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2017 Non-Tenders

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The deadline to tender 2018 contracts to players is tonight at 8pm EST. We’ll keep track of the day’s non-tenders in this post (all referenced arbitration projections courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) …

  • The Giants non-tendered righty Albert Suarez, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Suarez, 28, was not yet eligible for arbitration.
  • Righty Tom Koehler and infielder Ryan Goins are heading to the open market after being non-tendered by the Blue Jays, per a team announcement.
  • The Rays announced that lefty Xavier Cedeno has been non-tendered, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
  • The Cubs non-tendered catcher Taylor Davis, per a team announcement. He was not yet eligible for arbitration.
  • Four Rangers players have not been tendered contracts, per a club announcement. Righties Chi Chi Gonzalez, A.J. Griffin, and Nick Martinez have been cut loose along with infielder Hanser Alberto. Griffin ($3.0MM projection) and Martinez ($2.0MM) were both noted as non-tender candidates by MLBTR. The other two players were not yet eligible for arbitration. Gonzalez was a former first-round pick who had struggled of late and underwent Tommy John surgery in July.
  • The Diamondbacks have also non-tendered lefty T.J. McFarland, who had projected at a $1.0MM salary.
  • The Reds non-tendered lefty Kyle Crockett, a pre-arb lefty who was only recently claimed on waivers, per a club announcement.
  • Per a club announcement, the Brewers have non-tendered veteran righty Jared Hughes. He will end up being the only 40-man player not to receive a contract from Milwaukee. Hughes had projected at a $2.2MM arbitration value. The 32-year-old is a master at inducing grounders and has turned in repeatedly excellent results. He also averaged a career-best 93.9 mph on his sinker in 2017.
  • The Mariners have non-tendered lefty Drew Smyly and righty Shae Simmons, per a club announcement. While the former was expected, due to Smyly’s Tommy John surgery, the latter rates as something of a surprise given his cheap $700K projection. Of course, it’s possible the club is not optimistic of his chances of bouncing back from arm troubles.
  • The White Sox will not tender a contract to reliever Jake Petricka, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). He had projected to take home $1.1MM in his second trip through the arb process. Also non-tendered, per a club announcement, were righties Zach Putnam and Al Alburquerque as well as infielder Alan Hanson.
  • It seems that righty Bruce Rondon will wind up his tenure with the Tigers, as the organization is set to non-tender him, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press (via Twitter). Rondon was long viewed as a potential late-inning arm for the Tigers, but had some notable run-ins with the organization, struggled with control, and never consistently produced at the MLB level. Though he projected to earn just $1.2MM, Rondon will be allowed to find a new organization. He will turn 26 later this month.
  • The Diamondbacks will non-tender righty J.J. Hoover, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Hoover projected at just $1.6MM, but Arizona is watching every penny as it seeks to return to the postseason with a tight payroll situation. The 30-year-old turned in 41 1/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball in 2017 with 11.8 K/9 but also 5.7 BB/9 on the year.
  • The Royals announced that they have non-tendered outfielder Terrance Gore. Though Gore was not eligible for arbitration, teams occasionally utilize today’s deadline to prune their 40-man rosters. Gore had quite an interesting run with Kansas City, scarcely playing at all during the regular season and then appearing as a speed-and-defense asset in the team’s two storied postseason runs. Now, though the fleet-footed 26-year-old is out of options. With an upper minors OPS that hovers just over .600, Gore just was not going to break camp with the club. It seems reasonable to think there’s a chance he’ll return to the organization on a minors deal, though Gore will also have a shot at exploring the broader market.

Astros Non-Tender Mike Fiers

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The Astros have non-tendered righty Mike Fiers, per a team announcement. The team has tendered contracts to all other eligible players, while Fiers will head to the open market.

This move was widely expected, though there seemed to be some possibility that the team would instead find another organization interested in Fiers via trade. Fiers was projected by MLBTR and Matt Swartz to earn $5.7MM in his second (and second-to-last) season of arbitration eligibility.

Fiers, 32, has had some dazzling high points — including a 2015 no-hitter — but has been increasingly prone to the long ball over the past three seasons. He surrendered 1.88 home runs per nine in 2017 while also posting a career-high 3.6 BB/9 walk rate. Perhaps it isn’t surprising, then, that he ended the year with an ugly 5.22 ERA over 153 1/3 innings.

While Fiers had a nice stretch of good outings in the middle of the year, briefly losing his rotation spot before being pushed back in due to injuries, he finished poorly and did not earn a chance to play in the Astros’ successful run through the postseason. Of course, in other ways Fiers was much the same pitcher as ever. He posted typical velocity and swinging-strike (9.1%) numbers along with a 42.9% groundball rate that sits above his personal average.

It still seems likely that there’ll be fairly robust interest in Fiers in free agency. Even if expectations aren’t all that high, he has turned in 88 starts over the past three seasons and seems a reasonable bet to help stabilize the back of a rotation.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/1/17

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With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players set for 8pm tonight, there should be several agreements over the next few hours — particularly among players that were considered to be potential non-tender candidates. Many non-tender candidates will be presented with offers that are lower than what they’d project to earn via arbitration in a “take it or leave it” manner; some will agree to the lesser deal (as Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt did earlier this morning) while others will reject and likely hit the open market.

Here’s today’s slate of players that have avoided the arb process and locked in at least a partial guarantee for the upcoming season (arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed, but each of these players will be guaranteed one sixth of the agreed-upon sum unless specifically negotiated otherwise). All projections are via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz…

  • The Padres announced that lefty Robbie Erlin has agreed to a contract for 2018. The 27-year-old missed all of 2017 due to Tommy John surgery and was projected to earn $700K through arbitration. Terms of his deal have not yet been reported.
  • The Braves appear to have agreed to terms with just-claimed righty Chase Whitley, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Whitley, who was projected to earn $1.0MM in his first season of arb eligibility, is said to be in line for an opportunity to work as a starter. It’s a split deal that would pay Whitley $800K in the majors, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.
  • The Mariners agreed with Andrew Romine on a $1.05MM contract, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Romine, a versatile infielder, was claimed off waivers after the end of the 2017 season.
  • Outfielder Abraham Almonte has reached a deal to avoid arbitration with the Indians, per a club announcement. He had featured as a possible non-tender candidate but instead found common ground with the organization. Almonte, 28, slashed just .233/.314/.366 in his 195 trips to the plate in 2017. He had projected to earn a $1.1MM payday in his first season of arbitration eligibility but will take home $825K, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
  • The Royals have agreed to terms with righty Mike Morin to avoid arbitration, the club announced. He’ll receive a split contract, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets, with a $750K annual earning rate in the majors and $250K in the minors. Morin, who projected at $700K, drew a mention on MLBTR’s non-tender candidates list. Indeed, his contract reflects the middling season that he turned in. Morin allowed 16 earned runs in twenty MLB frames, though he was more effective at Triple-A.
  • Yimi Garcia and the Dodgers have avoided arbitration, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). Garia projected to command only a $700K salary after missing all of 2017 following Tommy John surgery; he’ll end up taking home $630K, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Now 27, Garcia had established himself as a significant member of the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2015, when he compiled a 3.34 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 over 56 2/3 innings. But injuries limited him in the ensuing season and ultimately culminated in a UCL replacement.
  • Per a club announcement, the Indians have agreed to a contract with righty Dan Otero. Otero will take home $1.3MM, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). He was projected to command $1.4MM. The 32-year-old Otero has been an unmitigated bargain for Cleveland over the past two years, turning in 130 2/3 total innings of 2.14 ERA pitching despite averaging just 6.5 K/9 in that span. Otero has succeeded with unfailing command (just 19 walks since joining the Indians) and a hefty groundball rate (over 60% in each of the past two seasons).
  • The Angels and righty Blake Wood agreed to a one-year, $1.45MM deal that falls well shy of his $2.2MM projection, as FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman was the first to report (via Twitter). Wood struggled mightily in Cincinnati before being picked up by the Halos late in the year and turning his season around a bit. In 17 innings with the Angels, he posted a 4.76 ERA with a much more promising 22-to-4 K/BB ratio. Heyman notes that he can earn up to $50K worth of incentives as well.
  • The White Sox announced that they’ve signed right-hander Danny Farquhar to a one-year deal worth $1.05MM — a pact that falls shy of his $1.5MM projection. In 49 1/3 innings between the Rays and ChiSox, the 30-year-old logged a 4.20 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 and a 41.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Yankees Have Made Managerial Hiring Decision

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6:49pm: Meulens is remaining in San Francisco, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle hears. (Twitter link.) In conjunction with the other reports, that would appear to suggest that Boone is the choice.

6:10pm: New York has made its decision, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets, though it’s still not clear whether it’ll be Boone or Meulens.

5:00pm: Thomson has been informed that he will not get the job, Joel Shermanof the New York Post tweets. Likewise, Beltran has been told he’s no longer under consideration, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports tweets.

2:42pm: It is “likely” that either Boone or Meulens will receive the nod to become the next Yankees skipper, according to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. Beltran was also among the group that “made the strongest impressions,” per the report, but Madden reasons that he is unlikely to get the job since he just wrapped up his playing career.

Meanwhile, Thomson is said to be a “leading candidate” to join the Phillies as their bench coach, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). WFAN’s Sweeny Murti had reported recently (via Twitter) that Thomson was interviewing with Philadelphia.

8:09am: The Yankees will not conduct any further interviews as they seek to fill their managerial vacancy, general manager Brian Cashman tells reporters (Twitter links via Ken Davidoff of the New York Post). The Yankees will not conduct a second round of interviews with the six candidates that have sat down with the team, either, Davidoff adds.

The latest development in what has been one of the lengthiest managerial searches in recent memory means that one of Rob Thomson, Hensley Meulens, Eric Wedge, Chris Woodward, Aaron Boone or the recently retired Carlos Beltran, who interviewed for the post yesterday, will be the Yankees’ new skipper. Unless Wedge is the ultimate selection for the Yankees, they’ll head into 2018 with a rookie skipper. More surprising is the fact that two of the final candidates, Boone and Beltran, have never even coached at the professional level.

To this point, none of the six has been characterized as any sort of favorite, though ESPN’s Andrew Marchand hears from two sources that Boone did quite well in his interview (Twitter links). Marchand also notes that he’s heard a positive review for Meulens and one for Beltran following their respective interviews as well.

Thomson, who served as the Yankees’ bench coach since 2015, would be a familiar choice for both the players and the front office. The Yankees may risk the possibility of losing him to another organization if he doesn’t ultimately get the managerial nod, as WFAN’s Sweeny Murti reported (on Twitter) this week that Thomson was also interviewing for the Phillies’ currently vacant bench coach position.

Meulens played with the Yankees from 1989-93 and has served as the Giants’ hitting coach dating back to 2010 (including in each of San Francisco’s three World Series-winning seasons). The Curacao native speaks five languages, including Spanish, Dutch and Japanese, which would serve him well as he communicates with a diverse group of players on the Yankees’ roster.

Wedge managed the Indians from 2003-09 and the Mariners from 2011-13 but hasn’t been in a big league dugout since the conclusion of that Seattle tenure. He spent two years serving as an ESPN analyst in the interim before taking a player development job with the Blue Jays prior to the 2016 season.

Woodward, the Dodgers’ third base coach, was on the Mariners’ coaching staff from 2014-15 and has been in his current position with the Dodgers since the 2016 season. He’s previously worked as a minor league infield coordinator (also with the Mariners) since retiring as a player back in 2012.

Neither Boone nor Beltran brings any field experience to the table, though that certainly doesn’t disqualify them as serious candidates for the job. Beltran only recently announced his retirement from a 20-year playing career that may very well culminate with enshrinement in Cooperstown. Boone has been a mainstay on ESPN since 2010 and enjoyed a solid 12-year playing career that included one of the most famous home runs in Yankees franchise history.

Brewers Agree To Deal With Jeremy Jeffress

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The Brewers have struck a deal with righty Jeremy Jeffress, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy first reported (Twitter link). While the contract will promise the second-time arb-eligible reliever just one more season worth of salary, it also comes with two club options, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 30-year-old Jeffress will play for $1.75MM in 2017, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. The options are valued at $3.175MM and $4.3MM. He’ll also have up to $2.2MM in available incentives for each year of the deal, tied to innings pitched and games finished, McCalvy tweets.

Jeffress had projected to command $2.6MM in his second season of arbitration eligibility. Instead, he’ll take a fairly interesting contract that will allow him to continue pitching with Milwaukee while giving up control over one potential free agent campaign.

There have been some ups and downs through the years for Jeffress, who emerged as the team’s closer with a strong 2016 season before being shipped at the deadline to the Rangers. Things did not go well in Texas, as Jeffress was arrested for driving while intoxicated and struggled out of the gates in 2017.

Still, Jeffress rebounded upon being shipped back to Milwaukee, turning in 24 2/3 innings of 3.65 ERA pitching with 8.0 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9. He has also managed to induce grounders at a 60% clip, giving cause to think he could still be a quality contributor.

Cardinals Will Meet With Giancarlo Stanton’s Representatives

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The Cardinals have a meeting scheduled with representatives of star Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter links). The 2017 NL MVP, who is being shopped as the Marlins seek to trim payroll, has the ability to block any trade by virtue of his full no-trade rights.

Yesterday, Stanton’s reps sat down with the Giants’ brass, so it seems that at least these two organizations have obtained authorization from Miami to discuss their pursuit of Stanton directly with his camp. Tonight’s news rather clearly indicates that there is no deal in place with San Francisco, so it seems there’s still time for the situation to develop before Stanton ends up changing hands. (Of course, it’s also still possible that won’t come to pass.)

With respect to the Giants, there’s also no reason to believe they are out of the race. To the contrary, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweets that Miami is still eyeing some of San Francisco’s young talent. He says the Marlins are looking specifically at top Giants prospect Heliot Ramos as well as righty Tyler Beede, first baseman Chris Shaw, and catcher Aramis Garcia — along with major league second bagger Joe Panik. That’s not to say that all of those players would be included in any prospective deal, of course; rather, it seems those are the names in play at the moment.

While it’s within the Marlins’ rights to allow other teams to speak with Stanton, it seems there are at least some parameters to be minded. Per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, via Twitter, MLB rules require that the team “have a general understanding on trade terms.”

All things considered, this is rather an unusual state of affairs for a trade candidate. But in a year in which Shohei Otani has been recruited like a five-star high school athlete, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising to see anther unique situation arise.

Certainly, Stanton is a fairly unique asset. Beyond the fact that there’s an opportunity to grab a 28-year-old player who is arguably the game’s preeminent power hitter, his contract creates quite some opportunity and risk. Stanton is owed another $295MM on his long-term deal but also has the right to opt out after three seasons.

Cubs To Non-Tender Hector Rondon

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The Cubs will not tender a contract to reliever Hector Rondon, according to ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers (via Twitter). MLBTR had projected Rondon to earn $6.2MM via arbitration — a price that was too high for Chicago and, evidently, other teams around the league.

Rondon, 29, made quite an impact as a former Rule 5 pick, turning in a quality three-year run for the organization between 2014 and 2016. Over 184 1/3 innings in that span, he turned in a 2.44 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. Though he ceded his closer role to Aroldis Chapman in the midst of the team’s World Series run, Rondon remained a major piece of the club’s late-inning mix.

That did not hold up in 2017, however, as Rondon ended the year with a 4.24 ERA in 57 1/3 frames. He struck out 10.8 batters per nine but also issued 3.1 free passes per nine innings and allowed ten long balls. Rondon did still deliver his average fastball in the 96 to 97 mph range, and turned in a personal-best 11.9% swinging-strike rate to go with a 48.3% groundball rate.

Rondon seemingly lost the confidence of skipper Joe Maddon, to the point that he did not factor in the late-inning mix during the team’s postseason run. While the Cubs’ decision to move on is not terribly surprising at this point, it’s a bit of a surprise to learn that the organization was not able to find a suitable trade partner. The one-year price tag is hardly cheap, but falls in the range of contracts that often go to somewhat less-accomplished pitchers. There’s plenty of reason to think that Rondon will catch on elsewhere, perhaps even earning consideration for high-leverage innings, but it seems he’ll need to settle for less money than the $6.2MM or so he might have expected through arbitration.

Phillies Promote Rick Kranitz To Pitching Coach

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The Phillies have announced that Rick Kranitz will become the team’s pitching coach. Joining the staff as assistant pitching coach is Chris Young.

Kranitz, 59, had most recently served as the job that’ll now go to Young. He has previously served as the pitching coach for the Marlins, Orioles, and Brewers. As for Young, he comes over from the Astros organization, where he had served as a scouting supervisor, per Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).

These moves begin to give some clarity to the staff of new manager Gabe Kapler, though there are still some openings. It does seem, though, that Rob Thomson is slated to join on as the bench coach. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com gives the clearest indication yet, tweeting that the team will hire Thomson and could announce the move early next week. Reports have indicated that move will likely follow a decision by the Yankees on their open managerial job, for which Thomson has interviewed.

Orioles Sign Asher Wojciechowski, Four Others To Minors Deals

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The Orioles have signed righty Asher Wojciechowski and four other hurlers to minor-league pacts, according to a club announcement. Wojciechowski’s signing was first reported by Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun, via Twitter. Also joining the Baltimore organization are lefties Jason Gurka and Luis Lugo and righties Christian Binford and Perci Garner.

Wojciechowski, who’s nearing his 29th birthday, got his first full shot at the majors last year with the Reds. But he scuffled to a 6.50 ERA in 62 1/3 innings while coughing up 14 long balls. On the positive side, Wojciechowski did manage to record 64 strikeouts against 19 walks, and was much more effective in limited minor-league action. Needless to say, getting the dingers under control will be a key if Wojciechowski is to have any success pitching in Camden Yards, though he’ll have to earn his way there first.

As for the others, Lugo topped out at Double-A with the Indians, where he pitched to a 4.35 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 134 1/3 innings in 2017. Binford, a former Royals prospect, has failed to succeed at the highest level of the minors despite making it there in each of the past four seasons. Most recently, he allowed 7.24 earned per nine over 115 2/3 frames. We covered Garner’s addition yesterday.

Then there’s Gurka, who is now 29 and broke into the professional ranks as a 15th round pick by the Orioles back in 2008. He has seen minimal MLB time but has mostly thrown at Triple-A of late. In 2017, he compiled 50 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, with 9.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, with the Angels’ and Yankees’ top affiliates.

Mike Napoli Undergoes Hand Surgery

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Veteran slugger Mike Napoli has undergone surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right hand, according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (via Twitter). Per the report, Napoli played through the injury for at least a significant portion of the 2017 campaign.

Certainly, the hand ailment — the details of which aren’t yet clear — may have contributed to a down year for the 36-year-old. Napoli had joined the Rangers on a one-year deal that promised him $8.5MM, including a $2.5MM buyout on a $11MM club option.

It came as no surprise when Texas declined that option. Though Napoli produced 29 long balls in just 485 plate appearances, he also managed only a .193 batting average and .285 on-base mark. He also recorded a career-high strikeout rate (33.6%) and posted his lowest walk rate (10.1%) since 2010. On the flip side, he was no doubt somewhat unlucky to carry a miserly .225 batting average on balls in play.

Now a free agent, Napoli could certainly hold appeal to teams looking for a cheap source of power. He’s a poor baserunner but does typically grade out as a solid defender at first. And while he has typically been better against left-handed pitching, Napoli also carries a lifetime 112 wRC+ against righties, so he’s not a strict platoon bat. He also produced at a .239/.335/.465 rate in full-time action with the Indians in 2016.

While there are quite a lot of choices in the lumbering slugger department, much of the competition swings from the left side. Among righty first basemen/designated hitters who’ll likely be available for relatively meager commitments, players such as Matt Holliday, Jose Bautista, Mark Reynolds and Danny Valencia figure to be the top alternatives to Napoli. So long as Napoli’s reps can show that he can be expected to be at full health for 2018, he ought to land a MLB roster spot and fairly significant role for his 13th campaign.

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