Giants, Brandon Guyer Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran outfielder Brandon Guyer, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The ACES client would earn $1MM upon making the big league roster, but won’t open up in MLB camp, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The 2019 season marked the first time since 2013 that Guyer didn’t appear in the Majors. He might’ve eventually had that chance on a then-rebuilding White Sox roster, but the now-34-year-old Guyer opened the season in Triple-A Charlotte and spent most of the year on the injured list.
Guyer hasn’t had a full, productive season in the big leagues since 2016 and has long been something of a specialty player. The right-handed-hitting veteran has traditionally struggled against right-handed pitching but has tormented lefties with a .274/.375/.448 slash (130 wRC+) in 793 plate appearances. Guyer thrives at getting on base when holding the platoon advantage, in no small part due to his league-leading penchant for getting hit by pitches (as explored at great length by FanGraphs’ August Fagerstrom back in 2016).
Giants fans have been expecting some outfield additions since president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi said last week that deepening that mix was a priority. While this move probably isn’t as exciting as anything Giants fans might’ve hoped for, Guyer’s right-handed bat would seemingly pair well with a heavily left-handed outfield mix — Alex Dickerson, Steven Duggar and Mike Yastrzemski — if he makes the team.
Mariners Claim Jose Siri
The Mariners have claimed outfielder Jose Siri off waivers from the Reds, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. The Seattle organization hasn’t formally announced the move yet and will need to make a corresponding 40-man transaction to open space for Siri, who was designated for assignment last week when the Reds inked Nick Castellanos to a four-year deal.
Siri, 24, was considered to be among Cincinnati’s best farmhands just two years ago. FanGraphs, in fact, ranked him near the back end of the game’s 100 best prospects (No. 93 overall) heading into the 2018 campaign. At that point, he was a 22-year-old who was fresh off an impressive .293/.341/.530 slash with 24 homers and 46 steals in the Class-A Midwest League.
Since that time, however, Siri has turned in a pair of disappointing seasons, logging a combined on-base percentage south of .300 in 2018-19 between Class-A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A. This past season, Siri mustered a lackluster .237/.300/.357 showing through 517 plate appearances in the minors, and he’s struggled even more heavily in the Dominican Winter League (.196/.264/.411 in 125 plate appearances).
The addition of Siri comes not long after the Mariners learned that they’ll be without right fielder Mitch Haniger early in the season due to core surgery. Haniger recently suffered a setback when rehabbing from the ruptured testicle that sidelined him for much of the 2019 season and could miss up to eight weeks of action. With Haniger sidelined for what could be much of Spring Training, Siri will join an outfield mix consisting of Mallex Smith, Kyle Lewis, Dee Gordon, Jake Fraley and Braden Bishop. Siri has a minor league option remaining, so the Mariners can keep him even if he doesn’t break camp with the club.
Rays Sign Dylan Covey, John Curtiss To Minor League Deals
The Rays have agreed to minor league contracts with right-handers Dylan Covey and John Curtiss, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Both pitchers will be in Major League camp as non-roster invitees this spring. Tampa Bay also re-signed fleet-footed outfielder Johnny Davis, although he’ll report directly to minor league camp.
Covey, 28, recently elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment from the White Sox. He’s appeared in each of the past three seasons with the ChiSox, showing promise at times but ultimately posting unpalatable results. In 250 1/3 big league innings, he’s pitched to a 6.54 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.62 HR/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate.
The Athletics drafted Covey in the third round back in 2013, and he was Chicago’s Rule 5 pick in 2016 three years later. Like many Rule 5 pick, Covey had a brutal rookie year, but he survived on the roster, allowing the Sox to keep him in following seasons. The righty was impressive early in 2018, logging a 3.45 ERA/3.54 FIP with a huge 60 percent ground-ball rate through his first eight starts. That success quickly unraveled, though, and Covey struggled through the majority of his remaining time on the South Side. The Rays will hope they can help him rediscover that early 2018 form, although Tampa Bay has enviable pitching depth as it is with Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Ryan Yarbrough and Yonny Chirinos all in line to start games in 2020.
Curtiss, meanwhile, bounced from the Twins to the Angels to the Phillies on a series of waiver claims and minor league deals in 2019. The former sixth-rounder (Twins, 2014) was once a well-regarded bullpen prospect in Minnesota’s system but has yet to find success in the big leagues (13 runs in 17 1/3 innings). Curtiss was shelled in Triple-A in 2019 but was very good there in 2017-18, pitching to a combined 2.49 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings. Control has long been an issue for Curtiss, though, as even in that solid 2017-18 run in Triple-A, he issued 41 free passes (4.6 BB/9).
As for Davis, the Rays plucked him out of the Mexican League last August and rushed him to the big leagues as a September call-up/pinch-running specialist. He had a strong year in Mexico in 2019, slashing .300/.353/.392 and swiping 54 bases. That showing and his brief cameo in the Rays organization late in ’19 will earn him a look in the upper minors with the Rays in 2020, it seems.
Yankees Sign Dan Otero, David Hale
The Yankees announced a series of minor league deals with non-roster invitations to Spring Training on Monday, including previously unreported agreements with right-handers Dan Otero and David Hale.
Otero, 35 later this month, was brilliant with the Indians from 2016-17, pitching to a combined 2.14 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 1.3 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 and a 63 percent ground-ball rate in 130 2/3 innings of relief. However, he’s become increasingly homer-prone over the past two seasons (1.83 HR/9), and this past season’s 53.2 percent grounder rate marked roughly a 10 percent drop for the sinkerballer. Otero’s ability to avoid walks remains among the very best in baseball — eight walks in his past 88 1/3 innings — but the 89.5 mph he averaged on his sinker in 2019 was the lowest velocity of his career.
Hale, meanwhile, is a more familiar face for Yankees fans. The 32-year-old has gone through multiple stints with the Yankees over the past two seasons and threw quite well in 2019. Hale racked up 37 2/3 innings in a long relief role in 2019 and notched a tidy 3.11 ERA with a 23-to-7 K/BB ratio and an even 50 percent ground-ball rate.
Incredibly, this is the fifth minor league contract that Hale has signed with the Yankees since Jan. 2018. He originally signed a minor league pact with New York on Jan. 30 that year. Hale had his contract selected that April, landed with the Twins on a waiver claim and was released not long after. He returned to the Yankees on a second minor league deal, was again released following a DFA two weeks later, and re-signed with the Yanks the following day. Hale then re-signed with the Yankees on a minor league deal last winter and has now put pen to paper with them yet again.
Both pitchers will compete for spots in a crowded Yankees bullpen alongside fellow non-roster veterans Tyler Lyons and Luis Avilan. The top end of the Yankees’ relief corps looks to be largely set, health permitting, as Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green and Tommy Kahlne should all be locks. Others such as Jonathan Holder, Ben Heller and the out-of-options Luis Cessa will compete alongside the non-roster players in Spring Training as they hope to land a spot on the Opening Day roster as well.
Poll: Where Will Mookie Betts Play In 2020?
The trade rumblings surrounding Mookie Betts are presumably nearing their peak. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported last night that resolution on trade talks regarding him could come within the next few days. Ken Rosenthal offered a similar sentiment on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show this morning (Twitter link, with video), plainly stating that a Betts trade “is going to happen.”
At this point, the race to acquire Betts is widely reported to be between a pair of NL West rivals: the Dodgers and the Padres. The former, of course, is a perennial division champ hoping that Betts could be the piece to finally push them across the finish line in the World Series after two near-misses in three years. The latter would simply hope Betts could propel them into postseason play at all. San Diego has yet to experience a playoff game under general manager A.J. Preller, who was hired more than five years ago.
As with most high-profile trade scenarios, there are multiple layers to consider. Both the Padres and Dodgers have excellent farm systems and controllable, MLB-ready talent to pitch to new Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and his staff. Betts would push the Padres into franchise-record payroll territory but wouldn’t bring them to the luxury tax threshold. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have spent far more than this before but would be in luxury territory with Betts on board.
The financial components don’t stop there. San Diego has reportedly sought to unload part of Wil Myers‘ contract (three years, $61MM remaining) on the Red Sox in their talks. Boston has been trying to push some of David Price‘s remaining deal (three years, $96MM) on both clubs; USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets this morning that the Dodgers are still trying to get the Sox to take on a larger portion of Price’s contract.
The emergence of an unexpected suitor — who doesn’t love a good mystery team?! — would make things more interesting and remains possible as long as Betts is still under Red Sox control.
It’s only been 10 days since MLBTR readers weighed in on whether a Betts trade would happen at all, with nearly 69 percent of participants voting that the 2018 AL MVP would open the 2020 season in Boston. Just over a week later, there’s a decidedly different feel around the Betts situation, so let’s open this up one final time (link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users)…
Who will Mookie Betts be playing for on Opening Day 2020?
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He'll be a Dodger. 56% (17,854)
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The Red Sox won't trade him. 18% (5,749)
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He'll be a Padre. 15% (4,912)
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Never bet against the mystery team! 11% (3,627)
Total votes: 32,142
Twins Have Interest In Taijuan Walker
The Twins added veteran starter Jhoulys Chacin on a minor league deal over the weekend but might not be through adding experienced arms to their spring rotation mix. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the club could yet add right-hander Taijuan Walker to the fray; Miller’s colleague, La Velle E. Neal III, also mentioned Minnesota’s interest in the righty in a previous notebook column.
Walker, 27, once rated as one of the game’s 15 best overall prospects and looked to be putting things together following a trade from Seattle to Arizona. In 2017, his age-24 campaign, Walker tossed 157 1/3 frames of 3.49 ERA ball in Arizona, averaging 8.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.97 HR/9 and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate.
However, the former No. 43 overall draft pick (Mariners, 2010) wound up undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, and a sprained shoulder capsule the following May prolonged his absence while creating additional health concerns. Walker was only able to make it back to a big league mound for one inning in 2019, when he served as an opener in the Diamondbacks’ final game of the year. Arizona non-tendered him in December rather than pay a third-time arbitration salary that would’ve likely matched last year’s $5.025MM rate.
In all, Walker has totaled just 14 innings over the past two seasons thanks to that torn elbow ligament and sprained shoulder capsule, which have understandably combined to limit his earning power. Neal implied that the Twins have hoped to land Walker on a non-roster deal, though the lack of an agreement suggests that he’s perhaps holding out for a guaranteed contract.
It’s easy enough to see Walker’s appeal for the Twins, whose 2020 rotation is currently the weakest area on the club. Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi will be back to lead the staff, and Minnesota added right-hander Homer Bailey on the heels of his healthiest season since 2013. Michael Pineda, too, will return in 2020 — but not until he finishes up a reduced 60-game suspension for taking a banned substance. That punishment will keep him shelved until mid-May. Lefty Rich Hill, signed the same day as Bailey, will be out until at least June after undergoing primary repair surgery on his left elbow this winter.
The Twins currently appear likely to rely on right-hander Randy Dobnak (1.59 ERA, 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 28 1/3 innings in 2019) and left-hander Devin Smeltzer (3.86 ERA, 38-to-12 K/BB in 49 innings) to round out their rotation early in the season. The weekend addition of Chacin gives them another option, should he look more like his 2018 self than his 2019 self this spring. Aussie southpaw Lewis Thorpe and top prospect Brusdar Graterol could also be in the mix.
Walker, though, would add an intriguing wild card to that rotation competition if the two sides are ultimately able to strike up a deal. He has five-plus year of service time under his belt, meaning there are no future arbitration years of which to gain control, but he’s looked like one of the market’s more intriguing short-term dice rolls since the day he was non-tendered two months ago.
Pirates Sign Charlie Tilson, Andrew Susac
The Pirates announced minor league deals with outfielder Charlie Tilson and catcher Andrew Susac on Friday. Both players will be in Major League camp this spring, as will lefties Derek Holland and Robbie Erlin, whose previously reported minor league deals were confirmed by the team.
Tilson, 27, was once a well-regarded prospect with the Cardinals and White Sox. Known primarily for his speed, he was flipped from St. Louis to Chicago several years ago in a deal that sent Zach Duke to the Cardinals. The ChiSox hoped they’d found a top-of-the-order hitter who could provide good defense and generally serve as a nuisance to other teams on the basepaths, but Tilson unfortunately tore his hamstring in his debut game with the Sox back in 2016. Other lower half injuries, namely a stress reaction in his right foot, limited him substantially the following year.
Tilson has now appeared in 96 big league games but has never gotten back on track after that rash of injuries in 2016-17. He’s a career .246/.310/.290 hitter in the Majors, although last year’s Triple-A showing (.288/.345/.398) at least created a bit of optimism that perhaps he could still tap into some of that previous potential. Tilson swiped only eight bases between Triple-A and the Majors in 2019, however, so it appears his days as a 40-steal threat might be in the past now that those lower-half injuries have taken their toll.
Susac, meanwhile, was not only a well-regarded prospect but was at various points considered to be among the game’s top 100 farmhands during his days with the Giants. His strong work early in his career in Triple-A has never really carried over to the Majors, though, and the now-29-year-old backstop (30 in March) has a career .221/.283/.373 slash in 300 big league plate appearances. He’s a career .247/.351/.431 hitter in Triple-A — numbers that are somewhat skewed by an awful 2017 season with Milwaukee’s top affiliate.
Melky Cabrera Hopes To Keep Playing At Least A “Couple” More Years
We’ve reached the point of the offseason where it’s not entirely clear whether some veterans will continue their careers or move onto the next chapter. Curtis Granderson announced his retirement earlier today, and we’ve seen less-prolific names like Peter Bourjos and Tony Barnette step away from playing this week as well. To that end, while it’s been a quiet winter on the Melky Cabrera front, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the veteran switch-hitter hopes to keep playing for “another couple years.”
Cabrera has consistently hit for solid batting averages and maintained a low strikeout rate even into his mid-30s. The 35-year-old has hit .280 or better in four straight seasons and hasn’t seen his average dip south of .270 since way back in 2010. He’s never struck out at even a 14 percent clip in a single season. That said, Cabrera’s power dwindled in 2019, as even at a time when home runs were at an all-time high throughout the league, he posted his worst isolated power (.119) since a 2013 season in which he played part of the season with a benign tumor in his lower back. Last year’s 4.3 percent walk rate was also a career-worst, leading to Cabrera’s lowest OBP since 2008.
On the other side of the ball, Cabrera has never been considered a good defender but posted particularly rough numbers in the outfield with the Pirates in 2019. Despite playing only 682 innings in the field, he logged -15 Defensive Runs Saved, a -6.8 Ultimate Zone Rating and -4 Outs Above Average.
Cabrera was average or better at the plate from 2016-18, so a club that feels his power and/or walk rate can bounce back in 2020 might think there’s a moderately productive part-time outfielder with high-end bat-to-ball skills still in there. At the same time, his continually deteriorating defensive marks probably limit him to a bench role even if does latch on with a club. At some point, one can imagine that he’ll land a minor league contract somewhere, but like most of the remaining corner outfielders on the market, he’ll probably have to earn his way back to the Majors with a strong Spring Training or even with an early-season run in Triple-A.
Pirates Sign JT Riddle
5:12pm: Riddle’s deal with the Pirates will pay him $850K, MLBTR has learned.
3:25pm: The Pirates announced Friday that they’ve signed infielder JT Riddle to a Major League contract. The addition of Riddle, a Meister Sports client, fills Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster.
Riddle, 28, was once considered to be among the more promising farmhands in the Marlins organization but was unable to establish himself in parts of three MLB seasons in Miami. Through 718 plate appearances, Riddle managed just a .229/.269/.368 batting line, which proved tepid enough that the Marlins eventually cut ties with him earlier this offseason.
Although he’s been unable to produce much at the MLB level, Riddle does carry a heartier .284/.321/.457 slash in 85 Triple-A contests. The former 13th-rounder and University of Kentucky product rose through Miami’s system primarily as a shortstop, but the Marlins began trying him out in center field in recent seasons as well. Riddle has played far more shortstop than any other position, but he does come to the Pirates with experience at second base, third base and in all three outfield slots.
Miami surely felt comfortable trying Riddle out at new defensive positions due to Miguel Rojas‘ presence at shortstop, but the decision to pull Riddle away from short was still somewhat curious given how well he’s graded out at the position. In 1323 Major League innings at shortstop, Riddle notched 13 Defensive Runs Saved, 10 Outs Above Average and a 3.1 Ultimate Zone Rating.
Twenty-six-year-old Kevin Newman currently projects to be the Pirates’ everyday option at short, but Riddle can give the club some depth there while also presenting them an option to play in center field following the departure of the recently traded Starling Marte. In the days since that trade, general manager Ben Cherington has been open about his desire to add some more options in center field, and while Riddle would seemingly qualify, it’s also of some note that the team’s press release announcing the move refers to Riddle solely as an infielder.
Riddle is out of minor league options, so today’s signing is a clear indicator that the Pirates will carry him on the big league roster to open the season. He has two years, 118 days of Major League service time, meaning he’s controllable not just for the 2020 season but all the way through the 2022 campaign. Riddle will be arbitration-eligible next winter.
Brewers Sign Andres Blanco To Minor League Deal
The Brewers announced that they’ve signed veteran infielder Andres Blanco to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. He’s represented by GSE Worldwide.
Blanco will turn 36 in April and hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2017, but he’s had a pair of productive Triple-A campaigns in 2018 and 2019 — the former actually coming with the Brewers organization. Blanco hit .271/.362/.435 (111 wRC+) in 357 plate appearances with Triple-A Colorado Springs that season. Last year, with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, he put together a nearly identical .262/.364/.443 slash (109 wRC+) in a larger sample of 530 plate appearances.
The veteran Blanco has played in parts of 10 MLB seasons, logging time at each infield position and batting a combined .256/.310/.378 in 1321 trips to the plate. His signing comes just days after the Brewers found out projected shortstop Luis Urias will need six to eight weeks to recover from surgery to repair a broken hamate bone — an injury he sustained while playing in the Mexican Pacific Winter League. Blanco will head to Spring Training and vie to join a currently fluid infield mix that includes Eric Sogard, Jedd Gyorko, Orlando Arcia, Ryon Healy and Justin Smoak, among others.