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Blue Jays Notes: Hatch, Liriano, Opt-Outs, Montoyo

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Right-hander Thomas Hatch made a worrying exit from today’s Spring Training outing, as Hatch immediately signaled for the trainer after throwing a fastball to Aaron Judge.  The Blue Jays’ official Twitter feed reported that Hatch left the game due to “right elbow/forearm discomfort.”

Acquired from the Cubs in a deadline trade for David Phelps in 2019, Hatch posted a 2.73 ERA over his first 26 1/3 Major League innings, though advanced metrics weren’t too keen on his performance.  Hatch worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen last season, and for 2021 was being viewed by the Jays as a possible reliever or depth starter, or perhaps a bit of both in a swingman or long-relief gig.  Unfortunately, those plans may now be up in the air given Hatch’s injury — while more will be known once Hatch is examined by trainers and doctors, it certainly looked like a potential long-term problem for the 26-year-old. [UPDATE: Hatch will undergo an MRI, Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets.]

More from Toronto…

  • A possible absence for Hatch adds another layer to an already-tricky set of forthcoming roster decisions for the Jays, as Nate Pearson is also looking at a season-opening IL stint due to a setback in his recovery from a groin strain.  Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi looks at some of the Jays’ possible options in shaping their roster, and at least one 40-man move will be necessary since Francisco Liriano is looking like a solid bet to make the team.  Liriano signed a minor league deal in February that will pay him $1.5MM in guaranteed salary if he makes the MLB roster, and a good Spring Training performance has the veteran in line to win a spot as left-handed depth in Toronto’s bullpen.
  • Both Liriano and Joe Panik have March 25 opt-out dates in their minors contracts if they aren’t added to the big league team, while Tommy Milone’s opt-out is on March 27 and A.J. Cole’s opt-out isn’t until May 15.  In terms of out-of-options players, Reese McGuire and Breyvic Valera can’t be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers, which could give them some advantage in making the team.  “The Blue Jays would ideally love to stash a few of their minor-league contracts on the taxi squad, with the carrot of a quick call up if needed,” Davidi writes.
  • The Jays announced yesterday that they had exercised their club option on Charlie Montoyo for the 2022 season, giving the manager an additional guaranteed year on his contract.  In terms of a longer-term extension, Montoyo told told Mitchell and other reporters that such negotiations had yet to take.  Entering his third season as Toronto’s manager, Montoyo led the young Jays to a 32-28 record and a spot in the expanded 2020 postseason last year, and now more is expected of a team that made some big offseason investments.

Blue Jays, Joe Panik Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent infielder Joe Panik, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The Jet Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training and would earn $1.85MM with another $400K available via incentives if he makes the roster.

It’s the second straight minor league pact with Toronto for Panik, who ultimately did crack the 2020 roster and appear in 41 games for the Jays. The longtime Giants infielder tallied 141 trips to the plate with Toronto, batting at a .225/.340/.300 clip with a homer, six doubles and a gaudy 14.2 percent walk rate.

Panik hasn’t hit for much average since his first two years in the Majors, but he’s settled in as a quality defender with a solid walk rate and one of the game’s lower strikeout rates. Dating back to the 2016 season, Panik carries a .255/.324/.366 slash in addition to a 2016 Gold Glove Award for his work at second base. He’s played second base almost exclusively in his MLB career, but Panik was a college shortstop who also saw time at third base with the Blue Jays in 2020.

If he’s able to make their roster a second time, Panik could bounce around the infield as a utility piece. Santiago Espinal is his primary competition on the 40-man roster for that role, though the Jays will also have Richard Urena in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Blue Jays Select Joe Panik

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The Blue Jays have selected the contract of veteran infielder Joe Panik, as first indicated on the league transactions log at MLB.com. Right-hander Yennsy Diaz was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets that the move is indeed official, adding that Panik had an opt-out clause in his contract, which necessitated the transaction. It’s also likely that with the league instructing teams to send non-40-man players home (if they’re safely able to do so), the Jays wanted to act quickly to ensure that Panik is able to remain with the group.

The 29-year-old Panik was the Giants’ first-round pick back in 2011 and ascended to the role of everyday second baseman in San Francisco by 2014. He held that role late into the 2019 season, but the Giants, amid a rebuild phase and hoping to evaluate a younger wave of long-term pieces, designated Panik for assignment in early August and released him shortly thereafter. He quickly signed on with the Mets and finished out the year in a part-time role there.

This past season marked a second consecutive rough year at the plate for Panik, who slashed a combined .249/.311/.334 in 883 plate appearance from 2018-19. That’s a far cry from the quality .282/.345/.408 (105 OPS+) that Panik posted from 2014-17 — a stretch wherein he made the 2015 All-Star Game and won a Gold Glove in 2016. Injuries have surely played a part in his downturn. Since 2015, a stress fracture in his back, multiple bouts of concussion symptoms, thumb surgery and a groin strain have all sent Panik to the injured list. He avoided the IL in 2019, although the litany of injuries certainly could have had a lingering effect on his play.

Prior to the league’s coronavirus shutdown, though, Panik looked quite comfortable in camp with the Jays. It’s only 10 games and 26 plate appearances, but Panik went 8-for-21 with a pair of homers, a triple and more walks (four) than strikeouts (three). It’s difficult to glean too much from that limited showing, but the Blue Jays were impressed enough to add Panik to the roster, thus locking in a $2.85MM base salary for the veteran infielder.

A bench role may be likelier for Panik than a starting role, as Cavan Biggio’s youth and his .364 on-base percentage in 100 big league games last season will probably get him the nod in that regard. Biggio hit .234/.364/.429 with 16 home runs, 17 doubles, a pair of triples and 14 steals in 430 plate appearances as a rookie, and the Blue Jays will surely want to give him a large role to see if he can solidify himself as the primary second baseman for years to come. But Panik is plenty capable of playing both up-the-middle positions — he was drafted as a shortstop but moved to second base due to Brandon Crawford’s presence in San Francisco — and could conceivably be asked to be a backup option at third base as well.

As for the 23-year-old Diaz, it’s not yet clear what his actual injury is. The Jays haven’t made a formal announcement of the roster move yet, however, so details will surely emerge when they publicly acknowledge the transaction. Diaz ranks 26th among Jays farmhands at FanGraphs and 29th at MLB.com. He spent the 2019 season with their Double-A club, pitching to a 3.74 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.75 HR/9 and a 40 percent ground-ball rate before appearing in a single big league game last September.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Devers, Blue Jays, Biggio, Yankees, Garcia

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The Red Sox have not broached the subject of a contract extension with Rafael Devers, though the player says he’s open to it, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Of course, that’s a boilerplate response from Devers, and one of the reasons agents are so important for players. Devers, represented by Nelson Montes de Oca of Rep 1 Baseball, can let a shoulder shrug do his talking while rightfully laying contract responsibilities at the feet of his agent. He will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this upcoming season, so he can expect to field extension questions on a regular basis, though neither party has cause to be in any particular rush.After playing a starring role in the Red Sox 2018 World Series win, Devers didn’t disappoint with a .311/.361/.555 line last season with 32 home runs and 115 RBIs. He also notched a league-leading 54 doubles. Devers isn’t set to hit free agency until after the 2023 season. Let’s see what else is going on in the AL East…

  • Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoya  says Cavan Biggio is the Blue Jays second baseman. Still, given how spring training takes shape, Biggio will be keeping his outfielder glove within reach. The particularly contingency to track, per The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (via Twitter), is Joe Panik. Outside of those two, it’s not a deep field of second base contenders. Santiago Espinal, 25, hit .317/.360/.433 in his first taste of Triple-A in 2019, certainly showing enough to get a look this spring. Brandon Drury and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. also have experience at the keystone. Gurriel is ticketed as the everyday starter in left field, which is a position of equal or greater need for the Blue Jays unless something clicks for a youngster like Billy McKinney or Forrest Wall. Travis Shaw, theoretically, could also see time at second base, but he’s more likely to get his at-bats at first, third, or the designated hitter spot. Ruben Tejada, 30, and Kevin Smith, 23, are also both in camp as non-roster invitees. 
  • Yankees top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia is pushing to fill the injury void in manager Aaron Boone’s rotation, and good as he’s looked thus far, Garcia is unlikely to win a rotation job out of spring camp, per Newday’s David Lennon. The undersized right-hander has done nothing but impress over the last calendar year, and he continues to do so in spring training, keeping hitters off-balance with a power heater. Garcia, 20, won’t be rushed to the majors, despite the injuries. Still, given his progress last year, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking to see him in the majors sometime around his 21st birthday in May. That’s still too aggressive to be an expectant timetable – but given the uncertainty in the Yanks’ rotation and the level of competition in the division, an early debut for Garcia certainly can’t be ruled out. 

AL East Notes: Lucroy, Rays, Blue Jays

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As Yankees righty Luis Severino gets some unwelcome news on his birthday, here’s the latest from around the AL East…

  • Ron Roenicke was Jonathan Lucroy’s manager with the Brewers for over four seasons, and with Roenicke now serving as the Red Sox interim manager, he was the motivating factor in convincing Jonathan Lucroy to sign with Boston.  “He called me and he wanted me to come.  It was a big one,” Lucroy told reporters, including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and MLB.com’s Ian Browne.  “He’s like, you’ll get an opportunity to come here and make the team.  Right now, that’s all you can ask for with a guy in my position.”  Lucroy signed a minor league contract with the Sox after a pretty quiet stint in free agency, as Cotillo notes that Lucroy “negotiated with a few clubs who backed out of deals at the last minute.”  This isn’t to say that Lucroy is surprised at how his trip through the free agent market went, given his struggles over the last three seasons: “Analytically, I’ve been terrible.  Seriously. I’m not trying to make excuses.  I’m not surprised I didn’t get a big league offer.”  Now, Lucroy is reunited with his old skipper and will compete with Kevin Plawecki for the backup catching position.
  • The Rays are known for cycling different players through a position rather than having a set everyday starter, and MLB.com’s Juan Toribio examines how the club will juggle its many third base options.  Yandy Diaz, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Joey Wendle, Daniel Robertson, Nate Lowe, and Mike Brosseau could all factor into Tampa Bay’s choices at the hot corner, while also being rotated around to other positions on the diamond.  Diaz is expected to get the majority of playing time, while Tsutsugo’s readiness at third base is perhaps the biggest wild card in the mix, as he hasn’t played the position since 2014 as a member of the Yokohama BayStars.
  • The Blue Jays face some interesting decisions with their bench mix, as the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm observes that slugger Rowdy Tellez might not make the Opening Day roster.  Since minor league signing Joe Panik “is almost a sure bet to be included on the roster” as a utilityman and outfielders Derek Fisher and Anthony Alford are both out of options, this trio might have the advantage over Tellez, who is defensively limited to only first base.  Tellez has shown some strong power (25 homers, .475 slugging percentage) over 482 MLB plate appearances, though is somewhat one-dimensional at the plate, as evidenced by his .241 career average and .299 OBP.  Fisher and Alford will both need to perform well this spring to block Tellez, however, and Chisholm notes that Brandon Drury also isn’t a lock for the roster, as the Blue Jays could opt to cut Drury and just go with Panik as the primary utility player.  Since Drury was an arbitration-eligible player, releasing him before Opening Day would leave the Jays on the hook for just a small portion of his $2.05MM salary.  If Drury was released, Chisholm speculates Toronto could potentially put those savings towards signing another veteran player who might become available as teams trim their rosters in advance of the season opener.

Blue Jays Sign Joe Panik To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays have signed infielder Joe Panik to a minor league contract, reports Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. The deal includes an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, Panik will earn $2.85MM if he cracks the big league roster. Panik is a client of Jet Sports Management.

Panik, 29, is coming off a season in which he saw his six-year tenure with the Giants come to an end, finishing the season with the Mets. He was designated for assignment after posting a meager .627 OPS in 103 games with San Francisco. He fared better in Queens and managed a much more respectable .738 OPS, albeit in just 103 plate appearances. He offers little in the way of power, but consistently ranks among baseball’s best at avoiding strikeouts: for his career, he’s struck out in just 9.4% of his plate appearances. He’s also regarded as a solid defender at second base, though it bears mentioning that the advanced metric Defensive Runs Saved graded him as a net negative in each of the last three seasons.

With his new organization, Panik will have the opportunity to compete with the likes of Brandon Drury, Ruben Tejada, and Breyvic Valera for a roster spot and infield playing time. Cavan Biggio is penciled in as the Opening Day second baseman, but Charlie Montoyo and company could opt for some combination of Panik and Drury at the keystone while shifting Biggio to a more outfield-heavy role.

AL East Notes: Panik, Tsutsugo, Roark, Abad, Holmes

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The Yankees have had discussions about signing second baseman Joe Panik, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets, as New York continues to look for ways to both add infield depth and add left-handed balance to a lineup that is loaded with righty swingers.  Panik is a left-handed bat, though he is coming off a pair of subpar years at the plate — the veteran has only a .249/.311/.334 slash line over 883 plate appearances since the start of the 2018 season.  These struggles prompted the Giants to part ways with their longtime second baseman last summer, though Panik hit better after catching on with the Mets for 39 games in 2019.  The 29-year-old Panik also has the bonus of being a native New Yorker, born in Yonkers and a product of St. John’s University.

With Gleyber Torres likely to shift from second base to shortstop, the keystone could be occupied by DJ LeMahieu if the Yankees don’t prefer to use LeMahieu primarily as a first baseman.  Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada are the top in-house options for the utility infield or part-time second base jobs if LeMahieu is indeed slated mostly for first base work, though the Yankees could prefer to be as flexible as possible with LeMahieu based on matchups.  In this sense, Panik’s lack of defensive versatility could be a detriment to his chances at a Yankees deal; Panik has played all but one of his 682 MLB games as a second baseman, with the lone exception being one game at first base for San Francisco in 2018.

Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • The Rays’ two-year, $12MM contract with Yoshitomo Tsutsugo wasn’t the highest offer received by the outfielder, though the team’s strong courtship of the Japanese slugger eventually convinced him to come to Florida, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  The Rays were the first team to contact Tsutsugo after he was posted by Yokohama, they provided him with a thorough 20-page booklet about the club and the Tampa area, and a six-person crew that included manager Kevin Cash and GM Erik Neander visited Tsutsugo in person prior to the Winter Meetings, while Tsutsugo was working out in Los Angeles.  All of the wooing paid off for the Rays, who now welcome a player with 185 homers over his last six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball.
  • The Blue Jays made a similar big push to land Tanner Roark, as the right-hander told reporters (including Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic) that Toronto was the first team to get in contact with his representatives as free agency opened.  “They knew what they wanted, and they wanted me and it’s exciting to have someone want you like that,” Roark said.  Pitching coach Pete Walker also told McGrath that he and Roark “just seemed to hit it off” during a 25-minute phone call.  Roark ended up inking a two-year, $24MM deal with the Jays, and is looking forward to being a veteran leader within Toronto’s young clubhouse.
  • The Orioles had several conversations with Fernando Abad before the left-hander signed with the Nationals, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports.  With Abad now off the board, the O’s will continue to look for low-cost experience for their bullpen.
  • Also from Kubatko, the Orioles have hired Darren Holmes as their new bullpen coach.  Holmes worked in the same role with the Rockies for the previous five seasons.  A veteran of 13 MLB seasons, Holmes’ playing career included a brief five-game stint as a member of the Orioles in 2000.

Mets Decline Option Over Juan Lagares, Outright Panik & Hart

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The Mets have declined their club option over outfielder Juan Lagares. Meanwhile, second baseman Joe Panik and lefty Donnie Hart each elected free agency after being outrighted.

Lagares was sure to be bought out at $500K after a brutal season at the plate. His option would’ve cost the team $9.5MM, so it was an easy call to say goodbye.

Plagued by injuries in recent years, Lagares was healthy in 2019. But his performance fell apart in all respects. Typically a valued defender, the 30-year-old hit just .213/.279/.326 while drawing negative defensive grades.

Panik, picked up in the middle of the season, projected to earn $5.1MM in arbitration. Though he had a solid showing upon his return to his native New York, that was too big a tab to pick up.

The 29-year-old Hart threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings this year for the Brewers and Mets, with just one appearance coming in New York. In 44 2/3 Triple-A frames, he worked to a 4.43 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. He’ll be looking for work as a lefty specialist, likely on a minor-league deal.

Mets Sign Joe Panik

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1:10pm: Panik’s going to the Mets, Heyman tweets. They just have to clear a roster spot for him.

10:11am: The Mets are “expected to sign” second baseman Joe Panik, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Mike Anthony of MetsmerizedOnline.com first reported the news). Panik will first need to clear waivers, which will occur at 1 p.m. ET, but that looks like a formality. He should join the Mets for Friday night’s game, per Andy Martino of SNY.

It’ll go down as a short stay without a team for Panik, whom the Giants designated for assignment Tuesday and then subsequently released. Because no one will take on Panik via waivers, the Giants will have to pay him the balance of his $3.8MM salary. The Mets will be able to add him for a prorated league-minimum salary.

Panik, 28, was a quality producer as a Giant from 2014-17, but his production has cratered since the beginning of last season. He has slashed just .245/.308/.325 with seven home runs in 780 plate appearances going back to 2018, giving him the majors’ fourth-worst wRC+ (72) among hitters with at least 700 PA. Panik remains a bear to strike out (9.8 K rate, 9.3 BB percentage), but that wasn’t enough to keep him in San Francisco. When the Giants acquired fellow second basemen Scooter Gennett and Mauricio Dubon at last week’s trade deadline, it sealed Panik’s fate with the franchise.

Panik, a Yonkers native who attended St. John’s University, will now try to bounce back in the familiar surroundings of New York. The Mets have an opening at second now that Robinson Cano’s dealing with a hamstring tear. The Cano injury is one of the few things to go wrong of late for the hard-charging Mets, who’ve gone from laughingstocks to serious playoff contenders in a matter of weeks. Winners of 13 of 14, the Mets suddenly own a 59-56 record and sit a mere half-game back in a congested National League wild-card race.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets Interested In Joe Panik

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FRIDAY: There’s “a strong chance” Panik will sign with the Mets when he clears waivers, Martino writes.

THURSDAY: The Mets have interest in Giants second baseman Joe Panik, Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports.  Panik was designated for assignment Tuesday and placed on release waivers yesterday, and he’ll officially enter into free agency at noon CT on Friday if he isn’t claimed by another team in the interim.

The Mets’ interest may hinge on whether or not Panik is actually on the open market.  If Panik were to sign as a free agent, New York would only be responsible for paying him a prorated MLB minimum salary for the rest of the season (roughly $164K) and the Giants would have to cover the $956K still owed to Panik for the remainder of the one-year, $3.8MM contract he signed last offseason.  If the Mets were to just claim Panik off waivers, they’d have to pay him the entire $1.12MM in remaining salary themselves.

As recently noted by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Mets are quite close to the luxury tax threshold of $206MM, as Roster Resource estimates New York’s luxury tax number at just under $203.38MM, counting the newly-signed Brad Brach’s minimum salary.  Since the team is loath to make any tax payments and player movement is more difficult now that the trade deadline has passed, the Mets are targeting players like Panik or Brach, who can potentially contribute while their former teams foot the bulk of the bill.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports that at least one other team besides the Mets has interest in Panik, though it isn’t known if this mystery team is willing to make a claim for Panik, or if they are also waiting for Panik to hit free agency.

Panik would provide New York with a short-term replacement for Robinson Cano at second base while Cano is on the injured list, though it’s a fair question to wonder how much Panik can produce in the wake of his recent performance.  Aside from an All-Star season in 2015, Panik has been a below-average hitter for the rest of his career, including hitting only .245/.308/.325 over 780 plate appearances since the start of the 2018 campaign.  As maligned as Cano’s 2019 season has been, Panik has actually been worse — Cano’s 0.4 fWAR is superior to Panik’s sub-replacement level -0.2 fWAR.

Still, at a minimum price, there’s little harm for the Mets in taking a flier on Panik if nothing else than an extra body in their infield mix.  Panik would also add another left-handed bat to a largely right-handed Mets lineup, and his presence at second base would allow Jeff McNeil to remain largely in the outfield.

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