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Padres Sign Sammy Solis To Minor League Deal

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March 12: The Padres have announced the signing.

March 11: Left-hander Sammy Solis’ foray into the free-agent market apparently proved to be extraordinarily brief; after being released by the Nationals on Saturday, Solis has agreed to a minor league contract with the Padres, according to Robert Murray and Dennis Lin of The Athletic (Twitter links). Solis is represented by CAA Baseball.

Following Solis’ release, manager Dave Martinez told MLB.com’s Richard Justice that the Nats opted to part ways with Solis in order to give him a chance to latch on with another club while Spring Training as still underway. It’d been determined that he wouldn’t make the team in Washington, and cutting ties with Solis not only gave him a chance to join another Major League camp in pursuit of a roster spot but also saved the Nationals a bit more than $700K of his non-guaranteed $850K salary. In that sense, the move helped out all parties, as Solis will still have more than two weeks to attempt to secure a roster spot in San Diego.

As Lin points out, the interest in Solis was heightened by the recent injury to fellow lefty reliever Jose Castillo, who sustained a flexor strain that, as of March 1, was expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. San Diego still has multiple lefties on the roster even with Castillo out — both Aaron Loup and Robbie Erlin are expected to claim roster spots — but Solis will provide a depth piece and could yet even work his way into a somewhat unsettled Opening Day bullpen role. Kirby Yates, Adam Warren, Craig Stammen, Loup and Erlin are all set for bullpen spots, but there are at least two jobs up for grabs — perhaps three, if San Diego carries eight relievers.

Solis, 30, has had a pair of rough seasons with the Nationals — most recently working to a dismal 6.41 ERA in 39 1/3 frames last year. However, he also averaged 10.1 K/9 last season and turned in strong marks in terms of swinging-strike rate (12.9 percent) and opponents’ chase rate (31.7 percent). Solis has averaged 94 mph on his fastball in his career and has generally excelled at the Triple-A level. He also still has only three years, 61 days of MLB service time, meaning that if he does find success in the Padres’ pen, the team can control him through at least the 2021 season (and potentially 2022, depending on the timing of a promotion to the Majors).

Astros’ Francis Martes Suspended 80 Games For PED Violation

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Astros right-hander Francis Martes has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for the banned substance Clomiphene, the league announced Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Martes already going to be sidelined as he recovered from Tommy John surgery last August, but he’ll be docked 80 games’ pay and now be ineligible to pitch in the postseason even if he’s able to work back up to full strength. Beyond that, any possibility of him acquiring service time on the Major League 60-day injured list has now been wiped out, as he’ll come off Houston’s 40-man roster while he is on the restricted list as part of this suspension.

Martes was considered one of baseball’s premier pitching prospects prior to the 2017 season, landing inside the top 40 on the pre-2017 rankings from Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN and Baseball Prospectus. His stock has dropped since that time, however, as Martes pitched to an ERA well north of 5.00 in both Triple-A and the Majors in ’17 before logging a 6.75 ERA in four Triple-A starts last season. The arm injury that ultimately necessitated his Tommy John procedure limited Martes to just 19 2/3 innings in 2018.

By the time he recovers from surgery, Martes will be approaching his 24th birthday and will be more than two years removed from being considered a premium prospect. There’s certainly still a possibility that he emerges as a quality big league asset down the line, but there’s also a chance that he enters the 2020 season having pitched just 106 1/3 innings over the preceding three years, which won’t do his development any favors.

Mariners Release Dustin Ackley

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The Mariners have released infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley from his minor league contract, per a club announcement. Ackley, who returned to the Mariners on a minor league deal back in January, had been in camp and appeared in 11 games with Seattle this spring, though he’d only tallied a total of 18 plate appearances. In that time, Ackley collected a trio of singles and drew six walks against three strikeouts.

Formerly the No. 2 overall draft pick (Mariners, 2009) and one of the game’s top all-around prospects, the now-31-year-old Ackley hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since a brief, 28-game stint with the Yankees in 2016. It’s been quite a bit longer than that since he enjoyed productivity at the MLB level, however.

Ackley quickly ascended to the Majors, debuting barely two years after being drafted out of UNC, and he made an immediate impression in Seattle when he hit .273/.348/.417 with six homers, 16 doubles, seven triples and six steals through his first 90 games (376 plate appearances) back in 2011. Ackley was widely considered an advanced bat and a slam-dunk big leaguer, but his offense unexpectedly cratered and never recovered following that solid rookie campaign. In 1971 MLB plate appearances since his debut season, Ackley has managed just a .235/.296/.358 slash. If he’s to ultimately work his way back to the big leagues, he’ll assuredly require a stop in Triple-A, where he hit .286/.378/.398 in 284 PAs for the Angels’ affiliate in 2018.

Mets’ Drew Smith To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Mets will be without right-handed reliever Drew Smith for the entirety of the 2019 season, as manager Mickey Callaway announced to reporters today that Smith will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow tomorrow (Twitter link via Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). Smith had recently complained of soreness in his elbow and traveled back to New York to have the elbow examined.

Smith, 25, made his MLB debut with the Mets in 2018, pitching to a 3.54 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 0.64 HR/9 and a 38 percent ground-ball rate in 28 innings of relief. He’d pitched his way into that big league promotion with a solid showing in the hitter-friendly confines of Triple-A Las Vegas, where he posted a 2.76 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 33 2/3 innings of work.

Acquired in the trade that sent first baseman Lucas Duda to the Rays in July 2017, Smith looked to have the potential to serve as a prominent piece in the Mets’ relief corps in 2019. While New York already has a quintet of established relievers — Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman — there were at least a pair of openings for which Smith and others could vie in camp. And, if at some point during the season, the Mets were to switch to an eight-man bullpen, the opportunities for Smith would only have increased.

Instead, he’ll sit out the season and spend the year rehabbing with an eye toward 2020 and beyond. The Mets still control Smith through at least the 2024 season, and it’s likely that he’ll accrue a year of service by spending the 2019 campaign on the Major League 60-day injured list (thus allowing the Mets to open a spot on the 40-man roster).

White Sox Claim Josh Osich

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The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve claimed left-handed reliever Josh Osich off waivers from the Orioles. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, Chicago has placed right-hander Michael Kopech on the 60-day injured list. Osich, 30, was designated for assignment by Baltimore last week. Kopech, meanwhile, is expected to miss the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery late in the 2018 campaign.

Osich, 30, has spent time with the Giants in each of the past four seasons, though he’s struggled increasingly at the MLB level dating back to 2016. In 120 1/3 innings, Osich has a 5.01 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 1.50 HR/9 and a 51.8 percent ground-ball rate. Last year in Triple-A, Osich posted a 4.96 ERA with a 42-to-18 K/BB ratio in 45 1/3 innings.

Osich does have a minor league option remaining, and he’s also averaged roughly 95 mph on his heater throughout his career. Right-handed batters have owned him at the MLB level (.294/.385/.496), though he’s held lefties to a more manageable (albeit still unspectacular) .228/.319/.388 line in his time as a big leaguer. San Francisco designated Osich for assignment a month ago when they acquired young righty Jose Lopez from the Reds, after which he was claimed by the Orioles. Osich’s time in the Baltimore organization lasted only about three weeks, as the O’s designated him Friday upon picking up Dwight Smith Jr. from the Blue Jays.

NL East Notes: Phillies’ Outfield, Mets’ Bullpen, Solis, Lopez

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Offseason additions of Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen have left the Phillies with an overcrowded outfield mix that will likely lead to some roster shuffling. As The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro examines at length (subscription required), the Phils now have five outfielders — Odubel Herrera, Roman Quinn, Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr and Dylan Cozens — all on the 40-man roster beyond their two big-name pickups. Both Herrera and Quinn are currently nursing minor injuries, but they’re also the two most logical options for center field. Williams, meanwhile, isn’t viewed as an option in center, per manager Gabe Kapler, which severely clouds his future with the team. Williams does have minor league options remaining, but he could also hold appeal as a trade asset marketed to other clubs in search of outfield help. (The same could be true of Herrera, but he’s owed $24.5MM through 2021 and had a down season in 2018.) Of the Phillies’ current outfielders, both Altherr and Quinn are out of minor league options, which only enhances the likelihood of some roster moves in the next couple of weeks.

Elsewhere in the division…

  • Because of the numerous off-days baked into the early-season schedule, the Mets are likelier to open the season with seven relievers than they are with eight, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo are locks to hold down five of those spots, and Puma adds that non-roster lefties Luis Avilan and Hector Santiago are strong candidates to claim the other two slots. Both veterans signed minor league contracts with invites to Spring Training, and both have thrown quite well to open camp. That’d give manager Mickey Callaway three lefties to utilize out of the ’pen early in the season, although it wouldn’t leave the team with too much in the way of roster flexibility. With so many veteran relievers on board, the only three pitchers of that bunch who could technically be optioned to the minors would be Lugo, Gsellman and Diaz — none of whom would figure to be sent down to the minors at any point. If the Mets do eventually shift to carrying eight relievers, they’d be able to use that final ’pen slot to shuffle some fresh arms back and forth between the Majors and Triple-A Syracuse.
  • Left-hander Sammy Solis was caught “completely off guard” by the Nationals’ decision to release him, the pitcher tells Richard Justice of MLB.com. Solid seemingly took the abrupt and unexpected news in good stride, thanking the organization and expressing some disappointment over having to say goodbye to longtime teammates. As manager Dave Martinez explains, the move was made with an eye toward giving Solis a chance to find another organization before the season begins. “For me, it was more about giving Sammy an opportunity to latch on with another team and get a chance to have that Spring Training elsewhere,” said Martinez. The Nats also shed $713K in salary with the move, which surely played a factor as well. The 30-year-old Solid has had a pair of unsightly seasons over the past two years, including a 2017 campaign that was shortened by elbow troubles. He maintains that he’s healthy now, though, and one would imagine that a lefty who averaged nearly 94 mph on his fastball to go along with a 12.9 percent swinging-strike rate in 2018 will garner interest — even if only on a minor league contract.
  • Right-hander Pablo Lopez is making a strong case to open the season in the Marlins’ rotation, but manager Don Mattingly said this weekend that no decisions have been made as to who’ll round out the rotation behind Jose Urena and Dan Straily, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Lopez tossed four perfect innings and picked up four punchouts in his most recent outing against a Nationals lineup featuring many regulars. He’s now allowed just one run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in nine spring frames. Wei-Yin Chen’s contract — he’s owed $42MM over the next two seasons — makes him a likely candidate to get a long look, while other rotation hopefuls include Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Richards and southpaw Caleb Smith.

AL East Notes: Kimbrel, Rays, Orioles, Red Sox

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Though the common belief is that the Rays wouldn’t make an expensive splash to add Craig Kimbrel, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that there’s somewhat of a “never say never” sentiment within the organization as Kimbrel continues to linger (and as his price likely drops in corresponding fashion). The right-hander doesn’t appear likely to cash in on the mega contract he sought early in the offseason, and it’s not clear at this point how many clubs would even have interest on a multi-year pact. I ran through some potential landing spots for Kimbrel on shorter-term deals (with a significant annual value) last Friday and largely glossed over the Rays due to their historic reluctance to spend at that level and due to the fact that Kimbrel would require forfeiture of a draft pick (another prior sticking point for Tampa Bay). However, with a projected Opening Day payroll of just $60MM and only $27MM on the books in 2020 (per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez), the Rays certainly have the payroll space to add Kimbrel if they look to break character for a second time this winter after already inking Charlie Morton (two years, $30MM). The Rays opened the 2018 season with a $76MM payroll.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • The Orioles would trade any of their starters who are “making significant money,” Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes in his latest notes column (subscription required). It’s hardly surprising that Baltimore would jump at the opportunity to shed the remaining $43MM (over three years) on Alex Cobb’s contract or the $8MM owed to Andrew Cashner this season, but Rosenthal also lists right-hander Dylan Bundy (earning $2.8MM) among the group. Moving Bundy would be more surprising given his affordable salary and remaining three seasons of control, though it seems unlikely they’d sell low on the former No. 4 overall pick after he led the Majors with 41 homers allowed last season. Bundy, 26, has demonstrated very appealing K/BB numbers over the past two seasons, but home runs have continually been a problem for him at the MLB level. A trade of any of the three seems extraordinarily unlikely to happen before Opening Day, but if any of that trio is performing well early in the year, he’ll emerge as a trade candidate this summer.
  • Red Sox right-hander Brandon Workman opened Spring Training with a fastball that was sitting 92 to 93 mph, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, but his velocity has dipped substantially in recent outings. Workman has averaged 87 to 89 mph on his fastball in his past two outings, and manager Alex Cora spoke to Mastrodonato about the current “dead arm” Workman is attempting to overcome. As Mastrodonato points out, the majority of Boston’s candidates for the bullpen have struggled this spring, which at least has the potential to open the door for a prospect like Darwinzon Hernandez to get a look.

Mike Foltynewicz Won’t Be Ready For Start Of Season

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Braves top starter Mike Foltynewicz won’t be ready for the start of the season, general manager Alex Anthopoulos revealed Monday (Twitter link, with video, from 680 The Fan). The 27-year-old was scratched from a start nearly two weeks ago due to elbow soreness.

“Folty’s the one guy that, building him up as a starter, he’s not going to be ready,” said Anthopoulos. “Feeling great. Throwing. We were just mapping out his throwing program this morning in terms of bullpens, live BPs — all those type of things. We’re just trying to figure out what point do we get him up to five innings?”

Anthopoulos wouldn’t forecast specifically how much time Foltynewicz would need to get ready, as he’s not yet progressed to throwing off a mound. The GM speculated on anywhere from one to three would-be turns through the rotation, though the situation remains fluid. Anthopoulos did acknowledge that had Foltynewicz been healthy, he’d likely have been given the Opening Day nod for the Braves.

With Foltynewicz out for the start of the year, the Braves will open with Julio Teheran, Sean Newcomb and Kevin Gausman locked into rotation spots. As Anthopoulos noted, the significant number of off-days the Braves have early in the year will allow them to work with only a four-man rotation early on, so there may only be one other spot up for grabs. Atlanta isn’t lacking for options to take that fourth spot in the rotation to open the year; Touki Toussaint, Kyle Wright, Max Fried and Bryse Wilson have all made multiple starts already this spring — Wright will make a third today — and could all conceivably get a look in that spot. Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that with Foltynewicz sidelined, Teheran or Newcomb (likely the former) will receive the actual Opening Day start.

Dodgers Claim Donnie Hart, Release Josh Fields

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SUNDAY: The Dodgers have released Fields, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets.

THURSDAY: The Dodgers have claimed left-hander Donnie Hart off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from both clubs. In order to open a spot for Hart on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles surprisingly designated right-hander Josh Fields for assignment. The Dodgers will now have a week to trade Fields, release him, or pass him through outright waivers. Hart had previously been designated by the O’s when they re-claimed Hanser Alberto from the Giants.

Hart, 28, posted solid numbers for the 2017 Orioles when he worked to a 3.71 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.03 HR/9 and a strong 53.1 percent ground-ball rate in 43 2/3 innings of work. That performance came on the heels of strong showings in Double-A and Triple-A, and it looked as if Hart was well on his way to cementing himself as a fixture in the Baltimore ’pen.

The 2018 season, though was demonstrably worse for Hart. While he tore through younger competition at Triple-A (2.41 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.22 HR/9, 60.7 percent grounder rate), he was clobbered for 13 runs on 31 hits and 12 walks with 13 strikeouts in 19 1/3 frames at the MLB level. While it’s obviously a small sample of work, it seems that the new-look Orioles front office wasn’t overly impressed with Hart’s abilities. He has a minor league option remaining, which could serve the Dodgers well this year, given their penchant for cycling relievers back and forth between the Majors and upper minors in an effort to keep a fresh slate of arms available to manager Dave Roberts.

Designating Fields for assignment was unexpected both due to his regular-season results over the past couple seasons and due to the fact that the Dodgers had already agreed to a $2.85MM salary with the righty. That’s a non-guaranteed sum, as is the case with all arbitration contracts, but unless the Dodgers find a taker in a trade at that price point, they’ll be on the hook for one-sixth of that sum ($475K) even if they release him and get nothing for him. Fields has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment, as well, so this seems quite likely to lead to either a trade or Fields becoming a free agent.

Since being acquired by the Dodgers, the 33-year-old Fields has tallied 117 1/3 innings of relief and pitched to a terrific 2.61 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and 1.22 HR/9. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher, never more so than in 2018 (22.9 percent grounder rate, 51.4 percent fly-ball rate), but Fields averages nearly 95 mph on his heater with solid swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates. Fields’ heater comes with a middle-of-the-pack spin rate, however, and his curve ranks in just the eighth percentile among MLB hurlers in terms of spin rate, though Hart’s breaking ball ranks even lower.

For one reason or another, it seems that the Dodgers don’t believe Fields to be capable of replicating his previous success. If that’s the case, though, it’s puzzling that they opted to tender him a contract in the first place.

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