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AL Notes: Keuchel, Twins, Avila, Rothschild, Athletics/Mariners Coaches

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Let’s check in on the latest from the American League:

  • Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel is currently sporting a walking boot after suffering a foot sprain, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes. Keuchel told TMZ Sports that he was banged up in the team’s World Series parade. Fortunately, the expectation at the moment is that the injury won’t prove to be much of a hindrance to Keuchel as he begins to prepare for the 2018 campaign.
  • Now that the Twins are out of the chase for Shohei Ohtani, the team could consider dealing some of its remaining international pool money, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports. Minnesota has a relatively hefty $3.245MM of pool capacity to work with and could offer that up to teams looking to bolster their coffers for an Ohtani signing. Of course, there are also a variety of potential targets left on the international amateur market.
  • Tigers GM Al Avila chatted recently with David Laurila of Fangraphs, who details their discussion. While the club is obviously settling in for some bumps, Avila says there’s “already a nucleus there for our future” on the current roster. While there are still quite a few more pieces to be added, the club’s top baseball decisionmaker suggests he is fairly high on several of the team’s controllable players who are at or near the majors. He also frankly acknowledged that the Tigers’ two middle infielders — Ian Kinsler and Jose Iglesias — could be on the move this offseason. “Whether they’re going to be with us this year or not, we’ll see,” he said of the two veterans, each of whom will reach the open market next winter. There’s more in that post from Avila as well as a few other execs from around the league.
  • The Yankees announced that Larry Rothschild will indeed remain on board as the team’s pitching coach. That move was reported prior to the team’s decision to hire Aaron Boone as its next manager. The club still has a variety of other vacancies to fill on Boone’s staff.
  • In other coaching news, the Mariners announced that Brian DeLunas has been hired as the team’s bullpen coach. Per the club, DeLunas has most recently worked for private entities CSE Baseball and Premier Pitching and Performance (P3) and previously served as a pitching coach at a variety of levels, including at the University of Missouri. Meanwhile, the Athletics have added Al Pedrique as the club’s new first base coach while shifting Mike Aldrete to assistant hitting coach and Marcus Jensen to bullpen coach. Pedrique, a former big leaguer, was most recently the manager for the Yankees’ top affiliate and has previously coached in the majors for the Diamondbacks and Astros.

Mariners, Giants, Padres, Rangers, Cubs, Angels Among Teams To Meet With Shohei Ohtani

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11:40pm: The Angels are indeed one of the finalists, as per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter).

10:39pm: The Angels are thought by “multiple sources” to be one of the finalists, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan tweets.  The Tigers are out of the running, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.

8:59pm: The Rangers and Cubs will both meet with Ohtani, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (Twitter link), and they’re also the only two non-West Coast teams who appear to still be alive in the candidate process.  The Rangers, Grant notes, have yet to comment on their status one way or the other.

7:22pm: The Nationals won’t be receiving a meeting, the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes reports (Twitter link).

6:58pm: The Braves are out, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter).

6:50pm: The Padres will receive a meeting with Ohtani, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links).  The Dodgers are also thought to still be active in the Ohtani sweepstakes though Heyman doesn’t have confirmation; regardless, the Dodgers aren’t thought to be favorites to land Ohtani.

6:38pm: The Rays, Cardinals and White Sox are out, according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (all Twitter links).

6:15pm: The Diamondbacks won’t receive a meeting, Ken Rosenthal tweets.

6:12pm: The Blue Jays, Pirates, and Brewers are all out, as respectively reported by Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi, MLB.com’s Adam Berry, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt (all Twitter links).

5:48pm: The Mets are also out, as per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).

5:38pm: Ohtani’s list is “heavy” on West Coast teams, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, though the Cubs may still be involved.  Not every west-based team is included, however, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the A’s aren’t involved.

5:28pm: The Red Sox are also out of the running, president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.  The Twins also won’t be getting a meeting with Ohtani, Heyman tweets.

5:16pm: The Giants and Mariners are among the teams that will receive meetings with Shohei Ohtani and his representatives next week, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  It isn’t known who the other finalists are in the Ohtani sweepstakes, though the Yankees are one of the teams that didn’t make the cut, as Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters (including NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).

According to Cashman, Ohtani seems to be leaning towards West Coast teams in smaller markets.  This ties to a report from FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman saying that Ohtani’s reps are informing teams that the two-way star would prefer to play in a smaller market.

The news adds another fascinating layer to the Ohtani sweepstakes, which was already one of the more intriguing free agent pursuits in recent memory.  Given the seeming lack of immediate financial motive that inspired Ohtani’s move to Major League Baseball, it opened the door for every team in baseball (regardless of market or payroll size) to make a push for the 23-year-old.  There had been speculation that Ohtani might look to avoid playing in a larger market, so this apparent confirmation creates a realistic possibility that he will land with a team that wouldn’t normally be considered a favorite to land such a coveted free agent.

Of course, San Francisco isn’t exactly a small market, though Ohtani wouldn’t necessarily be the center of attention on a club with such established stars as Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner (and maybe even Giancarlo Stanton in the near future).  Playing for an NL team, however, would force Ohtani into a pinch-hitting or even a part-time outfield role for the at-bats he seeks in his attempt to be a two-way player in the big leagues.  The Mariners do have such a DH spot available (in a timeshare with Nelson Cruz), and were considered to be a contender for Ohtani given their long history of Japanese players.

The Yankees also have had several significant Japanese players on their past and current rosters, and were widely seen as one of the major favorites for Ohtani’s services from a financial (in terms of available international bonus money) and positional (openings at DH and in the rotation) standpoint, not to mention their international fame and their young core of talent ready to make a World Series push.  With Ohtani now out of the picture, the Yankees could move to signing more pitching depth — a reunion with C.C. Sabathia has been widely speculated as a possibility — or a veteran bat to serve as designated hitter, if the club doesn’t just rotate its DH days to find plate appearances for everyone on the current roster.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Boone, Jackson, Tribe, Tigers

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

Here’s more from the AL Central…

  • The Twins and Aaron Boone recently had mutual interest in a front office role before Boone was hired to be the Yankees’ new manager, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (hat tip to 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson).
  • The Indians are interested in a reunion with Austin Jackson “but at the right price,” according to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Jackson proved to be a big bargain for the Tribe in 2017, as he signed a minor league deal and then hit an outstanding .318/.387/.482 over 318 plate appearances while seeing time at all three outfield positions.  Jackson would bring a right-handed presence to a projected Cleveland outfield that currently features three left-handed hitters (Michael Brantley, Bradley Zimmer, Lonnie Chisenhall), though there’s certainly question as to whether Jackson can sustain his production, given his .385 BABIP from last season and his recent history of subpar offensive numbers.
  • The Tigers figure to add multiple starting pitchers this winter, though as The Athletic’s Katie Strang notes, those arms will come in the form of inexpensive MLB and minor league signings and possibly a Rule 5 Draft pick.  Names like Clay Buchholz, Drew Smyly or Nick Burdi could fit, though the latter two are recovering from Tommy John surgery and could be tough fits on the 40-man roster.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Tigers, Abreu

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Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweeted today that while the Twins remain “engaged and interested” in regards to a few big name free agent pitchers, there’s no indication yet that they are “in heavily” on anyone. While that can change quickly, Wolfson acknowledges that the trade market is also a very real possibility. It would seem that Minnesota is in a position to take their time in exploring all possible options. It makes plenty of sense to wonder whether the Twins might wait to see where Shohei Ohtani signs before making any significant pitching acquisitions. The market for pitching is likely to hold fast until the two-way Japanese sensation picks a landing spot, and on the off-chance that he chooses Minnesota, they might be able to focus their resources on other areas of the roster. A particularly weak bullpen comes to mind as another area the Twins will need to improve upon if they expect to contend again in 2018.

More notes out of the American League’s central division…

  • While the Tigers probably won’t be serious pursuers of big name free agents this offseason, Katie Strang of The Athletic provides a short list of potential bargain buys for a depleted Detroit rotation. Strang notes that Michael Fulmer is coming off elbow surgery, while veteran Jordan Zimmerman has spent the offseason overhauling his delivery in hopes to return to form after a disastrous 2017 season. Beyond them, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Norris aren’t sure bets to hold down rotation spots. Chris Tillman, Miles Mikolas and Clay Buchholz are some interesting names Strang suggests as options for the Tigers to explore. While none are particularly exciting, they all have some upside as comeback players and could eat innings for Detroit in 2018.
  • Although the Red Sox are players for White Sox slugger Jose Abreu, Scott Lauber of ESPN notes that the south siders are reportedly asking for “an arm and a leg” in exchange for their first baseman. Boston might not have the prospects necessary to swing a deal; the White Sox were able to land huge hauls for Chris Sale and Adam Eaton last offseason and might be holding out for a similar return for Abreu. The Cuban native has put up a .301/.359/.524 batting line for his four-year major league career. His slugging percentage and 124 home runs both rank 13th in the majors during that span, while his 410 RBI rank 5th. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently detailed the trade market for Abreu.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/30/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • Joining the Orioles on a minors deal is righty Perci Garner, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Soon to turn 29, Garner struggled in limited action in an injury-limited 2017 season. But he did show a 95 mph heater and 14.4% swinging-strike rate in his brief foray into the majors in 2016, and worked to a 1.83 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 78 2/3 frames in the upper minors that year. Notably, too, Garner’s innings tally came in just 41 relief appearances, suggesting that the former starter could have some multi-inning potential.
  • Infielder/outfielder Jimmy Paredes has joined the KBO’s Doosan Bears, as Korea’s Naver Sports reports (Korean language link; h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). He’ll receive a $800K salary for the 2018 season. Paredes has seen just over a thousand MLB plate appearances in parts of six seasons, slashing only .251/.286/.369. He spent the 2017 campaign with Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines, where he produced a .219/.270/.364 slash with ten home runs in 289 trips to the plate.

Earlier Updates

  • The Tigers announced that they have completed their summer swap with the Cubs by acquiring cash rather than a player to be named. That deal sent Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes to Detroit in exchange for veterans Justin Wilson and Alex Avila. The amount of cash that’s now changing hands isn’t known. Obviously, the key to this deal from the Tigers’ perspective was Candelario. The 24-year-old had an impressive initial showing upon reaching the majors with his new organization, slashing .330/.406/.468 in 106 plate appearances.
  • Anthony Gose is joining the Rangers on a minors deal, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter links). He’s expected both to function as a left-handed reliever — as he did last year in the minors — and to play the outfield — as he long did previously, including at the major-league level. Gose, who’s still just 27, recorded 14 strikeouts and six walks while allowing nine earned runs in 10 2/3 innings at the High-A level in 2017. Elbow issues halted his season at that point. Though Gose never showed quite enough bat in the majors, which is why he ended up attempting the conversion, he does have a useful skillset — quality speed and defense — that would make him a hypothetically interesting roster piece if he can develop sufficiently on the mound.
  • Joining the Twins on minor-league pacts are outfielder Ryan LaMarre, catcher Bobby Wilson, righty Myles Jaye, and catcher/infielder Willians Astudillo, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. LaMarre has reached the majors very briefly in each of the past three seasons; he spent most of last year at Triple-A with the Athletics and Angels organizations, slashing just .247/.328/.300 in 194 plate appearances. The 34-year-old Wilson, an eight-year MLB veteran, hit .243/.318/.428 for the Dodgers’ top affiliate lat year and will likely head to Rochester for depth. Jaye, who’ll soon turn 26, struggled in his first chance at the game’s highest level last year but has also compiled three consecutive sub-4.00 ERA seasons in the upper minors. The versatile Astudillo — the only member of this group that hasn’t tasted the bigs — posted great numbers in limited action at Triple-A last year but is a lifetime .750 OPS hitter in the minors.
  • The Marlins have added righty Drew Rucinski on a minors deal, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). Rucinski, who turns 29 at the end of December, has seen minimal action in three MLB campaigns. He transitioned to full-time relief in 2017 for the first time since his earliest work in the low minors, with fairly promising results. In 63 frames at Triple-A, Rucinski compiled a 2.57 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/29/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league, all courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted…

  • The Dodgers have signed right-hander Jesen Therrien and outfielder Travis Taijeron to minor league contracts. Therrien, who underwent Tommy John surgery late in the 2017 season, inked a two-year minor league pact due to the fact that he’ll spend the 2018 season rehabbing from surgery. Therrien, 24, obliterated minor league opponents in the Phillies’ system this season, as evidenced by a 1.41 ERA, 10.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 57 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. In the Majors, he logged an 8.35 ERA on 24 hits and seven walks with just 10 strikeouts, though Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted that his velocity dropped sharply in the Majors, quite possibly due to the effects of his ailing elbow. The 28-year-old Taijeron, a former Mets farmhand, mashed in the hitters’ haven of Las Vegas (.272/.383/.525, 25 homers, 32 doubles) but hit just .173/.271/.269 in 59 big league plate appearances in 2017. He’s a career .274/.382/.523 hitter in more than 1500 Triple-A PAs.
  • Outfielder Ryan LaMarre has latched on with the Twins on a minors pact as well. The 29-year-old has seen fleeting big league time with the Reds, Red Sox and A’s over the past three seasons but collected just a pair of hits and a pair of walks in 40 trips to the dish. LaMarre can handle all three outfield spots and owns a lifetime .268/.335/.388 slash in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He’s a right-handed bat, which could pair well with the Twins’ lefty swinging corner outfielders (Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler) should the team need a fourth outfielder at some point in ’18, though he doesn’t come with a standout track record against left-handed pitching.

Byung-Ho Park Returns To KBO’s Nexen Heroes

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TODAY: Park says he does not “have any regrets” despite heading home with some “disappointment” after two years in affiliated ball, according to a report from Lee Hyeong-Seok and Kim Hyo-Kyung of Korea JoongAng Daily (h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). The article seemingly suggests that Park will walk away from the remainder of his guaranteed money from the Twins, preferring to give up some earnings in order to make it back to the KBO, though it’s also still possible that the interested parties are hammering out the financial details.

YESTERDAY, 10:28pm: The details of Park’s return (such as his walking away from the remainder of his MLB contract) haven’t yet been finalized between the Heroes, the KBO and the Twins, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.  “It will be a while before it is all worked out,” a source with knowledge of the situation tells Berardino, though the Twins are expected to ultimately release Park.

10:02pm: Park will forfeit the remaining $6.5MM on his Twins contract in order to facilitate the move to KBO, as per a Naver Sports report (hat tip to Sung Min Kim of the River Ave Blues blog).

8:57pm: The Nexen Heroes of the KBO League have signed first baseman Byung-Ho Park to a one-year deal, Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News reports (Twitter links).  Park will earn $1.4MM (or 1.5 billion South Korean won) in the contract.

According to Yoo, the Twins accommodated Park’s request to release him from the remaining two years on his original four-year, $12MM contract with the club in order for Park to return to his home country.  Unless some type of arrangement was worked out between the Twins and the Heroes, Minnesota is on the hook for all of the remaining $6.5MM on Park’s MLB contract — $3MM in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, plus a $500K buyout of a $6.5MM club option for 2020.

The transaction officially ends a disappointing tenure for Park in Major League Baseball.  The Twins paid $12.85MM to win negotiating rights with Park in December 2015 and then guaranteed him another $12MM with that four-year deal.  The result was a .191/.275/.409 slash line with 12 homers over 244 plate appearances in 2016, as Park had trouble making contact (80 strikeouts) and also battled a wrist injury that eventually required surgery.  Minnesota outrighted him off their 40-man roster last February and Park never again reached the bigs, hitting .253/.308/.415 over 455 PA at the Triple-A level last season.

Park was reportedly still in the Twins’ plans for 2018, as he was even preparing to spend much of the offseason training at the team’s facilities.  Still, Park was signed before the Derek Falvey/Thad Levine regime took over in Minnesota, so it could be that the new front office just wanted to part ways with a player that no longer seemed to fit on the 25-man roster.  Joe Mauer is still entrenched at first base, and while the DH slot is currently slated to be filled by the uninspiring duo of Robbie Grossman and Kennys Vargas, the Twins are interested in Shohei Ohtani and are surely open to using the two-way star as a designated hitter when he isn’t on the mound.  Even if Ohtani can’t be signed, Miguel Sano may also be a candidate for more DH time as the slugger recovers from leg surgery.

Park now returns to the KBO League, where he posted superstar numbers over parts of nine seasons from 2005-15 (including four-plus years with Nexen Heroes).  Park hit .281/.387/.564 with 210 homers over 3271 PA in South Korea, an impressive enough showing to catch the eye of the Twins and other teams in the 2015-16 offseason when Park expressed interest in coming to North America.

Yu Darvish, Shohei Ohtani Among Priorities For Twins

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Speaking with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio on Sunday, Twins general manager Thad Levine confirmed that the team is in the market for major pitching upgrades. Levine revealed that the Twins are actively talking with the agents for available starters Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb, among others, as well as representatives for various relievers (all Twitter links).  The executive specifically pointed to Darvish as “a priority,” and he used the same word to describe soon-to-be free agent Shohei Ohtani.

“He’s a unique free agent, but we don’t know a lot about him personally yet,” Levine said of Ohtani. “It’s exciting for us because we have a chance to sign a player like him. He’s a top priority for us.”

The three-week sweepstakes to sign Ohtani, a Japanese pitching and hitting superstar, appears likely to commence at the start of December. Had the 23-year-old Ohtani waited until the age of 25 to come to the majors, he would have been in line to sign a mega-deal, which may have ruled out a serious Twins pursuit. But the collective bargaining agreement will limit Ohtani to a low-cost minor league contract this offseason, thereby giving all teams some chance to sign him if they’re willing to pay a $20MM posting fee to his Japanese organization, the Nippon Ham Fighters, for his services. While money isn’t going to guide Ohtani’s decision this offseason, it’s notable anyway that the Twins have the third-most bonus pool space available ($3.245MM). That won’t hurt them in their chase, of course, but they’ll have to sell Ohtani on how he’d fit into their organization and city.

Interestingly, there has been speculation that, because of the good relationship they forged in their homeland, Ohtani and Darvish, 31, could end up with the same team this winter as a sort of package deal. Landing the pair would be an enormous boon for anyone, including Minnesota, which snapped a six-year playoff drought in 2017 despite an underwhelming showing from its rotation. Twins starters ranked 19th in the majors in ERA (4.73) and 22nd in fWAR (7.7) last season, so the need for quality hurlers to complement Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios is obvious.

Considering Darvish could pull in the richest contract of the offseason, many would expect him to land outside of small-market Minnesota’s price range. However, the club is well positioned to make a bold strike in free agency this winter, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained earlier this month. The team itself seems to agree, judging by the established free agents it’s currently pursuing, and it’s worth noting that Levine is already familiar with Darvish from their time together in Texas.

When the Rangers landed Darvish out of Japan in 2012, Levine was their assistant GM. That experience might help during Ohtani’s recruitment, as could the fact that the Twins aren’t exactly set at designated hitter. By most accounts, Ohtani has enough offensive talent to collect regular at-bats in the majors, so he could emerge as the DH for a Minnesota team that only received average production there from Robbie Grossman and Kennys Vargas last season.

Central Notes: Votto, Kinsler, Twins Pitching Targets

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Just in case there was any doubt, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes in response to a fan inquiry that there’s no indication whatsoever that Reds first baseman Joey Votto will end up being moved this winter. The polished batsman, who very nearly took home National League MVP honors for the 2017 season, has given every indication that “he doesn’t want to leave the Reds,” says Sheldon, and can control his own fate through a full no-trade clause.

  • Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler does not enjoy quite so much control over his own fate, but does have a ten-team no-trade list that was drawn up at the end of the 2017 campaign.* Katie Strang of The Athletic (subscription link) has the latest on his interesting trade candidacy, including a look at the feasibility of a move to third for the veteran — which some teams have reportedly considered as they weigh an offer to acquire him. At present, it is not publicly known which teams have contemplated that possibility or — yet more importantly — which are among those that cannot acquire Kinsler without his consent. The Detroit organization would obviously need to work with Kinsler and his representatives if it were to find a match with one of the ten protected rivals, but Strang reports that, at least as of last week, that subject has not yet been broached. As we discussed in examining his potential market yesterday, there are perhaps only a few very clear trade matches on paper at this point, though certainly a fair number of others could be imagined depending upon a variety of factors. Kinsler’s no-trade rights may not come into play at all, but might also afford him an opportunity to nix a move if it is not to his liking.
  • While the Twins are said to be taking a look at a variety of controllable starters, there’s “no indication” at this point that they have engaged with the Rays on Chris Archer or the Marlins on Dan Straily, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). It stands to reason, though, that both would at least draw internal consideration. The former is quite a lofty target for any team, as he’d draw huge interest if he’s made available in trade talks. The latter is a useful hurler in his own right after turning in solid results for two consecutive years. Straily’s affordable control would surely hold some appeal to Minnesota, though for the same reason the Marlins will likely set forth a relatively steep asking price for a starter who is noted more for his steadiness and contract than anything approaching dominant peripherals.
  • The Twins will need to chase down some relief arms, too. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports on his podcast (audio link) that the club has engaged the Padres on Brad Hand and the Rays on Alex Colome. Minnesota was previously reported to have chatted with the Reds about Raisel Iglesias, and these new names fit the same general profile as established late-inning arms with affordable remaining control. All will come with appropriately lofty price tags. Berardino also tweets that Cubs lefty Justin Wilson might represent a target for the Twins. Having struggled last year upon landing in Chicago, Wilson could conceivably become available, though that’s far from certain. Minnesota eyed the power southpaw in the past, says Berardino, though that occurred before the current front office leadership came into office.

*An earlier version of this post wrongly suggested that Kinsler had not yet compiled his current no-trade list and mistakenly attributed that notion to Strang’s report. The error was ours and we apologize for any confusion.

Twins Have Explored Trades For Gerrit Cole, Jake Odorizzi

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The Twins are known to be on the hunt for rotation upgrades and have already been linked to top free agents Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta, but they’re also poking around the trade market. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Minnesota has spoken to the Pirates about Gerrit Cole and also engaged the Rays in discussions on Jake Odorizzi (Twitter links). Both righties come with two remaining years of team control.

It’s not at all clear that the Pirates intend to aggressively shop Cole this offseason, though as a low-payroll club Pittsburgh always has to willing to at least entertain offers for its top talents. Cole certainly falls into that category, though he had somewhat of a down season in 2017. The former No. 1 overall pick logged 203 innings with the Bucs, marking his second career 200-inning campaign, but he also posted a career-worst 4.26 ERA. That was largely attributable to to a massive spike in his homer-to-flyball ratio (15.9 percent), which led to a career-worst 1.37 HR/9 mark.

However, Cole’s 2017 season also came with cause for optimism. The 27-year-old saw both his strikeout and walk rates bounce back from 2016, as he averaged 8.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 while maintaining a solid ground-ball rate (45.8 percent) and averaging 96 mph on his fastball. Cole’s average exit velocity of 85.4 mph ranked in the top quarter of the league (100th out of 438 pitchers, min. 100 batted-ball events). MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz pegs Cole for a $7.5MM salary next season.

As for Odorizzi, he’ll turn 28 in March and recently wrapped a season in which he tossed 143 1/3 innings with a 4.14 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a more troubling 1.88 HR/9. Odorizzi has seen his walk and home-run rates increase each year since 2015. He’s averaged 30 starts per year in the past four seasons but has also averaged just 167 innings per year in that time. He’s projected to earn 6.5MM next year. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted in previewing the Rays’ offseason, Tampa Bay has a pretty notable payroll crunch, which could lead to plenty of Odorizzi chatter this season given his projected salary and relatively limited club control.

Of course, the Twins have one of the largest figures that any team can offer Japanese star Shohei Ohtani ($3.245MM), and Berardino tweets that the team is indeed preparing its pitch for the potential ace. He also notes that Minnesota is focusing more on the rotation than the bullpen. Top-tier names like Wade Davis and Greg Holland aren’t likely to be on the Twins’ radar, he notes, though second-tier options will be in play as the offseason wears on.

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