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Latest On Contract Talks Between Indians, Corey Kluber

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TODAY: Kluber will earn $601K on his 2015 contract, according to the Associated Press (passed on by Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer).

YESTERDAY, 6:08pm: The Indians announced that Kluber has agreed to a contract for the 2015 season (on Twitter). While this indicates that no extension has been agreed to at this time, it certainly doesn’t rule out the possibility that a long-term deal could be reached prior to the beginning of the regular season.

9:02am: Top starter Corey Kluber is the Indians’ only unsigned player, and Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports that both the club and Kluber’s agents at Jet Sports Management are holding open the possibility of reaching agreement on a multi-year deal. Talks on a broader agreement could go past today’s deadline, per the report, though they seem unlikely to continue into the season.

Today is the deadline for club and player to settle on Kluber’s 2015 contract. If they cannot, Cleveland can renew him at any amount at or above league minimum. (Click here for an explanation of that process.)

As Hoynes notes, this spring might represent the most likely point for the sides to find common ground. Soon to turn 29, Kluber — the American League’s reigning Cy Young winner — will not reach arbitration eligibility until next season. When he does, he will not only obtain significant financial security but will also be within spitting distance of free agency. From the perspective of the Indians — an organization that has tended not to give out long-term pitching deals — promising money into Kluber’s thirties may only have appeal if the team can achieve a relative bargain.

I discussed Kluber’s extension candidacy last August. His bargaining position has certainly improved with the Cy Young under his belt, though that does not necessarily mean that a deal is more likely. My own guess is that the most likely scenario may be one in which the sides agree to a relatively short-term extension buying out some of Kluber’s arbitration seasons but not touching his free agency, thus providing him with some security in exchange for providing cost control to the club.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Kluber’s recent appearance on the MLBTR Podcast. Among other things, Kluber discusses his consistent preparation routine and ability to maintain his production after a big innings jump last season.

Latest On Bidding For Hector Olivera

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The Marlins recently made a seven-year, $53MM offer to Cuban infielder Hector Olivera, but “backed away after hearing” that the Dodgers had a significantly higher bid, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (Twitter links). According to the report, the Miami offer was made prior to Olivera’s recent agency change.

The report suggests that Olivera’s prior representatives led the Marlins to believe that the Dodgers were offering $77MM, with the Padres at $52MM and the Braves at $44MM. Given the switch in representation that has occurred and the industry scuttlebutt surrounding it — to say nothing of the fact that Olivera remains unsigned — it is far from clear that such offers were actually made.

Miami is still said to be comfortable paying Olivera in the $50MM range, so it would appear that the team’s interest is still live. And other reports have suggested that San Diego and Atlanta are likely also interested at or just below that level. The key question seemingly remains whether the Dodgers are willing to go above the other bidders, and if so by how much.

Latest On Extension Talks Between Twins, Brian Dozier

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MARCH 12: In a radio appearance on 1500 ESPN, Twins assistant GM Rob Antony told Darren Wolfson that nothing is close between the two sides (Twitter link). However, Wolfson hears from other sources that the two sides are still talking.

MARCH 3: 5:04pm: The Twins are set to meet with Lapa tomorrow, MLB.com’s Rhett Bolinger reports. Nothing is imminent right now, per the report.

7:59am: The Twins and second baseman Brian Dozier are making progress on an extension, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The deal is believed to be close, per Berardino’s source. Dozier, a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management’s Damon Lapa, naturally declined comment on any talks, though he did express a willingness and openness to signing a long-term pact. “I don’t want to be anywhere else,” he told Berardino. “If the opportunity presents itself, then I’m all for it. We’ll see.”

Dozier, 28 in May, has gone from a relatively unheralded prospect to what looks to be a potential long-term answer at second base for the Twins in short order. Over the past two seasons, he’s shown 20-homer, 20-steal capabilities and batted .243/.330/.415 with 41 homers and anywhere from slightly below-average defense to slightly above, depending on your metric of choice. (For what it’s worth, I consider Dozier to be underrated by defensive metrics.) Fangraphs has pegged him at 7.3 wins above replacement over the past two seasons, while Baseball-Reference, which likes his defense more, has him at about nine wins.

In terms of plate discipline, Dozier made a significant step forward in 2014, boosting his walk rate to 12.6 percent and cutting his strikeout rate to 18.2 percent. The uptick in walks bodes well for further positive OBP marks in the future, and if he can work to reduce his pop-ups (15 percent of his fly-balls are of the infield variety), he could harness that keen eye into better batting average marks down the line as well.

Dozier isn’t yet arbitration-eligible, and a look at MLBTR’s Extension Tracker shows a pair of potentially relevant comparables in extension talks; both Jason Kipnis and Matt Carpenter agreed to extensions in the $52MM range over six-year terms last spring when they were in Dozier’s same service class.

Gavin Floyd Re-Fractures Olecranon In Right Elbow

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MARCH 12: Per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter), Indians GM Chris Antonetti said on a television appearance that Floyd re-fractured the olecranon bone in his right elbow — the same injury that ended his season last year.

MARCH 10: Indians righty Gavin Floyd again has a stress fracture in his right elbow and will be out indefinitely, the club announced (Twitter links). Treatment options are still being assessed, but surgery is a possibility.

This was essentially the worst-case scenario for Cleveland when it promised Floyd $4MM to pitch for the club this season. While there was a reasonable chance that he would prove a bargain, at this point it appears that he will likely occupy a relatively significant amount of payroll space that might otherwise have been allocated to a more pressing need.

The team emphasized that a precise timeline is still dependent upon the course of action chosen, but it seems safe to assume that the Indians will not expect any contribution this year. That does not necessarily mean that an outside addition will be required, of course, as the team already had a good number of interesting young arms in its stable.

Hector Olivera Weighing Four- To Six-Year Offers

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Cuban infielder Hector Olivera is weighing offers that range from four to six years in length and could come to terms with a team this week, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez. Sanchez’s sources indicate that the Dodgers, Braves, Marlins, Padres, A’s and Giants have all shown a strong interest in Olivera, who will turn 30 early next month.

Olivera’s market has been anything but typical, as while scouts believe he’s Major League ready and could hit 15-20 homers with strong OBP marks right out of the gate, he also comes with myriad health issues and underwent a late change of representation, switching to the Legacy Agency’s Greg Genske earlier this week. Olivera has a blood disorder that at one time caused clotting in his biceps but is said to be cleared up now, and a report last week indicated that he may have damage to his ulnar collateral ligament as well. Olivera maintains that he is completely healthy, and multiple teams, including the Braves, Dodgers and Padres, have already conducted physicals.

Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro hears that Olivera’s price tag is expected to land in the $50MM range, and the Marlins are comfortable making an offer in that vicinity (though he does not specify the number of years, and clearly, $50MM over four years would be drastically different than $50MM over six). As for where he would play in Miami, Frisaro notes that the Marlins believe Olivera could handle all four infield positions, and the team would like to get Mike Morse a day or two off per week. They’d also like to keep Adeiny Hechavarria fresher at shortstop by resting him periodically.

Reports last night indicated that the Padres were weighing an offer that was worth “upwards of $50MM,” though no length of contract was specified. The Braves also reportedly have an offer on the table to Olivera, and their comfort zone is reportedly in the $30-40MM range.

Second Doctor Recommends TJ Surgery For Darvish

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Rangers ace Yu Darvish received a second opinion from Dr. David Altchek recommending that he undergo Tommy John surgery for his sprained ulnar collateral ligament, GM Jon Daniels told reporters including Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The club will seek a third opinion from Dr. James Andrews, and no decision has been finalized. Nevertheless, Daniels indicated that a UCL replacement procedure is on the horizon unless some new information comes to light.

While the injury could ensure that the team picks up an additional year of control over its best pitcher, that is scant consolation in the near term. Darvish, 28, is all but irreplaceable in terms of production. Rather than immediately pressing for an outside addition, Daniels says that the club plans to “fill from within,” as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.

Rays To Sign Jonny Venters

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The Rays have agreed to a two-year, minor league deal with lefty Jonny Venters, according to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune (via Twitter). Venters had spent all of his professional career with the Braves.

Once one of the game’s most-feared southpaw relievers, Venters has seen his career derailed by elbow troubles in recent years. He underwent his third Tommy John procedure in September, and will now look to accomplish the rare feat of returning to being a productive big leaguer after a trio of UCL replacements.

Soon to turn 30, Venters has not pitched in the big leagues since 2012. After a pair of sub-2.00 ERA, 80+ inning campaigns to start his career, Venters took a slight step back that year (3.22 ERA in 58 2/3 frames) while battling through elbow pain that sent him to the DL. He still seemed poised to continue the excellent start to his career, which included better than ten strikeouts per nine innings and nearly a 70% groundball rate, but went under the knife in March of 2013 and has not yet made it all the way back.

With a two-year minor league pact, Tampa will presumably look to provide Venters with rehab resources and bring him back slowly. It would be an achievement at this point for him to even get back to throwing at full effort, let alone to contribute to a big league pen, but there is at least some precedent in the form of pitchers like Jason Isringhausen.

Hector Olivera Hires New Representation

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8:10pm: Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel reports that Olivera is indeed with Genske/Legacy, but he’s still entertaining pitches from other agents, which is complicating the bidding process and raising a good deal of additional questions (Twitter link).

9:51am: In a late-breaking move, free agent Cuban infielder Hector Olivera has fired trainer (and negotiation representative) Rudy Santin, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports on Twitter. Replacing him will be veteran agent Greg Genske of the Legacy Agency, according to a tweet from Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

Despite the change of representation, bids are presently coming in for Olivera, according to Passan. While his precise timetable for signing remains unclear, it still appears that a signing will occur in relatively short order. Obviously, the club that lands Olivera will want to get him into camp as soon as possible.

Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs recently discussed some of Santin’s apparent tactics, which McDaniel says include an attempt to push public interest in his now-former client as a way of driving up bidding to levels that are not supported by the market. The early numbers that Olivera’s camp was seeing were disappointing, per McDaniel, at least when compared to the $70MM+ expectations that have been reported. And as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports explains (Twitter links), there were industry concerns with Santin’s work on behalf of Olivera since he was not a certified agent.

Padres Considering Roughly $50MM Offer For Olivera

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The Padres are positioning themselves as a favorite for Cuban second baseman Hector Olivera, considering an offer worth upwards of $50MM, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The Braves, A’s and Dodgers remain in the mix for Olivera, per Passan, but Atlanta and Oakland have balked at this level of financial commitment. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have yet to determine whether they want to make an aggressive bid for the 29-year-old Olivera.

As Passan notes, in spite of the high profile acquisitions of first-year GM A.J. Preller this winter, the Padres’ infield is a significant question mark. Scouts believe that Olivera can handle either second or third base, where the team respectively projects to start Jedd Gyorko and Will Middlebrooks.

The Padres aggressively pursued fellow Cubans Yasmany Tomas and Yoan Moncada this offseason, with Passan noting that they were so enamored with Moncada that they offered an invite to MLB Spring Training and a chance to win a spot on the Major League roster right out of the gate.

The Dodgers have Howie Kendrick and Juan Uribe slated to play second and third base, respectively, this season, but both are free agents at season’s end. The question in signing Olivera would be where to play him in the interim, as scouts believe that he’s capable of stepping into a Major League lineup almost immediately and providing excellent OBP marks with 15 to 20 home run power.

It’s been a heavy day in terms of Olivera news, with reports indicating that the Padres (along with the Dodgers and Braves) have already performed physicals on Olivera. The Braves are said to have made an offer for Olivera, though based on Passan’s report, it doesn’t seem like their offer is of the same magnitude as the offer currently being weighed by the Padres. Earlier this morning it was also reported that Olivera had fired his previous agents and signed on with Greg Genske of the Legacy Agency.

Cliff Lee Will Attempt To Pitch With Torn Flexor Tendon

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6:02pm: ESPN’s Jayson Stark spoke extensively with Lee, Amaro and head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan about the injury. Lee said he will play comfortably with the injury for as long as he can, but it no longer makes sense to play past the point of severe discomfort “where something bad can potentially happen.” Lee threw lightly today and said he felt “normal,” but he was also able to do that the day after initially reporting the discomfort.

Lee admitted that he’s debated retirement in the wake of this news. “I’ve got a family at home and I’ve been away from them for a long time, so that is part of the equation,” said Lee. “If I were to have the surgery, am I going to go through all that to try to pitch again, or am I going to shut it down? That’s a decision that I’ll have to make once that time comes, if that times comes.” Unsurprisingly, Stark did add, on Twitter, that he can’t envision Lee foregoing the remaining $37.5MM that he is owed.

12:25pm: After a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, Cliff Lee will attempt to pitch through a torn flexor tendon for the Phillies, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters including Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News (links to Twitter). A surgical option (not Tommy John) would be the next step if Lee experiences discomfort.

Amaro says that the team is “not terribly optimistic” that such a surgical result can be avoided. If he goes under the knife, Lee would be expected to miss six to eight months. Obviously that would mean a lost season, which would presumably also bring an end to his contract with the Phillies. Lee is under control for 2016 through a vesting/club option, but it would not be triggered if he misses the year and the club would be unlikely to pick it up at $27.5MM (against a $12.5MM buyout).

At this point, it is difficult to foresee a way for the Phillies to recover any value for the veteran lefty. A deal this spring is all but unimaginable, of course. And looking ahead to the trade deadline or beyond, the risk may be too great to support a market. Even if Lee can somehow perform at his historical standards and a 200-inning pace — the best case scenario — the vesting clause (it hits at 200 innings pitched) would loom as a potentially massive obligation. Regardless of trades scenarios, it is unfortunate to see as great a player as Lee struggle to stay on the field at this stage of his career.

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