Angels, Luke Bard Agree To Minors Deal
The Angels have signed reliever Luke Bard to a minor league deal, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Bard, 28, was a Rule V selection by Los Angeles last winter; after a lukewarm April audition, in which the righty was deployed mostly in mop-up duty, Luke was shuttled back to Minnesota, with whom he spent the rest of the season in AAA.
A Trackman dandy, Bard was coveted in the Rule-5 for his super-high spin rates – his 2770 average RPM on the four-seam ranked first among MLB hurlers with at least 100 fastballs thrown last season – and newfound ability to miss bats. In five minor league seasons before 2016, the Georgia Tech-product didn’t post a K-rate north of 8.08 per nine; since, he’s hovered around twelve, though the transition from heavy sink to top-of-the-zone heat has left him susceptible to the occasional gopher ball.
The organizational favorite would figure to be in the mix at the front end of the team’s pen, where he’ll curl neatly behind a number of similar-archetype low-budget finds.
Angels To Sign Dan Jennings
The Angels have agreed to a deal with lefty Dan Jennings, according to reports. It’s a minor-league deal with a camp invitation. Jennings would earn $1MM in the majors, with up to $500K in incentives, per Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
Jennings was non-tendered by the Brewers at the outset of the winter. He had projected to earn a $1.6MM salary but was instead kicked back to the open market. Now, he’ll have to earn his way into the Halos’ relief unit.
The 31-year-old southpaw, who’s just one MLB service day shy of reaching his sixth full season, has produced nothing but good outcomes in the majors. Through 344 career innings, he carries a 2.96 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. It was more of the same last year, as he provided the Brewers with 64 1/3 frames of 3.22 ERA ball.
Clearly, teams aren’t buying into the results. ERA estimators don’t either. Over his career, Jennings carries a 3.83 FIP, 4.05 xFIP, and 4.00 SIERA. He does get a lot of groundballs, with a 55.4% career rate, but otherwise stands out mostly for allowing opposing hitters to put the ball over the fence just 0.63 times per nine innings over the course of his seven seasons.
Whether that home run suppression is sustainable is probably the key question with regard to Jennings. He has seen his HR/FB rate jump in the last two years (21.1% and 13.3%) after sitting in single digits for every prior season, though he gets so many grounders that there still aren’t too many balls leaving the yard. It’s notable, too, that he has induced infield flies at better than the league average rate over the past four seasons, which perhaps also helps explain why he has found so much success despite ho-hum K/BB numbers.
In any event, this seems to be a no-brainer of a low-risk move for the Angels, who possess little in the way of lefty relievers. As things stand, the 40-man features Williams Jerez, Dillon Peters, and Jose Suarez as possible options, though the latter two seem likelier to serve as rotation depth. It certainly seems that Jennings will have the inside track on a big-league job.
AL Notes: Harper, Betts, Severino, Baldelli, Harvey, Kennedy
It’s mostly of historical interest now, but Astros GM Jeff Luhnow acknowledged that the club had a deal all but locked down to land Bryce Harper last summer. (Via Mark Berman of FOX 26, on Twitter.) Reports indicated that the Nationals would have received a strong haul of talent had they agreed to give up Harper at the non-waiver deadline; instead, the club announced on deadline day that it would not part with its star, who is now (still) a free agent. Lest anyone get the wrong idea, the Houston organization’s prior interest certainly doesn’t indicate that Harper is of interest presently. There has been no such connection this winter. Luhnow did suggest, though, that the pursuit is evidence of the team’s commitment to “look at all alternatives” and possibly swing major deals at the trade deadline.
Those who enjoy concocting wild trade scenarios will also take note of Luhnow’s intriguing aside: “I think fans would be surprised at the types of players at times that we’ve gone after and how close we’ve come on some of them.” Here’s more from the American League:
- Star Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts discussed his approach to handling the business side of the sport, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports. Betts says he believes in staying patient. “When you start rushing into things, that’s when you get some deals that may not be the right ones,” he said. Of course, Betts has to this point set himself up for a potentially record-setting run through arbitration by not only going year-to-year, but by also increasing his performance level in successive seasons. He just settled for a whopping $20MM, setting a record for a second-time arb-eligible player. Whether he’ll consider a long-term deal in the future isn’t clear; Betts would allow only that he enjoys playing in Boston and would “have to see how it goes.”
- In other AL East contractual matters, the Yankees‘ reported chatter about a long-term deal with staff ace Luis Severino does not seem to be gaining traction, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). It seems that the sides will instead focus on preparing for an upcoming arbitration hearing, though that can always change at the last minute — whether due to agreement on a single-season salary or something more significant. If the case goes to a panel, the arbitrators will need to decide between Severino’s proposed $5.25MM payout and the club’s $4.4MM counter. There’s added significance given that the Super Two qualifier still has three more potential arb years to come, making his starting salary quite important.
- While terms of his contract weren’t announced or reported at the time, Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli inked a four-year contract when being hired for his managerial debut, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports (subscription required). The deal also has multiple club options. It’s a show of faith in the rookie manager and a departure from the manner in which Minnesota has previously operated, as Aaron Gleeman of Baseball Prospectus notes (Twitter link). Under previous management, the Twins typically only issued two-year pacts to skipper Ron Gardenhire, who was one of the game’s longest-tenured managers when he was dismissed from the organization. And Paul Molitor, whom the the Twins ousted to make way for Baldelli, was one season into a three-year contract when the Twins ultimately changed course.
- Angels right-hander Matt Harvey will be out for the next week to 10 days due to a strained glute muscle, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. It’s a minor injury and one that isn’t expected to hinder Harvey’s readiness for Opening Day, but it nonetheless bears some monitoring as Harvey looks to rebuild stock in Anaheim on a one-year, $11MM contract. The injury is all the more notable given the Halos’ rash of pitching maladies in recent seasons. The team is already expecting to be without right-hander Nick Tropeano to open the season.
- The Royals are considering utilizing veteran starter Ian Kennedy as a bullpen piece this season, and the righty spoke with Rustin Dodd of The Athletic about the potential role change (subscription required). Kennedy took a team-first attitude and said he’s willing to pitch for the Royals in any role, so long as it helps the team win more games. Looking elsewhere on the roster, Dodd writes that Danny Duffy, Brad Keller and Jakob Junis are likely locks for the rotation, while non-roster invitee Homer Bailey will compete for a starter job but likely not a bullpen role (per Yost). The Kansas City Star’s Lynn Worthy also addressed the situation, speaking with newly signed Brad Boxberger about pitching roles. While Boxberger would “love” the opportunity to close, it doesn’t seem as though any such promises were made to him. Ultimately, Yost declined to discuss specific roles and stressed the importance of having multiple options who can be trusted to close out games and thrive in high-leverage spots.
AL Injury Notes: Ellsbury, Angels, Salazar, Kaprielian
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman announced to the media Wednesday that outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury won’t be reporting to camp until next month, as he’s currently being slowed by a case of plantar fasciitis (link via Dan Martin of the New York Post). It’s not yet clear whether Ellsbury will be ready for Opening Day, nor is it clear how much playing time would be available to Ellsbury considering a Yankees outfield mix that features Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner and Giancarlo Stanton (with Clint Frazier also looming in the minors). Ellsbury seems poised for a bench role after missing the entire 2018 season due to injury (most notably including hip surgery).
The injury news didn’t stop there for the Yanks, either, as right-handed pitching prospect Mike King has been shut down for the next three weeks after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in his right elbow. He’ll be re-evaluated after that three-week down period. The 23-year-old King posted a ridiculous 1.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9 in 161 1/3 innings across three levels last season, topping out with a brilliant six-start run in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Some more injury notes from around the American League (we checked in on some NL health statuses earlier today, as well)…
- In what’s become all too familiar a theme for Angels fans, there’s some early trouble regarding right-handers Nick Tropeano and Alex Meyer. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports that Tropeano has only just resumed “light” throwing after suffering a December setback in his rehab from the shoulder woes that derailed much of his 2018 season (Twitter links). Tropeano had three DL stints pertaining to his shoulder in ’18 and was eventually shut down after undergoing a platelet-rich plasma injection. He’s unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, per Fletcher. Meanwhile, Meyer had yet another surgery on his perennially problematic right shoulder — this time an arthroscopic procedure performed in November. He’s not yet been cleared to throw. The former top prospect was a long shot to factor into the pitching staff anyhow given his extremely lengthy injury history. He was cut loose by the Halos earlier this winter but returned on a minor league contract.
- MLB.com’s Mandy Bell writes that Indians right-hander Danny Salazar is confident he’ll be able to begin throwing off a mound by the end of Spring Training. That doesn’t create much optimism for an early 2019 return, nor does the fact that Bell suggests Salazar could be able to return to the Major League roster “prior to the All-Star break.” Given Cleveland’s strong rotation and the fact that Salazar didn’t even pitch in 2018 due to shoulder troubles that necessitated surgery in July, he’ll be a part of the team’s bullpen picture whenever he does return. With the righty still only playing catch on flat ground, however, it’ll likely be awhile before a more definitive timeline takes shape.
- An MRI performed on Athletics right-hander James Kaprielian revealed a strained lat muscle, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). He won’t throw for the next two to three weeks. Kaprielian, 25 next month, was once regarded as one of the game’s top pitching prospects and was a key piece acquired in the 2017 trade that sent Sonny Gray to the Bronx, but he hasn’t pitched since 2016 due to 2017 Tommy John surgery and a series of shoulder issues in 2018.
AL West Notes: Encarnacion, Ohtani, Athletics, Davidson
Veteran slugger Edwin Encarnacion is expected to open camp with the Mariners after trade talks surrounding him failed to gain traction, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto is expected to continue exploring potential deals over the course of Spring Training as needs arise throughout the league, he notes. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times wrote over the weekend that interest in Encarnacion had faded. Encarnacion, among the game’s steadiest sluggers, has one year remaining on his three-year, $60MM contract and is almost certainly limited to American League clubs at this point of his career. An injury to a contender’s DH this spring could create some additional interest in Encarnacion, but a trade at this juncture doesn’t seem all that likely.
More from the division…
- Angels manager Brad Ausmus addressed the health of right-hander/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani today (Twitter link via Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group). While Ausmus didn’t want to get too specific in terms of providing a timeline for Ohtani’s return to the club following Tommy John surgery, the first-year Halos skipper indicated that the team expects Ohtani back at some point in May. He’ll be strictly limited to DH duties, of course, and it’s not yet clear exactly how often the Angels plan to get Ohtani’s bat into the lineup in the early stages of his recovery. One can imagine that the team will want to be particularly cautious, but the Angels will also want Ohtani in the lineup as often as possible after he hit .285/.361/.564 with 22 homers in just 367 plate appearances last season.
- Matt Chapman underwent thumb and shoulder surgeries this offseason, but the budding Athletics star looks to be on track for the season, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Chapman took 50 swings in a batting cage Monday, and while he might be limited early in camp, the expectation is that he’ll be ready for the season opener. Perhaps more interesting, Slusser writes in another column that the organization has “no qualms” about putting top prospect Jesus Luzardo in the rotation on Opening Day if he’s deemed the best option. If that is indeed the organization’s stance, it’s a departure from the manner in which many clubs think. Luzardo, just 21, is considered to be among the game’s most elite pitching prospects, ranking inside the game’s 20 best all-around prospects on multiple publications. Last year, at just 20 years old, he skyrocketed from Class-A Advanced to Triple-A, working to a combined 2.88 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over the course of 109 1/3 innings. Presently, the A’s will have Mike Fiers, Marco Estrada and Brett Anderson (assuming he passes his physical) in the rotation, with a pair of spots up for grabs, barring further additions.
- Infielder Matt Davidson chatted with MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan about his role with the Rangers this coming season. Davidson, signed as a corner infielder/reliever, indicated that he’s not expecting to be one of the team’s top seven or eight relievers. Rather, he’s aiming to be an option to pitch in the same capacity he did with the White Sox last year — as a mop-up reliever in blowout games. “I want to be the pitchers’ best friend,” said Davidson. “Nobody wants to go in when it is a 7-0 blowout. I want to be the guy that helps them out.” Davidson did toss three shutout innings last season, and it’s not out of the question entirely that he pitches more effectively than some would expect if given a few more opportunities. However, it sounds as if the early plan is for him to try to make the club as a bench piece and emergency option on the mound more than any type of regular bullpen piece.
AL West Notes: Angels, Eppler, Chapman, Lewis
Some rumblings from around the AL West…
- “We are a point where we feel complete with our club,” Angels GM Billy Eppler tells MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, as the Halos feels they made enough short-term additions to be able to compete in 2019. The club was cautious about not dealing any of its top prospects from a farm system that has undergone a major rebuild in recent years, and Los Angeles didn’t splurge on any long-term free agent commitments. That said, the Angels’ focus on short-term signings “wasn’t scripted,” as Eppler put it. “There were some players that we engaged on and made offers to that would’ve been multi-year commitments. Those didn’t work out for a couple different reasons. But shorter-term deals work in a variety of ways — they keep you flexible, and they keep you open to doing things both during the season and in succeeding seasons.” Some type of a reload was necessary for the team, given both the sorry state of the Angels’ minor league pipeline just a few years ago and the number of ill-fated big contracts that didn’t pan out. Still, the Angels are on something of a clock to get back into contention, given that Mike Trout is only under contract for two more seasons.
- Matt Chapman provided an update on his health status in the wake of offseason thumb and shoulder surgery, telling reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser) that he’ll be in the lineup when the Athletics begin their season on March 20 in Tokyo. The third baseman could miss a few early Spring Training games as he recovers, however, noting “it’s hard to say when everything will be a full go.” Chapman expressed some regret at waiting until December to undergo his shoulder procedure, as he said the joint was giving him some discomfort during the season but he thought some downtime would correct the issue. While the A’s will certainly be cautious about their star during the spring, it doesn’t yet seem Chapman is in any danger of missing any regular season action.
- Outfield prospect Kyle Lewis was invited to the Mariners‘ big league Spring Training camp, a positive development for Lewis after an injury-plagued start to his pro career, TJ Cotterill writes for Baseball America. The 11th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Lewis has already undergone two knee surgeries, limiting him to just 711 plate appearances and 165 games over two-plus seasons. These injuries and a not-unrelated relative lack of production (.258/.328/.430 slash line in the minors) have caused Lewis’ prospect stock to drop, though the 23-year-old is entering a season healthy for the first time. “He’s missed so much time, but we feel better today than we’ve ever felt with his work and his progress. Most of us who have been around Kyle, we really don’t have a lot of concern about the ability. It’s the health,” Mariners farm director Andy McKay said.
Angels, Daniel Hudson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent reliever Daniel Hudson, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). A client of Jet Sports Management, Hudson would earn $1.5MM upon making the roster and can earn another $1.5MM via incentive pay.
Hudson, set to turn 32 in a month, spent the 2018 season with the Dodgers and tossed 46 innings with a 4.11 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 37.2 percent ground-ball rate along the way. A two-time Tommy John patient, Hudson’s fastball remains potent, as he’s averaged better than 95 mph in each of the past two seasons. The right-hander has a solid track record of missing bats since converting from the rotation to the ‘pen and can be counted upon for roughly a strikeout per inning — albeit with a few too many walks at times (3.7 BB/9 over the past four seasons).
Hudson will compete for a spot in first-year manager Brad Ausmus‘ bullpen — a collection of arms that will be anchored by offseason signee Cody Allen in the ninth inning. Among the team’s setup options are Ty Buttrey, Cam Bedrosian, Hansel Robles and Justin Anderson. Hudson stands out as the team’s most notable non-roster invitee to camp and, with a good performance in camp, could very plausibly claim a bullpen spot.
Angels Sign Ty Kelly
The Angels have added utilityman Ty Kelly on a minors deal, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports on Twitter .The agreement does not come with a spring invite, Robert Murray of The Athletic adds on Twitter.
Kelly, 30, has found his way to the majors in each of the past three seasons, though he has yet to command a lengthy shot at the game’s highest level. Through 188 total plate appearances, he carries a .203/.288/.323 slash.
While he’s capable of lining up in the corner outfield, Kelly has spent most of his time in the minors at second and third base. He has some experience at short, but hasn’t been trusted there in the majors, which significantly limits his utility.
Still, Kelly is a worthwhile depth piece to have on hand. Through parts of seven seasons at Triple-A, he’s a .272/.375/.392 hitter with nearly as many walks (281) as strikeouts (329).
Quick Hits: Prospects, Grandal, Twins, Davis, A’s
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sits atop Baseball America’s annual preseason edition of its Top 100 Prospect rankings. Guerrero had already moved into the #1 position in BA’s midseason rankings last summer after Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna (the top two players in last spring’s top 100) gained enough big league playing time to lose their prospect status. Guerrero is expected to make his long-awaited debut in the Blue Jays’ lineup at some point early in the 2019 season. Fernando Tatis Jr., Eloy Jimenez, Wander Franco, and Forrest Whitley round out the top five.
Here’s more from around the baseball world…
- Before signing a one-year deal with the Brewers worth $18.25MM in guaranteed money, Yasmani Grandal received multi-year offers from the Angels, Twins, and White Sox, The Athletic’s Robert Murray reports (subscription required). These offers were in addition to the four-year deal reportedly floated by the Mets for Grandal, which he turned down. As Grandal explained, taking the longer-term offers would’ve meant setting what he felt was a bad precedent for free agent catching contracts. “One of my responsibilities as a player is also to respect the guys going through this process before me like Brian McCann, Russell Martin, Yadier Molina…These are guys who have established a market and pay levels for a particular tier of catchers like myself,” Grandal said. “I felt l would be doing a disservice taking some of the deals that were offered even though they were slightly more long term. I wanted to keep the line moving and set a bar for the younger guys coming up. In hopes of them following our footsteps….hopefully, they know what they are worth and would go ahead and get paid what they’re worth.” Grandal can technically achieve a second year on his Brewers deal, a mutual option for 2020 worth $16MM, though it seems unlikely that both he and the team would agree to enact their respective sides of that option.
- The Twins‘ offer to Grandal was worth around $13MM per season, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets, though talks between the two parties “never gained traction.” To use Grandal’s cited examples, $13MM is less in average annual value than McCann, Martin, and Molina each received in long-term deals from the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Cardinals, respectively. (In fact, Molina averaged more than $13MM per year in each of his last two extensions with St. Louis.) While time will tell if Grandal made the right move in turning down more long-term security, he clearly feels comfortable in betting on himself for a big 2019 season, while still picking up a nice one-year payday on a contending team. The Twins’ pursuit of Grandal is interesting in light of recent comments from Derek Falvey and Thad Levine about the team’s rather conservative approach to spending this offseason, though obviously Minnesota (like any club) would be interested in larger multi-year deals if it felt it was getting something of a below-market price.
- Athletics GM David Forst suggests that the door is still open to a long-term deal with slugger Khris Davis after the sides lined up on a 2019 contract for his final season of arbitration eligibility. As Forst told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters, the two sides have “continued that conversation” and could keep negotiating after Opening Day, if Davis is willing. It had seemed possible that the need to hammer out an arb figure would drive talks, but with that already settled (at a hefty $16.5MM), any future-oriented agreement will simply have to reflect a difficult valuation case. Davis is one of the game’s power bats, of course, but he’ll also be 32 on Opening Day 2020 and he doesn’t add value with the glove.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/26/19
The latest minor league moves from around baseball…
- The Angels announced their slate of non-roster invitees to their big league Spring Training camp, including several notable prospects, and names whose minor league signings have already been reported here on MLBTR’s pages. The list also includes right-hander Miguel Almonte, who was outrighted off the 40-man roster after being designated for assignment last week. Almonte tossed seven relief innings for the Halos last season, and has an 8.66 ERA over 17 2/3 career innings with the Royals and Angels.
- The Dodgers have re-signed Justin De Fratus to another minor league deal, as revealed by the right-hander himself on his Instagram page. (Hat tip to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group.) De Fratus posted a 4.74 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and a 3.00 K/BB rate over 133 combined innings for the Dodgers at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season. He started all 23 of his appearances in 2018, his second straight year of working as a starter after pitching almost exclusively as a reliever from 2010-16. That stretch included De Fratus’ 194 career Major League innings with the Phillies from 2011-15, and he has since pitched in the minors for the Rangers, Mariners, Nationals and Dodgers looking for a return to the Show.
- The Diamondbacks outrighted southpaw Jared Miller off their 40-man roster and down to Triple-A, as per a team announcement. Miller was designated for assignment last week to create roster space for the newly-signed Wilmer Flores. An 11th-round pick for Arizona in the 2014 draft, Miller has a 3.85 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and a 2.08 K/BB rate over 327 career minor league frames, but he was beset by severe control problems last season, issuing a whopping 63 walks over 42 Triple-A innings.