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Red Sox Decline Matt Thornton’s Option

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The Red Sox have declined their $6MM club option on left-hander Matt Thornton, the team announced. Thornton, who was acquired from the White Sox in early July in exchange for outfield prospect Brandon Jacobs, will receive a $1MM buyout and hit the free agent market.

Thornton, 37, pitched to a 3.52 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with the Red Sox following the trade and posted a 3.74 ERA overall in 43 1/3 innings between his two teams. The flamethrower's velocity has begun to drop in recent seasons; he averaged 96.1 mph on his heater in 2010, 95.8 mph in 2011, 95.0 mph in 2012 and 94.2 mph in 2013. It's not a big surprise to see that along with his velocity, Thornton's once sky-high strikeout rate has dipped. Thornton posted a 12.0 K/9 in 2010, 9.5 in 2011, 7.3 in 2012 and 6.2 in 2013.

Despite the dip in velocity, Thornton was solid against left-handed opponents, holding them to a .235/.267/.370 batting line in 89 appearances. He'll join a strong free agent crop of lefty relievers that includes Javier Lopez, J.P. Howell, Boone Logan and Tommy John reclamation project Eric O'Flaherty.

Minor Moves: Jacobs, Herndon, LaRoche, Lalli, Bourgeois, Humber

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Today's minor moves can be found right here in this post …

  • Among the many re-signings of players otherwise eligible for minor league free agency reported by Matt Eddy of Baseball America are first baseman Mike Jacobs, who will stay with the Diamondbacks, and reliever David Herndon, who the Yankees have re-signed. Neither saw big league action this year. Jacobs put up a nice .296/.366/.533 line in 514 Triple-A plate appearances in his age-32 season, while Herndon, now 28, was good for a 2.78 ERA in his 35 2/3 innings across the Yanks system.
  • Third bagger Andy LaRoche has signed with the Blue Jays, Eddy reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old younger brother of Nats' first baseman Adam LaRoche played in just one game with Toronto last year, and has not been a regular big league contributor since leaving the Pirates after the 2010 season.
  • Catcher Blake Lalli has caught on with the Diamondbacks, Eddy notes in the same link. Also thirty years of age, Lalli has only forty uneventful MLB plate appearances. Playing at Triple-A for the Brewers last year, he put up a .282/.334/.447 line in 311 plate appearances.
  • The Reds have signed 31-year-old outfielder Jason Bourgeois, Eddy reports on Twitter. Bourgeois saw limited time with the Rays last year. His career big league line stands at .259/.305/.326 in 515 plate appearances over parts of six seasons, including 51 stolen bases.
  • Right-handed starter Philip Humber, 30, has inked a deal with the Athletics, reports Eddy (via Twitter). The once-perfect Humber had his option declined by the Astros early last month.
  • Righty Fabio Martinez signed with the Dodgers, per another Eddy tweet. The longtime Angel farmhand last worked in the Indians system, but has never managed to harness his live arm and posted BB/9 totals of over ten in 2012-13. 
  • Pitcher Trevor Reckling has signed with the Reds out of independent league ball, Eddy tweets. He played six seasons in the Angels' system, reaching Triple-A at age 21 before moving the wrong way down the ladder. Noted as a reclamation project for the White Sox before the 2012 year, Reckling will give it one more go in Cinci.
  • The Rockies re-signed minor league second baseman Angelys Nina in a move designed to keep him from reaching the open market as a minor league free agent, tweets Eddy. Nina managed a .280/.331/.422 line in his second go-round at Tulsa, adding ten home runs and nineteen steals.
  • Outfielder Chris Dickerson and first baseman Dan Johnson, each of whom were outrighted on Thursday, have refused their assignments and elected to become free agents, according to an Orioles press release yesterday. 
  • Remember to check MLBTR's DFA Tracker for updates on players designated for assignment around baseball. Currently, only Tommy Layne is sitting in DFA limbo.

Tigers Decline Option On Jose Veras

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TODAY, 11:18am: The value of the option declined by the Tigers was actually $4MM, tweets FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. Because Veras finished 42 games, he added $750k to the base $3.25MM option price.

Veras finished 45 games last year, seven of which came with Detroit. Though only two of those game-finishing appearances for the Tigers resulted in saves, it does not appear that he was the last man on the hill for any true blow-outs. However, the $750k bump probably could have been avoided: the escalator-triggering appearance came the day after the Tigers clinched the division. In his final outing of the regular season, Veras came on in the eighth with a one-run deficit and earned the GF when the Tigers failed to score in the ninth. 

YESTERDAY, 1:45pm: The Tigers announced that they have declined their $3.25MM option on right-hander Jose Veras in favor of a $150K buyout.

The decision to buy out Veras' option is somewhat of a surprise, given his solid overall numbers on the season and the Tigers' prolonged bullpen struggles over the season. Veras enjoyed the finest season of his career in 2013, pitching to a 3.02 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 41.8 percent ground-ball rate. He signed a one-year deal with the Astros to be their closer but found himself traded to the Tigers in a deadline deal that netted the Astros outfield prospect Danry Vasquez and hard-throwing but injured relief prospect David Paulino.

For the Tigers, Veras excelled in 19 2/3 innings, totaling a 3.20 ERA with 16 strikeouts against seven unintentional walks. He was solid in his lone ALDS appearance but also has the dubious distinction of being the pitcher who came in with the bases loaded and surrendered a crushing grand slam to Shane Victorino in Game 6 of the ALCS.

With Veras (somewhat surprisingly) on the market, there are now eight relievers available who saved at least 21 games in 2013: Veras, Joe Nathan, Grant Balfour, Fernando Rodney, Joaquin Benoit Chris Perez, Edward Mujica and Kevin Gregg, not to mention longtime closer Brian Wilson, who returned with the Dodgers and dominated in a setup capacity.

Rays Exercise 2014 Club Options On Zobrist, Escobar

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The Rays have exercised their club options over utilityman extraordinaire Ben Zobrist and shortstop Yunel Escobar, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. As Topkin notes, the club's more difficult option decision comes due tomorrow, when Tampa must act on David DeJesus.

Neither move comes as a surprise, given that the option amounts for Zobrist and Escobar ($7MM and $5MM, respectively) are modest compared to their 2013 production. Zobrist slashed .275/.354/.402, a step back from his offensive output over 2011-12. But with stellar defense and baserunning, he nevertheless managed a third straight 5+ fWAR campaign and remains one of baseball's best values and most adaptable players. Escobar put up an exactly league-average wRC mark, but that will play at short, particularly when combined with outstanding fielding. He figures also to provide surplus production going forward after putting up a redemptive 3.9 fWAR in his first year in Tampa.

The best news for the Rays is that the club has virtually identical club options for this pair next year, as well. (Zobrist's jumps in value by $500k, though his buyout also plummets.) Tampa will hope the decision is just as easy next time around.

Free Agent Profile: Justin Morneau

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On July 7, 2010, Justin Morneau was hitting a ridiculous .345/.437/.618 for the first-place Twins in their inaugural season at Target Field. Morneau would leave that game early after taking a knee to the head from John McDonald while trying to break up a double play. It was later learned that Morneau suffered a severe concussion on that slide. He wouldn't play again in 2010, and three years later, the Canadian slugger is still searching for his All-Star form. A last-minute trade sent the former American League MVP from the Twins — the only organization he'd ever known — to the Pirates to help deepen Pittsburgh's lineup for a postseason push, and he'll hit the open market for the first time this winter.

Strengths/Pros

Morneau hit .259/.323/.411 with 17 homers in 2013. His slash line is a slight improvement over that of a league-average hitter, and his .152 isolated power mark is also slightly above the league average of .146. He rediscovered his power stroke late in the season, belting nine homers in the month of August before being traded to the Pirates on Aug. 31. His final at-bat in a Twins uniform was an upper-deck, go-ahead homer against Yu Darvish in Texas.  Morneau-Justin

The Fielding Bible's DRS stat has long been a fan of Morneau's work at first base (he was +8 runs in 2010 prior to his concussion), and he's done a fine job there once again in 2013. Morneau has saved five runs with his glove, per DRS. He's been roughly average, per UZR/150.

Morneau makes contact better than the average first baseman. His 17.3 strikeout percentage is a significant improvement over the league average of 22.2 percent.

Among free agent options at first base, only Mike Napoli and Mark Reynolds hit more home runs than Morneau. Reynolds, however, posted a sub-.300 OBP while striking out in more than 30 percent of his plate appearances. Morneau might not be an elite bat anymore, but the only available first basemen with clearly superior seasons to his in 2013 were Napoli and James Loney. Morneau offers more power than Loney, and unlike Napoli, he will not be attached to draft pick compensation.

Weaknesses/Cons

The power just isn't there for Morneau like it was when he was an annual 30-homer threat, and there's no guarantee it will ever return now that he's turning 33 in 2014. His walk rate has also declined; Morneau walked in 11.3 percent of his plate appearances in his peak from 2007-10, but he walked in just 7.9 percent of his trips to the plate in 2013.

Part of the reason that Morneau was so lethal in his prime was his ability to hit left-handed pitching, but that too has eroded. From 2006-10, Morneau hit .282/.331/.492 against same-handed pitching, but over the past three seasons that slash line has deflated to a platoon-worthy .206/.246/.274. Just five of his 40 homers dating back to 2011 have come against southpaws.

The concussion is far from the only injury with which Morneau has dealt since 2010. He's undergone four different surgeries to fix issues ranging from bone spurs in his wrist and foot to a herniated disk in his neck. The neck issue resulted in a pinched nerve that Morneau said prevented him from feeling the pointer finger in his left hand for most of the 2011 season.

Personal

Morneau met his wife, Krista, in Minnesota. The couple and their two children make their home in the suburbs of Minneapolis. A lifelong hockey fan, Morneau grew up idolizing goalie Patrick Roy and has worn Roy's No. 33 throughout his career (he switched to 66 in Pittsburgh, as 33 is retired there in honor of Honus Wagner). No. 33 is also the number of another of his Canadian idols — Larry Walker. Justin and Krista are active within the community, having started the Justin Morneau Foundation, which seeks to support underserved communities. He is known to have many superstitions, such as eating the same sandwich from the same restaurant in St. Paul prior to each home game.

Market

Morneau and his agent, Mark Pieper of SFX, approached the Twins about a potential contract extension this summer but were rebuffed at the time. Minnesota has no clear replacement waiting in the wings, with Chris Parmelee and Chris Colabello both posting sub-par big league numbers. The team may want to leave first base open for a potential position change for Joe Mauer, but a reunion between the two sides does make some sense.

Morneau may be better suited to play for a team in a hitter-friendly ballpark (Target Field certainly does not qualify, especially for left-handed batters). The Blue Jays have long been rumored to have interest, but there doesn't necessarily appear to be a fit with Lind and Edwin Encarnacion set to handle DH and first base.

Morneau could follow the path that Loney and many others have taken and seek to rebuild his value with the Rays, who would have no shortage of platoon options available. He could also be a first base option for the Red Sox, Brewers, Rockies or Rangers. Pirates GM Neal Huntington could also look to retain Morneau at a reduced rate.

Expected Contract

Morneau earned $14MM this season in the final year of a six-year, $80MM extension he signed with the Twins in 2008. He won't come close to that type of money this offseason and may have difficulty securing a multiyear contract. Reynolds' line of .221/.335/.429 from 2012 isn't that dissimilar from Morneau's production in 2013, but Morneau is considered a better defender and doesn't strike out nearly as often. Reynolds signed for one year and $6MM with the Indians last offseason.

Another solid, albeit slightly dated comparison could be Derrek Lee, who signed for one year and $7.25MM with the Orioles after hitting .260/.347/.428 in 2010. Ultimately, I expect Morneau to take a one-year, $7MM contract in a hitter-friendly atmosphere to try to rebuild some free agent value for next offseason.

Phot courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Joe Nathan

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We learned yesterday that Rangers closer Joe Nathan had voided his 2014 option. The $9MM club option became voidable upon Nathan's 55th finished game of the year. Because Texas technically exercised its option, it will not have to pay Nathan a $750k buyout. Here's more on the situation …

  • The Rangers will not make Nathan a $14MM+ qualifying offer, tweets CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman. If that holds true, of course, Nathan will be able to seek a multi-year deal without asking suitors to give up a top draft pick to sign him. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has predicted a two-year, $26MM pact for the soon-to-be 39-year-old.
  • Texas GM Jon Daniels certainly sounds like he is — as expected — prepared to move on from Nathan's successful tenure at the back of the team's pen. As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports, Daniels says he told Nathan and agent Dave Pepe "that if he came back, we'd have to consider trading from our bullpen." And as reported by Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest, Daniels conveyed his "expectation [that] there are other teams that maybe have a bigger need in the bullpen and put more resources towards it than we are."
  • Unsurprisingly, with Nathan hitting the open market, the Rangers anticipate an internal replacement. Daniels says he "expect[s] our closer to be someone who is already in the organization." With in-house options like Neftali Feliz, Joakim Soria, and Tanner Scheppers, Daniels says the club "probably won't name [a closer] until spring training to see how things play out."

Minor Moves: Ryan Buchter, Wirfin Obispo, Felix Pie, Simon Castro

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Here's your list of today's outright assignments and minor moves from around the league…

  • The Braves have added two minor league relievers — lefty Ryan Buchter and righty Wirfin Obispo — to the club's 40-man roster, per the International League transactions page. The move was designed to prevent both pitchers from qualifying for minor league free agency. Buchter, 26, fanned 15 batters per nine innings last year in 62 Triple-A innings to go with a less-flattering 7.4 BB/9, and ended up with a 2.76 ERA. The 29-year-old Obispo, meanwhile, put up 9.9 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9 in Gwinnett over 63 2/3 innings of 3.53 ERA ball. Both could get a look for an MLB bullpen role in Spring Training.
  • The Pirates have outrighted Felix Pie off their 40-man roster, and the outfielder has elected free agency, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune (Twitter link). The 28-year-old former top prospect hit just .138/.194/.172 in 31 plate appearances for the Pirates in 2013 and slashed .251/.321/.390 in 396 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis.
  • The White Sox have outrighted right-hander Simon Castro to Triple-A Charlotte, removing him from the 40-man roster, the team announced on Twitter. Castro twice appeared on Baseball America's list of Top 100 prospects as a Padres farmhand and found himself headed to Chicago as part of the Padres' trade for Carlos Quentin. Though he was sharp in his big league debut this season, totaling 6 2/3 innings in the Majors, Castro limped to a 5.83 ERA in 92 2/3 innings at Charlotte.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Field Staff Notes: Nationals, D-Backs, Ausmus, Mariners, Rangers

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New Nationals manager Matt Williams says that the club has "some things we can refine" but is not in need of fixing, he said upon his introduction today. Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington has a fine breakdown of the proceedings, including Williams' stated emphasis on improving the club's defense and increasing its aggressiveness on the basepaths.

  • Washington will maintain its existing coaching staff under Williams, with two exceptions, Zuckerman further notes. Bullpen coach Jim Lett will be replaced with Matt LeCroy, and Mark Weidemeier — who, like Williams, comes via the Dbacks — will be added to the staff as a defensive guru of sorts. 
  • Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks have announced their staff, according to a team press release. Replacing Williams as the third base coach is Glenn Sherlock. The club also promoted Turner Ward to Hitting Coach and added first base coach Dave McKay, who had most recently served in that capacity for the Cubs.
  • Even as they watched the experienced McKay leave town, the Cubs welcomed Brad Ausmus to Chicago today to interview for their managerial opening, tweets Bruce Levine. The longtime big league catcher has received plenty of attention this offseason, and now joins a list of six candidates to have had their moment to impress the Cubs' brass, as CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman explains.
  • The Mariners are also interested in Ausmus's services, according to a report from Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle. Drayer indicates that Ausmus has had an interview already. 
  • Former Mariner Joey Cora is also a possibility to take the helm in Seattle, says Drayer. He has already given one interview and could be in town right now for a second.
  • As the club works to fill its skipper role, it has already quietly jettisoned bench coach Robby Thompson and third base coach Jeff Datz, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The former was shown the door last week, while the latter was told he could stay on as a scout but wouldn't keep his uniform for next season. The remainder of the 2013 staff is still in limbo.
  • The Rangers have brought back Bobby Jones to serve in a coaching capacity that remains to be decided, tweets Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest. Jones has bounced between the bigs and various minor league managing roles in the Texas organization.

Yankees Re-Sign Jeter To One-Year, $12MM Deal

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8:07pm: It is not yet clear whether the Jeter accounting saga is resolved, but Sherman has provided a full breakdown of what is apparently the most convoluted Competitive Balance Tax calculation yet encountered. The net, Sherman reiterates, is that Jeter's player option would have registered an approximately $10.75MM hit, while his new deal will count for $12.81MM.

You'll need to read the piece for the complete details, but the causal agent in this odd scenario is a CBA provision that addresses contracts, like Jeter's, that have cheap options attached. Pursuant to that (unspecified) clause, Sherman says, the Yanks were charged a prorated portion of the option year value in each of the first three years of the deal, which in turn required yet more maneuvering in calculating the present cap hit.

4:07pm: Sherman tweets that the MLBPA is arguing with the Commissioner's Office over how the luxury tax calculations are being handled, adding that new numbers are coming.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports chimes in, noting that the contract now will save the Yankees a bit of money over what the option would have saved. The Yankees will save roughly $1MM, with $12.8-$13.2MM counting against the luxury tax for reasons that are "too complicated to explain," as Rosenthal puts it (all Twitter links).

1:36pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the common belief that this deal saves the Yankees from the luxury tax threshold is a misconception. According to Sherman, given the way that the luxury tax is computed, this deal will count more significantly against the luxury tax than Jeter's player option would have. Had Jeter exercised that option, $10.75MM would have gone against the luxury tax in 2014, says Sherman, but this new deal will count $12.8MM toward the luxury tax (Twitter links)

12:20pm: The Yankees announced that have re-signed shortstop Derek Jeter to a one-year deal worth $12MM. Jeter, who is represented by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management, had a $9.5MM player option on his previous contract, but this deal will override that option.  Jeter-Derek

The long-time Yankee Captain will turn 40 next June and appeared in just 17 games this season, making the decision to give him a $2.5MM raise on his option a curious one. However, by agreeing to a new deal, Jeter is no longer on his old contract, the average annual value (AAV) of which counted against the luxury tax. Had he exercised his player option, Jeter would've added $6.5MM to the AAV of his three-year, $51MM contract ($3MM of the option was guaranteed in the form of a buyout). Doing so would have raised his AAV to $14.375MM. Instead, his $12MM contract will be the number that counts against the luxury tax, thereby actually saving the Yankees $2.375MM relative to the luxury tax.

Jeter underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle last October and missed the majority of the season recovering from inflammation in his surgically repaired foot. Upon activation, he encountered a pair of DL stints for calf and quadriceps strains. In his 17 games, Jeter batted .190/.288/.254 with a home run. However, he's just one year removed from a campaign that saw him hit .316/.362/.429 with 15 homers en route to his fifth career Silver Slugger award.

The Yankees sorely missed Jeter's production in 2013, as their shortstops combined to bat a woeful .228/.283/.308 on the season. While those numbers do include 17 games of an injury-hobbled Jeter, his bat will be an unquestionable boon to that lineup in 2014, if he's healthy. The Yankees deployed a mix of Jeter, Eduardo Nunez, Jayson Nix, Luis Cruz, Brendan Ryan, Alberto Gonzalez and Reid Brignac at the position in 2013.

By addressing Jeter's situation during the five-day exclusive period following completion of the World Series, Yankees GM Brian Cashman allows himself to focus on other pressing offseason issues, most notably the status of impending free agent Robinson Cano.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Starter Notes: Johnson, Nolasco, Jimenez, Dodgers

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Let's take a look around the developing starting pitching market …

  • The Blue Jays are still deciding whether or not to make Josh Johnson a qualifying offer, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Davidi says that the hurler's health is the primary consideration, and adds that he would be "a near certainty to accept if he gets an offer." Johnson's agent, Matt Sosnick, told Davidi that he has not "talked about it much" with club GM Alex Anthopoulos, but said there were "good reasons to qualify [Johnson] or not qualify him."
  • Sosnick also spoke with Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, providing a host of good information on Johnson, who he says may still receive (and could accept) a qualifying offer from Toronto. If Johnson hits the open market, his agent says he will certainly seek a one-year deal "to rebuild his value." With no interest in a multi-year deal, contract negotiations figure to be simplified somewhat, and could open the door to more teams with interest. Sosnick says Johnson is "looking for a good pitching atmosphere, a good defense behind him and a team with a good chance to win." He predicts that the big righty is "probably going to be the most approached free-agent pitcher out there" and will ultimately land a deal "somewhere around what the qualifying offer is."
  • Twins VP of player personnel Mike Radcliff threw some cold water on the possibility of a move on Johnson, Berardino further reports. Radcliff said that Johnson is coming off of a "horrible" year and "if he wants $10 million, we're not going to be involved with that."
  • Sosnick reps not only Johnson, but fellow free agents Ricky Nolasco and Randy Messenger. He says that the Twins seem to have interest in every member of that trio, but his "sense is they're most interested in Nolasco." 
  • One other possible target for Minnesota is Ubaldo Jimenez, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com (via Twitter). Of course, Jimenez is widely expected to come with draft compensation attached, though the Twins enjoy a protected top-ten pick (fifth overall). The team has apparently told at least one free agent's representatives that it will be aggressive on the market.
  • The Dodgers could conceivably hatch a strategy to trade for David Price and add Masahiro Tanaka via the posting process, a rival GM tells Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com. By doing that instead of signing a top free agent starter, the club could avoid the loss of its first-round draft choice and the bonus pool allocation that comes with it. Of course, the Dodgers would need to part with more advanced talent to snag Price.

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