As Shohei Ohtani settles into his first MLB camp, the Angels are keeping close tabs on his workload, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. It’s all still being sorted on the fly, but there are also some “objective” standards in place, including limits on the volume and timing of Ohtani’s swings of the bat. There are dichotomies aplenty for the hurler/slugger, including the impressions of team personnel such as hitting coach Eric Hinske (“uncharted waters”) and manager Mike Scioscia (“don’t know it’s anything that isn’t happening with other players”).
- The Rockies miss Carlos Gonzalez “really badly,” third baseman Nolan Arenado tells Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Gonzalez’s presence in the clubhouse was clearly seen as a big positive by Arenado and others. Indeed, the young star was not shy in advocating for a reunion with the veteran former star. That has long seemed a possibility, but not a priority, and there’s no indication at this point that there’s any movement toward a deal. Coming into the winter, Gonzalez seemed likely to command a fairly sizable commitment on a one-year term, reflecting his streaky recent track record but also his long-recognized status as a high-end hitter. But the market has been particularly unkind to non-premium position players, so it’s really anyone’s guess at this point what kind of guarantee CarGo will be able to secure and what team it will be with.
- Rangers righty Tayler Scott lost out on the race to be the first African-born person to play in the majors when fellow South African Gift Ngoepe hit the bigs last year. But Scott tells MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan that he still has his sights set on “the title of being the first South African pitcher.” The dedication certainly seems to be there. Baseball obviously remains a niche sport in his homeland, so Scott and his family relocated to the United States while he was in high school. Now 25, Scott has yet to master the upper minors but will be jockeying for position in camp with the Texas organization, which acquired him as part of last summer’s Jeremy Jeffress swap.
milkman
CarGo youre my boy blue! Really hope someone gives what you deserve, youre a good solid veteran.
xabial
CarGo picked the wrong year to have this year, Lol
Hope he re-signs with the Rockies, with a bunch of feel good Mutual option(s) that won’t be exercised, but added for the psychological effect of making a player feel wanted.
It’s not really a 2 year deal… It’s a one year deal…
But yeah, CarGo seems like the ideal Mutual option candidate. Hope he re-signs, and retires a Rockie.
bucnole31658
CarGo isn’t signing one year deal for any amount of money. He’s looking at 3/4 45-55
Brixton
Lol, he isnt getting that at this point
camdenyards46
Did you see his season last year? He’s staring 1 year 9 million dollars right in the face.
xabial
It’s going to be a 1+1 mutual option.
What makes it complicated is the guy made $20M in 2017
My guess is 1 year 10 million, I hope with the Rockies.
osfandan
What he made last year doesn’t complicate things at all. Carlos Gomez went from over 10 million to 4 and a half. Wade Miley went from 10 million to a minor league contract. Ubaldo Jimenez went from 12 and no deal. The list goes on and on and on
xabial
If paycut’s as simple as you say… why hasn’t he signed yet? Are you trying to say the problem is # years?
kbarr888
He’s probably hoping that someone will offer more at the last minute.
Right now, he’ll be lucky to “find a job”…..Not because he’s not a good player, but most rosters are figured out, and he’s not THAT good of a player to bump someone.
He’ll get a 1-year deal, or sit and wait……I think.
That’s what kind of winter it is.
mlb1225
If he said he was looking for a 3-4 year deal now, the teams that have some interest in him now, will no longer have interest in him.
halos101
Lol no
beastmode
Ohtani did great besides the fact he let up a dinger
Bocephus
Did you watch the outing or hear Villar and other Brewers hitters say his fastball was flat.
halos101
Fangraphs data has shown us all along that ohtanis fastball has been mainly velocity and limited movement. Breaking stuff is what makes him insane. Nothing new here.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Carlos Gonzalez wants to get the Pay Me For My Name deal that Joey Bautista got last year.
chgobangbang
I’m guessing he wants minimum 10-12 per year with high end being monopoly $ of 20 which is not his market anymore .Logo just signed for around 6 Carlos Gomez around 5 so it’s difficult time to figure his contract maybe 2 year 16 total? Or one year 6 for a prove it? Kenny Williams of WSox always had a man crush on trying to acquire him but if Borass is his agent then reinsdorf the owner doesn’t work well with him
geejohnny
Have sympathy for the sad plight of CarGo. How would you like to lose over half of your salary the next year? Major cutbacks in your lifestyle.
ibringnothing
pretty sure any of us could do just fine on $10M/year, including CarGo
cxcx
Interesting that the post frames it as “first African” player but then Scott himself frames it as “first South African.” People think about what country they’re from, not what continent. The continent angle is really just trying to generate a story where there isn’t so much of one.
mgrap84
I would LOVE to see the Orioles being him in on a 2+1 deal. I think he would do great in that ballpark plus it would give him a chance to DH at times. It would give the Orioles a solid LH hitter to play RF too. But as we all know, they won’t go do that. They could very easily bring him in along with Cobb or Lynn.