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Bullpen Rumors: Yankees, Brach, Dunn, Davis, Howell, Red Sox, Ziegler

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Virtually every team in baseball is looking for bullpen help, and here’s the latest in relief pitching buzz…

  • The Yankees are pursuing Aroldis Chapman and will “compete to a certain extent” for his services, GM Brian Cashman told media, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter links).  The club is also talking to Kenley Jansen and looking at trade opportunities, so the Yankees are clearly flexible in their search for back-end relief help if Chapman’s bidding gets too high.
  • The Mets are interested in swinging a deal for Orioles right-hander Brad Brach, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney.  The Mets have been rumored to be seeking right-handed help in the ’pen but aren’t pursuing top-tier free agents.  Brach would represent an affordable setup option, but with two years of club control and a 2.39 ERA over his past 158 1/3 innings, Brach should come with a high asking price.  The Orioles have been linked to Mets outfielders Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson (they’re said to prefer the latter), but neither of those outfielders would be enough to get the O’s to part with Brach.
  • The Mets haven’t ruled out Mike Dunn as a possible signing, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports via Twitter, but the club is “not so high” on the veteran left-hander.
  • The Cubs are one of the more serious early suitors for Royals closer Wade Davis, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter).
  • The Giants are one of the teams who have asked about veteran lefty J.P. Howell, Olney tweets.  Howell is reportedly only looking for a one-year contract.  San Francisco has an open LOOGY role with Javier Lopez hitting the open market.  Howell posted a mediocre 4.09 ERA last year, and though his peripherals were in line with his prior years’ work, Howell was uncharacteristically vulnerable to lefty hitters (.302/.343/.417) in 2016.
  • Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber) that the Sox “haven’t closed any doors” on re-signing Koji Uehara or Brad Ziegler.  Both pitchers fit Boston’s desire for a setup man with closing experience.
  • The Blue Jays are one of a number of organizations that have had contact with Ziegler, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets.  Toronto is presumably looking to add to to its setup corps in front of closer Roberto Osuna.
  • Ziegler has also drawn some attention from the Nationals, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The Nats are also considering fellow free agent Neftali Feliz as they look to bolster their bullpen. Of course, D.C.’s top priority in the relief ranks is surely in the ninth inning, and it is hard to imagine either of those players being trusted with the closing role.

Latest On Royals’ Trade Candidates

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5:01pm: The Rangers have also spoken to the Royals about Cain, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets.

2:48pm: The Royals have told teams they’re willing to listen to offers on Lorenzo Cain, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney, and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets that closer Wade Davis is also available and generating plenty of buzz.

Cain, 30, was limited to 103 games by a balky hamstring and also saw his offense take a step back. Set to earn $11.5MM next year before hitting the open market in advance of his age-32 season, Cain batted .287/.339/.408 with nine homers and 14 steals in 434 plate appearances last year. Defensive metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved still lauded him for his defensive prowess, however, so the hamstring troubles didn’t adversely impact his ability to play an elite center field. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this morning that the Cardinals have been keeping tabs on Cain, and Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets that the Dodgers are interested in both Cain and Davis.

In addition to the Dodgers, the Cubs have shown interest in acquiring Davis, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Chicago hasn’t been heavily linked to the top remaining free agent closers and may prefer to add a shorter-term, more cost effective arm, and Davis would fit that bill. He’s owed $10MM next season before he, too, becomes a free agent. However, Davis also had two different DL stints due to a forearm strain in his right arm and posted some red flags in terms of his K/BB numbers, so while he has plenty of name value there could be some degree of concern when it comes to acquiring him and also parting with premium young talent.

Despite concerns surrounding their payroll, the Royals certainly wouldn’t move either of the two for the sole purpose of cutting payroll. Kansas City would feel the need to acquire some meaningful young talent in return, but the revamped structure of the qualifying offer system also puts the Royals in position to receive a lesser compensatory package by making a QO to Cain and/or Davis next year. As such, there’s plenty of logic to seeing what’s out there.

Giants Sign Mark Melancon

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4:54pm: Melancon will earn $4MM in 2017, $10MM in 2018, and then $14MM in both 2019 and 2020, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links).  Melancon will receive a $20MM signing bonus, $12MM of which will be paid up front and the other $8MM deferred until after the contract is up.  The deal contains a full no-trade clause, as per Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com.  Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the contract is that Melancon can opt out of the deal after the first two seasons, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.

2:52pm: The Giants have announced the signing of Melancon, pending a physical, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.

12:48pm: Melancon’s deal is for exactly $62MM over four years, tweets Rosenthal.

11:57am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter) that it’s a four-year deal in the $62MM range for Melancon. That contract shatters the previous record by $12MM, though it of course isn’t likely to stand all that long given the other names available in free agency this winter.

11:42am: Melancon has agreed to terms with the Giants, and the deal will be finalized once he passes a physical, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (on Twitter).

10:45am: The Giants are close to a deal with free agent closer Mark Melancon, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweeted recently that there was a belief in the organization had a strong belief that a deal would get done, and Les Shapiro of Mile High Radio first tweeted that Melancon was wrapping up negotiations with San Francisco. Melancon is represented by ISE Baseball.

[Related: Mark Melancon Free Agent Profile]

San Francisco made a run at Melancon prior to the non-waiver trade deadline this summer but came up short to the Nationals, who acquired him for lefties Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn. Bullpen struggles wound up being a defining characteristic for the Giants down the stretch, as Santiago Casilla in particular struggled late in the year and lost his hold on closer’s duties. Giants general manager Bobby Evans has implied publicly in the past that perhaps he should’ve made a stronger play to get Melancon into the organization, and it appears now that the Giants made the strongest push of any team to land the highly coveted Melancon in free agency. There are no numbers attached to reports on him just yet, but Melancon reportedly has received four-year offers worth more than $60MM, which would eclipse Jonathan Papelbon’s four-year, $50MM mark and set a new record for a relief pitcher.

The 31-year-old Melancon (32 in March) has been an All Star in three of the past four seasons and has worked to a cumulative ERA of 1.80 across 290 innings in that time (plus 10 innings in the postseason). He doesn’t flash the extreme velocity and/or strikeout rates as free agent counterparts Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen, but Melancon misses bats at a slightly above-average rate and also boasts tremendous control and ground-ball tendencies. In that four-year run of dominance, he’s averaged 8.3 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 to go along with a 57.4 percent ground-ball rate. Those immaculate ratios have led to 147 saves for Melancon since 2013, including an NL-best 51 in 2015. He also finished a league-high 67 games between the Pirates and Nats last season.

Turnover in the bullpen has long looked possible for the Giants, who saw stalwarts Casilla, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez all hit the open market this winter. Melancon, of course, would immediately move to the top of the food chain in the San Francisco bullpen, where he’s likely to be joined by Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, Will Smith, George Kontos and Cory Gearrin. Steven Okert and Josh Osich are both present as left-handed options to fill out the ’pen, while Chris Heston could try to crack the relief corps after a tough go of things in 2016.

Mariners Avoid Arbitration With Jesus Sucre

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The Mariners have avoided arbitration with catcher Jesus Sucre by agreeing to a one-year, $630K deal, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports (Twitter link).  The contract will pay Sucre $300K if he is sent to the minors.

Sucre was arb-eligible for the first time this winter, and he slightly exceeded MLBTR’s projection of a $600K salary.  As a Super Two player, Sucre still has three more arbitration years remaining beyond the 2017 season.

Sucre, 28, appeared in just nine big league games in 2016 after suffering a fractured fibula in winter ball and then spending much of his time in the minors after his return from the disabled list.  He’ll likely be the top catching option at Triple-A once again, as Mike Zunino and Carlos Ruiz will handle Seattle’s regular catching duties.  Over 264 career plate appearances in the majors, Sucre has a .209/.246/.276 slash line.

Red Sox Exercise Club Option On John Farrell For 2018

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The Red Sox have picked up their 2018 club option on manager John Farrell’s contract, president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford).  2017 was the last guaranteed year of Farrell’s contract, so he avoids any lame-duck status due to the Sox making the early decision to exercise the option year.

Farrell’s four years as Boston’s manager have been something of a roller-coaster, as the club won the World Series in his first season but then stumbled to last-place finishes in the AL East in both 2014 and 2015.  That latter season was particularly trying for Farrell both on and off the field, as he took a leave of absence from August to the end of the year in order to get treatment for lymphoma (which thankfully went into remission last fall).  Last season, Farrell led the Sox to the AL East title and, despite a rather ignominious sweep at the hands of the Indians in the ALDS, Boston certainly looks well-positioned to contend in 2017 and into the future.

Farrell has a 339-309 record as Boston’s skipper, and a 493-479 career record as a manager, counting his two seasons as the Blue Jays’ manager in 2011-12.

Rangers Showing Interest In Soler, Trumbo, Gomez

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4:05pm: The Rangers are also interested in trading for Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports (via Twitter).  Soler has become something of a forgotten man in a crowded Cubs outfield, though he is still just 24 and under contract through 2020.

3:22pm: The Rangers are showing some interest in Mark Trumbo, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, but it’s not clear exactly how strong the interest is. Texas is looking for a right-handed bat, though, he notes. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, meanwhile, tweets that he believes Carlos Gomez is the Rangers’ “preferred plug-and-play” option in center field, but the length of the contract he’s seeking plays a role in the team’s interest. Per Grant, the matter may come down to whether Gomez is willing to take a two-year deal right now or if he wants to seek a three-year deal elsewhere (and perhaps see if Texas is willing to match that offer, if he does find it).

Trumbo’s asking price is reportedly considerably steeper than the Gomez price implied by Grant, as Trumbo is said to have countered an offer of $52-55MM over four years from the Orioles with a $75-80MM asking price. The Orioles balked at that lofty ask and, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, are prepared to move on from Trumbo and pursue other options. It’s tough to envision the Rangers (or any club), topping $70MM for Trumbo this offseason.

It seems clear that Texas GM Jon Daniels and his staff are looking around at right-handed bats, as they’ve also been connected to Andrew McCutchen in trade talks. However, it doesn’t appear that they’re 100 percent closed off to signing a left-handed hitter, as Grant tweeted this morning that they’ve maintained contact with Mitch Moreland. However, things will only work with Moreland if he’s willing to wait around for a bit while the Rangers explore some other priorities.

Latest On Andrew McCutchen

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2:20pm: Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (on Twitter) that the Pirates asked the Nationals for both Lucas Giolito and Victor Robles but were (unsurprisingly) rebuffed. The Nats do have some questions about McCutchen’s potential decline and also his leadership, according to Biertempfel.

Meanwhile, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets that the Rangers also find the asking price on McCutchen extremely high, as they’ve been asked for an established starting pitcher and additional prospect value in return.

12:39pm: The Rangers have been in “frequent” contact with the Pirates about McCutchen, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. A deal between the two sides is possible but not close at this time, he adds. Heyman adds that he’s heard it’s “not likely” that the Rangers would actually meet the Pirates’ asking price, though. Additionally, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweeted earlier today that the Dodgers have made a recent inquiry on McCutchen as well.

11:10am: There’s a “mystery team” pursuing Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Pittsburgh is said to be looking for a taker for its longtime star.

To this point, the Nationals have been tied most closely to the former MVP center fielder. The Dodgers, too, have been mentioned recently as having interest, while the Rangers and Mariners have also been connected. But the other possible suitor is a team that hasn’t yet been publicly associated with the Bucs’ stalwart, per the report.

That leaves 25 other organizations that could conceivably have interest. A variety of teams — potentially including the Orioles, Blue Jays, Giants, Phillies, Mets, and Cardinals — might make some degree of sense, and surely there are others that could become involved in the right circumstances.

Rotation Rumblings: Gray, Duffy, Astros, Pirates, Fister

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The Braves are reportedly still in the mix for Chris Sale, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Atlanta also made a run at Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray but found Oakland’s asking price to be prohibitive (Twitter link). Oakland did not ask for Dansby Swanson to be included in the deal, but Atlanta still felt the A’s were asking for too much in return.

A few more notes on the market for starting pitchers…

  • The Royals are gauging interest in left-hander Danny Duffy, reports MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Duffy had a breakout campaign this past season, tossing 179 2/3 innings with a 3.51 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate. As Morosi points out, he could make sense for a team looking to augment its rotation but unwilling to part with the talent required to land someone like Chris Sale or Chris Archer. Duffy, however, is a free agent next winter, so he’d be a short-term upgrade rather than a long-term solution like those other names.
  • The Astros are more likely to trade for rotation help than they are to pursue the remaining free agents on the market, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. Houston isn’t in on right-hander Ivan Nova and likely considers him to be too expensive, per Olney. The Astros are reportedly open to moving either Collin McHugh or Mike Fiers as they seek to create some roster/payroll flexibility, as Olney’s colleague, Jayson Stark, reported earlier today.
  • Pirates officials are set to meet with free agent lefty Derek Holland at some point this week at the Winter Meetings, reports Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter). The Bucs have been linked to H0lland on multiple occasions this winter as the former Ranger looks to rebuild his stock with a healthy 2017 campaign.
  • The Marlins are showing some interest in right-hander Doug Fister, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman, but adding an established closer is the team’s No. 1 priority at the moment. This isn’t the first time Miami has been connected to Fister, but that fact that they’re still interested after adding Edinson Volquez to the mix is notable.

Dodgers Re-Sign Rich Hill

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1:48pm: Hill gets a $2MM signing bonus and will earn $12MM in 2017, $16MM in 2018 and $18MM in 2019, according to the Associated Press.

12:02pm: The Dodgers announced today that they’ve officially re-signed left-hander Rich Hill to a new three-year contract. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reported over the weekend that the two sides were closing in on a deal. Yahoo’s Tim Brown reports that Hill, an ACES client, will receive a $48MM guarantee over the life of the deal (Twitter link).

Rich Hill

Hill, 37 next Spring, has had one of the most remarkable late-career renaissances in history, as he’s still just 18 months removed from pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Hill parlayed a September roll of the dice by the Red Sox in 2015 into a one-year, $6MM deal with the A’s last offseason. For Hill, even last year’s $6MM represented a life-changing number, as he’d never earned more than $1MM in a single MLB season. Prior to this deal, Hill had earned just over $9MM in parts of 12 big league seasons, per Baseball Reference.

Despite a groin strain and a blister issue that limited him to 110 1/3 regular season innings in 2016, he proved to be a steal for Oakland, who traded him to the Dodgers alongside Josh Reddick for three well-regarded young arms (Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas) just before the non-waiver trade deadline.

Over his past 152 1/3 Major League innings (including the postseason), Hill owns a ludicrous 2.13 ERA. He’s racked up 184 strikeouts against just 44 walks in that time while also keeping the ball on the ground at a roughly league-average rate. While the durability concerns that accompany him are very real — Hill has made more than 20 starts just once in his career, back in 2007 — Hill was the only arm on the free-agent market that had the potential to pitch at the top of a Major League rotation. The Dodgers, in need of quality innings behind ace Clayton Kershaw (who missed two months with a back injury in 2016), can afford better than any club to take this level of risk on Hill.

With this re-signing, Hill will join Kershaw, Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias in the team’s Major League rotation next season, and the Dodgers are teeming with options beyond that quartet. Los Angeles has three injury-prone options that have proven to be quality arms when healthy in Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu, but reports have indicated that the Dodgers are shopping Kazmir and McCarthy. Other options for the fifth spot include Alex Wood, Jose De Leon, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart, giving president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, GM Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the L.A. front office plenty of flexibility as they explore various trade scenarios this winter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Claim Ashur Tolliver From Angels

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The Astros have claimed left-hander Ashur Tolliver off waivers from the Angels, tweets Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle.

The 28-year-old reliever made his big league debut with the Orioles last season after impressing with a 2.23 ERA, 10.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 44 1/3 innings across three minor league level. However, Tolliver was still designated for assignment when the Orioles picked up Kyle Lobstein, and he want to the Angels on waivers shortly thereafter. Tolliver has just 4 2/3 big league innings under his belt, during which time he allowed three runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts, but he’ll give Houston an MLB-ready southpaw option to add to its depth chart.

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