West Notes: Kennedy, Angels, Alvarez
Here’s the latest out of the game’s western divisions:
- Padres righty Ian Kennedy is headed to the 15-day DL, as Dennis Lin of theSan Diego Union-Tribune reports. Fortunately, Lin tweets, skipper Bud Black says that Kennedy already has shown improvement and that the team does not believe he’ll be out long. Then there is the fact that, as Jon Morosi of FOX Sports notes on Twitter, San Diego has solid rotation depth and will be comfortable handing the ball off to Odrisamer Despaigne.
- The fact that the city of Anaheim has a new lead negotiator does not change the Angels‘ stance in stadium talks, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports on Twitter. “Why would it change anything?” queried owner Arte Moreno. “We are not negotiating.”
- The Dodgers have been said to be indeed lining up as top contenders for the services of hyped Cuban hurler Yadier Alvarez. As Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has gone to watch Alvarez pitch in the Dominican Republic, where he established residency upon leaving Cuba.
Cubans Heredia, Gutierrez Nearing Free Agency
Two of Cuba’s most intriguing remaining prospects — outfielder Guillermo Heredia and righty Vladimir Gutierrez — appear to be nearing free agency, according to a report from Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (Twitter links).
The 24-year-old Heredia has established residency in Mexico and on Monday will submit his application to MLB to be declared a free agent. Baseball America’s Ben Badler rated Heredia just outside his top-ten list of Cuban prospects last fall, though he notes that the outfielder has been eclipsed by some other players since. Though he has at least one big power season to his credit in Cuba, Heredia’s calling cards are his defense in center and on-base ability.
Gutierrez, 19, is just days away from residency in Mexico, per Sanchez, and will presumably make his own application for free agency in short order thereafter. He has been training in Mexico since creating a stir by leaving his club during the Caribbean Series. Badler credits Gutierrez with a projectable frame and advanced curve, making him one of those players that has gained on Heredia in recent months.
Heredia will be exempt from international bonus limits, and he could field wide interest. The younger Gutierrez, meanwhile, will fall within the parameters of the spending limits, meaning that he will be off limits for those clubs that are currently serving two-year signing bans and that whichever club signs him will have to stay within its pool allocation or face a hefty overage tax and signing timeout.
Derek Holland To Be Shut Down For Four To Six Weeks
Rangers starter Derek Holland will not pick up a baseball for the next four to six weeks after being diagnosed with a sub-scapular strain, the club told reporters including Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
Holland left his start today after the first inning, continuing a nearly unimaginable string of pitching injuries for the club. Fortunately for Holland, surgery is not on the table, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest tweets. He’ll undergo a scan in a month, with the course of action determined from that point.
Texas did just sign veteran lefty Wandy Rodriguez to provide an additional option, and he figures to be the most likely candidate to join the big league rotation in the short term. Of course, the club may prefer not to begin paying out Rodriguez’s available incentives (which could reach $1.8MM), though his salary will be at the league-minimum rate.
Holland was not the only casualty in today’s action. The Rangers also saw outfielders Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Rua leave with injuries — back spasms and a sprained ankle, respectively — and could be left scrambling to fill in its lineup as well.
Minor Moves: Luis Merejo, James Harris
Here are the latest minor moves from around the game, all via Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (links to Twitter):
- The Braves have released lefty Luis Merejo, who has been out for quite some time after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The 20-year-old international signee had “shown promise” in his debut in the Gulf Coast League back in 2012, says Eddy, and indeed he struck out 11.6 and walked just 2.0 batters per nine in his first 41 professional innings.
- Outfielder James Harris, who had been released by the Rays, was signed by the Athletics. One of Tampa’s multiple sandwich picks back in 2011, Harris has slashed a meager .215/.291/.305 in 898 turns at bat in his career in the lower minors. He is still just 21 years of age, however.
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Minor Moves: Almonte, De Leon, McGuire
We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves right here:
- Zoilo Almonte has elected to become a free agent, as per the MLB.com transactions page. Almonte was outrighted off the Braves‘ 40-man roster last week and had the option of free agency or accepting an assignment to Triple-A. Almonte signed a Major League contract with Atlanta this offseason after spending his entire nine-year pro career in the Yankees organization, posting a .523 OPS over 149 plate appearances in 2013-14 at the MLB level.
- The Dodgers signed righty Jorge De Leon to a minor league deal, as per their official transactions page. De Leon switches uniforms for the fourth time since October after the A’s claimed him from the Astros, released, and signed by the Cubs during the offseason. De Leon has a 5.19 ERA, 10 walks and 10 strikeouts over 17 1/3 innings for Houston over the 2013-14 seasons.
- Earlier this week, the Dodgers signed right-hander Deck McGuire to a minor league deal, as announced by McGuire himself via Twitter. McGuire was taken by the Blue Jays with the 11th overall pick of the 2010 draft but he hasn’t fared well in 572 2/3 minor league innings, posting a 4.78 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. The righty was dealt to the A’s for cash considerations in July and then outrighted off Oakland’s 40-man roster in August.
- The Diamondbacks have loaned infielder Walter Ibarra to Monterrey of the Mexican League, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweets. Ibarra, 27, has yet to see big league action. In 489 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, he has slashed ..265/.301/.346. He has spent some time in past seasons playing in his native Mexico.
Future Payroll Obligations: Opening Day Update
As I explored back at the start of the offseason, future salary obligations play a huge role in guiding teams as they invest in new acquisitions and in extensions. While expected pay-outs through arbitration must obviously be weighed as well, they are entirely within the control of the team. Guaranteed cash, however, is on the books to stay — unless it can be offloaded.
I thought it would be interesting to take a look at where things stand now, with both the free agent, pre-season trade, and extension seasons pretty much wrapped up. We already know which teams have been aggressive in making upgrades, but how have those moves impacted their future balance sheets?
Here are the total commitments, by team and in millions of dollars (note post-2023 obligations merged into one column), courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts:
(Link for app users or for full-size.)
*That last column represents how much in total future obligations (2016-onward) each team has added or taken away since we last looked in mid-November. While factors like discount rate play a role in exactly how you value future cash promises, this provides a rough guide to how much flexibility has been sacrificed down the line. Thus, we see that the Marlins — in large part due to the Giancarlo Stanton extension — have taken on the most of any team in future, leaping from the last-ranked club on the list just five months ago to the number seven team in long-term spending.
**You’ll also note that the Nationals’ heavily-deferred Max Scherzer contract shows up with the salary as allocated during the years he is actually under roster control. That is how Cot’s tabulates things, and I kept it that way in part because there are other purely financial deferral situations that would need to be accounted for.
All said, just over $2.1B in new future commitments were added since mid-November. Here it is in a more visually comprehensible form:
NL West Notes: Capellan, D’Backs, Tomas, Dodgers
Former big league reliever Jose Capellan, who last pitched for the Rockies in 2008, died unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack earlier this week, ESPNDeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas reports (Spanish language link). Capellan, just 34 years of age, tossed 123 1/3 big league frames over five years, working to a 4.89 ERA. MLBTR extends its condolences to his family and friends around the game.
Here are some notes out of the NL West:
- The Diamondbacks deserve credit for putting their best team on the field to start the year, regardless of contract status, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic argues. Arizona parted with Trevor Cahill and Cody Ross while moving Aaron Hill to a reserve role (in which it will be harder for him to build trade value). And the team has moved up the timeline of youngsters Jake Lamb and Archie Bradley, while also giving starting roles to Chris Owings and Nick Ahmed, rather than playing the service time game with those players.
- Yasmany Tomas just wrapped up his first spring with the Diamondbacks, but the club has already planned to institute a “weight goal” for the sizable slugger, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. “I think fitness-wise, he needs to get in better shape,” said manager Chip Hale. “He knows that. He worked really hard all spring. It’s not just working hard, it’s how you eat and learning a new country and all these things. I mean, it hasn’t been easy for him. For me he performed really well for where he was at coming to a new country.”
- The Dodgers are running a significant risk with their rotation, writes Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. With Hyun-jin Ryu still very much a subject of concern for skipper Don Mattingly, the team is highly reliant on the health of Zack Greinke‘s right elbow.
Minor Moves: White, Presley, Capps, Perez, Smoker
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Astros outfielder Alex Presley has cleared waivers and is now deciding whether to accept his outright assignment, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). He is expected to accept the assignment in order to retain his $1MM salary, per the report. Righty Alex White has also cleared waivers and has been assigned to Houston’s Triple-A affiliate, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets.
- Veteran righty Matt Capps has re-signed with the Braves, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reports on Twitter. The former Nationals closer had been with the club this spring but was released. Capps, 31, gave up two long balls in his only two innings of work, and has thrown just 12 professional innings over the last two seasons.
- The Mariners have loaned lefty Rafael Perez to Mexico’s Quintana Roo Tigers, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune tweets. Perez, 32, was once a mainstay in the Indians’ pen and owns a 3.64 ERA over 329 big league innings. His peripherals declined, however, and he has not pitched in the big leagues since 2012. Perez has put up strong numbers in the upper minors over the last two years, however, and even returned to working as a starter last year.
- Former top draft pick Josh Smoker has signed with the Mets, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports. The 26-year-old, who washed out of the Nationals’ system, is said to be working back into the mid-90s with his fastball.
Athletics Designate Alex Hassan
The Athletics have designated outfielder Alex Hassan for assignment, the club announced. Oakland cleared roster space for the just-signed Cody Ross with this move and an optional assignment for Billy Burns.
Hassan, 27, has only minimal time in the big leagues. But he has slashed .282/.378/.426 in four seasons at the Triple-A level, suggesting that he possesses a high-OBP, relatively low-power bat that could be useful in a reserve role in the bigs.
Hassan bounced around quite a bit over the offseason. In fact, he was claimed by the A’s on two separate occasions, which also means this is the second time he has been designated by the team in the last few months.