- The Padres are now the favorites to sign Cuban prospect Lazaro Armenteros, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler (subscription required but highly recommended), though he notes that the Braves and Dodgers both have some interest. However, Badler notes that the player known as “Lazarito” has been “the subject of some of the most extreme sensationalism in public reports,” and ranks the 16-year-old 11th on his list of the top 15 Cuban players available to Major League clubs. Lazarito would add to what appears to be a potentially significant class of 2016-17 international prospects for San Diego, as Badler and ESPN’s Eric Longenhagen have both previously reported the Friars as the favorites to sign 19-year-old outfielder Jorge Ona (fourth on today’s rankings from Badler) and 17-year-old lefty Adrian Morejon (10th). It’s worth noting, too, that Badler isn’t downplaying Lazarito’s talent entirely; he does write that Lazarito’s talent is “right up there” with the other top international prospects that have signed in the 2015-16 international class, so the implication is merely that the “phenom” labels that have been placed on Lazarito are an overstatement.
Braves Rumors
Braves Rebuffed Orioles' Interest In Nick Markakis
- The Orioles tried to open a conversation with the Braves about bringing back former right fielder Nick Markakis, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com tweets. But Atlanta seemingly showed little interest in trying to work out a swap, per the report.
NL East Notes: Andruw, Tejada, Wheeler, Arroyo
The Braves announced today that they’ve hired Andruw Jones as a special assistant to the baseball operations staff. The addition of the recently retired Jones will reunite him with the other most famous Jones in Braves history — former teammate Chipper Jones, who also signed on as a special assistant in the Atlanta front office this winter. “We are very excited to add Andruw to our staff as a special assistant,” said general manager John Coppolella in a press release. ““He is perhaps the most accomplished defensive outfielder in our organization’s history and one of the best in baseball history. He signed at the age of 16 and was developed in this organization. He can offer a lot of experience and knowledge to our young players and we look forward to his contributions.” Per the release, Jones will serve as a spring instructor, specialize in the development of the organization’s young outfielders during the regular season and also assist the front office with its international initiatives.
More from the NL East…
- Ruben Tejada is on the fringe of the Mets’ roster as the regular season approaches, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News wrote over the weekend. Ackert cites two club sources in reporting that nothing is guaranteed to Tejada in terms of a roster spot, despite the fact that he’s slated to make $3MM after avoiding arbitration this offseason. (It’s worth noting that arb salaries are not fully guaranteed, so the Mets could cut Tejada and owe him just 30 days of termination pay (roughly one sixth of his salary) so long as he’s let go more than 15 days before Opening Day. Alternatively, they could cut him within 15 days of the season and owe him 45 days’ pay, so long as he’s not on the Opening Day roster. As Ackert notes, the fact that the Mets awarded Tejada an extra day of service last week, essentially permitting him to reach free agency a year sooner than expected, indicates that they don’t consider him much of a future piece. Beyond that, Wilmer Flores can capably serve as the team’s utility infielder, potentially making Tejada redundant.
- Zack Wheeler threw 10 pitches off a mound this weekend, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post, and while that may seem like a small step in his recovery, it was the first time the right-hander has pitched off a mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring. The original plan for Wheeler was to have him throw off a mound in January, but the medical staff pushed that date back a bit, and Wheeler is on board with the decision.Wheeler is looking at about a 15-month window from surgery to his return, Puma writes, and the Mets will hope that the re-signed Bartolo Colon can handle his rotation spot in the interim.
- Bronson Arroyo hopes not only to make the Nationals’ roster out of Spring Training, but also to pitch beyond the 2016 season, he tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “I’ve been saying for a long time, I’m going to outlast Papi,” Arroyo playfully told Kepner in reference to his former Red Sox teammate, David Ortiz. “…He might outlast me if I don’t make this club, or if my arm can’t handle the torque of pitching multiple innings. But I’m proud of what I’ve done in this game, man. If I don’t make it out of this camp and this arm just won’t go, I’m completely satisfied with what I’ve done in the game.” Kepner’s piece is a great look at Arroyo and includes his retelling of surprising trades from the D-backs to the Braves and then the Dodgers last season despite knowing he wasn’t able to pitch. Arroyo also discusses his decision to sign with the Nats over the a reunion with the Reds, including what a significant role new manager Dusty Baker (his former Cincinnati skipper) had in that decision.
Lazarito Changes Representation
FEB. 24: Lazarito and his family refute the notion that they’re in any danger, Rosenthal writes in a new column. Lazaro Sr. tells Rosenthal that his family is in “absolute control” of its travel documentation and elected not to travel to the U.S. to meet with the Braves because only Lazarito, and not his parents, were invited. (Rosenthal notes that a second source confirmed the accuracy of that statement.)
Lazarito has already hired Octagon as his new representation, though the timing of the entire agency shuffle is rather bizarre, as Lazarito’s family claimed that Hairston’s comments were the impetus for the change in representation, but Hairston was claiming to no longer be representing Lazarito at the time he made his comments. Additionally, securing new representation in a matter of one day seems unlikely. Hairston followed up with Rosenthal and maintained that buscon is driving the thought process of the family in an effort to steer them toward signing with a particular team.
FEB. 23: Agent Charles Hairston and the Culture39 agency will no longer be representing Cuban outfielder Lazaro Armenteros after Hairston tells Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that his life was threatened by a trainer/agent out of the Dominican Republic who also represents Armenteros. At least for the time being, Hairston will no longer be representing the Cuban phenom known as “Lazarito,” and there is now great uncertainty about when or how Armenteros will sign.
Many young players from Latin America are represented by trainers/agents known as “buscones,” who take these players under their wing as children and train, feed and house them in makeshift training camps. In exchange for helping develop the skills of these promising talents, a buscon will then receive roughly 20-25 percent of a player’s future salary if he should go on to sign a pro contract, Hairston explains. The rather unregulated nature of the buscon/player business relationship has led to other issues in the past — for instance, when multiple buscones lay claim to the same player, or when Leonys Martin was sued by a Mexican baseball academy for allegedly not paying the full share of what the academy felt was owed.
This situation with Lazarito’s buscon and Hairston is of an even more chilling nature, with Hairston declining to name the buscon out of concerns for the safety of Culture39 employees. According to Hairston, the buscon withheld travel documents from Lazarito and his parents, making them unable to travel from the Dominican Republic to the United States for a meeting Hairston had arranged with a team’s GM and ownership group.
“I feel for the kid. He is truly special. We are still looking forward to working with him when he comes to the United States once his situation is resolved….But when his safety and ours is put in jeopardy, we had to think about what is most important in life,” Hairston said.
The dispute allegedly centered around the buscon’s desire that Armenteros sign a contract as soon as possible, as opposed to waiting until the new international signing period opens on July 2. (When Hairston last discussed his ex-client’s situation two weeks ago, he noted that their camp was still uncertain as to when Armenteros would sign.) Signing in the current international class or the next would greatly shuffle the list of teams eligible to sign the 16-year-old, as his likely bonus would instantly put a team over its spending pool limit and subject it to a virtual two-year ban on blue chip international prospects. Such teams as the Dodgers, Cubs, Giants and Royals have already exceeded their cap in the current spending period and could add to their bounty by signing Lazarito now, while waiting past July 2 would freeze those teams out (as their penalties would begin) and clear the path for other clubs known to be planning a big splurge in the next international period, such as the Braves, Phillies and Padres. Rosenthal and Morosi list the Dodgers, Padres and Braves as three teams with interest in Armenteros.
Braves Sign Cuban Reliever Carlos Portuondo
The Braves have signed Cuban right-hander Carlos Portuondo to a contract with a $990K bonus, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (Twitter link). Portuondo is 28 and thus old enough to be exempt from international bonus pools. He’s likely to start the year with Atlanta’s Double-A affiliate, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets.
As per Baseball America’s Ben Badler, scouts say the 6″2, 220-pound Portuondo has a fastball in the 90-93mph range and a slider as his secondary pitch. He’ll be used out of the bullpen by the Braves, though he split time as both a starter and reliever in his native country. Portuondo posted pretty unremarkable numbers for Santiago De Cuba from 2005-14, with a 5.75 ERA, 194 strikeouts and 188 walks in 355 1/3 innings pitching in the top Cuban league.
Braves Sign Jeff Francoeur To Minor League Deal
WEDNESDAY: Francoeur will earn $1MM if he makes the Braves’ roster, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. Another $1MM is available in incentives, and Francoeur can ask for a release if he isn’t on the Major League roster by March 31.
MONDAY: The Braves have announced that they’ve signed former star outfielder Jeff Francoeur on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite. Francoeur is a client of CSE.
Francoeur, of course, finished third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting as a 21-year-old with the Braves in 2005 and played parts of five seasons in Atlanta before being shipped to the Mets for Ryan Church in 2009. Since then, he’s also appeared with the Rangers, Royals, Giants and Padres. He hit .258/.286/.433 in 343 plate appearances for the rebuilding Phillies in 2015, demonstrating good power but characteristically poor control of the strike zone (with just 13 walks).
Francoeur has a reputation as a good player to have in the clubhouse, however, so perhaps if he makes the Braves as a bench player he can help mentor their young roster. The Braves do already have a large contingent of veteran outfielders, with Nick Markakis, Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher and now Francoeur joining Ender Inciarte and Hector Olivera.
Braves Notes: Payroll, Blair, Jenkins, Grilli
The Braves have over $10MM in leftover payroll that they could use to upgrade the club in-season, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. It’s also possible they could use some of that money on amateur international talent. Of course, it seems very unlikely that the Braves will contend this season, so it would be very surprising if they were deadline buyers in the traditional sense. Perhaps, though, there are scenarios in which they could use their extra payroll to take on the contract of a player signed beyond 2016 who might help them in future seasons. Here’s more out of Atlanta.
- Also via Bowman, GM John Coppolella also notes that the Braves will not let service time concerns dictate the promotion timelines of players like Aaron Blair or Tyrell Jenkins (neither of whom have yet pitched in the Majors) should those players prove they deserve to start the season in the Braves’ rotation.
- It doesn’t appear pitchers like Blair and Jenkins will win rotation spots, but perhaps it is possible. Via David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution (on Twitter), Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez says that only three pitchers (Julio Teheran, Matt Wisler and Bud Norris) are penciled into rotation spots as of now, with the other two spots open. (Other potential rotation options include non-roster invitees Kyle Kendrick and Jhoulys Chacin, along with younger pitchers like Williams Perez, Manny Banuelos and Ryan Weber.)
- Braves reliever Jason Grilli believes he’ll be able to make a successful return from the ruptured Achilles tendon that caused him to miss the second half of last season, Bowman reports. Bowman writes that Grilli has been throwing off a mound without trouble. Grilli notes that he’s had tougher injuries in the past, including a knee injury that caused him to miss the entire 2010 season. “This was child’s play in comparison to the knee,” he says. “They told me I wasn’t going to walk again with my knee. So, with the Achilles, there are still some precautions you take, just like you do with your arm. I’m just coming in here and I’ve got six weeks to get ready.” The 39-year-old was having a terrific season in 2015 prior to the Achilles injury, posting a 2.94 ERA, 12.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 while saving 24 games in his 33 2/3 innings.
Quick Hits: Braves, Tanaka, Molina, Chatwood
There’s a difference between rebuilding and tanking, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. Teams like the Braves, Brewers and Phillies have already made great strides in restocking their minor league systems after only relatively recently starting the rebuild process, and it could be argued that the way baseball’s system is currently set up, a smaller-market team like Milwaukee really has no option but to tear things down in order to amass the young talent it needs to eventually compete again. Rosenthal also notes that some of the recent criticism of tanking may be less fueled by the spirit of competition than it is by big-market teams upset that their revenue-sharing contributions aren’t being reinvested in the on-field product by the smaller-market teams getting those funds. Here’s some news from around baseball as we head into a new week….
- Even without Andrelton Simmons, the Braves are building an enviable amount of middle infield depth, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies highlight the prospects already within the system, and O’Brien notes that the Braves may also wind up with infielders Kevin Maitan and Yunior Severino in the next July 2 international signing period. That’s not even counting the current incumbents at short and second, Erick Aybar and Jace Peterson. If Swanson progresses as well as Atlanta hopes, he could make his MLB debut late in the season and Aybar could then become a trade chip.
- Masahiro Tanaka reported no issues following a 20-pitch bullpen session on Saturday, Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). This was Tanaka’s first time throwing off a mound since he had a bone spur removed from his elbow in October. Tanaka said last week that he couldn’t guarantee he’d be ready for Opening Day; while the procedure wasn’t a major one, the Yankees are obviously taking it easy with Tanaka given his history of arm problems.
- In an interview on KMOX Radio (hat tip to the Associated Press), Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said catcher Yadier Molina had the cast removed from his surgically-repaired left thumb. It will be at least a couple of weeks before Molina and the team can guess if he’ll be ready for Opening Day, though “right now all arrows point positively,” Mozeliak said.
- The odds are against a pitcher returning from a second Tommy John surgery, yet Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood is eager to return to action, The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders writes. Chatwood hasn’t pitched since April 29, 2014 but Colorado is hoping he can become an important member of the rotation.
- There’s no formula for deciding when to promote a top prospect, as ESPN’s Jim Bowden lists the many factors (beyond, obviously, just talent) that teams weigh when deciding to elevate one of their best minor leaguers.
NL East Notes: Baker, Nationals, Goeddel, Hart, Braves
Dusty Baker’s remarkable life and career is profiled in an insightful piece from Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post. Baker shares several intimate details about his many professional and personal ups and downs, some responses to criticism that his managerial style is too “old-school” for today’s game, and his path back into baseball as the Nationals’ new skipper. Here’s some more from around the NL East…
- The bullpen and defense stand out as the biggest areas of improvement for the Nationals if they’re to rebound, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson opines as part of a reader mailbag. It remains to be seen how new relief acquisitions like Shawn Kelley, Yusmeiro Petit and Trevor Gott will fare in Washington, and Ladson wonders if Jonathan Papelbon will also start to decline in his age-35 season.
- The Phillies are looking to make another big score from the Rule 5 Draft in the form of Tyler Goeddel, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes. Goeddel was the first pick of December’s draft, going from the Rays farm system to a shot at a regular Major League gig in the Phillies outfielder.
- In an interview with Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link with an audio clip) Braves president of baseball ops John Hart said his club is “gonna be players” on the international market and they “hope to be very active.” Atlanta is expected to be perhaps the most aggressive team in the 2016-17 international signing period, as the Braves are reportedly prepared to far exceed their bonus pool limit in order to load up on premium young talent. They’ve already been linked to such notable top prospects as Venezuelan infielder Kevin Maitan and Cuban outfielder Lazaro “Lazarito” Armenteros.
- Liberty Media, the Braves’ corporate ownership group, has released some documentation about the team’s finances as part of its plan to issue public shares in the Braves, Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (subscription required). It’s a very interesting behind-the-scenes look at the Braves’ financial picture, including how the team suffered quite significant operating losses over the last two years, though depreciation and amortization played a large part in putting the team in the red.
- In NL East news from earlier today on MLBTR, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson shared the latest on the relationship between Jose Fernandez and the Marlins.
Braves To Sign Carlos Torres
Reliever Carlos Torres has agreed to a deal with the Braves, reports Jim Seimas of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, who adds that he chose Atlanta over the Yankees and Dodgers (Twitter link). Bill Shanks of FOX Sports Radio and the Macon Telegram tweets that it’s a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.
Torres will give the Braves an option either in their rotation or bullpen, though the latter seems more likely based on his lack of recent rotation experience. The rebuilding Braves have a wide-open bullpen picture, with right-handers Arodys Vizcaino, Jason Grilli and Jim Johnson as the locks to factor into the relief corps. Beyond that trio, the likes of Mike Foltynewicz, Daniel Winkler, Ryan Weber and Shae Simmons (who is recovering from February 2015 Tommy John surgery) all represent right-handed options on the 40-man roster. Non-roster invitees that will be competing with Torres include David Carpenter, Alexi Ogando, Jhoulys Chacin and Chris Volstad, among others.
The 33-year-old Torres has spent the past three seasons with the Mets, pitching to a combined 3.59 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate in 241 innings (155 relief appearances, 10 starts). However, his solid production took a step backward in 2015, as he posted a 4.68 ERA in 57 2/3 innings, which led the Mets to designate Torres for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for Antonio Bastardo, who signed a two-year deal with the reigning National League Champions. Torres ultimately elected free agency after clearing outright waivers. Because Torres and the Mets had already agreed to a one-year, $1.05MM contract to avoid arbitration, the Mets were responsible for 30 days of termination pay on that non-guaranteed arb deal — a total of about $172K.
