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Cardinals, Oscar Hernandez Agree To Minors Deal

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The Cardinals have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Oscar Hernandez, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The former D-backs and Red Sox backstop will head to Major League camp on a non-roster invite.

Hernandez, 26, was the top pick in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, when the D-backs selected him out of the Rays organization. Touted for his defensive skills behind the dish, Hernandez looked decidedly overmatched in two seasons with Arizona, hitting a combined .167/.239/.262 in a tiny sample of 47 plate appearances. He hasn’t appeared in a big league game since 2016, although he was on the Red Sox’ Major League roster briefly this past season. However, Hernandez was called up as a depth option and designated for assignment without ever appearing in a game for Boston.

In parts of 10 minor league seasons, Hernandez is a .246/.323/.417 hitter — although he’s managed just a .210/.276/.336 output at the Triple-A level. He’s thrown out 42 percent of runners who attempt to steal against him in the minors, though (plus one of two in the Majors), and he routinely draws strong framing marks in the minors.

Matt Wieters was the primary backup to ironman Yadier Molina in 2019 but is currently a free agent. Well-regarded prospect Andrew Knizner is the only other catcher on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster, so Hernandez will add a glove-first depth option.

Latest On Marcell Ozuna

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It seems that the situation of free agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna is beginning to achieve some clarity. The Reds, Cardinals, and Rangers are not only still interested but “appear to be the frontrunners” for his services, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

While some market segments have already been deprived of their top options, the best right-handed-hitting corner outfielders remain available. Indeed, the group only expanded at the non-tender deadline, when Domingo Santana and Steven Souza were added to a slate that already included Yasiel Puig, Nicholas Castellanos, and Marcell Ozuna. Somewhat older veterans Cameron Maybin and Hunter Pence are also available for teams interested in righty bats.

The Brewers have inked Avisail Garcia to a $20MM contract, which set down a fairly strong market marker. But the demand situation isn’t quite as strong as might’ve been hoped for by this group. It has remained difficult to ascertain whether there’ll be a major bidding push, even for a group that features youth and established hitting ability.

The trio that Feinsand names on Ozuna has been tied to him previously, so in that sense it’s no surprise. But it’s interesting to see those teams involved at this stage. The Cards have laid low this winter but have said all along they won’t rule out a move to retain Ozuna. The Rangers have funds available to bolster their outfield unit and add some pop to the lineup after missing on Anthony Rendon.

Most interesting of all is the Reds. The Cincinnati organization reportedly agreed to terms with left-handed-hitting center fielder Shogo Akiyama recently, though that’s not yet official. If that contract goes through, it’d give them a ton of options in finishing off their roster. Adding Akiyama already sets the stage for at least a few minor moves for the Reds. Going on to pick up Ozuna or another corner piece would have even more significant implications for the remainder of the team’s winter — and the rest of the market.

Outfield Rumors: Puig, ChiSox, Castellanos, Giants, Cardinals

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The White Sox were known to have continued interest in Nicholas Castellanos, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) adds that Chicago has also been in talks with free agent outfielder Yasiel Puig.  Whether the Sox ink either of these two players could now be in doubt, however, in the wake of yesterday’s reported agreement with Edwin Encarnacion.  At the very least, Castellanos might be out of consideration since there isn’t be an obvious spot for him to play every day, with Encarnacion and Jose Abreu handling first base/DH duties, Eloy Jimenez in left field, and Nomar Mazara playing at least a part-time role in right field.

It isn’t entirely out of the question that the White Sox could try to flip Mazara to make room for Castellanos, though the likeliest option is that Chicago will see if Mazara can still emerge as a reliable everyday player, or at least try to find a right-handed hitting platoon partner for him.  Puig could fit this description, and could potentially still be a target for the Sox on a one-year deal.  MLBTR projected such a one-year pact for Puig, and given the lack of news we’ve heard about Puig’s market this offseason, he could be more open to a platoon situation (that could very well evolve into more regular duty if Mazara struggles again).  The Marlins are the only team known to have shown interest in Puig this winter.

Some more rumblings on the outfield market…

  • While the Giants have been framed as a prime player in the Castellanos market, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the team’s portrayal as any sort of frontrunner to win the bidding is “overblown.” The organization does like Castellanos and is more willing to add a youthful free agent on a multi-year deal (Castellanos is still just 27) than a veteran entering his 30s. However, Pavlovic also questions whether the Giants would be willing to put forth a four- or five-year offer for any free agent while in the midst of an increasingly obvious rebuilding effort.
  • The Cardinals remain in the market for an outfielder, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explored in his holiday chat with readers this week. Corey Dickerson is at least under consideration, and the team hasn’t bowed out of the Marcell Ozuna bidding yet, either. The Cards’ preference is to have bring in an everyday outfielder as opposed to a platoon bat like Joc Pederson, whom the Dodgers have discussed in trades for a second straight offseason.

NL Notes: Cervelli, Carlson, Garcia, Musgrove

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The latest from the National League…

  • The Marlins are trying to work out a contract with catcher Francisco Cervelli, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Injuries have plagued Cervelli over the last several seasons, most notably (and seriously) a series of concussions.  Cervelli was limited to only 48 games for the Pirates and Braves in 2019 due to concussion symptoms, yet it was as recently as 2018 that Cervelli hit .259/.378/.431 with 12 homers over 404 plate appearances for Pittsburgh.  The 33-year-old backstop (notably, a former Yankees teammate of Marlins CEO Derek Jeter) would act as a veteran backup to Jorge Alfaro in Miami.
  • Saturday’s trade between the Cardinals and Rangers that sent Adolis Garcia to Texas had roots at the Winter Meetings, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes, as the Cards were known to be shopping their surplus of right-handed hitting outfielders.  With this “head start on talks” about Garcia, the Cardinals expected Texas or another club to step up with a suitable trade offer when Garcia was designated for assignment earlier this week.  Moving Garcia eliminated one name from a still-crowded Cardinals outfield, so more moves could still be in the offing for St. Louis.  One player who doesn’t seem likely to be moved is top prospect Dylan Carlson, as the Cardinals unsurprisingly “have had near zero interest in including” Carlson in any trade talks this winter.
  • Though the demand for pitching continues to increase and the Pirates could be entering into something of a rebuild period under new GM Ben Cherington, right-hander Joe Musgrove might not be a trade candidate, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  “I seriously doubt [the Pirates] would talk about him.  They may say they’d talk about him, but they’re not going to trade him,” a official on a rival team told Olney.  Musgrove just turned 27 and is arbitration-eligible for only the first time, projected by MLBTR to earn $3.4MM.  That’s a more than affordable price for the low-payroll Bucs, considering that Musgrove posted a 4.44 ERA, 4.03 K/BB rate, and 8.3 K/9 over 170 1/3 innings last season, and generated 5.5 fWAR in 2018-19.  The Blue Jays are one team known to have discussed Musgrove in trade talks this winter, though those discussions reportedly amounted to little.

Rangers Acquire Adolis Garcia

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The Rangers have acquired outfielder Adolis García from the Cardinals, per an official team release. Texas will send cash considerations back the other way in the deal. Right-hander Jimmy Herget was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the Rangers’ 40-man roster.

The Cardinals designated García for assignment on Wednesday to make room for Kwang-Hyun Kim. His Cardinals stint ends after making just 17 plate appearance with the Major League club. The 26-year-old outfielder signed a free agent prior to 2017, having played professionally in Cuba and Japan since 2011.

García spent the entire 2019 season at Triple-A, posting a .253/.301/.517 batting line with 32 home runs. Skeptics would advise to take those numbers with a grain of salt, given the hitter-friendly environment in the Pacific Coast League (not to mention the “juiced” ball that was introduced to the Triple-A ranks in 2019). He’s been strikeout-prone throughout his professional career, but his impactful power, above-average speed and strong throwing arm mean that he could have a chance to get big-league playing time as a reserve outfielder. And with Delino Deshields Jr. out of the mix, García has a path to the Majors with Texas, though future additions may impede that path.

Herget, meanwhile, lasted just about three weeks on the Rangers’ 40-man, having been claimed on December 2 this winter. The 26-year-old righty made his Major League debut last year with the Reds after posting solid numbers in Triple-A, where he struck out 68 batters and posted a 2.91 ERA in 58 2/3 innings. The Rangers will have a week to make a decision on Herget, who can be traded, released, or outrighted to the minors.

Rangers Have Interest In Nolan Arenado

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5:15PM: The Rangers’ calls about Arenado are more “due diligence” for now, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports (Twitter link), though Texas is legitimately interested in the third baseman.

4:21PM: The Rangers missed out on Anthony Rendon, and reportedly have stepped back from the race to sign Josh Donaldson.  However, Texas is still on the lookout for a big-ticket addition at third base, and the club has been in talks with the Rockies about Nolan Arenado, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required).

Texas isn’t the only interested party, as the Rockies have spoken to multiple teams about Arenado’s services.  While the Cardinals and Dodgers aren’t specifically cited as two of those other clubs, Rosenthal notes that St. Louis and Los Angeles each “have a longstanding interest in Arenado,” though the Dodgers are doubtful that Arenado would be sent to one of Colorado’s division rivals.

Rockies GM Jeff Bridich has unofficially confirmed that he has been listening to offers for Arenado, though of course, that is markedly different from actively exploring trades of the franchise player.  As Rosenthal observes, “many in the industry are skeptical it [an Arenado trade] will happen this offseason” due to several complicating elements — Arenado has a full no-trade clause, he is owed $234MM over through the 2026 season, and Arenado has the right to opt out of that deal following the 2021 campaign.

It doesn’t make for a long list of teams that could potentially fit as a trade partner, especially since “Arenado effectively controls the process” via his no-trade clause.  It can’t hurt for Bridich to listen to offers for the sake of due diligence, especially since the third base market will shift again once Donaldson comes off the board.

In the Rangers’ case, much of their offseason work has been focused on upgrading their pitching staff, adding Corey Kluber, Kyle Gibson, and Jordan Lyles to join incumbents Mike Minor and Lance Lynn.  More work still needs to be done on the position player side, however, and Texas has created some room by moving Nomar Mazara and Delino DeShields from its crowded outfield mix.  If the Rangers are indeed no longer pursuing Donaldson, it stands to reason that they could be looking for a lower-key solution at third base (an in-house option like Nick Solak or a stopgap free agent) and instead be looking to spend on another outfield bat.  Nicholas Castellanos is reportedly been on the Rangers’ list of targets, and the team also had interest in Marcell Ozuna earlier in the offseason.

Cardinals Designate Adolis Garcia For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve designated outfielder Adolis Garcia for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to lefty Kwang-Hyun Kim, whose two-year contract with the club is now official.

Garcia, 27 in March, appeared in 21 games with the Cards in 2018 but went just 2-for-17 in a tiny sample of work at the plate. Garcia signed for a $2.5MM bonus with the Cards in 2017 after leaving his native Cuba and was ranked ninth among St. Louis farmhands by Baseball America that winter. However, his blend of raw power, speed and arm strength has yet to generate the offensive results the Cardinals had hoped in the upper minors.

This past season, Garcia spent the entire year with Triple-A Memphis, where he batted .253/.301/.517 with 32 home runs, 22 doubles, six triples and 14 steals. While the counting numbers may look solid, the juiced ball in Triple-A led to a leaguewide home run spike that makes Garcia’s power output worth raising an eyebrow toward. He hit 10 fewer home runs in 100 fewer plate appearances a year prior. Beyond that, Garcia was highly inefficient in terms of stealing bases (14-for-24), and he struck out in 30.1 percent of his plate appearances while walking at a lowly 4.2 percent clip.

It seems clear that there’s some raw and perhaps yet-untapped ability in Garcia, who does have minor league options remaining. As such, he could hold appeal to another club in a minor trade or via a waiver claim if he reaches that point. The Cardinals have a week to deal Garcia or run him through waivers in hopes that he’ll clear and be able to continue on as a depth piece in the minors.

Even with Garcia subtracted from the outfield mix, the Cardinals still have a deep reservoir of options from which to draw — although much of the group is largely untested in the Majors. Dexter Fowler, Harrison Bader, Tyler O’Neill and Randy Arozarena are all options in 2020, as are more versatile infielder/outfielder types Yairo Munoz and Tommy Edman. The Cards also have a pair of well-regarded prospects on the cusp of readiness for a prolonged look: Lane Thomas and Dylan Carlson.

That said, adding a veteran to supplement that unproven mix still seems plausible. The Cardinals stand to potentially lose Marcell Ozuna to free agency, and their aggression in replacing him will speak volumes about the level of confidence they have in that internal slate of options.

Cardinals Sign Kwang-hyun Kim

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3:57pm: The Cards have introduced Kim. It’s a two-year, $8MM deal, Goold tweets. Kim can also achieve up to $1.5MM in incentives in each year of the contract, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The deal includes protection against a minor-league demotion, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap (via Twitter).

1:28pm: The Cardinals have struck a deal with Korean pitcher Kwang-hyun Kim, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). Contract details aren’t yet known, but a formal introduction has already been scheduled.

It emerged yesterday that Kim was not only in talks with the Cards, but had traveled to St. Louis in an effort to finalize a contract. While the seriousness of the interest was pretty clear, we now have a final resolution.

Long considered one of the most talented hurlers in his native South Korea, Kim nearly came to the majors way back in 2014. While the Padres were willing to pay a $2MM posting fee, the club couldn’t work out a contract with Kim. 

Under the current posting system, every team in baseball was free to negotiate with Kim once his former club, SK Wyverns, decided to make him available. Rather than an up-front fee, the amount is determined in reference to the contract itself. Presuming that this contract includes less than $25MM in guaranteed money, the Cards will pay twenty percent of the total value to SK Wyverns.

Kim has long been a productive hurler in his native Korea. Though he has had some health issues at times, he’s coming off of a full 2019 campaign. While offense was down across the Korea Baseball Organization, Kim still stood out for his 190 1/3 innings of 2.51 ERA ball. He recorded 180 strikeouts against 38 walks on the year.

It’s not yet clear how the Cards intend to utilize Kim. Long a starter in the KBO, he certainly could be given a shot in the rotation, though doing so would likely mean bumping Carlos Martinez back into the bullpen. It’s possible the club will simply allow both pitchers to stretch out in camp and then hold off on a decision until the season arrives.

Free Agent Rumors: Ryu, Ozuna, Cards, Twins, Rays, Kendrick

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A slew of high-profile free agents have fared better than expected on the open market this winter, which has been the quickest-paced offseason we’ve seen in a while. Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, no doubt the most appealing unsigned starter remaining, could soon ink his own richer-than-anticipated contract. While MLBTR predicted a three-year, $54MM deal for Ryu when the offseason began, there’s now a belief across the industry that he’ll get at minimum a four-year pact worth better than $17MM per annum, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. On at least an annual basis, that type of accord would beat out the five-year, $85MM payday the Diamondbacks handed fellow lefty Madison Bumgarner on Sunday. Age (33 in March) and an extensive injury history could work against Ryu’s bid to cash in, but at the same time, there is no question he was one of the majors’ premier starters in 2019. The longtime Dodger fired 182 2/3 innings of 2.32 ERA/3.10 FIP ball with 8.03 K/9, 1.18 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent groundball rate. Ryu rode those numbers to a second-place finish the NL Cy Young balloting, and they could help him to a rich contract in the coming weeks.

  • Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated last week the team was still trying to re-sign outfielder Marcell Ozuna. That continues to be the case, according to The Athletic’s Mark Saxon, who tweets that St. Louis remains “engaged in trying to” re-up its most prominent free agent. However, it appears “unlikely” the Cardinals will succeed, Saxon observes. Ozuna’s coming off a pair of productive seasons as a Cardinal, which could aid him in securing a lucrative three- or four-year contract in St. Louis or elsewhere.
  • The Twins are interested in Japanese righty Shun Yamaguchi, per Darren Wolfson of SKOR North. Teams have until Jan. 2 to negotiate with Yamaguchi, whom the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball posted Dec. 3. Yamaguchi was a starter and a reliever in Japan, so it’s unclear how the Twins will use the 32-year-old if they do sign him. It’s worth noting that even after retaining Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda in recent weeks, the reigning AL Central champions appear to have holes in their rotation.
  • Earlier this offseason, playoff hero Howie Kendrick chose to re-sign with the Nationals on a one-year, $6.25MM guarantee. But it turns out the Rays, once the reported front-runners to sign Kendrick, actually outbid the Nationals. They offered the 36-year-old infielder more money and term than Washington gave him, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Kendrick could have been part of the first base/designated hitter mix for the Rays, who just added a potential solution for at least one of those spots in Japanese free agent Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.

Cardinals Interested In Kwang-hyun Kim

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9:59pm: The Cardinals are working to get a deal done, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

9:10pm: The Cardinals appear to be seriously considering a deal with left-hander Kwang-hyun Kim. He’s currently in St. Louis to discuss a contract with the Cardinals and undergo a physical, Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News tweets. Teams have until Jan. 5 to sign Kim, who’d otherwise likely return to the Korea Baseball Organization for at least another year.

The 31-year-old Kim is coming off an outstanding run as a member of SK Wyverns of the KBO, where he recorded a 3.27 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 across 1,673 2/3 innings before the club posted him. The former Tommy John surgery patient is free to negotiate with all MLB teams over the next two-plus weeks. If Kim signs with a major league team by Jan. 5, the release fee the Wyverns would receive would hinge on the value of his contract.

Signing Kim would be the second prominent move this offseason in the Cardinals’ rotation. The reigning NL Central champions previously re-upped franchise icon Adam Wainwright to a one-year, $5MM guarantee. As things stand, Wainwright’s slated to rejoin Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson as the top four in the Cardinals’ rotation. If Kim hops aboard as the fifth member of that group, it could have an effect on Carlos Martinez, who had typically been a starter during his career before working exclusively as a reliever last season. For now, it’s unclear which role Martinez will take on in 2020.

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