Padres Acquire Dan Straily From Astros For Erik Kratz
The Padres have acquired righty Dan Straily from the Astros in exchange for veteran catcher Erik Kratz, the clubs have announced. Houston had been searching for another backstop after losing presumed reserve Max Stassi to injury.
Straily, 27, is out of options and did not appear in line for a rotation job with the Astros. He was, however, competing for a spot in the Houston pen. It’s certainly possible he could function in either capacity with the Padres.
It’s been something of an uphill battle for Straily since a promising 2013 season with the Athletics, in which he threw 152 1/3 innings and compiled a 3.96 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9. He’s only made 18 appearances (seven from the pen) since that time, with his earned run average ballooning to 6.42. He’s still young and controllable, but he’s also bounced from the A’s to the Cubs to the ‘Stros as a small part of more significant trades.
Meanwhile, San Diego has been rumored to be shopping its catching depth for longer than Houston has even had a need. Derek Norris, Christian Bethancourt, and Austin Hedges look like the top three options for the Padres. Rocky Gale remains in camp, too. More than likely, Kratz — who had a minor league deal with San Diego — wasn’t cracking the MLB roster anytime soon.
The veteran Kratz looks like a true stop-gap for Houston, while the club awaits the return of Stassi. The 35-year-old has spent time in the majors in parts of the last six seasons. He was most active over 2012-13 with the Phillies, and also topped 100 plate appearances in total in 2014, but last year he played in only 16 major league games.
All told, Kratz owns a .218/.270/.397 slash with 23 home runs in 560 MLB plate appearances. That’s quite an impressive power outlay, and Kratz owns an excellent .266/.343/.473 line in his Triple-A career. (That’s not a short sample, either: he’s seen action in ten seasons, and has 1,820 plate appearances on his ledger.)
Of course, striking this deal doesn’t necessarily preclude the Astros from searching for a more significant catching addition, though that seems increasingly unlikely — particularly since the club announced that it has added Kratz to its 40-man roster. Likewise, the Pads could still conceivably deal one of their other backstops. It’s worth noting, too, that adding Straily would help ease the burden if San Diego were to find a trade partner for James Shields, though his presence hardly changes the calculus of such a significant move.
Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle first reported the swap on Twitter, noting that Straily was going and a catcher was involved. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Kratz was involved, on Twitter.
Braves Release Nick Swisher
The Braves have unconditionally released first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, the club announced.
Atlanta had been trying to trade Swisher for much of the offseason but will instead have to eat much of the $15MM owed to the veteran for 2016. The Indians will also be covering a portion of that dollar figure, as the Tribe sent roughly $15MM to cover portions of Swisher and Michael Bourn‘s salaries as part of the August trade that brought Chris Johnson to Cleveland in a swap of bad contracts. If Swisher were to sign with a new team, that club would only be responsible for a prorated minimum salary while Atlanta and Cleveland would cover the rest of the $15MM.
Between the salary, Swisher’s age (35), his meager .204/.291/.326 slash line over 661 PA in 2014-15 and the double arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent in 2014, it’s not a surprise that Swisher didn’t generate much trade interest. He did hit decently well during Spring Training, however, and he told MLBTR’s Zach Links earlier this month that he “feels great” physically.
With such a small financial cost attached, there’s a good chance at least one team will explore adding Swisher as a bench bat and a veteran clubhouse presence. An AL team is more likely than an NL team for Swisher since senior circuit clubs wouldn’t have the benefit of the DH spot to preserve his knees. This is just my speculation, but the White Sox stand out as a team that could use some first base/DH depth now that Adam LaRoche has retired.
Cuba Could Consider Adding Defectors To National Team
Cuba could at some point consider adding famous defectors to its national team to play in the World Baseball Classic, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi writes. “Everything is on the table,” says Cuban baseball commissioner Heriberto Suarez, in Spanish.
“There’s a set of rules as to who can play for whom. Federations ought to put the best teams out there . . . That serves to make the event the best it can possibly be,” says MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. “That’s a decision they have to make. We certainly would be open to it.”
The potential inclusion of Jose Fernandez, Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Abreu, Aroldis Chapman, Yasiel Puig and other high-profile players — many of whom left Cuba under incredibly dangerous conditions — to Cuba’s national team would be hugely important for the WBC and for baseball, and would also be important symbolically for US-Cuba relations. Morosi points out, however, that there would be significant obstacles to those players’ participation. There would need to be a working agreement between MLB, the players association, and the Cuban and American governments, with Cuba receiving some sort of posting free allowing Cuban players to sign MLB contracts while remaining Cuban citizens.
Manfred has said that it’s likely some sort of agreement on Cuban players would be reached in talks for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. But the current CBA expires in December, when the US embargo against Cuba (which would prohibit posting fees) will likely still be in place. MLB is reportedly working with the White House to find a solution that allows the movement of players from Cuba to MLB.
Phillies Sign Pete Mackanin To New Extension
The Phillies have announced that manager Pete Mackanin has been signed to a new contract that will cover the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The deal also includes a club option for 2018.
This fresh contract overwrites the extension Mackanin received just last September when the Phils removed his interim tag and made him their official manager for the 2016 season. That older deal gave Mackanin a guarantee for 2016 and a club option for 2017, whereas this new contract adds an extra year of security for the 64-year-old.
Mackanin stepped in as the Phillies’ interim manager when Ryne Sandberg resigned in June, and the team went 37-51 under his leadership. More importantly than wins and losses for the rebuilding Phillies, Mackanin impressed upper management with his handling of the young talent. In a statement when Mackanin was originally extended in September, Phillies president Andy MacPhail said “Since assuming the interim manager position in June, Pete has developed an excellent rapport with our players and has also connected well with the media and our fans. Equally as important is his eagerness to take on the challenge of rebuilding the team and further developing our players.”
Prior to taking over managerial duties, Mackanin served as the Phillies’ third base coach and bench coach in two stints with the club since 2009. This is Mackanin’s first non-interim managerial job in the bigs after a long career of coaching and managing at both the Major League and minor league levels.
Diamondbacks Seek To Pursue New Ballpark
Chase Field opened in 1998, the year of the Diamondbacks’ inception, and has long drawn praise from the baseball community. But if the D-backs have it their way, it may not be their home for much longer, as Craig Harris of the Arizona Republic reports.
In a letter to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, President and CEO Derrick Hall argued that there is no reasonable recourse for the club but to “pursue other stadium options.” The problem, from the club’s perspective, is that the Maricopa County Stadium District — the board-controlled entity that owns the park — has failed to honor its alleged obligation to account for upwards of $187MM in maintenance and repair costs through 2027.
Hall puts it in even more dramatic terms in a statement released by the club today. “This spiral is insurmountable,” he said, apparently referring to the lack of funding for capital improvements, “and will result in a Chase Field that will no longer be a state-of-the-art facility as our agreement requires and may, in fact, become unsuitable for continued use. We cannot risk being put in that position.”
Even if that funding was available, however, the D-Backs say it wouldn’t make sense to use it towards the current, 18-year-old ballpark. Therefore, the team concludes in its letter, a new facility is necessary. While the organization says it strongly prefers to build in Phoenix, it also warns that it willing to “go elsewhere” to find an arrangement to its liking.
Of course, the contract at issue does not permit the team to pursue alternative stadium sites until 2024. While contending that the stadium district has ceded that right by breaching the contract, the club also requests authorization to explore alternatives — a request that has already been denied — under threat of pursuing court action.
Clearly, these maneuvers have set up a political and legal battle over the future home of the franchise. As Harris notes, the city’s hockey and basketball teams are also angling for new public commitments relating to their facilities, so there’s a broader picture at play here.
The Diamondbacks recently locked up a big new TV contract, ultimately dedicating over $200MM of that expected revenue flow to Zack Greinke. But new taxpayer-funded stadiums have long been another popular — yet highly controversial — means of boosting teams’ bottom lines yet further. The Braves’ shocking move out of downtown Atlanta provides a recent model, as Turner Field opened two years before Chase; the D-Backs’ letter calls that decision “economically efficient and responsible.”
Connor Byrne co-authored this post.
Alex Rodriguez May Retire After 2017
THURSDAY: Rodriguez may not be entirely firm about his decision to retire, as he texted Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News that “I’m thinking in terms of my contract which ends in 2017. After that, we’ll see what happens. I’ve got two years and more than 300 games to play.” One of Rodriguez’s friends tells Feinsand that the slugger could decide to keep playing if he’s reasonably close to Barry Bonds‘ all-time home run record. A-Rod currently has 687 homers, so he’s still a significant distance behind Bonds’ mark of 762.
WEDNESDAY: Long-time MLB star Alex Rodriguez has decided to retire after the 2017 season, he tells Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. The veteran will wrap up his career when his contract with the Yankees is up after next season.
Rodriguez, 40, will no doubt go down as one of the most talented and controversial players in baseball history. He went from hyped prospect to star in his first full season, a 1996 campaign with the Mariners in which he led the league in batting average while playing a stellar shortstop. That was his first of five outstanding seasons in Seattle and first of six in which he finished with an OPS of over 1.000.
Entering the open market in advance of his age-25 season, Rodriguez inked a ten-year, $252MM contract with the Rangers — an unheard-of sum at the time and still one of the three largest baseball player contracts ever. A-Rod continued to produce in Texas, finally winning an AL MVP award in 2003, though the club didn’t post a winning season over his three years.
Things took an interesting turn when Rodriguez was shipped to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano before the following season. Though he was still a quality defender up the middle, he moved to third base to play alongside Derek Jeter. Rodriguez went on to take home two more most valuable player nods in 2005 and 2007, then opted out of his deal in the midst of the World Series — only to strike yet another ten-year pact to stay in New York, this one for $275MM. Rodriguez ultimately helped lead the way to a 2009 World Series win, though his offensive production began to wane as he entered his mid-thirties.
PED allegations and a 2014 suspension significantly marred his legacy, however, and at one point it seemed in question whether he’d ever suit up for the Yankees again. But Rodriguez has, rather miraculously, managed to rebuild some of his public image and turned in a strong .250/.356/.486 campaign last year as the club’s regular DH.
New York owes Rodriguez $20MM in each of his final two campaigns. He’ll likely surpass Babe Ruth on the career home run list at some point before hanging up his spikes. While his performance record will always come with at least an implicit asterisk, Rodriguez already rates among the top 15 position players in history in terms of total fWAR.
Joe Garagiola Passes Away
Joe Garagiola passed away this morning, the Diamondbacks have announced. He was 90. He is survived by his wife, three children (including Joe Garagiola Jr., the former D-backs GM) and eight grandchildren. There will be a funeral in St. Louis, and a memorial service in Arizona.
Garagiola grew up in St. Louis as a close friend of Yogi Berra, and both players made their big-league debuts as catchers in 1946 (when Garagiola played in the World Series as a rookie with the Cardinals). Garagiola played for parts of nine seasons in the big leagues, catching for the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs and Giants before playing his last season in the big leagues in 1954. He batted .257/.354/.385 for his career.
Garagiola then went into broadcasting, first working for the Cardinals and then for NBC, where he worked alongside Vin Scully. He also served as a co-host on The Today Show, a guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and as the host of a variety of game shows. After leaving NBC following the 1988 season, he broadcast for the Angels in 1990 before serving 15 years as a part-time broadcaster with the D-Backs. He received the Ford C. Frick award from the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1991.
“Joe was so special to everyone at the D-backs and had an aura about him that you could feel the moment you met him,” says Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall. “Those of us who were lucky enough to know him personally were profoundly aware that the lovable personality that fans saw on TV was only surpassed by who he was in person and the way he treated everyone around him.”
Orioles Sign Zach Phillips, Designate Chris Jones
The Orioles have signed lefty Zach Phillips to a one-year deal, announced the team. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, they designated southpaw Chris Jones for assignment. MLBTR has learned that Phillips received a Major League deal worth $510K. Phillips is represented by Matt Colleran.
Phillips, 29, elected free agency last week after the White Sox removed him from their 40-man roster. He has just 15 2/3 innings of big league experience, which came from 2011-13. Last year at Triple-A Charlotte, Phillips posted a 3.13 ERA, 10.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 54 2/3 innings, allowing just one home run. He spent 2014 with the Hiroshima Carp. The Rangers took Phillips as a draft-and-follow out of Sacramento City College in 2004, trading him to the Orioles in July 2011 for Nick Green. Phillips told reporters including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com this morning, “I’ve always wanted to come back here and I thought it was a great time to. Just being familiar with Baltimore and them giving me a chance. I’ve always liked it here and thought it would be good to come back.”
Phillips “has a good chance to make the Orioles,” writes Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic. As noted by MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli on Twitter, the Orioles have a potential bullpen opening because of an injury to Brian Matusz. According to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun, Matusz has been dealing with a lower back strain and just received a cortisone injection, putting Opening Day in jeopardy. The Orioles kick off their season at home against the Twins on April 4th. Their bullpen should otherwise include Zach Britton, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens, Dylan Bundy, and one more reliever from a handful of options.
Jones, 27, put up a 2.94 ERA, 6.3 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, and 0.90 HR/9 in 150 Triple-A innings last year. That represented his third career stint at Triple-A. Jones was drafted by the Indians in the 15th round in 2007. He was traded to the Braves in October 2011 for Derek Lowe, and was later shipped to Baltimore for Luis Ayala in April 2013. The O’s released Jones in February 2014 upon signing Nelson Cruz, re-signing the lefty to a minor league deal shortly thereafter. He rejoined Baltimore’s 40-man roster last November, and had been reassigned to minor league camp early last week.
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Is MLBTR’s newsletter landing in your inbox each week? The premise is simple: an exclusive weekly hot stove article, written by me. There are no strings attached. The newsletter is completely free, and we won’t give out your email address or use it for marketing. This week, I’ll take a look at the 2017 MLB Free Agents who fell short of the top ten in my power rankings. Those of you viewing this post in our app can use this link.
2017 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
The 2015-16 MLB free agent class is winding down, and it’s time to turn our attention to the 2016-17 group. These players project to become free agents after the 2016 season, unless they sign contract extensions first. Extensions seem unlikely for the top names. Players may be reluctant to sign now, as the 2016-17 class appears weak. MLBTR’s full list of 2016-17 free agents can be found here.
What exactly are we ranking here? The simplest explanation would be earning power. These rankings represent expected contract size, assuming each player reaches the open market and goes to the highest bidder. Of course, nothing affects a free agent’s earning power more than his most recent season, so I’ll be updating these rankings monthly.
1. Stephen Strasburg. The first overall pick in the 2009 draft, Strasburg has been very good in his Nationals career but hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. One could draw a parallel with one of last winter’s top free agents, Justin Upton. Of course, it’s different with pitchers, and over the years Strasburg’s only limitation has been health. After tying for the NL lead in strikeouts in 2014, shoulder, neck, back, and oblique issues limited Strasburg to 23 big league starts in 2015. After the season, he had a “small, non-cancerous growth removed from his back,” wrote James Wagner of the Washington Post. Strasburg also has Tommy John surgery in his health history, with the procedure performed in September 2010. Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, enjoys a well-known cozy relationship with the Nationals. The team generated controversy in 2012 when Strasburg was shut down at 159 1/3 innings with the team headed to the playoffs, a decision unsurprisingly supported by Boras. Now, if Strasburg can muster up his second career 200-inning season along with his typical dominance, Boras will seek to shatter David Price‘s record contract for starting pitchers, which was for seven years and $217MM with the Red Sox. As with Price, opt-out clauses will factor heavily into the discussion. Strasburg doesn’t turn 28 until July, so he’ll be about two years younger than Price was.
2. Carlos Gomez. Gomez took big steps forward after being traded to the Brewers in November 2009, and posted a career-best 19 home runs in 2012. In the spring of 2013, with free agency looming after the season, Gomez signed a surprising three-year extension with Milwaukee. He went on to put up monster seasons in 2013 and ’14, but was derailed in 2015 with hamstring and hip issues. A near-trade to the Mets fell apart in July when New York backed out for various reasons, but he was successfully traded to the Astros the following day. Similar to Strasburg, a healthy season will go a long way for Gomez, who is also represented by Boras. The center fielder could land a deal north of $150MM if he returns to his 2014 level of health and production.
3. Yoenis Cespedes. I predicted a six-year, $140MM deal for Cespedes, who reached free agency after the 2015 season. Instead, the 30-year-old slugger turned down multiple five-year offers and returned to the Mets in late January on an interesting high-AAV contract. Cespedes signed a three-year, $75MM deal, with an opt out after 2016. If exercised, Cespedes will have earned a hefty $27.5MM for the ’16 season. If he does opt out, perhaps Cespedes will be coming off a season good enough to ease whatever concerns plagued him this winter, and he can snag that six-year deal in the end. It’s a weaker market for sluggers, as Bautista and Encarnacion are considerably older.
4. Jose Bautista. Bautista, 36 in October, crushed 75 home runs over the last two seasons for the Blue Jays. He’s a late bloomer, having broken out with the Jays in 2010 at age 29 with 54 home runs. While extension talks with Toronto have occurred, Bautista stated in February that he’s “not willing to negotiate” from his asking price, which reports suggest could be five or six years at around $30MM per season. Right now I’m penciling him in for four years and $120MM. Some teams will draw a hard line because of Bautista’s age, but it’s certainly possible for one to throw caution out the window.
5. Edwin Encarnacion. Bautista’s teammate has been prolific in his own right, with 151 bombs over the last four years. He’ll turn 34 prior to the 2017 season, so age is a big factor here as well. Talks with the Jays have stalled over contract length, and you have to think Encarnacion expects at least four years. I could see something like four years and $100MM, though he’d have a good argument for five years if Bautista gets that many first. Encarnacion is more limited in the field, as a DH/first baseman.
6. Josh Reddick. Reddick doesn’t carry the same health or age concerns as the other outfielders on this list. He recently turned 29, and he played in 149 games last year. Reddick has evolved as a hitter, dropping his strikeout rate to 11.2% last year. He’s got 20 home run pop and a good defensive reputation, if not the numbers to back up the latter in recent years. He could be a candidate for a surprising five-year deal approaching $100MM. The A’s are at least exploring an extension.
7. Andrew Cashner. You might be surprised to see Cashner this high on the list. Indeed, his position is tenuous. But in a free agent market starved for starting pitching, Cashner is the type you can dream on. A former 2008 first rounder, Cashner averaged a blazing 94.8 miles per hour on his fastball last year. That ranked sixth in baseball among those with 180 innings. On the other hand, it was Cashner’s first time reaching that innings plateau, and he served up a 4.34 ERA for San Diego. The team chose to hold onto him over the winter, perhaps sensing his value could rise in his contract year. If Ian Kennedy can get five years and $70MM plus an opt-out clause, Cashner could do well in a free agent market for starting pitching that looks much, much worse.
8. Kenley Jansen. Jansen, 29 in September, may be the game’s best reliever. The Dodgers’ closer boasts massive strikeout rates, and he added a career-best walk rate last year. Jansen is practically unhittable, and he doesn’t come with the off-field baggage Chapman does. Jonathan Papelbon‘s record four-year, $50MM contract for relievers could fall, as it’s possible Jansen could land a five-year deal.
9. Adrian Beltre. Though he’s represented by Boras, Beltre stands a fair chance of reaching an extension with the Rangers. The third baseman will turn 37 soon, but a three-year deal would be a fair request. I could see three years and $60MM or more. Though Beltre is winding down a potential Hall of Fame career, he remains a potent hitter and strong defender.
10. Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is right there with Jansen in terms of relief dominance, regularly punching out at least 42% of batters faced. The 28-year-old is the hardest-throwing pitcher alive, averaging 99.5 miles per hour on his fastball last year and over 100 the year before. However, his upcoming free agency is clouded by an incident that occurred at his home last October. In a police report uncovered by Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo, Chapman reportedly pushed and choked his girlfriend and fired a gun repeatedly in his garage. Chapman denies harming his girlfriend, but chose not to appeal the 30-game suspension handed down by MLB as part of its domestic violence policy. Even if Chapman avoids further incidents as a member of the Yankees, this one will affect his free agency after the season. Every interested team will conduct due diligence, and perhaps several will emerge with enough comfort to offer Chapman a large four-year deal. At this point, it’s difficult to say.
In the 2015-16 offseason, ten free agents signed for at least $80MM, seven of whom were pitchers. This year, only Strasburg seems likely to reach $80MM, highlighting the lack of depth in starting pitching in the 2016-17 market. After Cashner, there’s names like Jesse Chavez, Jorge de la Rosa, Ivan Nova, Edinson Volquez, Kris Medlen, and Brett Anderson. James Shields and Scott Kazmir each have the ability to opt out of their current contracts and join the market, though it’s unclear whether either will find that worthwhile. On the relief side, Mark Melancon is a high quality arm likely to land in our top 20.
There are a few interesting position players who did not make my initial top ten: Justin Turner, Francisco Cervelli, Matt Wieters, and Neil Walker. Ian Desmond and Colby Rasmus will find themselves back on the market again, barring extensions.
It doesn’t seem likely that the Nippon Ham Fighters will post 21-year-old phenom pitcher Shohei Otani after this season, but if they do it would shake up the MLB free agent market.