Minor MLB Transactions: 4/7/21
The latest minor moves from around baseball, all courtesy of Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America:
- The Rockies recently signed first baseman Matt Adams to a minor-league deal. The slugging lefty has been assigned to Colorado’s alternate training site, per Kyle Newman of The Denver Post. Adams has played for the Cardinals, Nationals and Braves over the past nine seasons. He was a fairly significant part of Washington’s big league roster as recently as 2019, although he only picked up 51 plate appearances with Atlanta last year before being cut loose. The Rockies have tabbed C.J. Cron as their regular first baseman to start the year.
- The Cubs signed Andrew Romine to a minors contract. The veteran utilityman has played with the Angels, Tigers, Rangers and Mariners over a big league career that began in 2010. Romine was in camp with the Twins in Spring Training but opted out after Minnesota declined to add the 35-year-old to the MLB roster. Romine’s younger brother Austin Romine is a catcher on the Cubs’ major league team, although the backstop is currently on the 10-day injured list.
- The White Sox signed outfielder Zack Granite and right-hander Keyvius Sampson to minor-league deals. Granite is a speedy outfielder who picked up 107 MLB plate appearances with the 2017 Twins. He has since spent time in the Rangers’ and Yankees’ systems but hasn’t made it back to the big leagues. Sampson pitched in the majors with the Reds from 2015-16 and with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2018. He returned to the U.S. on a minors deal with the Giants in 2019 but didn’t get back to the majors.
Latest On Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez
The Cubs entered Spring Training hopeful of securing long-term contracts with multiple pending free agents but weren’t able to come to terms with any of Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez or Kris Bryant. Fans in Chicago are holding out hope that some of the team’s 2016 core can be retained, but Rizzo gave little reason for optimism today when appearing on the Kap & Hood show on ESPN 1000 radio (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago).
Rizzo, who already indicated that he was “at peace” with the lack of progress just prior to Opening Day, said that he feels the Cubs have had a “fair” opportunity to get a deal done both in 2021 and in years past, but nothing has come together.
“I don’t see any reason for us to listen,” the first baseman said in response to the Cubs’ recent efforts. Obviously, a sizable increase in years and/or dollars would surely change that thinking, but the team’s reported initial offer — five years and $70MM, per The Athletic — didn’t get the ball rolling.
The 32-year-old Rizzo has already inked one club-friendly deal in the past and delivered considerable surplus value to the Cubs over the life of that contract. For some context, Chicago’s reported offer of $70MM clocked in at just north of half the five-year, $130MM commitment the Cardinals made to Paul Goldschmidt for what will be the same block of his career (his age-32 through age-36 seasons).
Of course, Goldschmidt was coming off a brilliant run with the D-backs at that point and had slashed .290/.389/.533 in his final season prior to being traded to St. Louis; Rizzo’s .222/.342/.414 slash in last year’s shortened season was his least-productive showing since 2013. It’s understandable both that Rizzo would feel the offer to be well below market and that the Cubs may be a bit cautious with their long-term overture after a down year in 2020. As things stand, the disconnect between the two sides seems prohibitive, although president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last week that he remains “confident” an accord will eventually be reached.
As for Baez, he’s not speaking in such definitive terms. The shortstop told reporters after yesterday’s game that his representatives and the Cubs continue to talk, though his personal focus is on the field at this point (links via Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times and Jordan Bastian of MLB.com).
Baez was, however, happy to discuss Francisco Lindor‘s recent extension with the Mets and the manner in which it benefited next year’s class of shortstops. The 28-year-old called the Lindor contract “huge” for other shortstops in the game — next year’s class of free agents in particular. (Baez, Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa and Marcus Semien will all hit the market next winter.) “No one was going to get more than Lindor, and you’ve got to be honest about it,” Baez said. “[But] he opens doors for other people.”
Like Rizzo, Baez is attempting to put an uncharacteristically poor 2020 season in the rearview mirror. The former NL MVP runner-up batted just .203/.238/.360 through 235 plate appearances last year, but he’s not far removed from a .286/.321/.544 showing from 2018-19. Baez connected on his first homer of the season yesterday and has swiped a pair of bases already after stealing just three bags in 2020.
However, Hoyer made clear that a fast start to the year for any of their players won’t necessarily change the calculus in the team’s offers. Said Hoyer (via Dorsey): “These guys have long track records, and how a guy’s hitting in April — positively or negatively — is not going to impact our perception of that player’s value.”
Padres Acquire James Norwood From Cubs
The Padres have acquired righty James Norwood from the Cubs in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Dauris Valdez, as announced by both teams. Norwood has been optioned to San Diego’s alternate training site, and righty Javy Guerra has been moved to the 60-day injured list to create roster space.
Norwood had been designated for assignment by Chicago earlier this week. Debuting in 2018, Norwood has appeared in each of the last three MLB seasons, amassing a 4.50 ERA over 22 total innings (with 21 strikeouts and 14 walks) for the Cubs. Shoulder problems limited him to just three games and 1 2/3 frame of work in 2020. The hard-throwing Norwood has posted some pretty solid strikeout totals in the minors, though control has been an increasing issue as he has worked his way up the minor league ladder — Norwood had an unimpressive 13.65% walk rate over 75 1/3 career innings at Triple-A.
The trade is, in essence, a swap of power arms who have hard some trouble getting the ball over the plate. Like Norwood, Valdez has also had some control problems while moving up to higher levels of the minor leagues, posting a below-average 11.77% walk rate over 108 2/3 innings at the high-A and Double-A levels in 2018-19. This said, there’s still plenty of potential for the 25-year-old, who was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 25 prospect in San Diego’s farm system. Valdez has a 65-grade fastball that “routinely hits triple-digits” according to Pipeline’s scouting report, and he also possesses a plus slider and a solid changeup as a third pitch.
NL Notes: Reds/Cardinals Brawl, Castellanos, Padres, Baez
Outfielder Nick Castellanos was issued a two-game suspension for his part in Saturday’s brawl between the Reds and Cardinals, the league announced. Castellanos was the only player suspended, and he is appealing his two-game ban. Fines were issued to three players on each team — the Reds’ Castellanos, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, and the Cardinals’ Jordan Hicks, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado.
The incident developed after Cards pitcher Jake Woodford hit Castellanos with a pitch during a fourth-inning at-bat. Castellanos wasn’t pleased by the HBP, and picked up the ball and held it in Woodford’s direction as he went to first base. Later in the inning, Castellanos scored from third on a wild pitch, and celebrated the run by standing over Woodford (who was covering home plate) and flexing. This led to the benches clearing, and a lot of shoving and heated words between the two NL Central rivals.
More from the division….
- The Padres hope to have Trent Grisham back in center field when they travel to play the Rangers on April 9, manager Jayce Tingler told Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (via Twitter). Grisham has been out of action since suffering a hamstring strain during a Spring Training game on March 11, though he did play in some simulated games at the end of camp. Austin Nola isn’t quite as far along in his rehab from a fractured left middle finger, but he could soon get some plate appearances at the Padres’ alternate training site.
- The Cubs drafted Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 draft, a selection that has proven to be a winner even though Baez was one of many notable players taken in an unusually star-studded first round. As Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune writes, the Cubs were set on Baez as their pick, though they were eyeing Jose Fernandez and C.J. Cron as Plan B options if Baez was selected by one of the eight teams picking in front of Chicago. Tim Wilken, the Cubs’ director of amateur scouting at the time, said that the club would have taken Baez even if another star shortstop prospect in Francisco Lindor was still on the board — it ended up being a moot point, as Cleveland took Lindor with the eighth overall pick, just ahead of Baez and the Cubs at ninth.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/1/21
The game’s latest minor transactions:
- Cubs infielder Ildemaro Vargas cleared waivers and was assigned outright to the alternate training site, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to note (Twitter link). The Cubs designated the 29-year-old for assignment over the weekend. Vargas is a switch-hitter who has been decent against left-handed pitching in his brief big league time. He hasn’t hit righties at all, though, and slashed just .196/.222/.314 in 54 plate appearances between the Diamondbacks, Twins and Cubs last season.
- Phillies left-hander Kyle Dohy cleared waivers and was outrighted to their alternate site, per a team announcement. Dohy was a 16th-round pick in 2017 who has pitched to a 3.89 ERA in 155 minor league innings. He made his Triple-A debut in 2019 but struggled to a 6.19 ERA over 56 2/3 frames. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked the 24-year-old as the Phillies’ 32nd-best prospect last month, writing that his “plus changeup and mid-90s velo” could someday make him a viable relief option in the bigs.
Jed Hoyer “Very Confident” Cubs Will Extend Anthony Rizzo
MARCH 31: President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said the Cubs are still “very confident” they will extend Rizzo, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. The Cubs are willing to continue discussions into the season, but it’s unclear whether Rizzo will adjust his Opening Day deadline.
MARCH 29, 7:10pm: The Cubs made Rizzo a five-year, $70MM extension offer, Mooney and Ken Rosenthal report. It was a front-loaded proposal with escalators that could have kicked in toward the back end of the deal.
11:35am: Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo told reporters today that extension talks with the team have stalled and a new deal now looks unlikely (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney). The slugger added that after speaking with his family and his representatives, he feels strongly about his previously set Opening Day deadline and has told his agents to stop talking to him about a contract (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers). Rizzo is “at peace” with the lack of a new contract and plans to shift his focus to the 2021 season.
Rizzo is one of three prominent members of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series roster that is currently slated to hit the open market after the season. The others, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant, have also been considered potential extension candidates. However, Rizzo was seen as perhaps the likeliest of the trio to sign, given his lengthier tenure with the club, his age and his expected price relative to those younger teammates.
Lining up on a new contract was likely difficult for myriad reasons, though. Rizzo has already signed what proved to be a very beneficial deal for the Cubs once in his career. That contract, a seven-year, $41MM extension inked in May 2013, ultimately wound up spanning nine years and paying Rizzo $75MM after a pair of club options were picked up and after he triggered some escalators based on a trio of fourth-place finishes in MVP voting. Having already taken what now looks to be a discount once, he may not have been as keen on doing so a second time.
It’s also tough to project Rizzo moving forward after he turned in one of his worst career showings at the plate in last year’s 60-game sprint. Rizzo appeared in 58 games for the Cubs and tallied 243 trips to the plate, but he batted just .222/.342/.414 along the way. His strikeout and walk rates remained strong, but that output obviously pales in comparison to the hearty .276/.379/.499 slash he logged from 2013-19. The Cubs likely have at least some trepidation as a result of last year’s downturn — particularly since Rizzo will turn 32 this August.
The lack of a deal this spring doesn’t guarantee that Rizzo will be playing elsewhere after the 2021 season. It remains possible that the Cubs could come back to the table with a late offer that is more in line with the 31-year-old’s asking price to this point, just as it’s possible that he could play out the ’21 season, reach free agency and ultimately still opt to re-sign with the Cubs. Owner Tom Ricketts has been quite averse to long-term spending over the past three offseasons, but at least on the surface, Rizzo would seem like a possible exception due to his nine-year tenure as a Cub, his role as a team leader and the role he played in the franchise’s curse-breaking championship run.
Cubs Designate James Norwood For Assignment
The Cubs announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander James Norwood for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to catcher Tony Wolters, whose rumored one-year deal with the club has now been formally announced.
Norwood, 27, has spent parts of the past three seasons in the big leagues with Chicago, pitching to a 4.50 ERA through 22 innings with sub-par strikeout and walk percentages (19.6 percent and 13.0 percent, respectively). He struggled in big league camp this spring as well, serving up eight runs (four earned) on eight hits and nine walks with 14 strikeouts through 7 1/3 innings of relief.
Norwood’s heater averages better than 97 mph, and he has a minor league option remaining, which could appeal to another club willing to take a speculative bullpen flier on a live arm. The 2014 seventh-rounder carries a 3.91 ERA, a solid 26 percent strikeout rate and a 10.3 percent walk rate through parts of six minor league seasons.
Cubs Sign Tony Wolters
12:30pm: The Cubs announced that they have indeed signed Wolters to a one-year, Major League contract.
9:00am: Veteran catcher Tony Wolters, who recently opted out of a minor league contract with the Pirates, is now likely to sign with the Cubs, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Bruce Levine of 670TheScore reported last night that the Cubs had interest in the longtime Rockies backstop.
Willson Contreras, of course, is the starting catcher for the Cubs and should be in line for a sizable workload this year. However, the Cubs traded backup Victor Caratini to the Padres alongside Yu Darvish earlier in the winter, and they’ve done little to address the position in the subsequent months. Wolters and fellow veteran Jonathan Lucroy were on the Cubs’ radar, per Levine, but it seems the Cubs will go with the younger and more well-regarded defender of that pairing.
Wolters, 28, has spent the past five seasons as the Rockies’ primary catcher despite a meager .238/.323/.319 career batting line (57 wRC+, 62 OPS+). He had a particularly rough year at the dish in 2020’s shortened schedule, batting just .230/.280/.270 in a limited sample of 109 plate appearances.
On the defensive side of the coin, however, Wolters is considerably more appealing. He went just 3-for-20 in thwarting stolen bases last year, but prior to the 2020 season he carried a lifetime 32.8 percent caught-stealing rate that is well above the league average (around 27 percent). Wolters’ framing marks have dipped since 2019, but he graded as one of the game’s better options in that regard for much of his early career. Beyond that, Baseball Prospectus has graded him as average overall in terms of blocking pitches (and quite a bit above average as recently as ’19).
The Rockies non-tendered Wolters rather than pay him a raise on last year’s $1.9MM salary. He still hasn’t reached five full years of big league service, so if Wolters is able to make the Cubs’ roster and stick through the season, he’d be controllable via arbitration through the 2022 campaign.
Central Notes: Tigers, Cabrera, Nunez, Cubs, Pirates, Ponce
The Tigers will open the season with Miguel Cabrera lined up at first base, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters this morning (Twitter link via Jason Beck of MLB.com). “I think he gives us the best chance to win at first base,” Hinch said of the soon-to-be 38-year-old. Cabrera didn’t play in the field at all in 2020, serving as a designated hitter for the Tigers on 56 occasions. He did see some action there in 2019 before sustaining a season-ending biceps injury, but Cabrera hasn’t logged even 300 innings in a season at first base since the 2017 campaign. It’s not a permanent arrangement, but playing Cabrera in the field from time to time allows an outfielder to move to DH on occasion and makes it easier for the Tigers to carry Rule 5 pick Akil Baddoo on the Opening Day roster.
Some more notes from the game’s Central divisions:
- Renato Nuñez will remain with the Tigers and head to the alternate training site to begin the 2021 season even after being informed that he didn’t make the Opening Day roster, writes Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. Hinch called the decision “great news for us” and said he expects Nuñez to eventually be up with the big league club. Nuñez, 27 on Sunday, slugged 43 homers with the Orioles from 2019-20 but didn’t exactly force his way onto Detroit’s roster with a spring they couldn’t ignore. In 13 games and 32 plate appearances, he slashed .194/.219/.355 with a homer and a dozen strikeouts (37.5 percent).
- The Cubs have interest in catchers Tony Wolters and Jonathan Lucroy, reports Bruce Levine of 670 the Score (Twitter link). A deal with the left-handed hitting Wolters might be more likely, Levine notes, considering Chicago’s starting catcher, Willson Contreras, hits right-handed. Both Wolters and Lucroy were recently released from minor-league deals with other clubs (the Pirates and White Sox, respectively) after failing to crack the active roster. Wolters has spent his entire MLB career with the Rockies, while Lucroy briefly played for the Cubs in 2019.
- Pirates right-hander Cody Ponce will not be available for Opening Day, GM Ben Cherington announced to reporters (including Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic). The 26-year-old “felt something…in his forearm area,” in the words of the GM. That sounds rather ominous but Ponce has at least been able to continue throwing on the side as he attempts to work through the injury. A former second-round pick of the Brewers, Ponce made his MLB debut with Pittsburgh last season, working to a 3.18 ERA/5.27 SIERA over five appearances.
Cubs Select Three Contracts, Designate Ildemaro Vargas
The Cubs announced that they have selected the contracts of left-hander Rex Brothers and infielders Eric Sogard and Matt Duffy. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas has been designated for assignment to open up roster space.
Brothers is back with the Cubs after signing a new minor league deal with the team in February, while Sogard and Duffy joined the organization on minors contracts of their own this past winter. It was expected that Sogard would make the team after yesterday’s news that Nico Hoerner had been optioned to Triple-A, clearing the way for a Sogard/David Bote second base platoon. Duffy is back in the majors for the first time since the 2019 season, as he didn’t reach the Show with either the Rangers or Yankees after signing minor league deals with the two squads last year.
The roster shuffling leaves Vargas as the odd man out. Vargas came to Chicago on a waiver claim from the Twins last September, capping off a nomadic season that saw the 29-year-old appear in games with the Cubs, Twins, and Diamondbacks. The big majority of Vargas’ MLB playing time came in Arizona, where he hit .257/.287/.387 over 265 plate appearances with the D’Backs from 2017-20, with 211 of those PA coming in 2019 when Vargas saw a lot of work at second base.
Vargas has played a handful of games as a first baseman, shortstop, and corner outfielder to go along with his much more extensive time as a second baseman and third baseman. This multi-positional usage makes him an asset for the Cubs at Triple-A should he clear waivers, or possibly make him attractive to another team who wants to make a claim.