Marlins Made Marcell Ozuna Trade Offers To Rangers, Reds
The Marlins made separate trade offers to the Rangers and Reds for Marcell Ozuna earlier this winter, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. The Fish wanted starting pitching back in both proposed deals, and it seems as if there was little-to-no room for further negotiations in these offers; Jackson writes that the Marlins “decided internally that they would trade [Ozuna] only if those teams met their exact asking price.”
It should be noted that these offers were both made before Miami signed Wei-Yin Chen, so the team’s need for rotation help is no longer quite as dire. Still, as the Marlins feel “a team can never have enough pitching,” Jackson thinks the Fish would revisit trading Ozuna if Texas or Cincinnati agreed to their demands.
Ozuna has been mentioned in rumors for months as a major trade chip Miami could use to acquire at least one solid young rotation piece. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria reportedly had developed some bad blood with Ozuna and agent Scott Boras over Ozuna’s demotion to Triple-A (which Boras claimed was done to stall Ozuna’s service time and not for developmental reasons) so it was seen as just a matter of time before a trade was finalized.
While at least 10 teams showed interest and at least one deal (with the Mariners) was heavily discussed, however, the tide had seemingly turned towards Ozuna staying in Miami. Personal issues aside, Loria and the front office were insisting on a very big return for Ozuna and weren’t willing to just give such a promising young outfielder away. New manager Don Mattingly and new hitting coach Barry Bonds were also lobbying to keep Ozuna, which undoubtedly played a factor. Since Chen is also a Boras client, it stands to reason that relations between Loria and the agent have also somewhat improved.
The Rangers have been connected to Ozuna in trade rumors for months, though it’s something of an imperfect fit since while Texas has some intriguing young arms (i.e. Chi Chi Gonzalez, Nick Martinez), they could use those reinforcements themselves in the Major League rotation. Delino DeShields also emerged as a good center fielder for the Rangers in 2015 so they didn’t have a huge need at the position, though Ozuna would’ve been an upgrade.
This is the first time we’ve heard of the Reds attached to Ozuna, though their interest makes sense given their outfield needs. Right fielder Jay Bruce is entering his last guaranteed year under contract and is available for trades, while the Reds are currently planning to use a platoon of unproven youngsters in left. Of course, Billy Hamilton is already Cincinnati’s regular center fielder, and he’s shown such a spectacular glove that if Ozuna did join the Reds, he’d be the one moving to left.
While the Reds have been in rebuild mode by dealing Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Marlon Byrd, Aroldis Chapman and Todd Frazier in the last seven months, Ozuna (25) is young enough to fit Walt Jocketty’s plan to quickly reload and contend again by 2017. Even moreso than Texas, however, Cincinnati is lacking in pitching depth — they were using an all-rookie rotation for much of last season after Cueto and Leake were dealt. The Reds have righties Robert Stephenson and Keury Mella and southpaws Amir Garrett and Cody Reed among their top prospects, and the club may prefer to see if those young arms can develop into long-term pieces for their uncertain rotation rather than deal one or more of them for Ozuna.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Friday
The deadline for teams to exchange arbitration figures with eligible players is 1pm ET today. Dozens of arb agreements figure to flow in over the next few hours, and we’ll keep track of the smaller arb agreements in this post. All projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and can be viewed on the full list of 156 players that filed for arbitration this year. Remember also that you can keep track of everyone that has avoided arbitration by checking out MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.
Onto the agreements…
- Shortstop Zack Cozart is in agreement with the Reds for an undisclosed sum, per a team announcement. He projected at $2.9MM in his second year of eligibility after a promising start to the 2015 season was cut short by a serious knee injury.
- The Diamondbacks announced that they have avoided arbitration with righty Rubby De La Rosa for an undisclosed sum. He was projected at $3.2MM but, per Jack Magruder of Fanragsports.com (on Twitter), will earn only $2.35MM.
- Reliever Fernando Rodriguez settled with the Athletics for $1.05MM — beneath his projected $1.3MM — per the Associated Press.
- Dodgers infielder Justin Turner will earn $5.1MM next season, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. That’s just a shade under his $5.3MM projection.
- The Braves settled with reliever Arodys Vizcaino for $897,500, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. He had a $1.1MM projection entering the fall.
- Both Zach Putnam will earn a $975K salary next year after agreeing with the White Sox, per a club announcement. That’s $175K over the projected arb value of the Super Two.
- The Cardinals settled with first baseman Matt Adams for $1.65MM, Heyman tweets. That’s a small bump over his $1.5MM projections. The team is also in agreement with right-hander Seth Maness, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Super Two reliever projected at $1.2MM but will receive $1.4MM, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter).
- Righty Tom Koehler receives a $3.5MM payday from the Marlins, per Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The team gets a break on the $3.9MM that had been projected. The team also has an agreement with righties David Phelps and Carter Capps, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Heyman adds (via Twitter) that Phelps will earn exactly his projected amount of $2.5MM. Capps was predicted to earn $800K, but his salary is yet to be reported.
- The Diamondbacks agreed to a $4.35MM rate with first-year-eligible starter Shelby Miller, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. He had projected at $4.9MM. Notably, Miller comes in just ahead of fellow 3+ service-class pitcher Harvey (who is covered below). Fellow Arizona hurler Patrick Corbin will earn $2.525MM next year, Passan also tweets.
- The Nationals have agreed with infielder Danny Espinosa for $2.875MM, Jon Heyman tweets. He gets a slight bump over his $2.7MM projection in his second season of arb eligibility.
- Nolan Arenado will receive a $5MM salary from the Rockies in his first season of eligibility, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. That’s exactly what fellow star young third baseman Manny Machado settled for as well, though Arenado was a Super Two. As Swartz explained recently, those two players’ cases may well have been tied together despite some important distinctions. He also explained why Arenado might not reach his sky-high $6.6MM projection in actuality.
- The Orioles have agreed with starter Miguel Gonzalez for $5.1MM, Eduardo Rodriguez of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Gonzalez projected for $4.9MM.
- Outfielder Chris Coghlan agreed at $4.8MM with the Cubs, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets. That’s quite a nice increase over his projected $3.9MM. Also agreeing with Chicago was reliever Pedro Strop, who gets $4.4MM, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). He had been projected at $4.7MM.
- Both righty Michael Pineda (for $4.3MM) and infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley ($3.2MM), according to Passan (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Those numbers largely track the projected amounts of $4.6MM and $3.1MM, respectively.
- Danny Duffy will play at $4.225MM next year after reaching terms with the Royals, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Catcher Drew Butera, meanwhile, will get $1,162,500 from Kansas City. Both represented small bumps over their projected values of $4MM and $1.1MM.
- Marlins closer A.J. Ramos will get $3.4MM in 2016, Heyman reports (Twitter links). Teammate Adeiny Hechavarria, meanwhile, will take down $2.625MM. Both first-year-eligible players went over their projections ($2.8MM and $2.3MM, respectively).
- The Mets will pay $4.325MM to Matt Harvey and $3MM to shortstop Ruben Tejada for 2016, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter links). Harvey approaches, but doesn’t quite reach, his $4.7MM projection. Though he’s still recovering from an unfortunate leg injury suffered during the post-season, Tejada will take home a cool half-million more than had been projected.
- Righty Joe Kelly has agreed with the Red Sox at $2.6MM, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. He falls a fair sight shy of the $3.2MM that MLBTR projected. Though he reached ten wins on the year, Kelly scuffled to a 4.82 ERA over his 134 1/3 innings.
- Righty Drew Hutchison agreed with the Blue Jays for $2.2MM, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. He falls short of a $2.6MM projection after a tough 2015 campaign.
- The Tigers have reached terms with shortstop Jose Iglesias for $2.1MM, per another Heyman tweet. The deal also includes some incentives, per the report. That’s a healthy jump up over the $1.5MM projection for the slick-fielding infielder, who did have a strong 2015 season.
- The Mariners announced that they reached agreement with lefty Charlie Furbush and righty Evan Scribner. Furbush will receive $1.7MM, while Scribner will get $807.5K, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
- Both shortstop Jean Segura and righty Wily Peralta are under contract with the Brewers, per a team announcement. Segura gets $2.6MM after being projected at $3.2MM, per Heyman (Twitter link). Matt Swartz’s system pegged Peralta at $2.8MM, and that’s exactly what he’ll earn, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).
There are plenty more after the jump:
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday
Here are the day’s lower-value arbitration deals, with all projections coming via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:
- The Padres and southpaw Drew Pomeranz have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year, $1.35MM deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. That’s a near-match with Swartz’s projection of $1.3MM. Acquired in an offseason trade with the A’s, Pomeranz will slot into the San Diego ‘pen this season and look to build on last season’s 86 innings of 3.66 ERA, during which he averaged 8.6 K.9 and 3.2 BB/9 to complement a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate.
- Fernando Salas and the Angels are in agreement on a one-year, $2.4MM deal, thereby avoiding a hearing, per Rosenthal. The 30-year-old Salas, who will be a free agent next winter, posted a 4.24 ERA in 63 2/3 innings this past season but had more encouraging peripherals; Salas averaged 10.5 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 with a 35.1 percent ground-ball rate, prompting FIP (3.15) xFIP (3.23) and SIERA (2.65) to forecast markedly better results.
- Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez and the Phillies have avoided arb with a one-year, $1.4MM agreement, Rosenthal tweets. The soon-to-be 28-year-old posted a strong 3.01 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 and also recorded a sound 48.8 percent ground-ball rate in 74 1/3 innings of relief across 65 appearances. He’ll again provide some valuable innings for the rebuilding Phillies.
NL East Notes: Fernandez, Yelich, Vizcaino, DePodesta
With Dee Gordon now extended through the 2020 season (and possibly 2021 by way of vesting option), MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro gets the sense that the Marlins hope to hammer out a long-term deal for Jose Fernandez, possibly in advance of tomorrow’s exchange of arbitration figures (Twitter link). That’s an ambitious goal for a number of reasons — lack of time, Fernandez’s stock being low after an injury-shortened season, Scott Boras’ aversion to long-term deals, etc. — and Frisaro himself notes that he hasn’t confirmed long-term contract talks are taking place. Jon Heyman, meanwhile, tweets that there’s “no word” that the Marlins are hopeful of coming to terms on an extension with their young ace. With Fernandez already eligible for arbitration, the urgency to sign a deal isn’t as pressing, as he’ll begin earning notable salaries as soon as 2016, when MLBTR has him projected at $2.2MM. Given his excellence when healthy, that number should rise rapidly, as he’ll be arb-eligible three more times before qualifying for free agency.
Here’s more on the Marlins and the NL East…
- Miami’s agreement with left-hander Wei-Yin Chen should put to rest the trade rumors swirling around Fernandez and Marcell Ozuna, writes Frisaro in a full column. By adding Chen (and extending Gordon), the Marlins sent the message that their goal is to contend in 2016. Adding Chen lessens the temptation to add a young arm by trading Ozuna, which would’ve simply created another hole in the outfield anyhow, Frisaro notes.
- Within that piece, Frisaro reports that the Nationals made a run at Christian Yelich this offseason, floating a concept involving left-hander Gio Gonzalez going to the Marlins. He’s the second reporter to say as much, as Jon Heyman first mentioned the scenario about a month ago While I’d imagine that other pieces were involved in the Washington’s scenario, Frisaro hears that the inquiry “didn’t go anywhere,” which isn’t necessarily a surprise. The Marlins took Yelich 23rd overall back in 2010 and rewarded him with a hefty $49.75MM contract extension with a little more than one year of service time under his belt last offseason; the team is quite high on Yelich’s potential.
- The Braves could end up going to an arbitration hearing with right-hander Arodys Vizcaino tomorrow, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Atlanta cemented itself as a “file-and-trial” team (one that does not negotiate one-year salaries after arbitration figures are exchanged) last season when it went to a hearing with left-hander Mike Minor. With figures set to be exchanged tomorrow at 1pm ET, there’s little time for the two sides to work out a deal, although GM John Coppolella voiced a desire to work something out. “Our hope is always to settle before numbers are filed, but we showed last year that we have no problem going to a hearing if we are unable to reach a number that works for our club,” Coppolella explained. Vizcaino is projected by MLBTR to make $1.1MM next season, although as a Super Two player, establishing a more significant base in his first trip through the process would make the right-hander exponentially more costly in his next three arbitration-eligible offseasons.
- In a piece for Vice Sports, Mike Vorkunov spoke to former Mets vice president of player development/amateur scouting about his decision to jump ship to the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and the journey that brought him to baseball in the first place. DePodesta recalls some influential lessons he learned while interning for George H.W. Bush’s deputy assistant, Jim Pinkerton — an experience that changed the way he approached his understanding not only of baseball but life in general. Vorkunov spoke to DePodesta’s former colleague, Josh Byrnes (now a senior VP working under Andrew Friedman in L.A.) as well as former Harvard football teammates/coaches and current/former Browns employees. DePodesta explained to Vorkunov that he’s tried to learn about as many other industries as possible (healthcare, finance, etc.). “I’ll say this: the last 20 years in baseball, much what I’ve done is try to learn as much as I can about other industries, especially ones that I thought shared common characteristics to what we were doing in baseball,” said DePodesta. “Because I was always trying to learn how they dealt with similar interests to what we had.” Vorkunov’s lengthy piece gives an excellent look into DePodesta and what he and his unique background will bring to the NFL. To read more about DePodesta’s career change from a football perspective, check out MLBTR’s sister site, Pro Football Rumors.
Royals “Focused” On Kennedy, Talking With Gallardo
The Royals are still pushing to add a rotation arm, according to multiple reports this morning, and appear to have their sights set upon the top of the remaining free-agent market. Kansas City “seems very focused” on Ian Kennedy, Jon Heyman tweets, but is still “talking” to Yovani Gallardo as well, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
Signing either Kennedy or Gallardo would, of course, require Kansas City to part with its top draft choice. While that’s not as painful as it would be for most teams, as the Royals won’t pick until the end of the first round, it’s obviously necessary for the team to take account of that sacrifice.
The Royals were said to have interest in free agent Wei-Yin Chen, but he just agreed to terms with the Marlins. If nothing else, though, that pursuit showed the seriousness of the Royals’ efforts as well as its willingness to punt a pick. Chen’s signing also showed that there’s still hope that the other top remaining free agents can match the lofty contract expectations that led them to decline qualifying offers.
As things stand, K.C. will run out a staff fronted by Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura. The three leading candidates for the remaining slots are the recently-re-signed Chris Young along with Danny Duffy and Kris Medlen, either of whom could also function as swingmen. There’s some minor league depth, including pitchers like John Lannan, Chien-Ming Wang, and Brian Flynn, but it isn’t hard to see why the Royals would want to add another option.
Marlins Designate Tommy Medica, Andre Rienzo
The Marlins have designated infielder Tommy Medica and righty Andre Rienzo for assignment, according to a club announcement. The moves were made to clear 40-man space for the signings of Chris Johnson and Edwin Jackson, both of which were made official.
Medica, 27, was claimed late last season. He might have had a chance to compete for playing time as a right-handed-hitting bench bat, but Miami seems set to give that role to Johnson. Medica struggled at the Triple-A level last year. He owns a .246/.308/.417 batting line over 338 major league plate appearances.
Likewise, the 27-year-old Rienzo was displaced by the addition of Jackson. Both players profile as swingmen, and Miami obviously decided to give Jackson the first crack at that role. Rienzo has thrown 140 1/3 MLB frames, working to a 5.90 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9.
Marlins Now Unlikely To Trade Marcell Ozuna
After agreeing to terms with starter Wei-Yin Chen, the Marlins now seem rather unlikely to deal away young outfielder Marcell Ozuna, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports on Twitter. Miami had reportedly been dangling Ozuna in hopes of landing a young rotation piece, but seemingly moved on to strike an agreement with Chen when it could not find a trade arrangement it liked.
Of course, much of the impetus for the apparent organizational inclination to trade Ozuna seemed to come from owner Jeffrey Loria. Though there had been discussions about an extension, things turned south after the Scott Boras-represented Ozuna declined to pursue a contract and then struggled to open the 2015 season.
When Jon Heyman asked Loria today whether Ozuna would be moved, he reportedly responded: “he’s here!” (Twitter link.) That line is hardly definitive, of course, but it certainly seems to suggest that it could stay that way in the context of the Chen agreement and the aforementioned report.
While the Marlins were said to be comfortable deploying Christian Yelich in center if a deal had come together involving Ozuna, it seems preferable to keep him and Giancarlo Stanton at the corners. Indeed, as I wrote in addressing the lynchpin decision on Ozuna in the Marlins’ offseason outlook, there is still tremendous appeal in keeping that trio together for the foreseeable future.
Marlins To Sign Chris Johnson
The Marlins have agreed to sign corner infielder Chris Johnson, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports on Twitter. He was recently cut loose by the Indians after spending the last few months of 2015 in Cleveland following a trade from the Braves.
Johnson could provide a complement to left-handed-hitting first baseman Justin Bour, Jackson suggests. He’s spent most of his career at third base, of course, and would boost the team’s depth there as well, though starter Martin Prado and utility option Derek Dietrich are already in place.
The 31-year-old Johnson owns a .280/.316/.411 slash in his seven big league seasons. He’s a good line-drive hitter who makes plenty of contact, but the lack of power and mediocre fielding reviews have held down his value.
While it hasn’t yet been reported whether Johnson will receive a major league deal, most of Johnson’s salary ($7.5MM this year, and $9MM next) will be covered by Cleveland regardless. Much like Edwin Jackson, who also agreed with the Fish recently, Miami will get a more or less free roll opportunity on a veteran looking for a chance to re-establish himself as a viable Major League contributor.
Marlins In “Active Negotiations” With Wei-Yin Chen
The Marlins “remain in active negotiations” with southpaw Wei-Yin Chen, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Rosenthal first said there was interest between the sides a few days back. Miami is not alone in pursuit, and the market is “evolving rapidly,” per the report.
Chen, a client of Scott Boras, is arguably the best pitcher left on the open market. Certainly, he came into the winter with the strongest earning power of those arms yet to have sign: MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked him the 13th overall free agent and valued him at five years and $80MM. Dierkes also took a full look at Chen’s open-market case in a free agent profile.
For Miami, the rotation has long been an area of focus, but the club has only added Edwin Jackson thus far. While he certainly builds out depth, it’s been a while since he was an effective rotation piece. And given the minimal financial commitment and availability of a bullpen role, it’s certainly possible that he could simply be utilized in a swingman capacity.
The Fish have a bit of an edge over other possible suitors for Chen, in that they have a protected first-round draft pick. Without the threat of losing a top selection, the club’s opportunity cost is much lower than those teams that would part with a valuable young piece. Of course, some of the other clubs rumored to have interest may not need to factor that too heavily, either, whether because they have already punted their top pick (e.g., Nationals), don’t have a strong draft position (e.g., Royals), or could sign other QO-bound free agents as well (e.g., Orioles).
Chen isn’t alone, of course. While the focus has been on the number of significant bats still available, he forms rather an impressive trio — along with Yovani Gallardo and Ian Kennedy — of still-available-starters. All three require draft compensation to sign.
East Notes: Ozuna, Gordon, Francoeur, Mets, O’s, Castro
Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna has enormous upside, assistant hitting coach Frank Menechino said in an interview today on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). Menechino noted that Ozuna’s early success came despite the fact that he was quite raw, explaining that he’s had to learn on the fly — even as expectations, contract considerations, and other pressures were converging. Ozuna, of course, has long been seen as a trade chip, although momentum seems to be shifting away from that scenario.
More from Miami and some other news from the eastern divisions:
- The Marlins ought to make a long-term deal with Dee Gordon a priority, argues Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. After all, he suggests, his agents at Beverly Hills Sports Council might well try to argue that Gordon’s marquee accomplishments — leading the league in batting average, hits, and stolen bases while picking up a Gold Glove — support an outside-the-box arbitration payday. While MLBTR projects a $5.9MM salary in his second of four turns through arbitration, Gordon and his reps could always file for more and take their chances. Of course, as MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz explained in a recent podcast appearance (at about the 20-minute mark), Gordon’s meager home run and RBI tallies limit his arb-earning upside despite his other big numbers.
- While the Marlins have been fairly quiet this winter, they are still looking to add some players. Jon Heyman tweets that the club has its eye on some right-handed bats, with Jeff Francoeur among them.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson and the rest of the organization’s leadership have managed to upset a segment of the team’s fans despite last year’s World Series run, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Of course, as Davidoff explains, appeasing a “populist” sentiment in the fanbase (as Alderson put it) with a big signing would hardly guarantee on-field success.
- Young Orioles righties Hunter Harvey and Dylan Bundy are participating in minicamp and appear to be in good health, Roch Kubtako of MASNsports.com reports. Both have had very tough runs of bad luck, and certainly the organization will be holding its collective breath to see how they feel as they ramp up this spring.
- Orioles skipper Buck Showalter said today that he could imagine slugger Chris Davis waiting to sign until late in camp, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun reports. “That’s not surprising at all the way that camp does business,” Showalter said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it went to February. It wouldn’t surprise me if it goes to March.” It’s probably not worth reading too much into those comments, since Showalter is obviously not privy to the specific strategy of Davis and his agent, Scott Boras. But his words do seem to hint at some frustration in the organization at the inability to achieve resolution one way or the other.
- If the Yankees need someone to step in at third base for Chase Headley, the club could well turn to Starlin Castro, GM Brian Cashman suggested today. As Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog writes, the newly-acquired infielder is still likely to spend most of his time at second, but his experience on the left side of the infield (almost entirely at short) could increase the team’s roster flexibility. Meanwhile, Cashman emphasized that Alex Rodriguez will not see time in the field.