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Tigers Sign Drew Hutchison To Minors Deal

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The Tigers announced the signing of right-hander Drew Hutchison to a minor-league contract.  MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery (Twitter link) first reported the news yesterday.  Hutchison will not report to Major League Spring Training, but he’ll give the Tigers an experienced arm to stash in Triple-A Toledo.

Hutchison spent the 2020 season in independent ball, after pitching for three different organizations (Angels, Twins, Yankees) at the Triple-A level in 2019.  Best known for his time as an up-and-coming young starter with the Blue Jays, Hutchison has a 5.10 ERA and 20.6K% over 460 1/3 career innings in the majors, as he has yet to recapture the promise of his early career.

After debuting in 2012, Hutchison hit an immediate roadblock in the form of a Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2013 season.  He also didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2017 before returning to toss 42 2/3 combined innings for the Phillies and Rangers in 2018, which marks his last appearance in MLB.  Still only 30 years old, Hutchison will get to work out in a familiar locale — he is a native of Lakeland, Florida, where the Tigers hold their Spring Training camp.

Blue Jays Acquire Travis Bergen From Diamondbacks

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The Blue Jays are acquiring left-handed reliever Travis Bergen from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations, per various reporters (including Scott Mitchell of TSN). Right-hander Patrick Murphy is going on the 60-day injured list to clear 40-man roster space. Arizona had designated Bergen for assignment earlier this week. The teams have since announced the move.

It’s something of a homecoming for Bergen, who entered pro ball as a seventh-round pick of the Jays back in 2015. The Giants selected Bergen in the Rule 5 draft in advance of the 2019 season but returned him to Toronto in the middle of that year. The Blue Jays ultimately selected Bergen to the 40-man roster themselves, but they wound up flipping him to Arizona last summer for Robbie Ray. (Perhaps more meaningfully for the D-Backs, Toronto also agreed to pick up most of Ray’s $1.42MM salary for the 2020 stretch run).

Bergen will now team up with Ray, who re-signed with the Jays over the offseason. Despite spending most of his pro career in the Toronto organization, he’s only pitched in one MLB game as a Blue Jay. The rest of Bergen’s big league experience consists of 19.2 innings for the 2019 Giants and 6.2 innings for the Diamondbacks last year. Overall, he has a 4.82 ERA at the highest level. His 24% strikeout rate is fairly typical for a reliever, but Bergen has been plagued by a lofty 14.9% walk rate in his limited MLB time.

Between being selected in the 2019 Rule 5 draft and the lack of a minor-league season last year, Bergen has even less experience at Triple-A than he does in the big leagues. However, the 27-year-old struck out 43 against just nine walks with a 0.50 ERA in Double-A in 2018. Bergen has yet to reach arbitration and has three option years remaining, so the Jays can cheaply shuttle him back-and-forth between the majors and Triple-A Buffalo so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster.

Murphy has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and hasn’t pitched in spring training, Mitchell notes. He made four relief appearances for Toronto last season.

Health Notes: Pham, File, Rodriguez, Reyes

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Padres outfielder Tommy Pham estimates he’s at 80% strength after he was stabbed in the lower back last October, he told reporters (including Dennis Lin of the Athletic and Bob Nightengale of USA Today). The 32-year-old opened up about the incident, telling reporters he initially believed he would never play again. Scarier still, Pham says doctors later told him he could have been killed or paralyzed by his wound, which ultimately required more than 200 stitches to close, per Nightengale. Fortunately, he’s on the path to recovery and played in the Padres’ first spring training game today, although he says he’s still not at his previous weight-lifting capabilities. In addition to the stabbing, Pham underwent an offseason surgery to correct a wrist issue, but it seems he’s recovered from that procedure.

More injury-related situations around the game:

  • Brewers right-handed pitching prospect Dylan File underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his throwing elbow, team personnel told reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The surgery is expected to keep him out of action until at least the middle of June. File was added to Milwaukee’s 40-man roster over the offseason. Given his recovery timetable, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Brewers place him on the 60-day injured list if a need for a 40-man spot arises in the coming weeks.
  • Rangers reliever Joely Rodríguez is “a couple of weeks behind” schedule of the team’s other relievers, president of baseball operations Jon Daniels told reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). The southpaw was bothered by an offseason ankle issue; he’s now pain-free, but the injury delayed his ramp-up before spring training. It remains to be seen if he’ll have enough time to build up before Opening Day. Rodríguez was a bright spot in limited time with Texas last season, striking out seventeen while issuing five walks across 12.2 innings of three-run ball.
  • The Angels announced that pitching prospect Packy Naughton has a Grade 1 flexor pronator strain, per Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be out of action for three to five weeks. There was some concern for the left-hander after an MRI revealed a UCL sprain yesterday but it seems he’ll avoid the worst case scenario. Naughton was acquired from the Reds in advance of last summer’s trade deadline and could be a big league option for Los Angeles at some point in 2021.
  • Another of the Angels’ acquisitions at the 2020 trade deadline, right-hander Gerardo Reyes, left this afternoon’s spring training contest with discomfort in his throwing elbow, per a team announcement. The 27-year-old reliever came over from the Padres in the Jason Castro deal. Reyes has a 7.62 ERA/3.38 SIERA over 26 MLB innings.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/28/21

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The latest minor transactions around the game:

  • The Blue Jays activated infielder Breyvic Valera from the restricted list, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to note. Valera has been out of action since last July, when he reportedly had difficulty leaving his home country of Venezuela. The 29-year-old is now back in camp, where he’ll compete with Santiago Espinal and non-roster invitee Joe Panik for a utility infield job. Valera is out of options, so he’ll need to make the team out of camp or be exposed to other clubs. His activation puts Toronto’s 40-man roster at full capacity.
  • The Padres announced the signing of Patrick Kivlehan to a minor-league contract. The deal contains an invitation to big league spring training. Now 31 years old, Kivlehan picked up 242 MLB plate appearances between 2016-18, seeing action with the Padres, Reds and Diamondbacks. He managed only a .208/.302/.401 line in that time, but he’s generally been a strong hitter in the high minors and has plenty of pro experience in both the corner infield and corner outfield. Kivlehan spent last season at the Blue Jays’ alternate training site.
  • The Marlins are signing lefty reliever Steven Okert to a minor-league deal, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The deal does not come with a major league spring training invite, so he’s presumably ticketed for Triple-A Jacksonville to begin the season. Okert earned MLB time with the Giants every year from 2016-18. The 29-year-old has tossed 48.1 innings of 4.28 ERA/4.01 SIERA ball over 70 appearances at the big league level.

Cubs Designate Robert Stock For Assignment

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The Cubs are designating right-hander Robert Stock for assignment, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (Twitter link). The move clears 40-man roster space for left-hander Kyle Ryan, who was activated from the COVID-19 list, per Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago claimed Stock off waivers from the Red Sox last December.

A former Cardinals’ second-round pick as a catching prospect, Stock washed out as a position player but clicked after a conversion to the mound. The hard-throwing reliever earned a big league job with the 2018 Padres and showed some promise, pitching to a 2.50 ERA/3.61 SIERA over 39.2 innings.

Stock wasn’t able to carry that success over in the following seasons, though, thanks largely to difficulty throwing strikes. He has a 7.13 ERA across 24 innings over the past two seasons with San Diego and Boston. Stock’s 24.6% strikeout rate in that time is adequate, but he’s issued walks at an untenable 15.3% clip.

Despite his control issues, it’s easy to see why Stock has continued to attract interest from teams with space available at the back of the 40-man roster. Stock’s four-seam fastball sits in the mid-high 90’s. He has gotten swings and misses at a near league-average rate and has induced ground balls on a strong 50.8% of balls in play over his big league career. Perhaps there’s still some hope the late-blooming Stock could develop adequate control and stick in a team’s middle relief mix.

The Cubs have a week to trade Stock or place him on waivers. He hasn’t yet reached arbitration and still has a minor-league option year remaining, so he’d represent a rather flexible depth piece for potential acquiring clubs.

COVID Notes: Abreu, Montas, Happ, Cordero

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The latest notes from MLB regarding COVID-19:

  • Reigning AL MVP José Abreu returned to team workouts yesterday (per Scott Merkin of MLB.com). The White Sox first baseman had been sidelined after testing positive for the coronavirus, which Abreu believes he contracted back in January. Abreu says he’ll need a few extra days to get his timing back after quarantining, so he probably won’t see any game action until the middle of next week.
  • Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas discussed his COVID diagnosis with reporters (including Martín Gallegos of MLB.com and Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News). Montas said he previously experienced headaches and body aches and continues to feel some tightness in his chest. Fortunately, he has progressed to running and throwing after being set back by those symptoms.
  • Twins left-hander J.A. Happ is feeling well after testing positive for the coronavirus during intake last weekend, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters yesterday (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). Happ still needs to clear testing protocols before returning to the field, and he’s expected to begin the screening process tomorrow, per Helfand.
  • New Red Sox outfielder Franchy Cordero tested positive for the virus and remains in the Dominican Republic, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Cordero was placed on the COVID-19 injured list last week, although it wasn’t known at the time whether that was due to a positive test or mere exposure. The hope is that Cordero will be able to join camp by the middle of next week, per Speier.

Quick Hits: Pujols, Blue Jays, Kennedy, Santana

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There was a brief flurry of speculation about Albert Pujols’ future earlier this week when Deirdre Pujols, the Angels veteran’s wife, created an Instagram post that seemed to hint that the future Hall-of-Famer would call it a career after the 2021 season.  Deirdre clarified her online statement soon after posting, and her husband also addressed the matter in speaking with media (including The Associated Press) today at Spring Training.

“This thing just got blown out of proportion,” Pujols said.  “My mind is not even there.  My mind is on staying focused, healthy, and hopefully trying to help this ballclub win this year, and that’s it.  If I feel at the end of the year that that’s it, I’ll announce it [and] go home.  But I’m not even there yet.”

Pujols is entering the final season of his ten-year, $240MM deal with the Angels, and 2021 will be the slugger’s 21st MLB campaign.  After four years of subpar offensive production, it would certainly seem like the 41-year-old is nearing the end of the line, though it seems we won’t know for certain until the season is through.

More from around baseball…

  • George Springer will surely play every day in the Blue Jays’ outfield, so his addition means the team’s other starting outfielders from 2020 will see their playing time either reduced or somewhat altered.  Both Randal Grichuk and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith) that they wondered if they’d be traded, yet as Spring Training continues, that duo and Teoscar Hernandez are all still on the roster.  It remains to be seen exactly how the Jays will arrange their lineup to get everyone at-bats, though Gurriel could find an opening with a return to part-time infield duty, as manager Charlie Montoyo is having Gurriel work out as a first baseman and third baseman.  The Jays already have Cavan Biggio lined up for the bulk of the action at the hot corner, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also hopeful of getting some third base time while sharing first base/DH duty with Rowdy Tellez.  Getting at least one other position under his belt can only help Gurriel, however, especially after his defensive struggles as an infielder earlier in his career.
  • Ian Kennedy debated signing with two other teams before settling on the Rangers’ minor league offer, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).  The Royals, Kennedy’s former team, were one of the two other suitors, though Kennedy seems to have a clearer path to regular bullpen work in Texas.  A starter for all but two of his first 291 MLB games from 2007-18, Kennedy enjoyed a stellar season as the Royals’ closer in 2019, but he is out to re-establish himself after a difficult 2020.  Kennedy posted a 9.00 ERA over 14 innings before a left calf strain brought a premature end to his season.
  • Danny Santana is also coming off an injury-plagued season, as the super-utilityman amassed just 63 plate appearances over 15 games with the Rangers.  After undergoing elbow surgery in September, Santana is now set to hold a showcase for scouts on Thursday, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports, and Santana has also been holding private workouts for teams.  The 30-year-old has played all over the diamond over his seven years with the Twins, Braves, and Rangers, and was a revelation for Texas in 2019 — he hit .283/.324/.534 with 28 home runs, with by far his best wRC+ (111) since a 132 wRC+ over 430 PA as a rookie with Minnesota back in 2014.

Royals, Hunter Dozier In “Serious” Extension Negotiations

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The Royals and third baseman Hunter Dozier “are in serious talks” about a multi-year contract extension, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link).  Specific terms aren’t known, though Dozier has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining before reaching free agent status following the 2023 season.  Dozier is already set to earn $2.72MM in 2021 after reaching an arb-avoiding deal with K.C. back in December.

Selected eighth overall in the 2013 draft, Dozier enjoyed a breakout season in 2019, hitting .279/.348/.522 with 26 homers and a league-best 10 triples over 586 plate appearances.  That was followed up by a less-impressive 2020 (.228/.344/.392 over 186 PA) but with some obvious extenuating circumstances — not just the 2020 campaign’s smaller sample size, but Dozier also missed over two weeks at the start of the season due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.  Dozier’s hard-contact numbers dropped off considerably from 2019 to 2020, though his walk rate also significantly improved.

It sets the stage for what could be an interesting set of extension talks, considering that 2020 wasn’t exactly a great platform year.  Dozier turned 29 last August, so he might have more incentive to lock in some long-term security now rather than bet on hitting a big payday on the open market entering his age-32 season.  It’s worth noting that L. Warner Companies Inc. (Dozier’s agency) also represents another prominent Royal in Whit Merrifield, who signed an extension with Kansas City just over two years ago, though Merrifield and Dozier aren’t really comps — Merrifield is 31 months older and was still entering his final pre-arb season when he inked his long-term deal.

There aren’t a ton of great recent comps for Dozier overall, in looking at recent extensions of players who had between three and four years of MLB service time.  The odd nature of the 2020 season adds another layer of difficulty in trying to predict what a Dozier extension could look like, since those past players didn’t have such an outlier of a year factoring into the situation.  The list of players who have signed an extension since the pandemic began consists only of unique mega-deals (i.e. Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis Jr.), players who signed contracts only covering arbitration-eligible years, or Yuli Gurriel’s one-year extension with the Astros at the end of September.

Extensions have been a key plank of Dayton Moore’s team-building strategy since he became Kansas City’s GM in 2006.  After an offseason that saw the Royals make some notable moves in acquiring Andrew Benintendi and signing Carlos Santana and Mike Minor to two-year free agent deals, it’s clear that Moore and his front office are preparing to be competitive after four straight losing seasons.  It’s safe to assume that the Royals will explore long-term deals with multiple young building-block players as Spring Training rolls on, with such names as Adalberto Mondesi and Brad Keller standing out as possible extension candidates.  Kansas City could also look into locking up younger players who are even earlier in their careers (like Brady Singer or Kris Bubic), and veterans like Jorge Soler and franchise stalwart Salvador Perez are each just a year away from free agency.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/27/21

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The latest minor moves from around the sport…

  • The Athletics will bring right-hander Paul Blackburn back into their big league Spring Training camp after Blackburn cleared waivers.  (Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News was among those to report the news.)  Blackburn was designated for assignment earlier this week.  The grounder specialist has a 5.69 ERA over 99 2/3 innings in the majors, all since Oakland since the start of the 2017 season, and Blackburn’s usage has dipped over each of those four years — he appeared in just one game in 2020.  With a decent track record as a starter in the minors, however, Blackburn does provide the A’s with some rotation depth.

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