East Notes: Mets, Yankees, Orioles
Jon Heyman has left his post at CBS Sports, Awful Announcing’s Joe Lucia writes, noting that Heyman’s gig at MLB Network will not be affected. He also contributes to WFAN in New York. Heyman, who has broken news about innumerable MLB trades and signings, has been one of MLBTR’s most-cited reporters in the past several years, and his tweets and columns have been invaluable to us. We at MLBTR wish him the best of luck in whatever endeavors await him. Here are a couple quick notes from the East divisions.
- The Yankees and Mets should consider a trade in which the Mets get Andrew Miller and Brett Gardner, while the Yankees get Zack Wheeler, Rafael Montero and Alejandro De Aza, John Harper of the New York Daily News writes. It would be highly unusual for the Mets to deal De Aza just after signing him, and under MLB rules, he would have to provide his consent. Beyond that, it’s a proposal that’s at least interesting — the Mets could pair Miller with Jeurys Familia to strengthen their bullpen, and Gardner would provide a good, versatile outfield option. Wheeler, meanwhile, is highly talented but perhaps somewhat expendable, given that he’ll be out until June while recovery from Tommy John surgery and is only controllable for four more seasons, and that the Mets are loaded with young pitching. The Yankees would be taking on a fair amount of risk in trading two proven players for two pitchers who missed most or all of the 2015 season. Still, Wheeler and Montero would give the Yankees’ pitching staff an infusion of youth and upside. Of course, as Harper notes, the Mets might fear the possibility of Wheeler blossoming into an ace on the other side of town.
- The Orioles can’t afford to wait much longer for Chris Davis as they attempt to set their roster for 2016, Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun writes. “Everybody knows” that the Orioles would still give Davis the $150MM deal they initially offered, even though they technically rescinded it. In the meantime, though, it’s unlikely the Orioles would extend another large offer to a different free agent until they know whether Davis is coming back. In the meantime, the Orioles have acquired Mark Trumbo partially as a way of guarding themselves against the possibility Davis signs elsewhere.
Quick Hits: Mets, Orioles, Indians
If the Mets are to sustain the success they enjoyed in 2015 in future seasons, they’ll need to depend on their farm system to continue churning out talent, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Mets have added key players to their active roster in each of the past several years, including Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Michael Conforto last season. (They also used a number of prospects to help them acquire key big-league talent down the stretch in 2015, most notably Michael Fulmer in the Yoenis Cespedes trade.) They’ll continue to lean on a farm system that, after the graduations of a number of top pitching talents, is heavy on position players like Gavin Cecchini, Dilson Herrera and Brandon Nimmo. Here’s more from throughout the game.
- The list of key position players who remain unsigned (Cespedes, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Chris Davis) raises questions about whether any of them could sign for significantly less or for significantly fewer years than anticipated, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski writes. It remains unclear whether Davis and the Orioles could revisit their contract discussions — as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported last week, the O’s rescinded their $150MM offer to Davis, and while there could be more talks between the two sides, some within the organization might feel that they don’t need to offer so much again if other teams aren’t entering the bidding at $150MM or more.
- The Indians ultimately signed Mike Napoli rather than free agent slugger Pedro Alvarez because Napoli is a right-handed hitter and because he improved their defense, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. Napoli, a solid defensive first baseman, allowed the Indians to move Carlos Santana to DH. Alvarez, a huge defensive liability last year in Pittsburgh, might well have had to play DH himself.
NL East Notes: Zimmerman, Howard, Chapman, Murphy, Kazmir, Span
The attorneys for first basemen Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals and Ryan Howard of the Phillies have sent letters to Al Jazeera demanding that the news agency publicly retract its report suggesting that the two players have used banned PEDs, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports. The spark for the demand appears to have been a correction to the article accompanying the documentary at the Al Jazeera web site, in which editors noted: “An earlier version of this article reported on an allegation about possible links between Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard and human growth hormone. The substance alleged was Delta 2, not HGH.”
MLBTR has obtained a copy of the demand for retraction, which states: “Tuesday, Al Jazeera tried sneaking out a correction which acknowledges major errors in their story about our clients Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard. The original defamatory ‘report’ connected our clients to the use of HGH, but Al Jazeera has now admitted this defamatory accusation was wholly false and unsubstantiated. Al Jazeera’s acknowledgment confirms their unforgivable sloppiness and the recklessness of its publication of this false story. Al Jazeera must retract the remaining false allegations against our clients immediately.” As Svrluga notes, such a demand letter can be a prerequisite to bringing suit for defamation in some jurisdictions.
Here are some notes from around the NL East:
- The Marlins tried to acquire ace closer Aroldis Chapman from the Reds before he was shipped off to the Yankees, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. But Miami was obviously unwilling to beat the offer put forth by New York. Still, it’s interesting to learn of the effort. Despite dabbling in some rather significant potential transactions, the Fish have yet to pull off any major moves this winter.
- Daniel Murphy turned down a four-year offer because he preferred the Nationals‘ chances at contention, James Wagner of the Washington Post reports. It’s not clear, of course, precisely what difference in the overall dollar amounts would have been involved.
- Signing Murphy and Stephen Drew — to go with the flurry of bullpen additions earlier this winter — doesn’t necessarily wrap up the Nationals‘ offseason business, of course. Wagner explains that the team is still considering changes in the pitching department. The team “has interest” in free agent lefty Scott Kazmir, per the report. Washington could consider looking for a good market opportunity, says Wagner, but the team would likely deal another starter (he suggests Gio Gonzalez) to address another need if a rotation piece is added. And, of course, the club is still listening and considering its options at the back of the bullpen.
- The Nationals have also long been said to be pursuing an addition in the outfield, particularly one capable of spending time in center. I ran through some of the many options back in November, and Wagner takes an updated look in the above-linked piece. As he explains, though, none of the obviously available options makes for a perfect fit. It’s no surprise to hear that the team is “working” to add such a piece after the Murphy signing, as Jon Morosi of FOX Sports recently tweeted.
- Having already added a center field-capable player of their own in Alejandro De Aza, the Mets won’t be present when Denard Span works out for teams, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports on Twitter. That is not terribly surprising to learn at this point, of course. It’s worth noting, also, that Wagner’s report includes a note that, while the Nationals haven’t ruled out a return, there is some internal concern over Span’s health.
NL East Notes: Howard, Guyer, Murphy, Walker, Riley
Last night, news broke of an Al Jazeera TV news documentary (that aired tonight) which alleged that Ryan Howard, Ryan Zimmerman, Taylor Teagarden and several NFL stars all received illegal PEDs. Denials have been issued by many of the parties named in the report, including Howard and Zimmerman to Al Jazeera and their mutual attorney to MLBTR. The Nationals released a statement earlier today in support of Zimmerman, and the Phillies released a statement tonight regarding Howard:
“Ryan Howard has vigorously denied the allegations contained in tonight’s airing of Al Jazeera’s report titled ‘The Dark Side.’ Ryan has spent his whole career with the Phillies and, during that entire time, has been an extremely well respected member of our team and an outstanding contributor to our community. We will fully cooperate with any investigation conducted by Major League Baseball and will refer all further questions to them concerning the Al Jazeera report.”
Dr. Dale Guyer, of the Guyer Institute, also denied the allegations made by former intern Charles Sly (that have since been recanted) that NFL legend Peyton Manning received HGH from the clinic under his wife’s name. Guyer made his statement on his website, as passed on by Nat Newell, Zak Keefer and Justin L. Mack of the Indianapolis Star:
“I have no reason to believe these allegations are based in fact or have any truth. In fact, I can say with absolute certainty they are not. I find it extremely disturbing that the source of Al Jazeera’s story, a former unpaid intern named Charles Sly, would violate the privacy of Mrs. Manning’s medical records and be so callous and destructive as to purposely fabricate and spread stories that are simply not true.
“I would emphasize that Mr. Sly was never an employee of the Guyer Institute and his brief three-month internship occurred in 2013 during which time Peyton was not even being treated or present in the office. I am proud to have treated Peyton and helped him through his rehabilitation. Mr. Manning is one of the most honorable and upstanding individuals I have had the pleasure of knowing.”
You can follow more details on the NFL side of the story on Pro Football Rumors, MLBTR’s sister site. Here’s more from around the NL East…
- While Trea Turner has a ton of upside, the Nationals weren’t going to go into the season with an unproven rookie at short and Danny Espinosa as the everyday second baseman, MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr writes. The signing of Daniel Murphy answers the Nats’ clear need for an experienced veteran at second who has a proven postseason track record, since Washington fully expects to contend. With the pennant race in mind, the Nats had no time to let Turner learn on the job in April or May.
- The Murphy signing, the Nationals‘ scuttled trade for Brandon Phillips and the Mets‘ trade for Neil Walker are all addressed by Fangraphs’ David Laurila, who feels New York ended up in the best shape after all these second base shuffles. The Mets benefited by adding Walker for one contract year rather than the Nats signing Murphy for three, Laurila opines, and he also feels the Nats would’ve been better off with Phillips (who has two years remaining on his contract) than Murphy. I disagree with Laurila on that point, as Murphy is both three years younger than Phillips and has been the better player over the last three seasons.
- Braves prospect Austin Riley is profiled by David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the wake of the 18-year-old’s first pro season. Riley was taken 41st overall in the 2015 draft, a selection that surprised some pundits who had Riley much lower on their board. He was still drawing a lot of attention from teams, including some who saw him as a pitcher, though the Braves instead shifted him from short to third and focused on his power potential. Riley hit .304/.389/.544 with 12 homers over 252 combined plate appearances for two Rookie League teams.
NL Notes: Cabrera, Cardinals, Phillips
In 2015, Matt Duffy thrust himself into the baseball limelight for his play on the field as well as his social media presence, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. As far as the baseball part goes, Duffy says that he isn’t stressing over whether he can manage a repeat performance in 2016.
“I think it’s human to think about that,” Duffy said. “But you just get back to what made me able to do it. I wasn’t worrying about hitting .300 or hitting ten homers. I did it by focusing on the most simple thing: See the ball as big as I can and put a good swing on it. As soon as you think about other people’s expectations, you lock yourself up trying to do the simplest things.”
Here’s more out of the National League:
- Mark Simon of ESPN.com looked at new Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and stacked him up against everyone else at his position at shortstop. Ultimately, Cabrera does not grade out as an elite option, but he is an upgrade over what the Mets had there prevously. A major league scout told Simon that Cabrera profiles similarly to former teammate Jhonny Peralta. “I don’t think he’s a top-15 shortstop, but he’s in the middle of the pack,” said the scout. “What I like about in him is his ability to switch-hit, and I like his hands defensively. Everything he gets to, he’ll catch. Range-wise, he’s limited, but he’s still a quality baseball player. He knows how to do little things that help his team win. He may not match up to the kids at shortstop athletically, but he’ll surpass them in baseball intelligence. His brain is top-10. He’s still a very good guy to have on a major-league roster.” Cabrera inked a deal with the Mets which will guarantee him $18.5MM over the next two seasons plus a club option that could keep him in place through 2018. As it stands, Cabrera might go down as the Mets’ biggest free agent splash this winter.
- The Cardinals must focus on offensive development to remain a perennial contender, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch opines. Thanks to revenue sharing, even smaller market teams are able to lock up their young bats well before they can ever hit the open market. Historically, the Cardinals have shied away from the high-ceiling potential of high school hitters in favor of college players with quick developmental potential. Now, with three selections within the first 40 or so picks, Gordon believes that the Cards can afford to go with more long-range prospects.
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News cannot understand why Reds Brandon Phillips refused to sign off on a trade that would have sent him to the Nationals. The second baseman reportedly wanted enhancements made to his current pact, which calls for him to earn $27MM over the next two years. McCoy views the veteran as greedy for making those demands and can’t fathom why he wouldn’t want to play for a winning team like the Nationals, especially when it means that he could have been reunited with Dusty Baker. Of course, after the Nats agreed to sign Daniel Murphy, there’s no real chance of that deal coming back together.
Reactions To The Daniel Murphy Signing
The Nationals got some last-minute Christmas shopping done by agreeing to a three-year, $37.5MM deal with Daniel Murphy today. Here’s some of the early reaction to the signing…
- The Nationals asked about Murphy at the trade deadline in 2014 and have long liked him, Mark Zuckerman tweets. Murphy was an even better fit given the Nats’ need for a solid left-handed hitter in their lineup.
- Murphy’s lefty swing might’ve been a key factor in his signing, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Rosenthal had heard that Murphy was a “low priority” for Washington as the team looked for second base alternatives after a proposed trade for Brandon Phillips fell apart. Since the Nats had such a glaring need for a left-handed hitter, that gave Murphy the edge over fellow free agent Howie Kendrick (a right-handed hitter) or other trade options.
- In another set of tweets from Rosenthal, he believes the qualifying offer played a role in Murphy’s contract. Any team signing Murphy would’ve had to give up a first-rounder (or second-rounder, in the case of a protected pick) as compensation, so the Nats had to surrender the 17th overall pick in the draft. Since that pick had a rough valuation of $10MM, that “amounts to a tax” beyond what the team was willing to pay Murphy. If teams were hesitant about giving up a pick for Murphy, that may well have depressed his market; MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes thought Murphy would sign for a four-year/$56MM deal this offseason.
- Though Murphy and Anthony Rendon can both play second and third, MLB.com’s William Ladson sees Murphy and Danny Espinosa as the current favorites to be Washington’s Opening Day middle infielders (Twitter links). Since Murphy is a below-average defender, however, Ladson sees the Nats acquiring a glove-first bench option to spell Murphy in the late innings of games. Espinosa himself might eventually fill this role, though that will depend on when or if Trea Turner is able to take over the everyday shortstop job.
- Murphy going to D.C. adds even more depth to an already-burgeoning rivalry between the Nationals and Mets, the New York Times’ Tim Rohan writes. Rohan recaps Murphy’s important role in this era of Mets baseball and also the reasons why he was ultimately an expendable piece for the club.
Mets Notes: Murphy, Payroll, Zobrist, O’Day
Any chance that might’ve existed for a reunion between Daniel Murphy and the Mets evaporated with the news of Murphy’s three-year agreement with the Nationals. Murphy going to an NL East rival probably stings the Mets, though the club had never expressed too much interest in re-signing the infielder and had already moved on by trading for Neil Walker and signing Asdrubal Cabrera to address middle infield needs. Because Murphy rejected the Mets’ $15.8MM qualifying offer (an offer that was no certainty to be extended prior to Murphy’s huge postseason), New York now receives a compensatory draft pick between the first and second rounds of next June’s amateur draft. Here’s some more from Queens…
- The Mets’ 2016 payroll stands at roughly $106.5MM, according to ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin. This total includes projected arbitration salaries, estimated $600K salaries for pre-arb players and another $600K for the right-handed hitting outfielder Rubin feels the team will add before Opening Day. While $106.5MM is low by the standards of a big-market club (especially one in New York), it’s actually slated to be the Mets’ highest Opening Day payroll in five years, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
- In a follow-up tweet, Rubin feels the payroll could be in the neighborhood of $112MM depending on the backup outfielder and if the Mets acquire a setup man.
- While the Mets continue to be criticized for their modest spending, Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders if the critics would’ve disappeared had the team been successful in landing Ben Zobrist, who the Mets made a huge push to sign before he opted to join the Cubs. That said, Sherman wonders if the Mets front office has by this point simply “just learned not to even go to certain areas” in terms of player contracts since it knows that ownership doesn’t have the funds. Sherman believes, for instance, that Darren O’Day would’ve been an ideal target and could’ve been a huge upgrade for the Mets’ bullpen, yet the club refused to spend at the top of the relief market.
- In other Mets news from earlier today on MLBTR, the club has ruled out a pursuit of Yoenis Cespedes. According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Mets made Cespedes an offer of two or three years, though no salary figures were discussed.
Mets Rule Out Yoenis Cespedes
If the door was cracked open even a little bit before for Yoenis Cespedes to re-sign with the Mets, it now appears to have been slammed shut. The Mets are still looking to add a right-handed hitting outfielder, but it won’t be Cespedes, sources familiar with their thinking tell Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
The Mets are heading into 2016 with lefty bats in left field (Michael Conforto), right field (Curtis Granderson) and first base (Lucas Duda) and they’re eyeing right-handed bats as a complement to that, including Steve Pearce and others of that ilk, according to Heyman. Of course, it’s not a huge surprise to hear that the Mets are moving on from Cespedes after their recent signing of Alejandro De Aza.
At some point this winter, the Mets offered a short term deal of perhaps “two or three” years for the Cuban slugger, sources tell Heyman. Interestingly enough, they never got around to discussing dollars. As Heyman notes, that probably wouldn’t have moved the needle one way or another anyway since Cespedes is widely expected to net a five- or six-year deal. At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted that Cespedes would net a six-year, $140MM deal.
Right now, it’s not immediately clear where Cespedes could land. The Orioles and Angels have been linked to Cespedes, with the Tigers, Royals and Giants also being involved. The White Sox have also been mentioned as a possible suitor for the Roc Nation client as they have a need in left field.
NL East Notes: Petit, Stammen, Mets, Fernandez, Marlins
Yusmeiro Petit chose to sign with the Nationals because they’re “always in contention,” he told James Wagner of the Washington Post. Petit added that his familiarity with catcher Wilson Ramos — a teammate from the Venezuelan Winter League — and the fact that he knows backup catcher Jose Lobaton also played a part in his decision. Petit spoke with Wagner about how he’s managed to succeed over the past three seasons despite his lack of velocity, working to keep his wind-up and delivery short to hide the ball from batters. The longtime Giants hurler said he had a feeling he might be non-tendered in San Francisco just because of how little he was utilized late in the season. He will most likely assume a similar role to the one he had in San Francisco, although Petit tells Wagner he’ll be ready if the Nationals need help at the back of their rotation.
Here’s more from Wagner’s piece and from the rest of the division…
- Prior to signing Petit, the Nationals tried to work out a deal with former Nat Craig Stammen, whose 2015 season ended due to surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon, Wagner reports. However, Washington was only comfortable offering Stammen 80 percent of what he made last season, which would represent the maximum a player’s salary can be cut in arbitration. The proposed deal included incentives to boost Stammen’s salary, but the two sides couldn’t reach a deal, and Stammen was ultimately non-tendered. MLBTR’s Zach Links reported earlier this month that Stammen is said to be 100 percent recovered from the operation.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently attempted to peg the value of the Mets‘ excellent rotation by estimating what each would receive on the open market at present. Despite the fact that much of the group is lacking in experience, Sherman estimates that the combination of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and even Zack Wheeler, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, could collectively earn one billion dollars. While that sounds outlandish, Sherman ran the number by six different executives from around the league, including GMs and scouting directors, and none refuted the notion. As Sherman points out, teams like the Red Sox have spent in excess of $130MM on Cuban talent (Yoan Moncada and Rusney Castillo) despite not knowing how immediately either would contribute in the Majors; as such, he hypothesizes that it’s not unreasonable that a team would submit a nine-figure bid even to Matz, despite the fact that he’s started just nine games in the Majors. While the exercise is entirely hypothetical, it’s still an interesting concept to think about. And, more interestingly, it raises the question of whether the Mets should be willing to part with one of their starters to fill holes elsewhere on the roster. In a market that is paying starting pitchers extremely aggressively, Sherman notes, New York’s starters have nearly unprecedented value. He points to the Braves’ return for Shelby Miller and notes that most of the Mets’ rotation is more controllable and, in some cases, younger than Miller.
- In his latest Marlins inbox, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tackles multiple trade-related questions, including one on ace Jose Fernandez. While the 23-year-old’s name has come up often in rumors recently, Frisaro writes that the Marlins’ hope is still to retain Fernandez and add pitching help around him. He quotes team president David Samson: “There is no rift with Jose. He wasn’t available for trade, but people still came to us, and we were OK with that, because you never know, someone may have an idea that you didn’t think of. But it just didn’t happen. I don’t see it happening.”
- Frisaro also notes that the Marlins are hoping to add a free-agent starter that they can pay around $11MM in 2016. Miami could, of course, sign a pitcher to a contract with a larger annual value and backload the deal, though there are also pitchers on the market that figure to sign for an annual value in that range. Frisaro lists Ian Kennedy and Doug Fister as seemingly speculative fits, although Miami has previously been connected to Kennedy this offseason.
Outrighted: Rondon, Monell, Cunniff, Robertson
In addition to the large number of minor signings and waiver claims today, there have been quite a few outrights from around the league. Righty A.J. Achter has already been outrighted by the Angels, but here are the rest of the day’s outright assignments…
- The Pirates have outrighted right-hander Jorge Rondon to Triple-A Indianapolis. While Rondon hadn’t been previously designated for assignment, the Buccos needed to clear a roster spot to make way for John Jaso and his new two-year contract, and Rondon was the 40-man casualty. Rondon carried a 2.23 ERA over 60 2/3 innings at Triple-A last year, with 7.4 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. He was once rated among the top thirty prospects of the Cardinals, and has a track record of solid, if unspectacular, numbers in the minors.
- The Mets have outrighted catcher Johnny Monell to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin (Twitter link). Monell was designated for assignment last week when the team needed a roster spot for the recently re-signed Bartolo Colon. Monell, 30 next March, received his second taste of Major League action last season, collecting a career-high 52 plate appearances with New York. Prior to that, his lone experience in the big leagues was a brief eight-game stint with the 2013 Giants (nine plate appearances). In the Majors, Monell is a .161/230/.196 hitter across his small sample of 61 PAs, but he has a sound track record in the minors, where he’s put together a .279/.356/.455 batting line with 31 homers across 1012 PAs in Triple-A.
- Right-hander Brandon Cunniff has been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett by the Braves after clearing waivers, according to a tweet from the team. A former 27th-round draft pick by the Marlins, Cunniff spent three seasons in the independent Frontier League following his brief minor league career with the Marlins. The Braves plucked him from the indy circuit in June of 2013, and he rather quickly rose through their ranks over the past two years. Cunniff posted a brilliant 2.02 ERA in Double-A and jumped directly to the Majors, where he posted a 4.63 ERA with a 37-to-22 K/BB ratio in 35 innings.
- MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets that outfielder Daniel Robertson has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A by the Mariners after being designated for assignment last week. Robertson lost his roster spot to the re-signed Hisashi Iwakuma but is clearly a player valued by GM Jerry Dipoto, who acquired him from Texas while serving as GM of the Angels and again picked him up from the Halos this winter after taking over the Mariners’ GM job. In 277 career plate appearances, Robertson is a .274/.324/.325 hitter. He also boasts a solid minor league track record and is capable of playing all three outfield positions, making him a valuable depth option for a big league team.