We are less than two weeks away from spring training and 23 of our top 60 free agents remain without a contract, including one of the top seven. Here are the noises from the hot stove on Sunday at the Super Bowl.
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Ink Mets Almora Jr.
The New York Mets reached an agreement with outfielder Albert Almora Jr., according to Ken Rosenthal and Andy McCullough of The Athletic.
Almora, 27 years old in mid-April, was available after not being bid on by the Chicago Cubs earlier this winter. In the past three seasons, he hit 0.261 / 0.299 / 0.373 with 17 home runs and three stolen bases (in seven attempts). Almora’s 76 OPS + during this period ranked 215 out of 222 players with at least 800 plate appearances. Predictably, he is still considered a good defensive central defender.
Almora imagines seeing much of his action against the left-hand shot. The Mets are scheduled to start three left-handed outfielders most days: Dominic Smith, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto. Almora joins Jose Martinez and Guillermo Heredia like the other field options with the right hand in the list of 40 players.
Mets remains interested in Bradley Jr.
The Mets may have hired Almora on Sunday, but that didn’t necessarily take them out of the race for Jackie Bradley Jr. Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe reported on Sunday afternoon that the two sides “remain very engaged”.
Bradley Jr. entered the off-season rated by CBS Sports as the 12th best free agent available. Here’s what we were writing at the time:
Bradley Jr. is not a crazy athlete like, say, Kevin Kiermaier or Ramon Laureano. What he is, however, is one of the best central defenders in the game. He launches into space as if he were Mike Campbell and plays the position with admirable precision – to the point that his routes seem pre-programmed. Bradley Jr. is also not a zero on the board. The Red Sox has allowed him to face more left-handers in the past two years, and he put in good numbers against them in 2020. (His next team will likely relegate him back to platoon status.) He’s good for double-digit homers and an OPS about .760 against righties. It will look good with his glove.
Bradley Jr. would probably take over as New York’s most frequent central defender, with one for Brandon Nimmo and Dominic Smith on the left and the other moving to the bank.
Of course, the Mets face stiff competition from Bradley Jr. – Mike Puma of the New York Post tweeted that half a dozen teams are involved in the process.
Red Sox making progress on the reliever
The Red Sox is believed to be progressing towards an agreement with Japanese reliever Hirokazu Sawamura, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.
Sawamura, 33 in April, made almost 400 appearances during his career at Nippon Professional Baseball. In these outings, he accumulated an ERA of 2.82 and a streak-to-walk ratio of 2.95.
Baseball Info Solutions’ Ted Baarda provided an observation report for Sawamura in December:
Sawamura throws a fast mid-90s straight ball around 96, which he can locate deep in the zone. His secondary primary pitch is a mid-90s divider, which has some late fall, but doesn’t have a big break due to the speed with which he plays it. He does a good job of keeping the pitch low, in or below the zone, and hitters regularly swing over him when he leaves the zone. Dividers are pitches that are difficult to command, which contributes to Sawamura’s high walking rates.
Sawamura will receive a major league contract if the two sides reach an agreement.
Reds add Strange-Gordon
The Reds signed veteran infielder Dee Strange-Gordon for a minor league contract, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. While other pending moves, Strange-Gordon envisions competing with Kyle Farmer and Kyle Holder for Cincinnati shortstop work.
Strange-Gordon, 32, hit a weak .200 / .268 / .212 with three bases stolen in 82 plate appearances with the Mariners last season. Seattle declined its $ 14 million club option earlier this season. Strange-Gordon was the last average hitter in 2017, when he stole 60 MLB lead bases from the Marlins. He hasn’t played shortstop regularly since 2013.
The Pirates made an interesting addition on Sunday, scoring leftist Chasen Shreve in a deal for a minor league, the team announced.
Shreve, 30, hit more than 12 hitters out of nine in 17 games for the Mets last season. He did this while showing improved speed (about 1.6 km per hour compared to the 2019 average) and generated more than 55% of breaths on his divider.
A’s remain active in the bullpen market
On Saturday, A’s hired right-handed Mike Fiers and acquired the shortstop Elvis Andrus in his first notable plays of the winter. OA’s may not be done, however, as general manager David Forst said Oakland remains interested in adding emergency aid.
It is unclear who Forst has in mind, but there are a number of relievers that have been ranked in the CBS Sports Top 60 and remain unsigned:
The A’s lost closer to Liam Hendriks to the free agency earlier this winter.