Kenny Britt has signed with the Patriots—no, seriously
December 13, 2017In case you missed it: Myles Garrett is still playing well
December 13, 2017Relief options flying off the table
Tuesday evening marked a big milestone for the relief arms in this free agency class. Two of the bigger names on the market found new homes. Tommy Hunter banked his one good season to ink a two year, 18 million dollar deal with the Philadelphia Phillies and, most notably, now former Cleveland Indian Bryan Shaw found a new home in Colorado.
Shaw is a three-year deal with rockies, and about $9M per (unconfirmed on $)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 13, 2017
A nice, well-deserved payday for the most polarizing pitcher in Cleveland over the last five years. Along with his darting cutter, a plus ground ball rate will help Shaw play better than most in the high altitudes of Denver.
While the Indians never expected to retain Shaw, this thinning of the relief market provides added incentive to focus on talks with Joe Smith, who could be a cost-effective option to retain.
More Kipnis Trade Speculation
Mets are weighing kinsler, kipnis, Harrison, Hernandez (tho Hernandez would take a haul) for 2B. Castro not in mix.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 13, 2017
It’s interesting to note that the Mets keep appearing as a potential Kipnis landing spot. That interest level is compounded by recent Terry Francona comments in which he called Kipnis “positionless,” an unexpected deviation from expectations concerning the Indians valuation of Kipnis.
The crux of the Kipnis dilemma is Jose Ramirez. The team has made it quite clear they would like him to be the permanent second baseman, which would be merited by his play there throughout Kipnis’ absences. However, piecing together what may be best for the team falls quite differently. With the Brantley option picked up and the team’s plans to keep him in the outfield, it severely limits the flexibility of using Kipnis; thus the trade speculation. It seems improbable that a Kipnis trade would produce win-now assets unless a prospect of value were to be included, so the hypothetical benefit of trading him is mere salary relief. This option only makes sense if the Indians were able to acquire something of value with the salary relief trading Kipnis provides.
Danny Salazar Trade Talks
Bruce Levine of CBS Sports Chicago reported the Chicago Cubs and Indians have discussed a Danny Salazar for left-handed hitting swap though he also said “there’s nothing close at this time.”
Kyle Schwarber should be the name immediately coming to mind as that left-handed bat, but Ian Happ is a switch-hitter who might also fit what the Tribe would seek. There has been previous speculation of a Salazar-for-Happ trade this offseason, this current report will do nothing to mute such thoughts.
The Carlos Santana Front
Michael Hattery pointed out in yesterday’s hot stove notebook, the Indians have (rightfully) made Santana their primary focus at first base. As Santana is mulling his free agent offers, the Indians have been linked to another fallback plan on the Santana front, Logan Morrison.
Logan Morrison among free-agent possibilities #Indians will consider if they lose Carlos Santana, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 12, 2017
Should Santana command a salary beyond the Indians comfort zone,1 Morrison is quite appealing. Though he meddled in mediocrity for the first seven years of his major league career, significant profile changes in 2017 are appealing. A member of the esteemed Elevation Revelation, Morrison increased his fly ball output significantly and reaped the rewards. A 2017 slash line of .246/.353/.516 to pair with a career high 130 wRC+ is both respectable and sustainable, based on the approach changes that led to more fly balls and improved plate discipline.
Yelich and Ozuna
#Marlins pushing Ozuna, but complication is interested teams prefer Yelich: more control/higher upside and don't want to give up pieces for Ozuna when clubs believe — regardless what Mia says — that both will be traded this offseason.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 12, 2017
Jim Pete has already touched on the virtues of trading for one of Miami’s two impressive outfielders. Now it appears the rest of the league expects both Ozuna and Yelich to be dealt this winter. Yelich will fetch more in a trade, based on his consistency and contract (under team control through 2022). If they plan on trading both outfielders, the Marlins would do well to exploit the market for Yelich first in order to maximize their return. This would allow them to turn to spurned clubs with Ozuna and demand a bigger return, perhaps playing into what seems to be a limited outfield trade market. If the market does not offer what they deem a suitable return for Yelich, his contract allows them to hang onto legitimate trade value. With Ozuna’s two years of arbitration remaining, his value is likely to decline significantly as time passes.
A Familiar Name
Source: Veteran RHP Alexi Ogando has signed a minor league deal with the #Indians. He spent last season in Korea and hopes to be stretched out as a starter during spring training.
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 12, 2017
Word leaked on Tuesday afternoon that the Indians had acquired Alexi Ogando. The 34-year old right-hander most recently spent MLB time with the Braves in 2016, venturing off to Korea to pitch in 2017. The statistics from his jaunt to Korea leave something to be desired, but the Indians front office’s recent track record on bullpen flyers is pristine. The acquisition is exciting in the sense that he was once dominant and the Indians must have seen something intriguing about his recent body of work, albeit the signing most likely is rooted in building pitching depth at the AAA level.
- Worth noting the Indians only offered three million more per annum than Shaw received from the Rockies. [↩]
14 Comments
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Hopefully they can sign Santana… If they can’t, hopefully Morrison doesn’t sign with someone else first.
So glad I’m not a GM.
I’m honestly going to miss Bryan Shaw, as everyone else should. But I also believe he is a little past his prime. I’m not going to root for his failure, but I think he’ll be on the decline, unfortunately. I’m really looking forward to watching Otera and Goody take over – next man up!
Shaw will be missed – but at his price point, it made sense for Indians to bow out.
“…all by myself…”
Do not trade Salazar. A team can never have too much good pitching. Good pitching beats good pitching.
There’s a reason these sayings have been around forever: they’re true.
Good pitching ties good pitching 😛
Oops. I guess that particular saying hasn’t been around forever.
But in accordance with the WFNY Commenter’s Code, I shall not correct the mistake once it’s been called out, and instead I will wallow in shame.
Props to remaining honorable, even in defeat.
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How about Salazar and Diaz for Donaldson? I would prefer Machado, as he is much younger, but he will also be a FA at the end of the season. Would be interested in my fellow seamhead observations.
I don’t think Toronto goes for that. I’d like to see Salazar molded into a multi-inning pen arm for a stint.
Yes, and begin that stint while he’s healthy… not as some half-assed attempt to compensate for an already-sore arm.
non-snarky question: you think Shaw was more or less polarizing than Bauer?
And I think, with the way baseball is trending, you’ll see a lot more long-relievers on teams. I would have 2 of them if I were a GM; preferably one LHP and one RHP. And you’d pitch them 6-8 innings per week.