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Rangers To Sign Kohei Arihara

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TODAY: MLB Insider Jon Heyman provided some clarification as to the financial specifics today (via Twitter). As presumed yesterday, the posting fee will amount to $1.24MM, while the Rangers will pay out $6.2MM over the course of the two-year contract. Arihara will make $2.6MM in 2021 and $3.6MM in 2022, adds MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter).

Dec. 25: The Rangers are in agreement with right-hander Kohei Arihara, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). It’s a two-year contract in the $6-7MM range, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter).

Arihara, 28, has spent the past six seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball. In 836 career innings at Japan’s highest level, Arihara compiled a 3.74 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. He has been especially productive over the past two years. Arihara posted a minuscule 2.46 ERA with a career-best 8.8 K/9 in 2019. This past season, he managed a 3.46 mark with 7.2 K/9 across 132.2 innings.

Writing for Baseball America on the heels of Arihara’s peak season in 2019, Jason Coskrey noted that the right-hander works in the low-90’s and primarily leans upon his fastball, changeup and slider. Arihara has up to seven distinct pitches in his arsenal, though, and Coskrey notes he’s adept at using his secondaries to keep opposing hitters off balance. He also has a long history of throwing strikes, not having issued more than 2.2 walks per nine innings pitched in any of his last five NPB seasons.

Arihara’s not known for especially overpowering raw stuff, and that’s been borne out in his relatively low strikeout rates. Shun Yamaguchi, who signed a similar contract with the Blue Jays last offseason, consistently posted heftier strikeout totals over his time in Japan than did Arihara. So too has Tomoyuki Sugano, the higher-profile NPB starter available to MLB teams via the posting system this winter. That could suggest Arihara’s more suited for the back of the rotation, although he figures to have a decent opportunity for innings in Texas.

Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles will presumably try to bounce back from dismal 2020 seasons. Dane Dunning will certainly get a rotation job after coming over from the White Sox in the Lance Lynn trade. There’s a lot of uncertainty beyond (and even among) that trio, though. Kolby Allard was knocked around last season and hasn’t yet established himself as a big league caliber starter. Kyle Cody, who never worked more than five innings, was the only other player still on the roster to start multiple games for Texas last season.

In addition to Arihara’s salary, the Rangers will owe the Fighters a release fee under the terms of the MLB-NPB posting system. The Fighters will receive a sum equal to 20 percent of the contract value. Depending upon the contract’s specific terms, that would put the posting fee in the $1.2MM – 1.4MM range. Texas’ total outlay is around $7.5MM, hears Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter).

The Red Sox and Padres were reportedly the other finalists in the bidding for Arihara, whose posting window was set to expire tomorrow. San Diego and Boston will now have to turn elsewhere in their hunt for additional rotation depth.

Report: Padres, Rangers, Red Sox Are Finalists For Kohei Arihara

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The 30-day posting window for right-hander Kohei Arihara is set to close on December 26, and Arihara is apparently set to choose between three MLB teams.  According to reports out of Japan, the Padres, Rangers, and Red Sox are the finalists for Arihara’s services.

San Diego was the only team known to have interest in Arihara, though it isn’t any surprise that pitching-needy teams like Texas and Boston are also looking into the 28-year-old.  Interestingly, the Padres, Rangers, and Red Sox have also been linked to Tomoyuki Sugano, another high-profile NPB name on the market.  Sugano’s posting window doesn’t close until January 7, so it’s possible that whichever team lands Arihara could drop out of the race for Sugano.

Comparisons between the two pitchers are inevitable, and Sugano certainly has the more successful track record in Nippon Professional Baseball, as a two-time Sawamura Award winner and one of the better pitchers in the entire league over the last decade.  Sugano is also 31, however, while Arihara doesn’t turn 29 until August.  Arihara would also presumably be available at a lower price tag, which is certainly a factor for any team in this offseason.

Arihara has a 3.74 ERA, 3.23 K/BB rate, and 6.7 K/9 over 836 innings for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.  After winning Pacific League Rookie Of The Year honors in 2015, Arihara had a strong sophomore campaign in 2016 before his production took a dip in 2017-18.  He righted the ship with his finest season, as Arihara has a 2.46 ERA and 8.8 K/9 (both career bests) over 164 1/3 frames for the Fighters in 2019.

As per a scouting report from Will Hoefer of the Sports Info Solutions blog after that big 2019 season, Arihara has a plus changeup, and a fastball that can touch 95mph (though Arihara prefers to mix speeds to keep batters guessing).  Arihara has good command over these two pitches “and a slider that flashes plus,” and Hoefer projects the righty as “a middle of the rotation starter for an MLB team.”

Such an arm would surely be attractive to the three reported finalists.  The Padres are looking for rotation help in the wake of Mike Clevinger’s Tommy John surgery, and the Rangers and Red Sox are both looking for live arms just to fill out a rotation after their pitchers largely struggled in 2020.  In Texas, Arihara would slot in alongside veterans Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles, with newly-acquired Dane Dunning also tabbed for a rotation spot after being acquired in the Lance Lynn trade.  Boston’s pitching staff is even more open, given the uncertainty over how Eduardo Rodriguez will bounce back from the health problems that kept him off the mound in 2020, the ever-present injury concerns for Nathan Eovaldi, and an overall lack of experience among other starting options.

According to the MLB/NPB posting system, Arihara has been free to negotiate with any Major League club over his 30-day period, and once he signs with a team, that team will owe the Fighters a release fee that will vary based on the size of Arihara’s contract.  The Fighters will receive a sum of 20 percent of a contract’s first $25MM, and then 17.5 percent of the next $25MM, and 15 percent of any dollars spent beyond the $50MM threshold.

Red Sox Notes: Semien, Scott, Kahnle, Andriese

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The Red Sox “like” free-agent shortstop Marcus Semien, though they’re not sure how much money it would take to sign him, Peter Gammons of The Athletic tweets. Semien is one of the top shortstops on the open market, but the Red Sox already have their answer there in Xander Bogaerts. They’re also set at third base with Rafael Devers. The club does have questions at second base, but Semien hasn’t lined up there since 2014 as a member of the White Sox. The 30-year-old spent the previous six seasons with the Athletics and excelled at times, especially in 2019. He has a connection to the Red Sox in former college roommate Paul Toboni, the team’s scouting director, Gammons notes.

More out of Boston:

  • The Red Sox lost assistant general manager Zack Scott to the Mets, who hired him as their assistant GM and senior vice president Wednesday. The move came with a condition, though. The Mets will not be permitted to hire anyone else from the Red Sox’s front office either this offseason or next, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. Presumably, New York’s heavy lifting in the front office is done, with Scott joining newly-hired team president Sandy Alderson and GM Jared Porter in Queens. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see Boston guard against other potential front office departures.
  • Tommy Kahnle signed with the Dodgers on a two-year deal this afternoon. The Red Sox, though, were also in on the free agent reliever, reports Robert Murray of Fansided (Twitter link). Boston made a “strong offer” to Kahnle and finished second for his services, adds Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. The right-hander was something of a unique case on the open market; having undergone Tommy John surgery this past August, Kahnle will likely miss all of the 2021 season but is an interesting upside play for the following year. If Boston’s looking for more immediate right-handed bullpen help, there’s no shortage of options available in free agency.
  • The Red Sox did sign one potential bullpen piece today, bringing in Matt Andriese on a one-year deal with a 2022 club option. The veteran has been used almost exclusively as a reliever over the past two seasons, although he’ll be given an opportunity to stake a claim to a rotation job next spring, he told reporters (including Cotillo). Andriese expressed an openness to either role and noted that he expects the Red Sox front office to continue to explore starting pitching additions this offseason. The right-hander broke into the majors as a true swing piece with the Rays, starting 44 of his 72 appearances in Tampa Bay from 2015-17.

Mets Hire Zack Scott As Assistant General Manager

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The Mets have hired Zack Scott as their senior vice president/assistant general manager, Jon Heyman of MLB Network was among those to report. Scott was previously Boston’s assistant GM.

Scott spent the past 17 years in various roles with the Red Sox, which put him on the map for the Mets as they sought a new GM. They ultimately gave that job to Jared Porter, who worked with Scott in Boston’s front office for several years. Scott reportedly was the runner-up to Porter for the position.

“I’ve known Zack for over 15 years, and worked with him daily for 10 of those years,” Porter said of Scott (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). “He’s a strong leader who is a very creative and dynamic thinker. Zack is well rounded in all areas of baseball operations.”

Scott’s addition is the latest high-profile move for a Mets front office that has undergone significant changes since new owner Steve Cohen took over in November. Before hiring Porter and Scott, New York parted with general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and brought back former GM Sandy Alderson as team president.

Red Sox Sign Matt Andriese

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2:07pm: Andriese is guaranteed $1.85MM in 2021 plus at least a $250K buyout on a $3.5MM option for the 2022 season, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. He can earn up to $500K worth of incentives each season if he tops 150 innings, and his 2022 salary would rise by $1MM if he hits that mark in 2021.

1:04pm: The Red Sox have agreed to terms on a contract with right-hander Matt Andriese, per  a club announcement. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client will receive a one-year, Major League deal with a club option for the 2022 season. He’s guaranteed $2.1MM on the contract and could earn up to $7.35MM if the 2022 option is exercised, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links).

Matt Andriese | Angels Baseball/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Network

The signing reunites the 31-year-old righty with Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who played a hand in the Rays’ 2014 acquisition of Andriese in a trade with the Padres. Andriese would go on to make his MLB debut as a Ray in 2015, and in parts of four seasons in Tampa Bay he worked to a 4.30 ERA and 4.13 FIP with 7.8 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 1.27 HR/9 and a 45.6 percent ground-ball rate.

Traded from Tampa Bay to Arizona prior to the 2018 deadline, Andriese has struggled to regain his footing, however. He’d been a swingman with the Rays, working both as a traditional starter and multi-inning reliever, but the D-backs moved him into a full-time relief role with lackluster results. It was a similar story this past season in Anaheim after the Diamondbacks traded Andriese to the Angels.

In 121 2/3 innings since being traded by the Rays, Andriese owns a 5.53 ERA, albeit with a much better 3.95 xFIP. He’s seen his strikeout rate (9.6 K/9) improve considerably in that time, and Andriese still possesses above-average spin on both his four-seamer and his curveball, which may have been appealing for the Red Sox.

Andriese is capable of working out of the ’pen or in the rotation, which figures to be key for the Sox with so many question marks surrounding the health of their starters. Chris Sale is on the mend from Tommy John surgery, while Nathan Eovaldi has a lengthy injury history and Eduardo Rodriguez missed all of 2020 following a bout with Covid-19 and a subsequent myocarditis diagnosis.

Reds Claim Deivy Grullon

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The Reds have claimed catcher Deivy Grullon off outright waivers from the Red Sox, per announcements from both teams. Boston’s 40-man roster is full (following this afternoon’s signing of right-hander Matt Andriese), while Cincinnati’s 40-man roster is now at 33 players.

Grullon, 24, has made extremely brief appearances in the Majors with both the Phillies (2019) and Red Sox (2020) over the past two seasons. In 13 plate appearances, he’s collected two hits, including a double, with a walk and three punchouts. There’s little to glean from such a small sample, but Grullon carries a .283/.354/.496 slash in 457 Triple-A plate appearances and a .264/.302/.494 line in a similar body of work in Double-A.

Baseball America ranked Grullon among the best prospects in the Phillies’ system each year from 2014-20, right up until the Phils designated him for assignment in September and lost him on waivers to the Red Sox. While he never cracked the organization’s top 10 and was generally considered to be in the back half of the club’s top farmhands. Above-average power to his pull side and a strong throwing arm are regarded as his best tools.

Grullon still has minor league options remaining, so he can give the Reds an additional depth option behind veteran Tucker Barnhart (assuming he isn’t traded as part of the team’s efforts to pare back payroll), young Tyler Stephenson and utilityman Kyle Farmer. Cincinnati non-tendered Curt Casali earlier this month.

Red Sox Sign Stephen Gonsalves To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox have re-signed left-hander Stephen Gonsalves to a minor league pact, per Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. The team previously outrighted Gonsalves in late August. His new deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Gonsalves, now 26 years old, became a pro when the Twins used a fourth-round pick on him in 2013. He eventually became a top 100 prospect, though he didn’t see much major league time with the team or make a notable impact in Minnesota. Gonsalves concluded his Twins tenure with 24 2/3 innings of 6.57 ERA/5.72 FIP ball with ghastly strikeout and walk numbers (5.84 K/9, 8.03 BB/9). The 2018 season has been his lone big league experience to this point.

The Twins moved on from Gonsalves going into 2020, when the Mets added him via waivers. Gonsalves didn’t last long with the Mets, though, as the Red Sox picked him up as a waiver claim in July. He’ll continue trying to work his way back to the majors as a member of the Red Sox.

Jason Varitek Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Jason Varitek’s wife revealed on Twitter today that the former catcher tested positive for COVID-19, writes Christopher Smith of Masslive.com.

Varitek is preparing for his first season as a full-time coach on Alex Cora’s robust coaching staff in Boston. Varitek will be the Game Planning Coordinator, presumably drawing on experience from his playing days as a game-managing backstop for the Red Sox. The role figures to be an extension of his previous responsibilities as a special assistant and catching coach, a position he’s held since 2012. He’s been a member of the Boston organization since July 31, 1997 when he arrived with Derek Lowe as part of a deadline deal with the Mariners.

Varitek, of course, is a legend in Boston for his role on the 2004 and 2007 World Series winners. He served as a regular catcher with the Red Sox from 1998 until 2011, finishing his playing career with a .256/.341/.435 line across 1,546 games amassing 5,839 plate appearances. He made three All-Star teams and totaled 24.2 bWAR.

Red Sox Rumors: Outfield, Rotation, Second Base, Barnes

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The Red Sox signed Hunter Renfroe to a one-year deal earlier this week, adding a power bat to pair with Andrew Benintendi and Alex Verdugo in the outfield. However, general manager Brian O’Halloran said in an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM this morning that the addition of Renfroe does not prevent the Sox from further adding to their outfield corps (Twitter link, with audio). “The door is definitely not closed on adding to the mix, and that could certainly be a traditional center fielder that has experience — a guy like Jackie Bradley Jr.” said O’Halloran. “We’ve said that Jackie remains on our radar, and nothing is foreclosed there.”

O’Halloran went on to note that at the moment, the likeliest in-house replacement for Bradley in center field would be Verdugo, not Benintendi. Presumably, the current group would line up with Benintendi in left, Verdugo in center and Renfroe in right. Bringing a center fielder into the mix could push the right-handed-hitting Renfroe into more of a platoon role, which could prove beneficial for Boston. Renfroe is a career .216/.268/.449 hitter against righties but has clobbered lefties at a .258/.339/.573 clip.

Some more notes out of Boston…

  • The rotation remains a priority for the Sox, with Alex Cora telling reporters Thursday that Halloran and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom have been “relentless” in their exploration of the market for starting pitching upgrades (link via Christopher Smith of MassLive.com). It’s perhaps notable that Cora specifically referred to an “intriguing” crop of starters that are available on the international market. The Red Sox have already been connected to Yomiuri Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano, who has been posted for MLB clubs, and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have also posted righty Kohei Arihara. The Sox will hope to have a trio of Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi healthy by this summer, but each has his own slate of health concerns and the organization is thin in terms of upper-level rotation depth.
  • Speaking of the international market for players, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe lists Ha-Seong Kim as a fit for the Red Sox in looking through their need at second base. While the connection to Kim here is framed a bit speculatively, Speier writes that “in all likelihood,” he’s the only free-agent option at the position to whom the Red Sox would be willing to commit more than two years, as his youth and upside fit with the team’s long-term goals. Most other options are likely to be viewed more as stopgaps or bridges to prospect Jeter Downs. Via Speier, Bloom suggested that the Red Sox are open to adding an established, everyday option at second base but aren’t dead-set on doing so. A multi-position piece who could leave some opportunity for in-house options like Christian Arroyo and Michael Chavis to seize regular playing time remains a possibility as well. For what it’s worth, Cora spoke highly of Arroyo in today’s call with reporters, praising his “upside” and noting that he’d previously recruited him to play for team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.
  • While Cora was reluctant to discuss specific roles for players, he called right-hander Matt Barnes someone the team “should consider” for the closer role in 2021 (link via Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald). Cora emphasized that it’s unfair to any player to speak as though he has a defined role now, with months of offseason transactions still to come, but he also praised the manner in which Barnes handled ninth-inning duties in 2020. “If the season starts tomorrow and we have the lead in the ninth inning and we haven’t used Matt in the seventh or eighth, I flip him the ball and I believe he can get the three outs and get us to the next day,” Cora said before going on to call Barnes one of the game’s best relievers over the past few seasons. Some may raise an eyebrow at that description, given Barnes’ 3.83 ERA since 2017. It’s worth noting, though, that of the 232 pitchers with 200-plus innings thrown over the past four seasons, only six have struck out a higher percentage of opposing batters than Barnes (34.1 percent), and only 22 have a lower FIP than Barnes’ 3.30.

Red Sox Sign Hunter Renfroe

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The Red Sox announced they’ve signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year contract (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll be guaranteed a base salary of $3.1MM with an additional $600K available in incentives, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

Renfroe, 29 in January, became a free agent after he was outrighted by the Rays last month. Tampa Bay decided it wasn’t prepared to tender him an arbitration contract, projected in the $4MM range, on the heels of a disastrous 2020 season. The right-handed hitter managed just a .156/.252/.393 slash line with eight homers over 139 plate appearances in his lone season in Tampa Bay. That certainly wasn’t what the Rays had in mind when they acquired Renfroe as part of the deal that sent Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth to the Padres last offseason.

That the Rays were willing to part with talented players to bring Renfroe aboard in the first place, though, speaks to the decent player he’d become in San Diego. Between 2018-19, Renfroe hit .231/.295/.496 with 59 home runs (106 wRC+). That made him slightly better than the average hitter in aggregate, but the shape of that production was more variable. Over the course of his career, Renfroe has mashed (.258/.339/.573) against left-handed pitching, while posting subpar numbers (.216/.268/.449) against righties. That could point to a future as the short side of a platoon, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic) Renfroe could be an everyday option in the grass.

That’s a testament to his defensive aptitude. Despite his size, Renfroe has generally rated as a strong corner outfielder. Over the past three seasons, he’s racked up 23 defensive runs saved between left and right field. Much of that value comes from his plus arm, although Statcast’s range-based metric also pegs Renfroe at five outs above average in that time. That defensive prowess has helped differentiate the former first-rounder from other on-base deficient sluggers around the league. During his final two seasons in San Diego, Renfroe accrued a solid four to five wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

If he can recapture that level of production, Renfroe could find a home in Boston for a few seasons. He remains controllable via arbitration through 2023. In the immediate future, he joins an outfield consisting of Alex Verdugo and Andrew Benintendi (as well as primary designated hitter J.D. Martinez).

Both Verdugo and Benintendi worked in the corner outfield last season in deference to Jackie Bradley Jr. Either could be capable of replacing Bradley, who has since hit free agency, if the Sox see Renfroe as an everyday player. Bloom told reporters (Cotillo link) that Verdugo would open the season in centerfield as things stand but didn’t rule out the possibility of future additions to the outfield.

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