Troy Tulowitzki Hosts Workout For MLB Clubs
At least 11 teams were on hand to watch Troy Tulowitzki work out earlier today, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. The Giants, Angels, Red Sox, Cubs, Padres, White Sox, Orioles, Yankees, Phillies, Tigers and Pirates were all represented at the showcase, Brown reports (as were other, unnamed teams), with some clubs even sending their top executives to get a first-hand look at the former Rockies star. Angels GM Billy Eppler was in attendance, per Brown, as were new Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi and manager Bruce Bochy.
Since being released by the Blue Jays last week — with two years and $38MM remaining on his contract — Tulowitzki has been separately connected to a handful of teams including the Pirates, the Yankees, the Cubs and the Giants. His agent, Paul Cohen, recently told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that Tulowitzki is open to playing second base or third base with a new team. Brown, notably, writes that the biggest appeal for Tulowitzki will be the promise of regular at-bats at one positions (as opposed to moving between those three spots in a utility role).
It doesn’t seem as though there’s any early favorite to add Tulowitzki, who’ll cost his new team only the Major League minimum of $555K next season. (Toronto is on the hook for the remainder of his salary.) At that price, it’s justifiable for virtually any team to take a look at Tulowitzki and see if he can rediscover some of the form that once made him one of the game’s premier players. While few would expect him to return to his 2013-14 levels of output, that type of performance is hardly necessary from someone whose new team will pay him the league minimum. Tulowitzki’s bat was at least league-average in both 2015 and 2016, so if he’s healthy there’s plenty of reason to believe he can at least be fairly productive at the dish. How he adjusts defensively after undergoing surgery on both heels last year could be a more pressing question — particularly if he’s also adjusting to a new position after spending his entire pro career at shortstop.
Angels To Sign Matt Harvey
7:16pm: It’s a one-year deal for Harvey, Feinsand tweets. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the deal will guarantee Harvey $11MM, and Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that Harvey can earn an additional $3MM worth of incentives. Per Heyman (Twitter link), those incentives are based on games started and kick in at 15 starts before maxing out at 26 starts. Harvey’s deal is still pending a physical.
7:07pm: The Angels have agreed to a deal with free-agent right-hander Matt Harvey, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). Harvey is represented by agent Scott Boras.
Harvey, 29, will be the first rotation addition for an Angels club that entered the winter in significant need of innings. The 2018 Angels were decimated by injuries, as Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani and J.C. Ramirez each underwent Tommy John surgery, while others such as Matt Shoemaker and Nick Tropeano missed substantial time on the disabled list.
Harvey will join lefties Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs as locks to start games for the Halos, but the rest of the rotation is still somewhat unsettled. Tropeano, Jaime Barria, Felix Pena and Dillon Peters are among the other candidates to start for newly hired manager Brad Ausmus, though the names to which the Angels were connected prior to the Harvey agreement perhaps underscore the remaining work that GM Billy Eppler and his staff have ahead.
Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register recently reported that the Angels made a two-year, $28MM offer to J.A. Happ before he returned to the Yankees, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Halos also made a “strong” offer to Patrick Corbin before he signed a whopping $140MM contract with the Nationals. Given those targets and the still-palpable uncertainty in the Angels’ mix of starters, it’s reasonable to expect that they’ll continue pursuing upgrades to the top portion of their starting staff.
The $11MM guarantee for Harvey suggests that the Angels are not only buying Harvey’s turnaround with the Reds in 2018 but anticipating that he can take another step forward. Harvey’s Mets career was torpedoed by Tommy John surgery and the even more ominous thoracic outlet surgery — the lingering effects of which caused the Mets to ultimately cut the cord and flip the right-hander to Cincinnati in exchange for catcher Devin Mesoraco. Harvey gave the Reds 128 innings of 4.50 ERA ball with more encouraging secondary metrics: 7.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 42.6 percent ground-ball rate. ERA alternatives like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all pegged Harvey in the low 4.00s.
With the Reds, Harvey saw his average fastball velocity trend up from 92.6 mph in New York to 94.4 mph, and his swinging-strike rate improved from 8.2 percent to 9.9 percent. Neither of those marks are close to Harvey’s peak levels from his “Dark Knight” days, but the positive trends were encouraging enough for the Angels to bet a fairly notable sum that the beleaguered right-hander can hold up over the course of a full season. If that proves to be the case, Harvey could eventually emerge as a candidate to receive a qualifying offer, creating a bit of additional upside for the Halos.
By adding Harvey on an $11MM salary, the Angels push their projected Opening Day payroll up to about $156.2MM — a sum that falls roughly $10MM shy of the $165.8MM Opening Day payroll the team has averaged over the past three seasons. MLBTR contributor Rob Huff recently took a deep dive into the Halos’ payroll, estimating that the team could have as much as $36MM to spend this winter, assuming ownership approval of a slight uptick in payroll. With only Harvey and Justin Bour (one year, $2.5MM) as new additions to the books thus far, there’s certainly room for at least one more notable rotation addition — be it via the free-agent market or via trade.
The pairing of Harvey and the Angels, in some respects, has been more than a decade in the making. The Halos selected Harvey in the third round of the 2007 draft but were unable to sign him despite offering a bonus widely reported to be greater than $1MM in total. That decision, of course, proved to be a good one for Harvey, who was selected seventh overall out of UNC in 2010 and received a considerably heftier $2.5MM bonus from the Mets. Much has changed in the decade-plus since that offer was made, but Harvey is in many ways an upside play, just as he was as a draft prospect in 2007 — albeit a far more expensive one this time around.
For Harvey, the one-year term gives him a further opportunity to distance himself from his disastrous 2016-17 results and re-enter the open market after spending a year in a relatively pitcher-friendly environment. Though he’s moving from the National League to the American League, he’ll also move from one of the game’s most homer-friendly parks to the much more spacious Angel Stadium, which could help him pare back the 1.48 HR/9 he averaged following his trade to Cincinnati. Harvey’s ultimate contract aligns with the annual value we at MLBTR predicted in our Top 50 free agents list, though our rankings projected a two-year term for the former Mets ace. Meanwhile, Harvey’s landing with the Angels won’t do favors to many who participated in MLBTR’s free-agent prediction contest; only 2.9 percent of respondents correctly pegged Harvey to the Halos.
Free Agent Rumors: Harrison, Kimbrel, Norris, Angels
The Nationals have had a pair of “brief” meetings with Josh Harrison‘s representatives at MSM Sports, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. While there’s mutual interest, Dougherty reports that Harrison’s camp is also looking “closely” at other landing spots as well. Whether that’s due to what the Nats would be willing to offer, how they’d plan to use Harrison or another factor remains to be seen. The Nats have some uncertainty at second base, where Wilmer Difo and Howie Kendrick (who missed most of 2018 due to a ruptured Achilles) currently sit atop the depth chart. Top prospect Carter Kieboom may not be far from the big leagues, but adding a stable short-term option still makes plenty of sense for Washington. The Nats have been connected to Harrison several times over the past couple of weeks, but the versatile 31-year-old surely has other teams interested in his services. He’s been tied to the Yankees and Reds at various points this winter.
A few more notes on the free-agent market…
- Craig Kimbrel‘s lofty asking price — a reported six years and $100MM — and the lack of big-market clubs currently willing to spend on a late-inning reliever could present the right-hander with a difficult market this winter, Buster Olney of ESPN.com writes. Olney likens the situation to last year’s tepid market for J.D. Martinez — a similarly elite player for his position (designated hitter) who lingered on the open market until landing in Boston in late February — a match that long seemed inevitable. The Red Sox may be the best bet for Kimbrel, too, Olney opines, especially given the plethora of more affordable options for smaller and mid-market clubs to pursue even if they do want to bolster the back end of their bullpens.
- The Marlins are one of several teams that has reached out to free-agent right-hander Bud Norris, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM. Miami has thinned out its bullpen this offseason by trading Kyle Barraclough (to Washington), and there’s a definitive lack of experienced arms at the back end of the organization’s bullpen. At present, Drew Steckenrider is the presumptive favorite to close games for skipper Don Mattingly, although the right-hander struggled down the stretch in 2019. Even as the Marlins rebuild the organization, there’s still an obvious opportunity to add some low-cost bullpen options to help take the stress off younger arms and, potentially, to be traded for further minor league talent down the line. The 33-year-old Norris has a 3.91 ERA with 10.6 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 47 saves over the past two seasons — the most recent of which was spent with the Cardinals.
- The Angels‘ best offer to J.A. Happ topped out at two years and a total of $28MM, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). That checks in $6MM shy of the two-year total that Happ received to return to the Yankees, so it’s hardly surprising that Happ opted for the familiarity of an organization he already knew and a greater guarantee. Both offers contained vesting options, Fletcher notes. With Happ, Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi, Charlie Morton and Lance Lynn all off the board, the Halos have begun to see some of their free-agent options dwindle. Dallas Keuchel and Yusei Kikuchi are the top two starters from MLBTR’s Top 50 free agent list remaining, though as can be seen in our Free Agent Tracker, there are plenty of available options beyond that pairing. And, of course, the trade market will offer various options for the Angels, whose rejuvenated farm system should appeal to many clubs with pitching to spare.
Quick Hits: Kikuchi, Grandal, Dodgers, Angels, Mets, Puig
Yusei Kikuchi is on his way to Los Angeles to begin his meetings with prospective MLB teams. The Japanese southpaw told Sports Nippon (hat tip to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times) that he hasn’t received any official offers from Major League teams, and he didn’t give away any hints about preferred decisions — Kikuchi only answered “of course” when asked if he was open to joining any of the 30 big league clubs. The 30-day posting window for teams to negotiate with Kikuchi opened on December 4, and representatives from a wide array of teams are expected to make their pitches to Kikuchi in L.A.
More from around the baseball world….
- The Dodgers are open to re-signing Yasmani Grandal, though on a one-year contract, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports. Los Angeles is hesitant about adding any new catcher on a longer-term deal, as catching prospects Keibert Ruiz and Will D. Smith are both approaching readiness for the majors. To that end, the Dodgers only had interest in Wilson Ramos on a one-year contract, though they have been heavily linked to J.T. Realmuto (who is controlled through 2020) in trade talks. Morosi figures that the Dodgers could consider moving pitching prospect Dustin May and one of Ruiz or Smith in any potential Realmuto trade package, though that wouldn’t be enough to meet the Marlins’ large asking price. “The Dodgers were balking at the inclusion of at least one key player on whom the Marlins were insisting,” Morosi writes.
- After signing Justin Bour, Angels GM Billy Eppler told reporters (including the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher) that the team isn’t yet sure how the first base/DH playing time will be split up between Bour, Shohei Ohtani, and Albert Pujols. Ohtani will miss at least some time at the start of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and will only be a designated hitter when he does return. Pujols, meanwhile, underwent surgeries on both his knee and elbow last year, leaving it unclear how often the veteran slugger will be able to play first base. “It’s difficult to forecast and we can’t accurately forecast plate appearances for either of those guys [Ohtani and Pujols]. What’s important is to approach those organically and see what the medical team says as we enter spring training, and see what we can do,” Eppler said.
- The Mets have A.J. Pollock and “a couple [of] mystery options” on their list of center field targets, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Given how aggressive Brodie Van Wagenen has been in his first six weeks as the Mets’ general manager, any number of free agent or trade possibilities could be on the radar. Pollock would almost surely be one of the pricier options available, as his next contract is likely to cost more by himself than the $49MM in free agent dollars the Mets just spent to land Jeurys Familia and Wilson Ramos.
- Yasiel Puig in a Giants uniform? The idea isn’t as outlandish as it sounds, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that new Giants GM Farhan Zaidi is “is open to dealing with his old team,” the Dodgers. While it’s quite common for a new general manager to explore players from his former job, the arch-rival Giants and Dodgers have only completed three trades with each other since 1953. Perhaps for this reason, there haven’t been any whispers about the Giants targeting Puig, though there is something of a fit on paper. San Francisco is looking for corner outfielders while Los Angeles is looking to clear payroll and perhaps a spot in their outfield for a larger target, and Puig has been specifically mentioned as a potential trade chip.
Heyman’s Latest: Braves, Ender, Swanson, Angels, Phils, Moose
The latest from Jon Heyman of Fancred…
- Along with the previously reported Mike Foltynewicz, the Braves don’t plan to trade center fielder Ender Inciarte or shortstop Dansby Swanson this winter, Heyman hears. Both Inciarte and Swanson have come up in trade rumors this offseason. Moving Inciarte would free up center field for Ronald Acuna Jr., but it would also take a capable starting outfielder away from a team which already needs help in that area as it is. The Braves are better situated in the middle infield, where a Swanson-less version of the club could deploy a combination of Ozzie Albies and Johan Camargo as its starters. Still, there’s reportedly hesitation on the Braves’ part to move Swanson. While Swanson hasn’t lived up to the hype that came with going No. 1 overall in the 2015 draft, he’s still young (24), just one full season into his career and controllable through 2022.
- The Angels were reportedly in the mix for free-agent starters Patrick Corbin and Nathan Eovaldi before they signed elsewhere, and the team hasn’t done anything since then to bolster its rotation. The need for high-end starters remains obvious, then, though the Angels are shopping in the second tier of the market – not at the top – per Heyman. As of now, the Angels are neither willing to go big on a free-agent starter (the priciest one remaining figures to be Dallas Keuchel) nor take a significant chunk out of their farm system to improve their rotation, according to Heyman. General manager Billy Eppler noted the importance of building a strong system earlier in the week, and it doesn’t seem he’s willing to take any steps backward in that department.
- The belief is that the Phillies have “considered” free-agent third baseman Mike Moustakas as a fallback if they’re unable to sign Manny Machado, Heyman writes. Needless to say, Moustakas is a far less exciting option than Machado. It’s also debatable whether Moustakas would serve as a substantial offensive upgrade over incumbent starting third baseman Maikel Franco, judging by the similar production the two posted in 2018. Of course, Moustakas certainly carries the more impressive track record of the two at the plate; further, unlike Franco, Moustakas hasn’t been a defensive liability over the course of his career.
Angels Sign Justin Bour
Dec. 15, 1:11 PM: The club has officially announced the signing.
Dec. 12, 7:37 PM: The Angels have struck a deal with first baseman Justin Bour, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The ACES client will receive a $2.5MM salary, presumably on a one-year deal, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).
Bour is an interesting addition for the Halos, who already have aging first baseman Albert Pujols (a right-handed hitter) and two-way star Shohei Ohtani (a lefty) on hand as DH options. It seems likely that Bour will take a significant share of the time at first base against right-handed pitching, perhaps squeezing Pujols out of regular plate appearances — at least, that is, if and when Ohtani is ready to return to action at the plate.
The 30-year-old Bour is an intriguing power option, having launched at least twenty long balls in three of the past four seasons. He has generally been quite a high-level offensive producer, though his numbers dipped in 2018 and he doesn’t add value with the other aspects of his game. Though Bour has at times graded as an average defender at first, he’s limited to that position defensively and is an abysmal baserunner.
Of course, this move is about the bat — particularly as it plays against right-handed pitching. In 1,248 career plate appearances with the platoon advantage, Bour carries an impressive .271/.355/.500 slash. It’s worth noting, too, that while his power fell off last year, and he struck out more than ever, Bour also boosted his walk rate to a career-best 14.6%.
Bour’s late-season swoon in 2018 surely did not help his cause, as he batted a lowly .224/.296/.347 in 54 plate appearances down the stretch for the Phillies after coming over from the Marlins. Of course, he also ran into a market situation that has generally been quite poor for lumbering sluggers.
There could certainly be some nice value here for the Halos, who needed to find a way to increase their offensive productivity as Pujols continues to trail off at this late stage of his career. The opportunity could be a good one for Bour as well, if he’s able to force his way into a major role with a Los Angeles club that is trying to capitalize on its remaining two years of control over superstar Mike Trout.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/18
Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have signed righty Albert Suarez to an undisclosed deal, the Japan Times reports. The 29-year-old Suarez saw big league action with the Giants from 2016-17, a 115 2/3-inning span in which he pitched to a 4.51 ERA with 6.85 K/9, 2.88 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent groundball rate across 40 appearances (12 starts). The Diamondbacks then took Suarez 14th in last year’s Rule 5 draft, only to outright him in late March. Because Suarez had been outrighted in the past, the Diamondbacks didn’t have to offer him back to the Giants. Suarez ended up spending the year with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate and struggling to a 4.97 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 over 63 1/3 innings.
Earlier updates:
- The Padres have re-signed outfielder Alex Dickerson to a minor league contract, the team announced. The 28-year-old Dickerson accrued 293 plate appearances with the Padres from 2015-16 and hit a solid .257/.331/.448 with 10 home runs and five stolen bases, but injuries have derailed his career since then. He missed all of the 2017 season while dealing with back issues and then sat out last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his left (throwing) elbow in March. A third-round pick of the Pirates in 2011, the Padres originally acquired Dickerson for Miles Mikolas and Jaff Decker in November 2011.
- The Tigers have signed right-handers Chris Smith and Eduardo Paredes to minor league deals, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. The 30-year-old Smith has only picked up five big league innings – with the Blue Jays in 2017. He spent last season with the Nationals’ Triple-A club and notched a 3.93 ERA/3.88 FIP with 10.64 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9 in 55 frames. The Angels outrighted the 23-year-old Paredes last month, ending a run with the organization that began in 2012. Paredes saw some major league action with the Halos from 2017-18 and posted a 5.53 ERA/5.08 FIP with 7.08 K/9 and 2.88 BB/9 over 40 2/3 innings. He was more successful the past two years at Triple-A, where he put up a 3.86 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9 in 79 1/3 frames.
- The Cubs have acquired left-hander Conor Lillis-White from the Angels to complete the teams’ Tommy La Stella trade, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Lillis-White, 26, was a a 32nd-round pick of the Angels in 2015 who divided last season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels, combining for a 3.50 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 in 72 innings.
Angels Targeting Wilson Ramos, Interested In Yasmani Grandal
6:43pm: The Angels have also shown interest in Yasmani Grandal, the top-ranked catcher in free agency, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports. Grandal, 30, spent the previous four seasons in LA as a member of the Dodgers. Because Grandal rejected the Dodgers’ qualifying offer after the season, signing him would cost the Angels their second-highest draft pick and $500K in international bonus pool space in 2019.
6:38pm: The Angels don’t have an established catcher on their roster, but that could change soon. Free agent Wilson Ramos has emerged as their main target on the open market, veteran reporter Jerry Crasnick tweets.
Ramos, whom MLBTR predicts will reel in a three-year, $36MM contract this winter, is coming off his best season since 2016, which ended prematurely when he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. Although Ramos has now torn the ACL twice in that knee during his time in the majors, he has still enjoyed a respectable career.
Last season, which he divided between the Rays and Phillies, the 31-year-old Ramos slashed a terrific .306/.358/.487 (131 wRC+) with 15 home runs in 416 plate appearances. Defensively, Ramos threw out 29 percent of would-be base stealers, just beating out the 28 percent league average, and earned mediocre overall marks from Baseball Prospectus. Ramos has been a plus defender for most of his career, however, in BP’s estimation. Thanks to his all-around track record, Ramos – also a former Twin and National – has drawn reported interest from several other teams this offseason, including the Dodgers, Mets, Brewers, Athletics and his old club in Minnesota.
Ramos would easily be the most proven backstop in Anaheim, which has just two catchers, Kevan Smith and Jose Briceno, on its 40-man roster. The 30-year-old Smith did perform decently with the White Sox last season, but he only has 497 major league PAs to his name. Briceno, 26, was adequate during his debut with the Angels in 2018, though he has totaled a mere 128 major league PAs and hasn’t been much of an offensive threat in the minors. Of course, given that Ramos has combined for just 185 games since 2017 (including 96 behind the plate last year), it’s likely the Angels’ backup catcher – be it Smith or Briceno – would still garner a fair amount of playing time with him on the roster.
Quick Hits: Angels, Giants, Braves
GM Billy Eppler reiterated the Angels’ plan to build upon the growth of their farm system in 2018, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The plan is clear: build a Top-5 system, and then use their financial muscle to supplement (Fangraphs pegs their current farm as the 12th most valuable system in the league). The Angels aren’t out on all trade candidates, however, as Eppler makes an important distinction in stating that they haven’t traded anyone “impactful” from their farm. Deals that don’t require surrendering top prospects remain theoretically in play, though such a strategy likely won’t yield any of the sexier names being bandied about these winter meetings, such as Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer or J.T. Realmuto. Fletcher suggests Sonny Gray, Francisco Cervelli and Julio Teheran as the types of trade targets that might be within their reach. These types of targets are likely better fits for their financial outlook as well.
- Behind the leadership of President of Baseball Ops Farhan Zaidi, the San Francisco Giants will open their playbook to more modern pitching strategies next season, per Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News. A staff comprised of injury-prone veterans like Jeff Samardzija and up-and-comers potentially on innings limits (Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez) may lead manager Bruce Bochy to employ the Opener strategy or, as Zaidi puts it, “different forms of pitching staff constructions” in 2019. Bochy is a noted traditionalist in the dugout, but in lieu of finding five starters capable of pitching 200 innings, he and Zaidi will be forced to adapt by building a pitching strategy tailored to their current personnel. The Giants may still add to their stable of arms, but outfield is far-and-away the winter priority at this time, and they feel pretty good about where how the bullpen is currently constructed. That said, there has been considerably trade interest in Will Smith and Tony Watson, so the near-term outlook could change if a can’t-miss deal presents itself. Thus far, Zaidi is adhering to a patient approach in his first winter at the helm, which makes sense given the financial and talent makeup of the San Francisco roster.
- The Braves lost out to division rival Philadelphia in the bidding for Andrew McCutchen, though Atlanta was never a serious contender once the price rose to include a third season, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. GM Alex Anthopoulos is perfectly content to wait until the new year before making any more additions, should that be what the market dictates. In the case of McCutchen, for instance, the Braves viewed the former Pirates outfielder as comparable to Carlos Gonzalez or Nick Markakis – corner bats that add value when secured on a shorter-term deal. They’ve vetted most outfielders available, and a bigger name like Michael Brantley is still in play for Atlanta, but the Braves aren’t eager to overpay for expediency at this stage of the winter. This mirrors the situation they faced earlier in the winter when they looked into possibly acquiring J.T. Realmuto. After feeling like the Marlins wouldn’t deal within the division, they moved on to free agent target Brian McCann. While the intra-division embargo seems to have passed, the Braves will not be reengaging the Marlins, as they secured a catching tandem they like, in McCann and Tyler Flowers, at a price they like.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/11/18
The latest minor moves from around the league …
- IF/OF Danny Santana, formerly of the Twins and Braves, has signed a minor league pact with Texas, per Jon Heyman of Fancred on Twitter. Santana, 28, had a brilliant debut season in 2014 with Minnesota, albeit one with an obviously unsustainable .405 BABIP. He’s been mostly awful since, posting below-replacement-level in figures in three of the last four seasons. Santana spent most of last season with Triple-A Gwinnett, slashing .264/.294/.497 in 342 plate appearances.
- The Angels have signed righty Forrest Snow, outfielder Cesar Puello, infielder Wilfredo Tovar, and reliever Matt Ramsey to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training, per MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. Snow, 29, has spent nine full seasons in the minors without an MLB appearance; in 2018, he struggled with the gopher ball (1.68 HR/9) in 20 starts for Tampa’s AAA affiliate. Puello, 27, has some previous MLB experience with the Angels and Rays and has posted a number of impressive slash lines in the high minors. Last year, he hit .317/.426/.454 in semi-regular time with Triple-A Reno in the Arizona system. Tovar, 27, is a noted defensive wizard at shortstop but offers little at the plate. In his fourth appearance at the AAA level in 2018, he slashed .297/.342/.386 in 389 PA. Ramsey, 29, posted an excellent 10.34 K/9 over 3.06 BB/9 in the hitter-friendly PCL last year, and could be an intriguing early-inning pen option for the Halos next season.
- The KBO’s NC Dinos have signed former big-leaguer Christian Bethancourt to a one-year deal for $1MM, per the Yonhap News Agency. Bethancourt, 27, was acquired by San Diego in 2016 in hopes of becoming a two-way contributor, but was mostly abysmal on both fronts. The C/IF/OF/P posted an uninspiring 113 wRC+ in the rarefied air of AAA Colorado Springs last season, with forays to the mound mostly suspended for the time being.
- The Yonhap News Agency also reports that the SK Wyverns of the KBO have re-signed former Pirate reliever Angel Sanchez to a 1-year, $1.2MM deal. Sanchez, 29, last appeared for the Pirates in 2017, following a mostly-solid career in the minors.