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Outfield Notes: Royals, Rockies, Ozuna, Ruggiano, Nava

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We’ve been waiting for the outfield market to kick into high gear, and it seems set to do just that with Jason Heyward reportedly going off the board to the Cubs. As ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes, the action is now on Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alex Gordon. But a solid group of other players — including Dexter Fowler, Denard Span, Gerardo Parra, and Austin Jackson — is also still available. And t

Here’s the latest:

  • The Royals have had contact with the Rockies on their three potentially-available outfielders, per Crasnick. It seems that Carlos Gonzalez carries by far the highest asking price, per Crasnick’s report, but the other two Colorado outfielders reportedly on the block — Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson — are cheaper and have greater control rights. In particular, Dickerson has put up some huge offensive numbers and won’t even hit arbitration until next year. While he missed time last year with plantar fasciitis and fractured ribs, he still looks to be a highly intriguing asset.
  • Kansas City still is looking at Gordon as its first option, though, Crasnick adds. The club would probably turn to the next tier of free agency if it can’t pull off a Gordon re-signing or a trade. MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan notes on Twitter that the team has “cast a wide net” in its search for outfield help.
  • It seems less and less likely that the Marlins will end up dealing center fielder Marcell Ozuna this winter, as Crasnick tweets that the club has “aimed high” in its negotiations on the youngster. Miami has sought quality, young MLB pitchers — he mentions Yordano Ventura, Taijuan Walker, and Danny Salazar — and it’s not clear whether it will be amenable to settling for less.
  • The Rangers have interest in free agent outfielder Justin Ruggiano as a right-handed depth piece, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Ruggiano is a very tough out for opposing southpaws, creating a potential fit with the heavily left-handed Texas lineup.
  • Outfielder/first baseman Daniel Nava appears close to striking a deal with a team other than the Rays, despite Tampa Bay’s interest, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Nava, soon to turn 33, had a tough season last year, but at his best is a high-OBP switch-hitter.

Angels Sign Craig Gentry

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FRIDAY: The $1MM is not actually guaranteed, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter links). Gentry’s contract is a major league deal but its full value isn’t promised, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com explains on Twitter.

WEDNESDAY: The Angels have signed center fielder Craig Gentry to a one-year, Major League deal, per J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. News Group and Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times (links to Twitter). Gentry, a client of RMG Baseball, will earn $1MM and can net an additional $250K via incentives, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.

Gentry, who turned 32 last week, will give the Angels a defensive-minded fourth outfielder with a history of solid offensive production against left-handed pitching, although he’s struggled at the plate in limited action over the past two seasons. Gentry is a career .274/.354/.366 hitter against lefties (.256/.321/.311 vs. righties) but has slumped dating back to 2014, hitting a combined .230/.297/.273 in 314 Major League plate appearances.

Gentry’s most valuable asset is his glove, as defensive metrics offer glowing reviews of his work in the outfield. In 1860 innings as a center fielder, Defensive Runs Saved pegs him at +40 runs, while Ultimate Zone Rating is similarly impressed at +37. He can also offer the Halos plenty of value on the basepaths, where he’s been successful in 77 of his 90 career attempts in stolen bases. Gentry’s career-high of 24 stolen bases came back in 2013 despite the fact that he received just 287 plate appearances that season.

By signing with the Halos, Gentry remains in the American League West — the only division he’s ever known. The Rangers took him in the 10th round of the 2006 draft, and he’s spent his entire career prior to this point in the Rangers and Athletics organizations.

Cardinals Expected To Pursue Alex Gordon

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With Jason Heyward set to join the division-rival Cubs, the Cardinals are expected to make a push to add fellow free agent outfielder Alex Gordon, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. Of course, Gordon has also reportedly drawn interest from deep-pocketed clubs like the Giants, Angels, and others, so his market promises to be robust.

St. Louis has also been rumored to have some interest in slugger Chris Davis, who might not be seen as an outfielder but could still fit in St. Louis, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports posits on Twitter that he could still be an option. Going for Gordon, meanwhile, might also leave the team with some free capacity to add a starter, Rosenthal suggests.

It should be noted that it remains entirely unclear whether the Cards will plan to reallocate any cash that might have gone to Heyward (or to David Price) directly back into free agency. After all, the organization has not traditionally been one of the biggest factors in free agency. And while, owner Bill DeWitt Jr. has said that the Cards will “stretch” in the right situation, it’s not clear whether any such opportunities remain.

Of course, Gordon promises to command a far more limited commitment than did Heyward and Price. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted a $105MM commitment over five years, which is a hefty sum for a player who’ll soon turn 32 but is nowhere near the overall outlay needed to land the other two. It also still seems likely he’ll fall shy of Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes, the other top outfielders remaining on the market.

Cubs Exploring Trades For Rotation Upgrades

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The addition of Jason Heyward has solidified the Cubs’ lineup top-to-bottom, more or less, and with his acquisition nearly complete, the Cubs are turning their focus to the trade market for starting pitchers, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi notes that the Cubs have had talks with the Padres about Tyson Ross and the Indians about both Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco.

The Cubs have plenty of prospect depth to dangle in trades, and the names of Jorge Soler and Javier Baez figure to be featured prominently in rumors as the team explores its options. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets, though, that the idea behind the Heyward signing is that he’ll play center field, with Kyle Schwarber manning left field and Soler playing right. That obviously doesn’t preclude a Soler trade, but it also indicates that the Cubs don’t necessarily feel the need to move Soler in order to open right field, as they did at second base when they traded Starlin Castro to the Yankees to clear a spot for Ben Zobrist.

Moving Soler in a trade would again create a hole in center field, although the free agent market has options such as Denard Span and familiar face Dexter Fowler (the latter of whom shares an agent with Heyward) that could be brought in to fill that role if need be.

Chicago’s rotation currently figures to include Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel, though one idea that we’ve kicked around in talking about trade scenarios here at MLBTR has been to include Hendricks as one of multiple pieces that could net the team an upgrade (that’s just speculation, of course). To this point in the offseason, the Cubs have been connected to the names mentioned by Morosi as well as the since-traded Shelby Miller, Jose Fernandez and many other arms. Names like Sonny Gray and Chris Sale are popular speculative targets, but neither is likely to be moved this winter.

Jason Heyward Makes Decision; Cardinals Out, Nats Pessimistic

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11:54pm: Heyman tweets that the Nationals are believed to have offered about or exactly $200MM to Heyward.

11:52am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Cardinals are “out” on Heyward.

11:50am: Jason Heyward has made a decision on which team he’ll sign with, a source tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Goold writes that while the Cardinals were aggressive, it doesn’t sound like Heyward chose them. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the Nationals aren’t optimistic about a deal, either. The Cubs are “very much in play,” says Goold, though no report has indicated that Chicago has agreed to terms with Heyward just yet.

Heyward was said recently to be nearing a decision, with the Cubs, Cardinals and Nationals as finalists. The Angels were, at one point, said to be a finalist also, and the Giants have been linked to him, though they reportedly never made a formal offer.

Astros Re-Sign Tony Sipp

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Tony Sipp will officially be returning to the team with which he established himself as a bullpen weapon, as the Astros on Friday announced that he has re-signed with the club on a new three-year contract. Sipp, a client of the Bledsoe Agency, will reportedly receive an $18MM guarantee that will pay him an even $6MM per year from 2016-18.

Sep 13, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Tony Sipp (29) throws the ball in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The The Astros won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The 32-year-old Sipp began his career with the Indians and, for parts of five seasons, showed promise but wasn’t able to string together consecutive strong performances. That changed once he got to Houston, where he rattled off a pair of outstanding seasons in the bullpen from 2014-15.

Over the past two years, Sipp has worked to a combined 2.66 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate of roughly 35 percent. Sipp has shown a mastery over both right- and left-handed hitters, holding batters of each variety to a collective OPS mark south of .600 during his tenure with the Astros to date.

That represents a rare blend for a southpaw, and explains how Sipp was able to take down such a substantial commitment. While MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes correctly assessed that Sipp would command three years, his prediction was light on the cost as we’ve seen an explosion of interest in pen arms. Sipp’s contract lands at the top of the established range for quality free agent lefties. Some of the recent three-year southpaw comparables include Zach Duke ($15MM), Boone Logan ($16.5MM), and Jeremy Affeldt ($18MM).

For Houston, this year’s Winter Meetings ended up representing an opportunity to solidify the back of the bullpen, continuing a project that started last offseason. In addition to Sipp, of course, the ’Stros added closer Ken Giles via trade. Those two will presumably join Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek — last year’s key additions — among the options at the back of the Houston pen.

Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston first reported the deal (Twitter link). Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reported that it was a three-year deal, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that Sipp would be guaranteed $18MM. Drellich later tweeted the yearly breakdown.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Talks Around Jake McGee Intensifying

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The Rays’ trade discussions about left-handed relief ace Jake McGee have intensified over the past 24 to 48 hours, reports Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). McGee and teammate Brad Boxberger have drawn significant trade interest, and several have suggested that one of the two is likely to be moved. McGee makes a bit more sense as a trade candidate, given MLBTR’s $4.7MM salary projection (Boxberger is not yet arbitration eligible) and the fact that he has only two years of club control remaining to Boxberger’s four.

Morosi tweets that the Dodgers — who are reportedly moving on from their pursuit of Aroldis Chapman in light of his domestic violence allegations — make sense as a landing spot, given president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman’s familiarity with McGee (Friedman was formerly the Rays’ GM). The Astros have been linked to Tampa Bay’s relievers as well, though they’ve reportedly agreed to a deal to acquire Ken Giles from Philadelphia, so perhaps they’re no longer in the market for top-tier relievers. The Twins are also known to be looking for left-handed relief help, and indications late in this week’s Winter Meetings were that Minnesota isn’t likely to make a play for top-of-the-market free agent lefties.

McGee, who will pitch the bulk of next season at age 29, missed the beginning of the 2015 campaign recovering from offseason surgery on his left elbow and was sidelined again in September by a torn meniscus. He was brilliant as ever when healthy enough to take to the mound, though, firing 37 1/3 innings of 2.41 ERA ball with 11.6 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and a 38.9 percent ground-ball rate. He has a collective 2.07 ERA with 138 strikeouts against just 22 unintentional walks over the past two seasons — a span of 108 2/3 innings — and averaged better than 96 mph on his fastball from 2013-14 (94.5 mph in 2015). He’d be a boost to any club’s bullpen and should fetch the Rays a considerable return if a trade is ultimately agreed upon.

Indians, Robbie Grossman Agree To Minors Deal

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The Indians have agreed to terms with outfielder Robbie Grossman on a minor league deal, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). Grossman, who turned 26 in September, was released by the Astros back in November as clubs set their 40-man rosters to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

Not long ago, Grossman was considered a potential building block for the Astros. Acquired in the trade that sent Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates, Grossman debuted as a 23-year-old with Houston and batted .268/.332/.370 in 288 plate appearances. Over the next two seasons, he’d go on to bat just .222/.323/.323, however. Though he was generally regarded as a positive defender in the outfield corners, that level offensive output wasn’t enough to keep him in Houston’s plans, particularly not with players like George Springer emerging in the Majors and the acquisitions of Carlos Gomez and Colby Rasmus blocking a road to playing time.

For Cleveland, Grossman will bring a still-young asset to the table with the potential to rebuild some of the stock that made him a top 100 prospect in the eyes of Baseball Prospectus four years ago. Grossman has consistently produced strong OBP marks throughout his minor league tenure and batted .254/.354/.349 in Triple-A this past season as a 25-year-old. (He’s a career .281/.382/.387 hitter at that level). He’ll provide further depth for a club in need of outfield options with Michael Brantley slated to miss the first month or two of the season and little certainty elsewhere on the roster.

Nationals Sign Shawn Kelley

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After days of conflicting reports, the Nationals have officially announced the signing of right-hander Shawn Kelley to a three-year contract. The Frye McCann Sports client is said to have received a $15MM total guarantee over three years, with salaries of $4MM (2016) and $5.5MM (2017 and 2018).

Jun 30, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher <a rel=

Kelley, who turns 32 in April, posted a 2.45 ERA and 63 strikeouts (against just 15 walks) in 51 1/3 relief innings for the Padres in 2015.  This fine performance was backed up by metrics like FIP (2.57), xFIP (2.91) and SIERA (2.55). Kelley also pitched well according to those advanced statistics in 2013-14 as a reliever for the Yankees but wasn’t as lucky on the ERA front, posting a 4.46 ERA in those two seasons.

It was certainly an opportune time for Kelley to post the best of his seven Major League seasons.  Kelley has a career 3.67 ERA, 3.33 K/BB rate, 10.2 K/9 over 284 1/3 career innings.  He has only a 33% ground ball rate for his career, but he improved greatly in that category last season with a career-best 42.7% number.  He’s been effective against hitters on either side of the plate, and Kelley’s career splits indicate he’s actually been better against left-handed batters (.666 OPS) than right-handed batters (.711 OPS).

Between Kelley and left-hander Oliver Perez, Washington has now agreed to contracts with two notable relievers within the last week.  The two deals are a big step towards the bullpen overhaul many expected for the Nats this offseason.

And since the news of the Kelley signing first broke, the Nats added two more pen arms. After agreeing to terms with veteran righty Yusmeiro Petit, the club shipped Yunel Escobar to the Angels for 23-year-old flamethrower Trevor Gott. All told, the Nats’ pen will features at least four new faces, though more change could still be to come.

It remains to be seen what the Nationals will end up doing in terms of high-leverage arms. Closer Jonathan Papelbon and setup man Drew Storen are both reportedly on the trading block, but it’s not clear what direction the organization could take in terms of acquisitions with Darren O’Day headed to the Orioles and Aroldis Chapman’s status in limbo.

Reports surfaced recently that Kelley’s market was heating up, so it’s no surprise that the reliever has now landed a new contract. Kelley was rated 44th on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list, with Tim Dierkes projecting him to land a two-year, $12MM deal.

ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweeted the financial parameters of the deal, with Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweeting details. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweeted that the deal would go through. Jack Curry of the YES Network originally reported the signing (via Twitter) on December 8, though later reports suggested agreement was not yet finalized.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals Sign Oliver Perez

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The Nationals on Friday formally announced the completion of their two-year deal with left-handed reliever Oliver Perez. The veteran southpaw will reportedly take home a $7MM guarantee, paying him $3MM in 2016 and $4MM in 2017.

The 34-year-old Perez, a client of Scott Boras, figures to step into the role that was occupied by Matt Thornton over the past season-and-a-half in D.C. — that of a left-handed specialist. Perez is coming off somewhat of a mixed season, as he was excellent in 29 frames for the D-backs in a similar lefty specialist capacity before struggling following a trade to the Astros.

All told, he pitched to a 4.17 ERA with 51 strikeouts against 15 walks in 49 innings last season and held opposing left-handers to a meager .185/.235/.283 batting line. Of course, on the flip side of that dominance, right-handed batters tattooed Perez for a .310/.417/.465 triple slash.

Perez will be part of a largely restructured Nationals bullpen that will include recent trade acquisition Trevor Gott as well as new signees Shawn Kelley and Yusmeiro Petit. The Nats are also said to be looking at potential trades of Jonathan Papelbon and Drew Storen, creating the distinct possibility that first-year manager Dusty Baker will enter the 2016 campaign with a vastly different relief corps than the one that proved to be fairly problematic for the Nationals in 2015.

MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez was the first to report the deal and the terms (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports provided the contract breakdown.

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