Aroldis Chapman's contract has a 3 year no trade clause. Can't be traded to any Cali squad.
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Rockies sign Ian Desmond to a 5-year deal worth $70M. They signed him to apparently play 1st base which makes no sense to me. His value is in playing SS or CF, at 1B he's below average offensively. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...lorado-rockiesComment -
Rockies also giving up the 11th overall pick to sign Desmond as well, just a crazy signing. They could have gotten Encarnacion for a bit more money or other 1B/DH types for much less money.Comment -
So Cubs Red Sox in the World Series 2017?Comment -
rule V draft is today at the winter meetings!Comment -
Righty reliever Koji Uehara has agreed to a one-year deal with the Cubs. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald first tweeted the connection; Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeted that a deal was done. A report from Nikkan Sports in Japan indicates that Uehara and the Cubs have struck a deal for around $4.5MM, though the precise dollar amount remains in question.
At last check, the Red Sox had been set to move on from Uehara — as Alex Speier of WEEI.com tweets, the Red Sox had made an offer, but Uehara wasn’t ready to respond, so the team acquired Tyler Thornburg instead. The Cubs have been known to be looking for bullpen help even after their trade for Wade Davis, although previous reporting suggested they might focus on finding a lefty.
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 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.Comment -
Rockies are the worst managed team in all of baseball. Owners and GM cannot get it rightComment -
still in shock over what the white sox got for Adam EatonComment -
White Sox will still suck, Frank Thomas not coming back.Comment -
Dexter Fowler & Cardinals reach agreement on five-year, $82.5M deal.
After signing Dexter Fowler, the Cardinals say they are now in the market most likely for "complementary pieces," but with so many power bats still available on the free agent market, it's not out of the question the Cardinals could get involved for one of them. A bigger issue than money could be fit. If they bring in a first baseman, for example, Matt Carpenter would have to play elsewhere on the infield and his defense was suspect last season. "There are still some things we could possibly do," general manager John Mozeliak said.Comment -
The Cardinals retired No. 24 in honor of Whitey Herzog.
So Dexter Fowler will be the first to wear No. 25 since Mark McGwire.Comment -
The Astros and young Cuban left-hander Cionel Perez have agreed to a new deal that comes with a $2MM signing bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). Houston and Perez had originally agreed to a $5.15MM signing bonus back in September, but in October it was reported by Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and ESPN’s Keith Law that the deal had been voided for medical reasons. The precise medical problem that derailed the first deal remains unclear.
The new arrangement comes with less financial risk for Astros, who in addition to the bonus figure are also on the hook for a 100 percent luxury tax due to the fact that they’d already exceeded their 2016-17 international bonus pool. As such, Perez drops from a $10.3MM total expenditure to a $4MM total expenditure for the Astros, who clearly are intrigued by Perez’s talent despite some apparent physical red flags.
Perez, 21 next April, ranks fourth on Sanchez’s list of top 30 international prospects at MLB.com. He’s undersized, though Sanchez notes that he still has room to add to his 5’11”, 170-pound frame. Perez already features a fastball in the 92-95mph range, and that velocity could tick upward a bit as he continues to grow. Perez also shows good feel for a slider and changeup, Sanchez continues. Longenhagen offered similarly high praise for Perez at Fangraphs, rating him seventh among international prospects. While Longenhagen’s report is down a bit more on Perez’s slider, he also notes that Perez flashes a potentially plus curveball. At the time of Perez’s original signing, Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote that the changeup was a fairly new pitch for Perez, who has only added it since leaving Cuba. His slider has improved since leaving Cuba as well, Badler notes.
Perez spent just two seasons playing in the Cuban National Series, logging a 2.20 ERA while pitching as a professional at ages 17 and 18. He totaled 139 innings with 100 strikeouts against 61 walks, although 13 of those free passes were issued intentionally. Perez should be ticketed for the lower levels of the minor leagues to begin his pro career in the United States.Comment -
Going to be hard having Dexter in that red birds uni.Comment -
Dexter Fowler costs less than Jason Heyward.Comment -
After the Nationals acquired center fielder Adam Eaton from the White Sox in a Winter Meetings blockbuster, the writing was on the wall for Danny Espinosa.
With Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper already manning the corners and Trea Turner and Daniel Murphy up the middle, it was clear there was no room for Espinosa in Washington.
The Angels had a need at second base, and Espinosa made sense as a low-cost fit to pair with Andrelton Simmons up the middle. After failing to show up to Washington’s fan festival this weekend amid reports he was unhappy with his newly diminished role, it was clear that Espinosa needed a change of scenery. He’ll get just that with the Angels.
To acquire Espinosa, the Angels dealt a pair of 25-year-old righthanders in Kyle McGowin and Austin Adams. McGowin struggled at the upper levels this season and could wind up in the bullpen in the long term, and Adams is a hard-throwing reliever who needs to continue to harness his command.
With Espinosa out of the picture, the Nationals can turn to prospect Wilmer Difo as a utility player if they choose, or they can attempt to re-sign Stephen Drew.
McGowin was taken in the fifth round of the 2013 draft and has struggled through injury issues throughout his career. He split this past season between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Salt Lake and went 9-14, 5.83 in the process. He pitched off a two-seam fastball in the low-90s and a slider in the low-80s, and mixed in a low-80s changeup that projects as average in the future. If the changeup doesn’t make the necessary strides, however, McGowin is likely to transition into a sinker-slider bullpen role. He’ll likely start his first year with Washington at Triple-A Syracuse.image: http://www.baseballamerica.com/wp-co...ationals77.jpg
NATIONALS ACQUIRE
Kyle McGowin, pos
Age: 25
2016 Club W L ERA G GS IP H HR BB SO AVG Arkansas (AAA) 3 2 4.56 5 5 25.2 22 4 9 32 .227 Salt Lake City (AAA) 6 12 6.11 22 22 116.1 144 16 46 98 .308
Stuff has never been a problem for Adams, who was taken in the eighth round of the 2012 draft out of South Florida. He struck out more than 13 hitters per nine innings in 2016 and whiffed a total of 61 in 41.1 innings with Double-A Arkansas. He missed a month with fatigue but closed the season with six straight hitless innings. He has a plus fastball that sits in the mid-90s and touches 97 mph and a wipeout slider that grades as a plus pitch as well. To make the final leap Adams will need to iron out his command. He got better in that department this year, shaving his walks per nine innings from 7.7 in 2015 to 5.2 in 2016. If he can continue that trend he could find himself in a late-innings bullpen role. He, like McGowin, is likely to begin the season with Triple-A Syracuse. The Angels had added Adams to their 40-man roster this offseason.Austin Adams, rhp
Age: 25
2016 Club W L ERA G SV IP H HR BB SO AVG AZL Angels (R) 0 0 3.00 2 0 3 1 0 0 2 .100 Arkansas (AA) 0 1 3.12 31 4 40.1 28 2 24 59 .199
Although he played exclusively at shortstop this season with Washington, Espinosa will slide over the second base in Los Angeles in deference to the superior defensive player in Andrelton Simmons. Espinosa had a down season with the bat, though his 24 home runs were tied for fifth among shortstops. He played solid defense this season and made 98 out-of-zone plays this season, which tied him with Texas’ Elvis Andrus and placed him behind only Marcus Semien, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa. If he can continue this trend, he and Simmons have the potential to form a formidable defensive duo up the middle.image: http://www.baseballamerica.com/wp-co...14/04/3202.png
ANGELS ACQUIRE
Danny Espinosa, if
Age: 29
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/major...XiOCbZGJIip.992016 Club AVG OBP SLG AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB Washington (MAJ) .209 .306 .378 516 66 108 15 0 24 72 54 174 9 Comment -
Espinosa is a good pick-up for the Angels .Comment -
I like the manager uniforms, makes baseball unique... lots of big guts hanging out of those managers too.Comment -
Timing is everything.
Last offseason, in a crowded free agent market, nobody really wanted Dexter Fowler. He turned down a lowball offer from the Orioles, returned to the Cubs, had the best season of his career and became a Cubs legend. Now he's headed to the Cardinals pending a physical, basically the same player as a year ago except a year older ... and reportedly about $80-$90 million richer.Comment -
Dexter bet on himself and won big.Comment -
Royals starters Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura are two of the pitchers on the Astros’ list of rotation targets, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports. The two K.C. arms join several other previously-known names (i.e. Jose Quintana, Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and other Tampa Bay’s starters) as potential trade fits for a Houston team looking to upgrade its starting pitching.
Kansas City is known to be open to dealing notable players in order to cut short-term payroll, and the Royals have already made one big move in this regard by dealing Wade Davis to the Cubs for Jorge Soler. Even with Davis gone, however, the Royals have several more possible trade chips who are only controllable over the next one or two seasons before hitting free agency.
Duffy fits into that category, as MLBTR projects the southpaw to earn $8.2MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency after the 2017 season. K.C. began preliminary extension talks with Duffy earlier this winter but were also gauging interest in his services during the Winter Meetings. Duffy, who turns 28 late this month, posted a 3.51 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 4.48 K/BB rate over 179 2/3 innings for Kansas City last year, finally solidifying himself as a member of the rotation after being used as a part-time reliever in the previous two seasons and at the start of 2016.
While Duffy would be a one-year rental, Ventura is locked up through at least 2019 due to a contract extension that includes club options for both 2020 and 2021. Ventura is guaranteed $20.25MM through 2019 and, if both options are exercised, Ventura’s deal would cost $43.25MM over the five seasons. Even if Ventura merely continues to post numbers akin to his only-okay 2016 season (4.45 ERA, 50.2% grounder rate, 6.97 K/9, 1.85 K/BB rate over 186 innings), that deal is still very good value given the rising costs of starting pitching, and it could become a major bargain should Ventura take a step forward in performance.
Ventura has been the subject of controversy due to reported maturity issues and his two suspensions for throwing at batters, though the Royals denied reports that they were shopping the righty last summer. One would think that given Ventura’s age (25) and reasonable contract, the Royals would see him as a long-term building block rather than as a trade chip. Their willingness to least listen to other clubs’ offers could be due to doubts about his personality, or it could just be due diligence, as Ventura’s years of control could net K.C. a nice return in a trade.
The Astros have a deep minor league system that could satisfy the Royals or other teams looking for young talent, and Houston could also offer starting pitching of its own in the form of Collin McHugh or Mike Fiers. Since the Royals plan to contend next season, they could fit as a team that would take on a solid rotation piece like McHugh or Fiers rather than just prospects in exchange for a pitcher; the Davis trade, for instance, netted the Royals a player in Soler who they expect to contribute immediately.
Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, McHugh, Fiers and the newly-signed Charlie Morton project as Houston’s rotation. It’s an unspectacular but solid rotation, and one that could look better on paper if Keuchel returns to his Cy Young Award form of 2015.Comment
