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Rosenthal’s Latest: Lucroy, Rays, Cubs, Nats, Reyes

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Although the catcher-needy Rays covet Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy, their aversion to trading prospects makes them unlikely to acquire the 29-year-old if Milwaukee shops him, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (video link). The Cubs, like the Rays, are also a poor bet to land Lucroy. Chicago inquired about Lucroy’s availability during the offseason and even explored the idea of involving a third club to help make a trade happen with the division-rival Brewers, says Rosenthal, who adds that talks didn’t get serious then and probably won’t around the deadline. As Rosenthal notes, the Cubs have $14MM catcher Miguel Montero at the major league level, and highly regarded prospect Willson Contereras is laying waste to Triple-A pitching.

Even if the Rays and Cubs aren’t in the running to pick up Lucroy, there should still be plenty of suitors for him, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk detailed Friday.

More from Rosenthal:

  • The Nationals’ top priority before the trade deadline is to acquire a dominant reliever like the Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller (as Bill Ladson of MLB.com reported last weekend), but the Bombers might not make either available and the Nats could balk at their asking price if they do, according to Rosenthal. Nationals relievers entered Saturday with the league’s fifth-best ERA (3.11) and sixth-ranked K/BB ratio (3.16), for one, and the organization has a pair of hard-throwing potential reinforcements in Double-A prospects Reynaldo Lopez and Koda Glover. The latter was an eighth-round pick just last year.
  • The Rockies have until Wednesday to either add shortstop Jose Reyes to their roster, trade him or designate him for assignment, and executives tell Rosenthal that Colorado is continuing to shop the 32-year-old. However, there are plenty of questions about how much he’s capable of contributing in the majors at this point, per Rosenthal. Reyes, who served a domestic violence suspension through May, is coming off arguably the worst season of his career and is still owed upward of $40MM – including a $4MM buyout in 2018.

Heyman’s Latest: Harper/Machado, Braves, Shields, Odor

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Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Manny Machado of the Orioles are young, controlled superstars who look like highly appealing extension targets. Of course, that also makes them incredibly expensive potential candidates for their respective teams, as Jon Heyman explains at todaysknuckleball.com. According to Heyman, there’s some suggestion that it could take more than $500MM over an unprecedented term to keep Harper from heading to the open market after the 2018 season. “We have not to this point had any substantive negotiations about a long-term deal,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said with regard to Harper. Rizzo did suggest that the team has serious interest in doing so, however. “They know what our intentions are,” he said. “My intention is always to get him on a long-term deal that will make him a National for life. At a very young age he performed admirably, not only admirably, but the year he had was historic. It’s going to be a unique deal. We have a very unique player.” 

As for Machado, he might not be far behind in value if the O’s hope to reach a deal. Intriguingly, the report suggests that Baltimore very nearly agreed to a seven-year contract with its best player at some point in recent years. That would have certainly proved a bargain given Machado’s increasingly outstanding performance, though the terms of the prospective pact are not known. (Neither is it clear what caused negotiations to fall apart.)

Here’s more from Heyman:

  • “A few teams” have checked in with the Braves on Nick Markakis, Heyman writes, but his recent skid at the plate hasn’t helped out his trade value much. Kelly Johnson, too, could become available, though Heyman adds that GM John Coppolella said of Julio Teheran that he expects the right-hander “to be on the team a long time.” From my vantage point, Markakis doesn’t have much value at $11MM per season and with apparently evaporated power. Even if the Braves were to pay down half of his remaining salary through the 2018 season, he hasn’t been productive enough to bring in a meaningful prospect return.
  • The Orioles talked to the Padres about James Shields in Spring Training but weren’t willing to cover even half of the salary owed to Shields at the time. Shields has two years and $44MM remaining on his contract following the 2016 season (if he doesn’t opt out), and he’s earning $21MM this season as well. Shields has grabbed headlines recently, having been prominently featured in trade rumors over the weekend and then suffering a 10-run meltdown earlier this week, which the team’s executive chairman publicly referred to as “an embarrassment.”
  • The Red Sox, too, have considered Shields but are waiting to see how Eduardo Rodriguez performs upon returning from the disabled list (so far, so good). The White Sox, meanwhile, would want the Padres to pay down a significant portion of the $57MM that remains on Shields’ contract (again, barring an opt out). Heyman writes that a source indicated that shortstop prospect Tim Anderson wouldn’t be involved in talks, though that doesn’t strike me as a surprising revelation; even with half of his contract paid down, that would seem like an overpay on Chicago’s behalf. On a somewhat similar vein, Heyman adds that the Padres approached the Tigers about Shields, but Detroit had no interest in parting with any of Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris or Matt Boyd in a potential deal.
  • Shortly after the Rockies acquired Jose Reyes, the Yankees were willing to part with shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo and pay half of the $22MM that is owed to Reyes annually through the 2017 season, Heyman hears.
  • The jobs of Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Twins manager Paul Molitor are safe, Heyman writes, though he adds that Detroit GM Al Avila has privately told Ausmus to stop discussing his job security (or lack thereof) with the media, as the situation doesn’t need any extra fuel.
  • Greg Holland could take the mound in August, per Heyman, and he may wait until that point before deciding on a team. Both the Royals and Braves have shown interest to this point, he adds.
  • The Athletics “may be a favorite” for Cuban second baseman Jose Miguel Fernandez, writes Heyman, who also notes that incumbent second baseman Jed Lowrie could help a number of clubs on the trade market. The Padres, too, are said to be considering Fernandez, he adds.
  • Rougned Odor’s agent and Rangers GM Jon Daniels recently rekindled extension talks, and Heyman notes that the team heaped praise onto Odor during his appeal hearing during which his suspension for punching Jose Bautista was dropped from eight games to seven games. His suspension has also given Jurickson Profar a chance to play, and Heyman writes that the former top prospect could be a trade candidate now that he’s healthy. Sticking with the Rangers, Heyman adds that the Phillies lobbied hard for Texas to include Nomar Mazara in last year’s Cole Hamels blockbuster, but Daniels refused to give him up.
  • The Nationals talked with the D-backs in the offseason about Gio Gonzalez, but Arizona wouldn’t part with Ender Inciarte or David Peralta in the prospective trade. Heyman writes that the Nats spoke to a few teams about Gonzalez, including the Marlins. However, Miami wasn’t keen on surrendering Christian Yelich.

Jeff Bridich On Jose Reyes, Jeff Hoffman

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Here’s the latest from Rockies GM Jeff Bridich, via an interview with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post:

  • Bridich characterizes shortstop Jose Reyes’ situation as “day by day.” Reyes is suspended through May 31 under MLB’s domestic violence policy, and then he’ll likely begin a two-week rehab assignment. Bridich doesn’t dismiss the possibility that the team could deal Reyes, noting that “anything is possible.” (It doesn’t sound, however, like there will be significant trade interest in an expensive player who’s about to turn 33 and who’s coming off a .274/.310/.378 season and a domestic violence suspension. There has already been speculation that the Rockies could release Reyes once his suspension is complete.)
  • The team has no plans to rush pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman, Bridich says. “There are very specific things — not large, general things — but very specific things, that he needs to continue to work on. But that’s actually a good thing,” says the GM. Hoffman, the ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft and one of the team’s acquisitions in last year’s Troy Tulowitzki trade, has a 2.70 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 this season in hitter-friendly Triple-A Albuquerque.
  • The Rockies are hovering near .500, at 23-24, and are on the fringes of the NL West and NL Wild Card races at this early point in the season. But Bridich suggests the team’s position in the standings will not have a significant effect on their timelines for the promotions of Hoffman or other top prospects. “Jeff and some of the other players we think about as quality depth still are being challenged at Triple-A, and they have to meet those challenges to be ready for this level,” Bridich says.

Quick Hits: Beltran, Reyes, Blue Jays

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History was made Sunday when Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran slugged his 400th home run, becoming the 54th player to reach the milestone and just the fourth switch hitter to accomplish the feat. Beltran is now in a group with three other switch-hitting baseball luminaries in Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones. Two of those three are already in the Hall of Fame, and the other (Jones) is all but certain to get there eventually. Whether Beltran should join them in Cooperstown is up for debate, but as a 400-homer, 300-steal, 66-fWAR player, he certainly has a legitimate case.

More from around baseball:

  • Jim Bowden of SiriusXM has asked a dozen teams whether they’d be interested in acquiring suspended Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes if Colorado were to pick up the remaining money on his contract, and all 12 have passed on the idea (Twitter link). One of those clubs is the Blue Jays, for whom Reyes played from 2013 until midway through last season. General manager Ross Atkins told Bowden on Sunday that Toronto has no interest in Reyes (Twitter link), who would likely have difficulty finding playing time on a team with Troy Tulowitzki at short and second baseman Devon Travis nearing a return from offseason shoulder surgery.
  • Although no one Bowden has spoken with wants any part of Reyes, who is serving a suspension through May 31 because of a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, a National League executive told John Perrotto of Today’s Knuckleball that he expects the 32-year-old to get another opportunity. “While I don’t condone what he did, he had a good reputation of being a good guy and a good teammate to that point,” said the executive. “I’m sure whoever take a chance on him is going to let him know right up front that there will be a zero-tolerance policy. One misstep and he’s gone.” Also of importance: Commissioner Rob Manfred wanted to give Reyes a longer suspension than the 52-game ban he settled on, but there wasn’t enough evidence to levy a harsher punishment, a source told Perrotto.

Cafardo’s Latest: Trout, Trumbo, Reyes, Chapman, Ruiz

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is the latest to weigh in on the possibility of the Angels trading superstar center fielder Mike Trout, naming 10 teams capable of putting together packages for the 24-year-old. The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, Nationals, Astros, Rangers, Mets, Giants and Cubs could all make a hypothetical Trout trade work, writes Cafardo.

Here’s more from the Boston-area insider:

  • The Orioles haven’t begun contract talks with free agent-to-be Mark Trumbo, but that may change if the 30-year-old outfielder continues his torrid pace. Trumbo, whom the Orioles acquired from Seattle for a pittance in the offseason, has hit a tremendous .314/.365/.606 with 11 home runs in 148 plate appearances this year and is putting himself in position to earn an appreciable raise over his 2016 salary of $9.15MM.
  • There’s seemingly interest around the league in shortstop Jose Reyes, whom the Rockies will make available when he’s reinstated from a domestic violence suspension at the end of the month. Reyes, 32, is still owed roughly $41MM – including a $4MM buyout in 2018 – and is coming off arguably the worst season of his career.
  • The Yankees could make closer Aroldis Chapman available in late June if they’re not in playoff contention by then, according to Cafardo. The lights-out left-hander is on an $11MM-plus salary and is slated to hit free agency at the end of the season.
  • Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz is reviving his stock, having hit .291/.371/.509 with three homers in 62 PAs, and could interest teams looking for a cheaper alternative to the Brewers’ Jonathan Lucroy – who will be the best backstop on the market if Milwaukee shops him. “He doesn’t have the arm he once had, so that aspect of his game won’t come back, but young pitchers love throwing to him,” a National League scout told Cafardo. The 37-year-old Ruiz’s contract includes a $4.5MM club option for 2017.

NL Notes: Phillies, Urias, Rockies, Cardinals

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At 22-15, the Phillies have been among the standings’ biggest surprises this season, but rookie general manager Matt Klentak isn’t losing sight of the fact that the team is in a rebuild, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Klentak also realizes that the Phillies have one of the majors’ worst run differentials and probably won’t be able to sustain their early success in the win column. “We’re not blind to the fact that our run differential is negative by a significant margin,” he said. “We’re well aware that there has been a lack of offensive production throughout much of the lineup.” Only the Braves’ historically anemic offense has been worse than Philadelphia’s thus far, but the good news on the offensive end is that the Phillies have seemingly found an enviable long-term piece in 24-year-old center fielder Odubel Herrera.

More from the National League:

  • The Dodgers were considering promoting 19-year-old prospect Julio Urias to bolster their bullpen as of last weekend, and the left-handed phenom’s stock has risen even higher since. Urias fired six scoreless innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, extending his streak to 22 straight frames without allowing a run, according to Vince Lara-Cinisomo of Baseball America. Urias is laying waste to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, where he has a 1.25 ERA and 39 strikeouts against eight walks in 36 innings, and looks primed to jump to baseball’s highest level soon.
  • Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes is still capable of being a “serviceable” option at the position, though he’s clearly on the downside of his career, a longtime scout told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Reyes, who’s suspended until the end of May because of a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, could be done in Colorado. A trade might be difficult, though, considering Reyes’ contract (he’s still owed roughly $41MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2018), off-field troubles and on-field decline, according to Saunders. That could lead the Rockies to release the 33-year-old, which is a possibility, some close to the team have told Saunders.
  • The Cardinals have taken a tough-love approach with pitching prospect Alex Reyes – who’s nearing a return from a 50-game suspension for a second positive marijuana test – as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details. The Cardinals could have lifted Reyes’ 50-game ban at any point by putting him on their 40-man roster, but they elected against it and didn’t even invite the right-handed 21-year-old to Spring Training. “There are two things for him to take from this,” stated general manager John Mozeliak. “No. 1, he made a mistake and cannot make that mistake again. No. 2, because of this mistake he has to realize he was risking a lot because of what he can do with his talent. Time will tell the direction this sends him.” Reyes seems to have taken the discipline to heart, saying, “That day, I changed my mentality.”

Rosenthal’s Latest: Desmond, Bush, Cubs, Reyes

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Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a pair of videos at FOX Sports:

  • Ian Desmond’s work in center field has impressed observers, and the Rangers are not ruling out the possibility of retaining him beyond 2016, Rosenthal says. Even if they don’t (and they do have a wide variety of talented young outfielders), Desmond seems like a good bet to land a multi-year deal as a center fielder.
  • Some in the Rangers organization felt the recently promoted righty — and former No. 1 overall pick — Matt Bush could help the team out of Spring Training, but since he was only a few months removed from being released from prison, they decided to wait. Bush, who has a long history of alcoholism, will be joined on the road by either his father Danny or Rangers special assistant Roy Silver (who had previously worked with Josh Hamilton).
  • It’s unclear what the Cubs might need at the trade deadline, Rosenthal says. A left fielder is one possibility if Jorge Soler can’t get it going and if the Cubs elect to keep Kris Bryant at third. There’s also a chance they could add pitching. They could move Adam Warren from the bullpen to the rotation if needed, but might need to pursue relief help if they did.
  • The Red Sox will be better-prepared for the trade deadline than their divisional competition, with a farm system that rates as significantly better than those of the Orioles or Blue Jays.
  • Rosenthal also explains why Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes’ domestic violence suspension was shorter than that of an 80-game punishment for PED use. Rosenthal says that, in the eyes of the league, a positive PED test essentially amounts to proof of guilt, but in Reyes’ case, charges against him were dropped and he has never been convicted. Without “formal proof,” MLB can only make a suspension so long.
  • Some players want stiffer sentences for players who fail PED tests, especially for players who use PEDs intentionally. While it’s possible there could be small changes to PED penalties, however, Rosenthal says bigger changes aren’t likely.

Jose Reyes Suspended Through May 31 Under Domestic Violence Policy

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Major league baseball has announced that Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes has been suspended without pay through May 31st under the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. He’ll be credited for the time he’s already missed in calculating the suspension, though he’ll forego salary that had previously been available under his paid administrative leave.

Reyes will not contest the ban. It’ll technically cost him 52 games, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets, though Colorado will only have had 51 contests to that point (with one re-scheduled rainout). Reyes will be eligible to begin working out now and could start a rehab assignment as soon as the calendar flips to June.

The veteran infielder will end up losing just over $7.09MM of his total $22MM salary this season, as he’ll ultimately go without pay for the first 59 days of the 183-day “championship season,” as defined in the CBA. Plus, he’ll make a $100K donation to a charity for domestic abuse. That’s a more or less token amount, but presumably its inclusion in the terms of the agreed-upon suspension was motivated by some reason beyond the money involved.

All told, the severity of the punishment is surprisingly light, at least in comparison to the precedent set in this and other spheres of league discipline. He’ll ultimately lose quite a bit less time and money than had he been caught with a PED for the first time. Indeed, his suspension barely tops the 50-game bans handed out to minor leaguers for such relatively innocuous actions as testing positive for marijuana use.

Aroldis Chapman previously received a 30-game domestic violence suspension of his own, with commissioner Rob Manfred citing his use of a firearm in the course of a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. But he was never arrested or charged in the matter, and there was seemingly never any clear evidence that he had initiated any physical contact with his girlfriend.

The Reyes case seemingly contained an even more serious factual setting: his wife said at the time that he grabbed her by the throat and shoved her into a sliding glass door, and she received treatment at a hospital. He was arrested, charged, and set for trial until the charges had to be dropped when Mrs. Reyes decided not to testify against her husband.

To be fair, Reyes has been on administrative leave and in limbo for quite some time, as the incident in question occurred on Halloween night. But that delay occurred in large part because of the pending legal action and, it seems, an effort by the league, union, and Reyes’s representatives to avoid a grievance over the length of the ban.

It’s unclear what the future holds for Reyes. He has been bypassed at the major league level by Trevor Story, and it’s not apparent what role he would play for the Rockies, who still owe him the remainder of his salary for the present season and $26MM more thereafter (including a buyout on his 2018 club option).

A report earlier today suggested that there is trade interest in the soon-to-be 33-year-old, though it’s not clear whether he’d be pursued as a means of prying a prospect or draft pick from the Rockies or also because of his potential to aid another club down the stretch. If history is any indication, he’ll have another shot at the majors at some point, though Reyes already seemed in decline before this black mark went on his record.

Reyes issued a statement apologizing, rather vaguely, “for everything that has happened,” as Nick Groke of the Denver Post was among those to report. He went on to say that he’s “happy to put all this in the past and get back to doing what I love the most, playing baseball.” Reyes also thanked his wife, who he said “has remained by my side throughout everything.”

Regardless of how one weighs those words, Reyes will certainly have a long ways to go to show he’s learned from the incident. He’ll also be required to submit to counseling, as contemplated in the policy. Commissioner Rob Manfred said that he’s “encouraged by Mr. Reyes’ commitment to the treatment provisions of the Policy in order to ensure that such an incident does not occur in the future.”

Teams Reportedly Interested In Trading For Jose Reyes

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Despite the specter of what is reported to be “at least” a 60-game suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy hanging over his head and a significant amount of money remaining on his contract, Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes still has some trade interest around the league, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported earlier this morning that Reyes’ suspension could be announced today, and several others in the media have since heard the same, which would seem to suggest that the league will indeed announce a punishment for Reyes, who was arrested and had criminal charges filed against him last October due to allegations of abuse from his wife. Reyes was slated to face a trial on Opening Day, but the charges were dropped in late March because his wife was no longer cooperating with the investigation. He’s been on paid administrative leave for the entirety of the 2016 season while MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred investigates the matter. Per Rosenthal’s report, instead of serving an additional 60 unpaid days on top of his paid leave, Reyes will be required to pay back the money that he has earned thus far in 2016 and then serve out the remainder of the length of the suspension (also without pay, of course).

It’s somewhat surprising to hear any rumblings of trade interest in Reyes. In addition to the deeply concerning allegations of abuse, he’s owed $39.945MM through the end of the 2017 season, assuming a 60-game suspension. That’s no small price for any player, let alone one with this type of off-field issues and one whose most recent on-field activity resulted in a .274/.310/.378 batting line despite splitting the season between two of the game’s best environments for offense (Toronto’s Rogers Centre and Denver’s Coors Field). Metrics like OPS+ and wRC+, which are weighted based on a player’s home park and league, felt that Reyes’ overall offensive contribution was 16 to 20 percent worse than that of a league average bat in 2015. Beyond that, he’s also received negative ratings from both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved in each of the past seven seasons for his work at shortstop.

Reyes, who will turn 33 two days after Colorado plays its 60th game of the season (June 11), was productive at the plate as recently as 2014, and batted a solid .289/.342/.419 from 2012-14 between the Marlins and Blue Jays. One also has to imagine that given his off-field issues and the meteoric rise of his replacement, Trevor Story, the Rockies would be willing to eat a portion of the salary that remains on Reyes’ contract. Alternatively, the Rockies could show a willingness to take on a similarly undesirable contract from another club. Speculating further, a rebuilding club could agree to take on a significant portion of Reyes’ contract as a means of persuading the Rockies to include a meaningful prospect or two in the trade, then simply cut bait on Reyes.

It remains possible that a team (or multiple teams) would have interest in adding Reyes to its roster and hoping for a return to form at the plate. The Yankees acquired Aroldis Chapman from the Reds this offseason as he was dealing with his own domestic violence allegations, although Chapman is a cheaper, more productive player than Reyes and never had criminal charges filed against him. In spite of that, the return for Chapman was widely considered to be light. If there is indeed some degree of trade interest in Reyes, I’d expect that it’s conditional on significant financial/prospect incentive being included in the deal for the acquiring team and very little, if anything, going back to the Rockies in terms of young talent.

Jose Reyes Could Face Suspension Of At Least 60 Games

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MAY 13: FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reports that an announcement on Reyes could come as soon as today, and he hears the same as Heyman: Reyes is expected to be suspended for at least 60 days. Interestingly, however, Rosenthal suggests that Reyes will not be suspended an additional 60 days on top of his paid administrative leave, but rather will repay the money he earned on leave and be suspended for an additional 26 games (or more, if the suspension proves lengthier than 60 days).

Rosenthal also adds that the delay in determining a punishment for Reyes has not been due to any differences between the commissioner’s office and the MLBPA, but rather due to difficulty in obtaining the necessary information to make a final ruling.

MAY 8: Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes could be facing at least a 60-game suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy, with some sources estimating that Reyes could be sidelined for closer to 80 games, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports.

A suspension has seemed inevitable ever since the alleged incident between Reyes and his wife took place in Hawaii last November.  Criminal charges against Reyes were dropped in March since Reyes’ wife wasn’t willing to participate in the case (nor has she been willing to participate in MLB’s investigation of the incident) and the shortstop has been on paid administrative leave while the matter has been examined by the league and the player’s union.

The policy gives Commissioner Rob Manfred the ability to discipline players in such alleged domestic violence situations even if no criminal charges are filed.  Aroldis Chapman, for instance, is nearing the end of his own 30-game suspension for an offseason incident, though as Heyman notes, Reyes’ incident has been considered to be a more serious matter due to the severity of the alleged violence.

Reyes was owed $22MM by the Rockies this season, so a suspension in the range of 60 to 80 games would cost him roughly $7.33MM-$9.77MM (as a reminder, players are paid over the 180-day MLB calendar, not strictly the 162-game season).  Beyond this season, Reyes is also owed $22MM in 2017 and a $4MM buyout of a $22MM club option for 2018.  There has been speculation that once Reyes’ suspension is up, the Rockies will simply release the shortstop and eat the rest of the money owed to him in order to cut ties as quickly as possible.

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