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Hoyer Calls Bryant Trade Rumors “Inaccurate,” Says Cubs Expect To Sign A Reliever

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Recent reports of trade talks between the Cubs and Mets regarding star third baseman Kris Bryant are inaccurate, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer tells reporters in a Zoom conference call (Twitter link via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Hoyer emphasized that he is not engaged in any active trade conversations and has not had recent trade talks. “By and large, I would expect this is what our team will look like,” Hoyer added (link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago).

That’s not to say that there won’t be slight tweaks. Hoyer left open the door for some potential minor league deals even after camp opens, and he more interestingly tipped his hand that the club could soon have another Major League free-agent signing to announce for the bullpen (via Wittenmyer).

Bullpen help would be plenty sensible for the Cubs even if their entire current group were healthy, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Hoyer revealed that right-hander Rowan Wick is behind schedule due to an intercostal strain, while southpaw Kyle Ryan is likely to be placed on the Covid-19 list and will have his start to Spring Training delayed as a result. As a reminder, that’s not an indication that Ryan himself tested positive; players can be placed on the Covid-19 list due to exposure to positive cases as well.

That pair of absences likely leaves the Cubs with a mix of Craig Kimbrel, Andrew Chafin, Dan Winkler, Jason Adam, Duane Underwood Jr., Brad Wieck, Robert Stock, Dillon Maples and Jonathan Holder, among a few others with even less experience, on the 40-man roster. Adam Morgan, Joe Biagini and Rex Brothers give the Cubs some additional veteran options on non-roster deals, but it’s pretty clear that the group could use some additional augmentation.

Hoyer unsurprisingly didn’t tip his hand as to the identity of the apparently forthcoming signing, but the market still has plenty of interesting names from which to choose. Right-hander Jeremy Jeffress posted solid results but ugly secondary marks in a shortened 2020 season with the Cubs, and veterans like David Robertson, Shane Greene, Tyler Clippard, Brandon Workman, Pedro Strop, Jose Alvarez, Tony Watson and Oliver Perez are among the many yet-unsigned free agents.

We don’t have a clear idea of the Cubs’ budget at this point, but after dumping Yu Darvish’s salary and non-tendering Kyle Schwarber, the Cubs are nowhere near the luxury-tax threshold and have their lowest bottom-line payroll since 2015. Ownership recently gave the green light on spending a bit of money after those aggressive cuts earlier in the winter, which has resulted in the additions of Joc Pederson, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Williams and Jake Marisnick.

Red Sox Sign Hirokazu Sawamura, Designate Jeffrey Springs

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The Red Sox on Tuesday announced the signing of right-handed reliever Hirokazu Sawamura to a two-year contract with a dual club/player option for the 2023 season. Lefty Jeffrey Springs was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Sawamura, a veteran of 10 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, is represented by JBA Sports.

Reports over the past week have indicated that Sawamura and the Sox were discussing an affordable two-year pact, which The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently pegged at $3MM in guaranteed money. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Sawamura will earn a $1.2MM base salary in both years of the contract, though his 2022 base salary can reach $1.7MM based on his performance in the contract’s first year. The Red Sox also hold a club option valued at $3-4MM depending on performance escalators and milestones. Should they decline their half, Sawamura would have a player option valued between $600K and $2.2MM. The contract also contains $250K of annual incentives. All in all, Rosenthal suggested the contract can top out at $7.65MM over three years.

Sawamura, 33 in April, pitched nine and a half seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan before being traded to the Chiba Lotte Marines early in 2020. He’d gotten out to a rough start with his longtime club, erving up nine runs in his first 13 1/3 frames, but Sawamura turned things around with the Marines. In 21 innings down the stretch, he pitched to a pristine 1.71 ERA while striking out 29 of the 82 batters he faced (35.3 percent). Sawamura walked 10 in that time (12.1 percent) — far more than has been characteristic throughout his NPB career, but the promising finish likely assuaged some concerns from MLB clubs about a potential decline.

Overall, Sawamura has logged 868 1/3 innings in his NPB career and worked to a 2.77 ERA with a 22.1 percent strikeout rate and a 7.3 percent walk rate. He began his career as a starter before becoming the Giants’ closer in 2015 — a role he’d hold for two years.

Sawamura racked up 73 saves as the Giants’ primary ninth-inning option from 2015-16 before missing the 2017 season due to a shoulder issue. That missed season came after a bizarre scene in which a lesser shoulder issue was mistreated, leading to broader nerve troubles that sidelined him for months. The team’s president, GM and medical staff all reportedly apologized to Sawamura after the incident. Since his return in 2018, he’s worked as a setup man. He’s pitched mostly in a setup capacity since returning in 2018.

Sawamura has been healthy since that regrettable sequence and gives the Red Sox an intriguing hurler who could eventually emerge as a late-inning option. The right-hander has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90s splitter that functions as his primary out pitch, and a lesser-used slider to round out a three-pitch arsenal.

If that $3MM is indeed the final guarantee, that will represent a $1.5MM luxury-tax hit for the Red Sox, regardless of how those dollars are paid out. Such a commitment narrowly fits within a rapidly shrinking window between Boston’s overall luxury ledger and the $210MM tax threshold.

Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez now has them with a bit less than $2MM of breathing room, which makes additional dealings unlikely unless the Sox suddenly abandon their preference to stay south of the barrier, put together another trade to reduce their financial obligations or cut one of their arbitration-eligible players during Spring Training. (Unless specifically bargained otherwise, arbitration deals are only partially guaranteed up until Opening Day.)

Turning to the 28-year-old Springs, he’ll now be available to other clubs either via outright waivers, a trade or a simple release. The Red Sox have a week to make a decision as to which route they’ll choose. The 2020 season was Springs’ first with the Red Sox, and it proved to be a struggle. In 20 1/3 frames, the former Rangers southpaw was tagged for a 7.08 ERA. He struck out 28 percent of his opponents against just a seven percent walk rate, but five of the 99 opponents Springs faced took him deep. He has a 5.42 ERA and 4.66 FIP in 84 2/3 innings at the Major League level between the Texas and Boston organizations.

Phillies Sign Jeff Mathis To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve signed veteran catcher Jeff Mathis to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The Phils also confirmed previously reported non-roster invites for veterans Neftali Feliz, Brandon Kintzler, Bryan Mitchell, Ivan Nova, Hector Rondon, Michael Ynoa, Ronald Torreyes, Travis Jankowski and Matt Joyce. Mathis a client of Jet Sports Management, would earn $1.8MM if he makes the roster, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Mathis, 38 in March, just wrapped up a two-year stint with the Rangers. He didn’t hit well at all in Texas, but the Rangers surely weren’t expecting him to provide anything with the bat, either. Mathis hit .207/.274/.297 in the two prior seasons with the D-backs and was nonetheless signed to a two-year deal almost exclusively for his defensive prowess behind the dish.

Long considered one of the best all-around defensive catchers in the game, Mathis will head to Spring Training with the Phillies as the quintessential veteran mentor for the team’s younger players. It seems difficult to envision him cracking the Opening Day roster with J.T. Realmuto re-signed to a new five-year deal, Andrew Knapp the likely backup and a third catcher, Rafael Marchan, on the 40-man roster. But Mathis can work with Knapp and the 22-year-old Marchan on their defensive aptitude behind the plate and has no shortage of veteran insight to share with the pitching staff after spending the past 16 seasons in the Majors.

Mathis has appeared in 945 Major League games and tallied 3006 plate appearances between the Angels, Blue Jays, Marlins, D-backs and Rangers. He’s just a .194/.253/.300 hitter in that time, but at his peak he controlled the running game brilliantly and was among the league’s best both in terms of pitch framing and blocking balls in the dirt.

As one might expect for a player as he enters his late 30s, Mathis has seen his defensive ratings dip in recent years, but he made known back in September that he hoped to continue his playing career and the Phillies are giving him the opportunity to do so. Mathis can always head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, and it’s common for veterans of this nature to have multiple out dates in non-guaranteed deals, allowing them to return to the market near the end of camp (and/or early in the regular season) if they haven’t been added to the Major League roster.

Yankees To Sign Robinson Chirinos To Minors Deal

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Feb. 16: The Chirinos deal comes with a $1MM base salary in the big leagues plus another $500K of attainable incentives, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. He’ll also be provided multiple opt-out dates in the event that he’s not added to the Major League roster.

Feb. 15: The Yankees have reached a minor league agreement with free-agent catcher Robinson Chirinos, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The 36-year-old Chirinos has been a very good offensive catcher since he earned a regular role with the Rangers in 2014, but he hit free agency at an inopportune time this winter after a rough campaign divided between Texas and the Mets. Chirinos only put up a .162/.232/.243 line with one home run and an ISO of .081 82 plate appearances in 82 plate appearances. Those numbers paled in comparison to the .235/.331/.445 mark with 85 HRs that Chirinos managed in 1,953 PA between the Rangers and Astros in the previous six seasons.

Chirinos has never been known as a major defensive asset, but if the Yankees are confident he’ll rebound at the plate, he could push Kyle Higashioka for their backup role behind starter Gary Sanchez. Higashioka is ace Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher, though Chirinos did catch Cole in 2019 when they were members of the Astros.

Latest On Edwin Encarnacion

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Although free-agent designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion is one of baseball’s most prolific sluggers over the past several years, there is no guarantee he will suit up in the majors again. Encarnacion wants to play two more seasons, but as a defensively limited 38-year-old coming off a brutal campaign with the White Sox, it’s possible no team will sign him this year. If there’s no universal DH in 2021, it would further hurt Encarnacion’s cause, as he acknowledged to Hector Gomez of Z Sports 101 in the Dominican Republic.

“The decision that there will be no universal DH in the 2021 season has greatly affected my chances of signing,” Encarnacion said. “I want a team to give me the opportunity to play daily to show that I can still produce.”

Indeed, the lack of a DH in the NL would lead to fewer potential suitors for Encarnacion. Either way, considering how his 2020 went, it would be difficult to imagine any team guaranteeing an everyday role to Encarnacion. He hit a career-worst .157/.250/.377 in 181 plate appearances, though Encarnacion did continue to show off above-average power (10 home runs, .220 ISO). He’s also just two years removed from recording a line of .244/.344/.531 with 34 homers and a .287 ISO in 486 PA between the Mariners and Yankees. That was Encarnacion’s eighth straight season with both 30-plus homers and terrific overall offensive production.

It may be too soon to write Encarnacion off as a result of the struggles he endured over a small sample of work in 2020, though it’s worth pointing out he also had an awful year by Statcast’s standards as well. For instance, Encarnacion posted a .372 expected weighted on-base average in 2019, but that figure plummeted to .268 last year as his exit velocity fell to near the bottom of the league (85.4 mph) and his strikeout rate soared to 29.8 percent.

It may take a spring rebound as a non-roster invitee to earn his way back for a 17th big league season, although injuries in camp could always open a more solid opportunity. Speculatively speaking, the A’s at least represent an on-paper fit for a low-cost roll of the dice after dealing Khris Davis earlier this month.

Brewers Acquire Derek Fisher From Blue Jays

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The Brewers have acquired outfielder Derek Fisher from the Blue Jays for cash and a player to be named later, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

Milwaukee is the third organization for Fisher, who began as the 37th overall pick of the Astros in 2014. Houston sent him to Toronto five years later in a 2019 trade that delivered right-handers Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini to the Astros.

Fisher didn’t have much major league success with either the Astros or Jays, as evidenced by his .194/.286/.376 line with 17 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 458 plate appearances. He does, however, own a much more imposing triple-slash of .289/.379/.520 with 50 homers in 1,053 PA at the Triple-A level. Because Fisher is out of options, though, he’ll have to earn a spot on the Brewers’ 40-man roster this spring or potentially go back to the waiver wire. Christian Yelich, Avisail Garcia, Lorenzo Cain, Daniel Robertson, Tyrone Taylor, Billy McKinney, Corey Ray and Tim Lopes represent the other outfield-capable players on the Brewers’ 40-man.

Indians To Sign Blake Parker

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Free-agent reliever Blake Parker is signing a non-guaranteed deal with the Indians, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Parker could earn around $2.5MM if he hits the incentives on the contract.

Based on the production the 35-year-old right-hander has put up throughout his career, he seems like a solid bet to earn a season-opening spot in Cleveland’s bullpen. Dating back to his 2012 debut, Parker has pitched for six major league teams (Cubs, Yankees, Mariners, Angels, Twins and Phillies), with which he has combined for a 3.52 ERA/3.25 SIERA across 301 2/3 innings. While Parker doesn’t throw especially hard – his fastball has typically clocked in around 92 mph – he has managed above-average strikeout and walk percentages of 27.7 and 7.9, respectively.

Parker only threw 16 innings with the Phillies last year, but he made them count, as he registered an impressive 2.81 ERA/3.39 SIERA. He did issue an alarming amount of walks (13.0 percent), but Parker somewhat offset his control issues with a lofty strikeout percentage (36.2).

Twins To Sign Matt Shoemaker

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The Twins and free-agent right-hander Matt Shoemaker have reached a one-year, $2MM agreement, pending a physical, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The deal includes up to $250K in performance bonuses. Shoemaker is a client of ISE Baseball.

Shoemaker began his career as a member of the Angels, with whom he pitched from 2013-18 and typically provided respectable production as a mid- to back-end type of starter. But Shoemaker had some injury issues then, throwing just 108 2/3 innings in his final two seasons as an Angel, before moving on to the Blue Jays prior to 2019.

Shoemaker was also unable to stay healthy during his two years as a Blue Jay, as a torn ACL limited him to 28 2/3 innings in 2019, while shoulder problems held him to a matching 28 2/3 frames last season. That said, Shoemaker mostly did a decent job in Toronto when he was able to take the mound. The 34-year-old now owns a 3.86 ERA/3.88 SIERA with above-average strikeout and walk percentages of 21.8 and 5.9, respectively, in 602 1/3 major league innings.

Shoemaker will be the second free-agent signing this offseason for the Twins’ rotation, which added J.A. Happ earlier in the winter. Those two are in line to complement Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda at the beginning of the season, though Randy Dobnak could also push for a starting spot. It’s unclear if the Shoemaker addition will affect whether the Twins re-sign Jake Odorizzi, arguably the No. 1 starter left in free agency.

Mets Interested In Trevor Rosenthal

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Right-hander Trevor Rosenthal may be the best reliever remaining in free agency, and he has at least one serious suitor in the Mets. They’re “clearly “in” on the reliever,” Mike Puma of the New York Post writes.

Rosenthal was largely successful with the Cardinals from 2012-17, part of which he spent as their closer, but then fell on hard times. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2017, missed all of the next season, and then had a horrible time between Washington and Detroit the next year. Rosenthal split 15 1/3 innings with those teams, allowing a whopping 24 runs (23 earned) on 26 walks with 17 strikeouts and 11 hits.

While Rosenthal’s career looked to be just about over at this time a year ago, he rebounded in a big way last season after inking a minor league deal with the Royals. Rosenthal did well with Kansas City over the first few weeks of the season before it sent him to San Diego leading up to the Aug. 31 trade deadline, after which he performed even better. The 30-year-old ended 2020 with a sterling 1.90 ERA/2.31 SIERA in 23 2/3 innings. Moreover, Rosenthal finished fifth among relievers in strikeout percentage (41.8) and sixth in K-BB percentage (33.0), also averaging 98 mph on his fastball and rating as a Statcast favorite.

A Rosenthal signing would be the second major free-agent offseason acquisition for the Mets’ relief corps, which added fellow setup man Trevor May on a two-year, $15.5MM deal in early December. Considering his vast experience as a closer (132 saves), Rosenthal could be a ninth-inning fallback option for the Mets if Edwin Diaz falters in 2021.

Red Sox Nearing Deal With Hirokazu Sawamura

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FEB. 15: The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) has additional contract details, saying Sawamura will earn $3MM over the course of the two-year pact and the Red Sox also have a “conditional and complex” club option on his services for the 2023 season.  If Sawamura hits every possible bonus, the contract will max out at $7.65MM over the three years.

FEB. 10: The Red Sox “appear on the cusp of” a deal with Sawamura, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Sankei Sports reports it will be a two-year, $2.4MM deal with additional incentives available, according to Speier.

FEB. 7: The Red Sox are making progress on a deal with reliever Hirokazu Sawamura, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (Twitter link). If finalized, it’s expected to be a major league contract, per Cotillo. Sawamura is an unrestricted free agent, so the Sox would not owe any compensation to his previous Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.

The 32-year-old (33 in April) has pitched to a 2.77 ERA with decent strikeout (22.0%) and walk (7.3%) rates in nine seasons at Japan’s highest level. Sawamura had a difficult start to the 2020 season with the Yomiuri Giants, pitching to a 6.08 ERA while striking out eleven and issuing eight walks in 13.2 innings. After the Giants traded him to the Marines midseason, though, Sawamura turned his fortunes around. Over 21 innings for the Marines down the stretch, the right-hander worked to a 1.71 ERA with a much better 29:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Last year’s early struggles were surely a red flag for some big league teams, but Sawamura’s post-trade rebound, his track record, and MLB-caliber arsenal have all seemingly worked in his favor as he’s talked with MLB teams this winter. Sawamura has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90s splitter that functions as his primary out pitch, and a slider.

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