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Brewers Sign Christian Bethancourt

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The Brewers announced that they’ve signed catcher Christian Bethancourt to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. The 26-year-old former top prospect has been with the Padres organization for the past two seasons after spending his first seven-plus seasons with the Braves organization.

San Diego sought to convert Bethancourt, whose 80-grade arm has long been considered his best tool, from a catcher into a relief pitcher over the past two seasons, though the results of that experiment were less than favorable. Bethancourt’s fastball was capable of reaching the upper 90s, but he never demonstrated much ability to locate his pitches. The 2017 campaign was his long season spent primarily as a pitcher, and it produced an unsightly 8.21 ERA with 5.0 K/9 against 7.1 BB/9 in 41 2/3 innings of Triple-A ball last season.

The Brewers, however, announced Bethancourt as a catcher, so it seems they’ll focus on him as a depth option behind the dish rather than on the mound. Bethancourt is a lifetime .298/.326/.437 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons (601 plate appearances) but has batted just .222/.252/.316 over the life of 489 PAs at the MLB level. He’s had some significant trouble with passed balls (19 in 940 MLB innings as a catcher), though his exceptional arm has helped him to throw out 35 percent of would-be base thieves in the Majors and 37 percent over the course of his minor league tenure.

Milwaukee presently has Manny Pina, who had a breakout season in 2017, and veteran Stephen Vogt atop its catching depth chart with Andrew Susac and Jett Bandy as 40-man options beyond that pairing. As such, Bethancourt will have a difficult time cracking the big league roster out of camp, though it’s certainly conceivable that he could reach the Majors at some point during the 2018 campaign should injuries or poor performances from the options ahead of him open a path to at-bats.

Astros “Actively Pursuing” High-End Starters, Have Discussed Gerrit Cole With Pirates

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12:27pm: Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Astros have had talks with the Pirates about a trade that would send Cole to Houston. Young outfielder Derek Fisher’s name has come up in negotiations, though Passan notes that the Pirates “almost certainly would need Kyle Tucker or Forrest Whitley” to headline the deal.

The 24-year-old Fisher entered the 2017 season as a well-regarded outfield prospect and elevated his status with a .318/.384/.583 batting line in 384 Triple-A plate appearances. That led to Fisher’s first MLB promotion, though he struggled to a .212/.307/.356 slash in a small sample of 166 PAs with Houston.

Tucker and Whitley, by most accounts, two of the top prospects in Houston’s system (if not the two very best). Each is a former first-round pick, with Tucker going fifth overall in 2015 and Whitley being tabbed with the 17th selection in the 2016 draft. Both reached Double-A in 2017 despite being four to five years younger than the league average in the Texas League. Whitley displayed some of the most intriguing strikeout numbers of any starter in the minors, while Tucker posted a composite .874 OPS between Class-A Advanced and Double-A.

11:25am: The Astros have been connected to Yu Darvish at various points throughout the offseason, and owner Jim Crane confirmed to reporters today that his club is in the market for a top-shelf pitching addition (Twitter links, with video, from MLB.com’s Alyson Footer). Crane didn’t suggest that his front office is zeroed in on one particular target, instead suggesting that an upgrade could come either via free agency or trade.

“[General manager] Jeff [Luhnow] and his team are actively pursuing a high-end starter,” said Crane. “We don’t have anything done yet, and it may not come to be, but we’re constantly looking to improve the team. … We’re always trying to upgrade the team, so it would have to be a significant upgrade. We’re happy where we’re at. I’ve been told that on paper we have the best team in baseball, but paper doesn’t win titles.”

Darvish has been the most prominently mentioned name in connection with the Astros, though the free-agent market also features Jake Arrieta while the trade market could bear names such as Gerrit Cole and Chris Archer (among other, potentially yet unforeseen candidates).

Houston, of course, already boasts a stacked starting rotation. Justin Verlander looked arguably better than ever following an Aug. 31 trade from Detroit to Houston, and he’ll return to front a rotation that includes 2015 AL Cy Young Winner Dallas Keuchel, high-upside young righty Lance McCullers, and 2017 breakout stars Charlie Morton and Brad Peacock. The ’Stros also have veteran Collin McHugh on hand as a solid back-of-the-rotation option and a number of high-end prospects waiting in the upper minors (including Francis Martes and David Paulino, each of whom has already made his MLB debut).

However, the Astros could also be on the verge of losing Keuchel and Morton to free agency, as each has just one year of team control remaining. While the development of Martes and/or Paulino could lead to the emergence of some internal replacements, Houston could very well see Verlander depart after the 2019 season. As such, adding a top-end starter right now would not only give the Astros an even more formidable collection of starters, it’d also serve as insurance against the possibility of losing arguably their top three starters over the course of the next two years (although Cole, it should be noted, only comes with two years of team control himself).

Red Sox, Carson Smith Avoid Arbitration

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The Red Sox announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with right-hander Carson Smith by agreeing to a one-year contract. The team did not announce financial terms, though Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston reports that Smith will earn $850K for the coming season (Twitter link). Boston also announced its previously reported one-year, $1.1MM deal with fellow arbitration-eligible righty Steven Wright.

The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is this Friday, so it stands to reason that there’ll be a number of players agreeing to deals over the course of the next five days. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently tweeted that all 30 teams are believed to be adopting a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning they’ll no longer negotiate one-year contracts beyond this Friday’s deadline (though multi-year extensions are typically still negotiated by file-and-trial organizations).

Smith, 28, was acquired in the 2015-16 offseason in a trade that sent Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro to the Mariners. He pitched just 2 2/3 innings for the ’16 Red Sox before requiring Tommy John surgery, however, and he was able to make it back to the mound for just 6 2/3 frames in Boston last year. His $850K figure falls shy of the $1.1MM projected arbitration salary from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

Now healthy, Smith should play a considerably larger role in the Boston bullpen in 2018 and beyond. Prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery, he had a somewhat under-the-radar rookie breakout in 2015, tossing 70 innings of 2.31 ERA ball on the strength of 11.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 64.8 percent ground-ball rate in the Mariners’ bullpen.

This is the first of three trips through the arbitration process for Smith, who is controlled by the Red Sox through the 2020 season. The Sox still have a whopping 11 arb cases to resolve, including high-profile cases for Mookie Betts and Drew Pomeranz, both of whom project to earn more than $8MM. Other Red Sox that are up for arbitration include Jackie Bradley Jr., Joe Kelly, Tyler Thornburg, Xander Bogaerts, Brock Holt, Sandy Leon, Brandon Workman, Christian Vazquez and Eduardo Rodriguez.

The Inner Monologue of @DimTillard The OFFseason

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It’s 7:19am on Monday January 8th, 2018.  Wow, hard to believe it’s 2018!  I mean, my whole life I’ve been under the impression that I would have a flying car by now!  Televison, movies, 80’s toys, and my imagination have all fueled my expectations of having a car that can take off and fly through the air.  Soooo if you’re a scientistic aero-engineer person reading this brilliantly well written article right now… FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY!  Anyway, my name is Tim Dillard.  For the last 15 seasons I have been a pitcher in professional baseball.  Mostly in the Minor Leagues, but I did strike out new Yankees skipper Aaron Boone in the big leagues 10 years ago.  And because of my HIGHLY ordinary career… MLB Trade Rumors has declared me worthy enough to write words down for you to read.

7:23am  And in case you haven’t heard, and judging by the lack of views and comments you haven’t… this is my TENTH time writing my Inner Monologue!  I’m typing this particular morning because after several weeks of winter break, my children are finally going back to school! (THANK GOD!)  Except for my two year-old.  He’ll wake up in exactly 35 minutes… his unfathomable internal clock is exceeded only by his ability to Spider-Man up the side of his crib.

7:25am  The offseason winter break is almost over as well, and then it’s spring training.  Currently I’m signed with the Milwaukee Brewers for my 16th season.  And every week the entire winter, a member of the training staff will text me to see how my workouts are progressing.  Which is great, because when I first started playing professional baseball I didn’t have a cellular phone… so they would have to call me up on my parent’s cordful house phone.  One time my dad woke me up after lunch to tell me that my trainer was on hold.  Things have changed, because yesterday, when asked about workouts, I messaged back that I was wrestling with my kids.

7:29am  But much like other veteran ballplayers after being gone for seven months, the offseason is all about family.  And really just getting back to the simple things in life like eating dinners together, vacations, Little League games, birthday parties, visiting friends, school programs, soccer matches, Lego building, Googling third grade math questions, gymnastics class, basketball, performing on stage at Premios Univision Deportes… you know, the normal stuff.

7:32am  My typical offseason day consists of:  Wake up, bake the Eggo’s, pack the school lunches, drink the coffee, drink more of the coffee, and then work out or find some house work to do unil the bus drops the kids off.  In fact, the day I got home from the regular season last year… I walked in and changed nine lightbulbs.  To me, that perfectly sums up the offseason lifestyle.

7:34am  Who am I kidding?  The first thing I do when I wake up is check Twitter… and yes I do hate myself for it.  But after that, I do some of that other stuff I listed.  Last week I woke up to a tweet from Major League Baseball that featured a video of a player exercising, and they hash-tagged it #NoOffseason.  Actually, they tweet the #NoOffseason hashtag quite a bit… during the offseason.

7:38am  Hold on… the newest kid may have awoken?

7:41am  Never mind.  That was an Amazon delivery person. (paper towels)  You ever find yourself just buying crap in hopes that one day you’ll get an Amazon drone visit?!?  Yeah me neither.

7:42am  As of now the child is still asleep, but I must stay on alert.  Because last week he snuck out of bed, silently scaled the cabinets, and snagged some old baseball cards off a book shelf.  And rather than recognize my child’s immediate danger or applaud his impeccable balance… I got caught up reading the backs of the baseball cards just like I did growing up!

7:44am  I would like to say, that before Al Gore’s internet, the back of a baseball card was the BEST way to find fun facts and hobbies of my favorite players.

7:45am  Like… according to one of my cards of Ricky Henderson, he enjoys swimming and fishing.  A 1991 Score card states that Ken Griffey Jr. played 3 years of football, and 4 years of baseball in high school.  This Robin Yount card tells me that he wants to be a pro golfer and race motorcycles one day.  A 1987 Barry Bonds card says he majored in Criminal Justice at Arizona State.  Who knew?!  And also in 1987, Topps informs us that pitcher Sid Fernandez wears uniform #50 for two reasons.  One, his native home of Hawaii is the 50th U.S. state, and second, his favorite tv show is Hawaii Five-O.

7:51am  Next offseason… I want the, “Writing Cool Facts on the Back of Baseball Cards” job!  (I bet that could also get me a lifetime supply of that pink rectangle gum included in old baseball card packs that disintegrated immediately after touching saliva)

7:52am  In all seriousness though, most Minor Leaguers get jobs in the offseason.  The BIG bucks are in the BIG leagues, and that only leaves the small bucks for the minor leagues.  A few years ago I played winter ball down in Venezuela.  One year I worked at a leather factory where I would measure, fold, and ship giant cowhides. (I also operated a forklift without a license)  Another offseason I worked landscaping after I got turned down at the local sporting goods store for lack of experience.

7:55am  One of the highlights of spring training is hearing about where teammates worked during the offseason.  Over my career I’ve heard:  hitting lessons, pitching lessons, baseball camps, bartender, waiter, barber, UPS driver, golf course attendant, Lowe’s clerk, roof shingler, Office Max clerk, landscape “engineer”, Lululemon sales associate, and one very special shortstop who was once in charge of putting stickers on fruit.

7:58am  But right now it’s January, and every non-MLB-contract ballplayer is slightly paranoid about being ready to compete for a job in the coming spring training.

7:59am  And speaking of paranoia… I think I hear “Eggo.” echoing down the hallway.

To Be Concluded…

AL East Notes: Orioles, Rays, Jays, Duffy, Solarte

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The Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays are among the teams that face a critical decision this offseason, writes MLB.com’s Mike Petriello. All three are looking up at a stacked pair of rosters in Boston and New York, and there’s an argument to be made that each of the three should rebuild rather than make an aggressive push to contend in 2018. The Orioles and Jays are set to lose Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson to free agency next winter, while the low-payroll Rays have already been forced to trade Evan Longoria largely for fiscal reasons and have yet to see this core group realize its full potential. What truly matters for bubble teams of this nature, though, is simply making a definitive call, Petriello argues. With so many incentives (in terms of talent acquisition) for teams at the bottom of the league, rebuilding toward a brighter future or aggressively “going for it” are more logical routes for each of these teams than merely executing half-measures that will result in another middle-of-the-pack finish, Petriello posits.

Some notes from around the AL East…

  • Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun checks in on some pitchers that’ll have the opportunity to make an impression on the Orioles at this week’s minor league mini-camp. While 40-man players aren’t required to attend the event, some will nonetheless be on hand, including righty Miguel Castro — the reliever-turned-starter that’ll head to Spring Training out of minor league options. Rule 5 pick Nestor Cortes, too, is getting a look from coaches and Orioles decision-makers. Meoli notes that Cortes appears headed for a long relief role if he’s able to crack the big league roster out of Spring Training — not uncommon for pitchers selected in the Rule 5 Draft. Others of note include Tanner Scott, Yefry Ramirez and Chris Lee.
  • After missing all of the 2017 season as he recovered from two surgeries to repair his Achilles tendon, Rays infielder Matt Duffy feels he is at 100 percent and is beginning a running program, per Bill Chastain of MLB.com. In addition to running on a track, Duffy has been going to physical therapy sessions three times per week to continue strengthening the area and is confident in its stability. “I’m just finally to the point where I’m not worried at all. No anxiety,” Duffy said. “[Anxiety] was hanging over my head all year. Even when I felt good, I’d be like, ’When am I not going to feel good? Which step is going to set me back for five days?'” As Chastain points out, Duffy was initially acquired from the Giants to play shortstop for the Rays, but the trade of Evan Longoria (to Duffy’s former team) and the presence of Adeiny Hechavarria could once again have him ticketed for his former position, third base.
  • The Blue Jays’ acquisition of Yangervis Solarte over the weekend gives the club plenty of versatility, which has been a point of focus for the organization as GM Ross Atkins explains to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “What we’re looking for, and will continue to look for, are options and versatile options and guys that can do multiple things, and guys that can typically play in the middle of the diamond can do more than that,” says Atkins. The GM notes that both Solarte and fellow trade pickup Aledmys Diaz can handle middle-of-the-diamond positions, which should strengthen the club’s depth considerably — a critical need for a Jays team that last year leaned heavily on Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney in the absence of Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis. Atkins suggests that Solarte can not only see time at second base, third base and shortstop but also indicated that he could log occasional innings at first base and in the outfield. Atkin also acknowledged that the Jays are still in the market for an outfielder and for some rotation help; the staggeringly slow free-agent market should leave with plenty of options to pursue in that regard. Per Davidi, the Blue Jays have about $20MM to spend.

Taking Inventory: Pittsburgh Pirates

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The 2017 season was the second straight sub-.500 showing by the Pirates, who finished 75-87 and continued to distance themselves from a 2013-15 stretch in which they made the playoffs three straight times. It has now been three-plus months since the Pirates last took the field, though it’s not yet clear which direction they’ll take heading into 2018. While owner Bob Nutting would like to both buy and sell this winter, the Pirates have neither acquired any established major leaguers nor traded any away during what has been a plodding offseason across the majors. With spring training set to commence next month, action figures to pick up soon in Pittsburgh and other big league cities. If the Pirates do indeed sell players in the coming weeks, they have at least a few who would garner respectable returns, as evidenced below…

One-Year Rentals

Andrew McCutchen, OF ($14.5MM): Getting rid of McCutchen would be agonizing for the Pirates, who have seen the center fielder develop into a star and a beloved figure in their city since drafting him in 2005. Nevertheless, considering the Pirates have taken inquiries for him this winter a year after nearly trading him, it’s quite possible he has played his last game with the club. Given that he’s entering his last year of team control, McCutchen’s value now is likely higher than it’s going to be during the season. And the 31-year-old helped his stock in 2017 by hitting .279/.363/.486 with 28 home runs in 650 plate appearances, thus rebounding from a mediocre 2016 at the plate.

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While McCutchen isn’t any kind of a defensive asset at this point, his bat still carries plenty of value, which has led to interest from the Mets and Giants. Getting McCutchen’s money off the books would appeal to the low-payroll Pirates, but that alone wouldn’t suffice – unsurprisingly, they also want a legitimate return for their longtime franchise face.

Jordy Mercer, SS ($6.5MM projected arbitration salary): The Pirates are reportedly content to keep the 31-year-old Mercer, who likely wouldn’t bring back much in a trade anyway. Mercer’s a lifetime .256/.316/.383 hitter who has only drawn up-and-down reviews from advanced defensive metrics since he became a regular in 2013.

Sean Rodriguez, UTIL ($5.75MM): Rodriguez was part of an August 2017 trade with the Braves in which he returned to the Pirates for struggling first base/outfield prospect Connor Joe. If Rodriguez’s value was low then, it’s in an even worse state now, given that he closed the season by hitting .168/.255/.274 in 106 PAs in Pittsburgh. Between the Braves and Pirates, Rodriguez batted an ugly .167/.276/.295 and struck out in 37.3 percent of PAs. In fairness to Rodriguez, it’s worth noting that an offseason car crash and the shoulder surgery he underwent thereafter likely played a part in his forgettable year.

Daniel Hudson, RHRP ($5.5MM): The hard-throwing Hudson didn’t produce to the level the Pirates hoped when they signed him as a free agent last winter, as he logged a 4.38 ERA with 9.63 K/9 and 4.82 BB/9 across 61 2/3 innings. More than half the league showed interest in Hudson in the weeks before he joined the Pirates, though, and that was off a season in Arizona that came with some rough patches. So, perhaps Hudson would be able to bring back something of a worth in a trade in the wake of last year’s unspectacular output.

Two Years Of Control

Francisco Cervelli, C ($22MM through 2019): Cervelli was a revelation for the Pirates in 2015, leading them to extend him the next year, but he hasn’t been nearly as effective recently. Injuries helped limit Cervelli to 182 games during the previous two seasons, including 81 in 2017. While Cervelli, 31, slashed a respectable .249/.342/.370 in 304 trips to the plate to continue a solid offensive career as a Buc, the excellent pitch framing he showed off in prior years was not on display. Now, considering Cervelli’s price tag, injury issues, 2017 defensive drop-off and the lack of contenders looking for a starting catcher, this doesn’t seem like the ideal time to move him. Interestingly, though, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggested that there were some trade rumors about Cervelli during the Winter Meetings last month.

Ivan Nova, RHP ($17MM through 2019): The unexpected success Nova experienced as a Pirate in late 2016 after coming over in a trade with the Yankees didn’t quite transfer last year. Still, in the first season of a three-year, $26MM deal, Nova ate innings (187) and posted a playable 4.14 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 1.73 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent groundball rate. On one hand, you’d expect plenty of teams in need of a capable back-end starter to have interest in the reasonably priced 30-year-old if the Pirates shop him. On the other, we were among many around the game to overestimate his market when he was a free agent in a weak class of starters a winter ago.

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Gerrit Cole, RHP ($7.5MM projected salary): As a Scott Boras client whose team control is running out, it seems to be a matter of when – not if – the Pirates trade Cole. The 27-year-old fireballer has drawn widespread interest this offseason from teams seeking a mid-/front-of-the-rotation starter. The Yankees, Cubs and Twins are among many clubs that have inquired about Cole, who’d very likely bring back an impressive haul in a deal.

David Freese, 3B/1B ($4.25MM in 2018 and either a $6MM club option or a $500K buyout in 2019): There hasn’t been much trade buzz this offseason regarding Freese, who may lose playing time in Pittsburgh in 2018. The soon-to-be 35-year-old offered unexciting production for the fifth straight year in 2017, when he hit .263/.368/.371 in 503 PAs, though a roughly average player on an affordable salary shouldn’t be seen as valueless.

George Kontos, RHRP ($2.7MM projected salary): There doesn’t seem to be much value here – the Giants gave Kontos to the Pirates for nothing last August, after all – yet the 32-year-old has held his own in the majors. Kontos’ ERA ranged from 2.33 to 3.39 from 2014-17, and he has typically limited free passes in his career (2.62 BB/9). Further, while Kontos was a below-average strikeout pitcher in past seasons, he did register a career-high 9.5 K/9 and a personal-best 16.4 percent swinging-strike rate in 2017. He also recorded a .269 xwOBA against, beating out newly minted $52MM man Wade Davis (.289), among others.

Longer-Term Assets

Gregory Polanco, OF (controllable through 2023 for $54MM): Hamstring injuries helped limit Polanco to 108 games and just 0.5 fWAR in 411 PAs last season, when he batted a meager .251/.305/.391. While the 26-year-old has never been an offensive dynamo, his baserunning, defense and contract have combined to make him a valuable player. Barring a shocking trade, he’ll attempt to bounce back in Pittsburgh next season.

Starling Marte, OF (controllable through 2021 for $41.5MM): Marte was among the most valuable assets in the sport from 2013-16, when he hit, ran and defended his way to 16.4 fWAR, but the shine came off to a degree last season. Not only did Marte sit 80 games on account of a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, but he wasn’t any kind of force during the 77 contests in which he did appear. The 29-year-old hit a career-low .275/.333/.379 and experienced a dramatic decline in the power department, which has never been a major strength for him anyway. Like Polanco, though, there’s nothing to suggest the Pirates are interested in moving Marte or his still-appealing contract.

Josh Harrison, UTIL ($10MM salary in 2018 and club options totaling $22MM from 2019-20): As with McCutchen and Cole, Harrison has been a popular name in rumors this winter. Perhaps the Pirates should part with the 30-year-old Harrison now, given his recent inconsistency. Harrison broke out in 2014, but he followed that up with subpar showings from 2015-16 before rebounding to enjoy a quality season last year. The Yankees, Mets and Blue Jays are a few clubs that have pursued the infielder/outfielder this winter.

Felipe Rivero ($3.1MM projected salary; controllable through 2021): As an elite, flamethrowing reliever who’s under wraps for the foreseeable future, the left-handed Rivero is clearly one of the most valuable players in the Pittsburgh organization. The 26-year-old is now coming off the best full season of his career, during which he tossed 75 1/3 innings of 1.67 ERA ball and notched 10.51 K/9, 2.39 BB/9 and a 52.9 percent grounder rate. Rivero also converted 21 of 23 save chances, and if he remains in the ninth inning for the Pirates, it’s only going to drive up his price in arbitration. There is a case to be made that the Pirates should shop Rivero now when his value’s at its zenith, especially if they don’t expect to compete in 2018, though it seems highly unlikely to happen.

While Jameson Taillon, Josh Bell, Adam Frazier, Chad Kuhl, Trevor Williams and Tyler Glasnow are among other Pirates with trade value, there’s no reason to expect the team to market any of those pre-arb players.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Images.

Twins Have Shown Interest In Chris Tillman

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The Twins have checked in on free agent right-hander Chris Tillman this offseason, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). They’re on a shortlist of teams that have shown reported interest in the soon-to-be 30-year-old Tillman, who has also been on the radar of the Orioles (his organization from 2008-17) and Tigers.

Free agency came at an inopportune time for Tillman, who, despite a generally successful career, saw his stock take a serious hit during a nightmarish 2017. Thanks to shoulder troubles, Tillman didn’t take the mound for the Orioles until mid-May, and when he was able to pitch, he posted a 7.84 ERA/6.93 FIP across 93 innings (21 appearances, 16 starts). Along the way, Tillman experienced a drop in velocity and managed just 6.1 K/9 against 4.94 BB/9, with unappealing groundball and home run-to-fly ball rates of 39.5 percent and 20 percent, respectively. He was also among the majors’ absolute worst hurlers by expected weighted on-base average against (.398), per Statcast, which suggests his actual wOBA allowed (.419) was largely deserved.

On the heels of last season’s woeful showing, Tillman has reportedly been seeking a one-year deal with the hope of rebuilding his stock and faring better on the market next winter. The Twins, meanwhile, have been looking for answers for a rotation that lacks appealing options behind Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios. Fresh off their first playoff season since 2010, the Twins have generally aimed high in their search for starters, having shown interest in the likes of Yu Darvish, Chris Archer, Gerrit Cole and Jake Odorizzi. Darvish seems to be No. 1 on Minnesota’s wish list, and Wolfson tweets that the team’s still waiting for a resolution on his situation before it potentially moves to add other starters.

At this point, Tillman is obviously a far less exciting possibility than Darvish or any of the other aforementioned names. However, in the event Tillman bounces back to something resembling his pre-2017 level, his presence would benefit the Twins. Tillman’s not far removed from a four-year stretch (2013-16) in which he exceeded the 170-inning mark in each season and combined for a 3.91 ERA/4.27 FIP with 6.99 K/9 against 3.13 BB/9 over 758 2/3 frames.

AL East Notes: Brach, Orioles, Ellsbury, Yankees, JDM

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Trade rumblings around Orioles righty Brad Brach have settled down in the wake of Zach Britton’s Achillies injury, as Baltimore will be turning to Brach as closer for at least half of the 2018 season.  As Brach explained in an appearance on 105.7 The Fan’s “Orioles Hot Stove Show” (hat tip to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko), however, he doesn’t mind being part of the speculation.

“I definitely pay attention to it and it’s easy to do in the offseason because it’s not affecting your work,” Brach said.  “You don’t have to go in the mornings and go to MLBTradeRumors or turn on MLB Network and see your name and go to the park that night and pitch. The offseason you have all day and all night to kind of just sit there and mess around. And being from New Jersey, a lot of my friends are my fans, and as soon as my name got brought up I had a group text message and there were probably 50 text messages sent to me in about three minutes, so it’s hard to ignore it and especially in the offseason. I kind of like it. It’s fun. It kind of makes these winter months not drag as much.”

Thanks for the shoutout, Brad, even if MLBTR might not be causing quite as many text explosions in the near future.  Some more from around the AL East…

  • “The Orioles actually like (Jacoby) Ellsbury a little,” Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, though several hurdles stand in the way of the Yankees managing to deal the veteran outfielder.  New York would have to eat the big majority of the $68.5MM remaining on Ellsbury’s contract, and he may prefer to only waive his no-trade protection for a deal that would send him closer to his home in Arizona.  Ellsbury-to-Baltimore was first floated by the Yankees as part of trade talks about Manny Machado, though obviously the O’s would need a lot more than Ellsbury for such a deal given how Ellsbury has struggled in each of the last three seasons.  While the Orioles’ interest in Ellsbury may be muted, his addition would bring more left-handed balance to Baltimore’s lineup and also perhaps open the door for Adam Jones to shift to right field.
  • Ellsbury’s deal is the biggest obstacle facing the Yankees in their desire to both make further upgrades (including some potential big names) to their roster while also staying until the $197MM competitive balance tax threshold.  Since an Ellsbury trade could be a tall order, Sherman writes that David Robertson might be the biggest trade chip “within reason” that would allow the Bronx Bombers to both move a large salary and score a quality return.  Robertson is owed $13MM in 2018, his final year under contract, and Sherman wonders if a closer-needy team like the Cardinals would part with MLB-ready young talent for Robertson’s services.  This does seem to be speculation, however, as Sherman notes that the Yankees have shown no willingness to trade from their loaded bullpen, plus Robertson is a closer-in-waiting should Aroldis Chapman get injured.
  • The Red Sox are reportedly wary of giving J.D. Martinez more than five guaranteed years, which is a justifiable stance given how often longer-term contracts have backfired on teams (including the Sox themselves).  WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, however, presents the counterpoint, noting that an elite hitter like Martinez is a safer investment for a six- or seven-year deal since clubs like the Red Sox can eventually move him to a DH role.  Boston has a clear need for a middle-of-the-order bat now, which Bradford feels Martinez can certainly fill in the short term given that the slugger (despite some recent injuries) has shown no signs of slowing down at the plate.  MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list predicted that Martinez would indeed land a contract beyond the five-year threshold, pegging him for six years and $150MM.

MLBTR Originals

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Here is the past week’s worth of original content from the MLBTR writing team…

Mets Notes: Harrison, McCutchen, Lagares, Kendrick

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Here are the latest rumblings from Citi Field, courtesy of Mike Puma of the New York Post…

  • The recent talks between the Mets and Pirates about Andrew McCutchen may have actually been more focused around Josh Harrison, who has long been cited as a Mets target for their hole at second base.  According to Puma, the Mets would’ve taken on the salaries of McCutchen ($14.75MM) and Harrison ($10MM in 2018, plus club options in 2019-20), preferring to give Pittsburgh salary relief rather than to deal prospects from New York’s thin farm system.  Of course, the Mets have payroll restrictions of their own, which is why Juan Lagares (owed $15.5MM in 2018-19) would “almost certainly” have been going back to the Pirates in such a deal to help balance out the salaries.  In my view, this trade doesn’t make much sense for the Pirates unless the Mets added significant minor league talent — Harrison and McCutchen are both quality trade chips for the Bucs, not mere salary dump candidates.  A source tells Puma that a trade between the Mets and Pirates continues to remain unlikely.
  • As for other second base options beyond Harrison, “Howie Kendrick is viewed by the Mets as a potential fit” due to his positional versatility and his reputation as a clubhouse leader.  The Blue Jays and, potentially, the Nationals have been the only other teams linked to Kendrick this winter; interestingly, reports from a month ago indicated that the Mets weren’t interested in Kendrick, though obviously plans can change over the course of offseason business.  Injuries limited Kendrick to 91 games and 344 PA last season, though the veteran was very productive (.315/.368/.475) when he was on the field for the Phillies and Nationals.  Kendrick has seen much more time as an outfielder than as a second baseman over the last two years, though the Mets could deploy him all over the diamond rather than in a strict everyday role at the keystone.

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