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Cardinals Sign Brett Cecil

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NOV. 21: The Cardinals have formally announced Cecil’s four-year deal and introduced him at a press conference.

NOV. 19: The Cardinals have agreed to a four-year deal with southpaw reliever Brett Cecil, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Cecil $30.5MM over the four seasons and includes full no-trade protection, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links).  The contract will be official when Cecil, an ACES client, passes a physical.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]

St. Louis was known to be interested in bullpen help this winter, and adding another left-hander was the more logical fit, as Kevin Siegrist was the only other healthy southpaw in the Cards’ bullpen.  Tyler Lyons will miss at least the start of the 2017 season due to knee surgery, while Zach Duke will miss next season entirely after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

In Cecil, the Cardinals have landed one of the top setup men on the market this winter.  In four years as a full-time reliever, Cecil posted a 2.90 ERA, 11.5 K/9 and 3.68 K/BB rate with the Blue Jays, with grounder rates of over 50% in three of those four years.  Over his career, Cecil has dominated left-handed hitters, limiting them to just a .226/.281/.344 slash line.

Brett Cecil

Despite this solid track record, the thought of Cecil landing a four-year deal seemed pretty remote in mid-July.  The lefty missed six weeks due to a tear in his lat muscle, and he had a whopping 6.75 ERA over his first 16 innings of action.  Down the stretch, however, Cecil looked far closer to his old self, posting a 1.74 ERA over his final 20 2/3 innings of the year.

Cecil’s 3.93 ERA was his highest in four seasons, though a .344 BABIP and an inflated 20% home run rate can be partially blamed for that spike.  Advanced metrics peripherals (3.64 FIP, 2.87 xFIP, 2.71 SIERA) take a more positive view of Cecil’s season, and he also posted a 11.05 K/9 and 1.96 BB/9.  His grounder rate did drop to just 42%, however, and hitters were making very good contact — 37.3% of Cecil’s contact allowed was comprised of hard-hit balls, easily the highest total of his career.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked Cecil 26th on his list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, and projected him to land a three-year, $18MM contract.  The fact that Cecil ended up with a fourth year and $30.5MM in guaranteed money is both a nice win for his representatives at ACES and a sign of just how far the Cards had to go to win the bidding.  The Mariners and Blue Jays were both known to be interested in Cecil’s services, with Toronto reportedly putting a three-year deal on the table to retain their longtime reliever.  Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that the Jays were one of multiple teams willing to give Cecil a three-year commitment.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports Images

Blue Jays Offered Roughly $80MM To Edwin Encarnacion

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The Blue Jays made a four-year contract offer to Edwin Encarnacion that was worth “about” $80MM before agreeing to a three-year, $33MM deal with Kendrys Morales, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi first noted that the Jays’ offer to Encarnacion was “likely” in that vicinity. However, despite the addition of Morales, Toronto is still interested in re-signing Encarnacion and remains in the mix for his services, according to Heyman. The Jays feel that Encarnacion can play first base competently enough to coexist on the roster with Morales.

The $80MM offer to Encarnacion is a sizable step up from the team’s reported two-year offer back in Spring Training, though Encarnacion’s robust market seems likely to lead to greater offers. Heyman lists the Astros, Yankees, Rangers and Red Sox as other teams that have at least reached out to Encarnacion, and agent Paul Kinzer tells him that a couple of National League clubs have reached out as well. Certainly, there will be some who are scared off by the notion of playing Encarnacion at first base on an everyday basis, especially as he advances into his late 30s over the life of a four- or five-year deal, but it’s worth noting that Encarnacion has at least graded out as a roughly average defender at first in fairly limited action with the Jays over the past two seasons (0 DRS, +3.3 UZR in 1117 innings).

Toronto general manager Ross Atkins said this weekend that the door is still open for a new deal with Encarnacion, stating that the signing of Morales only “slightly” lessens the chances of a big splash for Encarnacion. However, Atkins also said the team would be aggressive in pursuing one, if not two outfield pieces to add to the mix, and the Jays are also known to be interested in adding left-handed relief help (especially now that Brett Cecil has signed in St. Louis). With so many needs across the board and a number of other clubs interested in Encarnacion’s bat, it’s not clear that the Jays will feel comfortable beating the market in order to retain their star slugger, especially considering the fact that the Morales deal brings another potential 30-homer bat to the table at a considerably more affordable rate.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Britton, Yankees, Rays

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The Red Sox are continuing to demonstrate a patient approach when it comes to free agency as they wait to learn what new changes the latest collective bargaining agreement will bring about, reports WEEI’s Rob Bradford. With Boston’s luxury tax payroll not far off from the current $189MM threshold, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is one of several top decision-makers from around the league that is waiting to determine exactly how much wiggle room he’ll have with regard to the luxury tax barrier before spending. As Bradford points out, while teams like the Astros (signing Josh Reddick, trading for Brian McCann) and Cardinals (signing Brett Cecil) have already spent at a notable level, those clubs aren’t anywhere near the current luxury cutoff. Bradford notes that a bat to help offset the loss of David Ortiz as well as an eighth-inning reliever remain the top targets for Boston.

Elsewhere in the AL East…

  • As a followup to Roch Kubatko’s report that the Orioles aren’t showing any inclination toward trading Zach Britton, ESPN’s Buster Olney argues (Insider subscription required) that GM Dan Duquette should be very open to doing just that. The price of relief pitching around the league is rising, Olney notes, and Britton’s projected $11.4MM salary isn’t all that prohibitive, especially to the big-market clubs that are looking for elite relief help this winter. Controlled for two more seasons, Britton could fetch the Orioles enough young talent to immediately plug multiple holes on the roster while also bolstering the farm system. The Orioles might not be offered enough to make the deal palatable, Olney notes, but with three top-tier relievers on the market (Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, Mark Melancon) but far more suitors looking for dynamic late-inning arms, the Orioles should at least be dangling Britton on the trade market to see if an overwhelming offer surfaces.
  • Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News opines that the Yankees should focus on Mike Napoli rather than Carlos Beltran if they’re eyeing a veteran bat to spend time at DH. Napoli, like Beltran, can be had on a short-term deal — likely two years at the most — and would provide some insurance at first base for Greg Bird, who is returning from shoulder surgery. Beltran can’t offer that luxury, Feinsand notes, and at age 40 he might be looking for a more clear-cut World Series contender than the Yankees.
  • Although Tim Beckham was sent home by the Rays at the end of the 2016 season, prompting some to speculate that his time with the team could be drawing to a close, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wrote this weekend that Beckham now looks to be part of the 2017 picture, thanks largely to his defensive ability. Topkin also expanded a bit on Tampa Bay’s interest in Jason Castro, noting that while the catcher’s agent told him recently that the Rays are “in the thick of things” with regard to Castro, it’s not characteristic for the Rays to win a free-agent bidding war. A three-year commitment north of $20MM seems unlikely to come from the Rays, Topkin writes, which leads him to wonder if the team might instead pursue a trade for Miguel Montero, assuming the Cubs would be willing to include some salary in the deal.

Blue Jays Have Interest In Jerry Blevins

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After seeing Brett Cecil agree to a surprising four-year, $30.5MM contract with the Cardinals over the weekend, the Blue Jays are turning their focus to other free-agent lefties and have interest in Jerry Blevins, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Toronto had reportedly made a three-year offer to Cecil’s camp, though that ultimately didn’t prove sizable enough to get the job done.

Blevins, who turned 33 in September, has spent the past two years with the Mets. A pair of fractures to his non-throwing arm cost him most of the 2015 season, but he rebounded quite nicely in 2016, returning to log a 2.79 ERA with 11.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 45.8 percent ground-ball rate in 42 innings of work. The Mets used Blevins sparingly against right-handed hitters this past season, though he held his own against them quite well, yielding just a .182/.266/.345 slash line to opponents that held the platoon advantage. Somewhat curiously, it was lefties who got the better of Blevins in 2016, as they batted .255/.313/.324 in 113 plate appearances against him. That, however, is most likely an aberration, as a look at Blevins’ career splits reveals a .588 OPS from opposing left-handers compared to a .713 mark from righties.

The definitive loss of Cecil leaves the Blue Jays with just Aaron Loup, Matt Dermody, Chad Girodo and Ryan Borucki as left-handed bullpen options on the 40-man roster. Loup has been inconsistent and very homer-prone over the past two seasons, though, while Girodo and Dermody have a combined 13 innings of Major League experience between the two of them. Borucki, meanwhile, was only added to the 40-man roster last week (to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft) and hasn’t pitched a game above Class-A Advanced.

With so much uncertainty in the Jays’ left-handed relief corps, the connection to Blevins is natural. They’ll undoubtedly face some competition for Blevins, who is one of the top remaining left-handed setup options on the market and has already been connected to the Mets on multiple occasions this winter. It also seems likely that other free-agent lefties such as Boone Logan and Mike Dunn would also be on Toronto’s radar, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Jays also tried to add an experienced left-hander to their ’pen via the trade market.

Orioles Interested In Nick Hundley

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With Matt Wieters hitting the open market this winter, the Orioles “definitely have an interest” in a reunion with Nick Hundley, according to Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. A deal with Hundley would mark the veteran’s second tour of duty with Baltimore, as he was one of the team’s primary catchers in 2014 when Wieters missed most of the season due to Tommy John surgery.

[Related: Baltimore Orioles Depth Chart]

As it stands right now, the Orioles will enter the year with Caleb Joseph as their starter and one of Audry Perez or Francisco Pena as his backup. Joseph, 30, showed decent power in 2015, hitting .234/.299/.394 with 11 home runs in 355 plate appearances. The O’s were plenty comfortable with Joseph acting as the backup to Wieters in 2016, but his offensive production plummeted, casting doubt on his ability to serve as an everyday option while the team awaits the arrival of top prospect Chance Sisco. Joseph batted just .174/.216/.197 in 141 plate appearances this past season. Pena was similarly unproductive in 43 MLB plate appearances (.200/.238/.275) and has a sub-.300 OBP in his Triple-A career. Perez has just two MLB plate appearances to his name and will turn 28 next month. And Sisco, despite his status as a Top 100 prospect, probably needs more development time, as he’s only played four games at the Triple-A level and is still just 21 years of age.

That certainly makes for an on-paper need behind the dish, but Connolly also suggests that the team might not be willing to go beyond a one-year deal to bring in a catcher. They balked at giving Hundley a two-year deal after the 2014 season, he notes, and the team could be banking on the fact that Sisco will be ready to inherit the starting job in what would be the second season of a multi-year deal for a catcher. The O’s are also known to be looking for outfield help on the free-agent market, and having spent so aggressively last winter, GM Dan Duquette has at least suggested that the Orioles’ offseason spending will be more measured this winter.

Hundley, 33, spent the past two seasons with the Rockies, hitting a combined .282/.330/.455 with 18 homers in 615 plate appearances. While some of his offensive production can be attributed to Coors Field, he did hit well on the road in 2016 (.275/.331/.472) and did have some solid offensive seasons as a member of the Padres earlier in his career. His defense isn’t especially strong, as he’s caught 23.6 percent of attempted base-stealers over the past four seasons, including a dismal 9-for-66 (13.6 percent) showing in 2016. He also grades out as a poor framer of pitches, per Baseball Prospectus.

If Hundley is able to secure a multi-year deal elsewhere, he’d join Wieters, Jason Castro and quite possibly Wilson Ramos as backstops to do so this winter. The catching market does offer a number of veteran options who could be available on one-year deals, though, including Kurt Suzuki, Alex Avila, Chris Iannetta, Geovany Soto and possibly Wilin Rosario, if he returns to the Majors after spending the 2016 season in Korea. Any of those names could reasonably be considered targets for the O’s, although each comes with some degree of questions about either his offensive or defensive proficiency.

Quick Hits: Twins, Hughes, D’Arnaud, Aoki, Mariners

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Some items from around baseball as we head into a new week…

  • Brian Dozier is drawing interest from other teams but the Twins aren’t looking to tie Phil Hughes’ contract to Dozier in trade talks, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.  Hughes still has three years and $39.6MM remaining on the extension he signed with the Twins prior to the 2015 season, and since inking that new deal, Hughes has struggled badly and battled injury problems.  The veteran righty underwent surgery to help alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome last summer, and Hughes believes he can regain his old form now that he’s healthy.
  • While Hughes may not be getting shopped, Berardino also notes (Twitter link) that the Twins aren’t looking to add payroll, even after freeing up some money by parting ways with Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki and Tommy Milone.  As one rival official puts it, “everyone knows they’re rebuilding.”
  • The Mets don’t seem to be looking for a big change at catcher, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports that the team told representatives of a free agent catcher that Travis d’Arnaud will be given every opportunity to succeed next season.  Since the Mets offered d’Arnaud as part of trade talks for Jonathan Lucroy over the summer, it’s notable that the team is reaffirming its commitment to the talented but oft-injured catcher, though it could be that New York was more enamored with Lucroy than it is with the options on free agent catching market.  Ackert does note that the Mets could look for a more reliable backup, given d’Arnaud’s injury history and the shared offensive struggles of Kevin Plawecki and Rene Rivera.
  • Though Nori Aoki has only been an Astro for less than three weeks, the veteran outfielder may now be a non-tender candidate, the Houston Chronicle’s Jake Kaplan writes.  If the Astros plan to use the newly-signed Josh Reddick in left field, Aoki will be a very highly-paid fourth outfielder (thanks to a projected $6.8MM arbitration salary) and possibly an expendable part.  If the Astros use Reddick in right and move George Springer to center field, Aoki will again have more of a clear role, platooning with Jake Marisnick in left.  Houston has also been linked to some first baseman in rumors, which could push Yulieski Gurriel to left field and again leave Aoki without regular playing time.
  • For the second straight offseason, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto is acting quickly on lower-profile moves to elevate his team’s talent floor, ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield writes.  Additions like Danny Valencia, Richie Shaffer and Carlos Ruiz fill holes and add more valuable depth around the Mariners’ core players, the type of top-to-bottom roster management that former Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik was unable to achieve in his time with the club.
  • While several big-name relievers are dominating headlines this winter, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello cites Daniel Hudson, Juan Nicasio and Koji Uehara as relatively inexpensive arms who could provide major dividends in a bullpen next season, perhaps even as closers.

NL West Notes: Chatwood, Utley, Dozier, Lopez, Romo, Casilla

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Though Tyler Chatwood is entering his last year under contract, there hasn’t been any sign that the Rockies are considering trading the righty, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes as part of a reader mailbag.  Chatwood missed all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery and posted solid numbers in his comeback year, managing a 3.87 ERA, 6.66 K/9 and a 57.2% grounder rate over 158 innings.  It’s unclear whether the Rockies can extend Chatwood given his issues pitching at Coors Field, and he’d make a very interesting trade chip in this offseason’s thin free agent pitching market.  That said, given how Colorado has traditionally struggled to find any viable rotation help, the team might prefer to hang onto Chatwood for as long as possible.  Saunders’ entire mailbag piece is well worth a read, as he also addresses such topics as the Rockies’ first base search and new manager Bud Black.

Here’s more from around the NL West…

  • The Dodgers are telling teams they are “very open” to re-signing Chase Utley even as L.A. is still exploring other trades for second base help, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (Twitter links).  At this point, it would seem that Utley could be a backup plan for the Dodgers if they couldn’t land a bigger name like Logan Forsythe, Ian Kinsler or Brian Dozier.
  • Speaking of Dozier, Berardino also tweets that there isn’t much cooking between the Dodgers and Twins in trade discussions.  “I wouldn’t hold your breath,” one team official tells Berardino about the chances of a deal.
  • The Giants haven’t had serious talks with relievers Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo or Santiago Casilla, CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic reports.  Casilla is the least likely to return, as he and the team ended the season on bad terms.  Romo could potentially be an option for San Francisco in January or February if he fails to catch on with another club beforehand.
  • As for Lopez, Pavlovic writes that the veteran southpaw is “said to have a very short list of teams that could keep him out of retirement.”  Lopez has previously hinted at continuing his career, though it appears it could be only under particular circumstances, such as staying with the Giants.  Pavlovic isn’t sure that will happen, as the Giants already have Will Smith, Josh Osich and Steven Okert on hand as left-handed bullpen options.

Mariners Asked Pirates About Andrew McCutchen

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The Mariners asked the Pirates about center fielder Andrew McCutchen earlier this offseason, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link), though talks between the two sides “did not advance.”  Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said after the GM Meetings that he had been receiving calls from multiple teams about McCutchen’s services, and given Seattle’s rather unsettled outfield situation, it isn’t surprising that the Mariners checked in on the former NL MVP.  A couple of weeks ago, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Nationals discussed a McCutchen deal with Pittsburgh over the summer.

On most days, the Mariners will use three left-handed hitters (Seth Smith, Leonys Martin and Ben Gamel) as their starting outfield, with right-handed bats Danny Valencia, Guillermo Heredia or regular DH Nelson Cruz spelling Smith against left-handed pitching.  Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto has said that the club intends for Gamel to play every day, though given Gamel’s lack of experience, one would think the M’s would also want some right-handed protection for Gamel against tough southpaws.  Then again, with Valencia also likely to see time at first base spelling Dan Vogelbach against lefty pitching, there may not be enough right-handed outfield bats to go around.

Adding another right-handed hitter (like McCutchen) would go a lot way towards stabilizing the many moving parts of this platoon situation.  McCutchen would have immediately become the everyday option in left or right field, as given how the former Gold Glover’s defense has heavily declined over the last three years, it would’ve made little sense for him to displace Martin in center.

The big question facing the M’s or any other team interested in McCutchen, of course, is whether his rough 2016 season was the start of a decline or just an aberration.  McCutchen hit just .256/.336/.430 over 675 PA for the Bucs last season, easily the worst numbers of his eight-year career.  Between his poor hitting, fielding and even a below-average baserunning totals, McCutchen posted just 0.7 fWAR last year, a stunning dropoff for a player who amassed 33.3 fWAR over the previous five seasons.

McCutchen is owed $14MM in 2017 and the Pirates have a $14.5MM club option on the outfielder for 2018 (with a $1MM buyout).  McCutchen’s contract has long been seen as one of baseball’s great bargains, though if the Pirates no longer know what kind of production their longtime star will deliver from now on, the deal may now be considered too risky for a small-market team like Pittsburgh.  With top prospect Austin Meadows waiting in the wings, one has to wonder if we’ve seen the last of McCutchen in Bucs black-and-gold, as teams with more financial breathing room can afford to see if McCutchen can return to form.

Diamondbacks Designate Kyle Jensen For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks designated first baseman/outfielder Kyle Jensen for assignment, the team announced.  The move was made on Friday as part of Arizona’s 40-man roster maneuvering in advance of the Rule 5 draft deadline.

Jensen, 28, made his big league debut last season, appearing in 17 games and posting a .716 OPS over 34 plate appearance for the D’Backs.  A 12th-round pick for the Marlins in 2009, Jensen signed a minor league deal with Arizona last winter.  Over 3877 minor league plate appearances in the Marlins, Dodgers and D’Backs farm systems, Jensen has hit .266/.341/.488 with 178 homers.

Friday’s roster shuffling left quite a few players in ’DFA limbo,’ so be sure to check out the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker to keep track of all the designation situations from around the game.

Astros Interested In Mike Napoli

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Veteran slugger Mike Napoli is one of the free agent hitters drawing interest from the Astros, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  While a left-handed bat would be a better fit within a Houston lineup is heavy with right-handed hitters (even after the acquisitions of Josh Reddick and Brian McCann), Napoli would bring some extra veteran leadership to a young team as well as a significant amount of pop.

First base is an area of uncertainty for the Astros for 2017.  Top prospect A.J. Reed is still likely seen as the long-term answer at the position, though Reed didn’t show much in his first taste of the big leagues and perhaps isn’t ready to be a regular for a contending team.  Yulieski Gurriel is penciled in as Houston’s top first base option, with Reed, Tyler White, Marwin Gonzalez and McCann in the mix for backup duty.

It’s also still possible that Gurriel ends up as the regular left fielder if the Astros go with George Springer in center and Reddick in right, so adding a player like Napoli would go a long way towards stabilizing the first base situation.  Whereas a big-ticket free agent first baseman like Edwin Encarnacion would require a commitment of four or five years, Napoli probably won’t require anything more than a two-year deal, so Reed wouldn’t be blocked for too long.

GM Jeff Luhnow’s statement earlier this month that the Astros were going to look to the free agent market for upgrades has already proven to be true with the signings of Reddick and Charlie Morton, though Houston also swung a big trade to land McCann from the Yankees.

Seattle and Cleveland have both been linked to Napoli this winter, and he has been speculatively connected to several other teams with vacancies at first base or DH.  The 35-year-old put himself in line for a nice contract in the wake of his 34-homer, .239/.335/.465 season with the American League champion Indians last season.

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