Minor MLB Transactions: 12/3/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Free agent right-hander Parker Markel has agreed to terms with a team in Asia, reports Zach Links of Pro Football Rumors and MLBTR (Twitter link). The 26-year-old performed well in 2016 with a 2.52 ERA, 6.97 K/9 and 3.56 BB/9 in 60 2/3 innings as a member of the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham. Between going to the Rays in the 39th round of the 2010 draft and heading to Asia, Markel posted a 3.99 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 across 197 minor league appearances (54 starts) and 466 1/3 frames.
- The Angels have added lefty John Lamb and catcher Tony Sanchez on minor-league deals, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). A top prospect not long ago, Lamb has changed hands a few times this winter as he has continued to deal with injury issues. Sanchez also has quite a prospect pedigree, but has failed to gain traction in the upper minors.
- Recently acquired righty Ryan Weber was outrighted to Triple-A by the Mariners, per a club announcement. Added through a waiver claim from the Braves, the 26-year-old lost his 40-man spot when Seattle acquired two other former Atlanta hurlers. Weber’s quality upper-minors numbers have yet to translate to the majors, where he owns a 5.15 ERA over 64 2/3 innings over the past two seasons.
- The Brewers outrighted righties Steve Geltz and David Goforth, the team announced. Geltz had just been claimed off waivers, so perhaps Milwaukee will hope he clears and can be stashed. The 29-year-old struggled to a 5.74 ERA in his 26 2/3 major league frames in 2016, but was much better in prior years and also showed well at Triple-A. While Goforth had a solid debut year in 2015, he scuffled in both the majors and at Triple-A in his most recent campaign.
Mariners Make Handful Of Roster Moves
In addition to confirming the signing of left-hander Marc Rzepczynski, the Mariners have inked right-hander Casey Fien to a major league contract, per a team announcement. To make room for those bullpen additions, Seattle has designated southpaw Dean Kiekhefer and righty Zach Lee for assignment.
[RELATED: Updated Mariners Roster]
Fien became eligible for free agency shortly after the Dodgers outrighted him off their 40-man roster in mid-September. In a combined 39 1/3 innings with them and the Twins last season, Fien recorded a 5.49 ERA, 8.01 K/9, 2.29 BB/9 and 33.9 percent ground-ball rate. Fien was much more successful at preventing runs over the previous four years, as he logged a 3.54 ERA, 7.93 K/9, 1.57 BB/9 and 33.6 grounder rate in 223 2/3 frames with the Twins from 2012-15. Home runs weren’t a serious problem then for Fien, but the 33-year-old allowed 13 this past season en route to a bloated ERA.
Fien has a minor league option remaining, but if he earns a place on the Mariners’ roster, he’ll make $1.1MM, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter link). He’ll vie to join a relief group that, at least for now, also includes righty setup men in the injured Steve Cishek, Nick Vincent, Evan Scribner, Dan Altavilla and Arquimedes Caminero.
Kiekhefer originally joined the Mariners less than a month ago as a waiver claim from the Cardinals. A 38th-round pick in the 2010 draft, Kiekhefer cracked the major leagues for the first time in 2016 and registered a 5.32 ERA, 5.73 K/9, 2.86 BB/9 and 47.3 percent ground-ball mark in 22 innings with St. Louis.
Lee, a former high-end prospect with the Dodgers, became a Mariner when they acquired him for infielder Chris Taylor last June. The 25-year-old Lee, who went in the first round of the 2010 draft, debuted in the big leagues with 4 2/3 frames as a member of the Dodgers in 2015. He spent last season at the Triple-A level and combined for 148 innings – 74 1/3 of which came with the Mariners’ affiliate in Tacoma. Lee struggled to a 7.39 ERA with the Rainiers, though his strikeout and walk rates per nine (6.05 and 2.91) weren’t nearly as ugly.
Rockies Interested In Mark Trumbo
The Rockies are showing interest in free agent outfielder/first baseman Mark Trumbo, reports MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, who adds that there will be further “clarity” on his market during next week’s winter meetings (Twitter link).
Trumbo spent the majority of 2016 as a right fielder with the Orioles, and the Rockies already have at least two starting-caliber corner options in Carlos Gonzalez and David Dahl. On the other hand, Colorado has a gaping hole at first base, with its 2016 contributors having combined for the majors’ fourth-lowest fWAR (minus-1.3). Three of those players – Mark Reynolds, Stephen Cardullo and Ben Paulsen – are now free agents, while penciled-in starter Gerardo Parra is normally an outfielder and is coming off a miserable season. After hitting an unsightly .253/.271/.399 with a paltry nine walks in 381 plate appearances, the Rockies would be hard-pressed to count on Parra as an everyday solution anywhere.
Unlike Parra, Trumbo thrived at times this past season. The former Angel, Diamondback and Mariner slashed .256/.316/.533 with a major league-best 47 home runs in 667 trips to the plate in his first (and only?) year with the O’s. Trumbo faded in the second half of the season, however, with a .214/.284/.470 line in 292 post-All-Star break PAs. His game also comes with baserunning and defensive limitations, but he’s certainly a better fit as an everyday first baseman than a regular outfielder, as he admitted to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com last winter.
While Trumbo’s power and offense-friendly Coors Field would likely serve as an enticing mix, Colorado would have to surrender quite a bit to secure the soon-to-be 31-year-old. With Trumbo having rejected a qualifying offer from the Orioles, it would cost the Rockies a first-round pick – the 11th overall selection in the 2017 draft – to sign him. Both that and his next contract (MLBTR projects a four-year, $60MM deal) would combine for a steep price for the Rockies, who are set to spend a franchise-record amount next season.
Mets “Positioned To Move Fairly Quickly” To Trade Granderson And/Or Bruce
The Mets are “positioned to move fairly quickly” to trade Curtis Granderson and/or Jay Bruce, Newsday’s Marc Carig writes (Twitter links). While it isn’t likely they trade both, that scenario is a possibility, Carig adds.
After recently re-signing Yoenis Cespedes, the Mets have plenty of outfield options, also including Michael Conforto, Juan Lagares and Brandon Nimmo, in addition to Granderson and Bruce. Trading both Granderson and Bruce arguably would leave the organization a bit short, but there’s the possibility the Mets could deal both as a prelude to other moves.
Between Granderson and Bruce, the latter appears to be more likely to be traded, as noted earlier this week. If the Mets were to trade Bruce, Granderson could stay and share time with Lagares in center field.
The 29-year-old Bruce had a strong season overall in 2016, batting .250/.309/.506 with 33 homers in 589 plate appearances. He did, however, struggle a bit after arriving in New York via an August 1 trade. The Mets recently exercised his $13MM option for 2017, and he can become a free agent. Granderson hit .237/.335/.464 with 30 home runs of his own. He was also rated as about an average defender in 251 innings in center field, no small feat for a 35-year-old. He’s set to make $15MM in 2017, after which he, too, can become a free agent.
Rangers’ Talks With Ian Desmond Have “Intensified”
3:23pm: Rangers team officials are “far from optimistic” a deal can be completed with Desmond, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com tweets.
2:40pm: Talks between free agent center fielder Ian Desmond and the Rangers have “intensified” lately, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports writes (Twitter links). Desmond is likely to receive a four-year deal, Morosi adds.
Desmond rejected the Rangers’ qualifying offer last month (as was expected), but it appears he’s ready to listen to other proposals to return to the Rangers, perhaps for a longer term. Desmond hit well for the Rangers in 2016, batting .285/.335/.446 while transitioning fairly seamlessly from shortstop to the outfield. He also impressed the team on a personal level, with GM Jon Daniels saying in October that he appreciated Desmond’s behavior “as a person and [with] the consistency he brought from that standpoint.”
Desmond therefore is in a much stronger position this offseason than he was last year, when he settled for a mere $8MM guarantee after batting .233/.290/.384 in his last year in Washington. MLBTR has predicted that Desmond will receive four years and $60MM on his next contract.
The Rangers are in need of a center fielder after losing both Desmond and Carlos Gomez to free agency. They’ll have to set themselves apart from what might be a large group of suitors to get Desmond back, though, as he’s already reportedly attracted interest from the Nationals, Orioles and Blue Jays.
Jose Adolis Garcia Becomes Free Agent
DECEMBER 3: Garcia is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets.
AUGUST 30: Cuban outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia has left his home nation in hopes of securing an opportunity with a major league organization, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. The 24-year-old is the younger brother of Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia.
Given his age and experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, Garcia will be exempt from international bonus pools. Of course, he’ll still need to clear several hurdles before he is eligible to sign.
Badler explains that the younger Garcia brings an impressive set of tools — including a quick bat, 60-grade speed, and top-level arm strength. While he has lined up mostly in right field, Garcia is said to hold the promise of playing center.
Badler notes that Garcia’s strong recent production in Cuba may somewhat overstate his polish at the plate, though, as he needs significant refinement as a hitter. Indeed, he struggled in a recent stint in Japan’s second level of professional ball. As always, you’ll want to read Badler’s report for a full breakdown.
In the aggregate, it’ll likely be some time until Garcia has a real chance of appearing at the major league level. Badler suggests he’ll likely be ready for an initial assignment in the upper minors, but even the start of his professional career could take a year or more to get underway — unless, perhaps, further rule changes ease the transition for players coming out of Cuba.
Orioles, Rays, Braves Among Teams Interested In Welington Castillo
1:17pm: Add the Orioles to the list of teams interested in Castillo, as MASN’s Roch Kubatko tweets. The Orioles could lose Matt Wieters to free agency and have been interested in Castillo for some time, according to Kubatko.
11:03am: The Diamondbacks’ unexpected decision to non-tender Welington Castillo has added a new name to the free agent catching market, and Castillo is already receiving interest. The Rays are “expected to aggressively pursue” Castillo, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wrote last night. The Rays, who currently have Luke Maile and Curt Casali atop their depth chart at catcher, were already expected to look for catching help, so it’s easy to see why the surprise addition of a .264/.322/.423 hitter and longtime starter to the market would be intriguing for them.
Topkin also tweeted this morning, though, that Castillo was receiving a number of calls, and not just from the Rays. It’s possible one of those teams could be the Braves, who have “some interest,” as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Current Braves backstop Tyler Flowers hit fairly well last year and rates as a good framer, and he and fellow catchers Anthony Recker and Tuffy Gosewisch are all now under contract for 2017. Castillo could certainly still help the Braves, however, and it stands to reason that they’d have interest, since they’ve also shown at least some interest in free agent backstops like Matt Wieters and Jason Castro.
MLB, MLBPA Agree To New Collective Bargaining Agreement
DEC. 3: Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets that, under the terms of the new CBA, each Rule 5 Draft pick will cost $100K, rather than $50K in the previous CBA.
DEC. 1, 8:10pm: Passan also reports (on Twitter) that the new CBA allows the league to issue extreme levels of punishment to teams that try to circumvent the international spending guidelines that are in place. Per Passan, MLB can penalize up to 50 percent of a team’s international bonus money through the 2021 season if it is found to be in violation of the new international signing rules.
12:39pm: Notably, teams can trade all of the new international bonus allotments, per Passan (Twitter links). Alternatively, they may boost their spending by adding up to 75% of their initial spending capacity.
Also, the top slot of the 2017 draft will fall to $7.4MM, though the overall spending availability in the domestic arena won’t change, Passan further tweets.
In another detail on the QO front, Rosenthal tweets that teams signing multiple qualifying offer-declining free agents would continue to sacrifice their next selection (or, in the case of a team over the luxury line, selections).
NOV. 30: Major League Baseball and the MLB Player’s Association have announced that they’ve tentatively settled on a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement. The sides are still hammering out the final deal, per the announcement.
With the new deal, the owners and union have averted any impairment of the offseason market and continued a strong record of labor peace. Fresh on the heels of a thrilling postseason, and with the game sporting rising profits, the stage is set for continued prosperity.
The expectation all along had been that a deal would be found in advance of the expiration of the prior CBA at midnight tonight. With huge amounts of money at stake for all involved, and general agreement on all but a few areas, it would have rated as a major surprise had things gone south. Still, there were rumblings of late that there could be a lockout, and it took until about three hours before the deadline to finally resolve all the deadlocks.
There will certainly be many details to parse out as the results of the negotiation are revealed. Here are some key areas that have been discussed in recent months:
Roster
In one notable realm, there will be no changes. The sides decided against modifying the active roster rules, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. Rosters will remain at 25 players, rather than moving to 26, and September roster expansion will not be curtailed.
There will, however, be a new league-minimum salary, per Ronald Blum and Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press. It’ll be $535K next year, $545K in 2018, and $555K in 2019. Then, “cost-of-living increases” will provide further bumps in the final two years of the agreement. That seems to be a rather modest rise; certainly, it does nothing to fundamentally shift the balance of earning power to newer major leaguers. There are also some minor bumps in the MiLB minimum salary applicable to players making their second appearance on a 40-man roster.
The minimum DL stint will now be ten days, Blum further reports. By making the DL more readily utilized, the rule could also increase the amount of player movement — as well as the value of optionable 40-man assets.
Luxury Tax & Revenue Sharing
Meanwhile, the luxury tax threshold will rise from $189MM to around $195MM in the 2017 season, Sherman further reports (links to Twitter). It’ll then reach $210MM over the five-year span. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark provides the full schedule of the luxury tax line, via Twitter (as Rosenthal had previously suggested, also on Twitter). Between the $195MM starting point and $210MM max level, the tax will kick in for the intervening years at $197MM (2018), $206MM (2019), and $208MM (2020).
Additionally, the CBA imposes new penalties for spending over the tax line that figure to serve as a rather notable deterrent to big-market spending. Going past the threshold for the first time comes with a 20% tax, which increase to 30% for a second year and 50% for a third. There’s an additional 12% added on top when teams exceed the mark by between $20MM to $40MM, while going past $40MM triggers the maximum penalty — which can reach a 90% tax on overages. (That information comes via Bob Nightengale of USA Today, via Twitter; Sherman and Stark previously sketched the parameters.) Teams that go $40MM over the luxury tax line will see their top draft pick fall by ten spots, the AP adds.
The existing “performance factor” element of the revenue-sharing system will be removed, per Passan (Twitter links). That had functioned as what Passan terms a “revenue-sharing multiplier,” so its removal will likely mean that large-budget clubs are required to pay less into the pool.
Qualifying Offer
The qualifying offer system has been another area of some uncertainty, and it seems as if it will undergo some highly significant changes:
- Beginning next offseason, there will be three categories of teams in assessing the loss of a pick for signing players who turn down qualifying offers, per Blum and Hawkins. Revenue-sharing recipients would lose their third-highest selection (not necessarily a third-round choice). Revenue-sharing contributors would lose their second and fifth-highest selections and also sacrifice $1MM in international signing availability. And all other teams would stand to give up their second-highest pick along with $500K in international bonus funds.
- In terms of compensation, an organization which loses a QO-declining player who signs for $50MM or more will pick up a draft choice “after the first round.” If a QO-declining player inks for under $50MM with another organization, the draft compensation slides to “after competitive balance round B.” There’s a different set of rules for teams that are over the luxury tax line; any compensatory picks they receive will take place after the draft’s fourth round.
- Importantly, players will no longer be able to receive more than a single qualifying offer, Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Players now will have ten days, instead of seven, to consider the offer, according to the AP duo.
All told, the above changes promise to represent a rather monumental shift in the function of the qualifying offer system. It will clearly hurt free agents less, and the reduced draft compensation will likely make it slightly more likely that veterans end up being traded in the season before they hit the open market. Whether less players will be tagged with QOs remains to be seen; though there’s less to be gained for teams, there’s also less of a disincentive for players to enter free agency.
Details also remain foggy regarding how the luxury tax assessment will be made, as regards the qualifying offer. Presumably, the league will look to the team’s ultimate Opening Day salary (or some other date certain), in which case the final draft order could shuffle depending upon an organization’s future roster decisions.
Amateur
There will indeed be a hard bonus cap for international signings, rather than a draft, Stark reports. It will only be about $5MM per team, he adds on Twitter, which seems likely to suppress international spending. There are currently some different numbers floating around on that score; presumably, it will vary over time. Here’s the latest:
- The bonus pool available will be dependent upon revenue, with the 15 smallest clubs entitled to $6MM and the 15 largest at $5MM, Nightengale suggests (Twitter links).
- The initial international bonus pool will actually be $4.75MM, according to the AP.
- There are three tiers in spending allotment, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Large-revenue clubs will have $4.75MM to spend, mid-tier teams can go up to $5.25MM, and the smallest organizations can tap $5.75MM.
Another critical element of the system is just who is subject to the spending caps, which could significantly influence top young talent and whether it flows to the majors. Cuban players who are at least 25 years of age and have six years of Serie Nacional experience will be exempt from these limitations, Morosi tweets. It’s not entirely clear whether players from other countries will continue to be exempt from these limitations, though. Nightengale suggests that the limitations will not apply to players coming over from Asia, though that element still seems a bit unclear. Passan, for example, tweets that the current rules would seemingly keep Japanese star Shohei Otani from moving to the majors for several years (he’s still just 22).
Meanwhile, in the domestic draft, there’ll be some changes in the spread of slot values, according to the AP. Details remain unknown, but it seems there’ll be a more gradual decline than the currently steep fall after the first few picks.
Other
- There will be some changes to the Joint Drug Agreement, including additional testing, per the AP. Notably, players will not be able to accrue service time during any period they are suspended, which serves as a fairly significant additional deterrent. Finally, there’ll now be “biomarker testing for HGH.”
- The All-Star game will return to simply being a spectacle, rather than determining home-field advantage for the World Series, per the AP. Now, the World Series team with the better regular-season record will enjoy an added home game, which seems clearly a better approach.
- To accommodate additional off-days, meanwhile, the league will kick off the season in the middle of the week beginning in 2018, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). Some of those days could go toward international marketing efforts. MLB intends to put on regular season games abroad as soon as 2018, Morosi tweets, with London and Mexico the most likely targets. The CBA is expected to accommodate that new addition.
- The Athletics “will be phased out as a revenue-sharing recipient over the next four years,” Rosenthal adds (via Twitter). The A’s slice of revenue sharing will go to 75%, then 50%, then 25% over the next three years before disappearing, according to the AP.
- In other team-specific news, the Yankees seem likely to benefit under the new deal, per Rosenthal (Twitter links). Beyond the removal of the revenue-sharing multiplier previously reported, the organization will keep revenue-sharing offsets related to the fact that it paid for its new ballpark.
- The league will ban incoming MLB players from using smokeless tobacco, with existing players grandfathered in another wrinkle, per Sherman (on Twitter), .
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported agreement on a CBA (Twitter link), while Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports was first to tweet its duration.
Notable 2016 Non-Tenders
Yesterday was the deadline for teams to decide whether to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players, and they cut loose a number of intriguing players, adding to the free agent market at a number of key positions. Here’s a look at the most important non-tenders.
- Tyson Ross, Padres. San Diego cut Ross and five other players loose on Friday, adding a big name to a thin starting pitching market. Ross missed most of the 2016 season due to injury and had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in October, which figured to require a four- to six-month recovery period. He also wouldn’t have been cheap for 2017, making a projected $9.6MM. Nonetheless, Ross would be an interesting free agent even if there weren’t so little good starting pitching available. In 2015, he pitched 196 innings, with a 3.26 ERA, 3.9 BB/9 and an outstanding 9.7 K/9. He also has a career 56% ground ball rate.
- Chris Carter, Brewers. Milwaukee designated their first baseman for assignment last week, then officially non-tendered him yesterday. It isn’t typical to see a home run champ non-tendered, but Carter’s consistently high strikeout totals, consistently low batting average and lack of defensive value made him a tricky case, especially since those factors would have been weighted less heavily by the arbitration process than his gaudy home-run totals. We examined the Brewers’ case for non-tendering Carter back in October.
- Welington Castillo and Rubby De La Rosa, Diamondbacks. That the Snakes would non-tender a consistently productive starting catcher like Castillo rated as one of the tender deadline’s bigger surprises. Castillo batted a fine .264/.322/.423 in 2016 and looks like a strong addition to a rather thin free agent market for backstops. De La Rosa, too, is worth watching this winter — health concerns surely played a role in the Diamondbacks’ decision to cut him loose, and Tommy John surgery could be a possibility at some point after his recent stem cell treatment on his elbow. but De La Rosa’s blistering fastball, solid ground-ball ability and 9.6 K/9 in 2016 make him an intriguing free agent, particularly if teams are optimistic about his health.
- Ben Revere, Nationals. Washington’s decision to non-tender Revere (who we projected would make $6.3MM through the arbitration process this winter) came as no surprise after he hit just .217/.260/.300 while struggling with an oblique injury in 2016. Still, Revere had batted at least .294 in each of the four previous seasons, stealing 142 bases in that span. He’s also just 28. Teams interested in outfield help could, therefore, view him as a candidate to contribute next season.
- Seth Maness, Cardinals. St. Louis’ decision to non-tender Maness was surely due in large part to his health, as he had UCL surgery in August. He was, however, consistently productive as a sort of ground ball specialist in parts of four seasons with the Cardinals, producing a lifetime 3.19 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and 59.4 GB%. The Cards portray their decision to non-tender him as mostly a roster issue, as the addition of John Gant in the recent Jaime Garcia trade gave them additional bullpen help, and rookie Matt Bowman emerged in 2016 as a ground ball specialist in his own right.
- Jeff Manship, Indians. The 31-year-old righty produced an 0.92 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 for Cleveland in a terrific 2015 season and helped again in 2016, with a 3.12 ERA. He had long pitched mostly in the minor leagues before that, though, and his 4.6 BB/9 last season didn’t portend a high degree of future success.
- Vance Worley, Orioles. Worley’s teams seemingly continue to view him as a marginal player even as he remains consistently useful. In 2016, pitched 86 2/3 innings for Baltimore, generally pitching out of the bullpen but also making four starts. He produced a 3.53 ERA and a 48.1% ground ball rate, although his peripherals (5.8 K/9, 3.6 BB/9) headed in the wrong direction. He still looks like a credible long reliever, though, and his ability to start also helps.
- Jeff Locke, Pirates. The Bucs’ decision to part ways with Locke was likely an easy one after he produced a miseable 5.44 ERA, 5.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 2016, ultimately losing his job in the rotation. Still, Locke has logged at least 127 1/3 innings in each of the last four seasons and could help a team in search of rotation depth this winter.
Joey Votto Maintains He Wants To Stay In Cincinnati
Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who has a full no-trade clause and $179MM remaining on his contract, maintains that he would prefer to remain in Cincinnati, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. Votto produced an outstanding .326/.434/.550 line in 677 plate appearances last season, and it sounds like he wants to remain a Red as long as the team can still find a use for him. The Reds, of course, are rebuilding, and have traded a long string of veterans in the past couple years, including Todd Frazier, Johnny Cueto, Jay Bruce, Mike Leake and Aroldis Chapman. It sounds, however, like neither Votto nor the Reds have any desire to add Votto to that list, at least not right now.
“I’ve worked really hard to not look [bad] in my career and I’ve worked really hard to be a loyal worker, and I’d like to keep that going,” says Votto. “Until I feel like I’m being shuffled out, you saw [that] last year with Brandon [Phillips], you saw it in Philadelphia with Chase Utley. Until I start feeling like the broom is on my heels, I’ll be a really nice guy. If I feel the broom on my heels, I’ll be a bit of [a jerk]. I’m not going to be a nice guy.”
Votto adds that he looks up to stars in other sports who have been able to play their entire careers with one team. “I admire [the NBA’s] Tim Duncan in San Antonio,” he says. “Never once did you hear about him going anywhere. Or [the NFL’s] Tom Brady in New England. Never once do you hear about him going anywhere, because they hold up to their end of the bargain by performing at a certain level and teams are excited to keep them.”
Reds GM Dick Williams repeats that he has made no efforts to trade Votto this offseason. Two weeks ago, he said he had not spoken with Votto about the possibility of waiving his no-trade clause.