Orioles Sign Righty Michael Kelly To MLB Roster
The Orioles have agreed to a 40-man deal with righty Michael Kelly, president of baseball operations Dan Duquette told reporters including MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli (via Twitter). He became a minor-league free agent at the end of the season.
Kelly, 25, reached the Triple-A level in each of the past two years in the Padres organization. He has struggled rather notably there, though he has had some success at Double-A. In 15 starts at the penultimate level of the minors in 2017, Kelly ran a 2.98 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over 84 2/3 innings.
Pirates Acquire Rule 5 Pick Nick Burdi From Phillies For International Pool Space
The Phillies announced a deal involving Rule 5 selection Nick Burdi. His rights were shipped to the Pirates in exchange for $500K of international bonus pool spending capacity, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
Burdi, a high-powered righty relief prospect, started the day with the Twins. He went third in today’s Rule 5 proceedings, but the Phillies decided to hand off his rights to Pittsburgh.
The 24-year-old Burdi landed in the Minnesota organization after being taken in the second round of the 2014 draft. It seemed he was nearing MLB readiness after 17 frames at Double-A in 2017, over which he allowed just one earned run on nine hits and four walks while racking up twenty strikeouts.
Unfortunately, that came to a halt with a UCL injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. Burdi will likely return at some point in the middle of the upcoming season, at which point the Bucs will need to keep him on the active roster in order to obtain his full rights. If Burdi is not on the MLB roster for ninety days in the 2017 season, he’d then need to open the ensuing campaign there in order for the rights to fully convey.
2017 Rule 5 Draft Results
The Rule 5 draft begins at 9.a.m ET as this year’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida draw to a close. Those unfamiliar with how the draft works can check out MLBTR’s full primer on the event here, but the short version is that teams with open 40-man roster spots can select players with four to five years of pro experience from other organizations if said player hasn’t been protected on the 40-man roster. Players who signed at 18 years of age or younger but have five years of experience can be selected, as can players signed at 19 or older who have four years of experience. Each selection costs $100K, but it’s not mandatory for teams to make picks. Clubs must carry chosen players on their active rosters (or the major league disabled list) throughout the entire 2016 season. Doing otherwise would expose them to waivers, and they’d then be offered back to their original club. Teams can also work out trades with the original organization to keep the selected player in the organization but send him to the minors.
The Rule 5 order is based on the reverse order of last season’s standings. You can find Baseball America’s preview of the festivities right here. Here are this year’s results:
First Round
1. Tigers – Victor Reyes, OF, Diamondbacks
2. Giants – Julian Fernandez, RHP, Rockies
3. Phillies – Nick Burdi, RHP, Twins (traded to Pirates for international bonus space)
4. White Sox – Carlos Tocci, OF, Phillies (traded to Rangers for cash)
5. Reds – Brad Keller, RHP, Diamondbacks (traded to Royals for cash/PTBNL)
6. Mets – Burch Smith, RHP, Rays (traded to Royals for cash/PTBNL)
7. Padres – no selection
8. Braves – Anyelo Gomez, RHP, Yankees
9. Athletics – no selection
10. Orioles – Nestor Cortes, LHP, Yankees
11. Pirates – Jordan Milbrath, RHP, Indians
12. Blue Jays – no selection
13. Marlins – Elieser Hernandez, RHP, Astros
14. Mariners – Mike Ford, 1B, Yankees
15. Rangers – no selection
16. Rays – no selection
17. Angels – Luke Bard, RHP, Twins
18. Royals – no selection
19. Cardinals – no selection
20. Twins – Tyler Kinley, RHP, Marlins
21. Brewers – no selection
22. Rockies – no selection
23. Yankees – no selection
24. Cubs – no selection
25. Diamondbacks – Albert Suarez, RHP, Giants
26. Red Sox – no selection
27. Nationals – no selection
28. Astros – Anthony Gose, LHP, Rangers
29. Indians – no selection
30. Dodgers – no selection
Second & Third Round
Orioles select Pedro Araujo, RHP, Cubs
Marlins select Brett Graves, RHP, Athletics
Orioles select Jose Mesa, RHP, Yankees
Latest On Christian Yelich
THURSDAY, 6:04am: The Padres have inquired on Yelich, a source tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
WEDNESDAY, 3:43pm: Miami expects to talk things over with Yelich before making any decisions, Heyman tweets. Of course, it may reasonably be anticipated that his preference would be to follow the other major pieces out the door.
1:09pm: To the contrary, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the Fish aren’t interested in dealing Yelich. Others are hearing similarly, though it certainly seems too soon to say that Miami won’t end up finding a deal — or that the team won’t be willing to listen to offers.
1:07pm: The Marlins are informing rivals that they are now willing to trade their last remaining star outfielder, Christian Yelich, according to a report from Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Per the report, the return will need to exceed what the team achieved in deals involving Marcell Ozuna (the return in which is still unknown) and Giancarlo Stanton.
In truth, everything written above was anticipated at this point. While there has been some chatter suggesting the Fish would like to keep Yelich and a few other quality veterans, the fact is that the organization is probably best served fully completing the process it began by shopping Stanton and dealing Dee Gordon. Likewise, Yelich’s value has long seemed highest of the members of the Marlins’ once-great outfield.
True, both Stanton and Ozuna dramatically out-produced Yelich at the plate in 2017. But the left-handed-hitting Yelich has a smooth swing with good patience and contact ability along with (some believe) some as-yet-untapped power potential. With high-quality glovework and baserunning mixed in, Yelich has posted 4.5 fWAR campaigns in three of the past four seasons.
The biggest difference-maker, though, is Yelich’s appealing contract. He will be guaranteed $44.5MM through 2021, including a buyout on a $15MM club option for one additional season, meaning that an acquiring team could pick up the rights to all of his remaining prime years for something like the going annual rate for a quality setup man.
As the Marlins’ fire sale continues, it’ll be interesting to see whether other names are put on the block. Catcher J.T. Realmuto is the most intriguing possibility, though others — just-acquired infielder Starlin Castro, fellow infielder Derek Dietrich, first baseman Justin Bour, and starter Dan Straily, especially — seem like they’d draw interest. Plus, the team is still looking to move salary, with players such as Martin Prado, Brad Ziegler, and Junichi Tazawa representing additional possible trade candidates.
Trade Chatter: Nats, Rays, Fulmer, Reds, Jays, Braves, Giants, Yelich, Phils
Looking to improve an already enviable rotation, the Nationals have Rays right-handers Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi on their radar, Jon Heyman of FanRag reports (via Twitter). Either would cost far less in terms of salary than free agent Jake Arrieta will, and Heyman notes that the Nats are unsure if they’d be able to afford Arrieta. Heyman also points to Diamondbacks righty Zack Greinke as a possibility for the Nats; however, he’s not exactly cheap, with $138.5MM coming his way through 2021.
More on the trade front:
- The Tigers “will only entertain lopsided offers” for righty Michael Fulmer, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). A trade involving the highly coveted 24-year-old doesn’t look likely, then.
- The Blue Jays are interested in Reds outfielders Billy Hamilton and Adam Duvall, per reports from Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (via Twitter) and Jays Journal. The Braves also have interest in the 29-year-old Duvall, tweets Heyman. Duvall, a 30-home run hitter in each of the previous two seasons, is controllable for the next four years. He won’t be arbitration eligible until next winter.
- The Giants‘ own interest in Hamilton continues, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the chatter with the Reds has “faded significantly” of late. Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer adds on Twitter that the Giants are the most serious suitors for Hamilton, but they’re “at a bit of a standoff” with the Reds. San Francisco still has interest in free agent Jay Bruce, per Rosenthal, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that Bruce is the top name on San Francisco’s “wish list.” Still, the club has not made him an offer to this point.
- It’s up in the air whether the Marlins will trade center fielder Christian Yelich. Either way, the Phillies will continue to monitor his availability, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. Meanwhile, they’ve “been aggressive” in shopping shortstop Freddy Galvis, according to Salisbury, who adds (via Twitter) that the Angels “really liked” second baseman Cesar Hernandez before they acquired Ian Kinsler. The Halos didn’t want to meet the Phillies’ asking price for Hernandez, however.
- The Red Sox asked about Marcell Ozuna before the Cardinals acquired him, but they did not have the sort of pitching assets the Marlins were for, Dombrowski told reporters including the Globe’s Peter Abraham (Twitter link.) The Indians also inquired about Ozuna, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com writes.
- In addition to Chase Headley, the Padres are dangling infielder Yangervis Solarte in chatter with rival organizations, Heyman reports on Twitter. Solarte, 30, is controllable for the next three years at affordable costs (a guaranteed $4MM in 2018 and then club options totaling $13.5MM for 2019-20).
- The Blue Jays were another team with interest in Kinsler before Wednesday’s trade, Nicholson-Smith tweets. Toronto was on Kinsler’s 10-team no-trade list, so it’s unclear how open he’d have been to going there.
FA Rumors: Nunez, CarGo, Gomez, Rondon, Reynolds, O’s
The latest free agent rumors:
- A variety of organizations are still looking at versatile infielder Eduardo Nunez. Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets that the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and “possibly” the Yankees are among the suitors. Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged the interest, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet. The Giants have some ongoing involvement, too, but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that San Francisco is “a longshot” to make a deal.
- In addition to a host of other teams, the Astros have some interest in outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, according to Heyman (Twitter links). The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have checked in not only on Gonzalez but also fellow free agent oufielder Carlos Gomez.
- The Nationals are interested in reliever Hector Rondon, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post tweets. Washington isn’t the favorite to land Rondon, according to Castillo, though he does note that the former Cub is familiar with manager Dave Martinez and bullpen coach Henry Blanco. Both men were on Chicago’s staff through last season.
- The Rangers and Red Sox each have some degree of interest in free agent first baseman Mark Reynolds, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. They join a few other clubs with interest, as we covered recently.
- The Orioles have made offers to several free agent pitchers, per Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. It’s unclear whether longtime Oriole Chris Tillman is among that group, but the team did make an unsuccessful bid to re-sign him toward the end of last season, Ghiroli reports (Twitter link).
Pitching Market Chatter: Phils, Yanks, Greinke, Cole, Archer, Duffy, CC, Jays
With a pair of relief signings being wrapped up, the Phillies seem to feel good about that aspect of their roster. Per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, via Twitter, the team will turn its gaze to improving the rotation. Both they and the Yankees checked in with the Diamondbacks regarding right-hander Zack Greinke, Robert Murray of FanRag writes. Greinke ending up with either club is unlikely, however, sources informed Murray. With the Rangers also having shown interest in Greinke, we now know at least three teams have inquired about the expensive 34-year-old this offseason.
Greinke is the latest hurler to land on the radar of the Yankees, who have also eyed Pirates righty Gerrit Cole. Consequently, the Bucs “are gathering names of young, controllable” Yankees they could acquire in a Cole deal, though there’s “nothing close,” Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (on Twitter). Notably, Brink adds that the Yankees are also “looking at” Rays righty Chris Archer. The 29-year-old has drawn significant interest this winter, but it’s unclear whether the Rays will move him.
Plenty more pitching rumors…
- The Royals are giving serious consideration to dealing southpaw Danny Duffy, who’s “extremely popular” on the trade market, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. Duffy suggested on Twitter that he doesn’t want to go anywhere, for what it’s worth. “Bury me a Royal,” he declared.
- As the Blue Jays look for pitching reinforcements, they are giving real consideration to veteran CC Sabathia, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes. Though manager John Gibbons suggested his own priority is to add bats, he also said he’d welcome the addition of the veteran Sabathia — who has a lengthy history with the Jays’ current front office leadership stemming from their time in Cleveland together.
- Teams have given up on trying to acquire Reds closer Raisel Iglesias, Heyman reports on Twitter. The Reds understandably want an enormous haul back for the 27-year-old star, who’s under affordable control for the foreseeable future.
- The Twins and Rays have chatted about veteran righty Jake Odorizzi, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter), who adds that Tampa Bay was not interested in Minnesota’s initial offer.
- Although they’re at the beginning of a full, cost-cutting rebuild, the Marlins aren’t feeling any urgency to deal righty Dan Straily, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com (Twitter link). Miami’s de facto ace will play his first of three arbitration-eligible seasons in 2018. He’s projected to earn a $4.6MM salary, which even the Marlins can afford.
- The Mets are not likely to sign another free agent reliever, at least in the near term, according to GM Sandy Alderson and as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. Instead, after landing Anthony Swarzak, the organization expects to begin looking to fill its other needs.
- Brewers GM David Stearns discussed his organization’s situation with reporters including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links). He said the team was willing to go to two years to get Swarzak, but wasn’t willing to match the dollar amount he ultimately took. The club still has open payroll capacity, which Stearns says he’ll put to good use. “We have spending power this offseason,” he said. “I’m confident we are going to find places to use that effectively.”
- Before the Astros agreed to a deal with Joe Smith on Wednesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com hinted on Twitter that the team could have interest in free agent righty Hector Rondon. Whether that still stands remains to be seen, but the Astros are already chock-full of righty relievers as it is.
Marlins Release Edinson Volquez
The Marlins have released veteran righty Edinson Volquez, club president of baseball ops Michael Hill told reporters including Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). The veteran hurler is still rehabbing back from Tommy John surgery and the organization was in need of 40-man roster space as it continues to make a variety of roster moves.
Volquez, signed last year as the club sought to build a pitching staff around its excellent core of position players. As it turned out, though, things fell flat and Volquez is one of several hurlers whose large contracts has created significant payroll drag — helping to push the organization toward a clear rebuilding path.
Miami owes Volquez a hefty $13MM for the 2018 season. There was really never any chance of the Marlins finding a taker for any of that, so it was lost money regardless. Volquez could yet be brought back on a minors pact, Hill noted.
Rays Acquire International Pool Space From Mariners For Anthony Misiewicz
3:05pm: Tampa Bay will get $1MM in spending capacity, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
10:20am: The Rays and Mariners have lined up on a trade that will send international bonus pool spending availability to Tampa Bay. In exchange, the Seattle organization will receive young lefty Anthony Misiewicz.
For the Rays, the swap will bring in some funds that appear to be earmarked for youngster Jelfry Marte. An agreement on his signing was reported yesterday, though Tampa Bay still needed to pick up some international capacity before it could make the deal.
Fortunately, the M’s had leftover funds on hand that they were unable to give Shohei Ohtani when he declined to join the organization. The team will likely seek to turn some of that money back into minor-league prospects, but perhaps will also continue looking into the remaining amateur market as well.
In Misiewicz, the Mariners have re-acquired a player who was shipped out to the Rays in August. The 23-year-old, an 18th-rounder from Michigan State, reached the Double-A level in 2017, pitching to an even 4.00 ERA in a dozen starts with 7.2 K/9 with 2.1 BB/9.
Athletics, Cardinals In Serious Talks On Stephen Piscotty Swap
2:28pm: Slusser has added a few more conceivable players in conversations in an updated version of her story. It seems that the sides could be contemplating some of the A’s relief arms.
1:38pm: The dominoes from the Cardinals’ reported acquisition of Marcell Ozuna are beginning to fall, it seems. Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Athletics’ long-standing interest in Cards outfielder Stephen Piscotty could conceivably come to fruition with a deal before the Winter Meetings end.
Oakland is not willing to part with its best young assets, according to the report, but Slusser says the discussions have revolved around some of the A’s available 40-man assets. One name under consideration, she notes, is infielder Yairo Munoz, a 23-year-old who reached the top level of the minors in 2017.
Piscotty, who’ll soon turn 27, thrived in his first two seasons in the majors, posting a cumulative .282/.348/.467 slash and hitting 29 home runs in his first 905 MLB plate appearances. He ended up striking a six-year, $33.5MM extension at the start of the 2017 campaign.
Things haven’t progressed as hoped since that time, however. Piscotty missed some time due to injury and ended the year with 401 plate appearances of .235/.342/.367 output through 401 trips to the plate. On the positive side, Piscotty did neary double his walk rate to 13.0% even as his power dipped.
Piscotty continues to grade as a solid defender but subpar baserunner. If he can regain his form at the dish, there’s good reason to think he could be a quality regular in the corner — which is just what the A’s are in search of.