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Pitching Notes: Smith, Watson, Miley, Jays, Kikuchi, Cobb

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The Cardinals are among the many teams pressing the Giants with interest in southpaw Will Smith, according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic (Twitter link). Another San Francisco lefty, Tony Watson, appears to be of secondary interest to the Cards, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Goold notes that the St. Louis club is interested in swapping slugger Jose Martinez for a lefty reliever, though it’s fair to wonder whether he’d be of much interest to the Giants.

More on the pitching market:

  • There’s at least some preliminary interest from the Reds in southpaw Wade Miley, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Given the Cincinnati organization’s need for significant rotation help, and its recent hiring of former Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson, it’s not particularly surprising to hear of this link. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of deal the 32-year-old Miley is ultimately able to secure after an odd 2018 campaign in which he worked through injury to compile 80 2/3 innings of 2.57 ERA ball. He managed only 5.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 on the year, though did sport a healthy 52.8% groundball rate while allowing a stingy (but perhaps not sustainable) 0.33 homers per nine.
  • Pitching appears to be a key focus of the Blue Jays this winter, with the club occupying a potentially interesting place in the market. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports that the Toronto ballclub is considering players that’d require multi-year commitments as well as bounceback types. But GM Ross Atkins emphasizes that the club won’t be “looking for free-agent pieces with the goal of trading them,” though of course future dealmaking would always be a possibility. Meanwhile, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi explores, Atkins evinced an increasing openness to weighing deals for existing starters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez in his most recent comments. While the team’s own valuation of the two talented-but-uncertain hurlers has surely not changed, Atkins suggests that rivals have shown sufficient interest that it’s worth further exploring trade scenarios. Whether any deal will come together isn’t clear, but it does seem evident that the Toronto club has gained clarity on the demand for these pitchers and that, as Davidi puts it, there’s at least a realistic path to trade outcomes.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman indicated yesterday that his club is taking a look at Japanese southpaw Yusei Kikuchi, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. The New York powerhouse is presently engaged on other players, via trade and free agency, but Cashman says that Kikuchi is “somebody that’s worthy of having conversations about potentially landing.” Having taken a long scouting look at Kikuchi already, the Yanks surely have a price point in mind. Cashman says the team will continue to stay “very active, but disciplined” in its pursuit of pitching.
  • The Mariners are another clear possibility for Kikuchi, as TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto made clear that the club both holds the Japanese hurler in high regard, calling him a “very good” starter, and is interested in trying to work out a deal. While they are taking a step back in the near-term, the M’s feel the 27-year-old “does fit our timeline,” per Dipoto.
  • It seems there’s at least some interest around the game in Orioles righty Alex Cobb, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. While his early showing in Baltimore was simply brutal, Cobb did turn things around in the second half, when he held opposing hitters to a .232/.288/.377 slash and carried a 2.56 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. Of course, the $43MM still owed Cobb over the next three seasons presents quite a barrier to a deal.

White Sox Acquire Ivan Nova

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12:58am: Young hurler Yordi Rosario and $500K in international spending capacity are going to the Bucs, Heyman tweets. The deal has now been announced.

12:10pm: The Pirates will receive a “young pitcher” and an unstated amount of international bonus pool availability, per Jon Heyman of Fanced (via Twitter).

10:55am: The White Sox have struck a deal with the Pirates to acquire righty Ivan Nova, according to Ken Rosenthal and Robert Murray of The Athletic (via Twitter). The return is not yet known; the deal will not be finalized until the teams have completed a review of medicals.

At first glance, this is quite an interesting swap owing to its potential downstream ramifications. Moving Nova will clear $8.5MM of payroll for the Bucs, who could put those funds to use in pursuing other players. The White Sox, meanwhile, have continued to make good on their stated intention to bolster their MLB roster in the near term.

Nova, who’ll turn 32 early next year, has been a sturdy rotation piece since landing in Pittsburgh at the 2016 trade deadline. He re-signed with the club in the ensuing winter on a three-year deal that expires at the end of the 2019 campaign.

Over the past two campaigns, Nova carries a 4.16 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 over 348 frames. He’s not generating as many grounders as he once did, but still has drawn worm burners on over 45% of the balls put in play against him. Meanwhile, Nova has been hurt by the long ball, allowing more than 1.4 per nine since the start of 2017.

It’s not a terribly exciting profile, but it’s one with value. Nova is still working in the 93 to 94 mph range with his pair of fastballs, while his swinging-strike rate has sat above eight percent — right in line with his career average. There’s good reason to anticipate that he’ll mostly be the same pitcher in 2019.

For the Chicago organization, adding Nova will help bolster a staff that has bid adieu to veteran James Shields. The club could certainly stand to add more arms, though it’ll also continue to decade at least two or three spots to its preexisting rotation options. Previously, the South Siders added veteran reliever Alex Colome to anchor the bullpen.

Interesting as it will be to see what else the White Sox do the rest of the way, the Pirates are now a potentially intriguing wild card on the market. Having dealt for Chris Archer and Keone Kela over the summer, the Bucs certainly seem positioned to add more pieces. After today’s trade, they’ll have more free payroll space to work with than they did at the outset of the offseason, even after having already signed Jung Ho Kang and Lonnie Chisenhall. Of course, moving Nova also leaves the Pittsburgh rotation with one less reliable arm. The organization could fill the opening from within (with Nick Kingham and eventually top prospect Mitch Keller) and/or pursue cheaper depth pieces via free agency.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Marlins Outright Yadiel Rivera, Brett Graves

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The Marlins have outrighted infielder Yadiel Rivera and righty Brett Graves, according to Wells Dusenbury of the Sun-Sentinel (via Twitter). That creates two 40-man roster openings in advance of the Rule 5 draft.

Rivera, 26, got his first extended look at the MLB level last year, but managed only a .173/.269/.216 batting line in 160 plate appearances. Graves, meanwhile, received his first major-league stint with the Fish in 2018. He threw 33 1/3 innings of 5.40 ERA ball with 5.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

Yankees “Open To Moving” Miguel Andujar

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The Yankees are “open to moving” young third baseman Miguel Andujar in a trade, according to Ken Rosenthal and Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Whether there’s a particularly likely path to that occurring remains to be seen.

It has long been presumed that the New York organization would be open to considering trade scenarios involving Andujar. At the same time, the team’s stance hasn’t always been clear. And the timing of this report increases its relevance, as the Yanks are engaged on multiple fronts in the midst of the Winter Meetings.

As Rosenthal notes, it’s not hard at all to imagine that Andujar could make up a notable part of the rumored three-team trade negotiations between the Yankees, Mets, and Marlins. That seems a speculative connection at this stage, though it certainly stands to reason that the Fish would have interest in a player who fell just shy of a Rookie of the Year Award in 2018 and could be a cornerstone for years to come.

Of course, it’s also plenty possible to imagine Andujar being utilized in other trade scenarios as the Yankees seek to add a high-end starter (while avoiding a large and lengthy contract, to the extent possible). The Indians have long marketed their enticing set of starters, though it could be that the teams have already tried and failed to line up on a deal.

Moving Andujar, of course, would also conceivably line up with a signing of superstar free agent Manny Machado — the Yanks remain engaged with him but say they’re out on Bryce Harper — though it’d hardly make such a move a sure thing. All said, possibilities abound.

Ketel Marte Hires Wasserman Agency

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Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte has hired Wasseman Media Group, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be joined there by Yankees pitching prospect Domingo Acevedo, with both moves now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Marte’s move comes less than a year after he inked a new deal with the Diamondbacks. He’s under control in Arizona through at least 2022, for a promised $24MM in overall salary. The contract also includes a pair of options and some available incentives.

While the 25-year-old Marte likely won’t have much contract work for his new reps to handle for some time, he’ll increasingly feature as a prominent player on a still-evolving Arizona roster, perhaps bringing additional promotional earning opportunities. It seems the organization sees him not only as a regular performer, but also as a candidate to shift into center field.

As for Acevedo, he’s considered one of the Yankees’ top prospects but is still waiting for his first shot at the majors after spending most of the past two seasons at the Double-A level. Acevedo is best known for his sizzling fastball; whether he’ll make it to the Bronx as a starter or reliever remains to be seen.

Player Rumors: Realmuto, Gonzalez, Roark

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The Marlins are downplaying rumors of a potential 3-team swap that would send catcher J.T. Realmuto to the Mets, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). The Yankees would also be included in this hypothetical blockbuster, but the Marlins aren’t lending much credence to the idea. They do plan to move Realmuto, it seems, and with only three teams reportedly in the mix, the Marlins could be narrowing in on the market. Still, the rumor mill shifts every few moments when it comes to Realmuto, and it would seem prudent to temper expectations of a deal until word comes from Marlins camp directly. Elsewhere in player rumors…

  • First baseman Adrian Gonzalez hopes to continue his playing career in 2019, and he’s improved his conditioning to do so, per ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). It’s an unforgiving market for inflexible corner infield types, however, and Gonzalez has not seen a lot of traction since he last saw the playing field with the Mets early in 2018. Still, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets the Diamondbacks could have interest in signing the veteran bat. Gonzalez, 36, has played for the Rangers, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets across a long and storied career, but his opportunity to see significant playing time would seem to have passed. The Diamondbacks are a curious fit, if only because Gonzalez is unlikely to develop into much of a trade chip, given the current market interest, and playing time at first base is likely committed to restoring the value of Jake Lamb, a much higher-upside potential asset. Still, adding Gonzalez as a clubhouse veteran and lefty bat off the bench isn’t wholly unreasonable for a transitioning team like Arizona, especially given the exodus of so many veteran leaders. Speculatively speaking, Gonzalez could fit the mold of a been-there, seen-that veteran leader the Cubs are reportedly seeking, and their recent trade of Tommy La Stella did open a roster spot that’s been held by a lefty bat used more-or-less exclusively as a pinch-hitter. At this stage of his career, however, with his slugging numbers cratering in his last two campaigns, Gonzalez is unlikely to be a primary target anywhere, and he may have to earn a spot on a major league team as a non-roster invitee. 
  • Tanner Roark’s name is being floated in trade circles as someone the Nationals would be willing to surrender, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). This jives with earlier reports that the Nationals continue to seek rotation reinforcements, even after the signing of Patrick Corbin. Roark, 32, has been a steady rotation presence for the past three seasons, though he has yet to recapture the magic of a 2016 that saw him post a 16-10 record with a 2.83 ERA over 210 innings. The last two seasons seem more in line with expectations moving forward, as Roark has averaged 30 starts, 181 innings, and a 4.50 ERA (4.20 FIP) over that span. His 2019 salary is projected around $9.8MM, making him a relatively affordable one-year option as he enters his last year of arbitration, though depending on the assets being asked in return, a free agent flyer, in the ilk of Tyson Ross’s recent $5.75MM deal with Detroit, may be just as (if not more) attractive to teams looking to fill out the back end of their rotation. For the Nationals, it’s a little surprising to see them shopping Roark given their lack of established depth in the upper levels of the minors. It’s not surprising that they’d want to upgrade the rotation behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Corbin, but to do so at the cost of Roark feels unnecessarily Sisyphean. After dealing Jefry Rodriguez to the Indians in the Yan Gomes deal, top in-house rotation candidates beyond Roark include Joe Ross, 25, Erick Fedde, 25, and Kyle McGowin, 27 – none of whom would necessarily be considered “established” rotation pieces.

Payroll Notes: Astros, Indians, Cubs

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The Astros began last season with a team-record $182MM payroll, the fifth-highest mark in the league, but after falling short of their bid to repeat as World Series champs, there’s a possibility that payroll could rise even higher by the start of 2019, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. They won’t extend beyond the luxury tax mark, but Owner Jim Crane is giving the green light to inch closer to the $206MM tax line should the right deals come along via trades or free agency. The Astros long-term financial ledger is fairly clear with only Jose Altuve signed beyond 2020, and yet, by this time next winter, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock will be free agents, George Springer and Lance McCullers Jr. will be in their final year of arbitration, and young studs Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman should earn significant pay hikes in their second and first seasons of arb eligibility, respectively. Still, Houston appears staunch in their unwillingness to deal top prospect Forrest Whitley, and the offseason additions made thus far have been measured – infielder Aledmys Diaz is pre-arb and catcher Robinson Chirinos signed for one-year, $5.75MM. Expect GM Jeff Luhnow to continue to spend judiciously, as there does not appear to be a knee-jerk spending spree on the horizon, though the possibility for increased spending is there. Now, some other payroll notes from the 2016 pennant winners…

  • Rumors have not stopped swirling around the Cleveland Indians since the offseason began, but as evidenced by Carlos Carrasco’s journey from the trade block to signing a below-market extension, anything remains possible in Cleveland. In fact, there’s no set number for the team’s 2019 payroll, per Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal, as the team’s focus remains fixed on finding a balance between staying competitive with the American League’s upper echelon and maintaining a sustainable talent base beyond 2020. Cleveland’s payroll has risen to historic (for them) levels during this current competitive stretch, and there remains the mandate to shed payroll for 2019, but the priority, by far, is to add controllable assets for the future. While getting younger is an obvious side effect of increased controllability, youth is in-and-of-itself not the goal for ownership. Where the payroll for 2019 ends up is a flexible line, so long as the goal of adding controllable assets is achieved. This falls in line with current thinking that the Indians are less likely to attach one of their bulkier short-term contracts to Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, as either pitcher on their own will net a far more controllable collection of assets. With movement on the free agent and trade markets relatively slow league-wide, the Indians have the prerogative of patience at the moment, but as major signings start to trickle in, it will be interested to track the level of urgency in Cleveland regarding these trade talks. That said, pitchers like Kluber and Bauer will never cease to attract interested trade partners, but the window for moving a package like the rumored Edwin Encarnacion/Yandy Diaz deal may have a smaller, or at least, shifting window of availability.
  • The Cubs continue to target late-inning bullpen additions, a backup catcher and potentially a middle infielder, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Any trades involving current players, such as Ben Zobrist, who is in the last year of his deal, or noted trade target Kyle Schwarber would have to improve the Cubs from an on-field standpoint, as despite their fiscal restraints, they do not appear motivated to move someone like Zobrist simply for the salary relief.
  • That said, the Cubs have a fairly specific wish list this winter after the departures of David Ross (after 2016) and Jon Jay (after 2017) led to a perceived leadership void in the Cubs clubhouse, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. One solution may be to have Ross himself, still employed as a special assistant, spend more time around the team this season, but the Cubs front office remains on the lookout for a vocal veteran who can bring some accountability to the Chicago locker room. GM Jed Hoyer dubbed their lack of leadership in 2018 as a “miscalculation,” as they assumed certain issues would resolve themselves because so much of the Chicago core had been together for so long. It’s an interesting area of need for the Cubs considering they have no shortage of veterans who, to the outside eye, might step into that leadership void. Presumably, veterans like Jon Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Cole Hamels, Jason Heyward, Pedro Strop and Zobrist provide varying degrees of leadership, and the more youthful Javier Baez and Willson Contreras also seem capable of galvanizing the team at times, but the ability to take someone to task is indeed a rare trait, it seems, and one that Hoyer suggests is more likely to come from a reserve than a marquee player. 

Retirement/Comeback Notes: Masterson, Wilhelmsen, G. Soto

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A look at the latest official retirement announcements from around the game, plus a potential comeback . . .

  • Pitcher Justin Masterson, 33, is officially retired, per his agent Randy Rowley (Twitter link via Fancred’s Jon Heyman).  Masterson, who came up with the Red Sox, was a rotation stalwart for the Indians over the early part of the decade, posting an excellent 12.3 fWAR from 2010-’13.  The low-slot righty posted some of the league’s highest ground-ball rates over that frame, rarely missing an outing in the process. After a dreadful, walk-marred 2014 campaign, the then-29-year-old never reclaimed his barrel-avoiding touch. The Dodgers took a flier on him prior to the ’17 season, but he struggled in Triple-A Oklahoma City and never did make an appearance for the parent club.
  • Reliever Tom Wilhelmsen announced his retirement on Instagram this morning. Wilhelmsen, 35 on Sunday, was suspended from baseball in 2004 and subsequently quit the game the next season; in 2009, though, he returned to pitch for the Golden (Independent) League’s Tucson Toros and was signed by Seattle the next spring.  He quickly inserted himself into the bullpen mix for the M’s, posting four seasons of a sub-3.35 ERA from 2011-’15.  Command issues often plagued him, though, and he was released by Arizona after a rough start to the 2017 season.
  • 2008 Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto will attempt a comeback next season after sitting out 2018, per agent Paul Kinzer (via MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes on Twitter). Soto, 35, has been mostly a backup option after a rough 2012 with the Cubs and Rangers, though has often acquitted himself well in limited action since.  He last appeared in the majors with the 2017 White Sox, slashing .190/.271/.405 in 48 plate appearances.

NL Notes & Rumors: Mets, Realmuto, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, K. Marte, Lamb, Fowler

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Though earlier reports suggested the Mets’ pursuit of catcher J.T. Realmuto was a “long shot,” MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that the team is “considered” one of only three teams (with the other two not yet known) “in the mix” for the 27-year-old.  The whirlwind of activity surrounding the star backstop, at this point, seems matched only by the Mets’ frantic pursuit of blockbuster deals in all directions, so the potential intersection of the two remains a fascinating watch indeed.  Frisaro does, however, downplay the plausibility of the rumored three-team deal that would also include the Yankees.

In other news from around the Senior Circuit . . .

  • Per Jon Heyman of Fancred, none of the Dodgers’ glut of outfielders are unavailable in trades, including 2017 NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger. He does imply, though, that 23-year-old Bellinger would be most difficult to get; other options, like Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, and youngster Alex Verdugo have most often found their names circulating in the swirling winds of trade season, though Chris Taylor, who’s averaged nearly 4.0 fWAR over the last two seasons, is apparently on the table as well. One of Pederson or Verdugo would, as quality lefty bats capable of handling center field, seem the most logical candidate to be moved, but the notoriously coy Andrew Friedman, long a sucker for homegrown talent, may be setting his sights elsewhere. Pederson, for one, has a value difficult to gauge precisely – his frightening platoon splits (129 career wRC+ vs RHP, 61 wRC+ vs left) at times mask a steadily productive output (10.1 fWAR since ’15) in the four years since his debut. LA, of course, is thought to be seeking upgrades at the front of the rotation.
  • The Diamondbacks, who earlier today indicated to blood-smelling clubs that they aren’t interested in a full rebuild, may react to core departures by shuffling current regulars to different spots across the diamond. Indeed, as GM Mike Hazen indicated to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert this morning, current third baseman Jake Lamb may shift to first, while incumbent second baseman and sometimes shortstop Ketel Marte could see time in center field. The club is still exploring trade-market upgrades in center, and hasn’t completely given up on resigning A.J. Pollock, but Hazen explicitly pinpointed Marte as a legitimate, “full-time” option at the position in 2019. Marte, who signed a 5-year, $24MM extension just days prior to last season, put together a solid, 2.5 fWAR season for the Snakes last year, slashing .260/.332/.437 (104 wRC+) in nearly a full season’s worth of time.
  • The Cardinals appear to be comfortable with outfielder Dexter Fowler opening the 2019 season as the starter in right field, per President of Baseball Ops John Mozeliak via MLB.com’s Jennifer Langosch. Fowler, of course, is owed nearly $50MM over the next three seasons, and just completed a dreadful, injury-marred ’18 campaign with the Redbirds. His -1.2 fWAR, muffled by a career-worst .118 ISO, was among the worst in baseball last season, though the 32-year-old had been above-league-average offensively in each of the seven seasons prior to last. With left field still manned by Marcell Ozuna, and center earmarked for the burgeoning Harrison Bader, outfield additions seem to have been put on the St. Louis back burner for the time being.

Giants Notes: Zaidi, Outfield, Strickland, Payroll

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Newly-christened Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi enters his first offseason by the bay with a difficult task at hand: overhaul a hole-ridden roster littered with fallen stars still cashing huge paychecks. His work may begin in the outfield, where the team expects to add “at least two more” players before pitchers and catchers report in late February, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The current group, headlined by the defense-first, strikeout-prone prospect Steven Duggar, has won most of its accolades in Triple-A or below, though 26-year-old (on Thursday) Austin Slater and longtime up-and-down man Mac Williamson have certainly had their moments.  Still, it’s arguably the weakest current crop at the three spots across baseball, sorely in need of track-record infusion throughout. Pavlovic does take care to note that there’s “no indication” the Giants are currently pursuing Bryce Harper.

In other news from the orange and black . . .

  • Per Pavlovic, reliever Hunter Strickland’s chances of a reunion with San Francisco appear to be nil, though it’s possible — albeit “unlikely” — outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, non-tendered by the club just before the Nov. 30 deadline, could be back.  Zaidi offered some window into his decision to let the 30-year-old Strickland go, noting that right-handed relief is “an area of surplus for the club” and that the team couldn’t “find a fit” in trade talks surrounding the volatile right-hander.  If his work with Los Angeles is any indication, the former Dodger GM seems to place a premium on command when acquiring relief arms, and despite early-career stinginess in the area, Strickland’s walk rate has eclipsed the 4.0 BB/9 mark in each of the last two seasons.
  • Per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the team has not given Zaidi any directive to move one of its big contracts, nor has he been informed of a payroll threshold.  The free-spending club already has nearly $162MM in projected salaries on hand for the 2019 season, with six players owed $39.5MM or more over the life of their remaining deals. Earlier today, Bob Nightengale of the USA Today reported that first baseman Brandon Belt, owed $48MM through 2021 season, is available and has been drawing significant interest across the league. Other depreciating assets, like Mark Melancon, Evan Longoria, and righty Jeff Samardzija, may be more difficult to move.

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