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Francisco Cervelli

Francisco Cervelli Announces Retirement

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Longtime MLB catcher Francisco Cervelli announced his retirement in an Instagram post today (h/t to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Daniel Álvarez Montes of Elextrabase (Twitter link) was first with the news of Cervelli’s forthcoming announcement.

Signed by the Yankees as an international amateur from Venezuela in 2003, Cervelli broke into the big leagues as a September call-up five years later. He would go on to see big league action for New York every year from 2008-14 but only eclipsed 200 plate appearances in a season once. Following a 2014 trade to the Pirates for reliever Justin Wilson, Cervelli finally got an opportunity as a team’s #1 catcher. He made the most of it. In 2015, Cervelli hit .295/.370/.401 (117 wRC+) in 510 plate appearances while rating as one of the league’s premier receiving catchers.

Unfortunately, a worrisome series of concussions kept Cervelli from matching that lofty workload in the following seasons. Nevertheless, he generally continued to produce when healthy over the rest of his five-year Pittsburgh tenure. A miserable 2019 season eventually led to Cervelli’s release from Pittsburgh, although he did latch on with the Braves for their playoff run last season.

Cervelli signed a one-year deal with the Marlins last offseason and was thrust into the lineup when presumptive starter Jorge Alfaro went on the injured list. Even at age 34, he acquitted himself well, hitting .245/.355/.453 in 16 games. Unfortunately, another concussion (at least the seventh of his career) sent him back to the injured list in August. It soon became apparent he wouldn’t factor into the Marlins’ playoff push. Miami had already placed Cervelli on the 60-day IL, so today’s news won’t affect their roster status in advance of next week’s NL Division Series with the Braves.

This surely isn’t the way Cervelli would’ve wanted his career to end, but he noted in his announcement that “for the first time in a long time, I know my health and wellness needs to be the leadoff.” Despite his various injuries, Cervelli ultimately compiled a 13-year MLB career. He hit .268/.358/.382 with 41 home runs over 2618 plate appearances, a bit better than the league average hitter overall. Baseball Reference estimates he was worth approximately 14 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs pegs his career as worth 18 WAR. MLBTR wishes Cervelli the best in retirement.

Marlins Make Several Roster Moves

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The Marlins have announced a series of roster moves, including utility player Jon Berti’s placement on the 10-day IL with a finger injury. They also moved catcher Francisco Cervelli to the 60-day IL with a concussion; selected righty Brett Eibner; recalled second baseman Isan Diaz and lefty Daniel Castano; and optioned RHP Jordan Yamamoto and LHP Alex Vesia.

With a 19-19 record, the Marlins have been one of the majors’ biggest surprises this year, and Berti has played a part in their success. The 30-year-old has batted a league-average .250/.354/.354 with eight stolen bases over 114 plate appearances, and has lined up at a handful of defensive positions. Most of Berti’s reps have come at second base, but he has also handled shortstop, third base, center field and right on occasion.

Cervelli went on the seven-day concussion IL on Aug. 22 and hasn’t played since. The former Yankee, Pirate and Brave has dealt with an alarming number of head injuries throughout his career, making it unclear whether this latest issue will cause the 34-year-old to call it a career. He signed with the Marlins for a one-year, $2MM deal last offseason and batted an effective .245/.355/.453 with three home runs in 62 plate appearances before landing on the shelf.

Eibner, 31, is back with the Marlins exactly a week after they outrighted him. He has thrown 1 1/3 innings of three-run ball in two relief appearances this year.

Marlins To Place Francisco Cervelli On 7-Day Concussion IL

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The Marlins announced that catcher Francisco Cervelli will be placed on the seven-day concussion protocol injured list.  A corresponding move will be made prior to tomorrow’s game.  Cervelli started for Miami tonight in the second game of its doubleheader with the Nationals, though Cervelli was replaced by Jorge Alfaro prior to the start of the third inning.

While no concussion news is good, tonight’s news is particularly troubling due to Cervelli’s long history with such injuries.  This is at least the seventh concussion Cervelli has suffered during his career, and it was less than 14 months ago that Cervelli seemed to intimate that he was done with catching, though he rather emphatically walked back that statement a few days later.  Even if Cervelli’s symptoms (hopefully) subside quickly this time, one would imagine the Marlins might keep him out of action for longer than the seven-day minimum just to make absolutely sure Cervelli is ready, given all the past concussions on his record.

Cervelli inked a one-year, $2MM deal with Miami last offseason to provide some more experience at catcher, and since Alfaro was only activated from the IL on Friday, Cervelli has been a key player both behind the plate and at the plate.  Entering Saturday, Cervelli had a .250/.361/.462 slash line and three home runs over 61 plate appearances.

Should Cervelli miss an extended amount of time, the Marlins don’t have a ton of depth behind Alfardo.  Chad Wallach is also on the IL, while four other catchers in Miami’s player pool (Will Banfield, Santiago Chavez, Julian Leon, and Brian Navarreto) don’t have any Major League experience.

10 Players Switch Agencies

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Agent Rafa Nieves’ newly-founded Republik Sports agency will represent several players formerly represented by Nieves at Wasserman.  A video published earlier today on Republik’s official Twitter feed reveals the names of 11 players who will continue to be represented by Nieves at this new firm.

We already heard last night that Nationals outfielder Victor Robles (a Nieves client at Wasserman) was joining Republik, and the other ten names cited in the video include a mix of prominent veteran and up-and-coming stars.  The list consists of Indians infielder Jose Ramirez, Reds right-hander Luis Castillo, Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco, Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas, Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, Rockies righty Antonio Senzatela, Padres outfielder Franchy Cordero, Marlins catcher Francisco Cervelli, and White Sox relievers Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera.

As we’ve seen in several past cases of representatives changing agencies or starting new agencies, it’s quite common for players to continue using the same agent even after that rep becomes part of another company.  We saw this in 2017 with Nieves himself, as several of the aforementioned players (namely Ramirez, Robles, Herrera, Colome, Cervelli, Polanco, and Montas) all went with Nieves when the agent moved from the Beverly Hills Sports Council to Wasserman.

The 10 changes have all been updated in our Agency Database.  If you see any notable errors or omissions within the database, please let us know via e-mail: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Marlins Sign Francisco Cervelli

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10:07am: The Marlins and Cervelli are in agreement on a one-year deal worth $2MM, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The contract is pending a physical.

9:40am: The Marlins are “making progress” on a one-year contract with free-agent catcher Francisco Cervelli, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports (via Twitter). Frisaro first linked to the two parties earlier this month, pointing out that early in his career, Cervelli was a teammate of Marlins CEO Derek Jeter with the Yankees. Cervelli is represented by Wasserman.

Francisco Cervelli | Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Miami will again deploy 26-year-old Jorge Alfaro as its primary backstop in 2020, but Cervelli would bring a veteran backup to help guide the still-developing Alfaro. Although injuries — primarily concussions — have ravaged Cervelli’s career over the past several seasons, he’s still a 12-year veteran who, at his peak, was one of the top defensive catchers in all of baseball.

This past season, the 33-year-old Cervelli was limited to 48 games and 160 plate appearances between the Pirates and the Braves, during which time he hit just .213/.302/.348. But he’s only one season removed from a much stronger .259/.378/.431 batting line and a career-high 12 home runs in 404 plate appearances. Drawing walks (career 10.3 percent) and avoiding strikeouts (19.2 percent) have always been a part of Cervelli’s game, so if he’s healthy he should be a solid source of on-base percentage who regularly puts the ball in play.

Defensively, Cervelli might not be the standout he once was, but he nonetheless enjoyed a solid season in some regards. Cervelli thwarted eight of the 25 stolen-base attempts against him (32 percent) and logged roughly average framing numbers per Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and Statcast. Cervelli did struggle a bit in terms of blocking pitches and yielding passed balls, though one can also imagine that with better health, there’d be improvement — particularly considering his much stronger track record in that area.

NL Notes: Cervelli, Carlson, Garcia, Musgrove

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The latest from the National League…

  • The Marlins are trying to work out a contract with catcher Francisco Cervelli, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Injuries have plagued Cervelli over the last several seasons, most notably (and seriously) a series of concussions.  Cervelli was limited to only 48 games for the Pirates and Braves in 2019 due to concussion symptoms, yet it was as recently as 2018 that Cervelli hit .259/.378/.431 with 12 homers over 404 plate appearances for Pittsburgh.  The 33-year-old backstop (notably, a former Yankees teammate of Marlins CEO Derek Jeter) would act as a veteran backup to Jorge Alfaro in Miami.
  • Saturday’s trade between the Cardinals and Rangers that sent Adolis Garcia to Texas had roots at the Winter Meetings, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes, as the Cards were known to be shopping their surplus of right-handed hitting outfielders.  With this “head start on talks” about Garcia, the Cardinals expected Texas or another club to step up with a suitable trade offer when Garcia was designated for assignment earlier this week.  Moving Garcia eliminated one name from a still-crowded Cardinals outfield, so more moves could still be in the offing for St. Louis.  One player who doesn’t seem likely to be moved is top prospect Dylan Carlson, as the Cardinals unsurprisingly “have had near zero interest in including” Carlson in any trade talks this winter.
  • Though the demand for pitching continues to increase and the Pirates could be entering into something of a rebuild period under new GM Ben Cherington, right-hander Joe Musgrove might not be a trade candidate, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  “I seriously doubt [the Pirates] would talk about him.  They may say they’d talk about him, but they’re not going to trade him,” a official on a rival team told Olney.  Musgrove just turned 27 and is arbitration-eligible for only the first time, projected by MLBTR to earn $3.4MM.  That’s a more than affordable price for the low-payroll Bucs, considering that Musgrove posted a 4.44 ERA, 4.03 K/BB rate, and 8.3 K/9 over 170 1/3 innings last season, and generated 5.5 fWAR in 2018-19.  The Blue Jays are one team known to have discussed Musgrove in trade talks this winter, though those discussions reportedly amounted to little.

Marlins Notes: Park Dimensions, Outfield, Catcher, Villar, Aguilar

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Changes are coming to Marlins Park, as the team announced Wednesday that the fences will be moved in and new synthetic grass will be installed prior to Opening Day 2020. “In going through the process of evaluating the playing surface at Marlins Park in 2019, we set out to find a solution to combat the challenges we have experienced with growing natural grass in Marlins Park,” CEO Derek Jeter said in announcing a partnership with Shaw Sports Turf.

As far as the park dimensions, the center-field and right-center field walls will each be moved in by 12 feet, making the distance to straightaway center an even 400 feet, while the right-center power alley will now be 387 feet deep. “We made the decision to adjust the distance of the outfield fence, which will now be more in line with the field dimensions you see across many of today’s ballparks,” said Jeter.

Here’s more out of Miami…

  • The Marlins are looking for free-agent outfielders who are willing to sign one- and two-year contracts as they look to bolster their lineup in 2020, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Frisaro lists Avisail Garcia and Yasiel Puig as potential fits for the club, whereas Nicholas Castellanos, another appealing target, is likelier to secure a lengthier pact. Puig, of course, has a long and checkered history with manager Don Mattingly dating back to the pair’s days with the Dodgers, although presumably if talks between the two sides begin in earnest, they’ll work to bury whatever hard feelings (if any) still exist. Garcia, meanwhile, was linked to Miami last week, and the fit makes plenty of sense on paper; MLBTR predicted that Garcia would land with the Fish when ranking our top 50 free agents at the outset of the offseason. Recently non-tendered Steven Souza Jr., too, “will be explored” as a possibility, per Frisaro. The former Rays right fielder missed most of the past two seasons with the D-backs due to injury but topped 30 homers back in 2017.
  • Frisaro also suggests that the Marlins will be in the market for a part-time catcher to pair with Jorge Alfaro, pointing out that free agent Francisco Cervelli and Jeter were teammates when Cervelli first arrived on the scene with the Yankees. The 33-year-old Cervelli’s career has been slowed considerably by concussions in recent seasons — including just a 48-game effort in 2019 due to concussion symptoms — but he hit .259/.378/.431 with the Pirates as recently as 2018 and has been an on-base machine throughout his career.
  • The Marlins plan to utilize newly acquired Jonathan Villar in a super utility role rather than play him at just one position, as Mattingly explained to Kyle Sielaff and Paul Severino in a podcast appearance. In addition to his customary second base and shortstop, Villar figures to be deployed at third base and in the outfield at times. Jesus Aguilar, meanwhile, will be given ample opportunity to cement himself as the Marlins’ primary first baseman next season, Mattingly suggested. A return to 2018 form for Aguilar, who hit .274/.352/.539 with 35 homers that season, would be a particularly positive development for Miami. Unlike Villar, who is a free agent next winter, Aguilar can be controlled through the 2022 season.

Pirates To Prioritize Catcher Position In Offseason

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After he endured a concussion-marred few months, the Pirates released veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli last week. Including Cervelli’s numbers prior to his Pittsburgh exit, he and the Pirates’ current catchers – Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings – have combined to record some of the lowliest production of any group of backstops in the league this year. Their minus-0.6 fWAR and 65 wRC+ each rank just 26th in the majors. With that in mind, general manager Neal Huntington will enter the offseason seeking help behind the plate, though he realizes it’s going to be difficult to find a solution.

Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (subscription) that “catching is the hardest position to come by,” adding: “We’ll take a look at what’s available in a trade and the free agent markets this offseason. And, hopefully, we’ll continue to push the guys who are here forward.”

Cervelli’s slated to hit the open market again after a few months with his new team, the Braves. The Pirates will “keep the door open” to re-signing him, according to Huntington, but Biertempfel points out that a reunion looks unlikely. Indeed, Pittsburgh would be hard-pressed to count on Cervelli again considering his meek 2019 output and extensive concussion history.

Turning to other free-agent possibilities, the small-budget Pirates don’t seem likely to pursue current Brewer Yasmani Grandal – who’s a strong bet to rake in the largest contract among available catchers over the winter. There will be some other potentially appealing choices who could come at affordable prices, though, with Jason Castro (Twins), Travis d’Arnaud (Rays) and Robinson Chirinos (Astros) among them. At least offensively, all three have logged better-than-average numbers this year with their present teams. As noted earlier, that hasn’t been the case for Diaz and Stallings.

It’s all the more damning for Diaz that he hasn’t made up for his subpar offense (64 wRC+) with stellar work behind the plate. While Diaz has caught a league-average 27 percent of would-be base-stealers, he ranks dead last out of 104 catchers in Baseball Prospectus Fielding Runs Above Average metric and has accounted for minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved. Stallings has been vastly superior in those categories (54% CS, 17th in FRAA, 8 DRS), not to mention with the bat (85 wRC+).

The soon-to-be 29-year-old Diaz and Stallings (30 in December) are without minor league options, making it eminently possible at least one won’t be with the Pittsburgh organization in 2020. However, in an ideal world, the Pirates will possess “three or four” viable backstops next year, Huntington said. The club does have two Triple-A catchers, Steven Baron and Christian Kelley, but the two of them have posted horrid numbers in the minors this season. That should further put the onus on Huntington to find outside help at the position in the coming months. Huntington suggested it’ll be a challenge, but the woeful production of the Pirates’ 2019 catchers means he won’t have a high bar to clear when it comes to landing an upgrade.

Braves Sign Francisco Cervelli

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The Braves have signed catcher Francisco Cervelli to a major-league deal, the team reports.

Cervelli, 33, was granted his release Thursday by Pittsburgh to allow the 12-year-vet to join a contender down the stretch. After reportedly declaring in early July that his big-league backstop tenure, marred by persistent concussive setbacks, had come to its end, Cervelli reversed course, anchoring down on a proposed course that would again find him behind the dish as soon as he was able. He appears, after just six rehab games, to have reached that point.

The longtime Yankee backstop, who came into his own mid-decade with the Buccos after taking the reins from Russell Martin, has slumped to his worst career season in ’19, slashing just .193/.279/.248 in 123 plate appearances. Still, Cervelli’s just a year removed from a 125 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR line in just 404 PAs, so there may yet be some juice left in that tank.

He’ll look to stabilize a wobbly catching situation in Atlanta, where longtime starter Tyler Flowers has slumped miserably in the season’s second half, slashing just .188/.257/.359 in near-full-time duty. Whether or not Cervelli will receive regular time behind the dish isn’t yet clear, but a few more withered Flowers efforts and the Venezuelan could be thrust quickly into the mix.

Braves Reportedly Expected To Sign Francisco Cervelli

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Just-released Pirates backstop Francisco Cervelli evidently won’t spend much time on the open market. He is slated to ink a deal with the Braves, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Whether it’s of the major or minor-league variety isn’t known.

Cervelli still must clear release waivers before he’ll be able to sign a new deal. But that’s really just a formality, given that he’s still owed the balance of his $11.5MM salary — about $2.4MM. The Braves will only owe him the league minimum rate for any time spent on the MLB roster, with the Bucs paying the rest.

While it seemed at one point earlier this year that Cervelli would not attempt to return to catching duties, he emphatically quashed that concept and has donned the mask on a rehab assignment. Now, he’ll help the Braves cover for the recent loss of Brian McCann. Whether Cervelli will immediately join Tyler Flowers on the MLB roster isn’t known. It’s also possible that the club will tap John Ryan Murphy for that job and then bring up Cervelli once rosters expand.

Cervelli has hit well on his recent rehab stint, but that’s a limited sample against minor-league pitching. He was far from his peak form to begin the season, turning in 123 plate appearances of .193/.279/.248 hitting before he hit the injured list. With a rising chase rate and swinging-strike rate, declining average exit velocity, and worsening strikeout-to-walk numbers (25.2% K vs. 7.3% BB), the poor output was well-deserved.

The Braves will have to hope there’s more left in the tank. Cervelli has been a solid-two-way catcher for quite some time. Just last year, he was able to turn in a healthy .259/.378/.431 slash line with a dozen home runs. Regardless of the outlook with the bat in hand, the Atlanta organization is obviously interested in adding some veteran depth behind the dish. Better options aren’t likely to present themselves over the next week — after which time it will not be possible to acquire a postseason-eligible player. By picking up Cervelli, the club will add another layer of protection in the event that McCann is slow to return.

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