Archives for February 2016

Athletics Acquire Khris Davis, Designate Sean Nolin

By Jeff Todd | February 12, 2016 at 5:35pm CDT

The Athletics have acquired outfielder Khris Davis from the Brewers in a deal that will send catching prospect Jacob Nottingham and righty Bubba Derby to Milwaukee, per announcements from both teams. Oakland has designated pitcher Sean Nolin to clear roster space.

It’s certainly an interesting swap for both organizations. Oakland will presumably utilize the slugging Davis in left field, where he could share time with veteran Coco Crisp and another younger, right-handed slugger in Mark Canha. The move bolsters the club’s depth across the outfield grass while delivering some upside, too.

After all, Davis only just turned 28, will play at the league minimum this year, and can be controlled for three more seasons thereafter via arbitration. And he’s shown quite a bit with the bat, following a solid 2014 with an even better campaign last year. Over 440 plate appearances, he not only swatted 27 home runs, but posted a strong .247/.323/.505 overall batting line.

Davis is not very highly regarded with the glove, though defensive metrics have been mixed. He actually rated as a plus performer in left in 2014, but dipped into the negative territory last year.

The removal of Nolin from the 40-man roster is interesting to note, too. While he may yet remain with the A’s, if he can pass through outright waivers, the 26-year-old lefty was a not-insignificant part of last winter’s stunning Josh Donaldson trade. He wasn’t great in limited MLB action in 2015, allowing 17 earned runs and logging just 15 strikeouts in 29 frames, but had earned a promotion after battling through injury issues to post a 2.66 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 over 47 1/3 innings at Triple-A.

Looking at the Milwaukee side of the deal, the 20-year-old Nottingham looks like the jewel. He went to Oakland from the Astros — then the home of current Brewers GM David Stearns — as the key piece of last summer’s Scott Kazmir deal. He’s still a ways off, having only reached the High-A level, but does represent a theoretical long-term replacement for star catcher Jonathan Lucroy — who has, of course, been mentioned as a trade candidate quite often this winter.

Nottingham impressed last year, putting up a cumulative .316/.372/.505 batting line with 17 home runs over 511 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he did not crack Baseball America’s recent organizational top-ten list for A’s prospects, though others have been higher on him. John Sickels of SB Nation, for instance, rated him fifth among A’s prospects while noting that his bat is ahead of his glove. And Baseball Prospectus went so far as to place Nottingham as the 66th-best prospect league-wide.

Derby, a sixth-round pick in last year’s draft, had a strong debut in 2015. He only worked 37 1/3 total innings between Rookie ball and Low-A, but racked up 47 strikeouts while holding opposing clubs to just five earned runs. Soon to turn 22, Derby is a product of San Diego State University.

Parting with Davis appears to set up the Brewers to utilize youngster Domingo Santana in left field, giving him a clear shot at regular playing time. Milwaukee has several young players and rebound candidates who’ll be stepping into more regular roles, with an increasingly interesting slate of young talent approaching MLB readiness in the farm.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported that a deal was nearing (Twitter links) and then tweeted that Davis would be heading to Oakland in the swap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees Avoid Arbitration With Aroldis Chapman

By Jeff Todd | February 12, 2016 at 5:22pm CDT

The Yankees have avoided arbitration with recently-acquired lefty Aroldis Chapman by agreeing to a one-year, $11.325MM deal, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

That figure comes in $275K above the midpoint between the two sides’ filing numbers of $13.1MM and $9MM. It does fall a fair sight shy of the $12.9MM payday projected by MLBTR coming into the winter.

Chapman, of course, came to the Yankees at a discounted price after it was revealed that he was allegedly involved in a serious domestic disturbance. While charges will not be filed against him, there is still a possibility of league discipline relating to the matter.

The Yankees will obviously hope that the investigation does not reveal cause for a lengthy suspension, with intentions of utilizing Chapman alongside fellow late-inning aces Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances in what could be the most fearsome trio of relievers ever seen in one pen. Anything close to a typical season from the dominating lefty would not only make the trade an easy win (from an on-field perspective, at least), but would set up New York to recoup a draft pick by making him a qualifying offer.

Last year may not quite have been Chapman’s very best overall campaign, but it probably cemented his status as the league’s best reliever regardless. He ended with a 1.63 ERA on the back of a ridiculous 15.7 K/9 strikeout rate. He did permit 4.5 free passes per regulation game, and doesn’t generate many grounders, but that hardly detracts from his near-invincible aura. Indeed, Chapman has struck out nearly half of the hitters he’s faced over the past two seasons and continues to work in the 99 to 100 mph range with his average fastball.

Marlins To Sign Craig Breslow To Minors Deal

By Jeff Todd | February 12, 2016 at 5:09pm CDT

The Marlins have agreed to a minor league pact with veteran southpaw Craig Breslow, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports. He would earn $1.5MM if he can crack the MLB roster.

Though he had kicked around the idea of seeking a starting opportunity, Breslow will reportedly chase a pen slot in Miami. He also considered offers from the Cubs, Blue Jays, and Red Sox.

Working for Boston last year, the 35-year-old carried a 4.15 ERA over 65 frames with 6.4 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9. While the results were improved after a tough 2014, Breslow wasn’t able to show quite the same form that led to a 2.82 earned run mark over his first 402 MLB frames over the span of 2005 to 2013.

The veteran’s groundball rate is down and his home run susceptibility is up, and it’s reflected in advanced metrics, which do not put a positive spin on his past two seasons. While he has long outpaced ERA estimators, and did so again in 2015, they are increasingly sour on his work (5.27 FIP, 5.07 xFIP, and 4.51 SIERA last year).

On the other hand, Breslow still pitches with about the same fastball velocity (he averaged 90.0 mph with his four-seamer last year) as he always has. And he boosted his swinging strike rate into double digits for the first time since 2012. He ought to have every opportunity to earn a job this spring in a Miami pen that was in need of options behind top southpaw Mike Dunn.

Athletics Nearing Trade, Likely With Brewers

By Jeff Todd | February 12, 2016 at 5:06pm CDT

5:27pm: Davis is indeed in the prospective deal, Slusser tweets.

5:06pm: The Athletics appear to be nearing some kind of trade, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). It appears to involve the Brewers, she suggests, with outfielder Khris Davis a possible target. Slusser also notes, though, that there’s “nothing official” and that the team has previously had interest in southpaw Will Smith.

That’s obviously not much to work from, but it certainly seems as if some kind of transaction could be going down this evening. We haven’t heard of any particular connection between these two clubs, but it’s not surprising to learn of one now. Oakland has been actively seeking to put a winning roster on the diamond for 2016, of course, while Milwaukee is headed in quite the opposite direction.

Indians Sign Tommy Hunter, Designate Tony Wolters

By Jeff Todd | February 12, 2016 at 4:29pm CDT

The Indians have signed righty-handed reliever Tommy Hunter to a one-year deal worth $2MM, per a club announcement and report from Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). To clear roster space, the club designated catcher Tony Wolters for assignment.

Hunter, 29, has been a fairly steady performer since moving over from the rotation. He wasn’t able to hold onto a closing gig with the Orioles, but still managed a strong 2.88 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9 over 147 innings in 2013-14. Heading into last year, he seemed to represent an important piece of the O’s pen picture.

It turned out to be something of an odd 2015 campaign for the right-hander. He wasn’t trusted with many important situations in Baltimore — only 15 of his 39 appearances were in games the team ended up winning — and was sent out at the deadline by the still-contending O’s for a player who didn’t even see much action.

Of course, Hunter was much the same pitcher in his last 44 2/3 innings with the Orioles that he had been previously, carrying a 3.63 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. He improved in the K:BB department upon moving to Chicago, racking up 15 strikeouts against just four walks over 15 2/3 frames, but also was touched for twenty hits (including four long balls) in that span.

All told, Cleveland looks to have made a solid addition to its pen by adding Hunter. He is said to be about a month behind schedule with camp approaching, though, having undergone offseason core muscle surgery. That could help explain why he wasn’t able to secure a larger and/or longer contract.

Wolters, 23, is a rare breed: he converted from the middle infield to catcher and still sees a bit of time at short and second. he played last year at Double-A, putting up a .209/.290/.280 slash with two home runs and three steals over 271 plate appearances. The former third-round pick obviously has some work to do at the plate in order to bring his interesting defensive skillset to the majors.

Jenrry Mejia Gets Lifetime Ban After Third Positive PED Test

By Jeff Todd | February 12, 2016 at 3:49pm CDT

Mets reliever Jenrry Mejia has been banned permanently from the majors after his third positive PED test, according to a league announcement. Remarkably, Mejia tested positive for the banned substance boldenone after earning two suspensions just last year.

It’s a truly stunning result, made all the more surprising given that Mejia was on track to resume his career with New York. Indeed, he recently agreed to a $2.47MM salary to avoid arbitration. While he was already to sacrifice a good portion of that money to finish serving his second suspension — which was of the 162-game variety — he’ll lose the remainder after today’s news.

Mejia becomes the first player to receive a permanent ban under MLB’s “three strikes and you’re out” PED policy. There is a provision that will allow the 26-year-old righty to seek reinstatement, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com notes on Twitter. But even if successful, he’d have to wait one year to ask and serve a minimum two-year ban.

In a statement, the Mets said that the club is “deeply disappointed” in Mejia. He had seemed destined to return to a prominent place in the club’s pen after finishing out his second ban. While New York seemed primed to cut ties at one point, the upside in Mejia’s cheap contract and rested, youthful arm certainly justified the risk. But Mejia somehow proved unable to avoid PED usage even while subject to stepped-up testing as a prior offender.

After failing to hold down a rotation job in 2014, Mejia had shown real promise in a relief role. He ended that campaign as the team’s closer, posting 28 saves and working to a 2.72 ERA over 56 1/3 innings out of the pen. While he has since been supplanted in the ninth by Jeurys Familia, Mejia certainly seemed to have a plausible chance of winning back a set-up role later in the 2015 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cubs Claim C.J. Riefenhauser, Designate Edgar Olmos

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2016 at 1:43pm CDT

The Orioles announced today that left-hander C.J. Riefenhauser, who was designated for assignment when they acquired Odrisamer Despaigne from the Padres, has been claimed off waivers by the Cubs. To create roster space, Chicago has designated fellow southpaw Edgar Olmos for assignment.

With this move, Riefenhauser will join his fourth organization of the offseason. After starting out with the Rays, Riefenhauser went to Seattle alongside Nate Karns in the Logan Morrison/Brad Miller trade. He was then sent to Baltimore alongside Mark Trumbo in a trade that brought Steve Clevenger back to the Mariners. With the Cubs, he’ll hope to break camp as a left-handed option in the bullpen, although the team has a number options in that regard, including Travis Wood, Clayton Richard and Rex Brothers. Riefenhauser does have options remaining, so he could open the year at the Triple-A level without being exposed to waivers.

The 26-year-old Riefenhauser has struggled in his brief exposure to the Majors, to be sure, having logged a 6.30 ERA in a limited sample of 20 innings. However, he’s also excelled at the minor league level, where he’s authored an outstanding 2.15 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in parts of three seasons, totaling 113 innings of relief. Riefenhauser doesn’t light up the radar gun by any means, sitting around 89 mph, but that’s passable velocity for a southpaw, and there’s no denying that he dominated lefties between Triple-A and the Majors before a rocky 2015 season, holding them to a .430 OPS in what was a strong season. Scouting reports from Fangraphs, MLB.com and Baseball America have given Riefenhauser credit for at least an average fastball and average slider with a slightly below-average third offering in the form of his changeup. If he’s a two-pitch reliever, he could still carve out a role as a lefty specialist, one would think, though as MLB.com’s most recent scouting report on him indicated, he could take on a bigger bullpen role with some improvement in his changeup. Prior to the 2014 season, BA credited him with a plus heater/slider combo, though his velocity in the Majors has sat below the 91-93 mph mentioned in that scouting report.

As with Riefenhauser, Olmos has been subjected to a heavy dose of roster churn. He has been claimed three times — by the Cubs (from the Mariners), by the Orioles, and then again by the Cubs — only to be designated in short order. It seems clear that there is plenty of interest in the 25-year-old lefty, who has flashed a mid-90s heater in his limited MLB time, but that organizations are willing to risk losing him in an attempt to stash him in the upper minors without wasting a 40-man spot. Though he’s bounced around frequently, Olmos did show well last year at Triple-A, posting a 3.55 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in the hitter-friendly PCL.

Cubs To Sign Matt Murton To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2016 at 1:30pm CDT

It’s a nostalgic day at Wrigley Field, as former Cubs outfielder Matt Murton has officially signed a minor league contract to return to the Cubs, MLBTR has learned. A report from Yahoo Japan first reported that an agreement was in place last week.

The now-34-year-old Murton was originally selected by the Red Sox with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2003 draft but was traded from Boston to Chicago in the four-team Nomar Garciaparra blockbuster. Murton made his big league debut with the Cubs in 2005 and went on to spend three-and-a-half seasons as a productive member of the team’s outfield, batting .294/.362/.448 in his time with the Cubs. Murton would eventually be traded to the Athletics (alongside Josh Donaldson) in a trade that netted the Cubs right-handers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.

Murton’s big league career after leaving the Cubs was brief; he appeared in just nine games for the A’s before he was included in an offseason trade that sent him to the Rockies, and he saw just 29 games as a member of Colorado’s big league club. Murton did have a big year at the Triple-A level with the Rockies in 2009, though, which seemingly caught the eye of the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Murton signed on with Hanshin for the 2010 season and crushed Japanese pitching, hitting .349/.395/.499 with 17 homers in his first season overseas. While his initial plan may not have been to embark on such a lengthy stay, Murton would go on to spend a total of six seasons with Hanshin, batting a combined .310/.352/.437 in 3534 plate appearances with the Tigers.

Now back with the Cubs, Murton will look to force his way into an outfield mix that has Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward and Jorge Soler lined up as the starters (from left field to right field) with Chris Coghlan and Matt Szczur also in the mix for bench roles. Ben Zobrist and Arismendy Alcantara, too, are capable of playing the outfield, though Zobrist will be the Cubs’ primary second baseman, and Alcantara is probably bound for Triple-A after struggling there in 2015.

MLBTR Seeking Part-Time Writer

By Tim Dierkes | February 12, 2016 at 12:41pm CDT

We’re looking to add one person to the MLBTR writing team, in a part-time position that pays hourly. The criteria:

Availability to regularly work an 8am-5pm (central time) news coverage shift every Sunday is required. We’re also seeking strong availability for other weekend and weeknight hours.
Exceptional knowledge of all 30 baseball teams, no discernible bias. Knowledge of hot stove concepts like arbitration, draft pick compensation for free agents and international/draft spending limitations.
A high school degree is required, and further education is preferred. Please include your highest completed level of education in your application.
Writing experience is necessary, and online writing experience is preferred.
Attention to detail and ability to follow the MLBTR style and tone.
Ability to analyze articles and craft intelligent, well-written posts summing up the news quickly and concisely.
Ability to use Twitter, Tweetdeck, and an RSS feed reader such as Feedly. In general, you must be able to multi-task.
The job may include opportunities for supporting research and social media tasks.
If you’re interested, email mlbtrhelp@gmail.com and explain how you stand out and qualify in a couple of short paragraphs. Please attach your resume to the email. We often receive several hundred applications, so unfortunately we will not be able to reply to each one.

In your application, please include the answer to this preliminary question: After which season is Corey Dickerson projected to reach free agency?

Minor MLB Transactions: 2-12-16

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2016 at 12:37pm CDT

Here are today’s minor signings and outright assignments from around the league…

The Phillies announced that they have outrighted left-hander Bobby LaFromboise to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after he cleared waivers. The veteran southpaw was designated for assignment when the Phillies acquired infielder Taylor Featherston from the Angels earlier this week. LaFromboise, 29, has a very strong year with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015, recording a 2.98 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 54 1/3 innings, and he also tossed eight one-run frames at the Major League level as well. LaFromboise went from Pittsburgh to Anaheim by way of waiver claim and then was snatched up by the Phillies on waivers last month. He’ll be in big league camp at Spring Training as a non-roster invitee later this month, according to the team.

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