Latest On Mets Front Office
Freshly minted Mets owner Steve Cohen seems to be having a blast in his new role atop the organization, but that doesn’t mean it’s all coming easy. While the club looks to be a prime landing spot for industry executives, Cohen and president Sandy Alderson have not had the easiest time of recruiting new baseball operations leadership.
Cohen acknowledged as much in comments this evening, as Mike Puma of the New York Post covers on Twitter. “I thought it would be a little bit easier than it has been,” Cohen said of his efforts to build out a new staff, including a replacement for outgoing general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
The problem, per Cohen, is that it’s tough to get qualified candidates in the door for a chat. “Baseball is kind if funny,” he says, “where you have to ask for permission and we are not getting a lot of permission.”
It’s interesting to wonder whether the deep-pocketed Cohen is facing stiffer-than-usual headwinds in his rookie offseason. Regardless, it appears that the Mets have been stymied at least in holding exploratory talks with several intriguing potential targets.
That explains why the club recently decided to drop the concept of hiring a president of baseball operations in favor of pursuing a GM. Then again, it may not only be a matter of being thwarted by fellow teams. Zack Meisel of The Athletic indicates (subscription link) that Indians GM Mike Chernoff elected on his own accord not to pursue the president of baseball ops opening in New York.
At the moment, relatively little is known about the Mets’ preferred candidates for the top remaining baseball ops openings. Former hurler and league executive Chris Young is known to have interviewed recently, but he’s the only publicly identified GM possibility. (Michael Hill is also known to have interviewed, though it may be that he was being looked at for the now-abandoned president of baseball operations gig.)
There is one new name to keep an eye on. Former club exec J.P. Ricciardi is on the radar of Cohen and Alderson, according to SNY.tv’s Andy Martino. Ricciardi is certainly a familiar face, having served as a special assistant to Alderson for the entirety of the latter’s original tenure as GM.
Though the market is open, it doesn’t seem the Mets feel much urgency in this arena. Martino says the organization is active in pursuing improvements but isn’t yet close to making significant additional front office hires.
Twins Sign Derek Law
The Twins have agreed to a deal with Derek Law, the righty himself announced on Twitter. Details aren’t yet known, but it seems likely to be a minors pact with an invitation to Spring Training.
Law, 30, cracked the majors in 2016 and appeared in each of the ensuing three campaigns. That run came to an end in 2020, when he spent the year training with the Rangers as part of their 60-man player pool.
Though he found quite a lot of success in his debut season with the Giants, Law struggled to replicate it. He was entrusted with 58 appearances for the Blue Jays in 2019, but managed only a 4.90 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9 over 60 2/3 innings of action.
Outrighted: Tinoco, Speier
The latest outrights from around the majors…
- The Rockies have outrighted right-hander Jesus Tinoco, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. The club designated Tinoco for assignment last week, but he cleared waivers after that. Now 25 years old, Tinoco first joined the Rockies as part of the return they received from the Blue Jays in the teams’ 2015 Troy Tulowitzki trade. Tinoco made his major league debut in 2019, but the Rockies traded him to the Marlins this past summer, only to re-acquire him via waivers three weeks later. He owns a 4.03 ERA (with a much less appealing 7.19 FIP) with 6.85 K/9 and 5.84 BB/9 across 44 2/3 big league innings.
- The Royals announced that they have outrighted southpaw Gabe Speier, whom they designated last week. Speier, 25, appeared in the majors in each of the previous two seasons and combined for a 7.62 ERA/6.05 FIP and 11.08 K/9 against 6.92 BB/9 over 13 frames.
Latest On Twins’ Search For Starting Pitching
Right-hander Charlie Morton came off the free-agent board Tuesday when he signed with Atlanta, but the Braves had competition in the form of the Twins. Minnesota “had a lot of interest” in Morton, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Geography may have worked against the Twins, though, as Morton has said in the past he prefers to pitch on the East Coast.
Even after missing out on Morton, the Twins still have a mostly set rotation with 2020 Cy Young contender Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda and Randy Dobnak among those in the fold. However, with Jake Odorizzi, Rich Hill and Homer Bailey currently on the open market, the team hopes to address its rotation from outside, as Dan Hayes of The Athletic relays.
“Any time you lose Jake Odorizzi, Rich Hill and Homer Bailey to free agency, you’re not going to be complacent,” general manager Thad Levine said. “You realize there are pretty significant holes to fill. But we certainly don’t go into this offseason as if we have to fill three holes.”
Hill, 40, was the only member of that trio to deliver quality results over a sizable sample of innings for the Twins last season, but according to Hayes, they haven’t closed the door on re-signing Odorizzi – who MLBTR predicts will earn a three-year, $39MM payday this offseason. Otherwise, though, it doesn’t appear they’ll shop at the top of the market for pitching help, as Hayes writes it’s “unlikely” the Twins will go after the No. 1 free agent available, Trevor Bauer, or pursue trades for the Rays’ Blake Snell or the Cubs’ Yu Darvish.
[RELATED: Twins Offseason Outlook]
Hunter Renfroe, Brian O’Grady Become Free Agents
Rays outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Brian O’Grady have cleared waivers and become free agents, Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets. The Rays designated both players for assignment last week.
Renfroe was a relatively high-profile acquisition for the Rays last winter, when they landed him in a trade with the Padres. He was coming off a 33-home run season at that point, but Renfroe wasn’t nearly that productive in his lone campaign with the Rays. The 28-year-old slashed just .156/.252/.393 (76 wRC+) with eight home runs in 139 plate appearances in 2020. Consequently, neither the Rays nor any other team deemed him worthy of a projected $3.5MM arbitration salary for next year.
O’Grady, also 28, became a Ray when they got him from the Reds before last season. He amassed 48 plate appearances with the Reds in 2019 and batted .190/.292/.429 with two home runs. O’Grady only totaled five PA with the Rays in 2020, however.
Pirates Designate Will Craig For Assignment
The Pirates have designated first baseman/outfielder Will Craig for assignment, per a club announcement. He was the team’s first-round pick back in 2016. Craig’s roster spot will go to right-hander Ashton Goudeau, whose previously reported waiver claim out of the Rockies organization has now been formally announced by Pittsburgh.
Craig, 26, made his MLB debut this past season but didn’t get a real look, as he appeared in just two games and was hitless in four plate appearances. The former Wake Forest slugger ripped through A-ball and had an above-average showing at Double-A in 2018, but his 2019 campaign in Triple-A left plenty to be desired: .249/.326/.435 with 23 home runs and a 26.3 percent strikeout rate.
Scouting reports on Craig throughout his career have praised his above-average raw power, a potentially average hit tool and a strong throwing arm, but he’s limited to the outfield corners or first base on the defensive spectrum. Pittsburgh gave him 400 innings at third base at Class-A in 2016, but he’s been exclusively a first baseman/right fielder since. A player with that limited defensive profile needs to hit more than Craig has shown in the upper minors, but it’s at least a bit surprising that the club felt him to be the most expendable player on the 40-man roster. The Pirates will have a week to put him through outright waivers, trade him or release him. Craig has multiple minor league options remaining, which could potentially be of appeal to another organization.
Indians Designate Adam Cimber For Assignment, Claim Jordan Humphreys
The Indians have claimed right-hander Jordan Humphreys off waivers from the Giants and, in a corresponding move, designated righty Adam Cimber for assignment, according to a club announcement. San Francisco had designated Humphreys for assignment back on Friday.
Cimber, 30, came to Cleveland alongside recently waived All-Star Brad Hand in the trade that sent catching prospect Francisco Mejia to the Padres. It proved to be a worthwhile swap for Cleveland, as Mejia hasn’t contributed much of anything to the Padres yet, but the hope at the time of the deal was surely that Hand and Cimber would hold down key bullpen roles into at least the 2021 season. This past season’s lost revenues prompted the Indians to decline Hand’s option, however, and Cimber was likely deemed expendable due to a looming arbitration raise and the fact that he never pitched as well in Cleveland as he did for the Padres.
Cimber was a 27-year-old rookie with San Diego in ’17 but carved out an important role in their bullpen by pitching to a 3.17 ERA with a 51-to-10 K/BB ratio in 48 1/3 innings prior to the trade. That performance and Cimber’s five-and-a-half remaining years of club control surely piqued the interest of the perennially low-budget Indians, but he’s looked more like a serviceable middle reliever than a potential high-leverage option in Cleveland. Over parts of three seasons with the Indians, Cimber has a 4.30 ERA with just 5.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. He’d he been arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player this winter.
Humphreys, 24, has yet to make his big league debut but had a big 2017 season across two Class-A levels in the Mets organization before requiring Tommy John surgery. He allowed just two runs in 13 innings of Rookie ball in 2019 as he rehabbed from that surgery and likely would’ve been ticketed for a Double-A assignment in 2020 had their been a minor league season. The Giants acquired him in the trade that sent Billy Hamilton to Queens and likely hoped to sneak him through waivers, but he’ll instead give Cleveland an interesting depth piece. In 169 2/3 professional innings, Humphreys has a 2.60 ERA and a 177-to-30 K/BB ratio.
Rangers Claim Aramis Garcia From Giants
The Rangers announced that they’ve claimed catcher Aramis Garcia off waivers from the Giants, who had designated him for assignment Friday. The waiver claim brings the Rangers’ 40-man roster to a total of 39 players.
Garcia, 27, at one point looked like he could potentially factor into the Giants’ long-term catching outlook in some regard. He’s never rated as an elite prospect, but the 2014 second-rounder has a respectable track record in Triple-A and debuted with a .268/.308/.492 slash through 65 plate appearances in 2018.
However, Garcia saw only sparing time in the Majors in 2019, and he underwent hip surgery back in February that wiped out his entire 2020 season. Top catching prospect Joey Bart debuted this past season, meanwhile, and Giants icon Buster Posey is expected back in 2021 after opting out of the previous season.
Garcia seems to be a good fit for the catching-needy Rangers, who have a well-regarded prospect of their own looming in Sam Huff. Jose Trevino figures to get the bulk of the work while Huff heads to Triple-A to begin the 2021 season, but Garcia should have a chance to earn a spot and a part-time role in Spring Training — assuming he’s healthy.
Orioles Claim Chris Shaw, Release Renato Nunez, Designate Thomas Eshelman
The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Thomas Eshelman was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Additionally, the O’s revealed that corner infielder/designated hitter Renato Nunez, whom they designated for assignment last Friday, went unclaimed on waivers and has been released.
Shaw, 26, long seemed like a change-of-scenery candidate for the Giants. The former No. 31 overall draft pick has a productive .280/.328/.538 slash in more than 1000 Triple-A plate appearances, but he’s also struck out in 30 percent of his plate appearances there. He made his big league debut in 2018 but still only has 82 plate appearances, as the new-look Giants front office never seemed as bullish on Shaw as the prior regime that drafted him. Shaw was initially omitted from San Francisco’s 60-man player pool this season, and although he was later added, he never got called up to the big leagues. With the O’s, his left-handed bat will get some looks at first base, in the outfield corners and at designated hitter.
The release of Nunez in many ways opens a spot for Shaw to get an opportunity in Baltimore. While Orioles fans were alarmed to see Nunez, who slugged 43 home runs in just over 800 plate appearances from 2019-20, designated for assignment last week, the move wasn’t necessarily a shock.
Nunez has struggled to get on base even while showing considerable power, and he’s a below-average defender at both infield corners. The market for OBP-challenged, defensively limited sluggers has dried up considerably in recent years, and Nunez was due a raise in arbitration. That he went unclaimed speaks to the fact that his one-dimensional skill set isn’t one that’s valued highly around the game at the moment.
As for the 26-year-old Eshelman, he gave the Orioles an aesthetically pleasing 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 innings this past season, but that mark was likely misleading. Eshelman managed just 16 strikeouts in that time, and while many low-strikeout arms can mitigate damage by keeping the ball on the ground, his 35.9 percent grounder rate makes him a fairly extreme fly-ball pitcher.
Eshelman has just 38 strikeouts in 70 2/3 career innings, and he’s allowed 19 home runs in that time as well — a rate of 2.42 per nine innings pitched. He has a decent minor league track record, but that lack of missed bats and penchant for serving up the long ball has led to a career 5.22 ERA and even higher 6.56 FIP. The Orioles will have a week to trade Eshelman, run him through outright waivers or release him.
Diamondbacks Release Junior Guerra
The Diamondbacks announced Wednesday that they’ve released right-hander Junior Guerra, who’d previously been designated for assignment last Friday.
Guerra, who’ll turn 36 in January, notched a tidy 3.04 ERA in 23 innings this past season, although his 21-to-15 K/BB ratio and 5.03 SIERA tell another story. The righty was a frequent contributor for the Brewers both out of the bullpen and the rotation prior to signing in Arizona. From 2016-19, he pitched to a combined 3.78 ERA in 416 2/3 frames with Milwaukee.
It seemed quite possible given his control troubles in 2020 and what is expected to be a flooded market for low-cost relievers, however, that Guerra could be cut loose. The D-backs carried a $3.5MM club option on Guerra but instead opted for a $100K buyout. They still retained his rights via arbitration — Guerra has four years, 155 days of MLB service — and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a possible $2.8MM salary for Guerra via that process. Arizona deemed a raise on last year’s $2.55MM salary too steep, however, and Guerra will now be able to explore the market in search of an opportunity with all 30 clubs.