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Jeff Luhnow Sues Astros For Breach Of Contract

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Former Astros president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow has filed a lawsuit against his former team for breach of contract, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports.  Luhnow was fired last January after details of the infamous sign-stealing scandal became publicly known via a league report, which alleged that Luhnow had at least some knowledge of the wrongdoing and (as the GM) was ultimately responsible for the actions of his employees.

In July 2018, Luhnow signed a contract extension that would have kept him in Houston through the 2023 season.  The value of this extension wasn’t known, but Luhnow’s lawsuit claims the contract was worth “more than $31 million,” and that Luhnow’s firing cost him “more than $22 million in guaranteed compensation” as well as other benefits.

Some of the details of Luhnow’s lawsuit resemble statements his profession of innocence in an interview with KPRC’s Vanessa Richardson last month.  Luhnow’s lawsuit alleges he was fired without cause, claiming that three documents used by the league as evidence against him in regards to his knowledge of the sign-stealing plan don’t directly mention “in-game electronic sign stealing.”  For Luhnow’s most extensive public defense, check out his interview for Ben Reiter’s podcast.

Luhnow became “the scapegoat for the [Astros] organization” in the wake of the league’s investigation, which the lawsuit describes as “a negotiated resolution” between Astros owner Jim Crane and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred.  According to the suit…

“The commissioner vetted potential penalties with Crane, and the two exchanged a series of proposals.  Those negotiations proved beneficial to Crane and the Astros.

“The commissioner allowed the Astros to keep their 2017 World Series championship, imposed a $5 million fine (a fraction of the revenues Crane had reaped as part of the team’s recent success), and took away four draft picks. He also issued a blanket vindication of Crane, absolving him of any responsibility for failing to supervise his club.

“Moreover, Crane and the Astros were assured of fielding a contending team in 2020 — the team advanced to the American League Championship Series for the fourth straight year — because the commissioner did not suspend or penalize any of the players who were directly involved in the scandal.”

Luhnow and then-manager A.J. Hinch were also both issued season-long suspensions for their roles in the sign-stealing scandal, though the two men were fired the same day as the league’s report was released.  Alex Cora, the Astros’ former bench coach and one of the architects of the sign-stealing plan, was also fired from his job as the Red Sox manager the next day and was later suspended for the 2020 season.  (Carlos Beltran, then an Astros player who was also one of the chief organizers of the sign-stealing procedures, was also fired from his newly-installed position as manager of the Mets due to the fallout from the scandal, though Beltran faced no league discipline.)

Hinch and Cora, of course, returned to managing almost immediately after their suspensions were over — Hinch is now managing the Tigers while Cora was re-hired by the Red Sox.  Luhnow’s lawsuit also alleges that Astros director of advanced information Tom Koch-Weser is “the ringleader of the Astros’ sign-stealing schemes” and a source of false information about Luhnow in the league’s report, claiming Manfred “let the ringleader keep his position in exchange for providing information that would implicate Luhnow.”

Red Sox, Jackie Bradley Jr. Have Been In Contact

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The Red Sox have reached out to Jackie Bradley Jr.’s camp since free agency opened, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI. The 30-year-old has also drawn interest from the Astros and an unidentified team in the AL Central, Bradford adds. (Speculatively speaking, the Royals and Indians seem the most likely teams in that division to pursue centerfield help this offseason).

Bradley joined the Red Sox when the organization selected him with the 40th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He had cemented himself as the team’s everyday center fielder by 2015, a role he’s held ever since. Bradley has had his share of highs and lows at the plate, but he’s consistently been among the game’s best defensive outfielders.

To his credit, Bradley hits the open market on the heels of one of the better offensive showings of his career. He slashed .283/.364/.450 with seven home runs over 217 plate appearances in 2020, rebounding from a .225/.317/.421 line the season before. That strong showing positions Bradley well in a free agent center field market that’s otherwise quite thin behind George Springer. The MLBTR staff forecasts Bradley for a two-year, $16MM deal this winter, with Houston pegged as his most likely landing spot.

Astros Exercise Brooks Raley’s Option

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Nov. 2: Raley’s club option called for a split contract in 2021, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). He’ll earn at a $2MM rate on the big league roster, but the contract calls for him to earn at a $250K rate in the minors. If Raley pitches like he did for Houston in 2020, he should make the roster and earn the entirety of that salary, but it’s a notable distinction that it’s not a straight, fully guaranteed $2MM salary.

Nov. 1: The Astros are picking up Brooks Raley’s $2MM club option for 2021, GM James Click informed reporters (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The 32-year-old only has one-plus year of MLB service. Nevertheless, under the terms of the contract he signed last offseason, he’ll be eligible for free agency at the end of next season.

Raley parlayed a solid five-year run with the KBO’s Lotte Giants into a deal with the Reds. While he was let go by Cincinnati after just four appearances, he found a home in Houston. The Astros acquired Raley from the Reds for a player to be named later in August.

The southpaw went on toss 16 relief innings in the regular season. His 3.94 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but Raley racked up 21 strikeouts against four walks in Houston, holding opposing hitters to a paltry .143/.213/.339 line.  He worked another 5.2 innings across eight appearances during Houston’s playoff run, allowing two earned runs with a 9:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Six Players Extended Qualifying Offers

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Six players will be extended qualifying offers this winter, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Those players are:

None of the players issued the QO comes as a particular surprise. Bauer, LeMahieu, Realmuto and Springer were all easy calls for their respective teams. Each of that group will certainly reject the offer. Stroman and Gausman might’ve been tougher calls but had been reported previously.

More notable are the series of players who were not issued a QO. Astros outfielder Michael Brantley will hit the market unencumbered, as he did when he became a free agent two years ago. Oakland didn’t issue a QO to either of Marcus Semien or Liam Hendriks, while the Phillies and Angels decided against an offer for Didi Gregorius and Andrelton Simmons, respectively. The six players issued a qualifying offer is down from last offseason’s ten, which isn’t much of a surprise since this winter is expected to be particularly tough for players in the wake of teams’ pandemic-driven revenue losses.

The players issued the qualifying offer will now have ten days to weigh their options. Players who reject the offer and become free agents will cost their signing teams draft compensation (or the right to recoup draft compensation if they sign with their current team). Here is a full run-down of the qualifying offer rules this offseason.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/30/20

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Rounding up some minor moves around the game:

  • Royals left-hander Mike Montgomery and right-hander Kevin McCarthy cleared outright waivers and have elected free agency, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (Twitter link). Montgomery, 31, was limited to 5.1 innings in 2020 due to a lat injury, derailing his chance of cementing himself in the Kansas City rotation. McCarthy was an oft-used bullpen piece in 2019 but only got into five games last season. Additionally, Kansas City claimed righty Carlos Sanabria off waivers from the Astros, per Flanagan (Twitter link). The 23-year-old reliever performed well in the high minors in 2019 and made his MLB debut in this year.
  • The Twins claimed right-hander Ian Gibaut off waivers from the Rangers, per an announcement from Texas. The 26-year-old pitched to just a 6.57 ERA in 12.1 innings this year but was once a well-regarded relief prospect. He comes with one option year remaining. Fellow Texas righty Luke Farrell cleared outright waivers.
  • The Twins also claimed left-hander Brandon Waddell off waivers from the Pirates, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (Twitter link). Additionally, Pirates’ catchers John Ryan Murphy and Luke Maile, utilityman Kevin Kramer, right-hander Yacksel Rios and outfielder Jason Martin all cleared outright waivers, per an announcement from Pittsburgh.
  • The Mets claimed right-hander Nick Tropeano off waivers from the Pirates, per an announcement from Pittsburgh. The 30-year-old pitched in seven games with a 1.15 ERA for the Pirates in 2020. He’s projected for a salary just under $1MM in arbitration.
  • The Nationals announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Steven Fuentes. The 23-year-old pitched to a 2.69 ERA/2.24 FIP in 63.2 Double-A innings in 2019 and would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter. Baseball America ranks Fuentes the #27 prospect in the Washington system.
  • The Cubs announced that they have claimed infielder Max Schrock via waivers from the rival Cardinals. Chicago also outrighted lefty Rex Brothers to Triple-A Iowa. Schrock picked up just 17 plate appearances for St. Louis in 2020 and collected three hits (two singles and a homer). Brothers, 32, threw only 3.1 innings with the Cubs and allowed three earned runs.
  • Speaking of the Cardinals, they announced outright assignments for righty Nabil Crismatt and lefty Ricardo Sanchez. Crismatt was successful for the Cardinals in 2020, notching 8.1 frames of three-run ball with eight strikeouts and one walk. Sanchez had some difficulty across 5.1 innings, though, as he gave up four earned runs and issued five walks.

Roberto Osuna, Chris Devenski, Dustin Garneau, Chase De Jong Elect Free Agency

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Astros Roberto Osuna, Chris Devenski, Dustin Garneau and Chase De Jong have elected free agency after clearing waivers, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

The most notable addition to the open market here is Osuna, whom the Astros outrighted earlier this week. Osuna has been excellent since he debuted with the Blue Jays in 2015, but he’s forever marred because of a domestic violence suspension in 2018. The Astros still traded for him that year, however, and they did benefit from his on-the-mound presence after that. But the 25-year-old’s future is now uncertain because of a right elbow injury that cost him almost all of 2020 and could force him to undergo Tommy John surgery.

The righty Devenski was a lights-out bullpen workhorse for the Astros in his first two seasons, including during their World Series-winning year in 2017, but the 29-year-old has since fallen on hard times. Not only has Devenski’s production taken a severe turn for the worse, but he threw only 3 2/3 innings in 2020 and is just over a month removed from undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow. He’s not expected to recover from that procedure until sometime in the winter.

The well-traveled Garneau, 33, signed with the Astros last winter and ended up seeing time as their backup catcher. Garneau hit a meager .158/.273/.289 with one home run in 46 plate appearances, though.

De Jong began the year in independent ball before the Astros acquired him from the Sugarland Skeeters on Aug. 3. That move didn’t prove successful for Houston, as the right-handed De Jong went on to allow a whopping 12 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Astros Place Roberto Osuna On Outright Waivers

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The Astros have placed right-hander Roberto Osuna on outright waivers, reports Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (Twitter link). The right-hander missed most of the 2020 season with an elbow injury and was initially recommended to undergo Tommy John surgery, although a second opinion caused him to attempt to rehab the injury without surgery. Osuna was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to repeat his $10MM salary in his final trip through arbitration, and his salary and injury have made an obvious non-tender candidate. That’s what this move effectively boils down to.

Given Osuna’s injury, projected salary and prior suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, it’s all but a lock that he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent.

Still just 25 years of age, Osuna pitched only 4 1/3 innings in 2020 before landing on the injured list with what proved to be a season-ending elbow ailment. He’s been consistently excellent every season he’s been on the mound — career 2.74 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 — but Osuna also served 75-game suspension in 2018 after his girlfriend filed domestic violence charges against him. Osuna eventually agreed to a peace bond in Canada, which resulted in the charges being dropped.

Per the Canadian Department of Justice’s web site, peace bonds are generally used when “an individual (the defendant) appears likely to commit a criminal offence, but there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence has actually been committed.” The Canadian Department of Justice further specifies  that peace bonds are obtainable by “any person who fears that another person may injure them, their spouse or common-law partner, or a child, or may damage their property.”

All of that will be factored into any future negotiations between Osuna and a new team once he reaches the market, although Osuna’s own track record shows that teams will look past allegations of abuse and assault in order to acquire a productive Major Leaguer. The Astros embarrassingly walked back their own “zero tolerance” policy for domestic abuse in order to acquire Osuna at a lower cost in the middle of his suspension, and we’ve seen other teams pay premium prices to sign players who’ve served suspensions under the domestic violence policy (most notably the Yankees with Aroldis Chapman).

The most immediate determining factor in Osuna’s next destination will be the health of his right elbow (or lack thereof). He began a throwing program about a month after initially being shut down, but he’ll have a ways to go before he’s ready to rejoin a bullpen.

Brett Phillips, The Rays’ Thrice-Traded Hero

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Despite the new August 31 date and all the uncertainty about how player movement would be impacted by the circumstances of the pandemic-shortened season, the lead-up to the 2020 trade deadline went more or less the same as deadlines past.  Some big names switched uniforms, non-contenders looked to dump salary and add prospects, and just about as always, one unheralded trade ended up paying big dividends in October.

On August 27, the Rays made a move to shore up their bench depth by acquiring Brett Phillips from the Royals in exchange for infield prospect Lucius Fox.  It was one of several seemingly minor swaps Tampa Bay made prior to the August 31 deadline, and while the Rays were already coasting towards a postseason spot by that point, the argument could have been made that a bigger move was necessary to boost their chances at a championship.

Little did we know, the Phillips trade was that move.  Phillips’ ninth-inning RBI single last night started a wild, game-deciding sequence and an 8-7 comeback victory for Tampa in Game 4 of the World Series.  After entering the game as a pinch-runner in the previous inning, Phillips’ first plate appearance since October 7 resulted in his entry into instant legend status in Rays history.

Not bad for a player who was primarily seen as a defensive and pinch-running specialist at the time of his acquisition.  In fact, it’s not bad for a 26-year-old player playing for his fourth different organization, which is perhaps why Phillips was such an unlikely candidate to deliver the Rays’ biggest hit.

Originally a sixth-round pick for the Astros in the 2012 draft, Phillips began to turn heads after a very impressive 2014 season at the A-ball and high-A levels.  He continued to produce into 2015, and while this breakout might have made him into a building block for the rebuilding Astros if it had happened a bit earlier in Phillips’ career, by 2015 the Astros were looking to win.  As such, Houston made a major trade deadline swap with the Brewers that sent Phillips, Josh Hader, Domingo Santana, and Adrian Houser to Milwaukee in exchange for Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers, and $287,500 in international bonus pool money.

The Astros went on to reach the postseason that year, falling to the Royals in the ALDS, yet the aftershocks of this trade continue to reverberate around baseball.  Gomez ended up being something of a disappointment for Houston that year, though Fiers went on to become a solid member of the Astros’ rotation through their 2017 World Series-winning season and then…well, you know the rest.  On Milwaukee’s end of the deal, Hader developed into one of the game’s best relief aces, Hauser has emerged as an intriguing starter, and Santana delivered some solid production over 351 games for the Brew Crew before he was traded to the Mariners in the 2018-19 offseason.

The one weak link of the Brewers’ trade return, however, was Phillips.  There was no doubt that Phillips had MLB-caliber speed and glovework, except after a promising .799 OPS over 98 plate appearances in 2017, he struggled badly the next season and found himself on the move again.

This time, Phillips was headed to Kansas City (along with right-hander Jorge Lopez) in another deadline deal, as Milwaukee picked up Mike Moustakas for the pennant race.  The Moose was a key part of a Brewers team that came within a game of the 2018 NL pennant, and the Brew Crew reached the playoffs again in 2019 thanks in large part to Moustakas’ All-Star season.  For Phillips, he found himself on another rebuilding team with another opportunity at a fresh start, yet he again couldn’t capitalize — Phillips hit .178/.256/.308 over 236 PA spanning three seasons with the Royals.

As a player who relied on doubles and triples rather than homers, Phillips wasn’t quite a “three true outcomes” player in the minors, though he used a keen batting eye to counter-act his strikeouts and generate a career .274/.362/.478 slash line over 3174 PA.  The problem is, Major League pitchers have feasted on those holes in Phillips’ swing, as he has struck out 133 times in his 383 plate appearances at the big league level.

Phillips’ trade history is indicative of his declining prospect stock, as he went from a headline piece of a blockbuster deal to last August’s swap that didn’t generate many headlines.  Not many headlines, that is, until last night.  While Phillips’ first two trades carried so much import for other teams and players involved, it wasn’t until his third time changing uniforms that Phillips himself now stands as the most important part of a trade.  Phillips is still only 26, and given the Rays’ penchant for finding hidden gems, perhaps last night’s heroics will only raise the curtain on a big second act of Phillips’ Major League career.

MLBTR Poll: Should The Astros Give Michael Brantley A Qualifying Offer?

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The World Series will come to an end next week, meaning teams will soon have to decide whether to tag their impending free agents with the one-year, $18.9MM qualifying offer. If a team makes a player a QO which that player rejects, the team will be entitled to some form of draft compensation if the player departs in free agency.

MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently ran down the qualifying offer outlook for both position players and pitchers. As is the case every year, some players are candidates to receive a QO but might plausibly accept if offered. One such player is Astros outfielder Michael Brantley.

One of the sport’s most consistently productive hitters over his tenure in Cleveland, Brantley reached free agency following the 2018 season. Surprisingly, the Indians elected not to make him a qualifying offer, forgoing the opportunity to receive compensation if he signed elsewhere. Brantley did just that, inking a two-year, $32MM contract with Houston.

Brantley continued to perform over the course of that deal. In 824 plate appearances as an Astro, he’s put up a robust .309/.370/.497 slash line (134 wRC+). He remains one of the league’s tougher batters to strike out and his all-fields approach has helped him sustain strong batting averages on balls in play. Brantley doesn’t put up eye-popping peak exit velocities, but he’s been remarkably adept at avoiding weak contact and mishits.

On the other hand, Brantley’s 33 years old (34 in May) and limited to left field and/or designated hitter. He’ll need to continue to hit at an extremely high level to remain a valuable player. The left-handed hitter holds his own against southpaws but is hardly elite in that regard (career .275/.331/.373 line against LHP). In a market rife with uncertainty (and perhaps flooded with alternatives from non-tenders), the earning power of players like Brantley could be limited.

The Astros’ payroll might be an issue, as well. Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and José Altuve each have sizable contracts on the books already, and there are a few notable arbitration raises to consider. Potentially losing all of George Springer (who’s a slam dunk QO decision), Brantley and Josh Reddick to free agency, the Houston front office will have to address the outfield in some form this offseason. They just might choose to do so more cheaply than by making an $18.9MM offer to Brantley.

Turning it over to MLBTR readers, how should GM James Click proceed?

(poll link for app users)

Should The Astros Offer Michael Brantley A QO?
Yes 60.03% (5,086 votes)
No 39.97% (3,386 votes)
Total Votes: 8,472

Josh James Out 6-8 Months After Undergoing Hip Surgery

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Astros reliever Josh James underwent surgery to repair a labral tear in his left hip, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). The recovery period for James is expected to be somewhere from 6 to 8 months, which means he is likely to miss the beginning of 2021.

The Astros have hoped James would take a step forward in his development for a couple of seasons now, but he struggled more than ever in 2020, particularly with his command. He remained a big piece of the bullpen into the postseason, however, when manager Dusty Baker called his number once in the ALDS and twice in the ALCS against the Rays. James managed two scoreless innings in the middle performance, but he was hit with a blown save in each of his other two outings. He gave up 4 earned runs on 5 hits (2 home runs) in 4 innings total.

During the regular season, James saw game action 13 times, including two starts, logging a 7.27 ERA/7.06 FIP across 17 1/3 innings with 10.9 K/9 to 8.8 BB/9. His four-seamer was down a tick to an average of 96.3 mph, though it wasn’t far enough off his career norms to cause concern for the 27-year-old.

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