December 23, 2016

Rumor Roundup

Three Little Players Went to Market

by Demetrius Bell

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Revere apparently in demand

Thursday night saw the biggest name remaining on the free agent market come off the board, as Cleveland pulled off a major coup by bringing in Edwin Encarnacion on a three-year deal worth $65 million. As rumors of a potential Encarnacion deal began to leak, we also began to hear rumors of other players being close to signing. One of those players is Ben Revere, and Roch Kubatko of MASN shared on Twitter that Revere could be signing with a team in the very near future—if not today.

However, we know from Kubatko that the team that eventually signs Revere won’t be the Orioles. It also won’t be the Blue Jays, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reported tthat Toronto wasn’t involved. Revere is coming off of a ghastly 2016 season that saw his slash line plummet to .217/.260/.300 and his TAv also reach a low point of .201. He finished the season on Washington’s bench after losing his starting job. With that being said, he can still provide value with his speed (assuming he can return to form after a nagging injury plagued him in 2016), and his performance last season means that some team will likely take a cheap chance on the outfielder entering his age-29 season.

Multiple teams are trying for Quintana

We could see another high-profile South Side Southpaw on his way out of town following Chris Sale's trade to Boston earlier this month. Jose Quintana’s name has been at the heart of plenty trade rumors and now at least two teams are actively trying to bring the lefty into the fold.

According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Pirates are apparently trying to swing a deal for Quintana. On one hand, it’s interesting to see that the Pirates have suddenly decided to turn into buyers after it appeared they were ready to take on the role of sellers in a potential Andrew McCutchen deal. On the other hand, they do have the prospect depth to pull off a deal for Quintana, whose contract is affordable for a team like Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the Rangers are the other team who could be making a run for Quintana. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported that the Rangers and White Sox had trade talks back at the trade deadline, but those ended when the Rangers decided that the price of Jurickson Profar and more was too rich. That hasn’t stopped the two teams from re-engaging in talks this offseason, but apparently things won’t progress until the White Sox lower their price.

Brewers willing to listen on Braun

While the stove may be heating up forQuintana, things are as stone cold as Steve Austin when it comes to the market for Ryan Braun. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe indicated that the Brewers were open to hearing offers for the 33-year-old star outfielder, but Braun’s positive PED test is coming back to haunt them because that’s been a major stumbling block for teams.

According to the anonymous team executive Cafardo cited as his source, teams are figuring that if Braun fails another PED test in the future they’d lose him for a significant period of time. So teams are deciding that it’s not worth the risk to trade for Braun, leaving his market almost nonexistent. He can still hit very well—as evidenced by his .305/.365/.538 slash line with 30 home runs and a .316 TAv—but that positive test combined with his sizable contract is still looming large after all of these years.

Demetrius Bell is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @fergoe
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