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Archives for January 2016

Mets Place Carlos Torres On Outright Waivers

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JANUARY 29: New York has placed Torres on outright waivers after being unable to strike a trade, Rubin reports.

JANUARY 22: The Mets have designated righty Carlos Torres for assignment, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. He’ll lose his roster spot to fellow reliever Antonio Bastardo.

Torres had already agreed to a $1.05MM arbitration salary, so any team claiming him would be obligated for that amount. If he is not traded or claimed, then New York would still owe him one-sixth ($175K) of that amount.

The 33-year-old had put together two straight solid seasons as a swingman and long reliever for the Mets, but ended 2015 with a 4.68 ERA over 57 2/3 frames. It’s worth noting, though, that Torres suffered from some ball-in-play (.326 BABIP) and sequencing (65.3% LOB%) misfortune, while his peripherals were otherwise fairly strong. He ended the year with 7.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 and a 48.3% groundball rate, leading ERA estimators to value him at a mid-3.00 level.

Certainly, it isn’t difficult to imagine another club deciding that’s enough of a track record to wager $1MM on. After all, similar background statistics supported 3.24 ERA over 183 1/3 frames over 2013-14. And Torres actually showed a slight velocity increase last year.

Dodgers To Re-Sign Howie Kendrick

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The Dodgers have reached agreement on a two-year deal with second baseman Howie Kendrick, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Kendrick gets a $20MM guarantee over the two years, Jon Heyman tweets.

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With the move, Los Angeles will sacrifice its chance to tack on an additional draft selection. Kendrick, 32, turned down a $15.8MM qualifying offer from the club earlier in the offseason. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained earlier today, the Dodgers stood to increase their draft pool had Kendrick headed elsewhere.

Instead, the club will add Kendrick right back into a crowded mix of position players. Presumably, he’ll see the bulk of the time at second, displacing an anticipated Enrique Hernandez/Chase Utley platoon. But Hernandez could also spell Corey Seager at short and Joc Pederson in center, while Utley can not only spend time at second but also might fill in for Justin Turner at third. Players such as Micah Johnson, Charlie Culberson, and Alex Guerrero could also feature in the infield mix.

Coming into the winter, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes had predicted that Kendrick could land $50MM over four years. Clearly, he stands to fall well shy of that after his market failed to develop as anticipated. It’s not difficult to see that market developments played a huge role, along with the qualifying offer.

The older Ben Zobrist hit on a $56MM guarantee, besting his own projection. He didn’t carry draft compensation requirements since he was traded in mid-season. Meanwhile, the younger but also QO-bound Daniel Murphy came closer to his expectations with a three-year, $37.5MM pact. But Kendrick was left without an obvious place as the board began to clear. As Steve Adams and I discussed just yesterday on the MLBTR podcast, even the best apparent landing spots all had complications. Indeed, he’ll ultimately take home a guarantee that barely tops that reached by the less-accomplished Asdrubal Cabrera.

At the end of the day, the acquisition cost was much lower than Los Angeles paid the last time they added Kendrick. The Dodgers sent young lefty Andrew Heaney last year for Kendrick (and his $9.5MM salary). And as the qualifying offer shows, the team was willing to pay him over three-quarters of the total value of his new contract for just one season.

As things shook out, it looks like a nice get for the depth-focused Dodgers. While Kendrick dealt with some injuries late last year, and is certainly not the youngest open market option, he’s been a steadily excellent performer for quite some time. Since taking over full-time duties at second with the Angels back in 2010, Kendrick has carried a sturdy .289/.332/.418 batting line. And he’s rarely varied too far from that production level, making him one of the more reliably above-average hitters in the league.

It’s been a while since Kendrick put up his career best of 18 long balls, but he’s a reasonable bet to approach or exceed double digits in that area. And the same holds in the stolen base department, though he’s more of an average overall baserunner than a plus in that area. It’s tough to judge the defensive component for the respected veteran. Kendrick undoubtedly slipped last year, with roundly negative overall glovework in the eyes of both UZR and DRS. But he’s generally been at least an average defender over his career, and even if his loss of range proves permanent, he is still reliable on more easily-made plays.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets Avoid Arbitration With Neil Walker

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The Mets have avoided arbitration with second baseman Neil Walker, per a team announcement. He’ll earn $10.55MM for the coming season, Jon Heyman tweets.

Walker’s salary falls just under the midpoint between the respective filing values of $11.8MM and $9.4MM. It also lands only a bit shy of his $10.7MM projection, via MLBTR and Matt Swartz.

Walker, a switch-hitter, has long been a significant offensive contributor. He carries a .272/.338/.431 slash in 3,426 major league plate appearances. He’s not a great fielder, but is solid enough with the glove to profile as a strong first-division regular.

The 30-year-old came over from the Pirates in a trade that sent southpaw Jon Niese to Pittsburgh. He’ll step into the second base role vacated by former Met and current National Daniel Murphy. Walker will qualify for free agency following the 2016 season.

Phillies Claim Bobby LaFromboise, Designate Jesse Biddle

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The Phillies announced that they have claimed left-handed reliever Bobby LaFromboise off waivers from the Angels and designated former top prospect Jesse Biddle for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. While Biddle’s DFA may come as a surprise to those who recognize his name, Biddle underwent Tommy John surgery back in October and is expected to miss the entirety of the 2016 season as a result.

LaFromboise, 29, had a very nice year with Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates organization last year, working to a 2.98 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 54 1/3 innings. He also recorded eight innings at the big league level, during which he yielded just one run on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. LaFromboise has a generally strong track record at the Triple-A level and has also had a fairly reasonable degree of success in his brief Major League time, having pitched to a 4.03 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 22 1/3 innings. This past season, he held lefties to a .218/.255/.366 batting line with a 36-to-5 K/BB ratio between the Majors and minors.

Because they finished the season with the worst record in the Majors, the Phillies have first crack at claiming any player that is placed on waivers, meaning LaFromboise was snatched up by the first team to which he was made available. He’ll compete for a spot in the bullpen along with lefties Elvis Araujo, Mario Hollands (who is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery), Daniel Stumpf and non-roster invitee James Russell in Philadelphia.

As for Biddle, the former 24-year-old will sit out the 2016 campaign and hope to get his once-promising career back on track in 2017. The Philadelphia native was drafted by the Phillies with the 27th overall pick in 2010 and quickly found himself as a universal entrant in top 100 prospect rankings, appearing on such lists from publications like Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. By the time he was 21, Biddle had a full season of work at the Double-A level under his belt, and while he battled some control issues there, he worked to a 3.64 ERA and averaged 10 strikeouts per nine across 138 1/3 innings despite being nearly four years younger than the average age in the league. However, he struggled in repeating the league, and while he moved up to Triple-A in 2015, Biddle posted a 6.25 ERA in 44 1/3 innings there late in the year before news of his surgery was reported shortly after the conclusion of the regular season.

Royals Sign Ian Kennedy

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11:40am: MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets that if Kennedy does opt out after two years, he receives a $6MM buyout, so he would actually be opting out of three years and $43MM, as opposed to three years and $49MM.

11:17am: After reportedly agreeing to a deal nearly two weeks ago, the Royals announced on Friday that they have signed right-hander Ian Kennedy to a five-year contract. The Scott Boras client will reportedly be guaranteed a total of $70MM and is said to have secured an opt-out clause that would allow him to re-enter the free agent market after the 2017 season. Kennedy’s contract, however, is significantly backloaded; he’ll earn $7.5MM in 2016 and $13.5MM in 2017, meaning he’d have to forgo a guaranteed $49MM from 2018-20 in order to again test free agency (entering his age-33 season).

USATSI_8681971_154513410_lowresKennedy notably rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres earlier this offseason, a decision that now looks astute, as he will receive a lucrative long-term deal despite a somewhat sketchy recent history and the fact that he’ll cost his new team a top draft pick. Kennedy posted mediocre numbers in 2015, with a solid 9.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 but with a 4.28 ERA and 31 home runs allowed in 168 1/3 innings.

Kennedy did allow only 11 homers in the second half versus 20 in the first. His home run totals throughout the 2015 season were also perhaps somewhat high given his underlying numbers, and he had a strong season in San Diego in 2014. But his struggles to control the long ball last year were still hard to ignore.

Kennedy’s qualifying offer, his underwhelming performance and the large number of good free agent pitchers available did not prevent him from receiving a lucrative contract, however. And the opt-out is icing on the cake, adding considerable value to the deal by potentially giving Kennedy one more chance to land a big free agent contract at age 33, should his first two years in Kansas City go well. Opt-outs have, of course, become increasingly common this winter, and even a non-top-tier free agent in Scott Kazmir received one. But it’s still a bit surprising that Kennedy would get one on a $70MM deal, as the financial outlay of the deal looks rather generous even before considering the opt-out.

For the Royals, the appeal of adding a starting pitcher is obvious. Despite winning the World Series in 2015, the team’s 4.34 rotation ERA was fourth-worst in the American League. They had not yet significantly upgraded that rotation this offseason, and they projected to open with a staff consisting of Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Kris Medlen, Danny Duffy and veteran Chris Young. Kennedy should, at the very least, significantly improve their rotation depth.

To some extent, also, K.C. is betting that there’s positive regression to come. Metrics such as SIERA (3.61 last year) could be a better gauge of Kennedy’s true talent than his underwhelming earned run average. His weaknesses might also be somewhat minimized in Kansas City. While Kauffman Stadium is by no means a pitcher’s park, it does limit home runs, and the Royals’ strong outfield defense should help Kennedy turn his fly balls into outs.

But the organization is also simply continuing a well-established strategy of seeking durability in its starters, as it has in the past with pitchers like Edinson Volquez, Jason Vargas, and Jeremy Guthrie. Kennedy has made at least thirty starts in every season dating back to 2010. Though he hasn’t always reached 200 innings annually, the length of his outings is probably of less importance to the Royals — with their deep and excellent pen — than is his ability to take the ball every fifth day.

The deal also marks somewhat of a milestone for the Royals, who appear to be heading into 2016 with a set of commitments that are, for them, unprecedented. With Alex Gordon now back under contract, Kansas City already had $113MM in commitments. Add in Mike Moustakas’ as-yet-undetermined arbitration-year salary and Kennedy’s deal, and the Royals’ 2016 Opening Day payroll could top $130MM, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. That figure will fly past their $113MM Opening Day payroll in 2015, to say nothing of their series of eight-figure Opening Day payrolls before that.

For yet more evidence of Kansas City’s enhanced willingness and ability to spend, it bears noting that Kennedy becomes the second record-breaking deal the organization has struck this winter. Gordon’s contract was (and still is) the largest single obligation ever entered into the Royals’ payroll ledger, topping the much earlier Mike Sweeney and Gil Meche contracts, while Kennedy takes over for Meche with the team’s top overall commitment to a pitcher.

Due to the qualifying offer, the Royals will give up the No. 24 overall pick in the draft. The Padres will receive a pick at the end of the first round.

Jon Heyman first reported the agreement and the terms (Twitter link). ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported the opt-out clause (also via Twitter). Heyman later added further details on the contract’s backloaded nature (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Royals Designate Louis Coleman For Assignment

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The Royals have designated right-hander Louis Coleman in order to clear a roster spot for fellow righty Ian Kennedy, whose five-year contract with Kansas City is now official, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (on Twitter).

Coleman, who will turn 30 on April 4, tossed just three innings for the Royals in 2015 but had been a regular member of the bullpen in the four seasons prior, pitching to a combined 3.25 ERA with 9.6 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in 174 1/3 innings. However, Coleman’s production tailed off badly in 2014, when he recorded a 5.56 ERA in 34 big league innings. While he rebounded with an outstanding 2015 season in Triple-A (1.69 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 in 64 innings), the Royals possess one of the game’s deeper bullpens and have a number of options on the depth chart even with the removal of Coleman from the 40-man roster.

Coleman had been arbitration eligible this offseason and, in fact, already agreed to a one-year deal worth $725K. However, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed, so the Royals will be able to make this move while only being on the hook for roughly $119K of that sum — a little less than one sixth of the contract’s total — if they ultimately release Coleman. For the time being, however, the Royals will probably explore trade opportunities involving Coleman. This isn’t the first time that the Royals have designated a player after agreeing to an arbitration salary; two years ago, the team designated Emilio Bonifacio for assignment after having agreed to a considerably more significant $3.5MM salary. Bonifacio was ultimately released (and went on to sign a minor league deal with the Cubs), leaving Kansas City responsible for about $575K of his salary.

Dodgers “Making Progress” On Howie Kendrick Deal

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10:18am: The Dodgers are “making progress” on a new contract with Kendrick, reports Rosenthal (via Twitter).

8:02am: Despite having already signed Chase Utley this offseason and possessing considerable infield depth, the Dodgers are considering a reunion with Howie Kendrick, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. There are additional factors to consider, as well, he notes, namely that the Dodgers would effectively be surrendering a draft pick by re-signing Kendrick. Despite the fact that they won’t lose an existing pick, Los Angeles would not receive the compensatory pick they’d have landed had Kendrick signed elsewhere after rejecting their qualifying offer back in November. That pick, as it stands right now, would slot in around No. 33 in the draft and give the Dodgers four of the top 36 picks this June — joining their natural No. 22 overall selection, the No. 32 pick they obtained when the D-backs signed Zack Greinke and the No. 36 selection they received as compensation for failing to sign Kyle Funkhouser out of Louisville last year.

While the Dodgers figure to have one of the larger bonus pools in this year’s draft as it is simply by the virtue of those three selections, adding a fourth to the mix would give the club a significant amount of money to implement a creative strategy in the 2016 draft. Going off of last year’s slot values in the draft — and I should note that there was an 8.77 percent increase in slot values between 2014 and 2015 — the Dodgers’ currently projected picks at Nos. 22, 32 and 36 would carry a value of $5.72MM. Adding in a fourth pick in that No. 33 slot, the Dodgers would have $7.55MM in bonus money from their first four picks alone. Based on an estimated slot growth of six percent in 2016 (reflective of MLB’s six percent revenue increase in 2015), Baseball America projects the Dodgers to currently have a bonus pool of $9,296,370 — 10th-largest in the league. Adding in the No. 33 pick and accounting for that same six percent inflation in value, the Dodgers’ draft pool would increase to about $12.15MM — the fifth-largest in the league. The Dodgers, then, would be able to spend roughly $12.76MM on draft bonuses without losing a first-round pick in the future. (The current structure allows a team to overshoot its pool by up to five percent before losing a future pick; the initial 0 to 5 percent overage is taxed at a rate of 75 percent, however.)

Perhaps that’s overthinking the matter at this juncture, but these are factors that the Dodgers, to be certain, have already considered in weighing whether or not to seriously pursue a reunion with Kendrick. Beyond that, though, could simply be where the team would work Kendrick into the lineup and at what rate he is currently willing to sign. Utley currently sits atop the Dodgers’ depth chart at second base, but the team also has the highly versatile Enrique Hernandez as an option at second base, and well-regarded prospect Micah Johnson — acquired in the three-team Todd Frazier trade — is nearly ready for a full-time look in the Majors as well. Alex Guerrero also remains on the roster, though he was used sparingly in the season’s second half and didn’t appear in a big league game at second last season despite it being his most frequently manned position in the minors.

As Rosenthal notes, Justin Turner underwent offseason knee surgery, but he’s said in the past that his expectation is to be 100 percent for Spring Training, and the team has quite a bit of positional depth already; Utley himself is already somewhat of an insurance policy that one can envision eventually moving around the diamond in somewhat of a utility role, and adding Kendrick to either expedite that transition or to fill a similar capacity would make for some high-priced assets lacking a clear opportunity for everyday at-bats over the course of the year.

Of course, the longer Kendrick remains on the market, the easier it is to see him returning to the Dodgers on what some could end up considering a club-friendly deal. While Rosenthal doesn’t specify an asking price for Kendrick, his price has almost certainly dropped since the offseason began. There’s been little in the way of teams connected to Kendrick recently, though the D-backs are said to have some interest. GM Dave Stewart, however, said recently that he wouldn’t part with a second draft pick after surrendering his No. 13 overall pick to sign Greinke. The Angels certainly make some sense as a landing spot for Kendrick, but owner Arte Moreno appears entirely unwilling to surpass the $189MM luxury tax threshold, and adding Kendrick would certainly cause the team to do so. Following an interview with Brewers GM David Stearns on this week’s MLBTR Podcast, Jeff Todd and I took a look at Kendrick’s market and tried to peg some dark-horse suitors for him late in the offseason. Kendrick and fellow middle infielder Ian Desmond were the subjects of a recent poll in which 70 percent of MLBTR readers picked Desmond to earn more than Kendrick in the late stages of free agency.

AL West Notes: Sucre, Mariners, Fister, Wilson

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Mariners catcher Jesus Sucre, who recently suffered a fractured fibula while playing in the Venezuelan Winter League, will be out considerably longer than initially believed, writes MLB.com’s Greg Johns. Sucre’s injury ultimately required surgery that will keep him on the shelf for the next six months, trainer Rick Griffin told Seattle reporters yesterday. Sucre was, perhaps, a long shot to make the Mariners’ roster in the first place considering the team’s offseason additions of Chris Iannetta and Steve Clevenger, but he now stands to miss as much as half the season. While Sucre is just a .178/.206/.229 hitter in 235 plate appearances at the Major League level, he’s also caught 40 percent of opposing base-stealers and rated as a strong pitch-framer throughout his big league tenure in Seattle. Johns notes within his piece that Sucre is the only player dealing with a significant injury as camp approaches, adding that Robinson Cano is fully recovered from double hernia surgery that he underwent in October and lefty Charlie Furbush is throwing pain-free after missing the second half of the 2015 season due to shoulder tendinitis.

Here’s more from the AL West…

  • Also from Johns, both Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais said at a recent media luncheon that they feel the team is positioned to contend in the AL West this season. Servais spoke highly of the club’s improvements in terms of outfield defense and overall athleticism, though he conceded that they’ll have to perform well in close games due to the nature of Seattle’s run-suppressing environment. “I think we’ll play a high number of one-run games,” said Servais. “I just believe in this ballpark, you’re going to play tight games. So the ability to get on base and create consistent opportunities to score is important. The more athletic you are, the better chance you have to make that happen.” Dipoto went on to speak about the competition not only for the final few spots in the bullpen but also in the rotation, where he labeled the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation a “great competition” between Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Nate Karns. He also added that the club’s goal is for Mike Zunino to open the season at Triple-A and get as much development time as he needs after many believe that he was rushed to the Majors. “This season is going to be about what’s best in the career development of Mike Zunino,” said Dipoto. Topics such as the potential batting order, defensive alignments and first-base platoon options are discussed in the piece as well.
  • Following the announcement of Doug Fister’s one-year deal with the Astros on Thursday, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs explores the greatly diminished velocity which contributed to Fister’s struggles and left him with only a slightly larger guarantee than journeyman Rich Hill. Sullivan found 117 pitchers dating back to 2002 that lost more than 1.5 mph on their fastball in consecutive seasons of 50 innings or more (which Fister has done), finding that there are nearly as many pitchers who didn’t start a game in the third year (15) as there were pitchers who regained a full mile per hour on their heater (22). While there were some notable exceptions (Ryan Vogelsong among them), most saw, at best, minimal improvement of 0.1 to 0.2 mph in their fastballs. Though a forearm problem could have played a role in Fister’s drop, Sullivan also points out that he didn’t gain any velocity in his return to the rotation after a DL stint, making a big rebound in 2016 seem unlikely. The one-year term could also be advantageous to Fister, however, as if he is able to rediscover some of his previous form, he’ll be able to enter a vastly weaker market in a considerably strong position next winter.
  • Though C.J. Wilson has been an oft-speculated trade candidate this winter, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes that Wilson is likely to open the season with the Angels. Much has been made of the Angels’ left field platoon of Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry — I’d personally contend that second base is a greater need, anyhow — but Wilson himself spoke to Fletcher and voiced a belief that the club’s rotation will be what determines its successes in 2016. Wilson noted that a team “[doesn’t] need 10 Mike Trouts,” as he went on to discuss the club’s depth of rotation candidates and some of the questions that surround them — himself included. Wilson said that on a personal level, he won’t be satisfied unless he approaches his 2013 results — a 3.39 ERA in 212 1/3 innings — but he’s more concerned with team success anyhow. “I’ve had all the individual success I need in my career,” Wilson told Fletcher. “The only thing left for me is the World Series. Anything less than that is not going to be enough.”

MLBTR Podcast With Brewers GM David Stearns

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Milwaukee’s GM David Stearns joins the show to talk about how he’s begun shaping the Brewers in his first three months on the job. He covers an array of topics, including the team’s efforts to acquire controllable talent, the status of veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy, and what he’s hoping for out of the 2016 season.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams then hops on with host Jeff Todd to talk through the current market outlook for talented infielders Ian Desmond and Howie Kendrick. While there are still plenty of possibilities for both players, the requirement of draft compensation and a dwindling number of contenders with clear needs may have sapped some of their leverage.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

NL Notes: Reds, CarGo, Torres, Phillies, Pirates

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Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty indicated that it’s “less likely” that team will add an arm now that Bronson Arroyo has signed with the Nationals, writes C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Per Rosecrans, the Reds considered Arroyo to be somewhat of a special case because of his familiarity with the team and his eagerness to work as a mentor for young pitchers. Jocketty did confirm that the Reds made an offer to Arroyo, but in the end, “it just wasn’t good enough,” the longtime exec added. However, first-year GM Dick Williams painted a bit of a different picture when discussing the remainder of the Reds’ offseason, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. “There are still a handful of guys out there that might make sense to bring into camp with a similar profile as Bronson,” said Williams. “Just veteran guys, but not high-profile, big-dollar guys. I wouldn’t be surprised if we add maybe a little bit to our depth there.” Speaking speculatively, Arroyo wasn’t the only former Reds pitcher on the free agent market that could theoretically serve as a mentor to a young staff; right-handers Aaron Harang, Kyle Lohse and Alfredo Simon are all still unsigned.

Here are some more notes from the National League…

  • The Rockies have discussed seeing how Carlos Gonzalez looks at first base in Spring Training, manager Walt Weiss tells MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. “CarGo at first base is something we’ve talked about introducing a little bit this spring, but it’s more of a potential longterm outlook,” Weiss explains. “We’re not really looking to circulate him at first base — just starting to introduce it in a practice setting.” As Harding notes, the Rockies never indicated that it was a possibility for the since-traded Corey Dickerson to play some first when such questions arose in regards to the team’s outfield logjam. While playing Gonzalez full-time at first base could theoretically allow the Rockies to make a run at a defensive upgrade in center field (e.g. Austin Jackson), it seems unlikely that the team would simply bank on Gonzalez learning the position in a few weeks’ time in Spring Training. From a long-term perspective, however, slowly acclimating Gonzalez with first base could help to create room for top prospect David Dahl, who has the potential to debut at some point in 2016.
  • The Mets are in trade talks with multiple clubs about right-hander Carlos Torres, who was recent designated for assignment when New York signed left-hander Antonio Bastardo to a two-year deal, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Previously, the New York Post’s Mike Puma noted that the Twins may have some interest in the right-hander, who had somewhat of a down year in 2015 but has been a solid ’pen arm for the Mets over the past few seasons. Dating back to 2013, Torres has a 3.59 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate in 241 innings.
  • The Phillies announced on Thursday that they’ve hired former Google quantitative analyst Andy Galdi as their new director of baseball research and development. GM Matt Klentak spoke excitedly about the fresh perspective that Galdi can bring to the research and decision-making processes in Philadelphia based on his recent experience, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, although it should also be noted that Galdi has a background in sports as well. Galdi served as a baseball operations intern for the Mets in 2009, Zolecki notes, and he also spent two years serving as a statistical analyst in the NBA commissioner’s office. Within Zolecki’s column, Klentak speaks at length about the improvements made to the Phillies’ analytics department in his first offseason as the club’s general manager.
  • Sticking with front office changes, earlier this week the Pirates announced some promotions in their baseball operations department. Kevan Graves will move from director of baseball operations to the role of assistant general manager, while Will Lawton has been promoted from baseball operations assistant to assistant director of baseball operations.
  • For Brewers fans (or fans of any club, for that matter) that missed today’s MLBTR Podcast, Milwaukee GM David Stearns joined host Jeff Todd and discussed his team’s continued pursuit of cost-controlled young talent, the club’s farm system and young pieces for the 2016 rotation, as well as the recent comments from catcher Jonathan Lucroy implying that he’d be open to a trade.

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