Royals Reach Two-Year Extension With Mike Moustakas
The Royals are closing in on a two-year deal with third baseman Mike Moustakas, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports (Twitter links), with Jon Heyman tweeting that it’s a done deal. He is expected to be guaranteed $14.3MM in the contract, per Flanagan, with $5.6MM coming in 2016 and $8.7MM for the following year.
With the move, Kansas City has avoided an arbitration hearing with the 27-year-old and precluded any need for future arb negotiations. Moustakas could still partake in long-term talks, of course, but this agreement buys up all of his remaining arbitration eligibility without adding any team control.
In that regard, Moustakas joins teammate Lorenzo Cain in locking in a raise but failing to reach a lengthier accommodation with the reigning World Series champs. Josh Donaldson, J.D. Martinez, and A.J. Pollock are other prominent players who have landed two-year, arb-only pacts as a way to help bridge 2016 salary disputes.
The $5.6MM price point set for the coming season represents the exact midpoint between the sides’ $7MM and $4.2MM filing figures. And it lands just a shade below the $5.7MM salary that MLBTR projected earlier in the winter. Moustakas, a client of the Boras Corporation, had earned $2.64MM in his first turn at the arb process last year.
Moustakas was long considered a significant prospect, but largely disappointed in his first four years in the majors. But a late surge for the surprising 2014 Royals raised hopes that he’d found his groove, and his 2015 campaign suggests he did. Moustakas not only turned in another strong defensive campaign, but surged to a .284/.348/.470 slash and career-high 22 home runs in a performance that dwarfed anything he’d done previously.
With age and glovework on his side, a repeat of that strong effort won’t be needed for K.C. to make out on this new contract. But there’s every hope that Moustakas has matured at the plate and established a new performance baseline, having decreased his reliance on pulling the ball and found success against left-handed pitching.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/11/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Yankees announced that outfielder Lane Adams has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A. He had been designated for assignment recently as New York looked to work the waiver wire to stash assets in the upper minors without clogging up the 40-man. The team has apparently accomplished just that, adding to its outfield depth. Adams, 26, had a tough go in his first run at Triple-A last year, but had performed well earlier in 2015 to earn the promotion. All told, he ended the year with a .281/.347/.445 slash to go with 16 long balls and 31 stolen bases.
AL East Notes: Rays Pen, O’s, Gallardo, Fowler, Chapman
The Rays are in “advanced talks” with free agent righty Tommy Hunter, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. But Topkin cautions that Hunter is still also holding chats with other teams, possibly in search of a multi-year guarantee, suggesting that a signing with Tampa Bay is not imminent. And ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes that Hunter is still rehabbing after needing core muscle surgery this winter (Twitter links). The club is working on other possibilities as it looks to beef up a pen that has lost some options to trade. Ryan Webb is also under consideration, per the report, and the Rays have looked elsewhere as well — both on the free agent and trade markets.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette discussed his team’s remaining free agent efforts today with Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. While declining to discuss reported target Yovani Gallardo directly, Duquette did shed some light on that pursuit in acknowledging his efforts to “bolster” the staff. He talked about the difficulty of parting with a draft pick, and spoke quite disparagingly of the idea of giving an opt-out clause to a player, saying that he doesn’t “see any advantage to the club with that type of relationship.” That appears to be a key factor in the talks between team and player.
- Duquette also touched upon the potential for an outfield addition, calling that “possible” while saying that he thinks the team has “enough outfield depth.” Duquette did note the interest in adding a quality on-base threat to the top of the lineup, which would seem to make Dexter Fowler an appealing match. Reports earlier today connected Baltimore to veteran free agent.
- Giving up two top-thirty draft picks to sign Gallardo and Fowler appears to be a possible outcome at this point for the Orioles, though there are still plenty of other scenarios as well. Dave Cameron of Fangraphs recently broke down the argument for signing both players, presumably at reduced guarantees, thereby reducing the average draft pick cost. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports takes a look, too, crediting the organization for being willing to spend but suggesting that it needs to find a way to replace the lost draft picks (and prospects sent out via trade) in some other way — most likely by ramping up international spending.
- The Yankees and recently-acquired reliever Aroldis Chapman are set for a hearing on February 19, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. There’s more than $4MM separating the sides’ filing numbers, so obviously both sides have ample incentive (and time) to work out a compromise. If not, it would make for an interesting case, albeit perhaps a sub-optimal way for their relationship to begin.
Pirates To Sign Eric O’Flaherty To Minors Deal
The Pirates have agreed to a minor league deal with lefty reliever Eric O’Flaherty, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports tweets. He’ll receive an invitation to MLB camp.
It has become cliche at this point, but the Bucs do have a record of helping to turn around once-productive pitchers. And O’Flaherty certainly fits the general mold of past refurbishment projects.
The 31-year-old was at one time rather dominant for the Braves, running up a 1.99 ERA over nearly 250 frames from 2009 through 2013. He averaged a pedestrian 7.2 K/9 in that span, but limited the free pass (2.5 BB/9), got a ton of easy outs (58.3% groundball rate), and was plenty useful even against right-handed hitters.
Things weren’t so rosy last year, his first full campaign back from Tommy John surgery. He ended with an abysmal 8.10 ERA, which only got worse after a mid-season trade from the Athletics to the Mets. And the peripherals weren’t great either, as O’Flaherty ended with 6.3 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9. He was able to generate grounders right at his career rate, and there are indications he suffered some bad luck (.388 BABIP, 57.6% strand rate), but clearly he has some work to do to get back on track in the coming spring.
MLBTR Live Chat: 2/11/16
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.
Giants Avoid Arbitration With Brandon Belt
The Giants have avoided arbitration with first baseman Brandon Belt by agreeing to a one-year deal, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He’ll receive $6.2MM, Jon Heyman tweets.
The sides had seemed headed for a hearing. MLBTR projected Belt to earn the exact amount he ultimately received in his second (and second-to-last) trip through arbitration. He filed for $7.5MM, with the team countering at $5.3MM to create a $6.4MM midpoint.
Soon to turn 28, the smooth-swinging lefty has been a steady and excellent performer for San Francisco. Since debuting back in 2011, he’s racked up just over 2,000 plate appearances with a cumulative .271/.347/.456 batting line and 63 home runs. And he not only delivers a high-quality glove at first, but has shown the ability to fill in at the corner outfield in a pinch.
After an injury-shortened 2014, Belt got back on track in 2015 and was running numbers comparable to his excellent 2013 campaign before running into concussion issues late in the year. He is expected to be ready for a full spring, though, and health matters don’t appear to be much of a concern for the team.
There are indications that a long-term deal could be a consideration. And, indeed, the Giants already struck a deal with fellow 4+ service-time stalwart Brandon Crawford. Belt has always seemed a more tenuous fit in an extension scenario, though, as he occupies a position that could eventually house star catcher Buster Posey depending upon how things progress.
Phillies Designate Bobby LaFromboise
The Phillies have designated lefty Bobby LaFromboise for assignment, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. His roster spot will go to just-acquired infielder Taylor Featherston.
This move constitutes the latest in a multi-step roster shuffle for the Phils, who designated former top prospect Jesse Biddle to make space for the claim of LaFromboise. Now, they’ll look to sneak him through waivers — or, instead, watch him go to his fifth organization in the last four years.
The 29-year-old has spent most of the prior two campaigns in the Pirates organization. He posted a 2.98 ERA in 54 1/3 Triple-A innings in 2015, logging 8.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. And he’s contributed 11 2/3 good MLB frames to Pittsburgh over the last two seasons, allowing just two runs (on a pair of solo homers) and nine total baserunners while striking out a dozen opposing hitters in that short sample.
Orioles Sign Dale Thayer To Minors Deal
The Orioles have added veteran righty Dale Thayer on a minor league contract, his representatives at O’Connell Sports Management announced on Twitter. He’ll receive an invitation to major league camp in the deal.
Thayer, 35, ran up excellent results in his first three years with the Padres after receiving only minimal prior MLB opportunities. Over 2011-14, he worked to a 3.02 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 across 188 frames.
But the righty couldn’t maintain that trajectory after finally earning his first arbitration payday last year. He managed only 37 2/3 frames before being designated and outrighted. Thayer’s 4.06 ERA was hardly a disaster, but there was obvious cause for concern as he fell off to 6.0 strikeouts and 3.6 walks per nine.
Baltimore will presumably slot the veteran into a competition for a middle relief role. He’ll look to earn a spot in a pen that could draw from an interesting pool of names this spring, including players like the rehabbing Dylan Bundy, emergent Mychal Givens, resurgent Brad Brach, and swingman Vance Worley.
Phillies Acquire Taylor Featherston
The Phillies have acquired infielder Taylor Featherston from the Angels in exchange for cash or a player to be named later, Philadelphia has announced. He was recently designated for assignment by Los Angeles to clear roster space for the claim of lefty Christian Friedrich.
New Philly GM Matt Klentak was with the Halos when the organization acquired Featherston’s Rule 5 rights and carried him on the active roster for all of 2015 to obtain control. For the Phillies, Featherston could provide a near-term MLB option. After all, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, and Andres Blanco hardly constitute the most inspiring up-the-middle unit. More likely, though, he’ll go back for his first crack at Triple-A after skipping the level in the Rule 5 process.
Featherston is viewed as a high-quality defender, and advanced fielding metrics backed that up in his limited action last year. But he’s still got some work to do at the plate. Over his first 169 MLB plate appearances, Featherston carried a lowly .162/.212/.247 triple slash. He has shown some pop and speed previously in the minors, however, and the Phils’ new-look front office obviously feels there’s some upside to take a crack at developing.
Ike Davis Likely To Sign Minors Pact Soon; Yankees In Mix
First baseman Ike Davis is on track to find a new destination in short order, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports on Twittter. It’s expected that he’ll have to settle for a minor league deal, per the report.
The Yankees are among the teams in the mix for Davis, who’ll turn 29 before the coming season. New York recently lost one left-handed bench bat option in Greg Bird, and Davis could fill a similar niche for the coming season if the club decides to carry such a player as a complement to Mark Teixeira at first and Alex Rodriguez in the DH role.
It isn’t clear what other organizations may have interest, though it’s possible to imagine the Brewers, Astros, Orioles, Rockies, and Rays giving some consideration to a player like Davis for depth, flexibility, and competition. It’s been a quiet winter for Davis, who was non-tendered at offseason’s outset by the Athletics after projecting to command a $3.8MM payday in his final season of arbitration eligibility.
Davis disappointed in his only season in Oakland, putting up a .229/.301/.350 slash with just three home runs in 239 plate appearances. He had at least produced at a slightly above-average rate in his prior year, most of which was spent with the Pirates, and has always been seen as an intriguing talent.
After all, in his age-23 through 25 campaigns — back when he was viewed as a potential long-term piece for the Mets — Davis ran up a .252/.336/.461 batting line and contributed 58 home runs over 1,334 plate appearances. It may be wishful thinking to hope for a return to that level of production, but he’s still fairly youthful and looks to be a worthwhile risk on a minors deal.