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Hunter Pence Announces Retirement

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Longtime big league outfielder Hunter Pence announced he’s retiring from baseball (Twitter link). This brings to an end a fourteen-year career spent with four teams, although he’ll surely be remembered most for his time with the Giants.

Pence originally broke into pro ball in 2004, selected by the Astros in the second round out of the University of Texas-Arlington. Notably “awkward and unorthodox” as a prospect, in the words of Baseball America, Pence nevertheless played himself into top prospect status by 2007. He broke into the big leagues with a bang, hitting .322/.360/.539 en route to a third place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting that season. Pence continually produced over his time in Houston, earning his first two All-Star nods there, before the struggling Astros shipped him off to the Phillies at the 2011 trade deadline for four prospects.

He continued to perform well in Philadelphia, hitting .289/.357/.486 over parts of two seasons, but the Phillies lost in the Division Series in 2011 and were en route to a playoff miss in 2012. Pence again headlined a deadline deal, this one sending him to San Francisco. His midseason acquirer fared much better the second time around, as the Giants erased a pair of big playoff deficits against the Reds and Cardinals before sweeping the Tigers in the 2012 World Series.

Set to reach free agency after the 2013 season, Pence instead re-upped with the Giants that September. Already a highly productive and popular player, that extension set the stage for Pence to become permanently identified with the San Francisco organization. He combined for a .280/.335/.464 line between 2013-14, garnering down ballot MVP support each year. He was perhaps even more instrumental in the Giants’ 2014 World Series run than he’d been in 2012, going 12-27 with a home run in San Francisco’s seven-game triumph over the Royals.

Of course, it wasn’t simply Pence’s productivity that made him so revered, both among diehard Giants’ loyalists and many baseball fans generally. He played with an endearing energy and exuberance. Coupled with his oft-awkward hitting mechanics and general lack of gracefulness on the diamond, Pence brought something of an everyman feel to the sport that resonated with outside observers, teammates and coaches.

Unfortunately, that high-energy style of play caught up to him in his 30’s. After 2014, Pence only once again managed to exceed 110 games in a season. He continued to produce when healthy up through 2016, but he seemingly hit a wall thereafter. Pence struggled through a pair of poor years with the 2017-18 Giants, seemingly ending his time with the organization (and putting his career in jeopardy).

Forced to settle for a minor-league deal with his hometown Rangers entering 2019, Pence remade his swing at age 36. He rebounded to post a .297/.358/.552 line over 316 plate appearances in Texas last year, picking up his fourth and final All-Star trip in the process. That also inspired the Giants to offer a major league deal last winter, setting the stage for a tremendous return story.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Pence got off to an abysmal start and was released after just 56 plate appearances. That’ll mark his last work in the big leagues, although it’s fitting that his final games came in the orange and black.

All told, Pence will hang up the spikes with a .279/.334/.461 line over 7006 plate appearances, good for a 115 wRC+. He hit 244 home runs, 324 doubles and 55 triples, while stealing 120 bases. Pence was worth around 31 wins above replacement, in the estimation of both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. He’s obviously most notable for being an integral part of two World Series winners in San Francisco and for the infectious joy he spread to teammates and fans alike. MLBTR congratulates Pence on a stellar career and wishes him the best in retirement.

AL Notes: Eloy, Royals, Tigers, Rangers, Rowdy

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White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffered a mid-foot sprain on Thursday, and the club doesn’t expect to have him for its season-ending series against the Cubs, manager Rick Renteria told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. It’s unknown whether an early playoff return is in jeopardy for Jimenez, who has helped the White Sox to a 34-23 record and a postseason berth with his stellar offensive output. The 23-year-old’s regular season concluded with a .296/.332/.559 line and 14 home runs in 226 trips to the plate.

  • The Royals have placed reliever Greg Holland and outfielder Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list with oblique strains, per a team announcement. They reinstated reliever Ian Kennedy from the IL and recalled first baseman/outfielder Ryan McBroom in corresponding transactions. The season’s now officially over for Holland, who enjoyed a major bounce-back year in his return to KC after signing a minor league deal in the offseason, as well as Soler. A 48-home run hitter a season ago, Soler totaled eight in 173 plate appearances this year and finished with a .228/.326/.443 line. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the final time during the offseason.
  • Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario is done for the year, as the club announced that it has placed him on the 10-day IL with a low back strain. Candelario, whom the Tigers acquired from the Cubs in 2017, made notable strides in 2020. The switch-hitting 26-year-old significantly upped his hard-contact rate en route to a .297/.369/.503 mark and seven homers in 206 PA. He leads all Tigers in fWAR with 1.6.
  • The Rangers will be looking for starters in the offseason, especially if they trade Lance Lynn, but it doesn’t appear reliever Jonathan Hernandez will fill any voids in their rotation in 2021. Hernandez informed the Rangers that he’d rather stay in the bullpen next year than transition to a starting role, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. The rookie Hernandez has been one of the main bright spots this season for Texas, with which the 24-year-old has posted a 2.51 ERA/2.49 FIP and registered 9.42 K/9 against 1.57 BB/9 across 28 2/3 innings. Hernandez has averaged almost 98 mph on his fastball along the way.
  • The Blue Jays don’t expect first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez to be ready for the wild-card playoff round, GM Ross Atkins told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet and other reporters. Tellez has been on the IL with a right knee strain since Sept. 9. He put up a career-best .283/.346/.540 line with eight homers in 127 plate appearances before then.

Rangers Designate Nick Goody, Select Andrew Romine

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The Rangers have designated right-hander Nick Goody for assignment and selected infielder Andrew Romine, the team announced.

Goody, whom the Rangers claimed from the Indians last winter, has posted a couple of respectable seasons since he debuted in 2015 with the Yankees. He logged a 3.54 ERA/4.62 FIP with 11.07 K/9 and 4.87 BB/9 over 40 2/3 innings in Cleveland in 2019, for instance, but wasn’t able to keep that momentum going this year in Texas. As a Ranger in 2020, the 29-year-old Goody allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 14 hits and totaled 13 strikeouts against eight walks over 11 frames.

Romine, 34, signed a minors pact with the Rangers on Sept. 15. The former Angel, Tiger and Mariner has amassed 1,323 major league plate appearances, but he has hit just .235/.291/.301 and hasn’t seen action in the bigs since 2018.

Mets Release Yefry Ramirez, Trade Stephen Villines To Rangers

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The Mets announced a pair of transactions, including the news that right-hander Yefry Ramirez has been released.  New York also completed the August 5 trade with the Rangers that brought Ariel Jurado to Citi Field, as right-hander Steve Villines was sent to Texas as the player to be named later.

Ramirez signed a minor league deal with the Mets over the offseason and was part of the team’s 60-man player pool, though he never received a call-up from the alternate training site.  The 26-year-old righty has a 6.32 ERA, 1.71 K/BB rate, and 8.9 K/9 over 89 2/3 career innings in the big leagues, all with Orioles and Pirates from 2018-19.  Originally an international signing for the Diamondbacks in 2011, the 26-year-old Ramirez has posted some solid numbers over 605 minor league innings (3.57 ERA, 2.96 K/BB, 9.1 K/9), starting 103 of his 137 games.

Villines was a 10th-round pick for the Mets in the 2017 draft, and has worked exclusively as a reliever over 155 career innings in New York’s farm system.  He wasn’t a top-30 prospect for the Mets nor a member of their 60-man player pool, though the 25-year-old’s unconventional sidearm-esque delivery has some outstanding minor league numbers — a 2.67 ERA, 5.31 K/BB rate, and an 11.1 K/9 over 155 innings.  That dominance didn’t translate to 16 Triple-A innings last season, as Villines posted a 6.75 ERA over that admittedly small sample size.

Rangers’ Ricky Vanasco To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Rangers pitching prospect Ricky Vanasco will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow next week, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. The timing of the surgery will likely wipe out all of Vanasco’s 2021 season.

It’s a tough blow to what was already regarded as a rather thin farm system. Vanasco, 22 next month, ranked as the Rangers’ No. 13 prospect at Baseball America, also placing 18th at MLB.com and 24th at FanGraphs. BA’s report on the hard-throwing young righty noted that he sits mid-90s with a heater that has touched 99 mph, in addition to displaying good feel for spinning his curveball. FanGraphs noted some trepidation about his “extremely violent” delivery but called him a potential high-leverage reliever.

Vanasco was a 15th-round pick in 2017 but turned heads last year when he pitched to a combined 1.81 ERA with a 75-to-25 K/BB ratio in 49 2/3 innings (11 total appearances — all starts). He’d likely have ascended to Double-A in 2020 under circumstances, but spent the season working out at the alternate training site in the absence of a minor league campaign. As such, Vanasco wasn’t completely deprived of developmental work in 2020, but it’s nevertheless still a notable setback in the promising young righty’s path to big league readiness that he’ll go two years without pitching in a truly competitive setting.

Jeff Mathis Hopes To Continue Playing In 2021

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Veteran catcher Jeff Mathis hopes to play in what would be a 17th Major League season next year, tweets T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The 37-year-old Mathis is wrapping up a two-year deal with the Rangers right now, and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram explored the reasons that Texas might look into bringing Mathis back despite his lack of production at the plate.

Mathis hasn’t hit a lick in Texas, nor was he really expected to. The Rangers signed him to a two-year, $6.25MM deal on the heels of a .207/.274/.297 showing at the plate in two seasons with the Diamondbacks. He’s gone on to put together an even less-palatable .160/.215/.244 output in 297 plate appearances as a Ranger. Mathis was signed entirely for his glove and the experience that he can bestow upon younger catchers and pitchers alike.

He hasn’t matched the defensive and framing numbers he put forth in his D-backs run this time around, but Mathis is still generally regarded as a defensive savant and, as Wilson writes, is the preferred receiver for right-handers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. Wilson adds that Jose Trevino — the likely starter in 2021 with Sam Huff expected to open in Double-A or Triple-A — “loves” Mathis and has learned quite a bit under his tutelage. Manager Chris Woodward called Mathis’ knowledge and mentorship “invaluable.”

The question for the Rangers, of course, is whether they’ll aim a bit higher in looking for catching help this winter. The free-agent market will have defensively sound alternatives who can offer more at the plate than Mathis. Granted, J.T. Realmuto probably isn’t heading to Arlington, but the Rangers could look at quality defenders like Jason Castro or Mike Zunino who offer more ability with the bat.

That said, the Rangers are already leaning toward a youth movement and taking a longer-term focus. That mentality comes with a payroll reduction and lowered expectations in the win column. It’s tougher to entice free agents to sign with a team when the president of baseball operations is on the record having recently called 2022 and beyond “probably the more likely window for us” while plainly acknowledging that the team’s payroll will decrease. Mathis, on the other hand, has already expressed a willingness to discuss a return in a similarly limited role for the 2021 season, Sullivan notes.

There’s no guarantee that Mathis will be back with the Rangers or any other club next season. He hasn’t hit better than .200 in a season since 2017, and his perennially high strikeout rate has spiked to a career-worst 35.8 percent with the Rangers. The lack of offensive value is glaring, even if clubs still love the glove and the intangibles he can bring to a young team. But Mathis sounds like a man who plans to be a baseball lifer one way or another, telling Wilson, “Baseball’s all I know” and expressing interest in one day becoming a coach.

If offers as a player don’t materialize this winter, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rangers or any number of other clubs express interest in bringing Mathis aboard in a coaching or player development capacity. He’s played with the Angels, Blue Jays, Marlins, D-backs and Rangers across nearly two decades in the big leagues, making countless connections along the way that are now scattered throughout an even wider slate of organizations.

Rangers’ Luis Garcia Becomes Free Agent

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The Rangers have granted right-hander Luis Garcia free agency, per a team announcement. The club previously designated Garcia for assignment on Tuesday, but the reliever subsequently cleared waivers.

Garcia will head back to the open market eight months after signing a minor league contract with the Rangers in January. The 33-year-old wound up throwing 8 1/3 innings with Texas this season and surrendering nine runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and nine walks, though he did strike out 11 hitters along the way.

This will count as the third straight subpar season for Garcia, who has also spent time with the Phillies and Angels, but he has mostly posted respectable numbers in the majors. Since he debuted with Philadelphia in 2013, Garcia has logged a 4.26 ERA/4.32 FIP with 8.31 K/9, 4.77 BB/9 and a 55.1 percent groundball rate. Garcia has also averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball during his time in the bigs.

Daniels On Rangers’ Youth Movement

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Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels has now set forth a clear strategic directive for the organization, as covered by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The veteran executive says the club’s recent youth movement will likely carry over into the 2021 season.

The Texas team looks a lot less gray of late. The roster is “younger and intentionally so,” per Daniels, who says that will likely “continue[] into next year.” If there was any doubt as to the Rangers’ near-term intentions, Daniels issued a tell-tale cautionary warning against “looking at free agency as the short cut.”

It’s tough to know what to expect from newcomers such as Leody Taveras, Anderson Tejeda, Sam Huff, and Sherten Apostel. But the Rangers believe their current crop of young talent is more “ready for this opportunity” than was the case last year, says Daniels.

There could be some rough patches along the way, but the Rangers intend to find out what they’ve got. “The biggest change is we want to allow them to grow at the major league level,” Daniels explains.

This obviously isn’t the spot the Rangers had hoped to be in at this stage of the season. The club pursued improvements over the winter and had its sights set on contention. But with a host of disappointing performances from key players, the youth movement reflects the reality that there won’t be a quick offseason fix.

Rangers Sign Andrew Romine

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The Rangers have signed infielder Andrew Romine to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. He’s part of their 60-man player pool and will head to their alternate site.

Prior to joining the Rangers, Romine most recently spent time with the White Sox, who signed him to a minor league deal in the winter before releasing him in July. He has combined for a .235/.291/.300 line in 1,323 plate appearances among the Angels, Tigers and Mariners since he first became a major leaguer in 2010. Romine hasn’t played in the bigs since 2018.

While Romine hasn’t had much offensive success so far, he has been quite versatile as a defender. Most of his work has come at shortstop, third base and second – positions that have been sore spots for the Rangers in 2020. General manager Jon Daniels told TR Sullivan of MLB.com and other reporters Tuesday that shortstop Elvis Andrus and second baseman Rougned Odor aren’t guaranteed starting jobs going forward. However, it seems tough to believe Romine will wind up unseating either one of those struggling players. He’ll have to earn a roster spot first, after all, and even that may be a tall order.

Latest On Corey Kluber’s Future

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Coming off a third straight sub-.500 season, the Rangers spent a good portion of last winter trying to build a high-end rotation capable of pitching them to the playoffs in 2020. The plan hasn’t worked for the Rangers, one of the AL’s worst teams.

Aside from Lance Lynn, who’s amid his second straight quality season, no one from the Rangers’ season-opening staff has provided much. Mike Minor’s no longer on the team, having struggled before the Rangers traded him to the division-rival Athletics before the Aug. 31 deadline, while offseason pickups Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles have put up terrible numbers. For the Rangers’ rotation, though, there was no bigger addition than two-time AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, whom they acquired from the Indians in December.

While he came to the Rangers as a two-time AL Cy Young winner, Kluber was fresh off an injury-shortened season in which his production took a sharp turn for the worse. The Rangers were hoping he’d rebound, but it didn’t happen in 2020, as Kluber threw just one inning (back on July 26) before succumbing to a Grade 2 tear of the teres major muscle in his right shoulder.

Kluber won’t return this year, and as someone who could reach free agency in the offseason, it’s possible his Rangers tenure is over. However, it seems the club would like him back, as TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets that general manager Jon Daniels said Tuesday the team approached Kluber about a revised contract worth less than the value of the hurler’s 2021 option.

Kluber’s upcoming option is valued at $18MM, but the Rangers could instead buy him out for $1MM and let him head to free agency after two straight rough years. Otherwise, Kluber could try to rebuild his stock on a Texas team whose rotation will be a major question mark going into next season. There’s no guarantee Lynn will stick around, as he could fetch the team a decent return in a trade, while it’ll be hard to count on Gibson and Lyles a year from now. Furthermore, no one else Texas has started has stepped up to claim a spot, so it could make sense for the club to keep Kluber around at a discount rate if he’s willing to accept a salary to their liking.

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