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Ohio Notes: Arroyo, Rodriguez, Bruce, Reds, Tribe

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Here are some notes from the Buckeye State’s two teams…

  • The Reds still have an interest in a reunion with Bronson Arroyo, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets.  Cincinnati has been linked to the veteran righty on a couple of occasions this offseason, though GM Dick Williams has stated that his club’s interest is dependent on whether or not Arroyo is recovered from his Tommy John surgery.  Arroyo hasn’t pitched since June 2014 due to that surgery yet the Reds are one of at least seven teams who have checked in on his status.
  • Also from Sheldon, outfielder Yorman Rodriguez will get a long look during Spring Training given the Reds’ needs in the outfield and Rodriguez’s out-of-options contract status.  Rodriguez originally signed with the Reds as a 16-year-old in 2008 for $2.5MM, then a record bonus for Venezuelan amateurs.  He’s hit .261/.314/.399 with 50 homers over 2546 minor league plate appearances and his MLB experience consists of an 11-game cup of coffee with the Reds in 2014.  Baseball America ranked him as Cincinnati’s 10th-best prospect prior to the 2015 season, and in a November chat about the Reds’ farm system, BA’s J.J. Cooper predicted Rodriguez will be the Reds’ Opening Day left fielder.
  • Since the Reds and Indians recently had discussions about Todd Frazier before the third baseman was dealt to Chicago, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer figures that Jay Bruce’s name probably also came up given the Tribe’s need for outfielders.  That said, Hoynes doubts Bruce was or is a fit for Cleveland due to his notable salary ($12.5MM in 2016 and a $13MM club option for 2017 with a $1MM buyout) and inconsistent play.  For what it’s worth, the Indians aren’t one of the eight teams on Bruce’s no-trade list.
  • The Indians have used information provided by MLB Advanced Media’s new Statcast player-tracking technology when evaluating players this winter, GM Mike Chernoff tells MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.  While “scouts have been measuring tools of players for a long time, and they’re really good at it,” Chernoff said Statcast “is a way to get a slightly more accurate reading on some of those things.  This should be a huge relief for scouts and a huge complement to what they do.  [It] allows a scout to process the information rather than just have to transmit information to whoever is going to be reading his report.”

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Tigers, Indians

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With Scott Kazmir joining some combination of Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-jin Ryu, Brett Anderson and Alex Wood (along with righty Kenta Maeda), the Dodgers’ rotation is strongly left-handed, MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby notes. Historically, Ringolsby argues, there’s been little evidence that relying heavily on left-handed starters is a disadvantage. He notes that the 1965 Dodgers, for example, won the World Series with a team that got 112 starts from lefties. That’s not to say that having a lefty-heavy rotation creates an obvious advantage either, however — the 2004 Royals started lefties 108 times and lost 104 games that season. Here are more quick notes from around the game.

  • The Tigers’ lineup and bench, meanwhile, are heavily right-handed, but they’re designed that way on in order to give Brad Ausmus plenty of late-inning flexibility, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes. Many of the Tigers’ key offensive players (like Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler, all of them righties who hit righties very well last year) are not candidates to be lifted for a pinch-hitter, regardless of the handedness of the pitcher. In fact, the only regular who might be a candidate to be lifted is lefty Anthony Gose, who could be removed if a left-handed reliever is on the hill. That means the Tigers simply don’t need many lefty hitters.
  • Indians manager Terry Francona did not want the team to lose any of its best starting pitching, and the team isn’t close to a significant deal to add a hitter, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. They will, however, continue to look for relievers. Pluto also notes that the Indians preferred Mike Napoli (with whom they recently agreed to terms) at first base rather than fellow free agent Justin Morneau because Napoli is right-handed.

Quick Hits: Mets, Orioles, Indians

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If the Mets are to sustain the success they enjoyed in 2015 in future seasons, they’ll need to depend on their farm system to continue churning out talent, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Mets have added key players to their active roster in each of the past several years, including Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Michael Conforto last season. (They also used a number of prospects to help them acquire key big-league talent down the stretch in 2015, most notably Michael Fulmer in the Yoenis Cespedes trade.) They’ll continue to lean on a farm system that, after the graduations of a number of top pitching talents, is heavy on position players like Gavin Cecchini, Dilson Herrera and Brandon Nimmo. Here’s more from throughout the game.

  • The list of key position players who remain unsigned (Cespedes, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Chris Davis) raises questions about whether any of them could sign for significantly less or for significantly fewer years than anticipated, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski writes. It remains unclear whether Davis and the Orioles could revisit their contract discussions — as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported last week, the O’s rescinded their $150MM offer to Davis, and while there could be more talks between the two sides, some within the organization might feel that they don’t need to offer so much again if other teams aren’t entering the bidding at $150MM or more.
  • The Indians ultimately signed Mike Napoli rather than free agent slugger Pedro Alvarez because Napoli is a right-handed hitter and because he improved their defense, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. Napoli, a solid defensive first baseman, allowed the Indians to move Carlos Santana to DH. Alvarez, a huge defensive liability last year in Pittsburgh, might well have had to play DH himself.

AL Central Notes: Alexei, White Sox, Indians, Nathan

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The White Sox haven’t closed the door on a return for longtime shortstop Alexei Ramirez, writes Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago/670thescore.com. Levine’s belief at this time is that most of the remaining budget will be spent on an outfield upgrade, but he opines that Ramirez’s strong second half — .277/.325/.432 following the All-Star break — and questions about Tyler Saladino’s bat would make a two-year deal with Ramirez a wise investment. The Sox could still pay Ramirez less than the $10MM he’d have earned via his previously declined club option, and Ramirez would then serve as a bridge to top prospect Tim Anderson, who could be ready in 2017. Levine writes that Ian Desmond is the only other free agent shortstop that Chicago “may also look into,” but Desmond’s career OBP doesn’t fit the team’s needs, and a long-term deal for him would clash with Anderson’s timeline to the Majors. Additionally, Levine hears that the Padres, too, have interest in adding Ramirez on a short-term deal, suggesting that there will be some competition if the Sox do pursue a reunion.

Here’s more from the AL Central….

  • We’ve already heard quite a bit on the White Sox and their outfield options today, and MLB.com’s Scott Merkin suggests that smoke is coming from a legitimate fire. (Twitter links.) He writes that he anticipates that Chicago would pursue an alternative outfield addition if it’s unable to land Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, or Alex Gordon.
  • While it’s still unclear whether they’ll make an aggressive move on the open market, the White Sox are rather uniquely well-situated to do so, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello explains. Most importantly, argues Petriello, the team has a high-quality core and other affordable pieces that make near-term competitiveness the optimal strategy. While there are several major areas still in need of improvement, that actually increases the marginal return on a well-targeted signing. And then there’s the fact that Chicago snuck into the top ten in next year’s draft and thus needs only to sacrifice a compensation pick (tied to the qualifying offer rejected by Jeff Samardzija) in order to add a QO-bound free agent. That certainly increases the team’s flexibility to act opportunistically in a position player market that is still loaded with quality options.
  • Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently fielded a number of reader inquiries, sharing some insight into the Indians’ signings of Rajai Davis and Mike Napoli as well as the team’s plans at third base and trade scenarios involving starting pitchers. Hoynes believes that Cleveland will utilize a combination of Giovanny Urshela and Jose Ramirez at third base, and, in response to a question about a potential swap of Yasiel Puig for a starting pitcher, says the Indians want more than one piece in return for any deal sending away Danny Salazar or Carlos Carrasco. Hoynes doesn’t specifically mention whether a 1-for-1 deal involving Puig and one of those two prized young starters has been discussed, though he does note that he doesn’t believe Cleveland has ever had any real intention of trading a starting pitcher.
  • Reliever Joe Nathan — a long-time member of the Twins who pitched most recently for the Tigers — is hoping he’ll be ready for game action by May or June, he said in an MLB Network appearance today (via Jon Morosi, on Twitter). The 41-year-old had a disappointing run in Detroit, to say the least, but had some outstanding seasons before that and would still make for an interesting bounceback candidate.

Central Notes: Warren, Francona, Tigers, Salty

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

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

White Sox Claim Jerry Sands

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The White Sox have claimed outfielder Jerry Sands off waivers from the Indians, Chicago announced.

The 28-year-old failed to seize an opportunity with Cleveland last year, slashing just .236/.286/.390 in 133 plate appearances on the year. But he has dominated upper-minors pitching and showed legitimate pop with a .268/.357/.492 slash over parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level.

Indians Sign Ross Detwiler To Minor League Deal

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4:50pm: Cleveland has announced the deal via press release.

4:20pm: The Indians and left-hander Ross Detwiler have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (links to Twitter). If he makes the club, Detwiler will earn a $1MM base salary, and his contract also contains an additional $1.5MM worth of incentives.

Detwiler, a client of CAA Sports, split last season between the Rangers and Braves but struggled at both stops. The former No. 6 overall draft pick had spent his entire career prior to 2015 with the Nationals, the organization that drafted him, compiling a 3.82 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 across 471 innings. Detwiler split his time fairly evenly between the bullpen and rotation with the Nationals — 69 starts, 63 relief appearances — but he started just seven games last season (all with the Braves). Home runs were Detwiler’s undoing in Texas, as he yielded nine of them in just 43 innings of work with the Rangers en route to a 7.12 ERA. Upon going to the Braves, the lefty displayed significant control problems — 15 unintentional walks in 15 1/3 innings — which have never been a problem for him in the past. Ultimately, a hamstring injury suffered in early September ended his season and his time with the Braves.

There weren’t many positive takeaways from the 2015 season for Detwiler, but the 29-year-od did hold lefties to a .660 OPS and has always been pretty effective against same-handed batters, yielding just a .233/.314/.301 batting line to such opponents. He’ll join fellow southpaws Joe Thatcher and Tom Gorzelanny as non-roster invites in Spring Training, hoping to edge out one or both as he seeks to land a big league roster spot. Unlike those two, however, Detwiler could conceivably battle for a rotation spot, although with Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin all ahead of him, that looks unlikely at this juncture.

Indians Release Chris Johnson

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The Indians have released Chris Johnson, per the club’s transactions page at MLB.com.  Johnson was designated for assignment earlier this month.

Johnson, 31, has a career slash line of .280/.316/.411 across seven big league seasons. He first arrived in Atlanta prior to the 2013 season as a part of the Justin Upton deal.  This year, he was shipped to the Indians in a waiver trade that saw Michael Bourn,Nick Swisher, and cash considerations go to the Braves.

Johnson signed a three-year, $23.5MM contract prior to the 2014 season. Then 29 years old, Johnson was coming off a career year in which he batted .321/.358/.457 with 12 homers. However, much of that production was the result of a .394 batting average on balls in play, and his overall numbers have come back down to Earth as his BABIP regressed to his career norm.  He hasn’t looked like an ~$8MM player as of late, but he could be a useful platoon bat given his success against lefties.

With Johnson out of DFA limbo, there are now only five players left hanging, according to the DFA Tracker: Rey Navarro (Orioles), Yoervis Medina (Cubs), Danny Reynolds (Dodgers), Johnny Monell (Mets), and Josmil Pinto (Padres).

Indians Sign Tom Gorzelanny To Minor League Deal

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The Indians announced that they have signed veteran left-hander Tom Gorzelanny to a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Cleveland also confirmed its previously reported minor league deal with lefty Joe Thatcher. Gorzelanny is represented by Relativity Sports, while Thatcher is a client of Platinum Sports.

Gorzelanny, 33, spent the 2015 season in the Tigers’ bullpen but found himself unable to recreate the strong results had delivered from 2012-14 with the Nationals and Brewers (combined 3.13 ERA over 178 1/3 innings). With Detroit, Gorzelanny totaled 39 1/3 innings but struggled to a 5.95 ERA. While an elevated BABIP played some role in the struggles, Gorzelanny also saw his strikeout rate dip and, most troublesome of all, his walk rate soar to 5.3 per nine innings — far and away his worst mark since becoming a reliever. Bloated walk rate notwithstanding, Gorzelanny still held lefties in check for the most part, yielding a .219/.317/.347 batting line. However, right-handers clobbered Gorzelanny to the tune of a .349/.454/.610 slash line. Gorzelanny has long had a platoon split, but 2015 was easily the most notable it has ever been.

The pair of lefties will compete for spots in the Cleveland bullpen, where Kyle Crockett and Giovanni Soto are the current options for manager Terry Francona.

AL Central Notes: Frazier, Salazar, Allen, White Sox, Twins

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The Reds spent “at least a month” trying to pry Danny Salazar from the Indians for Todd Frazier with no luck, and were also unsuccessful with their next demand of Cody Allen and prospects for Frazier, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports in his chronicle of the negotiations between the two Ohio clubs.  Cleveland wanted to keep Salazar and Allen in order to contend in 2016 so the Indians were more open to talking about Jose Ramirez and second-tier prospects (Justus Sheffield, Michael Clevinger, Bobby Bradley) with the Reds.  Cincinnati, however, wanted two of those prospects plus one of Clint Frazier or Bradley Zimmer, and the Tribe was unwilling to give up either of its top two minor leaguers.  The Indians attempted to construct a three-way deal to land Frazier from Cincinnati but the Reds instead ended up swinging a three-team trade of their own with the White Sox and Dodgers that sent the third baseman to Chicago.

Here’s more from around the AL Central…

  • Also from Pluto’s piece, he hears the acquisitions of Rajai Davis and Mike Napoli may be the Indians’ last notable moves of the winter.  The club may still make a minor transaction or two but their heavy lifting could be over.
  • The White Sox are monitoring the free agent outfield market and giving up a draft pick to sign a qualifying offer free agent “won’t necessarily be a deal-breaker,” ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  Chicago’s first-rounder is protected by virtue of being a top-10 pick, so if they were to sign someone like Justin Upton or Dexter Fowler, the Sox would only sacrifice the extra compensation round pick they recently obtained when Jeff Samardzija left to sign with San Francisco.  As Olney notes, the White Sox are intent on being contenders while cornerstone pieces like Chris Sale and Jose Abreu are on such reasonable contracts.
  • The Twins are looking for a veteran backup outfielder, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes.  This player would essentially replace Shane Robinson on Minnesota’s roster, serving as an experienced bench piece behind the Twins’ young outfield corps.
  • It’s been a relatively quiet offseason for the World Series champions thus far, though Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star feels the Royals front office has earned the benefit of the doubt given its recent success.  Expecting the Royals to suddenly splurge above their usual payroll limits was unrealistic, Mellinger notes, as the club needs “efficient spending” to remain competitive in both the short- and long-term.  It’s worth noting that the Royals signed Joakim Soria and Chris Young to multi-year contracts and they’ve been at least connected to several major free agents and trade targets (such as Alex Gordon, Yovani Gallardo, Scott Kazmir, Gerardo Parra, Carlos Gonzalez and Frazier), so K.C. could simply be waiting to strike with another notable move.
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