With the jars and collectors report less than a month away, the hot stove is starting to heat up. George Springer, the top free agent coming in this winter, signed on Tuesday. Another top-10 talent, Michael Brantley, is returning to Houston. Who else can sign in the next few days? Here are the latest rumors of hot stoves.
Dodgers monitoring the Bauer market
The Dodgers haven’t made a lot of noise this winter yet, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of ideas. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Los Angeles is “monitoring” the market for right-handed proprietor Trevor Bauer.
Bauer, the current Cy Young Award winner, appears to have lost his potential two best suitors this winter, on the Mets and Blue Jays. It is unclear which other teams are involved at this stage in the process, although a meeting with the Reds seems unlikely. Here’s what we wrote after classifying Bauer as the best starter available this winter:
Going into the 2020 season, Bauer’s career numbers maintained an incredible resemblance to those posted by AJ Burnett during the same period of his career. He created the split this season, accumulating an ERA of 1.73 and a 5.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 11 matches and 73 innings. Bauer has long had the material and, according to his press clippings, the intelligence to be a frontline holder. He has now gathered the results that support this idea in two of the past three seasons. Can he continue? This is one of the few questions that teams will have to answer, starting with how he improved his rotation rate just a few years after suggesting that this was only possible through substance use. Another is whether it is compatible in a long-term business. Bauer has fallen from grace in both Arizona and Cleveland, and has not always covered himself with glory on social media. The mood changes the mood with the same certainty that Sturgill changes the words; if Bauer wants to follow suit, changing his perception of a team leader in every sense of the term, then he will need to do more than continue to launch well.
In the past, Bauer has declared his preference for a one-year contract. He seems to soften that stance, but that idea may have a fan in Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman, who could lessen the risk by limiting the term.
Blue Jays has an offer in hand
The Blue Jays added Springer and a pair of relievers this week (Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood), but that does not mean they are finished. In addition to the rumors that link them to Michael Brantley, the Blue Jays have an offer for former Cleveland neighbor Brad Hand, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
Hand had his $ 10 million option rejected by Cleveland at the start of the game. However, CBS Sports ranked it as the second best reliever available this winter, writing the following:
Cleveland turned down the $ 10 million option at hand, which used to be seen as a bargain. He doesn’t play as hard as he used to; his pitches generated fewer swings and errors than normal in 2020; and his hitting ball profile changed from the ground to the air. That said, did you look at his statline? There was no noticeable slippage or obvious decline in performance. Instead, Hand posted the best ERA + and the crossed-out proportion for his career. Someone will entrust him with a highly influential role; they can also get a bargain.
The Mets have also been linked to Hand in recent weeks. Do you know who else was tied up? The great revelation …
Angels are also interested in the Hand
Yes, add the Angels to the list of potential claimants by hand:
They are working to build a competitive pitching team around Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, and for that in this off season they added Jose Quintana to the rotation and Raisel Iglesias and Alex Claudio to the bullpen. The merits of Hand are noted above, and with the Angels he immediately became Joe Maddon’s favorite southpaw and a possible tandem closer to Iglesias.