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Twins Designate Byung Ho Park For Assignment

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FEB. 8: Park has been placed on waivers, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter), so he won’t be traded.

FEB. 3, 1:17pm: La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets that the expectation is that Park will clear waivers due to the remaining salary on his contract and report to Spring Training as a non-roster invite. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes that there’s no plan from Park’s camp to return to Korea.

11:11am: In a fairly surprising move, the Twins announced that they’ve designated first baseman Byung Ho Park for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Matt Belisle, whose one-year deal with the team is now official.

Park’s DFA comes just one year into a four-year, $12MM contract signed with Minnesota last winter (which came on top of a $12.85MM posting fee paid by the Twins to acquire negotiation rights with the former KBO slugger). He’s still guaranteed $9.25MM over the life of the next three seasons, so there’s a good chance that Park will clear waivers if the Twins go that route. At that point, he’s be able to work on his swing in Triple-A and potentially return at some point in 2017.

The 30-year-old Park arrived in Minnesota with lofty expectations after blasting a combined 105 home runs in his final two KBO seasons. While Park’s power was as advertised — he homered 12 times and posted a .219 ISO in 244 plate appearances — strikeouts also proved to be a problem, as he punched out in 32.8 percent of his plate appearances.

Overall, Park posted a disappointing .191/.275/.409 batting line with the Twins, although it’s certainly worth noting that he ultimately proved to have a wrist injury that required surgical repair. And, Park did bat .257/.339/.578 with nine homers through his first 124 plate appearances in Minnesota (albeit with 38 strikeouts) in addition to showing well in a number of Statcast categories, including exit velocity and barreled balls (as recently examined by Fangraphs’ Travis Sawchik).

The Twins could also explore trade scenarios involving Park. While he’s unlikely to carry significant value given his poor debut season, a team looking to acquire a right-handed bat at first base/DH could consider Park a reasonable roll of the dice. He’s controlled for three years at what figures to be a comparable price to the one Mike Napoli will command in free agency, so there’s certainly a degree of financial upside present, as one can only assume that the cost of acquisition would be low at this juncture.

Further expounding upon that point, the Twins themselves have been a rumored landing spot for Napoli in recent weeks, and jettisoning Park from the 40-man roster creates one potential avenue of adding a more veteran right-handed bat to the picture in Minnesota.

Twins, Drew Stubbs Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Twins have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). The Lagardere Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training and compete for a role with the club.

Minnesota’s outfield currently figures to feature Eddie Rosario in left field, Byron Buxton in center field and Max Kepler in right field, so there won’t be a clear-cut starting role for Stubbs to pursue. However, both Rosario and Kepler hit left-handed and have struggled against same-handed pitching to this point in their young careers, making Stubbs a potential platoon partner. In 841 career plate appearances against lefties, Stubbs is a .272/.348/.444 hitter with a 10.3 percent walk rate but a more troubling 29.8 percent strikeout rate.

Switch-hitting Robbie Grossman could be a better option than Stubbs against left-handed pitching, as most of his damage is done from the right side of the dish, but Stubbs is a considerably superior defender that is also capable of playing center field. Converted infielder Danny Santana is also in the mix for an outfield role, and he’s out of minor league options, which could give him a leg up with a solid spring performance.

The 32-year-old Stubbs was once regarded as one of the game’s top all-around prospects and showed a nice mix of power and speed early in his career with the Reds, but his production has tapered off, relegating him to reserve role in recent seasons. Last year, he appeared with the Braves, Rangers and Orioles in the Majors in 2016, batting a combined .225/.330/.338 in 94 trips to the plate. He hasn’t received regular work in the Majors since a monster 2014 season with the Rockies, during which he hit .289/.339/.482 with 15 homers and 20 stolen bases.

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.

AL Notes: Twins, Park, Orioles, Logan

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Correcting a previous report, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Twins will not release designated hitter/first baseman Byung Ho Park if they’re unable to trade him. Park has been in limbo since Minnesota designated him for assignment last Friday and looks poised to head to camp as a non-roster invitee. The Twins owe the 30-year-old $9.25MM through the 2019 season.

Now here’s the latest out of Baltimore, courtesy of Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com:

  • Orioles general manager Dan Duquette informed Kubatko he’s “looking for some more depth” to add to the team’s bullpen, and he’s not going to discriminate based on handedness. Baltimore was eyeing lefty Boone Logan before he agreed to a deal with the Indians last week, Duquette confirmed, but it seems he was well out of the club’s price range. The Orioles would prefer signing someone to a minor league deal, per Kubatko, who notes that one reason they haven’t re-upped free agent right-hander Tommy Hunter is because he’s seeking a major league pact.
  • Free agent outfielder Nolan Reimold has spent nearly his entire career with the Orioles since they selected him in the second round of the 2005 draft, but they haven’t shown any interest in re-signing him, according to Kubatko. The right-handed-hitting Reimold, 33, has fared respectably at the plate in his career (.246/.323/.422 in 1,556 trips), though he registered a disappointing .222/.300/.365 line in 227 PAs last season to perhaps conclude his O’s tenure. Behind lefty-swinging corner outfielders Seth Smith and Hyun Soo Kim, the Reimold-less Orioles have a righty-hitting reserve in Joey Rickard, who handled southpaws over a small sample size as a rookie in 2016 (.313/.367/.494 in 90 PAs).
  • The Orioles’ signing of infielder Robert Andino to a minor league deal Monday may have closed the book on free agent Paul Janish’s time with the organization, Duquette told Kubatko. “We’ve been looking for a veteran shortstop and I’m not sure Paul Janish is going to come back to the O’s,” said Duquette. “So we had been talking to Janish and some others and then Andino reached out to us through Adam Jones. And he let Buck (Showalter) know that he was looking for a job and wanted to come back. So, we followed up with his agent.” The defensively adept Janish, who elected free agency after the Orioles outrighted him in October, totaled a combined 71 plate appearances with the team from 2015-16.

Quick Hits: Analytics, Reds, Phillies, Sano

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Now that the Cardinals/Astros data breach scandal has seemingly come to an end, The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh contacted several sources in various organizational jobs around baseball to ask how various teams protect their proprietary data and intellectual property.  This extends not just to hacking and other illegal accessing of a team’s information, but also what happens when a front office member with knowledge of certain processes and information simply leaves for a job with another franchise.  The piece is a very interesting look inside the purposely-secretive world of analytics departments and is well worth a full read.  Here’s some more from around baseball….

  • While Devin Mesoraco’s health is still a big question mark, Reds GM Dick Williams tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that the team isn’t planning to add a veteran catcher on a minor league deal.  “I don’t see any major signing there.  We’ll just have to see how [Mesoraco] responds and whether or not we have enough guys to cover the issues.”  Behind Mesoraco, Tucker Barnhart and Rule 5 pick Stuart Turner are the top catching options on Cincinnati’s depth chart.
  • Williams also provided updates on Desmond Jennings and Bronson Arroyo, who are both reportedly on the verge of signing minor league deals with the Reds.  Jennings’ deal is “close” to being done, Williams said, while Arroyo’s deal has been worked out “will take a couple of days to get that physically signed.”
  • The Phillies have made some solid offensive upgrades, as David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer feels the additions of Howie Kendrick, Michael Saunders and Chris Coghlan give the Phils “a fighting chance at fielding a middle-of-the-pack offense this season.”  There’s really nowhere to go but up for the Phillies (who scored the fewest runs in baseball in 2016) but they did add some lineup versatility and veteran experience, and they retained flexibility in their rebuilding process since none of the trio are guaranteed beyond 2017.
  • Miguel Sano’s ability to play third base is key to the Twins’ future plans, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  After an ill-advised experiment as a right fielder last year, Sano is back at the hot corner, where he has displayed roughly average glovework (3.9 UZR/150, minus-3 Defensive Runs Saved) in a brief sample size of 453 innings.  According to Olney, some in the previous Twins front office felt moving Sano into a primary DH role so early in his career could be a detriment to his conditioning and lower his overall value as a player.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Carter, Dodgers, Rays, Romo, Park

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Here’s the latest hot stove buzz from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal…

  • The Dodgers checked in on free agent slugger Chris Carter, though Rosenthal has some doubts that the fit would work for either side.  Carter might want too significant a salary for the Dodgers’ liking, as the team is already well over the luxury tax threshold.  From Carter’s perspective, he’d likely want more playing time than L.A. could offer him as a part-time first baseman (spelling Adrian Gonzalez against lefty pitching) and receiving an occasional start in left field.
  • The Rays were the mystery team who submitted the highest bid for Sergio Romo’s services.  Previous reports indicated that the Rays were in the mix for Romo and that the reliever declined a higher offer to stay on the west coast and sign with the Dodgers for a one-year, $3MM deal.  With Romo off the board, the Rays are seemingly still in the hunt for another arm to join their bullpen.
  • The Rays earn $20MM per year on their current TV contract, which expires after the 2018 season.  Club owner Stuart Sternberg recently said negotiations were taking place about a new deal, though nothing was close to fruition.
  • Rosenthal’s column takes a broader look at the Rays’ offseason, noting that the team is trying to both save money and stay competitive at the same time.  Tampa could even project as an under-the-radar playoff contender if they catch a few breaks, such as better health from key players.  Had the club received good offers for Chris Archer or Kevin Kiermaier this winter, however, the Rays would’ve embarked on a full rebuilding process, and they could still take that route next offseason or at the July trade deadline if this year’s roster doesn’t play up to expectations.
  • The Twins will release Byung Ho Park if they can’t find a trade partner for the recently-designated first baseman (update: Rosenthal has since corrected this).  Minnesota’s decision to DFA Park was already rather unexpected, and it would be even more surprising if the club cut ties entirely, especially since earlier reports had the Twins intending to keep Park in the minors if he cleared waivers.  The Twins would be on the hook for the remaining $9.75MM owed to Park through the 2019 season if they released him.  Continuing the Tampa-centric theme, Rosenthal reports that the Rays are looking to add a right-handed bat and have Park on their list of targets.  Rather than work out a trade, the Rays could wait to see if the Twins do release Park, in which case Tampa Bay could just sign him as a free agent.  The Rays would then only owe Park a minimum salary while Minnesota covers the rest of the $9.75MM.

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.

Poll: Byung Ho Park’s Future

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Transactions across Major League Baseball have begun to pick up as the spring closes in, and no move has come as a bigger surprise this week than the Twins’ decision to designate first baseman/DH Byung Ho Park for assignment on Friday. After signing 36-year-old reliever Matt Belisle to a cheap contract, rebuilding Minnesota jettisoned Park from its 40-man roster just one year after doling out $24.85MM to land him. Before committing a four-year, $12MM deal to Park last winter, the Twins had to pay his previous team, the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, a $12.85MM posting fee to acquire his negotiating rights.

Byung Ho Park

Despite the low-payroll Twins’ investment in Park under previous general manager Terry Ryan, the club’s new front office – led by chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine – clearly isn’t enamored of the 30-year-old. It’s easy to see why, perhaps, as Park certainly failed to live up to the hype accompanying him in his first year in the States. Park hit an underwhelming .191/.275/.409 with a 32.8 percent strikeout rate in 244 plate appearances with the Twins before they optioned him to Triple-A Rochester on July 1. While he was significantly more productive after the demotion, largely thanks to a .526 slugging percentage, Park still hit an ugly .224 and posted a sub-.300 on-base rate in 128 PAs with Rochester.

In fairness to Park, a wrist injury – for which he underwent season-ending surgery in late August – may have stunted him in 2016. Plus, as FanGraphs’ Travis Sawchik pointed out earlier this week in a piece urging the Twins not to give up on Park (they designated him two days later), he did show encouraging signs as a rookie despite his less-than-gaudy triple slash. Evidenced somewhat by his 12 home runs and .219 ISO (league average was .162) in limited major league action, Park packed a wallop last season. Moreover, only one player with at least 75 batted-ball events (Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who laid waste to the league as a rookie) posted a greater percentage of barrels than Park, while just nine registered higher exit velocities on fly balls and line drives. At 97.2 mph, Park was right in line with David Ortiz and Giancarlo Stanton.

So, there could be notable upside present with Park, and although he’s currently in seven-day DFA limbo, it’s arguable that his price tag shouldn’t serve as a deterrent if another club is interested in picking him up. The expectation is that Park will clear waivers, La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reported Friday, but his remaining contract is rather insignificant to most major league teams.

As one of Sawchik’s FanGraphs colleagues, Dave Cameron, wrote Friday, Park could make sense for any of the Rangers, Athletics and White Sox. All three have questions at first base and/or DH, as do the frugal Rays, who have been on the lookout for a right-handed bat throughout the offseason and continue to search for one in the wake of re-signing lefty-swinging first baseman Logan Morrison. Of course, any of those teams could simply sign Chris Carter, who co-led the National League with 41 home runs last season, or even 34-homer man Mike Napoli if they’re willing to spend more. However, controlling Park through the 2019 season at an ultra-affordable $9.25MM might make him a more enticing option for someone hoping his tendency to hit the ball hard leads to a statistical breakout. If not, Park will head into spring training as one of the Twins’ non-roster invitees and try to get back on their 40-man at some point this year. Is that what ought to happen, though, or is Park currently worthy of a roster spot elsewhere?

(Poll link for Trade Rumors App users)

Should someone pick up Byung Ho Park?
Yes. His potential upside is worth the price tag. 69.59% (5,941 votes)
No. He doesn't merit a roster spot. 30.41% (2,596 votes)
Total Votes: 8,537

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Twins Notes: Salas, Park, Rodriguez

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Here’s the latest baseball news from the Land Of 10,000 Lakes…

  • The Twins made Fernando Salas an offer before the right-hander re-signed with the Mets, 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link).  Minnesota’s offer was reportedly a one-year deal, like Salas’ deal with the Mets, and Wolfson notes that Salas’ familiarity with New York was a factor in the righty choosing between the two similar contracts.  The Twins made another move to add a right-handed reliever to their bullpen earlier this week when they signed Matt Belisle.
  • The Twins designated Byung Ho Park for assignment in order to create roster space for Belisle, and Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron feels Park has enough “cheap upside” for several other teams to show interest.  Cameron sees the White Sox, Rangers and Athletics as potential fits for Park, who is owed $9.75MM over the next three seasons.  While Minnesota didn’t have much playing time available for Park with Joe Mauer and Kennys Vargas at first base and DH, Cameron makes the argument that keeping Park to gain more return on their initial investment might’ve made more sense for the Twins than signing Belisle.
  • MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez profiles Dereck Rodriguez, a right-handed pitching prospect in the Twins’ system and the son of newly-inducted Hall-of-Famer Ivan Rodriguez.  The younger Rodriguez is entering his fourth season on the mound after converting from his original outfield position, and the 24-year-old is looking to land on the Double-A roster in 2017.

Market Notes: Trends, Wood, Rays, Rockies

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Looking at this winter’s free-agent market broadly, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes (Insider link) that it produced generally poor results from the players’ side. The trend, he and the agents he spoke with suggest, is one of elite players continuing to earn while others are increasingly forced into one-year pacts. That could, in turn, continue to suppress the market for sub-elite players next year, since there’ll again be a larger pool of talent. This certainly seems to be an area that warrants a closer look once the market fully settles out. As of three years ago, the trend had been in favor of multi-year deals as teams competed to land talent on the open market.

Here are some more market notes:

  • With southpaws flying off the board, things are “heating up” for Travis Wood, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). It’s possible he’ll choose his landing spot by the end of the weekend, per the report, though it’s still not clear whether he’ll be heading for a rotation or pen spot (let alone where that might be).
  • Despite picking up Logan Morrison and Rickie Weeks, the Rays still intend to remain involved on some of the better hitters still available, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (links to Twitter). In particular, slugger Chris Carter and even catcher Matt Wieters seemingly remain of interest to Tampa Bay. Another righty bat, notes Topkin, might step into a platoon in the first base and DH spots. The club could take a look at Byung Ho Park, who was just designated by the Twins, and others under consideration include Mike Napoli and Franklin Gutierrez (who’d spend time in the outfield).
  • The Rockies are unlikely to make further additions to their major league roster, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding suggests in response to a fan inquiry. Even if someone like starter Jason Hammel represents a screaming value, Harding hints, the organization may not have the roster or payroll flexibility to give out a MLB deal.
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