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Nationals Acquire Matt Reynolds

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The Nationals have acquired utilityman Matt Reynolds from the division-rival Mets, per a club announcement. Cash considerations will go to New York in the agreement for Reynolds, who had been designated for assignment recently.

Reynolds, 27, has struggled in his limited MLB opportunities and was squeezed off of the Mets roster as the team has continued to add infielders. The Nats had an unexpected opening arise recently when young catcher Raudy Read was hit with a PED suspension.

Though he has accomplished little in limited MLB time, Reynolds has shown an ability to line up all around the infield and in the corner outfield. And he has posted a solid (albeit PCL-aided) .289/.348/.419 slash in over a thousand career trips to the plate at Triple-A.

To crack the Nationals’ active roster, Reynolds would likely need to beat out Wilmer Difo for an infield reserve spot. Of course, he could instead be optioned to Triple-A to serve as affordable and versatile depth, or the Nats could attempt to sneak him through waivers at some point.

Pro Hockey Rumors: Your Source For NHL Trade Deadline Coverage

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Two weeks remain until the February 26th NHL Trade Deadline, and our sister site Pro Hockey Rumors is all you need to stay up to date on the latest news. Will the Buffalo Sabres find someone to pay their steep asking price for Evander Kane? Will the Vegas Golden Knights buy to help their historic expansion run? Are the New York Rangers really going to blow it up while Henrik Lundqvist is still there?

Visit Pro Hockey Rumors now and be sure to follow us @prohockeyrumors on Twitter!

Latest On Eric Hosmer

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The Padres and agent Scott Boras have “engaged in regular dialogue” regarding Eric Hosmer over the past few days, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic. That’s a change from recent weeks, per Lin, when neither side was showing much in the way of urgency.

Lin goes on to report that both the Padres and the Royals have “suggested flexibility” beyond their initial seven-year bids, though it’s not clear whether that’s in reference to annual value, length of contract, inclusion of opt-out provisions or some combination of the above. As he has in the past, Lin notes that the Padres’ offer to Hosmer was for less than $140MM in total. Regardless, it still seems as if the Hosmer market is a two-horse race for the time being, barring the emergence of a surprise suitor as Spring Training kicks off in both Arizona and Florida.

As for the other horse in that race, the Royals are remaining fairly quiet on the subject. The Kansas City Star’s Rustin Dodd writes that he asked GM Dayton Moore about the matter, and while Moore confirmed that he remains in touch with Boras, he declined to delve into any further specifics. “I’ve been fairly transparent throughout this process,” Moore told Dodd. “At this point, we just have to let it play out.” The GM did note in a radio appearance with 810 AM’s The Program last week that Hosmer “is the player that fits us for the future.”

Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, though, wrote recently that Hosmer’s camp has been holding out to try to extract a nine-year deal from the Royals. Even if that may be a mere negotiation tactic to “settle” on a midpoint of eight years (that’s my own speculation, to be clear), a seven-year offer doesn’t seem likely to suffice at present. If the Padres and Royals do have some willingness for “flexibility” in their offers, as Lin suggested, then perhaps the first team to push its offer forward by another year will secure a deal.

With Spring Training kicking off this week, Boras/Hosmer can also hold out a bit longer to see if injuries create any new opportunities. After all, they do have the luxury of knowing that the Padres and Royals, two clubs that are interested in Hosmer despite their status as rebuilding/retooling organizations, aren’t likely to spend that money elsewhere or add a more affordable first baseman because their interest is more in Hosmer himself than in upgrading at the position. However, if Spring Training wears on and no obvious alternative emerges, one has to imagine that the current seven-year proposals would hold increasing appeal.

Cardinals, Bud Norris Agree To Terms

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12:55pm: Norris is guaranteed $3MM on the one-year term, and the contract contains “significant” incentives, Rosenthal tweets.

Interestingly, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Norris will also be given the opportunity to start in the event that the Cardinals decide one or more of their younger arms need time in the minors early in the season. He adds that Norris is expected to join the team Wednesday, which would suggest that we’ll know the corresponding 40-man roster move within 48 hours or so.

9:50am: It’s a one-year, Major League contract for Norris, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.

9:41am: The Cardinals are in agreement on a contract with free-agent righty Bud Norris, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). His contract is pending a physical.  Norris is represented by Wasserman.

Bud Norris | Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not yet clear whether Norris, 33 next month, signed a Major League or Minor League contract, though the latter is a possibility following a rough finish to what began as a strong 2017 season. The 4.21 ERA that Norris authored through 62 innings last season doesn’t look overly impressive, but he was somewhat quietly dominant through the season’s first half; in 36 1/3 innings prior to the All-Star break, Norris notched a 2.23 ERA that was backed by a 2.96 FIP and a 3.21 xFIP. In that time, the starter-turned-reliever averaged 11.6 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 with a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate.

However, Norris missed time in late June and early July with a knee injury, and upon his return, his success quickly deteriorated. Then the Halos’ closer, Norris improbably served up a pair of grand slams (being charged for all four runs in each instance) within a span of six days, ballooning his ERA from 2.23 to 3.89. Things didn’t get any better for him in the month of August, and he again hit the disabled list late that month due to inflammation in the same problematic right knee. Overall, Norris perhaps quite literally limped to a 7.01 ERA following the All-Star break and watched his K/9 (9.5), BB/9 (4.6) and ground-ball rates (41.8 percent) all go in the wrong direction.

The Cardinals, though, could be heartened by the fact that Norris’ success out of the ’pen in the past couple of seasons has corresponded with a notable change in his pitch selection, as he’s largely abandoned his four-seam fastball in exchange for a cutter and sinker. If those changes and better health can allow him to sustain production more in line with last year’s first half than his nightmarish second half, then Norris could prove to be a bargain for a Cardinals team whose late-inning relief mix still looks to be rather unsettled.

As things stand, Luke Gregerson could well head into the year as the closer, though St. Louis also picked up righty Dominic Leone from the Blue Jays in the Randal Grichuk trade, and lefty Tyler Lyons had a breakout year as a high-leverage reliever last season. Any from that mix could conceivably find his way into the ninth inning in 2018, as could righty Alex Reyes when he returns from Tommy John surgery (even though the organization views him as a starter long term).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Eric Fryer Retires

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Veteran catcher Eric Fryer, who earlier this offseason had inked a minor league deal with the Phillies, has elected to retire instead of attending camp this spring, the team announced.

Fryer, 32, has spent parts of the past seven seasons in the Majors, including 94 games between the Pirates and Cardinals in 2016-17. In 374 plate appearances across the life of 159 games, Fryer hit .232/.320/.300 with a pair of homers, 14 doubles and a triple. In addition to spending parts of three seasons with the Pirates and two with the Cardinals, Fryer also saw action with the Twins in the 2014-15 seasons.

In addition to his time in the Majors, Fryer, a former 10th round pick (Brewers, 2007), enjoyed a nine-year career in the minors, during which he batted .269/.357/.396 in an additional 647 games. Best wishes to Fryer in his post-playing days.

Indians, Ryan Hanigan Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Indians are in agreement with veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan on a minor league contract, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). The O’Connell Sports Management client will earn a $1.25MM base salary if he’s able to crack the Major League roster.

Hanigan, 37, spent the 2017 season in the Rockies organization, logging 33 games in the Majors and another 17 in Triple-A. He hit .267/.324/.347 with a pair of homers through 112 plate appearances in the Majors last year — numbers that are fairly representative of his overall skill set despite the small sample size. Hanigan has long displayed solid on-base skills, especially for a catcher, as evidenced by a career .344 on-base percentage and 11.2 percent walk rate. That walk rate has trended downward in recent seasons as his strikeout rate has risen correspondingly, however, and he’s never displayed much in the way of power.

The veteran Hanigan will give Cleveland a depth option, though he’s a ways down the depth chart. Both Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez are under guaranteed contracts after signing long-term deals with Cleveland in recent years, and the Indians also have one of the game’s top catching prospects, Francisco Mejia, looming in the upper minors.

West Notes: Ohtani, JDM, Rangers, Rockies

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Shohei Ohtani’s debut will be one of the major stories of the 2018 season, and in a fascinating piece, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register talks to five sources (Ohtani’s former manager and signing scout with the Nippon Ham Fighters, and three former MLB players who played with Ohtani in Japan) to gauge how the 23-year-old will fare with the Angels.  While all five agree that Ohtani will have to make some inevitable adjustments to Major League Baseball, all believe he’ll be a success — interestingly, manager Hideki Kuriyama and scout Takashi Ofuchi think Ohtani will be better as a hitter than as a pitcher.  Former Yankees and Astros infielder Brandon Laird described Ohtani as “at his age, he’s one of the best, if not the best player I’ve ever seen or had the chance to play with,” after three years as his teammate on the Fighters.  “He’s almost like a 10-tool player, a pitcher and hitter who can do it all.”  For more opinions on what Ohtani might bring to the table, MLBTR’s Chuck Wasserstrom compiled an in-depth scouting report on Ohtani last May based on talking to five international-scouting figures from MLB teams.

Here’s more from both the AL and NL West…

  • It was reported earlier this week by FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman that Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick had met with Scott Boras several times this offseason in regards to J.D. Martinez, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) notes that Kendrick and Boras met again as recently as this week.  Since the Red Sox appear to be the only other known suitor for Martinez’s services, there still seems to be at least a chance that Martinez could return to Arizona, though some creativity may be required via the design of Martinez’s contract or in how the D’Backs could carve out payroll space to afford him.  That is, unless, Boras (who has a history of negotiating directly with owners) can just convince Kendrick to greatly increase what will already be a team record-high payroll in 2018.
  • The Rangers could be entering their last Spring Training with Elvis Andrus (opt-out clause), Adrian Beltre (free agency), and Cole Hamels ($20MM club option for 2019) all in the fold, making this season a pivotal one for the franchise, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes.  That makes the Rangers’ relative lack of spending this offseason stand out, though Wilson suggests that the team could be preparing to make a bigger splash in the star-studded 2018-19 free agent class, particularly if some, or all, of the Andrus/Beltre/Hamels salaries are no longer on the books.
  • Several Rockies starters performed well in 2017, and their potential and continued development could make the team’s 2018 rotation the best in franchise history, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes.  Colorado will head into the season with Jon Gray, Chad Bettis, German Marquez, Tyler Anderson, Kyle Freeland, Jeff Hoffman, and Antonio Senzatela all in the mix for rotation jobs, though it seems likely that all seven (and more starters) will required due to the inevitable wear-and-tear of a full season’s workload.  The depth will also help guard against any struggles from this still young and largely-unproven group of pitchers.

Cubs Reportedly Made Late Call To Arrieta Before Signing Darvish

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The Cubs “put in one last call” to Jake Arrieta before completing their six-year, $126MM deal with Yu Darvish, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.  Heyman says Epstein respectfully inquired as to whether Arrieta would have been willing to accept “a deal believed to be similar to the one offered to Darvish should Darvish turn them down.”  According to Heyman, “while Arrieta surely appreciated the gesture, he wasn’t immediately prepared to accept a six-year deal for what was believed to be for a similar annual salary.” 

A careful reading of Heyman’s phrasing is advised, as he at no point states that the Cubs actually made a six-year offer to Arrieta.  Nor could one accurately say Arrieta turned down a six-year offer from the Cubs, as we erroneously did in an earlier version of this post.  Last Wednesday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that “the Cubs and Arrieta barely even engaged in contract talks this winter.”  If that’s correct, it would be odd for Epstein to even have made an intimation of a six-year offer around that same time.

It isn’t uncommon for teams or their free agents to touch base with each other one final time before either side is on the verge of a move, either out of mutual respect and/or genuine interest to see if a deal could be reached.  (For one example from this winter, Carlos Santana’s representatives kept the Indians up to date on his market just to leave open the possibility that the Tribe could’ve found the payroll space to keep Santana in Cleveland.)  It also isn’t an uncommon tactic for a team to approach several similarly-valued free agents with similar contact offers to see which, if any, accepts first.

Certainly, it doesn’t seem that Arrieta or his agent Scott Boras felt the need to jump at the Cubs’ offer, as Boras is still confident his client will land a deal closer to the much higher price tag Boras was reportedly seeking earlier this offseason.  While the lack of free agent activity around the sport is “not traditional,” Boras said, “it seems normal (now). The free agent market is now under way. For me, it’s December 10th, not February 10th.”  Heyman gives an idea of Arrieta’s possible current asking price, writing, “Some might have seen the Cubs’ last-minute inquiry as a chance to end a difficult free-agent season happily, but others understood that Arrieta probably wasn’t going to take a much lower deal than Jon Lester’s in light of the fact that a strong case could be made he’s outperformed Lester over the last few years.”  Heyman’s “case” for Arrieta as compared to Lester is certainly worth debating.  Lester signed a six-year, $155MM deal with the Cubs on the eve of his 31st birthday, on the back of a huge walk year that resulted in a fourth-place Cy Young finish and a big market bidding war.  Arrieta turns 32 soon and is coming off a good, but not great, year.  He’s also battling a historically slow free agent market that is likely to leave at least a few big names disappointed.

Heyman lists the Brewers, Nationals, Phillies, Twins, and Cardinals as “the most logical teams” that could still make a play for Arrieta, though he notes that the latter two clubs seem like longer shots.  Milwaukee, Washington, and Philadelphia have all been linked to Arrieta at various points this winter and, now that Darvish is off the board, Arrieta might be the top target for a Brewers team that has money to spend and a need for front-of-the-rotation pitching.  The Phillies also have a glaring rotation need but may still be a year away from serious spending (their deal with Santana notwithstanding), while the Nats would have to carve out payroll space or simply accept a big luxury tax overage in order to sign Arrieta.

Twins Notes: Archer, Rays, Arrieta, Sano, Duke

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The latest buzz from the Twin Cities…

  • The Twins made the Rays a trade offer involving Chris Archer “as recently as two weeks ago,” La Valle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  The two clubs have often been linked in rumors this winter as Minnesota explores seemingly all free agent and trade options for starting pitching, with Archer and fellow Ray Jake Odorizzi both drawing attention from the Twins.  Earlier reports stated that the Rays had interest in Max Kepler, and Neal notes that Kepler would be likely be targeted “as part of any package for Archer.”  Of course, it remains to be seen if the Twins or any team can meet the Rays’ enormous asking price for the controllable young ace; Archer said last month that he feels that he’ll still be pitching in Tampa Bay in the coming season.
  • Also from Neal’s piece, he lists several other free agent pitching options for the Twins, though Jake Arrieta doesn’t appear to be a likely candidate.  “The Twins’ chances of signing Arrieta…are remote,” Neal writes.  While Minnesota was willing to offer a five-year, $100MM+ deal to Yu Darvish, it doesn’t look like the club is willing to make such a splurge for Arrieta, and will instead look at less-expensive options.
  • Major League Baseball’s investigation into assault accusations leveled against Miguel Sano isn’t likely to be completed before the Twins begin full Spring Training exercises, Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes.  Past league investigations (as per the domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy) have varied in length, so there isn’t any clear timeline for when the results of the Sano case could be made public.
  • With his career as a starting pitcher faltering in 2013, Zach Duke decided to embrace being a reliever after some blunt words from his wife Kristin, the newly-signed Twin tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  “She kind of had to beat it through my head that I was done as a starter,” Duke said.  “My wife just kind of said, ’Listen, nobody is interested in you as a starter anymore. They’ve seen it, babe. There’s nothing changing. They know what they’re going to get as a starter, and nobody wants it anymore.’ ”  Kristin’s advice ended up turning her husband’s career around, particularly after a late-season run of success out of the Reds’ bullpen in 2013.  Over the last four seasons, Duke has a 2.85 ERA, 2.62 K/BB rate and a 10.0 K/9 over 198 2/3 relief innings.

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