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For the third time in just over one year, Tyler Clippard is on the move after agreeing to a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported that Clippard signed a contract worth $12.25 million over two years, which MLB Network’s Jon Heyman supported. Rosenthal added that the deal includes a $4 million signing bonus, a $4.1 million salary in 2016 and a $4.15 million salary the following season.

The team went on to confirm the move.

Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports added that Clippard will serve as the setup man to closer Brad Ziegler.

Clippard was traded to the Oakland Athletics in January 2015, pitching 37 games before being traded to the New York Mets prior to the July 31 deadline. He had a successful season overall, posting a 2.92 ERA with 64 strikeouts, 49 hits allowed and 31 walks over 71 innings.

During the Mets’ playoff run to the World Series, Clippard did show signs of fatigue, with a 6.75 ERA over 6.2 innings. 

Given New York’s depth in the starting rotation, along with more pressing needs in the outfield and second base when the offseason started, he seemed like an expendable piece.

Early in the offseason, one executive was confident that Clippard would get a good deal, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick:

It’s a reasonable assessment because even in a down year, he had his third straight season with an ERA under 3.00 and sixth straight season with at least 70 innings pitched.

Relievers are naturally volatile, so finding one who is dependable with a long track record of health is going to generate a lot of interest from teams.

Crasnick referred to another reason the Diamondbacks should be eager to welcome Clippard into the fold: He’s made 440 appearances since 2010, the most among MLB relievers.

Arizona was able to wait out the market for Clippard and add depth to its bullpen, which is often hard to find. The 30-year-old may not be the 85-90-inning hurler he was in 2010-11, but there are few relievers who can take the ball for one or two innings and provide better results. 

The Kansas City Royals have proved the last two years that teams can win with a dominant bullpen, so the Diamondbacks are certainly hoping to embark on a similar path to success by acquiring Clippard to help close out games.

Pitching was a clear weakness for Arizona in 2015. The team finished 25th in quality starts and 17th in team ERA at 4.04.

After landing a legitimate ace in Zack Greinke to headline the staff, the Diamondbacks did well to bolster their bullpen with Clippard coming aboard.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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As Cliff Lee looks to continue his pitching career in 2016, the former American League Cy Young winner needs to find a team willing to take a chance on him.  

Continue for updates. 

Teams Reluctant to Sign Lee

Sunday, Feb. 7

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, multiple teams have explored the idea of signing Lee as recently as this past week, but “are unsure about devoting $6 million to $8 million, plus incentives” to a 37-year-old who has thrown 81.1 innings since 2014. 

In 2013, per the Associated Press (via NJ.com), Lee said he planned to retire when his contract with the Philadelphia Phillies expired:  “I am getting up there in age. I’m 35 years old. When this contract’s over, I plan on going home. I’m running out of opportunities but all I can control is what I can control. I’m going to do everything I can to help us win. That’s all I know to do.”

While no athlete should be held to what they say in the heat of the moment, Lee’s decision could easily be made for him. Injuries have hampered him for two seasons, with his last appearance in an MLB game coming on July 31, 2014 against Washington. 

In the nearly 19 months since Lee’s last game, he dealt with a flexor pronator strain to end 2014 and told the Associated Press (per ESPN.com) last year when his left elbow flared up again that surgery would “possibly” end his career.

Lee wasn’t pitching poorly in 2014, posting a 3.65 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 81.1 innings, but his inability to get healthy in the time since originally going on the disabled list essentially means he’s not worthy of getting a one-year deal worth millions of dollars. 

If Lee were to accept something like a minor league deal heavy on incentives with an invite to spring training, he may have more luck finding a place to pitch. 

Based on Cafardo’s report, it doesn’t sound like that kind of contract is something Lee’s camp wants right now. 

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Alex Cobb has been one of the Tampa Bay Rays’ best starting pitchers when healthy, so if the team wanted to explore a trade market for him, it would certainly be robust. 

Continue for updates. 

Rays Not Shopping Cobb

Sunday, Feb. 7

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Cobb has generated “quite a bit of interest” from teams, but the Rays “are likely” to keep their young pitching staff intact heading into the season.   

Health is a key point for Cobb this season. He missed the entire 2015 season after starting the year on the disabled list with elbow problems that led to Tommy John surgery in May. 

The 28-year-old will make his return at some point early in 2016, joining a talented Tampa Bay rotation that includes Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Nate Karns, Drew Smyly and Matt Moore. 

Cobb looked like the Rays’ ace-in-the-making during 2013-14, posting a 2.82 ERA and 283 strikeouts in 309.2 innings.

The problem he faces in 2016 is that he’s never been able to make it through an entire season unscathed. He has yet to make 30 starts in a season, and his career high in innings pitched is 166.1 (2014), so there’s plenty of room for improvement even as he’s capable of dominating over 20-25 starts. 

While the Rays are always facing financial restrictions, there is no urgency to trade Cobb right now. He’s under team control for two more years and is making only $4 million in 2016, so he can be one of the best bargains in baseball if he posts his 2013-14 numbers over 20 starts this year. 

If the Rays get off to a slow start in the American League East this season, Cobb’s availability may change around the trade deadline. 

For now, though, he has every reason to expect that he will be starting 2016 in a Tampa Bay uniform.  

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Veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia has decided to retire at the age of 39 after making one final start for Venezuela in the Caribbean Series on Sunday.

According to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, Garcia will attempt to lead Venezuela to victory in the championship game against Mexico before hanging up his cleats. 

Venezuela manager Eddie Perez told Sanchez Garcia’s final game only adds an extra layer of intrigue on top of his team competing for a Caribbean Series title:

Venezuelan fans are expecting something good from Freddy and so is everybody. Knowing that it’s his last game is going to make it very special. We all hope he pitches a really good game so he can retire in a good way and bring the title for Venezuela. Everybody who is rooting for Venezuela expects him to do well.

Perez also left no doubt Garcia is the man he wants on the mound in this spot, calling him “the right guy at the right time” because of his experience in big games during his MLB career. 

Garcia played for seven teams during his 15-year professional career, posting a 156-108 record with a 4.15 ERA and 1,621 strikeouts in 2,264 innings.

Garcia’s best season came in 2001 as part of the Seattle Mariners team that tied an MLB record with 116 wins. He threw a league-leading 238.2 innings with an 18-6 record, 3.05 ERA, 163 strikeouts and finished third in American League Cy Young voting. 

The two-time All-Star also won a World Series title in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox, pitching seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory over the Houston Astros in the series-clincher. 

Garcia last pitched in the big leagues during the 2013 season with the Atlanta Braves. He was never a superstar during his playing days but provided tremendous value because of his ability to eat innings and toss an occasional gem, as he did for the White Sox. 

Even though Garcia was unable to catch on with an MLB team in the last two years, he’s picked a great moment to end his career and will have one more opportunity to shine on the mound.

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The Baltimore Orioles reportedly traded minor league pitcher Jean Cosme to the San Diego Padres for right-handed pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne on Thursday.   

Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reported the Orioles and Padres pulled off a deal involving Cosme. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com added that Despaigne was going back to Baltimore in the trade.

Despaigne gives Orioles manager Buck Showalter versatility with his pitching staff for 2016. The 28-year-old has appeared in 50 games for the Padres since 2014, with 34 starts and 16 games in relief. 

Per Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun, Orioles general manager Dan Duquette confirmed that Despaigne would be competing for a rotation spot in spring training:

The numbers for Despaigne in 2015 weren’t pretty. He posted a 5.80 ERA with 142 hits allowed, 17 home runs, 69 strikeouts and 32 walks in 125.2 innings, so Baltimore pitching coach Dave Wallace has his work cut out for him. 

The Orioles are likely to use Despaigne in the starting rotation when the season starts. They badly need depth in the rotation after free agent Wei-Yin Chen signed with the Miami Marlins in January. 

Even if Despaigne fails in that role for the Orioles, Showalter has been a master at building bullpens in his five-plus seasons with the team. They’ve finished in the top six in relievers ERA three times in the past four years, including fifth in 2015 with a 3.21 mark. 

For the Padres, as noted by Corey Brock of MLB.com, they were able to move Despaigne because he didn’t have a role with the team in 2016:

On top of that, Padres general manager A.J. Preller was able to flip Despaigne for a 19-year-old who had a solid year in short-season ball with 53 strikeouts and just 46 hits allowed in 57 innings. 

Cosme isn’t going to change the fortunes of San Diego’s farm system on his own, but he’s a worthy gamble for the team to take given his age and performance in 2015. 

The Padres have plenty of starters to choose from in 2016 with James Shields, Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner and Robbie Erlin as their first four. They can build a bullpen from spare parts because Petco Park is massive. 

Both teams solved problems with this trade. Despaigne gives Showalter more options to choose from, while the Padres were able to create a roster spot for incoming closer Fernando Rodney and get a solid young pitcher.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to add more brainpower and manpower to their front office, hiring former big leaguers Greg Maddux and Raul Ibanez on Tuesday. 

According to the Dodgers’ official Twitter account, Maddux and Ibanez have joined the team as special assistants to the president of baseball operations and baseball operations department.    

The Dodgers have had an eventful offseason, though not for reasons most fans in Los Angeles like. They lost Zack Greinke to their National League West rivals in the Arizona Diamondbacks, opting to sign Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda for their starting rotation. 

Yet what the Dodgers have lacked in free-agent buzz, they have more than made up for with the bolstering of their front office.

Already boasting a group that included president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes and general manager Farhan Zaidi, the Dodgers brought in former Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos as vice president of baseball operations. 

The job of special assistant to the president of baseball operations, which Maddux and Ibanez will be serving, is often left vague. Many former players serve in that role, with Chipper Jones returning to the Atlanta Braves under the same banner. 

According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Jones’ role in Atlanta includes spending time with the team during spring training and doing work at major league and minor league levels throughout the regular season. 

Maddux and Ibanez could conceivably do the same thing for the Dodgers, helping inform Friedman and Zaidi about personnel decisions throughout the year and about when to bring players up from the minor leagues. 

Regardless of what Maddux and Ibanez will be doing for the Dodgers, their hiring continues the franchise’s trend of adding as many smart, informed baseball voices as possible to the mix so it is making the best decisions for 2016 and beyond. 

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Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully is getting honored with a street bearing his name that leads to Dodger Stadium.  

According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday unanimously approved the moniker “Vin Scully Avenue” to be used in place of Elysian Park Avenue. 

Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo proposed the name change, according to Doug Padilla of ESPN.com.

Per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, even though Scully has resisted these kinds of accolades and tributes in the past, he was “on board” with this proposal. 

Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten released a statement regarding the proposal before it was voted on, per Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times: “There’s no better way to recognize such an iconic Dodger as Hall of Famer Vin Scully than naming a street after him. We appreciate Gil Cedillo and city officials bringing this to the forefront, and we look forward to the day when everyone can drive on Vin Scully Avenue when they enter Dodger Stadium.”

It would be hard to think of a better way to honor arguably the most iconic announcer in Major League Baseball history. The 88-year-old Scully, who has said 2016 will likely be his final season in the booth, has been with the Dodgers since 1950 and calls games by himself with no color commentator. 

Accolades are nothing new for Scully, who was given the Ford Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. He’s one of the great voices in sports, always able to call games with a natural ease and tell stories from past decades that relate to what is happening on the field. 

Since it’s probably impossible to get the entire city of Los Angeles named after Scully, a street that leads directly to Chavez Ravine is a pretty good consolation prize. 

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Michael Brantley‘s terrific 2015 season ended on Sept. 28 after he suffered a small tear to the labrum on his non-throwing shoulder. He eventually had surgery to repair the injury. It remains unclear if he’ll be ready for the start of the 2016 season. 

Continue for updates. 

Bastian: Brantley Hoping for Opening Day Return

Thursday, Jan. 28

According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Brantley is “progressing well, and said his goal is to be back by Opening Day. But, knows that might not be realistic.”

Brantley, who was originally acquired by Cleveland in the CC Sabathia trade with Milwaukee in 2008, has turned into a quiet superstar. 

In 2014, he was named to his first All-Star team and finished third in AL MVP voting after posting a .327/.385/.506 slash line with 45 doubles, 20 home runs, 23 stolen bases and 200 hits. He followed that up with a strong 2015 season that included a slash of .310/.379/.480 with 15 homes runs and 84 RBI in just 137 games.

Injuries have never been a major problem for Brantley, who had played in at least 149 games every season since 2012. 

The Indians were disappointing in 2015, finishing 13.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central, though Brantley did everything he could to keep them afloat. Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor have been the only other consistent sources of production in Cleveland’s lineup, so the loss of Brantley left a huge void it could not replace. 

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After two months of uncertainty, the New York Mets and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes reunited when the former All-Star signed a three-year deal on Tuesday worth $75 million to help the defending National League Champions get over that final hurdle.    

With a fresh new contract in hand, members of the Mets front office and Cespedes, along with his agent, met the media on Wednesday to discuss everything about what the deal means for both parties. 

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson summed up perfectly what Cespedes’ return does for the franchise, per the team’s official Twitter account:

Alderson also talked about the immediate future for the Mets with Cespedes, per Marc Carig of Newsday:

The present is crucial for the Mets, who have a starting rotation good enough to win a World Series. Groups like Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and the returning Zack Wheeler don’t come along often, so it’s imperative to strike while the iron is hot. 

The Mets have other questions, involving lineup depth and relief pitching before closer Jeurys Familia, so keeping a player who hit a career-high 35 homers last year and is just 30 years old keeps them in the running in a National League East that figures to be competitive in 2016 with the Washington Nationals on the rise. 

Another interesting comment about Cespedes’ deal from Alderson involved the public relations discussion, per Carig:

It’s no secret the Mets’ ownership has had financial problems stemming from Fred Wilpon’s investment in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, so there was uncertainty if it had enough money available to retain Cespedes. 

Yet Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon noted how Cespedes’ deal will look to other potential free agents, per Carig:

Everyone around MLB saw where the Mets were last summer before they made the deal for Cespedes—unable to score runs and floundering around .500 with one of the league’s most dominant pitching staffs being wasted.

Ownership signed off on the blockbuster trade with Detroit at the trade deadline, the offense led the NL in runs scored after the All-Star break and the Mets won their first NL pennant since 2000. It wasn’t all Cespedes’ doing, as Michael Conforto was called up and David Wright returned from injuries, but the power-hitting outfielder certainly helped the middle of the order. 

Cespedes’ agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, took the battle for his client directly to the Mets and Alderson, per Carig:

Both sides came out on the winning end in this deal. The Mets get the PR boost of retaining arguably their best position player for 2016, while Cespedes will make $27.5 million next season and has the ability to opt out after the year to get a lucrative long-term deal with a much weaker free-agent class. 

However, Van Wagenen did try to sell the deal as one Cespedes believes is going to last longer than one season, per the Mets’ official Twitter account:

One interesting wrinkle that developed late in Cespedes’ negotiations with teams this offseason was Washington’s presence.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the Nationals offered Cespedes $110 million. Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com did note that Washington’s offer to Cespedes wasn’t that good, with deferrals paying out the money for 15 years. 

Wilpon told reporters, per Carig, that Washington’s involvement did not impact how the Mets approached Cespedes. 

Whether Wilpon is being entirely truthful or not, it’s irrelevant to what matters for Cespedes and the Mets now. Both parties got what they wanted from this offseason, and the team will enter 2016 as one of the favorites to win the National League. 

There are a lot of great teams in the NL right now, with the Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks all looking formidable. 

The Mets dwarf everyone in starting pitching impact and depth, with Cespedes giving them the cleanup hitter they badly need to hit for power. It’s an exciting time to be a fan entering an MLB season in New York for the first time in years. 

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After spending the last year as sellers, the Oakland Athletics may be ready to start investing in their future with star outfielder Josh Reddick.   

According to John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group, the Athletics and Reddick are ready to start discussions about a multiyear contract extension. 

Continue for updates. 

Reddick Part of Oakland’s Future

Sunday, Jan. 24

When the offseason started, Reddick’s name was suggested as a potential trade candidate because he’s scheduled to become a free agent after 2016 and the team dealt Josh Donaldson, a young superstar who was four years away from free agency, to Toronto last winter. 

In November, Oakland general manager Billy Beane told Peter Gammons of Gammons Daily he could not see the team trading Reddick or star pitcher Sonny Gray. 

Earlier this month, the A’s were able to avoid going to arbitration with Reddick by signing him to a one-year deal worth $6.575 million. The 28-year-old has had an erratic four-year run in Oakland, but he’s been very good at his best. 

Reddick missed a combined 101 games in 2013-14 and hit a total of 24 home runs as a result. In 2012 and 2015, he played a total of 315 games with 52 home runs and posted a career-high .333 on-base percentage last season. 

The Athletics might be able to convince Reddick to accept a team-friendly deal because of his injury concerns, promising him financial security and a stable environment. But he could opt to bet on himself, hoping to have another strong season in 2016 and put himself in position to get a huge deal. It’s a risky proposition that may have a resolution, one way or the other, before the regular season begins on April 4. 

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