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Astros Re-Sign Michael Brantley

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JAN 25: The Astros have announced the deal, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).

JAN 21: The Astros have reached a two-year, $32MM agreement with free-agent outfielder Michael Brantley, Mark Berman of Fox 26 reports. Brantley is a client of Excel Sports Management. It’s a done deal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.

That Brantley is returning to Houston is stunning, as just hours ago it appeared he would join friend and former Astros outfielder George Springer in Toronto. However, in the wake of reports suggesting Brantley would head north, a Toronto official shot down the notion that the club had a deal with him. The Blue Jays did indeed have interest in the 33-year-old Brantley, but they couldn’t close the deal for reasons that aren’t yet known. As a result, it appears Brantley will spend a third consecutive season with the Astros.

This is the second straight two-year, $32MM contract Brantley, formerly with Cleveland, has inked with Houston. The previous deal worked out for both sides, as Brantley earned his fourth All-Star nod in 2019 and has combined for a stellar .309/.370/.497 line with 27 home runs over 824 plate appearances during his run with the Astros. Thanks to his continued success, MLBTR ranked Brantley as the game’s 13th-best free agent at the beginning of the offseason and predicted he would land a two-year, $28MM pact.

With Brantley staying in Houston, the team has addressed a key need in its outfield, where it opened the offseason with major questions. The Astros were at risk of losing all of Brantley, Springer and Josh Reddick on the open market (Reddick is still a free agent). Now, though, they have two corner spots spoken for with Brantley and Kyle Tucker. It’s not yet clear who will replace Springer in center, and it’s certainly worth noting that Brantley may not be an optimal solution as an everyday outfielder anymore. Brantley has dealt with serious injuries in the past, and he missed time last year with a quad issue. When healthy, Brantley appeared in left field in just 19 of 46 games, spending the rest of his season at designated hitter. That spot won’t be available to Brantley on a regular basis in 2021 if offensive standout Yordan Alvarez returns to health after undergoing surgeries on both knees last August.

Losing out on Brantley may be a significant disappointment for the Blue Jays, but they’re not devoid of talent in the outfield and at DH. Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk give the team a strong outfield quartet on paper, though adding Brantley obviously would have made the Jays even more formidable after they earned a playoff berth in 2020.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Sign Jason Castro

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TODAY: The contract breaks down as a $2MM signing bonus, then $2.5MM salaries in both 2021 and 2022, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter link).  For every 10 games played as a catcher next season, Castro will add another $250K to his 2022 salary.

JAN. 22: The Astros have announced the signing.

JAN. 21, 8:42am: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the contract will guarantee Castro a total of $7MM. Castro can earn up to an additional $2MM based on time spent behind the plate in 2021, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

8:25am: Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports that Castro’s contract is actually a two-year deal.

8:01am: The Astros have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent backstop Jason Castro, Ken Rosenthal and Jake Kaplan of The Athletic report (via Twitter). The ISE Baseball client’s contract is pending a physical.

Jason Castro | Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The two sides were originally reported to be in talks late in December, but those negotiations slowed as Castro continued to survey the market. Along the way, the Cubs and the Tigers (managed by Castro’s former skipper, A.J. Hinch) emerged as potential alternatives. Now, however, a physical is all that stands in the way between Castro and a return to the organization that originally selected him with the No. 10 overall draft pick out of Stanford back in 2008.

Castro, 33, has been away from the Astros for four seasons — most of that time spent with the Twins organization. Minnesota signed Castro to a three-year, $24.5MM contract after the 2017 season due largely to his superlative pitch-framing skills and his knack for drawing walks at the plate. He had a solid 2017 season as the Twins’ primary backstop but missed nearly all of the 2018 campaign due to meniscus surgery. He returned in 2019 to have another productive year while splitting time evenly with breakout catcher Mitch Garver.

That strong showing from Garver in ’19 likely convinced the Twins they could move on, and Castro landed in Anaheim on a one-year deal with the Angels. He struggled at the plate in a tiny sample of 92 plate appearances between the Angels and the Padres, who acquired him prior to the Aug. 31 trade deadline this past summer.

All in all, Castro has batted .224/.322/.389 in 848 plate appearances since leaving the Astros — numbers that fall roughly in line with his career .230/.312/.390 batting line. He’s unlikely to ever hit for a high average due to his strikeout tendencies, but Castro has a career 10.1 percent walk rate (11.7 percent over the past four years) and has a bit of pop in his bat (.164 ISO, 26 homers, 43 doubles from 2017-20).

Defensive aptitude has been the driving factor behind Castro’s value in the market, though he’s been closer to average with the glove as he’s moved into his mid-30s and had to deal with the effects of that 2018 knee surgery. Castro has been just about average in terms of throwing out base thieves in the four years since leaving Houston, but his framing numbers have dropped off a bit, more recently, he’s struggled with regard to blocking pitches in the dirt. Of course, it’s also possible that as he further distances himself from that knee operation, he’ll regain some of his prior form.

In his return to Houston, Castro figures to pair with the right-handed-hitting Martin Maldonado behind the dish, giving manager Dusty Baker the opportunity to play matchups with a pair of solid defenders. Kaplan tweets that a straight platoon isn’t likely — Maldonado will start more often — although at least from an offensive standpoint, such an idea wouldn’t be a bad one. Castro is a career .195/.262/.291 hitter against lefties but a much-improved .242/.328/.421 hitter against righties. Maldonado, meanwhile, carries a 33-point gap in his OPS against lefties over righties (and a nine-point gap in his wRC+). He’s just a .213/.288/.353 career hitter against righties.

Houston may not generate huge offensive output from its pair of backstops. That’s true of most clubs throughout the league, however, and most pairings don’t have the sound defensive track records that both Castro and Maldonado possess. Besides — catchers, on the whole, have been about 10 to 15 percent worse than a league-average hitter over the past four years, so the ’Stros can certainly live with the level of offense provided by Castro and Maldonado if both play defense at their typically steady levels.

Reds Acquire Cionel Perez From Astros

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The Reds have acquired left-hander Cionel Perez in a trade with the Astros, as officially announced on the Reds’ Twitter feed.  Houston will pick up minor league catcher Luke Berryhill in their end of the swap.

The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for the Astros, so the Michael Brantley signing could be officially announced at any moment.  For the second time in two days, the Reds picked up a reliever from a team looking to clear a 40-man spot, after Cincinnati acquired Hector Perez from the Blue Jays so Toronto could accommodate George Springer (whose deal is now official) on the roster.

Perez, 24, has pitched in each of the last three seasons, amassing a 5.74 ERA, 23.1K% and 10.3K-BB% over 26 2/3 career innings as a big leaguer.  Armed with a mid-90s fastball, Perez misses his fair share of bats but control has been an issue — particularly in 2020, when he issued six walks in just 6 1/3 innings of work.  He was a fairly high-profile international signing out of Cuba back in December 2016, but didn’t get much of a consistent look in Houston, as the Astros frequently shuttled Perez back and forth between their active roster and Triple-A (or to the alternate training site, in 2020).

While a small sample size, Perez has been significantly better against left-handed batters (.630 OPS in 39 PA) over his MLB career than against righty swingers (.825 OPS in 78 PA).  The three-batter rule will prevent the Reds from utilizing him as a true lefty specialist, but he does provide some southpaw depth for a Cincinnati team that is heavy in right-handed pitching.  Amir Garrett is the only other left-handed reliever on the Reds’ 40-man roster, so opportunity exists for Perez to win a job in Spring Training.

The Reds selected Berryhill in the 13th round of the 2019 draft.  A product of the University of South Carolina, Berryhill’s professional career thus far consists of only 32 Rookie League plate appearances in 2019, as the minor league shutdown last season kept Berryhill off the field.

AL News & Rumors: G. Richards, BoSox, Twins, Cruz, Angels, Astros

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The Red Sox and free-agent right-hander Garrett Richards “are in active discussions,” Jon Morosi of MLB.com writes. However, there has been more than one team talking with Richards as of Friday, Morosi adds. The starter-needy Red Sox were rumored to be pursuing Richards as of a week ago. Richards was once at the front end of the Angels’ rotation, but a series of injuries limited him from 2016-19. The 32-year-old stayed healthy and produced decent results with the Padres last season, though, throwing 51 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA/4.55 SIERA ball and averaging 95 mph on his fastball. [UPDATE: Talks between the Red Sox and Richards “are active and evolving,” according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.]

  • The Twins have increased the value of their one-year offer to free-agent designated hitter Nelson Cruz, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets, though Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News reports that actually happened earlier in the offseason. Cruz was looking for a two-year contract at the beginning of the winter, but even for someone who’s as dominant as he is at the plate, that could be difficult to obtain for a 40-year-old. Of course, with no official announcement on whether the universal DH will remain in place in 2021, Cruz probably isn’t in a hurry to sign anywhere.
  • The Angels are “very active” in their pursuit of starting pitching, general manager Perry Minasian told Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and other reporters Friday. While Minasian did sign veteran left-hander Jose Quintana to a one-year, $8MM contract this week, adding him to a group led by Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning and perhaps Shohei Ohtani, there still appears to be room for improvement. In light of Minasian’s comment, it’s worth noting that the Angels reportedly remain in the mix for two of the best starters on the market in Trevor Bauer and Jake Odorizzi.
  • Speaking with reporters Friday, Astros GM James Click suggested the team doesn’t expect to be that aggressive for the rest of the offseason, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweets. The Astros agreed to re-sign outfielder Michael Brantley and reunited with catcher Jason Castro this week, but their roster took a hit with the loss of outfielder George Springer to the Blue Jays. Otherwise, the bullpen has come up as a potential area of the need for the team (it did address it by signing Ryne Stanek and Pedro Baez in free agency), but the Astros don’t necessarily feel a sense of urgency to address it further. It’s possible they will enter 2021 without someone who has extensive experience as a closer, per Click (via McTaggart).

Astros Designate Humberto Castellanos

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The Astros have designated right-hander Humberto Castellanos for assignment, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. The move cleared space for just-signed catcher Jason Castro.

Castellanos joined the Astros as a July 2 signing from Mexico in 2015. He debuted in rookie ball the next year and eventually climbed up the minor league ladder to the majors. Castellanos has pitched to an impressive 2.92 ERA in 216 minor league innings, also adding 205 strikeouts against just 46 walks.

Unfortunately for Castellanos, the 22-year-old’s initial taste of MLB action last season didn’t go well. He yielded eight earned runs on 12 hits (including two homers) and five walks in 10 2/3 innings, though he did post 12 strikeouts.

George Springer Notes: Astros, Mets, Braves

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Outfielder George Springer, arguably the premier position player on this winter’s open market, came off the free-agent board when he agreed to a six-year, $150MM contract with the Blue Jays earlier this week. Unsurprisingly, though, other teams made a serious push to sign the three-time All-Star. The Astros were not one of those clubs, however, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle suggests they made no real attempt to re-sign Springer after he turned down their $18.9MM qualifying offer.

The Mets, who were considered one of the front-runners to ink Springer during his stay on the market, offered a six-year deal worth $120MM to $125MM, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Springer would have made for yet another significant addition under new owner Steve Cohen, who has already overseen the acquisitions of Francisco Lindor, James McCann, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor May in the past couple months.

Whether the Mets will continue shopping for a starting-caliber outfielder after falling short in the Springer derby remains to be seen, as they already have Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith as their top three right now. But Marcell Ozuna, who received interest from the Mets earlier this winter, remains available in free agency. The Mets have also discussed third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant with the Cubs, while Jackie Bradley Jr. leads the remaining class of free-agent center fielders in the wake of the Springer deal.

One of the Mets’ NL East rivals – Atlanta – also vied for Springer, who would have replaced Ozuna in its outfield. The Braves were “in on Springer until the end,” David O’Brien of The Athletic writes. Ultimately, though, the Braves were unwilling to go to the lengths the Jays did to sign Springer. Indeed, it would have been out of the norm for general manager Alex Anthopoulos to make that type of commitment to a free agent, even though the Braves could use another established star in their outfield to team with Ronald Acuna Jr.

AL Notes: Correa, Tigers, Red Sox

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The Astros suffered a major loss in free agency this week with the departure of outfielder George Springer, who agreed to sign with the Blue Jays. Next winter, they could see shortstop Carlos Correa follow Springer in exiting on the open market, though the 26-year-old told Astroline Radio (h/t: Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle) that he prefers to stick with the franchise for the long haul. “I love this organization. I love the Astros. I would love to be an Astro for life,” the one-time All-Star and former AL Rookie of the Year said. “I hope they’re on the same side I am. If they’re on the same side, I would love to be an Astro for the rest of my life.” For now, Correa and the Astros are gearing up for an arbitration hearing (he filed for a $12.5MM salary; they filed for $9.75MM), but he understands “it’s a business and you have to leave your feelings out of it.”

  • The Tigers have shown interest in free-agent utilityman Marwin Gonzalez, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Signing with Detroit would reunite Gonzalez with new manager A.J. Hinch, who was the Astros’ skipper during part of Gonzalez’s time in Houston. Gonzalez had his best year in 2017 under Hinch, which was also a World Series-winning campaign for the Astros. The success Gonzalez had as an Astro led the Twins to sign him to a two-year, $21MM contract going into 2019, but the club didn’t get great value from that investment. The switch-hitting 31-year-old batted an underwhelming .248/.311/.387 in 662 plate appearances with Minnesota, though he did continue to provide defensive versatility. He saw at least some action at first, second, third, short and both outfield positions as a Twin.
  • Along with Gonzalez, the Tigers are interested in first baseman Mitch Moreland, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Moreland has been on the market since the Padres declined his $3MM option at the start of the offseason. The 35-year-old divided last season between San Diego and Boston, with which he combined for a strong .265/.342/.551 line and 10 home runs in 152 plate appearances. Moreland’s production did plummet as the year progressed, though.
  • The Red Sox continue to have interest in utility player Enrique Hernandez, as Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports that the two sides have held talks “in recent days.” However, Cotillo adds that it’s unknown if the Red Sox and Hernandez are nearing an agreement. In Boston, the former Dodger would be a candidate to rack up plenty of reps at second base, where he has played frequently. The Sox currently have Christian Arroyo, Michael Chavis and Yairo Munoz as in-house candidates to handle the keystone.

Pitching Rumors: Hand, Jeffress, Anibal, Teheran

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The Dodgers have been linked to free-agent lefty Brad Hand over the past week or so, but they’re more on the “periphery” of his market, writes Fansided’s Robert Murray. The Mets are still in talks with Hand and his representatives, while both the Astros and Blue Jays are also involved to varying extents. Reports that Hand was closing in on a deal with the Mets last week proved a bit premature, although it seems they’re still squarely in the mix for the former All-Star closer. As for the Dodgers, even if they’re not major players in the Hand market at the moment, Murray suggests they’d still like to add another reliever to the bullpen.

A few more notes on the free agent pitching market as it starts to percolate…

  • MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Jeremy Jeffress is on the radar of several clubs, including the Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Nationals and Blue Jays. It’s a wide field, though the level of interest of each team surely varies. The 33-year-old Jeffress was dominant back in 2018 but hasn’t replicated that form since. He did post an aesthetically pleasing 1.54 ERA and 54.4 percent grounder rate in 23 1/3 innings with the Cubs last year, but the rest of his numbers were something of a mess. Jeffress’ 13.6 percent walk rate was his worst since establishing himself as a consistent presence in MLB bullpens, while his 19.3 percent strikeout rate was 10 percent lower than his 29.8 percent clip from that brilliant 2018 campaign. Last year also saw Jeffress post career-worsts in average fastball velocity (93.3 mph), average exit velocity (89.9 mph) and hard-hit rate (45.6 percent). If Jeffress can rediscover his ’18 form, he’d be a premium late-inning option, but last year’s ERA was propped up by a .161 average on balls in play that is miles south of his career .308 mark.
  • Anibal Sanchez and Julio Teheran will be throwing in front of scouts during a showcase today, and several teams will have personnel on hand.  The list of confirmed attendees includes the Rays (as per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times), Twins (SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson), Marlins (MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola), and Mets (the New York Post’s Mike Puma).

Quick Hits: Blue Jays, Brantley, Cardinals, Hicks, Astros

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The Blue Jays continue to have interest in Michael Brantley, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Toronto’s top free agent outfield target remains George Springer, and Rosenthal floats the possibility of the Jays signing both players. Springer and Brantley have spent the past two seasons as teammates with the Astros, and Brantley is plenty familiar with Jays’ president/CEO Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins from their time in Cleveland. Signing both Springer and Brantley would make for a bit of an awkward fit on-paper, since Toronto already has a glut of corner outfield/designated hitter options. Nevertheless, doing so could free the Jays up to trade one of their young, in-house outfielders for rotation help, Rosenthal feels.

Some more from around the sport:

  • Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks is “ready to go” for next season, bullpen coach Bryan Eversgerd tells reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com). That’s welcome news after a setback in Hicks’ recovery from Tommy John surgery contributed to his choice to opt out of the 2020 season. The 24-year-old suffers from Type 1 diabetes, which no doubt also played a role in that decision. In 106.2 career innings between 2018-19, the fireballer has pitched to a 3.47 ERA behind an elite 62.3% groundball rate.
  • The Astros have signed Ryne Stanek and Pedro Báez this winter. Even still, they’d like to continue to add to their bullpen, ideally by acquiring a traditional closer, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “It’s something that I think all of us would like to have, and it can certainly make you feel better about your bullpen than if you don’t have someone who maybe has done it in the past,” general manager James Click said of a set ninth inning option. “However, there are always guys who step up into that role every year. There are new closers every year, and our young talent on this roster did an impressive job last season in stepping up in some roles that, if we’re being honest, I don’t think that we thought that they might have been ready for, and our hand was forced because of a lot of different reasons.” As Click alluded to, Houston’s bullpen was decimated by injuries in 2020 and ranked just 24th league-wide with a 4.55 SIERA. One potential option is Brad Hand, with whom the club remains in contact, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com.

Quick Hits: Martín Pérez, Coliseum

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There was some heavy lifting done in the baseball world yesterday: it was arbitration filing day, as well as the opening of the international signing period. Today is a recovery day. Here’s the latest…

  • Before agreeing to terms with the Red Sox, southpaw Martín Pérez had no shortage of suitors. The Astros, Padres, Royals, White Sox, and Rays all showed interest in Pérez, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). The Padres and White Sox have generally set their sights a touch higher than Pérez, but there’s clearly some trust around the league in Perez’s ability to contribute to a playoff-caliber pitching staff.
  • The Oakland A’s have long faced questions about their ability to stay in Oakland because of stadium concerns. The Coliseum sits on land with split ownership between the A’s and the city of Oakland. The organization continues to look for a site to build a new stadium, but the city of Oakland has also received a number of offers for their portion of the Coliseum land. One of those offers comes from former Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart, per Susan Slusser and Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Stewart, an Oakland native, submitted a $115MM bid with plans to revitalize the area, whether or not the A’s continue to play there. The city of Oakland is reviewing all offers.
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