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Diamondbacks Outright Yasmany Tomas

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April 2: Tomas has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno, the team announced Monday.

March 31: The Diamondbacks have placed outfielder Yasmany Tomas on outright waivers, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The move will open up a spot on Arizona’s 40-man roster, which had been at capacity.

A former star in Cuba, Tomas has been a letdown since immigrating to the majors on a six-year, $68.5MM guarantee entering the 2015 season. With around $46MM of that money still coming his way, the 27-year-old Tomas is a strong bet to clear waivers. Given that he has three years of service time, Tomas could refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but as Piecoro notes, he’s unlikely to do so because it would mean vacating the contract.

The Diamondbacks previously optioned Tomas to Triple-A entering the season, even though they had just lost starting outfielder Steven Souza Jr. to the disabled list with a pectoral strain. That was clearly a damning sign for Tomas, who has struggled mightily in both the offensive and defensive facets of the game during his Diamondbacks tenure.

While Tomas did belt 31 home runs 563 plate appearances back in 2016, he still wasn’t far above the league average as a hitter that year, evidenced by a 109 wRC+. On the whole, the right-hander has slashed just .268/.307/.462 (98 wRC+) with 48 long balls in 1,169 PAs. He has been significantly worse in the field, meanwhile, having posted minus-30 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-23.3 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Tomas’ combination of underwhelming offense and horrid defense has led to a sub-replacement level career fWAR (minus-1.4) and likely a stay in the minors for the foreseeable future.

Orioles Trade Stefan Crichton To Diamondbacks

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The Orioles announced that they’ve traded right-hander Stefan Crichton to the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Crichton was one of four right-handers designated for assignment by the Orioles on Opening Day as they created roster space for veterans Colby Rasmus, Danny Valencia, Craig Gentry and Pedro Alvarez.

Crichton, 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining, so the D-backs can shuttle him back and forth between Reno and the Majors this year and next, if they wish, without needing to worry about exposing him to waivers.

Souza Ahead Of Schedule; Latest On Goldschmidt Contract

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  • The Diamondbacks may not need to fill in for outfielder Steven Souza for quite as long as had been feared, as Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports on Twitter that Souza’s pectoral strain is progressing better than anticipated. That’s promising near-term news for the D-backs, but the team’s long-term outlook remains subject to quite a lot of uncertainty, as Buchanan explores in a subscription piece. The key question, perhaps, is whether the organization can find common ground on a second extension with Paul Goldschmidt. As Buchanan explains, there’s no real indication at this point whether that’ll take place, though CEO Derrick Hall does tell him that “neither side feels an urgency” to explore a new deal at the moment.

D'Backs Name Brad Boxberger As Closer

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  • Brad Boxberger has been named the Diamondbacks’ closer, the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and others reported.  Boxberger posted a league-best 41 saves in his first season as the Rays’ closer back in 2015, though injuries both cost him the job and limited him to 53 2/3 total innings in 2016-17.  Now healthy, Boxberger could again blossom into an effective late-game weapon for Arizona, though Piecoro notes that the larger factor in the Diamondbacks’ decision might’ve been the team’s preference to keep Archie Bradley as a fireman rather than in a strict ninth-inning role.  For updates on every team’s closing situation, be sure to follow MLBTR’s sister Twitter feed @CloserNews.

Diamondbacks Outright Albert Suarez

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The Diamondbacks outrighted right-hander Albert Suarez after he cleared waivers, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports on Twitter. He has accepted the assignment, per the report.

Suarez was selected in the Rule 5 draft from the Giants in December. He did not have to be offered back to the San Francisco organization, though, owing to the fact that he had previously been outrighted.

For Arizona, the result is the chance to hang onto the out-of-options Suarez at Triple-A as depth when the season gets underway. Suarez has some MLB experience, having thrown 115 2/3 innings of 4.51 ERA ball over the past two seasons. He allowed nine earned runs on 15 hits and five walks while recording ten strikeouts in his 12 1/3 innings this spring.

Diamondbacks To Extend Ketel Marte

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TODAY: The deal is now official.

YESTERDAY, 4:26pm: Zach Buchanan of The Athletic has tweeted the full breakdown. Marte will receive a $2MM signing bonus and $1MM salary for the coming season, followed by $2MM, $4MM, $6MM, and $8MM salaries through the guaranteed seasons (2019-22).

The options are valued at $10MM and $12MM, each of which come with a $1MM buyout. Incentives (details of which remain unknown) could tack on another $4MM overall.

11:41am: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a five-year, $24MM extension with middle infielder Ketel Marte, Robert Murray of FanRag reports. The deal also comes with a pair of option years worth a combined $22MM, which could make it a seven-year, $46MM pact. Marte is a client of the Legacy Agency.

The Diamondbacks already had Marte under control for the next half-decade, including four arbitration-eligible years, but the extension means they won’t go through that process at all with him. The Phillies made a similar decision Sunday when they signed infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery to a five-year, $24MM guarantee of his own.

The 24-year-old Marte is about to begin his second season in Arizona, which acquired him from Seattle in a blockbuster November 2016 trade. Because the deal also featured Taijuan Walker, Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger, Marte flew under the radar at the time, especially after enduring a rough 2016 with the Mariners. Marte impressed his new team last year, however, even though he didn’t post eye-popping offensive numbers in the majors.

After spending nearly the first three months of 2017 at the Triple-A level, where he raked over 338 plate appearances (.338/.391/.514 – good for a 135 wRC+), the Diamondbacks promoted Marte in late June. The switch-hitter went on to bat .260/.345/.395 (89 wRC+) with five home runs and three stolen bases in 255 PAs. To his credit, Marte collected nearly as many walks (29) as strikeouts (37), and as Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wrote in December, there’s data suggesting he could be in line for a breakout. Marte was somewhat of a Statcast darling last year, evidenced by his 19th-place ranking in sprint speed and a quality xwOBA (.342).

While Marte’s only a .265/.319/.361 hitter (84 wRC+) with eight homers and 22 steals in 968 major league PAs, the D-backs seem optimistic he’s indeed capable of more in their uniform. And they saw him fare nicely in the field last season, where he logged four Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.1 Ultimate Zone Rating in 507 innings at shortstop. Marte’s now likely to give up short in favor of Nick Ahmed, a gifted defender who missed most of last season, and move to second. It’ll be a relatively new position in the bigs for Marte, who hasn’t lined up at the keystone since logging 31 innings there as a rookie in 2015.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

D-Backs Release Chris Herrmann, Trade Ramon Flores

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  • After being designated for assignment yesterday, catcher Chris Herrmann was released by the Diamondbacks, per a club announcement. The 30-year-old won’t get a chance to prove he can return to the strong batting output he produced in 2016 — at least in Arizona.  That effort earned Herrmann a career-high 256 plate appearances last season, but he managed only a .181/.273/.345 batting line. He has, however, enjoyed a solid spring, swatting two long balls and carrying a .300/.324/.567 slash in 34 Cactus League plate appearances.
  • The Diamondbacks have sent outfielder Ramon Flores to the Red Sox, Cotillo also tweets. It is not apparent what Arizona is getting back in return, or whether Flores might even be the PTBNL in the recent swap between the teams. Either way, it’s a minor transactions. Flores signed a minors deal with Arizona and has struggled this spring. He carries only a .204/.281/.256 slash line in 331 plate appearances, but has generally hit well at Triple-A. Last year, Flores hit .312/.409/.460 with ten home runs and 68 walks against 70 strikeouts in his 493 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors.

Details On Fernando Salas' Contract

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  • Fernando Salas’ minor league contract with the Diamondbacks will pay him $1.5MM in base salary now that he has made the team’s Opening Day roster, The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan reports (Twitter link).  The right-hander can also earn some additional money via performances bonuses.  Salas posted an 0.90 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and just two walks over 10 spring innings for the D’Backs, an impressive performance that won him a slot on the 25-man roster.

Diamondbacks Designate Chris Herrmann For Assignment, Select Jorge De La Rosa’s Contract

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The Diamondbacks have designated catcher Chris Herrmann for assignment, as per a team press release.  In a corresponding move, the team also selected the contract of left-hander Jorge De La Rosa.

Herrmann enjoyed something of a breakout season in part-time action with Arizona in 2016, when he hit .284/.352/.493 over 166 plate appearances with the team.  He was a particularly valuable part-time piece due to his ability to not just work behind the plate, but also to play some corner outfield if need be, not to mention a couple of games each in center field and first base.  Unfortunately for Herrmann, his production took a big step backwards last season with just a .181/.273/.345 slash line over 256 PA, though a .207 BABIP certainly may have contributed to that dropoff.

With Alex Avila signed as the new regular catcher and Jeff Mathis still in the mix for backup duty, Herrmann become an expendable piece for the D’Backs.  Though the club regularly used three catchers last season, John Ryan Murphy looks like the top choice for that role, perhaps due to his lower price tag.  Herrmann avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.3MM with the D’Backs for 2018, though since arbitration salaries aren’t guaranteed, the team would only owe Herrmann 30 days’ worth of termination pay (just under $227K) if the catcher was released before Opening Day.

De La Rosa posted a 4.21 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 2.14 K/BB rate over 51 1/3 innings for Arizona last season, his first full year as a relief pitcher.  While it could be something of a waste using a durable former starter as a specialist, De La Rosa had such enormous splits last season (left-handed batters hit just .192/.253/.292 slash line against De La Rosa in 79 PA, while right-handed batters hit .262/.362/.458 against him in 140 PA) that the D’Backs could be well-advised to at least limit his exposure against righty-swingers.  With Andrew Chafin and T.J. McFarland also projected to serve as left-handed options in the Snakes’ bullpen, the club has some flexibility to be creative with how it deploys its southpaw relief corps.

By making the Opening Day roster, De La Rosa will now earn $2.25MM in base salary, as per the terms of his minor league contract with the D’Backs.  Another $600K is available in bonus money.

Diamondbacks Option Yasmany Tomas

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  • The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve optioned outfielder Yasmany Tomas to Triple-A Reno. With a $10MM salary, Tomas ranks among the D-backs’ highest-paid players, which makes this an especially notable move. Despite both Tomas’ price tag and starting oufielder Steven Souza Jr.’s injury, the former still wasn’t able to win a roster spot this spring. It’s the latest negative development in what has been a disappointing major league career for Tomas, who parlayed stardom in Cuba into a six-year, $68.5MM guarantee with Arizona heading into 2015. Still just 27, Tomas has been worth minus-1.4 fWAR in the majors, where he has batted a mediocre .268/.307/.462 in 1,169 plate appearances and been borderline unplayable in the outfield (minus-30 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-23.3 Ultimate Zone Rating).
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