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This Date In Transactions History: January 10

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Let’s take a look back at some notable trades and signings that have taken place on January 10…

2015: It was exactly one year ago that the Rays sent Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to the Athletics in exchange for John Jaso and prospects Daniel Robertson and Boog Powell.  It’s a sign of how busy both those franchises have been over the last year that today, four of those five players (Robertson excepted) have again moved on to new teams.  Zobrist and Escobar, in fact, have both switched uniforms twice since that initial deal; the A’s flipped Escobar to Washington just four days after acquiring him from Tampa.  Given all of the new talent that joined the rosters in subsequent deals, it may be several years before we can definitively declare a winner of the five-player swap.  It could really turn into a comparison of Robertson and lefty Sean Manaea, the top pitching prospect who the A’s acquired in the deadline deal that sent Zobrist to Kansas City.

2012: One of the key names of the 2015-16 free agent market first came to Major League Baseball on this day four years ago when Wei-Yin Chen signed with the Orioles after four tremendous seasons in Japan.  Chen signed a three-year deal worth $11.388MM in guaranteed money, plus a $4.75MM club option for the 2015 season.  That contract ended up being a terrific bargain for the O’s as Chen was a key contributor to their two playoff teams over his four years in Baltimore.  Needless to say, Chen’s next deal will be a much more expensive one, as he and agent Scott Boras are looking for a five-year, $100MM contract on the open market.

2010: The Giants signed Aubrey Huff to a one-year, $3MM contract that, at the time, drew some poor reviews from executives from around the game.  Huff had been a very solid contributor over his first nine seasons but was coming off a down year in 2009 in his age-32 season.  Critics wondered why the Giants would sign a seemingly declining veteran when they had an up-and-comer (Brandon Belt) and a superior defender (Travis Ishikawa) as internal first base options.  As it turned out, the Giants guessed wisely that Huff would bounce back, as he rebounded with a big .290/.385/.506 line and 26 homers over 668 PA to help lead San Francisco to a World Series title.

1991: Cover your eyes, Orioles fans.  It was on this day 25 years ago that the O’s sent Curt Schilling, Steve Finley and Pete Harnisch to the Astros in exchange for Glenn Davis.  While Davis had been one of the game’s better and more underrated sluggers in Houston, injuries curtailed his production in Baltimore and he didn’t play again after the 1993 season.  WAR-wise, it’s not pretty from the Orioles’ perspective — Davis generated just 0.7 bWAR over his three seasons in Baltimore while Harnisch and Finley combined for 24.1 bWAR from 1991-94.  As for Schilling, it could be argued that the Astros didn’t really know what they had in him either, as he was dealt to the Phillies for Jason Grimsley in April 1992.  It wasn’t until he came to Philadelphia that Schilling put it all together and exhibited his superstar form.

1928: Rogers Hornsby hit a whopping .361/.448/.586 with 26 homers for the New York Giants in 1927, but it was Hornsby’s off-the-field issues that led to the Giants trading the Hall-of-Famer to the Boston Braves for catcher Shanty Hogan and outfielder Jimmy Welsh.  Hornsby was one of the most disliked players of his era, unpopular with both teammates and management, and he was also a big bettor on horse racing.  These issues reportedly led to his departure from New York for a relatively meager return, though Hogan ended up posting good-to-very good numbers as the Giants’ semi-regular catcher until 1932.  As for Hornsby, he won the “slash line Triple Crown” by leading the league in average, OBP and slugging in 1928 and even managed the Braves for much of the 1928 season.  He didn’t last long in Boston either, however, as the Braves dealt him to the Cubs for five players and $200K after the season.

NL Central Notes: Pena, Cardinals, Sanchez, Pirates

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In a piece for The Players’ Tribune, Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena discusses his dramatic defection from Cuba as a 16-year-old and the emotions behind his return to his home country last year as part of a MLBPA goodwill tour with other Cuban players.  Here’s some news from around the NL Central…

  • The Cardinals should be punished beyond just a fine for the computer breach scandal involving the Astros’ player evaluation database, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan opines.  Even a substantial fine might not be enough of a deterrent for a wealthy team like the Cards, so Passan believes that Major League Baseball needs to take away future draft picks, or funds from the Cardinals’ amateur draft or international signing pools.
  • Tony Sanchez tells Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he wasn’t surprised when the Pirates designated him for assignment earlier this week.  “I dug my own grave.  When I started having throwing issues, I knew they lost trust in me. And if you can’t trust your catcher, you can’t play him,” Sanchez said.  The catcher was the fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft but has yet to deliver on that promise in the majors; Sanchez has a .259/.303/.378 line over 155 plate appearances since 2013.  As Sanchez noted, he also had trouble throwing out baserunners at the both the big league and Triple-A level.
  • The signing of Neftali Feliz indicates that the Pirates still put a premium on hard-throwing arms, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes.  The Bucs’ average fastball velocity has increased every season since Neal Huntington took over was GM, culminating in a league-leading 94mph average in 2015.  Feliz is also another investment for the Pirates bullpen, as Sawchik notes that the club is projected to be spending about a quarter of its payroll (roughly $23.7MM) on five relievers.

AL Central Notes: Perez, Uribe, White Sox, Tigers

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Here’s the latest from around the AL Central…

  • Indians catcher Roberto Perez has drawn trade interest from several teams, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.  That said, the Tribe is “very reluctant” to move Perez since their organizational catching depth behind starter Yan Gomes is pretty thin, plus they like Perez’s pop and throwing arm.
  • The Indians’ talks with Juan Uribe are believed to be in regards a one-year contract, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.  That’s not a surprise given Uribe’s age (he’ll be 37 on Opening Day) and the fact that the Tribe have him slated for a part-time role, sharing time with Giovanny Urshela at third base.
  • The White Sox have struggled to develop homegrown everyday players over the last several years, though front office members talk to JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago about some of the promising young position players currently in the Pale Hose system.
  • In more prospect talk, Baseball America’s Ben Badler discusses BA’s list of the top 10 Tigers minor leaguers in a chat with fans (subscription required).  While Badler describes Detroit as a “bottom five system,” but at least “the overall inventory of young, controllable talent is better than it was a year ago.”
  • Jay Sartori, the Tigers’ senior director of baseball operations and co-head of the club’s upgraded analytics division, talks to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press about his return to baseball.  Sartori, a former Blue Jays assistant GM and Nationals director of baseball ops, was hired by the Tigers in November after working for Apple since 2013.

Cubs Sign Jesus Guzman To Minors Contract

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The Cubs signed first baseman/outfielder Jesus Guzman to a minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports (via Twitter).  Guzman spent 2015 with the Hiroshima Carp, hitting .230/.336/.420 over 116 plate appearances in NPB.

The 31-year-old owns an impressive .856 career OPS in the minors (3835 PA) and his first extended taste of Major League action saw him deliver an .847 OPS over 271 PA with the Padres in 2011.  Guzman’s numbers tailed off after that initial season, however, and he managed only a .188/.272/.248 line in 184 PA with Houston in 2014 before electing free agency and signing with Hiroshima.

As you’d expect for a right-handed hitter, Guzman has performed much better against lefty pitching than righty pitching over his career, with a .746 OPS against southpaws against only a .670 OPS against righties.  With a strong Spring Training, Guzman could find a place for himself on Chicago’s roster, backing up Anthony Rizzo at first or perhaps even finding a platoon spot in left field.  Kyle Schwarber and Chris Coghlan (both left-handed hitters) and the switch-hitting Ben Zobrist are slated for left field, though the bulk of Zobrist’s playing time will be at second base.

Blue Jays Notes: Dickey, Storen, Revere

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While the Blue Jays have lost David Price and some other key parts of their division-winning team, CBS Sports’ Dayn Perry notes that the Jays will receive two significant roster upgrades in 2016 in the form of Troy Tulowitzki and Marcus Stroman playing full seasons in Toronto.  Tulowitzki, of course, didn’t join the Jays until the trade deadline and also missed half of September recovering from a cracked shoulder blade.  Stroman missed almost all of 2015 after a Spring Training ACL tear before returning in September to make some key starts down the stretch and in the postseason.  Here’s some more from Toronto…

  • Since the 2016-17 free agent market is looking thin, ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) writes that a larger-than-usual number of star players could become trade targets this summer.  If the Jays are struggling at midseason, some executives see them as seller candidates given that Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Cecil are entering their last season under contract.  It’s even possible the Jays could see what they could get for Tulowitzki or AL MVP Josh Donaldson.  Any deals of this nature, however, “would be a really tough sell” for the club given how ownership and the Mark Shapiro-led front office has already faced criticism from fans in the wake of Alex Anthopoulos’ departure.
  • Also from Olney’s column, he doubts the Blue Jays would get an acceptable return in an R.A. Dickey trade.  Dickey is entering his age-41 season, is only under contract for 2016 and earns $12MM, so Olney doesn’t think a trade partner would be willing to give much up for Dickey with so many other pitching options available in free agency or on the trade market.
  • The Drew Storen-for-Ben Revere trade was a old-fashioned type of deal, MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby writes.  The Jays and Nationals are both contenders who had a surplus at the other team’s position of need, and the result was a relatively straight-forward one-for-one swap (with some extra money and a player to be named later also involved).
  • In other Jays news from earlier today, GM Ross Atkins addressed the Dickey rumors, bullpen usage and extensions for Bautista and Encarnacion during an MLB Network Radio interview.

Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza Elected To Hall Of Fame

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Cooperstown’s 2016 induction class has been decided, as Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

In his first year of eligibility, Griffey received a whopping 99.3% of the vote (437 of 440 ballots), surpassing Tom Seaver’s previous record of 98.84% (425 of 430) when the former Mets ace was inducted in 1992.  Piazza appeared on 365 ballots for a comfortable 83% total that easily surpassed the 75% threshold for induction, though the star catcher has had to wait a bit longer to get his Cooperstown due.  This was Piazza’s fourth year of eligibility, a wait that is generally attributed to a crowded ballot in recent years and, more scurrilously, unsubstantiated rumors that Piazza may have used PEDs during his playing career.

It’s fair to say that baseball fans and pundits have seen Griffey’s induction coming for three decades.  “Junior” was the first overall pick of the 1987 amateur draft and he quickly lived up to the talent promised by his high school superstardom and impressive family pedigree.  Griffey broke into the majors at age 19 and almost immediately developed into one of the game’s best players, winning his first Gold Glove (of 10 in his career) and making his first All-Star appearance (of 13) in 1990.

In his prime years with the Mariners, Griffey brought a combination of power and elite center field defense not seen since Willie Mays.  His obvious talent, youth and media-friendly persona made Griffey into quite possibly the “face of baseball” throughout the 1990’s — an entire generation of fans grew up not just watching Griffey on the field, but also playing his name-branded video games and seeing him in commercials and TV guest appearances.

Griffey finished with a .284/.370/.538 slash line over 11304 plate appearances with the Mariners, Reds and White Sox.  He’s one of the eight members of the 600-Homer club, and his 630 home runs ranks him sixth on the all-time list.  While these amazing numbers were already enough to make him a surefire Hall-of-Famer, it’s also worth noting that Griffey may have been even better had he not battled some significant injuries later in his career, particularly during his tenure with Cincinnati.

Griffey becomes the first player drafted first overall to reach the Hall of Fame, which makes it ironic that he’ll enter alongside Piazza, the most famous late-round star in MLB amateur draft history.  Piazza was so lightly regarded as a prospect that he was a 62nd-round pick for the Dodgers in 1988, only selected at all since Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda did a favor to Piazza’s father, a personal friend.

From that humble start, Piazza blossomed into arguably the best-hitting catcher in baseball history.  Piazza’s 396 home runs as a catcher is a record for the position, and over his entire career, Piazza totaled 427 homers and a .308/.377/.545 slash line over 16 seasons largely spent with the Dodgers and Mets.  Piazza’s list of achievements include 12 All-Star appearances, 10 Silver Slugger Awards and the 1993 NL Rookie of the Year.

Falling a bit shy of enshrinement were Jeff Bagwell (71.6%), Tim Raines (69.8%) and Trevor Hoffman (67.3%). Full voting results can be viewed at the BBWAA’s website.

Quick Hits: Free Agents, Pompey, Yankees

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Here’s some news from around baseball as we wrap up the first weekend of 2016…

  • “So many teams have spent their money on pitching that they don’t have much left for hitting,” an executive tells John Perrotto of TodaysKnuckleball.com in explaining why so many of the biggest free agent bats are still available.  This could mean that some of the notable names may end up for signing than less than expected due to lack of a hot market.  Then again, the inverse could also be true — an unexpected trade or injury could suddenly create a suitor willing to pay top dollar to fill a lineup need.  Perrotto’s piece also includes his guesses about where 10 of the top remaining free agents will land.
  • The Angels, Giants, Cardinals, Orioles and White Sox seem to be the teams most poised to make a big move or two in January, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince writes.
  • Dalton Pompey is an important depth piece for the Blue Jays in 2016 and a big part of their future outfield plans, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm writes as part of a reader mailbag.  Given Ben Revere’s rising arbitration price tag and the fact that Jose Bautista is a free agent next winter, Pompey may be called upon as a regular in 2017, so Chisholm doubts the Jays would make Pompey a trade chip unless they’re able to obtain a big return.  While Pompey hasn’t shown much in limited MLB action, he’s also just 23 and a year removed from being a consensus top-50 (or better) prospect.
  • Also from Chisholm’s piece, he lists the 11 member of the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster who are out of options, with outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, catcher A.J. Jimenez, and righty relievers Steve Delabar and Chad Jenkins standing out as “ones to watch” on the roster bubble.  The Jays would ideally like to use Jimenez in Triple-A while Carrera, Delabar and Jenkins will be in the mix for jobs on the Opening Day roster.
  • In another reader mailbag, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch addresses the idea of whether or not the Yankees could retain the likes of Alex Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira or Carlos Beltran on one-year contracts after their expensive multi-year deals expire within the next two seasons.  Hoch feels it’s probably a longshot for any of them to remain in New York since the team wants a younger team and more roster flexibility — Greg Bird and Aaron Judge are poised to replace Teixeira and Beltran, for instance.  Sabathia may be the best candidate to be retained given how expensive pitching is, though that also may be unlikely given Sabathia’s ongoing knee issues.

AL Notes: Angels, Freeman, Astros, Vargas

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It was on this day in 1973 that George Steinbrenner and a group of investors purchased the Yankees from CBS.  While the amount of money in the game has unquestionably risen by leaps and bounds in the last 43 years, it’s still stunning to realize that Steinbrenner and company paid only $10MM to buy a team that Forbes now values a whopping $1.85 billion in their most recent ranking of the world’s most valuable sports franchises.  (The Yankees tied with the Dallas Cowboys for third on that list, by the way, behind only soccer giants Manchester United and Real Madrid.)  Here’s some news from around the American League…

  • With the Angels uneasy about surpassing the luxury tax threshold, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez looks at how the club can upgrade itself.  Gonzalez thinks the Halos will move a starter (at least one of Hector Santiago, C.J. Wilson, Tyler Skaggs, Nick Tropeano or Matt Shoemaker) in order to acquire a left fielder or second baseman.  Then again, the Angels may also be comfortable in having Johnny Giavotella return as the regular second baseman so that position may not be as major an area of need.
  • A Craig Gentry/Daniel Nava platoon is currently in the cards for left field, though Gonzalez won’t rule out the idea of Anaheim signing a big name like Justin Upton, Alex Gordon or Yoenis Cespedes.  With the Halos only around $4MM under the tax limit, however, signing any of those players (or even second-tier outfielders like Gerardo Parra or Denard Span) would put the club in danger of exceeding the tax threshold in 2017 as well, and thus paying a bigger penalty.  With a much thinner free agent class in 2016-17, however, Gonzalez believes “this is the time to strike” for the Angels to land a big left field bat, and they’ll have some hope of getting under the tax limit with roughly $48MM coming off the books next winter.
  • An Astros trade for Freddie Freeman is “simply not going to happen,” a source tells ESPN’s Jim Bowden (subscription-only column).  The Astros and Braves had discussions about the first baseman earlier this winter, though those talks “went nowhere” and Atlanta GM John Coppolella has since flatly denied the possibility of Freeman playing elsewhere in 2016.  While Freeman would check a lot of boxes for Houston, it would clearly take a major trade package to pry him away from the Braves, and the Astros may have already expended a lot of their available prospect capital in their trade for Ken Giles.
  • Bowden’s piece examines all 30 teams and the missing piece (or pieces) Bowden feels they still need to address on their roster.  For instance, Bowden isn’t sold on Rusney Castillo and thinks the Red Sox should make a play for Justin Upton, though he’s heard that the Sox are “not looking to make any more moves.”
  • There were some rumors swirling about the Twins dealing Kennys Vargas to Japan or Korea earlier this winter, though MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger feels it would be a mistake for Minnesota to move Vargas while he still has a minor league option remaining.  Still, Vargas is running out of time to show he belongs on the 25-man roster, especially now that the Twins have signed Byung-ho Park.

NL East Notes: Prospects, Phillies, Giles, Mets

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Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

  • The top three prospects involved in trades this offseason were all acquired by the Braves, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper writes.  Dansby Swanson, Sean Newcomb and Aaron Blair sit atop Cooper’s ranking of the top 25 prospects who were dealt this winter.  Swanson and Blair came to Atlanta as part of the Shelby Miller trade with Arizona while Newcomb was part of the package that came to the Braves in the Andrelton Simmons deal with the Angels.
  • With the Phillies embarking on a full-fledged rebuild, it wouldn’t have made sense for the club to sign a major free agent simply in the name of boosting attendance, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes as part of a reader mailbag.  The organization has shown that it will spend heavily to support a contender, so Zolecki doesn’t doubt that the big signings will follow once a young core of talent is again in place.
  • Zolecki also gives his take on the Ken Giles trade, opining that the Phillies did well in landing five young starting pitchers given the cost of pitching in today’s game.  Developing even one mid-range arm out of the quintet will provide the Phils with more value than having a star closer would in a rebuilding season.  When the Phillies are ready to contend again, Zolecki notes, it will also be much easier (and cheaper) to find another closer than it would be to add rotation help.
  • The Mets haven’t yet decided on which internal candidates will receive Spring Training invitations to their big league camp, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports (via Twitter).  In a follow-up tweet, Rubin gives his take on which players will be invited.
  • In NL East news from earlier today, the Braves are trying to trade at least one of Michael Bourn or Nick Swisher.

Braves Trying To Deal At Least One Of Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher

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The Braves are looking to trade at least one of Michael Bourn or Nick Swisher before Opening Day and they’re willing to “to eat a significant portion of the salary” owed to either player to facilitate a deal, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports.

Given how aggressive Atlanta has already been on the trade market this winter, it’s no surprise that the rebuilding club is exploring getting at least some of the money owed to those two veterans off the team’s books.  Swisher is owed $15MM in 2016 and he has a $14MM vesting option for 2017 that will be guaranteed if he makes 550 plate appearances next season and passes an end-of-year physical.  Bourn is owed $14MM in 2016 with a $12MM vesting option for 2017 that also becomes guaranteed at the 550-PA plateau.  Of the $29MM owed to the duo in 2016, however, $10MM will be covered by the Indians as part of the trade that brought both men to Atlanta in exchange for Chris Johnson last August.

Neither of those options seem particularly likely to vest while the two players are on Atlanta’s roster given how Freddie Freeman is locked in at first base and the starting outfield is slated to consist of Hector Olivera, Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis.  Emilio Bonifacio is also on hand as a low-cost backup center fielder, so Bowman thinks Bourn could be more expendable than Swisher, who can theoretically provide more value as a backup at first and both corner slots.

The big question about Swisher, however, is whether he’d be productive (or even able to play) over a full season given his surgically-repaired knees, even on a part-time basis.  It’s worth noting that Bourn has also had his share of injury problems, as hamstring issues have undoubtedly played a role in his declining defense and stolen-base statistics over the last two seasons.

Between the injuries and struggles at the plate, Bourn (0.4 fWAR in 2014-15) and Swisher (-2.3 fWAR) are far from sterling trade candidates.  It’s not completely out of the question, however, that the Braves could find a trade partner since they’re willing to eat some money.  If the Braves are willing to pay as much as half of either player’s salary, and assuming Cleveland’s $10MM contribution is being split equally, Swisher and Bourn now cost in the neighborhood of $5MM and $4.5MM, respectively, for 2016.  Those could be palatable prices for clubs looking for experienced veterans in backup roles, especially if there’s a team that believes Bourn or Swisher could rebound in a new environment.

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