Archives for 2018

Marlins Sign Cameron Maybin

By Jeff Todd | February 21, 2018 at 10:15am CDT

10:15am: Maybin will earn $3.25MM for the coming season, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The deal includes up to $750K in plate appearance-based incentives, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

8:00am: The Marlins have announced the signing of outfielder Cameron Maybin, as Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel first reported (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, MLB deal for the Excel Sports Management client, though salary terms remain unknown.

Maybin, 30, will help fill out a Miami outfield mix that was drastically altered with a series of offseason moves. Stars Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich were all dealt away, while reserve Ichiro Suzuki departed via free agency.

Those deals did return some younger options, though perhaps only Lewis Brinson is fully prepared for his first full attempt at the major-league level. Otherwise, Magneuris Sierra and Braxton Lee are the only other outfielders currently holding down spots on the 40-man roster.

Expectations for Maybin won’t be too lofty, but he could function as a solid-average, semi-regular player. His strong 2016 season at the plate — .315/.383/.418 — stands out as a bit of an outlier and was no doubt aided by a .383 batting average on balls in play. Perhaps it’s reasonable to expect something that looks more like his 2017 season, which was split between the Angels and Astros. In 450 plate appearances, Maybin slashed .228/.318/.365 with ten home runs and 33 steals while also grading out as a high-end overall baserunner and solid defender.

Adding some veterans to the Marlins outfield unit clearly makes good sense; indeed, it seems reasonable to wonder whether yet further acquisitions could take place. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro suggests (Twitter link) that Derek Dietrich is likely to see action in left field. Whether or not Brinson is ultimately utilized out of the gates, he’ll be expected to carry a major load in center, with Maybin representing the other possibility up the middle.

Beyond that, though, there still seems to be quite a lot of uncertainty. Minor-league signees Scott Van Slyke, J.B. Shuck, and Rafael Ortega will battle for jobs in camp. Sierra and Lee could as well, though both are rather thin on upper-level experience. Veterans Garrett Cooper and Martin Prado may conceivably see time on the grass, though all have spent the bulk of their careers in the infield. And the organization no doubt hopes that prospect Monte Harrison will force his way into the majors before too long.

This move is the latest for a player who carries an interesting transactional history. It’ll be Maybin’s second stint with the Fish, as he played for the then-Florida Marlins between 2008 and 2010. A former first-round pick of the Tigers, Maybin was shipped to Miami as part of the Miguel Cabrera trade. He was then passed on to the Padres in a deal that sent Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb to the Marlins. After inking an extension with the Friars and then falling out of favor, Maybin ended up moving to the Braves as part of the (first) Craig Kimbrel swap. A second run in Detroit came after a trade with the Braves; the Tigers then shipped Maybin to the Angels, who allowed him to go to the Astros in a surprising August 31st waiver claim last year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Prospect Forrest Whitley Suspended For 50 Games

By Jeff Todd | February 21, 2018 at 10:00am CDT

Astros pitching prospect Forrest Whitley has been suspended for fifty games, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The ban is drug-related, per the report, though it is not clear just what improper substance Whitley was deemed to have used.

Whitley, a 20-year-old right-hander, greatly elevated his stock in 2017. Indeed, many outlets now consider him one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball, with only the uniquely situated Shohei Ohtani drawing greater plaudits. Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN.com, and Fangraphs all rated Whitley within the top ten overall pre-MLB players in the game in their most recent rankings.

Typically, fifty-game bans are handed out for drugs of abuse or amphetamines rather than performance-enhancing substances. In this case, Chuck Miketinac of FOX San Antonio says (Twitter link) a source told him that Whitley took an “unknown stimulant” to help keep him awake on a drive. The youngster intends to challenge the suspension, per that report. JJ Cooper of Baseball America notes (Twitter links) that the official release on the suspension does not follow the typical template utilized either for drugs of abuse or PED bans and also stands out because it does not state there was a positive test.

Clearly, there’s still quite a lot that is not known about the situation. Whitley himself released a statement through his agent (via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, on Twitter) in which he accepted responsibility and apologized. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says he’s disappointed in what has transpired but also says he believes Whitley will learn from the situation. (Video via Twitter, also from McTaggart.)

Whitley, a 2016 first-rounder, reached the Double-A last year, compiling 92 1/3 innings of 2.83 ERA ball with 13.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 across three levels of the minors. He will be eligible to return around the end of May and will likely work out in the meantime at the organization’s spring facilities, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (Twitter links).

Nationals Sign Joaquin Benoit

By Steve Adams | February 21, 2018 at 9:39am CDT

WEDNESDAY: Washington has announced the signing. Benoit also can earn up to $1MM via incentives, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

MONDAY: The Nationals have agreed to a contract with free-agent reliever Joaquin Benoit, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). It’s a one-year, Major League contract worth $1MM for the ACES client, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (Twitter link).

Benoit, 40, split the 2017 season between the Phillies and Pirates, delivering solid results in 42 innings with Philadelphia before being torched in 8 1/3 frames with the Bucs late in the season, Overall, Benoit logged a 4.65 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9 and a 33.3 percent grounder rate in 50 1/3 innings of work.

That represented a down season for Benoit, of course, but it was only the second time in the past eight seasons that he’s posted an ERA north of 3.00. Benoit’s average velocity (94.8 mph) and swinging-strike rate (13.3 percent) both remained solid as he pitched for both Pennsylvania clubs last year, and he’ll look to keep those positive trends going as he seeks to rebound in terms of overall run-prevention.

Dating back to the 2010 season, Benoit has turned in a 2.64 ERA (3.37 FIP, 2.95 SIERA) with 9.8 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 0.98 HR/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate. He’s no stranger to high-leverage roles, having notched 45 saves and 168 holds across that terrific late-career renaissance, and he’ll give the Nats an experienced arm to complement a late-inning relief corps that also features veterans Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler.

It’s not clear on what level the two are related, but it’s nonetheless worth noting that young Koda Glover reported to camp with shoulder soreness and was diagnosed with inflammation following an MRI (via a report from Castillo). He’s not throwing at present, making the added depth from Benoit all the more important.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Orioles Designate Jaycob Brugman, Announce Tillman Signing

By Jeff Todd | February 21, 2018 at 8:27am CDT

The Orioles have designated outfielder Jaycob Brugman for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to righty Chris Tillman, whose signing was announced.

Baltimore had picked up the 25-year-old Brugman earlier in the offseason after he was designated by the A’s. He had been expected to compete in camp for a reserve role and perhaps still will if he clears waivers.

Brugman posted a .266/.346/.343 slash over 162 plate appearances last year. He also owns a .289/.353/.410 composite line across 605 total trips to the plate at the Triple-A level. Regarded as a solid corner outfield defender who’s capable of spending some time in center,

The O’s are said to be looking for a lefty-hitting outfielder, but evidently don’t expect Brugman to be their best option. It seems rather clear at this point that the club has every intention of bringing in a veteran from outside the organization.

Rays Unlikely To Further Tear Down Roster

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 11:28pm CDT

The recent string of subtractions by the Rays — Jake Odorizzi, Corey Dickerson and Steven Souza have all been moved in the past five days — has fans of other clubs hoping for a full rebuild and, thus, trades of Chris Archer, Alex Colome and/or Kevin Kiermaier. However, Tampa Bay GM Erik Neander and senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom both strongly suggested that such moves are unlikely tonight in separate interviews. (Neander spoke with with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, while Bloom’s chat with Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM can be heard on Twitter.)

Tonight’s trade of Souza was a tough one for Rays faithful to absorb, given the amount of payroll that previous moves involving Evan Longoria, Odorizzi and Dickerson had already saved and given Souza’s modest $3.55MM salary. However, Bloom suggested that the trade of Souza had far less to do with cutting payroll than it did with the fact that the D-backs aggressively pursued Souza as a fallback after losing J.D. Martinez to the Red Sox. (Tampa Bay received MLB-ready left-hander Anthony Banda, second base prospect Nick Solak and a pair of players to be named later who, according to ESPN’s Keith Law, are “more than just throw-ins,” though their identities are not yet known.)

“We feel this move, just the way the Diamondbacks came after Steven, that it was something that we couldn’t walk past,” said Bloom before going on to suggest that the Rays may now add some pieces. “And knowing that it does take a chunk out of our lineup, we still feel good about the talent we have on hand. … We want to spend the rest of the spring looking for ways we can support this group, knowing that we’re going to be young, we’re going to be interesting and we want to give this group as much of a chance as possible to succeed.”

Neander had similar sentiments, calling the Souza trade a “pure baseball decision” based on a package “we felt we couldn’t pass up.” Bloom, in his interview, repeatedly speaks about supporting the group of core pieces already on the roster (e.g. Archer, Kiermaier) as well as the emerging wave of talent that is on the cusp of the Majors. (While Bloom doesn’t specify names, the Rays could very well see right-hander Brent Honeywell join a largely homegrown rotation this season and also have position players such as Willy Adames and Jake Bauers on the cusp of the Majors.) To that end, he flatly denied any plans of moving further core pieces.

“As far as Archer and Colome, that’s not our plan,” said Bloom when asked by Bowden about that pair specifically. “…We recognize, again, that we’re in a little bit of a transition phase as we focus on building up that young core, but we don’t want to ignore that we have a pretty dynamic group.” Neander’s message was the same.

“I would say extremely unlikely,” said the GM when asked about further tearing down the club (via Topkin). “Our focus at this point is we’d like to add a little bit. We’re not looking to pull this thing back.”

Neander went on to state that there’s “work to do” when it comes to finding a replacement from Souza, which seems likely to come from outside the organization. As Topkin points out, the Rays currently project to have an all-left-handed-hitting outfield of Denard Span, Kiermaier and Mallex Smith. Generally speaking, the team has a fairly obvious need for right-handed offense after trading Longoria and Souza and, thus far, adding only C.J. Cron as a right-handed bat this offseason.

As always, there are multiple avenues for the Rays to explore when determining how to address that need. The free-agent market isn’t exactly teeming with options, though Carlos Gomez remains available and is still capable of holding down a regular role in the outfield. A roll of the dice on a veteran like Jose Bautista may not excite many fans, though it’d come at a minimal cost given his recent struggles. The trade market would present further options, with Milwaukee’s Domingo Santana standing out as a particularly logical name to pursue given Milwaukee’s outfield surplus and desire for controllable starters. (To be clear, all of those names are merely speculative to this point.)

More broadly, while neither Neander nor Bloom proclaimed themselves definitive contenders for the division, both expressed a belief that the Rays, with some (presumably modestly priced) additions around the periphery of the roster can be a largely competitive unit in 2018. Bloom acknowledged that the Rays aren’t yet among the “upper-echelon” teams in the American League but voiced a desire to get there and optimism about being able to do so with a number of the young pieces that’re already in the organization.

“With respect to the quality of our pitching and the quality of our defense, we’re going to be competitive,” Neander added.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tulo, Rays, Drury

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 9:11pm CDT

With J.D. Martinez heading to Boston, the Red Sox are facing somewhat of a roster crunch, writes Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. It is not, however, at first base as many have suggested. Manager Alex Cora suggested Tuesday that he views Hanley Ramirez as his No. 3 hitter and primary first baseman, even though the team re-upped Mitch Moreland on a two-year deal this winter. As Drellich points out, though, each of Moreland, Ramirez and Martinez have dealt with injury issues in recent years, so Moreland still figures to get his share of at-bats.

Rather, Drellich observes, the bigger crunch will be on the bench. Sandy Leon is the favorite to serve as the backup catcher, and one of Moreland or Ramirez will be on the bench most days. The Sox have two out-of-options players in Deven Marrero and Blake Swihart that are current bench options, but they also have Brock Holt who agreed to a $2.2MM arbitration salary earlier this winter. That deal, like the vast majority of arb deals, is non-guaranteed, but Holt’s versatility has been valuable for the Sox in recent seasons and he seems unlikely to be cut loose. Holt does have minor league options remaining, though obviously paying him to play in Triple-A is suboptimal as well.

A bit more on the Sox and their division…

The Red Sox are unlikely to trade Jackie Bradley after signing J.D. Martinez this week, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. That’s not much of a surprise, as Bradley’s name hasn’t come up on the rumor circuit much in recent months, and the trio of Bradley, Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts should be among the best defensive outfield units in all of baseball.
The Blue Jays are still seeking upgrades after last week’s signing of lefty Jaime Garcia to round out the rotation, and GM Ross Atkins suggested to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet that there’s a strong likelihood that they’ll make a move before Opening Day (Twitter links). Atkins somewhat candidly said he felt there’s about a 90 percent chance the Jays have another addition in store, citing a reliever as the likeliest pickup. Notably, Atkins added that improving at backup catcher, where light-hitting Luke Maile projects as the reserve behind Russell Martin, “is less likely at this point.”
Troy Tulowitzki is making progress from last year’s ankle injury, which included torn ligaments in his foot as well as a compression factor, writes Nicholson-Smith in a full column. However, he has yet to begin running this spring. Tulowitzki’s goal is to be ready for Opening Day, though the 33-year-old veteran said he’s not putting any timelines on his recovery and won’t risk a setback by pushing himself too far. He fielded grounders thrown to him by the coaching staff today, though the drills “weren’t designed to test his range too much” just yet, per Nicholson-Smith. Even if Tulo isn’t ready for Opening Day, the Blue Jays are much better prepared from a depth vantage point up the middle, where they’ll have offseason trade acquisitions Yangervis Solarte and Aledmys Diaz backing up Tulowitzki and Devon Travis.
Following the trade of Jake Odorizzi to the Twins, the Rays plan to use a four-man rotation of Chris Archer, Nathan Eovaldi, Jake Faria and Blake Snell for the first six weeks of the season or so, manager Kevin Cash tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The increased amount of off-days in the schedule this year due to the season’s earlier start will allow the club to use fifth starter Matt Andriese as a multi-inning reliever. The Rays, unsurprisingly, plan to keep top prospects like Brent Honeywell in the minors to begin the season, which will allow them to gain extra control and avoid Super Two status for arbitration purposes.
The most likely scenario for the Yankees and newly acquired Brandon Drury is that Drury opens the season as the team’s starting third baseman, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. That’d allow the Yankees to go with either Ronald Torreyes or veteran Danny Espinosa at second base and avoid rushing prospects Miguel Andujar or Gleyber Torres early in the season. Interestingly, despite the fact that Torres missed half the 2017 season with Tommy John surgery (in his non-throwing arm), the Yankees view Torres as closer to the Majors, per Sherman. Andujar is nearly two years older than Torres and has twice the Triple-A experience, though neither has even appeared in 60 games at the top minor league level yet.

Yankees Designate Jabari Blash For Assignment

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 6:58pm CDT

The Yankees announced that they’ve designated outfielder Jabari Blash for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for newly acquired infielder Brandon Drury.

The 28-year-old Blash has long boasted impressive power in the minors but hasn’t put that together in the Majors. Blash logged a career-high 195 plate appearances with the Padres this past season, hitting .213/.333/.341 with five homers and six doubles but an alarming 66 strikeouts in that time (33.8 percent). While he’s limited to the outfield corners, Blash has strong on-base skills to go along with his considerable power, as evidenced by his career .258/.381/.571 batting line and 65 homers through 235 games at the Triple-A level.

Yankees Acquire Brandon Drury, D-Backs Acquire Steven Souza In Three-Team Trade With Rays

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 6:30pm CDT

The Rays, Yankees and D-backs have agreed to a significant three-team trade that will send outfielder Steven Souza from Tampa Bay to Arizona, infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury from Arizona to New York and prospects to Tampa Bay. The Rays will receive left-hander Anthony Banda and two players to be named later from the D-backs as well as minor league second baseman Nick Solak from the Yankees. Additionally, the Yankees will send right-hander Taylor Widener to the Diamondbacks. The teams have announced the trade.

The acquisition of Souza will be the second notable outfield pickup for the D-backs in as many days, as the Snakes added Jarrod Dyson on a two-year deal yesterday just minutes after losing out on J.D. Martinez, who signed a five-year deal with the Red Sox. Souza is a solid consolation price to that failed pursuit, as he’ll give the D-backs a right-handed bat with lesser power but superior defense to Martinez — and it’s certainly notable that he’s coming off a 30-homer season himself.

Souza, set to turn 29 in late April, hit .239/.351/.459 with 21 doubles, a pair of triples and 16 stolen bases in addition to his 30 home runs last season. While he can’t make up for the loss of Martinez’s bat on his own, he’s long shown plenty of pop at the plate and last season walked at a career-best 13.6 percent clip as well. He is, of course, not without red flags. Even if he’s able to sustain the uptick in walks, Souza figures to continue to hit for a questionable batting average so long as he continues to struggle with his overall contact skills. Souza whiffed at a 29 percent rate in 2017, and that actually represented an improvement over 2016’s alarming 34 percent strikeout rate.

That said, he comes to the D-backs with three years of club control remaining, meaning he’ll be a fairly long-term option for them in an outfield mix that also includes Dyson, impending free agent A.J. Pollock, David Peralta and Yasmany Tomas (though the D-backs would surely love to escape the remainder of Tomas’ onerous financial commitment).

Arizona will also add a former 12th-round pick, Widener, that turned in a strong season in Class-A Advanced last season when he tossed 119 1/3 innings of 3.39 ERA ball with a 129-to-50 K/BB ratio over the life of 27 starts. He’s had some durability issues in the past, with Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com noting last summer that he had ulnar transposition surgery in 2015 and dealt with back and knee injuries in college. There’s starter potential for Widener, but he’ll need to prove capable of handling a regular workload in the rotation.

[Updated Depth Charts: Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks]

The 25-year-old Drury, meanwhile, will give the Yankees the infield depth they’ve been seeking as they currently make evaluations of Miguel Andujar at third base and Gleyber Torres at second base. After trading Chase Headley and Starlin Castro this offseason, the Yanks lacked certainty at both of those positions, but Drury presents a more experienced option than any of their infield prospect that has seen plenty of Major League action at both slots. If Andujar and/or Torres prove ready to handle a full workload in 2018, then Drury can shift into a super-utility role and provide depth at a number of spots around the diamond.

Drury is fresh off a solid, if unspectacular .267/.317/.447 slash with 13 homers through 480 plate appearances this past season. Since establishing himself as a regular in the D-backs’ infield/corner outfield rotation in 2016, Drury has batted .275/.323/.453 with 29 home runs. He’s controllable for another four seasons and should factor into the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup, though which position he plays will likely be determined over the course of Spring Training.

Drury, a rumored target for the Yankees dating back to December, comes to the Yankees with more than 1000 innings of MLB experience at second base and more than 300 innings at third base; that division of labor was flipped during his minor league career, as he logged more than 3000 innings at the hot corner in the minors and just 620 at second base prior to reaching the Majors.

He drew above-average marks from Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating for his work in 947 innings at second base this past season, though both metrics feel his limited big league work at third base has been below average. Drury also has 700 innings of corner outfield work under his belt (where he’s drawn below-average marks as well) and has even played six innings at shortstop in the Majors.

The acquisition of Drury likely puts an end to the oft-speculated possibility of a Mike Moustakas signing for the Yankees. And, because he’s not eligible for arbitration until next winter, Drury allows the Yankees to maintain plenty of financial flexibility, leaving room for in-season moves, which was reported to be a priority for GM Brian Cashman.

As for the Rays, the trade sends the latest of several signals that the team is looking to retool its current group and scale back payroll. Souza avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.55MM deal earlier this winter, and he’ll now join Corey Dickerson ($5.95MM) and Jake Odorizzi ($6.3MM) as arbitration-eligible players whom the Rays have shipped out in recent days. The subtractions of Odorizzi and Souza leave the Rays with a projected payroll of just $78.77MM, and that’ll further drop once it’s determined how much (if any) of Dickerson’s salary they’ll need to pay in 2018. The Rays would owe Dickerson 30 days of his non-guaranteed arbitration salary for the 2018 season if he clears waivers and is released — roughly $975K — so this trio of moves should dip their payroll into the $73MM range.

Cost savings notwithstanding, the Rays also look to have bolstered their farm system in a meaningful way with today’s trade. Baseball America rated Banda second among D-backs farmhands (albeit in a weak minor league system), while the publication considered Solak to be the 10th-best second base prospect in the game.

The 24-year-old Banda entered the 2017 season as BA’s No. 88 overall prospect, but he struggled through a down year in 2017, pitching to a 5.39 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 42 percent ground-ball rate in 122 innings in the extremely hitter-friendly confines of Triple-A Reno. The former 10th-rounder also made his MLB debut in 2017, allowing 17 runs in 25 2/3 innings with a 25-to-10 K/BB ratio. Even with that rough run in Triple-A and the Majors, Banda still has a potential future as a mid-rotation starter, per BA, whose scouting report also noted that he also showed the skills to be a quality late-inning reliever.

Solak, meanwhile, batted .297/.384/.452 with 12 homers and 14 steals through 130 games / 538 plate appearances split between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in his first full season in 2017. He also displayed strong K/BB ratios, striking out at an 18.5 percent pace to go along with a quality 11.7 percent walk rate.

It remains to be seen whether the trades of Souza, Odorizzi and Dickerson will serve as the catalyst for a full-scale fire sale in St. Petersburg, where the Rays still have highly appealing assets such as Chris Archer and Alex Colome. Technically speaking, the Rays have MLB-ready assets that can plausibly step into the fold in the place of Odorizzi, given the presence of pitching prospects like Brent Honeywell, Jose De Leon, Banda and Ryan Yarbrough, among others. Mallex Smith, meanwhile, is an option to step into the outfield in place of Souza or Dickerson, while veteran Denard Span can handle another outfield spot.

But, it’s also true that the Rays face an uphill battle in a competitive AL East — especially following the subtraction of two of their better hitters from 2017 and a rotation mainstay in Odorizzi. Viewed through that lens, there’s good sense for the Rays to continue to at least explore trade possibilities for the likes of Archer and Colome as they look to bolster their farm, improve their draft/international pools for the 2019 season and establish a new wave of controllable, pre-arbitration assets that can help their lower-revenue organization form a core in the next competitive cycle.

That type of thinking has drawn the ire of agents and the Major League Baseball Players Association this offseason, given the diminished number of teams that are even entertaining the thought of signing veteran free agents. But, it’s also factual that the system, as currently constructed in the latest CBA, favors aggressive tear-downs more than it does trying to walk the line between rebuilding and contending — a reality that could conceivably push the Rays into further action on the trade market.

FanRag’s Robert Murray got the ball rolling on the story by reporting that Solak was headed to the Rays for an unknown return (via Twitter). FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweeted that Drury had been traded to the Yankees. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic broke the three-team nature of the swap, including that Souza was going to the D-backs (Twitter link). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Banda was coming to the Rays in the deal. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Widener’s inclusion in the deal (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert added that there were a pair of PTBNLs going to the Rays in the swap as well (via Twitter).

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Julio Pablo Martinez Receives Clearance To Sign With MLB Organizations

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 4:54pm CDT

Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball and will be free to sign with a Major League organization beginning on March 6, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 21-year-old Martinez is subject to international bonus pools due to his age and lack of professional experience in the Cuban National Series, so he’ll now have to decide whether to sign with a team during the current signing period (when many teams have already spent the bulk or entirety of their league-allotted budget) or after the July 2 kick off the 2018-19 period.

According to Badler, the Rangers, Yankees and Marlins are the current favorites for Martinez, who is one of the more touted prospects to come out of Cuba in recent seasons. If Martinez opts to sign with the Yankees or Marlins, per Badler, he’d likely be waiting until this coming summer to sign so that both teams could tap into their 2018-19 pools. The Yankees added a pair of Venezuelan prospects back in late December and also picked up former Braves farmhand Angel Rojas for $350K, thus accounting for some of what was left over from a failed run at Shohei Ohtani.

Texas had $3.535MM in pool allotments to spend on Ohtani before he opted to sign with the division-rival Angels. They’ve since reallocated some of their pool by signing shortstops Yenci Pena (for $675K) and Keithron Moss (for $800K) as well as outfielder D’Vaughn Knowles (for $500K). That’d still leave as much as $1.56MM to offer Martinez to begin his pro career in the current signing period (though it’s possible the pool is a bit lesser depending on whether Texas has made some smaller-scale signings that were not widely reported).

Certainly, other clubs could enter the mix for Martinez — especially if he is keen on waiting until July to sign a contract. Far more teams would be able to weigh a pursuit of the 21-year-old at that time, and given the appeal touted by Badler in his scouting reports on Martinez, several teams would figure to have interest. Badler lists Martinez at 5’10” and 180 pounds, praising a blend of power and speed, and he’s expanded on the talented young outfielder in a pair of prior columns — both of which those looking to learn more about Martinez will want to check out.

The left-handed-hitting, left-handed-throwing Martinez hit .333/.469/.498 with six homers, 11 doubles, two triples and 24 steals (in 29 attempts) during his most recent professional effort in Cuba. More impressively, he drew 52 walks that season against just 30 strikeouts in 264 plate appearances.

He also appeared in 57 games and tallied 255 plate appearances in the 2017 Can-Am Association — the same independent league that was previously home to big leaguers Chris Colabello, Andrew Albers, Craig Breslow, Steve Delabar and Tim Adleman, among others — where he hit .297/.345/.449 with seven homers and 20 steals. In today’s piece, Badler notes that Martinez is likely of an appropriate skill level to begin his path to the Majors in Class-A Advanced or in Double-A.

AL Central Notes: Royals, LoMo, Moose, Twins, Sano, Abreu

By Jeff Todd | February 20, 2018 at 3:55pm CDT

For the Royals, replacing Eric Hosmer likely won’t mean paying another veteran significant dollars to line up at first base. As Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes, the current expectation is that Logan Morrison is an “unlikely” target. GM Dayton Moore tells Dodd that while the organization has long “admired” Morrison’s ability, the “economic part of it … is very real to us.”

It also does not seem that the Royals will pivot from Hosmer to fellow former K.C. star Mike Moustakas. Dodd runs down some of the team’s internal options at the infield corners and the organization’s current thinking as it bids adieu to Hosmer. While it’s largely of historical interest at this point, it’s also worth noting a recent report from Robert Murray of Fan Rag suggesting that Kansas City never dangled more than five years and around $100MM to Hosmer. While multiple prior reports had pegged the organization’s interest in the seven-year range, that lesser price point would certainly have left Hosmer with an easier decision.

Headlines

Archives for 2018

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect