Blue Jays Rumors

Market Chatter: Stanton, Colome, Minor, Cobb, Markakis

By Jeff Todd | November 29, 2017 at 2:41pm CDT

We heard somewhat varied reports yesterday on whether there was any real connection between the Red Sox and Marlins on Giancarlo Stanton. Today, there’s clear indication that the sides aren’t firmly engaged on the slugger: per Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal (subscription link), the teams have not engaged on the matter since the GM Meetings. It certainly sounds as if Boston is not actively pursuing Stanton, though it’s always possible that could change if his market continues to drag — which remains a distinct possibility. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Marlins haven’t set any sort of deadline for teams to submit their best offers, so perhaps Boston could reengage if their reported talks for White Sox star Jose Abreu do not prove fruitful.

Here’s more chatter on the trade and free agent markets:

It seems the Rays are at least entertaining the possibility of dealing closer Alex Colome, per Morosi (Twitter link), with “active discussions” said to be ongoing with multiple rival organizations. The Cardinals have “sustained interest” in Colome — a connection we first heard about two weeks back. Colome’s less-than-dominant 2017 campaign has likely cabined his trade value somewhat, though teams will still no doubt see significant value in the hard-throwing, high-leverage reliever. MLBTR projects that Colome will earn $5.5MM in his first of three potential trips through arbitration.
The Astros can now be added to the list of teams with some interest in Mike Minor, according to a report from ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link). Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle previously explained that the southpaw would make for an interesting target for the ’Stros; we have also heard of prior interest from the Mets, who Olney also names. There’ll likely be quite a few other teams poking around on his market, too, after a high-quality season in which Minor bounced back from shoulder problems. As a lefty with a starter’s arsenal, Minor could be awfully handy on plenty of rosters, though his contractual upside will likely be limited by his health history.
Free agent righty Alex Cobb, meanwhile, still seems to be facing a fairly wide-open market. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that “a lot” of teams have interest, but that there’s “nothing close” to coming together at the moment. Quite a few organizations could end up having interest in Cobb, who certainly has some earning upside beyond the four-year, $48MM contract that MLBTR predicts he’ll land. Cobb turned down a qualifying offer from the Rays, so the draft compensation he’ll return to the organization will depend upon whether or not he’s able to surpass our best guess and earn a $50MM guarantee.
The Blue Jays held talks with the Braves regarding veteran outfielder Nick Markakis, Morosi tweets. But the chatter has “failed to advance” and it’s not clear whether the sides will pick things up. Markakis has continued to put up roughly league average offensive numbers, compensating for a lack of pop with solid on-base numbers, but isn’t much of a value on a $10.5MM salary. Presumably he’d have provided the Jays with a platoon piece for their outfield mix, but it stands to reason that the organization is looking to spend a bit less than that — particularly given that it has other, greater priorities.

Market Notes: Darvish, Donaldson, Frazier

By Jeff Todd | November 29, 2017 at 8:39am CDT

There has been no shortage of chatter on Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani over the past few weeks. We gathered up more news and rumors on each of these significant players yesterday — here and here, respectively. It’s fair to wonder whether their still-unsettled situations could be to blame for a notably sluggish start to the free agent market. The former, in particular, is a potential cause given that his massive contract and complicated trade situation might be hindering the development of the markets of premium free agents — though certainly other structural factors may be playing a far greater role, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports argues in a must-read piece.

Free agent righty Yu Darvish evidently still has a broad class of suitors, according to a report from Jim Bowden of Sirius XM (via Twitter). Six (unidentified) clubs have engaged on the veteran hurler, with about as many others seemingly having shown some degree of interest. That’s not surprising for a pitcher of Darvish’s stature — he entered the offseason atop MLBTR’s list of the top fifty free agents — but it does suggest that the back-and-forth is only just getting underway.
Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron has explored the hypothetical possibility of the Blue Jays dangling star third baseman Josh Donaldson in trade. He first posited that Toronto could match up with the Cardinals in a swap that might allow both teams to maximize their resources and stay in contention. (Of course, this is presented as analysis, not a report of actual discussions.) And yesterday, Cameron argued that Donaldson might not bring maximum value if he’s ultimately shopped at the deadline (supposing, of course, that the Jays end up in a selling posture). Other premium hot corner rentals could also be available this summer, Cameron notes, and it seems unlikely that there’ll be a whole lot of demand.
Third baseman Todd Frazier is likely to plug a gap for one of the few contenders that does need a new option there. But he’s also still interested in returning to the Yankees, he tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). Of course, that’s an organization that may well decide not to add at that position; we covered just that subject in some detail about a month back. Frazier says it’d be “great” to remain in the Bronx, but also suggests he may be resigned to finding a new home, noting that he “understand[s] the business” side of things.

Braves Make Further Front Office Changes

By Steve Adams | November 27, 2017 at 6:27pm CDT

DECEMBER 1: In a surprising turn of events, the Braves have announced that Tinnish has withdrawn from the organization. In statements, both he and Anthopoulos attributed the decision to family considerations. Tinnish will instead remain with the Blue Jays organization.

NOVEMBER 27: The shakeup in the Atlanta front office is continuing, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Braves have “parted ways” with assistant GM Adam Fisher and hired Andrew Tinnish away from the Blue Jays as their new vice president of amateur/international scouting (Twitter links). With Fisher’s departure, Perry Minasian will become Atlanta’s new assistant GM and vice president of baseball operations.

Fisher’s departure from the organization comes less than three months after he was hired away from the division-rival Mets by since-departed GM John Coppolella. It seems the primary motivation here was simply to allow Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos a chance to shape his staff. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets, Anthopoulos sought to surround himself with familiar faces.

Rather than being pushed into a less substantial role, Fisher will now be allowed to find a new opportunity elsewhere. Clearly, given the timing of his hiring by the Braves, Fisher couldn’t have played a role in the rampant violations that led to Coppolella’s lifetime ban from baseball or Hart’s seemingly forced resignation from the team. According to Rosenthal, the Braves are still the hook for another two years of Fisher’s contract, though that’ll be somewhat offset if he eventually latches on with a new club.

Minasian was himself hired at the same time as Fisher, taking a position as director of player personnel. But he was once an Anthopoulos lieutenant in Toronto, the same organization he left when he came to Atlanta. Minasian will end up with a promotion in rank while continuing the contract he agreed to just a few months back.

In hiring Tinnish, the Braves add will yet another executive with roots in Toronto that date back to Anthopoulos’s time at the helm of that front office. As Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca notes on Twitter, Tinnish had played a key role in the Jays’ international amateur efforts. Before that, his responsibilities were on the domestic side of the amateur market.

AL East Notes: Orioles, Rays, Ohtani, Pentecost

By Steve Adams | November 27, 2017 at 11:10am CDT

The Orioles figure to give top prospect Chance Sisco the opportunity to prove himself ready for regular MLB work next season, but Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that they’re still likely to add at least one veteran alternative on a minor league pact this winter. Caleb Joseph is in line to share the catching duties following a bounceback season, and the O’s also added 27-year-old Austin Wynns to the 40-man roster last week, though he’s yet to suit up for a big league game. Speculatively speaking, names like Jose Lobaton, Hector Sanchez and Chris Stewart could all be available on minor league deals this winter after lackluster showings in limited big league time in 2017.

Some more notes from around the AL East…

With Logan Morrison hitting the open market, the Rays are likely to sign a first baseman this offseason, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. However, they’ll likely do so “when the music stops,” suggesting that Tampa Bay will wait out the first-base market and see which of the numerous sluggers is left without a contract later in the offseason. That’d present the Rays with numerous bargain options — a strategy that worked well last offseason when they held out and waited until Feb. 7 to re-sign Morrison on a one-year, $2.5MM deal. Eric Hosmer and Carlos Santana are the top names on the free agent market and will be considerably too expensive for the Rays’ tastes. They’re followed up by Morrison, Yonder Alonso, Lucas Duda, Mitch Moreland as well as slightly older options in Danny Valencia, Adam Lind, Mark Reynolds and Mike Napoli.
Topkin also notes that the Rays plan to make a “serious bid” for Shohei Ohtani, hoping that their willingness to let this year’s top pick, Brendan McKay, develop as both a pitcher and a hitter in the minor leagues will show Ohtani that they’re willing to let him try his hand as a genuine two-way player. Even the $20MM posting fee would seem to be a steep price for the Rays, though most clubs seem to be approaching Ohtani as a rare acquisition opportunity, so ownership could be willing to green light that expenditure. Signing with the Rays would require Ohtani to truly be prioritizing elements other than money, as the Rays can only offer $440,500 at present (though there’s still time for them to acquire more international dollars). Beyond that, of course, the Rays obviously aren’t a team that is well-positioned to sign him to an extension down the line.
Max Pentecost’s omission from the Blue Jays’ slate of 40-man roster additions surprised some, but Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports that troubles with the former No. 11 overall pick’s shoulder caused the Jays to leave him unprotected. Pentecost was shut down near the end of the AFL, which could make it difficult for a team to select him or to carry him for the bulk of the 2018 season. Pentecost has undergone multiple surgeries since being drafted in ’14 and has managed to play just 30 of his 171 games at catcher, spending the bulk of his time as a DH in addition to some work at first base. “We’re continuing to work hard to help Max be in the best possible physical shape and baseball shape he can be in,” said GM Ross Atkins of Pentecost.

Cafardo’s Latest: Stanton, Arrieta, JBJ, Zimmermann

By Connor Byrne | November 25, 2017 at 3:55pm CDT

The latest on Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton comes from the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, who reports that the Red Sox currently have “tepid” interest in the NL MVP. Notably, Miami isn’t enamored of Boston’s farm system, per Cafardo, though he notes that the Marlins’ main motivation in trading Stanton would be to rid themselves of his contract. As such, one shouldn’t rule out Stanton to the Red Sox if they’re willing to take on a significant portion of the $295MM coming his way over the next decade.

While it’s unclear how much of Stanton’s deal the Red Sox would be open to absorbing, the Giants are “willing to take on a lot” of it, Cafardo writes. The Giants have shown more interest than anyone else in Stanton, Cafardo hears, and he adds that they’re prepared to exceed the luxury tax threshold for the fourth straight year if necessary. As of now, they and the Cardinals are the only known teams that have submitted offers to the Marlins to acquire Stanton.

Quick Hits: Blue Jays, Bradley, Closers

By Mark Polishuk | November 23, 2017 at 11:49pm CDT

Some items to conclude Thanksgiving Day…

The Blue Jays are conducting an internal investigation after six minor league prospects all tested positive for PEDs within the last week, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports. Thirteen Jays prospects have now been hit with PED test-related violations within the last two years, a stunning increase for an organization that saw just 18 players fail tests from 2005-15. “This situation is very disappointing and disturbing to the organization; disappointing that the players made these choices, but more so disturbing that some failure of our environment allowed this to happen,” Jays GM Ross Atkins said. “It is our responsibility to create an environment and culture where our players know that PED use is not condoned, and to give them resources and education to ensure that they do not make these decisions.”
Archie Bradley will be stretched out as a starter in Spring Training and could start in case of a rotation jury, though Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that the team is still planning to use Bradley as a reliever. Once one of the game’s top starting prospects, Bradley struggled over 34 career starts before posting dominating numbers (1.73 ERA, 9.7 K/9, 3.76 BB/K rate) in 73 relief innings last season. Bradley showed the capability of being a multi-inning force out of the pen, though Hazen also said the D’Backs could deploy Bradley as a closer next year. Bradley’s versatility gives the team flexibility in pursuing bullpen help this winter, Hazen said.
Bradley is a good example of how ESPN.com’s Sam Miller notes that closers are still hard to identify, and it is consistently hard for teams to tell which closers can consistently produce on a year-to-year basis, or which pitchers may suddenly emerge from nowhere as ninth-inning options. Citing a similar Baseball Prospectus piece from Christina Kahrl in 2000 about the closer volatility, Miller notes that one big difference between now and then is that teams are increasingly willing to groom pitchers into relief roles earlier in their careers, or even as soon as they’re drafted, in order to develop bullpen specialists.

Ross Atkins On Blue Jays’ Preliminary Offseason Efforts

By Jeff Todd | November 23, 2017 at 10:58am CDT

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins joined Ben Nicholson-Smith and Arden Zwelling on Sportsnet’s At the Letters podcast. There’s lots to listen to — including the Sportsnet team’s discussion of other subjects — but we’ll look at a few key takeaways here:

The Jays are still committed to “putting a winning product on the field,” says Atkins, and that’ll be the driving force in the team’s decisions. (Indeed, he says he does not really anticipate a need for a full-blown rebuild in Toronto, though he would not rule out the possibility at times of requiring a “soft reset.”) Though there haven’t been any significant moves yet, that’s true of the entire remainder of the league as well. Atkins says he thinks the hold-up is likely at the top of the market but also results from a more general trend toward “more patience” in transactional decisionmaking. That could be a result of greater understanding between teams as to how they value players, he suggests, while noting there may also be a cyclical element to it. The tendency toward slow-developing action, after all, may itself create opportunities, Atkins notes.
Toronto’s top priority remains “protect[ing] our middle infield,” says Atkins, who acknowledges the organization cannot simply rely upon Devon Travis and Troy Tulowitzki to handle regular duties. The ideal player — who, Atkins acknowledges, doesn’t likely exist — would not only add “depth and versatility” up the middle but would be a left-handed hitter that can also play in the outfield. More likely, he says, achieving all of these goals will involve multiple players. Atkins suggests a major outfield addition isn’t likely, explaining that he believes there’s “good depth” on hand but expressing a desire to find a way to “complement” the existing players “a little bit better.”
Atkins also expanded a bit on his previously stated intentions to seek some pitching depth. The goal, he says, is “complementing our pitching in some significant way.” A back-end starter would be one possibility, per Atkins, but the team could also pursue an “elite reliever or some hybrid of the two.” It seems, then, that there’s some flexibility in the organization’s thinking on the pitching side of the ledger. More than chasing a single pitcher, perhaps, the front office will be looking for a high-value opportunity in this area.

East Notes: Jays, Orioles, Jeter, Rizzo

By Jeff Todd | November 21, 2017 at 8:33am CDT

It’s possible the Blue Jays could weigh a run at star free agent outfielder J.D. Martinez, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes. At the moment, that seems like a fairly tenuous connection; Heyman explains that the team has “at least considered” Martinez but may also be hesitant to participate in a bidding war to get him. But that’s more than we’ve heard of at least some other conceivable landing spots for the best hitter on this year’s open market; the Cardinals, for instance, are said not to have much inclination to pursue him.

Here’s more from the eastern divisions:

The Orioles nearly swung a trade last night with the Rockies, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The organizations were discussing a deal in which Baltimore would pick up righty Konner Wade in exchange for international pool funds. Though nothing ended up getting done, Kubatko suggests it could still be a possibility. He also goes on to discuss the O’s decisions on protecting players from the Rule 5 draft, including a few names that could be targeted by other organizations.
Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel takes an interesting look at Marlins CEO Derek Jeter’s crash course in running a baseball front office. Jeter has called the move “overwhelming” in the same way it was to finally reach the majors as a player, acknowledging he’ll have to “learn on the job” to a large extent. President of baseball ops Michael Hill suggests the two have established a good working relationship out of the gates. As ever, the proof will be in the doing; the Marlins made a small swap yesterday, but have much bigger fish to fry this winter.
While the Nationals front office has long been helmed by Mike Rizzo, his future with the organization is not assured at present. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes that Rizzo and ownership have yet to discuss a new deal. And the veteran executive says he isn’t going to be the one to kick off talks, saying he’ll “allow [ownership] to talk to me if they choose to” and noting that he’s comfortable entering the offseason without a long-term contract. Janes tackles some of the many facets to the situation in the post, which is worth a full read.

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

By Steve Adams | November 20, 2017 at 6:47pm CDT

As detailed earlier this morning at MLBTR, the deadline for Major League clubs to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight. Because of that, there will be literally dozens of moves between now and 8pm ET as teams make final determinations on who to protect and who to risk losing in next month’s Rule 5 draft. This process will lead to smaller-scale trades, waiver claims and DFAs, but for some clubs the only necessary moves will simply be to select the contracts of the prospects they wish to place on the 40-man roster. We’ll track those such moves in this post…

Heading onto the Blue Jays’ roster, per a club announcement, are righty Connor Greene, lefty Tom Pannone, first baseman Rowdy Tellez, and catchers Dan Jansen and Reese McGuire.
The Rays have selected the contracts of righties Brent Honeywell, Diego Castillo, Yonny Chirinos, and Jose Mujica, lefty Ryan Yarbrough, first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, and outfielder Justin Williams, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
The Diamondbacks placed lefty Jared Miller on the MLB roster, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter.
A list of six players is heading onto the Reds’ 40-man, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter): infielders Alex Blandino and Shed Long, outfielder Jose Siri, and righties Jose Lopez, Jesus Reyes, and Zack Weiss.
The Padres and Brewers have joined the teams announcing their additions. For San Diego, lefties Jose Castillo and Brad Wieck are heading to the 40-man. Milwaukee has selected shortstop Mauricio Dubon, catcher Jacob Nottingham, and righties Marcos Diplan and Freddy Peralta.
The Marlins and Yankees just struck a trade relating to their 40-man maneuvering, and each announced their selections shortly thereafter. Miami is placing outfielder Braxton Lee on the MLB roster along with righties Merandy Gonzalez, Pablo Lopez, and James Needy. New York, meanwhile, will select righties Albert Abreu, Domingo Acevedo, and Jonathan Loaisiga to the 40-man along with outfielder Billy McKinney and infielders Thairo Estrada and (last but not least) Gleyber Torres.

Click to check in on other teams that have selected players to their 40-man rosters …

Righties Hunter Harvey and David Hess join catcher Austin Wynns in ascending to the Orioles’ 40-man roster, the team announced.
The Astros have added lefty Cionel Perez and righty Dean Deetz to their 40-man, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
Heading onto the Mets’ 40-man are infielder Luis Guillorme and right-handers Tyler Bashlor, Gerson Bautista, and Corey Oswalt.
The Royals are adding lefties Eric Stout and Tim Hill as well as Meibrys Viloria to their MLB roster, per a club announcement.
The Rockies announced the selection of the contracts of four players: outfielder Yonathan Daza, lefty Sam Howard, backstop Chris Rabago, and righty Jesus Tinoco.
Joining the Angels’ 40-man are outfielder Michael Hermosillo and righties Jaime Barria, Jesus Castillo, and Jake Jewell, per a club announcement.
Lefties Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe, as well as righty Zack Littell, have been selected onto the Twins’ big league roster, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets.
The Pirates placed top prospect Austin Meadows and righties Luis Escobar and Dario Agrazal on their 40-man, the club announced.
The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Austin Gomber, right-hander Derian Gonzalez and outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Oscar Mercado, bringing their 40-man roster count to 39. Each of the three ranked within the top 20 farmhands in the organization, per MLB.com’s rankings.
The Rangers announced that they’ve added right-handers Jonathan Hernandez and Ariel Jurado; lefties Brett Martin and Joe Palumbo; catcher Jose Trevino; and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the 40-man roster today. Texas also picked up 40-man righty Ronald Herrera in a trade with the Yankees this afternoon. All but Kiner-Falefa ranked among the team’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com, led by Jurado at No. 9. The Rangers’ 40-man roster is now at 37 players.
The Nationals announced that they’ve selected the contracts of third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, thus adding both to the 40-man roster. MLB.com ranked Gutierrez 12th among Nationals farmhands. The Nats still have three open spots on their 40-man roster, so they could make further additions by adding players from outside the organization between now and the deadline. They could also simply save those spots for future trade or free-agent acquisitions.
The Red Sox have selected the contracts of left-hander Jalen Beeks and right-handers Chandler Shepherd and Ty Buttrey. Both Beeks and Shepherd ranked among Boston’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com. Boston’s 40-man roster is now full with that trio of additions.

Note: Players that signed at 18 years of age or younger and have played five seasons of pro ball are Rule 5 eligible unless added to the 40-man roster today. Players that signed at 19 or older and have played four seasons are also eligible if they’re not added to the 40-man roster today. (In other words, college draftees out of the 2014 class, high school draftees out of the 2013 class and most international amateurs signed in the 2013-14 international period are eligible this year if not protected.)

Blue Jays Acquire Gift Ngoepe

By Jeff Todd | November 20, 2017 at 4:50pm CDT

The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Gift Ngoepe from the Pirates, per club announcements. The talented defender changes hands as the clubs go about trimming their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft. A player to be named later or cash will head to Pittsburgh in return.

Ngoepe, 27, became the first African-born player to reach the majors when he debuted in 2017. Though he moved around in Pittsburgh, Ngoepe has spent the bulk of his minor-league time at shortstop and is regarded as a proficient middle infielder.

Ngoepe could function as an optionable utility piece in Toronto. But he’ll need to boost his offensive production to hold down a steady job in the bigs. In his first 63 MLB plate appearances, Ngoepe slashed just .222/.323/.296. He has never shown all that much punch in the minors, either, with a .221/.295/.362 composite batting line over three seasons at Triple-A, but clearly some major-league organizations still think there’s some hope for improvement.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Blue Jays Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect