Rockies To Sign John Axford To Minor League Deal
2:53pm: MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports that if Axford makes the Major League roster, he will earn a $2.6MM base salary (Twitter link). That’s a fairly significant base salary for a minor league deal and likely explains why Axford was willing to take a non-guaranteed contract. I’d imagine that so long as Axford remains healthy, he’s a good bet to make the roster, and that guarantee may be larger than some big league deals he discussed with other clubs.
Additionally, per Harding, Axford can earn $1.5MM worth of incentives, meaning his deal can max out at $4.1MM.
2:22pm: The Rockies are in agreement with right-hander John Axford on a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, per the team’s transactions page. Axford is a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Axford, 32 in April, began the 2014 season closing games for the Indians but quickly ceded the job to standout Cody Allen, who took hold of the ninth-inning reins and never looked back. Things weren’t so rosy for Axford, who issued far too many walks and eventually was traded to the Pirates after an August waiver claim. Axford showed slightly better control in Pittsburgh than in Cleveland, and overall the former Brewers stopper pitched to a 3.95 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 5.9 BB/9 and a 53.6 percent ground-ball rate.
While the control numbers are clearly troublesome, Axford’s increase in ground-ball rate would play well in Colorado if he can limit his walks, and he’s never had a problem racking up strikeouts. As I noted earlier this morning, Axford sports (or rather, sported) the best velocity of any remaining free agent reliever, so there’s certainly some upside on this deal.
LaTroy Hawkins figures to man the ninth inning in Denver in what will be his final season, but it’s not out of the question to think that Axford could be in the mix to pick up some saves as well. It’s possible, even, that some ninth-inning work was dangled as an incentive to get him to agree to pitch half of his innings in the hitters’ haven that is Coors Field.
Diamondbacks To Sign Gerald Laird
The Diamondbacks will sign veteran catcher Gerald Laird to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league Spring Training, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Laird is represented by CSE.
The 35-year-old Laird struggled to a .532 OPS with the Braves in 167 plate appearances last season but has been an otherwise serviceable option behind the dish in a backup capacity in recent seasons. Laird batted .281/.350/.373 in 332 plate appearances between the Tigers and Braves from 2012-13 and should have an excellent chance to pick up some playing time in Arizona, given the team’s remarkable dearth of options behind the plate.
The Diamondbacks currently project to have journeyman Tuffy Gosewisch and 21-year-old Rule 5 pick Oscar Hernandez splitting the bulk of playing time behind the plate. However, Gosewisch is 31 years old and has just a .213/.225/.287 batting line in 179 career big league plate appearances. Hernandez is lauded for his defensive capabilities but has yet to even reach Class-A Advanced; he hasn’t played beyond the Class-A Midwest League.
Given the lack of anything resembling an everyday catcher behind the dish, it was somewhat stunning to hear GM Dave Stewart publicly state that his team wouldn’t further pursue any catchers, though perhaps he meant via the trade market or on Major League deals. Arizona thinks incredibly highly of prospect Peter O’Brien due to his impressive power, but few scouts outside of the D-Backs organization have expressed a belief that O’Brien can handle catcher from a defensive standpoint.
Nationals Sign Casey Janssen
The Nationals look to have found a replacement for recently traded setup man Tyler Clippard, as the team announced on Monday the signing of right-hander Casey Janssen to a one-year contract with a mutual option. The ACES client will reportedly receive a $5MM guarantee in the form of a $3.5MM 2015 salary and a $1.5MM buyout on his $7MM mutual option. He can also reportedly earn up to $500K via performance bonuses.
The 33-year-old Janssen was one of the best remaining options on the relief market and has spent the bulk of the past three seasons serving as Toronto’s closer. His stats took a tumble in 2014, though some of that decline may have been attributable to a violent case of food poisoning. Janssen reportedly lost eight pounds in a single day as a result of that episode, and he likely rushed back to the mound too soon; Janssen spent two days on an IV to rehydrate his body and the next day began a stretch of five appearances in eight days.
Overall, he posted a 6.26 ERA in the second half that caused his overall mark on the season to balloon to 3.94. Janssen showed his typically excellent command in 2014, walking just 1.4 hitters per nine innings, but his strikeout rate curiously dipped, even during his healthy first half. Janssen averaged just 5.5 K/9 in 2014 — a decline of three strikeouts per nine when compared to his previous four seasons of work.
A rocky 2014 notwithstanding, Janssen’s work dating back to the 2011 season is nothing short of outstanding when judged as a whole. In that time, he’s worked to a 2.77 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and a 43 percent ground-ball rate. He saved 83 games for Toronto in that stretch and should give Nationals manager Matt Williams an experienced safety net for closer Drew Storen. However, Storen posted a sensational 1.12 ERA in 2014 and took over the ninth inning late in the season after Rafael Soriano struggled. His ERA and the fact that he closed out the year with a stretch of 20 innings without allowing an earned run likely still makes Storen the favorite for saves in 2015.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the deal (on Twitter). The Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga broke down the financial terms (Twitter links). Rosenthal later tweeted the details about Janssen’s incentives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nationals Designate Eric Fornataro For Assignment
The Nationals announced that they have designated right-hander Eric Fornataro for assignment in order to clear room on the 40-man roster for Casey Janssen, whose one-year deal is now official.
The Nats claimed the 27-year-old Fornataro off waivers from the Cardinals in December following a season in which the former sixth-round pick made his Major League debut. Fornataro appeared in eight games for St. Louis, allowing five earned runs on 11 hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings of work. He worked primarily off a sinker that averaged 92.7 mph in the big leagues, registering an impressive 51.4 percent ground-ball rate in his brief big league sample.
Fornataro was markedly better in the minor leagues, where he notched a 2.57 ERA over 56 innings of relief. He averaged 5.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 at Triple-A this season and was equally effective against both right- and left-handed hitters.
Astros Among Teams Talking With Jose Veras
Right-hander Jose Veras has made his desire to return to the Astros a known fact this offseason, and the former Houston closer tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle that the ‘Stros are indeed one of four clubs to whom he is currently speaking.
Veras excelled as Houston’s closer in 2013, pitching to a 2.93 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 43 first-half innings before being traded to the Tigers that July. Veras pitched reasonably well down the stretch but, to the surprise of some, had his option bought out by the Tigers and again tested the open market.
Last winter, on the heels of his strong 2013, Veras signed a one-year, $4MM contract with the Cubs. However, he struggled tremendously in Chicago, allowing 12 runs in 13 1/3 innings before being released and latching back on with the Astros, where he again pitched quite well. All told, he has a 2.97 ERA with an 81-to-30 K/BB ratio between his two seasons with Houston.
Veras tells Drellich that he made a “mistake” by leaving Houston in the first place, considering how much he enjoyed his time there, and he’s willing to return in any role: “I’m available to do anything. Be it closer, throw the eighth, throw the seventh. I just want to be on the team (where) I feel like a family, like I feel here. That all these guys respect me, I respect them, I love them, even though we don’t win 100 games like we maybe want to do.”
Hardest-Throwing Relievers Left On The Open Market
Much of the free agent market has been picked clean at this point, but there are a handful of solid relief pitchers left for clubs looking to shore up their bullpens. In particular, there remains a group of relief options with heat that checks in well north of the 92.5 mph average velocity of the league-average relief arm from 2014. If your team is on the hunt for a hard-throwing arm, here are the top names left (courtesy of Fangraphs’ leaderboards)…
- John Axford (94.7 mph) — Axford split the 2014 season between the Indians and Pirates, and while his control was the worst of his career (5.9 BB/9), he also managed to strike out 10.4 hitters per nine and post a career-best 53.6 percent ground-ball rate. The Canadian-born former closer has been linked to the Rockies and Blue Jays of late and could be a boost to a number of bullpens if he can rein in his command and keep the added grounders.
- Chris Perez (94.3 mph) — Another former Indians stopper, Perez also battled his control in what was a disappointing first (and apparently only) season with the Dodgers. He’s still just 29 and won’t be 30 until July, making him one of the youngest options on the market. Perez’s K/9 dropped from 9.0 in 2013 to 7.6 in 2014, but his swinging-strike rate in 2014 was actually better than it was the year before. The velocity he showed was his best since 2010, so there are some positives here despite the sub-par results.
- Dustin McGowan (94 mph) — McGowan, 32, made it through the 2014 season without so much as a single day on the disabled list, which is no small feat for a man who was on the 60-day DL in each season from 2008-13. Those injury problems will limit McGowan’s market, and his 4.17 ERA (4.74 xFIP) don’t paint a pretty picture either. However, McGowan worked to a much more palatable 3.35 ERA (4.17 xFIP) in 43 innings as a relief pitcher, striking out 36 and walking 16.
- Phil Coke (93.7 mph) — Coke’s 3.88 ERA was the second-best full-season mark of his career, and 2014 was the first time that ERA, FIP, xFIP and SIERA all pegged him for a mark under 4.00. His strikeout numbers (6.4 K/9) weren’t up to his normal levels, but Coke did reestablish his control (3.1 BB/9). The 2014 season was another piece of evidence that he’s best shielded from right-handed hitters, but he can likely help a team against left-handed hitters.
- Joba Chamberlain (93.5 mph) — It’s been a surprisingly quiet offseason for Chamberlain given the strong year he recorded in 2014. Chamberlain posted a 3.57 ERA with most estimators feeling that mark could’ve come down by 0.2 to 0.4 runs. He averaged 8.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 with a 53.2 percent ground-ball rate in 63 innings and has age on his side, as he won’t turn 30 until late September. Perhaps the lack of activity truly is because he rejected offers from teams for which he did not wish to play, but I’m personally a bit surprised that we haven’t heard more on the Joba front this winter.
- Matt Lindstrom (93.1 mph) — Lindstrom is the elder statesman of this group at 34 (35 next week), and he’s coming off an injury-shortened season in which he recorded the second-worst ERA of his career (5.03). However, he has a history of plus velocity (95.8 mph career average fastball) and solid control. Lindstrom ditched his four-seamer for a sinker in 2012, and the result has been a ground-ball rate well over 50 percent in the three seasons since the change. He said he hoped to return to the White Sox previously, but a new team is probably the more likely outcome, and he could be a nice low-risk option for a team with bullpen uncertainty.
It should also be noted that names such as Jose Veras, Matt Albers and Kyle Farnsworth are either at or just a tick above the league-average velocity. Another relief option, David Aardsma, is set to throw for clubs a week from today and is said to have increased his velocity after changing his mechanics. Likewise, Albers will be showcasing for clubs a week from tomorrow.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Monday
As of Monday morning, 35 players had yet to come to an agreement with their team after exchanging arbitration figures (as can be seen in our Arb Tracker). We’ll keep track of the day’s minor settlements here, with all projections coming via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz…
- The Mets and Lucas Duda have avoided arb by settling on a one-year, $4.2MM contract, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Duda had filed at $4.7MM, while the Mets came in with a $3.75MM offer. Duda’s contract is just shy of the $4.225MM midpoint and his $4.3MM projection. The 28-year-old was arb-eligible for the second time this offseason after a breakout season in which he batted .253/.349/.481 with a career-best 30 home runs. He’ll be eligible twice more as a Super Two player.
- Heyman also tweets that Brandon Belt and the Giants have settled on a $3.6MM salary for the 2015 season. Eligible for arbitration for the second time as a Super Two player this offseason, Belt received a fairly small $700K raise from last year’s $2.9MM salary after injuries limited him to just 61 games. When on the field, Belt batted .243/.306/.449 with a dozen homers in 235 plate appearances. He had filed at $4.5MM as the Giants filed at $3MM, making for a $3.75MM midpoint. While he settled a bit shy of that midpoint, he still did well to top his $3.4MM projection by $200K.
Yulieski & Lourdes Gourriel To Play In Japan
Cuban third baseman Yulieski Gourriel and his brother Lourdes, a shortstop, have agreed to deals with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan, Baseball America’s Ben Badler notes. 30-year-old Yulieski, long considered one of Cuba’s best players, hit .305/.349/.536 for Yokohama last season.
Badler notes, though, that it’s Lourdes who might be more interesting to Major League scouts right now, since he’s clearly talented and yet less of a known quantity. Lourdes, who’s 21, has hit .326/.402/.486 this season in 214 plate appearances for Industriales in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. Badler writes that teams are keenly interested in getting a closer look at Lourdes, who would be a key player to them should relations between the U.S. and Cuba keep improving. For now, the Cuban government brokers deals for some players (such as Alfredo Despaigne) to appear in Japan, with those players coming back to Cuba each offseason.
Notable Transactions From February 2014
We’re coming to the end of the offseason, and with the notable exception of James Shields, most of this winter’s key free agents have found new homes. That doesn’t mean transaction activity is likely to come to a halt, however. Let’s look back to last February to see what kinds of moves we might expect in the month to come.
- In particular, last February was a huge month for extensions. The Braves signed Andrelton Simmons, Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran to lengthy deals. Homer Bailey and the Reds agreed to a six-year deal (plus a mutual option) that crossed the $100MM threshold. The Yankees signed Brett Gardner for four years and an option. Michael Brantley agreed to terms on a four-year deal with an option in a contract that now looks like a bargain for the Indians. And the Athletics signed Coco Crisp for two years.
- Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz finally escaped the specters of their rejected qualifying offers and signed with the Orioles. The first year of Jimenez’s deal was forgettable, although the Orioles’ cheap one-year deal with Cruz gave them the AL’s home run leader. Meanwhile, Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales remained free agents. The qualifying offer didn’t have the same chilling effect on this winter’s market, obviously, with Shields as the only player who rejected a qualifying offer and hasn’t yet signed.
- Fernando Rodney and Bronson Arroyo both agreed to two-year deals, while A.J. Burnett signed his complex one-year deal with the Phillies. Jason Hammel and Francisco Rodriguez also signed one-year deals.
- Two international players signed semi-high-profile deals as shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena headed to the Dodgers for five years and Suk-min Yoon went to the Orioles for three. (Neither deal has worked out as planned.)
- The Cardinals signed Pat Neshek to a minor-league deal that turned out to have a big impact, as Neshek produced a 1.87 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 and made his first All-Star Game.
- The Dodgers, meanwhile, signed infielder Justin Turner to a minor-league deal that produced a terrific .340/.404/.493 season over 322 plate appearances.
- The Nationals acquired catcher Jose Lobaton and two prospects from the Rays for pitcher Nate Karns.
NL Notes: Miller, Jenkins, Gwynn, Scutaro
Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins had varying reactions to being traded to the Braves in the Jason Heyward deal, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Miller, who learned he’d been dealt before learning which team had traded for him, was apprehensive at first, but ultimately happy to learn that he was heading to Atlanta. Jenkins, a former Cardinals first-round pick, was “upset” to be leaving that organization, although he eventually came around to the idea that the Braves must really want him to acquire him in a trade for a player of Heyward’s caliber. Both Miller and Jenkins credit Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright with helping them as pitchers. Miller says Wainwright encouraged him to throw a sinker (although it wasn’t until Justin Masterson showed him a grip he liked that he actually started using it). Jenkins, meanwhile, credits Wainwright with helping him with his delivery. Here are more notes from around the National League.
- Free agent outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. is hoping to find a new team for 2015, his agent told MLB Network Radio (via a tweet from Jon Morosi of FOX Sports). Gwynn, 32, hit .154/.262/.190 in 127 plate appearances with the Phillies in 2014, also appearing in 20 games (and hitting significantly better) for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Gwynn isn’t likely to provide much offense, but he’s provided good defensive and baserunning value in the past.
- In March, free agent infielder Marco Scutaro will know more about whether he can continue his career after having back surgery, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes in a piece we’ve linked to elsewhere today. The Giants released Scutaro last week even though he still had one year left on his three-year, $20MM deal. He had fusion surgery in December.