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Astros Sign Neal Cotts To Minor League Deal

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11:18am: Cotts would earn $1.5MM upon making the Major League roster and can earn up to $1.25MM more via incentives, reports Jon Heyman (on Twitter). Additionally, Cotts’ contract contains opt-out dates on March 26 and June 1 if he’s not in the Majors.

8:43am: The Astros have signed lefty reliever Neal Cotts to a minor league deal, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets. Cotts is a client of Pro Star Management, Inc.

Cotts, who will turn 36 next month, posted a 3.41 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 63 1/3 innings split between the Brewers and Twins last season. Along the way, he held left-handed batters to a .573 OPS. The Astros had been hunting for left-handed relief depth, having recently been connected to Randy Choate. Cotts doesn’t have a significant platoon split for his career, which means he isn’t ideally suited to be a LOOGY, but he’s generally effective and can certainly handle left-handed batters as needed.

For his career, Cotts has a 3.96 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in parts of ten seasons. In addition to the Brewers and Twins, he’s appeared with the White Sox, Cubs and Rangers.

Hinch Discusses Relationship With Luhnow

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The differences between manager A.J. Hinch’s tenures with the Diamondbacks and Astros are a microcosm of changes within baseball as a whole, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. In 2009, Hinch’s hiring in Arizona was received negatively within the injury, since Hinch had been a former player but had little further experience. Now, though, such hires are common — think of Mike Matheny of the Cardinals or Brad Ausmus of the Tigers, for example. After being fired, Hinch took a job in the Padres’ front office before Houston hired him. The path from the front office to managing is becoming increasingly common, as organizations increasingly appreciate the benefits of having a front office and a field staff that communicate well with one another.

West Notes: Rollins, Giants, Lucroy, Astros, Angels

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The Giants had interest in Jimmy Rollins before the veteran infielder ultimately agreed to a minor league deal with the White Sox, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Rosenthal adds that the Giants would have used Rollins as a super utility player, taking advantage of his ability to switch-hit. Via Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (on Twitter), Giants GM Bobby Evans has confirmed the Giants were quite interested in Rollins, although they couldn’t promise the kind of playing time he would be able to get in Chicago (which has a considerably less stable shortstop situation). Here’s more from the West divisions.

  • In other news about player acquisitions that never came to be, Rosenthal tweets that the Astros tried to acquire Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers last month but were not able to come to terms. Jason Castro is eligible for free agency following the 2016 and Lucroy is controllable for an additional year (and for a very modest $5.25MM or a $250K buyout), so perhaps it’s no surprise that David Stearns’ former employers called him about a possible trade.
  • The Angels would prefer to have more lefty relief help, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. They’re without a lefty specialist, and the only lefty who currently figures to be in their bullpen is Jose Alvarez. The team does have additional lefty bullpen candidates in Lucas Luetge and Rob Rasmussen. “To have a lefty specialist available is a tool you’d like you to have in bullpen, but we’ll see where we are,” says manager Mike Scioscia. Fletcher doesn’t say whether the Angels actually plan to pursue more lefties, but even if they do, perhaps the issue isn’t so pressing. Unsurprisingly, the free agent market is a bit thin, and Scioscia and the Angels have gotten very good results with heavily right-handed bullpens in the past, such as their 2003 and 2004 ’pens, which were elite very limited contributions from left-handers.

Astros Interested In Randy Choate

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The Astros have talked to left-hander Randy Choate, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports.  Choate would provide the club with some southpaw relief depth beyond Tony Sipp, as Sipp and Kevin Chapman are the only lefty relievers on Houston’s 40-man roster.

Choate, 40, is the definition of a lefty specialist.  Over his 15-season career, Choate has been hit hard by right-handed batters (a .290/.403/.404 slash line) while dominating left-handed hitters to the tune of a measly .195/.276/.274 slash.  Choate posted similar splits in 27 1/3 innings last season with the Cardinals while delivering an overall 3.95 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 4.4 K/BB rate and 61.7% ground ball rate.  In regards to that last stat, 2015 was Choate’s seventh consecutive year with a grounder rate of at least 60 percent.

Despite Choate’s recent success, there hasn’t been any buzz surrounding his free agency this offseason.  It’s probably no surprise that teams were waiting, given Choate’s age and somewhat limited skillset.  He figures to draw more interest now, as teams develop bullpen openings due to injury or dissatisfaction with their internal left-handed options.

As Drellich notes, several Astros righty relievers have good splits against left-handed batters.  While there may not be a pressing need for a southpaw, however, adding a pitcher like Choate would be a low-cost way to solve a problem before it develops during the season.  The bullpen is one of a few areas where Houston is lacking in depth, Drellich opines, as the club could also stand to bolster its backup situation at catcher or either corner infield slot.

Astros Avoid Arbitration With Evan Gattis

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The Astros have reached a deal to avoid arbitration with slugger Evan Gattis, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Gattis will be guaranteed $3.4MM in the deal, Drellich tweets, but $100K of that comes in the form of a buyout for a $5.2MM club option for the 2017 campaign.

Gattis was a first-time arb-eligible player this year, so the contract does not impact his free-agent timeline. The sides had been set for a hearing this afternoon, but that won’t be necessary after agreeing to terms. Gattis had filed at $3.8MM, with Houston countering at $3MM. Entering the offseason, MLBTR projected the bat-first ballplayer to take home $3.4MM — which turned out to be the final agreed-upon value.

The settlement represents a creative solution. For Houston, there’s some nice cost-saving potential build into this arrangement. Gattis has put up 49 home runs over the past two seasons, and that kind of power output could lead to a big raise through the arb process. While he now locks in a ceiling on his 2017 earning capacity without getting any promises that he’ll be tendered, Gattis has insured against any injury or performance issues this spring by securing what appears to be a fully-guaranteed deal. (Arb agreements are only partially guaranteed unless otherwise provided.)

Both player and team will hope for a more well-rounded effort in the coming season. The 29-year-old swatted a career-best 27 long balls last year, but saw his overall output drop to a disappointing .246/.285/.463 slash over 604 plate appearances. For a player that spent the vast majority of his time in a DH role, that’s not quite enough production. Though Gattis did suffer from a low .264 BABIP, that figure was explained in part by the fact that he made less hard contact and had a higher infield fly rate in 2015 than he had previously. The slow-footed former catcher also put the ball on the ground more frequently.

Of course, Gattis will first have to work his way back from hernia surgery. He’s not expected to miss much time, if any, but it will put him on the back foot to start the spring and may have played a role in his decision to take Houston up on this contractual arrangement rather than rolling the dice on a hearing.

AL West Notes: Rangers, Trout, Davis, Astros, Castro

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Rangers GM Jon Daniels wouldn’t say that the Royals’ success served as the blueprint for constructing his team’s bullpen, but it’s clear that Texas is counting on big production from its relievers, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes.  Texas is optimistic about being able to get strong performances from Shawn Tolleson, Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman, Tom Wilhelmsen, Keone Kela, and Tony Barnette in 2016.  “You can dream it up to be a pretty powerful bullpen, and we have the luxury to shorten the game if we need to,” manager Jeff Banister said. “Our bullpen has an opportunity to be as strong a bullpen as there is in baseball.”

Here’s more from around the AL West…

  • Could the Angels trade Mike Trout?  It’s a far-fetched notion at the moment, though ESPN’s Keith Law off-handedly raised the subject in his recent farm system rankings when he opined that Anaheim might have to consider dealing Trout unless it drafts some good prospects for its beleaguered farm system.  Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register doesn’t think a Trout deal is anywhere near the Halos’ radar screen right now, though if the 2016 season is a disappointment, the Angels may indeed have to unload some Major League talent to get younger.  Even if this scenario happens, however, Garrett Richards or Kole Calhoun are more likely to be shopped than Trout.  Four of five executives and scouts polled by John Perrotto of Today’s Knuckleball wouldn’t trade Trout, and the fifth would only do so for a big package of MLB-ready talent and elite prospects.
  • Perrotto’s piece also contains comments from a scout who feels the Athletics made a “great pickup” in obtaining Khris Davis from the Brewers.  “Power has become so much more scarce in recent years that I’m surprised that Oakland could get a guy like Davis so cheaply,” the scout said.
  • The Astros’ rebuild may be over in the sense they reached the playoffs in 2015, though Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle observes that this offseason has given little indication as to how the team will operate in business-as-usual mode rather than as a team that’s still adding pieces.  Houston has had a relatively quiet winter, though two sources tell Drellich that the team made some strong pursuits for major free agents and also had “substantial” extension talks with core players.  GM Jeff Luhnow reiterated that the Astros is ready and willing to spend when the opportunity arises, though they won’t sign or extend players just for the sake of staying active if such deals aren’t a fit.
  • Also within Drellich’s piece, he mentions that the Astros and Jason Castro discussed multi-year contracts prior to the filing of arbitration numbers.  The two sides talked about two-year deals and a three-year deal with an option, though since no agreement was reached before the filing deadline, Houston took a “file-and-trial” stance and went ahead to an arbitration hearing.  (The club won that hearing.)  Castro is entering his last year under contract, and while the backstop’s hitting numbers have declined over the last couple of years, he is still a highly-regarded defender known to have a good relationship with the Astros’ starters.

Evan Gattis Out Four To Six Weeks Following Hernia Surgery

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11:24pm: Gattis’ surgery took place earlier today, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.

9:08pm: Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis recently underwent surgery to repair a hernia and will be sidelined for four to six weeks, reports Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. As a result, Gattis will miss “most of his Spring Training, at a minimum,” per Drellich, though the overall injury is not considered to be severe in nature.

Gattis, 29, has an arbitration hearing set for Feb. 16, and Drellich notes that the new revelation in his health could have some form of an impact on the case. Of course, his current injury status doesn’t change the power production that Gattis delivered in his first year with Houston, when he batted .246/.285/.463 with 27 homers and 88 RBIs in 604 plate appearances. He submitted a $3.8MM salary figure for the upcoming season, while the team countered at $3MM. As a file-and-trial team, the Astros have a policy of not negotiating one-year deals once salary figures are exchanged, so an arbitration panel will decide which of the two figures Gattis should earn in a week’s time.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the exact date of his surgery isn’t known. And, even if Gattis missed six full weeks beginning today, he’d still have about 10 Spring Training contests to get up to speed. Any type of setback in his recovery, though, would seem to raise the possibility that he’d begin the season on the shelf. That’s a worst-case scenario for Gattis with regard to this injury, of course, and there’s certainly the chance that he could recover in time for the team’s April 4 opener at Yankee Stadium.

Even in the event that Gattis needs to miss a portion of the regular season, the injury doesn’t seem to increase the likelihood of Houston making any sort of notable acquisition. Either Colby Rasmus or Preston Tucker, for instance, could pick up some extra DH time, with Jake Marisnick temporarily taking on a greater role in the outfield and providing the club with a defensive boost.

Astros Win Arbitration Hearing Against Jason Castro

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The Astros have defeated catcher Jason Castro in their arbitration hearing, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. He’ll earn $5MM for the coming season after filing at $5.25MM.

This dispute seemed to be one of principle, as practicalities would have suggested a compromise with just $250K at issue. Castro had been projected by MLBTR to earn only $4.6MM in his final season of arb eligibility, and Houston seemingly felt it had already gone high enough in its negotiations. Indeed, the team reportedly took a “file and trial” stance with respect to his case.

Castro earned $4MM last year but turned in a disappointing overall campaign. Despite carrying a rare left-handed bat for a backstop, and receiving near-regular playing time in the prior two seasons, he only took 375 plate appearances. Already coming off of a down 2014, Castro did not post the hoped-for turnaround. All told, since his breakout 2013 campaign, he owns a .217/.284/.365 slash with 25 home runs.

There’s cause to think there could be more in the tank, of course. Castro has shown an average to above-average bat in prior campaigns, and did manage a useful .219/.299/.408 batting line against right-handed pitching last year. His strikeout rate remains a concern, but he’s succeeded with big K numbers before, and might be in line for some positive regression after posting a .280 BABIP.

Castro has also turned himself into a highly-regarded defender — see here for one recent evaluation from a statistical perspective, and read this on his framing. As a defensively-proficient, lefty-swinging receiver, he doesn’t need to do much with the bat to justify a prominent role, and the glove gives him a nice floor. Castro should still more than justify his salary, and his good power (.154 ISO in 2015) leaves some room for upside.

Astros Reach Minors Deal With Danny Worth

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  • Infielder Danny Worth has caught on with the Astros, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 30-year-old owns a .230/.293/.295 slash in 292 big league plate appearances, all of which came with the Tigers between 2010-14. He played at Triple-A last year in the Diamondbacks organization, slashing a rather robust .314/.394/.469 in 399 trips to the plate.

Cafardo’s Latest: Clippard, Thornton, Cobb, Lee, Free Agents

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It’s easy to buy into Spring Training hype, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes in his latest column as he looks at some of the major Red Sox storylines heading into camp.  While the Sox have drawn mostly approval for their offseason dealings, Cafardo warns that pundits were saying the same thing last year prior to Boston’s last place season.  Here’s some more from Cafardo’s piece…

  • The Astros have asked about Tyler Clippard.  Houston has already made a couple of big offseason moves to reinforce their bullpen in trading for Ken Giles and re-signing Tony Sipp, and adding Clippard would only further deepen a relief corps that also includes Luke Gregerson, Will Harris, Pat Neshek and Josh Fields.  Clippard’s market was fairly quiet for much of the winter, though as Cafardo notes, things have started to heat up for the veteran righty with at least six teams (including the Rays and Diamondbacks) showing interest.
  • Matt Thornton is drawing interest from around six teams, though the veteran lefty may have to settle for a minor league contract.  Thornton turned 39 in September and has a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings in 2014 and 2015, though with only a 5.9 K/9 in that stretch, ERA predictors such as xFIP (4.19) and SIERA (3.79) are less enthused with his performance over the last two years.  The Braves, Pirates and Twins were all rumored to have some interest in Thornton earlier this offseason.
  • The Rays are likely to keep their pitching, despite “quite a bit of interest” from other teams about Alex Cobb.
  • Teams have considered signing Cliff Lee, though they’re wary of giving him a contract in the range of $6MM-$8MM (plus incentives).
  • Dan Uggla’s agent says that teams have called about his client, though no side has made any commitments.  The veteran infielder is another player who is likely to only find a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.
  • “It’s just so slow out there” for the large number of veteran players still on the market, one agent tells Cafardo.  This offseason has been the apex of a growing trend in recent years for teams to spend on a few high-salaried stars and then rely on young, cheap talent for the rest of the roster rather than spend more on established veterans.  This not only goes for the rank-and-file veterans looking for bench jobs but also for would-be starters like Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler and Yovani Gallardo, all of whom have had their markets slowed by the qualifying offer-attached draft compensation required to sign them.  “The [draft-pick] compensation issue is a factor, no question, and we have to do something about it with our collective bargaining talks because this is hurting good baseball players getting jobs,” the agent said.
  • An AL general manager, however, implies that some agents should perhaps be a bit more realistic about their demands.  “The agents are still asking for major league guarantees for players who should be grateful for major league invitations and minor league deals,” the GM said.  “I hear the agents blaming the teams, but I think a lot of teams are willing to add these players. But we’re in February, and quite frankly the signings need to be on our terms at this stage of the game. Eventually, these guys will break down and sign minor deals but we’re close to spring training and there hasn’t been a lot of bend.”
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