NL East Notes: Nationals, Galvis, Hernandez, Braves
Every team in baseball is monitoring the Giancarlo Stanton trade talks given their importance to the rest of the offseason transaction business, though the Nationals are perhaps watching closer than most, MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman writes. Should Stanton end up with the Dodgers, that would all but eliminate Los Angeles from pursuing Bryce Harper in free agency next offseason. If the Giants or Cardinals (two teams that probably won’t be prime suitors for Harper next year) land Stanton, that leaves the Nats with another major threat in L.A. to worry about for Harper’s services, to go along with the interest he’s expected to draw from big spenders like the Yankees, Cubs, or Phillies. Beyond that long-term issue, the Nats obviously also are concerned about the idea of Stanton going from an inter-division threat to a team that could end up facing Washington in the postseason.
Here’s some more from around the NL East…
- Two Phillies middle infielders are drawing trade buzz, as the Padres have interest in shortstop Freddy Galvis, while the Angels continue to have interest in second baseman Cesar Hernandez, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (subscription required). The Halos have long been connected to Hernandez for their second base vacancy, with interest dating back to last offseason. San Diego have also long been looking for an answer at shortstop, though the Friars are reportedly now just in the market for a short-term fix until top Fernando Tatis Jr. is ready. Galvis is such a fit, as he will hit free agency next winter. While the Phils have J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery ready to move into regular action in the middle infield, however, Rosenthal notes that the team is content having depth at second and short, and isn’t in any rush to move Galvis or Hernandez unless the right trade can be found.
- The Braves have, somewhat surprisingly, “checked around about shortstops,” ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (ESPN Insider subscription required). Dansby Swanson is seen as the team’s shortstop of the future, though he struggled in his first full MLB season and was even briefly demoted back to Triple-A last summer. A short-term addition could used by Atlanta to give Swanson more development time; Olney outlines the lack of teams looking for shortstops this winter, so the Braves could have a wide choice of the market.
Marlins Agree To Framework Of Giancarlo Stanton Deals With Cards, Giants
10:14pm: The 2-3 day timeline is “quite a hopeful estimate,” sources tell Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.
5:47pm: The Stanton deal is expected to be wrapped up within the next 2-3 days, Craig Mish tweets.
4:41pm: The Cardinals are offering to take on more of Stanton’s money than the Giants, according to Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link).
3:17pm: Neither the Cardinals nor Giants have set timetables for Stanton to make a decision, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
1:58pm: The Marlins have agreed to the “general framework” of Giancarlo Stanton trades with both the Cardinals and the Giants, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Buster Olney of ESPN suggested earlier this week that was the case when the Stanton camp (him and agent Joel Wolfe) met with those clubs.
Whether a deal ultimately occurs with the Cardinals or Giants will depend on Stanton’s willingness to waive his no-trade clause to join either club, which looks far from certain. In fact, Jim Bowden of SiriusXM tweets that the Dodgers are the only team he’d agree to waive his no-trade rights for as of now. Bowden adds that the Giants would have a better chance than the “long shot” Cardinals of landing the right fielder if the Dodgers were to pass on acquiring him. A Stanton trade is not expected to come together Sunday, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link).
The 27-year-old Stanton is a Los Angeles native who grew up rooting for the Dodgers, so his desire to join them more than anyone else isn’t surprising, especially when you consider their on-field success. Having never even played for a .500 team, let alone gone to the playoffs, since making his major league debut in 2010, Stanton made it clear during this past season that he’s tired of losing and wants to compete for championships. Stanton would likely get his wish to play meaningful baseball into the fall with the Dodgers, who are fresh off a National League-winning campaign, but Morosi reported earlier Sunday that the big-spending club is wary of the luxury-tax implications that would come with reeling in the NL MVP.
Stanton is due $295MM over the next decade, and while the Marlins could eat a large portion of that in order to maximize their return for the 59-home run man, Olney reported Saturday that Miami’s primary goal is to get Stanton’s money off the books. That would seemingly be a problem for the Dodgers, who will incur significant penalties if they run a mammoth payroll again in 2018. The Dodgers spent $237MM-plus in each of the past several seasons, and if it happens again next year, they’ll have to pay an extra 45 percent surcharge tax. Additionally, their top draft pick for 2018 (No. 30 overall) will drop 10 spots. Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource currently estimates LA’s payroll for next season to open at $208MM-plus, but that’s obviously without factoring in Stanton or any other potential additions.
Meanwhile, although the Giants are already near the $197MM luxury tax for 2018 (they have upward of $190MM in payroll commitments), they’re reportedly willing to take on the majority of Stanton’s money if he’d waive his NTC to go to San Francisco. The Cardinals have far less money on the books for next year ($127MM-plus), but it’s unclear how much of Stanton’s money they’d add in a trade. Of course, along with the cash left on his deal, Stanton’s ability to opt out of the pact after the 2020 season has added another complication to trade talks between the Marlins and other teams. Despite the roadblocks, though, the cost-cutting Marlins are seemingly in position to ship out Stanton if he green lights a move to St. Louis or San Francisco.
AL Central Notes: Royals, Boone, Jackson, Tribe, Tigers
With Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, and Mike Moustakas all hitting free agency, there has been wide speculation that the Royals could be entering a rebuild phase. This is the general consensus around the league, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes, even if Hosmer is re-signed. The club itself is unsure about its contention plans for the immediate future, as the exact level of the rebuild is still in question — “club officials see rebuilding scenarios that include” Hosmer on the roster, Dodd writes. This would seemingly put K.C. in an awkward decision this winter, as spending nine figures to re-sign Hosmer doesn’t seem to make much sense for a team that already has an eye towards reloading its farm system, though GM Dayton Moore is reportedly not keen on the idea of a full teardown.
Here’s more from the AL Central…
- The Twins and Aaron Boone recently had mutual interest in a front office role before Boone was hired to be the Yankees’ new manager, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (hat tip to 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson).
- The Indians are interested in a reunion with Austin Jackson “but at the right price,” according to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jackson proved to be a big bargain for the Tribe in 2017, as he signed a minor league deal and then hit an outstanding .318/.387/.482 over 318 plate appearances while seeing time at all three outfield positions. Jackson would bring a right-handed presence to a projected Cleveland outfield that currently features three left-handed hitters (Michael Brantley, Bradley Zimmer, Lonnie Chisenhall), though there’s certainly question as to whether Jackson can sustain his production, given his .385 BABIP from last season and his recent history of subpar offensive numbers.
- The Tigers figure to add multiple starting pitchers this winter, though as The Athletic’s Katie Strang notes, those arms will come in the form of inexpensive MLB and minor league signings and possibly a Rule 5 Draft pick. Names like Clay Buchholz, Drew Smyly or Nick Burdi could fit, though the latter two are recovering from Tommy John surgery and could be tough fits on the 40-man roster.
AL East Notes: Sabathia, Yankees, Longoria, Cards, Rays, Orioles
The Yankees were recently in contact with C.C. Sabathia, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). The southpaw said after the season that he hoped to return to the Bronx, and it was widely assumed that Sabathia was something of a backup plan for the Yankees if the club missed out on landing Shohei Ohtani. New York did check in with Sabathia, as per Heyman, even before today’s news broke that the Yankees wouldn’t be receiving a meeting with Ohtani and his representatives. Sabathia is both a well-respected veteran and he’s been a quietly-effective innings-eater over the last few seasons, so on paper, he could be seen as the favorite for the Yankees’ fifth starter job at this point in the offseason.
Some more rumblings from around the AL East…
- Evan Longoria‘s name hasn’t been “seriously involved” in any trade discussions between the Rays and Cardinals, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets, though Morosi says to “stay tuned” should the Cards fail to land Giancarlo Stanton. St. Louis has been known to be looking for an impact bat this winter and will likely explore several alternatives if they come up short in their pursuit of Stanton, so it makes sense that the Cardinals could expand their talks with the Rays about Alex Colome to also include Longoria. Obstacles to a deal, however, include the $86MM Longoria is owed through the 2022 season, his age (32), and the fact that he is coming off his worst offensive season (.312 wOBA, 96 wRC+).
- The Rays will be heavily counting on internal arms to fill several holes in the bullpen, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The club has already parted ways with Brad Boxberger, Xavier Cedeno, and Chase Whitley, and Tommy Hunter, Sergio Romo, and Steve Cishek are free agents. This opens the door for several young pitchers to win relief jobs, or starters that don’t make the rotation could be used in the pen. “While we want to make sure we have a stable group, we also want to ensure we are giving every opportunity to those guys to realize their upside,” senior VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said.
- A poor season could lead to the Orioles dealing some veterans at the trade deadline and a possible rebuild, though BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly doubts that the team would embark on a total scorched-earth rebuild a la the Astros or Cubs. It’s also probably unlikely that a struggling O’s team would even deal impending free agent Manny Machado (barring an impossible-to-refuse offer) at the deadline due to Peter Angelos’ philosophy that “the season-ticket holders paid to see a certain team and weakening that promised product in-season is disingenuous.”
- Also from Connolly’s mailbag piece, he doesn’t see the Orioles landing any of the top arms in the free agent market, so the club could check into acquiring a highly-paid pitcher coming off a down season. The O’s likely wouldn’t have to give up much minor league talent in return, plus the other team would probably be covering at least some of the pitcher’s contract. A bad contract swap could also be a consideration, as the O’s could help make up the salaries by dealing one of their own expensive players that might no longer be a fit — Connolly cites Mark Trumbo as a prime candidate in this scenario. This wouldn’t be a perfect fit to solve Baltimore’s pitching woes, though it would at least re-direct some funds towards the Orioles’ pressing need in the rotation.
MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason Outlook Series
The MLB Trade Rumors writing staff has completed our annual winter previews for all 30 teams. Given the unusually quiet nature of this offseason so far, every team still has much to address on their winter to-do lists even though we’re already in December. Click the links for a full analysis of what your favorite team has in store before Opening Day…
AL East
AL Central
AL West
NL East
NL Central
NL West
Notable 2017 Non-Tenders
The open market welcomed 26 additional free agents Friday when various major league teams chose not to tender contracts to certain arbitration-eligible players. While no one is going to confuse the new members of this winter’s unsigned class with any of the top free agents, there are at least a few who could boost teams’ chances in 2018 and beyond. As Tyler Flowers, Steve Cishek and Welington Castillo have shown over the past couple years, a non-tender doesn’t have to be a career death knell.
Here’s a look at the best of this year’s group:
- Hector Rondon, RP: The hard-throwing, right-handed Rondon isn’t that far removed from a two-year showing in which he was among baseball’s premier relievers. The former closer pitched to a minuscule 2.03 ERA with 8.91 K/9, 2.03 BB/9 and a 50.8 percent groundball rate across 133 1/3 innings from 2014-15, during which he combined for 59 saves on 68 attempts. However, Rondon’s effectiveness began fading during the Cubs’ World Series-winning 2016 campaign – thanks in part to an arm injury, perhaps – and he’s now fresh off a year in which he posted a 4.24 ERA. But Rondon managed at least 50 innings (57, to be exact) for the fourth straight season in 2017, when he also continued his groundballing ways (48.3 percent) and logged a career-high swinging-strike rate (11.3 percent). Further, even during his disappointing 2016-17 stretch, he saw his K/9 rise to an impressive 10.55 (against 2.33 walks per nine). While neither the Cubs nor any other team thought Rondon would be worth a projected $6.2MM in 2018, the 29-year-old still figures to intrigue a host of clubs – some of which may not be in the mood to pay high prices for established relievers this winter.
- Mike Fiers, RHP: An estimated $5.7MM for Fiers was too rich for the Astros and other teams, but it wouldn’t have been an unreasonable amount relative to what the 32-year-old has done during his career. Since debuting as a starter with the Brewers in 2012, Fiers has racked up 694 1/3 innings from the rotation and compiled a respectable 4.15 ERA, also notching 8.64 K/9 against 2.79 BB/9. Fiers was one of the few members of the World Series champion Astros who endured a miserable 2017 (5.22 ERA, 5.43 FIP in 153 1/3 frames), but if the personal-worst 19.5 percent home run-to-fly ball rate he put up more closely resembles his career mark of 13.6 going forward, he could return to being a decent innings eater.
- Matt Adams, 1B: Lefty-swinging first basemen who struggle against same-handed pitchers aren’t exactly rare, so it wasn’t that surprising when the Braves jettisoned Adams in lieu of potentially paying him around $4.6MM in 2018. That said, Adams has been quite useful versus right-handed pitchers, having slashed .286/.333/.495 against them in 1,510 plate appearances, and has typically been adept at first base (14 Defensive Runs Saved, 8.3 Ultimate Zone Rating). Those skills should make the 29-year-old Adams a worthwhile pickup for someone, though he’s a small fish in a big free agent pond that includes other proven first base types in Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana, Logan Morrison, Yonder Alonso and Adam Lind.
- Jared Hughes, RP: As a groundball specialist who has generated excellent results despite a dearth of strikeouts, Hughes isn’t all that dissimilar to more hyped free agent Brandon Kintzler. But even though he has a good track record and was projected to earn a very reasonable $2.2MM in 2018, the 32-year-old Hughes is now on the unemployment line. Based on Hughes’ history, Milwaukee’s loss could be a big gain for another club. Since 2014, his first of four consecutive solid years, the ex-Pirates righty has thrown no fewer than 59 1/3 innings in any individual season and ridden a 62.1 percent grounder rate to a 2.55 ERA. Hughes ranks eighth among qualified relievers in GB rate and 18th in ERA over the past four seasons, despite having registered only 5.54 K/9 against 3.02 BB/9 during that span (notably, though, his K/9 rose to a career-high 7.24 in 2017).
- Drew Smyly, LHP: With his estimated $6.85MM salary, Smyly was a non-tender waiting to happen the moment he underwent Tommy John surgery in June, officially ending a season in which he was unable to take the mound for Seattle. The Mariners acquired Smyly 10 months ago with the hope that he’d serve as a capable mid-rotation starter – something he had been at times with the Rays from 2014-16. Smyly combined for 395 innings of 3.94 ERA ball during those seasons and recorded 8.59 K/9 against 2.53 BB/9, and offset a paltry grounder rate (34.2 percent) with a league-best infield fly mark (15.3 percent). It’s anyone’s guess whether Smyly will resemble his old form when he returns (perhaps not until 2019), but he’s still just 28 and looks worthy of taking a flyer on at an affordable cost this offseason.
Giancarlo Stanton Rumors: Sunday
In case you were unaware, Giancarlo Stanton is still on the Marlins. We’ll keep track of today’s rumblings on the National League MVP and trade candidate here…
- The Red Sox are no longer involved in the Stanton race, per Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). A report on Wednesday indicated that Boston and Miami hadn’t discussed Stanton since the general managers meetings in mid-November, so the Red Sox’s apparent exit from the sweepstakes doesn’t come as a surprise.
- While Stanton has personally met with the GMs for the Giants and Cardinals, the Los Angeles-born slugger is still waiting to see how serious the Dodgers’ interest is before he’s willing to completely embrace going to another team, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter links). However, the Dodgers and Marlins haven’t made any “substantial progress” in talks, Morosi adds, as LA is wary of the luxury-tax implications that would come with acquiring him. Meanwhile, both the Giants and Cardinals are still “in the dark” about whether Stanton would waive his no-trade clause to join them, Mish relays on Twitter.
- San Francisco and Miami have reportedly discussed Giants outfield prospect Heliot Ramos; however, there’s “no indication” the Giants have actually offered Ramos to the Marlins, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Ohtani, Abreu, Dodgers, Jays, Bruce, Cubs, Rays
This week in baseball blogs…
- BP Toronto explains why we should stop thinking we know what Shohei Ohtani wants.
- The Loop Sports examines Jose Abreu‘s trade candidacy.
- Think Blue Planning Committee asks if the Dodgers really need to trade Yasmani Grandal.
- Jays Journal examines a potential Jake Arrieta signing for Toronto.
- Everything Bluebirds predicts free agency won’t go nearly as well for Jay Bruce as the outfielder hopes.
- Cub Sessions lists potential trade targets for the North Siders.
- BASEBALLDOCS names the Rays’ top trade chips.
- District On Deck sees potential for a Rays-Nationals blockbuster.
- The Point of Pittsburgh believes it’s time for the Pirates to officially move on from Jung-ho Kang.
- The Runner Sports (links: 1, 2) reacts to the Yankees’ hiring of Aaron Boone and profiles AL MVP Jose Altuve.
- Big Three Sports tries to get the Giants back to the playoffs with Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton acquisitions.
- The Redbird Daily wants the Cardinals to pursue free agent reliever Tommy Hunter.
- East Atlantic Look predicts the fates of some of the game’s best free agents and trade chips.
- Angelswin.com (links: 1, 2) shares the last two segments of its extensive offseason primer for the Halos.
- Call to the Pen focuses on the Phillies’ approach heading into the Winter Meetings.
- Underthought uses the WAR leaderboards to gauge whether teams hold on to their elite talent.
- Jays From the Couch posits that Toronto will need to be aggressive this offseason in order to push for a playoff spot in 2018.
- Pirates Breakdown talks with Rob Friedman – aka @pitchingninja; check out his pitching GIFs here – about one small change that may end up as the next big fad in pitching.
- Camden Depot puts together an Orioles-Marlins trade centering on Stanton.
- LegendsOnDeck.com lists the pros and cons of trading for Stanton.
- DiNardo’s Dugout (podcast) discusses offseason needs for the World Series representatives – the Astros and Dodgers – and potential landing spots for Ohtani and Stanton.
- Good Fundies wonders if Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo can cure his strikeout problems.
- Off The Bench highlights notable relievers who had control issues in 2017.
- Clubhouse Corner‘s Bernie Pleskoff offers his scouting reports for players on his All-Arizona Fall League Team.
- Mets Daddy isn’t pleased with the team’s first-round picks under general manager Sandy Alderson.
- Sports Talk Philly says Scott Rolen should be a Hall of Famer.
- North Shore Nine (podcast) weighs in on a few Pirates matters, including Kang and Ohtani.
- Keith’s Mustache hopes the Mets bring back Jose Reyes.
- Real McCoy Minor News spotlights Marlins outfield prospect Thomas Jones.
- The K Zone interviews Diamondbacks pitching prospect Jon Duplantier.
- Pinstriped Prospects (links: 1, 2) lists prospects the Yankees could lose in the Rule 5 draft.
- Jays Journal writes about Marcus Stroman‘s unhappiness with Toronto’s decision to non-tender Ryan Goins.
Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com
Padres Extend A.J. Preller
The Padres have signed general manager A.J. Preller to a three-year contract extension, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Preller’s new deal will keep him with the team through 2022.
The Padres and Preller struck the agreement back in October, per Lin, who notes that the GM had been under control through 2019 until then. The team turned its full attention to securing Preller for the long haul after re-upping manager Andy Green through 2021 back in August.
The 2018 campaign will be the fourth full season in San Diego for Preller, whom the club hired in August 2014. Previously the Rangers’ assistant GM, Preller has created plenty of headlines since joining the Padres. The club was amid its ninth straight non-playoff season when it landed Preller, who tried to orchestrate a quick turnaround by trading for the likes of Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, Melvin Upton Jr., Wil Myers and Derek Norris during his first offseason on the job. The majority of those acquisitions didn’t pan out as hoped, though, evidenced by the fact that San Diego hasn’t returned to the playoffs in the Preller era and Myers is the only member of that six-player group who’s still with the organization.
After Preller’s plan to immediately compete went belly-up, he reversed course and began a full-scale rebuild whose first significant move came by way of a November 2015 trade with the Red Sox. Preller sent Kimbrel to Boston in that deal, which netted the Padres a potential long-term building block in center fielder Manuel Margot. The 23-year-old Margot and the 28-year-old Myers (whom the Padres signed to a six-year extension last winter) rank as the most notable current Padres position players acquired under Preller, whose tenure has also included the astute addition of now-standout reliever Brad Hand via waivers in 2016.
Hand, 27, may soon turn into an extremely useful trade chip for a Padres team that’s not in position to push for a playoff spot yet, thus further beefing up a farm system that, thanks in part to Preller, has become one of the game’s best. That system includes Preller-acquired prospects in infielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (stolen from the White Sox for the fading James Shields in 2016); left-handers MacKenzie Gore, Adrian Morejon, Logan Allen and Joey Lucchesi; right-handers Michel Baez, Cal Quantrill and Anderson Espinoza; and shortstop Gabriel Arias. All nine of those farmhands rank among the Padres’ 10 best prospects, per Baseball America.
While Preller has impressed Padres brass during his time with the club, his reign has come with obvious black marks. The club lost catcher Yasmani Grandal in the Kemp deal, for one, and followed that by parting with young shortstop Trea Turner in the Myers trade. Both Grandal and Turner have since turned into more valuable big leaguers than the vets the Padres acquired for them.
Every GM has hit-and-miss trades, of course, but most executives don’t end up serving suspensions during their tenures. That hasn’t been the case for Preller, whom MLB issued a 30-day ban back in September 2016 for failing to disclose required medical information in the trade that sent lefty Drew Pomeranz to the Red Sox for Espinoza. In addition, a couple months prior to his suspension, the Preller-led Friars agreed to undo a portion of a swap with the Marlins, taking back injured righty Colin Rea after Miami learned about undisclosed medical information.
While the Padres’ front office was reportedly split on retaining Preller in the wake of his suspension, his extension makes it obvious that he has the support of team brass. Executive chairman Ron Fowler and managing partner Peter Seidler believe Preller and Green are the tandem that will eventually bring an end to the Padres’ playoff drought, perhaps by 2020, according to Lin.
“A.J.’s really earned this extension,” Seidler told Lin. “He’s built a great organization around him, and that’s seen from scouting all the way through Andy Green and the major league staff. Personally, I couldn’t be happier. We’ve got a ways to go, but I think it’s with confidence we extend him and with confidence we think we’re on the right path.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Quick Hits: Blakeley, Braves, Rays, Cedeno, Makita, Padres
As a result of the Braves’ transgressions on the foreign market from 2015-17, former international scouting director and special assistant Gordon Blakeley lost his job in October and received a one-year ban from Major League Baseball last month. Now, Blakeley is preparing to meet with members of the team’s ownership group, Liberty Media, on Dec. 14 to discuss those violations, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. Blakeley contends that there were high-ranking Braves officials aware of what he and permanently banned ex-GM John Coppollela were doing, per O’Brien, and it seems he’s set to name names in his meeting with ownership. To this point, MLB has punished Blakeley, Coppolella and the team itself, which the league stripped of 13 prospects the prior regime signed. Former president John Hart has dodged discipline from MLB thus far, but he’s now out of the Atlanta organization.
More from around the game:
- Free agent left-hander Xavier Cedeno is generating “a lot of interest from other clubs” in the wake of the Rays’ decision to non-tender him on Friday, agent Melvin Roman told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). However, the reliever hasn’t ruled out re-signing with the Rays, who elected against tendering him at a projected $1.4MM. The 31-year-old Cedeno missed nearly all of 2017 on account of forearm issues, but he was a strong member of the Rays’ bullpen from 2015-16, registering a 2.88 ERA, 9.18 K/9 and 2.67 BB/9 across 84 1/3 innings. He also logged a 51.3 percent groundball rate during that stretch.
- Joe Trezza of MLB.com profiles Japanese reliever Kazuhisa Makita, who was quietly posted along with the far more hyped Shohei Ohtani on Friday. While Makita has pitched to a 2.83 ERA over 921 1/3 professional frames in his homeland, the submariner’s success has come in spite of a paucity of strikeouts (five per nine innings). It’s unclear how much interest the 33-year-old will garner from MLB teams, then, and Trezza relays (via reports from Japan) that Makita will consider staying put if he only draws minor league contract offers.
- The Padres are hiring Josh Johnson as their infield coach, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. The 31-year-old Johnson, who managed the GCL Nationals from 2016-17, isn’t to be confused with the former major league pitcher of the same name. In his new role, Johnson will take over for Ramon Vazquez, whom the Padres parted with after the season. With Johnson’s hiring, San Diego now has its full coaching staff for 2018.