Details On Jay Bruce’s No-Trade Clause
Last week, Reds outfielder Jay Bruce had an opportunity to update his limited no-trade clause by changing the list of eight teams that he can block deals to. However, the 28-year-old decided to stand pat and keep the same clubs on his veto list, as Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com writes. Bruce can block any proposed deal that would send him to the Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Marlins, A’s, or Twins.
That mix of small and large-market teams presumably shields Bruce from destinations he may prefer not to play in while affording him leverage if a big-spending AL East club were to come calling. Of course, the Orioles are the one AL East club that is not on the block list and they have become the most recent team to be linked to the Cincinnati outfielder. There isn’t any “momentum” toward a trade at this time, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, but it seems that the talks are at least active.
Bruce, 29 in April, will earn $12.5MM in 2016 and can be controlled for the following year with a $13MM option — or be bought out for $1MM. The Reds are willing to listen on everybody and GM Walt Jocketty said that he would “probably” be open to moving Bruce and Aroldis Chapman, despite his previous reluctance to do so. Bruce slashed .226/.294/.434 in 2015, numbers that were well below his best offensive work from 2010-2013.
Quick Hits: Fernandez, Marlins, Rizzo, Orioles
The Astros haven’t been linked to David Price in free agent rumors, but that hasn’t stopped Dallas Keuchel from acting as a recruiter. “The baseball fan in me definitely would like to see [a rotation] upgrade but that’s not in my control. I know I’ve made pitches to David Price — it’s just the baseball fan in me at the end of the day,” Keuchel tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. “I just play. … I think (the bosses) know that we’re in a good position.” While Price may be a bit too expensive for the Astros, the team has certainly been connected to several other free agent arms as Houston looks to back up Keuchel with another first-rate starter. Here’s some more from around baseball…
- Two Marlins sources say that Jose Fernandez‘s attitude is becoming a problem, with teammates annoyed that Fernandez “has become more entitled and cocky” due to perceived favoritism from owner Jeffrey Loria. Despite this issue, the team isn’t planning on trading Fernandez, though the Marlins know they’ll have a hard time retaining him once he hits free agency after the 2018 season.
- Also from Jackson, he reports that the Marlins have reached out to John Lackey, Scott Kazmir and Tim Lincecum, among other available starting pitchers. This is the first time we’ve heard of Miami’s interest in Lackey, though the veteran right-hander has been getting plenty of attention from several other clubs.
- If the Marlins change course on Fernandez and decide that a trade is necessary, the Dodgers, Red Sox, Royals, Twins and Astros could all be particularly good fits to acquire the star righty, ESPN’s David Schoenfield writes.
- Earlier this week, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told reporters (including the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes) that he’ll be looking to add a left-handed hitter to help balance out the Nats’ lineup. Starting pitching isn’t necessarily a big need, as Tanner Roark and Joe Ross look set to fill out the rotation behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez, so while starting pitching isn’t necessarily a big need, Rizzo didn’t quite close the door on the subject. “I’m happy sliding Tanner and Joe in the rotation. With that said, you can never have enough good starting pitching,” Rizzo said.
- The Orioles haven’t swung any blockbuster trades under Dan Duquette’s watch, and CSNMidAtlantic.com’s Rich Dubroff doesn’t expect that to change this winter. Part of the issue this offseason is that the O’s don’t have much to offer in the way of prospects; Dubroff lists some of the notable minor league arms the Orioles have dealt in recent years, particularly three young starters traded within the last year just to address their right field hole (in the form of Travis Snider and then Gerardo Parra). As I noted in my Orioles Offseason Outlook piece, Baltimore has so many departing free agents that Duquette will need to be more aggressive than usual with trades or signings in order to keep the team competitive.
- The Yankees “fixate on high strikeout rates, low walk rates and high groundball percentages” for their starting pitchers, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes. With this model in mind, Sherman looks at ten pitchers that could be targeted by the Yankees in trade talks, though some will be harder to acquire than others since New York isn’t intending to deal top prospects like Aaron Judge.
Cafardo’s Latest: Giants, Braves, Gordon, Chapman
Here’s the latest from The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo…
- The Braves are one of multiple teams who have asked the Giants about Joe Panik and Matt Duffy in trade talks but San Francisco isn’t interesting in dealing either young infielder. Panik and Duffy may have come up in discussions with the Braves over pitching, as Cafardo reports the Giants have discussed Julio Teheran and Shelby Miller.
- Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon is generating “a ton of interest” and Miami is at least listening. It would take a controllable, front-of-the-rotation arm to really get the Marlins’ attention, however, and it “seems unlikely” that Gordon would go anywhere. I have to agree that dealing Gordon would be a stunning move even for the Marlins; if anything, the club is far more likely to extend him, as has been noted in recent reports.
- The Reds and Red Sox discussed a trade for Aroldis Chapman, but Cincinnati wanted more from Boston than the Sox eventually sent to the Padres to land Craig Kimbrel. That would represent a stunningly high asking price for a closer who is only under contract through the 2016 season. Kimbrel, by contrast, is owed $25MM through the 2017 season and Boston has a $13MM club option on his services for 2018.
- Andrew Miller is “atop” the Astros‘ list of closer targets and Mark Melancon is also under consideration. We’d already heard about Houston’s interest in acquiring a top reliever earlier today, with Miller’s name included with the likes of Chapman, Brad Boxberger and Ken Giles.
- Speaking of Melancon, the Pirates closer tells Cafardo that he’s keeping an open mind about trade speculation. “I love the Pirates. I love our group of guys and would love to stay here, but I also understand the business of it. Every organization has a different business plan, and if the Pirates feel they need to deal me, then I understand that. Our people haven’t said a word to me about the possibility, so until that changes, I’m assuming I’m starting the year with the Pirates.”
- The Twins are another team looking for relief help and they’ve also received a lot of interest about third baseman Trevor Plouffe. There has been speculation that Plouffe could be moved to make way for Miguel Sano at third base, especially if the Twins come to an agreement with Byung-Ho Park.
- Though Brett Gardner‘s name has surfaced in trade talks, it’s “not a slam dunk” that the Yankees would part with him since he’s a clubhouse leader. As CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman did yesterday, Cafardo also downplays the idea of a Gardner-for-Starlin Castro trade, noting that the Yankees would only trade Gardner if they got a starting pitcher back.
- Five general managers told Cafardo that they wouldn’t take Hanley Ramirez in a trade even if the Red Sox covered at least half of Ramirez’s remaining salary. Ramirez is owed $66MM through 2018 and he has a $22MM vesting option for 2019, so even at a reduced rate, that’s still a hefty price for a player coming off such a rough season on and off the field.
- Cafardo feels the Cubs and Giants have the best chance at signing John Lackey, who wants to remain in the National League. The Cardinals have also “kept their toes in the water” for his services. The Red Sox have checked in on Lackey but are more focused on landing an ace starter.
- John Boggs, Trevor Cahill‘s agent, said his client looks to be a starter again “but he would accept a bullpen spot if he doesn’t secure a starting job.”
AL Notes: Yankees, K-Rod, Athletics
The dwindling relief market could work in the Yankees‘ favor, George A. King III of the New York Post writes. The Braves and Dodgers have recently been linked to Darren O’Day, and if O’Day signs with one of those teams, the best late-inning option available on the free agent market will be Joakim Soria, who doesn’t appear likely to be cheap. The lack of capable and reasonably priced late-inning relievers could increase the trade value of Andrew Miller, who the Yankees could potentially use as a trade chip to bolster their rotation. Here are more quick notes from the American League.
- The Tigers pursued a number of potential upgrades for their bullpen before completing their deal for Francisco Rodriguez, MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. They asked about Aroldis Chapman, Miller and Brad Boxberger, but any of those three relievers would have cost too much in prospects. They also had discussions with free agent Joakim Soria, but it appears he’ll get a three-year deal. Darren O’Day, meanwhile, seems likely to get four. So the Tigers approached the Brewers. Rodriguez was a good fit for them in that what’s left of his contract amounts to one year plus an option ($7.5MM for 2016, some of it deferred, and $6MM or a $2MM buyout for 2017), and the prospect cost (infielder Javier Betancourt plus a player to be named) wasn’t prohibitive.
- The Athletics also had interest in K-Rod, as FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. They balked, however, at the $9.5MM financial commitment. They have, of course, addressed their bullpen to some degree (while also shedding salary) with their trade of Jesse Chavez to the Blue Jays for Liam Hendriks.
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday
Tonight at 8:00pm ET is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In other words: there will be a significant amount of 40-man roster moves made over the course of the next 13 or so hours. Six clubs already made moves to protect prospects from the Rule 5 yesterday, and each of the remaining 24 clubs should make moves today as well.
In brief: players drafted/signed at 18 years of age or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Players drafted/signed at 19 or older must be added within four years. Those interested in all of the specifics can refer to articles from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Perhaps of greater interest is that Mayo lists all of the prospects from MLB.com’s Top 100 list and from their organizational Top 30 lists that much be protected in advance of tonight’s deadline, while Cooper provides brief write-ups on each player that has been protected (and will continue to do so as additions are made).
Here are today’s additions to the 40-man roster. You can check out Baseball America’s coverage to learn more about the individual players listed below …
- The last team to report is the Giants, who have added a host of names to their 40-man: pitchers Ty Blach, Clayton Blackburn, Kyle Crick, Ian Gardeck, Adalberto Mejia, Steven Okert, Jake Smith, and Chris Stratton. With the roster filled up with that many pre-MLB arms, it’s fair to wonder whether the team anticipates trading from among that group.
- In their second set of 40-man promotions today, the Astros have selected the contracts of outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana.
- Moving onto the Marlins 40-man are lefty Jarlin Garcia and a trio of righties: Jacob Esch, Austin Brice, and Nick Wittgren.
- The Cubs have placed backstop Willson Contreras, righty Pierce Johnson, third baseman Jeimer Candelario, and first baseman Dan Vogelbach onto their 40-man, the team announced.
- The Phillies added outfielder Roman Quinn and righties Jimmy Cordero and Edubray Ramos.
- Joining the Royals‘ 40-man are pitchers Matthew Strahm, Alec Mills, and Kyle Zimmer, infielder Ramon Torres, and outfielders Brett Eibner and Bubba Starling, the club announced.
- The Rockies have selected the contracts of righties Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela, infielder Trevor Story, and outfielder Raimel Tapia.
- The Rays will add righties Jacob Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, and German Marquez to the 40-man roster along with infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter and rising lefty prospect Blake Snell.
- The Pirates have added top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell to the club’s 40-man, along with fellow youngsters Harold Ramirez (an outfielder) and Max Moroff (a middle infielder).
- Righty Victor Alcantara has been placed on the Angels‘ 40-man, the club announced. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez notes on Twitter, Alcantara is probably now the team’s single best prospect.
Earlier Updates
- Joining the big league side of the roster for the Yankees are righties Johnny Barbato and Rookie Davis along with outfielder Ben Gamel, the team announced.
- The Reds announced the additions of right-handers Robert Stephenson, Sal Romano, and Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster to keep them from Rule 5 eligibility.
- Going onto the Rangers‘ 40-man roster are outfielder Nomar Mazara, lefty Yohander Mendez, and righties Jose Leclerc and Connor Sadzeck.
- The Dodgers brought righties Jharel Cotton and Ross Stripling onto their 40-man, per a team announcement.
- Infielder Marco Hernandez, righty Pat Light, and lefty Williams Jerez are the newest members of the Red Sox 40-man, the club announced.
- The White Sox have protected righties Brandon Brennan and J.B. Wendelken from the Rule 5 by giving them roster spots.
- The Orioles have added a trio of pitchers, per an announcement. Parker Bridwell and Andrew Triggs throw from the right side, while Chris Lee is a southpaw.
- Moving onto the 40-man for the Indians are righties Mike Clevinger, Shawn Morimando and Dylan Baker, as well as outfielders Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey, per the club.
- The Mets announced the additions of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and righties Seth Lugo, Jeff Walters, and Robert Gsellman to the club’s major league roster.
- Second baseman Joey Wendle and left-hander Jose Torres were added to the Athletics 40-man roster, per the club.
- The Mariners announced that they have purchased the contracts of infielder Patrick Kivlehan and outfielder Boog Powell, thereby adding them to the 40-man roster and protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft.
- The Astros announced the additions of catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and right-handers Jandel Gustave, Juan Minaya, Joe Musgrove and David Paulino to the 40-man roster. Notably, Gustave was a Rule 5 pick last year and found himself with both the Padres and Royals before ultimately being returned to Houston.
- The Tigers announced that they’ve added right-handers Michael Fulmer and Montreal Robertson as well as left-hander Jairo Labourt to the 40-man. Fulmer was the main piece picked up in Detroit’s trade of Yoenis Cespedes, while Labourt was one of three lefties acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade.
Rays Claim Chase Whitley From Yankees
The Rays have claimed right-hander Chase Whitley off waivers from the Yankees, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Whitley, 26, underwent Tommy John surgery in May after having thrown 19 1/3 useful innings for the Yankees early in the season. The former 15th-rounder posted a 4.19 ERA with a 16-to-5 K/BB ratio across four starts in the Yankees’ rotation before falling to injury.
Given the timing of his operation, Whitley won’t be ready to open the season on the Rays’ roster, so he’ll presumably land on the 60-day DL to begin next season (assuming he survives the winter on the 40-man roster). He’ll provide the Rays with an MLB-ready pitching option once healthy, however, replenishing some depth lost by Tampa Bay following the trade of Nate Karns. Whitley has a career 2.89 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 196 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level.
Yankees Seek Pitching In Potential Gardner Deals
12:47pm: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that there’s no talk of Castro/Gardner at this point, as the Yankees’ preference would be to add pitching if they’re to part with Gardner.
9:35am: The Yankees and Cubs have discussed a trade involving outfielder Brett Gardner and infielder Starlin Castro, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. The Yankees have discussed Gardner with many other clubs as well, a source tells Feinsand.
Castro, 26 in March, lost his job as the Cubs’ starting shortstop this past season and eventually took over at second base after a stretch in which he was primarily a bench option. The former All-Star salvaged what was shaping up to be a second dreadful season three years by hitting .366/.390/.643 over his final 119 plate appearances — most of which came as a starter. While a .389 BABIP in that stretch served to artificially inflate his batting line, Castro did slug six homers in that stretch, so something very clearly did click for him at the plate. His bat was largely dormant in the postseason, though, as he hit just .176/.200/.294 (35 plate appearances).
Castro signed a seven-year, $60MM extension with Chicago back in August of 2012 at the tail end of what was a second consecutive All-Star season for the then-22-year-old. Since that time, he’s sandwiched an excellent 2014 campaign in between a pair of awful seasons at the plate, leading to a cumulative .265/.303/.383 batting line from 2013-15.
The remaining $38MM on Castro’s contract is an exact match with the remaining $38MM on Gardner’s deal, though Castro is guaranteed that sum over the life of four full seasons, whereas Gardner is promised $38MM over the next three years. Both players have a club option on their deal — a $16MM club option for the 2020 season ($1MM buyout) in Castro’s case and a $12.5MM club option for the 2019 season ($2MM buyout) in Gardner’s case.
Gardner, 32, is considerably older than Castro but has had much more recent success. The 2015 season was the worst in recent memory for Gardner, although Yankees hitting coach Alan Cockrell recently told the Journal News’ Chad Jennings that a wrist injury submarined Gardner’s second-half production. Gardner was hit by a pitch on the wrist in April, and the effects of the injury lingered all season. As Cockrell explained, a player can only receive three cortisone injections over the course of a single season, and once Gardner was no longer able to receive cortisone treatment in the second half, his bat completely evaporated, leading to his dismal .203/.288/.290 batting line in the season’s final two months. (Overall, Gardner’s .259/.343/.399 triple-slash was still plenty respectable.)
While other pieces may or may not need to be included to bring this trade from discussion to fruition, the framework makes some degree of sense on paper. The Yankees are open to adding help at second base, where the primary internal option is the largely unproven Rob Refsnyder and Dustin Ackley, who hasn’t played second base regularly since 2012. The Cubs, meanwhile, may very well lose Dexter Fowler to free agency and have no immediate in-house replacement in center field. It should also be noted that the Yankees recently acquired a highly athletic young outfielder in Aaron Hicks, who could step into the outfield in Gardner’s stead on an everyday basis. While Hicks hasn’t proven much at the plate after initially being rushed to the Majors, he made some strides offensively in 2015 and is seen as a potentially elite defender in the outfield. The swap would also lessen the Yankees’ luxury tax ledger and decrease the 2016 payroll, perhaps opening the team to further spending. Castro is set to earn $7MM next year compared to Gardner’s $13MM salary.
AL East Notes: Miller, Papi, Orioles, Blue Jays, Yankees
Andrew Miller‘s name has been floated in trade rumors in the early stages of the offseason, and two Major League execs tell Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News that Yankees GM Brian Cashman does indeed seem at least open to the idea of moving him. The Yankees would be comfortable with Dellin Betances serving as their closer, Feinsand writes, but the execs to whom he spoke stressed that Cashman would need to be overwhelmed to deal Miller. Still, Feinsand notes that with the team reluctant to part with any of Luis Severino, Greg Bird or Aaron Judge and a lack of money coming off the books, Miller is one of the team’s most appealing assets that could be used to add talent to the Major League roster. Feinsand writes that the Yankees probably won’t pursue any top-of-the-market free agents this winter and are also unlikely to add any free agents that come tied to draft pick compensation, meaning previous connections to Wei-Yin Chen and Jeff Samardzija may no longer be apt.
A few more notes from the AL East…
- Starting pitching is the Blue Jays‘ top priority even after re-signing Marco Estrada, interim GM Tony LaCava told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. While LaCava recognized a need for bullpen help, he said the rotation is the primary focus, adding: “We may let the bullpen come to us a little bit.” Nicholson-Smith aptly notes that the relief market typically features many bargains later in the offseason, with names like Ryan Madson, Franklin Morales and Carlos Villanueva all among players who parlayed January minor league deals into strong 2015 seasons. Regarding internal rotation options, LaCava noted that Aaron Sanchez is more likely to transition to a starting role than Roberto Osuna, if the club decides to shift either’s role at all. LaCava explains that Sanchez has more experience starting, whereas health issues have prevented Osuna from going through a full five-month stretch as a starter.
- Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star relays some quotes from Estrada at the press conference to announce his new contract. Estrada told the Toronto media that his preference was always to come back, and once talks began moving toward a two-year deal following the qualifying offer, he barely considered testing the market at all. Estrada added that the number of key contributors returning to the club in 2016 also made re-upping in Toronto an appealing scenario: “I think even if they left [the roster] alone we’re going to do pretty well this next year. But I’m sure they’re working on stuff.”
- Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post spoke to former Red Sox scout Dave Jauss (now with the Pirates) about his strong push to convince the Red Sox front office to take a chance on David Ortiz back in 2003. Ortiz had been let go by the Twins, who didn’t want to risk paying him a raise in arbitration after having nearly been contracted by the league. Jauss tells Kilgore that he was aware of all the red flags with Ortiz at the time — problems with left-handed pitching and an inability to stay healthy — but he firmly believed from his time spent managing in the Dominican Republic that Ortiz could flourish in an environment that didn’t force him to be so pull-conscious (i.e. Fenway Park). Kilgore’s piece chronicles Jauss’ workouts for Ortiz in the Dominican Republic while he was a free agent as well as what Jauss saw from Ortiz in winter ball early in his career.
- In light of the Giants’ recent extension of Brandon Crawford, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski explores whether or not now is the time for the Orioles to try to secure one of their own homegrown stars: Manny Machado. Crawford inked a six-year extension while he was two years from free agency, but the fact that Machado is still three seasons away and the Orioles have so many other pressing needs this winter mean that an extension isn’t near the top of their priority list at this time, Melewski writes. Melewski’s colleague, Roch Kubatko, tweets that GM Dan Duquette said again today that he is trying to re-sign Chris Davis but can’t handicap the chances of it happening at this time.
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The Yankees announced their complete coaching staff this week. Mike Harkey will take the bullpen coach job, while Tony Pena will instruct the catchers while also handling first base. Per prior announcements, Alan Cockrell will serve as the hitting coach with Marcus Thames as his assistant.
AL Central Notes: Indians’ Starters, Fister, Tigers, Sox, Soria
The Blue Jays, Dodgers and Yankees are among the teams that have reached out to the Indians and had “preliminary” trade talks about Cleveland’s starting pitching, reports Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (links to Twitter). The still-very-early frameworks being discussed would each send a controllable starter away from Cleveland in exchange for an everyday outfielder, he continues. In an appearance on MLB Network (video link), Morosi noted that Brett Gardner‘s name has come up in talks with Cleveland. Of course, Gardner alone wouldn’t fetch Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar, given the outfielder’s poor second half (though that was said to be injury-driven) and the more general fact that it makes little sense for Cleveland to part ways with five affordable years of either pitcher in exchange for three to four years of a well-compensated veteran. Other young and very well-regarded pieces would be a necessity. Trevor Bauer could be a more intriguing candidate in that scenario, as the soon-to-be 25-year-old was impressive in bursts in 2015 but continued his longstanding battle with control issues for most of the season. Other very speculative fits from the listed clubs could include Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Kevin Pillar, Dalton Pompey and Aaron Judge. Of course, each of those suggestions comes with varying degrees of uncertainty.
Some more notes from the AL Central…
- The Tigers are among the teams with interest in free-agent right-hander Doug Fister, according to Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). Fister is coming off a poor season in D.C. that saw his velocity dip to about 86 mph, causing him to lose his rotation spot. However, he enjoyed his best seasons in Detroit, and I can envision him being interested in a return on a make-good contract as he looks to rebuild his value, perhaps on a one-year deal in search of a larger contract among next year’s weak crop of free-agent starters.
- MLB.com’s Jason Beck breaks down the Tigers‘ options in their search for a left fielder. As Beck writes, fans should put to bed the notion of Jason Heyward, Justin Upton or a Yoenis Cespedes reunion, as all figure to be out of Detroit’s price range. Avila spoke highly of Tyler Collins recently, Beck notes, lending some credence to the possibility of simply acquiring a platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting 25-year-old. Beck lists Chris Young, former Tigers Ryan Raburn and Rajai Davis as possibilities. However, if the club feels an everyday left fielder would be an upgrade over a platoon of Collins and one of those righty bats, names like Nori Aoki and Gerardo Parra could come into play. Of course, it should be noted that Parra himself could benefit from a platoon partner, though he has a stronger defensive reputation than Collins (his surprising 2015 downturn in the view of defensive metrics not withstanding).
- White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin that the team hasn’t made a definitive decision as to which direction it will go this offseason (Twitter link). While that will probably induce a large amount of Chris Sale and Jose Quintana trade speculation from fans of pitching-hungry teams, it does seem difficult to envision the White Sox changing course after spending so heavily last winter. Chicago’s core of Sale, Quintana, Carlos Rodon, Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton and David Robertson is an excellent start to a contending club. Previous reports have indicated that the Sox believe 2015 was just the first of a multi-year window to contend. Nonetheless, that Williams didn’t take the opportunity to firmly denounce the possibility of some retooling is notable.
- The Twins have reached out to Joakim Soria‘s agent and received his medical records for review, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, though it’s not known whether the team is comfortable with a number anywhere near his reported $27MM asking price. (My guess: no.) In other Soria/AL Central news, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweeted today that while the Tigers were interested in Soria as recently as this past weekend, the two sides weren’t on the same page in contract talks. Detroit’s acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez seems likely to have diminished their interest in Soria anyhow.
AL East Notes: Boxberger, McGee, Yankees, O’s, Blue Jays
Rays relievers Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger are two of the more coveted relief arms on the trade market, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Nationals are among the interested teams (Twitter link). The Astros and Tigers have also been listed as possible suitors for Tampa Bay’s excellent eighth/ninth-inning duo. The left-handed McGee, 29, is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4.7MM this offseason. The right-handed Boxberger, 27, is not yet arbitration eligible. Both have seen significant time in the ninth inning over the past two seasons, as McGee collected 25 saves from 2014-15, and Boxberger led the AL with 41 saves in 2015. McGee seems like the more obvious trade candidate, on paper, due to his projected 2016 salary, but Boxberger’s first-year arbitration price could be huge if he serves as manager Kevin Cash‘s primary closer in 2016 and racks up 35 to 40 more saves. The Rays could simply elect to hold the pair as well; spending a combined $5.2MM or so for the pair certainly isn’t exorbitant, though it’s hard to envision both relievers in the mix beyond 2016, as they’ll probably be too expensive a pairing after next winter’s arb raises.
A few more notes from the AL East…
- Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes that Yankees GM Brian Cashman should be worrying about regression from players like Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez when constructing the roster this winter. Cashman said last week at the GM Meetings that his goal is to “upgrade our roster and not worry about regression on certain guys,” but Davidoff notes that it would be exceptionally risky to bank on Teixeira and A-Rod repeating both the health and the production they displayed in 2015, reminding how greatly they outperformed their preseason projections.
- Filling all of the holes on the Orioles‘ roster is a near-impossible task for GM Dan Duquette without a significant payroll hike, writes Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com. Melewski points out that after Matt Wieters surprisingly accepted a qualifying offer last Friday, the team now has $57.6MM committed to four players — Wieters, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones and Ubaldo Jimenez — plus $34.9MM worth of arbitration salaries (based on MLBTR’s projections). That places the Orioles at $92.5MM without even factoring in league-minimum players to round out the roster. Melewski uses Chris Davis and Alex Gordon as highly theoretical examples of players that could be brought in as major offseason signings (or, in Davis’ case, a re-signing), noting that that pair alone could cause Baltimore’s payroll to soar over $135MM while still leaving holes in the rotation and bullpen. Duquette has hinted that a payroll increase is certainly possible; over the weekend he discussed having the resources to not only re-sign Davis but also to bring in a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. The O’s opened the 2015 season with a $119MM payroll.
- The Blue Jays‘ entire coaching staff will return in 2016 after agreeing to new contracts, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Davidi notes that the news isn’t necessarily a surprise, as Shapiro said during his recent introductory press conference that the entire staff had been invited back, but the finalization of the contracts is nonetheless noteworthy.