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NL Notes: Cubs, Gohara, Norris, Mets

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The Cubs have a pair of former players entering their front office, per a club announcement. MLB veterans Chris Denorfia and Matt Murton have been named, respectively, as special assistant to the president/GM and baseball operations assistant. Denorfia, a ten-year big-leaguer, spent just one year in Chicago — his final campaign in the majors, 2015. Murton, meanwhile, broke into the majors with the Cubs but mostly found success abroad as a member of Japan’s Hanshin Tigers.

Here’s the latest from the National League:

  • Braves southpaw Luiz Gohara is going to be shut down for at least two weeks after suffering an ankle sprain, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Though it doesn’t seem as if there’s anything approaching long-term concern for the injury itself, there are implications. For one, there’s now little chance that Gohara will open the season in the rotation, as he has already been limited in camp. That means another pitcher — O’Brien suggests Max Fried or Scott Kazmir, though others are also certainly in the mix — will likely take that slot. When Gohara is back to health, moreover, he’ll presumably need to boost his conditioning along with getting his arm up to full speed. The big-bodied southpaw previously strained his groin in a camp workout and has long faced questions about his weight. Of course, that did not prevent him from an impressive five-start debut showing in 2017.
  • The Cardinals have decided to put righty Bud Norris in the bullpen, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. That’s not terribly surprising, but the organization had at least been stretching him out as a starter to open camp. Norris showed some renewed vigor at times last year as a late-inning reliever and could be used in that capacity, though skipper Mike Matheny also did not rule out relying upon Norris for multiple innings in a swingman role. In other news from St. Louis, the club announced that outfielder Tyler O’Neill has been diagnosed with a hamstring strain. The severity is not known, but the the odds were already stacked against the well-regarded prospect cracking the Opening Day roster.
  • Kevin Plawecki could receive the lion’s share of the time behind the dish for the Mets, Tim Healey of Newsday writes. New skipper Mickey Callaway says it will often come down to platoon splits in deciding whether Plawecki or Travis d’Arnaud is behind the dish, with the former’s advantage against right-handed pitching perhaps leading to greater opportunities. Surely performance levels over the course of the season will weigh into the calculus, but Callaway clearly indicated that the organization is disinclined to match up their backstops with particular starters.

Braves Acquire Ryan Schimpf, Outright Josh Ravin

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The Braves announced on Monday that they’ve acquired infielder Ryan Schimpf from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Atlanta placed right-hander Josh Ravin on outright waivers. He’s already cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, per the team.

Schimpf, 29, is perhaps the current poster boy for three-true-outcomes hitters, as 52.7 percent of his 527 career plate appearances have ended in either a home run (34), walk (69) or strikeout (175). Remarkably, his 34 career home runs are more than the 28 singles he’s amassed in the Majors. In all, he’s walked at a 13.1 percent clip in the big leagues and struck out in 33.2 percent of his trips to the plate. He’s a .195/.317/.492 hitter in those 527 PAs.

Setting aside Schimpf’s extraordinarily unique offensive stat line, he’ll bring to the Braves another option to slot in at the hot corner early in the year as Atlanta awaits the emergence of prospect Austin Riley. Schimpf has a couple of minor league options remaining, so he needn’t be exposed to waivers at the end of camp if the Braves don’t want to bring him north to open the season.

Presently, Johan Camargo figures to be the primary third baseman for manager Brian Snitker, though Camargo’s ultimate role seems likely to be one of a utility infielder. While the 24-year-old Camargo hit .299/.331/.452 last season, he did so with the aid of a gaudy .364 average on balls in play and just a 4.7 percent walk rate. Given his below-average hard-contact rate and above-average infield fly rate, Camargo looks exceedingly unlikely to support a BABIP near that level and, barring a significant improvement in his walk rate, will likely see his average and OBP come down by a fair margin in 2018.

In theory, Schimpf and Camargo could actually make an interesting platoon. While Camargo is a switch-hitter, he posted a putrid .254/.287/.349 slash against right-handed pitching last year but a terrific .403/.434/.694 slash against lefties. The same BABIP caveats that apply to Camargo’s overall season are even more true of his work against southpaws (.481 BABIP in 76 PAs), but he’s generally been a better hitter against lefties than righties throughout his minor league career.

Schimpf, meanwhile, has hit just .205 against righties but paired that with a .329 OBP and a .537 slugging percentage, giving him a stunning .303 isolated power mark against righties in his brief big league career. He’s also capable of playing second base, so he could hold down a bench spot and serve as a late-inning power option in addition to his work as a potential platoon partner for Camargo, if the Braves are so inclined.

As for the 30-year-old Ravin, he totaled just 16 2/3 innings out of the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2017 before being acquired by the Braves (whose new GM, Alex Anthopoulos, had previously been in the L.A. front office) in a minor offseason swap. Ravin struggled to a 6.48 ERA in that small sample, though he did punch out 19 hitters and average better than 96 mph on his heater in that time. His Triple-A work in 2017 was much better, as he logged a 4.33 ERA and averaged a hefty 14 strikeouts per nine innings, albeit against 4.8 walks per nine. Ravin’s career has been slowed in recent years by a 2016 car accident as well as an 80-game PED suspension that same year.

NL Notes: Rollins, Phillies, Braves, Swanson, Diamondbacks

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Longtime major league shortstop Jimmy Rollins hasn’t officially wrapped up his playing career since the Giants released him in March 2017, but it seems the 39-year-old is heading in that direction. Rollins will soon meet with Phillies general manager Matt Klentak to discuss a potential role, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Rollins would like to retire as a Phillie, and while he isn’t interested in coaching, “he could work on assisting some players or on special assignments,” Breen writes. Rollins is best known for his run with the Phillies from 2000-14, a period in which he established himself as one of the greatest players in franchise history.

More from the National League…

  • This is “a critical year” for the Braves, in part because it will help them decide how aggressively to seek upgrades via the free agent and trade markets next winter, general manager Alex Anthopoulos told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “The ideal scenario is that these guys emerge, they all take these jobs, run with them and become a part of our core,” Anthopoulos said of the Braves’ young talent, and he mentioned shortstop Dansby Swanson, third basemen Johan Camargo and Austin Riley, and catcher Alex Jackson as players who are capable of etching themselves into the team’s long-term plans this season. The most notable member of that group is Swanson, whom Arizona chose No. 1 in the 2015 draft and then traded to Atlanta in the well-known Shelby Miller deal later that year. Swanson’s now coming off his first full major league season, in which he struggled to a .232/.312/.324 batting line in 551 plate appearances. “Dansby Swanson at shortstop; everyone knows about Draft status and talent and all of that, but he didn’t have the year he’s capable of last year,” Anthopoulos said. “He’d be the first one to tell you that. Does he take that step and emerge as our shortstop?”
  • At 34 and in the last year of his contract, outfielder Nick Markakis probably isn’t in the Braves’ long-term plans. But he’s still a Brave for now, and his coaches and teammates are glad, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains. Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer told O’Brien that Markakis is the “ultimate professional” and compared him to Royals luminaries George Brett and Alex Gordon, two people Seitzer’s familiar with from his days in Kansas City. Meanwhile, Swanson is “super thankful” Markakis is still in the fold. The same could hold true for manager Brian Snitker, whom Markakis raved about to O’Brien. According to O’Brien, now-former Braves president John Hart berated Snitker in the manager’s office after a loss last August. Markakis caught wind of it and “made it known, had the message sent up the chain, that if Hart ever treated the manager that way again that Markakis would, in so many words, kick his ass,” O’Brien writes.
  • The Diamondbacks’ three-man closer competition is “wide open,” manager Torey Lovullo told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. The club’s choosing among Brad Boxberger, Yoshihisa Hirano (two offseason acquisitions) and Archie Bradley to replace Fernando Rodney, who converted 39 of 45 save opportunities as a D-back last year before leaving for Minnesota in free agency. Boxberger, though, has been dealing with “general arm soreness,” Gilbert relays, and hasn’t pitched in a game since Feb. 23. It’s unclear when he’ll see game action again, but Lovullo did say he “looked good” and “felt fantastic” during a 25-pitch bullpen session Sunday.
  • Elsewhere on the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff, a lack of starting depth is an issue, particularly since the team dealt Anthony Banda to the Rays in last month’s Steven Souza Jr. trade, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic observes. Piecoro goes on to run down the Diamondbacks’ in-house options behind the enviable starting five of Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray, Zack Godley, Taijuan Walker and Patrick Corbin. With the exception of the aforementioned Shelby Miller, who won’t return until the summer after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, no one in the group has much of a big league track record. Fortunately for the D-backs, general manager Mike Hazen realizes they need help on that front. “I think there’s still some work to do there,” Hazen said of the team’s starting depth. “I think it’s an obvious area of focus now that we traded Banda. As I said before, it sort of always was as we went through that process.”

NL East Notes: Nationals, Kingery, Braves

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Some rumblings from around the National League East…

  • The Nationals would still like to add another Major League catcher to their roster, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports.  Catcher is the only true weak spot on Washington’s depth chart, due to Matt Wieters’ rough 2017 season and Pedro Severino’s lack of hitting at the MLB level (or even in the minors).  Miguel Montero is also in camp on a non-roster invite but is also coming off a poor 2017.  The Nats are known to have explored trade talks with the Marlins about J.T. Realmuto, and if Realmuto or another catcher can’t be obtained in a trade, D.C. could consider signing a catcher who becomes available in late-Spring Training roster shuffling, or perhaps a bigger-name free agent like the still-available Jonathan Lucroy.
  • Scott Kingery is turning a lot of heads in the Phillies’ spring camp, and there’s a chance the second base prospect could crack the Opening Day roster, Matt Gelb of The Athletic writes (subscription required).  Manager Gabe Kapler considers Kingery capable of playing several different positions, so a super-utility role would get Kingery in the lineup even with Cesar Hernandez still the regular second baseman.  Service time considerations, however, could keep Kingery at Triple-A to begin the season, though there are also some legitimate skills-related arguments to be made that the prospect still need more minor league seasoning.
  • Though the Braves enjoyed a 47 percent increase in revenues from 2016 to 2017 thanks to the opening of SunTrust Park, the team projects to have a smaller payroll next season than it did in 2017, Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  The Braves had long intended to time the opening of their new stadium to coincide with the end of their rebuilding plan, though this offseason been a very quiet one for the team, save for a big payroll-shuffling trade with the Dodgers.  Of course, Atlanta’s plans were entirely upended by the shocking departures of both former GM John Coppolella and former president of baseball operations John Hart, so perhaps it isn’t surprising that the franchise held back on any aggressive moves.  New general manager Alex Anthopoulos even stated in December that he would likely take “a more cautious approach” in his first year running the front office.

Quick Hits: Realmuto, Marlins, Braves, Tigers, Twins

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Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto has been popular in the rumor mill in recent months, in part because of his own desire to leave Miami for a contender. Nevertheless, the rebuilding club continues to regard Realmuto as a long-term piece of the puzzle, president of baseball operations Michael Hill tells Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “J.T. is drafted by the Marlins and developed by the Marlins and got to the big leagues as a Marlin; all my conversations with him have been that he’s a part of what we’re building,” Hill said. “He’s a tremendously talented catcher, and we’re happy that he’s a part of what we have here. I think you’re still scratching the surface with his ability. The nation doesn’t know how good he is.” The Marlins don’t need to rush to deal Realmuto, who’s under control via arbitration through the 2020 season. Whether he opens the 2018 campaign with the Marlins or another team, the soon-to-be 27-year-old Realmuto will earn an easily affordable $2.9MM.

More from around the majors…

  • Braves left-hander Luiz Gohara is dealing with a strained groin and is at least a week behind the team’s other pitchers as a result, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. While that won’t do the 21-year-old Gohara any favors in his effort to earn a starting job, fellow southpaw Sean Newcomb could benefit from it. He and another lefty, veteran Scott Kazmir, are the leading candidates to occupy the Braves’ last two rotation spots if Gohara’s not ready to go early in the season, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The Braves could get away with using a four-man rotation until April 11, however, Bowman points out. Newcomb, 24, made his major league debut last season and fared nicely, tossing 100 innings of 4.32 ERA/4.19 FIP ball and recording 9.72 K/9. Granted, Newcomb’s impressive strikeout mark came with a troubling walk rate (5.13 BB/9).
  • Familiarity with the Tigers’ coaching staff and an opportunity to start helped lead lefty Francisco Liriano to sign with the club, he told Evan Woodbery of MLive.com and other reporters on Friday. The 34-year-old Liriano is now reunited with Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire, whom he played under as a Twin from 2005-12. “I feel playing for Gardy makes it easier for me, and also having the opportunity to start here,” said Liriano, who, for the first time in his career, is coming off a season in which he totaled more relief appearances (20) than starts (18). After working to a 5.66 ERA/4.64 FIP across a combined 97 frames with Toronto and Houston in 2017, Liriano will attempt to revive his career on a $4MM salary in Detroit.
  • The Twins’ minor league signing of Erick Aybar came thanks in part to righty Ervin Santana and third baseman Miguel Sano, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press explains. Aybar was teammates with Santana in Anaheim from 2006-12, while Aybar and Sano are longtime friends who also share an agency (Roc Nation Sports). With all of that in mind, the Twins asked Santana and Sano for their thoughts on Aybar. Both players advised the Twins to bring in the 34-year-old, and the team followed through. There’s no guarantee Aybar will earn a roster spot after enduring multiple rough years in a row, though, which he realizes. “I don’t know yet,” Aybar admitted when asked how much he has left. “I can’t say. We’ll see. It was a weird two years.”

Heyman’s Latest: LoMo, Braves, Moustakas, White Sox, CarGo, Lynn, Arrieta

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There’s enough talent left on the free-agent market — including seven of the top twenty players on MLBTR’s list of the top 50 free agents — that the overall assessment of spending could yet be swayed by contracts that have yet to be reached. (As always, you can review the action to this point in our 2017-18 MLB Free Agent Tracker.) As we wait for the final data points to be registered, it’s worth considering this recent piece from The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh regarding the debate over player spending in comparison to revenue (as well as this earlier AP examination of spending and revenue from the spring of 2016). Calculating the players’ slice of the pie — and the size of the pie itself — is certainly a nuanced undertaking, and one for which complete public data is lacking.

The markedly sluggish timing of this year’s market, of course, is something that has already been established quite clearly. With an unprecedented number of top players still awaiting new deals as Spring Training opens, let’s take a look at a few of the most notable bits of information from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (from his latest notes column, unless otherwise noted):

  • At least as of a few days back, says Heyman, first baseman Logan Morrison was not sitting on any open offers. While LoMo’s representatives surely have an idea of what might be available, it’s rather notable that no organizations seem to be making a concerted effort to draw him. MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently argued in favor of Morrison as a worthy free-agent target, but it certainly isn’t doing him any favors that the market still holds a few other quality slugger types. Still, Morrison’s excellent recent work at the plate would unquestionably hold out the promise of real improvement for a variety of organizations.
  • There’s still no evidence that the Braves are particularly likely to agree to terms with third baseman Mike Moustakas, but Heyman says there has been some amount of engagement — even if “there’s no common ground” to this point. The Atlanta organization, which Heyman says even considered Lorenzo Cain at one point, may have reduced 2018 flexibility after a salary swapping deal with the Dodgers moved some obligations forward. But it seems the team is still at least hunting around for interesting possibilities. As for Moustakas, Heyman notes he has “plenty of one-year opportunities,” but it’s not clear at this point whether a significant multi-year deal will be forthcoming. That’s surely disappointing after he turned in a strong 2017 season, though it is not atypical for some quality players to run into problematic market circumstances.
  • The White Sox have been linked, albeit loosely, to Moustakas, and it still seems as if the Chicago organization could have some tricks up its sleeves. While the focus, no doubt, remains on the future, the club is going to have some solid veterans and high-end young talents on the roster for the coming season. With just over $70MM on the books for 2018, perhaps the organization could yet pursue some one-year or multi-year deals that would hold out the promise of delivering excess value. Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is a “possibility” for the South Siders, per Heyman. It stands to reason that the Sox might hold added appeal to players such as Gonzalez if they are willing to offer more playing time than might be available elsewhere.
  • With several starters locking in solid rates of pay of late, and the bullpen market heating up earlier in the offseason, pitchers seem generally to have had an easier go of things on this winter’s wacky market. Heyman writes that veteran righty Lance Lynn has not been forced to significantly drop his asking price. Indications are that the Twins, per the report, “seem to prefer” Lynn to other still-available starters. Heyman further reports that Jake Arrieta’s agent, Scott Boras, still seems to believe that Arrieta compares more reasonably with pitchers who have landed mega-deals than he does with the recently inked Yu Darvish, who received a $126MM guarantee. Of course, we’re still waiting to see how those and a few other top open-market pitchers will end up doing when all is said and done.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/21/18

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post:

  • The Braves outrighted right-hander Mauricio Cabrera, who has cleared waivers, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Atlanta will surely be glad to hold onto the fireballing reliever, who could be an intriguing piece of the late-inning unit if he’s able to get a hold of his arsenal. Cabrera’s control evaporated in 2017 but he did carry a 2.82 ERA in 38 1/3 MLB innings in the prior season.
  • Lefty Manny Parra is joining the Giants on a minors deal, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The 35-year-old struggled quite a bit in limited action last year at Triple-A with the Cubs and sat out for all of 2016. Still, he was a useful reliever as recently as 2015, when he threw 32 1/3 innings of 3.90 ERA ball. Once a starter with the Brewers, Parra’s best years came as a pen piece for the Reds — including a strong 2013 campaign in which he worked to a 3.33 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.

Braves Agree To Terms With Peter Moylan

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6:03pm: Moylan is slated to earn a $575K salary with a $625K roster bonus if and when he is placed on the 25-man roster, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). It is not known how much, if any, money is guaranteed, but clearly Moylan will have to earn a bullpen job in camp.

7:28am: The Braves are in agreement on a contract with veteran right-handed reliever Peter Moylan, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Moylan, a client of Paragon Sports, is in Orlando to take a physical for the deal today, Crasnick adds. It was reported yesterday that the Braves and Royals were both in the mix to sign the 39-year-old veteran.

Moylan will head back to the Braves for what will be his third stint with the team. He made his Major League debut for Atlanta as a 27-year-old back in 2006 and went on to serve as a key member of their bullpen up through the 2012 season, appearing in 295 games with a 2.59 ERA out of the bullpen. He’d land back in Atlanta for the 2015 season after undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career, pitching 10 1/3 solid innings late in the year.

The Royals picked Moylan up in 2016, and he’s spent the past two seasons with Kansas City, where he’s pitched quite well out of the ’pen. Moylan paced the Majors with 79 total appearances last season, appearing in nearly half of his team’s games on the year. He logged a 3.46 ERA in 104 innings with the Royals in total over those two seasons, averaging 6.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 and logging a hefty 61.3 percent ground-ball rate.

Moylan has had his struggles with left-handed opponents in that time, serving up a .318/.444/.535 slash to 108 batters when they hold the platoon advantage. Right-handed hitters, though, probably wonder if it’s even worth stepping into the box against the side-arming Moylan, who has held same-handed opponents to a comical .181/.252/.253 slash through 326 PAs in that same span. Suffice it so say, he can be relied on by the Braves something of a right-handed specialist, though he probably won’t be called upon to face elite lefties on too many occasions.

The Braves figure to add Moylan to a late-inning mix that currently features Arodys Vizcaino as the closer and hard-throwing Jose Ramirez as the top setup option. Sam Freeman and A.J. Minter are on hand as left-handed options, and other candidates to fill right-handed spots in the relief corps include Josh Ravin, Dan Winkler, Chase Whitley, Mauricio Cabrera, Akeel Morris, Jason Hursh, Aaron Blair, Matt Wisler and Rule 5 pick Anyelo Gomez. It’s a rather deep mix from which to choose, though the group does have an overall lack of experience, so it’s not hard to see why the Braves sought a complementary veteran such as Moylan.

If it proves to be a guaranteed Major League pact for Moylan, he’ll be the first free agent to sign such a deal with the Braves this offseason under new general manager Alex Anthopoulos. He’d represent a viable upgrade to a bullpen that finished 26th in the Majors with a 4.58 ERA and allowed a .264/.339/.450 slash against righties in 2017 (as pointed out yesterday by MLBTR’s Connor Byrne).

Braves Designate Mauricio Cabrera

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The Braves have designated righty Mauricio Cabrera for assignment, per a club announcement (h/t David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Twitter). His roster spot will go to fellow right-hander Peter Moylan, whose signing is now official.

Dropping Cabrera would have been inconceivable this time last year. When camp opened in 2017, after all, the young flamethrower was seen as a major part of the late-inning mix in Atlanta.

In 2016, Cabrera posted a 2.82 ERA in his first 38 1/3 innings at the game’s highest level while averaging an eye-popping 101.2 mph with his four-seamer. Though he only managed 7.5 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9, he sported a solid 11.7% swinging-strike rate and got a strong 49.1% groundball rate.

Things went south last year, however. Cabrera experienced some arm issues in camp and struggled badly while working back through the minors, never returning to the MLB roster. Walks have always been a concern, but Cabrera was irredeemably wild in 2017. Over 43 total minor-league frames, he walked more than a batter per inning while stumbling to a 6.49 ERA.

Braves Working To Sign Peter Moylan; Royals Remain Interested

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11:20am: Moylan to the Braves might not be a foregone conclusion. The Royals remain interested in re-signing him, per Bowman (Twitter link).

8:37am: The Braves are attempting to complete a deal with free agent reliever Peter Moylan, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets. It’s unclear whether it’ll be a major league pact for the 39-year-old Moylan, who already has two stints with the Braves under his belt (2006-12 and 2015).

The right-handed Moylan spent the previous two seasons in Kansas City and combined for a 3.46 ERA with 6.92 K/9 and 3.55 BB/9 across 104 innings, including 59 1/3 (his most since 2010) in 2017, when he led all pitchers in appearances (79). The sinker- and slider-throwing Moylan notched a superb 61.3 percent groundball rate to rank eighth among qualified relievers during that two-year span.

Moylan’s success with the Royals was particularly surprising after he combined to throw fewer than 40 big league innings with the Braves and Dodgers from 2011-15, owing to a laundry list of injuries. The Australia native dealt with back, shoulder and elbow problems at various points during that stretch, and he missed all of 2014 after undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career. Moylan then rejoined the Braves prior to the 2015 campaign on an unconventional deal, one in which they picked him up as a player/coach.

If he’s able to catch on with the Braves for a third time, Moylan will become the elder statesman of a bullpen that hasn’t added any other proven commodities since finishing last season 26th in ERA (4.58) and 27th in fWAR (1.1). Braves relievers especially struggled versus right-handed hitters, who slashed .264/.339/.450 against them. Moylan, meanwhile, limited righties to a meager .161/.244/.236 mark and has held them in check throughout his career (.204/.269/.295). Although lefty-swingers have roughed up Moylan (.296/.422/.430), he has nonetheless managed a 3.00 ERA during his 390 1/3-inning career.

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