MLB Off-Season: The Hot Stove

By blackace Go To PostChris Davis's paid for life

Indians signed RHP Josh Tomlin to a two-year, $5.5 million extension with a club option for 2018.

The two sides already agreed to a one-year deal earlier this month to avoid arbitration, so the extension buys out at least his first year of free agency. He'll make $2.25 million in 2016 and $2.5 million in 2017 while the club option is worth $3 million and carries a $750,000 buyout. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the deal could max out at $12 million if the option is picked up and all incentives are met. After getting a late start following shoulder surgery, Tomlin posted an impressive 3.02 ERA and 57/8 K/BB ratio in 65 2/3 innings across 10 starts last season. He's solid rotation depth for Cleveland.

Brewers acquired OF Rymer Liriano from the Padres for LHP Trevor Seidenberger.

Liriano has been considered a top prospect in the past, so many were caught off guard when the Padres designated him for assignment last week. The rebuilding Brewers quickly jumped at the opportunity to bring him into the fold. The 24-year-old batted .292/.383/.460 with 14 home runs and 18 stolen bases last season at the Triple-A level and could make for an intriguing fantasy option if the at-bats are there. For what it's worth, he has some experience in center field. Seidenberger, 23, posted a 4.07 ERA and 48/26 K/BB ratio over 48 2/3 relief innings last season between High-A Brevard County and Double-A Biloxi. While it's still surprising they gave up Liriano to begin with, the southpaw gives the Padres some relief depth in their system and won't require a 40-man roster spot.

Rays acquired OF Corey Dickerson and 3B Kevin Padlo from the Rockies for LHP Jake McGee and RHP German Marquez.

Dickerson is the biggest name involved in the deal, and he'll immediately add pop to the middle of the Rays' order. The 26-year-old batted .299/.345/.534 in parts of three seasons with the Rockies. He's also under team control until 2019, an added bonus for the cost-conscious Rays. Padlo, a fifth-round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, isn't necessarily a throwaway piece after hitting .257/.372/.447 with 11 homers and 35 stolen bases in the low minors this past season. Still just 19 years old, he'll have plenty of time to develop in the Rays sytem.

McGee will immediately contend for the closer's role in Colorado, especially with Adam Ottavino in recovery from Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing lefty posted a 2.41 ERA with 48 strikeouts over 37 1/3 innings this past season. He'll be a free agent after the 2017 season. The Rays were high on the righty and added him to their 40-man roster in November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Marquez, 20, owned a 3.56 ERA in 139 innings at High-A this past season and is likely still a few years away from any meaningful contribution at the major league level.

Rays signed OF Steve Pearce to a one-year, $4.75 million contract.

The Rays waited to make the deal official until after they cleared a 40-man roster spot for Pearce, which was accomplished with Thursday's trade for Corey Dickerson. In Pearce, the Rays get a guy who has hit 36 homers 194 games over the past two seasons. Pearce will likely split time between a corner outfield spot and the designated hitter role for the Rays in 2016.

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers and Howie Kendrick have agreed to terms on a two-year contract.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman says the deal is for $20 million, which looks like a steal for the Dodgers. L.A. had been planning to get by with some combination of Chase Utley and Kike Hernandez at second base, but as time went on and Kendrick's price appeared to drop, it made sense to bring him back. Kendrick will turn 33 around the All-Star break and missed quite a bit of time last year due to injury, but he batted .295/.336/.409 when healthy and should be good for solid production for another couple years.

Diamondbacks acquired SS Jean Segura and RHP Tyler Wagner from the Brewers in exchange for 2B Aaron Hill, RHP Chase Anderson and SS Isan Diaz.

The D'Backs will pay at least a portion of Hill's $12 million salary. It's a smart move for the Brewers, who didn't have much use for Segura anymore with top shortstop prospect Orlando Arcia expected to arrive sometime in 2016. All 472 of Segura's major-league appearances have come at shortstop. With the way he's played recently, Segura might not be much of an upgrade over Nick Ahmed. In fact, Ahmed is a much better defensive player than Segura. Second baseman Chris Owings logged a career-high 515 at-bats last season but wasn't much help offensively (.227, 4 HR, 43 RBI). Regardless of where he's playing, Segura should find his way into the lineup most days.

Just as he did last season in Arizona, Hill will likely split time between second and third base. The 34-year-old's contract expires after 2016. Chase Anderson is an innings eater and still has plenty of room to grow heading into his third big-league season. The right-hander compiled a 4.30 ERA across 27 starts last year. 22-year-old Zack Davies could be the odd man out now that Anderson has joined the starting rotation.

By blackace Go To PostAaron Hill is still going??

By SuperMalo Go To PostGreg Bird is out for the year with a torn labrum. Fuck everything.

Padres signed RHP Fernando Rodney to a one-year, $1.6 million contract with a $2 million club option for 2017.

That option comes with a $400,000 buyout, so the total guaranteed money in the deal is $2 million. Rodney can also earn up to $5 million via performance-based incentives, and there are incentives built into the second-year option as well. The veteran right-hander posted an underwhelming 4.74 ERA and 58/29 K/BB ratio in 62 2/3 innings last season between the Mariners and Cubs, but he could get the first shot at saving games this year in San Diego. This will be his age-39 season.

Diamondbacks signed RHP Tyler Clippard to a two-year, $12.25 million contract.

The reliever will receive a $4 million signing bonus and be paid $4.1 million in 2016 and $4.15 million in 2017. Clippard saw his strikeout rate drop and walk rate rise last season, but he boasts a career 2.88 ERA and will turn just 31 later this month. He will set up for Brad Ziegler.

Josh Donaldson's new two-year deal with the Blue Jays is worth $28.65 million, according to the Associated Press.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reported late Monday night that the two sides had agreed to a deal worth around $29 million, but now we have the exact number. Donaldson won his arbitration case against the Blue Jays last winter, but the two sides were able to avoid a hearing this time around. The 2015 AL MVP will still be under team control for one more year after this new deal expires.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports that the White Sox have signed free agent right-hander Mat Latos.

Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish reports that it's a one-year, $3 million contract and the deal doesn't include incentives. Latos is coming off an inconsistent season where he posted a 4.95 ERA and 100/32 K/BB ratio over 116 1/3 innings between the Marlins, Dodgers, and Angels, but he's a fine gamble at these terms. He'll give Chicago some rotation depth on the cheap, but U.S. Cellular Field isn't the ideal environment for fantasy purposes.

Former Braves third baseman Chipper Jones had tons of praise for the Mets' starting pitchers during an interview on MLB Network Radio (Feb. 9).

"The blueprint is kind of what the New York Mets are doing right now," Jones said. "Obviously it's hard to come up with three or four guns like the Mets have. Whether it's [Matt] Harvey or [Jacob] deGrom, [Zack] Wheeler coming back, [Noah] Syndergaard. They've got the lefty, [Steven] Matz. They've got a whole entire rotation that lives at 94, 95 (MPH) plus and has an idea what they're doing with their breaking stuff."

Jones went on to note that the rebuilding Braves should follow the Mets' example and said the Mets are his preseason World Series favorite.

"They're really setting the bar and I think they're my early-season pick to probably go all the way," Jones said. "Having made it to the World Series last year, just coming up short, I think they'll probably be the early-season favorite to push over the top this year. That's the way I would want to build it (with the Braves)."

Jones, who retired after the 2012 season, hit .309 with a .406 OBP and .543 SLG to go along with 49 HR and 159 RBIs for his career against the Mets.

Major League Baseball has issued a permanent suspension of Jenrry Mejia after a third positive test for a performance-enhancing drug.

It's difficult to comprehend how Mejia let this happen. The reliever previously served an 80-game suspension and was still serving a 162-game suspension for positive tests when he got caught again with Boldenone. He's the first player ever in the majors or minors to receive a lifetime ban for performance-enhancing drugs. Mejia can apply for reinstatement in one year but his suspension must last at least two years. Since there's no precedent, it's hard to know what his chances are of being reinstated. It's quite a fall for a guy who not long ago was serving as the Mets' closer.

By Enron Go To Postwonder who the supplier is in that clubhouse. Cespedes career year looking even more suspicious now. Someone check David Wright's locker.

Braves signed OF Jeff Francoeur to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

Francoeur, of course, was drafted by the Braves and had some of his best seasons in Atlanta before moving on. The veteran outfielder batted .258/.286/.433 with 13 home runs for the Phillies last season and turned 32 last month. He's not a given to make the major league roster but could see some playing time versus lefties if he does.

Athletics acquired INF/OF Chris Coghlan from the Cubs for RHP Aaron Brooks.

Coghlan had a nice 2015 with the Cubs, slashing .250/.341/.443 with 16 homers and 11 stolen bases in 148 games, but he was going to be buried this year on a roster loaded with young position player talent. The versatile 30-year-old has a much better shot at playing time in Oakland and could take on fantasy value in deep mixed leagues if he falls into a starting job. Coghlan is owed $4.8 million this year. He can become a free agent next winter. A straight one-for-one trade that nicely fills a need for both teams. Brooks owns an ugly 8.38 ERA in 58 major league innings, but the 25-year-old right-hander has put up some promising minor league numbers and can function as depth for both the bullpen and rotation with Chicago. He'll probably be ticketed for Triple-A Iowa out of the gate in 2016

Cubs re-signed OF Dexter Fowler to a one-year, $13 million contract with a $9 million mutual option for 2017.

Well this comes as a surprise. MASN's Roch Kubatko reported Tuesday evening that Fowler had agreed to terms on a three-year contract with the Orioles, but that deal apparently fell apart when the 29-year-old requested an opt-out after the 2016 season. Fowler now returns to the north side of Chicago, where he figures to reclaim the starting center field job. Jason Heyward should draw the majority of playing time in right field, and Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber will presumably share left field. Maybe there's a Soler trade in the works

By Enron Go To Post"Jose Bautista Reportedly Seeking More Than Five Years/$150MM"


my reaction

By Enron Go To PostRangers just agreed to a 1/8m deal with……Ian Desmond? And will start him in…..Left? And……will give up the #19 pick in the process? I don't quite understand this.

Why not just sign AJax to play left? Or just throw out some nobody along with mazara at midseason? Sense no make.

By The Frankman Go To PostThey got Desmond extremely cheap on a "prove it" deal. When Desmond was on he was a potential 25-30, 100 RBI guy… for only 8 million? He had three straight 20 HR, 20 SB seasons from 2012-2014 before slumping. This dude rejected a 15.8 million qualifying offer… IMHO Rangers made out like bandits as long as he's not a butcher (Kyle Schwarber) in left.

By Enron Go To PostIve been sending out emails like crazy and no one responds. Yes, i'd like to still do it but i need a co-commish or someone else to take over because i can't conduct league business in the mlbgaf thread.

By Enron Go To Postcool. start with reminding folks to rejoin lol

By Enron Go To Postcool. start with reminding folks to rejoin lol

Braves purchased the contract of OF Jeff Francoeur from Triple-A Gwinnett.

Francoeur has officially secured a place on the Braves' Opening Day roster. The veteran outfielder earned the spot after batting .327 (16-for-49) with a homer and three doubles this spring. He should see some at-bats against lefties and will provide some leadership on a young team

By Enron Go To Postthread seems kinda dead. surely there's more baseball bros here than this right

By Fenderputty Go To PostI tend to gloss over until B-Ball ends since the baseball season is long enough that the overlap is kinda meh.

By Enron Go To PostAren't you a mets fan? Nobody cares what you think anyways!

By Enron Go To PostAren't you a mets fan? Nobody cares what you think anyways!