Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Ryan Carpenter Signs With CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys

By Mark Polishuk | January 11, 2020 at 5:20pm CDT

The Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League have signed left-hander Ryan Carpenter, as per the CPBL Stats website. Carpenter became a free agent after being released by the Tigers in September.

The 27-year-old southpaw has an 8.57 ERA, 2.35 K/BB rate, and 5.7 K/9 over 63 career innings in the majors, all with Detroit from 2018-19. Carpenter was bedeviled by the long ball during his brief time in the big leagues, allowing 20 homers over his 63 IP (an ugly 2.9 HR/9). Home runs weren’t nearly as big an issue for Carpenter over his 919 2/3 career minor league frames, as he had a moderate 1.0 HR/9 to go with a 4.48 ERA, 3.31 K/BB rate, and 7.9 K/9.

Originally a seventh-round pick for Tampa Bay in the 2011 draft, Carpenter pitched in the minors with the Rays, Rockies, and Tigers before getting his big league debut in 2018. He’ll now start a new chapter of his career overseas, joining former Major Leaguers Radhames Liz and Zeke Spruill on the Monkeys’ roster.

Nationals Avoid Arbitration With Michael A. Taylor

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 8:01pm CDT

The Nationals have avoided arbitration with outfielder Michael A. Taylor, as per reporter Robert Murray (Twitter link). Taylor will make $3.325MM in guaranteed money next season, slightly above the $3.25MM projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Taylor can also make another $25K in bonuses should he reach 300 PA for the Nats next season.

Seen as a top-60 prospect headed into the 2015 season, Taylor has shown some flashes of potential (particularly during an impressive 2017 season) but has struggled to lock down anything beyond a fourth outfield role. Taylor has hit only .240/.294/.393 over 1705 career plate appearances, and the end of his tenure in Washington seemed to be looming in the summer when he was optioned to the minors for over two months.

However, 2019 ended on a great note for both Taylor and the Nationals, as the outfielder re-emerged to make a big contribution to the club’s World Series run. Taylor had a 1.010 OPS over 23 postseason plate appearances, including the solo homer that the Nats on the board in their 3-1 win over the Cardinals in Game Two of the NLCS.

Taylor still offers value to Washington as a fourth outfielder capable of solid glovework at all three positions, as well as elite speed. Taylor turns 29 in March but is still controllable through the 2021 season in his fourth and final year of arbitration. This fourth year arose as a result of his lengthy demotion, as Taylor finished the 2019 season with only four years and 129 days of service time.

Trea Turner, Roenis Elias, and Joe Ross are the three remaining arb-eligible Nationals who have yet to reach agreements with the team prior to tomorrow’s 11am CT deadline for exchanging arbitration figures. You can follow along with all of the arb dealings on the MLBTR Arbitration Tracker.

Rays Acquire Jose Martinez, Randy Arozarena From Cardinals

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 6:35pm CDT

The Rays have acquired first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez, outfielder Randy Arozarena, and the Cardinals’ Competitive Balance Round A draft pick in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, the Rays’ pick in Competitive Balance Round B, and a catching prospect from the lower levels of the minors, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). Edgardo Rodriguez is the catcher going to the Cardinals, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets. Passan reported earlier today that Liberatore was headed to St. Louis, with Rosenthal adding that the trade involved six assets and at least two draft picks.

Tampa Bay was known to be looking outfield depth beyond its starting trio of Austin Meadows, Kevin Kiermaier, and Hunter Renfroe, especially after the club non-tendered Guillermo Heredia, its primary fourth outfielder from 2019. Heredia’s role will be filled by Arozarena, who also brings added potential and some strong hitting numbers in his native Cuba, in the minor leagues, and even in his brief 23-plate appearance cameo with the Cardinals last season.

An international signing in the summer of 2016, Arozarena has a .292/.377/.477 slash line and 38 homers over 1302 minor league PA. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the tenth-best prospect in the St. Louis farm system, with a scouting report that expressed some concerns about Arozarena’s aggressiveness at the plate and on the bases, as well as his ability at “making swift adjustments at the plate.” Nonetheless, Arozarena’s hitting approach has only delivered good results thus far, and his speed makes him a solid center field option at least in the near future, if he might be better suited for the corners down the road.

Martinez is also technically a depth option for the Rays in the corner outfield, but given Martinez’s longstanding defensive issues, he has long been tabbed as an ideal candidate to play for an American League team with DH at-bats on offer. The right-handed hitting Martinez will now join three left-handed hitters (Nate Lowe, Ji-Man Choi, and the newly-signed Yoshitomo Tsutsugo) in the first base/DH mix, though Tampa expects Tsutsugo to see some action at third base.

While it remains to be seen how the Rays will fully shuffle and adjust their lineups, Martinez’s primary role seems pretty simple — he’ll be called upon to mash southpaws. The 31-year-old late bloomer has hit .331/.405/.570 with 15 homers over 298 career PA against left-handed pitching, and also solid career numbers against righties, though Martinez’s same-sided productivity declined last season. With fielding no longer a concern, however, the Rays (who have been linked to Martinez on the rumor mill for well over a year) are hoping that Martinez can concentrate fully on being a force at the plate.

The Cardinals entered the offseason with a clear goal of reducing their surplus in the outfield, and between today’s trade and dealing Adolis Garcia to the Rangers last month, St. Louis has achieved that goal without making any significant impact on its 2020 roster. Perhaps most importantly, the Cards were able to move their excess parts while picking up one of baseball’s more promising pitching prospects in Liberatore, whose credentials we detailed earlier today.

Dexter Fowler, Harrison Bader, Lane Thomas, Tyler O’Neill, and utilityman Tommy Edman all figure to play notable roles in the Cardinals’ outfield next season, with top prospect Dylan Carlson on the cusp of his MLB debut and utilitymen Rangel Ravelo and Yairo Munoz also capable of playing on the grass in a pinch. It’s still possible St. Louis could further trade from this collection….or, perhaps, add to it. The Cards have been linked to free agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna all winter long, and re-signing Ozuna would allow the club to put a proven everyday performer in the midst of an outfield group that, besides Fowler, is young and pretty inexperienced at the big league level.

The draft pick swap is also a major component of this deal, as Tampa Bay will now have the 38th overall selection in the 2020 draft and St. Louis moves to 66th overall. (Here is the current draft order, as well as the outline of the Competitive Balance Round selection process.) The Competitive Balance Round picks are the only types of draft selections that can be traded, and the Rays have now boosted their standing next June by almost a full round’s worth of picks. The Cards may see their 28-slot drop as the cost of acquiring a major prospect like Liberatore, who likely wasn’t available for only Martinez and Arozarena.

The 19-year-old Rodriguez has hit .338/.389/.495 with six home runs over his first 244 PA as a professional, two seasons with the Rays’ teams in the Dominican Summer League and rookie-ball Gulf Coast League (though he missed over six weeks this season due to injury). Signed out of Venezuela during the 2017-18 international signing period, Rodriguez was ranked prior to the 2019 season as the 53rd-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s system, as per Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen. It remains to be seen if Rodriguez can remain as a catcher, though Longenhagen/McDaniels were impressed by his hitting ability.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Cardinals Acquire Matt Liberatore

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 6:16pm CDT

6:16PM: Harrison Bader and Lane Thomas aren’t expected to be part of the trade, Passan reports. Fowler also isn’t thought to be part of this deal, though he could eventually be on the move elsewhere since the Cardinals have been discussing him in other trade negotiations.

5:37PM: The trade is shaping up as a multi-player blockbuster, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links) reports that the Cardinals and Rays are each sending three “pieces” to the other in the deal. “At least two of those pieces are draft picks,” Rosenthal notes, indicating that Competitive Balance Round selections (the only type of draft picks that can be traded) are in play. The Cards are slated to pick in Competitive Balance Round A following the first round of the draft, whereas the Rays draw after the second round in Competitive Balance Round B, so there is roughly a 30-slot gap between the two picks.

4:57PM: The Cardinals have discussed Tyler O’Neill with the Rays and other teams this offseason, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, though there isn’t yet any indication that O’Neill could be involved in the Liberatore trade.

3:53PM: The Cardinals have acquired left-hander Matthew Liberatore from the Rays, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). The return headed back to Tampa Bay is expected to include at least one player from the Cards’ Major League roster, and hints at a very notable trade given Liberatore’s status as one of the top prospects in the Rays’ system.

Picked 16th overall in the 2018, Liberatore has gotten off to a solid start in his young career, with a 2.59 ERA, 9.2 K/9, and 2.57 K/BB rate over his first 111 professional innings. That includes a 3.10 ERA over 78 1/3 IP at the A-ball level in 2019, though Liberatore missed a bit of time with a minor back injury.

It was a performance that did nothing to dim Liberatore’s stock in the eyes of evaluators, as the most recent prospect rankings from Baseball America (31st), Baseball Prospectus (37th), MLB.com (41st), and Fangraphs (63rd) all place Liberatore solidly among the sport’s top minor leaguers. MLB Pipeline ranks Liberatore fourth on its list of the best left-handed pitching prospects, with a scouting report touting his potential for as many as three 60-grade pitches on the 20-80 scouting scale. In fact, Liberatore’s fastball, changeup, and slider all earned a 55 grade from Pipeline, while his “swing-and-miss hammer” of a curveball gets a 60 grade.

Liberatore is only 20 years old, and at 6’5″ and 200 pounds, might still need to add some bulk to withstand the workload of a Major League starting pitcher. He’ll now immediately become the most promising young arm in the St. Louis farm system, now that the likes of Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson have graduated to the big leagues, and Alex Reyes’ injury concerns continues to cloud his future. Many of the Cardinals’ current top youngsters are position players, which could be addressed by whatever player or players are sent back to Tampa Bay.

As Passan notes, the Rays have been looking for outfield help, so it’s logical to guess that the outfielder-heavy Cards could be dealing from their logjam on the grass. It’s probably safe to assume that the Rays aren’t taking on Dexter Fowler’s big contract (unless this is part of a much larger trade), but St. Louis has a wealth of younger outfielders that could be fits for Tampa Bay — Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, Lane Thomas, Randy Arozarena, Jose Martinez, or utilityman Tommy Edman could all be part of this trade. One can’t even rule out top prospect Dylan Carlson, as while the Cardinals have been resistant to offers, it would take a promising young arm like Liberatore to even get the Cards’ attention on a Carlson deal. Still, St. Louis is probably less likely to deal a player who could help their team as early as 2020 in order to land a pitcher who is still at least a couple of years away.

Blue Jays Avoid Arbitration With Brandon Drury

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 5:28pm CDT

The Blue Jays have avoided arbitration with infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury, agreeing to a one-year, $2.05MM deal for the 2020 season, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.

MLBTR projected Drury for a $2.5MM arb figure, so he’ll get a significantly smaller raise than expected over his $1.3MM salary from the 2019 season. Then again, Drury did little to enhance his value after a sub-replacement level (-0.6 fWAR, -0.2 bWAR) 2019 campaign that saw him hit only .218/.262/.380 with 15 home runs over 447 plate appearances. This makes it consecutive negative-WAR seasons for Drury, following an abbreviated 26-game year with the Jays and Yankees in 2018.

Drury will now be fighting to keep a superutility role next year, hoping that his versatility can keep him on the roster long enough to revive his bat. Drury spent most of his time at third base prior to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s promotion, and also saw action at second base, first base, both corner outfield slots, and five games at shortstop.

Ken Giles and Matt Shoemaker are Toronto’s two remaining arbitration-eligible players, as per MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker. Teams have until 11am tomorrow to exchange figures with their arb-eligibles. Giles is projected for an $8.4MM deal, and Shoemaker for a $3.8MM salary.

Pirates Designate Pablo Reyes For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 5:05pm CDT

The Pirates have designated utilityman Pablo Reyes for assignment, the club announced. The move creates roster space for Guillermo Heredia, whose one-year deal with the Bucs is now official.

Over his 89 career games as a Major Leaguer since the start of the 2018 season, Reyes has already played multiple games at all three outfield positions, second base, third base, and shortstop. The bulk of that work has come as a corner outfielder, though Reyes’ versatility is a nice boost for a player who has yet to hit much at the MLB level — just a .229/.295/.368 slash line and five home runs over 220 plate appearances.

The 26-year-old Reyes has displayed more pop at the minor league level, hitting .278/.351/.421 over 2587 PA in Pittsburgh’s farm system. This includes an .885 OPS over 191 PA at Triple-A Indianapolis last season, though as with many minor leaguers in 2019, it’s hard to tell if the increased numbers indicate genuine progress on Reyes’ part. (The Triple-A level as a whole experienced an untold offensive surge after adopting the MLB baseball.) Between Reyes’ raw numbers and his value as a utility player, however, there’s a chance another team might be interest in plucking him away from Pittsburgh on the waiver wire.

Rangers Sign Luis Garcia, James Jones To Minors Contracts

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 4:42pm CDT

The Rangers announced a series of pitching-related moves today, including the signings of right-hander Luis Garcia and southpaw James Jones to minor league contracts. Garcia and Jones will be invited to the club’s Major League Spring Training camp. In addition, recently-designated righty Jimmy Herget has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville after clearing waivers, and right-hander Reed Garrett has been released so he can pursue a deal with Japan’s Seibu Lions.

Garcia, the most experienced member of the quartet, tossed 62 innings out of the Angels bullpen last season before opting for free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A in October. Garcia posted a 4.35 ERA, 8.3 K/9, and 1.73 K/BB rate, while taking a lot of damage from the home run ball, allowing 13 homers over his 62 frames of work. Garcia also posted a career-low 47.2% grounder rate; still a respectable total, though a step down for a pitcher who never dropped below the 54.7% mark with the Phillies from 2013-17. Garcia also posted a 48.4% grounder rate in 2018, so his days as a truly elite grounder specialist could be over.

Overall, Garcia has a 4.17 ERA, 8.2 K/9, and 1.77 K/BB rate over 306 2/3 innings over the last seven seasons. He has held right-handed batters to a .238/.329/.370 slash line in that time, so he offers a bit of specialist value and durability to the Rangers should he win a job in their bullpen.

Jones will return for his fifth season in the Rangers organization as he continues the transition from outfielder to pitcher (yes, this is the same James Jones who saw action in center field for the Mariners in 2014-15). This work was interrupted by a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2017 season, though more recent results have shown promise. Jones had a 2.67 ERA, 10.0 K/9, and 2.37 K/BB rate over 64 innings in 2019, split between Double-A (56 1/3 IP) and Triple-A (7 2/3 IP). Jones seems likely to continue at Triple-A this year, as continues to slowly but surely take an unlikely path back to the majors.

Herget was designated when Texas acquired Adolis Garcia from the Cardinals almost three weeks ago, though Herget’s extended stay in DFA limbo was due to league offices being closed over the holiday season. A sixth-round pick for the Reds in the 2015 draft, Herget made his Major League debut in the form of 6 1/3 relief innings for Cincinnati last season, before the Rangers claimed him off waivers in early December.

Garrett also got his first taste of MLB action in 2019, with an 8.22 ERA over 15 1/3 innings with the Tigers. Garrett had some strong numbers in the minors in 2018, which prompted Detroit to select him in the Rule 5 Draft. The righty’s lack of immediate success, however, prompted the Tigers to send Garrett back to the Rangers last May. Garrett will now become the latest in an increasingly large number of players with MLB or high-minors experience (or, the proverbial “Quadruple-A” types) to head to Japan or South Korea in search of a larger salary or a more prominent role.

Brewers Re-Sign Tuffy Gosewisch To Minors Contract

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 4:35pm CDT

The Brewers have re-signed catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, the team announced via Twitter. Gosewisch will return on a minor league contract that contains an invitation to Milwaukee’s Major League Spring Training camp.

Gosewisch joined the organization on a minors deal last winter and hit .205/.299/.308 over 134 plate appearances for Triple-A San Antonio. In all likelihood, Gosewisch will continue to serve in a similar veteran depth role this year, providing backup behind Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina on the big league roster.

The 36-year-old Gosewisch last played in the majors in 2017, appearing in 11 games with Seattle. Over 447 PA with the Diamondbacks and Mariners from 2013-17, Gosewisch has a .190/.228/.271 career slash line. After being released by the M’s after the 2017 campaign, Gosewisch spent the 2018 season with the Nationals’ Triple-A club.

Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Miguel Castro

By Mark Polishuk | January 9, 2020 at 3:38pm CDT

The Orioles have avoided arbitration with right-hander Miguel Castro, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter). The two sides agreed to a one-year, $1.05MM deal with the right-hander, which falls just below the $1.2MM salary projected by MLBTR’s Matt Swartz.

A first-time arbitration-eligible player, Castro is coming off a season that saw him post a 4.66 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 1.73 K/BB rate over 73 1/3 IP out of Baltimore’s pen. The hard-throwing righty enjoyed a big boost in strikeouts over the 5.6 K/9 he posted over the 2017-18 seasons, though control continued to be an issue for Castro, as he hit the 5.0 BB/9 plateau for the second consecutive year. On the plus side, Statcast’s xwOBA metric indicated that Castro did a much better job of limiting hard contact in 2019 (.294 xwOBA) than he did in 2018 (.353), even though Castro’s ERA jumped from 3.96 in 2018 to his 4.66 figure last year.

With contracts for Castro and Richard Bleier now settled, the Orioles have three arbitration-eligible players remaining, as per MLBTR’s Arb Tracker — Trey Mancini ($5.7MM projected salary), Mychal Givens ($3.2MM), and Hanser Alberto ($1.9MM). Teams have until 11am CT tomorrow to exchange figures with their arb-eligible players.

Brewers Sign Logan Morrison

By Mark Polishuk and Connor Byrne | January 9, 2020 at 3:27pm CDT

The Brewers have signed veteran outfielder/first baseman Logan Morrison to a minor league contract, as per reporter Robert Murray (Twitter links). The team has officially announced the move.

Morrison only appeared in 29 games last season, the fewest of his ten-year Major League career. He didn’t sign on with a team until April since he was recovering from hip surgery, eventually landing with the Yankees on a minors contract. Morrison requested his release in July when it became apparent that New York didn’t have any immediate plans for him at the MLB level, and Morrison then signed on with the Phillies, hitting only .200/.263/.400 over 38 plate appearances.

While neither the 2018 campaign nor last year went well for Morrison at the MLB level, he did mash in Triple-A ball in 2019. The 32-year-old posted a .308/.369/.640 line with 18 homers across 233 PA at the minors’ top level. He’s also not that far removed from a career-best showing in 2017, during which he batted .246/.353/.516 with 38 HRs in 601 trips to the plate as a member of the Rays.

In an ideal world for the Brewers, Morrison will revisit his Tampa Bay form. That seems unlikely, but as a member of an organization whose leading first base options either weren’t that impressive in 2019 (Justin Smoak, Ryon Healy) or don’t carry much experience at the position (Ryan Braun), perhaps Morrison will have a real chance to earn a spot.

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