Major League Baseball’s offseason continues to trudge on. Let’s have a look at what’s cooking on the hot stove.
Cardinals Make Strong Pitch For Arenado
According to Bruce Levine of 670 AM The Score in Chicago, the St. Louis Cardinals are prepared to part with arguably their top prospect and three solid major leaguers in exchange for Colorado Rockies’ third baseman, Nolan Arenado.
Per Levine, the Cards are ready to ship left-handed prospect Matthew Liberatore, MLB hurlers Dakota Hudson and Carlos Martinez, as well as outfielder Tyler O’Neill for the 28-year-old perennial All-Star.
Since making his debut in 2013, Arenado’s put together a .295/.351/.546 slash line with 227 home runs, 253 doubles, 734 RBIs, and a 122 OPS+. He hit .315/.379/.583 with 41 homers and 118 RBIs in 2019 with 17 outs above average at third base, per Statcast (positional leader, second among all MLB infielders).
St. Louis’ willingness to part with Liberatore — the highly-regarded southpaw they just acquired from Tampa Bay this week for major league outfielders Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena — as well as three additional active-roster players, all of which are heavy contributors, in a sense sets the bar for level of return Arenado can be expected to fetch.
Wieters Market Opening Up
As per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, free-agent catcher Matt Wieters is “drawing interest” from the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wieters, 33, spent last season with the Cardinals (.214/.268/.435, 80 OPS+) after 10 seasons in the Beltway (eight with Baltimore, including four All-Star appearances, and two with the Nationals).
Wieters’ -6 runs via extra strikes and 43 percent strike rate behind the plate last season, per Statcast, both ranked near the bottom of the league and his offense isn’t what it used to be.
But in a backup role, which is presumably what the A’s (to help ease Sean Murphy into the role after Josh Phegley‘s departure via free agency) and Cardinals (to backup Yadier Molina) have him pegged for, Wieters should be able to provide what any interested teams are looking for.
News & Notes
Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe gave updates on two free-agent backstops, noting that veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy “could return to the Rockies” and 36-year-old Russel Martin “wants to keep playing”, but is willing to accept a backup role.
Lucroy, 33, slashed .232/.305/.355 over 328 plate appearances between the Angels and Cubs last season, racking up -4 runs via extra strikes and a 47.1 percent strike rate, per Statcast.
Martin played in 83 games for the Dodgers last season (249 plate appearances), hitting .220/.337/.330 (79 OPS+) with +6 RES and a 53.1% strike rate (95th percentile in framing, per Baseball Savant; +1 OAA at third base, as well).
The New York Yankees officially announced the re-signing of Brett Gardner on Saturday to a one-year, $8 million deal with a $10 million club option for 2021. The Yankees designated left-hander Stephen Tarpley, 26, for assignment as the corresponding move.
Gardner, 36, hit .251/.325/.503 with 28 home runs, 74 RBI, and 10 stolen bases (4.0 bWAR) over 550 plate appearances for New York last season, his 12th season in The Bronx (currently the longest-tenured Yankees player).
