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Rockies, Royals In On Mark Reynolds

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It seems as though the Rockies are “strong contenders”  to re-sign Mark Reynolds, who played first base for the club in the majority of their 2016-2017 games. The insight comes via a tweet from Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish, who also notes that the Royals are looking at Reynolds as a backup plan in case Gold Glove-winner Eric Hosmer signs elsewhere.

The 34-year-old Reynolds has been worth about one win above replacement over the course of 1,034 plate appearances with the Rockies. His .274/.354/.471 batting line with the club has earned him a 103 wRC+ mark during that time, while his defense grades out as slightly below average.

Reynolds has long been known for his all-or-nothing approach at the plate. The right-handed slugger has blasted 281 career home runs, and they go a long way. In fact, his average home run distance was the longest in all of baseball at 419 feet (minimum 15 home runs). However, his whopping 1,806 career strikeouts already rank 18th-most all-time among MLB players. He’s got a 15.6% swinging strike rate for his career; for reference, that’s the number a 2017 league-average hitter would have posted if he faced Cy Young-winner Corey Kluber in every at-bat of the season. Reynolds has toned down the strikeouts a bit in recent years, but he’s still a good bet to whiff around 30% of the time.

Reynolds, then, would be a stark contrast to the type of player the Royals have generally rostered in recent years: high-contact, low-strikeout players with good baserunning ability. Then again, the Royals may enter a rebuilding phase if they can’t re-sign any of their veteran free agents (including Hosmer), and Reynolds would be among the cheaper first base options on the free agent market. You can see where Reynolds’ skills rank among the top eight free agent first basemen here.

As for the Rockies, they’ve been linked to Carlos Santana during the winter meetings, but it’s been said that their top priorities are not at first base. As such, it makes sense that they’re a strong contender for the inexpensive Reynolds.

 

NL West News: Rodney, Bruce, Duggar, Cutch, Giants, Reynolds, Dodgers

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Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that his team has kept in touch with Fernando Rodney.  The veteran reliever was expected to personally attend the Winter Meetings to speak to clubs about a contract, though it isn’t known whether the D’Backs were one of those teams.  Rodney signed a one-year, $2.75MM deal with Arizona last winter and turned into a bargain signing for the team, recording 39 saves to go along with a 4.23 ERA, 10.57 K/9 and 52.2% grounder rate.

Some more from around the NL West…

  • The Giants have some level of interest in Jay Bruce, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  The slugger is known to be on the target list for at least four other teams, though it remains to be seen if the bidding will be high enough for Bruce to land his desired five-year contract.  A right-handed bat would be a better fit within San Francisco’s heavily left-handed lineup, though Bruce would check a couple of boxes for the Giants as a power hitter and defensively-capable right fielder.
  • From that same Schulman piece, the Giants are impressed enough with prospect Steven Duggar that “it does affect how we view addressing that [center field] need this offseason,” GM Bobby Evans said.  “It does give us a mindset more short term.”  This would seem to lessen the chance that the Giants acquire names like Lorenzo Cain or Billy Hamilton, who have been both been linked to the team in rumors.  Andrew McCutchen has also been mentioned as a possibility for the Giants, yet Schulman writes that “he is not viewed as a priority,” even though the Pirates outfielder is only under contract through the 2018 season and would seem to fit as a short-term answer.  Duggar is expected to start the season in Triple-A but would seem to be on pace for a big league debut next year and potentially a regular role by 2019.
  • A big bat for third base or the corner outfield is the priority for the Giants at the Winter Meetings, Schulman tweets, and the team may have to sacrifice defense in order to land that type of hitter.  San Francisco also wants to address the bullpen, though that will be dealt with later in the offseason.
  • The Rockies are interested in re-signing Mark Reynolds, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  GM Jeff Bridich has suggested that first base (or any type of bat) isn’t necessarily a priority for the team, though that hasn’t stopped the Rox from checking in on the likes of Carlos Santana or Jay Bruce.  Reynolds would be a more affordable and familiar option for Colorado at first base, returning for a third year at Coors Field after hitting .274/.354/.471 with 44 homers over 1034 PA in 2016-17.  Despite those slightly above-average hitting numbers, however, Reynolds has only been worth a total of 1.0 fWAR over those two seasons due to his strikeouts and lack of defensive or baserunning value.
  • It is “fair to say” that the Dodgers’ 2018 payroll will be lower than $237MM, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick and other media.  Exceeding that figure would balloon the team’s luxury tax rate to 95 percent and drop their position in the June amateur draft back by 10 spots.  Counting arbitration projections and money owed to players no longer on the roster, the Dodgers’ payroll stands at over $208MM for next season, so they do have some room to make upgrades though it seems unlikely that they’d take on any major salary commitments without first unloading some of their existing big contracts.
  • Also from Friedman, the Dodgers are prioritizing bullpen additions.  Starting pitching doesn’t seem to be a need, as Friedman likes their current rotation depth and wants to give younger pitchers “a soft landing spot in the big leagues to go through their acclimation process.  We have a talented enough group to ride that out a little bit.”  As Gurnick notes, this makes it seem unlikely that L.A. would re-sign Yu Darvish.  Of course, the Dodgers did make a push for one very notable starter in Shohei Ohtani, though that was a unique circumstance due to Ohtani’s minimal costs.

Sorting the Skills Of The Best Free Agent First Basemen

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Last offseason featured a particularly deep free agent first base crop. Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo, Mike Napoli, Brandon Moss, Steve Pearce and Eric Thames ultimately earned a combined $146MM in guarantees. The 2018 offseason is set to feature yet another deep collection of first base talent, with eight free agents at the position who provided at least 0.8 fWAR to their 2017 teams (note: this list assumes that Adam Lind’s $5MM mutual option will not be exercised). Below is a list of these players sorted by 2017 fWAR, with their respective 2018 season ages indicated in parentheses.

  1. Eric Hosmer (28) – 4.1
  2. Logan Morrison (30) – 3.3
  3. Carlos Santana (32) – 3.0
  4. Yonder Alonso (31) – 2.4
  5. Lucas Duda (31) – 1.1
  6. Adam Lind (34) – 0.9
  7. Mitch Moreland (32) – 0.9
  8. Mark Reynolds (34) – 0.8

But while WAR is a great measure of a player’s overall value, it doesn’t necessarily paint a picture of his unique individual skill set. Each of these first basemen have their own individual strengths and weaknesses, so I’ve decided to take a close look at exactly what these players offer to prospective teams. All stats are from the 2017 season.

Power

Isolated Power (ISO):

  1. Duda – .279
  2. Morrison – .270
  3. Alonso – .235
  4. Reynolds – .219
  5. Lind – .210
  6. Moreland – .197
  7. Santana – .196
  8. Hosmer – .179

Extra Base Hits Per Plate Appearance (Multiplied by 100):

  1. Duda – 11.81
  2. Morrison – 10.14
  3. Moreland – 9.72
  4. Alonso – 9.60
  5. Santana – 9.45
  6. Lind – 9.30
  7. Reynolds – 8.94
  8. Hosmer – 8.49

Duda and Morrison are the clear leading candidates in the power department, with Hosmer showing a weakness in that department relative to the competition. It’s worth noting that Alonso’s power numbers are propped up by a monster first half; he cooled off significantly after a midseason trade to the Mariners. Also worth mentioning is the fact that Reynolds played half his games at hitter-friendly Coors Field last season. A move to any other ballpark could negatively impact his power numbers. Though Santana had a down year in the power department, his larger body of work suggests he might hit for more extra bases in 2018.

Plate Discipline

Strikeout Rate (K%):

  1. Santana – 14.1%
  2. Hosmer – 15.5%
  3. Lind – 15.6%
  4. Moreland – 20.8%
  5. Alonso – 22.6%
  6. Morrison – 24.8%
  7. Duda – 27.5%
  8. Reynolds – 29.5%

Walk Rate (BB%):

  1. Morrison – 13.5%
  2. Santana – 13.2%
  3. Alonso – 13.1%
  4. Duda – 12.2%
  5. Reynolds – 11.6%
  6. Moreland – 9.9%
  7. Hosmer – 9.8%
  8. Lind – 9.3%

Chase Rate on Pitches Outside the Strike Zone (O-Swing %):

  1. Santana – 21.4%
  2. Reynolds – 26.1%
  3. Duda – 26.8%
  4. Morrison – 27.7%
  5. Alonso – 27.7%
  6. Hosmer – 30.0%
  7. Moreland – 30.2%
  8. Lind – 32.6%

Santana is by far and away the leading candidate in the plate discipline department, ranking first or second in all three of the above categories. Reynolds and Moreland could probably be considered to have the worst plate discipline of the group, though it’s interesting that nobody outside of Santana appears to distinguish themselves as extremely good or extremely bad relative to the rest of the crop.

Contact Ability

Contact Rate (Contact %):

  1. Lind – 83.7%
  2. Santana – 82.1%
  3. Hosmer – 80.2%
  4. Moreland – 75.7%
  5. Alonso – 75.6%
  6. Duda – 74.9%
  7. Morrison – 73.7%
  8. Reynolds – 67.6%

Contact rate is really the only stat necessary to measure this skill, and Lind, Santana and Hosmer use it to set themselves apart. Reynolds, on the other hand, is an outlier on the opposite end; it seems he’d probably be more valuable to teams like the Athletics or Rays that rely heavily on the home run ball rather than stringing together consecutive walks and hits.

Quality of Contact

Barrels Per Plate Appearance (Multiplied by 100):

  1. Moreland – 8.2
  2. Morrison- 7.8
  3. Duda – 7.1
  4. Alonso – 6.3
  5. Lind – 6.3
  6. Santana – 5.4
  7. Hosmer – 5.2
  8. Reynolds – 4.9

Hard Contact Rate (Hard%):

  1. Duda – 42.1%
  2. Lind – 39.4%
  3. Moreland – 38.9%
  4. Morrison – 37.4%
  5. Alonso – 36.0%
  6. Reynolds – 34.5%
  7. Santana – 33.0%
  8. Hosmer – 29.5%

Average Exit Velocity, MPH (AEV):

  1. Lind – 90.6
  2. Duda – 90.3
  3. Hosmer – 89.6
  4. Alonso – 89.2
  5. Moreland – 89.1
  6. Morrison – 88.6
  7. Santana – 88.3
  8. Reynolds – 87.1

Lind, Duda and Moreland would appear to have a leg up on their competition as far as quality of contact. Santana and Reynolds, meanwhile, rank near the bottom in all three categories. It’s fascinating to observe that, although Hosmer ranks poorly in hard contact rate and barrels per plate appearance, his average exit velocity reflects a valuable skill that led to the best batting average of the group this past season (.318).

Offensive Versatility

wRC+ vs. Left-Handed Pitching:

  1. Morrison – 109
  2. Santana – 106
  3. Hosmer – 99
  4. Reynolds – 87
  5. Moreland – 85
  6. Lind – 81
  7. Alonso – 80
  8. Duda – 72

Pull Rate (Pull%):

  1. Hosmer – 31.3%
  2. Lind – 35.4%
  3. Moreland – 37.2%
  4. Alonso – 40.8%
  5. Reynolds – 44.0%
  6. Duda – 46.2%
  7. Morrison – 46.5%
  8. Santana – 51.2%

Each of this year’s free agent first basemen is a better hitter against right-handed pitching, even the right-handed Reynolds and switch-hitting Santana. The purpose of looking at their wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching is to expose the weaknesses of Lind, Alonso and Duda, all of whom may not be seen as everyday players. In addition, players without the ability to spray the ball about the field are more vulnerable to defensive shifts, limiting their offensive value. Duda is a clear loser in terms of offensive versatility, while Hosmer is a clear winner in that regard. It would seem as though Reynolds and Moreland are neither helped nor hurt by a look into these statistics.

Baserunning

Fangraphs Baserunning Rating (BsR):

  1. Hosmer – 1.8
  2. Santana – 0.8
  3. Morrison – 0.0
  4. Lind – [-1.3]
  5. Moreland – [-2.4]
  6. Alonso – [-2.5]
  7. Reynolds – [-2.7]
  8. Duda – [-3.9]

Statcast Sprint Speed, Feet Per Second:

  1. Hosmer – 27.5
  2. Morrison – 26.9
  3. Santana – 26.7
  4. Moreland – 26.3
  5. Lind – 25.9
  6. Reynolds – 25.9
  7. Duda – 25.7
  8. Alonso – 25.3

Hosmer is the best in this category by a notable margin, while Santana provides some positive baserunning value as well. This category also exposes another blatant weakness for Duda. There’s not much else to say about the baserunning value of this group; the above numbers tell a pretty clear story.

Fielding

Ultimate Zone Rating Runs Per 150 Innings (UZR/150):

  1. Moreland – 5.8
  2. Santana – 4.7
  3. Morrison – 2.0
  4. Duda – [-0.1]
  5. Hosmer – [-0.4]
  6. Reynolds – [-1.5]
  7. Alonso – [-3.3]
  8. Lind – [-16.3]

Defensive Runs Saved (DRS):

  1. Santana – 10
  2. Moreland – 10
  3. Morrison – 1
  4. Duda – [-1]
  5. Lind – [-2]
  6. Reynolds – [-4]
  7. Hosmer – [-7]
  8. Alonso – [-9]

If we’re to evaluate defense based on 2017 statistics, Santana and Moreland get a huge boost to their value. Duda and Morrison grade out close to average, while the remaining four players would seem to be defensive liabilities. While Hosmer is a former Gold Glove winner, he hasn’t been great over the past couple of seasons, so it’s unlikely he’ll be paid for his past defensive reputation. Perhaps most notably, the defensive rankings absolutely cripple Lind, such to the point that he may be limited to American League suitors.

While it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to rank these players based on their expected earning potential, each of the above skills could factor into their ultimate landing spots. The unique skill sets of each of these free agents will cause their overall value to increase and decrease relative to each team, and it will be well worth tracking where each of these players ends up.

9 Budget Free Agent Hitters Off To Strong Starts

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Mining the free agent ranks for good value remains an art, with the potential for rather significant rewards. While it’s unusual for a team to find a true gem — think Justin Turner — there is quite a lot of potential for adding impact in part-time roles.

We already looked at some minor-league signees who have impacted their organizations’ bullpens. Now, let’s check in on some hitters who signed for little but have been rather useful through about two months of action:

  • Alexi Amarista, INF, Rockies — The 28-year-old has helped cover for the injured Trevor Story, and he’s doing more than just keeping the team afloat. Through 69 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .338/.348/.515. There’s obviously quite a lot of room for regression baked in — Amarista has drawn just one walk and carries a .412 BABIP — but he’s been a big help for the emerging Rockies team at the meager cost of $1.25MM.
  • Daniel Descalso, INF, Diamondbacks — After Colorado let the utilityman go over the winter, Descalso landed only $1.5MM despite a solid 2016 season. That has worked out just fine for Arizona, which has received 92 plate appearances of .218/.337/.410 hitting from the veteran, who is walking at a 13.0% clip and succeeding despite a .250 BABIP.
  • Chris Iannetta, C, Diamondbacks — Also earning a meager $1.5MM, Iannetta has helped the DBacks feel better about the decision to allow Welington Castillo to walk. Though the typically patient Iannetta is walking at about half of his career rate, he’s driving the ball like never before. Over eighty plate appearances, Iannetta has smacked six long balls and owns a .288 isolated slugging mark.
  • Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Dodgers — Taking home a modest $2.6MM salary, Gutierrez has been quite productive when healthy. While Los Angeles will only ask him to play a limited role, the team will be thrilled if he can keep producing at a .257/.350/.429 rate the rest of the way.
  • Austin Jackson, OF, Indians — After settling for a minor-league deal over the winter, Jackson came with low expectations. But he made the Opening Day roster and owns a .273/.327/.523 batting line that points back to his days as one of the game’s more promising young players.
  • Adam Lind, 1B, Nationals — Lind languished on the market along with a variety of other sluggers, eventually scoring just $1.5MM to function as a lefty complement to Ryan Zimmerman at first base. While the Nats have received plenty of production from Zimmerman, the team is also enjoying Lind’s robust output off the bench. He owns a .340/.400/.604 slash over sixty plate appearances, with as many walks as strikeouts (10.0% apiece).
  • Mark Reynolds, 1B, Rockies — Expected to land on the bench after returning to Colorado on a minors deal, Reynolds was thrown into a more significant role when Ian Desmond opened the year on the DL. He has responded with outstanding production: .313/.388/.555 with 13 home runs in 206 plate appearances.
  • Kurt Suzuki, C, Braves — At just $1.5MM, Suzuki has been quite the bargain. He’s outhitting most of the league’s catchers in his 88 plate appearances, with a .257/.379/.457 slash. Interestingly, Suzuki is walking 11.4% of the time — nearly double his typical levels — while also hitting for good power (.200 ISO).
  • Chase Utley, INF, Dodgers — The former star took home just $2MM in exchange for his services this year, and seemed ready to take a smaller role on the Dodgers’ bench. After a slow start, though, he has begun to deliver. 125 plate appearances into the season, he’s batting .252/.347/.430 with three dingers and three steals — the type of production not seen since back in 2013, when he was still with the Phillies.

Rockies Select Mark Reynolds’ Contract

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The Rockies have officially selected the contract of first baseman Mark Reynolds, as per a team announcement.  In a corresponding move to create roster space, Chad Bettis has been placed on the 60-day DL as the right-hander continues his battle with testicular cancer.

Reynolds rejoined the Rockies on a minor league deal in February that guaranteed him a $1.5MM for making the MLB roster.  The veteran slugger will have another $2MM more available to him through incentives.

With Ian Desmond sidelined for much of April due to a fracture in his left hand, the path was clear for Reynolds to win a spot as Colorado’s regular first baseman.  Rookies Stephen Cardullo and Jordan Patterson are locked in an interesting battle over the backup first base job.  Cardullo has been one of the Rockies’ best hitters in camp, though the club would have to create a 40-man roster space for him; Patterson is already on the 40-man and is a left-handed hitter, better complementing the righty-swinging Reynolds.

Reynolds hit .282/.356/.450 with 14 homers over 441 plate appearances for the Rockies last season, a good performance on paper that was aided by both a .361 BABIP and hitter-friendly Coors Field.  Reynolds had been decidedly less productive over the previous three seasons, hitting .216/.303/.395 over 1369 PA with the Cardinals, Brewers, Yankees, and Indians.  Still, if Reynolds has been somewhat revived by playing in the thin air, he provides an inexpensive veteran bat and pretty solid glovework as Desmond’s temporary replacement.

Rockies Re-Sign Mark Reynolds

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FEBRUARY 14: Reynolds would earn $1.5MM if he makes the roster, and can add up to $2MM via incentives, per Heyman (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 1, 7:50pm: Colorado has announced the deal, noting that it unsurprisingly includes an invitation to MLB camp.

7:05pm: The Rockies have agreed to a minor-league deal with first baseman Mark Reynolds, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. His potential salary and opt-out opportunities remain unreported at this time.

Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise, at this stage at least, that Reynolds couldn’t find a 40-man spot. There just wasn’t enough demand to account for all of the available power-hitting, first base/DH types that were on the market. Righty sluggers Mike Napoli and Chris Carter remain unsigned, as do a variety of lefty bats.

That said, Reynolds has also put together a string of relatively disappointing seasons. He hit at an approximately league-average rate in his 441 plate appearances for Colorado — the .282/.356/.450 batting line was obviously influenced by the altitude — but launched only 14 long balls and didn’t quite capitalize on his opportunity at regular playing time. It was an improvement, at least, over the prior two seasons, when Reynolds combined for a .213/.301/.396 slash over 865 plate appearances with the Cardinals and Brewers.

[RELATED: Updated Rockies Depth Chart]

For the Rockies, the low-risk addition creates some interesting possibilities. When a southpaw takes the hill, the club can now utilize Reynolds at first while bumping Ian Desmond into the outfield in place of one of the team’s many lefty-swinging outfielders. (It should be noted, though, that Reynolds carries minimal lifetime platoon splits and actually struggled against southpaws last year.)

Of course, Reynolds will need to make the roster first. Though he’s no longer the prolific home run hitter he once was, Reynolds still packs some punch. And he does typically draw solid defensive ratings for his glovework at first base. But he also offers nothing in the way of defensive versatility, meaning that the organization may have to decide between carrying a bench bat or an extra reliever as camp draws to a close.

Market Notes: Mets, Dodgers, Rangers, Wieters, Reynolds

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The Mets were reportedly unwilling to trade outfielder Juan Lagares as of November, but teams are continuing to show interest in the soon-to-be 28-year-old, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether New York is now open to moving Lagares, who’s far and away the most qualified center field candidate on a team loaded with corner outfielders. Dealing the defensively adept Lagares and getting rid of his $4.5MM for 2017 would perhaps give the Mets the financial freedom to address their bullpen, though, as Puma notes. Lagares, who’s fresh off back-to-back underwhelming offensive seasons, has four years and either $20.5MM or $29.5MM left on his contract – depending on what happens with his 2020 club option.

More from the market:

  • Free agent reliever Sergio Romo has spent his entire career with the San Francisco organization since it took him in the 28th round of the 2005 draft, but the 34-year-old could head to the archrival Dodgers. Romo’s currently choosing between Los Angeles and an unidentified club, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The Dodgers are also in talks with other relievers, including free agent Joe Blanton – who was among their top bullpen options last season.
  • If a long-anticipated reunion between the Rangers and free agent first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli is going to happen this offseason, Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) could be a date to watch, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. As Grant explains, the Rangers will no longer have to carry the retired Prince Fielder or the ailing Jake Diekman on their 40-man roster that day, which is when pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training. By waiting until then to ink Napoli, the Rangers would afford themselves some roster flexibility and wouldn’t have to expose any of their pitching depth to waivers.
  • “Several teams” remain in contention for free agent catcher Matt Wieters, tweets the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin, who relays that “there’s no good read” on whether he’ll sign with the Rays. Along with the Rays, the Orioles (Wieters’ only MLB employer to date), Angels, Rockies, Reds, Nationals and Astros have drawn recent connections to the 30-year-old.
  • Before re-signing with the Rockies on a minor league deal Wednesday, first baseman Mark Reynolds turned down $3MM to play in Korea, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Accepting that offer would’ve easily made Reynolds the highest-paid player in Korea, topping former major league right-hander Dustin Nippert’s $2.1MM, notes Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency (Twitter link). It’s likely that the powerful Reynolds also would’ve had his way in the hitter’s paradise known as the Korea Baseball Organization, but neither that nor the payday could entice the 33-year-old to leave the States.

Quick Hits: Howard, Marlins, Rockies, Rays, Wieters

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Ryan Howard tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that a productive second half in 2016 — Howard batted .262/.324/.608 in his last 140 plate appearances — convinced him that he still has “a lot left in the tank.” Howard is working out and waiting in hopes of receiving an offer for the upcoming season, Rosenthal writes. The longtime Phillies cornerstone is open to signing in the American League and serving as a designated hitter, and he’s realistic and understanding of the fact that he isn’t likely to be given an everyday role. Howard is one of many left-handed sluggers on the free-agent market — Brandon Moss, Pedro Alvarez, Adam Lind and Justin Morneau are all also available, for instance — but a strong finish and 24 home runs against right-handed pitching (in 327 plate appearances) could get him a look as a part-time DH or a bench bat in 2017.

Here are a few more late-night notes from around the game…

  • The Marlins’ acquisition of right-hander Severino Gonzalez filled the team’s 40-man roster, making further guaranteed contracts unrealistic, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. The Marlins could still add some players on minor league deals, but with a full 40-man roster and a payroll that is at its limit (roughly $110MM), additional spending is a long shot. Miami was recently connected to both Chris Carter and Mark Reynolds, but Frisaro calls the chances of signing either “extremely remote.” The Fish do have interest in Jeff Francoeur, but he’d have to be willing to sign a minor league contract in order to return to Miami. That could ultimately happen, but Francoeur does have interest elsewhere, as the Braves are said to be in on him as well.
  • Sticking with the Marlins, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears that it was the agents for Carter and Reynolds who reached out to the Marlins recently, and not vice versa. That would certainly make sense, as Miami could look like an appealing landing spot, on paper, for either slugger. Jackson writes that the Marlins are considering a 13-man pitching staff and a four-man bench, making the addition of even a modestly priced right-handed bat like Carter or Reynolds unlikely. There’s still some interest in Francoeur and Chris Johnson, he notes.
  • Fangraphs’ David Laurila spoke with Rockies GM Jeff Bridich about a number of topics, interestingly touching on what lessons that Major League front offices can learn from the front offices of teams in other sports. Laurila notes that Bridich is a diehard Green Bay Packers fan, and the two discussed Green Bay’s ability to build through the draft as well as the Atlanta Falcons’ turnaround from a sub-.500 club to a Super Bowl participant. Bridich also spoke about the Rockies’ focus on youth and athleticism as well as their growing analytics department. “We’ve worked in leaps and bounds to do that, but it’s probably unfair to say we’ve brought our analytics process up to par with our scouting process,” said Bridich. “…in terms of the human capital, in terms of the financial capital, and the time spent in the growth of the analytics over the last year, year and a half… it’s real. We’re starting to really see some movement there.”
  • Rays general manager Erik Neander tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that newly acquired right-hander Jose De Leon is very close to making a “significant impact” on the team, though Topkin writes that De Leon could open the year in Triple-A. De Leon’s shoulder has been a source of concern for some, but the right-hander denies that there’s any cause for concern and said his arm is healthy. “I’m on a mission,” De Leon tells Topkin. “I was a low draft pick, nobody knew about me, nobody believed in me, so I’m on a mission to fulfill my dreams. Getting to the big leagues is just the beginning.”
  • Topkin also notes at the end of that column that the Rays are “possibly” considering free-agent catcher Matt Wieters in their search for a bat. While that may seem like a curious fit at first glance, offseason signee Wilson Ramos will be out early in the season as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn ACL. Even when Ramos is healthy enough to take the field, it’s all but certain that the Rays will want to be cautious at first once he’s activated. Wieters could catch regularly for a good portion of the season and eventually be part of a catcher/DH timeshare with Ramos, in theory.

Quick Hits: Darvish, Marlins, Rays, Holland

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Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and the agent for right-hander Yu Darvish have engaged in a couple of contract extension-related conversations – but not serious ones – Daniels told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Extension talks tend to heat up around spring training, which was the case last year between the Rangers and cornerstone third baseman Adrian Beltre. The two sides ultimately hammered out a deal in mid-April, thus preventing Beltre from testing the open market this winter. Darvish will become a free agent next offseason if he and Texas don’t reach an extension, but it seems the 30-year-old wants to remain with the organization. “I am really grateful to the Texas Rangers for giving me that contract,” Darvish said of the six-year, $56MM pact he signed to leave his native Japan in 2012. “They have taken care of me really well.”

Now for the latest on the majors’ Florida-based teams:

  • The Marlins have reportedly discussed signing either Chris Carter or Mark Reynolds – two power-hitting first basemen who remain without contracts. However, picking up a big bat isn’t a priority, writes MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, who notes that the Marlins are likely at their payroll limit. As a result, the Fish could roll with a four-man bench consisting of A.J. Ellis, Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas and an eight-man bullpen to begin 2017. One reason the Marlins are open to taking that route is because they’re aiming to give lefty-swinging first baseman Justin Bour more opportunities against southpaw pitchers. Bour has slashed a miserable .223/.273/.291 versus lefties in his career, but those struggles have come over a small sample size (110 plate appearances). “We haven’t really actively tried to finish off anything in terms of a right-handed bat, knowing that we’re going to give Bour every opportunity to be that everyday guy and face lefties and righties — and occasionally getting (catcher) J.T. Realmuto [time] over at first,” stated team president Michael Hill, who added that signing a righty hitter is “not at the forefront of things for us. Our goal was to create as much pitching depth and quality as we could.”
  • The Rays are continuing to monitor the open market for bench and bullpen pieces, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With that in mind, the club could look for a “proven right-handed hitter,” suggests Topkin, who rules out Mike Napoli but lists the aforementioned duo of Carter and Reynolds as possibilities. While the Rays have been involved in the sweepstakes for free agent reliever Greg Holland, it’s “unlikely” they’ll land him, per Topkin.
  • Since hiring Jason Pare as their senior director of analytics a year ago, the Marlins have worked to beef up the department – which is now roughly league average in size – details Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Hill and manager Don Mattingly, two organizational bigwigs, are among those who have embraced the 31-year-old Pare’s role. “[Hill] is very good about giving everybody a seat at the table,” Pare told Healey. “That’s the expression that he uses. They come to me with a lot questions, and I’m encouraged to give my opinion proactively as well.” Pare, for instance, was instrumental in Miami’s decision to shift Christian Yelich from left field to center, which had Mattingly’s support after he observed that Yelich fared better up the middle than Marcell Ozuna did in 2016. “He gives us another dimension of … trying to put the right people in the right spots and make sure metrically we are paying attention. We do want to be able to evaluate our guys, and that’s part of it,” Mattingly said of Pare.

Marlins Have Discussed Chris Carter, Mark Reynolds

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The Marlins would still like to add a right-handed bat to pair with Justin Bour at first base and have had discussions about sluggers Chris Carter and Mark Reynolds, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). However, the Fish don’t have much in the way of extra financial resources at the moment and may need to get the right-handed bat they’re seeking on a non-roster invite. That would certainly seem to eliminate Carter from their list of possibilities, and it might make Reynolds difficult to lure in as well. The Marlins currently project to open the year with a $115MM payroll.

Carter, 30, was non-tendered to the surprise of some back in December despite the fact that he finished the 2016 season tied for the National League lead with 41 home runs. (Carter also led the NL in a much less flattering category, striking out 206 times in 644 plate appearances.) The role that Miami is seeking, from my vantage point, would be a tough sell for Carter anyhow, as he’d surely prefer more playing time than the short side of a platoon could offer. Despite his penchant for striking out and his unsightly .222 batting average, Carter did post a .321 on-base percentage and a .499 slugging percentage last year. His overall contributions at the plate were decidedly above the league average, as they have been on the whole dating back to the 2012 season.

The 33-year-old Reynolds is fresh off an impressive-looking .282/.356/.450 batting line, though he did post those numbers while playing his home games at Coors Field. The production was strong nonetheless, however, and Reynolds can also point to the fact that the 25.4 percent strikeout rate he posted last year was the lowest of his career. He did suffer a broken hamate bone which ended his season prematurely, though the injury didn’t require surgery. Reynolds had some uncharacteristic struggles against left-handed pitching in 2016 with the Rox, and isn’t a true lefty masher; rather, he’s had roughly even splits over the course of his big league career. Still, Reynolds’ lifetime .233/.346/.445 batting line against lefties would be an improvement over what the team can realistically expect for Bour, who has batted .223/.273/.291 in 110 career PAs against lefties.

If neither Carter nor Reynolds is in the Marlins’ financial wheelhouse, the team could look to potentially cheaper options that remain on the open market such as Dae-ho Lee and Jerry Sands. The 34-year-old Lee batted .261/.329/.446 in 173 PAs against southpaws last season, while Sands is a career .285/.335/.477 hitter when holding the platoon advantage.

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