Free Agents
• Mike Foltynewicz threw for teams.
Mike Foltynewicz threw for teams in Atlanta today. Was at 90-92 but looked to be in fine shape.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 29, 2021
Great, 90 to 92, just what he was throwing last season when he was cut. Over his career, he’s sat at over 95.5 mph and only has a 4.33 ERA. Continue to ignore.
Astros
• Myles Straw is set to be the centerfielder.
The Astros will make Straw win the job in spring training, but good luck identifying a legitimate challenger on the current roster.
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He’s never hit for power, but there’s a scenario in which he gets on base enough to make it work. And if he does get on base, he’s got the potential to rack up stolen bases.Neither of the Astros’ corner outfielders, Brantley and Kyle Tucker, are particularly strong defenders, so a good defensive center fielder is particularly important on their roster.
Straw is an “end-of-a-draft” dart throw for stolen bases. In 2018, he stole 72 over three different levels. The stolen base potential is legit but he’s projected for a replacement level ~.650 OPS. Most hitters will head to the bench producing at such a level. While his defense may give him a little more leeway and the roster is set, he’s far from a sure bet.
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Free Agents
Molina, 38, has made clear his preference to return to the Cardinals, and the Cards have expressed their interest in re-signing him. He’s seeking a two-year contract, but in a recent interview with Cardinals broadcaster Polo Ascencio for La Vida Baseball, Molina acknowledged that if an appealing offer isn’t there, he’ll consider retirement.
“I’m preparing hard. When God says — if He wants, if it’s His will that I can come back, I’ll come back,” Molina said in Spanish. “And if not, I’ll retire happy and with my head held high.”
… Masahiro Tanaka might not sign with an MLB team.
Per SNY TV’s Andy Martino, “there continues to be informed speculation in the industry” that Tanaka will return to his home country of Japan to continue his professional career.
Tanaka, who has spent all seven seasons of his MLB career with the New York Yankees, appeared on a radio show in Japan last week and said there was a “not zero” chance that he would return to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, where he played before joining MLB in 2013 (h/t Mike Rosenstein of NJ.com).
Fantasy managers just need to understand that one or both might be a big zero in 2021 and plan accordingly in leagues with no waiver wire.
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Mariners
• Dylan Moore should get some playing time at second base.
Dylan Moore’s 2020 breakout has warranted more playing time, Mariners manager Scott Servais said recently. And the clearest spot for the third-year utility man — who played every position except catcher from ’19-20 — is at second, where he played mostly after Shed Long Jr. was shut down on Sept. 12 with a shin injury.
…“As we look forward, Dylan Moore had an outstanding offensive season. He really did,” Servais said. “And he plays all over the field. It’s a great strength of his and one that’s nice to have as a manager, where you can plug that guy in anywhere. I don’t want to take that away from Dylan. … We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out, but Dylan has earned the right to get more regular time at second base.”
Angels
• Signs continue to point to Jared Walsh being the full-time first baseman.
Albert Pujols is entering the final season of his 10-year contract signed before the 2011 season, but he’s likely to spend it in a backup role. Jared Walsh had a breakout rookie season in 2020, batting .293/.324/.646 with nine homers and 26 RBIs in 32 games. He will head into Spring Training as the favorite to be the club’s regular first baseman, but he’ll have to earn the job, especially considering the small sample size in 2020. But Walsh appears likely to be the regular at first base with Pujols serving as a backup and occasional DH when Ohtani isn’t available. Matt Thaiss could also see some action at the position, but Walsh has moved ahead of Thaiss on the organization’s depth chart.
Jayson Stark asked several people in MLB about when next season will start and most think it will be delayed.
But in 2021, owners appear ready to dig in. If they can’t open ticket offices and play baseball games in front of real human beings who purchase real tickets, they’re likely to push to delay the season until they can.
“The belief is, we can’t have games without fans anymore,” said one NL club official. “And we understand that in certain parts of the country, it’s going to be impossible to have fans in April.”
So if it’s impossible to have fans in April, they’d prefer to wait until May. If it’s impossible to have fans in May, they’d prefer to wait until June. But even if they’re wrong and fans are permitted as soon as early April, their question is: How many fans?
First, don’t get too excited about any preset fantasy draft dates. There is a good chance the start of the season will be pushed back so everyone in a draft must know that possibility.
Second, players may have to go through the ramp-up and down and back up procedure again. The season could be a huge mess again with delays and an unknown start date.
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Athletics
• A.J. Puk is expected to be part of the rotation.
A.J. Puk is progressing well from surgery. Forst counts him among the A’s starting rotation members along with Montas, Luzardo, Bassitt and Manaea.
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) December 9, 2020
The A’s are going to need to get their rotation 10 deep with that injury-prone group. And those replacements could get hurt and/or underperform so 10 might not be enough.
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• Pitcher Kohei Arihara (NPB) will join shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (KBO) as the top international free agents.
The news on Kim has been known for a while but the Arihara news will be interesting for any team needing pitching (i.e. all teams). The 28-year-old Arihara had his best season in 2019 with a 2.46 ERA, 0.919 WHIP, and 8.8 K/9. All the stats were a little worse in 2020. The Davenport translation on his 2020 season is a 5.09 ERA and 5.9 K/9. Not the best numbers so maybe he’ll end up as a long reliever.
• The KBO’s Sung-Bum Na (OF/DH) has been posted and MLB teams have 30 days to negotiate a signing.
Na has been an above-average hitter in KBO since his second year in the league and a star-level performer for much of that time. In 4140 career plate appearances since debuting as a 23-year-old, he’s batted .317/.384/.542 with 179 home runs, 244 doubles and 25 triples.
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He moved to right field for the 2015 campaign, and that’s been his primary defensive home since, although he’s still logged some occasional time in center — most recently in 2019 when he started 18 games there. However, Na’s 2019 season was cut short by a severe knee injury that resulted in him being placed on a stretcher and taken off the field in an ambulance, as he told ESPN’s Marly Rivera earlier this year. He underwent surgery and spent seven months rehabbing from that procedure.
Na doesn’t seem like a priority add with the defensive limitations and he is coming off a major knee injury. Quite a few major leaguers fit the desciption as a broken down slugger.
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• Many hitters might wait to sign until the National League has said yes or no on the designated hitter.
Ozuna, who turns 30 on Thursday, is not strictly a DH. His agent, Melvin Roman, is marketing him as a left fielder who started 21 games in the outfield last season and was fully recovered from the shoulder surgery he underwent in October 2018. Braves coaches say Ozuna worked hard to strengthen his arm in his one season with the club, throwing every other day during summer training camp. With continued work, they believe his throwing can be average, his play in the outfield serviceable.
A rival executive was less convinced, saying, “He is a DH. If I was his agent, I’m not doing anything until I know the rules. I might have 30 suitors. Or I might have 15.” An agent for another free-agent position player agreed, saying, “If there were certainty with the DH, I believe everyone’s market would be enhanced.”
In a year with so many unknowns, early drafters might have to wait to find out who is playing where and what role they will play. It’ll be interesting to see how far unsigned players drop in ADP as the season gets closer to the March drafts.
• Jerry Dipoto believes the Mariners and other teams will only allow their pitchers to throw 170 innings next season.
“The one thing I’m certain of, is that the innings totals for our youngest starting pitchers — there’s only so far we’re going to be willing to go with them in 2021 as a result of this year’s short schedule,” he said. “And I think that makes us like 29 other teams in the industry. We’re not going to run starting pitchers out there for 170 innings next year. We’ll build them up more carefully.”
The reports on projected innings will be all over the place with Dylan Bundy planning on taking on a full workload. I think the assumption needs to start around Dipoto’s number (even though he’s not Bundy’s GM) and as reports come in, projections can be individually adjusted.
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Astros
• Josh James is going to be out for six to eight months recovering from hip surgery.
The recovery time for that procedure is approximately 6-8 months, the club announced on Saturday. A sixth-month recovery would take James into late April, while an eight-month recovery would stretch into late June. That’s another blow to an Astros pitching staff that already lost ace Justin Verlander for the entire 2021 season after he recently underwent Tommy John surgery.
I don’t see any reason to roster him in any league that drafts before there is a positive update on his status.
Athletics
• Khris Davis is likely limited to the short side of a DH platoon.
After four seasons as the team’s everyday DH, Khris Davis faced mainly left-handed pitchers in 2020, which limited his playing time to 30 games. He split the DH role with Canha, who played 21 games in that spot.
He’s worthless in fantasy right now.
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