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.
International Notes: Gurriel Bros., July 2 Spending
Cuban star Yulieski Gurriel, who reportedly defected recently with younger brother Lourdes Gurriel, may have an easier path to free agency than had been expected. Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports that both brothers have moved across the border from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, which is a popular launching point for Cuban players seeking to make it to the majors. (Spanish language link.) Importantly, per the report, the 31-year-old infielder has already established Panamanian residency, which might well provide a faster route to the open market since some hurdles would already be cleared. Ebro provides other interesting details on the situation of the famed elder Gurriel brother, who is apparently looking to take his last chance at playing in the majors in his prime. Though he’ll soon turn 32, Gurriel is considered a prime talent and will create an interesting market situation — remember, quality infielders such as Ian Desmond, David Freese, and Juan Uribe remain unsigned — if and when he is deemed eligible to sign. The younger Lourdes, meanwhile, still appears likely to wait until October to ink an agreement, when he’ll be old enough to fall ouside of international signing restrictions.
Here are some more notes on the international market:
- The Brewers, Cardinals, Phillies, and Rangers are expected to have an active year in the coming July 2 market, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports, though it’s not yet clear to what extent any of those teams will be willing to go past their pool allocation. We’ve already heard that the Braves, Nationals, and Padres are expected to make significant moves this summer, likely incurring maximum penalties for exceeding their international spending limits. With numerous big spenders on the sidelines after blowing past their own caps in prior years, there’s some opportunity for other clubs to step in and seek to sign their own slate of talented youngsters out of Latin America.
- Sanchez goes on to discuss the market more generally, explaining that expectations are the non-Cuban market will produce a few significant bonuses (around $3MM to $4MM) with several other players receiving seven-figure paydays as well. He further notes that there figures to be quite a bit of competition as teams capped at $300K bonuses look to add lower-bonus names. The Angels, Diamondbacks, Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees are halfway through their two-year restricted periods, while the Blue Jays, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, and Royals are set to join them for the coming signing period.
- There’s a notable showcase event being held today in Santo Domingo that will feature many of the players being targeted by the aforementioned teams, as Sanchez further reports. 59 prospects from seven nations will be there, including top Venezuelan youngster Kevin Maitan (who is favored to sign with the Braves). Other intriguing players are on hand, per Sanchez, including Mexican outfielder Tirso Ornelas, Panamanian righty Edisson Gonzalez, and Dominican outfielder Jeisson Rosario.
Lazaro Armenteros Weighing Offers
Highly touted Cuban outfielder Lazaro Armenteros (aka “Lazarito”) will spend the next 24 hours mulling his options and is expected to decide on a team tomorrow, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez. Lazaro himself told Sanchez recently that he hoped to make a decision tomorrow, though he left open the possibility that the decision process could take longer. “I’m planning on making a decision on [Wednesday], but only God knows what will happen and when I will sign,” Armenteros said to Sanchez. “I’m not worried about it. I’m just waiting on the right opportunity.” The ballyhooed 16-year-old is drawing serious interest from nine clubs, according to Sanchez, including the Braves, Cubs, Dodgers, Padres and Phillies.
Of that group, the Braves, Phillies and Padres would need to either exceed their 2015-16 international bonus pool in order to sign Lazarito or convince him to wait until the 2016-17 international signing period before signing. Both the Braves and Padres have been said to be planning on vastly overshooting their 2016-17 international pools, and Sanchez notes that the Phillies are in a similar boat, as they’re expected to have an impressive class of international signings next period as well. Signing Lazarito in the current period would prevent any of those three clubs from following through on those plans, as his bonus would force the teams into penalty territory and bar them from signing a player for more than $300K in the 2016-17 class (and again in the 2017-18 class, for that matter). Each team almost certainly has verbal agreements already in place with international amateurs, which would have to be broken in order to sign Armenteros.
Thus far in the 2015-16 signing period, the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and Royals have incurred maximum penalties by overshooting their pools, meaning that the only cost to one of those four clubs would be purely financial. (Armenteros’ bonus plus a 100 percent luxury tax on the amount for which he signs.) Meanwhile, the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, Diamondbacks and Rays would all be ineligible to sign Armenteros after exceeding their 2014-15 bonus pools and incurring spending penalties on this year’s class and the 2016-17 class of international free agents.
Armenteros was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball a little over a month ago and has since hosted an open showcase in addition to private workouts for multiple clubs, the most recent of which came on Monday, per Sanchez (though he lists the team involved in that private workout as “undisclosed”). Armenteros has worked out as both a center fielder and corner outfielder, drawing praise for his power, speed and athleticism. Sanchez ranks him eighth among international prospects and second among those that have not already signed, although the current iteration of his rankings does not include the Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (who has not yet been declared a free agent) or any international free agent that is exempt from international bonus pools. In his scouting reports, Sanchez notes that there’s a wide variance in scouts’ opinions on Lazarito’s arm, and some scouts have questioned how his “muscular college-football-player body” will look as he continues to grow. Armenteros is already listed at 6’2″ and 205 pounds, and if he continues to add to that frame, a move to the corner outfield certainly seems like a reasonable outcome.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/3/16
Here are the latest minor moves of note:
- The White Sox have re-signed righty Maikel Cleto and added outfielder Vinny Rottino, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Cleto, 26, has been hit around in his limited MLB experience but has shown the ability to miss bats. He spent last year at Triple-A, working to a 3.00 ERA in 51 frames with 10.8 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. The 35-year-old Rottino has not seen the majors since 2012. He slashed .266/.346/.390 over 514 plate appearances at Triple-A in 2015.
- The Marlins have added first baseman Zach Lutz, per Eddy. Lutz saw only minimal time in the Mets system last year, but did briefly reach the majors with New York in the 2012-13 seasons.
- Lefty Edgar Ibarra has joined the Phillies on a minors pact, Eddy adds. The 26-year-old cracked the bigs for the first time last year, but only made two appearances. At Triple-A, he worked o a 5.43 ERA over 66 1/3 innings with 9.1 /9 vs. 4.7 BB/9.
- Fellow southpaw Chris Dwyer is going to the Orioles on his own new deal, according to the BA report. He had spent his entire career in the Royals organization, briefly making it up to the show in 2013. Dwyer was a fourth-round pick out of Clemson back in 2009.
- The Braves reached agreement with Blake Lalli, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter), and expect to utilize him as one of the team’s catchers at Triple-A. The 32-year-old has served in just that role with the Diamondbacks over the last two seasons.