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Diamondbacks Release, Re-Sign Gregor Blanco

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TODAY: The D-Backs have indeed re-signed Blanco to a new minors deal, per a club announcement. It contains the same terms — a $1MM potential base salary and $2.7MM in available incentives — as the old one, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter).

YESTERDAY, 9:29pm: Arizona would like to re-sign Blanco, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links). With an oblique injury slowing Blanco, the club wasn’t “comfortable making the call on him for the Opening Day roster tomorrow” (the Article XX(B) deadline), thus leading to tonight’s move.

9:11pm: The Diamondbacks have released veteran outfielder Gregor Blanco, per a team announcement. He’ll return to the open market in search of another opportunity after failing to crack the team’s Opening Day roster.

The 33-year-old Blanco was an Article XX(B) free agent, meaning the club would have had to pay him a $100K roster bonus to keep him in the minors (assuming he’d not have opted out at that point). Though it seemed entering camp that Blanco would have a reasonable shot at making the team, he hit just .225/.295/.400 in spring action.

Blanco’s offensive production tanked last year, as he scuffled to a .224/.309/.311 slash. But he had been quite a steady performer over the four preceding seasons with the Giants, often as a semi-regular player. Blanco slashed a solid .264/.343/.367 with 18 homers and 69 stolen bases in 1,565 trips to the plate from 2012 through 2015.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Lucroy, Lindor, Ahmed, D’backs, Ryu

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Here are highlights from the latest column by FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:

  • Catcher Jonathan Lucroy and the Rangers recently shelved talks about an extension. It’s not entirely clear what happened, but one possibility could be that Lucroy is waiting for a new Yadier Molina deal with the Cardinals, a contract that would help set his value. Molina could receive $17MM to $18MM a season, Rosenthal writes, and Lucroy would probably receive only a bit less.
  • An extension for Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor appears unlikely unless the team is willing to pay him at elite rates, Rosenthal opines. Lindor is on track to become a free agent at 28, and he has an endorsement deal with New Balance that provides him with extra funds during these early-career seasons during which his pay is relatively minimal.
  • The Diamondbacks do not have shortstop Nick Ahmed on the market, Rosenthal reports. Ahmed has two minor-league options and is therefore useful to a Diamondbacks team that faces a reasonable amount of uncertainty at the shortstop position, where they also have the largely unproven Chris Owings and Ketel Marte. The Yankees, meanwhile, feel they don’t need Ahmed — Didi Gregorius is set to begin the season on the DL with a shoulder injury, but the Yankees prefer to get through the first several weeks of the season with a combination of Ronald Torreyes, Pete Kozma (a somewhat similar player to Ahmed, Rosenthal points out) and Tyler Wade at short.
  • The Diamondbacks will keep an eye out for bullpen help as Opening Day approaches, perhaps pursuing players who don’t make other clubs’ 25-man rosters. In the meantime, though, the Snakes like what they see in Tom Wilhelmsen and J.J. Hoover, both of whom they signed to minor-league deals.
  • The White Sox do not seem likely to deal Jose Quintana now when interest in him could ramp up at the deadline, but the Astros, with their strong farm system and rotation needs, seem likely to eventually acquire Quintana or another good starter.
  • Dodgers lefty Hyun-jin Ryu, who has missed almost all of the past two seasons to injury, looks “like he hasn’t skipped a beat,” in the words of one scout. Ryu is competing for one of the Dodgers’ final two rotation spots.

NL Notes: Diamondbacks, Braves, Mets, Stubbs

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The Diamondbacks drafted both Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock in 2009 and the two have been teammates for years, but they might not remain in the same organization for long, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. If the Snakes don’t contend this season — and that doesn’t appear particularly likely after a disappointing 2016 — the team could begin considering dealing Goldschmidt, Pollock or Zack Greinke. Dealing Goldschmidt or Pollock would give the Diamondbacks a head start in a rebuild, an organizational route of which new GM Mike Hazen seems to see the benefits. “Picking first is a lot better than picking fifth,” Hazen said earlier this month. “From a long-term building standpoint, there are clear advantages to being in those positions over a period of time. The majority of your superstars, by and large, are going to come in those areas of the draft and the international market.” Here’s more from the National League.

  • Much of the Braves’ Opening Day roster is set, but there are still jobs available on the bench and in the bullpen, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Chaz Roe, who is out of of options, has the inside track on one of the remaining bullpen jobs, although fellow righty David Hernandez (who the Braves recently added on a minor-league deal) is another possibility. Paco Rodriguez and Kevin Chapman are competing to join the ’pen as lefties, while veteran hitters Matt Tuiasosopo and Mel Rojas Jr. could also have shots at making the team, particularly, it would seem, if the Braves opt to go with five bench players instead of four. The Braves will also keep an eye on the trade and free-agent markets.
  • The Mets are hoping for fourth outfielder Juan Lagares to soon recover from the oblique strain he suffered this weekend, and therefore do not seem overly interested in Drew Stubbs, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. The veteran Stubbs opted out of his minor-league deal with the Twins yesterday. Assuming he’s healthy, Lagares seems set to back up a Mets outfield of Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce.

Diamondbacks Release Kevin Jepsen

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The Diamondbacks have released right-hander Kevin Jepsen, as per a club press release.  Jepsen signed a minor league deal with Arizona last month that would have paid him $2.25MM in base salary if he reached the big league roster.

The 32-year-old suffered through a rough 2016 season with the Twins and Rays, posting a 5.98 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 1.67 K/BB rate (career worsts in all three categories over a full season) in 49 2/3 innings.  A big spike in home runs allowed and a .321 BABIP contributed to the problems, though Jepsen’s peripherals numbers also weren’t strong, including a 37.5% hard contact rate that was way above his 28.8% career average.

Jepsen’s struggles continued into the Diamondbacks’ spring camp, as he owned an ugly 12.27 ERA over 3 2/3 innings.  Despite the recent downturn in form, Jepsen isn’t far removed from a solid track record as a bullpen arm, posting a 2.93 ERA over 215 1/3 innings for the Angels, Rays and Twins from 2012-15.  One would think he’d get some looks on another minor league contract from other teams looking for relief help as Opening Day approaches.

NL Notes: Peralta, Aybar, Padres’ Pen, Bradley, Goeddel, Susac

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Cardinals manager Mike Matheny suggested Friday that Jhonny Peralta, not Jedd Gyorko, will win the team’s third base job, according to Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He’s looked as good as we had hoped,” Matheny said of the 34-year-old Peralta, who dealt with a thumb injury last season and slashed a modest .260/.307/.408 in 313 plate appearances. Gyorko posted far superior production last year, when he hit .243/.306/.495 with a team-high 30 home runs in 438 PAs. Nevertheless, it appears he’ll open 2017 as a frequently used utilityman — a role he’s better suited for than Peralta.

Here’s more on some roster situations around the National League:

  • It seems that Erick Aybar currently holds the inside track to the Padres’ starting shortstop job, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Aybar hasn’t hit much this spring — he’s slashing .273/.319/.318 through 16 games — but seems to be the logical solution barring a trade. Luis Sardinas, meanwhile, is competing for a spot as a utility player, per manager Andy Green. He has spent some time in left field in a bid to enhance his versatility, and will seemingly be jockeying with options such as Cory Spangenberg and Rule 5 pick Allen Cordoba.
  • Meanwhile, the Padres are still sorting through a variety of bullpen options, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. Rule 5’er Miguel Diaz seems to be well-positioned, while either Trevor Cahill or Jarred Cosart will also likely crack the pen if either fails to make the rotation. (The odds of both functioning as starters increased, it seems, with an injury to Christian Friedrich.) Veterans Craig Stammen, Carter Capps, and Kevin Quackenbush are among the notable names also in the running. Capps seems unlikely to be ready in time, per Cassavell, while Quackenbush’s poor showing in camp could result in an assignment to Triple-A.
  • The division-rival Diamondbacks have settled on their own starting five, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. That grouping — Zack Greinke, Taijuan Walker, Robbie Ray, Shelby Miller, and Patrick Corbin — contains no surprises, but manager Torey Lovullo did note an interesting decision on another hurler. Former top prospect Archie Bradley will open the year in the major league bullpen. The 24-year-old has struggled in his MLB opportunities over the past two seasons and has allowed 13 earned runs on 23 hits over 14 2/3 innings this spring. While he could still factor as a long-term rotation possibility — Bradley has produced quality results of late at Triple-A — the club will see whether the move to a relief role helps spur some positive momentum.
  • When the Phillies optioned outfielder Tyler Goeddel to minor league camp Friday, they informed him he’d likely start 2017 at the Double-A level, writes Matt Breen of Philly.com. Considering he spent all of last season in the majors, Goeddel isn’t thrilled with his multi-level demotion. “I’m not too happy about that but you can’t control it,” said Goeddel, who hit a meager .192/.258/.291 in 234 PAs as a Rule 5 pick in 2016. With Nick Williams, Roman Quinn and Dylan Cozens set to comprise the Phillies’ Triple-A outfield, there aren’t any openings for Goeddel at that level. Regarding those three, Goeddel stated: “I know who’s at Triple-A with Cozens, Williams and Quinn. But I was still surprised. They hadn’t really told me anything so it was definitely surprising.”
  • A neck issue has kept Brewers catcher Andrew Susac out of action for the past week-plus, but an MRI on Friday revealed no structural damage to his trapezius, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Susac will be able to ramp up his rehab as a result, though he’ll still start the year on the disabled list. Milwaukee will open with Jett Bandy and Manny Pina as its top options behind the plate.

Diamondbacks Return Rule 5 Pick Tyler Jones To Yankees

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The Diamondbacks have returned righty Tyler Jones to the Yankees, the clubs announced. Taken in the Rule 5 draft, Jones evidently wasn’t going to crack the Arizona active roster; instead, he will head to Triple-A after the Yankees accepted him back.

Jones, 27, enjoyed something of a breakout season in 2016. Working at Double-A Trenton, he turned in 45 2/3 innings of 2.17 ERA ball with an excellent 13.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. That wasn’t enough for New York to put him on the 40-man, but evidently caught Arizona’s eye. The D-Backs took him with the seventh pick in last December’s Rule 5 draft, meaning they needed to keep him on the MLB roster all year to take over his control rights.

Jones didn’t do enough in camp to earn a shot at the majors, but did rack up eight strikeouts without a walk in his 6 2/3 spring frames. With no other organizations electing to take over the Rule 5 rights given up by the D-Backs, Jones will have to try to master the highest level of the minors and wait for an opportunity to open in the Bronx.

NL West Notes: Hoffman, Norris, Hoover, Padres

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Some news and notes from around the NL West…

  • The Rockies optioned Jeff Hoffman to Triple-A today, with manager Bud Black telling reporters (including Nick Groke of the Denver Post) that Hoffman required “a little more refinement” and consistency.  “The fastball has velocity, but he has to locate the fastball,” Black said.  “The slider and curveball are very good pitches.  They are major league quality.  But he has to consistently get them into good spots.  The overall command of his pitches is something he needs to harness.”  Hoffman, one of the game’s top pitching prospects, posted a 4.88 ERA over his first 31 1/3 innings in the majors last season.  With Hoffman at Triple-A, rookies German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, and Antonio Senzatela are all competing for the last two spots in Colorado’s injury-thinned rotation.
  • The Rockies are one of the teams interested in catcher Derek Norris, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Colorado joins the Cardinals and Rays as teams known to have interest in the free agent catcher.  With Tom Murphy on the DL with a fractured forearm, the Rockies are a logical candidate to be exploring upgrades behind the plate.
  • J.J. Hoover is looking like a good bet to break camp with the Diamondbacks, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes.  Hoover signed a minor league deal with the D’Backs in January that will pay him a $900K base salary if he cracks the big league roster, which seems like a distinct possibility given the righty’s solid spring numbers and Arizona’s wide-open bullpen competition.  Hoover posted solid numbers out of Cincinnati’s bullpen from 2012-15 before taking over as the Reds closer and suffering a disastrous 2016 season.
  • The top 50 international bonuses of 2016 are compiled by Baseball America’s Ben Badler, with the Padres’ $11MM bonus to Cuban lefty Adrian Morejon leading the way.  San Diego owns five of the top 12 entries and a league-leading 11 of the top 50 overall, which isn’t a surprise given the Padres’ tactic of blowing past their bonus pool limit to hoard as much young international talent as possible during this signing period.  As a result, the Padres will be limited to signings worth no more than $300K during the next two international signing periods.

West Notes: Diamondbacks, Angels, Rockies

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Diamondbacks right-hander Archie Bradley has worked solely as a starter at all three minor league levels and the majors, but the team is considering moving him to the bullpen, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The 24-year-old is open to making the switch. “With the way I’m throwing the baseball right now, the way I feel, the way the ball is coming out, I’m comfortable in any role, in any capacity,” Bradley said. “Just put me on this team.” Bradley, whom Baseball America once regarded as a top 10 prospect, made 26 starts for the D-backs last year and managed a 5.02 ERA, 9.08 K/9, 4.26 BB/9 and a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate over 141 2/3 innings. Now, he’s behind Zack Greinke, Taijuan Walker, Robbie Ray, Shelby Miller and Patrick Corbin in Arizona’s rotation pecking order, per Piecoro.

More on Arizona and two other teams in the majors’ West divisions:

  • Miller, who endured a nightmarish, well-publicized 2016 with the Diamondbacks, continued to flash high velocity Wednesday, according to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. Miller’s four-seam fastball sat between 93 mph and 96 mph (and touched 97 mph), and “the industry is intrigued” by the improved stuff he has shown this spring, relays Castrovince. D-backs manager Torey Lovullo thinks the righty is “ready to do some special things this year,” while Miller says he’s “just trying to have a positive outlook on everything” and not dwell on last season.
  • Angels first baseman Luis Valbuena left the team’s game early on Wednesday as a result of right hamstring tightness, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. While the severity is unknown, it’s worth noting that Valbuena missed a large chunk of 2016 with a right hamstring injury and underwent season-ending surgery in August. The Angels will turn to C.J. Cron as their primary first baseman if they lose Valbuena, who’s entering the first season of a two-year, $15MM deal.
  • Rockies left-hander Chris Rusin had been vying for one of their available rotation spots before suffering an oblique injury March 3. Rusin returned to throwing on Wednesday, in the form of a 25-pitch bullpen session, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. The 30-year-old hopes to return by Opening Day, but he no longer has a chance to earn a starting job. The Rockies will choose two of Antonio Senzatela, Jeff Hoffman, German Marquez, Harrison Musgrave and Kyle Freeland to fill out their rotation behind Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson and Tyler Chatwood.

Rays, Yankees Interested In Nick Ahmed

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The Rays and Yankees have joined the Padres in showing some trade interest in Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed, The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro reports.  The D’Backs had begun listening to offers for the defensive star thanks to a surplus of other middle infield options, with San Diego already linked due to manager Andy Green’s familiarity with Ahmed in his old job as Arizona’s third base coach.

It makes sense that both AL East rivals would be checking in on Ahmed given how Tampa and New York have both suffered injury setbacks at shortstop.  The Rays are still uncertain as to when Matt Duffy will be able to begin full baseball activities in the wake of his extended recovery from Achilles tendon in his left heel last September.  The Yankees, meanwhile, will be without Didi Gregorius until the end of April as the shortstop recovers from a shoulder strain.

At first glance, the Yankees would seem to have the lesser need for Ahmed since they already have several other middle infield options (Ronald Torreyes, Ruben Tejada, Donovan Solano, Pete Kozma, Tyler Wade or even second baseman Starlin Castro) on hand, plus they have a rough idea about when Gregorius will be back on the field.  Tampa Bay’s timeline for Duffy is much more uncertain, and the Rays were already operating under something of a strained middle infield in the wake of trading Logan Forsythe to the Dodgers.

Tim Beckham is slated to take over at short in Duffy’s absence, leaving the Rays short a right-handed platoon option for second baseman Brad Miller, who struggles against lefties.  Daniel Robertson and the switch-hitting Nick Franklin are the other viable middle infield options on the 40-man roster, as it is rather unlikely that top prospect Willy Adames will get an early promotion to the big leagues.

Ahmed hasn’t shown much at the plate (a .597 OPS over 842 career plate appearances) in his brief career and he carries some notable injury history in the form of season-ending hip surgery from last August.  On the plus side, he is controllable through the 2020 season, and potentially through 2021 spending on how much more service time he accumulates this season  — he has already clocked two years and 54 days of service time in his career.  Ahmed has also shown himself to be a superb defender at short, with +34 Defensive Runs Saved and a 14.3 UZR/150 over 1920 career innings at the position.

In another item from Piecoro, he also reports that the Diamondbacks are listening to offers on right-hander Enrique Burgos.  The 26-year-old has a fastball that averages just shy of 96mph and he owns an impressive 10.8 K/9 over 68 1/3 career innings in the majors, though Burgos has managed only a 5.27 ERA thanks to control issues (an even 5.00 BB/9).  Piecoro figures that the D’Backs are trying to move Burgos in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Gregor Blanco, Tom Wilhelmsen, or another player who could win an Opening Day job.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/20/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Royals released lefty Jonathan Sanchez, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. Sanchez, 34, struggled badly in camp as he tried once more to make it back to the majors. Once an established starter, Sanchez hasn’t appeared in the bigs since 2013, when he failed to recover from a disastrous 2012 campaign. He also has not played in affiliated ball in either of the past two seasons, though he did go to camp with the Reds last year.
  • The Diamondbacks released former first-round draft pick Stryker Trahan, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). Taken 26th overall in 2012 as a catcher, he had shifted more recently to the outfield. Though he’s still just 22 years of age, though, the bat never showed much life after promising work at the Rookie ball level. While he hit 19 home runs in 2014, Trahan managed only a .283 OBP and hasn’t turned it around since. Last year, he slashed just .201/.256/.322 combined over 258 plate appearances at the Class A and High-A levels.
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