The Washington Nationals are pursuing free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes in free agency, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported Wednesday evening.
Rosenthal reported that the Mets and White Sox remain interested in Cespedes, but only at a three-year deal. The Nationals, who made runs at Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, "possibly could land Cespedes with a longer deal," writes Rosenthal. It is not exactly easy to picture where the Nationals could fit Cespedes in their outfield. With Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, and Ben Revere, Washington's outfield is quite full. The Nationals could decide to trade one of the outfielders, but after acquiring Revere just recently, Werth appears to be the only option that could be dealt. And even he could cause issues. Werth still has $42 million remaining on his contract and has a no-trade clause. Could the Nationals add Cespedes without a trade? Washington could consider playing either Cespedes or Harper in center field and platooning Werth and Revere in one of the corners, most likely left. Revere could also fill in at the other outfield spots to give either Harper or Cespedes a day off. Joining Daniel Murphy, the 30-year-old Cespedes would be the second Met to come over to play for the Nationals this offseason. Cespedes would be quite an addition for the team, hitting .291/.328/.542 with 35 home runs and 105 RBIs in 676 plate appearances last season. He was worth 6.7 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement. --Devan Fink
0 Comments
The free agent outfield market, outside of Jason Heyward, has been slow moving.
Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon, and Justin Upton are all out there for teams to sign, but the three have yet to really develop their markets. Barring a major shakeup, they will probably all be free agents going into the new year. According to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez, Cespedes' market, in particular, has begun to take shape. He reports that the Orioles and White Sox are emerging as leaders for Cespedes "for now." The Giants and Angels are also reportedly in the mix and the Rangers are monitoring the situation. Both Baltimore and Chicago have shown the need for an outfielder. The Orioles are missing depth in the corner outfield. They already agreed to sign Hyun-soo Kim out of Korea to fill one of the two sports, but as of now, L.J. Hoes is the starter in the other. In general, the Orioles' lineup will take a step back with the expected loss of Chris Davis from the heart of the order. As for Chicago, they are in a similar situation. The team showed their willingness to contend already this offseason, acquiring Todd Frazier from the Reds. Any outfielder they sign would likely be an upgrade over Avisail Garcia in right field. He hit for just a .675 OPS and 89 OPS+ in 601 plate appearances. The Giants and Angels have already been connected to free agent outfielders this offseason. The Rangers could always make a splash. Last season, the 30-year-old Cespedes hit .291/.328/.542 with 35 home runs and 105 RBIs in 676 plate appearances with the Tigers and Mets. According to FanGraphs, he was worth a whopping 6.7 Wins Above Replacement. --Devan Fink
If you heard a shock around baseball today, it was the White Sox front office's doing.
In a gigantic move, the White Sox acquired two-time All-Star third baseman Todd Frazier from the Cincinnati Reds in a three-team trade that included the Los Angeles Dodgers as well. Overall, seven players exchanged hands, with Cincinnati receiving three prospects by way of Los Angeles. Jose Peraza, Brandon Dixon, and Scott Schebler all head to the Reds. The Dodgers acquired three more prospects, Frankie Montas, Micah Johnson, and Trayce Thompson, from Chicago.
The Chicago White Sox agreed to sign free agent catcher Dioner Navarro to a one-year deal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported Thursday morning. The deal is pending a physical.
The acquisition of Navarro came together quickly after the team decided to non-tender catcher Tyler Flowers yesterday. The soon to be 32-year-old will join Alex Avila as the White Sox's main catching tandem in 2016. The switch-hitting Navarro has hit for a career .775 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) against left-handed pitching. Avila has hit for a .781 OPS against right-handed pitching. Last season while with the Blue Jays, Navarro only appeared in 54 games. He served as the team's backup catcher behind Russell Martin. In limited action, Navarro hit for a .246 average, .307 on-base percentage, and .374 slugging percentage in 192 plate appearances. He hit five home runs and drove in 20 runs. When he received more playing time in 2014, Navarro was a much better offensive catcher, posting a .274/.317/.395 line with 12 home runs and 69 RBIs in 520 plate appearances. The White Sox struggled to find offensive production from their catchers in 2015. Their catchers posted a 79 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) which ranked 19th in the Major Leagues. The catching free agent market has been robust during free agency thus far. Matt Wieters, Chris Iannetta, A.J. Pierzynski, and other receivers have found their destination in free agency. --Devan Fink Major League Baseball organizations had until today at 5 PM eastern to offer their impending free agents qualifying offers.
A qualifying offer is a one-year, $15.8 million deal, which is the average of the top 125 one-year salaries in the game. Any impending free agent can be offered a qualifying offer, however, that player must have spent the entire season with the organization that is offering them the deal (i.e. traded players like Johnny Cueto cannot be offered a qualifying offer). If the player accepts the qualifying offer, they are basically re-signing with their former club to a one-year, $15.8 million deal. If the player rejects the qualifying offer, they become a free agent as scheduled. However, if they sign with a different team, then their original team (the team they are coming from) will receive an extra first round draft pick at the end of the first round. The team that signs the player loses their first round pick, as long as they are not within the top 10 in the draft order (which in that case, they would lose their second round pick). In the three-year history of the qualifying offer, no player has accepted the deal. An MLB-record 20 players were offered a qualifying offer today. They have one week to make a decision whether they want to accept or decline the deal:
--Devan Fink |
Categories
All
Archives
February 2017
|