- Unsurprisingly, Royals GM Dayton Moore said today that his club isn’t likely to do much of significance on the open market, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports. “I don’t look for us to be real aggressive with free agents,” he said. “Just because we’re not going to be in a position to add significant payroll — if any, at all, at this point.” Still, the team is interested in pursuing a reunion with Kendrys Morales after passing on a chance to make him a qualifying offer. That seems unlikely unless his market fails to develop — or if the team finds a way to make the salary fit.
Royals Rumors
Dillon Gee, Daniel Nava Elect Free Agency
2:54pm: MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets that outfielder Daniel Nava has also cleared waivers and elected free agency. The 33-year-old Nava joined Kansas City on a midseason minor league deal and came up with the team late in the season but only saw 12 plate appearances there. The 2016 campaign was one to forget for Nava, as he posted just a .223/.297/.292 batting line in 148 trips to the plate between the Angels and Royals.
1:25pm: Right-hander Dillon Gee has elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Gee spent the 2016 season with the Royals but finished the year on the shelf and underwent surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome following the season. Rosenthal notes that Gee is expected to be ready for Spring Training.
Gee, 31 next April, adds another name to a weak market of free-agent starters. The longtime Mets hurler inked a minor league deal with Kansas City last winter and broke camp with the team in Spring Training. Gee ultimately played a fairly significant role with K.C., racking up 125 innings between the bullpen and the rotation (14 starts) and working to a 4.68 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 41 percent ground-ball rate in his first taste of the American League. Those numbers were a bit better prior to a September slump, and it seems fair to assume that Gee’s performance was adversely impacted by his TOS symptoms.
While Gee lost his rotation spot during his final season with the Mets and spent much of that year in Triple-A, he was a regular on the Mets’ starting staff from 2011-14 when he pitched 606 2/3 innings of 4.01 ERA ball with 6.6 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Gee to earn $3.6MM via arbitration, but he’ll now be able to negotiate with teams around the league. A one-year deal or a minor league pact seems the likeliest outcome for Gee on the heels of two seasons’ worth of mixed results and a notable surgery, but he could prove to be an affordable source of innings at the back of a rotation or in a swingman capacity next year.
Royals, Yankees, Jays, Red Sox Interested In Kendrys Morales
1:45pm: Royals general manager Dayton Moore tells MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan that he has “definite interest” in re-signing Morales this winter as well (Twitter link). The Royals, of course, are facing some potential payroll constraints, so it’s not clear that they’d be able to fit Morales into the budget.
9:41am: The Yankees have reached out to the representatives of free agent DH Kendrys Morales, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The 33-year-old would be seen as an option for New York in the event that the club deals catcher and DH candidate Brian McCann this winter.
There’s more interest from the AL East, too, according to the report. Both the Blue Jays and Red Sox have also put out early feelers on Morales, who was not issued a qualifying offer by the Royals and can therefore be signed without sacrificing a draft pick. Those organizations have also been tied to Edwin Encarnacion, who’ll certainly require a much larger contract, so Morales looks to represent something of an alternative.
The lack of a qualifying offer certainly enhances the appeal of Morales, who is more or less a pure DH but does deliver some flexibility as a switch-hitter. Despite a lull early in 2016, he ended his two years in Kansas City with a robust .277/.344/.476 batting line and 52 home runs over 1,257 plate appearances.
While there are plenty of alternative sluggers available in free agency — some of a more premium variety, others on par, and still others with less appeal than Morales — it seems that he is a popular early target. That’s certainly a good sign for the veteran, who is expected to command a multi-year contract once again. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicts that Morales will land at $26MM over a two-year commitment. That would represent a solid raise over his most recent contract, which was signed on the heels of a much-less-encouraging platform.
Notes On Greg Holland’s Showcase
Free agent righty Greg Holland took the hill for scouts yesterday as he sets the stage for his return to action. The former Royals closer missed all of 2016 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he’ll play an interesting role in the market with multiple big-payroll clubs among those seeking power arms at the back of their respective bullpens. Despite the long injury layoff, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes rates Holland 23rd in earning power among free agents, noting that a wide variety of organizations could pursue him. Joel Sherman of the New York Post covered the showcase, and we’ve also heard additional reports about which teams were represented.
Here’s the latest:
- The most important aspect of the appearance was Holland’s health, and Sherman writes that scouts came away feeling optimistic in that regard after seeing 35 pitches. Though the typically fireballing righty sat in the 89 to 90 mph range with his fastball, he’s obviously still building up arm strength. One scout explained that Holland worked with “good extension” in showing off his heater and ballyhooed slider, suggesting he’s ready to continue working back to his prior form.
- Agent Scott Boras argued that his client, who’ll soon turn 31, represents a great value for teams unwilling or unable to sign top closers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon. He predicted a multi-year deal, with a two-year arrangement laden with incentives possibly making sense for all involved. It remains to be seen just how much cash teams will be willing to promise Holland, who had faltered in 2015 while pitching through the elbow problems that ultimately resulted in surgery. But the upside is undeniable: from 2011 through 2014, he compiled 256 1/3 innings of 1.86 ERA pitching with 12.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.
- All told, about sixty scouts were on hand to watch, says Sherman, with about 18 clubs putting eyes on the righty. We had previously heard that the Giants, Red Sox, Rangers, and Yankees would be joined by the Twins in attendance. Sherman notes that GM Bobby Evans and a top scouting exec were on hand for the closing-needy Giants, with the Yankees also sending top talent evaluators. He also lists the Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Phillies as organizations that sent reps. The Royals, too, were watching their former hurler, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets, as were the division-rival Tigers, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link). And the two top NL East clubs — the Nationals and Mets — were also intrigued enough to send scouts, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter) and ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin.
Royals Will Not Make Qualifying Offer To Kendrys Morales
The Royals will not make a qualifying offer to DH Kendrys Morales, according to reports from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter) and Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). Likewise, the team won’t extend the QO to righty Edinson Volquez.
Morales, 33, will return to the free agent market without any draft pick compensation required to sign him. The slugging veteran hit his way into contention for the $17.2MM offer, but will not have to make a tough call whether to accept it after declining his end of a mutual option with the team. Instead, he’ll have a shot at securing another multi-year guarantee without having to take a hit to account for the loss of future value any team would’ve otherwise had to account for. (The QO played a major factor in harming Morales’s free agent case after the 2013 season.)
Morales didn’t end the year with the kind of numbers that he posted in 2015, his first of two campaigns in Kansas City, in which he slashed .290/.362/.485 and swatted 22 long balls. But the switch hitter did manage thirty total long balls and finished the 2016 on a lengthy run. Over his final 404 trips to the plate, Morales slashed a robust .302/.364/.547 and launched 24 round-trippers.
There’s plenty of competition in the DH market, which certainly reduces expectations for Morales’s earning capacity. But he commanded two years and a $17MM guarantee the last time he reached free agency, and has a much stronger platform to work from this time around. That he’s capable of hitting from both sides of the plate certainly helps his cause, though his inability to play much (if at all) in the field will constitute a demerit in the eyes of suitors. It seems quite clear that Morales is headed for an American League club after spending the entirety of his career to date in the AL.
Volquez’s own case was all the more clear, though there were rumblings at one point that K.C. would possibly make him a qualifying offer. The fellow 33-year-old, who also turned down his end of a mutual option, still has plenty of velocity. And remains a reliable innings-eater with reliable groundball results in the 50% range. But Volquez ended the 2016 campaign with a 5.37 ERA and just 6.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9, so he’ll likely be valued as a back-of-the-rotation option on the market.
Royals Decline Luke Hochevar’s Option
The Royals have announced they’ve declined Luke Hochevar’s $7MM 2017 mutual option. That means they’ll owe him a $500K buyout. He is now a free agent.
The move was expected. Hochevar underwent surgery to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome in August, and it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to return to game action. There have, however, been indications that the Royals could attempt to sign Hochevar to a cheaper deal for 2017.
Hochevar generally pitched well in 2016 when healthy, posting a 3.86 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 over 37 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old former No. 1 overall pick struggled for years as a starter and missed the 2014 season after having Tommy John surgery, but he’s now had three relatively successful seasons as a hard-throwing reliever, including with the Royals’ 2015 World Series team.
Royals Open Extension Talks With Danny Duffy
The Royals have opened extension talks with lefty Danny Duffy, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. At this point, it seems that discussions have not moved beyond the preliminary stage, but there is said to be mutual interest in a deal.
While there doesn’t appear to be any particular momentum toward a pact — Flanagan says the sides have yet to exchange “firm details or proposals” — it’s notable that the talks are taking place. Duffy is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility, making him one of several notable Kansas City players who’ll qualify for free agency after the year. While the club is already locked in for longer commitments on several key regulars, there appear to be some payroll pressures and there is plenty of uncertainty as to how things will play out with so many fixtures set to depart.
Contract talks were inevitable, of course; if nothing else, there’s the matter of Duffy’s final arb payday to be sorted out. MLBTR projects him to earn $8.2MM after a strong year in which he racked up 179 2/3 innings despite making 16 relief appearances to go with his 26 starts. He ended the year with a 3.51 ERA and 9.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9, while also showing improved fastball velocity, filling up the strike zone more than ever, and registering a career-high 12.4% swinging-strike rate.
GM Dayton Moore declined to comment, noting only that the club hopes to secure its best homegrown players when it’s able. And Duffy said he wasn’t aware of the talks, though he left no doubt that he is hoping for a long-term deal with the team. “I want to stay with the Royals long term,” he said. “One hundred percent. For sure.”
Despite his evident interest, finding a valuation for Duffy that suits the team’s needs will not be an easy task. Duffy will be entering his age-29 season when he qualifies for free agency, so he’ll have prime years to sell, and he showed enough last year to believe he could line up for a rather significant contract with another quality campaign. While his relative youth also enhances his appeal to Kansas City, it means that the team will either need to stretch beyond its typical comfort zone — after doing so already last winter for Ian Kennedy — or try to convince Duffy to take a team-friendly payout.
Volquez, Morales Decline Mutual Options; Royals Decline Option On Medlen
The Royals announced today that designated hitter Kendrys Morales and right-hander Edinson Volquez have declined their halves of their 2017 mutual options. Additionally, the team has declined its half of the mutual option on right-hander Kris Medlen. All three players will enter the free-agent market. It’s still possible that the Royals could make a $17.2MM qualifying offer to either Volquez or Morales, though Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets that neither is likely. (That’s no surprise in the case of Volquez, though there was a bit more of a possibility in Morales’ case.)
Morales, 33, will enter the offseason with the strongest free-agent case. After an ice-cold start to the season, the switch-hitting slugger caught fire in June and finished out the year with a torrid .302/.364/.547 batting line and 24 homers in his final 404 trips to the plate. While that endpoint is admittedly arbitrary, Morales’ scorching summer demonstrated that he’s still capable of performing at a high level. That he’ll hit the market without being burdened by a qualifying offer should allow him to find at least a healthy two-year deal this winter — likely to serve as a DH and occasional first baseman elsewhere in the American League.
The Royals will have a hole at DH, of course, bur a reunion doesn’t seem to be in the cards given GM Dayton Moore’s statements about the team’s payroll regressing in 2017. The Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, White Sox and Rangers are among the American League clubs that could have a first base/DH opening in 2017.
Volquez, also 33, had a strong first season in Kansas City (3.55 ERA in 200 1/3 innings) but was unable to replicate that success in the second season of his two-year, $20MM pact with Kansas City. The 2016 campaign, Volquez’s worst since 2013, saw the veteran right-hander limp to a 5.37 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 51.2 percent ground-ball rate. His year was in some ways the inverse of Morales’ 2016 season. The righty got off to a nice start (3.74 ERA through May 29) but saw his season completely collapse from that point forth. Volquez was tattooed for a 6.27 ERA over his final 122 innings, yielding 85 earned runs on 147 hits and 53 walks (plus six hit batsmen) in that time.
Given that dreadful skid, it’s at least somewhat surprising that Volquez was the one who declined his end of a $10MM mutual option, but given the dearth of quality rotation options on the open market this winter, he could still come away with a nice contract. He’s one season removed from a two-year stretch in which he posted a collective 3.30 ERA in 393 innings, and even in a dreadful 2016 season, Volquez logged 189 1/3 frames. Durability pays on the open market, and Volquez’s camp can pitch him as the most reliable source of 190+ innings available in free agency in an offseason market where the headliners include Rich Hill, Jeremy Hellickson and Ivan Nova.
Medlen, meanwhile, was signed prior to the 2015 season as a reclamation project on the heels of his second career Tommy John surgery, but his two-year deal ultimately provided little to return on Kansas City’s $8.5MM investment. After tossing just 58 1/3 innings in 2015, Medlen was slowed by a pair of shoulder injuries in 2016 and managed to take the hill for just 24 1/3 frames of 7.77 ERA ball. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Medlen looked to be blossoming into a potential front-of-the-rotation starter with the Braves, but the 2.47 ERA he posted in 335 innings over a two-year span came all the way back in 2012-13. It’s now been three full seasons since Medlen was an effective Major League pitcher, and while some teams figure to look at him as a low-cost roll of the proverbial dice this winter, he may have to earn his roster spot and earn a significant portion of his 2017 salary via performance incentives.
Royals To Pick up 2017 Options For Wade Davis, Alcides Escobar
The Royals will exercise their 2017 club options for right-handed closer Wade Davis and shortstop Alcides Escobar, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Davis will earn $10MM next season and Escobar will rake in $6.5MM.
Davis helped pitch the Royals to back-to-back World Series appearances from 2014-15 and a championship last season, but he was a tad less dominant this year. He still thrived, though, recording a 1.87 ERA, 9.76 K/9, 3.32 BB/9 and 48.6 percent ground-ball rate in 43 1/3 innings. Davis threw 65-plus innings in each of the previous two years, but he missed significant time this season with a forearm strain. Landing on the disabled list in late July – right before the trade deadline – helped put the kibosh on a potential deal involving Davis, who had drawn interest across the league. Calls have continued to come in since for Davis, who would surely net a quality return as an affordable and elite reliever, but Kansas City reportedly won’t move him unless it receives young pitching in return.
Along with Davis, first baseman Eric Hosmer, left-hander Danny Duffy, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and third baseman Mike Moustakas are set to become free agents after next season, meaning general manager Dayton Moore might elect to give the club’s championship-winning core one more shot after injuries helped limit the Royals to 81 wins this year.
Escobar is also entering his final season under Kansas City’s control, and although he’s defensively gifted and speedy, the 29-year-old’s limitations at the plate weigh down his value. Dating back to last season, Escobar leads the Royals in plate appearances (1,344), but that’s not a positive for a player who has hit a meek .259/.293/.335. Nevertheless, with no clear upgrades available in free agency and the 21-year-old Raul Mondesi fresh off a less-than-stellar rookie season, retaining Escobar likely wasn’t a difficult choice for the Royals.
Royals Want Young Pitching For Wade Davis
- If the Royals were to trade Wade Davis, a team source says they would want controllable young pitching in return. The Royals floated Davis’ name in trade talks at the deadline but put a very high price tag on his services, including a big ask for young pitching in the form of star prospect Lucas Giolito from the Nationals. Kansas City also reportedly tried to attach Davis with Ian Kennedy in trades, which would’ve gotten K.C. lesser prospects in return but quite a bit of payroll relief from Kennedy’s large contract.
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