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Latest On Adam Ottavino, Zach Britton

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6:11pm: Saunders notes that the Rockies did have discussions with Ottavino earlier in the offseason, but there’s “nothing imminent” now. Meanwhile, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News confirms the Rangers have had interest in Ottavino and Britton, though he doesn’t sense they’re “aggressively pursuing” either reliever.

3:22pm: The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders tweets that, contrary to a prior report, the Rockies are “not in the mix” for Ottavino. The team already shelled out three-year deals for Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, and Mike Dunn last offseason, so it didn’t figure to have much remaining in the bank for another high-AAV reliever.

2:53pm: The Yankees “remain in talks” with relievers Adam Ottavino and Zach Britton, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, who adds that it’s “not out of the question” the club could bring both players aboard. Jon Heyman of Fancred hears similarly, tweeting that the club is “working” on the bullpen while waiting to hear back from Manny Machado.

In a separate tweet, Heyman notes that the Rangers are also in the mix for top free-agent relievers and could be a serious contender for the services of Ottavino and Britton.

The stopper-insatiable Yanks, who last year rode a series of game-shorteners to their first 100-win season since 2009, and already boast three of the league’s best in Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Chad Green, seem hungry for more. Britton, acquired mid-season by New York from Baltimore last year, is reportedly seeking a four-year deal, which seems a bit rich for a 31-year-old on the heels of two injury shortened seasons.

Britton’s grounder-heavy ways seem the last vestige from his 2014-16 peak with Baltimore, as the lefty induced a staggering 77.8% ground balls in his late-season stint with the Bombers. His bat-missing abilities, though, have showed little signs of life, with the former Oriole regressing to near his 7.41 K/9 career average in the last two seasons after striking out over ten per nine from 2015-16. The velocity, however, has remained mostly steady, at an average of 95.6 MPH, and could perhaps be what the club is banking on in the years to come.

Ottavino, a New York City native, timed his career year perfectly last season, posting an outrageous 63 FIP-/52 ERA- in the wide open spaces of Coors Field, and striking out nearly 13 men per nine. With an unorthodox, cross-body delivery, the 33-year-old has been near-death on right-handed hitters in his career, surrendering a minuscule .273 wOBA (.346 vs LHH) against, and allowing just 0.75 HR/9 in the league’s most hitter-friendly park. His swinging strike rate of 12.1%, though, despite being well above his career average, didn’t rank among the league’s top 70 qualified relievers, which could be of concern, given the aging righty’s walk-heavy profile.

The Rangers, who don’t appear to have any near-terms hopes of competing, are somewhat of a shocking entry to the upper reaches of the free-agent ’pen market. The club’s relievers, too, weren’t much to blame for another poor showing in 2018, as the unit posted above-average park-adjusted marks (93 ERA-, 96 FIP-, 99 xFIP-) across the board, though lynchpins Keone Kela and Alex Claudio were strangely jettisoned in recent months. Jesse Chavez returns, along with a lights-out Jose Leclerc, so perhaps the club is looking to shorten the game substantially after having so much recent trouble identifying quality rotation options. A sign-and-flip could also be in the cards, though the risk inherent in that strategy, with two thirty-something relievers, may just outweigh the reward.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/5/19

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We’ll use this post to track today’s minor moves from around the baseball world…

  • The Yankees have signed former Oakland and Kansas City outfielder Billy Burns to a minor league deal, per Michael Mayer of MetsMerized (Twitter link). Last season was the first season since 2013 that Burns, 29, didn’t see playing time at the major league level. With the Royals’ Triple-A club, the fleet-footed outfielder hit just .255/.314/.316, stealing 10 bases but getting caught eight times. Burns’ heyday came in 2015 when he finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting, slashing .294/.334/.392 while swiping 26 bags as the A’s primary centerfielder. Unfortunately, Burns’ offensive output cratered in his follow-up campaign as he was demoted by July before eventually traded to Kansas City in a deadline deal for outfielder Brett Eibner. Specifically, Burns hasn’t come close to duplicating the already-below-average power output of his rookie season, when he knocked 18 doubles, nine triples and five home runs.

Quick Hits: Free Agency, Harper, Machado, Tulo, Kikuchi, Red Sox

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Why are Bryce Harper and Manny Machado still available on the free agent market, with relatively few teams in the hunt for two 26-year-old stars?  As The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) explores, their situation is another sign of how baseball’s “current economic system is outdated and flawed.”  Teams are increasingly leery of signing players to ultra-long contracts, yet are also just as worried about signing players to contracts with fewer years but higher average annual salaries out of fear of crossing the luxury tax threshold.  The result is “baseball’s​ version of a Catch-22,” Rosenthal writes, and he also points out that teams seem unnaturally adverse to making luxury tax payments given that relatively tiny amount of money actually spent on the tax.

More from around the game as we head into the weekend…

  • In a conference call with reporters (including ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey) today, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that he kept in contact with Manny Machado’s camp, and let them know in advance about the team’s plan to sign Troy Tulowitzki.  Beyond that, Cashman unsurprisingly didn’t share details about New York’s pursuit of Machado, and in fact stressed that Tulowitzki is atop the club’s depth chart at shortstop, at least until Didi Gregorius is healthy.  “We have really reacted in a positive way to have that type of dialogue with Troy and to commit to giving him that opportunity to be our everyday shortstop,” Cashman said.  Of course, this doesn’t necessarily close the door on the idea of Machado joining the Yankees — beyond just gamesmanship on Cashman’s part, Machado could also be deployed as a third baseman, with Miguel Andujar then either moving to first base or perhaps traded to another team.
  • Yusei Kikuchi received several seven-year contract offers from teams, agent Scott Boras told reporters (including TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune) during Kikuchi’s recent introductory press conference.  While such offers guaranteed Kikuchi more security, they also would’ve required Kikuchi to adopt a regular MLB workload right away, which concerned both the southpaw and Boras given how several Japanese pitchers in the past have suffered arm injuries while adapting from a Japanese pitching schedule to North American baseball’s every-five-days rotation lineup.  Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto answered those concerns with both a unique plan for managing Kikuchi’s arm and innings, as well as a contract that could last three, four, or seven years in length.
  • Pitching has gone from a weakness to a strength for the Red Sox over the last five seasons, and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe details how the club upgraded its scouting and development system to better identify talent and then further build on that talent once on the Sox roster.  Speier delves into the team’s acquisition of Nathan Eovaldi at the trade deadline, and how Eovaldi took on some tips from pitching coach Dana LeVangie and assistant pitching coach Brian Bannister to make his fastball more of a weapon.  These tweaks and an increased usage of his curveball took Eovaldi’s performance up another notch (after he already pitching well for the Rays) after joining the Red Sox, and he then was one of the stars of Boston’s World Series run.

Yankees Could Keep Sonny Gray Into The Season

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The Yankees began the offseason with GM Brian Cashman openly stating that the team was going to shop Sonny Gray in trade talks this winter.  As Cashman said to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter links) and other reporters today, plans haven’t exactly changed on this front, as the Yankees’ “intention is to move Sonny Gray and relocate him.”  However, Cashman isn’t under any rush to move the right-hander, saying that the Yankees will only trade Gray “when we get the proper return, in our estimation. It’ll happen this winter, it’ll happen in the spring or it’ll happen sometime during the season.”

Notably, Cashman cited C.C. Sabathia’s recent angioplasty as a reason for why Gray could still be in the pinstripes come Opening Day.  While Sabathia wasn’t expected to face any complications from the procedure and was still expected to be ready to pitch this coming season, Cashman said the situation “has given us pause” about dealing Gray.  Given the understandable concern attached to any type of heart surgery, it could be that the team simply wants to make sure that Sabathia is fully healthy before going ahead and shipping off another rotation member.

The Yankees had already worked to fill Gray’s spot in the pitching staff this winter, between acquiring James Paxton in a blockbuster deal with the Mariners and re-signing Sabathia and J.A. Happ.  That trio joins Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka in what should be a very solid starting five, and it doesn’t leave any room for Gray unless an injury develops or Sabathia needs more recovery time.

There has been so much interest in Gray this winter that there hasn’t been much exploration about what the Yankees might do if they couldn’t find a trade partner for the right-hander.  This is just my speculation, but New York begin the year by making Gray something of a de facto sixth starter, only using him in road starts as a nod to his much-superior numbers outside of Yankee Stadium.  With a sixth starter and multiple off-days in April, this scenario allows the Yankees to ease their starters (all veterans, and most with significant injury histories) into the new campaign.  Gray could also be used out of the bullpen, though one would think the Yankees would want to keep him stretched out as a starter to appeal more to trade suitors.

Assuming a clean bill of health for Sabathia, it still seems quite likely that Gray begins the season on another roster, even if a trade doesn’t come until February or March.  Obviously Cashman isn’t going to deal Gray just for the sake of dumping him, though it could be that the team might have to lower its very high asking price in order to accommodate a deal at some point.  Waiting to deal Gray could give teams a chance to address its pitching needs in free agent signings or other trades, though conversely, a team could face a rotation injury in Spring Training injury and suddenly have a greater need for Gray’s services.

Yankees Designate A.J. Cole For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they’ve designated righty A.J. Cole for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Troy Tulowitzki, whose one-year, Major League contract is now official.

The Yankees bought Cole from the Nationals last April, acquiring him in exchange for cash after Washington had designated the one-time top prospect for assignment themselves. Cole gave the Yankees 38 innings of 4.26 ERA ball from that point forth, pitching in primarily a multi-inning relief role. Along the way, Cole offered some signs of encouragement, as he averaged 11.6 K/9 and registered an enormous 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate with a very good 34.3 percent opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches.

However, Cole was also exorbitantly homer-prone, yielding nine long balls for an average of 2.13 homers per nine innings pitched. That’s been an ongoing problem for the 26-year-old in each of the past three MLB seasons, as he’s averaged a staggering 1.9 homers per nine innings in that time. In 148 innings at the big league level, Cole has a 5.05 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9.

Yankees Sign Troy Tulowitzki

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Jan. 4: The Yankees have officially announced the signing. Tulowitzki’s contract comes with a full no-trade clause, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets.

Jan. 3: Tulowitzki’s physical with the Yankees is taking place today, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

Jan. 1: The Yankees have agreed to a deal with free-agent shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, pending a physical, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. It’s expected to be for the league minimum, Passan adds, meaning the Yankees would pay Tulowitzki $555K, as the Blue Jays are on the hook for the remainder of the two years on his contract after releasing him. Tulowitzki is a client of TWC Sports.

The 34-year-old Tulowitzki will remain at shortstop with his new team, suggests Passan, who reports that the Yankees still haven’t ruled out signing free agent Manny Machado. Rather, they simply couldn’t pass up Tulowitzki on such an inexpensive salary. The Yankees were in position to land the five-time All-Star for a minimal fee because the AL East rival Blue Jays released him last month and ate the remaining $38MM on his contract in the process.

Tulowitzki was among the majors’ premier players with the Rockies from 2009-14, and he remained a solid contributor with the Blue Jays for two seasons after they acquired him in July 2015. Now, though, the oft-injured Tulowitzki is essentially coming off two lost seasons. He batted a career-worst .249/.300/.378 across 260 plate appearances and 66 games in 2017, which he missed most of on account of hamstring and ankle injuries. Tulowitzki then sat out all of 2018 because of bone spurs in both heels, and after the Blue Jays released him, general manager Ross Atkins called it “unlikely” Tulo would return in ’19 to play an “above-average” shortstop over a long season.

While Atkins and the Blue Jays were no longer interested in dealing with Tulowitzki’s injury issues, the ex-superstar drew plenty of looks from other teams after they cut him. In addition to the Yankees, at least 10 other clubs were on hand to watch Tulowitzki work out on Dec. 18. At the time, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reported Tulowitzki wanted to sign someplace where he could receive regular at-bats at one position. It seems he’ll get his wish in New York, where he’s in line to fill in for injured shortstop Didi Gregorius, who underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in October. Gregorius is expected to return sometime during the summer.

Gregorius is coming off his second straight season of at least 4.0 fWAR – a mark Tulowitzki hasn’t reached since 2014. Realistically, Tulowitzki won’t come close to replicating the production a healthy Gregorius would have put up in ’19. Nevertheless, for a low cost, the Yankees are gambling that Tulowitzki’s a higher-upside play than the other shortstops available in a weak free-agent crop (Machado excluded).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

White Sox Have Made Formal Offer To Manny Machado

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Jan. 4: In a full column, Nightengale cites four sources in reporting that Chicago has indeed issued an offer to Machado. However, while there’s no specific dollar amount revealed, he suggests that it’s “likely closer to $200 million than $300 million” in total value.

Meanwhile, Fancred’s Jon Heyman characterizes the Sox as a “long shot” for Harper (Twitter link), perhaps further underscoring that Chicago is more focused on Machado. It’s worth noting, however, that Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that the South Siders’ presentation to Harper “impressed [him] more than he anticipated.”

Regardless, a Machado agreement hardly seems imminent. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription required) that agent Dan Lozano is “barely engaging” teams on Machado at the moment and is instead “waiting for a team to jump.” The White Sox’ offer, while somewhat of a jump, doesn’t sound the be in the vicinity that most expected Machado to command.

Jan. 3: The White Sox have been frequently linked to both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado this offseason, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that they’re more engaged on Machado at the moment and recently extended a formal offer to the free-agent infielder. The ChiSox has not yet taken that step with Harper, Nightengale adds.

Details of the prospective contract aren’t known, though the very fact that a formal offer has been put forth is nonetheless notable. The White Sox have been motivated all offseason to add some established big league talent to their roster as they look to begin emerging from a rebuild, but to this point, the biggest names they’ve added have been reliever Alex Colome and right-hander Ivan Nova — both via the trade market. Adding Machado to the mix would be a clear signal that the Sox are earnestly attempting to turn the page.

The White Sox, though, have competition for both Harper and Machado, regardless of whether formal offers have been made or not. The Yankees and Phillies are reported to be active pursuers of Machado, while the Dodgers, Nationals, Phillies and Cubs are among the teams most prominently linked to Harper. In that same vein, Nightengale tweets that the Phillies’ signing of David Robertson today will likely turn their focus to both Harper and Machado, and other teams expect Philadelphia to be the high bidder on both free agents.

Similarly, WEEI’s Rob Bradford wrote earlier today that the Phillies’ pursuit of Harper and Machado could impact their approach to addressing the bullpen; Bradford suggested that the Phils, who had interest in Craig Kimbrel, would likely bow out on Kimbrel if they signed Harper or Machado. The fact that the Phillies proactively pursued a more affordable option for the back of their bullpen is of at least some note if there was a sense that they wouldn’t make a play for one of the top two position players and Kimbrel.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported yesterday that the White Sox were willing to make an offer of 10 years or more to Harper, though Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago/670 The Score followed that by saying the ChiSox weren’t willing to go beyond seven years for either Harper or Machado. Whatever the White Sox’ threshold is, they’ve apparently made their starting point known to Machado at this point. With Philadelphia having wrapped up some bullpen business earlier today, it stands to reason that they’ll follow suit in the relatively near future as well.

Quick Hits: Tulo, Napoli, Castellanos, Rays

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Troy Tulowitzki impressed enough in his December 16th showcase to draw genuine interest from as many as 16 major league clubs, per Andy Martino of SNY.tv. The Cubs were reportedly willing to hand Tulo their starting shortstop position at least until the end of Addison Russell’s suspension. The Pirates, as well, liked Tulo’s lateral mobility and overall athleticism enough to install him as their starting shortstop. The Angels were interested in him as a third baseman. By signing with the Yankees, however, Tulo arguably sees more playing time certainly than in Chicago, assuming Didi Gregorius’ injury will keep him out for longer than Russell. The Yankees fulfill (at least for now) his desire to stick at short, and they certainly figure to be more competitive than the Pirates. In context, there’s ample reason to understand New York’s appeal to Tulowitzki and vice versa, though the story changes if Manny Machado winds up in pinstripes. Of course, Tulo’s minimum salary deal would hardly be a deterrent to a Machado signing, but it could be yet another sign that Brian Cashman and the Yankees are more than content to enter 2019 without the divisive superstar. Let’s check in on a few other notes from around the game…

  • Interestingly, Mike Napoli interviewed with the Chicago Cubs before they filled their recent coaching vacancies, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It’s been less than a month since the former All-Star announced his retirement, but now that the Cubs went in a different direction, Napoli will have no trouble enjoying his time off. Napoli was always touted as a positive influence who buoyed clubhouse morale with intensity and charm, and there’s plenty reason to believe there is a future in coaching for him, if he so chooses.
  • The Tigers are no-doubt ready to deal Nick Castellanos, but they’re not ready to give him away, per mlive.com’s Evan Woodbery. GM Al Avila faced a similar quandary last offseason in trying to find a match for veteran Ian Kinsler. He settled on returning a pair of lower-tier prospects from the Angels, only one of whom registers on their list of top-30 prospects from MLB.com (Troy Montgomery at #29). Kinsler’s situation was complicated by a partial no-trade list, but the Tigers still ended up with a package not much different from what the Angels received when they moved him to Boston mid-season. The Tigers don’t appear ready to settle this time around, even if it means getting a lesser prospect mid-season or letting him walk at year’s end. The crux of the issue is that the Tigers view Castellanos as a robust offensive producer on a one-year deal coming off a career season and entering his prime. Trade partners, meanwhile, can paint Castellanos as an $11MM defensive liability. Of potential trade partners, the division rival Indians are still the most logical fit, and they’ve partnered even recently on the Leonys Martin deal last season. Still, finding middle ground on appropriate compensation for a player with such evaluative extremes is proving difficult. Avila and the Tigers, however, will not be cowed by the challenge, nor will they give in to it – at least for now.
  • The Tampa Bay Rays are reducing the seating capacity of Tropicana Field in order to create “a more intimate, entertaining, and appealing experience [for our fans],” per Carl Lisciandrello of the Tampa Bay Times. The new renovation plan will lower the seating capacity by roughly 6,000 to around 25,000 to 26,000. With an average daily attendance in 2018 of 14,258 that exceeded only the Marlins, the Rays are certainly taking a creative approach to attract more fans by lowering their capacity ceiling. While the initial optics of this renovation plan certainly invites a degree of ribbing, Rays ownership is wise to take a creative approach to growing a fanbase that has been historically lackluster, especially given the recent failure to finalize a deal for a new stadium in Ybor City. Outfielder Tommy Pham was the latest to criticize Rays’ fans in a recent interview on MLB Network Radio, saying, “It sucks going from playing in front of a great fan base to a team with really no fan base at all,” as chronicled by Anthony Barstow of the New York Post. The Rays have done the job of putting a competitive and exciting team on the field, now they’ll embark on better utilizing areas within the ballpark. Hopefully, there will be more fans there in 2019 to notice.

Yankees Reportedly “Focused” On Zach Britton

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2:45pm: Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Yankees “seem focused” on Britton in their pursuit of bullpen upgrades, though he adds that the lefty is “believed” to have multiple offers in hand.

2:08pm: Today’s agreement between the Phillies and David Robertson could accelerate the market for lefty Zach Britton, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that Britton “looks like the next reliever to go.” Britton was a known target of the Phillies before they signed Robertson and of the Cardinals before they signed Andrew Miller, and Passan adds that Britton has “been in discussions” with the Yankees recently. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark tweeted this morning, too, that the Yankees are “heavily focused” on the bullpen market at the moment and listed Britton as a target.

As with any free agent, the asking price is a key, however, and Stark tweets that Britton and agent Scott Boras have been holding out for a four-year guarantee. That’s a huge ask for any reliever but particularly for one with Britton’s recent track record. Though there was a strong argument to be made that as recently as 2016, Britton was baseball’s premier reliever, the past two seasons have been decidedly less successful. Britton missed significant time in 2017 due to forearm issues and missed the first half of the 2018 campaign while recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in offseason workouts.

Because of those injuries, Britton has been limited to just 78 innings across the past two seasons and has had decidedly mixed results along the way. He’s registered a sharp 3.00 ERA in that time but also had diminished strikeout and walk numbers (7.3 K/9, 4.5 BB/9). Britton’s swinging-strike rate is down nearly five percent from its 17.2 percent peak in 2016, and his chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone has plummeted from a career-high 38.7 percent in 2015 to 29.5 percent last season. Velocity, too, has served as a red flag. Though Britton’s infamous sinker gained some speed as the 2018 season wore on and he distanced himself from that Achilles surgery, even his end-of-season velocity was well south of the 97.1 mph he averaged on his sinker in 2016.

None of that is to say that Britton is no longer a quality bullpen option. Even with diminished results, he’s still elite in terms of inducing ground-balls, limiting hard contact and avoiding the long ball. Given that he only just turned 31, it’s certainly plausible that a full offseason of rest and regular workouts could allow Britton to return to the pre-injury form he displayed from 2014-16 when he posted an unthinkable 1.38 ERA with a nearly 80 percent ground-ball rate, better than a strikeout per inning (9.3 K/9) and strong control (2.4 BB/9) through a span of 209 innings.

In that sense, Britton possesses a higher ceiling than any available reliever. However, his two most recent seasons should create some real cause for concern. Relievers with red flags can certainly still get paid — Miller secured a $25MM guarantee over two years from the Cardinals on the heels of an injury-marred season of his own — but a four-year pact would be a particularly strong outcome for a pitcher whose recent performance simply hasn’t aligned with his name value.

East Notes: Harper, Cespedes, O’s, Perez, Yankees, Tulo

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Bryce Harper and agent Scott Boras had a five-hour meeting with Nationals owner Ted Lerner on December 22, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.  Sources from within the team declined to confirm that such a meeting took place, which Janes describes as “a departure from their relative openness about their status with Harper this winter.”  One possibility is that Lerner held the meeting without informing anyone else in the organization, which Janes notes “has happened before,” though it could be that the front office is keeping quiet on details either as a gamesmanship tactic (to drive up Harper’s price for other teams), or because an ardent pursuit of the free agent outfielder is underway.

This is the latest twist in the perhaps-ongoing courtship between Harper and the Nats, as ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reported earlier today that Harper had had “multiple” meetings with team representatives.  Boras and Lerner have a longstanding professional relationship that has resulted in several high-profile Boras Corporation clients (i.e. Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer) sign extensions or free agent deals with Washington.  Boras has also often bypassed general managers to negotiate directly with ownership in some particularly major contracts, and he has signaled this intent in regards to Harper’s market this offseason.

Some more from around both the NL East and AL East…

  • There had already been some indication that the Mets weren’t expecting Yoenis Cespedes to play in 2019 as the outfielder recovers from a pair of heel surgeries, and special assistant Omar Minaya reiterated as much in an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (hat tip to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo).  “If [Cespedes] gives us anything this year, that is great, we’re happy for that,” Minaya said.  Cespedes’ first procedure in late July carried a rough timeline of eight-to-ten months before a return to baseball activities, and no update to that timetable was made after Cespedes underwent his second surgery in late October.  Cespedes has long been plagued by a variety of lower-body injuries, and since signing a four-year, $110MM deal with the Mets prior to the 2017 season, the outfielder has played in just 119 games.  As it stands, New York’s starting outfield consists of Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo in the corners, Juan Lagares in center field, and the newly-acquired Rajai Davis as the fourth outfielder.  The Mets have been linked to other outfielders on the rumor mill, however, so it is quite possible more changes could come before Opening Day.
  • The Orioles have hired Koby Perez as the team’s new Senior Director of international scouting, as per a team press release.  The 40-year-old Perez spent the last three seasons as the Indians’ director of Latin American scouting, his most recent stop in a career that has spanned 12 seasons and included roles as a crosschecker and scout with Cleveland, Philadelphia, and St. Louis (Perez and Orioles GM Mike Elias both worked as scouts in the Cardinals’ organization for two years).  Under his new title, as per the press release, “Perez will oversee all aspects of the Orioles’ international scouting operations and management of the club’s bonus pool.”  The Orioles have been notoriously indifferent to the international market for years, though this focus began to change even prior to Elias’ hiring, as Baltimore made a strong attempt to sign both the Mesa brothers and Sandy Gaston this fall.  Going forward, it certainly seems as if the O’s will now be as aggressive and thorough in locating and signing international prospects as any club in the sport.
  • The Yankees’ signing of Troy Tulowitzki doesn’t mean the team is out on Manny Machado by any means, Joel Sherman of the New York Post opines as part of a seven-tweet thread (all linked here).  That said, the Yankees wouldn’t publicize being out of the Machado sweepstakes anyway, as such a statement would violate Collective Bargaining Agreement rules about teams weighing in on free agents.  It also makes strategic sense for the Yankees to at least appear to still be in on Machado, if for no other reason than to force rival teams to spend more to sign him.  If Machado indeed doesn’t land in New York, Sherman feels the Yankees could address their infield needs by signing a player like Neil Walker or Adeiny Hechavarria to provide short-term help until Didi Gregorius is able to return.  Sherman suggests that infield help could also be found as part of a Sonny Gray trade package.
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