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The Colorado Rockies attempted to bolster their bullpen Tuesday by coming to terms with a pair of veteran relief pitchers, Jason Motte and Chad Qualls.

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post first reported the news and the Rockies quickly confirmed the two-year deals for both relievers. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, citing sources, reported Motte’s contract is worth $10 million and added that Qualls’ contract is worth $6 million.

Upgrading the bullpen was one of the top things on the Rockies’ to-do list this winter. They finished last in the majors in reliever ERA last season at 4.70, according to ESPN.com. The National League average was more than a run better at 3.66.

Motte spent last season with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 3.91 ERA across 57 appearances. He broke into the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he finished with an ERA of 2.75 or better in four of his first five seasons before struggling in 2014 with a 4.68 mark.

Saunders noted the 33-year-old right-hander dealt with shoulder soreness near the end of last season. If he’s back to full strength, he should be a strong bounce-back candidate.

The Rockies will mark the ninth different stop in Qualls’ career. He sports a 3.80 career ERA, including a 4.38 mark last season. Yet, a 2.99 xFIP and a 8.39 strikeout rate in 2015, per FanGraphs, while with the Houston Astros suggests he pitched better than his ERA would indicate.

Ultimately, Motte and Qualls aren’t going to solve all of Colorado’s woes in the latter innings. The former must prove he’s back to full health, and the latter has endured some up-and-down campaigns over the past handful of years.

They can provide some stability in the late innings if at their respective best. For the Rockies, which struggled mightily in those situations in 2015, it’s worth taking a chance on a pair of resurgent seasons.

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James Shields’ downward trend started two Octobers ago.

During the 2014 Kansas City Royals playoff run, Shields, the supposed ace of the staff, had a 6.12 ERA in 25 innings. That severely dropped his stock going into last offseason, and he ended up having to wait until days before spring training started before signing a four-year, $75 million contract with the San Diego Padres.

The disappointment continued into this season with Shields’ 3.91 ERA, 4.45 FIP and 33 home runs allowed while making half his starts in Petco Park, historically a severe pitcher’s park. Partly because of those numbers, along with the $65 million still owed to him over the next three seasons—that includes a $2 million buyout—and the Padres’ desire to shed big contracts, Shields is now on the trading block.

While the contract coupled with Shields’ recent production looks ugly at a glance, the current market for starting pitchers, even the lower-tier arms, has the soon-to-be 34-year-old Shields looking more and more attractive to teams seeking rotation help. Free-agent pitchers have their average annual values rising, and those aces being rumored in trades are priced so high they are virtually unavailable.

This could put Shields, an arm that has topped 200 innings in each of the last nine seasons, on several radars. And because of his down 2015, he could end up being a Comeback Player of the Year contender next year.

Sources: #Padres drawing significant interest in Ross, Cashner, Shields. Not surprising, considering FA prices.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2015

The open market has seen two legitimate aces sign for well more than $200 million, a pitcher with a 4.96 ERA last season and a 4.09 career ERA in Jeff Samardzija sign for $90 million and the Toronto Blue Jays give J.A. Happ and his career 4.13 ERA $36 million over three years despite him being 33.

That makes Shields a touch more attractive as a rotation filler whose average annual salary is at $18.75 million and on par with the likes of Rick Porcello ($20 million in 2016) and Homer Bailey ($18 million), two pitchers who had ERAs near or above 5.00 in 2015, respectively.

The problem could lie with the Padres, though. While teams might have interest in Shields, the organization seems to not understand his diminished value, nor their opportunity to trade him and get out from some of the money owed. The team, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, will not kick in any money in a trade and wants at the very least a young shortstop in return. If that is the case, expect the rumors on Shields to stay calm because that is an unrealistic asking price for a declining pitcher.

Teams that have spoken with the Padres about James Shields say they’re not looking to eat money & hope to get a young SS back (& more)

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) December 3, 2015

Then there is how other teams view Shields as a pitcher; never mind his salary. Simply stated, they believe he is getting worse.

In 2015, Shields’ fastball was down more than a mile per hour from last season, and his cutter was down nearly a mile per hour, according to FanGraphs. That was likely a factor in opponents having a .327 OBP, .450 slugging percentage and .776 OPS against him. All of those numbers are the highest for Shields since 2010, when he had a 5.18 ERA and he established himself as a front-line starter a season before.

Another significant red flag is Shields’ fledgling command. His 81 walks obliterated his previous career high by 13. And despite him posting a career-high 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings, his strikeout-to-walk ratio sank to a career-low 2.67—he had a career-high 4.09 mark in that category in 2014.

If those trends continue, Shields is not likely to opt out of his deal after next season, which he can do and forfeit $44 million the following two years. Had Shields pitched well enough to make him an opt-out candidate after next season, his value would be higher.

Rival execs say Shields’ velocity and stuff in decline. Also has opt-out after 2016, which could complicate talks, as @dennislin said.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2015

Even with all that working against Shields’ value and against an acquiring team getting a positive return on its investment, there is value here. Not a lot of it comes from Shields himself, other than him being a durable, innings-eating arm who may or may not have another bounce-back season in him. Instead, much of it comes from the current market.

Costs remain high for impact arms in free agency and on the trade market, which is probably why Padres general manager A.J. Preller has set Shields’ price so high, aside from him not wanting to totally eat his first significant signing in the GM’s chair.

The bottom line is nobody is going to give the Padres touted prospects and take on all of the money owed to Shields. One or the other would go a long way in propelling talks forward, but as of now there has been no confirmation on any team actively pursuing Shields, who turns 34 in a couple of weeks.

If the Padres and Preller swallow some of the contract and get out from at least the majority of the money on the books, they could likely trade Shields. And if a team could get him for cheaper than $65 million for the next few seasons, he could end up being an asset and not a liability going forward.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers could not retain their Ace 2.0, so they are falling back on one of the absolute best and easily the most intimidating reliever in Major League Baseball.

After drawing a line in the sand and watching the Arizona Diamondbacks cross it to sign 32-year-old Zack Greinke to the highest average annual value in major league history ($34.4 million), the club turned its focus toward acquiring Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman.

That focus has turned into maybe the biggest blockbuster trade of the offseason. The Dodgers and Reds have agreed to a deal that would net Chapman and his nearly 16 strikeouts per nine innings last season for two of Los Angeles’ better prospects, but not any of its coveted top three—shortstop Corey Seager and pitchers Julio Urias and Jose De Leon.

BREAKING: #Dodgers agree to acquire Chapman from #Reds for two prospects. Deal is pending review of medical records, sources say.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2015

Chapman deal is agreed to with dodgers. 2 prospects to reds. (not seager, urias or deleon). Pending medicals

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 7, 2015

The deal just might give the Dodgers the best bullpen in the NL West next season, if not the entire league, after it was often far too unreliable for the team to win in October. And beyond that, it gives them the kind of late-inning dominance that scrubs away some of the urgency to replace Greinke with another secondary ace behind Clayton Kershaw, though one could still be in play via free agency or even another blockbuster trade.

Spending money has not been an overwhelming concern for the Dodgers since the Guggenheim Baseball Management group gained control of the team in 2012, but considering Greinke and David Price both commanded contracts well beyond $200 million and Johnny Cueto has already turned down $120 million from the Diamondbacks, they opted to go the route of building a dominant bullpen rather than add another player that would cost them upward of $30 million a season—Kershaw’s AAV is $30.7 million.

This plan obviously comes from the Kansas City Royals’ mold. They won the World Series with mediocre starting pitching, but masked that fact with a lights-out bullpen that dominated the seventh, eighth and ninth innings all year long.

The Dodgers rotation, with Kershaw’s greatness, Hyun-jin Ryu’s return from a shoulder injury and Hisashi Iwakuma’s possible bargain free-agent signing, is better than what Kansas City had in its World Series run. And with the bullpen being on par now, the Dodgers do not have the need for another No. 1 starter to replace Greinke.

“Because the price for starting pitching is so high both in free agency and in trade, they’d build strength from the back of the bullpen forward,” Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal said on MLB Network. “And if you have Chapman and Jansen for a potential three innings each night, that’s not bad.”

We do not know how the Dodgers might deploy incumbent closer Kenley Jansen and Chapman—there is potential for a ninth-inning platoon with Jansen being right-handed and Chapman being a lefty—but both have the potential to get more than three outs on any given night. Plus, the deal now takes pressure off guys like J.P Howell (1.43 ERA), Pedro Baez (2.51 FIP) and Chris Hatcher (10.4 strikeouts per nine innings), as all can fill more specialized roles in lower-leverage situations. That assumes none of them is included in the return package to the Reds.

Again, Dodgers will be better with him AND Jansen. As we’ve learned with the Royals, it’s bullpen depth that matters, not just the closer.

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) December 7, 2015

The Dodgers can still add another quality starter. That is not out of the question with a guy like Cueto still available and even possible jaw-dropping deals for guys like Shelby Miller or Jose Fernandez being bandied about the winter meetings, though those trades seemed like long shots as of Monday morning.

But even if they do not sign or pry away another rotation piece, this new bullpen dynamic and the current starting depth give them quite the formidable staff.

However, there is already speculation about a potential problem, especially with a first-year manager in Dave Roberts having to deal with it. Both pitchers are elite—Jansen has a 2.28 career ERA and has averaged 14 strikeouts per nine innings, while Chapman has a 2.17 career ERA and has averaged 15.4 strikeouts per nine—and both will undoubtedly want to close.

Dave Roberts’ first challenge established: Sell Chapman and Jansen in their free agent seasons of ’16 to make closer thing work. Not easy.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 7, 2015

While neither guy is likely to prefer a move to the eighth inning or a split role, assuming any role besides full-time closer a season before their free agency will not have any affect on their open-market value a year from now. As long as they perform as they have in the past, both Chapman and Jansen stand to be paid as elite relievers in a game that has already seen non-closers like Darren O’Day and Ryan Madson rake in huge deals this offseason.

This is an era that looks at more than saves to determine a reliever’s value, and contracts are based solely on performance and not the inning in which it comes. So while the prestige of being the closer on a World Series contender might not be afforded to one or the other, the dollars definitely will be come next winter.

Simply knowing the Dodgers did not have to give up their best prospects for a one-year lease on an All-Star reliever makes the trade a win for them because of the way it solidifies the entire pitching staff. No longer is there an urgency to sign a nine-figure starter, and no longer is there concern that their bullpen will cost them in the postseason, assuming they qualify in 2016.

The Dodgers are likely not done moving and shaking at the winter meetings, but this is a fantastic start and things could get better for them in the next few days.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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The Cincinnati Reds appeared to have taken another step toward rebuilding their franchise by trading closer Aroldis Chapman to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, reported Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Rosenthal noted at the time the Dodgers planned to send two prospects to the Reds in return for Chapman.

However later on Monday, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, citing sources, reported that the deal wasn’t done yet, adding that “multiple teams could be involved.” Sheldon clarified that “others could be in the mix” to land Chapman. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com added the Reds were telling teams they hadn’t agreed to trade the closer to Los Angeles.

Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports later reported the reason the trade didn’t go through was due to the discovery of an incident where Chapman “allegedly fired eight gunshots in the garage of his Miami-area home following an October argument with his girlfriend in which she told police he ‘choked’ her and pushed her against a wall.” No arrests were made, per Brown and Passan, who obtained the police report. 

Reds President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty later said any trade involving Chapman could take “several weeks,” per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer, who added a trade with the Dodgers isn’t dead. 

Chapman’s name has been floated as possibly being available dating back to last offseason, when Rosenthal claimed the Reds were looking to cut approximately $17 million from their payroll.    

As the trade deadline approached last summer, ESPN The Magazine‘s Buster Olney reported the Reds were “examining offers” for Chapman while adding it wasn’t clear if the team was inclined to push through on a deal. Nothing ever came of those rumors, but Chapman was the one big domino Reds general manager Walt Jocketty needed to fall after dealing Johnny Cueto to the Kansas City Royals and Mike Leake to the San Francisco Giants last July.

At the general manager meetings in November, Rosenthal wrote the Reds were “finally” serious about their willingness to trade Chapman and relayed an enlightening quote from Jocketty about where the franchise stands heading into 2016.

“We still wanted to be somewhat protective of our club last year,” Jocketty said. “We had certain guys we just didn’t want to move. We started at the deadline knowing that we would gear up—’16 would be a transition year, and in ’17 and ’18, we think we could be stronger and more competitive.”

Chapman has just one more year of team control before becoming a free agent, so Los Angeles could be getting a rental in this deal. However, that one season will probably come at a steep financial cost, as Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com estimated Chapman can earn $12.9 million in his final season of arbitration.

While that is an expensive price tag for a reliever, Chapman is also one of the few closers who can completely transform a bullpen.

He has been as dominant as any reliever since making his MLB debut in 2010. The flame-throwing left-hander posted a 2.17 ERA with 546 strikeouts in 319 innings in his first six seasons.

The 27-year-old was more erratic in 2015 than in previous years, with a walk rate of 4.5 per nine innings, but his stuff remains just as good, as evidenced by his nearly 16 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.63 ERA.

If the trade goes through, it would set up an interesting situation in the back of the Dodgers bullpen. Kenley Jansen was solid in the role last year, finishing 2-1 with 36 saves and posting a 2.41 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 80 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched. But with Chapman, the Dodgers would likely move Jansen to the setup role.

Upsetting the balance of a bullpen can be a risky game to play. The Washington Nationals, for example, acquired Jonathan Papelbon last year, moving Drew Storen to the setup role after he saved 29 of his first 31 opportunities that season. Storen was never pleased with the role, and his numbers nosedived down the stretch.

Of course, elite relievers, especially closers, with the kind of video game numbers Chapman has posted throughout his career are always in demand because teams understand more than ever the value of a great bullpen. 

However, after today’s news the future of Chapman has now become a rather complicated situation. 

Stats and contract info courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported the Colorado Rockies are open to trading outfielder Charlie Blackmon.

Continue for updates.

Trading Blackmon Could Upgrade Colorado’s Pitching

Monday, Dec. 7

Blackmon was a solid contributor in 2015, slashing .287/.347/.450, although his 17 home runs and 58 RBI were a drop-off from his 2014 totals.

However, if the Rockies are listening to offers for outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, per Rosenthal, who had a career year with 40 home runs and 97 RBI in 2015, hitting numbers are not what the Rockies are worried about.

Colorado has lost at least 88 games in five straight seasons and posted the worst team ERA in the majors at 5.04 in 2015.

If Colorado can find the right fit for Blackmon, it might be able to land some pitching, even if it’s in the form of prospects. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post thinks upgrading the starting rotation is the only way the Rockies can compete:

The notion seems to make sense, considering Coors Field is a hitter’s park, to say the least.

Of course, it would be harder to find a pitcher who can perform well in Colorado than it would be to replace Blackmon’s bat in the lineup.

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Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is one of the best hitters in baseball, but he could be on the move in the offseason as his team looks to rebuild with an eye on the future.

Continue for updates.

Rockies Open to Trading Gonzalez

Sunday, Dec. 6

While Gonzalez drilled 40 home runs and tallied 97 RBI last season, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Colorado is “open-minded” about trading the outfielder. According to Spotrac, Gonzalez is under contract through the 2017 season, but the Rockies were a dismal 68-94 last season and are likely multiple years away from contention.

The team owes him a combined $37 million in base salary in 2016 and 2017, which is a lot for a potential bottom-feeder in the National League West to dole out to one player.

Trading Gonzalez in the offseason would fit under the sell-high category for the Rockies after he bounced back from an injury-plagued 2014 campaign. Gonzalez played only 70 games in 2014 and hit a career-worst .238 with 11 homers. It was his only season in the last six years in which he hasn’t hit 22 long balls, which is why it was important for him to put up impressive numbers in 2015.

Gonzalez is only 30 years old and theoretically has a couple of years of prime production remaining in the tank. Whichever team trades for him would immediately land a multidimensional talent who could slide right into the middle of its order.

Gonzalez is a solid fielder with experience at all three outfield spots (although he was solely a right fielder last year). According to FanGraphs, Gonzalez has recorded 19 total defensive runs saved above average over the course of his career.

The Rockies traded Troy Tulowitzki last season in a rebuilding effort, and nobody on their roster has as much value as Gonzalez after his formidable 2015. Losing the 2010 National League batting title winner would hurt in the immediate future, but he would net plenty of prospects and potentially open the door for a younger outfielder to take his place.

Baseball America ranked the top 10 prospects in the Colorado system in November, and outfielder David Dahl was second, while outfielder Raimel Tapia was 10th. There are some possible stars waiting in the wings, but don’t expect the Rockies to contend in 2016 without Gonzalez in the middle of their order.

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Los Angeles Dodgers fans are no doubt still reeling from the loss of Zack Greinke, one half of their dominant pair of aces.

Now, it’s time to swallow an undeniable truth: This is life under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who has demonstrated in word and deed his aversion to massive, long-term contracts. 

The latest evidence came Sunday, when the Dodgers reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, per CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, with the financial terms not immediately available. Iwakuma is a serviceable starter and fills a need, but he’s several large rungs below Greinke on the free-agent excitement ladder. 

Also on Sunday, L.A. re-upped veteran second baseman Chase Utley to a one-year pact, per Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan. Again, not necessarily a terrible move, just not a particularly sexy one.

The Dodgers own baseball’s brawniest budget, but they don’t always act like it, not lately anyway. And that’s by design.

Everything you need to know about Friedman’s philosophy is summed up in this quote from him, via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

Obviously with the free agent market—if you look back over time it hasn’t necessarily resulted in helping teams win in October. There’s just not that high a correlation between it.

On one hand, by making big splashy deals you win the winter headlines. But more often than not, you aren’t having a parade at the end of October.

That’s Friedman’s goal, as it should be: to get the Dodgers over the championship hump for the first time since the waning days of the Reagan administration. He doesn’t care about epic splashes and offseason buzz. He cares about results.

He got them during his tenure as general manager in Tampa Bay, when he led the small-market Rays to six consecutive winning seasons between 2008 and 2013, with four playoff appearances and a World Series berth sprinkled in.

In Tampa Bay, Friedman was frugal by necessity. He couldn’t afford to pay players for what they had done; he had to squeeze every cent and optimize value. 

With the Dodgers, he has room to make mistakes and burn a little cash if necessary. So far, however, he’s shied away from payroll-draining expenditures. 

Last year, his first at the helm in Southern California, Friedman avoided the marquee names and their marquee sticker prices and opted instead for solid mid-tier additions such as second baseman Howie Kendrick (now a free agent) and left-hander Brett Anderson.

Now, with holes to plug in the infield, rotation and bullpen, Friedman seems content to go the same route. 

Iwakuma, who will turn 35 in April, posted a 3.54 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 129.2 innings for the Seattle Mariners last year. He was an All-Star in 2013, his second big league season, and will slot nicely into the back end of L.A.’s rotation. 

His signing obviously doesn’t preclude the addition of another starter, and the Dodgers could pursue the likes of Johnny Cueto, who reportedly turned down a six-year $120 million offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert.

Don’t be surprised, though, if L.A. opts instead for another arm in the Iwakuma mold to support ace of aces Clayton Kershaw. 

As for Utley, he hit just .202 after the Dodgers acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline, and he’s perhaps best remembered for the controversial takeout slide he put on New York Mets‘ shortstop Ruben Tejada in the National League Division Series.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old does have extensive postseason experience and, as NJ Advance Media’s Randy Miller put it, “will be looking to show he’s not done in 2016, possibly as a starter.”

Another intriguing Dodgers-related rumor started churning Sunday, with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reporting Los Angeles is “in talks” to nab flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds.

Chapman will be a free agent after this season, but the All-Star will surely command a package centered around at least one of the Dodgers’ top prospects and/or young MLB-ready players.

The prospect of Chapman alongside L.A.’s current closer, Kenley Jansen, is tantalizing, and would give L.A. one of the best late-inning duos in baseball. A Chapman trade would also add a little sizzle to the Dodgers’ offseason, even if it wouldn’t offset Greinke’s exit.

Yet it’s still a very Friedman move, made with an eye on addressing a weakness without mortgaging the future (depending, of course, on what the Dodgers give up if the trade is consummated).

“It’s ironic, isn’t it,” Plunkett opined, “the franchise that gave you professional sport’s first $300 million payroll preaching financial restraint and economic pragmatism?”

Ironic, yes. But also very, very Friedman. It’s his ship now, for the most part, and he’ll sail it as he sees fit. That might include inking a Name with a capital “N” before spring training, or it might not. But rest assured, Friedman will navigate according to his own compass, regardless of fan opinion or the market’s whims. 

Last year, the result was a division title but a disappointing NLDS exit. If Friedman can get L.A. a trophy in 2016, all will be vindicated. 

If not? Well, the sting of losing Greinke and replacing him with miscellaneous parts will come back like salt in an open wound. And pragmatism and restraint might go out like a dirty jersey.

All statistics and contact information current as of Dec. 6 and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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After four years with the Seattle Mariners, Hisashi Iwakuma will reportedly be suiting up for the Los Angeles Dodgers when the 2016 season starts.

ESPN’s Jim Bowden first reported the news Sunday, and CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman later confirmed it, adding that it’s a three-year agreement for $45 million.

Iwakuma has been one of the most reliable starting pitchers in baseball when healthy:

The one big drawback through Iwakuma’s first four seasons has been his durability, though. He’s hit the 180-inning mark only once, which was when he finished third in American League Cy Young voting (2013). 

Iwakuma’s 129.2 innings in 2015 were the second-lowest total of his MLB career, while his 20 appearances were the fewest he has ever made. He is 34 years old, so durability could become an even bigger question going forward.

However, as former Grantland writer Michael Baumann noted after Iwakuma threw a no-hitter against Baltimore in August, the right-hander’s strong second half does point to big things ahead:

Iwakuma is like the contrapositive of Clayton Kershaw. Instead of “How does anyone hit this guy?” it’s “How does everyone not hit this guy?” But they often don’t, and they certainly didn’t on Wednesday, and there are, as always, larger implications as a result. This no-hitter is further proof that, when healthy, Iwakuma is still the pitcher he was in previous years. It doesn’t prove that on its own, but he’s now gone eight or more innings and allowed one run or fewer in three of his past seven starts, and has pitched well in three of the other four. 

Because Iwakuma has never had overpowering stuff, instead relying on command and movement, he’s likely to age better than many pitchers. He may not be a Cy Young contender again, but there’s no reason to think he can’t perform well for the life of his contract.

After the Dodgers lost out on Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks, it was clear the team would be aggressive in trying to secure a top-tier talent to replace him. While Iwakuma is a respectable signing, the Dodgers will continue to search for another ace. 

However, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angles Times noted the older Iwakuma has thrown less innings in his career than Greinke: 

Although Shaikin did poke holes in the Dodgers’ logic in reportedly signing Iwakuma through the age of 37:

Iwakuma was one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball during his four-year stint in Seattle. He’s a tremendous asset, especially for a team that’s seeking high-quality depth, and will prove it over the next three years.

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Chase Utley’s most significant on-field moment during the 2015 season came when he took out New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada with a controversial slide in the playoffs, but his past production was enough to merit a new contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers.   

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported Utley and the Dodgers agreed on a one-year contract Sunday, while Jon Heyman of CBS Sports confirmed the deal, reporting Utley will receive $7 million in guaranteed money.

Utley only hit .212 with eight home runs and 39 RBI for the Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers last season and was nowhere near the player who dominated for so many years in the City of Brotherly Love. The downturn in production was concerning from someone who will be 37 years old during the 2016 campaign.

Still, Utley is one of the best second basemen of his generation and has the recognition to prove it. He is a six-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and won a World Series ring in 2008 with the Phillies. He counts extensive postseason experience on his resume and could be something of a clubhouse leader in 2016.

He served as a veteran presence for Los Angeles last year during the stretch run and will likely be asked to do the same this season.

Utley is well past his prime, but he is not far removed from the 2014 campaign when he hit .270 with 11 home runs and 78 RBI. He also posted three defensive runs saved above average at second base in 2014 compared to minus-one in 2015, according to FanGraphs.

Utley is not going to be the slugger who drilled 146 long balls for the Phillies between 2005 and 2009, but he will provide value if he can be more like the 2014 version of himself rather than the 2015 edition. The possibility of that happening and his Hall of Fame type of numbers from earlier in his career made this a worthwhile risk for a Dodgers team looking to win the World Series after failing in the postseason.

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The San Francisco Giants did not land their man. 

Zack Greinke was the team’s No. 1 target this offseason, locking them into a battle with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the ace’s services. But the Arizona Diamondbacks undercut both division rivals to swipe Greinke, leaving both to reassemble their offseason game plans.

The Giants have already executed part of theirs by signing free-agent right-hander Jeff Samardzija to a five-year contract for $90 million Saturday. The deal is pending a physical. It’s not the impact move that Greinke would have been, but it just might be a solid start to building a good rotation behind ace Madison Bumgarner for the next handful of years.

History shows the soon-to-be 31-year-old is not a consistent front-of-the-rotation starter, but it also tells that he is capable and talented enough to be one.

“Even in tough times [last year] he still put 200-plus innings on the board,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans told Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. “You look at his track record, you look at his presence that he brings on the mound, you look at back-to-back-to-back 200-plus [inning] seasons, and you realize this guy is a force to be reckoned with. There’s a reason why we targeted him and a reason why we focused on him as one of our top priorities.”

Samardzija entered last season with massive earning potential coming off a year in which he had a 2.99 ERA and made his first All-Star team pitching for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland A’s.

But after being traded to the Chicago White Sox in his contract year, Samardzija struggled for most of the summer, putting up a 4.96 ERA and 4.23 FIP in 214 innings. He also led the American League with 228 hits allowed, 29 home runs allowed and 118 earned runs allowed. His strikeout rate also dropped to a career-low 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings as a full-time starter.

Things could change with the Giants, and in the National League West, where he will pitch in three parks that favor pitchers, including his new home, AT&T Park. The innings totals—647.1 over the last three seasons—are also attractive to the Giants, a team that dealt with several injuries in their rotation to just about everyone not named Madison.

And the innings to come should be aplenty since Samardzija spent his first four seasons in the majors mostly as a bullpen weapon.

“You’ve got a guy who has made the conversion from reliever to starter and has done that well,” Evans told Pavlovic. “There are a lot of innings left in that arm.”

The quality of those innings is unknown and unpredictable at this point in Samardzija’s career. Last season highlighted those facts and severely limited his value on the open market.

Samardzija is not seen as a front-line starter at this point, and that is why his signing is a definitive downgrade from what the Giants were shooting for with Greinke. But that does not mean the deal is destined to be a bust.

The Giants believe in Samardzija’s stuff. He still carries a fastball that sits at 94 mph and topped out at about 98. The Giants have one of the more renowned pitching coaches in the game in Dave Righetti, a big reason why they believe they can get better results out of Samardzija.

The Giants also feel, according to Pavlovic, that Samardzija suffered last season because he pitched in front of the worst defense in the majors. The White Sox had a minus-41.5 overall defensive rating, according to Fangraphs, easily the worst in the game. The Giants were at 30.2, the second best in the majors behind the Kansas City Royals.

However, Samardzija cannot be the Giants’ only get this offseason. While the club might be confident it can fix whatever has made him inconsistent, it would be foolish to totally rely on that for next season, especially with the Dodgers already being linked to Johnny Cueto, Kenta Maeda and Hisashi Iwakuma and with the Diamondbacks having Greinke in their rotation.

Since the Giants will not be spending the money on Greinke, they might use it to not only ink Samardzija, but also possibly an arm like Mike Leake, who pitched for the Giants last season.

Samardzija is not Greinke, obviously. But the signing shows the Giants are serious about upgrading to stay in the mix in the NL West with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. And they might not be done adding pieces.

That being the case, losing out on Greinke and adding Samardzija does not look as bad. And this deal could be the start of the Giants again constructing a quality rotation that keeps them among the league’s elite.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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