Blue Jays Name Atkins GM, Promote LaCava To Senior VP
5:20pm: The Blue Jays have officially announced the hiring via press release, adding that LaCava will remain with the organization and be promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations. Atkins will be introduced at a press conference tomorrow at 11am ET.
3:20pm: The Blue Jays will hire Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins as their new general manager, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter), citing a “well-placed source.” The connection between Atkins and the Blue Jays has been made in the past and is a logical one, as Toronto president/CEO Mark Shapiro was recently hired away from the Indians, where he served as GM from 2001-10 and president from 2010-15. Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reported recently that Atkins was curiously absent from the Indians’ organizational meetings, leading him to speculate that it could be due to the likelihood of him leaving to become the next Jays GM.
The hire means that longtime Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava, who has been operating as the club’s interim general manager, will relinquish his GM duties and, presumably, return to his old role. The Blue Jays recently inked LaCava to a contract extension that would keep him in the organization regardless of whether or not he was named the club’s permanent general manager.
Atkins, 42, has spent the past 15 years with the Indians occupying a variety of roles in the organization, including vice president of player development, director of player development, director of Latin American operations and assistant director of player development. The Wake Forest grad played college ball for four years before being selected by Cleveland in the 38th round of the 1995 draft and embarking on a five-year minor league career.
Per Cleveland’s media guide, Atkins’ most recent responsibilities with the Indians included overseeing the entirety of the team’s player development operations, facilitating collaboration between the player development and scouting departments and advising president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti in player evaluation and staffing decisions.
Mariners Sign Nori Aoki
4:37pm: Aoki will receive a $5.5MM base salary, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (via Twitter). The contract contains a $6MM mutual option that will automatically vest if Aoki reaches an unspecified but “easily attainable” playing time figure (presumably, plate appearances). Aoki can also earn up to $1.5MM worth of incentives in each season of the contract.
By signing for $5.5MM, Aoki receives the exact same amount he’d have been guaranteed if the Giants had exercised his 2016 option. Of course, Aoki does come out ahead in this scenario, as he’ll pocket the $700K buyout that was already paid to him by the Giants. And, of course, he can surpass the $5.5MM figure via incentives, creating the opportunity to further distance himself from what he’d have earned by returning to San Francisco for a second season.
4:21pm: Jerry Dipoto’s ongoing efforts to create a more athletic outfield and bolster his club’s on-base percentage continued on Thursday, as the Mariners’ GM announced the signing of Nori Aoki to a one-year contract with a vesting/mutual option for the 2017 season. Aoki is represented by CAA Sports.
Aoki has spent four years in the majors after coming over from Japan. Now entering his age-34 season, he has consistently delivered average (or slightly better) offensive production with a high-contact, low-K, high-OBP approach. All told, he owns a .287/.353/.386 MLB batting line, and has never wavered much from that mark.
It had seemed for some time that Aoki would be spending this season back with the Giants, but the club paid him a $700K buyout rather than picking up a $5.5MM option. Aoki’s .287/.353/.380 slash last year was a virtually direct match for his career line, though it translates to a 112 wRC+ once the effects of playing in spacious AT&T Park are accounted for. But the veteran was less effective in the second half, and missed significant time with a concussion.
Now, it seems, Aoki is back to health. However, he’s still not without his limitations as a player. As the above-cited offensive numbers show, he’s not much of a power threat and has never again hit double-digit homers since his first season in the majors. Though UZR has consistently rated him as an above-average gloveman in the corner outfield, many have observed that he’s not an efficient or consistent route-taker and the DRS metric has identified a defensive dip in recent seasons. Aoki remains a twenty-steal threat, but Fangraphs’ BsR calculation pegs him as a below-average baserunner.
We heard just recently of Seattle’s interest in the veteran. As I noted at the time, the club’s overall outfield (and first base/DH) mix seemed a bit crowded. Following this week’s trade of Mark Trumbo, though, there’s now one less highly-compensated player in the mix.
By plugging in Aoki, Seattle now has three outfielders at the Major League level that hit from the left side, as he joins center fielder Leonys Martin and corner outfielder Seth Smith. Meanwhile, Nelson Cruz and fellow right-handed hitter Franklin Gutierrez are also under contract. New skipper Scott Servais will have plenty of platoon options available to him.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com first reported the signing (links to Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Darren O’Day
2:54pm: Industry expectation is that O’Day will secure a four-year deal that comes in a bit shy of Andrew Miller‘s $36MM pact, Crasnick now tweets, suggesting something in the range of $32-34MM.
DEC. 3, 1:59pm: Baltimore has been making contact with alternative free agent relievers, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter links), who suggests that could be an indication that the team “might not be optimistic” about its chances of re-signing O’Day. Meanwhile, the Nats, Dodgers, and Braves remain in the hunt, per the report, which notes that the veteran would like to continue pitching on the east coast.
DEC. 1: The Orioles have made a “competitive” bid for free agent reliever Darren O’Day, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. Baltimore appears to be one of the final teams under consideration for the veteran, though numerous others — the Nationals, Braves, Dodgers, and perhaps more — could still be involved, per the report.
While a signing timeline remains uncertain, O’Day has seen plenty of action over the early weeks of the offseason. He could reach an agreement before the Winter Meetings open on Monday, Connolly suggests.
The O’s have been in touch with O’Day’s representatives for some time, so the interest itself isn’t new. But Connolly writes that this is the team’s first formal offer to the late-inning ace. And its apparent competitiveness also seemingly suggests that the team is more serious about retaining O’Day than had perhaps been expected.
O’Day is the top-ranked reliever on the free agent market, per MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes. While he’s entering his age-33 campaign, O’Day’s sub-2.00 ERA over the last four seasons makes him an obvious target for many teams looking at pen upgrades.
Download Our Free Trade Rumors App
The MLB Winter Meetings take place in Nashville next week, and our free Trade Rumors app for iOS and Android is the perfect way to follow your favorite teams and players and be the first to know about all the rumors and deals. Trade Rumors allows you to set up news feeds and push notifications for all our MLB news, plus any combination of your favorite teams and players. You simply can’t find any other app that matches our standards of quality and timeliness in sports news!
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Cliff Lee Intends To Pitch In 2016
Veteran free agent starter Cliff Lee has been cleared by doctors to begin working his way back to the hill, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Lee has already begun throwing and intends to pitch in 2016 so long as he can find the right opportunity.
There figures to be no shortage of interest in the one-time ace. Clubs pay good money for the right to take risks on injured players all the time, but rarely is there as much upside as comes with Lee.
True, Lee is already 37 years of age and is looking to return after a lengthy rehab from a partially torn flexor tendon. But he’s also thrown at an exceedingly high level as recently as 2014. Though he only put up a 3.65 earned run average in his 81 1/3 innings that year, Lee carried a 6.00 K:BB rate and drew ratings from metrics that valued his effort in the 3.00 earned-per-nine range.
Of course, Lee has also shown much more prior to that season. He racked up over 220 frames per season over 2011 through 2013, working to a cumulative 2.80 ERA in that span while striking out a batter per inning and walking less than one-and-a-half per nine.
It goes without saying that Lee’s past success guarantees nothing moving forward. He might re-injure his arm. Or he might have reduced velocity, movement, and/or command. But even a lesser version of Lee would likely be a productive big league asset, and there’s hope of much more. Assuming he continues on track to throw in 2016, Lee will be a fascinating player to watch on the market.
Latest On Shelby Miller
We’ve heard a wide variety of rumors regarding trade interest and possible proposals for Braves righty Shelby Miller. While it seems that the Braves remain more than willing to move him in the right scenario, the club is nevertheless holding firm on its asking price, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links).
Despite reportedly widespread interest, it appears that no team has stepped up its bid to a sufficiently enticing level in this relatively early stage of the offseason. That makes it increasingly likely that the 25-year-old will open the season in Atlanta, per Crasnick, though obviously there’s ample time remaining to find a match.
One team said to have interest in Miller is the Cubs, with the Braves reportedly intrigued in turn by young outfielder Jorge Soler. But that’s not a perfect fit, Crasnick suggests (links to Twitter), because Atlanta has committed itself to Nick Markakis and Hector Olivera in the corner outfield for the next several seasons. Of course, given Atlanta’s oft-demonstrated penchant for shifting assets to find value and add controllable assets that it believes in, it would still seem plausible that something could be arranged if the affinity for Soler is as strong as has been suggested.
Meanwhile, per the report, Chicago “would prefer” to center a deal around Javier Baez or Starlin Castro. Both are probably capable of playing short, second, or third, making them good potential matches (on paper, at least) with Atlanta’s long-term needs in the infield. Nevertheless, Crasnick says it’s “not an ideal fit from either side,” seemingly suggesting that the Braves aren’t that enticed by those particular young infielders.
Braves Non-Tender Mike Minor
TODAY: Atlanta has confirmed in an announcement that both Minor and Ciriaco were non-tendered yesterday, with the remainder of their arb-eligible players being tendered contracts.
YESTERDAY, 8:25pm: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that while Minor is likely to be non-tendered, GM John Coppolella said at 9:20pm ET that a final decision has not yet been reached.
8:19pm: The Braves will non-tender left-hander Mike Minor and infielder Pedro Ciriaco, reports MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Minor’s status has been in limbo as reported setbacks in the southpaw’s recovery from shoulder surgery have left his recovery timeline uncertain, making his expected $5.6MM salary something of a risk for Atlanta.
Minor has battled through a pair of lost seasons, missing the entire 2015 campaign and also battling through injuries in 2014 en route to a 4.77 ERA in 145 1/3 innings. However, when healthy, the former No. 7 overall draft pick had proved himself capable big league starter, working to a combined 3.72 ERA (3.76 FIP) in a span of 466 2/3 innings from 2011-13.
Minor isn’t a power arm, sitting at an average of about 90.5 mph even when healthy, but he’s still averaged just under eight strikeouts per nine innings when healthy while displaying above-average control. The type of contract he signs — and the date on which he signs it — will be determined in large part by when he’s able to again take the mound and pitch in competitive games.
Having spent the entire season on the Major League disabled list, Minor accrued a full year of service in 2015, leaving him with four years, 138 days of service time. As such, a team that elects to sign him will have control of him not only in 2016 but also in 2017, should it feel comfortable going through the arbitration process with him next winter.
2015-16 American League Non-Tenders
Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2016 season. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR’s Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates (in the estimation of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes). Also important for reference is the set of arbitration salary projections from MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz.
We’ll run down the list of American League non-tenders here, and update it as reports come in.
- According to a club announcement this morning, the Yankees non-tendered righty Domingo German last night. By parting with the pre-arb-eligible hurler, New York cleared one open spot on its 40-man.
- The Rangers announced that they won’t tender contracts to righty Nick Tepesch or outfielder James Jones. Neither player was arbitration eligible, but the decisions clear two 40-man roster spots. Tepesch missed the 2015 season battling shoulder injuries. Jones was recently acquired in a trade with the Mariners, though the main component of that deal for the Rangers was probably right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen. Texas hopes to retain both on minor league contracts, tweets the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson.
- The Blue Jays have non-tendered backup catcher Josh Thole and tendered the rest of their players, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (via Twitter). Thole has served primarily as R.A. Dickey‘s personal catcher due to his familiarity with the knuckleball for much of his time with the Blue Jays.
- Outfielder David Lough has also been non-tendered by the Orioles, the club announced. Lough hit just .201/.241/.313 with the Orioles in 144 plate appearances this season but has a reputation as a good defensive outfielder in the corners and traditionally hit righties well prior to this season.
- The White Sox have non-tendered Tyler Flowers and Jacob Turner. More on that decision here.
- The Orioles will non-tender infielder Paul Janish, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The defensively gifted journeyman was projected to earn a modest $600K in arbitration next season.
Earlier Updates
- Righty Al Alburquerque will be non-tendered by the Tigers, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets. The 29-year-old was projected to earn only $2.1MM, and Detroit could use pen depth, but it appears that the club decided to move on after watching the veteran contribute 62 innings of 4.21 ERA ball with 8.4 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 last year.
- The Athletics have announced that first baseman Ike Davis will not be tendered a contract, meaning he’ll become a free agent. The veteran was entering his final year of control at a $3.8MM projected salary. His non-tender was widely expected after a tough 2015 season, but became assured when the club swung a deal earlier today for his replacement.
Astros To Non-Tender Chris Carter
The Astros will non-tender first baseman/DH Chris Carter, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. Carter, who was a Super Two last year, was projected by MLBTR to earn $5.6MM.
We had heard yesterday that Houston would only tender Carter a contract if it felt he could be traded, and that obviously did not prove to be the case. The Astros will presumably rely upon Evan Gattis as its primary DH, with players like Jon Singleton and prospect A.J. Reed potentially factoring in at first, though some kind of outside addition can’t be ruled out.
Carter, 28, is a huge source of power, with 90 home runs over the last three years. He’s put up a productive .218/.312/.459 slash over that span, indicating that this immense pop makes up for an equally monumental strikeout rate.
But that still leaves unaddressed the matter of defense, and that’s just not an area where Carter shines. He is more or less unplayable in the outfield, and also hasn’t drawn very good reviews at first, either. As a bat-only player, the overall production record just wasn’t quite good enough — it seems — to support his projected earning capacity.
Pirates Non-Tender Pedro Alvarez
The Pirates announced that they have elected not to tender contracts to first baseman Pedro Alvarez and outfielder Jaff Decker for the 2016 season. The rest of the team’s arbitration eligible players, aside from Alvarez, have been tendered contracts. Alvarez had been projected to receive an $8.1MM salary next season, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Alvarez, the second overall pick in the 2008 draft, adds an intriguing name to the free-agent market for teams in search of power. He’s crushed 111 homers over the past four seasons (11th in all of Major League Baseball) while hitting .238/.310/.456. That, on the surface, would seem to make Alvarez a worthy tender, but Alvarez comes with a number of less appealing factors as well.
Alvarez broke into the league as a third baseman, but the Pirates moved the 6’3″, 250-pounder across the diamond to first base in 2014 due to defensive issues. While Alvarez readily accepted his new role, he proved to be a liability at first base as well. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating pegged Alvarez at -14 runs in 906 innings this season, and his 23 errors tied him for third in all of baseball at any position despite the fact that he had the fewest defensive innings played of any player in the top 30 of that dubious list.
Additionally, Alvarez has long struggled against left-handed pitching. He hit .258/.292/.419 against lefties in 2015, though he was limited to 65 plate appearances versus same-handed pitchers. Those limitations were placed on Alvarez with good reason; he’s a lifetime .203/.270/.332 batter against fellow lefties. On the flip side of the equation, Alvarez has proven to be a formidable force against right-handed pitchers. He’s a .246./320/.473 hitter against righties in his career with 114 of his 131 homers coming while holding the platoon advantage.
The Pirates certainly made an effort to trade Alvarez, tweets Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but were simply unable to find a willing taker. Considering the fact that the still-28-year-old Alvarez (29 in February) averages a home run every 19 plate appearances versus right-handed pitching, he should draw considerable interest from American League clubs looking for a first baseman/designated hitter that can be platooned with a potent right-handed bat. Clubs like the Orioles and Indians stand out as possible fits, while the Rays and White Sox could make some sense depending on their ability to move James Loney and Adam LaRoche, respectively.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.