The San Francisco Giants have interest in free agent right-hander John Lackey, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported Tuesday afternoon.
Lackey would help add depth to the Giants' rotation that currently consists of the likes of Madison Bumgarner, Jake Peavy, Matt Cain, and Chris Heston. The team has been rumored to be in on many of the top starters on the market, including Zack Grienke. Lackey would be an interesting add to a Giants' team, but he surely cannot be counted on to be a long-term solution. The 37-year-old was really good last year. It is hard to know, however, how many years he has left in the tank. In 2015, while with the Cardinals, Lackey went 13-10 with a 2.77 ERA in 218 innings, striking out 175 and walking 53, registering a 3.57 FIP. Lackey has a 3.35 ERA over the past three years. St. Louis extended Lackey a qualifying offer, meaning that if he signs elsewhere, the other team will be required to give up their top, unprotected draft selection. The Giants are likely just doing their due diligence here, but if they cannot land one of the elite starting pitchers on the free agent market this offseason, Lackey could turn into a prime target. The Cardinals, Cubs, and Red Sox have also been mentioned as possible suitors for Lackey this offseason. --Devan Fink
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The New York Yankees are letting teams know that right-hander Ivan Nova is available in a trade, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Tuesday afternoon.
According to Sherman, the Yankees are trying to pitch Nova as a starter that will be "stronger and healthier" being two years removed from Tommy John surgery. New York is also displaying Nova as a cost-effective option that could be a nice plug for a team's rotation in 2016. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Nova is expected to make around $4.4 million as a third-year arbitration eligible player next year. The Yankees continue to look for starting pitching in other ways this offseason, Sherman says, but are looking for players that can help in 2016 and beyond. At worst, New York could keep Nova as rotation depth if they do not get an offer to their liking. In 2015, Nova went 6-11 with a 5.07 ERA in 17 starts and 94 innings pitched. He struck out 63, walked 33, and allowed 13 home runs. Nova's FIP registered at a 4.87 mark. His best season came in 2011, when he went 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA over 165 1/3 innings. --Devan Fink
The Seattle Mariners have signed catcher Chris Iannetta to a one-year contract, they announced Monday night.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that Iannetta will make $4.25 million this season plus incentives. His deal also includes an option for 2017. GM Jerry Dipoto said in a conference call that the option could vest based on total games played this season. Iannetta had reportedly been close to signing with the Mariners since for awhile, but nothing solidified until Monday. MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reported that Iannetta left the door open for his former team, the Angels, to make one last run at re-signing him before committing to Seattle. They did not act upon it and "clearly moved on." With Seattle having a multitude of issues at catcher last season, it only made sense that they went out and got an upgrade quickly into the offseason. In 2015, the team's catching corps led by Mike Zunino (49 OPS+) was the worst in the league and it was not even close. The Mariners' catchers registered a -1.9 fWAR last season, by far the worst in the Majors. They hit for a beyond dismal .168/.208/.259 slash line, posting a 28 wRC+, a solid 33 points behind second-worst. By no means is Iannetta a superstar catcher, but he will definitely upgrade the catching position for the Mariners. He hit for a .188/.293/.335 line with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs in 317 plate appearances last year. He provided slightly above-average defense, however, and was worth 0.5 fWAR. Despite his poor showing in 2015, Iannetta could be in for a rebound year this upcoming season. His .225 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is an indicator of Iannetta getting unlucky on batted balls he put into play. His career average is .277. If Iannetta can even come close to his standard mark, one could expect his average to rise. Just two seasons ago, Iannetta posted a .252/.373/.392 line in 373 plate appearances. --Devan Fink
The Los Angeles Dodgers will name Dave Roberts their new manager, Dylan O. Hernandez and Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times first reported Sunday evening.
Robert and Dodgers' Director of Player Development Gabe Kapler were the two reported finalists for the job. The 43-year-old Roberts had been serving as the Padres' bench coach, a position he has held since 2011. Roberts played professionally as well, appearing in 10 different big league seasons from 1999 to 2008. The outfielder spent time with the Indians, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Padres. Roberts was a lifetime .266/.342/.366 hitter in 3,092 plate appearances. He becomes the first manager new President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman has hired. When Friedman was named to his position last year, he inherited Don Mattingly as manager. Mattingly was fired following the 2015 season. Though the Dodgers went 92-70, they failed to advance past the NLDS, losing to the Mets in five games. The team has only won one playoff series over the past three years. Other candidates considered for the Dodgers' managerial position included Tim Wallach, Ron Roenicke, Kirk Gibson, Darin Erstad, Bud Black, Dave Martinez, and Kapler. --Devan Fink
The Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics completed an interesting deal on Friday, swapping two Major League pitchers in a one-for-one swap.
The Blue Jays acquired right-handed starter Jesse Chavez from the Athletics in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Liam Hendriks,as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported Friday. Chavez will add to a Blue Jays' rotation that will take a big hit after David Price leaves in free agency. As it stands right now, the rotation consists of Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada, Drew Hutchinson, and now Chavez. Rosenthal tweeted that Chavez could fill a similar role that Estrada had last season, starting out as a long reliever and serving as depth in the rotation. The only way that Chavez is bumped from the current rotation would be if Toronto went out and signed another option. They just do not have the depth right now for Chavez to be in the bullpen. Chavez has filled both a starting and relief role in his career. Last season, Chavez went 7-15 with a 4.18 ERA and 3.85 FIP in 30 appearances (26 starts). He pitched 157 innings, striking out 136 and walking just 48. He is a free agent at the end of the season. The Blue Jays did have to give up Hendriks for Chavez, who had a great season in 2015 after coming out of the bullpen. The 26-year-old Hendriks went 5-0 with a 2.92 ERA and 2.14 FIP in 2015, coming out of the bullpen 58 times. In his 64 2/3 innings, Hendriks struck out 71 and walked just 11. His fastball averaged 95 mph last season, which was a good jump from where it had been. Hendriks comes with four seasons of control and is not a free agent until after the 2019 season. He is not even arbitration eligible until the 2017 season. With the A's signing Rich Hill to start in their rotation, Chavez became immediately expendable. Billy Beane and Co. in their front office obviously looked at that as a way to upgrade other parts of their team and a hard-throwing reliever was something they lacked. --Devan Fink |
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