Royals Promote Raul Mondesi, Designate Joba Chamberlain
The Royals have called up top prospect Raul Mondesi in order to add him to their World Series roster, the club announced. To clear 40-man roster space, Kansas City designated righty Joba Chamberlain for assignment.
It’s not a traditional top-prospect promotion, as Mondesi — a consensus top-fifty prospect in all of baseball — will make his first MLB appearance in the World Series. While he won’t pick up any service time for that, and figures to return to the minors to start 2016, the 20-year-old does now reach the 40-man roster earlier than was necessary.
Mondesi, whose father was a prominent big leaguer, signed with Kansas City as an international free agent and saw his first action in Rookie ball in 2012 at just 16 years of age. He spent all of this season playing at Double-A, putting up a .243/.279/.372 batting line and swiping 19 bases.
Presumably, the switch-hitting middle infielder will be used mostly for running and defense in his high-leverage debut series. He’ll take the spot of Terrance Gore, the club’s usual post-season burner, while also providing another infield glove.
Meanwhile, Chamberlain will hit the free agent market a bit early, though the move was largely procedural. The 30-year-old joined Kansas City late in the season, allowing five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. He did not appear in the post-season. Chamberlain will probably be looking for a make-good minor league deal this offseason after a rough overall campaign.
Pirates Claim Jorge Rondon
The Pirates have claimed righty Jorge Rondon off waivers from the Orioles, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Rondon, 27, was designated recently to create 40-man space.
Interestingly, Rondon lost his spot with Baltimore to make way for the team’s claim of fellow right-hander Vance Worley from Pittsburgh. The result is a more-or-less direct swap of those two players.
Rondon carried a 2.23 ERA over 60 2/3 innings at Triple-A last year, with 7.4 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. He was once rated among the top thirty prospects of the Cardinals, and has a track record of solid, if unspectacular, numbers in the minors.
In a rather small sample at the big league level, though, Rondon has struggled. He allowed ten earned runs in just two appearances in Colorado, and permitted eleven more in his 13 1/3 frames with the O’s. In his 15 1/3 total MLB innings, Rondon has struck out only nine batters while walking ten and surrendering 28 hits.
Torii Hunter To Retire
Twins outfielder Torii Hunter has decided to retire, he tells LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune. The 40-year-old played in parts of 19 years with three organizations.
“I’m sad because it’s all I’ve known for half of my life,” Hunter said. “This great game of baseball has done so much for me. I have learned a lot of lessons. … I still love the game, but time has taken a toll on me mentally and physically.”
Hunter ended things where he began by returning to Minnesota for the 2015 season. He broke in with the Twins back in 1997, earned regular playing time as a reserve in 1999, and locked down an everyday job with the club in 2001.
From that 2001 season through the end of 2007, Hunter put up over 4,000 plate appearances of .272/.326/.484 hitting with 178 home runs. Then serving as a center fielder, he received the Gold Glove award in every single one (and for two more years thereafter).
The winter of 2007 seemed to spell the end of Hunter’s tenure in Minnesota. He departed via free agency to join the Angels, who promised him $90MM over five years. Hunter continued to thrive, posting a .286/.352/.462 cumulative batting line in nearly 3,000 trips to the plate over the life of that contract.
Having transitioned to right field in the back half of his tenure with the Halos, Hunter caught on to take over there for the Tigers. He was a strong contributor to two good teams in his two years in Detroit.
While other organizations came calling before 2015, Hunter decided on a return to a Twins club that wasn’t expected to do much. But it proved more than a farewell tour, as the club surpassed expectations (and underlying performance barometers) with an 83-79 record.
Believers in the power of clubhouse chemistry would surely attribute some of the Twins’ success last year to the presence of the fiery Hunter, who is respected highly in that regard. He didn’t have a great season — to the contrary, he played at or below replacement level — but was still expected to be courted for a return, albeit in a reduced role.
Minnesota has plenty of options to proceed without the veteran, whose departure could open the way for some of the organization’s young talent. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in his offseason outlook for the team, there are some options on hand that figure to step in.
As a forty-to-fifty win player who was more consistently excellent than great, Hunter seems unlikely to land in the Hall of Fame, though he surely deserves a spot in the proverbial “hall of very good.” He has come under fire for homophobic comments made in recent years, an area that tarnished his reputation to many, though Hunter is widely lauded as one of the game’s good guys. All told, Hunter enjoyed a memorable career as one of the better players of his generation.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Alex Anthopoulos On Blue Jays’ Offseason
Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos took a look ahead at the coming winter after his club was bounced from the ALCS, and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca breaks down the most interesting information to come out of the GM’s comments. Of course, Toronto still needs to act to get Anthopoulos under contract, an under-the-radar issue that will soon move to the front burner.
Among the key notes:
- Anthopoulos doesn’t have any major changes in mind for the front office group working beneath him (assuming he reaches a new deal). Likewise, manager John Gibbons appears to be all but certain to return.
- Could the Jays make a serious effort to re-sign David Price? “I know he’s very open to being back here,” said Anthopoulos. “We’ll certainly be in the game.”
- The club could consider shifting young righties Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna to the rotation, added Anthopoulos, as the club bids to fill out its staff. But he seemed to suggest that a return to starting might wait given the team’s expectations of contention next year.
- The club has some depth in the corner outfield/first base/DH slots, Anthopoulos noted. As Nicholson-Smith explains, Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak could end up being discussed in trades, and first base could be an area that the team could add a left-handed bat. Anthopoulos did add that “a little more balance” in the lineup would be preferable.
- The club will likely allow Ryan Goins and Devon Travis to compete for the starting second base job this spring.
- There’s also some depth in the outfield, where Kevin Pillar put up a nice year in center and Jose Bautista remains entrenched in right. That leaves a bit of a logjam among Ben Revere, Michael Saunders, and Dalton Pompey which could (at least in theory) be resolved via trade. Anthopoulos said that the depth is important to cover for injuries but also “gives [the team] some options.” He also added that Toronto still believes in Saunders, explaining that “his upside is huge.”
Adrian Beltre Undergoes Thumb Surgery
Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre underwent surgery on his left thumb yesterday, the club announced via press release. The club expects that he’ll “be fully ready for spring training,” per the statement.
The club explained that scar tissue was removed and a general clean-up was performed. Beltre injured a ligament in the thumb on May 31 on a slide, according to the team.
The veteran played through the injury for much of the year, drawing stunned admiration in the process. Beltre, 36, managed not only to appear in 143 games and take 619 trips to the plate, but produced a .287/.334/.453 slash with 18 home runs while drawing typically stellar defensive ratings.
All in all, it wasn’t that far from a typical season for the future Hall-of-Famer, who’ll earn $18MM next year in the final year of his contract. It’s not to soon to call that five-year, $80MM pact — which included a 2016 option, now guaranteed, to bring its total value to $96MM over six seasons — an outright bargain. Beltre has already contributed about 30 rWAR since coming to Texas.
AL Notes: Loup, Rays Stadium, Greene, Ackley
As the Blue Jays battle to stay alive in the ALCS, they’ll finally be able to turn to lefty Aaron Loup if the need arises. He’s been sporadically absent over the post-season, creating challenges for the team’s pen, but it turns out that much more important matters have arisen. His wife went into labor much earlier than expected, giving birth to a premature baby boy on Wednesday, as Jays play-by-play man Mike Wilner tweeted earlier this evening. Fortunately, Loup’s son is in stable condition. MLBTR extends its congratulations and very best wishes to Loup’s young family.
Here are some notes from the American League:
- There was some important news yesterday regarding the Rays‘ efforts to land a new stadium, as Charlie Frago and Tony Marrero of the Tampa Bay Times reported. After long and tough negotiations, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a deal to let the club seek new stadium sites in surrounding counties. Tampa Bay would still be required to pay significant break-up fees to get out of its lease at Tropicana Field, with some saying the cost will be too high for the Rays to participate, so the path to keeping the team in the area remains to be cleared.
- The Tigers face some tough questions with righty Shane Greene, who was an important trade acquisition last winter. As Chris Iott of MLive.com writes, the team expects to give him a shot to earn a spot with the club, but it’s not yet clear whether he’ll make the rotation. Greene had surgery on his shoulder, though it was for an “arterial issue” rather than some structural concern, and is set to be ready for the spring. But it was his rough season before that which leads to concern over his long-term outlook. “I can tell you right now that [Greene] is a starting pitcher,” said GM Al Avila. “But we feel that he can also go into the bullpen if we needed him to or because we think it’s the best thing for him and organization.” Something of the opposite is true of Alex Wilson, who Avila says will remain in the pen despite a history of starting in the minors.
- Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog takes a close look at the Yankees‘ options with Dustin Ackley, writing that the deadline acquisition could take the bulk of the time at second base — being spelled frequently or occasionally against left-handed pitching — or end up in more of a super-utility role. Jennings also discusses the idea of replacing Ackley with a better version of himself — presumably, Ben Zobrist — while also utilizing youngsters Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela more heavily.
Travis Snider, Travis Ishikawa Outrighted, Elect Free Agency
The Pirates have outrighted outfielder Travis Snider and first baseman Travis Ishikawa, according to the team’s official transactions page, and both have elected free agency. Also outrighted was righty Deolis Guerra.
As MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth wrote recently in his offseason outlook piece on the Bucs, both Snider and Ishikawa profiled as non-tender candidates. Both returned to the Pirates in the middle of the 2015 season after starting the year elsewhere, playing minor roles down the stretch.
Snider, 27, had a nice campaign for Pittsburgh in 2014, when he slashed .264/.338/.438 over 359 plate appearances. But he didn’t match that production after an offseason trade to the Orioles, and he ended the 2015 campaign with a .232/.313/.350 batting line in 265 turns at bat.
Likewise, the 32-year-old Ishikawa had a nice late-season run with the Giants, leading that club to retain him via arbitration. But he never really got going with San Francisco after dealing with injury issues early in the year and ended up with less than a hundred trips to the plate on the year.
As for Guerra, 26, last season represented his first taste of big league action. He provided 16 2/3 innings of relief work for Pittsburgh, but surrendered 12 earned runs and 26 hits (including five long balls) in that span. He did fare better in terms of strikeouts and walks (17:3), though, and posted a 1.23 ERA over 36 2/3 Triple-A frames (with 9.1 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9).
NL Central Notes: Cubs, Cards, Reds, Brewers
As the Cubs head into the offseason, the team is expected to look at reviving many of the summer trade deadline talks that never came to fruition, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. As president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said yesterday, Chicago is after pitching. The team could rejoin its pursuit of pitchers such as Tyson Ross of the Padres, Julio Teheran of the Braves, and Carlos Carrasco of the Indians, per Wittenmyer. Interestingly, he adds that the Cubs are rather enamored of Indians converted outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall, who rather suddenly became an outstanding right fielder last year after moving off of third base. Wittenmyer says it wouldn’t be surprising to see Javier Baez, Starlin Castro, or Jorge Soler (or any two of them) moved for pitching this winter, adding that Atlanta is “especially high on Soler.”
Here are some more notes out of the NL Central:
- The Cardinals could see some turnover this winter, and MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch takes a look at the overall roster situation. She notes that the organization may not be able to strike as quickly as it has in past offseasons if it makes Jason Heyward a priority, as his market may take a bit longer to come into focus. New reserve options at catcher and the middle infield could be pursued, and bullpen additions — possibly including a re-signing of Carlos Villanueva — appear likely.
- Meanwhile, the Cardinals will maintain the same coaching staff for 2016, Langosch reports. The whole group had been invited back, and reached new agreements in short order. Serving under manager Mike Matheny once again will be bench coach David Bell, first base coach Chris Maloney, third base coach Jose Oquendo, pitching coach Derek Lilliquist, hitting coach John Mabry, assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller, and bullpen coach Blaise Ilsley.
- The Reds have announced some coaching staff changes for 2016, with Mark Riggins taking over as the pitching coach and Tony Jaramillo joining the staff as assistant hitting coach. Per the club, Jim Riggleman will remain the bench coach under skipper Bryan Price, while Don Long (hitting), Billy Hatcher (third base), Freddie Benavides (first base), Mack Jenkins (bullpen), and Mike Stefanski (catching) all return.
- In an inter-division switch, the Brewers have hired away Derek Johnson from the Cubs to serve as their pitching coach, David Kaplan of CSN Chicago and ESPN Chicago reports on Twitter. Johnson had served as the minor league pitching coordinator in Chicago after a lengthy stint at Vanderbilt University’s outstanding baseball program.
Scott Servais A “Strong Front-Runner” For Mariners Manager
Just-hired Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto decided largely to start from scratch in constructing his team’s field staff, parting ways with incumbent skipper Lloyd McClendon and many of his coaches. Now, the club is joining the managerial market as it looks to develop a group of uniformed personnel that meshes well with the new front office.
We’ll keep track of the latest in this post:
- Servais is now the “strong front-runner” for the Mariners’ managerial opening, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times adds (also via Twitter) that Servais, like Dipoto, butted heads with manager Mike Scioscia at times and wasn’t expected to remain with the Angels.
Earlier Updates
- Angels assistant GM/director of player development Scott Servais, who has been rumored to be a candidate to join the club’s front office, is “gaining traction” as a managerial candidate, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Servais, of course, worked with Dipoto in the Angels’ front office but is said to have a desire to become a manager as well and has been linked to the Padres’ vacancy, too.
- One source told Dutton that Dipoto is interviewing five candidates. If that’s the case, he notes, the list of candidates would seem to be Servais, Bogar, Varitek, Montoyo and Nevin.
- Jon Heyman of CBS Sports hears that the Mariners have interviewed former big league catcher Jason Varitek for the position. Previous reports have indicated that it isn’t clear if Varitek would be interested in leaving his Boston-area home (and, more specifically, leaving his young children), so it’s not known if he will give the position serious consideration. Varitek doesn’t have managerial experience, though former major leaguers Brad Ausmus, Mike Matheny and Paul Molitor were all recently hired without prior experience.
- Rays coach Charlie Montoyo interviewed today for the job, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports on Twitter. He served as the club’s third base coach this year after an eight-year run as the manager for the Triple-A Durham Bulls.
- USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Mariners will interview Diamondbacks Triple-A manager and longtime Major Leaguer Phil Nevin (Twitter link). Nevin has been mentioned increasingly as a future Major League manager and has drawn interest from every club with a managerial vacancy this offseason.
- Angels special assistant Tim Bogar, who was once the interim skipper for the Rangers, has been mentioned as a possible front-runner from the job. He and Dipoto are not only former teammates, but worked together recently in Los Angeles.
- The club is also expected to show interest in a variety of other candidates. Among those mentioned thus far as at-least-hypothetical possibilities are Alex and Joey Cora, Padres bench coach Dave Roberts, Rays third base coach Charlie Montoya, former Pads manager Bud Black, long-time Mariners Raul Ibanez and Dan Wilson, and a host of others.
MLBTR Chat: Schwarber, Royals, Braves, Murphy, Padres
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