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Rockies Claim Tony Wolters From Indians

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The Rockies announced that they have claimed catcher/infielder Tony Wolters off waivers from the Indians. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, right-hander Adam Ottavino (who is recovering from Tommy John surgery) has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post first reported that the waiver claim would happen (Twitter link).

Wolters, 23, was a third-round pick of the Indians back in 2010 and spent the 2015 season with Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate, where he struggled to a .209/.290/.280 batting line in 271 plate appearances. However, he brings a rare skill-set to the table, as a former shortstop that shifted behind the plate in 2013 but still plays the middle infield on occasion. Wolters is a career .258/.335/.349 hitter in the minors, and he consistently rated among Cleveland’s top 30 prospects in the eyes of Baseball America from 2010-15. BA noted last winter that the move behind the plate didn’t do his offense any favors, but the Rockies will attempt to get his bat back up to speed in an effort to eventually reap the benefits of Wolters’ rare breed of defensive versatility.

Quick Hits: Offseason Moves, Moreland, Nats, Story

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark polled a vast number of executives to get their take on the offseason’s dealings. Stark asked execs to name the most-improved and least-improved clubs from each league, the best and worst free-agent signings and trades as well as the most outrageous contract issued this winter (among other categories). The D-backs and Red Sox were runaway winners in the “most-improved” category in the NL and AL, and Stark notes that a common refrain was that this type of hyper-aggressive offseason for the Diamondbacks was “hard to fathom.” Zack Greinke and David Price top the list of best free-agent signings in Stark’s poll, which I find rather curious, as each was a record-setting agreement for players, with Price landing the biggest deal ever for a pitcher and Greinke setting his own record in terms of average annual value. (I’d have figured more execs would’ve been down on the overwhelming risk that accompanies each deal.) The next two names on the list — Ben Zobrist and especially Howie Kendrick — are more in the line with the type of “value” signings one would expect to draw praise from executives. Other categories from Stark include best one-year deal — where, interestingly, Yoenis Cespedes received four votes due to the fact that few believe there’s any realistic chance of him opting into the final two years of his deal — best signing for $3MM or less and best minor league signing. The whole piece is a fun read for those who track offseason dealings carefully.

A few miscellaneous notes from around the league…

  • Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland revealed today that he played the final two months of the 2015 season with a stress fracture in his left foot, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Moreland believed the stress fracture stemmed from alterations he made to his foot positioning following 2014 ankle surgery, but he’s healed up now and ready to go for the 2016 campaign. The exact date that the injury crept up isn’t specified, but Moreland’s .269/.326/.425 batting line from the season’s second half, while solid in its own right, pales in comparison to the .286/.333/.532 line he posted prior to the All-Star break. Additionally, Moreland describes a spur-of-the-moment meeting that he initiated with assistant GM Thad Levine the night before his arbitration hearing was scheduled, during which the two talked for about 90 minutes and resolved the matter themselves.
  • James Wagner of the Washington Post examines what might’ve been had Ian Desmond, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister accepted extension offers from the Nationals when they were made. Desmond somewhat famously rejected a contract said to be seven years and $107MM, although as Wagner points out, that’s a bit misleading due to the fact that Desmond’s two-year, $17.5MM deal that covered the 2014-15 seasons was folded into that value, and the extension (unsurprisingly, in light of this offseason’s happenings) came with deferred money. Zimmermann received an extension offer of $105MM over five years and was narrowly able to top that in free agency, Wagner notes. (He doesn’t list specific numbers in reference to a Fister extension offer.) While the Nats hoped to extend all three players at one point, their absence now clears the way for players like Joe Ross, Tanner Roark and Trea Turner as well as offseason addition Daniel Murphy, in some regards.
  • Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes is expected to be suspended under MLB’s domestic violence policy at some point before the season begins, and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets that manager Walt Weiss indicated that shifting DJ LeMahieu (who inked a two-year deal with Colorado earlier today) over to shortstop is not a consideration. LeMahieu was a shortstop for much of his minor league tenure but has developed into a very sound defender at second base, so it stands to reason that the Rockies don’t want to alter his routine with a temporary position change. Rather, Weiss said that well-regarded prospect Trevor Story is in the mix for playing time in the very likely event that the team is without Reyes. All of this, of course, could have some impact on the aforementioned Desmond, who just yesterday was linked to the Rockies by FOX’s Ken Rosenthal.

Rockies, DJ LeMahieu Agree To Two-Year Deal

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The Rockies and All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu have agreed to a two-year deal worth $7.8MM, reports Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). LeMahieu, a client of Excel Sports Management, will earn $3MM in 2016 and $4.8MM in 2017. LeMahieu’s case was the lone arbitration case left to be resolved not only for the Rockies but throughout the entire league. He’d filed for a $3.3MM salary, whereas the team countered with a $2.8MM sum, as can be seen in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

LeMahieu, 27, is coming off the best season of his relatively young career, having batted .301/.358/.388 with six homers, 23 steals and solid defensive contributions. While those offensive numbers are bolstered by his home park of Coors Field (hence park-adjusted metrics like OPS+ and wRC+ feeling that LeMahieu was anywhere from eight to 11 percent below league average with the bat) and his defense has drawn better reviews in previous seasons, LeMahieu was nonetheless a very solid all-around contributor for the Rox last season. The deal does not extend Colorado’s control over LeMahieu, instead buying out the first two of his three arbitration years. He’ll be arbitration-eligible once more after the 2017 season and is slated to hit the open market following the 2018 campaign — in advance of his age-30 season.

That LeMahieu and the Rockies avoided a hearing means that there were only four arbitration hearings in total this winter — a marked decline from last year’s abnormally lofty total of 14 hearings. Three players — Drew Smyly, Jesse Chavez and J.J. Hoover — won arbitration hearings over their respective teams, while Astros catcher Jason Castro lost his side of a hearing.

NL West Notes: Rockies, Bumgarner, Turner

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Here’s the latest from the National League West:

  • Rockies GM Jeff Bridich discussed his club’s approach this winter with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. The club’s top baseball decisionmaker didn’t shy away from acknowledging that the team focused on adding big arms to the relief corps, as even the signing of Gerardo Parra functioning as a prequel to an eventual trade of Corey Dickerson for power lefty Jake McGee. “We have added powerful, impactful arms to our bullpen,” Bridich explains. “There is no secret that pitching talent has to get bigger, stronger and better. Not everybody works out, of course, but we have set out to focus on this, and I think it’s been a fairly consistent philosophy.”
  • Meanwhile, Saunders writes in response to a fan question that he’s not sure he agrees with the decision to part with Dickerson to add McGee. It’s encouraging to see some action, says Saunders, but odd for Colorado to give up a fairly high-upside, controllable hitter in exchange two years of a reliever given the team’s current roster situation. Ultimately, he writes, the organization ought to choose a direction, but “’rebuilding’ seems to be a dirty word at 20th and Blake.”
  • Giants ace Madison Bumgarner isn’t quite paid up to his ability under the pre-arb extension he signed back in 2012, but he said today that he’s not worried about his earnings. As Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com reports, the celebrated southpaw is taking the long view: “If everything goes the way I want and what I work for, then that’ll come along in due time,” he said. “I’m not at all worried about that. When I signed my deal I knew what I wanted to do, but you never know what’s going to happen. I was prepared for that.”
  • Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner will be looking to bounce back from microfracture surgery this spring, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. Turner says he is progressing well and believes the prognosis to be good, as his procedure was performed in a portion of the knee that doesn’t carry weight. Of course, it remains to be seen how heavily the 31-year-old will be pushed both in camp and early in the season, and Los Angeles has lined up multiple depth options behind him. It’s an important season for the pending free agent, who has been a revelation in L.A. and could profile as a major free agent with another strong campaign.

Latest On Ian Desmond

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Players are beginning to report to Spring Training, but Ian Desmond remains one of three free agents left on the market that is tied to draft-pick compensation. According to the latest report from FOX’s Ken Rosenthal, the White Sox and Rays have both had recent contact with Desmond, and the Rockies, too, have been in touch with his representatives. It’s not clear whether Colorado reached out to Desmond’s camp or vice versa, nor is the severity of the Rockies’ interest known at this time. Rosenthal does, however, note that any pursuit of Desmond would perhaps unsurprisingly be heavily dependent on commissioner Rob Manfred’s course of action in disciplining incumbent shortstop Jose Reyes, who seems likely to be suspended due to his offseason domestic violence charges (though Reyes did plead not guilty last month). Reyes has a trial set for April 4, though Rosenthal notes that Manfred seems likely to act before that time, as that date lies after Opening Day.

As Rosenthal points out, the Rockies wouldn’t pay Reyes for any length of time for which he is suspended, and their No. 4 overall draft pick is protected, meaning that Desmond would require the forfeiture of the Rockies’ No. 38 overall selection, instead. From Desmond’s standpoint, it would seem like Coors Field is an optimal place to attempt to rebuild his value on a one-year deal, although it’s at least worth noting that teams can, in some cases, be wary of a player’s production at altitude (though it’s worth noting that some research has suggested that players who call Coors Field home are negatively impacted in terms of road performance). The Rockies do have an alternative to Reyes in the form of well-regarded shortstop prospect Trevor Story, though Story, of course, isn’t MLB tested at this point.

While the Rays and White Sox have spoken with Desmond, Rosenthal hears that the Rays aren’t likely to part with the 13th overall pick to sign him, and the White Sox are more focused on finding an outfielder on the trade market than they are on Desmond. Chicago does have one of the game’s top prospects, Tim Anderson, nearing the Major Leagues, and he could step into their shortstop vacancy this season, with defensive standout Tyler Saladino manning the position until that time.

The Rockies make some sense for Desmond, on paper anyway, if they plan to take a shot at contending this season, and the rest of their offseason dealings suggest that they do. Colorado has added Jake McGee, Jason Motte and Chad Qualls to its bullpen while also signing Gerardo Parra to a three-year deal. The Rockies seem like a long shot to contend in what should be a much-improved NL West, although the club’s offense should be potent and the bullpen stands to serve as a much more productive unit, especially if closer Adam Ottavino can contribute a half-season or so worth of innings once he is recovered from Tommy John. Starting pitching, of course, is the elephant in the room when looking at the Rockies, although if things go south, the team can always seek to trade Desmond in the event that he further distances himself from last season’s dreadful first half. Desmond did rebound with a .262/.331/.446 slash in the second half last year, and a few solid months of production could make him an appealing target to teams seeking midseason upgrades to their middle infield.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2-15-16

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We’ll kick off the week with today’s roundup of outright assignments and minor signings from around the league…

  • Right-hander Chad Jenkins, whom the Blue Jays designated for assignment upon signing Gavin Floyd to a one-year deal, has been outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo, according to the Jays’ transactions page at MLB.com. The 28-year-old posted a 3.25 ERA with the Blue Jays in 97 innings from 2012-14 but saw just 3 2/3 innings in the big league bullpen last season. Jenkins, the 20th overall pick in 2009, instead spent the bulk of the season in Buffalo, where he logged a 2.98 ERA with a 60-to-26 K/BB ratio in 93 2/3 innings (11 starts, 30 relief appearances).
  • The Rockies have signed a familiar face, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy; infielder Chris Nelson is back with the club on a minor league deal. Nelson, now 30, spent 10 seasons in the Rockies organization after being selected ninth overall in the 2004 draft. He batted .279/.322/.416 in 212 big league games with the Rox from 2010-13 but went on to struggle away from the hitter-friendly Coors Field in stints with the Padres, Angels and Yankees.
  • Right-hander Clayton Mortensen, 31 in April, is back with the Royals on a minor league deal for the second consecutive season, according to Eddy. Another former top pick (36th overall in 2007), Mortensen was one of the players sent from the Cardinals to the A’s in the 2009 Matt Holliday trade. Mortensen posted solid big league numbers (3.59 ERA in 100 1/3 innings) from 2011-12 with the Rockies and Red Sox but hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013. He’s worked to a 5.12 ERA in 184 2/3 innings for Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate across the past two seasons.
  • The Rangers signed shortstop Doug Bernier to a minors deal last week, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). Bernier, 35, won’t receive an invite to Major League camp, but the veteran infielder will provide some up-the-middle depth for Texas’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock. Bernier spent the past three seasons in the Twins organization and was a feel-good story for the 2013 team, as he reached the Majors that year for the first time a brief two-game appearance with the 2008 Rockies (at the time, his only prior MLB experience). Bernier appeared in 44 games with Minnesota from 2013-15 and tallied 79 plate appearances, hitting .231/.351/.292. He’s a career .255/.346/.345 hitter in nine seasons at Triple-A and is known for his solid glove at shortstop, second base and third base.

Quick Hits: Braves, Tanaka, Molina, Chatwood

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There’s a difference between rebuilding and tanking, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes.  Teams like the Braves, Brewers and Phillies have already made great strides in restocking their minor league systems after only relatively recently starting the rebuild process, and it could be argued that the way baseball’s system is currently set up, a smaller-market team like Milwaukee really has no option but to tear things down in order to amass the young talent it needs to eventually compete again.  Rosenthal also notes that some of the recent criticism of tanking may be less fueled by the spirit of competition than it is by big-market teams upset that their revenue-sharing contributions aren’t being reinvested in the on-field product by the smaller-market teams getting those funds.  Here’s some news from around baseball as we head into a new week….

  • Even without Andrelton Simmons, the Braves are building an enviable amount of middle infield depth, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies highlight the prospects already within the system, and O’Brien notes that the Braves may also wind up with infielders Kevin Maitan and Yunior Severino in the next July 2 international signing period.  That’s not even counting the current incumbents at short and second, Erick Aybar and Jace Peterson.  If Swanson progresses as well as Atlanta hopes, he could make his MLB debut late in the season and Aybar could then become a trade chip.
  • Masahiro Tanaka reported no issues following a 20-pitch bullpen session on Saturday, Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).  This was Tanaka’s first time throwing off a mound since he had a bone spur removed from his elbow in October.  Tanaka said last week that he couldn’t guarantee he’d be ready for Opening Day; while the procedure wasn’t a major one, the Yankees are obviously taking it easy with Tanaka given his history of arm problems.
  • In an interview on KMOX Radio (hat tip to the Associated Press), Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said catcher Yadier Molina had the cast removed from his surgically-repaired left thumb.  It will be at least a couple of weeks before Molina and the team can guess if he’ll be ready for Opening Day, though “right now all arrows point positively,” Mozeliak said.
  • The odds are against a pitcher returning from a second Tommy John surgery, yet Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood is eager to return to action, The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders writes.  Chatwood hasn’t pitched since April 29, 2014 but Colorado is hoping he can become an important member of the rotation.
  • There’s no formula for deciding when to promote a top prospect, as ESPN’s Jim Bowden lists the many factors (beyond, obviously, just talent) that teams weigh when deciding to elevate one of their best minor leaguers.

Free Agent Notes: Rays, Desmond, Marlins, Lincecum, Gallardo, Gurriel Bros.

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The Rays are a “long shot” to land Ian Desmond, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports on Twitter, with the required draft pick compensation (from the qualifying offer he declined) posing a significant barrier. Tampa Bay is in “bargain shopping” mode, he adds. We’ve seen previous suggestions that Desmond could line up with the Rays, though he doesn’t make for the most obvious roster match and it’s always seemed that he’d need to take a deal far below pre-winter expectations for that to occur.

Here are some more rumblings from the open market:

  • There are plenty of other teams hunting for value at this stage of the market, of course, with the Marlins eyeing pitching, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). We’ve heard that before, of course, and the club seems to be a prime destination for players seeking opportunity as the market settles.
  • One possibility that has often been tied to Miami is righty Tim Lincecum, who is preparing for a showcase some time this month. Sherman tweets that his agent, Rick Thurman, will check in on the veteran’s progress tomorrow as his camp decides upon a date to call in the scouts.
  • Yovani Gallardo remains the best available free agent arm, and Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets that he’s still drawing interest from the Orioles and two other teams. Cotillo had suggested (via Twitter) that the bidding would come down to the O’s, Astros, and Rockies, but Houston is out of the hunt after signing Doug Fister and he now says that Colorado appears to be on the sidelines.
  • August Fagerstrom of Fangraphs argues that the White Sox may be the better fit for Gallardo, given their lack of quality and depth at the back of the rotation. It helps, of course, that the team’s first overall selection is protected. It’s worth noting that Chicago also makes a good deal of sense for the other remaining qualified free agents — Desmond and Dexter Fowler — and could in theory lower the average draft pick compensation cost by signing more than one such player. On the other hand, Chicago’s current spending commitments are already right at last year’s Opening Day mark once you account for league-minimum salaries to round out the roster. Things look slightly better in 2017, though, with John Danks and Adam LaRoche coming off of the books, so creative contract structuring could create some daylight.
  • Two new names to watch in the coming months are prominent Cuban brothers Yulieski Gurriel and Lourdes Gurriel, both of whom reportedly left the national team in the Dominican Republic with intentions of heading towards major league free agency. But it might be unrealistic to expect to see either appear in the 2016 campaign, Ben Badler of Baseball America explains. His colleague, John Manuel, breaks down both players, noting that the elder Yulieski is a better player than Hector Olivera and could “set off a significant bidding war.” And for more reading on the interesting pair, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains their unique place in Cuban baseball.

Angels Claim Christian Friedrich, Designate Taylor Featherston

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The Angels have claimed left-hander Christian Friedrich off waivers from the Rockies and designated infielder Taylor Featherston for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).

Friedrich, 28, was selected 25th overall out of Eastern Kentucky University back in 2008, but he’s struggled for much of his pro career, amassing an ERA north of 5.00 at both the Triple-A level and in the Major Leagues. This past season, Friedrich posted a 5.25 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate in 58 1/3 innings of work. While Friedrich has struggled throughout his career, he’s held left-handed hitters in check fairly well, limiting same-handed opponents to a .257/.314/.364 batting line. He’s also posted considerably better numbers away from Coors, where he has a 4.61 ERA as compared to a 6.96 mark at home. Because he’s out of options, Freidrich will have to make the Halos’ Opening Day roster — presumably in the bullpen — or again be exposed to waivers.

The DFA of Featherston is a somewhat surprising revelation, if only because the Angels carried the 2014 Rule 5 Draft pick on their Major League roster for the entirety of the 2015 season rather than expose him to waivers and offer him back to his original team. Featherston, in fact, received just 169 plate appearances and batted .162/.212/.247. While he’s a gifted defender, the decision to dedicate a roster spot to him over the course of 162 games only to cut him loose in the offseason figures to irk some Angels fans, especially considering the fact that the club missed a Wild Card playoff berth by a lone game in the standings. Then again, with some turnover in the team’s front office, it certainly seems possible that the new faces atop the baseball operations hierarchy simply didn’t few Featherston as highly as their predecessors.

NL Notes: Seager, Prospects, Cespedes, Rockies, Papelbon

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Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager has been named the game’s best prospect in preseason top-100 and top-101 prospect rankings from MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus.  Seager still qualifies for the lists since he retained his rookie eligibility by only making 113 plate appearances for L.A. last season, though he made a big first impression by hitting .337/.425/.561 in his initial taste of the big leagues.  Twins center fielder Byron Buxton and Nationals righty Lucas Giolito are ranked second and third on both lists, and overall, the National League dominates the upper echelon of both rankings.  Ten of MLB.com’s top 13 prospects are all from NL teams, while 10 of BP’s top 14 youngsters all hail from the senior circuit.  Here are some more items from around the National League…

  • The details of Yoenis Cespedes’ return to the Mets were detailed by COO Jeff Wilpon, GM Sandy Alderson and agent Brodie Van Wagenen in a conference call with reporters (including Mike Puma of the New York Post) earlier this week.  Negotiations quickly picked up steam within about a week’s time, though such important contractual details as Cespedes’ opt-out clause after the first year were agreed upon early in the process.
  • Van Wagenen also discussed his Cespedes’ free agency in a Friday interview with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (all links to Twitter).  He was in active talks with not just the Mets, but four other teams on the day that Cespedes agreed to re-sign with New York.  In regards to the deal’s structure and the opt-out clause, “it was less about looking toward next year and more about being able to control where he was going to be,” Van Wagenen said.
  • As the calendar turns to February, the Rockies have yet to make any additions to their shaky rotation, the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders writes.  GM Jeff Bridich stressed that the club expects internal upgrades in the form of better health from Jorge De La Rosa, Tyler Chatwood and Jordan Lyles.  As to the club’s rumored pursuit of Yovani Gallardo, Bridich described those reports as “fairly overblown.”
  • Multiple Nationals players tell James Wagner of the Washington Post that they don’t anticipate any clubhouse issues with Jonathan Papelbon in the wake of his infamous dugout skirmish with Bryce Harper last season.  A larger issue, Wagner notes, might be whether the D.C. fans are as forgiving — it’s not hard to see Papelbon receive his share of boos in the early stages of the season, especially if his performance struggles.
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