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Howie Kendrick Retires

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Free-agent infielder Howie Kendrick announced Monday on his Instagram account that he has decided to retire, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post was among those to report.

This concludes an outstanding career for the 37-year-old Kendrick, who entered the professional ranks as a 10th-round pick of the Angels in 2002. Kendrick was regularly a formidable offensive presence in their uniform, even earning his lone All-Star nod in 2011. The Angels wound up trading Kendrick to the Dodgers in 2014 for left-hander Andrew Heaney, though Kendrick’s numbers dipped somewhat in their uniform. Kendrick’s Dodgers days concluded when they dealt him to the Phillies in 2016. His tenure in Philly also didn’t last long, as the club traded him to the Nationals during the ensuing season.

The move to Washington couldn’t have worked out much better for Kendrick, who was an integral part of the Nats from the 2017-19 regular seasons. Above all, his contributions during the team’s first-ever run to a World Series title in 2019 will never be forgotten by the franchise or its fans. Kendrick hit a grand slam in Game 5 of that year’s NLDS against the Dodgers, which helped the Nationals to a series-deciding win, and continued his heroics during the Fall Classic. With the Nats in danger of losing Game 7 to the Astros, Kendrick smacked a two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave the Nats a 3-2 lead they never relinquished.

Last season didn’t go well for Washington or Kendrick, whose numbers slid during an injury-shortened campaign, though he’ll always be regarded as a key component of their title-winning club and someone who was consistently a quality producer. Kendrick slashed .294/.337/.430 with 127 home runs and 126 stolen bases across 6,421 big league plate appearances, and he made upward of $71.6MM during his time in the majors, according to Baseball-Reference. MLBTR wishes Kendrick the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Reds Sign Josh Osich, Matt Ball To Minor League Deals

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The Reds have signed left-hander Josh Osich and righty Matt Ball to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer relays.

The 32-year-old Osich divided last season between the Red Sox and Cubs, the latter of whom acquired him at the Aug. 31 trade deadline. Osich combined for 18 1/3 innings of 6.38 ERA/5.97 FIP pitching between the teams, and the 92.4 mph average he posted on his fastball fell well short of his lifetime mean of 95. On the bright side, Osich did log 11.78 K/9 against 2.45 BB/9 and record a 54.5 percent groundball rate. The Cubs designated Osich for assignment after their season ended.

Ball, 25, hasn’t reached the majors since the White Sox used an 11th-round pick on him in 2013. Also a former member of the Rangers and Angels organizations, Ball has registered a 5.24 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over 391 2/3 minor league innings.

Nationals Re-Sign Javy Guerra To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have signed right-handed reliever Javy Guerra to a minor league contract, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. The deal comes with an invitation to spring training.

Guerra could now spend a third straight season with the Nationals, who first acquired him via waivers from the Blue Jays in May 2019. He has since thrown 69 1/3 innings of 4.67 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. Guerra picked up 15 2/3 innings with the Nats last season and recorded a 4.02 ERA/4.53 FIP with 7.47 K/9 and 4.02 BB/9. Washington outrighted him after that, but he’s now back with the organization.

Guerra, who turned 35 in October, has spent time with a few teams since his major league career began in 2011 with the Dodgers. He owns a respectable 3.73 ERA/3.99 FIP with 7.31 K/9 against 3.58 BB/9 over 296 2/3 frames.

Cubs Sign Matt Duffy To Minors Deal

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The Cubs have signed infielder Matt Duffy to a minors deal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. The pact comes with a $1MM major league salary and up to $500K in incentives.

The 29-year-old Duffy is best known for his time in the majors with the Giants and Rays from 2014-19. Duffy picked up 1,771 plate appearances during that stretch and hit a solid .282/.338/.380 with 22 home runs and 32 stolen bases. At his best, Duffy was a 4.4-fWAR player as part of the Giants in 2015, when he slashed .295/.334/.428 with career highs in homers (12) and steals (12) in 612 trips to the plate.

Duffy was a good producer as recently as 2018, though he struggled the next season during an injury-shortened year and hasn’t played in the majors since. He spent time with the Giants and Yankees on minor league contracts last season, but he wasn’t able to get back to the majors with either club. Primarily a third baseman, Duffy is now a member of a Cubs team with a clear starter there in Kris Bryant, though he has been the subject of trade rumors for a while and could move before next season begins.

Nationals Sign Welington Castillo To Minor League Contract

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The Nationals have signed catcher Welington Castillo to a minor league contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Castillo will earn a $950K salary if he cracks the Nationals’ big league roster.

This is the second straight winter in which Castillo has inked a minors deal with the Nationals, though he didn’t play at all last year after opting out over COVID-19 concerns. He’ll now vie for a spot on a Nationals team that has just one proven catcher in Yan Gomes. Tres Barrera, who has two major league plate appearances on his resume, is the only other catcher on the team’s 40-man roster.

Last time he took the field, Castillo batted .209/.267/.417 with 12 home runs in 251 plate appearances as a member of the White Sox in 2019. Historically, though, the 33-year-old has been a rather effective offensive player relative to his position. Castillo has amassed 2,701 PA in the bigs with a handful of teams and combined for a .254/.313/.426 line and 98 homers.

Giants Sign John Brebbia

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The Giants have signed right-handed reliever John Brebbia to a major league deal worth $800K for next season, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group reports. It’s fully guaranteed, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Brebbia came available when the Cardinals non-tendered him earlier this month. They would have owed him a projected $800K in arbitration had they kept Brebbia, but after he missed all of last season because of Tommy John surgery, the Cardinals decided to go in another direction. He could be a member of the Giants for the next three seasons, as he’s under arbitration control through 2023.

Because he went under the knife in late June, Brebbia will not be able to help the Giants for at least the first couple months of next season – if it starts on time or anywhere close, that is. But the Giants are nonetheless taking a low-risk chance on a pitcher who posted terrific numbers out of the Cardinals’ bullpen from 2017-19. Brebbia, now 30 years old, combined for 175 innings of 3.14 ERA/3.39 FIP ball with 10.18 K/9 and 2.79 BB/9 during that span. Despite a paltry 28 percent groundball rate, Brebbia has allowed just 0.98 home runs per nine during his career.

Latest On Tommy Lasorda

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DECEMBER 20: Fortunately, Lasorda’s condition has improved over the past few weeks, relays Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). He was transferred out of the intensive care unit late last month and hopes to be released from the hospital on Wednesday.

NOVEMBER 16: Legendary Dodger Tommy Lasorda was hospitalized and admitted to intensive care Sunday in Orange County, Calif., the team announced. Lasorda is “resting comfortably,” according to the Dodgers, though his family has requested privacy.

The 93-year-old Lasorda is among the most recognizable and accomplished figures in the Dodgers’ storied history. He began as a minor league pitcher for the franchise in 1949, when it was still in Brooklyn, and saw major league action with the Dodgers from 1954-55. Lasorda’s last MLB season was in 1956 with the Kansas City Athletics.

Once his playing career ended, Lasorda went into scouting and coaching in the early 1960s with the Dodgers – which proved to be a wise move. In 1976, he became the Dodgers’ manager and held that position for two decades. The Dodgers went 1,599-1,439 under Lasorda during the regular season, won eight division titles, took home four NL pennants and earned two World Series championships. Lasorda won Manager of the Year honors twice during his run atop the Los Angeles dugout, and the Dodgers later retired his No. 2.

Lasorda, who ranks 22nd all-time in managerial wins, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. He has continued to work with the Dodgers as a special advisor since his managerial tenure ended.  We at MLBTR wish Lasorda a speedy recovery and hope to see him back with the Dodgers soon.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/18/20

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The latest minor moves from the majors…

  • The Dodgers have signed infielder Elliot Soto to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group tweets. Soto has been a part of a few organizations, most recently the Angels, since the Cubs picked him in the 15th round of the 2010 draft. The 31-year-old has batted .272/.346/.389 with 15 home runs in 1,323 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Soto made his major league debut last season with two hits in seven trips to the plate.
  • The Reds have inked righty Bo Takahashi to a minors pact with an invitation to big league camp, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Takahashi, 23, had been part of the Diamondbacks’ system since 2014. He owns a 4.14 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 567 minor league innings.

AL Notes: Gallo, Rays, Angels

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Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has been “available” since last summer’s trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes. It’s unknown what it would cost to pry Gallo out of Texas, though Rosenthal notes that he’s popular among teams that value some combination of home runs, walks, athleticism and tools. The 27-year-old Gallo had a terrible year at the plate during the shortened 2020 season, in which he hit .181/.301/.378 with 10 home runs in 226 plate appearances, but he did earn a Gold Glove for his work in right field. Gallo’s also not far removed from a premier showing at the plate in 2019, and he comes with two affordable years of team control.

Now the latest on two other American League teams…

  • The Rays are among the teams with interest in free-agent right-hander Ryne Stanek, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Stanek began his career with the Rays, who chose him 29th overall in the 2013 draft, and had his best seasons with the club. He was a regular opener with the Rays from 2018-19, during which he pitched to a 3.17 ERA/3.64 FIP and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine across 122 innings, but has fallen off of late. Stanek had difficulty in Miami, which acquired him from the Rays before the 2019 trade deadline, and the Marlins non-tendered him as a result. However, the 29-year-old hasn’t had trouble garnering interest from other teams this winter.
  • Rays righty Brent Honeywell was given a fourth option because of the substantial amount of time he has missed on account of injuries, general manager Erik Neander told Topkin and other reporters. The 25-year-old Honeywell was once an elite pitching prospect, but he hasn’t thrown a professional inning since 2017 – which he divided between Double-A and Triple-A – because of health issues. Since then, Honeywell has undergone four elbow surgeries, most recently an arthroscopic procedure. The good news is that Honeywell seems as if he’ll return in 2021.
  • The Angels have made a couple of additions to new general manager Perry Minasian’s front office. The team’s hiring Brewers vice president/assistant to the GM Ray Montgomery and Dodgers international crosschecker Brian Parker, per reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Jim Callis of MLB.com. It’s unclear which roles the two will take on as part of the Angels’ staff.
  • More on the Angels, who are unsurprisingly looking for help in their rotation. Manager Joe Maddon told MLB Network Radio on Friday that “we do need to attract probably two starting pitchers to come to us.” Maddon expects there to be an increase in six-man rotations throughout the league next year; if the Angels go that route – which is something Maddon expects to do (via Maria Torres of the LA Times) – it could benefit Shohei Ohtani, who’s returning from injury and who was part of a six-man staff in Japan before immigrating to the majors prior to the 2018 campaign. Ohtani, Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning should amass plenty of starts for the Angels in 2021, though the rest of their rotation doesn’t appear etched in stone.

Mariners Designate Tim Lopes For Assignment

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The Mariners announced that they have designated infielder/outfielder Tim Lopes for assignment to make room for the signing of right-hander Chris Flexen, who’s officially part of the team.

Lopes was a sixth-round pick of the Mariners in 2012, though he spent time with the Blue Jays a few years back before returning to the M’s on a minor league contract. He made his major league debut in 2019 and slashed a respectable .270/.359/.360 in 128 plate appearances, but the 26-year-old wasn’t able to offer that type of production over a slightly larger sample sample size last season. Lopes concluded with a .238/.278/.364 line in 151 trips to the plate.

Despite his struggles last season, Lopes could draw interest as someone who has played a handful of positions in the majors (second base, third and both corner outfield spots). He also has three minor league options remaining.

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