Marlins Designate Arquimedes Caminero
The Marlins have designated righty Arquimedes Caminero for assignment, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Caminero, 27, has been in the Miami organization since the then-Florida Marlins signed him out of the Dominican Republic back in 2005.
Caminero has had some ups and downs in only two brief MLB stints. In 2013, he worked to a 2.77 ERA over 13 frames, but last year he was torched for eight earned runs in just 6 2/3 innings.
Caminero has had no trouble missing bats at all levels, averaging 11.0 K/9 over nine minor league campaigns and whiffing better than a batter an inning in the bigs. He has struggled somewhat with the free pass (4.5 BB/9 in the minors), but his mid-90s fastball will surely draw some interest from other organizations.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Wednesday
Here are the day’s lower-cost arbitration settlements:
- The Mets have avoided arbitration with righty Jenrry Mejia for $2.595MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. After opening as a starter last year, Mejia took over closing duties for New York and held onto the role for much of the year. The 25-year-old racked up 28 saves at an opportune time — entering his Super Two year — which led to a $3.1MM projection from MLBTR/Matt Swartz. While Mejia did not reach that mark, he did come in just above the midpoint between the sides’ filing figures and has set himself up nicely for future earnings.
Minor Moves: Jeremy Horst
We’ll keep tabs on minor moves around the league here:
- The Dodgers have inked lefty Jeremy Horst to a minor league deal, his agency ONYX Sports Management tweeted yesterday (h/t to SB Nation’s Eric Stephen). Horst, 29, had an outstanding 2012 (1.15 ERA, 2.39 FIP in 31 1/3 innings) but struggled in 2013 for the Phillies. Last year, he tossed 63 1/3 innings of 3.98 ERA ball for the Phils’ top affiliate. Horst has held opposing lefties to a .241/.336/.352 line in the big leagues, but has been hit hard (.792 OPS) by righties.
Angels Avoid Arbitration With David Freese
The Angels have avoided arbitration with third baseman David Freese, Mike Perchick of WAPT tweets. Freese will earn $6.425MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports on Twitter.
That settlement amount represents the exact mid-point between the player and team filing points. Freese, a client of CAA Sports, ultimately lands just $125K over the projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. His signing leaves the Halos with two players — Matt Joyce and Garrett Richards — with open arbitration cases.
The 31-year-old will enter his second season in Los Angeles coming off of a mixed 2014 campaign. On the one hand, he posted a career-worst .704 OPS (.260/.321/.383) and scored middling-to-poor defensive ratings. On the other hand, that roughly league-average offensive output landed a reasonable sight above replacement level for the hot corner, and Freese’s total worth came out to 1.3 rWAR and 2.1 fWAR.
Braves Designate Jose Constanza For Assignment
The Braves have designated outfielder Jose Constanza for assignment, the club announced. His roster spot will go to Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano, whose signing was also announced today after being reported last month.
Constanza, 31, has seen only 240 plate appearances at the big league level over the last four seasons, compiling a .273/.316/.323 slash. He has spent quite some time at the Triple-A level, logging 2,073 trips to the plate and a .303/.358/.352 batting line and 122 stolen bases over the last five years.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Constanza exceeded expectations with a nice .724 OPS run in 119 turns at bat back in 2011. But he was and remains more of a reserve or organizational depth piece, with his speed and ability to play center his two main calling cards.
Minor Moves: Morris, Stewart, Herrmann
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- First baseman Hunter Morris has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, the Brewers announced this week. Morris was at one point considered to be the Brewers’ first baseman of the future, and he posted an impressive .303/.357/.563 batting line at Double-A in 2012. However, he’s slipped to a .260/.315/.453 line in two seasons at Triple-A and missed time with a fractured forearm this season. Morris will play the coming season at age 26.
- The Angels have signed right-hander Zach Stewart to a minor league deal with no invite to Spring Training, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Stewart, 28, once looked to be a fairly promising prospect but has registered just a 6.82 ERA in 103 innings with the Blue Jays, White Sox and Red Sox. The former Reds third-rounder has a lifetime 4.15 ERA in 364 2/3 Triple-A innings.
- The Angels announced the signing of righty Frank Herrmann to a minor league deal with a spring invite, via Twitter. The 30-year-old last worked in the bigs back in 2012, and owns a 4.26 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 over 120 1/3 career frames. After Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2013, Herrmann struggled last year in 29 2/3 Triple-A frames with the Indians, the only organization he had previously played for.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Tuesday
Here are the day’s minor arbitration settlements, with all projections coming via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz (remember that all arb situations can be monitored via MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker):
- Shortstop Brandon Crawford and the Giants have settled on a one-year deal worth $3.175MM, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). Crawford, arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, had filed at $3.95MM, while the team had countered with an offer of $2.4MM. His eventual salary represents the exact midpoint between those two figures, as Heyman notes. The 28-year-old Crawford, considered to be a standout defender at shortstop, turned in his best season to date with the bat in 2014, posting career-bests in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs. He did well to top Swartz’s $2.5MM projection by a significant margin.
- The Royals have agreed to terms with outfielder Jarrod Dyson, Heyman reports on Twitter. Dyson will receive $1.225MM next year, landing just under the midpoint between the two sides’ submission points and his projection of $1.3MM. Dyson, 30, has a marginal bat but is a major threat on the basepaths (36 stolen bases last year despite just 290 plate appearances) and a stellar defender (36.4 UZR/150 in 2014).
Pitching Notes: Johan, Shields, Twins
Most of the meat left on the free agent bone belongs to the pitching segment of the market. Indeed, five of the seven players who I listed this morning as intriguing free agents were right-handed pitchers.
Here’s the latest on some arms from around the league:
- There was more cloudy news out of Venezuela regarding Johan Santana‘s comeback attempt, as his agent tells Jon Morosi of FOX Sports that he will not attempt to pitch again in the winter league. (Twitter links.) Santana may still aim to take a mound for scouts, but any such plans are “unclear” at this point.
- The Angels are still not interested in chasing James Shields, even if his price may have dropped somewhat, GM Jerry Dipoto tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter).
- For their part, the Twins have no intentions of going after free agent righties John Axford and Alexi Ogando, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune tweets. As he notes, the market has several attractive right-handed relief arms, though it is not clear whether Minnesota has any interest in adding to its pen. Both Axford and Ogando made my list of interesting players to watch. I consider the pair to be among the remaining free agents who could either break out or break down in 2015.
NL Notes: Nats, D’Backs, Rockies
Former Nationals minor leaguer Justin Bloxom transitioned quickly from a stalled playing career to re-joining the organization as a scout, Chelsea James of the Washington Post writes. The eleventh-rounder was part of a productive 2009 draft for the team, which will now hope to extract value from him in a somewhat different manner.
- The Diamondbacks are comfortable with their budget sitting in the low-$90MM range, GM Dave Stewart tells MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. Arizona is open to moving more salary but will not sacrifice on-field performance to do so, per Stewart. The most likely avenue to savings, says Gilbert, would be shedding some portion of the large tabs owed righty Trevor Cahill and outfielder Cody Ross.
- Rockies GM Jeff Bridich says that it is “highly, highly unlikely” that the team will make a deal involving either of the club’s two biggest stars (Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez), Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. That is no surprise, of course: there have always been multiple, significant barriers to a deal this offseason, and any earlier momentum seems to have died in recent weeks.
Cuba Links: Unblocking, Moncada, Olivera
We looked yesterday at the latest on the slowly-moving Yoan Moncada signing eligibility process. Today, there’s an update to that story as well as some more interesting info on the always-intriguing Cuban market:
- It is Major League Baseball, not the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), that is currently holding up Moncada’s freedom to sign, reports Baseball America’s Ben Badler. Though MLB has already declared him a free agent, and Moncada has met the standards for a “general license” that would leave him free to sign (“unblocked”) in OFAC’s eyes, the league is not permitting Moncada (and others) to reach eligibility based on that general license. Instead, per Badler, MLB has required players since Yasiel Puig to apply for and receive a “specific license,” creating up to a six-month delay. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez adds (via Twitter) that OFAC changed its rules four years ago, with the additional step (presumably, the specific license) being added at some intervening point.
- As Badler explains, if the process drags on long enough, it could create some intrigue, as teams like the Yankees and Red Sox will face a two-year international signing ban (for all but sub-$300K bonus amounts) beginning on June 15 of this year.
- Fellow second basemen Hector Olivera and Andy Ibanez, among other players, are awaiting their specific licenses, like Moncada, Badler notes.
- Olivera, of course, is more of a plug-and-play option than the other, young Cuban middle infielders. Baseball America passes on some video of Olivera, who cuts rather an imposing figure for a second baseman. Badler wrote up Olivera’s efforts yesterday, noting that the Padres, Giants, Athletics, and Braves had significant presences in the stands.