Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports is back with his latest collection of notes and rumblings on all 30 Major League teams…
- The Brewers and Diamondbacks had “extensive talks” about left-hander Patrick Corbin at some point in the offseason. Corbin has been mentioned as a possible trade chip due to his price tag ($7.5MM in 2018, his final year under contract) and Arizona’s increased amount of rotation depth. Milwaukee, meanwhile, has a clear need for rotation help, so it makes sense that the Brew Crew checked in on Corbin amidst their numerous other talks about notable arms on the free agent and trade fronts — as Heyman put it, “they have investigated every pitching possibility out there.” This is just my speculation, but the Brewers’ surplus of young center fielders (Keon Broxton and Brett Phillips) could be intriguing to the D’Backs since A.J. Pollock is only a year away from free agency. The Yankees are known to be one of the many teams who have also discussed Corbin this winter.
- The Twins aren’t thought to be willing to go beyond five years for Yu Darvish, and “Alex Cobb is believed to be their fallback choice for the rotation” if Darvish passes. The Rangers similarly have interest in Darvish and Cobb if their prices fall, though it sounds like Texas is hoping for only a major bargain signing. As one source tells Heyman, “the Rangers are lowballing even the lowballers” in contract offers.
- The Dodgers have “three or four” potential trade partners in mind for Matt Kemp, according to a source, though Heyman hears from another source that the Rangers are “probably not” a candidate for the veteran outfielder. It seems like not much has changed since Heyman last checked in on Kemp’s trade market in December, and L.A. may have to attach some minor league talent to get anyone to bite on Kemp’s $43MM in remaining salary owed through the 2019 season.
- Nationals ownership has concerns about the luxury tax, so it seems unlikely that they will make another pricey, late-winter signing as in past years. Washington currently projects to exceed the $197MM tax threshold but only by a few million dollars, and should still be able to spend a bit on in-season upgrades without triggering a higher level of tax penalties.
- Carlos Gonzalez is still an option for the Orioles as they look to add another left-handed hitting outfielder. CarGo is looking to rebound from a nightmarish 2017 that saw him post a -0.2 fWAR overall, though he did hit much better over the last two months of the season. Baltimore likely wouldn’t have to spend much to land Gonzalez, and thus the O’s could focus more money on their larger pitching needs.
- Francisco Rodriguez has received some offers after throwing for scouts. The former closer is trying to revive his career after a disastrous season that saw him released by both the Tigers and Nationals.
“The Rangers are lowballing even the low ballers.” That’s a great quote! Someone is going to have to sign for something sooner or later.
Or teams are going to have to enter ST/the season with holes…
Yeah lol it’s a matter of where YU goes the other remaining teams pick up the other 2.
Think it is a safe bet YU, Cobb, JA, and maybe Lynn will all end up at one of these teams Cubs, Rangers, Twins, maybe Milw. Everyone will have a job it just a matter of who goes where.
What happened to Yu signing in his week?
@michael – you’re right, it’s like a game of musical chairs right now.
Hoping the Brewers can complete the offseason with Odorozzi and Colons trade from the Rays without giving up Domingo Santana.
Colome*
For both pitchers it would cost a lot.
Doubt that happens. Cause odorozzi and colome would cost the brewers ray phillips ortiz and burnes since the rays can net better deals trading them elsewhere
Why would they need colome they have knebel? And if you think it’s a good idea to make one a setup man look at Hector Rondons career post Chapman
Maybe hector rondon just isn’t that good. There’s more examples of closers thriving in set up roles than closers being demoted and never regaining their form.
Ain’t no one going to trade for kemp lol
Maybe the Dodgers think they can trade him at the deadline for pitching help ala rich hill or yu darvish…lol jk bye verdugo and buelher hello chris archer
They will have to eat atleast half that contract and not expect much back
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Don’t tell that to the Braves fans who were saying last year that they would get actual prospects for Kemp.
😉
Lol
We did better than prospects…We got a starting pitcher…maybe two
and an excellent utility player
80% of that contract and expect nothing back.
I could see them eating 1/2 to 3/4 just to dump the rest of the $$$
They might tie Grandal in with Kemp
I’m tired of reading “so and so has interest” and it has lead to nothing, let’s see some big signings !!! Lol
Maybe next year Yank Pat lol
Next year will be war in the market !
The real question: when will Matt Albers sign his two year contract
Cain.
The link is for the wrong “Francisco Rodriguez”.
Matt Kemp is trash. I don’t see why anyone would give up more than a bag of balls to pay him leave minimum. I imagine the Dodgers will just cut him
the only way he’s treated is in a salary dump along with a prospect
My thought exactly. How about Kemp and one of their injury prone starters for a low level prospect to Texas?
Just saw that the cubs are the lead spot for Darvish. I’d rather theo and co. Sign Cobb or arrieta then focus on a closer.
Morrow is the closer, they’ve been pretty outspoken about that.
Morrow Cishek, Wilson , Edwards hell any of them can close
Ask the Nationals how that kind of outlook worked for them in the first half of last year (before trading for Kintzler, Madson, Doolittle). Not saying Morrow can’t do it (he probably can), but until someone gets some saves under his belt, there is always a risk that they wont be able to hack it in the 9th. Never hurts to have someone proven.
Cishek and Wilson have both closed
Sure but Wilson was horrible with the Cubs last year and Cishek got booted from the closers role for blowing saves. Neither would instill confidence for a team with playoff aspirations.
Cishek was terrible, yes he got saves but …… example he starts the 9th with a 2 run lead, gives up a homerun, gets an out, gives up a single, gets an out, walks a guy, and if not for a great play at 3rd would have givin up the go ahead run. This was not an single outing either way thats the norm with him. good luck Cubbie fans lol
Sounds like Carlos Marmol for the cubs 10 years or so ago.
We saw how CJ did in the 9th. It was ugly.
Unless holland comes cheap(years or $$)
They need a backup closer. CJ isn’t ready.
Signing Cobb will not help us in anyway to make another World Series run. It’s just throwing 60 or million dollars into a “safety net” and saying “we added a decent pitcher” when fans are disappointed at the end of the season. Cubs have got to get Darvish to still be at the top of the food chain come Spring time
Adding a pitcher, who is likely better than their #4 right now, wouldn’t help? This is terrible thinking. Lester/Q/Hendricks/Cobb is better than Lester/Q/Hendricks/Chatwood/Montgomery
Chester is right. Sorry. Like MM
But we’re talking beyond the Division. Going against LAD or Wash wo Darvish will be tough n probably not get done. Not worried about the Division. Baring injury we’re fine. Even with Yelich n Cain Milw still figured at 76-80 wins.
StL may be tougher will see. Ozuna may have the first year blues like Fowler n most players going to a team for the first time.
Took every bit of life to get past Wash last year. Doubt they can do it again. By the LA came the tank was empty as like in 2015 aka Mets
The idea that you need Darvish to advance in the playoffs is just faulty logic. Does a better pitcher help? Sure, in the larger scheme of things and on a large sample it does, but even good pitchers, like Darvish himself, can struggle in a small sample.
The cubs don’t need Darvish. Adding a better pitcher than what they have makes them a better team. Both to win the division and in the playoffs.
Cubs fans always seem content with the “less is more” mentality. I don’t understand it myself. Going into the season with a deep rotation gives a distinct advantage because it minimizes the effects of fatigue, injuries, poor performance, as well as preserves your bullpen strength for the long haul. Montgomery is not going to give you as many quality starts as Darvish, and should be avoided at all costs. Give the man five years and pray Morrow is the answer as closer this year.
If Darvish was willing to take a 5 year deal right now, he’d be signed. There are plenty of dumb cubs fans, you don’t come off any smarter by making stupid suggestions.
The fact that you don’t understand common logic is no surprise.
Well said chesterarthur
Not necessarily true that Darvish isn’t willing to take a 5-yr deal. For all we know, the Twins offered 5 yrs but fell short of Darvish’s AAV demands. I think a team willing to bump up the AAV on a 5-yr pact has a reasonable chance of signing him (possibly with a 6th-year team option that includes a $4-6M buyout to pad the contract’s guaranteed money). There are obviously other ways to add value to a 5-yr offer as well (e.g. opt-out clauses, NT clauses, etc.).
Fowler didn’t have the “Blues,” he had a myriad of injuries
Cobb also has some room for growth. he will be another year removed from TJ, and if he’s able to gain anything close to his former changeup back, he’s got the upside of a very good 2, if not better. the pitch was so nasty it was not only consistently rated one of the 10-15 best pitches in the majors by fangraphs, it also earned its own nickname “the thing.” he didn’t have a feel for it last year, and was still very competitive in the AL East. he primarily relied on the old school fastball curveball combo. throw in a plus, to plus plus changeup and watch out. i’m not saying he will surely get his change back, but its not unheard of if he’s another year removed from surgery
That’s a big if. I watched every Cobb start last season and his change up was nothing close to his past one. I didn’t see him progressing with it much if at all. He changed his repertoire. Fools gold thinking he gets that change back as it was. He’s not a 200 inning lock by any means either.
i’m not saying he’s going to get it back, but its not unheard of for guys to take more than a season to truly get readjusted and operating at 100 percent after TJ. even if his change is merely above average, it gives him a 3rd legit offering. the fastball/changeup mix is the most underrated pitch combo in the game. i’m just trying to shed some light on how cobb has a lot more upside than people want to give him credit
Same could be said for Lynn who I thought was a more talented pitcher prior to the TJ.
i think lynn is a quality innings eater, but i don’t see the same upside with him as opposed to cobb. look at lynn’s pitch mix. did he have a plus plus offering before TJ, and then lose the feel for it afterwards? again, i’m not saying cobb will rediscover his changeup. but he remained effective trying another approach where he used a fastball curveball combo. his strikeouts were back at the end of the year. he had some very good numbers pre TJ, and he’s never been a guy whose relied on elite velocity.
i’d be a bit weary to sign either of them, but at the right price, i’d prefer Cobb’s upside, as well as the fact he’s a bit younger than Lynn. also, lynn had one of the largest gaps in baseball between his ERA and his FIP. gaps that large usually signal pretty drastic regressions
I don’t even care anymore wish they get it over already. Cobb not for what he wants. JA would be a fall back option.
Actually wouldn’t mind if the Cubs giving a minor league deal to Francisco Rodriguez. (If the article is talking about the one that was the closer, not the linked one)
Hasn’t worked very well for the Cubs lately giving aging closers a shot
Brewers and Danny Salazar would be a good fit
That could be a pretty reasonable target. What would you envision a trade looking like in terms of return?
big injury risk and only two years of control so I wouldn’t think it would be all that much maybe someone like Ray that has big upside but had a bad year
Keon Broxton plus a 8-15 prospect in the brewers system
Salazar and Kipnis to MIL for Santana. Most Tribe fans would scream bloody murder at that, but Antonetti would do that in a heartbeat……and he should.
That’s too much for Santana!
Writers must be struggling this offseason haha
I agree Chester. Maybe some scandal will unfold and everyone will forget the year that wasn’t.
I don’t even mean that as an insult either. They have had to just rehash “rumors” for an entire offseason (more or less).
Based on the recent chatter about the revenue sharing concerns, could the Pirates be one of the teams looking into this?
Figure, they take on, say 1/2 of the contract (est. $10m a year) and get a B prospect like Ferguson out of the deal
I can see the Pirates having a level of interest in giving Kemp an opportunity, but there is no way the Bucco FO has any level of interest in paying him $20M over 2 seasons. They’d need Buehler or someone coming over to agree to that. LOL
The Orioles are focused on Angelos’s shoes!
And that is about it.
Twins looking at Cobb as a fall back…gee nothing like 6.4 Ks per 9 or 179 innings pitched screams ACE,unless he is willing to accept a 3 +1 deal at 14 million per, rather give the kids a shot
Exactly, Cobb is over rated yet someone will give him 16-18 million a year, I just pray it ain’t my Cubbies…
I guess that depends on how you rate him? He’s a roughly 2 win pitcher. Which is worth 16 a year.
He is roughly a 2.475 WAR pitcher which is worth $19.8 million a season based on last seasons $$ per WAR. 2.2 in 2012, 2.5 in 2013, 2.8 in 2014, TJ surgery cost him 2015-2016, 2.4 in 2017.
He’s not really overrated. No one thinks he’s going to be the ace of a rotation. He’s a solid 3-4 pitcher and that is worth the 16-18 someone gives him. A replacement level pitcher is worth about 12 million
I think people may also be forgetting last year was Cobb’s first full season back from TJ and before he got hurt he was a borderline ace (at least an ace in the making) if you can get what you got last year from him with the potential for more he’s worth the risk IMO.
He was never a borderline ace.
Typical Cubs fan here… Cobb is a winner and there is no question he will find his change up. Furthermore, if the Cubs are fortunate to sign him He may be starting game one of the NLDS. This guy is tough as nails and never stops working. Mediocrity isn’t an option for this guy and he’s a trustworthy option in the biggest games. Putting up the numbers he did last season with only two pitches the entire season is incredible. That’s a competitor who’s going to succeed.
that was his initial season back from TJ, and he barely threw his best pre TJ pitch, his changeup. if he regains his feel for that pitch another year removed from TJ, then his outlook becomes a lot different. for the first time in his major league career, he had to rely on his fastball and curve in the AL East. Even if he never gets his change back, he’s proven he can navigate lineups with his current approach and arsenal. is he worth 75 plus million on the open market? probably not. but don’t sleep on the guy. the upside is there, and he has a solid floor as well
As a DBacks fan I wouldn’t mind seeing them trade Corbin to Milwaukee if it means getting Phillips back.
no way did brewers give Phillips for corbin
Umm … Corbin is worth quite a bit more than Phillips. Not so sure Phillips is starting material. Looks like defensive specialist 4th OF to me.
Well your about to get your wish and see a big FA sign. Don’t ask how I know. But I do. It should be posted soon on Darvish.
If Darvish is really holding out for a 6 year deal, as opposed to just being annoyed Minnesota only one willing to go 5 and doesn’t want to play there, no wonder a whole of nothing for starting pitcher dominoes. Just take a huge annual salary for 4yrs and go where you want to be (eg. 4yrs/115 like Cubs or other sure contender who would).
Did you see the contract Greinke got a few years ago? He’s not crazy to look for 5+.
Agree with Chester. Problem is Arz can’t give him away. Won’t pay his contract or half. Now you have a pitcher being paid 34.5 million a year straight. So at 36 he gets 34.5 million at 37 at 38. So if a pitcher was a FA today and was 36 or 37 or 38 would you pay him 34.5 million for 1 year? 70 for 2? 100 + for 3. If there was a pitcher who was 36 and wanted 104.5 million for 3 years would you sign him? That what ZG getting. No pitcher is worth that at 36,37,38
That’s the key. He doesn’t really want to play in Minnesota. Nobody does and can you blame him. It’s winter 6 months out of the year up there.. Their summers are like 2 weeks long and then it’s the quick dive back down to freezing weather by late August.early September. It’s dark at 3:00/3:30 from November – March. Spring doesn’t start until late May. And by the time you are just starting to enjoy some nice weather, summer is over with again and you heading straight for 60 below zero temps of winter again.
Who wants to live in a dark depressing isolated farming city in the middle of nowhere upper midwest? The answer…… no-one. There’s no beaches, no sun, just dark dreary days, cold weather and dive bars that people hibernate in from November – March because of bad weather.
What would it take from cards to get Corbin? Harrison bader and Sam tuivalila? Maybe add another piece like Edmund Sosa or another arm, Andrew Morales maybe
Aren’t free agents tired of being lowballed by Daniels?
Shouldn’t Baltimore be all over a guy like Patrick Corbin? I mean yes he is a free agent after this year but they’re trying to foolishly compete this year and literally have only two starting pitchers as of right now.