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Ben Zobrist Reportedly Not Planning To Play In 2020

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Veteran utilityman Ben Zobrist is not planning to play in the current season, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). While nothing seems to have been set in stone, it now appears unlikely that the 38-year-old will resume his career.

This is hardly a surprising outcome given the course of the 2019 season. Zobrist took time away from the Cubs to deal with family matters, sacrificing some of his salary in the final season of his $64MM deal. When he was available, Zobrist generally struggled.

The switch-hitting, do-it-all performer didn’t lose his impeccable plate discipline last year, as he drew 23 walks against 24 strikeouts in 176 plate appearances. But his power all but disappeared, as he managed only six extra-base hits and a .313 slugging percentage to go with his .358 OBP.

If indeed this is the end of the line, Zobrist will finish with a .266/.357/.426 lifetime triple-slash — which works out to a 116 wRC+. He added big value with his multi-positional defensive acumen and quality baserunning, leaving him with a tally of 44.4 fWAR and 45.2 rWAR over his 14 campaigns in the majors.

Along the way, Zobrist played a pivotal role in redefining the way teams build their rosters. He was an everyday player in Tampa Bay, appearing in 153 games annually between 2009 and 2014 with the Rays, but he moved all over the field. That helped the creative organization find more ways to utilize platoons and achieve small advantages, a strategy that has since expanded, dovetailed with other trends, and turned into a rather normal occurrence around the game.

Of course, few if any super-utility types have anything approaching Zobrist’s ability with the bat and glove. In his best season, 2009, Zobrist ran up a monster 152 wRC+ and 8.7 fWAR. That sort of ability made his early-career extension one of the game’s most valuable contracts for a stretch. He was a hotly pursued trade commodity in advance of his final of team control, when he moved to the Athletics and then on to the Royals for the K.C. World Series run. And Zobrist drew interest from many clubs in the ensuing winter, ultimately landing with the Cubs on a four-year deal — a remarkable pact given that he was heading into his age-35 season.

It seems the Chicago stint will prove a finishing act for Zobrist. He struggled in 2017 and 2019, but was an All-Star for the third time in 2016. Zobrist not only helped the Cubbies reach the World Series, but took home the MVP award for his big role in helping the club end the curse. He was again a strong performer in 2018, easily justifying the club’s overall investment.

If this is it for Zobrist, then MLBTR offers a tip of the cap for an excellent career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blue Jays Catcher Reese McGuire Arrested

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Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire was arrested over the weekend near the team’s spring camp in Dunedin, according to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (via Twitter). He has a criminal appearance scheduled for mid-March.

This is obviously not the way the Toronto organization anticipated launching an important Spring Training. McGuire has been expected to pair with Danny Jansen behind the dish in 2020.

It isn’t yet clear how this matter will progress from a criminal perspective and with regard to the team and league. McGuire was charged with “exposure of sexual organs;” it seems the illicit action occurred inside a vehicle parked in a retail parking lot. Further alleged facts aren’t yet known.

The team issued a statement indicating that it is aware of the arrest and working to gather more information, but otherwise declining comment. The league has not issued any statement (and it may not).

McGuire, 24, is a former first-round draft pick who had run into some struggles on his way to the majors. He does not have a history of high-end offensive performances in the upper minors but has been successful thus far in the big leagues, with a .297/.343/.539 batting line through 138 plate appearances over the past two seasons.

MLBTR Video: Minor League Deals; Red Sox Name Roenicke Interim Manager; Cubs Still Talking Kris Bryant Trades

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Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Kipnis, and Trevor Cahill landed minor league deals, the Red Sox named Ron Roenicke interim manager and are discussing a deal with Kevin Pillar, and the Cubs are still discussing Kris Bryant trades. Jeff Todd has you covered in today’s video!

Athletics To Sign Michael Ynoa

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The Athletics have agreed to a deal with righty Michael Ynoa, according to the Roster Roundup Twitter page. It’ll be a minor-league deal for the 28-year-old.

This represents a reunion of sorts for Ynoa, who started his pro career in the Oakland org and ended up being shipped to the White Sox in the Jeff Samardzija swap. Ynoa missed all of 2018 due to injury and was dropped early in 2019 by the Royals after 17 Triple-A appearances.

Ynoa has long struggled to rein in the walks — an issue that arose again last year. Through 59 MLB innings, he carries a 4.42 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9. He has thrown 16 2/3 intriguing innings in Dominican winter all action of late, racking up 28 strikeouts while allowing five earned runs on just four hits … along with a dozen free passes.

Phillies To Sign Tommy Hunter

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FEBRUARY 12: It’s a big-league pact, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki (via Twitter). It seems everything checked out in the medicals, as Hunter is said to be in uniform and ready to roll. The club has bumped David Robertson to the 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Hunter will be promised $850K in the deal, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. There’s also a $1.3MM incentives package.

FEBRUARY 8: The Phillies have reached an agreement to sign free-agent right-hander Tommy Hunter, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. There’s no indication yet whether it’s a Major League deal.

The 33-year-old Hunter is coming off a disappointing season in which he was limited to just 5 MLB appearances, thanks to a right forearm strain that forced him to make two stints on the 60-day injured list. In the 5 1/3 innings he was able to throw, he was effective and didn’t give up a run.

It would’ve been the second year of the two-year, $18MM deal Hunter earned prior to the 2018 season. In his only full season with the Phillies, he worked 64 innings and recorded a 3.80 ERA while striking out 51 batters. He took a step back from the impressive 2017 season that he rode into free agency, but was nonetheless a serviceable bullpen contributor.

We’ll see how quickly he can rebound from the forearm injury and return to form, but if and when that happens, there could be a spot on the Philly active roster waiting for him. The Philadelphia bullpen ranked in the bottom third of baseball last year, and while there haven’t been any major additions, Seranthony Dominguez should once again be ready to contribute after missing the majority of the 2018 season. Hunter, meanwhile, should have a chance to supplant Ranger Suarez or Deolis Guerra for a spot to round out the ’pen.

Cole Hamels Slowed By Shoulder Irritation

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Recently inked Braves lefty Cole Hamels isn’t reporting to camp just yet, the team informed reporters including David O’Brien of The Athletic (Twitter links). He’ll remain at home for a stretch after experiencing shoulder irritation this winter.

The news isn’t drastic just yet, but it’s certainly not what you hope to hear at this stage of the pre-season. Hamels is set to be reevaluated in three weeks’ time, which means he’ll almost certainly miss most or all of Spring Training. While manager Brian Snitker is expressing optimism, it’s hard to imagine that Hamels won’t be delayed at the start of the season.

For the Braves, the hope will be that this is just an early-season blip. The club had inked Hamels to a one-year, $18MM deal with the expectation that the durable veteran would anchor the rotation at a solid value, without any long-term entanglements.

Hamels has been one of the game’s most reliable arms over his 14 seasons in the majors. The 36-year-old missed a handful of outings last year (27 starts) and was sidelined for a bit in 2017 (24 starts), but has otherwise taken the ball more than thirty times in ten of the past dozen campaigns.

At this point, it doesn’t seem there’s reason for the Braves to go scrambling for fill-in options. The newfound concern could help explain why the club just added Josh Tomlin, a potential swingman, to a group of non-roster invitees that already includes Felix Hernandez. There are plenty of younger pitchers who could be candidates to fill in for a few early-season starts as well, though obviously the calculus could change if Hamels doesn’t respond as hoped to rest and treatment.

Braves Re-Sign Josh Tomlin

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The Braves have re-signed righty Josh Tomlin, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to cover on Twitter. It’s a minor-league deal.

Tomlin, 35, was a steadying presence for the Atlanta organization in 2019. Over 79 1/3 innings of action in 51 appearances, he worked to a 3.74 ERA. Though he managed only 51 strikeouts, Tomlin also posted a typically stingy tally of just seven free passes.

One of the game’s softer-throwing pitchers, Tomlin also generates an abundance of spin on both his fastball and curve. With his consistently exceptional control, it’s just enough for the veteran to avoid hard contact — but he’s always walking a fine line. In 2018, opposing hitters produced a .396 wOBA (.379 xwOBA) with a whopping 3.20 home runs per nine. Last year, Tomlin managed to limit them to a .308 wOBA (.312 xwOBA) and a palatable 1.59 HR/9.

Clearly, Tomlin will have to earn his way onto the active roster in camp. It’s hard to handicap the odds at this point, but unless injuries intervene, the Braves could be left to decide between Tomlin and one of their younger arms for a seventh pen slot.

No Deal Between Padres & Tim Beckham

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9:17am: Halt the presses on this one: Heyman now tweets that he mixed up his Beckhams. The Friars were already known to have a deal with infielder Gordon Beckham.

8:32am: The Padres have signed shortstop Tim Beckham, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). It’s a minor-league arrangement.

Though Beckham can compete in camp for a spot in the pecking order in the San Diego system, he won’t be a candidate to head north on the active roster. He’ll first need to finish serving an 80-game PED suspension.

Beckham would first be eligible to appear with the Pads about a month into the season, but it stands to reason he’ll be ticketed for Triple-A to begin his time with the organization. There isn’t an immediate opening for a roster spot now anyway, though the situation could be quite a bit different come May.

If things go well, Beckham could give the Friars an alternative or complement to second baseman Jurickson Profar. The club also features utility options Ty France and Greg Garcia.

The 30-year-old Beckham has had quite the roller-coaster of a career. He’ll never reach the promise that some foresaw when he was selected with the first overall pick of the 2008 draft. Beckham has had his moments over the years, with stretches of useful and even high-quality play in the majors, but has not yet found consistency.

All told, Beckham owns a .249/.302/.431 lifetime slash line through 1,751 plate appearances — roughly league-average output. He’s probably not quite an average fielder at shortstop and doesn’t run the bases particularly well, but there’s ample reason to believe he’s good enough for a platoon or reserve infield job of some kind in the majors.

Eppler: “Nothing Active Right Now”

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Angels GM Billy Eppler addressed the media after a busy, but perhaps still incomplete roster-building effort this winter. He says there’s “nothing active right now” when it comes to trade talks, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

That’s further indication that the team won’t be revisiting the deal that would’ve brought in Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling from the Dodgers. It also suggests that there’s no alternative arrangement already in the works.

Still, the Halos are understandably still scanning the market. Eppler says the club is “open” to bringing in another experienced rotation option — “if it fits and it makes sense.”

With news emerging that Shohei Ohtani won’t be in the rotation to open the season, the need is even more clear. As things stand, the staff is fronted by veterans Andrew Heaney, Julio Teheran, and Dylan Bundy. Younger pitchers such as Griffin Canning, Jaime Barria, Patrick Sandoval, and Jose Suarez would battle for the other two spots.

It’s still reasonable to hope that Ohtani will provide top-end results once he is back. And most of these hurlers have some degree of upside. But there’s an awful lot of uncertainty for a club that has clear designs on a return to the postseason this year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/11/20

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Checking in on the latest minor moves from around the game…

  • The Rangers announced the signing of right-hander Taylor Jungmann to a minor league contract on Tuesday. The agreement does not include an invitation to major league spring training. Now 30 years old, Jungmann was a first-round pick (No. 12) of the Brewers in 2011, though he only produced middling results with the club from 2015-17. During that 146 2/3-inning span, the Texas native posted a 4.54 ERA/4.32 FIP with 7.73 K/9, 3.99 BB/9 and a 46.1 percent groundball rate. Jungmann left the organization before the 2018 campaign to pursue a job in Japan, where he pitched for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball during the previous two seasons. Jungmann recorded a 4.86 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 70 1/3 frames as a member of the Giants.

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