D-backs Sign Matt Davidson To Minor League Deal
Infielder Matt Davidson is returning to the organization that drafted him, as the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate announced this weekend that Davidson has signed a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.
Selected with the No. 36 overall pick back in 2009, Davidson has shown plenty of power in the big leagues but hasn’t solidified himself as a consistent MLB contributor despite parts of five seasons in the Majors. The MVP Sports client last appeared for the 2020 Reds, hitting .163/.234/.395 with three homers and a double in 47 plate appearances.
In a total of 1075 plate appearances from 2013-20, Davidson is a lifetime .223/.292/.433 hitter with 52 home runs but a sky-high 34.2% strikeout rate. He’s split his big league time evenly between the two infield corners, and while there was some brief consideration of making Davidson a two-way player a few years ago, he has just 7 1/3 innings on the mound in his pro career.
Davidson will add some right-handed-hitting depth to the D-backs’ infield picture, and he’s coming off a massive performance with the Dodgers’ Triple-A club in 2021. Last year, in just 356 plate appearances with Oklahoma City, Davidson slugged 28 homers and tallied 21 doubles while batting .294/.365/.629 (136 wRC+).
Diamondbacks Announce Several Roster Moves
The Diamondbacks announced Friday that they’ve selected the contracts of utilityman Cooper Hummel, outfielder Kristian Robinson and righty Ryan Weiss to the 40-man roster. In a trio of corresponding moves, the D-backs passed lefty Miguel Aguilar, righty Kevin Ginkel and right-hander Riley Smith through waivers and outrighted them to Triple-A Reno.
The 26-year-old Hummel came over to Arizona from Milwaukee in this summer’s Eduardo Escobar trade and has done nothing but rake in his new organization. In 92 Triple-A games, split at 46 apiece between both teams, Hummel mashed for to the tune of .311/.432/.546 with 12 home runs. Perhaps most impressively, Hummel managed that level of production while walking (63) more times than he struck out (61). The 18th-rounder has gradually started to cede playing time behind the plate due to subpar receiving abilities, but after seeing action at both infield and outfield corners this past season he should have plenty of avenues to crack the Major League roster soon.
Kristian Robinson’s selection to the team’s roster has more to do with the 20-year-old’s top prospect status than it does with any recent performance. Coming into the season, the young outfielder was ranked as high as the 15th best prospect in the game by Baseball Prospectus, achieving that distinction without the benefit of a full season of A-level ball.
However, Robinson’s status is complicated by legal issues that could impact his visa status. In August, Robinson — a native of the Bahamas — pled guilty to an assault charge that could impact his ability to renew his work visa in the United States. Zach Buchanan of the Athletic covers Robinson’s situation in a detailed piece that’s well worth a read in full. Both the organization and Robinson’s attorney remain hopeful that his immigration status will be resolved in his favor now that he’s completed the community service to which he’d been sentenced as part of his plea agreement.
Robinson did not play in 2021. Now that he’s been added to the roster to keep him from selection in the Rule 5 draft, he’ll revert to the major league restricted list, general manager Mike Hazen told reporters (including Buchanan). He won’t count against the 40-man roster while he’s on the restricted list.
A 4th-rounder back in 2018, Ryan Weiss made his Double-A and Triple-A debuts this season. Across 78 innings between the two levels Weiss pitched to a 4.60 ERA, seeing action out of both the rotation and bullpen. The 24-year-old struck out roughly 27% of opposing batters but will need to tamp down on the number of baserunners he allowed in Triple-A before Arizona can count on him as a member of their pitching staff.
After a layoff in 202o the left-handed Aguilar struggled in his first Triple-A and big league look, posting ERAs north of 5 at both levels. Right-hander Kevin Ginkel wasn’t able to replicate the success he found in Arizona’s 2019 pen, pitching to a 6.35 ERA in 28 innings. It was a similar story for the right-handed Riley Smith, who spun 18+ innings of 1.47 ERA ball last season before struggling to the tune of a 6.01 ERA in 67 innings this year.
D-backs Hire Brent Strom As Pitching Coach
Nov. 18: The Diamondbacks have officially announced they’ve hired Strom as their pitching coach.
11:52am: Strom confirms to Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston that he has accepted an offer to be the next pitching coach of the Diamondbacks. “It’s an exciting time for me,” says Strom. “It’s a challenging job obviously. They’re much better than what their record showed.”
Strom also confirms the change of scenery to Rosenthal (Twitter links): “Me leaving the Astros had nothing to do with any disagreements or anything like that. Just a gut feeling on my part that eight years was long enough. It’s really in good shape with the people they have now.” He also heaps praise on Astros skipper Dusty Baker, calling him “as good a human being as I’ve ever been around in my life.”
11:43am: The Diamondbacks are set to hire Brent Strom as their new pitching coach, per Ken Rosenthal and Andy McCullough of The Athletic (Twitter link). The hire comes just nine days after Strom announced that he would not return as the Astros’ pitching coach.
Strom didn’t commit to retirement at the time of his departure from the Houston organization, suggesting such a route could be on the table but also squarely leaving the door open for further coaching opportunities in the Majors. As USA Today’s Bob Nightengale points out, Strom resides in Tucson, Ariz., so the move to the D-backs brings him much closer to home.
It’s a notable get for the D-backs, who had one of the worst pitching staffs in Major League Baseball this past season and will soon welcome a bevy of interesting young arms to the big league ranks. Strom spent eight seasons as the pitching coach for the Astros, helping to develop a number of quality young arms and also turn around the careers of some previously unheralded journeymen. While a pitching coach alone isn’t solely responsible for the successes of a staff — certainly not in the era of advance scouting and mounting data provided from analytics staffs — it’d be foolish not to credit Strom as a significant factor in the success of the Astros’ pitching staff over the years.
Young arms like Corbin Martin, Ryne Nelson, and Bryce Jarvis are all expected to begin next year in Double-A or higher, making them relatively near-term options for the big league club in Arizona. Strom ought to have the opportunity to work with them and with several of the D-backs younger arms in camp this spring, too — a group that includes names like Slade Cecconi and Blake Walston.
Of course, beyond the up-and-coming prospects, the D-backs will look to Strom to help right the ship for a club that posted the second-worst team ERA (5.15) and FIP (4.88) in all of Major League Baseball. Still-developing arms like Zac Gallen, Luke Weaver, Tyler Gilbert and J.B. Bukauskas will hope for better results and/or better health, and even an elder statesman such as Madison Bumgarner will surely welcome new ideas under Strom.
More than ever, it takes a village to field a competitive pitching staff (or, more broadly, a competitive roster), but there are few hires the D-backs could have made who would’ve commanded as much respect from the pitchers he’ll now oversee and from his peers on manager Torey Lovullo’s staff.
Coaching Notes: Royals, Cubs, D-Backs
The Royals announced two additions to their coaching staff last night. Keoni DeRenne is being hired as assistant hitting coach, while Damon Hollins will join the staff as first base coach. DeRenne, who previously spent time in the Pirates and Cubs organizations, has spent the past two seasons as Kansas City’s assistant hitting coordinator. Hollins, who appeared in parts of four big league seasons between 1998-2006, has been in the organization for more than a decade. He served as interim first base coach in 2020.
The latest on some other coaching situations around the game:
- The Cubs are expected to hire Johnny Washington as assistant hitting coach, reports Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic. He’ll replace Chris Valaika, who was hired as Guardians’ hitting coach last week. Washington spent a few seasons coaching with the Padres when current Cubs’ bench coach Andy Green was San Diego’s manager. Sharma notes that he spent the 2021 campaign as the hitting coach with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Washington also garnered some consideration during the Angels’ 2019-20 managerial search, a job that eventually went to former Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon.
- Former big league outfielder Peter Bourjos has moved into coaching, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks have hired the 34-year-old as a minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator. Bourjos appeared in parts of ten major league seasons as a player, suiting up for the Angels, Cardinals, Phillies, Rays and Braves between 2010-19. He has spent the past two years doing advance scouting work with the Rockies.
Joakim Soria Retires
Right-handed pitcher Joakim Soria is retiring, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, relaying word from Soria’s agent. The 37-year-old pitched for nine different teams over 14 MLB seasons.
Soria made his MLB debut for the Kansas City Royals back in 2007, throwing 69 innings with an ERA of 2.48 and notching 17 saves. He became a mainstay of the Royals’ bullpen through the 2011 campaign. In those five seasons, he pitched 315 1/3 innings with an ERA of 2.40 and racked up 160 saves. He was an All-Star twice, in 2008 and 2010.
That would prove to be the best stretch of Soria’s career, although he continued to be an effective reliever for another decade, pitching for the Rangers, Tigers and Pirates, returning to the Royals, and then stints with White Sox, Brewers and Athletics. In 2021, he started the season with the Diamondbacks and was later traded to the Blue Jays.
Over his entire career, he threw 763 innings with an ERA of 3.11, along with 831 strikeouts and 229 saves. MLBTR congratulates Soria on a fine career and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.
Diamondbacks Targeting Bullpen, Third Base Help
On the heels of an NL-worst 52-110 showing, the Diamondbacks are generally expected to be in for a quiet winter. Last month, Arizona GM Mike Hazen frankly acknowledged that competing in a loaded division in 2022 looked unlikely, and he sounded slightly more open than he’d been in the past to considering trades that would send away marquee members of the roster.
Still, Hazen pushed back against the possibility of a full rebuild at that time, and assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye took a similar stance yesterday when speaking with reporters (including Zach Buchanan of the Athletic). Asked about the possibility of moving high-caliber, controllable players like Ketel Marte, Zac Gallen and Carson Kelly, Sawdaye reiterated that the D-Backs hope to build around what he called “cornerstone-type players.” Just as Hazen has on a few occasions, Sawdaye said the Snakes would “never say never” on any possibility, but he also didn’t sound anxious to tear the roster to the studs.
“We go into every season with the idea that we want to put the best possible team out there that’s going to go out and compete,” Sawdaye said (via Buchanan). “I don’t think we ever wave the white flag and say, ‘Well, we’re going to give up on ’22.” Sawdaye instead suggested the D-Backs would look for external upgrades, pointing to the bullpen and third base as areas of need.
The Diamondbacks had plenty of issues this past season, but it’s arguable that the relief corps was the biggest culprit. Only the Orioles and Nationals had a worse bullpen ERA than Arizona’s 5.08, and D-Backs relievers ranked dead last in both SIERA (4.56) and strikeout/walk rate differential (9.7 percentage points). Since the end of the season, they’ve already picked up a pair of relief options (Zack Burdi and Edwin Uceta) off waivers, but it seems they’ll scour the free agent market for additional options. Sawdaye didn’t suggest the D-Backs would play for top-of-the-market arms like Raisel Iglesias or Kendall Graveman, but the front office has plenty of lower-cost candidates to choose from. The Snakes can add at least add some veteran stability to the middle innings, since they’re only returning one reliever (Sean Poppen) who worked at least ten innings with a sub-4.00 SIERA in 2021.
On the position player side, Sawdaye called third base “the clearest need on our infield.” Eduardo Escobar and Asdrúbal Cabrera soaked up the bulk of the innings there this year, but both players were moved to contenders before the end of the season. The D-Backs could theoretically make another run at either player now that they’re free agents, but Escobar seems likely to price himself out of their market and Cabrera didn’t play particularly well. Beyond Kris Bryant and Kyle Seager, the free agent market offers mostly utility types at the hot corner.
Interestingly, Sawdaye suggested the D-Backs could try to pick up a controllable third base option via trade. Even if Arizona doesn’t wind up trading long-term assets, they could move someone like starter Merrill Kelly, who’ll make just $5.25MM in his final year of team control. Perhaps a Kelly deal could bring back a controllable infielder, and Sawdaye also floated the possibility of a “prospect-for-prospect-type deal” eventually coming together. The D-Backs themselves were part of perhaps the most notable trade of that kind in recent memory, when they picked up Gallen from the Marlins for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the 2019 trade deadline.
There seems to be a bit of room on the books for the front office to make some upgrades, even if none of Sawdaye’s comments portend a pursuit at the top of the market. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource projects the D-Backs’ 2022 commitments around $80MM at the moment, and non-tenders of players like Christian Walker, Noé Ramirez and Caleb Smith could knock a few million dollars off that mark. Arizona entered the 2021 campaign with a payroll just shy of $96MM, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. If owner Ken Kendrick is willing to spend at that level again, then Arizona could be more active than one might expect in augmenting the roster around the margins.
Diamondbacks Select Jose Herrera
The D-Backs announced this afternoon they’ve selected catcher Jose Herrera to the 40-man roster. The move keeps him from qualifying for minor league free agency. Arizona’s 40-man is now full.
Herrera, 24, has been in the Diamondback organization for his entire career. The Snakes signed him as an amateur out of Venezuela during the 2013-14 international period, and he’s slowly progressed up the minor league ladder. Herrera reached the high minors for the first time in 2021, splitting the campaign between Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno. Over 360 cumulative plate appearances, the switch-hitting backstop posted a .258/.364/.422 line with eleven homers, drawing walks at a robust 14.2% clip.
That solid showing impressed the D-Backs front office enough they decided not to risk losing Herrera in free agency. He joins Carson Kelly and Daulton Varsho as catchers on the Arizona roster.
D-backs Decline Option On Tyler Clippard
6:19 pm: Arizona confirmed (Twitter link) that they declined their end of Clippard’s mutual option for the 2022 season.
11:34 am: Diamondbacks right-hander Tyler Clippard has been formally declared a free agent, per an announcement from the MLBPA. Clippard’s contract with Arizona had a $3.5MM mutual option for the 2022 season that came with a $500K buyout.
D-backs general manager Mike Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro yesterday that he could not yet say whether Clippard’s option would be picked up or bought out. It’s not immediately clear which side declined the option — Clippard had the right to decline before the D-backs made their intent known — but the result is the same: Clippard will receive that $500K buyout and return to the free-agent market in search of a new opportunity.
Clippard, 37 in February, is a perennially effective and perennially underrated reliever who’ll now likely look to sign what would be a fifth consecutive one-year deal. The veteran changeup specialist signed a one-year pact in Arizona last year, suffered a shoulder strain during Spring Training, and spent nearly four months on the injured list. However, when healthy, Clippard had another generally productive run. In 25 1/3 innings, he yielded a solid 3.20 ERA with just three home runs allowed.
That said, Clippard’s 2021 season wasn’t without its red flags — even beyond the injury. This year’s 18.9% strikeout rate was his lowest since 2008, while his 9.9% walk rate was his highest since 2017. Clippard has never been a flamethrower, but his 89.1 mph average fastball this season was also a career-low and ranked as the 16th-lowest mark among 344 relievers with at least 20 innings pitched.
It should also be pointed out that while Clippard and that signature changeup have historically dominated opposing left-handed batters, that was far from the case in 2021. Rather, Clippard was clubbed for a .279/.354/.581 line by opposing lefties. Clippard’s dominance over lefties and similarly (and more expected) sharp results against right-handers has long been one of his most desirable assets, so this year’s struggles in that regard could further dampen his market.
Diamondbacks To Exercise Option On Merrill Kelly, Decline Option On Kole Calhoun
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen provided details on two of the team’s three option decisions, as Hazen told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that the D’Backs will exercise their $5.25MM club option on righty Merrill Kelly and decline their $9MM club option on outfielder Kole Calhoun. The fate of Tyler Clippard‘s $3.5MM mutual option (with a $500K buyout) is still undecided, Hazen said.
There wasn’t much suspense in either decision, as Kelly had a pretty solid year in his return from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. Kelly posted a 4.44 ERA over 158 innings, delivering his usual quality walk rate to help offset a lot of hard contact and a below-average strikeout rate. The Diamondbacks are hoping Kelly can match or better this performance in 2022 as the team looks for more stability in the rotation.
Next season will be the final year of Arizona’s control over Kelly, as per the two-year, $5.5MM contract with two club options that he signed back in December 2018. With this final option year now exercised, the deal will work out to a four-year, $14.5MM pact.
Calhoun signed a two-year, $16MM free agent to join his hometown D’Backs during the 2019-20 offseason, and hit .226/.338/.526 with 16 home runs over 228 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 season. That solid performance was followed up by an injury-plagued 2021, as Calhoun underwent a knee surgery in Spring Training and then a left hamstring surgery less than two months later. His rehab from that second procedure was extended by a setback, and Calhoun also spent another month on the IL with a strain in that same left hamstring late in the year.
All told, Calhoun appeared in only 51 games and hit .235/.297/.373 over 182 PA. Calhoun might have been a trade chip had he been healthy, either back in July at the trade deadline or perhaps this winter, if he’d hit well enough for the Diamondbacks to exercise that club option. Instead, the D’Backs will buy out that $9MM option for $2MM and Calhoun will hit the market in advance of his age-34 season.
A return to Arizona could be unlikely, as while Hazen praised Calhoun for being “awesome for us in and out of the clubhouse,” the D’Backs already have quite a few left-handed outfield options. Calhoun hit both left-handed and right-handed pitching pretty evenly for a lot of his career, but over the last three seasons has developed more traditional splits. It seems likely that Calhoun will catch on with another team in need of some veteran pop from the left side of the plate, and Calhoun’s right field glovework has remained pretty good, even amidst all his leg injuries in 2021.
Diamondbacks Hire Jeff Banister As Bench Coach
The D-Backs announced they’ve hired Jeff Banister as bench coach. It’s the Snakes’ second key coaching addition in as many weeks, as Arizona recently hired Joe Mather as hitting coach.
Banister picked up one big league plate appearance with the 1991 Pirates, but he’s far better known for his post-playing accomplishments. He received his first professional managerial job at age 30, spending 1994-98 managing at the lower levels of the Pittsburgh farm system. Banister moved into a broader organizational role in 1998 and spent the next decade-plus as a major and minor league field coordinator before landing his first job on a big league staff as Clint Hurdle’s bench coach in 2010.
Over the next few seasons, Banister was frequently mentioned as a strong managerial candidate. That opportunity presented itself after the 2014 campaign, when the Rangers tabbed Banister to succeed Ron Washington. Texas was very successful over his first couple seasons, winning the AL West in both 2015 and 2016. Banister was rewarded with an AL Manager of the Year selection in his first year at the helm, but the success proved short-lived. The Rangers finished below .500 in both 2017 and 2018, and the club dismissed him towards the end of that latter season. All told, Texas went 325-313 (.509 winning percentage) in just under four years with Banister managing.
After spending a couple seasons back in the Pirates’ front office, Banister spent this past year as director of player development for the University of Northern Colorado. After one season in Greeley, he’ll return to a big league staff for the first time since being dismissed by the Rangers. The 57-year-old will be the top lieutenant for D-Backs’ skipper Torey Lovullo, who’s entering his sixth season leading the Arizona clubhouse.