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MLBTR Poll: When Will Greg Holland Sign?

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We’ve already seen most of the backlog of high-profile free agents clear out late in camp. But one familiar name remains available: closer Greg Holland, whom we profiled in full back in January. Despite some uncertainties, he was and is quite an accomplished reliever who seemed worthy of a rather large and lengthy contract.

Though it seemed at one point he’d return to the Rockies, and reportedly had a $50MM-or-so offer on the table, Holland’s market has gone dark of late. Over the past month or so, teams such as the Braves, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Rangers have been tied loosely to Holland. The Cards seem to be the most obvious match on paper, as a contender with a fairly hefty budget and an unresolved closing situation. But they haven’t yet emerged as a strong pursuer.

On the whole, there’s simply no indication that any of those organizations, or any others, are hot after the veteran righty — let alone willing to make him a significant, multi-year commitment. True, it’s still anyone’s guess what kind of contract Holland will secure. (Remember that Alex Cobb did still score a long-term pact after the similarly placed Lance Lynn did not.)  But the smart money may now be on some kind of creative, one or two-year arrangement not unlike the one he signed last winter when coming off of Tommy John surgery.

Rather than thinking about what Holland will get, though, today’s poll will focus on when he’ll finally put pen to paper.

At this point, there’s no chance that Holland will be on an Opening Day roster. Presumably, though, he’s pitching on his own and wouldn’t require a terribly lengthy window to reach MLB readiness. Perhaps, then, it’s still sensible to believe that he’ll come to agreement in relatively short order and be prepared to pitch for nearly all of the coming season.

In theory, a signing could come in the next few days. Waiting until after the start of the season to sign once was once a strategically meaningful consideration, but is not of ongoing consequence now that repeat qualifying offers have been outlawed as part of the new CBA’s tweaks to the QO system.

Of course, waiting until the season is underway might still hold some appeal for other reasons. There could certainly be some merit to waiting to see how closer situations shape up around the game. Turnover in the ninth inning is hardly a new thing, but it’s not often that a ready-made solution is standing by to be signed whenever the need arises. Organizations that face early-season crises, whether due to injury or performance, would then have an intriguing alternative in Holland.

The question, then, would become whether Holland will wait until after the June draft to ink a new contract. That was the approach taken by fellow Scott Boras clients Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew, who agreed to partial-season deals in 2014 after the draft compensation attached to their signings had dissipated. As a high-leverage reliever, Holland might be even better situated for this approach. Though he wouldn’t be marketing a full season of output, he might still earn well since he’d be valued most for his contributions down the stretch and into a hypothetical postseason run.

So, when do you think Holland will end up finally choosing his new club? (Link for app users.)

NL Notes: Padres, Brewers, Verdugo

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The Padres are in the process of finalizing their pitching plans for the start of the coming campaign. Righty reliever Adam Cimber has forced his way onto the Opening Day roster after turning in an unexpectedly excellent spring, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune reports on Twitter. The 27-year-old built off of a quality 2017 effort in the upper minors — over which he threw 80 2/3 innings of 2.90 ERA ball with 7.3 K/9 and just 1.1 BB/9 — by posting nine scoreless frames in the Cactus League. Meanwhile, veteran righty Chris Young will not break camp in the majors, Acee also tweets. It’s not known at this point whether he’ll exercise his opt-out clause, but that’s at least an option for the towering 38-year-old, whose spring (15 strikeouts but also four home runs in 14 1/3 innings) largely imitated his past two seasons’ output (116 strikeouts but also 35 home runs in 118 2/3 innings).

Here are a few more notes from the National League:

  • It seems increasingly unlikely that the Brewers will make a move to alleviate their evident logjam of bats. As Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports, that has left some eyebrows raised among the team’s players, some of whom still aren’t sure exactly how much playing time they’ll get once the season gets underway. It’s not exactly a new subject, of course, as the Milwaukee roster has been under a microscope all winter long. But it’s interesting to consider it from the player’s perspective, as Nightengale does. As third baseman Travis Shaw puts it: “Depth is a nice problem to have, but I’m sure it sucks individually for a couple of guys.” Meanwhile, skipper Craig Counsell says “there’ll be a lot of shuffling going on” early in the season, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports, but also notes that he anticipates some clarity to emerge as the season goes along.
  • Pedro Moura of The Athletic takes a long look (subscription link) at talented Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo, who drew much better reviews in camp this year than he did in his brief MLB call-up in 2017. The change wasn’t to his swing mechanics, though. Instead, Verdugo impressed the organization by making strides with his work ethic and attitude. As Moura documents, those improvements were the result of intentional offseason effort, though Verdugo’s overall level of professionalism also surely remains a work in progress.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/26/18

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We’ll use this post to run down the day’s minor moves:

  • After being designated for assignment yesterday, catcher Chris Herrmann was released by the Diamondbacks, per a club announcement. The 30-year-old won’t get a chance to prove he can return to the strong batting output he produced in 2016 — at least in Arizona.  That effort earned Herrmann a career-high 256 plate appearances last season, but he managed only a .181/.273/.345 batting line. He has, however, enjoyed a solid spring, swatting two long balls and carrying a .300/.324/.567 slash in 34 Cactus League plate appearances.
  • The Nationals have brought back Alejandro De Aza on a minor-league deal after releasing him to avoid the necessity of a $100K retention bonus, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Soon to turn 34, De Aza is at this point mostly an organizational depth piece, though he has at times in the not-so-distant past been a significant contributor at the MLB level. Indeed, he carries an approximately league-average overall offensive line through nearly three thousand major-league plate appearances, most of which have come since the start of the 2012 season. De Aza played only briefly in the majors last year with the Nats and hit .280/.368/.403 in his 212 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • Also re-signing after being released was infielder Gordon Beckham, who’ll head to the minors with the Mariners, per Cotillo (via Twitter). The 31-year-old had a torrid spring but, like De Aza, has generally been on the downswing of late after receiving quite a lot of opportunities earlier in his career. Until last year, Beckham had played in at least 88 MLB contests annually since cracking the majors (despite minimal minor-league seasoning) in 2009. But his chances, which were already on the decline, largely petered out in 2017, as he made it into just 11 games in the majors. In his 355 plate appearances at Triple-A in the Mariners organization, Beckham posted a .262/.313/.393 batting line.
  • The Diamondbacks have sent outfielder Ramon Flores to the Red Sox, Cotillo also tweets. It is not apparent what Arizona is getting back in return, or whether Flores might even be the PTBNL in the recent swap between the teams. Either way, it’s a minor transactions. Flores signed a minors deal with Arizona and has struggled this spring. He carries only a .204/.281/.256 slash line in 331 plate appearances, but has generally hit well at Triple-A. Last year, Flores hit .312/.409/.460 with ten home runs and 68 walks against 70 strikeouts in his 493 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors.

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians

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This piece is part of MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series.  Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.

A 102-win Indians ballclub let all seven of its free agents depart this winter, and gave out just one guaranteed contract. The Tribe will bank on a sustained breakout from Yonder Alonso and some reinforcements from the farm to supplement a core that’s won the division two years in a row, in hopes that they can end MLB’s longest championship drought.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Option Decisions

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Indians Depth Chart; Indians Payroll Information

Needs Addressed

One of the Indians’ most important decisions came right at the end of the 2017 season, as they elected to pick up their $11MM option over outfielder Michael Brantley. That call long seemed an easy one in the affirmative, but ongoing shoulder and ankle problems have added quite a lot of uncertainty to the 30-year-old’s outlook. It’s something of a risk for the Cleveland organization, but it seems Brantley is progressing well and he could still represent a significant value if he can make it back to full health and come anywhere near his peak level of production.

Otherwise, the Cleveland brass entered the offseason with a simple to-do list: re-sign or replace their outgoing free agents in order to keep last year’s team as intact as possible. After a 102-win season in which the club won an AL record 22 consecutive games, there wasn’t any need for a significant overhaul. Most of the core was under control headed into 2018, so the organization’s tapestry of talent would likely require only minor patches to be successful in the coming season.

It soon became evident that rival clubs valued the Tribe’s outgoing free agents far more than the team itself. Santana and Shaw both exceeded MLBTR’s expectations in terms of earning power, and departed for Philadelphia and Colorado, respectively. As each of their other five free agents found new homes, the Indians were forced to opt for the “replace” route.

The club signed Alonso to fill Santana’s shoes, added Davis and Upton Jr. to battle for Jackson’s role, and snatched up Belisle and Torres out of the late-winter reliever bargain bin. Mission accomplished, right? Well, sort of. While each of those moves serves the purpose of patching a hole left by a free-agent departure, each serves as the equivalent of purchasing a $200 laptop because you can’t afford a Macbook. They’ll do the same job, but they don’t come with the same kind of reliability. That leaves some questions as to whether the club will be able to enjoy the same success; if one of their replacement options collapses, they’ll suddenly have a problematic hole on the roster.

Alonso, for instance, is coming off a rare age-30 breakout season in which he became something of a poster boy for the fly ball revolution. Between the A’s and Mariners, he posted a strong .266/.365/.501 batting line with a career-high 28 home runs. That homer total far exceeded anything he’d ever done in the majors or minors, so there’s some understandable skepticism about whether or not he’ll be able to repeat such numbers as he enters an age in which baseball players typically begin to decline.

Still, perhaps that’s not giving enough credit to Alonso. He did, after all, make some clear changes to his swing that we can point to as evidence for his breakout. And he also altered his approach at the plate; those changes were mentioned far less by both the media and respected baseball statistic outlets, but contributed just as much to his breakout campaign. As Alonso himself put it in an interview with MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, “For me, it’s about driving the baseball, using my legs, doing things that I do. My pitch sequence. My pitch location. What pitches I can handle. What pitches I can’t. And then after that, just going and compete.” Focusing on the pitches he could handle worked out well for his on-base ability, as his walk rate spiked to a 13.1% clip that far exceeded his previous career high of 10.4%. The resulting .365 on-base percentage falls exactly in line with Santana’s career average, meaning that he’d actually prove a suitable replacement for the long-time Tribe slugger as long as he can continue a seemingly repeatable improvement in patience and pitch selection.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that even if Alonso doesn’t end up producing to his 2017 levels, the Indians have some reasonable backup solutions. It’s feasible that Edwin Encarnacion could shift out of the DH spot (though he certainly wouldn’t provide much value defensively), allowing someone like on-base machine Yandy Diaz to get at-bats as the team’s designated hitter. The club also has Bobby Bradley waiting in the wings, who ranks among the top first base prospects in baseball. Point being, if Alonso regresses significantly, the Indians can probably reshape their roster to accommodate without taking a sizeable hit to their run-scoring ability.

As far as the outfield goes, it’s difficult to imagine Davis, who was recently added to the 25-man roster, producing to the level that Jackson did last season. (Of course, Jackson himself was acquired on a minor-league deal.) The 37-year-old Davis brings with him the nostalgia of a memorable game-tying homer in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. But after he hit just .235/.293/.348 last season between the A’s and Red Sox, he probably won’t provide any real offensive value with his bat. His biggest asset to the team will be his stolen base ability, which continues to inexplicably persevere even as the outfielder approaches the age of 40.

Speaking of 37-year-old players, Belisle was also recently informed that he’s made the team. Though he’s not necessarily an exciting addition, he ’s a reliable presence for quality innings. Across the past three campaigns, the right-hander has posted a 2.96 ERA and has typically managed to out-pitch his peripheral statistics. Again, he’s not Shaw or Smith, but he’s certainly not a pushover. Considering the bullpen will still be led by Cody Allen and Andrew Miller, there’s not much to worry about, anyway. With an embarrassment of riches in the starting pitcher department, the Tribe will likely consider flamethrower Danny Salazar for a bullpen role if he continues to struggle in the rotation.

Questions Remaining

The club’s outfield crew isn’t likely to intimidate other contenders. While Lonnie Chisenhall and Brantley are terrific when they’re able to take the field, neither can seem to do so on a consistent basis. Bradley Zimmer and Tyler Naquin have both shown great upside, but they’ve also had their weaknesses exposed; neither is a sure bet to find sustained success throughout the 2018 season. The even bigger overarching issue is that each of those four players bats from the left side of the plate. The Tribe’s only righty-hitting outfielders are Davis (see above) and Brandon Guyer, who was recently named to the Opening Day roster but struggled mightily last year and comes with injury concerns. While the team has some right-handed bats and switch-hitters elsewhere in the lineup, one has to imagine that such a severely lefty-heavy outfield puts them at a disadvantage against opposing southpaws.

The organization’s dearth of vertical depth in the bullpen department is no small matter, either. The club has seven solid relievers on the active roster, but the relief corps at Triple-A is a gaggle of waiver claims and offseason minor league signees. Though they’ve lucked out in the past with waiver claims like Tyler Olson, it’s statistically unlikely that they’ll continue to win the lottery with players that other teams let go. Of course, it’s fair to note too that the rotation depth could filter down to the pen if and when more of the team’s starters are at full health.

The health and production of second baseman Jason Kipnis is certainly up in the air after an injury-plagued age-30 season that ended up being one of the worst offensive showings of his career. His poor play resulted in a swirl of offseason trade rumors and uncertainty about his future in Cleveland, but he’s found his swing in training camp as evidenced by his six homers and .375 batting average in Cactus League play. It’s tough to know what to expect from Kipnis, but he’s an interesting bounce back candidate to watch.

The Tribe’s catching tandem of Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez isn’t what you’d call an offensive juggernaut, but they both provide plenty of defensive value and are likely to combine for another above-average performance in relation to the rest of the league. Beyond them, super-prospect Francisco Mejia is waiting in the wings, itching to prove himself in the event of an injury to one the aforementioned duo. Mejia’s more of a bat-first backstop, and his hit tool is one of the best in the minors. Indeed, the organization is even considering utilizing him in the outfield as a means of moving up his timeline to contribute in the majors (potentially offering another means of giving a boost to the uncertain outfield mix). While none of these three players is without his flaws, it’s hard to imagine catcher being a significant area of weakness for the Indians.

It’s more likely than not that we’ll see some kind of offensive decline from Encarnacion as the slugger enters his age-35 season. What that will look like isn’t easy to predict. Some sluggers like Paul Konerko only experienced a modest power drop-off at 35, while others such as Mark Teixeira seemed to have the rug pulled out from under them entirely at that age. As one of the few intimidating right-handed hitters in the Tribe’s lineup, they’ll be counting on him to offer at least something close to his usual power output.

Outside of that, the Indians appear well-poised to make another run at a championship. A rotation that produced the best fWAR of all time is back in its entirety, with reasonable depth options at Triple-A and a couple of impressive prospects in Triston McKenzie and Shane Bieber not far off. The left side of their infield sports two MVP candidates in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to once again see those two combine to top 60 homers while providing stellar defense. All in all, questions about this team’s composition are little else but nit-picking.

Overview

The front office didn’t do much this offseason, and as such this iteration of the Indians doesn’t look quite as strong as the one that finished the season with 102 wins last year. But if they did get weaker, it certainly isn’t by much. The most important pieces remain on hand, and they have some intriguing depth in the form of high-upside prospects. That likely means a third consecutive AL Central championship and a return to the postseason.

How would you grade the Indians’ offseason work? (Poll link for app users)

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Giants To Designate Jarrett Parker, Select Derek Holland

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The Giants have designated outfielder Jarrett Parker for assignment, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). His roster spot was needed for the addition of lefty Derek Holland, who’ll make the rotation after signing over the winter as a minor-league free agent.

Parker, 29, has seen 382 total MLB plate appearances over the past three seasons and generally acquitted himself well. He has also been rather productive at the highest level of the minors and had a strong showing this spring, with a .220/.333/.561 slash (though also twenty strikeouts in his 48 plate appearances).

Still, the Giants elected to risk losing Parker rather than carrying him on the Opening Day Roster. It seems the organization will instead keep veteran Gregor Blanco as its lone left-handed-hitting outfielder to open the season, unless it goes instead with youngster Steven Duggar.

As for Holland, it has been clear for some time that he was destined to earn a job in San Francisco this year. As the Giants lost several rotation pieces, Holland worked 15 solid spring innings, over which he allowed seven earned runs and recorded 18 strikeouts against five walks. He’ll earn a $1.5MM salary with as much as $2.5MM more in incentives.

Brewers Release Yovani Gallardo

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The Brewers have released veteran righty Yovani Gallardo, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). He’ll be owed $500K under the partially guaranteed MLB contract he agreed to over the winter.

This move had been expected, as the club determined over the weekend that Gallardo would not be on the Opening Day roster. That made it all but certain that the reunion would be short-lived between Gallardo and the organization he pitched for from 2007 through 2014.

Still, there had been at least some belief that he might end up being moved in trade. Instead, Gallardo will head back onto the open market in search of a new organization.

Gallardo, 32, was long an effective rotation piece. But he has struggled badly over the past two seasons. Injury certainly played a role, and Gallardo lost about a full tick on his heater in 2016. But even in a 2017 season in which he recovered some of that lost velo and revived his swinging-strike rate to its highest level since 2011, Gallardo limped to a 5.72 ERA in 130 2/3 innings by surrendering a career-high 1.65 homers per nine.

While the recent signs aren’t all that promising, the Brewers obviously felt Gallardo was worth at least a partial commitment. He was not particularly effective this spring, allowing seven earned runs in 13 1/3 innings while recording a 12:8 K/BB ratio, but may yet find a MLB opportunity to open the season. If not, odds are that Gallardo will be an in-demand depth piece.

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Dodgers

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This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series.  Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.

While the Dodgers will again look to contend for another pennant, their primary offseason moves focused on setting the team up for the future.

Major League Signings

Trades And Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Dodgers 25-Man Roster & Minor League Depth Chart; Dodgers Payroll Overview

Needs Addressed

Even while still boasting the league’s largest payroll over the last five seasons, Dodgers executives often spoke of their desire to manage spending in a more efficient manner.  This winter, the opportunity finally struck for the club to achieve that goal, via a fascinating five-player trade with the Braves that allowed the Dodgers to duck under the $197MM luxury tax threshold.

A reminder: each team’s payroll in terms of pure dollars is different from their payroll as calculated for the purposes of the competitive balance tax.  The latter is generated by the average annual value of contracts, and thus while Matt Kemp by himself was owed roughly as much the Brandon McCarthy/Adrian Gonzalez/Scott Kazmir/Charlie Culberson quartet, the Dodgers’ tax number was lowered because Kemp’s money is spread out over both 2018 and 2019, whereas the other four players were under contract only through 2018.

The upshot is that, after paying almost $150MM over the last five seasons in tax penalties, the Dodgers have reset their tax counter and will only be charged at the first-time offender rate should they surpass the threshold next offseason.  It is safe to assume that L.A. is indeed preparing itself to soar over the tax line once more, as the team has now positioned itself to be players in the star-studded 2018-19 free agent market.  Beyond just dreams of, say, Bryce Harper wearing Dodger blue, the club also has some in-house players hitting the market, chief among them Clayton Kershaw (via an opt-out clause in the ace’s current contract).  All signs are currently pointing to Kershaw continuing his relationship with the team, even if a formal extension might not be worked out until after the season is over.

The Braves trade has much more import in terms of finances than did in on-field impact for the Dodgers.  Gonzalez and Kazmir were complete non-factors due to given their recent injury problems, McCarthy was a useful arm last season but was himself limited by injury to just 155 2/3 IP over three years in Los Angeles, and Culberson was expendable given the Dodgers’ other infield depth.

As for Kemp, the Dodgers spent much of the offseason unsuccessfully trying to find a trade partner for the veteran outfielder, and thus Kemp now looks to be part of the team’s left field mix on Opening Day.  Kemp, for his part, lost almost 40 pounds over the offseason and hit well in Spring Training.  While L.A. would surely still prefer to leave left field to just Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, and Trayce Thompson, Kemp may still have something left in the tank — he was still a league-average bat last year, despite an unusual reverse-splits performance that saw him struggle against left-handed pitching.  With some judicious platooning and late-inning defensive removals, Kemp could still be a productive player in 2018.

The Dodgers’ other big trade of the offseason saw them respond to the losses of Tony Watson and Grant Dayton by acquiring a new left-handed reliever in Scott Alexander, via a three-team swap with the White Sox and Royals.  Alexander posted a 2.48 ERA and a sky-high 73.8% grounder rate over 69 innings for Kansas City last season, and with five years of control remaining, Alexander projects as a long-term piece within the Dodgers’ bullpen.  The team did have to give up a quality reliever in Luis Avilan in the trade, though the Dodgers are hopeful that other right-handed options (waiver claim J.T. Chargois or rookie Wilmer Font) can help pick up the slack.

In a move geared as much towards clubhouse chemistry as on-field performance, Los Angeles re-signed Chase Utley to a two-year, $2MM contract.  Utley will resume his role as a left-handed bench bat, part-time second baseman and behind-the-scenes leader as he looks to cap off his career with one more World Series ring.

Questions Remaining

In a way, the Dodgers’ winter was a microcosm for all of Major League Baseball during the quiet 2017-18 offseason — rather than spend big on splashy trades or free agent signings, the Dodgers were all about belt-tightening.  An estimated $30MM per season in competitive balance tax overages is no small matter even for a big-market team like the Dodgers, and one can’t fault the club for seeking out a creative route to finally solve its tax problems.  As noted earlier, it wasn’t as if Los Angeles was counting on Gonzalez or Kazmir to be prime contributors in 2018, and McCarthy carries as many question marks as Kemp going into the season, so the baseball impact of the move was pretty negligible.

Of course, there was a version of this deal that would’ve been much more impactful for the Dodgers, as they reportedly floated an offer to the Marlins that involved sending Gonzalez, Kazmir, and McCarthy to Miami to help offset costs in a Giancarlo Stanton trade.  The Dodgers had some wariness about acquiring such a pricey player who would have to be deployed as an outfielder into his late 30’s, though certainly the Dodgers felt obligated to at least check on the slugger, particularly since Stanton (who was born in Los Angeles) listed the Dodgers as one of four teams he’d approve a deal to join, via waiving his no-trade protection.  Instead, the Marlins balked at the Dodgers’ offer and instead dealt Stanton to the Yankees.

After being a “finalist” of sorts for Stanton and missing out, the Dodgers also fell short on their pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, despite being one of the seven teams selected for the final stage of in-person presentations to the Japanese star.  This led to some hard feelings on Kershaw’s part, as the southpaw criticized Ohtani’s representation for allegedly misrepresenting the Dodgers’ chances at a deal (Kershaw felt no NL teams had a realistic shot since Ohtani was intent on regular at-bats, and thus needed a DH position).  The Dodgers’ West Coast location and history with Japanese talent made him one of the big favorites for Ohtani’s services, though it was the local rival Angels who ultimately landed the two-way star, which must’ve been an added sting for Los Angeles’ blue team.

With no Stanton, no Ohtani, and no other truly high-profile moves, the relatively quiet nature of the Dodgers’ offseason has left some fans and pundits grumbling that the team did little to actually improve itself.  In fairness, the Dodgers did finish just one game away from a world championship in 2017, so the argument can certainly be made that not much needed to be done to an already successful core group of talent.

Quite a bit had to go right for L.A. last season, however, to make that postseason run.  The Dodgers were one of baseball’s best teams despite a league-high 38 separate DL stints for players in 2017, and while some of the most injury-prone members of that list are no longer on the roster, all five members of the projected starting rotation (Kershaw, Alex Wood, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Hyun-Jin Ryu) missed time due to injury.  This will leave Los Angeles short on proven replacements in the event of more injuries, as McCarthy is now in Atlanta, top prospect Julio Urias is possibly out for the season recovering from shoulder surgery, and, most notably, Yu Darvish is now a Chicago Cub.

The Dodgers kept their eye on Darvish for much of the offseason and even floated a six-year offer to the right-hander, though that deal only worth around $100MM, rather than the $126MM Darvish eventually landed from the Cubs.  The Darvish offer was also dependent on the team being able to unload some other salary to stay under the tax threshold, so this was an instance where the Dodgers’ sudden lack of payroll flexibility may have cost them a top-tier player.

Font, Brock Stewart, Ross Stripling, and top prospect Walker Buehler now represent the Dodgers’ first line of starting pitching depth.  It’s not a bad group to have on paper, though the case could be made than even more depth is necessary given the starting five’s significant injury histories.  Veteran Tom Koehler was signed to provide innings as a swingman, though he may be facing a lengthy absence after suffering a mild AC strain.  With Stripling and Font potentially needed in the bullpen (which lost two workhorses in Avilan and Brandon Morrow), Los Angeles could look into picking up another veteran starter on a minor league deal.  One possibility could even be a reunion with Kazmir, who was just released by the Braves.

Speaking of depth, Justin Turner’s broken wrist leaves the Dodgers without their star third baseman until probably May.  Turner’s injury will see Logan Forsythe take over third base, leaving second base to a platoon of Utley against right-handed pitching and either Hernandez or Austin Barnes against southpaws.  In a bigger-picture sense, Turner’s absence leaves the Dodgers without a key player for at least the first part of the season, and wrist injuries can sometimes linger long after a player returns to the lineup.  Turner’s proven bat was a necessary component of the starting nine, given that it isn’t out of the question that Cody Bellinger experiences a sophomore slump, Chris Taylor declines after his breakout season, or Yasiel Puig reverts to his past inconsistency.

Overview

As more big contracts from the pre-Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi era come off the books and more controllable younger players (i.e. Corey Seager, Bellinger, Taylor) emerge into larger roles, you can see how the Dodgers are positioning themselves for a more cost-effective future that still keeps them among baseball’s elite.  While critics could wonder why the team didn’t specifically bolster itself for another run in 2018, the Dodgers obviously don’t see their contention window closing anytime soon.  More moves could also come at the trade deadline, though a bit more creativity will be required by the front office to both keep payroll under $197MM while still adding reinforcements for another pennant drive.

What’s your take on the Dodgers’ winter?  (Link for app users.)

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Greg Bird To Undergo Ankle Surgery, Miss 6-8 Weeks

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The Yankees announced that first baseman Greg Bird will undergo surgery on Tuesday “to remove a small broken spur on the outside aspect of his right ankle.” He’ll miss approximately six to eight weeks as a result.

This is the latest in a growing line of injury problems for the 25-year-old Bird, who sat out the entire 2016 campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery and then missed the majority of last season with a right foot injury. He and the Yankees are left to hope surgery repairs that foot, and it’ll leave the club with Tyler Austin and Neil Walker among its big league first base options in the meantime. If the Yankees look for outside help, it’s worth noting that they had Adam Lind in camp earlier this month. New York elected to release Lind, who remains a free agent.

Regardless of where the Yankees go from here at first, it’s obvious this is a notable blow to both them and Bird. At his best, the left-handed hitter has looked like a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium and its short right field porch. There was optimism that a healthy Bird would break out from the get-go this year and give the Yankees a fourth fearsome slugger to join Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez. But it’ll be yet another abbreviated campaign for Bird, who has played just 94 games since earning his first major league promotion in 2015.

Although Bird wowed during his rookie campaign with a .261/.343/.529 line (137 wRC+) in 178 plate appearances, last year’s injury limited him to a .190/.288/.422 showing (86 wRC+) in 170 PAs. To his credit, Bird returned in time for the playoffs to serve as one the Yankees’ top October performers before they fell in a seven-game ALCS against the Astros. That’ll go down as Bird’s last meaningful action until at least mid-May.

Rangers Re-Sign Bartolo Colon, Trevor Plouffe

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The Rangers have re-signed right-hander Bartolo Colon and infielder Trevor Plouffe to minor league contracts, according to a team announcement. Both players will report to Triple-A Round Rock.

It’s not surprising that the Rangers brought back Colon, whom they were reportedly interested in re-signing when they released him on Saturday. The accomplished and well-liked 44-year-old will serve as depth behind the starting quintet of Cole Hamels, Matt Moore, Doug Fister, Mike Minor and Martin Perez.

Plouffe, 31, looked into other opportunities after the Rangers released him from his previous minors deal last week, but he apparently came up empty in that search. Once a quality regular in Minnesota, where he combined for 5.9 fWAR from 2014-15, Plouffe’s career has taken a terrible turn in recent years. He was especially poor in 2017 between Oakland and Tampa Bay (.198/.272/.318 in 313 plate appearances), leaving him to rebuild his stock this season in the minors.

Mets Claim Bryce Brentz From Pirates

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The Mets have claimed outfielder Bryce Brentz off waivers from the Pirates, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to report.

The 29-year-old Brentz joined the Pirates via trade with the Red Sox in February, but he didn’t last long in Pittsburgh. The club placed him on waivers this past weekend. Because Brentz is out of options, he’ll have to go through waivers again if the Mets attempt to send him to the minors. If that doesn’t happen immediately, it likely will when star outfielder Michael Conforto comes off the disabled list. Assuming the other New York outfielders stay healthy early in the season, Conforto would be part of a contingent that features other well-known names in Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares.

Although Boston chose Brentz in the first round of the 2010 draft, he has barely played in the majors thus far. He collected just 90 plate appearances with the Red Sox, in fact. The righty-swinger spent all of last season at the Triple-A level and posted a healthy .271/.334/.529 line (138 wRC+) with 31 home runs in 494 plate appearances.

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