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Blue Jays Designate Anthony Castro

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The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Anthony Castro for assignment, Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets. The move clears space for the signing of righty Tyler Chatwood, whose one-year, $3MM contract is now official.

It was a short run on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster for Castro, whom they claimed off waivers from the Tigers on Dec. 7. Castro had been with the Tigers since 2012, and he underwent Tommy John surgery as a member of the organization in 2015, but he did work his way back and make his major league debut last season. However, the 25-year-old threw just one inning then.

Castro notched a combined 112 1/3 frames in Double-A ball from 2018-19, but control was a major problem for him then. He walked 77 hitters during that span, which somewhat overshadowed his 120 strikeouts, en route to a 4.73 ERA. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote Thursday that Castro has a “fantastic frame and modest but relevant arm strength (lots of 92-93). His heater has natural cut; his slider lacks depth.”

Blue Jays Sign Kirby Yates

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JANUARY 20: The Jays have announced the signing.

JANUARY 19, 7:54pm: Yates will receive a $5.5MM guarantee with up to $4.5MM in performance bonuses, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

7:50pm: It’s “expected” Yates will get a one-year, $8.25MM deal with incentives, Rosenthal tweets.

4:31pm: The Blue Jays and free-agent reliever Kirby Yates have agreed to a contract, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted earlier Tuesday that the two sides were nearing a deal. Yates is a Beverly Hills Sports Council client.

This could be an enormous pickup for the Blue Jays’ bullpen, but it will depend on how well Yates bounces back from the bone chips in his right elbow that limited him to 4 1/3 innings last year. Yates was arguably the premier reliever in the majors during the prior two years, in which he combined for 123 2/3 innings of 1.67 ERA pitching with a 32.7 K-BB percentage that ranked third among relievers during that span. Yates also racked up 53 saves then, including an NL-high 41 in 2019, and earned the lone All-Star nod of his career.

The Padres likely could not have imagined Yates experiencing the type of success he enjoyed in their uniform after claiming him off waivers from the Angels early in 2017. It wasn’t the first underdog experience for the 33-year-old Yates, a former undrafted free agent who failed to establish himself with the Rays and Yankees earlier in his career.

Now, if a deal between him and Toronto comes to fruition, Yates will return to the AL East to join bullpen that ranked near the bottom of the majors (24th) with a 4.71 ERA last season. The Blue Jays have since seen relievers Anthony Bass, Ken Giles and Wilmer Font reach free agency, though only Bass was an effective part of their bullpen a season ago. Giles entered last year as the club’s closer before dealing with serious injury issues of his own, but Yates may take his place during the upcoming season if he’s healthy. Regardless, Yates joins fellow righty Tyler Chatwood as the second notable bullpen addition Toronto has made this week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

FA Notes: Dodgers, Marwin, Mets, Tigers, BoSox, Anibal, Teheran

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The Dodgers are seeking a right-handed-hitting infielder, and free-agent third baseman Justin Turner is their No. 1 choice, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. While the team has shown interest in fellow righty-hitting infielder Marcus Semien, Heyman notes it may be difficult for the team to sign both players. Turner spent 2014-20 as a Dodger and has been one of the majors’ top hitters during his Los Angeles tenure. The 36-year-old is reportedly seeking a four-year contract, however, and it’s tough to envision the Dodgers or anyone else saying yes to that.

  • The Twins have expressed interest in re-signing utility player Marwin Gonzalez, Mark Feinsand and Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com report. The switch-hitting Gonzalez spent the first several years of his career in Houston, where he was particularly productive during its World Series-winning season in 2017, but has seen his numbers tumble since then. The Twins signed Gonzalez to a two-year, $21MM guarantee before 2019, but he slumped to a .248/.311/.387 line with 20 home runs in 662 plate appearances over the life of that contract. Gonzalez did play every defensive position but catcher and center field as a Twin, though, and that versatility is surely among the reasons they could re-sign the 31-year-old.
  • Enrique Hernandez, another free-agent utilityman, received “pretty strong” interest from the Mets before they fired general manager Jared Porter on Tuesday, Heyman relays. It isn’t clear whether the Mets are still in on Hernandez now that Porter is out of the organization. Hernandez, 29, lined up all over the diamond with the Dodgers from 2014-20, but his offensive production has lacked over the past couple seasons. He slashed just .230/.270/.410 with five home runs in 148 plate appearances last year.
  • The Tigers have interest in free-agent catcher Jason Castro, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. As Morosi notes, Castro played under new Tigers skipper A.J. Hinch for two seasons when he was the Astros’ manager. The 33-year-old Castro would give the Tigers a credible veteran at catcher, where Grayson Greiner and Jake Rogers – who have struggled in the majors – are the only 40-man options on the roster right now. Castro, who divided last season between the Angels and Padres, looked to be nearing a reunion with Houston late last month, but things have gone silent on that front in recent weeks.
  • The Red Sox “were ready to move on” two-time AL Cy Young-winning righty Corey Kluber before he agreed to a one-year, $11MM deal with the archrival Yankees last week, but they might have wanted to structure his contract differently, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. With the Red Sox unlikely to contend in 2021, Speier suggests their preference may have been to sign Kluber to a one-year pact with an option. Kluber is a Massachusetts resident, but with New York more likely to push for a World Series in 2021, he found the Yankees to be a more appealing pick than the Red Sox.
  • Twenty-four teams attended the showcase for free-agent righties Anibal Sanchez and Julio Teheran on Tuesday, per Heyman, who adds that both hurlers could sign in the near future. While the 36-year-old Sanchez and Teheran, 29, have accomplished plenty in the majors, they’re looking for contracts at a less-than-ideal time after performing poorly in 2020. Sanchez could only muster a 6.62 ERA in 53 innings with the Nationals, while Teheran put up an even more disastrous 10.05 mark over 31 1/3 frames as an Angel.

Trade/FA Notes: Santander, Profar, Bart, Yates, T. Williams

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Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander has drawn trade interest this winter, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. However, as Kubatko suggests, that doesn’t necessarily mean Santander will go anywhere. The 26-year-old is coming off a highly productive season in which he batted .261/.315/.575 (130 wRC+) with 11 home runs, and he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until after 2024. Santander will earn a projected $1.7MM to $3MM in arbitration next season. All of that makes Santander an appealing trade candidate, but the Orioles could simply retain him as a building block.

  • The Padres are still attempting to re-sign free-agent infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The switch-hitting Profar, 27, spent last season with San Diego, where he batted .278/.343/.428 (111 wRC+) with seven home runs in 202 trips to the plate. Defensively, Profar divided most of his time between left field and second base. Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth are among the options for the Padres at those spots, but the team seems to believe it will be able to keep fitting Profar in if it re-signs him. MLBTR predicted at the start of the offseason that Profar would land a one-year, $7MM contract in free agency.
  • Clubs “routinely ask about” Giants catcher Joey Bart in trade talks, Rosenthal writes. The Giants are not actively attempting to move the 24-year-old, though, according to Rosenthal. Bart, the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, got off to a rough start in the majors last year with a .233/.288/.320 line, no home runs and 41 strikeouts against three walks in 111 plate appearances. However, Bart was dominant at the Double-A level the previous season. He or Patrick Bailey, the Giants’ first-round pick last summer, could end up as their answer at catcher when the iconic Buster Posey departs (potentially after next season).
  • The Twins were among the finalists for reliever Kirby Yates before he agreed to join the Blue Jays on Tuesday, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News relays. It’s not surprising the Twins were in on one of the open market’s highest-profile relievers, as their bullpen has taken hits this offseason with Trevor May, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard getting to free agency. May signed with the Mets, though Romo and Clippard remain without contracts.
  • Former Mets general manager Jared Porter was part of negotiations for right-hander Trevor Williams before the team fired the executive Tuesday, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. It’s unclear if the Porter-less Mets will continue pursuing Williams, whom the Pirates designated for assignment in November, especially after acquiring fellow starter Joey Lucchesi from the Padres on Monday. Williams was a solid part of the Pirates’ rotation from 2017-18, but he struggled to a 5.60 ERA/5.01 SIERA in 201 innings and 37 appearances (all starts) between 2019-20.

Don Sutton Passes Away

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Baseball Hall of Famer Don Sutton has passed away, his son Daron announced Tuesday. The former major league right-hander was 75 years old.

Sutton had a storied career with the Dodgers, Angels, Brewers, Astros and Athletics from 1966-88. Most of his time in the majors (16 years) was spent with the Dodgers, with whom he amassed 233 of his 324 regular-season victories. The Dodgers retired Sutton’s number in 1998.

Sutton is tied with fellow legend Nolan Ryan for 14th in wins and ranks seventh in innings pitched (5,282), having piled up more than 200 frames in a whopping 20 seasons. The workload never seemed to have a negative effect on Sutton, as he finished his career with a 3.26 ERA and currently ranks seventh in strikeouts with 3,574. Sutton also earned four All-Star berths during his time in the bigs.

After he was done playing, Sutton spent time in the broadcast booth with the Dodgers, Braves and Nationals. Sutton’s longest run as a commentator was with the Braves, who placed him in their Hall of Fame 2015.

MLBTR mourns the loss of a baseball great and sends our condolences to Sutton’s family and fans.

Rangers Sign Hunter Wood To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed right-handed reliever Hunter Wood to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, according to a team announcement.

Wood, 27, spent last year with the Cleveland organization, but he did not appear in the bigs. The team designated Wood for assignment and then outrighted him in late July.

Before heading to Cleveland in a July 2019 trade, Wood was a fairly effective part of the Rays’ bullpen. The former 29th-round pick (2013) debuted in 2017 and has since logged a 3.32 ERA/4.22 SIERA with a 21.6 percent strikeout rate and an 8.0 percent walk rate over 86 2/3 innings, including a career-best 45 1/3 frames in 2019. Wood has averaged about 94 mph on his fastball and has recorded a solid swinging-strike rate of 12.6 percent.

Alderson: Mets Won’t Hire New GM This Offseason

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The Mets are unexpectedly without a general manager after firing the recently installed Jared Porter on Tuesday, but they will not hire a near-term replacement, president Sandy Alderson told Bob Nightengale of USA Today and other reporters. They’ll instead wait until next offseason, per Nightengale.

“I’m very confident in the group that we have that we can move forward and move forward effectively,” Alderson said (via Tim Britton of The Athletic).

Porter was one of several candidates Alderson and the Mets interviewed for their GM job earlier this winter, and the former Red Sox, Cubs and Diamondbacks executive seemed like a logical and qualified pick at the time. However, the Mets had to let Porter go when it was revealed that he sent unsolicited, explicit message to a female reporter when he was with the Cubs in 2016.

Now that Porter is gone, Alderson will continue leading the Mets’ baseball operations for the foreseeable future. Alderson was the Mets’ GM from 2010-18. He spent 2019-20 with the A’s organization, but new Mets owner Steve Cohen placed him back at the helm of their front office earlier this offseason.

White Sox Sign Liam Hendriks

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TODAY: Hendriks’ contract is broken down by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter).  The closer will receive a $1MM signing bonus, $11MM in 2021, $13MM in 2022, $14MM in 2023, and then the $15MM option/buyout for 2024.  The option will automatically vest if Hendriks is traded.

Jan. 15: The White Sox have formally announced the signing of Hendriks to a four-year, $54MM contract. Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.com and Joel Sherman of the New York Post point out an interesting wrinkle in the unique structure of Hendriks’ contract (Twitter link): for luxury-tax purposes, the fourth year comes with a zero-dollar hit. Because Hendriks is guaranteed the full $54MM even over a three-year term, the first three years will come with an $18MM hit (dipped slightly because of the 10-year deferrals if the option is bought out).

The White Sox have never flirted with the luxury barrier, but it’s notable in the event that they increase their spending in future years or in the event that another club wants to borrow the concept for future dealings. Of course, with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire next December, it could be rendered a moot point; it’s possible that new luxury limits and/or new means of determining luxury penalization will be bargained.

Jan. 12: If the White Sox don’t pick up Hendriks’ $15MM option for the 2024 season, they’ll pay him a buyout of that same value but defer it over a 10-year period, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That’s an unprecedented structure for a club option that affords the ChiSox the opportunity for substantial up-front cost savings while still guaranteeing Hendriks the full freight of the $54MM — even if the actual present-day value of the contract is weighed down by the potential deferrals.

Jan. 11: The White Sox have reached an agreement with free-agent reliever Liam Hendriks, pending a physical, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports. It’s a three-year, $54MM guarantee with a club option for a fourth season, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Both the option and buyout are worth $15MM, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, so the right-handed Hendriks will earn that money regardless of how long he’s part of the team. Passan adds that the White Sox would be able to pay the buyout over multiple years. Hendriks is a client of ALIGND Sports Agency.

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So far, this is the largest guarantee given to any free agent during what has been a slow-moving offseason. It comes as a surprise when considering how the winter opened for relievers, as Cleveland waived star closer Brad Hand in lieu of paying him a $10MM option for 2021 and no other team claimed him. After that, it would have been easy expect relievers to continue faring somewhat poorly this offseason, but Hendriks will be paid handsomely. In fact, his deal blows past the three-year, $30MM prediction MLBTR made for him before the offseason.

Just a couple of years ago, it would have been almost impossible to imagine Hendriks at this point. The Athletics outrighted him in July 2018, but he came back with a vengeance as a member of the team that September and carried it over into the 2019 and ’20 campaigns. Hendriks was the majors’ most effective late-game arm during that span, as he pitched to a 1.66 ERA with a similarly astounding 33.1 percent strikeout-walk percentage, piled up 39 saves out of 47 chances, and won American League Reliever of the Year honors  in 2020.

Based on what he has done in recent seasons, the 31-year-old Hendriks looks like an enormous loss for the A’s – who didn’t give the hurler a qualifying offer after they knocked off the White Sox in the first round of last fall’s playoffs – and a massive pickup for Chicago. The White Sox earned their first trip to the postseason since 2008 last season, and they’re one of the few teams in baseball that have been active since then. Assuming the Hendriks deal goes through, he’ll be their third noteworthy pickup of the offseason, joining starter Lance Lynn and outfielder Adam Eaton.

Also a former Twin, Royal and Blue Jay, Hendriks should be in line to take over for free agent Alex Colome as Chicago’s closer. The Australia native will be the highest-profile member of a White Sox relief corps that finished seventh in the majors in ERA (3.76) last year, when holdovers Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer, Matt Foster and Codi Heuer turned in terrific results. With Hendriks coming in, Chicago’s bullpen could be even better in 2021.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres Acquire Joe Musgrove In 3-Team Trade

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TODAY: The trade is official.  The Padres get Musgrove, the Mets get Lucchesi, and the Pirates receive the five prospects (Rodriguez, Head, Cruz, Fellows, and Bednar).

JANUARY 18, 5:47pm: This is a three-team trade, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray, who reports that the Mets will acquire Lucchesi. The Pirates will get catcher/outfielder Endy Rodriguez, per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.

5:40pm: Pittsburgh will get five players in return, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Head and lefty Omar Cruz are among those going to the Pirates, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Southpaw Joey Lucchesi is also part of the trade, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, as are righties David Bednar and and Drake Fellows, Lin relays.

5:18pm: The Padres have agreed to acquire right-hander Joe Musgrove from the Pirates, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The Pirates will receive “a large package of prospects,” potentially including outfielder Hudson Head, according to Passan.

This is the fourth significant trade for a starter in recent months for the Padres, who first acquired righty Mike Clevinger from Cleveland before last August’s deadline. Clevinger was quite effective for the Padres after the trade, but elbow issues limited him to one inning during the team’s NLDS loss to the division-rival Dodgers in October, and he won’t pitch at all in 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.

After losing Clevinger for the upcoming season, the Padres swung trades with the Cubs for Yu Darvish, a National League Cy Young contender in 2020, as well as with the Rays for former AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell. They’ll presumably have Darvish, Snell, Musgrove, Dinelson Lamet (if he’s healthy after dealing with bicep troubles last year) and Chris Paddack in their season-opening rotation, though prospects MacKenzie Gore, Ryan Weathers and Adrian Morejon could be among younger Pads pushing for starts in 2021.

In Musgrove, San Diego is getting a California native who owns a 4.33 ERA in 496 2/3 innings between the Astros and Pirates, but he entered the offseason as one of the majors’ most intriguing trade chips after a career-best campaign. The 28-year-old threw 39 2/3 innings and recorded a 3.86 ERA/3.50 SIERA, all while registering a personal-high 14.4 percent swinging-strike rate and placing 10th in the majors in strikeout percentage (33.1 percent). That production would have made it more difficult for the low-payroll Pirates to extend Musgrove, who’s due $4.45MM in 2021 and has one more year of arbitration control left after that.

Lucchesi could have been part of the Padres’ rotation next season, but he’ll instead go to New York and compete for the No. 5 spot in its starting group. The Mets’ staff looked terrific before this deal with Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson comprising their top four, but Steven Matz had been the front-runner for the fifth position after a dismal 2020. He’ll now have to go against Lucchesi, who recorded ERAs in the 4.00s in 2018 and ’19 before tossing just 5 2/3 innings in the bigs last year. Lucchesi’s not eligible to become a free agent until after 2024.

With no chance to contend in the near future, it made sense for the Pirates to move on from Musgrove in favor of a package of younger players.  For Musgrove, they’re receiving at least four well-regarded prospects in Head, Cruz, Bednar and Rodriguez, whom MLB.com ranked among the top 20 farmhands in their teams’ farm systems.

Head (No. 7) went in the third round of the 2019 draft and then signed a record bonus for $3MM. The 19-year-old possesses an “extremely high” ceiling, according to MLB.com. Cruz (17) and Bednar (20) were also solid Padres prospects, with MLB.com calling Cruz a possible back-end starter and Bednar a hard thrower with promise. Fellows did not rank among the Padres’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com, and Baseball America wrote before the club drafted him that his 93 to 94 mph fastball is “often hittable because he struggles to hit his spots.” However, BA added that Fellows’ slider could at least help make him a legitimate major league reliever.

Rodriguez, 20, was the Mets’ 14th-ranked prospect at MLB.com before the trade. MLB.com writes that Rodriguez has “an advanced approach and natural bat-to-ball skills” that will be all the more valuable if he sticks at catcher, though a future in the outfield does seem like a possibility.

The main takeaway here is that the Padres remain serious about vying for a World Series – something they have never won – in the near future. Even if it doesn’t happen in the short term, though, the Padres appear to be set up to succeed for the long haul. Their MLB roster is one of the game’s best, and as BA notes on Twitter, the Padres still lead the league with seven top 100 prospects.

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