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Koji Uehara Retires

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Veteran reliever Koji Uehara has retired, Jim Allen of the Kyodo News reports. The 44-year-old Uehara last pitched in the majors in 2017, after which he returned to his native Japan to join the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. It proved to be a full-circle move by Uehara, who began and ended his career with Yomiuri.

Uehara was often dominant as a starter for Yomiuri from 1999-2006 before mostly working out of the Giants’ bullpen from 2007-08. The right-hander then headed to the majors in 2009 when he signed a two-year, $10MM contract with the Orioles, who initially deployed him as a starter.

Uehara transitioned to the Orioles’ bullpen in 2010 and began a lengthy run as one of the majors’ most effective relievers. During a six-season, 324-inning span from 2010-15, Uehara’s pristine command helped him place first among relievers in two key categories – BB/9 (1.19) and K/BB ratio (9.56) – as well as seventh in ERA (2.08) and 19th in K/9 (11.42).

While Uehara’s major league excellence began with Baltimore, his tenure there was short-lived. The club traded him to the Rangers in July 2011 for reliever Tommy Hunter and a then-unproven slugger named Chris Davis, who later became the highest-paid Oriole ever and remains with the franchise today. Meanwhile, Texas clinched playoff berths in both of Uehara’s seasons with the team and won the American League the year it acquired him, though it wound up losing a classic seven-game World Series to the Cardinals.

Uehara returned to the World Series in 2013 with the Red Sox, who inked him to a one-year, $4.25MM contract prior to the season. It’s safe to say that deal ranks among the wisest the Red Sox have ever doled out, as it began a fruitful four-year union between the sides. Uehara was never greater than during his first year in Boston, where he logged 74 1/3 regular-season innings of 1.09 ERA ball and 12.23 K/9 against 1.09 BB/9. That brilliance carried into the playoffs, where Uehara earned ALCS MVP honors after combining for six shutout innings in a six-game victory over the Tigers. Uehara then totaled another 4 2/3 scoreless frames during the Red Sox’s World Series triumph over the Cardinals, whom he closed out in Game 6.

Although Uehara was never part of another title-winning team, he remained a quality reliever throughout his major league career – which concluded with a one-year stint with the Cubs. Across Baltimore, Texas, Boston and Chicago, the one-time All-Star produced 480 2/3 innings of 2.66 ERA ball with 10.7 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and 95 saves, leading to upward of $50MM in earnings.

As great as Uehara was in the majors, he’s even more accomplished in his homeland. Uehara registered a 3.02 ERA and a 112-67 record over 312 appearances and 205 starts with Yomiuri, where he earned a slew of personal and team awards. MLBTR congratulates Uehara on two outstanding decades in pro baseball and wishes him the best moving forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NPB/KBO Notes: Uehara, Kelly

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Things are quiet in the majors as we await Game 5 of the World Series, so here’s the latest from a pair of Asian leagues…

  • Reliever Koji Uehara saw his major league career end after the 2017 season, when he headed back to his native Japan to pitch for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. Now, after a season in which Uehara pitched to a 3.63 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 over 34 2/3 innings, the Giants are considering releasing the 43-year-old, according to the Japan Times. Uehara underwent left knee surgery on Tuesday, and if he’s able to bounce back from that, the Giants could re-sign him, per the report. Otherwise, considering his age, it’s possible the eight-time NPB All-Star has thrown his last pitch as a professional – even though the report indicates he’d like to continue playing. Uehara enjoyed an excellent major league career from 2009-17 as a member of a few teams – including the Red Sox, with whom he won a World Series in 2013 – posting a 2.66 ERA with 10.71 K/9, 1.46 BB/9, 95 saves and 81 holds in 480 2/3 frames. Those numbers are actually better than the stats Uehara has compiled with Yomiuri, the only Japanese team for which he has pitched. Across 11 seasons and 1,583 2/3 frames with the Giants, Uehara has notched a 3.02 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9.
  • Merrill Kelly, a righty for SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, has “been talked about as a possible MLB arm” for 2019, Sung Min Kim of The Athletic and River Ave Blues tweets. Kelly has been pitching in the KBO since 2015, but he did garner some minor league experience from 2010-14 as a member of the Rays, who chose him in the eighth round of the 2010 draft. At the time of Kelly’s selection, Baseball America (subscription required) wrote that he gets by “with a lot of funk and deception,” adding that he “profiles better as a reliever in pro ball.” Now 30, Kelly has parlayed his fastball-changeup-curveball repertoire into a solid career as a starter in the hitter-friendly KBO, where he has amassed at least 180 frames in three seasons and combined for a 3.86 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.

Koji Uehara Signs With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants

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After a terrific nine-year run in Major League Baseball, veteran reliever Koji Uehara has returned to the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the team announced (link via the Japan Times). Carlos Yamakazi of the Tokyo Sports Press had previously tweeted that Uehara would sign there and that the deal would be announced today.

Now entering his age-43 season, Uehara began his professional career with the Yomiuri organization nearly two decades ago. Uehara spent 10 seasons with the Giants, making 205 starts and another 71 relief appearances as he worked to a 3.01 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, 112 wins, nine shutouts and 33 saves before making the jump to Major League Baseball after the 2008 season.

Uehara initially landed with the Orioles on a two-year deal prior to the 2009 season and turned in a solid but injury-shortened season as a starter. He moved to the bullpen full-time the following season and never looked back, establishing himself as one of the more effective relievers in all of baseball for much of the next decade.

From 2010-15, Uehara was something of a perennially underappreciated star. The righty twice posted a sub-2.00 ERA in that six-year stretch and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings each season along the way. Overall, Uehara logged a stellar 2.08 ERA between the Orioles, Rangers and Red Sox in that time, and his K/BB numbers were particularly astonishing over that dominant stretch: 11.4 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9.

Perhaps his crowning individual achievement, though, was being named the 2013 ALCS MVP with the eventual World Champion Red Sox. Uehara’s postseason career featured 18 innings of 3.00 ERA ball with a 21-to-2 K/BB ratio, and he was utterly dominant in that 2013 League Championship Series, tossing six shutout innings with just four hits allowed, no walks and nine strikeouts against the Tigers.

Uehara was still effective in 2016-17 and still posted quality K/BB numbers, but he became more homer-prone in the two most recent seasons, averaging 1.5 homers per nine innings pitched between the Red Sox and his lone season with the Cubs (2017). The righty had been holding out hope for a big league opportunity and at one point said he was weighing retirement if such an offer did not materialize. However, Uehara recently indicated that he still had the passion and competitive drive pulling him toward the playing field and reconsidered interest from several Japanese clubs.

“There is only one thing for me to do, and that is to play my heart out,” said Uehara upon signing with the Giants (via the aforementioned Japan Times report). “Other Japanese clubs showed interest, but the Giants were the team whose approach was enthusiastic, and I am grateful.”

It seems likely that this reunion could spell the end of Uehara’s time in Major League Baseball, and if that’s he case he can look back with pride at what was an outstanding career in North America. In 480 2/3 innings, Uehara delivered a 2.66 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 1.12 HR/9, 22 wins and 95 saves. Baseball-Reference pegged him at 13.8 WAR in his career, while Fangraphs’ RA9-WAR largely concurred at 13.7. In all, he earned just north of $50MM in his MLB playing career.

Pitching Notes: Uehara, Lincecum, Senzatela, Hoffman, Kohn

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Reliever Koji Uehara says that he is open to considering offers from teams in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, as the Japan Times recently reported. That’s something of a reversal from the 42-year-old reliever, who had indicated he did not intend to play again in his homeland. After preparing for the MLB season, but finding interest scant, Uehara now says he has changed his mind and would consider pitching once again in the NPB. It’s at least a bit surprising that Uehara has not generated more pursuers among major-league clubs. He continued to produce declining results in 43 innings last year, finishing with a 3.98 ERA, but still ended with 10.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 and generated a strong 15.8% swinging-strike rate.

Here are a few more pitching notes from around the game:

  • While it’s clear the Rangers intend to utilize new pitching addition Tim Lincecum in the bullpen, just how he’ll be deployed isn’t yet clear. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram posted a video of the former ace discussing his new club. It seems that Lincecum is intrigued by the possibility of closing but is largely open to fitting in wherever the team prefers. “They see that,” Lincecum says of working in the 9th. “I feel like I could do that. I’ve done that in the Cape and at the college level. It’s going to be, obviously, different, but I feel like I could tap into that mentality.”
  • The Rockies elected this offseason to make a number of bullpen additions but not to pursue outside acquisitions for the rotation. That decision was no doubt as much about the team’s assessment of its internal options as it was about a need to maximize resources. In a pair of articles, here and here, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports on two key staff members. Antonio Senzatela is said to be hard at work on his secondary offerings, with a new change-up in the works alongside continuing work on a curve. Meanwhile, fellow young righty Jeff Hoffman dealing with a shoulder issue. There’s no indication its a serious injury, but Hoffman is still going to rest for at least a week or more before he resumes throwing. As things stand, the Rox may be lined up to utilize a five-man unit that does not include either of these hurlers, as the current Roster Resource depth chart projects, but both are important parts of the near-term and future picture in Colorado.
  • When the Twins brought in righty Michael Kohn last fall, the hope was that he could rebound from a rotator cuff problem and get his career back on track. Unfortunately, he’ll now require an absence of four to six months to recuperate from a “nerve issue,” per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). The 31-year-old Kohn has a 3.52 ERA in 115 career innings in the majors, though that has come with a 111:79 K/BB ratio. It’s hard to read much into his results last year, as they were mostly accumulated in the low minors, but Kohn was able to make it through 13 solid innings late in 2017, over which he racked up 18 strikeouts against just four walks while permitting two earned runs on eight hits.

Quick Hits: Cobb, Uehara, Slow Offseason

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Right-hander Alex Cobb entered free agency among the best available players, a 30-year-old destined to land one of the offseason’s richest contracts. While a hefty payday should still come, Cobb – like the rest of this year’s premier free agents – continues to wait for a deal nearly three months after the market opened. Cobb acknowledged to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that his trip to free agency during this famously plodding winter hasn’t gone according to plan, noting that “somewhere between November and December you realize how slow things are going and you kind of start reading the writing on the wall that this is a little bit of a different offseason than years before.” Cobb added that there has been frustration along the way, though he realizes he’s in the same situation as so many other unsigned players. “You just kind of change your frame of mind to accepting the fact that this thing is going to go down to the wire and you get comfortable with that,” he told Topkin in a piece that features other interesting quotes.

  • Reliever Koji Uehara also seems perturbed with this offseason’s free agent process. And at 42 years old (43 in March), he’s unsure if he’s going to receive a major league offer. If one doesn’t come, Uehara could call it quits. “I’ll retire if I’m only offered a minor league deal,” he said (via the Kyodo News). “There have been some talks, but no offers have been forthcoming. It seems like something’s on the horizon and then it isn’t. I can be patient for a little longer.” In the event Uehara does secure a big league pact for 2018, he’s “more than 90 percent certain” he’ll stick with his previously stated goal to retire after the season. That would give him 10 major league campaigns and 10 years as a pro in his native Japan. Despite his age, Uehara remained a major league-caliber reliever in 2017. As a member of the Cubs, the righty registered a 3.98 ERA with 10.47 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9 across 43 innings.
  • As MLB and the MLBPA spar over the league’s forthcoming implementation of a pitch clock, Buster Olney of ESPN writes that the two sides’ relationship may be at its worst point since the 1994-95 labor stoppage. The current collective bargaining agreement (which expires in December 2021) is seemingly a key reason, as many agents have suggested to Olney that the MLBPA “lost enormous financial ground” when it agreed to the CBA a year ago. As mentioned earlier, there’s a lack of movement in free agency; some agents believe the market inactivity has helped lead to the union’s close-mindedness toward the league’s ideas to speed up pace of play, per Olney, who argues that would be senseless on the MLBPA’s part. While there are plenty of theories about what has caused the offseason to go the way it has, one agent opined to Olney that collusion on the part of teams isn’t an issue. “I don’t think for one instant that this is collusion,” stated the agent. “[The union] negotiated the terms of this CBA, and it’s up to us [the agents] to adjust and give the best possible advice to our clients based on the market.”
  • Continuing with the slow winter theme, Travis Sawchik of The Athletic observes that teams’ growing skepticism toward paying for free agents’ decline years is among the primary reasons for the glacial pace (subscription required/highly recommended). Indeed, one executive told Sawchik that “it’s not if you will lose on free agency, it’s how much you will lose.” Sawchik goes on to posit that the longer the offseason stays this way, the more likely it is low- to mid-spending teams could land quality players at discounted costs. He points to the Pirates’ signing of David Freese in 2016 and the Indians’ addition of Edwin Encarnacion last winter as recent examples of that happening.

NL Central Notes: Pirates, Walker, Pham, Uehara

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Some items from around the NL Central…

  • Gregory Polanco left Saturday’s game with another hamstring injury, and the Pirates outfielder was held out of today’s lineup after undergoing a “battery of tests,” manager Clint Hurdle told MLB.com’s Adam Berry and other reporters.  The Bucs have an off-day on Monday, which could give Polanco time to recover and avoid his third hamstring-related DL placement of the season.  In better injury news for the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen returned to the lineup as the DH today in Toronto, two days after leaving a game due to what appears to be a minor leg injury.
  • The Brewers acquired Neil Walker as a second base upgrade, though GM David Stearns told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter links) and other reporters that the team sees him as a “multi-positional” player who can handle spot duty at first or third base if necessary.  The vast majority of Walker’s career has been played at the keystone, though he does have a bit of experience (17 career games at third, three games at first) at the other two positions, with five of those games coming this season with the Mets.  Walker, in fact, is making his Brewers debut today at third base, filling in for Travis Shaw, who is sore after twice fouling balls off his lower right leg.
  • Also, Stearns and Mets GM Sandy Alderson both hinted that it may be some months before the two teams determine the player to be named who will go to the Mets in return for Walker.
  • Tommy Pham’s breakout season has been an enormous boost for the Cardinals, though Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if the Cards see Pham as a big part of their future.  Dexter Fowler obviously isn’t going anywhere thanks to his big contract, while Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk are still important future pieces, though both have struggled and spent time in the minors this year. (Piscotty, of course, is also locked up in a contract extension.)  Hochman suggests that Pham could be a big trade chip for the Cardinals in the offseason, which is certainly true given Pham’s excellent performance and his four remaining years of team control.  In my opinion, I’d say that Pham is too valuable for the Cards to deal for anything less than a huge return, especially given the uncertainty around Piscotty and Grichuk.
  • Even at the age of 42, the Cubs’ Koji Uehara has been a quality reliever this year, but “there’s concern that this could be the end of the road,” Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Uehara went on the disabled list Wednesday with a neck strain, though there aren’t any indications that it’s a major injury (via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune).  Before his DL placement, Uehara allowed an earned run in four of his most recent six appearances.  He still owns a palatable 3.55 ERA over 38 innings, though, with 10.66 K/9 against 2.61 BB/9.  Uehara, whom the Cubs signed to a one-year, $6MM deal last winter, suggested prior to the season that he wanted to pitch through at least 2018, which would give him an even 10 seasons in Major League Baseball.  This would match the 10 years he pitched professionally in his native Japan.

NL Central Notes: Uehara, Gyorko, Reds

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Cubs reliever Koji Uehara told reporters on Tuesday that after spending 10 seasons as a pro in Japan, he hopes to pitch a total of 10 years in America as well (via Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune). That’d mean another two years for Uehara in the Majors, as he’s currently spent the past eight seasons pitching in Major League Baseball. Considering Uehara’s recent track record, there’s little reason to consider that goal unrealistic. While the 2016 season was a down year by his standards, Uehara still managed a 3.45 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 across 47 innings with the Red Sox. It should be noted that the 41-year-old Uehara (42 in April) didn’t expressly rule out pitching beyond a 10th Major League season.

Elsewhere in the NL Central…

  • Jedd Gyorko isn’t certain where he’ll be playing on a day to day basis in 2017, but Cardinals manager Mike Matheny tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the slugging utility infielder will have the opportunity to pick up plenty of at-bats. “I think right now it’s compete for lots of playing time,” said the skipper. “So we’re still in that same mode, and we’ll decide when we break with our club what roles look like.” Gyorko, who started 25+ games at second base, shortstop and third base last year, tells Goold that he dropped some weight in an effort to improve his range and increase the value of his newfound versatility. He also notes that so long as the Cardinals are winning, his own placement on the diamond/in the lineup is secondary. “I could be selfish and demand that I play every day and if I don’t then say I want to be traded,” says Gyorko. “That’s not who I am. That’s not who I want to be.” Gyorko will compete with Jhonny Peralta for at-bats at third base and can also play each other infield slot.
  • Bronson Arroyo and Devin Mesoraco appeared in an intrasquad game for the Reds on Tuesday, writes MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. While Arroyo’s velocity in his one-inning, 15-pitch outing was around 83 mph, the 40-year-old is a bit behind after missing a week due to a stomach virus. Arroyo said he’s relieved, as his arm was already in “severe pain” around this stage last season (when a shoulder injury cut his spring short). His next outing will be a two-inning stint in a Cactus League game, per Sheldon, while manager Bryan Price said that Mesoraco could be in a Cactus League lineup by Sunday. Mesoraco admitted to feeling a bit rusty from a baseball standpoint but said that he felt good from a health perspective.

Red Sox Notes: Info Systems, Koji, Panda, Pomeranz

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The Red Sox are embarking upon a transition from their old information system (“Carmine”) to a new one (“Beacon”) that will support all of the team’s critical analytics work, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes that the club . The changing nature of data, a shifting focus in analyzing it, and new means of digesting it have all occasioned the initiative, as Speier explains. Readers interested in that element of the baseball decisionmaking process, or fans of the club, will want to give the piece a full read.

Here’s more out of Boston:

  • The Red Sox placed a bid on veteran reliever Koji Uehara before he signed on with the Cubs, manager John Farrell tells Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). Farrell hinted that it fell shy of the $6MM guaranteed by Chicago. The offer, he said, was not “to what [Uehara] expected.” Boston acquired a new setup option in Tyler Thornburg before Uehara put pen to paper with the Cubs, but it’s unclear just when those discussions took place.
  • We’ve already seen visual evidence of Pablo Sandoval’s improved physique, but it’s not yet clear whether that’ll translate to a full turnaround. There’s hope, though, a loss of weight — along with a healthy shoulder and perhaps renewed focus — will allow the embattled veteran to return to being a productive player. Farrell said today that the expectation is for Sandoval to show an “increase in range maybe some better foot quickness, [and] better body control” in the field, as ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber reports. Of course, he’ll also need to bounce back at the plate.
  • Last year’s Drew Pomeranz drama has spurred a renewed effort to address medical information on a leaguewide basis, as we’ve heard previously and MLBPA chief Tony Clark addressed yesterday with reporters including Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com. With new “checks and balances and accountability and transparency” now in place following the recent round of collective bargaining talks, says Clark, the hope is that positive “changes are being made to the protocols and the system itself.” The Pomeranz situation itself, he said, was regrettable. “To say it’s unfortunate would be an understatement,” said Clark. “We’re hopeful here moving forward with the changes and adjustments that are being made that it won’t happen again.”

Cubs Sign Koji Uehara

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After announcing the acquisition of Wade Davis from the Royals last week, the Cubs have struck again to further bolster their bullpen, announcing on Tuesday the signing of right-hander Koji Uehara to a one-year deal. Uehara, a client of ISE Baseball, will reportedly be guaranteed a total of $6MM with his new team. The Cubs had open space on their 40-man roster, which now stands at 37 players, so no corresponding 40-man move is necessary to finalize the latest addition.

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Uehara will join the Cubs after a strong four-year run at the back of Boston’s bullpen. At last check, the Red Sox looked likely to move on from Uehara — Alex Speier of WEEI.com tweeted last week that the Red Sox had made an offer, but Uehara wasn’t ready to respond, so the team acquired Tyler Thornburg instead — and Uehara now indeed lands with his fourth big league organization. The Cubs have been known to be looking for bullpen help even after their trade for Davis, and Uehara will deepen their relief corps and bring a highly experienced arm to manager Joe Maddon’s staff.

With Davis in tow, Uehara almost certainly won’t close for the Cubs, as he did for Boston in 2012-2014. But his presence provides some added peace of mind for the defending World Series champs, particularly since Davis dealt with forearm issues in 2016. Chicago now features a rather robust assortment of experienced, high-leverage righties in the pen. Both Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop — who spent much of 2016 as the team’s closer and top set-up option, respectively — remain on hand.

[Related: Updated Chicago Cubs Depth Chart]

As for Uehara, there’s a reason a pitcher of his repute was available on a modest contract. Most importantly, he’ll turn 42 near the start of the season. His fastball velocity also continued to dip in 2016, falling to an average of 86.7 MPH, generally dangerous territory for a righty. He also became incredibly fly-ball-prone, with a minuscule 21.4 GB%, and coughed up 1.53 homers per nine innings. Also, Uehara missed time in 2016 due to a pectoral injury, interrupting what had been a strong run of durability.

Still, Uehara remained very effective last season, posting a 3.45 ERA, 12.1 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 over 47 innings. If the contract does turn out to be for $4.5MM, the Cubs’ risk is minimal, particularly for a pitcher who hasn’t yet had a bad season in eight years since arriving from Japan. For his U.S. career, Uehara has a terrific 2.53 ERA, 10.7 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 over 437 2/3 innings.

Notably, too, Uehara has long dominated opposing hitters on both sides of the plate. While lefty hitters have been ever so slightly better in terms of strikeouts and walks when facing Uehara, they have produced less offensive than have righties. Since the ace reliever landed in the majors, 863 southpaw swingers have combined to hit an anemic .181/.220/.335 against him.

Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald first tweeted the connection between Uehara and the Red Sox. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweeted that a deal was done. ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers reported the salary details (via Twitter).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

FA/Trade Rumors: Yankees, Orioles, Mets, J. De La Rosa, Rollins

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is in touch with the representatives for free agent relievers Greg Holland, Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler and Mike Dunn, report George A. King III and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Given their vast experience as closers, any of Holland, Uehara or Ziegler could end up as fallback ninth-inning options if the Yankees aren’t able to land either Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen. As of now, the only somewhat established southpaw in New York’s projected bullpen for 2017 is Tommy Layne, so adding a left-handed setup man like Dunn – a former Yankees farmhand – would seemingly make sense.

  • The Mets are interested in acquiring Orioles reliever Brad Brach, but a deal that would send outfielder Curtis Granderson to Baltimore is unlikely, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports. One major roadblock involves finances: The Mets don’t want to eat any of Granderson’s $15MM salary for 2017, while the Orioles aren’t eager to add payroll unless it’s allocated to free agent outfielder/first baseman Mark Trumbo. It doesn’t appear that the O’s are remotely close to re-signing Trumbo, however.
  • Catcher Matt Wieters is another key Orioles free agent, and they haven’t closed the door on re-signing him, per Kubatko. However, as is the case with Trumbo, Wieters is currently out of the Orioles’ price range. That could lead Baltimore to find an affordable replacement on a one- or two-year contract, thereby enabling well-regarded, big-hitting prospect Chance Sisco to further develop in the minors. “He needs more experience catching,” general manager Dan Duquette told Kubatko in regards to Sisco. “That’s a tough position to learn, right? There are so many things that go into being a good catcher.” Notably, free agent backstop Welington Castillo is on the Orioles’ radar and should only garner a short-term deal.
  • Six teams are in discussions with free agent left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Some of those clubs regard De La Rosa as a rotation option, while others see him as a swingman. For his part, De La Rosa is willing to work out of the bullpen. From 2008-14, all 176 of De La Rosa’s appearances with the Rockies came as a starter. He spent some time as a bullpen option last season, though, with three relief appearances out of 27. All told, the soon-to-be 36-year-old tossed 134 innings in 2016 and struggled to a 5.51 ERA. He also posted his highest BB/9 (4.23) since 2008 and experienced a dip in velocity.
  • Although free agent shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ 2016 season ended in early June after the White Sox released him, he wants to continue his career next year at the age of 38, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. The longtime Phillie and 2007 National League MVP was a solid contributor as recently as 2014, but he has since hit just .224/.287/.351 in a combined 729 plate appearances with the Dodgers and White Sox. Rollins settled for a minor league contract last winter and will likely get one again this offseason – if anyone signs him, that is.
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