Astros Designate Preston Tucker
The Astros have designated outfielder Preston Tucker for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to just-signed reliever Hector Rondon.
Tucker, a seventh-round pick in the 2012 draft, has generally posted strong numbers during his rise through the Houston system. He reached the majors in 2015, hitting for enough power (including 13 home runs in 323 plate appearances) to produce at just over the league-average rate despite carrying only a .297 on-base percentage. But Tucker struggled badly in the following season and has not been back to the big leagues since.
In 2017, playing exclusively at Triple-A, Tucker posted a .250/.333/.465 batting line with 24 home runs over 569 plate appearances. On the promising side, he boosted his walk rate to a career-best 11.4% and struck out just 17.9% of the time. But his overall output was not much better than the mean in the hitter-friendly PCL. Tucker’s .263 batting average on balls in play no doubt had an impact, though he has typically generated a low BABIP.
All told, it seems reasonable to expect that another organization will be glad to risk a 40-man spot on Tucker, who has one more option year remaining. His younger brother, Kyle Tucker, remains in the Astros system and is considered one of the team’s top prospects.
Rockies Re-Sign Jake McGee
The Rockies have officially agreed to bring back free agent lefty Jake McGee with a three-year deal that guarantees $27MM. McGee is represented by Wasserman.
McGee’s guarantee comes in the form of consecutive salaries of $7MM, $8.5MM, and $9.5MM. He’s then promised a $2MM buyout on a 2021 vesting/club option that’s priced at $9MM. The extra year vests if McGee appears in sixty games in 2020, finishes forty games in that year, or makes 110 total appearances over the 2019-20 campaigns. There’s also a health requirement for the option to vest, though details remain unclear. It seems the contract also contemplates incentives of up to $4MM annually; while the milestones aren’t known, that leaves some earning upside in McGee’s pocket.
It’s not surprising to see a multi-year deal with a strong guarantee based both on McGee’s quality efforts in 2017 and an aggressive market for relievers thus far. McGee will become the latest in a line of high-quality relievers to come off the board and joins right-hander Bryan Shaw at the back of the Colorado bullpen nw that their deals are finalized.
The 31-year-old McGee struggled in his initial season with the Rockies (2016) after coming over from the Rays in the Corey Dickerson swap, but he largely righted the ship with a solid 2017 season. In 57 1/3 innings, the hard-throwing McGee posted a respectable 3.61 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 and a 40.5 percent ground-ball rate.
McGee’s 37 percent hard-contact rate is certainly higher than one would like to see, though it’s worth pointing out that much of that hard contact came on grounders; Statcast indicates that McGee’s average exit velocity on balls in the air was among the lowest in baseball (as is borne out in his 0.63 HR/9 rate), but he ranked considerably higher in terms of exit velocity on grounders.
It’s been an up-and-down ride for McGee both in terms of health and bottom-line results since he established himself as a big league regular back in 2012. But the overall body of work is impressive, as he’s logged a combined 3.06 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 329 2/3 innings over that six-year span.
At present, it’s not clear how the Rockies view the back of their bullpen taking shape. McGee has served as a closer in the past and could be asked to take the ball in the ninth inning most often for the Rox in 2018 and beyond. Shaw, who also has agreed to a three-year deal, is no stranger to high-leverage innings himself, having served as an eighth-inning setup man in Cleveland for several years.
Colorado GM Jeff Bridich and his staff may not yet be done adding to the bullpen, either. The Rockies have been linked to Zach Britton, Wade Davis and Greg Holland over the past few weeks, and while they’ve certainly spent aggressively to bring McGee and Shaw into the fold, they’re still somewhere in the vicinity of the payroll mark at which they opened the 2017 campaign. If ownership is willing to spend a bit more with a playoff berth in the rear-view mirror, the Rox could yet make further additions to the ‘pen or elsewhere on the roster.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the signing (via Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had tweeted that rivals anticipated the move. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter links) and Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (links to Twitter) had contract details.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nationals Expect Harper To Test Open Market
Dec. 15: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Nationals say the conversations about Harper were casual, and they fully expect Harper to test free agency next winter. The Nats still hope to re-sign Harper, he adds, but they seemingly don’t expect to be able to do so without him first exploring the open market.
Dec. 13, 2:54pm: Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo confirms the meeting, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports on Twitter, and adds that the sides also discussed other topics. That includes Anthony Rendon, another Boras client who is eligible for arbitration for the second-to-last time after a highly productive 2017 season. Rizzo says that a long-term arrangement with Rendon is “something we’ll certainly discuss,” as the Post’s Jorge Castillo tweets.
10:13am: Agent Scott Boras told the media today that he has engaged Nationals ownership in preliminary discussions about a potential extension for star outfielder Bryce Harper, as Jamal Collier of MLB.com was among those to report on Twitter. Those initial conversations occurred last month.
It is still far from clear whether there’s any real likelihood of a deal coming together before Harper reaches free agency after the 2018 season. Indeed, Boras would not commit to anything and also did not indicate whether there are clear plans for future talks.
That said, it’s notable that the sides are engaging early to explore the possibility of a deal. And there is little question that Boras and the Nats’ ownership can find a way to bridge differences. After all, they have struck numerous high-dollar deals; of greatest relevance here, the sides lined up on a rather surprising extension to keep Stephen Strasburg from reaching the open market.
Harper, who only just turned 25, dealt with an injury late in the 2017 season but nevertheless compiled an outstanding .319/.413/.595 batting line with 29 home runs in 492 plate appearances. He’s considered one of the game’s preeminent young hitters and is certainly one of its best-known players. The expectation long has been that Harper will prefer to test the open market, where his youth and talent will draw a bidding war, though it’s fair to wonder whether he’d also see some merit in striking a deal to stay with one organization (while also locking in earnings after a strong season).
MLBTR Chat: Winter Meetings Wrap
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.
Marlins Designate Hunter Cervenka
The Marlins have designated lefty Hunter Cervenka for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed to make way for the team’s just-announced trade.
Cervenka, who’ll soon turn 28, came over in an August 2016 swap with the Braves but has seen fairly minimal MLB action in Miami. He took the ball only five times in the majors in 2017, spending most of the year at the Triple-A level. There, Cervenka rank up a 4.58 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9 over 39 1/3 innings.
Cardinals Acquire Marcell Ozuna
TODAY: The move is official, with Miami announcing it.
YESTERDAY, 5:05pm: The Marlins will also receive pitching prospects Zac Gallen and Daniel Castano, per Spencer (Twitter link). Gallen, a 22-year-old righty, ranks as the Cardinals’ 13th-best prospect at MLB.com. The outlet did not rank Castano among the Cardinals’ top 30 prospects, on the other hand. The 23-year-old left-hander, a 19th-round pick in 2016, spent last season at the low-A level and posted a 2.57 ERA, 8.01 K/9 against 1.29 BB/9 and a 51.9 percent groundball rate over 14 starts (91 innings).
4:35pm: Sierra is in the deal, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports on Twitter.
1:54pm: There are three other prospects in the deal, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. But those are lesser assets and Alcantara is considered the centerpiece of the swap.
1:12: Young righty Sandy Alcantara is going to Miami in the deal, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. Goold had mentioned his possible inclusion; Alcantara was slated to join the Fish in the scuttled Stanton deal.
Alcantara, 22, reached the majors briefly in 2017 as a reliever, but he’s seen as a high-ceiling starting prospect. Over 125 1/3 Double-A innings in his first attempt at the upper minors, Alcantara posted a 4.31 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. We did not learn much from his first eight appearances in the majors, but Alcantara did show a 98+ mph fastball and generated swings and misses at a robust 17.4% rate.
12:49pm: It sounds as if young arms will make up a significant part of the return, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeting the package will include multiple pitchers and a position player. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds some more detail, saying the Cards “offered a pitching prospect as the centerpiece of a deal” and that an outfielder will be among the players changing hands.
12:06pm: The Cardinals have struck a deal to acquire outfielder Marcell Ozuna from the Marlins, according to Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez confirms the move on Twitter but notes it is pending a physical. Indications earlier today were that the deal was moving closer, and it has evidently now been completed.
Ozuna, who turned 27 earlier in the offseason, is projected by MLBTR to earn $10.9MM in his second-to-last season of arbitration eligibility. At his age and with his track record of productivity, that’s a bargain rate of pay — which, no doubt, will be reflected in the still-unknown trade return for Miami.
While the teams had attempted to line up on a deal for slugger Giancarlo Stanton, those efforts were nixed when Stanton declined to waive his no-trade clause to go to St. Louis. But the talks weren’t for naught: they also paved the way to today’s reported agreement on Ozuna, who has no trade protections.
The Cardinals have looked far and wide for bats this winter as they seek to consolidate a broad group of talent into a few more premium lineup pieces. Ozuna certainly represents the top-end bat they were in search of — at least, that is, so long as he can replicate something like his 2017 output.
In the just-finished campaign, Ozuna drove the ball out of the yard 37 times, carried a personal-high 9.4% walk rate, and ended with an appealing .312/.376/.548 slash line over 679 plate appearances. That’s a big step forward for a player who had hewed closer to league-average production over his prior two seasons.
Beyond the fact that Ozuna has not yet repeated that level of output, there are a few other slight red flags. He carried a .355 BABIP that’s unlikely to be replicated and was perhaps a bit fortunate to send 23.4% of the fly balls he hit out of the park. On the whole, though, Ozuna has always been considered a player with the talent for this sort of dominance, and his healthy 39.1% hard-hit rate shows he was rewarded for making good contact.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Cards plan to utilize Ozuna, who has previously spent time in center field but shifted to the corner in 2017. He graded quite well upon the move and has at times done the same up the middle. That leaves the team with a variety of players who could be described similarly in regard to their glovework.
Odds are, the Cardinals will plan to give primary time to Ozuna, Tommy Pham, and Dexter Fowler. Perhaps which player plays center is less important than the fact that the club will feel it has three useful defenders on the grass. Regardless, that would leave Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk among those looking at possible reserve duty.
More likely, one or both will be traded. Piscotty and Grichuk, after all, both hit from the right side — as do the three top outfielders (with Fowler representing switch-hitting option who fares better traditionally from the right side). Indeed, the Cards could move yet more pieces from a 40-man roster that is full of right-handed-hitting outfielders, some of whom could be included in this trade. The only southpaw-swinging outfield bat currently on hand is youngster Magneuris Sierra. He might be destined for some added seasoning, so perhaps it’s not inconceivable that St. Louis could end up seeking another reserve piece that hits from the left side or perhaps look for creative ways to boost the functionality of the team’s infielders.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Angels’ Options At Third Base
It has been a highly productive offseason thus far for the Angels, who re-upped Justin Upton, signed Shohei Ohtani, and most recently dealt for Ian Kinsler — a swap in which the organization benefited from the fact that they were the preferred destination of Kinsler, whose carefully constructed partial no-trade list gave him ample leverage. Indications are that the club is now looking to improve at third base, perhaps leaving Luis Valbuena to function in more of a utility role. Here are the latest rumblings:
- The Halos are considering free agent Zack Cozart as an option at the hot corner, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Though he’s a shortstop by trade, the market doesn’t admit of many obvious holes at that position. But Cozart isn’t just any shortstop: he’s elite at the position, repeatedly rating as one of the best fielders in baseball. With the legendarily slick-fielding Andrelton Simmons already locked in at short and top-quality Kinsler at second, the Angels could arrange one of the best-defending 4-5-6 trios in recent memory, helping to ameliorate any concerns with utilizing the aging Albert Pujols at first. Better still, Cozart — like the others — has also established a solid ceiling at the plate, though perhaps it’s not quite reasonable to expect the 32-year-old to keep up his .297/.385/.548 output from a breakout 2017 offensive season.
- Trade is also a viable option for Los Angeles, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). As has been noted before, the Angels are one of several teams with possible interest in Padres third bagger Chase Headley. Headley and others are more likely to be added, at this point, than is free agent Mike Moustakas, according to Nightengale. “Moose” certainly has more home runs in his bat than the others under consideration and is also a more youthful option, though his contract is expected to reflect that and he remains a questionable performer in the on-base department. There’s nothing imminent on Headley or new teammate Yangervis Solarte, Scott Miller of Bleacher Report notes on Twitter. (Solarte has not emerged as a target of the Halos to this point, it should be noted.)
- It also emerged yesterday that the Angels have interest in Todd Frazier, yet another free agent who could fill the team’s major remaining position-player need. Though it seemed at one point yesterday that the organization was nearing a move at third, it seems there are still several irons in the fire at this point.
Position Player Rumblings: Red Sox, Machado, White Sox, Cards/Donaldson, Jays/Cain, Mets
The Red Sox have designs on adding the two top position players on the free agent market, according to the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman, with ongoing pursuit of both J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer. Interestingly, Silverman notes that Boston would likely look to shed some of its obligations to Hanley Ramirez by dealing him away in the event it can acquire both players.
That scenario seems to be one of several possibilities still remaining for the Red Sox, who are one of the many teams with plenty of work yet to do in settling their regular lineups. Here’s a look in at the latest notes on bats from around the game:
- Orioles VP of baseball ops Dan Duquette made clear today that he does not foresee striking a deal involving third baseman Manny Machado that is contingent upon extension negotiations, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to report on Twitter. In other words, it seems any acquiring team would be gaining just one year of control over over Machado. Sherman also hears that the odds are in favor of a deal at this point, tweeting that the White Sox and Cardinals are the “most aggressive” teams in pursuit of the young superstar.
- For the White Sox, the interest in Machado does not include an intention to flip him in a later swap, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). While Chicago has made an “impressive” bid for Machado, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, Nightengale also says that the belief on the South Side is that others have offered more. Meanwhile, GM Rick Hahn said that the team’s “focus remains on the long term” and says he won’t “make any sort of move that’s aimed at jumping up” into immediate contention. Despite that cold water, he did say the organization is willing to “take some calculated risks along the way.” Just what the team has in mind with this reported pursuit remains a bit of a mystery, but we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out.
- While evidently maintaining interest in Machado and pursuing other fronts, the Cardinals are also still “pushing” the Blue Jays to offer up their own star third baseman, Josh Donaldson, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). At this point, though, there’s no reason to believe that Toronto will budge from its stance on Donaldson — namely, that it’s not interested in moving him for anything approaching a reasonable return.
- Far from dangling Donaldson, it seems the Blue Jays are at least weighing a major addition. The club has interest in free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). In theory, Cain could coexist with current center fielder Kevin Pillar, though Cain is also most valuable up the middle. The Jays are interested in committing up to four years, says Heyman, but it seems there are indications Cain will have an opportunity to secure a better deal elsewhere. MLBTR predicted that Cain would land four years in free agency; to this point, we haven’t heard much public discussion of his market, but he’s rather clearly the top available center fielder.
- While the Mets were able to come away from the Winter Meetings with a relief arm, they have yet to fill their opening at second base. Per Marc Carig of Newsday, Ian Kinsler was not willing to waive his no-trade rights to go to New York. (All links to Twitter.) The club has a variety of other options still in play, Carig explains, adding that the organization was discussing righty Rafael Montero in talks regarding Kinsler.
MLB To Investigate Leak Of Ohtani Medical Information
Major League Baseball has opened an investigation into the recent leaking of medical information regarding new Angels signee Shohei Ohtani, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). It seems the league is concerned that a MLB organization was behind the release of the news that Ohtani has been diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament.
While the news on Ohtani did not come with any direct implications for his signing, it seems there’s a concern with the sanctity of the medical information that was shared by Ohtani’s representatives with interested organizations during his highly publicized recruiting process. Reporting on the subject indicated that MLB teams were made aware of the injury prior to his agreement with the Angels, so there’s no worry that his camp failed to make proper disclosures or that the deal is in any way at risk. (Indeed, quite to the contrary, the Halos have made clear they are fully aware of the injury and pleased to move ahead with the transaction.)
This matter occupies the same general arena — but in quite different circumstances — as the controversy that arose in 2016, when the Padres were deemed to have wrongly withheld certain medical information in the league’s central repository. In that case, Padres GM A.J. Preller was hit with a thirty-day suspension. Here, the league is concerned with the wrongful release of information on an individual player whose medical records have been shared with teams, which is perhaps less concerning from a competitive perspective but touches upon significant legal and ethical issues.
It’s certainly far too soon to know how this will play out. And it would be wrong to assume that someone associated with a MLB organization was behind the leak of information. If that is the case, though, and if the source of the leak can be determined, it stands to reason that commissioner Rob Manfred would consider significant disciplinary measures to deter any similar future releases.
Rangers Agree To Minors Deals With Hanser Alberto, Kevin Jepsen
The Rangers have announced minor-league pacts with infielder Hanser Alberto and righty Kevin Jepsen. Both will receive MLB Spring Training invitations.
The 25-year-old Alberto was non-tendered by the Rangers earlier in the offseason, but he’ll remain with the only organization he has known. Alberto missed the bulk of the season due to a shoulder issue but had previously reached the majors, where he struggled in limited playing time. In 616 career plate appearances at Triple-A, Alberto carries a .296/.320/.430 batting line with a dozen home runs.
As for Jepsen, the 2017 season was the first since 2007 in which he had failed to appear in the majors. The 33-year-old reliever had been an effective performer and even stepped into a closing role during the 2015 campaign, but ran into trouble beginning with the ensuing season. He ended up throwing only 23 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2017, over which he permitted 5.32 earned runs per nine — in large part due to surrendering five home runs — but did generate 11.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9.