The hot stove has been pretty quiet as of late (partially due to the holidays) and there are still some pretty good players available on the market. One of them is former Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino and there was an update on Saturday about him.
According to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, the Colorado Rockies may still be in on the Adam Ottavino sweepstakes this offseason.
Earlier on Saturday, Saunders tweeted that the Rockies are “not in the mix” for Ottavino.
Otto in native NY makes a lot of sense. #Rockies not in the mix. https://t.co/5DJLTNXDXB
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) January 5, 2019
However, a few hours later, he clarified that there’s “nothing imminent at this time” between Ottavino and the Rockies.
I should clarify my earlier tweet regarding #Rockies and Adam Ottavino when I said Rox weren't "in the mix." The RHP and Rox have talked this offseason, but that was a quiet a while ago and there is nothing imminent at this time.
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) January 5, 2019
As you see above, Saunders says that the Rockies and Ottavino talked a while ago but with the “nothing imminent” comment, to me, it seems as if the Rockies are still in the hunt for Ottavino.
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If Ottavino wants to return to the Rockies, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to give the Rockies a chance to match (or come close to, if he’s willing to give them a “hometown discount”) an offer that he receives from another team.
He could receive that “hometown discount” from the Yankees, though, as the Yankees have been linked to him multiple times before and Ottavino is from New York City and graduated from high school in Brooklyn. However, they just signed Zach Britton to a three-year deal last night (you can read about all the details here).
Jon Heyman of FanCred also reports that the Rangers are considering Ottavino but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News confirmed on Twitter that the Rangers have checked in on Ottavino but they aren’t “aggressively pursuing” him.
Can confirm Rangers have checked in on these guys, but not getting a sense they are aggressively pursuing. https://t.co/aFXKFsLUpL
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) January 6, 2019
If Ottavino fails to sign with anybody into February, the Rockies could even look to restart conversations with him and perhaps, offer him a “pillow contract”, which would be a one-year deal so that he could enter the market again next year and try it out then.
That may even be something that they do in February if Ottavino is still on the market then.
In all likelihood, though, he will be signed this month because even though the “hot stove” may be cold right now, it can heat up very quickly.