Click here to read the transcript of this morning’s baseball chat, moderated by MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk
Archives for January 2020
Orioles Have Interest In Andrew Cashner
With the Orioles looking to add an inexpensive veteran arm to their rotation, Andrew Cashner is “one of the free agents under consideration,” MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. GM Mike Elias said on Saturday that the O’s would be more likely to acquire a Major League starter through free agency than through the trade market, and Kubatko recently reported that the Orioles were looking at adding a starter on a one-year contract.
There is no shortage of familiarity between Cashner and the O’s, as the right-hander pitched for the team in both 2018 and 2019 before being traded to the Red Sox last July. Cashner originally signed a two-year, $16MM deal in the 2017-18 offseason and posted a 4.73 ERA, 1.76 K/BB rate, 6.0 K/9 over his 249 1/3 innings in the orange-and-black. Those numbers line up with Cashner’s overall inconsistent performance over the last five seasons, as his low-strikeout, grounder-heavy (except in his aberration of a 2018 season that saw him post a career-worst 40.4% ground ball rate) arsenal leads to a lot of variance.
Cashner was pitching pretty well for Baltimore in 2019, however, posting a 3.83 ERA over 96 1/3 innings after largely removing his sinker from his mix of pitches. After being dealt to Boston, however, Cashner posted an 8.01 ERA over six starts before being moved to the bullpen for his first extended dose of relief work since 2012. Between the start of the 2013 season and the end of that six-start stint for the Red Sox, Cashner started 182 of 188 games pitched.
As expected, the Red Sox declined their $10MM club option on Cashner for the 2020 season, and the righty’s trip into free agency hasn’t resulted in much buzz. It could be that any interested teams are perhaps waiting until later in the offseason or during Spring Training to fully access their rotation options before signing a pitcher that projects best as a depth option at this point in his career.
The 33-year-old Cashner does offer a fair amount of durability at the back of a rotation, as he has averaged 157 IP over the last five seasons. There isn’t much certainty within a projected Orioles rotation that consists of John Means, Alex Cobb, Asher Wojciechowski, and several younger options vying for the final two slots, so bringing a veteran innings-eater like Cashner could help matters. There’s also a chance that returning to Camden Yards could help Cashner regain his form from early 2019, and perhaps make him a candidate for another deadline trade this summer.
Teams That Gained Or Lost Draft Picks Via Qualifying Offer Free Agents
Now that Marcell Ozuna has signed, all 10 of the players who were issued a one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer in November have settled on teams for the 2020 season. Of that group, two (Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Jake Odorizzi of the Twins) accepted their qualifying offers and returned to their clubs — Abreu, in fact, topped off his QO by signing a contract extension that will run through the 2022 season. Stephen Strasburg also isn’t changing uniforms, as the longtime Nationals ace rejected the club’s qualifying offer but eventually re-signed with Washington on a seven-year, $245MM deal.
That leaves us with seven QO players who will be playing on new teams in 2020, and as such, the draft compensation attached to those seven players has also now been allotted. Under the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the same compensation was handed out to all six teams who lost those players, as the entire sextet fell under the same financial criteria. The Mets, Cardinals, Braves, Giants, Nationals, and Astros all aren’t revenue-sharing recipients, nor did they exceed the luxury tax threshold in 2019, so all six teams will receive a compensatory draft pick between Competitive Balance Round B and the third round of the 2020 draft.
Here is how the so-called “Compensation Round” breaks down. The order of the picks is determined by worst record-to-best record from the 2019 season.
68. Giants (for Madison Bumgarner)
69. Giants (for Will Smith)
70. Mets (for Zack Wheeler)
71. Cardinals (for Marcell Ozuna)
72. Nationals (for Anthony Rendon)
73. Braves (for Josh Donaldson)
74. Astros (for Gerrit Cole)
San Francisco now possesses five of the first 87 picks in next June’s draft. With the Giants still in the NL wild card race last summer, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi opted to hang onto Bumgarner and Smith rather than trade either player, a decision that led to some criticism since San Francisco was widely considered to be closer to rebuilding than truly contending. The critics’ judgement grew even harsher after the Giants went 22-32 record in August and September and fell well short of the postseason. Still, given that teams were reluctant to part with top-flight young talent for even controllable players (let alone rentals like Bumgarner and Smith) at the trade deadline, Zaidi clearly felt that the two picks he could recoup from the qualifying offer process were more valuable than anything offered for the two Giants pitchers last July.
It’s worth noting that the 74th overall pick will be Houston’s first selection of the 2020 draft, after the Astros lost both their first- and second-highest selections in both 2020 and 2021 as part of their punishment for the sign-stealing scandal. Since the Red Sox are also under league investigation for their own alleged use of electronics to steal opponents’ signs in 2018, Boston could also potentially lose at least one pick in this year’s draft, so we can’t yet say that the 2020 draft order is finalized. Of course, the order could be further muddled if more trades occur involving picks from the two Competitive Balance Draft rounds, which are the only types of draft picks that can be traded. We’ve already seen the Rays and Cardinals swap their picks in Rounds A and B as part of the multi-player trade that sent Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to Tampa Bay earlier this month.
Let’s now look at the six teams who signed the seven QO-rejecting free agents, and see what those clubs had to give up in order to make the signings.
Yankees, for signing Gerrit Cole: Since New York exceeded the luxury tax threshold in 2019, they gave up their second- and fifth-round picks in the 2020 draft (a.k.a. their second- and fifth-highest selections). The Yankees also gave up $1MM in funds from their international signing bonus pool.
Diamondbacks, for signing Madison Bumgarner: As a team that didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold and was a revenue-sharing recipient, the D’Backs had to give up their third-highest draft choice to sign Bumgarner. This ended up being Arizona’s second-round selection — the team’s first two picks are their first-rounder (18th overall) and their pick in Competitive Balance Round A (33rd overall).
Twins, for signing Josh Donaldson: Minnesota also received revenue-sharing and didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold, so signing Donaldson put the Twins in position to give up their third-highest draft selection. However, the Twins are actually giving up their fourth-highest pick in the 2020 draft, which is their third-round selection. The Twins’ actual third selection is their pick in Competitive Balance Round B, but those picks aren’t eligible to be forfeited as compensation for QO free agent signings.
Angels, for signing Anthony Rendon: Since the Halos didn’t receive revenue-sharing funds and also didn’t pay any luxury tax money, they had to give up their second-highest draft pick (their second-rounder) and $500K in international bonus funds to sign Rendon.
Phillies, for signing Zack Wheeler: The Phillies surrendered their second-highest selection (their second-round pick) and $500K of their international bonus pool, since they were another team that didn’t exceed the luxury tax line and didn’t receive revenue-sharing money.
Braves, for signing Will Smith and Marcell Ozuna: The dual signings put Atlanta in line for a dual penalty. The Braves didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold and also didn’t receive revenue-sharing money, so they gave up their second-highest draft pick (their second-rounder) and $500K of international bonus money for Smith. In landing Ozuna, the Braves then had to also forfeit their third-round pick (their third-highest selection) and another $500K from their international bonus pool.
Losing two draft picks and $1MM in international pool money isn’t nothing, though these particular sanctions had less impact on the Braves than on other teams, which undoubtedly influenced their decisions. First of all, the compensatory pick Atlanta received for Donaldson is higher in the draft order than their third-round pick, so the net loss is only a second-round pick. Secondly, the Braves’ movement in the international market is still limited by the punishment handed out by Major League Baseball in November 2017 for Atlanta’s past international signing violations. Part of that punishment included the Braves’ pool for the 2020-21 international market being reduced by 50 percent — being so handcuffed in the international market anyway, the Braves probably felt $1MM in pool money was no great loss.
Royals Re-Sign Alex Gordon
TODAY: Gordon has agreed to waive his 10-and-5 no-trade rights beginning on June 16, as per The Associated Press. Talking with MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan and other reporters about the signing, GM Dayton Moore referred to the unusual provision as a way to “eliminate the red tape” and “take out the dynamics of going through the union” if a trade offer from a contender emerged. Moore also implied that Gordon would still have an unofficial veto about any trade proposal, saying “anything we do with Alex, we would have a conversation with him first. It’s really important to know that. It’s always about the players….If you decide together at some point [that a trade] could benefit Alex, you want to have very easy conversations about things.”
JANUARY 22, 5:33pm: Gordon’s contract pays him an extra $500K upon reaching 250 plate appearances, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. There’s also a $500K assignment bonus in the event that he’s traded, although as a player with 10-and-5 rights, Gordon can veto any proposed swap.
9:15am: The Royals have struck a new deal with outfielder Alex Gordon, as first reported by MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (via Twitter). The pact is said to guarantee him $4MM for the 2020 season. Righty Heath Fillmyer was designated for assignment to create roster space.
Gordon’s second free agent return to Kansas City comes with less drama and a much lower cost than did his prior one. The veteran previously inked a four-year deal in January of 2016, all but ensuring he’d never wear another uniform.
Entering the 2019-20 offseason, the only question was whether Gordon would decide to continue his career for an additional season. He and the K.C. organization decided upon at least one more.
That aforementioned contract hasn’t worked out at all from an on-field perspective. Gordon, who’ll soon turn 36, has yet to turn in even an average offensive campaign under the new deal. He carries an ugly .237/.320/.366 batting line over the four-season span.
On the other hand, Gordon has continued to turn in sterling defensive work in the outfield. And his bat did trend up in 2019, as he slashed .266/.345/.396 (96 wRC+) with 13 home runs.
While there was never any chance the Royals would pick up a high-priced option over Gordon, it’s not hard to understand the rationale for this move. The money, roster spot, and playing time surely could’ve been appropriated elsewhere, but every team needs some veterans around and the Royals are as familiar and comfortable with Gordon as any club could be with any player.
As for Fillmyer, the 25-year-old has thrown 104 2/3 MLB frames over the past two seasons, working to a 5.07 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. He turned in solid results while working his way through the farm, but has also struggled at the Triple-A level, where he owns a 5.48 ERA over 116 2/3 innings in 2018-19.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Quick Hits: Franco, Rays, Goodrum, Red Sox
It was two years ago today that the Brewers made one of the biggest single-day splurges in recent baseball history, acquiring Christian Yelich from the Marlins for a four-prospect trade package, and also agreeing to sign Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, $80MM contract. (Cain’s deal wasn’t officially finalized until he passed a physical on January 26, 2018.) There surely aren’t any regrets in Milwaukee over that red-letter day, as the Brewers have reached the playoffs in each of the two subsequent seasons. Yelich has been nothing short of spectacular in a Brewers uniform, winning the 2018 NL MVP honors and finishing second in the MVP voting last season. It has been a bit more of a mixed bag for Cain, who enjoyed a tremendous 2018 campaign but then struggled through an injury-riddled 2019, though Cain finally won his first career Gold Glove last year after another outstanding defensive showing in center field.
The latest from around baseball…
- MLB Pipeline unveiled the latest edition of its top 100 prospects list today, with the Rays’ Wander Franco receiving the nod as the game’s top minor leaguer. Franco’s long list of plaudits includes a rare 80 grade for his hitting, the highest possible mark on the 20-80 scouting scale. “If you were to build a hitter from scratch using all of the physical attributes and skills that have come to define great hitters, he’d probably end up looking something like Franco,” details Pipeline’s scouting report on the 18-year-old shortstop. The Rays placed six prospects on the top 100 list, the most of any team. The Dodgers’ Gavin Lux, White Sox outfielder Luis Robert, the Orioles’ Adley Rutschman, and the Padres’ MacKenzie Gore rounded out the rest of the top five. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (who compiled the list along with colleagues Jim Callis and Mike Rosenbaum) details how the list was compiled, the new faces joining the top 100, the prospects from past lists who were omitted from this year’s ranking, and many more details.
- After playing seven different defensive positions in 2019, it looks like the Tigers’ Niko Goodrum is going to focus only on shortstop for the foreseeable future, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News writes. Goodrum came up in the minors as a shortstop, but he expanded his horizons in hopes that versatility would improve his chances of cracking the big leagues. That strategy worked out pretty well for the 28-year-old, who’s coming off a solid pair of seasons after the Tigers signed him to a minor league deal more than two years ago. While that versatility is still an asset, Detroit likes Goodrum best at shortstop at present, especially after an impressive defensive showing over 326 2/3 innings at short in 2019. While it’s tricky to make a definitive judgement based on such a small sample size, Goodrum received high grades over a range of defensive metrics (+3 Defensive Runs Saved, +8.6 UZR/150, and +6 Outs Above Average).
- Could this be Chaim Bloom’s only chance to hire a Red Sox manager? This is one of many points raised by the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham while speculating about the club’s rather quiet managerial search. With a nod to how quickly the Sox parted ways with former front office heads Ben Cherington and Dave Dombrowski, Abraham writes that “given the lack of job security in his position, Bloom may only get one chance to hire a manager if he doesn’t get this right.” This leads Abraham to wonder if Bloom could make a hire from outside the organization, in order to put some type of personal stamp on a team that otherwise retained much of its front office staff after Dombrowski was fired.
Pirates Owner Bob Nutting Discusses Player Development, Payroll
The Pirates’ future direction under new general manager Ben Cherington has yet to become entirely certain, as the club hasn’t made any notable moves during Cherington’s two-plus months in charge to indicate either a rebuild or a reload for the 2020 season. This waiting period (or perhaps even the thought of a rebuild in general) hasn’t sat well with many Pittsburgh fans, though it seems like the evaluation of seemingly every level of the organization will continue, as club owner Robert Nutting told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he wants a thorough examination of what went wrong with the Pirates in 2019.
“I’m not sure we know how good every one of our players can be. We absolutely have challenges in our development system in terms of processes,” Nutting said. “We absolutely have challenges at the Major League level in terms of information and ways we communicated with players. A real frustration point for me last year was that we had too many players who performed at one level here and a higher level with another club. They were coached differently. They got different information. And they performed at a higher level.”
It wasn’t long ago that the Pirates were the ones drawing plaudits for their ability to revive careers and find hidden gems from lightly-regarded roster pickups, as such canny moves helped the Bucs reach the postseason via three consecutive wild card berths in 2013-15. Since that impressive stretch, however, 2018’s modest 82-79 mark has been the team’s only winning record of the past four seasons. Things seemed to bottom out last year, as a series of struggles both on the field and in the clubhouse led to a brutal 25-48 record after the All-Star break, en route to a 69-win season.
The near-total nature of that second-half collapse makes it somewhat hard to evaluate, as it could have been a perfect storm of off-the-field issues and player dissatisfaction with manager Clint Hurdle, rather than a sign that the Pirates were completely lacking in ability. Nutting is hopeful that more clarity can be achieved under new manager Derek Shelton and a largely overhauled coaching staff.
“We don’t know how good our players are right now,” Nutting said. “I think we need to give Derek, Ben, our analytics team and our coaching staff a chance to see what we can bring out of our players, not only at the Major league level but at Triple-A, too.”
That said, Nutting isn’t only counting on a management change suddenly turning the Pirates into NL Central contenders, blunting saying “We do not have enough talent to be as good as we need to be….I think we have a solid core, but we need to build around it. We need to supplement. That’s going to come from international signings, the draft, trades, and we need to do it throughout the organization. That will take some time.”
Based on these remarks, it doesn’t appear as any spending increase is coming in the near future, at least not in terms of Major League payroll commitments. The Pirates have roughly $68.76MM (as per Roster Resource) in payroll expenditures in 2020, making them again one of the lowest-spending clubs in baseball. Depending on how long it takes to acquire the additional talent Nutting and Cherington feel is required, the owner’s comments won’t change the public perception that higher-priced Bucs players with relatively little remaining team control — such as Starling Marte or Chris Archer — could be trade candidates. Marte has been a particularly well-discussed player this offseason, though it remains unclear as to whether or not a trade could be particularly close, if happening at all.
Marlins To Sign Brandon Kintzler
The Marlins have agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Brandon Kintzler, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports. The deal will pay Kintzler $3.25MM in guaranteed money — $3MM in 2020 salary, and a $250K buyout of a $4MM club option for the 2021 season. In the event of a trade before the 2020 season is out, the 2021 club option increases to $5MM with a $500K buyout. Kintzler is represented by Kevin Kohler.
Miami has been linked to the 35-year-old Kintzler for the last few weeks, with MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reporting earlier today that the two sides were “working on a deal.” With Kintzler now in the fold, it would seemingly put an end to the Marlins’ pursuit of Pedro Strop, another former Cubs reliever Miami was also considering as a ninth-inning option.
Now, Kintzler will step back into a closer’s role for the first time since the 2017 season. Kintzler has spent the bulk of his career outside of save situations, though he did total 46 saves with the Twins and Nationals over the 2016-17 seasons. 2018, however, was a rougher ride for Kintzler, who struggled to a 7.00 ERA over 18 innings with the Cubs after the Nationals dealt him at the trade deadline.
After working to “simplify my mechanics” last Spring Training, Kintzler bounced back in impressive fashion, posting a 2.68 ERA, 3.69 K/BB rate, 7.6 K/9, and 54.7% grounder rate over 57 innings out of the Chicago bullpen in 2019. Despite being in the bottom eighth percentile of hard-hit ball rate, opposing batters couldn’t do much with that hard contact, as Kintzler also posted a low exit velocity (19th percentile) and limited batters to a .265 wOBA that was only slightly lower than his .286 xwOBA.
Kintzler brings some closing experience and, with 10 MLB seasons to his name, simply some experience overall to a mostly-young Marlins bullpen. With Kintzler looking like the favorite to handle the ninth inning, Miami can deploy Jose Urena, Ryne Stanek, Drew Steckenrider, or any other potential closer candidates in other high-leverage roles to gauge their readiness for any save situations. Since the Marlins are still rebuilding, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Kintzler shopped at the trade deadline if the right-hander is pitching well, and the extra control offered by the 2021 club option could increase his trade value over pure rental pitchers.
Marlins Pursuing Brandon Kintzler
TODAY: The Marlins “are working on a deal” with Kintzler, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.
JANUARY 24: The Marlins are a reported finalist for righty Pedro Strop, but they’re also “very much in pursuit” of right-hander Brandon Kintzler, tweets Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio. The Miami organization is hoping to entrust ninth-inning duties to one of those two veteran late-inning arms.
Both Strop and Kintzler have spent the past couple seasons with the Cubs. But while Strop is out on the market in hopes of enjoying a rebound season in 2020, Kintzler has already enjoyed a strong rebound effort and is hoping to cash in on his 2019 showing.
In 2018, the now-35-year-old Kintzler limped to a 4.60 ERA (4.10 FIP, 4.50 xFIP) through 60 2/3 innings between the Nationals and Cubs. He’d been sharp in D.C. but immediately scuffled in Chicago, posting a 7.00 ERA in 18 innings. It wasn’t at all the showing for which the Cubs had hoped and Kintzler unsurprisingly exercised a $5MM player option.
That 2018 hiccup now looks like more of an outlier, though, as Kintlzer recorded a career-best 2.68 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 54.7 percent ground-ball rate. As usual, Kintzler’s low-spin sinker — where, unlike with four-seam heaters, less spin is considered a positive — generated plenty of grounders. He also more than doubled the amount he used his changeup and enjoyed an uptick on his swinging-strike rate against that particular offering.
Kintzler now has an ERA of 3.15 or better in three of the past four seasons. Going back seven years to his first full season in the bigs, he’s posted an ERA of 3.24 or better on five occasions, with the lone exceptions coming in 2018 and in 2015, when a knee injury wiped out most of his season (seven MLB innings, 19 in the minors). All told, he has a career 3.37 earned run average in 424 1/3 innings. And while his lifetime 6.3 K/9 mark isn’t the gaudy total one expects to see from a closer, Kintzler is no stranger to late-inning pressures. He’s tallied 49 saves in his big league tenure, thriving thanks to a quality 2.3 BB/9 mark and his robust 56.1 percent grounder rate.
Jon Daniels Discusses Rangers’ Remaining Offseason Needs
Speaking at the Rangers’ “Peek At The Park” fan event on Saturday, GM Jon Daniels gave MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan and other reporters a seeming hint about the club’s offseason direction, stating “I would think that if we do make any significant acquisition, a trade is more likely than a free agent….just the discussions we’ve had make me feel that way.”
Daniels’ comment would seem to diminish the chances of a deal between Texas and Nicholas Castellanos, the top free agent left on the board and a player who has already emerged as a Rangers target. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently detailed, a few teams are speculative fit for Castellanos at this point in the offseason, though all of these clubs seem to have at least one significant obstacle — a crowded outfield, lack of payroll space, etc. — standing in a way of a signing.
Texas arguably has the least-daunting of these positional obstacles, as Castellanos could be installed at first base or in right field, thus relegating either Ronald Guzman or Danny Santana to part-time duty (and Joey Gallo into a primary center field role). It’s possible, therefore, that money could be the holdup in talks. MLBTR projected Castellanos for a four-year, $58MM deal at the beginning of the offseason, though it could be that the Rangers or other teams aren’t willing to meet such a significant multi-year price given the narrowed market for Castellanos’ services. Marcell Ozuna, often considered Castellanos’ closest peer amongst free agent corner outfielders, recently had to settle for a one-year/$18MM pact with the Braves, though Ozuna was also impacted by draft pick compensation via the qualifying offer.
If a big free agent signing isn’t happening, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Rangers are set to make a splashy trade for the likes of a Nolan Arenado. While Texas has been linked to the Rockies third baseman on the rumor mill, Daniels called it “unlikely” that a deal would be worked out. Rockies GM Jeff Bridich seemingly put the Arenado rumors to rest earlier this week, only for speculation to re-escalate once Arenado went public with what he felt was “disrespectful” treatment from Bridich in particular and the Colorado organization as a whole.
Offense continues to be the Rangers’ primary target, with Daniels saying that he has had talks with almost every team in baseball about potential lineup acquisitions. Pitching is a lesser concern, as Daniels said that is more apt to add relievers on minor league deals than on multi-year Major League contracts. This might not bode well for the Rangers’ chances of signing Pedro Strop, though Strop wouldn’t necessarily require a multi-year deal.
Texas could also add veteran starters on minor league deals, though Daniels is pretty satisfied with his team’s in-house options, saying “I’d rather go to Kolby Allard than most of the guys who are available to us.” Daniels revealed that the Rangers had interest in signing Jerad Eickhoff before the righty inked a minor league pact with the Padres earlier this month. Eickhoff is a known quantity to Daniels, as the Rangers made Eickhoff a 15th-round draft pick in 2011 before sending him to the Phillies as part of the trade package for Cole Hamels in July 2015.
Mike Minor Interested In Discussing Extension With Rangers
JANUARY 25: The Rangers have interest in keeping Minor but haven’t yet begun contract talks with either the left-hander or any other players, GM Jon Daniels told Sullivan and other reporters. “We haven’t had any extension discussions at this point. That’s more a February or March topic conversation with some guys we may hit on,” Daniels said.
JANUARY 24: Southpaw Mike Minor has already more than made good on his side of the three-year bargain he struck with the Rangers. With one more season left on that deal, he’s interested in working out a new pact to stay for more.
As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) and MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (Twitter link) report, Minor says he would like to hold discussions with the Texas organizations. It doesn’t seem that deep talks (if any) have been held to date, but spring camp is generally prime time for internal dealmaking.
Minor has thus far rewarded the Rangers’ faith. After bouncing back from a two-year layoff in a strong 2017 season with the Royals, he secured a surprising three-year, $28MM deal — a contractual model the Texas club has now followed in two more offseasons. The 32-year-old has handily outperformed that earning level, contributing 365 1/3 innings of 3.84 ERA ball with 8.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.
Unfortunately, the Rangers have mostly struggled despite Minor’s contributions. But that isn’t a drawback so much as a motivating factor for the lefty.
“For sure,” Minor said when asked about his interest in sticking around. “I feel like I’ve endured the worst part of it. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to be a part of it. I don’t want to jump ship now when it’s going to be good.”
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how talks proceed. The Rangers have spurned trade interest in Minor even through the losing campaigns, presumably holding out hope he’d be a part of the team’s desired 2020 resurgence. There’s little question they value the veteran quite highly.
Still, it stands to reason the team will be wary of committing too much money over too long a term. There are quite a few positives and demerits in Minor’s profile.
For one thing, there’s Minor’s worrisome history of shoulder ailments to consider. But it’s hard to deny he has turned the page after two full seasons. Age is an obvious factor, but Minor is throwing harder than he did in his youth and produces as much spin on his fastball as any pitcher in the game. He’s not a dominating strikeout pitcher by any means but Statcast readings make clear he’s quite proficient at avoiding hard contact.
