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Trevor Bauer

Quick Hits: Lindor, Bauer, Rangers, Ichiro, Bae, Boxberger

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It doesn’t look like the Indians will reach any extensions with Francisco Lindor or Trevor Bauer before the season begins, though the team did at least explore the possibility of long-term deals with both players, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.  It isn’t any surprise that the Tribe looked into gaining some cost certainty on either man even though Bauer is already controlled through the 2020 season and Lindor through 2021.  In the latter’s case, Lindor is still a year away from salary arbitration, though one wonders if Lindor may feel confident enough in his abilities to forego guaranteed money now and wait until free agency to chase an even bigger contract.  He already turned down an extension offer reportedly worth around $100MM last offseason, and his stock has only risen after a superb 2017 campaign.

Here’s more from around the baseball world as we enter the offseason’s final day…

  • The Rangers seems to be done their offseason shopping, as GM Jon Daniels stated to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan and other reporters.  “I couldn’t be more clear, I don’t expect any more significant acquisitions.  There is not a lot going on from our standpoint in the free-agent market,” Daniels said.  This also seems to include a pursuit of Greg Holland, as Daniels reiterated that Texas plans to be flexible with the ninth-inning role and allow a closer to emerge from several candidates.  Adrian Beltre, for one, still feels that a more established arm is needed, as he feels the end-game plan is “an area that’s going to be a question mark. Normally, when you have really good teams, you have [a closer.]  You have closers out there in the free-agent market. … Ideally for me, you get a closer, put him in there and use him.”
  • Ichiro Suzuki may begin the season on the DL to give him more time to fully recover from a right calf strain, with Mariners manager Scott Servais telling the Associated Press and other media that a decision will be made tomorrow when the team sees how Suzuki is feeling after playing seven innings today.  Utilityman Taylor Motter looks to make the Opening Day roster if Ichiro isn’t available.
  • The Pirates’ interest in Korean shortstop prospect Ji-Hwan Bae dates back almost two years, Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, and the team was finally able to land the 18-year-old after he was made a free agent following the Braves’ international signing scandal.  Given a second chance at the signing, Pittsburgh again made a push, and Bae said (via an interpreter) that he chose them over other suitors because the “Pirates were the most active team approaching” about a contract.  The Pirates thought enough of Bae to give him $1.25MM, the second-largest bonus the franchise has ever given to an international prospect, and GM Neal Huntington feels Bae can stick at shortstop over the long term.
  • Brad Boxberger has been named the Diamondbacks’ closer, the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and others reported.  Boxberger posted a league-best 41 saves in his first season as the Rays’ closer back in 2015, though injuries both cost him the job and limited him to 53 2/3 total innings in 2016-17.  Now healthy, Boxberger could again blossom into an effective late-game weapon for Arizona, though Piecoro notes that the larger factor in the Diamondbacks’ decision might’ve been the team’s preference to keep Archie Bradley as a fireman rather than in a strict ninth-inning role.  For updates on every team’s closing situation, be sure to follow MLBTR’s sister Twitter feed @CloserNews.

Trevor Bauer Wins Arbitration Hearing

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Right-hander Trevor Bauer has won his arbitration hearing against the Indians, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). Bauer’s arb case featured one of the most significant gaps between the player’s submitted salary and the team’s figure (as seen in the MLBTR Arbitraiton Tracker), and he’ll now be paid at $6.525MM instead of $5.3MM thanks to the win. Bauer is represented by Wasserman.

Bauer, who recently turned 27, receives nearly a $3MM raise on last year’s $3.55MM salary with today’s ruling. The right-hander closed out the season with a 4.19 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 46.4 percent ground-ball rate through 176 1/3 regular-season innings. He went on to make one dominant postseason appearance against the Yankees before being clubbed for four runs in 1 2/3 innings in Game 4 of the ALDS.

Bauer’s bottom-line run prevention numbers might not look especially impressive, but they’re marred by a dreadful start to the season. The former No. 3 overall pick was sporting an ERA north of 7.00 through his first six trips to the hill, but he turned in a strong 3.45 ERA through 143 1/3 innings to close out the regular season — including a pristine 2.42 ERA and 85-to-19 K/BB ratio in his final 13 appearances.

Bauer will join Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar in the Cleveland rotation this season, with Josh Tomlin and Mike Clevinger both vying for the final spot in the starting five. Bauer, a Super Two player, has now gone through the arbitration process twice and will be eligible twice more before qualifying as a free agent following the completion of the 2020 season.

Quick Hits: Odorizzi, Angels, Bauer, Tribe, Suspensions, McKenry

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The Angels are among many teams that have been in talks with the Rays regarding right-hander Jake Odorizzi, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Odorizzi would be the second noteworthy offseason addition to an Angels staff that welcomed potential ace Shohei Ohtani back in December. He’d also offer the Angels a more proven option than just about all of their current starters, with the exception of Garrett Richards and arguably Matt Shoemaker. Although the 27-year-old Odorizzi is coming off a disappointing, injury-shortened season, he has fared respectability in his career – 705 1/3 innings of 3.83 ERA/4.23 FIP ball – and comes with two years of affordable arbitration control. Odorizzi will head to an arb hearing Monday to determine whether he’ll make $6.05MM or $6.35MM in 2018, Topkin notes.

More from around the game…

  • Indians righty Trevor Bauer had his own arbitration hearing this past Thursday, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. Results should come out this weekend, Hoynes hears. Bauer, who’s in his second of four possible arb years, filed for $6.52MM – a healthy amount more than the $5.3MM the team offered.
  • Four minor leaguers – Rays catcher Nick Ciuffo, Padres right-hander Alex Cunningham, Phillies righty Steve Geltz and Pirates second baseman Mitchell Tolman – received suspensions for drug use on Saturday (via Bob Nightengale of USA Today, on Twitter). The harshest punishment went to Geltz, who will serve a 100-game ban without pay after testing positive for a drug of abuse for the third time in his career. The 30-year-old, who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies last month, previously sat 50 games in 2014 after testing positive for marijuana. Meanwhile, Ciuffo, Cunningham and Tolman each got 50-game suspensions. Ciuffo and Tolman tested positive for a drug of abuse for the second time, while Cunningham tested positive for an amphetamine. The most notable member of that trio is the 22-year-old Ciuffo, whom the Rays selected in the first round of the 2013 draft and who currently sits 27th on MLB.com’s ranking of the team’s top 30 prospects. Ciuffo, who got an invitation to big league camp prior to the suspension, took to Twitter on Saturday to apologize.
  • Former major league catcher Michael McKenry retired from baseball earlier this month, Erik Bacharach of the Daily News Journal relays. The 32-year-old McKenry told Bacharach he “had a lot of opportunities to play,” but he’ll instead work as Middle Tennessee State University’s director of player development and, according to Adam Berry of MLB.com, serve as a Pirates broadcaster. McKenry played with the Pirates from 2011-13 and was particularly effective in ’12, when he hit .233/.320/.442 with 1.7 fWAR in 275 plate appearances. He also saw major league action with the Rockies, who selected him in Round 7 of the 2006 draft, and Cardinals. McKenry concluded his playing career last season as a member of Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, with which he racked up 272 PAs and batted .209/.338/.324.

Central Notes: Duffy, Cubs, Bauer

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Here’s the latest from the game’s central divisions:

  • Royals lefty Danny Duffy says he is throwing pain free after an offseason elbow clean-up, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. “Honestly, I had forgotten what it felt like to throw without any pain or discomfort,” says Duffy. That’s good news for Kansas City, as the organization will expect the southpaw to lead an uncertain staff in 2018 and beyond — unless, that is, he isn’t traded at some point. Other organizations would no doubt have interest in Duffy’s reasonable contract ($61MM through 2021), though we haven’t seen any indication that the Royals are likely to move the 29-year-old this winter.
  • Over at The Athletic, Patrick Mooney has a pair of articles (subscription links) regarding the market’s two top pitchers. The Cubs have plenty of money left to work with, he notes, and have seemingly remained engaged with Yu Darvish for much of the winter. That said, there are still alternatives for both team and player; Mooney says the Cubs have other scenarios in mind and notes the possibility of mystery teams in Darvish’s market. It’s less clear, Mooney suggests, that there’s a realistic path back to Chicago for Jake Arrieta. As MLBTR’s 2018 Free Agent Tracker shows, Darvish and Arrieta are just a few of the many starters still available; remarkably, the Cubs’ early agreement with Tyler Chatwood still paces this winter’s market for rotation contracts.
  • The Indians are readying for an arbitration hearing with righty Trevor Bauer, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. Cleveland is utilizing a file-and-trial approach, says Hoynes, meaning a panel will decide whether the righty plays for $5.3MM or $6.52MM in the coming season. The results won’t just determine whether Bauer can pick up an additional $1.22MM for the coming season; his 2018 salary will also set a base rate for raises in his final two seasons of arb eligibility. As always, you can keep track of all the arbitration developments with MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker.

Unresolved 2018 Arbitration Cases

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We’ve covered a whole lot of arbitration deals today, many of them reached before today’s deadline to exchange filing figures. Some other agreements have come together after team and player submitted their numbers. It’s still possible, of course, that these situations will be resolved before an arbitration hearing becomes necessary. (At this point, we seem to lack full clarity on teams’ approaches to negotiations after the filing deadline. And most organizations make exceptions for multi-year deals even if they have a file-and-trial stance.)

Some situations could even be dealt with in short order. As things stand, though, these unresolved arbitration cases could turn into significant hearings. (As always, MLBTR’s 2018 arbitration projections can be found here; you will also want to reference MLBTR’s 2018 arbitration tracker.)

AL Rumors: Indians, Orioles, Machado, Red Sox

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While it’s unclear if any deals will materialize, a slew of Indians drew trade interest at this month’s general managers meetings, according to Terry Pluto of cleveland.com. Specifically, teams inquired about a few Indians pitchers – including right-handers Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger – as well as catchers Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes. Clubs also approached the Tribe about a couple less heralded members of the organization in outfielder Greg Allen and minor league righty Shane Bieber, Pluto adds. Of those players, it’s clear Carrasco would warrant the largest return, but there’s no reason for the Indians to move him. Conversely, the Tribe would be open to dealing either Perez or Gomes, Pluto suggests, considering the team has high-end prospect Francisco Mejia waiting in the wings behind those two.

More from a pair of other American League cities:

  • The Orioles will wait until later in the offseason to discuss extensions with third baseman Manny Machado and center fielder Adam Jones, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com relays. Kubatko doesn’t expect an extension for Machado to come to fruition, which isn’t surprising given that he’s primed sign a mega-deal on the open market a year from now. Interestingly, though, Kubatko hears that Machado would prefer to play shortstop instead of third base, which could make a potential trip to free agency all the more intriguing. Machado logged 52 appearances at short between 2015-16 but has otherwise played the hot corner since debuting in 2012.
  • Closer Zach Britton, another high-profile Oriole entering a contract year, likely wouldn’t bring back a great return via trade this offseason, Buster Olney of ESPN.com observes. While the Orioles are open to trading Britton, his lack of team control, high salary (a projected $12.2MM in arbitration) and recent arm problems figure to tamp down his value, Olney writes. Still, whether it’s Britton, Darren O’Day or Brad Brach, Baltimore seems poised to move one of its most established relievers and use the money it saves on much-needed starting pitching help, per Olney.
  • More from Olney, who reports that the Red Sox and three-time World Series-winning manager Tony La Russa discussed having him serve as rookie skipper Alex Cora’s bench coach. Instead, Boston hired La Russa as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and replaced previous bench coach Gary DiSarcina with Ron Roenicke. La Russa, 73, hasn’t been part of a coaching staff since he managed the Cardinals to a title in 2011.

Indians Activate Danny Salazar

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The Indians have announced that they’ve activated Danny Salazar, who will start tonight against the Blue Jays. To clear space on their active roster, they’ve optioned lefty Ryan Merritt to Triple-A Columbus.

Salazar had been out since early June with a sore shoulder. It’s not yet completely clear whose rotation spot he’ll take, although Mike Clevinger, Josh Tomlin and Carlos Carrasco are all penciled in for upcoming starts, and Corey Kluber obviously won’t lose his spot. That could leave Trevor Bauer, who has a disappointing 5.58 ERA this year (albeit with 10.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9) as the odd man out for now.

In any case, the return of a healthy Salazar could be a boon to an Indians club that has reportedly looked for starting pitching on the trade market. (They’ve repeatedly been connected to Sonny Gray, although they’re one of a long list of possible A’s trade partners should the Athletics move Gray.) The hard-throwing Salazar was a key to the Indians’ rotations in both 2015 and 2016, with a 3.63 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 322 1/3 innings in that two-year span. He has a 5.40 ERA this season, but with strong peripherals, including a 12.6 K/9, over 55 frames.

Indians, Trevor Bauer Avoid Arbitration

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The Indians and right-hander Trevor Bauer have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $3.55MM, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Bauer’s 2017 salary comes in a bit shy of the $3.7MM projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

Bauer, 26 next week, logged a career-high 190 innings with the Indians in 2016 and posted a 4.26 ERA that represented an improvement over his 4.55 mark from the 2015 campaign. The former No. 3 overall draft pick averaged 8.0 K/9 against a career-best 3.3 BB/9 to go along with a career-high 48.7 percent ground-ball rate. He drew his share of criticism in the postseason for injuring his finger in bizarre fashion, as he was repairing a drone. Bauer’s ALCS start was pushed back from Game 2 to Game 3 and ultimately proved to be an abbreviated outing, as he lasted just two-thirds of an inning due to the injured hand. He did, however, go on to throw 8 1/3 innings in the World Series.

Cleveland originally acquired Bauer alongside Bryan Shaw, Matt Albers and Drew Stubbs in the three-team deal that sent Shin-Soo Choo to the Reds and Didi Gregorius to the Diamondbacks. Bauer has emerged as a reliable fourth starter for Cleveland, following up excellent right-handers Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar in one of the game’s more talented rotations. He reached arbitration as a Super Two player this year and will be eligible thrice more before hitting free agency upon completion of the 2020 season.

With tomorrow set as the deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration numbers, there figure to be plenty more agreements in the 24 hours to come. You can follow all of the updates using MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker.

Indians Notes: Bauer, Salazar, Kipnis

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Here’s the latest from Cleveland on the World Series, courtesy of reporters including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian:

  • Unsurprisingly, Corey Kluber will start Game 1 on Tuesday, Indians manager Terry Francona says. Currently, Trevor Bauer is set to start Game 2 and Josh Tomlin Game 3, but those slots are less certain, since Bauer is still dealing with a lacerated pinkie and he would not be able to remain in the game if he starts bleeding. If the Indians believe that would be less likely with more rest, his spot in the rotation could be pushed back.
  • Ryan Merritt is a possibility to pitch Game 4, but Danny Salazar pitched in a simulated game today and could also be an option to start that game. Salazar has been out since September 9 with a forearm injury. There’s also the possibility Kluber could pitch Game 4 on short rest. “It’s going to be TBA after Game 3 probably the rest of the way, for obvious reasons,” says Francona. “It’s not that difficult to figure out. Kluber’s certainly an option. It could be a lot of things, so we’re just kind of keeping it open.” A fully healthy Salazar would obviously provide a boost for the Indians, but it’s unclear how crisp he’ll be after so much time off. As Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, Salazar still isn’t throwing his curveball. If he can’t start, he could be an option for the Indians coming out of the bullpen.
  • Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis has a low ankle sprain he suffered while celebrating Cleveland’s pennant win over Toronto, but Francona says Kipnis should be ready to play, as Bastian tweets. Kipnis participated in fielding drills today and faced Salazar in the simulated game.

Quick Hits: Indians, McCutchen, A’s, Valencia, Brewers

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Indians manager Terry Francona announced Saturday that Trevor Bauer, not Cy Young hopeful Corey Kluber, will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday (via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Kluber will then take the ball in Game 2 against the Boston. Those two would also start the fourth and fifth games of the series, if necessary, with Josh Tomlin handling Game 3. Kluber has been dealing with a mild quad strain, which the Indians think makes Bauer a better fit for both the first and fourth games – the latter of which would come on three days’ rest. Bauer wrapped up his regular season Saturday with a quality start in a win over the Royals, giving him a 4.26 ERA, 7.96 K/9, 3.32 BB/9 and 48.7 percent ground-ball rate in a career-high 190 innings.

More from around the majors:

  • In order to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 and return to the playoffs next year, the Pirates will need to focus on pitching and defense during the winter, opines Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Trading five-time All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen could improve the team in those areas, argues Sawchik, who observes that the soon-to-be 30-year-old has declined significantly as a defender, baserunner and hitter this season (though, as Sawchik notes, his bat has come alive over the past two months). With right-hander Ivan Nova likely to depart as a free agent, the Bucs will have another need to fill in an already questionable-looking rotation, and Sawchik posits that dealing McCutchen could land them a replacement. McCutchen has two years and a reasonable $28.5MM remaining on his contract, and the Pirates have a possible in-house successor in top prospect Austin Meadows. If McCutchen is still in Pittsburgh in 2017, general manager Neal Huntington expects a much better season from the 2013 National League MVP. “With the foundation we are working from, we believe Andrew is going to be one of those guys that has a quality bounce-back year,” Huntingon told Sawchik.
  • The Athletics are reportedly unlikely to bring back Danny Valencia in 2017, but the third baseman/right fielder hopes to stay in Oakland. Valencia told John Hickey of the Mercury News he’d “like to think I’ve cemented my position here for next year.” The 32-year-old has been an easily above-average offensive producer dating back to last season, his first with the A’s, but there have been rumors of clubhouse issues with Valencia and he did get into an altercation with then-teammate Billy Butler in August. Valencia, who’s on a $3.15MM salary, has hit a solid .289/.349/.450 with 17 home runs in 513 plate appearances this year and is scheduled to go through arbitration for the third and final time during the offseason.
  • With the possible exception of a Ryan Braun trade, the Brewers’ upcoming offseason should be much quieter than last winter, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In GM David Stearns’ first offseason at the helm, the rebuilding Brewers turned over half the 40-man roster – something Stearns is pleased with a year later. Milwaukee has “increased the amount of young talent on our team and throughout the organization,” Stearns told Haudricourt. “The more young talent you have, the fewer spots you have to fill. So, I think it’s fair to say it would be unlikely for us to have the same amount of roster turnover.”

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