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Athletics Acquire Tanner Anderson, Add Four To 40-Man

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Dec. 1, 1:04 PM: Right hander Wilkin Ramos is Pittsburgh’s return in the deal, the teams announced this afternoon. Ramos, 18, spent all of last season at Oakland’s Dominican Summer League affiliate, where he posted an 8.55 K/9 against 3.83 BB/9 over 40 IP. He stands a projectable 6’5, 165, but didn’t rank among the team’s top 30 prospects in recent updates by various outlets.

Nov. 20, 6:48 PM: The Athletics announced today that they have acquired righty Tanner Anderson from the Pirates. The Oakland organization has also added four players to its 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft: outfielders Luis Barrera and Skye Bolt along with righties Grant Holmes and James Kaprielian.

Anderson is a 25-year-old who was originally taken in the 20th round of the 2015 draft. He has steadily marched through the Pittsburgh farm since becoming a professional, working as both a starter and reliever. He shifted to the pen full-time in 2018.

Though he hasn’t typically produced exciting strikeout numbers, Anderson limits the free passes and long balls. And he has generally produced outstanding groundball numbers. Indeed, Anderson has yet to finish a season with less than a 60% groundball rate. In the just-completed season,he worked to a 2.64 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 61 1/3 innings.

Indians Sign Trayce Thompson, James Hoyt To Minors Contracts

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The Indians have signed outfielder Trayce Thompson and right-hander James Hoyt to minor league deals, the team announced (Twitter link).  Both players received invitations to the Tribe’s big league Spring Training camp.  Hoyt, it should be noted, was re-signed after being non-tendered yesterday.

Hoyt did not appear in the majors for Cleveland after being acquired in a July trade with the Astros. He did, however, see significant time pitching out of the Astros’ bullpen in 2016 and 2017. He made 66 appearances in total, earning a 2-1 record with a 4.40 ERA. The 31-year-old right-hander definitely has a better chance of making the big league team in Cleveland, where a complete overhaul of the bullpen is taking shape.

Thompson, 27, struggled mightily with the White Sox last season. Over 130 plate appearances in Chicago, Thompson hit an ugly .116/.163/.215 with three home runs. He also appeared in three games with Oakland. A decent defensive outfielder, Thompson can handle all three outfield positions, but he’ll need to show vast improvement at the plate to have a chance at seeing big league time in Cleveland next year.

Reds Non-Tender Juan Graterol, Jordan Patterson and Aristides Aquino

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The Cincinnati Reds chose not to tender contracts to Juan Graterol, Jordan Patterson and Aristides Aquino, making them free agents. Per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, the Reds have interest in re-signing all three to minor league deals (Twitter links).

It’s been quite the couple of weeks for outfielder/first baseman Jordan Patterson, who only recently was acquired off waivers by the Reds. Shortly before that, the Mets had claimed him off waivers from the Rockies. The 26-year-old will now have some control over his own destiny, as there is clear interest in the former fourth round pick. Patterson’s only major league playing time came in 2016 with the Rockies when he managed to knock eight hits in eighteen at bats, but he is, at this point, a relatively proven commodity in the upper minors looking for an opportunity at the next level.

Graterol, 29, is a Venezuelan catcher with 106 career big league at-bats across parts of three seasons with the Angels and Twins. Graterol has done his share of traveling in recent years as well, as he was claimed off waivers five times since November 2016. After the Angels released him last June, he signed with the Twins as a free agent, appearing in three games at the ML level before the Reds selected him off waivers in October. While exhibiting very little in the way of power, Graterol has decent contact skills, hitting a combined .299/.330/.350 last season between the Angels, Twins and Triple A.

Aquino, 24, is a big-armed outfielder with good pop. Despite realizing some of his in-game power potential in Double A this season (.447 SLG), Aquino struggled to make consistent contact (25.2 K%). Still young, he has the potential to carve out a major league role for himself if he can refine his approach, but he will need to improve his pitch recognition in order to harness his raw power and make it as a right fielder in the bigs.

With the non-tendering of center fielder Billy Hamilton, the Reds 40-man roster is now down to 36.

Rockies Non-Tender Sam Howard

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The Colorado Rockies non-tendered Sam Howard yesterday, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com (via Twitter). Howard is now a free agent.

Howard, 25, made his major league debut last season, appearing in four games for the Rockies and giving up just a single earned run in four innings. The Georgia native was a third round pick of the Rockies in 2014, spending most of his time in the minors as a starter. Last year with Triple A Albuquerque, Howard started 21 games, earning a 3-8 record with a 4.95 ERA.

The Rockies will presumably look into bringing Howard back, but with their 40-man roster maxed out, the non-tender gives Colorado a valuable roster spot to work with.

Meanwhile, Colorado agreed to a new one-year, $1.6875MM deal with lefty Chris Rusin yesterday, while tendering contracts to their other arbitration eligible players. The Rockies 40-man roster now sits at 39.

AL Notes: Royals, Astros, Bauer

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In light of yesterday’s Yan Gomes trade, those teams still in need of a backstop for 2019 will be surveying the market with renewed urgency. One guy not likely to be on the move is Salvador Perez. The story has not changed for Salvy and the Royals, whose price for Perez is “so exorbitant no team would meet it,” per the Athletic’s Rustin Dodd (subscription link). While teams around the league would certainly check in on Perez were he to become available, it is unlikely anyone values him as highly as the Royals. The 28-year-old catcher is owed $36MM through 2021 and hasn’t had an OBP over .300 since 2013. His power output has remained consistent, however, and his merits extend behind the field of play, as he is a key presence both for players and for fans, as a leader in the clubhouse and as the one of the last core position players from back-to-back American League pennants. More from the Royals and the rest of the American League…

  • As for other Royals targets, Whit Merrifield is a slightly more achievable trade target, but given his four years of team control, the Royals are unlikely to part with their second baseman either. Lefty Danny Duffy can likely be had, but given his down year (4.88 ERA, 4.1 BB/9) and the over $45MM still on his deal, the Royals are better off keeping him and letting him restore some value in 2019. A quiet offseason looms for the Royals and GM Dayton Moore, who has said previously he expects Kansas City will be better-positioned to be aggressive in the market by 2021.
  • The Astros tendered contracts to ten players before yesterday’s deadline, most of whom were fairly safe bets to return to Houston. Outfielder Jake Marisnick was one on-the-bubble candidate, but he returns for a third season of arbitration eligibility in Houston. Marisnick has struggled at the dish, carrying a career .226/.278/.374 line into 2019, but he is an elite defensive center fielder, a valuable asset for the Astros, who never seem wholly comfortable leaving George Springer full-time in center. Marisnick does have one option remaining*, so Houston can send him down to Triple A without exposing him to waivers. The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan (subscription link) also notes that fellow benchmates Tyler White and Tony Kemp are without options, limiting flexibility for GM Jeff Luhnow. None of the three would net much of a return on the trade market on their own, though all three are cheap and useful enough to be included as a complimentary piece to a larger deal. The Astros do have options in the minor leagues should they deal Marisnick, most notably Myles Straw, who could replace Marisnick as the speed and defense option in center off the bench.
  • Both Kaplan and Fancred’s Jon Heyman suggest the Astros are looking for a primary catching option to top the depth chart ahead of Max Stassi. The Marlins J.T. Realmuto is the dream get, but Houston has thus-far refused to surrender star pitching prospect Forrest Whitley. Heyman notes that they may be willing to part with outfielder Kyle Tucker, a likely must-have for Miami in any package for Realmuto.
  • Heyman also notes that in Cleveland, though most of the trade noise has focused on Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer is actually the most likely of the three to be shipped out. This makes sense with the recent rumblings of extension talks with Carrasco, though there’s nothing close as of yet regarding Bauer. The Indians would love to keep him, but of the three, Bauer’s arbitration eligibility makes him more fiscally volatile than either of Carrasco or Kluber, who are under multi-year contracts. The perfect trade package for the Indians would probably include controllable pieces to augment what they already have in either the outfield or the bullpen, two areas in need of securing this offseason.

*Original post incorrectly listed Marisnick as having no options remaining (in referencing the Kaplan piece), but he does in fact have one option year left.

Pitching Market Notes: Eovaldi, Yankees, Happ, Kikuchi, Gray, MadBum

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After a busy day of arbitration decisions, it’s worth taking stock of some recent developments in the broader market. We’ve already touched upon some major storylines today, with looks at Patrick Corbin (link), Zack Greinke (link), and Carlos Carrasco (link). Here’s more …

  • Though Corbin seems to be captivating the market at present, chatter on Nathan Eovaldi is also “heating up,” per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link). Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox and Astros are presently seen as prime contenders to land him. With the American League shaping up to be another clash of titans, those organizations are positioned t stake some dough on Eovaldi’s upside.
  • The Yankees are a major player on Corbin, of course, but also some other arms — and not just as a backup plan. Indeed, per Jayson Stark of The Athletic (via Twitter), the club could even add another significant starter if it does get Corbin. That’d be quite a surprise, given that the team would appear to have a clear starting five if Corbin signs, but perhaps there’s a way to pull something off that would still make sense and leave the club with immense rotation depth.
  • Meanwhile, southpaw J.A. Happ is said to have “ten teams chasing” him at this point, per Jon Heyman of Fancred. One of those is the Brewers, who’d presumably like to bolster their rotation but also don’t appear to have an immense amount of money to use. Of course, giving up on Jonathan Schoop clears a big piece of payroll, so long as the club finds a way to address its infield needs without using all the savings.
  • There’s also a “strong” market for Japanese hurler Yusei Kikuchi, Heyman tweets. Unsurprisingly, west coast clubs — the Dodgers, Padres, Giants, and Mariners, at least — appear to be lining up for the 27-year-old. It’s still hard to know what kind of salary and duration he’ll be able to command. But as this particular list of clubs shows, Kikuchi’s unusual youth will play a major role in his market by opening the door to quite a few organizations to pursue him.
  • Elsewhere, the Yankees are still trying to offload an asset in Sonny Gray. Per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, with GM Brian Cashman saying he has discussed a multitude of different scenarios involving Gray, including some larger deals. That suggests that the Yanks are comfortable hanging onto Gray for a while as they sort through the possibilities, rather than putting him on the market and taking the best deal then available.
  • Gray is as good as gone from the team’s perspective, but that’s clearly not the same situation for Giants ace Madison Bumgarner. The burly southpaw is reportedly on the table. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be priced at a level that will lead to a deal. Indeed one organizational source tells Heyman (Twitter link) they “don’t see [Bumgarner] going anywhere this winter.” Certainly, the Giants have little need to dump Bumgarner if they aren’t getting something worthwhile in return. Teams with interest, though, will remain wary of a big price for one season of a player with recent shoulder woes and some performance questions.

Latest On Zack Greinke

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For all the ongoing talk about Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz and the Indians’ trio of starters, Zack Greinke remains one of the more intriguing trade candidates on the market. Zach Buchanan of The Athletic takes an intriguing look at the dilemma the D-backs face in a potential Greinke trade in his latest column, while also revealing the 15 teams on Greinke’s no-trade list.

Per Buchanan, Greinke can block deals to the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, Twins, Tigers, Angels, Athletics, Phillies, Cardinals, Reds, Giants, Rockies, Dodgers and Padres. Obviously, that list includes several clubs who could make sense a viable trade partner for the D-backs, although Fancred’s Jon Heyman writes in his latest weekly notes column that neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees view Greinke as a fit for their clubs. Still, Greinke has already been connected to the Cardinals and it’s certainly possible to imagine interest from a few other organizations that appear on the list. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Reds have checked in on Greinke, though John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 pulls no punches in rejecting that rumor (Twitter link).

Greinke, 35, has three years and $104.5MM remaining on his contract between his guaranteed salaries and a trio of $3MM payouts on an $18MM signing bonus that was spread out over the life of his six-year, $206.5MM deal. However, Buchanan reports within his column that the signing bonus payouts will remain the D-backs’ responsibility even in the event of a trade. Greinke’s contract does come with a $2MM assignment bonus in the event of a trade, which seemingly falls on the acquiring club, meaning that any team interest in trading for him would be taking on a total of $97.5MM over three seasons (minus any cash the D-backs include to grease the wheels on a swap).

That’s still a major sum for a new team to pay, given Greinke’s age, but the former Cy Young winner has been excellent for Arizona across the past two seasons. The veteran righty crossed the 200-inning threshold in both 2017 and 2018 while posting near-identical 3.20 and 3.21 ERAs. He’s maintained his elite control, still misses bats at an above-average rate and still possesses average or better ground-ball tendencies, as well.

Nationals Acquire Yan Gomes

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The Nationals have officially swung a deal with the Indians to bring in catcher Yan Gomes. Outfielder Daniel Johnson, righty Jefry Rodriguez, and a player to be named later will go to Cleveland in the swap.

With this swap in the books, the Nats have done all their work behind the dish at the very outset of the offseason. The organization already brought back old friend Kurt Suzuki, who’ll presumably share time with Gomes. The former is earning $10MM over two years, while the latter will take home a $7MM salary in 2019 before a pair of club options ($9MM and $11MM, each with $1MM buyouts).

The Gomes contract initially looked to be a coup for the Indians club, then took on a sour note as his offensive numbers plummeted. Last year, though, the 31-year-old bounced back with a strong campaign in which he slashed .266/.313/.449 and hit 16 long balls over 435 plate appearances.

It’s fair to wonder what to expect moving forward. Gomes has good power for a catcher, but doesn’t typically draw many walks. Accordingly, his OBP has bounced up and down with his batting average on balls in play. Gomes did turn in a personal-best 38.7% hard-hit rate (by measure of Statcast) along with a .322 xwOBA that nearly matched his .326 wOBA in 2018, but odds are the Nats have tempered expectations on the offensive side.

Even if he falls back somewhat with the bat, though, Gomes is also regarded as a high-quality defender. Baseball Prospectus has generally graded him as a strong positive in all the measurable areas — framing, throwing, blocking. That presents an opposing skillset from that currently possessed by Suzuki, who has turned himself into an excellent hitter but doesn’t defend with such aplomb. Presumably, the Nats will utilize both according to need, while hoping the timeshare keeps them fresh, though obviously in-game situational substitutions won’t really be possible unless the club somehow finagles a way to carry a third catcher.

Regardless of how one looks at it, the two players combine to make a strong upgrade behind the dish for the Nats, who had relied upon Matt Wieters, Pedro Severino, and Spencer Kieboom over the past two seasons. The latter two players remain in the organization, though it stands to reason that one (likely the out-of-options Severino) will be jettisoned at some point, particularly with Raudy Read also taking a 40-man spot.

The Indians surely would have a stronger roster with Gomes on it. But they’re also willing to roll the dice a bit. The need for some budgetary flexibility is obviously a big part of the picture, but the organization obviously also believes in some rising players. In this case, Roberto Perez will presumptively take the bulk of the action behind the dish, with newcomer Eric Haase joining him after spending the past three seasons in the upper minors — where he has shown plenty of power but also a questionable on-base profile.

Certainly, the prospect return is a factor here as well. Johnson, a fifth-round pick in 2016, has an intriguing blend of power and speed, making him a top-ten organizational prospect for the Nats. The 23-year-old most recently scuffled a bit at Double-A and struggled badly in the Arizona Fall League, making for a disappointing 2018 after a strong first full season as a professional. He’s likely a year or two away and may never be more than a reserve in the majors, but the consensus seems to be that there are tools to work with.

As for Rodriguez, the hard-throwing 25-year-old reached the majors last year, bringing control problems with him. It’s hard to judge too harshly, though, as he was also in his first season pitching past the High-A level. Rodriguez has worked almost entirely as a starter during his time in the farm, so he could be sent back down to keep refining. But it’s also possible the Indians will move him into a relief role, potentially of a multi-inning variety, and plan on utilizing him in the majors in the near future.

Veteran reporter Bill Madden suggested on Twitter that a deal was in the works, with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic among others reporting (Twitter link) that the sides were in “serious discussions.” Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter) and Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (in a tweet) had the return. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Non-Tender Chris Herrmann

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The Astros have non-tendered catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets. He was acquired only recently but never seemed like a certain part of the club’s plans.

Clearly, the ’Stros were unwilling to commit even to paying a portion of his projected $1.5MM salary, though perhaps they’ll try to bring him back on another arrangement in free agency. Herrmann burst onto the scene with a solid (but brief) offensive showing in 2016, but ended up signing a minors deal last winter after a dreadful 2017. He went on to impress in limited MLB action last year, and drew the attention of the ’Stros on the waiver wire, so perhaps some team will see fit to offer him a 40-man spot.

Rangers Non-Tender Matt Bush, Three Others

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The Rangers announced tonight that they have non-tendered righty Matt Bush. He’ll be followed out the door by three other players who were not arb-eligible: Ricardo Rodriguez, Zac Curtis and Adrian Sampson.

Bush is still recovering from surgery; evidently, the club isn’t terribly optimistic on his outlook. The former first-overall pick reemerged in Texas as a flamethrowing reliever, but his initially excellent showing has not held up over time. He’ll still be an interesting bounceback target for some other clubs, with a return to the Rangers also a possibility.

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