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Jake Diekman

Athletics Sign Jake Diekman

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1:45pm: The Athletics have formally announced the signing.

1:21pm: The Athletics and free-agent lefty Jake Diekman have agreed to a two-year contract with a club option for a third season, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter links). The Beverly Hills Sports Council client will be guaranteed $7.5MM over the life of the pact.

Jake Diekman | Aug 3, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Jake Diekman (35) stands on the mound during the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Diekman, 33 next month, inked a one-year, $2.75MM pact with the Royals last winter and was traded to the A’s prior to the July 31 deadline. The veteran southpaw pitched to a 4.43 ERA with 21 strikeouts but 16 walks and three hit batsmen through 20 1/3 innings with the A’s, continuing control problems that have plagued him for much of his MLB tenure. Diekman clearly made a strong impression on the Oakland organization, though, and he’s now in line to call it home for the next two seasons.

Control issues notwithstanding, the appeal in Diekman is easy to see, as his raw stuff is tantalizing. His 95.8 mph average heater is one of the fastest among all left-handed relievers in baseball, and Diekman’s overall 16.1 percent swinging-strike rate ranked 18th among 158 qualified reliever this past season. He’s averaged better than 11 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in his MLB career and fanned 28.2 percent of the hitters he’s faced in the big leagues. A look at his Statcast profile reveals that Diekman was one of the best in the game at limiting hard contact — specifically in allowing opponents to barrel up his offerings.

Diekman will pair with lefty T.J. McFarland, whom the A’s claimed off waivers last month and inked to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration yesterday, giving manager Bob Melvin multiple lefties to deploy in 2020. The Oakland ’pen will once again be anchored by emergent closer Liam Hendriks, with Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria and rebound hopeful Lou Trivino adding to the setup corps as well.

The move to add Diekman comes just a day after Oakland traded Jurickson Profar to the Padres and non-tendered Blake Treinen, Ryan Buchter and Josh Phegley — substantially reducing payroll in the process; that quartet had been projected to earn a combined $17.6MM on a perennially low-payroll A’s club.

Some of those funds will be immediately reallocated to Diekman, it seems, but the Oakland payroll still projects to come in north of previous levels. Last year’s $92MM Opening Day mark was a club record, and the A’s projected to come in around $95MM even before bringing Diekman aboard. It’s always possible that they’ll move some veteran contracts, but the A’s at the very least appear poised for a second season above the $90MM mark, which is unheard of territory for the organization.

NL Notes: Carpenter, Giants, Mets

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A quick look around the National League…

  • The 2019 season was surprisingly pedestrian for Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter, a normally excellent producer who fell flat after the team signed him to a two-year, $39MM extension in April. Carpenter stepped to the plate 492 times and hit a mediocre .226/.334/.392 with 15 home runs, giving him the lowest wRC+ (95) and fWAR (1.2) he has posted over a full season since debuting in 2011. But Carpenter, who will turn 34 later this month, seemingly hasn’t lost the confidence of Cardinals brass. ”‘Carp’ obviously will have a better season, we expect. He’s highly motivated,” chairman Bill DeWitt said this week (via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). President of baseball operations John Mozeliak echoed that sentiment, saying the Cardinals’ confidence in Carpenter is “high” and calling this year “an outlier.” Of course, the Cardinals don’t have much choice but to publicly show faith in Carpenter, whom they’re likely stuck with because of the money left on his contract and his no-trade clause.
  • As of last week, Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol was reportedly one of the finalists to become the Giants’ next manager. That no longer seems to be the case, though. Grifol is now completely out of the race, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea, who names ex-Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, current Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as the last candidates standing. Grifol, Kapler, Espada and Quartaro make up four of 10-plus candidates who have interviewed with the Giants, per Shea. There’s no deadline to hire a new skipper, however, and with the Giants one of just two teams without a manager, there’s seemingly no reason to rush.
  • The Mets negotiated with relievers Daniel Hudson and Jake Diekman when they were free agents a year ago, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports. The club ultimately didn’t land either, instead watching Hudson sign with the Angels on a minor league contract and Diekman land with the Royals for a guaranteed $2.75MM. Hudson then wound up with the Blue Jays and finished the season as a member of the Nationals, with whom he emerged as one of many key cogs during their improbable World Series run. Diekman concluded the campaign with the Athletics, who traded for him in July. Now that Hudson and Diekman are back on the open market, the Mets  – who remain in need of competent relievers – could again push for one or both, though there’s no indication they plan on doing so.

Athletics Exercise Club Option On Yusmeiro Petit; Decline Jake Diekman’s Option

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The Athletics made their decisions on two outstanding club options today, announcing that right-hander Yusmeiro Petit’s club option will be exercised, thus guaranteeing the veteran reliever $5.5MM in 2020.  The A’s will decline their end of a mutual option on southpaw Jake Diekman, paying him a $500K buyout rather than a $5.75MM salary next season.

Today’s option decision will turn Petit’s original contract with the A’s from November 2017 into a three-year, $14.5MM commitment, and Oakland’s investment has paid off nicely in the first two years of the deal.  Petit has a 2.86 ERA, 7.5 K/9, and 5.25 K/BB rate over 176 relief innings and 154 games in 2018-19, and he led the league with 80 appearances this season.  Though Petit turns 35 in November, his pitching style seems built to age well — his excellent control and ability to induce soft contact belies his lack of strikeout ability and somewhat limits issues with the home run ball (1.2 HR/9 over the last two seasons).

Diekman was acquired in a late-July deal from the Royals, and posted a 4.43 ERA over 20 1/3 innings with the A’s that included more than a few nervous moments (Diekman issued 16 walks during his brief time in Oakland).  Overall, Diekman had a 4.65 ERA over 62 combined innings for the Royals and A’s, with a 2.15 K/BB rate and 12.2 K/9.

Those numbers are quite similar to Diekman’s statistics from his 2018 season split between the Rangers and Diamondbacks.  With back-to-back years of only okay performance, Oakland will decide to move on rather than spend the extra $5.25MM to retain Diekman’s services.  Left-handed relief does seem like it will be an offseason priority for the A’s, given that Ryan Buchter is currently the only southpaw reliever on Oakland’s 40-man roster.

A’s Rumors: Treinen, Profar, Pending FAs

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We’ve seen quite a bit of news on the Athletics since their season ended with Wednesday’s wild-card loss to the Rays. Here’s even more on the A’s, courtesy of Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (links here):

  • It’s “likely” the Athletics will non-tender or trade right-handed reliever Blake Treinen, according to Slusser, who also names second baseman Jurickson Profar as someone who’s in danger of winding up on the outs. Just a year ago at this time, Treinen was coming off perhaps one of the greatest seasons a reliever has ever posted. It would have unthinkable then that the A’s would be considering cutting the cord on him 12 months later, but it’s now understandable in light of his rough 2019. Injuries limited Treinen to 58 2/3 innings, and his numbers declined across the board when he was able to take the mound. Treinen recorded a 4.91 ERA/5.14 FIP with 9.05 K/9 and 5.68 BB/9 before his season ended in mid-September because of a stress reaction in his back. Although Treinen lost his job as the A’s closer this year, the saves he has amassed will help him in the arbitration process, where he’d be in line to collect a raise over the $6.4MM he earned in 2019. But the low-budget A’s could simply choose to walk away from the 31-year-old after his nightmarish campaign.
  • Profar, like Treinen, entered the season as a player the A’s were counting on to successfully fill a big role. After acquiring the switch-hitter from the Rangers last winter, Oakland gave Profar ample opportunity to build on a career-best 2018 this season. Instead, Profar stumbled to an uninspiring .218/.301/.410 batting line in 518 plate appearances and earned negative grades at the keystone (minus-10 DRS, minus-1 UZR). The 26-year-old, who made $3.6MM in ’19, has one more season of arbitration eligibility remaining.
  • The Athletics may have too many starters lined up for 2020 to justify re-signing pending free-agent left-hander Brett Anderson. The same likely goes for fellow soon-to-be FA starters Homer Bailey and Tanner Roark, Slusser suggests. The A’s acquired both righties over the summer, and the team ended up receiving surprisingly decent production from Bailey after years of struggles with multiple franchises. The 33-year-old Bailey, who told Slusser he “really enjoyed” his stint as an Athletic, pitched to a 4.30 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 across 73 1/3 innings in their uniform. Roark managed similar numbers in his 55 frames as a member of the club, with which he notched a 4.58 ERA and put up 8.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
  • Lefty reliever Jake Diekman, yet another in-season trade pickup, could also depart in the next several weeks. However, the A’s at least figure to discuss retaining him, Slusser relays. He has a $5.75MM mutual option (or a $500K buyout) for next season. Diekman struggled mightily with his control as an Athletic this year, though, as he issued 16 walks, allowed 16 hits and yielded 10 earned runs in a 20 1/3-inning sample.
  • This was a stunningly poor season for designated hitter Khris Davis, whom the team signed to a two-year, $33.5MM extension in April. At that point, Davis was coming off three consecutive 40-home run seasons and a remarkable four straight in which he batted .247. Both streaks came to an end this year, in which Davis hit .220/.293/.387 with 23 HRs in 533 trips to the plate as he dealt with injuries. But Davis “wasn’t injured at the end of the year,” said manager Bob Melvin, who expects a bounce-back performance from the slugger in 2020. Executive vice president Billy Beane shares Melvin’s optimism, saying he looks for a return to Davis’ “annual 40 homers, .247” next year.

Athletics Designate Brian Schlitter

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The Athletics have designated righty Brian Schlitter for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot goes to the just-acquired Jake Diekman.

Additionally, the Oakland org announced that right-hander Jharel Cotton has been activated from the 60-day injured list. He was optioned down to Triple-A.

Schlitter, 33, has seen sporadic MLB action since his 2010 debut, appearing in parts of four seasons. This year, with Oakland, he allowed four runs on a dozen hits with six walks and four strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings of work. Schlitter has spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he carries a 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 frames with 7.0 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9.

Athletics Acquire Jake Diekman

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The A’s have acquired Jake Diekman from the Royals, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Kansas City will receive prospects Ismael Aquino and Dairon Blanco in return.

In its push for a second consecutive playoff appearance, the A’s appear to again be double and tripling down on an already-staunch bullpen. The 32-year-old Diekman’s long had issue with the free pass – the lefty hasn’t walked under four per nine since 2013 – but is setting down hitters at a career-best rate: indeed, his 13.61 K/9 is over two batters per nine higher than his previous season best. Diekman’s park-adjusted peripherals place him firmly within the game’s top 30 relievers at present, and he’ll join an Oakland pen that’s already notched MLB’s second-highest fWAR total, behind only the Yankees.

Diekman, who’s owed approximately $700K over the remainder of the season, has a $5.75MM mutual option on his deal for 2020, a figure that’ll likely be declined on the player’s side if the lefty continues on his current pace. It should be no matter for the A’s, who control each of bullpen stalwarts Joakim Soria, Yusmeiro Petit, Liam Hendriks, Blake Treinen, and Lou Trivino through at least next season.

As they did last season in the team’s winner-take-all bout with the Yankees, the A’s appear to be gearing up for a potential all-bullpen Wild Card alignment. After nominal ace Frankie Montas was suspended for a PED violation, it’s been mostly hope-and-pray in the team’s rotation. Mike Fiers has delivered quality outings, but deeper peripherals don’t augur well for the season’s close; ditto with Brett Anderson, who’s also managed to avoid major injury for one of the few times in his career. Chris Bassitt and Daniel Mengden have had moments, but it may be white-flag time where the division is concerned for the A’s, who sit 8.0 GB of Houston in the AL West despite just a half-game deficit in the second Wild-Card spot.

Blanco, 26, was an ’18 Cuban signee who’d spent all of 2019 at AA-Midland, where the outfielder slashed .276/.342/.468. He didn’t check in among the team’s top 38 prospects at FanGraphs, who did note that the righty possesses “80 grade” speed, which could vault him into a potential fifth outfielder spot in the big leagues.

Aquino, 20, had appeared in 10 games for the A’s Arizona League affiliate, mostly in relief. He didn’t crack the team’s top 30 prospects at either FanGraphs or MLB.com.

Braves Targeting Pitching From Royals, Rangers

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The Braves have a relatively strong hold on the National League East as they have pushed their lead back up to 5 1/2 games over the Nationals and 6 1/2 games over the Phillies. Much like their trailers in the East, the Braves are exploring reinforcements for a bullpen that has let the club down at times.

Much like other contenders, the Braves have looked into acquiring lefty Jake Diekman from the Royals, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter). Diekman remains one of the most likely players to move before Wednesday’s deadline, but the Royals are apparently in no rush to make a decision. Bowman names Ian Kennedy as another name that makes sense for the Braves, though the Royals are less interested in paying down the money owed Kennedy, making him a less likely target.

Though the same targets seem to make their way around the rumor mill from team-to-team, the Braves have not yet been tied to oft-rumored Tigers Shane Greene, Nicholas Castellanos or Matthew Boyd. A more likely trading partner for Atlanta is the Rangers, who can offer Mike Minor for the rotation or right-hander Jose Leclerc out of the pen.

Both Rangers come with future years of control, with Leclerc in particular being an interesting target as the 25-year-old recently signed an extension that has him under contract for five years after this season (through 2024). After recording 12 saves with a 1.56 ERA 59 games last season, Leclerc struggled out of the gate this year, ultimately losing his closer’s role and even taking a few turns as an Opener. That said, he turned things around since the slow start, currently holding a 4.02 ERA (3.31 FIP) in 47 games, making him worth 1.0 WAR by measure of both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs.

It would be at least understandable if the Rangers were looking for a mulligan on the Leclerc extension, but that’s not to say they’re looking to sell low on their power righty. The Braves plethora of pitching in the upper levels of the minors give them the bullets they need to acquire whomever they need, should they decide to pull the trigger.

Royals Working On Jake Diekman Trade

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12:02pm: The Dodgers stood out as the likely “frontrunners” from the start, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. However, he adds that the Nationals and Phillies both still have Diekman on their radar.

11:53am: The Royals “could be getting closer” to a trade involving left-handed reliever Jake Diekman, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Both the Braves and Dodgers have been showing strong interest in the southpaw, he adds.

Diekman, 32, is playing out the season on a one-year, $2.25MM contract, though he’s also owed a $500K buyout on a $5.75MM mutual option that doesn’t seem likely to be exercised (as is the case with virtually all mutual options). That puts the remaining obligation to Diekman around $1.3MM between now and season’s end.

While Diekman’s 4.75 ERA isn’t going to excite most fans, he’s also notched a hefty 13.6 K/9 mark and kept the ball on the ground at a 48-4 percent clip. Left-handed opponents have batted just .213 and slugged .255 against him. As has oft been the case for Diekman throughout his career, though, control has been an issue. He’s averaged five walks per nine innings pitched this season and plunked another eight hitters. As such, Diekman has yielded an overall .213/.362/.255 line to lefties and a .211/.331/.358 line to right-handed hitters.

Diekman is technically controlled beyond the 2019 season, but mutual options are almost never exercised by both parties. Typically, if a player performs well enough to justify that salary, he’s inclined to test the open market. And if a player doesn’t perform up to that standard, the club will of course buy the option out. Perhaps the changing landscape of free agency will make a player such as Diekman — one with limited earning power but who could justify a net $5.25MM decision with a strong finish — more likely to exercise his half of the provision, but there’s limited historic precedent.

Royals Rumors: Merrifield, Diekman

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Royals utilityman Whit Merrifield is unsurprisingly drawing interest from contenders with the trade deadline just a few days away. The Cubs, Braves and Phillies are among the teams eyeing Merrifield, but it appears they’ll have to look elsewhere. The Royals are telling teams they’re not going to deal him, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports.

Even though the Royals are just 39-64 this season and will have trouble pushing for a playoff spot in the near future, the 30-year-old Merrifield has never looked like an especially realistic trade candidate. Royals general manager Dayton Moore hasn’t made it any secret he has an affinity for Merrifield, who he said in June is “one of the best players in all of baseball right now.” Moore also stated then it would take a “crazy” offer for Kansas City to move Merrifield, whom it signed to a four-year, $16.25MM extension in the offseason.

On a KC team with few major bright spots, Merrifield has continued his run as an eminently valuable performer this year. He has slashed .306/.357/.495 (122 wRC+) with 49 extra-base hits (28 doubles, 12 home runs, nine triples) and 15 steals on 23 attempts in 470 plate appearances. Merrifield has also chipped in 4 Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.3 Ultimate Zone Rating between second base and the outfield. The entire package has been worth 2.9 bWAR/2.7 fWAR. Between Merrifield’s affordability and his on-field excellence, there’s a case the rebuilding Royals should trade him – they’d surely net an exorbitant return – but it doesn’t look as if it’s going to happen.

Meanwhile, reliever Jake Diekman seems almost guaranteed to change uniforms by the end of the month. In addition to the already reported Phillies, Dodgers and Nationals, Diekman has drawn interest from the Cubs, Cardinals and Braves, per Morosi. Diekman, 32, is on a $2.75MM guarantee and has a $5.75MM mutual option for 2020. The hard-throwing left-hander has pitched to a pedestrian 4.75 ERA in 41 2/3 innings this season. But he has logged a far better 3.36 FIP with 13.61 K/9, 4.97 BB/9 and a 48.4 percent groundball rate.

Phillies Interested In Jake Diekman

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Royals left-handed reliever Jake Diekman continues to generate a solid amount of interest leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. Along with the previously reported Nationals and Dodgers, Diekman is on the Phillies’ radar, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com.

Notably, Diekman entered the pros as a 30th-round pick of the Phillies in 2007 and then pitched for the team from 2012-15. The Phillies said goodbye to Diekman in the last of those seasons when they dealt him and Cole Hamels to the Rangers in a blockbuster swap.

This year’s Phillies won Friday to improve to 50-47, but their so-so record puts them 7 1/2 games back of the NL East-leading Braves. While the Phillies are tied for the NL’s second wild-card spot, it’s up for debate how aggressive they should be heading into the deadline. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail suggested last week the Phillies aren’t necessarily in position to make blockbuster additions before the end of the month. It’s unlikely his mind has changed in light of the up-and-down way the team has continued to play since MacPhail assessed its performance.

If Philadelphia is focused on making modest pickups to better its chances at earning a wild-card berth, Diekman would qualify. While the 32-year-old’s 4.89 ERA and 5.35 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings say he wouldn’t do much to help the Phillies’ woeful bullpen, the rest of his numbers indicate otherwise. Diekman has notched a 3.60 FIP, 13-plus strikeouts per nine, a 47 percent groundball rate and induced infield flies at a 20 percent clip. He has also produced useful results against both lefties (.299 wOBA) and righties (.307).

Diekman does have a $5.75MM mutual option for 2020, which could make him more than a rental for an acquiring team if he pitches well down the stretch. Regardless, with the Royals nowhere near contention, he’s one of their prime trade chips remaining. The club has already dealt fellow veterans Homer Bailey and Martin Maldonado within the past week.

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