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AL Notes: White Sox, Rodón, Twins, Polanco, Arraez, Royals, Pérez

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Yesterday, it was somewhat surprising to see the White Sox come to terms with Carlos Rodón – their No. 3 overall pick turned non-tender. It’s boilerplate for teams to suggest “staying in touch” with their non-tenders, but it’s not often that someone of Rodón’s draft pedigree actually re-signs, especially for a team as all-in on 2021 as the White Sox. In most cases, the player is better off getting a fresh look with a different organization, but with new manager Tony La Russa bringing Ethan Katz to provide a fresh voice as the pitching coach, Rodón gets much of that same benefit without the hassle of a move, writes the Athletic’s James Fegan. Given the stakes of the season at hand, it’s safe to assume the White Sox think Rodón can hang in the rotation, giving him the inside track on landing the fifth starter spot behind Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Dallas Keuchel, and Dylan Cease. Let’s circle up here in the AL Central…

  • Before signing perennial Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons, the Twins consulted with Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez about the move, tweets the Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman. Since both Polanco and Arraez stand to be displaced from their expected roles, the Twins were wise to secure their buy-in. Still, it’s a courtesy they didn’t have to observe. Polanco has been the team’s regular shortstop for most of the past four seasons. As for Arraez, projection systems from THE BAT X to Steamer to ZiPS forecast Arraez to lead the Majors in batting average, as pointed out on the Athletic’s Rates and Barrels podcast. While it’s not the 1990’s anymore, it’s still surprising to push a potential batting champ out of a regular role. That said, we tend to overrate the starting lineup on opening day, and underrate the impact and opportunity that exists for players in “bench” roles.
  • Now that J.T. Realmuto, James McCann, and (unofficially) Yadier Molina are all off the market, Salvador Pérez can begin to imagine his own free agency a year from now. The Kansas City staple hasn’t spoken with the Royals about an extension, though he’s on the record saying he’d like to retire a Royal, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star. Pérez fell off the map while missing the 2019 season, but he bounced back in a big way during the shortened 2020 season by slashing .333/.353/.633 over 156 plate appearances. It’s easy to imagine the Royals quietly extending their MVP from the 2015 World Series, but if he has anywhere near as productive a season this year as last, there may be legitimate competition for his services. Lest we forget exactly how highly-regarded Pérez was as the game manager of the Royals’ competitive run from 2013 to 2017, he made six All-Star games, won three Silver Sluggers and five Gold Glove Awards.  He’ll have wrapped his age-31 season when he hits free agency after 2021.

Quick Hits: Indians, Payroll, Patton, Nationals, Catchers

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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.

Latest On Yasiel Puig And The Outfield Market

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JANUARY 24: Jon Heyman of MLB Network casts doubt on the Yankees as a potential fit for Puig, tweeting that there’s “no evidence” New York has interest in adding another right-handed hitting outfielder.

JANUARY 23: The Marlins have been tied to a number of outfielders lately, including Anthony Santander of the Orioles and Andrew Benintendi of the Red Sox. Limited financial resources will curb their willingness to bid on free agent options like Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario, tweets Jon Heyman. They do, however, have some prospect capital that they’re willing to spend on the right player. At present, Corey Dickerson returns to left, Starling Marte to center, and Garrett Cooper to right, with Brian Anderson occasionally shifting from third base to right, and Lewis Brinson, Harold Ramirez, and Magneuris Sierra filling as speed and defensive replacements. If the Marlins go the free agent route, however, they may explore a union with Yasiel Puig. Not having played in the Majors since 2019, Puig is a candidate to sign a value or incentive-laden deal, should if he land a contract this winter.

The Yankees and Royals are also possible destinations for Puig, per Jim Bowden of MLB Network (via Twitter). For the Royals’ part, they have been looking for another bat to join a largely-unproven group in the grass made up of Franchy Cordero, Michael A. Taylor, and a number of options who could end up elsewhere on the diamond, such as Whit Merrifield, Ryan McBroom, Hunter Dozier, and likely DH Jorge Soler. In looking to add to that group, they’ve generally zeroed in on left-handed hitters. Even with the group they have in-house, the Royals could possibly still add a couple of outfielders, if the price were right.

As for the Yankees, they would be a surprising destination for Puig, if there were no corresponding moves. They are, after all, pretty well-stocked in the outfield with Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier, Aaron Judge, and Mike Tauchman on the roster, Greg Allen on the 40-man roster, and Brett Gardner hanging out in free agency. Puig’s colorful personality would also be an interesting fit on the Yankees, who for literal and metaphorical reasons are generally regarded as a clean-cut organization. Still, that doesn’t preclude Puig from heading to the Bronx. After all, it’s not as if an interesting character or two haven’t donned pinstripes in the past.

Royals Announce 2021 Coaching Staff

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The Royals have announced their coaching staff under manager Mike Matheny for 2021, Anne Rogers of MLB.com relays. It includes a couple changes from last year’s edition.

Rusty Kuntz, who opted out of the 2020 campaign over COVID-19 concerns, will return to his prior role as first base coach next season. The 65-year-old has held multiple positions with the organization since 2008. Damon Hollins took over as first base coach in his absence last year, but he’ll go back to being a minor league instructor.

Kansas City has also added Tony Pena Jr. to its staff, and he’ll work with the Royals’ infielders, according to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star. Pena Jr. was a shortstop with the Royals from 2007-09. He’s also the son of former KC manager Tony Pena and the brother of ex-Royals catcher Francisco Pena.

Rafael Belliard worked as the Royals’ infield coach in 2020, but he’ll return to his previous job as a special assistant to general manager Dayton Moore.

Royals Sign Wade Davis To Minor League Deal

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The Royals announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Wade Davis to a minor league contract. Davis, a client of Jet Sports, will presumably be invited to Major League Spring Training and compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster..

This marks the second straight year in which Kansas City has brought back one of its former All-Star closers on a minor league arrangement. The Royals inked Greg Holland to a similar contract a year ago and reaped considerable benefit when Holland not only turned in a rebound campaign but also agreed to return in 2021 on an affordable one-year deal.

Interestingly, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis reports (via Twitter) that Davis signed the exact same contract as Holland did a year ago. Davis will earn a $1.25MM salary if he makes the big league roster and can secure an additional $1.125MM via incentives. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Davis can also opt out of the contract late in Spring Training if he does not make Kansas City’s Opening Day roster.

The Royals traded Davis to the Cubs in exchange for Jorge Soler prior to the 2017 season — a deal that has paid off for GM Dayton Moore and his staff in the long run. Soler led the league in home runs in 2019 and has emerged as a key piece in the Royals’ lineup, though he’s currently controlled for just one more season. Still, the Royals will now have the potential to benefit from both players in that one-for-one swap just four years after making the deal.

Davis was quite good in what proved to be a one-year stop with the Cubs, but things went south for him not long after going to the Rockies on a three-year deal with a record-setting (for a reliever) $17.33MM annual salary. Davis racked up 43 saves in the first year of the deal but did so with a rather pedestrian 4.13 ERA. A few particularly ugly blown saves were the culprit in that lackluster mark, however, and Davis’ strikeout and walk numbers remained strong.

In the second and third years of the deal, though, the wheels completely came off, as Davis was blown up for a 9.77 ERA and a 5.37 SIERA in 47 innings. At his best with the Royals, Davis was striking out 39 percent of the hitters he faced and walking just eight percent of them. In 2019-20, he punched out 19.5 percent of opponents, walked 13.9 percent of them and surrendered 10 home runs in those 47 frames. Davis was hampered by a shoulder strain in 2020, which may have contributed to a greatly diminished 91.7 mph average velocity on his fastball.

There’s little harm for the Royals in seeing if they can catch lightning in a bottle with Davis as they did last winter with Holland and, even more so, Trevor Rosenthal. He’ll vie for a spot in a bullpen that is set to lose some notable veterans but has a handful of intriguing, young, hard throwers hoping to establish themselves in 2021.

Quick Hits: Martín Pérez, Coliseum

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There was some heavy lifting done in the baseball world yesterday: it was arbitration filing day, as well as the opening of the international signing period. Today is a recovery day. Here’s the latest…

  • Before agreeing to terms with the Red Sox, southpaw Martín Pérez had no shortage of suitors. The Astros, Padres, Royals, White Sox, and Rays all showed interest in Pérez, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). The Padres and White Sox have generally set their sights a touch higher than Pérez, but there’s clearly some trust around the league in Perez’s ability to contribute to a playoff-caliber pitching staff.
  • The Oakland A’s have long faced questions about their ability to stay in Oakland because of stadium concerns. The Coliseum sits on land with split ownership between the A’s and the city of Oakland. The organization continues to look for a site to build a new stadium, but the city of Oakland has also received a number of offers for their portion of the Coliseum land. One of those offers comes from former Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart, per Susan Slusser and Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Stewart, an Oakland native, submitted a $115MM bid with plans to revitalize the area, whether or not the A’s continue to play there. The city of Oakland is reviewing all offers.

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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Quick Hits: Expansion, Braves, Left Field, Royals, Moore

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In the past, expansion has helped Major League Baseball dig out from financial peril and inject new money into the industry, but despite the significant financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, expansion is not on the table, writes the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. News spread of the commissioner’s pessimistic view on expansion when the Phillies signed Dave Dombrowski to run their baseball ops department. Dombrowski had been working with the Nashville group for potential expansion before commissioner Rob Manfred informed them of a new timeline. Expansion can solve short-term financial problems because of the significant franchise fees paid by incoming franchises. In this case, those fees could be $1 billion or more. For the owners, however, the short-term influx of money comes with the long-term losses that come with spreading the overall revenue pie to another two teams. Commissioner Manfred also wants to see stadium issues resolved in Oakland and Tampa Bay before beginning the expansion process.

  • The Braves are looking for a left fielder, per MLB Insider Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Presumably, Atlanta would target a short-term investment rather than making a splashier move like, say, bringing back Marcell Ozuna. Ronald Acuna Jr., Ender Inciarte, and Cristian Pache make for an elite defensive alignment, and prospect Drew Waters is on his way. Nick Markakis could certainly find his way back if he wants to keep playing. If their aim is to to find a right-handed bat to spell Inciarte against southpaws, Adam Duvall could return, or Kevin Pillar, Albert Almora Jr. and Cameron Maybin are free agents with experience playing for a contender. If the Braves are looking for a more regular producer in order to give Pache and/or Waters more development time, Joc Pederson could fill the power void left by Ozuna’s departure. Speculatively speaking, Ryan Braun would make for an interesting fit if he decides to play outside Milwaukee. Not to be forgotten, Austin Riley has played some outfield during his short Major League career, but Atlanta expects Riley to lay claim to the hot corner in 2021. That would change if they were to add DJ LeMahieu, but despite their reported interest, such a union seems like a long shot.
  • Royals Senior VP of Baseball Ops and General Manager Dayton Moore will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall Of Fame later in January, per Alex Lewis of the Athletic (via Twitter). Moore is entering his 15th season in 2021 as the GM of the Royals. He was named Executive of the Year by MLB in both 2014 and 2015 for his role as the architect of back-to-back pennant-winning clubs in Kansas City. Those playoff teams are the only Royals teams to make the playoffs since they won the World Series in 1985. He was inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame in 2014.

Quick Hits: Nationals, Schwarber, Martinez, Royals, Dozier, Red Sox, Prospects, Blalock, Yorke

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Kyle Schwarber is now a member of the Washington Nationals, in no small part because of Nats manager Dave Martinez, per ESPN. Schwarber, of course, won a World Series with Martinez as his bench coach in Chicago. In fact, Martinez was the Cubs bench coach for the first three years of Schwarber’s career. Said Schwarber, per ESPN, “I love [Martinez] to death. I’m so excited to play for this guy. He only wants to win.” Washington hopes Martinez can help Schwarber recapture some of the magic that made him a star in Chicago. Schwarber will also reunite with Starlin Castro, with whom he played as a rookie on the 2015 Cubs. Elsewhere…

  • Royals Assistant General Managers Scott Sharp and Jin Wong remain active in reaching out to agents about potential free agents, writes MLB.com’s Jason Beck. The Royals have been one of the more proactive teams in the Majors so far this winter, coming to terms with Mike Minor, Greg Holland, Michael A. Taylor, and Carlos Santana to Major League deals, all before the new year. The Royals are still potentially on the lookout for a left-handed bat, notes Beck. With just about $87MM in payroll commitments, the Royals have just a couple million before matching last year’s payroll. It wasn’t long ago, however, that Kansas City ran up payrolls over the century mark, so it’s possible they could extend yet another Major League contract, should the right deal fall their way.
  • Ryan O’Hearn, Franchy Cordero, and Nicky Lopez are the only pure left-handed bats on the roster, and only the latter has a guaranteed spot as a regular player. Adalberto Mondesi and Carlos Santana are switch-hitters who will be in the lineup every day, but both have traditionally fared better hitting from the right side. In terms of their targets, Beck also notes that the Royals are growing comfortable with Hunter Dozier as the regular third baseman. All that in mind, a lefty corner outfielder would fit nicely onto the roster. Should they not find a bat at an appropriate price point, however, the Royals are believers in the long-term ability of Khalil Lee, who is a candidate for playing time in 2021.
  • Red Sox prospect Bradley Blalock was a 32nd round draft choice in 2019, but after adding 10 pounds and roughly six miles per hour to his fastball, the 20-year-old right-hander will enter 2021 as a player to watch, per Alex Speier of Baseball America. Blalock is more-or-less just beginning his professional career, having signed out of high school for $250K in July of 2019. The Georgia native made just four appearances in rookie ball, giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four over 6 2/3 innings. Elsewhere in the system, the prospect gurus at MLB.com name Nick Yorke as a player who could rise quickly through Boston’s system, writing, “The California prep product has the sweet right-handed swing, bat speed, pitch recognition and discipline to potentially become a .300 hitter with 20 homers per season.” Yorke was the No. 17 overall selection of the 2020 draft.

 

Royals Sign Ervin Santana To Minor League Deal

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11:10am: Santana’s deal comes with a $1.5MM base if he makes the big league roster, tweets Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star. He can also earn an additional $1.75MM via incentives. Santana can ask for his release May 15 if he’s not on the Royals’ 40-man roster, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

10:52am: The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve signed old friend Ervin Santana to a minor league contract. The veteran right-hander will presumably head to Major League Spring Training and vie for a roster spot.

Santana, 38, didn’t sign with a team for the 2020 season and hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since an early-2019 run with the White Sox failed to pan out. He starred for the Royals back 2013 — the start of a five-year run that marked the most consistently productive stretch of the two-time All-Star’s career. Santana racked up 211 innings of 3.24 ERA/3.93 FIP ball with Kansas City that year but found a harsh market in free agency after rejecting a qualifying offer and eyeing too large a contract early in the winter.

He eventually opted to take a one-year deal with the Braves — one that continues to benefit Atlanta to this day — before returning to the market in the 2014-15 offseason and cashing in on a four-year, $55MM contract with the Twins. Santana was the Twins’ most consistent pitcher for much of that deal, but the wheels came off in year four after he underwent surgery to repair a tendon in the middle finger on his right hand. After pitching to a 3.47 ERA in his first 500 innings in Minnesota, Santana was clobbered for an 8.03 ERA in just 24 2/3 innings in the final year of the deal. He signed with the ChiSox that offseason but was tagged for 14 runs in 13 1/3 innings.

It’s been quite some time since Santana was a productive big league starter now, but he’ll head back to the Royals organization in search of a job somewhere on a staff that looks heavily reliant on young, still-developing arms. Kansas City’s rotation has veterans Mike Minor and Danny Duffy locked into spots, and Rule 5 gem Brad Keller is set to open a fourth year in the rotation as well.

Jakob Junis gives the club an inconsistent but at times solid option, and Kansas City has a bevy of upper-level pitching prospects in the form of Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch and Jackson Kowar. Both Singer and Bubic made their MLB debuts in 2020, but neither is exactly a lock to hold down a spot all year — particularly given the difficulties of managing innings workloads in the wake of the shortened 2020 schedule.

The 38-year-old Santana will give the Royals a veteran depth option to compete for either a rotation spot or a long-relief job. He’s been pitching in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, logging a 2.61 ERA and a 25-to-11 K/BB ratio in 20 2/3 innings to date.

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