Latest On Marlins’ Rotation Search
The Marlins still hope to add a starting pitcher to their rotation and have internally discussed some potential bargain options such as Doug Fister, Cliff Lee and Edwin Jackson, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jackson adds a wrinkle to the Marlins’ reported attempt at acquiring Aroldis Chapman (before his trade to the Yankees), noting that the team had considered inserting Chapman into its rotation.
All three of the free agents listed by Jackson are probably in line for one-year deals. As a four-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner, the 37-year-old Lee comes with the highest ceiling but also quite a bit of risk after missing the 2015 season with a torn flexor tendon. He’s reportedly seeking a one-year deal with a winning team as he attempts to revive his career.
Fister was one of the game’s more underrated pitchers from 2011-14, when he posted a 3.11 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 in 750 2/3 innings with the Mariners, Tigers and Nationals. However, 2015 was a much different tale, as Fister’s average fastball velocity dipped from about 89 mph to 86 mph. The diminished heater undoubtedly contributed to what was the worst full season of Fister’s career; the 31-year-old (32 in February) logged a 4.60 ERA across 15 starts before losing his rotation spot and experiencing better results in the bullpen.
As for Jackson, he’s coming off a disappointing tenure with the Cubs. Signed to a four-year, $52MM contract prior to the 2013 season, Jackson posted a 5.58 ERA in 316 innings out of the Cubs’ rotation in his first two seasons in Chicago. In 2015, he quietly rebounded in the bullpen, pitching to a 3.07 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 54 2/3 innings between the Cubs and Braves. It’s been quiet on the Jackson front this offseason, but he’ll presumably receive interest both as a reliever and as a starter following his solid bullpen work between Chicago and Atlanta. If he does prefer to reestablish himself as a starter — and at 32, there’s plenty of time for that — Miami seemingly wouldn’t be a bad place to take a shot. Marlins Park has been a pitcher-friendly environment since opening in 2012, although the Marlins are altering the dimensions this offseason, which could remove some of the pitchers’ advantage. Jackson would be a low-cost addition for any club that signed him, as he’s still owed $13MM from the Cubs this season, so he’d only cost a club the league minimum and a roster spot.
White Sox Only Interested In Three-Year Deal With Gordon, Cespedes
The White Sox have interest in free agent outfielders Alex Gordon and Yoenis Cespedes, but only on a deal that would promise three years or less, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. That’s obviously a far shorter commitment than the veterans are looking for.
Cespedes has yet to be tied closely to any particular team despite coming off of a season in which he slashed .287/.337/.604 and hit 35 home runs. Most recently, we heard that the White Sox and Orioles were looking like the most landing spots. But Baltimore is said to have no interest in nearing the $140MM price tag that we predicted here at MLBTR at the start of the offseason. And it obviously doesn’t sound as if Chicago does, either.
As I explained in a profile of Cespedes and his free agent case, it was and still is difficult to peg a specific landing spot for the Cuban native. That’s true, in large part, because there are two other premium corner outfielders available in Gordon and Justin Upton, as well as another high-end power bat in Chris Davis.
As for Gordon, who we predicted to top $100MM over five years, it seemed at one point that he could come off the board before the holidays. It’s not immediately clear whether the delay is a good or bad sign for his earning capacity, but it’s certainly possible to imagine that he’s fielding interest from multiple teams. And then there’s the involvement of the Royals, the only team he’s ever played for. Gordon himself said recently that the Royals are still in play, despite reports that their most recent offer was not competitive.
The organizations I listed as possible Cespedes suitors still arguably look like strong possible fits for either player. That includes the Angels, Giants, Tigers, Cardinals, Orioles, and White Sox. But those teams, and possibly a few others, appear to be engaged in something of a staring contest with the players and agents across the table — to say nothing of the other teams that hold veteran trade assets.
That stand-off seems unlikely to be broken by any three-year arrangement at this stage of the offseason, though it is certainly possible to imagine such an offer holding some appeal. Dangling a sky-high AAV and opt-out sweetener may ultimately be competitive, but that’s probably only an option that these players would consider after exhausting the possibilities for a longer deal.
Astros Sign Eury Perez To Minors Deal
The Astros have announced the signing of outfielder Eury Perez to a minor league pact. Houston also added righty Cesar Valdez and invited both to major league training camp this spring.
Perez, 25, received his first chance at extended big league action last year with the Braves. Over 133 plate appearances, he slashed .269/.331/.303 and contributed three stolen bases. He was non-tendered by Atlanta earlier this winter.
While he’s always been light on power, the center field-capable Perez has shown quite a bit of speed in the minors and owns a .307/.358/.402 batting line in 1,115 Triple-A plate appearances. He was once a fairly highly-regarded prospect with the Nationals and could still have some function in the majors if he can reach base enough.
The 30-year-old Valdez saw brief MLB action back in 2010, but has pitched exclusively overseas since 2012. His return to affiliated ball was likely driven by his 2015 performance in Mexico. Working for the Olmecas de Tobasco, Valdez threw 160 2/3 innings in 23 starts and racked up 9.0 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9.
The ‘Stros also announced their non-roster spring camp invites, which include some notable names from the minor league system. Among them are recent draft picks Alex Bregman and Derek Fisher as well as prospects A.J. Reed, Tony Kemp, Colin Moran, and J.D. Davis.
Central Notes: Moore, Jaso, White Sox
We took a look in at Kansas City’s potential pitching needs earlier today, and there are a few more notes from the game’s central divisions to share on a quiet New Year’s Day:
- There’s a case to be made that Royals GM Dayton Moore qualifies as MLB’s most notable figure in 2015, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes. While the publication gave that title to Bryce Harper, but the successful culmination of Moore’s efforts in Kansas City certain made for a notable story — particularly from a hot stove perspective.
- New Pirates first baseman John Jaso said yesterday on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link) that he chose his new team in part due to the opportunity to play in the field. Most of the interest he saw was from American League clubs that would have utilized him as a DH, but he says he’s drawn by the challenge of being a quality defender at a new position.
- While the White Sox have had “dialogue” with the top three free agent outfielders — that’d be Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alex Gordon — there’s nothing close at present, Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently tweeted. That’s not particularly surprising to hear, in part because Chicago seems to be set up rather nicely to be an opportunistic buyer rather than focusing on getting a particular player at all costs.
Royals Still Interested In Adding To Rotation
The Royals are not done shopping for starting pitching, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Kansas City is “still pursuing” rotation pieces for the coming season, per the report.
It’s not immediately clear what level of arm would be of interest to the Royals, whose biggest moves this winter have been the signings of reliever Joakim Soria (three years, $25MM) and starter Chris Young (two years, $11.5MM). In addition to the staff, K.C. is looking for at least one corner outfielder and could conceivably look to improve at second base.
As things stand, Young appears set to slot in alongside Danny Duffy and Kris Medlen at the back of the rotation. Righties Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura will presumably front the staff, which lost Johnny Cueto to free agency (as was widely expected).
There are some other depth pieces, including minor league free agent Dillon Gee, but it’s not hard to see the appeal of another arm to compete this spring and provide options during the year. After all, the club will be without Jason Vargas for most or all of 2016 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. And it gave up some promising, near-MLB arms last summer in the deals that landed Cueto and Ben Zobrist (see here and here).
There are certainly still plenty of options to choose from for GM Dayton Moore and his staff. At the top of the market, Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo, and Ian Kennedy remain unsigned, though all would cost a draft pick to add.
Quick Hits: Baez, Baker, Prospects, Market
Barring a late-breaking move as the ball drops, this’ll be the last post of 2015 on MLBTR. Thanks for another great year! Be sure to join us bright and early tomorrow for a new one that will start with an arguably unprecedented slate of unsigned free agents.
Here are a few stray notes from around baseball:
- In a piece for Baseball America, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times explores the question whether Javier Baez can turn into a Ben Zobrist-esque player for the Cubs. Baez has been getting a look in the outfield this spring, as has previously been reported. “It just adds to his versatility,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. “He’s someone who always enjoyed taking fly balls during batting practice out in center field shagging, and he’s always looked really good doing so.” Of course, Chicago will enjoy Zobrist regardless, since it just signed the genuine article this winter
- The Cubs have hired former backstop John Baker as a baseball operations assistant, as Wittenmyer also notes. The veteran wrapped up his seven-year MLB career in Chicago with a 68-game run in 2014. MLBTR wishes him the best of luck in his new gig.
- MLB.com’s Jim Callis lists his ten breakout prospects for the coming year. Among the interesting names to watch is Jake Bauers, a little-known piece of last year’s blockbuster three-team trade that sent Wil Myers to the Padres and netted the Rays Steven Souza. The rising youngster could make that deal sting even more for San Diego than it has already. Likewise, pitchers Josh Hader of the Brewers (added in the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers deadline swap), Frances Martes of the Astros (who came from the Marlins in the deal that sent Jarred Cosart to Miami), and Cody Reed of the Reds (a part of the Johnny Cueto flip this past summer) could change the calculus of the transactions that brought them to their current organizations, in the estimation of Callis.
- ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden provides his breakdown of the single most important missing piece for every team in the league in an Insider piece. Looking down his list, it’s notable how many clubs he cites as needing a corner outfielder. That market figures to explode at some point early in 2016.
Reactions To The Dodgers’ Signing Of Scott Kazmir
The Dodgers officially agreed yesterday to a three-year, $48MM deal — which also includes an opt-out after the 2016 campaign — with free agent southpaw Scott Kazmir. Here are some reactions to the deal from around the game:
- Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi addressed the signing yesterday, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. Giving in to an opt-out clause after just one season fit the team’s situation in several ways, he suggested. For one, there are several quality pitching prospects that could be ready to step in for 2017. And if Kazmir triggers the clause, then L.A. will be able to recoup a draft pick by making a qualifying offer. “In Scott’s case, he and his representation are aware that next year’s free-agent starting pitching market will probably be a pretty good seller’s market,” said Zaidi. “From our standpoint, we have a lot of good young pitching that we feel is going to be ready to contribute at some point in 2016 and certainly by 2017.”
- The move to add Kazmir wouldn’t necessarily preclude other rotation additions, said Zaidi. Indeed, the club has since reportedly reached agreement with Japanese righty Kenta Maeda. “There are some guys coming back from injury,” Zaidi said. “To the extent that adding more certainty to the rotation is an option for us over the next couple of months, we’ll definitely continue to look.”
- The Astros had interest in Kazmir “all along,” Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets. But the team simply wasn’t willing to reach the salary level that the Dodgers offered the lefty. As Drellich explains in a post on the signing, Houston could stand to add a rotation arm after losing Kazmir and giving up some depth via trade. Whether or not that might come via free agency remains to be seen, as Drellich notes that it’s possible to imagine the organization dealing for an arm and then signing a position player off of the open market to compensate for whatever trade chips are utilized.
- Missing on Kazmir hurts the Orioles, who look in need of some upgrading in the rotation. But while noting his value, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com also questions the wisdom of including an opt-out clause one year into a three-year pact.
- MLB.com’s Mike Petriello likes the signing for the Dodgers, noting that Kazmir’s recent durability has flipped the script on the idea that he’s an injury risk. Petriello explains that the lefty has varied his arsenal and proved effective over a long enough stretch to warrant this kind of payday. But, he argues, it’s also a nice value for the team given the price of other pitchers this winter.
- MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette argues (audio link) that the Dodgers can find value late in the free agent market after inking Kazmir. (Of course, the club has already gone on to reportedly strike a deal with Maeda.) He suggests that bringing back Howie Kendrick would make a good deal of sense — presumably, by deepening the infield and bumping Kike Hernandez to an outfield role — though Zaidi downplayed that possibility.
MLBTR Live Chat: 12-31-15
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with MLBTR’s Jeff Todd.
Yankees Notes: Chapman, Miller, Betances
The latest from the Bronx:
- The Yankees bullpen probably won’t be any better in 2016, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs opines. The Yankees now have the most fearsome trio of relievers of any team in baseball with Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances, but Sullivan can’t fathom the ’16 bullpen actually besting the 2015 bullpen. The Yankees were 66-3 when leading after six, and 73-2 when leading after seven innings, and there’s not much room to grow from there. Still, the Yankees were projected to regress a bit in the bullpen area, so the Chapman acquisition made plenty of sense.
- The Bombers head into 2016 with plenty of work to do, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes. The Yankees may look to address their starting pitching as none of their starters topped 170 innings in 2015. Still, they have plenty of names to work with as Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell are already in-house. It appears that outfielder Brett Gardner and left-handed closer Andrew Miller could be available if the Yankees get an offer they can’t refuse, but that has not come along yet.
- The Yankees’ bullpen trio could make history, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. No team has ever featured three relievers who recorded at least 100 strikeouts in a season and only six teams have ever had two pitchers reach the 100 K mark. Cassavell stacked the three Yankees hurlers up against the 2014 Royals bullpen trio and also compared them to some reliever groups from the past.
Heyman On Cespedes, Parra, Davis
There could be more great star free agents still available as we head into the New Year than ever before, in the estimation of CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. The question now is – where will they land? Here’s the latest from Heyman:
- Angels owner Arte Moreno has indicated that he’s not going to make a major free agent splash between now and Opening Day, but Heyman hears that the Halos have been in contact with Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and perhaps Alex Gordon as well. It’s not clear how serious they are about signing one of the three, however.
- Gerardo Parra is said to have “seven or eight” teams in on him and the Rockies are in “serious” pursuit. Colorado has been considering trades involving Carlos Gonzalez and their other outfielders, so a Parra signing could be a part of a serious outfield overhaul for them. Parra slashed .291/.328/.452 in 2015 and he boasts a strong reputation as a defensive outfielder, though his fielding statistics took a big step backward last season. The Royals are also known to have interest.
- When asked about free agent slugger Chris Davis, one person connected to the Astros said the player is “not in our plans.” Davis would be a strong fit for Houston, in theory, but he is out of their price range. The 29-year-old Davis is the top power bat on the open market, as he has led the Majors in homers over the past three seasons.
- When approached, the Yankees asked the Astros for Lance McCullers Jr. in exchange for Andrew Miller, and Houston quickly rebuffed that attempt. The Yankees are seeking a No. 1 pitcher in order to part with Miller, so it seems unlikely that he’ll go anywhere.
- Word is that new Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman is unlikely to serve a lengthy suspension for his alleged domestic violence incident. Heyman reasons that the Bombers wouldn’t have made the deal if they felt that Chapman was in store for a long ban.
- The Padres still need a shortstop but one person with Padres connections wondered whether an investment of “$60MM to $70MM” (his estimate) made sense for them given that they are not expected to contend this year. However, Heyman notes that president Mike Dee and GM A.J. Preller are aggressive and they might not want to pass up on the chance to ink a player like Desmond at a sensible number. Heyman also IDs the Rockies and White Sox as dark horse teams for Desmond.
- The Cardinals were another club that downplayed the possibility of a major move, but GM John Mozeliak went out and signed Mike Leake after publicly stating that he wasn’t going to make any “dynamic” moves. Could they have another significant move in store? Heyman has heard buzz that the Cards may also be looking again at a big bat at first or in the outfield.
- When asked about the possibility of Cespedes, one Nationals-connected person said, “Probably not, at least not at the moment.” That doesn’t make a signing likely by any means, but it also doesn’t rule out a pursuit.
- There are still “about six to seven teams involved” when it comes to Cespedes, Heyman writes.
- The Dodgers are still looking around after signing Scott Kazmir, so they are not out on Japanese star Kenta Maeda. The Yankees, meanwhile, can be crossed off the list as they are not interested. Maeda, 28 in April, is widely considered to be one of the best pitchers in Japan. He just wrapped up a season in which he pitched to a 2.09 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 across 206 1/3 innings, marking his sixth consecutive season with an earned run average of 2.60 or better.
- Marlins president president David Samson contends that owner Jeffrey Loria still has “no interest” in selling the club.