Minor MLB Transactions: 2/11/19
Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…
- Right-hander A.J. Cole cleared waivers, the Indians announced Monday. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Columbus and will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee to Major League camp. Cleveland plucked Cole off waivers when the Yankees had designated him for assignment last month. The Indians will now have the luxury of trying to capitalize on the strong ability Cole showed to miss bats last season without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to that effort. Cole averaged 11.6 K/9 with a gaudy 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate and 34.3 percent chase rate in 38 innings of relief with the Yankees. The long ball was his undoing, though, as he surrendered a wholly unacceptable nine big flies in those 38 frames (2.13 HR/9).
Earlier Moves
- The Rays have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Tyler Cloyd, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training when pitchers and catchers report this week. Cloyd, 31, didn’t appear in the Majors from 2014-16 but returned to MLB with a lone inning in 2017 before tallying 17 2/3 frames for the Marlins last year. He’s allowed 17 runs in 18 2/3 innings since returning to the Majors. Cloyd did post a solid 68-to-18 K/BB ratio in 85 1/3 innings with Triple-A New Orleans last year, although a susceptibility to home runs and a low strand rate led to a less encouraging 5.17 ERA overall with the Marlins’ top affiliate. The Rays cycled through 31 pitchers a year ago (which is less than it sounds like in today’s game) and could see that number rise in 2019 if they more aggressively employ their utilization of openers and bullpen-heavy games.
Quick Hits: Arenado, Int’l Prospects, Jones, CarGo, Bauer, Storen, Marlins
Nolan Arenado‘s extension talks with the Rockies could create a big impact around baseball, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes in an exploration of both the short-term and long-term effects of an Arenado deal. Most obviously, an extension would remove arguably the biggest name from the 2019-20 free agent class, which would be a boon to other stars who will be hitting the open market — in particular, Anthony Rendon would see his biggest competition in the third base market disappear. (Of course, Rendon could also ink his own long-term deal to stay with the Nationals.) More immediately, an Arenado extension could also set a new benchmark for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, should Arenado and the Rockies come to an agreement before Harper or Machado land contracts this winter.
Some stray items from around baseball as we head into the new week…
- Ten of the top names available in the 2019-20 international signing market are profiled by Baseball America’s Ben Badler, all of whom have teams already unofficially attached to their services even though the market doesn’t properly open until July 2. Dominican outfielder Jasson Dominguez and Dominican shortstop Robert Puason are projected for the highest bonuses, each expected to land something around $5MM, with Dominguez linked to the Yankees and Puason connected to the Athletics.
- While the Indians are still looking for outfield help, the team isn’t currently “aggressively pursuing” Adam Jones or Carlos Gonzalez, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports. Both veterans were only moderately productive in 2018, both with below-average offensive numbers (as per wRC+) and Jones with some of the worst defensive metrics (minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved, -14.8 UZR/150) of any center fielder in baseball. That said, both players could still represent an upgrade for Cleveland’s shaky outfield, though it appears the Tribe is checking other options for now.
- Trevor Bauer‘s arbitration hearing took place on Friday, Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes reports, so details should soon emerge about the outcome. There was a $2MM gap between Bauer and the Indians in exchanged figures, as Bauer’s camp is looking for a $13MM salary in 2019 and the team is aiming for an $11MM salary. This will be the second arb hearing in as many years between the two sides, as Bauer defeated the Tribe in the hearing last winter to land his desired $6.525MM salary for the 2018 season. Like Kluber, Bauer has also been a major figure in trade rumors this offseason. He has one less year of team control than Kluber and a less-extensive track record, though Bauer is also almost five years younger than his rotation mate.
- The Royals have interest in veteran righty Drew Storen, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reports (Twitter link). Storen didn’t pitch last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2017. The 31-year-old was a key figure in the Nationals’ bullpen from 2010-15, though he suffered through a disastrous half-season stint with the Blue Jays in 2016 before righting the ship after a July trade to the Mariners. Prior to his injury, Storen had a 4.45 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 2.09 K/BB rate over 54 2/3 innings out of the Reds’ bullpen in 2017. Storen won’t carry a heavy price tag as he makes his return from TJ surgery, making him a target for payroll-conscious Kansas City.
- “Every trade, we’re trying to get back international money,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told reporters, including Barry Jackson and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. It’s clear that the international market is a cornerstone of Miami’s rebuilding process, and the club has been successful in landing extra money for their int’l draft pool in recent trades with the Astros, Reds, Nationals, and (as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade package) Phillies. These extra funds have already paid dividends, as the Marlins signed highly-touted Cuban brothers Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. last October.
Indians Increasingly Unlikely To Trade Corey Kluber
“There is almost no chance” the Indians deal ace right-hander Corey Kluber before pitchers and catchers report to Cleveland’s Spring Training camp on Thursday, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports. This would seemingly close on the door entirely on a Kluber trade, as Morosi notes that “it’s believed that the team won’t be receptive to active trade conversations during Spring Training,” and talks also wouldn’t take place during the season unless the Tribe fell out of contention by the July trade deadline.
Rumors have swirled around Kluber for months, since news broke in early November that the Indians were open to discussing any of their veteran players in an effort to cut payroll. Beyond Kluber, names such as Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Kipnis, Edwin Encarnacion, Yonder Alonso, and Yan Gomes were also floated as potential trade chips. As the offseason progressed, the Tribe ended up dealing Alonso, Encarnacion and Gomes (while solidifying Carrasco as a long-term piece by signing him to an extension).
With some financial breathing room established, there seemed to be less chance that Kluber or Bauer would also be dealt. Cleveland’s high asking price also surely played a role, as the Tribe reportedly would only move either pitcher for a prospect package akin to what the White Sox received from the Red Sox for Chris Sale. The Reds, Yankees, Mets, Padres, Phillies, Brewers, and Dodgers were all rumored to be discussing Kluber at one point or another this winter, though barring a late-breaking change of heart, it doesn’t seem like the two-time Cy Young Award winner is going anywhere.
Kluber’s third-place finish in the 2018 AL Cy Young race unlocked up to $12MM worth of extra bonus money in his contract, as his 2019 salary is now $17MM, and his 2020 club option is raised to $17.5MM, and his 2021 club option to $18MM (both option years come with a $1MM buyout). Even at the $52.5MM maximum over those three seasons, that’s still a very reasonable price for a pitcher who has been one of the game’s best hurlers over the last five years, even for a smaller-market team like Cleveland. Whereas the first base/DH power of Encarnacion and Alonso could be more readily replaced (by Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers) by the Indians, it would’ve been much harder to fill Kluber’s void atop the rotation, even considering the Tribe’s enviable rotation depth.
Kluber does turn 33 in April, and he did experience both a significant spike in his hard-hit ball rate and a slight velocity drop in 2018, so the argument could be made that the Indians would’ve been prudent in selling high. Still, Kluber hardly looked like a pitcher in decline last year, and there’s relatively little long-term risk involved for the Tribe since 2019 is the right-hander’s last guaranteed year. For a Cleveland team that intends on another playoff run this season, trading Kluber seems like it only would’ve been a consideration if another club had been willing to overpay. At worst, the Tribe has collected some intel on a potential Kluber market should they indeed end up exploring their options at the trade deadline.
Quick Hits: Keuchel, Marwin, Padres, Tribe, Wilson, Athletics
Free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel asked for a six- to seven-year contract worth $25MM to $30MM per annum at the beginning of the offseason, while fellow ex-Astros teammate and Scott Boras client Marwin Gonzalez sought a deal in the $60MM neighborhood, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. Both Keuchel and Gonzalez remain on the unemployment line, meaning they haven’t landed offers in those ranges, and it’s not surprising in either case if those asking prices are accurate. Entering the offseason, MLBTR predicted an $82MM guarantee for the 32-year-old Keuchel and $36MM for the soon-to-be 30-year-old Gonzalez, who wants a pact similar to the four-year, $56MM accord fellow utilityman Ben Zobrist signed with the Cubs going into the 2016 campaign. Zobrist, however, reached the market as a far more accomplished player than Gonzalez has been to this point.
More from around the game…
- With Wil Myers, Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe, Franchy Cordero, Franmil Reyes and Travis Jankowski in the mix, the Padres have a surplus of major league outfielders. However, “it’s looking less likely by the day” they’ll trade any of those players before the season, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. In the event a deal doesn’t come together in the next couple months, the Padres could demote anyone from the group expect for Myers, who’s the only one without a minor league option remaining.
- Before the Indians signed him to a minor league deal this past Thursday, reliever Alex Wilson “had interest from 10 or 11 different clubs, different minor league options,” he tells Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. The presences of now-injured shortstop Francisco Lindor and catcher Roberto Perez helped influence Wilson’s decision to sign with the Tribe, the right-hander added. The 32-year-old Wilson spent the past few years with the AL Central rival Tigers, with whom he logged a terrific 3.20 ERA and posted 5.85 K/9 against 2.11 BB/9 over 264 2/3 innings.
- Athletics righty James Kaprielian suffered a setback in his shoulder and will undergo an MRI, manager Bob Melvin told Jane Lee of MLB.com, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters Sunday. The severity is unknown, but it’s still a disappointing development for the A’s and the 24-year-old Kaprielian, who hasn’t pitched professionally since 2016 because of shoulder problems. Kaprielian, a first-round pick in 2016, was a key part of the A’s return from the Yankees for Sonny Gray in 2017.
- Regardless of what happens with Kaprielian, Oakland “would love” to pick up one or two more starters prior to the season, Slusser writes. The low-budget Athletics aren’t looking to spend a lot, per Slusser, but there are a few pitchers on the market who could appeal to them. Free agents Brett Anderson and Edwin Jackson were key members of last year’s playoff-bound A’s starting-staff, for instance, and they have shown interest in the unsigned Gio Gonzalez, an Athletic from 2008-11.
Indians To Sign Alex Wilson
The Indians have agreed to terms with reliever Alex Wilson, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The right-hander receives a minor-league deal with an invitation to MLB Spring Training.
Wilson will need to earn his way onto the Indians roster this spring. If he can do so, he would stand to earn $1.25MM for the 2019 season. The deal also includes a $750K incentives package.
The 32-year-old Wilson was a perennial contributor to the Tigers bullpen over the prior four seasons. All told, through parts of six MLB campaigns, he carries a 3.23 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 along with a 44.8% groundball rate. The bottom-line numbers were similar last year, when Wilson ran a 3.36 ERA in his 61 2/3 frames while boosting his groundball rate to 49.2%.
Any team would certainly love to have a durable, low-3 reliever in its pen. The issue with Wilson is whether that sort of performance can really be anticipated moving forward. The Detroit organization obviously wasn’t optimistic, as it non-tendered him rather than paying a projected $2.8MM salary. And the rest of the league declined to come forward with a 40-man spot before the start of camp.
Wilson sits in range of 93 mph with his four-seam and two-seam fastballs. He throws breaking balls as well but relies most heavily on cutter/slider offering. Wilson’s hard-to-classify main pitch was more effective than ever last year even as he boosted its usage to the point that he utilized it in half of the pitches he delivered.
To date, Wilson has maxed out that arsenal and done just enough to get outs, even without a swing-and-miss offering or sustained, elite groundball production. He doesn’t issue many walks and has historically not outperformed Statcast’s expectations (career .317 wOBA-against vs. .314 xwOBA-against), but ERA estimators haven’t been enthused (career 3.81 FIP, 4.39 xFIP, 4.14 SIERA).
Those interested in learning more about where Wilson has been and where he might be headed would do well to check out this lengthy look from SB Nation’s Brandon Day.
Francisco Lindor Out Seven To Nine Weeks Due To Calf Strain
Spring Training isn’t even underway, but the Indians have already announced a bit of tough news for fans, revealing Friday that star shortstop Francisco Lindor suffered a right calf strain in prepping for camp. Per the team’s announcement, Lindor will be ready to return to “Major League game activity” in seven to nine weeks. Seven weeks would put Lindor on track to be ready for the beginning of the regular season, though if his rehab takes closer to the longer end of that timetable, he’d miss the first couple of weeks of the year.
If Lindor is to miss time early on, the Indians can turn to one of Max Moroff or Yu Chang as a short-term stopgap. While the short-term nature of Lindor’s injury doesn’t necessarily force Cleveland into making a major addition. However, looking at the current assortment of bench options, the argument could already be made that the team is in need of some additional infield depth. At the very least, adding a player such as Adeiny Hechavarria, Alcides Escobar or Jose Iglesias in a reserve role now seems a bit more prudent than it already did, especially given the possibility for lingering effects that are inherent to any injury.
Even missing out on Lindor for a couple of weeks could prove quite detrimental for the Indians, given that the level of payroll approved by ownership forced the front office into a series of moves that have actively weakened the roster. Meanwhile, both the Twins and White Sox have made some improvements, with the latter still actively pursuing some big-name upgrades.
Lindor, one of the game’s most dynamic players, turned in a brilliant .277/.352/.519 slash with 38 homers and 25 steals en route to a sixth-place finish in American League MVP voting. Paired with his defense at shortstop, Lindor was worth nearly eight wins above replacement. The 25-year-old paced the Majors in plate appearances and runs scored, though it’s now decidedly less likely that he’ll be able to replicate either feat.
Indians To Sign Matt Joyce
11:16am: Joyce’s contract comes with a $1.25MM base salary if he makes the roster, and he can earn an additional $500K based on his number of plate appearances, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).
8:10am: It’s a minor league pact for Joyce, Joe Noga of Cleveland.com reports. He’ll be in Major League camp with the Indians this spring and look to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster.
7:35am: Free-agent outfielder Matt Joyce announced this morning, via Twitter, that he’s agreed to sign with the Indians. Terms of the deal for the ACES client are not yet known.
The 34-year-old Joyce will join Cleveland in search of a rebound campaign after struggling through a down season with the A’s in 2018. Last year, in the second season of a two-year deal worth $10MM, Joyce hit just .208/.322/.353 with seven home runs and nine doubles in 246 plate appearances across 83 games. Back troubles hampered him along the way, as he spent nearly two months of the summer on the disabled list due to a lumbar strain.
That said, Joyce is just a year removed from turning in a .243/.335/.473 slash with a career-best 25 homers in 541 plate appearances with Oakland. That type of production would be a welcome sight for an Indians organization whose current outfield mix is expected to feature Greg Allen, Leonys Martin, Tyler Naquin, Jordan Luplow and, if healthy, Bradley Zimmer. Joyce doesn’t exactly bring stability to that uncertain mix, given questions about his own production following last year’s rough results, but if he’s healthy there’s a good chance he’ll be among the club’s more productive options.
Joyce, after all, turned in decidedly above-average offensive output in seven of the eight seasons leading up to 2018 and is a career .250/.351/.451 hitter against right-handed pitching. He’s best deployed in a platoon capacity (.184/.267/.306 career slash against lefties), making him a potentially nice pairing with the right-handed-hitting Luplow.
On the defensive side of the coin, Joyce is limited to the outfield corners, although he did log 16 innings in center for the A’s in a pinch across the past two seasons. He’s generally received average or better marks for his range in both left field and right field, and he has more than 2900 innings of big league experience at both positions.
Indians Sign Ryan Flaherty, Dioner Navarro
The Indians have inked minors deals with infielder Ryan Flaherty and catcher Dioner Navarro, according to a club announcement. (H/t MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.) Both receive MLB camp invites.
Many Braves fans were encourage by a hot start to the 2018 season from Flaherty, though his early heroics never appeared sustainable and were largely a function of a .450 average on balls in play through his first 60 trips to the plate. Following that hot streak, Flaherty crumbled and hit .147/.223/.193 through season’s end. Flaherty, a career .216/.286/.347 hitter through parts of seven MLB seasons (1452 PAs) will give the Indians some depth at second base, shortstop and third base.
Navarro, meanwhile, didn’t appear in the big leagues or even in affiliated ball in either of the past two seasons. He’s a career .250/.309/.370 hitter in part of 13 MLB campaigns but will need to reestablish himself — be it in Spring Training or in Triple-A — after an underwhelming showing with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League in 2018. With the Ducks, Navarro batted .268/.299/.437 — albeit it in just 20 games.
Indians Designate A.J. Cole For Assignment
The Indians announced that they’ve designated right-hander A.J. Cole for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly acquired right-hander Nick Wittgren.
If Cole’s time with the Cleveland organization is up, his stay will have been brief; the Indians only claimed him off waivers from the Yankees back on Jan 11. He’d have been in line to compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training and may still have that opportunity, though he’ll first need to clear outright waivers. If another club claims Cole, that new team will have to open the season with him on the Major League roster or else once again expose him to waivers, as Cole is out of minor league options.
Cole, who turned 27 earlier this month, gave the Yankees 38 innings of 4.26 ERA ball after being acquired from the Nationals in 2018, pitching in primarily a multi-inning relief role. Along the way, he averaged a strong 11.6 K/9 and registered an enormous 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate with a very good 34.3 percent opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches. However, he was also immensely susceptible to home runs, as he averaged 2.13 homers per nine innings pitched with the Yankees. In all, between New York and Washington, Cole yielded a staggering 15 home runs in 38 innings.
That said, Cole was at one point considered to be among the most promising pitching prospects in all of baseball, and surely the strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate and chase rate could hold appeal to another team — particularly one that is thin on rotation depth and/or has multiple bullpen spots up for grabs. He’ll need to learn to keep the ball in the yard, but the level at which Cole missed bats in 2018 would be elite if he proved it to be sustainable; the 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate he logged as a Yankee would’ve ranked 12th in the game among qualified relievers last year.
Indians Acquire Nick Wittgren
2:55pm: The Marlins have announced the trade, revealing that they’ll acquire fellow righty Jordan Milbrath from Cleveland in the deal.
Milbrath, 27, reached Triple-A for the first time last season but was hit hard in a small sample of 13 2/3 innings. He spent the bulk of the season in Double-A, where he notched a 3.42 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a gaudy 60.9 percent ground-ball rate. Milbrath’s ground-ball rate has exploded over the past two seasons — he was north of 70 percent in 2017 — though his success to date has come against younger competition. He’ll turn 28 on Aug. 1, making him a bit too old to be considered a “prospect,” perhaps, though his ground-ball tendencies still make him an intriguing bullpen candidate for the Marlins.
1:50pm: The Indians have reached a deal to acquire right-handed reliever Nick Wittgren from the Marlins, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Cleveland will send a minor league pitcher to Miami in return.
Wittgren, 27, was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment by the Marlins last week. On the surface, the righty pitched quite well, working to a 2.94 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 0.27 HR/9 and a career-best 46 percent ground-ball rate in 33 2/3 innings for the Fish. It’s unlikely that he’d be able to replicate the good fortune he had in terms of allowing home runs (one allowed; 2.7 percent homer-to-fly ball ratio), however, and the four walks he averaged on a per-nine-inning basis was the highest mark of his career.
Nonetheless, Wittgren has a career 3.60 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 127 2/3 of big league relief and still has a minor league option remaining, so the Indians will be able to shuttle him back and forth between Cleveland and their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus this season if need be. Wittgren doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging a bit better than 92 mph on his heater, and he doesn’t generate gaudy spin rate totals. However, he’s still managed solid results to this point in his career and represents a sensible addition for a Cleveland club that is facing enormous uncertainty in the bullpen while also navigating payroll concerns.