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Scott Boras

Boras On Free Agency, Cole, Strasburg, Castellanos, JDM

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Major League Baseball’s previous couple offseasons didn’t necessarily favor the players. Some free agents sat on the open market far longer than expected, while others signed for less than expected or didn’t receive guaranteed contracts (or any deals) at all. Count the game’s most famous agent, Scott Boras, among those disgusted with the way free agency has gone in recent years, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today details. Speaking at this week’s GM meetings, the always colorful Boras lamented the lack of teams going all-out to win, saying that “the industry is in a competitive hibernation, and the fans are reacting to it,” referring to drops in attendance (as Nightengale notes, even the Nationals, Astros and Yankees drew fewer fans).

“We got a decline in attendance. We got owners charging more for generations that want to see the game, while we’re losing a generation of young people that are only interested in competition,” said Boras. “Clubs feel there are greater rewards for losing than winning. And there is nothing to drive them to win because they don’t think it’s smart.’’

Boras even took aim at current commissioner Rob Manfred, whom he criticized for finding the luxury tax and the present system as a whole “wonderful.” That system, in Boras’ estimation, is “corrupt,” as it fails to “properly place progressive values of players at all. It’s always regressive.”

Of course, Boras’ hope is that the system doesn’t penalize his newest free-agent clients. And he’s representing several prominent players now on the open market, including superstar right-handers Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Nicholas Castellanos. Boras is also the agent for Red Sox J.D. Martinez, who elected against opting out of the remaining three years and $62.5MM on his contract. The agent discussed those clients this week.

In regards to Cole, who looks likely to smash David Price’s record guarantee of $217MM for a pitcher, Boras stated (via Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer): “If this were major-league Christmas, we would be looking at 30 stockings that clearly wanted a lump of Cole. I think starting pitching has become back in vogue. It’s an aggressive market.”

Boras also represents outfielder Bryce Harper, who signed the largest deal ever for a free agent last winter at 13 years and $330MM. He opined that Cole and Strasburg are in line to have even more teams after them than Harper did last offseason, per Breen. And while there has been speculation that Cole, a Southern California native, wants to sign with a West Coast team, that’s not necessarily the case.

“I don’t think geography matters to any of these guys as much as the continuance of winning and being able to achieve their goal of getting that rare ring,” Boras said. “And I think in Gerrit’s case, when you’re that close, you’re looking at this process as one where I’ve got a box to check and I want to go out and put together the best effort to put me in that position to do that.”

You wouldn’t expect Boras to say anything else in this case, as doing so could have decreased his client’s earning power. But, regardless of whatever geographic preference Cole may or may not have, the East Coast-stationed Phillies will heavily push for him, Breen reports. They won the bidding for Harper a year ago, and though general manager Matt Klentak has suggested he’s averse to signing more free agents saddled with qualifying offers (as Harper was, and as Cole is), Cole would greatly help a Phillies rotation in dire need of front-end aid.

The Phillies are among the teams that may be in the market for “a lump of Cole,” but that wasn’t the last of Boras’ holiday-themed metaphors. In regards to Castellanos, he stated (per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic): “Old Saint Nick delivers once a year. Young Saint Nick delivers all season. So you’ve got a pretty good market for that kind of player.”

Whether “young Saint Nick” (Castellanos) really “delivers all season” is debatable. He’s clearly a flawed player, one who has been more good than great at the plate throughout his career and has clearly struggled defensively in the outfield and at third base. Nevertheless, as a 27-year-old who does bring an above-average bat to the table, expectations are that he will fare well in free agency. MLBTR has him landing the eighth-highest guarantee of anyone on the market – a four-year, $58MM deal. 

Martinez is something of a souped-up version of Castellanos, but he’s a half-decade older (32) and perhaps even a less viable defender. No doubt, Martinez would have had difficulty outdoing the money left on his pact had he opted out. Boras addressed Martinez’s decision, saying (via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe): “J.D. wanted assurance of competition at a high level and the fact that he played so well in Boston, we looked at it and with those two things in mind, we wanted to make sure that was the focus and for that reason he decided to opt in. The contract we structured allowed him choices after each season so it was something that, in this year at this time, we felt really that was the best decision.”

As Boras noted, Martinez will have another chance to opt out after next season. In the meantime, Boras is sure to focus his attention on several other clients who – despite his (arguably justifiable) distaste for the current system – could break the bank in the coming months.

Angels Notes: Boras, Moreno, Trades, First Base

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The latest on the Angels, who could be one of baseball’s busiest teams this winter…

  • There have long been rumors of animosity between Angels owner Arte Moreno and agent Scott Boras, stemming from the Angels’ fruitless pursuit of Mark Teixeira (a Boras client) in the 2008-09 offseason.  Any hard feelings seem to have either been exaggerated or a thing of the past, however, as Boras told the Los Angeles Times’ Maria Torres and other reporters that he had recently had lunch with Moreno, and has kept up a good working relationship with the owner.  “I sit down with the guy every year. I see him all the time. We have a common restaurant that we run into one another. So I wouldn’t read much into it,” Boras said.  With the Halos in need of pitching, keeping up relations with the agent would seemingly be a necessary step this winter, as such top arms as Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Dallas Keuchel (not to mention position players like Anthony Rendon, Nicholas Castellanos, and Mike Moustakas) are all Boras Corporation clients.
  • Rather than free agents, Angels GM Billy Eppler also indicated that his team could be active on the trade front, noting the several young and controllable players both on the big league roster and in the upper levels of the farm system.  “We have probably the most valuable type of players you can trade,” Eppler told reporters, including the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher.  “They are 0-to-3 (service time) players that we’ve stripped out a lot of the risk because they are pretty much there.…I think we can match up in deals, just about any deal.  If clubs are willing to engage, we can engage.”  As Fletcher notes, the odds of the team trading top prospect Jo Adell seems very unlikely, though players like Griffin Canning, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria, Dillon Peters and Felix Pena, David Fletcher, Luis Rengifo, Taylor Ward, Matt Thaiss, or Jared Walsh could all be potential trade chips.
  • Of course, several of those same names could play important roles for Los Angeles in 2020.  For instance, since Albert Pujols will see more DH time on days that Shohei Ohtani is pitching, Eppler said Walsh or Thaiss could help fill the void at first base.  The rookie duo “had some pretty good moments and showed that they were taking that first step and competing…I’d like to see how those guys respond to more at-bats and see how they go from there,” Eppler said.  Thaiss, the 16th overall pick of the 2016 draft, has the higher pedigree of the two and also has spent a lot of time at third base, while Walsh has crushed minor league pitching over his five pro seasons.  Both are left-handed hitters, making either solid fits to partner with the right-handed hitting Pujols.  Of course, it could certainly be argued that the Angels should seek out a more established first baseman given how Thaiss and Walsh both lack experience, and Pujols is no longer a consistent offensive threat.

Free Agency Notes: Cole, Strasburg, Pitching

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Some of his teammates in Houston anticipate that Gerrit Cole will ultimately land with a California team next season, per ESPN’s Buster Olney. The Angels, in particular, are where many within the industry expect Cole to gravitate, given the proximity of Angel Stadium to his high school home. The is a story the Yankees have seen before, going back to their signing of CC Sabathia. They also had to entice Sabathia away from his California homeland by paying a premium in free agency. Of course, Sabathia hadn’t received much interest from the Dodgers, his desired team at the time, whereas it would not be surprising in the least to see the Angels – or another Golden State franchise – going hard after Cole. But he’s not the only potential free agent hurler being featured in this week’s World Series…

  • After Cole, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals would be the most talented arm on the market. There’s a feeling within the industry, however, that he won’t get there, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Strasburg, remember, was the rare Scott Boras client to sign an early extension, and it could be that Boras will leverage Strasburg’s opt-out into a longer deal with the Nationals. For his part, Strasburg has shown no inclination to test foreign waters, and tacking a couple years and a couple million dollars to the 4 years, $100MM already owed him after 2019 certainly could be enough to keep him in DC. After his current playoff run, it’s hard to imagine Stras pitching in another uniform. Still, if the window opens, there are sure to be suitors come to call. 
  • There’s no telling how much the free agency of the above-noted hurlers could change the shape of the league. Look no further than this week’s World Series for evidence. The Astros and Nationals will face off starting tomorrow with rosters built around “imported” pitching, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis. The Astros brought in Cole, Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke via trade, whereas the Nationals signed Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, and Anibal Sanchez in free agency. Whichever team wins four of the next seven games will add to a recent history of champions built around homegrown offense and supplemented pitching. The Cubs in 2016, Astros in 2017, and Red Sox in 2018 all boasted homegrown cores of position players and hired guns on the hill.

MLBTR Poll: Will Stephen Strasburg Opt Out?

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Three games into the Washington Nationals 2019 postseason and Stephen Strasburg has already played the part of hero twice. In the other game, the Nats lost. Last night’s mastery spun 6 innings of 3-hit ball with 10 strikeouts to zero walks as he took the win at Dodger Stadium. His brilliance in the 2017 NLDS against the Cubs is largely forgotten since they didn’t advance, but it does add to the mounting pile of evidence suggesting Strasburg is indeed one of the game’s best big game pitchers.

Strasburg has a decision looming whenever the magic of the Nationals 2019 postseason runs dry. He has an opt-out clause in his contract that he could exercise to become a free agent this winter. Given the depressed market of recent offseasons, the possibility that Stras would opt-out seemed far-fetched not too long ago. That’s no longer the case. After completing perhaps the healthiest season of his career, one in which he could finish as high as second in Cy Young voting, one in which he registered league-leading marks in wins (18) and innings (209), as well as notching a career-high 251 strikeouts, Strasburg’s opt-out is more certain now than ever.

His agent, Scott Boras, is sure to make that pitch, though he has thus far refrained from speaking specifically about Strasburg’s intentions. He is, however, laying the groundwork for potential free agency by declaring stud starters such as Strasburg immune to any downturns in the market, per Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. With four-years and $100MM remaining on his contract already, he won’t exactly be hard-up for cash either way. Strasburg, 31, is also the rarest of Boras client – one who signed before reaching the open market.

If he doesn’t opt-out, his deal would expire after his 35th birthday. Strasburg could view this winter as his last opportunity to lock-in a major payday for his elder years. Zack Greinke signed his six-year, $206.5MM deal at a similar point in his career – after a career season in which he turned 31-years-old and finished second in Cy Young voting. In raw totals, Greinke’s 9.1 bWAR 2015 with the Dodgers eclipses Strasburg’s 6.3 bWAR 2019 by a decent margin, and Greinke’s overall track record was a tad more impressive at the time. He had been worth 48.9 bWAR to that point in his career versus 32.6 bWAR for Strasburg now. Even if you attribute the difference largely to durability (323 GS, 2094 2/3 innings for Greinke post-2015, 239 GS, 1438 2/3 innings for Strasburg post-2019), that’s hardly an insignificant attribution in contract negotiation.

A similar contract would more than double Strasburg’s guaranteed money while only tacking on two additional years. From the team perspective, it’s hard to fault the Diamondbacks for the deal now, as despite the whopping gross total, Greinke did deliver 16.4 bWAR across 3+ seasons, a playoff appearance, utility player Josh Rojas and their #4, #11 and #12 prospects as ranked by MLB.com.

Jake Arrieta signed a free agent contract when the Phillies inked him to a 3-year, $75MM deal the same week he turned 32. Arrieta had an even more uneven history than Strasburg, with 20.2 bWAR earned at the point of his free agency and a chasm of difference between the glory years in Chicago and his humble beginnings in Baltimore. This also feels less comparable to Strasburg as – despite being close to the same age at the time of free agency – Arrieta appeared headed for the downswing of his career. Strasburg is just now coming into his own, as written about here by Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post.

That same offseason, Yu Darvish signed his 6-year, $126MM deal with the Cubs in the winter of his 31st year. Darvish was coming off a 4.0 bWAR season split between Texas and Los Angeles, though a pair of disastrous World Series outings certainly colored the narrative of his free agency.

Regardless, Strasburg, Scott Boras, and the Nationals will have a lot to talk about this winter. If Strasburg can further grow his October legend, Boras may be right about his value transcending that of the market. Not to mention, Strasburg’s hometown of San Diego has a team on the rise, money to spend, and a gigantic ballpark with which to lure Strasburg home. In terms of competition, he’d be the clear-cut second-best starting pitching option on the free agent market after Gerrit Cole. You tell me: what comes next in the Strasburg saga?

(Poll link for app users)

JD Martinez Comments On Opt-Out

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Eyebrows were raised from Charlestown to South End today when, at the questioning of Boston Globe report Pete Abraham, Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez seemed to express ambivalence about the prospect of returning to the team in 2020 (link). Martinez has a much-discussed opt-out to consider this offseason, and Abraham asked him whether the prospect of joining his fourth team in five years is truly an attractive one. “I don’t mind moving around,” Martinez told the reporter. “I kind of like it.”

That’s hardly the sort of “I love being here” boilerplate you often hear when players are asked about potential opt-outs or extension prospects. It may be a bit dramatic to read too much into the comments of a player likely eager to conclude what has been a frustrating season in Beantown, but the 32-year-old will indeed have a difficult decision to make this offseason. As part of the five-year/$110MM deal he signed with Boston in February of 2018, Martinez has an opt-out this offseason that would pay him $2.5MM if he elects to forego the remaining three years and $62.45MM on his contract. Essentially, Martinez will have to reconcile his desire to stay in Boston long-term with the ability of his agent Scott Boras to find a deal elsewhere in excess of that $62.45MM guarantee.

If Boras wants to market Martinez as the best DH option on the vine this season, he will no doubt be able to assemble some convincing presentations. Though this season didn’t quite see the former Astro, Tiger, and Diamondback replicate the offensive assault he placed on baseballs in the previous two years (170 and 167 wRC+ figures in 2018 and 2017, respectively), he still mounted a .305/.383/.559 line in 2019–output resulting in a 139 wRC+.

Though the market has not been kind to corner/DH types in recent years, Martinez should represent a more appealing free agent option than, say, Edwin Encarnacion, over whom the Yankees hold a $20MM club option; Nelson Cruz, still a Statcast darling at age 39, could challenge Martinez for DH supremacy among free agents, but the Twins would be smart to exercise that player’s $12MM club option for 2020.

Put another way: it’s quite possible that this year’s DH market will consist of Martinez, Avisail Garcia, and a handful of past-30 question marks like Mark Trumbo. If Martinez’s comments to Abraham are any indication, that might be a market context he is willing–if not eager–to place himself within.

AL West Notes: Angels, Laureano, Piscotty, Crawford

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The relationship between Scott Boras and Angels owner Arte Moreno is a notable subplot of the Halos’ plans to upgrade their starting pitching this winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required).  There has been some level of friction between Moreno and Boras ever since the Angels came up short in their pursuit of free agent and Boras client Mark Teixeira in the 2008-09 offseason.  This isn’t to say that the two sides haven’t worked together since, as current Angels such as Noe Ramirez and top prospect Jo Adell are all represented by the Boras Corporation, and the Angels have signed Boras clients like Ryan Madson and Matt Harvey to notable deals in recent years.

Still, the modest Madson/Harvey contracts are a far cry from what it would take to sign one of the several Boras clients at or near the top of the free agent pitching market — i.e. Gerrit Cole, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, and (if he opts out of his contract) Stephen Strasburg.  Even beyond the Boras clients, Rosenthal notes that Los Angeles also couldn’t come to terms with any upper-tier free agent arms the team pursued last winter, leading the Angels towards their ill-fated strategy of signing players like Harvey to one-year contracts.  Beyond free agency, Rosenthal wonders if the Halos could trade for pitching by offering from a farm system that is heavy on position-player talent, if not necessarily elite talent (besides Adell) in the eyes of most prospect rankings.

More from around the AL West…

  • Ramon Laureano is on track to return from the injured list during the Athletics’ upcoming series with the Tigers, A’s manager Bob Melvin told media (including Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle).  A stress reaction in his right shin has kept Laureano out since July 28, cutting short a white-hot hitting streak that had seen the outfielder post a 1.264 OPS over his previous 93 plate appearances.  For the season as a whole, Laureano has a .284/.334/.518 slash line and 21 homers in 419 PA, and he’ll reclaim his usual center field role upon his return.  Laureano’s activation will help an Oakland outfield that has been further depleted by the loss of Stephen Piscotty to an ankle sprain.  Piscotty hit the IL on August 25 and has yet to begin baseball activities, Melvin said, so it isn’t known when Piscotty could return to the lineup. [UPDATE: Laureano will return on Friday, Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and other media members]
  • Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford will miss roughly two weeks due to a hamstring strain, GM Jerry Dipoto told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media.  Crawford was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, which is the lowest level of severity, though “some areas of the strain [are] nearing a Grade 2,” Divish writes.  It isn’t out of the question that Crawford’s season could be over, as Dipoto said the M’s “won’t push” Crawford if any complications arise.  Acquired as the young centerpiece of the trade that sent Jean Segura to the Phillies last winter, Crawford has a .241/.322/.397 slash line over 338 plate appearances in his first season as a Mariner.

Scott Boras’ Relationship With Ted Lerner Adds Wrinkle To Rendon Negotiations

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Anthony Rendon has long been one of baseball’s more avuncular superstars. As easygoing in temperament as he is fluid in his athleticism, when Rendon takes the field for the Nationals, he looks like he’s playing, well, a game. He’s quick to dispel incorrect assumptions about the game that stem from platitudes, he doesn’t put on airs (or shoes) for the press, and if he doesn’t feel like talking, he doesn’t. He said quite a bit last week on 106.7’s The Fan, however, and those listening walked away with the distinct impression that Rendon would be testing free agency at the end of the season.

Of course, pending free agents rarely extend this close to the bell, and Rendon is not one to surrender his autonomy unnecessarily. That doesn’t mean, however, that his departure from Washington is a foregone conclusion. Rendon met with his agent Scott Boras last week in Phoenix, after which Boras met with Nats ownership to continue an ongoing dialogue about Rendon’s future with the team, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post.

Every team has agents or other front offices they are comfortable dealing with, and for the Nationals, funny as it sounds, a Scott Boras negotiation is a world in which they are at ease. Boras and Ted Lerner – the Nats’ principal owner – have built up a fair amount of trust over the years through pulling together nearly every type of superstar negotiation, from an early extension for Stephen Strasburg, to the free agent signing of Max Scherzer, to the departure of Bryce Harper last offseason.

While it may sound overly optimistic to point to Harper’s free agency departure as a touchstone of a positive working relationship, it very well may be. Lerner and Boras know the game between them at this point, and while the ultimate price for Rendon may exceed what the Lerner’s are willing to pay, there aren’t a lot of unknowns between the parties.

Still, both Boras and Rendon have made a point to isolate Rendon as the decision-maker in the relationship, and given Rendon’s independent streak they probably mean it. Rendon sounded almost bitter over not having had an extension hammered out at any point previous during his 6-year relationship with the Nationals, but he also made clear that there is a price at which he’d happily re-up with the Nats. That price is bound to be exorbitant, perhaps even exceeding Nolan Arenado’s extension, but the premium would be to forego the opportunity to explore the market. Given Lerner’s relationship with Boras, that would seem to be an unnecessary expense on Lerner’s part.

Given the way Rendon has played this season, he has no reason to settle for anything less than top dollar. The underrated superstar has put together an MVP-type year, .315/.400/.608 while tying a career-high with 25 home runs (it’s August). His 153 wRC+ places him sixth among all qualified batters in the MLB, first overall in the majors among infielders. He is a singular superstar – in play and personality – and Boras’ relationship with Lerner only factors if Rendon, 29, really wants to stay in Washington. Positionally, third base is – after catcher – perhaps the most siloed in baseball, eliminating a couple contenders for his services (including his hometown team in Houston). Regardless, he no doubt will have alternatives if he does’t get what he wants from Washington once the season is over.

Speculatively speaking, Rendon would be an appropriate spiritual successor to Adrian Beltre in Texas – his home state. The Braves or Phillies could make a play to steal Rendon from a rival, though both teams have long-term answers nearby in Austin Riley and Alec Bohm. Looking elsewhere in the National League, the Cubs, Giants, Padres, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Dodgers, and Reds already have money committed to third base, while the Pirates, Mets and Marlins have cheap options on hand. The American League has more third base slots available, but few offer the competitive environment available to Rendon in Washington.

The Nationals worked hard to stay under the tax this year, but they haven’t been shy about going over in the past, and they actually have a fair amount of payroll space to work with next year with Ryan Zimmerman’s $18MM coming off the books. Giving the keys to what-has-been Zimmerman’s house over to Rendon makes a lot of sense from a narrative standpoint. Rendon already supplanted Zimmerman at third base. No matter the outcome, the contract negotiations should linger into the offseason, and all parties involved seem comfortable with that.

J.D. Martinez’s Ex-Representative Suing Over Agency Switch

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In November 2017, at the start of what became a lucrative but drawn-out trip to free agency, slugger J.D. Martinez changed representation and hired famed agent Scott Boras. Now, 14-plus months after Martinez scored a five-year, $110MM guarantee from the Red Sox in February 2018, his former rep –  RMG Sports Group president Bob Garber – is crying foul on his ex-client’s switch. Garber is suing Merrill Lynch; Bruce Lee, one of Merrill Lynch’s Chicago-based financial advisers; and Pierce Fenner & Smith, “alleging tortious interference with contractual relations,” Scott Holland of the Cook County Record reports.

Garber had represented Martinez since 2010, the year after the Astros drafted him, but he claims in the lawsuit that Lee helped influence Martinez to hire Boras. According to Garber, he introduced Martinez to Lee, and the outfielder later hired Lee and Merrill Lynch “to provide wealth management services,” Holland writes. However, Garber alleged, “Upon learning of Boras’ impressive book of clients. Lee decided to grab an opportunity to get a foothold into the lucrative list of baseball clients represented by Scott Boars by using Martinez as his bait.”

Garber continued that in October 2017, shortly before Martinez defected to the Boras Corporation, the player engaged in phone discussions with Lee in which Lee “told Martinez to terminate his contractual relationship with RMG and Garber, telling Martinez, among other fabrications, that Bob is done, Bob is a hack and that Bob will sell him short.” As Holland writes, Garber added that Lee met with the Boras Corporation in November “to discuss referrals for his financial advising services,” indicating the two sides employed underhanded tactics that led to Boras stealing Martinez’s business from Garber.

This is somewhat of a similar situation to one in 2018 that saw Juan Carlos Nunez sue the ACES Agency, where he formerly worked as an independent contractor. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explained at the time, Nunez alleged that “ACES founders Sam and Seth Levinson guided and funded him in a scheme to attract clients and connect them with performance-enhancing drugs.” Nunez sought “millions” in damages, but wrongdoing on the part of ACES was never proven.

Likewise, it may be difficult to show real evidence that Lee did anything to help sway Martinez to Boras. Regardless, though, Martinez’s switch to Boras had negative financial ramifications for Garber. Had Garber kept representing Martinez, RMG Sports Group would have continued to earn a 5 percent commission on his baseball-related income. Therefore, had Martinez inked the same $110MM contract with Garber on his side, RMG would have raked in $5.5MM.

It’s anyone’s guess whether Martinez would have landed the same deal had he kept Garber in place, of course. Even though Martinez entered the market as a superstar-caliber hitter, concerns over his defense and age (30 at the time) helped lead to a lack of suitors on the open market. He and the Red Sox wound up engaged in a months-long standoff, during which it seemed like only a matter of time before he’d head to Boston. That’s exactly what happened, and the Red Sox have since reaped the rewards in the form of elite production from Martinez and a World Series championship in his first season with the club.

Going forward, it’s possible the Boras-repped Martinez will collect another major payday in the coming years. His current pact includes a pair of opt-out chances, one after this season and another at the conclusion of the 2020 campaign. But if Martinez takes advantage of that opportunity during the upcoming offseason, he’d be leaving a guaranteed $62.5MM on the table.

Phillies To Introduce Bryce Harper Today At 2pm

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Newest Phillie Bryce Harper will be available to the media at his introductory press conference today at 2pm EST in Clearwater, Florida. You can watch the press conference live on MLB.com and MLBNetwork.

Along with Harper and agent Scott Boras, GM Matt Klentak and managing partner John Middleton will be present and available to the media from the top of the first base dugout at Spectrum Field, where the press conference is taking place. The Phillies gave word of their 13-year union with Harper via tweet yesterday.

In a separate press release, the Phillies officially announced the signing. The Phillies title Harper “one of the premier players in Major League Baseball” and “a multi-media star” while often referencing Harper’s age alongside his varied career accomplishments.

Harper himself tweeted a photo of the new cover for Sony’s MLB the Show 19, on which he appears in his new Phillies garb. After wearing number 34 in Washington, Harper will switch to number three in Philadelphia.

Check out a roundup of MLBTR’s Notes & Observations from the Harper signing here, or find out what the readers think of the new deal with this MLBTR Poll.

Starting Pitching Notes: Fernandez, Kershaw, Buehler, deGrom, Pineda

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The late Jose Fernandez would have been eligible for free agency this offseason, a concept The Athletic’s Jayson Stark explores (subscription required) in an outstanding remembrance of the former Marlins ace.  Fernandez emerged as perhaps the top young pitcher in all of baseball over 471 1/3 innings with Miami from 2013-16, and he would’ve reached free agency as a 26-year-old, the same age as Bryce Harper and Manny Machado this winter.  Assuming Fernandez had continued his dominant pace, agent Scott Boras had visions of a $400MM deal for his client.  Miami had already offered to sign Fernandez to an extension prior to the 2015 season, and even though Fernandez was coming off Tommy John surgery, he rejected that $40.7MM in guaranteed money to bet on himself — a sign of the self-confidence that had both positive and negative effects on Fernandez throughout his life.  Stark’s piece includes comments from a wide range of former teammates, coaches, and Marlins personnel about their memories of the star right-hander, who had already become a Miami baseball icon at the time of his tragic passing on September 25, 2016.

Some items from around the starting pitching scene…

  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided an update on Clayton Kershaw to reporters (including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick), saying that Kershaw had a five-minute game of catch for the second straight day.  “Clayton said he let it go about 80 percent and he felt good, he felt strong,” Roberts said.  “Tomorrow we’re going to stretch him out some more as far as length and intensity. In talking to him today, we’re pretty encouraged.”  Kershaw was shut down last week due to shoulder soreness, and the Dodgers will continue to take it slow with their ace southpaw.
  • The Dodgers are taking a similar path with Walker Buehler, who has only been throwing on flat ground since tossing a single bullpen session during the first week of spring camp.  There isn’t anything physically wrong with the young righty, Roberts said, as Buehler is simply being “slow-played” in his ramp-up to the 2019 season as a nod to his increased workload last year.  Between the minors, the MLB regular season, and the postseason, Buehler tossed 177 innings in 2018.  It was a vast increase for a pitcher in just his third pro season, especially considering Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and tossed only 98 total innings in 2017.
  • There hasn’t been much reported progress in contract talks between the Mets and Jacob deGrom, and according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, “the word circulating is specifically [Mets owner] Fred Wilpon” has some hesitation about extending the right-hander.  As Sherman points out, if the elder Wilpon has concerns, they wouldn’t be unjustified — deGrom turns 31 in June, has undergone a Tommy John surgery in his past, and is already controlled through the 2020 season.  (Plus, the Mets have been burned on several pricey contracts in recent years.)  Sherman proposes a possible extension that could satisfy both sides; a four-year deal covering the 2020-23 seasons for $124MM in guaranteed money, plus a vesting option for 2024 that pays deGrom another $10MM in a buyout, and up to $31MM for 2024 if the option vests.
  • Michael Pineda tossed two scoreless innings and threw 18 of his 26 pitches for strikes in an outing against the Red Sox today, his first time facing MLB hitters since July 5, 2017.  He threw between 93-95mph, matching his old fastball speed, though Pineda told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and other media that “I’m not focused on the velocity.  My goal is to be healthy and get some focus and be back. And be Michael Pineda, back like he used to be.”  Pineda underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2017, and his hopes of a return in 2018 were dashed after he suffered a torn meniscus.  After signing a two-year, $10MM deal with the Twins in the 2017-18 offseason, Pineda is making positive steps towards being a contributor for Minnesota this year.

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