Orioles Re-Sign Wade LeBlanc To Minor League Contract
The Orioles have re-signed left-hander Wade LeBlanc to a minor league contract with an invitation to MLB camp, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. LeBlanc will earn a $700K salary if he makes it to the majors this year.
The Orioles signed LeBlanc to a minors pact last offseason, and while he did ultimately earn a roster spot, he didn’t perform especially well or stay healthy. The journeyman ended up posting an 8.06 ERA/5.77 SIERA in 22 1/3 innings and six starts. LeBlanc’s season concluded near the end of August because of a stress fracture in his pitching elbow.
Although the soft-tossing LeBlanc wasn’t effective in 2020, Baltimore is still willing to take a low-risk chance on him again. The 36-year-old swingman does own a useful 4.55 ERA in 882 1/3 innings since he debuted in 2008, and the Orioles could use a veteran option – particularly if their potential Alex Cobb trade with the Angels goes through.
Orioles Outright Chris Shaw
The Orioles have outrighted first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw to Triple-A Norfolk, per a team announcement. The club designated Shaw for assignment last week, but he cleared waivers.
Shaw has only been with the Baltimore organization for a little over two months, as it claimed him off waivers from San Francisco toward the end of November. The 27-year-old was a prospect of note in his younger days, going 31st overall to the Giants in the 2015 draft and subsequently ranking among their best farmhands on multiple occasions. However, Shaw hasn’t found any real success in the majors to this point, though the sample of work hasn’t been extensive. He collected 82 plate appearances as a Giant from 2018-19 and batted .153/.244/.222 with a 37.8 percent strikeout rate and one home run.
To Shaw’s credit, he has been a pretty successful hitter in the minors, having slashed .279/.340/.520 with 109 homers over 2,189 plate appearances. During his most recent minor league action in 2019, he posted a strong .298/.355/.592 line with 21 HRs across 310 trips to the plate in Triple-A.
Quick Hits: Indians, Payroll, Patton, Nationals, Catchers
The Indians did not budget enough money in 2021 to both re-sign Cesar Hernandez and add free agent Eddie Rosario. With those two completing the lineup, the Indians’ roster is more-or-less set with a payroll around $50MM, per Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. Take this for what it is, but the Indians exceeded payroll just to get there. Owner Paul Dolan made an extra concession to allow the addition of Rosario. To their credit, he represents a somewhat major addition given their inability to field above-average offensive outfielders. Over the last two seasons, Rosario slashed .271/.305/.494 with 45 home runs over 821 plate appearances, good for a modest 105 wRC+. That Nolan was willing to stretch the payroll speaks volumes about how the Indians value Rosario’s fit in the lineup.
- Spencer Patton is throwing an improved change-up with the hopes of bringing three viable pitches out of the bullpen, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The 32-year-old right-hander led Nippon Professional Baseball with 57 appearances last season, which is no small feat to MLB teams aware of the perils in ramping up pitcher workloads in 2021. Patton’s numbers from Japan won’t blow you away, however, with a 4.92 ERA, respectable 28.1 percent strikeout rate, and slightly-concerning 11.7 percent walk rate. Patton will throw for teams again on February 2nd, with the Braves, Rays, Angels, Royals, Rangers, and Giants being among the teams to have shown some interest thus far.
- Pitching has long been the focus for the Nationals organization, but at the same time, they’ve lagged behind in the catching department, writes MASNSports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. Pedro Severino is the most prolific homegrown catcher with 105 games played for the organization – though he didn’t break out until joining the Orioles. Raudy Read or Tres Barrera are next in line to have an opportunity, but the recent signing of Alex Avila suggests GM Mike Rizzo isn’t ready to give either one too long of a look out of the blocks. Both Barrera and Read have served PED suspensions in the past, however, and Welington Castillo will also be in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Orioles News & Rumors: Mancini, Martin, Infield, Pitching
As the Braves look at potential options in left field, they’ve inquired with the Orioles about Trey Mancini‘s availability, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who adds that there’s been “nothing serious” discussed between the two parties to this point. Interest in Mancini is rather logical for a Braves club that is still seeking a middle-of-the-order bat but may not want to pay the prices necessary to re-sign Marcell Ozuna to a multi-year deal.
Mancini, 28, broke out with a career-best .291/.364/.535 showing with the Orioles in 2019 but missed the 2020 season after a frightening colon cancer diagnosis. The slugger underwent surgery and ultimately emerged victorious in his battle with cancer, announcing back in November that he was cancer-free after months of chemotherapy. No one can blame the Braves for coveting Mancini’s final two years of team control, but given that context and Mancini’s status as a clubhouse leader in Baltimore, it’d likely be tough for the O’s to part with him in a trade prior to the season. Even if the two sides were to engage in serious talks, one can imagine the asking price would be quite high.
There’s also the fact that while Mancini has played extensively in the outfield corners, he’s still a first baseman playing out of position there. That’s not a great fit with the Braves, given Freddie Freeman‘s presence at first base. Notably, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias told reporters today that he expects Mancini to spend a lot more time at first base in 2021 (Twitter link via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko).
While a Mancini trade appears unlikely for several reasons, that probably won’t stop teams from calling. Elias acknowledged today every win-now club throughout the league is aware that the Orioles are willing to listen to offers for most of their roster as their rebuild trudges onward (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Joe Trezza). That, however, “doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything,” Elias added.
The O’s, in fact, could make a few more small-scale additions after signing shortstop Freddy Galvis to a one-year, $1.5MM deal yesterday. Galvis, to no one’s surprise, was tabbed as the primary shortstop by Elias, but the club could still be on the lookout for some versatile infield depth to back him up (via Kubatko). That’s likely due in no small part to the fact that infielder Richie Martin sustained a broken hamate bone in his left hand while working out this past weekend and will require surgery to repair the injury.
Based on prior timelines for that same injury, Martin could return midway through Spring Training — assuming it starts on time — but he’ll very likely be behind schedule. Baltimore’s agreement with Galvis was already wrapped up by the time Martin suffered the injury, Dan Connolly of The Athletic points out; the timing is merely coincidental.
On the pitching front, the Orioles are still looking to add to a thin mix. Kubatko notes that Elias mentioned Major League offers to starting pitchers are on the table for the Orioles, although the GM (as one would expect) provided no further specifics. Based on the team’s extremely limited spending and Connolly’s recent report that the O’s actually tried to defer the arbitration salaries of Mancini and outfielder Anthony Santander, it seems unlikely that they’ll spend any significant cash to upgrade the starting staff or bullpen. That said, even a split contract that comes with a 40-man roster spot and a big league salary around the $1MM mark would technically fit the criteria listed by Elias.
Last year, the Orioles added lefties Tommy Milone and Wade LeBlanc on low-cost minor league deals to round out the rotation early in the year. It’s not likely that they’ll shop in a much more expensive bin this time around, but there are still some affordable names left standing on the free-agent market.
Orioles Sign Freddy Galvis, Designate Chris Shaw
Another shortstop comes off the board. The Baltimore Orioles have signed shortstop Freddy Galvis to a one-year contract, the team announced. The Rep 1 Baseball client will receive $1.5MM with a $250K bonus if he is traded, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). There is not an option for a second year. First baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw was designated for assignment in order to open a roster spot for Shaw, per the club.
Galvis takes over at short for the recently-traded Jose Iglesias, another veteran whom the Orioles signed in free agency. Galvis has long been a starting shortstop in MLB, from his early days with the Phillies to last season with the Cincinnati Reds. He also played for the Blue Jays and Padres in his nine-year career. Durability has been a strength for Galvis. He achieved the rare-for-this-era achievement of appearing in all 162 games in back-to-back seasons with the Phillies in 2017 and Padres in 2018.
Last season with the Reds, Galvis slashed .220/.308/.404 with seven home runs, 8.2 percent walk rate, 18.9 percent strikeout rate and 90 wRC+. The switch-hitting Galvis is largely considered a solid defensive option up the middle. By measure of Statcast’s outs above average, however, Galvis may wield an elite glove. Though he registered -3 OAA in the shortened 2020 season, he finished 8th among shortstops in 2019 with 11 OAA and tied for third with Andrelton Simmons and Francisco Lindor in 2018 with 12 OAA.
Galvis won’t help the Orioles a ton with his bat. He routinely logs below-average hard hit rates, barrel rates, and walk rates. He does a pretty good job of putting the ball in play, however, and his power has jumped a notch with .178 ISO and .184 ISO the past two seasons. He’s also not a burner, finishing in the 28th percentile by sprint speed in 2020. For the Orioles, however, they’ll hope Galvis provides defensive support to their young pitching staff and leadership in the clubhouse. Should he prove productive, he could also serve as a trade chip at the deadline, a possibility for which both player and team are clearly aware, given the trade clause in his contract.
Shaw’s time with the O’s, meanwhile, will apparently prove quite brief. Baltimore claimed him off waivers from the Giants back in late November, and he’ll now very possibly be exposed to waivers a second time. The 27-year-old was once the 31st overall draft pick by the prior San Francisco front-office regime, and he has a solid-looking .280/.328/.538 slash line in about 1000 plate appearances of Triple-A ball. Shaw, though, also has a 30 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A and hasn’t hit well at all in 82 big league plate appearances. The O’s have a week to trade him, release him or attempt to pass him through waivers themselves.
Quick Hits: Dodgers, Blue Jays, Turner, Nationals, MASN, Mets, Minaya
Justin Turner has four options on the table that would place him on a contender, with the Dodgers and Blue Jays two of the four, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Still, Heyman notes, the Dodgers are confident they will be able to bring Turner back to Chavez Ravine. The hold-up continues to be the length of the deal, as Los Angeles targets a two-year pact, while the 36-year-old seeks four years. Speculatively speaking, looking for other potential landing spots leads naturally to the NL East, where any of the Braves, Nationals, Mets, or Marlins could theoretically find room for Turner. Elsewhere…
- The Nationals responded today with a statement to recent cuts made by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. The Nats’ years-long headache over MASN – the local sports network co-owned by the Nationals and Orioles, but controlled by the Orioles – took another turn this week as on-air personalities Dan Kolko, Bo Porter, and Alex Chappell were let go without prior notice being given to the Nats, per Ben Strauss and Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. In the Nationals’ statement, provided by the Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli (via Twitter), they wrote, “…To say that we are incredibly disappointed and upset by MASN’s decisions would be a gross understatement. To be clear – these decisions were made by MASN and against our wishes…” Porter, of course, was a coach with the Nationals from 2011 to 2012 and later managed the Astros for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He has teamed with Kolko on pre- and postgame shows since 2019, during which time Chappell has served as a dugout reporter.
- Omar Minaya will accept an ambassadorship with the Mets to be a public presence for the organization, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). Minaya’s relationship with the Mets dates back to childhood, but his professional career began drawing notice during his time as an assistant general manager from 1998 to 2001. He became the Mets’ general manager from 2004 until 2010, when he was succeeded by Sandy Alderson. After four years with the Padres and some time working for the MLBPA, Minaya returned to serve as one of Alderson’s lieutenants in 2017. He stayed on with the team through the Brodie Van Wagenen era, but he was let go as part of the housecleaning under the new ownership of Steve Cohen. Minaya now returns for his fourth stint with the team. It does not sound as if Minaya will have any impact on baseball operations.
Orioles Notes: Marlins, Santander, Mancini, Deferrals, MASN
The Marlins have had some trade discussions with the Orioles about outfielder Anthony Santander, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (Twitter link). The depth of these talks isn’t known, Kubatko notes, as it could have been due diligence on the Marlins’ part rather than a sign that Santander could be heading to Miami or anywhere.
Santander enjoyed something of a breakout performance during the abbreviated 2020 season, hitting .261/.315/.575 with 11 home runs over 165 plate appearances before an oblique injury ended his season on September 4. A look at the advanced metrics reveals some interesting details, as Santander didn’t make much hard contact or take many walks, but he also didn’t get much batted-ball luck in the form of a .248 BABIP.
Still, between some strong right field defense and 31 homers in 570 PA since the start of the 2019 season, Santander has made himself a key part of Baltimore’s rebuilding effort. He turned 26 last October and is controlled through the 2024 season, as Santander is a Super Two player and only became arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. (The two sides are scheduled for a hearing to determine Santander’s 2021 salary, with the outfielder looking for $2.475MM and the Orioles offering $2.1MM.)
This combination of talent and cost-effective team control would make Santander an attractive trade possibility for many teams, but particularly a Marlins club that is looking to both continue contending for the postseason without too much of a budget stretch. The switch-hitting Santander would also help balance out a Miami lineup heavy on right-handed batters. Garrett Cooper is currently slated to handle right field for the Marlins, but the team would have plenty of room to find at-bats for everyone if the DH returned to the National League in 2021. Since Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson are both free agents after the season, Santander would also be a longer-term outfield addition that could fill the void if either player departed.
Whether the Orioles see Santander as a long-term piece is another intriguing element, as a case could be made that the O’s should try to sell high on Santander now (or perhaps before the 2021 trade deadline) if they don’t think he’ll still be a prime contributor by the time Baltimore is ready to contend. Given that the Orioles still have a long ways to go in their rebuild, they might not be ready to compete by 2024, Santander’s age-29 season and his last under team control.
The Orioles’ financial situation adds another wrinkle, as The Athletic’s Dan Connelly reports that the team offered salary deferrals to Santander and Trey Mancini when talking to both players about their 2021 contracts. Both turned down the offers, which would have seen around 25% of their salary pushed ahead to 2022 or 2023. Mancini ended up avoiding arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $4.75MM deal.
Deferrals are a common element of contract negotiations, yet the idea of deferring money on a one-year arbitration contract was unheard of among “multiple agents and baseball arbitration experts…contacted for this story,” Connolly writes. While the deferral offers could have just been some creativity on the part of GM Mike Elias, Connolly also wonders if the offers were indicative of how little the Orioles might have to spend in the wake of 2020’s revenue losses. If this is the case, the O’s might look to try and deal Santander, perhaps attaching him to a larger contract (i.e. Alex Cobb and his $15MM salary) to clear as much money as possible off the books.
In other revenue news, The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli reports that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (owned by both the Orioles and the Nationals) has made significant cuts, including several prominent on-air personalities. “This is a cash-flow problem, and there’s apparently not a lot of it,” a source said. Changes include the reduction of the pre-game and post-game shows from 30 to 15 minutes, with the broadcasters at the ballpark handling these shows rather than studio hosts and analysts. If the Orioles or Nationals want to continue the usual pre-game and post-game shows, MASN has informed the teams that they will have to fund them, rather than the network.
Trade/FA Notes: Santander, Profar, Bart, Yates, T. Williams
Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander has drawn trade interest this winter, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. However, as Kubatko suggests, that doesn’t necessarily mean Santander will go anywhere. The 26-year-old is coming off a highly productive season in which he batted .261/.315/.575 (130 wRC+) with 11 home runs, and he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until after 2024. Santander will earn a projected $1.7MM to $3MM in arbitration next season. All of that makes Santander an appealing trade candidate, but the Orioles could simply retain him as a building block.
- The Padres are still attempting to re-sign free-agent infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The switch-hitting Profar, 27, spent last season with San Diego, where he batted .278/.343/.428 (111 wRC+) with seven home runs in 202 trips to the plate. Defensively, Profar divided most of his time between left field and second base. Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth are among the options for the Padres at those spots, but the team seems to believe it will be able to keep fitting Profar in if it re-signs him. MLBTR predicted at the start of the offseason that Profar would land a one-year, $7MM contract in free agency.
- Clubs “routinely ask about” Giants catcher Joey Bart in trade talks, Rosenthal writes. The Giants are not actively attempting to move the 24-year-old, though, according to Rosenthal. Bart, the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, got off to a rough start in the majors last year with a .233/.288/.320 line, no home runs and 41 strikeouts against three walks in 111 plate appearances. However, Bart was dominant at the Double-A level the previous season. He or Patrick Bailey, the Giants’ first-round pick last summer, could end up as their answer at catcher when the iconic Buster Posey departs (potentially after next season).
- The Twins were among the finalists for reliever Kirby Yates before he agreed to join the Blue Jays on Tuesday, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News relays. It’s not surprising the Twins were in on one of the open market’s highest-profile relievers, as their bullpen has taken hits this offseason with Trevor May, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard getting to free agency. May signed with the Mets, though Romo and Clippard remain without contracts.
- Former Mets general manager Jared Porter was part of negotiations for right-hander Trevor Williams before the team fired the executive Tuesday, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. It’s unclear if the Porter-less Mets will continue pursuing Williams, whom the Pirates designated for assignment in November, especially after acquiring fellow starter Joey Lucchesi from the Padres on Monday. Williams was a solid part of the Pirates’ rotation from 2017-18, but he struggled to a 5.60 ERA/5.01 SIERA in 201 innings and 37 appearances (all starts) between 2019-20.
Orioles Re-Sign Thomas Eshelman
The Orioles have re-signed right-hander Thomas Eshelman to a minor league contract, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports (Twitter link). Eshelman chose to become a free agent last month rather than accept an outright assignment to Baltimore’s Triple-A team.
In his second consecutive year of swingman work for the O’s, Eshelman posted a 3.89 ERA over 34 2/3 innings, starting four of his 10 outings. He had only an 11.2 K%, continuing his near career-long trend of not missing many bats. While Eshelman’s Statcast numbers aren’t anything to write home about, his return to the organization gives the Orioles another option as they figure out their pitching mix. Eshelman’s ability to contribute a spot start is useful, particularly in a rotation that may feature several young hurlers who may still be building up their innings.
Of course, Eshelman is himself only 26 years old, and he was a second-round pick for the Astros in the 2015 draft. He has a 4.22 ERA over 514 1/3 career innings in the minors (with the Orioles, Phillies, and Astros) to go along with his 5.22 ERA, 12.4 K%, and 6.5 BB% in 70 2/3 Major League innings with Baltimore.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21
The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.
We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.
I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.
Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)
- Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia avoided arbitration with a $1.95MM deal, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The team also reached an agreement for $805K with reliever Robert Stephenson, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- The Tigers have deals with infielder Jeimer Candelario ($2.85MM), outfielder JaCoby Jones ($2.65MM) and righty Jose Cisnero ($970K), Chris McCosky of the Detroit News relays.
- The Yankees and reliever Chad Green settled for $2.15MM, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
- The Marlins and lefty Richard Bleier have a deal for $1.425MM, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets.
- The Dodgers reached a $3.6MM settlement with lefty Julio Urias, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.
- The Angels announced a deal with righty Dylan Bundy for $8.325MM.
- The Tigers and southpaw Matthew Boyd have settled for $6.5MM, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News tweets.
- The Yankees have deals with catcher Gary Sanchez ($6.35MM), first baseman Luke Voit ($4.7MM), third baseman Gio Urshela ($4.65MM), shortstop Gleyber Torres ($4MM) and outfielder Clint Frazier ($2.1MM), per Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
- The Rays and outfielder Manuel Margot avoided arbitration with a $3.4MM agreement, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
- The Padres and outfielder Tommy Pham have a deal for $8.9MM, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Reliever Dan Altavilla settled for $850K, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets.
- The Angels and righty Felix Pena have come to terms for $1.1MM, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports.
- The Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers have reached a $4.575MM agreement, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
- The Mets and outfielder Brandon Nimmo have come to a $4.7MM agreement, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets.
- The Reds and righty Luis Castillo have settled for $4.2MM, Robert Murray of FanSided relays.
- The Rays reached a $2.25MM agreement with infielder Joey Wendle and a $1.175MM settlement with righty Yonny Chirinos, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
- The Cardinals and flamethrowing reliever Jordan Hicks have an agreement for $862,500, according to Heyman.
- The White Sox and ace Lucas Giolito avoided arbitration with a $4.15MM agreement, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.
- The Pirates and righty Joe Musgrove have reached an agreement for $4.45MM, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. They also made deals with second/baseman outfielder Adam Frazier ($4.3MM), third baseman Colin Moran ($2.8MM) righty Chad Kuhl ($2.13MM) and lefty Steven Brault ($2.05MM), per reports from Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Adam Berry of MLB.com.
- Hard-throwing right-hander Reyes Moronta agreed to a $695K deal with the Giants after missing the 2020 season due to shoulder surgery, tweets Robert Murray of Fansided.
- The Tigers agreed to a $2.1MM deal with infielder Niko Goodrum, tweets Robert Murray of Fansided. They also inked lefty Daniel Norris for a $3.475MM salary, tweets Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
- The Pirates agreed to a $1.3MM deal with catcher Jacob Stallings and a $1.1MM deal with righty Chris Stratton, per Robert Murray of Fansided (Twitter links).
- Athletics right-hander Lou Trivino agreed to a $912,500 salary for the 2021 season, tweets Robert Murray of Fansided.
- Right-hander Richard Rodriguez and the Pirates agreed to a $1.7MM deal, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Catcher Jorge Alfaro and the Marlins agreed to a $2.05MM deal, tweets Craig Mish of SportsGrid.
- The Reds agreed to a $2.2MM deal with right-hander Tyler Mahle, tweets Fansided’s Robert Murray. Cincinnati also signed lefty Amir Garrett for $1.5MM, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
- The Indians agreed to a $2.4MM deal with newly acquired shortstop Amed Rosario and a $975K deal with righty Phil Maton, tweets Zack Meisel of The Athletic.
- The Tigers and righty Buck Farmer settled at $1.85MM, tweets Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
- The Marlins agreed to a $1.9MM deal with right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.