NL Notes: Yelich, Braves, Guerrero, Dodgers Pen
MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro discusses the path that led the Marlins to link up with young outfielder Christian Yelich on a still-unofficial extension. After exploratory talks last year, the team waited to see how other spending scenarios would shake out — including, notably, James Shields — before revisiting discussions with several younger players. Negotiations with Yelich gained traction when the team made clear it would beat Anthony Rizzo‘s seven-year, $41MM deal, says Frisaro, and proceeded quickly from that point. Frisaro will discuss that and other Marlins matters as a guest on tomorrow’s MLBTR Podcast.
Here’s more from the National League:
- The Braves are in a better situation than many realize, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince argues. Internally, Atlanta thinks it could have a winning record and may even stay in the Wild Card picture. And in the grander scheme, the organization has improved its financial flexibility and added some interesting, upper-level arms. “What we didn’t want to have happen,” said assistant GM John Coppolella, “is finish this year .500, and then we lose [Jason] Heyward and [Justin] Upton and get back Draft picks 35 and 36 and we’re like, ‘What the heck just happened?’ Then we’d be in deep trouble for the next five or six years.” President of baseball operations John Hart explained things this way: “We’ve tried to walk down the parallel line to allow ourselves a chance to be competitive.”
- Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly praised the defensive improvements shown by infielder Alex Guerrero, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports. Los Angeles has moved him all over the diamond in an effort to expand his versatility and see where he fits most comfortably. The club will either need to put Guerrero on the big league roster or take a big hit on his four-year, $28MM deal to move him.
- After an offseason full of organizational change, the Dodgers bullpen still remains unsettled, Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. At the moment, the only sure things for the Opening Day roster, per Saxon, are J.P. Howell, Chris Hatcher, and Joel Peralta, with Kenley Jansen and possibly Brandon League out with injuries. Juan Nicasio and Dustin McGowan also seem good bets, though veteran non-roster invitees Mike Adams and Sergio Santos are battling. That latter duo could end up fighting for one spot, with the loser heading to the minors to start the year.
Hector Olivera Likely To Sign By End Of Week
Cuban infielder Hector Olivera is “likely” to sign by the end of this week, agent Greg Genske tells Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Olivera is still looking for a team to promise him a sixth year, the report indicates.
The Braves have reportedly put in an offer of four years and $40MM that is said to be “behind the pack,” per Heyman’s source. Multiple other clubs have reportedly shown a willingness to guarantee five years, possibly over $50MM, though Heyman says that the precise value (and source) of the other bids are not known.
Among the other clubs that have shown interest, of course, are the Dodgers, Padres, and Giants. Heyman says it is unclear at this point how involved the Marlins and Athletics are, though recent reports indicated that Miami still has interest at seven years and $50MM, perhaps representing a lower AAV than Olivera prefers.
Minor Moves: Luis Sierra
We’ll keep track of the day’s minor moves here:
- The White Sox have released catcher Luis Sierra, according to the International League transactions page. The 27-year-old Colombian briefly reached the Triple-A level last year but has spent most of his recent time at Double-A. Over 399 plate appearances at that level, he owns a .230/.299/.298 slash line.
Giants Not Actively Pursuing Outfielder
TODAY: The Giants’ inquiry regarding Craig actually took place before Spring Training opened, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. In other words, it was not in response to Pence’s injury.
YESTERDAY: As they prepare to open the season without star right fielder Hunter Pence, the Giants are not presently in active pursuit of another outfield option, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com reports on Twitter. If an addition is made, says Gammons, the club would be looking for a power bat.
San Francisco did recently inquire with the Red Sox on veteran Allen Craig, per the report, but found that Boston was not interested in “selling low.” Craig’s name has come up repeatedly this winter as a trade candidate; after struggling through 2014 and heading to the Sox in a deadline deal, he found himself battling with numerous other viable candidates for a roster spot. His trade value, of course, is weighed down by the $26.5MM left on his contract. Most recently, however, reports out of Boston indicated that the team expects to open the season with him on the 25-man roster.
While losing Pence for a significant stretch was undoubtedly a blow, it is at least somewhat surprising to learn that the team actually showed interest in Craig, particularly since he would not appear to have much of a role when Pence returns. After all, the Giants seemingly utilized their available payroll space over the offseason, and have a reasonable temporary replacement in Gregor Blanco.
On the other hand, the club does figure to have a rather left-leaning lineup at present. Regardless, the report seemingly suggests that San Francisco was not inclined to take on a large portion of Craig’s deal, echoing prior reports that the team would only be interested in a low-risk acquisition of the former All-Star. And with no current efforts underway, Blanco remains the odds-on favorite to keep Pence’s seat warm in the season’s early going.
Blue Jays Sign Randy Wolf
WEDNESDAY: The Blue Jays have officially announced the signing. Wolf will be in minor-league camp.
MONDAY: The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran lefty Randy Wolf, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter), who cites big league umpire Jim Wolf (Randy’s brother) as the source of the news. Wolf showcased for the Jays recently, as Gideon Turk of BlueJaysPlus.com tweeted. Wolf would earn $800K on the big league roster and can opt out on June 1, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
Wolf, 38, tossed 25 2/3 innings last year for the Marlins, posting a 5.26 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. He also spent time in the Diamondbacks, Angels, and Orioles systems. Before all that happened, he turned down a chance to open the year as a member of the Mariners rotation because he refused to sign an advance-consent form late in the spring. (MLBTR’s Zach Links reported on the details of that situation here.)
For Toronto, the 15-year major leaguer represents another depth piece, joining Johan Santana and Jeff Francis as veteran southpaw options. One or more members of that grouping could conceivably provide some versatility at the MLB level by operating as a longman, LOOGY, and/or spot starter. With Marcus Stroman out for the year, the club is obviously looking to ensure it has arms lined up to last the season.
Rangers Release Scott Cousins
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Rangers have released former big leaguer Scott Cousins, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. As Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News explains, the one-time outfielder was working out as a left-handed pitcher, though he never made it into game action. The thirty-year-old spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues, compiling a .179/.230/.285 slash over 193 plate appearances.
Rob Manfred On International Draft
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the possibility of the introduction of an international draft, coming forward rather strongly in support of the concept, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports. “I am of the view that at some point, for the good of the game, for the good of competitive balance, we are going to have an international draft,” said Manfred.
The notion of some draft mechanism has, of course, been widely discussed recently, but the newly-minted commissioner’s evident favor toward the idea is a notable development. In the analysis of Baseball America’s Ben Badler, via Twitter, today’s comments represent Manfred’s “strongest words yet on wanting an international draft.” Significant practical considerations remain, of course, although Manfred has already proved a willingness to try new things in implementing new pace-of-play measures.
Manfred emphasized that his comments were aimed in a general direction, and do not necessarily mean that he has designs on a unified draft. “I mean this in the broadest possible sense,” he said. “Whether it’s one draft, two drafts. … I won’t comment on those details. Conceptually a single modality of entry in the draft system has always been very appealing to me.”
In his comments, Manfred indicated that his thinking was driven by recent changes in the international market. Teams have triggered maximum penalties for exceeding their pools on players from countries other than Cuba, but recent political changes have led to increasing numbers of Cuban nationals streaming into free agency — many of them subject to international bonus spending limits. All said, the league’s spending cap system increasingly appears out of date, as Manfred explained:
“Frankly, we thought we made progress on the international side in terms of caps and penalties we put in place,” Manfred explained. “Two years into the deal we felt pretty good about where we were. What happened? With the relaxation that’s taken place with respect of Cuban players it has put a stress test on that international system. Frankly, it’s proved wanting.”
The reason for the cap system, as Manfred frames it, was to ensure “that the weakest team had the ability to get the best talent at an affordable price.” As Badler notes, however, controlling costs is also a key element for the league.
Resolving those considerations and addressing the practical barriers to an international draft will, of course, be matters for the collective bargaining process between the league and player’s union. Manfred expressed confidence in working with his counterpart, MLBPA chief Tony Clark, who also is relatively new to his role. While it is theoretically possible that international changes could be negotiated at any time, the likeliest scenario appears to be that the matter will be a key element in broader talks for a new CBA to replace the Basic Agreement that expires on December 1, 2016.
AL Notes: Santiago, Sabathia, Iannetta
Blue Jays infielder Ramon Santiago will miss approximately ten weeks with a broken collarbone, GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters, including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm (via Twitter). The 35-year-old, 13-year big league veteran had been in the mix for a utility role with Toronto.
Here’s more from the American League:
- Veteran Yankees hurler C.C. Sabathia worked in the low 90s today with his fastball, a scout tells Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). Feinsand notes that Sabathia is well ahead of his build-up last year, which turned out to be by far his worst season as a professional. New York would be grateful if Sabathia could simply produce as a league-average starter, though the former Cy Young winner obviously has greater upside than that even at age 34.
- Angels backstop Chris Iannetta is working to improve his receiving this spring, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports. Iannetta says he was surprised to find that his framing numbers were sub-par. “I get really good reviews from umpires in what I do and how I work, and I see some discrepancies,” Iannetta said. “It’s disappointing. So my goal is to get as good as I can. Be in the top five, top 10, try to get better, see what the guys who do really well are doing mechanically.” Iannetta discusses in some detail how he approaches the dark art of manipulating balls into strikes, which has only recently been reduced to numbers (and translated into runs and wins). If he can show improvement in that department this year, Iannetta could have broad appeal as a free agent next winter given his above-average bat.
Boras Challenges Cubs Regarding Kris Bryant
Agent Scott Boras had strong words today for Cubs ownership regarding the timeline of the promotion of top prospect Kris Bryant, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. In the view of Boras, the team — and, in particular, its final decisionmakers — must decide whether to prioritize winning over long-term contractual matters.
At base, the issue revolves around service time and major league readiness. By keeping the 23-year-old Bryant in the minors even for just two weeks to start the 2015 campaign, the club can prevent him from accruing a full year of service and thus delay his free agency by a full season. The controversy over Bryant is not a new one, of course; we saw similar debates last year, for example, involving players such as Gregory Polanco. It is, however, in particularly sharp focus given the player’s massive potential — as exhibited in his outstanding spring performance thus far (six home runs in 23 plate appearances) — and the club’s own emergent competitiveness.
“Cubs ownership has a choice,” said Boras. “Are they going to present to their market that they are trying to win? [Cubs owner] Tom Ricketts said they were all about winning.” In addressing the issue, Boras compared Bryant to several other top prospects who were allowed to start the year with their clubs in spite of service considerations, often with successful results. He had particular criticism for the team’s decision not to call up Bryant late last year, saying: “I believe the issue with Kris Bryant is not whether he should be on the 2015 team. The issue is, why wasn’t he called up in September of last year when he could have prepared for the 2015 season?” In comments to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Boras was even more strident, saying that holding Bryant down is tantamount to “damaging the ethics and brand of Major League Baseball.”
In response, club president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said that the decision whether to include Bryant on the active roster to start the year was his alone, upon consultation with his front office team. “Comments from agents, media members, and anybody outside our organization will be ignored,” he said.
Epstein emphasized that there is more at play than contract status. “As I told Kris last September and again at the start of spring training, we view him as nearly big league ready,” Epstein said. “The remaining area for improvement is his defense — something Kris agrees with. Kris is 6-foot-5 and a half and therefore faces obstacles other third baseman don’t face.”
Though Epstein held out the possibility of Bryant heading north with the team, he noted that lingering shoulder soreness was playing a role in the decision:
“More than anything, we want him to get in a good rhythm defensively before he makes his major-league debut. That has not happened yet, in part due to some shoulder fatigue that is not a concern but has limited the amount of game action he’s been able to have at third base. If enough time remains to get Kris into a good rhythm defensively at we may consider putting him on the club. If not, we see nothing wrong with using the early part of the season at Iowa to get him in that rhythm.”
As for the notion that Bryant should have received a September call-up to prepare him to start 2015 in the bigs, Epstein tells Nightengale that the decision was made in part based upon the fact that Bryant had just experienced his first full professional season. “When we talked after the season,” Epstein said, “he was really happy how he held up physically, but he’s an honest kid, and said that he was little mentally drained from the grind of the long season. I think it was the right thing, let a guy go through his first full season, and feel good about the numbers he put up.”
Bryant entered the year as a consensus top-three prospect league wide after destroying the upper minors last year in his first full season as a professional. Over 594 plate appearances split evenly between Double-A and Triple-A, he slashed .325/.438/.661 and hit 43 home runs. Of course, as Epstein notes, observers agree that there remains some polish to be applied to his work at the hot corner.
As for the Cubs roster, one major impediment to significant early playing time for Bryant was removed over the offseason when the team dealt away the solid Luis Valbuena. But Chicago traded for Tommy La Stella as another cheap, youthful option and also has former prospect Mike Olt in camp.
Nationals Release Jeff Kobernus
The Nationals announced that they released utilityman Jeff Kobernus today. The 26-year-old was once rated a top-twenty organizational prospect in D.C.
Kobernus, a second-round pick back in 2009, has seen limited big league action in each of the last two seasons. With just 44 MLB plate appearances to his name, most of his time over 2013-14 was spent at the Triple-A level, where he owns a .296/.356/.378 slash with 57 steals in 647 total turns at bat.
Primarily a second baseman, Kobernus has diversified his defensive repertoire by spending time in the outfield of late. As with outfielder Eury Perez and infielder Zach Walters, both of whom were parted with last year, Kobernus was an upper-level depth piece who no longer had a place in the organization.