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Minor MLB Transactions: 12/30/15

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Tigers have added righty Michael Crotta and outfielder Chad Huffman on minor league deals, per a club announcement. (Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press first tweeted the former’s signing.) Both players have briefly reached the majors in the past and spent the last two seasons playing in Japan. Crotta, 31, posted a 6.59 ERA in 28 2/3 frames last year for the Nippon Ham Fighters while struggling badly with his control (6.0 BB/9). But he allowed just 2.62 earned per nine in his 58 1/3 frames in the prior season. And the 30-year-old Huffman received only eleven turns at bat for the Chiba Lotte Marines this year, though he slashed .270/.354/.443 over 210 plate appearances for the club in 2014.

Quick Hits: Strauss, Tigers, Castellanos, Martinez

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Joe Strauss, who covered the Braves, Orioles and Cardinals over three decades as a reporter and columnist for several news outlets, passed away today at age 54 due to complications from a battle with leukemia.  Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko are just a few of the many peers who paid tribute to Strauss with chronicles of his outstanding career and remembrances of their friend and colleague.  Countless news items from Strauss appeared on this website’s pages over the years, and all of us on the MLB Trade Rumors staff send our condolences to Strauss’ friends and family.

Here are some notes from around the game as we head into a new week…

  • The Tigers have been getting calls about Nick Castellanos, Tony Paul of the Detroit News reports.  Castellanos was a 2010 first-rounder and a former top prospect, though he’s underwhelmed both offensively and defensively in two full Major League seasons, posting negative fWAR totals in both 2014 and 2015.  These struggles notwithstanding, it’s probably unlikely that Detroit would move Castellanos since he’s only 23 and under team control through the 2019 season.
  • Also from Paul, he guesses that once J.D. Martinez and the Tigers get talking about an extension, the negotiations will be in the neighborhood of a four-year, $60MM deal.  This contract could be backloaded, which would allow the team to pursue more upgrades now and pay Martinez his biggest salaries later once other large contracts have come off the books.  Martinez is entering his age-28 season now and has two remaining years of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency, so under Paul’s projected extension, Martinez would reach the open market as a 32-year-old having given up two free agent years.  The $60MM number may be a little conservative, in my view, given how first-rate hitting is at a premium.
  • While the Tigers aren’t shy about spending, Paul doesn’t think the team will stray too far (if at all) over the luxury tax limit, so landing a top outfield name like Yoenis Cespedes or Alex Gordon is probably unrealistic.  Detroit could move another big contract like Ian Kinsler to make payroll space, though Paul points out that the team would just be creating a new hole at second base to solve a hole in left field.  The Tigers could instead save any payroll room for a trade deadline addition.
  • At the Winter Meetings, Orioles manager Buck Showalter told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko that the club was willing to surrender its first round draft pick (14th overall) to sign the right qualifying offer free agent but it wouldn’t be without great consideration.  “It would have to be something that really fits. But we would if we had to,” Showalter said.  “But one of our big days is going to be…in June, we got seven picks in the first 100 in the draft. I don’t know if we’ve ever had that. This is big for us. We can solidify our already strong system.”  An interesting wrinkle to Showalter’s statement is that the O’s are actually guaranteed to have only five picks within the first 91 selections.  They would only receive those two other picks if QO free agents Wei-Yin Chen and Chris Davis both signed elsewhere.  Since Showalter’s statement was made during the Meetings, it would’ve come roughly around the time that Baltimore pulled its $150MM offer to Davis off the table, so the manager’s words could be interpreted as a hint that the O’s could be prepared to move on from the first baseman (though the two sides have since continued to talk).

Central Notes: Warren, Francona, Tigers, Salty

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Adam Warren found out about his trade to the Cubs in a somewhat unusual fashion, as he explained in an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (hat tip to CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa).  Warren and his wife were on vacation in St. Lucia and “our biggest rule when we go out of the country is to turn your phone off, put them into the safe in the room, and basically get away from technology.”  This meant that the Warrens discovered that the right-hander had been dealt to Chicago as part of the Starlin Castro trade only by watching a TV screen’s sports ticker while at dinner.  Here’s some more from around the Central divisions…

  • Indians manager Terry Francona touched on such topics as his relationship with the front office, the Tribe’s reluctance to trade its starting pitching, and the club’s winter moves in a wide-ranging interview with Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Francona stressed the importance of pitching depth, saying he’d rather “take his chances” with having one less bat in the lineup than giving up a rotation member.  He and the front office “were all in agreement that we were not going to trade one of our (top) starters unless we were overwhelmed with an offer.”
  • Francona said Rajai Davis was “the first name out of my mouth” in postseason discussions about what outfielders the Indians could sign within their price range.  He noted that Davis “has always been such a thorn when we’ve played against him” as a member of the Tigers.  Francona also praised new first baseman Mike Napoli’s power and clubhouse presence, saying that after Cleveland signed Napoli, his “phone about blew up” with texts “from guys who had played with Mike and really liked him.”
  • The Tigers have long been plagued with bullpen issues, yet Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes that the club has quickly and seemingly solidly addressed its relief needs before the end of 2015 in adding Francisco Rodriguez, Justin Wilson and Mark Lowe.  “I can’t say I’m surprised, but I will tell you that I didn’t know if we were ever really going to be able to do the whole thing,” GM Al Avila said. “But it was a methodically laid out plan and you don’t know if you’re going to be able to do it, you don’t know if you’re going to have some bumps along the road, you don’t know if it’s going to take longer or shorter.”
  • In another piece from Fenech, Jarrod Saltalamacchia said he decided to join the Tigers due to their commitment to winning.  Though several other teams were interesting in signing the catcher, it was “an easy decision” for Saltalamacchia since “it’s an organization that every year is trying to compete for the World Series.”
  • In other Central division news from earlier today, the Cardinals’ deal with Mike Leake became official, and CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported on the five-year, $80MM contract’s rather unusual annual salary breakdown.

Quick Hits: Cespedes, Iwakuma, Payrolls, Gordon, Orioles

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We at MLB Trade Rumors tip our caps to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, who announced today that he is leaving the newspaper after a decade of fine work covering the Orioles.  Connolly’s name is a familiar one to MLBTR readers, as he has been a long-time source for Orioles information — just last week, in fact, Connolly broke the news that the O’s had agreed to sign Hyun-soo Kim.  We wish Dan all the best in his post-Sun endeavors and selfishly hope he keeps writing about baseball in some capacity in the future.

Onto some stocking-stuffer news items as we head into the birthday of Hall-of-Famers Rickey Henderson, Nellie Fox and Pud Galvin, a.k.a. Christmas Day…

  • Yoenis Cespedes’ market has been somewhat slow to develop, though “the Tigers appear to be sitting back waiting for” the free agent outfielder, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Cespedes’ asking price may also be dropping as the offseason rolls along.  Detroit, Cespedes’ former team, has been linked to the slugger on the rumor mill but Tigers GM Al Avila said during the Winter Meetings that his team was out on both Cespedes and Alex Gordon.  That stance could change, of course, if Cespedes could be had at a lower price, though that feeling undoubtedly applies to more teams than just the Tigers.  The Angels, Orioles, Royals and Giants have also been rumored to have some level of interest in Cespedes this offseason.  Tim Dierkes predicted Cespedes for a six-year, $140MM contract while ranking him sixth on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.
  • The Mariners’ somewhat unique re-signing of Hisashi Iwakuma and his first contact with the M’s is chronicled by Fangraphs’ Tony Blengino, who was working as a special assistant to the GM in Seattle when Iwakuma was first signed by the club.  Injury concerns have plagued Iwakuma throughout his career — in Japan, possibly scuttling an agreement to join the A’s in 2011, during his stint as a Mariner and a red-flag physical that caused the Dodgers to back away from a three-year agreement.  Blengino also provides some interesting background into how teams approach physicals, as “there’s a fine line between being ’hurt’ and ’injured,’ and an MRI can find damage in just about any shoulder or elbow….It all comes down to the injury risk, in conjunction with the anticipated player production and dollar investment.”
  • A club’s payroll figures consists of far more than just the salaries of the 25-man roster, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times illustrates using the Mariners as an example.
  • Alex Gordon checks the boxes of everything the Royals would want in a franchise player, yet as Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star writes, the financial realities of a mid-market franchise make it unrealistic or even unwise for the Royals to splurge and re-sign the outfielder.  As was reported yesterday, there may be “no chance” of a reunion between the two sides if the Royals’ best offer is only four years and between $48MM-$52MM, a dollar figure Gordon may end up doubling on the open market.
  • Hyun-soo Kim had a “follow up” to his first physical with the Orioles that caused a delay in the club’s official announcement of their contract with the Korean outfielder, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports.  Despite the delay, “Kim never was in real danger of failing his physical,” so it appears the O’s were just being cautious.
  • In a separate item from Kubatko, he provides “non-update updates” on several bits of Orioles offseason business, noting that there haven’t been any new developments in the team’s talks with free agents like Chris Davis, Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo or Scott Kazmir.

Central Notes: Gallardo, Tigers, Pirates

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Here’s a look at the AL and NL Central:

  • The Royals and Yovani Gallardo were in touch as recently as Wednesday, sources tell Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).  The Royals are on the hunt for pitching and they have been linked to Gallardo several times throughout the winter.  Gallardo, 30 in February, is coming off a solid season with the Rangers in which he totaled 184 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball for his hometown club, averaging 5.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 to go along with a 49.3 percent ground-ball rate. However, he’s seen his strikeout rate dip considerably over the past three seasons, and his 90.4 mph average fastball in 2015 was more than two miles per hour slower than his 92.7 mph peak.  Gallardo took the No. 20 spot on the top fifty free agent list of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes, who predicts that he can achieve a $52MM guarantee on the open market.
  • In this week’s mailbag, a reader asked Jason Beck of MLB.com if the Tigers have become overly conservative when it comes to the idea of trading prospects.  Of course, former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski was never shy about trading young talent in an effort to contend in the present.  Beck does believe that Detroit is weary about giving up talented prospects, not just for future seasons, but because of depth in the here-and-now.  Injuries have caught up with the Tigers over the last couple of years and Beck believes that they are looking to hang on to their best youngsters as possible fill-ins.
  • Pirates GM Neal Huntington is aware that he is gambling somewhat by placing newly-acquired John Jaso at first base.  “We recognize there is risk,” Huntington said, according to Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We recognize we just experienced a tough defensive season at first base. At the same time, we also recognize that for us to be successful, there are going to have to be calculated risks. In our minds, this is a good one to take. “We feel like the offensive upside is worth the calculated gamble that he’s going to be able to play first base.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/23/15

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves here:

  • Today’s Dodgers minor league additions include outfielders Alex Hassan and Rico Noel, the previously reported Lisalverto Bonilla, and righty Daniel Corcino, Eddy tweets. Hassan is an OBP specialist who bounced around quite a bit last year and has spent most of his time at the Triple-A level over the past several seasons. Noel, soon to turn 27, has big-time speed on the bases and cracked the Yankees’ roster late last year as a pinch runner. And the 25-year-old Corcino has at times looked like a reasonably promising young pitcher, but missed most of last year after Los Angeles claimed him off waivers from the Reds.
  • The Yankees have agreed to sign veteran righty Vinnie Pestano and catcher Sebastian Valle, Eddy adds on Twitter. Pestano, 30, has had some strong MLB campaigns in the past. But he only notched 11 2/3 big league frames last year with the Angels, though he’s posted impressive strikeout tallies at every level. Valle, a 25-year-old backstop from Mexico, spent most of his career in the Phillies organization before moving to the Pirates last year. He’s yet to reach the majors.
  • Joining the Mets on a minors deal is first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, per another Eddy tweet, along with pitchers Buddy Carlyle and Duane Below. Krauss has racked up 435 major league turns at the plate over the last three years, slashing .188/.255/.324. Carlyle, who just turned 38, has posted strong numbers in the upper minors and majors over the last several years.
  • The Padres have added pitchers Jose Dominguez and Carlos Pimentel on minor league deals, Eddy tweets. As Eddy notes, Dominguez has a live right arm while Pimentel was named the PCL’s pitcher of the year last season with the Cubs.

Earlier Updates

  • The Braves have added first baseman Nate Freiman on a minor league deal, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Recently released by the A’s, Freiman put up a meager .220/.279/.321 batting line last year at Triple-A but has shown more in recent years.
  • Heading to the Orioles on a minor league deal is outfielder Xavier Avery, Eddy also tweets. Avery, who’ll soon turn 26, spent time with three organizations last year at the Triple-A level and has yet to return to the majors since a 2012 debut in Baltimore.
  • Catcher Jhonatan Solano has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals that includes a major league camp invite, the club announced. Solano, 30, spent last year with the Marlins — his first season outside of the Washington organization. He’s never done much damage with the bat, but is a well-regarded receiver.
  • The Tigers also added several other players on MiLB pacts. In addition to making the Valdespin addition official, Detroit announced the signings of righties Logan Kensing, Melvin Mercedes, and Dustin Molleken as well as infielder Alberto Gonzalez and outfielder Nate Schierholtz. Mercedes and Molleken have spent the vast majority of their time in the minors, but the others all have ample big league experience. The 33-year-old Kensing allowed ten earned runs in 15 1/3 frames with the Mariners last year. Gonzalez, a seven-year MLB veteran, spent last year in the upper minors with the Detroit organization. And the 31-year-old Schierholtz failed to reach the majors last year after a string of eight seasons, playing instead for Japan’s Hiroshima Carp.
  • The Tigers have reached a minor league deal with infielder/outfielder Jordany Valdespin, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Valdespin, who turns 28 today, does not receive an invitation to major league camp, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (also via Twitter). The Dominican utilityman has seen MLB action in each of the last four seasons, but made it into only two games with the Marlins last year. He slashed .291/.378/.371 over 457 plate appearances at the Triple-A level in 2015.

Central Notes: Phillips, Reds, Pirates

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While a deal involving Brandon Phillips between the Reds and Nationals appears unlikely, it is not officially dead, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.  As of right now, both teams will wait and see if Phillips changes his mind and consents to the deal, but Washington could wind up taking care of its second base situation differently in the interim.

The two sides appeared to have a deal worked out last week, but Phillips reportedly wanted an extension as a condition of his approval of the trade.  Since he’s already owed $27MM over the next two seasons, the Nats weren’t eager to meet those demands.  As a player with 10-and-5 rights, the ball is in Phillips’ court on that matter.

Here’s more out of the Central divisions:

Pirates Acquire Kyle Lobstein

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The Pirates announced that they have acquired left-hander Kyle Lobstein from the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations.The Tigers had designated the 26-year-old for assignment last Friday in order to clear a spot on the roster for newly signed utility man Mike Aviles.

Since making his Major League debut with the Tigers in 2014, Lobstein has had a fairly significant role with the club, totaling 103 innings across 20 appearances, 17 of which came out of the rotation. His results haven’t been great — a 5.33 ERA, 5.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 — but he has capably soaked up innings as the Detroit rotation battled through injuries. He’s struggled due to an inability to miss bats, as evidenced by the low strikeout rate and the fact that he’s yielded 113 hits in those 103 innings.

While there are certainly some unimpressive elements there, Lobstein could be effective in a different role. He’s displayed the ability to throw multiple innings as a reliever, and lefties have batted just .234/.307/.321 against him over the course of his relatively brief career. The Pirates (and perhaps other clubs, as well) may have been drawn to that trait and been intrigued by Lobstein’s 3.19 FIP and 3.41 xFIP against left-handed pitching, believing him capable of working as a relief option. His 49.7 percent ground-ball rate undoubtedly piqued Pittsburgh’s interest as well, as the Bucs have shown an affinity for pitchers that can keep the ball on the ground. And, his superior Triple-A numbers — 4.08 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 in 236 innings — may simply have made him an appealing depth option for the Pirates, especially when weighed against the minimal cost of acquisition.

Lobstein will land in what appears to be a favorable situation. The Pirates have had a good bit of success in elevating the stock of newly acquired pitchers in recent seasons, and the club’s aggressive infield shifting will mesh nicely with his ground-ball tendencies should Lobstein log significant time in the Majors in 2016 and beyond. He’s totaled just over one year of Major League service time, so the Pirates could conceivably control him through the 2020 season if he establishes himself as a consistent Major Leaguer in some capacity.

Tigers Sign Mike Aviles

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The Tigers announced on Friday that they have signed free agent infielder Mike Aviles to a one-year, Major League contract. Aviles will receive $2MM plus a possible $300K in incentives, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. The 34-year-old Aviles is represented by The Legacy Agency.

Aviles has spent the bulk of his career in the American League Central, as his first four-and-a-half seasons were spent with the Royals, and he’s spent the past three years in Cleveland. He’ll be a depth piece in Detroit — a veteran right-handed bat that can serve as a backup at second base, third base, shortstop and in the corner outfield as well. In spite of that versatility, though, Aviles hasn’t hit much in recent seasons, batting a collective .244/.279/.345 over his three-year tenure with the Indians and posting an OPS+ of just 61 last season.

Though defensive metrics peg Aviles as below average around the infield this past season, he received positive marks in left field and has traditionally received positive marks at shortstop. (Given his age, questions about his range are at least fair to ask.) There’s value for any team in having a player who can capably handle four to five positions, though, even if he’s not a plus defender at any of those spots. And, given the presence of Andrew Romine on Detroit’s roster, manager Brad Ausmus will have a pair of highly versatile players to mix and match when other players incur injuries, need a day off or have been removed from games for various reasons.

Buster Olney of ESPN.com first reported the agreement, on Twitter.

Tigers Designate Kyle Lobstein For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that they have designated left-hander Kyle Lobstein for assignment in order to clear a space on the 40-man roster for utility man Mike Aviles, whose one-year, big league contract with Detroit is now official.

Lobstein, who turned 26 late in the 2015 season, has had a fairly significant role with the Tigers over the past two seasons, totaling 103 innings across 20 appearances, 17 of which came out of the rotation. His results haven’t been great — a 5.33 ERA, 5.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 — but he has capably soaked up innings as the Detroit rotation battled through injuries. He’s struggled due to an inability to miss bats, as evidenced by the low strikeout rate and the fact that he’s yielded 113 hits in those 103 innings.

Nonetheless, there’s reason to believe that Lobstein could be effective in a different role. He’s shown the ability to work multiple innings, which would have value in the bullpen, and he’s held left-handed batters to a paltry .234/.307/.321 batting line to this point in his Major League career. Lobstein has a 3.19 FIP and 3.41 xFIP against same-handed batter, so some clubs could potentially look at him as a bullpen piece. Lobstein also has a 4.08 ERA in 236 innings at Triple-A, where he’s averaged 7.8 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per nine innings pitched, so he’s also a nice enough depth piece for the Tigers (or another club) if he ultimately clears waivers and finds himself outrighted to Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate in Toledo.

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