Royals Extend Merrifield to a Four Year Deal

According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, the Kansas City Royals and second baseman, Whit Merrifield have agreed upon a four year contract extension worth $16.25 million. Jeff Passan of ESPN notes that this deal will buy out Merrifield’s final pre-arbitration year and three seasons of arbitration. As Jon Heyman of Fancred tweeted out, the contract also has a fifth year option that could potentially top $30 million if it maxes out.

The Royals are ultimately rewarding the 30-year old Merrifield after a tremendous breakout 2018 season. Over 158 games, he led the league in hits (192) and stolen bases (45), while slicing an impressive .304/.367/.438 with a 120 wRC+.

Merrifield is a career journeyman, he did not make his debut with the Royals until his age 27-season in 2016. Over the past two seasons, he has now blossomed into one of the games premier utility players. It is now clear that he is a part of the Royals blue print to success moving forward.

A’s Won’t Rule Out Adding More Starting Pitching 

After the recent signing of starting pitcher, Marco Estrada, along with bringing back Mike Fiers, Oakland Athletics General Manager, David Forst told reporters on Saturday at the A’s FanFest Event, that they would not rule out adding to their starting rotation, notes Melissa Lockard of The Athletic.

While Forst refused to guarantee another move in this area, he cited the wide variety of free agents remaining on the market and on-going conversations with these players.

With Fiers and Estrada joining a rather “unproven” A’s rotation, it is certainly possible the team brings in one of the many cheap and solid options left on the market in Gio Gonzalez, Wade Miley, Jeremy Hellickson, and Clay Buchholz, among others.

Adam Jones Return to Baltimore Still a Possibility  

At the Baltimore Orioles FanFest Event on Saturday, new General Manager, Mike Elias did not rule out the possibility of resigning longtime franchise centerfielder, Adam Jones per Joe Trezza of MLB.com.

Despite this statement, he ultimately downplayed the situation by telling reporters that they are continuing to monitor all possibilities to improve their ball club in correlation with their short- and long-term goals.

The five time All-Star, who has spent the last 11 seasons of his career with the O’s, made it clear he wants to finish his career in Baltimore due to the fact that he used his no-trade clause to decline a deal that would’ve sent him to the Philadelphia Phillies last year.

From a long-term stand point, the O’s are committed to developing promising young centerfielder, Cedric Mullins, who came up and played well for the club in the second half of last season. In 45 games with the O’s, Mullins produced a .235/.312/.359 line with an 86 wRC+.

With the outfield free agent market becoming slimmer this week with the signings of AJ Pollock and Nick Markakis, Jones remains a solid remaining option offensively given his .281/.313/.419 line, but his 98 wRC+ was 2 points below league average. Although he still can produce at the plate, his defense is certainly a concern considering his -25 DRS and -12.0 UZR.

These defensive stats clearly portray his decline and have led most teams to consider him to be no more than a corner outfielder at this point. This could also lower his chances of returning to Baltimore given their slew of young corner outfielders led by Trey Mancini, DJ Stewart, and Austin Hays.