Follow The NFL Draft At ProFootballRumors.com
The NFL Draft is just hours away! This year’s draft is full of intrigue and you’ll want to stay tuned to Pro Football Rumors, whether you’re a hardcore football fan or just a casual observer.
With just hours to go, we still don’t know who the Browns will take with the No. 1 overall pick. For weeks, the Browns were closely linked with USC quarterback Sam Darnold or Wyoming QB Josh Allen, but more and more people in the football world are starting to believe that they’ll take the talented, yet undersized, Baker Mayfield instead. Meanwhile, Allen is in the midst of a controversy that could impact his draft stock.
With multiple possibilities at the top, the Giants (No. 2) and Jets (No. 3) are preparing for every possible scenario. The Giants have been widely connected to Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and are divided on this year’s top QB prospects, but it’s still entirely possible that they’ll use this opportunity to tab Eli Manning’s successor. The Jets had been wrestling with whether to take Mayfield or UCLA QB Josh Rosen, but they could have an opportunity to snag Darnold, which at one point seemed unthinkable. At the same time, Jets coaches are pushing the front office to take Allen, if he’s there.
This year’s draft is one of the most uncertain in recent memory and you’ll want to follow along every step of the way. To stay plugged in with up-to-the-minute updates, follow Pro Football Rumors on Twitter: @pfrumors.
Follow @pfrumors (ProFootballRumors.com) For The Latest NFL Draft News
It’s NFL Draft week! This year’s draft is full of intrigue and you’ll want to stay tuned to Pro Football Rumors for every update whether you’re a casual or hardcore NFL fan.
The draft is hours away and we still don’t know who the No. 1 overall pick will be. Many believe the Browns will take either USC quarterback Sam Darnold or Wyoming QB Josh Allen with the top choice, but the latest word indicates that Oklahoma signal caller Baker Mayfield is in consideration. The Browns could throw everyone an even bigger curve by taking Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at No. 1, which would truly throw the rest of the draft board in flux. The Browns have also made it known that they are willing to trade the first pick, so we could see a blockbuster deal involving a team desperate to find their future solution under center.
The uncertainty doesn’t stop there. The Giants, at No. 2, are reportedly enamored with Barkley and are divided on this year’s top QB prospects, so it’s unclear if they will follow through on their expected plan to draft Eli Manning’s successor. The Jets, meanwhile, are grappling with whether to select Mayfield or UCLA QB Josh Rosen, assuming both players fall to them. With so many questions regarding the top three picks, the possibilities are endless for how the remainder of the first round will shake out.
Over the next 48 hours, there will be a myriad of rumors regarding the NFL Draft and Pro Football Rumors will help you separate the wheat from the chaff. To stay plugged in with up-to-the-minute updates, follow Pro Football Rumors on Twitter: @pfrumors.
Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Reds
This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series. Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.
The Reds added a few role players but largely turned in a quiet offseason.
Major League Signings
- David Hernandez, RHP: two years, $5MM
- Jared Hughes, RHP: two years, $4.5MM
- Yovani Gallardo, RHP: one year, $750K (unknown whether fully guaranteed)
- Total Spend: $10.25MM
Trades and Claims
- Acquired RHP Robinson Leyer from White Sox for unknown return
- Acquired RHP Miguel Medrano from Rangers for $350K in international bonus pool availability
- Claimed 1B Kennys Vargas from Twins (later lost via waiver claim)
- Claimed LHP Justin Nicolino from Marlins
- Claimed LHP Kyle Crockett from Indians (later non-tendered and re-signed to minors deal)
- Claimed LHP Jairo Labourt from Tigers (later lost via waiver claim)
- Selected RHP Brad Keller from Diamondbacks in Rule 5 draft (later traded to Royals for cash/PTBNL)
Extensions
- Signed 3B Eugenio Suarez to seven-year, $66MM contract with $15MM club option ($2MM buyout) for 2025
Notable Minor League Signings
- Dylan Floro, Phil Gosselin, Rosel Herrera, Patrick Kivlehan, Joe Mantiply, Cliff Pennington, Oliver Perez, Kevin Quackenbush, Ben Revere, Tony Sanchez, Mason Williams, Vance Worley
Notable Losses
Needs Addressed
The Reds entered this winter, much as the two previous ones, in something of a stasis at the major-league level. While there have been some encouraging signs from certain young players, the organization has not yet found cause to invest in high-quality veterans, both because it has yet to fully develop a new core of young talent and because the payroll is still burdened by several large contracts.
There’s no doubt that the Cincinnati ballclub is in a rebuild. It has failed to top seventy wins or crawl out of the NL Central basement since 2014. Unlike many organizations that find themselves in such a position, however, the Reds have not been able (or, to some extent, willing) to drastically slash payroll, which has barely dipped below $90MM over the past several years — not that far off of the ~$115MM high-point reached in 2014 and 2015.
On the one hand, that’s simply a product of circumstances. Several of the team’s most expensive players — Homer Bailey, Devin Mesoraco, and Brandon Phillips before them — have been essentially untradeable due to injuries, performance, and/or no-trade protection. But the team has also not found appealing opportunities to deal other expensive assets. Well-compensated superstar Joey Votto has full no-trade rights. Closer Raisel Iglesias — who’s relatively cheaper at this point but could opt into arbitration next fall — is rightly seen as a long-term asset, though certainly there’s risk in keeping a high-end young reliever. Center fielder Billy Hamilton was a frequent subject of trade chatter but ultimately was held over the just-completed offseason. And second bagger Scooter Gennett — who was a nice find last spring — is like Hamilton both increasingly pricey and nearing a final trip through the arb process.
The club also decided not to deal third baseman Eugenio Suarez, instead declaring him part of the core moving forward with an extension. He’s valued for both his glove and bat by the Reds. If he can maintain the pace he sustained in 2017, the contract will prove a relative bargain, though it’s also another big commitment and thus obviously carries some risk.
Those players, of course, are still in town. Former shortstop Zack Cozart, on the other hand, departed via free agency — leaving the Reds without any compensation. The club seemed in position to deal him at times, but evidently his ill-timed health issues and/or a lack of reasonable offers precluded a deal. While the Reds held out the possibility of extending Cozart, that never happened and the organization ended up not issuing him a qualifying offer at the end of the 2017 campaign. That decision is hard to fault, as Cozart may have felt it too risky to pass up $17.2MM for one season and carrying draft compensation onto the open market. Without knowing the precise offers that could have been had, it’s hard to second-guess the organization too much for its handling of that particular situation, but it’s certainly a less-than-desirable result in the situation of yet another quality veteran player.
In the aggregate, then, the Reds have likely not pocketed significant amounts of cash even while they’ve put an unsuccessful product on the field. And the organization has reasonably substantial sums already committed into the future, including about $68.5MM for 2019, $49.5MM for 2020, and $40MM for 2021. Contemplating future spending capacity is all guesswork from the outside, but it seems reasonable to say that the Reds did not save as much money or clear as much future payroll space as quite a few other rebuilding teams have in recent seasons. And that likely left less to work with this winter.
Given the situation, perhaps it’s unsurprising that the Dick Williams-led front office ended up turning in another quiet offseason. The organization took a budget-conscious approach to its two biggest needs — accounting for Cozart’s absence and adding some arms — and otherwise mostly elected to maintain the status quo in hopes of finding improvement from within in 2018.
With the outfield and starting infield already accounted for from within, the Reds decided to pursue a few utility pieces to help carry the load while waiting for top prospect Nick Senzel. The club ended up giving Opening Day jobs to both Cliff Pennington and Phil Gosselin, providing a veteran presence but not much hope of significant output.
On the pitching side, David Hernandez and Jared Hughes were both given low-AAV, two-year contracts to firm up the relief corps. Late-spring signee Yovani Gallardo was another addition, though it wasn’t long before he was cut loose. That trio was supplemented by a variety of claims and minor-league signees who’ll combine to add depth, but perhaps not much quality, to a Reds pitching staff that has been irredeemably awful over the past two seasons. Thus far in 2018, recent additions Kevin Quackenbush and Dylan Floro have stuck in the majors, while the team was also able to stash lefties Justin Nicolino and Kyle Crockett in the minors and off of the 40-man roster.
Questions Remaining
The resulting pitching unit is entirely underwhelming on paper. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the staff has opened the 2018 season as the worst in baseball, continuing a pace of three-year futility that may rival any in baseball history when all is said and done. Of course, as I argued last fall, there wasn’t much sense throwing money at the problem at this point. Even significant spending likely would not have made this roster a contending one; any outside chance at staying in the hunt was likely snuffed out anyway with a 3-and-15 start.
What the Reds are hoping, then, is that their slate of hurlers makes some strides that improve the future outlook. Veteran Homer Bailey is hoping to return to some level of health and effectiveness after three forgettable seasons. With $49MM still owed on his deal (including a buyout of a 2020 option), the best the team can hope for is to fill up some innings or perhaps save a bit of cash if there’s a team interested in a trade. It’s still anybody’s guess when Anthony DeSclafani will return from his run of injuries. He can be controlled for 2019 and 2020 via arbitration. Brandon Finnegan, who has one further year of control, is back on the hill after missing almost all of 2017. Each of these pitchers has succeeded at times in the majors, but whether they can do so again is questionable at best.
There’s some promise from younger arms, too. Luis Castillo was a major bright spot in 2017 and is the most intriguing player the team has returned from its recent trades. Tyler Mahle is expected to turn into a solid MLB starter. But both of these pitchers still need to fully establish themselves at the game’s highest level. A host of other arms — Sal Romano, Amir Garrett, Jackson Stephens, and former top prospect Robert Stephenson among them — will get their share of opportunities. Some, surely, will end up dropping into relief duty (as Garrett has to open the year). Perhaps one or more will prove worthy of a starting slot in the future, though you’ll be hard-pressed to find strong believers among outside talent evaluators.
Garrett has looked good in a relief role to open the season, potentially giving the team another late-inning piece while Hernandez and Michael Lorenzen work back from injury. Iglesias remains the anchor, while Wandy Peralta and Cody Reed provide two more lefty options to go with Garrett. Any contending team would have gone hunting for multiple upgrades over the winter. For the Reds, though, it’s more sensible to run out the pitchers they have to see what sticks.
The situation on the position-player side is more promising, generally, but also comes with some concerns. Perhaps no area is of greater interest than the middle infield. With Suarez locked in at third (once he’s back to full health), it seems that Senzel will end up playing in the middle infield. If he’s capable of playing short, that could put even greater pressure on Jose Peraza, who has to this point wilted with the open opportunity he has received since the start of the 2016 season. Gennett could be a mid-season trade candidate, though rival teams are no doubt aware of the deeper history (including his lack of success against lefties) that preceded his excellent 2017 season. First base (Votto) and catcher (Tucker Barnhart, Mesoraco) rate as strengths.
The outfield unit also has some more established options, though none are foolproof. Hamilton is a defensive and baserunning whiz whose bat seems less and less likely ever to come around. He’s flanked by two powerful, OBP-challenged players in Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler. Well-regarded youngster Jesse Winker is also slated to receive a lot of playing time after showing well in a 47-game stint last year. Phil Ervin, himself a former first-round pick, rounds out the major players in this arena. There’s talent here, but it’d be hard to call this a first-division unit. If things break right, though, the Reds could build from this group without further additions.
Overview
The real problems with the Reds’ current situation began not with any decisions this winter, but with whiffs in years past on moving veteran assets. A combination of questionable decisionmaking (especially, holding some veterans at the 2015 deadline) and poor prospect outcomes, along with injuries and some bad fortune, largely left Williams and co. without appealing options for moving things forward over the just-completed offseason. Unfortunately, that means another season of waiting and hoping that the young talent in an increasingly well-regarded farm system will develop — and do so in time to join Votto while he’s still one of the game’s best hitters.
How would you grade the Reds’ offseason efforts? (Link for MLBTR app users.)
Grade the Reds' Offseason
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F 49% (1,517)
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D 35% (1,071)
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C 13% (412)
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B 2% (52)
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A 1% (30)
Total votes: 3,082
Quick Hits: Puerto Rico, Ballparks, Ohtani, Minors Pay
Indians star Francisco Lindor hit a memorable home run in last night’s tilt in Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, the San Juan landmark that was hit hard by Hurricane Maria. You can hear Lindor discuss the well-timed long ball ball in a video at MLB.com. And you’ll also want to review the huge effort that went into getting the ballpark ready to host a MLB game amidst the widespread devastation on the island, as Joe Mock writes for USA Today Sports.
Here are some other interesting recent stories from around the game:
- Dayn Perry of CBS Sports examines the ballpark history of the South Side of Chicago — and more generally — in an interesting piece that’s well worth your time. The machinations to replace Old Comiskey ultimately left the club playing in what’s now known as Guaranteed Rate Field, but the Sox missed a chance at a mythical park known in concept as Armour Field. Anyone with even a passing interest in how society interacts with stadiums ought to give this a read (or, at least, open it in a browser tab for future consideration).
- Though Shohei Ohtani struggled in a much-anticipated outing last night, the Angels‘ new star remains the most interesting player in baseball. That’s true not only for North American fans just getting acquainted with the incredibly talented young player, but also those in Japan who have long been awed by his skill. As Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post writes, the insatiable appetite for news on Ohtani has left Japanese media members engaged in a non-stop drive for stories. That has put quite a strain on the journalists operating a long way from home, as Sheinin explores in this interesting piece.
- Hard-working scribes aren’t the only folks pushing themselves for sometimes meager rewards in the game of baseball. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently penned a valuable article on the minor-league grind, which often means long hours for little compensation. Pay for non-40-man players remains an important topic, and this is a good look at just why it matters for the many hopeful big leaguers who are plying their trade all around the country, waiting for a chance not only to play the game at its highest level, but also to achieve some financial security.
MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Gyorko, Harrison, Hellickson, Kiermaier
ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM
(April 16th)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
- MILWAUKEE BREWERS | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: C Manny Pina (strained calf)
- Jett Bandy played C and batted 8th on Monday.
- Recalled from minors: C Jacob Nottingham
- Placed on 10-Day DL: C Manny Pina (strained calf)
- PITTSBURGH PIRATES | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: 2B Josh Harrison (fractured hand)
- Harrison is expected to miss six weeks.
- Adam Frazier played 2B and batted 1st on Monday.
- Added to 25-man roster: RP Enny Romero (claimed off waivers from Pirates on Saturday)
- Promoted: INF Max Moroff
- Optioned: RP Dovydas Neverauskas
- Placed on 10-Day DL: 2B Josh Harrison (fractured hand)
- ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | Depth Chart
- Activated from 10-Day DL: INF Jedd Gyorko and RP Luke Gregerson
- Optioned: INF/OF Yairo Munoz, RP Mike Mayers
- WASHINGTON NATIONALS | Depth Chart
- Promoted: SP Jeremy Hellickson (contract purchased)
- Optioned: RP Trevor Gott
- Transferred to 60-Day DL: C Jhonatan Solano
—
AMERICAN LEAGUE
- NEW YORK YANKEES | Depth Chart
- Signed: INF/OF Jace Peterson (MLB contract)
- Optioned: RP/SP Luis Cessa
- OAKLAND ATHLETICS | Depth Chart
- Activated from 10-Day DL: INF/OF Chad Pinder
- Optioned: INF Franklin Barreto
- TAMPA BAY RAYS | Depth Chart
- Placed on 10-Day DL: OF Kevin Kiermaier (torn thumb ligament)
- Kiermaier is expected to miss at least 12 weeks.
- Mallex Smith will play CF while Kiermaier is out.
- Recalled: RP Chih-Wei Hu
- Placed on 10-Day DL: OF Kevin Kiermaier (torn thumb ligament)
- TEXAS RANGERS | Depth Chart
- Added to 25-man roster: INF/OF Renato Nunez (claimed off waivers from Athletics on Sunday)
- Nunez played LF and batted 6th on Monday.
- Optioned: INF/OF Ryan Rua
- Added to 25-man roster: INF/OF Renato Nunez (claimed off waivers from Athletics on Sunday)
—
FUTURE EXPECTED MOVES
- BOS: SP Drew Pomeranz will be activated from 10-Day DL on Friday April 20th, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.
- CHC: 1B Anthony Rizzo will be activated from the DL on Tuesday April 17th, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
- MIA: C J.T. Realmuto is likely to be activated from the DL on Tuesday April 17th, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
- NYY: SP CC Sabathia will be activated from the DL on Thursday April 19th, according to Erik Boland of Newsday.
- OAK: SP Trevor Cahill will be recalled from the minors on Tuesday April 17th, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com. He will be making his first start with the A’s since September 2011.
- SEA: OF Ben Gamel will be activated from the DL sometime during the upcoming series versus Houston (April 16th-19th), according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. SP Ariel Miranda will likely be recalled on Tuesday April 17th, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com.
- SFG: SP Johnny Cueto will be activated from the DL on Tuesday April 17th, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. SP Tyler Beede was optioned to the minors to make room on the 25-man roster.
- TOR: SP Joe Biagini will be recalled from the minors on Tuesday April 17th, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. He’ll start Game 2 of the double-header.
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This is a sponsored post from DraftKings.
Spending Bill Would Exempt Minor-Leaguers From Minimum-Wage, Overtime Protections
As federal legislators weigh a spending bill today, the financial fates of thousands of minor-leaguers hang in the balance. That’s because, as Maury Brown of Forbes and Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post are among those to report, the bill presently includes a carve-out of minor-league players from certain labor protections.
Rather cynically dubbed the “Save America’s Pastime Act,” the language would amend the New Deal-era Fair Labor Standards Act. Young sub-MLB ballplayers would be removed from the purview of minimum-wage and overtime protections. Instead, they’d be entitled only to be paid the minimum wage required for a forty-hour work week, during the season, “irrespective of the number of hours the employee devotes to baseball related activities.”
Evidently, the pending legislation provided an opening for this previously proposed but never-enacted exemption, which would be expected to largely forestall several pending lawsuits that challenge current labor practices with regard to players who are not on a 40-man roster. Even as the league has litigated those matters, the reports detail, it has boosted its spending on lobbying efforts in recent years in search of another way of dealing with the claims.
By Brown’s count, at any given time there are about 6,500 players working in the minors without 40-man spots. They are only paid while actually playing games in a MiLB industry that Brown says drew over 41 million in attendance last year. Thus, it is typical for players to take home only “between three thousand and seventy-five hundred dollars, total, during a roughly five-month championship season, with no overtime pay,” as Mary Pilon explained a few years back in The New Yorker. Some number of those players certainly receive a significant inducement to accept such an undesirable salary situation, though the vast majority achieve only minimal bonuses when they became professionals.
Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner says the law is about making sure players aren’t prevented from doing extra work to hone their skills and argues that “the formula of minimum wage and overtime is so incalculable.” As Jon Shepherd of Camden Depot explains, though, that’s not exactly an argument that decides the subject, not least because players could (as they surely do already) elect to train more or less based upon their own preferences, on their own time. His extensive post is well worth a full read for those interested in getting a sense of the overall costs involved, how they relate to team revenues, and whether there are some other potential solutions that would be both equitable and workable.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Marlins, A’s, Jays, O’s, Reds
This week in baseball blogs…
- Fish Stripes looks at how much it could cost the Marlins to extend catcher J.T. Realmuto.
- A’s Farm talks to young Athletics building blocks Matt Olson, Bruce Maxwell and Chad Pinder.
- BP Toronto chats with Blue Jays reliever Tyler Clippard about some problems with his pitch mix last year and how he’s planning to fix it this season.
- The K Zone shares an offseason interview with young Phillies Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery.
- Camden Depot explains what will need to happen for the Orioles to win the AL East this season.
- MLB & Fantasy Baseball Analyzed lists the biggest winners and losers of the offseason.
- The Junkball Daily delves into the greatness of Joey Votto.
- Know Hitter regards Kyle Schwarber and Nelson Cruz as potential in-season trade chips.
- District On Deck compares the Nationals to other likely NL contenders.
- Pro Sports Fandom recaps Corey Seager‘s second season.
- Call to the Pen (links: 1, 2) reacts to the Twins’ Lance Lynn signing and writes about the Phillies’ roster battles.
- Brew City Sports Report looks back at an active Brewers offseason.
- Pirates Breakdown previews Corey Dickerson‘s season.
- Good Fundies asks if Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki is ready to break out.
- Chin Music Baseball ranks the game’s top 10 starting rotations.
- Rotisserie Duck names the worst trades of all-time.
- Jays Journal analyzes Toronto’s first base options beyond Justin Smoak.
- Tomahawk Take details why Braves have been a bit thrifty on their spending in recent years – and why 2019 will be different.
- Baseball Takes has high hopes for the Indians’ Yandy Diaz.
- The Sports Tank and Bronx To Bushville respond to the Yankees’ addition of Neil Walker.
- Sports Talk Philly projects the Phillies’ Opening Day lineup.
- The Loop Sports highlights several Cubs’ spring performances.
- The Daily Jay tries to figure out what Toronto has in Teoscar Hernandez.
- Rox Pile wonders wonders what the Rockies can do to take the NL West.
- The Point of Pittsburgh assembles the worst Pirates’ 25-man roster of the last 25 years.
- Mets Daddy contends that having to play at Citi Field may help keep David Wright out of the Hall of Fame.
- The Runner Sports (links: 1, 2, 3) examines Yankees prospect Miguel Andujar‘s future, reflects on Kennys Vargas‘ Twins tenure and touches on Astros prospect Myles Straw‘s newfound bond with Jose Altuve.
- Jays From the Couch imagines if Toronto didn’t have Kendrys Morales on its roster.
- Orioles Hangout wonders if Trey Mancini will be a role player or a future star.
- Extra Innings UK runs down the week’s international baseball headlines, involving everything from Cal Ripken Jr. to visits with several minor league teams.
- Always The Jake (links: 1, 2, 3) profiles Indians prospects Francisco Mejia, Triston McKenzie and Bobby Bradley.
- Dodgers Way spotlights LA pitching prospect Imani Abdullah.
- Friars On Base is optimistic about the Padres’ stable of young arms.
- Motor City Bengals focuses on five Tigers prospects who could debut in 2018.
- STL Hat Trick names five underrated Cardinals prospects who are making progress.
- Notes from the Sally previews the Charleston Riverdogs, the Yankees’ Single-A South Atlantic League club.
- Everything Bluebirds is excited about the Blue Jays’ next wave of talent.
- Pinstriped Prospects offers the latest on Yankees spring training.
- The NatsGM Show (podcast) chats with Russell Carleton, author of the soon-to-be published book, “The Shift.”
Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com
Minor League Baseball Announces Pace Of Play Rules Changes
We’ve already covered the much-discussed rules changes at the MLB level relating to pace of play. That is certainly the most pertinent recent development in the rules arena, which has emerged as a point of no little controversy between the league and player’s union.
Today, though, the minor-league rule book received some changes of its own, as MLB.com’s Matt Kelly was among those to report, with some notable differences. While these regulations obviously won’t be seen in major-league games, they presumably could be considered for the game’s highest level in the future.
Mound visits will now be limited in the minors, much as is set to occur at the MLB level. The already-existing pitch clocks in the upper minors will be sped up. That, perhaps, is the next frontier for the majors, though the clock is not slated to be implemented there in 2018.
What has raised the most eyebrows, surely, is a rather notable change in extra innings. In a measure that’s sure both to shorten contests and engender consternation among purists, teams will start each inning with a baserunner on second from the tenth frame on. (The runner will be the player that occupies the spot in the order prior to the one that’s due to lead off the inning.) This procedure was utilized with less-than-enthusiastic reviews at the most recent World Baseball Classic.
Clearly, there’s more justification for utilizing this sort of procedure in the minors, where development is still the primary purpose. And it’s far from clear whether there’s any real inclination to pursue such a game-altering approach in the majors. Still, it’s quite a modification and one that’s sure to impact minor-league games across the country in the coming season.