Mets Rumors

Early Markets For Santana, Morrison Taking Shape

By Steve Adams | November 14, 2017 at 1:40pm CDT

TODAY: The early interest in Santana is robust, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, who writes that Santana “is thought to be drawing interest from as many as 10 teams.”

Among those reaching out to his representatives, per Heyman, are the Angels as well as two eyebrow-raising NL East clubs: the Mets and Phillies. The New York franchise has had its moments of frustration with Dominic Smith, though it would remain surprising to see him blocked entirely by a player that likely can’t be utilized anywhere other than first base. Mike Puma of the New York Post does tweet, though, that the club could send Smith back to Triple-A and eventually shop him. And the Phillies would appear to be set at first with Rhys Hoskins, though he could in theory be shifted to the corner outfield after experimenting there last year. (Of course, the team has other young players in the outfield and indications are that the preference is not to disturb that mix.)

YESTERDAY: The Red Sox have an obvious hole at first base in their lineup, and they’re set to begin the preliminary stages of filling that vacancy at this week’s GM Meetings. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets that Boston will sit down with Carlos Santana’s agents at Octagon, while Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston reports that the Sox have also lined up a meeting with Logan Morrison’s representatives at ISE Baseball.

Boston isn’t alone in eyeing that pair, however. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports that the Angels are considering a run at Morrison as they look to add some left-handed punch to their lineup. Morrison is one of multiple players on Anaheim’s radar, Fletcher notes.

Meanwhile, the Mariners have interest in bringing Santana into the fold, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (on Twitter). There have yet to be any “substantial” discussions between the two sides, Morosi cautions (as one would expect this early in the offseason), but first base is a definite area of need for the Mariners. Seattle saw both Yonder Alonso and Danny Valencia hit free agency when the season ended, and while Dan Vogelbach represents an internal option, he’s not considered to be a strong defender.

Santana, 32 in April, is widely considered to be one of the best first basemen available on the free-agent market this offseason. While he wouldn’t necessarily provide the huge power bat that many Sox fans covet — he belted a career-high 34 homers in 2016 but saw that mark fall to a more typical 23 homers in 2017 — Santana is an on-base machine who has also worked himself into one of the premier defensive first basemen in the league.

A switch-hitter, Santana batted .259/.363/.455 this past season and has never posted an OBP south of .351 in a season. Santana has walked at a 15.2 percent clip in his career against just a 17 percent strikeout rate (13.2 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively, in 2017). Originally a catcher, Santana eventually moved off the position to first base and has built up a quality reputation there. He was a Gold Glove finalist this past season after registering a +10 Defensive Runs Saved mark and a +4.8 Ultimate Zone Rating. The Indians made a qualifying offer to Santana, so he’d cost the Red Sox their second-highest pick in next year’s draft as well as $500K of their international signing pool. The Mariners would have a lighter penalty, only surrendering their third-highest pick.

As for Morrison, he’s a younger option that’ll play most of next season at the age of 30. A longtime top prospect, Morrison’s career never fully took off as hoped in either Miami or in Seattle. However, he rebounded from a slow start with the Rays last year to hit .275/.350/.498 with 14 homers over his final 303 plate appearances before a wrist injury ended his season.

Morrison returned to the Rays as a free agent on a one-year, $2.5MM contract this past offseason and proved to be one of the top bargains in all of baseball. In 601 plate appearances, Morrison posted a .246/.353/.516 line and 38 homers while receiving slightly above-average marks from DRS and UZR himself (+1 from each metric). He doesn’t come with the platoon issues that many left-handed hitters carry, either, as he hammers right-handed opponents and has been a bit above average against lefties over the past two years. Including his strong finish in 2016, Morrison has raked at a .256/.352/.510 pace (130 wRC+) with an 11.8 percent walk rate and a 23.1 percent strikeout rate in 904 plate appearances.

Despite that huge season, the budget-conscious Rays opted not to extend a QO to Morrison. Tampa Bay had already extended a QO to righty Alex Cobb and surely didn’t relish the notion of taking the risk, however small, of two players accepting one-year salaries worth $17.4MM. Morrison now benefits from that decision, though, as he won’t require interested parties to surrender a draft pick or international money upon signing.

NL East Notes: Stanton, Phillies, Mets Needs, Nats, Werth

By Jeff Todd | November 13, 2017 at 10:14pm CDT

With the GM Meetings underway, we’ll be rounding up the key bits of information from around the league. Let’s get things started with the NL East:

While the Marlins haven’t yet committed to trading Giancarlo Stanton, his pursuit could be the first major piece of the offseason puzzle. As Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel reports, Miami president of baseball operations Michael Hill acknowledges that the front offices has “a sense” of where Stanton would be willing to go via trade. While the team isn’t disclosing that publicly, it’ll obviously be a key factor as the team tries to craft a trade that will meet its needs and receive approval from Stanton, who can veto any swap through his no-trade clause. Hill did also say it’s “definitely a possibility” that Stanton won’t be dealt, though the team’s payroll plans make him an exceedingly tough fit. [RELATED: MLBTR’s breakdown of Stanton’s market and compilation of the latest rumors]
One team that has been tied to Stanton, the Phillies, may not be that realistic a suitor after all. Per Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia organization has not engaged the Marlins in “substantive talks” and do not see the slugger as a fit. As Gelb notes, GM Matt Klentak emphasized today that the club is “pretty comfortable with our position-player group right now” and prefers to “let those young players play” — barring, at least, “a pretty unique set of circumstances.” Klentak also acknowledged that “this offseason is the first time since I’ve been here that we will explore contracts of more than one year with free agents.”
As they seek to modernize the use of their pitching staff, the Mets seemingly hope to improve the rotation without necessarily spending resources on new acquisitions. As Marc Carig of Newsday writes, GM Sandy Alderson plans both to buttress the training approach and to improve the team’s bullpen. New York could be a player for pitchers such as Brandon Morrow, Mike Minor, and Bryan Shaw — each of whom MLBTR predicts to land a three-year deal. That said, achieving depth will surely involve multiple additions. The team is considering righty Wily Peralta as one swingman candidate, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets.
Of course, the Mets also have other needs, and committing resources to the pen will make for sacrifices. Second base is an obvious need, though Carig suggests the club may not look to commit too big a chunk of salary to filling that hole. The Mets will also look for a quality hitter that can play right field and/or first base, helping to cover for the questions surrounding Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith (the latter of whom was the recipient of some blunt words from Alderson). It sounds like the team is more or less seeking the same thing it was when it inked Michael Cuddyer a few years back. A righty bat would make the most sense from a platoon perspective, though that could mean giving the lion’s share of time in center to Juan Lagares — a possibility that Carig credits.
Nationals president of baseball ops Mike Rizzo downplayed the possibility of the organization landing a top-flight starter, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. He did, however, say that depth in the rotation and the pen were on his offseason wish list. It’s interesting to hear that Rizzo isn’t keen (at least publicly) to pursue more significant additions to the pitching staff. After all, the lineup is also mostly set; on the whole, the ballclub has few holes in terms of its major contributors (with catcher arguably representing a major exception). But with a mandate to pursue an elusive, deep playoff run, that has left some wondering where the team will look to improve. Perhaps building out a strong supporting cast will be the focus; then again, it could be that larger moves could be pursued in a stealthier manner.
Rizzo said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Nationals would retain Jayson Werth, as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. “We haven’t really discussed that or gone down that road yet,” said Rizzo, “but I wouldn’t close the door on it.” He did note that such a move would “have to fit into what we want to do,” likely hinting at a much-reduced role for the veteran. In honesty, it’s somewhat difficult to see just how Werth would fit in with the team’s current alignment, though perhaps it’s possible he’d mostly work as a bench bat and depth option.

Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger Win Rookie Of The Year Awards

By Jeff Todd | November 13, 2017 at 7:54pm CDT

In news that won’t come as a surprise to many, Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers were named the rookies of the year in the American League and National League, respectively. Each received unanimous support from the voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Andrew Benintendi of the Red Sox and Trey Mancini of the Orioles followed Judge in the A.L. ROY voting. The other finalists for the N.L. award were the Pirates’ Josh Bell and Cardinals’ Paul DeJong.

Judge was as obvious a victor as you’ll ever see. The 25-year-old slugger swatted 52 home runs and posted a .284/.422/.627 batting line in 678 trips to the plate. That output was good enough to make him a finalist for the MVP award — the results haven’t yet been tabulated — and a shoe-in to be chosen as the top rookie.

Over on the National League side, Bellinger was an easy choice for the hardwear after 548 plate appearances of .267/.352/.581 hitting to go with 39 dingers and ten steals. A 2013 fourth-round draftee, Bellinger only turned 22 in mid-July and opened the season at Triple-A, adding to the impressiveness of his accomplishment.

Because he did not start the season in the big leagues, Bellinger will fall shy of a full season of MLB service. That means he won’t reach arbitration until 2020 (as a Super Two) and will be controlled via the arb process through 2023. Judge had already spent some time in the majors in 2016, so he’s set to reach the open market a year earlier, though he also won’t see an arbitration pay bump until 2020.

East Notes: Mets, Red Sox, Orioles

By Kyle Downing | November 11, 2017 at 10:53am CDT

Following a 92-loss season, the Mets will reimagine the way they use their pitching staff, says Marc Carig of newsday.com. The so-called “philosophical shift” may in part be driven by the Mets’ recent hire of former Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway as their new manager. According to one of Carig’s sources, Mets starters not named Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom may be shielded from facing lineups more than twice through the order, following a continuing trend throughout the league. In order to compensate for potentially fewer innnings from their starters, the Amazins plan to employ an eight man bullpen. The dramatic change in plans comes after the team posted a 5.01 combined ERA (the second-worst mark in the National League in 2017) despite watching deGrom finish as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Carig lays out the opponent OPS for each Mets pitcher per times through the batting order as well.

NL Notes: Cobb, Cubs, Marlins, Mets, Reds

By Connor Byrne | November 10, 2017 at 8:01pm CDT

In an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Friday, free agent right-hander Alex Cobb spoke highly of Cubs manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey, as Patrick Mooney of NBC Sports Chicago details. Cobb spent the first seven years of his career in Tampa Bay, where he played under Maddon (2011-14) and Hickey (through 2017), which has led to speculation that the Cubs will pursue him in free agency. On the possibility of joining the Cubs and reuniting with Maddon and Hickey, Cobb said, “Obviously, if we move down the line and we’re able to have some discussions with them, I’d be very honored to be able to talk with them and hopefully come to a deal.”

Before Cobb’s eligible to sign with the Cubs or another team, he’ll have to reject the Rays’ $17.4MM qualifying offer, which he hinted he’ll do when he said, “You’re talking about, hopefully, a decision that’s going to impact the next five years of your life. Based on that comment, it seems Cobb is seeking a five-year deal (MLBTR is projecting he’ll land a four-year arrangement), though he insisted that he’ll prioritize team success over money. “I’ve been through both. I’ve been through losing seasons and I’ve been through winning seasons,” he stated. “And the amount of joy that winning brings to us – it can’t be replaced by a dollar figure.”

Free Agent Rumors: Holland, Bruce, LoMo, Hosmer, Morrow, Ichiro

By Steve Adams | November 9, 2017 at 4:22pm CDT

Though Greg Holland turned down his $15MM player option and will also reject his $17.4MM qualifying offer, it’s not yet a foregone conclusion that his Denver days are in the past, writes FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The Rockies “believe that Holland is the right leader” for their young pitching staff and will seek to re-sign him to a more lucrative multi-year offer, per Heyman. They will, of course, face a fair bit of competition in that pursuit. Heyman lists the Cubs and Cardinals as teams that will possibly be in the market for Holland this offseason as well.

A few more early notes on the free agent market…

Jay Bruce’s camp is reportedly setting its sights high and asking for a five-year deal worth $80-90MM, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported yesterday. High asking price notwithstanding, Heyman reports today in his weekly notes column that the Blue Jays, Giants, Mariners and Cardinals are four potential landing spots for Bruce in free agency. Heyman notes that Bruce should be able to comfortably land a three-year commitment that could price him out of the comfort zones of the Mets and the Indians.
Free agent first baseman Logan Morrison told Jon Morosi and Jim Duquette in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today that playing for his hometown Royals “would be a dream come true.” (Twitter link, with audio) Morrison fondly recalls trips to Kauffman Stadium with his father as a child and says it would be “amazing” to be able to have his grandmother come to the park and watch him play regularly in 2018. “All of that stuff would be fun,” said Morrison, “but we’ll see what happens.” The 30-year-old Morrison, meanwhile, hit .246/.353/.516 with a career-high 38 home runs in a breakout campaign with Tampa Bay this past season. Despite that huge year, he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Rays and therefore won’t be tied to draft pick compensation. Kansas City will have a void at first base if Eric Hosmer leaves elsewhere, though Heyman notes in the aforementioned notes column that Hosmer is still the Royals’ top priority (at least among their own impending free agents). If he signs elsewhere, the Royals would recoup a draft pick — likely at the end of the first round.
Right-hander Brandon Morrow also appeared on MLB Network Radio today, stating that “all things being equal,” he’d prefer to return to the Dodgers (Twitter link, with audio). Morrow specified that at age 33, he’d prefer to sign with a contending team, noting that he doesn’t necessarily care about pitching as a closer versus pitching in a setup capacity. Morrow raved about the young talent and clubhouse on the Dodgers, noting that the team is poised to be a contender for years to come — a highly appealing factor to him (and other free agents). Though perhaps we shouldn’t read too much into his comments, Morrow did note that “to be able to hopefully in that for three to four years … it’s definitely an attractive situation.” Morrow does indeed seem to have a strong case for a multi-year deal after a return to prominence in L.A. this past season. We pegged him for a three-year, $24MM contract on last week’s ranking of the game’s top 50 free agents.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Ichiro Suzuki’s agent, John Boggs, has already reached out to the Athletics to try to pitch his client’s services. Slusser the chat between the two sides as “brief,” noting that it was based on Ichiro’s relationship with A’s manager Bob Melvin, who managed Ichiro more than a decade ago. There does not appear to be a fit, she notes, though Boggs tells Slusser that Ichiro “has the ultimate desire to play” in 2018. Heyman noted in the aforementioned notes column that the Marlins did not make an offer to the 44-year-old Ichiro before declining his $2MM option.

Rangers Exercise Option On Perez, Decline Options On Barnette, Napoli

By Steve Adams | November 6, 2017 at 2:06pm CDT

The Rangers announced that they’ve exercised their $6MM club option on left-hander Martin Perez. The 2018 options of Tony Barnette ($4MM) and Mike Napoli ($11MM) have been declined. Barnette will receive a $250K buyout, while Napoli receives a $2.5MM buyout.

Beyond the option decisions, the Rangers announced that catcher A.J. Jimenez and right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx have cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Round Rock.

In coaching staff news for the Rangers, Texas also announced that it has hired former Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen as its new assistant pitching coach and hired former big league right-hander Colby Lewis as a special assistant to GM Jon Daniels.

The 26-year-old Perez hasn’t exactly made good on his once lofty prospect status, but he’s developed into a dependable back-of-the-rotation starter. Given the affordable nature of his option and the steep $2.35MM buyout that was associated with that option, it’d have been nothing short of shocking to see his option declined.

The 2017 season saw Perez log a team-high 185 innings with a 4.82 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate. Obviously, his run-prevention numbers weren’t anywhere near where Perez or the team would’ve hoped, but he’s made 65 starts across the past two seasons for a Rangers team that is in desperate need of innings. Andrew Cashner and Miguel Gonzalez are free agents, leaving Perez and Cole Hamels as the only true locks for the Texas rotation. Other options include Nick Martinez, A.J. Griffin and Yohander Mendez, but the Rangers very clearly need to add multiple arms to the rotation for the coming season.

Barnette, 34 later this week. made his Major League debut with the Rangers in 2016. A former Diamondbacks farmhand, Barnette never cracked the Majors early in his career and instead went overseas to find enormous success pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He earned a two-year Major League contract with the Rangers as a result of efforts in Japan and was every bit worth that investment in his first year with the club.

In 2016, Barnette pitched to a 2.09 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 with a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate in 60 1/3 innings out of manager Jeff Bannister’s bullpen. However, his strand rate plummeted in 2017 as his BABIP rose, causing his ERA to spike to 5.49. Barnette’s strikeout rate actually improved in ’17, and metrics like FIP and xFIP didn’t feel he was all that much worse than he was in 2016. However, the disappointing bottom-line results and a need for more bullpen stability caused the Rangers to move on. Barnette’s strong 2016 season and promising uptick in punchouts could generate him some interest on big league deals with a low base salary this winter, but many teams will likely hope to bring him into camp on a minor league contract.

The 36-year-old Napoli swatted 29 homers in his return to Arlington this season but saw his batting average check in south of the Mendoza Line and his OBP land in the upper .200s. Overall, the benefit of his considerable power (.235 ISO) was counteracted by a .193/.285/.428 batting line and below-average baserunning. Both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference pegged him slightly worse than replacement level. Napoli struck out at a career-worst 33.6 percent clip and also popped up at a career-high 15.6 percent pace. A troublesome 38.1 percent of his trips to the plate resulted in a punchout or an infield fly. He’d already been informed that his option would be declined (as previously detailed on MLBTR), and he’ll now return to the open market in search of a new team for the 2018 campaign.

Mets To Hire Gary DiSarcina As Bench Coach

By Connor Byrne | November 5, 2017 at 8:05am CDT

The Mets are hiring Gary DiSarcina as their new bench coach, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe first suggested the Mets would tab DiSarcina to replace previous bench coach Dick Scott (Twitter links).

The 49-year-old DiSarcina spent 2017 as the bench coach for the Red Sox, but he lost the position when the team fired manager John Farrell after the season. Previously, DiSarcina held other roles with the Boston organization, including serving as its Triple-A manager in 2013. He also worked with the Angels on a couple of occasions, most recently as a third and first base coach on Mike Scioscia’s staff from 2014-16, after spending his entire playing career with the Halos as a shortstop from 1989-2000.

Thanks to his experience in multiple high-level positions, DiSarcina has drawn managerial interest in the past, even landing on the Phillies’ radar when they were searching for a manager last month. That job ultimately went to Gabe Kapler, paving the way for rookie Mets skipper Mickey Callaway to hire DiSarcina as his right-hand man.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/4/17

By Jeff Todd | November 4, 2017 at 8:20am CDT

Here are some of the day’s notable minor moves:

Right-hander Deolis Guerra has elected free agency, as per the Angels’ official Twitter feed. Guerra was outrighted off the Halos’ 40-man roster on Thursday. The righty posted a 4.68 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 1.83 K/BB rate over 25 relief innings for Los Angeles last season
Infielder Phillip Evans is heading back to the Mets on a minors deal that includes a spring invite, per a club announcement. He made it up to the majors for the first time and had some success in a brief run. Evans spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A — his first action at the highest level of the minors — and ended with a .279/.341/.418 slash over 510 plate appearances.
Outfielders Shane Robinson and Eric Young Jr. have elected free agency, the Angels announced. Both will likely end up with minor-league deals and camp invites, though perhaps Young in particular could land in a situation where he may have a shot at earning a bench role in camp. Robinson has struggled in his limited MLB time over the past two seasons, though he slashed .319/.379/.425 in 385 trips to the dish at Triple-A. Young had a productive run in a 125-plate appearance sample in the majors, slashing .264/.336/.418 while swiping a dozen bags. Like Robinson, he also showed well in precisely 385 plate appearances for Salt Lake, posting a .305/.375/.449 bating line while hitting the ball out of the park at an unprecedented personal rate (eight dingers in about half a season of work).
Former big leaguer Ryan Feierabend will continue to pitch for the KBO’s KT Wiz, according to a Yonhap News report. The southpaw appeared in three-straight MLB campaigns beginning in 2006 (when he was just twenty years of age), but didn’t make it back until a brief showing in 2014. From there, it was on to the KBO. The 32-year-old emerged in 2017 as the league-leader in ERA. He’ll earn a bit over $1MM after providing 160 frames of 3.04 ERA ball with 7.4 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.
The Marlins have added lefty Miguel Del Pozo to their 40-man roster. Miami is evidently interested in protecting the 25-year-old lefty from minor league free agency (and the Rule 5 draft). Del Pozo returned from Tommy John surgery this year and briefly reached Double-A for the first time. He spent most of the season at the High-A level, where he allowed only one earned run while striking out 17 and issuing five walks in 16 2/3 frames.
Likewise, the Nationals moved young right-hander Wander Suero onto their 40-man. Fresh off of being named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year, the 26-year-old could conceivably compete for a pen spot in Spring Training. He worked to a 2.48 ERA, with 9.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9, over 65 1/3 innings of pitching in the upper minors in 2017.

Mets Exercise Club Options On Asdrubal Cabrera, Jerry Blevins

By Steve Adams | November 3, 2017 at 4:02pm CDT

4:02pm: New York has announced that it has picked up its options over both Cabrera and lefty Jerry Blevins.

Blevins, 34, was an easy call at a $7MM price tag (with a $1MM buyout). He has turned in consecutive sub-3.00 ERA campaigns for the Mets. In 2017, he ran up 12.7 K/9 (on a career-best 12.7% swinging-strike rate) against 4.4 BB/9 on the season, holding lefties to a miserly .195/.250/.205 slash with his fastball-curve combination. (Alas, Blevins was not so successful against right-handed hitters, who knocked him around for a .288/.447/.545 batting line.)

1:22pm: The Mets are set to exercise their $8.5MM club option over infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Reports over the past month have suggested that the team was likely to do so, though there’d yet to be a firm indication that the team had definitively elected to do so. Their alternative was a $2MM buyout, meaning it boiled down to a $6.5MM decision for the Mets.

Cabrera’s option looked fairly likely to be declined late in the season, but a blistering hot finish likely helped to bring about this outcome. As of Aug. 23, the soon-to-be 32-year-old’s OPS sat at a dismal mark of .705. However, over his final 132 plate appearances, Cabrera caught fire and turned in a .366/.435/.607 slash with five homers, a dozen doubles and a 20-to-15 K/BB ratio. The massive uptick in his productivity boosted his season-long production with the bat from 10 percent below average to 11 percent above-average, by measure of wRC+.

The switch-hitting Cabrera also demonstrated his value to the Mets by showing a willingness to play third base in the wake of injuries around the roster. While he didn’t necessarily shine as a top-flight defender, the Mets were reportedly pleased with his aptitude at the new position, and defensive metrics felt he was at least passable there (+1 Defensive Runs Saved, -2.5 Ultimate Zone Rating).

Given the uncertainty surrounding the Mets’ infield mix heading into 2018 — David Wright’s injury status is a complete unknown, while Neil Walker was traded in August and T.J. Rivera underwent Tommy John surgery — Cabrera gives the Mets some stability and some offseason flexibility. The fact that New York likely feels comfortable with Cabrera playing either second base or third base widens the range of targets the team can pursue this winter, rather than forcing GM Sandy Alderson and his staff to zero in solely on a third baseman or a second baseman.

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