THERE MIGHT BE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK IN REGARDS TO THE DRAFT GUIDE. STAY TUNED!
Welington Castillo wants three years. Sounds like the Orioles are willing to give him two years. With Matt Wieters seemingly gone, the Orioles are basically down to Caleb Joseph behind the dish. Joseph isn’t a proficient hitter, he didn’t homer while posting a .174/.216/.197 line last season over 49 games, so they need to add someone. Welington would be a very nice fit. Castillo hit 14 homers last season with 68 RBI, a career best, as he’s averaged 17 homers and 62 RBI the past two campaigns.
The Dodgers are closing in on something like a four year deal with Justin Turner to return to man the hot corner. The 32 year old right is coming off his best season with a .275-27-90-79 line. Turner, a career .282 hitter, has bettered that mark in two of the last three years (.340, .294 and .275). His OBP dipped last season to just .339 but after posting marks of .404 and .370 the previous two years, and given his .348 career mark, it seems likely that the number from last season will improve in 2017.
EDITORS NOTE: Turner has signed a 4-year, $64 million deal with the Dodgers.
Speaking of the Dodgers, it sounds like Kenley Jansen is close to a return as well. According to Ken Rosenthal the deal will be for 5-years and $80 million. Obviously Jansen is easily one of the top-5 closers in baseball. Dude is flat out dominant. #GeniusStatementOfTheDay
Someone doesn’t like Christmas.
My thoughts on the Dexter Fowler to Cardinals move.
Free Agents are still looking for home. Some have already found a place that loves them. Check out the 2017 MLB Free Agent Tracker.
Wilson Ramos update. Ramos hopes to return to the field in May as he works his way back form ACL surgery. He may not be able to catch at that point though, one of the main reasons he signed with an AL club (the Rays), as he thinks he will be at least able to DH in May before returning to behind the dish. Ramos is gonna miss April, and I wouldn’t expect much in May, so be very cautious when you roster this guy in 2017.
Who knew that beavers were so funny?
Joe Ross posted a 3.43 ERA and 1.30 WHIP last season over 19 starts. As a rookie he posted a 3.64 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 16 outings. Through 181.2 big league innings he’s won 12 games with a 3.52 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 8.03 K/9 and 2.48 BB/9 rate. A line like that is borderline all-star worthy stuff, and something that would play in every fantasy league. Apparently the Nationals aren’t sold yet though as Nats’ pitching coach Mike Maddux said that the club was not ready to give the 5th spot in the rotation to Ross. I’m calling shenanigans. If healthy, Ross will beat out A.J. Cole and Erick Fedde for the 5th spot.
Stephen Strasburg will not be on any of my clubs. He’s never on any of my teams. You cannot trust him at all. He’s always hurt, always making some excuse, and I just want nothing to do with the whole situation. In an attempt to stay healthy in 2017 it sounds like he will cut out the slider to help protect his tender elbow (he threw the pitch 16.8 percent of the time last season according to PITCHf/x, this after never having thrown it more than 1.3 percent of the time). "My arm just wasn't accustomed to throwing that pitch that many times. I was throwing it significantly more, even when I didn't have it," Strasburg said. Apparently, he will still throw the pitch, but at a greatly reduced rate. "We're going to sit down with him and discuss it," general manager Mike Rizzo said. It won’t matter if he eliminates the pitch completely. He’s still not throwing 200-innings.
How did the Winter Meetings play out? Check out my report.
The Yankees signed Ruben Tejada to a minor league contract. He may make the club, he may not. He appeared in 13 games at second, 19 at third and 81 at shortstop last season, but he really cannot hit.
ANGELS/NATIONALS TRADE
Angels acquired INF Danny Espinosa
Nationals for RHP Austin Adams and RHP Kyle McGowin
Espinosa is a nice defensive player. In fact, he’s a strong defensive player who appeared in 157 at shortstop last season. The previous two seasons he appeared in more than 80 games at second base, and he also appeared in 16 games at third in 2015. The move to the Angels, who already have the sweet glove of Andrelton Simmons at shortstop, means Espinosa will handle second base duties for the Angels. A near 20/20 performer in 2011 and 2012, Espinosa had a career best 24 homers and 72 RBI in 2016. He only stole nine bases, and for the third time in four seasons failed to hit .220 as he batted .209. He struck out a whopping 174 times and isn’t much more than an all or nothing slugger, albeit one with that impressive leather.
Adams is a 25 year old who struggles to throw strikes, but when on is very tough to hit. In 32 games at Double-A last season he struck out 61 batters in a mere 41.1 frames. That’s a massive 13.28 K/9 rate though his 5.23 BB/9 rate is just terrible. He could be a league specific option in 2017 cause of that arm, but nothing more.
McGowin made 22 starts last season at Triple-A going 6-12 with a 6.11 ERA and 1.63 WHIP. The 2.13 K/BB ratio and 1.24 HR/9 mark simply don’t speak to short-term success.
Wow, some newscasters really have a hard time talking, don’t they?
(note, there are some rather crude comments in here)
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).