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Jurickson Profar

Athletics To Reduce Jurickson Profar’s Role

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Second baseman Jurickson Profar rode the bench in favor of the just-promoted Corban Joseph for the Athletics’ victory over the Giants on Wednesday. It’s the beginning of a trend for Profar, who’s in for a “greatly reduced role,” Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Most of the switch-hitting Profar’s action will come against left-handed pitchers, Slusser explains, with the lefty-swinging Joseph and righty Chad Pinder set to eat into his playing time.

A late-season reduction in at-bats for Profar isn’t what the Athletics had in mind when they acquired him last winter, especially now that they’re locked in a playoff race. The addition of Profar from Texas in a three-way trade that also included Tampa Bay cost Oakland standout reliever Emilio Pagan and infield/outfield prospect Eli White. It didn’t look like an unreasonable price to pay for Profar, a once-prized prospect who finally lived up to some of his past promise in 2018. After largely disappointing from 2012-17, Profar batted .254/.335/.458 (108 wRC+) with 20 home runs, 10 steals and 2.9 fWAR as a 25-year-old last season.

The A’s likely expected more of the same from Profar this season, if not an even better performance. Instead, though, Profar has batted a miserable .205/.268/.382 (70 wRC+) through 395 PA. While Profar has swatted 15 homers and totaled seven more steals, his weak batting line and subpar reviews at second (minus-10 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-0.8 Ultimate Zone Rating), have limited him to a replacement-level impact in 2019. It may go down as the lone year with the Athletics for Profar. While he still has another season of arbitration control, in which Profar will hope to earn a raise over his current salary of $3.6MM, Slusser casts doubt on the possibility of him returning to the team in 2020.

Regardless of what his future holds, Profar – to his credit – is taking his demotion in stride, as he told Slusser:  “I don’t feel like I’ve been contributing like I’m capable of, so I’m OK with it. I’ll just keep working and try to find it.”

Profar’s troubles have come against righties, who have held him to a .177/.245/.372 line (compared to a solid .304/.353/.418 versus lefties). A deeper dive into Profar’s numbers does indicate some bad fortune has factored into his woes. Profar has typically run low batting averages on balls in play in his career, evidenced by his lifetime .257 BABIP, but this year’s .205 mark is way down even by his standards. Meanwhile, according to Statcast, his .302 expected weighted on-base average easily outpaces his .278 real wOBA. Profar also remains difficult to strike out, having done so at a 15.2 percent clip this year.

Granted, those aren’t overwhelming positives, so the Athletics want to explore alternatives at the keystone. Manager Bob Melvin told Slusser the A’s aren’t “getting as much production as we want at that position, so maybe you look elsewhere.” That’ll lead them to Joseph, a 30-year-old with a mere 31 major league plate appearances under his belt.

Rangers Notes: Mazara, Pitching, Burke

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The Rangers swung a trade with the Twins earlier today, and here’s some more out of Arlington…

  • 2018 was the best of Nomar Mazara’s three big league seasons, though that is something of faint praise, as the outfielder hit only .258/.317/.436 (96 wRC+) with 20 homers over 536 plate appearances.  Between that below-average production, subpar baserunning, and middling defense, Mazara generated 1.0 fWAR last season, giving him just 1.4 fWAR for his career.  Mazara also battled a thumb injury, and there were suggestions of tension between the outfielder and former Rangers manager Jeff Banister.  While it’s worth noting that Mazara still doesn’t even turn 24 years old until April, “there are no more excuses,” he told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.  “I know can play a lot better than what I am. And I know that expectations are going to be high. I know what I can do.”
  • The Rangers face an interesting long-relief challenge as they weigh how to handle Shelby Miller, Edinson Volquez, and Drew Smyly in their projected rotation, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes.  All three hurlers are in various stages of recovery from Tommy John surgeries — Miller has tossed just 38 MLB innings over the last two seasons, while Volquez didn’t pitch at all in 2018, while Smyly hasn’t thrown a Major League pitch since 2016.  Zach McAllister and Jesse Chavez are two relievers with multi-inning experience, though Jason Hammel could also fit into a long man role if he doesn’t end up in the rotation himself.  “I’m just here trying to make the team.  I’m not expecting anything. I’m not opposed to any job,” Hammel said.  After struggling in the Royals’ rotation for the last two seasons, Hammel was relegated to the bullpen last year, his first extended dose of relief work since 2008.  Hammel is in the Rangers’ camp on a minor league deal.
  • December’s three-team trade with the Rays and A’s saw the Rangers part ways with former top prospect Jurickson Profar and minor league right-hander Rollie Lacy, though Texas came away from the deal with $750K in international bonus money and a package of four prospects.  One of those youngsters was 22-year-old left-hander Brock Burke, who Rangers GM Jon Daniels discussed with Fangraphs’ David Laurila.  “This winter, after a number of talks, we defined what we were looking for [in a Profar trade],” Daniels said.  “Our priority was to get a young starter who was at the upper levels, and [Burke’s] had a lot of things we liked. His trajectory is really interesting — from Colorado, not a ton of development at a young age. Sometimes guys from those cold-weather states need a little time to lay a foundation.”  A third-round pick for the Rays in the 2014 draft, Burke has a 3.41 ERA, 2.83 K/BB rate, and 8.7 K/9 over 387 2/3 pro innings, including a 1.99 ERA over 55 1/3 frames at Double-A in 2018.  MLB.com ranks Burke as the ninth-best prospect in the Rangers’ farm system, citing his improved slider, changeup, and a fastball that averages “90-94 mph with a peak of 96 and some running life.”  This latter pitch was specifically mentioned by Daniels, who described Burke’s fastball as “unique…both from a scouting perspective and from the data.”

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed at 1pm ET yesterday, meaning over the next few hours, there will be a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track today’s minor settlements from the American League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Yankees 1B Greg Bird will make $1.2 MM next season, per Bob Nightengale on Twitter.
  • The controversial Roberto Osuna will make $6.5MM next season, per Feinsand. Teammate Jake Marisnick, who again scuffled in ’18 after a promising 2017, will make $2.2125MM.
  • Per Mark Feinsand on Twitter, A’s lefty Sean Manaea $3.15MM in what’s sure to be an injury-marred 2019.
  • Hard-throwing reliever Mychal Givens will make $2.15MM, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), with additional incentives for making the All-Star team or placing in the Top-3 for the Rivera/Hoffman Reliever of the Year Awards, added MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
  • The Mariners agreed on a $1.95MM deal with outfielder Domingo Santana, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). Santana is the second and last of the Mariners’ arbitration-eligible players.
  • The Angels agreed to contracts with a pair of players yesterday, per Maria Torres of the LA Times (via Twitter). Reliever Hansel Robles signed for $1.4MM. Robles threw 36 1/3 innings of 2.97 ERA baseball after the Angels claimed him off waivers from the Mets in June. Luis Garcia, acquired via trade from the Phillies this winter, signed for $1.675MM.
  • The Tigers and reliever Shane Greene settled on $4MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • The Yankees reached an agreement with Sonny Gray for $7.5MM, per Nightengale. Gray, of course, has been involved trade rumors most of the winter, but for the time being, he stands to play a role in the Yankee pen while providing insurance for the rotation.
  • Didi Gregorius has also come to an agreement with the Yankees on a one-year, $11.75MM deal in his final season before free agency, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links).
  • New Yankee James Paxton signed for $8.575, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Paxton is under contract for the 2020 season as well.
  • The Houston Astros came to an agreement with Collin McHugh for $5.8MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). McHugh could be moving back into the rotation after a stellar season in the pen, either way this will be his final season of arb eligibility before hitting the open market.
  • Jonathan Villar comes away with $4.825MM for what will be his first full season in Baltimore, per Nightengale (via Twitter).

Earlier Updates

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Passan’s Latest: Harper, Profar, Gray, Ray, Grandal, Pollock, Ender

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It’s too soon to count out a reunion between Bryce Harper and the Nationals, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan writes in his latest column, as “Harper has met multiple times with representatives” from the team.  In a rather surprisingly open interview last month, Nats managing principal owner Mark Lerner said his organization wasn’t willing to go beyond the ten-year, $300MM extension it offered Harper after the season, though rumors have continued to swirl that Washington is still at least monitoring Harper’s market.  It could still be some time before we have an answer about Harper’s 2019 destination, as the outfielder (like many Scott Boras clients) is in no rush to sign a contract that doesn’t meet his satisfaction.  The Phillies and White Sox, Passan reports, are willing to guarantee Harper at least a ten-year deal, indicating that the two teams have at least made some progress in their pursuit of the free agent outfielder, though obviously the gigantic dollar figure Harper is demanding is still a very notable obstacle.

Some more hot stove items from Passan….

  • Before the Rangers dealt Jurickson Profar to the Athletics as part of a three-team trade with the Rays, Texas also explored another three-team scenario involving the Yankees and Braves.  “There was traction, at one point,” Passan writes about a deal that would have seen the Yankees get Profar, the Braves get Sonny Gray, and Texas would have received a prospect (presumably from Atlanta’s farm system).
  • The Diamondbacks would only consider trading Robbie Ray for a very big return, with Passan noting that Arizona would want more for Ray than the Mariners received from the Yankees for James Paxton back in November.  While both Ray and Paxton are front-of-the-rotation southpaws with two remaining years of team control, Ray is almost three full years younger than Paxton, which would explain Arizona’s higher asking price.  That deal saw Seattle land an MLB-ready pitching prospect (Justus Sheffield), another young arm on the brink of the majors (Erik Swanson) and a promising lower-level position player (outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams).  It’s a steep price tag, though at least two teams with a lot of minor league depth have been linked to Ray in trade rumors.
  • News broke last week that Yasmani Grandal turned down a four-year, $60MM offer from the Mets, though Passan says that such an offer was “never officially presented,” and that the terms were “characterized by sources on both sides as more of a discussion.”  Grandal’s market seems a little uncertain right now, due to the number of catcher-needy teams who have already found other backstops, and the looming presence of J.T. Realmuto on the trade market.  With draft pick compensation via the qualifying offer hanging over Grandal’s services, there is some threat of Grandal becoming (in the words of one executive) “this year’s version of Mike Moustakas,” i.e. a QO free agent whose market thins to the point that he is forced to accept a one-year contract.  Grandal accepting a one-year deal “remains unlikely but not out of question,” as per Passan, though the catcher and his camp are reportedly “staying patient” that a satisfactory multi-year deal will eventually surface.
  • A.J. Pollock is one of many big-name free agents whose markets may not get moving until Harper and/or Manny Machado sign new contracts.  As Passan notes, Pollock is a good fit for both the Phillies and White Sox, though those teams are more likely to focus on Harper and Machado before turning to backup plans.  Three executive tell Passan that Pollock’s situation bears similarity to Lorenzo Cain last winter, who had to wait until late January to find a new contract, though his market quickly heated up to the point that he was able to land a hefty five-year, $80MM deal from the Brewers.
  • We heard during the Winter Meetings about the Reds’ interest in Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte, though Passan writes that “talks stagnated” between the two sides, and Cincinnati then pivoted to acquire outfield help in the form of Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp.  Neither of those two are viable center field options, of course, so the Reds remain on the hunt for a replacement for Billy Hamilton.

Trade/FA Rumblings: M’s, Encarnacion, Haniger, Rays, ChiSox, Astros, Rangers, Yanks

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The Mariners have grown “increasingly confident” they’ll be able to trade designated hitter/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion before their spring training opens, Jon Morosi of MLB.com says (video link). Encarnacion’s market has picked up in the wake of the Twins’ agreement with Nelson Cruz, whose suitors are now turning to the former. The Rays, White Sox and Astros are each “involved” on both Encarnacion and Cardinals first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez, according to Morosi.

Encarnacion was already part of one trading involving the Rays this offseason – a three-team deal in which Cleveland sent him to to Seattle. The soon-to-be 36-year-old has been superfluous to the rebuilding Mariners’ roster since they acquired him, though, and the team likely wants to rid itself of as much of his contract as possible. Encarnacion’s owed a guaranteed $25MM through 2020, including a $5MM buyout in lieu of a $20MM club option that year. While Encarnacion was an offensive juggernaut from 2012-17, he’s coming off a somewhat pedestrian season by his standards, as he batted .246/.336/.474 (115 wRC+) in 579 plate appearances and didn’t see much time in the field. Martinez, 30, is hardly a defensive stalwart either, though he did offer quality production at the plate from 2017-18 and will collect a minimal salary in 2019.

  • Encarnacion could become the latest household name to leave Seattle, but it appears outfielder Mitch Haniger will stay put. “We’re not really listening to offers,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto told MLB Network of Haniger (via TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune). “They would have to blow us away, and they haven’t even come close.” The 28-year-old “represents everything we want to build around and be about as a team,” Dipoto continued, leading Cotterill to posit that Haniger, fellow outfielder Mallex Smith and left-hander Marco Gonzales figure to form the Mariners’ next veteran core. Haniger is unquestionably the most valuable player of the trio, given his superb production from 2017-18 and four remaining years of control (including one more pre-arb campaign).
  • Before the Rangers traded him to the Athletics on Dec. 21, the Yankees were among the teams with interest in infielder Jurickson Profar, per Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. However, New York wasn’t “willing to give up much” for Profar, Fraley writes. Texas received four minor leaguers and $750K in international bonus room for Profar, who’d have helped the Yankees cover for injured shortstop Didi Gregorius’ absence in 2019. Had the Yankees gotten Profar, whom they also showed interest in last offseason, he likely would have handled second base, thus sending Gleyber Torres to short. Although, with third baseman Miguel Andujar potentially on the block and free-agent shortstop/third baseman Manny Machado on the Yankees’ radar, it’s anyone’s guess how their infield would have aligned with Profar in it.
  • With Machado’s future up in the air for at least a few more days, the Yankees are currently focused on their bullpen, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. Free agents David Robertson, Zach Britton and Adam Ottavino remain “in play” for the Yanks, who could sign more than one of those hurlers, Heyman notes. New York’s known to be in the market for two relievers, as it could lose both Robertson and Britton to other clubs.

AL Notes: Rays, A’s, Angels

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The Rays’ primary motivation in inserting themselves into the Athletics’ recent acquisition of Jurickson Profar was likely opening a spot on their 40-man roster, writes ESPN’s Keith Law (subscription link). In return for sending Brock Burke and Kyle Bird to Texas, the Rays received homer-prone reliever Emilio Pagan from Oakland and the Rangers’ draft pick in Competitive Balance Round A. Additional picks are always welcome, but the most important aspect of this draft pick is the slot value it adds to the Rays’ bonus pool. The pick comes with a slot value of between $1.6MM and $2MM, a valuable sum that extends beyond the pick itself. By boosting their bonus pool, the Rays have more flexibility should they want to go over slot, which is one way to snag a potential star. Given the Rays deep pool of young talent at the MLB level right now, they can afford to turn some of that excess prospect depth into further prospect wealth down the road.

A few other notes from around the American League…

  • For the Athletics’ part in the above deal, Law notes they took advantage of their own area of depth, the bullpen, to get their new starting second baseman. The signing of Joakim Soria more than makes up for the loss of Pagan, and in Profar they now have an inexpensive, versatile player who may still have some upside. Functionally, he’s not all that different from the guy he’ll be replacing, Jed Lowrie, who was brought in as a similarly high-upside, low-cost, versatile option when they went out and got him from another division rival via trade (Houston).
  • The Angels have had a tough time building a winner around Mike Trout, but they’ve suffered their share of bad luck too, particularly in the rotation, per Jonah Keri of cbssports.com. The history of injuries to promising rotation arms is disheartening: Garrett Richards with knee issues in 2014 leading up to Tommy John surgery, Matt Shoemaker getting hit in the head with a line drive near the end of a promising 2016 season, Tyler Skaggs with Tommy John in 2016, Andrew Heaney’s various ailments that kept him sidelined for most of 2016 and 2017, and of course, Shohei Ohtani’s latest injury – and that’s before even touching on the bullpen. Keri documents the poor performances of acquired position players as further misfortune suffered under Arte Moreno’s leadership: Albert Pujols, Vernon Wells, Zack Cozart and Josh Hamilton all disappointed relative to their pre-Angels production. It does begin to feel like the Angels are cursed, and yet poor major league scouting could also be the culprit in many of these cases. The recent deals for Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill, then, nicely sidestepped the issues above by building pitching depth on short-term deals, and Keri suggests a furthering of that strategy by pursuing buy low candidates like Sonny Gray, Julio Teheran or even Yasmani Grandal, should his asking price come down.

Rangers Notes: Davidson, Profar, Minor

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A few rumblings out of Arlington, courtesy of Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News:

  • Over the past month, the Rangers have lost starting third baseman Adrian Beltre to retirement and traded the legend’s potential successor, Jurickson Profar, to the Athletics. While the Rangers have acquired third base possibilities in Patrick Wisdom and Nolan Fontana during the same span, neither is an established major leaguer. Further, neither power-hitting corner infielder/outfielder Joey Gallo nor catcher Isiah Kiner-Falefa will line up at third, general manager Jon Daniels suggested Friday. As such, the rebuilding club plans to add infield help prior to next season, reports Grant, who lists free agents Matt Davidson and Yangervis Solarte as potential options. Texas has shown interest in Davidson since the White Sox non-tendered him last month, according to Grant, but it seems the connection to Solarte is more speculative in nature. Texas is already familiar with Solarte – whom the Blue Jays non-tendered this offseason – as the team signed him to a minor league contract in 2011. Solarte went on to play the 2012 and ’13 seasons with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, though he never cracked their major league lineup.
  • The Rangers did approach Profar’s camp regarding a contract extension at some point, per Grant, who adds that talks “went nowhere.” The Rangers’ choice to not recall Profar from the minors when rosters expanded in September 2017 may have hurt their chances to keep him for the long haul, Grant observes. The decision gained the Rangers another year of control over Profar, but it likely didn’t sit well with agent Scott Boras.
  • The Rangers are in farm-building mode, which figures to make left-hander Mike Minor the next veteran to depart via trade, Grant writes. It seems the plan is to deal Minor for prospects and then replace him with a similarly priced free agent – one the Rangers may be able to flip elsewhere during the season in order to acquire more youth. Minor, set to turn 31 on Dec. 26, has drawn reported interest from the Phillies, Brewers and Mets this winter. He gave the Rangers respectable production in 2018, his first season as a starter since 2014, and has a reasonable $19MM left on the final two years of his deal.

Athletics Acquire Jurickson Profar In Three-Team Trade With Rangers, Rays

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11:45am: The Rangers are receiving $750K worth of international allotments in the trade, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

11:22am: The teams have formally announced the trade. The international bonus allotments that the Rangers are receiving are coming over from the Athletics; the amount was not specified, though international allotments must be traded in increments of at least $250K, per the collective bargaining agreement.

10:15am: The Athletics, Rangers and Rays have reportedly come to an agreement on a three-team trade that will send infielder Jurickson Profar from Texas to Oakland. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan first broke the story. Right-handed reliever Emilio Pagan is headed from the A’s to the Rays in the swap, as is Oakland’s Competitive Balance Round A selection in next year’s draft (currently slotted in at No. 38 overall). The Rangers will send minor league right-hander Rollie Lacy to the Rays, as well.

Jurickson Profar | Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

In exchange for Profar and Lacy, the Rangers will receive minor league infielder Eli White from the A’s. Additionally, the Rays will send minor league left-handers Brock Burke and Kyle Bird and minor league right-hander Yoel Espinal to the Rangers. Texas will also receive international bonus allotments in the trade.

Presumably, the trade signals that Jed Lowrie’s time with the Athletics has come to a close. The Oakland infield is currently full with Matt Chapman at third base, Marcus Semien at shortstop and Matt Olson at first base, meaning Profar’s likeliest spot with the A’s will be second base. The addition of Profar also brings into question prospect Franklin Barreto’s immediate future with the organization, as he’d been the presumptive heir apparent at second base in the event that Lowrie signed elsewhere.

Profar, 26 in February, once rated as the game’s top overall prospect but saw is promising future put on hold when a pair of shoulder injuries cost him both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He struggled in his 2016 return and was a seldom used utility piece in 2017, but Profar finally enjoyed a full, productive season with the Rangers in 2018. Last year, the switch-hitter appeared n a career-high 146 games and tallied a career-high 594 plate appearances, hitting .254/.335/.458 with 20 homers, 35 doubles, six triples and 10 stolen bases along the way.

Because Texas optioned Profar to Triple-A for much of the 2017 season, his overall level of Major League service time was suppressed a bit. As such, he has just under five years of service time, meaning the Athletics will be able to control Profar for both the 2019 and 2020 seasons before he reaches free agency. Profar is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn just $3.4MM in 2019, so he’ll be an affordable means of filling the team’s second base need for the next two years — a key factor for the perennially cost-conscious A’s, who still need to address their rotation.

The only other Major League piece involved in the trade is the 27-year-old Pagan, who is joining his third organization in three years. He spent just one year in Oakland after being acquired in the trade that sent first baseman Ryon Healy to the Mariners in the 2017-18 offseason. Though he’s moved around a fair bit, Pagan has generally had useful big league results. In 112 1/3 innings a a Major Leaguer, he’s notched a 3.85 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9.

Though Pagan shows good control and is able to miss plenty of bats, however, he’s not without his red flags. The right-hander is among the game’s most extreme fly-ball pitchers and has yielded an average of 1.6 home runs per nine innings at the Major League level — neither of which figures to become any easier when moving to the American League East and its cavalcade of hitter-friendly parks (though Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field doesn’t necessarily fit that description). For the Rays, the fact that Pagan is well-versed in multi-inning appearances was likely appealing, though. Pagan’s 112 1/3 MLB frames have come across 89 total appearances, and the Rays aggressively lean on multi-inning relievers as part of the burgeoning “opener” strategy that worked quite well for them in 2018.

The 23-year-old Lacy will join the Tampa Bay organization after spending only a brief time with the Rangers. Texas acquired Lacy in the July trade that sent Cole Hamels to the Cubs, though his results with the Rangers dropped off a bit from the numbers he posted in the Cubs’ minor league system. Some of that surely coincides with a move from Class-A to Class-A Advanced, and it’s worth noting that Lacy only totaled 28 1/3 innings in the Rangers’ system before the season ended, so it’s also a small sample of data. On the season as a whole, the right-hander worked to a 2.97 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate of nearly 60 percent through 109 innings between those two levels this season.

Looking to the Rangers’ return, Burke may well be the headliner in the deal. A third-round pick in the 2014 draft, the 22-year-old Burke was the Rays’ minor league pitcher of the year this past season and pitched to a 3.08 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 137 1/3 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A. The Rays protected Burke from the Rule 5 Draft last month by selecting him to the 40-man roster, and he’ll now be added to the Rangers’ 40-man in place of Profar.

Bird, 26 in April, split the year between Double-A and Triple-A, where he pitched to a combined 2.39 ERA with 88 strikeouts against 35 walks in 75 1/3 innings of relief work. Like Burke, he was selected to the Rays’ 40-man roster last month, meaning he’ll join the Rangers’ 40-man and give the organization an immediate left-handed bullpen option for the upcoming season. Even if he doesn’t break camp with the club, it seems likely that Bird will get an opportunity at some point in 2019.

The 26-year-old Espinal spent the bulk of the ’18 season in Double-A Montgomery, where he boasted a huge strikeout rate but demonstrated his share of control issues as well. In 54 2/3 innings at the Double-A level, Espinal notched an impressive 1.98 ERA with 11.7 K/9 but 4.8 BB/9 and a below-average 32.2 percent ground-ball rate. He won’t be as immediate of an option as Burke or Bird, but with some Double-A experience already under his belt, he’s likely not that far off from MLB readiness.

White, meanwhile, is the lone piece headed from Oakland to Texas in the swap. An 11th-round pick by the A’s back in the 2016 draft, White took his already-strong OBP skills to new heights in at the Double-A level in 2018. In 578 plate appearances this past season, the second baseman/shortstop hit .306/.388/.450 with nine home runs, 30 doubles, eight triples and 18 steals.

Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that Profar had been traded to Oakland and eventually followed up with all of the names and pieces involved in the deal (all Twitter links). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant all added some details along the way (all Twitter links).

NL West Notes: Dodgers, Ramos, Rox, Smoak, Desmond, Pads, Profar

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The Dodgers reached out to free agent backstop Wilson Ramos with interest, per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). It seems, though, that the Dodgers are angling for a one-year pact, while Ramos is still seeking a multi-year contract. A single-year deal for Ramos appears unrealistic, given that he’s one of the two best catchers on the market – along with Dodgers free agent Yasmani Grandal – and is coming off an excellent offensive season. MLBTR predicts Ramos, 31, will receive a three-year, $36MM guarantee, which should put him out of the Dodgers’ reported range. Either way, with Austin Barnes as the only catcher who has significant major league experience on its roster, LA seems likely to add a backstop sometime this offseason. The club is reportedly among those still in the hunt for Marlins star J.T. Realmuto.

More on a few other NL West teams…

  • The Rockies have at least given internal consideration to pursuing Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter link). It seems the Rox could also consider some free agent bats, with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding writing that Daniel Murphy, Neil Walker, and Logan Morrison are all on the club’s radar. Colorado received National League-worst production at first base last season, putting it in the market for help there. Smoak, meanwhile, put together his second straight solid offensive campaign. He’s due an affordable $8MM in 2019, and MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk noted in October that he’d make sense for the Rockies. Murphy, Walker and Morrison were less successful than Smoak in 2018, but they’ve experienced varying degrees of success and should come at affordable prices this winter. Further, both Murphy and Walker are versatile enough to line up at multiple positions.
  • More on the Rockies from Harding, who reports that right-hander Jon Gray and utiliyman Ian Desmond drew trade interest at the Winter Meetings. It’s no surprise teams inquired about Gray, a potential front-end starter with three years of control left, but there’s no word no whether the Rockies would consider dealing the 27-year-old. Desmond isn’t nearly as appealing, on the other hand, but “teams were receptive to discussing” him, Harding writes. Not only has the 33-year-old Desmond combined for minus-1.5 fWAR since 2017, but he’s still owed $40MM through 2021 (including a $2MM buyout of his $15MM club option for 2022).
  • The Padres are discussing a contract with shortstop Freddy Galvis, but it appears “unlikely” the two sides will reach an agreement, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports. Now a free agent, Galvis spent last season in San Diego after the team acquired him from Philadelphia last December for young right-hander Enyel De Los Santos, who’s now the Phillies’ ninth-ranked prospect at MLB.com. The 29-year-old Galvis posted below-average offensive numbers (.248/.299/.380, good for an 85 wRC+, in 656 plate appearances) and earned mixed reviews at short (seven DRS, minus-4.4 UZR).
  • Continuing with the Padres, they’ve reached out to the Rangers regarding infielder Jurickson Profar, but the chances of a deal happening are “faint,” Dennis Lin of The Athletic relays (subscription required). Padres general manager A.J. Preller is a fan of Profar from his days as an executive with the Rangers. However, he’s not having much luck prying the 25-year-old Profar and his two remaining seasons of team control from Texas.

NL West Rumors: Lynn, Roark, Giants, Cervelli, Dodgers, Reds, Greinke, Padres

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A busy day of pitching transactions included Tanner Roark being traded from the Nationals to the Reds, and free agent Lance Lynn nearing an apparent agreement with the Rangers.  Those moves take two potential Giants targets off the board, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that San Francisco had interest in its own Roark deal, while The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly noted that the Giants had interest in Lynn before his reported price tag (three years and $30MM from Texas) rose too high for their liking.  The Giants are known to be exploring reinforcements for a rotation that has still has Madison Bumgarner as the ace, but a lot of inexperience and question marks in the rest of the starting five.

Some more from around the NL West…

  • The Dodgers have been in touch with the Pirates about catcher Francisco Cervelli, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports.  Coming off a solid 2018 season, Cervelli has received trade interest from several teams.  The 32-year-old is only under contract through 2019 (at $11.5MM in salary), so that type of short-term fit could appeal to a Dodgers team that has top catching prospects Keibert Ruiz and Will D. Smith getting closer to cracking the MLB roster.  In addition to starters like Cervelli, Gurnick notes that L.A. is also looking at “fallback options” like veteran catcher Nick Hundley.
  • The Dodgers have been heavily linked to the Reds in trade talks, and while Yasiel Puig has prominently featured in these rumors, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (Twitter links) hears that Puig hasn’t been involved in one of the latest proposals.  This version of a deal would see Matt Kemp and Alex Wood go to Cincinnati in exchange for Homer Bailey, which would shave roughly $13MM off of the Dodgers’ luxury tax payroll calculations since Kemp’s contract has a higher average annual value than Bailey’s deal.  Given Bailey’s struggles and injury problems over the last few seasons, one would imagine L.A. might pursue something more substantial back (i.e. a prospect or two) rather than pure salary relief, though it’s worth noting that the Dodgers acquired Kemp last offseason in a deal that certainly appeared at the time to be simply a bad contract swap.  Clearing some luxury tax room would likely also allow the Dodgers to make another big-ticket addition.
  • Zack Greinke might not be dealt until the trade deadline, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets, as the Diamondbacks feel they could get more for the ace right-hander in July than they could now, with so many other starters available on the market.  Those other pitchers also don’t come with Greinke’s hefty $95.5MM contract attached, making it difficult for the D’Backs to find a trade partner at the moment.
  • With the Padres hunting for a utility infielder, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) suggests a few options with ties to the organization.  The Rangers’ Jurickson Profar or the Diamondbacks’ Nick Ahmed would make sense as trade targets, as GM A.J. Preller is very familiar with Profar from their time together with the Rangers, and Ahmed was a “favorite” of manager Andy Green when Green was on Arizona’s coaching staff.  Veteran free agent Daniel Descalso could also be a fit.

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