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

[mr. leisure]

Hopefully Kluber can remain healthy for the Rangers .

[JMobile]

Madison Bumgarner signs with the Dbacks.

[EmpireMaker]

Madison Bumgarner became the latest free agent pitcher to leave the open market, agreeing to a five-year, $85MM deal with the Diamondbacks on Sunday. While reports from earlier this week suggested that Arizona was in the mix, it still raised a lot of eyebrows to see the D’Backs (who weren’t considered likely to either make a big free agent signing or pursue a big-ticket pitcher) wind up as Bumgarner’s new destination. Here’s more on the signing…

• The Diamondbacks were Bumgarner’s top choice in free agency “provided they could pay him at an appropriate level,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) hears from a source close to the left-hander. The $85MM guarantee was enough to get it done, though $15MM of the money is deferred. While it wasn’t quite the five-year/$100MM commitment Bumgarner and his camp were reportedly hoping to land, it could be that the D’Backs came close enough, or — as Rosenthal speculates — perhaps no team was willing to go to nine figures for Bumgarner’s services.
• Rosenthal and his fellow scribes at The Athletic discussed the Bumgarner signing in a roundtable, with Andrew Baggarly noting that new Giants manager Gabe Kapler hadn’t yet spoken with the southpaw as of the Winter Meetings. In Baggarly’s view, that was the sign that Bumgarner wasn’t returning to San Francisco. “If the Giants had legitimate interest, and believed they had a legitimate chance, you can bet that calls and meetings would’ve been set up. Kapler would have begun the back-channeling before he even got the job,” Baggarly writes.
• A counter-argument of sorts is provided by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links), who reports that the Giants offered Bumgarner a four-year contract in the range of $17MM per year in average annual value. “One of [Bumgarner’s] confidants” believes the lefty would have re-signed with the Giants had they offered him the same deal as Arizona, Schulman writes, except the fifth year might have been enough to pull the D’Backs of San Francisco and perhaps other suitors. Indeed, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) reports that the Twins were also unwilling to give Bumgarner a fifth year.
• The fact that Bumgarner went to something of a mystery team creates even more of a crunch for teams who were known to be more fervently pursuing rotation help. Ironically, the team that could benefit from this crunch could be the D’Backs themselves. As The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan puts it, “the Diamondbacks may have just created the starting pitching scarcity they need to trade Robbie Ray for his best value.” There has been wide speculation that Ray could be dealt this offseason, as Ray is entering the final year of his contract and is projected to earn $10.8MM in his last year of arbitration eligibility. With Bumgarner now in the fold, the D’Backs could feel enough comfort in their rotation to move Ray and both address other needs while getting his salary off the books at the same time.
• As a final coda on Bumgarner’s tenure with the Giants, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group notes that Bumgarner might not have reached free agency if it weren’t for a pair of injuries — Bumgarner’s infamous dirt biking accident in April 2017, and then the fractured hand suffered on his last Spring Training outing in 2018. In both instances, the Giants were on the verge of broaching extension talks with their longtime ace.

[Cross]

Kluber and MadBum, didn’t see either of those coming.

[BigSpoon]

Kluber trade basically a salary dump by Cleveland. Hard to believe that was the best deal that they had on the table.

[jrgum3]

Kluber and MadBum, didn’t see either of those coming.

The Kluber trade makes some sense since the Tribe are trying to trim payroll. Didn't see Madbum going to the DBacks but I'm happy he's not going to the Dodgers. I don't know how I'd feel about him if he went to the hated rival Dodgers. Still going to be tough to see him pitching for another team in the division but I don't hate him for going to the DBacks and wish him well.

[ApricotSinner32]

Hopefully kluber can get his head outta his ass.

[Otters27]

Yeah they did but that guys worth it. Not very many guys are but I would absolutely shell out the big bucks for your franchise player.

Arenado a once in a generation player.

[koz-man]

Babe Ruth's 500th homer bat sells for more than $1 million


LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. -- Babe Ruth has hit another one out of the ballpark.

The bat used by the legendary baseball player to hit his 500th home run was auctioned on Saturday for more than $1 million.

SCP Auctions didn't identify the buyer. The auction was held in Laguna Niguel, California.

Ruth hit his 500th homer on Aug. 11, 1929, in a game against the Cleveland Indians. According to SCP Auctions, the ball cleared the right-field wall at League Park and rolled down Lexington Avenue.

Ruth was the first of just 27 Major League Baseball players to reach that mark.

He gave the autographed bat to his friend, former Suffern, New York, Mayor Jim Rice, in the 1940s. It has been in the family for nearly 75 years.

Another Ruth bat used to hit the first home run out of Yankee Stadium in 1923 sold for nearly $1.3 million in 2004.

[BarkingToad]

Kluber trade basically a salary dump by Cleveland. Hard to believe that was the best deal that they had on the table.

Had to be salary dump

[Chi_archie]

Babe Ruth's 500th homer bat sells for more than $1 million


LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. -- Babe Ruth has hit another one out of the ballpark.

The bat used by the legendary baseball player to hit his 500th home run was auctioned on Saturday for more than $1 million.

SCP Auctions didn't identify the buyer. The auction was held in Laguna Niguel, California.

Ruth hit his 500th homer on Aug. 11, 1929, in a game against the Cleveland Indians. According to SCP Auctions, the ball cleared the right-field wall at League Park and rolled down Lexington Avenue.

Ruth was the first of just 27 Major League Baseball players to reach that mark.

He gave the autographed bat to his friend, former Suffern, New York, Mayor Jim Rice, in the 1940s. It has been in the family for nearly 75 years.

Another Ruth bat used to hit the first home run out of Yankee Stadium in 1923 sold for nearly $1.3 million in 2004.

nice chunk of change

[JaimeMiro]

Madison Bumgarner became the latest free agent pitcher to leave the open market, agreeing to a five-year, $85MM deal with the Diamondbacks on Sunday. While reports from earlier this week suggested that Arizona was in the mix, it still raised a lot of eyebrows to see the D’Backs (who weren’t considered likely to either make a big free agent signing or pursue a big-ticket pitcher) wind up as Bumgarner’s new destination. Here’s more on the signing…

• The Diamondbacks were Bumgarner’s top choice in free agency “provided they could pay him at an appropriate level,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) hears from a source close to the left-hander. The $85MM guarantee was enough to get it done, though $15MM of the money is deferred. While it wasn’t quite the five-year/$100MM commitment Bumgarner and his camp were reportedly hoping to land, it could be that the D’Backs came close enough, or — as Rosenthal speculates — perhaps no team was willing to go to nine figures for Bumgarner’s services.
• Rosenthal and his fellow scribes at The Athletic discussed the Bumgarner signing in a roundtable, with Andrew Baggarly noting that new Giants manager Gabe Kapler hadn’t yet spoken with the southpaw as of the Winter Meetings. In Baggarly’s view, that was the sign that Bumgarner wasn’t returning to San Francisco. “If the Giants had legitimate interest, and believed they had a legitimate chance, you can bet that calls and meetings would’ve been set up. Kapler would have begun the back-channeling before he even got the job,” Baggarly writes.
• A counter-argument of sorts is provided by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links), who reports that the Giants offered Bumgarner a four-year contract in the range of $17MM per year in average annual value. “One of [Bumgarner’s] confidants” believes the lefty would have re-signed with the Giants had they offered him the same deal as Arizona, Schulman writes, except the fifth year might have been enough to pull the D’Backs of San Francisco and perhaps other suitors. Indeed, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) reports that the Twins were also unwilling to give Bumgarner a fifth year.
• The fact that Bumgarner went to something of a mystery team creates even more of a crunch for teams who were known to be more fervently pursuing rotation help. Ironically, the team that could benefit from this crunch could be the D’Backs themselves. As The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan puts it, “the Diamondbacks may have just created the starting pitching scarcity they need to trade Robbie Ray for his best value.” There has been wide speculation that Ray could be dealt this offseason, as Ray is entering the final year of his contract and is projected to earn $10.8MM in his last year of arbitration eligibility. With Bumgarner now in the fold, the D’Backs could feel enough comfort in their rotation to move Ray and both address other needs while getting his salary off the books at the same time.
• As a final coda on Bumgarner’s tenure with the Giants, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group notes that Bumgarner might not have reached free agency if it weren’t for a pair of injuries — Bumgarner’s infamous dirt biking accident in April 2017, and then the fractured hand suffered on his last Spring Training outing in 2018. In both instances, the Giants were on the verge of broaching extension talks with their longtime ace.

Interesting

[JMobile]

At least Bumgarner wanted to stay in Az because of his animals

[stevenash]

Was reading earlier today on a Fangraphs blog that no team was really that interested in Kluber.
The 2020 Zips projection have Kluber going 11-7 with an ERA of 3.98 144 K's in 145 innings pitched.
Stay tuned.

[batt33]

Madison Bumgarner signs with the Dbacks.

At least it wasn't the dodgers....!

[jrgum3]

Was reading earlier today on a Fangraphs blog that no team was really that interested in Kluber.
The 2020 Zips projection have Kluber going 11-7 with an ERA of 3.98 144 K's in 145 innings pitched.
Stay tuned.

Kluber isn’t the same. I think the Tribe front office felt if they waited to trade him their return would be even less than what they got from Texas for him. They are going to try to keep Lindor with the money they saved by dealing Kluber. Of course they still may deal Lindor if some team makes them an offer they simply can’t pass up.

[EmpireMaker]

A slew of high-profile free agents have fared better than expected on the open market this winter, which has been the quickest-paced offseason we’ve seen in a while. Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, no doubt the most appealing unsigned starter remaining, could soon ink his own richer-than-anticipated contract. While MLBTR predicted a three-year, $54MM deal for Ryu when the offseason began, there’s now a belief across the industry that he’ll get at minimum a four-year pact worth better than $17MM per annum, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. On at least an annual basis, that type of accord would beat out the five-year, $85MM payday the Diamondbacks handed fellow lefty Madison Bumgarner on Sunday. Age (33 in March) and an extensive injury history could work against Ryu’s bid to cash in, but at the same time, there is no question he was one of the majors’ premier starters in 2019. The longtime Dodger fired 182 2/3 innings of 2.32 ERA/3.10 FIP ball with 8.03 K/9, 1.18 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent groundball rate. Ryu rode those numbers to a second-place finish the NL Cy Young balloting, and they could help him to a rich contract in the coming weeks.

• Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated last week the team was still trying to re-sign outfielder Marcell Ozuna. That continues to be the case, according to The Athletic’s Mark Saxon, who tweets that St. Louis remains “engaged in trying to” re-up its most prominent free agent. However, it appears “unlikely” the Cardinals will succeed, Saxon observes. Ozuna’s coming off a pair of productive seasons as a Cardinal, which could aid him in securing a lucrative three- or four-year contract in St. Louis or elsewhere.
• The Twins are interested in Japanese righty Shun Yamaguchi, per Darren Wolfson of SKOR North. Teams have until Jan. 2 to negotiate with Yamaguchi, whom the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball posted Dec. 3. Yamaguchi was a starter and a reliever in Japan, so it’s unclear how the Twins will use the 32-year-old if they do sign him. It’s worth noting that even after retaining Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda in recent weeks, the reigning AL Central champions appear to have holes in their rotation.
• Earlier this offseason, playoff hero Howie Kendrick chose to re-sign with the Nationals on a one-year, $6.25MM guarantee. But it turns out the Rays, once the reported front-runners to sign Kendrick, actually outbid the Nationals. They offered the 36-year-old infielder more money and term than Washington gave him, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Kendrick could have been part of the first base/designated hitter mix for the Rays, who just added a potential solution for at least one of those spots in Japanese free agent Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.

[Otters27]

Madison Bumgarner signs with the Dbacks.

Does he have 5 more years in him

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Pretty shocked Bumgarner chose Arizona in that launching pad of a ballpark.

[Cross]

I guess California taxes were a bit too much for MadBum.

[BigSpoon]

Pretty shocked Bumgarner chose Arizona in that launching pad of a ballpark.

Arizona might have been the only club to offer him a 5th year.

[Chi_archie]

Does he have 5 more years in him

its hard to tell with these pitchers

[JaimeMiro]

Does he have 5 more years in him

depends on supporting cast + injuries e.t.c

[stevenash]

depends on supporting cast + injuries e.t.c

They can always use him as a pinch hitter in year five.

[JMobile]

Trade talks still flowing

[ApricotSinner32]

Good luck tonight gentlemens

[Stallion]

I can't believe MadBum only signed for $85 million. I thought he'd get way more.

[ApricotSinner32]

A slew of high-profile free agents have fared better than expected on the open market this winter, which has been the quickest-paced offseason we’ve seen in a while. Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, no doubt the most appealing unsigned starter remaining, could soon ink his own richer-than-anticipated contract. While MLBTR predicted a three-year, $54MM deal for Ryu when the offseason began, there’s now a belief across the industry that he’ll get at minimum a four-year pact worth better than $17MM per annum, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. On at least an annual basis, that type of accord would beat out the five-year, $85MM payday the Diamondbacks handed fellow lefty Madison Bumgarner on Sunday. Age (33 in March) and an extensive injury history could work against Ryu’s bid to cash in, but at the same time, there is no question he was one of the majors’ premier starters in 2019. The longtime Dodger fired 182 2/3 innings of 2.32 ERA/3.10 FIP ball with 8.03 K/9, 1.18 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent groundball rate. Ryu rode those numbers to a second-place finish the NL Cy Young balloting, and they could help him to a rich contract in the coming weeks.

• Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated last week the team was still trying to re-sign outfielder Marcell Ozuna. That continues to be the case, according to The Athletic’s Mark Saxon, who tweets that St. Louis remains “engaged in trying to” re-up its most prominent free agent. However, it appears “unlikely” the Cardinals will succeed, Saxon observes. Ozuna’s coming off a pair of productive seasons as a Cardinal, which could aid him in securing a lucrative three- or four-year contract in St. Louis or elsewhere.
• The Twins are interested in Japanese righty Shun Yamaguchi, per Darren Wolfson of SKOR North. Teams have until Jan. 2 to negotiate with Yamaguchi, whom the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball posted Dec. 3. Yamaguchi was a starter and a reliever in Japan, so it’s unclear how the Twins will use the 32-year-old if they do sign him. It’s worth noting that even after retaining Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda in recent weeks, the reigning AL Central champions appear to have holes in their rotation.
• Earlier this offseason, playoff hero Howie Kendrick chose to re-sign with the Nationals on a one-year, $6.25MM guarantee. But it turns out the Rays, once the reported front-runners to sign Kendrick, actually outbid the Nationals. They offered the 36-year-old infielder more money and term than Washington gave him, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Kendrick could have been part of the first base/designated hitter mix for the Rays, who just added a potential solution for at least one of those spots in Japanese free agent Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.

[EmpireMaker]

5. Josh Donaldson, 3B: With Rendon no longer available, Donaldson has taken over as hands down the most effective hitter on the market. The former Athletic, Blue Jay, Indian and Brave may well replace Rendon in Washington after posting his latest excellent season with division-rival Atlanta. Otherwise, anyone from a group of teams consisting of the Braves, Twins, Rangers, Phillies or Dodgers could end up with the 34-year-old.
8. Nicholas Castellanos, OF: Age (28 in March) and a quality offensive track record are on Castellanos’ side. Defensive prowess isn’t, on the other hand, but struggles in the field shouldn’t stop Castellanos from securing a multiyear contract worth a sizable sum. The Cubs, with whom he thrived late last season, as well as the Marlins, Rangers, Giants and Diamondbacks are among the clubs that have been connected to Castellanos in free agency.
9. Hyun-Jin Ryu, LHP: With Cole, Strasburg, Wheeler and Madison Bumgarner no longer seeking employment, Ryu has assumed the mantle as the No. 1 pitcher without a contract. Ryu will turn 33 in March, and injuries have been problematic for him at times, yet there has been talk of a four-year contract worth at least $17MM per season for the career-long Dodger. Deservedly so, as Ryu finished second in NL Cy Young voting last season.
11. Marcell Ozuna, OF: Between the Marlins and Cardinals, Ozuna owns a years-long track record of posting above-average overall production. But the 29-year-old is more a good player than a star, which is likely why he’s still seeking a contract after most of the truly elite position players have already vacated the board. And the fact that Ozuna has a qualifying offer weighing him down surely doesn’t help.
14. Dallas Keuchel, LHP: A qualifying offer was among the reasons Keuchel didn’t find a contract until last June, when he finally signed with the Braves on a one-year, $13MM pact. The soon-to-be 32-year-old Keuchel didn’t have a banner season with the Braves, and there hasn’t been a ton of reported interest in him this winter, but the former AL Cy Young winner should do better this time with no QO hanging over his head.
21. Julio Teheran, RHP: Teheran, 29 in January, has amassed seven straight seasons of at least 170 innings while posting a career 3.67 ERA/4.23 FIP. He walks too many hitters (upward of four per nine in each of the previous two years), but if you’re in the market for a durable, passable mid- to back-end starter, you can do a whole lot worse than Teheran. That said, rumors on Teheran have been scarce since the Braves declined his $12MM option for 2020 a few days into November.
22. Will Harris, RHP: This isn’t a great offseason for free-agent relievers, especially considering Aroldis Chapman and Will Smith resolved their contract statuses weeks ago. But the underrated Harris, 35, has been rather strong over the past several years. A former Rockie, Diamondback and Astro, Harris logged a 2.84 ERA/3.03 FIP with 9.58 K/9, 2.32 BB/9 and a 49.6 percent groundball rate from 2012-19. Despite that success, though, Harris has drawn very little reported interest this offseason. If you look at Harris’ MLBTR archive, Minnesota has been the only known pursuer thus far.
25. Corey Dickerson, OF: Injuries were a problem for Dickerson in 2019, a 78-game season split between the two Pennsylvania teams, but there’s little doubt he can hit. The well-traveled 30-year-old owns a .286/.328/.504 line with 115 home runs in almost 3,000 plate appearances since debuting in 2014. Nevertheless, Miami is the sole club that has shown rumored interest in Dickerson since free agency.
28. Daniel Hudson, RHP: Rumors centering on Hudson, who became an unexpected hero for the World Series-winning Nationals after they acquired him from the Blue Jays at July’s deadline, had been scarce until Tuesday. While a return to Washington has looked like a no-brainer for both sides this winter, they remain apart in contract talks. The hard-throwing Hudson, 33 in March, wants a multiyear pact and may be able to find one with another team if the Nats don’t meet his demands.
33. Robinson Chirinos, C: Yasmani Grandal and Travis d’Arnaud are among the free-agent catchers who have found new homes, and it shouldn’t be long before the 35-year-old Chirinos follows them. Although defense isn’t Chirinos’ calling card, his above-average offensive track record leaves him as arguably the best backstop left on the market. At least a few teams have shown interest this offseason in Chirinos, including the AL-winning Houston club that benefited from adding him in 2019.

[stevenash]

^
Howie’s one of the most clutch hitters of this generation.

[Cross]

None of these pitchers seems to appealing, need some luck.

[batt33]

Arizona might have been the only club to offer him a 5th year.

Yep, I think that was what he was really looking for, Giants and Twins offered 4

[jrgum3]

I can't believe MadBum only signed for $85 million. I thought he'd get way more.

He wanted 100 mil but no team was willing to spend that much on him and I don’t blame them because I think 5 years is a long time for any pitcher. He may only have 2-3 more good years in him before he declines now that he’s in his 30’s. He gave the Diamondbacks a discount because they were his first choice and they were willing to offer 5 years.

[BigSpoon]

He wanted 100 mil but no team was willing to spend that much on him and I don’t blame them because I think 5 years is a long time for any pitcher. He may only have 2-3 more good years in him before he declines now that he’s in his 30’s. He gave the Diamondbacks a discount because they were his first choice and they were willing to offer 5 years.

D-Backs not his 2nd choice after staying with the Giants? Think if the Giants offered him the same deal he would have stayed.

[jrgum3]

I think obviously he wanted to remain a Giant if possible but the Giants weren't willing to give him what he wanted so he knew he'd have to sign somewhere else.