Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Newsstand

White Sox Designate Carson Fulmer For Assignment, Sign Ryan Goins To Minor League Deal

By | at

The White Sox set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated former top-10 pick Carson Fulmer for assignment. Chicago also signed old friend Ryan Goins to a minor league deal and assigned him to its alternate training site and selected the contracts of four players: infielder Cheslor Cuthbert, outfielder Nicky Delmonico, left-hander Ross Detwiler and right-hander Codi Heuer. Additionally, veteran utilityman Andrew Romine was released by the organization.

Sox fans will surely be glad to see Yoan Moncada activated from the injured list and placed on the Opening Day roster after previously being out with Covid-19. The White Sox also called up right-hander Jimmy Lambert and catcher Zack Collins from their alternate site.

It’s a disappointing outcome for the Sox and Fulmer alike. The former Vanderbilt star was at one point considered during his junior year to be a possible No. 1 overall pick, but he’s simply never put it together in the Majors. I explored the Fulmer conundrum at length during the league’s shutdown, looking at the right-hander’s lengthy history of struggles in the Majors and upper minors. Fulmer was touted as one of the surest big leaguers in that year’s draft, as even his critics felt he was a high-probability late-inning bullpen piece. Those with reservations about taking him at the top of the draft weren’t so much worried that he’d bust completely but that he’d thrive “only” as a reliever rather than a starter.

Fast forward a half decade, and Fulmer is an out-of-options righty with a career 6.56 ERA in the Majors and 5.39 ERA in Triple-A. As detailed in the previously linked piece on him, there are plenty of positive indicators in his arsenal, and I personally have wondered how he might fare working at the top of the zone with his four-seamer, but the win-now White Sox clearly didn’t feel he was among their 30 best options. Perhaps his struggles will be pronounced enough that he’ll clear waivers, but one can also imagine a non-contender rolling the dice on his once touted arm.

Of the players selected to the 40-man roster today, Delmonico and Detwiler have both appeared for the Sox in the past. Delmonico will give them a left-handed bench bat with sparse MLB success, while Detwiler can soak up some innings if need be — either as a spot starter or long reliever. Cuthbert was once a high-end Royals prospect but has never hit much in five MLB seasons. Heuer, meanwhile, was Chicago’s sixth-round pick in 2018 and posted dominant numbers in the minors last year. He has long-term bullpen potential for them, and the Sox are surely excited to get a glimpse of how he’ll fare against MLB opposition.

As for Goins, he’ll return to the organization for a second season after hitting .250/.333/.347 in 52 games with the Sox last year. The longtime Blue Jays infielder doesn’t have much of a track record at the plate — he’s a career .230/.279/.335 hitter — but he can play all over the infield and is generally considered a strong up-the-middle defender.

Dodgers Extend Mookie Betts

By | at

7:24pm: Betts’ contract includes a massive $65MM signing bonus, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter). The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal adds that the contract contains $115MM in deferrals, and the salaries are backloaded such that Betts will be paid $17.5MM in 2021 and 2022. There are no opt-outs in the deal, which does not come with a no-trade clause, per Rosenthal.

4:01pm: Mookie Betts is a Dodger for the long haul. The team announced this afternoon that Betts has signed a 12-year extension through the 2032 season. It’ll reportedly guarantee him a whopping $365MM in new money on top of this year’s $27MM salary (which has been prorated to $10MM due to the shortened 2020 season). Betts is represented by the VC Sports Group.

Mookie Betts | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The contract represents the largest amount of new money ever promised to a Major League player on an extension or free-agent signing, topping Mike Trout’s previous highwater mark of $360MM (over a shorter 10-year term). Trout was already signed at two years and $66.5MM, so his total of 12 years and $426.5MM tops Betts’ 13-year, $392MM figure, but the $365MM new-money benchmark is a notable record nevertheless.

The Betts extension, somewhat remarkably, marks the first time that the Dodgers have guaranteed in excess of $100MM to a player under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Though the team is known for its enormous — at times seemingly limitless — spending capacity, the Friedman regime has worked diligently to shed some prior undesirable commitments and creatively limbo underneath the luxury-tax bar. Doing so paved the way for the Dodgers to issue a historic contract to a premium talent.

After missing out on a free-agent pursuit of Gerrit Cole this winter, the team shifted its focus to acquiring Betts, who came to L.A. alongside David Price in a blockbuster trade that sent Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong to Boston. There was plenty of talk about the team’s hope for extending Betts, but he’d been outspoken about his desire to test the open market. Paired with the economic uncertainty stemming from this year’s unprecedented revenue losses, there was real reason to wonder whether a deal would get done.

Perhaps that economic turmoil made Betts more amenable to taking a deal now rather than testing the market, or perhaps he was simply willing all along to sign if a team exceeded Trout’s new-money guarantee. His exact thinking likely won’t ever be fully known, but the end result is that Betts now appears poised to spend the remainder of an already excellent career in Dodger blue.

Still just 27 years of age, Betts has produced at star-caliber levels since a 52-game MLB debut back in 2014. A career .301/.379/.519 hitter, Betts is already a four-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger winner, a former American League MVP and batting champion, and a four-time Gold Glove winner. He’s clubbed 139 home runs and swiped 126 bases in 794 Major League games, showing off an impressive blend of power and speed, and his 13.5 percent walk rate over the past two seasons is nearly the same as his paltry 14.5 percent strikeout rate. Add in that Betts is regarded as an otherworldly defender — he’s third among all players in Defensive Runs Saved since 2015, regardless of position — and it’s easy to see why Betts is regarded among the game’s elite players.

The Dodgers already boasted at least one of those elite talents: reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger. Betts and Bellinger will pair to form what could be baseball’s best one-two punch for at least the next four seasons, as Bellinger is controlled through at least the 2023 season. Out-of-nowhere slugger Max Muncy is also inked through the ’23 campaign on a highly reasonable three-year, $26MM pact, so that trio should continue thriving in the heart of the order for the foreseeable future. The hope is that rising young talents like infielder Gavin Lux and catcher Will Smith will add to that long-term core. Looking shorter-term, the Dodgers are stacked with above-average contributors, including Corey Seager (controlled through 2021), Justin Turner (through 2020), Chris Taylor (through 2021) and Enrique Hernandez (through 2020).

From a payroll and luxury-tax standpoint, the Dodgers can afford to both sign Betts and still pursue a megadeal with Bellinger, should they see fit. Betts’ contract comes with a $30.4MM annual luxury hit (or $30.1MM, if they roll it into the current deal), which is sizable but still only represents about a seventh of next year’s $210MM luxury cap. (That number could well rise in 2021 CBA negotiations, too.) Los Angeles already has more than $152MM in luxury commitments on the 2021 books, including this new deal for Betts, but that number plummets to $73MM in 2022. Betts is the only Dodger on a guaranteed deal for the 2023 season (although Bellinger, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias will all be arbitration-eligible).

With today’s agreement, Betts, Bellinger and Buehler look like the long-term faces of the Dodgers franchise, though the club has boundless young talent, a knack for high-profile trades and as previously noted, plenty of money to spend even with Betts pulling in more than $30MM on an annual basis. The Dodgers have won seven straight NL West titles, and the Betts deal is a strong step toward continuing that trend. That, of course, won’t be enough to satisfy Betts, though. As the star put it during today’s introductory press conference: “I’m here to win some rings.”

WEEI’s Lou Merloni reported earlier today that Betts was closing in on an extension worth more than $300MM. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the agreement and the terms just prior to the team’s announcement (Twitter thread).

Marcus Stroman “Week To Week” With Calf Injury

By | at

The Mets announced that they’ve placed right-handers Marcus Stroman and Robert Gsellman on the injured list. Stroman, who was said to be experiencing tightness in his calf earlier today, has been now diagnosed with a tear of some extent in that ailing calf muscles. Gsellman is experiencing some discomfort in his right triceps.

The IL placement for Stroman and the announced muscle tear are more ominous than this afternoon’s report of mere tightness in his calf. It should be noted that even a Grade 1 strain indicates some stretching or minor tearing, so it’s still possible that his absence won’t be substantial. Manager Luis Rojas tells reporters that Stroman will not require surgery (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com), but the skipper also referred to Stroman’s injury as a “week to week” situation, which isn’t a great outlook in a season that’ll barely span nine weeks from start to finish.

The loss of Stroman is a brutal hit for the Mets, who were already without right-hander Noah Syndergaard for the entire season due to Tommy John surgery. Two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom will still head up the team’s rotation, but he’ll now be followed by Steven Matz, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha and a to-be-determined fifth starter. Non-roster veteran Erasmo Ramirez could be one option, and 2017 first-round pick David Peterson is also in the Mets’ player pool. Right-hander Walker Lockett was placed on the IL this week with a back injury.

On a personal level for Stroman, the injury is about as poorly timed as possible. Already facing a shortened platform season prior to his first foray into free agency this winter, missing multiple weeks could give Stroman fewer than 10 starts to demonstrate his health and effectiveness for interested clubs. Given the potential for teams to be stingier than usual on mid-range free agents following this year’s revenue losses, the calf issue could prove particularly costly for Stroman, who posted a 3.22 ERA with better than a strikeout per inning in 184 1/3 frames last year.

As for Gsellman, it seems there’s lesser concern. DiComo tweets that his IL stint is expected to be back-dated the maximum three days, and a return to the bullpen in early August doesn’t appear to be out of the question. In two years since converting to full-time relief role, the now-27-year-old Gsellman has a 4.45 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 143 2/3 innings.

MLB, MLBPA In Last-Minute Negotiations On Expanded 2020 Playoffs

By | at

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are in the midst of some eleventh-hour negotiations about expanding the playoffs for the 2020 season, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. An agreement would need to be in place before the first pitch of tomorrow’s Nationals/Yankees season opener. It’s not clear exactly when the two sides resumed their talks on an expanded postseason, which was a focal point of their failed negotiations in May and June, but Heyman suggests that there is “optimism” on both sides that an agreement will be reached.

During this summer’s return-to-play negotiations, which did not result in a deal (leading commissioner Rob Manfred to implement a 60-game season under their March arrangement), the league sought to expand the postseason format from 10 to 16 teams. The initial hope was for the change to take effect for both 2020 and 2021, but doing so would’ve required an agreement to be bargained with the players’ union. When that didn’t happen, the postseason status quo of 10 teams remained in place.

Since the 60-game season was implemented, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark has expressed a willingness to resume talks with Manfred’s office should the league push for renewed talks. Exactly what concessions the league is willing to make for the players remains unclear in this newly rebooted set of talks. But given the potential for upwards of $300MM in additional television revenue under an expanded postseason format, it’s hardly a surprise that MLB is seeking one last go at hammering out an agreement.

Pennsylvania Department Of Health Will Not Approve Blue Jays’ Use Of PNC Park

By | at

2:10pm: The Pennsylvania Department of Health has formally vetoed the Blue Jays’ Pittsburgh plan, per Will Graves of the Associated Press (Twitter thread). In a statement issued to the AP, Dr. Rachel Levine said the following: “To add travelers to this region for any reason, including for professional sports events, risks residents, visitors and members of both teams.”

2:00pm: With the Blue Jays unable to play their home games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre in 2020, the club thought it had worked out an arrangement to use Pittsburgh’s PNC Park as an alternate site. That deal, however, appears to be in jeopardy. ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that neither the Jays nor MLB have received the go-ahead from the Pennsylvania government yet, adding that the team is again exploring alternate sites. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the deal with Pittsburgh is “falling apart.”

Exactly what this means for the Jays remains unclear. They’ve previously explored playing home games at their spring facility in Dunedin, Fla., but Florida’s rapid rise in Covid-19 cases has complicated that idea. The Jays have been working to upgrade their Triple-A facilities in Buffalo in order to bring the lighting and clubhouses up to MLB code, although the organization’s preference has been to be able to play its “home” games in an MLB park, general manager Ross Atkins stated this week. Oriole Park at Camden Yards has also been suggested as an alternative, and the fact that the Pittsburgh plan appears in danger of being scrapped entirely could push the Jays to look more closely into that possibility.

One more extreme possibility, per Olney, would be for the Jays to travel to the home city of every team they’re scheduled to play in 2020, but function as the “home” team on days where they’d been scheduled to host an opponent. With fans unlikely to attend games for much or all of the 2020 season, that may not be quite as detrimental as it would be playing in front of each opponent’s fans, although the aggressive travel and constant changes in scenery would likely make that an unpalatable last resort.

The Jays don’t have a “home” game scheduled until July 29 when they’d host the Nationals, which provides at least a bit of cushion as the team scrambles to find a suitable venue. The clock is ticking, though, and Pennsylvania’s rejection casts some doubt on whether other U.S. cities — particularly those already home to one franchise — will be more amenable to welcoming the Jays for the length of the season.

Cardinals Release Brett Cecil

By | at

The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve released left-hander Brett Cecil. The veteran reliever was entering the final season of a four-year, $30.5MM deal that proved to be a substantial misstep. The Cardinals also placed infielder/outfielder Brad Miller on the 10-day IL due to bursitis in his right ankle.

From 2013-15, Cecil was quietly one of baseball’s best lefty relievers, pitching to a 2.67 ERA and an even better 2.54 FIP while averaging 11.5 strikeouts, 3.4 walks and 0.53 HR/9 with a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate in 168 1/3 innings. A triceps injury shortened his 2016 season, but Cecil still posted generally solid results in 36 2/3 frames — parlaying that excellent four-year run into the aforementioned Cardinals deal. The size of the contract was viewed as a surprise at the time, but most pundits had agreed that Cecil had a legitimate case at a lucrative three-year deal, and the four-year term was reflective of wide interest in his services in free agency.

Unfortunately for both the Cardinals and Cecil, things went south in a hurry. Cecil lost a mile off his fastball in his first season with the Cards — a year in which he pitched 67 2/3 frames with a respectable 3.88 ERA but diminished strikeout numbers. A shoulder strain and a foot injury limited Cecil to just 32 2/3 innings of 6.89 ERA ball in 2018. Few would’ve thought that with two years to go on the contract, Cecil had thrown his last pitch as a Cardinal, but he missed all of 2019 after undergoing surgery to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome and now won’t get the opportunity to bounce back in 2020 — at least not with the Cardinals.

Cecil had been throwing during Summer Camp with the Cardinals and was even trying out a new sidearm delivery that he hoped would help him to regain his effectiveness. Cecil turned 34 earlier this month, so it’s not as though he’s too old for a bounceback effort to be plausible. That said, it’s been a half decade since he was last an elite reliever and more than two full seasons have passed since he was last serviceable. The hope is obviously that he can bounce back, but it seems unlikely that another club will sign him and immediately test him out in the high-leverage situations in which he once excelled.

The Cardinals had been set to pay Cecil a $7MM salary in the final season of that four-year pact. Prorated, that came out to just shy of $2.6MM — a sum they’ll still owe to the lefty even after cutting him loose. Any club can sign Cecil at this point, and he’d only be owed the prorated league minimum for any time spent on another club’s Major League roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Cardinals owe Cecil, but regardless of how the year plays out, they’re on the hook for the vast majority of what he’s owed.

As for Miller, he inked a one-year, $2MM deal with the Cards late in the offseason and was expected to fill an infield/outfield utility role — perhaps also seeing some time at designated hitter against right-handed opponents. There’s no timetable for his recovery just yet.

Dodgers Finalizing Extension With Mookie Betts

By and | at

1:21pm: The new portion of Betts’ contract, once finalized, will guarantee him around 12 years and $350MM on top of this year’s $27MM salary, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

The structuring of the deal is in many ways semantics, but it’s worth noting that in terms of new money, Betts’ extension may not top the new money promised to Trout on his prior long-term deal. Referencing the Betts deal as a 13-year, $380MM contract may skew things such that it appears Betts has set a new record, but by that logic, Trout’s contract should be referred to as a 12-year, $426.5MM deal (i.e. the sum of his preexisting two years and $66.5MM and his 10-year, $360MM extension).

If the deal indeed lands Betts in the $380MM range over 13 years, including his 2020 salary, his contract then boils down to the second-richest ever promised to a big league player (whether looking at total guarantee or new money promised on an extension).

11:54am: Betts will top Trout’s deal if the contract is completed, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

It’s expected that the deal will actually cover twelve additional seasons, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The total forward-looking guarantee would top $380MM, Passan adds, including Betts’s salary for the 2020 season. (It’s not clear whether that tally includes Betts’s full $27MM or only the pro-rated portion thereof.)

10:42am: In a stunning development that would mark a massive shift in a moribund player market, the Dodgers appear to be closing in on a long-term extension with recently acquired star Mookie Betts. WEEI.com’s Lou Merloni hears that the sides are nearing agreement even as Betts prepares to don the Dodger blue for the first time tomorrow. Joel Sherman tweets that talks are indeed “quite real.”

If completed, the contract would cover a ten-year term and guarantee Betts somewhere in the neighborhood of $350MM to $400MM, according to the report. It sounds as if it would come in right near, if not over, the ten-year, $360MM Mike Trout pact that currently stands as the largest-ever MLB contract.

The Dodgers paid a significant price in prospects and took on a lot of salary (both for Betts and David Price) in order to secure just one season from the 27-year-old. It always seemed the team had designs on a lengthier relationship, though it wasn’t at all clear that vows would be exchanged before Betts hit the open market.

Until the paperwork is complete, Betts stands as the obvious top talent of the 2020-21 free agent class. As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explained in his pre-pandemic power rankings, Betts, who is represented by VC Sports Group, seemed situated to “reasonably seek a ten-year term with an average annual value in the $36-40MM range.”

Betts would have represented one of the most interesting-ever free agent cases. Recent market swings and upcoming collective bargaining negotiations provided a fascinating backdrop for the bidding on such a youthful, high-quality player. And then the coronavirus came along, overlaying broad uncertainty onto the situation.

It seems that both the Dodgers and Betts saw a path to limit the risk by striking a bargain now. They’ve certainly had time to get to know one another under trying circumstances over the past several months, even if Betts hasn’t yet recorded any stats for the storied ballclub.

Hunter Dozier Tests Positive For COVID-19

By | at

Royals outfielder Hunter Dozier will open the season on the coronavirus-specific injured list. The club announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

This is obviously quite disappointing (and rather worrisome) news to receive, particularly on the eve of Opening Day. Dozier will be sidelined until he’s able to clear the virus from his system and register two positive tests. He says he is experiencing some symptoms. Hopefully, he’s able to make a swift and full recovery.

It’s concerning also that Dozier has been active with his teammates this week. He has obviously been isolated since receiving the test results, but it’s hypothetically possible he could’ve transmitted the virus to others in the organization before that time. It isn’t yet known if any other personnel came into such close contact with Dozier that isolation will be required.

Dozier, who’ll soon turn 29, entered 2020 hoping to build on a breakout effort last year. The first-round pick finally made good on his original promise, turning in a .279/.348/.522 batting line with 26 home runs and a league-leading ten triples over 586 plate appearances. While he benefited from a lofty .339 BABIP, Dozier backed it up with excellent exit velocity and sprint speed.

The news will dent Dozier’s earning abilities after the season, when he’ll qualify for arbitration for the first time. And it’ll hurt the Royals’ hopes for a surprise run in 2020. The added opportunity will open the door for a variety of other players for at least a few weeks. The newly acquired Franchy Cordero should be in line for significant action, with players such as Bubba Starling and Brett Phillips perhaps also seeing increased chances.

Braves Sign Jhoulys Chacin

By | at

The Braves announced that they’ve signed right-hander Jhoulys Chacin to a one-year, Major League contract. The 32-year-old Chacin, who was cut loose by the Twins recently, also spent part of the 2016 season with Atlanta. Chacin is represented by Rep 1 Baseball.

Chacin stumbled through the worst season of his career in 2019, recording a 6.01 ERA and serving up an average of 2.2 homers per nine innings pitched. The long ball has never been an Achilles heel for Chacin, though, and he’s only a year removed from a strong showing in Milwaukee (3.50 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 in 192 2/3 innings). In fact, from 2013-18, Chacin notched a 3.96 ERA/4.02 FIP in 804 1/3 innings.

In recent weeks, the Braves have seen veteran Felix Hernandez opt out of the 2020 season, while it’s become increasingly clear that Cole Hamels won’t be ready for the season opener. Hamels has been plagued by shoulder and triceps issues since the original Spring Training, and while he’s on a throwing program, he’s also likely to begin the year on the injured list.

Youngsters Mike Soroka and Max Fried project to lead the Atlanta rotation, with inconsistent-but-clearly-talented names like Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb to follow. Kyle Wright might’ve been the favorite for the fifth spot, but Chacin gives the Braves a viable alternative with a good bit of big league success if they’d prefer to add some experience to the starting staff. If not, he can join Josh Tomlin as another multi-inning relief option on which manager Brian Snitker can lean.

Rays Trade Dylan Covey To Red Sox

By | at

The Red Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Dylan Covey from the Rays. Covey is not on the 40-man roster but has been added to Boston’s 60-man player pool. In a corresponding move, left-hander Bobby Poyner was dropped from the 60-man pool but will remain in the organization, the club further announced.

It’s a straight depth pickup for the Red Sox, who since last season ended lost Chris Sale to Tommy John surgery, traded David Price to the Dodgers and seen March signee Collin McHugh opt out of the 2020 season. Meanwhile, expected Opening Day starter Eduardo Rodriguez is currently working back from a bout with the coronavirus, which he said made him “feel 100 years old” and question whether he’d be ready to open the season. With so much uncertainty on the staff, the Sox have brought in both Zack Godley and Covey to add some options.

Covey, 28, has pitched 250 1/3 innings in the big leagues but has never cemented himself as a consistent contributor. He got out to a sharp start with the ChiSox in 2018, tossing 40 1/3 innings with a 2.90 ERA and a 35-to-16 K/BB ratio, but his results quickly went south and haven’t rebounded since despite several opportunities. All told, he has a career 6.54 ERA and 5.56 FIP in the big leagues.

That said, there’s still clearly some intrigue surrounding the righty. Covey was a first-round pick of the Brewers back in 2011 but didn’t sign, and he went in the fourth round to the A’s three years later. The Sox stuck with him for three years before cutting ties, and Covey lasted all of 12 days as a free agent this offseason before the Rays scooped him up. His deal with the Rays also contained a clause that allowed him to opt out if a 40-man opportunity arose with another club, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (hence today’s move), so it seems the Red Sox could soon select Covey to the big league roster.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top