Marlins Open Extension Talks With Fernandez, Yelich, Hechavarria
The Marlins have opened long-term extension talks with injured ace Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich and Adeiny Hechavarria, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. As Rosenthal notes, nothing is close with any of the three. Fernandez, a client of Scott Boras, is a particularly long shot to be extended. Boras typically encourages his clients to test the open market, and while his players have on rare occasion signed long-term deals before reaching that point (e.g. Carlos Gonzalez and Carlos Gomez), Fernandez isn’t in a great spot to talk contract as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.
It’s not hard to see why Miami would have interest in extending Fernandez, however, as he was among the game’s most dominant young arms before undergoing surgery and figures to get back to that point in the near future. The former first-rounder skipped Double-A and Triple-A entirely and debuted in the Majors as a 20-year-old. While that jump would be difficult for most, Fernandez had no trouble acclimating to the Majors and notched a ludicrous 2.25 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 through his first 224 1/3 innings. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 2013 and finished third in the NL Cy Young balloting that season.
Fernandez is controlled through 2018, although now that he’s missed a season with injury, the Marlins’ decision to have him break camp in 2013 looks even more questionable; Miami could’ve secured another year of team control by leaving him in the minors for just three weeks or so. Of course, if an extension is worked out, that will be a relatively moot point (though still puzzling, in principle).
Yelich, 23 in a month, quietly enjoyed a breakout season. Also a former first-round pick, he batted .284/.362/.402 with nine homers, 21 steals and excellent defense in left field. Baseball-Reference valued him at 3.6 WAR, while Fangraphs pegged him for 4.3 WAR. Yelich can be controlled through 2019 and won’t be arbitration eligible for two more years, so there’s no immediate urgency for the Marlins to extend him. He’s repped by Paragon Sports.
Hechavarria, 26 next April, is a client of Praver-Shapiro Sports and is a more curious case. While most acknowledge that he has the tools to be an excellent shortstop, most defensive metrics peg him as below-average at shortstop despite his affinity for highlight-reel plays. He’s under control through 2018 and isn’t arbitration eligible until next winter. Hechavarria posted an improved .276/.308/.356 batting line in 2014, though his offense still hasn’t caught up to its minor league levels, where he slashed .327/.376/.446 with eight homers in 606 Triple-A plate appearances.
In addition to this group, the Marlins are, of course, trying to extend franchise cornerstone Giancarlo Stanton. Earlier today, reports indicated that talks are ongoing and the Marlins are aware of and comfortable with the fact that Stanton may cost $28-30MM annually.
All 12 Players Reject Qualifying Offer
Last Monday, 12 players received one-year, $15.3MM qualifying offers. Max Scherzer, Victor Martinez, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, James Shields, Russell Martin, Nelson Cruz, David Robertson, Ervin Santana, Francisco Liriano, Melky Cabrera and Michael Cuddyer were all on the receiving end of the offer. The deadline to accept or reject the offer is today at 4pm CT.
A quick primer for those who are unfamiliar: Baseball’s newest collective bargaining agreement did away with the old Type A/B designations for free agent draft pick compensation. The newer system, which is now in its third year, allows teams to make qualifying offers to a player that has spent the entire season with that organization (i.e. players traded midseason are ineligible). That offer is set at the average salary of baseball’s 125 highest-paid players. Should the player reject, a new team will be required to forfeit its top unprotected pick to sign that player (the top 11 picks of this year’s draft are protected). His former team then receives a comp pick at the end of the first round. To this point, none of the 22 players to receive a QO have accepted.
The expectation is that most of the players who received the QO, with the possible exception of Cuddyer, will reject. We’ll keep track of the players that reject the QO here…
- Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio tweets that no player has accepted this year’s qualifying offer.
- MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports that Martinez has rejected the qualifying offer (Twitter link).
- Robertson has turned down the Yankees’ qualifying offer, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link).
- Cuddyer, of course, has essentially rejected his qualifying offer by agreeing to a two-year deal with the Mets.
Earlier Updates
- Ramirez has rejected the Dodgers‘ QO, Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweets. As perhaps the top position player on this year’s open market, the move comes as little surprise. Ramirez figures to seek a contract north of $100MM+ as a free agent.
- Santana will reject the Braves‘ qualifying offer and search for a multi-year deal on the open market, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The move was widely expected after Santana enjoyed a solid season with the Braves. As he showed last winter, even if the market doesn’t materialize for him in the form of a multi-year deal, a one-year offer at or near the value of a QO is still attainable, so there’s little downside in trying to cash in.
- Both Sandoval and Martin have reportedly rejected their QOs prior to today’s deadline. Sandoval rejected his in the middle of last week, while news of Martin rejecting came last night.
Francisco Liriano Rejects Qualifying Offer
Pirates lefty Francisco Liriano has officially rejected his qualifying offer, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Many have speculated that Liriano was a candidate to be the first player to accept a qualifying offer, but he and agent Greg Genske of the Legacy Agency will head into the open market in search of a multi-year deal instead. As I noted in Liriano’s free agent profile last week, even if the market doesn’t materialize the way they’d hoped, a one-year deal at or near the rate of the qualifying offer should be available late in the offseason, as it was for Ervin Santana. I pegged Liriano for a three-year, $40MM contract in that profile even with a QO attached.
Liriano, who turns 31 this offseason, was excellent in a pair of injury-shortened seasons with the Pirates. In 323 1/3 innings, he pitched to a 3.20 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 4.0 BB/9 and a 52.4 percent ground-ball rate. His K/9 rate over the past two seasons is second only to Max Scherzer among free agents, and his ground-ball rate ranks fourth. Liriano’s injuries weren’t the most troubling with Pittsburgh, either. He broke his non-throwing arm in a fall in his apartment in the 2012-13 offseason and suffered an oblique strain that kept him out for the first month of 2014.
Mets Sign Michael Cuddyer
3:29pm: Cuddyer’s contract is a two-year, $21MM pact, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that he’ll earn $8.5MM in 2015 and $12.5MM in 2016. Essentially, by turning down the qualifying offer, Cuddyer guaranteed himself an additional $5.7MM and a second year.
2:40pm: The Mets announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Michael Cuddyer to a two-year contract.
Cuddyer, a client of Excel Sports Management’s Casey Close, was the surprise recipient of a qualifying offer last week that caused many to believe that he would be the first to accept the offer. However, Colorado’s decision to extend the QO appears to have been a wise one, as they’ll now net a draft pick at the end of next year’s first round for their loss. The Mets, on the other hand, will forfeit the 15th pick in next year’s draft in order to bring Cuddyer to Queens.
Cuddyer, 36 in March, has long been rumored to be a target of the Mets, although last week’s QO from the Rockies was said at the time to kill their interest in 35-year-old free agent. Clearly, that was either posturing on the Mets’ behalf or something in their thinking changed. He’ll join the Mets’ outfield alongside Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson and add some punch to the middle of manager Terry Collins’ order.
The signing also allows the Mets to play Cuddyer at first base against left-handed pitching, should the team wish to platoon Lucas Duda, who is a career .212/.292/.317 hitter against southpaws. Cuddyer, on the other hand, has feasted on left-handed pitching in his career, hitting them at a .291/.378/.504 clip. Cuddyer also has extensive experience at first base.
Cuddyer is coming off a strong three-year stretch with the Rockies, and while many will point to Coors Field as a large reason for his gaudy numbers, he hit well away from the Denver launching pad as well. Cuddyer hit .307/.362/.505 as a Rockie and batted .286/.332/.463 on the road during that time. He took home the NL Batting Title in 2013 and batted .331/.385/.543 over the past two seasons. However, a trio of DL stints limited him to 49 games in 2014. Cuddyer had a hamstring strain in each of his legs and also suffered a fracture in his shoulder suffered in a dive for a ball while playing away from his natural position at third base.
From a financial standpoint, Cuddyer’s $8.5MM 2015 salary would appear to eat up a significant portion of the payroll that the Mets have moving forward. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin noted last month that if the team made a free agent signing that pushed the payroll north of $100MM, a corresponding trade could be made to offset the increase. The Mets could move some salary by trading a veteran such as Bartolo Colon, Daniel Murphy or Jon Niese. Colon may not bring a huge return, given his $11MM salary, but moving either Murphy or Niese would likely return some legitimate talent while simultaneously dropping the club’s payroll. Murphy is projected by MLBTR contibutor Matt Swartz to earn $8.3MM, while Niese is guaranteed a $7MM salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Braves Sign Zoilo Almonte To Major League Deal
The Braves announced that they’ve signed outfielder Zoilo Almonte to a one-year, Major League contract. The team also officially announced its minor league deal with Chien-Ming Wang and added that they’ve signed lefty Donnie Veal to a minor league contract. Both Wang and Veal receive invites to Spring Training.
Almonte, 25, has seen previous big league action with the Yankees in parts of two Major League seasons. He’s batted .211/242/.282 in 149 total plate appearances in the bigs, but his Triple-A track record is far better. In 173 games at that level, Almonte has authored a .275/.333/.431 triple-slash line. He has more than 100 games of experience at each outfield spot in the minor leagues, though he’s spent more time in the corners, specifically right field, than in center.
Rays Interviewing Managerial Candidates
NOV. 10: The Rays added a pair of managerial candidates to the mix today in the form of Barry Larkin and Doug Glanville, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
NOV. 9: The Rays conducted phone interviews with Wakamatsu, Counsell, and Ibanez on Friday and are expected to speak with Montoyo, Wotus, and Cash during this week’s GM Meetings in Phoenix, reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin.
NOV. 8: The Rays interviewed Martinez and Acta today, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets.
NOV. 6: The Rays have announced their list of preliminary managerial candidates (Twitter links). With Joe Maddon’s surprising departure, a key order of business for new president of baseball operations Matthew Silverman is finding a replacement to lead the dugout. In a statement, Silverman called the list “preliminary” and said it was expected to “grow as [the Rays] continue through [the hiring] process.”
Tampa Bay’s initial slate of options includes several familiar names, some of whom have been tied to other recent managerial openings. It includes:
- internal options Dave Martinez (bench coach) and Charlie Montoyo (Triple-A manager)
- former big league skippers Manny Acta and Don Wakamatsu (the latter of whom served as Royals bench coach last year)
- recent big league players Craig Counsell and Raul Ibanez (the former of whom is a special assistant to the Brewers and the latter of whom just finished a stint with the ALCS-champion Royals)
- Giants bench coach Ron Wotus and Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash
As one might have expected, that group brings a diverse group of possibilities to the Rays. Whoever ultimately takes the job will have big shoes to fill, as Maddon had emerged as one of the game’s most respected managers during his time in Tampa.
Ten Teams Showing Interest In Torii Hunter
At least ten teams have reached out to express interest in Torii Hunter, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and the free agent’s most aggressive suitors are in the very familiar AL Central. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Royals, Twins, Tigers, Cubs, Giants, Rangers and Mariners have all shown some early interest in Hunter (Twitter links). Hunter’s preference is to remain in Detroit, he adds, but his fate may be tied to that of Victor Martinez, as the Tigers likely can’t re-sign both.
Though Hunter turns 40 next July, he still enjoyed a productive season at the plate in a fairly pitcher-friendly home environment, hitting .286/.319/.446 with 17 homers in 586 plate appearances. His defensive game, however, appears to have slipped as Defensive Runs Saved pegged him at -18 runs and Ultimate Zone Rating agreed (-18.3).
Given his age, I’d think Hunter’s priority would be signing with a team he expects to contend in 2015 rather than maxing out his contract or perhaps making a sentimental return to his former Minneapolis stomping grounds.
Markakis’ Agent To Meet With Multiple Clubs This Week
Talks between the Orioles and Nick Markakis on a four-year deal appear to have stalled, as Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that Markakis’ agent, Jamie Murphy of TWC Sports, will meet with several clubs at this week’s GM Meetings. Asked if the Orioles were among the clubs with whom he planned to meet, Murphy told Connolly, “No, not at this time.”
According to Connolly, the two sides were at one point nearing agreement on a four-year pact that would have paid Markakis $10-12MM annually. However, the agreement was never reached, and the two sides haven’t had any meaningful discussions in a week, Connolly writes. Prior to today, Murphy had been negotiating exclusively with the Orioles, but that has changed, and he’ll now shop for a palatable deal with teams around the league. Connolly tweets that he doesn’t get the sense this latest development has closed the book on Markakis re-signing in Baltimore.
Markakis, who just recently won his second Gold Glove, is coming off a season in which he rebounded from a poor 2013 with a .276/.342/.386 batting line and 14 homers. Though he wasn’t the doubles machine that he was earlier in his career, he still posted a solid OBP and home run totals that are in line with his career norms. I profiled Markakis last month and projected him to sign a four-year, $48MM contract.
Angels Avoid Arbitration With Vinnie Pestano
11:34am: Pestano’s deal is worth $1.15MM, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter). MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had pegged him for a $1.2MM salary.
11:24am: The Angels announced that they have avoided arbitration with right-hander Vinnie Pestano by agreeing to a one-year contract for the 2015 season.
Pestano, a client of the Legacy Agency’s Greg Genske, was acquired by the Halos in August after the team claimed him from the Indians on revocable trade waivers. The 29-year-old had to be excited by the move, as it allowed him a chance to pitch in his hometown. Pestano, an Anaheim-area native, impressed in a short sample with the Angels, allowing just one run on five hits and four walks in 9 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts. Formerly a wipeout setup man for the Indians, his stock dropped in Cleveland prior to the trade. However, he still owns an excellent 2.83 ERA with 10.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 191 big league innings.
Blue Jays Interested In Victor Martinez
Earlier this morning, reports indicated that the Mariners are interested in, if not prioritizing Victor Martinez (as well as Hanley Ramirez), which meshes with previous reports that the team will likely show interest. As one of the top free agents on the market, Martinez will likely find his name swirling about the rumor mill, and we’ll keep track of today’s V-Mart talk here…
- The Blue Jays are now among the teams interested in Martinez, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Though the team perhaps has a greater need in the infield, Heyman writes that the trade of Adam Lind has opened a door for Martinez to fit into the picture in Toronto. Heyman hears that the Tigers and Mariners are the other two primary suitors in the early stages, noting that Martinez is high on Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik’s wish list.