We're just over a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting, and there's still several impact names out there both in the free agency and trade markets who'll be on the move before the middle of February gets here. We're here to take a look at the latest from the MLB Hot Stove madness with our Rumors Roundup for January 16th.
Jake Arrieta Update
Both the Cubs and 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta say that the $5.5 million gap between the two sides' arbitration filings doesn't mean a deal can't get done before mediation. If not, Arrieta and his agent, Scott Boras, could be in for a historic award. Arrieta's $13 million figure would far-and-away set a record for an arbitration victory.
The Cubs' filing of $7.5 million doesn't seem to have a chance of sticking if this actually reaches the hearing stage.
“Well, I did during the season, so why not continue that?” Arrieta said of his chances in arbitration. “We have a really good case. We’re confident with it. So if it does get to hearing I think we’re in good shape.”
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has never taken a player to arbitration in 14 years of running baseball departments, but he doesn't seem worried.
“We weren’t the least bit surprised by today’s events,” Epstein said. “If we go to a hearing we go to a hearing. We wouldn’t go in and pick holes in Jake Arrieta’s performance as a Cub, that’s for sure. We think he had an historic season. We think he deserves a huge raise.”
The problem here? The large gap in filings has taken away at least some of Arrieta's optimism about a long-term deal.
“With the number they filed it seems like a long-term deal wouldn’t happen,” Arrieta said. “But you never know. I know that things can transpire very quickly in these situations.”
Royals Worried About Window Of Opportunity?
Kansas City signed starter Ian Kennedy to a five-year, $70 million deal on Saturday, but the really interesting part of the deal is an opt-out clause after the 2017 season.
According to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, that clause lines up with a major run of Royals free agents hitting the market after the 2017 campaign:
Potential #Royals free agents after 2017: Hosmer, Moustakas, Escobar, Cain, W. Davis, Kennedy. Two-year window.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 16, 2016
Early projections after arbitration have Kansas City's payroll around the $130 million mark -- a massive number for what is still considered a mid-market team. However, that number would be dwarfed if the Royals were to somehow re-sign all six free agents listed above before or during the 2017 offseason.
Taking increasing market value into account, Kansas City's payroll would balloon to around $220 million in that scenario. Unless there's a massive influx of revenue hiding or coming in, that's untenable. Thus, there are several MLB experts who are wondering if the Royals are putting all of their chips on the table for the next two years, knowing that they'll be forced to take a huge step back in 2018.
The only thing we do know right now is that Kansas City's roster should look radically different in 2018, and that will likely be the time when an influx of farm system prospects get their first big shot.
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