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Jerry Blevins

Mets Intend To Open Season With Jay Bruce On Roster

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Jay Bruce has been one of the most oft-mentioned trade candidates of the offseason, but the Mets have now informed him that they plan to open the season with him in right field, reports Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.

Set to turn 30 in April, Bruce hit .250/.309/.506 with 33 homers on the season as a whole last year but wilted with the Mets, slumping to a .219/.294/.391 batting line. That marked his second straight year with a late-season collapse at the plate (.178/.219/.357 from Aug. 1 through season’s end in 2015), which can’t have made trading him any easier for GM Sandy Alderson this winter. Also complicating matters is the fact that his once-premium defensive ratings in right field have tumbled since undergoing knee surgery in April 2014.

Bruce was always a fairly redundant asset with the Mets, as Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto are both, like Bruce, left-handed-hitting corner outfielders. Nonetheless, the uncertainty surrounding Yoenis Cespedes’ future in Queens prompted the Mets to exercise Bruce’s $13MM option as a safety net. When Cespedes re-signed on a four-year deal on Nov. 30, Bruce looked to be the odd man out.

Any market for Bruce, though, was slowed by a free-agent market that was rife with defensively limited sluggers that could be had at lower rates. Brandon Moss, for example, remains available to this day, while Michael Saunders signed a one-year, $9MM deal with the Phillies that is more affordable than Bruce’s deal. (The Phillies were said to have some interest in a Bruce trade prior to that signing.) The Mets reportedly never warmed to the idea of absorbing some of Bruce’s salary to facilitate a trade, and they also were reported to be seeking two prospects in exchange for Bruce at last check.

Retaining Bruce creates a familiar logjam in a New York outfield that figures to come with some defensive concerns. While Cespedes and Juan Lagares will provide quality glovework when the Mets face a left-handed starter, the Mets will presumably deploy Cespedes, Granderson and Bruce (from left to right) against right-handed starters.

Keeping Bruce in the fold also brings into question Conforto’s immediate role with the team. The Mets will look at both Bruce and Conforto at first base in Spring Training, according to Davidoff, but they also have Lucas Duda returning from a back injury. Duda is slated to earn $7.25MM and figures to be the regular first baseman if healthy, which could push Conforto to the bench or back to Triple-A Las Vegas. Conforto does have a minor league option remaining and has only spent 33 games in Triple-A in his career, so perhaps some additional time there would serve him well. He did, after all, struggle at the plate in his sophomore campaign. Then again, Conforto advocates can point to the fact that he’s a career .330/.402/.522 hitter in the minors that slashed .422/.483/.727 in 144 Triple-A plate appearances last season, creating an argument that he should be getting another chance in the Majors.

Of course, having depth is hardly a bad thing for the Mets, who now look like they’ll have a quality reserve option (Conforto) in the event that one of their outfielders gets hurt. Alternatively, an injury to an outfielder on another club could lead to some late interest for Bruce. Davidoff notes that the Mets “would of course slam the brakes … if a late suitor presented an interesting trade package, but that appears a long shot.” Most clubs looking to add a notable corner outfielder have already filled that void, although the Blue Jays and Giants could both plausibly look at Bruce as a left field option. (That’s just speculation, although the Jays have been linked to Bruce frequently over the past calendar year.)

By hanging onto Bruce and his $13MM salary, the Mets look poised to enter the season with a projected $146MM payroll. They’ve reportedly been waiting to move Bruce before pursuing additional help for their bullpen, but they’ll now be faced with the decision of pushing their payroll to record levels or sticking with internal options. Davidoff writes that left-hander Jerry Blevins is “clearly” interested in returning to the Mets. However, the market for left-handed relievers has been strong (see: Brett Cecil, Mike Dunn and Marc Rzepczynski), and Blevins could yet be in line for a multi-year deal.

There could be lower-cost options; J.P. Howell, Javier Lopez and old friend Chris Capuano are still available, as is Charlie Furbush, who underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in August and is still on the mend. The trade market and the spring waiver wire, of course, could present further avenues to obtaining some left-handed relief help. Failing that, the Mets’ internal options include Sean Gilmartin, Josh Edgin, Josh Smoker and non-roster invite Adam Wilk.

Relief Market Notes: Holland, Dodgers, Salas, Maness, Breslow

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There are at least three teams still pursuing veteran reliever Greg Holland, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He lists the Nationals and Rockies as the two known entities, with a third mystery entrant also involved. With Spring Training just about three weeks off, Holland’s market seems to be “heating up,” Heyman says, though it’s still not clear what kind of timeline to expect.

At the moment, of course, Holland is occupied with more important matters, as he is among the players attending the funeral of stricken former teammate Yordano Ventura. Certainly, our thoughts are with Ventura’s family and friends as they lay him to rest today. Those interested in finding coverage from the perspective of the Royals’ contingent may wish to follow the reporting of Kansas City Star columnist Vahe Gregorian.

Here are some more notes relating to the relief market:

  • Having addressed their need at second base, the Dodgers will now focus on adding another arm to their bullpen mix, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Joe Blanton could still return, per the report, while southpaw Jerry Blevins is also a target. But the club is looking to make only a one-year investment, Rosenthal notes, and could pivot to another arm if the value is there. Whether or not the team could still chase Holland isn’t clear at this moment.
  • Righty Fernando Salas, meanwhile, remains one of the better available relievers. He’s still drawing interest from six unnamed teams, sources tell Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). While Salas has struggled a bit with limiting the long ball and hasn’t posted terribly exciting earned run averages over the past two years, he has run up some compelling K/BB numbers at times. Plus, Salas finished the 2016 season with a flourish, permitting just four earned runs on 11 hits over 17 1/3 frames while racking up 19 strikeouts without issuing a single walk.
  • Another right-handed reliever, Seth Maness, is set for a showcase on February 6th, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). The 28-year-old is looking to prove to organizations that he’s ready for camp after undergoing a new “primary repair” procedure — which Goold detailed here — in lieu of Tommy John surgery. Having already demonstrated a big groundball rate (59.4% for his career) and outstanding control (1.7 BB/9), there’ll be no shortage of interest if Maness looks anything like his usual self.
  • About half of the teams in the league came to watch lefty Craig Breslow throw recently, per Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com (via Twitter). The veteran is attempting to follow the Rich Hill model for a late-career renaissance, with buttressed strength work and a new arm angle. Breslow’s new motion can be seen in this video, provided by Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (courtesy of Twins scout Bill Mele, who was on hand). The 36-year-old has pitched in 11 major league seasons for seven different clubs, most recently appearing in 15 games for the Marlins in 2016.

Free Agent Faceoff: Boone Logan vs. Jerry Blevins

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It has been a good year to be a left-handed reliever on the free-agent market — even if your name isn’t Aroldis Chapman and you don’t work routinely in the triple digits with your fastball. Brett Cecil and the Cardinals kicked things off with a four-year, $30.5MM pact that even includes no-trade protection. Power southpaw Mike Dunn scored three years and $19MM from the Rockies. And even true LOOGY Marc Rzepczynski scored $11MM over two seasons in his contract with the Mariners.

Those big deals suggest that there was plenty of competition in the market, which perhaps bodes well for the best remaining southpaw arms. Two, in particular stand out: Boone Logan, who played most recently with the Rockies, and Jerry Blevins, formerly of the Mets. You could throw Travis Wood into this mix, too, but he may have a somewhat different (if perhaps overlapping) market, since he’s capable of working as a starter. J.P. Howell has also been a quality reliever in recent years, but the soft-tossing southpaw declined last year in run prevention, velocity, and swinging-strike rate, so we’ll leave him out of the mix for this particular look at the relief market.

Focusing on Logan and Blevins, a variety of organizations could still be willing to cough up significant guarantees. In the A.L. East, the Orioles are deeper in the right-handed department (other than closer Zach Britton); the Yankees’ top southpaw after Chapman, Tommy Layne, isn’t exactly a late-inning monster; the Blue Jays are thin with Cecil departing (they project to feature Aaron Loup); and even the Red Sox could conceivably enter the picture (though they may feel set with Robbie Ross and Fernando Abad). The West, too, has conceivable suitors: the Astros entered the winter looking for a southpaw to pair with Tony Sipp, the Angels’ top southpaw is the solid but somewhat unexciting Jose Alvarez, and the A’s have made surprising pen investments in the past and would carry Daniel Coulombe as their LOOGY if Sean Doolittle is utilized as a closer (or is traded).

Over in the National League, the N.L. East-rival Nationals and Mets could both stand to add late-inning lefties, and the Marlins could as well. Miami has already spent heavily on its pen, and seemingly feels it’s complete, but doesn’t have a high-end lefty after losing Dunn. And the Cubs could stand to buttress their mix after adding swingman Brian Duensing on a modest contract — assuming, at least, that Mike Montgomery isn’t bumped from the rotation by some trade.

Apart from the fairly robust remaining need, there’s every reason to believe that both Logan (32) and Blevins (33) have set themselves up for nice contracts. Indeed, they turned in rather similar, rather productive seasons in 2016. Logan finally converted his steadily excellent swinging-strike rate into results, as he posted a 3.69 ERA (while spending half his time at Coors Field) on the back of 11.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 along with a 49.5% groundball rate. And Blevins allowed just 2.79 earned per nine. He also posted 11.1 K/9 while allowing 3.2 free passes per nine innings and generating grounders on 45.8% of the balls put in play against him.

Logan worked with an average 93.0 mph fastball but utilized his slider on over half of his deliveries to the plate. That mix enabled him post a personal-best 16.4% swinging-strike rate, which tied him with Andrew Miller for the third-highest mark among southpaws who threw at least thirty innings (trailing only Chapman and Britton).

Though he’s less of a power pitcher, and doesn’t get quite as many swings and misses, Blevins’ actually squeezed out a few more strikeouts than did Logan in their most recent seasons. Blevins continued to rely heavily on a cut fastball, his usage of which jumped when he went to the Mets in 2015, and that may have helped him limit the damage when pitching without the platoon advantage.

Indeed, Blevins holds the advantage over Logan when facing right-handed hitters. Though his strikeout, walk, and home run numbers weren’t nearly as good as when he did have the platoon advantage, Blevins limited righties to a .172/.266/.345 batting line last year. And he has generally been at least serviceable against them over his career. Logan, on the other hand, shows much more pronounced splits. Opposing righties have posted a big .288/.376/.478 slash against him in 847 total opportunities across his 11 MLB campaigns.

Looking at the bigger picture, neither pitcher really stands out. Logan missed some time in 2014 after undergoing surgery for bone chips following the 2013 season, but has generally been reasonably healthy. And Blevins did miss much of 2015 after consecutive forearm fractures, though both were freak instances. Each pitcher has had up years and down years, but their overall arcs aren’t altogether dissimilar. Over their careers, some metrics prefer one to the other (Blevins’s 3.58 FIP tops Logan’s 4.03 mark; Logan’s 3.78 xFIP is better than Blevins’s 3.92 rate).

So, it seems like a close call. If you were looking to add a useful southpaw arm to your bullpen, which of these two free agents would you prefer?

Trade/Free Agent Rumors: Quintana, Jays, Trumbo, Breslow

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The Yankees have yet to add a starting pitcher to their rotation this winter, but MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets that they’re still interested White Sox ace Jose Quintana. As he points out, the Yankees certainly have a deep enough farm system to entice the Sox to part with their second front-of-the-rotation lefty of the offseason. However, Morosi doesn’t contextualize their interest, and it’s worth noting that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has said earlier this winter that he’s reached out to virtually every team at some point and is casting a wide net in attempting to improve his team. Along those lines, ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand writes that the Yankees have been extremely disinclined to part with young talent this winter, and he ultimately characterizes the chances of Quintana landing in New York as unlikely.

A few more notes on the trade and free-agent markets…

  • Morosi also tweets that in addition to Boone Logan and Jerry Blevins, the Blue Jays have interest in free-agent southpaw Travis Wood. Toronto has already been connected to both Logan and Blevins, but there hasn’t been much of a link between the Jays and Wood to this point. The Blue Jays have already lost Brett Cecil to the Cardinals this winter and have yet to replace him. Left-handed relief was arguably a need for the Jays even before Cecil departed, so they figure to be linked to a number of prominent southpaws as the offseason wears on. In Wood’s case, though, it’s worth wondering if he’d prefer to sign somewhere that gives him a chance to start. Wood spent the past couple of seasons in the Cubs’ bullpen, but he averaged 30 starts per year from 2012-14 and reached 200 innings in 2013. In a market that is thin on starters, giving Wood a chance to redefine himself as a rotation member holds plenty of merit for pitching-needy clubs.
  • Orioles GM Dan Duquette said on MLB Network’s High Heat today that he’s still interested in Mark Trumbo and there’s still a “window open” for the slugger to return to Baltimore (Twitter link via FanRag’s Jon Heyman). Baltimore reportedly pulled its four-year offer to Trumbo over the weekend, but it doesn’t seem that Duquette and his staff have completely abandoned the idea of Trumbo returning in 2017 (and beyond). Trumbo drilled an MLB-best 47 homers last season but also comes with some question marks surrounding his defense, and the fact that he rejected a qualifying offer means any team will have to forfeit a draft pick to sign him.
  • Left-hander Craig Breslow will throw for teams on Jan. 23 in Boston, reports Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald (Twitter links). The 36-year-old Breslow has been working out with Rich Hill this offseason and changed his arm angle, Drellich notes. Back in September, Breslow spoke to Drellich about how he planned to take an analytical look at his pitch selection this winter, exploring horizontal/vertical movement, spin rate and other factors and pair that knowledge with a lower arm slot in order to revive his career. Breslow has spent parts of 11 seasons in the Majors, but his last truly successful year came back in 2013 with the Red Sox (1.81 ERA in 59 2/3 innings).

Blue Jays Rumors: Encarnacion, Catchers, Bullpen

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The latest on Toronto:

  • The Blue Jays continue to monitor and stay in touch with free agent first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Encarnacion’s preference is to re-sign with the Jays, but he’s talking less with them than he is with other teams, per Heyman. Notably, Toronto general manager Ross Atkins expressed pessimism Wednesday about re-upping Encarnacion. While the 33-year-old’s market has seemingly shrunk in the past week, agent Paul Kinzer isn’t worried that Encarnacion will have difficulty securing a sizable contract – whether with the Jays or another team. “Not only is he the best player in this class, he’s one of the best in baseball,” Kinzer told Heyman. “We’re going to be fine. He and I are patient. He’s good” (Twitter links here).
  • Having lost left-handed setup man Brett Cecil to the Cardinals, the Blue Jays are on the hunt for a southpaw reliever, leading to interest in Jerry Blevins, Mike Dunn and Javier Lopez, report Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi. However, the contracts given to Cecil (four years, $30.5MM) and fellow lefty Marc Rzepczynski (two years, $11MM) have perhaps driven up the prices for Blevins, Dunn and Lopez, meaning the Jays could scour the trade market for a cheaper option than free agency offers, Nicholson-Smith and Davidi observe.
  • Along with Chris Iannetta, fellow free agent catchers Bobby Wilson and Geovany Soto are on Toronto’s radar, write Nicholson-Smith and Davidi. The Blue Jays are looking for someone to back up Russell Martin, whose 2016 reserves – Josh Thole and Dioner Navarro – are also on the open market.

Latest On The Cubs’ Bullpen

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The Cubs have already added Wade Davis and Brian Duensing to their bullpen, but they’re still trying to add depth, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Ideally, they’d like to add another lefty, and they’ve been in touch with Travis Wood about returning.

But Wood’s agent, Darek Braunecker, says his client has attracted interest from seven NL teams, as ESPN’s Jesse Rogers noted today. Those clubs value Wood’s versatility and hitting ability (Wood has a career .182/.208/.314 line, strong for a pitcher), and Wood would also like another shot at starting, a chance he’s unlikely to get with the Cubs. So a return to Chicago is far from a certainty.

Another possibility for a left-handed addition to the Cubs’ bullpen is Jerry Blevins, who posted a 2.79 ERA, 11.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 42 innings in a specialist role for the Mets last season, Wittenmyer writes. And the Cubs remain interested in righty Greg Holland, the former Royals closer who’s returning from Tommy John surgery and should be fully healthy for Spring Training. The team could also consider adding a bullpen piece in tomorrow’s Rule 5 Draft.

In the meantime, the Cubs’ addition of Davis will bump Hector Rondon back into a setup role, even though Rondon has had success as a closer in parts of each of the last three seasons. Manager Joe Maddon, though, says Rondon understands the move.

“He understands Wade being there,” says Maddon. “He was great. I told him how much I respect him. And he’s all about the team. It’s just one of those things.”

NL Notes: Cardinals, Blevins, Mets, Diamondbacks

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The Cardinals are on the lookout for center field help, and while free agents Dexter Fowler and Ian Desmond could be possibilities, the team could also turn to less obvious solutions, ESPN’s Mark Saxon writes. One of those is Carlos Gomez, who excelled down the stretch with the Rangers, and could be a riskier, but perhaps also more upside-laden, alternative to someone like Fowler. Ender Inciarte, Marcell Ozuna and Jarrod Dyson could also be possibilities via the trade market, Saxon suggests. Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Mets have spoken to Jerry Blevins about a return, but the lefty is likely to find a free agent deal beyond the team’s price range, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. Ackert also feels that catcher Rene Rivera and utilityman Kelly Johnson probably won’t be back with the Mets next season — Rivera’s projected $2.2MM arbitration salary is pricey for a backup catcher, while Johnson is “not a priority,” though New York could see if Johnson is available on a low-cost one-year deal. Ackert also covers other Mets offseason topics as part of the mailbag piece.
  • The Diamondbacks have hired former Cardinals international crosschecker Cesar Geronimo Jr. to serve as their new Latin American scouting director, writes Baseball America’s Ben Badler. Geronimo, the son of former Astros, Reds and Royals outfielder Cesar Geronimo, had success with St. Louis after becoming international crosschecker early in 2012, as the Cardinals signed good prospects like Alex Reyes, outfielder Magneuris Sierra, shortstop Edmundo Sosa, and righties Sandy Alcantara and Junior Fernandez. The hire is a significant one for the Diamondbacks’ new front office — beginning July 2, the team figures to be free of international bonus penalties for the first time since their seemingly poor decision to sign Yoan Lopez for $8.26MM in the 2014-15 signing period. Depending on the terms of the next CBA, the Diamondbacks could also have a large pool to work with after winning just 69 games in 2016.

Blue Jays Have Interest In Jerry Blevins

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After seeing Brett Cecil agree to a surprising four-year, $30.5MM contract with the Cardinals over the weekend, the Blue Jays are turning their focus to other free-agent lefties and have interest in Jerry Blevins, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Toronto had reportedly made a three-year offer to Cecil’s camp, though that ultimately didn’t prove sizable enough to get the job done.

Blevins, who turned 33 in September, has spent the past two years with the Mets. A pair of fractures to his non-throwing arm cost him most of the 2015 season, but he rebounded quite nicely in 2016, returning to log a 2.79 ERA with 11.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 45.8 percent ground-ball rate in 42 innings of work. The Mets used Blevins sparingly against right-handed hitters this past season, though he held his own against them quite well, yielding just a .182/.266/.345 slash line to opponents that held the platoon advantage. Somewhat curiously, it was lefties who got the better of Blevins in 2016, as they batted .255/.313/.324 in 113 plate appearances against him. That, however, is most likely an aberration, as a look at Blevins’ career splits reveals a .588 OPS from opposing left-handers compared to a .713 mark from righties.

The definitive loss of Cecil leaves the Blue Jays with just Aaron Loup, Matt Dermody, Chad Girodo and Ryan Borucki as left-handed bullpen options on the 40-man roster. Loup has been inconsistent and very homer-prone over the past two seasons, though, while Girodo and Dermody have a combined 13 innings of Major League experience between the two of them. Borucki, meanwhile, was only added to the 40-man roster last week (to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft) and hasn’t pitched a game above Class-A Advanced.

With so much uncertainty in the Jays’ left-handed relief corps, the connection to Blevins is natural. They’ll undoubtedly face some competition for Blevins, who is one of the top remaining left-handed setup options on the market and has already been connected to the Mets on multiple occasions this winter. It also seems likely that other free-agent lefties such as Boone Logan and Mike Dunn would also be on Toronto’s radar, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Jays also tried to add an experienced left-hander to their ’pen via the trade market.

East Notes: Mets, Orioles, Red Sox

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The Mets would like to re-sign left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins, who was terrific in 2016, and perhaps add another southpaw to their bullpen, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com. However, they’re unlikely to make any commitments without having answers from their top two free agents – outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and second baseman Neil Walker. General manager Sandy Alderson said earlier this week that he wants clarity on Cespedes’ intentions by Dec. 8, the end of the winter meetings. Cespedes will surely reject the Mets’ qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline, but Walker “could go either way,” per Rubin (click for Twitter links).

Now for a few AL East notes:

  • The Red Sox sent a Manuel Margot-headlined haul to San Diego for closer Craig Kimbrel last Nov. 13, but the deal looks good for Dave Dombrowski & Co. exactly one year later, opines Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Although Kimbrel wasn’t elite this past season, having delivered a 3.40 ERA to go with a bloated 5.6 BB/9 in 53 innings, Mastrodonato argues that the Sox struck at the right time to acquire him. The price to land high-end relievers either through trades or free agency has skyrocketed since then, as evidenced by the midseason deals involving Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller and the record contracts Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon will soon receive on the open market. “We have a closer now, we had to pay a heavy price for it but we felt it was worth it,” Dombrowski told Mastrodonato. Barring a sharp decline, Kimbrel should serve as the Red Sox’s closer at least until his current contract runs out after the 2018 season.
  • The Orioles could tab Roger McDowell or Frank Viola to replace the departed Dave Wallace as their next pitching coach, per Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. Kubatko cautions that the Orioles will have to act quickly if they want to hire McDowell, who is also drawing interest from other clubs. McDowell served as the Braves’ pitching coach over the previous 11 seasons, while Viola has held that role for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate – Las Vegas – since 2014.
  • The Red Sox need to start considering long-term contract extensions for their young standouts, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Teams like the Cubs, Astros and Pirates have benefited from locking up core talent to club-friendly deals in recent years, and the Red Sox could do the same with shortstop Xander Bogaerts, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and right fielder Mookie Betts, Britton contends. Boston hasn’t yet initiated extension talks with any of them, and Britton notes that one potential holdup is the lack of a new collective bargaining agreement. It’s worth noting, too, that all three players are already under control for the next few years. Their days of playing for minimal salaries are about to end, though, as Bogaerts and Bradley are now eligible for arbitration and Betts will join them next year.

NL East Notes: WBC, Nats, Gonzalez, Blevins, Braves

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For those of you looking for some rain delay reading during one of the craziest games in World Series history, here are a few notes from the NL East…

  • Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper isn’t likely to participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, but ace Max Scherzer is open to the idea, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. The WBC provides players with an opportunity to represent their country on a global stage but can be a source of scrutiny as well due to the enhanced risk of injury and, in pitchers’ cases, the increased workload they face when voluntarily adding some intense innings to their schedule before the regular season even gets underway.
  • Janes also writes that the Nationals are likely to exercise their $12MM club option on lefty Gio Gonzalez. That doesn’t come as a significant surprise, as the free-agent market is devoid of starting pitching talent and, as she notes, Gonzalez would figure to command multi-year offers if he reached the open market. Furthermore, his contract contains a vesting option for the 2018 season, so he has two years of club control remaining, so long as he reaches 180 innings pitched in 2017. That’s no sure thing for Gonzalez, who is prone to abbreviated outings and high pitch counts. Those factors and the Nats’ bevy of young arms could prompt the team to explore the trade market for Gonzalez if they decide they’d like to move on, Janes notes, but I’d have to agree that simply declining his option makes little sense even if the team’s preference is to get younger.
  • The Mets would like to have Jerry Blevins back in 2017 and covet a veteran lefty specialist to complement southpaws Josh Smoker and Josh Edgin, per ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, but team officials expect that the 33-year-old Blevins will find a fairly lucrative multi-year deal in free agency this winter. Blevins was effective in 2016, tossing 42 innings of 2.79 ERA ball with 11.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 45.8 percent ground-ball rate while earning a $4MM salary. A multi-year pact does indeed seem possible for the lefty in spite of some curious reverse platoon splits. The .258/.313/.324 line that Blevins yielded to lefties appears to be largely driven by a .368 BABIP from same-handed opponents, and the .637 OPS that he surrendered is hardly a robust mark anyhow.
  • The Braves have hired Orioles bullpen coach Dom Chiti as their new senior director of pitching, according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter links). Atlanta is also adding former O’s pitching coach Dave Wallace, per Kubatko. Wallace will function as a roving instructor throughout the team’s minor league system. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes that Wallace signed a two-year deal with the Braves and adds that the loss is notable for the Orioles organization, pointing out that Zach Britton credits the duo with his development into the dominant closer he has become.
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