Kuzul

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona won the 2016 American League Manager of the Year award Tuesday. 

Per the BBWAA voting results, Francona garnered 22 first-place votes and 128 total points to take home the honor, beating Texas’ Jeff Banister and Baltimore’s Buck Showalter. 

If BBWAA awards also included postseason performance, Francona would have won the award by an even greater margin. His performance without star pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar for most of the playoffs was nothing short of brilliant. 

While the voting only includes regular-season performance, it’s hard to argue against the work Francona did with the Indians for those 162 games, either. 

Cleveland started the season facing an uphill battle. All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley began the year on the disabled list after having offseason shoulder surgery, leaving an offense that finished 18th in runs scored in 2015 without one of its best hitters. 

The continued excellence of shortstop Francisco Lindor and rise of third baseman Jose Ramirez added much-needed depth to the Indians’ lineup, giving a deep and talented pitching staff the boost it needed to hand the franchise its first AL Central title since 2007. 

The Indians also lost Carrasco and Salazar within eight days of each other in September as they were looking to secure a playoff berth. Rather than collapse under the pressure, Cleveland went 8-5 over the last 13 games to clinch the No. 2 seed in the AL and earn home-field advantage in the Division Series against the Boston Red Sox. 

Indians general manager Mike Chernoff described what makes Francona so unique and special as a manager, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian: 

He’s amazing. He’s incredible at in-game strategy. It’s exceptional to just watch it. He’s five steps ahead of all of us—probably everybody out there—and we get to see the full picture. That’s just a small part of it of who he is and what he does. He’s broken down barriers organizationally for us.

Francona is the straw that stirs the drink in Cleveland. He has led the franchise to four consecutive winning seasons since taking over in 2013—its longest streak of success since having eight straight seasons over .500 from 1994-2001. 

This marks Francona’s second AL Manager of the Year award. He previously took home the honor in 2013 when the Indians won 92 games and earned their first playoff spot since 2007.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Sonny Gray is coming off a disastrous 2016 season, though that’s not stopping the Oakland Athletics right-hander from generating interest on the trade market.  

Continue for updates. 

Gray on Braves’ Radar

Tuesday, Nov. 15

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Atlanta Braves have looked at Gray as a potential trade option to bolster their starting rotation. 

Gray’s trade value will likely never be lower. He posted career lows in ERA (5.69), WHIP (1.50), strikeouts per nine innings (7.2), home runs allowed per nine innings (1.4) and hits allowed per nine innings (10.2) in 2016, per Baseball-Reference.com. 

The 27-year-old essentially missed the last two months of the season because of a forearm issue. He made one appearance after August 6, tossing one scoreless inning in relief against the Los Angeles Angels on September 28. 

It’s easy to figure out why other teams would be interested in Gray. While his value took a huge hit in 2016, he’s still one year removed from finishing third in American League Cy Young voting and is under team control through 2019. 

A team like the Braves, who are still in rebuilding mode but trying to field a respectable squad to open their new stadium in 2017, would be betting on a bounce-back season from Gray. 

The A’s, however, don’t have incentive to move Gray coming off a bad season because he’s under control for multiple years. Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors estimated the All-Star will get $3.7 million in arbitration in 2017, a manageable salary for a small-market team. 

Unless A’s general manager David Forst thinks Gray is damaged goods and wants to strike while it’s still possible to ask for a decent return, it will likely take a big package from any interested team to pry him away from the Bay Area. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Major League Baseball All-Stars Yoenis Cespedes and Jose Abreu are among the names listed on a witness list for a trial against agent Bartolo Hernandez and his associate, Julio Estrada, for smuggling Cuban baseball players into the United States.  

Per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), the trial is set to begin January 3, with Cespedes and Abreu listed as witnesses on court documents filed in Miami. 

Cespedes and Abreu are not accused of any wrongdoing in the case, which also lists other MLB executives as possible witnesses. 

Per Curt Anderson of the AP, federal prosecutors unsealed a grand jury indictment in April 2016 against Hernandez, Estrada and Amin Latouff, revealing 17 Cuban-born baseball players paid a smuggling ring more than $15 million to get out of the country. 

Court documents also showed Abreu paid the smugglers a total of $5.8 million in 2014 alone. 

Per Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald, Estrada was charged with conspiring to defraud the United States government and bringing aliens unlawfully into the U.S. Hernandez was arrested and charged in February on smuggling charges, though he pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment.

Cespedes defected to the U.S. in 2011 before signing with the Oakland Athletics in February 2012. He has since played with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets and is currently a free agent. Abreu left Cuba in August 2013, signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox two months later and was named American League Rookie of the Year in 2014. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After having his best season while with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2016, Jeremy Hellickson has decided to extend that partnership by accepting the team’s $17.2 million qualifying offer.  

The Phillies announced the news on Monday after Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball first reported the decision.

Hellickson’s 2016 season flew under the radar because the Phillies were bad, but he quietly turned in the best season of his seven-year career.

One of the big keys for Hellickson’s success last season was staying healthy, which has been a problem for him since 2014, and something he acknowledged in September. 

“I’ve felt good every time out,” Hellickson said, via Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com. “Felt good in between starts. I’m recovering like I was early in my career.”

Hellickson doesn’t have top-of-the-rotation stuff with a fastball that FanGraphs clocked at an average of 90.0 mph in 2016, but he’s able to find different ways to succeed without posting gaudy strikeout numbers. 

His ground-ball percentage each of the last two seasons has been over 40 percent, per FanGraphs. The difference between his 2015 and 2016 performances was he got out of the hitter-friendly confines afforded by the Arizona Diamondbacks in Chase Field. 

With the Phillies still in a rebuilding mode but boasting talent at the MLB level like Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera with more coming through the pipeline, like shortstop J.P. Crawford, it’s not inconceivable that there will be a return to relevance soon. 

Starting pitching was an area the Phillies were severely lacking last season. Hellickson and Jerad Eickhoff were the only pitchers to make at least 25 starts and total over 135 innings.

For Hellickson, still just 29 years old, remaining with a franchise that helped him turn in his best season as they continue to add talent and get better makes sense. He will be a stabilizing force in the rotation for the Phillies as they continue to look for those key pieces that will help them become a dominant force in the National League East. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Major League Baseball’s award season continued on Friday with the announcement of this year’s Defensive Player of the Year at each position, along with Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts being named the overall Defensive Player of the Year. 

Unlike the Gold Glove awards, defensive player of the year honors are determined by a calculated formula that factors in traditional stats like fielding percentage and advanced metrics like edge arm ratings and defensive runs saved. 

Here are the nine players who were named the best defenders at each position in 2016, per MLB.com:

While offense and home runs tend to get the headlines in MLB, defense can play a bigger role in the success of a team. 

A. Brian Ault wrote a research paper for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in which he found a good pitching staff and strong defense lead to more success than just being able to hit a lot of home runs. 

This isn’t to diminish the importance of scoring runs, but one significant reason the Chicago Cubs won 103 games and the World Series is because they were the best team since at least 1950 at converting balls in play into outs. 

It all starts with first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was awarded his first Defensive Player of the Year honor at the position. He’s a master at scooping throws out of the dirt and excels in making spectacular plays at a position where defense is often a bonus.

Somehow, though, the San Francisco Giants were named the Defensive Team of the Year. They were certainly not a bad defensive team, finishing second in defensive value and third in defensive runs saved, but the Cubs were first in both categories by a wide margin. 

On the other side of the field, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado remains the gold standard at the hot corner. 

MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby offered some perspective on Arenado‘s defensive awesomeness after he was awarded a Gold Glove earlier this week:

The Rockies one-upped Ringolsby with this list of stellar defensive numbers posted by Arenado in 2016:

While the actual results for the awards aren’t known, shortstop had to be one of the most hotly contested battles this year. 

Brandon Crawford, Addison Russell, Andrelton Simmons and Francisco Lindor all finished within two defensive runs saved of each other. 

Per Baseball-Reference.com, Crawford, Russell and Lindor tied for most defensive wins above replacement (2.7) among shortstops. Crawford earned the honor for his outstanding year, though it would have been hard to argue against a number of options. 

Moving to the outfield, Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier remains the benchmark. He led all of baseball with three defensive wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference.com, and did that despite missing nearly two months with a broken hand. 

In right field, AL MVP finalist Betts was an easy choice. He towered over everyone else at the position with 32 defensive runs saved, 10 more than Adam Eaton of the Chicago White Sox. 

Betts was brilliant whether it was making a spectacular play look routine, leaving his feet to secure the out or throwing out baserunners from the outfield. 

Because Betts’ performance was routinely brilliant and consistent, he was also named the best defensive player regardless of position in 2016. 

As teams continue to put an emphasis on defense, the winners for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year awards show how the game continues to evolve. There is more than one way to win a game, and defense is a tremendous part of the equation. 

Stats per FanGraphs unless otherwise indicated. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Toronto Blue Jays appear to have found their answer at designated hitter, signing Kendrys Morales to a three-year contract.

Christopher Meola first reported the three-year deal. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com confirmed the agreement, adding that it will pay Morales $33 million total.

The Blue Jays had two big decisions facing them this offseason. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista are both free agents and likely seeking large contracts. 

Shi Davidi of SportsNet.ca noted Morales’ addition does seem to signal the end of Encarnacion’s time in Toronto:

Rosenthal pointed out the Blue Jays won’t lose a draft pick for signing Morales because the Kansas City Royals didn’t make him a qualifying offer. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, could end up with two additional picks because they did give Encarnacion and Bautista the qualifying offer. 

Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Blue Jays’ contract obligations for next season include nine players who will make a total of $107.2 million. That doesn’t factor in the money they will have to pay arbitration-eligible players, so the payroll was going to be high whether or not Encarnacion and Bautista returned. 

As a result, the Blue Jays were likely seeking alternative options for those two players this offseason. Morales doesn’t have the same star power as Encarnacion or Bautista, but he’s not a bad fit for Toronto’s lineup. 

Last season with the Royals, Morales hit .263/.327/.468 with 30 home runs in 154 games. By comparison, Bautista hit .234/.366/.452 with 22 home runs in 116 games. 

The Blue Jays still have the talent to compete for a playoff spot in the American League East. Their starting rotation is deep with Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada making a formidable top four. 

While the offense may take a small step back if Encarnacion and/or Bautista don’t return, Morales gives them a big bat to plug in at DH and someone who can slot into the No. 4 spot behind 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly signed Cuban prospect Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to a multiyear contract.

MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez first reported the utility man agreed to a deal with the Blue Jays on Friday. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the contract is for seven years and is worth $22 million. 

Gurriel was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball in August, but by waiting to sign until after his 23rd birthday on Oct. 19, he became exempt from international signing bonus regulations. 

Sanchez reported in February that Gurriel and his brother, Yulieski Gurriel, who signed with the Houston Astros in July and made his big league debut on Aug. 21, had defected from Cuba with the goal of playing in MLB. 

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, the Blue Jays plan to start him in Double-A at shortstop, though he may end up in the outfield.

In an April 2015 scouting report from Baseball America‘s Ben Badler, Gurriel was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in Cuba thanks to a good approach at the plate and solid bat speed with the upside of 20-homer potential.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs noted that when Gurriel was declared a free agent, scouting reports were mixed because he has athleticism, speed and power that will play at an up-the-middle position, but his swing can get long, and he’s considered something of a project at 23 years old. 

The Blue Jays have not been shy about taking big risks on high-upside athletes in recent years. Anthony Alford was an unpolished baseball player when he was a third-round pick in 2012, but since giving up his college football career in 2014, he’s blossomed into one of Toronto’s top prospects. 

Gurriel won’t make an immediate jump to the big leagues like his brother did for the Astros, but his ceiling and future value are significantly higher because he’s nine years younger and can afford to take a full season in the minors to hone his skills. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Major League Baseball handed out the 2016 Silver Slugger Awards to the best offensive player at each position on Thursday. The winners included Mike Trout in the American League and Corey Seager in the National League. 

Here is the full list of Silver Slugger winners from MLB.com, as voted on by MLB coaches and managers:

The winners today didn’t provide much clarity for what to expect when the BBWAA announces the Most Valuable Player in each league next week. 

Trout, Mookie Betts and Jose Altuve, who are the three AL MVP finalists, all took home hardware on Thursday. This marks the fifth consecutive Silver Slugger for Trout, who continues to add trophies to his mounting collection. 

The list of superlatives to describe Trout ran out long ago, yet the 25-year-old seems to get better with each passing season. This was his first season leading the league in on-base percentage (.441), and he set a career high with 116 walks, to go along with a .550 slugging percentage. 

Per MLB Stat of the Day, Trout did something in 2016 that hasn’t been done in 22 years:

Devan Fink of Cover Those Bases did his best to put Trout’s laundry list of accomplishments into one digestible tweet:

Altuve has won three consecutive Silver Slugger awards. Houston’s diminutive superstar set a new offensive benchmark for himself in 2016, leading the AL with a .338 batting average and setting career highs in on-base percentage (.396), slugging percentage (.531) and home runs (24). 

This award caps off a tremendous 24 hours for Altuve, who was honored by his peers on Wednesday night:

Betts and his fellow Boston Red Sox teammates Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz also earned a Silver Slugger. It’s fitting that trio of players was honored, since Ortiz was the face of Boston’s baseball past, while Betts and Bogaerts will carry the mantle into the future. 

Ortiz capped off his tremendous farewell season with his seventh career Silver Slugger award. Here’s why Big Papi is adding another silver bat to his collection, per MLB Stat of the Day:

The AL catching result was somewhat surprising. Salvador Perez did have the luxury of playing a full season for the Kansas City Royals and hit 22 home runs. His win is hardly egregious, though in terms of offensive performance, he didn’t come close to another candidate.  

New York Yankees rookie Gary Sanchez took the MLB world by storm with 20 homers and a 1.032 OPS after being called up on Aug. 3. He only played in 53 games, compared to 139 for Perez, so that could have been a key deciding factor. 

Unlike in the AL, only two of the three National League MVP finalists took home trophies on Thursday. Seager and Daniel Murphy had stellar performances in 2016 that warranted winning the award.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant missed out on the honor at third base, with Colorado Rockies star Nolan Arenado taking home his second straight trophy. 

The Rockies tweeted out the stats that highlight why Arenado earned the honor:

Seager entered the 2016 season with a mountain of hype. He was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in MLB by Baseball America and plays one of the most difficult defensive positions on the diamond. 

The 22-year-old Seager more than lived up to that billing with a .308/.365/.512 slash line and 26 home runs. 

Murphy found a swing that worked during the 2015 postseason as a member of the New York Mets when he hit seven home runs in the team’s first nine games. He carried that performance over to the Nationals in 2016 with a .347/.390/.595 slash line. 

After Murphy was named NL Outstanding Player of the Year at the Players Choice Awards on Wednesday, he summed up how he wants his game to be remembered, per MLB Network PR:

For at least one year, Murphy can say without qualification that he played well and hard. 

From one former Met to possibly another, Yoenis Cespedes earned his first Silver Slugger after a stellar 2016. He was incredible after a midseason trade last year, helping propel the team into the World Series, and carried that over into the 2016 season. 

Cespedes had a .280/.354/.530 slash line with 31 home runs in 132 games. Per ESPN Stats & Info, he is the first Mets player to win this award in eight years:

Cespedes is looking to cash in on his tremendous season as a free agent. He couldn’t have picked a more opportune time to test the market as arguably the best position player available in a weak free-agent year. 

In a season when offense made a comeback across MLB, the 2016 Silver Slugger winners reflect how strong the game of baseball is now and into the future. Veterans like Cespedes, Trout and Cabrera have been joined by young stars like Seager, Betts and Christian Yelich. 

The amount of talent spread throughout Major League Baseball is incredible. The crop of talent awarded on Thursday is a reflection of the amazing stars who will continue to be the face of the sport for many years to come. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If the Detroit Tigers start to tear down their aging roster and build for the future, second baseman Ian Kinsler will be an attractive piece for an opposing team.

Continue for updates. 

Dodgers Look at Kinsler

Thursday, Nov. 10

Per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Los Angeles Dodgers believe Kinsler is a potential fit for their roster but did not have any substantial talks with the Tigers during the general manager meetings this past week. 

The Dodgers do have an opening at second base with Chase Utley entering free agency this offseason and Howie Kendrick being shopped as a potential trade candidate, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. 

Tigers general manager Al Avila previously said the team would likely be taking a different approach this offseason by trying to add more young talent and create more financial flexibility, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press:

I can’t call it a rebuild, because we haven’t really broken anything down. I’m not comfortable with the word ‘rebuild.’ I don’t think that’s the right term. I’ve read ‘retool,’ but I don’t know if that’s the right term. I don’t know if there’s a term for what I want to do here. I really don’t. If you guys can come up with a slogan, let me know, and we’ll go with it.

Per Evan Woodbery of MLive.com, Avila said Tuesday the Tigers were willing to hear offers for players like Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera but were not actively shopping them. 

The Tigers do have an aging and expensive nucleus heading into 2017. Cabrera, Verlander, Kinsler, Victor Martinez, Anibal Sanchez and Jordan Zimmermann are all 30 or older. 

Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Tigers currently have $179 million in payroll obligations for 2017 before factoring in players who are eligible for arbitration.

Kinsler has an affordable $11 million salary with a team option for 2018 at $10 million, per Spotrac. He did have a strong 2016 season with an .831 OPS, but at 34 years old, it’s fair to wonder how many more peak years he has left. 

Because Kinsler’s contract falls closer to team-friendly territory than the longer-term deals for Cabrera or Verlander, it would make sense for the Tigers to dangle him in a deal to see if it brings back any significant bites from a team. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Coming off the best season of his career in 2016, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier is going to draw plenty of trade interest this offseason if the team wants to move him.  

Continue for updates. 

Multiple Teams Interested in Dozier

Thursday, Nov. 10

According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, multiple teams showed interest in Dozier during the general manager meetings. 

After a solid first half in 2016 with a .786 OPS, Dozier exploded after the All-Star break with a .291/.344/.646 slash line and 28 home runs in 72 games. 

Dozier set career highs in average (.268), hits (165), home runs (42), slugging percentage (.546), OPS+ (136) and WAR (6.5) last season, per Baseball-Reference.com.

It’s easy to figure out why teams would take an interest in Dozier. In addition to his stellar offensive performance, the 29-year-old is signed through 2018 and will make a total of $15 million over the next two seasons, per Spotrac. 

However, that also complicates matters from the Twins’ perspective. They are not under any pressure to move Dozier at this point, particularly as they continue to build around their offensive nucleus that also includes Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. 

Because Dozier is coming off a career year and has a team-friendly deal, the package of prospects it would take to even entice the Twins to make a move would have to be enormous. 

Dozier’s offensive impact at an up-the-middle position makes him an attractive commodity. The Twins owe it to themselves to listen to proposals from interested teams, but they understand they don’t have to trade arguably their most valuable MLB asset right now. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com