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Quick Hits: Int’l Market, Twins, Vizquel, Chatwood, Nats

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The Blue Jays are the favorites to sign 15-year-old Dominican shortstop Orelvis Martinez, who scouts expect will receive the highest bonus of any player signed in next year’s July 2 international signing market, Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes (BA subscription required and recommended).  Badler recently attended an MLB showcase for Dominican players and provides brief scouting breakdowns on some of the talents involved, plus the teams already connected to them in signing rumors.  Besides Toronto and Martinez, the Giants, Tigers, Mariners, Rays, Indians, Royals, and Cubs were also linked to the seven other prospects featured in Badler’s report.

  • Extensions could be a major element of the Twins’ offseason, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes that the club could look to gain cost certainty over one or more of their young players with a multi-year agreement.  Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were often part of extension talks in their past jobs with the Indians and Rangers; Berardino gets some interesting quotes from Ian Kinsler about his dealings with Levine in working out his two extensions with Texas.  for a lower-payroll team like Minnesota, though it’s worth noting that the Twins have no money at all on the books after the 2019 season.  Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Eddie Rosario are all a season away from arbitration eligibility, while Jose Berrios and other possible cornerstone players still have multiple pre-arb years remaining.
  • The White Sox have hired Omar Vizquel as the manager of their A-ball affiliate in Winston-Salem, according to Venezuelan reporter Efrain Zavarace on Twitter (hat tip to MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery).  This will be Vizquel’s first managerial assignment after four seasons as the Tigers’ first base coach and one year as an infield coach with the Angels.  He has often been mentioned as a potential managerial candidate in the big leagues, and Vizquel interviewed for the Tigers’ dugout vacancy earlier this offseason.
  • There is “widespread interest” in free agent right-hander Tyler Chatwood, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets. As a result, it’s “probable” Chatwood will land a multi-year contract, a source informed Morosi.  MLBTR forecasts a three-year, $20MM contract for Chatwood, who spent the previous five seasons with the Rockies organization.  Chatwood combined for 60 appearances (52 starts) from 2016-17 and recorded a 4.27 ERA, with 6.98 K/9 against 4.33 BB/9, across 305 2/3 innings.  His age (28 in December), high velocity and penchant for inducing grounders (57.6 percent over the prior two seasons) are surely helping his cause on the open market.
  • After almost two years of trying, the Nationals aren’t close to selling the naming rights to Nationals Park, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.  If the Nats can eventually find a deal, it would create a short-term revenue bump for a club that has extensive short-term financial commitments and doesn’t seem any closer to resolving their ongoing TV rights dispute with the Orioles.  (Janes also provides an update on the latest development between the Nats and O’s in that court case.)

AL West Notes: Maxwell, Avisail, Healy Trade, Rangers, Astros

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Despite recent allegations of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct, Bruce Maxwell is still viewed by the Athletics as their catcher next season, GM David Forst told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle at this week’s GM Meetings. “We’ll let the criminal proceedings play out,” said Forst, “But from a baseball standpoint, I expect Bruce to be our catcher next year.” Maxwell has already plead not guilty to the charges brought forth against him after he allegedly waved a gun in the face of a Postmates delivery employee last month. The Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reported earlier this week that there’s no trial date yet, but a hearing wouldn’t occur until early 2018.

Even without Maxwell’s off-the-field issues, though, catcher would seem to be a potential area for improvement for the Athletics. Maxwell will turn 27 in a month, has batted just .251/.331/.354 in 354 MLB plate appearances over the past two seasons and has thrown out a respectable but unspectacular 25 percent of opposing base thieves in his big league career. Baseball Prospectus rated him as an excellent pitch framer coming up through the minors, though he’s yet to post quality marks with the A’s.

More from the AL West…

  • Within that same piece, Shea also reports that the A’s have some interest in White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia. Oakland is known to be on the lookout for a right-handed-hitting outfielder that can play left field now that the trade of Ryon Healy has opened the door for Khris Davis to serve as the DH. While Garcia, 26, checks some boxes for Oakland, however, he’s not a perfect fit; the young slugger is only controlled for another two seasons, making him more of a mid-term play than a long-term asset. Beyond that, he’s only played 118 innings in left field as a big leaguer, and his defensive ratings in right field haven’t been positive on the whole (though they’ve improved dramatically in the past two seasons). The Sox will be open to moving Garcia, though, who figures to be one of many options Oakland pursues this winter.
  • Forst told reporters following last night’s Healy trade that the Mariners first contacted the Athletics about Healy “right after” the regular season ended (link via MLB.com’s Jane Lee). The two sides talked on and off over the past month, and Forst notes that right-hander Emilio Pagan, one of two players Oakland received in the deal, is someone they’ve tried to acquire from the Mariners in the past. “Once it was clear [Pagan] could be part of this deal, then we spent the last week or so trying to work it out,” said Forst. Lee notes that the A’s will continue to seek bullpen help and could place an emphasis on finding a left-handed reliever.
  • Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto also spoke with reporters following last night’s trade and firmly stated that Healy is expected to be the team’s regular first baseman (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). “We are planning on Ryon playing first base in an every-day or near-every-day role or basis,” said Dipoto shortly after praising Healy’s all-fields power. “…He’s performed quite well against left-hand pitching. You saw a little bit of a dip against righties. But I think that’s the league adjusting to Ryon and now is his chance to adjust back.” Divish also has quotes from Healy about being traded and further quotes from Dipoto on the difficulty of informing Pagan that he’d been dealt.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels said at the GM Meetings that his team is approaching the 2018 season with the mindset that Delino DeShields Jr. will be the center fielder, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That doesn’t entirely rule out the possibility of signing a center fielder, as Daniels stated that DeShields could end up in left if the team lands a center fielder “that makes us better as a club.” It does, however, suggest that center field may not be a top priority for Texas this winter. Daniels praised DeShields for his defensive improvements in center over the past couple of seasons, reminding that he’s a converted second baseman who has been learning on the job.
  • Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle runs down some of the decisions the Astros will face as they look to set their roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, noting that outfield prospect Ramon Laureano could prove one of the most difficult calls to make. The 23-year-old Laureano elevated his prospect stock with a huge 2016 campaign (.319/.428/.528 between Class-A Advanced and Double-A) but faltered significantly in his first full season in Double-A. Kaplan notes that lefty Cionel Perez “is certain to be protected” and also lists some other candidates that could land on the 40-man roster by next Monday’s deadline.

Mariners Trade Thyago Vieira To White Sox For International Bonus Money

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1:03pm: MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports that the Mariners are picking up $500K in the trade (Twitter link). However, Mayo also notes that the previously reported sum of $1.57MM that the Mariners had to work with was incorrect. Seattle, according to Mayo, initially had just a bit north of $1MM remaining in their pool, so this trade pushes their remaining total to $1.5575MM.

11:08am: The Mariners announced on Thursday that they’ve traded right-hander Thyago Vieira to the White Sox in exchange for international bonus money. The move opens a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster in advance of next week’s deadline to set 40-man rosters for the Rule 5 Draft, and it also gives the Mariners some additional funds for the pursuit of Shohei Ohtani and other high-end international amateurs.

The amount of money Seattle is receiving isn’t yet known, though international money must be traded in increments of $250K under the new collective bargaining agreement, so they’ll add at least that much to their pool. Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported last week that Seattle’s bonus pool stood at $1.57MM, so they’ll add at least $250K to that sum. The Rangers ($3.535MM), Yankees ($3.25MM) and Twins ($3.245MM) still have the most to offer Ohtani, if he is indeed posted.

In exchange for the additional funds, the White Sox will reel in an MLB-ready bullpen arm capable of reaching triple-digit velocity readings on his fastball with regularity. Vieira, 25 in January, pitched to an even 4.00 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A last season. While his strikeout numbers at those upper levels weren’t what they were in Class-A Advanced, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com still pegged Vieira eighth among Mariners farmhands, placing a true 80 grade his fastball and giving him a 55-grade (above-average) curveball as well. Vieira has struggled with control at times in the minors, though Callis and Mayo note that he comes with a closer’s ceiling if he can put everything together.

For a White Sox club that traded David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, Anthony Swarzak, Dan Jennings and Tyler Clippard this past summer, the addition of Vieira gives them an intriguing young piece with six years of club control if all pans out well.

GM Meetings Notes: The American League Central

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Royals GM Dayton Moore did not strike a particularly optimistic tone yesterday with regard to the the organization’s major free agents, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports on Twitter. “We’ll see what the market dictates, we’ll stay engaged with our current free agents,” said Moore. “But I’m not sure if it’s at the levels that everyone’s talking about. It may be extra challenging for us.” The Kansas City organization will get a chance to begin figuring out just how much it’ll cost to keep Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas when it sits down today with agent Scott Boras, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports.

  • Moore also discussed the fact that he’ll stay with the Royals after owner David Glass declined to allow him to interview with the Braves, as Dodd further writes. “I simply left that in Mr. Glass’s hands,” said Moore. “If he wanted to grant permission, then that would signal to me that he didn’t want me here. If he denied permission, that would tell me he wants me here.” That’s certainly an interesting perspective. Moore did emphasize, too, that he’s happy both to remain in charge of the Royals’ baseball ops and to put the speculation behind him. He is under contract in Kansas City through the 2020 campaign, Dodd further reports, and it seems as if there’s good cause to expect the relationship to continue for the foreseeable future.
  • Unsurprisingly, GM Rick Hahn suggests the White Sox are open to trading their few established veteran hitters this winter, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes. With the club still “focused on the long-term,” says Hahn, it will entertain offers on first baseman Jose Abreu and outfielder Avisail Garcia. Hahn explained: “At some point, not necessarily this offseason, we have to make the decision: Are we best served by extending them through what we project to be the bulk of our (competitive) window, or are we better off making a move like some of the others we’ve made and trying to reinforce the future with prospects?'” It’ll be interesting to see what kinds of offers are dangled for both players and whether Chicago truly seeks to initiate extension talks to create an alternative path.
  • The Tigers are diving right into talks on several players, GM Al Avila told reporters including Evan Woodberry of MLive.com (via Twitter). Avila said he has already discussed a few of the team’s players with rival organizations, including veteran second baseman Ian Kinsler. Detroit is also preparing to make some difficult 40-man roster decisions, Woodberry reports. Indeed, Avila says the process of whittling the players to protect from the Rule 5 draft has been “excruciating and painful.”
  • The Twins front office duo of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine faces quite a different situation in their second offseason with the franchise, as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune writes. Indeed, the team’s reported interest in some of the best free agent pitching serves to highlight the opportunities and expectations facing the organization this winter.

AL Central Notes: Kinsler, Kintzler, White Sox

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The results of this year’s Gold Glove Awards voting came in earlier this week, and in the American League it was Brian Dozier taking home his first career Gold Glove at second base. Dozier took home a standard $25K bonus for that distinction, but the more notable financial component of the award is that Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler did not take home the $1MM bonus he’d have received for capturing a second Gold Glove honor. Kinsler’s 2017 option vested based on plate appearances back in September, but his salary would’ve risen from $11MM to $12MM had he landed the extra hardware. The $1MM difference in his salary won’t have much of an impact on his overall trade stock, but it’s still of minor note for both the Tigers and interested parties as Detroit explores trade scenarios for its longtime second baseman this winter.

More from the AL Central…

  • The Twins have already reached out to right-hander Brandon Kintzler about a possible reunion this winter, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Minnesota is one of a “handful” of teams to show early interest in the 33-year-old Kintzler, per Berardino, who also notes that the Nationals have interest in retaining the sinkerball specialist. Kintzler has turned in an ERA just over 3.00 in the past two seasons despite averaging scarcely better than five strikeouts per nine innings, thanks largely to his excellent control, lofty ground-ball rates and a dearth of hard contact allowed.
  • Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times takes a look at the difficult decisions facing White Sox GM Rick Hahn and his staff this offseason as they determine what to do with Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia. Both are controlled through the 2019 season and are affordable for the Sox (who have extremely limited payroll commitments as they rebuild), but Van Schouwen notes that the team views 2020 as a more reasonable target date for a return to prominence in the AL Central. “Any player who isn’t controllable through the bulk of our window, we have to make an assessment,” Hahn tells Van Schouwen.
  • Also of note, Van Schouwen writes that the Sox will likely field a payroll in the vicinity of $75MM next year. Including arbitration projections from MLBTR, the Sox are projected to pay roughly $50MM to a dozen players next season. They’ll need another 13 players at or near the league minimum to round out the roster, which would take them just north of $57MM. That’d leave around $18MM to add some reclamation projects and/or veteran stopgaps in the rotation or bullpen if the Sox find opportunities to their liking. A trade of Abreu (projected at $17.9MM) or Garcia ($6.7MM) would obviously alter their capacity for additions.

White Sox Claim Daniel Palka

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The White Sox have claimed corner outfielder Daniel Palka from the Twins, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter). He was placed on outright waivers as part of Minnesota’s 40-man roster-trimming efforts.

Palka has been regarded as a bat-first prospect of some note, but has not yet received a shot at the majors. A former third-round pick who just turned 26 years of age, he looks to be a fairly interesting target for the rebuilding South Siders.

Power is Palka’s calling card, as he swatted 34 long balls in the upper minors in 2016. But he is also known for his swing-and-miss proclivities and did not have a terribly strong 2017 campaign. Over 362 Triple-A plate appearances on the year, he pared back on the whiffs (22.1% strikeout rate) but posted only a .278/.330/.444 slash with 13 dingers.

White Sox Decline Option On Geovany Soto

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The White Sox announced that they’ve declined a club option over veteran catcher Geovany Soto. Details of Soto’s option weren’t previously known, but Dan Hayes of NBC Sports Chicago tweets that it was a $3.5MM club option with a $250K buyout. The decision to opt for the buyout is hardly surprising; the 34-year-old Soto received just 48 plate appearances in 2017 and missed the bulk of the season due to elbow surgery.

Soto will turn 35 in January and hasn’t received more than 210 plate appearances in any single season since 2012. The former NL Rookie of the Year (2008, Cubs) is a lifetime .245/.330/.435 hitter with 108 homers in 2876 plate appearances. between the Cubs, White Sox, Rangers, A’s and Angels. He’s had two stints with the White Sox now, and given their organizational needs, it seems plausible that the two sides could yet agree to a new minor league contract for the 2018 campaign. If not, he’ll likely command interest on a minor league deal and could look to latch on somewhere as a depth option or in a competition for a backup role next season.

Central Notes: Morneau, Lenik, Bell

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Veteran first baseman Justin Morneau isn’t calling it quits yet, officially, but it sounds as if he has largely accepted that he likely won’t suit up again in the majors. In the course of a great chat on the podcast of Ben Nicholson-Smith and Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca (audio link), Morneau says it seemed at points last spring and even into the season that he might have a shot at joining an organization. Ultimately, though, things simply “didn’t line up” for the 36-year-old, who says he wasn’t really “willing to go down to Triple-A and ride the bus” at this stage, given his family obligations. A 14-year MLB veteran, Morneau long starred with the Twins and played most recently with the White Sox. Though he showed in 2016 that he can still hit major league pitching, he acknowledges that it “doesn’t look like there’s a lot of opportunities” out there for the coming season. (That’s a topic that’s covered further in the podcast, which is well worth a listen.)

Here are some notes from the central divisions:

  • The Royals face a variety of challenges this winter, with a need to bolster the bullpen likely among them. But the team does have an intriguing option on hand in indy ball find Kevin Lenik, writes Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. The 26-year-old is showing a big fastball and generated strong results upon reaching Triple-A, where he pitched to a 1.88 ERA with 24 strikeouts and eight walks over 24 frames in a dozen outings. Assistant GM J.J. Picollo suggests it’s likely (albeit still undecided) that Lenik will receive an invitation to MLB camp.
  • Buddy Bell has left the White Sox front office to join that of the Reds, as Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports. Bell had served as an assistant GM in Chicago and will now function as a senior advisor to top Reds baseball decisionmaker Dick Williams. A long-time big leaguer and former MLB skipper, Bell drew kind words from White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on his way out the door. As Kuc notes, Bell has roots in Cincinnati and figures to make for a valuable addition to the organization’s front office.

NL Central Notes: Bell, Anderson, Brewers, Ross

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The Reds have hired Buddy Bell for a senior advisor position in their front office, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports (Twitter link).  The team is expected to officially announce Bell’s hiring tomorrow.  Bell, who managed the Tigers, Rockies and Royals from 1996-2007, has been working in the White Sox front office for the last decade, most recently acting as Chicago’s assistant GM.  This will be Bell’s second stint in Cincinnati, as he played for the Reds from 1985-88 during his 18-year career in the big leagues.  The Bell family has long-standing ties in Cincinnati — Gus Bell (Buddy’s father) spent eight seasons with the Reds and is in the team’s Hall of Fame, while Buddy’s sons Mike and David also spent time with the Reds as a player and minor league manager, respectively.

Here’s more from around the NL Central…

  • Chase Anderson discussed his contract extension in a conference call with reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), noting that he was eager to put pen to paper after solidly establishing himself as a quality starter.  “Going into last season, I wasn’t sure I’d be in the rotation. But it showed me what I really could do and opened up different windows for me,” Anderson said.  “I always wanted a multi-year contract once I got into this position. When the team offers you an extension and it’s guaranteed money, it’s hard to turn it down.”  While he had three arbitration-eligible years remaining as a Super Two player, Anderson also turns 30 in November, so one can’t fault him for wanting to lock in a big payday.  The righty will earn at least $11.75MM from the contract’s two guaranteed years, and he could an addditional $29.25MM in 2020-21 should the Brewers exercise their two club options.
  • From that same conference call, Brewers GM David Stearns said the team is in discussions with some other players about multi-year contracts.  Stearns didn’t cite any names, though arbitration-eligible closer Corey Knebel seems like a logical candidate, as do pre-arb building blocks like Domingo Santana or Travis Shaw.
  • Now that Dave Martinez has been hired as the Nationals’ new manager, David Ross seems like a logical candidate to step into Martinez’s old role as the Cubs’ bench coach.  Two sources tell NBCSports.com’s Patrick Mooney, however, that it could be difficult for Ross to commit to the season-long job, given his family commitments and various off-the-field endeavors.  Ross is so widely respected around the game that he “can pretty much write his own job description” whenever he wants to dive back into a full-time baseball job.  Mooney suggests that Cubs first base coach Brandon Hyde could be an internal candidate for the bench coach position.

Central Notes: Twins, Cubs, Tilson, Royals

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Carl Willis’ name has been oft-mentioned in the Twins’ search for a new pitching coach, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The 56-year-old Willis has held that same position with the Red Sox since the 2015 campaign, but Boston’s coaching staff under now-former manager John Farrell was given the opportunity to explore opportunities with other teams. Willis is no stranger to the Twins organization, as he spent five seasons pitching for Minnesota in the early 90s and enjoyed a career year with the World Champion ’91 Twins. Heyman also notes that the Twins have interviewed former Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey, but Hickey’s ties to Cubs skipper Joe Maddon are strong. The Cubs also have a pitching coach vacancy after dismissing Chris Bosio following their exit from the NLCS.

More from baseball’s Central divisions…

  • Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein recently spoke about the team’s 2018 rotation and acknowledged a need, writes CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney. Epstein characterized left-hander Mike Montgomery as someone who will likely stretch out as a starter in Spring Training but “probably start the year in the bullpen” barring spring injuries. “And then at the end of the regular season, when you look up, he’ll have somewhere between 10 and 20 starts. And you’ll say: ‘Wow, Mike Montgomery was really valuable this year,'” said Epstein. As for splurging on the free-agent market, Epstein was non-committal when discussing a pursuit of Yu Darvish or a reunion with Jake Arrieta. “…I wouldn’t rule it out completely, and I wouldn’t rule it in,” said Epstein of pursuing a high-priced free-agent pitcher. “I would just say it’s not our preferred method.”
  • Ankle surgery has not yet been firmly ruled out for White Sox center fielder Charlie Tilson, writes Scot Gregor for Baseball America (subscription required and recommended). Tilson has been beset by injuries since being acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for Zach Duke in a 2016 deadline deal. He tore his hamstring in his MLB debut with the ChiSox in Aug. 2016, and he missed the 2017 campaign after suffering an offseason stress fracture in his right foot and a broken right ankle in June. Tilson was at last able to play in the instructional league this month, and he tells Gregor that those games were a “test” for the health of his right foot. “There’s always surgical possibilities, but I’m just trying to take it a day at a time and keep doing the things that are working for me,”  said Tilson. He’ll have some new competition next spring, as Adam Engel and Leury Garcia will be in Chicago’s center field mix as well.
  • The Royals have been discussing contingency plans for the potential departure of Eric Hosmer and/or Mike Moustakas, writes MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. One possibility is for prospect Hunter Dozier to slide across the diamond from third base to first base, with Cheslor Cuthbert manning the hot corner. Dozier has seen occasional time at first base in recent seasons and could see some additional time there playing winter ball in Mexico, though assistant GM J.J. Picollo tells Flanagan that Dozier’s goal in winter ball is just to get as many at-bats as possible regardless of position. If Hosmer and Moustakas do depart, it’s also possible that Cuthbert could play first next year with Dozier playing his natural third base, says Picollo, calling it “a matter of how we line up best defensively.”
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