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Archives for January 2021

Marlins Interested In Willson Contreras

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The Marlins have had discussions with the Cubs about catcher Willson Contreras, according to SportsGrid’s Craig Mish (Twitter link).  There isn’t any sense that a trade might be close, as Mish describes the situation as “very fluid” considering how “the Cubs have big decisions to make across the board” (namely, trade talks involving several of their veteran players).

As you might expect, Contreras has been a key figure in these talks, as the Angels and multiple other teams have inquired about the backstop’s services.  It stands to reason that pretty much any team with a need behind the plate has at least checked in on Contreras, and Miami’s interest hints that even teams who seemed to have a catching option in place are interested in Contreras as an upgrade.

2020 was a tough season for Jorge Alfaro, acquired as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade package in February 2019 and immediately tabbed as Miami’s next catcher of the future.  After hitting decently well in 2019, Alfaro’s numbers took a significant step backwards in the shortened 2020 season, to the point that the Marlins turned to Chad Wallach as their regular catcher in the playoffs so the club could at least get some defensive stability out of the position.

The Marlins also recently signed Sandy Leon to a minor league deal and re-signed Brian Navarreto for further depth, indicating some desire on Miami’s part to address its catching mix.  Acquiring Contreras would obviously be a much more seismic move, and it seems possible that Alfaro could be part of a hypothetical trade package heading to Chicago.  Catcher Miguel Amaya is one of the Cubs’ top prospects but has yet to play above high-A ball, so Alfaro wouldn’t necessarily be blocking Amaya’s progress.  Alfaro is arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and is controlled through the 2023 season.

Contreras, meanwhile, has two arbitration seasons left and is projected to earn between $5MM-$7.4MM for the 2021 season.  It’s a very reasonable price for one of the sport’s better overall catchers, a two-time All-Star who continued to post solid (.243/.356/.407 in 225 PA) hitting and framing numbers last season.  Landing such a productive player on short-term control would be a fit for any team, but particularly a Marlins organization that is starting to stretch its payroll a bit as the Fish have become competitive.  After acquiring Starling Marte at the trade deadline and exercising his $12.5MM option for 2021, Miami has yet to swing any major moves this winter, mostly focusing on lower-level bullpen additions.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/12/21

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Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Giants agreed to a minor league deal and Spring Training invite with utilityman Arismendy Alcantara, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Once considered to be among baseball’s top 100 prospects, the former Cubs prospect hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2017. The 29-year-old Alcantara has appeared in 167 MLB games, splitting time between the Cubs, A’s and Reds, but he has just a .189/.285/.315 batting line to show for it. Alcantara has experience at second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield spots, and he’s a career .273/.326/.468 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.

Padres’ GM Met With Tatis Last Week; No Offer Made Yet

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Jan. 12: Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic report that Preller visited Tatis in the Dominican Republic last week. While that might seem to run contrary to yesterday’s report from Nightengale, ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that Preller and Tatis did indeed meet, but no offer has been made. Passan characterizes things similarly to Nightengale, suggesting that Preller & Co. expect talks to take place and that last week’s meeting could be a precursor to earnest negotiations. The Padres are optimistic about getting something done before Opening Day, per The Athletic.

Jan. 11: Reports of an imminent contract extension for Tatis may be premature. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Tatis and the Padres have yet to begin contract negotiations. Both sides remain amenable to an extension, and they are likely to begin discussions before spring training in mid-February, writes Nightengale. There is no rush for the two sides, however, and it remains wholly possible that Tatis will begin the 2021 season without a long-term extension in place.

Jan. 9: The Padres are in talks with star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. about a massive contract extension, Dominican news outlet Pio Deportes reports (Twitter link).  The deal would keep Tatis in San Diego into the next decade, as the extension is reportedly an 11-year pact worth $320MM.  According to both Pio Deportes and NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jessica Kleinschmidt (Twitter link), talks seem pretty advanced, as a source tells Kleinschmidt there is “ink on paper” but the deal still might not be finalized within the next week.

The $320MM figure would make Tatis’ extension the sixth-richest contract in baseball history, dropping teammate Manny Machado’s ten-year/$300MM pact down into seventh on the all-time list.  Between these two major deals, hefty contracts for Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer, and even the recent trades that brought Yu Darvish and Blake Snell to San Diego, Padres GM A.J. Preller and team ownership are again indicating that the team is prepared to spend at top-tier levels.

Hosmer’s deal runs through at least the 2025 season, Machado is signed through 2028 with an opt-out after the 2023 season, and the discussed terms of Tatis’ deal would lock him up through the 2031 campaign.  It seems quite possible that the Tatis extension will also include at least one opt-out, as since Tatis only just turned 22 years old, he and his agents at the MVP Sports Group might want at least one crack at entering the market (or extracting more years and money in a renegotiation with the Padres) during Tatis’ prime years.

Tatis is controlled through the 2024 season, via one pre-arbitration year and three years of arbitration eligibility.  The Padres famously placed Tatis on the roster for Opening Day 2019, eschewing a chance to keep him the minors long enough for the team to gain an extra year of control over his services — this decision immediately started Tatis’ service clock but gave the Padres more short-term opportunity in terms of getting a star product on the roster to help the big league team.

An extension would essentially make that debate a moot point, and given how Tatis has performed in the majors, one can hardly fault Preller and company for wanting to unleash him on MLB as quickly as possible.  Despite battling hamstring and back problems in his rookie year, Tatis has hit .301/.374/.582 with 39 homers and 27 steals (in 36 chances) over his 629 plate appearances in 2019-20.  This past season, Tatis earned a Silver Slugger Award and finished fourth in NL MVP voting.

There is obvious risk in committing such money to a player who is still so young, and has played the equivalent of essentially only one full season.  That said, it also makes sense for the Padres to take the leap on a player who showed such promise in the minors (much to the chagrin of the White Sox) and has already made a big impact in San Diego’s lineup.

It’s safe to assume that Tatis’ annual salaries throughout what would have been his arb years would be somewhat limited, in order to give the Padres more flexibility in terms of pure dollars while the money owed to Myers, Snell, and Drew Pomeranz gradually come off the books.  If Tatis’ big annual salaries don’t kick in until 2025, that leaves only Machado, Hosmer, and possibly Ha-Seong Kim (at an $11MM mutual option) still remaining on the payroll.

The Competitive Balance Tax is the other interesting wrinkle, as the average annual value of Tatis’ deal (a little over $29.09MM) would be counted against the Padres’ tax bill for all 11 seasons, no matter what Tatis made in terms of actual dollars.  Assuming Tatis’ extension begins in the 2021 season, San Diego would still have some flexibility under the $210MM tax threshold this year, as their current tax estimate is roughly $165.28MM.  Padres ownership also might not mind exceeding the CBT threshold for a season or two if such an expenditure landed the club a “final piece of the puzzle” type of player for a World Series contender.

Trade/FA Notes: Bryant, Jays, Benintendi, Marlins, Cron

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The latest rumblings centering on the trade and free-agent markets in Major League Baseball…

  • The Blue Jays have touched base with the Cubs about the cost of acquiring former NL MVP Kris Bryant, tweets MLB Insider Jon Morosi. At this point, it was practically qualify as oversight if the Blue Jays hadn’t checked in on Bryant, as they’ve made inquiries into just about every big name on the market so far this winter. The two sides haven’t discussed a potential deal for a few weeks, however, suggesting that Bryant constitutes something closer to a back-up plan for the Jays. The Cubs don’t appear particularly close to moving Bryant, so Toronto likely has time to explore their other options before circling back, should Bryant ultimately become a more appealing target.
  • The Marlins are among the teams that have discussed outfielder Andrew Benintendi with the Red Sox, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic. To this point, though, the two clubs have not been able to agree on compensation. Benintendi would fit the Marlins’ desire to add a corner outfield, having played the majority of his career in left since he debuted in 2016, though he would be a reclamation project for Miami. Once a superstar prospect and effective big leaguer, Benintendi posted average production in 2019 and then endured a nightmarish, injury-shortened campaign last season.
  • Free-agent first baseman C.J. Cron underwent season-ending left knee surgery last August, but he’s doing well now. Cron has been cleared for full activity and should be ready for spring training, Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets. Cron, who just turned 31 last week, looks like one of the best first baseman on an open market that’s low on impact players at that position. He has delivered above-average offensive production throughout his career, evidenced by his lifetime .257/.312/.464 line with 118 home runs in 2,586 plate appearances.

Rob Manfred Tells Teams To Plan For 162-Game Season

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Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told teams Monday to expect spring training to begin on time in February and for a 162-game regular season to occur, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

While plans could change based on the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s nonetheless a major development right now that the league has informed its clubs that it intends to return to a full schedule this year. MLB could only play 60 regular-season games per team in 2020, and there has since been talk about another shortened campaign in 2021.

Less than a month ago, the league seemed as if it was preparing for a delayed spring training and a second consecutive shortened season, though that idea did not go over well with the MLBPA. The union, led by senior director of collective bargaining and legal Bruce Meyer, quickly fired back, saying that “players are planning on showing up for spring training on time for a full 162-game season as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement and the league’s previously issued schedule.”

While the players accepted a truncated season with prorated pay last year, they don’t seem willing to go that route yet again. Plus, as Nightengale notes, the league does not have the right to unilaterally push back the start of the upcoming season. That could help set the stage to a return to a full campaign, though it’s unknown whether fans will be allowed back in the stands this year.

Of course, if MLB does revert to 162 games with full salaries for players, it could lessen tensions between the league and the union as they try to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires in December. The two sides have been at loggerheads over multiple issues in the past couple of years, and if MLB would have fought for another season of fewer than 162 games, it likely would have made their relationship worse. Still, the league and its players do have other matters to hash out soon, Nightengale writes, with health and safety protocols, the universal DH and expanded playoffs among them.

Top 10 Remaining Free Agents

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The Major League Baseball offseason opened over two months ago, though free agency has moved at a snail’s pace to this point. MLBTR ranked the top 50 free agents in the game heading into the winter, and at least some of those names have come off the board. Based on our contract predictions, here’s a look at the top 10 players still sitting on the open market…

1.) Trevor Bauer, RHP (original prediction: four years, $128MM)

  • As was the case when the offseason opened, it’s unclear what kind of deal Bauer is seeking. Yes, he’d probably love to break Gerrit Cole’s annual average value of $36MM, but will it be for one year or over the long haul? Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, has continued to leave all options on the table. While Bauer recently met with the Blue Jays, there haven’t been many strong rumors connecting him to specific teams. Regardless, it seems likely Bauer will price himself out of Cincinnati, where he thrived in 2020.

2.) J.T. Realmuto, C (original prediction: five years, $125MM)

  • Again, there doesn’t seem to be much happening with Realmuto. The Phillies, with whom he spent the previous two years and served as the game’s best catcher, certainly want him back. But are they willing to meet Realmuto’s demands? No dice so far. Otherwise, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco wrote a couple weeks back, the Jays, Angels and Astros are just a few teams that could conceivably sign Realmuto.

3.) George Springer, OF (original prediction: five years, $125MM)

  • Springer was among the sport’s best outfielders in Houston from 2014-19, but it doesn’t seem as if he’ll remain with the club. Springer reportedly has multiple offers worth upward of $100MM, though the Astros haven’t really been connected to him in the rumor mill this winter. The Jays and Mets have come off as Springer’s most ardent suitors to this point, though New York’s interest may have cooled off after it acquired shortstop Francisco Lindor and right-hander Carlos Carrasco from Cleveland last week. The Mets might rather duck the $210MM luxury tax in 2020, and adding Springer would make that a difficult goal to achieve.

4.) Marcell Ozuna, OF/DH (original prediction: four years, $72MM)

  • Wouldn’t it be nice if MLB announced whether there will be a universal DH in 2021? The decision will be quite meaningful to someone like Ozuna, who was a DH more than an outfielder with Atlanta last season. Thanks in part to the lack of clarity on the DH position, Ozuna’s market has been quiet so far. However, anyone acquiring him will land a player who was an all-world hitter in 2020. The 30-year-old dominated in both bottom-line statistics and Statcast figures.

5.) DJ LeMahieu, INF (original prediction: four years, $68MM)

  • Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Toronto looks like a realistic possibility for another top free agent in LeMahieu. That said, the Yankees – with whom the second baseman was outstanding from 2019-20 – as well as the Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, Cardinals and Mets may be in the mix. It’s a bit befuddling that the Yankees haven’t yet used their financial might to bring back LeMahieu, who apparently wants to re-sign after a batting title-winning, near-AL MVP season, but the two sides have been unable to close the gap in negotiations. In an ideal world for LeMahieu, he could collect around $100MM on his next deal. That’s a far cry from the two-year, $24MM contract he previously signed with the Yankees.

8.) Didi Gregorius, SS (original prediction: three years, $39MM)

  • The Gregorius rumor mill has been surprisingly quiet to this point. Aside from 2019, when Sir Didi was coming back from Tommy John surgery, he has been consistently productive over the past few years. He rebounded last season in Philadelphia, perhaps his lone season with the team, though it may not be willing to re-sign him if it isn’t going to spend a large amount. Barring a re-signing in Philly, two of Gregorius’ other ex-teams – the Reds and Yankees – might be among those to make pushes for him.

10.) Masahiro Tanaka, RHP (original prediction: three years, $39MM)

  • Beyond Bauer, the starting pitching market has dwindled rapidly in terms of both free agency and trades. A few examples: Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman, whom MLBTR initially ranked as top 10 free agents, accepted qualifying offers. Meanwhile, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell joined new teams in blockbuster deals, and Nippon Professional Baseball’s Tomoyuki Sugano decided to stay in Japan. Tanaka – who, like Darvish and Sugano, hails from Japan – is still available, and he might be the second-best starter left in free agency. Even though the 32-year-old generally got the job done as a Yankee from 2014-20, the team hasn’t made a big effort to sign him to this point. Neither has anyone else, it seems, and Tanaka hasn’t closed the door on a return to Japan.

11.) Jake Odorizzi, RHP (original prediction: three years, $39MM)

  • Odorizzi went through an injury-limited 2020 in Minnesota, recording a mere 13 2/3 innings, but teams know what he’s capable of doing. As recently as 2019, Odorizzi was an All-Star with a 3.51 ERA in 159 frames. The Twins then gave Odorizzi a qualifying offer, which he accepted, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see him reel in a multiyear deal before next season. At least a few teams have shown interest in the soon-to-be 31-year-old this winter.

12.) Liam Hendriks, RHP (original prediction: three years, $30MM)

  • Hendriks may have been the top reliever in baseball in the previous two years in Oakland, but he doesn’t seem to be in free agency at the preferred time. Also soon to turn 32, the Blue Jays (if you can believe it), Dodgers, Astros and White Sox have been connected to Hendriks over the past couple of months.

13.) Michael Brantley, OF/DH (original prediction: two years, $28MM)

  • Considering the defensive questions surrounding him, Brantley is in a similar position to Ozuna at the moment. It would be beneficial to Brantley if MLB kept the universal DH around next season, as he’s a 33-year-old (34 in May) with an injury history who didn’t see much time in the field as an Astro in 2020. A few teams have shown interest in Brantley since then, though it doesn’t appear he’s all that close to signing anywhere.

Diamondbacks Sign Seven To Minor League Deals

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The Diamondbacks announced the signing of seven players to minor league deals: Bryan Holaday, Seth Frankoff (previously reported), Bradley Roney, Sam Moll, Drew Weeks, Christian Lopes, and Jamie Ritchie, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter).

Out of this group, only Holaday, Frankoff and Moll have appeared in the majors. Holaday carries the most experience, having amassed 768 plate appearances with multiple teams (including 33 with the Orioles last season). The 33-year-old owns a .238/.283/.333 line with 10 home runs in the bigs. Moll, 29, has only appeared in MLB in one season – 2017, when he totaled 6 2/3 innings as a member of the Athletics. He has pitched to a much larger sample size of 131 innings in Triple-A and logged a 4.19 ERA.

Among the players here who haven’t reached the majors, Lopes earned the highest marks as a prospect, as Baseball America ranked the former seventh-round pick 23rd in the Blue Jays’ farm system in 2013. Lopes is now 28, though, and didn’t move beyond Triple-A ball with the Jays or the Rangers. He hit .272/.364/.426 with five HRs over 228 PA with the Rangers’ Triple-A team in 2019.

 

Phillies Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Philadelphia Phillies announced their finalized coaching staff for the 2021 season today. Just a couple of changes have been made to manager Joe Girardi’s staff that had not been previously announced.

Dave Lundquist will take over as the bullpen coach after previously serving as an assistant pitching coach the past couple seasons. Mike Calitri gets promoted to the Major League coaching staff as the quality assurance coach. Calitri joined the Phillies in December of 2017 as an advance scouting manager after eight years working in the Indians’ organization. Bobby Meacham will also return for a second season as a coaching assistant, adds Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Caleb Cotham is the only newcomer from another organization. He joined the Phillies earlier this winter as the new pitching coach, presumably bringing with him a new-school approach after serving as an assistant pitching coach with the Reds. The other staff members include Greg Brodzinski and Bob Stumpo as bullpen catchers/catching coaches, Juan Castro as the infield coach, Joe Dillon as hitting coach, Paco Figueroa as the first base coach, Pedro Guerrero as assistant hitting coach, Dusty Wathan as the third base coach, and Rob Thomson will return as Girardi’s bench coach.

Phillies Interested In Aníbal Sánchez

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The Phillies are exploring the idea of adding Aníbal Sánchez to the pitching staff, per MLB Insider Jon Morosi (video link). As Morosi notes, Sanchez began his MLB career in 2006 with the Marlins playing for current Phillies manager Joe Girardi. Sanchez also has experience dealing with President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski: Sanchez inked a five-year, $80MM deal just before Christmas in 2012 when Dombrowski was the Tigers’ GM.

Sánchez won’t be signing quite such a lucrative deal this time around as he enters his age-37 season. The Nationals chose a $2MM opt-out after he struggled to a 6.62 ERA/5.46 FIP across 53 innings in 2020. Sánchez has been counted out before, of course. After three subpar seasons in Detroit, Sanchez revitalized his career with back-to-back 2.5 fWAR seasons with the Braves in 2018 and the Nationals in 2019.

In the latter, he started with a 5.27 ERA over his first eight starts, but after a 10-day stint on the injured list for a left hamstring strain, Sánchez returned to post a 3.42 ERA over 123 2/3 innings the rest of the way. He was crucial in the Nats’ World Series run, which included coming within four outs of throwing a no-hitter in game one of the NLCS. These days, Sánchez looks to throw strikes, control pace, and change speeds, the latter of which is helped by his famed butterfly change, La Mariposa, which clocks in a tick under 70 mph.

The Phillies could slot Sánchez into the rotation behind Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin. Bringing in a veteran of his ilk would allow the Phillies patience in the development of Spencer Howard, who will compete for a rotation spot in 2021.

Quick Hits: Expansion, Braves, Left Field, Royals, Moore

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In the past, expansion has helped Major League Baseball dig out from financial peril and inject new money into the industry, but despite the significant financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, expansion is not on the table, writes the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. News spread of the commissioner’s pessimistic view on expansion when the Phillies signed Dave Dombrowski to run their baseball ops department. Dombrowski had been working with the Nashville group for potential expansion before commissioner Rob Manfred informed them of a new timeline. Expansion can solve short-term financial problems because of the significant franchise fees paid by incoming franchises. In this case, those fees could be $1 billion or more. For the owners, however, the short-term influx of money comes with the long-term losses that come with spreading the overall revenue pie to another two teams. Commissioner Manfred also wants to see stadium issues resolved in Oakland and Tampa Bay before beginning the expansion process.

  • The Braves are looking for a left fielder, per MLB Insider Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Presumably, Atlanta would target a short-term investment rather than making a splashier move like, say, bringing back Marcell Ozuna. Ronald Acuna Jr., Ender Inciarte, and Cristian Pache make for an elite defensive alignment, and prospect Drew Waters is on his way. Nick Markakis could certainly find his way back if he wants to keep playing. If their aim is to to find a right-handed bat to spell Inciarte against southpaws, Adam Duvall could return, or Kevin Pillar, Albert Almora Jr. and Cameron Maybin are free agents with experience playing for a contender. If the Braves are looking for a more regular producer in order to give Pache and/or Waters more development time, Joc Pederson could fill the power void left by Ozuna’s departure. Speculatively speaking, Ryan Braun would make for an interesting fit if he decides to play outside Milwaukee. Not to be forgotten, Austin Riley has played some outfield during his short Major League career, but Atlanta expects Riley to lay claim to the hot corner in 2021. That would change if they were to add DJ LeMahieu, but despite their reported interest, such a union seems like a long shot.
  • Royals Senior VP of Baseball Ops and General Manager Dayton Moore will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall Of Fame later in January, per Alex Lewis of the Athletic (via Twitter). Moore is entering his 15th season in 2021 as the GM of the Royals. He was named Executive of the Year by MLB in both 2014 and 2015 for his role as the architect of back-to-back pennant-winning clubs in Kansas City. Those playoff teams are the only Royals teams to make the playoffs since they won the World Series in 1985. He was inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame in 2014.

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