Winter Meetings Thursday Morning: Donaldson Up Next, Porcello Signs, Astros on Catchers, More

Here we are: The final day of the 2019-2020 Winter Meetings.

The Cubs haven’t actually made a move yet, but there has been plenty to discuss, including the dramatic rise of the Kris Bryant saga, the meeting with free agent outfielder Shogo Akiyama (more on that later), and the disappointment of missing out on affordable free agents like Didi Gregorius, Blake Treinen, and Josh Lindblom.

More bad than good, I guess? Hmm. Here’s to high hopes for the Rule 5 Draft! (Oh lord, what have I done … )

The latest …

  • With Anthony Rendon’s mega-deal in the bag, Josh Donaldson is next up, and his market is actually a little wider than the Rendon’s, given the much lower expected price tag: Braves, Nationals, Rangers, Dodgers, Twins (per Ken Rosenthal). Donaldson reportedly prefers to return to the Braves, who, along with the Rangers and Nationals, likely feel the most pressure to sign him, but the Rangers continue to strike me as the team that’ll get it done. Indeed, ESPN’s sources have heard that “There aren’t many at these meetings who believe the Braves will outbid Texas or Washington for Donaldson’s services.”
  • Although perhaps that’s a bit of selective bias on my part. Because if the Braves do manage to re-sign Donaldson, the Kris Bryant market will take a massive hit (whether or not the Braves are the team to ultimately land him, any offer on the table from that organization is likely to improve the Cubs’ leverage with other teams). So I guess, if you’re rooting for Kris Bryant to stay put, you’re rooting for the Braves to re-sign Donaldson. Or, if you think the Cubs are trading Bryant no matter what, you REALLY hope they don’t end up with Donaldson. Up to you to decide which is best for the Cubs in the long-term, and for your own personal fandom.
  • In case you missed it: The Braves – and other rumored teams – are suddenly totally not interested in a trade for KB. Yeah, okay, Diane.
  • For what it’s worth, Jesse Rogers sure seems to think the Braves are ready to move quickly to the Cubs/Bryant as soon as they miss out on Donaldson.
  • The Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers have all shown interest in trading for Brewers reliever Josh Hader. The Brewers are apparently looking for a legitimate top prospect in return (Hader, 25, has four more years of control), but teams have been so far unwilling to agree on that price. Like Brett said when this first popped up: I’d be very suspicious of the Brewers’/Hader’s future if they’re even willing to trade him right now after two years of heavy workload.
  • The price range on these back-end, low-upside starting pitchers is crystalizing right around $10 million annually:
  • Brett: Interesting that Mets are adding not one but two guys on one-year deals who have the upside of “useful” and downside of “180 innings given to a frustrating 5.00 ERA guy” (first Michael Wacha and now Rick Porcello). I’m not saying it’s a bad or the wrong strategy – always hard to make fun of one-year deals – but for the Cubs, I’d much rather see them go for higher risk, but higher upside. They can probably get Wacha/Porcello total results out of guys like Tyler Chatwood, Alec Mills, and Adbert Alzolay.
  • The Astros, who have been tied to Willson Contreras, are considering their catching trade options:
  • A new possible Cardinals pitching target, and it’s a bit of a yikes:
  • The Cardinals have otherwise said publicly that they’re content to wait out the starting market. So we’ll see.
  • No surprise here:
  • Brett Taylor contributed to this post.

    written by

    Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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