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AL West Notes: Angels, Cespedes, Upton

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Here’s tonight’s look at the AL West:

  • Angels owner Arte Moreno said the Halos didn’t make any serious offers to any of the big free agents out there this winter, Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register tweets.  More specifically, Moreno indicated that Angels did not make an offer to Jason Heyward and that the club is not in serious talks with Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, or Chris Davis (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times)
  • Angels GM Billy Eppler told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter), that the team is still “engaged in conversations” with other outfielders even after the signing of Daniel Nava.  Nava, it appears, is being counted on to provide the Halos with depth in left field, right field, and at first base.  For his part, Eppler feels that there are still going to be opportunities to improve the club, even without the addition of marquee names, Fletcher tweets.
  • Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter) gets the impression that the A’s were among those willing to bid more on Bartolo Colon than the Mets did.  On Wednesday, Colon and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $7.25MM deal and he reportedly received more lucrative offers elsewhere.  Colon enjoyed great success in Oakland, pitching to a 2.99 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 between 2012 and 2013.

NL East Notes: Nats, Clippard, Inciarte, Albers, Giles

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The Nationals would like to add a left-handed bat that can play second base, and Kelly Johnson is one possibility for them, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Per Rosenthal, the Nats plan to open next season with Danny Espinosa at shortstop while Trea Turner continues to develop. Once Turner is ready, Johnson (or another lefty batter) could slide over to second base and platoon with Espinosa, who is a stronger batter from the right side of the dish.

A few more notes from the division…

  • The Mets haven’t ruled out bringing back Tyler Clippard, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, though the Twins, Blue Jays and Dodgers are among the clubs also in the market for setup help, he notes. Crasnick wonders if Clippard’s high workload is causing clubs to shy away, though one exec said of the durable right-hander (Twitter link): “Considering the terrible contracts being given to relievers, he’ll get his money. He’s too good not to.”
  • Crasnick also notes that the Braves have received steady interest in Ender Inciarte since acquiring him (links to Twitter). Atlanta is willing to listen on anyone but Freddie Freeman, but the club’s plan is to keep Inciarte in the organization and use him as a leadoff hitter and center fielder for the foreseeable future.
  • The Mets are expected to show interest in free-agent right-hander Matt Albers as they look to upgrade the bullpen, reports ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin. Albers, 32, missed half of last season with a broken finger in his hand but didn’t allow a run across the final two months of the season. He’s been a Mets target in the past, Rubin notes.
  • Phillies GM Matt Klentak told reporters, including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, that the Ken Giles trade was an opportunity that was “too good to pass up.” Klentak maintains that he never wanted to trade Giles, but adding a slew of starting pitching candidates, headlined by Mark Appel and Vincent Velasquez, improves the club’s outlook in both the short and long term. Klentak also discussed the importance of the depth that veterans Charlie Morton and Jeremy Hellickson give to the club and called Brett Oberholtzer (also acquired in the Giles deal) a “stabilizer.” As Zolecki notes, Oberholtzer is out of minor league options, so he’s well-positioned to make the rotation in 2016.

Mets Re-Sign Jerry Blevins

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The Mets have reached agreement with free agent lefty Jerry Blevins on a deal that will bring him back to New York, MLB Network’s Matt Yallof reports on Twitter and Blevins himself confirms in a tweet. Per Yallof, the veteran southpaw will earn $4MM and can tack on another $1MM through incentives.

Blevins, 32, came to New York from the Nationals last winter via trade and posted five hitless frames to open the year. But successive arm fractures ended his season at that early juncture, breaking up a three-year run in which he averaged 61 frames annually.

The Nats shipped Blevins to their division rivals after he put up an ugly 4.87  ERA in 2014. But by some measures, that was actually the most productive season of his career. He put up career bests that year in strikeouts (10.4 K/9), FIP (2.77), xFIP (3.25), and SIERA (2.93).

Obviously, the Mets like the outlook for Blevins, both in terms of his ability and his health. He certainly has put up strong run prevention numbers in the past — including a 2.80 ERA over 125 1/3 innings from 2013-14 — and has dominated left-handed hitters to the tune of a career .206/.257/.322 slash.

While the arm troubles are concerning, it isn’t as if they were the typical elbow/shoulder problems that could prove persistent. Blevins was simply unlucky, first taking a line drive to the forearm and then re-fracturing it in an ill-timed fall.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12-14-15

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Here are the minor moves on the day:

  • The Nationals announced the signing of righty Nick Masset. He’s now 33 years of age and will be plenty familiar with the NL East after pitching for both the Marlins and Braves last year. Masset threw 25 innings of 4.68 ERA ball in 2015.
  • The Brewers announced three signings today: infielder Jake Elmore, righty Daniel Tillman, and outfielder Alex Presley. Of these, Presley’s signing is probably most notable. The thirty-year-old had averaged 267 plate appearances with a .255/.299/.397 slash over 2011-14, but got just 13 chances to bat in the majors in 2015 and also did not have a great year at Triple-A.
  • Outfielder Antoan Richardson inked a minors deal with the Pirates, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Richardson, 32, did not play much at any level last year. He has good speed and knows how to get on base, at least in the upper mino but has never shown any pop at the plate.
  • Meanwhile, the Orioles signed a MiLB pact with outfielder Alfredo Marte, per another Heyman tweet. The 26-year-old has put up strong numbers at Triple-A in recent years, but struggled with his most extended chance at MLB playing time in 2014 and only appeared in five MLB games in 2015.
  • Southpaw Buddy Boshers is heading to the Twins on a minor league deal that comes with a spring invite, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reports on Twitter. The 29-year-old saw time with the Angels in 2013, but hasn’t been given a return trip to the majors since. In fact, despite posting a 3.28 ERA in the upper minors in 2014, Eveland ended up playing (and thriving) in independent ball last year.
  • Another left-hander, Dana Eveland, has joined the Rays and will also get a camp invite. The 32-year-old has seen action in parts of ten MLB campaigns. He had a strong 2014 campaign with the Mets and put up nice numbers at Triple-A last year, but only was given 3 1/3 MLB innings in 2015 with the Braves.

NL Links: Greinke, Cuddyer, Mets, Padres, Taillon

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The Diamondbacks’ whirlwind courtship of Zack Greinke is chronicled by FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.  Owner Ken Kendrick and team president Derrick Hall had lightly discussed pursuing Greinke but only gave the front office the go-ahead to start talks on the very day that Greinke was allegedly going to choose between the Giants and Dodgers. D’Backs management was emboldened by a forthcoming TV contract that allowed them to make a big initial offer (to get the attention of agent Casey Close) and also afford the deferral payments that went into the record-setting contract.  All told, the entire process took 5.5 hours from Kendrick’s okay to Greinke’s final agreement.

Here’s more from around the senior circuit…

  • Michael Cuddyer’s decision to retire caught many in the game by surprise, though as the veteran outfielder explains himself in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, “after 15 years, the toll on my body has finally caught up to me.”  Cuddyer recaps his career in the piece and he gives credit to the many people who helped inspire and shape how he played the game over his impressive run in the sport.
  • The Mets would like to sign two relievers, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets, and Jerry Blevins could be one of them.  The club met with Blevins’ agent during the Winter Meetings and were known to be interested in bringing the lefty back for another year in Queens.
  • With four catchers on the 40-man roster, the Padres have a clear area of surplus that is likely to be used for a future trade, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes.  The newly-acquired Christian Bethancourt joins Derek Norris, Austin Hedges and Josmil Pinto on the roster.
  • Though Jameson Taillon hasn’t known a professional pitch since 2013, the Pirates prospect tells Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he’s still been developing as a professional while rehabbing from injury.  “It really bugged me when I heard people say I had two lost years,” Taillon said. “Because those two lost years, I was working with the best pitching coaches, away from the drawing board, getting to refine what I was weak at. I got to work out more and get on a better eating schedule. I think that ’two lost years’ is kind of bogus, because I definitely got a lot better. I didn’t stall out by any means.”  Taillon was sidelined first by Tommy John surgery and then a hernia operation but he’s aiming to be ready for his big league debut by midseason.  An innings limit hasn’t yet been discussed, as GM Neal Huntington said the Bucs may need Taillon down the stretch but the club also doesn’t want to overly restrict his workload and set him back for 2017.

NL Central Notes: Davis, Holliday, Walker, Lee

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The Cardinals didn’t have a strong interest in Chris Davis at the start of December and not much seems to have changed in two weeks, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Cards still aren’t keen on the free agent slugger.  Of course, quite a bit has happened in the last two weeks, as St. Louis has come up short in its pursuit of such top-tier free agents as Jason Heyward and David Price.  Rather than sign Davis, the Cards seem prepared to use a Brandon Moss/Matt Adams platoon at first base this season (not to mention Stephen Piscotty also on hand as an option at first).  Here’s more from around the NL Central…

  • The Cardinals’ interest in Alex Gordon is complicated by Matt Holliday’s presence in left, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi writes.  Aside from a handful of games at DH, Holliday has never played anywhere other than left field during his 12-year career, so someone like Gordon would have to be okay with playing in center or right for 2016 — Holliday is only under contract through this season.  Holliday has a no-trade clause, and he’s probably unlikely to waive it to go elsewhere this late in his career.  Morosi also floats an interesting little conspiracy theory, noting that Holliday and Davis are both represented by Scott Boras; so if Holliday refuses a trade and blocks a Gordon signing, that could theoretically make St. Louis a suitor for Davis if the club is intent on adding another big bat.
  • The history of Neil Walker’s long-term extension talks with the Pirates is compiled in a very interesting piece from Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  Walker turned down a multi-year offer from the Bucs in his 2010 rookie year and talks didn’t pick up again until last winter.  The Pirates offered a three-year, $27MM extension that would’ve covered Walker’s last two arb years and his first free agent year; that was countered by a two-year, $19MM offer from Walker’s camp but the Pirates wanted a team option on that 2017 free agent year.  “The offer wasn’t very realistic.  And there was no negotiating in between. It was, ‘Here it is.’ When we countered, there was no response, so we went to the [arbitration] hearing,” Walker said.  That hearing ended up being “probably the point when I lost all faith in the organization,” as Walker was put off by the Pirates’ assessment of his play and figured his days were numbered in Pittsburgh.  Walker’s tenure with the Bucs ended last week when he was traded to the Mets for Jon Niese.  On the Walker negotiations, GM Neal Huntington said that “every agreement has to find a common middle ground. We’ve been successful on other fronts. This one was not successful. We’re as much at fault as anybody.”
  • The Pirates have some level of interest in Korean first baseman/DH Dae-ho Lee, according to Biertempfel (on Twitter).  Lee met with GMs from four clubs in Nashville, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (on Twitter), though it’s not clear whether the Pirates were one of those teams.  Lee feels that he might not have a deal by the end of 2015, though he could sign sometime in January (link to Yoo’s Twitter).
  • The Cubs “had a lot of lines in the water” on the trade market, an NL executive tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  “The expectation is,” as Sherman writes, that the aggressive Cubs will make another big move to add a front-of-the-rotation young starter, and are dangling Jorge Soler and/or Javier Baez to make such a deal happen.

MLBTR’s Zach Links also contributed to this post

Minor MLB Transactions 12-12-15

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Here are the day’s minor transactions:

  • The Tigers signed 17 minor leaguers, reports Anthony Fenech and James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press. Among the most notable names are left-handed pitcher Drake Britton and right-handed pitchers Rafael Dolis, Lendy Castillo, and Preston Guilmet. The club also inked infielder Tommy Field. Britton, a former top Red Sox prospect, has pitched well in limited major league action. However, he scuffled with the Cubs Triple-A affiliate last season, posting a 5.08 ERA in 83 innings. Guilmet has strong minor league peripherals, but he’s struggled through 23 major league innings with a 8.22 ERA (4.28 xFIP).
  • The Tigers also inked right-handed pitcher Jake Brigham. However, his situation is unique in that he’s also pursuing a contract with NPB’s Rakuten Eagles. Brigham, soon-to-turn-28, has posted decent numbers as a minor league swingman. The Braves gave him a brief major league audition last season in which he threw 16 innings with a 8.64 ERA.
  • The Braves have signed former Reds starter David Holmberg, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Holmberg, 24, has thrown 62 major league innings over 12 starts and two relief appearances. He has a 6.24 ERA with 4.79 K/9 and 5.08 BB/9. Atlanta also acquired reliever Ethan Martin. The former Phillies swingman flashed decent stuff with command problems in the majors, leading to a 5.93 ERA, 10.43 K/9, and 5.93 BB/9 in 44 innings.
  • The Orioles have signed lefty Jeff Beliveau. The southpaw missed most of 2015 with a labrum injury. He’s experienced success as a situational reliever, including a 2.63 ERA with 10.50 K/9 and 2.63 BB/9 in 2014 (24 innings, 30 appearances).
  • The Marlins have added righty Dustin McGowan. The once successful 33-year-old pitched poorly for the Phillies while struggling with control in 2015. He was only marginally better at Triple-A. If McGowan recovers his form, he could be a valuable reliever. He has a career 4.68 ERA with 7.35 K/9 and 3.90 BB/9 in 505 innings.
  • The Mets have inked former Brewers closer Jim Henderson. Injuries caused the 33-year-old to lose his ninth inning role in 2014, and he’s failed to reestablish himself since then. Last season in 29 innings for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate, Henderson posted a 4.55 ERA with 7.58 K/9 and 5.16 BB/9.
  • The Padres have signed Philip Humber to a minor league deal. Humber pitched the 2015 for the KBO’s KIA Tigers in 2015. He posted a 6.75 ERA in the offensively charged league. Humber is perhaps best remembered for his unlikely perfect game for the White Sox in April of 2012. He was also part of the haul that brought Johan Santana to the Mets.

NL East Notes: Phillies, Gio, Yelich, Cespedes, Freeman

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Phillies GM Matt Klentak must see upside in bounceback starters like Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton, tweets ESPN’s Jayson Stark (1, 2). Both pitchers are a year from free agency. As Stark puts it, the club gave up replaceable parts for the chance to re-market them to contending clubs at the trade deadline. From my perspective both pitchers also give the Phillies the opportunity to compete in the weak NL East. Philadelphia took some momentum into the offseason with a solid second half. While a hypothetical rebound campaign would probably ultimately sputter like the Braves’ 2015 season, it doesn’t hurt to put some parts in position just in case. The Phillies also have several pitching prospects due to debut during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Hellickson and Morton can hold the door just long enough for the next guy.

Here’s more from the rest of the division:

  • The Marlins inquired about Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Talks promptly concluded when the Nationals asked for outfielder Christian Yelich in return. It’s possible the Marlins see Gonzalez as a match for Marcell Ozuna (my speculation), but it’s always hard to work out an in-division trade – especially when both teams aim to contend.
  • Even though former Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer is now off the books, the club isn’t likely to jump on top outfielders like Yoenis Cespedes, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The $12.5MM saved from Cuddyer (assuming there was no buyout), will probably be used on quality bench depth. The team improved dramatically when they acquired Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. Ensuring that similarly valuable players are available to fill cracks in the roster will better serve the Mets hunt for contention.
  • It may be time for the Braves to trade Freddie Freeman, suggests Mike Petriello of MLB.com. The trades of Shelby Miller and Andrelton Simmons have focused the club’s talent in the minor leagues. Freeman could be used to acquire another impressive haul. The Braves are already gearing up for a lengthy rebuilding process, so they might as well get top dollar for Freeman before he begins to decline.
  • Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa wants to start at shortstop next season, writes Todd Dybas of the Washington Times. After two consecutive bad seasons, Espinosa rebounded in 2015 with a 2.3 WAR campaign. Good defense in a utility role plus an improvement at the plate to roughly league average helped. He improved his plate discipline which looks like a sustainable fix. Even with the solid season, Espinosa will have to hold off top prospect Trea Turner. Acquired in the Steven Souza trade, Turner appears ready for a major league opportunity.

Carlos Beltran May Retire After 2016 Season

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Carlos Beltran may retire after the 2016 season, reports Zach Braziller of the New York Post. Beltran is entering his age 39 season and the final campaign of a three-year, $45MM deal signed prior to 2014. Beltran allowed that his decision will be affected by the level of performance he believes he can contribute in 2017. “If I feel like I produce well to the point where I can make a good impact on a team, then I can play one more year. Or if I feel like I have [had] enough, I’ll go home.”

After a rough 2014 campaign, the Yankees outfielder bounced back in 2015 with a .276/.337/.471 line and slightly below average defense in 531 plate appearances. Injuries have slowed Beltran in his time with New York too. While the original plan probably included using him at designated hitter with regularity, the returns of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira last season forced Beltran into the outfield. The club will have to juggle a similar alignment this year.

If it is indeed the last season for Beltran, he’ll go out with an impressive 19-year resume. Over parts of 18 seasons, the switch-hitter has posted a career .280/.355/.490 line with 392 home runs, 311 stolen bases, and 2,454 hits in 9,929 plate appearances. He’s poised to reach 400 home runs, 2,500 hits, and 10,000 plate appearances this year. Defensive metrics also rated him as an excellent defender during his prime. With 66 career WAR, he has a legitimate case for Hall of Fame honors.

Bolstering his candidacy is a strong postseason track record. In 223 plate appearances, Beltran hit .332/.441/.674 with 16 home runs and 40 RBI. Win Probability Added (WPA), an advanced stat that measures the value of each play relative to the state of the game*, credits Beltran with about three wins in what amounts to about a third of a season. In other words, he hit like the 2015 version of Bryce Harper when the games counted the most.

Beltran has spent most of his career split between the Royals, Mets, Cardinal, and Yankees. He spent half the 2004 season with the playoff bound Astros – a year that included his best postseason performance. His .435/.536/1.022 October slash set up a seven-year, $119MM contract with the Mets. At the time, it was just the 10th deal to cross the $100MM threshold. Notably, the Giants traded Zack Wheeler for Beltran at the 2011 trade deadline.

*By comparison, WAR measures the value of each play without regard to game context. According to WAR, a walkoff grand slam down three runs in the bottom of the ninth is equally valuable as a grand slam in a 20-1 blowout. Using WPA, the walkoff grand slam is hugely valuable whereas the blowout grand slam is worth almost nothing. 

Mets Sign Asdrubal Cabrera

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FRIDAY: The signing is official, per a team announcement. His option year is valued at $8.25MM, Heyman tweets.

WEDNESDAY, 8:38pm: Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM reports that Cabrera will receive $8.25MM in each of the next two seasons, plus a $2MM buyout on his 2018 club option, making a total guarantee of $18.5MM (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that Cabrera will be used mostly at shortstop but will also play some third base and second base in New York.

8:26pm: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the Mets are indeed getting Cabrera.

8:19pm: The Mets and infielder Asdrubal Cabrera are finalizing a contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Considering the fact that the Mets picked up Neil Walker in a trade earlier today, it would seem that Cabrera will take over as the team’s everyday shortstop. Cotillo adds that the deal is “expected to be” for two years with a club option.

Asdrubal Cabrera

Cabrera, 30, is coming off a quality season with the Rays in which he batted .265/.315/.430 with 15 home runs and six stolen bases while serving as Tampa Bay’s everyday shortstop. The switch-hitter showed little in the way of a discernible platoon split and has indeed handle lefties and righties nearly equally throughout his entire big league career (.737 OPS vs. right-handers, .748 versus left-handers).

Cabrera will team with Walker to form a new double-play tandem, albeit one with considerable defensive question marks. Cabrera has never rated particularly well as a shortstop in the eyes of defensive metrics or in the general consensus of scouts, although the Mets reached the World Series in 2015 with poor overall defense up the middle as well. In 2015, Cabrera posted -7 Defensive Runs Saved and a -6 Ultimate Zone Rating. Though neither of those marks is positive, each represents an upgrade over the Mets’ collective efforts at shortstop from Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada last year — especially in the estimation of DRS (where Flores received a -10 and Tejada a -15). If Cabrera can serve as a somewhat below-average defender with above-average offense (especially relative to his peers) as he did with the Rays, he stands to rank as an overall upgrade.

The signing does bring into question the future of both Flores and Tejada, each of whom is recovering from a leg fracture. (Flores’ was suffered in the offseason and Tejada’s, of course, was suffered on Chase Utley’s now-notorious takeout slide.) The Mets could carry each as utility players, similarly to the way that Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe were on last year’s second-half roster, though the odds of that outcome would be greater were one or both men experienced in the outfield (as Johnson was). Dilson Herrera, too, figures to be impacted by today’s moves. The top second base prospect is believed by many to be nearly ready for the Major Leagues, but he’ll be blocked at least for the 2016 season (barring injuries) if not for the 2017 campaign (in the event that the Mets slide Cabrera over to second base once Walker is a free agent next offseason).

Any of Tejada, Flores or Herrera could draw trade interest from other clubs. Most will of course remember that Flores was nearly traded to the Brewers in a Carlos Gomez deal that fell through, so it stands to reason that other teams would have interest in acquiring him. However, there’s been nothing thus far to indicate that any of that trio will be shopped, and the Mets could simply head into the year with the whole group, providing the organization with a good deal of versatility.

Cabrera entered the offseason ranked 37th in terms of earning power on MLBTR’s free agent rankings, and his $18.5MM guarantee comes in $500K north of the two-year, $18MM pact projected back in early November.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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