Baseball Chatter 12/21

Pablo Sandoval appears to have lost a significant amount of weight again

Most teams believe Mike Napoli won’t repeat his numbers from 2016,  plus he batted .140 in September and .179 with 1 HR and 3 RBI in 15 postseason games.

The Indians draft 25th in the 2017 draft, so If they sign a free agent such as Encarnacion, Trumbo or Bautista, they would only be sacrificing the 25th best prospect.

It’s unclear whether Brad Ziegler will compete with Wilson Ramos for the closer’s job.“The goal is always to try to put together the deepest bullpen we can, and a bullpen with different looks and different ways to get people out,”

Odubel Herrera was batting .303 with a .390 on-base percentage on July 5. He batted .247 over the next 48 games with a .302 OBP. His walk rate cut in half and his strikeouts up. He recovered in the end, hitting .306 with a .370 OBP in the final month on the season

Nomar Mazzaro hit over .300, with nine homers and 24 RBI in his first 43 games in the big leagues. His average dropped in Aug/Sept, but in September he hit five home runs and 13 RBI. Plus he made only two errors in the outfield in 309 chances.

Contract talks between the Orioles and Mark Trumbo have stalled. The two sides previously agreed to a four-year framework, but Baltimore’s offer is now off the table

The Yankees might be interested in Jose Quintana, but the Pirates are reportedly also making a strong push for the White Sox pitcher.

Tampa Bay continues to discus Drew Smyly and Alex Cobb in trades. That would still leave them with Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Blake Snell and Matt Andriese. They’re considering signing  Nathan Eovaldi as well,  but he underwent Tommy John surgery in August so he wouldn’t even contribute until 2018.

If the Rays opt for a right-handed batter, which would make sense given that  Brad Miller and Nick Franklin struggle against lefties, Chris Carter or Billy Butler might be a fit.

Jose Abreu will make $10.825M in 2017 after avoiding salary arbitration.

Noah Syndergaard has thrown 3142 fastballs, and 98% of them have reached 95 mph.

Indians prospect Yandy Diaz has seven doubles, two home runs and 14 RBI playing winter ball in Venezuela, with an AVG/OBP of .352/.433. Diaz hit .325, with 22 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 44 RBI at AAA Columbus last season, playing second base, third base and outfield.

There’s been much speculation about Matt Wieters signing with the Nationals but the Nats already traded for Derek Norris.

Clubs are wary of trading for Ryan Braun because of his past performance enhancing drug use. The Brewers nearly dealt Braun to the Dodgers in August.

Mariners’ might be interested in Drew Pomeranz, but it is unclear if the Red Sox are even willing to trade him. They sent “sent mixed messages” about his availability at the Winter Meetings.

O’s Duquette says on #HighHeat there’s still interest in Trumbo.

The Mariners need a starting pitcher and have shown interest in Doug Fister.

The Pirates signed Daniel Hudson on Monday, but he will probably have to compete for the closer’s role with Tony Watson, who took over the ninth inning after Mark Melancon was traded. Since coming back from his second Tommy John surgery, Hudson’s fastball has averaged 96 mph and struck out nearly a batter per inning.

Jose Bautista declined the $17.2MM qualifying offer by the Blue Jays, and the club has not made him a formal offer that exceeds that amount

Lefties hit .246, but righties hit .297 off Joakim Soria last season,so to keep him from being overmatched, Ned Yost avoided having Soria face certain hitters.

 

The Mets have had preliminary talks with the Pirates about Andrew McCutchen

The Nationals‘ new catcher, Derrik Norris, had an ‘awful’ offensive season  in 2016, with an AVG/OBP of .187/.255. He hit safely 77 times, but struck out 139 times.  

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