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Royals Likely Headed For Rebuild

By Steve Adams | December 4, 2017 at 10:34am CDT

After a half-decade at or near the top of the AL Central, two appearances in the World Series and one championship, the Royals now look to be going in the opposite direction. As Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas all hit the free-agent market, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription required/recommended) that the Royals “expect to step back for perhaps three seasons” and embark on a rebuilding effort. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star also penned an excellent column on the Royals’ trajectory over the weekend, reporting that Kansas City appears headed for a “substantial rebuild across the next two or three seasons.”

Royals GM Dayton Moore suggests to Dodd that the Royals have to at least be open-minded to virtually any trade scenario: “If somebody blows your doors off on something, you always have to look at it.” 

That, according to Rosenthal, could even include controllable pieces like Whit Merrifield, who broke out with a .288/.324/.460 slash and an AL-leading 34 stolen bases last season. Rosenthal also notes that Kansas City would listen to offers on left-handed reliever Scott Alexander, who notched a 2.48 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a ridiculous 73.8 percent ground-ball rate in 69 innings last year. Both players are controlled through the 2022 season and are still two years removed from arbitration eligibility.

Beyond that pairing, the Royals have a few more obvious trade candidates. Kelvin Herrera and Joakim Soria are both quality right-handed relievers that are just one year from free agency, though neither is signed at a bargain rate. Herrera projects to earn $8.3MM in arbitration, while Soria is still owed $10MM through the end of his contract. Jason Hammel didn’t have a strong first season in Kansas City but ate up 180 innings with quality K/BB numbers and a 4.37 FIP. He’s still owed $11MM through 2o18. Left-hander Danny Duffy, signed for another four years and $60MM, would represent one of the top starting pitching options on the trade market if the Royals field offers on him.

[Related: Kansas City Royals Offseason Outlook]

Interestingly, both Dodd and Rosenthal report that even as the Royals embark on a rebuild, they’re still in pursuit of a long-term deal with Hosmer. Per Dodd, team officials “see rebuilding scenarios that include” Hosmer in the fold. He’s still just 28 years of age, so Hosmer could indeed still be in his prime even at the conclusion of a two- or three-year rebuilding cycle, but it nonetheless seems counter-intuitive to sign him to what would almost certainly be a franchise-record contract while also dealing away big league talent.

Furthermore, re-signing Hosmer would effectively cost the Royals a top pick, as they currently project to receive three compensatory selections after the first round of next year’s draft due to the losses of Hosmer, Moustakas and Cain (assuming each signs for at least a $50MM guarantee, which seems likely). Those picks would not only give the Royals five picks in the top 40 or so selections of the draft — Kansas City also has a pick in Competitive Balance Round A — they’d also significantly bolster the Royals’ league-allotted draft bonus pool. Each of those comp picks for the loss of Hosmer, Moustakas and Cain would add about $2MM (give or take $100K) to the Royals’ draft pool, based on last year’s slot values.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Hosmer even has interest in returning to a Royals team that could spend the first two or three years of that contract losing more than it wins. If Hosmer’s market fails to develop, it certainly stands to reason that a return to the only organization he’s ever known could be a nice safety net. But, it’ll likely be difficult to sell Hosmer on staying in Kansas City while simultaneously trading away his longtime teammates for younger, unproven commodities.

If the Royals do deal away big league talent without acquiring much in the way of reinforcements for the 2018 roster, they’ll join the White Sox and Tigers as rebuilding clubs in the same division. That would seemingly give the Indians and Twins all the more motivation to act aggressively as they seek to bolster their clubs this winter, as few teams ever have the luxury of competing in a division where three of their four primary rivals are largely punting on the season at hand.

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Kansas City Royals Danny Duffy Eric Hosmer Jason Hammel Joakim Soria Kelvin Herrera Scott Alexander Whit Merrifield

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Royals Could Face Rebuild Even With Hosmer

By Mark Polishuk | December 3, 2017 at 10:03pm CDT

With Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, and Mike Moustakas all hitting free agency, there has been wide speculation that the Royals could be entering a rebuild phase.  This is the general consensus around the league, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes, even if Hosmer is re-signed.  The club itself is unsure about its contention plans for the immediate future, as the exact level of the rebuild is still in question — “club officials see rebuilding scenarios that include” Hosmer on the roster, Dodd writes.  This would seemingly put K.C. in an awkward decision this winter, as spending nine figures to re-sign Hosmer doesn’t seem to make much sense for a team that already has an eye towards reloading its farm system, though GM Dayton Moore is reportedly not keen on the idea of a full teardown.

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Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Minnesota Twins Aaron Boone Austin Jackson Eric Hosmer

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Minor MLB Transactions: 12/2/17

By Kyle Downing | December 2, 2017 at 1:51pm CDT

We’ll keep track of some recent minor moves here…

  • The Indians have agreed to a new minor league contract with utility player Michael Martinez, Robert Murray of FanRag Sports tweets. Martinez, now 35, has played at or below replacement level for every single season of his seven-year major league career, combining for a total of 2.4 wins below replacement level. Originally a rule 5 draft pick of the Phillies, he is perhaps most famous for being the final out for the Indians in the 2016 World Series. Martinez has accumulated 621 plate appearances for his career and has put up a .194/.243/.261 slash line.
  • The Royals have re-signed Terrance Gore to a minor league contract after non-tendering the outfielder yesterday, according to a tweet from Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. The 26-year-old’s speed is biggest asset; he’s accrued more stolen bases (21) than plate appearances (14) over the course of his major league career. He was utilized exclusively as a pinch-runner during the Royals’ 2014 and 2015 playoff runs, swiping four key bags in the postseason during those years without ever picking up a bat. Gore has yet to pick up his first major league hit, but he’s still managed 0.2 WAR for his career due to his baserunning skills.
  • Robert Murray of FanRag Sports reports that the Rockies have signed right-hander Chris Jensen to a minor-league pact (Twitter link). Jensen, 27, was originally Colorado’s sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft. He spent three seasons in the lower minors with the Rockies before being shipped to the A’s along with Drew Pomeranz in exchange for Brett Anderson. Jensen made seven starts and 23 relief appearances for the A’s Triple-A affiliate in 2017, and accrued an equal number of strikeouts and earned runs (56) across 84 2/3 innings pitched.
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Colorado Rockies Kansas City Royals Transactions Chris Jensen Michael Martinez Terrance Gore

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2017 Non-Tenders

By Jeff Todd | December 1, 2017 at 7:10pm CDT

The deadline to tender 2018 contracts to players is tonight at 8pm EST. We’ll keep track of the day’s non-tenders in this post (all referenced arbitration projections courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) …

  • The Giants non-tendered righty Albert Suarez, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Suarez, 28, was not yet eligible for arbitration.
  • Righty Tom Koehler and infielder Ryan Goins are heading to the open market after being non-tendered by the Blue Jays, per a team announcement.
  • The Rays announced that lefty Xavier Cedeno has been non-tendered, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
  • The Cubs non-tendered catcher Taylor Davis, per a team announcement. He was not yet eligible for arbitration.
  • Four Rangers players have not been tendered contracts, per a club announcement. Righties Chi Chi Gonzalez, A.J. Griffin, and Nick Martinez have been cut loose along with infielder Hanser Alberto. Griffin ($3.0MM projection) and Martinez ($2.0MM) were both noted as non-tender candidates by MLBTR. The other two players were not yet eligible for arbitration. Gonzalez was a former first-round pick who had struggled of late and underwent Tommy John surgery in July.
  • The Diamondbacks have also non-tendered lefty T.J. McFarland, who had projected at a $1.0MM salary.
  • The Reds non-tendered lefty Kyle Crockett, a pre-arb lefty who was only recently claimed on waivers, per a club announcement.
  • Per a club announcement, the Brewers have non-tendered veteran righty Jared Hughes. He will end up being the only 40-man player not to receive a contract from Milwaukee. Hughes had projected at a $2.2MM arbitration value. The 32-year-old is a master at inducing grounders and has turned in repeatedly excellent results. He also averaged a career-best 93.9 mph on his sinker in 2017.
  • The Mariners have non-tendered lefty Drew Smyly and righty Shae Simmons, per a club announcement. While the former was expected, due to Smyly’s Tommy John surgery, the latter rates as something of a surprise given his cheap $700K projection. Of course, it’s possible the club is not optimistic of his chances of bouncing back from arm troubles.
  • The White Sox will not tender a contract to reliever Jake Petricka, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). He had projected to take home $1.1MM in his second trip through the arb process. Also non-tendered, per a club announcement, were righties Zach Putnam and Al Alburquerque as well as infielder Alan Hanson.
  • It seems that righty Bruce Rondon will wind up his tenure with the Tigers, as the organization is set to non-tender him, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press (via Twitter). Rondon was long viewed as a potential late-inning arm for the Tigers, but had some notable run-ins with the organization, struggled with control, and never consistently produced at the MLB level. Though he projected to earn just $1.2MM, Rondon will be allowed to find a new organization. He will turn 26 later this month.
  • The Diamondbacks will non-tender righty J.J. Hoover, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Hoover projected at just $1.6MM, but Arizona is watching every penny as it seeks to return to the postseason with a tight payroll situation. The 30-year-old turned in 41 1/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball in 2017 with 11.8 K/9 but also 5.7 BB/9 on the year.
  • The Royals announced that they have non-tendered outfielder Terrance Gore. Though Gore was not eligible for arbitration, teams occasionally utilize today’s deadline to prune their 40-man rosters. Gore had quite an interesting run with Kansas City, scarcely playing at all during the regular season and then appearing as a speed-and-defense asset in the team’s two storied postseason runs. Now, though the fleet-footed 26-year-old is out of options. With an upper minors OPS that hovers just over .600, Gore just was not going to break camp with the club. It seems reasonable to think there’s a chance he’ll return to the organization on a minors deal, though Gore will also have a shot at exploring the broader market.
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Arizona Diamondbacks Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Milwaukee Brewers Non-Tender Candidates San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Transactions A.J. Griffin Al Alburquerque Bruce Rondon Chi Chi Gonzalez Drew Smyly Hanser Alberto J.J. Hoover Jake Petricka Jared Hughes Kyle Crockett Marc Topkin Nick Martinez Ryan Goins Shae Simmons T.J. McFarland Taylor Davis Terrance Gore Tom Koehler Xavier Cedeno Zach Putnam

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Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/1/17

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | December 1, 2017 at 7:05pm CDT

With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players set for 8pm tonight, there should be several agreements over the next few hours — particularly among players that were considered to be potential non-tender candidates. Many non-tender candidates will be presented with offers that are lower than what they’d project to earn via arbitration in a “take it or leave it” manner; some will agree to the lesser deal (as Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt did earlier this morning) while others will reject and likely hit the open market.

Here’s today’s slate of players that have avoided the arb process and locked in at least a partial guarantee for the upcoming season (arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed, but each of these players will be guaranteed one sixth of the agreed-upon sum unless specifically negotiated otherwise). All projections are via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz…

  • The Padres announced that lefty Robbie Erlin has agreed to a contract for 2018. The 27-year-old missed all of 2017 due to Tommy John surgery and was projected to earn $700K through arbitration. Terms of his deal have not yet been reported.
  • The Braves appear to have agreed to terms with just-claimed righty Chase Whitley, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Whitley, who was projected to earn $1.0MM in his first season of arb eligibility, is said to be in line for an opportunity to work as a starter. It’s a split deal that would pay Whitley $800K in the majors, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.
  • The Mariners agreed with Andrew Romine on a $1.05MM contract, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Romine, a versatile infielder, was claimed off waivers after the end of the 2017 season.
  • Outfielder Abraham Almonte has reached a deal to avoid arbitration with the Indians, per a club announcement. He had featured as a possible non-tender candidate but instead found common ground with the organization. Almonte, 28, slashed just .233/.314/.366 in his 195 trips to the plate in 2017. He had projected to earn a $1.1MM payday in his first season of arbitration eligibility but will take home $825K, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
  • The Royals have agreed to terms with righty Mike Morin to avoid arbitration, the club announced. He’ll receive a split contract, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets, with a $750K annual earning rate in the majors and $250K in the minors. Morin, who projected at $700K, drew a mention on MLBTR’s non-tender candidates list. Indeed, his contract reflects the middling season that he turned in. Morin allowed 16 earned runs in twenty MLB frames, though he was more effective at Triple-A.
  • Yimi Garcia and the Dodgers have avoided arbitration, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). Garia projected to command only a $700K salary after missing all of 2017 following Tommy John surgery; he’ll end up taking home $630K, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Now 27, Garcia had established himself as a significant member of the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2015, when he compiled a 3.34 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 over 56 2/3 innings. But injuries limited him in the ensuing season and ultimately culminated in a UCL replacement.
  • Per a club announcement, the Indians have agreed to a contract with righty Dan Otero. Otero will take home $1.3MM, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). He was projected to command $1.4MM. The 32-year-old Otero has been an unmitigated bargain for Cleveland over the past two years, turning in 130 2/3 total innings of 2.14 ERA pitching despite averaging just 6.5 K/9 in that span. Otero has succeeded with unfailing command (just 19 walks since joining the Indians) and a hefty groundball rate (over 60% in each of the past two seasons).
  • The Angels and righty Blake Wood agreed to a one-year, $1.45MM deal that falls well shy of his $2.2MM projection, as FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman was the first to report (via Twitter). Wood struggled mightily in Cincinnati before being picked up by the Halos late in the year and turning his season around a bit. In 17 innings with the Angels, he posted a 4.76 ERA with a much more promising 22-to-4 K/BB ratio. Heyman notes that he can earn up to $50K worth of incentives as well.
  • The White Sox announced that they’ve signed right-hander Danny Farquhar to a one-year deal worth $1.05MM — a pact that falls shy of his $1.5MM projection. In 49 1/3 innings between the Rays and ChiSox, the 30-year-old logged a 4.20 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 and a 41.7 percent ground-ball rate.
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Atlanta Braves Chicago White Sox Cleveland Guardians Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Milwaukee Brewers Non-Tender Candidates San Diego Padres Seattle Mariners Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Abraham Almonte Andrew Romine Blake Wood Chase Whitley Dan Otero Danny Farquhar Mike Morin Robbie Erlin Stephen Vogt Yimi Garcia

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Cafardo: Royals Likely To Pursue Jackie Bradley Jr.

By Connor Byrne | November 25, 2017 at 3:55pm CDT

  • The Giants, White Sox and Royals “will likely keep inquiring” about Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. throughout the offseason, Cafardo contends. Each of San Francisco, Chicago and Kansas City have pursued Bradley recently, but the Royals already had Lorenzo Cain occupying center when they went after JBJ in 2015. Now, with Cain likely to depart via free agency, the fit between the Royals and the affordable Bradley is obvious. However, it’s fair to wonder whether the Royals have a good enough farm system to put together a deal for Bradley, who’s controllable through 2020 and will make around $5.9MM next season.

    [SOURCE LINK]
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Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Colorado Rockies Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Dodgers Miami Marlins San Francisco Giants Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Washington Nationals Adrian Gonzalez Giancarlo Stanton Jackie Bradley Jr. Jake Arrieta Jordan Zimmermann

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Quick Hits: Arrieta, Hosmer, Mets

By Kyle Downing | November 25, 2017 at 11:32am CDT

Cubs free agent Jake Arrieta figures to offer more “feast-or-famine probability” than any other free agent on the market, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com posits. Arrieta has exhibited a number of troubling trends since his dominant Cy Young campaign back in 2015. Kramer points out that the right-hander’s rate of hard contact allowed was once among the the lowest in baseball, but has since fallen to the middle of the pack. Arrieta has also lost 3 MPH on his fastball from 2015 to 2017; pitchers in their thirties typically don’t regain that velocity. Kramer digs even deeper, looking at Arrieta’s “topped ball” rate (balls hit directly into the ground), noting that his rate in this category has also dropped. These factors in tandem create a confusing and concerning picture when looking at the value Arrieta could provide over the next couple of years. It’s not all bad; Kramer also notes that the former Cy Young winner hasn’t lost his ability to put batters away on two-strike pitches, and he’s still got an excellent pitch repertoire to go along with a delivery that provides deception. Teams exploring a deal with Arrieta will face an interesting dilemma in trying to project his future performance.

Other items from around MLB…

  • Dave Cameron of Fangraphs has released his top five free agent bargains, as well as his top five free agent landmines. Royals free agent Eric Hosmer tops the list of players Cameron would avoid at the prices they’re likely to command. He points out that Hosmer’s 2017 was partially driven by his .351 BABIP, which the first baseman is unlikely to repeat, and questions his defensive abilities as well. Interestingly, Cameron points out that Hosmer’s 120 wRC+ over the past three seasons is just two points ahead of Carlos Santana’s mark across that same span, and yet Hosmer is expected to more than double Santana’s earnings in free agency this winter. None of this is to say that Hosmer isn’t a great asset, but many in the industry think he’ll be paid like a potential franchise superstar, and his track record doesn’t necessarily provide a strong case for that level of commitment. Greg Holland, Lance Lynn, Eduardo Nunez and Andrew Cashner round out Cameron’s top five free agent landmines, while Carlos Santana, Lorenzo Cain, Tommy Hunter, Jarrod Dyson and Doug Fister comprise Cameron’s top five bargains. The pieces are full of great analysis and will give readers another interesting set of storylines to track this offseason.
  • Mike Puma of the New York Post wonders whether the Mets would be best served to bring back second baseman Neil Walker, whom the club traded to the Brewers this past August. Though he spent a significant amount of time on the DL for the second straight season, his 2017 home run total (14) homers and OBP (.409) would be a welcome asset to a Mets club with a number of issues to tackle before opening day 2018. Puma also notes that the Mets are exploring some trade options at second base as well. Interestingly, he lists Jason Kipnis as a name he believes to be available, along with more obvious trade candidates in Ian Kinsler and Dee Gordon.
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Chicago Cubs Kansas City Royals New York Mets Eric Hosmer Jake Arrieta Neil Walker

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Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

By Steve Adams | November 20, 2017 at 6:47pm CDT

As detailed earlier this morning at MLBTR, the deadline for Major League clubs to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight. Because of that, there will be literally dozens of moves between now and 8pm ET as teams make final determinations on who to protect and who to risk losing in next month’s Rule 5 draft. This process will lead to smaller-scale trades, waiver claims and DFAs, but for some clubs the only necessary moves will simply be to select the contracts of the prospects they wish to place on the 40-man roster. We’ll track those such moves in this post…

  • Heading onto the Blue Jays’ roster, per a club announcement, are righty Connor Greene, lefty Tom Pannone, first baseman Rowdy Tellez, and catchers Dan Jansen and Reese McGuire.
  • The Rays have selected the contracts of righties Brent Honeywell, Diego Castillo, Yonny Chirinos, and Jose Mujica, lefty Ryan Yarbrough, first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, and outfielder Justin Williams, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • The Diamondbacks placed lefty Jared Miller on the MLB roster, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter.
  • A list of six players is heading onto the Reds’ 40-man, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter): infielders Alex Blandino and Shed Long, outfielder Jose Siri, and righties Jose Lopez, Jesus Reyes, and Zack Weiss.
  • The Padres and Brewers have joined the teams announcing their additions. For San Diego, lefties Jose Castillo and Brad Wieck are heading to the 40-man. Milwaukee has selected shortstop Mauricio Dubon, catcher Jacob Nottingham, and righties Marcos Diplan and Freddy Peralta.
  • The Marlins and Yankees just struck a trade relating to their 40-man maneuvering, and each announced their selections shortly thereafter. Miami is placing outfielder Braxton Lee on the MLB roster along with righties Merandy Gonzalez, Pablo Lopez, and James Needy. New York, meanwhile, will select righties Albert Abreu, Domingo Acevedo, and Jonathan Loaisiga to the 40-man along with outfielder Billy McKinney and infielders Thairo Estrada and (last but not least) Gleyber Torres.

Click to check in on other teams that have selected players to their 40-man rosters …

Read more

  • Righties Hunter Harvey and David Hess join catcher Austin Wynns in ascending to the Orioles’ 40-man roster, the team announced.
  • The Astros have added lefty Cionel Perez and righty Dean Deetz to their 40-man, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • Heading onto the Mets’ 40-man are infielder Luis Guillorme and right-handers Tyler Bashlor, Gerson Bautista, and Corey Oswalt.
  • The Royals are adding lefties Eric Stout and Tim Hill as well as Meibrys Viloria to their MLB roster, per a club announcement.
  • The Rockies announced the selection of the contracts of four players: outfielder Yonathan Daza, lefty Sam Howard, backstop Chris Rabago, and righty Jesus Tinoco.
  • Joining the Angels’ 40-man are outfielder Michael Hermosillo and righties Jaime Barria, Jesus Castillo, and Jake Jewell, per a club announcement.
  • Lefties Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe, as well as righty Zack Littell, have been selected onto the Twins’ big league roster, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets.
  • The Pirates placed top prospect Austin Meadows and righties Luis Escobar and Dario Agrazal on their 40-man, the club announced.
  • The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Austin Gomber, right-hander Derian Gonzalez and outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Oscar Mercado, bringing their 40-man roster count to 39. Each of the three ranked within the top 20 farmhands in the organization, per MLB.com’s rankings.
  • The Rangers announced that they’ve added right-handers Jonathan Hernandez and Ariel Jurado; lefties Brett Martin and Joe Palumbo; catcher Jose Trevino; and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the 40-man roster today. Texas also picked up 40-man righty Ronald Herrera in a trade with the Yankees this afternoon. All but Kiner-Falefa ranked among the team’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com, led by Jurado at No. 9. The Rangers’ 40-man roster is now at 37 players.
  • The Nationals announced that they’ve selected the contracts of third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, thus adding both to the 40-man roster. MLB.com ranked Gutierrez 12th among Nationals farmhands. The Nats still have three open spots on their 40-man roster, so they could make further additions by adding players from outside the organization between now and the deadline. They could also simply save those spots for future trade or free-agent acquisitions.
  • The Red Sox have selected the contracts of left-hander Jalen Beeks and right-handers Chandler Shepherd and Ty Buttrey. Both Beeks and Shepherd ranked among Boston’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com. Boston’s 40-man roster is now full with that trio of additions.

Note: Players that signed at 18 years of age or younger and have played five seasons of pro ball are Rule 5 eligible unless added to the 40-man roster today. Players that signed at 19 or older and have played four seasons are also eligible if they’re not added to the 40-man roster today. (In other words, college draftees out of the 2014 class, high school draftees out of the 2013 class and most international amateurs signed in the 2013-14 international period are eligible this year if not protected.)

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Arizona Diamondbacks Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Cincinnati Reds Colorado Rockies Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins New York Mets New York Yankees Pittsburgh Pirates Rule 5 Draft San Diego Padres St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Washington Nationals Ariel Jurado Austin Gomber Austin Meadows Austin Wynns Billy McKinney Braxton Lee Brett Martin Chandler Shepherd Cionel Perez David Hess Derian Gonzalez Gleyber Torres Hunter Harvey Isiah Kiner-Falefa Jalen Beeks Jefry Rodriguez Joe Palumbo Jonathan Hernandez Jose Trevino Kelvin Gutierrez Merandy Gonzalez Oscar Mercado Ronald Herrera Stephen Gonsalves Ty Buttrey Tyler O'Neill Zack Littell

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Heyman’s Latest: Moore, Cain, Rangers, Vargas/O’s, Rodney/D-Backs

By Jeff Todd | November 16, 2017 at 11:17pm CDT

In his latest Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag looks into the Royals front office. Owner David Glass is “considering a possible two-year extension” for GM Dayton Moore, writes Heyman, even though Moore has “no leverage” given that he’s already under contract for three more seasons. This all arises after Glass declined to allow the Braves to speak with Moore about changing squads. While Moore has expressed gratitude to ownership, his recent comments were interesting, if difficult to interpret with any precision. All told, it seems there could still be some unresolved matters in the Kansas City front office.

Let’s look at a few more items from Heyman of particular relevance to the still-developing hot stove season:

  • Top free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain has drawn some early interest from the Mets and Giants, according to Heyman. As regards the New York organization, this information seems to conflict with recent statements from Mets GM Sandy Alderson — though as ever it’s worth taking things with a grain of salt and acknowledging fluidity this time of year. As for the Giants, we at MLBTR pegged San Francisco as the likeliest landing spot for Cain, though some doubt whether the organization will go over the luxury tax line and sacrifice draft choices to land him. At a minimum, though, the organization would seem to be wise to do some diligence on the possibility.
  • The Rangers have “looked into” free agent righties Lance Lynn and Tyler Chatwood, says Heyman. While it’s not clear just how serious the interest is, the link isn’t surprising. Texas clearly needs arms; indeed, MLBTR guessed they’d land Lynn. While Chatwood doesn’t have nearly the track record of results that Lynn does, he is an intriguing option in his own right and shares some of the characteristics of Andrew Cashner — the former Ranger free agent signee who is himself back on the open market.
  • Another team with a desire to add several starters (and with reputed interest in Chatwood) is the Orioles. The Baltimore front office met with agents for lefty Jason Vargas during the GM Meetings, Heyman reports. The 34-year-old veteran seems to be a good match for the O’s, as we predicted, since the team needs to find so many rotation innings and can’t afford to make major long-term commitments to multiple starters.
  • The Diamondbacks are “open” to bringing back Fernando Rodney, GM Mike Hazen tells Heyman. Arizona is facing a difficult payroll situation but obviously will be looking to maintain and improve upon a Wild Card-winning roster. Though Rodney didn’t dominate last year, he’s still throwing mid-nineties heat and generating quite a few swings and misses — and obviously met with the approval of the D-Backs’ brass in the closer’s role. Beyond improving the pen, the Arizona priority is to improve in the outfield, per the report. That could mean pursuing under-the-radar additions; though Hazen says he’s not ruling out a return for J.D. Martinez, that’d almost certainly require the kind of payroll increase that does not appear to be under consideration.
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Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Kansas City Royals New York Mets San Francisco Giants Texas Rangers Dayton Moore Fernando Rodney J.D. Martinez Jason Vargas Lance Lynn Lorenzo Cain Tyler Chatwood

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All 9 Recipients Reject Qualifying Offer

By Steve Adams | November 16, 2017 at 4:16pm CDT

THURSDAY: Officially, all nine players have rejected their qualifying offers and become free agents, the MLBPA has announced (h/t Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, on Twitter).

MONDAY: All nine of the free agents that received a one-year, $17.4MM qualifying offer will reject that offer in favor of free agency, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports writes. Each of Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Arrieta, Wade Davis, Lance Lynn, Alex Cobb, Greg Holland and Carlos Santana will turn down that one-year opportunity in search of a multi-year pact in free agency.

In doing so, that group of nine will also subject themselves to draft-pick compensation and position their former clubs to recoup some value in next year’s amateur draft should they sign elsewhere. Last offseason’s new collective bargaining agreement altered the specifics of that compensation, tying the draft picks received and surrendered largely to the luxury tax threshold, revenue sharing and the size of the contract signed by the free agent in question.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explained which draft picks each of the six teams that issued a qualifying offer would receive, should their free agents sign elsewhere, as well as which picks all 30 teams would be required to surrender if they are to sign a qualified free agent. Prior to that, MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk provided a more comprehensive and in-depth overview of the new QO system, for those that are unfamiliar or would like a refresher on the finer details.

It’s been reported for quite some time that Kansas City will make a strong effort to retain Hosmer. Heyman added over the weekend that the Royals will also push to keep Moustakas but feel that Cain is almost certain to land elsewhere on the open market. The Rockies are known to have interest in re-upping with Holland on a multi-year deal, and Heyman notes within today’s column that the Rays “understand [Cobb] is out of their reach financially” and will sign elsewhere. He also adds that Davis seems to be likelier than Arrieta to return to Chicago.

It’s unlikely that there will be any formal announcements just yet. Among the changes to the QO system under the 2017-21 CBA was that QO recipients would have 10 days, rather than seven, to determine whether to accept or reject the offer. The deadline to issue QOs was last Monday, so the recipients still technically have until this coming Thursday to formally declare their intention. But, barring a last-minute freak injury it seems that each of the nine will go the widely expected route and enter free agency in search of the most substantial contracts in their respective careers.

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Chicago Cubs Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Kansas City Royals Newsstand St. Louis Cardinals Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Alex Cobb Carlos Santana Eric Hosmer Greg Holland Jake Arrieta Lance Lynn Lorenzo Cain Mike Moustakas Wade Davis

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