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Quick Hits: Draft, Trade Timing, Gambling, Boras

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With this year’s amateur draft less than three weeks away, the picture is starting to take shape — though it seems uncertainty largely still reigns. Those interested in seeing how the class is coming together have a few pieces worth looking into. Baseball America recently updated its board of the top 500 prospects. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs have a new mock draft to peruse. And MLB.com’s Jim Callis recently performed a similar exercise.

Here are a few other articles of general interest from around the baseball world:

  • MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand chats with some unnamed execs around the game about the timing of this year’s trade activity. While there’s some indication that the feeling-out process has begun, there’s also no reason to believe that there’ll be a modification to the typically slow evolution of the market. (Last year’s memorably stretched to the end of the August non-revocable waiver deadline, which featured an unusual number of significant deals.) The reason is more or less the same as always: teams crave more information before they tweak the rosters that they compiled over the offseason.
  • Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports offers his take on yesterday’s sports gambling decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, and it’s an interesting read. He sees baseball’s statistical bend as a boon for the sport in the new era of legalized gambling. There could certainly be a wide variety of broader implications, as Passan explores. For now, they exist mostly as interesting but entirely hypothetical possibilities, the development of which will be impacted by a wide variety of factors — most notably, a big pile of money up for grabs.
  • Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times checks in with Scott Boras after the winter of free-agent discontent. The super-agent downplayed the public squabbling between him and league officials and expressed general satisfaction with the way turned out for several of his high-profile clients. He also generally expressed a lack of concern that next winter’s market would work out just fine for players. This isn’t the combative and colorful version of Boras we’ve all come to know and love (or love to hate), but it’s notable in and of itself that he adopted a deliberative stance. He also made a shrewd note that’s worth bearing in mind for the future, telling Shaikin: “If you want to take that analytic principle into collective bargaining — that I’m not going to pay you for past performance — then you’re going to have to pay a truer value for the current performance.”

Scott Boras Reports Progress On Remaining Free Agents

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6:11pm: Boras spoke with Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star about Moustakas at greater length, and Mellinger suggests that Boras and Moustakas may be comfortable waiting until after the June draft to sign. At that point, there’d be no draft compensation attached to Moustakas, and there’d also be the possibility that more teams have unexpected needs at third base (or that unexpected contenders are looking to add).

Boras isn’t directly quoted regarding the possibility of waiting until June, it should be noted, and the agent spoke with some optimism that Moustakas could yet find a landing spot before the season begins.

“The teams are coming, and Moose is going to be playing baseball,” said Boras to Mellinger. “But I don’t control time, and I don’t control competitiveness. The question is when do those teams want to commit to winning, and of course I think he’ll be playing, yes.”

Boras does note that free agency would be a “totally different world” for Moustakas were draft forfeitures not attached to signing him, pointing out that the new CBA stipulates that players can only receive one QO in their career. With that in mind, perhaps Boras and Moustakas would be amenable to a one-year pact that would allow for another crack at the open market next season, when Moustakas will still be a relatively youthful 30 years old.

11:03am: Agent Scott Boras, who represents many of the top remaining free agents, suggested to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi that at least some of his clients could be nearing new contracts. (Twitter link.)

Boras represents four still-unsigned players who had spots on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agent list: Jake Arrieta, Mike Moustakas, Greg Holland, and Carlos Gonzalez. Four other players with other representation from that list of fifty names also remain available.

Morosi says he posed the question to Boras whether deals were imminent for any of his four top free agents. This was the response:

“We’re closer to deals than we were two weeks ago. Some of those things are only a phone call away.”

Clearly, there’s nothing earth-shattering in that quote. But it’s nevertheless notable to hear that real progress has been made. And given Boras’s frequent barrage of criticisms over the course of the offseason, it’s also worth emphasizing that this relative optimism could well be a real indication that the end is in sight for some of these players — particularly given the clear suggestion that there are some firm offers on the table.

Of course, there’s also little in the way of specifics. In some cases, Boras clients still seem to face relatively meager prospects for maximizing their value. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently examined the remaining top-fifty free agents in a piece that covers the field of potential suitors and illustrates the less-than-ideal leverage situation from the players’ perspective.

Boras, Halem Continue Quarrel Over Free Agent Activity

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Agent Scott Boras jabbed back at Major League Baseball’s comments to ESPN’s Crasnick this evening, writes FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Specifically, Boras questioned how the league could reconcile the notion of commenting on any offers made to unsigned players — a reference to Manfred telling Crasnick that some players had received “nine figure” offers.

“I find it interesting that free agents have nine-figure offers since the CBA mandates that teams not share that sort of information,” said Boras. “I am also curious how a public statement communicated to all teams about offers on the table and players demanding too much money from a central league office … is any different from the infamous ’information bank’ in the 1980s.”

MLB chief legal officer Dan Halem responded to Boras’ comments (also per Heyman):

“If Mr. Boras spent as much time working on getting his players signed as he does issuing inflammatory and unsubstantiated statements to the press, perhaps the events of this off-season would be different.”

Boras, without missing a beat, replied by pointing out that Halem made no denial that the league’s comments on the nature of offers some players have received contained the type of information that should not be made public and should not be known about by league officials. He also invoked statements from former union chief Donald Fehr made more than three decades ago:

“I’d be embarrassed,” Fehr said of MLB owners back in 1987. “But they aren’t. And the reason they aren’t is that they have decided that winning a battle with the players over salaries is more important than winning on the field. Winning on the field is secondary these days. The owners apparently feel they will come out no matter what.”

To Boras’ credit, it does seem curious that the league’s statement would openly acknowledge the size of offers that some players have received. In addition to running counter to the CBA, the comments hardly paint players in a favorable light at a time in which commissioner Rob Manfred is spearheading efforts to broadly expand the game’s appeal to a younger audience. If anything, today’s statement only furthers the popular “greedy player” narrative — one which often ignores that the alternative is for the even wealthier owners to simply pocket money not spent on player contracts.

While those numbers weren’t exactly a secret after being leaked to the media by various sources, likely from both the agent and team side of the equation in various cases, it was nonetheless surprising to see the league stating those numbers in a factual manner (even if it was merely in reference to media reports; it’s not clear which was the case in this instance).

Of course, it’s also worth noting that Boras is making a reach by likening the current economic state of free agency to one in which owners were proven to have colluded, resulting in mass one-year deals throughout the league and, eventually, an “information bank” in which owners readily shared intel on the types of offers that were being made to free agents.

Boras’ usage of Fehr’s comments, though, was more likely in reference to the spirit of competition (or lack thereof) and the number of “tanking” teams that aren’t endeavoring to put forth a winning club in 2018. Viewed through that lens, there’s some merit to the reference, but teams today certainly have greater incentive to tank than the more financial motives of those late-80s clubs. Furthermore, the five-year deal for Lorenzo Cain as well as reported seven-year offers for Eric Hosmer and five-year offers for J.D. Martinez and Yu Darvish underscore the fact that it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.

That point seems particularly worth highlighting; while many critics of the labor side of this dispute express difficulty in sympathizing with millionaire players that aren’t finding often outlandish contractual demands met, the larger issue isn’t so much that players like Hosmer, Martinez and Yu Darvish aren’t receiving offers in excess of $150MM. Rather, one of the main gripes — certainly the one voiced by Boras and MLBPA chief Tony Clark today — is simply that not enough teams are making any sort of effort, and their refraining from free agency entirely has eliminated the game’s general spirit of yearly competition (both on the field and on the open market). In addition to limiting the market for the top-tier talents, the absence of 10 or more teams on the free-agent market dramatically erodes the market for mid-range free agents who, in prior winters, would’ve happily taken two- and three-year deals from teams that may not be clear division-championship-level contenders. Obviously, there’s time yet for offers from some such teams to materialize.

Of course, as has been pointed out on many occasions — the players themselves bear no shortage of responsibility in the matter. The current structure of amateur talent acquisition in Major League Baseball disproportionately rewards noncompetitive clubs in both the draft and the amateur international market, thereby encouraging teams to strive for high draft picks rather than taking an against-the-odds shot at a Wild Card berth. Those measures, as well as the luxury tax that many of the game’s heaviest spenders are treating as a soft salary cap, were agreed upon by the union in the most recent wave of collective bargaining a bit more than one year ago.

Latest Reactions to Slow-Moving Offseason

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The offseason continues to move painfully slowly. With spring training on the horizon, there’s not much time left for the staring contest between teams and players to break. Indeed, the past week has yielded more news by way of shouting from players, agents and union reps than by way of actual major league signings. We’ve collected some of the reactions from around the baseball community…

  • As one might expect, the colorfully hyperbolic Scott Boras has offered his input on the subject (via Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports), comparing the market phenomenon to the act of murder. “The difference between an accident and murder is intent,” Boras says. “Teams are intentionally murdering seasons and fans are dying with it.” Boras also says that the biggest issue is competition, adding that losing is only acceptable if there is an actual effort to win.
  • “The list of available free agents could fill out a 25-man roster and contend for a playoff spot,” writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Dodd also includes quotes from Peter Moylan, which provide some interesting insight into the point of view of a lower-tier MLB free agent. Moylan describes his situation in terms of the uncertainty, telling Dodd that the only thing that is a “little frustrating” is the unknown. Moylan’s examples of the unknown include not knowing where he’ll be in two weeks, not knowing where he’ll be playing during the regular season, and the resulting inability to line up housing for either. The 39-year-old righty pitched to a 3.49 ERA across 59 1/3 innings last year for the Royals, and has publicly stated his desire to remain with the team.
  • The MLBPA is “laying the dynamite around itself” with its threats of spring training boycotts and accusations of collusion, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Davidoff describes Brodie Van Wagenen’s recent statement as a “boiling point of sorts,” and wonders what can possibly be accomplished by all this “saber-rattling.” Davidoff seems to downplay the anger and threats from the union and player representatives, pointing out (by way of recent words from Brandon Moss) that they chose to sign a collective bargaining agreement that rewards tanking and penalizes clubs for spending too much.
  • Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated opines that the players “bargained for luxury, not labor” in his take on the subject. Verducci also highlights Moss’ words, describing the current CBA as “the deal that stiffened the soft cap created by a luxury tax threshold that hasn’t come close to keeping up with growth in revenues and payrolls.” He adds that the union celebrated something of a “Pyrrhic win” in its prevention of an international draft, which Verducci calls a bluff.
  • The mystery of the bizarre offseason before us can’t be solved by simply crying “collusion,” Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes, drawing attention to multiple factors in this offseason’s pace in a piece that’s definitely worth a full read. Some of those factors include a logjam at the top of the market (perhaps caused by CBA incentives for teams to tighten their purse strings), and the perceived value of youth in baseball.
  • For his part, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer is surprised that he’s headed to Arizona with so much offseason left to go. In an interview with Jesse Rogers of ESPN, Hoyer chalks the hot stove freeze up to something that seems quite simple on the surface: both players and teams feel justified in their positions. “Every team has their internal rankings,” he tells Rogers. “Every team has their evaluations which they will never reveal. Those rankings guide them through the market. Both sides of the market can always move or activate and free things up. To this point, we haven’t gotten there.”

Scott Boras On Slow-Developing Free-Agent Market

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Super-agent Scott Boras is no stranger to the spotlight, but his unique role in the sport is in some respects more visible now than ever before. With free agency continuing to move at a remarkably slow pace, Boras provided some interesting comments on the matter to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag.

As the most recognizable agent to MLB fans, and the advisor to many of this winter’s best free agents, Boras is one of the most notable characters in the hot stove world. He has also long drawn ire for his non-apologetic efforts at maximizing the earnings of his clients. Most recently, in a rather surprising turn, a league statement even took a passive-aggressive swap at Boras (via Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports).

So, is Boras to blame for the slow pace of free-agent signings? Not in his own view. In addition to repeating his clever line to Passan — “I wouldn’t blame the baker if the flour doesn’t show up” — Boras says the pace of signings “has little to do” with him. Neither does Boras seem to believe the players are simply asking for too much in negotiations. MLB revenue has skyrocketed, he notes, and free agents are “just seeking what owners have done before.”

Rather, Boras suggests, this is about whether — or, really, when — MLB teams recognize they need to add pieces to win. Despite the worry in many quarters that a rush of contracts could come with reduced paydays for free agents, Boras says he is not concerned. Once the rest of the league realizes it has work to do to in keeping pace with the Astros — the most complete team in baseball, in his view — they’ll come calling.

This, perhaps, is the key quote to understand his view of things:

“Time is not a function of the market; ability to pay and demand are. The timing is not disturbing because the demand and the ability to pay are still evident.”

Of course, Boras is mindful of the need for a contingency plan. If teams “do not compete” — for free agents and, inextricably in Boras’s presentation, the World Series — “and instead choose to profit,” he says, then the player’s side “will have to address the system.” That comment is open to interpretation, but it surely does suggest that Boras feels he has potential avenues of redress if his clients are not able to find contracts at what he deems a market rate.

Perhaps what’s most notable about the viewpoint here is the fact that Boras continues to counsel patience while maintaining focus on the market fundamentals. Anxiety isn’t a problem for his clients, says Boras, who perhaps in some sense is advising other players and their representatives not to panic. Drawing attention to the leaguewide cash position is no doubt also an important element of a nascent PR strategy, should it be needed.

As Passan argues, there may well be some broader forces shifting the ground under foot. But as Boras suggests, we don’t yet know whether the market results will suggest a cause for broader concern. For the time being, timing aside, “demand and the ability to pay are still evident.” And regardless, surely, the players will be served best by holding the line as best they can.

In any event, the stage is set for a fascinating few weeks as we wait to see when and how the standoff is resolved. Boras, no doubt, will be at the center of the proceedings. There’s plenty more to absorb in Heyman’s post, including Boras’s thoughts on player aging and the oft-noted fact that some of his clients have signed late. You’ll want to read it in its entirety for the full effect.

 

Market Chatter: Marlins, Mets, Cobb, JDM, Astros, Hamilton, Royals

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While the Marlins have reportedly been holding talks regarding catcher J.T. Realmuto and outfielder Christian Yelich, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says that four rival general managers expressed doubt” that a trade will actually take place involving these young assets. Whether that opinion is based on the reportedly astronomical asking prices or other factors isn’t immediately clear. There’s some suggestion from some of Rosenthal’s sources, though, that the Fish are concerned with perception and won’t make a deal unless it seems the offer was overwhelming. That seems largely unlikely, but the already less-than-rosy returns on the initial months of the new ownership have been marred further by reports from the Miami Herald about the incoming plans. Most recently, Barry Jackson reported that CEO Derek Jeter stands to receive a $5MM salary with multi-million-dollar bonuses if he can deliver profitability to the ownership group (of which he is a part). PR considerations aside, there’s certainly a compelling case to deal Realmuto and Yelich rather than take the risk of holding them. Rosenthal argues the organization ought to simply follow through on the rebuilding steps it has taken already, using this offseason as the time to cash in both of those quality young players.

Here are some more market notes:

  • The Mets are said to be checking in on the market for third basemen, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. The report suggests that the New York organization is positioning itself as a landing spot for Mike Moustakas or Todd Frazier if they reduce their current asking prices. Similarly, the club has checked in on backstop Jonathan Lucroy as well as left-handed-hitting first basemen Adam Lind and Logan Morrison. (Those two potential first base options, of course, occupy quite different market segments given the former’s age and the latter’s breakout 2017 season.) All told, it still seems the Mets are broadly canvassing the market for possible upgrades, but looking to do so with relatively limited financial resources still available.
  • Jon Heyman of Fan Rag has a variety of interesting notes in a look at the top remaining free agents and other notes from around the game. Free agent righty Alex Cobb is “willing” to take a four-year deal at a $70MM guarantee, says Heyman. Of course, that’s also a significant amount more than MLBTR, at least, projected he’d earn on the open market. It would appear there’s still some market development left to go between Cobb and his suitors. Of course, there are also a few higher-regarded starters left whose own situations may need to be resolved first. Meanwhile, fellow free agent righty Andrew Cashner is reportedly angling for a three-year pact. While the 31-year-old did manage a 3.40 ERA in 166 2/3 innings in 2017, teams will be wary given that he carried only a meager 4.6 K/9 on the year.
  • Years are also at issue for J.D. Martinez, Heyman explains. Red Sox president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski is not interested in offering more than five years, but Heyman suggests that agent Scott Boras could yet try to make his case at the ownership level. The “word is there are other five-year offers,” Heyman adds, though it remains hard to imagine which other reportedly interested club would be able to compete financially with the Sox for Martinez.
  • Heyman also checks in on the closer market. The Astros, he notes, remain interested in adding a high-end, late-inning arm. It’s not entirely clear if they are a realistic suitor for Greg Holland, but in theory he’d be an option. Holland is said to have set out in search of five years in free agency. That never really seemed likely, as he’s 32 years of age and had at least a few late-season stumbles in his first campaign back from Tommy John surgery. Of course, Holland is still expected to secure a significant contract, though a three-year arrangement may be likeliest at this point.
  • Though the Reds continue to engage in discussions regarding center fielder Billy Hamilton, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter that there’s one major potential roadblock. Club owner Bob Castellini is quite hesitant to part with Hamilton, it seems. While there’s no indication that the switch-hitting speed demon is completely off limits, the stance may make it harder to get a deal done.
  • As the Royals weigh their options at short, it seems the team is targeting some veterans that figure to be available on lower-cost deals. Incumbent Alcides Escobar remains an option, says Heyman, while Kansas City is also said to be favorably disposed toward Ryan Goins.

Conflicting Reports On Phillies’ Interest In Jake Arrieta

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2:57pm: Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer casts significant doubt on the idea that the Phils will chase Arrieta. While the team tried for Tyler Chatwood and may yet attempt to land someone like Alex Cobb or Lance Lynn, and will also look intro trades, Gelb writes flatly that the organization “will not spend” on top-of-the-market arms Arrieta and Yu Darvish.

GM Matt Klentak provided some thoughts that certainly support that viewpoint. He also indicated that part of the team’s strategy is to bolster the bullpen in order to limit the wear on the starting staff, which helps explain the team’s deal with Pat Neshek and pursuit of Addison Reed.

8:28am: The Phillies are considering a pursuit of free agent righty Jake Arrieta, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports (Twitter link).  Arrieta is a known quantity to several Phils executives that used to work in the Orioles’ front office, as Arrieta was originally drafted and developed by the Baltimore organization.

While the Phils are still rebuilding, it has been widely assumed that the team will begin to spend to its usual levels as early as next winter, when several superstar free agents will hit the market.  Signing Arrieta now would serve as a clear signal that the Phillies are ready to compete, plus having Arrieta in the fold would also serve as a good selling point to next year’s free agent crop.  Philadelphia is also sorely in need of rotation help now, so the team could be deciding on making a big splash now when an ace they like is on the market, rather than test the trade or free agent waters in a year’s time.  On the other hand, Arrieta would cost the Phils their second-highest draft pick and $500K in international bonus pool funds, as Arrieta rejected the Cubs’ qualifying offer.

The Brewers, Rockies, Twins, Blue Jays, Rangers, Astros, and Nationals have all expressed some degree of interest in Arrieta’s services, and Theo Epstein said yesterday that he would check in with Scott Boras, Arrieta’s agent, about the possibility of a return to the Cubs.

Despite this interest, it isn’t clear what Arrieta will earn on the open market, given his age (32 in March) and his somewhat lesser numbers in 2017, fueled in part by an increased home run rate.  One executive told Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith that he has “no clue what [Arrieta] will get.”  MLBTR ranked Arrieta fourth on our list of the winter’s Top 50 Free Agents and projected him for a four-year, $100MM deal.

Needless to say, Boras is aiming higher for his client.  ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports that Boras is marketing Arrieta by directly contacting MLB owners (rather than their front offices) with a 75-page booklet detailing the right-hander’s strengths.  One team executive believes that Boras is seeking a deal in the $200MM range for Arrieta, though Boras said he hadn’t talked salary specifics with any teams.

As he outlined to Crasnick, Boras believes Arrieta offers a package of postseason success, durability, and relative lack of workload on his arm in terms of career innings.  The main comparison seems to be Justin Verlander, whose seven-year, $180MM extension with the Tigers is at least in the ballpark of that alleged $200MM figure.

“I don’t put values on anything.  I just look at performance,” Boras said.  “I look at the marketplace and say, ’How does he stack up against the top pitchers in the game, and why?’….I give them all the book, and the onion starts to peel. And all of a sudden there’s only a small group left who do what Verlander, Arrieta and [Max] Scherzer do.”

Obviously there’s no small amount of salesmanship in Boras’ comments, and his method of directly approaching owners isn’t a new one; he has used the tactic to great effect in the past, particularly with the Nationals and Tigers.  Two anonymous general managers, however, expressed doubt to Crasnick that Boras’ strategy is still as effective as it once was.  While an $180MM-$200MM deal for Arrieta seems very optimistic, Boras does have a long track record of finding larger-than-expected contracts for his clients.

NL East Notes: Boras, Harvey, Phillies, Draft, Braves

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Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

  • The Mets haven’t approached Matt Harvey about a long-term extension, agent Scott Boras tells The Record’s Matt Ehalt.  “I always leave it up to the teams to approach us about those things like Washington did with (Stephen Strasburg).  We just keep our doors open and evaluate things as it comes,” Boras said.  Offseason chatter indicated that there weren’t any talks between the two sides, though since Strasburg’s extension rather surprisingly came out of nowhere, it wouldn’t be as stunning to see a Harvey contract negotiated privately.  Harvey, of course, still has two more arbitration-eligible years before hitting the open market after the 2018 seasons, whereas Strasburg was scheduled for free agency this coming winter.  An extension is likely less important to the Mets than simply getting Harvey on track — the righty has a 4.93 ERA through his first eight starts, though his peripherals indicate that he been somewhat unlucky (.373 BABIP, 3.35 FIP, 3.75 xFIP, 3.95 SIERA).
  • In the latest Baseball America mock draft, Hudson Belinsky projects the Phillies will take Florida southpaw A.J. Puk with the first overall pick.  Pat Gillick and other Phils executives, however, have been seen scouting high school outfielders Mickey Moniak and Blake Rutherford, and sources tell Belinsky that the Phillies could draft a slightly lower-regarded player in order to save slot money on the first overall pick.  Philadelphia has a draft bonus pool of just over $13.405MM (the second-highest amount of any club) and it could be the latest team to strategically deploy their draft spending by spending less on a top pick in order to spend more on a harder-to-sign talent in a later round.  Ultimately, however, Belinsky feels the Phillies still go with “the safer option” in Puk given “the importance of this pick in the club’s rebuilding effort.”
  • While the Braves are disappointed by their poor 2016 record, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that the club has played a tough schedule.  Big picture-wise, the Braves are still in good shape, as O’Brien observes that many of the big names Atlanta has dealt (such as Justin Upton, Shelby Miller or Jason Heyward) are currently struggling, while the Braves received several building-block prospects to aid in their rebuild.

Scott Boras On Free Agency, Davis, Span, CBA

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Earlier today, super agent Scott Boras joined MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM to discuss the state of the free agent market. Here are a few highlights:

  • While there are a variety of notable names still available in free agency Boras suggests that isn’t any cause for concern for those players. As he put it: “in free agency, I’m not sure you can put a calendar on it.” Boras went on to note that, of the $1.6B or so in free agent spending thus far, about $1.2B has gone to pitching. If you’re interested in more details on the current market setting, we broke down the spending to date and the outlook for still-unsigned players in a post yesterday.
  • While he attributed the big starting pitching salaries this year to a natural reflection of last year’s Max Scherzer contract, Boras says there has been a “definite advance in the relief market.” He attributes that observation to a copycat phenomenon as teams seek to emulate the success of the Royals.
  • As for his own clients that still remain on the market, Boras called slugger Chris Davis a “rare opportunity.” That’s due in large part to his undeniable power, but also — per Boras — because he can hit opposing lefties and provides more defensive versatility than one might think. Interestingly, Boras also noted that several American League East clubs (the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Yankees) are presently reliant on aging power sources that will hit free agency or retirement in the near future — hinting that those teams should be considering Davis not only for his immediate impact but also future organizational need.
  • Boras also discussed center fielder Denard Span, who he says is recovering nicely from hip surgery. Some teams have already “been down to see him,” said the agent. He adds that he expects Span to find a deal “in the very near future.”
  • While there were other topics of conversation as well, Boras also fielded an interesting question regarding what issues his clients see as having primary importance in the coming year’s CBA negotiations. Boras focused in on the qualifying offer system and limitations on draft spending, which he tied together by citing the obvious value that teams place on top selections.

 

 

Orioles Notes: Davis, Alvarez, Pearce

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At an annual fan event, Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette confirmed the club has pulled its $150MM offer to Chris Davis, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Talks have not been terminated, but Duquette implied it would be up to Davis’ agent Scott Boras to revisit negotiations. Duquette also stated that Davis has not been involved in the process – all talks have gone through Boras (this is typical but worth noting). For his part, Boras says he has been given no indication that talks are closed, per Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (tweet).

Here’s the latest from the O’s including more information via Kubatko from their fan event.

  • Duquette also commented on Jason Heyward’s contract structure (tweet). With regard to Heyward’s two opt-outs, “That kind of structure wouldn’t work for the Orioles.” While long-term contracts with opt-outs are becoming more popular as a means to keep average annual value in check, some teams may not be comfortable accepting the back-end risk if a player implodes unexpectedly.
  • Also per Kubatko (tweet), Duquette will use some of the money budgeted for Davis on other players. However, the club probably will not spend all of it this winter. To me, that seems to rule out a pursuit of Justin Upton or Alex Gordon.
  • If talks with Davis fall through, the O’s may turn their attention to Pedro Alvarez, tweets CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Alvarez offers many of the same characteristics as Davis, but with less defensive versatility. His left-handed power bat would be a good fit for the AL East. Camden Yards and Yankee Stadium are two of the best parks for left-handed home runs. The Brewers are also in on Alvarez.
  • Orioles free agent Steve Pearce is “under consideration,” per Duquette (tweet). Entering his age 33 season, Pearce has compiled 5.6 career WAR over parts of nine campaigns. However, 4.9 of those wins were earned in his excellent 2014 season. He declined dramatically in 2015 over a similar number of plate appearances. He did fill a useful utility role by playing at first, second, and both corner outfields last season.
  • Meanwhile, VP of baseball operations Brady Anderson is disappointed that Davis and reliever Darren O’Day reached free agency, writes Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com. “When you have him [O’Day], he makes it look so easy, you forget how hard it is and it can cost you millions of dollars. In Darren’s case, that is what happened. In Chris Davis’ case, the same thing is happening.” Anderson notes that small- and mid-market clubs have to be more successful in signing players to long term extensions.

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