Aroldis Chapman

Marlins Notes: Volquez, Wood, Morton, Dunn, Morris, Chapman, Mathis

By Mark Polishuk | November 19, 2016 at 11:37am CDT

The Marlins hadn’t made an offer to free agent righty Edinson Volquez as of the middle of last week, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reports. Volquez makes sense as a target for the Fish — an innings-eating veteran with a fairly solid recent track record, yet whose price tag may be limited thanks to a rough 2016 season. Volquez posted a 5.37 ERA, 6.61 K/9 and 51.2% grounder rate over 189 1/3 innings with the Royals last year, with ERA indicators showing that his ERA was at least somewhat inflated by a .319 BABIP and only a 65.7% strand rate. Jackson notes that the Marlins have been “linked” to Volquez, so it seems like there could still be a chance of something more substantive happening between the two sides.

Here’s more on Miami’s search for arms in another piece from Jackson…

Travis Wood is drawing interest from the Marlins, who see him as a starting pitcher. The lefty pitched exclusively out of the bullpen for the Cubs in 2016, though Wood has a previous history as a durable starter, even cracking 200 innings with Chicago in 2013. Wood posted a 2.95 ERA last year but was helped by a .215 BABIP and an above-average strand rate; ERA indicators such as FIP (4.54), xFIP (4.83) and SIERA (4.46) were less impressed by his performance.
Miami had some interest in Charlie Morton before the free agent signed a two-year deal with Houston earlier this week.
“Discussions are ongoing” between the Marlins and Mike Dunn about a reunion. The veteran southpaw has posted solid numbers over six years in Miami’s bullpen, though he did miss time with a forearm strain last season and saw both his fastball velocity and strikeout rate drop. That said, Dunn also posted the lowest walk rate of his career and he held left-handed hitters to a .702 OPS.
The Marlins haven’t been pursuing another of their free agent relievers, Bryan Morris. The righty is coming off a rough 2016 season that saw him limited to just 24 games due to back surgery and outrighted off of Miami’s 40-man roster in late September.
The Marlins have already been rumored to have interest in Kenley Jansen as the team looks to focus on the back end of its bullpen, though Aroldis Chapman (the other top-tier closer on the market) doesn’t look like an option. An associate of Chapman tells Jackson that it would be “highly unlikely” if the closer signed with Miami.
Jeff Mathis has received interest from several clubs but the Marlins aren’t yet one of them. Jackson feels the Fish may yet still look to bring back the veteran catcher, noting that the team didn’t re-sign him until mid-December last offseason.

NL West Notes: D-Backs, Giants Pen, Kendrick, Dodgers, Holliday, Pads

By Jeff Todd | November 11, 2016 at 11:45pm CDT

The Diamondbacks expect to enter 2017 with approximately the same payroll level that they carried last year, GM Mike Hazen tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). With about $60MM in obligations and another $30MM or so in projected arbitration salaries, it wouldn’t appear that Arizona will have a lot of free cash to work with this winter after opening 2016 with just under $100MM on the books. While it’s always possible that trades could shift things around, indications from the front office are that players such as Zack Greinke, Paul Goldschmidt, and Yasmany Tomas aren’t likely to be moved. All said, then, the odds appear to favor a fairly quiet approach to the free agent market from the D-Backs.

Here’s more from the NL West:

The Giants feel confident they will land one of the three major closers available in free agency this winter, a club official told Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). We’ve already heard the team linked to Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon (who they met with today), though as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, the organization is considering alternatives as well. GM Bobby Evans called rehabbing righty Greg Holland a “very good option,” and there are always trade routes to consider. But the expectation has long been that San Francisco would go shopping on the open market to address the ninth inning, and the club seems a strong favorite to land one of those premium arms.
Meanwhile, it’s rather unlikely that the Giants will make a splash at third base, Shea further reports. Evans left little doubt as to how the club sees things after already acquiring Eduardo Nunez over the summer. “You try to stay nimble and flexible,” Evans said. “If something comes along, you can always adjust. We’re very comfortable with Nuñez. He’s our third baseman.”
Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi addressed his club’s decision today to ship Howie Kendrick to the Phillies, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. “Financial flexibility” was a motivating factor, he said, and the organization also liked the idea of adding Darin Ruf — who Zaidi said was pursued over the summer. Addressing second base, which Kendrick could conceivably have played, Zaidi noted that the Dodgers could go with players already on hand — Enrique Hernandez, Micah Johnson, and Chris Taylor — but added that there’s ample time “to bring in a more experienced player.” Free agent Chase Utley still seems an option, though Zaidi did not discuss him specifically, and there are certainly a variety of interesting trade candidates that might be considered. Kendrick had occupied left field in 2016 for Los Angeles, and his departure leaves an opening there, but Zaidi said that’s “not a position we are targeting right now.” He expressed confidence in existing players such as Andre Ethier, Andrew Toles, Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke in the corner outfield. Of course, right field is also up for grabs, though the team could yet rely on Yasiel Puig along with those other options.
The idea of the Rockies bringing back Matt Holliday may not be an unreasonable one, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. The veteran slugger has expressed interest in the concept, and Saunders notes that Holliday could see time both at first and in the outfield — which currently features three left-handed hitters.
The Padres will look to make a few targeted veteran additions this winter, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune recently explored. GM A.J. Preller spoke of finding one or two “guys who have good makeup, guys who are in it for the team, guys who are willing to work, guys who aren’t selfish.” That could be outfielder Jon Jay, who the team is still interested in. Preller spoke highly of the versatile outfielder, but noted that preserving opportunities for a variety of younger players ill be a consideration “as we’re talking to Jon and determining an offer, the term and length.” Shortstop is perhaps a greater priority, with Preller noting that it’s “still an area we’re looking to address.” The team still isn’t sure whether Luis Sardinas is prepared to be an everyday player, Preller suggested. Jose Rondon will also receive consideration, but the organization certainly seems open to pursuing alternatives via trade or free agency.

Reliever Notes: Chapman, Jansen, Melancon, Giants, Holland, Marlins

By Jeff Todd | November 10, 2016 at 11:33am CDT

The Giants met this week with representatives of top free agent relievers Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon, Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter) and Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter link) report. Finding a solution for the ninth inning is perhaps the top priority for Giants GM Bobby Evans, so it’s not surprising to hear that he’s looking into the three best options on the open market. It’s far from clear at this point whether the Giants are particularly interested in any of these pitchers. It will certainly be interesting to see the strategic approaches of the players and teams in the market for premium closers. There are plenty of suitors circling, but they’ll surely be somewhat cautious in doling out potentially record-setting contracts.

We took a look yesterday at the latest on Greg Holland, who’s a risky but intriguing alternative to the three major options just noted, but there’s more ground to cover today. The Cubs are among many organizations that have real interest in Holland, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. They certainly aren’t alone, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports that clubs including the Rays, Indians, and Mariners — in addition to the many others who were reportedly on hand for his recent showcase — could still be involved.
While the Marlins’ priority is in the rotation, the club may consider bolstering its relief corps as an alternative, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. President of baseball operations Michael Hill suggests that the team will allow the market to “dictate[] the direction” that’s ultimately taken, at least to some extent, and that the Fish will explore all free agent and trade possibilities. But if the price for a worthwhile rotation addition proves too steep, the organization may perhaps pivot a bit. “You see the trends now, and the analytics, and they may say you don’t want to face guys a third time through the lineup,” Hill said. “It puts more of an emphasis to have a stronger bullpen. A lot of our success this year was because of our strong bullpen.” Frisaro notes that the Marlins have long been interested in Chapman, though it would seemingly be a big surprise were the club to enter his market in earnest.

Pitching Rumors: Dodgers, Cubs, Pirates, Braves, Rockies, Padres

By Jeff Todd | November 9, 2016 at 9:44am CDT

The Dodgers have real interest in pursuing free agent reliever Aroldis Chapman, Andy McCullough suggests (Twitter links). While we’ve heard plenty of indication that the organization also intends to make a bid on its own departing closer, Kenley Jansen, it appears that the fireballing lefty also represents a viable target for one of the game’s biggest spenders — despite the fact that the club jettisoned a deal to acquire Chapman last winter when domestic violence allegations arose. While Los Angeles has spent very little on its bullpen since hiring Andrew Friedman to run its baseball operations, the club obviously saw the value of a shut-down arm while leaning heavily on Jansen during the postseason. The big question remains just how hard the Dodgers will push, but their presence in the market for the two best-available relievers is certainly a boon for the earning power of both.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are giving signals that they may be less inclined to pay top dollar for an established relief arm, as Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago reports. While the organization gave up a haul for Chapman at the trade deadline, and featured him frequently en route to a World Series win, Chicago would seemingly prefer to think outside the box to find its next dominant relief arm. GM Jed Hoyer spoke of a “targeted” approach to the roster, with the club set to “explore every avenue” in finding a replacement for Chapman. He cited two prominent examples of pitchers who failed as starters but later emerged in a late-inning role. “You never know who that guy’s going to be,” said Hoyer. “If you stop thinking that way, you have no chance to find that guy. You always want to think like: ’OK, who is going to be that next Andrew Miller? Who’s going to be that next Wade Davis?'” As Mooney notes, Carl Edwards Jr. represents a possible internal option to take high-leverage opportunities, along with former closer Hector Rondon. Beyond that, Hoyer says, the team will “be looking at a lot of ways to acquire pitching” and will “explore every avenue” to add arms this winter.
That somewhat unconventional approach has long been pursued by the Pirates, and Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looks at the team’s rotation prospects this winter. Pittsburgh’s reclamation strategy has paid dividends time and again, but that may be tougher than ever with a thin market and perhaps added competition from other organizations who have seen how the Bucs’ approach can work. GM Neal Huntington emphasized that, while a veteran pitcher would “take[] some pressure off,” it remains hard for his small-budget organization to commit the years and dollars needed to compete on the open market. He stressed the need to continue pushing the development of the team’s homegrown starters, and certainly there are a variety of options already on hand, as MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth analyzed in taking stock of the Pirates’ offseason outlook. As he notes, and Huntington acknowledges, the club could consider bolstering that group by dealing from its fairly robust array of position-player talent.
Another organization that could look to the trade market for starters is the Braves, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Per Jon Morosi of MLB Network (via Twitter), Atlanta has spoken with the Rays about staff ace Chris Archer, who is one of the game’s top starting pitching assets (even after a disappointing 2016 season) due in large part to his youth and highly appealing contract. That’s notable, but hardly should be read as an indication that the Braves will push the pedal to the floor for a top arm. GM John Coppolella stressed that the club is looking for value in all regards, and will continue to be opportunistic rather than stretching to add a premium starter. “Starting pitching is the main need that we have, and we want it badly,” he said. “That being said, if the numbers get crazy or the years get too long [for free agents], we’ll just stick with what we have. Or we’ll look to the trade market for short-term guys. … We’re going to look for value, whether it’s starting pitching, catching, whatever. If the market spirals too far out of control, we’ll just move on to other areas of need. Maybe build a killer bullpen and add to [an area that is a strength already.”
Though the Rockies have received promising returns from their own rotation of late, the team isn’t satisfied with its pitching entering the winter, GM Jeff Bridich said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). Certainly, that could take the form of a focus on a bullpen that struggled last year, though perhaps a move for a starter can’t be ruled out either. Bridich said that the club is “going to have to take some risks” this offseason and will seek to “improve the impactful pitchers we have.”
The NL West-rival Padres also seem primed to take some risks on pitching (and in other areas), and Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the organization was one of many to send scouts to watch free agent reliever Greg Holland in his recent showcase. San Diego has done well recently in finding undervalued assets for the bullpen, and a targeted bet on someone like Holland could make sense — though he’ll presumably draw wide interest given his lofty established ceiling. Meanwhile, the Pads may also consider trade offers for their own controlled arms; Lin mentions Ryan Buchter, Brad Hand, and Brandon Maurer as pitchers who have “consistently drawn outside interest.” Though GM A.J. Preller didn’t exactly suggest that the team would be looking to deal, he acknowledged that clubs have come calling. “There’s definitely been clubs checking in on our bullpen,” he said. “They saw the jobs those guys did this year.”

Mets Notes: Cespedes, Bautista, Duda, Bullpen, Colon, d’Arnaud

By Steve Adams | November 7, 2016 at 10:07pm CDT

The Mets are hoping to have some clarity on Yoenis Cespedes’ intentions by the end of the Winter Meetings next month, general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters at the GM Meetings today (via ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin). “I think realistically, from our standpoint this year, things will probably have to resolve themselves a lot sooner than they did last year,” said Alderson in reference to Cespedes, who didn’t re-sign with the Mets last winter until Jan. 26. “…[C]ertainly, from our standpoint, between now and the winter meetings, and through the end of the winter meetings, would be the right time to get some of these issues resolved.” Alderson added that he’s already met with Cespedes’ representatives once, though no contract offers or financial figures were exchanged. He’ll meet with Cespedes’ agent again at the GM Meetings this week, and notably, he also stated that he doesn’t have a cap on the number of guaranteed years he’d be willing to offer Cespedes.

More from the Mets’ GM and more on the team…

One bat the Mets could turn to if Cespedes departs is apparently Jose Bautista. James Wagner of the New York Times tweets that the Mets have some degree of interest in Bautista and have already reached out to his representatives to set up a time to talk this week. That’s not the first time they’ve been connected to Bautista, either, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi listed the Mets as a possible landing spot for Bautista last week. While it’d certainly be a surprise to see Bautista, who is defensively challenged in right field at this stage of his career, land with an NL club, his bat would indeed balance out the lineup in the event of a Cespedes departure. Alderson mentioned (as noted in Rubin’s piece above) that the team would need to balance out the batting order should Cespedes leave, as the team is already too left-handed even with Cespedes in the fold.
Interest in Bautista would seem counter-intuitive with a trio of corner outfielders already on board in Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce, and while it’s fair to speculate that one of them could be moved to first base (Bautista and Bruce are the worst outfield defenders of the bunch by a wide margin), that doesn’t seem likely. Alderson said today that first baseman Lucas Duda will be tendered a contract, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, which seemingly eliminates the possibility of shifting one of those players around. Of course, it should also be stressed that at this juncture of the offseason, the interest in Bautista is likely preliminary and one of a couple dozen avenues which the Mets could theoretically pursue.
Also via Sherman (Twitter links), Alderson said that the team was planning to target late-inning relief help even before domestic violence allegations were brought forth against closer Jeurys Familia, so it stands to reason that they’ll certainly be in that market now that a possible suspension could be given to Familia. However, he also added that the Mets were never inclined to play at the top of the market, so it doesn’t seem likely that names like Kenley Jansen or Aroldis Chapman will be on New York’s radar.
Sticking with Sherman, the New York Post scribe also tweets that Alderson repeatedly talked about the team’s current rotation depth, prompting Sherman to suggest that re-signing the beloved Bartolo Colon might not be a front-burner issue for the Mets, if it’s even a consideration for the team at all. From my vantage point, the depth is nice, but bringing back Colon on a one-year deal to provide depth and perhaps step into a swingman role if all of New York’s young arms make full recoveries still seems like a worthwhile pursuit. Speaking speculatively, however, if an earnest run at re-signing Cespedes and adding an impact late-inning arm are both on the docket as well, then perhaps the Mets feel Colon is more of a luxury than a priority.
Lastly, Sherman tweets that Alderson said the team has to figure out a way to make the catchers that are already in-house better, which does seem to indicate that Plan A, for the time being, is to stick with Travis d’Arnaud next year. Kevin Plawecki and Rene Rivera remain on the roster as backup candidates as well, though none of that trio hit especially well last season, and d’Arnaud has yet to shed the “injury-prone” label that has hung over him for most of his career. The free-agent market bears a few options in the form of Matt Wieters, Jason Castro and Nick Hundley (plus Wilson Ramos, although he’s recovering from a torn ACL and seems likely to be out for the first couple of months of the 2017 season), though each of that grouping comes with some question marks as well.

Yankees Already In Communication With Aroldis Chapman

By charliewilmoth | November 7, 2016 at 8:08pm CDT

Already at this early point in the offseason, Yankees exec Brian Cashman confirms that the team has been in touch with former closer Aroldis Chapman, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes. Cashman has been in contact with representatives of other players as well, and seems to be focusing on pitching this offseason.

“There are certainly some names out there that are pretty good,” Cashman says. “It’s probably a thin starting pitching market, there are a number of different relievers in the market; certainly more relievers in this free agency than there are starters of quality. The trade route is obviously an area we’ll see what develops over time.”

The Yankees, of course, traded four players to the Reds for Cashman last offseason, and he posted a 2.01 ERA, 12.6 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 20 saves in 31 1/3 innings with New York before heading to Chicago for a package headlined by top infield prospect Gleyber Torres. Chapman was then even more dominant for the Cubs, becoming a key part of their route to the World Series.

The Yankees finished the season with Dellin Betances as their closer, and Betances struggled in the last few weeks of the season (although, like many players who started the 2016 campaign in the Yankees’ bullpen, he had a very strong year overall. Cashman says his interest in Chapman (and, perhaps, in other top relief targets) is not closely related to Betances’ performance as closer. Rather, Cashman says he just wants to add more good players. Last year’s excellent bullpen headed by Chapman, Betances and Andrew Miller perhaps shows that it’s hard to have too much of a good thing.

“I just want to bring in more talent,” Cashman says. “It’s too early to say who’s going to do what; it depends how the winter goes. [Betances] finished the season as our closer, so until or unless I find something better — which is pretty hard to do — he would be the closer if the season started today. But it’s not.”

Cashman also says he would like to add to the Yankees’ existing rotation talent, which includes Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia alongside a long list of less established possibilities.

“I’d rather have certainty,” says Cashman. “I’d rather feel like we have one of the best rotations in the game and I’d like to have one of the best bullpens in the game. It’s going to take some time, and in some cases, some growing pains.”

NL Notes: Chapman, Dodgers, Cubs, Reds

By Connor Byrne | October 30, 2016 at 10:36am CDT

Had their offseason attempt to acquire then-Cincinnati closer Aroldis Chapman not fallen through over his domestic violence issues, the Dodgers would have deployed the left-hander aggressively in a setup role, a club official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. That would have meant continuing with Kenley Jansen as the closer, which the Dodgers believe Chapman would have accepted after doing background work on him. Chapman ended up going to the Yankees, who shipped him to the Cubs in advance of this year’s non-waiver trade deadline. The flame-throwing 28-year-old could join the Dodgers in free agency during the offseason, notes Sherman, who writes that the team still has a high opinion of him. Los Angeles is also facing the potential departure of Jansen, who is set to join Chapman on the open market.

World Series Notes: Cubs, Epstein, Miller, Chapman

By charliewilmoth | October 23, 2016 at 10:21pm CDT

The Cubs’ recent path to the World Series is “a case study in how to bring a team or a business back to life,” Alex Rodriguez (yes, that Alex Rodriguez) writes for FOX Sports. A-Rod praises top Cubs exec Theo Epstein, with whom he negotiated prior to the 2004 season, when the Red Sox were trying to bring Rodriguez to Boston in a pair of mega-deals that would have sent Jon Lester and Manny Ramirez to Texas, while also acquiring Magglio Ordonez and Brandon McCarthy from the White Sox for Nomar Garciaparra. The deal, in which Rodriguez was to take a $40MM pay cut, was vetoed by the players’ union. Rodriguez, of course, headed to the Yankees, but the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series anyway. “We were three 20-somethings convinced we were about to turn baseball upside down together,” Rodriguez writes, referring to himself, Epstein and Jed Hoyer. “Though I never got a chance to work with Theo, I knew then that he was going to be a force.” Here are more quick notes on the Fall Classic.

There’s little mystery to the Cubs’ success, Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs writes. The reasons for the accomplishments of other recent World Series teams, like the Royals and Giants, have been a bit harder to explain, but the Cubs are simply “a super-good club, made up of super-good players.” Even if the Cubs lose this time around, they’re extremely well positioned to make a run at another World Series or three in the near future — they have Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Hendricks and Willson Contreras under control for four or more seasons.
Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman both began the season as members of the Yankees, but they’ll finish it opposing one another in the World Series, MLB.com’s Richard Justice writes. Miller has been dominant thus far this postseason for the Indians, with 21 strikeouts in 11 2/3 scoreless innings thus far. Chapman has allowed three runs over eight frames for the Cubs. Both are obviously standouts as MLB pitchers go, but as Justice notes, this World Series could turn either or both into household names.

Dodgers Notes: Chapman, Turner, Jansen, Grandal

By Steve Adams | October 17, 2016 at 9:00am CDT

The Dodgers’ decision to back out of last December’s agreed-upon Aroldis Chapman trade wasn’t solely the mandate of ownership but was a collective consensus between the baseball operations staff and the ownership group, writes Jon Heyman in his latest notes column at FanRag Sports. By the time the baseball operations staff reached out to managing partner Mark Walter about the domestic violence allegations with which Chapman was faced, they’d already decided the deal should no longer be pursued, and Walter agreed. Heyman also adds that the three prospects that would’ve gone to Cincinnati in that deal ultimately wound up in the Reds organization anyhow, as the proposed package was Jose Peraza, Scott Schebler and Brandon Dixon for Chapman. Those three all went to the Reds in the three-team trade that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox. (The Dodgers received Trayce Thompson, Micah Johnson and Frankie Montas from the Sox in that deal.)

A few more notes on the Dodgers…

Heyman also reports that there have been some “very preliminary contract talks” between the Dodgers and impending free agent Justin Turner, though there’s been nothing serious enough to indicate that Turner will forgo the open market this winter. Turner has said he’d love to remain with the Dodgers, but on the heels of a monster season, he should find widespread demand for his services. The 31-year-old (32 in November) batted .275/.339/.493 with 27 homers in 151 games this season and erased a dreadful first April/May with a torrid four-month stretch to close out the season. He also grades out as a premium defender at the hot corner, all of which contributed to his 4.9 rWAR and 5.6 fWAR in 2016. He’s also been a brilliant performer thus far in his short postseason career, hitting .405/.519/.667 in 52 plate appearances. While that doesn’t necessarily do much for his free-agent stock, it certainly can’t hurt him and figures to be brought up by his agents as they seek the best deal possible for their client this winter.
Manager Dave Roberts tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he told Kenley Jansen before the 2016 season even began that he planned to get him at least a half-dozen outings in which he pitched more than one inning over the life of the regular season as a means for preparing him for the postseason, and that indeed played out. Jansen was also candid with Rosenthal in explaining that he felt his trust was betrayed when former GM Ned Colletti signed Brandon League to a three-year deal in the wake of Jansen being diagnosed with and treated for an irregular heartbeat. He didn’t mind the possibility of the Dodgers adding Chapman this winter, stressing that he only asked that Friedman be up front with him about what might happen. And it should be noted that former teammate A.J. Ellis also spoke to Rosenthal about how frank Jansen is when discussing free agency. Ellis compared him to Zack Greinke in some respects, noting that Jansen feels he’s earned his one opportunity at a lucrative free-agent deal and figures to go to the highest bidder.
Yasmani Grandal’s struggles at the plate this postseason are reminiscent of his offensive woes last year in the playoffs, after which he underwent shoulder surgery, but the catcher tells Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times that he’s not injured this time around. Grandal isn’t letting his lack of offense so far get to him, as he clearly laid out to Moura that his priorities are his defensive work/game-calling behind the plate, then drawing walks, then slugging at the plate. “I’m hitting seventh, and there’s a reason why they have me hitting seventh,” he said. “They want me to make sure I run the pitching staff like it’s supposed to be ran.” Grandal also talked about his frequent visits to the mound this October, explaining that the Dodgers are keenly aware of which players on opposing teams can relay signs to hitters at the plate when they’re standing on second base.

AL East Notes: Cashman, Rays, Davis, Wieters, Orioles

By Mark Polishuk | October 16, 2016 at 12:26pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the AL East…

Yankees GM Brian Cashman talks to John Harper of the New York Daily News about the trades of Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and Andrew Miller to the Indians, deals that took quite a bit of preparation on the Yankees’ part as they looked to get maximum value for the two star relievers. Yankee scouts targeted certain players within the farm systems of the many organizations that had interest in Chapman and Miller, and Cashman wasn’t willing to budge from his high, and specific, asking prices. The two relievers are playing big roles in the postseason, and Cashman is rooting for a Chicago/Cleveland World Series matchup. “I want the teams that stepped up and made those trades to be rewarded for doing so. It would justify the action they took,” Cashman said. “I have absolutely no regrets about the deals we made — other than being in the position we were in. We did what we had to do, and hopefully everybody wins.”
The Rays’ view of the postseason has to be more bittersweet, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes, given that Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman have their new teams fighting for the NL pennant. Both left following the 2014 campaign, and the Rays have since suffered two losing seasons. It’s still too soon to judge manager Kevin Cash or baseball operations president Matt Silverman, though Topkin wonders if the front office would’ve been better off under a traditional “baseball guy” type of executive, or at least a singular voice in charge rather than Silverman’s penchant for group decisions amongst his top lieutenants.
Also from Topkin, he notes that Rays prospect Josh Lowe has been playing center field in Instructional League action and could take over the position on a full-time basis. Lowe, a Georgia high schooler selected 13th overall by the Rays in the 2016 draft, taken as a third baseman but has often been considered athletic enough to potentially handle an outfield role. Lowe was also a very accomplished pitcher, and MLB.com (which ranks Lowe as Tampa’s fourth-best prospect) notes in its scouting report that a return to the mound could be a possibility if Lowe doesn’t develop as a position player.
Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis stands out as a future managerial candidate, though as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald notes, the path to a big league managerial job isn’t an easy one for minorities. Drellich’s piece is well worth a full read, as it details both Davis’ coaching history and how Major League Baseball is taking steps to ensure that teams are giving minority candidates a fair look in hiring. Davis is under contract to the Red Sox for 2017, Drellich notes, though that wouldn’t be a big obstacle if one of the teams looking to hire a new skipper this winter made him an offer.
The Orioles should issue a qualifying offer to Matt Wieters, CSNmidatlantic.com’s Rich Dubroff opines. Though Wieters had another below-average offensive year, Dubroff figures that he will still look to land a multi-year deal in free agency, especially now that Wilson Ramos’ injury has made Wieters the top catcher on the open market. There’s a chance Wieters could again accept the QO, and while $17.2MM is a high price tag for a catcher who has produced as little as Wieters has in recent years, Dubroff could see Wieters and Caleb Joseph providing a one-year bridge until prospect Chance Sisco develops as the longer-term answer behind the plate. If Wieters leaves, Dubroff suggests that the club could sign former Oriole Nick Hundley to team with Joseph.
The Orioles should pursue an extension with Zach Britton rather than consider a trade, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. Britton’s price tag will continue to rise through his final two arbitration years so there is some logic in dealing him now to both save money and sell high in the wake of Britton’s excellent season. On the flip side, Britton has been so tremendous as Baltimore’s closer that he could lock down ninth innings for the O’s for years to come.

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