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Archives for December 2021

Mets To Interview Bob Geren

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Dec. 8: Geren’s interview will take place today, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Dec. 7: Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren will interview for the Mets’ managerial vacancy this week, according to SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter link).  Geren is the sixth known candidate for the job, joining Buck Showalter, Brad Ausmus, Joe Espada, Don Kelly, and Matt Quatraro as names on the Amazins’ radar.

Like Showalter and Ausmus, Geren has some past big league managerial experience on his resume, as he posted a 334-376 record while working as the Athletics’ skipper from 2007-11.  He has also previously worked in the Mets’ dugout, serving as the club’s bench coach from 2012-15.  Geren has worked as manager Dave Roberts’ bench coach with the Dodgers for each of the past six seasons.

Geren has been linked to several other managerial jobs since his time in Oakland, such as the Dodgers’ job that went to Roberts, the Red Sox vacancy that went to Alex Cora, the Giants’ job that went to Gabe Kapler, and even one of the Mets’ recent managerial searches.  Before New York hired Mickey Callaway prior to the 2018 season, Geren was reportedly one of the early contenders as a possible replacement for Terry Collins, though it didn’t appear as if Geren made it too deep (if at all) into the interview process.

This past connection to the Mets certainly makes Geren a known quantity to both president Sandy Alderson and owner Steve Cohen, whereas the other known candidates don’t have any past ties to Queens.  Ausmus and Espada did previously work with GM Billy Eppler, creating an interesting mix of familiarity and entirely fresh voices within the group of six.

Orioles Sign Jacob Nottingham To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles have signed catcher Jacob Nottingham to a minor league deal, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Nottingham spent some of 2021 in the big leagues with the Brewers and Mariners but was outrighted in June, thus making him eligible to sign a minor league deal during the ongoing lockout.

Although it’s a minor league deal, it’s noteworthy for the Orioles given their catching situation. They don’t currently have any catchers on their 40-man roster. In 2021, most of the time behind the dish went to Pedro Severino, who was outrighted at the end of the season and has since signed with the Brewers. Chance Sisco got some playing time in the first half of the year but was claimed on waivers by the Mets in June. Austin Wynns and Nick Ciuffo, who were also in the mix, were both outrighted off the roster at the end of the season.

The club has the consensus top prospect in baseball, Adley Rutschman, set to debut at some point in 2022 after he finished this year in Triple-A. However, they will need some other catching options on hand to cover the position until his call-up, or to act as backup to Rutschman later in the year. That means Nottingham has a decent path to some playing time in the big leagues next year.

Nottingham, 26, was selected by the Astros in the sixth round of the 2013 draft. In 2015, he was shipped to the Athletics as part of the trade that sent Scott Kazmir to Houston. A few months later, Oakland sent him to Milwaukee as part of the Khris Davis deal. He made his MLB debut in 2018 and spent three years as a frequently-optioned depth catcher, appearing in 38 total games over the 2018-2020 campaigns.

2021 saw Nottingham be the centerpiece of a game of hot potato between the Brewers and Mariners. Having exhausted his option years, he was designated for assignment by the Brewers in April. He was claimed by the Mariners and then designated for assignment again a few days later. Seattle traded him back to Milwaukee, who designated him yet again after less than two weeks. He was claimed by the Mariners a second time and then, just over week later, designated yet again. In the middle of June, he finally cleared waivers and was outrighted.

Over the past four seasons, Nottingham has only gotten into 53 games at the big league level, hitting eight home runs and slashing .184/.277/.421 in that time, with a strikeout rate of 38.5%. In 2021, amidst all that traveling, he got 45 plate appearances over 15 games. He hit three homers and slashed .150/.222/.400, with a strikeout rate of 44.4% in that tiny sample size.

Brooks Kriske Signs With NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars

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The Yokohama DeNA BayStars have signed right-hander Brooks Kriske. (Hat tip to Sung Min Kim.) When Kriske was released by the Orioles last week, it was reported that he may have been pursuing an opportunity with a foreign club.

It’s quite common for players on the fringes of a 40-man roster to head overseas, as such opportunities can often lead to earning more than they would bouncing between the minors and the big leagues or hitting the waiver wire. A successful showing in Japan can also lead to an MLB contract in the future, as evidenced by the recent signing of Nick Martinez, who spent the past four seasons pitching in Japan but has now agreed to a four-year deal with the Padres. The ongoing lockout could also play a factor, as a player in Kriske’s shoes might prefer the certainty of having a job pinned down for 2022, as opposed to waiting for a new CBA to be signed and then scrambling to find a job in the new year.

Kriske, 27, has spent most of his career with the Yankees thus far, being drafted by them in 2016. He cracked the big leagues in 2020 but only got to throw 3 2/3 innings. He logged another 7 2/3 innings for the Yanks in 2021 before being claimed on waivers by the Orioles in September. His big league ERA is a bloated 14.40 so far, but in a small sample size of just 15 total innings. His minor league numbers are much more appealing, however. In 2021, he threw 29 1/3 Triple-A innings with an ERA of 3.68. Though his walk rate was a bit high at 12.2%, his strikeout rate was an excellent 37.4%.

Major League Rule 5 Draft Expected To Take Place After Lockout

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The 2021-22 major league Rule 5 draft is expected to take place shortly after the signing of the next collective bargaining agreement, tweets JJ Cooper of Baseball America. Originally scheduled to take place this week, the major league Rule 5 draft was postponed indefinitely as part of the leaguewide transaction freeze once MLB instituted a lockout upon the expiration of the previous CBA on December 1.

Still, it’s a noteworthy development that it’s expected to happen at all. The Rule 5 had seemingly been on thin ice, with reports last week initially suggesting it’d be canceled entirely. Instead, it now seems the draft is on track to happen at some point. That’s a continuation of a more than century-old trend, as the Rule 5 has taken place each offseason since 1920.

For those unfamiliar, the big league Rule 5 draft is an acquisition process designed to give opportunities to players who might be buried on the depth chart in their current organizations. Players with either four or five years of professional experience (the exact threshold depends upon the player’s age at signing their first contract) have to either be added to their club’s 40-man roster or exposed in the Rule 5.

If they’re left exposed, they’re subject to selection by other organizations. If selected, players must remain on the active roster or major league injured list for the entirety of the upcoming season. Otherwise, they’re made available to the rest of the league and then — if not acquired by another team — offered back to their original club. After a full season on the big league roster or injured list — including a minimum of 90 days on the active roster — the player becomes a full-fledged member of his new team.

There is also a minor league phase to the Rule 5 draft, in which eligible players not included among an organization’s protected Triple-A group can be selected by another club. The minor league phase, which does not contain any roster restrictions for the acquiring teams, is scheduled to proceed tomorrow. Players selected in the minor league Rule 5 draft will not be added to teams’ 40-man rosters, so that process will continue in spite of the lockout affecting 40-man players.

Mets To Interview Buck Showalter

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The Mets are scheduled to interview Buck Showalter tomorrow as part of their managerial search, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). That’s hardly a surprise, as Showalter was reported to be on New York’s radar last week. Perhaps of more interest is that Heyman adds that some around the industry see Showalter as the favorite, although he notes that other candidates are expected to sit down in the coming days.

Few around the game can match Showalter’s experience and credentials. He landed his first big league managerial job with the Yankees nearly three decades ago. Showalter spent the 1992-95 campaigns in the Bronx and went on to log stints leading the D-Backs from (1998-2000), the Rangers (2003-06) and the Orioles (2010-18).

Now 65, Showalter is a three-time Manager of the Year award winner, claiming that honor in each of 1994, 2004 and 2014. He’s overseen five playoff clubs (including three division winners), leading the 2014 Orioles to the AL Championship Series. Baltimore posted a winning record in five of his first seven seasons at the helm, but the club nosedived in 2017, leading to the complete rebuild from which the organization still has yet to emerge. That’s not entirely or even primarily the fault of Showalter, but the O’s nevertheless dismissed him after the 2018 campaign. He hasn’t managed since, yet he’s continued to express openness to a return to the dugout.

Showalter will become the fourth known interviewee with the Mets. New York has also spoken or scheduled interviews with Rays’ bench coach Matt Quatraro, former Tigers’ and Angels’ skipper Brad Ausmus and Dodgers’ bench coach Bob Geren. Ausmus and Geren both have prior MLB managing experience, but neither has as extensive a resume as Showalter.

The latter’s long list of accomplishments figures to hold some weight in the clubhouse, and Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated reports (on Twitter) that newly-signed ace Max Scherzer has indicated to the club he’d prefer Showalter land the position. It’s not clear the front office will place much or any stock into the reported preferences of individual players, but Scherzer is certainly an important figure in the organization both from an on-field and locker room perspective.

Interestingly, the Mets aren’t the only New York team to consider a pursuit of Showalter this offseason. Heyman adds that the Yankees kicked around the possibility of making a run at bringing him back earlier in the winter. That ultimately proved not to be, as the Yankees decided to stick with incumbent skipper Aaron Boone, signing him to a three-year extension in mid-October.

Tim Federowicz Retires

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Former big league catcher Tim Federowicz announced this evening that he’s retiring (on Twitter) after a 14-year professional career. That included parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, as the right-handed hitting backstop logged MLB action each season from 2011-19 aside from 2015.

Federowicz functioned as a second or third catcher for essentially the entirety of his big league tenure. His 173 plate appearances with the 2013 Dodgers marked a career-high, the only season in which he tallied at least 100 trips to the dish. Yet Federowicz consistently hung around as a priority depth option for clubs. That’s a testament both to his well-regarded work with pitching staffs and an impressive .293/.364/.483 line over parts of ten seasons in Triple-A.

Over the course of his career, Federowicz appeared with the Dodgers, Cubs, Giants, Astros, Reds and Rangers. He steps away as a .192/.241/.328 hitter in 443 plate appearances spread over 163 big league games. He hit twelve home runs and threw out a solid 30.7% of attempted base-stealers. In addition to his time in affiliated ball, Federowicz earned a Silver Medal as part of the U.S. National Team at this past summer’s Tokyo Olympics.

The 34-year-old is set to jump right into the next phase of his career, as Federowicz announced he’ll take over as manager of the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma in 2022. MLBTR wishes Federowicz the best in his post-playing days.

Cubs Sign Stephen Gonsalves To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs recently signed Stephen Gonsalves to a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. The southpaw was removed from the Red Sox’s 40-man roster in September and elected minor league free agency at the end of the season, making him eligible to sign a minors pact during the lockout.

Gonsalves made three relief appearances with Boston this past season, his first big league action in three years. A well-regarded prospect during his early days in the Twins’ system, the former fourth-round pick ran into some strike-throwing issues upon reaching Triple-A and has yet to establish himself in the majors. Between 2018 and 2021, Gonsalves has worked 29 innings across ten MLB outings, posting a 6.21 ERA/6.27 SIERA.

The Southern California native has had a lot more success preventing runs in the minors. Gonsalves owns an ERA below 3.00 at every stop through Double-A, and he sports a 3.91 mark over 198 innings at the minors’ top level.

That includes a 4.68 mark with the Red Sox’s Worcester affiliate in 2021, where Gonsalves punched out a stellar 31.2% of opponents but issued walks at an alarming 15.8% clip. He has a fair bit of experience starting in the minors and could be a depth option for the Cubs’ rotation, but the 27-year-old’s continued control problems might hint at a future as a full-time relief option.

What’s Left In The Offseason Catching Market

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As usual, this winter’s free agent catching market was pretty thin on viable everyday options, but there has been a fair amount of activity in general for teams looking to add new backstops.

Jacob Stallings and Tucker Barnhart were two of the more prominent trade candidates available, and both have already landed elsewhere, as the Pirates dealt Stallings to the Marlins and the Reds sent Barnhart to the Tigers.  On the free agent side, Manny Pina and Yan Gomes each respectively found two-year contracts with the Braves and Cubs, while Roberto Perez signed with the Pirates, Pedro Severino signed with the Brewers, and Sandy Leon signed a minor league deal with the Guardians.  In addition, Buster Posey’s retirement was the biggest catching story of them all, as the longtime Giants star decided to end his playing career in the wake of an All-Star season.

If the lockout marks the end of the offseason’s first round of catcher musical chairs, let’s look at which teams and free agents still have needs to fill, and which other clubs could step forward with more trade possibilities.

Teams With Catching Needs

  • Guardians: As much as Cleveland prioritizes defense over offense from the catcher position, it’s possible the team might stand pat with the combo of Leon and Austin Hedges.  Prospects Bo Naylor or Bryan Lavastida also might factor into the picture during the season.  But, for a team that needs hitting upgrades in general, catcher is an obvious area for improvement, given how little Hedges and Leon have traditionally offered at the plate.
  • Orioles: Superstar prospect Adley Rutschman is slated to make his MLB debut in 2022, and the O’s will certainly slide Rutschman right into everyday work.  However, Baltimore doesn’t have a single catcher in the organization with any Major League experience, so some type of veteran help will be required to handle the catching duties until Rutschman arrives, and then work as a backup the rest of the season.
  • Angels: Max Stassi is set to start, though the Halos are in need of a backup catcher.  Since Stassi is only controlled through 2022, the Angels could surely explore extension talks post-lockout if they feel Stassi is their long-term choice, or they might look to obtain such a controllable backstop now as a hedge against Stassi leaving in free agency.
  • Yankees: Gary Sanchez was tendered a contract, so the former All-Star will be given another chance to rediscover himself at the plate, and also take a long-awaited step forward with his glovework.  It seems clear by this point, though, that Sanchez is running short on rope with the Yankees, and backup Kyle Higashioka is a fine defender but might be a platoon option at best at the MLB level.
  • Rangers: This is something of a speculative addition, as Texas has the defensively-adept duo of Jonah Heim and Jose Trevino on hand, and top prospect Sam Huff is expected to get another crack at the majors after his 2021 season was hampered by knee surgery.  Even with all of this depth, the Rangers have already been so aggressive this winter that it wouldn’t be surprising to see them make another bold win-now move for catching help.
  • Red Sox: While Christian Vazquez is signed through 2022, Boston has reportedly already started looking ahead to the future, as the Sox made a strong bid to obtain Stallings before the Pirates eventually took the Marlins’ offer.  It remains to be seen if the Sox were enamored with Stallings specifically, or if they might be searching in general for another long-term catcher.  If the Red Sox did obtain such a catcher who ready to contribute immediately, that could make Vazquez expendable, and thus slide Boston into the next section of…

Teams With Catchers Available (Or Maybe Available)

  • Blue Jays: With Gabriel Moreno close to a big league debut, any of Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen, or Reese McGuire could be expendable at the right price.  McGuire is out of minor league options and might be more of a trade candidate for teams looking for a backup, but Jansen or Kirk could be a starter on another club.  Until Moreno actually arrives in the Show, it’s possible the Blue Jays could hold onto all of their catchers, as last year’s injuries to Jansen and Kirk evidenced how quickly depth can evaporate.
  • Twins: Like the Jays, Minnesota also entered the winter as a natural trade target for catcher-needy teams, given the presence of both Mitch Garver and Ryan Jeffers.  And, also like the Jays’ incumbent starters, Garver spent a big chunk of 2021 on the injured list, so the Twins might prefer to stick with their current duo and Ben Rortvedt at Triple-A.  The Twins already removed one depth option from the roster when they released La Tortuga himself, Willians Astudillo, in late November.
  • Cubs: Questions have been swirling about Willson Contreras’ future in Wrigleyville ever since he was one of the few veterans remaining after Chicago’s trade deadline fire sale.  Contreras is only under control through 2022, and in signing Gomes to a two-year deal, the Cubs may already be signaling that Contreras is still available.  The Cubs have a promising minor league backstop in Miguel Amaya, though Amaya will miss a good chunk of the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
  • Braves: Atlanta didn’t necessarily have a catching surplus entering the winter, but after signing Pina, the depth chart now sits as Pina and Travis d’Arnaud as the top two backstops on the active roster, and noted prospects Shea Langeliers and William Contreras left waiting at Triple-A.  Despite all this depth, d’Arnaud has such a long injury history that the Braves might not be comfortable moving one of their catchers of the future, even though d’Arnaud and Pina are now both on guaranteed deals through 2023.  Neither of the veterans is earning enough that they couldn’t themselves perhaps be trade candidates next winter should the Braves want to make room for Langeliers or Contreras.
  • Padres: Another team that added to an already deep list of catchers, San Diego picked up Jorge Alfaro from the Marlins in the aftermath of the Stallings trade, putting Alfaro in a mix that already includes Austin Nola, Victor Caratini, and top prospect Luis Campusano.  A.J. Preller is familiar with Alfaro from their shared time together in the Rangers organization, so this trade could amount to Preller wanting a closer look at a known quantity during Spring Training, and to see if the Padres could help Alfaro get his big league career on track.  Assuming Alfaro isn’t cut loose at a fraction of his arbitration salary prior to Opening Day, another trade involving Nola, Caratini, or (maybe most likely?) Campusano can’t be ruled out, given Preller’s track record for major swaps.
  • Royals: Last March, Salvador Perez was locked up to an $82MM contract extension that will keep the longtime catcher in K.C. through at least the 2025 season.  Prospect MJ Melendez roared back into top-100 prospect lists after posting big numbers at both Double-A and Triple-A in 2021, and the 23-year-old Melendez seems like he is just about ready for the majors.  With Perez blocking Melendez’s way, the Royals have a very intriguing trade chip on their hands.
  • Athletics: Sean Murphy is under team control through the 2025 season, and yet for an A’s team looking to cut payroll, they are even reportedly open to moving a player that seems like a building block.  Hypothetically, the A’s could look to trade Murphy as part of a larger deal, such as if another team also agreed to take an unfavorable contract (Elvis Andrus? Stephen Piscotty?) off of Oakland’s books.  The Athletics have several other high-profile players who are both more expensive and much closer to free agency than Murphy, so while he is surely far from the top of Oakland’s list of players it would want to trade, the possibility of a move is certainly higher than zero.  The A’s could certainly ask for a lot more than Pittsburgh got for Stallings, for instance, since Murphy is almost five years younger, a better hitter, and he comes with an extra year of control.

Free Agents

This group is generally long on experience but short on recent success, as Chirinos’ 108 wRC+ ( from a .227/.324/.454 slash line in 112 PA with the Cubs) was far and away the best of a group that otherwise posted sub-replacement level hitting numbers.  Also, Ramos’ recovery timeline is unclear after undergoing a third ACL surgery, and Mathis didn’t play in the majors or minors after being outrighted off the Braves’ roster back in May, so the 17-year veteran might be on the verge of retirement.

Chirinos probably offers the most upside for a team looking for a true regular or platoon candidate, considering his above-average .232/.327/.438 slash line and 90 home runs over 2147 PA since the start of the 2014 season.  While Chirinos hasn’t been known for his glovework, he’d make a lot of sense for a team like the Guardians, with Hedges providing a defensive complement.

There is always a fair amount of fluidity in the catching market, as teams are forever tinkering with adding veterans as minor league depth options.  As such, we’ll probably see most or all of the available free agents catch on somewhere during Spring Training, and the deck could certainly be shuffled based on a major injury to a catcher whose team isn’t listed here, or if any further trades open up other roster holes.  If the Athletics did deal Murphy, for instance, that could send them pivoting towards adding a low-cost veteran to pair with Austin Allen.  Or, speculatively, the A’s perhaps explore some trade possibilities with the Royals involving Melendez in order to replace Murphy with another highly-touted young backstop, since Oakland prospect Tyler Soderstrom is at least a couple of years away and might not be a long-term fit to remain at catcher.

It makes for an interesting set of storylines to watch once the transactions freeze ends and teams can once again start plotting their next moves for the catcher position, whether it be one of the clubs mentioned in these lists or perhaps a dark-horse team that was seemingly set behind the plate.

A.J. Cole Signs With NPB’s Tokyo Yakult Swallows

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The Tokyo Yakult Swallows have signed right-hander A.J. Cole to a one-year contract worth roughly $800.4K.  Though Cole has worked almost exclusively as a reliever in recent years, the Swallows have interest in using him as a starter, as per Yahoo Japan (Japanese language link).

Cole, who turns 30 in January, signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last winter that ended up paying him a $1MM guaranteed salary when Toronto selected him to its active roster in May.  However, Cole ended up pitching just eight innings, as neck tightness and then an oblique strain resulted in a lengthy stint on the injured list.

By the time Cole’s 30-day rehab assignment period was up, the Jays opted to just outright him to Triple-A, and Cole spent the rest of September in the minors before electing free agency following the season.  He’ll now head to an entirely new environment in NPB, with the intriguing prospect of reviving his fortunes as a starting pitcher.

Cole drew plenty of top-100 prospect attention during his days in the Athletics’ and Nationals’ farm systems, to the point that he was swapped back and forth between the two clubs in a pair of prominent trades.  His stock dimmed after struggling in both the big leagues and at Triple-A, in large part due to an inability to limit home runs.  Cole’s problems with the long ball never truly went away even after becoming a reliever in 2018, but he at least posted some decent bottom-line results and some improved strikeout numbers working out of the bullpen.  After a 4.26 ERA over 38 relief innings with the Yankees in 2018, Cole posted a 3.14 ERA over 57 1/3 frames with Cleveland and Toronto in 2019-21.

Since the start of the 2017 campaign, Cole has a 4.28 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate, and a 15% home run rate.  As one might expect, the move to relief pitching helped add a bit of velocity to Cole’s fastball, and he has averaged 93.8mph on his heater over the last four seasons.

NPB/KBO Signings: 12/7/21

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The latest on players inking contracts with Nippon Professional Baseball or the Korea Baseball Organization…

  • NPB’s Hanshin Tigers announced earlier this week that right-hander Aaron Wilkerson has been signed.  Wilkerson is a veteran of three Major League seasons, posting a 6.88 ERA over 35 1/3 innings with the Brewers from 2017-19.  He didn’t see any action in 2020, and after signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers last May, posted a 3.86 ERA and some very impressive strikeout (27.9%) and walk (5.4%) rates over 112 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City.  This performance didn’t get Wilkerson another look at the Show, however, and the 32-year-old will now explore this new opportunity in Japan.  Wilkerson came close to signing abroad last winter, as he had a deal in place with the Chinese Professional Baseball League’s Rakuten Monkeys before ultimately opting out of the contract.
  • Right-hander Albert Suarez is making the jump from Japan to South Korea, as he has signed with the KBO League’s Samsung Lions.  The one-year deal will pay Suarez $700K in salary, a $100K signing bonus, and another $200K is available in contract incentives.  Suarez’s MLB resume consists of 115 2/3 innings of 4.51 ball with the Giants in 2016-17, but he has pitched considerably better since joining NPB’s Yakult Swallows prior to the 2019 season.  Over Suarez’s three seasons with the Swallows, he posted a 3.00 ERA over 162 innings, culminating in his role in helping the Tokyo-based team capture the Japan Series this past season.

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