Rays To Release Rene Rivera, David Carpenter
The Rays will release catcher Rene Rivera, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Tampa Bay also released reliever David Carpenter, Topkin adds on Twitter.
Rivera was owed $1.7MM under his arbitration contract, and Tampa Bay will remain on the hook for around a quarter of that (45 days of pay) if he’s not claimed. The club will apparently go with Curt Casali and Hank Conger behind the dish.
Rivera, 32, came to the club in the three-team swap that also brought in outfielder Steven Souza. The highly-regarded defender was coming off of a breakout 2014 season with the Padres after receiving only scattered MLB action previously. But Rivera struggled last year, putting up a meager .178/.213/.275 slash in his 319 plate appearances.
The Rangers and Astros have just filled their needs for additional veteran receivers, though surely some other organization will see fit to add Rivera in some capacity. Despite his questionable bat, he remains a useful presence behind the plate.
Carpenter, 30, was competing for a pen spot. The right-hander has had some strong campaigns in years past, but struggled with injuries last year and saw his strikeout tallies plummet. He ended with a 4.01 ERA in 24 2/3 innings, split between the Yankees and Nationals.
Criminal Charges Against Jose Reyes To Be Dropped
The criminal charges filed in Hawaii against Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes will be dropped, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher of the Associated Press reports. The domestic abuse trial that had been schedule for Opening Day will not go forward, per the prosecuting attorney, because Reyes’s wife — the alleged victim — was not willing to cooperate in the case.
Of course, the termination of criminal proceedings does not mean that Reyes will necessarily avoid discipline from the league under its domestic violence policy. Commissioner Rob Manfred recently handed Yankees hurler Aroldis Chapman a 30-game suspension despite the fact that — unlike Reyes — he was not arrested or charged in the incident in question. Chapman and the MLBPA also agreed not to appeal that ban, which some have suggested may have reduced its duration.
The charges stemmed from an incident on Halloween night last fall in which Reyes allegedly assaulted his wife in their hotel room. According to reports at the time, Reyes’s wife accused him at the time of grabbing her throat and pushing her into a sliding glass door. He was arrested as she was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Reyes has already been placed on paid administrative leave by the league pending the outcome of his case. He did not appear in Spring Training with the Rockies as a result. Now, Manfred faces the difficult matter of investigating and reaching a resolution on the matter with the regular season set to open in less than a week.
The Rockies, who acquired Reyes in last summer’s Troy Tulowitzki deal, owe the veteran shortstop $48MM over the next two years, including a buyout of a 2018 club option. Colorado would stand to avoid paying a pro-rated portion of that for whatever length of time, if any, Reyes is unavailable due to suspension. The Rockies seem set to utilize prospect Trevor Story at shortstop in Reyes’s absence; needless to say, the future outlook for Reyes and the club remain unclear at this time.
White Sox Outright Jacob Turner, Purchase Contract Of Jimmy Rollins
The White Sox announced several roster moves today. Among them, righty Jacob Turner was outrighted off of the 40-man roster, while shortstop Jimmy Rollins was added in his place.
Turner, 24, landed with the White Sox after bouncing around several times in recent years. He agreed to a $1.5MM deal with the club over the offseason.
A former top prospect, Turner is still looking to get back on track after fizzling out in the majors and sitting out much of 2015 with arm troubles. The out-of-options right-hander was hit hard this spring, allowing 14 earned runs on 14 hits and eight walks over 12 innings.
As for Rollins, it was widely expected that he’d open the year as the primary shortstop in Chicago. It seems he’ll still cede time to Tyler Saladino on occasion, but Rollins figures to receive the majority of the action.
Tigers Re-Sign Bobby Parnell
The Tigers have announced the re-signing of reliever Bobby Parnell to a minor league deal, as Lynn Henning of the Detroit News was first to report on Twitter. Third baseman Casey McGehee — who, like Parnell, was released on Monday — is reportedly also likely to re-join the organization.
By releasing and re-signing Parnell, 31, the Tigers avoided the need to pay him a $100K retention bonus. Though the results on the field this spring weren’t pretty, Parnell was said to be ramping up his velocity as camp progressed.
The former closer made it back from Tommy John surgery last year, only to strike out 13 and walk 17 in his 24 innings. Of course, he has shown plenty more previously. Over the 2010 to 2013 time span, he ran up a 2.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.
Jason Motte Has Strained Shoulder, Likely To Miss Opening Day
Rockies reliever Jason Motte is dealing with a shoulder strain that will likely cause him to miss the start of the season, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. That seems to line up lefty Jake McGee to take the closing duties to start the year.
Any significant time missed by Motte would represent a big blow to the Rockies. He signed a two-year, $10MM deal over the winter to provide a stabilizing late-inning presence. And the club’s staff is already dealing with an injury to Jon Gray, which has pushed Christian Bergman from the pen to the rotation.
While McGee is more than capable — preferable, really — in the ninth inning, the overall pen situation obviously will suffer without Motte. Presumably, Justin Miller and Chad Qualls will function as the two late-inning righties.
Then, there’s the question of the long-term effects of fighting through a shoulder injury. Motte was coming off of a somewhat less-than-stellar 2015 — though he did bring his velocity up to a 95 mph average fastball. And he gave up six earned runs in 5 2/3 spring innings — though that was largely due to two well-timed home runs, as Motte struck out four without surrendering a walk.
Mariners Acquire Nick Vincent
The Marines have acquired righty Nick Vincent from the Padres, per a team announcement. San Diego will receive a player to be named later in the swap. MLB.com’s A.J. Cassavell first reported that a deal was in the works, via Twitter.
Seattle had long been on the look for another middle relief option with a variety of injuries impacting the team’s depth. The out-of-options Vincent was obviously available at a minimum cost, and will slot right into the pen.
Vincent, 29, owns a sparkling 2.63 ERA over 150 2/3 MLB frames, with 9.6 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. And he’ll be pitching at the league minimum this season before qualifying for arbitration next winter (if he achieves sufficient service time).
That looks like an intriguing package, but there are reasons he was had so cheaply. Vincent doesn’t generate very many groundballs and has a sub-90 average fastball. He may be in for some regression in terms of allowing home runs and saw his control lag last year (3.9 BB/9). Metrics like SIERA (3.90) and xFIP (4.26) took note of such factors in valuing Vincent’s 23 frames in 2015, though they have liked him quite a bit in prior years and it’s fair to note that he was rather dominant over his 50 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
Nationals Release, Re-Sign Bronson Arroyo, Burke Badenhop
The Nationals have released and re-signed right-handers Bronson Arroyo and Burke Badenhop, according to a club announcement. Both players had joined the team on minor league deals over the winter, and have now agreed to new minor league pacts to stay in the organization.
The moves were made because of opt-out terms in their prior agreements, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets. Their original opt-out dates were not reported, but certainly may have fallen in this general time frame. It’s not clear if and when the players can elect to seek another opportunity moving forward.
Arroyo, 39, had been in the rotation mix before a rotator cuff issue sidelined him this spring. He’s expected to rehab and make an attempt to return to the hill over the summer. While the organization has several young options that will compete at Triple-A in hopes of earning starting shots if a need arises at the major league level, Arroyo could certainly present an option if he’s able to work back to full health.
Badenhop, meanwhile, had been looking to crack the pen after an up-and-down year with the Reds in 2015. The groundball-heavy righty didn’t have good results in spring action and wasn’t able to force his way into a fairly competitive relief situation. But he’ll look to rebound at Triple-A and re-enter the picture later in the year.
Blue Jays Notes: Atkins, Encarnacion, Osuna, Carrera
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins had to hit the ground running after joining club president Mark Shapiro in moving from Cleveland to Toronto. He gave an interesting interview with Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star about the transition. Among other things, Atkins says he has been impressed with the level of minor league talent still in place despite the significant trades swung by former GM Alex Anthopoulos.
Here’s more out of Toronto:
- It doesn’t appear that the Blue Jays have any further extension talks lined up with slugger Edwin Encarnacion during the final days of camp, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. That’s not terribly surprising, given that all indications are the sides were not able to gain much ground earlier in the spring. Still, it’s worth noting that many extension — particularly of pending free agents — come together just before the season opens.
- Roberto Osuna will open the year as the closer for the Jays, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets, meaning that the recently acquired Drew Storen will operate in the 8th inning. As Nicholson-Smith notes (also via Twitter), the Opening Day pen will include four other new additions: Gavin Floyd, Jesse Chavez, Arnold Leon, and Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini.
- Meanwhile, Toronto has settled upon Ezequiel Carrera as the team’s fourth outfielder to open the season, as MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets. He had been competing for the job with players like Darrell Ceciliani, Junior Lake, and Domonic Brown. Carrera, 28, owns a .259./.309/.349 slash with 27 stolen bases over 670 plate appearances spread over five MLB campaigns.
Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins
This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series. The full index of Offseason In Review posts can be found here.
The Marlins made a significant pitching investment after deciding to keep their outfield intact, leaving the same young core in place that showed promise in 2014 but didn’t deliver last year.
Major League Signings
- SP Wei-Yin Chen: Five years, $80MM (includes opt-out after second year)
- OF Ichiro Suzuki: One year, $2MM
- C Jeff Mathis: One year, $1.5MM
- SP/RP Edwin Jackson: One year, $507.5K
- 3B/1B Chris Johnson: One year, $507.5K
- Total spend: $84.515MM
Notable Minor League Signings
- Robert Andino, Dylan Axelrod, Craig Breslow, Paul Clemens, Don Kelly (since released), Zach Lutz, Justin Maxwell (since released), Dustin McGowan, Chris Narveson, Adrian Nieto, Troy Patton, Jo-Jo Reyes, Xavier Scruggs
Trades And Claims
- Acquired SP/RP Richard Mitchell from Pirates for SP Trevor Williams (as compensation for hiring of Jim Benedict)
- Claimed RP Nefi Ogando from Phillies
- Claimed RP Mike Strong from Brewers (later claimed by Twins)
- Claimed SP/RP Tim Berry from Orioles
Extensions
Notable Losses
- Henderson Alvarez (non-tendered), Erik Cordier, Casey McGehee, Donovan Solano
Needs Addressed
The Marlins entered the winter with one clear mandate: finding a quality starter to pair with ace Jose Fernandez. With former top-of-the-rotation mate Henderson Alvarez set to be non-tendered — the club found his shoulder too great a risk for the investment — it seemed clear that one or more additions were needed. The only question was how that would be accomplished.
All signs initially pointed to a swap involving young center fielder Marcell Ozuna, who featured as one of the most intriguing trade chips in baseball as the offseason kicked off. A rocky relationship with the organization — rather than a roster surplus — seemingly left the talented youngster ticketed for another club for a controllable arm. But pulling off such a deal was probably easier said than done, and the scenario never came to fruition. While it might well have made sense to swap out Ozuna for the right young pitcher, the Fish were wise not to part with him for anything short of a high-quality asset.
Ultimately, Miami turned instead to the free agent market to bolster its staff, settling on accomplished southpaw Wei-Yin Chen. The deal could be a bargain if Chen can continue to deliver results, as he’s owed just $28MM before his opt-out opportunity. Of course, that leaves a lot of cash to go if he flops, and the team also parted with a second-round draft pick to add him. (Then again, the team also likely saved money by including the opt-out, a concept explored just yesterday by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, who values Chen’s clause at about $12MM.)
There’s no disputing the value of the 3.44 ERA and 377 frames that Chen carried over the last two seasons with the Orioles. That kind of production gets paid, and the Taiwanese hurler landed the exact guarantee that MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted. But questions remain as to sustainability, as Chen has succeeded in spite of uninspiring strikeout and groundball numbers and some inflated home run tallies. He ought to be a sturdy mid or back-of-the-rotation arm at worst, but the Marlins will be crossing their fingers for more.
Otherwise, Miami largely added bit pieces. Beloved veterans Ichiro Suzuki and Jeff Mathis are back for bench roles, while righty Edwin Jackson and third baseman Chris Johnson were picked up at league minimum while other organizations pick up the bulk of the tab on the remainder of their big-money contracts.
Jackson is one of several swingman types on hand, joining Brad Hand and David Phelps as pitchers who’ll likely start in the pen but could also provide rotation help. The relief corps also could include several other offseason additions, including claimee Nefi Ogando (who was just optioned) and minor league free agents such as Craig Breslow, Chris Narveson, and Dustin McGowan.
As for Johnson, he’s expected to share time at first with Justin Bour, who showed nicely last year but has yet to prove he can hit against left-handed pitching. Johnson also provides an option at third, which will be manned primarily by Martin Prado. The rest of the starting roles are also set: Miami returns J.T. Realmuto behind the dish, Adeiny Hechavarria at short, and the recently-extended Dee Gordon at second (more on that below).
Read on for more analysis …
West Notes: D’Backs, Padres, Sandoval
When Dave Stewart transitioned from being a successful agent to becoming the GM of the Diamondbacks, he left his agency behind. However, the firm – Sports Management Partners – stayed in the family, as Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic writes. Initially, the plan was for former big-leaguer Dave Henderson to take over SMP, but the firm was left in limbo after his untimely passing, which led to Lonnie Murray taking on Stewart’s roster of clients.
Of course, there are obvious conflict of interest concerns, particularly with SMP clients Chris Herrmann and Enrique Burgos competing for roster spots in Arizona. While the MLBPA has been aware of Murray managing SMP, the commissioner’s office apparently did not know Stewart’s wife was representing players until very recently. For the full story, we highly recommend reading Piecoro’s article.
Here’s more from the West divisions:
- The Padres reportedly sent a scout to watch Pablo Sandoval, but San Diego GM A.J. Preller downplayed the possibility of anything brewing with the Red Sox. “Our pro scouts work really hard to look at all 30 clubs. … That’s the nature of what goes on,” Preller said (Twitter link via Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego). In a twist that surprised many this month, Sandoval is currently competing with Travis Shaw for Boston’s third base job.
- Yasmany Tomas got a $68.5MM deal when he signed with the Diamondbacks, but making the jump was still tough decision for the outfielder as he had to leave one of his children behind, USA Today’s Jorge L. Ortiz writes. “Here you have everything, but in some ways you don’t have anything,’’ Tomas said. “There are times we may be at home and we’re down because we don’t have relatives or neighbors we can talk to and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’ In Cuba you always find people out, during the day or night. Money is not everything. You can have all the money in the world and not be happy.’’
- The Rangers traded for Bryan Holaday on Tuesday night in a deal that should strengthen their catching situation behind Robinson Chirinos. The Tigers got right-hander Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson in the deal.
- On Tuesday night, the Angels acquired right-hander Chris Jones from the Orioles in exchange for minor league outfielder Natanael Delgado and infielder Erick Salcedo.