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Free Agent Rumors: Hammel, Crisp, Carter, Moss, Fuld, Niese

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An unanticipated series of factors led starter Jason Hammel to sign with the Royals, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes. That included not only the fact that Hammel surprisingly reached and then remained on the open market, but also the untimely death of young Royals righty Yordano Ventura. First and foremost a human tragedy, Ventura’s passing also left the organization in need of another starter for the coming season — an uncomfortable situation which Hammel thoughtfully acknowledged in his introductory remarks. “I feel like I need to express my condolences to, first of all, Royals Nation and the Ventura family,” he said. “Just because, I truly feel that if that unfortunate passing doesn’t happen, you guys aren’t talking to me.”

Here are a few more notes on the free-agent market…

  • Coco Crisp doesn’t have a job for the 2017 season yet, but he tells John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News that he isn’t ready to retire and hopes to latch on with a club. “Physically, I’m good,” says Crisp. “There’s nothing that would keep my from playing. My neck feels better, my body feels good.” Crisp’s agent, Steve Comte, tells Hickey that he has spoken to multiple clubs and continues to do so in hopes of securing a new contract for the 37-year-old outfielder. Crisp hit .231/.302/.397 with 13 home runs (plus two in the playoffs) last season and could conceivably help a club as a fourth outfielder and veteran influence. He has struggled against lefties in recent years but has logged a respectable .236/.324/.368 slash against righties (96 wRC+).
  • The Yankees discussed a potential Chris Carter trade with the Brewers before the slugger was non-tendered by Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. Had that deal come to fruition, the Yankees would likely have been on the hook for an arbitration salary near $8MM for Carter, who instead agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM free-agent deal with the Yanks earlier this week. Certainly, that could’ve had a trickle-down effect on the Yankees’ offseason, as those talks would’ve occurred prior to the Yankees’ signing of Matt Holliday to a one-year deal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to Carter’s agent, Dave Stewart, who wouldn’t directly comment on how the Rays’ bid compared that of the Yankees (Twitter link), though Stewart did note that Carter “felt the opportunity was the same.”
  • Topkin also tweets that the Rays are among the teams keeping tabs on free-agent outfielder Sam Fuld. The 35-year-old Fuld missed the 2016 season due to shoulder surgery and had a poor year at the plate in 2015 with the A’s, but he provided Oakland with solid defense and baserunning that season. Fuld can almost certainly be had on a minor league deal and would give Tampa Bay some depth behind current starters Colby Rasmus, Kevin Kiermaier and Steven Souza. Corey Dickerson figures to see some time in the outfield as well, and non-roster invitee could make the Rays’ roster as a right-handed-hitting complement to Rasmus. Utilityman Nick Franklin, too, could see some time in the outfield. None of those alternatives can play center field, though, so adding Fuld would give the Rays a veteran fourth outfielder while Mallex Smith gets some more work at Triple-A.
  • The Nationals “checked in on” first baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss before he signed with the Royals, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Moss would at least have represented a quality bench piece for the Nationals, whose depth is an issue, as FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron wrote last week. The lefty swinging Moss could theoretically have shared time (and provided insurance) for right-handed-hitting first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and left fielder Jayson Werth — a possibility that led MLBTR to guess that Moss would land in D.C. at the outset of the offseason.
  • Thirteen teams attended the workout hosted by free agent lefty Jon Niese earlier today, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Niese, hoping to demonstrate his health for interested parties, threw a 40-pitch bullpen session for the scouts in attendance. Niese struggled through the worst season of his career in 2016 but was a solid fourth/fifth starter for the Mets for several years prior to the down season. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus late in the year.

Jon Niese To Throw For Teams Wednesday

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Free agent left-hander Jon Niese will throw for interested clubs on Wednesday, reports Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (Twitter link).

The 30-year-old Niese is coming off what was easily the worst season of his Major League career. In 121 innings split between the Pirates and Mets, Niese struggled to a 5.50 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate. His deteriorated performance led the Pirates to shift him into the bullpen and ultimately trade him back to the Mets in exchange for lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo, who’d struggled in his first year with a new team as well. Niese made just six appearances with the Mets before undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, which ultimately ended his season.

Though the 2016 season was one that Niese would like to forget, the southpaw has long been a steady mid-rotation arm. He averaged 28 starts and 171 innings per season from 2010-15 (all with the Mets), working to a collective 3.86 ERA in 1028 2/3 innings. Niese has never been one to miss many bats and has seen his strikeout rate fade a bit over the years, but he’s typically displayed solid control and above-average ground-ball tendencies.

Even with a rebound season, Niese profiles mostly as a back-of-the-rotation arm. But given what figures to be a low cost of acquisition and a pre-2016 track record of league-average innings, he’d make sense for a club looking for options at the five spot in the rotation or as a swingman/long reliever.

Marlins Rumors: Ramos, Ozuna, Fister, Phelps, Gee

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The Marlins have “signaled that they might be willing to trade” closer A.J. Ramos, reports ESPN’s Jayson Stark (via Twitter). On the one hand, the news isn’t all that surprising, as Ramos projects to earn a relatively hefty $6.8MM in 2017 and is only controllable for another two seasons, so Miami could market him as it looks to add more stability to its rotation. On the other hand, there have been reports that the Marlins are weighing a run at right-hander Kenley Jansen to beef up the bullpen and shorten the game for their starters due to the lack of available rotation help. Moving Ramos would go against the stated goal of deepening the relief corps with high-end talent, although perhaps the team could look to add some rotation help by moving Ramos and replace him with a free-agent arm. Ramos, 30, posted a terrific 2.81 ERA with 10.3 K/9 but also averaged 4.9 BB/9 and posted a career-worst 36.4 percent ground-ball rate in 64 innings with Miami last year.

A few more notes on the Fish…

  • There’s been “little to no dialogue” between the Marlins and other teams about outfielder Marcell Ozuna, reports MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. Many clubs are taking a patient approach to see how the pitching market develops before they determine whether they can part with an arm in a trade to address the outfield, Frisaro writes, and there isn’t much internal traction regarding the idea of dealing Ozuna. With Edinson Volquez on board, the Marlins may look further to the free-agent market rather than seeking trades to bolster the staff.
  • Also from Frisaro, the Marlins have had internal discussions regarding Doug Fister, C.J. Wilson and Jon Niese. Previous reports have linked Miami to the latter two names, but this appears to be the first definitive link between the Marlins and Fister, who posted a 4.64 ERA with 5.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent ground-ball rate in 180 1/3 innings for the Astros last season. That marked a second consecutive weak showing for Fister, who was previously one of the more underrated starters in baseball while pitching for the Tigers. Fister’s strikeout rate has plummeted in recent years, though, and while he’s never thrown hard, his once 89-90 mph fastball is now more in the 86-87 mph range. David Phelps is also a candidate to step into the rotation, but the Marlins prefer that he remains at the back of the bullpen, Frisaro adds.
  • Also of note from Frisaro’s piece on the team’s free-agent hunt, he lists Jansen and Aroldis Chapman as assets that are probably too expensive for the Marlins but lists right-handers Mark Melancon and Daniel Hudson as more affordable options that could be realistic targets.
  • Meanwhile, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the Marlins have reached out to the representatives for right-hander Dillon Gee, who became a free agent when he was cut loose by the Royals after the season. Gee is no stranger to the NL East, having spent the bulk of his career with the Mets, and he delivered 125 innings with a 4.68 ERA, 6.4 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 41 percent ground-ball rate for Kansas City last year. However, Gee’s season came to an end when he required surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. He’s expected to be ready for Spring Training, though, and would give the Marlins a veteran arm who could function in a swingman capacity, making some starts as needed but also providing a relief arm capable of throwing multiple innings.

Marlins Notes: Wilson, Niese, Ozuna, Trades

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Here’s the latest from south Florida…

  • The Marlins have some interest in veteran lefty C.J. Wilson, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.  Wilson “isn’t on the verge of making a decision” about his next team, though the southpaw does intend to play in 2017 after being sidelined since July 2015 due to elbow and shoulder injuries.  Jackson notes that Miami had interest in Wilson the last time he was a free agent, prior to his signing a five-year, $77.5MM deal with the Angels following the 2011 season.
  • In another item from Jackson, he wouldn’t be surprised if the Marlins pursue left-hander Jon Niese.  Like Wilson, Niese is another veteran who’d be available at a relatively low price, which fits the Marlins’ plans of adding starting pitching without breaking the bank.  Niese posted a 5.50 ERA over 121 innings with the Pirates and Mets last season, delivering his usual low-strikeout, high-grounder arsenal but allowing a whopping 22.1% home run rate.  A move to Marlins Park would theoretically help Niese avoid the long ball, though PNC Park and Citi Field also aren’t generally homer-friendly stadiums.  Niese is a free agent after the Mets declined his $10MM club option for 2017, instead paying the lefty a $500K buyout.
  • Marcell Ozuna has often been cited as a potential trade chip for Miami, though MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro believes that dealing Ozuna and then spending big to sign another outfielder (i.e. Dexter Fowler) doesn’t make financial sense.  Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich are both getting raises next year, so signing a player like Fowler would put the Fish in line for roughly $42MM in salary for just three outfielders.  If Ozuna was to be dealt, the more likely scenario for a replacement is that the Marlins sign a short-term veteran to platoon with Ichiro Suzuki.
  • Also as part of Frisaro’s mailbag piece, he looks at the Marlins’ need for pitching and opines that Doug Fister would be a good fit in Miami.  If Frisaro was in charge, he would look to free agency rather than the trade market since he would “be really reluctant to deal any of the core position players off the big league roster” due to “a shortage of organizational depth.”

Mets To Exercise Options For Jay Bruce, Jose Reyes; Decline Jon Niese’s

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The Mets will exercise their 2017 club options for outfielder Jay Bruce and infielder Jose Reyes, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who adds that the team will decline left-hander Jon Niese’s option (link via Adam Rubin of ESPN.com). Bruce will make $13MM next season, Reyes will earn the league minimum and Niese will collect a $500K buyout in lieu of the $10MM he’d have gotten had the Mets picked up his option.

With a .219/.294/.391 line in 187 plate appearances, Bruce performed poorly after the Mets acquired him from the Reds at the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. Nevertheless, it’s unsurprising that the team is willing to retain him for next season, especially with fellow corner outfield option Yoenis Cespedes headed for free agency. If the Mets re-sign Cespedes or add other high-profile outfield help to go with Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto, it’s possible they’d shop Bruce, whose .265/.316/.559 line in 402 PAs with the Reds this season was enough for New York to send well-regarded infield prospect Dilson Herrera to Cincinnati for him. All told, Bruce slashed an above-average .250/.309/.506 with 33 home runs, thereby bouncing back from two straight miserable offensive seasons, though that’s not great production from a corner outfielder whose defense is questionable at best.

The controversial Reyes, meanwhile, rejoined the Mets on a minor league contract in July after serving a 51-game domestic violence suspension and receiving his release from the Rockies. From a baseball standpoint, the signing benefited the Mets this year, as he hit .267/.326/.443 with eight homers and nine steals across 445 PAs. Reyes, who previously thrived as a shortstop with the Mets from 2003-11, primarily played third base while filling in for the injured David Wright. He could continue to factor in at the hot corner in 2017, and it’s possible he’ll also see time as a second baseman and outfielder.

This year was also Niese’s second go-around with the Mets, whom they traded to the Pirates last offseason for second baseman Neil Walker. Niese was a steady option out of the Mets’ rotation from 2010-15, but he struggled mightily in Pittsburgh. That led the Pirates to trade Niese back to the Mets for reliever Antonio Bastardo at the deadline. In six appearances down the stretch, including four from the bullpen, Niese yielded 14 earned runs on 13 hits and nine walks in 11 innings. Between Pittsburgh and New York, he pitched to a 5.50 ERA in 121 frames and posted the worst home run-to-fly ball ratio of his career (22.1 percent). Otherwise, Niese’s strikeout and walk rates (6.55 and 3.5) were fairly normal, as was his ground-ball percentage (51.1). He’ll now join a free agent market overflowing with fellow back-end starters.

Quick Hits: International Draft, Dodgers, Reyes, Niese

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Ben Badler of Baseball America, a highly respected observer in the international amateur arena, has written an article panning the league’s reported effort to push for an international draft in collective bargaining talks. Though Badler concurs with the need for reform, and suggests that a properly conceived draft may ultimately be a legitimate pursuit, he argues that the first step ought to be a change in how the commissioner’s office approaches the international market.

Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:

  • While things didn’t go the Dodgers’ way tonight, the team is still battling in the postseason and just wrapped up its fourth-straight NL West title. And as Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, if club president Stan Kasten has his way, the club will keep taking shots at the postseason year after year — without losing the discipline it needs to be a repeat contender. “It is largely correct that the playoffs are a crapshoot,” Kasten said. “So if you think you can lock something up in just one year by going all in, that is folly. I know our chances of winning a championship are better if we win eight out of 10 division titles.”
  • The Mets are still weighing some of their harder decisions, but Jon Heyman of Fan Rag says the club has already made two rather obvious ones. New York will exercise its league-minimum option over infielder Jose Reyes. The team was able to secure that rather unusually favorable clause because the Rockies still owe Reyes a large sum for 2017 and he was in need of an opportunity after being suspended and designated for assignment owing to his shameful domestic violence episode. Meanwhile, the Mets will pay lefty Jon Niese a $500K buyout rather than picking up his option at $10MM. Niese was even worse in New York than he was with the Pirates, who sent him back to the Mets over the summer after adding him in last winter’s Neil Walker swap, but ought to draw interest as a bounceback candidate.

Mets Activate Lucas Duda

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6:20pm: To make room for Duda on their 40-man roster, the Mets placed left-hander Jon Niese on the 60-day disabled list, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN.com. Niese underwent knee surgery Aug. 24, and it’s possible he has thrown his last pitch as a member of the Mets. New York will likely decline Niese’s $10MM club option after the season, per Rubin.

5:26pm: The Mets have activated first baseman Lucas Duda from the 60-day disabled list, per a team announcement. Duda will now return after going on the DL in late May with a stress fracture in his lower back. However, Duda will likely only serve as a bench piece for the rest of the year, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Duda worked his way back at the Mets’ facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., but he didn’t appear in any rehab or instructional league games, as DiComo writes.

For the Mets, the activation of Duda comes on the same day they lost star right-hander Jacob deGrom for the season because of an elbow issue. Injuries have beset the Mets throughout the season, but the defending National League champions have still managed a 78-69 record and a two-game lead on the final wild-card spot. The absence of Duda has hurt the club, though, as fill-in James Loney has been among the majors’ worst regulars at first base this year.

Loney, whom the Mets acquired from the Padres as a result of Duda’s injury, has hit a meek .264/.305/.382 with seven home runs in 335 plate appearances. Duda was in the midst of a slow start before he landed on the shelf, having batted .231/.297/.431 in 145 PAs, but he still swatted as many homers as Loney (seven) in 190 fewer plate trips. The Mets are actually second in the NL in long balls (199), yet they’ve scored the third-fewest runs in their league (579). Only the bottom-feeding Braves and Phillies, two fellow NL East teams, have crossed home plate less.

Although he’s unlikely to fill a prominent role over the next several weeks, Duda’s comeback could help the 30-year-old remain in a Mets uniform past this season. He’s currently on a $6.725MM salary and is scheduled to make one more trip through arbitration, which will leave the Mets to decide whether to tender him in the offseason. That seems likely, as the powerful Duda combined to hit an easily above-average .249/.349/.453 with 97 homers in 2,340 PAs from 2011-15.

Jon Niese To Undergo Knee Surgery

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Jon Niese’s season looks to be over, as the left-hander will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The injury likely brings to an end Niese’s second stint with the Mets — one that will be remembered as considerably less successful than his first tenure.

Since being acquired from the Pirates in a one-for-one trade that sent struggling lefty Antonio Bastardo to Pittsburgh, Niese has yielded 14 runs on 13 hits and nine walks with 12 strikeouts. That 11.45 earned run average continued what was a dreadful season for Niese with the Bucs, and his 2016 campaign looks like it will come to a close with a 5.50 ERA over the life of 121 innings between the two teams. Per DiComo, Niese has been dealing with discomfort in his knee since June but has attempted to pitch through the pain he felt. The Mets project a recovery timeline of at least four weeks, which would seem to make it quite unlikely (though not impossible) that Niese is able to rejoin the club in late September.

Niese’s career-worst season comes at a poor time, as the 29-year-old lefty has a $10MM club option on his contract, but the Mets will assuredly elect to pay him a $500K buyout rather than lock in that salary. Niese will enter the offseason, then, as a buy-low candidate for clubs in need of pitching. Despite this season’s poor results, he worked to a 3.65 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent ground-ball rate in 697 2/3 innings from 2012-15. With that type of track record under his belt, Niese should draw interest on incentive-laden one-year deals as he looks to re-establish himself as a useful mid-rotation piece. If he’s able to do so, he could once again test the open market the following winter prior to his age-31 season.

Pirates, Mets To Swap Jon Niese, Antonio Bastardo

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The Mets have reacquired left-hander Jon Niese from the Pirates, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (on Twitter). Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that lefty Antonio Bastardo is going back to the Pirates (Twitter link). Both teams have announced the move, and Pittsburgh notes that they’re receiving cash considerations from the Mets in the deal.

The swap of left-handers reunites each southpaw with his 2015 team, as Niese spent his entire career prior to the 2016 campaign in Queens and Bastardo pitched for the Bucs last season. Pittsburgh picked up Niese in what now looks to be an ill-fated swap that netted the Mets Neil Walker, while Bastardo inked a two-year, $12MM contract with the Mets. Neither pitcher has performed up to his standards, though, with Niese posting a 4.91 ERA and briefly losing his spot in the rotation and Bastardo logging a similar 4.74 ERA in 43 2/3 innings of relief.

Niese posted a 4.13 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in New York last season, while Bastardo had a 2.98 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 last year in Pittsburgh. The trade seems to suggest an optimism on the part of their old teams that the flaws the two players showed this year (a vanishing strikeout rate and home-run problems in Niese’s case; control and home-run problems in Bastardo’s) might be painted over. Niese is making $9MM this season, plus a $500K buyout on his 2017 option. Bastardo, who will rejoin the Pirates’ bullpen, is under contract through 2017, when he’ll receive $6.5MM. He’s making $5.25MM this year.

Pitching Rumors: Sale, Rangers, Dodgers-A’s, Walker, Santana, Jays, Rays, Niese

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The Rangers are still pushing hardest for White Sox ace Chris Sale, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (Twitter links). Chicago is holding out with a high asking price, per the report, demanding Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo as headliners. Presumably, the club is looking for more to go with that pair, though the full demands from the Sox remain unknown. Texas will obviously be hesitant to part with Mazara, in particular, since he’s not only an important future piece but has played a notable role on this year’s roster. On the other hand, he seems like a perfectly reasonable request; there simply aren’t very many pitchers out there that combine Sale’s track record and contract situation.

Here’s more on the market for starters:

  • The Athletics and Dodgers have discussed trade scenarios involving both lefty Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. It seems that the sides have batted around concepts involving both players in a single swap, as well as scenarios involving each player separately. It’s not hard to see the interest here from a Los Angeles organization that not only desires to add a starter and a left-handed-hitting outfielder, but has exhibited more injury risk tolerance in acquiring starting pitching than any team in baseball.
  • Other teams may be looking at Mariners righty Taijuan Walker, but Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto says that he’s not interested in offers, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. “We’re not currently discussing Taijuan with anybody,” said Dipoto. “He’ll stay right where he is.” Dipoto says that the same holds with regard to lefty James Paxton, as SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets.
  • At this point, the Twins would need to be “overwhelmed” to deal away righty Ervin Santana, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Minnesota is still said to be open to dealing relief assets, but apparently is rather committed to keeping the veteran righty in its rotation over the final two years of his contract.
  • While the Blue Jays’ tough call on whether to keep Aaron Sanchez in the rotation, or instead to move him to the pen to limit his innings, has long been building as an important decision. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark takes a look at the subject with the trade deadline seemingly forcing the issue. While GM Ross Atkins says the club won’t let Sanchez’s status impact its plans, and stresses that the organization is looking at far more than a simple innings tally, Stark reports that rival executives see Toronto as an aggressive pursuer of starters. He suggests that Jeremy Hellickson could make a nice target as a back-of-the-staff rental that shouldn’t cost too much.
  • Before striking a deal this morning for two starters, the Marlins tried to work something out with the pitching-rich Rays, according to multiple reports. Per Stark (Twitter links), the sides weren’t seeing eye to eye on Miami’s interest in Jake Odorizzi and Matt Moore. One source suggests that Tampa Bay wanted Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto — which would obviously be a non-starter — while another suggests it never got that specific, with Tampa Bay simply not interested in the Marlins’ farm.
  • Moore seems now to be the Rays starter who is most likely to be traded, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Always regarded as a highly-talented pitcher, Moore has looked more like his pre-Tommy John self of late. His last poor outing came on June 24th, leaving him with a 5.04 ERA to that point on the year. Since that time, over seven starts, Moore has allowed just nine earned runs in 40 2/3 innings. He only has a 25: 14 K/BB ratio in that span, which isn’t all that exciting, and doesn’t have a velocity bump  or increasing whiff rate to support the improved results,
  • The Mets have chatted with the Pirates about a possible Jon Niese return, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. New York has previously been suggested to have some interest in the lefty, who was dealt from New York to Pittsburgh over the winter. As before, though, the Mets don’t appear to be prioritizing starting pitching, given that the club has reasonable back-of-the-rotation options at hand with Zack Wheeler still working toward a return
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