I think whomever signs Arrieta to a long term deal will regret it in two years, maybe less
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As Buster Olney reported, the Yankees have contacted Aaron Boone for an interview to be the team's next manager. Another ESPN analyst, David Ross, has been linked to receiving a possible interview. When reached by phone on Thursday afternoon, Ross said he had yet to hear from the Yankees, but he would seem to fit a similar mold as Boone.Comment -
The Angels are not aiming to make a big splash in the pitching market this offseason, general manager Billy Eppler tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. While the team will be “keeping an eye open” on available starters and relievers, Eppler’s focus is on upgrading an offense that finished 22nd in the majors in runs last season.
The Angels will “look for value, similar to what we did last year,” with regard to pitchers, Eppler said. The Eppler-led Halos only handed out two guaranteed contracts to pitchers last winter – $5.75MM to swingman Jesse Chavez and $1MM to reliever Andrew Bailey – neither of which worked out as hoped. On the other hand, Los Angeles struck gold when it claimed reliever Blake Parker off waivers and signed fellow relievers Yusmeiro Petit and Bud Norris to minor league contracts. Only one of those three, Parker, remains under club control heading into next season. Eppler isn’t sure whether the Angels will bring either Petit or Norris back, per Fletcher, who notes that they already have most of their 2018 bullpen in place with Parker, Cam Bedrosian, Jose Alvarez, Keynan Middleton, Noe Ramirez and Blake Wood on hand.
The Angels also have a variety of in-house rotation possibilities in Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, Matt Shoemaker, Nick Tropeano, Parker Bridwell and J.C. Ramirez, leading to Eppler’s confidence that a big-money addition isn’t necessary (notably, Eppler wasn’t willing to discuss a potential Shohei Ohtani pursuit, as he’s technically not a free agent yet). Although injuries marred the seasons of Richards, Heaney, Skaggs, Shoemaker, Ramirez and Tropeano (who didn’t pitch at all while recovering from 2016 Tommy John surgery), Fletcher relays that the only member of that group who hasn’t yet gotten medical clearance going into next year is Ramirez – whose 2017 ended in August on account of elbow soreness. The 29-year-old right-hander, who led all Angels holdovers in innings last season (142 1/3), will undergo an ultrasound on his elbow late this month, according to Fletcher.
While the Angels seem largely content with their pitchers, they could add at least one notable outsider to their group of position players, even after they managed to prevent left fielder Justin Upton from leaving in free agency. Along with Upton, center fielder Mike Trout, right fielder Kole Calhoun, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, designated hitter Albert Pujols and catcher Martin Maldonado figure to reprise their starting roles in 2018. That leaves the corner infield (either first or third, depending on where Luis Valbuena slots in) and second base ripe for upgrades.
The keystone looks like an especially big need, Fletcher observes, after Angels second basemen limped to a ghastly .207/.274/.318 batting line and a major league-worst 60 wRC+ last season. With Eppler looking for players who are adept at getting on base, previous trade target and current free agent Neil Walker (.362 OBP in 2017, .341 career) looks like someone who may pique the Angels’ interest, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk previously suggested when previewing their offseason in late October. And there are several possibilities LA could acquire via trade, including the Marlins’ Dee Gordon, whom it was interested in over the summer.
As for the corner infield, Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana Logan Morrison, Yonder Alonso, Lucas Duda are at the top of the free agent class at first base (MLBTR projects the Angels to land Alonso). Alternatively, tthe Halos could hand the reins to Valbuena and C.J. Cron at first and and go for a third baseman, whether it’s Los Angeles native Mike Moustakas, Todd Frazier, Eduardo Nunez or Zack Cozart (if he’s willing to move off shortstop) in free agency or another player via trade.Comment -
Not much news yetComment -
Royals going to get lots of extra picks to start their next rebuild.Comment -
After 20 games and with 20 remaining, Mookie Betts ranks 159th in a field of 195 at the World Series of Bowling with a 205.75 average, up from his 190 average of two years ago when he made his WSOB debut. His scores in the second round ("Shark" oiling pattern): 227, 215, 202, 207, 155, 179, 222, 223, 237, 222.Comment -
On Friday, we learned that the Marlins have had preliminary talks about outfielder Giancarlo Stanton with four MLB teams. As more rumors involving the prolific slugger swirl about today, we’ll keep track of them here.
- Talks between the Marlins and Red Sox involving Stanton “may be heating up”, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. His source tells him that the Red Sox are “definitely in play”. Spencer also mentions that Stanton’s incredible power would play well at Fenway Park, adding that Boston hit the fewest home runs of any MLB team in 2017. The Red Sox certainly seem like a reasonable fit for many other reasons as well, and Spencer lists a small handful in his piece. They’ve been said to be interested in spending more money, even to the point of exceeding the luxury tax, while it has been said that Stanton prefers to play near a coast. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski is no stranger to making deals with the Marlins, having helped engineer a blockbuster trade to bring Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers back in 2007.
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The Yankees have interviewed Eric Wedge for their managerial position. Wedge has previously managed the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians. Wedge joins bench coach Rob Thompson and Aaron Boone as known candidates.Comment -
Lots of people that can predict the future on Arrieta apparently. The guy is a physical beast remember.Comment -
Review his career arc.[quote=jjgold;5683305]I win again like usual
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[quote=Whippit;7921056]miami won't lose a single eastern conference game through end of season[/quote]Comment -
As I Cubs fan, I will surely miss Jake the Snake.Comment -
The Twins have checked in with the Reds about a trade for closer Raisel Iglesias, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link). Iglesias is one of several relievers Minnesota is “performing due diligence on” as the club looks to upgrade its bullpen for next season.
Iglesias stands out as a logical target for any team in the market for saves, given that a closer is a luxury on a rebuilding team like Cincinnati. Working as a full-time reliever for the first time, Iglesias just completed the best of his three MLB seasons, posting a 2.49 ERA, 10.89 K/9 and 3.41 K/BB over 76 innings. Iglesias closed out 28-of-30 save opportunities while generating a career-high swinging strike rate (13.9%) on the strength of an excellent slider and a 96.4 mph fastball.
Iglesias, who turns 28 in January, brings value both as a strong closer now and as a long-term asset who isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season. As per the terms of his original seven-year, $27MM deal with the Reds, Iglesias had the right to opt out of his guaranteed salary (with the Reds still retaining team control) in any offseason once he became eligible for arbitration, in order to chase a potentially larger payday through the arb process. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects Iglesias to earn $2.8MM through arbitration salary next season, so it is likely Iglesias will remain in his current deal for at least one winter, as his contract guarantees him $4.5MM in 2018.
Iglesias is also slated to earn $5MM in both 2019 and 2020 if he doesn’t opt into arbitration, and then he’ll have one final arb-eligible year as a Super Two player in the 2020-21 offseason. So while Iglesias’ price tag could potentially grow if he continues to rack up the saves, he’ll still be a cost-effective acquisition for a mid-market team like the Twins, particularly since Minnesota has very little salary on the books past the 2018 season.
Brandon Kintzler and Matt Belisle handled most of the ninth-inning duties for the Twins last season, though Kintzler was traded at the deadline and Belisle is a free agent, leaving Minnesota in search of a new closer this winter. The Twins didn’t get strong relief pitching in general in 2017, so it isn’t surprising that they’re looking at Iglesias and other notable bullpen arms on the trade and free agent fronts. We’ve already heard that the Twins have checked in with Kintzler about possibly bringing the free agent righty back to Target Field.
The Reds were only interested in hearing big trade offers for Iglesias last summer, and that asking price almost certainly hasn’t changed. The Twins’ farm system is middle-of-the-pack in terms of prospects to offer (Minnesota was ranked 19th in Baseball America’s post-deadline organizational ranking) since they were a team that seemed to be headed into a rebuild themselves before their surprising AL wild card finish in 2017 changed their outlook. If comes down to a prospect bidding war for Iglesias’ services, Minnesota might not have the young talent to meet the Reds’ needs.Comment -
he started throwing across his body, putting his arm, shoulder, elbow on immense strain
the reason he wasn't throwing well in beginning of season was dead arm from doing that movement the last few years.
he realized he needed to go ahead and throw his future away, so that he could finish season with good numbers so he could get that one big contract.
smart move on his part
he just won't be getting another contract after this big oneComment -
In addition to being the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year, a 9-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove winner, Carlos Beltran is one of five players in MLB history with at least 400 HR and 300 SB, joining Hall-of-Famers Andre Dawson and Willie Mays, along with Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.Comment -
Aaron Judge wins AL rookie of the year, the NL ROY won't be surprising either.Comment -
As the 2017-18 offseason gets underway, we’ve heard a lot about teams anticipating the 2018-19 class. Some clubs could even curb current spending to prepare for that group. That’s reasonable enough, given potential franchise-altering free agents like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. In addition to those two abnormally young superstars, the position players include many excellent players who will be 30 or older in 2019: Charlie Blackmon, Josh Donaldson, Brian Dozier, Daniel Murphy, Elvis Andrus, Marwin Gonzalez, Andrew McCutchen, and A.J. Pollock, for example. While it would be risky for a team to let this group of potential free agents affect their 2017-18 offseason spending, you can at least make a case. However, the list of starting pitchers who project to be eligible for free agency after the 2018 season is less impressive.
Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, and after the 2018 season he has the ability to opt out of the two years and $65MM left on his contract with the Dodgers. Kershaw will turn 31 in March of 2019. One way or another, he’s going to get a new monster contract between now and then. It might just be another record-setting extension, as the Dodgers have almost a year to attempt to lock him up. Given that very real possibility, the only team that should take Kershaw into account this winter is the Dodgers.
After Kershaw, the 2018-19 free agent class for starting pitchers doesn’t look all that special. David Price could opt out of his remaining four years and $127MM, but that looks unlikely at present. The lefty will turn 33 next August and was limited to 11 starts this year due to an elbow injury. Aside from Kershaw, the biggest 2018-19 free agent starting pitcher contracts may go to Dallas Keuchel and Drew Pomeranz. They will 31 and 30 years old, respectively, and posted solid 2017 seasons. Still, these aren’t pitchers you plan for a year in advance.
Further down the list, question marks pile up. Garrett Richards could be interesting, but only if his partially torn UCL holds up in 2018. Similarly, perhaps Matt Harvey and Nathan Eovaldi can re-establish themselves next season. Gio Gonzalez and Charlie Morton are quality pitchers who will be 33 and 35 years old, respectively, in 2019, though Morton has indicated that he may retire once his current contract expires. Patrick Corbin, J.A. Happ, and Cole Hamels may remain useful pieces a year from now.
While the position players potentially available could make the 2018-19 offseason one for the ages, the starting pitching in this class does not measure up. We actually saw a group far more impressive in the 2015-16 offseason, when Price, Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Ian Kennedy, and Scott Kazmir signed for over a billion dollars combined. It’s unclear whether Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta will incite bidding wars this winter, but if they don’t, it won’t be because of the 2018-19 free agent starting pitchers.Comment -
Cody Bellinger is the 18th Dodgers player to win Rookie of the Year, twice as many as any other franchise (Yankees). According to Elias Sports Bureau research, Bellinger is the first rookie to lead a 100-win team in both home runs and RBI.Comment -
The Dodgers were 89-38 (.701) when Cody Bellinger was in the starting lineup this season and 15-20 (.429) when he wasn't. That .701 win percentage was the highest in any player's starts in MLB (min. 75).Comment -
Still very quietComment -
Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton has already generated plenty of buzz at the GM Meetings. Perhaps that’s unsurprising, given that his massive contract represents a key factor in the Miami organization’s offseason — and those of the teams that will consider acquiring it. Given the unique circumstances at play, perhaps it wouldn’t be surprising if he were to be dealt at a relatively early stage.
Here’s the latest:
- The Dodgers are indeed in the mix for Stanton, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. To what extent Los Angeles is interested remains unclear, but the Dodgers certainly have the payroll capacity to take on the contract as well as the young talent in order to entice the Marlins to part with Stanton.
- Stanton actually has not ruled out the Red Sox — or, it seems, any other organizations — according to a report from Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. While the slugger may have initial preferences, Drellich writes that he’s maintaining a “’completely’ open mind.” It’s ultimately not too surprising to hear some competing information flying about Stanton’s approach, for the reasons Goold explores in the below-linked piece. But if the slugger is indeed willing to entertain any possibilities, then that will presumably make for a more wide-open process — and keep things interesting right up to the point that Stanton weighs an actual opportunity t change teams, should it arise.
Earlier Updates
- The Giants have at times given signals of going big for Stanton (or another expensive player) or instead trying to stay under the luxury tax line. But it seems the organization is engaged with the Marlins in earnest. Per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, via Twitter, the clubs are discussing Giants prospect Heliot Ramos as a possible element of a hypothetical return for Stanton. San Francisco is joined by at least three others in chasing the slugger at this point, he adds. (Those looking for subtle signals will also note that Giants GM Bobby Evans and Marlins president of baseball ops Michael Hill were spotted on a joint foyer foray this morning, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.)
- Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, meanwhile, hears at least seven clubs have shown some level of interest in Stanton, noting that the Marlins front office is “encouraged” by the early dialogue. Front office sources from other organizations framed things a bit differently; ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets that there’s a perception that the Marlins are seeking a “shockingly high” package for the rights to pay Stanton at a premium rate, particularly since his deal includes an opt-out clause.
- Importantly, per Heyman, Miami is said to be open to hanging on to some of Stanton’s contract. Additionally, the team is focused on achieving value rather than on getting young pitching, specifically.
- Of course, Stanton’s own preferences hold the final say in any deal. While it’s far from certain, there are rumblings that Stanton is not inclined to approve a swap that would send him to the Cardinals or Red Sox, as Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald reports. If nothing else, anything less than a full blessing from Stanton with regard to a given organization would likely complicate any effort to finalize a deal.
- The no-trade clause obviously ties into the subject of leverage, which is a key issue for the Fish, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains. Since Miami would do well to keep its cards close to the vest with regard to Stanton’s preferences, the information flow is critical to the Marlins’ effort to maximize their return while finding a landing spot Stanton that will authorize.
- While the Red Sox “may have checked in” on Stanton, they seem to be focused elsewhere. And the Dodgers haven’t engaged yet at all, Heyman adds. Both of those teams were highlighted by MLBTR as among the best fits on paper for the star slugger.
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Marlins gonna sell sell sell again
huge contract thoughComment -
Marlins such a sad franchise right now.Comment -
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer confirmed that John Lackey plans to pitch in 2018 and didn't dismiss a return to the Cubs: "Its certainly something we're going to talk about."Comment -
Corey Kluber wins the AL Cy Young and Max Scherzer wins the NL Cy Young. The only major award with any intrigue is the NL MVP award.Comment
