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Jorge Bonifacio

Mike Foltynewicz, Jorge Bonifacio, Domingo Santana, Tyler Heineman Become Free Agents

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According to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America, 422 players became minor league free agents Monday. Hilburn-Trenkle provides the full list, but right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, outfielders Jorge Bonifacio and Domingo Santana, and catcher Tyler Heineman are among the notables.

Foltynewicz spent the previous six seasons with the Braves, and he looked like a front-line starter at times. During his best season, 2018, Foltynewicz threw 183 innings of 2.85 ERA/3.37 FIP ball with 9.93 K/9 and 3.34 BB/9. His career began coming off track the next season, though, as the Braves demoted him to Triple-A during the summer. While Foltynewicz did return to the majors and finish on a positive note, he wasn’t able to carry that momentum into 2020. The 29-year-old made just one appearance – on July 27 – gave up six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings and experienced an alarming drop in velocity, going from the 95 mph range to 90.5. The Braves then designated Foltynewicz for assignment, but no one claimed him and he spent the remainder of the year at their alternate training site.

The Indians took a $1.5MM gamble on Santana last winter after a 21-home run season with the Mariners, though he struggled in the second half of the 2019 campaign and hasn’t recovered since. He amassed 84 plate appearances as an Indian and hit a nonthreatening .157/.298/.286 with a pair of home runs. To no one’s surprise, the Indians declined the 28-year-old’s $5MM option for 2021.

Bonifacio was once a top 100 prospect with the Royals, but he has fallen on hard times since a promising start in 2017. An 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs limited him in 2018, during which he offered subpar production over 270 PA, and Bonifacio took only 21 trips to the plate the next season. The Royals then released Bonifacio, who signed a minors deal with the division-rival Tigers. Though he did get back to the majors with the Tigers, the 27-year-old logged the worst production of his career, hitting .221/.277/.326 line and two homers across 94 PA.

Heineman, an ex-Marlin, became a Giant on a minors pact in January. He cracked their season-opening roster, started Game 1 and was a regular into mid-August, but he lost almost all of his playing time to Joey Bart and Chadwick Tromp from there. Heineman ended the campaign with a .190/.292/.214 line and no homers in 50 attempts.

Tigers Outright Three Players To Triple-A

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The Tigers have outrighted outfielder Jorge Bonifacio and right-handers Dario Agrazal and Dereck Rodriguez to Triple-A after the trio cleared waivers, the team announced (Twitter link).  Left-hander Nick Ramirez also cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent.

Bonifacio saw the most MLB action in 2020, making 94 plate appearances over 30 games with Detroit and hitting .221/.277/.326.  Signed to a minor league deal last winter, Bonifacio has played 217 games with the Tigers and Royals since the start of the 2017 season.  Once a noted prospect who received some top-100 attention prior to the 2014 season, Bonifacio has been trying to get on track since an 80-game PED suspension in 2018.

Ramirez has spent the last two years in the Detroit organization, making his big league debut in 2019 and immediately delivering some solid numbers (4.07 ERA, 2.11 K/BB rate, 8.4 K/9) in his first 79 2/3 innings as a big leaguer.  The southpaw didn’t see much action in 2020, however, tossing only 10 2/3 frames and posting a 5.91 ERA.  The 31-year-old Ramirez will now head into free agency offering both some durability as a multi-inning reliever and some quality career splits (.227/.306/.355) against left-handed batters.

Rodriguez appeared in two games with the Giants this season before being claimed off waivers by the Tigers at the end of August.  The righty emerged as a rotation candidate in San Francisco during his 2018 rookie season but he has a 5.94 ERA over his last 103 Major League innings, in large part due to a whopping 23 homers allowed in that small sample size.

This is the third consecutive offseason that Agrazal has found himself outrighted off a 40-man roster, having been cut by the Tigers last winter and the Pirates in the 2018-19 offseason.  The 25-year-old made Detroit’s Opening Day roster but didn’t pitch at all this season due to a forearm strain.  Agrazal has a 3.62 ERA, 4.48 K/BB rate, and 5.8 K/9 over 608 2/3 minor league innings (all in Pittsburgh’s farm system), starting 111 of his 114 career games.  His big league resume consists of 73 1/3 innings of 4.91 ERA ball with the Pirates in 2019, before the Tigers acquired him last November.

Tigers Select Casey Mize, Jorge Bonifacio

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The Tigers announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, formally selecting the contract of right-hander Casey Mize (as had been previously announced) and also selecting the contract of outfielder Jorge Bonifacio. They’ll both join the big league roster. Righty Dario Agrazal and first baseman C.J. Cron have also been transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 45-day injured list to open space on the 40-man roster. Meanwhile, utilityman Harold Castro is headed to the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring.

Mize, the 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick, will make his MLB debut against another debuting first-rounder: White Sox righty Dane Dunning. Mize is regarded as one of the game’s premier pitching prospects and a potential foundational piece of a rebuilding Tigers squad — one whom the club hopes can pitch atop its rotation through the 2026 season at least. He dominated opponents at Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2019, working to a combined 2.55 ERA with a terrific 106-to-23 K/BB ratio in 109 1/3 frames.

Bonifacio is no stranger to the AL Central, having spent several years with the Royals as a right fielder and designated hitter. He’s a career .247/.319/.408 hitter in 713 Major League plate appearances and is looking for a rebound opportunity after a PED suspension more or less ended his tenure in Kansas City. Bonifacio did tally 21 plate appearances after being reinstated from that suspension, but he’d since been surpassed on the depth chart and was ultimately cut loose last November.

The injury to the 26-year-old Castro deprives the Tigers of some versatility off the bench. He’d appeared at shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield positions in 2020 already — all while posting a respectable .276/.364/.379 slash through 33 plate appearances.

Central Notes: Hicks, White Sox, Tigers, Bonifacio

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We’ll cover some news and notes from the game’s central divisions.

  • Cardinals’ reliever Jordan Hicks is recovering as expected from his Tommy John surgery last June, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). He remains on target for a midseason return, Goold adds. Should Hicks return at full strength, he and his 102 MPH fastball figure to have a good shot at reclaiming the ninth inning for manager Mike Shildt. Carlos Martínez, who took the closer’s role in Hicks’ stead last year, is preparing for a return to the rotation this spring.
  • The White Sox have been among the offseason’s most active teams in free agency. While the additions of Yasmani Grandal, Dallas Keuchel, Edwin Encarnación and Gio González (among others) figure to help Chicago next season, they’re all under team control through at least 2021, GM Rick Hahn points out to James Fegan of the Athletic. That jibes with the franchise’s long-term plan, the exec notes. The Sox have myriad prospects and young players at or near the MLB level, particularly on the pitching staff and in the outfield. Plugging some immediate holes with veterans buys Hahn and the rest of the front office additional time to sort through those largely unproven options.
  • Jorge Bonifacio stands a good shot at earning a spot in the Tigers’ corner outfield mix, observes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. Bonifacio, who’ll be in camp on a minor-league deal, has struggled in recent seasons with the division-rival Royals. That said, he’s still just 26 years old and showed some promise in an extended run in 2017 with Kansas City. McCosky breaks down further position battles in the piece, which could be of interest to Tigers’ fans.

Tigers Sign Jorge Bonifacio To Minor-League Deal

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The Tigers have signed corner outfielder Jorge Bonifacio to a minor-league contract, reports Jason Beck of MLB.com (via Twitter). The deal includes an invite to spring training, Beck adds.

Bonifacio was released last month by the Royals, with whom he spent the first ten years of his pro career. He appeared at the MLB level each of the past three seasons with Detroit’s division rivals.

While Bonifacio once looked like a potential long-term piece in KC, things have gone south the past two years. He was suspended for the first 80 games of 2018 for performance-enhancing drugs, and he struggled at the plate in that season’s second half. He spent almost all of 2019 at Triple-A Omaha, where he was dreadful offensively. Bonifacio’s .222/.284/.417 slash translated to just a 62 wRC+ in the hitters’ haven that was the Pacific Coast League. Despite the Royals’ struggles at the big league level, Bonifacio only made it back to the highest level for five games.

That said, it’s a reasonable roll of the dice for the Tigers, where Travis Demeritte failed to stake a claim to the right field job after Nicholas Castellanos was traded mid-season. Bonifacio is still just 26 years old and only two years removed from putting up a serviceable .255/.320/.432 (98 wRC+) line. Bonifacio’s out of options, so if he does make the team, he’ll need to remain on the active roster or else be re-exposed to waivers. Given Detroit’s lack of uncertainty in the outfield, it seems he’s found a reasonable opportunity to reestablish himself.

Royals Release Jorge Bonifacio

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Nov. 27: Bonifacio has cleared waivers and is now a free agent. Additionally, the team announced that catcher Nick Dini and right-handers Conner Greene and Arnaldo Hernandez, who were designated for assignment at the same time as Bonifacio, have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Omaha.

Nov. 25: The Royals announced that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Jorge Bonifacio. He was designated for assignment last week.

Bonifacio, 26, was the team’s primary right fielder in 2017 and gave fans some cause for optimism, hitting .255/.320/.432 with 17 homers, 15 doubles and a triple in that rookie campaign. He’s since been tagged with an 80-game PED suspension, however, and has generally struggled to produce at the plate. Over his past 291 plate appearances in the Majors, Bonifacio hit .234/.317/.371.

Were he a proficient defender in the outfield, perhaps the Royals would’ve been more inclined to keep Bonifacio in the fold. However, he’s limited to the corners and has posted -6 Defensive Runs Saved and -7 Outs Above Average in his big league career to this point. He’s also out of minor league options, meaning he’d need to break camp with the team in Spring Training or else be designated for assignment then. The Royals opted not to wait to make that move, thus giving themselves more 40-man roster flexibility this winter.

If Bonifacio goes unclaimed, he’ll become a free agent in 48 hours.

Royals Designate Jorge Bonifacio, Three Others For Assignment

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The Royals announced that they’ve designated outfielder Jorge Bonifacio, catcher Nick Dini and right-handers Conner Greene and Arnaldo Hernandez for assignment in advance of tonight’s deadline to set 40-man rosters prior to December’s Rule 5 Draft. Those four roster spots will go to left-hander Foster Griffin, right-hander Carlos Hernandez, shortstop Jeison Guzman and outfielder Nick Heath, each of whom has had his contract formally selected, per the team. Kansas City’s 40-man roster is full.

Bonifacio, 26, was the team’s primary right fielder in 2017 and gave fans some cause for optimism, hitting .255/.320/.432 with 17 homers, 15 doubles and a triple in that rookie campaign. He’s since been tagged with an 80-game PED suspension, however, and has generally struggled to produce at the plate. Over his past 291 plate appearances in the Majors, Bonifacio hit .234/.317/.371. For a defensively limited corner outfielder who is out of minor league options, that lack of output was no longer sufficient enough to keep his place on the roster.

Greene, also 26, was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals late last November — nearly a year ago to the day. The once-well-regarded prospect struggled to a 5.13 ERA in 112 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, though, averaging 4.3 walks per nine innings pitched along the way. His control issues expanded beyond walks, as he plunked nine batters and threw a whopping 21 wild pitches.

Dini made his MLB debut at the age of 26 this past season but hit just .196/.270/.357 in 64 plate appearances with Kansas City. He’s a lifetime .288/.347/.437 in five minor league seasons who hit .296/.370/.565 in last year’s supercharged Triple-A environment.

Arnaldo Hernandez, 23, tossed 23 sharp innings in Double-A but was hammered for a 6.39 ERA with a dismal 65-41 K/BB ratio and 24 homers allowed in just 105 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Griffin, 24, was a first-round pick in 2014 and has gone unselected in prior Rule 5 Drafts. He didn’t post particularly appealing Triple-A numbers in ’19 (5.23 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9) but notch a 49.2 percent grounder rate. He’s also impressed in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, tossing 23 1/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball with a hearty 31-to-6 K/BB ratio.

Hernandez, 22, posted a 3.50 ERA with a 43-to-9 K/BB ratio in 35 innings with the Royals’ Class-A affiliate. Guzman didn’t hit much in A-ball and isn’t considered among the organization’s top prospects, but the Royals are bullish enough to protect him from being selected. Heath didn’t have much power, but he’s a prototypical Royals player, as evidenced by his 60 steals between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019.

Royals Option Ryan O’Hearn, Recall Jorge Bonifacio

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The Royals announced today that they have optioned first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by outfielder Jorge Bonifacio.

It’s a somewhat disappointing moment for an organization that needs all the bright spots it can get. O’Hearn came out of nowhere in 2018, slashing a whopping .262/.353/.597 and popping a dozen long balls over 213 plate appearances. That didn’t really line up with his upper-minors numbers, leaving cause for skepticism, but the K.C. club was undoubtedly hopeful it had stumbled onto a gem.

Things just haven’t gone as hoped thus far in 2019. O’Hearn has maintained an 11+% walk rate and even slightly lowered his strikeout rate to 24.4%, but his power has fallen off a cliff. Through 213 plate appearances, he has hit half as many dingers as he did last year and has seen sharp declines in barrel percent and exit velocity. The result is less than half the isolated power mark he posted in 2018 (.336 versus .145).

The Royals provided O’Hearn with ample leash but ultimately had to make a move. While he tries to figure things out at Triple-A, veteran slugger Lucas Duda will try to find his own groove in the majors. If Duda can take advantage of steadier playing time, he could yet be a trade piece for the Royals.

As for Bonifacio, this isn’t exactly a case of a former top prospect forcing his way back into the picture. The once-hyped 26-year-old disappointed in the majors last year and hasn’t responded thus far in 2019. After a brutal winter league showing, he has started the current campaign with 240 plate appearances of .195/.250/.395 hitting at Omaha. It seems the plan is to use him as a gap-filler while Hunter Dozier works back from the injured list.

AL Central Notes: Adrianza, Twins, Salazar, Royals, Beckham

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With eight games until the end of Spring Training, infielder Ehire Adrianza isn’t assured of a spot on the Twins’ Opening Day roster, writes LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Adrianza is out of minor league options, so if he doesn’t break camp with the club he’d be exposed to outright waivers. Minnesota’s addition of Marwin Gonzalez and the emergence of Willians Astudillo have left Adrianza without a clear role. Gonzalez will open the season as the primary third baseman while Miguel Sano rehabs a foot injury, but the Twins could go with a bench consisting of catcher Mitch Garver, outfielder Jake Cave, first baseman Tyler Austin (also out of minor league options) and Astudillo. Cave has options remaining, and Gonzalez can play the outfield, but they’d be rather thin on outfielders if Cave opened the year in Triple-A. Adrianza has enjoyed a nice spring, but he’s in a tough spot at the moment. He’s set to earn $1.3MM after avoiding arbitration, but they’d only owe him about $315K of that sum if they cut him loose between now and Opening Day. If he hits waivers, another club would have to take on that $1.3MM salary in order to claim him.

More from the division…

  • Danny Salazar’s progress in his recovery from 2018 shoulder surgery has “skyrocketed” in the past 10 to 14 days, Indians manager Terry Francona said Monday (link via Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer). Salazar had slogged through a pair of “down weeks” but has quickly bounced back to the point where he’s playing long toss from a distance of 180 feet. There’s still no clear timetable as to when Salazar will reemerge as a bullpen option in Cleveland — Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber have rotation spots locked down — but if healthy, he’d add a big arm to a relief corps that is lacking in established arms behind closer Brad Hand.
  • The Royals are still trying to determine which of the several right field options they have in camp will make the roster, writes Rustin Dodd of The Athletic (subscription required). Manager Ned Yost has said that Jorge Soler will be in the lineup nearly everyday, splitting time between DH and right field, but the Royals still have Brian Goodwin, Brett Phillips and Jorge Bonifacio as candidates for significant innings in right. None of that trio has had a good spring, however, and Goodwin is out of minor league options. Terrance Gore, on the active roster after signing a big league deal this winter, is viewed as more of a bench option than a candidate to log many starts in the outfield. There will likely be occasional at-bats at the other outfield slots, but Alex Gordon and Billy Hamilton will get the bulk of the playing time in left field and center field, respectively. Dodd ultimately runs through the entire lineup and pitching staff in making his projections as to which 25 players will break camp and comprise the Opening Day roster.
  • Gordon Beckham spoke with Chris McCosky of the Detroit News about his transformation from lauded top prospect to a journeyman bouncing from minor league deal to minor league deal. In camp with the Tigers on a minor league pact, Beckham was candid in discussing his ups and downs and many of the difficult moments he’s faced in his career. Struggling for the first time in his career at the big league level with the White Sox, Beckham said the pressure to meet expectations “mentally crushed” him. He had even weighed whether he’d continue his playing career if he failed to land a big league job this spring, reflecting that it’s “crazy to think I have to make this decision.” However, as McCosky outlines, he actually may not have to make that decision. Manager Ron Gardenhire has been impressed by Beckham this spring, spoken fondly of the veteran infielder, and expressed a desire for additional veteran middle-infield depth. All of that seemingly bodes well for Beckham, who entered play Monday hitting .314/.429/.429 in 42 plate appearances this spring.

Royals To Reinstate Jorge Bonifacio

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The Royals will reinstate outfielder Jorge Bonifacio from the restricted list tomorrow, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. He’d been serving an 80-game PED suspension and will need to be added back to the 40-man and 25-man roster once activated. The corresponding move, according to Flanagan, will likely involve Ryan Goins. Indeed, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic tweets that Goins was “making the rounds” and shaking his teammates’ hands in the clubhouse after today’s game.

Bonifacio, 25, will likely be given an opportunity to receive regular work in the outfield. The former top prospect had a solid debut in 2017, hitting .255/.320/.432 with 17 homers, 15 doubles and a triple in 422 plate appearances. He logged 743 innings in right field for Kansas City last season, plus another 57 in left and eight in center. Defensive Runs Saved (-3) and Outs Above Average (-4) both pegged him as a slightly below-average defender, while Ultimate Zone Rating (+1.1) viewed him a bit more favorably.

Bonifacio has been able to begin gearing up for his return in the minors over the past two weeks, logging a dozen games with Triple-A Omaha and hitting quite well. Through 54 plate appearances, he’s batting .404/.481/.553 with five doubles and a triple.

The suspension for Bonifacio will prove costly if he is ultimately able to cement himself as a big league regular. He didn’t accrue Major League service time for the 80 games he missed, and by the time he’ll be activated from the disabled list, there won’t be enough days remaining in the season for him to reach a second full year of MLB service. As such, the suspension will push his eligibility for both arbitration and free agency back by a full year. Bonifacio would have been arb-eligible following the 2019 season and qualified as a free agent following the 2022 season. Instead, he’ll now have to wait until after the 2020 season for arbitration and won’t be a free agent until the completion of the 2023 season.

Goins, meanwhile, is out of minor league options, so the Royals can’t send him to the minors unless he first clears waivers. That makes it seem likely that he’ll be designated for assignment tomorrow, though the club could also opt to trade or release him as a means of opening a roster spot for Bonifacio. The 30-year-old Goins has given Kansas City has given the Royals quality defense through 224 innings at second base and has seen brief action at third base and shortstop as well. But, Goins has also struggled to the tune of a .226/.252/.313 batting line in 120 trips to the plate.

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