Minor MLB Transactions: 12/14/17
Here are the latest minor moves, with newer signings at the top of the post…
Latest Transactions
- The Royals officially announced the minor league signings of both Broadway and third baseman/outfielder Cody Asche via their official Twitter feed. Asche has a .234/.293/.376 slash line over 1349 career PA from 2013-17, as he has yet to break out after years as a well-regarded prospect in the Phillies’ system. Asche spent 2017 with the White Sox, where he posted a big .887 OPS over 347 Triple-A plate appearances and also appeared in 19 games with the big league club.
Earlier Today
- The Rays announced their list of 13 players invited to their MLB spring camp on minor league deals (Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times has the breakdown). Some of the signings have been reported on MLBTR already, though the list also includes such notable former big leaguers as Jonny Venters, Brandon Snyder, and Colton Murray. Venters is back for his third year in Tampa’s minor league system, as the former Braves All-Star is trying to make an extraordinary comeback from four Tommy John surgeries, three of which have come since 2013.
- The Marlins signed infielder Cristhian Adames to a minor league contract, Antonio Puesan of Magnus Media reports (Twitter link). The deal contains an invitation to Miami’s Spring Training camp. All ten of Adames’ pro seasons have come in the Rockies organization, including 166 games at the Major League level over the last four seasons. Adames actually appeared in 121 games for Colorado in 2016, though largely in a backup infield role. Still just 26, Adames has a .279/.344/.384 slash line over 3314 career minor league plate appearances and a .561 OPS over his 343 PA in the bigs.
- The Royals signed right-hander Mike Broadway to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter). Originally a fourth-round pick for the Braves in the 2005 draft, Broadway reached the big leagues a decade later, posting a 6.75 ERA over 22 2/3 relief innings for the Giants in 2015-16. The righty spent last season in the Nationals and Rays farm systems.
Marlins Designate Hunter Cervenka
The Marlins have designated lefty Hunter Cervenka for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed to make way for the team’s just-announced trade.
Cervenka, who’ll soon turn 28, came over in an August 2016 swap with the Braves but has seen fairly minimal MLB action in Miami. He took the ball only five times in the majors in 2017, spending most of the year at the Triple-A level. There, Cervenka rank up a 4.58 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9 over 39 1/3 innings.
NL East Notes: Braves, Mets, Robles, Albers
Though a few of the Braves‘ relief targets have signed elsewhere, GM Alex Anthopoulos has an interesting contingency plan. An article by David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals that Atlanta is apparently willing to utilize some of their young upside starters as relievers early on in their careers, if the team can’t add the type of bullpen arms they’re looking for through free agency. “We’ve explored it. A long time ago, starters would break in as relievers,” Anthopoulos says. “It’s something that’s come up internally in our conversations. It’s not something we’re planning on doing right now, but at least it’s been discussed, in light of the market for relievers and the price points right now.” Anthopoulos also notes that the relief market has been “continually strong the last two or three years.” The piece also details the GM’s thoughts on calling up Ronald Acuna. It’s great insight for Braves fans.
Some other items from across the NL East…
- Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes that the Braves could seek short-term rotation help this offseason in order to “satisfy their desire to add experience to their inexperienced rotation.” While there might be a desire in the future to “strike a big deal for a legit ace,” Anthopoulos hints that he’d like to take some of the workload off their younger arms. Bowman mentions Wade Miley as one example of a pitcher who could be had on a one-year contract.
- While the Mets have been linked to Jay Bruce, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports (via Twitter) that the club doesn’t appear to be “warm” on any player in the outfield or first base market. Rather, they seem to be focused on second base as their top priority. One notable Mets target at that position already came off the market when the Angels acquired Ian Kinsler from the Tigers. The second base market does have other options, and the Mets have been linked to of Jason Kipnis of the Indians recently.
- Though it’s not clear what position Nationals outfielder Victor Robles will play in 2018, GM Mike Rizzo says he’ll be an everyday player (via Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com). Rizzo further specifies that if there isn’t a spot for him in the Majors, the Nats’ top prospect will begin the season at Triple-A. It would seem as though the latter is the most likely scenario, considering Washington has Bryce Harper, Adam Eaton and Michael A. Taylor ticketed for the outfield grass. On the other hand, perhaps Taylor could end up in a part-time role.
- Before the Nationals agreed to terms with Brandon Kintzler on a two-year contract, the team was exploring the possibility of bringing back Matt Albers on a two-year deal, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Ultimately, nothing ended up coming together. Albers was fantastic for Washington last season; the righty posted a sterling 1.62 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. He struck out 9.30 batters per nine innings against just 2.51 walks.
Latest On Christian Yelich
THURSDAY, 6:04am: The Padres have inquired on Yelich, a source tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
WEDNESDAY, 3:43pm: Miami expects to talk things over with Yelich before making any decisions, Heyman tweets. Of course, it may reasonably be anticipated that his preference would be to follow the other major pieces out the door.
1:09pm: To the contrary, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the Fish aren’t interested in dealing Yelich. Others are hearing similarly, though it certainly seems too soon to say that Miami won’t end up finding a deal — or that the team won’t be willing to listen to offers.
1:07pm: The Marlins are informing rivals that they are now willing to trade their last remaining star outfielder, Christian Yelich, according to a report from Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Per the report, the return will need to exceed what the team achieved in deals involving Marcell Ozuna (the return in which is still unknown) and Giancarlo Stanton.
In truth, everything written above was anticipated at this point. While there has been some chatter suggesting the Fish would like to keep Yelich and a few other quality veterans, the fact is that the organization is probably best served fully completing the process it began by shopping Stanton and dealing Dee Gordon. Likewise, Yelich’s value has long seemed highest of the members of the Marlins’ once-great outfield.
True, both Stanton and Ozuna dramatically out-produced Yelich at the plate in 2017. But the left-handed-hitting Yelich has a smooth swing with good patience and contact ability along with (some believe) some as-yet-untapped power potential. With high-quality glovework and baserunning mixed in, Yelich has posted 4.5 fWAR campaigns in three of the past four seasons.
The biggest difference-maker, though, is Yelich’s appealing contract. He will be guaranteed $44.5MM through 2021, including a buyout on a $15MM club option for one additional season, meaning that an acquiring team could pick up the rights to all of his remaining prime years for something like the going annual rate for a quality setup man.
As the Marlins’ fire sale continues, it’ll be interesting to see whether other names are put on the block. Catcher J.T. Realmuto is the most intriguing possibility, though others — just-acquired infielder Starlin Castro, fellow infielder Derek Dietrich, first baseman Justin Bour, and starter Dan Straily, especially — seem like they’d draw interest. Plus, the team is still looking to move salary, with players such as Martin Prado, Brad Ziegler, and Junichi Tazawa representing additional possible trade candidates.
Pitching Market Chatter: Phils, Yanks, Greinke, Cole, Archer, Duffy, CC, Jays
With a pair of relief signings being wrapped up, the Phillies seem to feel good about that aspect of their roster. Per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, via Twitter, the team will turn its gaze to improving the rotation. Both they and the Yankees checked in with the Diamondbacks regarding right-hander Zack Greinke, Robert Murray of FanRag writes. Greinke ending up with either club is unlikely, however, sources informed Murray. With the Rangers also having shown interest in Greinke, we now know at least three teams have inquired about the expensive 34-year-old this offseason.
Greinke is the latest hurler to land on the radar of the Yankees, who have also eyed Pirates righty Gerrit Cole. Consequently, the Bucs “are gathering names of young, controllable” Yankees they could acquire in a Cole deal, though there’s “nothing close,” Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (on Twitter). Notably, Brink adds that the Yankees are also “looking at” Rays righty Chris Archer. The 29-year-old has drawn significant interest this winter, but it’s unclear whether the Rays will move him.
Plenty more pitching rumors…
- The Royals are giving serious consideration to dealing southpaw Danny Duffy, who’s “extremely popular” on the trade market, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. Duffy suggested on Twitter that he doesn’t want to go anywhere, for what it’s worth. “Bury me a Royal,” he declared.
- As the Blue Jays look for pitching reinforcements, they are giving real consideration to veteran CC Sabathia, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes. Though manager John Gibbons suggested his own priority is to add bats, he also said he’d welcome the addition of the veteran Sabathia — who has a lengthy history with the Jays’ current front office leadership stemming from their time in Cleveland together.
- Teams have given up on trying to acquire Reds closer Raisel Iglesias, Heyman reports on Twitter. The Reds understandably want an enormous haul back for the 27-year-old star, who’s under affordable control for the foreseeable future.
- The Twins and Rays have chatted about veteran righty Jake Odorizzi, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter), who adds that Tampa Bay was not interested in Minnesota’s initial offer.
- Although they’re at the beginning of a full, cost-cutting rebuild, the Marlins aren’t feeling any urgency to deal righty Dan Straily, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com (Twitter link). Miami’s de facto ace will play his first of three arbitration-eligible seasons in 2018. He’s projected to earn a $4.6MM salary, which even the Marlins can afford.
- The Mets are not likely to sign another free agent reliever, at least in the near term, according to GM Sandy Alderson and as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. Instead, after landing Anthony Swarzak, the organization expects to begin looking to fill its other needs.
- Brewers GM David Stearns discussed his organization’s situation with reporters including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links). He said the team was willing to go to two years to get Swarzak, but wasn’t willing to match the dollar amount he ultimately took. The club still has open payroll capacity, which Stearns says he’ll put to good use. “We have spending power this offseason,” he said. “I’m confident we are going to find places to use that effectively.”
- Before the Astros agreed to a deal with Joe Smith on Wednesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com hinted on Twitter that the team could have interest in free agent righty Hector Rondon. Whether that still stands remains to be seen, but the Astros are already chock-full of righty relievers as it is.
Marlins Release Edinson Volquez
The Marlins have released veteran righty Edinson Volquez, club president of baseball ops Michael Hill told reporters including Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). The veteran hurler is still rehabbing back from Tommy John surgery and the organization was in need of 40-man roster space as it continues to make a variety of roster moves.
Volquez, signed last year as the club sought to build a pitching staff around its excellent core of position players. As it turned out, though, things fell flat and Volquez is one of several hurlers whose large contracts has created significant payroll drag — helping to push the organization toward a clear rebuilding path.
Miami owes Volquez a hefty $13MM for the 2018 season. There was really never any chance of the Marlins finding a taker for any of that, so it was lost money regardless. Volquez could yet be brought back on a minors pact, Hill noted.
Cardinals & Marlins “Making Progress” On Marcell Ozuna Swap
11:53am: It seems St. Louis is still not fully zeroed in on Ozuna — or, at least, not just Ozuna. In addition to some pitchers to whom the club has been tied previously, the Cards still seem to have some possible interest in Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, Rosenthal tweets.
And Bob Nightengale tweets the team is “optimistic” of scoring at least one significant hitter with the possibility of another. He also cites Longoria and adds Blue Jays Josh Donaldson as a player who is “in play” for St. Louis, though certainly most indications to date have been that Toronto has little interest in trading him.
11:22am: The Cardinals and Marlins are “making progress” on a deal that would send outfielder Marcell Ozuna to St. Louis, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). These organizations have been tied in chatter of one kind or another for much of the offseason.
We heard yesterday that the Cards were the favorites to land Ozuna. As of that time, though, there were multiple other suitors reportedly still involved and the Cardinals were also eyeing fellow Miami outfielder Christian Yelich.
It is still unclear just how things might come together, but there are quite a number of possible ways the sides could line up. The Cardinals have a host of young outfielders, potentially offering Miami a direct replacement with greater future contract control, along with the sort of youthful pitching that the Marlins covet.
As for Ozuna, he’d be the major stick the Cardinals have sought all winter. While he’s not at the level of former teammate Giancarlo Stanton, he did post an excellent .312/.376/.548 slash with 37 long balls in 2017. And Ozuna is also much friendlier to the checkbook, as he’s projected to earn $10.9MM in his second-to-last season of arbitration eligibility. That relatively light payroll hit might leave the Cards with capacity to make some other impact additions via free agency.
NL Central Notes: Reds, Cardinals, Pirates
Though the Reds didn’t ultimately make Shohei Ohtani‘s list of seven finalists for his services, the team put together a detailed presentation in hopes of luring the two-way star to Cincinnati. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com wrote an insightful article detailing the Reds’ pursuit of Ohtani; the team shared the contents of its presentation with MLB.com and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Despite the fact that they could only offer him a maximum $300K signing bonus, GM Dick Williams and the entire Reds organization believed they could come up with a pitch attractive enough to sway Ohtani in their direction. “I’d like us to think that we might have a chance. I’ve followed this kid,” Williams said at the the beginning of the process. “I think he’s wired differently. He’s clearly shown he thinks out of the box.” The baseball operations, business, creative services, and marketing departments all worked together to tailor a presentation that included a 120-page book and 12-minute video. One of Cincinnati’s selling points was having Ohtani pitch in a six-man rotation (something he was used to doing in Japan), while playing the outfield and getting at-bats as a pinch-hitter. The Reds pulled out all the stops, including the addition of testimonials from Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and former MVP Joey Votto. Though they ultimately came up short, the release of the presentation’s contents to the media is generous to say the least, and provides a rare and fascinating insight into the player recruiting process.
More items from the National League’s Central Division…
- Although he cautions that the club isn’t necessarily on the cusp of a big announcement, Cardinals GM Michael Girsch says that the club has “some sense of optimism” regarding their pursuit of a big bat (via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The Redbirds seem to have a desired hitter in mind, and reportedly feel good about their chances of acquiring him. “We’re not at the goal line, but we’ve made progress,” says Girsch. While Girsch himself didn’t mention any specific names, Goold notes in the article that the Cardinals have been linked to Miami outfielder Marcell Ozuna, while the Marlins have shown interest in St. Louis pitchers Jack Flaherty and Sandy Alcantara.
- A hitter isn’t the only thing the Cardinals are pursuing. Recently, they’ve been linked to Rays closer Alex Colome as a potential means to fill a clear need at the back end of their bullpen. Somewhat intriguingly, Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Colome began following four Cardinals-related accounts on his Instagram on Tuesday night (hat tip to NBC Sports’ Drew Silva). It could be nothing at all; social media activity certainly doesn’t have a strong correlation with transactional news. But while there are no reports of a deal in place, the flurry of follows has piqued curiosity and stirred the rumor mill. At the very least, it gives us another reason to closely monitor an interesting hypothetical.
- Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates are exploring the idea of adding a fourth outfielder through trade or free agency, in order to allow Jordan Luplow to begin the season at the Triple-A level. GM Neal Huntington notes that Luplow “didn’t have a ton of at-bats down there a year ago.” Indeed, Luplow only has 87 career plate appearances at Triple-A, and his .205/.276/.385 major league slash line indicates that his bat could benefit from more development at the minors’ highest level. The 24-year-old Luplow was drafted out of California State University Fresno with the Pittsburgh’s third-round pick; the right-handed outfielder is 24 years old, according to Fangraphs.
Trade Rumors: Montgomery, Hernandez, Castro, Mets, Span, Stratton, Fulmer
Left-hander Mike Montgomery wants to be a starting pitcher, and would like that opportunity with another team if there isn’t a spot for him in the Cubs‘ rotation, sources close to Montgomery tell The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Montgomery hasn’t told the Cubs about any desire to be traded, though he has told the team about his preference to start. The 28-year-old has been a valuable swingman for Chicago since he was acquired in a trade from the Mariners in July 2016, and the team has been so actively looking for starting pitching that it seems Montgomery’s role won’t change in 2018. Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times and other media that Rosenthal’s report “kind of caught me by surprise….There hasn’t been any dialogue that should have spurred a report like that. You just don’t know where it comes from. But sometimes that happens. Mike’s a great teammate.” Montgomery is a valuable asset with four remaining years of team control, though he could also become a big trade chip for the Cubs if they did consider moving him.
Some more rumblings about trade talks….
- The Phillies‘ Cesar Hernandez is the latest second baseman on the Mets‘ list of targets, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Hernandez may come with the highest asking price, however, of any of the players — Ian Kinsler, Josh Harrison, Jason Kipnis — the Mets are considering, given Hernandez’s controllable salary. One infielder the Mets aren’t interested in is new Marlins second baseman Starlin Castro.
- The Giants are believed to have offered Denard Span as one of the three players going to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Span would have helped fill the hole in Miami’s outfield and his $11MM salary would’ve helped the Giants offset a small portion of Stanton’s enormous contract. The Giants continue to be linked to the Marlins in talks for Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna, though Span wouldn’t be part of those potential trades given the far different salary parameters involved. It is fair to wonder whether Span will be wearing a different uniform in 2018, given how the Giants are looking to thoroughly upgrade their outfield both offensively and defensively. Also in the piece, Giants GM Bobby Evans said that teams have been asking about San Francisco’s top prospects and younger players, including right-hander Chris Stratton.
- Giants prospect Heliot Ramos is being asked about in almost every trade proposal, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly writes. Ramos, 17 ,was the 19th overall pick of the 2017 amateur draft and he has already turned a lot of heads in his brief pro career.
- Also from Baggarly, Bobby Evans said that teams have approached the Giants about trades that would see the Giants send a large-salaried player (and some prospects) elsewhere in what would essentially be a case of the other club buying minor league talent. Evans said he isn’t considering those types of deals at this time, though Baggarly also writes that the Giants may be increasingly keen on getting under the luxury tax threshold this winter in order to position themselves for larger spending in the future.
- The Rangers are one of the teams known to have contacted the Tigers about Michael Fulmer, though Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Fress Press reports that the two sides haven’t gotten very far in negotiations. Fulmer’s ability and years of team control make him an attractive target for any club, especially the pitching-needy Rangers, though the Tigers have naturally put a huge asking price on their young righty.
Cardinals “Favorites” For Marcell Ozuna; Multiple Teams Pursuing Christian Yelich
There’s plenty of interest in the Marlins outfield even now that it no longer features Giancarlo Stanton. We have heard lots of chatter surrounding Marcell Ozuna already, and there’s yet more intriguing news now emerging on him and teammate Christian Yelich.
The Cardinals are emerging as the favorites from a six to eight team field to land Ozuna, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Word emerged earlier today that the Cards have interest in sending multiple, controllable outfielders in order to acquire one premium asset, though it’s not yet clear that’s what’s under contemplation. The teams are surely already quite familiar with one another’s feelings on prospects after negotiating over Stanton. And Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who has long noted the Cards’ interest in Ozuna and Yelich, reported earlier today that the sides might also line up on reliever Brad Ziegler.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are also among ten or so teams that have inquired on Yelich, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter), reflecting longstanding interest that has been covered in recent weeks. The Braves and Diamondbacks are also in that grouping, he notes. Both of those teams make for interesting potential trade partners; in both cases, the interest is likely driven more by their views on Yelich than need, per se.
Clearly, there’s an interesting interplay here between the markets of these two productive teammates. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes on Twitter, Yelich is considered the more desirable asset given his lengthy, team-friendly contract. His report suggests the Fish would prefer to make a deal for Ozuna first, as the organization has given indications it would like to try to find a way to retain Yelich. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out given the multi-faceted considerations at play.
While he only has two years of control remaining and will play at a projected $10.9MM in 2018, Ozuna is fresh off of a monster 2017 season in which he blasted 37 home runs and slashed .312/.376/.548 over 679 plate appearances. That handily outpaced Yelich, whose own .282/.369/.439 batting line represented a step back from an outstanding 2016 season. Still, many around the game are enamored of Yelich’s bat as well as his overall game, so he’s plainly the more valuable trade piece in light of the fact that he can be controlled through 2022. (His contract promises just $44.5MM, including a buyout on a $15MM club option for that ’22 campaign.)