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Mariners “Actively” Trying To Move Robinson Cano

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As the Mariners’ “reimagining” of their Major League roster continues, general manager Jerry Dipoto is “actively “making an effort to trade infielder Robinson Cano, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required).

The challenges in moving Cano are obvious. Though the eight-time All-Star remained productive when on the field in 2018, he turned 36 in October, missed 80 games this past season due to a PED suspension and is owed a hefty $120MM over the final five seasons of a 10-year, $240MM contract (signed under former Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik). Cano also has the ability to veto a trade to any team, which only further muddies an already unenviable situation for Dipoto & Co.

Warts aside, Cano hit .303/.374/.471 with 10 homers and 22 doubles through 348 plate appearances when he wasn’t suspended in 2018 — including a .317/.363/.497 line upon returning from that 80-game ban. Both OPS+ and wRC+ pegged his overall offensive contribution at 36 percent better than that of a league-average hitter (after being weighted for league and his hitter-friendly home park). Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating each indicated that Cano was an above-average defender at second base in 561 innings there, and he even dabbled at the infield corners a bit in ’18.

It’s more difficult to determine where Cano could realistically be traded, however. Rosenthal adds that the infielder would likely be amenable to a return to New York City, and the report even indicates that the M’s have contacted both the Yankees and the Mets about potential deals. However, the Mariners were understandably hesitant about taking on Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract and including “significant” cash to help pay down Cano’s deal, according to Rosenthal. The Mets, meanwhile, already possess some younger intriguing options on the right side of the infield and may not want to allocate substantial resources to a 36-year-old who is signed through age 40 — even one who remains a productive hitter. The Mets have a few onerous contracts themselves, but the largest among them, Yoenis Cespedes, has his own no-trade clause.

At this point, Cano figures to be one of the many remaining pieces the Mariners will look to move this offseason. Right-hander Mike Leake and shortstop Jean Segura both surfaced in reports connecting the Mariners to the Padres last week, and Dee Gordon has been an oft-cited potential trade piece as Seattle looks to pare down a bloated payroll. Arbitration-eligible reliever Alex Colome, with a fairly large $7.3MM projected salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), also seems like a strong candidate to be dealt.

Trades of Mike Zunino and James Paxton have already shaved more than $12MM off the payroll (per Swartz’s projections) while also netting the Mariners a potential everyday option in center field (Mallex Smith) and their top new organizational prospect (Justus Sheffield). A deal involving Cano likely wouldn’t net that same type of immediate help to the MLB roster, unless it came in the form of an undesirable contract from another club, but would at least create some further payroll flexibility — some of which could be reinvested in the 2019 product.

Active as the Mariners have been to date, both of their major trades and even the rumored talks surrounding them have focused on bringing back some form of MLB talent. While the club may be “taking a step back” in 2019, it doesn’t appear there’ll be a full-fledged dismantling of the roster. Specifically, players like Mitch Haniger, Edwin Diaz, Marco Gonzales and Smith seem unlikely to be sent out, given their pre-arbitration status and four-plus years of remaining team control.

Olney’s Latest: Goldy, Yanks, Astros, Pollock, Brantley, Cutch, Mariners

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It’s unclear whether the Diamondbacks will trade their franchise player, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, though Buster Olney of ESPN (subscription required) hears from rival evaluators that they are “intent” on dealing the 31-year-old. While Goldschmidt has consistently been one of the majors’ best players during his career, it’s unlikely the Diamondbacks would receive a significant haul in exchange for his final year of team control, observes Olney, who notes that most contenders aren’t seeking a first baseman. But St. Louis and Houston continue to show a good amount of interest in Goldschmidt, per Olney, which jibes with a previous report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Olney adds that rival clubs believe the Astros have seemingly tried to move young right-hander J.B. Bukauskas, their eighth-ranked prospect at MLB.com, in trade talks. Similarly, the Yankees were “pushing”  left-handed pitching prospect Justus Sheffield in Goldschmidt discussions, Olney reports. Sheffield’s no longer in the picture for New York, though, as it traded him to Seattle this week in a deal for lefty James Paxton.

  • Back to Houston, which has been shopping near the top of the market for free-agent outfielders, according to Olney, who lists A.J. Pollock, Andrew McCutchen and Michael Brantley among their targets. Unless the Astros deem soon-to-be 22-year-old prospect Kyle Tucker ready for a full-time role, they have an opening in the outfield, where George Springer and Josh Reddick are their only obvious starters. Signing Pollock, a center fielder, would enable them to move Springer back to a corner after he spent the majority of 2017-18 in center. Pollock’s likely to rake in the biggest payday of the trio, though; further, given that Pollock comes with a qualifying offer attached, adding him would also cost the Astros their second-highest draft pick in 2019 and $500K in international pool space.
  • The Mariners have been the most active team on the trade market this offseason, having already dealt Paxton and catcher Mike Zunino. With aggressive general manager Jerry Dipoto at the helm and the M’s desire to take a step back in 2019, more trades involving their veterans are likely on the way. However, it continues to look as though the Mariners will keep their two top players, outfielder Mitch Haniger and closer Edwin Diaz. It would take overwhelming offers for the Mariners to seriously consider moving either Haniger or Diaz, Olney tweets. Both stars are controllable for the next four years, including another pre-arbitration season apiece.

MLBTR Poll: Grading The Paxton Swap

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As usual, Thanksgiving weekend brings a lull in the transactional market. We’ve yet to see a ton of movement at the top of the free agent class, so there isn’t much to digest on that front. But there has been one quite notable trade: four days ago, the Yankees landed James Paxton from the Mariners, as we wrote up in full at the time. That swap was significant enough to warrant further assessment from the MLBTR readership. After all, it sets the stage for both clubs for the rest of the winter.

For the Yankees, getting Paxton means saving some immediate salary as against a generally commensurate free agent arm. He’s an excellent hurler, albeit one with health questions. Notably, the organization added a high-quality piece at an area of need without adding any ink to the long-term balance sheet. That’s important whether or not the team has designs on any massive free agent outlays, as it will help maintain long-term flexibility.

Of course, the expectation remains that the Bronx Bombers will add another notable rotation piece while also exploring other intriguing assets on the open market. If the organization was operating under any financial limitations, whether via hard limits or soft ones, then it’ll now presumably be able more comfortably to absorb salary as it chases Patrick Corbin or another starter, Zach Britton or some other reliever, or perhaps top-of-the-market stars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.

Nabbing Paxton obviously didn’t come free, though. The Yankees parted with two hurlers who could’ve contributed to the MLB staff now and for years to come in Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson. Also heading out the door was an increasingly interesting, though not very widely hyped, outfield prospect named Dom Thmpson-Williams.

On the Mariners side, picking up those new pieces helps set the organization up for what it hopes will be a fairly brief reloading period. Sheffield has long been graded a top prospect, though many have come to doubt his upside (and his ability to stick in the rotation at all). Clearly, the M’s like his ability and think he can make good on his promise. While Swanson is not nearly as well-known, he seems to have a legitimate shot at turning into a productive MLB piece in Seattle.

Prioritizing near-term talent may have been a reflection, at least in part, of the sorts of offers that Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto received. But it likely represents a part of his stated strategy to target the opening of a new contention period in 2020 or 2021. There’s no reason to doubt that both of the hurlers will reach the majors at some point in the coming years, so they’ll each have a shot at carving out a role in what the front office hopes will be a cost-effective and capable pitching staff.

So, how do you grade this deal for both clubs?

In New York … (link for app users):

And on the Seattle side … (link for app users):

Quick Hits: Realmuto, Mariners, Myers, Kia Tigers

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The Marlins have put a very high price on J.T. Realmuto in trade talks, which isn’t surprising given Realmuto’s status as arguably the best catcher in baseball.  Since Realmuto may never be as valuable as he is now, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (subscription required) argues that Miami needs to swing a deal this winter rather than risk the chance that Realmuto is injured or has a downturn in production in 2019.  Some rival teams feel that Realmuto will still be a Marlin on Opening Day since the team is simply asking for too much in return, possibly due to a feeling that they didn’t get enough back in last winter’s trades of Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, and Giancarlo Stanton.  Olney observes that the Nationals already made a quick pivot to another catcher in Kurt Suzuki, which could be a sign that other teams engaged in the Realmuto talks might also explore alternatives unless Miami lowers its demands.

More from around the baseball world as we wrap up Thanksgiving…

  • With the trades of Mike Zunino and James Paxton, the Mariners have indicated that they plan to “step back” in 2019, as GM Jerry Dipoto told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters.  Divish explores what this strategy could mean for the rest of the Mariners’ offseason plans, particularly since Dipoto indicated the desire for a pretty quick turnaround, with the M’s theoretically ready to contend again as early as 2020.  This means that longer-term pieces like Mitch Haniger, Edwin Diaz, and Marco Gonzales are less likely to be traded, as Dipoto “would have to be blown away to move players like that,” the GM said, though “we are going to stay open-minded to anything with a general ’never say never.’ “
  • An alternative to this partial Mariners selloff is proposed by Buster Olney, who argues in another subscription-only piece that the M’s should go into a full-blown fire sale, a la the complete teardowns the Cubs and Astros underwent to rebuild their franchises into World Series winners.  Under Olney’s plan, everyone on Seattle’s roster would be available — he suggests Haniger could be shopped to teams that miss out on Bryce Harper, while an elite closer like Diaz has limited value on a team that isn’t preparing to immediately contend.
  • The Mariners and Padres discussed a trade scenario that would’ve seen Jean Segura and Mike Leake go to San Diego with Wil Myers coming back to Seattle, though Divish hears from sources that the negotiations took place over two weeks ago and don’t appear to be ongoing.  From San Diego’s perspective, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell looks at the pros and cons of trading Myers, who is the most experienced and productive (and expensive) member of the crowded Padres outfield.
  • Former big leaguers Roger Bernadina and Pat Dean won’t be returning to the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kia Tigers next season, according to a Yonhap News report, as the Tigers are reportedly looking to get younger.  Jeremy Hazelbaker and Jacob Turner were both recently signed by the Tigers to fill the international player roster slots formerly occupied by Bernadina and Dean.  Last appearing in MLB in 2014, Bernadina has performed very well in two seasons in the KBO, so it would stand to reason that he would consider signing with another Korean team if he isn’t interested in exploring a return to North American baseball.

Trade/Free Agent Rumors: Segura, Diaz, Greinke, Happ

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The Phillies are expected to be one of the offseason’s busiest teams, and thus it’s no surprise they’re heavily featured in this latest roundup of hot stove news from MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi.  Some highlights…

  • The Phillies have interest in Mariners shortstop Jean Segura and closer Edwin Diaz.  We’ve already heard Segura’s name linked to the Padres and Yankees in rumors, and Philadelphia could also make sense as a landing spot given their lack of production from the shortstop position (a sub-replacement -1.8 bWAR in 2018).  Trading for Segura also wouldn’t necessarily close the door on the possibility of signing Manny Machado, as the Phils could use Machado at third base.  Then again, the four years and $58MM remaining on Segura’s contract makes him a cheaper alternative to Machado, though Segura also has some control over his future in the form of a full no-trade clause.  It isn’t yet clear if the M’s would consider dealing Diaz since, with four years of control remaining over the star closer, the team would be theoretically reloaded and ready to contend while Diaz is still on the roster.  The Braves are another team with interest in Diaz, Morosi reports.
  • The Diamondbacks “are confident” they’ll be able to trade Zack Greinke without having to absorb any of the $95.5MM still owed on the right-hander’s contract over the next three seasons., a source tells Morosi.  It’s a very short list of teams with the available payroll space and willingness to make such a big move, which is why Morosi feels the Phillies “are the most logical suitors.”  While the Phillies are also checking into a plethora of other pitching options (including Patrick Corbin and J.A. Happ), Greinke would cost the team less than Corbin would in a long-term commitment.  Acquiring Greinke would also come at a player cost, of course, though it’s possible Arizona would take only a relatively middling prospect return just for the sake of getting Greinke entirely off the books.
  • Speaking of Happ, the veteran left-hander is generating a lot of buzz in free agency.  In addition to the Phillies, the Angels, Astros, and Brewers are new teams who Morosi adds to the already-lengthy list of clubs (the Blue Jays, Reds, Twins, White Sox, and Yankees) who have previously been rumored to have some level of interest in Happ’s services.  Of the newly-cited teams, Milwaukee and Houston offer Happ the best chance of competing for a World Series in 2019, while the Angels and Phillies are a few steps behind at this point of the offseason, though obviously L.A. and Philadelphia each have designs on significant roster upgrades this winter.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/22/18

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Rounding up some recent minor league transactions from around the baseball world….

  • The Marlins have signed outfielder Gabriel Guerrero to a minor league deal, as Guerrero announced on his personal Instagram page.  The 24-year-old has bounced around the farm systems of the Mariners, Diamondbacks, and Reds during his eight-year pro career, finally cracking the big leagues in 2018 by appearing in 14 games for Cincinnati.  He was outrighted off the Reds’ 40-man roster in October, paving the way for another trip to free agency.  Guerrero has a .273/.314/.413 slash line and 80 home runs over 3612 PA in the minors, showing glimpses of potential but never really establishing himself as a top-tier prospect.
  • The White Sox re-signed first baseman Matt Skole to a minors deal, as per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.  Originally a fifth-round pick for the Nationals in the 2011 draft and a noteworthy prospect in Washington’s farm system, injuries hampered Skole’s progress, and he didn’t make his MLB debut until last season.  After joining Chicago’s organization as a minor league free agent last winter, Skole appeared in four games for the Sox and accumulated 13 plate appearances, before being outrighted following the season.  The 29-year-old Skole has a career .250/.356/.441 slash line and 116 homers over 3284 career PA in the minors.
  • Also from Eddy, the Mariners signed infielder Orlando Calixte to a minors pact.  Calixte spent all of 2018 at the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate before electing to become a free agent after the season.  Calixte has been a shortstop for much of his nine-year professional career, though he has also seen significant time as a second and third baseman, and in all three outfield spots.  This versatility helped him reach the majors in 2015 (two games with the Royals) and 2017 (29 games with the Giants) despite only hitting a modest .249/.303/.385 over 3628 PA in the minors.

Mariners Notes: Leake, Segura, Coaching Staff

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Mike Leake’s name surfaced in trade rumblings surrounding the Mariners and Padres yesterday, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets today that Seattle has approached Leake about the possibility of waiving his no-trade protection. The club has not yet taken that step with shortstop Jean Segura, however. It’s not known whether Leake has made a decision on the matter, but if he does approve a deal, he’ll quickly become among the game’s likeliest trade candidates. The Mariners are taking a step back and “reimagining” their roster while also paring back the payroll, and although the Cardinals are on the hook for a notable portion of Leake’s salary, the Mariners still owe him $27MM over the next two seasons. Leake already waived a no-trade clause once to approve a deal to Seattle, and speculatively speaking, perhaps he’d welcome a move to the Padres as a San Diego native. Importantly, though, Rosenthal notes that Leake is “mulling other potential options,” so it seems other destinations could be in the discussion phase.

As for Segura, the 28-year-old (29 in March) has batted .302/.341/.425 through 1198 plate appearances as a Mariner and has another four years and $58MM remaining on his contract. Like Leake, he can block a trade to any team.

A bit more on the Mariners…

  • The Mariners announced that they’ve hired Jared Sandberg away from the Rays as their new Major League field coordinator. In his new role, Sandberg, who’d managed the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate for the past four seasons, will be a part of manager Scott Servais’ staff. “Jared brings a lot of experience in building relationships with young players, having managed successful teams in Durham,” said GM Jerry Dipoto. “He has a demonstrated track record of using a wide expanse of tools, from data analytics to sports psychology to traditional baseball education, and allowing each of those things to affect his decision-making. We think he is going to impact our staff in the ability to create order, deliver messages and convey plans, both among our staff and our players.” He’s managed at five different levels in the Rays’ system since retiring as a player back in 2007.
  • Seattle also announced that 2018 bullpen coach Brian De Lunas has been promoted to director of pitching development and strategies. Jim Brower, an assistant coach in ’18, will be the team’s new bullpen coach in 2019. Meanwhile, former Rangers pitching prospect Cody Buckel, is moving up from a role as an organizational pitching coach to the role of pitching strategist. Dipoto explained in a press release that De Lunas “will work with pitchers, pitching coaches and analysts both in Seattle and throughout our Player Development system” in an effort to “optimize development and performance.” He’ll also weigh in on pitching evaluations and acquisitions. Buckel will assist him in all of those facets while focusing on using technology to further the team’s development processes.

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

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Tonight marks the deadline for players to be added to their respective organizations’ 40-man rosters. Over the nine hours, there’ll be a flurry of moves, ranging from minor trades (like the one the Indians and Rays made yesterday), waiver claims and players being designated for assignment or outrighted. Each will be made to clear room for players who need protection from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. As a reminder, players who signed at 18 years of age or younger and have five professional seasons are eligible, as are players who signed at 19 or older and have four professional seasons under their belts.

Here’s a rundown of players who’ve been added to their respective 40-man rosters (which will be updated throughout the day)…

Read more

Padres, Mariners In Talks On Significant Potential Trade

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4:57pm: A deal is “not thought to be close” right now, Rosenthal adds on Twitter, though the fact that players have been asked about their no-trade clauses still seems to indicate it’s a serious possibility.

Interestingly, the Mariners have also approached Leake with other possible destinations, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. Whether alternative deals are lined up with other organizations is not known.

4:46pm: The Padres and Mariners have been talking about a fascinating potential trade scenario involving some large contracts, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). There’s no indication at this point of the likelihood of a deal being consummated, but it seems the sides may at least in part be waiting on word of whether a player involved would waive his no-trade rights.

Per Rosenthal, the possible deal is built around three major league players. Whether there’s more involved isn’t apparent, but at base, the M’s would receive slugger Wil Myers while sending shortstop Jean Segura and righty Mike Leake to San Diego. Notably, though, Leake has a no-trade clause and is said to be considering his options. Segura does as well, though there’s no indication about his status.

It’s never easy to tell whether a potential deal might move across the line. In this case, though, it’s quite notable that the players have evidently been contacted. That surely would not happen if the teams were not serious.

Needless to say, the money is a notable factor in this scenario. Myers is owed a total of $64MM over the next four seasons, which includes a buyout on a 2023 option. Segura is set to earn $57MM on a contract built on the same timeline (four remaining years plus an option). Leake, meanwhile, is still due another $36MM for the next two seasons, including a buyout on a mutual option, though the Cardinals are paying $9MM of that amount.

Without any further tweaking, then, a straight swap would see the Padres take on approximately $20MM. They’d also be moving on from a player who really does not seem to fit the roster while adding a quality shortstop — a position of need — and an innings-eating starter. It seems like a nice opportunity for the Friars, though of course it’s still also possible that they’d be chipping in some other assets.

For the Seattle club, this would be yet another move designed to reposition the roster. Shedding some salary obligations would certainly be welcome, and it’s possible the M’s are believers in Myers as a hitter. He’d make good sense in the first base/corner outfield/DH mix. There have also been some questions about Segura’s fit in Seattle after clubhouse dust-up last season.

One broad takeaway here, from the Padres’ vantage point, is that the team is very clearly taking an aggressive approach at trying to retool its 40-man roster. Beyond large-scale moves like the one being discussed with the Mariners, San Diego has also been shopping right-hander Rowan Wick in advance of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline, per Rosenthal (Twitter link).

Meanwhile, Rosenthal and colleague Dennis Lin suggest that the Friars could sell the rights to third baseman Christian Villanueva to an interested, but unspecified team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (Twitter link). That’d only further the team’s need for a third baseman, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that that’s an area of acute importance to the San Diego front office. As for Villanueva, he’d surely stand to earn more in Japan than he’d make as a pre-arbitration player in 2019.

Trade Chatter: Segura, Goldschmidt, Astros, Gomes

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After last winter’s deep freeze, many in the game are surely wondering when the action will truly get underway this time around. We’re still awaiting a monster free agent pact, but the first blockbuster trade is now in the books. For the Mariners, sending James Paxton out for a package featuring two near-MLB pitchers was designed to open a new contention window in one or two years, GM Jerry Dipoto acknowledged today in an interview on 710 ESPN. (H/t TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune, via Twitter.) That largely fits the prior indications that Dipoto has given, perhaps helping set the stage for the club’s remaining offseason work. Certainly, there could be quite a few more deals for the ever-active Dipoto to explore with that goal in mind. As we recently covered in breaking down the club’s offseason situation, the M’s have several other assets that could make sense as trade chips.

Now that the ice has been broken, here’s the latest trade chatter from around the game:

  • In an interesting side note following tonight’s major swap, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets that the Yankees also sought to discuss Jean Segura in their talks with the Mariners. Segura has now established himself as a quality regular at short and is playing on a reasonably priced contract extension. He’d obviously help the Yanks fill in for the injured Didi Gregorius — which would presumably all but take the club out of the running for free agent star Manny Machado. Obviously, the Segura side of the talks did not progress. Whether the possibility of a deal could be revisited is not clear, but it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see the clubs circle back.
  • While the Astros had interest in Paxton, they weren’t willing to budge on including top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley to get a deal done, Morosi adds on Twitter. It’s rather unsurprising to hear that the Houston organization drew a hard line there, as the 21-year-old has one of the loftiest ceilings of any pre-MLB hurler in baseball and perhaps isn’t far from cracking the majors. Presumably the ’Stros had a different package on offer that was simply deemed inferior to the one that got the deal done. Houston GM Jeff Luhnow will no doubt move on to a series of other potential targets, as rotation improvement remains a clear need.
  • Trade talks involving Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, meanwhile have seemingly yet to get going in earnest. To this point, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets, the Astros and Cardinals “have had the most meaningful discussions” of any organizations in baseball. But that’s just relative to their peers, not an indication that either club is particularly likely (let alone close) to striking a deal for one of the game’s best and steadiest offensive performers. Of course, it’s also still entirely unclear just what the D-Backs will look to do with such a key player. An extension still does not appear to be out of the question, though there have been no hints that one is in the works. Even in a trade scenario, the team will have to decide whether to try to use Goldschmidt as a vehicle to shed salary (by attaching another contract) or recoup talent.
  • As they seek to make some tweaks to an increasingly expensive roster, the Indians are receiving “significant trade interest” in backstop Yan Gomes, Rosenthal tweets. It’ll be interesting to see how the market ends up valuing Gomes, who’s due $7MM in 2019 and then another $2MM in buyouts on successive options (if they aren’t exercised). That seemed a bargain when he was turning in big offensive numbers back in 2013 and 2014, but his multi-year lull left the contract seemingly turned the back end of the contract sour. Now, though, the 31-year-old is coming off of his best showing with the bat in years. In 2018, he slashed .266/.313/.449 and swatted 16 home runs in 435 plate appearances. That said, it’s far from clear whether the bump in productivity was the result of a sustainable improvement. Gomes walked at an anemic 4.8% clip and rode a .336 batting average on balls in play — though he did produce a greater hard-hit rate (38.7%) and average exit velocity (88.9%) than he ever had previously. He also set new personal high-water marks in launch angle and line-drive rate, accomplishing the latter by significantly paring down on the number of balls he put on the ground. Given his strong reputation as a defender, Gomes would seem to be quite an appealing target as a league-average hitter, so teams that find cause to believe in the bat will surely have interest.
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