Eye Black

Once I saw the report that the Yankees are the most aggressive on Hader I was concerned with what might actually be a suitable package. I know a couple of years ago an Andújar / Frazier package would have been highly thought of (I think the Yankees refused to give the Pirates those two for Cole at the time), but obviously both have lost a little shine since. The Yankees have some arms, but no one that projects as a sure thing.

Ken Rosenthal said yesterday that the Rangers and Mets had spoken about a trade involving both Smith and Lowrie. This morning Jon Heyman reporting: Mets still working to try to offload a contract, likely Jed Lowrie It’s known that the A’s are also interested in a reunion with Lowrie.

Prospects Live MLB 2020 MOCK DRAFT 1.0 For the Brewers... 20. Milwaukee Brewers: Drew Romo, C School: The Woodlands HS (TX) Weight: 205 lbs, Height: 6-1 Hits/Throws: L/R The athletic, switch-hitting catcher can do a little bit of everything. He is agile behind the plate with framing skills and a rifle arm. His developing bat also shows promise. Romo could be the top catcher on the board come June with a strong spring.

Reminder that the Rule 5 Draft takes place at 11:00am CT today. Baseball America released their final list of Rule 5 Draft eligible players, 2019 MLB Rule 5 Draft Preview: Version 3.5 The full list is 70 names, and includes the following three Brewers minor leaguers: Zack Brown, RHP, Brewers Brown was impressive in 2018 thanks to a 92-95 mph fastball and a plus curveball. He changed to more of an east-west approach with more two-seamer usage and a sweepier breaking ball. It didn’t work for Brown, but a team who liked Brown’s work in 2018 could be enticed to see if they can quickly get him back on track. Braden Webb, RHP, Brewers At his best, Webb has shown a plus fastball and a plus curveball. He missed significant time in 2019 with forearm soreness but did not have surgery. His control is well below average, which limits his upside as a Rule 5 pick. Phil Bickford, RHP, Brewers Bickford first reached high Class A in 2016 and in 2019 he was still in high Class A, so it’s fair to say his career has not progressed as he would have hoped. But the 2016 first-round pick didn’t allow a run in his final 24 innings while allowing only nine hits and six walks. Over that stretch he fanned 38 batters. Bickford has a plus change to go with his 93-96 mph fastball.

Ken Rosenthal per his article for The Athletic this morning... He goes on to say that some clubs are concerned by his workload, pointing out that over the past two seasons, Hader has thrown 168 innings which second only to Yusmeiro Petit among pitchers used solely as relievers. Rosenthal notes that the Yankees were also “engaged” on reliever Blake Treinen before he signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Dodgers.

In his article this morning for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal reports that Donaldson’s suitors are the Braves, Nationals, Rangers, Dodgers, and Twins. He said it seems like a lock Donaldson will command more than $25 million annually. He said it’s believed his preference is to return to the Braves.

Listened to an MLB Radio interview with A’s GM David Forst tonight and he discussed their recent trade with the Padres (which included sending them Jurickson Profar and receiving Austin Allen). The deal included a Padres PTBNL coming back to Oakland as well, and Forst said they would know for certain which player they were receiving within the next week. It reminded me that the Brewers also have a pending PTBNL with the Padres, and hopefully it’s a similar timeline for selecting the player. Assume the upcoming Rule 5 draft may have something to do with the timing of the PTBNL selections.

Sorry if he was already mentioned, but another player that could interest teams looking for a lefty corner IF bat is Jose Rojas. Here is a blurb from The Athletic on him... José Rojas, 1B, 2B, 3B: Already 27, he’s a lefty hitter who slashed .293/.362/.577 in Triple-A last year with 31 home runs. He doesn’t strike out at nearly as high a rate as most of the guys on this list. Granted, he compiled those numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League (his wRC+ was just 120), but one could still understand a team really liking the bat.

The Brewers and Reds were reportedly also pursuing Roark.

This is admittedly meaningless, but in Rendon’s final season of this deal he will be a year younger than Aramis Ramirez was entering his final season under contract with the Brewers.

Tweet Link... Meanwhile Shohei Ohtani will make around $700K.

Reportedly no opt outs and a full no trade clause.

Same financial deal as what Stephen Strasburg received. I really like Rendon, this is one of those instances where I wish the team I rooted for had some prayer of throwing out a contract like this to an elite lineup changing player.

From MLB Trade Rumors: “Speaking of Lindblom, the Blue Jays put a “significant” offer on the table for him before he headed to Milwaukee, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The details of that proposal aren’t known. Lindblom would up agreeing to a three-year deal worth $9.125MM.” I wonder if he received more guaranteed money from other teams, but the Brewers incentive laden deal was ultimately the difference. Would be interesting to find out at some point.

Per Andy Martino’s SNY report... The Mets could be looking to move Dom Smith during MLB's Winter Meetings. New York is "actively talking to teams" about the 24-year-old 1B/LF, SNY's Andy Martino reported Wednesday. Smith slashed .282/.355/.525 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI in 89 games throughout the 2019 season.

Don't understand why they'd be looking at Calhoun and not Corey Dickerson. Dickerson had some nice power years with the Rays, hits for a decent average, and has a good OBP. Josh Bell is a LH bat with some pop that may be available. Some other left handed (or switch hitting) batters with some pop that come to mind who may be trade candidates, in this case specifically for corner IF positions... Kyle Seager Carlos Santana (switch) Danny Santana (switch) Tommy La Stella Pablo Sandoval (switch) Mitch Moreland Brandon Belt Neil Walker (switch) Jake Lamb Probably wishful thinking these guys would be available via trade: Max Muncy Joc Pederson (more of an outfielder, but played some 1B last season) Edwin Rios Eduardo Escobar (switch) Ryan McMahon

You might want to check out the What is your 2019-2020 offseason plan for the Brewers? thread which is being updated as the off-season continues to include this same type of wish list of potential Brewers' moves.

Here is an article MLB Trade Rumors wrote on Lindblom back in November, Josh Lindblom Eyeing MLB Return: If you click through right-hander Josh Lindblom’s archives here at MLBTR, the headlines aren’t exactly eye-catching. A series of DFAs, outrights, releases and minor league re-signings with the Pirates make up most of the recent chatter on the 32-year-old, whom many readers may never even have heard of. Lindblom pitched 147 innings in parts of five seasons with the Dodgers, Phillies, Rangers, A’s and Pirates from 2011-17. Interspersed throughout were multiple stints with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization (2015-16 and a midseason return in 2017). Lindblom opened 2017 on a minor league deal with Pittsburgh but eventually returned to the KBO in relative anonymity among MLB fans. There’s nothing “anonymous” about Lindblom’s past two seasons as far as KBO fans are concerned, though. While his 2017 campaign there was solid but unspectacular, Lindblom has erupted as one of the best pitchers in South Korea since the beginning of 2018. In two seasons with the Doosan Bears, Lindblom has worked to a combined 2.68 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and 0.72 HR/9 in 363 1/3 innings. His 2019 strikeout, walk and home-run rates all improved over their already-strong 2018 marks as Lindblom racked up 194 2/3 innings with a 2.50 ERA. The righty flirted with a sub-2.00 ERA for much of the season and this week was announced as the winner of his second straight Choi Dong-Won Award — the top pitching award in the KBO. With that run of excellence and a Korean Series championship in his back pocket, Lindblom now has his sights set on a return to Major League Baseball. Unlike last time when he quietly signed a minor league pact with the Pirates, however, he could very well find genuine interest on Major League offers. Lindblom’s current two-year platform tops that of fellow right-hander Merrill Kelly in just about every capacity, and Kelly landed a two-year, $5.5MM contract with the Diamondbacks last winter. It’s important to note that Kelly, who pitched this past season at age 30, was younger — but the gap between their numbers isn’t particularly close: [pre]NAME IP ERA WHIP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 Merrill Kelly (2017-18) 348.1 3.82 1.29 9.04 2.38 0.88 Josh Lindblom (2018-19) 363.2 2.67 1.03 8.56 1.66 0.72[/pre] That’s obviously a pretty basic look at the pair’s stats overseas, but there’s nonetheless a notable discrepancy, even if Kelly did manage to strike batters out at a slightly higher rate. There’s reason to consider Lindblom beyond his surface-level numbers, though. He isn’t going to blow big league hitters away with velocity — his heater averaged 91 mph this year in the KBO — but Lindblom has standout spin rates on his side. Data obtained by MLBTR puts his four-seamer at a hefty 2610 RPM this past season, while his splitter (where less spin is better) would also rank quite well among big league hurlers at 1200 RPM. The KBO ball isn’t the exact same as the MLB ball, so the carryover might not be exact, but Lindblom’s ability to spin the ball is something that could be of genuine intrigue to a Major League club. Lindblom’s pitch selection has also changed over the past two seasons, with the 2019 version of the right-hander’s repertoire leaning much more heavily on a four-seamer/splitter/cutter combination than in the past. His slider, changeup and curveball were all used minimally (eight percent or lower), and he’s ditched his former two-seamer entirely. It seems likely that he’d continue to be reliant on the same three-pitch mix that fueled his breakout. The splitter, in particular, has developed into a weapon for Lindblom in the KBO despite the fact that he never threw the pitch during his time in MLB. Notably, he’s also generated extremely low levels of opponent exit velocity, though the weaker competition and different ball composition make it tough to discern exactly how to value that data. Broadly speaking, that’ll be the question for Major League teams this winter: How should they react to a pitcher who was a fringe 40-man candidate in his last two MLB stints but has made demonstrable alterations that resulted in positive indicators? It’s easy to dream on Lindblom’s KBO numbers, but remember that even star-caliber KBO players haven’t been compensated particularly well by Major League teams. Jung Ho Kang and ByungHo Park were MVP-caliber talents in South Korea but secured respective guarantees of $11MM and $12MM over four-year terms from the Pirates and Twins. The aforementioned Kelly was clearly an above-average starter in KBO’s hitter-friendly environment but didn’t secure $3MM per season in MLB guarantees — and his contract with the D-backs surrendered two additional years of control via affordable club options. Penciling in Lindblom at even a $5-6MM salary would be aggressive based on prior trends, and age certainly won’t help his case. Team executives with whom MLBTR inquired suggested Lindblom could be viewed anywhere from a swingman to an intriguing back-of-the-rotation starter. Despite the gap in stats between Lindblom and Kelly in the KBO, not everyone who weighed in was sold on Lindblom as the better long-term play. In this year’s edition of our annual Top 50 Free Agents (published Monday), we ranked Lindblom near the back end of the list and pegged him for a two-year deal worth a total of $8MM. That doesn’t sound like much to most onlookers — and realistically won’t cut deeply into any team’s payroll — but it’d nevertheless be a fairly risky gamble on a 32-year-old who has never found much MLB success. Perhaps a club will fall in love with the spin and his highly GIF-able splitter — tip of the cap to Sung Min Kim (Twitter links) — but we’ve yet to see a pitcher who fits this career arc top the two years and $15.5MM that Miles Mikolas secured in 2017. Mikolas came back in advance of his age-29 season and had a more dominant three-year run in Japan than Lindblom has had in Korea. As such, that contract felt too aggressive to project, but something between Kelly’s deal and that contract seems plausible. Last offseason, swingman Jesse Chavez signed for that same two-year, $8MM we projected, so it doesn’t seem outlandish to suggest a comparable amount for Lindblom. Lindblom has also drawn interest from teams in Japan and could quite likely receive a nice offer to return to the Bears in 2020, so he’ll have choices at his disposal this winter. Regardless of where he lands this time around, he’s a source of greater intrigue than he was the last time he was quietly available for any team to sign.

Per Jeff Passan the Dodgers just made a bullpen upgrade...

Random Observation: Gerrit Cole will make more in his first 9 starts with the Yankees than Lindblom will make over the next three years.

Offensive numbers were down in KBO last season after they "de-juiced" the baseball, but he appears to have been consistently good even in the two years prior.

Saw the reports that he’s getting attention as a “hot” commodity on trade market. David Fletcher is another guy who has played primarily 3B, but can play all over the diamond as well. If the Angels make move for Rendon or Donaldson, maybe there is an outside chance they’d be open to moving Fletcher. Lastly, with the Royals deep in a rebuild maybe the Brewers could pry away Hunter Dozier who could play at both corner IF spots, albeit with somewhat spotty defense. It’s telling that Stearns specifically mentioned having lots of options on the trade market for 1B/3B.

I've thought the same thing but never say it out loud. I think the biggest part of the story is everyone predicted the Astros would be able to get more out of Cole, he gets traded to the Astros for a modest return, then all of a sudden, sure enough, he looks much closer to the ace he was always projected to be. For instance, here is his strikeout rate by season... 2013 (Pirates) - 7.7 K/9 2014 (Pirates) - 9.0 K/9 2015 (Pirates) - 8.7 K/9 2016 (Pirates) - 7.6 K/9 2017 (Pirates) - 8.7 K/9 2018 (Astros) - 12.4 K/9 2019 (Astros) - 13.8 K/9 It has to be disheartening for a Pirates fan to acknowledge the Astros were able to take the same solid, but not spectacular pitcher you had for 5 seasons and turn him into one of the best five pitchers in baseball.

Well starting next year marijuana is no longer being tested for in the minor leagues, and it has never been part of the MLB testing program so that shouldn’t be much of a concern moving forward in terms of a possible suspension.

Some fun math per this Tweet... Gerrit Cole on average will make: - $36mil per season - $1.09mil per start - $170k per inning - $10.7k per pitch