Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Aubrey Huff Preparing For Comeback Attempt

By | at

It’s been three years since Aubrey Huff retired from the game of baseball, but Huff (who recently enlisted the Ballengee Group as his new agency) is now seeking a return to the Major Leagues, as Jordan Zirm of Stack Velocity Sports Performance details.

Huff, now 38, candidly opens up about the social anxiety and depression issues that drove him from the game following a 2012 season in which he abruptly left the team due to his battle with anxiety. “I went on the disabled list right then and there, and I was never the same again,” Huff said. “I lost my starting job. I was quiet in the clubhouse, in the corner the entire second half of the season. I was a ghost. It was in the papers. People knew I was dealing with anxiety. I was on Xanax, the whole nine yards.” While people frequently comment to him that it must’ve been nice to walk away from the game as a champion — Huff’s Giants won the World Series in 2010 and again in his final season, 2012 — Huff now admits to being “miserable” that season, as he felt that baseball was at the root of his depression problems.

In the interview with Zirm, Huff sounds every bit the part of a man with a new lease on life that would relish in the opportunity to go out on his own terms. He’s worked extensively to get himself back into shape and to rehabilitate a chronic hip ailment. As Zirm writes, after walking with a limp for more than two years, Huff’s rehab has caused the injury to “completely dissipate.” Huff’s trainer, Jason Huntley, told him at the beginning of the rehab process that the goal was to get him feeling better than he ever has, both physically and mentally. “I just wanted somebody else to say it where it didn’t sound crazy to me,” Huff recalled. “It triggered something in me, and I said, let’s do it.”

Huff’s resurgent 2010 campaign after a poor showing in 2009 was one of the keys to the Giants’ World Series victory that year, as he rebounded with a .290/.385/.506 batting line and 26 homers in his first year with San Francisco. That led to a new two-year contract that saw diminished results and eventually led to Huff’s departure from the game.

When at his best, Huff was a feared slugger — four times topping 25 homers and averaging 23 long balls per 162 games over the course of his 13 years in the Majors despite poor results in 2009 and in his final two Major League seasons. All told, he currently sports a very strong .278/.342/.464 batting line and 242 homers between the Rays, Orioles, Giants, Astros and Tigers. Huff’s goal is to get back to the Majors and work his way into an everyday role, even though he recognizes that teams won’t be lining up to sign a 38-year-old on the heels of a three-year absence from the Majors.

Still, Huff wants to prove to himself that he’s capable and also give inspiration to others. “The biggest thing for me is to inspire people,” said Huff in a YouTube video chronicling his comeback efforts. “Because millions and millions of people live with anxiety and depression throughout their life. If they can see a guy that’s went through it publicly go out there in front of 40,000 people a night and know that it can be beat, it’s going to give them a lot of hope.”

Reds Seek MLB-Ready Talent In Packages For Frazier, Chapman

By | at

The Reds are known to be entertaining offers on all of their players, and ESPN’s Jayson Stark spoke to an exec with a rival club that is convinced third baseman Todd Frazier is “legitimately out there” as a trade piece, albeit only for a significant return (links to Twitter). According to Stark, the Reds are prioritizing young talent that is Major-League-ready in trades for either Frazier or closer Aroldis Chapman. ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote yesterday (Insider subscription required) that he spoke to an NL evaluator and was told that the Reds “aren’t pushing Frazier at all,” so it doesn’t sound like the Reds feel any urgency to move him (not that one would expect an aggressive push to move a player of Frazier’s caliber at this point in the year with multiple seasons of club control remaining).

Stark doesn’t list a preference between position players or hitters — perhaps because Cincinnati doesn’t truly have one; talent is talent — but most of the Reds’ top prospects are on the pitching side of the equation. Outside of top organizational prospect Jesse Winker, the team’s best hitting prospects are mostly in the lower levels of the minor leagues. For a team that is open to dealing its third baseman, second baseman (Brandon Phillips) and right fielder (Jay Bruce), that leaves plenty of openings around the diamond — especially considering Billy Hamilton’s underwhelming bat to this point in his career. (That’s not to suggest that Cincinnati has given up on Hamilton, but rather that he’ll need to hit more than he has at some point.)

The price to acquire Frazier will — and should — be steep. The reigning Home Run Derby champ is set to turn 30 years old in February and is coming off a pair of seasons in which he has combined to bat .262/.322/.479 with 64 homers and well-above-average defense at third base. Frazier is also affordable, as his 2016 salary is locked in at $7.5MM by virtue of a two-year deal signed prior to the 2015 season. He’ll be arbitration eligible once again next offseason and is a free agent after the 2017 season.

The primary red flags with Frazier will be his woeful 2015 second half and his production (or lack thereof) away from the hitter-friendly confines of Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. Frazier was hitting .284/.337/.585 with 25 homers prior to the 2015 All-Star Game, but he batted just .224/.270/.390 with 10 homers in 72 second-half games. Checking out his home/road splits, Frazier has batted .281/.341/.537 at home over the past two seasons compared to .247/.304/.421 on the road. Many players tend to hit better at home regardless of park factor, but the notable discrepancy between Frazier’s home and road production figures to at least be some cause for concern for teams that play in pitcher-friendly environments.

Regardless of home/road splits, Frazier is capable, at worst, of producing league-average offense (he has a wRC+ of 99 on the road) with an above-average bat at third base. Two years of that skill set alone would have some value, but considering that’s more or less the floor on Frazier, while the ceiling is that of a legitimate superstar, multiple big-league-ready assets will probably need to be in play for Cincinnati to seriously consider parting with him.

Chapman is projected to earn $12.9MM in 2016 by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. That will be Chapman’s final year of club control before free agency, so with one year of control at top-of-the-market money, he comes with less trade value than Frazier. Nevertheless, it’s easy enough to envision a team being willing to part with an MLB-ready asset and another lower-level piece or two in order to secure a season of Chapman’s 100mph+ dominance.

Teams that could conceivably look for help at third base include the White Sox, Angels, Astros, Padres and possibly the Tigers, to name a few. There’s always a wide swath of teams seeking bullpen help — particularly when the reliever in question ranks among the game’s two or three best arms — and Chapman has recently been connected to the Yankees, Astros, Diamondbacks, Tigers and Red Sox (though Boston’s trade for Craig Kimbrel would certainly seem to take them out of the Chapman market).

AL East Notes: Boxberger, McGee, Yankees, O’s, Blue Jays

By | at

Rays relievers Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger are two of the more coveted relief arms on the trade market, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Nationals are among the interested teams (Twitter link). The Astros and Tigers have also been listed as possible suitors for Tampa Bay’s excellent eighth/ninth-inning duo. The left-handed McGee, 29, is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4.7MM this offseason. The right-handed Boxberger, 27, is not yet arbitration eligible. Both have seen significant time in the ninth inning over the past two seasons, as McGee collected 25 saves from 2014-15, and Boxberger led the AL with 41 saves in 2015. McGee seems like the more obvious trade candidate, on paper, due to his projected 2016 salary, but Boxberger’s first-year arbitration price could be huge if he serves as manager Kevin Cash’s primary closer in 2016 and racks up 35 to 40 more saves. The Rays could simply elect to hold the pair as well; spending a combined $5.2MM or so for the pair certainly isn’t exorbitant, though it’s hard to envision both relievers in the mix beyond 2016, as they’ll probably be too expensive a pairing after next winter’s arb raises.

A few more notes from the AL East…

  • Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes that Yankees GM Brian Cashman should be worrying about regression from players like Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez when constructing the roster this winter. Cashman said last week at the GM Meetings that his goal is to “upgrade our roster and not worry about regression on certain guys,” but Davidoff notes that it would be exceptionally risky to bank on Teixeira and A-Rod repeating both the health and the production they displayed in 2015, reminding how greatly they outperformed their preseason projections.
  • Filling all of the holes on the Orioles’ roster is a near-impossible task for GM Dan Duquette without a significant payroll hike, writes Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com. Melewski points out that after Matt Wieters surprisingly accepted a qualifying offer last Friday, the team now has $57.6MM committed to four players — Wieters, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones and Ubaldo Jimenez — plus $34.9MM worth of arbitration salaries (based on MLBTR’s projections). That places the Orioles at $92.5MM without even factoring in league-minimum players to round out the roster. Melewski uses Chris Davis and Alex Gordon as highly theoretical examples of players that could be brought in as major offseason signings (or, in Davis’ case, a re-signing), noting that that pair alone could cause Baltimore’s payroll to soar over $135MM while still leaving holes in the rotation and bullpen. Duquette has hinted that a payroll increase is certainly possible; over the weekend he discussed having the resources to not only re-sign Davis but also to bring in a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. The O’s opened the 2015 season with a $119MM payroll.
  • The Blue Jays’ entire coaching staff will return in 2016 after agreeing to new contracts, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Davidi notes that the news isn’t necessarily a surprise, as Shapiro said during his recent introductory press conference that the entire staff had been invited back, but the finalization of the contracts is nonetheless noteworthy.

Submit Your Questions For The MLBTR Mailbag

By | at

We’ll roll out another edition of the MLBTR Mailbag this evening. The most recent edition saw Jeff Todd field questions on Jurickson Profar, the Phillies, Mitch Moreland’s trade value, Jonathan Papelbon’s future and Boston’s search for a front-line starter.

If you have question you’ve been mulling over and would like MLBTR’s take, let us know: mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com. Sheer volume will prevent us from getting to every question, of course, though readers can also send questions our way on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in the weekly live chats hosted by myself and Jeff Todd, respectively.

Three Former Major Leaguers Sign In KBO

By | at

Former Major Leaguers Michael Bowden and Hector Gomez have signed with teams in the Korea Baseball Organization, according to a report from Yonhap News’ Jee-ho Yoo. Additionally, Naver Sports’ Ji-hyun Kim reports that former Braves right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon has signed with the KT Wiz of the KBO.

Bowden, 29 hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013 with the Cubs. He has a lifetime 4.51 ERA in 133 2/3 innings in the Major Leagues but enjoyed a very strong season split between the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and Orioles, logging a combined 2.63 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 123 innings of work. The Twins had interest in retaining the former Top 100 prospect, tweets 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, but instead he’ll head to the Doosan Bears for a guaranteed $650K, per an announcement from the Bears. Bowden is a client of Turner Gary Sports.

Gomez, 27, will also receive a one-year, $650K deal to play in the KBO, joining the SK Wyverns, per another team announcement. Gomez picked up 134 plate appearances for the Brewers this season but batted .181/.212/.323 in that time with a homer and 11 doubles. Gomez played second base, third base, shortstop and left field with Milwaukee this season and is a career .298/.341/.512 hitter at the Triple-A level.

The 27-year-old Marimon made his Major League debut with the Braves this season, pitching to a 7.36 ERA in 25 1/3 innings. The Colombian right-hander has experienced far greater success in Triple-A, where he owns a 3.44 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 164 2/3 innings. Per the Naver report above, he’ll receive $600K guaranteed with the Wiz, who were an expansion team in 2015. Marimon is represented by Chris Fanta of Pro Talent Sports Group.

KBO clubs can roster three foreign players, one of whom must be a position player, per league rules. The Wiz were granted four foreign players for the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to their status as an expansion club. Yoo notes that the Wyverns retained American left-hander Chris Seddon ($500K) and right-hander Merrill Kelly ($750K) to round out their international allotment but did not re-sign outfielder Andrew Brown despite a nice first season in 2015. Seddon struggled to a 4.99 ERA in 74 innings with the Wyverns this season but has previously excelled there, logging a 2.98 mark in 187 1/3 innings in 2013. Kelly posted a 4.13 ERA in 181 innings for the Wyverns in 2015 — the first KBO season for the former Rays farmhand. Brown hit .261/.360/.496 with 28 homers in 539 plate appearances with the Wyverns — numbers that are slightly down from his lifetime production at Triple-A.

Quick Hits: Cuba, Zobrist, Dodgers, Gallardo, Tribe

By | at

For a rundown of some of the top Cuban talents who could soon be on their way to Major League Baseball, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez lists several Cuban players who are full free agents and some who are subject to the July 2 international signing limits.  Some of the free agents have yet to be officially declared as such due to paperwork, including righty Yaisel Sierra, who is considered to be the top Cuban player available on the open market this offseason.  Here’s some more from around baseball…

  • The Mets are one of many teams to contact Ben Zobrist’s agent but the Yankees don’t appear to be in the running, according to Ken Davidoff and Dan Martin of the New York Post.  The Yankees aren’t willing to pay what is likely to be a pretty significant price tag for Zobrist considering the number of teams interested in his services, and are more apt to upgrade their roster through trades rather than major free agent signings.  The Mets, meanwhile, would use Zobrist to replace Daniel Murphy at second, and also give him some time in the outfield.
  • Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly says his team’s payroll will drop from its $300MM threshold in 2015 to much closer to the $200MM level, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports.  The vast Dodger payrolls of the first few years under the Guggenheim group’s ownership were meant to ensure the team could stay competitive while rebuilding the farm system, and once this young talent starts to emerge, the spending will drop.  Boehly thinks “sustainable is more like the league average [payroll], plus some, or plus a lot.”  As Shaikin notes, this still leaves the Dodgers with the flexibility to maintain a payroll at or near the luxury tax level every year.
  • Bobby Witt, Yovani Gallardo’s agent, discussed his client’s free agency with Jim Memolo and Brad Lidge of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter links).  Gallardo is looking for a long-term deal, Witt said, which is why he rejected the Rangers’ one-year qualifying offer.  Witt said that a market for his client has yet to really develop and it may take time until the pitchers at the top of the market (i.e. David Price and Zack Greinke) pick their next teams.
  • In their end-of-season discussions, the Indians briefly considered using Jason Kipnis in the outfield next season with Jose Ramirez taking over at second, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.  The team abandoned the idea, however, since Kipnis is just too valuable at the keystone.  Cleveland is in dire need of outfield help and may need to make a big trade to fill the void, Pluto argues.
  • More Indians outfield possibilities are discussed by Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer as part of a reader mailbag, though Hoynes doubts the Tribe is quite ready to trade one of its highly-touted starters for an everyday outfielder.  Michael Brantley’s status will be a big factor, as if it looks like his injury rehab will keep him out longer than expected, Cleveland may have no choice but to trade a pitcher or sign a notable free agent.
  • The Phillies should trade Ken Giles while his value is at its highest, Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines.  Giles isn’t even eligible for arbitration until 2018, so he carries much more cost-effective and long-term value than other notable closers on the trade market like Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Papelbon or Mark Melancon.  A rebuilding team like the Phillies, Kaplan argues, has little need for a top closer.

2015-16 Offseason Outlook Series

By | at

The MLBTR staff has been hard at work on our annual Offseason Outlook series.  This post will be updated to include links to all the completed articles, and will be available under MLBTR Features on the right-hand sidebar on the desktop version of the site.

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Giants Interested In Extending Brandon Crawford

By | at

The Giants will look into signing shortstop Brandon Crawford to a long-term extension this offseason, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (Insider subscription required).  The 28-year-old Crawford is entering his second winter of arbitration, and MLBTR projects he’ll earn $5.7MM in 2016 — a nice bump from his $3.175MM salary last season.

Of course, Crawford certainly earned himself a healthy raise in the wake of breakout 2015 campaign.  The shortstop had earned a reputation as an all-glove, no-hit player over his first four seasons, though he had been quietly improving at the plate each year; Crawford even posted a 103 wRC+ in 2014, his first above-average year of run creation.  Still, few expected Crawford to suddenly hit 21 homers with a .256/.321/.462 slash line over 561 plate appearances.

While the batting average and OBP were only mild increases over Crawford’s 2011-14 numbers, Crawford had only 27 career homers and a career .359 slugging percentage heading into 2015.  The combination of this potent bat and Crawford’s best defensive year yet (as per the Defensive Runs Saved and UZR/150 metrics) led to a 4.7 fWAR season, a total topped by only 23 players in baseball last season.

It should be noted that Crawford did much of his hitting damage in the first two months of last season, and while he generally kept his power up through the summer, the rest of his numbers fell.  As well, aside from an increase in his swings at pitches in the strike zone, his hitting metrics weren’t appreciatively different from his career norms, so it could be that this inflated home run rate will be hard for Crawford to maintain.  A shortstop with 20-homer pop and strong defense carries a significant price tag, so the question of whether Crawford’s power is for real will surely be a major factor for what the Giants will offer the WMG client.

The MLBTR Extension Tracker reveals that most shortstops between 4-5 years of service time who signed extensions only took short-term deals that covered the rest of their arbitration years.  (The two big exceptions were Troy Tulowitzki and Elvis Andrus, and we can safely assume that the Giants won’t offer anything close to either of those two mega-deals.)  San Francisco is likely looking for a deal that covers Crawford’s two remaining arbitration years and at least one free agent year, probably two.  MLB.com lists three shortstops within their list of the Giants’ top seven prospects, yet none of the trio (Christian Arroyo, Lucius Fox, Jalen Miller) is older than 20 and scouts are mixed on any of them sticking at short at the Major League level, so Crawford wouldn’t be blocking anyone.

Payroll flexibility shouldn’t be an issue for the team, as Buster Posey and Hunter Pence are the only players signed beyond 2017.  One can assume Madison Bumgarner’s 2018 team option will be picked up and the Giants may sign the ace to an extension of his own.  San Francisco has also been linked to several of this winter’s top free agents in the rumor mill, so the club could also have at least one more big long-term deal on their books over the next few months.

Teams generally turn their attention to extensions once their major free agent shopping is over, so you can probably expect talks between Crawford and the Giants to pick up steam in January as the arbitration filing deadline approaches.  The two sides could also settle on a one-year deal for 2016 and then work out an extension later in February or March.

Rays Notes: Boxberger, McGee, Asdrubal, Loney

By | at

Here’s the latest from Tropicana Field, as per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times…

  • The Tigers are one of many teams who showed interest in Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger during the GM Meetings.  (Topkin also mentions the Astros, whose interest in the duo was reported a few days ago.)  The two relievers have drawn a lot of interest, yet Topkin observes that the Rays aren’t under any real pressure to make a deal now and could revisit trade talks at midseason if they don’t find a current offer to their liking.  MLBTR projects McGee to earn $4.7MM in 2016 while Boxberger is still a year away from arbitration eligibility, so the Rays aren’t yet facing any financial burden from keeping both relievers.  Detroit is known to be looking at both trades and free agency in order to upgrade their bullpen, so it’s no surprise that the Tigers would check in with Tampa.
  • It’s not impossible that Asdrubal Cabrera returns to the Rays on a one-year contract, even with the newly-acquired Brad Miller in the fold.  It helps that Miller and Logan Forsythe are both pretty versatile players, so the Rays could conceivably use both at several positions while Cabrera (or a similar veteran shortstop like Alexei Ramirez) gets the bulk of playing time at short.
  • The Rays are willing to eat some of James Loney’s $8MM salary to help facilitate a trade, which Topkin believes could help them swing a deal in a thin first base market.  Topkin also suggests that if the Rays dealt a pitcher, they could insist on adding Loney as part of the trade package.
  • Matt Moore ($5MM) or Drew Smyly ($3.9MM) could be the likeliest candidates to be moved if the Rays decided to deal another starter, Topkin opines, as both southpaws carry significant salaries for the low-payroll club.  Even after trading Nate Karns to the Mariners, the Rays may have enough young arms to get away with moving another starter, and they could also add a low-cost veteran to add further depth.
  • Topkin looks at some of the familiar names (including Daniel Nava, Rene Rivera, J.P. Arencibia) who could be cut from the Rays’ 40-man roster this week to make way for prospects to be protected in advance of the Rule 5 draft.

Cafardo’s Latest: Royals, Parra, Bradley, Hanley

By | at

The Royals feel that Ben Zobrist might re-sign with the team but Alex Gordon “is likely gone,” the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes in his weekly notes column.  With a possible hole to fill in left field, Cafardo reports that the Royals are considering free agent outfielder Gerardo Parra.  Kansas City is more concerned with defense than offense in replacing Gordon, so Parra’s hitting (which has never been his strong suit, apart from a BABIP-fueled outburst in the first half of 2015) may not be a major issue for the Royals.  Here’s some more from Cafardo…

  • The Royals, Cubs and Mariners were all reported to have interest in Jackie Bradley last week, and Cafardo adds the Mets and “perhaps the Nationals” to the list of teams checking in on the Red Sox outfielder.  Despite all this trade buzz, Bradley may remain in Boston since baseball ops president Dave Dombrowski has long had interest in Bradley himself, even exploring acquiring him from the Sox when Dombrowski was the Tigers’ general manager.  Dombrowski has already implied that the Sox may be through with big trades for young talent in the wake of shipping four prospects to San Diego for Craig Kimbrel, which would mean that Bradley could indeed be staying put at Fenway Park.
  • An NL general manager doesn’t think the Red Sox can get through the 2016 season without parting ways with at least one of Hanley Ramirez or Pablo Sandoval.  Dealing either for value looks to be near impossible since both players have large contracts and are coming off rough seasons, but “sometimes you have to cut your losses.  A big-market team like Boston can do that,” the GM said.  “They have to decide whether having those two players in their clubhouse, in what is otherwise a young, accountable clubhouse, is worth it. You don’t want players tearing down what you’re trying to build. So whatever method was used to acquire those players didn’t work. So now you have to have your own chemistry lesson and determine if you can live with those guys. I would think they’d try to move one or both.”
  • Tigers GM Al Avila is upgrading the club’s analytics department from one full-time employee to three, as well as interns and some outside consultants.
  • The Braves talked to Chris Iannetta’s agents before re-signing A.J. Pierzynski to fill their need at catcher.  Iannetta has been linked to the Mariners in recent days, though there have been conflicting reports as to exactly how close he is to joining the M’s.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top