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The Yankees’ Managerial Search

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After the announcement that Joe Girardi won’t be back to manage the team in 2018, the Yankees are now looking for just their third skipper in the last 22 seasons.  The new manager will step into an enviable situation, taking over a team with one of the sport’s biggest payrolls and an array of young star talent, though there will be immediate pressure on the new dugout boss to win.  Eight years without a World Series counts as a major drought by the Yankees’ standards, and since the current roster finished just a game shy of the AL pennant, there is reason to believe this group is ready to win now.

As with previous managerial searches, we’ll keep a running post on any news and rumors connected to possible candidates for the Yankees’ job.

Latest Updates

  • The Yankees are not limiting themselves to the five candidates that are known to have interviewed, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden reports (Twitter links). That seems to introduce a bit of a wild card to the search at this stage. How many additional candidates might get interviews isn’t known, but there seems to be at least one name already on the list for a sit-down. Beltran, who is discussed further below, will be brought in for a closer look, according to Steve Phillips of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (via Twitter).

Interviewing Candidates

  • Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward is slated to interview, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. The former big league infielder has been a base coach and an infield instructor with the Dodgers and Mariners for the past four seasons. It is not known at present whether others will also get a shot at an interview, but owner Hal Steinbrenner did make clear the club will meet with “less than ten” candidates, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch recently tweeted. (The team’s plans for additional interview rounds are also not apparent.)
  • Broadcaster Aaron Boone and Giants coach Hensley Meulens have each had their interviews, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported would take place. Boone’s candidacy was first reported by ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). The long-time big leaguer, who spent a small but memorable portion of his career with the Yankees, does not have any big league coaching experience. Meulens is also a former Yankee player; Sherman first called him someone “who could come into play” for the job.
  • The Yankees have interviewed former Mariners and Indians skipper Eric Wedge for the post, tweets ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand. The 2007 American League Manager of the Year, Wedge hasn’t been in a big league dugout since the 2013 season — his final in Seattle. Since that time, he’s spent two seasons as an analyst with ESPN and another two working with the Blue Jays’ player development department. He’s currently a field coordinator in the Toronto organization.
  • Bench coach Rob Thomson sat down with the organization about the managerial opening on November 8th, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter), though it doesn’t seem as if he faced the press afterward. Thomson has been on Girardi’s staff since 2008 and previously worked in the Yankees’ player development department.

Preliminary Candidates (Interview Status Unknown)

  • If Boone was an unexpected candidate, then the most recent possibility to be floated comes straight from left field — almost literally. Even as he announced the end of his playing career today, Carlos Beltran was generating buzz in relation to the Yankees managerial opening. In interviews with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera, Beltran said he wants to manage (at least eventually) and suggested he’d have interest in the gig. Cashman did not commit to anything when asked to comment, saying that he’s “aware of [Beltran’s] interest in managing in the future” but declining to elaborate otherwise on the matter. Carlos Beltran tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post that he had a “brief conversation” with GM Brian Cashman and that he has a desire to apply his knowledge and passion for the game to a managerial role in the Majors. Beltran also indicated that he hasn’t been asked to come in for an interview, though, and Sherman suggests that the Yankees may only interview one or two additional candidates for the position, casting some doubt as to whether Beltran is truly a possibility.
  • Former major league infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. is a potential candidate, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears (Twitter link). Hairston was a member of the Yankees’ most recent World Series-winning team in 2009, but he doesn’t bring any coaching experience to the table. Interestingly, though, former ESPN.com writer Mark Saxon noted back in 2013 that managing could be in Hairston’s future. As Saxon detailed, Hairston is fluent in Spanish – a valuable asset for a manager – and, at the time, was a mentor to some of his younger teammates on the Dodgers. That season went down as the last of Hairston’s playing career. The 41-year-old has been working as a Dodgers broadcaster since retiring in December 2013.
  • Per Sherman and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, some of the internal candidates likely to receive consideration include bench coach Rob Thomson, first base coach Tony Pena, minor league hitting and baserunning coach Reggie Willits, and minor league managers Al Pedrique (Triple-A), Jay Bell (advanced A-ball) and Josh Paul (short season A-ball).

Unlikely Candidates/Not In The Mix/No Longer Under Consideration

  • The Yankees asked the Athletics for permission to speak with manager Bob Melvin, but were not given authorization, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).
  • Former Yankee outfielder and current Dodgers special adviser Raul Ibanez was mentioned by both Sherman and Hoch. But he decided not to pursue the position after being contacted, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post tweets.
  • Recently fired Tigers manager Brad Ausmus also declined a chance to interview, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
  • Josh Paul isn’t considered a candidate, according to George A. King III of the New York Post.
  • Kevin Long was initially cited by Sherman as “a long shot,” but has since signed on to become the Nationals’ hitting coach.
  • Yankees VP of baseball operations Tim Naehring tells ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand that he isn’t interested in being considered for the job.  Naehring has worked almost entirely in front office capacities for the Reds and Yankees since he retired from playing, and Marchand suggests that Naehring is a future GM candidate for other teams.
  • The Yankees have not contacted the Marlins about manager Don Mattingly, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported.  Miami has announced more recently that Mattingly will remain with the organization as manager.
  • The idea of Alex Rodriguez becoming the Yankees’ manager is “the longest of long shots,” according to Hoch.  Given the controversy and hard feelings that seemed to accompany A-Rod’s final years in New York, Rodriguez would indeed seem like a very unlikely fit, especially given how he has seemingly moved onto a new career in broadcasting.

Team Approach

  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman discussed the search with reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Cashman said that the organization prefers a “fresh voice” to connect with its young players, indicating that Girardi wasn’t the man to improve “the connectivity and the communication level of the players in that clubhouse.” The veteran executive says he did not enter the search process with a list of candidates already prepared, suggesting it’s a wide-open search.
  • Interestingly, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter links), the plan is for candidates to meet with the media — in part, perhaps, as part of the evaluation process. And though Cashman says he may in the past have sought out employees with whom he had previously worked, he notes that won’t be a “driving force” in this case. Sherman previously discussed that potential factor.

Carlos Beltran Announces Retirement

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Carlos Beltran will retire after spending parts of 20 seasons in the Majors, he announced today via The Players’ Tribune. The former AL Rookie of the Year and nine-time All-Star won his first World Series championship with the Astros in 2017 and will end a likely Hall of Fame career on that high note.

Carlos Beltran | Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Beltran made his Major League debut at the age of 21 with the Royals in 1998 and made a strong first impression in a small sample of 14 games. He burst onto the scene a year later with a .293/.337/454 batting line, 22 homers, 108 RBIs and 112 runs scored en route to American League Rookie of the Year honors. A knee injury limited Beltran to just 98 games in 2000, but he cemented himself as one of the game’s top young stars with a brilliant, healthy campaign in 2001.

Beltran remained in Kansas City until the 2004 season when the Royals sent him to the Astros in a three-team trade that netted them Mark Teahen and John Buck. Beltran, who had earned his first career All-Star nod that season, starred for the ’Stros down the stretch before delivering one of the most incredible postseason performances in MLB history that year. Houston topped Atlanta in the NLDS and took the Cardinals to Game 7 of the NLCS, and in those 12 games Beltran put the Astros’ offense on his back; in 56 trips to the plate, he batted a ridiculous .435/.526/1.022 with eight home runs, three doubles, 21 runs scored and 14 RBIs.

That offseason, Beltran inked a seven-year, $119MM contract with the Mets — the largest in franchise history at the time — where he continued to build on his Cooperstown resume. Beltran made the All-Star team in each of his first three seasons with the Mets (and five of his seven overall), and he turned in yet another memorable playoff performance  in 2006. While many remember Beltran being frozen at the hands of an Adam Wainwright curveball to close out Game 7 of that NLCS, Beltran’s greater contributions to that outstanding series came in the the form of a 1.054 OPS and three homers in just 31 plate appearances. Overall, he batted .280/.369/.500 in six and a half seasons with the Mets before being traded to the Giants in exchange for Zack Wheeler.

Beltran went on to sign a two-year, $26MM contract with the Cardinals that offseason, making two more All-Star teams and two more excellent postseason appearances. He parlayed his .282/.343/.493 triple slash in two St. Louis seasons into a three-year, $45MM contract with the Yankees. With the Yankees, he received one final All-Star nod (in 2016) and appeared in the 2015 Wild Card game before being flipped to the Rangers a 2016 trade that sent former first-rounder Dillon Tate to New York. Beltran remained an above-average hitter all the way through that run in Texas, hitting a combined .271/.327/.468 over the life of that three-year deal.

The 2017 season was Beltran’s least-productive offensive campaign since that injury-shortened 2000 season, but he still clocked 14 home runs in 509 plate appearances and served as a leader and mentor for much of Houston’s impressive young core. While Beltran served as the postseason engine on many of his teams during his peak years, he played the role of a vocal leader and wise elder statesman in his final postseason run. An emotional Beltran dedicated his team’s World Series victory to his hurricane-ravaged home island of Puerto Rico and to the city of Houston, which was also devastated by Hurricane Harvey earlier this year

Beltran and his wife, Jessica, started a fund to aid in Puerto Rico’s recovery and made an initial donation of $1MM, and he also founded the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico back in 2011 — a bilingual high school emphasizing education in addition to athletics.

All told, Beltran’s remarkable career will come to a close with a lifetime .279/.350/.486 batting line, 435 home runs, 1582 runs scored, 1587 RBIs, 312 stolen bases, nine All-Star appearances, three Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, a Rookie of the Year trophy and a World Series ring. In addition to a superlative body of work in the regular season, he batted .307/.412/.609 with 16 home runs in 65 playoff games (256 plate appearances), making him one of the most decorated postseason batters of all time. He should have one more accolade let to add to the ledger when his name is immortalized among the all-time greats in Cooperstown.

Beltran earned roughly $222MM, per Baseball-Reference, over the life of a career that both B-Ref (69.8 WAR) and Fangraphs (67.2 WAR) consider to be among the absolute best of the past of the past two generations (before even attempting to value his considerable postseason accomplishments). Congratulations to Beltran — one of the best we’ll have the privilege of watching in our lifetimes — on an exceptional career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Astros, Royals, Gagne

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Two weeks ago, the Dodgers were leaning toward having left-hander Julio Urias open the season in their rotation. It now appears he’ll begin in the minors as they attempt to tamp down his workload, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The 20-year-old phenom threw a career-high 122 innings between the majors and minors in 2016, and LA wants to keep him fresh this season for a potential playoff run. Should the Dodgers send down Urias, they’d choose among Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood and “wild card” Hyun-Jin Ryu to fill their final two rotation spots, adds Sherman (Twitter links here).

Elsewhere around the majors…

  • Houston’s acquisition of catcher Brian McCann from the Yankees in November played a key role in their December signing of designated hitter Carlos Beltran, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow informed Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “As we recruited Beltran, bringing McCann over was a big part of getting Beltran to accept coming over here,” said Luhnow. Teammates in New York from 2014-16, McCann and Beltran have already been quite valuable behind the scenes for the Astros, per Luhnow. “These two guys have been a tremendous boost to the environment in our clubhouse,” he stated. “I’m so glad they’re here.”
  • When he accepted the Royals’ two-year, $12MM guarantee as a free agent last month, southpaw Travis Wood seemed like a decent bet to start 2017 in their rotation. But another offseason acquisition, trade pickup Nate Karns, has emerged over Wood and Chris Young as the clear favorite for Kansas City’s last starting spot, tweets Sherman. The right-handed Karns, 29, made 46 starts with the Nationals, Rays and Mariners from 2013-16 and logged a 4.19 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 over 249 innings. The 30-year-old Wood worked solely as a reliever with the World Series champion Cubs last season, which came after he racked up 133 starts in Cincinnati and Chicago from 2010-15. He recorded the same ERA as Karns (4.19) to go with 7.11 K/9 against 3.15 BB/9 during that 776-inning span.
  • Free agent reliever Eric Gagne, 41, is making a case for a contract in the World Baseball Classic, though the Team Canada righty and 2003 NL Cy Young winner realizes he’d first have to succeed in the minors to have any chance at returning to the majors. “I know the game, I know how it happens, I know they need spots on the 40-man roster and don’t want to release a young guy for a 41 year old, so of course I’d be willing to do anything,” the former closer told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Gagne, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2008, worked out for five teams before the WBC, writes Davidi, and has since fared well in the tournament. “Words are irrelevant at this point. Clubs are seeing it with their own eyes,” Gagne’s agent, Scott Leventhal, told FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

East News & Rumors: EE, BoSox, Yanks, Jays, Bruce, Marlins

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Free agent designated hitter/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion has three preferred landing spots – the Blue Jays, Red Sox and an unidentified team – a major league source told Rob Bradford of WEEI. The mystery club isn’t the Yankees, per Bradford, and they’re likely out of the running for Encarnacion (if they were ever in it) after adding Matt Holliday. The Blue Jays could be out, too, as they’ve reached deals with two first base/DH types in Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce this offseason. The fact that Toronto moved on to other options so quickly after Encarnacion rejected its four-year, $80MM offer came as a surprise to the longtime Jay, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

More from the majors’ two East divisions:

  • Despite reported interest in Holliday and now-Astro Carlos Beltran, Boston didn’t make offers to either, Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. “I figured we would wait to see what takes place later on, who’s out there. Our priority is to try to get a guy that can pitch the eighth inning for us,” said Dombrowski, who’s working with a limited amount of spending room because of a desire to stay under the $195MM luxury-tax threshold. “There’s a little bit more of a drive to [stay under]. But I can’t tell you where we we’re going to end up,” he stated. “There are penalties attached that I would rather not be in a position that we have to incur.” That would seem to rule out any possibility of Encarnacion to Boston, which already looked unlikely entering Monday. As for the bullpen, Dombrowski is unsure whether he’ll acquire a setup man via trade or free agency, but he hasn’t ruled out re-signing either Brad Ziegler or Koji Uehara.
  • The Yankees are one of “several” teams engaging in “ongoing” dialogue with free agent infielder Luis Valbuena, his agent, Steve Schneider, told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Bombers have so far balked at the demands of Valbuena, who is seeking a multiyear deal and wants an everyday role. New York won’t be able to offer a daily place in its lineup to Valbuena unless it deals third baseman Chase Headley, but the club hasn’t had any luck doing that. Valbuena, 31, spent the previous two years in Houston and is coming off his third straight strong offensive campaign, though his season ended in August because of hamstring surgery.
  • The Blue Jays continue to have interest in acquiring outfielder Jay Bruce from the Mets, but they’re “offering little,” relays FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Toronto nearly acquired Bruce from Cincinnati last offseason, but the deal fell apart and he went on to hit .250/.309/.506 with 33 home runs in 589 plate appearances with the Reds and Mets. New York is now likely to move Bruce, who will make $13MM next season in the final year of his contract.
  • The Marlins are “looking outside the organization” for a backup catcher to replace now-Diamondback Jeff Mathis, team president Michael Hill said Monday (Twitter link via Spencer). A.J. Ellis came up as a possibility Monday.

AL West Notes: Hernandez, Utley, A’s, Mariners, Beltran

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News and rumors from around the AL West…

  • The Angels checked in with the Phillies about second baseman Cesar Hernandez at the start of the offseason but talks didn’t develop due to the Phils’ high asking price, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.  While Hernandez doesn’t look like an option, Fletcher lists several other relatively inexpensive second base possibilities who could be available for the Halos in free agency or in trades.
  • One name cited by Fletcher is Chase Utley, and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman indeed tweets that the Angels “have emerged” as a potential landing spot for the veteran second baseman.  Utley has a clear path to playing time in Anaheim and he would get to stay in his hometown area.
  • The Athletics and Royals have a pretty healthy trade history, MLB.com’s Jane Lee notes, and the clubs could work out another deal to land the A’s a center fielder in the form of Jarrod Dyson.  Lorenzo Cain is also available, if more expensive and Oakland would have to give quite a bit more to land him.  Lee’s piece suggests several names that could be on Oakland’s radar for the center field vacancy, though costs will keep the A’s away from many of the bigger names.
  • Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said his club is engaged in talks to acquire a starter, with a trade more likely than a signing, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes.  Dutton speculates that Scott Kazmir or Brandon McCarthy, both of whom are reportedly being shopped by the Dodgers, could be fits in Seattle.  On the free agent front, the M’s are still interested in Doug Fister but don’t seem to have much interest in such options as Colby Lewis, Derek Holland or C.J. Wilson.
  • New Astros signee Carlos Beltran was introduced to media (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) during his introductory press conference today, and he said the Astros quickly drew his attention in free agency.  “They really made an offer early, faster than any other team….The fact they were aggressive and went out there and really showed big-time interest, it wasn’t that difficult to make to make a decision,” Beltran said.
  • In other AL West News, the Rangers were covered in a team-centric notes post as well as news about their bigger-ticket outfield targets.

Astros Sign Carlos Beltran

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DEC. 5: The Astros announced that Beltran has passed his physical, making the contract complete.

DEC. 3: The Astros have agreed to a one-year, $16MM deal with free agent DH Carlos Beltran, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (Twitter links). Beltran is an MVP Sports Group client. Beltran will receive a no-trade clause, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News had previously tweeted that Beltran would sign today. Since Beltran was traded last season, the Yankees could not extend him a qualifying offer, and thus the Astros will not have to sacrifice a draft pick.

[RELATED: Updated Houston Astros Depth Chart]

Carlos BeltranThe Astros had repeatedly been connected to Beltran, and earlier this week it emerged that they were confident they could sign either Beltran or Edwin Encarnacion. The Red Sox, too, reportedly were very strongly interested in signing Beltran. The Yankees looked like a possibility as well, although Feinsand tweeted today that they were out of the running. Beltran agreeing to terms with Houston could pave the way for the Yankees to sign Encarnacion, though, as FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets.

In Houston, Beltran will join a new-look Astros lineup that also now features catcher Brian McCann, left fielder Nori Aoki and right fielder Josh Reddick. Those three veterans will join a young core that includes Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and George Springer, alongside top second baseman Jose Altuve.

Before the Beltran deal, Evan Gattis had been slated to fit in with the Astros at DH, and the Astros recently exercised their $5.2MM option on him. Gattis is coming off a strong season in which he hit .251/.319/.508 with 32 home runs. His exact role with the 2017 Astros is unclear, but he figures to catch sometimes (playing while McCann sits), while also sometimes playing corner outfield or DH’ing on days in which Beltran plays in the field.

Beltran turns 40 in April, but he showed no signs of slowing down last season, batting .295/.337/.513 with 29 homers for the Yankees and Rangers. That hitting line placed him among the game’s better designated hitters — the only ones who were markedly better were David Ortiz, Nelson Cruz and Encarnacion. The switch-hitting Beltran was particularly deadly against lefties, batting .338/.380/.589 with nine homers in 163 plate appearances, but he also hit righties well. Beltran no longer has the baserunning or defensive value he did as a young man, but his skills at the plate have aged remarkably well, as he’s topped an .800 OPS in five of the last six seasons.

Beltran now has 421 home runs in a career that stretches all the way back to 1998. In that span of nearly two decades, he’s played with both Astros manager A.J. Hinch (with the Royals in 2001 and 2002) and bench coach Alex Cora (with the Mets in 2009 and 2010). Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets that Hinch and Cora’s familiarity with Beltran might have played a role in the Astros’ decision to acquire him. This will be Beltran’s second stint with the Astros — he hit .258/.368/.559 with 23 homers with them down the stretch in 2004.

MLBTR ranked Beltran the 33rd-best free agent available this offseason and predicted he would get a one-year, $14MM deal. The $16MM Beltran will receive next season is a slight raise on the $15MM per season he received on his previous three-year deal with the Yankees, and is the same as the amount Ortiz received in both 2015 and 2016.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade/FA Rumors: Bregman, Solarte, Dodgers, Jays, Tribe, Holland

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It’s possible the Astros will add an ace-caliber pitcher via trade this offseason, but it’s not going to come at the expense of 22-year-old infielder Alex Bregman. Astros executives are telling teams that there’s “no chance” Bregman will go anywhere, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (Insider required and recommended). That’s hardly a surprise, as Bregman is controllable through the 2022 season and has been resoundingly successful since the Astros took him second overall in the 2015 draft. After racing through the minors, Bregman thrived in his first taste of big league action this past season and now looks like the Astros’ long-term solution at third base.

More rumors from around the majors:

  • The Padres are “aggressively shopping” infielder Yangervis Solarte, and the NL West rival Dodgers are among the teams discussing him with San Diego, relays FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The Dodgers have openings at both second and third base, two places Solarte has seen action. Most of Solarte’s work has come at the hot corner, where the expectation is the Dodgers will re-sign Justin Turner.
  • The Blue Jays are “in talks” with free agent utilityman Steve Pearce, tweets Olney. Toronto first showed interest in Pearce last month. With Kendrys Morales and Justin Smoak already in the fold, signing Pearce would give the Jays another first base/designated hitter type and perhaps signal the end of the Edwin Encarnacion era.
  • The Indians made runs at two notable free agent DH/outfield types in now-Astro Carlos Beltran and the newest Yankee, Matt Holliday, according to Rosenthal and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Cleveland continues to look at available “corner bats,” Rosenthal adds. Several free agent first basemen/DHs are reportedly on their radar.
  • Free agent reliever Greg Holland is “a popular guy” at the winter meetings, a major league source told Rob Bradford of WEEI. Holland was a dominant late-game option with the Royals over the first several years of his career, but October 2015 Tommy John surgery prevented him from pitching last season. He’s now ready to return for his age-31 campaign, and MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes expects him to land a two-year, $18MM deal.

Market Rumblings: Cutch, Nats, Melancon, Giants, Martinez, Bruce, Rangers, Chapman, Holland

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While much of the trade chatter on Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen has focused on the Nationals, the Dodgers are also a plausible suitor, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. There’s interest from Los Angeles in the 30-year-old, not least of which because he’s controllable at a fairly reasonable salary and doesn’t come with a lengthy commitment.

  • Despite the ongoing interest in McCutchen, the Nationals are also looking into other outfielders, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports. Among the free agent center fielders who have at least come up internally are Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gomez and former Nats shortstop Ian Desmond. The organization has also given some thought to Adam Eaton of the White Sox. That’s doubly interesting given that the Nats are reportedly still engaged on star Chicago southpaw Chris Sale.
  • While the Nationals are trying to work out arrangements to land McCutchen (or an alternative) and/or Sale, they remain in on closer Mark Melancon, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Melancon’s market is moving along well, says Crasnick, with expectations that he could land as much as $60MM over a four-year term. While Washington is clearly intrigued at a reunion, Crasnick adds that the Giants remain engaged and may even be better-situated for a strike on Melancon given that the Nats’ attention may lie elsewhere.
  • That being said, the Giants are also looking to add a power bat in the outfield, and they have continued to consider Tigers slugger J.D. Martinez, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). That interest has been known for some time, but it seems there’s still life to the possibility. Notably, GM Bobby Evans has signaled that San Francisco does not wish to take on a long-term obligation in the outfield, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The same rationale that makes Martinez appealing — his one year of team control — could also make Mets outfielder Jay Bruce a possibility, Schulman notes.
  • Another team in the outfield market is the Rangers, who hope to add a center fielder as well as another starter. GM Jon Daniels says that he’s currently paying more attention to the trade market than to free agency, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. Texas is drawing hits on relief pitching, Daniels added.
  • The Yankees have their eye on four possibilities for a big bat, per Heyman (via Twitter): Edwin Encarnacion, Matt Holliday, Mike Napoli, and Carlos Beltran. Most of those free agents have been connected to New York in some form already, though Holliday has not been mentioned with much specificity. Of note, beyond the interest of the Yankees, is that Holliday is apparently looking for a two-year deal, while Beltran appears to be available for a single-season commitment.
  • High-octane lefty Aroldis Chapman remains in excellent position to land a big new deal, but Heyman tweets that he’s not necessarily hunting for a nine-figure contract. While the bargaining could presumably still push the price tag toward (if not past) the $100MM mark, that’s not a “demand” of the free agent, per the report.
  • As the Pirates weigh a number of pursuits, the organization remains engaged with lefty Derek Holland, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on Twitter. Bucs GM Neal Huntington is set to meet with Holland’s reps at the Winter Meetings early next week.

Market Notes: CBA, Astros, Encarnacion, Napoli, Cubs-Sox, Puig, A’s, Greinke, Bucs

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With the CBA now in place, teams and players that were waiting for clarity can move toward new agreements. While plenty of organizations have gone right ahead with their plans, others seemingly have waited. That includes the Yankees (per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, on Twitter), Nationals (per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, on Twitter), and perhaps also the Red Sox (via Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, in a tweet). Whether we’re in for a rush of moves remains to be seen, but the stage is set.

Here’s all the latest chatter on the market:

  • The Astros continue to strive to add another bat, with the team confident it will land either Edwin Encarnacion or Carlos Beltran, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Still, the Yankees, Blue Jays, and a “couple others” remain involved on Encarnacion, Heyman tweets. All three of those teams, along with the Red Sox, are in on Beltran, Nightengale adds on Twitter.
  • Several former employers of first bagger Mike Napoli have interest in a reunion, per Heyman. The Red Sox, Indians, and Rangers are perhaps the three teams most heavily invested in his market. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Astros appear to be involved at the periphery at present.
  • There have been some rumblings of late suggesting that the Cubs and White Sox likely won’t do business with one another this winter, at least not on any significant deals, and Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times rounds up the latest. Ultimately, it seems, there’s not much new to chew on here: both teams say they’re open working with one another, even if they acknowledge what GM Jed Hoyer suggests is an unsurprising reality that the clubs are unlikely to to match up on an impactful swap given their market competition.
  • The Dodgers are still open to considering trades involving outfielder Yasiel Puig, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times recently noted on Twitter. Meanwhile, the Athletics continue to chase a center fielder after signing Matt Joyce, per GM David Forst (via MLB.com’s Jane Lee, on Twitter). It seems that Oakland is considering options via trade and free agency to fill the void up the middle.
  • There’s “minimal trade interest” at present in Diamondbacks righty Zack Greinke, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. His massive contract remains an obvious impediment, though rival execs tells Rosenthal that they don’t believe Arizona can afford to carry that huge commitment. It’s certainly a notable dilemma for the team.
  • The Pirates are looking into the trade market for relief help, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). It’s possible that Pittsburgh could consider moving Tony Watson, who is in his final season of team control and comes with a projected $5.9MM salary. The team does have two other solid pen lefties; while Watson currently profiles as the closer, moreover, there are a variety of potential alternatives on the open market.

Free Agent Rumors: Red Sox, Orioles, Mets, Cahill, Drew

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ESPN’s Scott Lauber joins other reporters in downplaying the possibility of Edwin Encarnacion signing with the Red Sox, noting that Boston is reluctant to give that type of long-term commitment to a DH and also isn’t keen on parting with a draft pick to sign him. Boston has been linked to Carlos Beltran extensively, and a source recently told Lauber that the Red Sox still “want him badly.” Boston has also reached out to Mike Napoli, according to Lauber, although if Napoli is truly seeking a three-year commitment (as was rumored yesterday), then the Sox may not want to wait around for his asking price to drop to a more reasonable level.

A few more notes on the free-agent market…

  • Angel Pagan is “definitely” on the Orioles’ radar as they look for help in the corner outfield and atop their lineup, reports Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. Though he’s battled injuries in recent years, the 35-year-old somewhat quietly batted .277/.331/.418 with 12 homers and 15 steals in 543 plate appearances for the Giants last year, and Connolly notes that he’d fit the Orioles’ from an offensive, defensive and financial standpoint. Per Connolly, the Orioles aren’t likely to spend heavily to address their leadoff/right field need. In a separate column, he also writes about the possibility of a reunion between Pedro Alvarez and the O’s, noting that some in the organization feel Alvarez is the likeliest of the team’s free agents to return (over Mark Trumbo and Matt Wieters). Connolly also writes that many of Alvarez’s teammates spoke highly of him as both a teammate and a person.
  • The Mets still have no intention of pursuing one of the top three closers on the market, reports MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links). DiComo checked in recently on Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon and was informed that there’s “little to no interest” from the Mets on that front. Rather, the team is looking at mid-tier free agents, and DiComo lists Fernando Salas as one example. Salas finished out the year in the Mets’ bullpen and performed brilliantly, firing 17 1/3 innings of 2.08 ERA ball with 19 strikeouts and no walks.
  • After enjoying a renaissance in the Cubs’ bullpen, Trevor Cahill is marketing himself as a starting pitcher this winter and has already received three offers, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Still just 28 years old (29 in March), Cahill turned in a 2.74 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 and a robust 56.6 percent ground-ball rate in 65 2/3 innings with the Cubs. While the walks are a concern, Cahill’s relative youth and the dearth of quality arms on the market make him a fairly intriguing roll of the dice in a rotation role.
  • The Angels have had some preliminary talks with free agent second baseman Stephen Drew, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter). They haven’t had any sort of advanced talks with Drew’s camp though, and Fletcher characterizes him as one of several possibilities that is under consideration while noting that the Halos aren’t close to anything with any second base option. Drew logged a pair of brutal seasons at the plate in 2014-15 but hit well with the Nationals in 2016 when he batted .266/.339/.524 with eight homers in a very limited role. Drew picked up just 17 plate appearances against lefties last year and received only 165 PAs on the season as a whole.
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