NL Central Rumors: Brewers, Iglesias, Reds, Cubs, Davis, Lackey
The Brewers are not ruling out significant additions on the pitching market, it seems. When asked yesterday about the possibility of landing a premium-cost starter, GM David Stearns said that “it makes sense to cast a wide net,” as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports. That guarded phrasing hardly promises a major move, but it keeps things open, and that’s what Stearns says the focus is right now. He explained: “Generally, at this stage of the offseason, you try to determine what might be realistic, what might make sense, and then you plot your offseason strategy from there.” MLBTR’s Steve Adams previously highlighted Milwaukee as a potential pursuer of top pitchers this winter.
Here’s the latest from the NL Central:
- At this stage, at least, reports of interest in Reds closer Raisel Iglesias probably ought to be taken with a grain of salt — not because there isn’t much interest, but because it’s so widespread. Per president of baseball operations Dick Williams, “the fair assumption would be that two-thirds of the teams would have interest without having them have to call,” as Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. While the club surely won’t be rash in dealing Iglesias, Williams does note that the team isn’t “holding on to him out of fear of what the rest of the bullpen would do.” At the same time, other clubs are being given the sense that Cincinnati intends to keep Iglesias, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, so it seems likely that it’ll take a significant offer to gain traction in talks.
- The Reds do recognize they are well-stocked in the outfield, though Williams suggests it’s more depth than a true “surplus” from which to trade. That appears to be a fair take; while Cincinnati could end up with a bit of a playing-time logjam if things break right, that’s also far from a given. Generally, the team’s top baseball decision-maker says to expect “an opportunistic approach” to the offseason — which may also require some patience from fans.
- Patrick Mooney of NBC Sports Chicago provides an interesting overview of the dynamics that will shape the Cubs‘ efforts this offseason. GM Jed Hoyer tells Mooney that the team is approaching trade talks both with an open mind and with a loyalty to the players they’ve developed into the core of a winning club. That said, Hoyer stressed that the front office’s “No. 1 loyalty” is to Cubs fans and positioning the team to win another World Series. That, Hoyer says, could put the team into an unenviable position of having to consider trades of young players they value highly. “Certainly, I’d love to have an offseason where we didn’t have to do anything like that,” says Hoyer. “But in order to get better and make improvements in certain areas, we might.
- Meanwhile, Mooney looks at the team’s chances of re-signing closer Wade Davis as a free agent. Chicago viewed Aroldis Chapman purely as a rental when they acquired him in 2016 and let him walk as a free agent accordingly, Mooney writes, but they view Davis in a different light. President of baseball ops Theo Epstein says the Cubs “think the world” of Davis and will make an effort to bring back a player they feel is important both on and off the field. As Mooney points out, a number of big-market clubs already have high-priced closers, which could take some of them out of the running for Davis.
- Hoyer confirmed to reporters that right-hander John Lackey has indeed signaled that he aims to pitch once again in 2018 (Twitter link via ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers). Re-signing Lackey is “certainly” something the Cubs are going to talk about, per Hoyer. It remains to be seen how aggressively Chicago will pursue Lackey coming off a generally disappointing season in which he yielded an NL-high 36 homers. But, the Cubs stand to potentially lose both Lackey and Jake Arrieta this winter, so they’ll assuredly be in the market for multiple arms.
Twins Interested In Raisel Iglesias
The Twins have checked in with the Reds about a trade for closer Raisel Iglesias, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link). Iglesias is one of several relievers Minnesota is “performing due diligence on” as the club looks to upgrade its bullpen for next season.
Iglesias stands out as a logical target for any team in the market for saves, given that a closer is a luxury on a rebuilding team like Cincinnati. Working as a full-time reliever for the first time, Iglesias just completed the best of his three MLB seasons, posting a 2.49 ERA, 10.89 K/9 and 3.41 K/BB over 76 innings. Iglesias closed out 28-of-30 save opportunities while generating a career-high swinging strike rate (13.9%) on the strength of an excellent slider and a 96.4 mph fastball.
Iglesias, who turns 28 in January, brings value both as a strong closer now and as a long-term asset who isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season. As per the terms of his original seven-year, $27MM deal with the Reds, Iglesias had the right to opt out of his guaranteed salary (with the Reds still retaining team control) in any offseason once he became eligible for arbitration, in order to chase a potentially larger payday through the arb process. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects Iglesias to earn $2.8MM through arbitration salary next season, so it is likely Iglesias will remain in his current deal for at least one winter, as his contract guarantees him $4.5MM in 2018.
Iglesias is also slated to earn $5MM in both 2019 and 2020 if he doesn’t opt into arbitration, and then he’ll have one final arb-eligible year as a Super Two player in the 2020-21 offseason. So while Iglesias’ price tag could potentially grow if he continues to rack up the saves, he’ll still be a cost-effective acquisition for a mid-market team like the Twins, particularly since Minnesota has very little salary on the books past the 2018 season.
Brandon Kintzler and Matt Belisle handled most of the ninth-inning duties for the Twins last season, though Kintzler was traded at the deadline and Belisle is a free agent, leaving Minnesota in search of a new closer this winter. The Twins didn’t get strong relief pitching in general in 2017, so it isn’t surprising that they’re looking at Iglesias and other notable bullpen arms on the trade and free agent fronts. We’ve already heard that the Twins have checked in with Kintzler about possibly bringing the free agent righty back to Target Field.
The Reds were only interested in hearing big trade offers for Iglesias last summer, and that asking price almost certainly hasn’t changed. The Twins’ farm system is middle-of-the-pack in terms of prospects to offer (Minnesota was ranked 19th in Baseball America’s post-deadline organizational ranking) since they were a team that seemed to be headed into a rebuild themselves before their surprising AL wild card finish in 2017 changed their outlook. If comes down to a prospect bidding war for Iglesias’ services, Minnesota might not have the young talent to meet the Reds’ needs.
NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Iglesias, Williams, Kirby
The Cardinals announced on Wednesday that they’ve promoted director of international operations Moises Rodriguez to the position of assistant general manager. Rodriguez has spent 10 years working in the Cardinals’ front office, and the team notes within its press release that he was “instrumental” in signing and developing prospects such as Carlos Martinez, Alex Reyes, Magneuris Sierra and the late Oscar Taveras. Born in Puerto Rico, Rodriguez explained in discussing his new title (video link via the Cardinals, on Twitter) that he grew up in New York City cheering for the Cardinals while largely surrounded by Mets fans. Newly promoted GM Michael Girsch says that Rodriguez has done “an amazing job” building out the team’s international department, adding that Rodriguez’s views at times differ from his own, which is “ideal” and “makes everyone better.” The Cardinals did not name a new director of international operations and expect to do so “early this offseason,” per their release.
More from the NL Central…
- While many (myself included) have assumed that Reds closer Raisel Iglesias will opt into arbitration this offseason, as is his contractual right under the terms of his seven-year $27MM contract, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer explains that the scenario isn’t as likely as it seems. Iglesias’ deal with the Reds allows him to opt into arbitration in any offseason in which he is eligible, meaning he’ll have the opportunity to opt into arbitration next winter even if he forgoes that opportunity this winter. Under the current terms of his deal, Iglesias is guaranteed $4.5MM in 2018, Buchanan notes. While he could potentially make a bit more than that as a first-time arb player on the heels of a strong season as a closer, he’d be forfeiting the remaining $10MM on his contract to do so. By waiting until next offseason, he’d sacrifice only minimal earning power and protect himself against an injury or unexpected decline in 2018.
- Right-hander Trevor Williams has somewhat quietly made a strong case for a spot in the Pirates‘ 2018 rotation, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. The Bucs are banking on Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Ivan Nova to hold down the top three spots in the rotation, and Williams’ quality run over his past 24 outings has perhaps earned him the next spot in the starting five. In that time, he’s worked to a 3.65 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 49.9 percent ground-ball rate. He’s averaged 5 2/3 innings per start in that time, so the Pirates would probably prefer to see him work deeper into games with greater frequency, but Williams certainly looks like a viable rotation piece moving forward.
- Brewers left-handed pitching prospect Nathan Kirby, who hasn’t pitched in two years due to a pair of elbow surgeries, is back on the mound in the team’s instructional league, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The former University of Virginia ace was at one point a projected top five pick in the 2015 draft but slipped to the Brewers at No. 40 overall that year due to injury concerns. Tommy John surgery cost Kirby the 2016 season, and he had a second elbow procedure earlier this year. While it’s hardly the start to his pro career that Kirby had envisioned, he’s not yet 24 years of age, so there’s certainly time for him to get back on track.
Trade Chatter: Iglesias, Reds, Royals, Asdrubal, Mariners, Dodgers, Astros
Though Raisel Iglesias‘ name has somewhat frequently been mentioned on the rumor circuit, Reds general manager Dick Williams tells Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s not marketing his closer to other teams. That doesn’t mean that Williams won’t listen to offers on the 27-year-old, but the GM’s comments suggest that a trade isn’t especially likely “[I]f somebody really gave you an opportunity to improve your franchise, you’d have to consider it,” said Williams of listening to offers on Iglesias. “But I really like a lot of the pieces we have, and I see us not that far from being competitive if we can get some of these young pitchers to turn the corner. If I were to trade him, you’d want something back that could help us real soon.”
Some more trade chatter to kick off Thursday morning…
- From that same piece, Williams tells Buchanan that he’s more open-minded when it comes to dealing impending free agents such as Zack Cozart, Drew Storen and recently injured Scott Feldman. The knee injury that landed Feldman on the disabled list seems particularly unfortunate, as Buchanan reports that the Reds had received trade interest in Feldman prior to that issue. His timetable for a return isn’t yet known. There’s technically time for him to be activated before the deadline if it proves to be short-term in nature, though one can imagine that most interested parties would prefer to see him make a start before moving forward with a trade. Buchanan also speculates on the possibility of a Tony Cingrani trade, noting that he’s pitching well and controlled for two more seasons, while Cincinnati has quite a few younger arms it’d like to take a look at in the ‘pen.
- The Royals are once again struggling, having dropped seven of their past 10 games, but ESPN’s Buster Olney hears that they’re not deviating from their course as deadline buyers. Kansas City has been hopeful of adding two “cost-efficient” starting pitchers and are also looking into adding a reliever. It’d take a total collapse between now and the deadline for the Royals to change course and sell off their impending free agents, Olney adds.
- Olney also tweets that the Mets would improve their chances of finding a trade partner for Asdrubal Cabrera by playing him at third base. Rival evaluators are hopeful of seeing him at that position before making a determination, per Olney, and it now appears likely that the Mets will accommodate them. Newsday’s Marc Carig reports that Cabrera is set to begin taking grounders at the hot corner, and manager Terry Collins confirmed as much to Carig’s colleague, David Lennon (Twitter link).
- The Mariners “appear willing” to trade outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill this summer, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 22-year-old O’Neill entered the season ranked among the game’s 50 or so best prospects on several notable lists (Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus) but got off to a poor start to the season in Triple-A. He’s recovered with a 1.127 OPS over his past 26 games to bring his batting line back up to a respectable .241/.326/.462, but Dutton notes that the emergence of Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel has the M’s more open to a deal. Despite the presence of that duo, however, Seattle hasn’t shown an inclination to deal top organizational prospect Kyle Lewis.
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes that the Dodgers and Astros have put themselves in such strong position that neither strongly needs to make a move prior to the trade deadline. However, both Dodgers president Andrew Friedman and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow are viewed as extremely opportunistic types and figure to look at ways to upgrade their roster anyhow. Crasnick classifies the Dodgers’ interest in Orioles closer Zach Britton as “legitimate” but notes that they’re a bit cautious due to his 2017 forearm issues. Ken Rosenthal wrote yesterday that L.A. is reluctant to part with prospects Alex Verdugo and Walker Buehler in trades, and Crasnick echoes that statement while also adding righty Yadier Alvarez to the list. While the three aren’t quite “untouchable,” none of the three seems especially likely to go. As for the Astros, they’ll continue looking for a starter that could join the playoff rotation behind Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers, though they, too, could look instead to a late-inning lefty like Britton or Detroit’s Justin Wilson.
Trade Rumblings: Darvish, Marlins, Starters, Tigers, Astros, Iglesias, Hand
There’s “increasing buzz” that the Rangers will listen to offers on top starters Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels if they don’t open the second half of the season with strong play, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. It’s been previously reported that the Rangers will hold onto Darvish even if they fall out of the race, so that’d represent something of a change of mindset for GM Jon Daniels & Co. Darvish is set to hit the open market at season’s end, so if the Rangers are out of the race and don’t trade him, they run the risk of losing him to free agency (though he’d obviously receive and reject a qualifying offer, affording Texas some draft compensation). Hamels, meanwhile, hasn’t been listed as a potential trade target to date. He’s earning $23.5MM this year and next, and he’s owed at least $6MM as the buyout on a $20MM club option for the 2019 campaign. That contract and a bizarrely low strikeout rate (4.9 K/9) could complicate Hamels’ market, though he’s shown recent improvement with 12 strikeouts in his past 14 1/3 innings of work.
More trade chatter from around the league…
- The Marlins have told other clubs that they’re ready to sell off assets, a rival executive tells Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller. According to Miller, the Marlins have spoken to more than 10 teams about right-hander David Phelps, and there are two or three clubs that are showing “serious” interest in closer AJ Ramos. “They’re working on it and talking to clubs,” the exec tells Miller. “But the conversations always end with one caveat, that they don’t know that the owner won’t bail at the last minute.” Miller adds that Giancarlo Stanton isn’t likely to move until the Marlins accept that they won’t get someone to take his salary and give prospects back. The industry feeling is that it’d have to be almost a straight salary dump. (Stanton can also veto any deal via his no-trade clause.) Miller’s column features a look at all 30 teams and their possible deadline course as well.
- Sonny Gray, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are available in trades, writes Jon Morosi of MLB.com, but the Athletics, Tigers and Pirates have each set a lofty asking price. Perhaps more interestingly, Morosi adds that the Braves have said right-hander Julio Teheran isn’t available, though he’s reportedly been drawing interest and others (including David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports) have said that Atlanta would at least consider offers. In addition to that overview of the market for pitchers, Morosi runs down a position-by-position preview of the market for bats.
- Heyman reports that there’s little to no genuine interest in Justin Verlander at this time due to his huge contract and underwhelming numbers. Furthermore, he notes that due to Verlander’s status as a legend in Detroit, they can’t accept an underwhelming return and effectively signal to Tigers fans that his trade was a salary dump. There’s also very little interest in Ian Kinsler, according to Heyman, as the he’s struggled in 2017 and few teams are on the hunt for second base help. He adds that Alex Avila, J.D. Martinez and Justin Wilson are all drawing strong interest, however, so GM Al Avila should make some deals in the next 18 days.
- In his weekly AL Notes column, Heyman reports that with few top starters left on the market, the Astros may instead pursue high-end bullpen help in an effort to shorten the game and load up the relief corps for the postseason. Unsurprisingly, their list of targets would include Zach Britton, if he’s available. (Most clubs in the league would perk up at the notion of acquiring a healthy Britton.)
- Heyman also notes that Braves left-hander Jaime Garcia is one rental pitcher that interests the Royals. On the subject of Kansas City, he also notes that while the team does have interest in Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, K.C. would want Miami to pay down some of the roughly $41MM remaining on Gordon’s contract, which the Fish aren’t willing to do. The same is true of the Angels and Blue Jays, he adds, both of whom like the player but not his current salary.
- Meanwhile, in his NL Notes column, Heyman writes that the Reds are believed to be willing to listen to offers on closer Raisel Iglesias but would only move him for a package that would “blow them away.” The 27-year-old Iglesias has emerged as one of baseball’s best relievers and is controllable through the 2020 season. He’s affordable at the moment ($3.5MM in 2017), but his contract allows him to opt into arbitration once eligible, so his salary is going to balloon quite a bit between now and 2020. Heyman also notes that the Reds would be interested in a two- or possibly three-year deal with Zack Cozart but recognize that he can earn more than they’re willing to pay when he gets to free agency.
- The Yankees, Nationals, Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, Royals, Angels and Mariners could all be in the mix for lefty Brad Hand, Heyman reports. Regarding the Dodgers, Heyman and Robert Murray report that San Diego asked Los Angeles for top prospect Alex Verdugo in return, though there’s “no likelihood” of L.A. meeting that price. The Padres are also getting calls on cheap starters Trevor Cahill, Clayton Richard and Jhoulys Chacin, each of whom inked a one-year deal worth $1.75MM this past offseason.
Reds Notes: Iglesias, DeSclafani, Cingrani
Here’s the latest out of Cincinnati…
- Closer Raisel Iglesias has drawn trade interest with the deadline approaching, though the Reds would unsurprisingly seek an “astronomical” return for the 27-year-old, a source tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). With that in mind, Crasnick suggests that Cincy’s deadline talks are more likely to revolve around veteran rentals like shortstop Zack Cozart, starter Scott Feldman and reliever Drew Storen than Iglesias. The flamethrowing right-hander could be a core piece for the Reds, as he’s on a reasonable contract through 2020 and has dominated over 41 2/3 innings this year (1.73 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 3.46 BB/9 and a 46.2% ground-ball rate).
- Anthony DeSclafani is reporting good progress in rehab process, the right-hander tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. After spraining his right UCL during the spring, DeSclafani has slowly begun ramping up a throwing process that didn’t begin until midway through May. “I’ve made every scheduled throwing session, bullpen, flat-ground. It’s been going well so far, so hopefully it stays the course,” said DeSclafani, who is three bullpen sessions into a schedule of one bullpen every three days. He remains on track for a return in August, matching the tentative timeline set in June by Reds manager Bryan Price.
- Left-hander Tony Cingrani has moved from Dishman Sports Group to the Bledsoe Agency, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). Cingrani, who’s controllable via arbitration through 2019, has combined for a 4.38 ERA, 8.28 K/9 against 5.26 BB/9, and a 44.3% grounder mark across 113 innings since he became a full-time reliever in 2015. MLBTR will make note of Cingrani’s representation change in our Agency Database, which keeps track of agent information on more than 2,500 major league and minor league players. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
NL Central Notes: Greene, Epstein, Iglesias, Cole
The Reds will have until 5pm EST on Friday to reach agreement with second overall pick Hunter Greene. As MLB.com’s Jim Callis explains, he’s among a few top picks who have yet to agree to terms, but is still expected to do so. Indeed, as Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer further explains, it’d rate as quite a surprise if Greene doesn’t take a record-setting bonus offer to turn pro before the deadline.
Here’s more from the NL Central:
- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein warned today that outside additions won’t solve the club’s woes, as Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com was among those to report. Epstein says the defending World Series champs “can’t force anything” at the trade deadline. Whatever changes to the roster are ultimately made, he says, the organization’s “biggest fixes are inside the clubhouse.” That hardly establishes (or even really suggests) that Chicago won’t look to improve at the deadline, of course. And it certainly doesn’t hint that Epstein lacks in confidence in the existing talent. Indeed, he also says he expects the club to return to the high level of play it has carried over the past two seasons. Caveats aside, Epstein did indicate that the Cubs aren’t exactly looking to structure any deadline blockbusters. “We’ll do what we can to look to augment that,” he said, “but there’s not going to be a fundamental shift in the player personnel that we have.”
- The Reds may or may not have much interest in dealing away 27-year-old reliever Raisel Iglesias, but other teams are surely eyeing the quality righty and his appealing contract. It’s unsurprising to hear, then, that the closer-needy Nationals have at least some degree of interest in Iglesias, as MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets. On paper, the fit is plenty clear. But it remains to be seen what kind of asking price the Reds will place on Iglesias — who is currently sitting on a 1.59 ERA while maintaining a jump in velocity this year — and whether the Nats will be willing to offload significant prospects to get him.
- Similarly, rival organizations are surely wonder whether the Pirates have any inclination to take offers on righty Gerrit Cole. There’s nothing definitive in that regard, but Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes (among many other National League notes) that the Bucs are giving indication that Cole isn’t likely to be traded. Perhaps an overwhelming offer could shift the thinking, but it seems clear that Pittsburgh isn’t itching to cash in on Cole with two more years of arbitration control remaining — particularly with his value perhaps tipping down somewhat. While he has been healthy, Cole has had the roughest year of his career thus far, allowing 1.59 home runs per nine and carrying a 4.43 ERA over 107 2/3 frames.
Central Notes: Quintana, ChiSox, Reds, Pirates
The White Sox are primed to open the season with top starter and well-known trade candidate Jose Quintana in their rotation, notes Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). Chicago has been shopping Quintana over the past few months, but it still hasn’t found a proposal to its liking and likely won’t by Opening Day. Few teams, if any, have drawn more connections to Quintana than the Astros since he has been on the block, though they’re “not budging” from their offer, Nightengale hears.
Several more items from the Central divisions:
- The Reds have officially tabbed Amir Garrett and Rookie Davis to start the year in their rotation, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Neither hurler has any major league experience to this point. The 24-year-old Garrett, Baseball America‘s 81st-ranked prospect, ascended to Triple-A last season and put up a 3.46 ERA with 7.18 K/9 against 4.12 BB/9 in 67 2/3 innings. Davis, 23, was part of the Aroldis Chapman trade between the Reds and Yankees in 2015. Like Garrett, he reached Triple-A in 2016, though his results over a small sample weren’t ideal (7.50 ERA, 5.63 K/9, 2.63 BB/9 in 24 innings). In 134 1/3 Double-A frames, Davis owns a 3.28 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.
- The Pirates optioned left-hander Steven Brault to Triple-A on Tuesday, thereby cutting a contender for the final spot in their rotation. They’ll now choose among Tyler Glasnow, Drew Hutchison and Trevor Williams to slot in behind Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Ivan Nova and Chad Kuhl in what will be an all-righty rotation.
- The Reds reassigned veteran outfielder Desmond Jennings to the minors on Tuesday, which could bring about the end of his short tenure with the organization. Jennings, who joined the Reds in February on a minor league contract, can opt out of his deal before Opening Day, and Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer expects that to happen (Twitter link).
- Carlos Rodon, the second-best lefty in the White Sox‘s rotation, received good news on his bicep Tuesday, relays Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Rodon got a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who confirmed that the 24-year-old doesn’t have any structural damage. El Attrache diagnosed Rodon with bursitis, and he’ll embark on a throwing program the next two weeks before the team reevaluates him. Given that timeline, Rodon will open 2017 on the disabled list.
- Yet another note on the Reds, whose manager, Bryan Price, expects reliever Raisel Iglesias to be ready for Opening Day (Twitter link via Rosecrans). The righty hurt his elbow and hips when he fell in the shower a few weeks ago, thus putting his status for the start of the season in question. Undoubtedly the Reds’ premier relief weapon, Iglesias posted a 1.98 ERA, 9.72 K/9 and 3.42 BB/9 in 50 innings out of the bullpen after transitioning from the rotation a year ago.
Pitching Notes: Quintana, Ryu, Weaver, Iglesias
Pittsburgh has pursued a trade for White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana over the past several months, but Pirates general manager Neal Huntington found the asking price to be “well above where it made sense for us” (via ESPN’s Jim Bowden). With the Bucs seemingly out of the picture for Quintana, the Astros and Braves are the “best possibilities,” per Bowden, who notes that the White Sox “continue to work hard” to trade the 28-year-old. No deal is imminent, though, according to Bowden, who adds that the Astros would have to part with both right-hander Francis Martes and outfielder Kyle Tucker, two of Baseball America’s top 20 prospects, to acquire Quintana (all Twitter links). Houston balked at giving up a package of Martes, Tucker and righty Joe Musgrove for Quintana during the Winter Meetings.
For his part, White Sox GM Rick Hahn is content to wait until someone makes what he deems a satisfactory offer for Quintana, who’s reasonably priced and controllable through the 2020 season. “We’ve had conversations even this spring where if our asks was met, we’d make a move,” Hahn told Scott Merkin of MLB.com. “Obviously nothing has developed as of yet, but that could well change early in the season or it could take to the trade deadline or into the next offseason” (Twitter links).
The latest on a few other pitchers:
- Remarkably, after missing almost all of the previous two years because of shoulder problems, Dodgers southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu is making a strong case to crack their season-opening rotation, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Ryu threw four scoreless, one-hit innings against Milwaukee on Tuesday, giving him nine frames of one-run ball for the spring. Manager Dave Roberts made it clear afterward that the Dodgers want him in their rotation, saying: “When we look back a year, where he’s come from, he’s done nothing but allow us to be very optimistic. Every time he’s gotten better and we’re building him up to be a starter and break camp with us. That’s the plan on our end. He worked hard to put himself in a position where he’s at right now. We’re a better team if he’s in the starting rotation.” With Julio Urias likely to begin the season in extended spring training and Scott Kazmir looking for his lost velocity, two of Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Alex Wood figure to claim the Dodgers’ available starting spots.
- Padres righty Jered Weaver is dealing with a dead arm, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Weaver has also battled that issue in previous springs, notes Lin, though it’s not exactly encouraging news for a soft-tossing 34-year-old who’s coming off the two worst seasons of his career. Weaver indicated last week that he’s physically “10 steps above” where he was last year, when he piled up 178 innings with the Angels and logged the fourth-worst ERA (5.06) and second-highest FIP (5.62) among the majors’ qualified starters. The former ace lasted two-thirds of an inning in his start against the Royals on Wednesday and yielded four runs on three hits. He also hit two batters.
- Already sans their best starter, the injured Anthony DeSclafani, as Opening Day approaches, the Reds might also begin 2017 without top reliever Raisel Iglesias, who hasn’t pitched since March 14. An elbow issue has kept Iglesias out of action, but an MRI only showed a bone bruise, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “The good news is that it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a huge setback or there are any structural issues at all,” said manager Bryan Price. “The negative is that he’s going to have four more days off before he begins to throw again and we’ll have to see how comfortable we are by Opening Day or maybe before that.” A former starter, Iglesias was among the few bright spots in a historically inept Reds bullpen last year, when he posted a 1.98 ERA, 9.72 K/9 and 3.42 BB/9 in 50 innings as a reliever. Health permitting, the 27-year-old will serve as a high-leverage bullpen weapon this season.
NL Notes: Reds, Padres, Cardinals
The Reds had been optimistic that right-hander Anthony DeSclafani‘s tender elbow wouldn’t keep him out for any regular-season action, but he’s now likely to begin the year on the disabled list after suffering a setback Friday, reports Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. DeSclafani will undergo an MRI, which is certainly an unsettling development for him and a Cincinnati team that could lose its top starter for an undetermined amount of time. The Reds went the first two months of last season without DeSclafani, who was on the DL with an oblique injury. He then returned to deliver 123 1/3 innings and record a 3.28 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate. If the 26-year-old’s elbow issue is serious, the Reds could move reliever Michael Lorenzen to the rotation, per Buchanan, who notes that manager Bryan Price is against the idea of transitioning Raisel Iglesias back to a starting role.
More from the National League:
- Even though he’s 41 years old and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2008, free agent reliever Eric Gagne is drawing interest from “multiple teams,” including the Padres, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter links). The 2003 NL Cy Young winner and former Dodgers closer is in the midst of an eye-opening showing with Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Gagne threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings and ran his fastball up to 93.8 mph, per Statcast (via David Adler of MLB.com), in Canada’s loss to Colombia on Saturday.
- As the season approaches, the only certainty in the Padres’ infield is that Wil Myers will start at first base, observes of MLB.com. Yangervis Solarte “is going to be out there on a very consistent basis,” said manager Andy Green, but it’s unclear if he’ll remain at third (where he spent nearly all of last season) or spend more time at second base. Meanwhile, unexpected 2016 success story Ryan Schimpf and Cory Spangenberg are competing to start at second or third, and Luis Sardinas and Erick Aybar are in a close battle for the No. 1 shortstop job.
- After coming over from Atlanta in an offseason trade involving Jaime Garcia, righty John Gant might be pitching his way into the Cardinals’ 2017 plans, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Gant, who worked out of both the Braves’ bullpen and rotation in his 50-inning big league debut last year, is “really opening some eyes,” bench coach David Bell told Hummel on Saturday. That came after the 24-year-old tossed three perfect innings and threw 22 of 31 pitches for strikes in a start against his previous team. Overall, Gant has allowed a mere one run on three hits in eight spring innings. “I know he’s had success in the past but I think he’s really put himself into a position where we’re taking a close look at him,” continued Bell.