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Agent: Yelich’s Relationship With Marlins “Broken”

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In the latest dose of Marlins-related drama, agent Joe Longo of Paragon Sports International, who represents Christian Yelich, tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick that a trade of his client in the next month would be in the best interest of both team and player.

Longo states that he respects the Marlins’ long-term plan for a return to contention, but states that the “…plan shouldn’t include Christian at this point in his career.” Yelich’s relationship with the Marlins has been “irretrievably broken” and has “soured,” according to Longo, who goes on to speak about the disappointment that Yelich has felt in watching the Marlins’ new ownership group gut the roster in trades that have sent Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna elsewhere.

“The new ownership regime needs to get new parts into this plan and move forward, and [Yelich] needs to get on with his career where he’s got a chance to win,” Longo tells Crasnick. The agent goes on to explain that Yelich signed his seven-year, $49.57MM contract extension with the Marlins in a “completely different climate” — that is, one where the organization looked to be making a clear push to win in the short term. Yelich’s deal (which Longo and Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill discussed at length with MLBTR’s Zach Links back in 2015) was agreed upon in the same offseason that saw the Fish sign Stanton to a record-setting $325MM contract. New ownership, however, clearly has no intent of pushing for a division title in 2017 as payroll has been slashed by roughly $50MM.

Longo’s comments, of course, don’t ensure that a trade of Yelich will transpire before or during Spring Training. Such decisions are up to president of baseball operations Michael Hill and his staff, who needn’t feel pressure to move Yelich in the same manner as they did with regard to Stanton, Gordon and Ozuna. The Marlins’ payroll projection is inching closer to its reported target of roughly $90MM, and Yelich’s $7MM salary for the coming season isn’t especially burdensome. Moreover, the fact that Yelich can be controlled for another five years at a total of $58.25MM is a clear indicator that he’ll be an asset with considerable surplus value at virtually any point the Marlins decide to make him available.

Yelich is hardly the only player that is less than enthused about the notion of suiting up for a Miami club that looks destined for the NL East cellar. Catcher J.T. Realmuto’s agents have reportedly informed the Marlins that their client would prefer to be traded, and infielder Starlin Castro (acquired as a financial component in the trade that sent Stanton to the Yankees) is reportedly hoping to be dealt elsewhere before so much as playing a single game for the Marlins.

Per Crasnick, the Blue Jays, Braves, Dodgers, Angels, Padres, D-backs and Phillies are “among” the teams that have reached out to the Marlins to gauge the asking price for Yelich in a trade, though there are assuredly more team that have expressed interest. Toronto GM Ross Atkins recently suggested that virtually every team in the league would have interest in a Yelich trade, and reports have suggested that more than 15 teams have at least kicked the tires on the former Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner.

Yelich, just 26 years of age, is a career .290/.369/.432 hitter. He’s averaged 20 homers and a dozen steals over the past two seasons and has proven to be a capable center fielder or an elite defender in left field. Crasnick notes that Yelich himself may speak publicly in the coming days, and the column is stuffed with additional quotes from Longo. It’s well worth a full read-through, both for those that have been diligently tracking the Marlins’ offseason roller coaster and those who haven’t been monitoring the situation as closely.

Giants Still Pursuing Center Fielders, Will Play McCutchen In Right Field

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If there were any questions as to where Andrew McCutchen would play with his new team in 2018, the Giants decisively answered them in a conference call with reporters today (link via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Manager Bruce Bochy flatly told the media that McCutchen will be his right fielder in 2018, with Hunter Pence shifting across the outfield and playing left field for the first time in his MLB career (excluding a brief appearance there during the 2011 All-Star Game).

That, of course, leaves the Giants with a noted gap in center field, but GM Bobby Evans said today that he’s still exploring both the trade and free-agent market for center fielders. San Francisco will be hard-pressed to sign a notable free agent to play there, though, if the team is to stick to its goal of remaining beneath the luxury tax threshold of $197MM. Per Cot’s Contracts, the Giants are currently $4.8MM shy of that barrier, even when including the cash the team picked up from the Pirates and Rays as part of the McCutchen and Evan Longoria acquisitions.

Notably, Schulman adds that ownership has not mandated that the Giants stay under the luxury threshold, so it remains conceivable that the team could simply change course if it feels that to be the best path back to contention an increasingly competitive NL West division.

Obviously, there’s no real way to fit the free-agent market’s top center fielder, Lorenzo Cain, onto the Giants’ books without further trades to subtract payroll. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter) that the Giants’ non-Cain wishlist is topped by Jarrod Dyson. He’s followed by Jon Jay and Cameron Maybin, in that order, according to Crasnick. While no deal is close, Crasnick adds that the Giants have reached out to Dyson’s camp to express interest, but the fleet-footed free agent, who is still talking with multiple teams.

Dyson, 33, is one of the game’s fastest players, with an average sprint speed of 28.8 ft/sec, per Statcast. Those wheels have led to consistently excellent defensive marks across all three outfield spots, though the majority of Dyson’s career has been spent in center. At the plate, he’s a career .258/.325/.352 hitter — including a .264/.331/.367 slash across the past two seasons. Dyson has also averaged 31 stolen bases per season since beginning to accumulate regular semi-regular playing time with the Royals back in 2012.

As is the case with almost any player, Dyson brings some noted shortcomings to the table. He’s never hit more than five home runs in a season, and moving to the cavernous AT&T Park at age 33 wouldn’t figure to help him in that regard. He’s also looked more or less inept against left-handed pitching in his career, hitting just .215/.293/.259 against same-handed opponents. Neither the Royals nor the Mariners saw fit to give Dyson much time against lefties, as he’s accumulated just 341 career plate appearances against them.

Jay and Maybin, who’ll turn 33 and 31, respectively, this spring, would bring different skills to San Francisco. Neither can match Dyson’s defensive excellence, but Jay has virtually no platoon split to speak of and has been a consistent source of solid batting averages and OBP marks in his career (.288/.355/.383). Maybin is the youngest of the bunch and also has the most power and best walk rate of the bunch. But, he’s been injury-prone and didn’t enjoy an especially strong 2017 season at the plate (.228/.318/.365). The free-agent market also features cost-effective veterans like Peter Bourjos and old friend Rajai Davis, among other unsigned center field candidates (MLBTR Free Agent Tracker link).

The trade market could present its fair share of options as the Giants seek center fielders. San Francisco has been linked to Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton (another defensive star) on and off throughout the offseason, though Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported just today that talks between the two sides are “dormant.” Buchanan adds that one source feels it’s likely that Hamilton will remain with the Reds for the 2018 campaign.

Meanwhile Brewers speedster Keon Broxton has also been linked to San Francisco at times this winter, though there’s been little such talk as of late. Yankees fans will assuredly attempt to conjure up ways in which New York could jettison Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract in a trade with the Giants, though San Francisco’s proximity to the luxury tax and Ellsbury’s decline in recent years make that quite unlikely.

[Related: San Francisco Giants depth chart and San Francisco Giants payroll]

San Francisco also has some internal options, led by prospect Steven Duggar, who impressed the organization with a .262/.365/.445 slash across multiple minor league levels this past season. Duggar, though, has only played 13 games in Double-A, so while Evans said he expects the 24-year-old to be in the mix for the job in Spring Training, it may be asking a lot to expect the 2015 sixth-rounder to reach the Majors early in the season. In that sense, a short-term addition in center field could serve as a stopgap for Duggar, although there’s room for a longer-term adition as well, with both Pence and McCutchen slated to hit free agency next winter.

Looking elsewhere on the roster, the addition of McCutchen and the continued pursuit of a center fielder muddies the long-term picture for outfielders Jarrett Parker, Mac Williamson and Austin Slater, each of whom has seen time on the Giants’ big league roster in recent years. Parker is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to make the 2018 roster out of Spring Training or else be exposed to waivers. Williamson has an option remaining, while Slater has all three option years left after sticking in the Majors following a June promotion.

Yankees To Sign Wade LeBlanc

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The Yankees have agreed to a minor-league deal with lefty Wade LeBlanc, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). He’ll receive an invitation to MLB Spring Training and an opt-out opportunity just before the start of the season, per Crasnick, who notes that the deal comes with a potential $1MM base rate of pay in the Majors. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds that LeBlanc also has an opt-out on June 15 and would earn a monthly salary of $32K in the minors. LeBlanc is represented by agent Joe Rosen.

LeBlanc, 33, engineered a return to the majors after spending a season in Japan in 2015 (and then appearing on the MLBTR Podcast). After spending some time as a swingman for the Mariners in 2016, he landed with the Pirates and threw well enough to earn a major-league contract in the following offseason.

Things didn’t go quite as hoped in 2017, as LeBlanc managed only a 4.50 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in his 68 innings in Pittsburgh. He did carry a personal-best 9.6% swinging-strike rate, though, and fielding-independent pitching metrics valued his output as better than the results (e.g. 3.97 SIERA).

As has long been the case, LeBlanc was much more effective last year against righties than when pitching against same-handed batters. It seems he’ll join a camp battle to earn a place as a long man for the Yankees.

Josh Harrison Suggests Pirates Trade Him If “Team Does Not Expect To Contend”

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In the wake of the recent trades that shipped Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole out of Pittsburgh, speculation has turned to the status of veteran Josh Harrison — another player that has long been mentioned as a candidate to be dealt. The veteran utilityman issued his thoughts on the matter today to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

After discussing his affinity for the team, city, and fans — as well as for the departing players — Harrison laid down a challenge of sorts to the Pirates front office. While he framed it as an expression of what might be “best for the organization,” Harrison seemingly conveyed a clear interest in being dealt if the club is not serious about putting a winner on the field. The full comments are available at the above link, but this seems to be the key passage:

[T]he GM is on record as saying, ‘When we get back to postseason-caliber baseball, we would love our fans to come back out.’ If indeed the team does not expect to contend this year or next, perhaps it would be better for all involved, that I also am traded.

Of course, just what “expect to contend” might really mean is open to some interpretation. The organization’s top leadership emphasized in the wake of the trades that it still sees the roster as a possible contender. While those comments are themselves worthy of skepticism, there’s room for debate as to just how the Cutch/Cole swaps will impact the team on the field — and time left for further developments to impact the overall picture. What the trades clearly do not portend, in and of themselves, is a full-blown rebuild; both players, after all, were within a year or two or free agency and the deals returned mostly MLB-level talent.

Interestingly, at least one of the players received, infielder Colin Moran, could help the team cover in the infield if it decides to send Harrison elsewhere. Talks involving the versatile, well-rounded performer have been ongoing over the winter, so a trade wouldn’t be surprising, regardless of the comments he issued today. The Pittsburgh front office no doubt anticipated some disappointment from its remaining veterans — not to mention a more vehement push-back from the fanbase and media — when it moved these core players.

That said, the Bucs likely don’t face a clear financial imperative to make a move, so far as is publicly known. The team currently has less than $85MM on its books for 2018 after moving most of the relatively significant salaries of McCutchen and Cole. Having opened the last two seasons within sight of $100MM in payroll obligations, there’s some breathing room to work with even with Harrison on the roster. He’s owed $10MM for the coming season and can then be controlled with successive club options ($10.5MM and $11.5MM, with a total of $1.5MM in buyouts).

Of course, that assessment of the money situation assumes the club is not preparing to draw down its outlay. In truth, that’s not really clear yet. Cashing in players who are getting older, more expensive, and closer to free agency is a longstanding ritual for smaller-market teams that otherwise would struggle to remain competitive without suffering through lengthy rebuilding stretches. But there are several ways to go while remaining mindful of the need to always keep the future in mind.

Just what the Bucs have in mind currently — a period of salary retrenchment and roster reloading? at least some reinvestment of free payroll on other assets? etc. — is still not entirely know. In a way, how they proceed with Harrison may be the evidence we need to understand the very intentions and expectations that his comment references.

Free Agent Profile: Alex Cobb

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Alex Cobb looked every bit the part of a rising star in the Rays’ rotation before Tommy John surgery wiped him out for nearly two full seasons. His first year back was successful enough that he rejected a one-year, $17.4MM qualifying offer from Tampa Bay in order to test the waters of free agency.

Alex Cobb | Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Pros / Strengths

Cobb has a career 3.50 ERA, and fielding-independent metrics like FIP (3.68), xFIP (3.62) and SIERA (3.73) all largely support that bottom-line run prevention mark. He’s long displayed above-average control, never averaging more than three walks per nine innings pitched in a full season, and the 2017 campaign was his best in that regard (2.2 BB/9). Home runs have also never been a big problem for Cobb. That was true in 2017 as well, as he allowed a manageable 1.1 HR/9 in a season that saw MLB hitters put the ball over the fence at increasing levels.

If Cobb’s overall 2017 numbers don’t immediately stand out and generate excitement, it’s perhaps worth looking at the strong fashion in which he finished the campaign. It’s only seven starts, but in his final 38 1/3 innings of the year, Cobb’s K/BB numbers took off. In that time, he averaged a dramatically improved 8.9 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 with a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate. His 38-to-8 K/BB ratio in that time was nothing short of excellent. For a pitcher that was still trying to distance himself from Tommy John surgery and rediscover the form he showed in 2013-14 (2.82 ERA, 8.2 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9, 56% grounder rate in 309 2/3 innings), that was a heartening finish.

Cobb is also the youngest of the top starting pitchers on the free agent market. He’ll pitch all of the 2018 regular season at the age of 30, not turning 31 until October 7. Jake Arrieta, meanwhile, will turn 32 in March; Yu Darvish will be 32 come August; and Lance Lynn turns 31 in May.

Cons / Weaknesses

Cobb’s finish to the season was nothing short of excellent, but the first 22 starts he made in 2017 were decidedly pedestrian. His 3.89 ERA in that time was solid, to be sure, as was his 2.3 BB/9 mark. However, Cobb was carrying a paltry 5.7 K/9 through his first 22 starts of the year and averaging 91.4 mph on his fastball. (Those marks jumped to 8.2 and 92.4 in his strong finish to the season; Cobb has previously exhibited similar intra-season velo gains.) Cobb’s 4.43 FIP, 4.58 xFIP and 4.79 SIERA all painted a much uglier picture than his more palatable ERA. For most of the season, Cobb looked more like a fifth starter than a mid-rotation arm.

There’s reason to wonder if Cobb can maintain the uptick in strikeouts he displayed late in the year as well, given that he posted a dismal six percent swinging-strike rate in that seven-start span. In fact, Cobb’s overall 6.7 percent swinging-strike rate was the third-lowest of any qualified starting pitcher in 2017. He topped only Ty Blach and Andrew Cashner — who posted MLB’s two lowest K/9 rates — in that regard.

The biggest knock against Cobb, though, is that he simply hasn’t stayed on the field often enough in his big league career. Since debuting in 2011, Cobb has missed time due to a hand injury, a concussion that wiped out a third of his 2013 season, oblique issues and 2015 Tommy John surgery. He’s never made more than 29 starts in a season and has never even reached the 180-inning mark. His agents can try to pitch him as a “low mileage arm” as a result, but the argument doesn’t carry all that much weight when the disabled list is the driving factor behind his low innings total and he has already had Tommy John surgery.

Like Arrieta and Lynn, Cobb rejected a one-year, $17.4MM qualifying offer from his previous team, so he’ll require the forfeiture of draft compensation for any team that wishes to sign him. Teams that paid the luxury tax in 2017 and teams that did not receive revenue sharing will also have to surrender a portion of their 2018-19 international bonus pool space to sign Cobb.

Market

Since the onset of free agency, Cobb has been regarded among the second tier of starting pitchers, ranking alongside Lynn in that regard, while both Darvish and Arrieta are considered to be the top two starters available. Of that quartet, only Darvish did not receive a qualifying offer (by virtue of the fact that he was traded midseason).

To date, Cobb has been tied most prominently to the Cubs. That makes plenty of sense given a potentially open rotation spot (assuming Mike Montgomery moves back to the bullpen) as well as clear connections to Cobb from his Rays days (manager Joe Maddon, new pitching coach Jim Hickey). Chicago reportedly made Cobb a three-year offer at a guaranteed total of $42MM. Cobb is said to have rejected that deal, and I’ll delve more into his earning capacity in the section that follows.

Beyond the Cubs, he’s been tied to the Twins, the Brewers, the Rangers and, much earlier in the offseason, the Orioles and Yankees. New York has since re-signed CC Sabathia, though the Yankees reportedly are maintaining interest in Darvish, so perhaps they’d have interest in Cobb at the right price. Then again, none of the names to which they’ve been prominently connected are associated with draft compensation.

Beyond that group, the Cardinals and Phillies are among the teams that are still reportedly seeking rotation upgrades to varying extents, though neither has been directly linked to Cobb. The Blue Jays, also, are said to be weighing the addition of a starting pitcher, as are the Dodgers (where president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman knows Cobb well from his own time with the Rays). Meanwhile, over in D.C., it’s unclear who will lock down the fifth spot in the rotation. To be clear, none of those teams is reported to be a serious pursuer of Cobb so much as they’re more generally reported to be exploring rotation additions. Presumably, once a combination of Darvish, Arrieta and/or Lynn come off the board, Cobb could see some new teams more seriously linked to his services.

Expected Contract

Reports early in the offseason suggested that Cobb was seeking upwards of $100MM over a five-year term, though FanRag’s Jon Heyman recently wrote that Cobb is now believed “willing” to sign a four-year deal at a total of $70MM or a five-year deal worth $80MM. Despite a fairly robust group of potential landing spots, those numbers range from ambitious ($70-80MM) to outlandish ($100MM), in my view.

Certainly, a pitcher doesn’t need to be an ace to secure $70-80MM in the modern financial climate of MLB. Ian Kennedy ($70MM), Mike Leake ($80MM) and Wei-Yin Chen ($80MM) have received five-year deals in the past two years. Kennedy and Chen even received opt-out provisions in their contracts. On a per-inning basis, I’d take Cobb over anyone from that trio. Cobb’s agents at Beverly Hills Sports Council — the same agency that represents Leake — are no doubt making a similar case in pitching their client to teams.

Unfortunately, one can hardly look at Cobb on a per-inning basis and compare him to other starters. Each of the starters in that group averaged at least 29 starts per season in the years leading up to free agency. Teams banked on them as durable sources of respectable innings. Cobb? The 29 starts he made in 2017 were a career-high, as were the 179 1/3 innings he threw.

Cobb has made 25 starts in a season just twice in his career, and he’s never reached the 180-inning plateau — even when combining Major League, minor league and postseason innings. It’s true that teams are leaning more heavily on the bullpen and asking starters to turn a lineup over for a third time with diminished frequency. But, it’s not reasonable to project Cobb to top 180 innings, and it’d be optimistic to even forecast him to approach last year’s total of 179 1/3 frames. Steamer projects Cobb at 133 innings; Baseball-Reference projects him to tally 152 — which would be only the third time in his career that he’s reached that level.

None of this is to disparage Cobb. In fact, when projecting Cobb’s contract for our annual Top 50 free agent rankings — MLBTR pegged Cobb at a four-year, $48MM deal — I was the most aggressive member of the MLBTR staff when deciding what prediction to place next to his name. It took numerous exchanges in our debate to get Cobb pushed up to the Brandon McCarthy deal.

The parallels with McCarthy, though, are significant. When I was writing McCarthy’s free agent profile three years ago, I noted that no pitcher with fewer than two seasons of 180+ innings had signed a guaranteed four-year deal in free agency. McCarthy set a precedent, in that regard, by inking a four-year, $48MM deal despite only having one season meeting that admittedly arbitrary criteria. No pitcher has matched the feat since.

Entering the offseason, I believed it was possible that the overall market for starting pitching had moved forward to the point that Cobb could secure a four-year guarantee despite the lack of durability on his resume. At the time, I’d have been comfortable predicting Cobb at anywhere between $52-56MM over a four-year term, recognizing that he at one point looked to be a potential emerging upper-echelon starter and showed glimpses of that down the stretch in 2017. (And, as previously noted, the increased emphasis on bullpen usage lessens the need for a starter to be able to rack up 200+ innings on the regular.) If Cobb is still dead set on maxing out his dollars on a four-year deal, then I think that range still applies.

However, the more I think about it, the more Cobb strikes me as a candidate for a “pillow” type of contract. “Pillow” deals in 2018, though, aren’t the same as they were even five years ago. Rather than traditional one-year deals, newfangled pillow contracts are more frequently multi-year pacts with significant guarantees that include early opt-out clauses, as we’ve seen recently from Yoenis Cespedes, Scott Kazmir, Matt Wieters and Greg Holland.

If the Cubs were really willing to offer Cobb $42MM over a three-year term, then perhaps it shouldn’t be that difficult to find a club that would offer a slightly larger guarantee with an opt-out after the first year. That’d effectively be the contract that Kazmir signed with the Dodgers — three years, $48MM with an opt-out after year one — and would leave Cobb with a notable payday and the opportunity to prove that he’s now capable of tossing 180+ innings (or thereabouts) in consecutive seasons. As an added and certainly significant bonus, Cobb would hit the market without the burden of draft-pick compensation next year, were he able to remain healthy and build on his strong finish, as the new CBA stipulates that players can only receive one QO in their career.

Bottom line: if Cobb wants to max out his guarantee, I still think he can land a four-year deal in the range of $52-56MM. But, if his camp is dead set on a $70-80MM payday, I’m not sure it’ll be there. Instead, he should consider seeking something in the Kazmir range — $45-48MM over three years with an opt-out clause — while hoping to re-enter the market next offseason when he won’t be tied to draft compensation and can potentially have another largely healthy season under his belt.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers Sign Deolis Guerra

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The Rangers have struck a minors deal with righty Deolis Guerra, per a club announcement. He’ll participate on the MLB side of spring camp.

Guerra, 28, becomes the latest in a succession of pitchers to sign on with the Texas organization over the winter. If he can’t earn his way onto the active roster in camp, Guerra will presumably take up a spot near the top of the Rangers’ relief depth chart.

Texas has seen plenty of Guerra in recent seasons, as he has played with the division-rival Angels organization. In 2015, the righty spun 53 1/3 innings of 3.21 ERA ball with 6.1 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9. Despite that useful output, he was removed from the Halos’ 40-man roster last spring.

Guerra ended up bouncing between the MLB roster and Triple-A in 2017. In the majors, he sputtered to a 4.68 ERA in 25 frames, over which he uncharacteristically handed out a dozen free passes but did show a surprising 14.9% swinging-strike rate. Guerra carried a 1.98 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in his 41 innings at the highest level of the minors.

Central Notes: Pirates, Harrison, Castellanos, Cubs

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In an Insider post, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney provides some worthwhile perspective on the Pirates’ recent moves, arguing that the organization would be perceived much differently had its 2013-15 postseason appearances gone differently. Some may scoff at the idea that this excuses anything: had the team been better, perhaps, it might’ve achieved playoff glory; that it did not does not bear directly on present decisions. That’s true enough, but it’s also valid to note that a few moments in a few games drastically altered the bigger picture of Pittsburgh baseball, which in turn has impacted the way many will now view the trades of key veterans Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole. Olney’s juxtaposition of the Bucs with the Royals — whose own postseason successes followed lesser regular-season accomplishments than those of the Pirates, and turned on some magical moments — seems largely apt. Of course, that doesn’t really reduce the sting for the fans. (It’s also fair to note that, for better or worse, Kansas City mostly kept its best veterans around through the ends of their contracts.) It’s an interesting piece worth a read for subscribers.

Let’s check in on the latest from Pittsburgh and elsewhere around the game:

  • As Olney notes in his column and tweeted yesterday, many in the industry expect the Pirates to continue working on trades for veteran players. In particular, Josh Harrison could be on the move — a possibility that has been talked about for much of the winter. The versatile utilityman will surely hold appeal to numerous other organizations, though the full scope of his potential market is not entirely clear at this point.
  • Whether or not Harrison is also traded, the Pirates are expressing confidence that the roster can be a factor in the near term. As Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, the organization’s higher-ups stressed yesterday that parting with McCutchen and Cole does not equate to a full-blown rebuild. Hearkening to the club’s breakout 2013 team, the Pirates’ top executives all put a positive spin on their reloading effort. “We need to remember what put us in playoff contention in 2013,” said owner Bob Nutting. “We had an infusion of talent, young talent, and played effectively, outperformed. We’ve done that before. We need to put ourselves in a position to do that again.” Likewise, GM Neal Huntington called the Bucs “a young, talented team … that is going to be fun to watch.” Needless to say, those words aren’t exactly falling on universally receptive ears. Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, for instance, blasted the organization and called on fans to express their disappointment with their wallets.
  • The Tigers remain open to dealing Nicholas Castellanos this winter, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports. Castellanos is slated to earn $6.05MM in his second-to-last season of arbitration eligibility — a campaign in which he’s expected to undergo a full-time move to right field. Previously, we’ve heard that the 25-year-old had drawn some interest after he and the team failed to see eye to eye on an extension. That said, GM Al Avila has made clear the Tigers are not committed to trading Castellanos, whose glove hasn’t kept pace with his otherwise promising bat.
  • Though the focus still seems to be on the rotation, the Cubs arguably also need another significant reliever, Patrick Mooney argues in The Athletic (subscription link). Chicago might conceivably go bigger with a bullpen addition if it settles for more of a depth starter, says Mooney, who notes that GM Jed Hoyer acknowledged recently that the club could still add to the relief corps.

The Inner Monologue of @DimTillard Giveaway Nights

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It’s 8:13am on Tuesday January 16th, 2018.   My name is Tim Dillard.  Some of my personal achievements include, and are probably limited to… possessing more than twenty-seven free tee-shirts, owning six Star Wars coffee mugs, highjacking Tim Kurkjian’s microphone, beating Super Mario Bros. in under nine minutes, and was once given beard-care advice from Canada’s The Bachelor.  I’ve also been a pitcher in professional baseball for the last fifteen seasons.  With a HUGE majority of that experience being spent in the Minor Leagues.  However, this one time in the Big Leagues, I did make fun of Trevor Hoffman’s cutoff sleeves… he laughed.

8:15am  If this is your first time reading my Inner Monologue, I’d just like to say… shame on you!  And… no excuse!  But also kindly remind you that I’ve written ten others you should totally check out.  MLB Trade Rumors was so desperate, that when I begged for them to post my articles they said NO.  But later said YES!  So did you hear that kids, persistance percistence pursistance presistence percystence PERSISTENCE pays off!

8:18am  Currently I’m trying to come up with something interesting and baseball related to type about… but for now I’ll just enjoy coffee out of my Princess Leia mug.  It has two handles that act as her famous hair buns.  Definitely as cool and nerdy as it sounds, and is probably my favorite mug in recent memory.

8:19am  When I was FIVE years old I had an awesome Budweiser Clydesdales mug.  I guess that could sound bad… but it was a promotional giveaway from the South Bend White Sox baseball team in way back in 1988.  We were living in South Bend, Indiana and my fasha Steve Dillard was the team’s manager.  I loved that mug, but almost every day that summer, a certain outfielder would take that horse mug right out my tiny locker.  He’d stuff a paper towel down in it, and then use it to spit tobacco.  Usually I found it nasty and abandoned in the training room.  So I’d grab the mug and immediately go scrub and rinse the thing until it was once again spotless.  But by the end of the season, due to my lack of proper dish care techniques, I had inadvertently scrubbed those majestic beasts right off the side of the mug! (a tear just hit my keyboard)

8:26am  You know, forgiveness is a very important lesson to learn in life… and one day, I plan on forgiving that man.

8:27am  Spending most of my childhood at Minor League baseball stadiums, is probably the reason I enjoy giveaways so much.  For eleven years I ate my cereal out of a 1990 Tucson Toros helmet bowl!  (to this day, the logo is still intact, because it’s gently hand washed after every feeding)

8:29am  You know those softy balls that are thrown into the stands during baseball games?  Well in 1993, at age ten, I thought up, planned, and executed the theft of nine, that’s right, NINE Kane County Cougars promo balls. (not my proudest moment)  During the getaway, I also fell and scraped the back of my hand.  I still carry the scar.  And now, the back of my hand is a reminder, that if you steal… you will fall down and scrape your hand.

8:33am  To protect my eyes in years 2010 to 2015, I wore giveaway sunglasses from the Nashville Sounds’ Roy Orbison Night!  My first two pairs were broken when accidentally sat on.  Hard to believe, but my last pair of the free Orbison specs were actually stolen… by the Pacific Ocean. (I hope the Pacific Ocean fell down and scraped its hand)

8:36am  Rally towel giveaways, bobblehead giveaways, tee-shirt giveaways, hat giveaways, football giveaways, and then there’s firework nights, superhero nights, Disney Nights, and don’t even get me started on Star Wars nights!

8:38am  In 2016, I was part of a Harry Potter Night at the ballpark.  Dozens of people were dressed in very authentic costumes from the movie saga.  They would act out scenes on the field in-between innings and also helped with the Culver’s Build-A-Burger Race.  I’m usually way away from the action down in the bullpen, but I ran to the dugout when Harry Potter himself was casting spells next to it.  Our first baseman leaned over the railing and asked if they were part of some sort of Fan Club.  Harry stopped, turned, and said, “What?  Most certainly not!  We are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!”

8:44am  We all kind of laughed, then we asked Harry, “So then you’re like, part of a costumed acting class or something?”  Once again not breaking character, and waving his wand he said, “No!  These are our house robes you MUGGLE!”  

8:46am  And that was the game… where I apparently met the REAL Harry Potter.

8:47am  But the greatest giveaway theme night in the history of the world was in 1994.  My dad was the manager of the Quad City River Bandits in Davenport, Iowa.  And I was an eleven year-old thief with a sweet tooth.  And then it happened.  Like, something out of a dream… TWINKIE NIGHT!!  Literally all-you-can-eat Twinkies!  I remember pallets and pallets of Twinkies piled high at every entrance to the stadium!  I ate a dozen before First Pitch, or as I like to call it, before “Mom Shows Up”.  But as my Twinkie count went up, my excitement level went down.  And by the 7th Inning Stretch I was sick.  Realizing I couldn’t eat any more, I had to concoct a plan to maximize this special night.

8:55am  Instead of trying to put a bunch of Twinkies in a bag to carry home, and risk being apprehended and regulated by my parents, I began hiding them!  For the last two innings of the game it was like reverse Easter!  Not entirely sure where the phrase nook and cranny came from… but it applies!  In the clubhouse above lockers and in the inside of cleats!  I hid Twinkies on the concourse behind popcorn machines and under condiment stations!  Needless to say, I secretly ate a Twinkie every day for the remainder of that season, but I knew some were left behind.

8:59am  Ten years later, I was pitching for the Beloit Snappers, and traveled to Davenport to play the Quad City team.  Besides baseball, my only goal on my way to the field that day was finding at least ONE of those hidden Twinkies!  When we arrived I learned the stadium had been heavily renovated six months earlier, but I was still determined.  And immediately went hunting for two hours.  The next day I spent a few more hours looking before batting practice.  The last day I was underneath the bleachers on top of a storage room, when a stadium worker walked up and asked what I was doing.  I couldn’t think up a lie fast enough, so I said, “I’m looking for a Twinkie I may have left up here ten years ago.”  …he laughed.

To Be Concluded…

Top 60 Remaining Trade Candidates

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It has been a month since we broke out the top 60 remaining offseason trade candidates in baseball. Since that time, several of the players from that list have indeed been dealt, while situations have also changed for some others. With a few weeks left for transactions to proceed before Spring Training opens, we’ll take a quick look at how the trade market appears to have changed.

Starting Pitchers

Market Changes: The Astros nabbed Gerrit Cole from the Pirates, taking one of the most obvious and best trade candidates off the market and filling an opening with a contender. That said, multiple organizations are still in play for one or more starters. The possibility of achieving greater value via trade is, perhaps, one of the many reasons that the top starters have yet to reach deals.

Top Remaining Trade Candidates

  • Chris Archer & Jake Odorizzi, Rays: Tampa Bay has moved one significant veteran (see below), suggesting the team is as open as ever to swapping out older/more expensive players for younger ones, though there’s hardly an indication that a full-scale rebuild is underway.
  • Michael Fulmer, Tigers: He has come up here and there in rumors, though there’s still no reason to believe Detroit is willing to move its best asset for anything less than a haul.
  • Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy & Jason Hammel, Royals: Similarly, we’ve heard of teams asking about Duffy, but Kansas City has evidently not embarked upon a concerted effort to trade him. The other two players would be salary dumps, though the Royals could just keep them and hope for improvements while also being assured of filling up some innings.
  • Zack Greinke & Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks: Moving Greinke’s contract would be a challenge, but still-simmering chatter on Arizona’s interest in J.D. Martinez suggests it is still plausible. Meanwhile, we’ve heard Corbin come up as another player who could be moved to open payroll space.
  • Dan Straily, Marlins: Dealing the righty would hurt for a pitching-needy team, but it has to be on the table.
  • Danny Salazar, Indians: We keep seeing Salazar’s name arise and Cleveland is said to be willing to deal him, but the team likely won’t do so unless that facilitates the filling of another need.
  • Julio Teheran & Brandon McCarthy, Braves: There’s still no indication that Teheran is being discussed, but he feels like a plausible chip in the right circumstances. It also seems possible that McCarthy could be passed along, though odds are he (and also just-acquired starter Scott Kazmir) will be viewed as necessary veteran depth entering camp.

Relievers

Market Changes: Three top lefties have departed the potential trade market, none via trade: Zach Britton suffered a serious injury, while Brad Hand and Felipe Rivero have signed extensions that almost certainly indicate they won’t be dealt this winter. There just aren’t any comparable hurlers to be had, so those developments seem to favor the remaining southpaw free agents. Veteran relievers Joakim Soria and Luis Avilan were also traded recently.

Top Remaining Trade Candidates

  • Alex Colome, Rays: Colome still seems the likeliest of the game’s top young closers to be dealt. Nothing has come together to this point, but he has appeared frequently in the rumor pages.
  • Kelvin Herrera, Royals: The asking price is said to be high; perhaps the Royals would be willing to take the risk of carrying Herrera to the trade deadline if offers aren’t sufficient.
  • Brad Ziegler, Junichi Tazawa & Kyle Barraclough, Marlins: While the Fish have created some breathing space in the payroll, moving some of the money owed to Ziegler and Tazawa would surely still hold appeal. It’s likely that Barraclough will be held, but nothing’s bolted down in Miami.
  • Shane Greene & Alex Wilson, Tigers: We haven’t heard much chatter surrounding this duo, but the Tigers must listen to any offers on any players.
  • Arodys Vizcaino, Braves: Likewise, it has been crickets on Viz all winter, but it’s still imaginable a team would take a look if other possibilities don’t work out.
  • Dellin Betances, Yankees: Entering the winter, it was at least reasonable to wonder whether New York would decide to move on after a tough 2017 season for Betances. We haven’t heard much indication of that, though it’s still possible that he changes hands, particularly with the Yanks counting pennies.
  • Raisel Iglesias, Reds: The odds are starkly against a deal with Cincinnati reportedly asking for the moon, but it’s possible to imagine interested clubs circling back if other things don’t work out.

Outfielders

Market Changes: Yesterday’s Andrew McCutchen deal was significant for this sector of the market, as it filled a void in San Francisco and took a name out of contention for other teams. But there’s still a need up the middle for the Giants, while other teams have not yet addressed their own needs.

Top Remaining Trade Candidates

  • Christian Yelich, Marlins: While the asking price is understandably steep, the Marlins are no doubt aware that it may be a good time to cash in on Yelich, who has indicated he’d prefer to be moved.
  • Billy Hamilton & Adam Duvall, Reds: At one point, Hamilton seemed all but gone. That’s no longer the case, but it’s still imaginable that either of these players is shipped out.
  • Randal Grichuk, Cardinals: Even with Stephen Piscotty traded, the Cards have an overloaded outfield mix.
  • Avisail Garcia, White Sox: Signals are that the asking price is too steep for a deal to come together, but Chicago’s front office is surely still picking up the phone on Garcia.
  • Domingo Santana & Keon Broxton, Brewers: With the Brew Crew still looking to add a starter, nothing can be ruled out. Of the team’s many intriguing outfielders, Santana and Broxton stand out as possible trade pieces in certain scenarios, and each has been floated in rumors thus far.
  • Aaron Altherr, Nick Williams & Odubel Herrera, Phillies: Now that the Phillies have pushed Rhys Hoskins into the outfield, there are two openings left and three arguably deserving candidates to fill them. Any of the trio could conceivably be moved in a deal to acquire a starter. Of course, this mix of players could also coexist on the roster, with the Phils sharing time and playing matchups while seeing how each develops.
  • Corey Dickerson, Rays: His name has at least been floated as a possible trade chip, though we’ve heard no rumblings of talks.
  • Kyle Schwarber, Cubs: There’s just no indication that a Schwarber deal is likely to occur this winter.
  • Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox: Despite some early rumblings, all recent signs point to JBJ staying put in Boston.
  • Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees: The Yanks would love to find a taker for some of Ellsbury’s salary; unsurprisingly, that hasn’t been easy to pull off.
  • Shin-Soo Choo, Rangers: Ditto.
  • Yasmany Tomas, Diamondbacks: And ditto again.

Infielders

Market Changes: Two notable players have changed hands, with Evan Longoria going to the Giants and Yangervis Solarte joining the Blue Jays. Those swaps seemingly take the acquiring teams out of the market for other infielders.

Top Remaining Trade Candidates

  • J.T. Realmuto, Marlins: With the valuable Realmuto expressing his displeasure with the situation in Miami, it’s easy to imagine a swap, even if we still haven’t seen public indication that talks have advanced.
  • Josh Harrison, Pirates: We’ve seen Harrison’s name in the rumor mill a fair bit, but there’s still no clear word as to whether he’ll be moved. Trading Cole and Cutch certainly could be interpreted as making a Harrison swap more likely, but that isn’t necessarily the case. The club likely values the flexibility of the two option years in the infielder’s contract. Another Bucs veteran who might conceivably be dangled is backstop Francisco Cervelli, as a commenter points out.
  • Manny Machado, Orioles: It has been a bit of a roller coaster all offseason on Machado, with some reports still suggesting the O’s would like to get a deal done and others indicating that the team will stand by a lofty asking price.
  • Jed Lowrie, Athletics: The market for Lowrie has been quiet, but teams in need of an option at second could still check down to him.
  • Nicholas Castellanos & Jose Iglesias, Tigers: Neither player seems particularly likely to be targeted as a contender’s first choice, but both could hold appeal in the right situation. Detroit is prepared to move any veteran if it can achieve interesting young talent.
  • Scooter Gennett, Reds: We haven’t heard much discussion of a Gennett deal, perhaps because Cincinnati values him after a strong season but perhaps also because other teams are wary of his track record and inability to hit lefties.
  • Cesar Hernandez & Cameron Rupp, Phillies: There just isn’t much reason for the Phillies to rush into a deal involving Hernandez, particularly after freeing some infield playing time for younger players by trading shortstop Freddy Galvis. Though Rupp seems to be lining up for a timeshare behind the dish, he could still be parted with to clear the way for a new backstop duo in Philly.
  • Jose Abreu, White Sox: As with Garcia, the ask seems high and not designed to ensure a deal is completed.
  • Starlin Castro, Marlins: Though Miami no doubt likes the idea of marketing the four-time All-Star to a skeptical fan base, it surely also sees the appeal of shedding a chunk of his salary, which was absorbed in the Giancarlo Stanton swap. Castro has given indication he’d like to be traded.
  • Chase Headley, Padres: With Solarte shipped out, the Pads may line up this old favorite at the hot corner. But he’d surely also be available if another team comes calling.
  • Jurickson Profar, Rangers: While his name hasn’t arisen much, it still seems reasonable to think Texas is willing to make a deal on the former top prospect.
  • Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers: With little chatter emerging about Grandal, perhaps the Dodgers simply feel they are best served carrying two quality catchers into the 2018 season — which, really, is hard to argue with.
  • C.J. Cron & Luis Valbuena, Angels: Both these players can coexist on the roster, at least if you squint. But with Albert Pujols expected to command time at first while sharing the DH slot with Shohei Ohtani, and an infield otherwise loaded with everyday types, Cron and Valbuena aren’t the most comfortable fit.
  • Jason Kipnis, Indians: After a near-deal to the Mets fell apart, leaving the Indians unable to free up cash to land Santana, Cleveland seemingly settled on moving Kipnis back to his accustomed second base.
  • Brad Miller, Rays: Having moved Longoria, the Tampa Bay infield has more openings. On the other hand, that also indicates all bets are off for trade candidates, and the Rays may prefer to move on from Miller if they find a decent deal and feel they can better reallocate his anticipated salary.
  • Martin Prado, Marlins: Miami could just hang on to the veteran and hope he rebuilds his trade value a bit, or it could cut its losses if another team is willing to take on at least some of the obligations remaining.
  • Javier Baez, Addison Russell & Ian Happ, Cubs: Increasingly, it feels like this group of players will stay put. On the other hand, all it takes is one phone call and the Cubs are still looking for a starter.
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