Archives for September 2016

Astros Have “Strong Desire” To Re-Sign Jason Castro

By Jeff Todd | September 30, 2016 at 11:34pm CDT

With Jason Castro heading to free agency, the Astros face uncertainty behind the plate in 2017, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle writes. But the veteran catcher’s entry onto the open market doesn’t mean that he won’t end up back in Houston.

The return of Evan Gattis to some catching duties helps the situation, even if he’s still lacking some polish defensively, but he’s probably not a quasi-regular option as a backstop. And as Kaplan explains, the club’s other immediate possibilities — Max Stassi and Tyler Heineman — probably aren’t in line to be entrusted with a significant role.

Per GM Jeff Luhnow, a bid to re-sign Castro is definitely on the table as the offseason approaches. Explaining that Gattis will likely be a part of the mix, Luhnow went on to address Castro.

“The rest of [the catching] picture has to be fleshed out for us, but certainly Jason coming back is not something we’re going to rule out by any stretch,” he said. “I think there would be a strong desire from our side to try and bring him back.”

Luhnow spoke highly of Castro, noting that the 29-year-old’s slightly-below-average offensive output — a .209/.307/.378 slash and 11 home runs over 372 plate appearances — isn’t the only consideration. “He does a really good job of working with our pitchers, working with our coaching staff, and I think people forget sometimes the catcher is the field general, the person that’s running the show during the game,” Luhnow explained.

That being said, Houston figures to face plenty of competition for Castro’s services. He may not be the most exciting option imaginable, but he is a respected defender who delivers some pop from the left side of the plate. With Wilson Ramos felled by an ACL tear, and Francisco Cervelli previously re-upping with the Pirates, there’s a lot of demand and much less supply than had been anticipated.

Blue Jays Acquire Minor Leaguer From Mariners To Complete Pat Venditte Trade

By Jeff Todd | September 30, 2016 at 10:18pm CDT

The Blue Jays have acquired minor league infielder Tim Lopes from the Mariners to complete the early August trade that sent switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to Seattle, the teams announced.

Lopes, 22, was a sixth-round pick in the 2012 draft. He played the entire year at the Double-A level, posting a .284/.358/.355 slash line over 581 plate appearances. Though he obviously doesn’t deliver much pop, Lopes swiped 26 bags on the season. He has spent some time at shortstop, but predominantly lined up at second base during his time in the Mariners organization.

The endlessly fascinating Venditte hasn’t been terribly useful for the M’s, providing 11 1/3 innings of work but coughing up nine earned runs on 11 hits. He has struck out 11 in that span, but has also permitted five free passes. Venditte has been rather strong at Triple-A on the year, though, working to a 3.74 ERA with an excellent 13.1 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 over 43 1/3 frames.

Injury Notes: Pujols, Parra, Choo, Gomes, Schugel

By Jeff Todd | September 30, 2016 at 9:04pm CDT

Angels first baseman Albert Pujols won’t suit up again this year after undergoing “shockwave therapy” to treat plantar fasciitis in his right foot, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. Pujols previously dealt with that malady in his opposing foot back in 2013. Certainly, he’ll have plenty of time to rest and recover, though it’s yet another nick for a player who’ll soon turn 37. The legendary slugger continues a slow decline at the plate, though he’s still a useful hitter who has scarcely missed any time in his 16-year career. Over 650 plate appearances in 2016, Pujols posted a .268/.323/.457 slash with 31 home runs. The Halos will hope that he can at least maintain that level of productivity, as he’s slated to earn another $140MM over the next five seasons.

Here are a few more health-related notes from around the game:

The Rockies are shutting down outfielder Gerardo Parra after he received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left ankle, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. Parra has not found success in the first of his three years under contract in Colorado, putting up a .253/.271/.399 slash (despite playing half his games at Coors Field) in 381 plate appearances. With poorly-rated defense and baserunning mixed in, Parra has been worth a remarkable -1.8 fWAR and -2.9 rWAR despite playing only a little more than half the year due to ankle problems.
The Rangers have officially activated outfielder Shin-Soo Choo from the 15-day DL, meaning that he’s ready for game action after missing extensive time with a forearm fracture. Choo, 34, will look to lock in and show he’s healthy for the postseason, where he could provide a nice boost for Texas. Though he has been limited to 198 plate appearances thus far, Choo owns a useful .247/.369/.416 batting line.
Indians catcher Yan Gomes, too, is back earlier than expected, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports (Twitter links). Expectations are that he’ll only be available for the time being to play behind the plate, as he’s still regaining strength in his wrist after suffering a fracture. Manager Terry Francona says that Gomes is able to hit, but won’t do so in game action just yet. It’s unclear whether he’ll be under consideration for a spot in the ALDS roster, but given the limitations perhaps a return for the ALCS would be more plausible — if Cleveland can advance and decides to roll the dice on a player who has missed much of the year and has failed to produce at the plate when healthy.
There’s some promising news for Pirates righty A.J. Schugel, who won’t require surgery on his rotator cuff, as Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. Instead, he’ll rest up and rehab his inflamed shoulder over the offseason. The 27-year-old had a solid campaign before the injury arose, contributing 52 innings in 36 appearances from the Pittsburgh pen while posting 8.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.

Three Needs: Colorado Rockies

By Jeff Todd | September 30, 2016 at 7:44pm CDT

Before breaking down every team’s assets and needs in full detail, we’re looking at big-picture areas of concern for those clubs that weren’t really in contention down the stretch.

Up now is a Rockies team that dabbled with a .500 record but ended up 11 games under (entering today) and buried in the NL West. The best way to describe the 2016 results, in most regards, is “middling.” Colorado rated as below-average, but not terrible, in basically every facet of the game. (And yes, that includes hitting.)

Here are three significant areas of focus for the Rox this winter:

1. Trade Carlos Gonzalez.

Well, now my feelings are known on that subject. While he wasn’t as good as he has been in the past, Gonzalez certainly wasn’t a problem for the team. He was healthy, hitting .298/.351/.511 (good for a 109 wRC+ and 112 OPS+) with 25 home runs over 618 plate appearances and accumulating 2.1 fWAR and 2.5 rWAR on the year.

Accordingly, he has some trade value — albeit nothing close to what some seem to think, in my estimation. Gonzalez, who’ll soon turn 31, is owed $20MM next year — a fair rate, particularly given that it involves a limited commitment in length. That reduces concern over his checkered injury history, with the hefty single-year salary still leaving some room for upside given Gonzalez’s demonstrated ceiling.

The thing is, the Rockies can’t afford to keep that much cash tied up in a left-handed hitting outfielder — not with Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra, and the promising David Dahl on hand, at least. Colorado ran up a franchise-high $112MM Opening Day payroll this year, but it wasn’t enough to stem the tide of losing seasons. The club already has $66MM committed for 2017, with arb raises coming for Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Tyler Chatwood, and — if they are tendered — Jake McGee and Jordan Lyles.

Certainly, you could argue for trading another of the southpaw-swinging outfielders instead. But none make as much sense: Blackmon is needed in center, Parra would be a salary dump after a rough year, and Dahl is the kind of cheap, controllable asset the Rockies need given where they set their payroll.

The better use of the team’s resources — assuming further spending increases won’t be approved — would be to take the best offer they can get in a prospect return for Gonzalez while freeing themselves of his salary. That’s because, in part, of the next need on this list …

2. Improve the roster depth.

Colorado has a nice core in place, including several of the players just named as well as a strong, young up-the-middle infield duo in Trevor Story and DJ LeMahieu. But the 2016 team suffered from a huge fall-off outside of its best players, and putting a winner on the field may well mean making several targeted investments (whether through trade or free agency) to shore things up in multiple areas.

In terms of position players, the Rockies received six strong performances, a decent year from utilityman Daniel Descalso, middling work from the catching unit, and little else. A few solid-or-better performances from role players — a first baseman (or platoon at the position) and right-handed-hitting outfielder, in particular — would go a long way. That and a solid backstop to go with the seemingly-useful Tony Wolters and interesting Tom Murphy, along with a replacement for the free agent Descalso, and Colorado could well feature a stellar lineup.

The situation actually isn’t all that different in the pitching staff. You can’t just focus on earned run average here, of course. The fact is that the rotation received a highly promising performance from Jon Gray along with useful innings from Chatwood, Chad Bettis, and Tyler Anderson. Likewise, the bullpen had some bright spots: Adam Ottavino was great in his return from Tommy John surgery, Chris Rusin provided a pleasant surprise in a relief capacity, and Carlos Estevez showed plenty of promise (if also a need for some further refinement).

The results were mostly rough behind that — excepting the departed Boone Logan — but the club can hope for bouncebacks from at least a few veterans (such as McGee, Jason Motte, and Chad Qualls) while hoping that some young arms (e.g., Jeff Hoffman) make strides. But ultimately, the staff too is in need of a few steady arms. Presumably, that’s what the club thought it was getting in Motte and Qualls, but those failures (at least, at this point) shouldn’t deter the team from trying to do better this time around.

If the Rockies want to bet on their core, the best way to do so may be to take my proposed Gonzalez savings and spread them out to add at-least-serviceable options in the multiple areas of need, rather than aiming for one or two larger (and riskier) strikes while leaving other spots unaddressed.

3. Pursue offseason extensions.

Beyond the immediate positions that are ripe for addition, the Rockies need to be thinking of ways to manage their future payroll to keep a productive core in place at reasonable salaries. The future balance sheet is largely clean after 2017, so there’s plenty of room to plug in some guaranteed money if the price is right.

It all starts in the infield, where Arenado’s salary will soon skyrocket. He may not be a reasonable extension target, but it’s probably at least worth a try, and he’s not alone. LeMahieu is already plugged in for a reasonable $4.8MM next year, with one more season of control left thereafter via arbitration, and could be a worthwhile player to pursue. And the team could look to lock in Story at a bargain rate — it wasn’t afraid to extend Ottavino during his own injury rehab, after all, and this may be the only chance to tamp down his sure-to-be significant arb earnings.

There are other possibilities, too. Gray is the obvious target, though perhaps it’s a bit early to tackle that. Chatwood will be a free agent after 2017, and his earnings have been limited by injury, so a fairly modest commitment could make sense for both sides. Even Bettis — who underperformed his peripherals this year but largely followed up on a strong 2015 when you look beyond the ERA — might represent an under-the-radar target.

Then, there’s Blackmon, who somewhat quietly broke out this year. Sure, he’s been plenty productive in the past, but he is now wrapping up a true breakout campaign with a monster .319/.376/.543 slash to go with 28 home runs and 17 steals. Though Blackmon’s base thievery fell off, he remained a strong positive by measure on the basepaths by measure of Fangraphs’ BsR. With two years of arb control to go, this may be the time to decide if he’s the long-term solution up the middle.

In large part, the pursuit of extensions is about seeing whether there’s opportunity to be had. Fundamentally, the purpose of the undertaking for a team is to improve a player-asset by taking advantage of leverage (which typically arises through remaining control along with a given player’s personal preferences and risk assessment). That may or may not lead to anything once the dialogue starts, but the Rockies proved willing to think outside the box with Ottavino and ought to see if there are more worthwhile chances to take with regard to other quality players.

Cardinals Will Decline Matt Holliday’s 2017 Option

By Jeff Todd | September 30, 2016 at 5:38pm CDT

5:53pm: Holliday has issued a statement thanking the organization, his teammates, and the fans for his time with the Cards, via MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. He, too, kept the door cracked for a return but acknowledged that this could be the end of his tenure. (The statement, notably, does not seem to indicate whether or not Holliday has decided whether he’ll continue playing.)

“It has been an honor to play in front of such great fans and for such an historic organization,” says Holliday. “I can honestly say it has been a dream come true. While I’m disappointed this could be it here in St. Louis, I understand that it might be time to move on.”

5:38pm: The Cardinals anticipate declining the club’s 2017 option over outfielder Matt Holliday, per GM John Mozeliak, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was among those to report. (Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball noted earlier this week that the Cardinals do not plan to pick up the option.) Holliday will, however, be activated from the DL in the hopes that he can make at least one final appearance before the St. Louis faithful.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Holliday won’t return, of course, but it’s not really known whether there’s serious interest on either side in negotiating a new contract. That the team appears to be giving the long-time star a sendoff suggests the sides could be preparing for a split, but GM John Mozeliak wasn’t willing to rule out a continuation of what has been a productive relationship.

“Speaking in absolutes and saying there’s no chance of him coming back — I’m not prepared to do that,” said Mozeliak. “We haven’t had our offseason meetings.”

Ulimately, the Cards were never particularly likely to pick up the option for the veteran’s age-37 season at a heavy $17MM salary. But the decision to pay a $1MM buyout instead became clear given Holliday’s middling output and injury troubles down the stretch.

Holliday remains an above-average hitter, though his .242/.318/.450 batting line represents a rather stark falloff in overall productivity from the consistently excellent batting results he logged for most of a dozen prior seasons. With poorly-rated fielding and baserunning added to the uncertainty at the plate, the cost was just too great.

Still, there’s plenty of reason to think that Holliday could remain a useful player — even if a trip to the American League, with frequent or even full-time DH usage, makes the most sense at this stage. Odds are that there would be plenty of organizations with at least some interest in that kind of arrangement, particularly given the high regard in which Holliday is held around baseball.

For the Cards, who say they’re looking to improve on defense, Holliday is something of an odd fit moving forward. If he is willing to accept a reduced role, he might still remain a plenty useful piece by sharing time at first base, appearing occasionally in the corner outfield, and otherwise functioning as a bench bat. But regular playing time probably won’t be on the table, as the team seems lined up to add a replacement or instead to acquire a new center fielder while bumping Randal Grichuk to the corner.

It has been something of an odd final two seasons in St. Louis for Holliday. Both have been limited by injuries, and both have involved very different types of performance issues. Last year, his power disappeared, but he was able to maintain a robust .394 OBP. That mark fell by 76 points in 2016, but he significantly upped his power output (.450 slugging, 19 home runs).

No matter where things go from here, it has been a great run for Holliday with the Cards. In eight years and over 4,000 plate appearances, Holliday carries an outstanding .292/.379/.493 batting line with 155 long balls. Ultimately, he was worth every penny of the seven-year, $120MM contract he signed before the 2010 season.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Top 5 Bright Spots Of 2016

By Jason Martinez | September 30, 2016 at 4:57pm CDT

Rebuilding season or not, falling short of the playoffs and finishing with a losing record probably means that more things went wrong than went right for a team. This series, however, will focus on those silver linings that each team can take away from an otherwise disappointing season.

[Related: “Top Bright Spots” archive]

Here are the biggest bright spots for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

1. Jean Segura, 2B

The offseason trade that sent Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair to the Braves for Shelby Miller was heavily criticized at the time and looks even worse now. It’s a deal that has cast a dark cloud over Dave Stewart’s tenure as the Diamondbacks’ general manager. Unfortunately, it will also overshadow any good moves that he has made, especially the acquisition of Segura—Chase Anderson, Aaron Hill and Isan Diaz were traded to the Brewers in the deal—less than two months later.

While Anderson has had a solid season in the Brewers’ rotation and the 20-year-old Diaz put up huge numbers in Low-A ball, Segura bounced back from back-to-back poor seasons with one that is worthy of at least a handful of MVP votes. An impressive .320 batting average with 201 hits, 40 doubles, 20 homers and 32 stolen bases has the 26-year-old, who is under contract for two more seasons, heading into 2017 as one of the top middle infielders in baseball.

2. Yasmany Tomas, RF

As recently as late July, it was easy to lump Tomas’ six-year, $68.5MM deal in with other recent moves that hadn’t quite panned out. Tomas had a subpar rookie season in 2015 and, after a strong start to the 2016 season, was in the midst of a two-month long slump (.641 OPS, 5 BB, 52 K from May 26th thru July 23rd) when something finally clicked.

Since July 24th, the 25-year-old has been one of the elite sluggers in the game with a .934 OPS, 17 homers and 12 doubles in 225 plate appearances. It’s great timing, too. With an abundance of hitting talent on the D’backs, not enough at-bats to go around and Tomas’ trade value on the rise, American League teams with a need at DH—Tomas is a bad defensive outfielder—should have plenty of interest.

3. Jake Lamb, 3B

Despite Lamb’s 10 homers and .382 slugging percentage over his first two big league seasons (523 plate appearances), the expectation was that he would be able to provide some more power in 2016. I’m guessing that 69 extra-base hits (29 HR, 31 2B, 9 3B) and a .515 slugging percentage is far beyond what anyone could imagine.

While most of Lamb’s success came in the hitter-friendly confines of Chase Field, versus right-handed pitching and in the 1st half of the season, it’s quite possible that the 25-year-old will continue to improve his overall game and provide the D’backs lineup with much more consistent production in 2017.

4. Brandon Drury, IF/OF

It was tough to predict success for Drury in 2016, not for lack of talent but for lack of opportunity. His defensive versatility gave him a good chance to play a role on the big league club, but finding regular at-bats would be a challenge. Injuries to David Peralta and A.J. Pollock have helped, but the 24-year-old also gave manager Chip Hale plenty of reason to continue finding a spot for him in the starting lineup.

With 109 starts between the corner outfield spots, third and second base, Drury has a .787 OPS with 15 homers and 30 doubles in 488 plate appearances, including a current hot streak (.946 OPS, 5 HR, 10 2B in last 128 plate appearances) that will certainly improve his chances of entering 2017 with a starting job.

5. Anthony Banda, SP/ Mitch Haniger, OF (MiLB)

No Diamondbacks minor leaguers boosted their stock more in 2016 than Banda and Haniger, who, coincidentally, were both acquired from the Brewers in a trade for Gerardo Parra back in July 2014.

The 25-year-old Haniger, who had a .999 OPS with 25 homers and 34 doubles in 129 games between Double-A and Triple-A, won’t be in the mix for a starting job next season with Peralta and Pollock returning from injury-plagued seasons, but he does give the team some right-handed power and versatility off of the bench—he has played all three outfield spots during his first MLB stint.

Like Haniger, Banda began the season with Double-A Mobile (2.12 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 9.9 K/9 in 13 starts) and had continued success after a promotion to Triple-A Reno (3.67 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 8/3 K/9). The 23-year-old should battle for a rotation spot next spring.

[Diamondbacks Depth Chart]

Reds To Retain Bryan Price For 2017

By Jeff Todd | September 30, 2016 at 3:19pm CDT

The Reds have announced that skipper Bryan Price will return as the team’s manager for the 2017 season. His new deal includes a club option for 2018, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets.

Per the team, all of the coaches have also been offered contracts as well. At this point, it seems, it’s not yet clear whether any will choose instead to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Price had originally been signed to a three-year deal upon taking over the staff. That pact was set to expire just days from now, at the end of the 2016 season. Price had previously served as the Cincinnati pitching coach under then-skipper Dusty Baker before taking the helm when his predecessor was fired.

Clearly, the 54-year-old Price isn’t being retained for delivering wins. The rebuilding Reds have compiled an awful 207-276 record over his three seasons in the dugout. Still, it would be hard to blame him for failing to deliver results with the rosters he has been handed.

The organization evidently felt that Price has succeeded in other areas of importance. Certainly, he has overseen some bright spots in spite of the general difficulties. And the club’s brass has suggested that the win-loss record wouldn’t determine Price’s fate, with his ability to oversee growth from the team’s young players representing the top priority. Though it was reported recently that a final decision hadn’t been made, the Walt Jocketty-Dick Williams front office duo evidently decided since that time to entrust the club to Price for at least one more run.

Cubs Extend Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, Jason McLeod

By Steve Adams | September 30, 2016 at 2:39pm CDT

FRIDAY: The Cubs have now announced the Hoyer and McLeod contracts, which run through 2021.

“Jed and Jason are simply the best at what they do and have played fundamentally important leadership roles in helping the Cubs build a healthy and thriving organization,” said Epstein. “We feel honored to have the stability and support that we enjoy throughout Baseball Operations and look forward to many years of working together in Chicago.”

WEDNESDAY, 8:13pm: FanRag’s Jon Heyman reports that Epstein’s deal actually guarantees him a bit less than $50MM, but it can exceed the $50MM threshold based on incentives. ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers tweets that both Hoyer’s deal also goes through 2021, and Heyman tweets the same regarding McLeod.

3:12pm: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Epstein’s contract is believed to be worth more than $50MM in total, which would make him the highest-paid baseball executive on record. Additionally, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that both Hoyer and McLeod have received extensions with the Cubs as well (Twitter link).

3:06pm: The Cubs announced this afternoon that president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has signed a five-year contract extension that will run from 2017-21. Epstein had been in the final season of his current contract and was widely expected to receive an extension to keep him in his current position atop Chicago’s baseball operations hierarchy. In the press release announcing the extension, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts offered the following statement:

“In the five years under Theo’s leadership, he has brought in a strong executive team and acquired and developed some of the best players in the game. Now, the results are on the field. My family and I have no doubt that we have moved closer to our goal of delivering Cubs fans the World Series Championship they deserve.”

Ricketts also added that the extension “ensures the baseball operations team assembled by Epstein will continue its remarkable tenure of building a consistent championship contender.”

Epstein, 42, has been at his current post with the Cubs since Oct. 2011. While the early stages of his tenure were mired with losing clubs, he, alongside general manager Jed Hoyer, senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod and the rest of the Chicago front office have taken the Cubs from a cellar-dwelling team to a powerhouse that will finish with the best record in baseball this season after finishing with 97 wins a year ago.

The Cubs appear poised not only for success in 2015-16, but for the foreseeable future, as the core of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester, among others, are all controlled through at least the 2020 campaign. While certainly not all of those players are locks to remain productive — specifically Lester, who will be 36 by the time his current contract expires — the Cubs have the payroll capacity to supplement that enviable core group of players as needed.

While the Epstein/Hoyer/McLeod regime has had the occasional misstep (see: Edwin Jackson and, so far anyway, Jason Heyward), the Epstein-led Cubs have been largely successful in their moves, be they free-agent signings, trades or draft selections. Since Oct. 2011, the Cubs have acquired Hendricks and Christian Villanueva in exchange for half a season of Ryan Dempster; acquired Carl Edwards and Justin Grimm for half a season of Matt Garza; acquired Addison Russell in exchange for a year-and-a-half of Jeff Samardzija and a half season of Jason Hammel (whom they later re-signed with solid results); and, of course, most notoriously, acquired 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta and setup man Pedro Strop in exchange for a half season of Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger.

The team has also picked up Hector Rondon in the Rule 5 Draft and made a number of savvy free-agent additions including Hammel (twice), Lester, John Lackey, Ben Zobrist, Dexter Fowler (after initially acquiring him for Luis Valbuena and Dan Straily) and David Ross. Beyond that, the Cubs have drafted well, landing Bryant and Schwarber as well as top prospects such as Ian Happ and Albert Almora. Chicago has also been active on the international front, outbidding the competition for Jorge Soler and spending aggressively on prospects such as Eloy Jimenez and Gleyber Torres, the latter of whom was used as the centerpiece of the trade that brought Aroldis Chapman to Chicago this past summer.

McLeod has been an oft-rumored candidate to join another organization in a higher role and was recently one of the prime candidates for the Twins as they search for a new president of baseball operations. And Hoyer, conceivably, could have drawn interest elsewhere for a team willing to bestow the president title upon an experience general manager. While the length of the extensions for Hoyer and McLeod aren’t yet known, the trio of extension ensures that the same brain trust that architected the current Cubs roster will be in place for several years to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

5 Free Agent Bats On The Rise

By Steve Adams | September 30, 2016 at 1:18pm CDT

Big finishes to the season can mean a variety of things to players. In some instances — J.A. Happ, for example — a late run of excellence can help a player land a contract that would’ve been otherwise unthinkable. Trevor Cahill and Fernando Rodney may have been in line for minor league contracts this past offseason were it not for their late showings with the Cubs. Of course, not every big finish ends with a massively boosted payday. Daniel Murphy’s late power surge was one of the game’s most notable narratives last October, but speculation about a sudden five-year contract never came to fruition, and he ended up with a three-year contract that now looks to be one of the game’s great bargains.

We don’t know what the future holds for these players, but here are five free agent bats that are impressing late in the year…

Carlos Gomez: Astros fans should probably look away. Since joining the division-rival Rangers, Gomez has batted an outstanding .291/.371/.564 in 31 games. He’s cut his strikeout rate by more than five percent while significantly boosting his walk rate, and the eight homer he’s hit in a month with the Rangers are just one shy of the nine he hit in 126 games as a member of the Astros. Gomez played his way out of a job in Houston, but his recent run with the Rangers looks an awful lot like his peak years from 2012-14 in Milwaukee. That could be enough to land him a multi-year contract this offseason, though a one-year pact in an attempt to further boost his value remains an option as well. And of course, Gomez will have further opportunities to add to his value in the postseason, as the Rangers have clinched the AL West.
Josh Reddick: The month of September has largely balanced out what was one of the worst months of Reddick’s career in August. He’s being platooned pretty heavily, which won’t help his free-agent value as much as showing competence versus left-handers would have, but he’s batting .406/.446/.565 in 75 plate appearances over the past 30 days. It’s been a roller-coaster season for Reddick, who has mixed in a month-long DL stint with his hot and cold streaks, but the strong finish undoubtedly salvages some free agent stock that looked to have been dwindling. Like Gomez, he’ll have further opportunities to showcase for interested teams in the playoffs.
Sean Rodriguez: The 31-year-old Rodriguez is quietly having an excellent season in Pittsburgh, where he’s batted .272/.350/.517 on the whole — including a ridiculous .329/.398/.605 slash and six homers over the past month. He’s also played every position on the field except pitcher and catcher this season, making him a versatile asset that’s finishing his year with a flourish. That could very well be enough to land Rodriguez the first multi-year contract of his career as he heads into his age-32 season.
Kendrys Morales: I looked at Morales’ rising stock last week, and all he’s done in the interim is continue to rake. Over the past 30 days, Morales is hitting .327/.377/.625 with nine long balls, which only adds to the monstrous production he’s compiled since mid-June. There’s no reason for him to exercise his end of the mutual option the Royals hold over him, and he’ll be an interesting qualifying offer candidate. Morales would be a threat to accept, having been burned by the QO system once in the past, but his production, in a vacuum, is enough to earn a multi-year deal.
Jose Bautista: Bautista’s reported asking price was one of the biggest stories in baseball back in Spring Training, but the prodigious slugger has had his worst season since breaking out with the Blue Jays in 2010. Bautista’s numbers are down across the board, he’s spent time on the disabled list, and defensive metrics have soured on his work in right field. He’s been great in the final month, though, hitting .250/.400/.438 with five homers across 120 plate appearances. Bautista still seems likely to turn down a QO in search of a more lucrative contract on the free agent market, and finishing out the regular season well (plus a potential postseason showcase) should help to quiet concerns about his health and ability to produce at a high level.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/30/16

By Steve Adams | September 30, 2016 at 12:15pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves…

The Padres have outrighted infielder Nick Noonan off the 40-man roster following his DFA last week, as was first noted on the team’s transactions page. Noonan, 27, appeared in seven games for San Diego and collected three hits in 18 at-bats (20 plate appearances). That marked his third season with some degree of Major League experience, though the longtime Giants farmhand hasn’t hit enough at the big league level to stick for very long. In 155 plate appearances, Noonan is a .193/.239/.234 hitter. Once considered one of San Francisco’s top prospects, Noonan is a .274/.322/.372 hitter in nearly 1900 Triple-A plate appearances. The former No. 32 overall pick can elect free agency this winter and look for a new organization if he chooses.

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