Rangers Hire Chris Young As General Manager
The Rangers have hired Chris Young as their new general manager, Ken Rosenthal and Levi Weaver of The Athletic report. Jon Daniels will stay on as the team’s president of baseball operations.
This is out-of-nowhere news, as there was no indication Daniels would step aside as the Rangers’ GM this offseason. It’s a role Daniels has held since 2005. While Daniels is now 43, he became the youngest GM in league history when he got the job at the age of 28. The Rangers have since earned five playoff berths and won two American League pennants, though they have fallen on hard times in recent years. The team hasn’t finished above .500 since 2016, and it will reduce payroll heading into 2021, making an immediate return to contention even more difficult.
The Rangers are hoping the addition of Young to their front office will make it easier to return to relevance sometime soon. The 41-year-old is a former major league right-hander and a Princeton alumnus who began his career with the Rangers from 2004-05 before Daniels traded him to the Padres. Since he hung up his spikes in 2017, Young has been working in the MLB office, first as the league’s vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy. He took on an even bigger role this year after chief baseball officer Joe Torre moved into an advisory position.
Young recently interviewed for the Mets’ GM job, but he dropped out of the running because he did not want to relocate his family. The Dallas resident will now get an opportunity to help lead a local franchise.
NPB’s Nippon Ham Fighters Post Haruki Nishikawa For MLB Teams
The Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have made center fielder Haruki Nishikawa available to Major League clubs through the NPB/MLB posting system, the Japan Times reports. Major League teams will now have a 30-day window to negotiate with the 28-year-old Nishikawa.
The left-handed-hitting Nishikawa batted .296/.419/.388 with just five homers, 15 doubles and three triples this year, although he also swiped 37 bags in 42 tries. He’s posted an OBP of .378 or better in each of the past four seasons while striking out in 16.5 percent of his plate appearances against a 14.3 percent walk rate.
Overall, dating back to 2017, Nishikawa is a .291/.397/.401 hitter through 2433 plate appearances. He’s stolen 144 bases with an 87.8 success rate in that time. Nishikawa has three stolen base titles, three Gold Gloves in the outfield and a pair of All-Star nods in NPB. He made it known last offseason that he hoped the Fighters would post him for big league clubs this winter.
There’s an obvious lack of power that will curb Nishikawa’s earning capacity with big league clubs, but his speed, plate discipline, bat-to-ball skills and ability to play multiple spots in the outfield all will hold appeal. Sports Info Solutions’ Ted Baarda profiled him recently, likening Nishikawa’s skill set to that of Ben Revere: a fleet-footed, contact-oriented hitter with the range to play anywhere in the outfield but arm strength (or a slight lack thereof) more suited for left field or center field. (It should be noted, though, that Nishikawa’s walk rate in NPB is about three times greater than Revere’s career mark in MLB.)
While this is expected to be a rather unforgiving offseason to baseball’s middle tiers of free agents, Nishikawa’s attempt to move to the Majors could be well-timed given relatively thin group of free-agent center fielders. George Springer, of course, is one of the top overall free agents but is also likely to come with an asking price that is a nonstarter for the majority of clubs around the league as they try to scale back payroll. Jackie Bradley Jr. presents a glove-first everyday alternative. Kevin Pillar is again available, but defensive metrics are down on his work in center.
That’s not to say Nishikawa is a clear starter at the big league level, of course. It’s possible that a low-payroll club could give him the opportunity to earn that role, but any team giving him that chance would figure to have alternatives on hand in the event that Nishikawa’s bat is overmatched by big league pitching. Still, his presence adds another option to the free-agent mix in center or for any team seeking a left-hitting fourth outfielder with speed to burn.
Any team that eventually signs Nishikawa will owe a release fee to the Fighters under the aforementioned posting system. That fee, which comes on top of the contract paid to the player himself, is equal to 20 percent of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5 percent of the next $25MM and 15 percent of any dollars thereafter. Nishikawa’s track record in NPB is lesser than that of countryman Shogo Akiyama, who inked a three-year, $21MM deal with the Reds last winter. It’d be a surprise to see Nishikawa top that mark, so in all likelihood his posting fee will fall squarely into that first tier, 20-percent bracket.
Nishikawa becomes the second Fighters player to be posted for MLB clubs this winter, following the previously announced posting of the team’s top starting pitcher, righty Kohei Arihara.
Complete List Of Non-Tendered Players
The non-tender deadline has passed. Some of the more notable non-tenders included Kyle Schwarber, David Dahl, Archie Bradley, Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall, Maikel Franco, Nomar Mazara, and Carlos Rodon.
Here’s the full list of players who were non-tendered and became free agents today. You can view our full free agent tracker here.
Catchers
Curt Casali (32)
Chadwick Tromp (26)
Tony Wolters (29)
First Basemen
Rangel Ravelo (29)
Danny Santana (30)
Second Basemen
Hanser Alberto (28)
Kyle Farmer (30) – immediately signed MLB deal afterward
Greg Garcia (31)
Shortstops
Jeison Guzman (22)
Daniel Robertson (27)
Third Basemen
Maikel Franco (28)
Travis Shaw (31)
Left Fielders
David Dahl (27)
Adam Duvall (32)
Eddie Rosario (29)
Kyle Schwarber (28)
Center Fielders
Albert Almora (27)
Delino DeShields (28)
Brian Goodwin (30)
Scott Heineman (28)
Erick Mejia (26)
Bubba Starling (28)
Right Fielders
Ben Gamel (29)
Nomar Mazara (26)
Tyler Naquin (30)
Jace Peterson (31)
Designated Hitters
Jose Martinez (32)
Starting Pitchers
Tyler Anderson (31)
Chi Chi Gonzalez (29)
Foster Griffin (25)
Ariel Jurado (25)
Carlos Rodon (28)
Jefry Rodriguez (27)
Jose Urena (29)
Right-Handed Relievers
Melvin Adon (26)
R.J. Alaniz (30)
Justin Anderson (28)
Matt Andriese (31)
Archie Bradley (28)
John Brebbia (31)
A.J. Cole (29)
Edgar Garcia (24)
Rico Garcia (27)
Jimmy Herget (27)
Jonathan Holder (28)
Clay Holmes (28)
Keynan Middleton (27)
Hansel Robles (30)
Carlos Sanabria (24)
Paul Sewald (31)
Ryne Stanek (29)
Ryan Tepera (33)
Nick Tropeano (30)
Matt Wisler (28)
Left-Handed Relievers
Alex Claudio (29)
Hoby Milner (30)
Chasen Shreve (30)
Twins Non-Tender Eddie Rosario, Matt Wisler
7:30pm: The Twins have non-tendered Rosario, per a team announcement. They’ve also opted not to tender a contract to right-hander Matt Wisler.
Wisler’ departure is somewhat of a surprise, given that he pitched to a 1.07 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings. Wisler allowed far too many walks (14) and hit a pair of batters as well, but his departure thins out a relief corps that has already lost Trevor May, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard.
Dec. 2, 1:35pm: Rosario has cleared waivers, according to multiple reports (including this tweet from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale).
Dec. 1: The Twins have placed outfielder Eddie Rosario on outright waivers, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. The club previously tried to find a taker for Rosario in a trade, but it wasn’t able to do so, according to Rosenthal.
Rosario has until Wednesday to join another team on waivers. If not, the Twins could non-tender Rosario or try to re-sign him for less than the $8.6MM to $12.9MM he’s projected to receive in arbitration this winter. Rosario is slated to go through arbitration for the final time in the coming months.
The 29-year-old Rosario has spent his entire career with the Twins, who chose him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. He has typically been a productive hitter since he debuted in 2015, evidenced by his .277/.310/.478 line across 2,830 plate appearances. Rosario has even hit at least 24 home runs on three occasions, including a career-best 32 in 2019, but his somewhat above-average offensive production might not be enough to keep him in a Twins uniform. The club has touted outfield prospects Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach nearing MLB readiness, making it no surprise that it seems willing to cut the cord on Rosario.
Assuming he hits free agency next, Rosario should draw a decent amount of interest on the open market. He’d be one of the most appealing corner-capable outfielders available behind the likes of George Springer, Marcell Ozuna and Michael Brantley, who should earn much richer deals. Teams that need help in the outfield but aren’t willing to spend on any of those three could pivot to Rosario.
Reds Non-Tender Archie Bradley
7:23pm: The Reds have already re-signed Farmer to a new one-year, Major League contract. His non-tender was likely something of a procedural move, allowing the team to bring him back on friendlier terms, but he’s back on the 40-man roster for the 2021 season already.
7:00pm: The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve non-tendered right-hander Archie Bradley, whom they acquired from the D-backs prior to the 2020 trade deadline. He joins fellow trade acquisition Brian Goodwin as well as catcher Curt Casali, righty R.J. Alaniz and infielder/catcher Kyle Farmer among Cincinnati non-tenders.
The 28-year-old Bradley, a former first-round pick and elite pitching prospect, couldn’t have pitched much better for the Reds after being acquired. He totaled 7 2/3 innings during the regular season and allowed just a run on four hits and no walks with six punchouts. He did yield a run in his lone postseason appearance, but it’s somewhat unexpected to see the Reds cut ties with him rather than pay him a raise on 2020’s $4.1MM salary.
While it won’t be a kind free-agent market for right-handed relievers, Bradley seems positioned to do better than most of his non-tendered counterparts. Since moving to the ‘pen full-time back in 2017, he’s been outstanding; in 234 2/3 innings, most of it spent as the D-backs’ closer, Bradley has a 2.95 ERA with averages of 9.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9. That’s all come while playing his home games in a decidedly hitter-friendly setting.
Bradley did see his fastball velocity dip to an average of 94.4 mph this year — about two miles below its peak in 2018 — which could be a red flag. But the Reds thought enough of him to trade for him as part of a playoff push at the deadline, and Bradley won’t turn 29 until next August.
Casali has been a productive part-time backstop for the Reds over the past three seasons, hitting .260/.345/.440. He was only owed a raise on a $1.4625MM salary, which seems like it should’ve been a reasonable price, but most clubs are striving to pare back payroll, and backup catcher is clearly a spot the Reds felt they could do so.
Goodwin’s non-tender was reported earlier in the day and comes as less of a surprise after his bat took a step back from his solid 2019 levels. The 29-year-old Alaniz didn’t pitch in the Majors in 2020 and wasn’t arb-eligible, so his non-tender was simply because the Reds simply wanted an extra 40-man spot.
Cubs Non-Tender Schwarber, Almora, Tepera
7:14pm: The Cubs announced that Schwarber, Almora, right-hander Ryan Tepera and first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez have all been non-tendered.
6:46pm: The Cubs have informed outfielder Kyle Schwarber that he won’t be tendered a contract for the upcoming season, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports (via Twitter). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported prior that “barring a change of plans,” the Cubs were intent on non-tendering both Schwarber and center fielder Albert Almora Jr. The Cubs do plan on tendering a contract to third baseman Kris Bryant, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman indicated earlier in the week. Both Schwarber and Almora will become free agents once their non-tenders are made official.
Schwarber, 27, is coming off a rough season in which he put together just a .188/.308/.393 batting line in 224 plate appearances. The former No. 4 overall draft pick walked at a characteristically strong 13.4 percent clip this past season, but his 29.5 percent strikeout rate was the highest mark he’s posted since 2017. At his best, Schwarber is an above-average power bat with passable left-field defense, but he’s also had plenty of defensive struggles throughout his career.
Schwarber earned $7MM in 2020 and was due a raise on that sum. As we saw with the Twins and Eddie Rosario, who cleared waivers today, that’s not a price point at which teams appear anxious to pay above-average hitters with some notable flaws (on-base percentage in Rosario’s case; defense and strikeouts for Schwarber).
The decision to jettison Almora is far less surprising. Though he was once rated as a high-end prospect and potential everyday center fielder, the 26-year-old hasn’t provided value at the plate over the past three seasons, batting a combined .261/.299/.373 (77 wRC+). He’s a talented defender with passable career numbers against left-handed pitching, however, so he could latch on as a fourth outfielder with another club.
Tendering a contract to Bryant, meanwhile, puts the Cubs in line to pay him a raise on this year’s $18.6MM salary. For a Cubs team looking to reduce payroll, he’s still a likely trade candidate, although finding a deal could be tricky. Bryant battled injuries and hit just .206/.293/.351 in 34 games this past season, which would give potential trade partners cause for concern (as would his salary). The ceiling here, of course, is an MVP-caliber player on a reasonable one-year deal, but teams aren’t going to value him as such in light of recent struggles. Convincing a trade partner to not only absorb Bryant’s salary but also to surrender some young talent of note could prove difficult for newly minted president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer.
Rockies Non-Tender David Dahl, Tony Wolters
The Rockies announced that they’ve non-tendered outfielder David Dahl, catcher Tony Wolters and right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez. All three are now free agents.
Dahl, 26, registers as something of a surprise non-tender. The former top prospect was due only a very modest raise on last year’s $2.475MM salary, and while he struggled through an awful 2020 season, hitting .183/.222/.247, he’s only a year removed from an All-Star campaign. In 2019, Dahl slashed .302/.353/.524 with 15 big flies, 28 doubles and five triples through 413 plate appearances.
The sky once looked to be the limit for Dahl, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2012 draft. He was universally regarded as a top 100 prospect throughout his minor league career, landing within the top 25 on multiple lists in multiple offseasons. He debuted in 2016 and hit .315/.359/.500 through 236 plate appearances, looking every bit like the star that most anticipated he would become.
Unfortunately for Dahl, injuries have hindered him time and time again. He’s had his spleen removed after suffering a laceration during a violent on-field collision, and he’s since dealt with stress reactions in his rib cage, a fractured foot, a high ankle sprain, multiple back injuries and most recently a shoulder injury. With all of those health concerns, perhaps the Rockies simply didn’t expect they could count on him to remain on the field in 2021, but a salary in the $2.5-2.6MM range doesn’t seem like much of a risk given the upside he carried over his remaining three years of club control.
Wolters, 28, has been a non-tender candidate in each of the past two seasons but hung onto his roster spot despite a lack of production at the plate. Rockies brass clearly has long liked his defensive capabilities, but at this point the club wasn’t willing to give him a raise on top of last year’s $1.9MM salary. Over the past three seasons, Wolters has batted .231/.316/.307. Gonzalez, also 28, has pitched in 20 games (16 starts) for the Rox since 2019 but been roughed up for a 5.66 ERA and 5.62 FIP.
Angels Acquire Jose Iglesias
The Angels have a new shortstop, as they’ve acquired veteran Jose Iglesias from the Orioles in exchange for minor league right-handers Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto, per announcements from both clubs. It’s the second straight winter with a notable trade between the two teams. The Halos acquired Dylan Bundy from the O’s last winter.
It’s something of a surprising move — one that rather definitively closes the door on a reunion between the Halos and free-agent shortstop Andrelton Simmons (though most expected Simmons to land elsewhere anyhow). Baltimore general manager Mike Elias has previously spoken of Iglesias’ importance to the roster, calling him a “perfect fit for what we need right now” (link via Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun). Elias said it was an easy decision to pick up the $3.5MM club option on Iglesias for the 2021 season, although the Orioles waited until the last minute to formally make said decision.
Iglesias, 31 next month, may not be the generational defender that Simmons is, but he’s long been regarded as one of the game’s premier defenders at the position. The knock against him has typically been his offense (or lack thereof), but he flipped the narrative in 2020 by slashing .373/.400/.556 with three homers and 17 doubles. Iglesias shouldn’t be expected to repeat that production, as he benefited greatly from a .407 average on balls in play while landing in just the 12th and 36th percentiles, respectively, in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.
That said, Iglesias still has some value at the dish. The 2020 season was actually the third of his career in which he’s batted .300 or better, and he’s been one of the more difficult hitters in the game to strike out since making his MLB debut back in 2011. He lacks any real power and doesn’t draw many walks, which often leads to a rather “empty” batting average, but those bat-to-ball skills do allow him to get on base at a respectable clip (career .319).
Iglesias’ BABIP-fueled surge was well-timed, as he wasn’t able to play much at shortstop in 2020 owing to a nagging quadriceps injury that limited his mobility. Assuming he’s healthy in 2021, he’ll give the Angels a shortstop who’s posted 18 Defensive Runs Saved and a 35.4 Ultimate Zone Rating over his past 4672 innings at the shortstop position.
It’s a cost-effective means of addressing a glaring hole on the roster — one that should allow the Angels to maintain a strong infield defense. That the Halos filled such a clear need via a trade bodes poorly for this winter’s crop of free-agent shortstops, however. With Simmons hitting the market, names like Marcus Semien and Didi Gregorius were surely eyeing the Angels as a potential fit. Iglesias’ salary is light enough that the Angels could still add another shortstop and use Iglesias in a utility role, though it seems unlikely that they’d have traded away young talent to acquire a utility man with so many other options on the market. In all likelihood, Iglesias will be tabbed as the starter, leaving Gregorius, Simmons, Semien and other shortstops looking elsewhere for homes in free agency.
In Stallings and Pinto, the Orioles will add another pair of far-off pitching prospects who could add to the organization’s depth down the road. Stallings was the Angels’ fifth-round pick out of the University of Tennessee in 2019 and now slots in 26th among Orioles farmhands over at MLB.com.
Stallings has yet to pitch in a professional game because the Angels shut him down after signing him out of the draft, citing a heavy college workload. MLB.com’s report on him credits him for having a legitimate four-pitch mix, albeit without a plus offering. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tabs Stallings as a “low-variance, fifth starter prospect.” The 19-year-old Pinto has just 12 pro innings under his belt and didn’t rank inside the Angels’ 30 best prospects, nor does he land on Baltimore’s top 30 list.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the deal (via Twitter).
Braves Non-Tender Adam Duvall
The Braves have non-tendered outfielder Adam Duvall, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. Duvall was in line to make at least $4MM in arbitration, but he’ll instead head to the free-agent market.
Duvall just wrapped up a two-plus-season stint with the Braves, who acquired him from the Reds before the 2018 trade deadline. Duvall was a two-time 30-home run hitter at that point, but he struggled enough during his final Reds season for the team to cut the cord on him. To Duvall’s credit, he rebounded from 2019-20 as a member of the Braves, hitting .248/.307/.545 (118 wRC+) with 26 home runs in 339 plate appearances. The 32-year-old was among the NL’s HR leaders with 16 in 2020, but that wasn’t enough to convince the Braves to tender him a contract.
While Duvall is no longer a Brave, it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t bring him back for a cheaper salary, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that they’ll consider re-signing him. For now, though, a team that has already seen Marcell Ozuna and Nick Markakis hit free agency is down another outfielder.
Mets Sign Trevor May
DEC. 2: The deal is official. It’s a $15.5MM guarantee, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. May could make another $250K in performance bonuses in each season.
DEC. 1, 4:07pm: May’s contract is worth around $15MM, Heyman tweets.
2:10pm: It’s a two-year deal for May, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).
1:37pm: The Mets have agreed to terms on a contract with free-agent reliever Trevor May, SNY’s Andy Martino reports (via Twitter). The contract is pending a physical. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported earlier this afternoon that May and the Mets were “deep” in talks. May is represented by the VC Sports Group.
May, 31, becomes the first prominent reliever to come off the board. The longtime Twins righty bounced back from Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2017 season to become a reliable, late-inning power arm in Minnesota and one of the game’s foremost strikeout pitchers.
Since returning from that elbow operation, May has compiled 113 innings of 3.19 ERA and 3.56 FIP ball, averaging 12.2 strikeouts, 3.0 walks and 1.4 home runs per nine innings pitched. This past season was particularly impressive for May in terms of missing bats, as he whiffed an outstanding 39.6 percent of the hitters he faced.
May’s fastball averaged a career-high 96.4 mph in 2020, although the righty threw the pitch at a greatly reduced 52.1 percent clip. In place of the heaters, the right-hander ramped up the use of his slider to a career-high 32.2 percent and did so to great success; May generated a 14.6 percent swinging-strike rate on his slider, and plate appearances he finished with that pitch resulted in opponents putting up a pitiful .167/.167/.250 batting line.
Because he works at the top of the zone with his four-seamer, May has trouble with the long ball at times. However he also generated a ridiculous 20.6 percent swinging-strike rate on his fastball thanks to high-end velocity and spin on the pitch. Overall, Statcast pegged May in the 99th percentile of Major League pitchers in terms of swinging-strike rate and in the 98th percentile in terms of overall strikeout rate in 2020. For a Mets club that already boasts several power arms at the back of the bullpen, May only adds more firepower.
Of course, many of those arms are in need of a rebound. It’s arguable that if Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances and others had all pitched to their capabilities in 2020, the Mets might not have felt as motivated to make a push for an “early” deal with May. Still, pairing May with Edwin Diaz, Familia, Betances, Miguel Castro, Brad Brach and potentially Seth Lugo — depending on which direction the organization goes with him — gives the Mets a deep and talented mix of late-inning weapons, even if they there’s some considerable inconsistency among the bunch.
May was no doubt highly recommended and perhaps even personally recruited by Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who was the Twins’ bullpen coach prior to the 2020 season. Hefner, a former Mets pitcher, played a role in helping to coax a breakout from May and several other Twins relievers before being hired away by his former team.
The May signing is the first notable move of what most expect to be a highly active offseason for the Mets. While they’re still on the search for a new general manager, Sandy Alderson is back with the club under deep-pocketed new owner Steve Cohen and is calling the shots in baseball operations at the moment. With the game’s richest owner now in their corner, the Mets have already been linked to the majority of the top names on both the trade and free-agent markets.