MLB Trade Rumors and News: Porcello and Romine sign deals as Winter Meetings wind down

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• Austin Romine isn’t one of the big names that everyone was watching to see where he was going to end up, but he is the latest catcher to have a new team in what has been a busy section of the market. Romine inked a one year, $4.1 million deal with the Tigers yesterday.
• Rather than go for the splashy moves that they did go for last offseason, the Mets have been far more measured this offseason. Case in point: to help shore up their rotation, the team signed Rick Porcello, known innings eater, to a one year, $10 million deal. Again, not earth shattering, but his addition does soften the loss of Zack Wheeler to free agency a little bit.
• Anthony Rendon was the best position player among the free agent class this offseason. The “was” is an important word there as the Angels were able to close a deal with him worth $245 million over the next seven seasons. If the Angels get a bit more pitching, they could make a lot of noise next season and beyond.
• Josh Lindblom has twice taken his talents overseas to play baseball. Over the last couple of seasons, he had fashioned himself into one of the best pitchers in Korea and now, he can now enjoy the fruit of that labor in the majors. The Brewers inked Lindblom to a three year deal worth at least $9.125 million with incentives that could net him significantly more cash. Never give up on your dreams, kids.
• The Mets find themselves in a division with a lot of teams that are wanting to make some big moves with their roster. So far, however, they have been relatively quiet (aside from the news that their ownership situation will miraculously change in the next five years). They did manage to sign Michael Wacha to a one year deal, so they may not be standing pat after all.
• Nothing about Tanner Roark’s last couple of season really jumps off the page that makes you think that he is a guy that should be making eight figures a year. However, that is exactly what he got yesterday as the pitcher signed a two year, $24 million deal with the Blue Jays.
• This offseason’s biggest free agent found a new home late Tuesday night, as Gerrit Cole agreed to a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees. Cole’s contract is the largest ever for a pitcher — breaking the record that Stephen Strasburg set just over a day earlier — and the second-largest overall in MLB history, trailing only the $330 million deal Bryce Harper signed last offseason.
• The Rangers gave outfielder Nomar Mazara a much-needed change of scenery on Tuesday, dealing the 24-year-old outfielder to the White Sox for outfield prospect Steele Walker. Walker was the No. 4 prospect in Chicago’s system as ranked by MLB Pipeline, and his stock should only rise now that he can be referred to as “Steele Walker, Texas Ranger.”
• Didi Gregorius bet on himself (albeit in a rather lucrative fashion) on Tuesday, agreeing to a one-year, $14 million contract with the Phillies. Sir Didi will look to re-establish himself as one of the better shortstops in the majors after a down 2019 season that was partially wiped out by his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and he’ll reunite with his former manager Joe Girardi.
• After successfully flipping reclamation project Drew Pomeranz at the trade deadline last season, the Giants found themselves another starter to try to rehab and perhaps flip in 2020, signing Kevin Gausman to a one-year deal worth $9 million plus up to $1 million in incentives. While Gausman struggled in 2019, he has a big arm and his peripheral numbers were actually pretty good, so he’s at least worth taking a gamble on.
• The Gausman deal wasn’t the only interesting thing the Giants did on Tuesday, as they also acquired veteran infielder Zack Cozart and, more significantly, 2019 Angels first-rounder Will Wilson from the Halos in exchange for cash considerations. By taking on the remaining $12.67 million on Cozart’s deal, the Giants effectively buy themselves the No. 15 pick in this year’s draft, and it’s perhaps still possible that they’ll also be able to get some value out of the former All-Star after two down seasons in Anaheim.
• Stephen Strasburg was one of the bigger fish in the free agent pond this offseason. While there was a lot of speculation that he could end up somewhere else, the Nationals opened their wallets to keep him in DC with an astonishing seven year, $245 million deal.
• Did... did the Mets do something right? New York is bringing back Brad Brach (say that ten times fast) on a one year, $850,000 deal. Spending time with two different clubs last season, the 33-year-old found the most success in Queens, posting a 3.68 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP while striking out 15 over 14.2 innings — a stark contrast to the 6.13 ERA over 42 innings with the Cubs earlier in the season. The Mets’ bullpen is in desperate need of resurrection, and with a contract that is almost entirely incentive based, Brach is a decent foundation to try to revamp that on.
• The Padres added another intriguing veteran bat to their lineup, acquiring Tommy Pham and minor-league infielder/reliever Jake Cronenworth in exchange for Hunter Renfroe and Xavier Edwards.
• The Phillies helped to set what appears to be a pretty expensive starting pitching market this offseason, signing Zack Wheeler to a five year, $118 million deal.
• The Braves have stayed active throughout this offseason, and that continued when they signed veteran Cole Hamels to a one year, $18 million deal. There is not really such a thing as a bad one year deal, and Hamels definitely has a pedigree that seems worth taking a chance on, but $18 million for a guy that is pretty clearly on the decline does carry some risk.
• The Wilpons have long been punching bags for how they have chosen to run the New York Mets from their financial dealings to the personnel moves that have been made over the years (and with good reason). Some sort of change seems to be coming as they are setting things up to give up their stake as majority owners to Steve Cohen within the next five years.
• The Angels made a deal in an attempt to get their pitching staff into semi-competitive shape, trading for the Orioles’ Dylan Bundy. Bundy might not be a super sexy name these days, but if he can provide some decent innings and Shohei Ohtani can stay healthy on the mound, there is a chance for significant improvement.
• The Reds, to the surprise of basically everyone, locked up Mike Moustakas with a four year, $64 million deal. Moustakas will play second base for the Reds as he finally got the deal he was looking for the previous couple of offseasons.
• The Padres continued to make noise this offseason when they acquired Jurickson Profar from the Athletics. Profar has just one year left on his deal, but is long on talent even if the production hasn’t always been there. It is still unclear how much these moves are helping San Diego’s roster, but they are definitely keeping busy.
• Speaking of teams swooping in, it looks like the Rangers are not being shy about how much they’d just *love* to acquire Miguel Andujar from the Yankees, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The 24-year old is coming off an abridged season after a torn labrum in April squashed his 2019 hopes. And with Gio Urshela stepping into the role as the Bronx’s favorite third baseman, dealing Andujar isn’t out of the Yankees line of sight.
• The Pirates hired themselves a new manager in Derek Shelton. The former Twins’ bench coach has coached in the big leagues for a long time and has been widely praised for his work in Minnesota. With the hiring, that now leaves every MLB club with a manager, as Pittsburgh was the last team to fill their vacancy.
• If you care about baseball at all in any capacity, then you need to read this: MLB’s plan to eliminate 42 minor league baseball teams, explained.