The Rockies have designated pitcher Collin McHugh for assignment, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for new reliever Boone Logan.
In June, the Rockies acquired McHugh from the Mets for Eric Young Jr. McHugh struggled in four starts with the Rockies, allowing 21 runs in 19 innings. In 113 innings at the minor-league level in 2013, the 26-year-old posted a 3.42 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9.
MONDAY 5:16pm: The deal is now complete, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets.
2:33pm: Heyman tweets that Logan will earn $4.75MM in 2014, $5.5MM in 2015 and $6.25MM in 2016.
FRIDAY, 8:30am: Logan's deal guarantees him $16.5MM, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
7:34am: The Rockies are in agreement with left-hander Boone Logan on a three-year deal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Denver Post's Troy Renck reported yesterday that the two sides were closing in on a three-year pact. Logan is represented by CAA Sports.
The Rockies, who have already added LaTroy Hawkins to the back of their bullpen this winter, were said to be aggressive on relievers at the Winter Meetings. Renck reported that they were serious about talks with free agents J.P. Howell and Joaquin Benoit and also came close to striking a deal for Reds lefty Sean Marshall before medical concerns caused them to back off. Despite the interest in Benoit, left-handed relief was always their priority, per Renck.
Logan gives Rockies director of Major League operations Bill Geivett that late-inning, left-handed option he so aggressively sought this week. Still just 29 years of age, Logan has posted a 3.38 ERA with 10.3 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 176 innings over the past four seasons with the Yankees.
Manager Walt Weiss will need to be careful about how he uses Logan versus right-handed hitters, however. Over the past four seasons, opposite-handed hitters have gotten to Logan for a .251/.351/.424 batting line, and his 2013 line of .254/.319/.460 wasn't an improvement. Left-handers have batted just .224/.297/.365 against Logan dating back to 2010.
Renck guessed last night that Logan's deal would be worth around $15MM in total, and later, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported that the contract would indeed be worth more than $14MM. Javier Lopez's three-year, $13MM deal with the Giants likely set the market for Logan, but his agents at CAA look to have topped that figure for their client.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
33 players from MLBTR's Top 50 Free Agents list have signed, and with ample time remaining in the offseason, regulars are difficult to come by at most positions. Let's take a closer look.
Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball announced that they have officially agreed on a new posting system, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. The new agreement will be in place for three years.
Reports last week indicated that the two sides would have a conference call today to ratify the new system, which will cap the posting fee for a player at $20MM and allow all teams that tie for the highest bid to negotiate with the posted player. The new rules, according to an MLB release, are as follows:
The biggest immediate impact presented by the new posting system will be felt when the Rakuten Golden Eagles decide whether or not to post ace Masahiro Tanaka. The 25-year-old has long been thought to be up for grabs this offseason, but the new rules don't sit well with the Golden Eagles ownership, as they'd been in line for a posting fee worth $75MM or more under the old system. Rakuten will reportedly talk to Tanaka this week to make their decision, but recent indications seem to point toward them keeping Tanaka for another year and possible posting him next season. Assistant GM Aki Sasaki recently told reporters that he does not think a $20MM posting fee is a fair trade for Tanaka.
3:06pm: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that Axford can earn an additional $1.75MM worth of incentives, making his contract potentially worth $6.25MM.
MONDAY, 2:45pm: Axford's contract guarantees him $4.5MM in 2014 and also contains incentives, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). That's $1.2MM less than the $5.7MM salary MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected.
SUNDAY, 9:11pm: The financial terms of the deal are unclear, but MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets that it will probably be a one-year contract, noting that Axford has two years of arbitration eligibility after this one.
8:46pm: The Indians will sign reliever John Axford, ESPN's Buster Olney reports. Earlier this evening, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Indians were "focused" on Axford. The righty is represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Axford, who will be 31 in April, posted a 4.02 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 65 innings in 2013, although he got better results after the Brewers traded him to the Cardinals in August for Michael Blazek. Axford's success extended into the postseason, when he allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings spread over six outings. Nonetheless, the Cardinals non-tendered him rather than pay a 2014 salary that would have been inflated as a result of the $5MM Axford made in 2013, his first year of arbitration eligibility.
Axford served as the Brewers' closer for most of the 2010 through 2012 seasons, although he lost that job after a bout of wildness in 2012. Even in 2012, however, Axford struck out 12.1 batters per nine innings, and he still has dominant stuff, with a fastball that averaged 95.3 MPH in 2013. Axford will likely be entrusted with the closer's job in Cleveland, where the Indians were looking to replace the departing Chris Perez.
2:47pm: Beachy's deal will pay him $1.45MM in 2014, according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (on Twitter).
2:18pm: The Braves announced, via press release, that they have avoided arbitration with right-hander Brandon Beachy by agreeing to a one-year deal.
Beachy, 27, returned from 2012 Tommy John surgery last season to post a 4.50 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 30 innings of work for the Braves. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Beachy to earn just $900K in arbitration due to the missed time with his elbow injury. He looked to be in the midst of a breakout season in 2012, having posted a 2.00 ERA through 81 innings in the Braves' rotation when he went down with his injury.
Beachy figures to be in Atlanta's rotation again in 2014 alongside Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Kris Medlen and the newly signed Gavin Floyd, with Alex Wood potentially filling in as Floyd recovers from his own Tommy John.
As can be seen in MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker, the Braves still have a whopping seven players eligible, meaning general manager Frank Wren and his staff will have plenty of work on their hands.
MONDAY: Ellis' contract guarantees him $5.25MM and contains more than $1MM worth of incentives, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Ellis obtains the same base salary that he had in 2013 and, when combined with the $1MM buyout he received from the Dodgers, has exceeded the amount of money he could have earned had Los Angeles simply exercised the option.
SUNDAY: The Cardinals have a one-year deal in place with free agent second baseman Mark Ellis, with a physical and subsequent announcement expected later this week, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). Ellis is represented by TWC Sports.
Ellis, 36, spent the last two seasons as the Dodgers' primary second baseman, but hit the open market when Los Angeles declined declined a $5.75MM club option for 2014. Last year, he hit .270/.323/.351 in 480 plate appearances. As has come to be expected, Ellis continued to display stellar defense, putting up +7.6 UZR/150 and +12 DRS per The Fielding Bible in 2013. That bumped his value into the range of about one-and-a-half to three wins above replacement, depending on which WAR recipe you prefer.
Looking at the list of available second baggers, Ellis was probably the best overall option left on the market at this point. While other players offered more attractive age or upside, Ellis has been a consistent contributor for nearly a decade. With Omar Infante and Juan Uribe coming off the board in recent days, Stephen Drew is arguably the only free agent, non-first baseman infielder left on the market who should be counted on as an above-average regular next season.
St. Louis had been expected to add a veteran option that could play up the middle, and Ellis should fit in well in the Cardinals infield mix. 23-year-old prospect Kolten Wong figures to have the inside track to the everyday job at the keystone. But Ellis offers both a veteran alternative and a platoon option to pair with Wong's left-handed bat. Over his 5,500+ MLB plate appearances, Ellis has a .777 OPS against lefties and a .700 OPS against same-handed hurlers. Wong has, unsurprisingly, posted somewhat better numbers against righties in the early stages of his professional career. Ellis could also spell Matt Carpenter at third, notes Rosenthal (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Diamondbacks announced that they have acquired Addison Reed from the White Sox in exchange for third baseman Matt Davidson. MLB.com's Steve Gilbert first reported that the trade was on the verge of happening (on Twitter).
Reed, 24, has saved 69 games for the White Sox over the past two seasons, posting a 4.20 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 126 1/3 innings in that time. Sabermetric stats such as FIP (3.38) and SIERA (3.33) feel that Reed's ERA should have been substantially lower in that time. The Diamondbacks will control Reed through the 2017 season and he is not arbitration eligible until next offseason, making him a highly affordable piece to add to the back-end of their bullpen.
Davidson, 23 in March, made his big league debut in 2013, slashing .237/.333/.434 with three homers in 87 plate appearances. The 2009 supplemental-rounder entered the 2013 campaign ranked as Baseball America's No. 88 overall prospect and MLB.com's No. 77 overall prospect. Davidson delivered on that praise by slashing .280/.350/.481 with 17 homers in 500 plate appearances prior to his promotion to the big leagues. He is controllable through the 2019 season and can't reach arbitration eligibility until at least the 2016-17 offseason.
Reed will step into the ninth-inning role for the Diamondbacks, relegating J.J. Putz and Brad Ziegler to setup duties. Arizona GM Kevin Towers has added some youth to his bullpen while shedding the salary of Heath Bell over the past week.
Davidson, meanwhile, can fill a long-term need for the White Sox, ideally solidifying third base for the South Siders for years to come. White Sox third basemen batted .249/.294/.352 last season, so Davidson should eventually displace the projected platoon of Conor Gillaspie and Jeff Keppinger. He will join an increasingly young core for the White Sox consisting of Avisail Garcia, Adam Eaton and Jose Dariel Abreu.
Arizona's acquisition of Mark Trumbo last week (a trade on which Towers and White Sox GM Rick Hahn also lined up) pushed Martin Prado back to third base on a full-time basis for the Snakes, likely leading to the belief that Davidson had become expendable (Prado is under contract for three more seasons). The White Sox could look to the free agent market to add any number of closer-types available, or they could elect to stay in-house and use flamethrower Nate Jones in the ninth inning.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
12:41pm: The Orioles are closing in on a two-year deal with Balfour, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
12:39pm: Things are heating up considerably today for Grant Balfour, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter).
Recent reports have indicated that three teams have two-year offers on the table to Balfour, with the Orioles being the most aggressive team and the favorite to land him. Balfour reportedly wants to pitch for the O's, but he's holding out for a three-year deal. The Orioles are said to be set on two years, but last night they were said to be considering adding a vesting option to the deal as a compromise.
The Braves added depth to their rotation today, officially announcing the signing of righty Gavin Floyd to a one-year deal. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports that Floyd will earn a $4MM base salary and can earn another $4.5MM with incentives. Floyd is represented by Moye Sports Associates.
Floyd, who turns 31 in roughly six weeks, posted a 5.18 ERA in 24 1/3 innings for the White Sox last season before going down for the year with a torn ulnar collateral ligament that required Tommy John surgery. Prior to that injury-shortened season, the former No. 4 overall pick had been a fairly durable mid-rotation starter for the White Sox, averaging 190 innings of 4.12 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 per season from 2008-12 in the hitter-friendly confines of U.S. Cellular Field.
The contract is similar to the deal that Mike Pelfrey signed with the Twins headed into the 2013 season. Pelfrey had Tommy John surgery on May 1, 2012 and signed for $4MM plus another $1.5MM worth of incentives. Floyd's Tommy John came on May 8, 2013, and he hopes to be throwing in the Majors by early May, according to Crasnick.
Floyd will eventually join a rotation that should consist of Mike Minor, Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy and Julio Teheran as well. Left-hander Alex Wood could fill the void early in the season as Floyd works his way back from injury. It's also no guarantee that Floyd will be able to return so early. Though many Tommy John victims are able to make their recovery in a year's time, Scott Baker and Ryan Madson both serve as very recent reminders that the recovery process can be filled with significant setbacks.
Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun first reported (on Twitter) that Floyd was near a deal with an unknown club, and David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that the Braves were the team (also via Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported an agreement had been reached.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
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