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Ryan Zimmerman: “I’m Still Deciding Whether To Play”

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As most players prepare to report to summer training camp, longtime Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman writes in a guest piece for the Associated Press that he’s “still deciding whether to play” in 2020. Like many players throughout the league, while he’s not personally a high-risk patient in the event of a positive COVID-19 test, he has loved ones who are of greater concern. Writes Zimmerman:

When it comes down to it, it’s a decision not just for me, but for my family as well. I have a 3-week-old baby. My mother has multiple sclerosis and is super high-risk; if I end up playing, I can pretty much throw out the idea of seeing her until weeks after the season is over.

Under the health and safety protocols laid out by Major League Baseball and agreed to by the Players Association, Zimmerman wouldn’t receive service time or be paid, should he choose to opt out. Only players who are high-risk cases themselves, as determined by team medical personnel, are eligible for that benefit.

Zimmerman will be far from the only player making a decision of this nature in the coming days. High-risk individuals exist throughout the league, be it due to recent battles with cancer, preexisting respiratory conditions or any number of other risk-increasing conditions. The number of players with such risks is surely higher than most are aware of, and the number of players with concerns more in line with Zimmerman is even greater yet. There will very likely be some players who opt not to play in 2020, and Zimmerman provides a candid and thoughtful look at the factors he’s weighing in a piece that’s well worth a full read.

This past offseason, Zimmerman inked a one-year, $2MM contract to return to the Nationals for what would his 16th season with the only franchise he’s ever known. Foot injuries limited him to just 52 games in 2019 and likely impacted his performance at the plate, but he batted a combined .289/.350/.542 in 899 plate appearances from 2017-18.

Nationals Finalize Deals With All Six Draft Picks

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The Nationals agreed to a well-above-slot deal with second-round pick Cole Henry, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports. The Louisiana State righty signed for a $2MM bonus that checks in nearly $700K north of the $1.307MM value of his No. 55 overall slot. Washington also agreed to a $500K bonus with third-rounder Holden Powell, per MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (via Twitter). That checks in a bit shy of the UCLA closer’s $618,200 slot value at No. 94. With those two signings in place, the Nats have wrapped up their entire draft class — which they formally announced last night.

A draft-eligible sophomore, Henry was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 44 player in the class but regarded as a potentially tough sign (hence the over-slot deal). His collegiate career will come to a close with just 77 1/3 innings in the books, in part due to his sophomore status and the 2020 season shutdown but also due to some arm troubles his freshman year. He’s been great when on the mound, posting a 3.03 ERA with 95 punchouts against 24 walks.

Scouting reports give Henry credit for three average or better offerings, and he landed no worse than 72nd overall on any of the draft rankings from BA, MLB.com, FanGraphs, ESPN or The Athletic. That said, all scouting reports on him acknowledge that he could eventually land in the bullpen, with The Athletic’s Keith Law pointing to his “max-effort” delivery and freshman elbow soreness.

Powell is already a bullpen prospect but a good one. He’s been a buzzsaw since the start of his sophomore season in 2019, pitching to a 1.54 ERA with a gaudy 85-to-29 K/BB ratio in 58 1/3 frames. That includes an even more impressive (and, admittedly brief) showing in 2020, when he notched a 20-to-2 K/BB ratio in 9 1/3 innings. Both BA and MLB.com tab him as a pure reliever who won’t be tried as a starter. Thanks to his high-end fastball/slider combo, Powell could move quickly through the Nats’ system and knock on the door to the Majors sooner than most draft prospects.

The Nationals’ deals with first-rounder Cade Cavalli and comp pick Sammy Infante were already known, as was the case with their signings of fourth-round pick Brady Lindsly and fifth-rounder Mitchell Parker.

Astros Report COVID Infection; Rangers Close Spring Facility

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As Texas reports a growing barrage of coronavirus infections, its two MLB franchises each were in the news in relation to the virus. Fortunately, in both cases it seems there’s no particular cause for alarm.

Astros GM James Click said today that the team had a player at the team’s spring facility in West Palm Beach, Florida test positive for COVID-19. (Via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, on Twitter.) The player is said to be doing just fine at the moment.

Per Click, the team’s procedures helped avoid any spread beyond the lone player. (It was not specified whether he was a major or minor leaguer.) “There were no other positive tests,” Click says.

The Nationals share the recently constructed complex but have not opened it to their players. AP’s Howard Fendrich tweets that the Nats did have one minor-league player in the Dominican Republic test positive. The player was not at the team’s facility there and those that were have tested negative, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports (Twitter link).

As for the Rangers, they’ve decided to halt the activities they had been overseeing in their spring home in Arizona, Tim Brown of Yahoo reports on Twitter. Though there haven’t been any positive tests or presumptive coronavirus cases, the organization decided to hit pause while the league sorts out testing and related protocols.

It seems that approach could be adopted more broadly. Today’s revelations of coronavirus concerns in several camps, in particular that of the Phillies, emphasizes the point that baseball needs to get its house in order if it is to put on any kind of 2020 season.

Nationals Agree To Terms With Cade Cavalli, Sammy Infante

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The Nationals announced Friday that they’ve officially signed first-round pick Cade Cavalli. The Oklahoma right-hander was the No. 22 overall pick in this year’s truncated draft.

Washington has also agreed to terms with compensation pick Sammy Infante, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). He’ll receive $1MM, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets, which is slightly more than his No. 71 overall slot value of $884,200.

The Athletic’s Keith Law was the most bullish on Cavalli among most prominent pre-draft rankings, listing him as this year’s No. 13 prospect. Cavalli landed 17th at FanGraphs and 22nd (matching his actual draft position) at both Baseball America and MLB.com. ESPN placed him 24th.

A clear consensus first-rounder, the 6’4″, 225-pound righty was a two-way player for part of his college career but will focus on mound work as a pro. Law writes that Cavalli has been up to 97 mph with the fastball and has pair of power breaking pitches to complement that heater — ultimately tabbing him as a potential No. 2 starter should things go well for the 21-year-old.

Infante, a shortstop out of Florida’s Monsignor Edward Pace High School, had been committed to the University of Miami but will forgo college to begin his pro career. He didn’t rate among the top 100 prospects on any draft boards, but did feature among the next hundred names on several. ESPN.com was most bullish, ranking him 122nd. Baseball America opines that Infante stands out for his “nice collection of above-average tools.”

Latest On Minor League Pay

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There has been plenty of talk about “billionaires versus millionaires” as Major League Baseball owners and players continue to clash over a potential 2020 season, but minor leaguers aren’t so lucky. They make a pittance in comparison, which is why it’s so important that many teams have committed to paying those players their $400-per-week stipends through the end of a minor league season that likely won’t occur this year.

The Nationals became the latest franchise to make the $400 promise Tuesday when they informed their minor leaguers they’ll earn their weekly pay through September, per Emily Waldon and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. That continues a welcome change of heart from the reigning World Series champions, who two-plus weeks ago reversed an unpopular decision to cut minor leaguers’ weekly pay to $300 after great internal and external pressure.

In another noteworthy development, the MLBPA announced Wednesday that the MLB Players Trust has pledged $1MM to help minor leaguers over the next few months.

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark stated, in part: “Within the baseball community, minor leaguers have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and many of them will lose a season they will never get back. We will continue to seek ways to support them.”

Undrafted Free Agent Signings: 6/16/20

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This year’s five-round draft left a lot of deserving players looking for deals on the open market. Here’s a roundup of some of the many recent undrafted players who have reached agreements with MLB organizations:

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/16/20

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We’ll keep track of the latest amateur draft signings here…

  • The Cardinals announced the signing of outfielder Alec Burleson, whom they drafted 70th overall. He’ll earn $700K, quite a bit less than the $906,800 value of his pick, according Jim Callis of MLB.com. The Cards landed the choice they used on Burleson as compensation for the departure of outfielder Marcell Ozuna in free agency. An East Carolina University product, Burleson topped out as FanGraphs’ 108th-ranked prospect before the draft. Burleson was a successful first baseman and left-handed pitcher in college, but he’s regarded as a much better hitting prospect, MLB.com notes.
  • The Mets have signed third-round pick Anthony Walters for $20K, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com tweets. It’s a stunningly low amount for a player whose pick, No. 91, was said to be worth $647,300. The total Walters received only matches the maximum sum an undrafted player can get this year. Walters, a former San Diego State shortstop, didn’t rank among Baseball America’s top 500 before the draft. However, Mayo observes that Walters brings “good hands” as a defender and “sneaky pop” at the plate.
  • The Padres have inked fourth-rounder Levi Thomas for $80K, far below the $533K slot value of the 109th pick, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. The right-hander from Troy “has an impressive history of throwing strikes and his fastball seems to have qualities that teams love,” Baseball America wrote in ranking Thomas as the 224th-best prospect in the 2020 class.
  • The Nationals have reached a $20K agreement with fourth-round catcher Brady Lindsly, per Callis. The University of Oklahoma product, who was not one of BA’s top 500 prospects, did not expect to get drafted.

The Longest Flirtation In Baseball

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For those who love the will-they-won’t-they back-and-forth of a classic rom-com, Major League Baseball has a story for you. The Chicago White Sox and lefty hurler Gio Gonzalez are drawn to each other. There’s no denying the connection. They’re the Ross and Rachel of the MLB (or Jim and Pam, or whatever reference is relevant these days). Though they’ve never stayed together long, these would-be soulmates are on the verge of finally making it work. Should baseball return in 2020, their long-standing flirtation should finally consummate with Gonzalez in black-and-white, taking the hill in front of the Southside faithful.

Gonzalez, 34, has long been a productive pitcher in the bigs, but he hasn’t gotten the respect he deserves of late. Though Gonzalez is aging, he certainly pitched well enough to prove himself a viable rotation candidate. And yet, following the 2018 season, Gonzalez languished on the free-agent market. He eventually accepted a minor league deal with the Yankees, but he never made an appearance for their big-league team. He found his way back to Milwaukee where he went 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA/4.04 FIP across 87 1/3 innings (17 starts). Again, solid numbers for Gonzalez, but again there wasn’t much buzz around him as he returned to free agency.

Fear not, for an old friend came to the rescue. The White Sox signed Gonzalez to a $5MM guarantee just before Christmas with plans of slotting him into the rotation. The White Sox are a team on the rise with a young rotation in need of guaranteed, quality innings. Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel are set to front the rotation with less proven assets like Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease likely to follow. Gonzalez should help the young arms take their time and weather the storm, should there be one.

Regardless of fit, we know the White Sox like Gonzalez. This was, after all, the third time they’d acquired him. The White Sox first drafted Gonzalez 38th overall in the 2004 June Draft. But he didn’t last long in their system, as the Sox traded Gonzalez to the Phillies after the 2005 season (with Aaron Rowand and Daniel Haigwood) for Jim Thome.

Just a year later, Gonzalez found himself headed back to Chicago. The White Sox and Phillies connected on a new deal wherein the Phils acquired Freddy Garcia for Gonzalez and Gavin Floyd. Garcia made just 11 starts for the Phillies before leaving as a free agent after 2007. Floyd found his sea legs in Chicago after struggling to make good on his top draft pick status in Philly. He ended up playing seven seasons with the White Sox, going 63-65 with a 4.22 ERA/4.20 FIP in that time, settling in as a decent rotation piece.

Gonzalez’s second stint with the White Sox lasted barely longer than the first. He did, however, begin to flourish. Upon his return, Gonzalez quickly became a top arm in their system, topping out of as their number one ranked prospect by Baseball America in 2008 (#26 overall in the majors).

Still, they traded him – again – this time to the Oakland Athletics (along with Fautino De Los Santos and Ryan Sweeney) in exchange for Nick Swisher. Swisher was a personality match with the White Sox, a spiritual successor to Rowand and other hard-nosed dirt dogs to play on the grass in Chicago – but he only lasted one season (.219/.332/.410 with 24 home runs).

Gonzalez became the gem of that deal for Oakland, making his debut in 2008 as a 22-year-old. It took Gonzalez a couple seasons to find his footing, but by the end of 2011, Gonzalez was an established pro. He put together back-to-back 200-inning seasons for the A’s, amassing 8.3 rWAR/6.5 fWAR across 2010 and 2011 before Oakland shipped him to Washington.

At this point, Gonzalez was entering his age-26 season with some runway to finally settle in after being traded four times already. Gonzalez became a rotation stalwart for the Nationals from 2012 to 2018, a two-time All-Star, and a 124-game winner.

His best season was his first in Washington. The 26-year-old Gonzalez led the league in wins going 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA/2.82 FIP across 199 1/3 innings. As the Nats’ nominal ace, Gonzalez led them to their first-ever postseason appearance. Of course, this was the season the Nationals famously withheld Stephen Strasburg from the playoffs to ensure his long-term health. An undercurrent of that story, however, was Gonzalez, whose dominance that year made such a bold move possible. Gio started games one and five of the NLDS, pitching well but lasting just five innings in both outings – a common thread for Gonzalez. The Nats went 1-1 in those games but ultimately lost the series to the Cardinals.

Gonzalez never put up another season quite like his 2012, but he nonetheless gave the Nats solid work for 6+ seasons. Regardless, there wasn’t a ton of interest when the Nats shopped him during the 2018 season. Gonzalez was eventually traded to the Brewers, for whom he pitched well in five late-season starts. He even got a pair of postseason starts, though he went just two innings in the first outing and left due to injury one inning into his second.

Eight seasons after arriving in Washington and 16 years after Chicago selected him in the first round, Gonzalez may finally have the opportunity to pitch for the White Sox. Of course, a lot stands in the way of Gonzalez making his debut in Chicago, but that’s nothing new. Now in his third stint in the organization, the White Sox hope Gonzalez will help lead this young team.

Of course, if they don’t make the leap many expect, Chicago could embark on one last selloff of veterans before making a run at contention again in 2021. If that happens, Gonzalez could find his name in the trade papers once again. But for now, as before, Gio Gonzalez is a member of the Chicago White Sox.

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/12/20

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Let’s catch up on any draft signing news we didn’t cover already …

  • The Nationals have agreed to terms with fifth-rounder Mitchell Parker, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter). The bonus agreement isn’t known; his choice came with a slot value of $346,800. Parker was the last of four college hurlers plucked by the Nats in this summer’s truncated draft. This is the third time Parker has been drafted; it sounds as if he’s definitely planning on going the professional route this time around.
  • Angels fifth-rounder Adam Seminaris has agreed to terms, Robert Murray reports on Twitter. He was nabbed with the 141st overall pick, which featured a $390,400 bonus allocation, though Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com tweets he’ll fall well short of that with a sum of $140K. Seminaris, a Long Beach State product, produced big strikeout numbers in college without overwhelming arm speed.

Nats’ Convoluted Pitching Contracts Make Up Most Of Future Payroll Cost

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2020 salary terms still need to be hammered out. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.

Every organization has some amount of future cash committed to players, all of it done before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. There are several different ways to look at salaries; for instance, for purposes of calculating the luxury tax, the average annual value is the touchstone, with up-front bonuses spread over the life of the deal. For this exercise, we’ll focus on actual cash outlays that still have yet to be paid.

We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Nationals:

*Includes deferred salary and interest in Stephen Strasburg contract

*Includes deferred salary in Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin contracts

*Includes buyouts on club options over Howie Kendrick, Anibal Sanchez, Adam Eaton, and Eric Thames

(click to expand/view detail list)

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