Here’s an early morning look around the American League…
- Even after losing right-hander Domingo German to an 81-game suspension for a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, the Yankees “remain open to trading” lefty J.A. Happ, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Yankees were of the belief German would serve a significant suspension all along, so the league’s decision hasn’t affected their plans regarding Happ. The big question continues to be whether they’ll be able to find a taker for Happ, who’s 37 years old, coming off a poor season and due $17MM in 2020. Happ also has a $17MM option for 2021 that will vest if he amasses 165 innings or totals 27 starts this year. He posted back-to-back 30-start seasons from 2018-19.
- The Nationals reeled in the top reliever left in free agency on Thursday, agreeing to a three-year, $24MM contract with righty Will Harris. The 35-year-old entered free agency off a long and fruitful run in Houston, but Harris explained to Mark Berman of Fox 26 that the Astros “were eliminated pretty early on in the process” because they weren’t prepared to approach his asking price. “They weren’t in that ballpark, no. They had kind of admitted to me they would’ve liked to have done more, but they weren’t able to.” Harris is now the latest key Astro to leave last season’s AL pennant-winning club, joining Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley. Robinson Chirinos could be the next to go.
- In another of Thursday’s major news items, the White Sox locked up center field prospect Luis Robert to a six-year, $50MM guarantee. The two sides began negotiations back in September, and those talks gained steam at last month’s Winter Meetings, according to general manager Rick Hahn (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Now that Robert’s long-term future is settled, there’s no reason for the White Sox to worry about his service time, so it appears likely he’ll crack their roster out of camp. Robert’s fully confident that will happen. “I’m 100 percent convinced I’m going to be on the Opening Day roster,” the 22-year-old said.
Bye bye Harris, it was a pleasure hearing you grunt your way to great success on the mound. Geaux Tigers!
I know they are trying to move Happ for salary relief, but if it doesn’t happen – well – I think he would be a solid #5. Not sure that last year should indicate the rest of his career, I remember reading a lot of his concentration had to do with the birth of his son. I think he will be solid for the next two years, as he will most likely reach the inning threshold.
I agree. I think his wife’s pregnancy was a big distraction for him. He had a sub-2.00 ERA in September after returning from paternity leave. I think it would be a mistake to sell low on him.
happs best days are behind him. he got his last contract
if the yanks eat $10 mil they can trade him. most contending teams are already up near the threshold and the rest would not take such large sum.
Yanks don’t need to eat that much. Martin Perez got a $6.5M 1-year deal, and Happ, even bad Happ, is way better
perez is much younger. besides, if happ is that much better yanks should keep him till he is 38
Martin Perez is 28. Not 37.
You think another team is ok with taking on 25M of a 34M two year contract for a 37 year old?
Happ has one year left. The option only vests if he pitches 165 innings
Age means much less on short term deals. Who cares that Perez is 28. He still isn’t good.
neither is happ, tbh. he’s been lucky, if anything
Robert deal so non-team-friendly.
Are you green with envy Spinach?
Sarcasm? Having an 8M cap hit until 2025 looks pretty friendly
It’s more like 9 million when you factor in the buyout in 2 option years. The reason it’s not team friendly is because only 2 players(Mookie and KB) stand to earn more than 50 million in arbitration. That’s off of multiple 5+ WAR seasons, MVP’s and ROY. The only AAV “savings” the Sox have are in the last yr or 2 of the deal. Other than that, they are spending way more than they needed to.
It’s still only a $9m cap hit, A $9m cap hit is a player that you could cut from your roster if he really flops. It’s not like the Myers deal where SD is stuck paying him AND holding him on the roster.
If it were possible, I believe every team in baseball would have been happy to sign him away from the White Sox with that same deal.
If they use the 7th year buyout, it’s $8.33 million per year over 6 years. If the Sox choose to add two more years (at $20 million each), it becomes $11 million per year over 8 years.
Plus, it’s a huge PR move to sign the guy long term and have him on the opening day roster
The current CBA expires after 2021 and I highly doubt player compensation is going to decrease or remain the same. There is a virtual guarantee arbitration is going to change for the players benefit. MLB revenues continue to climb each year. When the current CBA was signed league revenue was $9.5b. It was $10.7b this past season if Forbes is correct.
Robert, as long as he is healthy, still has a strong arm, elite speed and is a good defensive CF, so even if his bat is behind due to contact or K’s early on he will still contribute immediately. If I had to make an educated guess, this deal is going to look pretty good for the team after the new CBA is signed. If I though of this, I am sure White Sox FO factored this into their decision to offer the deal.
Thats what Houston thought when they signed that 1B prospect whose name I can’t even remember. I realize it was not for the same dollars, but you never know how prospects are going to work out.
PTNBL finally someone gets it. What’s so great about this deal? He’s making money that would warrant ROY and mvp numbers. Teams control these guys for 6.7 years minimum, so it’s a 40 million dollar extension for 1 year and 1 month? Yeaaaa
Jon Singleton
It’s too bad that whatever his name is wasn’t around during the garbage can banging years or you would have certainly known that ASG player on first.
It’s going to be a VERY long season for the Astro’s and whatever fans they will still have as they get their fans kicked every day.
time will tell, won’t know until 2024. Odds are if players sign long term deal before they get to majors is high risk. They could have done the same thing after one year in majors and got the same results.
Unless he has a ROY type season in 2020 and costs them nearly double that amount. Ronald Acuña signed after his rookie year and cost Atlanta $100MM
10 years 124 million for acuna who is already proven
8 years 90 million for Roberts
Who’s Roberts?
Julia… her movies were okay
Now Eric, her brother, B movie actor who lives in Red Hook. He starred in one of the Expendables movies; it was alright.
Robert, AAA success, lock him up for 50 million!! Based off AJ Prellers advice.
Good luck with that deal!!
Over/under on 50 total home runs for 50 million?
WAY over
over.
under 50 home runs
Under 50 per season maybe
Robert will probably have more than 50 HR’s by the end of the 2021 season. He adjusted his swing in 2019. Robert’s ground ball rate went from 46% in 2018 over 208 PA’s with no HR’s, 11 2B’s and 3 3B’s to 29% in 2019 with 32 HR’s, 31 2B’s and 11 3B’s over 551 PA’s.
Replace “adjusted his swing” with “let his thumb heal.” The nagging thumb injuries made 2018 a lost year.
Delicious anchovies
Putrid herring
If you look at what the guy has done in the minors and Cuba he has done things that haven’t been accomplished since the 60’s. He is a legit 5 tool talent who just needs to stay healthy.. they are talking about mvp type numbers from this guy.. locking him up for 8-11 mil a year is a no brainer.. Madrigal should be next..the guy only had 17 strikeouts in 120 at bats last year And is a contact and defensive gem.. and look at Eloy and Anderson… eloy would have had over 40 homers if healthy the whole year and looked amazing at the end of the season. Anderson brings energy and consistency to the lineup.. Every sox fan would be drooling if the same contract had happened with moncada even with his down year two years ago..Every team in baseball would kill for the contracts Anderson and Eloy have and Roberts ceiling is mvp caliber so yeah it’s a great deal. For the players it provides great security. If they get injured teams have insurance. Great deals!!!
Check your stats. It was 16 strikeouts in 473 at bats. I worry about the almost complete lack of power, but yeah, amazing contact skills.
Why are some people only happy if a player gets bent over in a deal? I think the Sox will be more than happy with cost certainty on a fair deal with a little surplus value on the backend. Just about every team in baseball would happily take on this contract to trade for him right now.
It probably isn’t a huge discount like the one the Braves got with Ozzie Albies, but there is a lot more to it than just saving money.
Robert had much more leverage than most guys. He has his $26M signing bonus and he didn’t play in the US that calendar year to avoid paying US income taxes. He could afford to say no to anything that was a big discount because even at MLB minimum, he has a decent amount of money already. The White Sox never could save a lot of money on him. Albies signed for $350K in 2013 and had been in the minors making very little. He had much less leverage, like most guys do.
There will probably be inflation. What players get in 5 years is likely to be different than what it is now, and not less. So the savings might be even bigger.
Then there is cost certainty. The White Sox know what he is going to cost for up to 8 years. No guessing. No chance of a $27M season like Betts is about to get which is messing up the Red Sox in terms of the luxury tax. Teams really like that for long term planning. Especially if, say, Mazarra bombs, none of the other OF prospects develop, and the White Sox want to offer Betts a huge deal next year.
Finally, the White Sox now have him for up to 8 years if they want. They don’t need to manipulate service time. They don’t need to worry about the next CBA (in just 2 years) changing the rules and maybe granting a year of service time to guys who spent at least 3 months of any year on a roster. They don’t need to worry about a new CBA granting teams only 3 or 4 years control instead of 6 or 7. All that is off the table.
Should they extend Moncada, it also probably wouldn’t be at a huge discount, but they might still do it for all the same reasons. Madrigal, for instance, has less leverage since he didn’t get a huge signing bonus and his offensive profile doesn’t usually cash in as easily as a guy with power.
I agree. Why pay him this way? If you took the pay per year route you’re talking under 1mil for 3 seasons.
I get it though, just think the deal should be 7years with two 1.5mil payouts and then the gradual increases like they did with final option of 20mil or buyout.
Betts for what it’s worth has earned 33.6mil for his first 6 seasons. This year’s final pay of 27.7mil will get him to 60+mil for 7years of team control.
Robert without stepping on to the Major League field is set up to earn 68mil in that 7year time frame….or is is 70mil with buyout on year 8?
I’m more excited about this than our work in FA. I hope Madrigal is next. Some fans, like myself, are tired of this service time manipulation stuff. Pick some winners, pay them and let’s go. Enough of the “look how smart the GM is” for basically strategizing some contract tricks and loser talk. Let’s go.
Trading for Happ will most likely mean a team will be taking on 34 million due to the fact he is durable and should reach his 2021 option with no problem. I can see a team trading for him if the Yankees were to eat 7-10 million.
Happ and judge for price. DO IT.
Nobody is taking headcase price. Not without Mookie at least
sold!
The Sox are killing it!
Get Mookie next year and I predict 3 pennants, 3 World Series Championships in 8 years.
I’m a Yankees fan, but that is definitely more preferably than the Red Sox, Astros and Dodgers winning championships.
I can make a stupid prediction, too.
Sale, a WS champion in 2018.
Eaton, a WS champion in 2019.
Quintana, a WS champion in 2020. (Just hope he doesn’t get traded.)
we playing 2 truths and a lie?
Not a lie. With hope and a chance, it’s not impossible.
Who are the Cubs trading Quintana to? Houston? Minnesota? Milwaukee?
Chicago South
Plus, they should have Vaughn at DH/1B next year. There’s plenty of money coming off the books next year to get Betts. If I’ve looked correctly, potentially coming off the books in 2021…
$12 million – Encarnacion (club option)
$10.3 million – Colome (free agent)
$10 million – Herrara (club option)
$7 million – Gonzalez (club option)
$5.7 million – Mazara (arbitration)
$5.4 million – McCann (free agent)
$4.5 million – Rodon (arbitration)
$4 million – Garcia (free agent)
$1.3 million – Marshall (arbitration)
$60.2 million Total
WIth that said, I’d be shocked if they signed Betts.
Sox have no bullpen nor do they have many good defensive players. And their SP are still questionable.
Hold your enthusiasm till they crack .500 for once.
Dogbone, the White Sox bullpen will consist of Birdie, Bummer, Detwiller Fry, Herrera, and Kopech. Yes, I believe Kopech would be used in the bullpen this season since he is coming off of Tommy John surgery and needs to work on a change up before being put in the starting rotation. If Kopech can not develop a change up then he would take over as the closer once Colome is gone.
I agree they are in good shape, but to make it a good post, you have to estimate the raises for 2021 due to contracts and arbitration for the players the Sox will keep. That will offset the $60 million somewhat.
You also have to replace all those players plus Moncada, giolito and probably others start getting paid.
The White Sox don’t have to worry about paying Moncada and Giolito until the contracts of Kuechel and Grandal are done. Smart business moves by the White Sox.
LOL
Nobody is taking that Happ contract unless then they pay a big chunk. Dumbroski is gone so nobody left to take it unless it is Epller or Preller can be swindled , but there is hope they usually can be. Epller probably would take him since he will be going back to NY after this season.
I’d say someone would take Happ if the Yanks eat a decent chunk. I dont think its required for them to eat a huge chunk of the contract, especially considering its not a long term contract nor is it very expensive as far as SP goes.
Cashman would like to move Happ for some salary relief, but he isn’t under the gun to do it. Happ was real good for the Yanks 2 years ago when they picked him up down the stretch. Yanks will have to eat some money to get rid of him.
If he is so good why do they have to eat salary and/or attach a prospect to “dump” him?
He’s terrible and overpaid. No one would pay him 17 mil a year. Not last year, not this year, and not next year.
Horrible signing- cash needs to dump him and eat the coin.
Most MLB teams are going to start following the White Sox when it comes to signing their young talent to team friendly deals. If it does not work for the team in a few years and the player does well, the team can easily get a haul from another team for this player since he is under team control.
I hope not, because it’s bad business practice.
The White Sox have been extending players for years, but only after they were called up and proved their value. This was dont with Danks, Sale, Quintana, Eaton and Anderson to a lesser extent.
Now, the team is refusing to call up qualified players, and basically blackmailing them with service time, just to get a call up to the majors.
This is not unfair, it’s dumb, because it will blow up in their face at some point when a prospect doesn’t live up to potential or gets injured.
Even the Anderson extension has been suspect until this past season, and even now it seems questionable given his defensive struggles.
Imagine if the team had taken the same approach with Avi Garcia. Or Gordon Beckham. Both were seen as solid prospects, especially after their debuts.
Call the guys up, when they are ready, let them prove themselves, and then make a decision. This is all dumb.
Imagine the disaster
What’s your take on the Braves approach? They waited the time you suggested with Acuna and now are paying double the price for him. Is that better business practice?
Yes, because he has demonstrated his value, and the team will still extract surplus value over the course of the deal, notably in the first several years.
The WS are gambling that guys who haven’t proven anything will live up to their expectations. And they are doing it with players who are far more risky than Acuna.
Eloy I think will be a talented hitter, but they may have to move him out of the outfield. Robert is even riskier, given his history of injuries.
It’s just bad business practice. The WS May be successful, but they are largely overpaying for guys on the down side of their careers, and attempting to dramatically underpay for unproven players. They are literally speculating on high/risk bonds.
His AAV is $8.3M over the life of the 6 year guaranty… he would have to be a sub 1-WAR player for the life of the deal for this to be the “high risk” you call it. I’ll agree to disagree here but this is not a high risk deal, the odds of them being absolutely burned are close to 0, while the odds that this becomes the most team-friendly deal seem much better.
What players are the Sox refusing to call up now? (by the way this is not a new practice the Sox came up with, this is ALL GMs walking a tightrope with the CBA, with a few exceptions. Many of which occurred AFTER the Sox were called to task for Jimenez). No one is holding a gun to the heads of these players. You have to remember that for some of these guys it is not all about how much money they can get, it is about having a more than comfortable life for their families. Why is this new idea of extending players before the majors a bad business practice? While Orgs are taking a risk with every FA, this is a gamble, like any other contract that is signed, plain and simple, if they are destroying the minors (which Jimenez and Robert clearly have done), why wouldn’t you take a risk in signing these guys up now? I get that a player could be injured or not work out, but that can occur regardless or MLB time or while spending 300M for a guy as well. If Anderson is the only example of ‘bad business practice’ then I would say the Sox are doing well. Anderson is fine, I get there are those that lo love any excuse to bash a player, but Anderson is still young enough to fix his glove issues or, at worst, fill that RF void if those guys do not pan out.. As for Avi or Gordon… Imagine if they did that with Avi or Beckham, but they didn’t… and for Avi that was even though Sale, Eaton, and Q got theirs.
So give a bunch of money to unproven players? Doubt it.
Just like Jiminez and Moncada, Robert dominated in the minor league system. Moncada improved from 2018 to 2019 after adjusting to MLB pitching and learning how to be patient at the plate. The combination of these guys is going to be something special for the next five years.
Stop trying to pawn off your weaker starters to the rest of the league Yanks. Nobody is falling for it
Uh, on the Angels he’s an ace. So you wym!
I picked up Luis Robert midseason last year in fantasy. Hopefully he’ll be a keeper for years to come.
Bet he doesn’t make it to the 10th round undrafted in most leagues this year.
Moving 17 million for Happ at his age and a down season with an attainable vesting option for 21 for the same figure seems a little out there. I think it’ll take a bit more than his wife was pregnant to sell that contract off
Wonder if NYY would consider moving German along with Happ for a team to eat all of Happ’s remaining salary. NYY already have a #5 capable starter in Montgomery.