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Latest On Mariners’ Infield Targets

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The Mariners’ desire to add a bat has been no secret, with the team linked thus far in the offseason to the likes of Kris Bryant, Seiya Suzuki, Trevor Story and the since-signed Javier Báez (Tigers) and Marcus Semien (Rangers). Though Seattle has already acquired left-handed-hitting infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier in a deal with the Padres, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto figures to come out of the lockout intent on further deepening his lineup.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman indicated recently on his Big Time Baseball podcast that Seattle indeed made an offer to Story prior to the lockout — presumably with the idea that Story would move off of shortstop in deference to incumbent J.P. Crawford. Dipoto plainly stated earlier in the winter that the organization’s plan was to keep Crawford at that position, and reports since that time suggested the team’s interest in Story would likely be predicated on a move to second base.

In his latest mailbag column Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times expands on some of the Mariners’ free-agent targets, reporting that the team never had a one-on-one meeting with Semien — seemingly due to a lack of interest on Semien’s end. Regarding the potential of an infielder changing positions to come to Seattle, he further notes that Crawford himself has never expressed that he’s unwilling to change positions, but the Mariners aren’t keen on moving a player they believe to be a high-end defender at a time when he’s making strides offensively.

Regarding Story, a move to the keystone might be preferable even independent of Crawford’s presence at shortstop. Divish hears from some scouts who suggest Story’s arm might play better at second base than it does at shortstop long-term. The former Rockie is coming off a season in which he ranked fourth among shortstops with 11 throwing errors, his fourth straight season ranking among the top ten at the position in that category.

Story’s strong durability and range paradoxically contribute to those error marks — a player can only commit a throwing error on balls he’s able to field in the first place — but inconsistency with his arm likely played into mixed reviews from public defensive metrics. While Defensive Runs Saved has continually pegged Story as a plus gloveman over the years, Statcast’s Outs Above Average tabbed him at six plays below par at shortstop in 2021.

While Story has never played an inning outside of shortstop as a big leaguer, it’s generally expected he’d acclimate well to second base if needed. That’s a less strenuous position on the defensive spectrum, and one need look no further than the aforementioned Semien (who won a Gold Glove at second base with the Blue Jays this past season) as an example of a player successfully bouncing from the left side of the diamond to the right. If the M’s were to land Story, his pairing with Crawford would make for one of the stronger all-around middle infields in the game.

After acquiring Frazier, the Mariners arguably don’t need another infielder. Yet adding a player like Story or Bryant would raise the team’s overall offensive ability while freeing up Frazier and/or Abraham Toro to assume a multi-positional role. That’d give manager Scott Servais far more with which to work than he had in 2021, when Seattle hitters combined for an underwhelming .226/.303/.386 slash line (pitchers excluded). Even after accounting for the club’s pitcher-friendly home ballpark, that offensive output ranked just 21st among the league’s 30 teams by measure of wRC+.

Roland Hemond Passes Away

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Longtime major league executive Roland Hemond passed away last night at age 92, the league announced. Hemond served as a big league general manager for more than two decades between 1970 and 1995, leading the White Sox’s and Orioles’ baseball operations departments over that time.

“Roland Hemond was one of the most respected executives that our game has ever known,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “He served the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles as general manager, was a staple of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ front office throughout their history, and also worked for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, the California Angels, the Commissioner’s Office and USA Baseball during his exemplary career.  Roland was a pivotal figure in the formation and growth of the Arizona Fall League.  Most importantly, he mentored countless people in our sport and found ways to make our game stronger.  Roland Hemond was a great gentleman whose contributions to our National Pastime will never be forgotten.”

In addition to his time in Chicago and Baltimore, Hemond worked in various scouting and advisory capacities throughout his career. He began his front office time with the Braves in 1951, collecting a World Series ring five years later for his role as the team’s assistant scouting director. He held that role in Milwaukee (where the Braves played from 1953-66) through 1960, then spent the next decade as the Angels’ scouting director.

By 1970, Hemond was leading the charge with the White Sox, a stint that partially overlapped with Tony La Russa’s first run as Chicago manager. His clubs won one division title over that stretch, a 1983 season that saw Chicago win 99 games but drop a four-game AL Championship Series against the Orioles. In 1986, Hemond made the jump to the commissioner’s office, a position he held for a bit more than a year before taking over baseball ops in Baltimore.

Hemond ran the O’s from 1988-95. Baltimore didn’t make a postseason appearance during Hemond’s tenure, but a few players whom his front office group had acquired (i.e. Rafael Palmeiro, Brady Anderson and Mike Mussina) played key roles on the ’96 squad that went to the ALCS. Hemond spent 1996-2000 as an executive with the D-Backs, then spent the better part of the next two decades in advisory capacities with the White Sox and Arizona before retiring in 2017.

In 2011, the Baseball Hall of Fame presented Hemond with the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s one of five all time honorees (joining O’Neil himself, Joe Garagiola, Rachel Robinson and David Montgomery). Hemond was twice named the league’s Executive of the Year, winning the award in 1972 and 1989. Unsurprisingly, given his decades of experience in high-level front office positions, Hemond had personal ties to many key front office execs and coaches who continue to hold influence today — including La Russa and Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who got his start in professional baseball with the White Sox during Hemond’s tenure as Chicago GM.

MLBTR joins countless others around the game in expressing our condolences to Hemond’s family, friends and loved ones.

Justin Verlander’s Deal With Astros Made Official

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Last month, the Astros came to an agreement with Justin Verlander to bring back the eight-time All-Star. While the agreement and terms were reported in mid-November, the deal was somewhat curiously not made official prior to the December 2 lockout.

That’s no longer an issue, as Buster Olney of ESPN reports (on Twitter) that Major League Baseball has formally approved the agreement. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network adds that the contract was submitted to MLB on December 1, in the waning hours before the expiration of the 2016-21 collective bargaining agreement. Because it was submitted for approval before the lockout, MLB and the MLB Players Association have approved the deal even during the ongoing freeze of 40-man roster transactions.

It’s still not precisely clear what caused the atypically long hold-up, although Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic tweets that the now-resolved issue had to do with some “language in the contract.” That’s essentially a moot point now, as Verlander is again officially a member of the Astros. The originally-reported contract terms (a two-year, $50MM guarantee with an opt-out provision after the first season) remain in effect, tweets Heyman.

Verlander has only made one start over the past two seasons on account of Tommy John surgery. When last healthy, the former AL MVP posted one of the strongest seasons of his illustrious career. Over 223 innings in 2019, Verlander pitched to a 2.58 ERA/2.95 SIERA en route to his second career Cy Young award. The Astros are placing a sizable bet he’ll return to that star form coming off surgery and turning 39 years old in February. Of course, the Houston front office has kept a keen eye on Verlander’s recovery process throughout the past 14 months.

The Astros entered the lockout with an open spot on the 40-man roster, perhaps in anticipation of this exact scenario. No corresponding move will need to be made.

Cubs Add Johnny Washington To Coaching Staff

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The Cubs on Monday announced the hiring of Johnny Washington as their new assistant hitting coach. He’ll work closely with newly hired hitting coach Greg Brown as the Cubs retool their big league staff and their general offensive approach. The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reported a month ago that Washington was finalizing a deal to become the team’s new hitting coach, but the move was not made official until today.

Washington, 37, spent five years with the Padres organization before serving as the hitting coach for the Korea Baseball Organization’s Hanwha Eagles in 2021. With San Diego, he first worked as a minor league hitting coach before eventually serving as the team’s first base coach (2017), assistant hitting coach (2018), hitting coach (2019) and then overall director of minor league hitting (2020). Washington also spent several seasons as a minor league hitting coach with the Dodgers (2009-15) and interviewed for the Angels’ managerial vacancy before the Halos hired Joe Maddon.

A 2003 draft pick by the Rangers, Washington had a seven-year minor league playing career and spent another two years playing in the independent Frontier League. Cubs bench coach Andy Green knows Washington quite well, as Green was the skipper in San Diego both when Washington was first hired and when he first joined the Major League coaching staff.

The combination of Brown and Washington will give Cubs hitters a pair of new voices; hitting coach Anthony Iapoce was dismissed following the completion of the 2021 season, while assistant hitting coach Chris Valaika was hired to serve as the Guardians’ new hitting coach.

Rangers Have Interest In Seiya Suzuki

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Seiya Suzuki’s posting window has been paused with the MLB lockout ongoing, but whenever the current transaction freeze is lifted, the star Hiroshima Carp outfielder will have just shy of three weeks to field interest from Major League teams. Reports have already indicated that a trio of AL East clubs — Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays — are among the most interested parties, but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently wrote that the Rangers like Suzuki as well.

As Brad Lefton of the New York Times wrote a couple weeks back, agent Joel Wolfe told reporters in Japan in late November that at least eight teams had expressed serious interest and that there had already been some virtual meetings conducted. In-person meetings with interested parties figure follow, post-lockout.

The extent of Texas’ interest in the 27-year-old slugger isn’t clear, though he’s an obvious on-paper fit. Adolis Garcia and offseason signee Kole Calhoun figure to be locked into a pair of outfield spots, but there’s a corner-outfield spot still largely up for grabs. At present, any of Willie Calhoun, Nick Solak, Leody Taveras or Eli White could vie for time there, but Suzuki would be a higher-profile offensive upgrade following what has already been a frenzied offseason of additions from president of baseball operations Jon Daniels and GM Chris Young.

For those unfamiliar, Suzuki has been one of Japan’s most-productive hitters for several years now and is considered among the top talents in the country. Suzuki posted a mammoth .317/.433/.636 batting line with 38 home runs, 26 doubles and nine steals in 533 plate appearances this past season in NPB, all while walking 87 times against 88 strikeouts (16.3% vs. 16.5%). This was far from a one-year fluke; dating back to 2018, Suzuki’s right-handed bat has produced a dominant .319/.435/.592 slash line with 121 home runs, 115 doubles and four triples in 2179 plate appearances.

Suzuki is younger than recent NPB signees such as Shogo Akiyama and Yoshi Tsutsugo were when they made the transition to North American ball, and he’s considerably more highly regarded than both. While multiple team evaluators told MLBTR prior to his posting that Suzuki won’t be a regular option in center, he’s still seen as an above-average option in right field — an opinion that was only reinforced last week when Suzuki won his fifth NPB Gold Glove Award for his defense in right. Even if he doesn’t stack up as an elite outfielder, he ought to more than hold his own as better-than-average option in either left or right for interested teams.

The question for the Rangers at this point is just how much more the team has left in the tank. The half-billion dollars invested in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien grabbed the majority of headlines, but the Rangers also spent another $61.2MM combined on Jon Gray and the aforementioned Kole Calhoun. That said, even with all those splashes, the Rangers’ projected 2022 payroll is currently about $127MM — well shy of 2017’s record $165MM Opening Day payroll. Another outfielder would certainly be prudent, but Texas also still has multiple holes in the rotation and the bullpen.

Grant suggests that the to-date flurry of activity makes it unlikely the Rangers will spend to the levels necessary to add someone such as Kyle Schwarber or Nick Castellanos, either of whom would figure to command considerably heavier annual salaries than Suzuki (even if Suzuki may receive a larger number of years, based on his age). Still, if the plan is to focus more resources on pitching at this point, there’s no shortage of lower-cost corner options (e.g. Joc Pederson, Tommy Pham, Eddie Rosario) — and the team, of course, could just stay in-house for outfield needs.

Cubs, Padres Discussed Eric Hosmer Trade Last Summer

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The Padres and Cubs were in talks last summer about a trade that would have sent first baseman Eric Hosmer “and a highly regarded prospect” to Chicago, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reports.  The return on the Cubs’ end wasn’t mentioned, yet it likely could have been pretty minimal (i.e. a low-level prospect or a player to be named later), since the chief goal of the trade for San Diego would have been to get Hosmer’s contract off the books.  However, since Anthony Rizzo also reportedly on the Padres’ trade radar, it is possible the two teams might have been discussing a swap of first basemen.

Hosmer was known to be available prior to the trade deadline, as the Padres were exploring ways to both lessen their luxury tax burdens in 2021 and in the future, and also create payroll space for some bigger-ticket additions.  As it turned out, San Diego didn’t find a taker for Hosmer, and they also fell short of landing such targets as Rizzo, Max Scherzer and Jose Berrios prior to the deadline.  While the Padres did acquire the likes of Adam Frazier and Daniel Hudson, that wasn’t enough to hold off a late-season collapse, as the Friars plummeted to a 79-83 record.

As well, the Padres also ended up exceeding the luxury tax threshold for the first time in club history.  While final figures haven’t yet been released (and estimates from both Cot’s Baseball Contracts and Roster Resource actually had the Padres falling a bit short of the tax line), the expectation is that San Diego’s Competitive Balance Tax number did indeed top the $210MM mark.  The penalty for a first-time payor is only a 20 percent surcharge on the overage, so since the Padres didn’t exceed the threshold by too much, their financial cost will be quite minimal.  For instance, if they exceeded the CBT line by $2MM, the team would have a $400K tax bill.

Since the Padres are already projected to sit very close to the $210MM mark for their 2022 expenditures, a further penalty could be difficult to avoid, with the obvious caveat that the CBT system could be altered under the new collective bargaining agreement.  In the short term, however, exceeding the luxury tax line has already caused some difficulties for the Padres’ offseason business.  They would have to give up two 2022 draft picks (their second-highest and fifth-highest selections) and $1MM of international draft pool money in order to sign a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer, and San Diego has already reportedly shown interest in one such QO free agent in Nick Castellanos.

Assuming some form of the luxury tax continues to exist in the next CBA, even at a much higher threshold, the Padres would probably prefer to rid themselves of Hosmer’s contract just to lessen their chances of a repeater penalty.  Hosmer has a tax number of $18MM per season (the average annual value of his eight-year, $144MM deal), even though his actual salary figures will drop on the back end of his deal.  Hosmer has $59MM owed to him through the 2025 campaign, breaking down as $20MM in 2022, and then $13MM salaries in each of the 2023-25 seasons.

This contract wouldn’t be a problem if Hosmer was still hitting, and yet the veteran has batted only .264/.323/.415 (99 wRC+, 102 OPS+) over his four seasons in San Diego.  Other than a strong performance over 156 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 season, Hosmer has been barely a replacement-level player with the Padres, and he may not even be a regular starting option going forward considering that his playing time was reduced amidst his struggles.

The Cubs were primarily focused on selling back in July, unloading such veteran talents as Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Craig Kimbrel, Joc Pederson, and others.  Plus, the Cubs got a jump on the salary cuts almost a year ago in another major deal with the Padres, as Yu Darvish was dealt to San Diego.  All of these moves greatly reduced Chicago’s future salary commitments, and yet the recent acquisitions of Marcus Stroman and Wade Miley indicate that the Cubs aren’t planning a full rebuild.  Despite Hosmer’s lack of recent production, the Cubs could see him as a change-of-scenery candidate, or possibly as a left-handed complement to Frank Schwindel for first base (and maybe DH) duties.

The real prize for Chicago would still be whatever prospect or prospects the Padres were to include in a Hosmer trade.  While San Diego still has a strong farm system, their minor league depth has been sapped to some extent due to other deals, and some prospects that have now graduated to larger roles on the big league roster.  In talks with the Rangers about a trade involving Hosmer and Joey Gallo last July, Padres outfield prospect Robert Hassell III was reportedly floated as a candidate to change teams, though it isn’t known if the Cubs would also be targeting Hassell.

It is worth noting that Hosmer himself also has some leverage in the form of a ten-team no-trade clause.  The Cubs weren’t one of the ten teams on Hosmer’s 2021 list, and yet since he can change that list every year, he could very well adjust his no-trade protection to include the Cubs, Rangers, or any other club Hosmer suspects could be a potential trade partner.  This doesn’t mean that Hosmer wouldn’t necessarily welcome a move away from the Padres, but he would at least give himself some measure of control over his future.  Hosmer also gains full no-trade rights as a 10-and-5 player following the 2022 season, so this is the last year for the Padres to move Hosmer even somewhat freely.

Mike Shildt Expected To Take Job In Commissioner’s Office

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After being fired by the Cardinals in October, former manager Mike Shildt is now headed for a job in the Commissioner’s Office, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  Shildt is expected to take a role in the On-Field Operations department, working under senior VP Michael Hill.

The Padres interviewed Shildt about their managerial vacancy, though rather than a quick return to the dugout, Shildt will now leave the field entirely.  It will mark the first time since 2003 that Shildt has taken a job in baseball outside of the Cardinals organization.

A lengthy career as a scout, minor league coach and manager, and then a season and a half on the St. Louis coaching staff, Shildt rose to the interim manager’s position after Mike Matheny was let go in July 2018.  The Cardinals went 41-28 after Shildt took over as skipper, starting the team’s trend of late-season surges during Shildt’s tenure.  Except for that 2018 season, those late runs resulted in postseason appearances — the Cards won the NL Central in 2019 and earned wild card berths in each of the last two seasons, though their only postseason triumph in that stretch was a five-game win over the Braves in the 2019 NLDS.

This season, St. Louis enjoyed a team-record 17-game winning streak in September, but lost the wild card game to the Dodgers in heartbreaking fashion, as Chris Taylor hit a ninth-inning walkoff homer.  That winning streak only temporarily saved Shildt from being replaced, as various issues (or, as president of baseball operations John Mozeliak put it, “philosophical differences“) arose between Shildt and the front office and ultimately led Mozeliak to decide that a new manager was necessary.  Bench coach Oliver Marmol was eventually hired as Shildt’s replacement.

Shildt is only 53 years old, so there is plenty of time for a return to the dugout if he chooses to pursue other managerial or coaching opportunities in the future.  In the meantime, he will pitch in with Hill’s portfolio, which includes on-field disciplinary issues and umpiring at both the MLB and minor league levels.

Central Notes: Pirates, Brault, Reds, Lodolo, Guardians, Francona

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The Pirates designated left-hander Steven Brault for assignment before the lockout began, with Brault electing free agency shortly thereafter. The rebuilding club could feasibly re-sign Brault and fit him into their plans for 2022, but Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic doesn’t think that’s likely. He quotes general manager Ben Cherington as saying he’ll “keep the door open” to bringing the lefty back, but that “The health has gotten in the way the last couple of years.”

Brault missed about a month in 2019 with a shoulder strain but managed to stay healthy for the shortened 2020 campaign. Over those two seasons, he threw 156 innings with a 4.67 ERA, seeming like a decent rotation piece for a rebuilding club to have on hand. Unfortunately, 2021 wasn’t kind to the southpaw, as he spent much of the season on the IL and only made seven starts in the big leagues. He’s still only 29 years old, turning 30 in April, meaning another team could give him a chance to log some innings and show his health, even if it might not be the Pirates. He has between four and five years’ service time, which means a team that signs him and sees him round back into form could control him through 2023, as long as the service time rules remain unchanged in the next CBA.

More news from the Central divisions…

  • Much like Brault, Reds prospect Nick Lodolo also had an injury-plagued season in 2021. The 23-year-old was only able to make 13 starts between Double-A and Triple-A this year due to a blister as well as a shoulder strain. However, he seems to be on track for a healthy start to 2022, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He spoke to Reds farm director Shawn Pender, who says he reached out to Lodolo about two weeks ago “just to check in, say hello and how are you doing. He says, ’Gosh, I feel great. I guess all that strength and conditioning helped me, and the time off. I feel really up to the task of coming back ready to go,’ so that’s all been positive.” That’s surely good news for Reds fans, as Lodolo could be an important contributor in 2022, if healthy. The 7th overall selection of the 2019 draft, Lodolo is one of the most highly-touted prospects in the game, being ranked as the 89th-best prospect in baseball by FanGraphs, coming in at #31 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 and 23rd on Baseball America’s list. The Reds’ rotation has a strong front three in Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle, but all three have been frequently mentioned in trade rumors in recent months, as the Reds are apparently looking to reduce payroll. If those rumors prove true and any of that trio is moved, it would enhance the likelihood of Lodolo being able to make the jump to the big leagues in the coming season.
  • Terry Francona stepped away from his managerial duties in Cleveland at the end of July to undergo a hip replacement and foot surgery, leaving DeMarlo Hale in charge for the latter parts of the 2021 campaign. Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com provides an update, saying that Francona “should be off crutches in the next few weeks.” In September, team president Chris Antonetti said “We continue to plan looking at ’22 with Tito as our manager. If at some point that changes, we’re going to have to reconsider and relook at things at that point.  But we have no reason to think that will be the case.” Based on this most recent update, it appears everything is still on track for Francona to return to health and to the dugout in 2022.

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