White Sox To Sign Brad Penny
The White Sox have signed righty Brad Penny to a minor league contract, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reports (Twitter links). The 36-year-old righty will look to continue his comeback with one of this offseason’s most aggressive teams.
Penny will have a chance to compete for a rotation spot this spring, Cotillo adds, though it would appear to be a longshot for him to earn a regular spot on a club that has declared its intentions to win now. Depth never hurts, of course, though another signing by the White Sox probably cannot be ruled out.
After a failed try in the spring with the Royals, Penny joined the Marlins late last year. His addition coincided with the departure of Jacob Turner, an odd move at the time and in retrospect. Penny threw 26 innings for the Fish over four starts and four relief appearances, posting a 6.58 ERA with both 4.5 strikeouts and walks per nine. ERA estimators painted a slightly better picture, but all saw him as well below average.
Yankees To Re-Sign Chris Capuano
The Yankees have agreed to a one-year deal with lefty Chris Capuano, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (Twitter links). Capuano receives a $5MM guarantee, per Curry. ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweeted this morning that Capuano was nearing a deal with an unspecified big league club.
Since his strong 2012 (198 1/3, 3.72 ERA), Capuano has been steady, if unspectacular, over the last two seasons. Last year, his age-35 campaign, he worked in a swingman capacity for the Red Sox and Yanks, posting a 4.35 earned run mark over 97 1/3 innings. He worked exclusively from the pen in Boston, and in the rotation in New York.
Capuano figures to provide some much-needed protection against injury for a New York rotation that includes question marks like Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda. If he is not needed as a starter, Capuano should be able to work as a long man in the pen.
White Sox Sign Melky Cabrera
DECEMBER 16: The club has made the deal official (hat tip to Scott Merkin of MLB.com).
DECEMBER 15: The deal is done, per Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). After earning $13MM next year, Cabrera will take home $14MM in 2016 and $15MM in the final year of his deal. He also obtains a limited no-trade clause, per Heyman.
DECEMBER 14: The White Sox have agreed to terms with Melky Cabrera on a three-year contract, 670thescore.com’s Bruce Levine tweets. Cabrera’s deal is worth $42MM, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
The deal, which is pending a physical, is only slightly backloaded, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The White Sox will pay Cabrera $13MM in 2015. Cabrera is a client of the Legacy Agency.
The move continues an offseason transformation for the White Sox, who so far have traded for Jeff Samardzija and signed David Robertson, Adam LaRoche and Zach Duke to help aid a team that won 73 games in 2014. The switch-hitting Cabrera is a proven offensive player, and at age 30, there’s no reason he can’t produce at least a couple more productive, high-average seasons, as he did in 2014, when he batted .301/.351/.458 in 621 plate appearances for Toronto.
If anything, three years seems rather light for a player of Cabrera’s age and talent. MLBTR’s Steve Adams predicted in October that Cabrera would receive five years and $66.25MM. The average annual value of his contract will, apparently, be slightly higher than that projection, but the difference in years is still significant. Cabrera rejected a four-year offer from an unknown team because his preference was to play for the White Sox, tweets CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman.
Still, that Cabrera would receive a three-year deal was perhaps somewhat predictable after watching his market develop. It was surprising in the past week to read reports suggesting that the Mariners and other teams were unwilling to go past three years for Cabrera. (Cabrera had also previously been connected to the Orioles, Royals, Giants and Reds.)
While Cabrera isn’t a strong defensive player and he walks infrequently, he’s batted above .300 in three of the last four seasons, typically with a bit of power. His solid season in 2014 figured to put his past PED connections mostly behind him, too, especially since the examples of Jhonny Peralta and Nelson Cruz provide precedent for PED-connected players receiving lucrative long-term deals.
Cabrera will presumably slot into left field in Chicago, bumping Dayan Viciedo from a starting spot. Viciedo hit just .231/.281/.405 while playing poor defense last season, so Cabrera represents a big upgrade. The Mariners, who were seen as front-runners for Cabrera, also have shown interest in Viciedo. Perhaps Cabrera’s pact with the White Sox will clear the way for a trade that sends Viciedo west.
Cabrera rejected the Blue Jays’ qualifying offer earlier this offseason, so Toronto will receive an extra pick at the end of the first round of the 2015 draft. The White Sox’ first-round pick, No. 8 overall, is protected, and they already gave up their second-round pick to sign Robertson, so they will have to sacrifice their third-round pick once their signing of Cabrera is complete.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres To Sign Brandon Morrow
9:23am: Morrow gets a $2.5MM guarantee, Brock tweets. He can earn up to $5MM in incentives if he starts, and up to $1MM extra working from the pen.
8:29am: The Padres have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent righty Brandon Morrow, Corey Brock of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported recently that the Friars had an offer on the table for Morrow, and he now tweets that it was included about $2.5MM in guaranteed money, while cautioning that he is not sure if the offer was upped.
The 30-year-old Morrow has had a roller coaster of a career. He first saw big league action with the Mariners, working mostly in relief. The Blue Jays acquired him in a trade for Brandon League and moved him to the rotation, where he showed immense promise. Even before Morrow’s earned run numbers finally caught up to his peripherals, the Blue Jays signed him to a three-year, $21MM extension that included a $10MM option for 2015.
That contract seemed destined to be a bargain when Morrow began the 2012 season with 124 2/3 innings of 2.96 ERA pitching. But he was derailed by an oblique injury, and has not been the same since. Morrow struggled with finger and forearm issues in each of the last two years, ultimately throwing only 87 2/3 innings and compiling a 5.65 ERA in the process.
Toronto shifted Morrow back to the pen last year, and ultimately made him a free agent by declining the club option that once seemed nearly certain to be exercised. The Padres will take a chance on his injury and performance struggles and hope that he can regain his prior form. As Rosenthal noted in his report, some clubs have pursued Morrow as a reliever, while his preference is to work from the rotation.
It remains to be seen precisely what GM A.J. Preller has in mind. But Brock notes on Twitter that the signing could well be a precursor to a Padres trade of an in-house starter for a bat. To an extent, of course, pitcher-friendly Petco Park offers some of the same challenges and benefits, in the inverse, that Coors Field offers the Rockies. Having already dealt for Matt Kemp, Preller may be looking to take advantage of his stock of attractive arms to deal for offense while using the ballpark as a lure to Morrow (and, perhaps, Josh Johnson).
Lester, Epstein, Hoyer On Cubs Deal
“It’s not every day the best free agent goes to a team that finished in last place,” Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said today at the press conference announcing starting pitcher Jon Lester‘s new six-year contract. Epstein later explained, “We knew early on that if we signed Jon Lester, it would be about belief. It was because he would believe in us, believe in our future, and believe that winning a World Series with the Cubs was a unique opportunity.”
According to Epstein, the ability to contend for Lester’s services was a culmination of “a pretty quick rebuild” due to the hard work of the Cubs’ scouting and player development people. The Cubs now possess a trove of young position player talent, including Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, and Kyle Schwarber. Epstein considers the Lester signing a transition to a point where the team is “clearly very serious about winning a World Series.” Lester agreed, telling the crowd,“I can tell you honestly, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think they were going to win in 2015.”
Lester said the chance of winning a World Series with a team that hasn’t done so since 1908 “just adds that little extra for me.” Questioned on the topic later, Epstein admitted the team’s long history of losing actually helped them sign Lester. “We’re not hiding the ball. The fact that we haven’t won in so long helps define who we are. It adds meaning and resonance to what we’re trying to accomplish here, and I think it attracts players who aren’t afraid of that challenge and want to be here for the right reasons and it definitely attracted Jon Lester.”
The Cubs’ front office and ownership gave Lester the largest contract in franchise history, a reported $155MM deal with a seventh-year vesting option and a full no-trade clause. It didn’t take long for Epstein to concede to the no-trade clause, a rarity for him. “I don’t usually like those, but when you’re talking about a free agent of this caliber who had just gotten traded to Oakland as a result of having a team that relied on some young players and ended up with a disappointing performance, it would have been really hard to sign him without a no-trade given the unique circumstances involved here. In the spirit of the negotiation, it was something that we initially objected to but didn’t keep the fight up too long because it was outside the spirit of the connection that we were trying to make.”
Epstein went up against his and Lester’s former employer, the Red Sox, in negotiations that went down to the wire at the Winter Meetings in San Diego. The Red Sox topped out at a reported $135MM offer, though they didn’t help their cause four months earlier by trading Lester, Jonny Gomes, and cash to the Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive balance pick. When Bob Nightengale of USA Today asked Lester whether it would have been a lot harder to leave Boston had he not been traded, the lefty replied, “Yeah, I think so. I think there’s always that unknown when you are traded. Obviously that’s the unknown of going to a whole different coast, a whole different organization, a whole different philosophy. I think going there prepared us for this time. I think if you finish out the year in Boston and you get down to this decision, I think it would be a lot harder. Not to say it wasn’t hard as it was. But I feel like that broke that barrier of, ‘Well, I wonder if I can play for another team.’ And I think we answered those questions.”
Though Lester’s deal with the Cubs was consummated at last week’s Winter Meetings, it was the product of more than a month’s worth of courting. The Cubs sent Lester a 15-minute video on the first day of free agency, talking about the team’s future. Epstein and company experienced a turning point in a mid-November meeting, after which they felt “unmistakable momentum.” That momentum never waned, even through tense late night negotiations with Lester’s agents at ACES.
For his part, Lester said he enjoyed initial meetings with teams, but the second phase of actually making a decision was not fun. Much has been made of Lester’s long relationship with Epstein and Cubs GM Jed Hoyer, dating back to the pitcher being drafted out of high school in ’02. Both sides agreed that the comfort level and trust helped.
Does the Lester signing mean the Cubs are all-in for 2015? As Epstein described it, “We’re very much all-in for our future, and the future starts in 2015.” Asked whether the team is interested in trade targets with only one year of remaining control, Epstein answered, “Yeah, if they were priced accordingly. Obviously those players carry less value in our minds than players you can control going forward.”
The Cubs have already spent almost $180MM on free agents Lester, Jason Hammel, Jason Motte, and Tsuyoshi Wada, and they also traded for Tommy La Stella and well-paid catcher Miguel Montero. I talked to Hoyer about remaining potential areas for upgrade, and he said the Cubs may attempt to add an outfield bat, given the youth of the team’s current group. Asked if there’s room for another starting pitcher, Hoyer replied, “Potentially. We’re not going to sit here and say we’re done. I think we’re very comfortable going forward right now with what we have, but obviously the winter’s not over yet, there’s a lot of guys out there and we’ll certainly be engaged on some of those guys.”
The Epstein rebuild has taken three years to reach this point, and the team’s president said today that the Cubs’ “incredibly patient” fans “truly deserve a pitcher and a person of this caliber to call their own.” Lofty expectations have been set for Lester, who appears ready for the challenge.
Jung-Ho Kang Posted
DECEMBER 15: As promised, Kang has been posted today, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. Friday at 5pm EST is the deadline for teams to submit bids.
DECEMBER 13: Kang will be posted Monday, Rosenthal tweets.
DECEMBER 8: Kang is drawing interest from the Athletics, Giants, Mets and several other clubs, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports. The A’s and Mets would presumably be interested in Kang at shortstop, while the Giants could use Kang at either third or second (if the latter, Joe Panik would shift to the hot corner).
DECEMBER 7: Rosenthal tweets Kang is expected to be posted next week.
NOVEMBER 10: Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang is not expected to be posted until after the Winter Meetings, which run next month from Dec. 7-11 in San Diego, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Agent Alan Nero tells the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo that his client will be posted in mid-December (Twitter link).
The 27-year-old Kang is coming off a monster season in the Korea Baseball Organization in which he hit .354/.457/.733 with 39 home runs. However, there are some differing opinions on how well Kang’s game will translate to Major League Baseball. Firstly, KBO is known to be an extremely hitter-friendly environment, so perhaps we shouldn’t read too much into those numbers. And, as Joel Sherman noted earlier today, some scouts have expressed skepticism that his power will translate to the Majors and aren’t sure he can play a Major League caliber shortstop — sentiments that were shared by an international scouting director that spoke with MLBTR regarding Kang.
However, ESPN’s Keith Law recently ranked Kang 15th among free agents (Insider subscription required and recommended), believing that some of his power can translate to the Majors, likely at the cost of his batting average. He noted that Kang lacks the range teams would like to see out of a shortstop but has a 60 arm (on the 20-80 scouting scale) to make up for some of the range. Law noted that he’d give Kang every chance he could to stick at shortstop while acknowledging that he, too, has heard scouts who see Kang as more of an “unathletic corner guy” whose power won’t play in the Majors.
Yankees Sign Chase Headley
4:58pm: Headley will not obtain direct no-trade protection, but he earns a $1MM bonus if he is dealt, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
12:52pm: The Yankees have locked up one of their top free agent targets, as they announced on Monday the signing of third baseman Chase Headley to a four-year deal. Headley will reportedly receive $52MM over the life of the contract, and MLBTR has learned that he can earn up to $1MM each season for reaching 550 plate appearances, meaning his contract can max out at $56MM over four years. The 30-year-old Headley is a client of Excel Sports Management’s Jim Murray.
Headley joined the Yankees in a midseason trade that sent infielder Yangervis Solarte and right-hander Rafael De Paula to the Padres. After struggling to a .229/.296/.355 batting line in 77 games with the Padres, Headley improved to a .262/.371/.398 line in 58 games with the Yankees. Of course, those numbers are a far cry from his MVP-caliber 2012 — a season in which he batted .286/.376/.498 with 31 homers.
Even if Headley’s 2012 was the offensive peak of his career — and his numbers since that time suggest that it was — the switch-hitter can still bring plenty of value as an average to above-average bat capable of playing elite defense at third base. Headley posted a 119 OPS+ with the Yankees, suggesting that his bat was 19 percent above the league average, and he posted a 112 mark in 2013 with the Padres. Scouts and defensive metrics are both in agreement that Headley is a strong defender at third base. While he’s unlikely to repeat 2014’s single-season marks of +13 defensive runs saved and +28 UZR/150, DRS feels he’s saved 29 runs over 6300 innings at third in his career, and UZR/150 has him as a lifetime +10.8 defender. All of those factors led MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes to project a four-year, $48MM contract more than two months ago, which proved to be very accurate.
Perhaps the largest concern with Headley is that of his health. Headley fractured the tip of his thumb in Spring Training 2013, and some believe he may have rushed back quickly from the injury, dampening his production. He also dealt with a knee injury that ultimately ended up requiring surgery in the 2013-14 offseason. This past year, Headley spent two weeks on the disabled list with a calf strain and also battled a herniated disc in his back that required an epidural injection in early July.
By adding Headley, the Yankees can now deploy Martin Prado at second base, Didi Gregorius at shortstop and Mark Teixeira at first base, with Alex Rodriguez shifting to a bench/DH role. The Headley signing creates a clear road block to regular playing time for prospects Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela, either of whom could have battled for time at second base had Headley signed elsewhere and Prado manned third base.
With much of their lineup now secured, the Yankees figure to turn to the pitching staff. They’ve already added Andrew Miller in place of David Robertson (who signed with the White Sox) but still lack certainty in their rotation. CC Sabathia has struggled in recent seasons and underwent season-ending knee surgery last year after just 46 innings. Masahiro Tanaka‘s elbow is a question mark after he rehabbed a minor tear in his UCL. Ivan Nova underwent Tommy John surgery last April, Shane Greene has been traded to the Tigers and Michael Pineda‘s injury history is extensive. Brandon McCarthy was thought to be GM Brian Cashman’s top target following an excellent 91-inning stint with the Yankees in 2014, but he’s returned to the NL West on a four-year deal with the Dodgers.
WFAN’s Sweeny Murti was the first to report that Headley would make a decision today. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that Headley and the Yankees were nearing a four-year deal (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the agreement and base salary (Twitter links). MLBTR was the first to report the specifics of Headley’s incentives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Royals Sign Yohan Pino To Major League Deal
The Royals announced that they’ve signed former Twins right-hander Yohan Pino to a Major League contract and designated right-hander Casey Coleman for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster.
Pino, 31 in two weeks, made his Major League debut with the Twins this past season and wound up spending a fairly significant amount of time in the rotation despite less-than-stellar results. Pino made 11 starts and posted a 5.07 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 28.6 percent ground-ball rate. Pino’s 88.3 mph fastball and extreme fly-ball tendencies make it a bit surprising that he landed a big league deal, but the Royals are a team that is well equipped to handle those deficiencies, given their excellent outfield defense. Of course, that assumes that Pino will make the club, which is far from a given at this time, despite the MLB contract he signed.
Coleman, 27, posted a 5.25 ERA in 12 innings for the Royals this past season and owns a lifetime 5.72 mark in 177 2/3 big league innings. He’s averaged 6.2 strikeouts and 4.5 walks per nine innings pitched to go along with a 46.5 percent ground-ball rate. Coleman was always a bit of a soft-tosser, but his average fastball spiked from about 90 mph to 94 mph this season.
Astros Sign Jed Lowrie To Three-Year Deal
The Astros announced that they have signed infielder Jed Lowrie to a three-year contract that runs through the 2018 season. Lowrie’s contract reportedly guarantee him $23MM: $8MM in 2015, $7.5MM in 2016 and $6.5MM in 2017 with a $6MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2018. The team will announce a corresponding roster move on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old Lowrie, a client of CAA Sports, will serve as Houston’s shortstop in the early stages of the contract — presumably until top prospect Carlos Correa is ready to take over the position. At that point, Lowrie could see time at third base (though the Astros also have prospects Colin Moran and Rio Ruiz rising through the system), serve as a super utility player, or potentially have appeal to other clubs in a trade.
In the meantime, the addition of Lowrie isn’t particularly good news for incumbent shortstops Jonathan Villar and Marwin Gonzalez. Villar opened the season as the team’s starting shortstop, and while he possesses game-changing speed, he didn’t hit or get on base enough to take full advantage of that excellent tool. Gonzalez is the better defender of the two internal options, so he is seemingly the more likely of the two to fill a reserve capacity for Houston now that Lowrie is on board.
With this contract, Lowrie will return to the organization with which he enjoyed a solid but injury-shortened 2012 season. After years of promise in the Red Sox organization, Houston acquired Lowrie (along with Kyle Weiland) in exchange for Mark Melancon three years ago (almost to the day). Lowrie’s original stint with the Astros lasted for just one season, as he and Fernando Rodriguez were flipped to the A’s for Chris Carter, Brad Peacock and Max Stassi the following offseason.
Lowrie enjoyed an excellent 2013 season with the A’s in which he batted .290/.344/.446 with 15 homers and a career-best 45 doubles. His bat slipped in 2014, however, as he batted just .249/.321/.355. While defensive metrics suggested that he improved at shortstop in 2014, defense has never been Lowrie’s calling card, and many clubs expressed trepidation over deploying him at short. He drew interest from clubs as a second baseman and a third baseman, but one would imagine that Houston’s promise to give him some time at shortstop, along with the fact that Lowrie resides in Houston in the offseason, gave the Astros a leg up over their competition.
With Lowrie now off the free agent market, Asdrubal Cabrera is likely the best remaining infielder available to teams with a free agent need. However, while clubs had their doubts about Lowrie’s defense, those doubts seem to be even more pronounced in Cabrera’s case.
As for the Astros, this marks the third significant free agent signing for the club in the past week, as they’ve also inked right-handed relievers Pat Neshek and Luke Gregerson, the latter of whom seems likely to be a closer for new manager A.J. Hinch. Houston could still address its starting rotation on the open market, and while they haven’t given up a draft pick with any of these signings, they showed a willingness to do so with a pursuit of David Robertson.
Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle first reported the terms of the agreement (All Twitter links). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted further details.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Braves To Sign Cuban Outfielder Dian Toscano
DEC. 30: Toscano’s contract is for $6MM over four years and contains a fifth-year club option worth $1.5MM, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (on Twitter).
DEC. 10: The Braves have completed the financial specifics on Toscano’s deal and the pact is now pending a physical, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter).
DEC. 8: The Braves are pursuing Cuban outfielder Dian Toscano, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. It was reported earlier that an agreement had been reached, but Bowman asserts the two sides have yet to reach the finish line. The 25-year-old played five seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, so he’s exempt from international bonus pool rules.
Not much is known about Toscano since he did not play for the Cuban National team. He played left field for the Villa Clara club and hit .356/.400/.452 in 86 plate appearances during the 2012 campaign – his last with the team. Badler adds that Toscano possess the necessary speed for center field, but he typically plays left field due to suspect arm strength. A left-handed hitter, he features good bat control and strike zone awareness.
Ben Badler of Baseball America was the first to report the Braves interest.