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Lorenzo Cain Reportedly Has Multiple Four-Year Offers

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As the market for top starter Yu Darvish begins to pick up some steam, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the market for one of the free agency’s top position players may be escalating as well (Twitter links). Lorenzo Cain and his reps at All Bases Covered Sports Management have begun informing some teams that they’re out of the running, per Heyman. It’s not immediately clear whether that means a decision is on the horizon, but Heyman adds that Cain is weighing “a variety of offers” and is even “believed to have received several” offers of four years in length.

[Related: Free Agent Profile — Lorenzo Cain]

The 31-year-old Cain (32 in April) has been linked to several teams this winter, though San Francisco’s acquisition of Andrew McCutchen and the Blue Jays’ acquisition of Randal Grichuk may have eliminated a pair of potential destinations. The Giants have only about $2MM remaining to stay underneath the luxury tax line and are reportedly set on doing so, while the Jays now have an outfield mix consisting of Grichuk, Kevin Pillar, offseason signee Curtis Granderson, Ezequiel Carrera, Steve Pearce and prospects Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Alford. Fitting Cain into that mix would seem to be a tall order, barring the trade of an outfielder (or multiple outfielders) to add some rotation help.

The Rangers and Brewers have both been prominently linked to Cain over the past month. While Milwaukee is a curious fit at first glance given the Brewers’ own surplus of outfielders, GM David Stearns and his staff are reportedly exploring the potential return for some of the team’s incumbent outfielders. The Brewers reportedly have multiple lines in the water as they’ve been tied to pitchers like Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta and a potential trade for Christian Yelich in addition to their reported interest in Cain. As for the Rangers, it’s worth noting that GM Jon Daniels downplayed the possibility and voiced confidence in Delino DeShields as recently as this past weekend.

Beyond that group, there hasn’t been much in the way of teams that’ve been publicly linked to Cain in recent weeks. The Cubs were loosely tied to him a few weeks ago but have a deep mix of outfielders, and the Mets were said to have interest earlier in the offseason (before the signing of Jay Bruce). Certainly, given Cain’s above-average contributions in center field, at the plate and on the basepaths, there are probably other clubs that have interest in making room to add him to the roster, though the extent to which those clubs are willing to pay full market value for a player that would in many ways more luxury than necessity remains to be seen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/24/18

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Here are Wednesday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Twins are in agreement with right-hander Matt Magill on a minor league contract, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 28-year-old Magill has appeared in a pair of Major League seasons, totaling 32 innings between the Dodgers and Reds but struggling to a 6.47 ERA with more walks (33) than innings pitched and strikeouts (27). Control has been an issue for Magill throughout his professional career, as evidenced by the fact that he’s averaged five walks per nine innings in 322 Triple-A innings. However, he’s managed to work around those free passes to turn in a respectable 4.39 ERA with 8.4 K/9 at that level. He’ll give Minnesota some rotation depth for their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester.
  • Infielder Dean Anna announced yesterday that he’s joining the White Sox organization (Twitter link). Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that Anna’s minor league deal doesn’t contain an invite to MLB camp. The 31-year-old Anna, an Illinois native, will join the club he grew up watching and hope for an eventual opportunity to return to the big leagues. The former 26th-rounder (Padres, 2008) appeared in a dozen games for the 2014 Yankees and one lone game for the 2015 Cardinals, hitting .130/.192/.304 in 26 plate appearances. Anna is a career .283/.373/.386 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons and has experience at second base, shortstop, third base and in the outfield corners.

Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman Elected To Hall Of Fame

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The Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday elected Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jones (who appeared on 97.2 percent of ballots) and Thome (89.8 percent) will go into Cooperstown as first-ballot Hall of Famers. Guerrero (92.9 percent) will be enshrined in his second year of eligibility. Hoffman (79.9 percent) was on the ballot for the third time.

Edgar Martinez fell shy of the 75 percent mark needed for enshrinement, receiving a votes on 70.4 percent of ballots Others coming within 20 percent of induction include Mike Mussina (63.5 percent), Roger Clemens (57.4 percent) and Barry Bonds (56.4 percent). Full voting is available at the BBWAA’s website.

There was never much doubt that Jones, 45, would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The former No. 1 overall draft pick and 1999 National League MVP was an eight-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger and won a World Series title with the 1995 Braves. One of the best switch-hitters in the history of the sport, Jones hit .303/.401/.529 with 468 home runs, 150 stolen bases, 1619 runs scored and 1623 runs batter in over the life of a brilliant career that spanned nearly two decades.

Remarkably, Jones batted better than .300 and posted on OBP north of .390 from both sides of the plate over the course of his illustrious career. In addition to the extraordinary work he did in the regular season, Jones was an accomplished postseason bat as well, hitting a combined .287/.409/.456 with 13 homers in 417 trips to the plate in the postseason. Both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs peg Jones’ amazing career at more than 85 wins above replacement.

Thome, 47, heads into Cooperstown as one of the most accomplished sluggers in Major League history. The longtime Indians star retired with 612 homers — then the seventh-most home runs in big league history (though he’s since been passed by another Cooperstown-bound slugger, Albert Pujols, in that regard). Thome never won a league MVP but did make five All-Star teams and take home a Silver Slugger.

An on-base machine, Thome hit .276/.402/.554 and scored 1583 runs against 1699 runs batted in over the course of a career that spanned parts of 22 Major League seasons. He belted another 17 homers and knocked in 37 runs over the course of 267 postseason plate appearances. His career 147 OPS+ ties him with Hall of Famers Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Mike Schmidt and the aforementioned Edgar Martinez for the 47th-best mark in MLB history. B-Ref pegged Thome’s career at 72.9 WAR, while Fangraphs credited him with a similarly excellent 69 WAR.

Guerrero, 43 next month, spent parts of 16 seasons in the Majors and batted .318/.379/.553 with 449 home runs, 1328 runs scored, 1496 runs batted in and 181 stolen bases. Guerrero earned American League MVP honors in a 2004 campaign that saw him bat .337/.391/.598 with 39 homers in 680 plate appearances, and he finished third on the AL MVP ballot on two other occasions. Guerrero was named to nine All-Star teams and took home eight Silver Slugger Awards in his career.

Guerrero was uncannily consistent, hitting .300 or better in 13 of his 15 full seasons in the Majors (and batting .290 and .295 in the two in which he came up short). Both OPS+ and wRC+ feel that the only full season he had in the Majors in which his bat was below the league average was his final season in 2011, when he batted .290/.317/.416 as a 36-year-old. He joins Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez as the third Dominican-born player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Hoffman’s appointment to Cooperstown will be the most polarizing among today’s honorees. The 50-year-old is, of course, one of just two players in Major League history to record more than 600 career saves, joining future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera in that regard. Hoffman’s career came to a close with a 2.87 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 as well as 601 saves and a 61-75 record through 1089 1/3 innings.

Hoffman’s supporters point to that vaunted save total, his seven All-Star nods and exceptional consistency. Hoffman posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 12 of 14 seasons from 1994-2007, averaging 37 saves per year along the way. His detractors note that he logged nearly 200 fewer innings than Rivera, the man to whom he is most often compared (based on their incredible saves totals) and also pitched 128 fewer postseason innings than Rivera.

There is, of course, no denying that Hoffman had a remarkable career; he averaged better than a strikeout per inning and finished with an ERA+ of 147, turning in an ERA worse than the league average just once in his career — in his 18th and final MLB season. Whether that places him among the all-time greats can be debated ad nauseam, but those whose voices matter most in that discussion (the BBWAA) clearly are of the mind that Hoffman is indeed worthy of being placed in such rarefied air.

Royals Sign Ryan Goins To Minor League Deal

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3:44pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Goins’ contract has a $1MM base salary if he makes the big league roster. The infielder can also earn an additional $825K of incentives.

3:18pm: The Royals announced that they’ve signed infielder Ryan Goins to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Goins is a client of Octagon.

Goins, 29, has spent the past half decade as a reserve infielder for the Blue Jays, appearing in 449 contests and coming to the plate a total of 1397 times at the big league level. He’s never been much of an asset at the plate, however, batting a combined .228/.275/.335 with 20 homers and six steals in that time. To Goins’ credit, he did hit a career-best nine homers last year, though that small spike in a power came during a historically high home-run environment for Major League Baseball.

While Goins isn’t a big threat at the plate, he’s been an asset in the field over his first five big league campaigns. Defensive Runs Saved credits him as an above-average shortstop and a superlative defender at second base (+6 in 1362 innings and +24 in 1870 innings, respectively). Ultimate Zone Rating, meanwhile, feels he’s been roughly average at shortstop and nine runs above average at second base. Goins also has limited big league experience at third base, first base and in both outfield corners, though he’s totaled fewer than 50 innings at each of those positions.

Toronto non-tendered Goins earlier this winter in his first offseason of arbitration eligibility. If he makes the Royals’ roster and the team likes what it sees, he can be retained for at least the 2019 and 2020 campaigns via arbitration.

Latest On Yu Darvish

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It has been easy to notice the increased chatter surrounding top free agent pitcher Yu Darvish, but his timeline for signing has largely remained uncertain — as has the likely landing spot. The latest updates seem both to narrow and expand the possibilities:

  • The Phillies are “checking in” on Darvish, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter), though he also notes that the club is doing the same with other top free agents. Philadelphia appears to be positioning itself as a potential landing spot for players whose markets haven’t developed as hoped. With loads of money to spend, the team could certainly function as an opportunistic buyer, particularly in its greatest area of evident need — the rotation. Unsurprisingly, Rosenthal says, the team would mostly be interested in relatively shorter-term arrangements. That seems to be consistent with the Phils’ approach already this offseason, which has featured relatively hefty salaries on two or three-year arrangements.
  • It seems that momentum could now be building toward a decision, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets that Darvish is “increasingly likely” to reach a deal this week. With just three weeks remaining until Spring Training gets underway, it seems reasonable to expect a break in the long-building free-agent tension. For other starters — and perhaps even some other position players — a deal for Darvish could not only set an important market marker but also free certain organizations to pursue other priorities.
  • Otherwise, the Twins remain actively engaged in Darvish, Morosi notes, though that has been known for some time now. We last checked in on Minnesota’s interest yesterday, with indications being that the team wasn’t willing to make a market-topping offer. Of course, numerous other teams — in addition to any mystery entrants — are still also reported to be in pursuit. We’ve heard chatter recently of an offer from the Brewers, significant engagement from the Cubs, and ongoing interest from the Rangers and Dodgers. In sum, there’s still little in the way of clarity in terms of how things will play out. But today’s report suggests that organizations could be readying their final push for Darvish, whose representatives at Wasserman are no doubt working to secure the biggest offers possible and sorting through all the other factors that will weigh into the decision.

Open Market Notes: Yankees, Boras, Gomez, Tillman, Mets

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True, the market remains quiet, but perhaps we’re reaching the point where the looming onset of Spring Training will begin to apply some real dealmaking pressure. Here’s the latest chatter:

  • The Yankees have had “minimal” contact with potential free-agent infielders, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required). Rosenthal suggests that New York is rather optimistic about its internal options at second and third base, though of course it stands to reason that the club will look hard at a variety of avenues to upgrade. Rosenthal also weighs in on the trade value of Christian Yelich and a few other topics.
  • In a separate post, Rosenthal discusses the still-quiet offseason for Scott Boras and his clients. One of the super-agent’s major points of contention this winter has been that top players don’t (as a general matter) simply cease being productive in their early thirties. Over at Fangraphs, Craig Edwards provides some analysis that tends to support Boras’s position. Though massive and lengthy commitments obviously still come with ample risk, Edwards says the data shows that “good players in their 20s are likely to remain good players  in their early 30s.”
  • It seems that outfielder Carlos Gomez is maintaining contact with the Rangers — even if it requires some extra effort. According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Gomez hitched a ride on a helicopter recently to hold a brief face-to-face chat with Texas GM Jon Daniels and others. It still seems there’s a potential match, though perhaps both sides are waiting to see how things look once higher-priority players make their decisions.
  • The Blue Jays have expressed some level of interest in righty Chris Tillman, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter link). Several other organizations are reportedly eyeing a pitcher who may be the top bounceback candidate on the market. There was nothing at all to like about his 2017 work, but the 29-year-old Tillman has a long history of solid innings and might represent an excellent value if his shoulder can stay fit.
  • While the Mets are looking into bolstering their rotation mix, it likely won’t be in a manner that excites the fanbase. Per Mike Puma of the New York Post, on Twitter, the organization is looking to find one or two starters willing to take minor-league contracts. At this point, though, the Mets don’t even have a firm idea of who they’ll go after, per the report. All told, that approach isn’t surprising. After all, the Mets have other more pressing needs and certainly have the talent to fill out a five-man staff, making depth the key need.
  • Meanwhile, the Mets seem not to view Mike Moustakas as a plausible free-agent target, Puma notes on Twitter. But the team still thinks it could end up landing Todd Frazier, who’s not an altogether dissimilar player from Moustakas but is expected to command a shorter contract entering his age-32 season.

Chris Archer Expects To Remain With Rays

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Rays right-hander Chris Archer says he does not expect he’ll be traded this winter, according to a report from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Per Archer, Tampa Bay GM Neander has “made me feel pretty good about being with the Rays in 2018.”

Sporadic chatter regarding Archer’s potential trade candidacy has been ongoing for years and has reportedly continued into the new year. He has been healthy and productive ever since breaking into the league, even if his bottom-line results (4.07 ERA in 2017) haven’t always been quite as impressive as his peripherals might suggest.

Better still, the 29-year-old’s contract includes four more seasons of cheap control, which helps explain his broad appeal. (Scroll back through his mentions on MLBTR and you’ll find a wide variety of teams linked in some way.) That same factor, though, also means the Rays don’t yet face pressure to cash in their best trade asset.

Though Archer was said to be a point of focus entering the Winter Meetings, no real momentum has seemed to form towards a deal. That could always change, of course; it’s not all that difficult to imagine a team deciding to up its offer for Archer and engage in a dedicated pursuit. Indeed, the resolution of the biggest free-agent pitching situations could tell on the matter, as Topkin points out.

While it doesn’t sound as if Archer has been given any assurances, though, it remains notable that he has been given such a strong indication from Neander and the Tampa Bay front office. The club already dealt away franchise face Evan Longoria, so it’s obvious that nothing is bolted down permanently. But that move did not mandate a broader rebuild. And there’s no real reason for the organization to mis-lead Archer about its intentions.

All things considered, the status quo largely remains intact. But we can perhaps say with some added confidence that the Rays will not simply be putting Archer up for auction and taking the best bid this winter. Any team that hopes to pry him loose will surely need to come with a big offer.

Of course, the team does still have other trade candidates worth keeping an eye on — including rotation-mate Jake Odorizzi. It seems reasonable to anticipate some significant action from the Rays over the coming weeks, though a variety of paths still remain open.

Glen Perkins To Retire

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TODAY: Perkins confirms in a statement on his Twitter account that he’s hanging up his spikes. So, what’s next?

I won’t be playing baseball anymore. I’ll spend my time brewing beer, smoking meat woodworking and hanging with my family. Or, the same things I have been doing just without the baseball part.

YESTERDAY: Three-time All-Star Glen Perkins will reportedly not pursue an opportunity to pitch in what would be his 13th big league season. General manager Thad Levine stated in an appearance on the Twins Winter Caravan tour that the former closer has elected to end his playing career, adding that the Twins would be interested in hiring Perkins as a special assistant should he be interested in such a role (Twitter link via 1390 AM Granite City Sports). La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune cites a source close to Perkins in reporting that the left-hander would indeed have interest in such a position.

The decision wasn’t entirely unexpected. After his $6.5MM option for the 2018 season was declined, reports indicated that the career-long Twin would either return to the organization on a minor league contract or simply elect to call it a career.

Glen Perkins | Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

A Twin Cities native who starred at the University of Minnesota before being selected in the first round of the 2004 draft, Perkins frequented top prospect lists before debuting in the Majors as a 23-year-old back in 2006. The lefty showed promise in his first tastes of the Majors from 2006-08 and looked like a potential long-term rotation piece in Minnesota, pitching to a 4.13 ERA over the life of his first 185 1/3 MLB innings.

Perkins hit a rough patch in 2009-10, though, as below-average strikeout rates and a rapidly increasing opponents’ batting average caught up with him and left him with a 5.87 ERA in 118 innings across those two seasons. Out of options heading into the 2011 season, Perkins was at something of a crossroads and responded by turning a corner and cementing himself as a mainstay on the Twins’ roster.

That 2011 season marked the first full season in the bullpen for Perkins, and he broke out with a brilliant 2.48 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 49.7 percent ground-ball rate in 61 2/3 innings. Perkins’ fastball had sat in the 90-91 mph range as a starter but jumped to an average of 94 mph with the move to the ’pen and ticked up another mile the following year in 2012 — the first season in which the lefty took over as the team’s closer.

Perkins saved 16 games for the Twins in 2012 and went on to rack up 32 or more saves in each of the next three seasons, earning American League All-Star honors each year along the way. In all, from 2011-15, he logged a 2.84 ERA with 9.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 120 saves in 313 1/3 innings. The 2014 season, in particular, featured a career highlight for Perkins, as he was called upon to seal a 5-3 victory for the American League in the All-Star Game at Target Field in Minneapolis and did so in 1-2-3 fashion.

Neck and back injuries took their toll on Perkins in 2014-15, though, prematurely ending each of those seasons. The 2016 campaign proved worse in terms of health for the lefty, as he made just two appearances before landing on the disabled list with a shoulder strain. Eventually, Perkins was diagnosed with a torn labrum that required season-ending surgery. He’d go on to spend roughly 16 months rehabbing.

Perkins returned to the Twins this past season but was a far cry from his peak form, averaging just 90.3 mph on his fastball and totaling 5 2/3 innings while appearing sparsely in low-leverage situations down the stretch as Minnesota fought for a surprising Wild Card berth.

The Twins gave Perkins a fitting tribute in what will go down as the final game of his career in the penultimate game of the regular season, allowing the southpaw to come on for the final out of their victory over the Tigers. The Twins fired up Perkins’ former entrance music, Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” as he came out of the ’pen and received a standing ovation. An emotional Perkins told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters after the game that the gesture was something that he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

All told, Perkins’ entire career was spent in the Minnesota organization, and he’ll head into the next chapter ranked third all-time among Twins relievers with 120 saves. Perkins also turned in a 35-25 record and a 3.88 ERA with 504-to-158 K/BB ratio through 624 1/3 in a 12-year career that netted him more than $28MM. Best of luck to Glen in whatever is next for him, and congrats to him on a very fine career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants To Sign Chris Heston

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The Giants have agreed to a minor-league deal to bring righty Chris Heston back into the fold, according to a report from Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Other terms of the contract are not yet known.

Heston, 29, is a former 12th-round pick who debuted in the majors with the Giants back in 2014. He went on to turn in a strong rookie campaign in the following year, etching his name permanently into organizational lore with a no-hitter.

Unfortunately, Heston’s career has largely sputtered since. With mounting injuries and marginal output on the hill, he has thrown just 11 MLB frames over the ensuing two seasons. Heston spent time with three organizations last year after San Francisco dealt him to the Mariners in advance of the 2017 campaign.

While expectations won’t be very high at this point, the move could certainly help bolster the Giants’ pitching depth. The team has parted with a few MLB pitching assets to improve in other areas, so non-roster players could play an important role if needs arise during the course of the season. While it’s hard to imagine Heston earning a roster spot this spring, he’s said to be healthy and could take up a key spot on the Giants depth chart.

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