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Oliver Drake

The Rays Have To Love The Drake

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There are few better examples of a nomad in Major League Baseball than Rays reliever Oliver Drake. He was just a 43rd-round pick of the Orioles in 2008, so odds were against Drake turning into a viable major leaguer from the start. Drake persevered, though, despite having been a member of a half-dozen other organizations already. But it took Drake until the age of 32 to truly come into his own as part of the the Rays’ bullpen last season.

Back when the Rays acquired Drake from the AL East-rival Blue Jays in January 2019, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote: “Drake, 32 next week, is baseball’s most well-traveled player over the past calendar year. The right-hander pitched for a record-setting five teams in 2018, spending time with the Brewers, Indians, Blue Jays, Angels and Twins. Though he struggled with four of those clubs, Drake actually pitched quite well in Minnesota, giving the Twins 20 1/3 innings of 2.21 ERA ball with 22 strikeouts against seven walks over the life of 19 relief appearances.”

As Steve went on to point out, even though Drake couldn’t stick anywhere in 2018, he showed substantial promise when it came to missing bats, limiting walks and keeping the ball on the ground. Indeed, despite an ugly 5.29 ERA in 47 2/3 innings that year, Drake logged a 3.24 FIP with 9.63 K/9, 3.21 BB/9 and a 44.9 percent groundball rate. With the exception of FIP, Drake improved on every single one of those categories last season and turned into a solid member of the Rays’ bullpen, even though they designated him for assignment before the campaign began.

Drake officially joined the big club in late May last year, at which point I wrote that “the 32-year-old has only managed a 4.94 ERA in 23 2/3 Triple-A innings, though he has paired eye-opening strikeout and walk rates (15.21 K/9, 2.66 BB/9) with a 50 percent groundball mark.”

Drake’s run prevention issues went out the window from there, as he went on to record a 3.21 ERA/3.87 FIP over 56 innings. He was oddly quite dominant against left-handers, who registered an abysmal .156 weighted on-base average against him. Same-sided batters had a much better time (.357), but still, Statcast pegged Drake as a great reliever in at least a couple important categories. Drake wound up in the top 10 percent of the league in wOBA (.261, compared to a .279 xwOBA that didn’t come in that much higher) and strikeout percentage. He also logged an expected ERA (3.36) that rivaled his actual bottom-line results, and put up 11.25 K/9 against 3.05 BB/9 with a strong grounder percentage of 52.3.

The Rays couldn’t have asked for much more in 2019 out of Drake, especially considering they got him for just about nothing. And he was one of at least a few low-key success stories who aided in the success of their bullpen (we previously covered Nick Anderson and Colin Poche). Having earned relatively minimal salaries last season, the likes of Drake, Anderson and Poche are the types of players the small-budget Rays need to keep digging up if they’re going to continue to hang with the game’s big spenders in the standings. As a team coming off back-to-back seasons of at least 90 wins, they’ve clearly done a pretty good job of it lately.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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Entering the day, there were more than 150 players on the clock to exchange arbitration figures with their respective teams prior to a noon ET deadline. As one would expect, there’ll be an utter landslide of arbitration agreements in advance of that deadline. We already ran through some key facts and reminders on the arbitration process earlier this morning for those who are unfamiliar or simply need a refresher on one of MLB’s most complex idiosyncrasies, which will hopefully clear up many questions readers might have.

We’ll track the majority of the American League’s settlements in this post and split off a separate one for NL settlements as well. Note that all projections referenced come courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

  • Newly acquired Angels righty Dylan Bundy receives a $5MM salary, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). He had projected at a $5.7MM price tag. Teammate Hansel Robles gets $3.85MM, per Heyman, just shy of his $4MM projection.
  • The Yankees have worked out deals with all of their eligible players. The team has a hefty $8.5MM pact with Aaron Judge, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Backstop Gary Sanchez settled for $5MM, per Feinsand (via Twitter). The New York org will pay righty Luis Cessa $895K and Jonathan Holder $750K, Murray reports (Twitter links). Fellow reliever Tommy Kahnle will earn $2.65MM, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). And star lefty James Paxton has settled at $12.5MM, Heyman adds via Twitter. Chad Green and Jordan Montgomery have also agreed to terms, the former at $1.275MM and the latter at $805K, per Heyman (Twitter links).
  • The Twins announced that they struck deals with Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton. Jon Heyman of MLB Network followed up with salary terms (all links to Twitter). May earns $2,205,000; Rogers takes home $4.45MM; Rosario lands at $7.75MM; and Buxton receives $3.075MM. While the first and last of those land rather close to the projected amount, Rogers got $550K more and Rosario got $1.15MM less than the calculators predicted.
  • Shortstop Carlos Correa settled with the Astros for $8MM, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (via Twitter). Righty Brad Peacock lands at a $3.9MM salary, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). The former went for more than his $7.4MM projection, while the latter ended up shy of the $4.6MM mark produced by the computers. The ’Stros also have agreed with closer Roberto Osuna as well, per an announcement. It’s a $10MM deal, slotting in just $200K shy of his projection, per Rome (via Twitter).
  • The Orioles have a deal with outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. It’s for $4.75MM, per Dan Connolly of The Athletic (via Twitter), well south of the $5.7MM projection.
  • Outfielder Jorge Soler has agreed to a $7.3MM deal with the Royals, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. That’s well off of the $11.2MM that MLBTR’s model projected, though it is likely that the cause of the gulf lies in the interpretation of the correct baseline to start from in building Soler’s salary. He’s in the 4+ service class but had been playing on the original deal he signed out of Cuba.
  • The Tigers have a deal in place with southpaw Matthew Boyd, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). It’ll pay him $5.3MM, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News (Twitter link). That falls comfortably below the $6.4MM, suggesting that Boyd’s camp was concerned with the way his suboptimal ERA would play in the arb process. Fellow lefty starter Daniel Norris will earn $2.96MM, McCosky tweets.

Earlier Settlements

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Rays Select Oliver Drake, Transfer Tyler Glasnow To 60-Day IL

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10:10am: The Rays have transferred righty Tyler Glasnow from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL to make room for Drake, per Topkin. Glasnow has not suffered a setback to his injured forearm, manager Kevin Cash announced. However, the burgeoning ace, 25, now won’t return until sometime in July (the 12th at the earliest). When Glasnow went to the IL on May 11, he was only supposed to sit out four to six weeks, making Sunday’s news an unfortunate blow for a Tampa Bay club that is firmly in the AL playoff hunt.

8:51am: The Rays have selected right-hander Oliver Drake’s contract from Triple-A Durham, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In a corresponding 25-man move, the team optioned righty Casey Sadler. Drake’s not on the Rays’ 40-man roster, which is full, so they’ll need to create a spot for him.

Drake’s in his first year with the Rays, who acquired him from the Blue Jays in January. Tampa Bay designated Drake for assignment two weeks later to make room for the signing of outfielder Avisail Garcia, but the hurler remained in the organization. Since then, the 32-year-old has only managed a 4.94 ERA in 23 2/3 Triple-A innings, though he has paired eye-opening strikeout and walk rates (15.21 K/9, 2.66 BB/9) with a 50 percent groundball mark.

For the most part, Drake has toyed with his competition at the minors’ highest level, where he owns a 2.36 ERA with 13.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 133 2/3 innings. Drake’s success at Triple-A has led a slew of organizations to take chances on him, including five last year alone. However, Drake wasn’t able to hold down a major league spot with any of the Angels, Indians, Brewers, Twins or Blue Jays in 2018, nor could he distinguish himself with the Orioles or Brew Crew from 2015-17. In his MLB stints with those franchises, Drake pitched to a 4.59 ERA in 137 1/3 innings, but he did post a 3.48 FIP with 9.9 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent grounder rate.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/24/19

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The latest minor moves from around baseball….

Latest Moves

  • The Rays announced that left-hander Oliver Drake has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, as Drake cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.  This represents some rare stability for Drake, who has switched organizations seven times within the last nine months and became the first player to ever pitch for five different MLB teams in a single season.  Drake posted a 5.29 ERA over 47 2/3 combined innings for his five clubs, with a 9.6 K/9 and 3.00 K/BB rate.

Earlier Today

  • The White Sox reportedly signed corner infielder Chris Johnson to a minors contract, though he won’t receive an invitation to MLB Spring Training, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Johnson hit .275/.313/.404 over 2995 plate appearances for five different Major League teams from 2009-16, including an impressive 2013 campaign that earned him a three-year, $23.5MM extension from the Braves (which ultimately didn’t pan out for the team).  Johnson spent 2017 in the Orioles’ farm system and didn’t play at all in 2018, so the 34-year-old will be attempting something of a comeback as he tries to catch on with Chicago.
  • The Diamondbacks signed catcher Alberto Rosario to a minor league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  The 32-year-old backstop will return for his second season in Arizona’s organization.  Rosario hit .253/.288/.313 over 179 combined plate appearances for the Snakes’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2018, missing over two months of the season to a pair of DL stints.  A veteran of 13 professional seasons, Rosario appeared in 23 big league games with the Cardinals in 2016-17.

Rays Designate Oliver Drake, Announce Signing Of Avisail Garcia

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The Rays have designated righty Oliver Drake for assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. His roster spot will go to outfielder Avisail Garcia, whose previously reported signing is now official.

It’s not terribly surprising to see Drake again dropped from a 40-man roster, as it seems his fate to end up in DFA limbo at least once every few months. In addition to his many prior trips into that netherworld, Drake has thrice moved through limbo this offseason alone. This isn’t even the first time he has been cast away by the Tampa Bay org since the 2018 season drew to a close.

Whether the 32-year-old will clear waivers or again end up on the move remains to be seen, but the smart money may be on a deal. Quite a few teams obviously still see the potential in his right arm, given that he appeared with an eye-popping five MLB teams last year and has since continued to bounce around the waiver wire. As we have explained on quite a few prior occasions, Drake has long produced intriguing peripherals. While that hasn’t often led to equivalent results, he did finish on a strong run last year with the Twins.

Rays Acquire Oliver Drake, Designate Jaime Schultz

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The Rays have acquired right-hander Oliver Drake from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, as per an announcement from the Jays.  In order to open a spot for Drake on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay announced that fellow righty Jaime Schultz has been designated for assignment.

Toronto designated Drake for assignment last week to open a spot on the roster for newly acquired southpaw Clayton Richard.  It’s the second time Drake has landed with the Rays this offseason; Tampa Bay claimed him from the Twins on Nov. 1, only to later lose him to the Jays via waivers.

Drake, 32 next week, is baseball’s most well-traveled player over the past calendar year. The right-hander pitched for a record-setting five teams in 2018, spending time with the Brewers, Indians, Blue Jays, Angels and Twins. Though he struggled with four of those clubs, Drake actually pitched quite well in Minnesota, giving the Twins 20 1/3 innings of 2.21 ERA ball with 22 strikeouts against seven walks over the life of 19 relief appearances.

Many were puzzled that Drake continually was claimed on waivers despite sub-par results for much of the 2018 campaign, but Drake’s blend of missed bats (13.2 percent swinging-strike rate, 9.6 K/9), solid control (3.2 BB/9) and ability to keep the ball on the ground at a roughly league-average rate (44.6 percent) continue to hold appeal around the league. He’s not a spin rate savant by any stretch of the means, but fielding-independent pitching metrics like FIP (3.24), xFIP (3.51) and SIERA (3.48) all paint a much better picture of Drake than his unsightly 5.29 ERA. His strong finish with Minnesota likely only further enhanced his appeal.

As for Schultz, the 27-year-old was once considered one of Tampa Bay’s more promising minor league arms. However, he struggled to a 5.64 ERA in 30 1/3 innings last year, and while he racked up 35 strikeouts in that time, he also issued 17 walks and hit three batters. He also underperformed in Triple-A last season and has never been able to consistently avoid issuing free passes in the upper minors. Schultz does have a nice track record of missing bats, though, and he averaged a solid 94.9 mph on his heater last year, so perhaps another club will be interest in taking a look.

Blue Jays Designate Oliver Drake

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The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Oliver Drake for assignment to make room for newly acquired southpaw Clayton Richard, per a team announcement.

Drake only lasted a few weeks on the 40-man roster in Toronto, which claimed him off waivers from the Rays on Nov. 26. By now, the 31-year-old Drake is used to short-lived stints on major league rosters. Drake saw action with a record five teams (including the Blue Jays) in 2018, and has pitched for a total of seven clubs since debuting with the Orioles in 2015.

Over 137 1/3 major league innings, including 47 2/3 last season, Drake has offered signs of encouragement. While Drake does own a below-average ERA (4.59), he has notched 9.9 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9, generated ground balls at a 47.3 percent clip and recorded a 3.48 FIP/3.63 xFIP. And Drake has been dominant at the Triple-A level, where he has posted a 1.80 ERA with 12.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 across 110 innings. Perhaps yet another major league team will take a chance on him via waivers, then.

Blue Jays Claim Oliver Drake, Designate Mark Leiter Jr.

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The Blue Jays announced tonight that they have claimed righty Oliver Drake off waivers from the Rays. To open a 40-man spot, the Toronto club designated fellow right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. for assignment.

This move continues a seemingly never-ending tour of the majors for Drake, a 31-year-old hurler with intriguing stuff who has seen many a 40-man roster but rarely stays in the same place for long. Since the start of the 2017 campaign, he has appeared with the Orioles, Brewers, Indians, Angels, Twins, and Blue Jays.

Indeed, Drake set a record last year by appearing with five teams. That did not include the Rays, who claimed him after the season concluded. This will be Drake’s second stop in Toronto; he stopped in for two appearances last season. Of course, it would hardly be surprising if Drake ends up being bumped from the Jays’ 40-man once again over the offseason.

So, what’s the fascination here? Drake has only a 4.50 career ERA through 137 1/3 innings. But he owns a 12.6% swinging-strike rate in the big leagues and has generally turned in much more promising peripherals. Last year, for example, he carried 9.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 with a 44.9% groundball rate through 47 2/3 frames — though a .353 BABIP and 63.7% strand rate left him with a 5.29 ERA.

As for the 27-year-old Leiter, he has found success at times in the upper minors but struggled to transition to the major-league mound. He has thrown 114 frames of 5.53 ERA ball in the bigs, due in no small part to allowing home runs at a clip of 1.97 per nine innings. Leiter, too, has been better in the eyes of ERA estimators that presume the dingers are in part a reflection of poor fortune, as he owns a 4.37 xFIP and 4.23 SIERA in the majors. Teams in search of rotation depth will surely have interest.

Rays Designate C.J. Cron, Announce Other Roster Moves

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The Rays will designate first baseman C.J. Cron for assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. He had been projected by MLBTR to earn $5.2MM in arbitration.

That’s just one of a flurry of late-breaking 40-man moves for the Rays. Relievers Oliver Drake and Hoby Milner were also designated, while right-hander Jose Mujica was outrighted.

All those precious roster spaces were needed to allow the team to add a host of new talent — and thereby protect it from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Lefties Kyle Bird and Brock Burke, righty Ian Gibaut, and outfielders Joe McCarthy and Jesus Sanchez are all now on the 40-man.

It’ll certainly come as a surprise to some that Cron is on his way out of Tampa Bay. After all, the club was rewarded for nabbing him from the Angels last year. Cron drove the ball over the fence thirty times and produced a strong 122 wRC+ with his .253/.323/.493 slash.

Of course, the Rays rarely rest on their laurels — or indulge in excessive spending. While Cron isn’t slated to command an immense salary, and the Rays actually have ample payroll space with which to work, the earning power of players of his kind has been gutted in recent years. That’s not to say that another organization won’t see the value. It doesn’t hurt that Cron is still controllable for another campaign.

Rays Claim Oliver Drake From Twins, Outright Jesus Sucre, Adam Moore

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The Rays have claimed right-hander Oliver Drake off waivers from the Twins, per an announcement from the Twins Additionally, Tampa Bay has outrighted catchers Jesus Sucre and Adam Moore off the 40-man roster, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Rays’ 40-man roster is now at 37 players, while the Twins’ is at 36.

The 31-year-old Drake looked as though he may have finally found a home with the Twins late in the 2018 season. Minnesota, incredibly, was the fifth Major League team for which the Naval Academy product suited up in 2018 and the only team with which he found real success. In 20 1/3 innings out of the Minnesota ’pen, Drake worked to a 2.21 ERA with an impressive 22-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 50 percent ground-ball rate.

Beyond the five teams with which he saw MLB action in 2018 (Twins, Blue Jays, Angels, Indians, Brewers), Drake came up with the Orioles back in 2016. In all, he’s seen time with six Major League clubs over the past two seasons. Tampa Bay, if Drake survives the offseason on the 40-man roster, would be a seventh. Drake is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to break camp with the Rays (or another club) next spring or else be exposed to waivers yet again. While his overall results in the big leagues aren’t impressive, the fact that six different teams have tried to pass him through waivers and all have failed speaks to the fact that many clubs believe him to be capable of succeeding in the Majors.

Sucre, 30, appeared in 73 games with the Rays this past season and hit .209/.247/.253 through 198 plate appearances — numbers not far off from his career rates through 654 PAs. With more than three years of big league service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Moore, 34, went 4-for-18 in eight games with the Rays. He’s seen Major League action in parts of nine seasons and batted .199/.239/.312 in 312 plate appearances. The journeyman backstop has a lifetime .266/.325/.408 line in more than 2400 Triple-A plate appearances.

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