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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Brewers, Jays, Rox, Pirates, Mets, Indians

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This week in baseball blogs…

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Phillies Sign Francisco Rodriguez To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have signed reliever Francisco Rodriguez to a minor league contract, Jon Heyman of FanRag reports (Twitter links). Rodriguez will make $2.5MM plus incentives if he earns a spot on Philadelphia’s roster.

The 36-year-old K-Rod brings 437 career saves and a lifetime 2.86 ERA to the table, though he’s now forced to rebuild his stock after a disastrous 2017 in which he managed the worst velocity of his career. In 25 1/3 innings with the Tigers, Rodriguez pitched to an unsightly 7.82 ERA despite passable strikeout and walk rates (8.17 K/9, 3.91 BB/9). A career-low groundball rate (30.1 percent) and home run issues (3.2 per nine) helped lead to Rodriguez’s undoing in Detroit, which released him in late June. Rodriguez caught on with the Nationals a few days later, though the organization cut him in mid-July after he totaled a mere five innings in its minor league system.

Although last year was a nightmare for Rodriguez, he’s not far removed from a quality 2016 campaign in which he logged a 3.24 ERA over 58 1/3 innings with the Tigers. That season also saw Rodriguez register the highest grounder rate of his career (54.7 percent) and convert 44 of 49 save opportunities.

Rodriguez recently topped out at 93 mph while throwing for scouts, easily trumping last year’s high-80s and leading to offers from the Phillies and other clubs, per Heyman. If those gains stick, Rodriguez could emerge as a useful piece for a Phillies team whose bullpen welcomed a pair of pricey free agents – Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter – earlier this winter.

Central Notes: Brewers, Indians, Salazar, Pirates

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A look around the Central divisions…

  • The Brewers are loaded in the outfield in the wake of this week’s Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich acquisitions, and the club could mitigate the logjam by dealing one of its top trade chips, Domingo Santana. Doing so would presumably allow the Brewers to address their shaky rotation. With that in mind, the Brewers and starter-rich Indians seem like logical trade partners, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com observes. A deal centering on Santana and Indians righty Danny Salazar would make sense for both clubs, Hoynes opines, and Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com tweets that Milwaukee has shown interest in Salazar this offseason. The hard-throwing Salazar brings the more impressive big league track record of the two players, though age (25 to 28), team control (four years to three) and 2017 performance are all on Santana’s side.
  • Milwaukee could also take from its outfield surplus by occasionally playing Ryan Braun at first base. Braun, for his part, is open to giving first a try in spring training, general manager David Stearns told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters Friday. The 34-year-old hasn’t lined up in the infield since his rookie year, 2007, when he played 112 games at third base. Nevertheless, with injuries having limited Braun to 104 games last year, spending some time at first could be beneficial to his health, McCalvy notes. The Brewers already have a pair of viable first basemen in Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar, but it seems a healthy Braun would at least be an offensive upgrade over Aguilar – a fellow righty-swinger whose 2017 production plummeted after the All-Star break.
  • Pirates left-hander Nik Turley received an 80-game suspension Saturday after testing positive for Ipamorelin, a performance-enhancing drug. The 28-year-old will go on the restricted list, thus opening up a spot on the Pirates’ 40-man roster (which was at capacity before his ban). Turley is in his first offseason with the Pirates, who claimed him off waivers from the Twins in November. The former Yankees prospect made his big league debut with Minnesota last season and struggled across 10 appearances (11.21 ERA, 6.62 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9 in 17 2/3 innings).

Heyman’s Latest: Corbin, Darvish, Cobb, Kemp, Nationals, CarGo, K-Rod

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Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports is back with his latest collection of notes and rumblings on all 30 Major League teams…

  • The Brewers and Diamondbacks had “extensive talks” about left-hander Patrick Corbin at some point in the offseason.  Corbin has been mentioned as a possible trade chip due to his price tag ($7.5MM in 2018, his final year under contract) and Arizona’s increased amount of rotation depth.  Milwaukee, meanwhile, has a clear need for rotation help, so it makes sense that the Brew Crew checked in on Corbin amidst their numerous other talks about notable arms on the free agent and trade fronts — as Heyman put it, “they have investigated every pitching possibility out there.”  This is just my speculation, but the Brewers’ surplus of young center fielders (Keon Broxton and Brett Phillips) could be intriguing to the D’Backs since A.J. Pollock is only a year away from free agency.  The Yankees are known to be one of the many teams who have also discussed Corbin this winter.
  • The Twins aren’t thought to be willing to go beyond five years for Yu Darvish, and “Alex Cobb is believed to be their fallback choice for the rotation” if Darvish passes.  The Rangers similarly have interest in Darvish and Cobb if their prices fall, though it sounds like Texas is hoping for only a major bargain signing.  As one source tells Heyman, “the Rangers are lowballing even the lowballers” in contract offers.
  • The Dodgers have “three or four” potential trade partners in mind for Matt Kemp, according to a source, though Heyman hears from another source that the Rangers are “probably not” a candidate for the veteran outfielder.  It seems like not much has changed since Heyman last checked in on Kemp’s trade market in December, and L.A. may have to attach some minor league talent to get anyone to bite on Kemp’s $43MM in remaining salary owed through the 2019 season.
  • Nationals ownership has concerns about the luxury tax, so it seems unlikely that they will make another pricey, late-winter signing as in past years.  Washington currently projects to exceed the $197MM tax threshold but only by a few million dollars, and should still be able to spend a bit on in-season upgrades without triggering a higher level of tax penalties.
  • Carlos Gonzalez is still an option for the Orioles as they look to add another left-handed hitting outfielder.  CarGo is looking to rebound from a nightmarish 2017 that saw him post a -0.2 fWAR overall, though he did hit much better over the last two months of the season.  Baltimore likely wouldn’t have to spend much to land Gonzalez, and thus the O’s could focus more money on their larger pitching needs.
  • Francisco Rodriguez has received some offers after throwing for scouts.  The former closer is trying to revive his career after a disastrous season that saw him released by both the Tigers and Nationals.

Orioles Notes: Machado, Duquette, Jones, Gausman

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Some significant news has already come out of the Orioles’ annual FanFest event, and here are some more items from some reporters on hand (including Eduardo A. Encina and Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun, PressBoxOnline.com’s Rich Dubroff, and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko)…

  • The Orioles expect Manny Machado to be on the roster on Opening Day and, while they didn’t entirely close the door on trading him, executive VP Dan Duquette said that teams weren’t willing to meet Baltimore’s high demands.  Interestingly, Duquette mentioned that the O’s might have swung a deal if they had received an offer similar to the one that allowed the Cardinals to land Jason Heyward from the Braves in the 2014-15 offseason.  That trade saw Heyward (who was, like Machado, a year away from free agency) and young reliever Jordan Walden moved for an MLB-experienced, controllable arm in Shelby Miller and a top-100 prospect in righty Tyrell Jenkins.
  • Duquette identified the rotation as the biggest need still facing the club.  “The key will be addressing the starting pitching.  If we can do that, and I’m confident that we can — don’t ask me how exactly. But if we can do that, I think we can have another good season,” Duquette said.  Though Spring Training is approaching, Duquette felt that a pitcher could be signed as late as around March 1 without it impacting their preparations for the start of the season.  Aside from pitching, Duquette also mentioned that the O’s are still looking to add a left-handed hitting outfielder and a veteran catcher.
  • Duquette’s contract is up after the 2018 season, and the executive said he would “like to continue” with the club beyond the end of his current contract.  “The Orioles gave me an opportunity to re-establish myself in Major League Baseball, which I really appreciated….I enjoy the fans in Baltimore, I enjoy working in the organization and I appreciate the opportunity Mr. (Peter) Angelos gave me,” Duquette said.
  • There haven’t been any extension talks between Adam Jones and the team, the outfielder said (Twitter links from Meoli and Dubroff).  Jones declined to answer what he considered to be hypothetical questions about his future with the team, other than to say that he was prioritizing winning over money in his next contract.  The lack of negotiations aren’t necessarily a surprise; reports back in November stated that the O’s would wait until later in the offseason to discuss extensions with Jones and Machado.  Jones is entering the last season of a six-year, $85.5MM deal, and it remains to be seen if the Orioles will keep the longtime star into his age-33 season and beyond.  Jones has posted above-average hitting numbers over the last two years but his overall value has diminished thanks to a big dropoff in his fielding metrics.  He did express a willingness to consider moving out of center field, though not for “a couple of years.”
  • Kevin Gausman’s arbitration hearing with the Orioles has been scheduled for February 14, though the righty is hopeful a deal can be reached beforehand.  Gausman is seeking a $6.225MM salary for 2018, while the Orioles countered with a $5.3MM offer.

NL East Notes: Mets, Acuna, Marlins

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Some items from around the NL East…

  • The slowed free agent market could benefit a team with seemingly limited payroll space like the Mets, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes.  If price tags fall due to the lack of movement, players like Jonathan Lucroy, Lance Lynn, or Alex Cobb could emerge on the Mets’ radar, especially if the team is willing to get “creative” with offers.  For Mike Moustakas, for instance, Ackert wonders if the Mets could offer the third baseman a contract with an opt-out after the first season if Moustakas wanted to quickly test the market again; New York made a similar deal with Yoenis Cespedes two years ago.
  • The Mets’ methods of dealing with injured players has been a source of controversy for years, and while the club has made new hires in its medical department this winter, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports that ownership “micromanagement” and hyper-competitiveness will have to be curtailed in order for progress to be made.  In particular, COO Jeff Wilpon is “more involved in medical matters — such as working on media releases about injuries.”
  • As you might expect, rival teams have been coveting Braves outfield prospect Ronald Acuna, with the Marlins most recently asking for Acuna in as part of a Christian Yelich trade package.  Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that the team might still consider an outfield move “but [one] that’s not as big because we don’t want to block Acuna” in 2018.  Arguably the top prospect all of baseball, Acuna is expected to debut in Atlanta’s outfield as early as Opening Day.
  • The Marlins could be an attractive destination for lower-tier free agents who are still trying to find a new team, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes, given their lack of big league-ready talent.  Signing a couple of notable veterans to reasonable contracts would help the Marlins on several fronts, Sherman argues — the team could gain some trade deadline chips, add veteran leadership to a young roster, and alleviate criticism from the players’ union about a lack of spending.

AL East Notes: Jays, Yelich, Guerrero, Schoop, O’s, Yankees, Sox, JDM

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The Blue Jays were “the only other team that came close” to acquiring Christian Yelich from the Marlins before the outfielder was dealt to the Brewers, SiriusXM’s Craig Mish reports (Twitter links).  “Several variations” of trade packages were discussed between the Jays and Marlins, including some deals that would’ve seen Toronto take some extra money off Miami’s payroll.  What ended talks between the two sides was the Jays’ refusal to deal Vladimir Guerrero Jr.  It was no secret that the Marlins were demanding a big return for Yelich, and it also isn’t surprising that the Jays balked at moving Guerrero, one of baseball’s very best prospects.

Here are more rumblings from around the AL East…

  • Despite “a significant reduction in the gap between” the arbitration numbers filed by the Orioles and Jonathan Schoop, “the level of frustration on both sides is growing” as a deal still isn’t close, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes.  In what could be a related story, Schoop didn’t attend the Orioles’ FanFest this weekend, which left manager Buck Showalter “disappointed,” implying that Schoop’s agent advised the second baseman to skip the event (as per Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun and other reporters).  Schoop filed for a $9MM salary while the Orioles filed at $7.5MM.  Kevin Gausman’s arbitration case has also yet to be settled, though Kubatko hears that the O’s will continue to talk to both Gausman and Schoop in the hopes of avoiding a hearing.
  • The Yankees have roughly $10-$15MM ticketed to spend on a starting pitcher or an infielder who can play second base and/or third base, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.  If everything breaks right for the Yankees in regards to the slow free agent market, they could fill both needs with those funds.  With the club intent on staying under the $197MM luxury tax threshold, that $10-$15MM will leave the Yankees with around $15-20MM on other potential expenses (i.e. contract bonuses, in-season callups or midseason trade acquisitions).  Adding a second baseman would provide depth if Gleyber Torres needs more minor league time as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, and Sherman notes that delaying Torres’ debut would help the Yankees gain an extra year of team control over the star infield prospect.
  • With Lorenzo Cain landing a five-year commitment from the Brewers, the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman believes that the Red Sox may be forced to offer J.D. Martinez more than the five-year deal they reportedly have on the table for the free agent outfielder.  Martinez is two years younger than Cain and can be signed without draft pick compensation, which could go towards enhancing Scott Boras’ argument that Martinez should receive at least a six-year deal.

Latest On Slow-Moving Free Agent Market

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In his latest exploration of the stagnant free-agent market, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports that free agents have begun to discuss the possible organization of a training camp that would “mimic their typical spring work.” Pitchers and catchers are set to begin reporting for Spring Training in just three weeks, of course, and there are well over 100 unsigned players still seeking employment for the upcoming season.

While the five-year deal for Lorenzo Cain established a new high-water mark for free agents this winter both in terms of contract length and guaranteed money, Passan suggests that other top free agents aren’t necessarily expected to follow. Despite a recent report that Yu Darvish is expected to reach an agreement in the next few days, Passan hears differently, writing that teams throughout the league don’t think that any of Darvish, Jake Arrieta, Eric Hosmer or J.D. Martinez is close to signing. (Certainly, that can change in a hurry with an improved offer from even one potential suitor.)

More broadly, Passan again explores the lack of spending throughout the league in an offseason environment that has been increasingly governed by some teams’ strict adherence to avoiding luxury tax penalization. Prior to the latest wave of collective bargaining negotiations, Passan adds, the league was prepared for the luxury tax line to jump as high as $215MM and considered it a major victory when the bar was raised to $195MM last year and $197MM in 2018. (The tax threshold will increase to $206MM in 2019, $208MM in 2020 and $210MM in 2021.)

While the luxury tax only serves as a direct deterrent for Major League Baseball’s top spenders and thus cannot be viewed as some form of panacea to explain the woefully slow winter, it’s unquestionably slowed things at the top end of the market. Officials from both the Yankees and Dodgers acknowledged to Passan that they’d have spent more this offseason had the tax barrier been higher. And the Giants, of course, have openly stated on multiple occasions that they, too, are looking to reset their penalty level by narrowly staying under the tax line. It stands to reason that they could’ve been more involved in the outfield market with some extra breathing room in that regard.

Exactly how the remainder of the offseason plays out obviously can’t be known, but Passan indicates that players are continuing to encourage one another to hold firm and not cave into lesser deals in a sense of panic as Spring Training approaches.

At some point, it seems fair to wonder, too, if that sense of panic will hit teams that view themselves as hopeful contenders but have multiple glaring holes on the roster. The Orioles, for instance, have been seeking three starting pitchers as well as a left-handed-hitting outfielder but have yet to address any of those needs in a meaningful way. The Nationals still could use a fifth starter and an upgrade behind the plate. The Twins have made a trio of bullpen upgrades but still have clear rotation needs. Eventually, there will have to be a landslide of agreements, though that’s been the common refrain for weeks and there’s still little in the way of actual results.

Brewers Release Wei-Chung Wang To Pursue KBO Opportunity

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TODAY: NC Dinos has announced the signing (hat tip to MyKBO’s Dan Kurtz).  Wang will receive $900K, with $200K coming in the form of a signing bonus.

YESTERDAY: The Brewers have cleared a spot on the 40-man roster by granting left-hander Wei-Chung Wang his release, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The move also creates a roster spot for Lorenzo Cain, who was re-introduced to Milwaukee at a press conference earlier today.

Wang will be pursuing an opportunity with a team in the Korea Baseball Organization. Sung Min Kim of River Ave. Blues recently tweeted that Wang had agreed to a deal with the NC Dinos. He’ll be the first Taiwanese-born pitcher to appear in the KBO, Kim adds.

Wang, 25, was originally signed by the Pirates back in 2011 but wound up in the Brewers organization via the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. Milwaukee carried him for the entire 2014 season despite the fact that he’d never pitched above the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Unsurprisingly, the lefty didn’t fare well in limited action that year, pitching to a 10.90 ERA in just 17 1/3 innings of work.

Though he didn’t return to the Brewers’ big league team until 2017 (when he tossed just 1 1/3 innings), Wang pitched quite well at Triple-A over parts of three seasons. Despite pitching his home games in an extremely hitter-friendly setting (Colorado Springs), Wang posted a 2.73 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 through 89 innings across parts of three seasons for the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.

Orioles To Move Manny Machado To Shortstop

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After weeks of speculation, Orioles manager Buck Showalter confirmed today to fans and reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) that Manny Machado would be moving from third base to shortstop, with Tim Beckham shifting over to the hot corner.  This will at least be the club’s setup going into Spring Training, Showalter specified, though plans could still change down the road.

News broke in November that Machado was interested in a move back to his original position, despite developing into one of baseball’s best defensive players as a third baseman.  Machado has played just 433 big league innings at shortstop over his six-year career, with the bulk of that action coming in 2016 (380 innings) when he filled in for the injured J.J. Hardy.  Machado posted strong metrics that year (5.4 UZR/150, +3 Defensive Runs Saved) as a shortstop, though it’s hard to extrapolate from that small sample size how Machado could fare at the position over the long term.

Given that Machado is just a year away from free agency, it can’t be ignored that the position change widens Machado’s potential market.  Proving that he can handle shortstop would only raises Machado’s already sky-high value heading into the 2018-19 offeason.  While his first preference would seemingly be to find a team that would allow him to continue at short, Machado could also keep third base-needy teams in the picture or even explore scenarios that would see him play every day at one of the two positions.

The position change also has significant 2018 implications for the Orioles, who now could look to complement the right-handed hitting Beckham with a left-handed platoon partner at third.  Given how Beckham impressed in his first month in an O’s uniform, however, the team might want to give him a clear shot at the everyday job.  Executive VP Dan Duquette mentioned (via Kubatko) that the Orioles had been talking to long-time utilityman Ryan Flaherty about a possible return; such an addition wouldn’t be any significant threat to reducing Beckham’s status as the starting third baseman.  Engelb Vielma or prospect Ryan Mountcastle could also eventually get into the third base or infield backup mix.

On the other hand, the Orioles could go big by moving Beckham into a multi-positional bench role and looking for a full-time third baseman.  Mike Moustakas and Todd Frazier are the most notable hot corner names still available in free agency, with Moustakas carrying the bigger price tag (both in terms of salary and draft pick compensation) but his left-handed bat is also a better fit in Baltimore’s lineup.  Making a big signing or trade splash for third base could be difficult, however, given that the O’s have a more pressing need in their rotation.

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