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Dodgers Extend Max Muncy

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1:00pm: The Dodgers have announced Muncy’s contract extension.

11:20am: Muncy’s deal will be paid out in the form of a $4.5MM signing bonus and a $1MM salary in 2020, followed by salaries of $7.5MM in 2021 and $11.5MM in 2022, DiGiovanna tweets.

10:44am: The Dodgers and slugging infielder Max Muncy have agreed to a three-year, $26MM extension that contains a club option for a fourth season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). The $26MM guarantee will cover all three of Muncy’s would-be arbitration seasons (2020-22), while the fourth-year option will give the Dodgers the chance to control a free-agent year for an additional $13MM or take a $1.5MM buyout, per Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times (Twitter link). Muncy is represented by Hub Sports Management.

Max Muncy | Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Muncy, 29, was eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter and had yet to settle on a salary for the upcoming season. His camp submitted a $4.675MM salary figure, while the Dodgers countered with a $4MM offer of their own (as shown in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker). Rather than go to a hearing, the two sides have instead agreed to a longer-term pact that’ll eliminate the need to ever deal with the arbitration process again while also prolonging the Dodgers’ control over the late-blooming slugger for an additional season.

Few took notice when Muncy was released by the Athletics at the end of Spring Training 2017 and quickly latched on with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent. But Muncy laid waste to Triple-A pitching in ’17 (.309/.414/.491) and found himself in the big leagues with the Dodgers early in 2018. Fast forward two seasons, and Muncy has turned in consecutive 35-homer campaigns while bashing big league pitching to the tune of a .256/.381/.545 slash with 70 home runs, 39 doubles and three triples in 1070 plate appearances (something to keep in mind when prepping the ever-clever “print the playoff tickets!” response to a minor league signing).

Not only has Muncy unexpectedly given the Dodgers a thunderous bat to add to the middle of an already deep and imposing lineup, he’s also proven to be at least a passable defender at each of first base, second base and third base, helping to give manager Dave Roberts some defensive versatility. And while he was initially used as more of a platoon player, the left-handed-hitting Muncy has seen increased opportunities against southpaws, crushing them at a .268/.365/.529 clip in 2019 and hitting a combined .263/.363/.529 in 259 plate appearances against same-handed opponents dating back to Opening Day 2018.

The guaranteed portion of Muncy’s contract runs through his age-31 season, and assuming he maintains anything close to this level of productivity, the $13MM option on his age-32 campaign will also be picked up. That’d position him to reach the open market at the relatively late age of 33, but for a player who didn’t solidify himself as a big leaguer until he’d already turned 27, it’s hardly a surprise to see a willingness to delay his path to free agency in exchange for that first enormous payday.

From the Dodgers’ vantage point, they’ll lock up a key asset on a deal that hardly breaks the bank for them, but it’s still worth noting that the extension could more than double Muncy’s luxury-tax price point in the short term. Muncy would’ve counted for either $4MM or $4.675MM against the luxury tax had he agreed to a one-year deal at one of the two submitted figures, but the average annual value of his extension ($8.667MM) will now be the figure that counts against that tax line.

Depending on how the chips fall in the yet-to-be-finalized trades centering around Mookie Betts, David Price and Joc Pederson, this extension could very well put the Dodgers slightly over the $208MM barrier. Adding Muncy’s extension, adding Betts/Price but subtracting the portion of Price’s contract paid by the Red Sox and subtracting Pederson’s salary would still place the Dodgers a couple million over the line, per the projections of Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. Then again, the Dodgers would still have time to work to reduce that number if ownership’s goal is indeed to remain south of the tax ceiling. And, of course, as a first-time offender — the Dodgers didn’t exceed the tax threshold in 2019 — L.A.’s “penalty” would amount to a mere 20 percent slap on the wrist for every dollar north of $208MM.

James Paxton Out Three To Four Months Following Back Surgery

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The Yankees announced Wednesday that left-hander James Paxton will be sidelined for an expected three to four months after undergoing a microscopic lumbar discectomy operation with the removal of a peridiscal cyst.

It’s a tough blow for the Yankees before their spring camp even opens, as Paxton will now be sidelined until at least early May and possibly into June. That represents something of a best-case scenario and assumes no substantial setbacks along the way for the 31-year-old lefty.

Paxton was perhaps the Yankees’ most effective starter in 2019, tossing 150 2/3 innings of 3.82 ERA ball over the life of 29 starts in his first season with the club. The longtime Mariners starter averaged 11.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 1.37 HR/9 after being acquired in the trade that sent lefty Justus Sheffield, right-hander Erik Swanson and outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams to Seattle in the preceding offseason.

The Yankees spent a good portion of the offseason exploring trade scenarios involving fellow left-hander J.A. Happ, but they’re now surely glad that no deal materialized. Happ now figures to be locked into a rotation spot behind Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. Paxton’s injury could also pave the way for left-hander Jordan Montgomery to break camp with the Yankees as a member of the starting staff in what will be his first full season back from 2018 Tommy John surgery.

The timing of the surgery is poor not only for the Yankees but for Paxton himself, as he’ll now miss a substantial portion of what will be his platform season for free agency. The left-hander avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $12.5MM salary earlier this winter and is slated to hit free agency next winter, where he’ll search for the first lucrative multi-year deal of his big league career. Today’s surgery doesn’t rule out the possibility of him cashing in, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’ll significantly alter his earning power on the open market.

Steve Cohen Reportedly Ending Negotiations To Buy Mets

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New York billionaire Steve Cohen “has decided to walk away” from his bid to buy an 80 percent share of the Mets from the Wilpon family, Thornton McEnery of the New York Post reports. Rumors of the deal falling through surfaced earlier today on Barstool Radio (Twitter link), and McEnery now reports that Cohen is “deeply unhappy” with the Wilpons’ attempt to make late changes to their agreement.

The Mets have yet to comment directly on the matter, although ownership did release the following statement in response to today’s rumors:

The parties are subject to confidentiality obligations, including a mutual non-disclosure agreement, and therefore cannot comment.

It was reported back in early December that Cohen, already a minority owner, was in talks with Fred Wilpon about a five-year sale plan that would see Cohen assume an 80 percent share of the team beginning with the 2025 season. The proposed arrangement would’ve seen Fred Wilpon remain the Mets’ control person and CEO for the next five years, with his son, Jeff Wilpon, staying on board as the COO for that same period of time. Although that’s a ways into the future, the very notion of a sale brought about hope for a Mets fan base that has long been infuriated with one of the game’s most widely criticized ownership groups. Now, it seems as though the status quo will be maintained indefinitely.

There’s no formal word yet that the deal has been laid to rest, but Joe Pantorno of amNewYork Metro writes that an official announcement could come later this week. If the deal does indeed crash and burn, it’ll be just the latest step in yet another drama-filled Mets offseason.

The Mets fired manager Mickey Callaway after the season ended and dragged out the interview/hiring process longer than nearly any other club, ultimately hiring Carlos Beltran to replace him. However, when Beltran was named in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, the Mets took their time deliberating before eventually announcing a “mutual” decision to part ways with Beltran before he even managed a game. Quality control coach Luis Rojas was then named Beltran’s replacement. Beyond the sale that wasn’t to be and the hiring of two managers in a single offseason, the Mets also restructured the final year of Yoenis Cespedes’ $110MM contract after he was injured in what was reported to be an incident involving a wild boar on his ranch.

Mariners Extend Marco Gonzales

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February 4: Gonzales will receive a $1MM signing bonus and be paid salaries of $5MM in 2021, $5.5MM in 2022, $6.5MM in 2023 and $12MM in 2024, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. There’s no buyout on the $15MM option for the 2025 season.

February 3: The Mariners have announced a contract extension with southpaw Marco Gonzales. He’s now guaranteed $30MM from 2021 through 2024, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The deal includes a $15MM club option for another campaign, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

Though it has been a fairly quiet winter for the Seattle organization, the club has now managed to strike two notable long-term deals. The other was a surprising pre-debut pact with first base prospect Evan White.

Gonzales, who was already under contract for the 2020 season, had been on track to qualify for arbitration next winter. He’d have reached the open market at the end of the 2023 campaign. Instead, the M’s have now secured his services for one would-be free agent campaign while picking up an option for another.

As he’s now closing in on his 28th birthday, Gonzales will now be under team control through his age-33 campaign. Given the costs involved, it was a pretty easy bet for the team to make. And it’s equally understandable that the CAA Sports client was interested in locking in earnings at this stage of his career.

Gonzales has been quite effective since coming over from the Cardinals in a mid-2017 trade. Over the past two seasons, he has carried a 3.99 ERA over 369 2/3 innings with 7.1 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. While there’s nothing especially about his stuff or his peripherals, Gonzales has successfully tamped down on the long ball and studiously avoided hard contact.

It’s certainly not the typical profile of an extension target. Gonzales sits in the 90 mph range with his fastballs and managed only a 7.9% swinging-strike rate last year. Neither is he a groundball monster. But he was able to keep hitters off balance by utilizing five pitches with equivalent frequency — none less than 15.9% of the time and none more than 24.1%.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Name James Click General Manager

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7:36pm: Click received a multi-year commitment from the Astros, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).

6:14pm: The Astros have decided upon James Click as their new general manager, per a club announcement. Click had served as Rays vice president of baseball operations.

Having already installed Dusty Baker as its new manager, the scandal-ridden Houston organization has now replaced its prior leadership team. Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow were suspended and fired for lack of oversight in the sign-stealing episode that clouded the team. Owner Jim Crane, who sat atop of those two in the organizational hierarchy but escaped censure or discipline, led a fast-moving hiring search.

Meanwhile, it’s another major departure for the Rays, who had touted a three-person baseball operations leadership team that included Erik Neander, Chaim Bloom, and Click. While Neander still commands the GM seat in Tampa Bay, he’ll now be doing battle rather than collaborating with Bloom (now the Red Sox chief baseball officer) and Click in the American League.

Click, a Yale grad, had been with the Rays since 2006. He entered the organization as a baseball ops coordinator, then touched most all the bases on his way up the food chain.

The team’s account of his most recent position reads as follows: “he is involved in all aspects of the baseball operations department with a focus on baseball research and development, baseball systems, clubhouse operations and departmental logistics.” Click had been tasked with an expanded role following the departure of Bloom. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand spoke with Click last year on his podcast, if you’re interested in learning more.

Click seems sure to fit right into the Astros’ analytically oriented system after 14 years with the Rays. Crane explained that the organization “zeroed in” on Click after several interviews, noting that “he comes from a team that does a lot of things like we do.” Click simply “knew exactly what we were doing,” says Crane, and “felt he could add another dimension to it.” (Via Mark Berman of FOX 26; Twitter links.)

At the same time, Click will presumably be tasked with instilling discipline and establishing ethical guidelines for a baseball operations outfit that actively participated in the sign-stealing scheme. Commissioner Rob Manfred determined that, while Luhnow had not directed or specifically engaged in the malfeasance, he had created an “insular culture – one that valued and rewarded results over other considerations, combined with a staff of individuals who often lacked direction or sufficient oversight.” Though Crane disputed the findings of Manfred in that regard, and we can’t know how he’ll direct his new baseball operations leader, we may at least hope that Click will make a positive impact on the Houston baseball ops group.

There’ll obviously be a longer-term process for Click as he takes the helm in Houston. But he also faces an immediate challenge of preparing for Spring Training in just two weeks’ time. The Astros roster is loaded with talent and largely complete, depending upon one’s perspective (and Crane’s willingness to spend). But Click will no doubt have his own preferences on the margins, if not even some relatively larger thoughts on preparing for a season in which the Astros will again be among the favorites in the American League even in spite of their self-inflicted wounds.

Cubs To Sign Jeremy Jeffress

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FEBRUARY 1: The signing is now official.

JANUARY 28: The Cubs have agreed to terms with righty Jeremy Jeffress on a one-year MLB deal, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). It’ll pay him $850K and includes $200K in available incentives based upon appearances.

Jeffress will hope to regain his form in Chicago after falling flat last year with the Brewers. The sinkerballer was lights-out in 2018 but lost about 1.5 ticks of velocity in the ensuing campaign. He was dropped by the Milwaukee organization after throwing 52 innings of 5.02 ERA ball with 8.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and a 48.4% groundball rate.

It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the years for Jeffress. At his best, he has gobbled up grounders and limited the long ball and even on occasion recorded a decent number of strikeouts. The history of home run suppression (0.67 per nine for his career) is of particular interest in the era of the aerodynamic baseball. But Jeffress hasn’t always been consistent and had a worrisome DWI incident back in 2016.

For the Cubs, it’s a low-cost signing that has some relative upside. There’s really no reason to think Jeffress can replicate that ’18 outburst — his sparkling 1.29 ERA was certainly the result of good pitching, but there was some good fortune mixed in as well — but he doesn’t need to reach those heights to pay dividends. If he can regain some lost velo or learn to live without it, Jeffress could end up pitching a lot of high-leverage innings at Wrigley.

Rockies Agree To Two-Year Contract With Trevor Story

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January 31: The Rockies have now formally announced Story’s two-year deal. Feinsand tweets that Story will be paid a $2MM signing bonus, an $8MM salary in 2020 and a $17.5MM salary in 2021.

January 24, 8:39pm: It is indeed an arbitration-only contract, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan tweets. Story will receive $27.5MM over the two-year term. The Rockies will not gain control over any prospective open-market seasons but will gain some cost certainty as part of the deal.

8:36pm: The Rockies are closing in on a “multi-year deal” with star shortstop Trevor Story, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Jon Morosi (Twitter link). It is not yet clear whether the contract would cover any potential free agent seasons or merely settle multiple arbitration campaigns at one time.

Needless to say, a long-term extension would be a fascinating development given all the recent chatter regarding fellow star Nolan Arenado. If it’s merely an arb work-out, it’d be a notable but hardly headlining development.

Story has filed for a $11.5MM salary, with the Rockies countering at a $10.75MM offer. He’s in his second season of arbitration eligibility after earning $5MM in 2019. Story is slated to reach free agency at the end of the 2021 campaign.

Regardless of the contract specifics, the 27-year-old Story figures to be a monster again on the field in 2020. He’s coming off of a second-straight 30+ homer, 5+ fWAR effort. Story strikes out more than you’d like and only draws walks at league-average levels, but is still an exceptionally well-rounded performer. He hits for average with loads of power, contributes value on the bases, and is an outstanding defender at short.

Curtis Granderson Announces Retirement

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Long-time big-league slugger Curtis Granderson announced today in an Instagram post that he is wrapping up his playing career. The 38-year-old appeared in 16 MLB campaigns.

Granderson had hoped to keep playing, but wasn’t finding interest on the open market. He had struggled in what turned out to be his final season in the majors, slashing just .183/.281/.356 last year with the Marlins.

Plenty of great careers have come to a conclusion in similar fashion. What’s more remarkable is that Granderson was still quite a productive hitter in the season prior. He turned in 403 plate appearances of .242/.351/.431 hitting with 13 home runs in 2018 with the Blue Jays and Brewers.

Granderson turned in plenty of strong campaigns along the way. But more than that, he became one of the game’s most respected players, both inside and outside of the clubhouse. (See, for instance, here and here.)

On the field, the gregarious former third-round pick was an evolving but ever-present threat. It’s easy to forget just how good he was at his best. With the Tigers in 2007, his second full season in the bigs, Granderson launched 23 long balls, swiped 26 bags, and turned in other-worldly glovework and overall baserunning to post a 7.9 fWAR campaign.

Granderson was no longer as capable with the glove by the time he landed with the Yankees in a three-team stunner, but he still turned in a 6.9 fWAR effort in 2011. That year, Granderson hit more than forty homers for the first of two consecutive seasons, turned in a personal-best 146 wRC+, and continued to provide big value with his legs (including 25 steals).

When Granderson signed with the Mets in 2014, he was coming off of an injury-marred season. At 33 years of age, his four-year, $60MM contract came with some obvious risks. But Granderson turned in four rather productive seasons under the deal, including a star-level 2015 effort (131 wRC+, 5.3 fWAR), and easily justified the financial outlay.

Granderson enjoyed three fairly lengthy stints to begin his career, authoring productive, 500+ game runs with the Tigers, Yankees, Mets. An August 2017 trade to the Dodgers launched a journeyman stage that eventually took him through Toronto, Milwaukee, and Miami.

Add it all up, and Granderson tallied more than two thousand big-league games with seven organizations. Half of his 16 campaigns ended in postseason runs. Granderson slashed only .224/.317/.424 in 244 playoff plate appearances, but was at his best in the 2015 World Series (3 home runs, 1.060 OPS in 25 plate appearances). He is a lifetime .249/.337/.465 hitter with 344 home runs; he appeared in three All-Star games and accumulated 47.6 fWAR and 47.3 rWAR.

Quite an impressive run, all things considered — all the more when his charitable efforts are added to the equation. It’s not clear precisely what’s next for Granderson, but it seems sure we haven’t seen the last of him. As he notes in his announcement:

“As I close out this wonderful chapter in my life and step away from my days on the field, I know that my role in this game is only just getting started. I look forward to continuing my work helping to diversify the sport, paving the way for young kids to learn and grow.”

MLBTR offers its congratulations and best wishes to Grandy and his family.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Reds To Sign Pedro Strop

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The Reds have agreed to a one-year, $1.825MM deal with free-agent reliever Pedro Strop, according to Hector Gomez of Deportivo Z 101 (Twitter link). The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal adds that incentives can push the value of the deal, which is still pending a physical, up to $3.5MM. Strop is represented by the Movement Management Group.

It’s surprising that the Reds are coming away with Strop, who was reportedly deciding between the Marlins and Rangers as of last week. Nevertheless, it’s the latest strike in free agency for Cincinnati, a team clearly bent on returning to contention after a six-year drought. The Reds rank near the top of the National League in offseason spending via the open market, and Strop will go down as the second free agent they’ve pilfered from the division-rival Cubs. They took outfielder Nick Castellanos from Chicago earlier this week, though he cost far more money ($64MM) than Strop will collect.

While the Reds have been aggressive in bettering their roster this winter, they haven’t been all that active in upgrading a bullpen that was middle of the pack last season. They’re returning some quality holdovers – Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen, Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson, to name a few – and the hope is Strop will accompany them as a key late-game option for the club in 2020.

The right-handed Strop, 34, has been quietly terrific over the past several years. Dating back to his 2011 breakout with the Rangers and Orioles, Strop has combined for a 3.00 ERA/3.32 FIP with 9.82 K/9, 3.89 BB/9 and a 54.8 percent groundball rate across 483 2/3 innings. He was mostly excellent with the Cubs from 2013-19, including during their championship drought-breaking 2016 campaign, but fell on hard times last season.

A hamstring injury limiting Strop to 41 2/3 innings, his fewest since 2011, and he only managed a 4.97 ERA/4.53 FIP when he was healthy enough to pitch. He also saw his average fastball velocity dip from 95.1 mph the previous season to 93.6 mph. Despite the drop in heat, Strop did strike out 10.58 batters per nine and induce grounders at a 52.9 percent clip; however, he struggled with control and home runs. Strop walked 4.32 hitters per nine and yielded homers on a career-worst 18.8 percent of fly balls, though he was hardly alone in surrendering more dingers than usual during the most HR-friendly season in the history of the sport.

The Reds are, of course, hoping Strop’s HR-FB rate bounces back toward his career mean of 10.1 percent. Regardless, he’s the latest of MLBTR’s top 50 free agents they’ve added. The club has now come away with five players from that list this offseason. And now that Strop’s coming off the board, Yasiel Puig (an ex-Red) and Brock Holt are the last ones standing.

Astros Hire Dusty Baker

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5:34pm: The Astros formally announced that they’ve hired Baker as their new skipper.

4:08pm: Baker’s contract is actually a one-year deal with a club option for the 2021 season, per Nightengale and Rosenthal (Twitter links).

3:15pm: The Astros have found their replacement for recently fired manager A.J. Hinch, having reached an agreement on a “short-term” deal with veteran skipper Dusty Baker, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). It’s a two-year pact, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Nightengale reported yesterday that Baker was the team’s choice, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added that a deal would be finalized today.

Dusty Baker | Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

When Baker formally puts his signature on a contract, it’ll set the stage for a fascinating season in Houston. The Astros are loaded with talent but face no shortage of organizational adversity in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal that resulted in the firing of prior manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow. The club has yet to hire a new baseball operations leader.

Baker, who commands a presence as large as anyone else in the game, certainly comes with an old-school vibe that runs counter to the analytically driven organizational culture that had predominated in Houston. But the job of this skipper will be to help guide the team through a difficult stretch; Baker is generally beloved in clubhouses and charming with the press. And his different cultural mooring may well be an asset in this case.

It’s also rather unfair to dismiss Baker as a present-day manager. True, he has not yet taken a team to the promised land in his 22 seasons as a manager. He ultimately became a bit of a symbol for certain outdated thinking about the game, particularly regarding the management of pitchers. But Baker has expressed an openness to evolving and certainly didn’t stop his most recent team from posting a whole lot of wins.

Baker’s 2016-17 stint with the Nationals provides quite the secondary dramatic undergirding for the coming season. His D.C. charges posted 95 and 97 win seasons, claiming consecutive NL East titles. But the team lost a pair of heartbreaking postseason series and Baker was somewhat surprisingly not offered a new contract after the end of the year.

It seemed Baker, now 70 years of age, had missed out on his final shot at a World Series. Now, he’ll have another. And he’ll do so with the team that just lost a barn-burning Game 7 to those very same Nats, who finally donned an elusive crown. Those two teams share a Spring Training facility that’s sure to draw flocks of press (and provide quite the boon to the West Palm Beach Marriott). And they’re also slated to square off in a series in D.C. over July 4th weekend.

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