CarterHud

On Friday, December 2nd at 8.00 P.M. ET, the non-tender deadline occurred. The players\’ now-former teams did not offer them a 2016 contract, therefore they were added to the free agent pool. Here\’s the list of the 35 players who recently are now up for grabs.

AL
Los Angeles Angels: INF Gregorio Petit, LHP Cody Ege.
Houston Astros: None.
Oakland Athletics: None.
Toronto Blue Jays: None.
Cleveland Indians: RHP Jeff Manship.
Seattle Mariners: None.
Baltimore Orioles: RHP Vance Worley.
Texas Rangers: OF Jared Hoying.
Tampa Bay Rays: 2B Ryan Brett.
Boston Red Sox: C Bryan Holaday.
Kansas City Royals: None.
Detroit Tigers: None.
Minnesota Twins: RHP Yorman Landa.
Chicago White Sox: RHP Blake Smith.
New York Yankees: LHP Jacob Lindgren.

NL   
Atlanta Braves: RHP Chris Withrow.
Milwaukee Brewers: 1B Chris Carter.
St. Louis Cardinals: RHP Seth Maness.
Chicago Cubs: LHP Gerardo Concepcion, RHPs Zac Rosscup and Conor Mullee, INF Christian Villanueva.
Arizona Diamondbacks: RHP Rubby De La Rosa, C Wellington Castillo
Los Angeles Dodgers: RHP Louis Coleman.
San Francisco Giants: None.
Miami Marlins: None.
New York Mets: None.
Washington Nationals: OF Ben Revere.
San Diego Padres: RHP Tyson Ross, INF/OF Alexi Amarista, RHPs Jon Edwards and Erik Johnson, INF/OF Jose Pirela, C Hector Sanchez.
Philadelphia Phillies: 3B/OF Cody Asche.
Pittsburgh Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke, C Eric Fryer.
Cincinnati Reds: C Ramon Cabrera, RHP Keyvius Sampson, OF Gabriel Guererro.
Colorado Rockies: RHP Matt Carasiti, INF/OF Stephen Cardullo.

      And those were all 35 players who were non-tendered this year. If I had to make a top 5 list of those 35 players, it would be something like this: 1. Ross, 2. Carter, 3. Castillo
4. Revere, and I\’d have a 3-way tie at 5 between Maness, Amarista and De La Rosa. We will have to wait and see where these players will soon call their new home.

   

     As the American Thanksgiving has passed, from now to about Christmas will be an explosion of players switching teams in the MLB. I\’m here to predict which free agent who haven\’t signed yet will sign this off-season.
    Yoenis Cespedes: Washington Nationals. It\’s uncetain which 4 teams are on Cespedes\’ \”list\” that he is most likely to join, besides the Mets. It\’s an \”if\” situation with all the teams pursuing Cespedes, including the Nats. The Nats would probably have to trade SS Danny Espinosa. Why? It\’s because their CF last year, ROY finalist Trea Turner would move to his natural position at shortstop, leaving Espinosa the odd man out.
     Aroldis Chapman: New York Yankees. Yes, Chapman could and should break a record for a contract signed by a closer, but the Yankees have a lot of money to spend. Chapman also previously said \”I\’d love to be a Yankee again\” this off-season. The Yankees, who had Chapman for most of the 2016 campaign, traded him to the world series winning Cubs for the cubs former top prospect Gleyber Torres and others. It would make sense for the Yankees to trade Chapman for a big-named prospect, then sign him for a little more money.
     Kenley Jansen: Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers goal this off-season was to \”keep their stars and add righty bats\”, well one of those stars was Jansen, who along with Chapman can break the record for a contract signed by a closer. For Jansen, it would make sense to sign with the Dodgers, who are still competitive, and look to be for a very long time.
     Edwin Encarnacion: Boston Red Sox. After the retirement of DH David Ortiz, getting Encarnacion, another DH, could cover that flaw. On Encarnacion\’s side, signing with a team who had made the playoffs last season, could fill what every player wants: To be on a contending team.
     Jose Bautista: Toronto Blue Jays. After a down year in 2016, the Blue Jays still would like to retain Bautista. Also, a fan favorite in Canada, Bautista should like to stay.
     Mark Melancon: San Francisco Giants. After a bad season by Santiago Casilla, the Giants have pursued Melancon. Not to mention that Casilla is also a free agent.
     Mark Trumbo: Baltimore Orioles. The O\’s, who shocked many in 2016, would love to re-sign the guy who hit 47 bombs for them last year. Also, Trumbo would most likely love to play in Camden Yards again.
    Justin Turner: Los Angeles Dodgers. The reasoning for the Dodgers to re-sign Turner is basically the same for Jansen. The Dodgers are still a competitive team, that have made it a goal to \”retain their stars.\”
    Dexter Fowler: New York Mets. After winning the World series with the Cubs, the Mets should have tons of interest in the CF if Cespedes leaves. Fowler could play center with Michael Comforto and Curtis Granderson on his sides, leaving Jay Bruce, who\’s entering a contract year, to be a trade asset.
   So that\’s who I think will sign the big free agents this year. Who do you think they\’ll sign with? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. For now, that\’s it for me.

     

     The Seattle Mariners have acquired SS/2B Jean Segura, OF Mitch Haniger and LHP Zac Curtis from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for RHP Taijuan Walker and SS/2B Ketel Marte. Let\’s get into the details.
      From the Mariners point of view, Segura had a breakout year last season, his only in Arizona. His .319 AVG, 20 HRs, 64 RBIs, with 33 SBs in 153 games for the d-backs intrigued the Mariners\’ management. Segura also led the national league in hits with 203. according to MLB.com, here\’s what Mariners\’ GM Jerry Dipoto had to say about Segura:   \”We just feel at this point, this trade made more sense with where our roster is, and Jean Segura fit this club about as well as any player we were looking at in the trade market.\” Dipoto also said: \”I feel like we\’re acquiring one of the premium leadoff hitters in the game, last season was a real coming-out party for Jean\” and \”He\’s a very skilled athlete, and we feel like the idea of of him taking the spot at shortstop alongside Robinson Cano and hitting at the top of the lineup gives us a different dynamic than we had at any point in 2016.\”
     The way I look at the trade is that the D-backs get younger in a 23 year old Marte, while Segura, who will be 27 by opening day, gives the Mariners proven talent. Taijuan Walker, at age 24 didn\’t fit in with a rotation that included Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton, plus the rises of Ariel Miranda and Nathan Karns. The other 2 players in the deal, Haniger and Curtis, both debuted in 2016, and weren\’t amazing, but Haniger was Arizona\’s minor league player of the year, with a .321 AVG, 25 HRs and 94 RBIs between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno. Curtis wasn\’t sharp in the MLB last year with a 6.75 ERA in 21 appearances, but the 24 year old\’s last 3 minor league seasons included 53 saves, with a 1.95 ERA in 104 appearances, plus 169 Ks and just 35 BBs.
     From Arizona\’s point of view, they got much needed youth out of Segura, basically turning him 4 years younger, and changing his name to Ketel Marte. Last offseason, the D-backs gave up a lot of youth in SS Dansby Swanson and SP Aaron Blair, for SP Shelby Miller, who was a huge bust last year. Well, in this trade, the D-backs got back their young SS (Marte) and their young starting pitcher (Walker). With Miller\’s terrible year, plus their big free agent signing Zack Greinke not living up to the hype, Walker can slot in nicely behind Greinke, LHP Patrick Corbin, and Miller.
      Overall, I think both teams had addressed their needs, so time will tell who will be the real winner of this deal. 
  

The Houston Astros have acquired C Brian McCann from the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league RHPs Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman. In addition to that, the Astros also signed OF Josh Reddick to a 4 year, $52 mil deal. The club also signed RHP Charlie Morton to a 2 year, $14 mil deal. Traveling a little bit north, the St. Louis Cardinals have signed LHP Brett Cecil to a 4 year, $30.5 mil deal. Let\’s get into details.
   The Astros\’ acquisitions of McCann and Reddick filled a big void: quality left handed hitting. Stars Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer are all righties, so bringing in lefties was a good move. With Jason Castro leaving in free agency, the only catchers on the roster was Evan Gattis and Max Stassi. Gattis is a really good power hitter but is really just a DH. Stassi is a full time backup at best, so that\’s why Houston acquired McCann. The price they gave up, Abreu and Guzman are both hard throwers with Abreu\’s velocity range being 97-99 MPH and Guzman\’s being up to 102-103. Abreu was Houston\’s 7th best prospect and Guzman wasn\’t in their top 30. In addition to Reddick and Springer, OFs Norichika Aoki (who was recently claimed off waivers), Jake Marisnick and Preston Tucker have the best shot at making the team. Marisnick or Aoki have the best shot at center, while Reddick and Springer cover up the corners. The acquisition of Morton was for a 5th rotation spot behind Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, Lance McCullers and Mike Fiers.
    The Cards\’ signing of Cecil was actually a little surprising, compared to other teams, like the Seattle Mariners, who need a left handed reliever. The Cardinals southpaw relievers are: Zach Duke, Marco Gonzales, Tyler Lyons, set up man Kevin Siegrist and Cecil. That\’s an odd fact considering that the Mariners\’ best lefty looks to be newly acquired James Pazos.
   Stats: McCann had an AVG of .242 and 20 HRs for the Yankeees last season. Reddick hit for an AVG of .281 with 10 HRs with the Oakland A\’s and LA Dodgers last year. Morton had a 1-1 record and a 4.15 ERA in just 4 appearances with the Philadelphia Phillies last season. Last but not least, Cecil had a 3.93 ERA, with a 1.28 WHIP in 54 games last year with the Toronto Blue Jays. 
    That\’s my brief recap of the Astros and Cardinals recent moves.

 The ROY, or rookie of the year award is given to the best rookie from the NL (national league) and AL (American league) every year. There is always 3 finalists but other rookies can still receive votes. Here were the finalists:
 AL: RHP Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers. Fulmer\’s 11-7 record, 3.06 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 132 SOs, all in 159 IP won him the award. C Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees. In just 53 games, Sanchez would of been second in MLB history for least amount of games for a position player by one game, to Willie McCovey. Sanchez had a .299 AVG plus 20 HR in that span. OF Tyler Naquin of the Cleveland Indians. Naquin\’s .296 AVG and 14 HRs was solid to get the 3rd spot.
 Here\’s the NL finalists:
 SS Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was unanimous that Seager would win with his AVG of .308, 26 HRs, 105 runs was amazing for a rookie, who might get some MVP votes. RHP Kenta Maeda of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The other Dodger came of Japan, and is the oldest finalist at 28 years of age. His 16-11 record, 3.48 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP in 175.2 innings was pretty good for a rookie, even though he\’s 28. CF Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals. Turner, who was acquired in a 3 team trade a couple of years ago, converted positions from SS to CF, and boy did that work out. Turner had a blasting .342 AVG and 33 SB shows a sign that the Nats have an amazing leadoff man in years to come.
 Do I agree with the winners? Yes, every one agrees that Seager should win, but it was close between Fulmer and Sanchez. Being a Yankees fan, I still think that Fulmer should win, mostly because of him playing 5 months while Sanchez only participated in 2.
 So that\’s my recap on the 2016 ROY results.