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Latest On Extension Talks Between Mets, Jacob deGrom

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There has been a cavalcade of extensions across Major League Baseball this spring, but it doesn’t appear Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom will become the latest star to ink a new deal. Speaking about his future Saturday, deGrom told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, Tim Healey of Newsday and other reporters that his optimism about signing before his self-imposed Opening Day deadline on March 28 is fading.

As recently as March 13, the reigning National League Cy Young winner seemed hopeful about landing a long-term pact by the opener. But deGrom said Saturday he’s “probably not as [optimistic]” an agreement between his camp and the Mets will materialize in time for the season. At that point, the 30-year-old will be more concerned about on-field matters.

“I don’t know where it’s going to end up,” deGrom said. “I’ve really not been trying to think about it. Yeah, I said I wanted to get something done, but it’s getting close to Opening Day and I think my focus is on that right now.”

While talks haven’t gone to his liking, they’re still ongoing, according to deGrom, who again noted he’d like to remain with the Mets. That being the case, it seems there’s still hope they’ll reach an 11th-hour deal. To this point, though, the Mets have reportedly been leery of committing a sizable payday to deGrom – who, despite the brilliance he has displayed since debuting in 2014, doesn’t have all the leverage here. After all, not only is deGrom on the wrong side of 30, but he’s a past Tommy John surgery recipient whom the Mets aren’t at risk of losing to free agency until after the 2020 campaign. Conversely, fellow veteran aces Chris Sale and Justin Verlander were only a year from free agency when they signed extensions this week, thereby increasing their teams’ urgency to lock them up.

Asked if he’s comparable to Sale, whom the Red Sox awarded a five-year, $145MM guarantee, deGrom said: “I don’t know. He’s a little bit closer to free agency. I’d have to sit down with my agents again and go over some things to really fully understand where we’d like to be.” 

Last July, as deGrom was amid a season for the ages, his former agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, implored the Mets to either trade the ace or extend him. The Mets didn’t oblige in either case, though they did make the outside-the-box decision in October to hire Van Wagenen as their general manager. Van Wagenen entered into the position with keen insight into deGrom’s circumstances, then, and as a former bigwig at CAA Sports, he’s familiar with the hurler’s new representatives, Jeff Berry and Matt Ricatto. Nevertheless, the parties haven’t been able to hammer anything out, and if deGrom’s deadline holds, they’ll either wait until next offseason to revisit contract talks or table them altogether. By then, deGrom could be heading into his final winter of arbitration eligibility. He and the Mets avoided the arbitration process this past January by agreeing to a record-setting $17MM salary for 2019.

Central Notes: Tribe, Cubs, Brewers, Royals

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Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor and second baseman Jason Kipnis will open the season on the 10-day injured list, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. It’s disappointing but not surprising news for Lindor, who’s working back from the right calf strain he suffered in early February. Kipnis is also dealing with a right calf strain, one that has forced the Indians to shut him down for seven to 10 days. Lindor’s absence will leave shortstop to the unheralded Eric Stamets, a 27-year-old with no major league experience. while Max Moroff could fill in for Kipnis. However, the Indians are in the market for second base help, according to Hoynes, who names free agent Brad Miller as a possibility. Miller opted out of his contract with the Dodgers on Thursday.

More from the majors’ Central divisions…

  • Having demoted Ian Happ to the minors on Saturday, the Cubs are looking for a center fielder via the trade and waiver markets, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reports. Additionally, the Cubs remain in the market for depth at catcher, Levine relays (Twitter links). Happ had been the Cubs’ projected season-opening starter in center field, but that role could now go to Albert Almora Jr. Meanwhile, lacking an experienced backstop behind Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini, the Cubs have prioritized the position in recent months. They came up short in attempts to sign Brian McCann and Martin Maldonado dating back to the offseason.
  • More on the Cubs, who announced that they’ve assigned infielder Cristhian Adames to minor league camp. The recipient of a minors deal in January, Adames had been competing for a place on the Cubs’ bench prior to his demotion. He made a case for a roster spot by slashing a stellar .386/.440/.705 with three home runs in 44 exhibition at-bats, though the 27-year-old hasn’t been nearly as successful in meaningful major league action. Adames combined for 343 PAs as a Rockie from 2014-17 and hit an unsightly .206/.283/.278 with a pair of homers.
  • Righty Jimmy Nelson, still on the mend from a September 2017 surgery to repair both labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder, felt “some elbow soreness” after throwing in a side game Thursday, tweets MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. The club still believes Nelson will begin his AAA rehab stint on schedule, per McCalvy, but it’s nonetheless a concerning development for the one-time Brewer ace. Milwaukee set its early-season rotation yesterday, with the high-upside Corbin Burnes/Freddy Peralta/Brandon Woodruff trio bookended by the iffy combination of Jhoulys Chacin and Zach Davies, whom the club seem higher on.
  • Royals lefty Danny Duffy told Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com this week he’d “love” to shift to a relief role eventually. For now, though, Duffy remains a starter. “We’ve had discussions, but they haven’t gone further than that. As long as I’m helping the team in some capacity, that’s all I want and that’s all they want,” said Duffy, who’s likely to start the season on the IL because of shoulder tightness. Shoulder issues were also a problem last year for Duffy, who didn’t take the mound past Sept. 4. It was an underwhelming season before that for Duffy, as the 30-year-old only managed a 4.88 ERA/4.70 FIP with 8.19 K/9, 4.06 BB/9 and a 35.4 percent groundball rate over 155 innings. Still, given the success Duffy has had as a starter (which helped him net a five-year, $65MM extension in January 2017), it’s an eye-opener that he’s so willing to change roles. Duffy has thrived in 34 2/3 frames as a reliever, though, having registered a 2.08 ERA/2.02 FIP with 11/42 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.

Bryan Holaday, Pedro Alvarez Opt Out Of Marlins Deals

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8:50pm: First baseman Pedro Alvarez has also opted out of his deal, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, who adds that outfielder Harold Ramirez will not exercise his out clause. Both Holaday and Alvarez have 48 hours to decide whether to go to Triple-A New Orleans, Frisaro notes. Alvarez has raked this spring with a .324/.400/.647 line in 34 at-bats, but the former star prospect hasn’t been much better than a league-average hitter across 3,321 major league PAs with the Pirates and Orioles. The 32-year-old struggled mightily across 127 PAs in Baltimore last season, when he hit a meager .180/.283/.414.

5:17pm: The Marlins are releasing catcher Bryan Holaday, who exercised the opt-out in his minor league contract, per Craig Mish of SiriusXM.

Holaday spent the 2018 campaign in Miami serving as the primary backup to star J.T. Realmuto, whom the team traded to the Phillies in the offseason. With Realmuto out of the picture, Holaday has been competing with Chad Wallach to work as a reserve behind Jorge Alfaro this season. But it appears Wallach has won the battle over Holaday, who hit .276/.364/.310 in 29 at-bats during spring training. That was an improvement over the .205/.261/.258 line Holaday authored over 166 PAs last year with the Marlins.

Offensive issues have been the norm for the 31-year-old Holaday, a .234/.274/.320 hitter in 606 PAs, though he has held his own at times behind the plate. Just last year, Holaday threw out a league-leading 45 percent of would-be base stealers (17 of 38) and, per Baseball Prospectus, offered above-average marks as a pitch framer and blocker.

Roster Notes: Rox, Brewers, Phils, Nats, Reds, Marlins

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The latest on several teams’ rosters…

  • First baseman Mark Reynolds will make the Rockies’ roster, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets. A Rockie from 2016-17, Reynolds rejoined the club on a minor league deal this past January after spending last season with the Nationals. In his return to Colorado, the 35-year-old Reynolds will back up the team’s headlining offseason acquisition, Daniel Murphy.
  • More from Groke, who reports catcher Brett Nicholas has requested and received his release from the Rockies. However, it’s possible the Rockies will try to keep Nicholas, Groke adds. An ex-Ranger, with whom he totaled 110 plate appearances from 2016-17, Nicholas signed a minors pact with the Rox in November. He has always faced an uphill battle to make the team, though, considering it has Chris Iannetta, Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy on its 40-man roster.
  • Catcher Erik Kratz won’t crack the Brewers’ roster, leaving him to await his trade/waiver fate, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This had been the expected outcome for Kratz, who’s stuck behind Yasmani Grandal and Manny Pina on Milwaukee’s depth chart.
  • Infielder Philip Gosselin won’t make the Phillies, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. It seems the 30-year-old will remain on hand as minor league depth, however. The journeyman has accrued 579 major league PAs, though he didn’t play much at the MLB level from 2017-18, and batted .263/.314/.361.
  • The Nationals have informed left-hander Vidal Nuno he won’t make their roster, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Nuno now has six days to decide whether to opt out of the minor league deal he signed in January. The 31-year-old has logged solid results this spring, having allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings while recording six strikeouts against one walk. Nuno was similarly effective across 33 innings with Tampa Bay last year, when he put up a 1.64 ERA (with a much less impressive 4.46 FIP) and 7.91 K/9 against 2.73 BB/9.
  • The Reds have sent right-hander Anthony Bass to minor league camp, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Bass had been competing for a bullpen spot with the Reds after they signed him to a minors deal in December. He owns a 4.51 ERA/4.20 FIP with 6.07 K/9 and 3.31 BB/9 and a 47.9 percent groundball rate in a combined 299 1/3 innings with the Padres, Astros, Rangers and Cubs.
  • The Marlins are “expected” to retain Rule 5 pick Riley Ferrell, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports. The club took the right-hander fourth overall from the Astros in December, and he has since pitched well over 6 2/3 spring innings (two earned runs allowed on five hits and five walks, with 10 strikeouts). Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs regard the 25-year-old Ferrell as “at least a big league-ready middle reliever with a chance to be a set-up man.”

Cubs Option Ian Happ

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In a surprise move, the Cubs have optioned outfielder/infielder Ian Happ to Triple-A Iowa, manager Joe Maddon announced Saturday (via Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic). Happ’s “not happy” about the demotion, Maddon revealed.

The decision comes in the wake of a miserable spring for the 24-year-old Happ, who batted an awful .135/.196/.192 in 52 at-bats during the exhibition season. Before that, Happ looked like a shoo-in to open the season in a prominent role in Chicago, where the former high-end prospect emerged following a mid-May promotion in 2017. Since then, the switch-hitting Happ has slashed .242/.341/.459 (109 wRC+) with 39 home runs in 875 plate appearances. Defensively, Happ has seen a significant amount of action in all three outfield spots and at third base with the Cubs.

Happ figured to start 2019 in the Cubs’ outfield, but he’ll have to wait before factoring into their lineup again. For now, the Cubs want Happ to work on cutting down his strikeouts in the minors, per Maddon (via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune). Strikeouts have indeed been a problem for Happ, who fanned in 33.8 percent of major league PAs from 2017-18 and went down another 14 times during the spring.

Chicago’s in position to temporarily say goodbye to Happ because of the depth in its outfield, where it has several experienced options. Jason Heyward, Albert Almora Jr. and Kyle Schwarber lead the way among the team’s primary outfielders, while Ben Zobrist, Kris Bryant, David Bote, Daniel Descalso and Mark Zagunis also represent 40-man outfield possibilities on hand. Johnny Field, meanwhile, has held his own this spring after joining the Cubs via waivers from the Twins during the offseason.

Brewers Sign Alex Wilson

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MARCH 23: Wilson’s deal is now official, Murray tweets.

MARCH 22: 2:55pm: The deal includes a $750K base salary along with unspecified incentives, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter).

12:44pm: Murray tweets that Wilson’s contract is a Major League deal. He’ll be added to the 40-man roster once he passes a physical, which is taking place today.

12:35pm: The Brewers are in agreement with free-agent right-hander Alex Wilson, per Robert Murray and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 32-year-old opted out of a minor league contract with the Indians earlier this week.

Wilson has been a steady member of the Tigers’ bullpen over the past four seasons, working to a combined 3.20 ERA with a below-average 5.8 K/9 mark but a quality average of 2.1 BB/9. He’s averaged 6.3 punchouts per nine innings pitched over the past two seasons and logged the second-best grounder rate of his career in 2018 (49.2 percent).

Milwaukee’s bullpen was one of its greatest strengths in 2018, but the relief corps is rapidly becoming more of a question mark with the revelation that Corey Knebel’s immediate future is clouded by a UCL injury. Jeremy Jeffress, meanwhile, is expected to open the season on the injured list due to shoulder weakness, although president of baseball ops David Stearns has suggested that Jeffress could return to the active roster by mid or late April. Beyond today’s addition of Wilson, the Brewers have been connected to a more dramatic upgrade — lingering free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel.

Blue Jays Release John Axford

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The Blue Jays have released reliever John Axford, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets. Additionally, reliever Bud Norris didn’t make the Jays’ roster, per Davidi, but they have given him a $100K retention bonus to stay in the fold.

Axford, whom the Blue Jays signed to a minor league contract in February, had been battling for a season-opening bullpen spot in spring training. But the 35-year-old Axford suffered a stress reaction in his pitching elbow this week, thus taking him out of the mix. It’s possible he’ll return to the Blue Jays in short order, though, as Davidi suggests they may have released Axford simply to rework his contract.

Toronto’s quite familiar with Axford, a native of Canada who spent the first few months of 2018 with the Blue Jays before they sent him to the Dodgers at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Between the two teams last year, Axford tossed 54 2/3 innings and posted an ugly 5.27 ERA with 8.89 K/9 and 3.62 BB/9. Most of the damage came during Axford’s short stint in LA, where he managed just 3 2/3 innings on account of a fractured fibula.

As an Article XX(B) free agent, the Jays had to place Norris on their 25-man roster, pay him $100K to stay on as a minor leaguer or send him back to the open market, where he languished until March 1. Surprisingly, Norris has to settle for a minors deal after performing well last year with the Cardinals, with whom he notched 57 2/3 innings and logged a 3.59 ERA with 10.46 K/9, 3.28 BB/9 and 28 saves in 33 attempts. Norris looked like a good bet to win a roster spot with the Jays after signing with them, but forearm fatigue has slowed him of late. The 34-year-old won’t be in Toronto from the outset of the season, then, though it’s possible he’ll join its bullpen sometime in the coming weeks.

Giants Acquire Michael Reed From Twins

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Per Dan Hayes of the Athletic, the Giants have acquired OF Michael Reed from Minnesota for OF John Andreoli and cash. Per Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News, lefty Steven Okert was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man.

Reed, 26, was in camp with the Twins after an outstanding AAA performance in the Atlanta system last year. A career .269/.382/.395 hitter in the minors, Reed took it up a notch last season, slashing a ridiculous .363/.459/.539 in 229 plate appearances for AAA-Gwinnett.  Scouts were never too bullish on the longtime Brewer – his highest ever rank in the Milwaukee system per Baseball America was 14th, following the 2014 season – but the recent performance has been too enticing to ignore.

Incredibly, Reed may slot in as the San Francisco’s top projected outfielder for the upcoming season – Steamer, at least, seems to agree. The Giants may not, but the righty-swinging Reed should see plenty of time at each outfield position in ’19, which he may well begin by serving as the weak-side platoon option in center field for lefty Steven Duggar.

Andreoli, 28, was brought in with a host of others to compete for a spot in the wide-open SF outfield, though his minor-league track record doesn’t glow nearly as brightly as Reed’s. The righty did put up an impressive .397 OBP at the AAA level last season, albeit in the much more hitter-friendly confines of the Pacific Coast League.

Okert, 27, has been decent in limited action for the Giants over the last three seasons, and had a banner (3.30 FIP, 12.22 K/9 vs. 2.27 BB/9) AAA season in 2018. Righties have always given the southpaw trouble, but he should have no issue latching on with a new franchise in the coming days.

Yankees Acquire Mike Tauchman From Rockies

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Per a team release, the Yankees have acquired OF Mike Tauchman from Colorado for lefty Phillip Diehl. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery was placed on the 60-day IL to make 40-man room for the outfielder.

Tauchman, 28, has just 69 MLB plate appearances under his belt despite a monster minor-league performance over the last two seasons. With AAA-Albuquerque in 2018, Tauchman slashed .323/.408/.571 with an outstanding 12.7% BB/14.9% K plate-discipline profile. ZiPS projects the lefty, who could see time at all three outfield spots for New York, to post a solid 96 wRC+/1.9 WAR season over 513 plate appearances in 2018.

Diehl, 24, moved to the bullpen full-time in the New York farm last season, to mostly excellent results. He didn’t crack the team’s top 30 prospects at either Baseball America or MLB.com, but if his 14.61 K/9 at high-A Tampa is any indication, the lefty’ll certainly be on the radar of the Rockies brass.

Orioles, Giants Swap Mike Yastrzemski, Tyler Herb

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Per team releases, the Orioles and Giants have swung a minor deal, with righty Tyler Herb headed to Baltimore and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski going to San Francisco.

Yastrzemski, 28, is the grandson of Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski. He’s made a six-year lap through the Oriole farm, with early highs eventually offset by upper-minors woes. His 2018 season was arguably his best, at least at the AAA level, with the lefty slashing a solid .265/.359/.441 in 374 plate appearances for Norfolk. He’ll provide depth at all three outfield spots for a Giants club starving for warm bodies at each of them.

Herb, 27 next month, began his professional career with Seattle before being sent south as the player to be named later in the Chris Heston deal. 2018 was a struggle for Herb: 13 starts made up his first AAA taste, and it quickly went sour, with the righty posting a 5.35 ERA/5.05 FIP in 70 2/3 innings for Sacramento. Herb has always had issue missing bats, though his repertoire could safely be counted on to induce a high number of grounders. It didn’t last season, though, as the righty posted a career-low 38.1% grounder rate.

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