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Free Agent Notes: Kluber, Turner, Duvall, Puig

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It’s confirmed that free-agent right-hander Corey Kluber will hold a showcase for interested teams on Jan. 13 in Florida, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Kluber, a former Cleveland and Texas hurler who missed most of the previous two seasons because of a forearm fracture and shoulder problems, has gone through “a normal winter workout program and has begun to throw off a mound,” tweets the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, who reports that the two-time AL Cy Young winner has generated interest from approximately 12 teams this offseason. Kluber hasn’t pitched a full season since 2018, but the now-34-year-old did log a 2.89 ERA in 215 innings then.

  • Third baseman Justin Turner is looking for a four-year contract, but the Dodgers don’t want to go above two years, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times writes. Turner spent the previous seven seasons as a member of the Dodgers, with whom he went from afterthought to star. The problem is that he’s now 36 years old, so the Dodgers (and other teams) may not be all that eager to commit to Turner on a long-term basis. MLBTR predicted at the beginning of the offseason that Turner would ink a two-year, $24MM deal.
  • The Marlins are interested in outfielder Adam Duvall, Craig Mish of Sportsnet tweets. The 32-year-old ex-Red spent the previous two-plus seasons in Atlanta, where he batted .231/.290/488 with 26 home runs in 396 plate appearances. As a Brave, Duvall was a powerful league-average hitter (100 wRC+), but that wasn’t enough for the team to tender him a contract earlier this winter, when it non-tendered him in lieu of paying him $4MM-plus in arbitration.
  • Speaking of the Marlins, they offered Yasiel Puig a $2MM base salary with “tons of incentives” during free agency a winter ago, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Puig didn’t end up signing with them or any other team in 2020. He did agree to a deal with the Braves in July, but that deal fell apart thanks to a positive COVID-19 test. Now that he’s healthy, though, Puig is back on MLB teams’ radars – including Miami’s.

Liam Hendriks Visits Blue Jays

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Free agent Liam Hendriks visited the Blue Jays’ training complex in Dunedin today, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The 31-year-old (32 in February) is unquestionably the best reliever available on the open market and has been quite arguably the best reliever in the sport over the past two seasons.

Hendriks had been loosely tied to the Blue Jays in recent weeks, but today’s visit seems to underscore the seriousness of those talks. Toronto has been connected to virtually every prominent free agent and trade target available this winter. It seems likely they’ll bring in at least one key player from outside the organization.

It remains to be seen whether Hendriks, who pitched for Toronto between 2014-15, will be among the Jays’ noteworthy additions. The Mets, Dodgers, White Sox and Astros have also been tied to the right-hander at various points this offseason. Chicago remains in play for Hendriks, reiterates Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Houston is still “all over him,” hears Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The Dodgers’ “strong interest” in signing Hendriks also persists, adds Robert Murray of Fansided. It’s clear Hendriks is finding rather robust interest, which should aid his attempt to land the four-year contract he seeks.

Dodgers Interested In DJ LeMahieu

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While the Yankees continue to be the team most prominently linked to DJ LeMahieu, other clubs continue to linger as alternate possibilities for the free agent infielder.  The includes the reigning World Series champions, as David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports said earlier this week during an MLB Network appearance that the Dodgers “are definitely in talks with LeMahieu.”

According to various reports, LeMahieu and the Yankees are separated by one year and over $25MM in contract talks — enough of a gap that it certainly presents opportunity for other big-spending teams to get involved.  The Blue Jays have been considered to be the Yankees’ chief rivals to sign LeMahieu, with the Mets and Astros also involved at various points this offseason, but the Dodgers could suddenly loom as potential favorites if they made a full-on push to land the All-Star.

Since Los Angeles already has over $197MM on the books in projected 2021 payroll, signing LeMahieu would surely put the Dodgers over the $210MM luxury tax threshold.  The club could look to make some trades elsewhere to free up money and avoid a tax payment, or the Dodgers could simply take a fairly minimal one-year hit (a 20% charge on every dollar spent between $210MM-$230MM) in order to further reinforce the lineup for another title run with the addition of LeMahieu’s bat.  With Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor, and Joe Kelly all potentially set for free agency in the 2021-22 offseason, L.A. will suddenly have lot of payroll space available if it wishes to duck back under the tax threshold next winter.

The Dodgers are obviously very familiar with LeMahieu from his days as the Rockies’ regular second baseman, though he has taken his game to an MVP-caliber over two seasons with the Yankees.  LeMahieu’s ability to also play third base and first base make him a good fit for a Los Angeles team that prizes multi-positional players, and it could make him a perfect (and more versatile) replacement for another free agent in Justin Turner.

It has been a pretty quiet offseason overall for the Dodgers, but the club isn’t thought to be under any of the financial restraints that are seemingly holding back a lot of teams this winter.  With this kind of payroll flexibility available, the Dodgers could be content to wait out the market, both because they’re already loaded with talent and because players like LeMahieu in search of big paydays have a relatively short list of teams that can meet their asking price.

It’s worth noting that LeMahieu rejected the Yankees’ qualifying offer, and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman usually stays away from free agents that come attached to draft pick compensation.  However, AJ Pollock represents one such external QO signing during Friedman’s tenure in Los Angeles, as the Dodgers surrendered what ended up being the 34th overall pick in the 2019 draft when they signed Pollock to a four-year deal in January 2019.

Phillies Acquire Jose Alvarado In Three-Team Trade With Rays, Dodgers

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The Rays, Phillies, and Dodgers are in combination on a three-team deal, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links).  As part of the swap, left-hander Jose Alvarado will go from the Rays to the Phillies, and minor league first baseman Dillon Paulson and a player to be named later or cash considerations will go from the Dodgers to Tampa Bay.  The Phils announced that left-hander Garrett Cleavinger has been sent to Los Angeles to complete the Dodgers’ end of the trade.

Alvarado is the most well-known name involved, and the southpaw will join a Philadelphia bullpen that posted dire numbers in 2020.  At his best during four seasons in Tampa, Alvarado was a major weapon for the Rays, most notably during a 2018 season that saw him post a 2.39 ERA and 11.3 K/9 over 64 relief innings and 70 games.

Injuries limited Alvarado in both 2019 and 2020, however, as he managed only a 5.08 ERA, 1.58 K/BB rate and 39 innings.  While Alvarado still missed a lot of bats to the tune of a 12.0 K/9, a lack of control (7.6 BB/9) counter-acted those punchouts.  Shoulder inflammation limited Alvarado to only nine regular-season innings in 2020, but he was able to return for the ALCS and toss 1 2/3 scoreless innings to contribute to the Rays’ victory over the Astros.

Alvarado is still only 25 years old and is controllable for three seasons via the arbitration process, so the Phillies are hoping there’s plenty of upside left.  Beyond a general need for any sort of bullpen help, Philadelphia was also particularly short on left-handers, so Alvarado immediately becomes the club’s top southpaw option.  Alvarado has been just about equally good against left-handed (career .600 OPS) and right-handed (.622 OPS) batters during his four MLB seasons.

In moving Alvarado, the Rays open up a 40-man roster spot that was needed for the completion of the Blake Snell trade with the Padres, so that deal could be officially announced soon.  There is also a financial element to the swap from Tampa Bay’s end, as Alvarado was projected to earn roughly $1.05MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility.

Cleavinger made his MLB debut in 2020, tossing two-thirds of an inning in a single appearances for Philadelphia.  A third-round pick for the Orioles in the 2015 draft, Cleavinger was dealt to the Phillies as part of the Jeremy Hellickson trade in July 2017.  Working exclusively as a reliever throughout his pro career, Cleavinger has a 4.08 ERA, 2.26 K/BB rate, and 12.0 K/9 over 220 1/3 innings in the Baltimore and Philadelphia farm system, though he has never pitched at the Triple-A level.

Paulson was a 13th-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2018 draft, and the USC product has hit .253/.373/.464 over 778 plate appearances during his brief pro career, reaching the high-A level in 2019.

Dodgers Sign Tommy Kahnle To Two-Year Deal

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TODAY: The Dodgers have officially announced the signing.

DECEMBER 23: The Dodgers and right-hander Tommy Kahnle are in agreement on a two-year deal that will reportedly guarantee the right-hander $4.75MM and allow him to earn an additional $750K via incentives. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the agreement, which will pay Kahnle $750K in 2021 and $3.45MM in 2022 (as reported by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, on Twitter). Kahnle is represented by the Ballengee Group.

Tommy Kahnle | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Kahnle, 31, pitched just one inning with the Yankees this season before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. The Yankees outrighted him off the 40-man roster at season’s end, at which point Kahnle elected free agency. He has five-plus years of Major League service time, meaning he was scheduled to become a free agent following the 2021 season anyhow. Given that he’s unlikely to pitch much next season and could miss the entire year, it was only logical that the Yankees cut him from the 40-man roster.

A reunion between the Yankees and Kahnle hasn’t seemed likely with the Yanks seemingly intent on remaining south of the luxury tax threshold, as a backloaded two-year deal for Kahnle would come with some degree of luxury ramifications based on its average annual value. His two-year deal will follow a recent trend of multi-year contracts for pitchers rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Recent examples of such contracts include Nathan Eovaldi’s two-year deal with the Rays, Michael Pineda’s (first) two-year deal with the Twins and Drew Smyly’s two-year pact with the Cubs.

In Kahnle, the Dodgers will be getting a potential impact arm to add to their late-inning mix in 2022, when Kenley Jansen’s five-year pact will have run its course. Joe Kelly’s three-year pact will also be up, though L.A. holds a $12MM club option on him for the 2022 campaign. Although Kahnle struggled through a disastrous 2018 season, he was terrific in 2016-17 and quite good in 2019 as well. He only pitched one (scoreless) inning in 2020 before going down with the injury that led to his surgery, however.

All told, Kahnle carries a 3.48 ERA and 3.05 FIP in 175 2/3 innings dating back to the 2016 season. Along the way, he’s averaged 12.4 strikeouts, 3.7 walks and 0.92 home runs per nine innings pitched. The hard-throwing Kahnle has averaged 96.8 mph on his heater in that time, which has helped contribute to an excellent 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate and a 32.8 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone.

With Jansen and Kelly perhaps both off the roster by the time Kahnle is able to pitch for the Dodgers, he’ll be joining what should be a much different-looking relief corps. Flamethrowing Brusdar Graterol will be given the opportunity to further work his way into the late-inning mix this year and could factor prominently into that group. Right-hander Dylan Floro and lefties Victor Gonzalez, Adam Kolarek and Scott Alexander are all under club control into the 2022 season as well.

Howie Kendrick Retires

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Free-agent infielder Howie Kendrick announced Monday on his Instagram account that he has decided to retire, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post was among those to report.

This concludes an outstanding career for the 37-year-old Kendrick, who entered the professional ranks as a 10th-round pick of the Angels in 2002. Kendrick was regularly a formidable offensive presence in their uniform, even earning his lone All-Star nod in 2011. The Angels wound up trading Kendrick to the Dodgers in 2014 for left-hander Andrew Heaney, though Kendrick’s numbers dipped somewhat in their uniform. Kendrick’s Dodgers days concluded when they dealt him to the Phillies in 2016. His tenure in Philly also didn’t last long, as the club traded him to the Nationals during the ensuing season.

The move to Washington couldn’t have worked out much better for Kendrick, who was an integral part of the Nats from the 2017-19 regular seasons. Above all, his contributions during the team’s first-ever run to a World Series title in 2019 will never be forgotten by the franchise or its fans. Kendrick hit a grand slam in Game 5 of that year’s NLDS against the Dodgers, which helped the Nationals to a series-deciding win, and continued his heroics during the Fall Classic. With the Nats in danger of losing Game 7 to the Astros, Kendrick smacked a two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave the Nats a 3-2 lead they never relinquished.

Last season didn’t go well for Washington or Kendrick, whose numbers slid during an injury-shortened campaign, though he’ll always be regarded as a key component of their title-winning club and someone who was consistently a quality producer. Kendrick slashed .294/.337/.430 with 127 home runs and 126 stolen bases across 6,421 big league plate appearances, and he made upward of $71.6MM during his time in the majors, according to Baseball-Reference. MLBTR wishes Kendrick the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Tommy Lasorda

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DECEMBER 20: Fortunately, Lasorda’s condition has improved over the past few weeks, relays Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). He was transferred out of the intensive care unit late last month and hopes to be released from the hospital on Wednesday.

NOVEMBER 16: Legendary Dodger Tommy Lasorda was hospitalized and admitted to intensive care Sunday in Orange County, Calif., the team announced. Lasorda is “resting comfortably,” according to the Dodgers, though his family has requested privacy.

The 93-year-old Lasorda is among the most recognizable and accomplished figures in the Dodgers’ storied history. He began as a minor league pitcher for the franchise in 1949, when it was still in Brooklyn, and saw major league action with the Dodgers from 1954-55. Lasorda’s last MLB season was in 1956 with the Kansas City Athletics.

Once his playing career ended, Lasorda went into scouting and coaching in the early 1960s with the Dodgers – which proved to be a wise move. In 1976, he became the Dodgers’ manager and held that position for two decades. The Dodgers went 1,599-1,439 under Lasorda during the regular season, won eight division titles, took home four NL pennants and earned two World Series championships. Lasorda won Manager of the Year honors twice during his run atop the Los Angeles dugout, and the Dodgers later retired his No. 2.

Lasorda, who ranks 22nd all-time in managerial wins, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. He has continued to work with the Dodgers as a special advisor since his managerial tenure ended.  We at MLBTR wish Lasorda a speedy recovery and hope to see him back with the Dodgers soon.

MLB Payrolls Dropped A Collective $2.47 Billion In 2020

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Per the latest report from Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, payrolls across MLB fell from $4.22 billion in 2019 to $1.75 billion during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Dodgers’ $98.6MM payroll, Blum notes, clocked in as the highest mark among the game’s 30 teams. The Yankees finished second with a payroll of $86.3MM.

Of course, the 60-game season meant prorating pay, dropping player salaries by approximately 63% from the full-scale amount. The totals given here mark a roughly 59% year-over-year decrease, suggesting payrolls would have increased had there been a full season. 2018 brought the first year-over-year decrease in payroll since 2010, as Blum reported at the time.

One complicating factor was a rise in buyout options. As Blum writes, “Buyouts of unexercised 2021 options came to $58.2 million, more than double the $26.9 million for buyouts of unexercised 2020 options, a sign of expense-cutting amid the revenue loss.” That’s not a surprise, given the sudden change in expected revenues without fans present, but it is noteworthy.

Parsing owners’ financial positions after this season’s revenue losses will continue to be a topic of discussion as free agency moves forward at its glacial pace. Without transparency from owners, the exact losses are difficult to ascertain. These numbers – presuming their accuracy – do serve as a significant data point, however.

The question of finances has been and will continue to be one of the sticking points between MLB and the MLBPA as the two sides near the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. Transparency has been at the center of the debate, as owners have resisted the call from players to make their finances public. The Braves, as a publicly traded company, are the only team whose finances are made public in the form of quarterly reports, as Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards reviewed in early December. Of course, only so much can be gleaned from a single team’s financial numbers.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/18/20

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The latest minor moves from the majors…

  • The Dodgers have signed infielder Elliot Soto to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. Soto has been a part of a few organizations, most recently the Angels, since the Cubs picked him in the 15th round of the 2010 draft. The 31-year-old has batted .272/.346/.389 with 15 home runs in 1,323 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Soto made his major league debut last season with two hits in seven trips to the plate.
  • The Reds have inked righty Bo Takahashi to a minors pact with an invitation to big league camp, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Takahashi, 23, had been part of the Diamondbacks’ system since 2014. He owns a 4.14 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 567 minor league innings.

AL Notes: Gallo, Rays, Angels

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Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has been “available” since last summer’s trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes. It’s unknown what it would cost to pry Gallo out of Texas, though Rosenthal notes that he’s popular among teams that value some combination of home runs, walks, athleticism and tools. The 27-year-old Gallo had a terrible year at the plate during the shortened 2020 season, in which he hit .181/.301/.378 with 10 home runs in 226 plate appearances, but he did earn a Gold Glove for his work in right field. Gallo’s also not far removed from a premier showing at the plate in 2019, and he comes with two affordable years of team control.

Now the latest on two other American League teams…

  • The Rays are among the teams with interest in free-agent right-hander Ryne Stanek, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Stanek began his career with the Rays, who chose him 29th overall in the 2013 draft, and had his best seasons with the club. He was a regular opener with the Rays from 2018-19, during which he pitched to a 3.17 ERA/3.64 FIP and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine across 122 innings, but has fallen off of late. Stanek had difficulty in Miami, which acquired him from the Rays before the 2019 trade deadline, and the Marlins non-tendered him as a result. However, the 29-year-old hasn’t had trouble garnering interest from other teams this winter.
  • Rays righty Brent Honeywell was given a fourth option because of the substantial amount of time he has missed on account of injuries, general manager Erik Neander told Topkin and other reporters. The 25-year-old Honeywell was once an elite pitching prospect, but he hasn’t thrown a professional inning since 2017 – which he divided between Double-A and Triple-A – because of health issues. Since then, Honeywell has undergone four elbow surgeries, most recently an arthroscopic procedure. The good news is that Honeywell seems as if he’ll return in 2021.
  • The Angels have made a couple of additions to new general manager Perry Minasian’s front office. The team’s hiring Brewers vice president/assistant to the GM Ray Montgomery and Dodgers international crosschecker Brian Parker, per reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Jim Callis of MLB.com. It’s unclear which roles the two will take on as part of the Angels’ staff.
  • More on the Angels, who are unsurprisingly looking for help in their rotation. Manager Joe Maddon told MLB Network Radio on Friday that “we do need to attract probably two starting pitchers to come to us.” Maddon expects there to be an increase in six-man rotations throughout the league next year; if the Angels go that route – which is something Maddon expects to do (via Maria Torres of the LA Times) – it could benefit Shohei Ohtani, who’s returning from injury and who was part of a six-man staff in Japan before immigrating to the majors prior to the 2018 campaign. Ohtani, Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning should amass plenty of starts for the Angels in 2021, though the rest of their rotation doesn’t appear etched in stone.
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