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Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

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The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is tomorrow afternoon at 1pm ET. With the vast majority of teams now adopting a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration — that is, halting negotiations on one-year contracts once figures have been exchanged and simply going to a hearing at that point — there will be a deluge of arbitration agreements in the next 24 hours. It’s a minor deadline day in terms of newsworthiness — outside of the largest cases, at least — as few arbitration cases will have a significant impact on their team’s overall payroll picture. From a broader perspective, though, the exchange of arb figures is perhaps more notable. With most or all of their arbitration cases out of the way, teams can focus more heavily on the trade and free-agent markets.

As always, it’s interesting to refer back to MLBTR’s annual arbitration projections. Here are the day’s deals:

  • The Tigers will pay Shane Greene $4MM for the coming campaign, Murray tweets. Entering his second year of eligibility, the 30-year-old had projected at $4.8MM, owing largely to his strong tally of 32 saves. Despite appealing K/BB numbers, though, Greene finished the season with an unsightly 5.12 ERA.
  • Righty Nick Tropeano settled with the Angels at $1.075MM. (That’s also via Murray, on Twitter.) That falls well shy of his $1.6MM projection. The first-year arb-eligible hurler was not terribly effective in his 14 starts last year and has just over two hundred career frames in the big leagues, due in no small part to a long rehab owing to Tommy John surgery.

Earlier Updates

  • Newly acquired outfielder Domingo Santana will earn $1.95MM in his first season with the Mariners, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. That’s just a touch below the $2.0MM that MLBTR & Matt Swartz had projected. The 26-year-old Santana swatted thirty long balls and had a productive overall 2017 season, but only received 235 plate appearances in the ensuing campaign — over which he hit five home runs and carried a .265/.328/.412 slash — before being dealt to Seattle.
  • The Angels are on the hook for $1,901,000 to rehabbing righty J.C. Ramirez, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets. Ramirez will receive a nominal raise on his 2018 salary after requiring Tommy John surgery after just two starts.
  • Phillies righty Hector Neris has settled at $1.8MM, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter links). He had projected at $2.0MM but will settle for a bit less in his first season of arb eligibility. Right-handed starter Jerad Eickhoff, meanwhile, is slated to receive $975K. His projected first-year salary was much higher, at $1.7MM, but Eickhoff presented a tough case since he missed virtually all of his platform season with arm troubles.
  • Southpaw Ryan Buchter has agreed with the Athletics on a $1.4MM deal, Nightengale of reports on Twitter. That lands just a smidge over his $1.3MM projection. Soon to turn 32, Buchter worked to a sub-3.00 for the third-straight season in 2018, but only threw 39 1/3 innings while working as a lefty specialist.
  • Red Sox reliever Heath Hembree will receive a $1,312,500 salary next year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link). Starter Steven Wright checks in just a shade higher, at $1.375MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Both players had projected in this range, with Swartz pegging $1.2MM for the former and $1.4MM for the latter. It’s Hembree’s first time through the process and Wright’s second.
  • First-time arb-eligible righty Scott Oberg settled with the Rockies for $1.3MM, according to Nightengale (via Twitter). It’s $100K over the projected rate for the 28-year-old hurler, who turned in far and away his most productive MLB season in 2018.
  • The Yankees have a $1.2MM deal in place with first baseman Greg Bird, Nightengale was first to tweet. Though he had projected a bit higher, at $1.5MM, Bird’s relatively robust number of home runs (31 total in 659 career plate appearances) were threatened to be overshadowed in a hypothetical hearing by his rough overall stats over the past two seasons. He’ll need to earn his way back into a larger share of playing time in 2019.
  • Infielder Travis Jankowski will earn $1.165MM with the Padres, per Murray (via Twitter). He projected at a heftier $1.4MM, but the Super Two qualifier will still earn a nice raise after his best season in the big leagues. Jankowski will be looking to crack 400 plate appearances for the first time in the season to come.
  • The Nationals have agreed to a $1MM contract with righty Joe Ross, Murray also tweets. Though Ross projected at $1.5MM for his first season of eligibility, that was based largely upon the innings he accumulated over the prior three seasons. Ross made it back from Tommy John surgery in time for only three outings in 2018.
  • A pair of backstops have also put pen to paper on new salaries. Curt Casali will earn $950K with the Reds, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). John Ryan Murphy has a $900K agreement with the Diamondbacks, the elder Nightengale tweets. Casali, a Super Two, had projected for a $1.3MM salary, while Murphy projected at $1.1MM in his first arb year.

West Notes: Rox, Realmuto, Padres, Rangers, Mariners

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Despite the struggles of the Rockies’ catchers in 2018, it doesn’t appear they’ll be among the most ardent suitors for Marlins backstop J.T. Realmuto, Thomas Harding of MLB.com hears. It’s unclear, though, whether Colorado will make a less splashy attempt to upgrade over its current trio of Chris Iannetta, Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy, a woeful offensive group in 2018. Realmuto was the game’s premier catcher last season, on the other hand, but his refusal to sign an extension with the Marlins makes him a prime trade candidate. With two years of arbitration control remaining, Realmuto would bring back an impressive haul, but it doesn’t look as if it’ll come from Colorado.

  • The Padres are rife with major league-caliber outfielders, meaning they’re going to “have to make some decisions and calls on” that area of their roster this offseason, general manager A.J. Preller said this week (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). Out of the Padres’ current group of outfielders, Cassavell classifies Wil Myers, Travis Jankowski, Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes as trade candidates, adding that one of the latter two is likeliest to end up on the move. As right-handed sluggers with defensive limitations, Renfroe and Reyes offer similar skill sets, observes Cassavell, who notes that dealing one of the two would enable San Diego to move Myers from third base back to the outfield. The 27-year-old Myers, who owns the Padres’ second-richest contract (he’s guaranteed $64MM through 2023), saw his first real action at third base in 2018. Advanced metrics assigned Myers mixed reviews over a fairly small sample of appearances (36), as he accounted for one DRS and minus-5.4 UZR.
  • The Rangers elected to decline catcher Robinson Chirinos’ option for 2019 because of both the salary they’d have owed him ($4.5MM) and his defensive woes, according to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. Chirinos was one of the majors’ worst defensive catchers in 2018, but it was still a surprise that Texas let him become a free agent. After all, the 34-year-old did offer solid offensive production for the fifth straight season, hitting .222/.338/.419 (103 wRC+) with 18 home runs in 426 plate appearances, and exercising his option hardly would’ve broken the bank. Further, the Rangers don’t seem to have a full-time replacement on hand, as they’re not of the belief either Jose Trevino or Isiah Kiner-Falefa is ready for No. 1 duties, per Wilson. Texas is in the market for a primary backstop as a result, and though there are several established veterans on the open market, Wilson suggests Chirinos’ successor could arrive via trade.
  • Like their AL West rival in Arlington, the Mariners are seeking a starting catcher, having traded Mike Zunino to Tampa Bay on Thursday. With Zunino gone and the Mariners down to unproven 29-year-old David Freitas as their top option, Greg Johns of MLB.com runs down potential catcher acquisitions for the club. Considering the state of Seattle’s roster, GM Jerry Dipoto may attempt to trade for an experienced backstop who’s controllable for the next three to five years, writes Johns, who lists some potential targets in his piece.

Quick Hits: Darvish, Bartolo, Bird, Padres

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Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish could be on track to rejoin the team’s rotation in early September, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Darvish’s two-inning, 33-pitch sim game on Wednesday went well, manager Joe Maddon suggested. The next step for the 31-year-old Darvish is to embark on a rehab assignment, which may happen by the end of next week, per Wittenmyer. Triceps and elbow problems have kept the big-money free-agent signing off a major league mound since May 20.

More from around the game…

  • Rangers righty Bartolo Colon may be open to returning in 2019, when he’ll turn 46 years old. Colon became the winningest Latin American-born pitcher ever on Tuesday, when he racked up his 246th victory in a defeat of Seattle. After the game, Colon told Levi Weaver of The Athletic (subscription link): “There is one thing that I look for: Juan Marichal has more innings than me. For Dominicans, I want to beat him also, and I think I have about fifty innings left.” Colon actually has 62 innings left to pass Marichal’s 3,507 1/3 frames, Weaver points out. With time running out in 2018, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to overtake Marichal this year. Regardless, Colon has given this year’s Rangers more than they realistically could have expected upon signing him to a minor league deal last offseason, as he leads the team in innings (130 1/3) and walk rate (1.52 BB/9) even though he has only managed a 5.18 ERA/5.21 FIP.
  • Hyped Yankees first baseman Greg Bird has been a disappointment so far in 2018, having hit .211/.301/.402 in 236 plate appearances. As a result, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wonders how much longer the Yankees can count on Bird, whom injuries have limited to 580 PAs since his 2015 debut and who has batted a modest .222/.312/.450 along the way. Bird’s still just 25 years old, though, and seems to have Yankees brass in his corner, as Davidoff notes. Angels general manager Billy Eppler, who was with the Yankees when they used a fifth-round pick on Bird in 2011, also isn’t ready to give up on the lefty-swinger, telling Davidoff that a team doesn’t know what it has in a player until he reaches 1,250 to 1,500 PAs in the majors. Bird’s not even halfway to the low end of that estimate.
  • Padres outfielders Travis Jankowski, Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes are “being intensely evaluated” by team officials as the last-place club looks toward next season, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It’s possible only one of those players will remain with the team in 2019, per Acee, though it’s worth noting the Padres don’t necessarily have to part with any of them. All three have minor league options remaining, after all. Notably, both Renfroe and Reyes – a pair of power hitters – have offered above-average offensive production this year.

Trade Chatter: Machado, Tepera, Braves, Padres

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The Diamondbacks have once again checked in with the Orioles on Manny Machado, primarily as a matter of due diligence, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. There’s little surprise there, given that the Snakes were oft-linked to Machado in the offseason and were reportedly one of the more interested parties in obtaining his services. Beyond that, Arizona has received limited offensive contributions from both the third base (.216/.313/.394) and shortstop (.232/.296/.442) positions so far in 2018. The D-backs are currently hanging onto a 1.5 game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West, and adding someone of Machado’s caliber would be reminiscent of last season’s J.D. Martinez acquisition, though Machado has more defensive value even with poor ratings at shortstop so far in 2018.

More trade talk from around the league…

  • Morosi also tweets that Blue Jays righty Ryan Tepera is generating trade interest. It stands to reason that virtually every player of even modest value on Toronto’s roster will draw inquiries, of course, considering that the team is 16 games out of first place in the AL East and is facing a similarly bleak outlook in the Wild Card standings. Morosi notes Tepera’s career-best K/9 rate in 2018, though in this instance, that hardly seems like a reason to expect his value to increase; Tepera’s 9.5 K/9 mark is only nominally higher than last year’s 9.4 K/9, and his overall 26.8 strikeout percentage compares favorably to last year’s 25.4 percent mark. Tepera has made modest gains across the board in terms of fastball velocity (95.3 mph), swinging-strike rate (13.9 percent) and chase rate (34.2 percent), but his greater appeal is simply one of club control. He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason and controlled cheaply through the 2021 season. Tepera will turn 31 this winter, which won’t enhance his appeal, but he’s a hard-thrower with a 3.27 ERA and 137 strikeouts against 51 walks in his past 132 MLB innings.
  • The Braves didn’t make a strong effort to acquire Kelvin Herrera before he was traded to the division-rival Nationals, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While the Atlanta front office liked Herrera’s arm very much, O’Brien notes that assuming his remaining $4.4MM salary (which the Nats were willing to do) would’ve burned through the majority of the funds the team has available to upgrade via trade this summer. That would seem to suggest that the Braves may struggle to land any big-budget players as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches. Certainly, given the team’s place atop the NL East standings, they’ll look to improve to whatever extent possible, but it appears that finances will be a fairly notable factor in any moves the team does make.
  • There’s a widespread expectation that the Padres will sell some pieces this summer, but Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription link) takes a deeper look at a factor that could push the Friars into activity: the Rule 5 Draft. San Diego has more than a dozen prospects who’ll be Rule 5 eligible this offseason, Lin observes, which could create further motivation to open some spots on the 40-man by moving assets that are controlled beyond the 2018 season. Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen all fit that bill and have all already drawn trade interest, Lin writes, and the Padres could also shop outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Travis Jankowski to other clubs as well. Lin speaks with general manager A.J. Preller at length about the upcoming roster crunch in a thorough look at some of the decisions the club will face in the not-too-distant future.

Trade Notes: Machado, Phils, Cubs, Yanks, Rays, Padres, M’s, Tribe

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Orioles shortstop Manny Machado seems like a good bet to end up on the move this year, though it’s not “anywhere close” to happening, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The Orioles aren’t “actively shopping” Machado right now, and they’re content to keep the soon-to-be free agent until closer to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, Kubatko writes. Kubatko goes on to list some potential Machado suitors, including the Phillies, who “left open the possibility of engaging in talks” with the Orioles when they were in Baltimore a couple weeks ago. Meanwhile, according to Kubatko, the Cubs reached out to Orioles general manager Dan Duquette to express interest in Machado, but Chicago – like Baltimore – isn’t prepared to make a major deal yet. Of course, Cubs president Theo Epstein addressed the Machado-Chicago speculation earlier this week, saying it’s “in fantasy land at this point.”

Here are more trade-related items:

  • The Yankees, owners of arguably the majors’ premier offense and its second-best record (32-16), “need pitching more than anything else,” general manager Brian Cashman said Saturday (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Cashman made that observation before right-hander Sonny Gray’s latest subpar start – a 3 2/3-frame, five-run performance in a loss to the Angels. Gray has now posted a 5.98 ERA/4.78 FIP with 7.97 K/9 and 5.07 BB/9 in 49 2/3 innings this year, which wasn’t the type of production the Yankees had in mind then they acquired him from the Athletics last July. His 2018 woes – not to mention a general lack of front-end starters behind ace Luis Severino – could force the World Series hopefuls to revisit the trade market for rotation help in the next couple months.
  • Tampa Bay pulled off a surprise trade Friday when it sent reliever Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span to Seattle, and that won’t be be the end of the Rays’ moves, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times suggests. With Colome and Span gone, Topkin names Chris Archer, Wilson Ramos, C.J. Cron, Carlos Gomez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Brad Miller, Sergio Romo, Matt Duffy, Chaz Roe, Nathan Eovaldi and Jonny Venters as candidates to wind up in other uniforms.
  • Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski has drawn trade interest, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reported before the Mariners-Rays swap. It seems the Mariners tried for Jankowski prior to landing Span, but according to Divish, the Padres didn’t show much interest in the M’s low-ranked farm system. Known mostly for his speed and defense, the 26-year-old Jankowski has gotten off to a .313/.382/.400 start at the plate in 89 attempts this season. He’s controllable through the 2021 season.
  • Thanks to their bullpen’s dreadful start to the season, the Indians have been inquiring about outside help, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com relays. It doesn’t seem as if any trades are close to happening, however, as Hoynes points out that the deadline’s still more than two months away. Cleveland’s bullpen entered Saturday last in the majors in both ERA (6.23) and fWAR (minus-0.8), and it then lost integral lefty Andrew Miller to the disabled list for the second time this season.

Injury Notes: Giants, Red Sox, Indians, Jays, Jankowski

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The Giants announced tonight that right fielder Hunter Pence has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Mac Williamson is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take Pence’s spot on the roster. The loss of Pence is the latest blow to a Giants roster that has seen a number of key players go down with injuries this year, though Pence’s performance hasn’t been anywhere near what one would expect from the typically productive slugger. The 34-year-old has been at least 18 percent better than the league-average hitter in each of the past four seasons, per park-adjusted metrics OPS+ and wRC+, and he’s batted a combined .281/.339/.463 in that time. However, this year, he’s mustered just a .243/.289/.338 batting line through his first 149 plate appearances.

A few more notable injury scenarios from around the league…

  • Giants closer Mark Melancon is on the mend and appears to be progressing well, as the right-hander told reporters that he threw a 22-pitch mound session today (Twitter links via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Melancon said that he was “pretty much full go,” and Pavlovic notes that he can be activated as soon as tomorrow. Derek Law has been filling in as San Francisco’s closer with Melancon on the shelf.
  • An MRI of Drew Pomeranz’s left triceps didn’t reveal any new injuries, and the Red Sox lefty has been cleared to resume baseball activities, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. News on Tyler Thornburg, though, isn’t as good. The Sox are still trying to get to the bottom of the shoulder woes Thornburg is experiencing, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com tweets. Thornburg is set for additional testing and medical consultations this week. He has yet to take the hill since arriving in Boston via trade over the winter.
  • The Indians will be without Brandon Guyer for the next four to six weeks due to a sprained left wrist, manager Terry Francona told reporters today (via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian). Guyer will be completely shut down for a week before he begins the next phase of his rehab. Bastian also notes that ace Corey Kluber tossed a 20-pitch session today but still needs a more aggressive mound session and a simulated game before he’s cleared to begin a rehab assignment. And if those injuries aren’t enough for Cleveland, the Indians’ No. 2 starter, Carlos Carrasco, exited tonight’s game with tightness in his left pectoral muscle (Twitter link via Bastian). There’s no word on the severity of that issue, though it seems reasonable to expect further word following the completion of tonight’s game.
  • Steve Pearce became the latest member of the Blue Jays to land on the disabled list, as the infielder/outfielder suffered a calf injury last night and was placed on the 10-day DL today following an MRI. The Jays announced the injury as a right calf strain and did not offer a timeline on Pearce’s absence. Right-hander Leonel Campos is up from Triple-A to give the relief corps a quick boost, though as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets, that gives the Jays a two-man bench and a nine-man bullpen. As such, it seems likely that a reliever will be sent down soon. On a more positive note for Toronto fans, the team also announced that Troy Tulowitzki began a rehab assignment today, suggesting that he’s quite near to a return.
  • Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski has been on the DL since late April, and MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell now tweets that it’ll be at least another six weeks before the defensive standout is ready to return to the team. Jankowski hit the DL with what was termed a “deep bone bruise,” though reports at the time suggested that doctors believed there could be a hairline fracture in his foot. Per Cassavell, Jankowski’s most recent tests did indeed reveal a fracture, which lengthens the amount of time that he’ll be away from the club.

NL West Notes: Jankowski, Desmond, Hill, Wood, Ethier

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Padres center fielder Travis Jankowski hit the 10-day disabled list earlier this week with what the team called a “deep bone bruise” in his right foot, but there’s now a concern that Jankowski may have a hairline fracture as well, reports MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom. If that’s the case, the 25-year-old could be out more than a month. Bloom quotes manager Andy Green as saying the team doctors aren’t yet able to determine if there’s a fracture (perhaps due to the swelling), but they’ll be cautious either way. Even if there’s no fracture, it sounds as if Jankowski can expect to miss more than the minimum 10 days. “They told me I’d be in the boot for another week to 10 days,” Jankowski tells Bloom. Jankowski turned in a marginal performance at the plate in 2016, hitting .245/.332/.313 in 383 plate appearances, but he played strong defense in center field and provided significant baserunning value with 30 steals.

More on the NL West…

  • Ian Desmond is nearing a return to the Rockies, manager Bud Black tells Nick Groke of the Denver Post. Desmond has been with the team but is splitting off to work at the team’s extended Spring Training complex this weekend, where he’ll begin playing in rehab games. According to Groke, Desmond will play multiple positions as he preps for the possibility of logging some outfield work in addition to his time at first base. Black tells Groke that Desmond is “closer than you think” to returning. Previously, Black has mentioned the possibility of Desmond working in the outfield against lefties to keep the Mark Reynolds’ hot right-handed bat in the lineup.
  • Left-hander Alex Wood will make at least one more start for the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (link via MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick). However, it’s also possible that Wood, who tossed six one-hit innings against the Giants in his most recent outing, will remain in the rotation even when Rich Hill is ready to be activated from the disabled list. “I think Alex has done everything he can to warrant a case to continue to be in the rotation,” said Roberts. “…I can’t say with 100 percent confidence when Rich will be back as a starter. There is talk about Rich potentially coming back sooner in a role out of the ’pen and that would leave an opportunity for Woody — who has pitched really well — to stay in the rotation.” Roberts has suggested on multiple occasions that Hill could be eased back from his blister problems as a reliever, though given the magnitude of his contract and last season’s excellence as a starter, one has to imagine that the team would eventually prefer that Hill rejoin the rotation.
  • Roberts also conceded the fact that outfielder Andre Ethier will be sidelined until June, “at the earliest,” as Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times writes. The Dodgers have been without Ethier since he was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back late in Spring Training, and he’s yet to resume baseball activities more than five weeks after receiving an epidural injection. “The time that it’s taken, at this point, it’s almost like [he’ll need] a spring training again,” said Roberts. “…I’m not saying it needs to be a dedicated six weeks. But from the time of baseball activity, it’s easily fair to say [it’ll take] a month after that.” In Ethier’s absence, Andrew Toles has seen quite a bit of playing time, though he’s batting just .207/.258/.362 through 62 plate appearances.

Outfield Trade Notes: Bruce, Hamilton, Jankowski

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It’s well known that the Mets would like to make a trade, particularly a trade involving Jay Bruce, since the team currently has an abundance of outfielders. But the Mets are adamant that they receive a player in return who will help them, rather than just a fringe prospect and relief from Bruce’s 2017 salary, Newsday’s Marc Carig writes. “It does put you in a different situation, and it affects other clubs’ expectations and it affects our expectations,” says GM Sandy Alderson. “But it only takes interest by two or three teams in a player to overcome all of that. That’s why we don’t jump at the first opportunity.” The Mets have received trade offers for Bruce, Carig writes, but they’ve mostly been proposals for salary dumps. Here are a couple more quick trade notes involving outfielders.

  • Before acquiring Adam Eaton, the Nationals spoke to the Reds about a trade involving center fielder Billy Hamilton, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes. The Nats came away feeling, though, that the Reds are in no rush to make a deal. As we noted yesterday, the Reds believe Hamilton hasn’t peaked yet and would have a hard time replacing his defense. For the Nats, a Hamilton trade surely wouldn’t have been the blockbuster deal the Eaton one was — Hamilton’s speed obviously is spectacular, but his struggles to hit surely would have limited his value. He also has only three years of control remaining, compared to Eaton’s five.
  • Manager Andy Green confirms that other teams have contacted the Padres about outfielder Travis Jankowski, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America tweets. We noted yesterday that the Rangers had asked about Jankowski, with some writers speculating about a deal involving Jankowski and infielder Hanser Alberto. Since then, the Rangers have re-signed Carlos Gomez, which makes their need for outfield help less acute. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson tweeted today, though, that while the Rangers anticipated Gomez would play center field for them, they were still looking for center field help. So perhaps Jankowski could still be a fit in Texas, albeit a somewhat more speculative one. The Rays could also be a fit for Jankowski, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.

Rangers Ask Padres About Travis Jankowski

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The Rangers continue looking for a center fielder following the potential departures of Ian Desmond and Carlos Gomez, and it appears one possible answer could be the Padres’ Travis Jankowski, according to T.R. Sullivan and AJ Cassavell, both of MLB.com.

Jankowski, of course, is not a big, or even medium, name, as Desmond, Gomez and potential trade target Billy Hamilton are. Jankowski graded as an outstanding defender in 2016, however, and could keep the Rangers strong up the middle. He posted an excellent 12.8 UZR and 8 Defensive Runs Saved in 2016, accumulating 2.1 Wins Above Replacement even as he batted just .245/.332/.313.

“[The] reality is that the better that we get defensively, the better we’re going to make our starting pitching and relief pitching core,” says Rangers manager Jeff Banister, via Sullivan. “The situation last year, [we were] a club that won 95 games; however, we still need to get better on defense.”

Another possible current option for the Rangers in center field is Delino DeShields, although it appears he is available in a trade, as Comcast SportsNet California’s Joe Stiglich tweets. DeShields struggled to get going in 2016, batting just .209/.275/.313.

The Padres, meanwhile, have Manuel Margot to man center field in the long term, and could have interest in Rangers 24-year-old infielder Hanser Alberto, who’s struggled to get established in the big leagues over the past two seasons. Alberto also hit a modest .275/.302/.411 at Triple-A Round Rock in 2016, suggesting he’s unlikely to hit much. He could, however, hold interest for Padres GM A.J. Preller, who helped sign Alberto as a member of the Rangers’ front office in 2009. Also, like Jankowski, Alberto has fared well defensively in limited big-league time, grading out well at both shortstop and second base. While the Padres have plenty of options at second, they don’t have as many at short, where their depth chart is topped by youngster Luis Sardinas. A possible Jankowski-for-Alberto swap, then, could help both teams upgrade defensively at positions of need.

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