Corey Seager, Michael Fulmer Win Rookie Of The Year Awards
Corey Seager of the Dodgers and Michael Fulmer of the Tigers have been named the Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Seager followed Kris Bryant in taking the National League RoY award by a unanimous vote. The only question with his candidacy is whether the trophy will be joined on his shelf by a 2016 N.L Most Valuable Player award. (Bryant stands as perhaps his strongest competition for that top honor.)
There were quality competitors, though. The Nationals’ Trea Turner might’ve made things interesting had he played at the major league level for the entire season — and managed to sustain his partial-season excellence for the long haul. As it turned out, he edged Dodgers hurler Kenta Maeda for second place. Three hurlers — Jon Gray of the Rockies, Steven Matz of the Mets, and Seung-hwan Oh of the Cardinals — received one third-place vote apiece.
The 22-year-old Seager had already taken the game by storm last year, but his 27-game run didn’t use up his rookie eligibility. He was great from start to finish in 2016, compiling a .308/.365/.512 batting line and knocking 26 long balls over 687 plate appearances. And he did all that at the plate while providing quality defense at shortstop, making him one of the game’s most valuable performers (and, given his cheap control, one of its top assets).
Things were a bit tighter on the American League side. Fulmer seemed to be running away with things before Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez emerged late in the year. Like Turner, he was just too late to make up the ground in the award hunt — but that doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm for his future. Indians outfielder Tyler Naquin came in third, with Astros hurler Chris Devenski landing in fourth.
Fulmer enjoyed a breakout campaign in his first major league action. The 23-year-old ran up 159 innings of 3.06 ERA pitching, with 7.5 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. For a Detroit organization that is looking to get younger and add assets with greater control, Fulmer — who came over in the 2015 deadline deal that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets — is a cornerstone.
Neil Walker To Accept Qualifying Offer
Second baseman Neil Walker will accept the Mets’ qualifying offer for the 2017 season, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Walker is now under control for 2017 at the set rate of $17.2MM and cannot be traded next year until June 15 without his consent.
Though that locks in Walker’s salary for the coming season, he and the Mets are still exploring mutual interest in a lengthier pact, according to Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter). It was reported over the weekend that the sides had yet to engage in “substantive” chats about a long-term arrangement, but it seems that could still be explored over the winter and spring to come.
By taking the one-year payday, Walker joins Jeremy Hellickson of the Phillies in declining an opportunity to test the open market in preference of the security of the QO cash already on the table. Of course, both players had a chance to speak with other organizations before making their decisions, so they had at least a strong idea of the interest elsewhere.
Both unquestionably would have done better as true free agents, but entering the market after rejecting a qualifying offer would have required any signing team to part with a valued draft choice to add them. Even with the draft compensation attached, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted Walker to land three years at a $36MM guarantee. But there aren’t a lot of big spenders in search of a second baseman, and numerous intriguing trade targets also cloud the market, so there was a fair bit of risk involved.
Right up until the point that Walker’s season ended with back surgery, he had seemed a near-certain bet both to receive and reject a qualifying offer. But that situation halted his year and added some uncertainty, which may well have played into the decision. Indeed, it was not even clear that the Mets would issue the offer, though Walker seemed to progress well and is expected to be a full go for 2017.
The 31-year-old switch-hitter fit in well in New York, where he spent the 2016 season after being acquired from the Pirates as the replacement for the departing Daniel Murphy (who rejected a QO from New York this time last year). Over 458 plate appearances, he slashed a robust .282/.347/.476 with 23 home runs. That tied his career-best output in the long ball department despite the fact that he only played in 113 games.
For the Mets, it’s a good outcome. The team would have faced some uncertainty at second base without Walker, and might have been ended up taking on a longer-term commitment or giving up assets to strike a trade. He’ll play nearly everyday, though the right-handed-hitting Wilmer Flores (or another utility player) could spell him at times against left-handed pitching.
[RELATED: Updated Mets Depth Chart]
That being said, Walker raked against southpaws in 2016 despite historically faring much better against right-handed pitching. He also made strides with the glove, at least in the eyes of defensive metrics. Walker frequently received rather poor marks, but last year UZR graded him as a high-quality fielder and DRS rated him as average. If he can keep up those trends, he’ll likely represent a strong value for the Mets once again in 2017.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yoenis Cespedes To Reject Qualifying Offer
Yoenis Cespedes will reject his qualifying offer from the Mets, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Most of the qualifying offer decisions are no-brainers, but Cespedes’ decision was the easiest to foresee of them all, as the slugger had already opted out of the remaining two years and $47.5MM on his contract. His rejection is a pure formality and will allow the Mets to cash in on a compensatory draft pick at the end of the first round of the 2017 draft in the event that he signs with a new team.
Cespedes, 31, signed a three-year, $75MM contract with the Mets last winter that guaranteed him $27.5MM in 2016 and contained an opt-out clause following year one of the deal. It was obvious all along that barring a catastrophic injury or a sudden and unexpected massive decline in performance, Cespedes would be opting out of the deal in search of a larger contract. Unlike last year when he had to compete with the likes of Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Alex Gordon on the market for corner outfielders, Cespedes is the top outfielder available this winter and quite arguably the top overall free agent on the market. He ranked first on MLBTR’s list of top 50 free agents, where he’s projected to land a $125MM commitment over five years (although it’s certainly plausible that his market pushes him to a six-year deal as well).
A balky right quadriceps muscle limited Cespedes to 132 games this season, but he was outstanding when healthy enough to take the field and even surpassed his 2015 performance in many ways. Cespedes hit .280/.354/.530 and belted 31 homers this year, coming just four long balls shy of his 2015 total despite tallying 133 fewer plate appearances. He was miscast as a center fielder for much of the season and drew negative Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved marks there, but his defense in left field remained above average even in spite of his quad injury. And on top of that, his walk rate soared from 4.9 percent in 2015 to a career-best 9.4 percent in 2016 — a positive sign that should alleviate some concerns about his ability to consistently post a respectable on-base percentage.
Cespedes, of course, was one of two Mets to receive the qualifying offer. The other, Neil Walker, has a considerably murkier case coming off of season-ending back surgery that was performed in late September. From my vantage point, Walker is the lone free agent that has a reasonable chance of accepting the QO, though there’s no definitive word on whether he’ll do so or test the free agent market. Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweets that the Mets are hoping Walker accepts the deal and returns on a one-year commitment for the 2017 season. He’d be used all around the infield in that scenario, per Martino, indicating that he’d be a backup option to Lucas Duda at first base and David Wright at the hot corner.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
No “Substantive” Extension Talks Between Mets, Neil Walker
The Mets and second baseman Neil Walker have yet to engage “in any substantive discussions” about a multi-year extension that would keep Walker off the free agent market, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports. The next step between the two sides seems to be tomorrow’s deadline (at 4pm CT) for players who have been issued qualifying offers to decide whether to accept or reject the one-year, $17.2MM offer.
Walker is one of ten players to receive QOs this offseason, and seemingly the only one who may yet accept his deal. In late August, Walker underwent season-ending back surgery to repair a herniated disk, a procedure that will keep him from resuming baseball activities until around the middle of December. Walker’s surgery wasn’t considered to be particularly dangerous nor were his chances at a full recovery in any way limited — the fact that the Mets issued him a qualifying offer at all is a good sign that the club expects him to be healthy. Still, if Walker has any doubts about how his injury status could impact his market, he could accept the QO to remain in New York, pocket a nice one-season payday and then look to re-enter free agency next winter on the heels of another good season and a clean bill of health.
Both Walker and the Mets expressed interest earlier this year in continuing their relationship into 2017 and beyond, though any notion of extension talks apparently went south in the wake of Walker’s back surgery. From the Mets’ perspective, they could’ve approached a Walker extension as they did their deal with Yoenis Cespedes last winter; a multi-year contract with a player opt-out after the first season, so Walker would’ve had the option of exploring free agency again if he was healthy.
It’s hard to know if Walker would’ve been amenable to a deal like that since, injury aside, he is still expected to land a healthy contract. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicts Walker for three years and $36MM, so with that kind of market out there for his services, there wasn’t necessarily any urgency for Walker to rush into an extension with his former club. (New York probably also felt there wasn’t a real chance they could re-sign Walker to a team-friendly extension.) While Walker’s injury adds some uncertainty to his situation, it is still quite uncommon for major free agents to reach extensions with their teams so close to hitting the open market.
NL East Notes: Gio, Rizzo, Mets, Colon, Marlins
Some news from around the NL East…
- The Nationals have no plans to deal Gio Gonzalez, GM Mike Rizzo tells Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. With an enviable amount of young starting depth on hand, there had been speculation that the Nats could look to deal Gonzalez in order to address other roster needs (MLBTR’s Jeff Todd noted this scenario in his recent Offseason Outlook piece on the Nationals.) Rizzo did hint, however, that Gonzalez’s rotation spot wasn’t set in stone, as the southpaw, Joe Ross, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, A.J. Cole and Austin Voth could all be competing for two starting jobs rather than just the fifth starter role. One would think that if at least two of these young arms perform well in Spring Training, the Nats could revisit the idea of a Gonzalez swap, though the team would be taking a risk in dealing a proven innings-eater. In addition, Rizzo said Washington is always looking to add young pitching as a general principle, given its value within the game.
- Bartolo Colon‘s departure is a blow to the Mets both in terms of rotation depth and clubhouse chemistry, though John Harper of the New York Daily News opines that by not re-signing the veteran, the Mets saved some money for more pressing offseason needs. With Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman in the fold and (hopefully) their regular starters all healthy, spending $12.5MM to re-sign Colon would’ve been an expensive luxury. Harper feels the Mets could instead focus their offseason spending on re-signing Yoenis Cespedes, or adding bullpen depth.
- The Marlins‘ key offseason focus is pitching, though as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro notes, the team also wants to improve its roster depth, both on the Major League bench and within the farm system. Jeff Mathis, Jeff Francoeur and Chris Johnson could all return in backup roles, though Frisaro suggests Miami could also look to reunions with ex-Marlins like Emilio Bonifacio, Chris Coghlan or Alejandro De Aza. A higher-level upgrade would be a player like Steve Pearce, who Frisaro notes the Marlins have shown interest in acquiring in previous seasons.
East Notes: Mets, Orioles, Red Sox
The Mets would like to re-sign left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins, who was terrific in 2016, and perhaps add another southpaw to their bullpen, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com. However, they’re unlikely to make any commitments without having answers from their top two free agents – outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and second baseman Neil Walker. General manager Sandy Alderson said earlier this week that he wants clarity on Cespedes’ intentions by Dec. 8, the end of the winter meetings. Cespedes will surely reject the Mets’ qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline, but Walker “could go either way,” per Rubin (click for Twitter links).
Now for a few AL East notes:
- The Red Sox sent a Manuel Margot-headlined haul to San Diego for closer Craig Kimbrel last Nov. 13, but the deal looks good for Dave Dombrowski & Co. exactly one year later, opines Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Although Kimbrel wasn’t elite this past season, having delivered a 3.40 ERA to go with a bloated 5.6 BB/9 in 53 innings, Mastrodonato argues that the Sox struck at the right time to acquire him. The price to land high-end relievers either through trades or free agency has skyrocketed since then, as evidenced by the midseason deals involving Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller and the record contracts Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon will soon receive on the open market. “We have a closer now, we had to pay a heavy price for it but we felt it was worth it,” Dombrowski told Mastrodonato. Barring a sharp decline, Kimbrel should serve as the Red Sox’s closer at least until his current contract runs out after the 2018 season.
- The Orioles could tab Roger McDowell or Frank Viola to replace the departed Dave Wallace as their next pitching coach, per Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. Kubatko cautions that the Orioles will have to act quickly if they want to hire McDowell, who is also drawing interest from other clubs. McDowell served as the Braves’ pitching coach over the previous 11 seasons, while Viola has held that role for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate – Las Vegas – since 2014.
- The Red Sox need to start considering long-term contract extensions for their young standouts, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Teams like the Cubs, Astros and Pirates have benefited from locking up core talent to club-friendly deals in recent years, and the Red Sox could do the same with shortstop Xander Bogaerts, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and right fielder Mookie Betts, Britton contends. Boston hasn’t yet initiated extension talks with any of them, and Britton notes that one potential holdup is the lack of a new collective bargaining agreement. It’s worth noting, too, that all three players are already under control for the next few years. Their days of playing for minimal salaries are about to end, though, as Bogaerts and Bradley are now eligible for arbitration and Betts will join them next year.
East Notes: Phillies, Nationals, Logan, Mets, Yankees
The Phillies plan to use newly acquired Howie Kendrick as their left fielder, but they value his versatility, writes Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice. “[F]or a young roster, especially with us likely to add many young players to our 40-man roster, having a player on the 25-man who has the ability to play left field, first base, second base, third base, really does provide Pete [Mackanin] with a lot of flexibility from a game to game basis,” GM Matt Klentak says. Kendrick’s versatility should help the Phillies avoid blocking young players who would benefit from big-league time. Klentak adds that the Phillies are not looking to trade second baseman Cesar Hernandez. If they do, though, Lawrence notes that Kendrick could see time at second, with Freddy Galvis potentially moving to the position if and when J.P. Crawford is promoted to play shortstop. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- It doesn’t sound like the Nationals will be able to spend as freely this winter as they have in the past, the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes reports. The issue is the team’s ongoing rights dispute with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. “[The MASN money] affects us,” says Nats exec Mike Rizzo. “It’s something we’ve had to manage now for four offseasons. It’s something that needs to get rectified quickly.” Last year, the Nationals attempted to lure Yoenis Cespedes with a deal that included deferred money. This year, Rizzo says the Nats have interest in Cespedes again, although the terms of that interest seem a bit non-specific. “We’re looking to improve the club any way we can,” says Rizzo. “If it makes sense for us, he improves any team he plays on.” Rizzo adds that the Nationals would have to “make some maneuvers” to clear payroll space for Cespedes or another highly expensive free agent.
- The Mets and Yankees both have interest in free agent lefty Boone Logan, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The 32-year-old Logan is coming off a strong year in Colorado, posting a 3.69 ERA, 11.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 over 46 1/3 innings and holding lefties to a .139/.222/.255 line. As Sherman notes, the Mets stand to lose lefty Jerry Blevins to free agency, and the Yankees have traded lefties Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Justin Wilson over the past year. Logan, of course, left the Yankees via free agency in late 2013 after four solid years in New York.
Free Agent Rumblings: Encarnacion, Beltran, Cespedes, Mets, Colon
The Blue Jays are still at the top of the list of free agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion, agent Paul Kinzer said in an appearance on Sportsnet 590 (audio available here). Toronto has made an offer, though it “wasn’t quite where [Encarnacion’s camp] wanted to be,” and it seems that there’s still some hope of a reunion. There are other suitors, but Kinzer notes that Encarnacion will weigh matters beyond the pure contract and that “there’s a short list of where he would go to.” Kinzer noted that the market has thrown some “curves” thus far. The Red Sox have been somewhat less aggressive than had been expected, the agent acknowledged, though he noted that some unexpected teams have been in talks. While it seems there’s a lot of ground still to cover, Kinzer suggested that a signing could come together by the start of the Winter Meetings — and might well take place sooner.
Here are a few more notes on some prominent free agents:
- The Astros have serious interest in free agent outfielder/DH Carlos Beltran, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. The Rangers still have Beltran on their radar, too, per that report. And the Red Sox remain intrigued by Beltran, but view him as one of many possible candidates, per Rob Bradford of WEEI.com (via Twitter). Boston is still casting a “wide net” in seeking a new DH. All told, it seems that the 39-year-old will have multiple options as he chases an elusive World Series title in what will be his 20th major league season.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman downplayed any connection between his organization and top free agent slugger Yoenis Cespedes, as Feinsand reports. Cashman acknowledges that there has been some contact, but characterized it as more of a routine opening of a channel to obtain medical information and perhaps pursue dialogue in the future.
- The Mets had “preliminary talks” involving free agents Jose Bautista and Dexter Fowler over the last several days, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). But the team remains focused on trying to engineer the return of Cespedes. GM Sandy Alderson met with his agent yesterday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Meanwhile, rival organizations have reached out to New York to ask about the availability of lefty-swinging outfielders Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson, and Jay Bruce, per Marc Carig of Newsday (Twitter links). It’s all supposition at this point, but there does seem to be some sense in the idea of signing a right-handed-hitting outfielder while dealing a lefty. The three possible targets noted above all hit from the right side (with Fowler also switching to the left side to face righties).
- There have been some conflicting signals of late as to how interested the Mets are in bringing back veteran righty Bartolo Colon, but GM Sandy Alderson said today that there’s still interest, as MLB.com’s Barry Bloom reports. Still, it doesn’t seem as if there’s any sense of urgency, with Alderson suggesting the pitching market will have more clarity in a few weeks’ time. If the Mets don’t push to bring back Colon, the division-rival Braves may be there to step in, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that Atlanta has ongoing interest. (Of course, the team already landed an over-40 pitcher today.)
Yoenis Cespedes Rumors: Mets, Yankees, Nationals
We’ve heard that the Mets aren’t particularly interested in another protracted dalliance with outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, with GM Sandy Alderson saying that the team would prefer to know its course with regard to the superstar before the end of the Winter Meetings in early December. That’s still a month away, of course, but it certainly seems reasonable to expect that Cespedes’s market will move more quickly this offseason than it did last. Still, there’s no single, clear suitor (beyond the incumbent Mets) for his services, so there’s plenty of room for the market to develop — with trades and other signings potentially having a role in how it all shakes out.
Here are a few notes on Cespedes from the GM Meetings:
- There’s no question that the Mets want to retain Cespedes, as MLB.com’s Barry Bloom reports. Alderson said today that the team would prefer to sign him, “all things considered,” though the question remains just how much cash (and how many years) the organization will put on the table. New York has already reached out to Cespedes’s camp to begin talks, as he weighs a qualifying offer that he’s certain to reject. “Oh yeah, we’ve reached out to him,” Alderson said. “We expect to have more conversations with them in the next few days. His agent will be out here somewhere. I’m sure you’ll talk to him. It all remains to be seen what direction it takes.”
- Somewhat intriguingly, there’s another New York team that has expressed interest, though it’s far from clear how serious a pursuit should be expected. The Yankees have spoken with Cespedes’s representatives at CAA, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, though GM Brian Cashman said that the expectation is the team will utilize internal options in the outfield. And the Yanks have also reached out to a variety of other potential free agent targets, including departing Blue Jays power hitter Jose Bautista. All told, it doesn’t seem as if there’s any particular reason to think the Bronx Bombers are readying to move on either veteran slugger, though Cashman did note that “things could change if we move money.”
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo also fielded questions on Cespedes, saying that the outfielder “improves any team he plays for,” as Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to report. Rizzo noted that the club feels comfortable with Bryce Harper in center and Trea Turner at short, which could open the door to another pursuit of Cespedes — who spurned the Nats last winter to take a deal with the Mets that allowed him to return to the market this winter. As Sherman notes, the Nationals have strategic reasons to drive up the bidding on Cespedes, even if they aren’t truly keen on spending big to add him, but it also seems clear that the organization has a realistic interest in pursuing him at the right price.
Notes On Greg Holland’s Showcase
Free agent righty Greg Holland took the hill for scouts yesterday as he sets the stage for his return to action. The former Royals closer missed all of 2016 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he’ll play an interesting role in the market with multiple big-payroll clubs among those seeking power arms at the back of their respective bullpens. Despite the long injury layoff, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes rates Holland 23rd in earning power among free agents, noting that a wide variety of organizations could pursue him. Joel Sherman of the New York Post covered the showcase, and we’ve also heard additional reports about which teams were represented.
Here’s the latest:
- The most important aspect of the appearance was Holland’s health, and Sherman writes that scouts came away feeling optimistic in that regard after seeing 35 pitches. Though the typically fireballing righty sat in the 89 to 90 mph range with his fastball, he’s obviously still building up arm strength. One scout explained that Holland worked with “good extension” in showing off his heater and ballyhooed slider, suggesting he’s ready to continue working back to his prior form.
- Agent Scott Boras argued that his client, who’ll soon turn 31, represents a great value for teams unwilling or unable to sign top closers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon. He predicted a multi-year deal, with a two-year arrangement laden with incentives possibly making sense for all involved. It remains to be seen just how much cash teams will be willing to promise Holland, who had faltered in 2015 while pitching through the elbow problems that ultimately resulted in surgery. But the upside is undeniable: from 2011 through 2014, he compiled 256 1/3 innings of 1.86 ERA pitching with 12.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.
- All told, about sixty scouts were on hand to watch, says Sherman, with about 18 clubs putting eyes on the righty. We had previously heard that the Giants, Red Sox, Rangers, and Yankees would be joined by the Twins in attendance. Sherman notes that GM Bobby Evans and a top scouting exec were on hand for the closing-needy Giants, with the Yankees also sending top talent evaluators. He also lists the Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Phillies as organizations that sent reps. The Royals, too, were watching their former hurler, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets, as were the division-rival Tigers, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link). And the two top NL East clubs — the Nationals and Mets — were also intrigued enough to send scouts, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter) and ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin.