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Dodgers Extend Austin Barnes, Avoid Arbitration

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The Dodgers have avoided arbitration with catcher Austin Barnes by agreeing to a two-year deal worth $4.3MM, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).  The contract breaks down as a $300K signing bonus, $1.5MM in 2021, $2.5MM in 2022, and another $400K in potential incentives based on games played.

Barnes was seeking a $2MM salary for the 2021 season and the Dodgers countered with a $1.5MM figure, but the new deal both avoids a hearing and locks Barnes up for both of his remaining arbitration years.  The catcher is still scheduled to hit free agency following the 2022 season.

MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected Barnes to earn between $1.3MM and $1.7MM through the arbitration process, so the catcher will top that projection (counting both salary and the signing bonus) and he also banks some extra financial security for 2022 in the process.  The Barnes deal wraps up the Dodgers’ arbitration business for the winter, and it is the second multi-year contract L.A. has struck this week in order to avoid an arbitration hearing, after reaching a two-year, $8MM pact with Walker Buehler.

Originally a ninth-round pick for the Marlins in the 2011 draft, Barnes came to Los Angeles as part of a memorable seven-player trade in December 2014.  While not considered an elite prospect at the time, Barnes hit well in the Dodgers’ farm system and seemed to emerge as a catcher-of-the-future candidate when he hit .289/.408/.486 over 262 PA in 2017.  His bat hasn’t been nearly as potent since, however, and Barnes has settled into a backup role behind Will Smith.

With another highly touted catching prospect in Keibert Ruiz on the cusp of regular playing time, it remains to be seen if Barnes will be part of the Dodgers’ long-term plans.  His two-year agreement could now make him something of a trade chip, or the Dodgers might prefer to move Ruiz in order to land a higher-tier trade target.  This all to be said, Los Angeles could also just end up keeping all their catchers as part of the team’s philosophy of amassing as much depth as possible — the addition of the universal DH would help in that regard, as more at-bats would be available.

Barnes’ deal carries a $2.15MM average annual value, adding to the Dodgers’ increasingly large luxury tax bill.  The club now has a projected tax number of over $257.5MM (according to Roster Resource), beyond the highest penalty level of $250MM.  The Dodgers are facing a tax bill of over $15MM and, for passing the $250MM mark, a 10-position drop in the draft order for their highest pick in the 2021 draft.  There has been speculation that L.A. could look to trade a contract in order to at least duck under the $250MM threshold, but since the Dodgers are being taxed at the “first-timer” rate, they seem comfortable in making this one-year splurge to reload for another World Series title.

Athletics To Sign Sergio Romo

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The Athletics have agreed to a one-year deal with Sergio Romo, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Romo will be paid $2.25MM, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  Romo is represented by Meister Sports Management.

Romo hit the open market after the Twins bought out their $5MM 2021 club option on the right-hander for $250K back in October.  Originally acquired by Minnesota in a deal at the 2019 trade deadline, Romo will now head back to the Bay Area, where he starred on the other side of the Bay Bridge pitching out of the Giants’ bullpen from 2008-16.

Since leaving the Giants following the 2016 season, Romo hasn’t been quite as dominant as he was during his San Francisco heyday, with some increase in his home run and walk rates over the last four seasons.  But overall, Romo has still been an effective reliever as he approaches his 38th birthday, including posting a 4.05 ERA and an above-average 26.4K% and 18.4K-BB% over 20 innings with Minnesota in 2020.  Statcast graded Romo as a plus contributor (if not really elite) in every category across the board last season, and his 3.82 SIERA indicates that Romo was perhaps even slightly unlucky from an ERA standpoint.

Between Romo and the re-signed Yusmeiro Petit, the Athletics have added two veteran workhorses for the bullpen in a single evening.  Petit leads all pitchers in appearances since the start of the 2017 season, while Romo averaged 56 innings and 63 appearances per season from 2010-19.  Romo worked as a regular closer with the Rays in 2018 and the Marlins in 2019, and he could pick up some save opportunities should Jake Diekman (the favorite for ninth-inning duty in Oakland) run into any difficulties.  For now, Romo looks to slot in as a set-up man.

Mets Sign Mike Montgomery, Tommy Hunter To Minor League Contracts

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The Mets have signed Mike Montgomery and Tommy Hunter to minor-league contracts (via Tim Healey of Newsday). Both pitchers will receive invitations to major league spring training.

Montgomery has pitched in the big leagues in each of the past six seasons. Best known for recording the final out of the 2016 World Series as a member of the Cubs, he has settled in as a decent swing option in recent years. Since the start of 2017, the left-hander has pitched to a 4.03 ERA across 351 innings. He doesn’t miss many bats, managing just a 17.3% strikeout rate in that time. Montgomery has a decent track record of throwing strikes, though, and has induced ground balls at a strong 53.1% clip over the past four years.

The 31-year-old Montgomery entered 2020 as a member of the Royals’ rotation, but he went down with a lat strain just two innings into his first start. That knocked him out for much of the shortened season; he returned for a pair of relief appearances at the end of September before being outrighted off Kansas City’s roster.

Montgomery could compete for a spot at the back of the rotation or for a multi-inning relief role. That flexibility could prove beneficial for a New York team that’ll be without Seth Lugo to open the season due to the latter’s upcoming surgery to repair a bone spur in his elbow. At the moment, Joey Lucchesi looks the favorite to start the year in the final rotation spot behind Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson.

Hunter, on the other hand, is a pure reliever. The 34-year-old pitched in 24 games for the Phillies last season, working to a 4.01 ERA/3.57 SIERA across 24.2 innings. Decent showing notwithstanding, Hunter’s 91.7 MPH average fastball was down rather significantly from the mid-90’s velocity he showed at his 2013-16 peak. That drop-off, coupled with Hunter’s slightly below-average strikeout (24.5%) and swinging strike (10%) rates, likely contributed to his inability to find a guaranteed deal this winter. Nevertheless, it’s easy to envision the generally reliable veteran earning a roster spot with a decent showing in spring training.

MLBTR Poll: Jackie Bradley’s Future

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After last night’s agreement between Justin Turner and the Dodgers, Jackie Bradley Jr. stands out as the top remaining free agent position player. The longtime Red Sox center fielder has earned a reputation as one of the game’s top defensive outfielders and is coming off a strong 2020 season at the plate.

It was reported earlier this month Bradley was seeking a long-term deal, potentially even targeting a five-year pact. That’s a rather lofty goal; entering the offseason, the MLBTR staff projected a two-year, $16MM contract for Bradley.

While a five-year deal would register as a major surprise, Bradley has drawn a decent share of reported interest this winter. The Mets, Giants, Red Sox, Astros, Cubs, Phillies and Blue Jays have all been tied to Bradley at various stages of the offseason. Toronto can safely be ruled out, having signed George Springer since engaging with Bradley very early on. The Phillies still have room for a center field upgrade, but it seems unlikely Philadelphia would be willing to make a run at Bradley after spending to re-sign J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius. The Cubs, meanwhile, have since signed Joc Pederson and Jake Marisnick to join Ian Happ and Jason Heyward in the outfield.

That leaves the Mets, Giants, Astros and Red Sox as the likeliest landing spots on paper. We’ll turn things over to the MLBTR readership to predict Bradley’s destination and contract length.

(poll links for app users)

 

NL Notes: Turner, Brewers, Cubs, Robertson, Mets

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Justin Turner is returning to the Dodgers, agreeing to terms last night on a two-year, $34MM guarantee with a 2023 option. The Brewers were known to be interested in Turner for much of the offseason and apparently made a legitimate run at the star third baseman. Milwaukee made a two-year offer similar to the one Turner ultimately accepted from Los Angeles, while also proposing a potential three-year deal at a lower annual rate, hears Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). Having missed out on Turner, Milwaukee’s now left to weigh the possibility of another addition versus rolling with the in-house pairing of Luis Urías and Daniel Robertson at the hot corner.

More from the National League:

  • The Cubs are looking to add a left-handed hitting second baseman, reports Bruce Levine of 670 the Score (Twitter link). There aren’t a ton of players fitting the profile still available in free agency, unless the Cubs are interested in a reunion with Daniel Descalso or Jason Kipnis. Eric Sogard might be the cleanest fit, but he’s coming off a poor season with the Brewers. Travis Shaw remains on the open market as well; he’s primarily a corner infielder but has some experience at the keystone. Otherwise, Chicago might be left looking to the trade market to address the issue.
  • Levine also notes that the Cubs were among the teams to attend David Robertson’s recent showcase as they pursue veteran bullpen help. A 2019 Tommy John surgery wiped out almost all of Robertson’s past two seasons, but the 35-year-old looks like an interesting buy-low candidate now that he’s returned to health. Robertson was among the more consistent and productive relievers in baseball before the operation.
  • The Mets are promoting Steve Barningham to international scouting director, relays Tim Healey of Newsday (via Twitter). Healey adds that the 46-year-old has worked in the New York organization since 2005. In addition to his voluminous scouting experience, Barningham played a pair of seasons in the Rangers’ system in the early 2000’s.

White Sox Announce Series Of Minor League Deals

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The White Sox announced the additions of fourteen players on minor league contracts with MLB spring training invitations this week. Among the signees not previously-reported are infielder Matt Reynolds; right-handers Ryan Burr, Tayron Guerrero, Alex McRae, Connor Sadzeck and Mike Wright; and left-handers Jacob Lindgren and Kodi Medeiros.

Reynolds and McRae have the most recent MLB experience of this contingent, having played in the big leagues last season. Reynolds appeared in three games for the Royals. Also a former Met and National, the right-handed hitter has compiled a .212/.282/.323 slash line across 251 plate appearances in parts of four seasons. McRae tossed a pair of scoreless relief appearances for Chicago in 2020. The right-hander has a 7.50 ERA/5.64 SIERA in 36 MLB innings with the Pirates and White Sox over the last three years.

Burr, Guerrero and Sadzeck are all righty relievers who last pitched in the majors in 2019. Each brings a power arm and has flashed some bat-missing ability (Guerrero and Sadzeck especially), but all three have been plagued by control problems. Wright was a swing option early in his career with the Orioles and can serve as a potential rotation or long relief depth piece for the Sox. He spent last season with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization, where he started 29 games and posted a 4.68 ERA with below-average strikeout (17.9%) and walk (9.1%) rates. Nevertheless, Wright managed to pitch 157.2 innings last season, perhaps giving him a leg up from a durability perspective on pitchers who spent last year in the United States, where a shorter season led to drastically curtailed innings totals.

Lindgren and Medeiros were both well-regarded prospects at one point whose careers have since been sidetracked. Lindgren has been through a series of injuries and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015, although he’s still only entering his age-28 season. Medeiros, once a top fifteen overall draft pick by the Brewers, has never consistently performed in the minors and has yet to play in the big leagues.

Pitcher Notes: Mets, Paxton, Robertson, Sanchez

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The Mets made a run at James Paxton, but they were outbid by the Mariners, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Heyman suggests the Mets will now turn their attention to Taijuan Walker or Jake Odorizzi. Frankly, it seems unlikely they would find the right price point on Odorizzi coming off a very similar season to Paxton (but with a longer track record of good health). Besides, the list of players the Mets “were in on” includes Jake Arrieta, Rich Hill, George Springer and others, notes Andy Martino of the SNY Network (via Twitter). That’s not a knock on the Mets, of course, who have been one of the more active teams this winter. Let’s check in some other free agent pitchers…

  • Free agent reliever David Robertson threw for a handful of teams yesterday, but the price on his long-term future remains unclear. His old pals from New York were in attendance, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter), but the Yankees are far from the only team who might have interest. Despite the dumb-luck turn of his Philly tenure, Robertson is an intriguing buy-low candidate. Injuries limited the right-hander to seven appearances over the past two seasons, but in the ten years prior, Robertson should be proud of a 2.67 ERA/2.77 FIP while striking out an excellent-for-the-era 32.6 percent of hitters and walking a near-average 9.5 percent of challengers. The Yankees probably remember better than most just how good Robertson was in his prime. Approaching his age-36 season, Robertson is decidedly on the downslope of his career – but he has a long way to fall before losing his utility.
  • Aaron Sanchez also headed back to the hill to throw for scouts on Saturday, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). The Mets were among those present, as they continue to keep their hand in the starting pitching market. Sanchez is on record as wanting a spot in the rotation, which could limit his potential landing spots. It now seems like ages ago that Sanchez led the American League with a 3.00 ERA over 30 starts for the Blue Jays in 2016. Since that All-Star campaign, Sanchez has compiled a 5.29 ERA/5.12 FIP across 55 starts totaling 272 1/3 innings with a worm-killing 47.8 percent groundball rate. An 18.1 percent strikeout rate and 11.7 percent walk rate are less than inspiring figures, however.

Blue Jays Release Shun Yamaguchi

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FEB 13: Having gone unclaimed, the Blue Jays released Yamaguchi, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter). They will nevertheless remain on the hook for the $3.175MM owed to Yamaguchi this season.

FEB 11: The Blue Jays have designated right-hander Shun Yamaguchi for assignment, tweets Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae. The team hasn’t formally announced the move, though it’s listed on their transactions log at MLB.com. It seems that’ll create roster space for last night’s reported waiver pickup of righty Joel Payamps.

Toronto signed Yamaguchi, 33, to a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $6.35MM last offseason. The former Yomiuri Giants and Yokohama BayStars righty had a 14-year run of success in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, working both as an effective closer and a high-quality rotation piece at various points of his career there. Through 1080 1/3 NPB frames, Yamaguchi notched a tidy 3.35 ERA (3.22 if you exclude his ugly NPB debut as a teenager) with 112 saves, a 23.1 percent strikeout rate and a 9.1 percent walk rate.

The Blue Jays used Yamaguchi out of the bullpen exclusively in 2020, and the results simply never came through as the team hoped. The right-hander appeared in 17 games and yielded at least one run in 10 of those outings. His overall 8.06 ERA is skewed to some extent by a seven-run implosion at Yankee Stadium, but even setting that aside Yamaguchi’s ERA still would’ve clocked in north of 5.00. His 21.7 percent strikeout rate, meanwhile, was a bit below par, while his 14.2 percent walk rate was well north of the league average.

Yamaguchi is still owed $3.175MM in 2021, and the Jays will have to eat that salary. They have a week to trade him, run him throughout outright waivers or simply release him, though it’s difficult to imagine any club taking on Yamaguchi’s salary — particularly at a time when most teams have been overwhelmingly stingy about their budgets.

Giants Roster “Pretty Settled”

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The Giants’ rotation took the early spotlight this winter as Kevin Gausman weighed multi-year deals against a short-term return to the Bay. Ultimately, Gausman brought his 3.62 ERA/3.09 FIP and 32.2 percent strikeout rate from 2020 back to San Francisco by accepting the club’s qualifying offer.

Slot Gausman at the top of the Giants’ rotation, then, and veteran Johnny Cueto right behind him. With Gausman on a one-year pact and the soon-to-be 35-year-old Cueto also facing free agency (assuming the Giants buy out their 2022 team option), the Giants have long-term flexibility at the top of their rotation. As much as malleability has become a chief asset throughout the game, the top of the rotation is the one place where teams probably prefer some stability. The Giants have some work to do in this regard, but that’s probably not a box they can check this winter.

Elsewhere, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood are “locked into the rotation,” per Maria Guardado of MLB.com. The way in which those starts manifest themselves comes baked-in with more than a dash of uncertainty, especially given the unique incentives in Wood’s contract. His deal leaves open the possibility of taking his turns traditionally – or as an opener or follower. DeSclafani, meanwhile, has only twice made 30+ starts in a season, and he’s coming off a 7.22 ERA/5.52 SIERA in 33 2/3 innings – which included seven starts and two relief appearances. Regarding the stability/flexibility dichotomy, Wood and DeSclafani, like the top half of the rotation, are heading back to free agency after 2021.

Funny enough, Logan Webb, the frontrunner to land the Giants’ fifth starter spot, also probably has the most secure long-term future with the club. The 24-year-old owns a 5.36 ERA/4.64 SIERA over 94 career innings. In the short term, however, he’s most likely to find himself displaced from a regular role should President of Baseball Ops Farhan Zaidi continue to add from the outside. At least for now, that’s a real possibility, writes Guardado.

Interestingly, Zaidi sounded pretty certain that the rest of their roster was set. The Giants added Tommy La Stella to the top of their lineup this winter and Curt Casali to the bench. In the bullpen, Matt Wisler, John Brebbia, and Jake McGee joined the bullpen potentials along with Rule 5 selection Dedniel Nunez.

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