Yankees Release Nathan Eovaldi, Two Others
The Yankees have released veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, per a club announcement. Also cut loose were southpaw Joe Mantiply and righty Nick Rumbelow. All three pitchers were designated for assignment ten days ago, and obviously no trades or claims were in the offing.
With the move, the 26-year-old Eovaldi will be available to the highest bidder for the first time in his career. It’s surely not how he envisioned reaching free agency — Tommy John and flexor tendon surgery made him a clear non-tender candidate in his final year of arbitration eligibility — and he won’t exactly be lining up a monster payday. But there figure to be plenty of interested teams given his intriguing pitching arsenal and young age.
It’s not yet clear what kind of deal Eovaldi will seek. Some players elect to rehab on their own and then throw before signing, as reliever Greg Holland is doing at present. Others ink multi-year deals that lock in some guaranteed money but provide upside to the signing team, as pitchers such as Kris Medlen have done in recent years.
It’s at least somewhat surprising that New York released Mantiply. He had been claimed off waivers just ten days before he was designated, seemingly suggesting that the organization hoped he’d be a candidate to be stashed upon his removal from the 40-man roster. Instead, the 25-year-old will hit the open market.
Rumbelow also just turned 25. He moved quickly through the minors and had a solid debut in the majors in 2015. But he went down early in the 2016 season and ultimately underwent a TJ procedure of his own. Rumbelow figures to draw interest from organizations intrigued at the possibility of gaining cheap control over a useful reliever in the event that his rehab is successful.
Latest On Giants, Pablo Sandoval
SATURDAY: Contrary to Drellich’s report, the Giants have not talked about reacquiring Sandoval, according to Chris Haft of MLB.com. General manager Bobby Evans expects Nunez to serve as the team’s primary third baseman next year and is focusing his efforts on finding a closer, writes Haft. While club executives aren’t allowed to publicly discuss acquiring players who are under contract elsewhere, Evans did address the Sandoval situation, telling Haft, “I’m not aware of any consideration of a reunion, but we’ll never forget all that he meant to the Giants organization.”
FRIDAY: The Giants have had internal discussions about trying to strike a deal for Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval, according to Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. It is not known whether the two organizations have talked about the former San Francisco star.
Sandoval, 30, is two years into what has been a disastrous free agent contract with the Red Sox. Entering the 2014-15 offseason, he was widely regarded as a high-quality option at the hot corner, with youth on his side and a resume full of strong contributions with the bat and the glove. The Giants pursued a reunion, but Sandoval ultimately took five years and $95MM to head east.
The productivity came to an end as soon as he reached Boston, however. Sandoval posted a decidedly mediocre .245/.292/.366 batting line in his first season with his new organization, and drew abysmal reviews for his fielding at the hot corner. He lost his starting job in camp heading into 2016, and ultimately underwent season-ending shoulder surgery.
Beyond Sandoval’s age and track record, there’s not much to commend him at this point. He has notably struggled with his weight before, but it has been a greater problem than ever with the Red Sox, and it’s hard to know what to make of the latest reports that he is in better shape. And now, Sandoval has the shoulder issue to work back from, too.
Still, the Giants have drawn good work from Sandoval in the past. While his contract is very clearly under water, he’s hardly owed a monumental sum. Including the buyout on a 2020 option, Sandoval is set to earn $58MM over the next three seasons. While there’s no chance that San Francisco will take that on in full, it’s not impossible to imagine the sides coming to a meeting of the minds.
[RELATED: Red Sox and Giants Depth Charts]
The Giants do have Eduardo Nunez and Conor Gillaspie on hand to cover third, neither is clearly an everyday option there, and both could be put to use elsewhere. Interestingly, though, the Red Sox probably have the greater need at the position. Travis Shaw and Brock Holt are under team control, and Yoan Moncada could be the long-term solution, but it’s an area in flux at present with Sandoval still a question mark.
Alex Guerrero Signs With Japan’s Chunichi Dragons
SATURDAY: Guerrero has officially joined the Dragons, tweets Hoornstra. His deal is worth $1.3MM and includes $700K in performance bonuses, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).
FRIDAY: Infielder/outfielder Alex Guerrero is nearing a contract with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, according to Sanspo (link in Japanese; h/t J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group).
Last we heard from Guerrero, he was hitting the open market after being released by the Dodgers over the summer. He never caught on with another major league organization during the season, though presumably he at least would have made for an interesting minor-league signing this winter.
Instead, the Cuban now seems likely to head to Japan. He just reached thirty years of age, so he is still reasonably youthful. But the recent returns have not been promising.
Guerrero missed much of the 2016 season with a knee injury, and was dreadful during his rehab assignment. That made it an easy call for Los Angeles to cut him loose, even though that meant giving up on a player who was still under contract for 2017 (at a $5MM salary). The Dodgers will presumably be able to save a bit of that, depending on what Guerrero will receive in Japan, though most of the cash will remain on the books.
All said, the Dodgers didn’t make out very ell on their $28MM investment. While Guerrero wrecked Triple-A pitching, putting up a .323/.357/.598 slash in 266 plate appearances there, he never maintained success in the majors. There were flashes of promise, and some intriguing pop, but he ultimately posted a .224/.251/.414 slash in 243 trips to the plate at the game’s highest level.
That slugging potential surely would’ve warranted more of an opportunity if it weren’t for the fact that Guerrero never seemed to fit in defensively. Billed as a middle infielder upon his signing, Guerrero played third base and left field during his brief time in the majors, though presumably he could again at least be an option at second.
Poll: Early Free Agent Starting Pitching Contracts
This year’s free agent market has already provided a steady trickle of deals, with many involving short-term arrangements for starting pitching. Bigger contracts are yet to come, but those already handed out have committed fairly large sums, albeit on limited terms.
With many of these deals landing in a similar range, it’s interesting to compare. Here are the rotation pieces, who happen all to be right-handers, who have received major league pacts thus far (from smallest to largest in terms of total dollars):
Jesse Chavez, Angels, $5.75MM over one year (plus incentives): Chavez worked exclusively in a relief capacity last year, but he started quite a bit in 2014 and 2015 and Los Angeles views him as a part of their rotation for 2017. For a team in need of sturdy innings, the 33-year-old brings the promise of durability and palatable results at a reasonable price.
R.A. Dickey, Braves, $8MM over one year (plus 2018 club option): A similar calculus was at play with Dickey, whose knuckleball makes him a solid bet to eat up a lot of frames despite the fact that he’s already 42 years old. Though he’ll cost a bit more than Chavez, Dickey also arguably comes with greater upside, and the organization was able to take advantage of Atlanta’s proximity to the righty’s Nashville home to land him at a budget-friendly amount.
Andrew Cashner, Rangers, $10MM over one year: There’s much more variability, perhaps, baked into the price paid for Cashner, who only just turned 30 and still has a power arsenal at his disposal. The results haven’t been there in either of the last two years, and health questions persist, but Cashner is only two years removed from a high-quality campaign in which he looked like a top-of-the-rotation arm.
Bartolo Colon, Braves, $12.5MM over one year: Atlanta doubled down on aging starters, following up the Dickey signing with the even-older Colon, who’ll turn 44 before the season begins. If he was 15 years younger, Colon’s four-year platform — over which he averaged 195 frames of 3.59 ERA pitching — might well have made him the biggest earner on this winter’s market. Instead, it garnered him a strong payday but only a single-season commitment.
Charlie Morton, Astros, $14MM over two years: The only starter to score a multi-year promise, Morton only made four starts in 2016 — though that was due to a hamstring injury, not a more worrisome arm problem. He did show a fair bit of promise early last year (including a velocity bump), and carries a 3.96 ERA with strong groundball results (58.2%) over his last five campaigns, but Morton has only twice topped 25 starts and 150 innings in a single season.
Jeremy Hellickson, Phillies, $17.2MM over one year (accepted qualifying offer): Most had Hellickson penciled in to reject the QO and pursue a rather sizable, reasonably lengthy contract on the open market. After all, he’s yet to turn 30 and just turned in 189 frames of 3.71 ERA pitching. Instead, he opted for the sure thing, and the Phillies will pay a rather hefty single-season rate a pitcher who had endured his fair share of struggles prior to his quality 2016 season.
All of the teams listed above were looking to fill a rotation spot without mucking up their future balance sheets, and sought some blend of upside and dependability. So, the question for the MLBTR readership is a straightforward one: which of these contracts provides the best value to the signing organization?
Best Early Free Agent Rotation Deal?
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Bartolo Colon Signs With Braves 33% (4,164)
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Andrew Cashner Signs With Rangers 17% (2,177)
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Jeremy Hellickson Takes Phillies Qualifying Offer 17% (2,151)
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R.A. Dickey Signs With Braves 15% (1,934)
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Charlie Morton Signs With Astros 10% (1,193)
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Jesse Chavez Signs With Angels 7% (890)
Total votes: 12,509
Sean O’Sullivan Signs With KBO’s Nexen Heroes
Righty Sean O’Sullivan has signed on with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Nexen Heroes, the team announced (Korean language announcement; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). He’ll receive a $1.1MM salary.
The 29-year-old hurler has seen action in parts of seven major league campaigns, appearing with the Angels, Royals, Padres, Phillies, and (most recently) Red Sox. All told, he’s provided 323 2/3 innings, but owns a sub-optimal 6.01 ERA with 4.4 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 to go with a 40.1% groundball rate. The long ball has been a problem, as O’Sullivan has allowed 1.64 home runs per nine innings pitched.
O’Sullivan made four starts and one relief appearance last year for Boston, but spent most of the year (and large parts of the past eight seasons) pitching at Triple-A. The former third-round draft pick threw 105 1/3 frames in 19 starts in the highest level of the minors, posting a 4.02 ERA but carrying a fairly promising 7.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.
Prospect & International Notes: AFL, Rule 5, Draft, Trafficking
With the Arizona Fall League wrapping up, the MLB.com Pipeline team broke down the top players at each position. Perhaps no single prospect impressed to the extent of Gleyber Torres, the Yankees shortstop who was acquired in the Aroldis Chapman trade. Live-armed Red Sox righty Michael Kopech and Indians outfielder Bradley Zimmer were among the other high-profile young players who impressed, but a variety of lesser-known names also drew attention.
Here are some more prospect and international notes from around the game:
- Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper broke down the top Rule 5 draft candidates. Teams always have to balance roster needs with their assessments of young players who are eligible for the draft, and every year at least a dozen or so players who aren’t added to a 40-man roster will be plucked by another organization. This time around, as usual, many of the most plausible Rule 5 options are pitchers. But two position players warranted mention from Cooper as well: Pirates third baseman Eric Wood and Mets utility infielder Phillip Evans. Both have posted much better numbers of late, but apparently did not do quite enough to convince their organizations of their value — or, perhaps, of their ability to stick on another team’s active roster for a full season.
- The first player that Cooper notes, Padres righty Yimmi Brasoban, seems an intriguing candidate for the Rule 5 since he possesses a big fastball and quality slider that could make him a useful bullpen piece. But San Diego’s decision to leave him unprotected may well be due to elbow issues, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The young reliever is undergoing stem cell and platelet-rich plasma treatments, suggesting he may be trying to stave off a surgical option. We have seen injured players go in the Rule 5 before; if they aren’t able to meet the active-duty requirements in the season following the draft, they can reach it in future campaigns.
- Ben Badler of Baseball America argues that Major League Baseball would be better served to increase its current bonus pool limitations for international players than to institute an international draft. Low-revenue clubs are able to compete for top talent in the current system, he explains, so there’s no compelling reason in that regard to move to a draft. The problem, per Badler, is that the current signing levels are just too low, which has led many teams in baseball to exceed the limitations and accept future bonus limitations. His solution is to significantly boost the overall pool bonus amounts, make them equal for all teams, and increase the penalties for exceeding the pool. That — or some other hypothetical system — would still allow for cost containment while also serving other interests, Badler argues, including competitive balance and equal opportunities for all teams and players.
- There are new details in the human trafficking case against agent Bart Hernandez, as Jose Pagliery of CNN.com reports. Hernandez was allegedly involved in a scheme with a violent smuggler, the government alleges, with tens of millions of dollars flowing to the masterminds after Cuban ballplayers such as Jose Abreu and Yoenis Cespedes landed large bonuses with major league organizations. While the players were treated more humanely than the average citizens who were also being moved in the alleged conspiracy, they were nevertheless treated like prisoners and coerced into signing with Hernandez, per the charges.
Roger Bernadina To Sign With Korea’s Kia Tigers
Former big league outfielder Roger Bernadina is headed to Korea to join the Kia Tigers, MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports on Twitter. Terms of the deal are not known at this time.
Bernadina, 32, hasn’t cracked the majors since 2014, but has accumulated 1,480 plate appearances over parts of seven seasons. All told, he owns a .236/.307/.354 batting line with 28 home runs and 59 stolen bases.
A native of Curacao, Bernadina played a significant role with the Nationals earlier in his career, with his best season coinciding with D.C.’s breakout 2012 campaign. He ultimately appeared in the majors in six separate years with the Nats and also saw brief stints with the Phillies, Reds, and Dodgers.
Most recently, Bernadina suited up at Triple-A in the Mets organization. He was rather productive there, slashing .292/.376/.465 and swiping twenty bags. That showing suggests there’s still some life left in his legs and bat, even if he’s not quite a major league caliber player at this stage.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of today’s MLBTR chat with host Jeff Todd.
Report: Lockout On The Table As CBA Nears Expiration
4:33pm: There is optimism that a lockout can be avoided, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes. Stark cites two sources who tell him there is a “path to a deal.” Both sides, however, seem to believe that the lockout suggests December 1 is a “hard deadline” to reach an agreement. If there were to be a lockout in December, it wouldn’t necessarily result in missed games, but it could delay the progress of the offseason and cut off player benefits.
TODAY, 12:32pm: ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (Insider link) that there’s no particular reason to think that the saber-rattling will lead to a significant interference in labor relations, stating his own “educated guess” that compromise will be found. Sources do tell him that the league side is indeed “incredibly frustrated” by the union’s foot-dragging and unwillingness to move on issues like the international draft. And that could still lead to a standoff that impacts the progress of this winter’s trade and free agent markets. But as Olney explains, there’s relatively little at stake in the talks (in relation to the immense amount of money that both sides are making) and plenty of time before the owners and union would risk interfering with the 2017 season.
YESTERDAY: Major League Baseball’s owners “will consider” instituting a player lockout if a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the MLB Player’s Association can’t be found, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The current CBA is set to expire on December 1st, and the sides are said to be at an impasse over several matters.
This is the first time we’ve heard a firm report suggesting that there could be a work stoppage — though, of course, there’s no imminent threat to actual baseball games with Spring Training not set to begin until mid-February and the regular season still four months off. It has long been assumed that the owners and union would resolve any differences, particularly given that the game has continued to experience growth in revenue, but talks have dragged on longer than expected.
In considering a lockout, the owners would be threatening to interfere with the conduct of the offseason’s business, much of which remains to be completed. Some have suggested that a failure to reach agreement by the new deadline might result in a continuation of the status quo; presumably, that’s still also a possibility. But if a deal can’t be struck and the owners take a hard line, it might well result in a freeze on transactions right before the Winter Meetings.
It’s important to bear in mind that there are strategic reasons for suggesting the possibility of a lockout, which would require a vote of ownership to be instituted. And with just over a week left to finish negotiations, there’s still time for a resolution. Commissioner Rob Manfred says he’s still “committed to the idea that we’re going to make an agreement before expiration,” while union chief Tony Clark declined comment.
The sides are certainly jockeying for position on the remaining issues; no doubt, each is familiar with the other’s positions at this stage. The key matters yet to be determined are, however, rather notable. According to Rosenthal, the owners offered to get rid of any tying of free agents to draft compensation (as currently embodied in the qualifying offer system), but requested an international draft in exchange. The union, it seems, has lined up behind the idea that the draft would be too onerous.
There’s also disagreement regarding the competitive-balance tax and the Joint Drug Agreement. As to the former issue, it seems largely a matter of divvying up dollars and figuring out ways to ensure that teams put any subsidies into their major league roster. With regard to the latter, it seems that all are agreed on the need to add force to the JDA, but the players are asking to be compensated in exchange.
Rosenthal spoke with sources to get a read of the situation, and his article is well worth a full read. The takeaway seems to be that there’s still a path toward completing an agreement before the CBA expires, but the players are also prepared to dig in their heels. There’s certainly much to be lost for both sides in the event of a serious labor dispute, and that fact remains the best reason to retain hope that a lockout can be avoided. While this bit of brinkmanship is hardly determinitive, though, it’s also a notable sign that there have been real difficulties in seeing eye to eye.
Padres Part Ways With Mike Dee, Randy Smith
NOVEMBER 23: The Padres have issued a statement regarding Dee’s departure. It reads: “The Padres and Mike Dee have amicably parted ways. We thank Mike for his contributions and wish him and his family all the best. Consistent with our policy not to comment on personnel matters, we have no further comment.”
“I wish to thank Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler for the opportunity to lead the Padres over the last three years,” says Dee. “I wish them and the entire organization well in what I believe is a very bright future that lies ahead.”
OCTOBER 13: Team sources insist that the move on Dee was not related to the health disclosure controversy, Lin reports in a further update on the story. Though Seidler recently defended Dee, who was under contract for at least another year, it seems that other factors were at play.
San Diego will not be hiring a president of baseball operations over Preller, Lin adds, though it’s also not clear whether Dee’s role — in which he oversaw business and baseball ops — will be occupied fully by a single new hire. The Padres also fired vice president of strategy and innovation Ryan Gustafson, per the report.
OCTOBER 12, 5:14pm: The Padres also dismissed senior advisor Randy Smith yesterday, Lin reports (via Twitter). Smith had spent more than two decades in the Padres organization, though not all in succession. The veteran baseball exec was the Padres’ GM back from 1993-95 (initially named GM at the age of 29) and spent the 1996-2001 seasons as the Tigers’ general manager. In his most recent run in San Diego, Smith had served as the Padres’ VP of player development and director of player development in addition to at one point overseeing the club’s international operations. He’d been a senior advisor to Preller for the past two seasons. The decision to dismiss Smith, according to Lin, is unrelated to Dee’s departure.
Additionally, Lin tweets that while there’s been some speculation of this nature, the Padres won’t hire a president of baseball operations. That would, of course, effectively be a demotion for Preller, but it would seem there’s no such plan at this time.
12:10pm: The Padres have parted ways with president and CEO Mike Dee, according to a report from Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune which the team has confirmed in an announcement. He had held down his role since 2013.
It remains unclear at this point what precipitated the move and just how Dee’s departure came about. The move was not spurred directly by the recent controversy surrounding the organization’s failure to disclose medical information in trade talks, Lin reports. An investigation from Major League Baseball led to the thirty-day suspension of general manager A.J. Preller, but the club has stood by him. Today’s news also doesn’t change Preller’s status, according to Lin, who writes that the controversial GM isn’t in danger of losing his job.
Still, that episode my have played a role. As Lin adds (Twitter links), the embarrassing suspension of the team’s top baseball operations man may have functioned as a “tipping point.” But other areas of discord had evidently already eroded the relationship between Dee and the ownership group.
All said, the departure represents another jolt to a club that has seen its fair share of turmoil of late. “My goal and our organization’s objective is to have stability and long-term tenure in our front office, but sometimes these changes are inevitable,” said Padres managing partner Peter Seidler.
Dee’s job duties, which included hiring Preller and running numerous important business initiatives, were obviously of critical importance to the Friars. “Mike’s departure creates a position we will need to fill, and the search will begin immediately,” executive chairman Ron Fowler said. “In the meantime, we will work closely with our talented and trusted senior executives to lead the organization forward.”