Baseball Chatter 12-18

The Blue Jays front office has not considered making a one-year contract offer to Edwin Encarnacion

Jeurys Familia‘s assault charges were dismissed in New Jersey court Thursday and he will not face further criminal proceedings

This is no surprise after the charges were dropped by alleged victim back in November. MLB will likely still punish Familia with a significant suspension.

Brad Ziegler signs with the Miami Marlins for two years, $16 million.

The Mets could have paid $1 million to cut ties with Jay Bruce back in November, which would have shaved $12 million off their payroll for 2017. Instead, the Mets are in a budget crunch with a $13 million player they don’t have room for.

Rockies Jeff Bridich asserts that they will not be looking to trade an outfielder, as Ian Desmond will take over at First Base.

Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Zach Britton, and Andrew Miller are all scheduled to hit the free-agent market in the winter of 2018. Clayton Kershaw and David Price both have opt-out clauses that could send them into that same market.

The Dodgers’ fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft, Willie Calhoun, batted .254 with 27 homers, 88 RBI and a .788 OPS at Double-A Tulsa in 2016, But he wears the label of a hitter without a position. Calhoun readily admits he carries a chip on his shoulder. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 187 pounds, Calhoun said he feels he has “to work twice as hard” to prove he belongs.

However, General Manager Jon Daniels claims the Rangers are “highly unlikely” to move on the best remaining free agent, and suggests that the first-base position is still most likely to be filled from within.

Kyle Schwarber could fill the vacancy atop the Cubs batting order in 2017. He had an excellent 13.2 percent walk rate in 2015 and a career .353 OBP. Reminds me of Mickey Tettleton

The Astros would like to add another starter to their rotation, but they balked at a package of Joe Musgrove plus prospects Kyle Tucker and Francis Martes for Jose Quintana

Dallas Keuchel is confident that the shoulder issue he dealt with all of last season is behind him. He lost a mile per hour off his fastball and regressed by more than two earned runs allowed per nine innings compared to his Cy Young Award-winning campaign of 2015.

The Giants were linked to JD Martinez as a possible left fielder prior to the Winter Meetings, but after they spent $62 million on Mark Melancon on Monday, they might look to internal options to play left field. Perhaps Mac Williamson or Jarrett Parker.

Odubel Herrera ranked second among National League centerfielders in hits (167), runs (87), and assists (11.) Over the last two seasons, Herrera leads all Phillies in batting average (.291), OPS (.773), hits (314), runs (151), doubles (51), stolen bases (41), and total bases (452)

Lance Lynn threw his four-seam fastball 56.6 percent of the time, and his sinker 27.5 percent of the time. His changeup, curve and cutter were used 8 percent of the time or less. Part of the reason for moving away from his curve was due to elbow injury. Lynn says, “In the past when I’ve tried to go to other pitches, it seems to get me in trouble and seems to never work,” Lynn said. “I’m always going to be in attack mode.”

Ryan Rua, Joey Gallo and Jurickson Profar are the front-runners to replace Mitch Moreland at first base in Texas. Most likely the position will be split among Rua and Profar to open the season.

 

A.J. Griffin held opponents to three runs or fewer in 17 of his 23 starts in 2016. He had a 2.32 ERA over his first five starts, but stamina was in question as he spent most of May and June on the DL with arm stiffness. The six games he allowed more than three runs came after July 9.

Ryan Zimmerman hit .262 with seven home runs in May 2016. It took him another five months to hit seven more homers. The 15 total home runs were his fewest since 2011, when he had 395 at-bats, and ranked last in the National League in OPS among first baseman.

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