Latest On Cardinals Outfield Situation
Harrison Bader has claimed the Cardinals centerfield job, per Derrick Goold, Benjamin Hochman, Rick Hummel and Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. If manager Mike Shildt decides to go with the dibs system this spring, Bader will be in excellent shape. Otherwise, he’s going to have to hit to stay the everyday man in center.
President of Baseball Ops John Mozeliak specifically mentioned a desire to see Bader become an “all-fields hitter,” while acknowledging that his offensive floor to remain a starter is lower than most in the game because of his elite defensive abilities. The .650 OPS he finished with in 2019 isn’t going to cut it – thought it’s worth noting that even with the .205/.314/.366 batting line, Bader put together a 2.0 bWAR season in 128 games.
The final note on Bader is that while the Cardinals have a handful of outfield options, none are suited specifically for center quite like him. That said, prospect Dylan Carlson, whom the Cardinals view as part of the 2020 picture, has spent a decent 43 percent of his minor league starts in center. The 21-year-old Carlson tore through the upper levels of the minors last year, hitting .292/.372/.542 across Double-A and Triple-A as a 20-year-old. Also mentioned, Lane Thomas – acquired in 2017 from the Blue Jays for international spending money – as a possibility for at-bats in center should Bader continue to struggle with the outside breaking ball.
Thomas, 24, played a total of 68 innings in center for the Cardinals in 2019, tearing it up in 44 plate appearances with a .316/.409/.684 small sample burst. In Fangraphs’ January prospect update, Thomas landed as the #8 ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, while Carlson came in at #2, behind only Nolan Gorman.
Along with Bader, Thomas, and Carlson, Tommy Edman looks like a fan favorite in the making, and he figures to get most of his playing time in the outfield while the Cardinals wait to see if Matt Carpenter bounces back. Even if Carpenter moves full time to the bench at some point, veteran Dexter Fowler enjoyed a bounce back season (of sorts) in 2019, tellingly appearing in 150 games as a clearly trusted veteran.
Read between the lines and it’s hard see how a reunion with Marcell Ozuna makes sense. That said, the Cardinals seem to be at least considering it. Speculatively speaking, the ongoing engagement could signal a willingness on Ozuna’s part to settle for a short-term pact.
Despite the outfielder’s interest in returning, the article notes that Mozeliak declined to answer when asked whether he has remained in touch with the 29-year-old. The Cardinals have enough coverage in the outfield to let Ozuna walk and feel okay about their depth. Besides the five potential outfielders mentioned above (Bader, Thomas, Carlson, Edman, Fowler), the Cardinals can also call on Rangel Ravelo, Tyler O’Neill, Justin Williams, or the recently acquired Austin Dean for outfield at-bats. If there’s a potential weakness in the Cardinals outfield, it’s depth in centerfield, where Ozuna does not help anyhow. Even there, depth is hardly a weakness. Bader and Carlson have immense potential while Fowler provides a veteran floor (though he’s more of a week-by-week stopgap at this point of his career).
Furthermore, payroll estimators peg the Cardinals opening day payroll somewhere between $162MM and $167MM. The low end of that spectrum would match last year’s opening day payroll, which was a franchise all-time high. That doesn’t paint a welcoming environment for a new Ozuna contract. Nor does it, before you ask, make the acquisition of Nolan Arenado‘s $26MM contract seem at that likely. That said, if there’s any takeaway from the 500-or-so words above, it’s that Mozeliak and GM Mike Girsch have an eye for contrivance in roster building.
NL Notes: Cubs, Morrow, Nationals, Turner, D’Backs, Hazen, Bryant
Cubs reliever Brandon Morrow is healthy, which has rarely been the case throughout his Cubs tenure. Morrow should be on schedule for the spring, though the Cubs are keeping open the possibility of bringing him along more slowly than the other pitchers in camp. A different schedule would be purely precautionary, however, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). Morrow arrived in Chicago as the heir apparent to Wade Davis, who had been the heir apparent to Aroldis Chapman before him. When healthy, Morrow has been nothing short of elite, but after just 35 appearances in 2018 followed by an entire season in absentia, Morrow enters 2020 in no better position than the many other arms the Cubs have collected on minor league deals.
- The Nationals are entering another year of uncertainty in their lineup. Manager Dave Martinez is weighing a move for powerful leadoff man Trea Turner into the middle of the order, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Turner certainly has enough oomph to man the middle of the order. A full season of the .298/.353/.497 line he put up last year would ably fill the 3-hole recently vacated by his bromance partner Anthony Rendon. Adam Eaton remains a viable top-of-the-order presence after putting up a .365 OBP mostly out of the 2-hole, who could presumably move up a slot into the leadoff vacancy. Putting Turner’s speed directly in front of the ever-patient and fear-inducing cleanup presence of Juan Soto might not be the most natural pairing, however. Martinez will have some big decisions to make, largely dependent upon who wins the third base job and what kind of jump Victor Robles can make at the plate.
- In an interview with The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen says he doesn’t envision the team making a blockbuster deal like trading for Kris Bryant this far into the offseason. Major roster decisions have largely been made, and it’s more the time for fine-tuning. Hazen left open the possibility of adding a bullpen arm or another body for the bench, but a blockbuster is less likely. That said, the Diamondbacks never found the centerfielder they were seeking, which would push Ketel Marte back into the outfield and open starter’s minutes somewhere in the infield. The Diamondbacks have already taken more big swings this offseason than Hazen anticipated, so one more – even at this stage – can’t be entirely ruled out.
AL East Notes: Pearson, Orioles, Rays, Chavis
Blue Jays’ top prospect Nate Pearson and his triple-digit fastball blitzed through three minor league levels in 2019, but Pearson is likely to begin the season in Triple-A, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The 23-year-old only briefly reached Triple-A Buffalo at season’s end in ’19, and while his overall 2.30 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 marks are impressive, Pearson acknowledges that he may have to wait a bit for his MLB debut. “Obviously, I want to break with the team out of spring training,” he tells Davidi. “The odds are that may not happen. I’m expecting to go out to triple-A and put up some good numbers and hopefully get a call-up sometime next year.” As Davidi explores, Pearson was on an interestingly structured workload limit in 2019 and will likely have his innings monitored again in 2020 after logging 101 frames a year ago.
More from the division…
- The Orioles, as currently constructed, will head into the season with plenty of questions around the infield, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Rio Ruiz didn’t seize the opportunity in 2019, and while prospect Ryan Mountcastle should debut at some point next summer, there’ve been plenty of questions regarding his ultimate position on the diamond. Hanser Alberto has experience there but figures to factor in more prominently at second base. Non-roster invitee Dilson Herrera will get a look at the hot corner, but he’s not even a lock to make the club — let alone to log regular innings anywhere. There’s ample room to add a veteran option if they see fit — Matt Duffy, Logan Forsythe, Brock Holt and others remain available — and the O’s did pick up a veteran option at shortstop in Jose Iglesias. But free-agent spending has been negligible during the early stages of Baltimore’s rebuild, so it shouldn’t be assumed that any sort of move is on the horizon.
- The Rays could use openers much less frequently than in recent seasons, per MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. With Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough fronting a deep group of pitchers, there’s less urgency for manager Kevin Cash to get creative at the beginning of games. Beyond that quintet, two-way player Brendan McKay could be in line for some starts as well, although Toribio notes it’s possible he returns to Triple-A Durham to start the season.
- Michael Chavis logged starts at first, second, and third base as a rookie for the Red Sox in 2019. He’s preparing for more of the same in 2020, with some outfield time also potentially on the table, he tells Chris Cotillo of MassLive. That versatility should come in handy for the Sox, who face particularly uncertain mixes at first and second base. There are myriad low-cost options available in free agency who could be brought in as insurance, but no slam dunk everyday players remain on the open market at those positions. Chavis hit .254/.322/.444 (96 wRC+) with 18 home runs in a decent debut season.
Managerial Rumors: Baker, Rojas, Collins, Red Sox
The Astros’ sign-stealing scandal has sent shockwaves around the baseball world, including the sudden creation of three managerial vacancies in less than four days. With A.J. Hinch, Alex Cora, and now Carlos Beltran out of work, the Astros, Red Sox, and Mets are all looking for new managers less than a month before the start of Spring Training. Here’s the latest on the three openings…
- Though Dusty Baker had expressed interest in the Astros job, the longtime skipper tells Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle that he has been yet to be contacted by the organization. Such names as Buck Showalter and John Gibbons have already been interviewed by the team, though Baker isn’t necessarily counting on a future call, saying “I’m thinking that if they really needed or wanted you, there’s a good chance somebody would have stepped up by now.” As for other Astros candidates, Rome lists bench coach Joe Espada as a potential hire, though notes that the team might prefer to bring in an outside manager without any links to the controversy engulfing the franchise.
- The Mets are considering quality control coach Luis Rojas, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). Rojas seems like a logical candidate, as he received two interviews when the team was doing its initial search for a new skipper last fall, though Rojas wasn’t among the reported finalists for the job. Installing a familiar face from the current staff might be preferable to bringing someone in from outside the organization at this late stage of the offseason, though Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters (including The Athletic’s Tim Britton) that internal and external candidates are under consideration, as the club so recently did background on a number of managerial candidates before Beltran was hired.
- One known quantity that doesn’t appear to be on the Mets‘ radar for now is former manager Terry Collins, as SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter link) writes. Collins has worked as a special assistant in New York’s front office since leaving the dugout after the 2017 season.
- Cora’s firing leaves the Red Sox with what as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe simply describes as “a devastating mess,” as a managerial vacancy adds yet another layer of complication to what has already been a challenging offseason for newly-hired Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. If an outside hire is indeed explored, it will take time away from Bloom when he could be focusing on a trade market that could be opening up, as many of the top free agents have now been signed. Promoting from within carries its own set of difficulty, however, since the Red Sox organization that is facing its own league investigation over alleged use of electronic sign-stealing. It already seemed like the Red Sox were somewhat stuck in limbo waiting for the fallout of this investigation, as well as waiting for the trade market to blossom so that some larger salaries could be moved off the payroll (though both Bloom and principal owner John Henry have denied that avoiding the Competitive Balance Tax is a chief offseason priority).
NL Notes: Giants, Zimmerman, Reds
The Giants finalized their coaching staff with today’s announcements that Alyssa Nakken and Mark Hallberg have been hired as Major League assistant coaches. Nakken becomes the first woman to ever hold a coaching position on a big league team, after working for the Giants in various organizational roles since 2014. Hallberg, a former Diamondbacks minor leaguer, has coached in the Cape Cod League and spent the last two seasons as a coach and manager with the Giants’ short-season A-ball team.
The two new hires give San Francisco an unusually large 13-person coaching staff under new manager Gabe Kapler. Third base coach Ron Wotus is the only member of that group to return to the club from Bruce Bochy’s 2019 coaching staff.
More from the Senior Circuit…
- Ryan Zimmerman feels “it’s just a matter of time” before he signs a new contract with the Nationals, the veteran first baseman tells The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli (subscription required). “We’ve talked. We are continuing to talk,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve made my intentions pretty clear, they know where I stand and we know where they stand. We’ve been going back and forth the last couple weeks.” It has been widely assumed that Zimmerman will return for his 16th season with the Nats, and as Ghiroli notes, a deal doesn’t necessarily need to be finalized before camp opens since Zimmerman “has never been a big fan of spring training.”
- While Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams warned The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans and other reporters “don’t expect anything imminent” in terms of near-term roster moves, “I think it’s very possible that we’ll see additional free-agent signings or potential trades. I’m pretty sure there will be some changes between now and camp.” The signings of Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama, and Wade Miley have already made it a busy offseason in Cincinnati, though the club still has some question marks at shortstop, catcher, in the bullpen, and whether or not to add to an already-crowded outfield mix.
AL Notes: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers, Mathis
Thanks to scandal-besieged Alex Cora’s firing on Tuesday, the Red Sox are in the unfortunate position of having to find a new manager as spring training nears. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke about the situation Wednesday, telling Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and other reporters that the Red Sox don’t yet have an idea where they’ll turn for Cora’s replacement. Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox seem prepared to consider in-house and external candidates for the position. Bloom praised Boston’s current assistant coaches, calling them “an impressive group” and adding, “No reason to think that a number of them wouldn’t deserve consideration for this.” Meanwhile, the Red Sox haven’t yet asked other teams for permission to speak with their assistants. Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro – whom Bloom knows from Tampa Bay – has come up in speculation since Cora’s ouster. However, it’s “unlikely” he’ll be a candidate because the division-rival Rays may not permit Bloom to pilfer other members of their staff, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.
More on a couple other AL teams…
- This has been a busy winter for the Blue Jays, who have made several notable acquisitions as they try to climb back to respectability in 2020. General manager Ross Atkins’ heavy lifting could be done, but the executive stated Wednesday that the team’s still open to another pickup that would make a “significant impact,” per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Atkins revealed such a move would more likely come via trade than free agency, but he cautioned, “Executing trades of significant impact is very difficult to do.” Center field is one area that could still use some help, Atkins suggested, while Nicholson-Smith points to a reliever and a utility player as possible late-winter additions.
- To this point, the Blue Jays’ biggest offseason add-ons have been starting pitchers. On paper, they’ve greatly upgraded their rotation with the acquisitions of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark and Chase Anderson. Those three and Matt Shoemaker seem like locks to make up four-fifths of the Blue Jays’ season-opening rotation. Shun Yamaguchi, yet another member of the Jays’ offseason haul, will get an opportunity to win a starting job, according to Atkins (Twitter links via Nicholson-Smith). So will Sean Reid-Foley, who divided his nine major league appearances between Toronto’s rotation and bullpen last season.
- It doesn’t appear the Rangers’ signing of catcher Robinson Chirinos will put fellow veteran backstop Jeff Mathis‘ roster spot in jeopardy. GM Jon Daniels said Wednesday that his expectation is that Chirinos and Mathis will open the season as the Rangers’ catchers, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. If that proves to be the case, Jose Trevino will begin the year at the Triple-A level. But it’s possible Mathis, who’s due a $3MM salary in 2020, may first have to justify his place on the team in spring training. The soon-to-be 37-year-old has been a light-hitting defensive maven throughout his career, but his first season in Texas went poorly on both fronts. Mathis batted .158/.209/.224 en route to an almost unfathomable 2 wRC+ over 244 plate appearances, earned negative defensive marks from Baseball Prospectus and ranked last among position players in fWAR (minus-2.1).
Quick Hits: Astros, Baker, Bochy, Phils, Herrera, Ventura, Hudson
The Astros, suddenly in need of a new manager after the suspension and firing of A.J. Hinch on Monday, “plan to open an outside search to find his replacement,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes. Nightengale names longtime manager Dusty Baker as someone with interest in the job, but it’s unclear whether the team will want to talk to him about the position. Although fellow veteran skipper Bruce Bochy has been mentioned in speculation, it appears he’s serious about taking time away from the game in the wake of his long run with the Giants. Bochy told Nightengale he’s hitting the “pause button.”
- The Phillies designated center fielder Odubel Herrera for assignment Tuesday, which could pave the way for his release. However, the likelihood is that Herrera will still be a member of the organization when spring training rolls around, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s unlikely anyone will take Herrera in a trade, the Phils don’t seem keen on releasing him and eating the $19.5MM left on his contract, and it’s improbable he’d reject an outright assignment and leave that money on the table. So, while Herrera’s no longer on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, it doesn’t appear his time with the organization is up just yet.
- Former major league third baseman and ex-White Sox manager Robin Ventura has resurfaced at Oklahoma State as a student assistant, per Kendall Rogers of D1baseball.com. The Cowboys’ staff now boasts him and fellow former big leaguer Matt Holliday, whose brother, Josh Holliday, manages the team. The 52-year-old Ventura hasn’t coached in the majors since the White Sox let him go after the 2016 season. Ventura’s name came up when the Mets were seeking a manager in 2017, but he reportedly didn’t have interest in the position.
- In more ex-MLBer/college baseball news, longtime right-hander Tim Hudson is joining Auburn as a pitching/volunteer assistant coach, Teddy Cahill of Baseball America reports. Prior to enjoying an excellent MLB career, Hudson starred at Auburn. In Hudson’s return to his old stomping grounds, Cahill notes that the 44-year-old will work with potential first-round righty Tanner Burns – who has drawn comparisons to Hudson.
NL Notes: Dodgers, Cards, Arenado, Beltran
The Dodgers lost the 2017 World Series in seven games to a franchise that’s now embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. The Astros, who defeated the Dodgers, fired the GM (Jeff Luhnow) and manager (A.J. Hinch) of their championship team Monday after the league determined they were key figures in a sign-stealing scandal from that year. Luhnow and Hinch received one-year suspensions before the Astros dismissed them, while the tea also lost four draft picks (first- and second-rounders in each of the next two years) and earned the maximum fine of $5MM. The Dodgers could perhaps feel slighted as a result of the Astros’ misdeeds, but the organization is prohibited from making any complaints known. The team issued a statement Monday, saying: “All clubs have been asked by Major League Baseball not to comment on today’s punishment of the Houston Astros, as it’s inappropriate to comment on discipline imposed on another club. The Dodgers have also been asked not to comment on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series and will have no further comment at this time.”
More from the National League…
- The Rockies and Cardinals have engaged in preliminary negotiations centering on Rox superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has been on St. Louis’ radar for years. They’ve held talks with Colorado “at least dating back” to December 2018, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relays. A few months later, the Rockies extended Arenado for seven years and $234MM on a deal that will kick in this season. That money, not to mention Arenado’s no-trade rights and his ability to opt out after 2021, could help prevent an acquisition from materializing for the Cardinals or anyone else. The Cards haven’t been willing to meet the Rockies’ asking price for Arenado in the past, per Goold, though it’s unclear what Colorado asked for in return. Now, as you’d expect, Goold notes that the Cardinals are unwilling to trade young ace Jack Flaherty and also seem unlikely to part with high-end outfield prospect Dylan Carlson.
- New Mets manager Carlos Beltran, a member of the Houston team in 2017, was part of the league’s investigation into the Astros. MLB did not issue him any punishment, however, after he was gave the league his full cooperation “and admitted to everything,” Andy Martino of SNY tweets. It seems Beltran changed his tune since the league’s investigation started in November, though, as he initially denied any knowledge of violations on the Astros’ part.
AL Central Notes: Boyd, McCann, Twins
The Tigers and left-hander/persistent trade candidate Matthew Boyd agreed to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration on Friday, but Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press suggests that the two sides could yet discuss a lengthier pact. While it’s unlikely that the Scott Boras-represented Boyd would sign away any free-agent years, the two sides could discuss a deal that’d lock in his remaining arbitration years. That would provide the Tigers with cost certainty and create the potential for a relative bargain in the event that Boyd puts it all together after showing flashes of dominance in 2019 but struggling with home runs (as many of his peers did this past season). For Boyd, it’d protect him against an injury or notable decline prior to hitting the open market in the 2022-23 offseason — when he’ll be heading into his age-32 season.
More from the division…
- Although the White Sox have largely displaced James McCann with the signings of Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnacion, general manager Rick Hahn reiterated this weekend that he views McCann as a valuable member of the club (link via Madeline Kenney of the Chicago Sun-Times). “Having quality depth is a positive thing on good clubs, and it’s part of what makes good clubs able to withstand the unexpected,” said Hahn. “We view James as potentially playing a role on a championship club, and that hasn’t changed since the end of last season to today.” There’s been some speculation about McCann’s availability in trade talks, but ChiSox leadership has publicly maintained a desire to keep McCann on the roster. The 29-year-old’s .273/.328/.460 slash in 2019 was clearly strong on the whole, but it was fueled by a .359 average on balls in play. Beyond that, McCann wilted over the summer, hitting just .231/.285/.410 from July through season’s end. Most of that was due to an abysmal month of July — he rebounded to an extent in August and September — but the Sox clearly still saw room for an upgrade. At $5.4MM, he’s a bit of an expensive backup, but few clubs can boast that type of offensive potential from their reserve catcher and the Sox have the payroll space to make the situation work.
- The Twins added former Royals and Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure to their coaching staff, per a team announcement. He’ll serve as their new bullpen coach, replacing the departed Jeremy Hefner, whom the Mets hired as their new pitching coach. The 67-year-old McClure is twice as old as the man he’s replacing, but he’s familiar with the organization after spending time as a pitching advisor with the Twins over the past three seasons. The Twins also bumped assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez to the title of hitting coach. They’ll somewhat atypically have two coaches with that title — Edgar Varela is the other — as opposed to the more conventional arrangement of one lead coach and one assistant. Varela and Hernandez are stepping up following the departure of James Rowson, who took a job as the Marlins’ new “offensive coordinator.”
Quick Hits: Turner, Pomeranz, Robert
A pair of notable free agents joined new teams this afternoon. With those moves complete, we’ll round up a few more odds and ends from the weekend.
- Nationals’ shortstop Trea Turner underwent surgery on his problematic index finger last November. Now, he’s primed to enter 2020 at full strength, he tells reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASN). “I’ve started hitting. I can hit with 10 fingers, so it’s good,” Turner told reporters. As Zuckerman notes, Turner played almost all of the 2019 season with nine healthy fingers after fracturing the digit on a hit-by-pitch in the first week of April. The injury hardly seemed to hold him back, as Turner slashed .298/.353/.497 (117 wRC+) with 19 home runs and 35 stolen bases as Washington’s primary shortstop and leadoff hitter.
- Drew Pomeranz had upwards of six offers this offseason, he tells Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Nevertheless, the Padres’ surprising decision to offer a four year deal, coupled with Pomeranz’s enjoyable experience in his prior stint in San Diego, inspired him to rejoin the Friars. As Sanders details, the 31-year-old is a much different pitcher than he was in 2016, when he earned his only All-Star appearance in San Diego. Pomeranz made a full-time move to the bullpen last season in San Francisco, and a velocity uptick and increased willingness to attack the strike zone helped him dominate following a midseason trade to the Brewers.
- Following their extension last week, the White Sox have now invested over $100MM in Luis Robert before his major league debut, observes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. As Rosenthal explains, the Sox paid over $25MM in overage taxes while guaranteeing Robert $26MM as an amateur under the prior international spending rules. (Spending on international amateurs was hard capped following the 2016-17 signing period, so deals like Robert’s are no longer permissible). Nevertheless, Rosenthal argues, the extension makes perfect sense for the White Sox. Not only does it grant Chicago an extra season of team control, it creates a ceiling for Robert’s earnings in arbitration, he points out. While Robert was wise to secure the guarantee, Rosenthal opines, the agreement serves as the latest reminder that MLB’s economic landscape drastically underpays players at the beginnings of their careers, when they are likely to be their most productive. MLBTR readers certainly anticipate Robert’s becoming an impact player, with 56% of poll voters forecasting him to exceed 2.3 wins above replacement in his first season.