MLB Free Agency

The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies are interested in free-agent utility man Marwin Gonzalez, who played his last two seasons with the Minnesota Twins. 

Jon Heyman of MLB Network and WFAN Sports Radio reported the Phillies' interest while also noting that Philadelphia has looked into outfielder Shin Soo-Choo and infielder Brad Miller.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com broke the news of the Mets' interest.

Gonzalez, who turns 32 in March, had a down year in 2020 with five home runs, 22 RBI and a career-low .211 batting average and .606 OPS in 53 games.

That season was an anomaly given his recent production: He averaged 16 home runs and 62 RBI while hitting .255 (.734 OPS) over the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Gonzalez amassed the homer and RBI figures despite missing 65 games.

Gonzalez joined the big leagues in 2012 with the Houston Astros. He played in Houston for seven seasons, with his best year occurring for the 2017 World Series champions when he had 23 homers, 90 RBI, a .303 batting average and .907 OPS. 

Left-handed starting pitcher Francisco Liriano and the Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly agreed to a minor league contract, per Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun.

Liriano will be a non-roster invitee to training camp, per Longley. MLB.com defines one as follows:

"A non-roster invite (NRI) is an invitation for a player who is not on a club's 40-man roster to attend Major League camp in Spring Training and compete for a roster spot. Clubs can extend NRIs to their upper-level Minor Leaguers and also include NRIs in Minor League contracts given to free agents in the offseason."

Per Shi Davidi of Sportnet, Liriano will receive $1.5 million plus performance bonuses if he makes the Jays.

Liriano has taken the field for 14 seasons (2005-2006, 2008-2019) on six teams. He started his career with the Minnesota Twins in 2005 and took the league by storm in 2006, going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 121 innings. He finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting and made the All-Star team.

Unfortunately, Liriano missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has gone 99-109 with a 4.28 ERA and 1.39 WHIP ever since.

Liriano has enjoyed some very good seasons in his career, which includes time with the Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates (two stints), Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers.

He finished 11th in the AL Cy Young voting in 2010 for Minnesota and ninth in the National League Cy Young voting in 2013 for Pittsburgh. The latter year was arguably his finest since 2006, as he went 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 161 frames.

Liriano's last MLB action occurred as a Pirates reliever in 2019, when he went 5-3 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 63 punchouts in 70 frames. He opted out of the 2020 MLB season amid the COVID-19 pandemic despite having "multiple guaranteed offers" on the table, per Robert Murray of FanSided.

Now the door is open for a potential return to Toronto, where Liriano played during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

The Kansas City Royals reportedly aren't interested in signing free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Heyman added that the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees, who were "rumored to be in on Puig," aren't interested either.

The 30-year-old outfielder's last MLB action occurred during the 2019 season, when he played for the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to Cleveland. He had 24 home runs, a career-high 84 RBI, a .267 batting average and .785 OPS. He also added a career-high 19 stolen bases.

Puig missed the entire 2020 season. He agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves on July 14, but he announced a positive COVID-19 test result three days later, nixing the contract.

Puig played the first six years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking into MLB with 19 home runs and a .925 OPS during his rookie year in 2013. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez.

However, injuries (namely strained hamstrings in 2015 and 2016) hampered his production for much of the remainder of his Dodgers career. He did hit a career-high 28 home runs in 2017 (alongside a .833 OPS) and added 23 more in 2018 (with a .820 OPS).

The Dodgers traded Puig to the Reds in December 2018 in a seven-player deal. Puig enjoyed a power surge in Cincinnati with 22 home runs in just 100 games.

With the team out of the playoff picture, the Reds traded him to a contender in Cleveland, where Puig hit two homers, knocked in 27 runners and hit .297.

Puig has also played 58 playoff games, hitting .280 with five home runs (two in the 2017 World Series versus the Houston Astros) and 23 RBI.

Chris Archer is going back to his first Major League Baseball team.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the right-hander and Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million contract pending a physical. Archer pitched for the Rays from 2012 until 2018, when they traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Archer, who missed the 2020 campaign after undergoing surgery for neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, was at his best when he was in Tampa Bay.

He was an All-Star in 2015 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 252 strikeouts in 212 innings and made his second career All-Star Game in 2017 when he finished with a 4.07 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 249 strikeouts in 201 innings.

He also finished with an ERA below 3.40 three straight years from 2013 through 2015 and was one of the best pitchers in a daunting American League East.

The Rays could use production like that again as they look to defend their American League pennant. They traded Blake Snell to the San Diego Padres this offseason, leaving a glaring need for a top-notch starting pitcher in 2021.

It may be too much to ask of Archer for him to perform like he did in his prime considering he missed last season and posted a 5.19 ERA in 2019 for the Pirates, but he is familiar with the organization and is still just 32 years old.

He also won't have the pressure of being the staff ace with Tyler Glasnow on the team. Ironically, Tampa Bay originally acquired Glasnow in the trade that sent Archer to the Pirates.

The New York Mets reportedly added a left-handed arm to their bullpen on Wednesday.

According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, the National League East team reached an agreement with Aaron Loup, pending a physical. Jon Heyman of MLB Network noted it will be a one-year contract.

DiComo noted Loup is "the type of left-handed stalwart" New York still wanted after it missed out on signing Brad Hand, who went to the Washington Nationals.

The report pointed out Jerry Blevins is on a minor league deal and both Daniel Zamora and Stephen Tarpley "possess checkered recent histories," leaving the Mets with a glaring need for left-handed stability in the bullpen if they are going to parlay a busy offseason into a playoff spot in the National League.

Loup has been at the major league level since 2012 and pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays.

His 2020 campaign with Tampa Bay was an important bounce-back effort after he missed significant time in 2019 with an elbow injury. He finished with a 2.52 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 25 innings and helped lead the Rays to the World Series, where they ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

New York was a lackluster 18th in bullpen ERA last season, so someone like Loup with that postseason experience figures to be key to much-needed improvement.

He also doesn't have to be limited as just a left-handed specialist considering he is versatile enough to pitch entire innings with fairly even splits. In 2020, he held left-handed hitters to a .212/.278/.303 slash line with zero home runs and two RBI while holding right-handed hitters to a .192/.246/.423 slash line with three home runs and nine RBI.

Replicating that performance would provide a significant boost for the Mets.

The New York Yankees have added to their bullpen by reportedly agreeing to a deal with Darren O'Day. 

Lindsay Adler of The Athletic first reported O'Day had an agreement in place with the Yankees. MLB Network's Jon Heyman added O'Day is guaranteed $2.5 million in 2021 and there's a mutual option for 2022.

The reported addition of O'Day comes after the Yankees traded Adam Ottavino to the Boston Red Sox on Monday. 

Relief pitching is an area of strength for New York heading into 2021. O'Day is joining a group that already includes closer Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Jonathan Loaisiga. 

Building a deep bullpen can help ease some of the burden on a starting rotation that seems to lack depth right now. Gerrit Cole is locked in as the Yankees' ace, but there are questions about who will follow him.

Corey Kluber is hoping for a rebound year in 2021 after throwing one inning last year with the Texas Rangers because of a shoulder injury. Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton are still free agents. J.A. Happ left the Yankees to sign with the Minnesota Twins. Jordan Montgomery and Deivi Garcia combined to allow 44 earned runs in 78.1 innings last season. 

O'Day has been a steady reliever since making his big league debut in 2008 with the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander owns a 2.51 ERA in 604 career appearances for five different teams. He posted a 1.25 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 21.2 innings over the past two seasons with the Atlanta Braves. 

Justin Turner has narrowed down his free agency to four teams, and the Milwaukee Brewers are reportedly one of the teams on the list. 

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported that the Brewers were in contention to land the infielder, a day after he said the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers were among the finalists.

The fourth team in the chase has not been named.

Turner hit .307/.400/.460 through 42 games for the Dodgers last season.

The Dodgers are confident in their pursuit of the star, who has played with the defending World Series champions since 2014. Per Heyman, the Dodgers "remain optimistic" that they will be able to ink a new deal with the 36-year-old.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays, who already made a big free agency move by signing George Springer to a six-year, franchise-record deal, could work Turner's veteran leadership into a young infield that includes Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

A Brewers squad that finished 29-31 and fell to the Dodgers in the NL Wild Card would benefit from the addition of Turner.

Eric Sogard, who appeared in 30 games at the hot corner last season, is a free agent, while Luis Urias, who split time there since joining the Brewers from the San Diego Padres last season, struggled offensively. The 23-year-old hit .239/.308/.294 last season, so Turner's power and experience would be an upgrade.

In terms of what it will take, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reported Turner is looking for a four-year deal in what he knows may be his "final" contract, per Heyman, so any team hoping to make use of service should be prepared to shell out. 

While there's nothing close to an agreement between the two sides and other teams are involved, the New York Mets "continue to be engaged" on free agent starter Trevor Bauer, according to Andy Martino of SNY. 

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week that the Mets were concerned that signing the star, who has been accused of bullying on social media, would "renew questions about the team's culture" following the public disclosure of sexual harassment by former general manager Jared Porter.

According to Martino, the Mets originally planned to forego the chase for the defending Cy Young award winner in an effort to stay under the league's $210 million luxury tax threshold, but it now appears they'd be willing to swap in that course of action. 

On Friday, New York Daily News reporter Kate Feldman went public about harassment she faced after Bauer fought with her on Twitter in August. Bauer has also been called out for his behavior in the past. In 2019, a Texas State University student said she felt harassed by tweets directed toward her from Bauer. 

Bauer released a statement on Friday, claiming that he was "by no means a bully." 

Rosenthal reported Friday that the Mets were "more focused" on adding Bauer to the roster following outfielder George Springer's decision to sign a six-year, $150 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. According to Rosenthal, the decision ultimately came down to money, and the Mets were unwilling to move beyond $120 million.

That could present an interesting dilemma as they try to land Bauer, who is looking to earn $35 million annually, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. Further, the Mets are at $166.9 million for the 2021 season, and Spotrac suggests Bauer is due a four-year, $117.1 million contract. 

Last season, Bauer posted a 1.73 ERA and fanned 100 batters with 17 walks through 73 innings, giving up 14 earned runs and nine home runs. He would be a worthy addition to a Mets club that has been ordered to build like "a major-market team" by new owner Steve Cohen.