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Archives for January 2020

Marlins To Sign Pat Venditte

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The Marlins have a minor-league deal in place with reliever Pat Venditte, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). It includes an invitation to the MLB side of Spring Training.

Venditte, 34, has thrown only 68 MLB innings to this point of his career. But as journeyman middle relievers go, he’s as interesting as they come. Venditte is a true unicorn of the game: a switch-pitcher who utilizes a customized glove to change his throwing hand depending upon the batter.

Things didn’t work out last year with the Giants, as Venditte received only two appearances in the bigs. But he did work to a 2.85 ERA in 47 1/3 innings at Triple-A, with a healthy combination of 11.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

Giants To Sign Tyson Ross

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The Giants have agreed to terms on a minor-league pact with veteran righty Tyson Ross, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. He’ll earn at a $1.75MM rate in the majors with $1.75MM in available incentives.

Ross fell flat last year with the Tigers, making seven middling starts before he was sidelined with nerve issues in his neck. Those troubles were never resolved. It’s not clear at this point just when Ross will be available to work off the mound, though the Giants can afford to be as patient as necessary with this low-risk agreement.

While he hardly returned to his once-lofty levels of performance in a bounceback 2018 season, Ross did show that he had something left in the tank. But he never came close to his prior heights — Ross’s 2018 swinging-strike rate was about a third lower than in his prime — and the more recent struggles raise yet more questions about his future. The former Athletics and Padres hurler lost more than a full tick on his fastball in 2019.

Clearly, there are some significant barriers. But teams around the game obviously saw some reason for hope, as the Giants were compelled to include a fair bit of contractual upside to lure Ross back out west.

Rockies To Sign Chris Owings

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The Rockies have struck a deal with infielder Chris Owings, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). It’s a minors pact that would pay at a $1MM rate if the club adds Owings to the MLB roster.

Owings, 28, was once considered a highly promising young player with the Diamondbacks organization. But his offensive numbers dipped and then fell off a table over the years. He was dropped by the Snakes following a rough 2018 season.

Last year wasn’t quite the bounce back that Owings and the Royals hoped for when they hooked up on a one-year pact last winter. He ended up being cut loose and landing with the Boston organization. Over the past two seasons, Owings carries a brutal .180/.248/.275 slash through 505 MLB plate appearances. He did hit much better in his time at Triple-A last year, turning in a .325/.385/.595 batting line with 11 homers in 183 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.

It’s an easy, low-risk move for the Rockies, who need all the help they can get without committing cash. Owings could compete with Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson for opportunities at second base while serving as a reserve all over the field, if he’s able to crack the roster. The chances would increase significantly if the Colorado organization ends up moving a position player via trade.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Bryant, Tigers, Puig, Mets, Dellin

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A service-time grievance and trade rumors have been dominant topics this offseason centering on Cubs superstar Kris Bryant. But Bryant, who will turn 28 on Saturday, would still prefer to spend his entire career with the Cubs, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score hears. That depends in part on whether the club would be willing to give the third baseman “fair value” in an extension, though. To this point, there hasn’t been any word about serious extension talks between the two sides. As of now, after his grievance hearing in October, the main question is whether Bryant has one or two years of team control left. The decision figures to have a significant impact on his future.

More from around the game…

  • If free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig ends up scoring a multiyear contract, which is far from a sure thing, it’s “unlikely” the Tigers will be the team that gives it to him, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com writes. That said, credible outfield possibilities in free agency are decreasing, and the Tigers look to be in desperate need of help there. Their projected 2020 trio of JaCoby Jones, Christin Stewart and Harold Castro combined for minus-1.7 fWAR in 2019.
  • The Mets opened up a windfall of cash when they agreed to an amended contract with injury-laden outfielder Yoenis Cespedes two weeks ago. A few days later, the team reached a guaranteed $10.5MM deal with reliever Dellin Betances. However, according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, there’s no connection between the two transactions. “The specifics of Cespedes’ resolution didn’t necessarily drive this decision. It was more the desire to get this player,” said Van Wagenen, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Van Wagenen added that the Mets’ pursuit of Betances began at the general managers’ meetings in November, long before they changed Cespedes’ contract.
  • It seems interest in outfielder Kim Jae-Hwan has been hard to come by since he was posted Dec. 5, but the free agent has every intention of riding out the process, his agent, Kim Pyung-ki, told Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. Kim only has until Sunday to find a contract; otherwise, he’ll return to his Korea Baseball Organization club, the Doosan Bears, and won’t be eligible for another posting until November. So far this offseason, only the Marlins have been connected to Kim, but “they seemed lukewarm in their response after watching footage of Kim in action,” Yoo writes. And Miami has signed fellow outfielder Corey Dickerson, perhaps taking it out of the Kim sweepstakes entirely.

Nationals Sign Will Harris

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JAN. 3: The Nationals have announced the deal.

JAN. 2: The Nationals have agreed to a deal with free agent right-hander Will Harris, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  The contract is a three-year pact worth $24MM, as per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).  Harris is represented by agent Gavin Kahn.

Reports from earlier today suggested that Harris could be nearing a signing, as he had multi-year offers on the table from more than one team.  Though Harris has a long track record of success, a three-year commitment is significant considering that the righty turned 35 last August, and only two other relievers (Drew Pomeranz and Will Smith) received three or more guaranteed years in free agency this offseason.  MLBTR projected a two-year, $18MM deal for Harris, as we ranked him 22nd on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents.

The three-year pact was a major factor for Harris, as he told Mark Berman of KRIV Fox 26 (Twitter links).  “The Nationals knew the importance of [the three-year deal] and they kept that on the table & made the decision that much easier,” Harris said.  “We agreed to terms last weekend.  From the beginning of the process the Nationals were pretty high on me.  The interest was mutual.”

While Harris’ age is a natural question mark, he has a pretty clean injury history, with only two IL stints (totaling around six weeks in 2017 due to shoulder inflammation) over his nine MLB seasons.  In that time, he has quietly posted some outstanding numbers, particularly as a member of Houston’s bullpen from 2015-19.  Harris has a 2.36 ERA, 4.38 K/BB rate, and 9.5 K/9 over 297 innings, averaging 59 frames per season.

As you might expect from an Astros pitcher, Harris had an outstanding spin rate (96th percentile) on his fastball in 2019.  His Statcast metrics also place him among the league’s best in curveball spin, hard-hit ball percentage, and xwOBA (.235, with only a .269 wOBA).  Harris has also been consistently good at keeping the ball on the ground during his career, with a 49.6% grounder rate.

Unfortunately for Harris, the most famous pitch of his career is one that he couldn’t keep out of the air — the low fastball that Howie Kendrick just got enough of, as Kendrick launched Harris’ offering off the right field foul pole for the homer that put the Nationals ahead in Game Seven of last year’s World Series.  In some unique baseball irony, Harris will now be joining the team that caused that bad memory, and he’ll even be sharing a clubhouse with Kendrick (who re-signed with the Nats on a one-year deal).

Clearly there aren’t any hard feelings on Harris’ part, and the Nationals are undoubtedly happy to add such a highly-touted reliever to their bullpen.  Washington’s relief corps was a well-publicized mess for much of last season, before Daniel Hudson’s late-season emergence helped stabilize the pen enough to take the Nats through the postseason.  Harris will lineup behind closer Sean Doolittle in 2020, and Harris’ presence now means that he’ll essentially replace Hudson in the District’s pen, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post tweets.  The Nats were willing to give Hudson more than a one-year guarantee but not more than $6.5MM in average annual value, so they instead spent some extra money to land a more consistent reliever in Harris.

After re-signing Kendrick, Stephen Strasburg, and Yan Gomes, Harris represents the first major new face to join the Nationals this offseason.  The bullpen was unquestionably a major need for the Nats, who also have to figure out vacancies at third base in the wake of Anthony Rendon’s departure, second base, and first base, though Kendrick will be deployed around the infield in some manner and star prospect Carter Kieboom is expected to play a bigger role in 2020.

The $8MM average annual value of Harris’ deal brings Washington’s estimated luxury tax number to just under $184MM, as per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource.  The Nats are still reportedly in the hunt for Josh Donaldson, whose market is now rumored to be in the four-year, $100MM range.  Landing Donaldson, therefore, would put the Nats either right up against or slightly over the $208MM tax threshold, though since the club got under the threshold last season, they would be taxed at only a first-timer rate if they surpassed $208MM this season.  The Nationals slightly exceeded the Competitive Balance Tax line in both 2017 and 2018, though they stayed in the lowest penalty zone (less than $20MM in overage).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Oscar Colas To Seek MLB Deal

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Cuban two-way prospect Oscar Colas has defected in hopes of landing a major league contract, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. Francys Romero of Las Mayores first reported on Colas’ defection.

The 21-year-old Colas is an outfielder/pitcher who most recently played with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan, where he slashed .300/.353/.511 with 12 home runs in 295 plate appearances in 2019. As a left-handed pitcher, Colas is capable of hitting 95 mph, according to Passan.

It remains to be seen whether Colas will emerge as a two-way threat in the majors a la Shohei Ohtani, but nevertheless, it’s likely he’ll get “significant interest” from major league teams, per Passan. Colas could wait until at least July to sign with a big league club, however, as there appears to be less money available to him now that the current international signing period – which began July 2 – is almost a half-year old.

MLBTR Poll: The Starter Of The Decade

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In case you missed it, I named my all-decade lineup for 2010-19 earlier this week. Pitchers were omitted from that piece, but now we’ll dedicate this post to the most successful hurlers from 2010-19, and I’ll leave it up to you select the best one from the previous decade. Realistically, there are only a few pitchers capable of emerging victorious in this poll, but it’s still worthwhile to run down the top 10 from several important categories (minimum 1,000 innings). Playoff performance isn’t listed, but if that factors heavily into your judgment of pitchers, it could affect your choice. Special thanks to FanGraphs for the below data…

ERA:

FIP:

fWAR:

RA-9 WAR:

Strikeouts per nine:

  • 1. Yu Darvish/Chris Sale: 11.12
  • 2. Max Scherzer: 10.69
  • 3. Stephen Strasburg: 10.6
  • 4. Jacob deGrom: 10.25
  • 5. Gerrit Cole: 10.06
  • 6. Chris Archer: 9.84
  • 7. Clayton Kershaw: 9.83
  • 8. Corey Kluber: 9.8
  • 9. Trevor Bauer: 9.51
  • 10. Carlos Carrasco/Justin Verlander: 9.5

Walks per nine:

Cy Young Awards:

Innings:

  • 1. Justin Verlander: 2,142
  • 2. Max Scherzer: 2,063 2/3
  • 3. Clayton Kershaw: 1,995
  • 4. Zack Greinke: 1,984
  • 5. Jon Lester: 1,979 2/3
  • 6. Cole Hamels: 1,955
  • 7. David Price: 1,877 2/3
  • 8. Rick Porcello: 1,860 1/3
  • 9. James Shields: 1,840
  • 10. Madison Bumgarner: 1,836

Wins:

  • 1. Max Scherzer: 161
  • 2. Justin Verlander: 160
  • 3. Clayton Kershaw: 156
  • 4. Zack Greinke: 155
  • 5. Jon Lester: 148
  • 6. David Price: 139
  • 7. Rick Porcello: 135
  • 8. Gio Gonzalez: 122
  • 9. Madison Bumgarner: 119
  • 10. Adam Wainwright: 116

(Poll link for app users)

Top 10 Remaining Free Agents

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Free agency has moved much quicker this winter compared to the previous couple offseasons. MLBTR ranked the top 50 players on the market at the beginning of November, and the majority of them have already found new deals. Two more familiar names came off the board Thursday with reliever Will Harris agreeing to join the Nationals and catcher Jason Castro heading to the Angels. There are still some stragglers from our top 50, though, so with January underway, let’s use that list to check in on the 10 highest-ranked players available…

5. Josh Donaldson, 3B (original prediction: three years, $75MM)

  • Donaldson’s the lone free agent left with an elite track record. Even at 34 years old, he could command a four-year contract approaching $100MM. The Braves (his previous team), Nationals, Twins, Dodgers, Phillies and Rangers are among the teams that have shown interest in Donaldson this winter. Donaldson’s choice figures to affect the trade market, as the clubs that lose out on him could become more motivated to pursue the Cubs’ Kris Bryant or the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado.

8. Nicholas Castellanos, OF (original prediction: four years, $58MM)

  • The Cubs would still like to re-sign Castellanos, but their aversion to the luxury tax could prevent that from happening. The crosstown rival White Sox, not to mention the Rangers and Giants, have also shown recent interest in the big-hitting 27-year-old.

11. Marcell Ozuna, OF (original prediction: three years, $45MM)

  • Ozuna’s saddled by a qualifying offer, but that hasn’t stopped interest from pouring in. The 29-year-old’s most recent team, the Cardinals, as well as the Reds and Rangers are reportedly the leading candidates to sign him.

28. Daniel Hudson, RP (original prediction: two years, $12MM)

  • Harris could replace Hudson in Washington, but the latter has replaced the former as the No. 1-ranked reliever without a deal. Hudson was one of the many heroes for the Nationals during their World Series-winning campaign in 2019, and multiple teams have reportedly been willing to offer him multiyear deals as a result. The hard-throwing 32-year-old hasn’t found one to his liking, though.

33. Robinson Chirinos, C (original prediction: two years, $10MM)

  • Chirinos’ stay in free agency may be on the verge of ending, as he seems to be nearing a decision on where to sign. The 35-year-old has been a popular free agent this offseason, and that’s understandable when considering how effective he has been at the plate throughout his career.

35. Craig Stammen, RP (original prediction: two years, $10MM)

  • While there was lots of interest in Stammen during last month’s Winter Meetings, it’s been radio silence in terms of rumors since then. But the 35-year-old brings an enticing mix of effectiveness and durability to the table. Dating back to 2017, Stammen has averaged 80 innings per season, put up a 50.6 percent groundball rate and recorded a 3.06 ERA/3.57 FIP. Stammen also walked fewer than 1.7 batters per nine a season ago and saw his average fastball velocity rise to a career-high 92.8 mph, though it’s worth noting his swinging-strike rate plummeted about 5 percent from 2018 to ’19.

36. Steve Cishek, RP (original prediction: two years, $10MM)

  • Cishek reportedly hopes to sign with the Red Sox, but it’s up in the air whether they’re willing to meet the Massachusetts native’s asking price. Whether it’s Boston or someone else, the team that lands Cishek will be adding a hurler who has somewhat quietly enjoyed an excellent career. The soft-tossing, sidearming Cishek, 33, has registered a sub-3.00 ERA in seven of his nine full seasons, including last year with the Cubs. Although Cishek’s strikeout and walk rates in 2019 didn’t impress (8.02 K/9, 4.08 BB/9), he induced grounders at a 50 percent clip and thrived at limiting hard contact, ranking in Statcast’s 99th percentile in average exit velocity against and hard-hit rate.

37. Yasiel Puig, OF (original prediction: one year, $8MM)

  • Puig’s still just 29 years old and has starred in the past, but he’s having a hard time on the market after a down season divided between Cincinnati and Cleveland. Those teams haven’t shown any reported interest in bringing Puig back, and the clubs that have been connected to him (the Marlins and White Sox) have gone in other directions to address their needs.

39. Alex Wood, LHP (original prediction: one year, $8MM)

  • Another Red from 2019, Wood’s the sole starter on this list. Although the 28-year-old had a quality run between the Braves and Dodgers from 2013-18, he hit the market at an inopportune time. Back problems largely kept Wood off the mound last season, and during the 35 2/3 innings he did pitch, he slumped to a 5.80 ERA/6.38 FIP.

41. Brock Holt, UTIL (original prediction: two years, $8MM)

  • Reported interest in Holt has been scarce, even though he’s coming off a nice run in Boston. While the 31-year-old possesses very little power, he has proved capable of mixing roughly league-average offensive production with defensive versatility. Holt saw action at six different positions (mostly second base) last season.

AL Notes: Yanks, Happ, Astros, Harris, White Sox, Robert

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Here’s an early morning look around the American League…

  • Even after losing right-hander Domingo German to an 81-game suspension for a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, the Yankees “remain open to trading” lefty J.A. Happ, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Yankees were of the belief German would serve a significant suspension all along, so the league’s decision hasn’t affected their plans regarding Happ. The big question continues to be whether they’ll be able to find a taker for Happ, who’s 37 years old, coming off a poor season and due $17MM in 2020. Happ also has a $17MM option for 2021 that will vest if he amasses 165 innings or totals 27 starts this year.  He posted back-to-back 30-start seasons from 2018-19.
  • The Nationals reeled in the top reliever left in free agency on Thursday, agreeing to a three-year, $24MM contract with righty Will Harris. The 35-year-old entered free agency off a long and fruitful run in Houston, but Harris explained to Mark Berman of Fox 26 that the Astros “were eliminated pretty early on in the process” because they weren’t prepared to approach his asking price. “They weren’t in that ballpark, no. They had kind of admitted to me they would’ve liked to have done more, but they weren’t able to.” Harris is now the latest key Astro to leave last season’s AL pennant-winning club, joining Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley. Robinson Chirinos could be the next to go.
  • In another of Thursday’s major news items, the White Sox locked up center field prospect Luis Robert to a six-year, $50MM guarantee. The two sides began negotiations back in September, and those talks gained steam at last month’s Winter Meetings, according to general manager Rick Hahn (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Now that Robert’s long-term future is settled, there’s no reason for the White Sox to worry about his service time, so it appears likely he’ll crack their roster out of camp. Robert’s fully confident that will happen. “I’m 100 percent convinced I’m going to be on the Opening Day roster,” the 22-year-old said.

Poll: Grade The Twins’ Rotation Moves

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The Twins’ biggest offseason need was no secret — apart from Jose Berrios, every member of their 2019 starting rotation was scheduled to reach free agency.  With Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda, and Kyle Gibson all hitting the open market and Martin Perez also becoming a free agent after the Twins bought out their club option, the AL Central champs were faced with both a predicament and something of an opportunity.

While Minnesota starters collectively ranked in the top third or top half of the league in most major statistical categories in 2019, the rotation was seen as more of a solid complement to the team’s big-hitting lineup than as a strength unto itself.  There was certainly room for not just improvement, but significant improvement to the pitching corps, especially for a Twins club that entered the winter with very few future payroll commitments.  As chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told reporters after the season, the club was intent on adding “impact pitching” to its rotation and was open to spending to add those arms.

As the calendar has turned to the new year, Minnesota has indeed restocked its staff with starters both old and new, though on paper, some of that promised “impact” isn’t obviously present.  The first steps were equal parts promising and cost-effective for the Twins — Odorizzi accepted the team’s one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer rather than test free agency, and then re-signing Pineda for two years and $20MM.

After those familiar faces returned to the fold, however, the Twins faced some long weeks of rumors and missed targets before eventually landing a pair of veterans.  Homer Bailey and Rich Hill each signed one-year contracts with Minnesota on the same day, with Bailey earning $7MM in guaranteed money and Hill pulling in $3MM guaranteed (with hefty incentives).  Bailey got his career on track with a solid 2019 season following multiple rough years with the Reds, while Hill isn’t going to be able to pitch until midseason due to his recovery from primary revision surgery.

The Twins pursued such names as Zack Wheeler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Madison Bumgarner, Dallas Keuchel, Jordan Lyles, and Japanese hurler Shun Yamaguchi, yet all wound up signing elsewhere.  As for the team’s own remaining free agents, Gibson signed with the Rangers while Perez inked a deal with the Red Sox.  On the trade front, the Marlins’ Elieser Hernandez have been on the radar, though no deal has been completed.  This isn’t to say that Minnesota hasn’t been aggressive, as shown most clearly by their five-year, $100MM offer to Wheeler before the righty instead opted to sign with the Phillies.  But, the free agent pitching market moved much faster (and at higher costs) than expected, leaving the Twins missing out on many of their first-choice options.

Barring any further pickups via trades or free agency, the Twins’ Opening Day rotation now stands as Berrios, Odorizzi, and Bailey, with two of the young trio of Randy Dobnak, Devin Smeltzer, and Lewis Thorpe handling the final two slots.  Pineda is unavailable for the first 39 games of the season while he finishes out a 60-game PED suspension, and when he returns, one of Dobnak/Smeltzer/Thorpe will continue to start until Hill is healthy and ready.  Top prospect Brusdar Graterol also looms as an early-season callup after making his MLB debut in 2019.

It isn’t the slam-dunk collection of upgrades many Twin Cities fans were hoping for, yet it’s also wrong to say that this group doesn’t have any talent.  While Hill’s injury status has long been a question mark, he has pitched like an ace when he has been healthy over the last four years.  Berrios might well rise to true ace status himself, if he can avoid another late-season slump and consistently pitch like he did in the first half of the 2019 season.  Odorizzi and Pineda both pitched well for Minnesota last season, and as a fifth starter option, Bailey isn’t a bad veteran arm to have amidst the younger hurlers.

Also, in not spending big now, the Twins are keeping some financial powder dry so they can spend later, potentially on a midseason trade acquisition if necessary.  Then there’s the additional chance that Minnesota could indeed spread some cash around this offseason, though on another major hitter (such as Josh Donaldson) rather than another pitcher.

What’s your take on Minnesota’s rotation moves?  (Poll link for app users.)

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