Click here to view the transcript for MLBTR Chat With Jason Martinez: March 21, 2018
Archives for March 2018
Pirates Sign Ji-Hwan Bae
The Pirates have signed former Braves prospect Ji-Hwan Bae, as John Dreker and Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com recently reported (subscription link). The well-regarded young shortstop, a recent international signee from Korea, will earn a bonus worth around $1.25MM.
The addition of Bae means the Pirates have spent roughly $5.25MM of their available $5.75MM pool space for the 2017-18 signing period, MLB.com’s Adam Berry notes. He received the second-largest bonus the organization has ever given to a prospect, trailing only right-hander Luis Heredia, whom the Bucs handed $2.6MM back in 2010. Heredia is now a free agent.
The 18-year-old Bae had been property of the Braves from this past September until November, when Major League Baseball took him and 11 other prospects from the Atlanta organization because of international signing violations. Thanks in part to those transgressions, MLB hit ex-Braves general manager John Coppolella with a lifetime ban.
Bae joined the Braves for $300K, but they reportedly had an under-the-table agreement to pay him an extra $600K. After Atlanta signed Bae, special assistant Chad MacDonald offered high praise for the lefty-swinger.
“He’s very athletic. He stays at shortstop, he’s going to be a solid to plus defender there. His bat-to-ball skills are really good. There’s more power in the bat,” said MacDonald. “If everything clicks, we have a left-handed version of Trea Turner, who I signed in San Diego. Again, maybe not that much power, but certainly the impact speed and defense, with bat-to-ball skills and a left-handed hitter.”
AL East Notes: O’s, Cobb, Red Sox, Pomeranz, Blue Jays
The Orioles officially signed Alex Cobb on Wednesday, but they weren’t serious suitors for him as of February because his asking price was too high, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com hears. But Cobb told Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun and other reporters Wednesday: “They didn’t stop bothering me the whole offseason. They were very persistent, and I think that you notice that confidence they have in you just by the way they speak to you, and the questions they ask and not questioning anything that’s gone on.” The Orioles’ insistence on signing Cobb came from John and Lou Angelos, sons of owner Peter Angelos, according to Connolly, who reports that the duo recently made “a hard push” to add the right-hander, who landed a four-year, $57MM deal.
And now the latest on a pair of Baltimore’s division rivals…
- While Red Sox southpaw Drew Pomeranz has recently made progress in his recovery from a mild flexor strain, odds are that he’ll start the season on the disabled list, Ian Browne of MLB.com writes. Meanwhile, Browne relays that there’s more hope for Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and righty Steven Wright, each of whom underwent knee surgery last year. If they’re both ready to open the season on time, they’ll follow Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello in Boston’s rotation. Otherwise, the Red Sox’s top fallback choices are lefty Brian Johnson and righty Hector Velazquez.
- The Blue Jays have informed left-handed reliever Craig Breslow that he won’t make the team, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. Breslow will have a chance to opt out of his minor league contract Thursday. The 37-year-old has struggled in spring action, having allowed five earned runs on 10 hits and four walks, with five strikeouts, in 6 2/3 innings.
- Blue Jays righty Joe Biagini is likely to begin the season at the Triple-A level, per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. In doing so, he’ll continue developing as a starter. The Jays, with Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Jaime Garcia in their rotation, don’t have room for Biagini in their starting staff. Biagini was a key component of Toronto’s bullpen in 2016, his rookie season, but he went backward as both a starter and reliever last season.
Orioles Sign Alex Cobb
TODAY, 5:03pm: Heyman has the layout of Cobb’s contract (Twitter link). He’ll make $14MM in each year from 2018-2020, including $6.5MM deferred without interest this season and $4.5MM deferred without interest in both ’19 and ’20. Cobb will earn $15MM in 2021 and either $4.75MM deferred without interest or $9.75MM deferred without interest, if he throws fewer than 130 innings. If he amasses 180 innings in any of those seasons, he’ll rake in an extra $500K.
9:38am: Cobb has passed the notoriously stringent Orioles’ physical, Heyman tweets, making the deal official. It has also been announced by the organization.
The deal includes a no-trade provision, Heyman adds on Twitter. Cobb picks up full no-trade rights until this coming November and will be able to block deals to ten clubs from that point forward.
There’ll be $20MM in deferred money, Kubatko tweets, though the precise manner of the structure has yet to be reported. When that’s factored in, the present-day value of the deal is $47MM, he adds, though that is a number that’s certainly subject to quite a bit of interpretation. Every multi-year deal, after all, includes future obligations that can be discounted to a lump-sum current dollar amount, and the math is dependent upon what approach is utilized to perform the discount.
YESTERDAY, 9:19PM: Cobb and the Orioles have agreed that he’ll begin the season in the minors for a brief spell in order to get properly stretched out, BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly reports. Cobb had enough service time to refuse a minor league assignment even though he has an option remaining, though obviously both sides felt a short stint on the farm was necessary.
6:53PM: The four-year deal will be worth $57MM, an MLB official tells 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine (Twitter link). There is deferred money in each of the four years, Kubatko tweets.
6:06PM: The Orioles have agreed to sign right-hander Alex Cobb, with FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reporting (Twitter link) that the two sides had worked out a four-year deal believed to be worth close to $60MM. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported earlier today that there was “a strong belief” that Cobb was close to a contract, with the Orioles considered to be the favorite. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links) confirmed the link between Cobb and the O’s, and noted that the deal will be official once Cobb passes a physical, while MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko was the first to report that the deal was a four-year agreement. Cobb is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Cobb was long seen as a natural fit for the Orioles given their severe need for starting pitching, and the team indeed reportedly expressed interest in Cobb quite early in the offseason. While it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to see the two sides end up in an agreement, however, there are some eyebrow-raising elements to this signing given the size and length of the contract.
As Passan noted, Cobb has been holding out for a multi-year deal, as opposed to the one-year contracts that several notable players were forced to settle for in recent weeks due to the unprecedented lack of activity in the free agent market. Lance Lynn, for instance, was Cobb’s closest comparable on the open market and Lynn wound up signing a one-year, $12MM deal with the Twins. Lynn, however, was also in talks with the Orioles and potentially left a longer-term offer on the table in order to sign with Minnesota, believing that the Twins had a better shot at contending in 2018.
Lynn’s rejection could have been what inspired the Orioles to give Cobb four years to solidify its rotation, as it was believed that the club was no longer willing to go beyond a three-year contract for a pitcher in the wake of the disastrous Ubaldo Jimenez signing. Furthermore, the organization has long been very particular about signing veteran pitchers due to injury concerns, so it represents a bold step for owner Peter Angelos to sign off the biggest pitcher contract in franchise history for Cobb, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015. (It’s worth noting that the O’s have changed or even abandoned agreements in the past due to concerns about pitcher health, so Cobb’s physical probably represents a bigger final hurdle than usual in most player signings.)
While many free agents left this winter’s market feeling short-changed, Cobb ended up finding his desired four-year guarantee and a very healthy salary. MLB Trade Rumors ranked Cobb 11th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, and projected him for a four-year, $48MM deal. Heyman reports that Cobb rejected an offer of that exact size from the Cubs earlier this winter, and despite the free agent deep freeze, eventually landed a more lucrative deal.
[Updated Orioles depth chart at Roster Resource]
It may be too close to Opening Day for Cobb to be ready for the very beginning of the season, though when he is set, the 30-year-old could very well be the ace of Baltimore’s rotation. The O’s went into the offseason with only Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy established in the starting five, and were in talks about a wide variety of free agent and trade possibilities. Executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette has developed a pattern of late-winter signings during his time in Baltimore, and he stuck to that strategy again this year to rebuild his rotation, signing Andrew Cashner, re-signing Chris Tillman, and now adding Cobb within the last five weeks.
Cobb provides Baltimore with a solid, AL East-tested arm who looked to be front-of-the-rotation material in 2013-14 before getting his TJ surgery in 2015. The procedure cost Cobb all of that season and limited him to just five starts in 2016, though he rebounded for a 3.66 ERA, 6.4 K/9, and 2.91 K/BB rate over 179 1/3 innings for the Rays last season. The post-surgery version of Cobb is striking out fewer batters than the pre-2015 Cobb, and his already-middling swinging strike rate took another drop to just 6.7% last season, plus his 36.9% hard-hit ball rate was a career high.
These concerns notwithstanding, it should be noted that Cobb pitched better as the season wore on, which is a good sign that he could fully back to his old self. Even the 2017 version of Cobb would represent a big upgrade for the Orioles over fifth starter candidates such as Mike Wright, Nestor Cortes Jr. or Miguel Castro. The O’s now face some roster-shuffling questions with these arms (Wright is out of options and Cortes is a Rule 5 pick), though they could all possibly be used in the bullpen.
Needless to say, this surplus of arms is now an unexpectedly good problem to have for an Orioles team that has positioned itself to stay competitive within a tough AL East. The length of Cobb’s deal also indicates that the O’s aren’t planning for a rebuild after 2018. Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Zach Britton, and Brad Brach will all be free agents next winter (plus Duquette and manager Buck Showalter are entering their last year under contract), though Baltimore now has Cobb, Gausman, Bundy, Trey Mancini, Mychal Givens, and Chris Davis as core pieces through at least the 2020 season, plus prospects like Austin Hays and Chance Sisco.
Since Cobb rejected a qualifying offer from the Rays, the O’s will have to surrender their third-highest pick (51st overall) in the 2018 amateur draft, as they were a revenue-sharing recipient that didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold. Because Cobb received more than $50MM in guaranteed money, the Rays are now in line to receive a compensation pick after the first round of the draft. This will actually be one of two picks for Tampa Bay in the “sandwich round,” as the Rays are also slated for a compensatory pick for not signing 31st-overall pick Drew Rasmussen in last year’s draft class.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Mariners Claim Dario Alvarez From Cubs
The Mariners have claimed left-hander Dario Alvarez off waivers from the Cubs, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Alvarez will head to minor league camp with his new organization, and he’ll give the Mariners 38 players on their 40-man roster.
Alvarez, 29, debuted with the Mets back in 2014 but saw little action with them. He ended up throwing just five innings with the Mets over two seasons. Alvarez then moved on to Atlanta and Texas, where he combined for 43 frames from 2016-17. All told, Alvarez has pitched to a 5.06 ERA/5.07 FIP in the majors and logged 11.44 K/9, 4.13 BB/9 and a 38.2 percent groundball rate. Alvarez has struggled against hitters of either handedness during his short big league career, having allowed a .378 wOBA versus righties and a .356 mark to lefties.
Despite Alvarez’s subpar production at baseball’s highest level, the Cubs signed him to a major league contract early in the winter. But he wasn’t able to stick in Chicago after allowing six earned runs on seven hits and six walks, with 11 strikeouts, over 7 1/3 spring innings. He’ll try to return to the majors with the Mariners, whose projected season-opening bullpen features fellow lefties Marc Rzepczynski and James Pazos.
Rays Sign Curt Casali
The Rays have signed catcher Curt Casali, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports. It’s a minor league contract for Casali, whom the Rangers released Wednesday, according to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times.
Casali is headed back to familiar stomping grounds, having been a member of the Rays organization from 2013-17. He collected 466 major league plate appearances during that time, including a meager 13 last season, and batted .199/.285/.385. While Casali obviously wasn’t a significant offensive threat during that stretch, he did earn positive defensive grades, and he threw out 31 percent of would-be base stealers (29 percent was league average).
Now that he’s back with the Rays, the 29-year-old Casali will once again be part of a behind-the-plate mix headlined by starter Wilson Ramos and backup Jesus Sucre. Ramos and Sucre are the only catchers on the Rays’ 40-man roster.
Athletics Shut Down Top Prospect A.J. Puk With Biceps Soreness
The Athletics have shut down top pitching prospect A.J. Puk with biceps soreness, according to a report from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. At this point, the severity of the injury is not fully known, though indications are that the exciting young lefty will be able to return to the hill before too long.
Needless to say, any issues in that region of such a valuable arm are going to be dealt with quite cautiously. Per the report, Puk has already undergone an MRI that did not give cause for concern that there is “any major structural damage.” Still, biceps soreness is a symptom associated with potentially serious elbow issues and the club will want to be certain that the current problem is not exacerbated.
Puk was taken with the sixth overall selection in the 2016 draft and turned in a solid, 125-inning effort in 2017. Splitting his time between High-A and Double-A in his first full season as a professional, the 22-year-old ran up a 4.03 ERA with 13.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
Oakland had already determined that the high-powered southpaw would not crack the roster out of camp. But A’s fans were already no doubt looking forward to his arrival sooner than later after watching him spin over nine scoreless Cactus League innings this spring before he was finally touched in his last frame. There’s no particular reason to believe that Puk’s ultimate ascension will be slowed significantly, though perhaps now the Oakland organization will handle him with added care early in the 2018 season.
Rangers Release Curt Casali
The Rangers have released catcher Curt Casali, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (Twitter link). He’ll return to the open market in search of an opportunity elsewhere.
Several other veterans have also now been ruled out from the active roster. Righty Steve Delabar and outfielder Destin Hood have been so advised, as has third baseman Trevor Plouffe. As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News adds on Twitter, Plouffe is considering his next steps and could request his own release.
The 29-year-old Casali came into camp in hopes of earning the back-up catching job behind starter Robinson Chirinos. But he has struggled with the bat in camp and evidently failed to beat out a variety of other possibilities.
As things stand, Juan Centeno is the most experienced option on the 40-man roster, with the recently outrighted Brett Nicholas and non-roster invitee Mike Ohlman also still on hand. Of course, it’s also still possible the Rangers could look outside the organization for a second backstop.
Rangers Acquire Eliezer Alvarez
The Rangers have acquired infielder Eliezer Alvarez from the Phillies, per club announcements. Cash considerations will go to Philadelphia in return. Texas cleared a roster spot by transferring righty Ronald Herrera to the 60-day DL.
Alvarez, who was acquired in last September’s Juan Nicasio trade, lost his 40-man placement when the Phils decided to elevate utilityman Pedro Florimon. Now, the 23-year-old is moving on to his third team within the past year.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the St. Louis organization back in 2012, Alvarez put himself on the prospect map with a strong 2016 campaign. Playing at the Class A level, he posted a .404 on-base percentage, hit six home runs, and swiped 36 bags in 499 plate appearances.
Alvarez was unable to carry that level of output into the upper minors, though, as he scuffled a bit in 2017. Over his 209 trips to the plate at Double-A, he maintained a .247/.321/.382 slash with 56 strikeouts and 16 walks.
Clearly, though, the Rangers still see some cause to be intrigued in the youngster. Alvarez has lined up primarily as a second baseman thus far, though he has also seen a bit of action on the left side of the infield, so he could conceivably represent a future utility option.
Orioles Designate Jose Mesa Jr., Announce Alex Cobb Signing
The Orioles have designated Rule 5 righty Jose Mesa Jr. for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to veteran starter Alex Cobb, whose four-year contract is now official.
Mesa, 24, was the last of three pitchers taken by the Baltimore organization in the most recent Rule 5 draft. Obtaining his rights in full from the Yankees would have required that the O’s carry him for all of the upcoming season on the active roster. Now, unless his Rule 5 rights are either traded for or claimed off waivers, Mesa will be offered back to the Yanks.
The young hurler obviously showed enough to draw interest from the Orioles after being left unprotected. In 84 innings at the High-A and Double-A levels last year, he allowed just 18 earned runs on 48 hits and 32 walks while recording 101 strikeouts. But it seems he’ll need some more seasoning before trying out the majors. Mesa struggled in his chances this spring, recording five strikeouts and seven walks in 7 2/3 innings.
