Alex Reyes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Cardinals righty Alex Reyes has decided to have Tommy John surgery, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on Twitter. The unfortunate outcome seemed likely after it emerged yesterday that Reyes was under evaluation; as Good further reports today, Reyes was diagnosed with a full tear of his ulnar collateral ligament after reporting pain during a throwing session on Friday.
With the news, it’s clear that the 22-year-old Reyes will miss all of the 2017 season. He’ll likely aim to return to action early in the 2018 campaign, assuming that his rehabilitation program proceeds smoothly. It’s a long road, and not without it’s risks, but many other pitchers have successfully found their way back.
For the organization, losing Reyes will tell in the short and the long term, even if he is able to return to full strength. He likely would have been an important contributor to the 2017 club as it attempts the tall task of dethroning the rival Cubs. And the club will lose not only the chance to further develop the prized righty but also a year or more of his service time (which will run while he’s on the DL).
Reyes was seen as one of the game’s top prospects entering the 2016 season, though his timeline was impacted somewhat due to the fact that he opened the year on the restricted list due to a suspension for marijuana use. Still, he earned his way up to the majors in time for a 46-inning debut, and only raised his profile along the way.
While it was obviously a short sample, Reyes followed through on the hype by allowing just eight earned runs (good for a 1.57 ERA) on only 33 base hits. He also racked up a strong 10.2 K/9 against a suboptimal 4.5 BB/9, showing both his upside and need for further refinements.
Just as importantly, the youthful hurler exhibited the electric stuff that put him on the map. He averaged over 96 mph with both his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, which he went to with over 60% of his deliveries to the plate while also working in a change and curve. Unfortunately, that propensity for the hard stuff, combined with his young age and prior UCL damage, meant that Reyes carried several of the TJ risk factors identified by the statistical study of MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum.
With Reyes out, the Cards will not only lose a fair bit of upside from the staff — even if he wasn’t a regular in the rotation, he might’ve dominated from the pen — but will open camp with less depth than had been hoped. The ability of Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn to bounce back from their own health issues will now be all the more important, and the club will need to hope that 40-man prospects Luke Weaver, John Gant, and Mike Mayers can continue to make strides. Southpaw Marco Gonzales could enter the picture, too, if he’s able to make it all the way back from his own TJ procedure, and Goold notes that former closer Trevor Rosenthal will have a chance to show this spring that he can transition to a starting role.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Braves Acquire Brandon Phillips
The Braves have announced that they’ve acquired second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Reds in exchange for minor league pitchers Andrew McKirahan and Carlos Portuondo. Phillips is owed $14MM in 2017, the last year of his contract, and the Reds will pay all but $1MM of that sum.
[RELATED: Updated Braves and Reds Depth Charts]
Phillips previously blocked the Braves’ attempt to acquire him in November, which came after he shot down efforts from the Nationals and Diamondbacks to land him a year ago. But the 35-year-old finally had a change of heart and will head to his native Georgia. The Braves will honor Phillips’ limited no-trade clause (12 teams), and they’ll give him a $500K bonus if he’s dealt to a club not on his list, general manager John Coppolella announced.
The Braves seemingly picked up at least a part-time second base solution when they signed Sean Rodriguez as a free agent in November. However, Rodriguez needs left shoulder surgery thanks to a January car crash and will be out three to five months, according to FOX Sports’ Rosenthal (Twitter links). The right-handed Rodriguez could have platooned with the lefty-swinging Jace Peterson at the keystone. With Rodriguez out of commission, the righty-hitting Phillips will now take over at second and provide the Braves a respectable stopgap as they count down to the start of the Ozzie Albies era.
Phillips has historically performed better against southpaws (.284/.332/.455) than same-handed pitchers (.271/.315/.409), but the three-time All-Star obviously doesn’t carry an alarming platoon split. He’s also coming off yet another fairly productive offensive season, having slashed a decent .291/.320/.416 across 584 PAs. Phillips simultaneously surpassed double-digit home run and stolen base marks (11 and 14) for the ninth time, too. On the other hand, the normally adept defender’s production in the field declined sharply, as Phillips registered minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-2.1 Ultimate Zone Rating after recording positive marks in each category from 2007-15.
By moving Phillips, the rebuilding Reds will open up playing time for young middle infielders Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera. Peraza fared well in a 256-plate appearance stint as a utilityman in 2016 (.324/.352/.411), but Herrera hasn’t yet debuted with the Reds since they acquired him from the Mets for outfielder Jay Bruce last summer. The Reds aren’t getting much in return for a longtime franchise cornerstone, though. Neither the 27-year-old McKiran nor Portuondo, 29, will land on the Reds’ 40-man roster or receive invitations to big league camp, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Moreover, ESPN’s Keith Law classifies the two as “non-prospects” (Twitter links).
Phillips’ exit from Cincinnati brings about the end of a long and fruitful tenure that began in 2006. The Reds acquired Phillips from the Indians that year in exchange for a player to be named later (right-hander Jeff Stevens), which undoubtedly counts among the best trades in the history of the Cincy franchise. Phillips hit .279/.325/.429, swatted 191 home runs, stole 194 bases and racked up 31.7 fWAR over 6,899 trips to the plate with the Reds from 2006-16. He also never played in fewer than 121 games in any of his 11 seasons as a member of the club, and he exceeded the 140-game plateau 10 times – including in 2016. Along the way, Phillips helped the Reds to three playoff berths, the first of which came in 2010 and broke a 14-year drought.
The Reds have now gone three straight years without a postseason trip, and given that they’re not close to contention, GM Dick Williams is taking the organization in a Phillips-less direction. Phillips’ departure will make superstar first baseman Joey Votto the Reds’ longest-tenured player.
FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal first reported that a trade was close. He also reported that the Reds would eat most of Phillips’ salary and get a minimal return. Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported on the concessions the Braves made to Phillips, and he was the first to identify the players the Reds received. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com first reported that the Reds would get two minor leaguers in return. ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported that the trade was done. ESPN’s Jim Bowden reported on the exact concessions the Braves had made to Phillips. FanRag’s Jon Heyman first reported that the Reds would eat $13MM. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Marlins Reportedly Have “Handshake Agreement” To Sell Team
SATURDAY 8:49am: Charles Kushner’s son Joshua — Jared Kushner’s younger brother — is the person with the preliminary agreement to buy the Marlins, Steven Wine of the AP writes. Charles and Jared Kushner are not believed to be involved with the deal. The team could sell for far less than $1.6 billion after Joshua Kushner does due diligence, according to Wine.
THURSDAY 5:24pm: Kushner is “not involved” in the reported handshake deal, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, and likely wouldn’t pass muster from the league’s perspective.
4:34pm: The league has issued a short statement on the matter (h/t Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, on Facebook): “Under Major League Baseball rules, the Commissioner’s Office must be informed of any conversations about a potential sale. The Commissioner’s Office has not heard directly or indirectly of any conversation involving Charles Kushner.”
3:55pm: New York real estate executive Charles Kushner is involved with at least one group making a bid for the Marlins, according to the AP and ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell, though it’s not clear how prominent a role he has or whether his party is the one referenced in this morning’s report. Assuming he is a part of the leading bid group, Kushner could complicate matters for the league. Beyond the cash shortfall noted by Ozanian, Kushner has a troubling criminal history, as this Bloomberg story details. And then there’s the fact that his son, Jared, is married into the family of and serves as a senior adviser to president Donald Trump.
10:27am: The Marlins have a “handshake agreement” in place to sell the team to a New York-based real estate developer for the price of $1.6 billion, reports Mike Ozanian of Forbes. Ozanian cites two anonymous sources that claim to have been told by Marlins president David Samson that the deal is in place. The $1.6 billion price tag would be more than 10 times the $158MM price at which owner Jeffrey Loria purchased the team back in 2002.
The hangup in the reported agreement for the time being is that the potential buyer does not have enough liquid assets to make the purchase, as the majority of his net worth is tied up in real estate investments. Allowing this buyer to purchase the team would require more debt than Major League Baseball would be comfortable with, per Ozanian.
As Ozanian points out, the Dodgers’ current ownership group took on an enormous amount of debt when buying the team for $2 billion, but Guggenheim Baseball Management also had hundred of millions of dollars in hedge fund money and a $6 billion television agreement that dwarfs the Marlins’ current contract with Fox Sports Florida.
Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes that he reached out to Samson in light of the Forbes report but was met with a reply of, “no comment at all.” There have been reports since December that Loria could consider a sale of the team, with Ozanian reporting at the time that Loria sought a $1.7 billion price tag. In Ozanian’s latest report, he notes that Solamere Capital considered purchasing the club and had been discussing a $1.4 billion price with Loria.
A sale of the Marlins would bring to a close one of the most controversial ownership tenures in recent history. Loria has been widely panned by both fans and the media for an unwillingness to spend on the on-field product, orchestrating multiple fire sales even after winning the World Series in 2003 and opening a new, taxpayer-funded stadium in 2012. As Vocativ’s Joe Lemire points out (on Twitter), if the sale of the team does ultimately go through, Loria will have paid just $15.5MM of the $325MM that is owed to star right fielder Giancarlo Stanton on his exceptionally backloaded 13-year contract.
Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch Passes Away
Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has passed away at 87 years of age, Bill Shea of Crain’s Detroit Business reports on Twitter. MLBTR extends its condolences to his family and friends, as well as the entire Tigers organization.
In a press release, his son Christopher — who is the president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Inc. — called his father “a once-in-a-generation entrepreneur, visionary and leader.” A son of Macedonian immigrants, the elder Ilitch was born and raised in Detroit. He went on to own two of the city’s iconic sports franchises, the Tigers and the Red Wings of the NHL.
Ilitch spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from high school, and then joined the Tigers as an infielder. He ended up playing four seasons of minor-league ball before hanging up his spikes at 25 years of age. From there, according to the release, Ilitch worked as a door-to-door salesman to fund the opening of a pizza joint — the first Little Caesars.
After growing that small business into a massive, multi-national corporation, Ilitch expanded his business holdings. He bought the Red Wings in 1982, overseeing a golden era for that franchise, and took control of the Tigers in 1992.
While the hockey glories never quite carried over into the baseball arena, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Ilitch’s initial period of ownership was notable mostly for the Tigers’ poor play, but things began to turn around after he developed Comerica Park in a public-private partnership in advance of the 2000 season.
The tide broke in 2006, when the Tigers finally reached the postseason for the first time since 1987, advancing to the World Series (where they lost to the Cardinals). Detroit posted winning campaigns in eight of the next eleven seasons, returning to the playoffs four more times. The club made it to the Fall Classic once more in 2012, but again came up short.
Over his later years, Ilitch spared no expense to put a quality product on the field. The Tigers routinely placed among the game’s biggest spenders in player salaries, committing hundreds of millions of dollars annually to acquire and retain star-level talent.
Looking ahead for the Tigers organization, it seems that Christopher Ilitch will largely step into his father’s shoes. While there are indications that the club will look to streamline its finances, the younger Ilitch has expressed a similar passion for fielding a winning team.
Mets Re-Sign Jerry Blevins
FEB. 9: The Mets have announced the signing. FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Blevins will earn $5.5MM in 2017 and has a $7MM club option for the 2018 season that comes with a $1MM buyout.
FEB. 4: Blevins will make $6.5MM in 2017 and could earn $12.5MM over the next two seasons if the Mets exercise his 2018 club option, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. He’ll also get $100K in incentives in each year (Twitter links).
FEB. 3, 8:10pm: The deal includes an option, per James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter).
7:52pm: The Mets have agreed to a deal to bring back free-agent lefty Jerry Blevins, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll be guaranteed around $6MM in the deal, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (via Twitter).
With the move, New York further adds to a relief corps that already saw new additions earlier today. The organization also brought back righty Fernando Salas and brought in southpaw Tom Gorzelanny on a minor-league pact for depth.
[RELATED: Updated Mets Depth Chart]
Blevins, though, was arguably a particular priority for New York. He’ll step in front of Josh Edgin and Sean Gilmartin in the pecking order among southpaws. Gorzelanny joins other depth options, including Josh Smoker and Adam Wilk.
Ultimately, it’s an appealing price tag for the Mets, who brought back Blevins last year for $4MM after an injury-shortened 2015 season. The results were excellent for both team and player, as Blevins turned in what was arguably his best full season as a big leaguer.
Over 42 innings last year — compiled across a personal-high 73 appearances — Blevins worked to a strong 2.79 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 to go with a 45.8% groundball rate. Long a weapon against opposing lefties, Blevins has increased his effectiveness against righties since coming to New York, perhaps aided by the increased deployment of his cut fastball. He also throws a sinker, a slider, and (much less frequently) a change.
With Blevins signed, the bulk of the left-handed relief market has now settled out. It’s interesting to see how things landed. Blevins, Boone Logan, and J.P. Howell all settled for single-season pacts, while Brett Cecil, Mike Dunn, and even Marc Rzepczynski landed bigger guarantees in multi-year arrangements.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Byung Ho Park Clears Waivers, Outrighted To Triple-A
First baseman/designated hitter Byung Ho Park has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the Twins’ 40-man roster, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The team has since announced the move. Park will be in camp with the Twins as a non-roster invitee in Spring Training.
Park was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment last week in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Matt Belisle, who signed as a free agent. However, the guaranteed $9.25MM remaining on Park’s contract allowed him to pass through waivers unclaimed, and he’ll now remain with the Twins and vie for a job in camp or early this season after getting in some work with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in Rochester.
The 30-year-old Park was a superstar in the Korea Baseball Organization prior to being posted by the Nexen Heroes, and the Twins secured exclusive negotiation rights with him in December 2015 by submitting a blind bid of $12.85MM. Minnesota and Park’s representatives at Octagon worked out a four-year, $12MM contract that came with a fifth-year club option, and Park was penciled in as Minnesota’s primary DH heading into the 2016 campaign.
Park rallied after a slow first week and was hitting .257/.339/.578 with nine homers through his first 124 plate appearances. Strikeouts were a problem for Park from the get-go, however, and his production fell off the table before a June demotion to Triple-A. With Rochester, Park was eventually sidelined by a wrist injury that ultimately required surgical repair. The slugger wouldn’t blame his struggles in the Majors on the injury, though it’s certainly possible that Park’s ailing wrist/hand contributed to his .191/.275/.409 slash in the Majors.
MLBPA Weighing Proposals For Multiple Rule Changes
FEB. 8: Another rule change being weighed by Major League Baseball is more radical and would put a runner on second base at the onset of extra innings, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The league is planning to test the scenario in the lowest levels of the minor leagues, according to Passan, and there’s already at least one proponent of the idea among the league’s top decision-makers: MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre.
“Let’s see what it looks like,” Torre told Passan. “It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch. As much as it’s nice to talk about being at an 18-inning game, it takes time. … What really initiated it is sitting in the dugout in the 15th inning and realizing everybody is going to the plate trying to hit a home run and everyone is trying to end the game themselves. I don’t know what inning is the right inning. Maybe the 11th or 12th inning. But there are a number of reasons.”
Passan notes that any implementation of this type of radical change to the course of play would likely take years, adding that adoption would be an easier sell to players that have become accustomed to the shift throughout their minor league career. Nonetheless, there figures to be strong opposition to a change of this magnitude, which could have far-reaching impacts ranging from scoring decisions to in-game strategy to actual roster construction.
FEB. 6: Major League Baseball has made formal proposals to the MLB Players Association for two rule changes, ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports. The proposed changes would affect the size of the official strike zone (raising the lower part of the zone to the top of the player’s knees from its present location at “the hollow beneath the kneecap,” as per the official wording) and allow a team to simply signal if it wants to intentionally walk a hitter, letting the batter advance to first base without the pitcher having to lob four balls wide of home plate.
The latter change would be largely symbolic of MLB’s efforts to increase the pace of play, as Stark notes that the actual time saved by eliminating the four tosses per intentional walk is fairly negligible. Reducing the size of the strike zone is also technically a time-saving proposal, as the move would theoretically cut down on strikeouts and produce more balls in play, and thus more action.
The MLBPA is weighing both rule change proposals with membership, with Stark reporting that the intentional walk elimination is the more likely of the two to be approved for this season. An automatic intentional walk is a cosmetic change, whereas altering the strike zone obviously has much more impact on the game itself. According to Stark, the new zone would be roughly two inches higher than the old one, as umpires have been calling strikes below the knees with more regularity.
There are “mixed feelings” amongst players about the strike zone proposal, Stark reports, and thus it could be difficult for a decision to be reached in time for the new regulation to be implemented for the start of the 2017 season. Since Spring Training is so close, a decision on either proposal for 2017 will need to come “sooner rather than later,” according to one Stark source.
Royals Sign Jason Hammel
The Royals have added a veteran arm to their rotation, announcing on Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Jason Hammel to a two-year deal with a mutual option for the 2019 season.
The 34-year-old ACES client will reportedly receive a $16MM guarantee that includes a $5MM salary in 2017, a $9MM salary in 2018 and a $2MM buyout on his option. He can also earn an additional $250K per season for reaching 200 innings pitched.
[Related: Updated Kansas City Royals Depth Chart]
Hammel’s long offseason began when the Cubs allowed him to decide whether he wanted them to exercise his $12MM 2017 option or give him a $2MM buyout. The Cubs ultimately declined the option, already an unusual decision on a reportedly healthy pitcher coming off a solid 3.83 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 season as a back-end starter, and Hammel hit the open market, only to linger there for almost four months. That long period on the market included a change of agencies, from Octagon to ACES.
The $16MM guarantee Hammel will receive over two years has to qualify as a disappointing outcome for him, at least relative to his likely expectations earlier in the offseason. While this offseason was a slow one for starting pitchers in general, Hammel compares favorably to several starters who received similar or greater amounts, either in total contract value or average annual value, including Charlie Morton (two years, $14MM), Bartolo Colon (one year, $12.5MM) and former Royal Edinson Volquez (two years, $22MM).
A fit with the Royals seemingly emerged following the tragic death of Yordano Ventura in a car wreck in the Dominican two weeks ago. Hammel represented the top available starting pitcher on the free agent market at that point. Now he’ll enter a Kansas City rotation picture that will also feature Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Nate Karns, Jason Vargas and Chris Young.
With the exception of an ugly 2013 season in Baltimore, Hammel has generally posted consistently solid results since leaving Colorado in prior to the 2012 campaign — he’s eaten 771 innings in that time, with a slightly-above-average 3.88 ERA to go with 8.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. Those peripheral numbers slipped a bit last season with Chicago, to 7.9 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9, but he was still generally effective, with a 3.83 ERA. He relies heavily on his very good slider, a pitch he threw more frequently (35.1%) than any other qualified starter last season except Michael Pineda, Chris Archer and Ervin Santana.
Hammel turned 34 in September, so his new deal will cover his age-34 and age-35 seasons, with the mutual option covering his age-36 campaign. A large number of Royals (including Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar and Vargas) are eligible for free agency next winter, so Hammel’s addition will help the club bridge the gap between next season and the immediate future beyond it. As Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets, the Royals’ late deals with Hammel and Brandon Moss have sent their payroll north somewhat, although those increases have been offset in part by the departures of Wade Davis and Jarrod Dyson, as well as Duffy’s extension, which reduced the 2017 salary he would have received through the arbitration process.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement (Twitter link). Hammel will receive $16MM guaranteed, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports tweeted the terms, and Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reported the year-to-year breakdown (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reported the deal’s incentives (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pro Hockey Rumors Has The NHL Trade Deadline Covered
The NHL trade deadline is less than a month away, and our sister site Pro Hockey Rumors has all the breaking news and rumors. Will the Dallas Stars finally upgrade their goaltending? Will the Arizona Coyotes pull the trigger and trade the face of the franchise? Will the Red Wings stand pat or make moves to preserve their record playoff streak? Visit Pro Hockey Rumors today and follow us on Twitter @prohockeyrumors!
Blue Jays To Sign Joe Smith
FEB. 7: Smith’s deal comes with a $3MM base salary and $500K in performance bonuses, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney.
FEB. 4: The Blue Jays have reached an agreement with right-handed reliever Joe Smith on a one-year Major League deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The signing, should it become official, will require a 40-man roster move by Toronto. Smith is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Smith, 33 in March, posted a 3.46 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.38 HR/9, and 50.3% groundball rate in 52 innings for the Angels and Cubs. In terms of peripheral stats, it was the veteran sidearmer’s worst campaign since 2010. The Blue Jays will look for Smith to recapture some of his excellence spanning 2011-14, when he was fourth among all relievers with a 2.25 ERA in 271 2/3 innings. Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro has a previous connection to Smith, having acquired him in December 2008 while serving as general manager of the Indians.
Early in the 2016 season, Smith became the top man in the Angels’ bullpen when Huston Street went down with an oblique injury. However, Smith hit the DL himself in June with a hamstring injury. Shortly after his return, he was dealt to the Cubs at the trade deadline. Smith’s time with the Cubs was particularly brief due to a recurrence of the hamstring injury, and he was left off the team’s playoff roster.
The Jays’ contract with Smith comes on the heels of a one-year pact signed with lefty J.P. Howell on Tuesday. Howell will fill the role of the departed Brett Cecil, who signed a four-year deal with the Cardinals. Holdovers in the Blue Jays’ bullpen include Roberto Osuna, Joe Biagini, and Jason Grilli.
With pitchers and catchers reporting in a week for some teams, free agent relievers Joe Blanton, Travis Wood, and David Hernandez are among those still looking for a home.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.