Braves sign Josh Donaldson to a 1 year deal worth $23M. Same amount he made last season. https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/st...39745078231041
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I like the signing for the Braves. Donaldson needs to get back on track but his veteran presence is a good thing for a young ballclub like the Braves that has plenty of dangerous hitters already.Comment -
Smart with a one year deal on Donaldson. Not tied down.Comment -
Infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich has elected free agency after clearing waivers, the Marlins announced today. He had been designated for assignment recently.
Dietrich, 29, possesses a quality left-handed bat that would aid many contending lineups. He also has a varied positional background, but he’s not considered a very good defender at any of the spots — second base, third base, and the corner outfield — he has tried out over the years.
Clearly, no other clubs were interested in paying the projected $4.8MM Dietrich would have commanded in arbitration. He’ll now be available to the highest bidder, with any acquiring team also picking up an added season of arb control (assuming he signs a one-year pact).
That rate of pay would be quite reasonable if Dietrich could even hold his own in the field, but defensive metrics have always been skeptical and it seems the scouts agree. He moved out of the infield in 2018 as the Marlins tried to find a fit, but his time on the grass hasn’t gone well either. Dietrich has graded quite poorly in left field over 1,120 career innings.
All that said, it still stands to reason that Dietrich will get some bites in free agency from clubs that like the idea of utilizing him as a bench bat that can at least plausibly fill in around the diamond. It doesn’t help that there are so many useful infielders floating around the market, but few can match his overall offensive productivity.
Through 1,716 plate appearances over the past four years, Dietrich owns a .262/.344/.428 batting line with 46 home runs — good for a 114 OPS+. He’s best utilized against right-handed pitching, which limits his overall utility but does mean he could occupy the larger share of a potential platoon pairing.Comment -
Brian McCann agrees to deal to return to Braves
ATLANTA -- Brian McCann slipped on the No. 16 jersey he wore for so many years.
"It feels right," he said, over and over again.
Looking to improve on their first division title in five years, the Atlanta Braves agreed a one-year contract with McCann on Monday.
McCann's $2 million contract was announced by the Braves, reuniting the team with a catcher who was a seven-time All-Star from 2005-13. A native of suburban Atlanta, he was eager for a chance to return home with his wife and two children.Comment -
Reds keep closer Raisel Iglesias with 3-year contract
CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Reds closer Raisel Iglesias agreed Wednesday to a three-year contract guaranteeing $24,125,000, a deal that avoided arbitration.
Iglesias reached a $27 million, seven-year agreement in 2014 that allowed him to void the remainder of the deal once he was eligible for salary arbitration. That agreement called for $5 million salaries in each of the next two seasons.
He made $4.5 million this year, when he had a career-high 30 saves in 34 chances and a 2.38 ERA.
Rather than having Iglesias eligible for arbitration each of the next few seasons, the Reds offered a restructured deal that gives both sides certainty.Comment -
Lonnie Chisenhall to the piratesComment -
Cubs not signing Jesse Chavez is a mistake.Comment -
Major League Baseball has announced a partnership agreement with MGM Resorts International. Among other things, the agreement makes MGM the “Official Gaming Partner of MLB.”
It’s unsurprising, but still quite notable, that the league appears to be embracing fully the onset of widespread legal gambling. There’s an immense amount of money to be made, after all, and MLB is sure to make more of it by participating without reservation. Daily fantasy sports may well prove only to have been a starter dish.
Some kind of engagement was inevitable when the Supreme Court opened the door to states to legalize gambling back in May. At the time, the league said its “most important priority is protecting the integrity of our games.” That topic is mentioned again in the MLB-MGM press release, though specifics remain unknown.
What is clear now is that MLB will jump into the exploding gambling market with both feet. MGM is set to “domestically promote its brand and gaming options across MLB’s digital and broadcast platforms,” with the sides also expressing an intention to seek “additional fan engagement offerings to be jointly developed.” It seems we can safely anticipate a high-visibility marketing campaign in the coming season.
Beyond that, MLB will allow MGM non-exclusive access to its statistics feed as well as an exclusive right to plug into “enhanced statistics.” Just what that means is anyone’s guess, but we probably oughtn’t be surprised to see prop bets on Statcast feats.
If you think that sort of thing sounds wild, gird yourself. Commissioner Rob Manfred emphasized today that the pacing of a baseball game allows for “an opportunity to be creative with respect to the types of wagers” that can be facilitated in the midst of a game, as ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell tweets.
Full details obviously remain unknown, and the league is sure to remain mindful of some potential pitfalls (especially given the game’s history with gambling). In the aggregate, though, it seems the initial approach is one of expansive engagement, not of wary first steps. Needless to say, it’s a brave new world for baseball.Comment -
Patrick Corbin might go with Phillies.Comment -
Yanks are interested too...
Yankees, Phillies target Patrick Corbin upped his stock thanks to a bold change in approach
Entering the offseason, we ranked former Arizona Diamondbacks southpaw Patrick Corbin as the best starting pitcher on the free-agent market. The reasons were obvious: He's left-handed, on the sunny side of 30, and coming off a banner season that saw him post new career-bests in ERA+ (137), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.13) and most of the other important rate stats. It's no surprise then that Corbin is drawing interest from the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and other contenders looking for a front-of-the-rotation boost.
Whenever a player establishes a new benchmark in a walk year, there's going to be concerns about sustainability. Did the player really find a new gear -- or did they enjoy a well-timed fluke? In Corbin's case, there's reason to think it's the former. Part of it is the nature of pitching. Whereas hitting is reactionary -- see ball, hit ball -- pitching is all about establishing the action. They get to pick the pitch and the spot, and their execution often determines what happens next. That means tweaks can be easier to identify and feel more legitimate in nature.
Sure enough, the accepted narrative surrounding Corbin's ascent has to do with an altered pitch mix. In the simplest terms, he became monomaniacal in throwing his breaking balls.
Last season Corbin threw his slider 41.5 percent of the time, according to Brooks Baseball. Additionally, he introduced a curveball -- one that he came up with during a no-hit bid -- that represented another 8.8 percent of his pitches. Corbin, then, threw roughly half breaking balls. For context: He'd never thrown his slider more than 30 percent of the time prior to 2017.
Despite Corbin's increased reliance upon his slider, the pitch yielded more whiffs-per-swing than ever before. Batters came up empty on more than 53 percent of their attempts. It'd be easy to look at Corbin's walk rate and assume he pounded the zone, but that's not the case. Rather, he lived on the fringes of the zone and was able to induce chase after chase with his slider -- a fact that speaks to the pitch's nastiness, as well as his ability to set it up with well-placed fastballs. The curve, meanwhile, proved to be a handy first-pitch offering to toss at right-handed batters.Comment -
Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli and Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin are both generating some degree of interest on the trade market, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (all Twitter links). The Jays are willing to pay a “significant” portion of the final $20MM on Martin’s contract, per Passan, and have already discussed him with other clubs. Cervelli’s on-base skills are also appealing to catcher-needy teams, Passan notes, and the Pirates are willing to listen to offers for the veteran backstop. Both players are entering the final season of multi-year contracts.
Cervelli, 33 in March, just wrapped up a vastly superior offensive season to Martin and is owed a more palatable $11.5MM in 2019 before reaching free agency next winter. That price point is obviously steep for the typically low-budget Pirates, but other clubs around the league may not consider it excessive for a player who hit .259/.378/.431 with a career-high 12 home runs in 404 plate appearances last season. That OBP is hardly anything new for Cervelli, who has reached at a .370 clip or better in five of the past six seasons, with a .342 mark in 2017 serving as the lone exception.
Cervelli also halted an outstanding 39 percent of stolen-base attempts against him, though his once-superlative framing skills have checked in below the league average in each of the past two seasons, per Baseball Prospectus. He also rated below average in terms of pitch blocking in 2018.
The 35-year-old Martin is in a much different spot. He’ll make $20MM in the final season of a backloaded five-year, $82MM contract next season, and while his 15.9 percent walk rate was sensational, his overall .194/.338/.325 batting line leaves plenty to be desired. Martin was undoubtedly harmed by a .234 average on balls in play, but that’s perhaps not as unlucky as some might think at first glance.
While that .234 mark is well south of his career .283 BABIP, Martin saw his line-drive rate drop by nearly 10 percent this past season — from 23.7 percent in 2017 to 14 percent in 2018. He also posted a career-worst 19.4 percent infield-fly rate and hit the ball on the ground at a career-high 51.2 percent clip. For a 35-year-old catcher whose once-surprising speed has largely evaporated, that’s not a great trend.
Defensively, Martin’s once-excellent caught-stealing rate has waned over the past three seasons (22 percent in 2018 — six percent below the league average), but Baseball Prospectus still grades him as a premium framer and blocker.
The availability of both Cervelli and Martin only further adds to a market that has a vast supply of options but also a rather substantial amount of demand. Marlins star J.T. Realmuto is obviously the prize of the catching class but also surely comes with a substantially greater cost of acquisition than either Cervelli or Martin. Cleveland’s Yan Gomes, too, is said to be available. Free agency, meanwhile, offers the likes of Yasmani Grandal, Wilson Ramos, Martin Maldonado and Robinson Chirinos, among others.
As for demand, there’s no shortage of contenders or hopeful contenders who could use upgrades. The Dodgers, Astros, Rockies, Angels, Twins, Red Sox, Mets, Brewers and Phillies could all conceivably explore the market, as could a number of teams that are either in the midst of a rebuild or retooling process (e.g. Mariners, Tigers). And, of course, if any of Cervelli, Martin or Realmuto is moved, those catchers’ former clubs could look to the market to add a replacement option at a lower price.Comment -
Nope. He's already openly said he is a Yankees fan and wants to play for them.
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Mets to acquire Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz from the Mariners? Wow, though just rumors atm. https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/statu...73693199749120Comment -
what happened to all the good hitting catchers feels like there are less than 5 that can hitComment -
So you are saying Piazza was a juicer? If you ain’t juicin, you ain’t trying.Comment -
Mets making some moves .Comment -
11:56pm: Bautista would indeed be the fifth piece going to Seattle in the deal, as currently constructed, Sherman tweets.
11:30pm: McNeil will not be included in the trade if it is ultimately completed, per Sherman. Instead, he tweets that the Mets will send Kelenic, Dunn, Bruce, Swarzak and another reliever to the Mariners. Notably, Sherman reports that medical info has still yet to be reviewed, and Cano has yet to waive his no-trade clause (though there’s no expectation that he’ll veto a trade that would send him back to New York City).
10:15pm: It seems that the two sides haven’t quite finalized the group of players who’d head to Seattle in the deal. Martino tweets that the Mets are still “hesitant” to include McNeil and are currently proposing right-hander Gerson Bautista in addition to Kelenic, Dunn, Bruce and Swarzak.
Obviously, that’d be a fairly substantial change to the deal’s perception; Bautista is a flamethrowing young righty with upside, but he’s yet to find success in the Majors or even the upper minors. McNeil, meanwhile, looked like a potential big league regular in his rookie season with the Mets this past season.
Puma had previously tweeted that McNeil wasn’t in the trade as of yesterday, though there’s “some thought that may have changed today,” so it seems as if the organization could be on the fence about whether to ultimately include the promising 26-year-old.
8:40pm: The trade is “expected to be completed by Friday,” tweets Passan. He further clarifies that it’s not yet clear how much money the Mariners would send to the Mets to help offset Cano’s remaining contract. Sending Bruce and Swarzak to Seattle would effectively leave the Mets on the hook for $86MM of Cano’s salary, and it seems fair to expect that Seattle would add some additional cash to help further offset the financial commitment to Cano.
Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets that things have advanced to the point where the Mets have begun to formally alert players to the fact that they’re in a deal that is on the verge of completion (albeit not yet 100 percent complete).
8:08pm: The offer on the table, at present, would see McNeil, Kelenic, Dunn, Bruce and Swarzak all head to Seattle in exchange for Cano and Diaz, tweets Martino. He cautions that the two sides have not yet reviewed medical information on the players involved, which always has the potential to throw a wrench into trade negotiations. Heyman tweets that a combination of those names is on the table.
7:11pm: A trade involving Diaz and Cano is close to being agreed upon, tweets Rosenthal.
6:33pm: Sherman tweets that the talks between the two sides are indeed intensifying, adding that the Mariners are now focused on the Mets rather than any other potential trade partners. Both Bruce and Swarzak could be included as a means of helping to offset Cano’s salary, and there are plenty of details to be sorted out, including medical reports and Cano’s no-trade clause.
5:40pm: Talks between the Mariners and Mets are reaching a “critical stage,” tweets Rosenthal. He notes that New York’s offer to Seattle includes some combination (but not all) of Kelenic, Dunn, McNeil, Bruce and Swarzak. That latter pair of names would seemingly be more about offsetting salary than anything else, while the first three are all well-regarded young players who’d provide the Mariners organization with a substantial amount of long-term value.
Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets that talks are indeed accelerating. A deal seems quite likely, per Johns, though the specific names involved are still being sorted out.
5:15pm: The Mariners are talking to multiple clubs about Cano, Diaz and shortstop Jean Segura, Rosenthal tweets. Those negotiations include myriad scenarios, including combinations of those three players as well as standalone deals for each. Similarly, Sherman adds that the Mets are operating with the belief that they’re one of many clubs in talks with the Mariners as they explore trades for combinations of those three as well as standalone swaps.
1:24pm: The teams have discussed scenarios involving both Cano and Diaz individually, as well as package arrangements, per Martino (via Twitter).
10:13am: “Significant momentum” has built toward a deal that would send high-dollar veteran second baseman Robinson Cano and top-shelf young closer Edwin Diaz from the Mariners to the Mets, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Cano has reportedly not yet been asked to waive his no-trade rights, though Passan adds that is not expected to represent a significant hurdle.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post characterizes things somewhat differently in his own series of tweets. His sources indicate that the “Mets do not currently feel like they are close to a deal,” though he also makes clear that the interest is serious. Notably, Sherman suggests that the New York organization still doesn’t have a firm sense of whether the M’s are committed to packaging Cano and Diaz at all. Indeed, indications are that the Seattle org is still engaged with other clubs.
Obviously, the full parameters of this potential swap have yet to be revealed in full. And it’s hardly a done deal. But some chatter about other pieces has emerged as well. Recent first-round draft picks Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn are “under discussion” along with other pre-MLB assets, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Youngster David Peterson is also in the conversation, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. It’s important to emphasize that there is no specific indication that any or all of these young players is involved in a specific, fully built out scenario that the two organizations are deciding upon. Rather, per Heyman, the sides are tossing around different deal structures, with the Mariners demanding prospect value if they’re to part with Diaz.
Particulars aside, it’s rather stunning to see that the concept — a deal packaging Cano’s $120MM in remaining salary with Diaz — has advanced to this stage. There are certainly shades of the 2015 Melvin Upton/Craig Kimbrel swap here, so there is a clear model to follow, but this new proposal involves somewhat more extreme contract rights. (Upton was owed nearly $75MM less at the time of that swap than Cano is now, for instance.)
Cano is already 36 years of age, and sat out half the 2018 campaign due to a suspension for use of a masking agent, so the five years left on his deal are hardly an appealing proposition. But he’s also still a high-quality major-leaguer. Diaz, meanwhile, is unquestionably the top relief asset that could be had on this winter’s market. Though the aforementioned Kimbrel is an immensely accomplished closer who’s presently available in free agency, Diaz handily outperformed him last year. More importantly, he has the clear edge in youth and cost.
Unquestionably, quite a bit more will be involved in any actual trade than the two players rumored to this point. The Mariners will in all likelihood hold on to some of Cano’s contract and/or absorb a Mets contract in return. And the New York club will surely send back some talent. Those details will determine the ultimate merits of the swap for each club.
We’ll have to wait to learn the details, if anything is actually concluded. But it seems clear even from these reports of intense interest that the Mets are not only chasing the elite young closer, but see an opportunity to capture a some value from Cano, whose contract new GM Brodie Van Wagenen negotiated in his prior life as an agent. The long-time star is clearly not in his prime, but he still hit quite a bit when he wasn’t on the restricted list last year. Presumably, he’d step in at his accustomed second base, a position he can still handle (albeit not at his once-elite levels).
Adding Cano at second would dislodge Jeff McNeil, who emerged last year with an outstanding debut showing. The Mets would still have other options to shift around their infield pieces. It could also be that McNeil would move in the trade. He has appeared in the conversation between the organizations, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo tweets. McNeil already 26 years of age and only just debuted in the majors in 2018, but was one of the most pleasant surprises league-wide in the just-completed campaign. He not only showed off his typically excellent plate discipline, but turned in a notable power surge (as against his prior minor-league track record) and then slashed a hefty .329/.381/.471 in 248 big league plate appearances.
The full potential ramifications, clearly, would depend upon as-yet-unknown specifics. That’s due in no small part to the still-unknown slate of prospects that could be involved and, even more importantly from a MLB roster perspective, the contracts that could head the other way. We’ve heard Jay Bruce’s name thrown around quite a bit as a potential big contract to go to Seattle. Perhaps Juan Lagares would hold more appeal to the M’s, as a defensive stalwart who seems to fit the mold of player that Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto often targets, though he’s not owed as much. Todd Frazier, Jason Vargas, and Anthony Swarzak are among the other costly veteran pieces who could in theory be utilized to facilitate a swap.
For now, then, it doesn’t seem we know all that much more about the realistic possibilities than we have for the past week or so, as Cano/Diaz rumors have permeated the hot stove landscape. Even the level of seriousness of the Mets has been suggested, with SNY.tv’s Andy Martino calling the club an “aggressive” pursuer. Previously, though, it has hardly been evident that there was a realistic path to a trade that would lead to a match. The importance of these most recent developments is that, as Passan puts it, “there is an increasing expectation a trade will get finished.”Comment
