Minor Moves: Kottaras, Getz, Greene
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Indians catcher George Kottaras has accepted his assignment to Triple-A, the club announced. He had the right to elect free agency, but will instead stay with the Cleveland organization.
- Second baseman Chris Getz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, according to a tweet from the Blue Jays‘ top affiliate announcing his activation (hat tip to MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm). The 30-year-old has played in over 450 MLB games in parts of seven seasons, but saw action in just ten contests this year for Toronto before being cleared from the 40-man. Getz will pick back up in the upper minors with a .309/.382/.338 triple-slash (with 6 stolen bases) through 76 plate appearances.
- The Braves have signed outfielder Justin Greene to a minor league deal, according to the MLB transactions page. Greene, a 28-year-old career farmhand, reached the Triple-A level with the White Sox organization in 2011 and 2012, but managed only a .244/.310/.395 line in 301 plate appearances there. Greene had a solid season for the Diamondbacks’ Double-A affiliate last year (.308/.377/.413 with 31 stolen bases), but was off to a rough .174/.245/.239 start in his first 102 trips to the plate in 2014.
- As reflected in MLBTR’s DFA Tracker, Carlos Marmol (Marlins) is the only player currently in DFA limbo. George Kottaras (Indians) is still deciding whether or not to accept his outright assignment.
Extension Notes: Springer, Polanco, Sandoval, Ramirez
Here are some notes on past, present, and future extension situations around the game:
- The Astros‘ extension offer to then-unpromoted prospect George Springer actually would have guaranteed him just $7.6MM over four years, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. This news represents a correction of Rosenthal’s original report, which cited a $23MM guarantee over seven years. In fact, says, Rosenthal, the $23MM would only have been reached through the exercise of three club options, which would have covered years five through seven of the deal. While this certainly changes the nature of the cost/benefit equation that Springer faced, he would have been subject to team control through 2020 regardless — as is the case at present.
- Likewise, Rosenthal clarifies some details of the offer made by the Pirates to fellow top outfield prospect Gregory Polanco, reporting that the team’s offer would have guaranteed six or seven years in the range of $20MM to $25MM. The length and total guarantee would have shifted based upon whether or not Polanco qualified for an additional year of salary arbitration as a Super Two player. (In that respect, then, the offer looks to be quite similar to the terms agreed upon by the Rays with Chris Archer. As MLBTR reported, Archer’s $25.5MM guarantee hinges upon whether he reaches Super Two status, as expected; if he does not qualify, he would be promised just $20MM.)
- Rosenthal also touches on the situation of free agent-to-be Pablo Sandoval of the Giants. Though talks are currently not taking place, the club is not “ruling out” making another run at an extension for the third baseman. On the other hand, Rosenthal notes that San Francisco could consider adding a different player at the hot corner through free agency or could look to piece together a platoon. Sandoval, who landed in the ninth slot in MLBTR’s first 2015 Free Agent Power Rankings, has struggled to a .191/.262/.294 start through his first 149 plate appearances in 2014.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says that he is still interested in trying to lock up another pending free agent, shortstop Hanley Ramirez, according to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Ramirez took the top spot in MLBTR’s list of the top 2015 free agents heading into the year. While he has struggled at the plate recently, Ramirez still owns a .257/.339/.447 slash with five home runs and three stolen bases through 171 plate appearances, though defensive metrics have been down on his work in the field in the early going. “He’s still somebody we’d love to have back,” said Colletti, who noted that he has conveyed that continued interest to Ramirez’s representation.
NL Notes: Mets, deGrom, Montero, Phillies, Padres
Mets co-owner Saul Katz has indicated interest in selling his share of the club, which is held in partnership with team chairman and CEO Fred Wilpon, reports Michael Schmidt of the New York Times. According to the report, while Katz is concerned with jeopardizing Wilpon’s control over the team, he is nevertheless wary of continuing to pump cash into the organization. For his part, Katz denied that he had such an intention through a statement released to the press. Sources told Schmidt that the team is expected to continue losing money this year and suggested that payroll is not likely to “jump substantially” in the near future.
Here’s more from New York and the rest of the National League:
- As suspected, the Mets will call up prospect Jacob deGrom to take a bullpen slot, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The move is part of a series of maneuvers through which the team has begun shifting future assets onto its big league roster, writes Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Baseball America ranked deGrom tenth among the team’s prospects coming into the year, noting that he could eventually develop into a mid-rotation starter.
- Perhaps the more important Mets promotion was that of fellow young hurler Rafael Montero, who will step into the team’s rotation. As Ben Badler of Baseball America notes on Twitter, Montero was inked for a mere $80K just three years ago after the club saw him impress in a Dominican Prospect League outing.
- The Phillies bench is in a state of flux amidst serious struggles, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. Infielder Jayson Nix was just outrighted, while recently demoted utilityman Freddy Galvis fractured his clavicle upon his return to the minors. Meanwhile, John Mayberry Jr. and Tony Gwynn Jr. are struggling as reserve outfielders, and the team currently has just one utility infielder on its roster in Reid Brignac. While a recovering Darin Ruf could see another shot at the bigs, as could infielder/outfielder Cesar Hernandez, top prospect Maikel Franco is likely not going to be called up for a bench role. Philadelphia is still just four games back in a densely-packed NL East, and it will be fascinating (as always) to see how GM Ruben Amaro Jr. attacks the trade market this summer if the team stays within striking distance.
- While the Padres have seemingly been snakebitten in the early-career extensions they have entered, GM Josh Byrnes remains committed to his thought process, writes Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “When they don’t work out, they are not killers, but they hurt,” said Byrnes. “We need our dollars to hit their targets, but I think the concept is still good. … The whole model for 20 years is the club is giving some security and taking some risk and sometimes it doesn’t work out.” Of course, the team most recently moved to lock up young infielder Jedd Gyorko to a $35MM pact.
AL Notes: Orioles, Rodney, Sabathia, A’s Catchers
We just looked at the latest from the AL Central; here are some notes from the rest of the American League:
- The Orioles will not discuss contract extensions during the season, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. “We’re not going to be exploring any extensions during the season,” said Executive VP Dan Duquette. “… Once the season starts, I think it benefits the team and the players and the fans to keep the focus on the field and the players on the field.” While star center fielder Adam Jones was inked to a mid-season extension back in 2012, Duquette explained that was a different situation since “we started that discussion during the winter, and it extended into the season.” The team is not presently in talks with any of its current crop of pending free agents, Duquette said. While shortstop J.J. Hardy had been linked to contract chatter during the spring, he and fellow free-agents-to-be Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis will seemingly be allowed to test the open market. (MLBTR’s Steve Adams just took a look an early look at the free agent case of Markakis.)
- Mariners closer Fernando Rodney said today that he wanted to stay with the Rays but never received a contract offer, reports Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link). Rodney added that he received two-year offers from the Mets, Orioles, and Indians, in addition to a one-year offer from the Yankees, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Of course, Rodney ultimately went to Seattle for two years and $14MM.
- Yankees hurler C.C. Sabathia is headed to see Dr. James Andrews, tweets Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com, though thankfully the issue is in his knee rather than his left elbow. As MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch writes, the visit is viewed as precautionary, as a recent MRI showed no structural issues. “The best-case scenario is, CC gets the knee drained, rests for five days and gets a couple of bullpens under his belt and he takes the start after he comes off the DL,” said GM Brian Cashman. “That’s the best-case scenario. I’m not saying that’s the scenario we’re dealing with yet, but that’s the best.” The club will hope that proves to be the result, as its rotation is already dealing with several notable injuries. Needless to say, any ongoing issues with Sabathia would only further enhance New York’s starting pitcher needs at the trade deadline.
- The Athletics have gained more production from the catching spot than any other American League club through the combination of Derek Norris and John Jaso, writes John Hickey of Bay Area News Group. Heading into today’s action, the platoon pair had combined for an impressive .338/.419/.507 triple-slash. Indeed, that line has actually been good enough to vault the A’s catching unit into the league lead by measure of fWAR, with a healthy 1.9 wins above replacement through just 184 plate appearances. Both players came to Oakland through trades involving the Nationals, with Norris a piece in the Gio Gonzalez trade and Jaso heading down from the Mariners in the three-team Michael Morse deal.
West Notes: Belt, Giants, Quentin, Napoli
The Giants received some tough news tonight, as young first baseman Brandon Belt suffered a broken thumb on a hit-by-pitch, CSNBayArea.com’s Andrew Baggarly tweets. San Francisco does have internal options, Baggarly writes, with recent signee Travis Ishikawa and career minor leaguer Adam Duvall on the team’s Triple-A roster. Among currently active players, outfielder Michael Morse has spent significant time at first. The best bet in the immediate term, Baggarly says, is for Buster Posey to shift from behind the plate.
Here’s more from San Francisco and some other western division clubs …
- Even before Belt’s injury, the Giants were already looking forward to some roster moves with righty Matt Cain and lefty David Huff nearing returns from the DL. As Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, the club will probably not try to sneak one of their so-far-outstanding relievers through waivers. Instead, outfielder Juan Perez and pen arm George Kontos will likely lose their spots since they can be optioned down.
- Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin is nearing a return, which could come on the team’s upcoming road swing, reports Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Quentin signed a three-year extension in the middle of the 2012 season that guarantees him $27MM through 2015 and includes a $10MM option ($3MM buyout) for 2016. While Quentin has done nothing but hit when healthy — he had a 145 OPS+ last year in a half-season of work — injuries have limited his time on the field. Sporting a league-worst 67 wRC+, San Diego will no doubt hope that Quentin can begin to make good on his contract. But with the club buried well back in the NL West, a healthy and productive return from Quentin could hypothetically make him a trade target this year or next.
- Former Rangers backstop Mike Napoli said today that he thought about returning to Texas before re-signing with the Red Sox, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports. “If there was any other place I’d be happy playing,” said Napoli, who has since converted to first, “it’d be Texas.” Though the Rangers showed interest in Napoli last November, he told his agent that he preferred to stay in Boston. “I don’t think it ever got to where push came to shove,” Napoli said of talks with his previous team.
AL Notes: Ramirez, Baker, Twins, Hoffman
MLB is nearing agreement on a plan to send an All-Star squad off to Japan this November for a series against the Japanese national team, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Of course, the league has a rich history of sending its best on tour to one of the world’s great ballplaying nations.
Here are some notes from around the American League:
- Manny Ramirez is still looking for another opportunity, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. While recent contact with the Orioles failed to materialize into an offer, a scout who has seen Ramirez work out recently said that the 42-year-old slugger looks fit and was impressive with the bat. Agent Alex Esteban tells Heyman that most of the interest has come from American League teams, though several NL clubs have checked in as well. MLBTR’s Zach Links reported back in February that Ramirez had elected to join Miami Sports Management.
- The Rangers regretted the need to designate Scott Baker for assignment after a brief call-up, reports MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. With Baker needing several days of rest after throwing 5 1/3 innings of relief in his only appearance, and the bullpen looking overworked, GM Jon Daniels said the move was an unfortunate necessity. “He did everything we asked,” said Daniels. “Unfortunately we are at a spot where the bullpen is taxed because our starters are not getting deep into games.” (Of course, the most recent Rangers starter — ace Yu Darvish — did manage to go deep in tonight’s game.) As for Baker’s fate, Daniels says that the club will “see if there is trade interest” but otherwise will place him on outright waivers.
- With the fifth overall slot in the upcoming amateur draft, the Twins could be eyeing either high school shortstop Nick Gordon or college righty Aaron Nola, ESPN.com’s Keith Law wrote in a chat yesterday. Law also notes that the Blue Jays could be a player for injured righty Jeff Hoffman, who could also intrigue several other AL clubs (Law lists the Astros, Royals, and Red Sox, while also citing the Nationals as a possibility).
NL Notes: Polanco, Nady, Montero, Cubs
We learned recently that the Pirates had offered a seven-year contract extension to outfield prospect Gregory Polanco, who has of course yet to take the major league field. The extension tender was particularly interesting because of the contrast between Polanco’s situation and that of players like the Astros‘ George Springer, whose similar extension offer came from a non-contender (and who has since been promoted), and Oscar Taveras of the Cardinals, who does not have an obvious spot at the MLB level. Those looking for more thoughts on this situation have a few pieces to check out. In a piece for Grantland, Ben Lindbergh breaks down the overall promotion picture, explaining that several organizations employ quite a different philosophy than strict service time controllers like the Bucs and Rays — and noting that there are very real risks to holding down talent. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that the Pirates are now in a tough spot, given their desire to save money but equally obvious team need for Polanco. Meanwhile, over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron writes that the discount demanded by the team on Polanco’s reasonably anticipated earnings was just too great, and opines that Pittsburgh should be willing to up its guarantee by $10MM to $15MM.
Here’s more from the National League:
- It is virtually certain that outrighted veteran Xavier Nady will decline his assignment and become a free agent, reports MLB.com’s Corey Brock (via Twitter). The 35-year-old veteran stands at a .135/.238/.405 triple-slash in 42 plate appearances on the season. He did put up a quality .296/.360/.456 line in 495 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level last year.
- The Mets have a detailed plan in the works regarding highly-rated pitching prospect Rafael Montero, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. With an innings limit in play, New York hopes to work Montero as a reliever (first at Triple-A, then in the bigs) before sending him back to the minors to stretch back out and join the MLB rotation later on in the season.
- The first three picks of the amateur draft appear fairly set (at least at this point), which could make the Cubs (who hold the fourth overall choice) the first true wild card. With Tommy John victim Jeff Hoffman now likely out of play, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says that possibilities include prep arm Kyle Freeland, TCU lefty Brandon Finnegan, or high school catcher/outfielder Alex Jackson.
Shawn Camp Elects Free Agency
FRIDAY: Camp has elected free agency, the team has announced.
THURSDAY: The Phillies have outrighted veteran reliever Shawn Camp, the team announced. In a corresponding move, Philadelphia called up fellow righty Luis Garcia.
Camp, 38, can refuse the assignment and elect free agency. In three appearances this year, Camp gave up two earned runs on seven hits. Though he avoided any free passes, he mustered only one strikeout. In parts of 11 big league seasons, Camp has compiled a lifetime 4.41 ERA in 592 1/3 innings, all in relief. His last effective season as a big leaguer came in 2012, when he led the league with 80 appearances and registered a 3.59 ERA for the Cubs.
Garcia is a 27-year-old who has seen his only MLB time with the Phillies. In 31 1/3 innings of relief last year, he put up a 3.73 ERA while both striking out and walking 6.6 batters per nine. Garcia was throwing well at Triple-A this year, going 13 2/3 frames without giving up an earned run while posting a much more attractive 8.6 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. He becomes the latest hurler to receive a chance to settle a Phillies bullpen that has struggled to a 4.97 ERA out of the gate.
Rangers Promote Sardinas, Odor; Designate Baker, Wilson
The Rangers will execute a series of roster moves, the club announced. Texas will designate righty Scott Baker and infielder Josh Wilson to help create roster space for the call-up of top prospects Luis Sardinas and Rougned Odor.
In the aggregate, the moves represent a fairly substantial re-working of the club’s roster as the injuries continue to mount. Also involved in today’s moves were infielder Donnie Murphy, who was placed on the DL, and righty Justin Germano, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A.
Baker, 32, made just one appearance for Texas, throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing just two earned runs. The veteran had decided not to exercise his opt-out clause with the team, and was rewarded at the time with a call-up. The 33-year-old Wilson had taken 72 plate appearances with the team, putting up a .224/.257/.269 triple-slash.
Both Odor and Sardinas are 20-year-old middle infielders out of Venezuela — though the latter is actually nearly a year older — who have consistently been ranked among the team’s top prospects by evaluators. Baseball America put Odor at 42nd on its top 100 list, while predicting a 2015 arrival. Other observers, such as ESPN.com’s Keith Law (64th) and MLB.com (54th) roughly concurred with that placement. Sardinas, who already received a cup of coffee in 2014, landed at the 70th overall slot on MLB.com’s rankings, though he did not appear it the top 100 of either of the other two.
Before the season, BA called Odor the club’s top prospect. In that publication’s view, while he is somewhat undersized, Odor’s raw tools play up due to an outstanding swing and approach, strong baserunning instincts, and overall positive intangibles. While Odor is heralded mostly for his bat, Sardinas is a glove-first prospect. Speed, range, arm strength, and contact at the dish are the calling cards for the youngster.
The pair of middle infielders entered the year without any MLB service time. Were they to stick on the active roster from this point forward, both players would stand to pick up 143 days of service and position themselves as fairly sure bets to achieve Super Two status. (As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently noted with respect to the call-up of Marcus Stroman, the highest level of service required for Super Two status in recent years has been two years and 146 days. This year, it projects to land at just 2.128.) On the other hand, given their youth and the presumptive return of Jurickson Profar and Murphy, this call-up may not be permanent.
Braves Expect Major Revenue Boost From Reworked TV Deal
While prior reports have indicated that the Braves re-negotiated aspects of their oft-bemoaned television rights package, the magnitude of the impact remained unknown until today, as Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media (the Braves’ publicly-held corporate owner), said on a quarterly conference call today that the renegotiated contracts would add “probably in the order of $500MM of incremental revenue over the life of the contracts of value to us.”
The original set of contracts was never fully publicized, but were often referred to — even by team executives — as sub-market in comparison to the more recent mega-deals being locked up around the league. “They were at-market deals when they were done, but the market has changed,” team chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk said in early 2012. “We will have to look elsewhere for the increases that we will need in revenue to continue to build this franchise. It’s what the owners at the time decided to do, so we have to live with it.” While the situation may not have been crippling, it imposed an obvious limitation on the team’s spending capacity.
It now appears that the Braves will not have to live with those out-of-date TV revenue streams — for the most part. Maffei noted in his remarks that the original contracts ran through 2027, but did not specify the timeline of the reworked terms. A key aspect of the ultimate, bottom-line impact of the renegotiation thus remains unknown; as Maffei said, the estimated $500MM revenue boost is a sum that will be spread across the still-unreported “life of the contracts.” Much as in the case of a pre-arb player giving up future free agent seasons, it seems implicit that the Braves may have sacrificed some future years to find relief from a set of deals that reportedly included no mechanisms to force a renegotiation.
For some context, consider that the Phillies’ recent TV deal came in at $2.5B over 25 years (and also gave the Phils certain equity and ad revenue rights). As I explained at the time, that contract (unsurprisingly) did not spread that revenue evenly, but rather increased it year-over-year. From a present-value perspective, of course, the greater future annual payouts would take a larger hit. Likewise, in the Braves case, Maffei hinted at a similar situation. Calling the reworked rights situation “very positive,” he noted that it “adds a lot of value even on a present value basis to the Braves.”
Even if the down-the-line earning potential is not a full half-billion dollars in today’s money, though, it is clear that the impact on the club’s bottom line is substantial. If nothing else, that $500MM figure represents a solid 20% of the total rights fees achieved in the Phillies deal, which seems impressive given the limitations facing the organization.
And, of course, we know that Atlanta has already embarked on a rather remarkable extension spree. In the first five months of 2014, Atlanta has guaranteed over $300MM to six already-controlled players over a total of 30 seasons. Prior to this run of new deals, the Braves had not extended a player with less than five years of service during the six-year term of GM Frank Wren. The team also paid up for Ervin Santana at the last minute after an early spate of pitching injuries threatened the chances of contention this year.
It would appear, then, that at least some payroll impact has already been felt. The club had carried a payroll in the low-to-mid $90MM level since breaking nine figures back in 2008, but that mark jumped to over $112MM for 2014. And the team’s future salary obligations, which stood at 24th in the league heading into the offseason, have increased more than five-fold in the meantime. (As I noted at that time, the Braves had among the lowest ratios of future commitments to recent high payroll.)
Of course, the television component is only part of the overall picture. When Atlanta’s recent spending began, it seemed that the primary driver was the recently-announced Cobb County ballpark and development project. Maffei acknowledged the role of that deal as well, saying that “the new stadium and the complex around it … are going to create a lot of value for the Braves.” With management having “created a great product with a controlled payroll,” said Maffei, the Braves “have been a profitable team” and are an “asset [that] has gone up quite nicely in value over the last several years.”