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Archives for December 2020

Nationals Sign Luis Avilan To Minors Deal

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The Nationals have signed left-handed reliever Luis Avilan to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, as Efrain Zavarce of IVC Networks Venezuela reports and Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post confirms.

The Nationals are the fourth NL East organization for the well-traveled Avilan, who has posted quality numbers in the majors since his career began with the Braves in 2012. The 31-year-old owns a 3.30 ERA/3.47 FIP with 8.12 K/9, 3.53 BB/9, 0.57 HR/9 and a 50.3 percent groundball rate across 349 innings, though his production dipped during the previous two seasons in New York.

Avilan spent 2019 as a member of the Mets, with whom he notched a 5.06 ERA/4.96 FIP in 32 innings. A significant increase in home runs allowed (1.41 per nine) played a key role in those struggles.

Avilan moved on to the Yankees last season and tossed just 8 1/3 frames of four-run ball (with nine strikeouts and five walks), though a large portion of the damage came in his final outing of 2020 on Aug. 20. The Yankees then released Avilan, who was battling shoulder issues at the time. He’ll now move on to the seventh organization of his career.

Rangers Sign Jharel Cotton, Jason Martin To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers announced that they have signed right-hander Jharel Cotton, outfielder Jason Martin and righty Edubray Ramos (previously reported) to minor league contracts. All three deals come with invitations to spring training.

The 28-year-old Cotton was a top 100 prospect during his younger days, and he posted encouraging numbers (2.15 ERA/3.76 FIP) during his 29 1/3-major league debut with the Athletics in 2016. Cotton was then a regular in the A’s rotation the next season, in which he totaled 129 1/3 frames on 24 starts, but he could only muster a 5.58 ERA with a similar 5.68 FIP that year. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since then, owing largely to the Tommy John surgery he underwent in March 2018. Cotton tried to work his way back in 2019, but hamstring injuries helped prevent that from happening. Oakland then sent Cotton to the Cubs in a minor trade, though Chicago released him in September.

Martin entered the pros as a 2013 eighth-round pick of the Astros, who traded him to the Pirates five years later as part of the teams’ Gerrit Cole swap. But Martin didn’t produce much in two Triple-A seasons as a Pirate, and he slumped to a .200/.294/.244 line in the majors over a small sample of plate appearances (51) from 2019-20. The Pirates outrighted the 25-year-old after the season.

Latest On Yankees’ Pursuit Of DJ LeMahieu

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman suggested last week that the club is intent on re-signing second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who’s their best free agent and one of the few stars on the market. However, it doesn’t appear the two parties are anywhere close to a deal.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today told MLB Network that the Yankees are offering a four-year contract worth $75MM, but he added that LeMahieu is seeking a five-year, $100MM pact. The one-year gap between the two is accurate, but the money is not, a source informed Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. The Yankees and LeMahieu are actually apart by more than $25MM, according to Kuty. Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hear the same.

While LeMahieu’s hope is to remain with the Yankees, he isn’t going to limit himself to one team in negotiations, as Rosenthal relays that the 2020 AL batting champion is going to start talking with other clubs. There is widespread interest in the 32-year-old, though some teams are in “why bother” mode with LeMahieu because they expect him to return to the Yankees, per Sherman.

Historically, the Yankees have been able to keep their top free agents when they’ve wanted to, but it could be a different story this winter because of the team’s desire to cut payroll during the pandemic. As Sherman notes, if the Yankees get under the $210MM luxury-tax threshold in 2021, they’d be cutting around $50MM in payroll compared to last season.

Considering his contributions to the Yankees over the previous two years, it’s hard to imagine LeMahieu playing elsewhere in 2021. But it looks quite possible if he and the Yankees can’t reach a reasonable compromise in the coming weeks.

Royals Re-Sign Greg Holland

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The Royals have re-signed reliever Greg Holland, the team announced. It’s a one-year, $2.75MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The pact also contains a possible $1.5MM in incentives, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (via Twitter).

Holland, 35, had a stellar rebound effort in Kansas City this past season after a pair of down years. Over 28.1 innings spanning 28 games, the right-hander worked to a 1.91 ERA/2.52 FIP. His 27.7% strikeout rate, while strong, wasn’t much different than it had been in prior seasons. Holland’s turnaround was more a reflection of a significant improvement in his strike-throwing. After walking over 15% of opposing hitters in each of the prior two seasons, the veteran sliced his walk rate to 6.3% in his return trip to Kansas City.

Always known for his slider, Holland leaned on the breaking stuff more than ever last season. Cutting his fastball rate from nearly half to less than two-fifths of his offerings, per Brooks Baseball, Holland generated whiffs on 13.1% of his pitches despite pedestrian velocity. Using the heater less often corresponded with an improvement in the pitch’s effectiveness. Presumably, that reflects opposing hitters’ expectations of seeing a breaking ball.

Even though the Royals weren’t contenders, Holland stayed in Kansas City past this year’s August 31 trade deadline. He’ll now return for another season at the back end of an intriguing bullpen. Kyle Zimmer, Josh Staumont, Jesse Hahn and Scott Barlow all join Holland in coming off strong seasons, making the relief corps a high-upside area of the roster for manager Mike Matheny.

This continues an active early portion of the offseason for Royals GM Dayton Moore and the front office. Moore suggested last month he expects the club to be competitive next season. Kansas City has since brought back Holland and added Carlos Santana and Mike Minor. The Royals still seem like something of a longshot to stick with the Twins, White Sox and Indians over a full season, but they’re markedly improved over the 2018-19 teams that each lost over 100 games.

Cleveland To Change Team Name

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DECEMBER 14: Owner Paul Dolan confirmed that the franchise plans to change the team name in an interview with Tom Withers of the Associated Press. Cleveland has also released a statement announcing the news. Unlike the NFL’s Washington organization, the club will continue to use the Indians moniker until a permanent replacement is determined. For at least the 2021 season, the franchise will remain known as the Indians. Dolan said the permanent team name will not reference Native American people or cultures in any way, specifically rejecting the possibility of the team being known as the Tribe.

DECEMBER 13: The Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name, according to David Waldstein and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.  An announcement from the club could come at some point this week, though the team might retain the name throughout the 2021 season and then officially adopt a new nickname for 2022.  The club is also considering adopting a generic name (such as “The Cleveland Baseball Team”) in the interim.

The Cleveland organization announced it was considering a possible name change in a statement last July, not long after the NFL’s Washington franchise indicated it was weighing a move away from its former nickname — hence the creation of the “Washington Football Team” designation for the 2020-21 NFL campaign.  Even before July, however, there had been indications that the Cleveland team was slowly laying the groundwork for a name change, such as how the club’s old “Chief Wahoo” mascot was no longer prominently featured on uniforms, and the now-familiar “C” logo had become the primary choice on caps.

This won’t be the first name change for the franchise, as they were first known as the Grand Rapids Rustlers upon their original foundation in 1894 (when based in Grand Rapids, Michigan) and then became known as the Cleveland Lake Shores after moving to Ohio.  When the team joined the American League in 1901, the name changed twice in as many seasons, going from the Bluebirds (or Blues) in 1901 and then the Bronchos in 1902, before settling on becoming “the Cleveland Naps” from 1903-1914 in a nod to newly-acquired superstar Napoleon Lajoie.

A new name was obviously required after Lajoie was sold to the Philadelphia A’s following the 1914 season, and it then that Cleveland adopted its current nickname.  The proper origin of the “Indians” name has remained unknown, as the popular story that the nickname was chosen in honor of Louis Sockalexis (a Native American and fan favorite for the National League’s Cleveland Spiders in 1897-99) isn’t exactly true, as there are also several indications that Cleveland chose the name to capitalize on the popularity of the 1914 World Series champion Boston Braves.

Cleveland’s team name has remained the same for 106 years, throughout increasing criticism that the nickname and related imagery — such as Chief Wahoo and the alternate “Tribe” nickname — was offensive and stereotypical.  As noted by Waldstein and Schmidt, many colleges and high schools across North America that used to carry Native American-related nicknames and mascots have changed their branding in recent years, and the Washington Football Team’s decision was the first such step taken by one of the clubs in the four major team sports.  One would imagine that Cleveland’s decision will increase pressure on the Atlanta Braves, the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, and the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, though none of those teams has indicated that a name change is under consideration.

The Cleveland franchise’s new name could be decided “in consultation with the public,” according to Waldstein/Schmidt, which could take the form of a public poll (of a shortlist of name choices selected by the organization) or potentially a more extensive approach such as the discussions that went into the naming of Seattle’s new NHL expansion franchise, the Seattle Kraken.  Fans have been floating potential alternate names for Cleveland’s team for years, with such throwback choices as the Spiders being a popular favorite, as well as some consideration that the team could go completely old-school and permanently become “the Cleveland Baseball Club.”  Certainly these and many more fanciful possibilities will be suggested in the coming months.

Red Sox Sign Hunter Renfroe

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The Red Sox announced they’ve signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year contract (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll be guaranteed a base salary of $3.1MM with an additional $600K available in incentives, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

Renfroe, 29 in January, became a free agent after he was outrighted by the Rays last month. Tampa Bay decided it wasn’t prepared to tender him an arbitration contract, projected in the $4MM range, on the heels of a disastrous 2020 season. The right-handed hitter managed just a .156/.252/.393 slash line with eight homers over 139 plate appearances in his lone season in Tampa Bay. That certainly wasn’t what the Rays had in mind when they acquired Renfroe as part of the deal that sent Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth to the Padres last offseason.

That the Rays were willing to part with talented players to bring Renfroe aboard in the first place, though, speaks to the decent player he’d become in San Diego. Between 2018-19, Renfroe hit .231/.295/.496 with 59 home runs (106 wRC+). That made him slightly better than the average hitter in aggregate, but the shape of that production was more variable. Over the course of his career, Renfroe has mashed (.258/.339/.573) against left-handed pitching, while posting subpar numbers (.216/.268/.449) against righties. That could point to a future as the short side of a platoon, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic) Renfroe could be an everyday option in the grass.

That’s a testament to his defensive aptitude. Despite his size, Renfroe has generally rated as a strong corner outfielder. Over the past three seasons, he’s racked up 23 defensive runs saved between left and right field. Much of that value comes from his plus arm, although Statcast’s range-based metric also pegs Renfroe at five outs above average in that time. That defensive prowess has helped differentiate the former first-rounder from other on-base deficient sluggers around the league. During his final two seasons in San Diego, Renfroe accrued a solid four to five wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

If he can recapture that level of production, Renfroe could find a home in Boston for a few seasons. He remains controllable via arbitration through 2023. In the immediate future, he joins an outfield consisting of Alex Verdugo and Andrew Benintendi (as well as primary designated hitter J.D. Martinez).

Both Verdugo and Benintendi worked in the corner outfield last season in deference to Jackie Bradley Jr. Either could be capable of replacing Bradley, who has since hit free agency, if the Sox see Renfroe as an everyday player. Bloom told reporters (Cotillo link) that Verdugo would open the season in centerfield as things stand but didn’t rule out the possibility of future additions to the outfield.

Free Agent Notes: Sugano, Teheran, Semien

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The Blue Jays and Rangers are among the teams interested in Tomoyuki Sugano, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. They join the previously-reported Padres and Red Sox as known suitors for the 31-year-old. Sugano has spent the past eight seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, where he’s generally been brilliant. He sports a career ERA of 2.32 at Japan’s highest level. Sugano was excellent as ever in 2020, tossing 137.1 innings of 1.97 ball, backed up by a strong combination of 8.6 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9. The NPB team formally posted Sugano last week, giving major league teams until January 7 to work out an agreement with the right-hander.

Some more notes on the open market:

  • Right-hander Julio Teheran is planning a showcase for interested teams in mid-January, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The 29-year-old is coming off a dismal season with the Angels where he allowed 35 runs (including 12 homers) with a 20:16 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 31.1 innings. Heyman notes that shoulder discomfort may have played a role in those struggles, but Teheran’s peripherals and velocity had been trending in the wrong direction for a few seasons even before the wheels fell off completely in 2020.
  • The free agent market for Marcus Semien is progressing and could reach a resolution in the coming days, Passan further reports. The 30-year-old is one of the market’s more interesting evaluations. After a stellar 2019 effort that earned him a third place finish in AL MVP voting, Semien had something of a disappointing follow-up this past season. His .223/.305/.374 line matched the worst offensive output of his career. That comes with obvious shortened season caveats, though, as well as a career-low .260 BABIP that looks primed for a bit of positive regression. The Reds and Phillies are the most obvious shortstop-needy contenders, but plenty of teams could move other players (or even Semien himself) around the infield to accommodate his addition to the roster.

Dodgers, Astros Interested In Liam Hendriks

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In a class of his own atop the free agent reliever market, Liam Hendriks is unsurprisingly drawing widespread interest. The White Sox, Mets and Blue Jays have been tied to Hendriks within the past week, and Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Dodgers and Astros have joined them among those pursuing the right-hander. Hendriks is looking for a four-year deal, Passan adds.

Over the past two seasons, Hendriks has arguably been the best reliever in baseball. He’s pitched to a 1.79 ERA across 110.1 relief innings since the start of 2019. In that time, Hendriks struck out 38% of opposing hitters against a 5.7% walk rate and held batters to a .192/.240/.289 slash line. No reliever (minimum 50 innings) has a better park-adjusted ERA, and only Josh Hader, Nick Anderson and Kirby Yates have a higher strikeout minus walk percentage.

Quite obviously, every team in the league would benefit from the addition of Hendriks to the back of the bullpen. The Dodgers’ bullpen was quite good in 2020; nevertheless, that’s the area of the roster that has given the team a bit of trouble in prior seasons and is the easiest spot to add depth as they look to mount another World Series run.

The Astros’ interest in Hendriks also isn’t surprising. Houston’s bullpen was decimated by injuries this past season and looks in need of some outside help. The Astros are facing the potential free agent departures of George Springer, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick, though, with few obvious in-house replacements beyond Kyle Tucker. It remains to be seen if there’ll be requisite payroll space for the Houston front office to add top-of-the-market relief help while also sufficiently addressing the outfield.

Widespread interest notwithstanding, Hendriks finding a four-year deal at a strong average annual value might prove to be a tough task. He turns 32 in February, which figures to give some teams pause. The early stages of the offseason also haven’t been particularly kind to relievers. Every team in the league passed on Brad Hand’s $10MM option at the start of the offseason. Trevor May settled for a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Mets; similarly productive relievers (Jeurys Familia and Joe Kelly, for instance) found three-year pacts in past winters. It’s possible Hendriks’ recent brilliance causes teams to view him as an exception, but the general trend seems to be that of a depressed bullpen market. One factor in his favor: the A’s did not issue him a qualifying offer, so the team that signs him will not have to forfeit draft pick compensation.

East Notes: Cobb, Mets, Mayza, Nationals

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As the recent trade of Jose Iglesias to the Angels indicates, the Orioles are open to moving any veteran on their roster, particularly those making a significant salary.  Alex Cobb (owed $15MM in 2021) certainly qualifies as a trade candidate, though GM Mike Elias suggested to MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski and other reporters that the Orioles could keep the 33-year-old righty at least into the start of the season.  “I have no doubt if he pitches like Alex Cobb, he’s going to draw interest and we’re going to ultimately see where we’re at and see what the situation is….I think it would be beneficial for us to go into the season with Alex if that’s the way that it shakes out and having that front end spot in the rotation fortified with his ability and veteran presence,” Elias said.

Cobb signed a four-year, $57MM deal just prior to the start of the 2018 season, and after struggling in 2018 and missing almost all of 2019 due to injury, Cobb had solid bottom-line numbers over 10 starts this past season.  The right-hander posted a 4.30 ERA, 2.11 K/BB rate, 54.5% grounder rate, and 6.5 K/9 over 52 1/3 innings, though Statcast was thoroughly unimpressed by his performance.  Those metrics and Cobb’s hefty salary certainly limit his trade value at the moment, so it makes sense that the O’s would see if he can perform better in the early stages of the 2021 campaign in order to possibly leverage him as a trade chip at the deadline.  If Cobb can’t be moved but is able to duplicate his 2020 results, Baltimore would at least benefit (as Elias noted) from a dependable arm on the mound.

Here are some other items from both the AL and NL East…

  • The Mets have been linked to just about every big name free agent this winter, though The New York Post’s Joel Sherman wonders if the team might take a more measured approach to its winter shopping.  Rather than splurge on any of the “big four” free agents (Trevor Bauer, George Springer, J.T. Realmuto, and DJ LeMahieu), Sherman opines that New York could direct its resources towards “dominating the second tier” of the market.  Such roster upgrades would still make the team better “while potentially saving money and prospects for the July trade market — and beyond.”  Signing James McCann rather than Realmuto could be a hint that the team is deploying such a tactic, though the other school of thought suggests that McCann was signed so the Mets could save some money for a bigger push to land Bauer or Springer.
  • After undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2019, Blue Jays left-hander Tim Mayza is looking forward to returning to action in Spring Training, The Toronto Star’s Laura Armstrong writes.  Mayza’s rehab was more complicated the normal TJ recovery process, as Mayza had to also recover from a torn flexor tendon (suffered at the same time as his UCL tear) and spend much of his time working out at home rather than at team facilities due to the COVID-19 lockdown.  If that wasn’t enough, Mayza tested positive for the coronavirus this fall, though he was thankfully asymptomatic during his two weeks of quarantine.  “Although it’s been different, my rehab was not stalled at all through all this,” Mayza said.  “I’ve continued to stay on track and the end goal of being 100 per cent by spring training is very much a realistic goal.”  Mayza has a 4.67 ERA, 2.71 K/BB rate, 48.6% grounder rate, and 10.6 K/9 over 104 innings with Toronto from 2017-19, and he has held left-handed batters to a .217/.288/.349 slash line over 208 plate appearances.  With a lack of southpaw relief options on the Jays’ 40-man roster, there is certainly opportunity for Mayza to win a job if he looks good in camp.
  • The Mets’ signing of McCann took the catching market’s second-best option off the board, further limiting the free agent choices for teams in need of help behind the plate.  The Nationals are one of those clubs, and as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes, “they’re either going to have to spend well north of $100MM on Realmuto or hope one of the remaining lesser options is good enough” if the Nats turn to free agency for catching help.  Realmuto might be out of the picture given the indications that the Nationals aren’t planning on any big spending this offseason, though since Washington still has Yan Gomes, the team might decide that a platoon partner is all that is required at catcher.

KBO’s KT Wiz Re-Sign William Cuevas

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10:01PM: The Wiz have announced the deal, with Cuevas’ 2021 salary breaking down as $750K in guaranteed money and $250K in incentives.  The 2022 option is also a mutual/vesting option.

5:35PM: Right-hander William Cuevas is re-signing with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN (Twitter link). His 2021 base salary will check in at $1MM, with additional money available via incentives. The pact also contains a 2022 player option worth $1.7MM, Rojas adds.

Cuevas has spent the past two seasons as an innings eater for the Wiz. He’s tossed 342 frames of 3.84 ERA ball over 57 starts. Along the way, the 30-year-old has amassed 6.45 K/9 against 2.87 BB/9. Cuevas’ run prevention numbers were better in 2019 than they were in 2020, although his strikeout and walk rates were fairly consistent year over year.

Prior to going to South Korea, Cuevas pitched in parts of three MLB seasons with the Red Sox and Tigers. He only managed an 8.06 ERA/5.71 FIP across 22 1/3 innings in that time. He was generally a reliable depth option in the high minors, though, posting Triple-A numbers similar to his KBO performance.

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