We're under a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting, and there's still several impact names out there both in the free agency and trade markets who'll be on the move before the middle of February gets here. We're here to take a look at the latest from the MLB Hot Stove madness with our Rumors Roundup for January 27th.
Salvador Perez Update
Kansas City Royals fans have been blowing up Twitter over the past 24 hours after news of "quiet" contract extension talks between Kansas City and catcher Salvador Perez hit the wire.
There's not a lot of new information coming from inside the organization right now, and manager Ned Yost didn't have much to add on the story when questioned about extension talks this morning on 610 Sports Radio-KC:
"I don't know how far along they are, I try and stay away from that" - Ned Yost on the Salvador Perez contract rumors #Royals
— 610 Sports Radio- KC (@610SportsKC) January 27, 2016
What we do know is that Perez's current deal is extremely team-friendly, and it'll likely take an extra couple of years of commitment on the 25-year-old backstop's end for a significant increase in total value to be added to his deal.
Via Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors:
"This obviously leaves ample leverage with the club, particularly since Perez has been worked hard through his age-25 season. It’s not clear what kind of arrangement might work for the team, but I’d speculate that it could involve the introduction of some guaranteed money in exchange for additional option years."
Unsubstantiated rumors have the Royals seeking team option years (with limited buyouts) for 2020 and 2021, with both years escalating closer to the current top-five catcher salary average.
Yankees Looking Three Years Out?
The New York Yankees are the only MLB team not to sign a big-league level free agent this offseason. Let that sink in.
New York has reversed trend on its past free-wheeling and dealing ways, opting to get younger via trade while waiting out the remainder of some huge veteran deals. Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova will be off the books after this upcoming season. CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez's deals expire after 2017, while Brett Gardner and Brian McCann hit the market after the 2018 campaign.
While the Yankees will likely mix and match impact free agents in the interim, Bronx Baseball Daily's Delia Enriquez believes that the 2018-19 offseason is when the Yankees might flex their financial muscle -- based on the sheer amount of top-tier talent that could be available:
"Almost every big star name is slated to become a free agent prior to the 2019 season: Bryce Harper, Josh Donaldson, Matt Harvey, Andrew McCutchen, Jason Heyward, Dallas Keuchel, David Price, Jose Fernandez, Manny Machado and Clayton Kershaw. And while the Yankees are frugal now, they could surprise everyone and be the big spending team they were prior to George Steinbrenner’s death by signing a few of these big names."
Cubs & Rays Talking Shop?
The Tampa Bay Rays floated a trade offer for Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Baez in early December, but reportedly weren't willing to meet the Cubs in the middle on a potential deal.
Those talks could rekindle, Randy Levine of CBS Sports posits, considering that there's three targets in Tampa that the Cubs currently have their eye on:
"The players the Cubs have had interest in include reliever Jake McGee (2.41 ERA, 0.94 WHIP in 2015), starting pitcher Jake Ordorizzi (9-9, 3,35 ERA) and outfielder Desmond Jennings (.268 batting average, .664 OPS in injury-plagued season)."
In exchange, Tampa would likely still have Baez on the mind, but Cubs prospect Willson Contreras (rated as MLB.com's top catching prospect) is another name said to be high on the Rays' list.
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