Spring training is approximately six weeks away and only 10 of our 60 top free agents signed up. There is still a lot – A LOT – of work to be done between now and the beginning of the camp and, inevitably, a lot will take until February and March, and maybe even April. Here are the latest rumors of hot stoves.
Turner looking for four years
Free field agent Justin Turner seeks a four-year contract, reports Jorge Castillo, of the Los Angeles Times. Castillo adds that the Dodgers are not willing to give him more than two years and, if the two sides do not reach an agreement, Los Angeles will probably leave the organization to deal with third base, instead of having internal options. Our RJ Anderson classified Turner as the number 7 free agent in the market.
Turner turned 36 in November and, although he remains a very productive player, has declined somewhat in recent years and injuries have limited him to 410 of 546 possible regular season games in 2017-20. Getting four years old in this market will be almost impossible, although there is no harm in asking. A two-year deal with a third-year option could be the compromise. Dodgers are said to be interested in DJ LeMahieu, an excellent alternative for Turner.
Mets interested in the hand
The Mets are interested in the free agent, the leftist Brad Hand, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. In November, team president Sandy Alderson said that the Mets could have claimed Hand and his $ 10 million club option in exemptions in October “if the weather had been a little different,“presumably meaning if the transfer of ownership to Steve Cohen had been completed. Our RJ Anderson ranked Hand as the number 21 free agent on the market.
New York has been among the most active teams in baseball during this low season, most notably hiring catcher James McCann and powerful reliever Trevor May. May will join Edwin Diaz, who was sneakily dominant in 2020, as well as the remaining Dellin Betances , Miguel Castro and Jeurys Familia in the bullpen. His best left-handed reliever is Daniel Zamora, so Hand is an obvious choice. Cleveland put Hand on waivers in an effort to avoid his $ 1 million option purchase earlier this winter.
Nationals will participate in Kluber’s training
Nacional will be among the teams present at Corey Kluber’s training next week, The Athletic reports Britt Ghiroli. Ghiroli adds that at least 10 teams must attend. A shoulder injury limited Kluber to one entry in 2020 and he will play for the teams at Florida’s training center, where he trains in the off-season. Our RJ Anderson classified Kluber as the free agent no. 30 available.
Kluber, 35 in April, was limited to 36 2/3 innings due to several injuries in the past two years, including a line drive that broke his forearm in 2019. You can ignore a fluky injury like that. The shoulder injury that sabotaged this 2020? Not much. Kluber ranked among the top players in the game recently in 2018, and the Nationals could rank him as the fourth starter, behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, instead of relying on him to be an ace.
Tigers sign Grossman
The Detroit Tigers signed a two-year contract with outfielder Robbie Grossman, according to Cody Stavenhagen and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal is worth $ 10 million plus performance bonuses.
Grossman, 31, is coming out of a strong shortened 2020 season, in which he hit 0.241 / 0.344 / 0.482 with eight home runs and eight bases stolen in 51 games. An alternate hitter, Grossman must add a reliable base bat to the Tigers lineup for 2021. Even if he fights offensively, Detroit will likely use the veteran squad outfielder with some of his younger field options.
For his eight-year career in the MLB, Grossman has a cut line of 0.252 / 0.350 / 0.380 between stints at Houston Astros (2013-15), Minnesota Twins (2016-18) and Oakland Athletics (2019-20).