UPDATE: The Mets and Bastardo have agreed to a contract, according to Jon Heyman. It's a two-year, $12 million deal, according to Robert Murray of Baseball Essential.
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The MLB offseason has seen a number of established and talented free agents come and go, but there are a few still available. Left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo is one of them, and rumors suggest his market is coming into focus.
Robert Murray of Baseball Essential is reporting the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are interested in Bastardo. Previous rumors suggested the left-hander was seeking a deal in the three-year, $18 million range, as ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported back in mid-December.
New York and Baltimore were at the forefront of the Bastardo discussion earlier in the offseason, but talks seemingly didn't go too far as both clubs perhaps had a lot more to worry about in terms of in-house decisions. Additionally, neither club is awfully keen on giving that big of a contract to a reliever. The Mets prefer a shorter deal and the O's probably don't want to invest heavily again in their bullpen after giving Darren O'Day $31 million.
However, most MLB clubs have settled the salaries with their arbitration-eligible players and it's getting later in the offseason. Those who must adhere to tough payroll restrictions now have a better idea what that number will look like on Opening Day, which perhaps suggests why the interest in Bastardo has intensified.
The O's, Mets and Blue Jays are among teams the that must keep the payroll in mind.
Bastardo, 30, is entering his eighth MLB season. In seven years with the Philadelphia Phillies (six) and Pittsburgh Pirates (one), the veteran owns a 24-19 record with a 3.58 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 388 strikeouts in 341 games (316-1/3 innings). He enjoyed a nice contract year in 2015 after going 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 64 strikeouts in 66 games (57-1/3 innings) in the competitive NL Central with Pittsburgh.
We wrote earlier today how the Dodgers were looking to upgrade their bullpen perhaps with a trade, but they can instead quickly yank Bastardo off the market by out-bidding all of the aforementioned teams that don't quite have that type of spending power.
Bastardo is the best reliever remaining in free agency and it shouldn't be long before a team gives him the multi-year deal he's looking for.
