MLB Trade Rumors and News: The Yankees made some roster waves with release of Jacoby Ellsbury and designating Greg Bird for assignment

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• This time of year is an important one for all teams from a roster management perspective as teams have to plan for incoming free agents in addition to potentially having open roster spots to be able to pick players in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. The Yankees made the “biggest” waves thus far in that arena as they released Jacoby Ellsbury (leaving them on the hook for $26 million) and designated Greg Bird for assignment.
• In addition to removing players from rosters to make room, teams were also very busy in adding eligible prospects to their 40 man rosters in order to protect them from the Rule 5. To make keeping track of who got added and who didn’t, our own Patrick Karraker put together a tracker with all of the roster additions from the past couple of days.
• Rob Manfred made his first public comments on the Astros sign-stealing scandal Tuesday, saying that MLB’s investigation is currently limited to Houston and that the team could face severe, unprecedented discipline if they are found guilty. We’ll keep you updated on this situation as it evolved, as it certainly seems to be getting worse by the day.
• Someone forgot to inform us, but apparently the Braves are the only team allowed to sign free agents this offseason. They made another addition to a bullpen that will likely be significantly improved in 2020, re-signing reliever Chris Martin to a two-year deal after acquiring him from the Rangers in a deadline deal this past July.
• If you were one of those who bet that Will Smith, the top reliever on the free agent market who was widely expected to sign his qualifying offer, was going to be the first major free agent signing of the offseason...you are likely very rich. The Braves struck early as they signed Smith to a lucrative three year deal and the team has, for the moment, a bullpen that should be a strength even if it is rather pricey.
• The Pirates were next up in the good old fashion general manager shuffle, hiring Ben Cherington as the team’s new GM. The 45-year-old was at the home of three World Series-winning Red Sox teams and can hopefully end Pittsburgh’s World Series drought. After leaving the Red Sox in 2015, he moved on to become the Blue Jays’ vice president of baseball operations.
• New manager, who dis? The Phillies are in the midst of negotiating an extension with catcher J.T. Realmuto, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. As of now, Realmuto is only under team control through the 2020 season. If he hits the free-agent market after that, he is set to have a big payday and be one of the biggest names of next winter‘s class. Currently, he is projected to earn $10.3M in his last year of arbitration eligibility. If the Phillies are smart to work something out with the young catcher now before they have to deal with negotiation talks next off-season, with said extension not taking effect until 2021.
• Qualifying offer decisions were due last week (which was a big part of what led to Smith getting signed) and just Jake Odorizzi and Jose Abreu signed their offers while Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, Josh Donaldson, and Marcell Ozuna all rejected theirs.
• The league MVP awards were also announced last week. Both leagues’ races were close with several worthy contenders, but in the end Cody Bellinger and Mike Trout took home the hardware for the NL and AL respectively. One can expect that these won’t be the last MVP awards these two guys win in their careers.
• Stealing signs is no new baseball phenomena, but the lengths to which the Astros took it are both astounding and stomach-churning.
• The Giants subjected themselves to a good old-fashioned Twitter ratio-ing last week, hiring Gabe Kapler as Bruce Bochy’s successor following a pair of uninspiring seasons in Philadelphia and a concerning series of off-the-field incidents. It’s hard to imagine that the widespread criticism of the hire is going to go away at any point this offseason, so he’ll just have to change minds by leading the team to on-field success.
• The Cardinals made a rather unsurprising move, re-signing starter Adam Wainwright to a one-year deal. The new contract, which will allow Wainwright to spend a 16th season wearing the Birds on the Bat, pays Wainwright a $5 million base salary with $5 million in incentives based on games started.
• Contrary to last offseason, when he had to sign a one-year prove-it deal with the Braves, Josh Donaldson has quite a few interested suitors on the free-agent market this winter.
• While this class of rookies is quite good, it wasn’t really a surprise to see Yordan Alvarez and Pete Alonso take home the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively. Alvarez was selected unanimously while Alonso got all but one first place vote, which went to Atlanta rookie pitcher Mike Soroka.
• The Giants have hired Scott Harris as their new general manager. The former assistant general manager for the Cubs will now be the Robin to what was for the past year Farhan Zaidi’s solo Batman show in San Francisco’s baseball operations Gotham. Harris is now the youngest person with the title of general manager in Major League Baseball.
• Mike Trout has finished first or second in MVP voting seven times during his eight complete seasons in Major League Baseball. Now that’s what I call, huh, well...the most valuable player.
• After snapping a three-year playoff drought and reaching the NLCS, the Cardinals rewarded their key leadership figures by handing out contract extensions all around, re-upping with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak through 2023 and general manager Michael Girsch and manager Mike Shildt through 2022.
• Excited (or nervous) to find out where your favorite free agent is going to end up this offseason? Our Andersen Pickard made his best guess, predicting landing spots and contract values for each of MLB Trade Rumors’ top 50 free agents.
• Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole have a substantial amount of leverage for contracts as the Winter Meetings approach. Could either of them sign a record-breaking deal?
• J.D. Martinez was one of the tougher guys to pin down as to whether or not he was going to exercise his opt-out clause following the 2019 season. He was one of the better hitters in the American League yet again, but free agency did not treat him as well as he would have liked his last go-around. Ultimately, he decided to stay with the Red Sox for the 2020 season with the knowledge that he can opt out after next season if he feels the need.
• After bringing home a World Series title, Stephen Strasburg has opted out of the last four years of his contract with the Nationals. The World Series MVP will instead test his value on the free agent market, which in complete honestly will probably offer him more than the $100M over 4 years he had left with the Nationals. And that’s without mentioning all this deferred payment nonsense.
• The Yankees and Aroldis Chapman have agreed on a contract extension through 2022. This extra year includes $18M on top of the $30M he was set to earn in the two years remaining on his five-year, $86M deal. Which will come first, the end of the contract or Chapman’s arm falling off from sheer torque? Stay tuned, kiddos.
• The Boston Red Sox have hired Chaim Bloom as their new head of baseball operations, leaving him with large shoes to fill as he replaces Dave Dombrowski. The 36-year old has a very impressive career already, starting out as a humble Baseball Prospectus columnist to skyrocketing up the leadership chain for the Tampa Bay Rays. A Yale alumni just like fellow young-baseball-exec-phenom Theo Epstein, Bloom is highly regarded by everyone in the baseball world, a feat that should not be brushed aside. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that a former co-worker of Bloom’s described him as so: “For a guy as smart and accomplished as he is, I think he gives everyone a feeling that he’s approachable and wants to engage.” It’ll be interesting to see what moves he’ll make right off the bat and how the offseason may go for the Red Sox with a new captain steering this ship.
• Tommy John surgery has historically been reserved for major-league pitchers and washed up Division III sidearmers who injure themselves trying to show off in a company softball game. But in recent years we’ve seen an uptick in non-pitching position players go under the knife for UCL injuries. SB Nation’s Ginny Searle looks into this phenomenon and if there’s anything players or athletic trainers can do to stop it.