Lukewarm Stove: Winter Meetings Eve, Holliday to Yankees, Hill Holdup, Otani Coming?

Dec 04, 2016

It’s kinda quiet, eh?

For a typical Sunday night, I wouldn’t think much of anything about that, but, like I said this morning, I was tentatively expecting some action this evening thanks both to the Winter Meetings that start tomorrow and the swell of rumors building yesterday. There’s a bit to discuss, but, so far, not quite what I’d been thinking we’d see …

OK, so it’s not action for this offseason, but it would still be crazy exciting (currently reserving an explosion of excitement until we see a more official translation): according to Google Translate (GRAIN OF SALT), this report out of Japan indicates that Japanese stud pitcher/DH Shohei Otani’s team has agreed to post him next offseason. If true, we would once again be on high Otani alert, after briefly being frightened that the CBA had mucked things up. (It’s still possible he’s posted and those CBA changes make it so that he’s subject to IFA restrictions (which would exclude the Cubs), but I’d think it’s far more likely that, if he’s posted, it’s because he’s not going to be subject to IFA restrictions. However they make that happen. TBD.) Come on, Obsessive Otani Watch …

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One move of note has gone down today, with the Yankees reportedly signing outfielder/DH Matt Holliday to a one-year, $13 million deal. Heading to the American League makes a lot of sense for Holliday, who probably won’t offer much proficiency on the defensive side of the ball anymore, but can probably still swat a few. Further, given the CBA changes that will make getting payroll down a bit by 2018 a particularly good thing for the Yankees, a short-term deal to add a bat like Holliday seems a perfect fit.

Last night, it looked like Rich Hill was about to re-up with the Dodgers, but it hasn’t been announced yet, and it sounds like it won’t be tonight:

Sounds like the Dodgers won't announce a deal with Rich Hill tonight. So there is that.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) December 4, 2016

Although there are a number of reasons a deal like this could be held up, from the purely logistical (travel arrangements, for example) to the purely fundamental (there’s not a deal, and the reports are missing the mark), I can’t help but wonder if the Dodgers are waiting to finalize this one until they know whether some other trade or signing is going to go through. (Alternatively, it’s possible Hill has other suitors, and they’ve told him they’ll beat the Dodgers’ offer … if Thing X doesn’t happen in the next day or two.) We’d just be chasing our tail trying to speculate away on this. It still sounds like Hill to the Dodgers will happen eventually. Maybe this week.

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A writeup on comments from Aroldis Chapman and Dexter Fowler includes a bit from Chapman that suggests his camp is “in negotiations” with the Cubs about a return, which certainly might be true, but I don’t want get you too riled up. The comments were at a public appearance and came via a translator, so you should take the directness of the response with a grain of salt. That said, the Cubs have an obvious need at the back of the bullpen, and they’ve certainly not explicitly ruled out a reunion with Chapman if the contract makes sense. I’m sure they’re at least keeping tabs. So will we.

As for Fowler, his comments were about what you’d expect – the door isn’t closed on a return to the Cubs, but he’s not really saying much either way. Our expectation has been that, since the Cubs signed Jon Jay, it’s all but certain that Fowler is moving on.

Speaking of Fowler:

More on Encarnacion: #BlueJays still in play for multiple outfielders, including Fowler. Any chance EE has of returning could disappear.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 5, 2016

The Cubs are reportedly among the teams in on reliever Daniel Hudson … one of 16 teams, apparently.

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Yo, with the Winter Meetings this week, by the way, make sure you’re following BN on Twitter, and like it on Facebook by clicking that button there:

Jon Heyman reports that the Marlins – yes, the Marlins – are intent on landing one of Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, or Mark Melancon. That would be something.

Exciting, yes, but I tend to doubt it, unless they’re including Trea Turner (which they shouldn’t):

The #Nats are actually trying to trade for Chris Sale AND Andrew McCutchen and believe they have the prospects to pull off both trades.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 5, 2016

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written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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