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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans,and happy first day of free agency to all! The major story from last night was the first trade of the offseason, involving six players, between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Mariners. The Rays sent right-hander Nate Karns and two prospects in exchange for first-baseman Logan Morrison, shortstop Brad Miller and reliever Danny Farquhar.
This may not be the only trade we see in the next couple of days.
Re: Mariners/TB trade -- GMs say there is a ton of trade conversation going on right now.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 6, 2015
No one in baseball has accepted a qualifying offer. Could this be the year? Which players could be "hosed" by this? Grant Brisbee explores those players.
Every so often, though, a player gets caught in the gears of the machine, and he has to wait until February, March, or, gasp, June to sign with a new team. Every single team essentially told Stephen Drew in 2014 that he wasn't as valuable as a speculative mid-round pick in the following draft. Kendrys Morales was told the same. Both of them had to wait until midway through the season to sign, and both of them were disasters on the field that year.
Last offseason, everyone still took the mystery box. And it worked. The Mets pounced on Michael Cuddyer, possibly because they thought of not paying a first-round pick as some sort of mail-in rebate, and they won the pennant because of it. Well, in spite of it, at least. Francisco Liriano looked like a candidate to accept the qualifying offer, but the market for pitching was so goofy, he got three times as much. Ervin Santana took the box two years in a row, and it paid off the second year.
The Brewers are shopping Adam Lind and Francisco Rodriguez.
Scott Gelman of Fish Stripes thinks the Marlins should add a closer.
Miami has expressed interest Aroldis Chapman in the past, and the Cuban lefty could be an intriguing candidate again this winter. He pitched to a 1.63 ERA and 1.94 FIP over 66.1 innings while saving 33 games with the Reds. The Marlins do not have a notable amount of left-handed relief depth beyond Mike Dunn, and Ramos could end up serving as the setup man while Chapman closes games. Chapman might be too expensive, but the Marlins will likely at least discuss the possibility of an upgrade.
Speaking of the Marlins, Ryan Pollack of Camden Chat says the O's should consider Marcell Ozuna.
Ozuna checks several boxes for the Orioles: he's an outfielder, he has a league-average bat, and he's relatively cost-controlled. He was worth nearly two wins in just 70 games in 2013 before breaking out in a big way in 2014: .269/.317/.455 with 23 HR, good for nearly four wins. He fell back to earth somewhat in 2015 but still notched 1.1 fWAR.
His offensive profile fits the team: he doesn't walk a lot (career 6% rate) and strikes out a bit above average (23.7%) while generating above-average power (.151 ISO). You could do a lot worse for the league minimum in 2016, especially if you unloaded an uninteresting third-string prospect to an owner who was salivating to be rid of the guy.
While on Wednesday he talked about the free agents to avoid like the plague, yesterday Mike Bates laid out the free agents that teams should target this winter.
Important Links
Free Agent Tracker- Everyone! It's actually here. Free agency is here!
And a new one! MLB trade rumor tracker.
Today in Baseball History: In 1938, the three DiMaggio brothers play together for the first time as an outfield unit for a West Coast charity all-star game.