Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Giants Reach Agreement With Tommy La Stella

By | at

JAN. 27: The two sides do indeed have a three-year agreement, pending a physical, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.

JAN. 26: The Giants are close to signing free agent infielder Tommy La Stella, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter). La Stella is represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council. Though the deal is still being finalized, it’s said to be for a term of three years, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). That would be the longest deal handed out by Farhan Zaidi since taking over as the president baseball ops, notes Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter).

If indeed La Stella signs for three years, he will have earned a longer contract than we projected at the outset of free agency. La Stella was the No. 30 free agent on our board with a projected two-year, $14MM deal ahead of him – a mark he seems to have surpassed. As for the Giants, their books are almost entirely clear following the 2022 season, where a $13MM club option for Evan Longoria is the only contract currently on the payroll. The $5MM buyout attached to that deal is the only guaranteed money on the books for the 2023 season, so a third year for La Stella certainly isn’t prohibitive, assuming a manageable AAV.

La Stella’s story is one of perseverance, as there was a time he considered retirement prior to the 2016 season. Again at the deadline, when the Cubs optioned the then-27-year-old La Stella to Triple-A, he thought about hanging it up rather than continue to grind back and forth between the minors and the Show. He returned, however, to resume his role as a professional pinch-hitter, winning a ring with the 2016 Cubs. When he reached free agency, La Stella looked for an opportunity to play full-time, and he found it with the Angela. His breakout in during an All-Star season in 2019 when he slashed .295/.346/.486 with 16 home runs across 321 plate appearances.

He kept it up during the truncated 2020 season, producing 1.2 fWAR and 129 wRC+ that took the shape of a .281/.370/.449 line, solid 11.8 percent walk rate, and minuscule 5.3 percent strikeout rate. Though those numbers came in just 228 plate appearances, the Giants figure they are adding a tough out to the top of their lineup in the form of La Stella, who turns 32 years old at the end of the month.

For the Giants, La Stella fits a need as a left-handed bat that slides into the top of the order. Defensively, La Stella should take over the majority of reps at second base, pushing Donovan Solano back into a utility role. La Stella can also play third base. The Giants can now roll with a starting infield of Brandon Belt, La Stella, Brandon Crawford, and Longoria. Solano, Mauricio Dubon, Wilmer Flores, and Jason Vosler are capable of infield reps off the bench. Buster Posey, if healthy, would figure to spend some time at first base as well. In all, it’s a crowded, if versatile group. It also likely means Dubón spending most of his time in the outfield.

Mets To Sign Aaron Loup

By | at

The Mets and left-handed reliever Aaron Loup are in agreement on a deal, pending the completion of a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). It’s a one-year deal for Loup, Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported earlier this afternoon that the Mets were “zeroing in” on Loup after missing out on Brad Hand, who signed with the division-rival Nationals. Loup is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Loup, 33, gives the Mets an established left-handed bullpen option that the roster previous lacked. Waiver claim Stephen Tarpley and former 40th-round pick Daniel Zamora were the only two southpaws on the Mets’ 40-man roster prior to their forthcoming agreement with Loup. Veteran southpaw Jerry Blevins will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee as well, though he didn’t pitch at all last season.

Outside of a forearm strain that wiped out a good chunk of his 2019 season in San Diego, Loup has been a largely durable and reasonably effective bullpen piece since breaking into the Majors with the Blue Jays back in 2012. He’s had some ups and downs along the way, but the end result is a 3.38 ERA and 3.24 SIERA with career strikeout and walk rates of 21.9 percent and 7.0 percent. Loup has upped his strikeout numbers over the past few years, however, and in 2020 with the Rays delivered one of his best stretches: a 2.52 ERA and 3.62 SIERA with a 22.9 percent punchout rate and a 4.2 percent walk rate that ranked among the game’s lowest. He also tossed 5 1/3 innings in the playoffs, allowing just two runs with seven strikeouts against two walks.

Loup has been better against lefties throughout his big league career but has held his own against righties and was quite good against them in 2020’s shortened slate of games. He’s held opposing lefties to a career .232/.301/.319 batting line while righties have managed a .264/.333/.428 output.

Loup will join right-hander Trevor May as a new member of the Mets’ setup core, effectively replacing fellow free-agent lefty Justin Wilson in the process. The Mets could perhaps still use another lefty, but with a relief corps featuring May, Loup, Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Dellin Betances, Jeurys Familia, Miguel Castro and Brad Brach, they’re certainly not light on talent. Some of those veterans — Betances and Familia in particular — are in search of rebound efforts, but everyone in that veteran group has enjoyed a good bit of big league success.

Nationals Sign Jon Lester

By | at

The Nationals have added another well-known veteran to an already experienced pitching staff, announcing Wednesday that they’ve agreed to a one-year contract with left-hander Jon Lester. The ACES client will reportedly earn $5MM on a one-year deal for the upcoming season. The Nationals’ 40-man roster is now at 38 players.

Jon Lester | Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Washington becomes the fourth organization for Lester, a 37-year-old who was previously with the Red Sox, Athletics and Cubs. Lester was especially impactful as a member of the Sox and Cubs, with whom he combined to win three World Series championships and pick up five All-Star appearances.

Lester spent the previous six seasons in Chicago, where he largely lived up to the $155MM deal he signed before 2015, but his production fell off during his last two years in their uniform. After he combined for a 4.64 ERA/4.62 SIERA in 232 2/3 innings during that span, the Cubs let Lester reach free agency earlier this winter, turning down his $25MM option for next season in favor of a $10MM buyout.

While Lester expressed interest in remaining with the Cubs after they allowed him to become a free agent, there haven’t been reports of serious talks between him and the team since then. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score tweets that the Cubs did make an offer to Lester, but it was “nowhere near” the still-modest $5MM sum he’s promised on his deal with the Nats. By signing in D.C., Lester will be reunited with Dave Martinez, who served as Joe Maddon’s bench coach in Chicago prior to being named Nationals manager.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said earlier in the offseason he wanted to add a starter to the back of the team’s rotation, and Lester gives him a durable veteran to add to the mix. The Nats have an enviable top three in Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, but the rest of their rotation looks somewhat questionable with Joe Ross, Erick Fedde and Austin Voth as possibilities to earn roles in 2021.

Granted, after posting a 5.16 ERA/5.02 SIERA over 61 frames last year, Lester might not prove to be part of the solution, but the Nats are surely counting on Lester to be more of a veteran innings eater than the staff ace that he was at his peak. It’s possible the Nationals will continue to add to this mix with some non-roster veterans who can provide competition for Ross, Fedde, Voth and other in-house rotation options.

From a payroll vantage point, the recent additions of Lester and lefty reliever Brad Hand bump the Nats up to about $199MM in 2021 salary and about $195MM in terms of luxury-tax obligations, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. That leaves the Nats with about $15MM of leeway to pursue further additions while still remaining south of the $210MM luxury-tax barrier.

Ken Rosenthal and Jon Greenberg first reported that the two sides were in talks. The Chicago Sun Times’ Russell Dorsey added that a deal was close, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweeted that a deal was in place. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine added financial details.

Mets Showing Interest In Aaron Loup

By | at

With lefty Brad Hand, reported to be one of the Mets’ top bullpen targets, now off the board on a deal with the division-rival Nationals, the Mets are “zeroing in” on southpaw Aaron Loup, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (via Twitter). The 33-year-old has a solid, albeit lesser track record to that of Hand but should come at a more affordable price as a result.

Loup spent the 2020 season with the Rays, pitching to a 2.52 ERA and 3.62 SIERA with a 22.9 percent strikeout rate and a 4.2 percent walk rate that ranked among the best in the league. That marked an (obviously) outstanding rebound effort for the lefty, who missed the bulk of the 2019 season with the Padres due to a forearm strain.

Prior to the 2019-20 seasons, Loup had spent the vast majority of his career with the Blue Jays, enjoying a good bit of success but struggling through some of the highs and lows oft associated with the ever-volatile world of relief pitching. Loup was optioned multiple times over the years with the Jays, including several times in a 2016 season that finished with an ERA just north of five. However, in parts of seven seasons with the Jays, Loup finished with a 3.47 ERA, a roughly average 21.8 percent strikeout rate and a solid 7.2 percent walk rate.

As one would expect with any left-handed reliever, Loup has some degree of a platoon split. Over the course of his nine-year MLB career, he’s held lefty batters to a .232/.301/.319 line, while righties have had more success at .264/.333/.424. That said, Loup was quite good against righties and lefties alike in 2020 — albeit in an obviously limited sample of work.

With Justin Wilson hitting the open market after wrapping up a two-year deal in Queens, the Mets lack a lefty reliever with any sort of Major League track record. Waiver claim Stephen Tarpley and longtime farmhand Daniel Zamora are both on the 40-man roster and both have big league experience, though neither found much success in 2020. Former Met Jerry Blevins is also back with the club on a non-roster deal with an invite to Spring Training, so he could factor into the look as well depending on how things shake out in camp.

Mets Name Zack Scott Acting General Manager

By | at

The Mets announced Wednesday that assistant GM Zack Scott has been named acting general manager in the wake of Jared Porter’s abrupt dismissal. The 43-year-old Scott was hired out of the Red Sox organization earlier this winter.

“Zack has plenty of championship experience to draw upon,” president of baseball operations Sandy Alderson said Wednesday in a statement announcing the decision. “He has been an integral part of our decision-making processes since his arrival. The entire baseball operations staff, including myself, will continue to work collaboratively.”

Scott’s recent work with the Red Sox included overseeing both the analytics department and the team’s professional scouting operations. He’d been with the Red Sox since being hired as an intern back in 2004 and steadily rose from that post to vice president of baseball R&D and eventually to assistant general manager.

Alderson said after Porter’s firing that the team wasn’t planning to hire a new general manager this winter, expressing confidence that in-house personnel was able to “move forward effectively” without bringing in an external hire. Scott, it seems, will take over the bulk of Porter’s vacated duties at least on an interim basis. Alderson, by all accounts, still has final say over baseball operations decisions, but Scott’s bump in title will expand his own responsibilities within the hierarchy. It’s always possible, too, that this acting/interim run could vault Scott into candidacy to take on the role on a permanent basis. Clarity on that front isn’t likely to come until this summer at the very earliest — and more likely won’t come until next offseason.

Yankees, Darren O’Day Agree To Deal

By | at

12:48pm: O’Day receives a $1.75MM salary for the upcoming season and has a $1.4MM player option with a $700K buyout, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He’ll actually make the first decision, and if he opts for the buyout, the Yankees then have a $3.15MM club option over the righty.

Technically, because O’Day is guaranteed this year’s $1.75MM salary and that $1.4MM player option, one could call this a $3.15MM guarantee over a two-year term. However, since only the buyout is technically factored into the guarantee under the luxury tax, it’s a one-year, $2.45MM deal for luxury purposes. Ultimately, if O’Day pitches well enough to decline that player option but still have the club option exercised, it seems he can earn a total of $5.6MM between 2021-22.

12:33pm: O’Day’s contract is a one-year deal that contains both a player option and a club option, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. (Presumably, the Yankees will have the option to pick up O’Day’s 2022 season at a set price and, if declined, he can opt into a second season at a lower rate.) He’s guaranteed a total of $2.5MM in 2021, Heyman adds.

12:22pm: The Yankees are in agreement on a contract with free-agent righty Darren O’Day, reports Lindsey Adler of The Athletic (via Twitter). O’Day, represented by the Ballengee Group, still needs to pass a physical before the deal is finalized.

The 38-year-old O’Day will add a seasoned veteran to an already formidable Yankees bullpen. Most expected O’Day to be back with the Braves in 2021, given an affordable club option on his contract, but Atlanta made the surprising decision to pay him a $500K buyout rather than pay him a $3.5MM salary in 2021. For a reliever coming off 16 1/3 innings of 1.10 ERA ball eight hits and five walks allowed against 22 strikeouts, that seemed to be an eminently reasonable price tag. Heyman adds that the Braves and Phillies finished runner-up to the Yankees in their efforts to sign O’Day.

O’Day wasn’t only strong in 2020, of course. The sidearming righty has a length track record of being a high-quality setup piece, dating all the way back to a breakout 2009 with the Rangers. He’s dealt with injuries in recent years, requiring IL stints for elbow, shoulder and hamstring injuries since 2016, but whenever he’s on the field O’Day has been effective. Since 2012, he’s only turned in three seasons with an ERA north of 3.00 — never higher than 2016’s 3.77 in that span — while putting together a composite 2.34 ERA with a 28.6 percent strikeout rate against an impressive 6.8 percent walk rate.

New York’s recent trade of Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox surely paved the way for this move. Prior to shedding the bulk of Ottavino’s salary, the Yankees were pressed right up to the precipice of a luxury-tax barrier that ownership is said to be unwilling to cross. That trade, however, cleared $8.15MM of luxury obligations (in exchange for Ottavino and prospect Frank German, who was effectively sold to Boston in the swap). Some of that resulting flexibility will now go to O’Day — a veteran reliever himself who, like Ottavino, gives right-handed opponents fits (career .193/.262/.287).

The Yankees also reportedly circled back with longtime outfielder Brett Gardner at some point last week and still have some interest in bringing him back — likely as a reserve, given a rather full outfield slate as it is. If Gardner is willing to take a similar guarantee to that of O’Day, he could slot into a bench role and still leave the Yankees a few million dollars of breathing room, relative to the luxury threshold, for in-season dealings.

How To Keep Track Of MLB Free Agent Signings

By | at

The MLB free agent market has finally started to pick up, and many players have landed with new teams in recent days.  Here are the various ways you can stay on top of everything here at MLBTR:

Orioles News & Rumors: Mancini, Martin, Infield, Pitching

By | at

As the Braves look at potential options in left field, they’ve inquired with the Orioles about Trey Mancini’s availability, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who adds that there’s been “nothing serious” discussed between the two parties to this point. Interest in Mancini is rather logical for a Braves club that is still seeking a middle-of-the-order bat but may not want to pay the prices necessary to re-sign Marcell Ozuna to a multi-year deal.

Mancini, 28, broke out with a career-best .291/.364/.535 showing with the Orioles in 2019 but missed the 2020 season after a frightening colon cancer diagnosis. The slugger underwent surgery and ultimately emerged victorious in his battle with cancer, announcing back in November that he was cancer-free after months of chemotherapy. No one can blame the Braves for coveting Mancini’s final two years of team control, but given that context and Mancini’s status as a clubhouse leader in Baltimore, it’d likely be tough for the O’s to part with him in a trade prior to the season. Even if the two sides were to engage in serious talks, one can imagine the asking price would be quite high.

There’s also the fact that while Mancini has played extensively in the outfield corners, he’s still a first baseman playing out of position there. That’s not a great fit with the Braves, given Freddie Freeman’s presence at first base. Notably, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias told reporters today that he expects Mancini to spend a lot more time at first base in 2021 (Twitter link via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko).

While a Mancini trade appears unlikely for several reasons, that probably won’t stop teams from calling. Elias acknowledged today every win-now club throughout the league is aware that the Orioles are willing to listen to offers for most of their roster as their rebuild trudges onward (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Joe Trezza). That, however, “doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything,” Elias added.

The O’s, in fact, could make a few more small-scale additions after signing shortstop Freddy Galvis to a one-year, $1.5MM deal yesterday. Galvis, to no one’s surprise, was tabbed as the primary shortstop by Elias, but the club could still be on the lookout for some versatile infield depth to back him up (via Kubatko). That’s likely due in no small part to the fact that infielder Richie Martin sustained a broken hamate bone in his left hand while working out this past weekend and will require surgery to repair the injury.

Based on prior timelines for that same injury, Martin could return midway through Spring Training — assuming it starts on time — but he’ll very likely be behind schedule. Baltimore’s agreement with Galvis was already wrapped up by the time Martin suffered the injury, Dan Connolly of The Athletic points out; the timing is merely coincidental.

On the pitching front, the Orioles are still looking to add to a thin mix. Kubatko notes that Elias mentioned Major League offers to starting pitchers are on the table for the Orioles, although the GM (as one would expect) provided no further specifics. Based on the team’s extremely limited spending and Connolly’s recent report that the O’s actually tried to defer the arbitration salaries of Mancini and outfielder Anthony Santander, it seems unlikely that they’ll spend any significant cash to upgrade the starting staff or bullpen. That said, even a split contract that comes with a 40-man roster spot and a big league salary around the $1MM mark would technically fit the criteria listed by Elias.

Last year, the Orioles added lefties Tommy Milone and Wade LeBlanc on low-cost minor league deals to round out the rotation early in the year. It’s not likely that they’ll shop in a much more expensive bin this time around, but there are still some affordable names left standing on the free-agent market.

Brodie Van Wagenen Joins Roc Nation Sports

By | at

Former Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has been hired as the chief operating officer at Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). He’ll have a “broad role” in the agency, which represents Robinson Cano, Yoenis Cespedes, Dominic Smith, Jeremy Jeffress, Shelby Miller, Jazz Chisholm and recently retired CC Sabathia, among others.

Van Wagenen is no stranger to working with Roc Nation. When Jay-Z was first getting his sports representation company off the ground after signing Cano as a client, it was Van Wagenen and CAA Baseball that partnered with Roc Nation to assist running Cano’s free-agent negotiations. The resulting 10-year, $240MM contract between Cano and the Mariners still has three years remaining on the deal — although Cano has since been traded to the Mets and will now miss the 2021 season due to a second PED suspension. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman points out that Van Wagenen and Roc Nation still jointly represented Cespedes at the time of his four-year, $110MM deal with the Mets as well.

As was the case when Dave Stewart signed on to head up the D-backs’ baseball ops department back in 2014, it registered as a surprise to not only see an agent take over a club — but to take over operations of a club where multiple former clients were on the roster. That ostensible conflict of interest clearly wasn’t enough for the league to stand in the way of either man being hired to run the club, however.

Whether this leads to an influx of clients under the Roc Nation banner remains to be seen, though it’s certainly possible. Van Wagenen divested himself from CAA upon being named Mets general manager but still has close connections to dozens of players due to his previous standing as one of the game’s most prominent player representatives. He’ll need to go back through the agent certification process, as Sherman tweets, though it shouldn’t be long before he’s formally certified to return to agent status.

Nationals, Blake Swihart Agree To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Nationals and free-agent catcher/outfielder Blake Swihart agreed to a minor league deal, as first reported by Talk Nats (on Twitter). Swihart, an O’Connell Sports Management client, will be invited to Major League Spring Training. MLBTR has confirmed the agreement between the two sides.

Soon to turn 29, Swihart once ranked as one of the game’s elite prospects. Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and other outlets all ranked him inside the game’s 20 best prospects back in 2015, but Swihart never really got a full-time audition with the Red Sox and has yet to find his footing in the big leagues. That’s in part due to a string of foot and ankle injuries that interrupted his early career but also due to some questions about his ability to handle the catcher position from a defensive standpoint.

Swihart has appeared in 234 big league games and tallied 696 plate appearances, but the result is a lackluster .243/.301/.355 batting line that falls well shy of expectations for a prospect whose offensive potential was once so heralded. While catcher has been his most frequent position in the Majors (964 innings), Swihart has seen more time in left field and at first base over the past few seasons than he has behind the plate.

Swihart didn’t play in the big leagues last year after opening the season in the Rangers organization. He was part of the 60-man player pool in Texas for the season’s first month but was eventually cut loose a few days prior to the Aug. 31 trade deadline.

The Nats likely view Swihart as an option to compete for a backup catcher and reserve outfield role off the bench. Yan Gomes is slated to be Washington’s everyday catcher, with Tres Barrera standing as the lone backup option on the 40-man roster. Welington Castillo returns once again as a non-roster invitee, and 27-year-old Raudy Read has gotten a pair of brief looks in the big leagues with the Nats as well (though he’s since been removed from the 40-man roster).

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top