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Tigers Release Brandon Dixon To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

By Steve Adams | November 19, 2020 at 10:26am CDT

The Tigers announced this morning that they’ve released infielder/outfielder Brandon Dixon in order to allow him to pursue an opportunity in Japan. The move drops Detroit’s 40-man roster to a total of 36 players in advance of tomorrow’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

It’s not yet clear which Nippon Professional Baseball will be signing the 28-year-old Dixon. The former third-round pick (Dodgers, 2013) was traded from Los Angeles to Cincinnati alongside Scott Schebler and Jose Peraza in the three-team swap that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox. (The Dodgers picked up Frankie Montas, Trayce Thompson and Micah Johnson from Chicago in that deal.)

Dixon made it to the big leagues with the Reds in 2018 but struggled through 124 plate appearances before being jettisoned from the 40-man roster that November. The Tigers claimed him and gave him a fairly substantial role with their 2019 club, as Dixon logged a career-high 420 plate appearances while hitting .248/.290/.435 with 15 homers, 20 doubles and four triples. His poor on-base percentage and the arrival of some younger talent for the Tigers in 2020 limited Dixon’s chances; he appeared in just five games with Detroit this past season and went 1-for-13 with a walk and a double.

Overall, Dixon is a .228/.271/.410 hitter in 558 Major League plate appearances, but he’s fared much better in Triple-A: .280/.333/.472 in 184 games. He’s worked primarily as a first baseman and corner outfielder in recent seasons with the Tigers, but Dixon has at least some professional experience at every position on the diamond except shortstop and catcher.

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Rochester Red Wings To Become Nationals’ Triple-A Affiliate

By Steve Adams | November 19, 2020 at 8:39am CDT

The Nationals will have a new Triple-A affiliate in 2021, as they’ve reached an agreement with the Rochester Red Wings, Justin Murphy and Sean Lahman of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle report. The move to partner with the Nationals will end an 18-year affiliation between the Red Wings and the Twins. The length of the new player development contract between the Nats and Red Wings hasn’t been announced, although such agreements are generally for two years or for four years.

The appeal for the Nationals in this deal is quite apparent. The Nats just wrapped up a two-year PDC with the Fresno Grizzlies after an awkward game of musical chairs between several teams and the few available Triple-A affiliates two years ago left them as the last two potential partners standing. Fresno is nearly 2800 miles and more than a six-hour flight from Nationals Park. It was never an ideal fit. Rochester is a mere 382 miles, with a flight to D.C. checking in at about 90 minutes.

Shuttling players between Triple-A and the big leagues will be vastly easier for the Nats in 2021 and beyond. They’ll also surely be pleased to move their young pitchers from the hitters’ paradise that is the Pacific Coast League to a friendlier setting in the International League.

As for the Twins, they’re now without a Triple-A affiliate, although they’ve long been reported to be working on an affiliation deal with the St. Paul Saints. While the Saints have been an independent team since their inception in 1993 — first in the Northern League and, since 2005, in the American Association — the Twins’ hope is that they can work out a deal to move their Triple-A club just miles from their current home park. Target Field and the Saints’ CHS Field are separated by all of 11 miles.

La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported recently that the Twins and Saints are continuing to progress toward a deal and may even have the framework of an agreement in place. Triple-A stadiums are required to have a capacity of at least 10,000, but Neal writes that said requirement would be waived for the recently constructed CHS Field, which opened in 2015 and has a 7210-person capacity. The Saints would need to pay a significant sum to Minor League Baseball — $20MM — in order to be granted affiliation, which is the biggest remaining hurdle in the agreement.

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Robinson Cano Receives 162-Game PED Suspension

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2020 at 2:33pm CDT

Mets second baseman Robinson Cano has tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The league confirmed minutes after Passan’s report that Cano has tested positive for Stanozolol. Because this is Cano’s second PED ban — he also tested positive with the Mariners back in 2018 — he’ll be suspended for 162 games. Cano will spend the 2021 season on the restricted list and will not earn any of his $24MM salary ($3.75MM of which was to be paid by the Mariners).

Robinson Cano | Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Presumably, if the 2021 season is shortened at all due to the ongoing pandemic, Cano’s suspension would carry over into the 2022 campaign. He’s still signed through 2023 at that same $24MM annual rate under the terms of the 10-year, $240MM deal he signed in Seattle back in December 2013.

The pair of PED suspensions will unquestionably sully what otherwise looked like a potential Hall of Fame career. Cano, an eight-time All-Star, has taken home five Silver Slugger Awards, two Gold Gloves and posted a superlative .303/.352/.492 batting line with 334 home runs, 571 doubles, 33 triples, 1257 runs scored an 1303 runs driven in. He’s also racked up 2624 career hits, which would’ve given him a chance at cracking the illustrious 3000-hit barrier were it not for this latest suspension. He’ll still technically have an outside chance, but a pair of 188-hit seasons at ages 39 and 40 don’t seem likely.

The 38-year-old struggled through a dismal 2019 season in Queens, hitting just .256/.307/.428 in a season that will be remembered for the juiced ball and record levels of offense throughout the league. Cano put together what looked to be a a terrific bounceback effort in 2020 with a .316/.352/.544 slash in 182 plate appearances, although this latest PED revelation obviously tarnishes the legitimacy of that production.

That strong showing notwithstanding, Cano’s suspension will work to the Mets’ benefit from a roster construction standpoint. Incoming owner Steve Cohen was already expected to be among the game’s most aggressive owners in an offseason where most clubs will be looking to recoup lost revenues.

Cano’s suspension not only opens up $20.25MM of unexpected payroll space in 2021 but also paves a clearer path for the Mets to put Jeff McNeil back at second base if they see fit. That makes for a cleaner alignment of J.D. Davis at the hot corner with a possible outfield alignment of Dominic Smith in left, Brandon Nimmo in center and Michael Conforto in right. Of course, given the aforementioned spending capabilities the Mets possess under Cohen, it’s quite likely that the current alignment will be altered by offseason additions, be they via the free-agent market or trade market.

Already, the Mets have been listed as a potential suitor for top free agents such as Trevor Bauer, J.T. Realmuto, George Springer, DJ LeMahieu and Marcell Ozuna. Similarly, they’ve been suggested as a speculative trade partner for the Mets when they inevitably move Francisco Lindor this winter. The additional payroll capacity only strengthens their ability to pursue such upgrades.

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New York Mets Newsstand Seattle Mariners Robinson Cano

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Ron Fowler Steps Down As Padres’ Chairman; Peter Seidler Named Control Person

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2020 at 2:25pm CDT

2:25pm: Major League Baseball formally announced that Seidler has been approved as the new control person in San Diego.

2:00pm: Ron Fowler has stepped down as executive chairman of the Padres and sold a majority stake of the team to general partner Peter Seidler, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Seidler, who was already part of the organization’s ownership group, has already been approved by the other 29 owners as the Padres’ new control person, according to Acee.

The 77-year-old Fowler will remain involved with the Padres as a minority shareholder and as an advisor. More notably, he’ll still have a voice in next year’s collective bargaining talks, per the report. Fowler previously served as the chairman of MLB’s labor committee in the last wave of collective bargaining talks in 2015. He figures to again be an influential voice in a contentious set of negotiations after years of frustration from players, culminating in this spring’s three-month return-to-play staredown against ownership.

Fowler has been a relatively vocal owner in recent years, weighing in with thoughts on his club’s struggles on multiple occasions and also going into a perhaps unexpected level of detail on some free-agent pursuits — Eric Hosmer most notable among them. More recently, Fowler promised that “heads will roll, beginning with my own,” barring improvement from the club in the 2020 season.

The Padres, of course, did improve substantially in 2020 — not only posting a 37-23 record in this year’s truncated slate of games but riding a second-place finish to their first postseason berth since 2006. Fowler’s Padres toppled the Cardinals in the Wild Card round of this year’s expanded playoff format, but the absence of top starters Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet loomed large as they fell to the eventual World Series Champion Dodgers in the National League Division Series.

Fowler perhaps foreshadowed some change earlier this summer when he spoke about financial uncertainties regarding the 2021 season due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and questions about what level of attendance will be possible next year.

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Newsstand San Diego Padres Peter Seidler Ron Fowler

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Nationals Sign Sam Clay To Major League Contract

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2020 at 12:44pm CDT

The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve signed 27-year-old lefty Sam Clay to a Major League contract. The 2014 fourth-rounder has spent his entire career prior to this point in the Twins organization but has yet to appear in the Majors. Clay’s contract comes with a $575K guarantee, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Clay is represented by the Ballengee Group.

While Major League deals for minor league free agents who have yet to make their Major League debut are admittedly rare, there’s a handful of them every winter. The Nationals, in fact, fared well in exactly that type of signing just one year ago when they inked longtime Athletics farmhand Kyle Finnegan to a Major League deal. He went on to toss 24 2/3 frames of 2.92 ERA ball out of the Washington ’pen in 2020. They’ll hope for similar success with Clay in 2021.

Because of the lack of a minor league season in 2020, Clay has just 22 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level under his belt. He’s pitched to a 4.37 ERA in that time but logged a much more impressive 26-to-10 K/BB ratio and a 60.6 percent ground-ball rate. Clay’s sinker has consistently generated ground-ball rates north of 55 percent, including a ridiculous 77 percent mark through 46 2/3 frames at the Double-A level in 2019.

Past scouting reports on the 6’2″, 190-pound lefty have also touted an above-average curveball, and it should be noted that because of his extreme ground-ball capabilities, he’s surrendered just six home runs in 405 1/3 minor league innings. To further emphasize the eye-popping nature of that stat, consider that Clay has faced 1814 batters in that time.

Clay was never selected to the Twins’ 40-man roster at any point in his career to date, which also means he’s never been optioned to Triple-A. As such — much like Finnegan — he still has three minor league option years remaining, so he doesn’t need to crack a spot on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster by any means. He’ll give the Nats some much-needed lefty depth in their bullpen mix, where Ben Braymer had previously stood as the only southpaw bullpen piece on the team’s 40-man roster.

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Offseason Outlook: Colorado Rockies

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2020 at 11:18am CDT

For a second straight offseason, Rockies owner Dick Monfort set the stage for a tight-budgeted winter for his club. “There will be nothing normal about this offseason as the industry faces a new economic reality, and each club will have to adjust,” Monfort wrote in a letter to season ticketholders at the end of October.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Nolan Arenado, 3B: $199MM through 2026 (Arenado can opt out of the contract after 2021)
  • German Marquez, RHP: $36MM through 2023 (includes buyout of 2024 club option)
  • Charlie Blackmon, OF: $21MM through 2021 (contract contains player options for 2022-23)
  • Trevor Story, SS: $17.5MM through 2021
  • Scott Oberg, RHP: $11MM through 2022
  • Ian Desmond, INF/OF: $10MM through 2021 (includes buyout of 2022 club option)

Arbitration-Eligible Players

This year’s arbitration projections are more volatile than ever, given the unprecedented revenue losses felt by clubs and the shortened 2020 schedule. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, who developed our arbitration projection model, used three different methods to calculate different projection numbers. You can see the full projections and an explanation of each if you click here, but for the purposes of our Outlook series, we’ll be using Matt’s 37-percent method — extrapolating what degree of raise a player’s 2020 rate of play would have earned him in a full 162-game slate and then awarding him 37 percent of that raise.

  • Daniel Bard — $1.7MM
  • David Dahl – $2.6MM
  • Elias Diaz — $850K
  • Jairo Diaz – $800K
  • Carlos Estevez – $1.5MM
  • Kyle Freeland – $3.9MM
  • Mychal Givens – $3.6MM
  • Chi Chi Gonzalez – $1.2MM
  • Jon Gray – $5.9MM
  • Ryan McMahon – $1.7MM
  • Antonio Senzatela – $2.2MM
  • Raimel Tapia – $1.5MM
  • Tony Wolters – $2.0MM
  • Non-tender candidates: E. Diaz, J. Diaz, Estevez, Gonzalez, McMahon, Wolters

Option Decisions

  • Declined $15MM mutual option on RHP Wade Davis (paid $1MM buyout)
  • Declined $12MM mutual option on 1B Daniel Murphy (paid $6MM buyout)

Free Agents

  • Wade Davis, Daniel Murphy, Kevin Pillar, Chris Owings, Drew Butera, Matt Kemp, AJ Ramos

Despite a 91-loss season in 2019 and an offseason that lacked any meaningful additions to the roster, Monfort projected a 94-win campaign for his club in 2020. The Rox got out to a hot start, but their eventual .433 winning percentage was actually worse than their .438 mark in 2019. Now, they’re faced with similar payroll constraints and the continued awkward saga with a franchise icon, Nolan Arenado.

Monfort opened the 2019-20 offseason by declaring a lack of payroll flexibility, and while he stopped a bit short of being so on the nose, his email to fans and a quick look at Colorado’s payroll ledger show that they’re likely in a similar boat. The Rox were set to open the 2020 season with a roughly $146MM payroll prior to prorating salaries, and despite the fact that the contracts of Daniel Murphy, Wade Davis, Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw are off the books, they’re not far from that range.

The Rox owe a combined $93MM to Arenado, Trevor Story, German Marquez, Ian Desmond and Scott Oberg. Even if they non-tender all of the candidates listed above, that figure could rise into the $115MM range. Add in pre-arbitration players and the $7MM worth of option buyouts they paid after the World Series, and the Rockies don’t seem like a club that is teeming with surplus cash. They may not quite be to 2020 levels of payroll, but that was already a franchise-record outlay. We can’t assume they’re comfortable returning to that level, so it appears spending will be measured.

It’s that financial outlook, paired with Arenado’s persistent frustration, that have led to overwhelming trade speculation. Onlookers ought to be plenty familiar with the public nature of Arenado’s dissatisfaction at this point; the five-time All-Star flatly said he felt “disrespected” by the organization last winter. Arenado was reportedly was frustrated with the team’s lack of offseason activity, despite a promise at the time of his extension to make consistent efforts to field a winning club. Arenado told Denver 7’s Troy Renck last February that general manager Jeff Bridich, in particular, is “disrespectful.”

Given another poor showing and playoff miss from the Rox, many fans and pundits alike expect an Arenado trade to be a focal point of the club’s offseason. It is indeed reasonable to expect that the club will explore the market, but the path to an actual trade is anything but straightforward. Arenado has six years and $199MM remaining on his contract — an enormous sum that is sure to cause owners around the game to balk at a time when most clubs are frantically cutting costs.

Looming beyond the overall commitment is the fact that Arenado can opt out of the contract next winter. In many ways, that creates a lose-lose situation for interested parties. Arenado could play at his customary superstar level, enjoy another lofty finish in MVP voting and bolt for free agency. Alternatively, if he struggles or sustains a major injury, any acquiring club would be left with the remaining five years and $164MM on the contract. When the best-case scenario is one year of elite play and the worst-case scenario is six years of a $33MM+ salary for a player whose production has taken a step back, how much surplus value is there for the Rockies to peddle?

The elephant in the room is that Arenado simply didn’t have a great 2020 season. He did still secure his eighth Gold Glove in his eighth Major League season, but Arenado logged a rather bleak .253/.303/.434 slash in this year’s 201 plate appearances — output that is miles from the .295/.351/.546 line he posted in his career prior to 2020. Arenado entered the year with a 120 wRC+ — production 20 percent better than a league-average hitter when weighted for home park and league — and turned in a mark of 76 in 2020 (24 percent worse than a league-average bat).

One could argue that there’s some bad luck at play, and that could be partly true. However, Arenado’s 87.3 mph average exit velocity, 33.7 percent hard-hit rate and 5.4 percent barrel rate were all far and away the lowest of his career. Paired with his enormous salary and the opt-out downside, some clubs may not feel Arenado has much positive trade value. That’s an outlandish-looking comment at first blush, but at the very least, the Rockies won’t be getting a king’s ransom in a trade. They’ll quite possibly have trouble convincing another team to pay the full freight of the contract.

If the Rox are looking to offload salary while adding some controllable young talent, shortstop Trevor Story is the easier piece to market, as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently explored. We’ll avoid rehashing his argument at too great a length, but suffice it to say that a 28-year-old career .277/.343/.535 hitter (114 wRC+) with high-end defense of his own is a pretty desirable player under any circumstance — but certainly when he is playing on an eminently more reasonable one-year, $17.5MM pact. Any of the Phillies, Reds or Angels would stand out as a clear fit, and other contenders like the Yankees, Twins or Blue Jays could make sense if they shuffle some pieces around. Top prospect Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, is on hand for the Rox as a potential heir to Story’s spot.

Of course, while the focus of this outlook thus far has been on the possibility of dealing away a star infielder, that would be a dramatic 180-degree turn from how this organization has operated. Monfort has been almost fatally optimistic about the players the Rockies have in house. In addition to last year’s 94-win proclamation, the Rockies functioned as buyers at this year’s trade deadline, dealing from an already thin farm to acquire Kevin Pillar and Mychal Givens. Monfort may yet hold out the belief that this core group can put together a legitimate World Series run.

Should that prove to be the case, it’s not clear just how the Rockies can piece together the requisite upgrades to supplement a flawed core. Even if the Rockies are able to clear some payroll space, the work needed is considerable.

Colorado starters ranked 20th in the Majors in both ERA (4.83) and FIP (4.88), and their bullpen was only spared from being the game’s worst because of a historically bad group in Philadelphia. Rox relievers logged a combined 6.77 ERA and 5.56 FIP this past season, and Oberg, their best reliever, is a question mark for the 2021 season after undergoing thoracic outlet surgery in September. (He did not pitch in 2020.) Yency Almonte and Daniel Bard were the only two Rockies relievers with 10-plus innings pitched and an ERA south of 5.00.

If there’s a silver lining for the Rockies in all of this, it’s that the market for relievers looks decidedly harsh for players. Brad Hand already went unclaimed on waivers at a rate of one year and $10MM, and we’ve seen several seemingly reasonable club options bought out. The Rox could have their share of affordable bullpen pieces to pursue — although they likely need to add several arms to pair with Bard, Givens, Oberg and perhaps Almonte to make this a serviceable unit. Waiting out the market and striking gold on some Bard-esque minor league pacts feels like a necessity.

In the rotation, the Rockies have several arms who have had success at various points, but only German Marquez has been particularly consistent. The trio of Gray, Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela have all had intermittent success but also endured brutal stretches. With little to no help on the horizon in the farm, the Rockies would likely need to add a veteran option if they plan to continue in win-now mode. It’s difficult to convince free agents to come pitch at Coors Field, though, which will impact their pursuits both in the ’pen and rotation. Then again, if money is as tight as it appears, they’d likely be shopping in the lower tiers of the market anyhow, or perhaps trying to acquire some non-tender candidates in buy-low trades prior to the tender deadline.

On the position-player side of the roster, the Rockies got no production whatsoever out of their catcher position in 2020, but that’s become par for the course as the club has steadfastly remained committed to light-hitting Tony Wolters. He’s a non-tender candidate again, though, and a solid defender with more ability at the dish (e.g. Jason Castro) might not cost that much more than Wolters’ projected arbitration price.

First base reps could be offered to any of Ryan McMahon (if he is tendered a contract), Josh Fuentes or prospect Colton Welker, and the free-agent market should have some affordable names (e.g. Carlos Santana, Mitch Moreland, C.J. Cron, Justin Smoak). Some outfield support behind David Dahl, who struggled in 2020 before undergoing shoulder surgery, would make sense as well; a Pillar reunion or a similar pursuit doesn’t seem far-fetched.

Frankly, however, the Rockies seem as though they’d be better served to take a step back. Marquez would instantly become one of the prizes of the trade market were he made available, and Story could return some young talent as well. Other Rox arms — Freeland and Givens among them — would hold ample appeal themselves. That has not been how this franchise operates, and while it’s commendable to see a team continue to push for competitive teams year-in and year-out, the process becomes more questionable when financial limitations prevent the front office from making any meaningful changes to the current group’s composition.

Perhaps the club will try to thread the needle of a long-term talent acquisition while still fielding a hopeful contender in 2021. If Bridich is able to find an Arenado trade, for instance, the Rox could reallocate some of those dollars to short-term deals for players to fill needs.

It’s still hard to envision this group contending with the World Champion Dodgers or upstart Padres in 2021, however. The Giants also continue to make strides, while the D-backs retain their own talented core in need of a rebound. The NL West looks like an increasingly tough division, and the Rockies’ avenues to assemble a competitive unit are limited if Monfort again opts not to spend this winter.

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2020-21 Offseason Outlook Colorado Rockies MLBTR Originals

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Pirates’ Steven Brault Has Drawn Trade Interest

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2020 at 8:58am CDT

The Pirates have received calls from multiple teams regarding left-hander Steven Brault, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Given the state of the roster in Pittsburgh, it stands to reason that they’d be open to moving any player who is into his arbitration years, which Brault is as of this winter. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s 37-percent method projects Brault to earn $1.5MM in his first trip through the arb process.

Brault, 28, is controlled for three more seasons via arbitration and doesn’t figure to see his arb price reach an outlandish level given this year’s modest salary projection. He’s coming off 42 2/3 innings of a 3.38 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 0.42 HR/9 and a 49.1 percent ground-ball rate. That ERA is a career-best, but it’s not fully supported by other metrics. Brault benefited from a career-low .243 average on balls in play, and fielding-independent marks aren’t as bullish (3.92 FIP, 4.85 xFIP, 5.07 SIERA).

That said, Brault also limited hard contact at the best rates of his career, ranking in the 89th percentile of MLB pitchers in terms of average exit velocity and the 76th percentile in terms of overall hard-hit rate, per Statcast. He cut back on the use of his fastball considerably in 2020, instead throwing his changeup at a career-high 24.1 percent clip. Of the 34 plate appearances Brault finished off with a changeup, opponents posted a .121/.118/.154 batting line with seven strikeouts.

Brault has worked as both a starter and a reliever in the past, splitting his time between the two roles pretty evenly: 45 starts, 55 relief outings. All but one of his 2020 outings were starts, and looking at those 10 trips to the hill he actually pitched quite well. Brault surrendered four runs without recording an out in his lone relief appearance this year.  His career ERA as a starter is considerably lower — 4.42 to 5.22 — although fielding-independent marks suggest the discrepancy isn’t so wide.

Whatever gains Brault may have made in 2020 will be subject to various teams’ interpretation of a limited sample size. However, it’s not much of surprise that a 28-year-old lefty with three years of club control, a modest arbitration price tag and some positive indicators in the shortened season is at least generating some inquiries from other clubs. Cost-controlled pitching figures to be coveted even more than ever this winter, given the revenue losses throughout the sport, and the Pirates will surely be open to offers on the majority of their roster after posting the worst record in baseball this past season.

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Pittsburgh Pirates Steven Brault

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Nationals, Yasmany Tomas Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | November 17, 2020 at 1:40pm CDT

The Nationals have agreed to a minor league contract with corner outfielder Yasmany Tomas, as first reported by Francys Romero (via Twitter). He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training with the Nats in 2021.  Tomas turned down a couple of offers in Japan with an eye on playing first base in the Majors, MLBTR has learned.

For the Nats, adding Tomas is likely a simple depth move early in the winter.  First base might be the best path back to the Majors for Tomas, as he logged 346 innings at the position in Triple-A last year and the Nats don’t have much at the position with Eric Thames, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Howie Kendrick hitting free agency. The Nats also have a need in one corner outfield spot after declining their 2021 option on Adam Eaton and outrighting Michael A. Taylor off the 40-man roster, but Tomas isn’t likely to win a starting role there.

Washington will be the first big league organization outside of Arizona for the 30-year-old Tomas, who came to the Major Leagues amid considerable fanfare after defecting from Cuba in 2014. Tomas generated widescale interest and huge expectations that led to a hefty six-year, $68.5MM deal — a contract that even included an opt-out clause after the fourth season.

Of course, as anyone who followed Tomas’ career in Arizona knows, that opt-out provision never came into play. Tomas spent some time in Triple-A in 2015, his first season with the club, which was not wholly unexpected. He struggled at the plate in that rookie season but did improve with a 31-homer showing in 2016 — albeit one that came with sub-par on-base skills (.272/.313/.508) and poor outfield defense.

After that 2016 campaign, the D-backs cleaned house in the front office, parting ways with several key execs who contributed to signing Tomas — including then-GM Dave Stewart. Chief baseball officer Tony La Russa “stepped away” after the 2017 season. The new front office, led by current GM Mike Hazen, wasn’t as committed to giving Tomas a lengthy audition. He appeared in just 47 games in 2017, missing much of that year due to a groin injury, and would only ever suit up for four games with the D-backs again. Tomas was outrighted off the 40-man roster in 2018 and hit poorly in Triple-A that year. He rebounded in Reno in 2019 but only received a brief big league look for his efforts. Arizona did not include him in its 60-man player pool this past season.

On the whole, Tomas’ time with the D-backs resulted in a .266/.306/.459 slash (97 wRC+ and OPS+). His glove in the outfield checked in at -34 Defensive Runs Saved in just north of 2000 innings, illustrating the defensive struggles he exhibited in Arizona. That said, Tomas’ .193 ISO speaks to the impressive raw power he possesses, and he did tattoo left-handed opponents at a .293/.343/.537 clip during his time with the Diamondbacks (128 wRC+).

 

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Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Yasmany Tomas

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2021-22 MLB Free Agents

By Steve Adams and Tim Dierkes | November 16, 2020 at 1:29pm CDT

The following players are currently eligible for free agency for the 2021-22 offseason.  Players’ ages for the 2022 season are listed in parentheses.

Players on this list generally need to have at least 50 plate appearances or 20 innings pitched in the 2021 season to be included.

Updated 4-4-22

Catchers

Wilson Ramos (34)
Kevan Smith (34)

First Basemen

Asdrubal Cabrera (36)

Second Basemen

Joe Panik (31)
Eric Sogard (36)

Shortstops

Mike Freeman (34)

Third Basemen

Asdrubal Cabrera (36)
Starlin Castro (32)
Jose Rondon (28)

Left Fielders

Brett Gardner (38)

Center Fielders

Jarrod Dyson (37)
Brett Gardner (38)
Danny Santana (31)

Right Fielders

Michael Conforto (29)
Adam Eaton (33)
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Wade LeBlanc (37)

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Chris Devenski (31)
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Oliver Drake (35)
Luke Farrell (31)
Jesse Hahn (32)
Ryne Harper (33)
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Edgar Santana (30)
Burch Smith (32)
Josh Tomlin (37)

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Tony Watson (37)

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Angels Name Perry Minasian GM

By Steve Adams | November 12, 2020 at 3:20pm CDT

3:20pm: The Angels have announced the hiring. Minasian received a four-year contract, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets.

12:09pm: The Angels have decided on Braves assistant general manager Perry Minasian as their new general manager, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Rosenthal reported last night that Minasian was the favorite to land the post, replacing the recently fired Billy Eppler.

Following Eppler’s ousting, the Angels reportedly interviewed as many as 20 candidates for the position, though Minasian was one of just five to advance to the second wave of interviews. Also in the mix were Cubs senior vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod, D-backs assistant GMs Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye, and Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander.

Ultimately the job will be entrusted to Minasian, who has been with the Braves since 2017 after a nine-year run working his way up through the Blue Jays’ scouting ranks. His appointment to this post makes for  another rookie GM hire for Angels owner Arte Moreno, who has previously tabbed first-timers Tony Reagins, Jerry Dipoto and the aforementioned Eppler to lead his baseball ops department. (Dipoto had served as an interim GM in Arizona prior to being hired by the Angels.)

That’s not to suggest that Minasian is in any way a head-scratching hire — far from it. He’s previously been connected to GM vacancies, including the Mets’ opening prior to their 2018 hiring of Brodie Van Wagenen. Minasian has seemingly been preparing for an opportunity like this for most of his life, in fact. As MLB.com’s Mark Bowman noted back when the Braves hired Minasian in October 2017, he served as the Rangers’ bat boy while his father was their equipment manager and eventually rose to clubhouse attend and then to the team’s scouting department prior to his move to the Blue Jays. His brother, Zack, is currently the Giants’ pro scouting director.

From his time in the clubhouse to his tenure as a prominent scout and then an assistant GM and vice president who helped to bolster the Braves’ analytics department, Minasian has a wealth of experiences and vantage points — all of which have contributed to his ascension to the top of a big league baseball operations department.

Minasian inherits a crowded but manageable long-term payroll outlook in Anaheim. The Angels are at last in the final season of the 10-year, $240MM Albert Pujols contract negotiated by Moreno, and they’ll be out from underneath Justin Upton’s five-year, $105MM deal after the 2022 season. Starting in 2023, the only players on the books for the Angels are Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, although they’ll have some key players up for arbitration that year — most notably Shohei Ohtani, David Fletcher and Griffin Canning.

Minasian joined the Braves after the 2017 season as they were emerging from a rebuilding effort. He’ll now join a club with an even greater win-now imperative — this time standing alone atop the operations hierarchy (although Moreno has a reputation for being far more involved in baseball operations maneuverings than most of his ownership peers). It’s been six years since the Halos and Trout last reached the postseason, and Moreno has clearly grown restless as that drought has grown.

Minasian should have the green light for an aggressive offseason if he wishes. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource/FanGraphs projects a roughly $36MM gap between the Angels’ current luxury obligations and the luxury tax barrier, and that only figures to grow once the Halos make some expected non-tenders. The Angels will need to address at least one middle-infield spot and perhaps add a catcher, but the bulk of Minasian’s heavy lifting should be expected to be on the pitching side of things — in the rotation and bullpen alike.

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Atlanta Braves Los Angeles Angels Newsstand Perry Minasian

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