple of years with the Pirates were good. It’s just taking that step and being brave enough to do it. For most of us, this is all we know. There’s a lot of those ’what ifs’ and ’buts’ and everything like that. That stuff kind of scares you when you have to make a decision like this. There’s a lot of excitement out there that I’m looking forward to. I feel ready to make that step.”

If this is it for Jaso, the 34-year-old will be hanging up the spikes after 2591 career PA over parts of nine seasons with the Rays, Mariners, A’s and (for the last two seasons) Pirates. Injuries and struggles against left-handed pitching limited Jaso’s usage as an everyday player, though he was very productive in various part-time capacities. Jaso posted good career splits against right-handed pitching and was an above-average run producer overall in six of his eight full seasons, finishing with a 115 wRC+ for his career. If this it for Jaso, we wish him congratulations on a fine career and we tip our hats to his most immediate postseason endeavor — helping with relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

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

The Tigers have asked the Rays about third base coach Charlie Montoyo, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links). It’s hard to know where Montoyo sits on the Tigers’ list of managerial candidates due to the sheer number of names in their search; according to Heyman, Detroit began the process with around 50 names under consideration. Montoyo, who has also drawn interest from the Mets, has been Tampa’s third base coach for three seasons and a manager at all rungs of their minor league system from 1997-2014.
Matt Carpenter won’t require surgery on his right shoulder, he tells MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (Twitter link). An MRI revealed only inflammation in the shoulder, which has been a nagging concern for the Cardinals infielder. Possibly due to the injury, Carpenter saw drops in his batting average and slugging percentage from his previous two seasons, though he was still quite productive, hitting .241/.384/.451 with 23 home runs over 622 plate appearances for St. Louis.
The rebuilding process for the White Sox has gone according to plan thus far, though as CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes writes, the team has another long year ahead of it next season. “We know we might be entering a slightly more difficult phase of this rebuild, and that is the phase where we have to allow this talent the time and patience to develop….We’re going to have to remain diligent and realize that this isn’t about any individual player or any individual season, this is about building something for the long term,” GM Rick Hahn said. “For this next phase, that’s going to require player development to play its important role and for us to have patience in Chicago that would allow that to unfold.”
Earlier today on MLBTR, we checked in with more notes from both Central divisions, including items on the Royals, Indians, Cardinals and Tigers.

NL Notes: Brewers, Scherzer, McCutchen, Cards, Dodgers

By Connor Byrne | October 1, 2017 at 4:50pm CDT

The Brewers’ impending free agents – infielders Neil Walker and Eric Sogard, reliever Anthony Swarzak and starter Matt Garza – spoke about their futures Sunday with Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters. Walker, the most noteworthy of the bunch, suggested that he’s keen on testing the open market in the offseason, though the August trade acquisitions did note that Milwaukee “is the type of team I’m going to be looking at. One that’s ready to win now and one that I can help.” Sogard and Swarzak made it clear they’d like to return to the Brewers, meanwhile, with the latter saying: “There’s still room to get better, and hopefully everybody in Brewers Nation gets to see a better Anthony Swarzak next year, because I want to stay here. I want to make another push here.”

While there’s clearly more baseball ahead of Walker, Sogard and Swarzak, the elder statesman of the group, Garza, admitted that his career could be at an end. The soon-to-be 34-year-old Garza acknowledged that he has struggled over the past couple seasons and said he’s “not expecting much” in the way of offers during the winter. Garza is wrapping up the four-year, $50MM contract he inked with the Brewers prior to the 2014 campaign. The righty made 96 appearances (93 starts) as a Brewer and logged a 4.65 ERA/4.38 FIP with the team.

Central Notes: Cain, Royals, Tribe, Cards, Tigers

By Connor Byrne | October 1, 2017 at 11:23am CDT

The Royals will be reluctant to invest significant money in an outfielder who’s on the wrong side of 30 over the winter, which makes a potential Lorenzo Cain exit seem more likely, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes. For his part, the 31-year-old Cain (32 next April) realizes his terrific tenure with the Royals could be on the verge of ending. “They all know where I stand as far as coming back to KC,” the impending free agent said. “They know I would love to come back here. I said it in the spring, and I’ll say it again now. But at the same time, everyone has to do what’s best for themselves. No one knows what’s going to happen.” Cain has been outstanding since debuting in earnest with the Royals in 2011, including this year (.301/.364/.442, 15 home runs, 26 stolen bases across 643 plate appearances), and was a key component of an AL pennant winner in 2014 and a World Series champion the next season.

NL Notes: Nats, Scherzer, Cards, Nicasio, Phillies

By Connor Byrne | September 30, 2017 at 10:06pm CDT

Nationals ace and NL Cy Young front-runner Max Scherzer left his start in the fourth inning against the Pirates on Saturday with a right hamstring cramp, manager Dusty Baker announced. Baker added that Scherzer underwent a precautionary MRI, but the skipper didn’t seem overly concerned about the right-hander, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. A major injury to Scherzer right before the playoffs could be disastrous for the Nationals, who will match up with the Cubs in the NLDS. If healthy, Scherzer should take the ball for Game 1 on Oct. 6. The two-time Cy Young winner wrapped up his regular season with 3 1/3 scoreless, five-strikeout innings on Saturday, giving him a 2.51 ERA and 12.02 K/9 against 2.47 BB/9 across 200 2/3 frames.

More on Washington and a couple other NL franchises:

The Cardinals have discussed a new contract with impending free agent reliever Juan Nicasio, who made it clear Saturday that he’d like to re-sign with the club. “Try and make a good deal. I want to stay here,” Nicasio told his agent (via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on Twitter). Acquired in a trade with Philadelphia on Sept. 6, Nicasio has served as the Cardinals’ closer down the stretch and thrown 10 innings of two-run ball with the team. In 71 1/3 innings divided among Pittsburgh, Philly and St. Louis this season, the 31-year-old has put up a 2.61 ERA and logged 8.69 K/9 against 2.49 BB/9.
The Phillies’ decision to change managers could cost them promising hitting coach Matt Stairs, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes. In Stairs’ first year on the job, the former slugger has won the favor of the Phillies’ hitters and played a key role in the development of some of their young players, details Zolecki. Thanks in part to Stairs, the Phillies’ offense has posted better numbers across the board than last year’s, including in the runs scored department (679 to 610). Stairs told Zolecki that he’d “love” to continue in Philly, but he realizes his fate rests with the team’s next manager.
On Saturday, the Nationals activated infielder Stephen Drew from the 60-day disabled list and moved reliever Shawn Kelley to the 60-day DL with bone chips in his right elbow. The move was made so Drew would be eligible for the postseason, though he’s unlikely to be ready for NLDS action, per Jamal Collier of MLB.com. An abdominal strain has shelved Drew since July 25, before which he slashed a disappointing .253/.302/.358 in 106 plate appearances. Kelley, who last pitched Sept. 22, also endured a poor regular season (7.27 ERA in 26 innings). The two-time Tommy John recipient is due a $5.5MM salary in 2018.

Quick Hits: Lackey, Lynn, Nicasio, Hundley

By Mark Polishuk | September 29, 2017 at 11:05pm CDT

The Cubs’ clubhouse celebration after clinching the NL Central included some telling comments from Jon Lester, who proclaimed that John Lackey had made “probably his last regular-season start. Here’s to one hell of a career!” before toasting his longtime teammate. (USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has the details.) This is the first open acknowledgement that Lackey is heading towards retirement after the season. Lackey’s two-year, $32MM contract is up once the Cubs conclude their postseason run, and he turns 39 in October. He struggled to a 4.56 ERA over 169 2/3 innings thanks in large part to problems with the long ball, as Lackey surrendered a league-high 36 homers and a career-high 18.3% home run rate. Still, Lackey has enjoyed a tremendous 15 seasons in the big leagues and, coming out of the Cubs bullpen in the playoffs, he’ll look to collect his fourth World Series ring.

Here’s more from around baseball as we head into the final weekend of the regular season…

The Cardinals don’t expect extensions with any of their upcoming free agents before the season is over, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. This includes Lance Lynn, whose representatives haven’t had any in-depth talks with the club about a new deal. When asked if Thursday’s start could be his last with the Cardinals, Lynn said it “certainly looks that way.” Lynn looks to be one of the top pitchers available in this year’s free agent market, and it appears he’ll be departing a Cards rotation that will mostly be relying on promising younger arms in 2018.
Also from Goold’s article, he reports that the Cardinals have been in touch with Juan Nicasio about a new deal. Nicasio came to St. Louis after a rather surprising series of transactions that saw the right-hander waived by the Pirates, claimed by the Phillies and then dealt to the Cards all within a week’s time at the end of August and in early September. No matter the uniform, Nicasio pitched well, posting a 2.65 ERA, 3.55 K/BB rate and 71 strikeouts over 71 1/3 innings for his three teams, making a league-high 75 appearances. The Cardinals have clearly liked what they’ve seen in their short time with Nicasio on the roster and may be trying to lock Nicasio up before he hits the open market.
There is mutual interest between the Giants and Nick Hundley in a new contract, though Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle observes that it might hinge on how much playing time Hundley is able to find elsewhere from a catching-needy team. Obviously, anything more than a backup role isn’t an option in San Francisco with Buster Posey locked in as the regular catcher. Hundley hit .246/.276/.425 over 296 PA with the Giants while becoming a big voice in the team’s clubhouse.

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