Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Newsstand

Astros Sign Michael Brantley

By | at

DECEMBER 19: The deal is now official.

Brantley will receive a $2MM signing bonus and $15MM salaries in each year of the deal, per Rosenthal (via Twitter).

DECEMBER 17, 6:01pm: The terms have been agreed to, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, who tweets that the deal will not come with any options.

5:48pm: The Astros are “closing in” on a deal with veteran outfielder Michael Brantley, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s expected to promise Brantley something in the range of two years and $32MM if completed, per the report.

Entering the offseason, MLBTR graded Brantley the tenth-best free agent on the market. We predicted both he and Andrew McCutchen would secure three-year deals at $15MM average annual values. If today’s rumored pact goes through, though, McCutchen will have topped Brantley handily with his own three-year, $50MM agreement with the Phillies.

For the ’Stros, this signing would deliver another veteran, left-handed-hitting corner outfield to a mix that already includes Josh Reddick. Both Brantley and Reddick are best with the platoon advantage, as is younger lefty-swinging outfielder Tony Kemp, which will make it interesting to see how the remainder of the roster is structured.

Brantley is certainly a polished offensive piece. The 31-year-old slashed .309/.364/.468 last year and is among the game’s best pure hitters, as reflected in his lifetime .295 batting average. He’s good for fifteen to twenty long balls annually, which is useful but hardly elite for a corner outfielder, but makes up for any shortcomings in that regard by rarely striking out (10.7% career K rate).

It certainly doesn’t hurt, either, that Brantley contributes in the running game. He swiped a dozen bags last year and has typically graded out as an above-average to excellent overall baserunner. In the field, Brantley has mostly drawn average marks for his work in left field.

The largest demerit, clearly, involves health. Brantley was limited significantly in 2016 and 2017 owing to a string of injuries and related surgeries. That, perhaps, is the most significant point of distinction between Brantley and McCutchen.

Even if the Houston club has its qualms about Brantley’s health outlook, it’ll have more flexibility than its peers to keep him rested and make the most of his skillset.  Brantley can spend time at DH and perhaps even at first base, with the right-handed-hitting Yuli Gurriel potentially operating in a similar fashion but as a right-handed hitter.

The broader slate of Houston stars definitely hues right-handed, so it’s not as if there’s an over-abundance of lefty bats generally. Still, as hinted above, this acquisition poses some interesting questions regarding the outfield mix, in particular. Brantley, Reddick, and Kemp aren’t the only pieces to consider, after all. In terms of righty bats, George Springer will continue to get regular time while Jake Marisnick could work as a platoon piece.

That works well enough on its own, particularly if we assume Brantley will see action in other areas, but leaves two players (both left-handed hitters) unaccounted for. 25-year-old Derek Fisher struggled badly last year in the majors, but is still an intriguing talent. And Kyle Tucker is widely viewed as one of the better all-around prospects in baseball. The 21-year-old had a forgettable first attempt at the big leagues, but laid waste to Triple-A pitching in 2018 and could well be a major factor next season.

It’s tough to know exactly how this’ll all shake out. For now, suffice to say, the Astros still have plenty of options. It’s not hard to imagine another significant bat fitting on the roster. And it’s also not difficult to picture a trade — whether a blockbuster or one of lesser significance — that’d make use of the backlog of lefty outfield bats.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Angels To Sign Matt Harvey

By | at

7:16pm: It’s a one-year deal for Harvey, Feinsand tweets. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the deal will guarantee Harvey $11MM, and Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that Harvey can earn an additional $3MM worth of incentives. Per Heyman (Twitter link), those incentives are based on games started and kick in at 15 starts before maxing out at 26 starts. Harvey’s deal is still pending a physical.

7:07pm: The Angels have agreed to a deal with free-agent right-hander Matt Harvey, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). Harvey is represented by agent Scott Boras.

Matt Harvey | Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Harvey, 29, will be the first rotation addition for an Angels club that entered the winter in significant need of innings. The 2018 Angels were decimated by injuries, as Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani and J.C. Ramirez each underwent Tommy John surgery, while others such as Matt Shoemaker and Nick Tropeano missed substantial time on the disabled list.

Harvey will join lefties Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs as locks to start games for the Halos, but the rest of the rotation is still somewhat unsettled. Tropeano, Jaime Barria, Felix Pena and Dillon Peters are among the other candidates to start for newly hired manager Brad Ausmus, though the names to which the Angels were connected prior to the Harvey agreement perhaps underscore the remaining work that GM Billy Eppler and his staff have ahead.

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register recently reported that the Angels made a two-year, $28MM offer to J.A. Happ before he returned to the Yankees, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Halos also made a “strong” offer to Patrick Corbin before he signed a whopping $140MM contract with the Nationals. Given those targets and the still-palpable uncertainty in the Angels’ mix of starters, it’s reasonable to expect that they’ll continue pursuing upgrades to the top portion of their starting staff.

The $11MM guarantee for Harvey suggests that the Angels are not only buying Harvey’s turnaround with the Reds in 2018 but anticipating that he can take another step forward. Harvey’s Mets career was torpedoed by Tommy John surgery and the even more ominous thoracic outlet surgery — the lingering effects of which caused the Mets to ultimately cut the cord and flip the right-hander to Cincinnati in exchange for catcher Devin Mesoraco. Harvey gave the Reds 128 innings of 4.50 ERA ball with more encouraging secondary metrics: 7.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 42.6 percent ground-ball rate. ERA alternatives like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all pegged Harvey in the low 4.00s.

With the Reds, Harvey saw his average fastball velocity trend up from 92.6 mph in New York to 94.4 mph, and his swinging-strike rate improved from 8.2 percent to 9.9 percent. Neither of those marks are close to Harvey’s peak levels from his “Dark Knight” days, but the positive trends were encouraging enough for the Angels to bet a fairly notable sum that the beleaguered right-hander can hold up over the course of a full season. If that proves to be the case, Harvey could eventually emerge as a candidate to receive a qualifying offer, creating a bit of additional upside for the Halos.

By adding Harvey on an $11MM salary, the Angels push their projected Opening Day payroll up to about $156.2MM — a sum that falls roughly $10MM shy of the $165.8MM Opening Day payroll the team has averaged over the past three seasons. MLBTR contributor Rob Huff recently took a deep dive into the Halos’ payroll, estimating that the team could have as much as $36MM to spend this winter, assuming ownership approval of a slight uptick in payroll. With only Harvey and Justin Bour (one year, $2.5MM) as new additions to the books thus far, there’s certainly room for at least one more notable rotation addition — be it via the free-agent market or via trade.

The pairing of Harvey and the Angels, in some respects, has been more than a decade in the making. The Halos selected Harvey in the third round of the 2007 draft but were unable to sign him despite offering a bonus widely reported to be greater than $1MM in total. That decision, of course, proved to be a good one for Harvey, who was selected seventh overall out of UNC in 2010 and received a considerably heftier $2.5MM bonus from the Mets. Much has changed in the decade-plus since that offer was made, but Harvey is in many ways an upside play, just as he was as a draft prospect in 2007 — albeit a far more expensive one this time around.

For Harvey, the one-year term gives him a further opportunity to distance himself from his disastrous 2016-17 results and re-enter the open market after spending a year in a relatively pitcher-friendly environment. Though he’s moving from the National League to the American League, he’ll also move from one of the game’s most homer-friendly parks to the much more spacious Angel Stadium, which could help him pare back the 1.48 HR/9 he averaged following his trade to Cincinnati. Harvey’s ultimate contract aligns with the annual value we at MLBTR predicted in our Top 50 free agents list, though our rankings projected a two-year term for the former Mets ace. Meanwhile, Harvey’s landing with the Angels won’t do favors to many who participated in MLBTR’s free-agent prediction contest; only 2.9 percent of respondents correctly pegged Harvey to the Halos.

Cubs Sign Daniel Descalso

By | at

3:54pm: Descalso’s contract comes with a small incentives package as well, Heyman tweets. He’ll earn $50K for reaching each of 425, 450 and 475 plate appearances in a given season, plus another $100K upon reaching 500 PAs.

2:02pm: The signing has now been announced. Descalso will earn salaries of $1.5MM and $2.5MM, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter).

10:42am: The Cubs have agreed to terms with veteran utilityman Daniel Descalso, according to reports from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Descalso, a client of Pro Edge Sports, will be promised $5MM over two seasons, per Rosenthal (Twitter links). There’s a club option as well for the 2021 season, with a $3.5MM price tag and $1MM buyout.

This move, if completed, promises to deliver the Cubbies some of the veteran grit they felt they were missing in a 2018 season in which they came up a bit short of their own lofty expectations. It would also bring Descalso back to the NL Central division after a four-year foray into the NL West.

Descalso will help the Cubs cover for the absence of  Addison Russell over the first month or so of the season, likely seeing quite a bit of action at second while Javy Baez plays short. Once Russell returns to the club from his domestic abuse suspension, as now seems to be the plan, Descalso will in all likelihood step back into the utility role to which he’s best suited.

If that’s all that takes place, the Cubs would feature a variety of versatile position players to work with. Russell and especially Baez would occupy a fair bit of the middle-infield action, with Descalso filling in there and at third base. Presumably, Ben Zobrist and Ian Happ will spend the majority of their time in the outfield, though both have ample experience on the dirt as well. Just where David Bote will fit in all of this isn’t clear, but the Cubs certainly won’t mind having the depth and he’s optionable as well.

Of course, there could yet be further roster tweaks still to come. The Cubs have engaged the market in a surprisingly spartan manner thus far, with the club sending signal after signal that it’s not going to add much payroll. But there could still be trade possibilities to work through and it’s still reasonable to wonder whether the Chicago organization has a big strike still in it if the right opportunity arises.

Descalso, of course, spent the early portion of his career with the bitter-rival Cardinals. He earned his playing time as a gritty, pesky, versatile player who did enough in the field and on the bases to overlook his generally subpar bat.

In recent years, though, the 32-year-old Descalso has opened up some new aspects to his game. Beyond getting acquainted in the corner outfield, he has become an increasingly aggressive flyball hitter. The initial returns have been impressive, as Descalso has turned into a lite version of a three-true-outcomes hitter.

Last year, in 423 trips to the plate, Descalso popped 13 long balls. He struck out and walked at career-high rates, 26.0% and 15.1% respectively, while turning in a productive overall .238/.353/.436 slash. That was good for a 111 wRC+, a nice number for a player who had never before topped 90 in a given season. With quality baserunning added in, Descalso clocked in at 1.6 fWAR — easily a career-high.

Descalso hasn’t played much shortstop in recent seasons, though that is in part no doubt a reflection of the needs of his former teams. It’s also not a primary concern for the Cubs, who can utilize Baez and Russell at the position.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers Sign Lance Lynn

By | at

DECEMBER 18, 12:30pm: The Texas club has announced the signing.

11:41am: Lynn will receive a $4MM signing bonus, along with salaries of $8MM, $10MM, and $8MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The deal also includes a one-time $100K assignment bonus in the event that Lynn is shipped out west (to the Angels, Dodgers, D-Backs, Rockies, Padres, Athletics, Giants, or Mariners).

DECEMBER 12: The Rangers are nearing a deal with veteran free agent hurler Lance Lynn, according to MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). It’s said to be a rather surprising three-year arrangement with a strong $30MM guarantee, with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adding the financial details on Twitter.

Last winter, Lynn seemed in line for a significant, long-term deal before he settled for a pillow contract with the Twins. After turning in middling results in the ensuing campaign, it did not seem likely he’d get a terribly lengthy arrangement this time around.

MLBTR predicted a two-year, $16MM pact. That felt terribly rich to anyone that failed to look beneath his 4.77 ERA from 2018. But Lynn did show some intriguing underlying numbers, particularly after landing with the Yankees in a mid-season swap. To be sure, Lynn continued to post suboptimal bottom-line numbers in New York. But he racked up a 61:14 K/BB ratio in his 54 1/3 innings, a notable improvement in that regard over his career numbers that was perhaps linked to some changes in his pitch usage patterns. Lynn also drew grounders at a career-best 49.7% rate over the course of the season.

There’s also a broader track record to consider. The veteran righty had long turned in impressive campaigns with the Cardinals, never once averaging over four earned per nine in his six seasons in St. Louis and wrapping up his time there with a 3.38 ERA in nearly one thousand frames. Lynn was even typically effective upon returning from Tommy John surgery in 2017. But ERA estimators did not buy into that version of the hurler (4.82 FIP, 4.75 xFIP, 4.85 SIERA), which made it somewhat unsurprising to see his market collapse in the ensuing winter.

In any event, the market clearly valued Lynn’s impressive late showing with the Yanks this time around, which helps even things out for the former first overall draft pick. It’s the second consecutive season in which the Rangers have given out a reasonably aggressive three-year contract for a starting pitcher, with last winter’s Mike Minor deal working out well thus far.

Of course, the Texas staff still faces questions, but this move changes the complexion of the unit. In addition to Minor and now Lynn, the Rangers will feature TJ-returnees Drew Smyly and Edinson Volquez. All of those four veterans have had notable successes at times, but each has also endured health issues and performance lapses in the recent past. The Rangers could compete the remaining job among younger pitchers, or might continue dabbling with the utilization of an opener.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals Sign Matt Adams

By | at

DECEMBER 18: The Nats have announced the signing.

DECEMBER 15, 3:38 PM: The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty tweets that Adams will earn $3MM in 2019, and he’s also guaranteed a $1MM buyout on a mutual option for the 2020 season.

3:18 PM: Free agent first baseman/outfielder Matt Adams has agreed to a one-year, $4MM deal (contract details via Yahoo’s Jeff Passan) with Washington, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Per Rosenthal, the deal is pending a physical.

Matt Adams | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Adams, 30, was excellent in 277 plate appearances for the Nationals last seasons, slashing .257/.332/.510 (123 wRC+) before moving back to St. Louis on a late-August waiver claim. Despite poor numbers in a minuscule sample upon returning to the Cardinals, a slimmed-down Adams posted his highest hard-hit rate (39.1%) since the 2014 campaign, and displayed, for the first time, an ability to adequately handle a corner-outfield spot, earning decent DRS marks after a dreadful initiation to the spots in 2017.

Adams, though, has long been a near-automatic out against left-handed pitching (career .208/.238/.358 batting line, 59 wRC+), and did little to dismiss the notion in 32 plate appearances versus lefties in 2018. Still, he’s a solid bench option for a team in dire need of upper-level offensive depth, and should be an adequate replacement for an aging Ryan Zimmerman or the injury-prone Adam Eaton, should either fall prey to the DL and/or bouts of ineffectiveness.

The Slippery Rock University product made his MLB debut in 2012 with St. Louis after systematically annihilating minor-league pitching from 2009-12. His rookie season in 2013 was arguably his best, as the then-24-year-old joined a host of lineup-mates in demolishing NL pitching (his 135 wRC+ was third-best on the team) en route to the team’s second pennant in three seasons. Sharp decline followed, though, and an undiscerning eye (5.0 BB% from ’14-’15) relegated the 23rd-round pick to extreme part-time duty.

An increased, 7.6 BB% allowed for a slight rebound in Adams’ 2016 performance, before the slugger dropped 30 pounds and vowed to improve his versatility. There’s hope for more, too: Adams’ 107 wRC+ last season was suppressed by a career-low .245 average on balls in play, with his second-St. Louis-stint results (.167 BABIP in 60 PA despite a 56% hard-hit rate) being an obvious anomaly.

Mets Sign Wilson Ramos

By | at

Dec. 17, 9:28pm: The deal includes a $2MM signing bonus, meaning Ramos’ 2019 salary will technically be $6.25MM, per Heyman (Twitter link).

3:45pm: The Mets announced that Ramos will be introduced at a press conference Monday at 11 a.m. ET. Rosenthal tweets that in addition to the salary parameters reported by Wagner below, Ramos will earn an additional $500K if he’s able to make 100 starts at catcher in a given season.

Dec. 16, 4:44pm: It is indeed $19MM guaranteed, tweets the New York Times’ James Wagner, who adds that Ramos will earn $8.25MM next season and $9.25MM in 2020. The contract also includes either a $10MM club option or a $1.5MM buyout for 2021. The max value is $27.5MM.

3:45pm: The Mets have reached an agreement with free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos, pending a physical, according to Andy Martino of SNY. Daniel Alvarez Montes of ElExtrabase previously reported the two sides had agreed to a contract. It’s a two-year pact for the Octagon client, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. The deal is worth $19MM, per Jon Heyman of Fancred, though Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports Ramos will receive a $19.5MM guarantee and an option for 2021. Post colleague Ken Davidoff adds that Ramos could make up to $26MM.

[RELATED: Mets Depth Chart]

The Mets’ addition of Ramos takes them out of the running for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, whom they had been aggressively pursuing this week, as Martino notes. They’re the second team to reportedly drop out of the Realmuto sweepstakes in the past couple days, joining the NL East rival Braves.

For the Mets, losing out on Realmuto means they’ll get to keep major league assets such as Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Amed Rosario, all of whom had piqued the Marlins’ interest in talks. At the same time, they won’t end up with arguably the majors’ best catcher. Still, while the 31-year-old Ramos’ isn’t the prize Realmuto would have been for New York, he should provide the team with a quality starter behind the plate.

Ramos, set to join his third NL East team (he was previously with Washington and Philadelphia), has batted .273/.317/.439 (103 wRC+) across 2,944 major league plate appearances, making him an easily above-average offensive catcher. Defensively, Ramos has caught a lifetime 32 percent of would-be base stealers, beating out the 28 percent league average, and earned positive marks behind the plate from Baseball Prospectus for the majority of his MLB career.

In 2018 – which he divided between the Rays and Phillies – Ramos enjoyed arguably his best offensive season, slashing .306/.358/.487 (130 wRC+) with 15 home runs in 416 PAs. Ramos also caught 29 percent of would-be base thieves and received decent overall grades from BP. It was clearly a strong rebound campaign for Ramos, who only appeared in 64 games in 2017 with the Rays as he worked his way back from the torn right ACL he suffered as a member of the Nats late in 2016.

Ramos has torn his right ACL twice in his major league career, which is especially troubling for an aging backstop. But he still doesn’t come with the injury concerns of fellow Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who missed all but four games last year as a result of a partial UCL tear, has only appeared in upward of 100 games twice in his career and, when healthy, hasn’t lived up to the hype he had as a prospect. D’Arnaud now figures to back up Ramos, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, calling into question what the Mets will do with fellow catchers Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido. Speculatively, the out-of-options Plawecki – a former top-100 prospect – could be a trade candidate.

Entering the offseason, MLBTR forecast a three-year, $36MM guarantee for Ramos, who will fall short of that with his new club. His departure from the open market easily leaves Yasmani Grandal as the premier catcher available in free agency. The Mets also had interest in Grandal, but as a qualifying offer recipient, signing him would have forced them to surrender their second-highest draft pick in 2019, $500K in international bonus space and a significant amount of their major league payroll room. Ramos only cost money, on the other hand, but his signing still counts as yet another major move in the Brodie Van Wagenen era. The rookie GM had been aggressive even before the Ramos agreement, as he acquired Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia over the past couple weeks. Van Wagenen’s likely not done yet, either, as he attempts to construct a roster capable of trumping the sub-.500 versions the Mets fielded from 2017-18.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees Sign J.A. Happ

By and | at

Dec. 17: The Yankees have formally announced Happ’s two-year contract and a vesting option for the 2021 season.

Dec. 12: The Yankees have reportedly agreed to a two-year, $34MM deal to bring free agent southpaw J.A. Happ back to the Bronx.  The contract is pending a physical; Happ is represented by Rogers Sports Management.

When completed, the contract is expected to include an option year valued at $17MM. It would vest if Happ reaches 165 innings and/or 27 starts in the 2020 campaign.

Happ has been one of the offseason’s most sought-after arms, with as many as 10 teams said to have some level of interest in the 36-year-old.  Happ was known to have been weighing several two-year offers and was reportedly willing to sign with the first team that gave him a third guaranteed year.

It seems, though, that he’ll fall shy of that target — meaning he’ll also land short of the three-year, $48MM that MLBTR predicted. As we noted in that post, however, it was never fully clear whether Happ would be able to secure a promised salary through his age-38 campaign.

At the end of the day, the Yankees will pay a bit of a premium on an annual basis and surrender some control over that third year (through the vesting clause) in order to secure the services of the southpaw. Happ was for some time seen as more of a depth piece, but he has rather quietly emerged as a steady force in recent seasons.

Happ, you may recall, raised his profile greatly with a surprising late-2015 run with the Pirates. That landed him the three-year deal with the Blue Jays that he just completed. Since he last put pen to paper, Happ has pitched to a 3.44 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 518 frames.

After his contract was shipped to the division-rival Yankees in the middle of the 2018 campaign, Happ obviously impressed his new employer. He turned in 63 2/3 innings of 2.69 ERA ball over 11 starts, though he was later knocked around in his lone postseason appearance. That shouldn’t (and obviously didn’t) give the Yanks pause, particularly since Happ had previously generally performed well in the playoffs.

For the Yankees, Happ becomes the third lefty rotation piece added this winter, joining James Paxton and CC Sabathia. The club tried for a fourth, Patrick Corbin, but watched him head elsewhere after deciding not to extend to bigger dollars and years than the organization felt comfortable with. In this case, the willingness to stick to his guns worked to the benefit of GM Brian Cashman, who did not have to full guarantee a third season to land a pitcher he obviously felt comfortable with.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) reported a deal was close, with Andy Martino of SNY.tv (Twitter link) reporting it was completed. Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter) and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (in a tweet) had details on the deal structure, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (via Twitter) and Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links) covering the salary terms.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Angels Sign Justin Bour

By | at

Dec. 15, 1:11 PM: The club has officially announced the signing.

Dec. 12, 7:37 PM: The Angels have struck a deal with first baseman Justin Bour, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The ACES client will receive a $2.5MM salary, presumably on a one-year deal, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).

Bour is an interesting addition for the Halos, who already have aging first baseman Albert Pujols (a right-handed hitter) and two-way star Shohei Ohtani (a lefty) on hand as DH options. It seems likely that Bour will take a significant share of the time at first base against right-handed pitching, perhaps squeezing Pujols out of regular plate appearances — at least, that is, if and when Ohtani is ready to return to action at the plate.

The 30-year-old Bour is an intriguing power option, having launched at least twenty long balls in three of the past four seasons. He has generally been quite a high-level offensive producer, though his numbers dipped in 2018 and he doesn’t add value with the other aspects of his game. Though Bour has at times graded as an average defender at first, he’s limited to that position defensively and is an abysmal baserunner.

Of course, this move is about the bat — particularly as it plays against right-handed pitching. In 1,248 career plate appearances with the platoon advantage, Bour carries an impressive .271/.355/.500 slash. It’s worth noting, too, that while his power fell off last year, and he struck out more than ever, Bour also boosted his walk rate to a career-best 14.6%.

Bour’s late-season swoon in 2018 surely did not help his cause, as he batted a lowly .224/.296/.347 in 54 plate appearances down the stretch for the Phillies after coming over from the Marlins. Of course, he also ran into a market situation that has generally been quite poor for lumbering sluggers.

There could certainly be some nice value here for the Halos, who needed to find a way to increase their offensive productivity as Pujols continues to trail off at this late stage of his career. The opportunity could be a good one for Bour as well, if he’s able to force his way into a major role with a Los Angeles club that is trying to capitalize on its remaining two years of control over superstar Mike Trout.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

White Sox Acquire Yonder Alonso

By | at

Dec 15: Both the White Sox and Indians have announced the deal (Twitter links).

Dec 14: The White Sox have reportedly struck a deal with the Indians to acquire first baseman Yonder Alonso. The match first arose on the WatchStadium Twitter account, with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic also now reporting an agreement on Twitter. Outfielder Alex Call will go to Cleveland in return, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter links), with the Chicago org taking over all of Alonso’s remaining contract obligations.

Needless to say, the gears are turning when it comes to first base/DH sluggers, with the Indians, Mariners, Rays, and now the White Sox at the center of the action. Alonso’s spot on the Cleveland roster came into question with the club’s recent 3-team deal, which brought Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers to the organization.

The addition of Alonso also dovetails with some of the Chicago club’s other major pursuits. Certainly, adding a veteran hitter on a short-term deal goes along with the recent moves to pick up Ivan Nova and Alex Colome. Those additions help the near-term outlook and assist with the recruiting of bigger free-agent fish. Alonso, particularly, is of note, as he’s the brother in law of reputed White Sox target Manny Machado.

Alonso, 31, signed with the Indians last winter on a two-year pact that includes a club option. He’ll play on a $8MM salary in 2019, with a $9MM vesting/club option (or $1MM buyout) thereafter. Notably, that option vests if Alonso compiles 1,100 plate appearances over the two guaranteed seasons of the contract; after reaching 574 last year, he’s now 526 shy of locking in more money for 2021.

The first (and now only) season Alonso spent in Cleveland did not go quite as hoped. He had broken out in 2017 with a monster .266/.365/.501 slash and 28 home runs — quite a power burst for a player who had never before finished a MLB campaign with double-digit longballs. Though he put the ball over the fence 23 times in 2018, Alonso was unable to maintain the on-base percentage that had previously been his calling card as a hitter.

The White Sox will gamble that Alonso can return to something more like his 2017 output. To do so, he’ll need to reverse slides in his walk rate (13.1% to 8.9%) and isolated power (.235 to .171). Alonso put the ball in the air nearly as much as he had in his ’17 effort, but nearly doubled his number of infield flies (8.3% to 14.5%) and made an increasing amount of soft contact (13.2% to 19.8%).

Whether Alonso can make the necessary adjustments remains to be seen. It stands to reason that he’ll appear most frequently against right-handed pitching, as he carries yawning platoon splits. Presumably, the Sox will allow Alonso to share time at first base with Jose Abreu, who’ll be in the lineup every day regardless. It’d make sense to utilize another right-handed hitter when a lefty is on the bump.

For the Indians, this is all about tweaking the financials and roster to match up with other demands. By the reckoning of MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince (Twitter link), the Cleveland organization has pared back its 2019 payroll by something like $18MM with its recent slate of moves (particularly the above-noted deal, in which Edwin Encarncion was dealt away, and the decision to part with catcher Yan Gomes). There are still needs to be met on the roster, but now there’s additional flexibility to work with. Plus, as Castrovince notes, the Indians have now greatly reduced the pressures that had led them to consider dealing a top pitcher. While that possibility cannot be ruled out, perhaps the Indians will not be forced into settling for less than a compelling return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Orioles Hire Brandon Hyde As Manager

By | at

DEC. 14: The O’s have announced the hiring.

DEC. 11: 7:25pm: Elias has shot down reports that the Orioles have even offered anyone the job, let alone hired a new manager, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

7:06pm: Hyde will indeed get the job, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

6:59pm: The Orioles “are closing in on” naming Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde their manager, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.

It didn’t take long for Hyde to emerge as the choice for the job in Baltimore, whose search for Buck Showalter’s successor only began in earnest a couple weeks ago. Rookie general manager Mike Elias, whom the Orioles hired less than a month ago, reportedly considered six candidates for the managerial role. Along with Hyde, Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond, Nationals bench coach Chip Hale, Royals catching/quality control coach Pedro Grifol, Diamondbacks director of player development Mike Bell and ex-Indians and Nats manager Manny Acta were in the running for the position.

Earlier this offseason, the 45-year-old Hyde garnered interest from the Blue Jays, Twins and Angels when they were seeking managers. He comes with plenty of coaching experience, having worked as a minor league manager with the Marlins from 2005-09 before serving as their bench coach from 2010-12. Hyde had been on the Cubs’ coaching staff since 2013, twice functioning as their bench coach (under both Rick Renteria and Joe Maddon) and once as their first base coach. His departure means the Cubs will have to find a new bench coach for the second straight offseason. Hyde only landed the role last year because Dave Martinez left to become the Nationals’ manager.

A former minor league catcher and first baseman in the White Sox organization, Hyde’s entering an unenviable situation in Baltimore. The Orioles finished with the majors’ worst record in 2018 and are now in the early stages of a full rebuild. The franchise’s hope is that he and Elias will be up to the task of putting together its next contender, but given that they’re both neophytes, it’s likely the duo will be afforded plenty of patience.

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