Diamondbacks Designate Will Locante
The Diamondbacks have designated lefty Will Locante for assignment, per a team announcement. His 40-man spot will go to reliever Tyler Clippard.
Locante, 26, scuffled to a 5.79 ERA in 42 innings at the Double-A level last year. While he’s shown big strikeout ability in the low minors, he’s also struggled with his command, and that was never more true than in 2015. Locante ended the season with 8.1 K/9 against 7.3 BB/9.
D-Backs Sign Tyler Clippard
The D-backs have officially signed right-hander Tyler Clippard to a two-year, $12.25MM contract, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Clippard is represented by Excel Sports Management. Rosenthal further tweets that the deal is official (though the team has not announced the move just yet) and will give Clippard a $4MM signing bonus plus salaries of $4.1MM and $4.15MM in the next two seasons, respectively. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported earlier today that the two sides had made progress on a deal, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick later added that an agreement was close.
Clippard, 31 on Sunday, will join Brad Ziegler, Daniel Hudson, Andrew Chafin, Randall Delgado and Josh Collmenter at the back of the Arizona bullpen, leaving the team with one unsettled spot. With Chafin representing the only lefty in that mix, it’s possible that Matt Reynolds or non-roster invitee Wesley Wright would have the inside track on that final spot, though GM Dave Stewart has mentioned several other relievers by name recently. Among those listed by Stewart were Silvino Bracho, Enrique Burgos, Jake Barrett, Cody Hall, Sam LeCure, Dominic Leone and Evan Marshall — each of whom is right-handed.
Ziegler, who admirably stepped into the closer’s role last offseason when Addison Reed lost his handle on the ninth inning, will remain the D-backs’ closer, according to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro (on Twitter). Clippard, then, will join Hudson (who has shown excellent velocity as a setup option since returning from his second Tommy John surgery) as a setup man at the back of the ‘pen. Clippard does have 53 career saves and spent the early portion of the 2015 campaign as Oakland’s closer before being traded to the Mets, and it seems reasonable to expect that he’d be the first line of defense should Ziegler falter.
The addition of Clippard, in some ways, mirrors the D-backs’ previous acquisition of Reed in that both are notorious fly-ball pitchers. The Diamondbacks wound up trading Reed to the Mets in what amounted to a salary dump after Reed posted a 6.36 ERA at the homer-friendly Chase Field over the course of his 18 months with the club, making the decision to replace him with an even more extreme fly-ball pitcher puzzling. Clippard is coming off the second-highest fly-ball rate of his career and will be pitching in what is the most hitter-friendly environment he’s called home (with the exception of his brief call-up at Yankee Stadium in 2007). Last season, Clippard’s 60.6 percent fly-ball rate was easily the highest in baseball, and he also saw his strikeout and walk rates also trend backwards (8.1 K/9, 3.9 BB/9) while his velocity dipped for a third consecutive year.
All that said, Clippard again delivered outstanding bottom-line results between the Athletics and the Mets in 2015, totaling a 2.92 ERA in 71 innings. He also rattled off his sixth consecutive season with at least 70 innings pitched and continued his remarkable track record of durability in the bullpen. Dating back to the 2009 season, Clippard’s 464 1/3 innings are the most by any reliever in baseball by more than 50 innings, meaning he’s essentially thrown an extra season’s worth of innings than anyone else in that time. While there’s undoubtedly some concern that the workload has taken a toll on his arm and the effects began to manifest last season, his consistency and durability is virtually unparalleled by any of his peers in the league.
Stewart said just last Thursday that the team had “nothing going on” in terms of trade talk and free-agent pursuits just last Thursday, though he changed course less than 24 hours later and expressed an interest in reaching out to Clippard’s representatives. The Diamondbacks saved about $4MM in the trade that sent Aaron Hill, Chase Anderson and Isan Diaz to the Brewers in exchange for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner, and that sum was essentially reallocated to function as Clippard’s signing bonus (or, if you prefer, his 2016 salary). By my calculation, the Clippard signing should put the D-backs around $95MM in terms of Opening Day payroll (including players at or near the league minimum), which is shy of their record $112MM Opening Day mark from 2014 but higher than the $86MM and $83MM marks from 2015 and 2013, respectively.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diamondbacks Close To Deal With Tyler Clippard
2:21pm: Clippard and the Diamondbacks are now close to a deal, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).
10:42am: Stewart confirmed to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert that the D-backs are talking with Clippard and optimistic about a deal (Twitter link). “We’ve talked concepts,” the GM told Gilbert. “We’re hopeful we can get something done.”
10:28am: The D-backs and right-hander Tyler Clippard are making progress on a contract, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro’s source described the team as “hopeful” of reaching an agreement, and Piecoro adds that both one-year and multi-year deals have been discussed thus far in talks.
Just last Thursday, Arizona general manager Dave Stewart said that his team wasn’t active on the free-agent market or in trade pursuits. However, less than 24 hours later, Stewart told Piecoro that there was a “good possibility” that the D-backs would reach out to Clippard’s representatives, as they had yet to do so this offseason. Clippard is also reportedly drawing some interest from the Rays and Astros in the past week, although neither club’s pursuit hasn’t been characterized as serious to this point.
Clippard, who will turn 31 on Valentine’s Day, has been baseball’s most durable reliever over the past six seasons, working to a 2.67 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 464 1/3 innings. No reliever is within even 50 innings of Clippard in that time. He’s never been on the disabled list and has averaged 73 appearances and 77 innings per season in that six-year stretch. Of course, that durability could serve as a red flag as well. Clippard has seen his velocity drop in three consecutive seasons and saw his strikeout and walk rates trend in the wrong direction in 2015. He was also baseball’s most extreme fly-ball pitcher last year (and has a long history of being one of the more pronounced fly-ball pitchers in the game), which could be a poor fit with Arizona’s hitter-friendly home stadium.
The Diamondbacks’ bullpen projects to include Brad Ziegler, Daniel Hudson, Andrew Chafin, Randall Delgado and Josh Collmenter at this time, though the team has a significant number of intriguing younger arms as well. Last week, when downplaying the possibility of adding a bullpen arm, Stewart mentioned Silvino Bracho, Enrique Burgos, Jake Barrett, Cody Hall, Dominic Leone, Evan Marshall, Same LeCure and Wesley Wright as internal options that could fill in the final two spots in the bullpen. However, the D-backs did save about $4MM in the trade that sent Aaron Hill, Chase Anderson and Isan Diaz to the Brewers in exchange for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner, and the team’s new $1.5 billion television contract does kick in this season, so there should be more than enough money to bring Clippard into the fold should he ultimately be deemed an upgrade.
NL Notes: Diamondbacks, Fowler, Dodgers
The Diamondbacks are considering having left fielder David Peralta and right fielder Yasmany Tomas switch positions, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. The idea is that, given the departure of Ender Inciarte in the Shelby Miller trade, the Diamondbacks stand to take a step back in right field, the corner outfield position those within the game generally consider to require a higher degree of skill. Peralta isn’t the defender that Inciarte is, but he’s better than Tomas. Tomas has said he’s more comfortable in right, but if the Diamondbacks do have him switch with Peralta, Tomas will get all of Spring Training to adjust to his new position. Here’s more from the National League.
- The Cardinals are the best fit for Dexter Fowler, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince writes. Fowler tops Castrovince’s list of this offseason’s top remaining free agents (which also includes names like Yovani Gallardo, Ian Desmond and Tyler Clippard). Randal Grichuk had sports hernia surgery in December, Castrovince points out, and the Cards can use a veteran outfielder to help compensate for the inexperience of players like Stephen Piscotty and Tommy Pham.
- If the Dodgers can stay healthy, they won’t have many roster decisions to make in Spring Training, writes Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times. They will have to decide whether Hyun-jin Ryu, who’s returning from surgery, is healthy enough to take the ball every fifth day. There’s also the issue of how to handle Alex Guerrero, who lacks a defensive position, hit very poorly in the second half of the 2015 season and who can’t be optioned without his permission. In general, though, the Dodgers don’t figure to have many position battles.
Diamondbacks Looking At Free Agent Relievers, Including Tyler Clippard
TODAY: The D’Backs have been in contact with Clippard’s representatives, Fanragsports.com’s Jack Magruder reports (Twitter link).
FRIDAY: Clippard sits “atop [the D-Backs’] wish list” for another late-inning arm, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).
THURSDAY: Despite saying just yesterday that his team doesn’t “have much going on” in the way of new player acquisitions, Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that the club will still look into the free-agent relief market.
After finding the cost too high to add another pen arm via trade, Stewart suggested that the Snakes may yet pull the trigger on an open-market addition. “We could look at what’s left on the free-agent market,” he said. “I keep getting pushed back to the same position: Trading three or four prospects for seventh-inning guys is probably not something I want to do.”
It isn’t entirely clear who might be targeted, but Stewart seemingly indicated that he’s interested in a reasonably significant addition. He certainly suggested that top remaining reliever Tyler Clippard is under some consideration. “We have not talked to his people, (but) that is a good name,” Stewart said of Clippard. “I know we talked about it internally, so I think there’s a pretty good possibility we will (reach out), at least just to see.”
Beyond Clippard, though, there don’t appear to be many fellow free-agent arms that will garner attention from Arizona. “I think there’s probably only going to be a few options that will fit,” said Stewart. “I don’t see there being a bunch.”
The D-Backs did save some cash by shedding Aaron Hill‘s contract via trade, and could conceivably deploy that $4MM or so on another arm. As explained in the above link regarding Stewart’s comments from last night, the club has a lot of names in the pen mix but could probably stand to add another, more established piece.
D-Backs Not Active In Trade Talks, Free Agent Pursuits
Though the D-backs saved about $4MM in the trade that sent Aaron Hill, Chase Anderson and Isan Diaz to the Brewers in exchange for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner, GM Dave Stewart implied to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert that further moves aren’t likely to be made. The D-backs “don’t have much going on” in terms of trade talks or free-agent pursuits at this point, Stewart said.
Gilbert writes that the cost of adding another arm to their bullpen mix seems to be too great. That’s not to say that they don’t have the money to spend, but rather that given the asking prices around the market and the in-house options on the roster, the D-backs don’t see a deal worth pursuing. “It’s not tight. It’s either you want the player or you don’t,” Stewart told Gilbert.
Gilbert writes that Brad Ziegler, Daniel Hudson, Andrew Chafin and Randall Delgado all profile to land bullpen jobs, and Stewart listed a wide number of internal options that intrigue him, including Silvino Bracho, Enrique Burgos, Jake Barrett, Cody Hall, Dominic Leone, Evan Marshall, Sam LeCure and Wesley Wright. Certainly, there’s reason to believe that the names listed could yield three bullpen pieces for the Snakes, and there are always names that pop up unexpectedly during Spring Training either on the waiver wire or in free agency. Additionally, some within the organization will probably emerge as surprise bullpen candidates as well.
It would seem, then, that the money saved in the Hill trade may instead go toward in-season flexibility. While some fans may find that frustrating as they wish for immediate reallocation of those funds, there are a few factors to keep in mind. Firstly, while Arizona’s Opening Day payroll should be a bit north of the team’s marks from 2015 ($88MM) and 2013 ($86MM), it should also come in well shy of 2014’s record $112MM Opening Day payroll. It should also be noted that the D-backs signed a $1.5 billion television contract last February, and the increased rights fees from that deal kick in this season. While the increase over the club’s previous television revenue will be incremental in nature, the D-backs should have some degree of increased spending capacity. All of this is to say that while further additions don’t seem likely for the time being, based on Stewart’s comments anyway, the club certainly looks poised to have a good bit of financial flexibility for summer upgrades on the trade market, even if they require adding payroll.
West Notes: Segura, Lee, Rangers, Angels
FOX’s Ken Rosenthal writes that a fresh start with the D-backs might do Jean Segura some good. While it’s well known that Segura played through a devastating personal tragedy in 2014 — the unexpected death of his infant son — Rosenthal notes that other issues were also likely weighing on Segura’s mind throughout his tenure with the Brewers. Namely, Segura rejected a seven-year, $40MM contract extension with an option for an eighth season attached to it in the spring of 2014, according to Rosenthal. The decision was driven in part by the fact that Andrelton Simmons, a fellow shortstop in the same service class, had recently signed a seven-year, $58MM contract extension with the Braves. Former Brewers manager Ron Roenicke tells Rosenthal that the contract situation weighed on Segura. “We talked a little about the contract,” said Roenicke. “He told me it was bothering him. After that, (he lost) his son and the rest of the year was really rough for him.” Roenicke is a Segura backer and believes he can succeed, but at this point, it’s worth noting that Segura simply hasn’t hit since June of 2013. After a torrid two-month stretch to open his first full season in Milwaukee, Segura has batted a collective .254/.287/.337 in 1540 plate appearances. Perhaps a change of scenery will do him some good, but that level of production isn’t any better than what Nick Ahmed brings to the table, and Ahmed rated as one of baseball’s premier defenders in 2015.
Here’s more from the game’s Western divisions…
- Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto tells Jim Bowden of ESPN (link) that new addition Dae-ho Lee, who signed a minor league deal with the team earlier today, will compete to be Adam Lind‘s platoon partner at first base. (Jesus Montero and Gaby Sanchez are also in that mix.) Notably, Dipoto tells Bowden that Lee, who was listed at 6’4″ and 286 pounds last season in Japan, is down about 45 pounds. Stories of players being in good shape certainly abound this time of year, but size was a question among some pundits when writing about Lee. Bowden offers a scouting report based on conversations he’s had, writing that Lee has good hands at first but below average range. At the plate, he can draw walks and has power to right-center field, Bowden adds.
- “We are in the range of where we’ll end up payroll-wise,” Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. As Grant explains, that’s a somewhat diplomatic way of stating that the team doesn’t have the financial flexibility to add a notable free agent such as Dexter Fowler or Yovani Gallardo at this point. Rather, Grant lists Tim Lincecum and Gavin Floyd as a pair of names that might make more sense for the Rangers to pursue as Spring Training approaches and the team looks for added depth. “The fact is,” according to Grant, that Daniels was given a budget and told to stick to it, so barring a late change of course among ownership, the Rangers will be relatively quiet for the remainder of the offseason.
- By steadfastly refusing to exceed the $189MM luxury tax threshold, Angels owner Arte Moreno is effectively wasting the best years of Mike Trout‘s career, opines ESPN’s David Schoenfield. Trout has been worth an average of nine wins above replacement per season in each of his four years at the Major League level, but the Halos have been to the playoffs just once in that time and have zero postseason wins to show for it. Enormous commitments to a declining Albert Pujols and a since-traded Josh Hamilton have left the club with little flexibility, and Anaheim’s paper-thin farm system doesn’t lend much hope for better days in the near future. The Angels finished 12th in the AL in runs scored in 2015, Schoenfield points out, and they’ll be without David Freese and could see an aging Pujols miss time due to offseason foot surgery.
Braves Notes: Diaz, Rebuild, Draft, Olivera, Minor
Earlier today it was reported that the Braves are expected to make a push for much-ballyhooed Cuban prospect Lazaro Armenteros (aka “Lazarito“), though it’s worth noting that they’d need to convince Armenteros to wait to sign until after July 2 (otherwise, their previously reported plan of shattering their international signing pool in the 2016-17 period would go out the window due to penalties from Armenteros’ bonus). As Braves fans ponder the chances of seeing their favorite club land Lazarito, here are few more items pertaining to Atlanta…
- The Braves “worked hard” to try to find a way to acquire infield prospect Isan Diaz from the Diamondbacks prior to his inclusion in the trade that allowed the D-backs to shed much of Aaron Hill‘s salary, tweets MLB Network’s Peter Gammons. Per Gammons, the Braves appeared to have a similar idea to the Brewers (who acquired Diaz, Chase Anderson and much of Aaron Hill’s contract in exchange for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner). Gammons notes that the Braves were trying to “alleviate [the] D-backs’ cash issues,” but a deal was never reached.
- Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke to GM John Coppolella about the team’s rebuild and the differences between the trades he and president of baseball ops John Hart have made this winter and the ones the pair made last offseason. “In a lot of the trades we made in the 2014-2015 offseason, the players were a lot further away,” said Coppolella in reference to trades that netted the likes of Mallex Smith, Max Fried, Tyrell Jenkins, Rio Ruiz and others (although names like Shelby Miller and Mike Foltynewicz did represent MLB-ready options acquired last winter). “With [with the Miller and Andrelton Simmons trades], you really got six players you could see (in Atlanta) in 2016. A lot of the deals we made last year … were more to restart the system than have major-league impact in the short term.” Atlanta landed Major Leaguers Ender Inciarte and Erick Aybar in those trades as well as near-ready prospects Sean Newcomb, Chris Ellis, Aaron Blair and Dansby Swanson.
- Coppolella and scouting director Brian Bridges met with draft hopefuls A.J. Puk (LHP) and Buddy Reed (OF) recently, reports Scout.com’s Bill Shanks. Either Florida Gators star could be a candidate for the Braves’ top pick, per Shanks, though as he notes, Coppolella recently stated that the team’s preference would be to draft a hitter.
- In his latest Braves Inbox column, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman notes that while the jury is out on the Hector Olivera trade, it’s fair to wonder whether Olivera’s stock can recover from the hit it took with shaky performances in the Majors and in the Puerto Rican Winter League. Bowman also fields a question on left-hander Mike Minor, replying by saying that Minor’s “days of pitching for Atlanta appear to be over, at least for now.” Minor is still recovering from his shoulder surgery, Bowman writes, adding that it sounds like Minor could sign with a new club within the next month.
Quick Hits: Yankees, Cardinals, Brewers, D-Backs
The Yankees don’t appear to have any inclination to go hunting for a big league replacement for injured first baseman Greg Bird, as Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News tweets. “[Dustin] Ackley is the backup first baseman on the big-league level and we’ll explore replacing Bird for Scranton,” said Cashman. Needless to say, that quote doesn’t appear to put New York in the running for any of the better remaining free agent options.
Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:
- While the Cardinals have pursued outfield moves this winter, that doesn’t mean the team isn’t excited about its current group, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes. The lack of a major addition certainly opens the door to a full opportunity to younger options — Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty, in particular. “You look at his progression through the Minor Leagues, and it was a perfect trend,” said GM John Mozeliak of Piscotty. “It was always getting better. There is a level of confidence that he’s the right guy to make the bet on.”
- The Fangraphs team has a few interesting looks at the recent five-player trade between the Brewers and Diamondbacks. Jeff Sullivan suggests that righty Chase Anderson delivers some sneaky value upside to Milwaukee. And Dave Cameron argues that Arizona might not have chosen the wisest route to upgrading its middle infield.
- The MLB.com prospect team rates the best tools among prospects. It’s no surprise that many of the leaderboards are dominated by the game’s very best overall young talents, but there are a few (somewhat) less-prominent players that took home top honors, too. Among them: Yankees shortstop Jorge Mateo (best speed) and righty Dillon Tate of the Rangers (top slider).
Jocketty: No New Brandon Phillips Trade Talks
Brandon Phillips has twice used his no-trade protection to block deals this offseason, and Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty hasn’t been talking to any other teams about acquiring the second baseman, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
“I haven’t had any discussions since the Arizona thing and he didn’t accept that one,” Jocketty said, indicating that talks with the Diamondbacks progressed far enough that Phillips was approached about waiving his 10-and-5 rights. This came on the heels of Phillips more publicly turning down an agreed-upon trade between the Reds and Nationals since he wanted a contract extension as a condition of accepting the deal. Washington and Arizona have both moved on by adding other middle infielders (Daniel Murphy and Jean Segura, respectively) so it’s unclear as to what market, if any, might remain for Phillips’ services.
Phillips, 34, hit .294/.328/.395 with 12 homers over 623 plate appearances for Cincinnati in 2015. While his numbers were modest as a whole and, as per his 96 wRC+, below league average, it still represented Phillips’ best offensive performance since 2012. Phillips also still showed defensive value at the keystone, with positive numbers in both Defensive Runs Saved (+5) and UZR/150 (+2.1).
While Phillips is still productive, he also turns 35 in June and is owed $27MM through the 2017 season. That contract has undoubtedly kept some teams from exploring trades, though it could be a moot point if Phillips is unwilling to waive his no-trade protection for anything less than another healthy financial commitment.
The Reds also may have Phillips’ eventual replacement on hand in Jose Peraza, though Reds manager Bryan Price is still planning to use the veteran as his everyday choice at the keystone. “Brandon, for me, is a second baseman of tremendous value and talent, it’s hard to just assign someone else that job. If Brandon’s with us, I expect him to be playing second base,” Price said. Both Price and Jocketty indicated that Peraza could see some playing time at shortstop or in the outfield as well as second this season.