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Relief Market Notes: Holland, Dodgers, Salas, Maness, Breslow

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There are at least three teams still pursuing veteran reliever Greg Holland, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He lists the Nationals and Rockies as the two known entities, with a third mystery entrant also involved. With Spring Training just about three weeks off, Holland’s market seems to be “heating up,” Heyman says, though it’s still not clear what kind of timeline to expect.

At the moment, of course, Holland is occupied with more important matters, as he is among the players attending the funeral of stricken former teammate Yordano Ventura. Certainly, our thoughts are with Ventura’s family and friends as they lay him to rest today. Those interested in finding coverage from the perspective of the Royals’ contingent may wish to follow the reporting of Kansas City Star columnist Vahe Gregorian.

Here are some more notes relating to the relief market:

  • Having addressed their need at second base, the Dodgers will now focus on adding another arm to their bullpen mix, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Joe Blanton could still return, per the report, while southpaw Jerry Blevins is also a target. But the club is looking to make only a one-year investment, Rosenthal notes, and could pivot to another arm if the value is there. Whether or not the team could still chase Holland isn’t clear at this moment.
  • Righty Fernando Salas, meanwhile, remains one of the better available relievers. He’s still drawing interest from six unnamed teams, sources tell Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). While Salas has struggled a bit with limiting the long ball and hasn’t posted terribly exciting earned run averages over the past two years, he has run up some compelling K/BB numbers at times. Plus, Salas finished the 2016 season with a flourish, permitting just four earned runs on 11 hits over 17 1/3 frames while racking up 19 strikeouts without issuing a single walk.
  • Another right-handed reliever, Seth Maness, is set for a showcase on February 6th, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). The 28-year-old is looking to prove to organizations that he’s ready for camp after undergoing a new “primary repair” procedure — which Goold detailed here — in lieu of Tommy John surgery. Having already demonstrated a big groundball rate (59.4% for his career) and outstanding control (1.7 BB/9), there’ll be no shortage of interest if Maness looks anything like his usual self.
  • About half of the teams in the league came to watch lefty Craig Breslow throw recently, per Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com (via Twitter). The veteran is attempting to follow the Rich Hill model for a late-career renaissance, with buttressed strength work and a new arm angle. Breslow’s new motion can be seen in this video, provided by Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (courtesy of Twins scout Bill Mele, who was on hand). The 36-year-old has pitched in 11 major league seasons for seven different clubs, most recently appearing in 15 games for the Marlins in 2016.

Latest On Matt Wieters’ Market

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Matt Wieters is still looking for a new team, and the catcher is short one more potential landing spot now that Braves have agreed to sign Kurt Suzuki.  Atlanta had long been cited as a candidate to sign Georgia Tech alum Wieters; just under 30% of MLBTR readers predicted the Braves as Wieters’ next team in a poll last month.

ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick explored the Wieters market in a series of tweets (1, 2, 3, 4), including the news that there is some sentiment within the Orioles organization to re-sign Wieters to a one-year deal.  Under this arrangement, Wieters would split time with Welington Castillo behind the plate while also getting some at-bats as a DH.  While Wieters is popular with Baltimore’s on-field staff, however, Crasnick describes the O’s as “a long shot” for Wieters since the team’s analytics staff has reservations.

Wieters would certainly be an upgrade over current backup catcher Caleb Joseph, and a one-year deal would give the Orioles future flexibility at catcher — Castillo has a player option for 2018 and top prospect Chance Sisco is close to being ready for the big leagues.  Wieters would still carry a not-insignificant price tag even on a one-year contract, and the Orioles might not be keen to spend that much on the catcher position when Joseph is still in the fold at a low price and could rebound from his dismal 2016 season.

A timeshare-esque situation in Baltimore also wouldn’t necessarily help Wieters’ chances at scoring his sought-after multi-year contract next winter, so he could prefer a clearer path to playing time.  An MLB source with knowledge of the catching market tells Crasnick that the Angels, Rockies and perhaps the Reds seem to be the best fits for Wieters on a one-year deal.  The Angels have reportedly had some internal talks about Wieters already, while the Rockies could use a more established catcher in lieu of their planned Tony Wolters/Tom Murphy platoon.

The Reds are a new name in the mix, and their interest in Wieters or any other established catcher hinges on Devin Mesoraco’s health.  Mesoraco underwent hip surgery last summer and was scheduled to begin catching drills around this point in January, so more should be known about his injury situation in the next few weeks.  Since signing a four-year, $28MM extension after the 2014 season, Mesoraco has barely been able to get onto the field, playing just 39 games total in 2015-16 due to shoulder surgery and procedures on both his left and right hips.  Tucker Barnhart handled most of the work last year in Mesoraco’s absence, hitting .257/.323/.379 in 420 PA and posting strong blocking numbers according to Baseball Prospectus, though both BP and StatCorner rank Barnhart as a below-average pitch framer.  Rule 5 pick Stuart Turner is the only other catcher on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster.

The Diamondbacks and Nationals have both been linked to Wieters at various times this winter, though Crasnick echoes other recent reports in saying that the Nats don’t seem to have much interest in Wieters.  After Washington acquired Derek Norris, there were rumors that the Nationals could sign Wieters and then flip Norris, though one would think that the Nats could’ve just signed Wieters rather than trade for Norris in the first place.  It doesn’t seem like D.C. is a fit at the moment, though “you can never rule out the Nationals with Scott Boras clients,” Crasnick writes.

Reliever Notes: Casilla, Betances, Nationals, Luhnow, Twins

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Here’s the latest bullpen buzz from around the game…

  • Before signing with the Athletics, Santiago Casilla told reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle) that he also received an offer from the Brewers.  Earlier this week, Milwaukee went in another direction for its closing vacancy by signing Neftali Feliz to a one-year contract.
  • The Yankees discussed a multi-year deal with Dellin Betances, GM Brian Cashman tells Dan Martin of the New York Post.  The two sides didn’t reach an agreement prior to the arbitration deadline, however, and thus they will go to an arbitration hearing to determine Betances’ 2017 salary.  “Based on all of our discussions, it was clear our different perspectives were at such a wide bridge, that we’ll go out and basically have a polite discussion about market value and history of where the marketplace sits versus attempts for a new market creation,” Cashman said.  The Yankees filed for $3MM while Betances filed for $5MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility, a number the reliever feels is justified, he told the Post’s George A. King III.  “What I’ve done for the first three years for the team, we’re asking for a fair number and I just want to be treated fairly. That’s all I ask, to be honest with you,” Betances said.
  • Lack of depth may be a bigger bullpen issue for the Nationals than their lack of an experienced closer, MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman writes.  The Nats have been rather quiet as of late but Zuckerman notes that the club has “been looking at available relievers for weeks now,” as well as possible bench options.
  • The Astros are still monitoring the market for left-handed relievers, though GM Jeff Luhnow tells reporters (including Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle) that “at this point I’m not sure that anything’s going to get done there.”  Tony Sipp is the only southpaw in Houston’s bullpen right now, while inexperienced options Kevin Chapman, Ashur Tolliver and Reymin Guduan are also on the 40-man roster.
  • The Twins bullpen “still needs some work,” Paul Molitor tells MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, as the manager says the team is continuing to look for possible upgrades.

NL Notes: Straily, Marlins, Padres, Nationals/Wieters

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Parting with righty Dan Straily wasn’t particularly easy for the Reds, who surely valued the cheap innings he might have provided, but as GM Dick Williams explains and MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports, the team finally found an offer it couldn’t say no to from the Marlins. Per Williams, the team “identified some of [the acquired prospects] as guys we were absolutely targeting,” informing Miami “that we wouldn’t go forward if we couldn’t get access to those guys.” While the Fish initially declined, says Williams, they steadily upped their offer over a span of several months. While the team wasn’t keen to give up Straily, Williams says it “just couldn’t pass on” the chance to add “impact talent” in the form of right-handers Luis Castillo and Austin Brice along with outfielder Isaiah White.

Here are a few more notes out of the National League:

  • The Marlins’ stockpiling of arms this winter — including, most recently, the acquisition of Straily — may result in atypical pitcher usage patterns, president of baseball operations Michael Hill says (via Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, on Twitter). Miami may look to rely heavily on what it considers to be a deep pen, Hill suggested. “There may be situations where the starter is out in the fourth or the fifth, and a bridge guy takes you to the sixth, and you’ve got a setup man in the seventh and the eighth, and a closer in the ninth,” he explained, dubbing the expected approach “non-traditional.”
  • Another team that has already added a few hurlers, the Padres, could still be in the market for more, according to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (via Twitter). It’s not considered a major need, though, as the club intends to open up the team’s five rotation spots to as many as nine possible competitors this spring.
  • It has long been debated whether the Nationals will (and should) pursue free-agent catcher Matt Wieters, whose market has seemingly languished. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post updates the situation from the Nats’ perspective, noting that there may be some truth to the chatter that the front office hasn’t yet been given the green light to spend more heavily. But while there may be some posturing at play, it also seems that the team just isn’t all that interested in Wieters. Janes writes that “the Nationals have never been particularly high on Wieters internally … and harbor concerns about his defense and his health.”

Rosenthal On Dodgers’ Search For Second Baseman

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The Dodgers have expanded their search for a second baseman, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. Los Angeles remains engaged on longstanding targets Brian Dozier, Ian Kinsler, and Logan Forsythe, but appears to be looking elsewhere in the event that those players can’t be had at a palatable rate.

Among the players that could potentially be fits, per Rosenthal, are switch-hitters Jurickson Profar of the Rangers, Cesar Hernandez of the Phillies, and Wilmer Difo of the Nationals, though he notes that of that trio, Profar is the only one on whom the Dodgers have definitively inquired. All are young and controllable somewhat controllable — Profar through 2019, Hernandez through 2020 and Difo all the way through 2022. Only Hernandez, though, has put up a full and productive major league season.

Beyond those possibilities, Rosenthal says that there’s still some potential for a reunion with Chase Utley. Still, the club would rather find a hitter who swings from the right side. That would also appear to leave little room for interest in the other top remaining second-base-capable free agents.

Dave Cameron of Fangraphs recently suggested that the best fit on paper might be Javier Baez, with young pitching going to the Cubs in exchange. But that doesn’t seem particularly likely, as Cameron notes and Rosenthal also echoes.

All things considered, Rosenthal explains, Dozier might still be the likeliest target for the Dodgers. Though the club seemingly broke off its talks with the Twins recently, Rosenthal says that the door remains open to a deal. It’s imaginable that Los Angeles could line up with the Rays on Forsythe, but the biggest issue there seems to be that Tampa Bay doesn’t have a ready replacement.

Quick Hits: Quintana, White Sox, Sabathia, Harper, Grichuk

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Interest remains strong in White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana, writes CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine, who reports that teams have sweetened their trade proposals for the 27-year-old over the past week. While the Astros, Pirates and Yankees have been connected to Quintana more than anyone else this offseason, there are also other clubs in the mix, sources told Levine, who adds that the White Sox could strike a deal to move him soon. Chicago isn’t in any hurry to give up Quintana, but Levine expects it to happen prior to spring training.

Elsewhere around the majors…

  • Yankees southpaw C.C. Sabathia will turn 37 in 2017, the last year of his contract, but retirement isn’t on his mind. Regarding the end of the long Yankee tenures of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira last season, Sabathia told Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record, “If anything, it made me want to play as long as I can. As long as I’m healthy and feeling good, I want to play.’’ While Sabathia is no longer the front-line starter he was earlier in his career, he did bounce back last season from a couple subpar years in a row. In 179 2/3 innings, he logged a 3.91 ERA, 7.61 K/9, 3.26 BB/9 and 50.1 percent ground-ball rate. That impressed general manager Brian Cashman, who said, “It’s a big year for him. It’s his free-agent walk year. And I’ll sign up right now to get what we got out of him last year. He was very effective.’’ Cashman also stated that Sabathia’s “expectations and hopes are to pitch for another four or five years or something like that.”
  • The Nationals and right fielder Bryce Harper avoided arbitration Friday when they agreed to a $13.625MM salary for 2017. That figure trumps MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s $9.3MM arbitration projection for Harper, leading Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com to wonder if it was a goodwill gesture on the Nationals’ part. Harper made $5MM last season, which was a bargain even during a down year for the 2015 National League MVP. By nearly tripling Harper’s salary, Zuckerman posits that the Nats may have been trying to make up for his cheap cost last year and perhaps improve their chances of extending the Scott Boras client before he hits free agency two winters from now. However, regardless of the club’s motivation, Zuckerman concedes that Harper’s 2017 salary probably won’t affect whether he’ll stay in D.C.
  • Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk underwent left knee surgery to remove loose cartilage earlier this offseason, he told reporters – including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – on Sunday (Twitter link). Grichuk added that he’s doing well after a month-plus recovery. The 25-year-old has now undergone surgeries in back-to-back offseasons, including a procedure to repair a sports hernia last winter. With the signing of big-money center fielder Dexter Fowler in free agency, Grichuk is in line for the everyday job in left next season (depth chart).

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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Quite frankly, there were too many arbitration agreements today to reasonably stuff into one post. So here’s a rundown of the National League players that have avoided arbitration on smaller deals (American League deals here). You can see all of the arbitration “action” thus far in a sortable, filterable format by checking out MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker. All projections referenced in this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

  • Wily Peralta and Carlos Torres have agreed to one-year deals, according to the team’s Twitter account. Peralta will earn $4.275MM (compared to $4.4MM projection), per Heyman. Torres was projected to make $2MM, but will get slightly more at $2.175MM, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (via Twitter).
  • Reliever George Kontos gets $1.75MM from the Giants, Heyman tweets. He had projected at $1.7MM.
  • The Diamondbacks also reached agreement with lefty Patrick Corbin, righty Randall Delgado, and catcher Chris Herrmann, per Jack Magruder of Fan Rag (links to Twitter). Delgado gets $1.775MM and Herrmann receives $937,500. As for Corbin, he’ll take home $3.95MM, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter), which falls a bit shy of his $4.2MM projection.
  • Infielder Eduardo Nunez will receive $4.2MM from the Giants, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). San Francisco has also reached agreement with lefty Will Smith, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). He’ll receive $2.5MM, just over his $2.3MM projection, Heyman tweets.
  • The Phillies settled at $4.2MM with righty Jeanmar Gomez, per Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). He falls just a big shy of his $4.6MM projection.
  • The Cardinals have announced arb deals with Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist. Rosenthal receives $6.4MM, per Heyman (via Twitter), which is just $100K over his projection. Siegrist projected at $1.9MM, but his salary has yet to be reported.
  • Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom have each avoided arbitration with the Mets. Harvey gets $5.125MM in his second arb year, per James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter). Meanwhile, deGrom will receive $4.05MM in his first trip through the arb process, per ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin (via Twitter). New York has also agreed with lefty Josh Edgin, Rubin tweets, though terms remain unreported.

Earlier Updates

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Nationals, Bryce Harper Avoid Arbitration

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The Nationals have avoided arbitration with right fielder and 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Harper will receive a hefty $13.625MM salary — a massive raise over his $5MM salary from the 2016 season. Harper’s raise shattered the $9.3MM projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and stands out as the largest raise ever given to a position player that is entering his third year of arbitration eligibility. Harper will be arb-eligible once more next winter and is a free agent following the 2018 season.

Nationals, Neal Cotts Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have agreed to a minor league contract with left-handed reliever Neal Cotts, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that the veteran 36-year-old (37 in March) will receive an invite to Major League Spring Training. Cotts is represented by Pro Star Management.

Cotts didn’t pitch in the Majors last season and had a three-year layoff from MLB action from 2010-12, but he pitched very well for three teams in the interim. From 2013-15, Cotts tallied 187 innings out of the bullpen for the Rangers, Brewers and Twins, posting a collective 3.03 ERA with 186 strikeouts against 57 unintentional walks. As one might expect, he was most effective against left-handed batters in that time, limiting same-handed opponents to a .212/.278/.356 batting line in 317 plate appearances. However, Cotts also held his own against righties, limiting even those with the platoon advantage to a reasonable .236/.313/.371 slash in 461 plate appearances.

The 2016 season saw Cotts sign a slew of minor league deals, but he never made it back to the Majors despite solid results at the Triple-A level. Cotts totaled 44 2/3 innings of work between the Triple-A affiliates for the Rangers, Yankees and Angels last year, registering a 3.83 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 while limiting left-handed opponents to a .220/.277/.322 batting line in 66 plate appearances. With the Nationals, he’ll compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training, although left-handed relief isn’t a massive need for Washington. The Nats have both Sammy Solis and Oliver Perez as southpaws in the big league bullpen, with Matt Grace serving as another option on the 40-man roster.

Greg Holland Seeks Two-Year Deal With Opt-Out

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Free-agent righty Greg Holland is arguably the highest-upside reliever left on the open market, and Jon Heyman of Fan Rag provides some notable updates on his situation. The 31-year-old is in a somewhat unusual spot as a free agent, in that he brings a sparkling track record but is also seeking to return from a long layoff due to Tommy John surgery.

Given his health situation and also the evident interest around the league, Holland seeks a two-year deal that would allow him to opt out after the first season, according to Heyman. That’s the same structure that Brian Wilson landed with the Dodgers before the 2014 season, though he had made it back to the hill late in the prior campaign.

In Holland’s case, there’s perhaps greater uncertainty, but also greater upside. He took a step back in his most recent action, in 2015, but that may well have been due to the elbow issues that led to his surgery. Over the prior four campaigns, Holland was one of the game’s very best relievers, as he compiled 256 1/3 innings of 1.86 ERA pitching with 12.6 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9.

There’s interest in Holland’s proposed two-year arrangement, per the report. Among the teams still pursuing him are the Dodgers, Nationals, Rockies, Brewers, Reds, and Rays. While the Cubs showed prior interest, it’s not clear whether they are still in. And the Royals have also indicated a desire to bring back their former closer, though it seems that the team’s payroll situation may not allow for a competitive bid.

That group of organizations would presumably offer Holland a variety of possible roles. The Nationals, Rockies, Brewers, Reds, and Royals (if they’re involved) could all promise him first dibs on closing roles, while the Dodgers and perhaps the Cubs are more likely to view the veteran as a setup man. Tampa Bay, perhaps, might be most interested in the event that it strikes a deal for incumbent closer Alex Colome. Whether and to what extent the chance to take hold of the ninth is an important factor in Holland’s decisionmaking is not immediately clear.

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