The Blue Jays are not showing any interest in rekindling talks with Jose Bautista, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports in his latest notes post. The departure of Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion drew down a big chunk of the team’s right-handed power, which helps explain the interest in some less pricey options, but it had seemed that the club would at least explore returns for both. With Kendrys Morales now on hand, the likelihood seemed reduced, but it’s interesting to hear that the door may nearly be closed on Bautista.
- Encarnacion, meanwhile, is among the players drawing interest from the Yankees, Heyman reports in another post. New York has seemingly cast quite a wide net, it should be noted, with GM Brian Cashman suggesting he could go in any number of directions in bolstering the lineup now that Brian McCann is playing in Houston.
- The Rays are indeed interested in Jason Castro, Heyman adds (and as others have recently suggested could be the case). But it seems there’s rather a robust market forming for the lefty-swinging backstop, which makes it a bit hard to imaging Tampa Bay beating out the competition.
- Jason Heyward’s dreadful first season with the Cubs isn’t likely to result in a change of scenery, Heyman also reports. There has been no mention of the still-youthful outfielder in trade talks this winter, which certainly isn’t surprising give that there’s $169MM left on his contract. Even if Chicago were to desire a trade, it would likely have little choice but to hope that Heyward can find his way at the plate to rebuild some value.
- Some teams are showing interest in Tigers righty Anibal Sanchez, Heyman reports. Though his contract ($21MM owed between 2017 and a 2018 option buyout) is well under water, it could be that the club could save some cash if it’s willing to pay a decent chunk of what’s owed. Sanchez has been tagged with a 5.42 ERA over the last two seasons, with gobs of home runs more than offsetting strikeout and walk numbers that are within his typical range. But plenty of organizations are looking for innings, and might see some bounceback potential in the 32-year-old.
- Teams are always looking for value in their pitching acquisitions, of course, and giving shots to veterans sometimes pans out. One hurler who could draw some looks this winter is Justin Masterson, who Heyman says is believed to be healthy after battling through shoulder issues. While he’s still just 31, Masterson hasn’t been effective in the big leagues since 2013, and managed only a 4.97 ERA with 5.3 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 with a 1.620 WHIP at Triple-A last year for the Pirates. He did finish his minor-league season on a high note, though, and it seems reasonable to expect that some organization will be intrigued enough by his previously established ceiling to bring him in on a minor-league deal.
marmaduke
With those numbers, Sanchez stole millions from the Tigers. What was the team thinking? Desperation for anyone who could find their way to the mound?
Sokane
Prior to 2016 and 2015, Sanchez was really good.
2014: 3.43 ERA, 2.71 FIP, 1.095 WHIP, and only 4 HRs all year
2013: 2.57 ERA(ERA title), 2.39 FIP, 1..154 WHIP
2012: 3.74 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.286 WHIP
He got injured in 2014(only 120 some innings) and hasn’t been the same since. That was after the contract was signed.
TheGreatTwigog
You’re completely right that he was good and has a shot at being good again, but I just don’t think the risk is worth 17 million dollars. I’d much rather have a free agent starter with lower risk and lower salary.
Sokane
I agree with you there. I assume the Tigers will be looking for strictly salary relief in a move involving Sanchez. They have too many starters as is with Fulmer, Norris, Boyd, Verlander, Zimmerman, and Pelfrey.
I misread your original post and assumed you were wondering why the Tigers would’ve signed him to that contract. My apologies, its too early
TheMichigan
Pelfrey will have a shot in the rotation, and I know it hurts to have wasted 8 million, but I think he will start in the bullpen
Sokane
Agreed. He’ll either be traded or end up in the pen.
I think Verlander, Zimmerman, Norris, Boyd, and Fulmer are all better than(or at least have more potential than) Pelfrey. But I also would like to have Pelfrey in pen for a long reliever and a security position in case we need a spot starter.
stymeedone
They don’t need him for spot starts. They would be better off storing Buck Farmer at AAA for those. Pelfrey is not someone I’d like to see trotting in with the Tigers behind by 2 runs. It will soon be six runs. He was terrible in his first inning this past year. That’s not what you want from your pen.
RedBirdsSwaff
He wasn’t a “stud” but definitely a good pitcher.
manijo1921
If you remember it was between the tigers and cubs that offseason for anibal. Hmmm … what would have happened then …
amishthunderak
Instead the Cubs signed Edwin Jackson. If only the Tigers would have went after him instead.
yankees33
How about a Heyward for Ellsbury swap?
gojira15
Would the Yankees really want to do that? Heyward was truly terrible at the plate, he’s owed more. He has little upside because if he does a major rebound he can opt out.
pukelit
Not much motivation there for the Cubs. Neither player is playing that well but Heyward is better defensively. Also Ellsbury is 33 and making 21 mil and Heyward is 27 making 15. The Yankees would have to throw in prospects to make that happen
37santobanks
Heyward made 21.6 million in 2016 and is going to get over 28 million the next 2 seasons, then 20-22 over the remaining 5 seasons of the contract.
pukelit
My bad I was looking at 2016 without the signing bonus
bsteady powers
Cubs wouldn’t trade his glove
gojira15
I’d argue that Ellsbury has at minimum a comparable defensive prowess to Heyward.
disgruntledreader 2
I’d argue you’d have to be at least moderately high to arrive at that conclusion.
Ry.the.Stunner
I’d argue that you’re off your rocker. Heyward is regarded as among the best defensive outfielders in baseball.
gojira15
Heyward is the best RF in baseball, yes. But that’s partially because he has less competition there. If he played CF, like he should, he would be merely good. Like Ellsbury. In fact, they have similar defensive WAR from 2016 (1.2 to 1.3). Ellsbury is also as sure-handed as they come, with the second best OF fielding percentage ever. Move Heyward to CF and see if he outplays Ellsbury. Or move Ellsbury to RF.
thetruth 2
Defendively maybe, overall he’s nowhere near best RF innthe game.
gojira15
Yes, I mean defensively. I’ll keep him above Eaton in that regard based because of Heyward’s overall body of work.
I kind of feel sorry for J-Hey. He had Mays and Aaron expectations thrust upon him from day one, and he’s clearly nowhere near that type of player (who is?).
HalElliott
Best in baseball? Here, have some more Cub kool aid.
thebigstinkey
Cubbies definitely overpaid for Heyward! But at this point, I think they would be well served to wait and see if he can rebound and turn into a 20-25 hr . 285 hitter who plays great defense.. IMHO
lilkube
I don’t think Heyward would go to the Yankees because that means he has to shave his beard. Can’t see that happening.
mike156
I didn’t see much of Heyward, but when I did he looked completely out of sync at the plate, almost like a golfer who has forgotten his swing (or is thinking too much about it).
Mikel Grady
Joe maddon is correct, quit focusing on just batting average and look at the player as a whole. Great defense and tremendous clubhouse leader. Getting sized today for his World Series ring
Jeff Todd
I was one of many people who advocated just that when he was a free agent. (Well, not just batting average but total offensive value.) But that was when we were talking about whether he was worth $20MM+ a year despite “only” being 20% better than league average at the plate.
Now, he has a season under his belt in which he was 30% worse than league average. That changes his value. Doesn’t mean he isn’t useful, or that he can’t rebound, but it is part of the picture.
The contract is under water at the moment. Fortunately for the Cubs, he’s still got a decent floor with his glove and baserunning, and is still plenty young.
gojira15
True, but the “he’s still young” argument has always held little sway with me because experience is more important than age. Yes, Heyward is only 27, but he has seven full seasons under his belt. He should be having his best seasons and just had his worst.
I think Heyward will be better next season, but I also think we’ve seen all he can do.
cubsfan2489
Your last paragraph made no sense. “I think Heyward will be better next season, but I also think we’ve seen all he can do.” If you think he’s going to be better, then you haven’t seen all he can do.
jd396
What? Heyward rebounding and having a season like he usually had prior to 2016 would be better but nothing we haven’t seen before.
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
It makes a lot of sense it means 2012 was probably a mirage. He’s probably going to be a decent offensive player but never an elite offensive player. Everyone keeps waiting for him to follow up that breakout year. He a GG RF with a decent bat but he’s not the guy you pay $184 for.
Jeff Todd
Balance of his career suggests he’s a good but not great hitter. The youth doesn’t suggest he still has development, really; it suggests that his physical abilities shouldn’t be eroding right now, which at least gives you some hope that you can get him back to where he was. Would be more concerning if he was 33 and the bat was slowing down.
jb226
The thing about Heyward is that his swing has just fundamentally become broken. He has a little hitch in it that makes it impossible for him to get to certain pitches, and that’s not the kind of vulnerability a major-league player can have. Pitchers in MLB are good enough to exploit that.
Now, you can take that in one of two ways. You could believe “oh no, his swing is fundamentally broken, he’s doomed.” And certainly I think there is reason to be apprehensive given how bad of a season he had with the bat. Or, you can take it as something he can fix over the offseason and come back and be the player we expected him to be when we signed him.
There was talk all season long that the Cubs’ coaches would need to completely destroy his swing and start from scratch and that would have to be done in the offseason, so everybody who needs to be aware of it certainly is. We’ll just have to wait and see if he can make the adjustment.
bsteady powers
He held the team in the rain delay … Could of been nothing… Could of been everything
jlmini10
Wouldn’t call Heyward a leader in any sense. Was asked to take Chipper Jones locker in Atlanta but didn’t want that burden on him. Offered biggest contract in Cardinals history to be the man and turned down to be on a team full of stars. I agree with the way you say Maddon evaluates players, just disagree that Heyward is a leader in any way.
tsolid 2
Let me Guess, you’re either a Braves or Cards fan? If the players that PLAY with him call him a leader, don’t you think their opinion has more weight than yours? I would think so
jlmini10
Yes I am a Cards fan. And unless Mikel Grady is a player for the Cubs, I haven’t heard of any Cubs players touting his leadership. I don’t believe my opinion carries any more weight than anyone else’s, I just disagreed with the statement. Figured it would be a good way to hear contrary opinions, especially coming from a Cardinals fan like me who is biased based on my experience with Heyward. I would like to hear specific reasons why people think Heyward is a leader, cause I’ve only seen one side.
Ry.the.Stunner
So he’s not a leader because he values winning as a team (joining a rising young Cubs team) over personal glory (being “the man” on a declining Cards team).
Good talk.
slider32
Yanks still need some big bats in the middle of their line up, EE would be a perfect fit. Cashman gives him 4/96
yanksknicks
As a yankee fan i do not want to see that happen. We need to get younger not blow truckloads on a dh
tim815
Sanchez’ falling off the cliff is part of why I expect the Cubs “pitching trade” to be real, but on a much lower scale.
Soler plus a few less major pieces for a pitcher with three years left.
Pitchers stop being good at a ridiculous rate. Matt Shoemaker seems the right neighborhood. Him or someone similar to be the fifth guy in the rotation. Jake Buchanan or someone similar to be the sixth, if the roster is 26.
cxcx
So you’ve got teams going to 6-man rotations if the 26-man becomes a thing? Huh…
benharvey26
Sanchez is a gamer and still has the nasty stuff, he just gets hit hard for XBH’s. If he could go somewhere like Pittsburgh and revive his career, I see him getting back to his old self.
Michael Macaulay-Birks
How about the angels or another team with a huge ballpark
Michael Macaulay-Birks
Back to Miami maybe?
Sokane
Comerica park in Detroit is a large ballpark and fairly pitcher friendly I believe(full discloser, I haven’t seen how it ranked in 2016).
He has some sort of mechanical issue I assume. He’s tried changing his windup in both 2015 and 2016. Neither seemed to be consistent. Not sure what his issue is now, but need someone to work some magic on him.
TheMichigan
It is a pitcher friendly park against left handed hitters. Their pull side and center field are fairly deep, left field is pretty short around 340ish
stymeedone
You do realize that Anibal was pitching at Comerica Nat’l Park. Not as big as it once was, but I wouldn’t call it a Hitters park, either. Still, he did show moments of his former self this past season, just not consistently. When he’s on, its a beautiful thing. His pitches MOVE!
gobraves007
I think Joey Bats is going to regret not taking that QO.
redsox for_life
Yep!! Iff he get 3/70 he will happy now
redsox for_life
Not 5/150 he want
aff10
If he gets 3/$70 million, doubt he’ll lose much sleep over declining the QO
stormie
He’ll get a decent deal from somebody. Even if he took the QO and had a better platform season, his value isn’t going to go up much because of how old he is. He may as well just take what he can get now.
themed
Heyward is not worth the money! It was a horrible sign. And for that kind of money he has to play. They can’t sit him on the bench and just bring him in for late inning defense during the season. Face the facts. Do you think the Cardinals would have offered him that same contract this year?
Lance
The Cards should be happy both Heyward and Pujols took the money and left. They aren’t burdened with huge contracts they couldn’t get rid of. the Cubs won it all in spite of Jason and the Angels can’t be happy with Pujols being just half the player he was for STL.
thetruth 2
Exactly..
Voice of Reason
The Cubs would trade heyward in a heart beat if they could find a sucker, or I mean a team, to take on that contract.
Someone posted that they’ll keep him for his glove. That’s funny as they have Almora who could play right just as well as heyward and for about $22 million less per year.
I’m not saying heyward can’t rebound. I’m saying that they’d move him in a minute if they could find a taker.
Blue_Painted_Dreams_LA
Well him waiving his no trade clause would put a near impossible damper on that.
bleacherbum
If the Rays lose out on Castro they can call San Diego about Derek Norris, he will cost a lot less & produce more offensively than Castro will. Bringing him back to the A.L. & getting him off his feet to DH from time to time will bring him closer to the All-Star player he was for Oakland in 14′. Norris + a mid-level prospect like Franchy Cordero for Drew Smyly or Alex Cobb.
mrnatewalter
I think the Rays would want a lot more for Smyly. Norris had a wRC+ of only 55 last season, and was below average the year before as well.
There are plenty of catchers on the market, most of them would out-perform those numbers almost any day of the week.
Perfidio123
All talk and no walk. EE would love to re-sign with the Jays! How often have you heard this song and dance. So whatever offer the Jays make, any other offer even slightly higher is where he’ll go. Name of the game.
stormie
We’ll see. He’s not going to give up an extra year to stay in Toronto, that’s for sure, so if they don’t match the length others are offering, then they probably have no shot. If it just came down to same length and like $3 million difference or something though, I wouldn’t put it past him to stay in Toronto for slightly less.
Perfidio123
Keep that light burning in the window.
Thegreatandpowerfulsimba
Let’s get crazy Heyward for kemp and sims And a great bullpen arm-vizzy/cabrerra/Johnson. Maybe throw in lastella to please that psycho braves fan that had a legitimate unhealthy obsession with him… he was almost as easy to troll as trademeister haha
Monty725
Why is anyone wasting their breath on Anibel. He sucks…period. Don’t need to review stats to know that. He should feel guilty cashing his cheque. As for Bautista…I am a jays fan and I am repulsed by his pre season greed. Good luck to anyone who signs him. He is now a DH, occasional RF and maybe 1B. His greed tarnishes his legacy in Toronto. Put up or shut up. He picked the wrong year to have a down year.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Is this writer just bored with Nothing to report? Heyward isn’t going anywhere. The only way he leaves is if he opts out in 2018 or 19. And if they win another world series in that timeframe I highly doubt he opts out. He’ll bounce back and be comeback player of the year.