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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.

Passan’s Latest: Harper, Profar, Gray, Ray, Grandal, Pollock, Ender

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It’s too soon to count out a reunion between Bryce Harper and the Nationals, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan writes in his latest column, as “Harper has met multiple times with representatives” from the team.  In a rather surprisingly open interview last month, Nats managing principal owner Mark Lerner said his organization wasn’t willing to go beyond the ten-year, $300MM extension it offered Harper after the season, though rumors have continued to swirl that Washington is still at least monitoring Harper’s market.  It could still be some time before we have an answer about Harper’s 2019 destination, as the outfielder (like many Scott Boras clients) is in no rush to sign a contract that doesn’t meet his satisfaction.  The Phillies and White Sox, Passan reports, are willing to guarantee Harper at least a ten-year deal, indicating that the two teams have at least made some progress in their pursuit of the free agent outfielder, though obviously the gigantic dollar figure Harper is demanding is still a very notable obstacle.

Some more hot stove items from Passan….

  • Before the Rangers dealt Jurickson Profar to the Athletics as part of a three-team trade with the Rays, Texas also explored another three-team scenario involving the Yankees and Braves.  “There was traction, at one point,” Passan writes about a deal that would have seen the Yankees get Profar, the Braves get Sonny Gray, and Texas would have received a prospect (presumably from Atlanta’s farm system).
  • The Diamondbacks would only consider trading Robbie Ray for a very big return, with Passan noting that Arizona would want more for Ray than the Mariners received from the Yankees for James Paxton back in November.  While both Ray and Paxton are front-of-the-rotation southpaws with two remaining years of team control, Ray is almost three full years younger than Paxton, which would explain Arizona’s higher asking price.  That deal saw Seattle land an MLB-ready pitching prospect (Justus Sheffield), another young arm on the brink of the majors (Erik Swanson) and a promising lower-level position player (outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams).  It’s a steep price tag, though at least two teams with a lot of minor league depth have been linked to Ray in trade rumors.
  • News broke last week that Yasmani Grandal turned down a four-year, $60MM offer from the Mets, though Passan says that such an offer was “never officially presented,” and that the terms were “characterized by sources on both sides as more of a discussion.”  Grandal’s market seems a little uncertain right now, due to the number of catcher-needy teams who have already found other backstops, and the looming presence of J.T. Realmuto on the trade market.  With draft pick compensation via the qualifying offer hanging over Grandal’s services, there is some threat of Grandal becoming (in the words of one executive) “this year’s version of Mike Moustakas,” i.e. a QO free agent whose market thins to the point that he is forced to accept a one-year contract.  Grandal accepting a one-year deal “remains unlikely but not out of question,” as per Passan, though the catcher and his camp are reportedly “staying patient” that a satisfactory multi-year deal will eventually surface.
  • A.J. Pollock is one of many big-name free agents whose markets may not get moving until Harper and/or Manny Machado sign new contracts.  As Passan notes, Pollock is a good fit for both the Phillies and White Sox, though those teams are more likely to focus on Harper and Machado before turning to backup plans.  Three executive tell Passan that Pollock’s situation bears similarity to Lorenzo Cain last winter, who had to wait until late January to find a new contract, though his market quickly heated up to the point that he was able to land a hefty five-year, $80MM deal from the Brewers.
  • We heard during the Winter Meetings about the Reds’ interest in Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte, though Passan writes that “talks stagnated” between the two sides, and Cincinnati then pivoted to acquire outfield help in the form of Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp.  Neither of those two are viable center field options, of course, so the Reds remain on the hunt for a replacement for Billy Hamilton.

East Notes: Manny, Yankees, Mets, Pollock, Britton, Nats

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A few notes from the East Coast, where the first day of 2019 is nearing an end…

  • Free-agent outfielder Bryce Harper raised eyebrows on social media last month when he “liked” an Instagram post relating to the Dodgers. Not to be outdone, fellow superstar free agent Manny Machado may have hinted about his own future plans on Instagram, as Jon Heyman of Fancred point outed out on Monday. Machado began following the YES Network, which broadcasts most Yankees games and which the franchise owns a portion of, only to quickly unfollow it when people took notice. Machado’s apparent interest in YES may be much ado about nothing, but for the moment, it has added a bit of intrigue to what looks like a three-horse race for his services.
  • Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen “remains engaged” on the trade market, according to the New York Post’s Mike Puma, who reports the team is seeking an outfielder, a reliever (preferably a lefty), starting pitching depth and a backup infielder. Signing free-agent outfielder A.J. Pollock would address one of those needs, though Van Wagenen implied last month that wouldn’t happen, and Puma hears the Mets are leery of giving the 31-year-old a big contract. Similarly, the Mets are “unlikely” to go after lefty reliever Zach Britton in free agency, Puma writes.
  • With the Nationals gearing up for the arrival of prospect Carter Kieboom, they may not sign a free-agent second baseman to anything more than a one-year deal, Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic suggests (subscription required). The Nationals have shown interest in free agent DJ LeMahieu, but because he’s seeking a multiyear deal, there might not be a match between the sides. Free agent Brian Dozier, who could be in line for a one-year pact, would be a better fit, Ghiroli posits. The club has also expressed interest in Dozier this winter.

Free Agent Faceoff: Robertson Vs. Britton Vs. Ottavino

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Seven-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel entered the winter as the undisputed No. 1 reliever available in free agency, but it’s not as easy to identify the second-best option on the open market. When the offseason commenced, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Jeff Todd lumped four relievers close together behind Kimbrel in terms of projected earning power. They forecast that Jeurys Familia, David Robertson and Zach Britton would each earn three-year, $33MM contracts, while Adam Ottavino would come in a bit behind at three years and $30MM. Familia’s now off the board, having rejoined the Mets on a three-year, $30MM guarantee, while fellow bullpen arms Andrew Miller, Joe Kelly and Joakim Soria have also received lucrative contracts.

With Familia, Miller, Kelly and Soria no longer in the free-agent mix, it’s clear that Robertson, Britton and Ottavino are the most desirable non-Kimbrel relievers without teams. There has been widespread interest in all three over the past couple months, with some of the same clubs in contention for multiple members of the group. But who’s the most appealing hurler among the trio?

Perhaps the answer is the right-handed Robertson, who has put together nine straight highly productive seasons of 60-plus innings. Undoubtedly one of the most durable and effective relievers in recent memory, the longtime Yankee is coming off a season in which he logged a 3.23 ERA/2.97 FIP with 11.76 K/9, 3.36 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent groundball rate across a career-best 69 2/3 innings. Never one to rely on high-90s velocity, Robertson continued to confound hitters with his breaking stuff, as FanGraphs rated his curve as the most valuable pitch of its kind among 2018 relievers. Batters posted a dreadful .196 weighted on-base average against that pitch and an even worse .145 mark when he threw his slider, according to Statcast.

If there’s one concern with Robertson, it’s his age. He’s set to turn 34 in April, meaning it’s fair to wonder whether he’ll continue to thrive over the course of a multiyear deal. Britton, meanwhile, is three years younger, having turned 31 on Dec. 22. Aside from Kimbrel, Britton likely had the best peak of anyone in this winter’s class of free-agent relievers. The left-hander amassed anywhere from 65 2/3 innings to 76 1/3 in each season as the Orioles’ closer between 2014-16, a three-year span in which he converted 120 of 128 save opportunities, led relievers in groundball rate (77.9 percent), placed second in ERA (1.38) and recorded 9.26 K/9 against 2.37 BB/9.

Britton was close to infallible during his heyday, but he fell off between 2017-18, when forearm, knee and Achilles injuries limited him to 78 innings. Britton still managed a terrific 3.00 ERA and a fantastic 72.8 percent grounder rate in that period, which he spent with the O’s and Yankees. His K/9 (7.27) and BB/9 (4.5) each went in the wrong direction, though, and his power sinker wasn’t as imposing.

Unlike Robertson and Britton, Ottavino brings little game-ending experience to the table, evidenced by his 17 career saves. He’s also a onetime Tommy John surgery patient and a 33-year-old whose career with the Cardinals and Rockies hasn’t been all that consistent. The righty has put together a handful of outstanding seasons and a few poor campaigns, though it seems he found another gear in 2018. After a woeful 2017 in Colorado, Ottavino spent last offseason working to improve his command in his native New York City, as former FanGraphs writer Travis Sawchik detailed in May, and the results were astounding.

Using primarily sliders and sinkers, Ottavino pitched to a 2.43 ERA/2.74 FIP with 12.98 K/9 and 4.17 BB/9 across a personal-best 77 2/3 frames last season. In the process, his first-pitch strike rate increased nearly 14 percent from 2017 and his out-of-zone swing rate climbed by almost 5 percent. Further, as Mike Petriello of MLB.com pointed out in October, Ottavino was a soft-contact wiz in 2018, trailing only all-world relievers Edwin Diaz and Blake Treinen in xwOBA against (.229; Robertson’s was .276, while Britton checked in at .311).

Although it’s obvious that Ottavino’s career has been less impressive than those of Robertson and Britton, it’s possible he’s the best of the three right now. Cases could be made for both Robertson and Britton, however, and it’ll be interesting to see how much guaranteed money these three high-end relievers ultimately receive in the coming weeks. Which one would you sign?

(poll link for app users)

Which reliever do you prefer?
Zach Britton 39.24% (6,736 votes)
David Robertson 36.61% (6,285 votes)
Adam Ottavino 24.15% (4,146 votes)
Total Votes: 17,167

Padres Still In Mix For Sonny Gray

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Yankees right-hander and trade candidate Sonny Gray has been connected to the Padres, among many other teams, since the offseason began in earnest last month. The New Year is now around the corner and Gray remains a member of the Yankees, though the Padres are still “very much” involved in discussions centering on the 29-year-old, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

General manager Brian Cashman telegraphed that the Yankees would trade Gray this winter after the Red Sox bounced them from the playoffs in October, when he admitted it would make sense to send him elsewhere. Nevertheless, various reports have suggested the Yankees’ asking price has been too lofty for a hurler who struggled in 2018 and only has one year of control left (at a projected $9.1MM).

As MLBTR has written seemingly ad infinitum over the past couple months, Gray’s coming off a season in which he registered a horrid 4.90 ERA and a personal-worst 3.94 BB/9 across 130 1/3 innings, leading the Yankees to pull him from their rotation. However, Gray maintained his velocity and offered appealing results away from Yankee Stadium, as he posted a 3.17 ERA/2.65 FIP on the road. There is no question other teams are well aware of Gray’s success outside of the Bronx, given that double-digit clubs have shown some level of interest in him since Cashman announced he was for sale.

Based on both the road numbers he put up in last season and his productive stint in Oakland, where he pitched from 2013-17, Gray would be a much-needed upgrade for the Padres. In 2018, San Diego’s eighth straight sub-.500 season, its starters ranked 27th in the majors in ERA and 28th in fWAR. Of the 12 starters the Padres trotted out, only Joey Lucchesi enjoyed a decent amount of success over a large sample size.

As a result of the adversity their rotation experienced in 2018, the Padres have been scouring the market for help, having shown reported interest in Gray, the Indians’ Corey Kluber, the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, the Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman, the Mariners’ Mike Leake, and free agents Dallas Keuchel and Yusei Kikuchi. Among that group, Gray may be the most realistic target for the Padres. Acquiring Kluber, Syndergaard or Stroman would presumably force the Padres to take a sizable bite out of their top-ranked farm system; Leake, meanwhile, has a no-trade clause and still has a significant amount of guaranteed money left on his contract; and both Keuchel and Kikuchi are in line for high-paying deals.

In the event the Padres do land Gray, he could either help them return to relevance (if he rebounds) or end up as a midseason trade chip. Should San Diego fall out of the race by the summer, which has been an all-too-common occurrence in franchise history, it could further bolster its system by shipping Gray to a contender.

Trade/FA Rumblings: M’s, Encarnacion, Haniger, Rays, ChiSox, Astros, Rangers, Yanks

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The Mariners have grown “increasingly confident” they’ll be able to trade designated hitter/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion before their spring training opens, Jon Morosi of MLB.com says (video link). Encarnacion’s market has picked up in the wake of the Twins’ agreement with Nelson Cruz, whose suitors are now turning to the former. The Rays, White Sox and Astros are each “involved” on both Encarnacion and Cardinals first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez, according to Morosi.

Encarnacion was already part of one trading involving the Rays this offseason – a three-team deal in which Cleveland sent him to to Seattle. The soon-to-be 36-year-old has been superfluous to the rebuilding Mariners’ roster since they acquired him, though, and the team likely wants to rid itself of as much of his contract as possible. Encarnacion’s owed a guaranteed $25MM through 2020, including a $5MM buyout in lieu of a $20MM club option that year. While Encarnacion was an offensive juggernaut from 2012-17, he’s coming off a somewhat pedestrian season by his standards, as he batted .246/.336/.474 (115 wRC+) in 579 plate appearances and didn’t see much time in the field. Martinez, 30, is hardly a defensive stalwart either, though he did offer quality production at the plate from 2017-18 and will collect a minimal salary in 2019.

  • Encarnacion could become the latest household name to leave Seattle, but it appears outfielder Mitch Haniger will stay put. “We’re not really listening to offers,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto told MLB Network of Haniger (via TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune). “They would have to blow us away, and they haven’t even come close.” The 28-year-old “represents everything we want to build around and be about as a team,” Dipoto continued, leading Cotterill to posit that Haniger, fellow outfielder Mallex Smith and left-hander Marco Gonzales figure to form the Mariners’ next veteran core. Haniger is unquestionably the most valuable player of the trio, given his superb production from 2017-18 and four remaining years of control (including one more pre-arb campaign).
  • Before the Rangers traded him to the Athletics on Dec. 21, the Yankees were among the teams with interest in infielder Jurickson Profar, per Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. However, New York wasn’t “willing to give up much” for Profar, Fraley writes. Texas received four minor leaguers and $750K in international bonus room for Profar, who’d have helped the Yankees cover for injured shortstop Didi Gregorius’ absence in 2019. Had the Yankees gotten Profar, whom they also showed interest in last offseason, he likely would have handled second base, thus sending Gleyber Torres to short. Although, with third baseman Miguel Andujar potentially on the block and free-agent shortstop/third baseman Manny Machado on the Yankees’ radar, it’s anyone’s guess how their infield would have aligned with Profar in it.
  • With Machado’s future up in the air for at least a few more days, the Yankees are currently focused on their bullpen, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. Free agents David Robertson, Zach Britton and Adam Ottavino remain “in play” for the Yanks, who could sign more than one of those hurlers, Heyman notes. New York’s known to be in the market for two relievers, as it could lose both Robertson and Britton to other clubs.

Latest On Sonny Gray

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Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray has been on the trade block all offseason, but the club hasn’t found an offer to its liking for the 29-year-old. There’s at least one serious suitor for Gray, though, as Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that the Brewers are still prominently in the mix for him. Meanwhile, the NL Central rival Reds are fading in the race, Morosi adds.

A slew of teams have kicked the tires on Gray this winter, but despite his difficulties in 2018, the Yankees reportedly want “high-end” big leaguers in exchange for him. They apparently haven’t been able to find that type of offer for Gray, who’s coming off a season to forget and only under control through 2019 (at a projected $9.1MM). Gray struggled to a 4.90 ERA with a career-worst 3.94 BB/9 in 130 1/3 innings last season, and even lost his place in the Yankees’ rotation. However, the former Athletic’s 2018 issues were essentially limited to the hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium, as evidenced by his 3.17 ERA/2.65 FIP in 71 innings away from the Bronx. Gray has historically been an effective starter, having logged a 3.66 ERA/3.74 FIP in 900 2/3 frames since debuting in the majors in 2013.

While Gray’s a candidate to bounce back in 2019, it doesn’t appear it’ll happen in New York. Since general manager Brian Cashman admitted in mid-October that Gray would likely be better off elsewhere, the executive has acquired left-hander James Paxton from the Mariners and re-signed fellow southpaws J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia in free agency. With those three set to join righties Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees already have a capable five-man rotation heading into 2019.

The Brewers, meanwhile, don’t look to be as fortunate as the Yankees when it comes to current starting options. Although Milwaukee came within a game of a World Series berth in 2018, its success came without a great-looking rotation, and the unit has since seen Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez become free agents. It’s now down to Jhoulys Chacin, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Brandon Woodruff and the rehabbing Jimmy Nelson, among others, set to vie for starting roles. There’s an argument that Gray has a better overall track record than any of the Brewers’ starters, and it’s worth pointing out that GM David Stearns has been chasing him for a while. Before the A’s traded Gray to the Yankees in July 2017, the Brewers were among the teams with interest in him.

Like the Yankees, the Reds have already addressed their rotation in multiple ways this offseason. In separate trades this month, the club has acquired righty Tanner Roark from the Nationals and lefty Alex Wood from the Dodgers. As things stand, they’ll join righties Luis Castillo, Anthony DeSclafani and Tyler Mahle in the Reds’ 2019 rotation. But it does seem the Reds will pick up yet another starter before the offseason’s out, so perhaps it would be unwise to rule out a Gray acquisition. Notably, Gray and Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson have familiarity from their time together at Vanderbilt, where the former was a star hurler and the latter one of the Commodores’ coaches.

Market Notes: Cruz, Harper, Kluber, Bauer, Ottavino, Harrison

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Prior to this morning’s agreement with the Twins, slugger Nelson Cruz received “competitive” offers from both the Rays and Astros, according to Juan Toribio of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Fancred’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Specifics aren’t known, but it seems likely that the Twins would’ve had to outbid either by a fairly notable margin, given that the Rays won 90 games last season while the Astros won the 2017 World Series and appeared in a second consecutive American League Championship Series this past season. Minnesota ultimately secured Cruz with a $14.3MM bid that includes a $14MM salary for the 2019 season and a $12MM club option ($300K buyout) for the 2020 campaign. If Houston or Tampa Bay is still keen on adding a notable right-handed bat, there should be numerous options in play. The rebuilding Tigers, for instance, would likely be willing to move Nicholas Castellanos as he enters his final season of club control. The Cardinals, meanwhile, could move Jose Martinez to an American League club that’d be better suited to mask his defensive shortcomings at the DH spot.

Some more notes on the both the trade and free-agent markets…

  • The Cardinals have been an oft-speculated landing spot for Bryce Harper but have not been rumored to have any meaningful interest in the market’s top free agent. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explored the situation in his latest Q&A with readers, explaining the numerous reasons that the Cardinals feel a pursuit of Harper would differ from their prior pursuits of huge contracts for David Price, Jason Heyward and Giancarlo Stanton. Above all else, it seems that the sizable discrepancy between Harper’s asking price and even those other substantial contracts is a roadblock for the St. Louis front office. The Cards also don’t have the personal connection with Harper that they had after a year of having Heyward in the clubhouse, and they’re generally averse to the leverage that opt-out clauses provide players on lengthy free-agent deals.
  • In an appearance on MLB Network’s Hot Stove this morning, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com downplayed the possibility of the Indians trading a top starter (video link). “I don’t think it’s particularly likely they move either Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer at this moment,” said Castrovince, citing sources with the Indians. While he cautioned that things can change with a single call or text, the roughly $21MM saved in trades of Yan Gomes, Edwin Encarnacion and Yonder Alonso has alleviated pressure to pare back payroll from its record levels in a 2018 season that saw the total attendance decline. That, of course, doesn’t mean rumors or conversations surrounding Kluber will cease — they assuredly will not — but it’s worth keeping in mind when parsing the inevitable continuation of Kluber rumblings. More than 18,000 readers voted in last night’s MLBTR poll asking whether Cleveland would actually trade Kluber, and the response was a near-even split (52-48 in favor of Kluber being moved).
  • The White Sox, Red Sox and Rockies are all maintaining some level of interest in free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. As one of the top relievers on the market, the 33-year-old Ottavino should have no shortage of clubs inquiring about his services, though the asking price on top-end bullpen arms could prove prohibitive for some clubs. To this point, Jeurys Familia (three years, $30MM), Joe Kelly (three years, $25MM) and Andrew Miller (two years, $25MM) are among the relievers MLBTR ranked in Ottavino’s tier of free agency to have cashed in quite nicely. Given his 2.43 ERA, 2.74 FIP, 2.82 SIERA and 13.0 K/9 mark, Ottavino figures to have a fairly high ask, as well. The interest from each of the three teams listed by Morosi has been previously reported, and there are some issues with some of the fits. Adding Ottavino, for instance, could push the Red Sox back into the top tier of the luxury tax bracket. And the Rockies spent more than $100MM on their ’pen last winter, which could make them reluctant to add a fourth reliever on the type of multi-year contract Ottavino should ultimately command.
  • Heyman tweets that infielder/outfielder Josh Harrison has current interest from the Nationals, Reds, Rangers, Giants and Brewers, and he could ultimately generate interest from teams like the Yankees, Phillies and Dodgers — depending on how their pursuits of the market’s top free agents pans out. (Presumably, the Phillies or Yankees would have interest in the event that either failed to land Manny Machado.) Harrison would give the Nats a potential regular option at second base, while the Rangers are in need of a third baseman following the trade of Jurickson Profar. Joe Panik’s stock is down in San Francisco, and the Brewers, too, are in need of an everyday option at either second or third (depending on where they play Travis Shaw in 2019). The fit for the Reds is a bit more muddied, as Harrison would appear to be more of a bench option there, though it’s worth noting that he is a Cincinnati native.
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