Marlins Focused On Adding Relievers
Now that their deal with left fielder Corey Dickerson has been finalized, the Marlins plan to focus on adding to the bullpen, president of baseball operations Michael Hill indicated on a conference call Tuesday (Twitter link via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). Among the names the team is considering, SiriusXM’s Craig Mish reports, are Pedro Strop, Brandon Kintzler and Hector Rondon.
Miami has already added Dickerson, Jonathan Villar and Jesus Aguilar to a lineup that ranked 29th in the Majors in runs scored, 29th in on-base percentage and 30th in slugging percentage thus far in the offseason. They’ve also signed Francisco Cervelli to back up Jorge Alfaro and made a handful of minor league signings, headlined by Matt Kemp.
The lineup hasn’t exactly been built up into a powerhouse, but there’s little denying that it looks like a more robust collection of bats than the group trotted out in 2019. However, the bullpen has gone largely unaddressed to this point; the Marlins, rather, have subtracted more relievers from the organization than they’ve acquired. Control-challenged relievers like Tayron Guerrero, Tyler Kinley and Kyle Keller have all been jettisoned from the 40-man roster, much as Austin Brice was earlier today when making room for Dickerson.
Miami has added right-hander Yimi Garcia on a big league deal and righty Ryan Cook on a minor league pact, but the organization has otherwise been quiet when it comes to adding to the ‘pen. Current options on the roster include right-handers Drew Steckenrider and Ryne Stanek as well as southpaws Jarlin Garcia and Adam Conley. Last year’s Opening Day starter, Jose Urena, lost his rotation spot and was moved to the bullpen late in 2019, and Hill indicated today that Urena will get another shot at claiming a bullpen role in 2020 (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald)
Obviously, a grouping of Urena, Steckenrider, Stanek, Conley and both Garcias leaves plenty of room for potential augmentation. But the relief market has also thinned out considerably, with Strop, Kintzler and Rondon shifting from middle-tier options at the onset of free agency to some of the most appealing names yet to sign. This patient approach is often necessary for the Marlins or teams in similar rebuilding situations, as some free agents are hesitant to sign with a non-contending club early in the winter (barring an overpay). But as contending clubs spend their money and fill holes on the roster, the allure of high-leverage innings and a guaranteed salary with a rebuilding clubs only increases.
The Marlins did well to wait out the market and sign Sergio Romo to a $2.5MM contract last winter — a move that ultimately netted them first base prospect Lewin Diaz at the trade deadline. Whether it’s Strop, Kintzler, Rondon or another veteran arm, the Miami organization will be hoping for a similarly beneficial result in the coming weeks as they try to add to their stock of relievers on what’ll surely be a short-term arrangement.
Rangers To Sign Robinson Chirinos
8:44pm: MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Chirinos is guaranteed $6.75MM on the deal: a $5.75MM salary in 2020 (which matches his 2019 salary), plus at least a $1MM buyout on a $6.5MM club option for the 2021 season.
8:36pm: Chirinos and the Rangers are in agreement on a one-year deal plus an option, tweets T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
8:28pm: The Rangers and free-agent catcher Robinson Chirinos have agreed to a reunion, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The new contract is pending a physical. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported earlier tonight that the two sides were “inching closer” to a deal.
Chirinos, 35, just wrapped up a .238/.347/.443 showing with the Astros, swatting 17 home runs and 22 doubles in a career-high 366 plate appearances. Even if he takes a step back, Chirinos will provide a substantial offensive upgrade to a Rangers club that saw its catchers post a disastrous .193/.241/.298 batting line as a whole in 2019.
Texas made the somewhat surprising decision last winter to buy out a seemingly reasonable $4.5MM option over Chirinos. Texas, placing a greater emphasis on defense, moved to sign Jeff Mathis to a two-year, $6.25MM deal that yielded poor results in 2019. Chirinos, meanwhile, came out ahead from a financial standpoint. Texas paid him a $1MM buyout, and he went on to sign with the Astros for a $5.75MM guarantee. Between that deal and the option buyout, he took home a tidy $2.25MM more than he’d have earned had the Rangers simply picked up his option.
Now, Texas is on the hook for $3MM of Mathis’ salary in 2020 despite the fact that he turned in the worst offensive and defensive season of his career in 2019. Through 244 plate appearances, Mathis posted a stunning .158/.209/.224 batting line (11 OPS+, 2 wRC+). And just one year after leading all MLB catchers in Defensive Runs Saved (17) and Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average (18.4), Mathis saw those numbers crater at -1 and -2.8, respectively.
The Rangers will have to make a call on what to do with Mathis and his remaining salary, although it’s possible that he could work as a backup to Chirinos. The younger Jose Trevino has a minor league option remaining, so he could be sent to Triple-A to begin the season, particularly considering that he struggled considerably both in the Majors (.258/.272/.383 in 126 plate appearances) and in Triple-A (.226/.263/.336 in 156 plate appearances).
Given the dismal performances of Mathis, Trevino and infielder-turned-catcher-turned-infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa in 2019, it’s hardly a surprise that the Rangers prioritized catching help this winter. And while Chirinos isn’t exactly a standout defensive backstop, he did show some improvements in 2019 with Houston. He hasn’t excelled at controlling the running game since 2014, and that trend continued last year (21 percent caught-stealing rate), but Chirinos posted improved (albeit still below-average) framing marks and was the league’s best at blocking balls in the dirt, per Baseball Prospectus.
Marlins, Ryan Cook Agree To Minor League Deal
The Marlins and right-hander Ryan Cook are in agreement on a minor league contract, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). The Excel Sports client would earn $750K upon making the big league roster and could earn an additional $250K worth of incentives to bring the total value of the deal to an even $1MM.
Cook, 32, spent the 2019 season with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but narrowly kept his ERA south of 5.00 and also spent some time with the club’s minor league affiliate. It wasn’t an inspiring season, to be sure, but Cook’s track record nevertheless has its fair share of appeal.
It’s easy to forget that back in 2012, Cook was an All-Star reliever for the Athletics. From 2012-14, he was a vital member of the Oakland relief corps, pitching to a combined 2.60 ERA and a similarly impressive 2.96 FIP. Cook maintained a ground-ball rate north of 46 percent, averaged better than a strikeout per inning and yielded just nine home runs in 190 2/3 innings across that three-year span.
Unfortunately for both Cook and the A’s, injuries began to mount in 2014-15. A forearm strain and shoulder inflammation slowed him over those two seasons, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016. In the five years since the conclusion of that outstanding three-year run, Cook has thrown just 25 2/3 innings at the MLB level — mostly coming with the 2018 Mariners.
The Marlins’ bullpen is anything but settled, which should give Cook a legitimate chance to break camp with the club if he puts together an impressive Spring Training. Drew Steckenrider, Ryne Stanek, Yimi Garcia, Adam Conley, Jarlin Garcia and Jose Urena are all options for manager Don Mattingly in 2020. If Cook can complete his comeback and make it through the season, the Marlins would control him through the 2021 season via arbitration.
Rangers Working On Deal With Robinson Chirinos
The Rangers and Robinson Chirinos are “inching closer” to an agreement on a reunion, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The news comes less than a week after a report that Chirinos, a client of MDR Sports Management, was nearing a decision.
Chirinos, 35, spent the 2013-18 seasons as the primary catcher for the Rangers but took a one-year, $5.75MM pact with the cross-state Astros last offseason. The Rangers, clearly seeking a defensive upgrade behind the plate, went in a different direction by signing veteran Jeff Mathis to a two-year, $6.25MM deal.
But while Chirinos improved his glovework in Houston and slashed .238/.347/.443 with 17 home runs and a career-high 22 doubles, Mathis turned in the worst season of his career at the plate, mustering just a .158/.209/.224 batting line in 244 plate appearances. Not only did Mathis struggle at the plate, though; he also struggled behind the dish in uncharacteristic fashion. As recently as 2018, no catcher in baseball rated better than Mathis in terms of Defensive Runs Saved (+17) or Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average (+18.4). In 2019, those numbers plummeted to -1 and -2.8, respectively.
Texas still owes Mathis $3MM for the upcoming season after slightly front-loading his contract. However, the Rangers have made a clear shift toward contending in 2020 and may not feel he’s likely to rebound in his age-37 season. Given that their top in-house alternative, Jose Trevino, posted miserable numbers both in the Majors and in Triple-A, an upgrade is a logical next step toward fielding a more competitive roster now that the team has reshaped its rotation. The Rangers have already acquired Corey Kluber from the Indians and signed both Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles to multi-year contracts, giving them a trio of new starters to pair with holdovers Mike Minor and Lance Lynn.
Other potential areas of focus surely exist, as Texas could add a corner infielder, find another center field option and look to deepen its bullpen (particularly after moving Emmanuel Clase in the Kluber swap). With a projected $146MM payroll that comes in well shy of the $162MM Opening Day mark they averaged from 2016-17, plus a new stadium on the way, it stands to reason that the Rangers have ample payroll capacity to address multiple remaining needs even if they succeed in bringing Chirinos back aboard.
Following the recent agreement between the Angels and Jason Castro, Chirinos stands out as the last starting-caliber option on the free agent market. If things between him and the Rangers ultimately fail to come together, the organization will be left to rely on internal improvement, bring in another rebound candidate or explore the trade market for alternative options.
Angels Designate Adalberto Mejia For Assignment
The Angels announced Tuesday that they’ve designated left-hander Adalberto Mejia for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to catcher Jason Castro, whose previously reported one-year deal is now official.
Mejia, incredibly, has been designated for assignment five times in the past five months — including three times by the Angels. The former Top 100 prospect has bounced from the Twins (where he and Castro were teammates), to the Angels, to the Cardinals back to the Angels in a series of summer waiver claims. Mejia cleared waivers when the Halos designated him in August, but he returned to the 40-man roster as a September call-up just a few days later.
The 26-year-old Mejia was unscored upon in 9 1/3 minor league innings across multiple organizations this year but was hit hard in the Majors, logging a 6.61 ERA (4.97 FIP, 5.98 xFIP) with an ugly 30-to-21 K/BB ratio in 31 1/3 innings. He did make 21 respectable starts for the Twins in 2017 (4.50 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 4.0 BB/9) at just 24 years of age, creating some optimism that he could settle in as the fourth starter he’d been projected as in the upper minors. But blister issues and a left wrist injury shortened Mejia’s 2018 season, and he wasn’t able to regain his footing in 2019.
Clubs seeking rotation depth and/or left-handed relief candidates could well take a look at Mejia now that he’s once again available at little to no cost, but he’s also out of minor league options, so he’ll have to break camp with a team or else be designated for assignment for a staggering sixth time in a nine-month span.
Cardinals, Oscar Hernandez Agree To Minors Deal
The Cardinals have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Oscar Hernandez, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The former D-backs and Red Sox backstop will head to Major League camp on a non-roster invite.
Hernandez, 26, was the top pick in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, when the D-backs selected him out of the Rays organization. Touted for his defensive skills behind the dish, Hernandez looked decidedly overmatched in two seasons with Arizona, hitting a combined .167/.239/.262 in a tiny sample of 47 plate appearances. He hasn’t appeared in a big league game since 2016, although he was on the Red Sox’ Major League roster briefly this past season. However, Hernandez was called up as a depth option and designated for assignment without ever appearing in a game for Boston.
In parts of 10 minor league seasons, Hernandez is a .246/.323/.417 hitter — although he’s managed just a .210/.276/.336 output at the Triple-A level. He’s thrown out 42 percent of runners who attempt to steal against him in the minors, though (plus one of two in the Majors), and he routinely draws strong framing marks in the minors.
Matt Wieters was the primary backup to ironman Yadier Molina in 2019 but is currently a free agent. Well-regarded prospect Andrew Knizner is the only other catcher on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster, so Hernandez will add a glove-first depth option.
Nationals, Carlos Tocci Agree To Minor League Deal
2:28pm: Tocci does not currently have a Spring Training invite, Sam Fortier of the Washington Post tweets. It’s possible that the Nats could add him to big league camp at some point, of course, but if not, it seems likely that he’d head straight to Triple-A Fresno.
2:09pm: The Nationals have agreed to a minor league pact with outfielder Carlos Tocci, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The fleet-footed 24-year-old will be in Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
Tocci, once a relatively high-profile international signing by the Phillies, spent the 2018-19 seasons in the Rangers organization after Texas acquired him in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft. Selected more for his speed, defense and contact abilities than for his chances of becoming an impact player at the plate, Tocci was hidden on the Rangers’ roster in a limited role throughout the 2018 campaign. He appeared in only 66 games and took just 135 turns at the plate, posting a woeful .225/.271/.283 batting line in that time.
Struggles were somewhat foreseeable, as Tocci had played in just 17 Triple-A games through the 2017 campaign and had long faced questions about a lack of power. But Tocci’s difficulties at the plate continued into the 2019 season in Triple-A, where despite a leaguewide boom in offense, he mustered a paltry .244/.313/.308 batting line (55 wRC+). Scouting reports on Tocci have long touted his plus defensive tools, but he’ll need to make some strides with the bat if he has any hope of establishing himself as viable big league outfielder.
Tocci gives the Nats some additional depth in center field — not that the club is hurting in that regard. Victor Robles, Juan Soto and Adam Eaton are lined up to start once again in 2020, while Michael A. Taylor projects as the primary backup option. Andrew Stevenson gives the Nats another option on the 40-man roster as well, but the organization’s center-field depth in the upper minors is a bit lacking.
Phillies Sign Ronald Torreyes
The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve signed infielder Ronald Torreyes to a minor league contract. The Philadelphia organization also formally confirmed its previously reported minor league signing of catcher Christian Bethancourt. Both players will be in Major League camp this spring.
Torreyes, 27, spent the 2019 season in the Twins organization. He appeared in seven big league games late in the season and tallied 17 plate appearances, including a rare walk-off hit by pitch, but he was otherwise relegated to Triple-A work. In 330 plate appearances with the Twins’ affiliate in Rochester, Torreyes hit .256/.289/.406 with 11 homers, 11 doubles, a triple and two steals.
The deal with Philadelphia will bring about a reunion of sorts with incoming skipper Joe Girardi, who knows Torreyes quite well from his time with the Yankees. The versatile Torreyes was an oft-used bench piece for Girardi in 2016-17, tallying 505 plate appearances and a .281/.311/.374 batting line along the way. He doesn’t get on base much or hit for power, but the right-handed-hitting Torreyes is a tough strikeout (career 13.2 percent) who is capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop.
Torreyes will have plenty of competition in Spring Training as he looks to land a spot on Girardi’s roster for the 2020 season. The Phillies have also brought in Josh Harrison, Phil Gosselin and T.J. Rivera on minor league deals this winter.
Taking Stock Of The Starting Pitching Market
Entering the offseason, the market for rotation upgrades was robust — arguably one of the strongest groups of free-agent starters we’d seen. Two bona fide aces — Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg — headlined a group that also featured the NL Cy Young runner-up (Hyun-Jin Ryu), one of baseball’s hardest-throwing starters (Zack Wheeler), a 30-year-old four-time All Star and three-time World Series winner (Madison Bumgarner) as well as a host of quality veteran innings eaters and midrotation options.
The result has been 14 multi-year deals for starting pitchers and nearly $1.13 billion spent on hopeful rotation upgrades. Granted, Cole himself accounts for nearly 29 percent of that sum. Combining him and Strasburg accounts for 50.4 percent of the total issued to starters on MLB deals this winter. Their presence skews those total figures a bit, but it’s nevertheless been a healthier free-agent market than we’ve seen over the past couple of years.
The accelerated pace of the market and the unexpected aggression of some teams not expected to be prime players for free agents — the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks, in particular — have left teams still seeking rotation upgrades with a dearth of options to pursue in free agency. So with all the high-end options gone, what’s left on the market?
Steady Innings
Ivan Nova has averaged 30 starts per season dating back to 2016. He had a strong finish after a brutal start to the season with the White Sox in 2019. He’s probably going to post an ERA north of 4.00 with well below-average strikeout totals, but Nova is the best bet for serviceable bulk innings remaining in free agency. Other options in this mold include Jhoulys Chacin, Andrew Cashner and Jason Vargas. They’ve all been roughly 30-start-per-season arms since 2017, although both Chacin and Cashner lost starting jobs and were put into the bullpen in 2019. There’s not much excitement among this bunch, but if you’re looking for 150+ innings that won’t kill you, this isn’t a bad place to start.
Injury Bounceback Candidates
Alex Wood will turn 29 in January and, in 2017-18, posted a combined 304 innings of 3.20 ERA ball (3.43 FIP) with 8.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate better than 50 percent. The lefty’s delivery has led to durability issues throughout his career, but when healthy he’s at least a midrotation arm, if not more.
Jimmy Nelson, long a top prospect with the Brewers, looked like an emerging ace in 2017 when he pitched 175 1/3 innings with a 3.49 ERA, an even more impressive 3.05 FIP, 10.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 50.3 percent grounder rate. Shoulder issues wiped out most of his 2018-19 seasons, but Nelson won’t turn 31 until next June.
Let’s not forget Taijuan Walker, who’ll pitch all of next year at 27. Once one of baseball’s truly elite pitching prospects, he’s barely pitched since 2017 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018. Walker tallied 157 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with 8.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate with the D-backs in ’17. He’s had no shortage of injury troubles in his career, but Walker offers as much upside as any still-unsigned player on the market.
Meanwhile, Danny Salazar has pitched in only one game (four innings) in the past two seasons but will pitch next year at 30 and has averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings in his MLB career. Tyson Ross has completed just one healthy season in his past four but was an All-Star caliber pitcher back in 2014-15. Aaron Sanchez could technically slot into this bucket as well, but it’s still not fully clear when in 2020 he’ll be ready to pitch after undergoing shoulder surgery late in the season.
Veterans with a Bit of Upside
As improbable as it’d have sounded 12 months ago, Homer Bailey is probably among the more intriguing low-cost arms on the market. The 33-year-old never lived up to his $105MM contract in Cincinnati, but in 2019 he posted slightly below-average strikeout rates, better-than-average walk rates and solid ground-ball tendencies. Bailey’s 10.8 percent swinging-strike rate in 2019 was the second-best of his career.
Drew Smyly quietly turned in a solid showing with the Phillies down the stretch, and posted a huge 12.2 percent swinging-strike rate after signing in Philadelphia. His teammate, Jerad Eickhoff, is “only” 29 but hasn’t had a strong showing since the 2016 campaign.
Veteran Reclamation Projects
Several pitchers on the market carry name value but minimal results in recent years. Felix Hernandez, Matt Harvey, Marco Estrada, Wei-Yin Chen, Clayton Richard, Clay Buchholz and Trevor Cahill are all free agents, but no one from that group has been particularly healthy or effective over the past few seasons (although Buchholz’s injury-shortened 2018 season in Arizona was undeniably impressive). Shelby Miller is younger than anyone in that group, but his struggles over the past several seasons are well-documented at this point.
And on the Trade Market?
Everyone knows that Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd is available for the right asking price, but the Tigers have a lofty asking price on his final three seasons of club control. The Diamondbacks could make Robbie Ray, a free agent next offseason, available now that the free-agent market is largely devoid of options.
Less clear is whether the likes of Jon Gray or Chris Archer are available. Both possess the type of high-end stuff that will appeal to other clubs, but the Rockies and especially the Pirates could be selling low if they made a move this winter. Colorado also hopes to contend in 2020, though that seems rather unlikely with the Dodgers and D-backs ahead of them in the NL West and so many strong clubs vying for two Wild Card spots.
The Marlins have a bevy of young pitchers, and Caleb Smith‘s name has persistently been kicked about the trade circuit over the past several months. Miami trading him is hardly a surefire thing, but one can imagine that for the right combination of prospects and controllable big leaguers, the Marlins would consider it.
Could some veterans be on the move? The Red Sox have been trying to find a way to move a portion of the remaining $96MM on David Price‘s contract. The Cubs, also operating under an ownership change of course that has placed substantial payroll constraints on the front office, could mull a trade involving Jose Quintana as a means of opening some payroll space.
Mike Clevinger‘s recent emergence on the rumor mill immediately made him one of the most popular targets among fans, but it’d be a rather significant surprise if the Indians dealt him away — recent trade of Corey Kluber notwithstanding.
Who’s Still Looking?
The Angels and Twins, two of the teams viewed as most in need of pitching help heading into the winter, haven’t yet made an impact move. The Minnesota org brought back Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda but still hasn’t improved its rotation over 2019. The Angels have acquired Dylan Bundy and signed Julio Teheran, but the big-name starter for which fans pined never materialized. Likewise, the Padres never found the top-of-the-rotation arm they’ve been seeking for awhile now.
The Dodgers were connected to the big fish, as they are every offseason, but once again opted against a substantial commitment to an open-market player. The Brewers have taken flak for their lack of starting pitching but continue to prioritize lower-scale value plays and depth over higher-priced options. That could put them in play for some of the upside candidates mentioned above, but it’s worth noting that they moved on from Jimmy Nelson already. The Astros have Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and a returning Lance McCullers Jr. (Tommy Johns surgery), but they have limited certainty beyond that group. The defending-champion Nationals are among the clubs looking for fifth-starter candidates.
Reds Reach Agreement With Shogo Akiyama
1:39pm: The Reds and Akiyama are in agreement on a three-year contract, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
1:03pm: The Reds are “working hard” to finalize an agreement with free-agent center fielder Shogo Akiyama, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who adds that bidding for the longtime Seibu Lions star now exceeds three years and $20MM. Akiyama is represented by Excel Sports Management’s Casey Close.
A report from Nikkan Sports in Japan on Monday indicated that the two sides were in agreement on a deal, but both Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Mark Sheldon of MLB.com report that an agreement is not yet in place (Twitter links). Nikkan Sports reported that Akiyama had agreed to a three-year deal worth more than $15MM in total, but Sheldon, like Heyman, hears that bidding on the center fielder has exceeds that $15MM barometer by a “decent margin.”
Akiyama has topped 20 homers in each of the past three seasons and swiped 15-plus bags in each of the past five years. In all, since the 2015 season, he’s a .320/.398/.497 hitter. He’ll turn 32 next April, but his age doesn’t look to have been much of a hindrance in his market. He’s drawn interest from the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Padres, among others, and the fact that this winter’s free-agent market is largely devoid of quality center field options only aids his cause.
If Akiyama and the Reds do indeed finalize an agreement, he’ll be in line for regular reps and possibly push young Nick Senzel into a multi-position role, where he could log time in the infield and across the outfield. The Reds could also simply deploy Akiyama in a corner with Senzel in center, although their outfield mix also features Jesse Winker, Aristides Aquino, Scott Schebler, Phil Ervin and offseason pickups Travis Jankowski and Nick Martini.
Of that bunch, Winker and Aquino currently top the depth chart and are the favorites for regular corner work in 2020, but the entire unit carries some degree of uncertainty. Akiyama would further add to that uncertainty, but he’d also bring a good bit of upside that some of the incumbent options can’t match.