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Carlos Gonzalez Denies Interest In Being Traded

By Jeff Todd | July 7, 2016 at 11:58pm CDT

7:09pm: Gonzalez went on-record with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post to deny that he is interested in being traded by the Rockies. “Nothing is true, because, obviously I haven’t talked to anybody and haven’t said that to anybody. Not my wife or my kids or my mom,” said Gonzalez when asked if he wanted out of Denver. “Whenever I get home, I’m frustrated because maybe I didn’t do well, or we didn’t win the game, but I never complain about it … or say I want to go somewhere else.”

Gonzalez went on to praise the Rockies’ emerging core of young players, mentioning Trevor Story and Jon Gray by name and saying that he wants to be a part of the next contending Rockies club. “I have been here for a lot of bad moments and tough situations, so I want to see the bright (side),” he told Saunders. “I want to be here when that happens.”

4:02pm: Heyman now tweets clarification that Gonzalez is amenable to a trade but hasn’t had a meeting with team officials on the matter. Rockies GM Jeff Bridich denied that a meeting took place when asked by SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (links to Twitter), adding that he’s never had a strong desire to deal his star outfielder and will be “patient as it pertains to the deadline.”

12:25pm: Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez “expressed an interest” in being dealt in a recent meeting with the Rockies’ front office, Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com reports. Colorado could explore deals for both CarGo and fellow outfielder Charlie Blackmon this summer, per the report.

Gonzalez, 30, is running up a .319/.368/.556 batting line with 18 long balls on the year. While you have to discount that somewhat for his home-field advantage at Coors, there’s little question that he’d be a premium offensive asset on the trade market. With a $17MM salary this year and $20MM due for 2017, Gonzalez isn’t cheap — but he does come with a much more affordable contract than he’d command on the open market. Despite his variety of past injury problems, Gonzalez has been healthy in 2016 and doesn’t come with a hugely lengthy contract commitment.

The team has received similar production from Blackmon, who is hitting .305/.371/.496 with a dozen home runs and eight stolen bases. Though he isn’t running as much as he did last year, and is considered more of an average defensive center fielder than a top-flight glove-man, there’s plenty of value here. That’s all the more true given Blackmon’s reasonable $3.5MM salary and two future years of control. He’d quite likely be the premier center field-capable player available.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the club is far from committed to a selling posture, let alone parting with either or both of these core players. Colorado is on the outskirts of the playoff picture, but Heyman suggests that there’s some encouragement on the team’s ability to compete.

Still, there’s a big gulf separating the Rox from the division-leading Giants, and it seems that Gonzalez isn’t sanguine about the organization’s chances. Per Heyman, he’s increasingly frustrated at the club’s performance and wants to play for a winning club.

Rockies GM Jeff Bridich has already shown a willingness to part with well-loved superstars, as he shipped out shortstop Troy Tulowitzki last summer in a bid to bolster the team’s stock of young pitching. Certainly, both Gonzalez and Blackmon would profile as major assets that should draw top-quality prospects if they follow Tulo out the door.

Padres, Adrian Morejon Agree To $11MM Bonus

By Steve Adams | July 7, 2016 at 5:05pm CDT

5:05pm: Badler has an updated scouting report on Morejon and some details on the contract. Morejon’s deal is structured as a 2017 contract, according to Badler, so he won’t play in any official games for San Diego this year. Rather, he’ll spend the next two months pitching in simulated games at the Padres’ academy in the Dominican Republic and then report to the instructional league in September. The structuring of the contract means that they’ll have an extra year before it’s necessary to add him to the 40-man roster as protection from the Rule 5 Draft. Despite his youth, Morejon could be pitching for one of the Padres’ Class-A affiliates next season, Badler adds. The free report has plenty of additional info on Morejon and some quotes from an international scouting director, so it’s well worth a full read-through.

3:55pm: The Padres have agreed to a deal with Cuban left-hander Adrian Morejon that will pay the 17-year-old an enormous $11MM bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). Morejon was formally declared a free agent by Major League Baseball just yesterday. Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote back in May that the Padres were the favorites to sign Morejon, and Sanchez said the same yesterday when reporting that Morejon had become eligible to sign.

San Diego has already soared past its league-allotted bonus pool, meaning that they’ll pay a 100 percent luxury tax on the signing. As such, Morejon effectively costs the club $22MM. The Padres last week signed 10 of international prospects (including a few of the top names on this year’s market), and while the terms of each agreement aren’t yet available, those expenditures topped $12.5MM. Morejon’s bonus is far and away the largest of the bunch.

Morejon was absent from the rankings of Sanchez and Badler due to the fact that he wasn’t technically a free agent when those reports were published. However, Sanchez notes in his tweet that he’d have ranked Morejon as the No. 2 prospect on this year’s market, and Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen agreed when ranking the international prospects on Fangraphs’ sortable scouting board. Longenhagen’s projections give Morejon the chance to have three plus pitches — fastball, curveball and changeup — with above-average command. He currently sits 89-92 mph with his heater and tops out at 94, per Longenhagen, though given his age, he’s of course quite a ways from realizing that potential. Badler called him one of the best Cuban players available to MLB clubs back in February (Morejon had already left Cuba but was not yet a free agent at that point), writing that scouts to whom he spoke believed Morejon to be a more promising prospect than the considerably more-talked-about Lazaro Armenteros.

The Padres were allotted a bonus pool of $3.347MM, meaning they’ll be faced with more than $20MM worth of luxury tax penalties even if their spending stops today. Given the aggressive nature of their run at this year’s crop of international talent, though, it seems unlikely that the Padres will call it a day right now. They’ll be barred from signing any international amateurs for more than $300K in each of the next two signing periods due to their overspending, so it makes sense to continue to aggressively pursue talent between now and June 15, 2017, when the current international signing period comes to a close.

Matt Harvey Weighing Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Treatment Options

By Jeff Todd and Steve Adams | July 7, 2016 at 2:51pm CDT

Mets righty Matt Harvey has been found to have symptoms consistent with thoracic outlet syndrome, GM Sandy Alderson told reporters including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). Harvey is still weighing whether to have season-ending surgery now or instead to undergo a therapy for the time being. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin writes that the alternative to surgery would be a nerve-block injection, though that would merely be a temporary fix to the problem at hand. Surgery to alleviate his symptoms are inevitable, but it’s possible that he could delay the procedure until the offseason if he elects the injection route.

Harvey’s dilemma marks a continuation of injury problems that have impacted the Mets’ much-ballyhooed young rotation. Right-hander Noah Syndergaard is pitching through a minor bone spur in his right elbow, while lefty Steven Matz is currently pitching through a bone spur in his own elbow that is said to be larger than that of Syndergaard. And, of course, the Mets have been without the highly talented Zack Wheeler since 2014, as the now-26-year-old righty underwent Tommy John surgery just prior to Opening Day 2015. Notably, DiComo tweets that Wheeler isn’t an option to replace Harvey anytime in the near future, as the club has stopped providing a timetable for his return.

The 2016 season has been a struggle for Harvey, as he’s pitched to a 4.86 ERA with diminished strikeout (7.4 K/9), walk (2.4 BB/9) and ground-ball (40.8 percent) rates while also seeing a 1.5 mph dip in his fastball velocity. Those hardships come on the heels of a 2015 campaign in which his innings total was the source of a prolonged controversy. There was talk of shutting Harvey down for the year, as he had undergone his own Tommy John surgery in 2014, but he ultimately tossed a combined 216 innings between the regular season and the playoffs — the highest total ever for a pitcher in his first full season back from Tommy John. Of course, it’s not clear that last season’s workload had any direct impact on his new injury.

From a replacement standpoint, the Mets have a number of options, as can be seen on their depth chart. Logan Verrett will start this weekend in Harvey’s place and could be a rotation option alongside Syndergaard, Matz, Jacob deGrom and Bartolo Colon. Alternatively, Sean Gilmartin could make some starts for the club after enjoying a successful 2015 run as a member of the bullpen following his selection in the Rule 5 Draft (he’s been starting at Triple-A this year). Rafael Montero could again be an option, though he’s struggled tremendously in the minors this season. Right-handers Robert Gsellman and Gabriel Ynoa are in the Triple-A rotation and already on the 40-man roster. And, the Mets have also already brought Seth Lugo up to the Majors once this season and could turn to him for spot starts or long relief work if needed.

While surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome isn’t as common as Tommy John surgery, there’s no shortage of pitchers that have elected the procedure in recent years. Twins right-hander Phil Hughes had this exact surgical procedure earlier this week, and Royals righty Chris Young credits this surgery for revitalizing his career. Others that have undergone the operation include Mike Adams, Jaime Garcia, Shaun Marcum, Chris Carpenter and Josh Beckett. There are varying levels of success in the treatment, as explored by Nick Lampe of SB Nation’s Beyond the Box Score last summer.

2017 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

By Tim Dierkes | July 6, 2016 at 11:55pm CDT

Multiple contract-year hitters raked in the month of June. Edwin Encarnacion, Carlos Beltran, Kendrys Morales, Ian Desmond, Wilson Ramos, Michael Saunders, Luis Valbuena, Mark Trumbo, and Justin Turner came up big, and many more have showed well since the most recent installment of our Free Agent Power Rankings back on June 2. The starting pitching side was much lighter, with nice runs from Bud Norris and Doug Fister.

While no extensions were signed, there was still plenty of movement in the Power Rankings based on June events. Below, I’ve ranked the 2016-17 free agents by earning power. You can view the full list of free agents here.

1. Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes remains on pace for his first 40 home run season, which should compel him to opt out of the remaining two years and $47.5MM on his contract with the Mets shortly after his 31st birthday in October. Cespedes will start in the outfield for the NL All-Star team, and he’s currently the only free agent I project to land a six-year deal well in excess of $100MM.

2. Jose Bautista. Bautista, 36 in October, suffered a toe injury in mid-June and won’t return until after the All-Star break. A four-year deal still seems plausible, with precedents such as Victor Martinez and Ben Zobrist. Still, the fourth year is not a lock for Bautista, who is on track for his worst season since becoming a full-time player with the Blue Jays.

3. Edwin Encarnacion. Bautista’s teammate had a much better month. Encarnacion smashed 11 home runs in June and has been named to the AL All-Star team. As he’s shown with mammoth months in years past, EE can go on a hot streak with the best of them. His free agent stock is suppressed for two reasons: he’ll turn 34 in January, and he’s probably limited to the American League as a primary designated hitter. Nonetheless, his contract projection is starting to approach that of Bautista: four years at a total of $80MM or more.

4. Josh Reddick. Reddick returned to Oakland’s lineup on June 28th after missing over a month with a fractured thumb. On June 26th, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the A’s and Reddick “appear to be far apart” on a contract extension, and there are no indications of recent progress. Slusser reported a few days later that the Royals have interest in trading for Reddick, and Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com has also linked the Giants to the right fielder. Five days ago, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd ranked Reddick as the No. 3 trade candidate in the game. So Reddick may be on the move this month, which could remove a qualifying offer from the equation this winter. While I have projected Reddick for a five-year deal previously, a safer call might be four years.

5. Kenley Jansen. Jansen’s excellence continues for the Dodgers, and he’s been awarded with his first career All-Star nod. The 28-year-old closer from Curaçao will look to shatter Jonathan Papelbon’s record contract for a reliever. Papelbon signed a four-year, $50MM deal in November 2011, so we’re definitely due for a new precedent five years later. Jansen’s ceiling could be around five years and $70MM.

6. Ian Desmond. I wasn’t prepared to award Desmond a spot in our top ten last month, and he proceeded to put up monster numbers in June. Desmond is the current wins above replacement leader among projected free agents, at 3.9. He’s in the midst of the best offensive season of his career and has proven to be above average in both left and center field defensively for the Rangers. It’s been an extremely successful makeover for the former Nationals shortstop, who made the All-Star team for the second time in his career. Desmond, who turns 31 in September, seems a good bet for a four-year deal north of $60MM.

7. Aroldis Chapman. Chapman has been dominant in his 22 innings for the Yankees, dropping his walk rate well below his career norm in the small sample. He ranked seventh on Jeff Todd’s trade candidate list last week. The Yankees are below .500 and four games out in the Wild Card standings, and they have the rest of the month to decide whether to sell. Chapman currently sits below Jansen in terms of free-agent earning power because of his domestic violence incident last year.

8. Wilson Ramos. Ramos’ breakout season continued with a huge month of June, and he makes this list for the first time. The 28-year-old Nationals catcher, who is hitting .335/.390/.554, made the All-Star team for the first time in his career. A four-year deal is starting to look possible for Ramos, who will be a young free agent. Even after Francisco Cervelli’s extension with the Pirates, this free agent class offers solid options at catcher with Ramos and fellow All-Star Matt Wieters.

9. Dexter Fowler. Fowler suffered a hamstring injury on June 18th and had been scuffling prior to that. He was voted onto the NL All-Star team, one of seven Cubs to make the roster. Fowler is hopeful he’ll be able to participate in the All-Star game next Tuesday. Looking at his free agent stock, two strong months won’t be enough for Fowler to lock in a four-year deal. A strong, healthy finish will be key, given Fowler’s injury history prior to 2015.

10. Mark Trumbo. We had many candidates for this spot, but Trumbo gets the nod for the second consecutive month. The 30-year-old right fielder/first baseman leads the American League with 24 home runs and has been named to his second career All-Star team. Barring injury, Trumbo should fly past his career high of 34 home runs, set in 2013 with the Angels. While he’s a one-dimensional player, a 40 home run season would be difficult to ignore in free agency.

Four players came close to landing a spot within the top ten: Matt Wieters, Michael Saunders, Carlos Gomez, and Justin Turner. All of them played well in June, and Gomez had his best month in a long time. A difficult month pushed the Mets’ Neil Walker off our list, while Rich Hill lost his spot due to a groin injury.

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By Tim Dierkes | July 6, 2016 at 7:50pm CDT

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Pirates To Promote Tyler Glasnow

By Steve Adams | July 6, 2016 at 9:25am CDT

9:25am: Glasnow will actually debut tomorrow against the Cardinals, Olney now tweets. Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that Glasnow’s promotion was in part driven by uncertainty surrounding Niese’s left knee. Niese’s start has been pushed from Thursday to Sunday, and he’s being examined in Pittsburgh today.

8:39am: The Pirates will promote top prospect Tyler Glasnow to make a start this weekend against the Cubs, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter).

The 22-year-old Glasnow entered the season rated as a consensus top 15 prospect throughout the game and has worked to a 1.78 ERA through 96 innings at the Triple-A level this season. While he’s averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in that time, he’s also averaged 4.9 walks per nine, so there are certainly some control issues that need to be further smoothed out. That high walk rate notwithstanding, Glasnow has yielded just 13 hits over his past 40 frames.

Entering the season, Baseball America rated Glasnow as the No. 14 prospect in baseball, writing that he featured a fastball that sits 94-96 mph but tops out at 99 mph and appears even faster than that to hitters due to his 6’8″ frame. Glasnow also offers a curve and a changeup, the former of which BA termed “unhittable when he has command of it.” MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis rated Glasnow as the No. 10 prospect and praised his clean delivery but noted that he struggles to consistently repeat it due to his size. ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him fourth on his midseason update of the game’s Top 25 prospects, calling him a future ace. Virtually any scouting report one can find on Glasnow agrees that his ceiling is that of a top-of-the-rotation starter, and the Pirates undoubtedly have visions of Glasnow and fellow top prospect Jameson Taillon joining current ace Gerrit Cole atop their rotation for the next several years in their perfect-world scenario.

Pittsburgh currently has Cole, Taillon and Ryan Vogelsong on the Major League disabled list, so the need for some rotation help is understandable. Those injuries, combined with struggles from veterans such as Francisco Liriano and Jon Niese, have led to season-long rotation problems. As such, the Bucs have had to dip into their farm system on multiple occasions to help patch things up; Pittsburgh received four good innings from left-hander Steven Brault in his big league debut yesterday and, and rookie right-hander Chad Kuhl has also made a pair of starts in the past week. The overall results for the starting staff haven’t been pretty, as Pirates starters rank 20th in the Majors with a 4.67 ERA and 21st with 464 innings thrown. Glasnow will become the 11th player to make a start for the team in 2016.

Innings don’t figure to be as significant of an issue with Glasnow as they are with Taillon, who didn’t pitch in 2014-15 due to injuries. However, Glasnow did total a fairly limited 109 1/3 innings last season between Double-A and Triple-A (an ankle injury cost him about a month of the season), and his career-high for innings pitched came back in 2014, when he totaled 143 2/3 frames between Class-A Advanced and the Arizona Fall League. As such, the Bucs will probably keep an eye on his workload moving forward.

Exactly how he factors into the rotation plans moving forward is yet unclear — this could be a spot start, or Glasnow could make regular starts with innings/pitch limits moving forward — but given the team’s injuries and the presence of Brault and Kuhl in the current rotation picture, it certainly seems possible that there’s a permanent spot to be won. If Glasnow is indeed in the Majors to stay, he’d be controllable through the 2022 season and would not be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 season. He won’t sniff Super Two eligibility as it stands right now, as he’d finish the year with 87 days of Major League service time if he’s promoted on Friday and sticks through season’s end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Royals Place Wade Davis On DL, Select Contract Of Brooks Pounders

By Steve Adams | July 5, 2016 at 11:57am CDT

The Royals have placed closer Wade Davis on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain and selected the contract of right-hander Brooks Pounders to take his spot in the 25-man roster. In order to clear room for Pounders on the 40-man roster, Kansas City has designated left-hander Tyler Olson for assignment.

Davis, 29, has once again been one of baseball’s most dominant relievers this season, firing 29 1/3 innings of 1.23 ERA ball, though he’s seen his strikeout and walk ratios trend in the wrong direction, averaging 8.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9. The Royals are fairly well equipped when it comes to replacing Davis, as fellow righty Kelvin Herrera has arguably been more dominant, hurling 38 2/3 innings with a 1.40 ERA with 11.4 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9. However, the overall relief corps will be thinned out by the loss of Davis. Joakim Soria, who has righted the ship since an ugly April, will presumably become the club’s top eighth-inning arm with Davis on the shelf, while Luke Hochevar seems likely to take on a larger role as well.

Pounders, 25, was a second-round pick of the Pirates back in 2009 and was acquired by the Royals in a seemingly minor 2011 trade that sent Yamaico Navarro to Pittsburgh. He’s steadily raised his stock in the Royals’ farm system and is having one of the best seasons of his career in 2016, having logged a 2.80 ERA with a 78-to-28 K/BB ratio in 64 1/3 innings. Pounders currently ranks 28th on MLB.com’s list of top 30 Royals prospects; Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis write that Pounders has a 91-94 mph fastball that can touch 97 mph in shorter relief stints as well as an inconsistent slider that looks like a plus pitch at times.

Olson, 26, has ridden the DFA carousel from the Mariners to the Dodgers to the Yankees to the Royals in the past calendar year. He owns a 4.81 ERA with a 23-to-10 K/BB ratio in 33 2/3 innings in Triple-A this season and a 4.60 ERA in 88 career innings at that level. While he’s yet to have much in the way of success at the MLB level or even in the upper-levels of the minors, Olson has yet to make it through waivers, as clubs continue to be intrigued enough by his arm to dedicate a 40-man roster spot. It’s possible, then, that he’ll soon land with his fifth organization since December.

Tigers Place Jordan Zimmermann On 15-Day DL With Neck Strain

By Mark Polishuk | July 4, 2016 at 4:08pm CDT

The Tigers have placed right-hander Jordan Zimmermann on the 15-day DL due to a strained neck, the team announced (via Twitter). Anibal Sanchez will take Zimmermann’s next scheduled start, while Dustin Molleken has been called up from Triple-A to round out the bullpen.

[Related: updated Tigers depth chart at Roster Resources]

The DL placement was retroactive to July 1, so Zimmermann is eligible to return during Detroit’s first series after the All-Star break (an important AL Central matchup with the Royals). He will miss at least two starts due to the injury, however, landing another blow to a beleaguered Tigers rotation.

Zimmermann signed a five-year, $110MM deal with the Tigers last winter and began his stint in the Motor City in spectacular fashion. He won AL Pitcher of the Month honors for April by posting an 0.55 ERA over five starts, and while some regression was inevitable, the righty has been inconsistent in June. Zimmermann missed a start due to a minor groin injury in late May, and he has since posted a 6.43 ERA over six starts and 35 innings.

For the full season, Zimmermann has a 3.95 ERA, 3.33 K/BB rate and 5.6 K/9. He is on track to post the lowest K/9 of his career, and his average fastball velocity has dropped to a career-low 91.9 mph. That being said, the right-hander is also using his fastball much less than usual — only 52.5% of Zimmermann’s pitches have been fastballs this season, as he is throwing his slider with more regularity. ERA predictors such as xFIP (4.56) and SIERA (4.59) indicate that Zimmermann has perhaps been a bit fortunate to only have a 3.95 ERA at this point.

Sanchez lost his rotation job last month after posting a 6.67 ERA over his first 56 2/3 innings of the season. He has performed better out of the pen (a 2.84 ERA in 12 1/3 IP), and given how he is owed at least $29MM through the end of the 2017 season, the Tigers certainly hope Sanchez has regained some of his old form.

MLB Imposes International Signing Ban On Red Sox, Voids Five Contracts

By Steve Adams | July 1, 2016 at 10:57am CDT

The Red Sox have been banned from signing international amateurs that are subject to MLB’s bonus pools for the 2016-17 signing period, reports Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. Furthermore, five prospects that the Sox signed during the 2015-16 signing period have been declared free agents that are free to sign with new teams beginning tomorrow, though each player will retain the initial bonus money he received from Boston. Per Passan’s report, right-hander Cesar Gonzalez, outfielders Albert Guiamaro and Simon Muzziotti, and infielders Antonio Pinero and Eduardo Torrealba. The first $300K of their bonuses will not count toward their new teams’ international bonus pools in the upcoming period, he adds.

The punishment handed down stems from Boston’s usage of “package deals” to circumvent restrictions that were placed upon them for the 2015-16 international signing period. Boston’s signing of Yoan Moncada near the end of the 2014-15 signing period meant that the team was easily into the top penalty bracket for international signings and was supposed to bar the team from signing international amateurs (players under the age of 23 and/or with fewer than five years of pro experience) for the next two signing periods. However, Boston circumvented that limitation by “packaging” more premium prospects with lesser prospects; that is, paying $300K for multiple prospects that employ the same trainers/agents and then allowing the players’ representatives to divide the lion’s share of the collective sums to the top prospect of the bunch, with the lesser prospects receiving a smaller portion of the money.

While some will note that “package” signings have been around for quite some time, this is the first instance in which a club that was restricted by the league under the new penalties has directly utilized this tactic to sign high-caliber talent by rather devious means. As Baseball America’s Ben Badler recently laid out, previous “package deals” haven’t expressly been utilized to avoid penalization from the league. Rather, examples of package deals have been to convince a trainer/agent to allow his player to sign with a team by agreeing to take on a lesser prospect or to convince a player to sign with a team by also signing the player’s friend or sibling. Badler does note that there have been instances of a team signing a player in one international signing period as a means of enticing his trainer into an agreement for a different player in the following signing period, but those haven’t been brokered by teams that are already under the maximum penalty bracket.

Stepping back and looking at this from the perspective of players on the upcoming international market, the punishment from MLB likely voids a fair number of agreements that were already in place between Boston and prospects out of Latin America. Badler recently reported that Venezuelan Roimer Bolivar, whom he had ranked as the No. 31 prospect on this year’s market, was expected to sign with Boston. Beyond that, the Sox were expected to sign shortstops Erik Pena and Raymond Mora as well as catchers Christian Longa and Wilfredo Astudillo. Now, that quintet of players (and presumably several more unreported teenagers) will be on the lookout for new clubs with which to sign. While they’ll undoubtedly find teams interested in paying them, their market may be more limited, as many clubs that aren’t planning to exceed their pool have likely already come close to maxing out their allotted spending limit with advance agreements.

As for the Red Sox, they’ll still be able to sign pool-exempt international players (e.g. Yulieski Gurriel, Jose Miguel Fernandez, Yadiel Hernandez), but such players will be the only types of free agents able to be signed to contracts until next July 2, when the 2017-18 international signing period kicks off.

Marlins Acquire Fernando Rodney

By Steve Adams | June 30, 2016 at 11:59pm CDT

Declaring their intentions to push for the postseason in 2016, the Marlins have struck a deal to acquire veteran right-hander Fernando Rodney from the Padres. Miami parted with interesting young righty Chris Paddack in the swap, which ESPN’s Keith Law first reported (Twitter links).

Rodney, 39, is in the midst of his latest rebound campaign, having posted a sparkling 0.31 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a career-best 59 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings as San Diego’s closer. He’s saved 17 games for the Friars, but he may be ticketed for setup duties with the Fish, as Miami’s A.J. Ramos has had a strong season of his own. The 29-year-old Ramos has posted a 1.74 ERA and averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings, although he’s also seen his control abandon him somewhat in 2016, as he’s averaging a somewhat troublesome 5.2 walks per nine innings.

Miami started from behind in the bullpen this year when Carter Capps went down to Tommy John surgery and Kyle Barraclough failed to win a job out of camp. Things have ticked up, with David Phelps emerging as a quality option and Barraclough returning with his two-true-outcomes approach (over half of the batters he faces strike out or walk). But the Fish also saw Bryan Morris go down mid-season, taking another set-up man out of the picture, and the overall unit has suffered from a lack of depth.

Adding Rodney will not only infuse another high-octane arm at the back of the pen, but will increase the quality of the pitching appearing in other situations. That’s not to say that things are perfect now; in particular, adding a quality lefty would appear to make sense. And while the team is largely set on the offensive side of the fence, but has long been said to have interest in a starter or two.

[Related: Updated Marlins Depth Chart]

The Marlins typically operate with a notoriously slim payroll, but Rodney’s contract is affordable enough that virtually any club could’ve fit him onto its ledger. He’s earning a $1.6MM base salary this season, and his contract includes a club option for the 2017 campaign that comes with a $2MM buyout. The pact does contain incentives that could bring the value of both his 2016 salary and his 2017 option to $7MM, though a large portion of those incentives are tied to games finished.

Thus far, Rodney has locked in an additional $250K for completing 20 games, and he’d earn that same amount again upon reaching 30 games finished. Rodney would earn $500K for reaching 40 games finished and an additional $500K for every five games finished beyond that point through 65 games, but if he’s working in a setup capacity, his chances to close out games will naturally be limited. Rodney also earns $500K for appearing in his 40th, 50th and 60th games of the season.

All told, it seems likely to expect that Rodney will earn at least $2.85MM this season (20 games finished, plus appearing in at least 50 games), and the value of his conditional club option will increase to match that sum. Even if Rodney clears $3MM in 2016 earnings, that’d still be a more than reasonable price based on his 2016 output to date.

In order to gain the low cost and relatively high-upside reliever, Miami had to part with a fairly intriguing prospect. Paddack was just an eighth-round pick in the 2015 draft, but he has been nothing short of remarkable at the Class A level in 2016. Over 28 1/3 innings, he has allowed a ridiculous nine hits and carries a brilliant 0.95 ERA with a 48-to-2 K/BB ratio. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis rate him the 17th-best prospect on an poorly-regarded Marlins farm — the same offseason ranking he received from Baseball America — but it seems fair to say that his star is on the rise.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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