The Winter Meetings continue!
Consider this your rumor and update depot. Refresh for the newest stuff, whether it’s a garbled tweet or actual news (that we’ll cover in more depth later). Follow us on Twitter for more.
Here’s Tuesday’s stuff, from the Jake Arrieta scuttlebutt to the Tommy Hunter signing.
And here’s Monday’s stuff, from the Manny Machado rumors to the Pat Neshek signing.
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9:42 p.m.: Okay. You’ve heard about the Manny Machado rumors. Go here for the updates there.
Meanwhile Robert Murray reports the Phillies have asked the Diamondbacks about Zack Greinke. So have the Yankees. Because of course.
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2:37 p.m.: And Bob Nightengale reports that the Marlins “have no intention” of trading Yelich, even though the outfielder wants out of there.
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2:10 p.m.: The Marlins continue their fire sale. Marcell Ozuna was dealt to St. Louis, and Jeff Passan reports Miami could try to trade Christian Yelich. The Phillies have shown past interest in Yelich.
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11:58 p.m.: Jon Heyman is back with a rumor: Carlos Gonzalez is drawing interest from the Phillies, among other teams.
Before you go thinking the Phils are going to sign CarGo, then trade an outfielder and prospects for Machado or something, remember that agents love to drive up the price of their clients by using teams that have deep pockets as a foil.
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11:45 a.m.: Todd Zolecki tweets an exchange between Scott Boras and reporters about the Phillies. Boras was asked what he knows about the Phillies and their pursuit of players in the free agent market. He answered that teams that have success don’t necessarily wait for one magical year on the market, but instead, put their “oars in the water” at all times and pounce when they find opportunity.
He didn’t say that the Phils aren’t doing this, but that good franchises do it. So, are the Phils doing that?
In a way, yes. By nabbing free-agent relievers and signing them to multi-year deals, they’re identifying value in the market. In short, there’s a surplus of good third-tier relievers out there, and the Phils are signing them to multiple years and average (or below average) annual values. The idea is when the Phils really need bullpen arms, they won’t need to get that $15-$20 million whale.
Now, the same could be said for trading for a Machado today, or signing a higher-tier pitcher today, because you’re planning for the future.
Well, sort of. Trading for a young, controllable pitcher is much more accurate. Jake Arrieta and his ilk are going to be overvalued because it’s rare that really good pitchers hit the market like this.
As for Machado, he’s special circumstance. All bets are off there.
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9:07 a.m.: Jon Heyman tweets about the Manny Machado situation in regards to the Phillies. Heyman spoke to a person involved in the situation, who said Machado probably wouldn’t open the 72-hour extension window for a deal. Or, to put it another way, Machado wants to become a free agent.
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8:57 a.m.: A holdover from last night: Tommy Hunter will get two years and $18 million. So, considering the controllable or arbitration-year contracts of Nector Neris, Luis Garcia, Edubray Ramos, Adam Morgan, Hoby Milner and Victor Arano (among others), the Phils bullpen is potentially stable through the end of 2019.
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