Blue Jays Unlikely To Pursue Starling Marte, Shogo Akiyama
Center field is a question mark for the Blue Jays, as Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez, and Derek Fisher are all imperfect defensive options while the likes of Anthony Alford or Jonathan Davis are lacking in MLB experience. There has been some speculation that the Jays could look to upgrade the position, though a notable acquisition like Starling Marte or Shogo Akiyama isn’t likely, as The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm hears from sources within and outside the Blue Jays organization that Marte and Akiyama are “not viewed as a potential solution.”
Marte was perhaps a longer shot, as a Jays team that didn’t have plans to contend in 2020 didn’t seem like an ideal suitor for a player only under control (via a club option) through the 2021 season. A very notable link between the Jays and Pirates did develop, however, when Blue Jays senior VP of baseball operations Ben Cherington hired as Pittsburgh’s new general manager. There has been increasing buzz about the possibility of a Marte trade as part of a wider Bucs rebuild process this winter, as Pirates owner Robert Nutting said that Cherington had free reign to deal any player on the roster that he saw fit to be moved.
GM Ross Atkins said a few weeks ago, however, that the Jays had some interest in Akiyama, as well as two Japanese players available through the posting system — Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Ryosuke Kikuchi. Unlike Tsutsugo or Kikuchi, Akiyama is free to be signed without any additional posting fee, and has already received some degree of interest from clubs like the Mariners, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Cubs.
Over the last five seasons with the Saitama Seibu Lions, Akiyama hit .320/.398/.497 with 94 homers and 78 steals, displaying the kind of well-rounded skillset that theoretically would’ve helped a Toronto club that struggled to either steal bases or reach base in general in 2019. MLBTR projected Akiyama to land a modest two-year, $6MM deal on the open market, so he wouldn’t have been an expensive purchase for the Jays.
That said, Akiyama also turns 32 in April, and is recovering from a broken bone in his foot suffered in a late October game. Given the injury concern and the unlikelihood that Akiyama would be a long-term answer, the Blue Jays might simply prefer to see what they have with their internal candidates before considering other center fielders. As Atkins recently stated, the team will explore position player acquisitions “based on the opportunity to add, the cost to add that player and determine what that means in terms of sacrifice for playing time. It’s too hard to say exactly how we’ll weigh that. It depends on the position we’re acquiring, which player is coming off or losing playing time.”
Cubs To Hire Craig Driver As First Base/Catching Coach
The Cubs are set to hire Craig Driver as their new first base and catching coach, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports (Twitter link). Driver will replace Will Venable as Chicago’s first base coach, though president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said earlier this month that Venable would be returning to the Cubs’ staff in 2020. The most obvious spot for Venable seems to be at third base, as former third base coach Brian Butterfield left the Cubs to join former manager Joe Maddon in Anaheim.
Driver has spent the last two seasons as the Phils’ receiving coach and bullpen catcher, following five years coaching at Yale, Central Washington University, and the University Of Puget Sound. As the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber outlined in a piece last August, J.T. Realmuto‘s caught-stealing numbers greatly increased on Driver’s watch, as Realmuto’s 46.7% caught stealing percentage in 2019 dwarfed his previous career best of 38.2%. Realmuto’s framing and blocking also improved, as per Baseball Prospectus, turning a player who was already the sport’s best catcher into one of its best all-around performers at any position.
The Cubs would love to see Willson Contreras make such a leap, as Contreras has only been roughly average at throwing out baserunners during his career. Framing has also long been considered an issue for the two-time All-Star, though BP and StatCorner differed wildly in their evaluations of Contreras’ framing work in 2019. StatCorner ranked Contreras as the 17th-best pitch-framer in the game last season, while Baseball Prospectus ranked him 109th of 113 catchers in the Framing Runs category.
As Rogers noted in another tweet, Driver joins a coaching staff that is deep in catching knowledge. Newly-hired manager David Ross and quality assurance coach Mike Napoli have a combined 1344 games of big league experience behind the plate, while current catching, strategy, and associate pitching coach Mike Borzello still seems to be a member of the 2020 staff. It could be that Driver’s responsibilities will continue to focus largely on receiving and he’ll operate alongside Borzello in working with Contreras, Victor Caratini, and the organization’s other backstops. It’s worth noting that Driver was one of two catching coaches on Philadelphia’s staff, alongside Bob Stumpo.
Yankees Interested In Blake Treinen
The Athletics have been in trade talks about some of their more prominent arbitration-eligible players, including former All-Star reliever Blake Treinen. As per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link), the Yankees are one of the clubs who have shown interest in a potential deal for the right-hander’s services.
According to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, Treinen is projected to receive a $7.8MM salary in is final year of arb eligibility before free agency. It isn’t a huge raise from the $6.4MM salary Treinen earned in 2019 after beating the Athletics in an arbitration hearing, though since the A’s are always conscious about payroll limitations, it could be more than the team is willing to spend after Treinen’s performance dropped off last season.
Granted, some level of regression was almost inevitable given the outstanding nature of Treinen’s 2018 work. The righty posted an 0.78 ERA, 51.9% grounder rate, and 4.76 K/BB rate while striking out 100 batters in 80 1/3 innings of work. While there was some batted-ball luck involved, ERA predictors (1.82 FIP, 2.42 xFIP, 2.46 SIERA) still indicated an elite level of performance in Treinen’s first full year as Oakland’s closer.
Things turned sour in 2019, however, as Treinen posted a 4.91 ERA, 42.8% grounder rate, and 1.59 K/BB rate over 58 2/3 innings. As compared to 2018, Treinen had big spikes in his walk rate (2.4 BB/9 to 5.7 BB/9) and homer rate (0.2 HR/9 to 1.4 HR/9), and batters made far more solid contact (.236 xwOBA to .334 xwOBA). Injuries surely played a role, as Treinen missed a couple of weeks due to a shoulder strain and then was shut down in late September after pitching with stress reaction in his back for the better part of a month.
Still, these recent health issues also surely aren’t helpful for the A’s in evaluating whether or not to spend a big chunk of their payroll space on a reliever who pitched at a sub-replacement level last season. Roster Resource projects the A’s at a 2020 payroll of just under $111.3MM, which would be well over the team’s franchise high of approximately $101.4MM at the end of the 2016 season.
While it can be assumed that the Athletics would be open to spending more than usual to take the next step on a roster that has reached the AL Wild Card game in each of the last two years, quite a bit of extra space could be freed up if Oakland were to trade or non-tender Treinen, Jurickson Profar ($5.8MM arb projection) and/or Josh Phegley ($2.2MM). Despite Treinen’s projected salary and his rough 2019, his 2018 performance is fresh enough in teams’ minds that finding a trade partner seems feasible for the A’s before Monday’s non-tender deadline.
It isn’t any surprise that the Yankees are among the teams who have come calling, given their reliance on a loaded bullpen in recent years. If Treinen can find even a middle ground between his 2018 and 2019 numbers, he’d be yet another fearsome addition within New York’s already-strong collection of Aroldis Chapman, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, Chad Green, and Tommy Kahnle, not to mention the plethora of other interesting young arms in the mix. In theory, Treinen would be replacing free agent Dellin Betances, though the Yankees already went virtually the entire season without any contributions from Betances during an injury-ravaged year for the right-hander.
Though the Yankees have some payroll concerns of their own in terms of the luxury tax, Treinen’s $7.8MM figure isn’t an overly exorbitant sum, plus some money could be sent back Oakland’s way in the form of another player’s salary. Beyond just a pure salary dump, it would be interesting to see what sort of creative deal could be swung between two clubs that figure to be contending for the American League pennant next season. Billy Beane and Brian Cashman have swung a few interesting trades during their long tenures running their respective front offices, perhaps most notably the July 2017 swap that sent Sonny Gray to New York for a three-prospect package.
Tayler Scott To Sign With NPB’s Hiroshima Carp
The Hiroshima Carp of the NPB have announced the signing of righty Tayler Scott, as relayed in a tweet from Patrick Newman of NPBtracker.com (link). Scott, who is expected to serve in middle relief with the Carp, will receive a $525K salary and a $175K signing bonus.
A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Scott made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Mariners after a seven-year minor league career in the Cubs, Brewers, and Rangers orgs. A rough sample of appearances (9.39 ERA in 7.2 innings) foreshadowed his placement on waivers, where he was scooped up by the pitching-needy Orioles.
Things went even more poorly in Baltimore, unfortunately, with the 27-year-old allowing 18 earned runs in 8.2 innings of relief. Still, the 6’3 righty has managed a 3.86 ERA over the course of his minor league career, armed with a sinking fastball that sits around 94 mph and a slider that elicited a respectable 36.1 percent whiff rate in Scott’s brief MLB tenure.
NL Notes: Diamondbacks, Vogt, Padres, Mets
The Diamondbacks‘ behind-the-plate combination of Carson Kelly and Alex Avila‘s was one of the National League’s best in 2019, from an offensive standpoint. The two combined for 27 homers last year, with Kelly’s 108 wRC+ falling fourth among NL backstops. The club doubled down on an offense-first approach at catcher when it signed Stephen Vogt to a one-year, $3MM deal with a 2021 vesting option earlier this week, posits Zach Buchanan of The Athletic.
In acquiring Vogt, Buchanan argues that executive Mike Hazen essentially secured Avila-plus; both players are left-handed, veteran sluggers, but Vogt performed at a higher level in 2019 and swings at a higher launch angle than the 32-year-old Avila (a feature which figures to play well at Arizona’s Chase Field). With catcher defense front-and-center for many front offices, going bat-first at backstop certainly represents an against-the-grain strategy for Arizona’s front office.
More items from around the NL…
- It’s been an offseason of change in San Diego, with new manager Jayce Tingler taking the reins after a four-year stretch of losing seasons under Andy Green. We’ve also seen former Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild take over for longtime Padres fixture Darren Balsley, and a few of Manny Machado‘s old friends from Baltimore have been brought in to provide additional coaching help. Rothschild has now settled on Ben Fritz as the club’s new bullpen coach, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, although a new hitting coach has yet to be identified. Damian Easley, who has already been working with the club’s infielders, remains a possibility for that role. Acee also relays that Rod Barajas, who served as the club’s interim manager after Green’s mid-season exit, will be redirected to another role in the organization after being passed over for the role of skipper.
- Tim Britton of The Athletic tracks payroll trends surrounding the Mets over the last decade, with his analysis resting largely on info culled from Baseball Prospectus’ Cot’s On Contracts. Though perhaps unsurprising to most faithful followers of the team, Britton notes that New York has enacted the lowest percentage increase in total payroll among all teams in this decade. While total MLB revenue has risen nearly 50 percent in the last ten years, the Mets have not kept pace with other big-market spenders (New York was third in payroll over the course of the aughts, but spent the majority of this decade outside the top ten in payroll spending). Still, it’s important to emphasize that the Mets’ payroll is trending up of late, with GM Brodie Van Wagenen denying to speak unequivocally about a potential approach to the $208MM CBT line.
AL Notes: Zunino, Rangers, Apostel, Cole, Boras
The Rays made the gutsy decision to bet on a bounceback from catcher Mike Zunino in 2020, opting to avoid arb with the former Gator via a $4.5MM deal while Travis d’Arnaud headed for richer pastures in Atlanta. Zunino has never been what one would call a complete hitter, but 2019 represented a personal low from a performance standpoint, with the former top draftee managing just a .165/.232/.312 (45 wRC+) output through 289 plate appearances. Now, the likelihood of a Zunino rebound at the plate may rest on the work of hitting coach Chad Mottola, suggests Josh Tolentino of The Athletic (link).
As Tolentino notes, Mottola was instrumental in helping d’Arnaud find offensive consistency and also helped pull shortstop Willy Adames out of an early-season funk in 2019. Zunino’s real value will likely always lie with the glove (he did record 8.3 Fielding Runs Above Average in limited work in 2019, per Baseball Prospectus), but a return to his 2017 levels (126 wRC+ and 25 homers in 124 games) would certainly be a welcome development. The Rays also hold a $4.5MM option on Zunino for the 2021 season.
More notes from around the American League…
- The Rangers‘ decision to draft two third basemen, Josh Jung and Davis Wendzel, with their top two picks in the 2019 draft led many to believe that the future of that position was well in hand, but the toolsy Sherten Apostel should not be counted out as a long-term answer, opines Levi Weaver of The Athletic. Originally acquired alongside Taylor Hearn in a 2018 deadline deal that sent Keone Kela to Pittsburgh, Apostel is likely to start 2020 at High-A Down East alongside Jung. Despite his 6’4 frame, organizational observers are bullish about his ability to stick at the hot corner, and his prodigious raw power prompted Single-A Hickory manager Matt Hagen to credit the 20-year-old Curacao native with “man-child” strength. Apostel managed a .251/.339/.440 slash line and 19 home runs across 478 plate appearances between two levels last year. Of course, the position could be addressed via a long-term signing this offseason, with our writers settling on Texas as a realistic destination for free agent Josh Donaldson in early November.
- While much has been made of Gerrit Cole‘s professional relationship with agent Scott Boras this offseason, observers should take note that Cole previously shown a tendency to direct his own fortunes, reminds Tracy Ringolsby of Baseball America. When Cole was a first-round draftee of the Yankees back in 2008, it was Cole and his father, according to Ringolsby, who made the ultimate decision to pursue a collegiate career at UCLA. Cole’s first-round signing bonus that year was expected to land around $4MM, but the Cole family apparently believed that the intangible value of an education–to say nothing of another chance of entering the draft at a higher slot–outweighed the benefits of an early payday. Obviously, it doesn’t register as news to be reminded that agents are entrusted to work for the best interests of their clients, but it may be worth considering, given their working history, that the former Astros ace and his representatives likely have more in mind this offseason than pure dollar value alone.
MLBTR Poll: Predicting Largest Guarantee Among Potential NPB Imports
In addition to the dozens of veteran free agents still looking for new homes this offseason, there are currently three decorated players from the Nippon Professional Baseball ranks who are currently available to stateside clubs via the MLB posting system. First baseman Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, pitcher Shun Yamaguchi, and second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi have already been posted this winter; a fourth player, outfielder Shogo Akiyama, is an international free agent. While none of these players promise, like countrymen Shohei Ohtani or Yu Darvish before them, to be franchise building blocks, each offers unique value to potential American suitors.
Looking for a lefty bat with pop? Tsutsugo is your man. Since 2014, the 6’0 slugger has blasted an average of 30.83 home runs per season while playing for the Yokohama BayStars, peaking with totals of 44 and 38 round-trippers in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The now-28-year-old couples that raw power with the patient approach modern clubs covet, recording a 15.1 percent walk rate over the last four seasons, while also doing a generally acceptable job of limiting strikeouts.
As for his defense? Well, Jason Coskrey of Baseball America recently said he’s “not a terrible fielder by any means, but he’s not a great one either”. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a player who has shuttled between first, third, and left field in a ten-year Nipponese career. Clubs may be wary of committing multiple years, a hefty guarantee, and a posting fee (more on that in a moment) for a player who may end up suited for DH duties.
How about teams in search of a veteran starting pitcher to slot into their rotation’s back end? 32-year-old righty Shun Yamaguchi throws a fastball that sits around 90 mph, with a forkball representing his primary breaking pitch. That surely doesn’t sound like the most glamorous mix of attributes, but what Yamaguchi can offer is a wealth of experience and a good deal of forward momentum. Despite having pitched over 1000 innings stretching between the bullpen and the rotation in an NPB career dating back to 2006, Yamaguchi may have found another gear in 2019.
In addition to posting a 2.91 ERA over 26 starts, his 10.0 K/9 and 3.13 K/BB ratios last season marked personal bests as a starter. This offseason has already been slightly unpredictable when it comes to starting pitching, with Jake Odorizzi foregoing the open market and an inconsistent Kyle Gibson garnering a three-year, $30MM deal from the Rangers. For teams leery of even approaching the market’s top trifecta of starting arms, Yamaguchi, though likely not a world-beater, could represent an appealing value play.
Then there’s the slick-fielding Ryosuke Kikuchi. For teams in need of second base help and defensive improvement in the infield–and there are a few teams who fit within that category–Kikuchi may be a perfect match. The 29-year-old has won every Golden Glove at the keystone in the NPB’s Central League since 2013. While his defensive excellence seems to be universally upheld, there are some persistent questions as to how the bat will travel. Since debuting with the Hiroshima Carp in 2012, the righty swinger has logged a cumulative .271/.315/.391 line across a rather healthy sample of 4695 plate appearances.
Kikuchi’s .261/.313/.406 slash from last year would look acceptable in the majors from a defensively adept second baseman, but such production in the offensively friendly Japanese ranks may give some MLB front offices reason to pause; those that remember the trials of Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Munenori Kawasaki, two other former Golden Glove NPB infielders who proved unable to adapt to MLB pitching, may simply stay away altogether.
Big league teams interested in any of these players will have to pay their parent clubs posting fees proportional to the size of the player’s contract: 20 percent of the first $25MM guaranteed; 17.5 percent of the next $25MM, plus 15 percent of every dollar over $50MM. That release fee is separate from the guarantee itself (for instance, a $25MM guarantee for one of these players would result in an additional $5MM posting fee, bringing the MLB club’s total expense to $30MM).
Performance incentives and contract options will trigger a supplemental 15 percent release fee once unlocked. For a minor league deal, an MLB club will be required to give a parent club 25 percent of the player’s signing bonus, and the player’s MLB salary will be subject to a supplemental posting fee if he is added to the club’s 25-man roster.
Shogo Akiyama probably represents the most well-rounded player expected to make the leap this offseason, and he was the only expected NPB import from this offseason to land within our Top 50 MLB Free Agent list. Considered a true center fielder and leadoff man by most, Akiyama set the NPB single-season record for hits (216) in the 2015 season. He’s won six Golden Gloves in his home country, hit 69 home runs over his last three seasons with the Seibu Lions, and holds a 10.8 percent walk rate since 2016. Two problems: Akiyama will be 32 next April, a rather advanced age for an up-the-middle player, and he suffered a broken bone in his foot during an exhibition on Oct 31 and will need to show he is healthy in order to sign with an MLB team.
There’s certainly a chance some of these players may not come stateside this offseason, but each seems to represent a coveted potential asset in their own right. This year’s free agent market is generally slim pickings when it comes to center fielders, so Akiyama’s availability, in particular, is probably a welcome development for a number of clubs; better yet, he is free to sign a new deal with any club without being subject to the posting system and its concomitant fees.
Still, it’s fair to wonder if he can truly be considered the most viable play here. Tsutsugo offers immense immense power and relative youth, while there seems to be a fair number of clubs circling starting pitching options like Yamaguchi this offseason.
Which one do you believe is likely to receive the healthiest contract guarantee this winter? (Poll link for app users)
Quick Hits: 40-Man Rosters, Cubs, Japanese FAs
As we approach the non-tender deadline and the Rule 5 draft, many of the 40-man roster changes may seem inconsequential from a league perspective. But for those players involved, a spot on a 40-man roster can be life-changing. As noted by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper, a minor league player’s pay will jump from $2000 a month to at least $46,000 for the year once added to the 40-man. That’s a significant pay bump, but their potential for future earnings also gets a jolt as they receive an invite to spring camp and a longer look from major league coaches and executives. Even one day on the ML roster during the season will earn a player more in a week than he’d likely ever made in a month of minor league ball. Given the roster churn that happens over the course of a season and the high rate of injuries, a spot on the 40-man roster gives a player a pretty decent chance of making an appearance in the show. Feel free to take a moment this morning to reflect on baseball’s greater economic landscape, then follow up with a couple quick hits from around the league.
- The Cubs are in the market for pitching, but probably not the top names on the free agent market, per The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney. The Cubs haven’t been able to put together a pitching staff like the one that took them to a World Series title in 2016, and they no longer have the financial leeway to make a big splash like they did with the signing of Jon Lester. Only Kyle Hendricks remains close to the guy he was in 2016 when Hendricks, Lester, and Jake Arrieta each put together seasons worthy of Cy Young consideration en route to the curse-breaking championship. The Cubs of today will have to hit on below-the-radar type acquisitions, as they did in acquiring Arrieta and Hendricks in the first place. Willson Contreras could fetch a noteworthy piece, but that’s a theoretical valuation that requires a trading partner willing to move the right young arm.
- While ardent fans are familiar with most of the names in the free agent pool, there are a few newcomers from Japanese professional baseball who remain relatively unknown commodities to American followers. Thankfully, Jason Coskrey of Baseball America provides scouting reports on a host of Japanese ballplayers who could find themselves on MLB rosters in the not-too-distant future. It’s a list that includes three players who have already been posted—Ryosuke Kikuchi, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, and Shun Yamaguchi—and Shogo Akiyama, an international free agent, all of whom are eligible to negotiate with big league clubs. Coskrey also names a number of players who could be next in line to make it stateside via the posting system or international free agency, including the famed Tetsuto Yamada. For those readers who are interested in familiarizing themselves with the newest influx of international talent to the MLB landscape, Coskrey’s piece is worth a look.
Padres To Sign Drew Pomeranz
Nov. 30: Rosenthal adds that Pomeranz’s $8MM signing bonus is deferred and will be paid between November 2020 and November 2023.
Nov. 27, 4:02pm: Pomeranz received an $8MM signing bonus and will be paid annual salaries of $4MM in 2020, $6MM in 2021 and $8MM in 2022-23, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter).
1:54pm: Pomeranz will be guaranteed $34MM over a four-year term, pending a physical, Murray tweets.
1:20pm: Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports that Pomeranz has been promised a rather stunning four-year guarantee (Twitter link). Robert Murray adds that it’ll pay him $8-9MM annually.
10:20am: The Padres have struck a deal with free agent lefty Drew Pomeranz, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The signing of the CAA client adds to what is quickly becoming a barn-burner of a day for the Friars, who have already struck a four-player swap with the Brewers.
Details remain unknown, but it seems fair to guess the southpaw has done quite well for himself — likely on a multi-year pact — in a surprise return to San Diego. The 31-year-old had an excellent, but brief run with the organization back in 2016 before being flipped to the Red Sox in a trade for then-top prospect Anderson Espinoza. Pomeranz has had some ups and downs as a starting pitcher since that time, but he finished the ’19 season riding high in a return to a relief setting.
Just a few months ago, the notion of Pomeranz being considered a top-tier free agent would’ve seemed unthinkable. He’d been booted from a pedestrian Giants rotation after posting a 5.97 ERA through 18 starts, but Pomeranz morphed into one of baseball’s most dominant bullpen weapons down the stretch. In 28 relief appearances, he not only posted a 1.88 ERA but also punched out a staggering 50 of the 106 batters he faced (47.2 percent). The Brewers were clearly intrigued by Pomeranz’s early work out of the ‘pen, acquiring him and flamethrower Ray Black in a deadline swap that sent infield prospect Mauricio Dubon to San Francisco.
The addition of Pomeranz will give the Padres a dynamic back-end bullpen duo, as he’ll team with right-hander Kirby Yates, who has emerged as one of baseball’s premier relievers since joining the Padres via waiver claim early in the 2017 season. Yates figures to continue handling ninth-inning duties, with Pomeranz serving as a top setup man, although today’s signing does give the San Diego organization even greater flexibility to shop Yates around as he enters his final year of club control. That said, the Padres have made a clear shift toward more of a win-now ideology after a grueling rebuild, and the Yates/Pomeranz pairing unequivocally makes them more formidable.
MLBTR Originals
On a relatively slow post-holiday Saturday morning, let’s round up the original work posted by the MLBTR staff this week…
- The Offseason Outlook series continued in earnest this week with status checkups on the Braves, White Sox, and Astros.
- Steve Adams and Jeff Todd rounded up the Top 25 Offseason Trade Targets and ranked them by a combination of trade value and trade likelihood.
- Jeff Todd took some time earlier this week to examine the fast-moving catching market, which has seen not only the top option come off the board, but a number of backups options as well.
- With the non-tender deadline looming Monday, a list of potential non-tenders – aka future free agents – can be found here.
- We also reached out to you, the masses, for your opinion on a number of different topics: best November transaction, the Kyle Gibson contract, the Brewers/Padres swap, the managerial carousel, Rockies’ trade assets, and potential targets for the Reds.
- Last but far from least, the MLBTR staff is here on a weekly basis to chat. You can find this week’s transcripts here and here.