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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).

Giants Sign Tony Watson

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FEBRUARY 19: Watson is officially a member of the Giants. He will earn $3MM in 2018 and $3.5MM in 2019 before considering a $2.5MM player option ($500K buyout) for 2020, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 17: The Giants have reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with free-agent lefty Tony Watson that includes a player option for a third season. Watson is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Watson receives a $9MM guarantee, but it’s far from certain that he’ll end up earning precisely that amount. His total earnings could increase to $14MM over two years or $21MM for three years, depending on escalators and performance bonuses. Of course, Watson could also elect to return to the open market and leave some of the guaranteed money on the table.

 

[RELATED: Updated Giants Depth Chart]

The complicated structure will allow the Giants to stay shy of the luxury line, at least for the time being. Despite having had only limited availability at this stage of the winter, the San Francisco organization was able to fit another veteran piece as they seek to engineer a dramatic turnaround from a ghastly 2017 performance.

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Watson, who’ll turn 33 at the end of May, has long been a productive late-inning reliever, though he has also long outperformed his peripherals. It seemed he was fading a bit during a less-than-stellar first half of the 2017 season with the Pirates. But Watson finished strong after being dealt to the Dodgers and ended 2017 with a 3.38 ERA over 66 2/3 frames.

Rather remarkably, that quality run prevention effort matched the worst full-season earned run average of Watson’s career. Over his seven campaigns and 453 innings in the majors, Watson carries an excellent 2.68 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. He also has ample late-inning experience, including thirty saves.

Watson got much better results after changing uniforms, though it’s not crystal clear just what changed. He tweaked his horizontal release point, shifted toward his two-seamer and away from his slider, and started working higher in the zone with his fastballs. The bottom line remains that he brings 94 mph and a ~12% swinging-strike rate from the left side.

Regardless, the main question probably remains whether skipper Bruce Bochy will deploy Watson more as a general setup man in front of former Pittsburgh teammate Mark Melancon, or whether instead he’ll use the southpaw in a more targeted fashion against opposing lefties. Righties tagged Watson for a .271/.348/.460 slash last year and have long found greater success against him than their left-handed-hitting counterparts.

Jon Heyman and Robert Murray Fan Rag reported the signing (Twitter link). Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweeted the structure, while Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com had the guarantee (via Twitter). 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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.

Giants Designate Joan Gregorio For Assignment

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The Giants have designated right-hander Joan Gregorio for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Tony Watson, whose contract with San Francisco is now official (Twitter link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).

Gregorio, 26, has yet to reach the Majors and missed the second half of the 2017 season in Triple-A due to a PED suspension. Prior to that, he’d pitched to a 3.04 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 32.5 percent ground-ball rate in 74 innings of work there. Overall, Gregorio has a 4.37 ERA in 181 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Gregorio was, at one point, a mainstay on Giants’ prospect rankings, topping out at No. 7 among their farmhands in the 2016-17 offseason, per Baseball America. BA noted that he had an average fastball and slider with an improving changeup but questionable command, pointing to a potential shift to the ’pen.

Red Sox, J.D. Martinez Nearing Deal

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The free-agent dam is slowly beginning to break, as Eric Hosmer, Andrew Cashner, Jason Vargas and Tony Watson have all agreed to multi-year deals in the past five days, while Eduardo Nunez, Jaime Garcia and Chris Tillman have all come off the board on one-year pacts. J.D. Martinez, though, remains available as the top bat on the market despite a lack of obvious suitors for his services outside of the Red Sox and D-backs. Here’s the latest chatter on the slugger…

  • Drellich tweets that he, too, hears a deal between the Sox and Martinez is near, adding that Dombrowski would not comment on the matter.. Piecoro tweets that the D-backs are also under the impression that Martinez is going to the Red Sox, and they’ll need to find a replacement for him.
  • The Red Sox and Martinez are now “moving close to a deal,” tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. There’s nothing finalized yet, he adds, noting that details on the pact remain unclear at this time.

Earlier Updates

  • Martinez and the Red Sox are still negotiating as of this afternoon, reports Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. Chairman Tom Werner deferred questions on the matter to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, Drellich writes, noting only that, “Obviously, there’s no news,” at this time. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, meanwhile, tweets that the door for a deal between Boston and Martinez remains open but adds that the team’s interest isn’t going to be indefinite. The Red Sox, according to Abraham, are “prepared to move on entirely or to another player” if they reach the point where they feel there’s no compromise possible with Martinez. Logan Morrison has been reported to be a possible fallback option for the Red Sox if they move on or if Martinez signs elsewhere.
  • “I don’t think we’re done by any means right now,” D-backs CEO Derrick Hall told reporters on Monday (via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Hall said he’d be “surprised” if his team’s roster didn’t change before Opening Day, noting that GM Mike Hazen is looking both at free agency and the trade market. Hall said he entered the offseason hopeful of having an “outside chance” at retaining Martinez — a nod to an expected level of demand for his bat that never seems to have fully materialized. The D-backs’ new television deal, increased revenue from a playoff season and the $50MM BAMTech payout are all cited by Hall as reasons that ownership has taken the 2018 payroll to new heights. It’s not clear based on his comments, though, how strongly he believes Martinez can be fit into the mix. Hall did cite a history of getting “creative” when it comes to retaining/acquiring players about whom they feel strongly. “It’s time to finalize that roster one way or the other, if we are going to improve, which I believe we are,” said Hall.

Pro Hockey Rumors: Your Source For NHL Trade Deadline Coverage

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There is just one week remaining until the February 26th NHL Trade Deadline, and our sister site Pro Hockey Rumors is the best place to stay up to date on the latest news. The Chicago Blackhawks started selling off their expiring contracts today—will it continue? Are the Anaheim Ducks a good fit for Thomas Vanek? Which prospects will the New York Rangers be able to acquire?

Visit Pro Hockey Rumors today and be sure to follow us @prohockeyrumors on Twitter!

Tim Lincecum Reportedly Has Guaranteed Contract Offer

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Around two thirds of the league reportedly had at least one scout on hand at Tim Lincecum’s showcase last week, and SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee reports that one club came away with a favorable enough impression to offer Lincecum a guaranteed, Major League deal. That team is not the Giants, Brisbee adds, noting that the presence of a big league contract offer for Lincecum likely eliminates the chances of a reunion with his original team.

Among the teams that were reported to be in attendance at Lincecum’s showcase (in addition to the Giants) were the Rangers, Phillies, Dodgers, Twins, Tigers, Orioles, Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, Padres, Braves, Mariners and Cardinals. The Mets reportedly did not attend. Texas and San Francisco were said to be impressed by Lincecum’s showing, via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. (The Rangers have been stockpiling affordable pitching depth.) The Yankees reportedly thought he looked “fine,” per NJ Advance Media’s Brendan Kuty.

An NL scout told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish that Lincecum’s breaking ball had a better shape than in recent years but questioned whether he had a true out pitch. Lincecum’s fastball velocity was widely reported be sitting in the 90-92 mph range, which would be a marked improvement from the 87 mph he averaged with his fastball in an ill-fated run with the Angels during his 2016 comeback bid.

At this point, it’s been more than a half decade since Lincecum was an above-average big league contributor, when he logged a pristine 2.74 ERA in more than 200 innings for the 2011 Giants. Since that time, he’s mustered just a 4.94 ERA in 654 Major League frames, battling through injuries, diminished velocity and diminished control as his home-run rate spiked.

Given those struggles and his absence from baseball entirely in 2017, it’s a bit surprising that someone would offer a 40-man roster spot and the promise of a guaranteed salary. The now-33-year-old certainly isn’t devoid of any upside, especially relative to the cost of acquisition, but a return as an upper-echelon pitcher is a decisive long shot.

Lincecum does have some name value with fans, though, and perhaps he could ultimately come back as a mid-rotation piece or an interesting reliever if he can sustain the low-90s velocity he reportedly displayed at last week’s workout. (He had some success pitching with similar velocity earlier this decade.) Any big league deal he signs would presumably contain a minimal guarantee and significant incentives based on his number of appearances (either games started or relief appearances, dependent on his role) and innings totals.

Indians Sign Rajai Davis

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Feb. 19: Davis would earn $1.75MM upon making the big league roster and has an additional $3.25MM available to him via incentives, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Davis can ask for his release on March 22 if he hasn’t been added to the Major League roster by that time.

Feb. 17, 1:32pm: The signing is official, Bastian tweets.

12:15pm: The Indians are set to sign outfielder Rajai Davis to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports. The deal is pending a physical (Twitter links). Davis is repped by the Legacy Agency.

There’s already familiarity between Cleveland and the 37-year-old Davis, who was a member of the Indians during their American League-winning season in 2016. Davis authored one of the most memorable moments in World Series history that year when he hit a two-run, game-tying homer off then-Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of Game 7. Unfortunately for Davis and the Tribe, the Cubs went on to win the game.

While Davis is known for that HR, the righty-swinger hasn’t been a major offensive threat during his career. The lifetime .264/.313/.384 hitter is coming off a year in which he batted a meager .235/.293/.348 across 366 plate appearances between Oakland and Boston. As has typically been the case, though, the speedster provided value on the base paths, with 29 steals (giving him 394 for his career) to go with solid reviews from FanGraphs’ BsR metric. Davis was less successful in the field, on the other hand, as he earned subpar marks in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-1) and Ultimate Zone Rating (minus-3.4) during a 117-game season divided among center field – his primary position – and the two corner spots.

The Indians’ penciled-in starting outfield for 2017 consists of three left-handed hitters (center fielder Bradley Zimmer, left fielder Michael Brantley and right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall), and righty Brandon Guyer is recovering from October wrist surgery. Davis could earn a spot with the Tribe as a platoon option, then, especially given his solid career line against southpaws (.284/.340/.432). However, he’ll face competition from fellow minor league signing and right-hander Melvin Upton Jr., among others.

MLB Announces 2018 Pace Of Play Initiatives

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Major League Baseball announced on Monday that beginning in the 2018 season, teams will be limited to six non-pitching-change mound visits per nine-inning game. In extra-inning games, teams will receive one additional non-pitching-change mound visit per inning.

Major League Baseball will also reduce between-innings down time to 2:05 during locally televised regular season games, 2:25 during nationally televised regular season games and 2:55 during tiebreaker and postseason contests. There will be no pitch clock implemented for the 2018 season.

Under the new rules, mound visits are defined as: “a manager or coach trip to the mound to meet with the pitcher” and “a player leaving his position to confer with the pitcher, including a pitcher leaving the mound to confer with another player … regardless of where the visit occurs or the length of the visit.”

In addition to visits that result in a pitching change, there are notable exceptions to the mound visit rules as well. Communication between players and pitchers which “occur between batters in the normal course of play and do not require either the position player(s) or the pitcher to relocate” are still permitted, as are visits from position players to clean their spikes in rainy conditions, injury-related visits and visits following the announcement of an offensive substitution.

Once all six visits have been used, catchers may appeal to the umpires to make an additional mound visit in the instance of a cross-up between signs. Cross-up visits prior to the limit being reached will still count against the six-visit limit.

Punishment for violation of these rules will be subject to commissioner discretion: “Players who consistently or flagrantly violate the time limits will be subject to progressive discipline for just cause by the Office of the Commissioner pursuant to Article XI(C) of the Basic Agreement.”

The instant replay system is also changing in 2018. Teams’ video review rooms will now receive “direct slow motion camera angles” for the 2018 season, and phone lines “connecting the video review rooms and the dugout” will be installed and monitored so that they are not used for the purposes of sign stealing.

“I am pleased that we were able to reach an understanding with the Players Association to take concrete steps to address pace of play with the cooperation of players,” said Rob Manfred in announcing the changes. “My strong preference is to continue to have ongoing dialogue with players on this topic to find mutually acceptable solutions.”

Mets Sign Jason Vargas

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Feb. 19: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Vargas will earn $6MM in 2018 and $8MM in 2019. The option year is valued at $8MM and comes with a $2MM buyout.

Feb. 18: The deal is official, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. Along with the previously reported incentives, it includes a $250K assignment bonus if the Mets trade Vargas, according to Heyman (Twitter link). To make room for Vargas, the Mets placed infielder T.J. Rivera on the 60-day DL. Rivera underwent Tommy John surgery last September.

Feb. 16, 1:20pm: Heyman tweets that Vargas will earn an additional $250K for reaching 160, 170, 180, 190, 200 and 210 innings in each season of the deal.

10:15am: The option year is worth an additional $8MM, DiComo reports (on Twitter).

9:55am: Puma tweets that Vargas’ contract also contains an option for a third year. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets that Vargas will be guaranteed $16MM. Heyman adds that Vargas’ deal also contains incentives that will allow him to earn an additional $1.5MM per season, based on his innings totals.

9:44am: The Mets are in agreement with free-agent lefty Jason Vargas, pending a physical, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). It’s a two-year deal, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link). Mike Puma of the New York Post had recently reported that the Mets were maintaining “solid interest” in Vargas, who is represented by CAA Baseball.

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Vargas, who turned 35 two weeks ago, will add some much-needed stability to a Mets rotation that has been devastated by injuries in recent seasons. Last year alone, the Mets saw Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman all combine to spend significant time on the disabled list, with only Jacob deGrom remaining healthy to shoulder a full season’s workload.

The 2017 season, meanwhile, served as a platform for the veteran Vargas to prove that he was healthy after Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his 2015-16 campaigns. It was a rather dichotomous season for Vargas, who surged to a 2.22 ERA through his first 101 innings of the season, earning a deserved All-Star berth in the process. Vargas’ early success was buoyed by an unsustainable 86 percent strand rate, however, and that figure cratered over the final three months as his control took a turn for the worse. After that sparkling 2.22 ERA through the end of June, Vargas limped to a 6.66 ERA in his final 16 starts.

It’s possible, of course, that some fatigue in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery impacted Vargas. Control has never been an issue for him, after all, but he nonetheless averaged nearly four walks per nine innings pitched over the final three months of the season. Overall, though, the results on the year were solid. Vargas totaled a 4.16 ERA while averaging 6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9 with a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate.

That body of work lines up fairly closely to the 4.01 ERA he turned in over 1082 2/3 innings from 2009-15 — the stretch from which he established himself as a viable Major League starter up until he underwent Tommy John surgery as a member of the Royals.

While the yearly breakdown of the contract remains unclear, the addition of Vargas should push the Mets’ payroll north of the $150MM mark for the second consecutive season, though that number includes David Wright’s $20MM salary, 75 percent of which is covered by insurance should the oft-injured former star head back to the 60-day DL. Vargas’ two-year deal pushes the team’s 2019 commitments well beyond $90MM more than a year in advance as well (though, again, 75 percent of Wright’s $15MM salary next season is covered by insurance).

This will mark the second stint with the Mets for Vargas, who was traded to New York from Miami in the 2006 deal that sent Matt Lindstrom to the Marlins. Vargas only pitched 10 1/3 innings in the Majors with the Mets the first time around and was ultimately traded to the Mariners in the 2008, three-team J.J. Putz swap. He’ll be reunited with former Royals pitching coach in Queens, giving him some added familiarity as he re-acclimates to his new surroundings.

For the Mets, the Vargas addition is somewhat surprisingly the third multi-year free-agent pickup that has transpired after reports suggesting that the team had limited remaining funds. After signing Anthony Swarzak to a two-year, $14MM deal back in December, the Mets have now added Jay Bruce (three years, $39MM), Todd Frazier (two years, $17MM) and Vargas, in addition to more modest one-year commitments for Jose Reyes ($2MM) and Adrian Gonzalez ($545K).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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