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Orioles Sign Dale Thayer To Minors Deal

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The Orioles have added veteran righty Dale Thayer on a minor league contract, his representatives at O’Connell Sports Management announced on Twitter. He’ll receive an invitation to major league camp in the deal.

Thayer, 35, ran up excellent results in his first three years with the Padres after receiving only minimal prior MLB opportunities. Over 2011-14, he worked to a 3.02 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 across 188 frames.

But the righty couldn’t maintain that trajectory after finally earning his first arbitration payday last year. He managed only 37 2/3 frames before being designated and outrighted. Thayer’s 4.06 ERA was hardly a disaster, but there was obvious cause for concern as he fell off to 6.0 strikeouts and 3.6 walks per nine.

Baltimore will presumably slot the veteran into a competition for a middle relief role. He’ll look to earn a spot in a pen that could draw from an interesting pool of names this spring, including players like the rehabbing Dylan Bundy, emergent Mychal Givens, resurgent Brad Brach, and swingman Vance Worley.

Free Agent Notes: Rays, Desmond, Marlins, Lincecum, Gallardo, Gurriel Bros.

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The Rays are a “long shot” to land Ian Desmond, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports on Twitter, with the required draft pick compensation (from the qualifying offer he declined) posing a significant barrier. Tampa Bay is in “bargain shopping” mode, he adds. We’ve seen previous suggestions that Desmond could line up with the Rays, though he doesn’t make for the most obvious roster match and it’s always seemed that he’d need to take a deal far below pre-winter expectations for that to occur.

Here are some more rumblings from the open market:

  • There are plenty of other teams hunting for value at this stage of the market, of course, with the Marlins eyeing pitching, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). We’ve heard that before, of course, and the club seems to be a prime destination for players seeking opportunity as the market settles.
  • One possibility that has often been tied to Miami is righty Tim Lincecum, who is preparing for a showcase some time this month. Sherman tweets that his agent, Rick Thurman, will check in on the veteran’s progress tomorrow as his camp decides upon a date to call in the scouts.
  • Yovani Gallardo remains the best available free agent arm, and Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets that he’s still drawing interest from the Orioles and two other teams. Cotillo had suggested (via Twitter) that the bidding would come down to the O’s, Astros, and Rockies, but Houston is out of the hunt after signing Doug Fister and he now says that Colorado appears to be on the sidelines.
  • August Fagerstrom of Fangraphs argues that the White Sox may be the better fit for Gallardo, given their lack of quality and depth at the back of the rotation. It helps, of course, that the team’s first overall selection is protected. It’s worth noting that Chicago also makes a good deal of sense for the other remaining qualified free agents — Desmond and Dexter Fowler — and could in theory lower the average draft pick compensation cost by signing more than one such player. On the other hand, Chicago’s current spending commitments are already right at last year’s Opening Day mark once you account for league-minimum salaries to round out the roster. Things look slightly better in 2017, though, with John Danks and Adam LaRoche coming off of the books, so creative contract structuring could create some daylight.
  • Two new names to watch in the coming months are prominent Cuban brothers Yulieski Gurriel and Lourdes Gurriel, both of whom reportedly left the national team in the Dominican Republic with intentions of heading towards major league free agency. But it might be unrealistic to expect to see either appear in the 2016 campaign, Ben Badler of Baseball America explains. His colleague, John Manuel, breaks down both players, noting that the elder Yulieski is a better player than Hector Olivera and could “set off a significant bidding war.” And for more reading on the interesting pair, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains their unique place in Cuban baseball.

Carlos Torres Choosing Among Three Teams

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11:07am: Torres is deciding between major league and minor league offers, Links tweets, and is looking for the right opportunity in making his decision.

10:29am: Reliever Carlos Torres is “very close” to signing with a new club, MLBTR’s Zach Links reports on Twitter, with the righty set to choose between three organizations. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN recently tweeted that a deal was expected by week’s end.

Torres could theoretically match up with any number of clubs. The Orioles have reached out to his reps at Full Circle Sports Management, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The Twins seem a theoretical match, but are not involved, per Wolfson. We’ve also heard prior chatter that the righty has drawn interest from Asian teams, though it’s not clear whether that’s currently under consideration.

Torres, 33, recently elected free agency after he was outrighted by the Mets. The Full Circle Sports Management client had initially agreed to a $1.05MM salary to avoid arbitration with New York, and the club will remain on the hook for one sixth of that value ($175K) regardless of what Torres ends up earning with a new organization.

Last season was a rough one for Torres in the results department, as he ended with a 4.68 ERA. But a .326 BABIP-against and 65.3% strand rate probably impacted the results. And there were other indicators to suggest that he could still be much the same pitcher he was when he logged a 3.24 earned run mark over the prior two campaigns.

Torres posted a career-best 48.3% groundball rate, continued to exhibit good control (2.8 BB/9), and improved his average fastball velocity to 92.5 mph. He did see a slight drop in strikeouts per nine and swinging strike rate, but remained solid in those departments (7.5 K/9, 9.6% SwStr%). All told advanced metrics saw his 57 2/3 frames in much the same light as they did his work in 2013-14.

In the aggregate, it isn’t hard to see why there is interest in Torres. He ought to have every chance to compete for a job in camp, and promises to bolster the depth of any pen. It’s worth noting, too, that he ran up big innings totals in his first two years in New York (183 1/3 total frames), indicating that he could fill a long-man role if needed.

AL East Notes: Gallardo, Buchholz, Ortiz, Kendrick

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Russell Wilson’s history with baseball is well-documented, though the Orioles were the first team to make a play for the future Seahawks quarterback out of high school when they made him a 41st-round pick in the 2007 amateur draft.  As O’s scout Dean Albany tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski, Baltimore had Wilson graded as good enough to be picked within the top 10 rounds, and he only fell due to his commitment to play football at NC State.  The Orioles were impressed enough with Wilson that they offered him $350K to sign, a higher bonus than the O’s offered any draft pick that year except for Matt Wieters and Jake Arrieta.  Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • The Orioles are still weighing whether or not to sign Yovani Gallardo and surrender their first-round draft pick, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes.  Another “shift in thinking” has taken place within Baltimore’s front office, and now the club may no longer be as hesitant to give up its pick, though “plenty of folks in the industry say Gallardo isn’t worth the 14th selection” in June’s draft.  If Gallardo’s price tag has indeed fallen to a large extent, however, there could be enough value added to make the signing.  “It could be argued that [Gallardo] carries more value with them than other teams who still may be in the running,” Kubatko writes, due to Baltimore’s need for reliable starting pitching.  Kubatko also opines that he would be willing to give up the 14th overall pick, since the O’s have five other picks within the first 100 selections of the coming draft.
  • The Red Sox made a bet on Clay Buchholz’s high ceiling rather than Wade Miley’s durability, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes.  Buchholz has battled injuries and several ups-and-downs in performance over his career, though he’s looked like an elite starter when at his best.  Miley, by contrast, has been more consistent than brilliant over his four full seasons as a big league starter.  Speier points out that Miley’s reliability might’ve given him more trade value than Buchholz, which could’ve been the reason Miley was the one dealt, though choosing Buchholz over the lefty could prove to be a key choice of the Red Sox season.
  • It couldn’t hurt the Red Sox or David Ortiz if the two sides firmly outlined the star slugger’s role in his final season, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  This would allow both parties to avoid a potentially awkward situation if Ortiz experienced a sudden decline and the Sox then had to consider benching the franchise legend in his farewell season in order to better help the team win games.  Olney uses Derek Jeter’s final season as a cautionary tale, as the Yankees still used Jeter as a starting shortstop and number-two hitter throughout the year despite his sub-replacement performance.
  • Several Yankees topics are discussed in a mailbag piece by Mike Axisa of the River Ave Blues blog, including the team’s second base situation.  Axisa would’ve preferred the Yankees had Howie Kendrick on a two-year, $20MM deal and Adam Warren still in the pitching mix rather than Starlin Castro and the first-rounder it would’ve cost New York to sign Kendrick.  That said, Axisa doesn’t blame the Yankees for making the move to acquire Castro earlier in the offseason since two months ago, it would’ve seemed far-fetched that Kendrick could’ve been had at such a relatively low cost.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Betts, Bogaerts, Porcello, Chavez

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There are several big-picture reasons for the Yankees’ lack of free agent spending this offseason, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan writes.  With a new collective bargaining agreement looming, the Yankees may be hesitant to commit millions more in player salaries until they know what the new luxury tax and revenue-sharing formulas will entail.  Sources tell Passan that the luxury tax limit is likely to be raised from $189MM and New York therefore has a better chance of getting under the new threshold to lower its yearly penalty rate.  Between cutting down on luxury tax payments and losing several huge contracts (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, etc.) over the next two seasons, it could position the Yankees to splurge in the incredibly star-studded 2018-19 free agent market.  The crown jewel of this free agent class is Bryce Harper, who has long been considered a future Yankees target — “their future marriage is considered so inevitable by most in the sport,” Passan writes.

Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • The Red Sox may not be in a rush to sign Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts to extensions, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes.  Even if Betts and Bogaerts continue to blossom into superstars, waiting another year to explore extensions might cost Boston only a couple of million dollars, a negligible amount for a big-market team.  The two players may themselves have reason to wait, as Speier cites the argument from Over the Monster’s Matt Collins that Betts and Bogaerts may want to see what the next CBA holds before committing to long-term deals.  Given the huge recent free agent contracts signed by players in their 20’s, Betts and Bogaerts also might not want to sign away any of their free agent years in an extension when a much larger score could await them down the road.
  • In a recent podcast interview with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, Rick Porcello discussed the decision process that went into signing his four-year, $82.5MM extension with the Red Sox last offseason.  Without that contract, Porcello would’ve been a free agent this winter on the heels of a pretty shaky 2015 campaign.  Despite the righty’s struggles, Bradford notes that Porcello still could’ve found himself a healthy contract on the open market — Jeff Samardzija and Ian Kennedy both landed large multi-year deals despite coming off of rough seasons themselves, and Porcello is four years younger than either of those pitchers.
  • Jesse Chavez’s arbitration hearing with the Blue Jays took place Friday and a decision is expected today, according to the Associated Press.  Chavez is arguing for a $4MM salary in 2016 while the Jays countered with a $3.6MM offer.
  • Mark Trumbo is excited to be an Oriole, he tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, though he was surprised when the O’s acquired him from the Mariners since he didn’t know the club had interest.  Trumbo believes he’s a better first baseman than outfielder, though with Chris Davis now back at first for years to come in Baltimore, Trumbo says “it doesn’t matter to me one bit” where he slots into the lineup as long as it helps the team win.

Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Zach Britton

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The Orioles have agreed to a $6.75MM salary to avoid arbitration with closer Zach Britton, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. He was projected by MLBTR to earn $6.9MM, and his ultimate settlement point lands at the precise midpoint between his $7.9MM and the club’s $5.6MM filing numbers.

It’s difficult to overstate just how dominant Britton has become since moving to the bullpen 2014. After failing to stick as a starter, the 28-year-old swiftly took over the O’s closer role and has only improved since.

Britton’s earned run average ticked up last year after his emergence in the prior year. But by almost any other measure, he went from being a good reliever to one of the very best in the game. Over 65 2/3 frames, he put up 10.8 K/9 against just 1.9 BB/9 and a record-setting 79.1% groundball rate.

Really, there’s nothing to pick at in Britton’s 2015 efforts. His fastball velocity trended slightly upward, to 95.8 mph, and ERA estimators supported his sub-2.00 ERA efforts. One could point to a twenty percent home run per flyball ratio, but — somewhat comically — that reflects only three home runs hit out of the 15 flies put in play against Britton last season.

Baltimore can control Britton for another pair of seasons after this one. He obviously was able to greatly enhance his earning power by reaching Super Two eligibility last year on the heels of a strong year, and then following up on that with his huge 2015. But while the earnings will keep increasing, especially if he can continue his current trajectory, the O’s should continue to find great value in their surprising relief ace.

Arbitration Hearing Notes: Donaldson, Arrieta, Martinez, Britton, Astros

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The arbitration hearing between the Blue Jays and Josh Donaldson is set for Feb. 15, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter), giving the two sides 10 days to work out a multi-year deal. President Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins said last night that the two sides have been discussing such a pact, and the hearing deadline certainly gives the club motivation to strike a deal. The Blue Jays employ a file-and-trial approach to arbitration, which is to say that the team is one of many that have a policy against negotiating on one-year deals once figures are exchanged. That approach led to a hearing between the Blue Jays and Donaldson last year, and both sides undoubtedly would prefer to avoid a hearing for the second straight season. The Blue Jays won a hearing over Donaldson last winter, though he’ll have an American League MVP Award in his corner this season. Those interested in Donaldson’s case can check out an in-depth look from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, written as part of his Arbitration Breakdown series, prior to the exchange of figures.

Some more notes on various arbitration hearings around the league…

  • The Cubs and reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta are on a tighter schedule, as Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago/670thescore.com reports (on Twitter). Arrieta’s arbitration hearing is set to come next Tuesday — Feb. 9. The $5.5MM gap between Arrieta’s submitted figure of $13MM and the Cubs’ $7.5MM counter is the largest of any case this year. Swartz also examined Arrieta’s case at length.
  • J.D. Martinez and the Tigers are continuing to discuss both one- and two-year deals, reports Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Martinez appears open to a considerably longer-term deal, having voiced a desire to spend the rest of his career with the Tigers. Martinez said last month that the two sides have discussed a long-term deal, but it’s unclear whether talks on a contract extending the club’s control beyond Martinez’s two remaining arbitration seasons has been seriously discussed. Swartz broke down Martinez’s case at length as well.
  • Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that the Orioles and Zach Britton have a hearing set for Feb. 17 (Twitter link). The two sides are facing a fairly sizable $2.3MM gap between Britton’s $7.9MM figure and the club’s $5.6MM counter. If a deal can’t be reached, it’d mark the second straight season with an arb hearing for the Orioles, who won a hearing over Alejandro De Aza last February.
  • The Astros have arbitration hearings for Jason Castro and Evan Gattis set for Feb. 8 and Feb. 16, respectively, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link). With Houston taking a file-and-trial approach to arbitration, both cases seem likely to reach a trial. Castro, in particular, seems destined for that outcome, as he’s a free agent following the season and thus unlikely to hammer out a multi-year deal.
  • While in many cases, the gap between the player and team submission appears trivial, there’s a reason that many teams take such a firm stance. MLBTR spoke to multiple Major League executives on the topic last February to get their explanation of the responsibility felt by teams in arbitration.

All of the remaining unresolved cases, as well as the exchange of figures and settled amounts for all 156 players that filed for arbitration can be viewed in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/5/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves and outright assignments from around the league:

  • The Orioles will hold onto outfielder L.J. Hoes after he cleared outright waivers, per a club announcement. Baltimore re-acquired Hoes from the Astros earlier in the offseason, but designated him about a week back to clear roster space for the addition of Efren Navarro. Hoes continues to produce at Triple-A, and is only 25 years old, but has struggled to a .237/.289/.329 batting line in 337 Major League plate appearances.
  • The Brewers announced that outfielder Shane Peterson, who was designated for assignment when the team acquired Rymer Liriano from the Padres, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Colorado Springs. The soon-to-be 28-year-old, who will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee, batted .259/.324/.353 in 226 plate appearances last season. He’s a nice depth option for the Brewers to hang onto, as he can play all three outfield spots and boasts an excellent .297/.383/.461 batting line over the life of 1720 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
  • Veteran utilityman Don Kelly is headed back to the Marlins on a minor league pact that includes a spring invite, the club announced. Kelly’s 2015 season ended early when he required Tommy John surgery, Soon to turn 36, Kelly has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors, appearing at literally every position on the diamond (including pitcher, catcher, and DH) in his 572 total games. Kelly’s career slash sits at .232/.296/.335.

AL East Notes: Bautista, Donaldson, Chavez, Gallardo, Betts

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Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista indicated that he’s very open to holding contract talks before reaching free agency after the season, as Gregory Strong of the Canadian Press reports. Bautista said it would be an honor to end his career in Toronto, though obviously there’s a long way to go to make that happen. He noted that he had recently sat down with new club president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins, but also suggested that true negotiations haven’t occurred. “I have to have something to consider at some point if I’m going to make that decision, which hasn’t happened yet,” said Bautista. “So I’m going to continue to go about my business just like any other year and any other day because I don’t really have a decision to make right now.”

Here’s more out of the AL East, including a few other notable possible extension scenarios — a topic that Steve Adams and I tackled on today’s MLBTR Podcast.

  • Shapiro and Atkins are addressing their fanbase as we speak, and quotes continue to be reported. Josh Donaldson’s contract situation came up, as it appears he’s headed for a second arb hearing unless a multi-year agreement can be reached. (The club employs a file-and-trial approach.) Atkins indicated that there is real interest in a multi-year scenario, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports (Twitter links), though it could well be an arb-only agreement. Nevertheless, the newly-minted general manager suggested that something more could at least be contemplated. “We want him here as long as humanly possible,” he said.
  • The team seemingly already went to an arb hearing with righty Jesse Chavez, Nicholson-Smith tweets. There’s only a $400K difference between the sides’ filings — $4MM vs. $3.6MM — so there isn’t a ton of money at stake. It’s certainly possible that both preferred to take their chances to bridging the gap. Either way, Chavez will fall shy of his $4.7MM projection.
  • Meanwhile, Shapiro says that it’s unlikely the team will make another major move before hitting camp, as Nicholson-Smith tweets. But the team has had “substantive conversations as recently as just a few days ago,” per Shapiro.
  • We’ve heard a lot of back-and-forth on the Orioles’ interest in signing free agent righty Yovani Gallardo — and giving up the 14th overall pick — and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that the O’s are still monitoring things. If Gallardo’s asking price falls far enough, the team could be willing to punt the pick.
  • The Red Sox don’t have much reason to pursue an extension with blooming star Mookie Betts, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal argues. Boston already has five years of control over Betts, isn’t really in need of cost certainty, and may prefer to avoid shifting forward salary for purposes of luxury tax calculations.

Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Brian Matusz

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We’ll track the day’s arb deals here:

  • The Orioles have avoided arbitration with southpaw Brian Matusz for $3.9MM, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Matusz had filed at $4.4MM, with the team countering at $3.5MM, so he’ll fall just on the low side of the midpoint. MLBTR had projected him to earn just $3.4MM in his final trip through the arb process, so he’ll do a fair bit better than that. The 28-year-old posted career-best results last year, working to a 2.94 ERA with 10.3 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 over 49 frames. Certainly, a repeat would put him in rather high demand on the open market.
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