FIRST BASEMEN FINALLY SIGN
Chris Carter signed a 1-year, $3.5 million deal with the Yankees. The man who had 41 homers and 94 RBI last season was barely able to find a gig in North America as he had contemplated taking his game to Japan. I get it, as CJ Nitkowski pointed out Carter didn’t exactly crush it last year despite all the homers, but this is an odd landing spot for Carter. As Jim Bowden recently noted, it’s quite possible that Carter doesn’t play daily and that he in fact faces lefties while Greg Bird takes the first base at-bats against righties. Joel Sherman also noted that the Yanks brought in Carter in case Bird’s shoulder isn’t fully healthy – in essence giving them a safety blanket. Carter could play daily and hit another 30 homers. He could also be a platoon option helping to lower his, and Bird’s, value at the same time. That’s of course predicated on the health of guys like Matt Holliday and Brett Gardner which could open more playing time for everyone.
Sounds like Mike Napoli will get about $8.5 million this season from the Rangers to be their middle of the order slugger (the deal could have an option as well). This was a solid signing by the Rangers who are attempting to win it all in 2017. At the same time, Napoli has faults despite coming off a 34 homer, 101 RBI, 92 run scored season. (1) Napoli is 35 years old. (2) He has 500 at-bats once in his career – last season. (3) He has failed to reach his career batting average of .252 in 3-straight seasons and 4-of-5. He’s hit .234 the last two seasons by the way. (4) He’s posted a .331 OBP the last two seasons, more than .020 points below his career rate. (6) He struck out 194 times last season as he posted the second worst K-rate of his career (30.1 percent). (7) The last two years he’s hit .214 with OBP marks of .282 and .322 against righties. That’s not good, at all. Finally, I’m disappointed they decided to keep Joey Gallo in the minors yet again. Compare the two men’s slash lines last season.
| LEVEL | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Mike Napoli | Majors | .239 | .335 | .465 | .800 |
Joey Gallo | Minors | .240 | .367 | .529 | .896 |
Gallo has his faults, like a massive strikeout rate (240 punchouts in 155 games at Triple-A), but don’t forget that in 2015 and 2016 he was regarded as a top-10 prospect in all of baseball. He’s also 12 years younger than Napoli. Pretty much the same skills, though of course Napoli is a more stable option. Still...
THIS AND THAT
Erick Aybar signed with the Padres. Coming off a terrible season of three homers, three steals and a .623 OPS, it would still seem likely that he has a leg up over Luis Sardinas to be the starting shortstop with the Padres this season.
The Red Sox have three men battling for two rotation spots: Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright. If I had to guess I would suggest that the first two grab spots based on their skills advantage with Wright heading to the pen. However, knucklers out of the bullpen never seems to work, and all three men are dealing with health concerns. How about this. I’ll go out on a limb and say all three men make 20 starts this season.
Drew Stubbs signed a minor-league deal hoping to make the Twins at age 32. A one-time 20/30 player who has four seasons of 14/20 in the bigs, Stubbs hit three homers and stole nine bases in just 94 plate appearances with three different teams. It’s not like the Twins are flush with talent, so it’s possible that he carves out a role as a depth outfielder for those in AL-only leagues.
Trevor Story says his thumb is fine. “I feel good, 100 percent ready to go,” he said. Story had surgery on the UCL in his thumb and he says he’s strong and ready to rock. Maybe. However, the UCL injury is one that often takes a bit of time to return from, and believing that he will be at full strength at about nine months removed from the surgery may or may not be wishful thinking. Folks are all in according to his ADP.
I think folks are overvaluing Trea Turner. Here’s the audio.
Chase Utley is still looking for work. The 38 year old second sacker hit 14 homers last season with a .252/.319/.396 line. He’s no long elite, no longer an all-star caliber player, and he might be best served in a part-time role, but it’s still surprising that he’s without a team less than two months from opening day.
Zack Wheeler had a completely lost 2016 as he attempted to return from Tommy John surgery. He believes he’s finally ‘right,’ and that he’s ready to take on the challenge of starting for the Mets this season. “I know I belong in the starting rotation, there’s no question about that.’’ Well, that may or may not be the Mets plans as it sounds entirely possible that Wheeler will see at least a little, if not a lot, of his work out of the pen this season. “I feel that guys that go to the bullpen get stuck in the bullpen, and I don’t want to do that,’’ Wheeler said. “Because either you are doing bad and you stay in the bullpen because you can’t be a starter, or you are doing really good and they can’t afford to move you out of the bullpen.” Keep an eye on Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, in that order, as they would appear to have a shot to stick in the rotation this spring. .
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