Rosenthal On White Sox, Johnson, Cruz
Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a video at FOX Sports:
- The White Sox might prefer not to trade John Danks, who they have signed to a reasonable contract through 2016. But Adam Dunn is set to become a free agent, and the team has plenty of potential replacements for Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham, so Chicago could deal any of those players at the deadline.
- Since Josh Johnson won’t start more than seven games this season, the Padres have a $4MM option on him for 2015. Given Johnson’s Tommy John surgery, though, it’s unclear whether the Padres will be able to get enough out of Johnson in 2015 to make the option worthwhile.
- Nelson Cruz of the Orioles has done a good job rebuilding his value after taking a one-year offer significantly below the cost of the qualifying offer he rejected last winter, Rosenthal says. Cruz is off to a fast start, hitting .300/.391/.588 in his first 92 plate appearances with Baltimore.
Minor Moves: Freddy Garcia, Nik Turley
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- Freddy Garcia has completed his deal with the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Garcia pitched for the Orioles and Braves in 2013, but the Braves released him from a minor-league deal in late March.
- The Yankees have announced that they’ve released pitcher Nik Turley. Turley, 24, posted a 3.88 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 139 innings for Double-A Trenton in 2013. He experienced arm tightness in spring training and has not pitched this season, but if healthy, one would think that a left-hander with his strikeout rate and ability to start could get a look from another organization.
Braves Release Ernesto Mejia
The Braves have announced that they’ve released first baseman Ernesto Mejia after reaching an agreement with the Seibu Lions of the Japanese Pacific League to allow him to play for them. Mejia had been on the Braves’ 40-man roster.
Mejia, 28, had been at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he had a line of .354/.420/.684 in 88 plate appearances. Mejia holds a career .279/.341/.513 line at Triple-A, but he only plays first base and was blocked at the big-league level by Freddie Freeman. He had collected 1,198 plate appearances at the Triple-A level since 2012, never collecting a single at-bat in the Majors.
NL Notes: Johnson, Ishikawa, Garza
Padres pitcher Josh Johnson had Tommy John surgery Thursday, MLB.com’s Corey Brock notes. The surgery marks the end of another lost year for Johnson, who the Padres signed to an $8MM deal over the offseason. Because Johnson will start fewer than seven games this year, the Padres will have a $4MM option on him for 2015. It’s not yet clear whether they’ll exercise it, however. “We still have a lot of hurdles to clear before we make a decision on that,” says assistant GM A.J. Hinch. Here are more notes from the National League.
- After being designated for assignment by the Pirates, Travis Ishikawa became a free agent and signed with the Giants, who sent him to Triple-A Fresno. That’s an assignment with which Ishikawa is familiar, Bryant-Jon Anteola of the Fresno Bee reports. Ishikawa also played for Fresno in the 2008 and 2011 seasons. Ishikawa is, of course, aiming higher than Triple-A, however. “When I was looking around, the Giants made contact, and I noticed there wasn’t a lot of left-handed hitting on the bench up there,” he says. “Figured this was a good chance to get back up there and try to repeat what I was able to do before with the Giants.”
- Matt Garza, now with the Brewers, “[ran] out of hope” when he was with the Cubs, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. “You go through three years of constantly hoping (with the Cubs), you kind of run out of hope,” he says. “You come to a team like this [the Brewers] where every day we’re going to win. We’re not going out to hope to win. We’re going out with the attitude we’re going to win.” Garza, who signed a $50MM contract with Milwaukee in the offseason, defeated his former team on Friday.
AL Notes: Campos, Masterson, Stroman
Yankees minor-league pitcher Jose Campos had Tommy John surgery on Friday, CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler tweets. Campos, of course, arrived from the Mariners prior to the 2012 season with Michael Pineda for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi, a trade that seems to have been cursed for everyone involved. Pineda was recently suspended ten games for his pine tar incident, Montero is with Triple-A Tacoma after hitting .208/.264/.327 in 110 big-league plate appearances last season, and Noesi has been designated for assignment twice in the past month. Here are more notes from the American League.
- The Indians have been cautious with a new contract for Justin Masterson because his velocity was down in spring training, he can be inconsistent, and has imperfect mechanics, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer writes. That’s why they balked when he asked for a three-year contract of around $53MM this offseason, preferring a deal of around $45MM instead, Pluto suggests.
- The Blue Jays have scheduled top prospect Marcus Stroman‘s next start for Triple-A Buffalo to coincide with that of big-league fifth starter Dustin McGowan, Shi Davidi of SportsNet.ca reports. That could indicate that the Jays might promote Stroman soon. Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook 2014 names Stroman the Jays’ second-best prospect (behind Aaron Sanchez) and praises the small righty’s fastball, slider and athleticism. BA ranked Stroman the 55th-best prospect in baseball before the season. He currently has a 2.18 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 20 2/3 innings for Buffalo.
Week In Review: 4/20/14 – 4/26/14
Here’s a look back at this week at MLBTR.
Trades
- Padres — acquired INF Tyler Greene from Braves for a PTBNL
Retired
Claimed
- White Sox — P Hector Noesi (from Rangers — link)
- Twins — OF Kenny Wilson (from Blue Jays — link)
- Blue Jays — OF Darin Mastroianni (from Twins — link)
- Athletics — INF Andy Parrino (from Rangers — link)
- Twins — OF Sam Fuld (from Athletics — Twitter link)
Designated for assignment
- Padres — OF Alex Castellanos (link)
- Orioles — OF Steve Pearce (link)
- Yankees — P Matt Daley (Twitter link)
Outrighted
- Astros — P Lucas Harrell (link)
- Yankees — P Cesar Cabral (link)
- Red Sox — INF Ryan Roberts (link)
Released
- Tigers — SS Alex Gonzalez (Twitter link)
Key Minor-League Signings
- Rockies — RP Rafael Betancourt (link)
- Blue Jays – RP Ryan Rowland-Smith (link)
- Giants — 1B Travis Ishikawa (link)
D-Backs Players Standing Behind Towers, Gibson
The Diamondbacks’ players are rallying behind GM Kevin Towers and manager Kirk Gibson, Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona writes. “The kind of start we got off to, I don’t know if you can explain it other than we have just played horribly,” says third baseman Eric Chavez. “It’s completely on the players. We take full responsibility for our lack of production on the field. We have to get it done in here, in this clubhouse.” Earlier this week, catcher Miguel Montero told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert he would be “disappointed” if Towers or Gibson were to be fired.
The Diamondbacks are off to an 8-18 start (although they’ve won their last three games), which has led to speculation about whether Towers and Gibson might lose their jobs. As FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal recently pointed out, though, there are obstacles to firing them now — there are few internal candidates to replace them, and firing a GM six weeks before the draft can be disruptive.
Hardest-Throwing 2015 Free Agents
“Why do you guys care about velo such much, man?” Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon asked reporters last week. Fastball velocity continues to hold great appeal to fans, reporters, and baseball executives, especially with so much data readily available. Beyond the pure excitement of watching Yordano Ventura or Stephen Strasburg pitch, fastball velocity is often an indicator of success. With that in mind, here’s a look at the currently velocity leaders among those eligible for free agency after this season.
Relievers
- Kyle Farnsworth – 94.2
- Andrew Miller – 94.2
- David Robertson – 94.2
- Chris Perez – 93.8
- Joba Chamberlain – 93.8
- Matt Albers – 93.8 (club option)
- Carlos Marmol – 93.6
- Jim Johnson – 93.4
- Matt Lindstrom – 93.2
- Brian Wilson – 92.6 (player option)
Starters
- Brandon Morrow – 93.5 (club option)
- Felipe Paulino – 93.0 (club option)
- Johnny Cueto – 92.9 (club option)
- Ervin Santana – 92.4
- Dustin McGowan – 92.3 (club option)
- Jason Hammel – 92.1
- Jorge de la Rosa – 92.1
- Josh Beckett – 91.9
- James Shields – 91.8
- Francisco Liriano – 91.8
Note that the game’s hardest throwers are generally not available in free agency, as they’re also among the younger pitchers. Farnsworth, 38, is the hardest-throwing free agent but ranks 43rd overall among all pitchers.
Top Young Position Players Without Extensions
Last year, 56 position players with less than six years of Major League service time were worth at least 2.5 wins above replacement. Of those, 21 have contract extensions that bought out or gave a club option on at least one free agent year. That comes to 37.5%. As popular as extensions are for above-average young position players, 62.5% of our sample has not delayed free agency. Let’s take a closer look.
Of the 35 players who do not have an extension, eight are represented by the Boras Corporation, including Chris Davis, Bryce Harper, Desmond Jennings, Eric Hosmer, and Pedro Alvarez. Boras tends to encourage his players to go year-to-year and reach free agency as early as possible. What about the other 27 players?
- Josh Donaldson, Athletics: Certainly players can and do sign long-term deals after just one elite season, which is what Donaldson has under his belt. Last year was also Donaldson’s first full season as a regular, which at age 27 makes him a late bloomer in this group. One other factor is that he changed agencies within the last few months. Donaldson is off to a torrid start in 2014, increasing his price tag if he decides to do a deal after the season.
- Manny Machado, Orioles. 2014 was also Machado’s first full season as a regular, at age 20. He suffered a torn knee ligament in September that required major surgery (his minor league rehab assignment began tonight), so it made sense to wait on exploring a deal.
- Ian Desmond, Nationals. During the offseason, the Nationals proposed a multiyear deal to Desmond believed to be worth around $90MM, reported Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Instead, a two-year deal was reached that did not affect Desmond’s path toward free agency. One of Desmond’s agents, Doug Rogalski, told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that talks with the Nationals have been amicable. Elvis Andrus‘ eight-year, $120MM deal a year ago will be a factor in discussions.
- Colby Rasmus, Blue Jays. Rasmus posted a 4.8 win season in 2013, but had been worth only 1.6 wins in the previous two seasons. He’s had a couple of agency changes along the way, and is now months from becoming a free agent at age 28.
- Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks. Parra generates much of his value defensively, and has a pair of Gold Gloves to prove it. Defensive-minded players have started to see the dollars more, but offense still earns the big bucks in arbitration and free agency.
- Jason Castro, Astros. The Astros have acknowledged some level of discussion involving a Castro extension, but it hasn’t happened yet. There’s no indication as to how large of a gap the two sides face.
- Brandon Belt, Giants. Belt posted a very strong 2013, but he’s scorching in 2014 with seven home runs in 92 plate appearances. In February, Belt described talks with the Giants as “preliminary.” The price has probably gone up since then.
- A.J. Pollock, Diamondbacks. Pollock owed much of his value last year to defense, and with one year of service under his belt there’s no reason to rush to lock him up.
- Jed Lowrie, Athletics. 2013 was Lowrie’s first full, healthy season, and now he’s in his contract year. The 30-year-old will be well-compensated if he posts another healthy campaign, more so if his stellar 2014 walk rate holds up to some degree.
- Chase Headley, Padres. Headley is also in his contract year. He had an MVP-caliber 2012 season, and while 2013 was good, it was a more defense-minded campaign. Headley has had extension talks with the Padres for years, but he appears headed to free agency.
- Kyle Seager, Mariners. Seager has posted two strong seasons for the Mariners, but it’s possible a gap in perceived value exists due to his pronounced home/road splits.
- Craig Gentry, Athletics. Gentry has generated a lot of value defensively and has been something short of a regular, so he remains year-to-year.
- Jason Heyward, Braves. Like Desmond, Heyward signed a two-year deal that did not delay free agency. He was elite by WAR in 2012, but a top-five MVP finish always seem possible for the 24-year-old, and he hasn’t gotten there yet.
- Jean Segura, Brewers. Segura’s breakout 2013 season led to extension talks, but agent Joe Klein told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, “With a guy this young, it’s hard to figure out what the right numbers would be.”
- Todd Frazier, Reds. Frazier has posted a pair of solid seasons, but the Reds aren’t jumping to extend him after a .234/.314/.407 offensive line in 2013.
- Welington Castillo, Cubs. As a player with one good year, the Cubs can afford to wait to see if Castillo is their catcher of the future.
- Mark Trumbo, Diamondbacks. Trumbo may be year-to-year on account of being a one-dimensional player, though consistent power typically gets paid.
- There are 10 more players who were worth 2.0-2.5 wins in 2013 and have not signed extensions. Some, like Juan Lagares and Gregor Blanco, haven’t established themselves as regulars. Players like Leonys Martin, Brian Dozier, Josh Reddick, and Chris Johnson haven’t had extended success. Others are good but not spectacular, like second basemen Neil Walker and Daniel Murphy.
Boras is a big reason many of the game’s best young position players don’t give up free agent years. The other reasons are varied, with late bloomers, players affected by injury, inconsistent performers, and players who have short track records. While it may not fit the narrative of baseball’s growing extension trend, one overarching theme may be that most of the game’s best young position players still prefer to avoid leaving money on the table to acquire long-term security.
Data from FanGraphs was used for this post. If you’d like to explore this topic further, check out MLBTR’s Extension Tracker. Please note: Yasiel Puig was omitted due to the special circumstances with his seven-year contract.
Quick Hits: Edwards, Red Sox, Beckham, Blue Jays
A recent MRI showed that C.J. Edwards‘ shoulder has no structural damage, but the Cubs prospect could still miss over a month, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times reports. For the Cubs, this is good news — manager Rich Renteria tells the Tribune’s Mark Gonzales (via Twitter) that Edwards’ diagnosis provides “a tremendous sigh of relief.” Edwards had “tightness” while pitching in a side session earlier this week. Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook 2014 ranked Edwards the Cubs’ third-best prospect in a strong system, behind only Javier Baez and Kris Bryant. He pitched brilliantly down the stretch for Class A+ Daytona last season after arriving from the Rangers in the Matt Garza trade. Here are more notes from around baseball.
- The Red Sox‘ recent success has been driven, in part, by a turn away from expensive veteran free agents, Joshua Green of Bloomberg BusinessWeek explains in a long profile of Sox owner John Henry. The trend of players signing pre-free agency extensions has made free agents less valuable, according to GM Ben Cherington. “There are fewer and fewer players getting to free agency, or even close, in their prime-age seasons,” he says. “The average age of a free agent has continued to increase. It used to be 30. It’s now north of 32.” Henry thinks Jacoby Ellsbury‘s departure from the Red Sox to the Yankees this offseason was a key indicator of the two teams’ differences in outlook. “It is a wildly different approach,” Henry says. “We haven’t participated in this latest feeding frenzy of bidding up stars.”
- With the emergence of Marcus Semien and a number of other potential future options at second base (Leury Garcia, Carlos Sanchez, Micah Johnson), Gordon Beckham could become a trade chip for the White Sox, ESPN Chicago’s Doug Padilla writes. Until they deal Beckham (or if they don’t deal him), the White Sox could keep Semien in the lineup by giving him occasional starts at shortstop and third base. Beckham is set to make $4.175MM this year.
- The Blue Jays‘ key question marks include the back of their rotation and second base, GM Alex Anthopoulos tells ESPN’s Buster Olney in the Baseball Tonight Podcast. (Anthopoulos’ segment begins about 30 minutes in.) The Jays currently have Dustin McGowan in the fifth spot in their rotation, and Ryan Goins at second. Anthopoulos mentions that he likes Goins’ defense, but feels the team can upgrade on him offensively.
- Union chief Tony Clark has expressed concern regarding the Mets‘ payroll, but MLB commissioner Bud Selig isn’t worried, Newsday’s Steven Marcus tweets. Selig says that he has confidence in the Mets’ ownership.