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Archives for January 2016

Pirates To Sign Neftali Feliz

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The Pirates have agreed to terms with free agent righty Neftali Feliz, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. The BTI Sports client will receive a $3.9MM guarantee, per Passan, and the contract also includes incentives that could push it to around $4.5MM in total value.

Feliz spent last year with the Rangers and Tigers, who added him after he was designated by Texas. Detroit elected not to tender him a contract last fall, preferring not to commit a projected $5.2MM.

There wasn’t much to like about the 27-year-old’s results last year, as he put up a combined 6.38 ERA over 48 forgettable frames. Metrics valued his actual contributions more in the low-4.00 range, though that is hardly an inspiring output either.

But Pittsburgh has taken a gamble on plenty of high-upside arms in the past, and the still-youthful Feliz looks like another worthwhile project. He’s posted dominant results earlier in his career — though ERA estimators always predicted regression — and still delivers a mid-90s fastball.

Jon Heyman (via Twitter) and Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link) added details on the incentives. Cotillo also tweeted that Feliz had changed agents.

Braves, Kelly Johnson Agree To One-Year Deal

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11:15am: Johnson receives a $2MM guarantee for a one-year term, with the ability to earn $1.25MM in incentives, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets.

10:39am: The Braves and veteran infielder/outfielder Kelly Johnson are in agreement on a one-year contract, pending a physical, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (Twitter link). Johnson, a client of Relativity Sports, will be signing on for his third stint with the Braves — the same organization that originally selected him with the 38th pick of the 2000 draft.

Financial terms have yet to be reported. It seems likely that the Braves were able to woo Johnson back with the chance to earn significant playing time, though he’ll have to compete with fellow veteran free agent signee Emilio Bonifacio.

His most recent run with the club, of course, ended when he was shipped to the Mets — along with Juan Uribe — in a deadline deal last summer. Clearly, there were no hard feelings, as Atlanta added a pair of young arms and Johnson got a chance to play in the World Series.

All told, Johnson ended the 2015 campaign with a solid .265/.314/.435 slash, with 14 home runs, in 335 plate appearances. He was limited almost entirely to facing right-handed pitching last year, though it’s fair to note that he has actually been slightly better against southpaws over his career.

With roughly league-average batting results over his career, Johnson has plenty of appeal as a utility piece. He’s never been viewed as a supremely talented defender, but he’s generally received roughly average ratings from defensive metrics at a variety of spots.

Johnson saw time at six positions last year between the two organizations, and could conceivably be an option at third, second, or the corner outfield this time around. If nothing else, he and Bonifacio give the club options in the event that it decides to cash in the just-acquired Ender Inciarte or finds a taker for some of the remaining money owed to Michael Bourn or Nick Swisher.

 

West Notes: Reyes, Maeda, Kazmir, Fowler

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An MLB source tells Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that there is still no timeline regarding possible disciplinary action against Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes. (Twitter link.) That appears to be due, at least in part, to the fact that the criminal proceedings have not been wrapped up. While the league’s domestic violence policy does not require criminal action for the commissioner to impose punishment, there is arguably less cause to move swiftly given that the allegations arose during the offseason.

  • The Astros made a play for Japanese hurler Kenta Maeda before he reached agreement with the Dodgers, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. Houston remains an interesting potential factor in the free agent market. While the team probably does not need to make a splash, it is not difficult to imagine the team emerging as a dark horse for several players.
  • Houston was also said to have had interest in retaining Scott Kazmir before he decided to join the Dodgers, and it appears they were far from alone in that regard. The veteran lefty said that a dozen clubs had at least some communication with his camp this winter, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group tweets.
  • The fact that free agent outfielder Dexter Fowler appeared at a Golden State Warriors game recently should not be interpreted as a sign he’s about to sign with the Giants, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News tweets. He hears that “nothing is cooking” between Fowler and the club at this time. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Chris Haft looks at the fit of some of San Francisco’s possible outfield targets.

Latest On Alex Gordon, Royals

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While it seemed not long ago that the Royals’ pursuit of Alex Gordon would not be fruitful, Gordon himself suggested there was still hope of a reunion. And it appears now there could be renewed vitality in talks between the sides. Here’s the latest:

  • Among other clubs around the league, there is an “increasingly strong sentiment” that Gordon could be heading back to K.C., Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. In fact, something could come together soon, Passan suggests. There had reportedly been a wide gulf between the sides in terms of years and dollars. If a deal is indeed struck, it will obviously be fascinating to see whether one side budged from its position or whether common ground was struck.
  • The Royals “still would love” to bring back their homegrown star, Jon Heyman tweeted last night. But Kansas City is still keeping its options open, of course. That includes a variety of other free agents, including Gerardo Parra, Denard Span, Dexter Fowler, and David Murphy, according to the report.

Nationals Have Explored Trade Market For Catchers

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The Nationals have explored the trade market for help behind the plate, according to Jon Heyman (on Twitter). Per Heyman, the Nats are “involved on a number of fronts.”

Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton are slated to comprise the Nationals’ backstop contingent in 2015, but neither player performed anywhere near his previous peak level. Ramos, in particular, had a difficult season. Though the 28-year-old logged a career-best 504 plate appearances, his offensive output was far and away the worst it has been in any of his six big league campaigns. His 15 home runs notwithstanding, Ramos batted a mere .229/.258/.358 in those 504 PAs. While he’s never been known for his plate discipline, Ramos’ 4.2 percent walk rate was the lowest of his career, and his 20 percent strikeout rate was the highest he’s ever recorded. From a defensive standpoint, his ability to control the running game remained strong — he caught an outstanding 44 percent of attempted base-stealers — and he rated slightly below average (though far from disastrous) in terms of pitch-framing.

Lobaton’s season was worse than that of Ramos, but the 31-year-old also entered the season with lower expectations than those placed upon his teammate and countryman. Lobaton batted .199/.279/.294 in 144 plate appearances and caught a respectable eight of 31 base-stealers while grading out quite well in terms of framing. (Prior to 2015, he’d been roughly average, so it could be that the strong marks are merely a small-sample fluctuation behind the plate as opposed to a definitive sign of improvement.) Elsewhere on the 40-man roster, the Nats have young Pedro Severino (who made a brief big league cameo in 2015) and Spencer Kieboom. Both players need more time in the minors, however, as Severino’s bat comes with question marks (though his defensive tools are said to be advanced) and Kieboom spent the 2015 season at Class-A Advanced.

Another factor to consider when thinking about the Nationals’ catching situation is that Ramos is slated to hit the open market next winter and may not be in the team’s long-term plans. If the expectation is that Ramos signs elsewhere as a free agent — either because the Nationals are outbid by a rival team or because the team simply isn’t interested in re-signing him — then it perhaps makes some sense to proactively seek upgrades behind the plate this season. Ramos has historically done most of his damage against left-handed pitching, and the Nationals are known to be seeking lineup balance, so perhaps they’d be interested in finding a left-handed bat to pair with Ramos behind the plate. That, of course, is nothing more than speculation on my own part, and it’s worth pointing out that the reported-but-not-yet-finalized additions of Daniel Murphy (link) and Stephen Drew (link) will at least given the club some more left-handed options around the diamond once completed.

In spite of Ramos’ struggles getting on base last season, it should be noted that president of baseball operations/GM Mike Rizzo spoke very highly of Ramos back in early November in the midst of rumors connecting the Nationals to Matt Wieters (prior to Wieters’ acceptance of a qualifying offer from Baltimore). Rizzo conceded that Ramos had some struggles at the plate but showed good power and ranked No. 1 in the National League in terms of throwing out base-stealers, adding: “We like Ramos. He’s a guy that it would be difficult to find a replacement for.”

Orioles, Mets Interested In Antonio Bastardo

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8:13pm: The Mets do indeed like Bastardo, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post, but the team isn’t willing to give him the three-year deal that he has been seeking on the open market this winter. The Mets are prepared to wait out the market for the remaining relievers, according to Puma.

8:01am: The Orioles and Mets are among the clubs holding discussions with free agent southpaw Antonio Bastardo, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Bastardo, 30, spent last year with the Pirates.

Bastardo joins Tyler Clippard as the only two unsigned relievers left on MLBTR’s pre-winter list of the top fifty free agents. In that post, Tim Dierkes predicted that he could command a three-year contract with a $15MM guarantee, though he could be aiming for more after fellow lefty Tony Sipp landed an $18MM promise earlier in the offseason.

While his bottom-line run prevention numbers have wavered from year to year, Bastardo has been rather consistent in terms of peripherals. For his career, the veteran has posted 11.0 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9, while generating a meager 28.7% groundball rate. He has, however, kept the long ball in check, allowing only a 7.0% HR/FB rate and 0.80 HR/9 dating back to his rookie season of 2009.

Those numbers support his overall 3.45 ERA. Bastardo has carried a 3.20 SIERA to go with a 3.33 FIP, both of which suggest that he may have been a bit unlucky. On the other hand, xFIP only values his overall contributions at a 3.87 ERA equivalency.

That last metric has not been enamored of Bastardo’s work, in particular, over the past three years. He has been particularly fortunate in terms of limiting home runs in that span, with a HR/FB rate hovering below 5%. And last year, there was some cause to question the sub-3.00, as Bastardo benefited from a .246 BABIP despite allowing a career-high 32.2% hard contact rate.

But the southpaw also generated a 14.6% swinging-strike rate in his sole season in Pittsburgh, good for the second-best mark of his career. And his velocity actually trended up to 92.7 mph on the season.

Importantly, too, Bastardo recovered from a tough start with a nice run to end the year. And while he was even better against opposing lefties, he also limited right-handed hitters to a .207/.311/.315 batting line. That lines up with his career numbers, and will surely give teams comfort that he’ll be a flexible setup piece.

It isn’t surprising to hear that Baltimore and New York are among the suitors for Bastardo, but neither of these particular organizations seem to be in particular need of a lefty pen arm. The O’s top southpaw (outside of closer Zach Britton) is Brian Matusz, who has turned in solid results over the past three years. And the Mets already re-signed Jerry Blevins to go with Sean Gilmartin.

But particularly if one views Bastardo as a late-inning option who is nearly as useful against righties as lefties, it’s easy to see him drawing wide interest. (The same holds true, it’s worth noting, of Clippard.) Even at this late stage of the winter, there figure to be more clubs that will be involved as his market develops.

Indians Notes: Free Agency, Uribe, Bullpen, Payroll, Napoli, Davis

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It “sounds like” the Indians are done making significant moves this offseason, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. However, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told Hoynes that under the right circumstances, he would part with the team’s first-round pick in order to sign a free agent. Obviously, Cleveland doesn’t have a strong history of signing players with draft pick compensation attached to them, but Cleveland did surrender a pick when signing Michael Bourn to a four-year deal prior to the 2013 season (though clearly, the results of that move weren’t what the club had hoped). It’s difficult to envision the Indians surrendering a pick to pay top-of-the-market value for a free agent, but if a player’s asking price drops considerably (as was the case with Bourn, compared to early expectations that offseason), one can envision the Indians entering the mix. Remaining players that are tied to draft pick compensation include Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Chris Davis, Ian Desmond, Howie Kendrick, Dexter Fowler, Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo and Ian Kennedy are tied to compensation. It’s difficult to envision any of the pitchers, Kendrick or Desmond as a fit, but any of the outfielders makes some sense on paper.

A few more notes on the Indians…

  • Cleveland is still interested in veteran third baseman Juan Uribe, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney in his daily Insider-only blog post. The Indians currently project to use some combination of Giovanny Urshela and Jose Ramirez at third base now that Lonnie Chisenhall has transitioned to the outfield and Chris Johnson has been released. Uribe, though he’ll play next season at the age of 37, still graded out as an above-average defender at the hot corner in 2015 and posted a respectable .253/320/.417 batting line with 14 homers in 397 plate appearances between the Dodgers, Braves and Mets.
  • Olney also notes that the Indians are still monitoring the free-agent market for relief pitching. Behind closer Cody Allen, the Indians will deploy some combination of right-handers Bryan Shaw, Zach McAllister, Austin Adams, Shawn Armstrong and lefties Kyle Crockett and Giovanni Soto. Cleveland also has some MLB veterans that will be in camp as non-roster invitees, including Joba Chamberlain, Joe Thatcher, Ross Detwiler, Tom Gorzelanny and Felipe Paulino; that group will be in the mix for bullpen spots as well. But, given the lack of proven names that are locks for roster spots, there does appear to be room for another veteran arm on a Major League deal.
  • In a full column, Hoynes breaks down the Indians’ 2016 payroll picture, given the current roster construction. Hoynes notes that the 25-man roster figures to come in around $70MM in terms of payroll, but the significant sums owed to Johnson, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn — none of whom are with the team anymore — will push Cleveland closer to $90MM. While that figure still rates as one of the lower team payrolls across the league, it’s also greater than the upper-$80MM marks that Cleveland has fielded on Opening Day for the past few seasons. Hoynes also notes that as the salaries of the team’s core players such as Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Yan Gomes escalate over the course of their guaranteed contracts, the team won’t be able to maintain payrolls in this range, unless they’re to trade players away from that core.
  • Antonetti and Mike Napoli spoke to the Cleveland media today after the formal announcement of Napoli’s one-year deal, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes. Napoli said he’s been told he’ll receive regular playing time at first base for Cleveland this season, meaning Carlos Santana’s role will be primarily designated hitter. Antonetti explained that the club did a good deal of research on Napoli’s poor start to the 2015 campaign. “There were some adjustments Mike made with his swing,” Antonetti said, “some small tweaks mechanically that he made once he arrived in Texas that got him back to the point where he’s had success in the past.” As Bastian notes, Napoli underwent a maxillomandibular advancement surgical procedure last winter in order to re-align his jaw, chin and sinuses in order to alleviate a severe case of sleep apnea that has plagued him for years. While that cost Napoli much of his offseason training regimen, the veteran wouldn’t use that as an excuse, noting that he was able to have a productive Spring Training before struggling once the season began.
  • Jon Heyman reports the breakdown of Napoli’s one-year deal with Cleveland (Twitter link). Napoli will receive a $7MM base salary plus $500K bonuses for reaching 500, 550, 600, 625 and 645 plate appearances, meaning he can max out his contract at $10MM.
  • Heyman also tweets the incentive structure of Rajai Davis’ contract with Cleveland. In addition to his $5.25MM base, Davis will earn $175K for every 25 plate appearances from 400 to 550, allowing him to earn a total of $1.225MM in incentives.

Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Howard File Defamation Lawsuits Against Al Jazeera

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6:25pm: In a full column, Salisbury relays Howard’s official statement on the matter: “Today I authorized my attorneys to file suit against Al Jazeera and its reporters. Their irresponsible reporting forced me to take this action to protect my name and to fight back against the spreading of these lies. I will have no further comment, as the filing itself contains all I need to say.”

6:08pm: John Ourand of Sports Business Journal has a copy of Zimmerman’s suit against Al Jazeera (PDF link from Ourand, on Twitter).

5:59pm: According to a report from Reuters (Twitter link) and a second report from Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com (also on Twitter), Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard have filed lawsuits against the Al Jazeera media outlet for the PED allegations against each player in Al Jazeera’s recent documentary, The Dark Side. The controversial documentary was released in late December, although within hours of its release, the documentary’s main witness, Charlie Sly, told ESPN that the comments he made regarding Zimmerman and Howard were “absolutely false and incorrect,” adding that the comments he made to British hurdler Liam Collins, who went undercover for the film, were his attempt to “pull one over on Collins to see if he had any idea of what he was talking about.”

Per the Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga (links to Svrluga on Twitter), Zimmerman’s lawsuit states the following: “Mr. Zimmerman has never taken Delta 2, human growth hormone, or any other steroid or other performance-enhancing substance banned by the MLB.” The Al Jazeera film in question alleges that Zimmerman did take Delta-2, which is both specifically designated to evade drug tests and included on Major League Baseball’s list of banned substances. At the time the documentary was published, attorney William Burck of Emmanuel Quinn, who represents both Zimmerman and Howard, issued the following statement:

“It’s inexcusable and irresponsible that Al Jazeera would provide a platform and broadcast outright lies about Mr. Howard and Mr. Zimmerman. The extraordinarily reckless claims made against our clients in this report are completely false and rely on a source who has already recanted his claims.  We will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable for smearing our clients’ good names.”

NFL star Peyton Manning, who is also the subject of Al Jazeera allegations, could conceivably file a suit as well, as could fellow NFL players Julius Peppers, Mike Neal and James Harrison, each of whom is connected to Delta-2 usage in the film as well. MLBTR’s sister site, Pro Football Rumors, has been tracking the football implications of the Al Jazeera documentary for those who are interested in the latest developments on the NFL side of the equation.

Braves Discussing Reunion With Kelly Johnson

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The Braves have maintained a dialogue with versatile utility man Kelly Johnson, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, adding that it “still seems like there’s a chance a deal could be reached.” David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes the Johnson news a step further, tweeting that he’s been told there’s a better than 50-50 chance that the two sides will agree to a deal.

Johnson, 34 in February, split the 2015 campaign between the Braves and Mets, logging time at all four infield positions (although just nine innings at shortstop) as well as both corner outfield positions. Johnson graded out as an above-average defender in left field over the course of his career and drew solid ratings there in 2015 as well. He also has a solid defensive track record at second base, in the eyes of metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved, although he drew below-average ratings in a small sample of 204 innings in 2015.

At the plate, Johnson delivered above-average results, batting .265/.314/.435 with 14 home runs in just 335 plate appearances. The Mets and Braves platooned the left-handed-hitting Johnson heavily, which likely contributed to his quality results. Johnson has typically struggled against left-handed pitching, but he has a strong track record when holding the platoon advantage and has long displayed power in such situations, as evidenced by a career .177 isolated power mark (that is, slugging percentage minus bating average). Currently, the Braves have Jace Peterson and Gordon Beckham atop their depth chart at second base. At third base, Adonis Garcia and Beckham (both right-handed hitters) figure to handle most of the duties.

Rangers Sign Cesar Ramos To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed left-handed reliever Cesar Ramos to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training, according to a tweet from Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake.

Ramos, a client of the Wasserman Media Group, spent the 2015 season with the division-rival Angels and enjoyed a strong season out of the Halos’ bullpen but was surprisingly non-tendered in December. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected him to receive a $1.7MM salary, which the Angels clearly weren’t interested in paying despite the fact that Ramos logged a 2.75 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate in 52 1/3 innings.

The 31-year-old Ramos certainly didn’t dominate opponents, as lefties hit .265/.346/.316 against him last season, while righties batted .276/.324/.382. Ramos, though, does have a 3.49 ERA in 276 innings dating back to the 2011 season, giving him a solid track record. Interestingly, the Rangers’ release notes that Ramos will be stretched out to work as a starting pitcher rather than resuming his traditional bullpen role. Ramos did start seven games for the Rays in 2014, but just 10 of his 251 Major League appearances have been starts.

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