Injury Notes: Young, Peralta, Canha, Hendriks
Royals right-hander Chris Young is leaving the team to travel back to Kansas City, where he’ll receive an MRI on his right forearm, tweets MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. Via Flanagan (link), Young says that he’s felt some soreness in his forearm since Spring Training ended. However, he adds that the club’s medical staff has informed him that the “serious stuff checks out OK,” though it remains to be seen what the MRI will reveal. Young’s fastball velocity is actually up from previous seasons, but the increased zip hasn’t done him any favors; the 6’10” righty has been roughed up to the tune of a 6.68 ERA in 32 1/3 innings this season and has been astonishingly homer-prone, serving up 13 long balls in that time.
A couple more injury situations around the league that merit keeping an eye on…
- Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta is meeting with hand specialist Dr. Don Sheridan in Phoenix on Thursday this week, he tell Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Peralta was hit by a pitch on the right wrist/forearm area last week and was out of Arizona’s lineup both Sunday and Monday, though he did pinch-hit in Sunday’s contest. He’s out of the lineup again tonight, Piecoro notes, and it seems reasonable to expect that he’ll be sidelined at least until he meets with Sheridan later this week. The 28-year-old indy league reclamation has been a revelation with the D-backs since first working his way onto the big league club in 2014, hitting a combined .295/.347/.485 in 999 plate appearances. This season, he’s batting .260/.321/.439 with three homers.
- Athletics first baseman/outfielder Mark Canha is heading back to the Bay Area tomorrow and will undergo an MRI on his left hip, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Canha says he feels fine when running, but hitting is currently “excruciating,” adding that he can’t get any rotation in his hips and as such cannot swing very hard at the moment. “You don’t want to hope for something bad like a labrum tear to come up but at the same time, I want an answer about what’s wrong so we can pinpoint the problem,” said the 27-year-old. Canha has gotten off to a dreadful start to the season, hitting .122/.140/.341 in 44 plate appearances , though the hip troubles certainly help to explain the downturn in his productivity. He was placed on the disabled list today.
- MLB.com’s Jane Lee writes that right-hander Liam Hendriks, also placed on the DL by the Athletics today, will receive an MRI on his right elbow as well. Hendriks explained that he’s having difficulty getting full extension on his arm and has periodically experienced pain in the elbow since undergoing surgery to remove bone chips a few years ago.
Royals’ Raul Mondesi Jr. Receives 50-Game PED Suspension
3:57pm: Quinn points out (links to Twitter) that Mondesi Jr. is the first player to receive a reduced suspension — a possibility that was added to the latest drug agreement. Had he tested positive for a stronger substance, the reduction wouldn’t have been possible, but Clenbuterol is specifically listed among the substances for which a substance can be reduced if lack of intent can be proven.
Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports that as part of the reduced punishment, Mondesi Jr. will still be eligible for the postseason (Twitter link).
3:45pm: Royals top prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. has received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol, the league announced today. The son of the former big league outfielder of the same name, Mondesi saw his suspension dropped from 80 games to 50 games after the league and the MLBPA showed that the substance was present in a cold medication which Mondesi had taken, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Royals GM Dayton Moore said in a statement today that the team believes that Mondesi did indeed unknowingly take the substance:
“This is an unfortunate incident that we believe to be an innocent mistake, but these are the consequences that players face when they do not adhere to the policies that have been collectively bargained. We have a protocol in place with our medical team should a player ever have questions about what they may be taking, even if an over-the-counter medication. In this particular case, the protocol was not followed and the consequences are such. We remain supportive of Raul Mondesi Jr.”
Mondesi Jr. himself has also commented on the punishment, via press release:
“Today I agreed to accept a 50 game suspension from Major League Baseball. It is by far one of the hardest moments I have had to face in my life, but it is a decision that I accept and one that I take full responsibility for as a professional. I took an over-the-counter medication (Subrox-C) which I bought in the Dominican Republic to treat cold and flu symptoms. I failed to read the labeling on the medication or consult with my trainer or team about taking it and did not know it contained a banned substance. … I apologize to my organization, my teammates, the fans and everyone who has supported me in my career. Never did I intend to take a substance that would give me an unfair advantage on the field. It is solely my mistake and there are no excuses for my carelessness in not being fully informed of what I put in my body.”
Mondesi Jr., 20, rated as the game’s No. 29 prospect entering the season, according to Baseball America. He also rated 33rd on MLB.com’s Top 100, 73rd on the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law and 16th on the Top 101 of Baseball Prospectus. The toolsy shortstop began the season at Double-A — his second stint at the level — and was hitting .250/.304/.462 with five homers and 11 steals through his first 113 plate appearances. Mondesi, of course, famously made his Major League debut for the Royals not only in the playoffs last season, but in the World Series against the Mets (he was 0-for-1 with a strikeout). While he’s likely a ways from an everyday role with the Royals’ big league club, he’ll miss out on 50 days of developmental time as a result of the punishment. His presence on Kansas City’s 40-man roster means that the team will also free up a 40-man spot during Mondesi Jr.’s time on the restricted list.
Recent reports from ESPN’s T.J. Quinn indicated that further PED suspensions would be on the horizon following the 80-game suspensions dished out to Miami’s Dee Gordon, Toronto’s Chris Colabello and Philadelphia’s Daniel Stumpf. Mondesi Jr. isn’t necessarily a household name, but Quinn stated at the time that it’s unlikely any significant names would be involved.
Quick Hits: Colon, Otani, Lincecum, Phillies, Royals
In one of the best, most shocking moments of the season, Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon hit his first career home run Saturday night, a two-run shot off the Padres’ James Shields. It took Colon until the age of 42 to go yard, making him the oldest player in major league history to finally break through with a homer. The ball exited Colon’s bat at 97 mph and traveled 365 feet at pitcher-friendly Petco Park, according to Statcast (data and video courtesy of SI Wire). Colon savored the accomplishment by taking a 30-second trot around the bases. He also impersonated Babe Ruth on the mound by turning in a nice pitching performance, throwing 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball in a 6-3 win.
We won’t top that tonight, but here’s more from the sport:
- Japanese right-hander Shohei Otani might be willing to leave his homeland for the majors if teams see him as both a pitcher and a hitter, tweets Jim Allen of Kyodo News. The 21-year-old Otani is in the midst of his third straight dominant season as a pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, and he’s on an early offensive tear with a .308/.362/.654 line in 58 plate appearances. Otani is a career .251/.306/,450 hitter with 23 home runs (including five this year) in 615 PAs. “He’s going to have to make a choice. Either way he’s going to be an All-Star-caliber player as a hitter or pitcher,” an American League scout told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe in February.
- The Phillies were among the many teams with a scout in attendance at free agent righty Tim Lincecum‘s showcase Friday, reports Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. At 31, Lincecum would become the elder statesman of the Phillies’ young rotation if he were to sign with them, though the club may have simply been doing its due diligence when it scouted the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
- Omar Infante has gotten the vast majority of playing time for the Royals at second base this year, but his days as the everyday option there are winding down, writes Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. “I’m just trying to find ways to keep him productive,” said manager Ned Yost. “Sometimes more recovery time makes him more productive. So playing him four days a week or three days a week or five days a week is better than seven days a week. His arm is shortening up and his range is shortening up.” After a stretch of solid production with multiple teams from 2009-13, Infante joined the Royals on a four-year, $30.25MM contract and immediately began a steep decline. In 1,126 plate appearances with Kansas City, Infante has hit a paltry .238/.269/.328 – including a .247/.284/.326 line in 96 PAs this season. Fellow Royals second baseman Christian Colon hasn’t been any better offensively in the early going, having slashed .250/.300/.286 in 30 PAs.
Central Notes: Naquin, Moustakas, Pirates
The Indians have announced that they’ve optioned rookie outfielder Tyler Naquin to Triple-A Columbus. They’ve also recalled Cody Anderson, who will start today’s game against the Royals. With Naquin heading down, it appears Rajai Davis will take over as the Indians’ everyday center fielder. The move initially appears to be a somewhat surprising one, since Naquin has hit .315/.327/.426 this season. There does appear to be some logic to the move, however. Naquin struck out 19 times against one walk, and he has limited Triple-A experience. The Indians also have more outfield options than they did at the beginning of the season with Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall having returned from the disabled list. It might also be worth noting that if Naquin plays for a few weeks in the minors this season, the Indians can control him for an extra year, potentially allowing him to reach free agency after 2022 rather than 2021. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
- Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a thumb fracture, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star and other reporters have noted. Moustakas hurt himself last week in Anaheim on a tag at third. The Royals have recalled Cheslor Cuthbert to take Moustakas’ spot on their active roster. Moustakas (.258/.314/.536 this season) is one of the very few Royals position players who have hit well this year, so his absence should be a blow to the Kansas City offense.
- Members of the Pirates are relieved that MLB has canceled their planned two-game series against the Marlins in Puerto Rico later this month, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. The trip was intended to be part of the league’s celebration of Roberto Clemente Day, which celebrates the legendary Pirate and Puerto Rican, but players expressed concern about the spread of the Zika virus, which could impact their families. “[W]hen we sat down with the CDC and they gave us a thorough presentation, we felt that the risk to the players and the players’ families was just too significant to proceed,” says Pirates union representative Gerrit Cole.
NL East Notes: Neris, Edgin, Mattingly, Strasburg
Phillies right-hander Hector Neris has rapidly risen through the club’s ranks in the bullpen, pitching in a setup capacity at the moment and with a future as a potential closer, manager Pete Mackanin tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. However, as Salisbury reports, Neris was almost never part of the organization at all. Neris nearly had an agreement with the Royals as an 18-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, but Kansas City backed out of the deal because they doubted the validity of his documentation. It wasn’t until two years later that he was discovered by Phillies scouts, who preempted a scheduled workout with 12 other teams with an offer to sign for what now seems an extreme bargain: a $17K signing bonus. Six years later, Neris is armed with a fastball that can touch the mid-90s and a splitter that Mackanin terms an “invisible” pitch and catcher Carlos Ruiz calls one of the best he’s ever seen. Neris has a 1.04 ERA with a 27-to-4 K/BB ratio through 17 1/3 innings this year on the heels of 40 1/3 innings with a 41-to-10 K/BB ratio in 2015.
More from the NL East…
- The allotted time for Josh Edgin‘s minor league rehab assignment is nearly complete, but as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes, the Mets lefty is likely to be optioned to Triple-A at the completion of that window to continue building back up from 2015 Tommy John surgery. Specifically, DiComo writes that Edgin isn’t yet pitching on back-to-back days, and his velocity, which most recently topped out at 88 mph, is a far cry from the 92-93 mph he could throw prior to undergoing the operation.
- Marlins manager Don Mattingly is making a strong impression in his first year on the job, writes FOX’s Ken Rosenthal in a notes column. The former Dodgers skipper drew nearly identical praise from assistant GM Mike Berger and coach Perry Hill in separate interviews, Rosenthal notes, for the manner in which he commands accountability and his attention to detail. Berger called Mattingly “the right voice at the right time” and added that Mattingly addresses issues that arise “in a way that makes you feel like a million bucks.” The Marlins have had a tumultuous week, with the 80-game suspension of Dee Gordon still looming large over the club, but the club has nonetheless won nine of its past 10 games.
- The Nationals‘ decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg after 159 1/3 innings in 2012, his first season back from Tommy John surgery, has perhaps helped to pave the way for him to sign with another club this winter, writes MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Strasburg’s arm has held up well since that controversial decision, and he’s now poised to hit the open market this coming winter and break former teammate Jordan Zimmermann‘s $110MM record for a post-Tommy-John pitcher. While Morosi doesn’t specifically touch on this, it seems particularly difficult to envision the Nats retaining Strasburg in light of their struggles in signing free agents this past offseason due to their need to include deferred money in each of their contract offers. Morosi speculates that Strasburg could receive more than $150MM over six years, which is perfectly reasonable but strikes me as conservative for Strasburg, who will pitch the majority of next season at the age of 28. As Tim Dierkes noted recently in placing Strasburg atop MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings, agent Scott Boras seems likely to target $200MM+, and it’d be a surprise if Strasburg (assuming health) didn’t land an opt-out clause as well.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Beltran, Royals, Gray, Astros
Here’s the latest from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, via his weekly Full Count video…
- Carlos Beltran wants to keep playing beyond this season and there’s a chance he could return to the Royals in 2017. Kansas City will have a vacancy at DH next season since Kendrys Morales is a free agent, and the Royals made a push to sign Beltran in the 2013-14 offseason before the Yankees boosted their offer to include a third guaranteed year. Beltran, who turns 39 tomorrow, is still swinging a strong bat, and it’s possible he could better preserve himself in a regular DH role — Alex Rodriguez‘s presence in New York has kept Beltran mostly in right field as a Yankee.
- Aside from Ian Kennedy, the Royals also targeted free agent hurlers Zack Greinke, Wei-Yin Chen and Mike Leake as good fits for their rotation last winter. “All throw changeups, all field their positions well and, most importantly, all command their fastballs,” Rosenthal noted, and GM Dayton Moore told him that pitchers who tend to fall behind in the count didn’t mesh with the Royals’ style. K.C. ended up signing Kennedy to a five-year, $70MM contract, which was less than the five years/$80MM Leake and Chen respectively received from the Cardinals and Marlins and obviously well below Greinke’s $206.5MM megadeal with the Diamondbacks. (Leake, unlike the other three, didn’t have qualifying offer draft compensation to his services.) In the early going, Kennedy has been outstanding as a Royal, posting a 1.35 ERA over his first three starts.
- The Athletics‘ good start will make it less likely that Sonny Gray is traded, though Rosenthal notes that even if Gray was shopped and a team was willing to give up “a ton” for the star righty, the A’s would still face a tough decision about pulling the trigger on a deal. Gray will become eligible for arbitration next winter, and though his arb costs may eventually price him out of Oakland’s comfort zone, Gray would still certainly be “affordable” for the A’s in 2017 (and really a bargain if he continues to post ace-type numbers).
- In another video from Rosenthal, he notes that the Astros might eventually need to make a trade to add some velocity to their rotation. Houston’s starters entered today with the lowest average velocity (87.8 mph) of any club in baseball, with the Orioles next to last at 90.1 mph. The rotation woes are just one of many problems plaguing the Astros right now as the team is off to a rough 5-12 start.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/23/16
Here are the latest minor transactions from around baseball:
- The Twins have called up right-hander Tyler Duffey from Triple-A and optioned infielder Jorge Polanco, the team announced. Duffey will start the Twins’ game Sunday against the Nationals in place of Ervin Santana, who has back tightness. Duffey, 25, broke into the majors last season and was excellent for the Twins, throwing 58 innings of 3.10 ERA ball with an 8.22 K/9 and 3.10 BB/9. Duffey’s standout performance has continued this year in Triple-A Rochester, where he has pitched to a 1.72 ERA and 2.98 FIP in three starts. Polanco, who’s regarded as a top-100 prospect, got the call to Minnesota last week but didn’t last long. The 22-year-old logged only eight plate appearances, giving him 28 in the big leagues since 2014.
- The Rays wasted no time sending top pitching prospect Blake Snell back to Triple-A after his stellar debut at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune tweets. With Snell returning to Durham, the Rays have selected the contract of right-hander Jhan Marinez. Snell threw five innings of one-run ball in his first major league start, holding the Yankees to two hits and a walk while striking out six. Snell got a no-decision in the Rays’ 3-2 loss. Marinez, 27, could now make his first trip to a major league mound since he picked up 2 2/3 frames for the White Sox in 2012.
- The Blue Jays have optioned southpaw Chad Girodo to Triple-A to make room for right-hander Drew Hutchison, who will start their game Sunday against the A’s, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Girodo has tossed two scoreless innings for the Jays this year. Hutchison racked up 62 appearances (60 starts) and 335 innings with the Jays from 2014-15, but he struggled to prevent runs (4.97 ERA) despite a quality K/9 (8.41) and decent BB/9 (2.79).
- The Marlins have placed third baseman Martin Prado on the paternity list and selected the contract of left-hander Cody Ege, per a club announcement. Ege, 24, will make his major league debut after recording stellar numbers in 161 2/3 minor league innings. Ege owns a 2.23 minors ERA to go with an 11.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.
- The Diamondbacks have recalled right-hander Enrique Burgos from Triple-A and optioned righty Silvino Bracho, the team announced. Burgos accrued 27 innings out of the D-backs’ bullpen last season and put up a lofty ERA (4.67) that belied an impressive strikeout rate (13.0 per nine). Bracho threw just 1 2/3 innings for Arizona prior to the demotion, surrendering five hits and three earned runs.
- The Padres have placed utilityman Alexi Amarista on the 15-day DL (retroactive to April 20) with a right hamstring strain and recalled Cesar Vargas from Double-A, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Amarista owns a career .229/.277/.325 batting line in 1,601 major league plate appearances, but he was off to a solid start this year (.333/.440/.333 in 26 PAs). Vargas will start the Padres’ game against the Cardinals tonight. The Mexico native could be a diamond in the rough, as Chris Mitchell of Fangraphs details.
Earlier Moves
- The Nationals signed righty Jaron Long to a minor league deal, the team announced. Jaron Long, the son of Mets hitting coach Kevin Long, spent 2013-15 working through the Yankees’ minor league system. Long, 24, has put up some solid totals in the minors (3.26 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 1.6 BB/9), but he hasn’t yet earned a call-up to the majors.
- The Tigers have claimed catcher John Hicks off waivers from the Twins, Anthony Fenecki of the Detroit Free Press was among those to report (on Twitter). Hicks owns a .279/.325/.408 line in 1,690 minor league PAs and has thrown out a whopping 48 percent of base stealers at various levels. The 26-year-old debuted in the majors last season with the Mariners, collecting only two hits and a walk in 34 trips to the plate.
- The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Arnold Leon cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A (Twitter link via Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com). Leon gave up two runs in 2 1/3 innings with the Jays before they designated him for assignment April 13. He made his major league debut last year with Oakland and posted a 4.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings. Leon induced an average amount of ground balls (45.9 percent) and averaged 6.4 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 during that time.
- The Royals have released minor league left-hander Brandon Zajac, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Zajac was a 23rd-round pick of the Giants in 2013.
- The Braves have recalled lefty reliever Matt Marksberry from Double-A and optioned right-hander Casey Kelly to Triple-A, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The Braves needed a fresh arm in place of Kelly, who threw three innings of one-run ball for them on Friday. Marksberry, who has put up a 3.63 ERA over 203 1/3 career minor league innings, tossed 23 1/3 frames for the Braves last season. He compiled a 5.01 ERA to accompany an 8.1 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9.
- The Mets sent right-hander Rafael Montero to Triple-A to make room for the return of starter Jacob deGrom, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN. New York called up Montero on April 12 and he went on to surrender three earned runs on five hits, one walk and three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. DeGrom hasn’t pitched since April 8 because of right lat tightness and medical complications with his recently born son, Jaxon, who was released from the hospital Monday.
- The Red Sox recalled left-handler Roenis Elias on Friday and sent righty William Cuevas to Triple-A, per the Boston Herald. Elias, whom Boston acquired from Seattle during the offseason in the Wade Miley/Carson Smith trade, will work out of the Red Sox’s bullpen. Elias has made a pair of starts for Pawtucket this year after totaling 49 as a Mariner the previous two seasons. During that time frame, Elias combined for 277 2/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball to go with a 7.75 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9. Cuevas, who has been in the Boston organization since 2008, made his major league debut this season to poor results before the demotion. The 25-year-old allowed five base runners (three hits and two walks) and two earned runs in 2 1/3 frames.
Offseason In Review: Kansas City Royals
This post completes a series in which MLBTR reviewed the offseason moves of every team in baseball. You can find all of those posts at this link.
After coming one game away from baseball’s top prize in 2014, the Royals again reached the postseason in 2015, this time closing out the job with their first World Series title in 30 years. The celebratory parade in Kansas City was a sight to behold, but GM Dayton Moore and his staff had plenty of work to do in what was a busy offseason.
Major League Signings
- Alex Gordon, OF: Four years, $72MM plus 2019 mutual option
- Ian Kennedy, RHP: Five years, $70MM plus opt-out after 2017 season
- Joakim Soria, RHP: Three years, $25MM, plus 2019 mutual option
- Chris Young, RHP: Two years, $11.5MM, plus 2018 mutual option
- Mike Minor, LHP: Two years, $7.25MM plus 2018 mutual option
- Total spend: $185.75MM
Notable Minor League Signings
- Chien-Ming Wang, Travis Snider, Brian Duensing, Clint Barmes, Ross Ohlendorf, David Huff, Peter Moylan, Lester Oliveros
Trades and Claims
- Acquired C Tony Cruz from Cardinals in exchange for INF Jose Martinez
Extensions
- Salvador Perez, C: Five years, $52.5MM (replaced final three years of previous extension)
- Lorenzo Cain, CF: Two years, $17.5MM
- Mike Moustakas, 3B: Two years, $14.3MM
Notable Losses
Needs Addressed
The Royals entered the offseason with a pair of corner outfielders hitting free agency: Alex Gordon and Alex Rios. Gordon, the former No. 2 overall draft pick who has emerged as the face of this new wave of contending baseball in Kansas City, was the clear priority for Moore and the rest of the front office. With early reports that the Royals hoped to re-sign him on a three- or four-year deal, significant doubt was cast on that possibility. It seemed implausible to many, myself included, that Gordon could be had for a deal of that length. However, he was one of many outfielders that lingered on the market longer than pundits expected, and he ultimately signed for $72MM over a four-year term shortly after New Year’s Day. Retaining Gordon was a huge win for the fans, and the fact that the Royals were able to do so at a reasonably manageable price was a plus for the front office. Gordon’s contract is still a record-setter for the typically cost-conscious Royals, but the rest of their roster is affordable enough over the next couple of seasons that it shouldn’t be burdensome.
With Cueto, Young and Guthrie lining up as free agents, the Royals needed to supplement their rotation with innings. They were linked to a fair number of free-agent starters, but the primary addition to their rotation was rather stunning. Ian Kennedy always made sense as a target for the Royals — a fly-ball pitcher that would benefit from a large park and excellent defense (plus, Kansas City’s relationship with Scott Boras is strong) — but the terms of the contract were jarring. I was aggressive on Kennedy’s free agent stock this winter and always considered the narrative that he should accept San Diego’s qualifying offer to be ludicrous, but despite being more bullish on his earning power than most, I was still floored when he secured not only a five-year deal worth $70MM but also an opt-out clause.
Kennedy’s skill set is a great fit for a Royals club that can mask his greatest deficiencies via the aforementioned stadium and defensive prowess, but the contract is still teeming with downside. Kennedy is guaranteed just $27MM of that $70MM sum, meaning he’d be opting out of a three-year, $43MM contract as he heads into his age-33 season. While that’s certainly possible, Kennedy’s inconsistent track record and homer-prone nature also make it easy to envision a scenario where that sum tops what he’d earn on the open market. A spike in his homer-to-flyball ratio similar to the one he experienced in another pitcher-friendly environment in 2015 and 2013 would leave the Royals with an unsightly contract.
The Royals made a pair of smaller-scale commitments in the rotation as well. First, they paid up for right-hander Chris Young after two years of drastically outperforming his peripheral stats thanks to his propensity for weak fly-balls (and, weak contact in general). Young shouldn’t be counted on for innings, having topped 100 frames in a season just thrice since the conclusion of the 2008 season, but he’s being paid a fairly modest $11.5MM over the next two seasons and doesn’t need to do all that much to justify the investment. The Mike Minor contract is even lower risk, financially speaking, as the lefty followed former teammate Kris Medlen from Atlanta to Kansas City and signed a similar contract. Minor is recovering from shoulder surgery, but if he resembles anything close to the 2012-13 version of himself upon his return, it’ll be an easy win for the Royals.
The loss of Greg Holland to Tommy John surgery created a hole at the back of the Kansas City bullpen and turned their dominant late-inning trio into a still-formidable duo of Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera. The Royals sought to fill in the Holland-sized void by reuniting with Joakim Soria, but did so by paying top-of-the-market dollars for a 31-year-old reliever (soon to be 32) that delivered fairly pedestrian results in 2015 prior to a trade to the Pirates. While Ryan Madson‘s age perhaps dissuaded the Royals from matching the Athletics’ $22MM commitment in him (understandably so), it was fairly surprising to see the Royals turn around and offer even more money to a setup man that will pitch the final season of a three-year deal at age 34.
Read more analysis after the break…
Rockies Acquire Cody Decker
The Rockies have acquired first baseman Cody Decker from the Royals, according to announcements from both teams. Cash considerations are going back in return.
Decker, 29, has minimal major league experience but was long a solid producer in the upper minors in the Padres’ organization — where he spent his entire career before signing with the Royals as a minor league free agent. Best known for his entertaining antics — particularly those involving former teammate Jeff Francoeur — Decker is also a quality hitter. Indeed, he’s been quite consistent, posting OPS tallies ranging between .819 and .865 in every MiLB season dating back to 2010.
There’s a fair bit of swing and miss to his game, but Decker has also shown a strong walk rate and good power, with several twenty home run campaigns under his belt. The issue, of course, is that he’s limited defensively. Though Decker has filled in at times at third base and the corner outfield in recent years, he’s spent the vast majority of his time at first base.
AL Central Notes: Kepler, Latos, Dyson, Soria, McCann
ESPN.com’s Jim Caple provides some interesting background on Twins prospect Max Kepler, ranging from his professional ballet-dancing parents to his unlikely introduction to the game of baseball in Germany. Needless to say, the old ballgame still doesn’t have a very high profile in the European nation, but it may surprise some to learn that there’s a fairly notable niche of enthusiasts. As Kepler puts it, “I think since I started playing as a small kid, when it was mainly Americans who were playing baseball, now it’s actually Germans who are starting to play.” No doubt, Kepler’s own career could have a significant impact in driving future growth. (By the way, if you’re interested in the topic, check out this MLBTR podcast episode from last fall, when I chatted with Euroball expert Josh Chetwynd.)
Here’s more from the American League Central:
- Mat Latos has paid huge dividends to the White Sox cin his first three starts for the organization, as Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune writes. Since signing for just $3MM in an effort to rebuild his career, Latos has spun 18 1/3 innings in which he’s allowed just six hits and one earned run. While there are plenty of indicators suggesting that Latos hasn’t been quite as dominant as those results would suggest, and his velocity is back down, he’s been in the zone more than ever before and has still managed to induce a lot of easy outs (35.3% soft contact rate; 11.8% line-drive rate).
- The Royals activated Jarrod Dyson from the DL yesterday after he missed the first several weeks of the season with a strained oblique. Manager Ned Yost says he’ll be deployed in a “loose platoon” with Paulo Orlando, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweet. Of course, the left-handed-hitting speedster figures to get a solid majority of the action in that arrangement.
- Meanwhile, the Royals‘ vaunted bullpen hasn’t been quite the well-oiled machine thus far in 2016 that it was in the recent past, as Dodd explores. Really, it’s mostly a matter of some early struggles from Joakim Soria, who has allowed six earned runs on ten hits and five walks over his first seven frames. Notably, he’s only managed to get hitters to chase pitches out of the zone 14.7% of the time, which is less than half his career rate. For now, at least, the club isn’t ready to move him out of the primary set-up job, though Kelvin Herrera and Luke Hochevar have both looked strong. “Our roles are set until we need to change our roles,” Yost says.
- The Tigers received fairly promising news on the injury front yesterday, as manager Brad Ausmus noted in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). Catcher James McCann‘s absence is expected to land “on the shorter side of the two to four week timetable” that he’d been given for a sprained ankle. (Though it’s fair to note that Jarrod Saltalamacchia has filled in admirably in his stead.) Also, outfielder Cameron Maybin is nearly ready to make his season debut, opening up some options with Anthony Gose off to a slow start.