Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Latest On Pitching Plans For Rangers, Orioles Entering Winter Meetings

By | at

Every team in baseball is still looking for pitching, so in that regard the Rangers and Orioles don’t stand out. But these two organizations are similarly situated in some regards; notably, each came into the offseason with rosters that appear to be capable but not certain of contention along with clear needs for significant improvement in their starting rotations.

For Texas, the Winter Meetings offer an opportunity and a challenge to chart a course that won’t involve Shohei Ohtani. While the pursuit of the two-way Japanese star is over, the team is still considering some novel approaches to its rotation usage. As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes, that might involve a six or even four-man rotation setup, depending in no small part upon the team’s eventual moves. Of course, Mike Minor and Doug Fister were already brought aboard, but that doesn’t mean the club is done adding.

Notably, the Rangers aren’t just looking at budget arms. According to Grant, the club has not only checked in on quality veterans like Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn, but has “maintained some contact” with former star Yu Darvish and hasn’t yet ruled out a surprise reunion. While he was dealt away at the trade deadline after the sides failed to line up on an extension, Darvish’s roots in Texas obviously trace back to his initial entry to the majors. Grant cautions that the team isn’t planning to lead the charge after Darvish or another top hurler, but it’s notable nonetheless that there seems to be serious consideration.

It’s less pressing in some regards, but the Rangers will also be looking to improve their relief corps. Late-inning pieces, in particular, would clearly be on the wish list. One player to keep an eye on, per MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter), is righty Brandon Kintzler. Of course, he has also been linked to quite a few other organizations. The sinkerballer has obviously boosted his stock quite a bit with a hefty groundball rate and steady work in high-leverage situations over the past two seasons. Japanese reliever Kazuhisa Makita could also represent a potential target for Texas, Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News writes.

The situation is somewhat different for the Orioles, whose need for rotation pieces is even greater than that of the Rangers. With multiple pieces needed and relatively little available payroll space, Baltimore isn’t going to dabble at the top of the market, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes. That’s essentially the same conclusion reached by Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, who says the Orioles “really like” Cobb but don’t expect to be able to afford him.

Wary of the risks of a long-term pitching contract, the O’s plan instead to look further down the pecking order of rotation pieces. As Connolly explains, though, several of those pitchers have already gone off the market with early deals. Veteran righty Andrew Cashner is perhaps the most logical remaining mid-tier target for the team, he notes, while a variety of less costly pitchers also figure to be strongly considered. Both reports suggest southpaw Jason Vargas as a plausible name to bolster the back end of the rotation, so he’s certainly a player to watch.

Red Sox Make Jackie Bradley Jr. Available In Trade Talks

By | at

The Red Sox are advising rival organizations that they’ll consider dealing away center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). That stance, he notes, is tied to the team’s efforts to add a power bat — presumably, one that would occupy a corner outfield spot and bump Andrew Benintendi into center.

Several teams have been circling Bradley early in the offseason, though there had been no clear indication that Boston would offer him up. A move involving Bradley — whether or not directly tied to the acquisition of a new bat — has always seemed connected to any effort to add pop to the Boston outfield. Of course, there’s also room to add at first base, so there were and likely still are scenarios where Bradley stays right where he is.

Certainly, retaining the quality all-around performer would hardly be a poor option for the Red Sox. The 27-year-old took a step back at the plate last year, but still hit 17 home runs and landed within range of overall league-average production with the bat. Plus, he’s a highly regarded performer on the bases and in the field, so he graded out as a quality regular even despite falling well shy of his 2016 offensive output — a .267/.349/.486 breakout that leaves traces of a tantalizing ceiling.

For the Red Sox to part with Bradley, they’d surely need to be zeroing in on a major addition. And they’d likely also need to receive some real value in return. Bradley is still controllable for three more seasons via arbitration and is projected by MLBTR to earn a manageable $5.9MM for 2018. While his Super Two status gave him a high floor to build off of, he’s still a potential bargain given his track record of overall performance in recent seasons.

Yankees Extend Brian Cashman

By | at

MONDAY: The extension is complete, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets. The pact is worth “$25MM plus” across five years.

FRIDAY: The Yankees are closing in on a five-year contract extension with general manager Brian Cashman that would pay him a total of $25MM, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Not only would that represent a considerably lengthier pact than the three-year deal Cashman is on the verge of completing, it’d also represent a notable annual raise from his current $3MM annual rate.

The Cashman extension comes on the heels of an extremely successful season for a Yankees club that many believed to be in the midst of a transitional period. Rather, Cashman’s club was buoyed by breakouts from young names like Aaron Judge, Luis Severino and Jordan Montgomery, while more experienced players such as Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius took significant steps forward and delivered career years.

The Yankees, of course, are also widely regarded to have one of the game’s best farm systems even after trades to acquire Sonny Gray, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Todd Frazier prior to this year’s non-waiver deadline. The prized farm system is the fruit of aggressive spending on the international market as well as recent commitments to shying away from free agents that come with draft-pick compensation — both of which were directives under the Cashman-led Yankees.

It’s a significant show of faith in Cashman at a pivotal point for the franchise. Cashman made a fairly stunning decision following the team’s loss in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, not only electing not to re-sign his manager of the past 10 years, Joe Girardi, but also to replace Girardi with a former player that does not have a single day of managerial or even coaching experience, former ESPN analyst Aaron Boone. Cashman has spoken positively about Boone and expressed a firm belief that he’ll be able to connect with players and approach managing with an ability to implement “evolving strategies” in a “progressive” manner.

The Boone experiment will be one upon which Cashman is judged extensively, though it’s also worth pointing out that Cashman’s five-year contract is longer than Boone’s three-year guarantee as the team’s new skipper.

Quick Hits: Sports Science, Iglesias, Moylan, Rangers

By | at

Though baseball hasn’t publicly embraced sports science the way it has analytics, the Giants are looking towards that very field as a way to gain an advantage. A fascinating article by Ian MacMahan of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended) provides some insight into the goals of Geoff Head, San Francisco’s newly-promoted assistant director of player development. “Everybody in baseball is tired by August,” Head tells MacMahan. “But if we are a little less fatigued than our opponent, it gives us an advantage.” The field of sports science focuses heavily on factors such as hydration, nutrition, workload and sleep; experts attempt to put together a formula that will keep players performing at their optimal levels as often as possible. According to Dr. Glenn Fleisig, the main difference between sports science and analytics is that sports science focuses on the “physical and medical aspects of a player,” as opposed to gameplay-based statistics. Less than half of all MLB teams currently have a dedicated sports scientist on their staff, and heavier use of sports science data could lead to big improvements by baseball players. As MacMahan puts it, “no one hits a home run sitting in the dugout nursing lead-filled legs and a tight back.”

  • Evan Woodbery of mlive.com provides some insight into the questions the Tigers face as the winter meetings commence. Most notably, Woodbery reports that there hasn’t been much buzz surrounding shortstop Jose Iglesias, who will become a free agent after the 2018 season. With no open spots on the 40-man roster, Iglesias is one player Detroit could consider moving in order to take advantage of having the first pick in baseball’s Rule 5 Draft this Thursday (As Woodbery points out, Ian Kinsler could also be on the move before then). Though Iglesias hit just .255/.288/.369 across 489 plate appearances last year, his excellent defense boosted his fWAR to 1.6. Because he’s projected to earn just $5.6MM in his final year of arbitration, there would seem to be some surplus value in his contract.
  • Reliever Peter Moylan is generating some interest, specifically from the Royals and Braves (hat tip to Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston). As Drellich notes, Moylan held opposing right-handed hitters to a .161/.244/.236 batting line in 2017 (and may have also provided the Royals with some intangible value thanks to his espresso skills). The 38-year-old Moylan has typically been excellent against righties over the course of his 11-year major league career; he’s posted a 2.22 ERA against them in 280 innings with the Braves, Dodgers and Royals.
  • Even after losing out on Shohei Ohtani, the Rangers may still elect to use a non-traditional rotation, Evan Grant of SportsDay writes. Texas has reportedly kept contact with Yu Darvish, who has pitched in a six-man rotation in Japan and prefers such a setup; that might be one item which could help entice him to return to Arlington. Grant mentions Cole Hamels, who is generally a stickler for routine, as someone who could present a roadblock to such a strategy. However, based on Hamels’ quotes in the piece, he’d be willing to consider it if the modification helped bring about a postseason berth. “I’d love to get to the postseason again and win a World Series. That’s what I want to do here,” said Hamels. “If we can be stronger and healthier, not as worn down, you have the advantage.”

AL East Notes: Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox

By | at

Later today, the Yankees will announce the hire of Phil Nevin as their third base coach, Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reports. Nightengale also mentioned an additional fun fact: Nevin and new Yankees manager Aaron Boone were high school teammates. Nevin was a lifetime .270/.343/.472 hitter across 4,703 plate appearances spanning twelve major league seasons. The former number one overall draft pick played with seven different major league teams during his career, but spent most of his time with the Tigers and Padres. Nevin was considered to be a strong candidate for the Tigers’ managerial opening before the club selected Ron Gardenhire to be their next skipper. Instead, he’ll become the latest member of rookie manager Boone’s coaching staff.

Other items from around the American League’s Eastern division…

  • Any path back to contention for the Orioles in 2018 must begin with a retooling of a rotation that posted baseball’s highest ERA, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun opines. At present, Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy are the only locks in the rotation, and although the Orioles have been in the mix for some pitchers so far, they haven’t signed anyone yet. While it has already been mentioned that the Orioles were in on Tyler Chatwood before he signed with the Cubs, Encina reports that Baltimore was also in on Miles Mikolas, who ultimately ended up choosing the Cardinals. He quotes Dan Duquette saying that retooling the rotation this offseason will be a “bigger challenge” than in previous years, in part due to “significant demand” for pitchers in the free agent class. The Orioles’ rotation posted a 5.70 ERA in 2017.
  • Despite the aforementioned need for rotation improvements, the Orioles did not make a presentation to Shohei Ohtani. Duquette’s reasoning (explained in a segment on MLB Network Radio) was that the Orioles “philosophically don’t participate on the posting part of it.” While the Orioles are known for not utilizing their international bonus pool money, one would think that Ohtani would have presented somewhat of an exception to Baltimore’s “philosophy,” particularly considering his upside and the fact that he’s now ranked as the number one prospect in all of baseball. Of course, Ohtani eliminated all east coast teams before he even scheduled any in-person meetings, so this is largely a moot point.
  • Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald lists five ways the Red Sox can “get down to business” now that the offseason’s two biggest holdups (Giancarlo Stanton and Ohtani) have found their new destinations. While he details Boston’s obvious need for a power bat his more interesting suggestion is that the Sox ought to pony up for a utility man who can be a legitimate hitter. If the team can’t re-sign Eduardo Nunez, Mastrodonato postulates, they ought to turn to the trade market for such an asset.

At Least Six Teams Seriously Interested In Tom Koehler

By | at

At least six teams have “expressed significant interest” in Tom Koehler, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. Koehler was recently non-tendered by the Blue Jays.

Koehler had been a reliable back-end starter for the Marlins for most of his career. However, he struggled out of the gates for Miami in 2017. The right-hander posted a 7.92 ERA in twelve starts for the Fish, at least in part due to horrific command; he walked 29 batters and allowed 15 home runs across 55 2/3 innings. ERA estimators such as FIP, xFIP and SIERA suggest that he was better than his surface results indicate, but all three still pegged him at a 5.00+ ERA performance.

After bouncing between the Marlins’ major league club and Triple-A New Orleans for the majority of the season, Koehler was traded to the Blue Jays and pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen. As a reliever, he dramatically reduced the usage of his slider in favor of more curveballs. That led to some respectable results; Koehler’s strikeout rate jumped to 24% (up from 17% with the Marlins), and he managed to get his walks somewhat under control as well. The result was a respectable 2.65 ERA in an admittedly small sample size of 17 innings.

Despite his solid performance in Toronto, the Jays elected not to tender Koehler a contract for the 2018 season. It wasn’t entirely a surprise; the righty was projected to earn about $6MM in his final trip through arbitration after making $5.75MM in 2017. Koehler was listed among MLBTR’s non-tender candidates.

It makes perfect sense that Koehler would have a large handful of suitors. He could be viewed as either a bounce back four or five starter, or a multi-inning relief option with decent upside; either would be intriguing to a plethora of MLB teams. The 31-year-old will be relatively inexpensive, and probably won’t require a commitment longer than one year.

Mets Reportedly Willing To Trade Matt Harvey

By | at

Sources close to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News tell her that the Mets have talked to “at least two teams” about trading former All-Star Matt Harvey this winter. This seems to be part of a larger strategy that Ackert describes as “dipping into their strength of starting pitchers to address their needs heading into the 2018 season.”

One of Ackert’s sources says that the Mets want to “flip Harvey for a reliever”, and are more interested in moving him than fellow Amazin starters Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo. The report aligns with quotes from GM Sandy Alderson, who told reporters that no player on the roster is untouchable (though in contradiction, the organization has seemingly made it clear that starters Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard are not on the table).

The thought of trading the right-handed Harvey for a relief pitcher would have seemed ludicrous as recently as 2015. After missing the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery, Harvey seemingly made a full recovery; he pitched to a sparkling 2.71 ERA across 189 1/3 innings, including a fantastic month of August during which he allowed just one earned run spanning four starts. His performance helped the Mets to a 90-72 record en route to their first NL East pennant since 2006.

Unfortunately, Harvey’s numbers plummeted steeply in 2016. The one-time ace experienced a slight drop in velocity (along with some terrible batted ball fortune), which led to a 4-10 record and a 4.86 ERA prior to season-ending surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. His velocity and strikeout rate dropped off even further in 2017, leading to horrific peripherals: 6.51 K/9, 4.56 BB/9, and a 6.39 FIP that ranked third-worst among pitchers who started at least 15 games.

The Dark Knight’s fall from grace has been widely publicized. His trade value, of course, is at an all-time low; Harvey performed at nearly a full win below replacement level last season, carries significant injury risk, and projects to earn a $5.9MM salary in his final year of arbitration. Though he carries significant upside, it’s fair to wonder how likely Harvey is to revert back to his 2015 form. After failing to reach 100 innings in each of the past two seasons, teams are likely to be skeptical over Harvey’s bounce-back potential.

Still, it’s not difficult to imagine an MLB club taking a flyer on Harvey at the price of an “impact reliever.” The Yankees and Brewers, for example, seem to have reasonable bullpen depth and a need in the rotation; either of them could feasibly flip a relief arm for the chance to play roulette with the former six-WAR player. It’s also important to note that the Mets’ wish list isn’t limited to bullpen help. The club is also looking to add a second baseman, along with a part-time first baseman or outfielder (link).

While Harvey has performed poorly in recent years, it’s worth noting that he’ll enter the 2018 season at just under 29 years of age. Regardless of whether he’s traded or not, his storyline headed into 2018 will be captivating and suspenseful.

 

NL East Notes: Marlins, Parè, Neshek, Phillies, Gio

By | at

As you might expect, the Marlins aimed high in their trade talks with the Yankees about Giancarlo Stanton.  According to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman (Twitter link), Miami initially asked New York about such top prospects as Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, and Estevan Florial.  Those demands weren’t met, however, and the Marlins had to settle for two lesser prospects (Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers) plus second baseman Starlin Castro in exchange for the big slugger.  It wasn’t as if the Marlins had much leverage, of course, as the Yankees were one of the few teams Stanton was willing to waive his no-trade clause to join and Miami’s top priority was getting as much of Stanton’s enormous contract as possible off their books.

Some more rumblings from around the NL East…

  • The Braves announced the hiring of Jason Parè as their assistant general manager, research and development.  (The previously-reported hiring of Josh Tamin as the club’s director of Major League operations was also announced.)  Parè spent the last two years as the Marlins’ senior director of analytics, and he previously worked with Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos in Toronto’s front office, where Parè worked as an analyst in 2014-15.
  • The Phillies have had internal talks about signing Pat Neshek, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury reports.  Neshek was acquired by the Phils last winter in a trade with the Astros and then pitched superbly before being flipped to the Rockies for three prospects at trade deadline.  Neshek enjoyed arguably the best of his 11 MLB seasons in 2017, posting a 1.59 ERA over 62 1/3 combined innings with Philadelphia and Colorado, recording 69 strikeouts against just six walks.
  • The Phillies are reportedly open to the possibility of starting the season with a surplus of infielders, though Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer argues that the team is best served by trading at least one of their veteran players (i.e. Cesar Hernandez or Freddy Galvis) this winter and giving J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery a clear path to regular playing time.  Juggling those four players and Maikel Franco during the year leads to fewer at-bats for everyone and, Gelb notes, less opportunity for Hernandez or Galvis to improve their value for a midseason trade.
  • Could the Nationals use Gio Gonzalez as a trade chip?  MASNsports.com’s Pete Kerzel discusses the possibility, as the Nats could obtain some controllable talent by dealing the veteran as he enters the final year of his contract.  Gonzalez is coming off one of the best of his six seasons in Washington (2.96 ERA, 2.38 K/BB rate, 8.42 K/9 over 201 innings), though advanced metrics were less impressed by his performance, so Kerzel believes the Nats could look for a trade while Gonzalez’s value is high.

Latest On The Mets’ Offseason Plans

By | at

Here’s the latest from Mets GM Sandy Alderson, who spoke with reporters (including Newsday’s Marc Carig, and Mike Puma and Joel Sherman of the New York Post) about where his team stands headed into the Winter Meetings…

  • If there was a general theme to Alderson’s comments, it was that the Mets will be patient when it comes to making their moves, particularly in the relief pitching market.  The team seemed poised to make a quicker jump for a bullpen arm earlier this winter, though now New York appears to be taking a step back.  “We’re not going to chase players.  There are a lot of guys out there, and a lot of teams looking for relief pitching,” Alderson said.  “We think there’s some values out there. And to the extent that the market gets overheated, I wouldn’t think that we’ll jump into the inferno.  But we do want to improve our bullpen.”  In a follow-up tweet from Puma, Alderson “is sending out signals to” some agents that the Mets might not sign a reliever until after the Winter Meetings or possibly even into January.  The Mets are one of the teams who made a three-year offer to Bryan Shaw, though Carig suggests that Shaw would be holding out for a fourth year or perhaps is looking for an offer from a team whose Spring Training camp is in Arizona (where Shaw owns a home).
  • Dominic Smith “is still very much in the mix” for regular time at first base, Alderson said.  Smith received some criticism from Mets officials, including Alderson himself, after the season, though recent reports had the team looking for just part-time first base help, either in the form of a platoon partner like Adam Lind or an outfielder who could fill in at first like Jay Bruce.  “I wouldn’t expect us to do something that totally eliminates Dominic as a possibility,” the GM said.  “We are still very high on Dominic — some of my comments earlier in the offseason notwithstanding. I would be surprised if we did anything that precluded him from not having an opportunity in Spring Training.”
  • Asdrubal Cabrera is almost certainly going to be used at third base next season, so Alderson said the Mets will look for second base help.  A trade for a second baseman is possible, though “our farm system right now is not brimming with prospects, so in that sense, making a trade isn’t as attractive,” Alderson said.
  • The Mets were never linked to the Giancarlo Stanton trade rumors, as Alderson said he “just didn’t think, given the contract, a variety of circumstances, it made any sense for us to feign any interest for purposes of public consumption.”  While the Mets no longer have to worry about Stanton as an intra-division rival, they’ll get a regular dose of the slugger as both an interleague foe with the Yankees.

AL East Notes: Blue Jays, Rebuilds, Longoria, Rays, Bard, Red Sox

By | at

The Blue Jays are planning to contend in 2018, though with the team facing a tough road back to the postseason, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith looks at the broader question faced by the Jays and other clubs about deciding when a rebuild is necessary.  Reaching the playoffs even once is a worthy goal, though mortgaging the future to do so won’t lead to a sustainable contender, which is what teams like the Cubs and Astros appear to be after writing off several seasons to totally remake their franchises.  An even greater challenge is trying to rebuild while remaining competitive, which is what the Blue Jays seem to be trying.  “I personally don’t feel that you should ever be in a rebuild mode, especially in this market and in this environment,” Jays GM Ross Atkins said.  “There might be soft resets based on circumstance….But personally, I don’t buy into the strategy that we’re not going to be a good team for five and six years.”

Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • Evan Longoria tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the Rays have yet to speak to their longtime third baseman about their offseason plans.  The Rays will certainly be moving some expensive veterans this winter, and if they shift into full-on rebuild mode, that could very well include a trade of Longoria, their highest-paid player and franchise cornerstone.  “I think they have made it pretty clear that they want to cut salary, so I guess that leaves me somewhere in limbo,” Longoria said.  “I think I’ve been pretty up front about wanting to be in Tampa (Bay) for my whole career, but I realize that my window is getting smaller to win a championship.  If they decide to rebuild completely and give everyone up, then I suppose my family and I will adjust.”
  • In another piece from Topkin, he ranks the Rays players most likely to be traded this offseason, perhaps as soon as this week’s Winter Meetings.  Closer Alex Colome sits atop the list, followed by Jake Odorizzi and Longoria.  Chris Archer is a “2A” candidate after Odorizzi, as Archer would be Tampa’s most valuable trade chip if the club did embark on a rebuild.  Topkin writes that the Rays would demand “twice the return of Odorizzi” for Archer, and even more than the five-prospect package the team received from the Cubs in the 2011 Matt Garza trade.
  • The Yankees will hire Josh Bard as their new bench coach, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported (Twitter link).  The New York Post’s Ken Davidoff reported earlier today that Bard stood “a good chance of” being hired after an interview for the position last week.  A former ten-year big league veteran, Bard’s post-playing career includes jobs as a scout and special assistant in the Dodgers organization and, for the last two seasons, the team’s bullpen coach.  Bard and new Yankees manager Aaron Boone were briefly teammates with the 2005 Indians.
  • Now that Giancarlo Stanton is a Yankee, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald proposes a bold counter-move for the Red Sox — sign both J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer in free agency.  This would come at a big financial cost for the Sox, of course, though Silverman argues that since the team will likely be over the luxury tax threshold anyway, the Red Sox will face a slightly lesser financial penalty now than they would in exceeding it next offseason with another year of overages on its record.  Silverman believes Boston should strike now rather than hope for landing one of next winter’s big free agents, plus Martinez and Hosmer would help replace the clubhouse leadership gap left by the retired David Ortiz.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top