Major League Baseball’s hot stove is in full swing. Let’s see what’s cooking.

Boras Boys’ Market Beginning To Heat Up

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com shed some light on the respective markets of free-agent left-handed starters Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel, as well as outfielder/designated hitter Nicholas Castellanos — all of whom are clients of mega-agent Scott Boras.

Boras tells Feinsand “the markets for both pitchers have been deep”, adding “clubs are identifying their needs, and we’re certainly narrowing the corridor of finality” and that both veteran hurlers are “deep in negotiations” with an undetermined number of teams.

Keuchel, 31, made his season debut for the Braves on June 21 last season after lingering on the market until earlier that month (signed a one-year, $21.2 million deal on June 7). Over 18 starts for Atlanta, Keuchel pitched to a 3.75 ERA with 91 strikeouts and 39 walks.

Ryu, 32, led the majors in ERA last season (2.32; 3.10 FIP), racking up 163 strikeouts with just 24 walks over 29 starts for the Dodgers (182.2 innings).

Feinsand lists Texas, Toronto, St. Louis, the White Sox, the Twins, and both Los Angeles ballclubs as reported suitors for Ryu, and named San Diego, the Cardinals, the White Sox, Angels, and Cubs as teams “said to be in” on Keuchel.

Castellanos, 27, slashed .289/.337/.525 with 27 homers, 58 doubles, and 73 RBIs over 151 games between the Tigers and Cubs last season.

As a below-average defender (-9 DRS, -4.9 UZR/150 over 1,206.2 innings in the outfield last season), Castellanos may be best suited for an American League team, but Boras apparently views his client as a viable corner outfielder.

“When you look at the [corner] outfield aspect of [the market], it has been a market where everyone is kind of taking care of their pitching staff because many other teams have gone after that product, so they’re forced to do it even if they wanted to address the outfield. That whole market has yet to hit.”

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports the Cubs and Castellanos are both open to discussing a return to the north side, also noting “Castellanos sees the Giants, Rangers, and Cubs as three teams who value him for more than just his offense” (referring to his positive clubhouse presence).

News & Notes

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that infielder Eric Sogard, 33, signed a one-year contract with the Brewers with a club option for 2021.

Sogard hit .290/.353/.457 with 13 homers, 23 doubles, and 40 RBIs over 110 games (442 plate appearances) with the Blue Jays and the Rays last season.

Also via Rosenthal, three southpaws signed minor league contracts on Wednesday:

  • Ross Detwiler, 33, returned to the White Sox on a minor league deal after putting up a 6.59 ERA with 46 strikeouts and 27 walks over 18 appearances last season (12 starts; 69.2 innings).
  • Fernando Abad, 34, agreed to a minor league contract with the Nationals (4.15 ERA, 9 K, 3 BB, 21 relief appearances; 13 innings)
  • Danny Coulombe, 30, and the Twins came to terms on a minors deal (4.56 ERA, 26 K, 11 BB, 27 appearances; 23.2 innings).