Free Agent Notes: Navarro, Madson, Leake, Soria, Flowers
Switch-hitting catcher Dioner Navarro is a “name to keep an eye on” in connection to the White Sox, says Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (links to Twitter). The sense among competitors for Navarro’s services is that something could come together quickly between Navarro and the ChiSox now that Tyler Flowers has been non-tendered, according to Passan, who calls Navarro the “top” offensive catcher on the market. I’d posit that Wilin Rosario certainly gives Navarro a run for his money in that regard, though Navarro probably comes with the better defensive reputation of the two. Regardless, a match between the Sox and Navarro certainly seems plausible.
A few more notes on some various free agents for those who are joining me in the realm of insomnia…
- MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports that the Athletics are interested in right-hander Ryan Madson, with one source telling her that the A’s are a “legitimate suitor” for Madson’s services. Oakland is “square in the mix” for Madson, says Lee’s source. She notes that the former Phillies closer, who enjoyed a brilliant bounceback campaign in Kansas City this past season, is looking for a multi-year deal. While Oakland has already picked up reliever Liam Hendriks from Toronto, Lee writes that the team isn’t shying away from the concept of adding another relief arm. She adds that GM David Forst has stated that payroll won’t be a deterrent in the team’s pursuit of an additional setup arm.
- The Giants still haven’t engaged in talks with right-hander Mike Leake, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. While San Francisco is widely believed to be interested in retaining the right-hander it acquired in late July, Schulman says the belief is that the team’s pursuit of ace Zack Greinke needs to be resolved before a serious effort to re-sign Leake is made. Greinke is reportedly deciding between the Giants and his former club (and San Francisco division rival), the Dodgers.
- The Blue Jays and Royals are among the clubs monitoring the market for right-hander Joakim Soria, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). The Tigers are out of the mix for Soria after acquiring Francisco Rodriguez, he adds. Both Toronto and K.C. are known to be interested in relief help, though a recent report from Crasnick indicated that the Blue Jays aren’t inclined to pay top dollar for any bullpen arms right now, and Soria is reportedly seeking a $27MM total over a three-year span, which seems to make the two an unlikely match.
- CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes tweets that the White Sox‘ decision to non-tender Flowers might have been a blessing in disguise for the catcher. One scout texted Hayes shortly after the news of Flowers’ non-tender broke, telling Hayes that Flowers “should thank” the White Sox for cutting him loose, because his belief is that Flowers will get more than his projected $3.5MM arbitration salary in this market. That seems potentially steep to me, considering the fact that Alex Avila and Geovany Soto have both signed for under $3MM, but Flowers did post standout framing numbers last year and does have some pop, so clubs are sure to be interested. If nothing else, he could probably surpass that number by way of incentives in a one-year deal with a new club.
Tigers To Non-Tender Neftali Feliz
The Tigers will non-tender reliever Neftali Feliz, according to James Schmehl of MLive.com (via Twitter). He’ll join fellow right-handed reliever Al Alburquerque in reaching the open market rather than returning to Detroit via arbitration.
Feliz signed on with the Tigers over the summer after being cut loose by the Rangers. The 27-year-old was projected by MLBTR to earn $5.2MM. That’s rather a steep price, but his numbers were driven up by prior saves and the fact that he was in his final year of eligibility.
Things didn’t work out at all in Detroit, as the former closer scuffled to a 7.62 ERA in his 28 1/3 innings. That’s probably not a fair reflection of his efforts, as ERA estimators saw him more as a ~4.00 performer, but Feliz had been outperforming his peripherals for some time.
It’s been a remarkable fall for a pitcher who once looked like a future ace reliever — if not a high-quality starter. But teams will still probably look at Feliz as a nice rebound candidate: youth remains on his side and he still brings his fastball in the 94 to 95 mph range on average.
Ilitch, Avila On Zimmermann, Offseason, Dombrowski, Scherzer
The Tigers introduced Jordan Zimmermann to fans with an press conference yesterday, but it was owner Mike Ilitch and, to a lesser extent, GM Al Avila who garnered most of the attention, per a pair of reports from MLB.com’s Jason Beck and from CBS Detroit (includes video of Ilitch interview). As Beck writes, the 86-year-old Ilitch made his steadfast desire to see a winning team in Detroit abundantly clear just four months after now-former GM Dave Dombrowski sent the club on a mini-rebuild by trading David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria.
“I’ve been in baseball for a lot of years, and I don’t care about spending money,” Ilitch told the Detroit media. “They get the players, and I spend and I don’t worry about it, because they have good judgment. We’ve had good teams over the years, and it’s a lot of fun for me.” Ilitch added that winning is “all I think about” and that he badly wants a championship in Detroit.
Avila told reporters that Zimmermann was the club’s top target from day one this offseason, and Ilitch was aware of that. “It’s very rare when you say to the owner, ‘This is the guy we’re trying to get,’ and then you end up getting him,” said Avila, who drew strong praise from the team’s owner.
Ilitch was candid not only in his praise for Avila but in his description of how the relationship between Dombrowski and the Tigers came to a close. “He knew he wasn’t getting a contract,” Ilitch told reporters. “That’s all there was to it, because I didn’t win with him. We were close. He’s a great guy. But you know, there’s times you’ve got to change. If you’re not winning, you’ve got to change. So I made up my mind: I’ve got to change. So I called him and I told him like a gentleman.” Ilitch did note in the above-linked video that he and Dombrowski spoke “like old friends” and certainly didn’t seem to harbor anything but respect for his longtime but now former general manager.
The frank comments from Ilitch also entailed his recounting of some frustration with Max Scherzer and Scherzer’s agent, Scott Boras. Per CBS Detroit, Ilitch recalled: “We made him an offer and it looked like he was going to take it, then all of the sudden he wanted a little bit more and it was a great number. It irked me a little bit. I figured, ‘how much do you want? I just asked you what you wanted.’ Then he tells me he wants more.”
The offer referenced by Ilitch, of course, is the six-year, $144MM offer which Scherzer rejected prior to the 2014 season. Many expressed disbelief at the time reports leaked out about Scherzer passing on the deal, but the decision proved shrewd in the long run, as Scherzer landed a seven-year, $210MM contract with the Nationals which, even with heavy deferrals, is valued at an estimated $189MM in present-day terms.
Back to Beck’s column, Ilitch indicated that he’s comfortable exceeding the luxury tax threshold of $189MM if necessary, if it’s necessary to land the players they want. Avila noted that the team would still limit its spending somewhat, though the plan is to pursue another starter and a relief arm, albeit more of a back-end rotation type, per Beck.
That would figure to eliminate the Tigers from the market for pitchers like Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Wei-Yin Chen and Kenta Maeda (if he is indeed posted), each of whom could pull in significant commitments that match Zimmermann’s in terms of contract length (though probably not annual value). Even mid-rotation arms such as Ian Kennedy and Yovani Gallardo could command three- and four-year deals. If the aim is more for a lower-cost option, the Tigers could look to buy low on a reunion with Doug Fister or perhaps ink a lower-cost fifth starter like Mike Pelfrey (both names are my own speculation).
The relief market offers a number of non-closing setup types, though it’d seem there’s room for at least two more relievers — one left-handed and one right-handed. Detroit’s lefty options on the 40-man roster at this time include Blaine Hardy, Kyle Ryan and Kyle Lobstein (assuming Matt Boyd continues to work as a starter in the minors), so one names like Tony Sipp and Antonio Bastardo make for reasonable speculative targets. Right-handed names that fit the team’s typical affinity for high-strikeout arms include Shawn Kelley, Mark Lowe and Ryan Madson, while Tommy Hunter‘s velocity stands out among free-agent relievers (though he doesn’t generate a huge number of strikeouts despite his 96.2 mph average fastball).
Ultimately, as one would expect based on the Tigers’ history, the team looks poised to continue to spend despite having already reeled in a pair of high-profile acquisitions in the form of Zimmermann and Francisco Rodriguez.
Tigers Sign Jordan Zimmermann
TODAY, 11:33am: The deal is backloaded, per another Heyman tweet. Zimmermann will take home $18MM apiece in the first two years, then earn $24MM in 2018, and receive $25MM apiece over the contract’s last two campaigns.
7:30am: Zimmermann gets full no-trade protection for three years, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter links). In the final two years of the contract, Zimmermann will be able to name a ten-team pre-approval list but otherwise block any movement.
Heyman notes that this provision was “key” to getting a contract done. The righty is, of course, a native of Wisconsin, and was drawn by the chance to settle his young family in the broader midwest region without having to worry about being shipped elsewhere.
The contract’s hefty trade protection helps to explain its allure at this still-early stage of the winter. As explained below, there was some cause to believe that Zimmermann could achieve a sixth guaranteed year, but it appears he was willing to part with some pure earning upside to control his destiny (for the most part) over the life of the deal.
YESTERDAY: Having already bolstered their bullpen with the acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez, the Tigers made a move to fortify their rotation on Monday, officially announcing the signing of Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year contract. The Relativity Sports client will reportedly receive $110MM over the life of the contract.
Earlier this offseason, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes rated Zimmermann as the seventh best free agent available this winter and predicted that he could net a six-year, $126MM contract. A reliable righty, Zimmermann’s stock fell slightly this season due to a decline in his strike out and whiff rates from 2014. He also reverted to a league average HR/FB ratio, leading to a higher-than-normal 3.66 ERA. The 29-year-old right-hander (30 in May), has a career 3.32 ERA with 7.43 K/9 and 1.82 BB/9 in over 1,000 innings. His most recent campaign for the Nationals included similar numbers in 201 innings with the aforementioned regression in home run rate.
Zimmermann was shut down early in 2011, his first year back from Tommy John surgery, as the Nationals sought to build up his innings, but he has been quite durable ever since. In the last four years, Zimmermann has made at least 32 starts each season while compiling 810 1/3 total innings. Though he’s never put up gaudy single-season inning tallies, he is fifth in the game in total starts since the beginning of 2012 and ranks 12th in total frames over that span.
Zimmermann has also performed well in limiting platoon splits. He’s been slightly better against righties historically, of course, but has handle opposite-handed hitters in equivalent manner in most regards. Lefties do draw walks at a higher rate (2.3 vs. 1.4 BB/9), but their overall production has not been markedly greater (.310 vs. .286 wOBA).
There’s a lot to like, but 2015 undoubtedly represented a step back for the righty, and not just in the earned run department. Zimmermann’s 3.66 ERA was by far the highest full-season mark of his career, and his FIP (3.75), xFIP (3.82), and SIERA (3.83) marks all landed a fair sight over his career averages.
Detroit once boasted an elite rotation but after losing Max Scherzer and David Price in recent seasons, they’ve been in need of reinforcements. Additionally, Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez have become unreliable due to injuries and performance decline. Now, the Tigers figure to have a stronger rotation in 2016 and beyond thanks to the addition of Zimmermann, who becomes the first pitcher to receive a $100MM+ deal after having previously undergone Tommy John surgery. Adam Wainwright set the previous watermark with his five-year, $97.5MM extension signed in 2013.
Zimmermann rejected a qualifying offer from the Nationals, so the Tigers will have to sacrifice a draft pick in order to sign him. The Tigers select ninth overall – a protected pick – so they would surrender their second pick. Likewise, the Nationals will receive a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds of the 2016 draft.
Jon Morosi of FOX Sports first reported that the two sides were in talks. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that there was an agreement in place (on Twitter). Morosi reported the $110MM figure (on Twitter), and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick added that there were no options on the straight five-year pact (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL Central Notes: Fuenmayor, Victorino, Zimmermann, Park
Royals first base prospect Balbino Fuenmayor — one of the more intriguing candidates to be selected in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft — is progressing very well in his recovery from a torn ACL this past summer, as recently noted by his agents at True Gravity Sports. Fuenmayor underwent surgery to repair the ligament on Aug. 3 but is running multiple times per week at present and is on track to begin baseball activities in early January. Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper recently listed Fuenmayor as one of the most plausible Rule 5 targets. The slugger, who was out of affiliated baseball at the age of 23 after receiving a huge bonus from the Blue Jays as a 16-year-old, reestablished himself on the independent circuit and returned to minor league ball in dominant fashion this past season, hitting .358/.384/.589 with 17 homers in 89 games before suffering his injury.
A few more items pertaining to the AL Central…
- The Indians are currently showing the most interest in outfielder Shane Victorino, sources tell Rob Bradford of WEEI.com (Twitter link). Cleveland was known to be on the hunt for outfielders even before Michael Brantley underwent shoulder surgery that will sideline him into next season, but that injury likely increased the team’s urgency to add some outfield help. Cleveland, as Bradford points out, had interest in Victorino before he signed in Boston and even offered him a four-year contract. Victorino, though, took three years to head to the Red Sox instead.
- The trades to acquire Francisco Rodriguez and Cameron Maybin earlier this month allowed the Tigers to sign Jordan Zimmermann, writes MLive.com’s James Schmehl. Filling a pair of holes without making lavish financial commitments allowed the Tigers to spend a more considerable sum than most had anticipated on a free-agent starter. Zimmermann said at today’s press conference that he was the second or third choice for a number of teams to whom he and agent Mark Pieper of Relativity Sports spoke, but the Tigers had him atop their list and wanted to sign quickly, which appealed to him (via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, on Twitter).
- Byung-ho Park arrived in Minneapolis today, reports Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and his agent, Alan Nero of Octagon, is expected to arrive in the next day or so to finalize a contract with the Twins. Park said he’s spoken to countrymen Shin-Soo Choo and Hyun-jin Ryu as well as close friend Jung Ho Kang about the transition to Major League Baseball, with each encouraging him that he will adapt to the new league well. Park told Miller, via interpreter, that his goal is to remain in Major League Baseball for the rest of his career. Miller notes that Park does speak some English and is working on learning more as he prepares for the next phase of his career.
Tigers In Talks With Jordan Zimmermann
The Tigers are in talks with free agent starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Sources tell Morosi and Ken Rosenthal that talks have become serious. The Dodgers and Cubs have also been tied to Zimmermann.
MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes rated Zimmermann as the seventh best free agent. Dierkes anticipates a six-year, $126MM contract for him. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd profiled Zimmermann in more detail earlier this offseason. A reliable righty, Zimmermann’s stock fell slightly this season due to a decline in his strike out and whiff rates from 2014. He also reverted to a league average HR/FB ratio, leading to a higher-than-normal 3.66 ERA.
The 29-year-old right-hander (30 in May), has a career 3.32 ERA with 7.43 K/9 and 1.82 BB/9 in over 1,000 innings. His most recent campaign for the Nationals included similar numbers in 201 innings with the aforementioned regression in home run rate.
Detroit, once possessed of an elite rotation, has lost Max Scherzer and David Price in recent seasons. Additionally, Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez have become unreliable due to injuries and performance decline. A possible addition of Zimmermann could serve to provide stability to the rotation.
Zimmermann rejected a qualifying offer from the Nationals, so any signing team would have to surrender a draft pick. The Tigers select ninth overall – a protected pick – so they would surrender their second pick.
Mike Hessman Retires
Corner infielder Mike Hessman has announced his retirement, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America notes. Hessman initially tweeted that he was retiring to become a coach, although that tweet has since been deleted.
Hessman’s retirement is a move that is minor by definition but more noteworthy than that term suggests — among fans of minor league baseball, Hessman’s career will be remembered as legendary. No minor league slugger, in fact, has been more prolific — this season, the 37-year-old Hessman topped Buzz Arlett’s all-time record with his 433rd career minor league homer.
The Braves selected Hessman in the 15th all the way back in 1996 — a draft in which they also took Jason Marquis, Mark DeRosa and Marcus Giles, which gives a sense of just how long Hessman was in the minors. He reached Triple-A six years later and made his big-league debut in 2003.
Hessman ultimately played parts of five big-league seasons with the Braves, Tigers and Mets, although he never collected even 100 plate appearances in a single year. Instead, he bounced from one organization to the next, hitting one home run after another for various Triple-A teams and playing in over 2,000 minor league games. The team with which he’ll be most strongly connected is the Toledo Mud Hens, for whom he played from 2005-2009 and 2014-2015. Hessman hit 23 or more homers in his first six seasons in Toledo before finishing with 16 last season. Overall, he hit 20 or more minor-league homers 13 times in his career. He also helped the US baseball team to a bronze medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and in 2009 he attracted attention by playing all nine positions in a single game for the Mud Hens.
AL Notes: Lawrie, Valencia, Rasmus, Soria, Maybin
The Athletics‘ acquisition of Jed Lowrie has set the team up to trade away another infielder, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Lowrie will probably play second base, forming a double-play duo with incumbent shortstop Marcus Semien. There is interest from other American League teams in both Brett Lawrie and Danny Valencia, she reports, with the former seemingly more likely to be dealt. Lawrie, 26, slashed just .260/.299/.407 last year after being acquired as a key piece of the Josh Donaldson trade. He has two years of control remaining, with MLBTR projecting him to earn $3.9MM this year. Valencia, meanwhile, performed both before and after he was claimed by Oakland off waivers from the Blue Jays. He, too, can be controlled for another two years and is projected at $3.4MM.
Here’s more from the A.L.:
- On the other side of that deal, the Astros were in part compelled to give up Lowrie because outfielder Colby Rasmus accepted a qualifying offer, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle explains. GM Jeff Luhnow said that the club is happy to “pay a little more” given the increased certainty that Rasmus represents in his second year with the club, but that also made it harder for the organization to pay Lowrie $7.5MM to perform what might have been a super-utility role. “Given that we had a lot of options at third and first, we (thought we) could take those resources and apply them to an area of our club we didn’t have as much depth (or where we) don’t have anybody penciled into that spot right now,” Luhnow said. “Whether it’s lefthanded relief, righthanded relief or even a starter, those resources will be reallocated to something we believe will help.”
- Rasmus and the Astros have yet to explore a multi-year arrangement and are unlikely to do so before he hits the open market next fall, Drellich adds.
- The Twins are interested in Joakim Soria but haven’t made him an offer at this point, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Soria, though, does have offers in hand from other clubs, he hears. Presumably, none of those offers have approached his previously reported three-year, $27MM asking price.
- Last week’s acquisition of Cameron Maybin from the Braves likely ends the Tigers‘ pursuit of outfield help, reports James Schmehl of MLive.com. General manager Al Avila told Schmehl that a further acquisition is “doubtful,” adding that it’s not entirely clear what Maybin’s role in 2016 will be. “Some people feel he should be playing center and Anthony Gose in left,” said Avila. “Some people feel he should be playing left and Gose in center. And we still have Tyler Collins, obviously. That’s the beauty of (Maybin) — we feel good about him either way.” Schmehl reports that in addition to making an offer to re-sign Rajai Davis prior to acquiring Maybin, the Tigers also made an offer to an unnamed outfielder. While he doesn’t offer further details, I’d imagine that Ryan Raburn, Chris Denorfia and Chris Young could’ve filled similar roles in Detroit, though Raburn doesn’t really profile as a possible center field option. Franklin Gutierrez, too, could’ve been a right-handed target for the Tigers prior to his new contract with the Mariners.
Relief Market Notes: Hunter, Nationals, Mets, Zagurski
Right-hander Tommy Hunter is drawing interest on the free agent market, with the Padres, Tigers and Indians among the clubs teams intrigued by the former Orioles setup man, reports Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Hunter, 30 next July, split the season between the O’s and Cubs, though he enjoyed considerably more success in Baltimore than in Chicago. Hunter was surprisingly traded in exchange for Junior Lake in July after 44 2/3 innings of 3.63 ERA ball (3.38 FIP) but saw that mark soar to 5.74 (5.11 FIP) in 15 2/3 innings with the Cubs. Those late struggles notwithstanding, Hunter has a 3.26 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against just 1.7 BB/9 across 207 1/3 innings dating back to 2013, so he figures to draw further interest as the offseason wears on.
Here are a few more notes from the relief market…
- MLB.com’s Bill Ladson joins others in characterizing the Nationals‘ interest in Darren O’Day as serious, though he also notes that some clubs could offer O’Day the opportunity to close games, which Washington cannot currently promise. The market for O’Day is deep, Ladson adds, but he could be a much-needed reliable setup man for the Nats, who are “looking to trade” Drew Storen.
- We’ve heard varying reports on the Nationals‘ interest in shipping out Storen and Jonathan Papelbon, but Jayson Stark tweets that executives from three clubs have told him that the Nats are pushing to trade both righties. The club’s plan would be to rebuild the back of its relief corps with new acquisitions. Of course, as I explained in the Nationals’ offseason outlook, Washington is in need of pen additions regardless of what it does in the late innings.
- The Mets‘ bullpen focus, meanwhile, is on adding a lefty, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. New York seems prepared to give Josh Smoker a chance at cracking the pen after adding him to the 40-man roster. And the team has indicated interest in bringing back Jerry Blevins. But a surer thing would be preferable, says DiComo, who says the team is prioritizing the acquisition of a quality LOOGY this winter.
- Former big league lefty Mike Zagurski is hoping to return to the U.S. after pitching in Japan last season, MLBTR has learned. Zagurski has struggled in a handful of Major League chances but has a 2.68 ERA with 12.0 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in parts of six Triple-A seasons. The 32-year-old posted a 2.40 ERA in Japan last year, albeit in a small sample of 15 innings.
Tigers Hire Lloyd McClendon As Triple-A Manager
Recently dismissed Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon has been named manager of the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens, the team announced today (Twitter link). McClendon was fired from his post as Seattle’s skipper back in early October (as is often the case when a team brings a new general manager on board).
The 58-year-old McClendon will bring a wealth of coaching and managerial experience with him back to the Tigers organization. McClendon was Detroit’s Major League bullpen coach in 2006 and then spent seven seasons from 2007-13 working as the club’s Major League hitting coach before being hired in Seattle. He also spent four seasons as the hitting coach and five as the manager in Pittsburgh from 1997-2005.
McClendon is well-respected by peers and was seemingly well-liked in Seattle, as he was reportedly part of Robinson Cano‘s pitch to Nelson Cruz when trying to sway his friend to sign in Seattle last offseason. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see McClendon’s name tied to managerial openings after the 2016 season as they open, and there’s always the possibility that he could rejoin the Tigers’ big league staff in some capacity after next season.