Athletics Rumors

Kyler Murray Announces He Is “Firmly And Fully Committing” To NFL Career

By Steve Adams | February 11, 2019 at 12:03pm CDT

Outfielder/quarterback Kyler Murray, this year’s Heisman Trophy winner but also the No. 9 overall pick by the Athletics in the 2018 MLB draft, announced today that he will pursue a career in football rather than baseball (Twitter link). Murray’s statement reads as follows:

“Moving forward, I am firmly and fully committing my life to becoming an NFL quarterback. Football has been my love and passion my entire life. I was raised to play QB, and I very much look forward to dedicating 100% of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships. I have started an extensive training program to further prepare myself for upcoming NFL workouts and interviews. I eagerly await the opportunity to continue to prove to NFL decision makers that I am the franchise QB in this draft.”

The decision is a tough but not exactly unexpected one for the A’s. While the team had maintained some optimism that Murray might choose baseball, it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter at the time Murray declared for the NFL draft that his mind was largely made up.

Oakland paid Murray a $4.66MM signing bonus in last summer’s draft, and while they’ll reportedly recoup the vast majority of that sum, they won’t be given a compensatory pick in the 2019 draft to make up for Murray’s decision to choose an NFL career over MLB. More specifically, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that Murray will return $1.29MM of the $1.5MM of his signing bonus that has been paid out to him so far. He’ll also forfeit the remaining $3.16MM that would have been paid to him on March 1.

Although baseball’s guaranteed contract structure is alluring for the select few players who reach arbitration and free agency, choosing the NFL offers Murray a more certain financial future. If he’s selected anywhere in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, he can expect to earn more than twice what he’d have earned with the Athletics’ signing bonus; last year’s No. 32 overall pick, Lamar Jackson, signed for nearly $9.5MM and will earn the entirety of that sum. Beyond that, Murray won’t have to spend the next few years playing in largely empty minor league parks, nor will he spend the first two to three seasons of his career earning roughly the league minimum, as he’d have done as a pre-arbitration MLB player.

In exchange for a more immediate payday and a quicker path to competing at his sport’s highest level, of course, Murray will play a much more physically demanding game that comes with a heightened risk of both short- and long-term injury. One can imagine that all of those factors were weighed heavily by Murray when making the decision to ultimately spurn the A’s in pursuit of football.

Technically, the Athletics will be able to retain the rights to Murray, in the event that he ever has a change of heart or is forced to alter his career path. Oakland will put him on the restricted list for the time being, though that move is purely a formality for now, given the emphatic nature of Murray’s announcement.

Athletics Sign Nick Hundley To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 11, 2019 at 10:29am CDT

10:29am: Hundley would earn a $1.25MM base salary in the Majors, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

9:02am: The Athletics announced Monday morning that they’ve signed veteran catcher Nick Hundley to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training, where he’ll compete for a roster spot. Hundley is a client of Athletes First.

While much of Oakland’s focus this winter has been on the pitching staff, catching help is still a clear area of need for the A’s. Top prospect Sean Murphy may not be far from MLB readiness after a strong showing in Double-A in 2018, but the only two catchers on the 40-man roster at the moment are Josh Phegley and Chris Herrmann. Phegley hit just .204/.255/.344 last season, and while Herrmann was fairly productive in a small sample of work, he’s a career .205/.282/.351 hitter in the Majors.

Suffice it to say, Hundley has a very legitimate chance to crack the Opening Day roster with the A’s — perhaps with expectations for a decent workload if there’s no other catching addition made. The 35-year-old hit .241/.298/.408 with 10 homers in 305 plate appearances across the bay for the Giants in 2018 and posted a combined .243/.285/.413 slash with San Francisco in the two seasons he spent there. Clearly, Hundley comes with some on-base deficiencies, but he has a bit of pop in his bat and will bring plenty of experience to an Oakland staff consisting of numerous young arms.

Defensively speaking, Hundley is more of a mixed bag. His framing work last year graded out near the bottom of the league, but he was roughly average a year prior. Similarly, Hundley’s caught-stealing rate dipped to a below-average 21 percent in 2018, but he was a bit above the league mean at 29 percent in 2017. He’s generally drawn average or better marks in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt.

Quick Hits: Arenado, Int’l Prospects, Jones, CarGo, Bauer, Storen, Marlins

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2019 at 12:11am CDT

Nolan Arenado’s extension talks with the Rockies could create a big impact around baseball, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes in an exploration of both the short-term and long-term effects of an Arenado deal. Most obviously, an extension would remove arguably the biggest name from the 2019-20 free agent class, which would be a boon to other stars who will be hitting the open market — in particular, Anthony Rendon would see his biggest competition in the third base market disappear. (Of course, Rendon could also ink his own long-term deal to stay with the Nationals.) More immediately, an Arenado extension could also set a new benchmark for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, should Arenado and the Rockies come to an agreement before Harper or Machado land contracts this winter.

Some stray items from around baseball as we head into the new week…

Ten of the top names available in the 2019-20 international signing market are profiled by Baseball America’s Ben Badler, all of whom have teams already unofficially attached to their services even though the market doesn’t properly open until July 2. Dominican outfielder Jasson Dominguez and Dominican shortstop Robert Puason are projected for the highest bonuses, each expected to land something around $5MM, with Dominguez linked to the Yankees and Puason connected to the Athletics.
While the Indians are still looking for outfield help, the team isn’t currently “aggressively pursuing” Adam Jones or Carlos Gonzalez, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports. Both veterans were only moderately productive in 2018, both with below-average offensive numbers (as per wRC+) and Jones with some of the worst defensive metrics (minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved, -14.8 UZR/150) of any center fielder in baseball. That said, both players could still represent an upgrade for Cleveland’s shaky outfield, though it appears the Tribe is checking other options for now.
Trevor Bauer’s arbitration hearing took place on Friday, Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes reports, so details should soon emerge about the outcome. There was a $2MM gap between Bauer and the Indians in exchanged figures, as Bauer’s camp is looking for a $13MM salary in 2019 and the team is aiming for an $11MM salary. This will be the second arb hearing in as many years between the two sides, as Bauer defeated the Tribe in the hearing last winter to land his desired $6.525MM salary for the 2018 season. Like Kluber, Bauer has also been a major figure in trade rumors this offseason. He has one less year of team control than Kluber and a less-extensive track record, though Bauer is also almost five years younger than his rotation mate.
The Royals have interest in veteran righty Drew Storen, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reports (Twitter link). Storen didn’t pitch last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2017. The 31-year-old was a key figure in the Nationals’ bullpen from 2010-15, though he suffered through a disastrous half-season stint with the Blue Jays in 2016 before righting the ship after a July trade to the Mariners. Prior to his injury, Storen had a 4.45 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 2.09 K/BB rate over 54 2/3 innings out of the Reds’ bullpen in 2017. Storen won’t carry a heavy price tag as he makes his return from TJ surgery, making him a target for payroll-conscious Kansas City.
“Every trade, we’re trying to get back international money,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told reporters, including Barry Jackson and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. It’s clear that the international market is a cornerstone of Miami’s rebuilding process, and the club has been successful in landing extra money for their int’l draft pool in recent trades with the Astros, Reds, Nationals, and (as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade package) Phillies. These extra funds have already paid dividends, as the Marlins signed highly-touted Cuban brothers Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. last October.

AL West Notes: Angels, Eppler, Chapman, Lewis

By Mark Polishuk | February 10, 2019 at 6:01pm CDT

Some rumblings from around the AL West…

“We are a point where we feel complete with our club,” Angels GM Billy Eppler tells MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, as the Halos feels they made enough short-term additions to be able to compete in 2019. The club was cautious about not dealing any of its top prospects from a farm system that has undergone a major rebuild in recent years, and Los Angeles didn’t splurge on any long-term free agent commitments. That said, the Angels’ focus on short-term signings “wasn’t scripted,” as Eppler put it. “There were some players that we engaged on and made offers to that would’ve been multi-year commitments. Those didn’t work out for a couple different reasons. But shorter-term deals work in a variety of ways — they keep you flexible, and they keep you open to doing things both during the season and in succeeding seasons.” Some type of a reload was necessary for the team, given both the sorry state of the Angels’ minor league pipeline just a few years ago and the number of ill-fated big contracts that didn’t pan out. Still, the Angels are on something of a clock to get back into contention, given that Mike Trout is only under contract for two more seasons.
Matt Chapman provided an update on his health status in the wake of offseason thumb and shoulder surgery, telling reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser) that he’ll be in the lineup when the Athletics begin their season on March 20 in Tokyo. The third baseman could miss a few early Spring Training games as he recovers, however, noting “it’s hard to say when everything will be a full go.” Chapman expressed some regret at waiting until December to undergo his shoulder procedure, as he said the joint was giving him some discomfort during the season but he thought some downtime would correct the issue. While the A’s will certainly be cautious about their star during the spring, it doesn’t yet seem Chapman is in any danger of missing any regular season action.
Outfield prospect Kyle Lewis was invited to the Mariners’ big league Spring Training camp, a positive development for Lewis after an injury-plagued start to his pro career, TJ Cotterill writes for Baseball America. The 11th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Lewis has already undergone two knee surgeries, limiting him to just 711 plate appearances and 165 games over two-plus seasons. These injuries and a not-unrelated relative lack of production (.258/.328/.430 slash line in the minors) have caused Lewis’ prospect stock to drop, though the 23-year-old is entering a season healthy for the first time. “He’s missed so much time, but we feel better today than we’ve ever felt with his work and his progress. Most of us who have been around Kyle, we really don’t have a lot of concern about the ability. It’s the health,” Mariners farm director Andy McKay said.

Quick Hits: Keuchel, Marwin, Padres, Tribe, Wilson, Athletics

By Connor Byrne | February 10, 2019 at 4:43pm CDT

Free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel asked for a six- to seven-year contract worth $25MM to $30MM per annum at the beginning of the offseason, while fellow ex-Astros teammate and Scott Boras client Marwin Gonzalez sought a deal in the $60MM neighborhood, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. Both Keuchel and Gonzalez remain on the unemployment line, meaning they haven’t landed offers in those ranges, and it’s not surprising in either case if those asking prices are accurate. Entering the offseason, MLBTR predicted an $82MM guarantee for the 32-year-old Keuchel and $36MM for the soon-to-be 30-year-old Gonzalez, who wants a pact similar to the four-year, $56MM accord fellow utilityman Ben Zobrist signed with the Cubs going into the 2016 campaign. Zobrist, however, reached the market as a far more accomplished player than Gonzalez has been to this point.

Catcher Notes: Posey, Giants, G. Sanchez, Athletics

By Connor Byrne | February 9, 2019 at 11:52pm CDT

A few notes from behind the plate…

When Giants stalwart Buster Posey underwent season-ending hip surgery last August, there was some question as to whether he’d be ready in time for Opening Day this year. While Posey’s recovery has seemingly gone well enough for him to return at the outset of the season, the Giants are going to take a “smart” and “careful” approach as they break the six-time All-Star back into action, according to president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi (via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). “Even if he’s ready to carry a full catching load to start the season, I’m not sure that would be the prudent course for us,” noted Zaidi, who added that the Giants are still in the market for depth at catcher. They did sign the seasoned Rene Rivera on Friday, but he only secured a minor league deal, which still leaves the Giants with Posey and Aramis Garcia as the only catchers on their 40-man roster. Of course, they also have experienced veteran Cameron Rupp joining Rivera as credible depth heading into camp.
The Yankees’ Gary Sanchez is also coming off surgery, having undergone an offseason procedure on his left (non-throwing) shoulder. Sanchez is now “healthy,” per general manager Brian Cashman (via George A. King III of the New York Post), but the Yanks will mimic the Giants in being cautious with their prized backstop this spring. The 26-year-old Sanchez joined Posey among the majors’ elite catchers from 2017-18, though the former’s now looking to bounce back from a shockingly rough season. Sanchez bombed at the plate, hitting .186/.291/.406 (89 wRC+) in 374 trips, and also drew the ire of fans and media for leading the American League in passed balls (18).
It’s “unlikely” the Athletics will enter the season with their current catcher tandem of Josh Phegley and Chris Herrmann, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ultimately, the A’s may take a similar route to the one they went down last spring, when they signed a veteran (Jonathan Lucroy) in March, but the team could have a greater sense of urgency this time around because it’s leaving for Japan on March 14, Slusser notes. Free-agent backstop options are dwindling, moreover, though at least one of the available players – Matt Wieters – has piqued the Athletics’ interest.

Free Agent Rumors: Romo, Hellickson, Gio

By Steve Adams | February 5, 2019 at 11:04pm CDT

Veteran reliever Sergio Romo is zeroing in on an agreement with a yet-unreported club, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The 35-year-old was said a couple of weeks back to be drawing heightened interest, and it seems he’ll soon make a decision on his next club. Heyman notes that Romo is looking at a one-year deal, which quite likely indicates that he’ll be inking a Major League pact when all is said and done. That much could’ve been largely expected early in free agency, though with Spring Training looming, there do figure to be some surprising minor league deals agreed upon.

Romo helped to pioneer the “opener” role with the Rays last season, making five starts in that still-developing role. He had three successful outings and one ugly showing as an opener but turned in a 3.88 ERA with a 68-to-16 K/BB ratio in 62 2/3 innings as a more conventional reliever. Romo nailed down 25 saves for Tampa Bay and turned in a 13 percent swinging-strike ratio and a 33.1 percent chase rate. He’s never been a hard-thrower but never struggled to miss bats, making him a nice veteran addition on what should be a rather affordable deal.

A few more notes on some free agents who have had a fairly quiet offseason…

Jeremy Hellickson and the Nationals are in talks about a potential reunion, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM. Hellickson, 32 in April, made 19 starts for Washington last season and was generally effective. In 91 1/3 innings, he averaged 6.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 with a career-best 45.9 percent grounder rate en route to a 3.45 ERA. Metrics like FIP (4.22), xFIP (4.27) and SIERA (4.33) all felt Hellickson benefited from a bit of good fortune but was still a useful big league arm. The Nats have one of the strongest rotations in MLB, with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez comprising the top four. Joe Ross is projected as the No. 5 and will have competition from former first-rounder Erick Fedde, but both righties still have a minor league option. A big league deal for Hellickson would likely put him into the rotation.
The Giants and Athletics are among the teams with some level of interest in free-agent left-hander Gio Gonzalez, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. New Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi has waited out the market to find palatable one-year contracts with Derek Holland and Drew Pomeranz already, so perhaps there’s a hope that the same can be accomplished with regard to the 33-year-old Gonzalez. San Francisco currently projects to have Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, Holland and Pomeranz in the rotation, with the fifth spot likely going to either Jeff Samardzija or Andrew Suarez, depending on Samardzija’s health after an injury-ruined 2018 season. Ty Blach, Chris Stratton and Tyler Beede are among the other rotation candidates on the 40-man roster. Meanwhile, there’s a clearer path to rotation innings in Gonzalez’s old Oakland stomping grounds. It’s not the first time the A’s have been connected to Gonzalez this winter, but the interest is nonetheless notable, as the last link between the two sides came well before the Athletics’ signing of Marco Estrada.

Athletics, Jerry Blevins Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 4, 2019 at 12:28pm CDT

The Athletics are in agreement on a minor league contract with left-hander Jerry Blevins, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He’d earn a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle had reported just minutes prior that Blevins and the A’s were close to a deal. With this deal, the Excel Sports client will be returning to Oakland for a second stint after breaking into the Majors with the A’s and spending the 2007-13 seasons there.

Since departing the A’s, the now-35-year-old Blevins has spent the past five seasons in the National League East — one with the Nationals and four with the Mets. While the 2016-17 seasons were both strong ones for Blevins — 2.87 ERA, 12.0 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 — the 2018 season was a rough one. Blevins limped to a 4.85 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 4.6 BB/9, 1.27 HR/9 and a career-worst 21.8 percent ground-ball rate.

Despite last season’s unsightly results, Blevins has a long track record of overwhelming left-handed opponents, having held them to a .206/.264/.306 slash through the other 11 seasons of his career. In all, he has a career 3.52 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 463 Major League innings.

Left-handed relief is a clear area of need for the Athletics, making Blevins a logical addition for VP of baseball operations Billy Beane, GM David Forst and the rest of the Oakland front office. At present, Ryan Buchter is not only the sole left-handed bullpen option on the 40-man roster — he’s the only healthy left-handed pitcher on their 40-man roster at all. The A’s, however, have several other non-roster invitees to big league camp in the form of Kyle Crockett, Dean Kiekhefer and Kyle Lobstein — each of whom will compete with Blevins to earn a spot in manager Bob Melvin’s relief corps.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/2/2019

By TC Zencka | February 2, 2019 at 11:06am CDT

We’ll use this post to track some of the smaller moves made around the MLB today…

The Oakland A’s will bring lefty Wei-Chung Wang to spring training as a non-roster invitee, per the Athletic’s Melissa Lockard (via Twitter). Wang spent last season in Korea, where he earned a 4.26 ERA in 25 games for the NC Dinos of the KBO. He made brief appearances at the major league level for the Brewers in 2014 and 2017, but both cups of coffee returned disheartening results – a combined 11.09 ERA across 18 2/3 innings – including a somewhat noteworthy 2017 in which he recorded only 4 outs across 8 outings. Wang pitched well in the upper minors as recently as 2017, however, when as a then-25-year-old, he turned in a 2.05 ERA in 47 appearances out of the pen for the Brewers’ top affiliate.

Blake Treinen Wins Arbitration Case

By TC Zencka | February 2, 2019 at 9:14am CDT

Closer Blake Treinen won his arbitration case against the Oakland A’s, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). Treinen, represented by Sosnick, Cobbe, and Karon, is now slated to make $6.4MM for the 2019 season, with one more season of arbitration eligibility remaining in 2020. The A’s had submitted a bid of $5.6MM.

This is a notable victory for players, as Treinen sets a new record for year-over-year increase in salary for a second-time arb-eligible reliever, a raise of 4.25MM on his 2018 salary. The largest previous increase had been the $3.575MM raise Greg Holland received in his heyday with the Royals. Of course, the Athletics were winners here too, beneficiaries of a significant jump in production from Treinen this season, as their closer recorded 11.2 K/9 en route to his first All-Star appearance, a 6th place finish in Cy Young voting, and a 15th place finish in MVP voting.

Treinen, 30, came to Oakland after a disappointing start to the 2017 season left him sporting a 5.73 ERA in July, struggling to get swings and misses with only 7.6 K/9. The Nationals were counting on him to be a key cog in their late-inning bullpen rotation that year, expecting a big year after he established himself with 73 appearances and a 2.28 ERA the year before. Given the opportunity to reset their bullpen in one fell swoop, the Nats sent Treinen and two minor leaguers (more on them later) to Oakland for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. The deal panned out for Washington, as the duo stabilized the pen en route to an NL East title. Doolittle ably stepped into the closer’s role, affirming himself as both a production and personality fixture in Washington.

The A’s didn’t do so bad on their side of the deal either, as Treinen put together a massively successful 2018 campaign as the A’s closer: 38 saves, 9 wins, and 0.78 ERA. The minor leaguers in the deal look like good gets as well. Southpaw Jesus Luzardo has a real chance at acedom, coming into 2019 as Baseball America’s 7th ranked prospect overall (subscription link). Sheldon Neuse, the other prospect in the deal, lands as the A’s 9th ranked prospect, per BA, as he looks to build upon his first full season in Triple A, where he hit .263/.304/.357 as a 23-year-old.

Notably, in the other arbitration case settled thus far, the Washington Nationals defeated spare outfielder Michael A. Taylor, who will make $3.25MM in 2019 after submitting a bid of $3.5MM.

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