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KBO’s Lotte Giants Sign Charlie Barnes

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The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization announced they’ve signed left-hander Charlie Barnes. The former Minnesota Twins southpaw will receive a $610K guarantee, according to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap. (Brandon Warne of Access Twins was first to report Barnes was signing with Lotte).

A fourth-round pick out of Clemson in 2017, Barnes steadily progressed through the Twins system. He reached the big leagues this year, ultimately making nine appearances (eight starts) for Minnesota down the stretch. He posted a 5.92 ERA over 38 innings while only striking out 11.4% of opposing hitters. After the season, the Twins outrighted Barnes off their 40-man roster.

While it wasn’t an illustrious debut showing, the 26-year-old has generally been effective throughout his minor league tenure. He owns an ERA below 4.00 at every stop through Double-A, and while he struggled during a brief end-of-season stint at Triple-A in 2019, he’d been better there this past season. Barnes tossed 76 innings with the Twins’ top affiliate in St. Paul, posting a 3.79 ERA. That came with a below-average 19.1% strikeout percentage, but Barnes’ 7.4% walk rate and 46.7% ground-ball rate were each a bit better than the league average.

That showing was enough to attract the attention of the Busan-based Giants. While Barnes didn’t have the requisite service time to reject the Twins’ outright assignment, the organization evidently granted him his release to make the move to South Korea. That allows the South Carolina native to lock in a guaranteed salary for 2022 that’s better than he’d have made during his time in Triple-A. If Barnes performs well enough in the KBO to embark upon a major league return at some point down the line, he might also field MLB offers that surpass the near-league minimum salaries he’d have earned over his first few seasons had he remained with Minnesota.

In addition to the Barnes deal, the Giants also confirmed their previously-reported agreement with Glenn Sparkman. As Yoo points out, Barnes, Sparkman and DJ Peters are now locked in as the Giants’ three allotted foreign-born players. That officially closes the books on any chance of Dan Straily and Enderson Franco — both of whom pitched for the Giants last year — returning to the club in 2022.

Padres Sign Domingo Leyba To Minor League Deal

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The Padres have signed infielder Domingo Leyba to a minor league contract, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com. As is the case with other players who have signed minors deals during the lockout, Leyba opened the offseason as a minor league free agent after being outrighted off the Orioles’ 40-man roster in August.

Leyba, 26, has suited up in a pair of MLB seasons. He broke in with the Diamondbacks in 2019 and appeared in 21 games that year. He missed the abbreviated 2020 campaign on the restricted list but returned with Arizona in 2021. He was designated for assignment in early June and claimed off waivers by the Orioles, but Baltimore waived him themselves and released him not too long after. While he hooked on with the Rangers on a minors pact for the stretch run, Leyba didn’t get to the big leagues in Texas.

Between the D-Backs and O’s, the switch-hitting Leyba has played in 55 big league games. Over 126 plate appearances, he’s managed just a .152/.238/.222 line with one home run. Yet the Dominican Republic native has a far better track record in the minors. He’s a .304/.346/.537 hitter in two Triple-A seasons and owner of a .279/.352/.404 mark across three years at Double-A.

Leyba will presumably get an opportunity in big league Spring Training to compete for a utility role. He’s got minor league experience at both middle infield spots, although he’s primarily functioned as a second baseman or third baseman in the big leagues. The Padres already have ample talent around the dirt, with Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar on hand to back up Jake Cronenworth, Fernando Tatís Jr. and Manny Machado. They’ve recently subtracted from that group by moving Adam Frazier to Seattle, though, and there’s no downside in adding to the organizational depth by bringing Leyba in on a non-roster deal.

Dodgers, Cody Bellinger Avoid Arbitration

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Outfielder Cody Bellinger and the Dodgers have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year $17MM contract per ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel. This deal registers as a $900K raise on the player’s 2021 season. The deal was reached prior to the sport’s December 1 lockout, but was not officially announced due to the league’s mandate that prevents clubs from discussing player personnel.

The $17MM salary is quite a boon for a player coming off a season that was below replacement-level, as Bellinger slashed just .160/.240/.302 in 95 injury-plagued games. The Dodgers could have non-tendered Bellinger instead of paying such a handsome fee for a hopeful bounceback campaign, but are one of the few clubs in the league who have the payroll to support such a risk.  Further, Bellinger’s salary isn’t guaranteed until he makes the team’s Opening Day roster, meaning there’s still time for the team to backpedal if they lose faith in their decision.

It’s not long ago that non-tendering Cody Bellinger would’ve seemed preposterous, considering Bellinger set an arbitration record after his MVP 2019 season. That .305/.406/.629 campaign is slipping further into the past, but the Dodgers were surely encouraged by Bellinger’s .353/.436/.471 showing this past postseason. The former-MVP can be controlled through the 2023 season via arbitration.

Mets, Daniel Palka Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with first baseman/corner outfielder Daniel Palka, according to Palka’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. The left-handed hitter has appeared in a pair of major league seasons, suiting up with the White Sox from 2018-19.

The bulk of Palka’s playing time came in the first of those years. He tallied 449 plate appearances with the South Siders in 2018 and popped an impressive 27 home runs, showcasing big power potential that had made him an interesting prospect coming up through the Diamondbacks’ and Twins’ systems. Yet he also struck out in 34.1% of his trips to the dish, and his resulting .240/.294/.484 slash line was only a touch above the league average.

Palka’s strikeout troubles continued the following year, and he was eventually outrighted off Chicago’s 40-man roster. The South Carolina native signed with the KBO’s Samsung Lions in 2020 but hit just .209/.272/.367 over 217 plate appearances there. He returned stateside last winter, signing a minor league deal with the Nationals.

Assigned to Triple-A Rochester, Palka had an impressive showing in 2021. He hit .256/.364/.472 with 18 homers in 420 attempts. That was the latest quality minor league showing from Palka, owner of a .260/.350/.480 line over five seasons at the minors’ top level. Yet the Nationals never gave him a big league look, and he elected minor league free agency after the season. He’ll now try to crack the roster of the division-rival Mets, although New York already has a strong group of corner bats (Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo, Mark Canha, etc.) due for regular playing time, barring trades.

Drew Rucinski, Wes Parsons Re-Sign With KBO’s NC Dinos

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Right-handers Drew Rucinski and Wes Parsons have re-signed with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2022 season, reports Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. Rucinski will be guaranteed $1.9MM with another $100K of incentives available, tying him for the second-largest salary of any foreign player in the KBO, per Yoo. Parsons, meanwhile, receives $550K in guarantees, plus another $250K of available incentives.

After totaling 54 innings in a nondescript big league career that included stops with the Angels (2014-15), Twins (2017) and Marlins (2018), Rucinski has emerged as one of the top arms in the KBO. He’s started exactly 30 games in each of the past three seasons, averaging 179 2/3 frames per year and posting consecutive ERAs of 3.05, 3.05 and 3.17 from 2019-21. This past season, Rucinski posted the highest strikeout rate (23.5%) and ground-ball rate (a massive 67.8%) of his KBO career. His 7.3% walk rate was strong as well, and he yielded just 12 homers on the year (0.60 HR/9).

Rucinski will turn 33 next week and would be 34 by the time he could plausibly pitch in the Majors again, but given his standout work in the KBO and his eye-popping ground-ball rates, it’s feasible that he could draw MLB interest on next offseason’s market. He’s now racked up a total of 539 innings with a 3.09 ERA, a 20.5% strikeout rate and a 6.9% ground-ball rate during his time in the KBO. Batted-ball data for Rucinski’s first season in South Korea isn’t publicly available, but last year’s ground-ball rate was no fluke; he sat a 63.8% in 2020 and has a combined 65.7% mark over the past two seasons. At the very least, one would imagine that next winter, in a more stable free-agent climate, Rucinski could pique the interest of big league teams with strong infield defenses.

As he enters his fourth season in the KBO, Rucinski has now guaranteed himself $5.7MM over a four-year term in Korea (not including any of the incentives in his prior deals or this upcoming contract). For an undrafted player who had three stints with the independent Rockford RiverHawks of the Frontier League before even finding consistent minor league work, it’s a fairly remarkable journey — and an encouraging tale for players who continue to grind through minimal pay on the minor league and indie circuits.

As for Parsons, who turned 29 back in September, he was also an undrafted minor league free agent who now finds himself on a similar trajectory. His first two contracts in the KBO have been more modest than those of Rucinski, but he’s secured himself more than a million dollars in total after a seven-year minor league journey netted him just 39 2/3 innings in the Majors with the Braves. Parsons tallied 133 innings during his first season with the Dinos in 2021, pitching to a 3.72 ERA with a 25.6% strikeout rate, a 10.9% walk rate and an excellent 64.3% ground-ball rate of his own.

KBO’s SSG Landers Sign Ivan Nova

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The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization announced they’ve signed longtime big league starter Iván Nova (h/t to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News). It’s a $900K guarantee that could top out at $1MM, the maximum allowed for a first-year foreign born player, if Nova reaches all the deal’s incentives.

It’ll be the first playing experience outside of North America for Nova, who turns 35 years old next month. The righty signed with the Yankees as an amateur free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic back in 2004. He made his big league debut with New York in 2010 and spent the next five seasons as a member of the rotation. Nova posted an ERA below 4.00 in both 2011 and 2013, although he generally offered average production on a rate basis while soaking up innings at the back of the rotation.

The Yankees traded Nova to the Pirates at the 2016 deadline, and he spent the next two and a half seasons offering similarly decent bulk frames in Pittsburgh. Nova tossed 187 innings of 4.72 ERA ball in 2019, although that’s the last extended action he’s logged in the majors. He made just four starts with the Tigers in 2020 and didn’t pitch in affiliated ball this year. While Nova signed a minor league contract with the Rockies in April, he was released a few weeks later without seeing any game action.

Nova would surely have been limited to minor league contracts had he sought out opportunities in affiliated ball this winter. Instead, he’ll lock in some guaranteed money and presumably get a rotation job with the Landers. It’s not of the question Nova could attract MLB interest next offseason if he performs well in South Korea.

Reds Sign Jake Bauers To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have signed first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. The VC Sports Group client will be in Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Bauers was eligible to sign a minor league deal even during the lockout due to the fact that he was outrighted off the Mariners’ 40-man roster before the 2021-22 offseason officially began (and is thus technically a minor league free agent).

Still just 26 years of age, Bauers isn’t terribly far removed from ranking as one of the sport’s top 100 prospects, per both Baseball America and MLB.com, in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 offseasons. He’s been a part of two notable three-team trades, going from San Diego to Tampa Bay in the Wil Myers/Steven Souza/Trea Turner/Joe Ross blockbuster (also including the Nats) and also going from Tampa Bay to Cleveland in the Carlos Santana/Edwin Encarnacion/Yandy Diaz deal (which also included the Mariners).

Bauers has logged 1126 plate appearances in the big leagues over the past three seasons but hasn’t produced in Tampa Bay, Cleveland or in Seattle (where he landed following a third minor trade this past summer). He’s a career .213/.307/.348 hitter with 27 home runs, 15 stolen bases and a 26.4% strikeout rate. Bauers has drawn a free pass in 11.5% of his Major League plate appearances, which is well above the league-average, but strikeouts and a general lack of hard contact have suppressed his offensive contributions.

That said, on a minor league pact, there’s little harm in seeing if another change of scenery will bring about better results. Bauers is a career .266/.363/.417 hitter in Triple-A and had near-identical numbers at the Double-A level. He’s drawn average or better defensive marks both as a corner outfielder and a first baseman in the Majors. And, if he were to put it together and tap into that prospect potential, he’d be controllable via arbitration for three years beyond the 2022 season.

The Reds aren’t likely to have much of a need at first base, barring an injury to Joey Votto, but their outfield mix is a bit less certain. Jesse Winker is locked into left field, and Tyler Naquin played his way into at least a platoon role with a solid showing at the plate through 127 games last season. However, the team hasn’t received durability and/or consistent productivity from any of Nick Senzel, Shogo Akiyama or Aristides Aquino. Twenty-six-year-old speedster TJ Friedl might’ve earned himself some consideration with a .290/.361/.419 showing in 36 plate appearances down the stretch last season, too, but Cincinnati’s outfield setup is hardly written in stone. Add in the likely advent of a designated hitter in the National League, and Bauers could at least play his way into a bench role with a productive Spring Training effort.

Andrew Suarez Signs With NPB’s Yakult Swallows

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Left-hander Andrew Suarez has signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2022 season, per a club announcement (link via Yahoo Japan). It’ll be the first season in Japan for the lefty, who spent the 2021 season with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization.

Suarez, 29, will head to Japan on the heels of an outstanding season in the KBO. The lefty in 23 games (22 of them starts) and worked to a pristine 2.18 ERA and 2.72 FIP with an impressive 26.6% strikeout rate, a solid 8.7% walk rate and a huge 57.1% ground-ball rate through a total of 115 2/3 innings. Given that success and his relative youth — Suarez won’t turn 30 until next September — it stands to reason that a strong season in Japan would go a long ways toward putting him back on the MLB map as a free agent.

Suarez, after all, is only three seasons removed from a pretty sound debut campaign with the 2018 Giants. That season saw the 2015 second-rounder rack up 160 1/3 innings of 4.49 ERA ball with a 19.5% strikeout rate that was below the league average but a 6.8% walk rate and 51.3% grounder rate that were both considerably better than the average big league pitcher.

Despite that solid showing and some shakiness at the back of the San Francisco rotation in his sophomore season, Suarez was used almost exclusively as a reliever the following year in 2019. He didn’t take well to the change, scuffling to a 5.79 ERA in a small-ish sample of 32 2/3 innings. Suarez saw even less MLB time in 2020 after the acquisitions of Kevin Gausman, Drew Smyly, Tyler Anderson and Trevor Cahill; he logged just 9 2/3 frames out of the bullpen that season and had his contract purchased by the KBO’s Twins that offseason.

In an odd coincidence, Suarez will continue down a similar career path to 32-year-old righty and similarly named Albert Suarez (no relation). Both made their Major League debuts with the Giants within the past five years and have seen their only MLB action come with San Francisco — Albert from 2016-17 (4.51 ERA in 115 2/3 innings) and Andrew from 2018-20 (4.66 ERA in 202 2/3 innings). The similarities don’t stop there; Albert has spent the past three seasons pitching for the same Swallows club that Andrew will now join. Albert departed the Yakult organization as a free agent this winter and signed in the KBO — albeit with the Samsung Lions and not Andrew’s former Twins.

Time will tell whether either pitcher will make it back to the big leagues, but the younger Suarez has certainly taken some promising steps down that path. Andrew’s 2021 campaign in Japan will be particularly worth monitoring for big league clubs who are eyeing 2022 rotation help.

Colin Rea Signs With Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

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The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have announced the signing of right-hander Colin Rea (as per Yahoo Japan).  Rea will return to the Hawks for the second straight season, and after something of a rushed departure last summer.

After initially signing with the Japanese club last winter, Rea pitched quite well (2.03 ERA, 25.33% strikeout rate) over 40 innings before he left the Hawks in August to be with his family, following the premature birth of his child back in the United States.  Rea ended up catching on with the Brewers on a minor league contract, resulting in 35 2/3 innings at Triple-A and then a single game in the big leagues, tossing six innings of bulk-pitcher duty in the Brew Crew’s second-last game of the regular season.

It was enough to put a fourth MLB season on Rea’s professional resume, as Rea tossed 134 1/3 innings with the Marlins and Padres in 2015-16 before Tommy John surgery interrupted his career.  He returned to throw 14 innings with the Cubs in 2020, and while the two sides worked out a one-year deal to avoid arbitration heading into the 2021 season, Rea was allowed to pursue that deal with the Hawks since he ultimately wasn’t in Chicago’s long-term plans.

Rea’s performance last season bodes well for more success in NPB, and his chances of re-establishing himself as a solid rotation candidate either in Japan or potentially for another return to a Major League team.  Originally a 12th-round pick for the Padres in the 2011 draft, Rea has worked as a starter for the majority of his career.  The 31-year-old isn’t a particularly hard thrower or a big strikeout pitcher, but he has a solid 3.68 ERA over 742 2/3 career innings in the minors, as well as a 4.90 ERA over his 154 1/3 frames at the big league level.

Freddy Galvis Agrees To Two-Year Deal With NPB’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

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TODAY: Galvis’ deal could pay him up to $6MM, according to reports out of Japan (hat tip to The Associated Press).

DEC. 12: Galvis has agreed to a two-year contract, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).

DEC. 4: Infielder Freddy Galvis appears to be close to a move overseas, as reports from Yahoo Japan indicate that Galvis is nearing a contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Should the move be finalized, it would count as a bit of a surprise.  While there hadn’t been much buzz about Galvis’ free agent market to date, he was widely expected to generate interest either for either contending or non-contending teams that were looking for a lower-cost middle infield option.

Instead, a move to Japan indicates that perhaps Galvis was worried about being caught up in a signing crunch that may take place for mid-to-lower tier free agents once the lockout ends.  The sheer volume of players looking for jobs may force some to settle for smaller guaranteed salaries or even minor league contracts.  If the Hawks are offering more security in the form of a multi-year contract and a guaranteed salary, taking such a deal would allow Galvis to sidestep the lockout entirely and instead focus only on his on-field preparations for 2022 (albeit in a whole new country and new league).

Galvis hit .242/.302/.407 with 14 home runs over 394 combined plate appearances with the Orioles and Phillies in 2021.  After signing a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Baltimore last winter, he was dealt to the Phils at the trade deadline, despite still being on the injured list recovering from a right quad strain.  Galvis ended up missing close to two months of the regular season, and his 104 games played represents his lowest total (2020 excepted) since he played 43 games in 2014.

The 32-year-old Galvis has been an everyday player for most of the last seven seasons, playing as an every shortstop (with significant chunks of time as a second baseman and third baseman) with the Padres, Blue Jays, Reds, Orioles, and in two different stints in Philadelphia.  With a modest .246/.292/.387 slash line over 4238 PA, Galvis relied more on strong glovework and some decent baserunning over his career, though he has shown some power on occasion, including a 23-homer season in 2019.

Most of the headlines about the offseason shortstop market have naturally focused on the superstars available in free agency, with Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, and Chris Taylor already finding new teams.  Carlos Correa and Trevor Story remain among the big-ticket names, and some clubs might wait to see where those two sign before attention can fully turn to the next tier of available shortstops.  With Galvis perhaps gone to the Hawks, it creates more opportunity for the likes of Andrelton Simmons, Jose Iglesias, or Jonathan Villar to find regular jobs with MLB teams that either miss out on Correa/Story or couldn’t afford them in the first place.

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