East Notes: Mets, Ramos, BoSox, Holt, Rays, Braves
The latest on a few East Coast clubs…
- The Mets have reportedly shown interest in free-agent catcher Robinson Chirinos, but a union between the two sides doesn’t look realistic. Chirinos a starting-caliber catcher, after all, and the Mets already have a somewhat expensive No. 1 backstop in Wilson Ramos, who’s slated to earn $10.75MM through 2020 (including a $1.5MM buyout for ’21). While Ramos didn’t have a great year in 2019, his first as a Met, the team’s “committed to” him heading into next season, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. The 32-year-old Ramos was subpar behind the plate this season, evidenced by a 15 percent caught-stealing rate and a low ranking in Baseball Prospectus’ Framing Runs Above Average metric, but he did turn in another fine offensive campaign. Barring an unexpected turn, it seems he’ll start again next year for New York, though the team could bring in someone who – unlike Chirinos – is suited for a backup role.
- The Red Sox reached out to free-agent utilityman Brock Holt about a new deal after the season, but there haven’t been discussions since they hired Chaim Bloom as their chief baseball officer Oct. 28, Holt told Barstool Sports’ Section 10 podcast (hat tip to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). Although other teams have contacted Holt, he revealed there’s “nothing serious” brewing between him and any clubs. MLBTR predicts a two-year, $8MM contract for the versatile Holt, who’s coming off back-to-back solid seasons at the plate. The 31-year-old batted .297/.369/.402 in 295 PA in 2019, which is looking more and more like his last season as a member of the Red Sox.
- The Rays made the decision to designate third baseman Matt Duffy for assignment Thursday after failing to find a trade partner for the 28-year-old, according to general manager Erik Neander (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). But moving on from the oft-injured Duffy was a tough call for the Rays, per Neander, who stated: “Wish that his health and his time with us would have gone different in that regard and we could have had him on the field more. He really is a special player and there’s the obvious stuff you can measure in how he impacts a game. His intangibles, his leadership, his influence on a younger impressionable clubhouse like we have is worth a lot.” Despite the respect the organization has for Duffy, Neander noted the Rays are happier with their current third basemen (including No. 1 option Yandy Diaz).
- Much like his previous deal with the Rangers, the two-year, $14MM contract reliever Chris Martin signed with the Braves gives him the opportunity to become a free agent at the end of it, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Martin will only have three-plus years’ service time then, meaning he’d remain eligible for arbitration under normal circumstances, but there’s language built into the pact that will allow him to return to the open market when it expires.
Coaching/Front Office Notes: Bucs, D-backs, Giants, O’s
Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro remains in the running to become the Pirates’ next manager, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The race is seemingly down to Quatraro, Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay and Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, though Heyman notes there may be other unreported names in the mix. Hiring a manager could end up as the first important order of business for new GM Ben Cherington, whom the Pirates brought aboard earlier this week.
- Diamondbacks executives Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter have been mentioned as future general managers, though the two told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link) they’re content to stay in Arizona working under GM Mike Hazen. “It would be really hard to leave Arizona not just because of the culture Mike has created, the ease of living, the obvious excitement over the organization. But coming in and building something and wanting to see it through is so important,” said Sawdaye, who added, “If I never become a GM and this is my ultimate job and I’m here for the next 25 years, I can tell you I’ll be darned happy.” Porter echoed Sawdaye, saying: “I’ve never been more excited about working somewhere. I’ve never been more determined and focused to make a team and an organization better.” The feeling’s mutual on the D-backs’ end, as the franchise recently signed the two assistant GMs to extensions.
- Greg E. Johnson has grabbed the reins as the Giants’ control person, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. He’ll take over for Rob Dean, who held the position on an interim basis after MLB suspended now-reinstated president/CEO Larry Baer in March, though Dean is still with the organization. Baer and president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi are now expected to report to Johnson and Dean, but “day-to-day operations should not be affected by Thursday’s moves,” Schulman writes. Johnson’s the son of Charles B. Johnson, who was part of the investment group that bought the Giants in 1993.
- The Orioles are close to hiring Rockies assistant Anthony Sanders as their first base coach, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Sanders is a former major league outfielder who managed at the rookie level with the Rockies, though he was most recently their outfield and base-running coordinator. Assuming Sanders takes over as the O’s first base coach, he’ll succeed Arnie Beyeler.
Korea’s NC Dinos Sign Aaron Altherr, Mike Wright
The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization have signed outfielder Aaron Altherr and right-hander Mike Wright, Naver Sports reports (hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). Both players will earn an $800K salary and a signing bonus of $200K. Altherr and Wright will make up two of the Dinos’ three allotted foreign players in 2020.
The 28-year-old Altherr will try to rebuild his stock overseas after a brutal 2019 divided among the Phillies, Giants and Mets. Altherr amassed a combined 66 plate appearances in those stops and batted a miserable .082/.136/.164 with one home run. It was the second straight rough year at the major league level for Altherr, a ninth-round pick of the Phillies in 2009 who looked like a potential building block for the team just a couple years ago. In 2017, his best season in the majors, Altherr slashed a strong .272/.340/.516 with 19 homers in 412 trips to the plate.
Wright, meanwhile, hasn’t had much success at the game’s highest level since entering the pros as a third-rounder of the Orioles in 2011. The 29-year-old has only pitched to a 6.00 ERA/5.22 FIP with 7.26 K/9 and 3.45 BB/9 in 258 MLB innings, including 29 1/3 frames between the O’s and Mariners in 2019. But Wright has performed well in Triple-A ball, where he has posted a 3.76 ERA and logged 6.9 K/9 against 2.45 BB/9 across 447 2/3 innings.
Latest On Zack Wheeler
The White Sox made the biggest splash of the young free agency season on Thursday, signing the best catcher available, Yasmani Grandal, to a long-term contract. The four-year, $73MM guarantee the White Sox handed Grandal stands as the largest deal in franchise history, but it might not be long before the team doles out an even richer pact. The White Sox remain among those after free-agent right-hander Zack Wheeler, per reports from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Jon Morosi of MLB.com (video link) and Andy Martino of SNY. They first showed interest in Wheeler well before signing Grandal.
If MLBTR’s five-year, $100MM prediction proves accurate, Wheeler could become the first nine-figure player in White Sox history. The longtime Met and former Tommy John surgery patient made a case for that type of payday during the previous two seasons with 8.9 fWAR over 377 2/3 innings, thereby putting three straight injury-ruined years behind him. Along the way, Wheeler recorded a terrific 3.65 ERA/3.37 FIP with 8.91 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 and averaged a blazing 96.8 mph on his four-seam fastball.
Now, should Wheeler end up on the South Side of Chicago, he’d give the club at least two frontline-caliber starters from the get-go. Although 2019 was yet another dismal season in the standings for the White Sox, they did see Lucas Giolito emerge as a star atop their rotation. And Giolito’s hardly the lone promising starter on hand, as Chicago also boasts Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease. Meanwhile, Michael Kopech could factor into the club’s rotation from the outset of next season after missing 2018 because of a Tommy John procedure, and fellow TJ patient Carlos Rodon figures to return at some point in 2020.
Considering the 29-year-old Wheeler is the third-best starter on the open market, trailing only Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, there’s predictably substantial interest in him so far. The Angels, Padres and Twins are also among those who have been connected to him thus far. Anybody that signs Wheeler will have to surrender draft compensation, as he rejected a $17.8MM qualifying offer from the Mets a week ago. The White Sox and Angels would each give up their second-highest pick in 2020 and $500K of their international signing bonus pool, while the Padres and Twins would lose their third-highest selection.
Quick Hits: Ellsbury, Orioles, Rockies, Vogt
Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury plans to continue his career in 2020, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com hears. Ellsbury just went through a pair of seasons wiped out by injuries, which led the Yankees to release him Wednesday and eat the remaining $26MM on his contract. But the 36-year-old’s now “finishing up his rehab [in Arizona] with a focus on Spring Training,” a source told Feinsand. Ellsbury, an MVP candidate with the Red Sox at his peak, remained a respectable major leaguer last time he was healthy enough to play. He posted a .264/.348/.402 line with seven home runs, 22 stolen bases on 25 tries, and 1.6 fWAR over 409 plate appearances in 2017. With that in mind, someone’s likely to take a chance on Ellsbury on a minor league contract before next season.
More from around baseball…
- The Orioles have hired Eve Rosenbaum to fill a new role with the organization – director of baseball development – Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports (subscription link). Rosenbaum, a Harvard graduate and Maryland native who spent the past five seasons with the Astros and was at the helm of their international signing period this year, is familiar with Orioles general manager Mike Elias from their time working together in Houston’s front office. Now reunited with Elias, Rosenbaum will largely focus on analytics and scouting in Baltimore, Connolly relays.
- The Rockies “will look at” free-agent catchers Travis d’Arnaud, Yan Gomes, Martin Maldonado, Robinson Chirinos, Jason Castro and Alex Avila, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. While the Rockies won’t spend much this offseason, nobody in that group of catchers figures to break the bank on the open market, and the club’s need behind the plate is obvious. Colorado’s backstops struggled to the majors’ 28th-ranked fWAR (minus-1.7) in 2019, when Tony Wolters, Chris Iannetta, Dom Nunez and Drew Butera all managed miserable offensive numbers.
- Vogt may not be on Colorado’s list of catcher targets, but he is among the backstops “generating early interest,” Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The market for catchers is moving quicker than it is at other positions, per Passan. The Athletics and Giants, two of Vogt’s previous teams, are known to have interest in the 35-year-old former All-Star. The fact that he may be in position to sign early (and land a big league contract) is a significant change from last offseason, when Vogt went without a deal until the Giants handed him a minors pact in February. It proved to be a terrific buy-low move for San Francisco, as Vogt revived his career with a .263/.314/.490 line and 10 homers across 280 trips to the plate.
Mets Interview Hensley Meulens For Bench Coach Position
Former Giants assistant Hensley Meulens has a job with the Marlins if he wants it, but the division-rival Mets could prevent that union from coming to fruition. The Mets have interviewed Meulens for their vacant bench coach position, Dan Martin and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post report.
The 52-year-old Meulens, a former professional outfielder who spent most of his career in New York as a Yankee, is coming off a decade-long run as a coach with the Giants. Meulens is well-regarded for his time in San Francisco, where he was most recently its bench coach, and has drawn managerial consideration from at least a couple teams over the past few years. The Giants interviewed Meulens this fall to succeed departed manager Bruce Bochy before selecting Gabe Kapler for the role.
If the Mets end up hiring the multilingual Meulens, he’ll provide first-time manager Carlos Beltran with an experienced right-hand man. Meulens joins Joey Cora, Fredi Gonzalez and Jerry Narron as reported candidates in the running for the position. Should the Mets choose Cora, Gonzalez, Narron or someone else, Meulens figures to wind up in Miami in a role that hasn’t been announced to this point. Meulens has already signed a letter of intent to join the Marlins’ staff, but he still has the option to go elsewhere.
White Sox, Omar Vizquel Part Ways
Former major league shortstop Omar Vizquel spent the previous two seasons managing in the White Sox’s minor league system, but he and the organization have parted ways on amicable terms, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
After his outstanding playing career came to an end in 2012, Vizquel transitioned to coaching. He wound up spending a combined five seasons as a major league assistant with the Tigers and Angels before joining the Chicago organization prior to 2018. Vizquel managed the White Sox’s Single-A club that season, earning Carolina League Manager of the Year honors, and then worked as their Double-A skipper this year.
It’s unclear why Vizquel and the White Sox are now moving in different directions, but the team’s director of player development, Chris Getz, told Merkin that Vizquel was “a positive influence” during his time with the organization. However, the two sides felt “it was time to go separate ways.”
Vizquel has garnered major league managerial consideration in the past, having interviewed with the Tigers in 2017 prior to their selection of Ron Gardenhire and the Angels in 2018 before they chose Brad Ausmus. Eight teams have sought new skippers this fall, but it doesn’t seem Vizquel has interviewed with any of those clubs (at least not for a managerial job). The Pirates are the only team left without a manager.
Yankees Release Jacoby Ellsbury, Designate Greg Bird
The Yankees have released outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and designated first baseman Greg Bird for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. The club has also designated left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. and added seven players – outfielder Estevan Florial and right-handers Deivi Garcia, Luis Gil, Brooks Kriske, Luis Medina, Nick Nelson and Miguel Yajure – to its 40-man roster. Ken Davidoff and George A. King III of the New York Post first reported the Yankees were considering releasing Ellsbury.
This brings to an end a hugely disappointing New York tenure for Ellsbury, a former star with archrival Boston who parlayed his success with the Red Sox into a seven-year, $153MM deal with the Yankees after 2013. Ellsbury was merely a decent to good contributor for the Yankees from 2014-17, and a series of injuries prevented him from taking the field at all over the previous two seasons.
The Yankees currently have a need in center field with Aaron Hicks on the mend from Tommy John surgery and Brett Gardner a free agent, so the fact that they’ve moved on from Ellsbury and eaten the remaining $26MM-plus on his contract speaks to how far his stock has fallen. Now, if the 36-year-old is going to continue his career, he’ll likely have to settle for a minor league pact with another organization.
Injuries have also been ruinous for the 27-year-old Bird, whom the Yankees once regarded as their first baseman of the future. Bird was tremendous during a 178-plate appearance debut in 2015, when the left-hander’s swing looked tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, but that’s the only regular-season excellence he has shown to this point. Bird missed all of 2016 after undergoing shoulder surgery and then hit a meager .194/.287/.388 in 522 trips to the plate from 2017-19. Thanks in part to foot problems, he totaled just 41 PA at the MLB level this season. At this point, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team trade for or claim Bird, who still has three minor league options left.
Cortes, 24, is also in the DFA pile with Bird. The southpaw, a two-time member of the Yankees organization and also a former Oriole, saw extensive MLB action with New York in 2019. While Cortes limped to a 5.67 ERA/5.57 FIP in that 66 2/3-inning span, he did amass 9.32 strikeouts per nine against 3.78 walks. Cortes also had a solid year at the Triple-A level, where he posted a 3.86 ERA/3.40 FIP with 9.53 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 39 2/3 frames. He has a pair of minor league options remaining.
Padres Designate Nick Martini
The Padres have designated outfielder Nick Martini for assignment, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. The club selected the contract of outfielder Jorge Ona from Double-A Amarillo in a corresponding move.
Martini joined the Padres off waivers from the Athletics at the end of August, but the 29-year-old then struggled over 96 plate appearances, hitting .244/.344/.317 with no home runs. He logged just 13 PA with the A’s this past season before they moved on from him, though Martini was a respectable member of their offense in 2018. The lefty slashed .296/.397/.414 across 179 trips to the plate, but he only hit one HR then.
Ona, now 22, came to the Pads as a hyped prospect out of Cuba in July 2016. The club signed Ona for $7MM, and he’s now coming off a short season in which he starred in his first taste of the Double-A level. Ona racked up 103 plate appearances and batted .348/.417/.539 with five homers, though the right shoulder surgery he underwent in July limited his campaign.
Reds Acquire Jose De Leon
The Reds have acquired right-hander Jose De Leon from the Rays for cash and a player to be named later, Cincinnati announced. The move leaves the Reds with a full 40-man roster.
Now 27, De Leon was once one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He joined the Rays in January 2017 in a straight-up swap with the Dodgers for second baseman Logan Forsythe, though De Leon’s stock has dropped since then. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2018, causing him to miss that entire year, and only threw four innings at the major league level this past season. However, De Leon did toss 51 1/3 frames (17 starts, 13 appearances) of 3.51 ERA/3.72 FIP ball with 12.8 K/9 and 4.73 BB/9 with Triple-A Durham.