Cafardo’s Latest: RPs, Bautista, Teheran, Shields, Ausmus
This summer’s trade market will favor relief pitchers, not starters, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. While the pool of starters who are expected to be available looks shallow and largely unappealing, the opposite is true in regards to bullpen options. Cafardo points to Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Arodys Vizcaino, Jeremy Jeffress, Jeanmar Gomez, Sean Doolittle and Will Smith, among many others, as relievers who could be on the move in the next couple months.
Here’s more from Cafardo:
- The 30-27 Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race, but if they fall out of it, right fielder Jose Bautista and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (both pending free agents) are prime trade candidates. The Cardinals, Cubs and Hunter Pence-less Giants would all have interest in Bautista, according to Cafardo.
- The Red Sox and Braves would match up well in a potential trade involving right-hander Julio Teheran, per Cafardo, who notes that Boston’s package would have to be headlined by outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi, infield prospect Yoan Moncada, third baseman Travis Shaw or catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart. Of that group, the Red Sox would prefer to give up Swihart, though Cafardo doubts he alone would be enough of a return for Teheran.
- Before the Padres traded righty James Shields to the White Sox on Saturday, the Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Dodgers expressed interest in acquiring the 34-year-old. Shields’ final start with the Padres – in which he allowed 10 earned runs, eight hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings on Tuesday – served as a deterrent to some clubs, though, reports Cafardo.
- The 27-28 Tigers aren’t considering replacing third-year manager Brad Ausmus as of now, relays Cafardo. However, given that he’s in a contract year, Ausmus could be managing for his job.
AL East Notes: Bautista, Pineda, Grilli, Boxberger
Jose Bautista‘s future with the Blue Jays has been up in the air since Spring Training, when reports of an asking price north of $150MM emerged, but the right fielder tells Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci that his preference is to remain in Toronto. “I love the city. I’d be stupid to leave,” said Bautista. While that comment will garner plenty of attention, it’s hardly uncommon for stars to voice a preference to remain with the club with which they’ve broken out. Bautista implied that the ball is in the court of first-year president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and first-year GM Ross Atkins. “I will explore every single option, whether it happens or not with the new regime, to continue to try to stay here,” he added. “That being said, I think teams utilize that a lot against players, [seeking] a discount or bargain price, and I think that’s extremely unfair, especially to have your biggest contributors on the field and try to take advantage of the fact that they like it there and negotiate a tougher deal.” Despite today’s comments, it seems difficult to envision Bautista significantly dropping his asking price — especially when he’s again on pace to top 30 homers.
More from the AL East…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that if the Yankees want to option right-hander Michael Pineda to the minors in an effort to get the struggling 26-year-old back on track, their window to do so is closing. Pineda, Sherman notes, will reach five full years of MLB service time on June 14, at which point he will have earned the right to refuse a minor league assignment. Cashman tells Sherman that Pineda will make his next start on Thursday (in Detroit), and the club will have further discussions about him following that outing. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild cryptically tells Sherman that he’s aware of what Pineda’s problem is but is electing not to disclose the issue to the media.
- Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke to reporters tonight about his club’s acquisition of Jason Grilli (video link via Sportsnet.ca). Atkins said that he’s been on the lookout for bullpen help since the day he arrived in Toronto, and Grilli’s penchant for missing bats made him an attractive option. “There’s a lot that we like about Jason and how he complements this team,” said Atkins. “The first thing that comes to mind is experience. He’s been on winning teams, [in] very high-leverage situations and gets a ton of swing-and-miss — has gotten a lot of swing-and-miss throughout his career.” Atkins expected Grilli to join the club on Wednesday.
- As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets, Rays right-hander Brad Boxberger left tonight’s game with a strained muscle in his left side. Following the game, manager Kevin Cash told the media that the injury was “obviously not good,” and Topkin tweets that the sense in the clubhouse is that Boxberger is headed back to the disabled list. Further evaluation will be required tomorrow, he notes, but another absence for the Rays’ presumed 2016 closer appears to be a strong possibility.
Quick Hits: Free Agents, A’s, Padres, Draft
Here’s the latest from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…
- Will the 2016-17 offseason feature “the worst baseball free agent class in decades”? Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan thinks so, and the thin number of upper-tier talents available opens the door for the likes of Yoenis Cespedes or Josh Reddick to greatly increase their asking prices if they can build on their hot starts. Jose Bautista‘s slow start shouldn’t hurt his chances of a nine-figure contract given how teams value his “old-man game” built around plate discipline, even if Bautista could end up getting closer to $100MM than his desired $150MM contract. Even in the thin market, Passan feels Edwin Encarnacion and particularly Carlos Gomez have thus far hurt their value thanks to slow starts.
- The qualifying offer as we know it may not exist if a new collective bargaining agreement is settled before the offseason begins, though if it remains similar, Passan figures Dexter Fowler, Francisco Cervelli, Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos could be in position to receive a QO from their respective teams.
- Rich Hill could even get a qualifying offer if he keeps up his strong season, which speaks to the weakness of the free agent pitching class is with Stephen Strasburg off the board. Passan thinks Hill could ultimately have a better chance of being traded than issued a QO, however. The relief pitching market is much stronger than the starting pitching market, as Passan feels Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman could both top Mariano Rivera‘s $15MM average annual value from earlier this decade.
- The thin free agent pitching market could lead to more trades for arms this summer, as ESPN’s Jim Bowden (subscription required) notes in his listing of eight contenders who could deal for pitching and 10 starters who could be shopped. Bowden’s list of starters including two Athletics (Hill and Sonny Gray) and three Padres (James Shields, Drew Pomeranz and Andrew Cashner). The A’s have been adamant about keeping Gray, though with his rough start, Bowden wonders if the club could decide to move him while he still has value. As for the Padres, a scout tells Bowden that of the three San Diego pichers, he would prefer to have Pomeranz, which is a sign of just how much Pomeranz has upped his trade value with his impressive start — a 1.80 ERA and 51 strikeouts through 40 innings.
- In another subscriber-only piece from Bowden, he gets input from various executives around the league about what improvements could be made to the amateur draft.
AL East Notes: Anthopoulos, Benintendi, Yankees
The Dodgers are currently playing a series against the Blue Jays in Toronto, which means that former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos (currently the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball operations) is back in town. Anthopoulos spoke to reporters, including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, about his time with the Jays organization. Anthopoulos notes that one trade he wonders about not making was for Ben Zobrist, who the Jays evidently were close to acquiring from Oakland last season before he ultimately went to Kansas City. He also looks back on one trade he did make, sending Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud to New York in his famous 2012 deal for R.A. Dickey. Syndergaard, of course, has emerged as a phenom, but Anthopoulos defends the deal from the Blue Jays’ perspective. The team had two sluggers in their primes, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and faced a tough decision about whether to build around them or consider trading them and resetting for the future. The Jays opted for the former. “The thought was three years in a row, and beyond, to be able to get the playoffs and win the World Series,” Anthopoulos says. “The thought was always that it could be what it is today in terms of attendance, TV ratings, fan interest. The belief was there. It was almost like a wick and you needed to light it.” Here’s more from the AL East.
- The Red Sox could soon consider promoting top outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi from Class A+ Salem to a higher level, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. The seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft has continued his torrid hitting from last season — he’s currently batting a ridiculous .381/.442/.648 for Salem and currently has a .337/.425/.587 line for his minor-league career. Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says he has no hard-and-fast criteria for the timings of minor-league promotions, instead treating them on a “case-by-case basis.” Of Benintendi, Dombowski says, “I don’t think it’s worth really speculating, but I could have to say it’s at least a situation that I’m sure will merit attention.”
- Yankees manager Joe Girardi says Alex Rodriguez‘s hamstring strain is a grade “one-plus,” MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets. There had been optimism that Rodriguez could return from the DL on May 19, the first day he’s eligible, but that might be unlikely. Carlos Beltran has played DH in Rodriguez’s absence, with Aaron Hicks in right field.
- Meanwhile, Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia is optimistic he can return from the DL in the minimum amount of time, tweets Hoch. Sabathia was placed on the DL yesterday with a groin strain, but he doesn’t believe it’s severe. Ivan Nova is replacing Sabathia in the Yankees’ rotation.
AL East Notes: Mirabelli, Bautista, Kiermaier, Lohse
Tim Healey of The Hardball Times paints a fascinating portrait of an oddball deal in a deep look at the Red Sox’ 2006 re-acquisition of catcher Doug Mirabelli from the Padres. Truth be told, I don’t have any observations on the piece other than that it demands to be read and is well worth your time.
Here are a few notes from the AL East:
- MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that while he believes Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista would take less than his reported asking price of more than $150MM over five to six years, he doesn’t believe Bautista would entertain any offers for less than $100MM. Bautista’s alleged asking price was the source of a great deal of controversy in Spring Training, and while $150MM+ doesn’t seem particularly realistic, he would probably have a strong case for $100MM on the open market this winter. Bautista may be 35, but he’s been remarkably consistent since his 2010 breakout and is off to a strong start, batting .247/.394/.519 with four homers and an AL-leading 20 walks drawn.
- In other extension-related news, the Rays have not seriously engaged with center fielder Kevin Kiermaier about a deal over the last several months, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Nevertheless, Tampa Bay has given some indication of interest at some point. The 26-year-old seems like the type of player the Rays would target for a bargain contract, as he had only accumulated 1.131 years of service entering the season and is a glove-first player whose on-field value may not translate particularly well into arbitration earnings. Even if he can’t replicate last year’s magical season in the field, he seems like a good bet to continue as a solid asset for years to come. While it seems unlikely that the sides will get anything started in the near term, last year’s Juan Lagares extension looks like as good a comp as one could hope for. Lagares was the same age and featured a similar profile, though he was much more certain at the time to reach Super Two status (and, it’s fair to note, has done less with the bat in his career).
- Even after adding veteran Wandy Rodriguez, the Orioles continue to stay in touch with righty Kyle Lohse, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports. As we’ve heard previously, Baltimore has made an offer to Lohse but, obviously, has yet to reach agreement. It’s still not clear what the 37-year-old is prioritizing in deciding upon a club with which to attempt a bounceback, but the O’s rotation certainly seems to offer a reasonable likelihood of opportunity over the coming months.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Jays, Nats, Padres, Astros
While a deep playoff run could improve the Blue Jays’ odds of re-signing one of right fielder Jose Bautista or designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, chances are neither will return to Toronto next season, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (video link). The fact that the Jays are already dedicating a significant chunk of payroll to a pair of over-30 players in catcher Russell Martin and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki could deter them from handing out another massive contract to an aging player. Bautista and Encarnacion are two of the best hitters in the sport, but their respective ages (35 and 33) are working against them. Rosenthal reported last month that the Jays might only be willing to give Bautista a Yoenis Cespedes-esque deal (three years, $75MM), which is a good distance from his desire to land at least a four-year contract worth in the $30MM-per-annum range. As for Encarnacion, extension talks between him and Toronto went dormant in March.
Here’s more from Rosenthal:
- The Nationals have until June 15 to exercise the two-year option in president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Rizzo’s contract, and signs point toward the team picking it up. The Rizzo-built Nationals haven’t won a championship, but they have ranged from respectable to elite in recent individual seasons. They currently have the majors’ third-best record since 2012, including an 8-1 start this year, and possess one of baseball’s premier farm systems. In the unlikely event Washington doesn’t retain Rizzo, Rosenthal doesn’t think he’d have a difficult time finding another job.
- Although Padres president Mike Dee gave second-year GM A.J. Preller a vote of confidence last month, Friars ownership expects better from the team than what it has shown during a 3-8 start. If such poor play continues, it could put Preller’s job in jeopardy. However, as Rosenthal notes, the Padres hired Preller because of his eye for young talent, which the club is in position to accrue in droves over the next several months. Preller’s Padres have three of the top 25 picks in June’s draft and are expected to be highly active when the international free agent spending period begins July 2. They could also add more youth by trading certain veterans this summer.
- With hard-throwing righty Lance McCullers on the shelf because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder, the Astros might have to address the lack of velocity in their rotation at some point, Rosenthal opines. Even though the Astros have the reigning American League Cy Young winner in lefty Dallas Keuchel, he isn’t known for overpowering velocity. Neither are fellow starters Mike Fiers, Doug Fister, Collin McHugh or Scott Feldman. Of course, in addition to McCullers, Houston had another young, in-house flamethrower in Vincent Velasquez, but it traded the early 2016 sensation to the Phillies in a package for reliever Ken Giles during the offseason.
Cafardo On Bautista, Japan, Kim
Here’s the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:
- Blue Jays sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion could be candidates to replace David Ortiz in Boston next offseason, and Cafardo speaks to Bautista about his impending free agency. “Do I want to stay here [in Toronto]? Yes. Do I wish it comes to free agency? Absolutely not,” Bautista says. “But it takes two to tango.” Bautista adds that he isn’t opposed to negotiating with the Jays in-season. At last check, Bautista was reportedly willing to consider a four-year deal to stay with the Jays, although that would cost in the range of $30MM per season.
- Cafardo speaks to Red Sox manager John Farrell about pitchers from the NPB in Japan, who collectively don’t have a particularly strong health record after making the transition to MLB. (Think of Masahiro Tanaka, or Yu Darvish.) One possibility, of course, is that NPB pitchers have trouble adapting to the five-man rotation, but there would be other issues as well. “There are so many things that are different,” Farrell says. “One would think there’s higher stress pitching here, the lineups up and down are tougher. They don’t have time-zone changes there, so how does the travel affect the body? The mound is different, the ball is different.”
- A scout who watched Hyun Soo Kim says the Orioles should be patient with their new outfielder, with whom they’ve already had a high-profile standoff. “It may take him a while, just as it took [Jung Ho] Kang a while to adapt,” the scout says. “The Orioles would be smart to exercise patience because he’s a very good hitter.”
- Not a trade rumor, but a fun fact: Cafardo notes that 492 players on Opening Day rosters are making $1M or more this season.
AL Notes: Furbush, Blue Jays, Athletics, Rangers, Holaday
Mariners southpaw Charlie Furbush is undergoing a blood injection therapy to his shoulder in hopes of speeding his recovery, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports, but he might not return to action for “several months.” Furbush suggested that he could resume throwing in about three weeks’ time, but given his rotator cuff issues last year and continued difficulties, it certainly seems likely that the club will bring him along cautiously.
Here’s more from the American League:
- We checked in earlier today on Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, as he’s not expected to engage in further contract talks before the season starts. Jon Heyman of MLB Network joins Ben Nicholson-Smith in reporting that there’s nothing scheduled with Encarnacion (Twitter link).
- Heyman also adds on Twitter that Jose Bautista could be willing to consider a four-year arrangement to stay in Toronto, despite his ask of five or even six years in an extension. Of course, that would be at a superstar rate of pay — Heyman suggests $30MM annually. The club, meanwhile, is believed to be interested in a three-year pact that might looking something like the Yoenis Cespedes deal.
- The Athletics could continue to hold contract talks with outfielder Josh Reddick into the regular season, John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reports. (Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted yesterday evening that talks between the two sides were “percolating a little bit.”)While previous indications were that there’d be a deadline at the end of the spring, it appears there’s a willingness to keep talking if negotiations are showing sufficient promise of completion. If a new deal can’t be struck, Reddick will reach free agency after the season. He currently sits at sixth among pending free agents on the pre-season power rankings by MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes.
- Athletics righty R.J. Alvarez underwent a procedure to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Alvarez was roughed up in his twenty MLB innings last year and has yet to harness his command, but has generated some whiffs with his mid-90s fastball and slider combo.
- The Indians have shifted Trevor Bauer into the bullpen to open the season, as Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal was among those to report. That leaves Cody Anderson and the just-extended Josh Tomlin as the four and five starters as things get underway. As Lewis notes, both Bauer and Anderson have displayed significant increases in their fastball velocity this year. Both president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and manager Terry Francona emphasized that Bauer remains in the rotation picture and will play a significant role — indeed, he had strong results this spring — but it’s certainly an interesting decision on a highly promising player who has yet to fully settle in at the major league level. It bears noting that the 25-year-old is all but certain to qualify as a Super Two after the season, so any loss of innings could have a significant impact on his future earnings.
- Injured catcher Chris Gimenez will suit up for the Rangers on Wednesday in a “last-ditch effort” to make the team, Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram tweets. Gimenez currently appears to be on the outside looking in after the Rangers acquired Bryan Holaday from the Tigers. The catcher will now have to make a big impression on team brass while dealing with an infected left leg.
- At one point, the Tigers would have asked for catcher Brett Nicholas and more for Holaday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. However, the Rangers were able to acquire Holaday while hanging on to Nicholas. Instead, they parted only with right-hander Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson. Meanwhile, Detroit plans on slotting the newly-acquired Jaye in their Double-A rotation, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. In the long term, he says, the club believes that Jaye can be a major league reliever.
Blue Jays Notes: Encarnacion, Bautista, Sanchez
“The external perception is that the Blue Jays are a team ready to win but also a team in transition,” MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince writes in a piece detailing how 2016 stands out as a win-now season for the franchise. While the Jays have several major players and young stars controlled into 2017 and beyond, this could also be Toronto’s last season with Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, R.A. Dickey, Brett Cecil and (perhaps) even manager John Gibbons if the new front office wants to hire its own dugout boss. Here’s some more from north of the border…
- The Jays are “willing to be much more flexible” in talks with Bautista than Encarnacion when it comes to contract length and money, Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair reports. Encarnacion is rumored to be asking for a five-year deal, though even a four-year pact could be too much for the Jays. The debate over contract length has reportedly already been a stumbling block in talks between Encarnacion’s camp and the Jays, with the club reportedly offering extensions of only one or two years. It seems like Toronto will have to be flexible if the team is to keep Bautista, as its reported preference for a deal in the three-year/$75MM range is about half of Bautista’s demands.
- Paul Kinzer, Encarnacion’s agent, told Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun that his client’s reported demand for a five-year deal is inaccurate. “We have never put a number on the terms of the length of the contract. We have never discussed a dollar amount,” Kinzer said.
- There is “no chance” the Jays re-sign both Bautista and Encarnacion, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets, as the club simply can’t put two more large salaries on the books when Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki are also signed to major deals through 2019 and 2020, respectively. I explored the difficulties Toronto would face in extending both sluggers in a Bautista extension candidate piece last November, and given the reports since, it’s becoming increasingly possible that neither player is wearing a Jays jersey in 2017.
- Gavin Floyd will make a start in a minor league game today, which could bring more clarity to the still-unsettled fifth starter’s battle between Floyd and Aaron Sanchez. Gibbons was rather vague in comments to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) yesterday about whether the Jays were any closer to a decision. Both starters have pitched very well this spring, adding to the debate as to whether the Blue Jays should go with the veteran reclamation project or the promising but still raw youngster. Andrew Stoeten of Blue Jays Nation points out that Sanchez still has unanswered questions about whether or not he can retire left-handed hitters after getting hit hard by lefty bats last season, while an NL scout tells Jeff Blair (in the previously-linked piece) that Sanchez has the “best stuff I’ve seen anywhere this spring. They’re crazy if they put him in the bullpen.”
- Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom opines that Sanchez should be in the rotation, arguing that if the Blue Jays put him in the bullpen again, transitioning Sanchez back to a starting role will be more difficult down the road. Given Sanchez’s top prospect status, “it’s far more important to the organization to know whether Sanchez can stick as a starter than it is to know whether Floyd can stick as a starter….The information on Sanchez is just worth more.”
Rosenthal On Blue Jays, Bautista, D’Backs, Ahmed
Now with the Angels, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if shortstop Andrelton Simmons can develop into a better hitter. Simmons is working hard on the offensive side of his game, but he is also appreciative of the fact that the Halos value him highly for what he does in the field.
“It feels great, man. It helps you build that confidence,” Simmons said. “I don’t have to go up there and be that big-name hitter. I just have to play my part — hit-and-run, bunt the guy over. That might take a little pressure off me and make it easier. I’m still trying to be a better hitter. Everybody is. You try to pick up from guys like Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. Hopefully by the end of the year, I learn a lot from them.”
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Rosenthal’s column:
- A major league source tells Rosenthal that the Blue Jays might only be open to giving Jose Bautista a deal similar to what Yoenis Cespedes signed with the Mets this offseason. Last week, it was reported that the 35-year-old is seeking at least five years on a new deal that would pay him upwards of $30MM per year on average. Cespedes, meanwhile, re-upped with the Mets this winter on a three-year, $75MM pact with an opt-out. Clearly, there is a significant gap for the two sides to bridge, though Joey Bats indicated in February that he was not interested in negotiating after naming his asking price. Bautista earned his sixth-straight All-Star nod in 2015 as he slashed .250/.377/.536 with 40 homers.
- “At least one Diamondbacks official” believes that the team should use Jean Segura at short and Chris Owings at second base, relegating Nick Ahmed to either a utility role or perhaps making him a trade candidate. Ahmed, 26 on Tuesday, slashed just .226/.275/.359 with nine homers in 459 plate appearances last season, though much of his value comes from his defense. In 2015, Ahmed had a strong 16.1 UZR/150 rating.
- The Padres’ next move might be to trade a catcher, Rosenthal writes. San Diego has three capable catchers in Derek Norris, Austin Hedges, and Christian Bethancourt, and there isn’t really room for all three players to make the roster. Of course, a trade isn’t mandatory either, as Hedges could be demoted. Bethancourt, on the other hand, is out of options. In December, the Padres were said to be shopping Norris and Hedges. In February, the team was still said to be having conversations involving Norris, though nothing came of those discussions.