Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Rumors

Blue Jays Notes: Hand, Jeffress

By | at

The Dodgers have been linked to free-agent lefty Brad Hand over the past week or so, but they’re more on the “periphery” of his market, writes Fansided’s Robert Murray. The Mets are still in talks with Hand and his representatives, while both the Astros and Blue Jays are also involved to varying extents. Reports that Hand was closing in on a deal with the Mets last week proved a bit premature, although it seems they’re still squarely in the mix for the former All-Star closer. As for the Dodgers, even if they’re not major players in the Hand market at the moment, Murray suggests they’d still like to add another reliever to the bullpen.

  • MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Jeremy Jeffress is on the radar of several clubs, including the Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Nationals and Blue Jays. It’s a wide field, though the level of interest of each team surely varies. The 33-year-old Jeffress was dominant back in 2018 but hasn’t replicated that form since. He did post an aesthetically pleasing 1.54 ERA and 54.4 percent grounder rate in 23 1/3 innings with the Cubs last year, but the rest of his numbers were something of a mess. Jeffress’ 13.6 percent walk rate was his worst since establishing himself as a consistent presence in MLB bullpens, while his 19.3 percent strikeout rate was 10 percent lower than his 29.8 percent clip from that brilliant 2018 campaign. Last year also saw Jeffress post career-worsts in average fastball velocity (93.3 mph), average exit velocity (89.9 mph) and hard-hit rate (45.6 percent). If Jeffress can rediscover his ’18 form, he’d be a premium late-inning option, but last year’s ERA was propped up by a .161 average on balls in play that is miles south of his career .308 mark.

Kirby Yates Nearing Deal With Blue Jays

By | at

8:36am: The Jays are a finalist for Yates but don’t have a deal in place just yet, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Heyman further tweets that Yates is “leaning” toward the Blue Jays but has yet to formally agree to anything.

8:28am: Free-agent reliever Kirby Yates has been said to be nearing a decision since earlier this week, and TSN’s Scott Mitchell reports this morning that Yates is “firmly” on the Blue Jays’ radar. Yates is expected to meet with team officials at the organization’s Spring Training complex in Dunedin, Fla., per Mitchell, who adds that he’s told Yates is not “just visiting.” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Yates and the Jays are close to a deal.

Yates pitched in just six games this past season before undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow — a procedure that put an end to the already truncated 2020 season for the former All-Star. The 33-year-old Yates (34 in March) went from waiver claim to dominant reliever in similarly meteoric fashion to former Padres teammate Brad Hand and new White Sox closer Liam Hendriks.

Following a strong first season in San Diego in 2017, Yates added a splitter to his arsenal and saw his career take off; in 2018-19, Yates led all qualified relievers with a 1.67 ERA and ranked third with a 2.14 SIERA over the life of 123 2/3 innings. Along the way, he struck out a whopping 38.7 percent of the hitters he faced, while walking just 6.1 percent of opponents. Among qualified MLB relievers, only Josh Hader and Edwin Diaz topped him in terms of K-BB% during that time.

The Blue Jays received middle-of-the-pack results from their bullpen in 2020 but quietly enjoyed some strong performances from unheralded members of the relief corps. Rookie Jordan Romano, returned after failing to stick with the Rangers after the Rule 5 Draft, allowed just two runs in 14 2/3 innings while striking out 21 of the 57 batters he faced. Former Cubs righty Rafael Dolis, meanwhile, joined the Jays after an impressive run in Japan and yielded just four earned runs in 24 innings while punching out 31 of the 100 hitters he faced. Tom Hatch and Julian Merryweather, acquired in respective trades of David Phelps and Josh Donaldson, both gave the Jays reason for optimism as in their MLB debuts as well.

Encouraging as some of those showings may have been, the Jays lack experienced arms at the back of their bullpen. Ken Giles, who entered the 2020 season as Toronto’s closer, missed nearly the entire year due to Tommy John surgery and is now a free agent. Veteran righty Anthony Bass, one of the team’s most reliable options in 2020, is also a free agent at the moment.

Toronto reportedly agreed to terms with right-hander Tyler Chatwood, another bullpen candidate, just last night. It still seems likely that the Jays, who have been connected to countless free agents this winter as one of the few clubs actually willing to spend significant money, will make further additions in the bullpen even if a deal with Yates ultimately does come together. Notably, starters-turned-relievers Anthony Kay and Ryan Borucki are the only lefties in the Toronto bullpen. While Borucki is likely to make the club due to a lack of minor league options, Kay struggled to an ERA north of 5.00 thanks to a bloated 14 percent walk rate in 2020 and does have minor league options remaining.

Jays "Aggressively" Pursued Corey Kluber

By | at

  • Kluber drew plenty of interest from elsewhere in the AL East, as Martino writes that the Blue Jays were one of the clubs “bidding aggressively.”  Speier sheds a bit more light on Kluber’s situation, noting that he “seemed most interested in a clean one-year deal” rather than a one-year contract with a 2022 option attached — a structure that would have perhaps been more appealing to the Red Sox, another team with legitimate interest in Kluber’s services.

Blue Jays Still Interested In Michael Brantley

By | at

The Blue Jays continue to have interest in Michael Brantley, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Toronto’s top free agent outfield target remains George Springer, and Rosenthal floats the possibility of the Jays signing both players. Springer and Brantley have spent the past two seasons as teammates with the Astros, and Brantley is plenty familiar with Jays’ president/CEO Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins from their time in Cleveland. Signing both Springer and Brantley would make for a bit of an awkward fit on-paper, since Toronto already has a glut of corner outfield/designated hitter options. Nevertheless, doing so could free the Jays up to trade one of their young, in-house outfielders for rotation help, Rosenthal feels.

Latest On George Springer

By | at

  • The Mets and Blue Jays have been the two teams most closely connected to George Springer this winter. Jon Morosi of MLB.com feels the Mets have the geographical upper hand, noting that the Connecticut native and former UConn star would prefer to play close to home. (Springer’s home town of New Britain is approximately a two-hour drive from Queens, compared to seven-plus hours to Toronto). Of course, geographical ties of this sort are often discussed as potential tiebreakers for prominent free agents but are rarely enough to overcome significant discrepancies in teams’ respective contract proposals. Indeed, Morosi acknowledges the possibility the Mets eventually turn their attention elsewhere, particularly if they manage to sign reliever Brad Hand.

Blue Jays Notes: Odorizzi, Hand, Soria

By | at

  • The Blue Jays continue to be interested in Brad Hand and Jake Odorizzi, according to Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith in an update on Toronto’s offseason endeavors.  In the latest name to appear on the Jays’ wide-ranging radar, Joakim Soria has also drawn attention, though “talks haven’t been serious on that front.”
  • Speaking of Odorizzi, he is still among the “many” pitchers the Twins are still considering, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter links).  Back in December, Wolfson reported that other teams were more fervently pursuing Odorizzi than Minnesota, though with Odorizzi still unsigned, it seems like the Twins still have some kind of a shot at a reunion.  Beyond the Twins and Blue Jays, the Red Sox and Giants have also been linked to Odorizzi’s market, though the free agent righty lost a notable suitor in the Mets after New York instead opted to acquire Carlos Carrasco.  Minnesota was also known to be interested in Corey Kluber, and Wolfson reports that the Twins indeed made Kluber an offer before he ended up signing with the Yankees.

Latest On Kirby Yates

By | at

1:36PM: It doesn’t seem like the Blue Jays are one of the finalists for Yates, as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets that the Jays “aren’t considered frontrunners” for the righty, though Toronto had “real interest.”

10:12AM: Former Padres closer Kirby Yates may be nearing a new contract, as the right-hander is “in final stages of considering offers from five teams,” according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).  Yates has whittled his market down to these five finalists from a reported 12 teams that showed interest in the former All-Star.  Most notably, the Padres aren’t one of the finalists, as Acee writes that the club would have to “substantially” increase their current offer to bring Yates back into the fold.

That stint in San Diego saw Yates develop from being something of a journeyman reliever in his age-30 season into a legitimate weapon.  Yates posted a 2.55 ERA and an exceptional 38.44 K% and 31.2 K-BB% over 183 2/3 innings with the Padres after being claimed off waivers from the Angels in April 2017.  Yates emerged as the Padres’ closer after the Friars dealt Brad Hand in 2018, and he proceeded to convert 53 of 57 save opportunities over the 2018-19 seasons.  Between a league-high 41 saves and a tiny 1.19 ERA over 60 2/3 innings in 2019, Yates received a ninth-place finish in NL Cy Young Award balloting.

2020, however, was a much different story, as Yates pitched only 4 1/3 innings before undergoing a season-ending surgery in August to remove bone chips from his elbow.  The Padres and their fans must surely wonder what might have been if the 2019 version of Yates had been available to contribute to their postseason run, and while there was some interest in a reunion between the two sides, it seems as though Yates will be moving on.

A few weeks ago, Acee reported that Yates was looking for a deal in the range of over $5MM in guaranteed money, plus millions more in potential incentives.  (MLBTR projected a $5MM contract for Yates, ranking him 42nd in our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.)  Even considering the slow-moving nature of the relief pitching market, that would seem like a pretty reasonable price for Yates, given the possible upside he could bring to any bullpen.

There hasn’t been much public buzz about Yates on the free agent rumor mill — besides the Padres, the Dodgers are the only other team known to have interest in Yates’ services.  The Dodgers have addressed their bullpen by re-signing Blake Treinen and acquiring Corey Knebel, but there would certainly still be room for L.A. to also add Yates to the relief corps if they are one of Yates’ five finalists.

Latest On J.T. Realmuto, George Springer

By | at

The Phillies have made a five-year offer worth “slightly” more than $100MM to free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic. It’s the second such offer the team has made to Realmuto since last spring, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who adds that there’s “a groundswell of optimism” that Philadelphia will re-sign the two-time All-Star.

The 29-year-old Realmuto spent the previous two seasons in Philadelphia, where the ex-Marlin continued his run as the majors’ premier catcher. Realmuto made it known during those two years that he wanted to remain a Phillie for the long haul, so it’s unsurprising that the team is putting forth a serious effort to keep him. The Phillies have “begun to position themselves as the favorite” in the Realmuto derby, Stark writes, in part because other potential suitors seem to be fading away.

The Mets, who looked like one of the front-runners to get Realmuto when the offseason started, signed James McCann instead. The Yankees probably aren’t in the mix after agreeing to re-sign second baseman DJ LeMahieu for $90MM and retaining catcher Gary Sanchez. The Angels may not be involved after agreeing to sign veteran backstop Kurt Suzuki on Friday, while Stark notes that the Rangers “seem unlikely” to dole out a nine-figure contract at this juncture. The Astros look like a fit for Realmuto, but as a qualifying offer recipient, signing Realmuto would require giving up draft picks, and they’re reportedly hesitant to do that. The Nationals have shown interest in Realmuto, though it’s unknown whether they’re willing to hand out $100MM-plus in this case.

The Realmuto sweepstakes may ultimately come down to the Phillies and the Blue Jays, who have been in on seemingly every star player this winter. However, per Stark and Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Toronto’s main focus appears to be free-agent outfielder George Springer. The Jays regard center field as a bigger need than catcher, which is why they’re making a greater push for Springer.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

By and | at

The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

Read more

Notable International Signings: 1/15/21

By | at

The 2020-21 international signing period is officially underway, and though this signing period is open until Dec. 15, 2021, many of the big names have already signed. Teams have long since lined up deals with newly eligible teenage players, so the news today largely represents confirmation of what was anticipated. Still, it’s a day of no small moment, particularly for the young men embarking upon professional careers.

Let’s round up some of the most notable signings of the day. Most of these agreements have been known for awhile, as both Baseball America’s Ben Badler (signings tracker; scouting links) and MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (Twitter feed; rankings) have listed each club’s expected landing spot and approximate signing bonus on their rankings for months. You can find each team’s total bonus pool and other information on the process right here. Check the above links for further information and other signings. Despite today’s announcements, many of these deals won’t become official for even a couple of weeks, notes Sanchez. Here are a few key deals:

  • Yoelqui Céspedes, OF, White Sox: The half-brother of outfielder Yoenis Céspedes, the Cuban outfielder joins a strong international tradition in Chicago with the White Sox, who currently field Cuban stars such as reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu, centerfielder Luis Robert, and third baseman Yoan Moncada. MLB.com has Céspedes ranked as the top international prospect in this class thanks to being a “a five-tool player with above-average tools across the board.” Baseball America is slightly less bullish, putting him at No. 12 on their board, noting that the pandemic limited opportunities for scouting. The 23-year-old will be one of the older prospects from this class to sign, and though he has the ability to play center, Robert’s presence in Chicago means he is probably ticketed for right. The White Sox also signed Cuban hurler Norge Vera for $1.5MM. Vera came in at No. 15 on MLB.com’s rankings. Fangraphs has Cespedes as Chicago’s new No. 25 ranked prospect, and Vera at No. 14.
  • Armando Cruz, SS, Nationals: Cruz officially joined the Nationals today for the most money the Nationals have ever paid out to single player during the international signing period, with The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli (via Twitter) pegging the final number at $3.9MM. BA writes in their scouting report, “He’s a defensive wizard with phenomenal hands and a strong arm, combining the ability to make acrobatic, highlight plays along with the internal clock and game savvy well beyond his years.” The Nationals signed 11 international players in total, notes Ghiroli.
  • Pedro Leon, OF, Astros: Houston will pay $4MM to add MLB.com’s 7th-ranked international prospect to their system, per Sanchez. Baseball America has Leon as the top prospect of his class. Like Céspedes, the Cuban outfield is one of the older members of this class, but he brings plus speed, power, and the ability to stick in centerfield.
  • Manuel Beltre, SS, Blue Jays: The Blue Jays added perhaps the most advanced hitter of the class in Beltre. MLB.com has Beltre as the No. 24 ranked prospect in the class, signing for $2.6MM, though Shi Davidi of Sportnet.ca (via Twitter) pegs the final number to be closer to $2.35MM. The Dominican shortstop could ultimately end up at second base, Sanchez writes, but he has arm enough to stay at short.
  • Pedro Pineda, OF, Athletics: MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter) has Pineda signing with Oakland for less than $4MM, but the sum isn’t likely to fall far below that threshold. Baseball America has Pineda as the No. 11 ranked prospect in this class, writing, “Pineda is a strong, athletic, physical center fielder with a loud tool set and a power/speed threat. He has excellent speed, a fast bat and the power potential to hit 25-plus home runs.”

Several other well-regarded prospects also secured bonuses of $2MM or more, with the specifics provided here by Sanchez:

  • Rays, $3MM, shortstop Carlos Colmenarez
  • Cubs, $3MM, shortstop, Cristian Hernandez
  • Pirates, $2.3MM, outfielder Shalin Polanco
  • Tigers, $2.95MM, shortstop Cristian Santana
  • Twins, $2.3MM, shortstop Danny De Andrada
  • Angels, $2MM, shortstop Denzer Guzman
  • Marlins, $3.5MM, shortstop Yiddi Cappe
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top