We are only a month away from spring training, baseball fans. Here is each team’s spring training reporting date. Now here are Tuesday’s hot stove rumors as you await baseball’s return in a few weeks. Â
Marlins considering Chapman
The Marlins are among the teams considering free agent lefty Aroldis Chapman, according to the New York Post. Chapman, who lives in South Florida, struggled with the Yankees last season and lost the closer’s job. He went AWOL after the regular season after being told he was unlikely to make the postseason roster. Chapman went home and did not return to the team in October.
Now 34, Chapman no longer has a triple-digit fastball — his heater averaged a career-low 97.5 mph in 2022 — though he still strikes out more than a batter an inning. He is a major liability with men on base, however. Runners are 28 for 35 (80 percent) stealing bases against him the last six years, and Chapman walked one of every three batters he faced with men on base in 2022. That is untenable. Not surprisingly, Chapman has not exactly been a hot commodity this winter.
Red Sox have Duvall, Harrison on the radar
Outfielder Adam Duvall and utility man Josh Harrison are on Boston’s radar, report the New York Post and MassLive.com. The Red Sox were connected to Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar over the weekend. FanGraphs estimates their 2023 competitive balance tax payroll at $209.5 million, well under the $233 million threshold. Money should be no issue.
The Red Sox must replaced the Xander Bogaerts (left as a free agent) and Trevor Story (elbow surgery), and can do that by adding a shortstop, or adding an outfielder and moving Enrique Hernández to shortstop. Either way, Boston has a major problem to solve on the middle infield, and the best free agents are all off the board already. The pickings are slim.
Marlins talking to Gurriel
The Marlins are talking to free agent first baseman Yuli Gurriel, according to the Miami Herald. Miami has Garrett Cooper, a 2022 All-Star, slated to play first base, though Cooper has some outfield experience, plus the DH spot is available as well. Gurriel had the worst season of his MLB career last year and, at age 38, it’s possible his days as an above-average hitter are over. That said, the Marlins have had trouble luring free agent hitters. Gurriel may be the best they can get at this point in the offseason.