Royals Non-Tender Maikel Franco, Bubba Starling
6:52pm: The Royals have non-tendered Franco, infielder Jeison Guzman, infielder/outfielder Erick Mejia and outfielder Bubba Starling, Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star tweets. This could end Starling’s tenure in KC. He was the fifth overall pick in 2011 but hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status.
3:22pm: The Royals are expected to non-tender third baseman Maikel Franco, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Franco to earn between $4.5MM and $8MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility, but those figures were too rich for the Royals’ blood.
Although he was a star prospect with the Phillies, Franco didn’t pan out in their uniform after an excellent rookie showing in 2015. The Phillies non-tendered him after last season as a result, and Franco then caught on with the Royals on a $2.95MM guarantee. It ended up as a decent investment for Kansas City, with which Franco slashed .278/.321/.457 (106 wRC+) and totaled eight home runs in 243 plate appearances. He also chipped in playable work at third base with zero Defensive Runs Saved and a plus-1.3 Ultimate Zone Rating in 51 games.
While Franco took a step forward this past season, the Royals obviously don’t think that production merited a sizable raise in arbitration. That means the 28-year-old Franco will head back to the open market, where he’ll join the likes of Marwin Gonzalez and Todd Frazier after top option Justin Turner.
MLB Arbitration And Non-Tender Tracker
With the MLB non-tender deadline set for 7pm central time tonight, we’ll continue to see players agreeing to early “pre-tender” arbitration contracts. As the deadline nears, many others will not be tendered contracts by their teams, making them free agents.
This year I’ve decided to track all of this activity in this Google Sheet. Feel free to use it to follow along and create your own temporary filters on it. Long-term, I’m planning to revamp all of our trackers.
You can also check out our free agent list and tracker, where I’ll be adding non-tendered players as the news comes in.
Dan Straily To Re-Sign With KBO’s Lotte Giants
Right-hander Dan Straily is returning for a second season with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Straily received some interest from teams around the Majors, but the Apex Baseball client will instead return to the KBO on another one-year deal. The pact is worth $1.2MM and includes $500K in incentives, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
In 31 starts with the Giants in his debut KBO campaign, Straily totaled 194 frames and pitched to a 2.50 ERA and 2.97 FIP with 9.5 strikeouts, 2.4 walks and 0.46 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. That showing garnered some interest from the Reds, Angels and Giants, among others. Based on the fact that he’s returning to the KBO, it’s possible that Straily didn’t receive a guaranteed offer, so he’ll instead re-up and take home a raise over last year’s $1MM salary.
It’s possible that Straily could have eventually found a big league deal had he waited out the Major League free-agent market, but that would’ve been a slow-going process with so many clubs still uncertain about their 2021 budgets and with many new entrants expected to hit the market thanks to today’s non-tender deadline. KBO clubs tend to get their business done much earlier in their offseason than most MLB organizations, so Straily looks to be opting for the guaranteed payday already in hand. Another strong season in 2021 would only strengthen his case for a big league return next winter.
Straily’s last big league action was disastrous, as he allowed 52 earned runs in just 47 2/3 frames for the Orioles back in 2019. However, he was a quality mid-rotation piece the three years prior, totaling 495 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA ball with 7.8 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 495 1/3 innings between the Reds and the Marlins.
Braves Non-Tender Adam Duvall
The Braves have non-tendered outfielder Adam Duvall, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. Duvall was in line to make at least $4MM in arbitration, but he’ll instead head to the free-agent market.
Duvall just wrapped up a two-plus-season stint with the Braves, who acquired him from the Reds before the 2018 trade deadline. Duvall was a two-time 30-home run hitter at that point, but he struggled enough during his final Reds season for the team to cut the cord on him. To Duvall’s credit, he rebounded from 2019-20 as a member of the Braves, hitting .248/.307/.545 (118 wRC+) with 26 home runs in 339 plate appearances. The 32-year-old was among the NL’s HR leaders with 16 in 2020, but that wasn’t enough to convince the Braves to tender him a contract.
While Duvall is no longer a Brave, it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t bring him back for a cheaper salary, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that they’ll consider re-signing him. For now, though, a team that has already seen Marcell Ozuna and Nick Markakis hit free agency is down another outfielder.
Mets Sign Trevor May
DEC. 2: The deal is official. It’s a $15.5MM guarantee, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. May could make another $250K in performance bonuses in each season.
DEC. 1, 4:07pm: May’s contract is worth around $15MM, Heyman tweets.
2:10pm: It’s a two-year deal for May, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).
1:37pm: The Mets have agreed to terms on a contract with free-agent reliever Trevor May, SNY’s Andy Martino reports (via Twitter). The contract is pending a physical. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported earlier this afternoon that May and the Mets were “deep” in talks. May is represented by the VC Sports Group.
May, 31, becomes the first prominent reliever to come off the board. The longtime Twins righty bounced back from Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2017 season to become a reliable, late-inning power arm in Minnesota and one of the game’s foremost strikeout pitchers.
Since returning from that elbow operation, May has compiled 113 innings of 3.19 ERA and 3.56 FIP ball, averaging 12.2 strikeouts, 3.0 walks and 1.4 home runs per nine innings pitched. This past season was particularly impressive for May in terms of missing bats, as he whiffed an outstanding 39.6 percent of the hitters he faced.
May’s fastball averaged a career-high 96.4 mph in 2020, although the righty threw the pitch at a greatly reduced 52.1 percent clip. In place of the heaters, the right-hander ramped up the use of his slider to a career-high 32.2 percent and did so to great success; May generated a 14.6 percent swinging-strike rate on his slider, and plate appearances he finished with that pitch resulted in opponents putting up a pitiful .167/.167/.250 batting line.
Because he works at the top of the zone with his four-seamer, May has trouble with the long ball at times. However he also generated a ridiculous 20.6 percent swinging-strike rate on his fastball thanks to high-end velocity and spin on the pitch. Overall, Statcast pegged May in the 99th percentile of Major League pitchers in terms of swinging-strike rate and in the 98th percentile in terms of overall strikeout rate in 2020. For a Mets club that already boasts several power arms at the back of the bullpen, May only adds more firepower.
Of course, many of those arms are in need of a rebound. It’s arguable that if Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances and others had all pitched to their capabilities in 2020, the Mets might not have felt as motivated to make a push for an “early” deal with May. Still, pairing May with Edwin Diaz, Familia, Betances, Miguel Castro, Brad Brach and potentially Seth Lugo — depending on which direction the organization goes with him — gives the Mets a deep and talented mix of late-inning weapons, even if they there’s some considerable inconsistency among the bunch.
May was no doubt highly recommended and perhaps even personally recruited by Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who was the Twins’ bullpen coach prior to the 2020 season. Hefner, a former Mets pitcher, played a role in helping to coax a breakout from May and several other Twins relievers before being hired away by his former team.
The May signing is the first notable move of what most expect to be a highly active offseason for the Mets. While they’re still on the search for a new general manager, Sandy Alderson is back with the club under deep-pocketed new owner Steve Cohen and is calling the shots in baseball operations at the moment. With the game’s richest owner now in their corner, the Mets have already been linked to the majority of the top names on both the trade and free-agent markets.
White Sox Non-Tender Nomar Mazara, Carlos Rodon
The White Sox announced that they won’t tender contracts to outfielder Nomar Mazara and left-hander Carlos Rodon. This isn’t surprising news in either case, though it does continue a fall from grace for two players who were regarded as standout prospects during their younger days.
Mazara, formerly with Texas, joined the White Sox in a trade last December. While Mazara didn’t live up to the hype as a Ranger, the White Sox were surely hoping a change of scenery would help him reach his potential. Instead, the 25-year-old hit a miserable .228/.295/.294 with one home run in 149 plate appearances during his lone year in Chicago. The White Sox decided to cut Mazara in lieu of paying him $5MM-plus in arbitration.
Rodon was the No. 3 overall pick of the White Sox in 2014, though he never turned into the ace the team thought it was drafting. He was a pretty successful starter earlier in his career, but serious arm injuries (including issues that required shoulder surgery and a Tommy John procedure) slowed him over the previous couple of years. Rodon threw just 34 2/3 innings in 2019 and 7 2/3 this past season, combining for 5.74 ERA (and a much better 3.85 FIP) alongside 11.06 K/9 against 4.25 BB/9 in the process. The White Sox would have owed the 27-year-old more than $4MM in arbitration had they tendered him.
Blue Jays Among Teams Interested In Jean Segura
Phillies middle infielder Jean Segura has come up in trade talks, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Blue Jays are among the teams that have discussed Segura with the Phillies, according to Robert Murray of FanSided.
The Phillies are already facing the loss of shortstop Didi Gregorius in free agency, so trading Segura could leave them looking to replace their two middle infield starters from 2020. Acquired from the Mariners before 2019, Segura has given the Phillies decent offensive production over 835 plate appearances, having batted .276/.329/.421 (96 wRC+) with 19 home runs and 12 stolen bases. Of course, those numbers pale in comparison to the production he posted as a Diamondback and Mariner from 2016-18, during which he slashed .308/.353/.449 (116 wRC+) in 1,892 trips to the plate.
Defensively, Segura has garnered extensive experience at short and plenty of recent time at second. Because of Philly’s addition of Gregorious, this past season was the first time he played at the keystone since 2016. If he were to join the Blue Jays, Segura would likely remain at second because of the presence of shortstop Bo Bichette. Toronto has a potential second base solution in the versatile Cavan Biggio, but general manager Ross Atkins said Wednesday the club could use him as its primary third baseman, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets.
Unless the Phillies eat money, any team taking on Segura would be making a two-year, $29.5MM investment. That includes a $1MM buyout in lieu of a $17MM club option for 2023.
Yankees Will Tender Gary Sanchez
The Yankees plan to tender a contract to catcher Gary Sanchez prior to tonight’s 7pm CT non-tender deadline, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. As per the “37 percent” projection method used by MLBTR’s Matt Swart, Sanchez is projected to earn $5.5MM in his second trip through the arbitration process.
The idea of Sanchez as a non-tender candidate would have been unthinkable even a year ago, and yet it arose as a possibility in the wake of a disastrous 2020 season for the catcher. Sanchez hit only .147/.253/.365 over 178 plate appearances, continued to struggle defensively, and saw Kyle Higashioka mostly assume starting catcher duties down the stretch and into the Yankees’ postseason run.
Coming on the heels of a down year in 2018 and even a 2019 season that saw Sanchez post big power numbers but a .232 batting average and .316 OBP, there was some thought that the Yankees might just cut ties entirely with the former All-Star. With the Yankees rumored to be looking to duck under the luxury tax threshold, Sanchez’s salary would have been seen as expendable.
On the other hand, there was also sound reasoning in keeping Sanchez. $5.5MM isn’t a big cost for a player (especially a catcher) with Sanchez’s power potential, and he was certainly far from the only notable star who struggled within the small sample size of the 60-game 2020 campaign and all of the unusual circumstances surrounding the season. Getting rid of Sanchez would also mean that New York would’ve had to find a replacement behind the plate, which might have also been a costly endeavor unless the team signed a platoon-type to split time with Higashioka.
It still isn’t out the question that Sanchez could be traded before Opening Day, though finding a deal would be tricky. The Yankees surely wouldn’t want to move Sanchez when his value is at its lowest, though rival teams also obviously wouldn’t want to pay a premium given the catcher’s rough year.
Padres Will Tender Tommy Pham
Tommy Pham will be tendered a contract by the Padres prior to today’s 7pm CT deadline, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports (Twitter link). The Padres’ decision ends months of speculation that Pham could be non-tendered a way of saving a projected arbitration salary of roughly $8MM for the 2021 season.
It was a tumultuous first season for Pham in San Diego after being acquired (along with Jake Cronenworth) as part of a trade with the Rays last offseason — a deal made in part so Tampa Bay could escape Pham’s escalating arbitration price tag. Pham hit only .211/.312/.312 over 125 plate appearances and missed time in September due to a fractured left hamate bone. He was able to return in time for the postseason, and delivered a big performance (1.077 OPS in 13 PA) during the Padres’ wild card series victory over the Cardinals.
Since the season ended, Pham was stabbed in the lower back after an incident in a parking lot, though he thankfully escaped with seemingly only minor injuries. Pham also underwent surgery on his left wrist at some point in the offseason.
With all of these factors in mind, the Padres still obviously feel comfortable enough in Pham’s ability to bounce back that the team was comfortable in offering him another contract. Pham, after all, posted outstanding numbers (.284/.381/.475 with 65 homers) over 1754 plate appearances with the Cardinals and Rays from 2017-19, so there’s plenty of evidence that a healthy Pham can provide even more hitting depth within an already strong Padres lineup.
Cubs Claim Robert Stock
The Cubs announced that right-hander Robert Stock has been claimed off waivers from the Red Sox. Stock was designated for assignment by Boston last week.
Stock posted a 4.73 ERA over 13 1/3 innings for the Red Sox last season. The 31-year-old has a 4.24 ERA, 2.16 K/BB rate, and 9.5 K/9 over 63 2/3 career innings with Boston and San Diego from 2018-20, though Stock also pitched for a number of different organizations (both MLB-affiliated and in independent ball and Mexico) since the Cardinals made him a second-round pick in the 2009 draft.
Control has been something of an issue for Stock both in the minors and particularly in the majors over the course of his career, though he does have a live fastball that regularly sits in the mid-90s. There’s little risk for the Cubs in seeing if they can turn that live arm into a more reliable bullpen weapon as Chicago looks to add relief help this offseason.