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Curt Casali

Giants Sign Curt Casali

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The Giants have signed veteran catcher Curt Casali to a one-year major league contract worth $1.5MM, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report. To make room for Casali on its 40-man roster, the team officially sold left-hander Andrew Suarez’s rights to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization. Casali is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Casali became a professional when the Tigers used a 10th-round pick on him in 2011, but he has so far divided his major league career between the Rays and Reds. He was a Red for the previous three years, during which he posted a productive .260/.345/.440 line with 18 home runs in 485 plate appearances. As a defender, the 32-year-old Casali has thrown out a respectable 27 percent of would-be base stealers, but the all-around package wasn’t enough for Cincinnati to keep him in the fold. The team non-tendered Casali before the Dec. 2 deadline instead of paying him a projected $1.8MM to $2.4MM in arbitration.

Now that he’s on his way to the Bay Area, Casali seems like the front-runner to back up returning starter Buster Posey, who opted out last season over COVID-19 concerns. Casali will now reunite with right-handers Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani, whom he played with in Cincinnati.

Along with Casali and Posey, the Giants also have fellow catchers Joey Bart and Chadwick Tromp, but those two have all three minor league options remaining. In the event the Casali pickup works out well for the Giants, they’ll be able to keep him around in 2022, as he’ll be eligible for arbitration through then.

Reds Non-Tender Archie Bradley

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7:23pm: The Reds have already re-signed Farmer to a new one-year, Major League contract. His non-tender was likely something of a procedural move, allowing the team to bring him back on friendlier terms, but he’s back on the 40-man roster for the 2021 season already.

7:00pm: The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve non-tendered right-hander Archie Bradley, whom they acquired from the D-backs prior to the 2020 trade deadline. He joins fellow trade acquisition Brian Goodwin as well as catcher Curt Casali, righty R.J. Alaniz and infielder/catcher Kyle Farmer among Cincinnati non-tenders.

The 28-year-old Bradley, a former first-round pick and elite pitching prospect, couldn’t have pitched much better for the Reds after being acquired. He totaled 7 2/3 innings during the regular season and allowed just a run on four hits and no walks with six punchouts. He did yield a run in his lone postseason appearance, but it’s somewhat unexpected to see the Reds cut ties with him rather than pay him a raise on 2020’s $4.1MM salary.

While it won’t be a kind free-agent market for right-handed relievers, Bradley seems positioned to do better than most of his non-tendered counterparts. Since moving to the ’pen full-time back in 2017, he’s been outstanding; in 234 2/3 innings, most of it spent as the D-backs’ closer, Bradley has a 2.95 ERA with averages of 9.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9. That’s all come while playing his home games in a decidedly hitter-friendly setting.

Bradley did see his fastball velocity dip to an average of 94.4 mph this year — about two miles below its peak in 2018 — which could be a red flag. But the Reds thought enough of him to trade for him as part of a playoff push at the deadline, and Bradley won’t turn 29 until next August.

Casali has been a productive part-time backstop for the Reds over the past three seasons, hitting .260/.345/.440. He was only owed a raise on a $1.4625MM salary, which seems like it should’ve been a reasonable price, but most clubs are striving to pare back payroll, and backup catcher is clearly a spot the Reds felt they could do so.

Goodwin’s non-tender was reported earlier in the day and comes as less of a surprise after his bat took a step back from his solid 2019 levels. The 29-year-old Alaniz didn’t pitch in the Majors in 2020 and wasn’t arb-eligible, so his non-tender was simply because the Reds simply wanted an extra 40-man spot.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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Entering the day, there were more than 150 players on the clock to exchange arbitration figures with their respective teams prior to a noon ET deadline. As one would expect, there’ll be an utter landslide of arbitration agreements in advance of that deadline. We already ran through some key facts and reminders on the arbitration process earlier this morning for those who are unfamiliar or simply need a refresher on one of MLB’s most complex idiosyncrasies, which will hopefully clear up many questions readers might have.

We’ll track the majority of the National League’s settlements in this post and are maintaining a separate one for American League settlements as well. Note that all projections referenced come courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

  • The Rockies have an agreement in place with righty Jon Gray, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (via Twitter). It’s a $5.6MM deal, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
  • Outfielder Tommy Pham has struck a $7.9MM pact with the Padres, who acquired him at the outset of the offseason, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Other Friars striking deals, per an update from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, include Zach Davies ($5.25MM) and Matt Strahm ($1.4MM).
  • The Nationals announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with Trea Turner. It’s a $7.45MM agreement, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter), right in range of the $7.5MM projection.
  • The Mets are in agreement with a laundry list of players. Right-handers Marcus Stroman ($12MM) and Noah Syndergaard ($9.7MM) were the top earners, per reports from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). Both come in close to their projected values of $11.8M and $9.9MM, respectively. The Mets also have a $5.1MM deal with reliever Edwin Diaz, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). He entered the offseason projected at the $7.0MM level but will fall well shy of that. Despite an outstanding overall track record, Diaz’s platform season was a dud and obviously created some risk in a hearing for his side. Outfielder Brandon Nimmo will play for $2.175MM in his first season of arb eligibility, landing well over the $1.7MM that the model projected. Southpaw Steven Matz, meanwhile, lands a $5MM deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). That’s $300K shy of his projected amount. Relievers Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo will earn $1.225MM and $2MM, respectively, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter links). Slugger Michael Conforto will earn $8.0MM, per SNY.tv’s Andy Martino (via Twitter), which is notably south of the $9.2MM that we projected. And fellow outfielder Jake Marisnick checks in a just over 10% north of his projection at $3,312,500, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
  • Star reliever Kirby Yates receiveds a $7,062,500 salary from the Padres, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He tops the $6.5MM that MLBTR projected by a solid margin, reflecting just how exceptional he was in 2019.
  • The Marlins will pay recently acquired infielder Jonathan Villar a $8.2MM salary, per MLB.com’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). That’s a far sight shy of the $10.4MM that the MLBTR system projected, perhaps reflecting a more difficult path to the bigger number through recent comparables. The club also had some added leverage here since Villar would likely not fare terribly well on the open market if cut loose at this stage or later. (Unless this is a guaranteed deal, Villar could still be jettisoned, with the club paying just a fraction of the settled amount.) The Fish also have also agreed to terms with lefty Adam Conley (for $1.525MM, per MLB Network Radio’s Craig Mish, via Twitter) and righty Jose Urena (for $3.75MM, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, on Twitter).
  • Righty Vince Velasquez will pitch for $3.6MM this year with the Phillies, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via Twitter). Fellow hurler Jose Alvarez will earn $2.95MM, per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
  • The Rockies have an agreement with lefty Kyle Freeland, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). He’ll earn $2.875MM. Outfielder David Dahl takes home $2.475MM, Heyman adds on Twitter. The former had projected at $2.4MM and the latter at $3.0MM.
  • Pirates hurler Joe Musgrove will receive $2.8MM, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter links). Fellow righty Keone Kela will earn a reported $3.725MM. Both players had projected at $3.4MM, but land well to either side of that number. Infielder Adam Frazier also has a deal at $2.8MM, per Mackey (via Twitter).
  • Righty Anthony DeSclafani will earn $5.9MM from the Reds, according to Robert Murray (via Twitter). He had projected at $5.2MM. Backstop Curt Casali will earn $1.4625MM, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). And reliever Matt Bowman takes down $865K, Murray adds on Twitter.
  • The Dodgers have worked out a non-typical deal with righty Ross Stripling, Heyman tweets. He’ll get an up-front signing bonus of $1.5MM, which he’ll receive in the next week, and then earn $600K for the campaign to come. Stripling had projected to earn $2.3MM on the year.
  • Cardinals righty John Gant will earn $1.3MM after settling with the club. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first tweeted that a deal was in place, while Murray had the number on Twitter. That comes in just under his $1.4MM projection.

Earlier Settlements

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Injury Notes: Kluber, Gallo, Dietrich, Casali, Robinson

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After just one inning of work in a rehab start on Sunday, Corey Kluber was removed from the game due to left abdominal tightness.  (Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga was among those to report the news.)  Kluber is expected to receive further tests on Monday, though the early word is that Kluber was simply removed as a precaution.  While the Indians and their fans won’t fully exhale until those tests come back clean, it’s at least some measure of good news that Kluber didn’t have a setback involving his forearm, which was fractured back on May 1.  Sunday’s start could potentially have served as Kluber’s final rehab outing before being activated from the injured list, and now it seems as if he’ll likely have to get one more minor league start under his belt before the Tribe can be fully prepared to bring him back to the 25-man roster.

Some more on injury situations from around baseball…

  • Rangers slugger Joey Gallo is targeting a mid-September return from hamate bone surgery, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes.  The procedure back on July 25 was expected to keep Gallo out for four-to-six weeks, though since he only just started taking light swings off a tee, his recovery will be at the long end of that projected timeline.  “I don’t want any setbacks, but I think I’m going to be able to play before the season is over.  That’s the hope,” Gallo said.
  • Two injured Reds are working their way back to the club, as manager David Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that Derek Dietrich will begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Monday, while catcher Curt Casali starts a rehab assignment of his own on Tuesday.  Both players could be back in time for the Reds’ series against the Pirates that begins on Friday.  Dietrich hit the IL due to left shoulder inflammation on August 5, while this will actually be Casali’s second rehab stint since first being placed on the IL on July 18 with a right knee sprain.  Casali’s previous assignment was halted after two games due to soreness in his left hamstring.
  • Cardinals utilityman Drew Robinson recently underwent a season-ending, “progressive” version of Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters.  The surgery was only a partial version of the normal Tommy John procedure and it was on Robinson’s non-throwing arm, so Shildt believes Robinson will be ready for Spring Training.  Acquired in the trade that sent Patrick Wisdom to the Rangers last December, Robinson appeared in five MLB games for the Cardinals and hit .265/.385/.423 over 234 PA for Triple-A Memphis this season before hitting the injured list on June 24.  Robinson has some very solid minor league numbers over his ten pro seasons, though he hasn’t hit much over 253 Major League plate appearances with Texas and St. Louis from 2016-18.

Reds Sign Ryan Lavarnway, Designate Jesus Reyes

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The Reds have signed catcher Ryan Lavarnway to a one-year, Major League contract, as per a team announcement (Twitter link).  Lavarnway’s signing was one of a flurry of moves from Cincinnati, as the club also designated right-hander Jesus Reyes for assignment and placed righty David Hernandez and catchers Curt Casali and Kyle Farmer on the injured list.  Taking their places on the roster are Lavarnway, and Triple-A callups Lucas Sims and Josh VanMeter.

Farmer is headed to the seven-day version of the IL due to a concussion, while Casali is on the 10-day IL (retroactive to Tuesday) due to a right knee sprain.  With starting catcher Tucker Barnhart also injured, the Reds were left in sudden need for help behind the plate, opening the door for Lavarnway to land a guaranteed deal almost immediately after he was released from his minors contract with the Yankees.

Lavarnway has recorded some big league playing time in each of the last two seasons, appearing in six games each with the A’s in 2017 and Pirates in 2018.  Best known as a former top prospect in the Red Sox system, the 31-year-old Lavarnway has a .208/.268/.326 slash line over 426 career plate appearances in the majors.  He’ll join Juan Graterol as the Reds’ makeshift catching duo until some reinforcements come off the injured list.

Reyes made his MLB debut in 2018, posting a 3.18 ERA over 5 2/3 relief innings.  Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014, the 26-year-old has a 3.65 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and 1.88 K/BB rate over 406 2/3 career innings in the minors, though Reyes has struggled badly at Triple-A this season.

Reds Select Juan Graterol

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The Reds announced that they’ve selected the contract of catcher Juan Graterol from Triple-A Louisville and placed closer Raisel Iglesias on the paternity list in a corresponding move to open a spot on the active roster. Cincinnati’s 40-man roster is now full.

Graterol, 30, was an October waiver claim by the Reds and was later retained after being outrighted off the 40-man roster. Regarded as a sound defensive backstop, he’s posted a .249/.301/.325 batting line in 226 plate appearances with the Reds’ top affiliate this season.

Cincinnati currently has Tucker Barnhart on the injured list, which has left Curt Casali and Kyle Farmer as the primary catchers. However, Casali has been a bit banged up in recent days and isn’t in the lineup today, so Graterol will likely be the backup to Farmer for the time being. In 111 MLB plate appearances, Graterol is a .217/.227/.274 hitter.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

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The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is tomorrow afternoon at 1pm ET. With the vast majority of teams now adopting a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration — that is, halting negotiations on one-year contracts once figures have been exchanged and simply going to a hearing at that point — there will be a deluge of arbitration agreements in the next 24 hours. It’s a minor deadline day in terms of newsworthiness — outside of the largest cases, at least — as few arbitration cases will have a significant impact on their team’s overall payroll picture. From a broader perspective, though, the exchange of arb figures is perhaps more notable. With most or all of their arbitration cases out of the way, teams can focus more heavily on the trade and free-agent markets.

As always, it’s interesting to refer back to MLBTR’s annual arbitration projections. Here are the day’s deals:

  • The Tigers will pay Shane Greene $4MM for the coming campaign, Murray tweets. Entering his second year of eligibility, the 30-year-old had projected at $4.8MM, owing largely to his strong tally of 32 saves. Despite appealing K/BB numbers, though, Greene finished the season with an unsightly 5.12 ERA.
  • Righty Nick Tropeano settled with the Angels at $1.075MM. (That’s also via Murray, on Twitter.) That falls well shy of his $1.6MM projection. The first-year arb-eligible hurler was not terribly effective in his 14 starts last year and has just over two hundred career frames in the big leagues, due in no small part to a long rehab owing to Tommy John surgery.

Earlier Updates

  • Newly acquired outfielder Domingo Santana will earn $1.95MM in his first season with the Mariners, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. That’s just a touch below the $2.0MM that MLBTR & Matt Swartz had projected. The 26-year-old Santana swatted thirty long balls and had a productive overall 2017 season, but only received 235 plate appearances in the ensuing campaign — over which he hit five home runs and carried a .265/.328/.412 slash — before being dealt to Seattle.
  • The Angels are on the hook for $1,901,000 to rehabbing righty J.C. Ramirez, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets. Ramirez will receive a nominal raise on his 2018 salary after requiring Tommy John surgery after just two starts.
  • Phillies righty Hector Neris has settled at $1.8MM, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter links). He had projected at $2.0MM but will settle for a bit less in his first season of arb eligibility. Right-handed starter Jerad Eickhoff, meanwhile, is slated to receive $975K. His projected first-year salary was much higher, at $1.7MM, but Eickhoff presented a tough case since he missed virtually all of his platform season with arm troubles.
  • Southpaw Ryan Buchter has agreed with the Athletics on a $1.4MM deal, Nightengale of reports on Twitter. That lands just a smidge over his $1.3MM projection. Soon to turn 32, Buchter worked to a sub-3.00 for the third-straight season in 2018, but only threw 39 1/3 innings while working as a lefty specialist.
  • Red Sox reliever Heath Hembree will receive a $1,312,500 salary next year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link). Starter Steven Wright checks in just a shade higher, at $1.375MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Both players had projected in this range, with Swartz pegging $1.2MM for the former and $1.4MM for the latter. It’s Hembree’s first time through the process and Wright’s second.
  • First-time arb-eligible righty Scott Oberg settled with the Rockies for $1.3MM, according to Nightengale (via Twitter). It’s $100K over the projected rate for the 28-year-old hurler, who turned in far and away his most productive MLB season in 2018.
  • The Yankees have a $1.2MM deal in place with first baseman Greg Bird, Nightengale was first to tweet. Though he had projected a bit higher, at $1.5MM, Bird’s relatively robust number of home runs (31 total in 659 career plate appearances) were threatened to be overshadowed in a hypothetical hearing by his rough overall stats over the past two seasons. He’ll need to earn his way back into a larger share of playing time in 2019.
  • Infielder Travis Jankowski will earn $1.165MM with the Padres, per Murray (via Twitter). He projected at a heftier $1.4MM, but the Super Two qualifier will still earn a nice raise after his best season in the big leagues. Jankowski will be looking to crack 400 plate appearances for the first time in the season to come.
  • The Nationals have agreed to a $1MM contract with righty Joe Ross, Murray also tweets. Though Ross projected at $1.5MM for his first season of eligibility, that was based largely upon the innings he accumulated over the prior three seasons. Ross made it back from Tommy John surgery in time for only three outings in 2018.
  • A pair of backstops have also put pen to paper on new salaries. Curt Casali will earn $950K with the Reds, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). John Ryan Murphy has a $900K agreement with the Diamondbacks, the elder Nightengale tweets. Casali, a Super Two, had projected for a $1.3MM salary, while Murphy projected at $1.1MM in his first arb year.

Reds Designate Rosell Herrera, Select Curt Casali

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The Reds have designated utilityman Rosell Herrera for assignment, per a club announcement. That move opens a 40-man spot for just-acquired backstop Curt Casali, whose contract was selected.

It became clear yesterday that Casali would be moving right onto the active roster, as the team announced it was optioning Tony Cruz. Making things official still required another roster decision, though, and that waited until today.

Herrera, 25, got his first brief taste of the majors with Cincinnati after joining the organization as a minor-league free agent over the winter. He has spent most of the year at Triple-A, where he posted a strong .280/.337/.524 slash with three home runs in ninety plate appearances.

Reds Acquire Curt Casali

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4:34pm: Casali has not been placed on the MLB roster to this point, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (via Twitter). Presumably, though, the team will select Casali’s contract or otherwise bring another catcher up before its next game, which is tomorrow evening.

4:20pm: The Reds have acquired catcher Curt Casali from the Rays, per a club announcement. Cash considerations are heading to Tampa Bay in return.

Casali, 29, has seen action in four MLB campaigns. He’s a .199/.285/.385 hitter with 19 home runs in 466 career plate appearances. This season, Casali is off to a solid start to the year at Triple-A, where he’s slashing .283/.330/.467 in one hundred trips to the plate. He has also typically graded as a solid performer at framing pitches, blocking balls in the dirt, and handling the running game.

It seems that the Reds will be adding Casali to the MLB roster, as the club announced that fellow backstop Tony Cruz has been optioned down to Triple-A. The 31-year-old Cruz has struggled in limited action this year at the MLB level, with 11 strikeouts in his 26 plate appearances.

Rays Sign Curt Casali

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The Rays have signed catcher Curt Casali, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports. It’s a minor league contract for Casali, whom the Rangers released Wednesday, according to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times.

Casali is headed back to familiar stomping grounds, having been a member of the Rays organization from 2013-17. He collected 466 major league plate appearances during that time, including a meager 13 last season, and batted .199/.285/.385. While Casali obviously wasn’t a significant offensive threat during that stretch, he did earn positive defensive grades, and he threw out 31 percent of would-be base stealers (29 percent was league average).

Now that he’s back with the Rays, the 29-year-old Casali will once again be part of a behind-the-plate mix headlined by starter Wilson Ramos and backup Jesus Sucre. Ramos and Sucre are the only catchers on the Rays’ 40-man roster.

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