Dodgers Exercise Dave Roberts’ Option, Plan To Continue Negotiating Extension
The Dodgers have exercised their 2019 club option on manager Dave Roberts, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman tells reporters (Twitter link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). The two sides have been discussing an extension since the 2018 season ended, and while they’ve yet to reach an agreement, talks on a multi-year deal will continue. Friedman adds that he expects a multi-year deal to be reached at some point.
Though there have been numerous reports pointing to a likely extension — Fancred’s Jon Heyman indicated yesterday that a four-year deal could be in the works — the Dodgers’ front office has had plenty of other issues with which to deal in the days since the World Series concluded. The team has already renegotiated David Freese’s contract to retain him for the 2019 season at a slightly lesser rate than his previous club option would’ve called for. More prominently, Dodgers brass hammered out a contract extension for ace Clayton Kershaw that guarantees him $93MM through the 2021 season.
Added to the pile of complications is the fact that the Dodgers have been in the process of sorting out how they’ll proceed without general manager Farhan Zaidi, who left the organization to become the president of baseball operations for the division-rival Giants. Meanwhile, third base coach Chris Woodward has been named the new manager of the Rangers, while minor league hitting coordinator Paco Figueroa is on his way to the Phillies, where he’ll serve as an outfield/baserunning coach.
The delay in lining up the terms of a new contract with Roberts, then, is somewhat understandable. And while some Dodgers fans will bristle at the notion of a new contract given Roberts’ affinity for platoon-based matchups and an adherence to limiting the number of times a starting pitcher is allowed to face an opposing lineup, the front office is clearly pleased with both the on-field results and the manner in which Roberts has managed a clubhouse filled with big personalities. Los Angeles has appeared in back-to-back World Series and won an NL West division title in each of Roberts’ seasons at the helm, and the Dodger staff has been largely successful in getting high-profile players to buy into functioning in reduced roles that are often dependent on matchups.
Yankees, CC Sabathia Agree To One-Year Deal
TODAY: The deal has been announced by the Yankees.
YESTERDAY, 6:53pm: Sabathia confirmed on Brandon Steiner’s podcast earlier this week that he plans for 2019 to be his final season.
5:31pm: The two sides are, in fact, in agreement on a contract, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter). The deal is pending a physical.
5:24pm: The Yankees and left-hander CC Sabathia are working through the “final details” of what will be a one-year, $8MM contract for the 2019 season, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Sabathia, according to Sherman, had little interest in exploring the open market and instead preferred to quickly hammer out a one-year pact to return to the Bronx for what could very well be the final season of his illustrious career. Sabathia is represented by Kyle Thousand of Roc Nation Sports.
Sabathia, 38, will slot back into the Yankees’ rotation behind Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, though the team will surely be in the market to add some additional rotation help. Lefty J.A. Happ is set to hit the open market, while fellow southpaw Jordan Montgomery will miss a significant chunk of the 2019 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this year. Top prospect Justus Sheffield headlines the team’s internal options, with righties Chance Adams, Jonathan Loaisiga and Domingo German also serving as depth. Sonny Gray, too, remains in the organization for now, but general manager Brian Cashman has indicated that expects to find a trade partner for the change-of-scenery candidate.
The Yankees, though, who dipped back under the luxury tax threshold this season, will undoubtedly be in the mix for any top-end starters that could be available this winter. On the free-agent market, that includes lefties Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel, Happ and perhaps Japanese southpaw Yusei Kikuchi. The trade market could yet bear further enticing options, with recent reports indicating that the likes of Corey Kluber and James Paxton could become available.
Sabathia may not be the dominant arm that he once was, but the crafty veteran still gave the Yankees a strong 2018 season and would be a fine fifth starter behind the presumptive external options the Yankees plan to add. Sabathia, after all, notched a 3.65 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.12 HR/9 and a 44.4 percent ground-ball rate over the life of 29 starts and 153 innings this past season. His swinging-strike and chase rates were the best they’d been since 2012, and his fastball velocity still checked in a bit north of 90 mph — roughly in line with his past four seasons.
Nationals Made “Aggressive” Extension Offer To Harper Near End Of Season
TODAY: The offer would have included an approximately $300MM guarantee over a ten-year span, Janes adds on Twitter. That offer is “no longer on the table,” per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, though that is not to say that the sides will not engage in further discussions.
YESTERDAY: The Nationals made an “aggressive” offer to Bryce Harper prior to the end of the season that he clearly did not accept, Chelsea Janes and Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post report. The deal didn’t contain any opt-outs and was for under $400MM in total value, per Janes, although USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the arrangement would’ve promised Harper “about” $30MM annually on a long-term pact. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the formal offer came on Sept. 26 — the day of the Nationals’ final home game of the season.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo had little to say on the matter, as one might expect, but Janes notes that Rizzo did acknowledge the Nationals’ effort to take advantage of the now-expired exclusive negotiating window teams have with their own free agents in the five days that follow the World Series. MLB.com’s Jamal Collier further tweets that Rizzo implied that the team is not yet giving up on retaining Harper. “He’s our guy,” said Rizzo. “So we’re looking forward to seeing what can transpire.” Janes and Svrluga add that the offer made to Harper was not a token offer and that the front office has “genuine interest” in keeping the slugger.
Details on the length of the offer aren’t clear, but given the annual salary referenced by Nightengale, it’s all but assured that the deal would’ve promised Harper well north of $200MM and quite possibly $300MM or more. At present, Giancarlo Stanton‘s record-setting 13-year, $325MM contract is not only the largest and longest contract in history — it’s also the only $300MM+ contract ever signed. It’s reasonable to assume that Harper and agent Scott Boras have their sight set on Harper eclipsing that record and establishing a new precedent.
Boras didn’t blatantly say as much today, but he did express on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio) that he plans to pitch Harper as a future Hall of Famer, noting that Harper is only the fourth player to reach free agency at age 25 since 1980 (though technically he turned 26 between season’s end and formally filing for free agency). Boras cited various career-to-date milestones, such as his 180 home runs, that align with the numbers that several Hall of Famers reached at the same point in their own careers. He also told MLB Network Radio’s Casey Stern (Twitter link) that Harper “has the feet, hands and skill to certainly adapt to first base” should a team ever deem it necessary.
Harper’s .249/.393/.496 slash line translated to a 135 wRC+ — that is to say, his overall offensive output was 35 percent better than a league-average bat when weighted for home park and league. That tied Harper for 15th in baseball, and he ranks eighth among MLB hitters (143) since the start of the 2017 season by that same measure. Defensive metrics, meanwhile, were alarmingly bearish on Harper in 2018 despite the fact that he typically rated as a plus defender in prior seasons.
Though Boras has a reputation for finding colorful ways to embellish the value of his clients, there’s also some degree of truth to the fact that Harper (and fellow free agent Manny Machado) is a in rarefied air as a free agent at this stage in the career. The former No. 1 overall pick and NL MVP is reaching free agency at the same age at which Aaron Judge embarked on his sophomore season, for instance. Realistically, there hasn’t been a 26-year-old free agent with the ceiling of Harper or Machado since Alex Rodriguez reached the open market and signed a then-jaw-dropping 10-year, $252MM contract with the Rangers. A-Rod was, incredibly, a year younger than Harper when he hit the open market and was also more accomplished, but the very fact that it’s been nearly two decades since a hitter of this caliber reached free agency at this age is telling when looking at the type of contract Boras and Harper will likely pursue over the next few months.
Giants Name Farhan Zaidi President Of Baseball Operations
10:40pm: Zaidi’s contract is a five-year deal, tweets Baggarly.
9:39pm: The Giants have formally announced Zaidi’s hiring.
“I am delighted to return to the Bay Area and to join one of the most storied franchises in the game,” Zaidi said in a statement. “I have watched the Giants from afar and I have great respect for the organization’s culture and many accomplishments. I am excited about this new opportunity and I’m looking forward to getting right to work.”
9:30pm: Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweets that Zaidi will be formally introduced at a press conference at 1pm PT tomorrow afternoon.
8:41pm: Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi has accepted an offer from the division-rival Giants to become their head of baseball operations, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reported earlier today that the Giants had offered the title of president of baseball operations.
The addition of Zaidi brings an analytical/data-oriented approach to the Giants organization and marks a departure from the team’s longstanding pairing of Brian Sabean — who remains with the organization in an advisory role — and recently dismissed general manager Bobby Evans. That’s not to say that the Giants are completely without an analytics department, but they did come with the reputation of carrying a more traditional scouting-focused front office group. Under Zaidi, an MIT grad with a Ph.D in economics from UC Berkeley, they’ll surely beef up the implementation of more modern, data-driven decisions from a roster construction and in-game standpoint.
Early suggestions at the time of Evans’ dismissal were that the Giants would hire both a president of baseball operations and a general manager. Zaidi, presumably, will have autonomy in selecting a GM to work alongside him, though as the new president, he’ll have final say on all baseball operations matters. The bump in title was a necessity in luring Zaidi away from Los Angeles — teams generally only let their execs jump to other organizations if the offer includes a promotion — but he’s been reported to be among the organization’s top choices for the past few days.
By taking this position, the 41-year-old Zaidi will be returning to his old stomping grounds; Zaidi broke into baseball across the bay as a member of the Athletics front office, rising from a baseball operations analyst to the position of assistant GM over a more than decade-long run with the organization. While in Oakland, he aided the A’s with statistically-focused player evaluation in the draft, free agency and on the trade market, arbitration cases, contract negotiations and advance scouting.
Zaidi will be tasked with rejuvenating a Giants roster that has become stagnant as its young core has grown older. The Giants thrived earlier this decade, winning three titles in a five-year span on the backs of brilliant showings from Buster Posey, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain and Pablo Sandoval, among others. That once-elite core has withered with time, and while Bumgarner and Posey remain prominent figures in the organization, each has been slowed by injuries in recent seasons. That’s true elsewhere on the roster, as well; Brandon Belt and Joe Panik, in particular, are among the Giants position players who’ve struggled to remain on the field, while high-priced pitchers Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Mark Melancon have each been felled by health troubles as well.
The divergent paths that could be taken under Zaidi and a newly structured front office will make the Giants one of the more fascinating teams to watch this offseason. On the one hand, CEO Larry Baer has voiced a desire to aim to be competitive every season — an attitude that likely pushed Evans and Sabean to load up on veterans last offseason. But the additions of Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria didn’t restore the organization to prominence, and Longoria’s contract now joins those of Cueto, Samardzija and Melancon as undesirable commitments that’ll be tough for the Giants to escape.
However, that desire to remain competitive comes from ownership, and if going for it in 2019 is something of a mandate, then perhaps Zaidi & Co. will seek to supplement a flawed roster as best they can. San Francisco has been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Bryce Harper for the past year-plus, and the team’s successful effort to dip under the luxury tax barrier this past season only makes them a more logical landing spot if ownership is willing to commit the money.
Conversely, though, if Zaidi and the eventual San Francisco GM ultimately conclude that a more long-term outlook needs to be taken, that narrative would quickly change. Should that be the case, the Giants could go in the extreme opposite direction, making Bumgarner available on the trade market while also dangling lefty Will Smith. Complementary pieces like Sam Dyson, Hunter Strickland and Panik could all generate varying degrees of interest. Giants leadership would have its work cut out should they try to move many veterans beyond that group, however. Posey, Melancon and Brandon Crawford all have full no-trade clauses, while Samardzija, Belt and even Bumgarner all have limited no-trade clauses in their respective contracts.
For now, it’s unclear exactly how the Giants will proceed — only that the manner in which the organization has typically operated will likely be changing, as will the general composition of the team’s front office, scouting staff and analytics department.
Dipoto Downplays Possibility Of Mariners’ Rebuild
7:33pm: Dipoto told MLB.com’s Greg Johns at the GM Meetings that this morning’s reports were “clearly over-dramatized,” adding that the Mariners are “just too talented” to completely tear down the roster. That said, Dipoto also conceded that the Mariners are “open-minded to different ways we can get better” and expressed a desire to “re-imagine” the team’s roster while “gather[ing] as much talent as we can.”
Generally speaking, it seems as though the Mariners will be open-minded to moving shorter-term assets — Paxton and Zunino both have only two years of control remaining — while also trying to gather some controllable talent in order to supplement the pieces of the roster that remain into 2019 and beyond. The GM also suggested that the Mariners won’t rule out a reunion with Nelson Cruz, whom he called a “super human being” and a “wildly productive” player. But the team also has other needs, specifically in center field, Dipoto noted.
The column is rife with quotes from Dipoto on the offseason direction and the agile approach the Mariners will take toward offseason roster maneuverings and is worth a look for Mariners fans and those hoping that various Mariners players become available in trades.
10:48am: Facing a difficult path to improving their roster sufficiently to compete in the AL West, the Mariners are said to be weighing at least a partial sell-off of veteran assets. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets that the organization is “considering a full-fledged teardown,” while Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times characterizes the situation as one in which the club will pursue the somewhat less dramatic path of “culling the roster of a few players who could actually bring back some younger talent to the organization” while also maintaining a competitive assortment of MLB players.
Whatever the precise course, it’ll be a fine line to walk, and one that’ll require deft handling from Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto. It’s worth noting that both reports emphasize the variability remaining in the situation. The M’s won’t simply be auctioning players off, it seems. Rather, the club is going to be demanding value. And as Divish notes, there’s also a strong countervailing wind to the concept of a rebuild. The goal, as Dipoto has himself stated recently, is to make a legitimate challenge for a World Series as swiftly as possible. Accordingly, it’s at least possible that the organization will prioritize near-to-the-majors talent over far-away, high-upside prospects.
Regardless, it’s an interesting shift in the market just as it gets underway. No doubt, the allure of the trade market is factoring into the thinking for the Mariners’ front office. That seems to be an element of the Indians’ decision to consider offers on some key veteran pitchers. The market side of the reasoning here isn’t altogether different, though it’s quite a different competitive picture for the Cleveland organization, which still has a very clear path to the postseason. With few top-end starters and relievers available for the highest bidder, there certainly could be some opportunities to achieve value.
All indications of late had been that the Mariners would consider to push to contend. There’s real talent on the roster, to be sure, and the club did just win 89 games even after a late-2018 tailspin. Certainly, the organization’s slate of contract commitments represents that of a contending team, with large and lengthy commitments to several players. Those same factors, though, also can easily be interpreted as supporting a different approach. The 2018 club arguably outperformed its true talent level and still finished 14 games out of first place in the AL West. And a crowded payroll situation makes it hard to imagine ready solutions to some of the team’s ongoing areas of need.
So, what players could be on the move? The premium assets will certainly draw the most attention, though they’ll also be the hardest to pry loose. James Paxton, Edwin Diaz, Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura, and Marco Gonzales all come with ample excess value in their control rights. Surely, it would require the right deal to part with any of these players. Of them, Paxton seems the likeliest to move, if only because the others are all controlled for at least four move seasons while he has just two left to go. Indeed, Divish indicates it’s quite likely the power lefty will be shipped out. Diaz is a fascinating potential piece on the market, as he’d easily be the most valuable relief asset available. The 24-year-old just turned in an outstanding season and his trade value was boosted by the fact that he barely missed out on Super Two qualification, which would have greatly increased his overall arbitration earning power. Haniger is likely the team’s most valuable piece, though he might also be the hardest to part with. Moving Segura’s contract might offer a means of both dropping salary and adding younger talent in one fell swoop. There’s really not much reason for the Mariners to consider dealing Gonzales, who is amply affordable and controllable (and also just agreed to an unusual new contract).
Several other players will also surely be of keen interest on the market. Veteran reliever Alex Colome is not as good, or as cheap and controllable, as Diaz, but he’d be quite an interesting alternative to the open market options for clubs needing late-inning relief talent. Several other bullpen assets could hold appeal as well. Backstop Mike Zunino has his limitations as a player, but he’s a talented defender with huge power. It would be rather challenging for the club to move its most expensive veterans, though perhaps contract-swapping arrangements of some kind can be imagined. Plenty of rivals would like to have Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Dee Gordon, and Mike Leake on their rosters, after all, despite their suboptimal recent track records, though certainly the remaining financial obligations would need to be sorted out somehow.
The possibilities, truly, are endless, and will depend in no small part upon precisely what Dipoto and co. are looking to accomplish. It could well be a matter of seeing what’s possible on the market, rather than setting out specifically to prioritize the addition of new talent, say, as opposed to shaving payroll. Given Dipoto’s history of dealmaking, it wouldn’t be surprising to see quite a few moves to re-shape the roster in the coming months.
Dodgers Reportedly Nearing Extension With Dave Roberts
5:40pm: The two sides “will have” a deal, tweets Fancred’s Jon Heyman, who adds that the expectation is for a new four-year deal to be completed by tomorrow.
12:30pm: The Dodgers are “getting close” to striking a new contract with manager Dave Roberts, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It has widely been anticipated that the sides would line up on a deal.
Roberts has overseen three productive seasons in Los Angeles, reeling off division titles and taking the club to the World Series in each of the past two seasons. Of course, the Dodgers have lost in both trips, though it’s tough to judge those results too harshly. Along the way, Roberts has worked closely with the front office to deploy a supremely deep and flexible roster.
All indications have been that the Dodgers would keep Roberts at the helm, though the mechanism for doing so hasn’t been certain. There has been plenty of optimism for a new contract, though it has also remained possible that the team would simply exercise its $1.1MM option over Roberts. It seems likely he’ll receive a significant pay bump over that salary level, which was reached when he was hired as a rookie skipper.
Lance McCullers Jr. Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. underwent Tommy John surgery today and will miss the 2019 season, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.
It’s a brutal blow for an Astros rotation that was already faced with the possibility of losing both Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton to free agency. The loss of McCullers for the upcoming season now gives the Astros a third rotation piece to potentially replace. Houston does have some internal options who’d likely be starting for other organizations; righties Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock have both proven to be viable multi-inning relievers and could potentially slot into the starting five next year depending on the moves that president of baseball operation Jeff Luhnow and the rest of the Houston front office put together.
Luhnow, in fact, spoke today about the possibility of McHugh returning to a starting role next season (Twitter link via Rome). “I’d say we have three spots fairly well locked up, if we choose to go down the path of putting (Collin) McHugh back in the rotation,” he said. “With Lance not being there, it probably increases the odds of that happening.”
That’s not quite a proclamation that McHugh will start in 2019, but it does suggest that the ‘Stros are comfortable with that outcome should it be necessary. Houston also has top prospect Forrest Whitley not far from the big leagues, and it’s possible that he could emerge as a rotation piece at some point in 2019.
But Houston’s long-term rotation outlook is now murkier than ever. Beyond the loss of McCullers and the fact that Keuchel and Morton are already free agents, each of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and McHugh will be free agents at the end of the 2019 season. Viewed through that lens, it’s all the more critical for the Astros to add some arms that are controlled for multiple seasons this winter, be they top free agents (e.g., Keuchel, Patrick Corbin, J.A. Happ, Nathan Eovaldi) or trade acquisitions (e.g., James Paxton, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Michael Fulmer).
The Astros will still owe McCullers a raise on 2018’s $2.45MM salary — a raise they’ll gladly pay despite the fact that McCullers won’t pitch next season. That raise will be based on his 2018 results — 3.86 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 10-6 record through 128 1/3 innings — and he’ll likely earn that amount in both 2019 and 2020. Houston controls McCullers through the 2021 season, so while agreeing to pay a player who is known to be out for the season isn’t an ideal situation, the fact that tendering him a contract also entitles the Astros to his 2020-21 seasons makes it a lock that he’ll be retained.
White Sox Extend Rick Renteria
While it’s been believed that White Sox manager Rick Renteria is only under contract through the upcoming 2019 season, general manager Rick Hahn revealed at the GM Meetings in Carlsbad, Calif. that Renteria quietly signed an extension at some point (Twitter link via James Fegan of The Athletic). Hahn didn’t specify when the deal was inked or how long Renteria is now under contract but did state that the 2019 season is no longer the final year of Renteria’s deal.
Renteria, 57 in December, signed what was reported as a three-year, $3.6MM contract to manage the ChiSox prior to the 2017 season. Now, it seems, he’s under contract through at least the 2020 campaign — if not longer.
The White Sox are 66 games under .500 (129-195) in Renteria’s first two seasons as the team’s skipper, but that’s hardly an indictment on his abilities as a manager, given the fact that the Sox have been conducting an aggressive rebuilding effort. Renteria was named manager just in time to see Chris Sale and Adam Eaton shipped out of town, and the vast majority of Chicago’s remaining talent was traded away for prospects in the next couple seasons of his tenure.
The Chicago front office, though, is clearly pleased with the manner in which Renteria runs the clubhouse, disseminates data and info to the team’s players and handles the Chicago media. Retaining Renteria will create some continuity for the current batch of young players as the Sox look to start supplementing the prospects they’ve accumulated with some big league additions on the trade and free-agent markets — perhaps as soon as this winter.
Giants Reportedly Offer President Of Baseball Operations Title To Farhan Zaidi
The Giants have offered Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi the title of president of baseball operations within their organization, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the ball is in Zaidi’s court and that the Dodgers “appear prepared to sign off” on the move. Joel Sherman of the New York Post had previously reported that Zaidi was the Giants’ top candidate. Per Morosi, a decision can be expected within the next 24 hours.
Formerly an assistant general manager to Billy Beane with the Athletics, the now-41-year-old Zaidi has held his role as GM of the Dodgers since November 2014. He’d bring about a new era in San Francisco — one more commensurate with today’s data-driven baseball ops departments than the Giants had under Bobby Evans and Brian Sabean. That pairing served San Francisco quite well, delivering three World Series titles in a five-year span, but CEO Larry Baer has recently voiced a desire for a “next-gen” leader to the baseball operations team, and it seems that Zaidi is the preferred choice.
Since the time Evans was dismissed, it’s been suggested that the Giants may ultimately make two new hires atop the baseball ops hierarchy. The fact that Zaidi has been offered a president of baseball ops title speaks to the further likelihood of that scenario, though that may well also be the cost of doing business to get him in the door. Teams typically will only let their top execs leave in order to pursue a promotion, so the Giants probably couldn’t have landed Zaidi had they only been offering a lateral move to the position of GM. Nonetheless, it stands to reason that Zaidi, if hired, could add a GM to serve underneath him in the coming weeks.
Zaidi’s background with the A’s included statistically-focused player evaluation in the draft, free agency and on the trade market, arbitration cases, contract negotiations and advance scouting. He’s an MIT grad with a Ph.D in economics from UC Berkeley.
Nationals Sign Trevor Rosenthal
Nov. 5: Rosenthal will also receive a $1MM assignment bonus each time that is traded over the life of the contract, Heyman tweets.
Nov. 3, 9:40am: The deal is now official, per the team (via Twitter). Rosenthal signs a one-year deal with a conditional option for a second season, tweets the Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty, among others.
12:58pm: Unsurprisingly, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets, it’ll be a MLB deal that’s structured similarly to the contract that Greg Holland signed with the Rockies for the 2016 campaign. Holland, another Boras client and former closer who was returning from Tommy John surgery on a similar timeline, received a $7MM guarantee in his deal, which also included a hefty incentives package and vesting player option.
In this case, Rosenthal will also be promised $7MM, which includes a buyout on the 2020 option. He can earn up to $14MM in salary for the 2019 campaign, through operation of incentives, and the deal includes a vesting player option that will seemingly be valued at $15MM. Sherman (via Twitter), Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter links), and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) covered the details.
Of course, it’s relatively rare in these cases that the second season makes sense for both sides. If Rosenthal throws well enough to trigger the player option, he could well end up deciding to test the open market, though that might also mean he’d draw a qualifying offer from the Nats. In any event, those possibilities will certainly depend upon his performance in the season to come.
12:00pm: The Nationals are “finalizing” a contract with free agent right-hander Trevor Rosenthal, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Terms of the prospective agreement are not yet known.
Rosenthal, a client of the Boras Corporation, recently put on a showcase to exhibit his form after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Evidently, he impressed the Washington brass, who’ll take a shot on the hard-throwing former Cardinals late-inning standby.
While it’s not yet clear just what role will be given to Rosenthal, who’s still just 28 years of age, the report suggests he’ll “anchor the bullpen.” Though southpaw Sean Doolittle figures to have the inside track on the ninth inning, given his outstanding (albeit injury-shortened) 2018 showing, the Nats could certainly use Rosenthal as their top set-up option or perhaps get more creative in their pen usage based upon situations.
The chance at high-leverage innings seems to have been a motivating factor for Rosenthal, who said as much in an interesting recent chat with Rob Rains of STLSportsPage.com. Rosenthal also held true to his stated desire to put pen to paper before the start of November.
Rosenthal’s TJ procedure took place in late August of 2017, so he is now already about 14 months out from the operating table. There’s every reason to think that he’ll be a full go for Spring Training, particularly since he has already shown that he’s capable of working in his customary upper-nineties velocity.
Of course, the real question with Rosenthal has never been one of arm strength. He has at times dealt with control issues, dishing out 5.4 walks per nine in the 2014 season and a hefty 6.5 free passes per nine in 2016. That latter campaign was a rough one for the flamethrower: he also surrendered a whopping .425 BABIP, lost his closing job, and ended the season with a 4.46 ERA.
In camp in 2017, Rosenthal dabbled with a return to a starting role — he functioned in that capacity in the minors, but never in the bigs — but ultimately returned to the St. Louis relief corps. Before going down to a torn UCL, Rosenthal threw 47 2/3 innings of 3.40 ERA ball with a career-high 14.3 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. Rosenthal carried a personal-high 15.9% swinging-strike rate for the season, finding an extra gear as he completely abandoned his curve in favor of his slider.
For the Nats, the move represents the second interesting relief addition of the still-early offseason. Previously, the club added Kyle Barracough via trade. These two righties both come with their share of uncertainty, but will unquestionably add a ton of velocity to the Washington pen.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.