MLB Chatter Thread

[Carp]

Rangers Pushing For Torii Hunter; Decision Expected Soon

By Steve Adams [December 2, 2014 at 9:21am CST]

9:21am: The Orioles, Royals and Twins remain in the mix for Hunter, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). However, he too hears that the Rangers are making a push to sign Hunter. It’s perhaps worth noting that Hunter resides in Texas in the offseason.

9:08am: The Rangers have been making a push to sign free agent outfielder Torii Hunter, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link). Olney tweeted yesterday that the Rangers were continuing their talks with the Reynolds Sports Management client, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote last night that the Rangers were aggressively pursuing Hunter.

The 39-year-old Hunter would presumably fill the space that has been vacated by Alex Rios and join an outfield mix that also features Shin-Soo Choo and Leonys Martin. As Olney points out, Hunter’s right-handed bat would help to balance out a Rangers lineup that currently leans pretty heavily to the left side. Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Robinson Chirinos are the only projected regulars that bat from the right side. Andrus offers little in the way of power, and Chirinos has little track record as a 30-year-old with just one full season under his belt.

Hunter has been linked to a large number of teams, including the Orioles, Mariners, Royals and Twins of late. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Hunter plans to make his decision soon, and Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that Hunter’s preference is still to sign with a contender.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

Blue Jays Acquire Josh Donaldson From Athletics For Brett Lawrie, Three Others

By Jeff Todd [November 28, 2014 at 10:27pm CST]


The Blue Jays have officially struck a deal to acquire third baseman Josh Donaldson from the Athletics. Heading back to Oakland are infielder Brett Lawrie, righty Kendall Graveman, shortstop Franklin Barreto, and lefty Sean Nolin.

Donaldson could really see a spike in his power numbers in Toronto. Interested to see if Lawrie can stay healthy and turn into the player the scouts thought he could be.

 

[Carp]

Donaldson could really see a spike in his power numbers in Toronto. Interested to see if Lawrie can stay healthy and turn into the player the scouts thought he could be.

I don't like the deal for Oakland at all. He is a stud and actually has one more controllable year than Lawrie has. I hope those prospects pay off for Beane.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

I don't like the deal for Oakland at all. He is a stud and actually has one more controllable year than Lawrie has. I hope those prospects pay off for Beane.

Definitely seems like a bad deal for Oakland. They must really believe Lawrie is going to pan out. I am unfamiliar with the prospects in the deal but I see that Barreto is the #5 prospect in the organization according to Baseball America and the Jays have a pretty strong top 5. Nolin was the #7 Jays prospect on the 2014 list of another site I read. You're right though…he gave up a sure thing for prospects and the hope that Lawrie pans out. Risky. Beane is a gambler for sure.

 

[Cotton]

 

[Cotton]

It's 1 year 10.5 mill.

 

[Carp]

Evan Gattis is interesting...Braves seem to undervalue the guy, but he'd be excellent in the AL. Guys who can hit it out of the park now are at a premium...particularly one who can play C.

 

[Carp]

Damn...Padres non tendered Everth Cabrera...Mets should be all over him.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

Damn...Padres non tendered Everth Cabrera...Mets should be all over him.

That's the first thing I thought when I saw that he was non-tendered. His best season was fueled by Biogenisis and he's had his share of off the field problems, but he's worth a shot. Still some upside there.

 

[Carp]

List Of Non-Tendered Players, 2014-15

By Jeff Todd [December 3, 2014 at 12:39am CST]


Now that the dust has settled, let’s take a look back and see which players were ultimately non-tendered. The following is a list of the game’s newest group of free agents (and their former clubs):

Position Players

– John Baker, Cubs
– Gordon Beckham, Angels
– Kyle Blanks, Athletics
– Andrew Brown, Athletics
– Everth Cabrera, Padres
– Daniel Descalso, Cardinals
– Andy Dirks, Blue Jays
– Juan Francisco, Red Sox
– Slade Heathcott, Yankees
– John Mayberry, Blue Jays
– Carlos Rivero, Mariners
– Adam Rosales, Rangers
– Gaby Sanchez, Pirates
– Justin Smoak, Blue Jays
– Eric Young, Mets

Pitchers

– Brandon Beachy, Braves
– Francisley Bueno, Royals
– Jose Campos, Yankees
– Scott Carroll, White Sox
– Yoslan Herrera, Angels
– David Huff, Yankees
– Michael Kirkman, Rangers
– Wade LeBlanc, Angels
– Kris Medlen, Braves
– Alexi Ogando, Rangers
– Logan Ondrusek, Reds
– Curtis Partch, Reds
– Chaz Roe, Pirates
– Gus Schlosser, Braves
– Kraig Sitton, Rockies
– Scott Snodgress, White Sox
– Wesley Wright, Cubs

 

[Carp]

I think Descalso, Cabrera, Beckham will all find spots. Descalso is the type of guy the upper level teams use as a utility guy. As for the pitchers...I am surprised Atl let both Beachy and Medlen go...they either have not recovered enough from TJ surgery or they just have a different plan. Medlen had back to back excellent seasons before TJ.

 

[Carp]

Also, Edward James Olmos thinks Alexi Ogando's face is messed up.

 

[Carp]

Yankees To Acquire Didi Gregorius In Three-Team Deal With D-Backs, Tigers

By Steve Adams [December 5, 2014 at 9:21am CST]

The Yankees, Diamondbacks and Tigers have completed a three-team trade that will send Didi Gregorius to the Yankees, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Rosenthal adds that Robbie Ray will indeed go from the Tigers to the Diamondbacks and Shane Greene will be heading to the Tigers. WFAN’s Sweeny Murti first reported the potential framework and noted that Greene would head to Detroit if the deal were to be completed. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first tweeted that Ray could be headed to Arizona.

Gregorius, who turns 25 in February, has a good defensive reputation but comes with some question marks regarding his bat. In his age-24 season with the D-Backs, Gregorius batted .226/.290/.363 with six homers and three steals in 299 plate appearances. Overall, he’s compiled a .243/.313/.366 batting line over parts of three seasons in the Majors, showing stretches of offensive potential at times. For instance, Gregorius batted .275/.341/.403 in the first half of the 2013 season with a reasonable .313 BABIP, suggesting that his production wasn’t inflated heavily by luck. However, he followed that up with a .207/.314/.314 second half. He’ll obviously have large shoes to fill in New York as the Yankees hope that he can be a long-term replacement to Derek Jeter. Gregorius is controlled through the 2019 season, giving the Yankees at least five full seasons of his services if he proves that he can handle the job.

Greene is a candidate to immediately fill the fifth slot in the Tigers’ rotation behind David Price, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello. The 26-year-old had an impressive debut with the Yankees in 2014, making 15 appearances (14 starts) and posting a 3.78 ERA (3.73 FIP, 3.40 xFIP, 3.41 SIERA) with 9.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate in 78 2/3 innings. Greene averaged a solid 93.1 mph on his fastball last year and gives the Tigers a piece they can potentially control in the long-term, with Price and Porcello set to hit free agency next winter. Greene is controllable through the 2020 season.

The Diamondbacks are dealing from a position of depth, as they had a number of shortstop options in 2015, with Gregorius, Chris Owings and Nick Ahmed all representing controllable possibilities, and the veteran Cliff Pennington serving as a one-year option before hitting the open market next winter. With this move, Owings will presumably be penciled in as the everyday shortstop and will team with Aaron Hill to form the Diamondbacks’ double-play tandem.

Arizona is known to be seeking rotation options for the 2015 season this winter, and in landing Ray, they’d be acquiring an arm that has a bit of MLB experience and could soon step into the rotation. Ray, who turned 23 in October, made nine appearances in Detroit this season but allowed 26 runs in 28 2/3 innings. He also struggled, to an extent, in Triple-A last year, pitching to a 4.22 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. However, he’s one year removed from being regarded highly enough by the Tigers to serve as the centerpiece in their trade of Doug Fister to the Nationals.

 

[Carp]

Rays To Hire Kevin Cash As Manager

By Steve Adams [December 5, 2014 at 12:10pm CST]


The Rays will hire former big league catcher Kevin Cash as their next manager, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Cash was reportedly one of three finalists with Raul Ibanez and former Mariners manager/current Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu. Ibanez had reportedly withdrawn himself from consideration earlier this week. An official announcement should come at some point today, based on previous reports.

Cash, who turns 37 tomorrow, served as the Indians’ bullpen coach in 2013-14 after a brief stop in the Blue Jays’ scouting department following his playing career. Earlier this offseason, Cash was one of three finalists for the Rangers’ managerial opening, alongside eventual winner Jeff Banister and now-former Rangers coach Tim Bogar. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets that Cash was, in fact, the runner up to Banister.

Cash spent parts of eight Major League seasons as a catcher for the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, Rays and Blue Jays, batting a combined .183/.248/.278 in 714 plate appearances. He’s drawn excellent reviews in his coaching stint with the Indians but will have some large shoes to fill for the Rays, who recently lost one of the game’s most recognizable and most respected managers in Joe Maddon.

~ fart ~

 

[Deuce]

I love having former Catchers as managers. Young guy with little to no experience, but that probably means the least in baseball. Just hope he finds a good bench coach.

 

[Carp]

Yankees Sign Andrew Miller

By Steve Adams [December 5, 2014 at 2:38pm CST]

Earlier today the Yankees acquired Didi Gregorius in a three-team trade, and that was just the beginning of the splash they’re making, as they’ve now also announced the signing of Andrew Miller to a four-year contract. Miller, a client of Frontline Athlete Management, will reportedly receive a $36MM guarantee, but the contract does not include a no-trade clause.

The 29-year-old Miller (30 next May) broke out in a huge way in 2014, pitching to a 2.02 ERA with an eye-popping 14.9 K/9 (an AL record), 2.5 BB/9 and a 46.9 percent ground-ball rate in 62 1/2 innings for the Red Sox and Orioles. He went on to throw another 7 1/3 shutout innings with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio in the postseason as well. Miller will pair with Dellin Betances — an electric breakout story himself — at the back of the Yankee bullpen, giving manager Joe Girardi a pair of dominant late-inning options. Joel Sherman of the New York Post expects Miller to be used to close games, but not exclusively, as Betances will likely be in the mix for save opportunities as well (Twitter link).

Of course, Girardi is accustomed to that feeling, as he was able to enjoy excellent work from David Robertson and Mariano Rivera from 2011-13, and then Robertson and Betances this past season. The Miller signing doesn’t necessarily preclude the Yankees from retaining Robertson, as some reports have indicated that it’s at least possible for GM Brian Cashman to spend to bring both elite relievers to the Bronx. That would give the Yankees a Royals-esque late-inning trio, though the team may also simply replace Robertson with Miller and collect a draft pick when their closer signs elsewhere.

Miller’s contract is the largest ever for a non-closing reliever — a nice feather in the cap of agent Mark Rodgers. Rafael Soriano had previously signed a three-year, $35MM contract to set up for the Yankees, though he had prior closing experience. Scott Linebrink signed a four-year, $19MM contract with the White Sox that was the largest guarantee for a setup man that had never closed.

As excellent as Miller was in 2014, the contract is clearly not without risk for the Yankees. Setting aside the volatile nature of all relievers, this past season marked the first year in which Miller displayed above-average control and was also the first in which he was allowed to face both right-and left-handed hitters in a full setup capacity. Miller averaged 4.7 walks per nine innings from 2012-13 (5.0 in 2013) and totaled just 71 innings in that time due to a combination of a more limited role and injuries. Miller suffered a lis-franc fracture in his foot in 2013 and missed time in 2012 with a strained hamstring. This past season he faced 144 righties and 98 lefties, but in 2013 he faced a much more even 73 righties and 62 lefties. In 2012, he was deployed mostly as a lefty specialist, pitching to 102 left-handed hitters and just 67 right-handed batters.

The Miller situation has likely handcuffed the free agent reliever market to some extent. As many as 23 clubs showed interest in him, though in recent days it seemed that the Astros, Dodgers and Yankees were among the final clubs standing. With one of the top two names off the board — Robertson being the other — more relief signings figure to trickle in, especially considering the fact that Robertson’s market figures to be limited to a smaller number of teams, given his higher asking price.

 

[Carp]

Indians Optimistic Of Completing Brandon Moss Trade

By Jeff Todd, Brad Johnson and Steve Adams [December 5, 2014 at 2:05pm CST]

DEC. 5: The two sides have yet to reach a deal but have discussed shortstops Jose Ramirez and Erik Gonzalez in addition to Wendle, reports Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area.

10:25pm: The A’s are interested in Indians second base prospect Joe Wendle, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Wendle hit .265/.326/.425 in 396 plate appearances while battling injury. He spent most of the season at Double-A. Meanwhile, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets that negotiations should reach a conclusion on Friday, one way or another.

DEC. 4, 5:13pm: The Indians “are guardedly optimistic” that they can complete a deal for Moss, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

DEC. 3, 9:01pm: The Indians are not the only club looking into adding Moss, MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports on Twitter. A move does not appear to be imminent, she adds.

3:48pm: The Athletics are “listening” to the Indians on left-handed slugger Brandon Moss, John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reports on Twitter. Moss, 31, is capable of playing first base or the corner outfield, and is an obvious DH candidate as well.

For the Indians, a run at Moss makes sense, particularly if the team views him as a plausible candidate to spend regular time in the outfield. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in his offseason outlook for Cleveland, the team could add a new outfield piece while utilizing Nick Swisher in a pure DH role. Alternatively, if Swisher himself were to be moved, then Moss might make sense as a hitting-only player.

Moss appeals due both to his recent success and his controlled salary (a projected $7.1MM in his second-to-last year of arbitration eligibility). He took a step back at the plate last year, due in part to hip issues that were addressed by offseason surgery, but he was still well above-average. His three-year slash line stands at .254/.340/.504, good for a 135 OPS+, with Moss contributing 76 home runs over 1,381 plate appearances.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

I'm about ready for the winter meetings to get started so these big starting pitcher chips can start to fall. That is going to set a lot of things in motion. Seems like Lester will sign first—possibly with the goddamn Dodgers now but if he doesn't go to the Cubs I'd rather see him go back to Boston than to see the f'ing Dodgers throw a fortune at yet another top free agent—and then everyone else will react and put their backup plans in motion.

Definitely going to be some trades in addition to free agent signings. Red Sox will certainly trade for starters. Cespedes being traded sounds imminent and is a piece Boston can use to get a starter. Cole Hamels could be moved and Samardzija is rumored to be available in trade, so combine that with the free agent arms and there is a lot of good starting pitching available this offseason. Matt Kemp could be traded too so that's potentially a big bat on the move. Definitely less bats than pitchers on the free agent market so Kemp has to be appealing, despite the price tag in prospects and salary it would cost.

Anxious to see things really go into full swing. Been several years since the Cubs have been looking to buy instead of sell.

 

[VA Cowboy]

Reds traded Heisey to Dodgers for a minor leaguer. Guess that starts and ends Cincy's offseason.

 

[Rev]

Reds traded Heisey to Dodgers for a minor leaguer. Guess that starts and ends Cincy's offseason.

The Rangers see your one move offseason and match it with the re signing of Ol Suck Ass (Colby Lewis) one move offseason.