International Notes: Kikuchi, Gaston, Jimenez
It’s already been reported in Japan that the Seibu Lions intend to post ace left-hander Yusei Kikuchi for Major League teams this offseason, but the pitcher himself said after his team was eliminated from the postseason that he has not yet made a firm decision (link via Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times). “Well, the season just ended,” Kikuchi said. “…Regarding the future, it’s not all up to me. I haven’t had a chance to talk with the team.” Kikuchi, 27, added that he needs to spend time with his family to ponder the decision before making any firm request. Coskrey writes that the Lions have publicly acknowledged that they would honor Kikuchi’s request if he ultimately wishes to be posted. Kikuchi turned in 163 2/3 innings of 3.08 ERA ball with 8.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 for the Lions this season. In 1035 1/3 career innings in Japan, the three-time All-Star has a 2.81 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 — including a combined 2.58 ERA over the past four seasons.
If he is posted, Kikuchi would be free of international spending restrictions and could negotiate with all 30 MLB clubs on a contract. The new posting system between MLB and NPB would require Kikuchi’s new team to pay a fee equal to 20 percent of his contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5 percent of his next $25MM and 15 percent of anything beyond that (including incentives, option buyouts, etc.).
A few more notes on the international market…
- The Marlins spent virtually all of their international bonus pool on brothers Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr., meaning right-hander Sandy Gaston almost certainly won’t be joining the Miami organization. Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports that Gaston’s camp is seeking a bonus north of $2MM for the 17-year-old flamethrower, with both the Orioles and Rays listed as potential landing spots. Baltimore has a reported sum of near $6.5MM left to spend on international amateurs, while Tampa Bay’s remaining international pool is in the $3.5MM range at present.
- The White Sox have signed infielder Enoy Jimenez, the 17-year-old younger brother of top prospect Eloy Jimenez, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America (via Twitter). Scouting information on the younger Jimenez brother is virtually nonexistent, though it should be noted that the White Sox are barred from spending more than $300K on any international amateur signing due to their pool-shattering $26MM agreement with Luis Robert from the 2016-17 signing period, meaning Enoy couldn’t have received an especially large bonus. That certainly doesn’t mean that Enoy isn’t without upside — many high-profile Latin American players sign for only a few thousand dollars — but whatever the exact amount of the bonus was, it undoubtedly falls well shy of the $2.8MM the Cubs paid to sign Eloy back in 2013.
AL East Notes: Yanks, Happ, Sabathia, O’s, Gaston, Rays, Baldelli
A few notes from the AL East:
- With the offseason now underway for the Yankees, general manager Brian Cashman discussed several topics of interest in an interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN earlier this week. As free agency and trade season approach, the Yankees are expected to be among the majors’ most active teams in the starting pitching market – especially considering left-handers J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia are without contracts. Indeed, Cashman revealed: “We’re excited about adding to our rotation. It’s going to be a focus point for us, and there’s going to be a lot of competition, regardless of the available players out there. We need to continue to reinforce that rotation.” As for Happ and Sabathia, Cashman declared that “they’re going to get a lot of consideration, not just from us but from a lot of people.” The 36-year-old Happ, whom New York acquired from Toronto in July, fit in well with the Yankees during the regular season and is now fresh off his fourth straight strong campaign. He seems like a shoo-in to land a multiyear deal, whereas Sabathia, 38, may have to settle for his second consecutive one-year pact. A Yankee since 2009, Sabathia re-signed with the team for $10MM last offseason and then continued his late-career renaissance during the 2018 campaign.
- Although the Orioles lost out on the Mesa brothers, two highly touted outfield prospects who chose the Marlins over the O’s on Saturday, Baltimore’s still “hopeful” about signing young right-hander Sandy Gaston, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. Even after their Saturday signings, the Marlins may still try for Gaston – who, like the Mesas, hails from Cuba – but the Orioles could easily outbid them (or anyone else) at this point.
- Even though he has never managed at any level, Rays coach Rocco Baldelli has interviewed with five skipper-needy teams in recent weeks. Despite his inexperience, it’s no surprise the 37-year-old has drawn serious interest from teams seeking a manager, argues the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin, who notes Baldelli packages youth, intelligence, communication skills and a knowledge of analytics. That’s a coveted blend in the modern game, and as Topkin points out, it doesn’t hurt that a.) Baldelli comes with front office/scouting experience and b.) is part of a club that just wrapped up a successful season under his boss, manager Kevin Cash. The Cash-led Rays plan to return the same coaching staff in 2019, Topkin reports, though they may have to replace Baldelli.
The Mets’ GM Search
Not long after longtime general manager Sandy Alderson stepped down from his post with the Mets earlier this summer, it became clear that the organization would conduct an extensive search to tab a new head of baseball operations. Assistant GM John Ricco and special assistants J.P. Ricciardi and Omar Minaya have been overseeing the team’s baseball operations department on an interim basis, but the Mets are now formally in search of a new department leader.
There have been multiple reports that owner Fred Wilpon is eyeing a more traditional general manager with scouting-based acumen (an “old school” type of executive, to use a broad description), while his son, COO Jeff Wilpon, is more focused on hiring an analytically-inclined executive that more closely aligns with recent industry trends. Per Jon Heyman of Fancred, the Mets are leaving some candidates with the sense that the new hire won’t quite enjoy a full slate of baseball ops power. As he puts it, the impression is that Omar Minaya or one of the other existing assistant GMs could retain control over player development functions. Team sources that spoke with Heyman denied that was the case, however.
As we’ve done with some recent managerial searches, we’ll track the majority of the updates in the Mets’ GM search here as they navigate the early phases of the process.
Latest Update — 10/20
- Doug Melvin and agent Brodie Van Wagenen are the favorites to land the job, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.
- Ng and Bloom are still being considered for the position, per Puma.
- Littlefield, if not already eliminated, is considered a “long shot” at this juncture.
- Close and former Mets GM Omar Minaya can’t “completely be ruled out” at this time, per Puma and Joel Sherman.
Latest Update — 10/19
- It seems that agent Casey Close is also still in the mix. Martino tweets that he, Van Wagenen, Bloom, Ng, and Melvin appear to make up the finalists.
- LaRocque is no longer under consideration, Marc Carig of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).
- Agent Brodie Van Wagenen is still in the picture after receiving an initial interview, per Carig (via Twitter). (Carig initially tweeted the opposite, but amended his report.)
- The Mets only consider Littlefield a “fringe” contender to land the position, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.
- DiComo now tweets that Watson did not receive a call for a second interview and is no longer in the running for the position.
Earlier Updates — 10/19
- The Mets have interviewed six to eight candidates and will enter the second round of interviews next week, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). Fred Wilpon will join the interview process in place of John Ricco for the second wave of sitdowns. DiComo notes that Littlefield, Bloom, LaRocque, Watson, Melvin and Ng are the six known candidates to date.
- It’s not fully clear whether all six to eight candidates who’ve interviewed are ticketed for a followup session, though. Andy Martino f SNY.tv writes that the Mets have not yet determined which of the first round interviewees will be spoken with next week. Interestingly, Puma tweets that the Mets plan to make each finalist available to the media after his or her second interview is completed, so it seems as though there’ll be some transparency in the latter stages of the process.
Rays To Sign Ryan Sherriff
The Rays have struck an agreement on a deal with southpaw Ryan Sherriff, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). It’s a minor-league pact, per the report.
Sherriff, 28, was cut loose by the Cardinals late in the 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Given that the procedure occurred in early June, it’s certainly possible — but by no means assured — that he’ll be ready to go at some point in the coming campaign.
While the Rays no doubt will hope that Sherriff’s left elbow responds to his rehab efforts in a timely manner, this agreement is surely aimed primarily at the future. The former 28th-round draft pick will remain controllable beyond the present campaign at the league minimum salary.
Sherriff had turned in an intriguing debut showing in 2017, when he threw 14 1/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball. That was a short sample, to be sure, but he carried the hefty groundball numbers he had shown in the upper minors into the majors while getting some swings and misses (10.1% SwStr) and maintaining a strong 15:4 K/BB ratio.
Unfortunately, Sherriff hasn’t yet had the chance to test himself over a full campaign in the majors. He ended up struggling on the hill and only throwing ten total innings (split between the majors and Triple-A) in 2018, before ending his season on the operating table.
Offseason Outlook: Tampa Bay Rays
MLBTR is publishing Offseason Outlooks for all 30 teams. Click here to read the other entries in this series.
In one of the most fascinating seasons in recent memory, the Rays overhauled their roster, rid themselves of virtually all major financial commitments, experimented with a new way of how to view a “starting pitcher”…and were all the better on the field for it. The Rays shocked baseball with a 90-win season, defying the preseason belief in some quarters that they’d be one of the league’s worst teams. Instead, Tampa will now look to augment an already-talented core group with a few more pieces that can get the club back into the playoffs.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Kevin Kiermaier, CF: $44MM through 2022 (includes $2.5MM buyout of $13MM club option for 2023)
Arbitration Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Jesus Sucre — $1.2MM
- Vidal Nuno — $900K
- C.J. Cron — $5.2MM
- Matt Duffy — $2.6MM
- Tommy Pham — $4MM
- Chaz Roe — $1.4MM
- Non-tender candidates: Nuno, Sucre, Cron
Free Agents
[Tampa Bay Rays depth chart | Tampa Bay Rays payroll outlook]
After going into fire-sale mode last winter, the Rays continued to unload veteran names throughout the 2018 season, ultimately sending Alex Colome, Denard Span, Brad Miller, Matt Andriese, Nathan Eovaldi, Wilson Ramos, Adeiny Hechavarria, and Chris Archer out of town in a series of trades. It was the Archer deal, completed on deadline day, that really seemed to mark an end of an era in Rays baseball, as Tampa finally dealt its long-time top starter and firmly looked ahead to the future.
One could hardly have guessed, however, that the “future” would come so soon. Tampa’s 54-53 record on July 31 was already enough of a surprise for a team widely predicted to be a non-contender, yet the Rays went into overdrive over the final two months, posting a 36-19 mark in August and September that allowed the team to reach the 90-win plateau for just the sixth time in franchise history.
Almost all of the core group that contributed to that late-season hot streak will be returning in 2019. Matt Duffy, Willy Adames, Joey Wendle, and Jake Bauers currently project as the starting infield, with Daniel Robertson and Brandon Lowe providing utility depth. Robertson (who was hampered by injuries last year) could very well push Duffy or Adames for regular duty at third base or shortstop, while prospects Christian Arroyo and Nathaniel Lowe could be in the mix for playing time. Wendle’s breakout year as a super-utility weapon can also put him and Lowe in the corner outfield mix, as they’ll join Austin Meadows as the backup choices behind Tommy Pham, Kevin Kiermaier, and Mallex Smith.
Of course, recently-extended skipper Kevin Cash will have plenty of opportunity to mix and match in search of favorable match-ups. And it seems likely that the front office braintrust, led by GM Erik Neander and senior baseball ops VP Chaim Bloom, isn’t quite done tinkering with this mix. Just how they’ll approach the offseason isn’t easy to guess from the outside, but it stands to reason they’ll both target some areas of need and explore opportunities to achieve value.
One area that seems ripe for some change is the catching position. Michael Perez has the inside track on at least a share of the regular role behind the dish, though the team is likely to acquire a veteran to compete with Nick Ciuffo for the right to work as Perez’s platoon partner or backup. A right-handed hitting catcher could be a better fit, as both Perez and Ciuffo hit from the left side.
The Tampa Bay brass will have some decisions to make at first base. Ji-Man Choi exploded after joining the Rays in a minor midseason deal with Milwaukee, posting an .877 OPS over 189 plate appearances in a Tampa Bay uniform. While Choi has played first base and left field in his brief MLB career, the Rays used him almost exclusively as a designated hitter and against right-handed pitching, so there’s room on the bench for another first-base capable righty bat to spell either Choi or Bauers. It’s possible Tampa could simply rotate its internal options through the DH spot to keep everyone fresh, or further take advantage of the versatility offered by Wendle or Robertson by giving either the occasional start at first base.
The other option would be to pursue a relatively low-cost first baseman in free agency or on the trade market, or simply to retain C.J. Cron in arbitration. Though Cron hit .253/.323/.493 with a career-high 30 homers over 560 PA last season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, suggested that Cron will probably be dealt or even non-tendered. It could be that Cron’s somewhat one-dimensional offensive game and ability to only play one position make him an odd fit on a club that ended up prioritizing lineup flexibility and almost eschewing power (27th of 30 teams in home runs) to create a more diverse offense based around contact hitting, speed, and reaching base. (While Choi has many of the same limitations as Cron, Choi is also a pre-arb player with five years of team control.)
There’s also the fact that Cron’s projected arbitration salary is $5.2MM, so the Rays may believe they can find similar production in a power-heavy league for a lower price. Depending on how the rest of the first base market shakes out, Tampa Bay could also non-tender Cron and then try to re-sign him for less money. This may seem like a tough fate for Cron in the wake of a 30-homer, 122 wRC+ season, but as we’ve seen over the last two offseasons, teams simply haven’t been willing to pay much for non-elite first base/DH bats.
After unloading so many of their more expensive players who were already under contract or in line for higher arbitration numbers, this will be the first offseason in a while where payroll isn’t necessarily of the utmost concern for the Rays front office. Kiermaier is the only player guaranteed money in 2019 and beyond, putting the Rays on pace for a 2019 payroll not even half the size of their $76.39MM payroll from Opening Day 2018. This “allows greater flexibility” for the Rays in their offseason acquisitions, as Neander told Topkin and other reporters, though I wouldn’t expect Tampa Bay to spend anywhere close to $76MM in player salaries. You could see the Rays spread some money around on a few players rather than a singular big splash, and maybe save a bit more for midseason additions if necessary.
More room could be created if a trade partner could be found for Kiermaier, who is owed $44MM through 2022 (this figure includes the $2.5MM buyout of a $13MM club option for 2023) and may be expendable since Smith and Meadows can both play center field. The Rays would be selling low on Kiermaier in the wake of another injury-plagued year for the defensive standout, as he was limited to 88 games due to thumb surgery and then a hairline fracture in his foot in the season’s final week.
Kiermaier has played in just 291 of a possible 486 games over the last three seasons, and his hitting numbers took a drop in 2018 after climbing above average (108 wRC+) in 2016-17. A healthy Kiermaier who delivers even moderate offense along with his elite glovework can be a major plus in any lineup, so it could be that the Rays hang onto the 28-year-old into next season to see if he can help them contend, or to let him rebuild value for a potential swap.
Whether Kiermaier is one of the players on the move or not, expect Neander and company to again heavily focus on the trade market for the bulk of their winter activity. (The Mariners and Diamondbacks, in particular, should be on alert for calls from a 727 or 813 area code.) Some deals will be necessary just to create some 40-man roster space, as the Rays are facing a crunch to protect enough of their prospects before the Rule 5 draft, though Tampa could also make trade chips of some of these well-regarded minor leaguers plus any Major League roster members that the team doesn’t see as long-term pieces.
It will be particularly interesting to see how the Rays address their rotation, such as it is, as the team has already said that the “opener” strategy will again be deployed in 2019. The Rays’ unconventional use of a short reliever to start a game’s first inning or two before giving way to a long reliever (a.k.a. the “headliner”) generated much controversy around baseball — some praised the creativity, while others questioned whether the strategy would prove too taxing on a bullpen over the long haul, in addition to criticism that Tampa was ruining the starting pitcher’s status within the game.
Given the results, however, the Rays would’ve probably faced more criticism if they abandoned what proved to be a winning method. The Rays posted the sixth-lowest team ERA in baseball, and their strong finishes in various fielding-independent pitching metrics (fifth in FIP, seventh in SIERA, ninth in xFIP) and a .297 wOBA-against that almost directly matched their .300 xwOBA-against indicated that the performance wasn’t built on good fortune.
One big reason the Rays were able to succeed with their openers, of course, was the fact that they had a more traditional ace develop in the form of AL Cy Young Award contender Blake Snell. Attempting to sign Snell to an extension would mean negotiating with him after a breakout season, though he and his reps will surely have at least some interest in locking in some earnings and protecting against the risk that comes with the job. Certainly, the Rays have proven able in the past to strike such deals when they wish to, a practice that has saved the club loads of money in the long run and ultimately facilitated some notable trades. Even if Snell doesn’t quite match his 2018 production going forward, a young starter signed to a reasonable contract can still be quite a valuable asset, as we saw with the strong haul that Tampa Bay received for Archer.
Going into 2019, Snell and Tyler Glasnow are the only projected full-time starters in the rotation. Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough were the most successful of the headliners and could be fully stretched out to be proper starters, or the Rays could simply continue to use them in their 2018 roles. Top pitching prospects Brent Honeywell and Jose De Leon should be available by midseason as they return from Tommy John surgery, though it seems likely that they’ll be used as headliners in order to ease them back into regular pitching duty. Such a long relief job might also be the best use of young right-hander Jake Faria, who is trying to rebound from a disappointing and injury-shortened season.
Normally, a low-payroll team with just two set starters would seem like an ideal candidate to acquire a veteran arm to eat innings. If the opener strategy has taught us anything, however, it’s that such expenditures might not be worth it for a team looking to save their dollars — why pay a veteran even a modest $5MM or $6MM per season to chew up innings once every five games when a shrewdly-deployed bullpen can do the same at a fraction of the cost, and with likely better results? If anything, the Rays could look to sign a veteran arm coming off a rough season or an injury with an eye towards turning them into a headliner to rebuild their value, as it did recently with Eovaldi.
The Rays could also spend on their bullpen by bringing in more swingmen capable of tossing multiple innings, or a veteran with closing experience to replace free agent Sergio Romo. Jose Alvarado earned an increasing number of save opportunities down the stretch and is probably the Rays’ top in-house choice to take over the closer’s job, though hard-throwing Ryne Stanek (the most frequent of the openers, “starting” 29 games) has also often been tabbed a closer of the future. Given these varying needs, Trevor Rosenthal could be an interesting target. Not only is he likely to present some value upside as a Tommy John rehabber, but he has plenty of high-leverage experience and a well-documented desire to be given a chance to throw more innings.
Of course, it’s probably not safe to assume that the Rays will use a traditional closer rather than mix and match their ninth inning plans based on matchups. After all, nothing can really be ruled out when it comes to the Rays and data-driven strategies. The team already took care of one bit of business by extending Cash, ensuring that the Rays’ creativity pipeline will continue to flow as usual within both the front office and the dugout. It could be that opponents will start to figure out the Rays’ tricks over the course of a full season, though the team’s deep wealth of multi-positional players and multi-role pitchers make them a difficult team to prepare against.
The success of this in-season rebuild on the fly has put the Rays in position to compete for a wild card spot in 2019, or perhaps even mount a challenge to the Red Sox and Yankees for AL East supremacy if everything absolutely breaks right. As eye-opening as the Rays’ tactics were in 2018, it will be just as interesting to see how they take the next step forward this winter.
AL East Notes: Cron, Dombrowski, Yankees
The Rays are “likely” to move on from 1B/DH C.J. Cron, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Though Cron, 28, smashed 30 homers en route to a career-best (122 wRC+) output at the plate, he’s averaged just 0.8 fWAR per season since debuting in 2014 for the Angels and and posted a meager .300 OBP against right-handed pitching in ’18, well below the benchmark for a quality regular at the position. The left-hand dominant Rays appear to be in the market for an “impact” right-handed bat, according to Topkin, and have assembled a tantalizing lot of youngsters from which to deal. It makes little sense, then, to keep Cron, whose $5.2MM projected 2019 salary (per MLBTR’s Matt Swartz) in his penultimate arbitration-eligible season would make him the team’s second-highest paid player in the upcoming campaign: in addition to him being relegated to near full-time bench duty in the event of an upgrade, Cron’s figure would almost surely constrict a perennially tight Tampa budget. Offensive-minded first basemen with plate discipline issues (Cron’s strikeout rate rose to a career-high 25.9% in ’18, with his walk rate still hovering below 7%) don’t figure to be in high demand on the trade market, so the Rays may be forced to non-tender him before the November 30th deadline.
In other news from around the division . . .
- Gunslinging Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski, in a chat with the USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, offered some window into his rationale when dealing for left-hander Chris Sale prior to the 2017 season. “Everybody has to decide what they want to do,’’ Dombrowski said, “but for us, when you have a chance to win, you go for it. Sometimes, it’s painful. You can’t do both. You can’t protect all of your prospects and also trade for good guys. You’re not going to get Chris Sale unless it hurts a little bit. Everybody has to make their own decisions, but for us, it made sense, and he’s been just tremendous for us.” In an age of prospect hoarding, where close-fisted, analytically-inclined GMs are loath to part with top minor leaguers, Dombrowski stands as converse: his decades-long strategy of aggression has led to huge turnarounds in both Miami and Detroit, and, more recently, yielded seven division titles in the last eight seasons.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post opines that the Yankees should sign Manny Machado – who’s rumored to have the club at the top of his wish list – to a shorter-term deal with a higher average annual value. Machado, who turned 26 in July, is one of the youngest superstars to hit free agency in the game’s history, and almost certain to command a deal that nears (or, perhaps, surpasses) a decade in length. Sherman, however, thinks the Yanks could sway the SS/3B with a five-year pact that guarantees a record $40MM per season; the club, after all, has been bit by lengthy contracts given to Alex Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and Jacoby Ellsbury in recent seasons, and a short-term deal (perhaps with an opt-out attached) would allow Machado to again hit free agency while he remains in the relative prime of his career. With shortstop Didi Gregorious set to undergo Tommy John Surgery and perhaps miss at least part of the 2019 season, and third baseman Miguel Andujar posting historically low defensive marks at third base (-25 DRS in 132 games), Machado certainly figures to be a prime target for the Bombers this offseason.
Rays Announce Extension With Manager Kevin Cash
9:50am: It’s now official, with the Rays announcing the deal.
8:24am: The Rays have agreed to a long-term extension with skipper Kevin Cash, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. While not yet official, the deal is expected to be formally announced in short order.
It’s a lengthy new commitment for the Rays, who have now installed Cash through the 2024 season. The contract also includes an option for another year, per Topkin, with financial details still unknown. This pact replaces the prior deal that, according to the report, still included one more season and a two-year option. (Prior indications were that Cash’s deal was for five years in duration, but it seems the final pair of campaigns had not been guaranteed.)
Cash guided the Tampa Bay club to a 90-72 record this season, utilizing a variety of unorthodox means of deploying the roster. While that wasn’t enough to earn a spot in the postseason, the showing created quite a bit of optimism in the near future. It also obviously demonstrated to the front office that Cash is the right person to translate their theories into action.
While it has long seemed that Cash was in harmony with the higher-ups, the results had lagged over his first three years on the job. Hired in a 2014-15 offseason that saw massive organizational change — top baseball ops exec Andrew Friedman and manager Joe Maddon both left town — Cash ended up overseeing a pair of middling 80-82 campaigns sandwiched around a brutal 2016 effort (68-94).
As the 2018 campaign approached, the Tampa Bay organization was under pressure. Panned by the media and pursued by the MLBPA for their cost cutting, the Rays were forced to defend their decision to sell off a series of still-controlled veteran players late in the offseason. The club ended up shipping out yet more veterans, with staff ace Chris Archer (link) following catcher Wilson Ramos (link), starter Nathan Eovaldi (link), closer Alex Colome and outfielder Denard Span (link) out the door during the course of the season.
Despite the exodus of MLB talent, the roster performed admirably. As late in the season as August 5th, the Rays sat at .500. But the team finished on a 34-16 tear. Cash, aided by a data-driven ops department, wielded a variety of emerging young players to excellent effect.
When the season closed, the Rays were left looking at an intriguing depth chart, largely blank future balance sheet, and lauded farm system. There’s even renewed hope of enhanced future revenues, as the organization pursues new ballpark plans, though that’ll certainly take some time and still faces hurdles. Further success on the field would no doubt be a welcome development from a business perspective.
Cash, then, will again be tasked with squeezing value from every corner of the roster. He’ll enter this new phase of his stint with a big vote of confidence and ample job security. Expectations, too, are raised. Much of his roster is set, though it’ll certainly be interesting to see what sort of additional tinkering is pursued over the winter to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Players Electing Free Agency
Quite a few players will hit the open market this fall, and they’ll do so by way of varying mechanisms. The end of the regular season triggered a recent wave of free agents, consisting of a certain subset of players — namely, those who were outrighted from 40-man rosters during the season and accepted minor-league assignments at that time despite having the right to elect free agency. Players in that situation are entitled instead to hit the open market at season’s end, if they were not added back to the 40-man roster in the meantime.
As conveyed by Matt Eddy of Baseball America, who also covers quite a few other minor moves, these players have now elected free agency:
Athletics: RHP Raul Alcantara, LHP Danny Coulombe
Blue Jays: RHP Mike Hauschild, INF/OF Darnell Sweeney
Braves: LHP Rex Brothers, RHP Miguel Socolovich
Cardinals: LHP Tyler Lyons
Indians: RHP Evan Marshall, RHP Alexi Ogando
Mariners: RHP Christian Bergman, LHP Ross Detwiler, RHP Mike Morin, INF Zach Vincej
Marlins: OF JB Shuck
Mets: RHP Chris Beck, OF Bryce Brentz, RHP Scott Copeland, OF Matt den Dekker, INF Ty Kelly
Nationals: LHP Tommy Milone, OF Moises Sierra, RHP Carlos Torres
Orioles: RHP Jhan Marinez, INF Luis Sardinas
Padres: OF Matt Szczur
Phillies: INF Trevor Plouffe
Pirates: LHP Buddy Boshers, RHP Casey Sadler, RHP A.J. Schugel
Rangers: C Juan Centeno, LHP Anthony Gose, RHP Drew Hutchison, INF Tommy Joseph, RHP Chris Rowley
Rays: INF Brandon Snyder, RHP Ryan Weber
Reds: C Tim Federowicz, RHP Kevin Quackenbush
Tigers: INF Dixon Machado, RHP Jacob Turner
White Sox: RHP Tyler Danish
Quick Hits: Mesa Brothers, Giants, Rays, Braves
Cuban prospect Victor Victor Mesa, the consensus top prospect on the International circuit, held a showcase for all 30 teams yesterday at Marlins Park with his brother Victor Mesa, Jr., and made a strong impression, reports Jesse Sanchez of mlb.com. Victor Victor, the older of the two by five years, posted top marks in the 60-yard dash, flashed plus arm strength, and hit “with authority” during a live batting practice session against current Marlins minor leaguers. One top-level American League scout left unimpressed with the eldest’s power projection and noted that Mesa, Jr. could have higher upside, though the prevailing notion, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, is that Victor Victor is the superior prospect and may only need “a year” in the minor leagues. The Orioles, who boast the most international bonus pool money for the upcoming signing period at $6.7MM, are considered the “likely” favorite to sign the 22-year-old Victor Victor, according to the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, though the market remains nebulous.
In other news from around the league . . .
- The Giants haven’t yet been bit by the returns for offseason acquisitions Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria, writes Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The McCutchen trade was dually headlined by reliever Kyle Crick, whose substantially improved command still falls short of the threshold for sustained success, and outfield prospect Bryan Reynolds, who turned in a solid, if unspectacular season as an old-for-the-level 23-year-old for Double-A Altoona. Reynolds, who dealt with hamate issues at the beginning of the season, still faces questions about his ability to stay in center field and whether or not he’ll possess enough thump should he be confined to a corner. For Longoria, the Rays’ lot was headlined by the 23-year-old Christian Arroyo, who again struggled this season after a disastrous MLB debut in 2017. Arroyo’s strikeout rate ballooned to a career-high 27.1% at Triple-A Durham, and his coveted versatility won’t much matter if he continues to be inept at the plate.
- The Rays are preparing for an about-face this offseason, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa’s startling turnaround, headlined by an embarrassment of pre-arbitration riches and unanticipated minor league breakouts, has left the team with a litany of options as they enter the winter. “The expectations are up,” GM Erik Neander said. “We go into next year off the season we had, we want to improve. And to improve on the number of wins we had this year should put us in the territory where we’re expecting playoffs.” Neander did add that the club isn’t necessarily expecting an “active winter,” but with only $32MM in payroll commitments for the upcoming season, the Rays figure to be a team to watch as we enter the Hot Stove.
- Sean Newcomb will start tomorrow’s game three for Atlanta, reports Mark Bowman of mlb.com. The club had originally tabbed righty Kevin Gausman for the outing, but abruptly changed plans after dropping the first two games in Los Angeles. Newcomb, who was shaky at best for the Braves in the season’s final weeks, perhaps will get the nod merely for his status as a left-handed arm: the Dodgers, after all, destroyed right-handers to the tune of a 117 wRC+ this season, the top mark in the league.
AL East Rumors: Rays, Blue Jays, Orioles
On the heels of a surprisingly strong season, Rays general manager Erik Neander tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the team’s “arrow [is] pointing up” as it looks to the future. Neander plainly suggests that the expectation for the club moving forward with this core will be consistent playoff berths, beginning next season. Tampa Bay, stunningly, has just over $9MM on the books in guaranteed contracts next season, though both Matt Duffy and Tommy Pham will be in line for arbitration raises. Both C.J. Cron and Jesus Sucre will also be arbitration-eligible, but Topkin suggests that Cron, Sucre, Carlos Gomez and Sergio Romo may all have played their last game with the organization. Cron is owed a raise on this year’s $2.3MM salary, while Sucre will see a raise on his own $925K salary. Both Gomez and Romo are free agents.
More from the division…
- The Blue Jays will have plenty of roster decisions on their hands this offseason, as Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com explores thoroughly. Chisholm reports that “early indications” are that the Blue Jays are seeking a “fresh face” rather than a veteran manager to replace John Gibbons, mentioning former Jays infielder John McDonald, Double-A skipper John Schneider and Cardinals Triple-A skipper Stubby Clapp as possible candidates. Chisholm also calls it “likely” that the Jays will add a veteran starter to the rotation this winter, looks at the future of both Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez with the organization and previews a likely roster crunch in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.
- There’s still no official word on the status of longtime Orioles manager Buck Showlter, but it’s been reported for weeks that he’s unlikely to return. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that official word on Showalter could come as soon as today, and expectations of his departure have not changed. Kubatko also chatted with Adam Jones following what is quite likely his final game as an Oriole (barring a return late in his career). Jones acknowledged the strangeness he felt in hearing the word “rebuild” in Baltimore, as the only time he’d previously heard it was when he was breaking onto the scene with fellow upstarts Nick Markakis and Chris Tillman. Not that it’s been in doubt, but Jones certainly didn’t speak like someone who anticipated a return to Baltimore. “It’s been a great run here, great tenure here, so hopefully go somewhere and see what the next chapter in my career has for me,” said Jones, who received quite the tribute in his final game at Camden Yards yesterday. Showalter allowed Jones to take the field — center field, at that — alone in the first inning of the game before being removed in the top of the ninth to a roaring ovation from O’s fans (video link via MLB.com).