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Yoenis Cespedes Intends To Play In 2021

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After opting out of the 2020 season, Yoenis Cespedes is planning to play this year, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  The former Mets outfielder will hold a showcase for Major League scouts on March 2.

Cespedes played in eight games in 2020, which marked his first big league action since the 2018 season.  Cespedes’ final year in New York played out in thoroughly unusual fashion, beginning with the December 2019 news that his contract had been amended due to a Mets grievance in relation to his ankle injury earlier that year.  This reduced Cespedes’ 2020 salary to the prorated portion of $11MM, though Cespedes then forfeited almost all of that money due to his decision to opt out as a non high-risk individual.  Even his opt-out came in controversial fashion, as the Mets first announced that Cespedes hadn’t arrived at the ballpark prior to an August 2 game, which sparked concern about Cespedes’ whereabouts and well-being before his agent confirmed his client’s decision.

It remains to be seen what sort of free interest the 35-year-old Cespedes will generate after almost two full seasons away from baseball and a long injury history that includes multiple surgeries on his ankles and heels.  2016 was Cespedes’ last year as a true regular, as he appeared in 132 games for the Mets before playing in just 119 games total over the 2017-18 seasons.

When Cespedes has been able to play, it should be noted that he still swung a powerful bat — a .282/.343/.525 slash line and 26 homers over 478 plate appearances in 2017-18.  New York used him exclusively as a DH last season due to his leg injuries, however, and it isn’t known if Cespedes will be again limited to DH duty (and thus to only American League teams) going forward.  Cespedes did bat just .161/.235/.387 in 2020, though over the small sample size of 34 PA.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/22/21

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The latest minor league moves from around baseball…

  • The Red Sox announced that Jett Bandy has been re-signed to a minor league deal and invited to big league Spring Training camp.  (Alex Speier of the Boston Globe was among those to report the news.)  Bandy is back for his second season with the Sox, after inking a minors pact last winter and spending the 2020 season at Boston’s alternate training site.  Bandy has hit .218/.282/.365 over 492 career plate appearances in the majors, all with the Angels and Brewers from 2015-18.  His last official game action came with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019.

Brewers Interested In Jackie Bradley Jr.

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An intriguing new team has emerged in the Jackie Bradley Jr. race, as FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link) reports that the Brewers are “in the mix” for the outfielder’s services.  Milwaukee made a push to sign Justin Turner before the third baseman re-signed with the Dodgers, indicating that the Brewers have some money to spend if they feel a substantial upgrade can be found.

While the Brewers technically have a regular center fielder in Lorenzo Cain and a full outfield altogether with Christian Yelich and Avisail Garcia in the corners, an argument can certainly be made for Bradley’s inclusion.  Cain played five games before opting out of the 2020 season, and he also struggled at the plate while dealing with a number of injuries in 2019.

Those injury problems didn’t hamper Cain’s glovework, however, as Cain was his usual excellent self in center field.  The idea of having both Cain and Bradley in the same outfield would be a dream from a defensive standpoint, and the Brewers could also deploy Bradley in center to give Cain some off-days, while occasionally sitting Bradley when a tough left-handed pitcher is on the mound.  Garcia would likely see the biggest reduction in playing time, coming off a season that saw him hit only .238/.333/.326 over 207 plate appearances.

Bradley’s bat has been inconsistent over the years, though he hit .283/.364/.450 with seven home runs over 217 PA with the Red Sox in 2020.  His hard-contact numbers weren’t impressive, marking a bit of a strange reversal from the 2017-19 seasons that saw Bradley made much more solid contact but it didn’t translate to above-average offensive production.

Several clubs have been linked to Bradley over the course of the offseason, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that “about a half dozen teams” still considering signing the 30-year-old (who turns 31 in April).  Such teams as the Giants and Astros have shown interest in Bradley and still have obvious room in their outfields, though The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal noted today that signing Bradley would put Houston over the luxury tax threshold, which would hamper the team from a draft-compensation standpoint this winter for both its own free agents (i.e. Carlos Correa) and any free agents it might pursue.

Other possible Bradley suitors like the Red Sox, Mets, Cubs, and Phillies could be only on the periphery based on other additions made this offseason.  With Bradley still on the market as Spring Training begins, however, it could open the door for more non-obvious teams like the Brewers to check in to see if a deal could possibly be had.

Athletics Designate Dustin Fowler For Assignment

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The A’s have designated outfielder Dustin Fowler for assignment.  This was the corresponding move to create roster space for Trevor Rosenthal, whose deal with Oakland has now been officially announced.

Perhaps best known for his inclusion as part of the trade package sent by the Yankees to the A’s in the July 2017 Sonny Gray trade, Fowler hit .224/256/.354 with six home runs over 203 plate appearances with Oakland in 2018.  His only other MLB experience was a single game with the Yankees in 2017, as Fowler’s big league debut was ruined after he ruptured his right patellar tendon after running into an electrical box while chasing a fly ball at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field.

It was a particularly damaging injury for a player known for his speed while coming up through the minor leagues, though Fowler still managed some respectable (25-for-31) stolen base totals with the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018 and 2019.  Ramon Laureano’s emergence turned Fowler into a somewhat expendable part of Oakland’s future plans, though Fowler is still 26, and he has posted some strong post-injury hitting numbers at the Triple-A level.

Athletics Sign Trevor Rosenthal

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TODAY: The A’s have officially announced the signing.

FEB. 18, 8:37pm: While it’s only a one-year pact, the Athletics will pay Trevor Rosenthal for three seasons, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. He’ll earn $3MM in both 2021 and ’22 and another $5MM in ’23.

8:59am: In a surprising move, the A’s have agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent righty Trevor Rosenthal, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Boras Corporation client will earn $11MM in 2021 and presumably slot in as Oakland’s primary closer before returning to the open market next winter.

Trevor Rosenthal | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a rather stunning development to see the Athletics of all clubs strike this pact. Oakland has spent the offseason in a veritable state of dormancy, only jumping into the free-agent market after first shedding a notable chunk of cash in the deal that shipped Khris Davis and his $16.75MM salary to Texas. Even then, the additions made by the club have been small-scale in nature: one-year deals with Yusmeiro Petit ($2.55MM), Sergio Romo ($2.25MM) and Mitch Moreland ($2.25MM).

The only indication to date that the A’s have been willing to spend near this level on a single player has been their $12.5MM offer to shortstop Marcus Semien, although The Athletic reported that offer came with as much as $10MM deferred over the course of an entire decade. The extent of deferrals in the Rosenthal deal isn’t yet known, but ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that a portion of that $11MM is indeed deferred beyond the 2021 season. Passan adds that Rosenthal and agent Scott Boras initially set out seeking a four-year pact, but when the multi-year interest they received didn’t meet those lofty expectations, Rosenthal eventually opted for a higher-value one-year deal.

Rosenthal, 30, was among the game’s most dominant relievers in 2020 — a remarkable rebound from a 2018-19 downturn that had brought his very future in the game into question. From 2012-17, Rosenthal was one of the National League’s best relievers, tossing 325 innings of 2.99 ERA ball and punching out 31.2 percent of his opponents while closing down games in St. Louis. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, however, causing him to miss the entire 2018 season.

When he returned in 2019 with the Nationals, Rosenthal walked 15 of the 43 batters he faced and plunked another three while mixing in five wild pitches. He went to the Tigers and walked more than a quarter of his opponents there, too, before landing with the Yankees’ Triple-A club. Rosenthal faced five batters with the Yankees’ Scranton affiliate, walking three of them and hitting another.

The sudden case of the yips had many questioning whether he’d ever make it back from Tommy John surgery, but Rosenthal parlayed a minor league deal with the the Royals into the aforementioned dominant 2020 campaign that brought about this sizable one-year arrangement. Armed with a triple-digit heater and a rediscovered control of the strike zone, Rosenthal tossed 13 2/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball as Kansas City’s closer before being traded to the Padres, where he closed out the year with 10 shutout innings of relief. Overall, the flamethrowing righty posted a 1.90 ERA and 2.31 SIERA with a powerhouse 41.8 percent strikeout rate and a strong 8.8 percent walk rate.

If Rosenthal can replicate that success in 2021, he could hit the market as a 31-year-old on the heels of a similar resurgence to that of the man he’ll effectively replace in Oakland: Liam Hendriks. The Aussie buzzsaw went from clearing outright waivers in 2018 to breaking out as one of MLB’s most dominant relievers in 2019-20. Hendriks cashed in on a $54MM guarantee this winter, and it stands to reason that another dominant year will position Rosenthal for that type of commitment and the lengthy multi-year deal he coveted as well.

It’s been a remarkable week for the Oakland bullpen, which not long ago looked to be a collection of question marks anchored by veteran lefty Jake Diekman. In the past seven days, however, they’ve acquired ground-ball machine Adam Kolarek from the Dodgers, re-signed iron man Yusmeiro Petit and inked slider specialist Sergio Romo as well. The A’s bullpen now looks like a deep, formidable group with the highly underrated J.B. Wendelken and the talented-but-still-inconsistent Lou Trivino now sliding down the ladder into lower-leverage spots.

The Athletics’ payroll, meanwhile, will rise to nearly $85MM — a fraction of what many clubs will spend in 2021 but at least within striking distance of their 2019-20 levels of spending. It’s hard to praise ownership too much when this recent spending spree was preceded by a salary dump and an insulting offer to their longtime clubhouse leader, but it’s better late than never to act like the contenders they should be.

Oakland won the American League West in 2020 and captured Wild Card berths in both 2018 and 2019. However, they’ve yet to ride this talented core — anchored by Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Ramon Laureano and Semien — beyond the divisional round of postseason play. The core group is morphing a bit, with Semien now in Toronto and Jesus Luzardo perhaps emerging to lead the Oakland rotation, but the A’s still have control of Chapman, Olson and Laureano for multiple years. Adding Rosenthal, Petit, Romo, Moreland and Kolarek in a week’s time only supplements that core and gives the club a shot at its first full-season division crown since 2013.

Nationals To Sign Jeremy Jeffress To Minors Deal

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The Nationals have reached an agreement with right-hander Jeremy Jeffress on a minor league deal, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (Twitter links).  Jeffress will earn $1.25MM if he reaches the Nats’ big league roster, plus he can earn up to $1.25MM more in bonuses.

Jeffress has been an effective reliever for most of his 11 seasons in the majors, and was an All-Star as recently as the 2018 season when pitching for the Brewers.  He struggled in 2019, however, posting a 5.02 ERA with a 48.4% grounder rate that marked the only time the groundball specialist had fallen under the 50% threshold over a full season.

Jeffress had a rebound with the Cubs last season, delivering a 1.54 ERA and 54.4% grounder rate over 23 1/3 innings and allowing only a single home run.  However, Jeffress benefited from a tiny .161 BABIP against some otherwise unimpressive Statcast numbers, and his .496 SIERA painted a much uglier picture of Jeffress’ performance.  His 19.3K% and 13.6BB% were also well below average.

At the cost of just a Spring Training invitation, there isn’t any risk to the Nationals in taking a look to see if Jeffress can still contribute as he enters his age-33 season.  Jeffress joins Luis Avilan, Javy Guerra, Aaron Barrett, and T.J. McFarland as veteran relievers on minor league deals in Washington’s camp.

Rangers To Sign Ian Kennedy To Minors Deal

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The Rangers will sign reliever Ian Kennedy to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Boras Corporation client will earn $2.15MM if he makes the team, plus more in performance incentives, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

Kennedy is coming off a five-year run with the Royals that included a full-time transition to the bullpen in 2019. After more than nine seasons of working out of the rotation for the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Padres and Royals, Kennedy became Kansas City’s full-time closer in 2019, tossing 63 1/3 innings in 63 appearances with a 3.41 ERA/2.99 FIP, 44.4 percent groundball rate, 27.4 percent strikeout rate, and 6.4 percent walk rate. All three of those rate metrics clock in above average.

Kennedy unfortunately struggled to find his footing in 2020, logging a 9.00 ERA/8.83 FIP in 14 innings. He suffered a left calf strain that ended his season before September. If healthy, he’ll have a real chance to make a Rangers bullpen that’s light on sure-things beyond closer José Leclerc. Even entering his age-36 season, Kennedy represents a fairly high upside signing for Texas considering his hefty resume. Kennedy owns a 4.13 ERA/4.25 FIP in 1,781 1/3 innings in the big leagues.

Nationals Notes: Martinez, Turner, Robles

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Dave Martinez already broke new ground in Nationals’ managerial history by winning the World Series in 2019, but in 2021, he will again traverse new territory previously untrod by Nats’ managers: a fourth season on the job. Davey Johnson won Manager of the Year in 2012, Matt Williams won the award in 2014, and Dusty Baker became the first Nats’ manager to win back-to-back NL East titles in 2016 and 2017, but each of Martinez’s predecessors were let go before a fourth campaign (or third in the case of Williams and Baker).

Martinez figures to blow well past the three-year record previously held by Johnson, Jim Riggleman and Manny Acta. Martinez was given a contract extension last year, freeing him to take the long view in the development of his young players, including superstar Juan Soto, writes Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. The Nationals – reactionary to disappointing playoff losses in the past – seem to have a new view under Martinez, weathering a difficult 2020 without missing a beat. They’ll enter 2021 expecting to contend, and Martinez will look to check another box off his list by winning an NL East title.

Part of his forward-thinking approach is mulling new ways to maximize production from his superstars Soto and Trea Turner. This season, the question is whether or not to move Turner from the leadoff spot, writes Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. The Nationals don’t necessarily have another prime candidate to step into the top spot of the lineup, however. Martinez would like to try Victor Robles at the top of the order against southpaws, writes Zuckerman. Beyond a small sample size of success leading off, Robles has done little to prove himself a natural candidate as a table-setter. He owns a 5.3 percent career walk rate and a 36.7 percent first pitch swing percentage – a good deal more aggressive than the league average of 28.3 percent.

Viewing Turner as a middle-of-the-order bat is sound, however. Though he’s mostly known for being one of the fastest players in the game, Turner’s bat carries serious thunder: Turner boasts a .216 ISO and 130 wRC+ over the past two seasons. He’s performed 18 percent better than average with the bat for his career. Turner has largely been underrated in part because his most impressive performances have come in seasons cut short either because of a late promotion (2016), injury (2019) or the pandemic (2020). It was his return from injury that largely prompted the Nationals magical run in 2019, however, as Turner famously returned in May to hit .296/.352/.487 despite a broken finger. The Nationals are relying heavily on Turner to be the offensive superstar he was in 2020, when he was on pace for a 7+ fWAR season at a 162-game pace.

Padres Extend Fernando Tatis Jr.

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FEB 22: The Padres have announced their mega-contract with Tatis (via Twitter). Tatis will make $1MM in 2021, $5MM in 2022, $7MM in 2023, $11MM in 2024, $20MM apiece in 2025 and 2026, $25MM in 2027 and 2028, and then $36MM yearly from 2029 through 2034, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

FEB 17: The Padres have agreed to a historic 14-year deal with superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). It is worth a guaranteed $340MM, Robert Murray of Fansided adds on Twitter. The deal provides Tatis with full no-trade rights, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. There’s a $10MM signing bonus.

While the deal covers a staggering number of years, it’ll only take Tatis through his age-35 season. The young superstar only just celebrated his 22nd birthday.

This pact sets a record for pre-arbitration deals by a rather healthy margin. The great Mike Trout had held the record with a $144.5MM deal. In Trout’s case, of course, the contract covered only six seasons — until it was further extended a few years later. Tatis’s guarantee falls just shy of the $360MM of additional money Trout received in the second agreement. It’s such a monster deal, in fact, that it slots in as the third-largest of any kind in baseball history.

[The 20 Largest Contracts In MLB History]

While this deal won’t change the complexion of an increasingly loaded 2021 Friars roster, it makes for a bold statement of intent by the San Diego organization. The club could’ve sat back and enjoyed Tatis while waiting to see how its roster situation evolved. Instead, the Pads have effectively declared him the franchise cornerstone for the foreseeable future.

Tatis would have reached arbitration eligibility after the 2022 season, so he was still a full campaign away from securing serious earnings. The MVP Sports client had been slated to reach free agency after the 2024 season, at which time he’d have been marketing his age-26 and beyond years.

This deal represents the culmination of a fascinating series of developments involving Tatis. At the time the Padres acquired him — in what turned out to be an all-time heist of a deal — Tatis was noteworthy mostly because of his namesake father, former big leaguer Fernando Tatis. The younger Tatis quickly blossomed into one of the game’s most-hyped prospects, though some worried about his strikeout rate and ability to stick at shortstop.

[How Did The White Sox Trade Fernando Tatis Jr.?!]

At this point in the spring of 2019, the Padres appeared set to keep up a steady building process, with Tatis opening at the Triple-A level and trying to earn his way into the majors by mid-season. Instead, the club inked Manny Machado to a $300MM pact, then went on to promote Tatis to the MLB roster to open the season. That decision seemed to some a foolhardy gambit, as even a brief delay would’ve allowed the Friars to delay Tatis’s free agency by a full season.

Now that Tatis has joined Machado to form the most expensive left side of an infield in baseball history, it’s fair to wonder if the daring promotion helped set the stage. While Tatis’s agents gained added leverage in negotiations, the good will surely helped the small-market Pads convince Tatis to commit to the organization instead of holding out for a potential bonanza in free agency.

Though Tatis has logged just 143 MLB games to this point — the product of an injury and global pandemic — he has done nothing but impress. Through 629 plate appearances, he has produced at a healthy .301/.374/.582 clip (good for a 150 wRC+) with 39 home runs and 27 stolen bases. He not only improved his plate discipline but generated much greater defensive value in his sophomore season.

Padres GM A.J. Preller had already given fans of the organization ample reason for excitement — even if it’ll still take a herculean effort to take down the perennial favorite Dodgers. Now, the Friar faithful will have the chance not only to watch one of the game’s most entertaining players, but to do so knowing there’s a real chance he’ll be a lifetime franchise icon.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rays Re-Sign Chaz Roe To Major League Deal

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FEB 22: This deal is official, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), as if their deal with Collin McHugh.  The Rays announced that Yonny Chirinos and Oliver Drake have been placed on the 60-day injured list to open up roster space for Roe and McHugh.

FEB 21: The Rays are in agreement on a contract with reliever Chaz Roe, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The 34-year-old returns to the Tampa Bay organization for a fifth consecutive season. It’s a one-year, major league contract, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Apex Baseball client is guaranteed $1.15MM, per Topkin.

Roe has found a decent amount of success with the Rays over the past few years. Thanks to a wipeout slider he uses well over half the time, the right-hander has never had any trouble racking up punchouts. Over the past three seasons, Roe has pitched to a 3.74 ERA with a strong 27% strikeout rate. He has run into some trouble with walks but generally been a solid bullpen piece for manager Kevin Cash.

The Rays waived Roe off the 40-man roster after some concerning developments last season. Roe’s average fastball velocity was down a tick relative to past years, while he generated swings and misses at a career-worst 8.8% clip (against a league average 11.8% swinging strike rate for relievers). Most concerning, his season was cut short by elbow soreness after just 9.1 innings, as Roe didn’t pitch after August 19.

Nevertheless, the Rays are sufficiently satisfied Roe’s health woes are behind him at this point. The veteran threw in front of teams last weekend and apparently impressed Tampa Bay brass enough to bring him back into the fold with a guaranteed roster spot.

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