MLB Winter Meetings 2016: Analyzing Impact of All the Day 1 Deals, Rumors
Teams wasted little time in getting down to business on the first day of MLB's annual winter meetings, as Rich Hill and Mark Melancon, two of the higher-profile free agents, came off the board. Hill re-signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, while Melancon signed on to solidify the back-end of San Francisco's bullpen.
Trade chatter continues to swirl around a slew of players, including Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale. But don't expect the southpaw to be dealt anytime soon. Some of the teams in the mix for the Chicago White Sox ace tell ESPN's Jayson Stark that the asking price has not dropped and, as a result, none of them foresee a trade getting done during the winter meetings.
How high is that asking price, you ask? FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman hears that the White Sox asked Houston for a package that included third baseman/shortstop/outfielder Alex Bregman, a request the Astros promptly denied.
But enough about a deal that isn't likely to be completed this week.
What follows is a look at the biggest moves and most significant rumors from baseball's annual gathering, held this year in National Harbor, Maryland.
Blue Jays Sign Steve Pearce
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Source: ESPN's Buster Olney
Contract Terms: Two years, $12.5 million
It might seem like Toronto overpaid to sign Steve Pearce, especially when you consider that the 33-year-old is a part-time player, having appeared in more than 100 games in a season only once (2014) over his 10-year career.
But the market for a super-utility player such as Pearce was set when Sean Rodriguez inked a two-year, $11.5 million pact with the Atlanta Braves on Thanksgiving. So we can put the whole overpaid notion to rest.
Pearce has been terrific when facing left-handed pitching, posting a 1.028 OPS against southpaws in 2016 and owning a more-than-respectable .852 mark against them for his career. That career mark is nearly 130 points above the .728 OPS he's posted when facing right-handed hurlers.
Capable of playing the outfield and infield corners along with second base, Pearce gives the Blue Jays options.
Pearce isn't a superstar, but he's a solid addition for Toronto.
Kansas City Is Open for Business?
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Kansas City has made it known that they're willing to listen to offers on a pair of All-Stars, center fielder Lorenzo Cain and closer Wade Davis, according to Olney and Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan, respectively.
Injuries impacted both Cain and Davis in 2016, but they remain above-average options at their positions as they enter the final year of their deals. As you'd imagine, it didn't take long for both to begin drawing interest.
Per Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Chicago Cubs have expressed the most serious interest in Davis thus far, though they're hardly the only team looking to potentially add him to the back-end of their bullpen.
The prospect-rich Los Angeles Dodgers have interest in the pair, tweets the Los Angeles Times' Andy McCullough. Davis would be a short-term replacement for free-agent closer Kenley Jansen, while Cain would presumably slide over to left field, with Joc Pederson entrenched in center field.
Cain would stick in center field were he to be dealt in-state to the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has "kept tabs" on Cain, among others.
Trading prospects for one year of Cain might be more preferable to the Cardinals than shelling out big bucks for a free agent like Dexter Fowler. The same could be said of the Texas Rangers, a team Heyman tweets has checked in with the Royals about their veteran center fielder.
With a huge chunk of its roster set to hit free agency next winter—a list that includes Cain, Davis, Danny Duffy, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas—Kansas City has little choice but to at least see what other teams might be willing to part with in exchange.
There's no chance the Royals can afford to keep them all past the upcoming season.
Giants Sign Mark Melancon
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Source: Joel Sherman of the New York Post
Contract Terms: Four years, $62 million
San Francisco's quest to rebuild a bullpen that blew a MLB-high 30 saves in 2016 got off to a good start when the Giants reached a deal with Mark Melancon, one of the "big three" free-agent closers on the market, along with Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen.
He may not carry the same name recognition as his more highly touted relievers, but the 31-year-old has essentially been their equal over the last three seasons.
| Pitcher | ERA | WHIP | BB | K | SV | SV% |
| Chapman | 1.94 | 0.98 | 103 | 422 | 143 | 91.7 |
| Jansen | 2.20 | 0.86 | 54 | 394 | 155 | 90.1 |
| Melancon | 1.82 | 0.92 | 45 | 266 | 144 | 90.7 |
Those numbers make his lack of elite velocity less troubling, though concerns about how effective he'll be as he continues to age, as Eno Sarris wrote for FanGraphs, are legitimate. That said, this was a smart move for the Giants to make.
Melancon might have landed what stands (for now) as a record-setting deal for a free-agent closer, but signing him was the right move for San Francisco, which can now allocate money to continue building a solid bullpen around Melancon and plugging the gaping hole it has in left field.
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The Latest on Mark Trumbo
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Monday saw a slew of activity on the Mark Trumbo front, and none of it was good if you're a Baltimore fan hoping the Orioles keep baseball's reigning home run champion around in 2017.
Olney and Stark both refuted an earlier report from Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, who had heard from sources that the Orioles offered Trumbo a back-loaded four-year deal in the $70-to-$75 million range.
Olney tweeted that Baltimore was interested in Trumbo on a four-year deal in the range of $52-to-$55 million without a no-trade clause, adding that the offer Kubatko noted was closer to Trumbo's counter-offer to the O's.
He continued, noting that the Orioles didn't perceive that they were close on Trumbo and had moved on to other options. Stark added that the Orioles told Trumbo's agents that the team wouldn't go more than three years and an option for the slugger.
What does all this mean? That for the second time in three years, Baltimore will be searching for a way to replace a major piece of its offense (remember Nelson Cruz?), one that has become overly dependent on the long ball to succeed.
Meanwhile, one team's loss could be another's gain, as Passan hears that the Texas Rangers, who are in search of a right-handed bat, have interest in Trumbo.
Dodgers Re-Sign Rich Hill
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Source: Los Angeles Dodgers
Contract Terms: Three years, $48 million per Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown
Injuries limited Rich Hill to only 19 combined starts and 105.1 innings between the Oakland A's and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016. While re-signing Hill carries plenty of risk, his upside was simply too great for the Dodgers to let him walk as a free agent, especially at a reasonable price.
Hill has looked looked like a Cy Young candidate when healthy, pitching to a combined 12-5 record with a 2.05 ERA and 0.98 WHIP while averaging nearly 11 strikeouts per nine innings of work. Per Brooks Baseball, his curveball remains a filthy, almost unfair pitch that opposing hitters can't figure out.
With plenty of rotation depth to guard against injury—youngsters Jose De Leon, Ross Stripling, Brock Stewart and Julio Urias all got some big-league experience last season—re-signing Hill was a risk the Dodgers could afford to take.
In theory, bringing Hill back into the fold makes it easier for the Dodgers to part with some of that pitching depth, especially if it helps them to plug a hole at second base, third base or in the outfield corners.
The Latest on Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen
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Contract length, and not so much contract value, seems to be Aroldis Chapman's priority as he looks for his next landing spot.
"The only thing I have expressed [is] that I would like a six-year contract," the free-agent closer told ESPN.com's Marly Rivera. "I know that doesn't mean that I will get it, but that's what I would like to sign. There are rumors out there that I requested $100 million, and that's not true at all. I believe that if you deserve something, you don't ask for it."
The New York Yankees, with whom Chapman began the 2016 season, remain interested in a reunion but will only "compete to a certain extent" for his services, general manager Brian Cashman explained to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The Chicago Cubs, with whom he finished the year, don't seem to be an option.
"The Cubs have never expressed any interest in re-signing me, as far as I know," the southpaw told Rivera. As previously noted, Chicago seems to have set its sights on Kansas City's Wade Davis.
Miami reportedly has its sights set on signing either Chapman or Kenley Jansen despite the presence of All-Star closer A.J. Ramos, something Marlins president Michael Hill didn't necessarily deny.
“If there’s an opportunity to build things from the back end [of the bullpen] forward, I think that’s what we’re exploring,” Hill told the Miami Herald's Clark Spencer. “We’re looking to add to a strength." Shortening the game for its starters makes a lot of sense for the Marlins, who are in need of rotation help.
Of course, Miami isn't the only team linked to Jansen. Aside from the Marlins, the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees and Nationals are all in on Jansen, per ESPN's Jim Bowden. San Francisco was also part of that list, but presumably are out of the mix after signing Mark Melancon.
Phillies Sign Joaquin Benoit
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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer's Matt Gelb
Contract Terms: One year, $7.5 million
A deal that Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reported late Friday was close finally came to fruition, with 39-year-old Joaquin Benoit becoming the Philadelphia Phillies' elder statesman.
Benoit had a up-and-down season in 2016. He pitched to a 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over 24.1 innings of relief for Seattle—then posted a 0.38 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 23.2 innings for Toronto before suffering a season-ending calf injury in a late-September brawl against the New York Yankees.
With previous closing experience, Benoit could become Philadelphia's new closer. But the more likely scenario will find him joining Pat Neshek as a veteran setup man for either Jeanmar Gomez or Hector Neris.
Signing Benoit was a fine move for Philadelphia, which bolsters the back-end of its bullpen and picks up a potentially valuable trade chip come the non-waiver trade deadline, should the team not be in contention.
The Latest on Andrew McCutchen
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As far as position players on the trade block go, Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen remains the biggest name making the rounds on the rumor mill.
According to Sherman, Washington, which has been in pursuit of McCutchen for some time, believes Pittsburgh's asking price is too high and has shifted its focus (temporarily at least) to a potential deal for Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale, among others.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob Biertempfel tweeted that the Pirates asked the Nationals for both prized pitching prospect Lucas Giolito and 19-year-old outfielder Victor Robles. If that's the case, it's easy to understand why the Nationals passed.
But as Bleacher Report's Danny Knobler recently wrote, trading for McCutchen is a "calculated risk [the] Nationals must take" if they hope to get over the postseason hump. There's no reason to believe the two sides won't continue discussions as the winter meetings continue.
Texas has been in "frequent contact" with Pittsburgh about McCutchen, Rosenthal tweeted, though there's no indication that a deal is close. Additionally, Heyman says there's a mystery team in on 'Cutch, one "that has not been mentioned publicly yet."
While the Pirates might have to lower their asking price to facilitate a deal, it'd be somewhat surprising if McCutchen were still on Pittsburgh's roster by the end of the week.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.
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