The 2019 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread.

[koz-man]

Marlins sign Curtis Granderson to minor-league deal


The Miami Marlins signed veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson to a minor league contract on Tuesday, the team announced.

The contract includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Granderson, 37, finished last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, who acquired him in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays before the Aug. 31 trade deadline.

He hit .242 with 13 home runs and 38 RBIs combined between the two teams.

A three-time All-Star, he has a .252 average, 332 home runs and 903 RBIs in 15 major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Blue Jays and Brewers.


He has hit at least 20 home runs in 10 seasons.

[Cross]

Granderson coming in for that veteran leadership I guess.

[yisman]

Liriano is finished but it's a minor league deal.

[batt33]

As long as the Dodgers don’t get him I’ll be happy. Something tells me he will be a Phillie or a Cub because they’re the teams willing to pay for him.

I second that motion! thinking the philies or cubs also...

[JMobile]

getting closer

Still not too soon.

[jrgum3]

Marlins sign Curtis Granderson to minor-league deal


The Miami Marlins signed veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson to a minor league contract on Tuesday, the team announced.

The contract includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Granderson, 37, finished last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, who acquired him in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays before the Aug. 31 trade deadline.

He hit .242 with 13 home runs and 38 RBIs combined between the two teams.

A three-time All-Star, he has a .252 average, 332 home runs and 903 RBIs in 15 major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Blue Jays and Brewers.


He has hit at least 20 home runs in 10 seasons.

Always liked Granderson. He was always a solid producer but now he is perfect for a young team like Miami where he provides a veteran presence in the clubhouse.

[EmpireMaker]

As of today, 21-year-old Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez is formally cleared to sign with Major League clubs. Sanchez, who recently left Cuba and has since been living and working out in the Dominican Republic, emerged as the most touted talent on the international free-agent market in late January when it was first reported that he’d be cleared to sign on this day.
At present, the Orioles and their near-$6MM signing pool are the runaway leaders in terms of pool money available. The Dodgers’ $1.4MM remaining pool is the next largest, though teams are still allowed to trade international funds between now and the close of the current signing period on June 15.
According to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez, the Orioles recently sent new general manager Mike Elias and a contingent of evaluators to the Dominican Republic to scout the newly available shortstop. The O’s aren’t the only ones who’ve seen him, however, as the report also indicates that Rangers president of baseball ops Jon Daniels and Astros president of baseball ops Jeff Luhnow were both in the Dominican Republic recently to scout Sanchez in person. Houston can’t offer Sanchez more than $300K until the next signing period begins on July 2, though Texas can trade for additional funds on top of the $850K the organization currently has in its pool.
The point regarding the next signing period is a key distinction, particularly given that Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tweeted today that Sanchez’s camp has told interested teams that one club has already put forth an offer of $2MM if he’s willing to wait until the 2019-20 signing period begins. That could be a negotiation tactic, though it’s common for teams to have verbal agreements with international free agents in place well in advance of the signing period’s commencement, and Sanchez is surely a know commodity to other clubs throughout the league.
Sanchez isn’t necessarily considered an elite prospect, but he’ll turn 22 in March and, as such, could be closer to the Majors than most amateurs available in international free agency. Longenhagen and colleague Kiley McDaniel wrote at the time they reported Sanchez’s impending availability to MLB clubs that his glove, speed and throwing arm all draw above-average to plus ratings from scouts. His offensive upside, however, is not as universally agreed upon.
Sanchez appeared in 128 appeared across parts of three seasons in the Cuban National Series before leaving the island in 2018 and batted a combined .297/.338/.345 through 435 plate appearances. Sanchez homered just once in that span, although the majority of his plate appearances came as a teenager and he struck out at just an 8.7 percent clip.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

not much hot stove action recently...

[Chi_archie]

not much hot stove action recently...

very slow

[Cross]

Someone light a match, the stove is off.

[BigSpoon]

NBA in season moves more exciting than MLB offseason.

[Otters27]

College Baseball has started in some parts

[koz-man]

Aaron Boone says Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) underwent his latest round of testing on Monday. "Everything is going well and according to plan." Didi's throwing program will begin in Tampa when he leaves New York this week, Boone adds. No update on a timeline for his return, though.

[ApricotSinner32]

Good luck today gentlemen.....

[batt33]

per nbc sports bay area, Harper met with Larry Baer, Farhan Zaidi and Bruce Bochy this week......

[JMobile]

per nbc sports bay area, Harper met with Larry Baer, Farhan Zaidi and Bruce Bochy this week......

Harper will not be a Giant.

[yisman]

NBA in season moves more exciting than MLB offseason.

like six trades today there

meanwhile, Pelicans have Glass in bubble wrap

[jrgum3]

Harper will not be a Giant.

Yeah I’m not holding my breath. He probably wouldn’t like hitting at Oracle Park where his numbers would surely decline.

[EmpireMaker]

The Giants have reportedly entered the mix for star free agent Bryce Harper. Randy Miller of NJ.com tweeted the connection, with Jon Heyman of MLB Network adding on Twitter that the club has recently met with Harper.
It is not yet clear how serious the interest is on behalf of the San Francisco organization, which is already dealing with quite a few large contract entanglements and recently turned over its baseball operations to Farhan Zaidi. Still, it’s intriguing to hear the connection. Zaidi was joined by owner Larry Baer and skipper Bruce Bochy in the sit-down, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports notes in a tweet.
Harper was already known to have met recently with the NL West rival Padres. Heyman suggests that multiple new organizations have entered the picture of late, which certainly could suggest that agent Scott Boras has sought to expand the pool of possibilities. Just what that suggests about Harper’s market and asking price isn’t clear.
It had long seemed that the Giants would be a leading potential landing spot for Harper, due to the team’s obvious need for youthful stars — particularly in the outfield — and history of maintaining high payrolls. But with the organization engineering a baseball ops shake-up after a pair of disappointing seasons, the match became much less certain.
Zaidi made his name finding value for the A’s and then scaling that process up as GM of the Dodgers. Plunking down huge dollars over long terms has not been a signature tenet of his approach as an executive. And the Giants are already loaded with underperforming contracts, some worse than others, that have left the organization with relatively little wiggle room beneath the competitive balance tax threshold.
That’s not to say that the San Francisco organization doesn’t make any sense as a Harper suitor. Even if immediate contention isn’t completely reasonable, the club has plenty of high-quality veteran players. With some creativity, the luxury tax barrier could also be dealt with. Zaidi noted at the outset of his tenure that he expects the organization’s decisions on premium talent to be “driven more by baseball need and opportunity than kind of working backwards from a payroll.” He cast doubt then on pursuit of a star free agent, but did not rule out the concept entirely.

[Otters27]

Yeah I’m not holding my breath. He probably wouldn’t like hitting at Oracle Park where his numbers would surely decline.

Didn't Barry bonds have huge numbers there

[Chi_archie]

The Giants have reportedly entered the mix for star free agent Bryce Harper. Randy Miller of NJ.com tweeted the connection, with Jon Heyman of MLB Network adding on Twitter that the club has recently met with Harper.
It is not yet clear how serious the interest is on behalf of the San Francisco organization, which is already dealing with quite a few large contract entanglements and recently turned over its baseball operations to Farhan Zaidi. Still, it’s intriguing to hear the connection. Zaidi was joined by owner Larry Baer and skipper Bruce Bochy in the sit-down, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports notes in a tweet.
Harper was already known to have met recently with the NL West rival Padres. Heyman suggests that multiple new organizations have entered the picture of late, which certainly could suggest that agent Scott Boras has sought to expand the pool of possibilities. Just what that suggests about Harper’s market and asking price isn’t clear.
It had long seemed that the Giants would be a leading potential landing spot for Harper, due to the team’s obvious need for youthful stars — particularly in the outfield — and history of maintaining high payrolls. But with the organization engineering a baseball ops shake-up after a pair of disappointing seasons, the match became much less certain.
Zaidi made his name finding value for the A’s and then scaling that process up as GM of the Dodgers. Plunking down huge dollars over long terms has not been a signature tenet of his approach as an executive. And the Giants are already loaded with underperforming contracts, some worse than others, that have left the organization with relatively little wiggle room beneath the competitive balance tax threshold.
That’s not to say that the San Francisco organization doesn’t make any sense as a Harper suitor. Even if immediate contention isn’t completely reasonable, the club has plenty of high-quality veteran players. With some creativity, the luxury tax barrier could also be dealt with. Zaidi noted at the outset of his tenure that he expects the organization’s decisions on premium talent to be “driven more by baseball need and opportunity than kind of working backwards from a payroll.” He cast doubt then on pursuit of a star free agent, but did not rule out the concept entirely.

padres?

[JAKEPEAVY21]

padres?

I'm getting the feeling that the Padres will miss out on Machado and Harper now. More teams have entered the pool going after Harper which does not bode well for SD. It was a longshot anyhow but would have been pretty cool.

[koz-man]

Yankees reliever Zack Britton drops 'H' in first name in favor of 'K'

The New York Yankees have built one of baseball's most formidable bullpens and on Thursday they added one more K.
Reliever Zack Britton announced on Twitter that he's changed the spelling of his first name from Zach to Zack, dropping the "H" for a "K."

The left-hander reached agreement on a three-year, $39 million deal to stay with the Yankees, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan last month.
Britton, 31, landed in New York last season via a trade with the Baltimore Orioles. He went 1-0 with a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings for the Yankees and finished the season with seven saves and 34 strikeouts over 40⅔ innings in 41 appearances.
Britton began the 2018 season on the disabled list after tearing his right Achilles tendon the previous December. He made his debut on June 12 and appeared in 16 games, going 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA and four saves before being traded by the rebuilding Orioles. He did not allow a run in his last eight Baltimore appearances, surrendering just three hits over eight innings.
In 2016, Britton was exceptional. He was 2-1 with a 0.54 ERA and 47 saves in as many chances. He converted an American League-record 60 consecutive save opportunities from Oct. 1, 2015, to Aug. 21, 2017. Over his eight-year career, all but two months with the Orioles, Britton is 31-22 with a 3.21 ERA and 142 saves.

[batt33]

Hunter Pence signs minor league contract with Rangers......

[JMobile]

Realmuto to the Phillies.

[Cross]

Hunter Pence going to battle through the minor leagues. What a grinder.

[EmpireMaker]

Thursday: Rustin Dodd of The Athletic tweets that Boxberger has passed his physical and officially signed with the Royals.
Wednesday: The Royals are “closing in” on a one-year contract with free-agent righty Brad Boxberger, according to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (via Twitter). A client of the Boras Corporation, he’ll receive a $2.2MM guarantee along with $1MM in potential incentives, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links).

The 30-year-old Boxberger was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks in advance of his final season of arbitration eligibility. He was projected to earn at a $4.9MM rate, owing in no small part to the fact that he racked up 32 saves last year.
At times, Boxberger has been quite an effective late-inning reliever. In his 284 1/3 total MLB innings, he carries a 3.42 ERA with 11.6 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9.
As those numbers hint, opposing hitters have generally had a tough time making contact with Boxberger’s four-seam/change combo. On occasion, though, he has trouble inducing them to chase out of the zone and ends up doling out too many free passes. That’s what occurred in 2018, when he walked 32 in 53 1/3 innings and ended up with a 4.39 ERA on the year.
To be fair, Boxberger also racked up 12.0 K/9 in 2018, so he’s still capable of rather elite strikeout numbers. But his fastball velocity dropped below 92 mph for the first time in his career. With more time to react, opposing hitters only offered at 27.6% of the pitches that Boxberger left outside of the zone.
It’s not hard to imagine Boxberger competing for the closer’s job in Kansas City this spring. Wily Peralta took over that role last year, locking up saves in all of his 14 chances, but he doesn’t exactly have a longstanding history of success as a reliever and handed out 23 walks in his 34 1/3 innings on the season.

[jrgum3]

Didn't Barry bonds have huge numbers there

He did but that might be the greatest hitter of all time you’re talking about. Oracle is death on lefties but maybe Harper decides that the Giants make him the best offer. As a fan though I just have my doubts the Giants will make an offer good enough to land Harper.

[Chi_archie]

Hunter Pence going to battle through the minor leagues. What a grinder.

He'll get an opportunity sooner or later

[Otters27]

Hunter Pence going to battle through the minor leagues. What a grinder.

Guy loves the game. You only get one shot at playing in life

[koz-man]

Frank Robinson, MVP, first black manager, dies at 83

Frank Robinson, the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win MVP in both leagues, has died at age 83, MLB said Thursday.
An outfielder and first baseman, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 in his first year of eligibility.

[JMobile]

Machado and Harper holding out.

[BigSpoon]

R.I.P. Frank Robinson.

[batt33]

Hunter Pence going to battle through the minor leagues. What a grinder.

Yeah it would be good to see him get back up....

[El Nino]

Hunter Pence going to battle through the minor leagues. What a grinder.