Key Takeaways from Week 5 of MLB Hot Stove Chatter
This year’s winter meetings, while not nearly the whirlwind of blockbuster activity they were last year, gave us plenty to chew on through the new year.
A few notable teams have been clear offseason winners through this past week, and a few others have been virtually shut out despite carrying high expectations into the meetings. That is part of the reason there is so much left to dissect as the hot-stove season enters what could be a cool period before teams pick up their activity after Christmas.
From the Arizona Diamondbacks stunning the National League West to become the division favorite at this point to Jason Heyward leaving money on the table for a chance to be part of a potentially historic Chicago Cubs roster, this past week had all the makings of a great drama.
And it all started with the trade that never happened.
Aroldis Chapman Investigation Leaves Dodgers, Reds Disappointed
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The Dodgers and Reds agreed to a trade at the start of the meetings Monday that would send all-world closer Aroldis Chapman to the Dodgers for two prospects. However, the names of those prospects never surfaced, and the trade was never completed, because while doing background work on Chapman, the Dodgers, as the Boston Red Sox before them, uncovered an October incident in which the closer was accused of choking his girlfriend and discharging a gun at his South Florida home. Charges were never filed, according to a Yahoo report.
Major League Baseball is investigating the incident, but that investigation might not be completed until well after this month. Because of that, the Dodgers have moved on to other bullpen options, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, and Chapman now looks untouchable until the investigation concludes.
The trade would have been a major get for the Dodgers, since Jim Bowden of ESPN.com reported that they did not give up any of their most prized prospects for one year of Chapman. Instead, he became another loss for the second-year front office, which days earlier had lost Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers did sign free-agent pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma at the meetings, but they still were a disappointment as a result of Chapman, Greinke and not being able to pull off a trade for a starter such as Shelby Miller, whom the Diamondbacks also landed, or Jose Fernandez, whose cost was too astronomical, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, to even take seriously.
As for the Reds, the meetings were supposed to be their shedding grounds. They were expected to unload Chapman, Todd Frazier and possibly more as they start the rebuilding process by acquiring young, controllable talent. The Chapman deal with the Dodgers was the apparent start to all of that, but it was nixed, and the team did not find suitors for anyone else on the roster.
We have to believe they eventually will unload some of their personnel, but as far as this past week goes, it was a subpar showing for an organization that needs to restock its farm system.
Cardinals, Nationals Whiff Twice
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The St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals went into this past week with clear agendas and targets, and they both fanned and went home empty-handed.
The Cardinals already had the bitter taste of missing out on David Price, but they could at least live with the fact that the Boston Red Sox wildly outbid them to get him. However, when they set their sights on Jason Heyward during the winter meetings, they had to figure if they offered him the most money, he would stay, given how he played for the Cardinals last season.
That turned out not to be the case. Heyward signed with the Chicago Cubs for about $185 million despite the Cardinals offering more, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That should be much harder to swallow since Heyward was their guy and they had more money on the table, though two opt-out clauses, per Peter Gammons (h/t Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago) granted by the Cubs could have offset the money.
The Nationals also pursued Heyward hard. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported Washington offered about $200 million. Ben Zobrist was a priority as well, but he too ended up signing with the Cubs for $56 million over four years. That happened despite the Nationals offering Zobrist the same years but $60 million, according to a report by James Wagner of the Washington Post.
It is possible Heyward and Zobrist were just drawn to the dream of winning a World Series for Chicago, but it cannot be a good feeling for the Cardinals or Nationals to know that players are taking less money to play for and strengthen other clubs in their division and league, respectively.
Johnny Cueto's Curious Market
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The winter meetings ended without any heat coming from Johnny Cueto’s camp and with several other teams in need of pitching seemingly ignoring his availability as a top-tier free agent. He has a 2.71 ERA and 145 ERA+ over the last five seasons, including a 2.46 mark in his first 23 starts last season before inconsistencies with the Kansas City Royals seem to have crushed his market.
On Thursday, things started percolating when Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the Los Angeles Dodgers were now showing real interest in Cueto. That makes a ton of sense considering the Dodgers did not sign Zack Greinke or David Price and could not complete their trade for Aroldis Chapman, a bullpen piece who would have provided a crutch for the rotation.
Cueto did have some elbow issues early in 2015 but has since quashed those by pitching well after that and showing flashes of brilliance during the American League postseason and World Series. Despite the lack of talk about Cueto, his agent, Bryce Dixon, told Zach Links of MLB Trade Rumors there is significant interest in his client and that he should land more than the $126 million the Arizona Diamondbacks offered earlier in the offseason, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.
“You can always add an ace pitcher to your staff. All 30 teams can use a Cueto,” Dixon told Links. “So, yeah, there are teams like the Diamondbacks that have added a Greinke and a [Shelby] Miller, so maybe their appetite for him has lessened but, no, I don’t view the market as shrinking up. I’m still finding interest and there still seems to be enough out there for him to land comfortably with a team.”
It will only take one club with a need, and right now that appears to be the Dodgers, who can easily afford Cueto in the range of $150 million. Missing out on Greinke and Price, somewhat surprisingly considering their need for starters and plethora of money, could be the best thing to happen to Cueto’s market going forward.
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Cubs Are the Glamour Landing Spot
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The Chicago Cubs landed two of the biggest, most coveted free agents on the market this past week, and they nailed down both of them despite other clubs offering each player more money. It is likely that can be attributed to the Cubs’ postseason run and their young roster of position players, which puts them in prime position to make a World Series run next season, especially after adding Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist. Not to mention manager Joe Maddon.
The Cubs did not target much starting pitching except for David Price, but he does not seem essential to this organization again becoming a glamour destination. Players seem to want to play for the Cubs and be part of the reason the franchise wins its first World Series since 1908.
“The possibilities in Chicago right now seem endless because the Cubs have positioned themselves in such deft fashion,” wrote Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan about Zobrist’s signing while speculating on the possibility of a Heyward signing before it actually happened.
That assessment is accurate, especially if the Cubs start drawing players willing to accept less money in exchange for the chance to play and win for them.
After Heyward’s Signing, Outfield Market Should Get Busy
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One of the effects of so many teams targeting pitching—rotation pieces as well as bullpen arms—was the market for outfielders was slow to develop. Despite several star players available in free agency and on the trade block, teams mostly ignored that part of the market through last week.
With Jason Heyward signing for about $185 million with the Chicago Cubs, it stands to reason that the rest of the outfield market opens and rumors about players such as Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon and Carlos Gonzalez start heating up.
"I don't remember it ever being separated like that," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com Wednesday. "There was just more supply and more demand for pitchers than anywhere else, and outfielders came next. Everyone is just waiting for the first one to sign.''
Since the Cubs made that happen with Heyward, there have already been rumors that the St. Louis Cardinals will turn their attention to Gordon, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. In addition, the Baltimore Orioles have shown interest in Upton and Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
With that, let the run on outfielders commence.
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