Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nationals Rumors

Nationals Sign Bronson Arroyo To Minor League Deal

By | at

9:41pm: Sheldon tweets that Arroyo will receive a $2MM base salary if he makes the Major League roster. Arroyo’s contract is heavily incentive-laden, as one would expect, and he can earn $6MM worth of incentives (topping out at 32 starts made), bringing the maximum potential value of the contract to $8MM.

9:34pm: The Nationals announced that they have signed Bronson Arroyo to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Yesterday, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reported that the veteran right-hander had received a minor league contract offer from the Nats but was drawing interest from four other teams, including the Reds. The soon-to-be 39-year-old is represented by Turn 2 Sports Management.

Arroyo figures to serve as a depth option for the Nationals, who currently project to have a top three of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez in their rotation. Behind that strong trio is young right-hander Joe Ross, who looked impressive in his Major League debut in 2015, and right-hander Tanner Roark, who had an outstanding 2014 campaign before losing his rotation slot when the Nats made a surprising play for Scherzer last winter. Arroyo could allow the team to either give Ross some additional time at Triple-A — though he didn’t look like a pitcher who needed considerably more development time — or to keep Roark in the bullpen, if it’s decided that relief work is his best role. However, the Nats may very well elect to use Yusmeiro Petit in Roark’s previously occupied swingman role.

Suffice it to say, it is not immediately clear how Arroyo fits into the picture, but there are many options in the event that he makes the team out of Spring Training. By agreeing to terms with the Nationals, Arroyo will be reunited with Dusty Baker, who served as the Reds’ manager for six of Arroyo’s eight seasons in Cincinnati.

With the Reds, Arroyo established himself as one of baseball’s most durable workhorses, averaging 211 innings per season from 2006-13 and posting a 4.05 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 40. percent ground-ball rate. Arroyo cleared 200 innings in every season with the Reds with the exception of 2011, when he finished with 199 frames pitched on the year. However, all of the innings eventually caught up to the right-hander, who signed a two-year, $23.5MM contract with the Diamondbacks in the 2013-14 offseason but suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament just 86 innings into that deal. Arroyo underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2014 and missed the entirety of the 2015 season as he recovered. Along the way, his contract was traded to the Braves and eventually the Dodgers, though Arroyo never suited up for either club. It’s unclear what type of mileage can be expected out of his arm in 2016, though he’ll open the year more than 21 months removed from his surgery, giving him more recovery time than the traditional Tommy John patient.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported an agreement was in place (via Twitter).

Details On The Nationals’ Offer To Yoenis Cespedes

By | at

Prior to the Mets’ re-signing of Yoenis Cespedes to a three-year, $75MM contract with an opt-out clause after the first season, the Nationals were viewed as the primary competitor for his services, offering a reported five-year deal with a value said to be around $100MM and an opt-out after two years. A pair of reports from Jon Heyman (Twitter link) and Peter Gammons of the MLB Network (at GammonsDaily.com) now shed some further light on the matter. According to Heyman, the base value of the contract was $110MM, but the deal contained “significant” deferrals. While that info alone makes it difficult to compare the two offers, Gammons adds further context, stating that the $110MM was to be paid out over a 15-year term, and after factoring in the deferred monies, the present-day value of the proposed contract was roughly $77MM.

If that number is indeed accurate, it’s not surprising to see that Cespedes chose a comparable amount over a shorter contract that contained an earlier opt-out date with a team/city with which he was already familiar. Of course, it should also be noted that the present-day value of any multi-year contract is somewhat less than the face value of the deal; the $47.5MM that Cespedes would earn from the Mets if he does not exercise the opt-out clause will be worth less in 2017-18 than it would be in the present day. Nevertheless, the extent of the deferrals in the contract proposed by the Nationals certainly appears to make the Mets’ offer a stronger option, barring further revelations about the pair of proposals.

As Gammons continues, the Nationals had to offer significant deferrals not only to Cespedes, but also to Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist in their respective pursuits, due largely to the structuring of the MASN television contract. Because of the deferred money in their offers to Heyward and Zobrist, neither proposed contract was even close to the overall value that the duo got when ultimately signing with the Cubs. In Heyward’s case, the Cardinals’ offer was also significantly stronger than the reported 10-year, $200MM contract proposed by the Nats, after factoring in deferrals, Gammons notes.

Per Gammons, the structuring of the MASN television rights required the Nats to offer significant deferrals in virtually all of their contract offers this winter. Back in November a New York Supreme Court Judge ruled in favor of the Orioles (the majority owners of MASN), thereby voiding a payment of tens of millions of dollars that had been awarded to the Nationals by an arbitration panel in an effort to settle an ongoing dispute over the allocation of the network’s rights fees. (MLBTR’s Jeff Todd examined the dispute at length at the time of the ruling.) As Gammons notes, the difficulties for the Nationals will continue to linger until the two teams can come to some type of resolution on the matter.

Free Agent Notes: Nats, Lazarito, Bell, O’s, Hunter, Mets

By | at

The Nationals have filed an interesting affidavit in their litigation against the Orioles (via MASN) relating to the arbitration on the value of their television rights fees, as James Wagner of the Washington Post notes. Seeking to help convince the judge to order the O’s back to a league-run arbitration panel, Washington owner Ed Cohen said of the lack of market-rate revenue: “[W]ithout this added and steady income, the Nationals cannot bring full economic confidence to investments in multi-year player contracts to keep up with the fierce competition for top players — especially when such control over finances is in the hands of a neighboring club.” It’s interesting to see some insight, however vague, into the team’s thinking on the matter, although it’s hard to know just how much impact there’s been in actuality on the team’s willingness and ability to offer contracts to free agents.

Here are some notes on a few free agents (or those who’ll soon formally join the open market):

  • Intriguing young Cuban talent Lazaro Armenteros (aka “Lazarito”) expects to have a deal in place within the next two weeks, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. He’s in negotiations with some teams even as he finishes up workouts with others, says Rosenthal. The 16-year-old is seen as an intriguing athlete, though there have also been some less-than-sterling reviews.
  • The showcase for Cuban outfielder Alexei Bell will now take place on February 15th in Mexico City, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. The veteran star is hoping to catch on with a major league organization.
  • Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun takes a look at the Orioles’ current possibilities for adding an outfielder. Dexter Fowler doesn’t seem to be an option, given the need to punt the club’s top draft pick, but he wonders whether Austin Jackson or a left-handed-hitting platoon option such as David Murphy or Will Venable could be in the cards. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com does the same with regard to starting pitching, providing an excellent breakdown of the internal possibilities and potential targets.
  • Free agent reliever Tommy Hunter is still looking for a second guaranteed year, Rich Dubroff of CSNmidatlantic.com tweets. He’s certainly one of the better names left on a slowing relief market, though it might still be a tall order to reach a multi-year pact. Hunter has largely posted solid results since moving to the pen full-time, but struggled badly with the long ball late last year.
  • At this point, the Mets are realistically only looking at relievers on minor league deals, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. That makes sense, as the club already had to push a solid pitcher in Carlos Torres off of the roster after signing Antonio Bastardo.

Braves, Nationals, Padres Expected To Exceed 2016-17 International Pools

By | at

The Braves, Nationals, and Padres are all expected to bust their international spending allocations for the upcoming July 2 period, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. With many other clubs serving the first or second year of their own bans on doling out $300K+ bonuses to pool-eligible players, and other organizations not heavily invested internationally, it appears these three clubs are prepared to enter the void.

As Badler explains, the teams don’t yet know exactly how much cash they’ll have to spread, but the general spending capacity won’t come as a surprise since it’s based on prior year’s record. Teams can also acquire individual spending allotments from other clubs via trade, and with many organizations unable to spend all of their slots, there should be plenty available. But a club can only increase its total allocation by 50%, so even adding in some new capacity presumably won’t keep the teams from avoiding the penalties.

The disincentive for going over the pool, of course, is a 100% tax on overages above 10% as well as up to a two-year timeout (after a 15% excess) on future bonuses of over $300K. But it’s long been expected that changes could be coming to the international amateur market — as commissioner Rob Manfred just addressed yesterday — and it’s certainly possible (but hardly certain) that budget-busting organizations won’t end up being handicapped under a new system.

Atlanta, especially, is expected to attack the market, per Badler. He says that the rebuilding organization is lining up a series of signings that could equal or exceed the Yankees’ spree from 2014-15. Their biggest targets are top-shelf infield prospect Kevin Maitan and fellow Venezuelan standout Abrahan Gutierrez, a catcher.

Meanwhile, the Nats are looking to build on their success at low-budget international signings with some real cash at their disposal. A pair of middle infielders — Dominican Yasel Antuna and Venezuelan Jose Sanchez — are near the top of their list.

Likewise, the Padres have not only been laying the groundwork for a series of deals with Dominican and Venezuelan players in the $1MM range, but are eyeing a major strike on the burgeoning market for young Cuban talent. Badler says that the San Diego organization is attempting to convince several players who may soon become free agents to wait for the new signing period to ink their deals.

Arroyo Has Minor League Offer From Nats; Four Other Teams Interested

By | at

Veteran right-hander Bronson Arroyo has a minor league offer on the table from the Nationals and is receiving interest from four other clubs, including the Reds, reports MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. In addition to that pair of teams, the Marlins, Pirates and Padres all have interest, though the interest of those three clubs does not appear to be as serious as the interest in Cincinnati and D.C. Sheldon tweeted earlier today that the Reds could make an offer soon, and in his column he notes that Arroyo expects to make a decision in the near future.

Arroyo tells Sheldon that he threw a bullpen session with Reds catching coach Mike Stefanski on Friday this past week. Sheldon adds that while the Reds didn’t have other personnel present to watch the session, they’ve received video and are determining a course of action. Arroyo sounds like his hope is to return to the Reds, though he doesn’t explicitly state that. He does, however, say that he hopes the Reds make an offer today, and he also adds: “I wanted to give the Reds every opportunity to keep me. Bryan Price has told me he’d love to have me in their locker room. I think it benefits both sides. It’s an opportunity for me to come into a less-stressed situation after a surgery and help young guys on the staff. If we can get something that’s in the ballpark [financially], I’d be happy.”

It’s unclear if Cincinnati, or any team, would be comfortable guaranteeing Arroyo a spot on the 40-man roster, though a minor league deal with a decent base salary and plenty of incentives could easily afford Arroyo several million dollars by season’s end if he remains healthy and proves capable of replicating anything close to his previous levels of performance. Arroyo does tell Sheldon that his arm feels 100 percent, though he admits that it took a full 16 months to get to that point, and he’s also frank in stating that he’s uncertain what to expect in terms of workload. “I’d be lying if I said I knew I could throw 200 innings with this arm,” said Arroyo. “I just don’t know.”

Arroyo, 39 next month, spent the 2006-13 seasons in a Reds uniform, pitching 199 innings or more in each of those eight campaigns. In total, he amassed a 4.05 ERA in 1690 1/3 innings, averaging 5.9 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings pitched. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2014 and missed the entire 2015 season as he worked his way back. The Nationals currently project to have a rotation consisting of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Joe Ross and Tanner Roark, while Cincinnati’s rotation is far more in flux. Homer Bailey is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery, while Anthony DeSclafani and Raisel Iglesias seem like easy calls for starting gigs. Beyond that, Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, John Moscot and Michael Lorenzen will compete for jobs in the rotation. Top prospect Robert Stephenson could eventually join that mix as well, though he has just 55 2/3 innings above the Double-A level.

Clearly, the Nats offer a better shot at contending than do the rebuilding Reds, and Washington can also offer a reunion with Arroyo’s former manager, Dusty Baker. However, Arroyo knows the Cincinnati organization quite well and has a clearer path to a rotation spot there. Additionally, as Sheldon notes, Arroyo’s girlfriend lives in Cincinnati, adding to the appeal for him on a personal level. The other three clubs, of course, have their merits as well, but they’re characterized more as secondary considerations than prime suitors by Sheldon for the time being.

Marlins, Nats, Reds Interested In Bronson Arroyo

By | at

JAN. 25: MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reports that the Marlins, too, have interest in adding Arroyo as a veteran option in their rotation (Twitter link). Miami has been said to be seeking a veteran to add to the rotation even after signing Wei-Yin Chen to a five-year deal. To this point, they’ve been connected to names like Doug Fister, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Alfredo Simon and Kyle Lohse.

JAN. 24: The Nationals and Reds are interested in veteran starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. We heard rumors earlier today that Arroyo had recently visited Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. As Rosenthal reminds us (via Twitter), Arroyo bounced around three teams last season – the Diamondbacks, Braves, and Dodgers – while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The right-handed starter will turn 39 in one month. From 2004 through 2013, he was arguably the most durable pitcher in the game. Nobody made more starts than Arroyo over those 10 seasons (326 starts). Only CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle threw more than his 2,074 innings. While never the most dominating pitcher in the league, Arroyo provided consistent value with a contact oriented, low-walk approach (career 5.81 K/9, 2.44 BB/9).

Cincinnati’s interest in Arroyo makes perfect sense. The club has a rotation chock full of unproven youngsters, giving Arroyo room to serve as a much needed veteran and inning-eater. The team also has plenty of experience with him – he pitched for the Reds from 2006 through 2013. In terms of opportunity for Arroyo and value to the Reds, there appears to be a strong fit.

Arroyo’s former manager Dusty Baker now manages the Nationals. The club would seemingly view Arroyo as depth. Tanner Roark and Joe Ross appear to have a claim on the final two rotation jobs, although neither pitcher is guaranteed to pitch well. Initially, Arroyo would likely have to compete with Yusmeiro Petit for a long relief role. In wooing Arroyo, the Nationals do have one major advantage over the Reds – they’re a contender.

More Reactions To And Effects Of The Yoenis Cespedes Deal

By | at

We already collected one round of reactions to the Yoenis Cespedes’ three-year, $75MM deal. Here are the stragglers.

  • The Mets re-signing of Cespedes should go a long way towards restoring fan trust in the organization, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. The club has taken a lot of flak in recent years for perceived penny pinching and a failure to make big, meaningful moves in the offseason. Much of that can be blamed upon the Bernie Madoff scandal. It should encourage fans to see the team take advantage of a unique opportunity. Although Cespedes signed at a “discount,” the minimum commitment of $27.5MM in 2016 is still a substantial investment for the Wilpons.
  • The deal is sensible for the Mets, writes Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times. Using values provided by FanGraphs, Hoffman notes that Cespedes’ 2015 was worth over $50MM. Expecting regression, Hoffman estimates Cespedes will be worth about $20MM in each of the next few campaigns. While the one-year opt out means the Mets could be renegotiating next offseason, Cespedes will only trigger the opt out if he has a valuable season.
  • Based on past performance, Cespedes could be a disaster in center field, writes Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs. However, Sullivan dives beyond the surface – 900 innings in center field spread over his major league career – to find other players like Cespedes. His biggest asset is superior arm strength. Two center fielders who rely on arm rather than range are Marcell Ozuna (-3 UZR/150) and Leonys Martin (15 UZR/150). Sullivan supposes that experience could help Cespedes run better routes and his elite arm can help to avert a complete disaster. Ozuna seems like a much more likely optimistic outcome than Martin.
  • If the Mets won the deal, the Nationals and Angels were the losers, writes Mark Townsend of Yahoo. Cespedes was the last top-of-the-line free agent on the market. Now teams will sift through the decent remaining options like Dexter Fowler, Howie Kendrick, and Ian Desmond. The Angels have a particular need for firepower to fit around Mike Trout. In my opinion, Fowler and his high OBP would be an excellent fit batting ahead of Trout. Meanwhile, the Nationals pursuit of Cespedes always struck me as merely opportunistic. They didn’t have an obvious need for Cespedes. In my mind, they may have been assuring the Mets paid something to reacquire him.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Phillies, Braves

By | at

Compared to what they did last season, the Nationals may stand to gain the most from their returning players, writes August Fagerstrom of FanGraphs. We all pay attention to the big moves of the offseason – such as the Mets’ signing of Yoenis Cespedes. It’s easy to forget that player performance is not constant. Using projected WAR, Fagerstrom finds the Nationals could gain about seven wins just from 2015 returnees. In particular, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg, and Jayson Werth are projected for rebound campaigns.

Here’s more from the NL East:

  • The Phillies are on the hunt for late opportunities, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. GM Matt Klentak said, “every year, it turns out that somebody who we thought was going to sign early and they don’t, they hold out and there’s a deal to be done…if there’s an opportunity out there, we’re going to push forward.” Klentak is comfortable with the team’s current depth, so there’s no guarantee the club with sign or trade for any additional talent before the start of the season.
  • Phillies left-handed starter Matt Harrison is still experiencing an ongoing back injury, per Zolecki. Harrison is unlikely to be ready for the start of Spring Training and may not pitch anytime in the near future. The club acquired Harrison as part of the Cole Hamels trade as a means to balance salary. For now, he’s a lottery ticket for the Phillies if he can ever return to health. At some point, the club may decide they value the 40-man roster spot more (this is less of an issue in-season if he’s on the 60-day DL).
  • Freddie Freeman thinks the Braves will return to relevance soon, writes David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Freeman is the last man standing from the 2013 roster, marking a surprisingly quick overhaul for John Hart and company. Freeman is excited about the team’s mix of veteran and young talent. The Braves new SunTrust Park is scheduled to open in 2017, and the Braves would surely like to field a contender.

Mets, Nationals Aren’t Alone In Pursuit Of Cespedes

By | at

9:40pm: Both New York and Washington are “operating under [the] assumption that other teams also are pursuing Cespedes,” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds (links to Twitter). He notes that the chatter surrounding the Mets’ three-year offer may be luring other organizations into the mix (if they weren’t already) to pitch their own ideas based on such a concept.

As Rosenthal notes, the White Sox are one club that has already been reported to have interest at that level of commitment. I’d add that the Orioles remain a plausible suitor at a more limited contract length, and certainly it isn’t hard to imagine other clubs that could be intrigued by that idea.

8:43pm: The Astros do not appear to be a late entrant, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets.

8:38pm: The Mets and Nationals are not the only two clubs pursuing top remaining free agent Yoenis Cespedes, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter.

Reports recently have suggested that a signing could come in very short order, with those two teams appearing to be the finalists. Washington is said to have dangled a five-year offer with a value approaching, if not exceeding, $100MM. New York, on the other hand, was set to meet with Cespedes’s reps today in hopes of selling him on three-year scenario of some kind.

But a mystery team (or teams) appear to be altering the equation as the star outfielder nears his decision. It’s not known which late entrants are shaking up the market for the veteran Cuban slugger, but neither is it difficult to guess at some of the possibilities. In fact, Steve Adams and I broke down no fewer than a dozen possibilities just yesterday in the latest episode of the MLBTR Podcast.

As I wrote back in early December, there was never a clear favorite for Cespedes, but it always seemed there’d be a wide array of interest. After all, he’s only thirty and is coming off of a monster 2015 campaign. While there are certainly some major question marks — in particular, the fact that his 2013-14 work fell far shy of his efforts in the seasons before and after — there’s no ignoring his ceiling.

Most of the clubs noted in that post are still plausible suitors. It’s probably safe to scratch off the Tigers, but clubs such as the Angels, Giants, Cardinals, Orioles, and White Sox all still seem plausible to varying degrees. The Padres have been said to be lurking, too, and so have the Braves — though Atlanta, at least, has always seemed to be on hand in case of a bargain.

And it would be foolish to rule out organizations like the Rangers — if not even the Red Sox or Yankees — when a premium talent is on the board. Really, only a handful of organizations appear to be wildly implausible pursuers. There are always ways to deal with perceived logjams, after all, and Cespedes represents the last open-market opportunity to add a potential superstar.

Free Agent Notes: Gallardo, Indians, Nationals, Webb, Fister, Bell

By and | at

As the Rockies search for upgrades to their rotation and bullpen, the team is now considering a run at right-hander Yovani Gallardo, tweets Jon Heyman. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the two sides haven’t had any extensive discussions yet but are expected to meet in the near future. Asked about the reports linking his team to Gallardo, Rockies GM Jeff Bridich downplayed the interest on MLB Network Radio (Twitter link), saying: “I’m not sure where that came from. It’s no different than checking in on just about everybody.” Many expect the Rockies to address their rotation, although the common belief is that they’ll do so by trading from their outfield surplus. There’s enough uncertainty in the current rotation that Colorado could do both, though, and it’s worth noting that the team’s first-round pick is protected by virtue of its finish in the 2016 standings. Then again, convincing any free-agent pitcher to spend a considerable amount of time calling Coors Field his home park is a difficult task.

A few more odds and ends pertaining to the remaining free agent market…

  • The Indians are still open to adding a free agent at the right price, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Both Juan Uribe and David Freese are potential fits, but there’s no momentum toward a deal at this time. Cleveland could certainly use a bat at either third base or in the outfield though, as Jeff Todd and I discussed on today’s MLBTR Podcast. (Specifically, Austin Jackson strikes me as a nice speculative fit for Cleveland.)
  • Regardless of what happens with Yoenis Cespedes, the Nationals do not appear to be done trying for improvements, as Heyman tweets that the club is still looking to add to the bullpen. Moving Drew Storen for Ben Revere obviously lessened the team’s relief depth, and it’s not hard to see the rationale for continuing to stockpile (if not also to add another late-inning arm).
  • The Rays are among the teams with interest in righty Ryan Webb, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Webb, who’ll soon turn 30, had an odd transactional year as the Orioles and Dodgers used his contract to facilitate other moves. But he ended up putting up 50 2/3 solid frames for the Indians, working to a 3.20 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 to go with an excellent 59.2% groundball rate, and he’s generally been quite a solid reliever over his seven-year career.
  • While there’s some merit to the idea of Doug Fister as a Yankees target, the club does not appear inclined to go past one year on a deal, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets. Notably, too, owner Hal Steinbrenner told Jon Heyman yesterday (Twitter link) that he doesn’t see much room to add even this year: “I’m not comfortable with the payroll being too much higher than it is now.”
  • Cuban outfielder Alexei Bell has established residency in Mexico and is applying tomorrow for free agency, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports on Twitter. It’s not yet clear what kind of market the veteran will find for his services, but he is obviously leaving his home island in hopes of making an impact at the major league level.
Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top