MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

Rays agree to terms with Sergio Romo
by Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors — 3 minutes ago



The Rays have agreed to terms on a one-year, Major League deal with right-hander Sergio Romo, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). The deal is still pending a physical. Romo is a client of Meister Sports Management.

Romo, 35 next month, was cut loose by the Dodgers after struggling through 25 innings in Los Angeles last season but found new life when L.A. sent him to the Rays in a minor trade following a DFA. In 30 2/3 frames with Tampa Bay, Romo thrived, pitching to a minuscule 1.47 ERA with an excellent 28-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 38.8 percent ground-ball rate.

Though Romo’s average velocity on his four-seamer and sinker both checked in under 87 mph last season, his penchant for missing bats didn’t deteriorate whatsoever. While one wouldn’t think it when looking at the radar gun, Romo has averaged better than a strikeout per inning in all but two seasons of his career, and he averaged 9.5 K/9 on the season as a whole in 2017. That impressive mark was accompanied by a 14.9 percent swinging-strike rate that tied him with Cody Allen for 25th among 155 qualified relievers.

Romo will serve as an elder statesman in a young and rather inexperienced Tampa Bay bullpen. At present, Alex Colome projects as the team’s closer, though trade rumblings surrounding his name have persisted even as Spring Training approaches. The Rays are reportedly still under ownership directive to cut a bit more payroll, and that figures to be ever the more true after adding Romo on a one-year deal — even if it comes at a modest rate. Should Colome ultimately be moved, it stands to reason that Romo, formerly the Giants’ closer, could find himself in the mix for saves early in the season.

Beyond Romo and Colome, the Rays’ bullpen, at least from the right side, looks somewhat undefined. Dan Jennings and Jose Alvarado should hold down spots as southpaws, while Matt Andriese figures to pitch from the right side in a multi-inning capacity (though Andriese could end up in the rotation depending on whether Jake Odorizzi, another trade candidate, is moved prior to Opening Day).

Other right-handers who could work in a middle relief or setup capacity include Austin Pruitt, Chaz Roe, Andrew Kittredge, Ryne Stanek, Chih-Wei Hu, Jamie Schultz and Diego Castillo — each of whom is on the 40-man roster. The Rays will also have some veterans with big league experience in camp on minor league deals, including righty Evan Scribner and lefties Vidal Nuno and Jonny Venters.

 

or the brewers...
imagine what a "fuck you" that would be to the cubs if arrietta signed w/milwaukee

 

Darvish reportedly rejects 5-year/$110MM contract offer
by Daniel Starkand | Dodger Blue — 2 hours ago

The starting pitching market has largely been at a standstill this entire offseason, as many teams are waiting to see where the top arm, Yu Darvish, will land before turning to Plans B or C.

Despite pitchers and catchers set to report to Spring Training in less than a week, Darvish doesn’t seem to be in a rush to make his decision. He recently was said to have several five-year contract offers on the table.

Part of the reason Darvish has yet to sign with a team could be because of a desire to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who may be searching for ways to shed salary in order to re-sign Darvish while staying below the luxury tax threshold.

The price to sign Darvish will not be cheap, though, as according to Jon Heyman of Today’s Knucklebball, Darvish recently turned down a five-year, $110 million offer:

Darvish, who playfully hinted at interest with clever tweets only a couple weeks ago, has been thought to be getting closer to a deal in each of the preceding couple weeks, with none to be had. One team source suggested they offered $110 million over five years, and were surprised to be told “thanks, but no thanks.”

​

Darvish is believed to be looking for a contract in the neighborhood of the seven-year, $175 million contract that Stephen Strasburg recently signed with the Washington Nationals.

Teams have been reluctant to give long-term deals this offseason, as other than Lorenzo Cain’s five-year $80 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, no player has signed a contract longer than three years.

Darvish is about to enter his age-31 season, and with him already undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015, the five-year offer may be the best that he gets. It is possible that he winds up accepting it once more light is shed on if the Dodgers have interest in bringing him back or not.

 

the problem is unloading kemp and his abysmal contract
and imo it's why yu is waiting... hoping
he liked it here
liked honeycutt
and he's been working out with kersh all offseason...
pretty sure if we were to offer him something close to the contract he purportedly turned down, he would jump all over it
we just have to find someone to take rihanna's bkitch off our hands

 

could be a combo of all three...

- teams are probably asking for verdugo or buehler, we’re saying no
- and even if no collusion, easy to imagine teams being reluctant to help us... could easily see a lot of these guys being pissy when we hired exec after exec for the front office - especially if they didn’t get a call from us

only way this gets done... we have to give up more than we wanted and/or agree to eat more of kemp’s contract
i still have faith it’ll get worked out, but you have to wonder... how long is yu going to willing to wait while it plays out?
that said, if reports are true about him turning down that 5yr/$110mm offer from someone else...

 

fuck, figures
would you go after arrieta?

 

Well that fuckin sucks. The worst team he could’ve signed for cause the Cubs now match up great with the Dodgers. Fuckers man. They need another starter