Ian Kinsler announced his retirement and is set to join the Padres front office. Interesting development but makes sense since Kinsler was pretty much done. Thoughts Jake?
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Good luck to you sons a bitches.Comment -
Third baseman Josh Donaldson, the No. 1 free agent left on the board, continues to contemplate his future. The Nationals, Twins, Dodgers and Braves (with whom he thrived in 2019) look like the front-runners for his services. All things being equal, though, it appears Donaldson would prefer to stay in Atlanta. The “belief” is Donaldson’s camp has promised the Braves he’ll let them make a final offer before he signs anywhere else, David O’Brien of The Athletic reports (subscription link). The problem, as O’Brien notes, is that the Braves may not want to give Donaldson, 34, four guaranteed years. Meanwhile, Washington and Minnesota are reportedly open to doing so.
More from the National League…
- The Cubs’ Kris Bryant could be a trade target for Atlanta if it doesn’t re-sign Donaldson, though it’s still unclear how much more team control the former has left. Bryant filed a grievance over service time against the Cubs, whose decision to delay the now-star’s promotion in 2015 earned them an extra year of control. That grievance was heard back in October, and briefs were due Friday, but arbitrator Mark Irvings’ ruling won’t arrive until sometime after Jan. 1, Evan Drellich of The Athletic tweets. For now, Bryant’s under control for two more years, but that figure will drop to one if he unexpectedly wins his grievance. The 27-year-old has been featured in trade rumors, but at least until the league knows how much more control Bryant has, it’s highly unlikely he’ll go anywhere.
- Rookie Pirates manager Derek Shelton has chosen Tarrik Brock as his first base coach, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This will be the second go-around as a major league 1B coach for Brock, who worked in that role for the Padres in 2016. He went on to serve as the Dodgers’ minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator from 2017-19. Now 45, Brock’s a former outfielder who saw brief MLB action in 2000 with the Cubs.
- The Reds hired Joe Mather as assistant hitting coach earlier this week, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. The 37-year-old Mather – who, like Brock, is an ex-outfielder – spent last season as the Diamondbacks’ minor league field and hitting coordinator. He’ll now work alongside new Reds hitting coach Alan Zinter.
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Kinsler farewell sir
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14-year vet Ian Kinsler retires one hit shy of 2,000
Ian Kinsler is retiring after a 14-year major league career, he announced Friday.
Kinsler, 37, told The Athletic that a herniated cervical disk that ended his 2019 season in August played a factor in his decision to retire. He ends his career one hit shy of 2,000, with 257 home runs, 909 RBIs and 243 stolen bases.
"My pride wouldn't let me go halfway at something that I've been doing at 100% for my whole baseball life," the veteran second baseman said.
Kinsler will stay on with the San Diego Padres as an adviser to baseball operations. He will work with the team on settling the $4.25 million left on his contract for 2020, according to The Athletic.Comment -
Free agent Steven Souza Jr., a 30-HR hitter for the Rays in 2017, is running, hitting and throwing at 100% intensity following April surgery on his left knee. Source says he’s drawing interest from the Rangers, Rays, Cubs and Giants. Good bounce-back candidate.Comment -
Kinsler should play 1 or 2 more games to get that hit, and then retire.Comment -
I have a thing for middle infielders.
One of my top three favorite players is Ryne Sandberg.
I love guys like Dustin Pedroia, etc....
Lots of respect here for Kinsler, played the game right, very fiery guy too.
Solid career.Comment -
Dallas Keuchel to the White Sox for 3 years, $55.5M.Comment -
Keuchel another solid addition to Sox. They may just win ALCentral.Comment -
Sox really going for it by making some nice additions to their team. The AL Central is wide open again this year and like I said its the one division that usually has a surprise team like it did last year with Minnesota.Comment -
The White Sox continued their active offseason by inking Dallas Keuchel to a three-year deal with a vesting option for a fourth. Let’s check in on some reactions to Chicago’s most recent splash, as well as a look at broader market trends.
- The Sox are still a bit shy of being legitimate contenders, feels ESPN’s David Schoenfield. Between some anticipated regression from Tim Anderson, whose .399 BABIP is not sustainable, and uncertainty among Luis Robert, Nick Madrigal and Nomar Mazara, Chicago’s lineup doesn’t match up with the league’s elite, even if it is rife with upside. In Schoenfield’s estimation, that’s not quite enough to support a rotation that still looks a bit underwhelming. Keuchel and Gio González are reliable but no longer top-of-the-rotation starters, and there’s little in the way of depth beyond those two and ace Lucas Giolito. Skepticism aside, Schoenfield notes there’s little question this will be the most exciting White Sox team in recent memory.
- The Athletic’s James Fegan feels similarly, pointing out that the Sox may not contend until the soon to be 32-year-old Keuchel is firmly on the downside of his career. Nevertheless, Fegan praises the signing as a “declarative moment” for the franchise. Between Keuchel and Yasmani Grandal, the organization is showing “seriousness and urgency about breaking an embarrassing eleven-year playoff drought,” Fegan argues. Keuchel should be a positive in the clubhouse, he feels, and Chicago no doubt needed to add capable arms to a rotation that was the league’s sixth-worst run prevention unit in 2019.
- While the 72-win White Sox have been busy this offseason, playoff teams have actually been the most active in free agency thus far, found Ben Clemens of Fangraphs in a piece which predated the Keuchel signing. 58.6% of free agents worth at least 2 fWAR last season have inked with teams who made the postseason in 2019. (Keuchel’s signing wouldn’t change that figure, as he was worth just 0.8 wins in his abbreviated time with the Braves). If that trend were to hold, it would make for the highest rate of quality free agents flocking to playoff teams in the past twenty years. Grandal, Mike Moustakas and Anthony Rendon are among the notable exceptions. Nevertheless, as Clemens explores more fully, teams looking to defend their postseason berths, not those hoping to unseat recent powerhouses, have been the first to strike in free agency.
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Report: Salary for Mets' Yoenis Cespedes cut from $29.5M to $6M for 2020
Yoenis Cespedes' base salary for 2020 has been cut to $6 million from its original $29.5 million as part of an amended contract with the New York Mets that avoided a grievance hearing, according to details obtained by The Associated Press.
The oft-injured outfielder, however, would make $20 million if he has 650 plate appearances next season, the AP reported.
Cespedes agreed to a four-year, $110 million contract in December 2016 but hasn't played since July 20, 2018. The outfielder had surgery to remove bone calcification from his right heel on Aug. 2, 2018, and from his left heel that Oct. 26.Comment -
Any chance we see a return by cal ripken?Comment -
The Blue Jays have signed left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu to a four-year, $80MM contract, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Ryu’s deal contains full no-trade protection and doesn’t have an opt-out clause, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Ryu is represented by the Boras Corporation.
The news ends a spirited market for Ryu’s services, as at least six teams (the Dodgers, Angels, Braves, Padres, Cardinals, and Twins) were all known to have some degree of interest in the southpaw this offseason. While all of those teams were contenders or were planning to contend in 2020, however, it was the rebuilding Blue Jays who made the big strike, announcing that their own return to contention is coming sooner rather than later.
Ryu joins Tanner Roark, Chase Anderson, and Shun Yamaguchi as newly-acquired members of Toronto’s rotation, completely overhauling a starting staff that was expected to be a major point of emphasis this winter. Yamaguchi could wind up in the bullpen if the Jays go with some combination of in-house candidates Matt Shoemaker, Trent Thornton, Ryan Borucki, or Jacob Waguespack for the final two rotation places. Star prospect Nate Pearson is also expected to make his big league debut at some point in 2020, so one of those rotation spots could ultimately earmarked for him down the stretch, or the Jays could ease Pearson into the majors as a reliever.
While Pearson may be the ace of the future, Ryu is now firmly the ace of the present. The 32-year-old (33 in March) lefty finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting last season on the heels of a league-best 2.32 ERA and 1.2 BB/9, as well as a 6.79 K/BB rate, 8.0 K/9, and 50.4% grounder rate. ERA predictors weren’t quite as impressed (3.10 FIP, 3.32 xFIP, 3.77 SIERA) with Ryu’s performance, while his modest 90.6mph fastball finished in the bottom 11th percentile in both fastball velocity and spin rate.
On the plus side of the Statcast coin, Ryu was also one of the league’s best pitchers in limiting hard-hit balls and exit velocity, and his .263 wOBA was only slightly lower than his .281 xwOBA. Despite the lack of fastball velocity, Ryu still had the 26th most effective heater of any qualified pitcher in the sport according to Fangraphs’ Pitch Value metrics, while his changeup was one of the ten most effective pitches in all of baseball in 2019.
Perhaps most importantly, Ryu also tossed 182 2/3 innings last year, his highest workload since his 2013 debut season in MLB and the first time he’d topped even the 126 2/3 inning plateau since 2014. Ryu had only a couple of minimal injured list stints for minor neck and groin soreness in 2019, as opposed to the much more serious setbacks that plagued him earlier in his career. Shoulder and elbow surgeries limited Ryu to just a single game in 2015-16, he missed close to three months in 2018 due to a torn groin, and IL stints for foot and hip problems limited him to 126 2/3 IP in 2017.Comment -
Wow the Jays land Ryu for a fair price. It shows they want to win but will it make any difference?Comment -
4 years is alot for a guy with his injury history but the Jays had to overpay and offer a 4th year to get him.Comment -
Have the orioles made any big moves this offseason yet?Comment -
Source: Travis Shaw, Blue Jays have 1-year, $4M deal
Travis Shaw and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a one-year, $4 million contract, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The source said the deal includes $675,000 in performance bonuses.
The deal ends up creating a swap of infielders between the Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers, who signed Justin Smoak to a one-year, $5 million contract last week.
After two impressive seasons in which he surpassed 30 home runs for the Brewers, Shaw regressed in 2019. The infielder, who was demoted and spent almost a month at Triple-A San Antonio, slumped to a .157 batting average with seven home runs and 16 RBIs in 86 games last season.
Shaw, 29, played mostly at third base in Milwaukee but also saw action at first and second. He was non-tendered after the season as the Brewers parted with a number of key players after finishing behind the St. Louis Cardinals in a heated National League Central race and losing in the wild-card game to the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals.
"I kind of wanted a fresh start and was willing to risk to see what was out there, free-agent-wise," Shaw told Boston's WEEI after the season, explaining that he was made an offer by the Brewers but declined.
After he was acquired in a multiplayer deal with the Boston Red Sox, Shaw immediately made his impact felt with the Brewers, averaging 4.0 wins above replacement over the next two seasons. He batted .273 with 31 home runs and 101 RBIs in 2017 and followed that with a .241-32-86 line in 2018.
For his career, Shaw is hitting .244 with 99 home runs and 310 RBIs in five major league seasons.Comment -
Free agent Nicholas Castellanos values Giants' culture
The Giants have shown interest in the slugger, and there appears to be mutual between the two sides.Comment
