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Orioles Sign Freddy Galvis, Designate Chris Shaw

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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Minor MLB Transactions: 1/13/21

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Let’s catch up on the latest minor moves from around the game …

  • Right-hander Branden Kline announced his retirement Wednesday on Instagram. Kline, a hard-throwing Maryland native, joined the Orioles as a second-round pick in 2012 and ranked as one of their most promising prospects early in his career. But four arm surgeries, including the Tommy John procedure Kline underwent in 2015, slowed him, and his injury issues kept him out of minor league action until 2018. Kline did rebound well enough to appear majors from 2019-20, pitching to a 5.48 ERA with a 20.2 strikeout percentage and a 10.8 walk percentage in 46 innings, but the Orioles outrighted him last fall.
  • If Kline’s retirement came surprisingly early, the opposite might be said of former MLB righty Manny Corpas. Panamanian journalist Aurelio Ortiz conveys Corpas’s decision to hang up his spikes, via Twitter. Though he’s far removed from his time in the majors — he last appeared in 2013 — the 38-year-old has until now continued to ply his trade in the indy ball and international ranks. Corpas wraps up his career with 374 1/3 frames of 4.14 ERA pitching at the game’s highest level.
  • Corner outfielder Dillon Thomas has an agreement with the Mariners, per Robert Murray of Fansided (Twitter link). The minor-league accord includes an invitation to participate in MLB Spring Training. Thomas, 28, is a former fourth-round pick who has only briefly reached the highest level of the minors. In 2019, he turned in a .265/.339/.434 slash over 504 Double-A plate appearances.

Quick Hits: TV Contracts, Sugano, Orioles, Pruitt

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Major League Baseball is bracing for a reduction in rights fees in negotiations with ESPN on a new television contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required). Current discussions surround a seven-year deal that would see ESPN pay approximately $550MM per season in exchange for the right to continue to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and a to-be-determined number of postseason games. As Rosenthal notes, this will be a rather significant reduction from the parties’ last rights contract, which covered eight years at $700MM per season. That’s a disappointing turn for MLB, which had picked up considerable increases in rights fees (relative to previous contracts) from both Turner and FOX in recent years.

More from around the baseball world…

  • In an interview with the Kyodo News and other media outlets, Tomoyuki Sugano and agent Joel Wolfe discussed Sugano’s talks with Major League teams. Wolfe said six clubs made offers, but with just two minutes remaining before the expiration of Sugano’s 30-day posting period, the right-hander decided to remain in Japan and accept a four-year, $40MM pact from the Yomiuri Giants. “There were a lot of discussions, but none were able to convince me 100 percent,” Sugano said. “I can’t say I have no regrets about not going. I have a fire inside me and the best thing is to move forward with high expectations for myself.” Sugano believes he “needed just a little more time” to land a deal with a North American team, but felt he was hampered by both the 30-day window and the slow pace of the overall free agent market.
  • The Orioles are looking to add to their rotation, with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reporting that the team has “Major League offers on the table to multiple starters.” There was a general assumption that Baltimore might stick to just minor league contracts as it continues its rebuild process, yet offering guaranteed deals indicates that the O’s are planning to shop at a slightly higher tier, though these MLB offers are likely still relatively inexpensive. The Orioles’ current list of rotation candidates is short on big league experience, apart from veteran Alex Cobb and (with just over two years of service time) ace John Means.
  • Astros right-hander Austin Pruitt underwent elbow surgery in September and was cleared to begin throwing this week, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to immediately begin that process after subsequently testing positive for COVID-19, although Pruitt said he is suffering only minor symptoms. Pruitt is not expected to be ready to return by Opening Day but he does figure to contribute to Houston’s pitching staff at some point in 2021, Kaplan writes. After being acquired from the Rays last winter, injuries have prevented Pruitt from making his official debut in a Houston uniform.

Latest On Orioles’ Infield Plans

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At the beginning of the offseason, Orioles general manager Mike Elias expressed a desire to add infield depth at different levels of the organization. Some specific players of interest in that pursuit have emerged.

Baltimore has been in touch with representatives for free agent infielder Jonathan Villar, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The switch-hitting speedster spent part of 2018 and all of 2019 with the O’s. Villar hit .270/.338/.438 across 950 plate appearances in that time, popping 32 home runs and stealing 61 bases. Baltimore traded him to the Marlins in a salary-slashing move last offseason. The 29-year-old then slumped through a dreadful 2020 season between Miami and the Blue Jays. That’ll depress the first-time free agent’s market, with Villar almost certainly looking at a one-year deal for less than the $8.2MM arbitration salary the Orioles deemed too pricey last year.

A handful of other infielders are also on Baltimore’s radar. The organization has varying levels of interest in Freddy Galvis, Ehire Adrianza and Daniel Robertson, Kubatko adds. Galvis has spent the past six seasons as a regular shortstop for the Phillies, Padres, Blue Jays and Reds. He’s a durable, reliable defender with a bit of power but significant on-base concerns. Adrianza and Robertson have spent most of their MLB careers in utility roles. All four potential targets are capable of playing shortstop. The Orioles have an obvious hole there after trading José Iglesias to the Angels. Additions at second base, on the other hand, don’t seem to be a target. Kubatko notes the team seems “inclined to use” waiver claim Yolmer Sánchez at the keystone.

None of the players mentioned would come at particularly exorbitant costs. Elias downplayed the likelihood of Baltimore making a multi-year free agent splash at the outset of the offseason, and there’s no reason to believe that has changed. However, the Orioles could look to bring in multiple free agent infielders, per Kubatko- one on a single-year MLB contract and another on a minor-league arrangement.

Coaching Notes: Reds, Orioles

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The Reds have named Bryan Conger their new minor league pitching coordinator, per Bobby Nightengale of the Enquirer (via Twitter). Conger himself announced his hiring on Twitter. Conger spent the last two seasons coaching in the Rangers’ organization. The former head coach at Tarleton State, Conger has a history of data-driven innovation that fits the Reds’ ethos. J.J. Cooper of Baseball America wrote this about Conger when the Rangers initially hired him in January of 2019: “Individualization has been a key part of Conger’s approach. Each pitcher at Tarleton State had an individualized throwing program designed specifically for that pitcher. Conger viewed it as his job to use data as much as possible to help customize everything they did for each pitcher.” As the minor league pitching coordinator, Conger will have a broader scope at his fingertips than back in his Division II days, but the Reds no doubt value his personal approach.

  • Conger joines the Driveline/Reds family that also includes 25-year-old assistant pitching coach Eric Jagers. The former University of Iowa southpaw found his way to Driveline as an amateur pitcher struggling to stay healthy. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome further stymied his pitching career, importuning Jagers to commit early to a career in coaching, writes Bobby Nightengale of The Enquirer. Writes Nightengale, “The result was a meteoric rise through the sport. In three years, Jagers went from an injured college pitcher to the Cincinnati Reds’ Assistant Pitching Coach. At 25 years old, he’s one of the youngest coaches on any Major League staff.” Jagers takes over for Caleb Cotham – just 33-years-old himself – who was named the Phillies’ pitching coach this offseason.
  • In Baltimore, Chris Holt attempted to clarify his role for the upcoming season during a recent Zoom call, notes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Holt has been the Orioles’ Director of Pitching, but he will slide into the dugout this year as manager Brandon Hyde’s pitching coach. He’s keeping his original title, however, which presumably puts an awful lot on Holt’s plate. Holt has been preparing for this role switch for years, with the organization hoping that Holt could form a cohesive organizational philosophy that he himself would usher to the big leagues as some of their developing hurlers made it to the Show. That’s presumably where they are now, with a number of young pitchers like Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin, Bruce Zimmermann, Hunter Harvey, Michael Baumann, Zac Lowther, and Alexander Wells already on the 40-man roster. Top prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall are both approaching the bigs as well, though both are likely to start 2021 in Double-A.

 

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