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Astros Sign Josh Reddick

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NOVEMBER 23: The deal has been announced, meaning Reddick is officially headed to Houston.

NOVEMBER 17: The Astros have struck twice today: after announcing a deal to acquire catcher Brian McCann, the club has now agreed to sign free-agent outfielder Josh Reddick, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). So long as his physical pans out, Reddick will receive a four-year, $52MM deal, per the report.

Houston entered the offseason with an immensely talented roster that didn’t quite meet expectations in 2016. The message all along from GM Jeff Luhnow was that the organization would be aggressive in building around a core that includes top-quality players such as Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, and the fast-rising Alex Bregman.

With Yulieski Gurriel already brought into the fold in a mid-season international signing, it seems that the ’Stros are mostly set on the position-player side of things. But there are still some areas that could see tinkering. Depending upon whether the organization intends to utilize Springer in center, a new regular (or platoon partner for Jake Marisnick) could still be pursued. With Bregman seemingly ensconced at third, Gulieski could spend his time in the corner outfield or perhaps at first base, which is the other area that could conceivably see a new addition.

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Like McCann, Reddick will bring a left-handed bat to replace an outgoing player. In this case, it’s Colby Rasmus, who returned to the open market after a disappointing 2016 season. Though the ’Stros had already dealt for Nori Aoki, who might have been in line for a similar role, it could flip him or simply not tender him a contract in arbitration.

Coming into the winter, the big question for Reddick was whether he’d be able to secure a fourth guaranteed year. While noting that possibility, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes wagered that he wouldn’t in a market that is relatively robust on the supply side in corner outfielders. But Houston evidently believes in Reddick, giving the 29-year-old a fairly hefty contract.

Of course, that kind of deal might even have looked light as of the summer trade deadline. At that point, Reddick was in the midst of a quality season for the A’s (despite missing time early with a fractured thumb), which led the Dodgers to make him their primary position-player addition. But Reddick was terrible in August, and ended up being used in a platoon capacity in Los Angeles.

That wasn’t quite the end of the story, of course. Reddick put up a blistering September and ended with a solid overall .281/.345/.405 batting line and ten home runs over 439 plate appearances. Given that he spent much of his time hitting at the O.Co Coliseum, that represented above-average production, though it fell shy of the .269/.326/.448 slash he put up over the two prior campaigns.

There are certainly some questions in Reddick’s game. First and foremost: his ability to hit left-handed pitching. Reddick has always carried rather significant platoon splits, but things didn’t improve last year, as he posted an awful .155/.212/.155 slash over 104 trips to the plate against same-handed pitching. And despite a history of delivering value in the field and on the bases, Reddick didn’t rate very well in either area last year (though DRS disagreed with UZR on the glovework, grading him as an above-average right fielder).

Still, it’s not as big a commitment as it seems when placed in the overall market context. Reddick’s deal represents something like the going rate for solid players who are capable of near-regular playing time. It’s exactly what the Yankees gave Brett Gardner in an extension and just shy of the older Ben Zobrist’s free agent contract from a winter ago. Other outfielders to land in this price range on four-year deals in recent years include Nick Markakis ($44MM), Nick Swisher ($56MM), and Michael Bourn ($48MM).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers Sign Andrew Cashner

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MONDAY: The deal is now official, per a club announcement.

FRIDAY: The Rangers are nearing a deal with free agent righty Andrew Cashner, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It’s expected to be for a one-year term at $10MM, per MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (Twitter links), who says the deal appears to be done.

If a pact is completed, it would make Cashner the fourth rather significant starter to reach agreement already this winter. Charlie Morton, Bartolo Colon, and R.A. Dickey all previously agreed to short-term pacts.

Texas was one of the organizations that made the clearest sense for Cashner, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes noted in his breakdown of the top fifty free agents — which placed Cashner 28th in earning power but predicted he’d pursue a one-year deal with hopes of rebuilding his stock for next winter. While we ultimately guessed that he’d head instead to the Pirates with an $8MM guarantee, this result certainly lands within range of expectations.

Sep 23, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Andrew Cashner (48) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Cashner, 30, will look to get his career back on track in his native Texas. He delivers a big-time fastball and has long been seen as a premium talent. It’s important to remember, too, that he has been a quality big league starter before: over 2013-14, he worked to a 2.87 ERA in nearly 300 innings. But he hasn’t been able to sustain that, and the last two seasons have been rough.

Since the start of 2015, Cashner has compiled 316 2/3 innings with an ugly 4.72 ERA. His strikeouts did tick up to 7.9 per nine, but he has also walked 3.6 batters and surrendered more than a home run per regulation game. Things only got worse after a mid-season trade to the Marlins last year.

That being said, there are signs of hope. Cashner still induces grounders on nearly half of the balls put in play against him, and has been a victim of both high BABIPs (.330 and .315 in 2016 and 2017, respectively) and low strand rates (65.6% and 69.1%). Of course, this past year in particular, the quality of contact against him may have been more of a driving factor than poor fortune or bad defense. He generated just 12.5% soft contact in 2016 — worst in all of baseball among pitchers who logged at least 100 frames.

[RELATED: Updated Rangers Depth Chart]

It’s a calculated risk for the Rangers, who evidently felt that Cashner offered more promise than did Derek Holland. The club declined its option over the lefty, choosing to reallocate those funds to Cashner. Texas will surely hope that he’ll make good on the trust, as the organization still has a rather uncertain outlook in its rotation after top two hurlers Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. At a minimum, the team needs Cashner to soak up some of the innings departing with Colby Lewis.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Photos.

Cardinals Sign Brett Cecil

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NOV. 21: The Cardinals have formally announced Cecil’s four-year deal and introduced him at a press conference.

NOV. 19: The Cardinals have agreed to a four-year deal with southpaw reliever Brett Cecil, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Cecil $30.5MM over the four seasons and includes full no-trade protection, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links).  The contract will be official when Cecil, an ACES client, passes a physical.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]

St. Louis was known to be interested in bullpen help this winter, and adding another left-hander was the more logical fit, as Kevin Siegrist was the only other healthy southpaw in the Cards’ bullpen.  Tyler Lyons will miss at least the start of the 2017 season due to knee surgery, while Zach Duke will miss next season entirely after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

In Cecil, the Cardinals have landed one of the top setup men on the market this winter.  In four years as a full-time reliever, Cecil posted a 2.90 ERA, 11.5 K/9 and 3.68 K/BB rate with the Blue Jays, with grounder rates of over 50% in three of those four years.  Over his career, Cecil has dominated left-handed hitters, limiting them to just a .226/.281/.344 slash line.

Brett Cecil

Despite this solid track record, the thought of Cecil landing a four-year deal seemed pretty remote in mid-July.  The lefty missed six weeks due to a tear in his lat muscle, and he had a whopping 6.75 ERA over his first 16 innings of action.  Down the stretch, however, Cecil looked far closer to his old self, posting a 1.74 ERA over his final 20 2/3 innings of the year.

Cecil’s 3.93 ERA was his highest in four seasons, though a .344 BABIP and an inflated 20% home run rate can be partially blamed for that spike.  Advanced metrics peripherals (3.64 FIP, 2.87 xFIP, 2.71 SIERA) take a more positive view of Cecil’s season, and he also posted a 11.05 K/9 and 1.96 BB/9.  His grounder rate did drop to just 42%, however, and hitters were making very good contact — 37.3% of Cecil’s contact allowed was comprised of hard-hit balls, easily the highest total of his career.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked Cecil 26th on his list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, and projected him to land a three-year, $18MM contract.  The fact that Cecil ended up with a fourth year and $30.5MM in guaranteed money is both a nice win for his representatives at ACES and a sign of just how far the Cards had to go to win the bidding.  The Mariners and Blue Jays were both known to be interested in Cecil’s services, with Toronto reportedly putting a three-year deal on the table to retain their longtime reliever.  Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that the Jays were one of multiple teams willing to give Cecil a three-year commitment.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports Images

Blue Jays Offered Roughly $80MM To Edwin Encarnacion

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The Blue Jays made a four-year contract offer to Edwin Encarnacion that was worth “about” $80MM before agreeing to a three-year, $33MM deal with Kendrys Morales, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi first noted that the Jays’ offer to Encarnacion was “likely” in that vicinity. However, despite the addition of Morales, Toronto is still interested in re-signing Encarnacion and remains in the mix for his services, according to Heyman. The Jays feel that Encarnacion can play first base competently enough to coexist on the roster with Morales.

The $80MM offer to Encarnacion is a sizable step up from the team’s reported two-year offer back in Spring Training, though Encarnacion’s robust market seems likely to lead to greater offers. Heyman lists the Astros, Yankees, Rangers and Red Sox as other teams that have at least reached out to Encarnacion, and agent Paul Kinzer tells him that a couple of National League clubs have reached out as well. Certainly, there will be some who are scared off by the notion of playing Encarnacion at first base on an everyday basis, especially as he advances into his late 30s over the life of a four- or five-year deal, but it’s worth noting that Encarnacion has at least graded out as a roughly average defender at first in fairly limited action with the Jays over the past two seasons (0 DRS, +3.3 UZR in 1117 innings).

Toronto general manager Ross Atkins said this weekend that the door is still open for a new deal with Encarnacion, stating that the signing of Morales only “slightly” lessens the chances of a big splash for Encarnacion. However, Atkins also said the team would be aggressive in pursuing one, if not two outfield pieces to add to the mix, and the Jays are also known to be interested in adding left-handed relief help (especially now that Brett Cecil has signed in St. Louis). With so many needs across the board and a number of other clubs interested in Encarnacion’s bat, it’s not clear that the Jays will feel comfortable beating the market in order to retain their star slugger, especially considering the fact that the Morales deal brings another potential 30-homer bat to the table at a considerably more affordable rate.

Blue Jays Sign Kendrys Morales

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With several question marks surrounding their lineup for the 2017 season, the Blue Jays have struck early to add some offense to the equation, formally announcing on Friday that they’ve signed free agent designated hitter/first baseman Kendrys Morales to a three-year, $33MM contract (as was first reported last week). Morales is represented by Wasserman.

[Related: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]

Entering last Friday, when the deal was first repored, the sides had been connected, but not in a particularly serious way. However, it quickly emerged that Toronto was making serious pursuit, and in fact it now seems clear that the club was finalizing a rather surprising early strike for the 33-year-old switch-hitter. That being said, it’s the timing that’s particularly eye-opening, as the match has long made a good bit of sense.

Kendrys Morales Blue Jays | MLBTR photo

Indeed, Morales-to-the-Jays is just what MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted in his ranking of the top fifty free agents. The third year went beyond expectations, though it comes with a fairly modest boost in what might have been anticipated in total compensation. Going to the extra year, but doing so at a palatable average annual value, may well explain why this deal was able to be completed so rapidly. Ultimately, Morales will earn a slight raise over the three year, $30MM pact signed two winters ago by another former Royals designated hitter, Billy Butler.

Though he’s coming off of a much better platform than was Butler, Morales is a fair sight older. This contract seems like a solid result for him. He slumped early in 2016 and finished strong, with the final result of a .263/.327/.468 batting line and thirty home runs over 618 plate appearances. He was even better in 2015, so there’s good reason to think he can continue to be an above-average offensive force, but Morales is a terrible baserunner and isn’t likely to be relied upon for regular work in the field.

It had seemed that Toronto would at least spend a bit more time looking into a return for Edwin Encarnacion, who had continued to express a preference to return. With this signing, though, he seems destined to head elsewhere. It is still theoretically possible that a reunion with Encarnacion could come together, as he’d be slated for first with Morales at DH. But that’s tough to imagine, as it would tie up a huge amount of the available payroll space and leave the team without any improvement in the corner outfield.

Instead, the Jays will likely go out looking for a few more assets with a good bit of their powder still dry. Whatever ongoing interest the team had in long-time star right fielder Jose Bautista could remain intact, as he’d make a cleaner fit at this point than would Encarnacion, though Morales’s presence at the DH slot for a three-year term complicates even that connection. If another hefty payroll hit isn’t in order, the club may instead aim further down the market and attempt to find some value in the corner outfield. Toronto is presumably also looking at adding some pitching, though perhaps that’s less of a priority.

Christopher Meola first reported the agreement and contract details (Twitter links).

Players Added To The 40-Man

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We’ll use this post to keep track of the players being added to their teams’ respective 40-man rosters today, which is the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Players must be added to the big league roster within either four years (if they were 19 or older at the time of their original signing) or five years (if 18 or younger) of their signing year in order to be shielded from selection.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo took a look at some of the biggest names who face roster decisions, though most of those won’t be much in question. At the fringes, teams must also consider the major league readiness of the player, since that factors heavily into whether they’ll be taken and kept. Any drafting team, of course, must keep a player on its active MLB roster for the full season (with certain exceptions relating to the DL) in order for their control rights to vest. Adding a player to the 40-man too early can have its own risks, because it limits flexibility and could require a team to expose that player to waivers if a need arises. With 26-man rosters reportedly under consideration, the Rule 5 draft could be quite intriguing this year, and that may bleed into today’s decisions as well.

Below is a division-by-division rundown of the names that were added to each team’s 40-man roster (plus the various waiver claims that spawned from teams trying to outright players to protect Rule 5-eligible prospects). We won’t delve into each player’s background, but if you’re looking to a little more about the names that were added, I’d highly recommend this tremendous, in-depth examination of each team’s additions by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper. If you want to see how the moves look in the context of a team’s roster, head over to Roster Resource for your club’s depth chart.

Onto the moves…

American League West

American League Central

American League East

National League West

National League Central

National League East

Royals Sign Drew Butera To Two-Year Deal

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The Royals have announced a two-year deal with free agent catcher Drew Butera. He’ll receive a $3.8MM guarantee, with $1.5MM for the 2017 season and $2.3MM in 2018, according to Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter).

Butera, 33, had a career year last season in Kansas City. He only took 133 plate appearances, but produced a .285/.328/.480 batting line with four home runs. That represented rather a significant improvement over his typical output, which stood at just .185/.241/.266 entering the season.

Certainly, Kansas City won’t be banking on that kind of sustained production from the veteran. He’ll be tasked mostly with serving as a defensively capable reserve to workhorse backstop Salvador Perez.

Though it’s a bit surprising to see Butera land a two-year guarantee, we’ve seen a variety of utility infielders score multi-year pacts at similarly modest salaries in the recent past. Given the state of catching around the game, it was certainly an opportune time for him to turn in a useful season at the plate.

Twins Outright Trevor Plouffe

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The Twins have outrighted third baseman Trevor Plouffe, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). He’ll become a free agent today unless he’s claimed by another organization.

MLBTR projected Plouffe to garner $8.2MM in his final pass through arbitration, a rather sizable sum for the solid veteran. Evidently, any efforts to deal him weren’t showing enough promise to keep him around through today’s deadline to add Rule 5-eligible players to the 40-man roster.

[RELATED: Updated Twins Depth Chart]

Plouffe, 30, no longer fit on a Twins roster that is overloaded at first base and DH while also featuring promising young third baseman Miguel Sano. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in breaking down the team’s offseason outlook, there was some reason to believe that Plouffe might draw at least a marginal trade return. But that obviously didn’t pan out.

That doesn’t mean that teams won’t be intrigued in free agency, of course. Plouffe has carried a .253/.314/.427 batting line and hit 48 home runs over his three seasons and 1,558 plate appearances. That’s approximately league-average production, to go with defensive metrics that have ranged from slightly below to slightly above average over the last few campaigns. He struggled badly early last year, and missed a fair bit of time, but was much better with the bat in the second half.

All told, there’s every reason to think that Plouffe will command a major league deal. Indeed, he could even score a multi-year commitment, depending upon how things shake out. But he likely won’t be drawing a $8MM+ annual payday. Justin Turner remains the clear top free agent third baseman, but Plouffe figures to slot in alongside Luis Valbuena near the top of the remainder of the market.

There had been discussion last winter that the Twins could try to move Plouffe to another organization to make room for Sano. But the club instead elected to keep both and give the lumbering Sano a try in the corner outfield. That move didn’t work out well at all, and in the interim Plouffe’s value fell enough that he was more a non-tender than a trade candidate.

Astros Acquire Brian McCann

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The Astros have acquired catcher Brian McCann from the Yankees, per team announcements. Prospects Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman will head back in return. The Yankees will pay $5.5MM of McCann’s $17MM annual salary for the two guaranteed years remaining on his deal, Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets.

Houston has promised a bold offseason, and this acquisition certainly delivers on that promise. The veteran slugger will add a power left-handed bat and shore things up behind the plate for the ’Stros, who had been in need with Jason Castro now a free agent. McCann, who waived his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal, will pair with Evan Gattis behind the dish. Both will likely also to see time in the DH role. Joel Sherman of the New York Post spoke with McCann’s agent, B.B. Abbot, who says that the catcher was told he’d have the opportunity to shoulder the bulk of the load behind the dish. (Links to Twitter.)

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[RELATED: Updated Astros Depth Chart]

McCann, 32, has been solid since joining the Yankees before the 2014 season, but hasn’t quite delivered the top-quality offensive production for which he was known before signing a five-year, $85MM contract. In 1,565 plate appearances with New York, McCann has slashed .235/.313/.418 and swatted 69 home runs. He also has continued to rate well as a pitch-framer, while also doing a solid job of controlling the running game and handling balls in the dirt.

Houston will be on the hook for $11.5MM in each of the following two seasons under the new arrangement. The Astros will take full responsibility for McCann’s 2019 option, which stands as a $15MM club option but could convert to a player option if he meets certain playing time requirements. (Specifically, it vests if he has 1,000 plate appearances in 2017-18, starts at least 90 games behind the plate in 2018, and doesn’t end that year on the DL.)

The move won’t spell an end to Houston’s offseason, of course. The club already added starter Charlie Morton, but is looking to do more to boost their offensive production, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

For the Yankees, McCann became expendable with the emergence late last year of touted youngster Gary Sanchez. While he could still have functioned as a DH and part-time receiver, McCann was a rather expensive insurance policy given that the team also has Austin Romine on hand behind the dish. With strong market demand, the opportunity to add young assets again held appeal.

[RELATED: Updated Yankees Depth Chart]

That doesn’t mean, of course, that New York is packing things in for 2017. Far from it. Olney tweets that the club will look to redirect some (or all) of the savings on McCann to a better-hitting slugger. He says that the Yanks have interest in bringing back Carlos Beltran, who has drawn wide interest in the early-going.

While financial considerations surely played a role in the swap, the Yankees were no doubt intrigued by the two player they received. Abreu is the more highly regarded of the two; as J.J. Cooper of Baseball America explains, he throws a live fastball that occasionally nears the triple-digits. With a four-pitch arsenal, he perhaps has a chance to stick as a starter. Still, he only just turned 21 and struggled with his command last year at the Class A and High-A levels.

Guzman, meanwhile, has even more velocity, with his heater ticking up to 102-103 mph at times. Cooper notes, though, that he’s more effective when he’s operating at a slightly lower velocity (in his case, the upper-nineties). While the long-term outlook suggests that Guzman will end up in the pen, he is said to have a promising slider and also a change-up that’s in the works. The 20-year-old has yet to move past Rookie ball, but showed big strikeout ability (12.2 K/9) in his time in the Gulf Coast and Appalachian leagues last year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Sign Bartolo Colon

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NOV. 17: The Braves have now announced the signing of Colon to a one-year deal. “We are thrilled to add a veteran of Bartolo’s caliber to our club,” said GM John Coppolella in a press release announcing the move. “He will be valuable to us both on the field and in the clubhouse and it will be exciting to watch him chase baseball records during a historic season for the Braves franchise.”

NOV. 11: The Braves set out to acquire at least two starting pitchers this offseason, and in a span of 24 hours they’ve added two of the most durable innings eaters on the market. After signing R.A. Dickey to a one-year deal on Thursday, they’ve now reportedly agreed to a one-year, $12.5MM deal that will pry free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon away from the Mets. Colon is represented by Wasserman.

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Colon, 44 next May, has spent the past three seasons with the division-rival Mets and will undoubtedly leave many New York fans feeling jilted with this new deal. For the Braves, he’ll join Dickey in adding another veteran source of innings to what was previously a young and highly inexperienced rotation. While some Atlanta fans may question the decision to ink a pair of pitchers that are a combined 85 years in age, both have been highly durable workhorses in recent years.

Colon has averaged 195 innings per season over the past four seasons, logging a collective 3.59 ERA with 6.1 K/9 against a pristine 1.3 BB/9. In that same span, Dickey has averaged 206 innings per year with a 4.05 ERA while pitching in the AL East. Both hurlers will fill in the rotation behind Atlanta’s top starter Julio Teheran and young right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, leaving the final spot up for grabs among a number of young arms highlighted by Matt Wisler and Aaron Blair.

The Mets are “disappointed” to see Colon go, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman, but they were cognizant of the fact that he could receive superior offers and a chance at greater innings by signing elsewhere. Despite having a seemingly full rotation heading into the 2016 campaign, the Mets re-signed Colon on a one-year $7.25MM contract to pitch in the back of the rotation while Zack Wheeler finished his Tommy John rehab. Most believed that Colon would eventually slide into the bullpen, but instead he remained in the rotation all season as the Mets were ravaged by injury. Wheeler never pitched in 2016, while Matt Harvey underwent thoracic outlet surgery, Jacob deGrom had his ulnar nerve repaired and Steven Matz went down with an elbow spur and a shoulder impingement.

However, New York expects each of those arms to be healthy in 2017, and they’ll be joined by ace Noah Syndergaard with emergent right-handers Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman serving as valuable depth options should a need arise. That grouping makes it difficult to see how Colon could’ve reasonably expected to pick up many innings in 2017, but he’ll have a clear path to doing so in Atlanta. With 233 wins in his career, Colon is just 10 shy of Hall of Famer Juan Marichal’s 243 victories — a Major League record for a Dominican-born pitcher. Colon has openly spoken in the past about how much it would mean to him to surpass that mark, and a regular role in Atlanta’s rotation will certainly afford him the opportunity to do so.

Adding Colon and Dickey on one-year commitments also lessens the need to rush prospects such as Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis to the Majors, and it can also give Blair and/or Wisler further opportunity to hone their skills in the minors after struggling through their brief big league tenures thus far.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported that Colon had agreed to sign with an unnamed team that was not the Mets (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported that the Braves were the team with which Colon had agreed to terms (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that it was a one-year deal that did not contain an option (Twitter links). FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reported Colon’s 2017 salary (Twitter link).

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