Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Newsstand

Nationals Release Hunter Strickland, David Hernandez

By | at

The Nationals released right-handers Hunter Strickland and David Hernandez today, as announced by their PR department via Twitter.

Strickland, 31, was acquired by the Nats at last year’s trade deadline. The move was notable for two reasons: in part because he’d made only 4 appearances for the Mariners at the time of the deal after coming back from injury, but more notably because of the interpersonal implications of adding Strickland to the clubhouse given his, shall we say, complicated history with the club (recapped here by Scott Allen of the Washington Post).

Of course, if there were any ill effects, it didn’t hinder the club as they went on to win the World Series, and the Nats spoke highly of Strickland during his time in Washington. Strickland, for his part, contributed as a middle-innings reliever when the Nats were most desperate for one, putting up a 3.14 ERA in August. Unfortunately, the good times did not last for Strickland, whose season came off the rails as he finished the year with a less-than-impressive 5.14 ERA/6.31 FIP as the Nats turned to Daniel Hudson, Sean Doolittle, Tanner Rainey and Fernando Rodney for important innings down the stretch.

A propensity for surrendering long balls eventually cost Strickland his spot on the playoff roster. Strickland gave up 3 home runs in two appearances against the Dodgers in the NLDS, raising his playoff total to a somewhat remarkable 9 home runs against in just 13 career playoff innings. After his release, MASN’s Mark Zuckerman notes that the Nats will remain on the hook for about one-quarter of his $1.6MM contract signed this offseason.

Hernandez, 35, was brought in on a minor league deal after a tough season last year with the Reds. Hernandez racked up an 8.02 ERA over 47 appearances, though a 4.34 FIP certainly paints a much different picture of his season.

The Nationals also optioned Jake Noll, Aaron Barrett, Ben Braymer and Kyle McGowin to Triple-A. Jacob Wilson, Brandon Snyder, Taylor Gushue, JB Shuck, Dakota Bacus, Bryan Bonnell and Wil Crowe were reassigned to minor league camp.

It’s worth noting, the announcement of roster moves at this time is a little surprising, given the state of affairs. There was talk of a freeze on roster moves, but there was not a formal directive to do so.

MLB Players Advised To Leave Spring Facilities

By | at

2:49pm: The league is providing players with three options, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). They can go to their personal homes, which is the apparent preference of the league, though there’s a warning there for players who reside in other countries owing to potential travel restrictions. Players can instead remain in camp facilities and continue to receive living allowances. Or they may go to the home city of their particular club.

2:32pm: Major League Baseball, which is holding ongoing discussions with the players’ association even now, has advised players to leave Spring Training facilities for their homes. Jon Heyman of MLB Network first tweeted the news; multiple other reports have emerged indicating that players have been encouraged by their respective teams to depart.

This reverses the general direction of expectations from earlier in the day. Multiple team leaders had indicated to reporters that they expected to keep players at their spring facilities for at least the foreseeable several days. Even with spring contests scratched, there was evidently some thought given to keeping players around to continue training.

Precisely what precipitated this approach isn’t yet known, but it surely did not make much sense to keep players gathered if a lengthy delay is inevitable. Maintaining the health and safety of players and employees is surely the top priority as the league seeks to play its part in stemming the spread of the coronavirus.

There is an obvious desire not to delay the start of the upcoming season longer than necessary. To this point, the league has not formally announced an expansion of its previously announced two-week delay. But fully breaking up spring camp makes that a mere formality.

Both major and minor-league players will be sent out of team facilities. Just when they will return is anyone’s guess, but it seems clear at this point that some kind of additional spring training ramp-up will be required before the 2020 season gets underway.

Trey Mancini Undergoes Surgery To Remove Malignant Tumor

By | at

March 13: General manager Mike Elias addressed Mancini’s surgery today (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Joe Trezza), telling Orioles reporters: “[Mancini is] at about as positive as possible in terms of his spirits and physical feeling right now.” Additional information and updates will be available in the days to come.

March 12: Trey Mancini left the Orioles’ spring camp last week in preparation for an undisclosed medical procedure that wasn’t related to baseball.  Today, details have emerged on the nature of Mancini’s issue, as the Orioles issued a press release saying that a malignant tumor was discovered in Mancini’s colon during a colonoscopy last week.  Mancini underwent surgery today to have the tumor removed, and as per the team’s statement, “lab results and the timetable for Trey’s recovery will not be known until next week.”

Mancini himself made a statement within the Orioles’ release, saying “The outpouring of love and support I have received has made an extremely tough week so much better. I have the best family, friends, fans, and teammates imaginable. I am also eternally thankful for the Orioles front office, our athletic trainers, and the entire medical staff for everything they have done to help me during this time. Finally, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and kind words, which have furthered my excitement to get back to playing the game I love.”

Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said last week that Mancini would “miss some time” recovering, which seemed to imply that Mancini would miss some regular season action.  That is probably a moot point in light of Major League Baseball’s announcement that that Opening Day will be delayed by at least two weeks, though regardless, baseball concerns were already a far distant second to Mancini’s health and well-being.

In three full seasons in the majors, Mancini (who turns 28 later this week) has blossomed into the Orioles’ top hitter, batting .291/.364/.535 with 35 homers over 679 plate appearances in 2019.  Between this production and the fact that the O’s are in a rebuild, there was speculation that Mancini could be both an extension candidate and a trade candidate this offseason, though no news on either front emerged.

We at MLBTR wish Mancini all the best in his recovery, as he and his family and loved ones navigate this difficult situation.

MLB Suspends Spring Training, Delays Start Of Regular Season By At Least Two Weeks

By | at

5:27PM: Officials from both the league and the players’ union will discuss players’ various concerns about the shutdown situation in a meeting tonight, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).

In other news, the possibility exists that when the schedule does get underway, some games could be played within an empty-stadium environment.  For instance, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker told Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago and other media that owners of all Chicago sports teams, including the White Sox and Cubs, had agreed to either suspend home games or to not allow fans to attend home games until May 1.

2:11PM: Major League Baseball has officially halted on-field operations due as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.  As per an announcement this afternoon, Spring Training has been suspended, and the start of the regular season will be delayed by at least two weeks.

The league’s full statement…

Following a call with the 30 Clubs, and after consultation with the Major League Baseball Players Association, Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. today announced that MLB has decided to suspend Spring Training games and to delay the start of the 2020 regular season by at least two weeks due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic.  This action is being taken in the interests of the safety and well-being of our players, Clubs and our millions of loyal fans. 

MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season.  Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to Clubs in the coming days.  As of 4:00 p.m. (ET) today, forthcoming Spring Training games have been cancelled, and 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tucson, Arizona have been postponed indefinitely.

MLB and the Clubs have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular season schedule.  MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.

Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our players, employees and fans.  MLB will continue to undertake the precautions and best practices recommended by public health experts.  We send our best wishes to all individuals and communities that have been impacted by coronavirus.

It was widely expected that the league would make a ruling of this nature in short order, particularly after the NBA’s announcement last night that it was suspending its season set off a chain reaction of similar halts in play by numerous other professional (such as Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League, and the Association of Tennis Professionals) and college sports organizations.

MLS set a 30-day suspension on its regular season, and the NBA is also facing at least a 30-day break (as per Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star).  Major League Baseball’s 2020 season was scheduled to begin on March 26, and a two week delay to April 9 would set a timeline just shy of that 30-day mark.  That said, it could be optimistic at best to expect games by April 9, given the global uncertainty surrounding the spread and treatment of COVID-19.  These big-picture issues naturally take absolute top priority in the league’s mind, and only once those concerns are dealt with will MLB’s attention be more fully turned to baseball-related logistical factors, such as contractual terms, service time, player pay, how much time is needed for players to get prepared (or re-prepared) for regular-season action, etc.

While official Spring Training activities have been halted, some teams (including the Twins, Reds, Mets, and Nationals) are temporarily keeping their facilities open so players can take part in non-mandatory workouts.  It remains to be seen how long camps will remain open, of course, as teams and players continue to monitor the situation and await further word from the league.

Should the halt in activities last far beyond April 9, a full 162-game season may not be feasible, unless the league was open to pushing the postseason fairly deep into November.  At this point, MLB’s “variety of contingency plans” surely involves scenarios for a shortened season, perhaps akin to the 144-game 1995 season that didn’t begin until April 25 due to the players’ strike.

Major League Baseball Expected To Suspend Spring Training

By | at

12:30pm: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that an announcement that MLB is “suspending operations” is expected in the near future. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the conference call between MLB owners and commissioner Rob Manfred will take place in an hour.

12:15pm: Passan tweets that in the wake of a conference call between all 30 MLB ownership groups, the owners are expecting not only the suspension of Spring Training games but also a delay to the start of the regular season.

11:22am: As sports entities throughout the world take action to minimize the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball appears poised to cease play of Spring Training games. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that officials with Grapefruit League clubs in Florida are expecting games to be suspended, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that executives throughout Major League Baseball expect that Spring Training play in both the Grapefruit League and Cactus League will be suspended as soon as today. A conference call between commissioner Rob Manfred and all 30 MLB owners will be conducted shortly, Passan adds.

Suspending play of spring contests is a logical first step for the league. The games don’t count for anything, and teams can continue to ramp up players for the season in simulated settings — although it’s not yet clear just when the season for which they’ll be prepping will begin. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the majority of team executives to whom he has spoken are expecting a delay in the start of the season, although there’s yet to be any word from Major League Baseball itself on that front.

Beyond the likely suspension of MLB exhibition play, it’s worth noting that the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, the Association of Tennis Professionals and the PGA Tour have all announced measures to curb the spread of the virus since last night. The NBA suspended its season indefinitely last night, and both MLS (30 days) and ATP (six weeks) followed with suspensions of play this morning. The NHL has canceled practice throughout the league and is readying a statement of its own.

Meanwhile, the PGA just minutes ago announced that the Players Championship will be played without fans in attendance. That’s the same approach the NCAA has taken with regard to its annual March Madness tournament. Meanwhile, individual college conferences throughout the league — the SEC, the Big 10, the Big 12 and the ACC among them — have taken to canceling their annual conference tournaments. Overseas, the Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball have both delayed the starts of their respective seasons.

Actions beyond the immediate suspension of spring contests remain unclear, but quelling the spread of the COVID-19 virus has become paramount. The potential for asymptomatic carriers spreading the virus to higher-risk individuals is a real threat — both to the health of those at-risk individuals and to the functionality of hospitals and medical facilities. Italy’s hospitals have become overwhelmed as the spread of the virus has reached critical levels, complicating medical care for patients of the coronavirus and other illnesses alike. Certainly, it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid similar levels of saturation in other countries.

While the postponement or even cancellation of sporting events, concerts and other mass gatherings is surely a frustrating development for fans — and one that will raise questions of fan reimbursement, player compensation and myriad other issues within individual sports — those realities will be characterized as a necessary byproduct in the effort to combat what the World Health Organization has characterized as a global pandemic.

Out Of Options 2020

By | at

The following 40-man roster players have less than five years service time and are out of minor league options. That means they must clear waivers before being sent to the minors. I’ve included players on multiyear deals. This list was compiled through MLBTR’s helpful sources.

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Indians

Mariners

Marlins

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Red Sox

Rangers

Rays

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Indians, Francisco Lindor Halt Extension Talks

By | at

Any hope of a spring extension agreement between the Indians and star shortstop Francisco Lindor now seems to be gone. The 26-year-old tells Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscription link) that he and the team have “set aside” their talks on a long-term deal for the time being.

While it seems substantial talks have taken place, they obviously didn’t gain much traction. Lindor says that the club did not make an offer up to or over the $300MM level. He recently informed the front office that he would prefer to focus on the season ahead.

Just where the Cleveland organization was willing to go isn’t clear, but Lindor doesn’t seem inclined to take a big discount. He tells Lloyd that a contract along the lines of the recent Christian Yelich deal — $188.5MM of new money — wouldn’t hold appeal. And Lindor says he’s “very aware” of “what’s fair for both sides,” because he has personally “studied it.”

Lindor says he’s not bitter about the situation and remains interested in remaining in Cleveland over the long haul. But as Lloyd explains, that’s harder than ever to imagine.

With no evident possibility of a spring deal — barring a renewed pursuit by the club at a higher dollar amount, perhaps — the focus will now be on the summer trade market. If the Indians aren’t in a competitive position, they’ll surely at least entertain offers on Lindor.

All of the impediments to an agreement have long been evident, so this news doesn’t come as a surprise. But there had been some hope that the sides might figure out a way to line up, as both expressed an interest in doing so.

Justin Verlander Shut Down Due To Lat Strain

By | at

12:42pm: Verlander himself sounds as though he’s expecting to open the season on the injured list (Twitter link via Rome): “I would say it would probably take a miracle for me to be back by Opening Day.”

12:07pm: The Astros have shut right-hander Justin Verlander down for the time being due to a “mild lat strain,” general manager James Click tells reporters (Twitter link via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). There’s no timetable for when Verlander will resume throwing yet, and the organization is uncertain as to whether Verlander will be ready for Opening Day.

There were far worse potential outcomes as Houston fans braced for the worst when Verlander exited yesterday’s start and went in for an MRI. Indeed, Click indicated that, “By and large, the news we got today was on the positive side.” While any injury to a starter of Verlander’s caliber is problematic, the lack of any tearing or structural damage in his arm surely came as a sigh of relief. That said, it’s still a discouraging development for a team with mounting questions on the pitching staff. If Verlander proves unable to take the ball come Opening Day, one would imagine that fellow veteran Zack Greinke would get the nod in the season opener. But beyond Greinke, the Astros are looking at Tommy John returnee Lance McCullers Jr. and the relatively inexperienced Jose Urquidy in the third and fourth slots in the rotation.

Presently, Austin Pruitt and Josh James are the presumptive front-runners for the fifth spot in the rotation, but both could be start games early in the season in the event of an IL stint for Verlander. Alternatively, the ’Stros could look to use an opener early in the year. Click, it should be noted, was hired out away from the Rays earlier this winter — the organization that pioneered the opener tactic at the Major League level.

One in-house alternative, right-hander Rogelio Armenteros, has already been shut down due to elbow discomfort. Brad Peacock has yet to throw in a game this spring, as he’s been slowed by neck pain. He’s been slated for bullpen duties anyhow. Other options could include right-hander Cy Sneed or lefties Framber Valdez and Cionel Perez. However you want to judge the race for the final few spots, an Astros rotation that until very recently was a legitimate powerhouse now has more questions than answers. And at this point, it’s not as if Houston can simply go out into the free-agent market and plug a starter into their staff. Jason Vargas, Clay Buchholz and Andrew Cashner are among the unsigned names of note, but Opening Day is a mere 15 days away; none from that bunch would be ready in time.

Perhaps Click and his staff will explore other avenues, but no one should expect a proven big league starter to be on the move at this point of Spring Training. And with the Astros about $23MM over the luxury tax threshold as it is, they don’t seem likely to take on any sort of meaningful salary. Waiver claims and deals for veterans who opt out of minor league pacts elsewhere could help to replenish the depth, though, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club make any moves along those lines.

Orioles Claim Hector Velazquez

By | at

The Baltimore Orioles added Hector Velazquez to their roster today, claiming the right-hander off waivers from the Boston Red Sox, tweets Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. The Orioles PR department has confirmed the move. The Red Sox DFA’ed Velazquez on March 5.

Velazquez, 31, spent the last couple of seasons as a swingman in Boston. After a solid season as a starter in 2017 for for the Pawtucket Red Sox, he made his big league with 8 appearances spread out throughout the year. The total product got Velazquez more involved in the Red Sox’ 2018 title run as he threw 85 innings, appeared in 47 games, and finished with a 3.18 ERA/4.15 FIP. Outside of a couple of stints on the IL, Velazquez spent most of 2018 on the major league roster.

Last season was more of an up-and-down year for Velazquez both in terms of performance and his relationship to Triple-A. The sinkerballer made 34 total appearances for the Red Sox, starting 8 games for the second consecutive season, and finishing with a 5.43 ERA/4.74 FIP. Somewhat nontraditionally, Velazquez threw more changeups in 2019 than any other offering, though on the whole, he invokes a relatively egalitarian mix of sinkers, changeups, fastballs and sliders.

The Orioles will add him to their long relief mix, tweets MASN’s Roch Kubatko. It’s been an offseason-long goal for the Orioles to add pitching depth so as to avoid rushing naive arms to the majors.

White Sox Extend Yoan Moncada

By | at

Yoan Moncada was viewed as a potential building block from the moment the White Sox acquired him, and he’s officially been elevated to that status. The White Sox on Friday announced that they’ve signed Moncada to a five-year, $70MM extension that runs through the 2024 season and includes a club option for the 2025 season.

Yoan Moncada

The White Sox, one of the only teams in baseball that discloses financial terms, announced the breakdown of the contract: a $4MM signing bonus, $1MM in 2020, $6MM in 2021, $13MM in 2022, $17MM in 2023 and $24MM in 2024. The $25MM option for 2025 comes with a $5MM buyout. Moncada is represented by the Movement Management Group.

Of players who signed extensions when they had between two and three years of Major League service time, only Mike Trout, Alex Bregman, and Buster Posey received a higher annual average value than the $14MM Moncada will earn over the next five seasons.  In a recent look at what a possible Moncada extension could cost, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd set Bregman’s deal (a five-year, $100MM extension from last spring) as a possible comp, and Moncada will fall short of that dollar figure even if his 2025 option is exercised.   That said, Bregman was also more established at the big league level and his deal didn’t cover his remaining pre-arbitration season.

Reports surfaced last week about negotiations between the two sides, and the agreement makes Moncada the latest member of Chicago’s young core to ink a long-term deal.  The White Sox have signed Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Aaron Bummer to extensions within the last year, and also extended veteran leader Jose Abreu through the 2022 season after Abreu initially accepted the team’s qualifying offer last fall.  Between these extensions and the offseason acquisitions of Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnacion, Dallas Keuchel, Gio Gonzalez, and Nomar Mazara, the Sox are clearly ready to put their rebuild behind them as they pursue (at the very least) their first winning season since 2012.

Moncada became one of the cornerstones of that rebuild process when he was acquired as part of the four-prospect package the White Sox received from the Red Sox for Chris Sale in December 2016.  At the time of the deal, many considered Moncada to be arguably baseball’s top prospect, and he showed glimpses of that potential during two decent but inconsistent seasons with the White Sox in 2017-18.  Last year, however, Moncada broke out to hit .,315/.367/.548 with 25 homers over 559 plate appearance, while also displaying some solid third base defense in the opinion of the Statcast (+5 infield outs above average) and UZR/150 (+4.9) metrics.

It wasn’t all good news for Moncada in 2019, as he posted the lowest walk rate (7.2%) of his three seasons in Chicago and also benefited from a .406 BABIP.  While Moncada’s strong baserunning will tend to give him a higher BABIP than most players, a .406 mark (over 100 points above average) indicates some level of good fortune.  Still, there’s an awful lot to like from Moncada’s performance, especially for a player who doesn’t turn 25 until May.

2020 was Moncada’s final pre-arbitration season, so his extension will cover that pre-arb year, his three arbitration seasons, and at least his first free agent season.  If the White Sox exercise the 2025 option, Moncada will be eligible for free agency as he enters his age-31 season, so there’s still an opportunity at another big payday beyond this contract.  It should be noted that Moncada already gained financial security before appearing even in the minor leagues, as he received a $31.5MM bonus upon signing with the Red Sox as an international free agent in February 2015.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the agreement (Twitter link). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the financial terms. Rosenthal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel each tweeted additional financial details.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top