- As usual, a ton of trade speculation has swirled around the Yankees, and GM Brian Cashman told reporters (including George A. King III of the New York Post) that he has been asked about virtually every player on his roster. That list even includes James Paxton, as teams checked in to see if New York would consider flipping the star southpaw after acquiring him from the Mariners last month (needless to say, the Yankees declined). Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were the only two players Cashman said he hadn’t yet been asked about.
Yankees Rumors
Yankees Meet With Adam Ottavino's Rep
- Blue Jays right-handers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez have been mentioned in trade rumors this offseason, though teams are finding it especially difficult to pry them loose. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, interested clubs have found the Jays’ asking price for both pitchers to be “uncomfortably high.” Because Stroman and Sanchez each have two years of control left, Nicholson-Smith suggests the Jays are holding out for a return similar to the one the Mariners received from the Yankees for James Paxton. That doesn’t seem realistic on Toronto’s part, however, as both Stroman and Sanchez struggled through injury-limited seasons in 2018.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman met with free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino’s representative Tuesday, though no real offers have been exchanged to this point, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. Ottavino, 33, remains near the top of the Yankees’ free-agent wish list, Sherman notes. With free agents Zach Britton and David Robertson possibly on their way out of the Bronx, Ottavino – a New York City native – is a logical target for the club.
Mets, Yankees, Marlins In Talks On Three-Team Deal Involving J.T. Realmuto
TODAY, 10:36pm: Brian Cashman said Tuesday that the Yankees aren’t involved in active discussions to acquire a catcher, but Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Yanks did contact the Marlins about Realmuto on Monday. Moreover, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, the Yankees remain a possibility for Realmuto. Regardless, a trade involving Realmuto going to New York or anywhere else is not imminent, Frisaro adds.
7:20pm: The chances of this three-team deal occurring seem to be fizzling, Martino suggests.
4:23pm: An official involved in the discussions “downplayed” the possibility of a three-team trade involving Syndergaard, Puma tweets. Puma adds that the Marlins do want Rosario and another player from the Mets, likely outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
2:28pm: The Mets are increasingly aggressive in pursuit of Realmuto, sources tell both Heyman (Twitter link) and Sherman (via Twitter).
Interestingly, multiple reporters (starting with Sherman) have now floated the concept of the Mets dealing shortstop Amed Rosario to get Realmuto, then turning around to sign a gap-filling, glove-first infielder. It’s hard to know what to make of this, but it seems like more than the separate musings of these writers. Over the past few weeks, the new Mets front office has seemingly been willing to put feelers out on its possible strategies through the media.
10:37am: Marlins CEO Derek Jeter is “insisting” that a deal involving Realmuto must bring a quality MLB-level piece to Miami, per Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). That lends further credence to the concept of Yankees youngster Miguel Andujar possibly being involved in a three-team arrangement.
Notably, Spencer adds that Realmuto “will” be moved at some point this winter, quite possibly in the near future. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily land with the Mets.
While it’s still far from clear that this particular three-team scenario has legs, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Yankees have the clear impression that the Mets are willing to engage with them in earnest — even on a deal of this magnitude.
It’s worth noting, too, that there are other possible multi-team arrangements that could be considered to aid the Mets in landing Realmuto. And perhaps it’s not out of the question that the Yankees could pick him up for their own purposes. Sherman hints (Twitter links) that the club could at least in theory do that while modifying the roles of some notable existing players, though he also casts doubt on the possibility.
YESTERDAY, 11:04pm: The Yankees are “pushing hard” to swing a deal with the Mets, and are interested in Mets pitchers other than only Syndergaard, according to Andy Martino (Twitter links).
10:02pm: The Mets, Yankees, and Marlins have discussed a three-team trade that would see J.T. Realmuto end up on the Mets’ roster, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Making the deal into a true blockbuster, Noah Syndergaard may also be part of the negotiations, according to both the New York Post’s Mike Puma and SNY.tv’s Andy Martino.
As per Martino’s source, however, the Mets are also weighing “10 other scenarios” and it doesn’t seem like this trade or any other is necessarily close. A “lot of smoke [but] not a lot of fire” is how one person familiar with the talks describes things to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It would seemingly take more than just Realmuto to pry Syndergaard away from the Mets, as Rosenthal notes that the right-hander has three years of control to Realmuto’s two, unless the Mets were also receiving more in the trade. The Mets and Yankees have “touched base” on Syndergaard in the past, though the star right-hander’s involvement would certainly make the Yankees much more than a simple “conduit” in such a trade.
Needless to say, this would be quite a surprising result to the long-simmering Realmuto trade scenario, simply because of both New York teams collaborating on a major deal. As Rosenthal points out, the Yankees and Mets haven’t linked up on a notable trade since December 2004, when the Big Apple rivals swapped Felix Heredia and Mike Stanton. Still, Martino tweeted earlier today that the Mets were exploring three-team options as part of an overall “very aggressive” approach to the trade market, while Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that there was some speculation that the Yankees could be involved as a “conduit” in a Realmuto deal rather than acquiring the Miami catcher themselves.
At first glance, it would appear as if the Yankees would be supplying some of the minor league talent that the Mets are unable or unwilling to provide in order to meet Miami’s large asking price for Realmuto’s services. The Yankees seem like one of several teams the Mets are examining as potential partners in a Realmuto trade, as Rosenthal tweets that the Mets are exploring multiple three-team scenarios as well as standard two-teams swaps with just the Marlins.
Latest On J.A. Happ, Lance Lynn
7:41pm: Both Happ and former teammate Lance Lynn are “engaged with” the Astros, Yankees, Reds, Rangers and Blue Jays, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. Happ’s also continuing to draw the attention of the Phillies, while Lynn has received interest from the White Sox, according to Feinsand.
9:53am: It has seemed for the past few days that veteran lefty J.A. Happ could be the next domino to fall in the starting pitching market, and there are signs this morning that talks are advancing. Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that Happ’s market is “heating up,” while Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter that Happ is sitting on multiple two-year offers.
The key question remains whether Happ will secure a guaranteed third season. Passan says that he has yet to receive such an offer. Happ’s representatives have “indicated he’ll sign with the first” team that meets that asking price, however, so it seems possible that something could come together swiftly.
Entering the offseason, MLBTR predicted that Happ would indeed secure that third season in a new deal, riding his solid recent track record to a $48MM guarantee. There certainly seems to be sufficient interest to support such an outcome, though organizations are understandably hesitant to commit to Happ through his age-38 campaign.
To this point, the Phillies, Braves, Yankees, Brewers, Reds, Angels, Astros, Twins, Blue Jays, and White Sox have all been connected to Happ. It’s certainly not impossible to imagine a few other organizations with possible interest as well, though at present it’s tough to gauge the likeliest landing spots.
Yankees To Meet With Manny Machado
- Speaking of the White Sox, they’re among the teams that will meet with superstar Manny Machado, per Jon Heyman of Fancred. The Yankees and Phillies, two other unsurprising suitors, will also sit down with the 26-year-old infielder, Heyman adds. In total, Machado will visit four clubs in the coming days, Buster Olney of ESPN hears.
Pitching Notes: Smith, Watson, Miley, Jays, Kikuchi, Cobb
The Cardinals are among the many teams pressing the Giants with interest in southpaw Will Smith, according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic (Twitter link). Another San Francisco lefty, Tony Watson, appears to be of secondary interest to the Cards, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Goold notes that the St. Louis club is interested in swapping slugger Jose Martinez for a lefty reliever, though it’s fair to wonder whether he’d be of much interest to the Giants.
More on the pitching market:
- There’s at least some preliminary interest from the Reds in southpaw Wade Miley, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Given the Cincinnati organization’s need for significant rotation help, and its recent hiring of former Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson, it’s not particularly surprising to hear of this link. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of deal the 32-year-old Miley is ultimately able to secure after an odd 2018 campaign in which he worked through injury to compile 80 2/3 innings of 2.57 ERA ball. He managed only 5.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 on the year, though did sport a healthy 52.8% groundball rate while allowing a stingy (but perhaps not sustainable) 0.33 homers per nine.
- Pitching appears to be a key focus of the Blue Jays this winter, with the club occupying a potentially interesting place in the market. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports that the Toronto ballclub is considering players that’d require multi-year commitments as well as bounceback types. But GM Ross Atkins emphasizes that the club won’t be “looking for free-agent pieces with the goal of trading them,” though of course future dealmaking would always be a possibility. Meanwhile, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi explores, Atkins evinced an increasing openness to weighing deals for existing starters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez in his most recent comments. While the team’s own valuation of the two talented-but-uncertain hurlers has surely not changed, Atkins suggests that rivals have shown sufficient interest that it’s worth further exploring trade scenarios. Whether any deal will come together isn’t clear, but it does seem evident that the Toronto club has gained clarity on the demand for these pitchers and that, as Davidi puts it, there’s at least a realistic path to trade outcomes.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman indicated yesterday that his club is taking a look at Japanese southpaw Yusei Kikuchi, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. The New York powerhouse is presently engaged on other players, via trade and free agency, but Cashman says that Kikuchi is “somebody that’s worthy of having conversations about potentially landing.” Having taken a long scouting look at Kikuchi already, the Yanks surely have a price point in mind. Cashman says the team will continue to stay “very active, but disciplined” in its pursuit of pitching.
- The Mariners are another clear possibility for Kikuchi, as TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto made clear that the club both holds the Japanese hurler in high regard, calling him a “very good” starter, and is interested in trying to work out a deal. While they are taking a step back in the near-term, the M’s feel the 27-year-old “does fit our timeline,” per Dipoto.
- It seems there’s at least some interest around the game in Orioles righty Alex Cobb, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. While his early showing in Baltimore was simply brutal, Cobb did turn things around in the second half, when he held opposing hitters to a .232/.288/.377 slash and carried a 2.56 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. Of course, the $43MM still owed Cobb over the next three seasons presents quite a barrier to a deal.
Yankees “Open To Moving” Miguel Andujar
The Yankees are “open to moving” young third baseman Miguel Andujar in a trade, according to Ken Rosenthal and Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Whether there’s a particularly likely path to that occurring remains to be seen.
It has long been presumed that the New York organization would be open to considering trade scenarios involving Andujar. At the same time, the team’s stance hasn’t always been clear. And the timing of this report increases its relevance, as the Yanks are engaged on multiple fronts in the midst of the Winter Meetings.
As Rosenthal notes, it’s not hard at all to imagine that Andujar could make up a notable part of the rumored three-team trade negotiations between the Yankees, Mets, and Marlins. That seems a speculative connection at this stage, though it certainly stands to reason that the Fish would have interest in a player who fell just shy of a Rookie of the Year Award in 2018 and could be a cornerstone for years to come.
Of course, it’s also plenty possible to imagine Andujar being utilized in other trade scenarios as the Yankees seek to add a high-end starter (while avoiding a large and lengthy contract, to the extent possible). The Indians have long marketed their enticing set of starters, though it could be that the teams have already tried and failed to line up on a deal.
Moving Andujar, of course, would also conceivably line up with a signing of superstar free agent Manny Machado — the Yanks remain engaged with him but say they’re out on Bryce Harper — though it’d hardly make such a move a sure thing. All said, possibilities abound.
Ketel Marte Hires Wasserman Agency
Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte has hired Wasseman Media Group, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be joined there by Yankees pitching prospect Domingo Acevedo, with both moves now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.
Marte’s move comes less than a year after he inked a new deal with the Diamondbacks. He’s under control in Arizona through at least 2022, for a promised $24MM in overall salary. The contract also includes a pair of options and some available incentives.
While the 25-year-old Marte likely won’t have much contract work for his new reps to handle for some time, he’ll increasingly feature as a prominent player on a still-evolving Arizona roster, perhaps bringing additional promotional earning opportunities. It seems the organization sees him not only as a regular performer, but also as a candidate to shift into center field.
As for Acevedo, he’s considered one of the Yankees’ top prospects but is still waiting for his first shot at the majors after spending most of the past two seasons at the Double-A level. Acevedo is best known for his sizzling fastball; whether he’ll make it to the Bronx as a starter or reliever remains to be seen.
Player Rumors: Realmuto, Gonzalez, Roark
The Marlins are downplaying rumors of a potential 3-team swap that would send catcher J.T. Realmuto to the Mets, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). The Yankees would also be included in this hypothetical blockbuster, but the Marlins aren’t lending much credence to the idea. They do plan to move Realmuto, it seems, and with only three teams reportedly in the mix, the Marlins could be narrowing in on the market. Still, the rumor mill shifts every few moments when it comes to Realmuto, and it would seem prudent to temper expectations of a deal until word comes from Marlins camp directly. Elsewhere in player rumors…
- First baseman Adrian Gonzalez hopes to continue his playing career in 2019, and he’s improved his conditioning to do so, per ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). It’s an unforgiving market for inflexible corner infield types, however, and Gonzalez has not seen a lot of traction since he last saw the playing field with the Mets early in 2018. Still, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets the Diamondbacks could have interest in signing the veteran bat. Gonzalez, 36, has played for the Rangers, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets across a long and storied career, but his opportunity to see significant playing time would seem to have passed. The Diamondbacks are a curious fit, if only because Gonzalez is unlikely to develop into much of a trade chip, given the current market interest, and playing time at first base is likely committed to restoring the value of Jake Lamb, a much higher-upside potential asset. Still, adding Gonzalez as a clubhouse veteran and lefty bat off the bench isn’t wholly unreasonable for a transitioning team like Arizona, especially given the exodus of so many veteran leaders. Speculatively speaking, Gonzalez could fit the mold of a been-there, seen-that veteran leader the Cubs are reportedly seeking, and their recent trade of Tommy La Stella did open a roster spot that’s been held by a lefty bat used more-or-less exclusively as a pinch-hitter. At this stage of his career, however, with his slugging numbers cratering in his last two campaigns, Gonzalez is unlikely to be a primary target anywhere, and he may have to earn a spot on a major league team as a non-roster invitee.
- Tanner Roark’s name is being floated in trade circles as someone the Nationals would be willing to surrender, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). This jives with earlier reports that the Nationals continue to seek rotation reinforcements, even after the signing of Patrick Corbin. Roark, 32, has been a steady rotation presence for the past three seasons, though he has yet to recapture the magic of a 2016 that saw him post a 16-10 record with a 2.83 ERA over 210 innings. The last two seasons seem more in line with expectations moving forward, as Roark has averaged 30 starts, 181 innings, and a 4.50 ERA (4.20 FIP) over that span. His 2019 salary is projected around $9.8MM, making him a relatively affordable one-year option as he enters his last year of arbitration, though depending on the assets being asked in return, a free agent flyer, in the ilk of Tyson Ross’s recent $5.75MM deal with Detroit, may be just as (if not more) attractive to teams looking to fill out the back end of their rotation. For the Nationals, it’s a little surprising to see them shopping Roark given their lack of established depth in the upper levels of the minors. It’s not surprising that they’d want to upgrade the rotation behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Corbin, but to do so at the cost of Roark feels unnecessarily Sisyphean. After dealing Jefry Rodriguez to the Indians in the Yan Gomes deal, top in-house rotation candidates beyond Roark include Joe Ross, 25, Erick Fedde, 25, and Kyle McGowin, 27 – none of whom would necessarily be considered “established” rotation pieces.
Could Yankees Be Part Of Three-Team Realmuto Trade?
- With so many teams linked to J.T. Realmuto in trade rumors, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman lists seven teams as having “the best chance to land Realmuto” at this moment. The list includes the Astros, Braves, Dodgers, Mets, Padres, Phillies, and Yankees, even if some of those clubs have denied interest in the Marlins catcher. New York is one such team that has poured cold water on its involvement in the Realmuto talks, though Heyman wonders if the Yankees could only be part of a Realmuto trade if it was a three-team effort.
