NL Notes: Flaherty, Aguilar, Gray
There’s no doubt Jack Flaherty will be tendered a contract in his first season of arbitration eligibility, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals have yet to speak with Flaherty about a long-term extension. With Flaherty under team control through 2023, there isn’t necessarily any rush to work out a multi-year deal, so the Cards might prefer to wait a little longer before exploring a larger deal (especially if the team is still trying to figure out its payroll situation after the revenue losses of the 2020 season).
That said, an extension would also give both Flaherty and the Cardinals some financial certainty through what could be a tumultuous few years, given both the pandemic and the expiration of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement following the 2021 season. Signing young players to long-term deals has been a key tactic of John Mozeliak’s tenure in the St. Louis front office, so one would imagine an extension would be broached with Flaherty at some point this offseason, perhaps during Spring Training. It’s worth noting that past negotiations between Flaherty and the Cardinals over the relatively simpler matter of his pre-arbitration contracts also haven’t been straight-forward, as the Cardinals have renewed the right-hander’s contracts in each of the last two seasons.
More from the National League…
- Jon Gray is a potential non-tender candidate following a rough 2020 season, though MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link) reports that the Rockies are “expected” to tender Gray a deal in his third and final year of arbitration eligibility. Gray posted a 6.69 ERA over eight starts before being shut down due to shoulder inflammation in early September, ending a season that saw him post some ugly Statcast metrics as well as career worsts in K/9 (5.1), K/BB rate (2.00), grounder rate (36.7%), and fastball velocity (94mph). While there was some misfortune involved in Gray’s struggles (such as a stunningly low 54.4% strand rate), the season represented another low point of an up-and-down career for the former third overall pick. Gray is projected for a salary in the range of $5.9MM in 2021, which the Rockies may feel is an acceptable price tag to see if Gray can get himself on track next year.
- “There have been many clubs with interest” in trading for Marlins first baseman Jesus Aguilar, SportsGrid’s Craig Mish writes. It isn’t known whether any of those teams might make the Fish a big offer prior to today’s non-tender deadline, though Mish feels the Marlins will indeed tender Aguilar a contract despite the uncertainty about whether or not the DH will be part of National League baseball next season. Aguilar started 19 games as a designated hitter in 2020, and was a first baseman in his 31 other starts. “Jesus returning without the DH is not optimal, but possible” for Miami, Mish writes, and of course trades could still be explored throughout the offseason.
At Least Six Teams Showing Interest In James McCann
Yadier Molina has drawn the most headlines among catchers early in free agency, in part due to the willingness of both him and his agent to go on-record to discuss the veteran’s market. However, James McCann is drawing interest from a similar collection of teams, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link), with the Yankees, Mets, Cardinals, Angels and incumbent White Sox among the clubs to express some interest in the free-agent backstop. The Phillies would have interest in the event that J.T. Realmuto signs elsewhere, Heyman adds.
Given that each of these clubs, with the exception of the White Sox and Phillies, has already expressed interest in Molina, it’s not much of a surprise that they’d also at least gauge McCann’s asking price. There’s been speculation about the Yankees moving on from Gary Sanchez for months, while the Mets currently lack a starting-caliber backstop on their roster. The Angels got a big year out of Max Stassi in 2020, but that was obviously a rather limited sample and Stassi’s prior track record is less impressive.
The Cardinals may raise some eyebrows, given their interest in retaining Molina, but it’s only logical that with Molina exploring other options they’d do the same. Should Molina get the two-year deal he’s seeking from another club, the Cards could pivot to McCann or simply remain in-house and turn the keys over to 26-year-old Andrew Knizner.
As for the White Sox, their interest in keeping McCann is well known, but it’s unlikely to result in a deal. The ChiSox signed Yasmani Grandal to a franchise-record four-year, $73MM contract last winter, and with three years remaining on that arrangement there’s simply no room for McCann to get everyday at-bats. McCann spoke earlier this offseason about his free agency, telling NBC Sports Chicago’s Chuck Garfien that he feels he’s earned the opportunity to be a team’s starting catcher. The White Sox can’t offer that with Grandal under contract.
It’s hard to dispute McCann’s feelings after a pair of terrific seasons with the South Siders. While he was non-tendered by the Tigers after a dismal 2018 campaign, McCann has more than bounced back in Chicago; he’s taken his game to new heights. McCann was a bit shy of a league-average bat as Detroit’s primary catcher in 2017, but he’s broken out with a .276/.334/.474 batting line in 587 plate appearances with the White Sox (116 wRC+).
He’s made strides in terms of hard-hit rate and exit velocity, supporting that offensive breakout, and McCann also improved defensively quite a bit this past season. He’s always been adept at controlling runners (career 35.8 percent caught-stealing rate), but McCann prioritized improving his pitch-framing this past offseason, and the results were strong. Statcast reflects that McCann went from one of the worst catchers in the game at framing pitches on the bottom of the zone to one of the game’s best. It’s a small sample, to be sure, but it’d be a reach to suggest that McCann simply lucked his way from getting 44.8 percent of such pitches called all the way up to 61.8 percent.
The Phillies probably aren’t the only club who view McCann as a “Plan B” to Realmuto, but there also figure to be teams that know they cannot afford Realmuto and are thus willing to act more quickly. McCann and his agents will have to determine whether they’re better served taking one of those early offers or holding out until Realmuto is off the market. The latter route could lead to increased interest, but it’s also possible some teams that are willing to act now will have already filled their need at catcher or spent the majority of their offseason budget by that point.
Yadier Molina Says Five Teams Have Shown Interest
Yadier Molina has long stated that he wants to remain with the Cardinals, and he reiterated that hope in an interview with Laura A. Bonnelly V. of Mas Que Pelota (hat tip to Deportivo Z 101’s Hector Gomez). However, Molina also revealed four other teams who have shown interest in his services — the Yankees, Mets, Padres, and Angels.
The two New York clubs had already been linked to Molina’s market, and the Cards have been in talks for seemingly close to a year about another contract to keep Molina in St. Louis. The Angels and Padres are new additions to the hunt, however, and each represents an interesting possible landing spot for the nine-time Gold Glover.
At first glance, San Diego already seems set at catcher, with Austin Nola behind the plate, former top prospect Francisco Mejia slated as the backup and star prospect Luis Campusano making his MLB debut this season. Signing Molina, however, would add immeasurably more experience and some veteran leadership to a team that plans to contend for a championship in 2021. While Nola’s ability to catch makes him a particularly valuable utility asset, he can also play several other positions around the diamond; the Padres could use Nola in a somewhat normal backup catcher role to spell Molina once a week, and then otherwise deploy him at other positions.
Molina has expressed interest in a two-year contract, but even if Molina were to land such a deal, that wouldn’t be much of a roadblock to Campusano as the Padres’ eventual catcher of the future. Mejia could be the odd man out if Molina joined the team, as Mejia has yet to show much over parts of four MLB seasons with the Indians and Padres. That said, Mejia has only 362 career plate appearances, only just turned 25, and was a consensus top-35 prospect as recently as the 2018-19 offseason, so he would still be an interesting trade chip if the Padres made him expendable.
There are some obvious family ties for Molina in Anaheim, as his brother Jose is the Angels’ catching coach, and his other brother Bengie spent his first eight MLB seasons in an Angels uniform. Yadier would also be reunited with his old Cardinals teammate Albert Pujols for the final season of Pujols’ ten-year, $240MM deal with the Halos.
Beyond the personal connections, Molina would also fill a need for Los Angeles since Max Stassi could miss the start of the season after undergoing hip surgery in October. Depending on how quickly Stassi recovers, the Angels could start Molina (and use Anthony Bemboom as the backup) until Stassi is ready, and then potentially move into something closer to a timeshare, though it’s probably safe to guess Molina might end up getting the bulk of the action.
Latest On Cardinals’ Rotation
The Cardinals are dealing with some questions in their rotation at the moment, but they have not actively pursued starters in free agency, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Franchise icon Adam Wainwright is the only starter they’ve gone after with much aggression, according to Goold.
The Cardinals’ rotation took a major hit when right-hander Dakota Hudson underwent Tommy John surgery in late September. He won’t pitch at all next year as a result, while Wainwright is no sure thing to return to the team for his age-39 season. Despite his age, Wainwright remains an above-average major league hurler. The career-long Cardinal is fresh off a year in which he recorded a 3.15 ERA/4.11 FIP with 7.4 K/9 and 2.06 BB/9 over 65 2/3 innings. It’s no surprise the Cardinals want him back, then.
With Hudson unavailable and Wainwright off the roster at the moment, Jack Flaherty, Carlos Martinez, Kwang Hyun Kim, Miles Mikolas, Austin Gomber, Daniel Ponce de Leon and Johan Oviedo are among their starting options for next season. St. Louis went all of 2020 without Mikolas, a quality starter from 2018-19 who missed this year because of July surgery on his right flexor tendon. His return should prove beneficial next year, but it still seems the Cardinals would be well-served to re-sign Wainwright and/or address their rotation in other ways this offseason.
Cardinals Select Angel Rondon
The Cardinals announced that they have selected right-hander Angel Rondon to their 40-man roster. Their roster now consists of 39 players.
The Dominican-born Rondon, 22, has been a member of the St. Louis organization since before the 2016 season, and he has pitched to a sturdy 3.01 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over 347 1/3 minor league innings with the Cardinals. Rondon topped out at Double-A ball in 2019 and impressed with a 3.21 ERA/3.97 FIP, 8.77 K/9 and 3.29 BB/9 across 115 frames and 20 appearances (all starts) en route to Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors for the Cards that season.
Rondon now ranks as the Cardinals’ 13th-best prospect at MLB.com, which writes that he boasts a 93 to 94 mph fastball that can hit 97. He also features a “power curveball” and “an average changeup.” That mix of pitches could help Rondon evolve into a legitimate major league starter or at least a useful reliever.
DeWitt: Cards Have “Fluid” Budget For 2021
The Cardinals have given clear signals of a coming payroll reduction, but the extent of the paring remains to be seen. Team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. discussed the matter further with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
DeWitt characterized the Cards’ player salary situation as “fluid,” adding that there’s still quite a lot of “uncertainty” pervading the sport. A major component of that, of course, is a still-muddled public health outlook for 2021. Even if more was known about the course of COVID-19, there’d still be a broader grey area in the player market on the heels of an unprecedented, shortened season.
It seems certain that the Cardinals and their rivals will have a much better idea what to expect of the 2021 season in a few months time. As DeWitt notes: “The good news is that we have a number of months to go here.” Perhaps a slow-moving market won’t portend financial devastation for the player’s side, so much as reflect a mutual need to wait and see.
As Goold explains, the St. Louis organization is especially reliant upon live attendance to support its usually robust revenue. With a wider band of potential revenue projections, it seems the Cards’ ultimate budget for player salaries could yet move up or down by a significant amount depending upon which direction the winds blow.
DeWitt did make clear he intends to field a “competitive” roster, even if the team did kick off its offseason by declining a club option over solid second baseman Kolten Wong. That call, DeWitt says, was designed primarily to create “flexibility” entering a murky winter.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/18/20
The latest minor moves from around the majors…
- The Cardinals have selected catcher Ivan Herrera, bringing their 40-man roster to 38 players, per a team announcement. Herrera, who turned 20 in June, ranks among the Cardinals’ top prospects. MLB.com places Herrera fourth overall in the Cardinals’ farm system, writing that he has 15-home run, on-base potential as a hitter and is someone who possesses “the athleticism, aptitude and work ethic to make the necessary gains” as a defender. The Cardinals could be counting on Herrera as their eventual answer behind the plate, considering Yadier Molina‘s an aging free agent and Andrew Knizner hasn’t shown much in the majors so far.
- The Red Sox have signed outfielder Michael Gettys to a minor league contract, Chris Smith of MassLive.com relays. Gettys was a second-round pick of the Padres in 2014, though he didn’t get past the Triple-A level with the franchise through 2019. The 25-year-old owns a minor league line of .260/.316/.429 with 84 home runs and 120 stolen bases (168 attempts) across 2,860 plate appearances.
Cardinals Sign Tyler Heineman
The Cardinals announced they’ve signed catcher Tyler Heineman to a minor-league contract. He’ll receive an invitation to spring training.
Heineman, 29, has seen sparse major league action over the past two seasons with the Marlins and Giants. In 62 MLB plate appearances, he owns a .208/.288/.302 line. The switch-hitter boasts a much stronger .287/.353/.430 slash over parts of five seasons in Triple-A.
The St. Louis organization is facing some uncertainty behind the plate for the first time in recent memory. Franchise icon Yadier Molina is on the open market, where he’s seeing rather robust interest. Also hitting free agency is Matt Wieters, leaving Andrew Knizner as the only catcher currently on the 40-man roster. The addition of a quality depth piece on a minor-league arrangement certainly doesn’t prohibit the Cardinals from brining Molina back. If the 38-year-old were to wind up elsewhere, St. Louis would likely bring in additional names from outside the organization to work with Knizner.
Mets, Yankees Have Shown Interest In Yadier Molina
Both the Mets and Yankees have reached out to Yadier Molina‘s camp to express interest in the veteran catcher, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). The Cardinals icon has also heard from at least three others, per Heyman.
It’s not surprising that either New York club would at least explore the possibility of bringing the 38-year-old Molina into the fold. As noted here at MLBTR last week, signing Molina would be a major narrative shift in the Bronx, where Gary Sanchez‘s defensive struggles and prolific strikeout rates have drawn the ire of many fans. Molina, of course, is a generational defender at his position and still possesses some of the best bat-to-ball skills in baseball (13.5 percent strikeout rate in 2020).
As for the Mets, they’ve been oft-connected to J.T. Realmuto since it became clear that Steve Cohen would purchase the club from the Wilpon family. Wilson Ramos is a free agent, leaving Tomas Nido atop the team’s depth chart behind the dish. For a club with immediate postseason aspirations under new ownership, that doesn’t cut it. Molina would be a more affordable option than Realmuto, leaving more resource available to pursue other top free agents and trade targets (e.g. George Springer, Trevor Bauer, Francisco Lindor). Outgoing White Sox catcher James McCann stands out as a younger alternative as well.
Agent Melvin Roman told Heyman a couple weeks back that he’s seeking a two-year deal for Molina, and Roman told MLB.com’s Jon Morosi last week that they’ve heard from at least three clubs beyond the Cardinals. At this point, there’s no reason to call any club other than St. Louis a favorite, as the Cards clearly have the most motivation to keep Molina through the end of his career. Ostensible interest from other clubs — particularly big-market organizations out of New York — will only increase fan pressure to make a deal happen, though to this point it’s not clear that any of the teams that have expressed interest have shown a willingness to offer the two-year term that Molina and Roman seek.
Quick Hits: Cardinals, Molina, Minor League Affiliate Changes
Four teams, including the Cardinals, are in on Yadier Molina, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals still seem the safest bet to re-sign their veteran catcher. The Cardinals have been the most eager, and Molina likewise for the Cardinals, per the Post-Dispatch. It’s frankly difficult to picture Molina in any uniform but Cardinal red, but stranger things have happened, especially in the time of COVID. The 38-year-old backstop has 17 seasons under his belt in St. Louis having appeared in 2,025 games with a triple slash of .281/.333/.404. Now, let’s check in on some affiliate changes…
- The Columbia Fireflies learned during owner Steve Cohen’s introductory press conference that they are no longer among the Mets’ minor league affiliates, per the Athletic’s Tim Britton (Twitter thread). The Fireflies anticipate joining another organization’s affiliates, though where exactly they’ll end up is very much up in the air for now, as is the case for many minor league teams. As Britton notes, the Florida State League is moving from High-A to Low-A, which is sure to cause some upheaval among those minor league affiliates.
- Rochester, New York will no longer house the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, writes La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune. Popular local team the St. Paul Saints of the independent league are being looked at as a potential replacement – one of two independent league teams that are likely to join minor league baseball. The Twins have spent the past 17 seasons (not including 2020) with Rochester as an affiliate, though it’s hard to argue that St. Paul doesn’t make more sense simply from a logistics standpoint. Wichita and Sioux Falls are also being considered, per Neal.