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Rays Sign Chris Archer

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Feb. 9: Archer has passed his physical, and the deal is official, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. A formal announcement and a (re)introductory Zoom call will both come later today. The team won’t need to make an additional 40-man move to create roster space after trading Aaron Slegers to the Angels last night.

Feb. 2: Free-agent right-hander Chris Archer is returning to the Rays, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. It’s a one-year, $6.5MM contract, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal is pending a physical. Archer is a client of VC Sports Group.

A 2006 fifth-round pick who opened his career with the Indians and Cubs organizations, Archer first joined the Rays in a significant trade with Chicago in January 2011. Archer was a highly regarded prospect at the time who wound up matching the hype in Tampa Bay, where he debuted in 2012 and was an eminently valuable member of its rotation for several years. Through 2018, the last year of his initial run with the franchise, Archer posted a 3.69 ERA/3.52 SIERA with a 25.8 percent strikeout rate and a 7.7 percent walk rate in 1,063 innings and 177 starts.

Despite the success Archer enjoyed as a Ray, the club decided to move on from him when his team control was dwindling before the 2018 trade deadline. That proved to be another brilliant trade by the Rays, who received two righties – Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz – as well as outfielder Austin Meadows from the Pirates in exchange for Archer. Glasnow and Meadows have since turned into major league building blocks for the Rays, while FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Baz as their seventh-best prospect in a deep farm system last month.

The Archer trade was a disaster for Pittsburgh, meanwhile, as it lost three quality pieces for a player who disappointed in its uniform. The Pirates encouraged Archer to lean on his sinker, which did not work, as Steve Adams of MLBTR noted last offseason. Archer’s production dipped in the wake of the trade and got fell even more in 2019, when he registered career worsts in ERA (5.19), SIERA (4.38) and home run-to-fly ball percentage (20.2) in 119 2/3 innings. The hope was that Archer would bounce back last year, but he instead missed the season after undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in June. The Pirates then declined his $11MM club option for 2021 in favor of a $250K buyout.

Considering Archer’s recent performance and the severity of his procedure, the Rays are taking a big risk that he will return to being a viable starter. But it does look like a coup for the reigning American League champions that they’ve now reunited with the player they received such a massive return for just a couple of years ago. If healthy, the 32-year-old Archer may be able to help replace Blake Snell and Charlie Morton, whom the Rays’ rotation has lost since last season ended. He’s the second reclamation project the Rays’ starting staff has taken on in free agency, joining $3MM signing Michael Wacha.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Angels Acquire Aaron Slegers, Designate Dillon Peters

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The Angels have acquired right-hander Aaron Slegers from the Rays for a player to be named later or cash considerations, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Halos also designated lefty Dillon Peters for assignment, per Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times.

Slegers, a fifth-round pick of the Twins in 2013, was traded to Tampa Bay before 2019 and then had his most experience at the big league level last season. While Slegers combined for 32 innings in the majors from 2017-19, that barely outpaced the 26 frames he amassed in 2020. In all, the soft-tossing, 6-foot-10 Slegers has put up a 4.66 ERA over 58 major league frames.

Peters, who – like Slegers – is 28 years old, was with the Marlins and Angels from 2018-20. He recorded a 5.83 ERA/5.22 SIERA then with a 16.7 percent strikeout rate and a 9.9 percent walk rate in 132 2/3 innings between the clubs

Rays Sign Hunter Strickland To Minor League Contract

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The Rays recently signed right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, per Danny Russell of DRaysBay (h/t: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times).

Strickland has already appeared in the majors with four teams – the Giants, Mariners, Nationals and Mets – since his 2014 debut. He was a tremendous part of the Giants’ bullpen from 2014-17, during which he combined for 180 2/3 innings of 2.64 ERA/3.58 SIERA pitching, posted a 23.7 percent strikeout rate against a 7.9 percent walk rate, and averaged 96.5 mph on his fastball.

While Strickland looked like a high-end reliever earlier in his career, he was not nearly as effective in the previous three seasons. His fastball velocity has largely remained intact, but offenses tattooed him in 2019, when he put together career worsts in ERA (5.55) and strikeout percentage (17.1) over 24 1/3 innings between the Mariners and Nationals. The 32-year-old inked a minors deal with the Mets before last season, but he threw just 3 1/3 frames and couldn’t consistently stay on their roster during the campaign.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Infield, Rays, Ozuna, Braves, Freeman

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Isiah Kiner-Falefa was so impressive in his Gold Glove winning season at the hot corner that the Rangers plan on bumping him further up the defensive hierarchy in 2021. He’ll be their starting shortstop, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, which means an open competition to fill his spot at third. Oddly enough, Elvis Andrus seemed to have the inside track on the job before being traded to the Texas Rangers today. Instead, his long-time double play partner Rougned Odor may be an option, or they could see a replacement from outside the organization. The Rangers prefer that youngsters like Josh Jung and Sherten Apostel spend more time in the minors, Landry notes.

  • Marcell Ozuna and Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos were all laughs today as they spoke to reporters, including the Athletic’s David O’Brien, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, and Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Though the two sides certainly took their time to come together on a new contract, the deal itself was actually finished over the course of a single day. The Rays had made an offer to Ozuna, but after one season in Atlanta – a year Ozuna described as the best year of his career – the slugging outfielder told his representation at CAA Sports that he wanted to hear from the Braves. The takeaway here is that clarity, communication, and a little pressure exerted from the outside go a long way to helping two sides come together.
  • The jolly atmosphere included a playful reference to the future negotiation of Freddie Freeman’s extension, tweets Janes. Anthopoulos certainly didn’t seem all that worried about potentially losing their franchise first baseman, who is a free agent after the 2021 season. For his part, Freeman doesn’t seem particularly likely to test his options elsewhere. The 31-year-old was handed the keys to the franchise from the legendary Chipper Jones, and there’s little reason to doubt his plans to stay behind the wheel in Atlanta. Coming off an MVP season and three consecutive NL East division titles, the partnership clearly works. As with Ozuna, the Braves and Freeman could be as much as a conversation away from keeping the California native on the East Coast, a sentiment the Athletic’s David O’Brien has shared for some time.

Arbitration Hearing Decisions: J.D. Davis, Choi, Santander

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This year’s round of (virtual) arbitration hearings kicked off earlier this week. While a perhaps surprising number of players agreed to one-year deals to avoid arbitration last month rather than risk a hearing, we’ll still have a handful of cases heard by a three-person panel of arbitrators over the next couple of weeks. Some results from the first wave of hearings…

  • Mets third baseman/outfielder J.D. Davis lost his arbitration hearing and will earn $2.1MM in 2021 rather than the $2.475MM at which he filed, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has proven to be a good find for the now-former front office regime, hitting .288/.370/.483 with 28 homers and 31 doubles through 682 plate appearances since debuting with the Mets. Davis figures to see action at third base and perhaps in left field again in 2021, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration three more times due to his status as a Super Two player.
  • Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi won an arbitration hearing against the club and will be paid $2.45MM in 2021, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). The team had filed for a $1.85MM salary. Choi, 29, has spent the past three seasons with the Rays, batting a combined .257/.359/.461 with 30 homers, 45 doubles and three triples in 821 trips to the plate. He slashed .230/.331/.410 in 42 games last year and is controllable through 2023. Choi was one of two outstanding arbitration cases for the Rays — the other being left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, whose trial has not yet taken place.
  • The Orioles won their arbitration hearing over outfielder Anthony Santander, tweets Feinsand. Santander, like Davis, filed at $2.475MM with his club countering at $2.1MM. He’ll earn the lesser of those two sums. The 26-year-old is a former Rule 5 pick who had a solid showing in 2019 before breaking out with a huge performance in 2020. This past season, Santander batted .261/.315/.575 with 11 homers and 13 doubles in just 165 plate appearances. On the whole, he’s given the O’s a .261/.302/.505 slash with 31 homers and 33 doubles in his past 570 plate appearances. There are some obvious OBP question marks, but the power has prompted teams to look at Santander as a possible trade option. He’s also a Super Two player and is controlled through 2024.

Marcell Ozuna’s Market “Moving Forward”

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The market for free-agent slugger Marcell Ozuna is “moving forward,” reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid, and the Rays are among the final few teams involved in the mix. A deal is not yet imminent, per the report. Tampa Bay is something of a surprise entrant, though MLB Network’s Jon Heyman recently indicated interest on the Rays’ behalf.

At the time, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted that Ozuna would only land with the Rays in the event of a “major shift” in his contract goals, suggesting they’d likely only be serious players on a one-year deal. Mish, however, writes that Ozuna’s eventual deal is expected to be for either three or four years. Additional reports out of the Dominican in recent days connected Ozuna to the Rays enough that he took to Instagram to stress that he does not have any sort of agreement with Tampa Bay.

As for the incumbent Braves, a reunion is still possible, Mish adds. Earlier this morning, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeted that Atlanta “continues to be the favorite” to sign Ozuna. The Braves, of course, received elite production at the plate from Ozuna in the shortened 2020 season, but their interest in him — as is the case with many NL clubs — has been somewhat tempered due to the lack of agreement on the return of the designated hitter in the National League.

One fringe suitor likely disappeared when the Twins agreed to a new deal with Nelson Cruz earlier this week. Technically speaking, Minnesota still has room to add Ozuna and play him in left field, but that seems decidedly unlikley. Cruz always appeared to be the Twins’ top target, but reports in the past couple of weeks indicated that after a months-long stalemate, they’d at least considered pivoting to Ozuna.

It at least worth an anecdotal mention that one of Ozuna’s former clubs, the Cardinals, has a suddenly less-crowded outfield picture after trading Dexter Fowler to the Angels last night. There’s been no indication the Cards would make a serious run at Ozuna — they’re reported to be more in the market for rotation help — but a considerable shift in the outfield mix for a suddenly motivated buyer who knows Ozuna well has already led to some speculation among fans.

Three Teams Pursuing Rich Hill

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There are at least three teams making serious pushes to land southpaw Rich Hill, according to a report from WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. The Rays, Brewers, and Mets are each in pursuit of the veteran hurler.

Hill is closing in on his 41st birthday, but still spun 38 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball last year over eight starts with the Twins. There’s little question he’s deserving of an important role on a big league pitching staff, even if it’s unreasonable to expect he’ll turn in a full starter’s workload over the entirety of a 162-game season.

While the results were excellent, Hill did show some worrying signs in Minnesota (with the obligatory short-sample alert). He managed only a 31:17 K/BB ratio, far off of the sparkling strikeout and walk numbers he had routinely sported in prior years with the Dodgers. Hill also shed a few ticks off his fastball — not that he has ever been reliant upon overwhelming velocity.

It’s not surprising to see the Rays and Brewers in the hunt for Hill. Both teams have moved away from traditional pitcher usage patterns in recent seasons and would have little trouble scheming up ways to maximize Hill’s unique capabilities. The Mets do not fit in quite the same manner, but could plug the ageless southpaw into the back of their rotation mix and plan to get him regular respite from the typical five-day pitching schedule.

One team is notably absent from the set of reported pursuers: the Red Sox. Bradford notes that the Boston organization has seemingly backed away from its initial interest after making other additions. That’s likely a bit of a disappointment for Hill, who resides in Massachusetts and has made clear that geographical location is one of his chief concerns (along with the ability to compete for a title). For what it’s worth, the Mets are obviously nearby and the Rays play frequently in the northeast.

Free Agent Notes: Mets, Williams, Folty, Arrieta, Twins, Rosenthal

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The Mets have already put a lot of focus on their rotation this winter, between retaining Marcus Stroman via the qualifying offer and adding Carlos Carrasco and Joey Lucchesi in trades.  While Trevor Bauer’s name continues to loom over Citi Field, the Mets are also continuing to explore other hurlers.  According to Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter), New York had interest in right-hander Trevor Williams before Williams signed with the Cubs.  The Mets were also among the teams present to watch Mike Foltynewicz during his recent throwing session, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).

With Steven Matz recently dealt to the Blue Jays, the Mets’ projected starting four looks like Jacob deGrom, Carrasco, Stroman, and David Peterson.  Lucchesi probably has the inside line on the fifth starter job for now, but the Mets aren’t short on other depth options in the upper minors, and Foltynewicz would provide another experienced candidate to either compete for a rotation spot or perhaps fit into the bullpen.  Since Noah Syndergaard is expected to make a midseason return from Tommy John rehab, whomever fills the fifth starter role is ultimately keeping the seat warm for Syndergaard — barring the shake-up of a Bauer signing, that is.

More on some other free agent news…

  • Aside from the Mets, Foltynewicz also drew interest from the Rays, White Sox, and Twins, Heyman writes.  An All-Star with the Braves in 2018, Foltynewicz took a step back in 2019 and then pitched in only one game in 2020, resulting in his opting for free agency after being outrighted during the season.  Given these recent struggles, “Folty” would very likely have to pitch his way into a rotation spot during Spring Training, yet it is easy to see why teams would have interest in the right-hander as a change of scenery candidate.  The White Sox just re-signed Carlos Rodon, though considering Rodon has also had a tough time over the last two seasons, his presence wouldn’t necessarily rule out a potential deal between Foltynewicz and the Sox.
  • The Cubs had interest in Jake Arrieta but a signing is “doubtful,” ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers tweets, since the Cubs want a less-expensive option.  Arrieta’s asking price can’t be all that high considering his middling results over the last two seasons, but perhaps the $2.5MM (with deferred money involved) the Cubs gave Williams is a better example of what the team is willing to spend.
  • Trevor Rosenthal is the top reliever remaining on MLBTR’s list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and since the Twins are known to be looking for bullpen help, could the two sides link up?  The Athletic’s Dan Hayes isn’t very optimistic, as Rosenthal’s asking price looks to be too high for Minnesota’s liking.  The more money the Twins can save on relief pitching, the more they can then devote to a starting pitcher, but Hayes does think “they need relief certainty more than rotation certainty” at this point due to the rotation depth already on hand.

Quick Hits: Indians, Payroll, Patton, Nationals, Catchers

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The Indians did not budget enough money in 2021 to both re-sign Cesar Hernandez and add free agent Eddie Rosario. With those two completing the lineup, the Indians’ roster is more-or-less set with a payroll around $50MM, per Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. Take this for what it is, but the Indians exceeded payroll just to get there. Owner Paul Dolan made an extra concession to allow the addition of Rosario. To their credit, he represents a somewhat major addition given their inability to field above-average offensive outfielders. Over the last two seasons, Rosario slashed .271/.305/.494 with 45 home runs over 821 plate appearances, good for a modest 105 wRC+. That Nolan was willing to stretch the payroll speaks volumes about how the Indians value Rosario’s fit in the lineup.

  • Spencer Patton is throwing an improved change-up with the hopes of bringing three viable pitches out of the bullpen, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The 32-year-old right-hander led Nippon Professional Baseball with 57 appearances last season, which is no small feat to MLB teams aware of the perils in ramping up pitcher workloads in 2021. Patton’s numbers from Japan won’t blow you away, however, with a 4.92 ERA, respectable 28.1 percent strikeout rate, and slightly-concerning 11.7 percent walk rate. Patton will throw for teams again on February 2nd, with the Braves, Rays, Angels, Royals, Rangers, and Giants being among the teams to have shown some interest thus far.
  • Pitching has long been the focus for the Nationals organization, but at the same time, they’ve lagged behind in the catching department, writes MASNSports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. Pedro Severino is the most prolific homegrown catcher with 105 games played for the organization – though he didn’t break out until joining the Orioles. Raudy Read or Tres Barrera are next in line to have an opportunity, but the recent signing of Alex Avila suggests GM Mike Rizzo isn’t ready to give either one too long of a look out of the blocks. Both Barrera and Read have served PED suspensions in the past, however, and Welington Castillo will also be in camp as a non-roster invitee.

AL East Notes: Vazquez, Angels, Tanaka, Blue Jays, Taillon

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The Angels signed Kurt Suzuki this offseason, and with a catching corps of Suzuki, Max Stassi, and Anthony Bemboom, adding an upper-tier backstop “would be a luxury and not a necessity” for the team, FanSided’s Robert Murray writes.  However, the Halos have at least checked in on some prominent catchers, including Christian Vazquez of the Red Sox.  No deal appears to be close, as the Sox naturally want quite a lot for Vazquez and “there are doubts whether the Red Sox will entertain trading him” whatsoever.

Vazquez is entering his final guaranteed year of the contract extension he signed in March 2018.  He’ll earn $6.25MM in 2021, and the Red Sox hold a $7MM club option ($250K buyout) on his services for 2022.  It’s a very affordable price for one of the game’s better defensive catchers, not to mention a catcher who has swung an increasingly dangerous bat — Vazquez has hit .278/.327/.472 with 30 homers in 710 plate appearances since the start of the 2019 season.  He does turn 31 in August, so the Sox could think about moving him at a high point in his trade value, but the Angels or any suitor would have to step up with a very big offer to get Boston’s attention.

More from the AL East…

  • In a press conference announcing his return to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Masahiro Tanaka implied that he could return to Major League Baseball even before his two-year deal with the Eagles is up.  “I feel I have unfinished business in America, and I haven’t given up on that, so they agreed on terms that would keep those options open,” Tanaka said.  This could seem to hint at an opt-out clause after the 2021 season, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post notes, and quite possibly a return to the Yankees in 2022.  With the Yankees intent on resetting their luxury tax penalty limit this winter, the team opted to spend its resources elsewhere rather than re-sign Tanaka at his desired asking price.  Come next offseason, however, the Yankees might well be willing to exceed the tax threshold (and pay only a first-timer penalty fee) in order to acquire Tanaka and other roster upgrades.
  • Also from Robert Murray, Blue Jays outfielders Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk are drawing trade interest.  The addition of George Springer has created a surplus in Toronto’s outfield, with Grichuk seemingly relegated to fourth outfielder duty as Gurriel and Teoscar Hernandez are slated for the corners.  It’s safe to guess that Gurriel is the more sought-after player, since Gurriel is over two years younger than Grichuk and has a less-expensive contract — Gurriel is owed $13.4MM through the 2023 season, while Grichuk is owed $29MM.  One of the outfielders could be dangled a way of obtaining pitching, since the Jays continue to look for both rotation and bullpen help.
  • The Rays were one of the other suitors trying to obtain Jameson Taillon from the Pirates, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Taillon ended up traded to the Yankees, and as Topkin points out, the Rays had interest in both Taillon and Corey Kluber, New York’s two main pitching acquisitions of the offseason.
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