Wondering what a newly-signed or traded player might look like in his new jersey? MLBTR’s Zach Gardner has been whipping up very cool jersey swap images on our Instagram account, which can be found @traderumorsmlb. Our Instagram will only keep getting better in 2020, as we’re hoping to add a bit of video to the mix. Give it a follow today!
Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet has changed agencies and hired MVP Sports Group as representation, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Lamet, who earned Super Two status and has four years of arbitration eligibility as a result, is slated to go through the process for the first time this winter. He’s projected to make $1.7MM in 2020.
Judging by the 27-year-old Lamet’s big league performance to date, he should be a bargain for the Padres next season. Lamet debuted in San Diego in 2017 and proceeded to toss 114 1/3 innings of 4.57 ERA/4.35 FIP ball with 10.94 K/9 against 4.25 BB/9. He wasn’t able to build on that promising showing the next year, though, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2018.
Lamet’s operation kept him off a big league mound until last July 4, but he flashed even greater potential upon his return. Across 14 post-surgery starts and 73 frames with the Padres in 2019, Lamet pitched to a 4.07 ERA/3.91 FIP with a fantastic 12.95 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9. Compared to his first year in the majors, Lamet saw his average four-seam fastball velocity (95.1 mph in 2017, 96.1 mph last season) and his swinging-strike rate (11.8 percent in 2017, 14.0 percent last season) markedly improve. Now, the hope for the Padres is that they’ll get a full season of work from Lamet in 2020, at which point the club will try to snap a 13-year playoff drought or at least finish .500 or better for the first time since 2010.
The change in representation for Lamet has been updated in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains agency info on more than 2,500 players in both the big leagues and the minors. If you see any errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
A slew of high-profile free agents have fared better than expected on the open market this winter, which has been the quickest-paced offseason we’ve seen in a while. Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, no doubt the most appealing unsigned starter remaining, could soon ink his own richer-than-anticipated contract. While MLBTR predicted a three-year, $54MM deal for Ryu when the offseason began, there’s now a belief across the industry that he’ll get at minimum a four-year pact worth better than $17MM per annum, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. On at least an annual basis, that type of accord would beat out the five-year, $85MM payday the Diamondbacks handed fellow lefty Madison Bumgarner on Sunday. Age (33 in March) and an extensive injury history could work against Ryu’s bid to cash in, but at the same time, there is no question he was one of the majors’ premier starters in 2019. The longtime Dodger fired 182 2/3 innings of 2.32 ERA/3.10 FIP ball with 8.03 K/9, 1.18 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent groundball rate. Ryu rode those numbers to a second-place finish the NL Cy Young balloting, and they could help him to a rich contract in the coming weeks.
Here are the latest minor moves from around the baseball world…
9:59pm: The Cardinals are working to get a deal done, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
9:10pm: The Cardinals appear to be seriously considering a deal with left-hander Kwang-hyun Kim. He’s currently in St. Louis to discuss a contract with the Cardinals and undergo a physical, Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News tweets. Teams have until Jan. 5 to sign Kim, who’d otherwise likely return to the Korea Baseball Organization for at least another year.
The 31-year-old Kim is coming off an outstanding run as a member of SK Wyverns of the KBO, where he recorded a 3.27 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 across 1,673 2/3 innings before the club posted him. The former Tommy John surgery patient is free to negotiate with all MLB teams over the next two-plus weeks. If Kim signs with a major league team by Jan. 5, the release fee the Wyverns would receive would hinge on the value of his contract.
Signing Kim would be the second prominent move this offseason in the Cardinals’ rotation. The reigning NL Central champions previously re-upped franchise icon Adam Wainwright to a one-year, $5MM guarantee. As things stand, Wainwright’s slated to rejoin Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson as the top four in the Cardinals’ rotation. If Kim hops aboard as the fifth member of that group, it could have an effect on Carlos Martinez, who had typically been a starter during his career before working exclusively as a reliever last season. For now, it’s unclear which role Martinez will take on in 2020.
DECEMBER 16: Tampa Bay has announced the signing. Interestingly, it characterizes him as a third baseman and outfielder, which obviously suggests that Tsutsugo will be in the mix at the hot corner.
DECEMBER 13: The Rays are finalizing a two-year contract with Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (via Twitter). The contract being discussed would guarantee the first baseman/outfielder about $12MM total, per Topkin. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman indicates that a deal has been agreed upon (Twitter links).
Because he was posted by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and is not a pure free agent, Tsutsugo would require the Rays to pay a posting/release fee to his former team. Under the current iteration of that system, a fee equal to 20 percent of a player’s first $25MM in guarantees is owed to his former team. That’d be $2.4MM on a $12MM contract, meaning a deal of this type for Tsutsugo would cost the Rays a total of about $14.4MM.
Tsutsugo, who turned 28 on Nov. 26, has been one of Japan’s most prominent sluggers for the past four seasons, hitting a combined .293/.402/.574 with 139 home runs, 116 doubles, five triples, a 15.1 percent walk rate and a 20.4 percent strikeout rate. His best season came back in 2016, when he launched a career-high 44 home runs and slashed .322/.430/.680. It’s worth noting that Tsutsugo’s 2019 season was his weakest of the past four (.272/.388/.511, 29 home runs) and saw his strikeout rate climb to 25.3 percent.
Listed at 6’0″ and 209 pounds, the left-handed-hitting Tsutsugo has played some third base in his career but primarily has been deployed as a left fielder and first baseman. He’ll presumably become an option at first base and DH with Tampa Bay, although the Rays’ fluid rotation of defensive players could afford the slugger some reps in the corners as well, particularly if the team wants to give newly acquired Hunter Renfroe a day off against a tough right-handed opponent. Renfroe hit just .208/.274/.459 against righties in 2019. On the surface, the signing of Tsutsugo appears to be bad news for first base prospect Nate Lowe, who also hits from the left side of the dish but never got a full look in 2019 despite huge numbers in Triple-A and a solid showing in 169 MLB plate appearances.
There’s little doubting Tsutsugo’s power, but his glovework is a much more considerable question. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote a bit more than a month ago that Tsutsugo is a potential everyday player but one with “no margin for error because of defensive limitations” even at first base. Sports Info Solutions’ Will Hoefer wrote in September that Tsutsugo has a plus throwing arm and could be “hidden” in an outfield corner with some proper positioning work. Those in the industry who’ve spoken to MLBTR about Tsutsugo offered similar concerns about his defensive home but praised his power as a legitimate tool.
Tsutsugo will now be added to an ever-changing cast of characters in a Tampa Bay lineup that has added Renfroe but subtracted Tommy Pham (Renfroe trade), Avisail Garcia (free agency) and Jesus Aguilar (waivers) to this point in the offseason. The signing of Tsutsugo could well put an end to any potential for a fit with free-agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who’d previously been a rumored target. Tsutsugo was also connected to the Tigers, Blue Jays, White Sox and Twins prior to today’s agreement with the Rays.
From a payroll vantage point, the deal should be a manageable one for the perennially low-spending Rays, who shed about $7.7MM in swapping out Pham for Renfroe and placing Aguilar on waivers. An even distribution of Tsutsugo’s $12MM guarantee would put the team’s Opening Day payroll at about $70.7MM (not including the posting fee), which would check in a bit south of last season’s $76MM Opening Day mark. The Rays have never opened the season with a payroll greater than 2014’s $77MM total.
Click here to read a transcript of tonight’s chat with Connor Byrne of MLBTR.
The Astros have announced a two-year deal to bring back reliever Joe Smith. The deal includes $8MM in guaranteed money, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Smith is a client of Excel Sports Management.
Smith missed a big chunk of 2019 owing to a torn Achilles, but bounced back with aplomb and threw 25 excellent innings down the stretch. The 35-year-old sidearmer obviously convinced the Houston brass that he has plenty left in the tank.
Though he has rarely been a major strikeout pitcher, Smith has always produced strong groundball numbers. Outside of his tendon tear, he has been quite durable. And he has a long and consistent history of befuddling opposing hitters. In 695 1/3 frames at the game’s highest level, he carries a 2.98 ERA and has yet to finish a season with an ERA over 3.83.
Upon his return last year, Smith sat comfortably in his typical range in terms of velocity and swinging-strike rate. He attacked the zone more than ever and lived to tell the tale, unlike many 2019 pitchers in a longball-laden season.
Despite his relatively late return to action, the Astros had gained full trust by the end of the season. They went to Smith frequently in the postseason, with four appearances each in the ALCS and World Series after a pair of divisional showings. He ultimately allowed three earned runs in 8 2/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
4:50pm: The club has announced the signing.
3:30pm: The Pirates have agreed to a deal with free agent catcher Luke Maile, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). It’ll be a MLB pact, with financial details still unknown. Maile is a client of Pro Star Management.
Maile, 28, has turned in abysmal showings with the bat in two of the past three seasons. He was nearly a league-average hitter in 2018, when he slashed .248/.333/.366 in 231 plate appearances. But Maile owns just a 48 wRC+ for his career and was worse than that in 2019.
Clearly, the Bucs aren’t making this move on the presumption that Maile will be a valuable offensive contributor. The hope is that he’ll be capable of delivering at least palatable work from the batter’s box, though the team surely knows even that can’t be relied upon.
When the Pirates decided to drop Elias Diaz at the outset of the winter, the club made clear it wanted to improve defensively. That’s an area that Maile can be trusted. He grades as an above-average overall defender, generally receiving positive reviews in the framing department, and has been trusted by the Rays and Jays in spite of his occasionally dreadful offensive output.
The Yankees have reached agreement on a minor-league contract with righty Adam Warren, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). He’ll receive an invitation to MLB camp as a non-roster invitee. It’s a two-year arrangement, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand notes on Twitter, which recognizes the fact that Warren is returning from Tommy John surgery.
The contract includes a $800K salary in the event that Warren is able to earn his way onto the big league roster. He can also pick up another $700K in incentives based upon appearances. The deal includes an August 28th opt-out clause, Rosenthal adds, which perhaps suggests that Warren is hoping to rehab on a fairly aggressive timetable from his September procedure.
Warren, 32, first cracked the majors with the Yanks and has spent parts of seven seasons in two prior stints in the Bronx. He pitched for the Padres in 2019, struggling to a 5.34 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with 7.8 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9.
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