NL Notes: Chapman, Dodgers, Cubs, Reds
Had their offseason attempt to acquire then-Cincinnati closer Aroldis Chapman not fallen through over his domestic violence issues, the Dodgers would have deployed the left-hander aggressively in a setup role, a club official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. That would have meant continuing with Kenley Jansen as the closer, which the Dodgers believe Chapman would have accepted after doing background work on him. Chapman ended up going to the Yankees, who shipped him to the Cubs in advance of this year’s non-waiver trade deadline. The flame-throwing 28-year-old could join the Dodgers in free agency during the offseason, notes Sherman, who writes that the team still has a high opinion of him. Los Angeles is also facing the potential departure of Jansen, who is set to join Chapman on the open market.
More from the National League:
- The Ricketts family, owners of the Cubs, are considering launching their own regional sports network before the 2019 expiration of their local television rights agreements, according to Kathy Bergen and Robert Channick of the Boston Herald. PwC, a consulting firm, projects that media rights will become professional sports teams’ biggest source of direct revenue by 2018. With that in mind, the Cubs could try to follow in the footsteps of the Dodgers, who launched regional network SportsNet LA with Time Warner Cable on a 25-year, $8.35 billion deal in 2014. Some cable providers have been reluctant to carry the channel because of its higher premium, though, and that might make such a lucrative agreement unrealistic for the Cubs, per Bergen and Channick. If the Cubs do form their own network, it could be in a partnership with Comcast SportsNet Chicago, which currently carries 79 games per season and pays the team $500K for each.
- Outgoing Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty told C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer that the team’s rebuild will succeed “as long as everybody doesn’t get too impatient.” The Reds have won fewer than 76 games in three straight seasons – including 68 this year – but Jocketty informed Rosecrans that the face of the franchise, superstar first baseman Joey Votto, is on board with the club’s direction. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this club. I talk to guys like Joey (Votto) — Joey sees it, he’s excited about it. I’ve seen him more engaged with some of these young guys,” said Jocketty, who will transition to an advisory role as general manager Dick Williams takes control of the Reds’ baseball department.
West Notes: Claire, Dodgers, Gallo, Felix, Marlette
MLBTR offers its best wishes to former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, who is battling skin cancer that developed on his lip after a life in the sun at baseball diamonds. He spoke with JP Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group about his challenge and many fortunes in life, and it’s well worth a read. Claire has generously discussed his lengthy tenure with the Dodgers previously with MLBTR’s Zach Links. MLBTR wishes him our very best.
Here are a few notes from the western divisions:
- Current Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently addressed the team’s 2016 campaign, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported. Los Angeles faces decisions on several positions heading into the offseason with a variety of notable free agents, including closer Kenley Jansen, third baseman Justin Turner, starter Rich Hill, and infielder Chase Utley. “We have a lot of talented players who are free agents, and I expect we’ll have ongoing dialogue with every one of them,” said Friedman. “There are so many ways the off-season could play out. It’s so hard to try to corral it at this point.”
- Power-hitting Rangers prospect Joey Gallo suffered a hamstring injury in his third game of action in the Venezuelan Winter League, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. He may need to head back stateside to have the muscle assessed, and it seems that it could well interrupt his time with the Navegantes del Magallanes. There’s no reason to think it’ll impact Gallo’s availability in the spring, certainly, but the hope had been that he would use the winter ball stint to develop at the plate while also providing the team an opportunity to assess his readiness to play a larger role at the major league level in 2017.
- This offseason is a critical one for Mariners righty Felix Hernandez, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes. Once one of the game’s most dominating pitchers, the 30-year-old has exhibited a variety of worrying signs of late. By virtually any measure, Hernandez faded last year; though his 3.82 ERA was still plenty useful, earned-run estimators viewed 2016 as his worst season as a professional. Now, says Divish, King Felix will need to figure out a way to succeed despite waning velocity and wavering command. With $79MM owed to Hernandez over the next three years, Seattle has plenty riding on his ability to return to something approaching his prior form.
- The Mariners face a decision on catcher Tyler Marlette, who could be a Rule 5 draft candidate if he’s not added to the team’s 40-man roster, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Marlette, 23, is hitting well in the Arizona Fall League, continuing to make a case for the team to trust him with a valuable roster placement. He performed well at the High-A level, too, slashing .273/.335/.472 over 358 plate appearances before earning a promotion to Double-A. As Baseball America’s staff explains, Marlette needs his bat to carry him, as he’s considered a marginal defender.
Heyman’s Latest: Schwarber, Dodgers, Tigers, Red Sox
There’s a “very real” possibility slugger Kyle Schwarber will be able to contribute for the World Series-bound Cubs in their matchup with the Indians, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Schwarber has been out since early April after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee, but, as the Cubs were in the midst of defeating the Dodgers to clinch their first pennant since 1945, the 23-year-old returned to action Saturday in the Arizona Fall League. Schwarber accrued four plate appearances and said afterward that “it was overall a really great day for me” (via Jack Thompson of the Chicago Tribune). If Schwarber does return for the World Series, the player whom Cubs baseball president of baseball operations Theo Epstein deems a “special talent” could factor in as a DH and pinch-hitter.
More from Heyman:
- The Dodgers and soon-to-be free agent Justin Turner have mutual interest in renewing their relationship, according to Heyman, who notes that the third baseman’s age could prevent that from happening. The fact that Turner will turn 32 next month might cause the Dodgers to shy away from approaching or matching any mega-offers that come his way on the open market. Turner is in position to cash in on the heels of a three-year run in which he combined for 12.4 fWAR and slashed .296/.364/.492 in 1,383 plate appearances.
- As for another of the Dodgers’ key impending free agents, Kenley Jansen, the club will “make a nice attempt” to re-sign the closer, writes Heyman. The 29-year-old Jansen has been a premier reliever since debuting in 2010, so the Dodgers’ interest in keeping him is no surprise. He and fellow free agent-to-be Aroldis Chapman look primed to become the two highest-paid relievers in baseball history.
- Both Turner and Jansen will be among players landing $17.2MM qualifying offers after the season. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported earlier this month that Major League Baseball could introduce a new rule to preclude players from receiving a QO in consecutive offseasons. That now seems unlikely, though, as a source told Heyman there hasn’t been much discussion about it.
- The Tigers received calls on outfielder Justin Upton over the summer, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Saturday. Heyman contends that dealing Upton would be a “tall task,” pointing to the amount of capable right-handed hitters in the offseason’s class of free agents. There are other factors that could stand in the way, too, including Upton’s 20-team no-trade clause and his right to opt out of his contract after next season. Upton just finished the first season of the six-year, $132.75MM deal he signed with Detroit last winter. A torrid September helped prevent a disastrous year for Upton, whose overall output – .246/.310/.465, 1.4 fWAR over 626 PAs – was nonetheless disappointing.
- The Red Sox are seriously considering exercising their $13.5MM club option for 2017 on right-hander Clay Buchholz, per Heyman. The weak group of free agent starters could lead Boston to pick it up, as Heyman concurs with MLBTR’s Steve Adams that he’d potentially end up with a multiyear deal on the market. The 32-year-old Buchholz has been inconsistent during his Red Sox tenure, including a subpar 2016 spent both in the rotation and bullpen, though he was highly effective as recently as last season and could garner trade interest if the club retains his rights.
Quick Hits: International Draft, Dodgers, Reyes, Niese
Ben Badler of Baseball America, a highly respected observer in the international amateur arena, has written an article panning the league’s reported effort to push for an international draft in collective bargaining talks. Though Badler concurs with the need for reform, and suggests that a properly conceived draft may ultimately be a legitimate pursuit, he argues that the first step ought to be a change in how the commissioner’s office approaches the international market.
Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:
- While things didn’t go the Dodgers‘ way tonight, the team is still battling in the postseason and just wrapped up its fourth-straight NL West title. And as Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, if club president Stan Kasten has his way, the club will keep taking shots at the postseason year after year — without losing the discipline it needs to be a repeat contender. “It is largely correct that the playoffs are a crapshoot,” Kasten said. “So if you think you can lock something up in just one year by going all in, that is folly. I know our chances of winning a championship are better if we win eight out of 10 division titles.”
- The Mets are still weighing some of their harder decisions, but Jon Heyman of Fan Rag says the club has already made two rather obvious ones. New York will exercise its league-minimum option over infielder Jose Reyes. The team was able to secure that rather unusually favorable clause because the Rockies still owe Reyes a large sum for 2017 and he was in need of an opportunity after being suspended and designated for assignment owing to his shameful domestic violence episode. Meanwhile, the Mets will pay lefty Jon Niese a $500K buyout rather than picking up his option at $10MM. Niese was even worse in New York than he was with the Pirates, who sent him back to the Mets over the summer after adding him in last winter’s Neil Walker swap, but ought to draw interest as a bounceback candidate.
West Notes: Hill, Dodgers, Baldoquin, Rangers’ Park, Rockies Catchers
Dodgers lefty Rich Hill is one of the more unique players we’ll ever see, and it’s his unfathomable transactional path that makes his current performance all the more amazing. SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee pens an interesting piece in honor of a hurler whose success nobody saw coming when he was suiting up for the Long Island Ducks last year. Hill just carved up the Cubs last night in game three of the NLCS, striking out six and allowing two hits and no runs over a half-dozen frames. That outing bolsters an already-intriguing free agent resume for the 36-year-old.
Here’s more from out west:
- The Dodgers represent a unique compilation of talent, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes. Los Angeles managed to cover for an unbelievable number of injuries — though, to be fair, at least some were anticipated given the team’s risky investments (Hill included) — and still managed to take the NL West. Despite near-constant change in the major league roster and its in-game deployment, the club has thrived and seemingly hit its stride at the right time.
- Across town, the Angels are holding out at least some hope for infielder Roberto Baldoquin despite two forgettable campaigns, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. Injuries have kept him off the field and limited his developmental opportunities, though Fletcher notes that conditioning may be partially to blame. Certainly, what the team has seen hasn’t been promising. The 22-year-old, who signed on for an $8MM bonus that nearly doubled with penalties and restricted the organization’s international spending, has stalled out at High-A with a composite .219/.269/.267 batting line over the last two years. But the Halos developmental staff says that Baldoquin works hard, with coaches suggesting that he has at least shown enough in the field to warrant the continued investment of resources into his future.
- While the Rangers and the City of Arlington have maintained that the costs of their new stadium project will be split evenly, WFAA-TV has found several factors which significantly complicate that characterization. Following up on a prior report that suggests tax revenues may be diverted to the team, shifting the burden away from the Rangers and onto the city’s taxpayers, the most recent report outlines other significant ways in which anticipated revenue will flow to the club’s coffers. Stadium naming rights and seat licenses — both highly valuable commodities — would flow to the club despite the fact that the city is set to own the ballpark itself. In the aggregate, the news station assesses the split in real costs at about $1.675 billion for the city (including interest on a bond issue to fund it) versus $500MM for the team. These revelations, which are disputed by Arlington mayor Jeff Williams, come as voting polls show a tight split in opinion on the upcoming referendum. (For opposing viewpoints, see here and here for just a few examples.)
- One major question for the Rockies this winter is how to handle the catching position, as Thomas Harding of MLB.com covers in response to a reader question. Colorado does see improvement in the glovework of Tom Murphy, but at present there’s a gulf between his pitch framing ability and that of incumbent part-timer Tony Wolters. Of course, free agent-to-be Nick Hundley does not excel in that area either, which perhaps suggests the team will be willing to move on from him this winter.
Dodgers Notes: Chapman, Turner, Jansen, Grandal
The Dodgers’ decision to back out of last December’s agreed-upon Aroldis Chapman trade wasn’t solely the mandate of ownership but was a collective consensus between the baseball operations staff and the ownership group, writes Jon Heyman in his latest notes column at FanRag Sports. By the time the baseball operations staff reached out to managing partner Mark Walter about the domestic violence allegations with which Chapman was faced, they’d already decided the deal should no longer be pursued, and Walter agreed. Heyman also adds that the three prospects that would’ve gone to Cincinnati in that deal ultimately wound up in the Reds organization anyhow, as the proposed package was Jose Peraza, Scott Schebler and Brandon Dixon for Chapman. Those three all went to the Reds in the three-team trade that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox. (The Dodgers received Trayce Thompson, Micah Johnson and Frankie Montas from the Sox in that deal.)
A few more notes on the Dodgers…
- Heyman also reports that there have been some “very preliminary contract talks” between the Dodgers and impending free agent Justin Turner, though there’s been nothing serious enough to indicate that Turner will forgo the open market this winter. Turner has said he’d love to remain with the Dodgers, but on the heels of a monster season, he should find widespread demand for his services. The 31-year-old (32 in November) batted .275/.339/.493 with 27 homers in 151 games this season and erased a dreadful first April/May with a torrid four-month stretch to close out the season. He also grades out as a premium defender at the hot corner, all of which contributed to his 4.9 rWAR and 5.6 fWAR in 2016. He’s also been a brilliant performer thus far in his short postseason career, hitting .405/.519/.667 in 52 plate appearances. While that doesn’t necessarily do much for his free-agent stock, it certainly can’t hurt him and figures to be brought up by his agents as they seek the best deal possible for their client this winter.
- Manager Dave Roberts tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he told Kenley Jansen before the 2016 season even began that he planned to get him at least a half-dozen outings in which he pitched more than one inning over the life of the regular season as a means for preparing him for the postseason, and that indeed played out. Jansen was also candid with Rosenthal in explaining that he felt his trust was betrayed when former GM Ned Colletti signed Brandon League to a three-year deal in the wake of Jansen being diagnosed with and treated for an irregular heartbeat. He didn’t mind the possibility of the Dodgers adding Chapman this winter, stressing that he only asked that Friedman be up front with him about what might happen. And it should be noted that former teammate A.J. Ellis also spoke to Rosenthal about how frank Jansen is when discussing free agency. Ellis compared him to Zack Greinke in some respects, noting that Jansen feels he’s earned his one opportunity at a lucrative free-agent deal and figures to go to the highest bidder.
- Yasmani Grandal‘s struggles at the plate this postseason are reminiscent of his offensive woes last year in the playoffs, after which he underwent shoulder surgery, but the catcher tells Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times that he’s not injured this time around. Grandal isn’t letting his lack of offense so far get to him, as he clearly laid out to Moura that his priorities are his defensive work/game-calling behind the plate, then drawing walks, then slugging at the plate. “I’m hitting seventh, and there’s a reason why they have me hitting seventh,” he said. “They want me to make sure I run the pitching staff like it’s supposed to be ran.” Grandal also talked about his frequent visits to the mound this October, explaining that the Dodgers are keenly aware of which players on opposing teams can relay signs to hitters at the plate when they’re standing on second base.
Prospect Notes: Dodgers, Tebow, Skole
Two of the best three prospects to graduate to the Majors this year are Dodgers products, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America writes. Shortstop Corey Seager and lefty Julio Urias rank Nos. 1 and 3 on BA’s list of the top ten graduated players, with only Trea Turner of the Nationals between them. Seager, of course, will almost certainly be the NL Rookie of the Year and is an NL MVP candidate after batting .308/.365/.512 while playing outstanding defense this season. Urias pitched just 77 innings for the Dodgers this season, but he only recently turned 20, and Glaser notes that his next step toward becoming a frontline starting pitcher is to build up his workload. Here are more quick notes on prospects.
- The Mets‘ signing of Tim Tebow to a minor league deal with a $100K bonus has received criticism lately, and it appears those criticisms could get louder, to judge from recent comments from a scout to NJ.com’s Randy Miller. “He’s pretty much a rookie ballplayer who’s 29. And I’m being nice,” said the scout, who watched Tebow in the Arizona Fall League. “He’s got a long ways to go. These guys are obviously way better than him.” The scout also criticized most elements of Tebow’s game, noting that Tebow struggled to hit fastballs and that Tebow might have to lose weight in order to play better defense. Tebow is currently hitting 0-for-9 with two walks in the AFL.
- Former Rangers prospect and 2010 15th overall draft pick Jake Skole is on the opposite direction on Tebow’s path, heading from the diamond to the University of Georgia football program, according to Rusty Mansell of 247sports.com. Skole, who was born and raised in Georgia, will play a defensive position, although it’s unclear which one. As SportsDay’s Evan Grant notes, the Rangers released Skole in 2015, and he played in the Yankees organization this season. In parts of seven seasons in the minors, the former outfielder batted .227/.325/.330, topping out at Double-A and also receiving a 50-game PED suspension.
West Notes: Hernandez, Rockies, Hale
The Dodgers left utilityman Enrique Hernandez off their roster for the NLDS, but they’ve added him for their upcoming series against the Cubs and will start him today against lefty Jon Lester, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets. The idea, perhaps, is that the Dodgers’ group of position players is lefty-heavy, and the Cubs have plenty of lefty pitching (including Lester, Aroldis Chapman, Travis Wood, Mike Montgomery, and rookie reliever Rob Zastryzny, who the Cubs have announced has replaced infielder Tommy La Stella on their NLCS roster). Hernandez gives the Dodgers an extra right-handed bat. While he struggled overall this season, batting .190/.283/.324 in 244 plate appearances, Hernandez has a career .270/.362/.478 line against left-handed pitchers. Here’s more from the West divisions.
- It’s time for the Rockies to start spending heavily in hopes of making a playoff push, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Saunders cites Olney, who notes the recent correlation between spending and winning, with the Indians being the only team with a below-median payroll to make the playoffs. Whether some of Saunders’ proposed moves would actually propel the Rockies to the postseason is debatable — he suggests, for example, that the Rockies ought to consider sending Charlie Blackmon to St. Louis for Matt Adams and Trevor Rosenthal, should such a deal be offered. Adams’ power would likely play well at Coors Field, but the Rockies would sorely miss Blackmon, who joined Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu as one of the team’s best players in 2016.
- The Athletics are talking to former Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale about their third base coach position, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The job opened when Ron Washington departed for the Braves. All the Athletics’ other coaches are expected to return next season. Hale was the Athletics’ bench coach for three seasons before heading to Arizona, and Slusser writes that he was popular with Athletics players.
Cubs Notes: Baez, NLCS Roster, Zastryzny
Heading into the 2011 draft, the Cubs were set on Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. Rosenthal reports of a pre-draft conversation between then-Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken (now a special assistant with the Diamondbacks) and Padres exec Jason McLeod (now with the Cubs). The Padres wanted to take Francisco Lindor with the tenth overall pick and were curious about whether the Cubs would be selecting him. Wilken told McLeod that Baez was a “no-doubter” if he was still on the board when the Cubs picked. McLeod wasn’t as convinced: “I remember calling Jed after the game and saying, ‘This guy may be Manny Ramirez, or he might never get out of Double A!’ We weren’t convicted on the hit tool at the time and probably could have done a better job getting to know him personally.” In fairness to McLeod, Baez has struggled to control the strike zone in his young career, although he’s made up for that with defense and power. Either pick would have turned out just fine, of course, as both are now emerging young players who have already made noise in this year’s playoffs. The Indians ultimately took Lindor with the eighth pick; the Cubs took Baez at No. 9, as promised, and the Padres selected Cory Spangenberg at No. 10. Here’s more out of Chicago.
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says the process by which the team sets its NLCS roster will involve a “lot of yelling,” as Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic writes. That roster will be announced this morning. “The first one to get to this point was a lot of back and forth. This will obviously be a quicker meeting with less time to make the decision,” says Hoyer. It’s just one decision, whether we want to do 12 or 11 [pitchers]. A lot of that will depend on the opponent.” Sharma outlines the decisions in play this time, suggesting that infielder Tommy La Stella, outfielder Matt Szczur, lefty Rob Zastryzny and others could be on the bubble.
- Since they’re facing the Dodgers (whose collection of left-handed hitters includes Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager, Chase Utley, Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Josh Reddick and Andrew Toles), the Cubs seem likely to add Zastryzny, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune writes. Gonzales notes that the rookie left-hander has already faced the Dodgers once in his brief MLB career, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings against them in a strong outing April 27. “I looked at their lineup. I watched (Game 5 of the NL Division Series),” says Zastryzny. “I have thrown against them before.”
Dodgers Notes: Greinke, Payroll, Free Agents
Jon Heyman’s latest column for FanRag Sports takes a look at the Dodgers’ summer trade talks and how the club is positioning itself for the future…
- The Dodgers were known to have had brief talks with the Diamondbacks about a possible Zack Greinke trade this summer, and Heyman reports that the Dodgers offered to cover roughly $25MM of the $34.4MM average annual value owed to Greinke through the 2021 season. D’Backs ownership didn’t want to retain any of Greinke’s contract and rejected the offer, saying the Dodgers “had plenty of money” to afford all of the right-hander’s massive future salary commitments.
- While Los Angeles obviously hasn’t been shy on spending in recent years, Heyman notes that the club “might have stricter limits on term that you’d think.” For instance, the Dodgers were only willing to offer Greinke five years (for $155MM) in free agency last winter, and some in the organization even felt that was a “stretch.” The Dodgers even floated a two-year offer to Greinke with a very high AAV of close to $40MM per season.
- With the Dodgers’ concerns about term length in mind, there are some mixed signals about how far the team is willing to go to re-sign its top free agents this winter, such as Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner, Rich Hill and Josh Reddick. While L.A. will “at least try” to retain all of them, at least one or two of the players could sign elsewhere. One rival official believes the Dodgers might let all of their own free agents walk, though later reasoned that Jansen is perhaps too important to the Dodgers’ bullpen to let go.
- Speaking of Dodgers’ spending, some in the front office believe there’s a chance the team could manage to get below the $189MM luxury tax threshold in the near future. The Dodgers have so many impressive prospects on the horizon that an influx of cheap, controllable young talent would allow the club to eschew the higher-priced names that ballooned their payroll to over $300MM in recent years. Heyman notes, however, that the Dodgers have already trimmed spending (by their standards) from that record high, with a 2016 Opening Day payroll of just under $250MM. It’s also possible that the luxury tax limit will be raised from $189MM in the new collective bargaining agreement, so Los Angeles and other big-market teams would have a bit more spending flexibility. Needless to say, getting under the luxury tax limit just once would provide massive financial savings for the Dodgers.