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NL Rumors: Phils, Boras, Cards, Dodgers, J. Martinez, Giants, Tulo

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The latest free-agent and trade rumors from the National League…

  • The Phillies met with agent Scott Boras on Tuesday at the Winter Meetings, where they discussed clients Bryce Harper and Zach Britton, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. Even after agreeing to sign fellow outfielder Andrew McCutchen on Tuesday, the Phillies continue to have interest in Harper, Salisbury writes. Meanwhile, the Phillies have been “very aggressive” in their pursuit of Britton as they attempt to strengthen their bullpen, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.
  • The Cardinals have shown interest in both Britton and fellow free-agent lefty Andrew Miller, but the belief is that they’re more interested in the former, per Mark Saxon of The Athletic (subscription required). St. Louis has also been connected to Giants relievers Will Smith and Tony Watson, and Saxon suggests the Cardinals may be willing to trade an outfielder – either Jose Martinez or Tyler O’Neill, but preferably the former – to San Francisco. The Cards have been “pushing” Martinez for Smith, Henry Schulman of the San Franscisco Chronicle reports.
  • More on Martinez, who’s drawing interest from the Dodgers, Rosenthal tweets. The two teams are discussing Martinez, with Rosenthal noting the Dodgers could use the defensively challenged 30-year-old at first base and deploy Cody Bellinger in center field. Despite his defensive limitations, Martinez has proven himself a formidable hitter, and he’s controllable for the next four years.
  • As for the aforementioned Giants relievers, they’re generating a “high level of interest,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told Maria Guardado of MLB.com and other reporters Tuesday. Zaidi added that “we’re going to have to feel good about the return to trade one of those guys.” 
  • Continuing with the Giants, Zaidi suggested Tuesday that they’ll consider free-agent shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Schulman tweets. Tulowitzki would presumably back up both shortstop Brandon Crawford and second baseman Joe Panik in San Francisco. It’s worth noting that Tulowitzki’s a Bay Area native who, according to his agent, would be interested in playing there.

West News & Rumors: Haniger, Santana, Bumgarner, Rangers, Morton, Rockies, Myers

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Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger is not untouchable, but if they’re going to trade him, it’s going to take a substantial offer. General manager Jerry Dipoto is holding out for a three- to four-player package headlined by a pair of “high-level prospects,” including a pitcher, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. While Haniger may continue in Seattle, there’s a growing likelihood they’ll trade first baseman Carlos Santana for prospects, according to Divish. The expensive Santana, who’s only a little over a week into his Mariners career, has drawn interest from several teams since the M’s acquired him from the Phillies.

Here’s more from the game’s West divisions:

  • The likelihood of the Giants trading ace Madison Bumgarner this offseasn is dropping, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. It’s more probable the Giants will move Bumgarner at next summer’s trade deadline – if they’re out of contention, that is – Feinsand hears. Bumgarner, 29, is entering his last year of team control (and perhaps the final season of his storied Giants tenure), in which he’ll earn a reasonable $12MM.
  • Even though the Rangers are in a rebuild, the club has “strong interest” in 35-year-old right-hander Charlie Morton, Jeff Wilson of the Star Telegram reports. Morton spent the previous two seasons in Texas, where he did brilliant work for the Astros. He’s not the only veteran starter on Texas’ list, as tweets from TR Sullivan of MLB.com and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News indicate the team has at least discussed J.A. Happ, Lance Lynn, Yusei Kikuchi, Shelby Miller, Martin Perez, Derek Holland, Nate Karns and Sam Howard.
  • Contrary to a prior report, the Rockies are not interested in Padres slugger Wil Myers, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets. Myers presumably would’ve taken over at first base in Colorado had it acquired him, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards. The 28-year-old is owed a guaranteed $64MM through 2023, which could make him a tough sell after back-to-back seasons of unspectacular offensive production.
  • Even after signing Chris Herrmann on Tuesday, the Athletics will continue to monitor the market for catchers, according to GM David Forst (via Jane Lee of MLB.com). However, Forst noted that “it’s nice to be in a spot right now where we have two Major League catchers who fit well,” referring to Herrmann and Josh Phegley.
  • The Rockies have hired Dave Magadan as their hitting coach and moved Ron Gideon to first base coach, GM Jeff Bridich told Nick Groke of The Athletic and other reporters Tuesday. Magadan will take over for Duane Espy, whom the Rockies parted with last month. A major league infielder from 1986-2001, Magadan has garnered significant coaching experience since his playing career ended. The 56-year-old was the Diamondbacks’ hitting coach from 2015-18, but they let him go after the season.

Pitching Notes: Smith, Watson, Miley, Jays, Kikuchi, Cobb

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The Cardinals are among the many teams pressing the Giants with interest in southpaw Will Smith, according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic (Twitter link). Another San Francisco lefty, Tony Watson, appears to be of secondary interest to the Cards, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Goold notes that the St. Louis club is interested in swapping slugger Jose Martinez for a lefty reliever, though it’s fair to wonder whether he’d be of much interest to the Giants.

More on the pitching market:

  • There’s at least some preliminary interest from the Reds in southpaw Wade Miley, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Given the Cincinnati organization’s need for significant rotation help, and its recent hiring of former Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson, it’s not particularly surprising to hear of this link. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of deal the 32-year-old Miley is ultimately able to secure after an odd 2018 campaign in which he worked through injury to compile 80 2/3 innings of 2.57 ERA ball. He managed only 5.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 on the year, though did sport a healthy 52.8% groundball rate while allowing a stingy (but perhaps not sustainable) 0.33 homers per nine.
  • Pitching appears to be a key focus of the Blue Jays this winter, with the club occupying a potentially interesting place in the market. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports that the Toronto ballclub is considering players that’d require multi-year commitments as well as bounceback types. But GM Ross Atkins emphasizes that the club won’t be “looking for free-agent pieces with the goal of trading them,” though of course future dealmaking would always be a possibility. Meanwhile, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi explores, Atkins evinced an increasing openness to weighing deals for existing starters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez in his most recent comments. While the team’s own valuation of the two talented-but-uncertain hurlers has surely not changed, Atkins suggests that rivals have shown sufficient interest that it’s worth further exploring trade scenarios. Whether any deal will come together isn’t clear, but it does seem evident that the Toronto club has gained clarity on the demand for these pitchers and that, as Davidi puts it, there’s at least a realistic path to trade outcomes.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman indicated yesterday that his club is taking a look at Japanese southpaw Yusei Kikuchi, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. The New York powerhouse is presently engaged on other players, via trade and free agency, but Cashman says that Kikuchi is “somebody that’s worthy of having conversations about potentially landing.” Having taken a long scouting look at Kikuchi already, the Yanks surely have a price point in mind. Cashman says the team will continue to stay “very active, but disciplined” in its pursuit of pitching.
  • The Mariners are another clear possibility for Kikuchi, as TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto made clear that the club both holds the Japanese hurler in high regard, calling him a “very good” starter, and is interested in trying to work out a deal. While they are taking a step back in the near-term, the M’s feel the 27-year-old “does fit our timeline,” per Dipoto.
  • It seems there’s at least some interest around the game in Orioles righty Alex Cobb, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. While his early showing in Baltimore was simply brutal, Cobb did turn things around in the second half, when he held opposing hitters to a .232/.288/.377 slash and carried a 2.56 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. Of course, the $43MM still owed Cobb over the next three seasons presents quite a barrier to a deal.

Giants Notes: Zaidi, Outfield, Strickland, Payroll

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Newly-christened Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi enters his first offseason by the bay with a difficult task at hand: overhaul a hole-ridden roster littered with fallen stars still cashing huge paychecks. His work may begin in the outfield, where the team expects to add “at least two more” players before pitchers and catchers report in late February, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The current group, headlined by the defense-first, strikeout-prone prospect Steven Duggar, has won most of its accolades in Triple-A or below, though 26-year-old (on Thursday) Austin Slater and longtime up-and-down man Mac Williamson have certainly had their moments.  Still, it’s arguably the weakest current crop at the three spots across baseball, sorely in need of track-record infusion throughout. Pavlovic does take care to note that there’s “no indication” the Giants are currently pursuing Bryce Harper.

In other news from the orange and black . . .

  • Per Pavlovic, reliever Hunter Strickland’s chances of a reunion with San Francisco appear to be nil, though it’s possible — albeit “unlikely” — outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, non-tendered by the club just before the Nov. 30 deadline, could be back.  Zaidi offered some window into his decision to let the 30-year-old Strickland go, noting that right-handed relief is “an area of surplus for the club” and that the team couldn’t “find a fit” in trade talks surrounding the volatile right-hander.  If his work with Los Angeles is any indication, the former Dodger GM seems to place a premium on command when acquiring relief arms, and despite early-career stinginess in the area, Strickland’s walk rate has eclipsed the 4.0 BB/9 mark in each of the last two seasons.
  • Per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the team has not given Zaidi any directive to move one of its big contracts, nor has he been informed of a payroll threshold.  The free-spending club already has nearly $162MM in projected salaries on hand for the 2019 season, with six players owed $39.5MM or more over the life of their remaining deals. Earlier today, Bob Nightengale of the USA Today reported that first baseman Brandon Belt, owed $48MM through 2021 season, is available and has been drawing significant interest across the league. Other depreciating assets, like Mark Melancon, Evan Longoria, and righty Jeff Samardzija, may be more difficult to move.

Giants Claim Mike Gerber

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The Tigers announced today that the Giants have claimed outfielder Mike Gerber off waivers. He’ll head onto the San Francisco 40-man roster — representing the first such addition of new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

Gerber, 26, only briefly touched the bigs last year and struggled for much of the year at Triple-A. Previously, though, he had been a steady producer on the Tigers farm. Indeed, he produced .800+ OPS figures over each of his first four seasons as a professional.

NL West Notes: Dodgers, LeMahieu, Belt, Greinke

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Entering the Winter Meetings with a wide variety of potential moves under consideration, the Dodgers will “in all likelihood” move an existing starter via trade, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. Just what the might look like isn’t yet clear, but the club’s numerous options will surely hold appeal to rivals. To be sure, the Dodgers have found ways on numerous occasions in the recent past to juggle seeming roster overloads, but Gonzalez says that the ability to utilize a player such as Kenta Maeda as a trade piece (while improving in other areas) will likely prod a deal of some kind.

  • The Dodgers, meanwhile, are “showing continued interest” in second bagger DJ LeMahieu, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Certainly, the club has seen plenty of the 30-year-old over his career, virtually all of which has taken place with the division-rival Rockies. LeMahieu would presumably be seen as a near-everyday piece at second base in Los Angeles, though it’d hardly be surprising to see a lefty hitting platoon mate utilized to some degree if he’s added. Beyond the team’s general predilection for such arrangements, LeMahieu has been 80 OPS points better against left-handed pitching in his career.
  • Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is drawing calls from “several” other teams, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Belt is still owed a hefty $48MM over the next three seasons and also can block deals to ten teams. His worrisome concussion history also poses a clear concern. And, of course, the market has not been particularly kind to first basemen of late. Certainly, Belt’s OBP-heavy bat would promise to improve quite a few lineups around the game, but it’s unclear as yet exactly what kind of trade scenarios might be under consideration.
  • As the Diamondbacks weigh their next move, they are finding Zack Greinke’s partial no-trade rights a “major impediment,” according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Numerous potential landing spots for Greinke appear among the 15 clubs to which he can block a deal, which leaves the veteran no small amount of leverage and complicates things for the Arizona organization. It is not clear whether the D-Backs have engaged with Greinke and his reps about his willingness to green-light a deal to certain destinations, but obviously the clause adds a notable variable to an already-tricky situation. While he’s still a high-level performer, Greinke is already 35 years of age and is entitled to a hefty $104.5MM ($95.5MM of salary, the remainder signing bonus) over the next three seasons.

Pitching Rumors: BoSox, Ottavino, Giants, Kikuchi, Rangers

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It’s “believed” that free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino is near the top of Boston’s bullpen wish list, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. The same is true of the previously reported David Robertson, per Heyman. With closer Craig Kimbrel and setup man Joe Kelly as their best remaining free agents, it’s no surprise that the world champion Red Sox are exploring the top of the market for bullpen help. Those two led full-time Red Sox relievers in innings pitched last season, and Kimbrel was particularly effective. The 33-year-old Ottavino may have been even better, though, as the former Rockie was among the game’s elite relievers in 2018 despite having to pitch his home games at the hitter-friendly Coors Field. Ottavino placed fourth among relievers in average exit velocity against (84.9 mph), sixth in fWAR (2.0), 11th in K/9 (12.98, against 4.17 BB/9), 13th in innings (77 2/3) and 17th in ERA (2.43), putting himself in position to score a lucrative contract in free agency.

More on the pitching market…

  • Free-agent left-hander Yusei Kikuchi “really likes” San Francisco and “might” have the Giants atop his list of preferred teams, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle hears. The Giants, for their part, seem interested in landing the 27-year-old Kikuchi, who’s poised to immigrate to the majors after starring in his native Japan. Kikuchi’s soon-to-be former employer, the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball, posted him for MLB clubs Dec. 2, giving him until Jan. 2 to sign. The Giants look like as logical a fit for Kikuchi as any team, given the short- and long-term uncertainty throughout their rotation.
  • As the Giants wait to see what happens with Kikuchi, they’ve “checked in on” free-agent righty Tyson Ross, Schulman tweets, though he suggests a signing is hardly imminent. The Bay Area is familiar to Ross, a Berkeley, Calif., native who pitched for the Athletics earlier in his career. The 31-year-old divided last season between San Diego and St. Louis and posted a 4.15 ERA/4.39 FIP with 7.34 K/9, 3.73 BB/9 and a 45.9 percent groundball rate in 149 2/3 innings (31 appearances, 23 starts). It was Ross’ first fairly healthy season since he underwent the dreaded thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in 2016.
  • The pitching-needy Rangers have interest in re-signing lefty Martin Perez and righty Adrian Sampson, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. Texas moved on from both hurlers last month, at least temporarily, as it declined Perez’s $7.5MM option in favor of a $1MM buyout and non-tendered Sampson. Perez, 27, has been a passable back-end starter at times, but he endured a horrid 2018. Sampson, also 27, hasn’t experienced much big league success over a limited sample of work (27 2/3 innings). He spent most of last season at the Triple-A level.

Morosi’s Latest: Bumgarner, Realmuto, Padres, Yankees, Gray, Fiers, Graveman, Jays, Happ

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Madison Bumgarner has been an oft-mentioned trade candidate this offseason, and the Giants are reportedly open to at least discussing their longtime ace.  As the Winter Meetings begin, however, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi tweets that San Francisco isn’t close to a Bumgarner trade.  It remains to be seen if the Giants will actually go ahead with dealing the southpaw, as the team seems to still be weighing its rebuild-or-reload options under new GM Farhan Zaidi.  Morosi has previously mentioned the Phillies, Braves, and Brewers as three teams interested in Bumgarner if a trade were to develop, though his latest tweet adds the Yankees to that list as well.  Bumgarner is only under contract through the 2019 season, and even though his numbers have been solid but less than ace-like over the last two years, he would still provide a notable boost to any rotation.

Here’s more from Morosi’s Twitter feed…

  • The Padres have a “genuine interest” in acquiring J.T. Realmuto, while the Yankees aren’t in serious talks with the Marlins about the All-Star catcher.  Yankees GM Brian Cashman was quick to deny rumors about his team’s interest in Realmuto last week, and New York already has Gary Sanchez behind the plate for the foreseeable future (though some rumors indicated that Sanchez would’ve gone back to Miami as part of a Realmuto swap).  San Diego, meanwhile, has its own established catcher in defensive whiz Austin Hedges, plus one of the game’s top prospects in Francisco Mejia behind the plate.  It’s fair to speculate if Mejia could potentially head back to the Marlins as part of a package for Realmuto, and the Padres certainly have the overall prospect depth that Miami is demanding for Realmuto’s services.  Since Realmuto is controlled only through the 2020 season, his acquisition would indicate that the Padres and GM A.J. Preller are perhaps ready to end their rebuilding process and begin to compete by at least 2020, if not even next season.
  • Speaking of the Padres and Yankees, the two teams continue to discuss a potential Sonny Gray trade.  Morosi noted on the continued talks between the two sides earlier this week, and rumors of the Padres’ interest in Gray date back to last month.  Pitcher-friendly Petco Park would seemingly be an ideal place for Gray to rebound from his rough stint in the Bronx, especially since Gray’s drastic home/road splits from 2018 already indicated that his struggles were particularly contained to Yankee Stadium.
  • Mike Fiers and Kendall Graveman are two names on the Blue Jays’ list of pitching targets.  With an inexperienced starting five projected for 2019, the Jays were known to be looking at rotation help this winter — particularly if, as Morosi notes, the team decides to trade Aaron Sanchez or Marcus Stroman as part of its rebuilding efforts.  Fiers and Graveman were both recently non-tendered by the A’s, and fit Toronto’s need for short-term additions are a relatively low cost.  Fiers was in this same position last winter, as he signed a one-year deal with the Tigers and turned in solid numbers both before and after a midseason trade to Oakland.  Graveman would likely be pursued for a two-year deal with a low salary in the first year, as the right-hander is likely miss all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery.  Graveman was originally drafted by the Jays in 2013 (when Alex Anthopoulos was GM) and traded to the A’s in November 2014 as part of the four-player package that brought Josh Donaldson to Toronto.
  • With Patrick Corbin and Nathan Eovaldi off the board, “J.A. Happ is viewed as the next key domino in the pitching marketplace,” Morosi writes.  Happ has received interest from as many as 10 teams, as his age (36) would seemingly make him more amendable to a short-term contract, thus widening his market beyond that of a younger pitcher like Dallas Keuchel, whose desire for a longer-term and more expensive contract limits his list of suitors.  It stands to reason that many of the same teams interested in both Happ and Keuchel, to say nothing of other free agent arms like Yusei Kikuchi or Charlie Morton, so it stands to reason that we could see something of a run on starting pitching if Happ or any of those names were to sign in the near future.

NL News & Rumors: Cubs, Schwarber, Mets, Giants, Bucs, Braves

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The Cubs, who have always been bullish on Kyle Schwarber, continue to spurn inquiries for the slugger, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Still only 25 years old, Schwarber just turned in a 3.2-fWAR season in which he batted .238/.356/.467 (115 wRC+) with 26 home runs in 510 plate appearances and unexpectedly received positive marks in left field (two DRS, 9.8 UZR). Schwarber will play his first of three potential arbitation seasons in 2019, when he’s projected to earn just $3.1MM.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • Unsurprisingly, the Mets aren’t willing to part with both Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo in a trade for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, Jon Heyman of Fancred reports. Moreover, the Mets don’t want to trade young infielder Amed Rosario at all, Heyman adds. As great as Realmuto is, it wouldn’t make sense for the Mets to trade Conforto and Nimmo – their most valuable outfielders – for two years of control over him. Conforto still has another three years of control left, while Nimmo has four more – including a pre-arb season in 2019.
  • The Giants hired Farhan Zaidi as their president of baseball operations a month ago, but Pirates general manager Neal Huntington was among the candidates they spoke with before then, according to Heyman. It’s unclear how serious the Giants’ interest in Huntington was, but it is known that he’s under contract in Pittsburgh through 2021. Next season will be Huntington’s 12th as the Pirates’ GM.
  • More on the Mets, who – along with the previously reported Chili Davis – have added Chuck Hernandez and Luis Rojas to their coaching staff, Heyman tweets and the the team has since made official. Hernandez will be their bullpen coach, while Rojas will serve as a quality control coach. Hernandez worked as the division-rival Braves’ pitching coach from 2017-18. They dismissed him after last season.
  • Speaking of the Braves, they’ve hired Gary Rajsich to work in professional and amateur scouting, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Rajsich had been the Orioles’ scouting director since 2011, bu they booted him from their front office last month.

At Least 5 Teams Interested In Josh Harrison

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Josh Harrison had a year to forget in 2018, leading the Pirates to buy out the veteran infielder after the season and end a relationship that began in 2009. Nevertheless, no fewer than five teams have shown interest in Harrison this offseason, according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman, who lists the Astros and Giants among clubs that have at least considered the 31-year-old. Heyman previously reported interest from the Yankees, Reds and Nationals.

Harrison’s coming off an up-and-down tenure in Pittsburgh, where he debuted in 2011 and managed to reach the 2.0 fWAR in two individual seasons. He was at his best during a 4.8-fWAR showing in 2014, which led the Pirates to award him an extension worth a guaranteed $27.3MM early in 2015.

Harrison went on to combine for an unspectacular 5.4 fWAR during the rest of his stint with the franchise. He was especially disappointing in 2018, when he totaled 0.3 fWAR and batted .250/.293/.363 (78 wRC+) with minimal power (eight home runs, .113 ISO) across 374 plate appearances. While Harrison only logged a .285 weighted on-base average in 2018, he posted an even less inspiring .275 xwOBA, per Statcast. Of course, it’s worth noting Harrison’s season began in terrible fashion when he suffered a fractured left hand – an injury that sidelined him from mid-April to mid-May and could have played a role in his drop in production.

Harrison, to his credit, is just two years removed from a 2017 campaign in which he was among the Pirates’ most valuable players. He also comes with vast experience at second and third base, two positions where he has been a plus defender for the majority of his career. But it could be difficult for Harrison to garner playing time at either position in Houston, which boasts superstars Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman at those spots and also has Aledmys Diaz and Yuli Gurriel on hand as versatile options. Like the Astros, the Giants feature established players at second and third – Joe Panik and Evan Longoria – but those two joined Harrison in struggling last season. The Giants’ new president of baseball operations, Farhan Zaidi, seems to be looking for infield help as a result.

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