- The Diamondbacks have added righty swingman Brooks Hall on a minors deal. Hall, 26, went to Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2009 draft and stayed with the organization through last season, but he hasn’t yet cracked the majors. He saw his first action at the Triple-A level in 2016 and struggled with a 6.94 ERA, 4.24 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 23 1/3 frames. Most of Hall’s recent work has come at the Double-A level, where he has logged a 3.90 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 across 267 2/3 innings since 2013.
Diamondbacks Rumors
Diamondbacks To Sign Oswaldo Arcia
3:15pm: It’s a minor-league contract, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
2:38pm: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal with free-agent outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Terms — including whether it’s of the major or minor-league variety — remain unreported.
Arcia, 25, ended up spending time with four organizations — reaching the bigs will all of them — during the 2016 season. Over 222 plate appearances split between the Twins, Rays, Marlins, and Padres, he slashed just .203/.270/.366 with eight home runs. While the constant movement probably didn’t help, that represented a continued decline for the still-youthful Venezuelan.
Never regarded as a good defender, Arcia blasted his way through the minors and posted just-above-average batting numbers during his first two years in the majors with Minnesota. But his on-base abilities have lagged his power at the game’s highest level. Even as he posted a strong .220 ISO over 410 plate appearances in 2014, Arcia went down on strikes in 31.0% of his trips to the dish while walking 7.6% of the time.
Still, there’s reason to hope that Arcia can turn the corner. He carried much more palatable K/BB numbers before his initial promotion, though he struggled at Triple-A in 2015 after a demotion, and he could perhaps have some development left given the rapidity with which he initially ascended the ladder. (Arcia played in only 107 games in the upper minors before his first call-up.) He does carry pronounced platoon splits, limiting his appeal, though his career 110 wRC+ against righties could make him a useful platoon/bench piece.
Earning playing time in the majors with the D-Backs likely won’t be straightforward, though it certainly seems there’s a path to opportunity in Arizona. Other left-handed corner options include David Peralta, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Socrates Brito, Zach Borenstein, and minor-league signees Reymond Fuentes and Jason Pridie.
Diamondbacks Sign Keyvius Sampson To Minor League Deal
The Diamondbacks have signed righty Keyvius Sampson to a minor league deal, and he’s expected to compete for a bullpen role this spring, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. Sampson is a client of Reynolds Sports Management.
The Reds non-tendered Sampson earlier this month after he posted a 4.35 ERA with 9.6 K/9 but also 6.2 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings in 2016. The 25-year-old Sampson did have success at Triple-A Louisville, though, posting a 1.88 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings while both starting and pitching in relief.
Sampson has yet to latch on in two seasons with the Reds and didn’t attract a waiver claim either time he was designated for assignment this year. He is, however, young for a minor league signee with big league experience, and he has never gotten an extended chance, either in the Majors or the minors, to blossom as a reliever rather than as a starter. His fastball has also averaged about 93 MPH in the big leagues.
Diamondbacks Sign Jeff Mathis
DEC. 14: Mathis will earn $2MM in both 2017 and 2018, tweets Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports.
DEC. 2, 6:44pm: It’s a two-year, $4MM deal, according to reports from SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter) and Piecoro (Twitter link).
6:35pm: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal with free agent catcher Jeff Mathis, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic had just tweeted the connection between player and team.
Mathis will step into the fold as Welington Castillo departs, with the Diamondbacks electing to go with a less-costly, more defensively proficient option behind the dish. He’ll presumably share time in some manner with Chris Herrmann, who posted a big offensive season (albeit in a short sample) in 2016. Oscar Hernandez also remains an option on the 40-man.
Unlike Castillo, who is a shaky framer, Mathis has long been viewed as a strong gloveman. Both StatCorner and Baseball Prospectus rate him as one of the game’s better receivers at winning borderline strike calls for his pitchers.
Of course, Mathis also brings little to the table offensively. He’s a lifetime .197/.254/.308 hitter over his dozen seasons in the majors. Though his 63 OPS+ last year was his best mark since 2012, Arizona won’t expect much at the plate.
Latest On Brad Ziegler, Diamondbacks
- The reliever-needy Diamondbacks have checked in with free agent and longtime D-back Brad Ziegler about a reunion, but a deal is unlikely because the 37-year-old has received far more lucrative offers than the $2.75MM the club gave Fernando Rodney, according to FanRag’s Jack Magruder. In the wake of picking up Rodney, new GM Mike Hazen told Magruder that he’s “very comfortable with the group we have right now.” Only five teams amassed fewer wins than the Diamondbacks’ 69 in 2016, but the team has “a lot of talent,” Hazen said.
Diamondbacks Hire Dan Haren For Background Role
- The Diamondbacks recently added retired righty Dan Haren as a “pitching strategist,” but D’backs manager Torey Lovullo says not to expect Haren to be in the public eye. “I think he’s going to be somebody behind the scenes, and that’s by his choice,” Lovullo says. “He wants to just remain behind the scenes and help our pitchers be successful. I think he has an attachment to Arizona. … So I think there’s a good starting point for him to come in and come up with a game plan as to how to reach some of these guys and how to help them as quickly as possible.”
Diamondbacks Sign Fernando Rodney
DECEMBER 9: Arizona appears to have acknowledged the signing via Twitter, with a clever nod to Rodney’s post-save, arrow-shooting celebration.
Jack Magruder of Fan Rag tweeted the details of the incentives clause, which he says maxes out at $4MM. That includes $250K apiece if and when Rodney reaches 40, 50, and 60 appearances, with a $500K payout if he gets to 70.
DEC. 7: SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Rodney’s deal would max out at $5MM if all of the incentives are reached.
DEC. 6: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent reliever Fernando Rodney, Jon Heyman of FanRag writes (Twitter links). Rodney will receive $2.75MM guaranteed, plus considerable incentives, and he’ll open the year as the Diamondbacks’ closer. Heyman had previously tweeted that the Diamondbacks and Padres were in talks with Rodney, who is an Octagon client.
It was a tale of two seasons for the Rodney in 2016 — he was brilliant for the Padres to start the year, allowing just one earned run through 28 1/3 innings in San Diego, but then he allowed twice as many walks in 36 2/3 innings after a trade to Miami. His 5.89 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in Florida led the Marlins to decline his 2017 option, which was effectively worth $4.5MM after incentives.
Where that leaves Rodney for 2017 is unclear — on one hand, he has closing experience, can still strike batters out and induce grounders, and managed to post a reasonable composite line in 2016 (3.44 ERA, 10.2 K/9, 5.1 BB/9). On the other hand, he faded down the stretch, walks too many batters, and will be 40 in March.
In any case, the Diamondbacks didn’t have an established closer, so the deal provides both player and team with an opportunity. Rodney can reestablish himself as a big-league closer. The Diamondbacks, who don’t appear likely to contend, can either keep him for the year or attempt to trade him, much as the Padres did last season — San Diego received a decent starting pitching prospect, Chris Paddack, when it dealt Rodney last June.
Diamondbacks Willing To Listen On Starters
Arizona’s recent acquisition of Taijuan Walker gave the team quite a bit of depth in the rotation, and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the D-backs have shown a willingness to listen to offers on their starters during this week’s Winter Meetings. Per Piecoro, the Diamondbacks are most open to moving left-hander Patrick Corbin and right-hander Shelby Miller. Elsewhere in the rotation, the Diamondbacks have Walker, Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray, with young right-handers Braden Shipley and Archie Bradley behind them. The asking price on both starters has been lofty, Piecoro adds.
Miller is still young, as he’ll pitch next season at the age of 26, but his first season in Arizona was an enormous struggle, as he posted a 6.15 ERA and saw each of his K/9 rate (6.4), BB/9 rate (3.8), ground-ball rate (41.9 percent) and average fastball velocity (93 mph) trend in the wrong direction. Miller’s struggles led to a Triple-A demotion that would’ve seemed unfathomable on Opening Day, and he also spent time on the disabled list with a sprained index finger on his pitching hand.
While all of those red flags are cause for concern, Miller’s age and the fact that he’s just a season removed from 200+ innings with a 3.02 ERA could certainly make him an intriguing rebound candidate for teams on the hunt for pitching help. Furthermore, the demotion to the minors delayed his free agency by a season, so Miller is still controllable for three years before he’ll hit the open market. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to earn $4.9MM next year.
Corbin, 27, broke out for the D-backs in 2013 when he posted a 3.41 ERA in 208 1/3 innings with 7.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 46.7 percent ground-ball rate. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2014 campaign, but Corbin looked similarly encouraging in a half season when he returned in 2015, totaling 85 innings with a 3.60 ERA, a higher strikeout rate (8.3 K/9) and a lower walk rate (1.8 BB/9). Like most of Arizona’s pitchers, though, Corbin found the 2016 season challenging and struggled to a 5.15 ERA in 155 2/3 innings. His walk rate spiked (3.8 BB/9), and though his ground-ball rate increased, Corbin struggled to strand runners and found himself increasingly susceptible to home runs. With two years of team control and an affordable $4.2MM arbitration projection from Swartz, Corbin makes financial sense for plenty of teams.
It’s not entirely clear exactly how high Arizona’s asking price is, though one exec speculated to Piecoro that the team might be seeking a potential starting catcher. Piecoro cites multiple sources in reporting that Red Sox GM Mike Hazen and his staff checked in with their former Red Sox colleagues on the availability of Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez — not necessarily in connection to Miller or Corbin — so teams with readily available catching help could line up as potential trade partners.
Diamondbacks Want "Multiple" Relievers
The Marlins are interested in free agent relievers Brad Ziegler and Koji Uehara as fallback options if they’re unable to reel in Kenley Jansen or Aroldis Chapman, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Miami could sign both Ziegler and Uehara if it loses out on Jansen and Chapman, per Frisaro (Twitter links). Ziegler and Uehara each carry strong track records, though the former is 37 and the latter will turn 42 in April. The pair finished last season in Boston, where Uehara has pitched since 2013. In other Marlins-related bullpen news, the club is “highly unlikely” to re-sign left-hander Mike Dunn, but it continues “monitoring his status,” tweets Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
More bullpen-related rumors:
- The Nationals offered “at least $10MM less” than the Giants’ winning four-year, $62MM bid for closer Mark Melancon, the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner told MLB Network Radio on Monday (Twitter link).
- The Tigers are gauging interest in southpaw setup man Justin Wilson and right-handed reliever Shane Greene, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). This is the second time Wilson’s name has hit the rumor mill since last week. The 29-year-old impressed with a 9.97 K/9, 2.61 BB/9 and 54.6 ground-ball rate in 58 2/3 innings last season. However, a .340 BABIP (47 points higher than his career .293 mark) and a 12.2 percent home run-to-fly ball ratio (up from a lifetime 8 percent mark) helped lead to an unspectacular ERA of 4.14. Wilson has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a reasonable $2.7MM salary for next season. Greene, 28, comes with four years of team control – including a pre-arb year in 2017 – but he posted a 5.82 ERA in 60 1/3 frames last season despite an 8.8 K/9, 3.28 BB/9 and 47.6 grounder rate.
- With only Randall Delgado and Jake Barrett as strong in-house bets to crack the Diamondbacks’ bullpen next April, the club wants to add “multiple” relievers and has enough spending room to do so, general manager Mike Hazen told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Moreover, Hazen expects the D-backs’ lack of established options to serve as an advantage in reeling in outside help. “Most times, a lot of players in a lot of cases want opportunity or some definition of role,” Hazen said. “I think we can offer those things in a lot of cases. We’re not asking some of the players that we’re talking to to come here and do something you’re unaccustomed to. That does give us a little clarity. We’re not the only ones that have that ability, but we do have that right now in the bullpen.” Ziegler and Daniel Hudson, two longtime Diamondbacks, are among the free agents the team has contacted this offseason.
Bullpen Rumors: Melancon, Marlins, Lefties, Diamondbacks
There’s plenty of bullpen chatter circulating as the Winter Meetings get underway. Here’s the latest…
- The latest updates on Mark Melancon last night revealed that the three-time All-Star has received multiple four-year offers, potentially in excess of $60MM in some cases. The Nationals have indeed made a four-year offer to closer Mark Melancon, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, but their offer was for less than $60MM guaranteed. That makes a reunion look unlikely for now, barring an increase in the offer from the Nats.
- FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes that Melancon is the Giants’ top target, and Greg Holland could be their primary alternative, as opposed to either Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen. Heyman feels it’s unlikely that they’d pursue either Jansen or Chapman if they fall to land Melancon. The Giants and Nationals are pushing the hardest for Melancon, tweets Heyman.
- The Nationals, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees and Giants are all in on Kenley Jansen, per ESPN’s Jim Bowden. Heyman tweets that the Marlins are intent on adding a top closer, and owner Jeffrey Loria is a fan of Chapman in particular. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Loria is at the Winter Meetings and is participating in meetings with the representation for top-tier bullpen arms.
- The Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Indians, Dodgers, Rockies and Diamondbacks are all in the market for a bullpen lefty, putting names like Mike Dunn, Boone Logan and Jerry Blevins in a good position, Heyman tweets. Heyman also tweeted this morning that the D-backs are focused on the bullpen at the moment and have no plans to “shock the world” like they did last offseason.
- Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that veteran southpaw Joe Beimel is at the Winter Meetings and is seeking a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Beimel, 40 in April, hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2015 but had a nice two-year stretch in Seattle from 2014-15, posting a 3.12 ERA in 92 1/3 innings.
