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NL Notes: Brewers, Pirates, Diamondbacks

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Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun revealed Saturday that he made one change to his no-trade clause during the offseason, though he didn’t offer details, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The only teams to which Braun couldn’t block a trade in 2016 were the Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Marlins and Padres. He nearly ended up with the Dodgers last August, of course, but the Brewers haven’t engaged in serious talks regarding Braun with LA or any other club since, according to Haudricourt. If the Brewers don’t deal Braun by May 24, he’ll gain 10-and-5 rights and have the ability to prevent Milwaukee from sending him to any of the majors’ other 29 teams. Nevertheless, the Brewers feel no urgency to move the longtime franchise cornerstone anytime soon. “He’s signed for four more years, and a lot of these players have a chance to be here for the same period of time, so this group is going to be together and he’s going to be one of them,” declared manager Craig Counsell. The 33-year-old Braun is still due $76MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2021.

More from the National League:

  • The myriad trade rumors centering on Pirates right fielder Andrew McCutchen during the winter were “more smoke than fire,” general manager Neal Huntington informed Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Even if that’s true, Stark is skeptical that the 30-year-old McCutchen will finish 2017 in a Pirates uniform. Huntington, though, hasn’t ruled out retaining the five-time All-Star until at least the expiration of his contract after the 2018 season. “Occasionally, we’ve traded a player like (Neil) Walker or (Mark) Melancon,” Huntington said. “So that’s become the narrative, that we’re always going to trade those players before their contract expires. But that’s just not the case.” McCutchen, for his part, felt “disrespected” at certain times during a down 2016, sources told Stark, but Huntington “would love him to be a Pirate for the rest of his life.” However, Huntington knows that finding “financial common ground” with the former center fielder will be challenging.
  • With a new front office in place, “there’s a sense of urgency” for the Diamondbacks to bounce back from a disastrous 2016 and break their five-year playoff drought, center fielder A.J. Pollock told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Pollock, who missed nearly all of 2016 after fracturing his right elbow April 1, has never reached the postseason and could be running out of chances to accomplish that feat with the D-backs. The 29-year-old is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2018 campaign, which would give him a max of two more seasons to get to the playoffs in Arizona if the team doesn’t re-sign him. He realizes, too, that GM Mike Hazen could decide to rebuild during that period if the club doesn’t show significant improvement this year. “You do think about it,” Pollock admitted. “A lot of guys – we’re talking about it. I think the best record I’ve been a part of on this team is 81-81. We really, really want to do well. We’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously.”
  • Jung Ho Kang’s legal troubles might affect how the Pirates deploy second baseman Josh Harrison this year, writes Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Harrison could go from the team’s top option at the keystone back to a utility role, which he had filled prior to last season, if Kang misses notable time on account of his third DUI arrest. Harrison is open to shifting around the diamond, telling Biertempfel: “Regardless of where I played last year, certain instances might call for me (to move). Who would I be to say, ‘No, I won’t go (to third)?'” Regarding Harrison, manager Clint Hurdle commented that there’s a “buy-in (to move) that’s real with him. I do think his versatility can help him.” Harrison batted a meager .283/.311/.388 last season, though the torn thumb ligament he suffered in 2015 may have contributed to his drop-off. “If it was cold or if I didn’t hit a ball right, just rolling over that joint sometimes would be painful enough to where I would know that it was still there,” said Harrison, who’s now healthy.

Starting Pitcher Arbitration Decisions Released

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Arbitration decisions on several first-year arb-eligible starting pitchers have been released. According to prior reports, the outcomes of the pending cases were being held until all had been heard and decided, to avoid earlier results impacting later decisions.

Three starters won their cases:

  • Collin McHugh, Astros: With his victory, McHugh will earn $3.85MM rather than the $3.35MM that the team had argued for, as Brian McTaggart of MLB.com first reported on Twitter.
  • Jake Odorizzi, Rays: In another relatively high-dollar case, the right-hander will get his requested $4.1MM payday over the club’s $3.825MM submission, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
  • Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays: Stroman takes home $3.4MM in his Super Two year instead of the team’s $3.1MM proposal, also via Heyman.

Teams prevailed against three others:

  • Taijuan Walker, Diamondbacks: The new Arizona rotation member, who’s also a Super Two qualifier, will earn $2.25MM instead of his filing figure of $2.6MM, per Jack Magruder of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
  • Chase Anderson, Brewers: Anderson, the final Super Two member of this bunch, will settle for the team’s $2.45MM proffer rather than the $2.85MM he sought, according to Heyman.
  • Michael Wacha, Cardinals: In his first year of eligibility, Wacha will take home $2.775MM, falling shy of his $3.2MM request, per Heyman.

Free Agent Rumors: Hammel, Crisp, Carter, Moss, Fuld, Niese

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An unanticipated series of factors led starter Jason Hammel to sign with the Royals, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes. That included not only the fact that Hammel surprisingly reached and then remained on the open market, but also the untimely death of young Royals righty Yordano Ventura. First and foremost a human tragedy, Ventura’s passing also left the organization in need of another starter for the coming season — an uncomfortable situation which Hammel thoughtfully acknowledged in his introductory remarks. “I feel like I need to express my condolences to, first of all, Royals Nation and the Ventura family,” he said. “Just because, I truly feel that if that unfortunate passing doesn’t happen, you guys aren’t talking to me.”

Here are a few more notes on the free-agent market…

  • Coco Crisp doesn’t have a job for the 2017 season yet, but he tells John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News that he isn’t ready to retire and hopes to latch on with a club. “Physically, I’m good,” says Crisp. “There’s nothing that would keep my from playing. My neck feels better, my body feels good.” Crisp’s agent, Steve Comte, tells Hickey that he has spoken to multiple clubs and continues to do so in hopes of securing a new contract for the 37-year-old outfielder. Crisp hit .231/.302/.397 with 13 home runs (plus two in the playoffs) last season and could conceivably help a club as a fourth outfielder and veteran influence. He has struggled against lefties in recent years but has logged a respectable .236/.324/.368 slash against righties (96 wRC+).
  • The Yankees discussed a potential Chris Carter trade with the Brewers before the slugger was non-tendered by Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. Had that deal come to fruition, the Yankees would likely have been on the hook for an arbitration salary near $8MM for Carter, who instead agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM free-agent deal with the Yanks earlier this week. Certainly, that could’ve had a trickle-down effect on the Yankees’ offseason, as those talks would’ve occurred prior to the Yankees’ signing of Matt Holliday to a one-year deal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to Carter’s agent, Dave Stewart, who wouldn’t directly comment on how the Rays’ bid compared that of the Yankees (Twitter link), though Stewart did note that Carter “felt the opportunity was the same.”
  • Topkin also tweets that the Rays are among the teams keeping tabs on free-agent outfielder Sam Fuld. The 35-year-old Fuld missed the 2016 season due to shoulder surgery and had a poor year at the plate in 2015 with the A’s, but he provided Oakland with solid defense and baserunning that season. Fuld can almost certainly be had on a minor league deal and would give Tampa Bay some depth behind current starters Colby Rasmus, Kevin Kiermaier and Steven Souza. Corey Dickerson figures to see some time in the outfield as well, and non-roster invitee could make the Rays’ roster as a right-handed-hitting complement to Rasmus. Utilityman Nick Franklin, too, could see some time in the outfield. None of those alternatives can play center field, though, so adding Fuld would give the Rays a veteran fourth outfielder while Mallex Smith gets some more work at Triple-A.
  • The Nationals “checked in on” first baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss before he signed with the Royals, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Moss would at least have represented a quality bench piece for the Nationals, whose depth is an issue, as FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron wrote last week. The lefty swinging Moss could theoretically have shared time (and provided insurance) for right-handed-hitting first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and left fielder Jayson Werth — a possibility that led MLBTR to guess that Moss would land in D.C. at the outset of the offseason.
  • Thirteen teams attended the workout hosted by free agent lefty Jon Niese earlier today, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Niese, hoping to demonstrate his health for interested parties, threw a 40-pitch bullpen session for the scouts in attendance. Niese struggled through the worst season of his career in 2016 but was a solid fourth/fifth starter for the Mets for several years prior to the down season. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus late in the year.

Royals, Cubs, Nationals Among Teams At Seth Maness Workout

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TUESDAY: The Brewers, Reds, Indians, Orioles, Astros and Twins also sent scouts to observe Maness’ workout, according to Goold.

MONDAY: Scouts from at least 16 Major League clubs were on-hand today to watch free agent right-hander Seth Maness work out, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Instagram). Per Goold, the Royals, Cubs and Nationals were all represented at Maness’ audition.

Maness’ showcase is especially intriguing due to the circumstances surrounding his injury. The 28-year-old suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament last summer and underwent surgery in August, but he elected to undergo an experimental “primary repair” surgery that, if successful, could represent a potential alternative to Tommy John surgery. Not every pitcher with a torn UCL can turn to the primary repair procedure as an alternative — the operation is dependent on the location and extent of the ligament tear — but certainly a return to health for Maness in seven and a half months would pique the interest of others with similar diagnoses around the league. (Those who are interested in the matter and missed Goold’s column on Maness last month should absolutely take the time to read through his breakdown of the operation itself and the larger-reaching potential implications of the surgery.)

The 28-year-old Maness was a fixture in the St. Louis bullpen from 2013-16, racking up 237 1/3 innings with a 3.19 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and a hefty 59.4 percent ground-ball rate along the way. Last season, however, he logged a 3.41 ERA with career worst K/9 and BB/9 rates of 4.6 and 2.3, respectively. Following the August operation, the Cardinals non-tendered him rather than pay him a projected $1.6MM via arbitration (projection via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).

As an added bonus for any club that ultimately signs Maness, if he is indeed able to return and pitch at a high level, he’d remain under club control not just for the 2017 season but through the 2019 season. Maness wrapped up the 2016 campaign with three years and 154 days of Major League service time, so he’d be arbitration-eligible in each of the next two winters before hitting free agency in advance of his age-31 season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/6/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the game…

  • The Blue Jays announced the signing of infielder Jonathan Diaz to a minor league deal earlier this week.  Diaz was originally drafted by the Jays in 2006 and this is his third separate stint in the organization.  Diaz has a .406 OPS over 65 career plate appearances in the majors, all with the Red Sox and Blue Jays during the 2013-15 seasons.  The 31-year-old spent 2016 playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate.
  • The Reds have signed infielder Zach Walters to a minor league contract, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 27-year-old switch-hitter spent the 2014-15 seasons in the Indians organization after being traded over from the Nationals in exchange for Asdrubal Cabrera, and he was with the Dodgers last season. Walters has displayed plenty of pop, with 10 homers in 181 career MLB plate appearances, but he’s also been extremely strikeout prone in the bigs. Overall, he’s a .176/.227/.382 hitter in the Majors, though his .265/.312/.482 career line in Triple-A is more palatable. Walters logged a .770 OPS in 94 games with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate last season and played every position on the diamond besides catcher.
  • The Brewers announced today that right-hander Rob Scahill has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A. The 29-year-old had previously been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for infielder Ehire Adrianza, who was claimed off waivers before promptly being designated for assignment himself (in favor of first baseman and fellow waiver claim Jesus Aguilar). Scahill pitched well for the Brewers late in the 2016 season, tossing 18 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA and a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio. Scahill’s ground-ball rate has soared in each of the past two seasons, sitting around 62 percent in that time. He’s yet to find consistent success in the Majors, though he does possess a very solid 3.03 ERA in his past 65 1/3 innings in the big leagues.
  • The Orioles announced that they’ve re-signed infielder Robert Andino to a minor league contract. Baltimore also confirmed its previously reported minors contract with Johnny Giavotella. The 32-year-old Andino will return to Baltimore for his second stint after previously spending the 2009-12 seasons with the Orioles. In 2016, Andino returned to the Majors following a two-year absence from the bigs and picked up seven singles in 24 plate appearances with the Marlins. He spent most of the season in Triple-A New Orleans, hitting .267/.319/.427. Capable of playing shortstop, second base and third base, Andino will likely provide the O’s with some infield depth in the upper minors. While Andino does receive an invite to Major League Spring Training (per Rich Dubroff of PressboxOnline, on Twitter), Ryan Flaherty is in line to be the team’s primary utility option.

Twins Claim Ehire Adrianza, Designate Pat Light

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The Twins have claimed infielder Ehire Adrianza off waivers from the Brewers, as per a team press release.  To make room on the 40-man roster, Minnesota designated right-hander Pat Light for assignment.

Adrianza has now been designated for assignment and claimed on waivers twice this week, as Milwaukee claimed him from the Giants on January 31.  The Giants DFA’ed the 27-year-old to make room for Nick Hundley, while the Brewers quickly designated Adrianza themselves after claiming Jesus Aguilar off waivers from Cleveland (though Brewers GM David Stearns said that his team was hopeful of keeping Adrianza if he cleared waivers).

Adrianza has a .220/.292/.313 slash line over 331 career plate appearances in the big leagues, all with San Francisco from 2013-16.  While the switch-hitter has never delivered much at the plate even at the minor league level, Adrianza has displayed defensive versatility as a shortstop and second baseman, plus a handful of games at third.  He’ll join a fellow switch-hitter in Eduardo Escobar as the Twins’ primary reserve infielders, and while both could end up competing for a lone job, the Twins could have particular need for infield bench depth.  Miguel Sano’s ability to handle third base is still up in the air and Jorge Polanco is still largely unproven as a major leaguer.  Polanco will obviously get a lot of time to prove himself, though Sano could ultimately be moved to DH if he can’t manage to be at least passable at the hot corner.

Light, 25, made his MLB debut in 2016 and had a rough introduction to the Show.  The righty posted an 11.34 ERA over 16 2/3 innings with the Twins and Red Sox, allowing four homers in his brief amount of mound time and issuing as many walks (16) as strikeouts.  The hard-throwing Light came to Minnesota from Boston at the trade deadline in exchange for Fernando Abad.  The 37th overall pick of the 2012 draft, Light posted a 4.35 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 2.16 K/BB rate over 297 2/3 IP in the minors, though his results improved after being moved to full-time bullpen work in 2015.

Pitching Notes: Wood, Brewers, Braves, Astros

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Free agent left-hander Travis Wood worked almost exclusively out of the Cubs’ bullpen over the previous two seasons, but he could return to the rotation with a new club in 2017. “Multiple teams” are offering Wood a chance to start, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Wood, who will turn 30 on Monday, combined for 133 starts with the Reds and Cubs from 2010-15 and registered a 4.19 ERA, 7.11 K/9 and 3.15 BB/9 in that 776-inning span. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported Friday that Wood could sign sometime this weekend.

More pitching-related notes:

  • Right-hander Chase Anderson and his representatives don’t expect to avoid arbitration with the Brewers, who are employing a file-and-trial approach, a source told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The two sides are set to argue their cases sometime before Feb. 14, which would be the Brewers’ first arbitration hearing since 2012. Anderson, who’s arbitration eligible for the first time, is seeking $2.85MM as his 2017 salary, while the Brewers have offered $2.45MM (MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a $3.1MM award entering the offseason). The 29-year-old is coming off a season in which he amassed 151 2/3 innings, totaled nine wins and recorded a 4.39 ERA – the three statistics arbitrators examine when dealing with starting pitchers.
  • The Braves are loaded with bullpen options going into the spring, opines MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, who expects there to be plenty of “buzz” centering on left-handed prospect A.J. Minter. A second-round pick in 2015 (a few months after he underwent Tommy John surgery), the hard-throwing Minter received his first professional action last season and laid waste to hitters at both the Single-A and Double-A levels.
  • David Laurila of FanGraphs had a lengthy, pitching-focused chat with Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias. The two discussed the value of in-person scouting, the Astros’ curveball usage and the risk associated with drafting high school pitchers, among other subjects. On 6-foot-7 righty Forrest Whitley, whom the Astros selected 17th overall out of high school in last year’s draft, Elias observed: “When you see a kid that long and lean be as coordinated, and able to repeat his delivery as well as he was, at the age of 18… that’s a big reason we took him with our first pick. We were really impressed with how he coordinates himself when he’s going down the mound. And he goes down the mound pretty aggressively.”

Brewers Claim Jesus Aguilar, Designate Ehire Adrianza

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The Brewers have claimed first baseman Jesus Aguilar off waivers from the Indians, Milwaukee announced. Infielder Ehire Adrianza was designated for assignment to clear roster space.

In Aguilar, Milwaukee has acquired a 26-year-old power bat who has a track record of production in the upper minors. He has spent quite a bit of time at Triple-A, compiling a .271/.346/.472 slash across 1,647 plate appearances. That success hasn’t carried over to the majors, though Aguilar has received only 64 opportunities to bat at the game’s highest level. He’s out of options, though, after bouncing up and down over the past three seasons.

As for Adrianza, who was just claimed from the Giants and is also out of options, Brewers GM David Stearns notes that the organization hopes to keep him as a non-roster player if he clears waivers, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets. The 27-year-old, a switch-hitting utility infielder, has slashed .220/.292/.313 in his 331 MLB plate appearances across the past four years. Adrianza previously inked a deal with San Francisco that would pay him $600K in the majors or $300K in the minors for the coming season.

Brewers Claim Ehire Adrianza, Designate Rob Scahill

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The Brewers have claimed infielder Ehire Adrianza off waivers from the Giants, the team announced. He’ll take the roster spot of righty Rob Scahill, who was designated for assignment.

[RELATED: Updated Brewers Depth Chart]

Adrianza, a 27-year-old switch hitter, could compete for a bench spot in camp with players such as Hernan Perez and Scooter Gennett, along with minor-league signees Eric Sogard and Ivan De Jesus Jr. He has spent time in the bigs over each of the past four seasons, posting a cumulative .220/.292/.313 batting line over 331 plate appearances. He already agreed to a split arb deal with the Giants that would pay him $600K in the majors and $300K in the minors.

As for Scahill, who’ll soon turn 30, the move could bring an end to his brief tenure with the organization. He allowed just five earned runs over 18 1/3 innings in Milwaukee last year after coming over from the Pirates in a mid-season waiver claim. Scahill owns a useful 3.68 ERA in 122 1/3 total MLB frames over the past five years.

Though he carries just 6.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 for his career, Scahill has generated grounders at better than a sixty percent clip in each of the past two seasons and averages over 93 mph with his average fastball. He’ll surely end up at least competing for a big league job in camp somewhere, whether or not it’s with the Brewers.

NL Notes: Braun, Gennett, Reds, Diamondbacks

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Outfielder Ryan Braun has been the subject of trade rumors going back to last summer, in which he was connected to the Dodgers in a deal that might have included Yasiel Puig. Nonetheless, it’s now late January, and he remains with the Brewers. That doesn’t surprise owner Mark Attanasio, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “No, I’m not surprised,” Attanasio says. “I think there was a lot of momentum [toward a trade] last summer, given the challenges the Dodgers had in hitting left-handed pitching and how strong a season he was having. … But after it didn’t happen, I actually thought if it wasn’t going to happen then, it wasn’t going to happen. We’re delighted he’s back.” Though Braun remains under contract through 2020 with a mutual option for 2021, it wouldn’t be surprising, in my view, if he reemerged as a trade candidate in the future as the Brewers continue their rebuild. McCalvy notes that the Brewers plan to be generous with time for young players this season. “It is essential that we do this rebuild correctly, and I think if we get too hung up on wins and losses, we’re maybe not doing it [right],” Attanasio says. Here’s more from the NL.

  • Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett will try his hand at multiple positions, including the outfield, in Spring Training, according to manager Craig Counsell (Twitter link via McCalvy). Excluding pinch-hit appearances and one inning in the outfield, Gennett has come close to playing his entire career at second (396 games there, one as a designated hitter). However, Jonathan Villar is moving from the left side of the infield to the keystone, thereby relegating Gennett to a bench/utility role. He’ll also have a hard time garnering playing time in the outfield, though, as Braun, Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton are firmly entrenched as starters.
  • The Reds haven’t been able to trade Brandon Phillips or Zack Cozart and thus still have a logjam at middle infield, where they also have youngsters Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera. The Reds say that they aren’t worried about Peraza’s playing time, however, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Peraza’s ability to play second, shortstop and outfield will help the team keep him on the field. “Going into the season with Brandon, Cozart, [Adam] Duvall, [Billy] Hamilton — those are our guys going into the season who will take the lion’s share of the playing time at those positions,” says manager Bryan Price. “That being said, Peraza is going to play. How I get him in there has yet to be seen, but he’ll get in there. It may just have to be rotation through different spots until an everyday spot comes to light.” Herrera, who only plays second base, is trickier, and Price says the plan will be for him to play at Triple-A if he can’t play second regularly in the big leagues. GM Dick Williams says, meanwhile, that the team’s ongoing situation with Phillips (who has repeatedly used his no-trade clause to reject potential trades, including one in November to the Braves) is “hard to predict” going forward.
  • Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall expressed regret Sunday over the team’s previous front office alignment, telling MLB Network Radio: “We probably had too many cooks in the kitchen. If we had to do it over again, we probably wouldn’t have done it that way.” Tony La Russa, Dave Stewart and De Jon Watson were the most prominent members of the Diamondbacks’ baseball department from 2014-16. Only La Russa remains now, and Stewart’s replacement – new general manager Mike Hazen – had a hand in keeping him. “It was another skill set Mike Hazen thought he needed around him,” Hall said of La Russa, whom he called a “team player” (Twitter links).
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