Angels, Anthony Rendon In “Active Talks”; Rangers Out
9:00pm: The Rangers are out of the race, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. They never wanted to go more than five years for Rendon, who has sought seven, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. They’ve now turned their attention to the No. 2 third baseman on the market, Josh Donaldson, per Sullivan.
8:29pm: The Angels are engaged in “active talks” with free-agent third baseman Anthony Rendon, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. They’re “working hard” to sign him, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, while Rosenthal adds that the Angels are hoping to finalize a deal tonight.
With the Dodgers seemingly drifting from the Rendon race, it may come down to a pair of AL West rivals to sign the longtime Washington superstar. The Rangers remain in the mix, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson, who notes that they’ve met with Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, once during the Winter Meetings.
While Rendon’s a Texas native, which could work in the Rangers’ favor, it seems the Angels are determined to get this done. At the moment, they’re “pretty deep in negotiation” to sign him, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports. The Angels already lost out on two big targets in Stephen Strasburg (Nationals) and Gerrit Cole (Yankees) this week. Cole’s exit from the board left Rendon as the best player available, and he should join Strasburg and Cole in signing for well over $200MM. It appears the Angels are prepared to pay the price.
Athletics Interested In Jed Lowrie
Second baseman Jed Lowrie is only a year removed from leaving the Athletics for the Mets in free agency, but the A’s are now interested in bringing him back via trade, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. However, for that to happen, the Mets would have eat the majority of Lowrie’s $10MM salary for 2020, according to Slusser.
Lowrie joined the Mets on a two-year, $20MM contract, but it was one of multiple prominent offseason moves that didn’t go their way in 2019. The oft-injured 35-year-old sat out all but nine games, in which he totaled a mere eight plate appearances, as he dealt with a series of leg problems throughout the season. It’s now unclear where Lowrie fits on the Mets’ roster, as they already have what looks like a set infield with Robinson Cano at second, Pete Alonso at first, Amed Rosario at short and Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis as third base possibilities.
Conversely, Oakland has a dearth of established options at second, having jettisoned 2019 starter Jurickson Profar in a trade with the Padres. Current choices Chad Pinder, Franklin Barreto, Sheldon Neuse and Jorge Mateo are all right-handed hitters, as Slusser notes, whereas Lowrie bats from both sides of the plate. He’d at least add some variety to the group, then, and it’s worth pointing out that Lowrie had the best seasons of his career in Oakland.
Already a two-time Athletic, Lowrie was one of the game’s most valuable second basemen from 2017-18, a 1,325-plate appearance span in which he slashed .272/.356/.448 with 37 home runs, 8.7 fWAR and an All-Star nod. Lowrie stayed healthy during that time, but injuries have so far wrecked his Mets tenure, which could end as early as this winter.
NL West Rumors: Padres, Marte, D-backs, MadBum, Rox, Marquez
Continuing an active winter in the San Diego outfield, the Padres have joined the race to acquire Pirates center fielder Starling Marte, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. The Padres have already shuffled around their outfield quite a bit this offseason, having added two players (Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham) and subtracted another (Hunter Renfroe). They could get rid of at least one more if a team takes Wil Myers off their hands. The Padres at least tried to pawn Myers off on his first professional team – the Royals – in the clubs’ talks centering on utilityman Whit Merrifield, but KC didn’t bite, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report.
More rumblings from the NL West…
- The Diamondbacks “floated” a proposal to Madison Bumgarner that would have promised him something in the realm of $70MM, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. That falls in line with MLBTR’s $72MM prediction (over four years) for Bumgarner, but the highly accomplished 30-year-old has his eyes fixed on a much richer contract. The longtime Giant’s reportedly aiming for a payday in the $100MM range.
- Teams have inquired about Rockies right-hander German Marquez, but they haven’t shown any willingness to trade him, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. It’s neither surprising that other teams covet the strikeout-heavy Marquez nor that the Rockies want to keep him. Before last season, they signed the 24-year-old to a club-friendly extension – one that will see him earn a guaranteed $40.5MM from 2020-23 (including a $2.5MM buyout in ’24).
- Back in late September, the Padres and lights-out closer Kirby Yates were reportedly discussing an extension. No new deal has come together since, but it appears the two sides will at least make an effort to hammer something out. In regards to a potential extension, Yates told Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I’m always interested. It’s not up to me. When you get to that point, you have the discussions.” Likewise, the Padres are open to it. The club will “start talking to Kirby about his situation for next year” later this offseason, general manager A.J. Preller revealed. The 32-year-old Yates has just one remaining season of arbitration control, in which he’s projected to earn a bargain salary of $6.5MM.
- The Diamondbacks were already known to have interest free-agent center fielder Shogo Akiyama, and GM Mike Hazen revealed they met with the Japanese standout on Tuesday, per Piecoro. The Cubs also met with Akiyama’s representatives.
Chad Pinder Attracting “Significant Interest”
6:14pm: As of now, the Athletics are uninterested in trading Pinder, Slusser tweets.
3:24am: Oakland Athletics utility man Chad Pinder is drawing trade interest around the league, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. Pinder, 28 in March, was a second round draft choice of the A’s in 2013 out of Virginia Tech. He’s been a role player for Bob Melvin’s A’s in each of the last three seasons, though he saw more playing time than ever last season.
It’s understandable that Pinder would attract trade inquiries, as he’s the type of player managers love because of his versatility. While making appearances at every position besides pitcher and catcher in each of the last two seasons, he truly has proven comfortable everywhere, with left field garnering the greatest portion of the defensive timeshare at just over fifty-five percent of his career innings. The infield is mostly spoken for in Oakland due to the presence of Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien and Matt Olsen, but with Jurickson Profar now in San Diego, Pinder could be in line for a semi-regular role at the keystone, where he’s been tabbed for right around 13 starts per season since his debut. Franklin Barreto, Jorge Mateo and Sheldon Neuse are the greatest threats to a regular role at second for now, though there’s plenty of time for Oakland to make a move.
There aren’t many teams that couldn’t use a Swiss Army knife like Pinder. The Indians, for one, have long had their eye on him, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He bring defensive value in the outfield corners, where the A’s play him most, but he’s also coming off the worst offensive showing of his career – a mere 87 wRC+. This on the heels of a 114 wRC+ season in 2018. His BABIP slipped to a career low, so there could be some positive regression coming, but his walk rate also dropped back to 5.4% after a rise to 8.1% the year before, which prompted much of the excess offensive output. Strikeouts aren’t a huge problem for Pinder, but he simply doesn’t have any one skill strong enough to make up for a below-average walk rate. He has decent enough pop, but the .240/.290/.416 line he put forth in 2019 isn’t going to cut it, even for a part-timer.
Even so, the A’s like Pinder quite a bit, and it would take a good return to prompt a trade, per MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos. He is arbitration eligible for the first time this winter, however, figured to make around $1.8MM. The cost-conscious A’s are always willing to be creative with their payroll, but the flexibility and security Pinder provides the roster far outweighs the meager salary he’ll be due his first time through the arbitration process.
Rockies Extend Scott Oberg
The Rockies have reached a contract extension with reliever Scott Oberg, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. It’s a three-year, $13MM deal with an $8MM club option for 2023. However, the pact contains escalators that could push the value to $15MM over three years and $26MM for four, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Oberg is a client of agent Brian Charles of Big League Management Company, LLC.
Prior to this extension, Oberg had been projected to earn $2MM via arbitration in 2020. That will still be the case, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, who adds that Oberg will be guaranteed $4MM in 2021 and and $7MM in ’22. This extension will overlap with his final two arbitration-eligible campaigns and, if the option is exercised in a few seasons, buy out two free-agent years.
The fact that Oberg has become a core piece for the Rockies is fairly remarkable, as the team didn’t invest much in him (a 15th-round pick) when it drafted him in 2012. The right-handed Oberg became a regular out of the Colorado bullpen in 2015, but he didn’t truly blossom until 2018.
Oberg has quietly been one of the game’s most effective relievers since his breakout season, having relied on a fastball-slider combo to log a 2.35 ERA/3.20 FIP with 9.03 K/9, 2.75 BB/9 and a strong 52.7 percent groundball rate across 114 2/3 innings. Looking at Oberg’s home/road splits, it’s clear pitching at the hitter-friendly Coors Field hasn’t really fazed the 29-year-old in recent seasons.
Oberg did see his overall production plummet as 2019 progressed, but he was dealing with significant health worries then that affected his numbers. He didn’t take the mound past Aug. 16 on account of blood clots in his right elbow, which forced him to undergo surgery to address the issue. That was the second time Oberg has battled blood clots during his career, but there doesn’t seem to be any concern on the part of him or the Rockies that it’ll be an ongoing problem.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dodgers “Pessimistic” On Rendon, Still Talking Lindor With Indians
2:31pm: While the likelihood of an arrangement isn’t known, the Dodgers are engaged in “serious” and ongoing talks with the Indians regarding star shortstop Francisco Lindor, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The report suggests that the Cleveland organization wants a prospect package that includes top talents Gavin Lux and Dustin May, each of whom reached the majors late last year. Whether the demand is for both to be included isn’t entirely clear.
2:00pm: The Dodgers are increasingly “pessimistic” as to their chances of striking a deal with top remaining free agent Anthony Rendon, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The L.A. org just missed out on Gerrit Cole and could now see its other major target slip away.
What’s the mean for the market on Rendon? Rosenthal reiterates several other recent reports indicating that the Nationals are unlikely to bring back their star third bagger. The Rangers and Angels appear to be the leading contenders to secure the services of the smooth-swinging 29-year-old.
As for the Dodgers, if indeed they fall out of the Rendon bidding they’ll presumably keep moving down the line of options. The club is said to have interest in Josh Donaldson, Madison Bumgarner, and several other possible free agent and trade targets.
Kole Calhoun Market Taking Shape
We’ve yet to hear much of anything this winter regarding Kole Calhoun — a reflection both of the primacy of starting pitching on the market and the devaluation of the long ball around the league. The veteran corner outfielder has waited his turn as teams chase higher-priority targets.
Now, it seems some attention is beginning to turn to Calhoun and other possible targets. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Blue Jays, Reds, Brewers, and Marlins all have some level of interest in the 32-year-old.
Calhoun was paid a $1MM buyout by the Angels when his long-time team decided not to pick up his $14MM option. He popped 33 home runs in 2019 and has long been respected as a hard-nosed grinder with a quality glove, but his nice season wasn’t enough to warrant that level of pay even on a one-year deal.
While Calhoun has at times produced well-above-average offensive numbers, his context-adjusted output wasn’t exceptionally productive in 2019. Over 552 plate appearances, he maintained a .232/.325/.467 batting line, good for a 108 wRC+. That was an improvement on his average-ish 2017 and awful 2018 showings with the bat, but hardly an otherworldly effort. Calhoun walked at a career-best 11.1% rate but also went down on strikes at a personal-worst 25.6% clip.
The initial list of potential pursuers doesn’t seem to portend a bidding war. The Fish are biting this year, but don’t seem likely to go wild. They’re also looking at quite a few other options, as are the Reds. The Blue Jays and Brewers both make sense but don’t seem likely to spend past their internal valuations for a player such as Calhoun. Of course, it’s certainly possible that other clubs are in the picture or could join it depending upon outcomes with other segments of the market.
Twins Looking At Top Free Agent Relievers
Even as they continue to press for rotation improvements, the Twins are exploring options at the top of the market for relief pitching. It seems the team is casting an exceptionally wide net, per reports from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter) and Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
To this point, the Twins have already been rumored to be pursuing a reunion with sturdy veteran Sergio Romo — albeit perhaps not quite as enthusiastically as some other teams — while also joining a crowded group with interest in bounceback target Blake Treinen. Other candidates of each ilk have now been identified.
The Minnesota organization has looked into free agents Daniel Hudson, Steve Cishek, and Will Harris, according to Wolfson. That trio landed in our ranking of the top 50 free agents, with each prognosticated to secure a two-year pact with a guarantee of $10MM or more. They’re arguably a tier up from Romo on the market, though all of essentially the same subclass — veteran righty relievers with ample late-inning experience coming off of productive seasons.
Treinen is a much higher-variance hurler. When he was non-tendered, he joined a bounceback market led by Dellin Betances, who is hoping to return to form after an injury-ruined 2019 season. The Twins are at least giving internal consideration to pursuing Betances. It’s a bit of a dice roll since we don’t yet know whether he’ll be at peak physical form, but a single-season gamble on the high-octane hurler would seem to suit the Twins rather well.
Rockies “Willing To Listen” On Nolan Arenado
The Rockies are “willing to listen” to trade proposals regarding third baseman Nolan Arenado, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). But Colorado fans probably shouldn’t chuck their #28 threads just yet.
In their public statements, at least, the Rockies’ top decisionmakers have been steadfast in saying they intend to press for contention in 2020. That’s complicated by a tight budgetary picture, but we can’t ignore what the team has said to fans to this point.
Also important: Arenado has full no-trade rights under the massive extension he inked in February. He has emphasized a desire to play for a winning outfit, so perhaps he’d consider waiving his protection on the heels of a forgettable campaign for the Colorado organization. Regardless, it’s a potential complication to any negotiations.
Beyond that, it’s tough to fathom that the Rockies will let Arenado go lightly. This isn’t a case of buyer’s remorse. The 28-year-old put up a typically excellent season in 2019, slashing .315/.379/.583 with 41 home runs over 662 plate appearances. He’s a high-grade fielder who has scarcely missed any action over the past five seasons.
While Arenado’s contract is not a cheap one — $234MM over seven years, to be exact — teams with potential interest are already weighing enormous outlays for Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson. It has become clear in recent weeks that there’s not quite enough supply to meet the demand for those players, which helps explain why the Cubs have even engaged some rival teams regarding Kris Bryant.
It remains to be seen whether any serious talks emerge regarding Arenado. The fact that he can opt out after the 2021 season may reduce the willingness of teams to make a big offer, though two mid-prime seasons of Arenado is nothing to sneeze at. Regardless of how things develop, this news makes for an interesting market development as Rendon and Donaldson rise to the top of the leaderboard of available free agents.
As might be suspected, Heyman adds that the openness to discussing Arenado also implies that the Rox are not ruling out any other players entirely. Outfielder Charlie Blackmon is perhaps the most sensible high-end veteran target on paper. It’d be harder for the team to part with Trevor Story, Jon Gray, or German Marquez, but it’s now somewhat easier to imagine the Colorado front office exploring wider-ranging possibilities.
Brandon Nimmo, Eddie Rosario Reportedly Being Discussed In Trade Talks
While it was overshadowed entirely by a much bigger move, last night’s swap of Nomar Mazara from the Rangers to the White Sox also represented a notable bit of action in the outfield market. The landscape hasn’t changed much since the start of the offseason but could begin to come into focus now that the biggest starting pitching moves have been made.
It seems the Mets are still working things out in their outfield situation. Word is that they’re willing to consider parting with Brandon Nimmo, per SNY.tv’s Andy Martino (Twitter link). The New York org is reportedly still kicking around concepts with the Pirates regarding Starling Marte, one of the market’s top trade candidates. Some potential trade scenarios could involve the younger, cheaper, and more controllable Nimmo. It’s not specifically clear whether Nimmo is otherwise open for bidding, but it seems the New York org is doing everything it can to land a true center fielder — even if it means parting with the left-handed-hitting OBP machine.
Meanwhile, the Twins are discussing Eddie Rosario with several other clubs, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). The 28-year-old has been a mainstay in the Minnesota outfield but dipped a bit last year to a .276/.300/.500 batting line. He did launch 32 long balls and performed better in the on-base department in the prior two seasons. The Twins shouldn’t really need to move salary — Rosario is projected to earn $8.9MM with one more arb season to come — but may see an opportunity to pick up talent (especially in the pitching department) while reinvesting the payroll space and clearing the way for the near-term ascent of Alex Kirilloff.
The potential market for Rosario isn’t yet evident. The Marlins are among the teams with interest in Rosario, per Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio (via Twitter). But the Miami organization considers the Twins’ asking price “extremely high” at the moment. That was also the team’s stance with regard to Nomar Mazara, who ended up being dealt instead to the White Sox yesterday. The pursuit of Rosario and Mazara offers some insight into the thinking of the Miami organization. It seems obvious the organization is willing to take on a decent bit of salary and won’t limit itself to players with lengthy control rights. The club has a long-stated desire to add some corner pop and is also exploring the possibilities on the open market.