It’s possible that Shohei Ohtani could make his decision on where to sign “by early next week,” according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). That gives us an idea of a potential timeline, though there’s still plenty of wiggle room.
Here’s more from Heyman on a variety of subjects:
- The Orioles have been receiving calls on third baseman Manny Machado, writes Heyman. While the O’s aren’t shopping Machado and don’t wish to move him, Heyman notes that Baltimore is also willing to at least entertain offers on any of its players, even Machado. Presumably, it’d take a staggeringly high offer to convince the O’s to part with Machado even in spite of the fact that he’s just a year removed from free agency. The Orioles have reportedly been pursuing upgrades in their rotation all winter as they seek to bolster their club for one more run with Machado, closer Zach Britton and center fielder Adam Jones at the forefront of their roster. Heyman notes that the O’s are also having internal discussions about whether to try for a Machado extension, though doing so would likely require a precedent-setting deal for the 25-year-old superstar, as Machado currently projects to hit free agency at the abnormally young age of 26.
- Sticking with the Orioles, Heyman says in his weekly notes post that the Rockies (previously reported) and Cardinals are among the teams that have shown some interest in Britton. It seems reasonable to suspect that Britton is more readily available than is Machado, given that Baltimore went well down the line on a possible deadline deal for the lefty. But that doesn’t mean the team will simply accept the top bid; in all likelihood, prying him loose will mean meeting the O’s asking price.
- Some around the game believe the Cardinals could at least consider trading outfielder Dexter Fowler, Heyman adds. St. Louis would only do so, he suggests, if they were able to move most of the salary. That seems mostly reasonable to expect, given that Fowler posted a sturdy .264/.363/.488 slash with a career-high 18 long balls in his first season with the Cards. As for whether a trade is likely, that seems dubious. Fowler has a no-trade clause and sounds like he is settling in nicely in St. Louis. And president of baseball operations John Mozeliak kicked off the offseason by telling Fowler he wasn’t planning on trading him.
- There’s more indication that the Padres are fairly serious about going after Eric Hosmer, says Heyman. He also reported yesterday that first baseman Wil Myers would be amenable to moving to the outfield to make way for Hosmer to play at first. Of course, whether the Pads are really willing to hand out a big enough contract to get a deal done remains to be seen.
- At shortstop, the Padres have taken a look at Phillies veteran Freddy Galvis, says Heyman. The team is also weighing free agent Alcides Escobar. Either would seemingly make sense as a stop-gap option for the rebuilding club.
- The Angels are looking harder at second basemen and first basemen than they are at the hot corner, says Heyman. It seems, then, that the club feels fairly content with Luis Valbuena taking the bulk of the time at third, though perhaps that could change depending upon what opportunities arise over the winter — and whether or not the team lands Ohtani. At second, the Halos have at last “looked at” Neil Walker, who’s said to be asking for three or four years.
- The Mets have taken looks at free agent first basemen Mitch Moreland and Adam Lind, relays Heyman. With 22-year-old Dominic Smith in place, Heyman suggests the Mets may opt for a short-term first base option with outfield experience. Both Moreland and Lind check those boxes, though Heyman notes that the Mets are unlikely to sign the former.
- Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is slated to serve as a reserve yet again next season, but he’d like to remain with the club, per Heyman. Ellsbury’s full no-trade clause and the nearly $70MM left on his contract (including a $5MM buyout in 2021) figure to make dealing the 34-year-old a rather tall order for the Yanks.
First
Who’s on first.
No who’s on second! My mom’s on first…at least that’s what she tells me before she goes out with my Uncle Bob…then she comes home and yells homerun. Ya, you could say she’s a pretty big baseball fan.
chrisduncanfan you are my idol!!!
you don’t get out much, do you?
Uncle Rich?
Being interested in every single team and player…I found this article very interesting. In a good headache way.
At this point shouldn’t the Orioles consider doing a massive rebuild? With both Manny and Zach set to walk next year, shouldn’t they to speed up their inevitable rebuild now? I don’t see them winning the division, and while they could potentially nab a wild card spot, I just don’t see it happening.
The Os are in the exact same position as the royals were in last year
Very good point. Think how much quicker their rebuild process would have been had they traded Cain, Hosmer, and Mose. Then again hindsight is alway 20/20
The problem is the O’s are in a lose-lose situation with both Machado and Britton. Machado should command a king’s ransom in a trade, but he’s a rental, and what team is going to give up a massive haul for a free-agent to be? Sure, it could be tied to a contract extension, but what incentive does Machado have to sign? Unless a team goes crazy—say beat Stanton’s money by $75M-$100M—why would Machado even consider it? And why would a team consider giving up a haul of prospects & sign a record-setting extension? They could just wait and sign him without giving up players. Sure, his market will have more suitors, but if you’re willing to pay $400M & give up top prospects (think Yankees Torres+) then you’d rather keep your players and spend an extra $30M or $40M to get it done.
Orioles will never get proper value for Machado, so they might as well hold on to him now and flip him at the deadline for the best they can get…which won’t be enough.
As for Britton…until he proves he’s healthy his value is shot as well
They’ll get more for Machado now because the acquiring team will get him for a full year instead of just two months and will also gain the right to QO him if he signs elsewhere after the season.
Their owner is an idiot so no
Dealing them at mid season could be almost as profitable. Teams are more desperate then
No on Hosmer because he would cost a draft pick and the Padres are already set at first. At shortstop, Galvis makes no sense cuz he would cost prospects but Escobar could work.
You will take Galvis and like it. You will surrender a top 20 organizational prospect and like it. These are not the droids you’re looking for… let them pass….
But prospects are the precious and we likes our precious.
He’ll also shift Myers to the OF.
He’s not good OF
He’s a better outfielder then he is a first baseman.
You’re not good commenter
You’re right about galvis, I’d get Escobar for a year or two. Hosmer makes sense as it gives them a “superstar”, contract lasts through their next contention window, and myers is a better fit at LF.
“Gives them a ‘superstar'”
Lol. That was the excuse they used for trading for Matt Kemp. Get out of here with that hogwash!
Hosmer is not a Superstar by any means!
Hosmer definitely not worth a draft pick!
Count me in the group that’s not too keen on them signing Hosmer. He’s not going to be worth the money he will command. As for the shortstop situation, just stick to the M.O. and sign another 1-year stopgap (this year probably being Alcides Escobar) and not give up prospects in a trade.
The Padres already have one of the top farms And I believe they would only lose a 3rd round pick under the new CBA.
Padres are entrenched with .240 strikeout machine who can’t field
True
Brain dead
The Padres wouldn’t lose their first round pick though…
They’d still lose A draft pick.
The waiting is the hardest part. RIP
It seems like a no brainier to trade Britton and manny provided you get what you’re looking for. With Manny they could essentially name their price and get a young MLB player plus whatever prospects you’d want really. Britton could be a little bit trickier being that his stock has fell somewhat and they may feel he can rebuild to where he was by the deadline.
I don’t understand how the comment of Fowler is even news! I mean Mo said at the beginning of the off season that only Molina, I believe was not available! I like Fowler and also think a move to Left Field will be a good move for him and the club!
Terrible! Free! Agent! Signing!
i read the cardinals want him to play in right field. how dumb would that be?
I know all the buzz is about a player who can hit and pitch. But seriously, how “franchise altering” is a starter who will only start 25 games be?
Kershaw averaged 24 starts the past two seasons. How valuable was he?
The answer is 10.2 WAR valuable.
Davbee already got to this about Kershaw, but you’re valuing WAR from an offensive perspective. An offensive player playing with 8 other teammates will spread his WAR value across that 162 game schedule. SPs are high demand because they do it in those 5 day rotations. Kershaw flat dominates the games he pitches in.
The question was how valuable could a “franchise” pitcher making 25 starts a season be. I was merely quantifying the answer. No more, no less.
The cardinals may consider trading Dexter Fowler, but it’ll be like the chess club president asking out the head cheerleader for prom. Good luck with that.
Not without paying for a nice chunk of the contract or if a contender midseason has a sudden, crippling injury in the OF and has no good internal options…
they might have been able to dump him on the M’s had they beat the marlins to it.
Word…yet again the dude abides.
OK if the Padres sign Hosmer – would prefer they go after Moustakas – as for shortstop, why not go after Joey Wendel who was just DFA’d by Oakland
To think they moved Turner for Myers.
The Jon Heyman article about Dodgers and Stanton is really problematic. Howard Cole in his Forbes article has already shown how the Dodgers could very easily creatively Finance such a move and also deal with the luxury tax concern. It would indeed require moving dead money like Scott Kazmir, Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy, and yasmani grandal, or at least three of them. But if Stanton says no go to any of it then the Marlins will be up against it. They really won’t have a choice. If they indeed want to shed significant amounts of that money they’re going to have to end up taking what the Dodgers offer which could be Pennies on the dollar and some rather middling prospects. Something also could be done potentially with those opt-outs but we’ll see. What’s interesting to me is that it is so obvious they’re trying to fast-track him out of there and so far he has said nothing publicly. So to be honest I don’t see him moving from his interest in going to the Dodgers and I think the Dodgers know how this works as well. At the end of the day the Marlins will capitulate and Stanton will be a Dodger. The rest of this is they’re playing poker through the Press.
I don’t know who Howard Cole is, but I think his strategy is deeply flawed. Grandal is the only one of those 4 with surplus value. McCarthy is probably market value. But both Gonzalez and Kazmir have big negative value. No team is going to take on $17.6m+ for a 33 year-old, under-performing pitcher who missed the entire 2017 season, and $22.3m+ for.a 36 year old 1B who also has a bad recent injury history
The only way the Dodgers move those 2 is for them to eat a large amount of their salaries, and then there’s still no guarantee they’d find takers, They don’t save much money trading Grandal and McCarthy, and eating a large portion on Kazmir’s and AGon’s salaries basically negates the purpose of trading them.
The Marlins hold the cards, bud. They aren’t just going to accept whatever the Dodgers offer. They have already said if he doesn’t accept a trade, they will just cut salary elsewhere. They’ve already proved that by dealing Gordon. If Stanton says no to the Giants and the Dodgers offer nothing good in return, then they just deal Ozuna and Yelich. They need to cut salary, and they don’t care how.
After all the hype about their tradeable prospects and money to spend I have a feeling that Cardinals fans are going to be disappointed with this offseason. Yes I understand they feel they almost made the post season but they have a lot of holes to fill.
No they don’t ! They have a top 10 minor league system
Rock on Dipoto!
I wonder how much of the Ellsbury contract the Yankees would be willing to eat…
I’d love to see the Beltre era replaced with Machado in Texas.
Probably don’t have what they’ll be looking for in a trade, but maybe next offseason they can sign him.
Does Texas wanna repeat the Arod experiment again???
Signing Hosmer would be typical blunder by Friars
Orioles not rebuilding makes zero sense, especially since their the third best team in their division at best. Machado should be traded soon, while with Britton they may want to wait a little (possibly let him build his value back up during the season first). It’s nice to “go all in” for the fans sake, but wouldn’t it be better than to give your fan base a longer window to contend in a few years rather than be a WC team at very best then mediocre for a couple years?