Bartolo Colon Not Ready To Retire
Rejoice, baseball fans. The 46-year-old Bartolo Colon isn’t ready to call it a career, Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com recently told MLB Network (video link beginning at the 6:20 mark). The right-hander’s hoping to sign a minor league contract and make his way back to the majors, according to Sanchez, who adds that Colon has offers from teams in Mexico and could consider heading to Japan if nothing materializes elsewhere. Either way, Colon’s focused on pitching in 2020, so the four-time All-Star and one-time Cy Young winner won’t be retiring just yet.
Colon didn’t pitch at all in the majors or minors last season, and he struggled mightily with the Braves, Twins and Rangers from 2017-18. Those factors seem to make it all the more unlikely that Colon will ever get back to the majors again. He has revived his career in the past, however.
Colon’s time in the league appeared to be up until he signed a minor league contract with the Yankees in 2011, leading to a personal renaissance. He wound up throwing 150-plus innings that season and each of the next five with both New York teams and the Athletics, combining for a 3.63 ERA/3.71 FIP with the game’s fourth-lowest walk rate among starters (1.46 per nine).
The fact that Colon went through a rebirth years ago obviously doesn’t mean he’ll enjoy the same fate in 2020 as he nears his 50s. That said, plenty of fans are surely rooting for the aged Colon to re-emerge as a viable MLB pitcher this season.
Yankees Want Miguel Andujar To Learn To Play 1B, LF
The Yankees’ Miguel Andujar spent 2018 at third base, where he endured his fair share of struggles. Andujar posted a horrid minus-25 Defensive Runs Saved and a similarly poor minus-16 Ultimate Zone Rating, but the doubles machine’s outstanding offensive production overshadowed his difficulties in the field. While Andujar finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting in his first season, he wasn’t able to follow it up in 2019 on account of shoulder troubles that shelved him for almost the whole campaign.
In Andujar’s absence last year, the Yankees saw fill-in Gio Urshela enjoy an out-of-nowhere breakout. Urshela’s now set to enter 2020 as the Yankees’ top option at the hot corner, which could force Andujar to another position. Yankees manager Aaron Boone has told Andujar that he’ll have to learn to play first base and left field in spring training, Randy Miller of NJ.com reports.
Andujar’s no sure thing to begin 2020 with the Yankees if he’s unable to adapt to his new spots. Considering he has minor league options left, the Yankees could opt to send him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. But Andujar’s “makeup is off the chart,” general manager Brian Cashman told the YES Network, so the Yankees are still banking on him doing enough to crack their 26-man roster.
If Andujar does start the season in the majors, it’s up in the air how much playing time he’ll receive from the get-go. As mentioned, he’s now the Yankees’ No. 2 guy at third. Meanwhile, the Yankees have fellow right-handed hitter Luke Voit, who has been quite productive since he joined the club in 2018, as well as lefty Mike Ford as first base possibilities. They also boast Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Tauchman and Clint Frazier as left field choices. So, there doesn’t appear to be an easy path to early season playing time in New York for Andujar, despite the .297/.328/.527 line he recorded and the 76 extra-base hits he amassed during his rookie campaign.
Matt Chapman Hoping for Extension
The stellar left side of the Athletics’ infield might not stay intact for much longer. Shortstop Marcus Semien is due to reach free agency next offseason. The two sides have shown interest in an extension, but nothing has come together thus far. There’s less pressure to lock up third baseman Matt Chapman, who won’t be eligible to reach free agency until after 2023. However, Chapman’s hoping for a long-term deal all the same, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.
“I’ve been telling them: I’m ready. If the offer’s right, I’m willing to sign with the A’s,” Chapman told Slusser. “I want to be here.”
Talks on a new contract haven’t occurred recently, Chapman informed Slusser, but he noted, “Usually those things pick up more in spring training.”
To this point, Oakland hasn’t signed anyone to a larger guarantee than the $66MM pact it handed one of its former third basemen, Eric Chavez, in 2004. They’ll need to pony up far more for Chapman if they’re going to keep him under wraps for the foreseeable future.
The 25th overall pick of the A’s in 2014, Chapman has emerged as one of the foremost players in baseball since he debuted in the majors in 2017, owing to a combination of defensive wizardry and terrific offense. Going back to 2018, Chapman’s first full season, just five players (a group you may have heard of in Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, Christian Yelich and Anthony Rendon) have outdone Chapman’s 12.8 fWAR. He batted .263/.348/.507 with 60 home runs over 1,286 plate appearances during that span, and the two-time Platinum Glove winner ranked first in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved (47) and third in Ultimate Zone Rating (25.7).
Chapman’s clearly either a complete player or close to it, so it should be a boon for the A’s that he doesn’t want to play for another team. It remains to be seen whether low-budget Oakland will pay the necessary amount for the superstar Scott Boras client, but moving into a new stadium in the near future – which is the A’s goal – would help matters.
Latest On Pirates’ Starling Marte Trade Talks
January 24, 8:00pm: In comments to the media today, Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen threw some cold water on the idea of a significant move to change the complexion of the team’s outfield mix, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to cover. But he didn’t exactly slam the door shut.
When queried about the team’s plans in the outfield, Van Wagenen says he doesn’t want to “disrupt” the existing “chemistry” and “culture where people buy into one another.” In the money quote that has drawn the most attention, Van Wagenen said he doesn’t “see a deal that’s going to disrupt that environment.”
At the same time, Van Wagenen says he’s open-minded to changing the cast. “If there’s an opportunity to continue to improve our roster, we’ll explore it,” he says, “but our aggressiveness right now is focused on getting ready for Spring Training with the players we have.” It’s a bit unclear just what it means to aggressively prepare to open camp. What does seem evident from this comment is that the Mets (quite understandably) prefer to focus public energy on the existing roster … but aren’t ruling out further moves.
10:00am: The Pirates’ talks involving Marte have “intensified,” tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who lists the Padres and Mets as potential suitors, though it’s worth noting of course that the report comes just the morning after Lin indicated that talks with San Diego have “cooled.” Furthermore, SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that the Mets and Pirates are “pretty far apart” in their talks on Marte at the moment.
January 23: The Padres have their sights set on on a bona fide superstar, Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts, and they’ve also been connected to Pirates center fielder Starling Marte in trade rumors this offseason. At this point, though, it doesn’t appear a Marte deal will come together between the Padres and Pirates. The teams’ talks “have cooled, likely over the asking price,” Dennis Lin of The Athletic writes (subscription link).
Marte’s not the player Betts is (few are), but that’s not to say he isn’t plenty valuable in his own right. In fact, the 31-year-old has been one of the majors’ top center fielders throughout his career. Marte totaled at least 3.0 fWAR for the sixth time in his seven full seasons last year, posted his second straight 20-20 campaign (23 home runs, 25 stolen bases) and slashed .295/.342/.503 over 586 plate appearances.
Despite Marte’s perennial effectiveness, there is a case that the Pirates and new general manager Ben Cherington should sell him sooner than later. Marte’s under control for a maximum of just two more years – a pair of seasons that don’t figure to wind up as playoff-caliber efforts for the club. And though Marte’s control is dwindling, his affordability should only boost his trade value. He’s due a reasonable $11.5MM this year and could then make a similarly affordable $12.5MM by way of a club option in 2021; that’s if Marte’s employer doesn’t buy him out for $1MM instead, but the odds of that happening appear quite slim right now.
There are several teams that would make sense as Marte suitors, as Jeff Todd of MLBTR explored this week. The Padres, who have been busy in the outfield this winter (they’ve added Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham, subtracted Hunter Renfroe and would like to get rid of Wil Myers‘ contract), are one of them. So far, however, it doesn’t look as if San Diego has made much progress in trying to pry Marte out of Pittsburgh.
Giants Outright Jake Jewell, Trevor Oaks
The Giants continued their roster-churning efforts by outrighting pitchers Jake Jewell and Trevor Oaks. Among those to tweet the news was Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter).
Both of these 26-year-old right-handers were acquired earlier in the offseason through waiver claims, then dropped to allow the club to acquire two additional hurlers. Jewell and Oaks are now lodged in the San Francisco system without occupying 40-man roster space, which was perhaps the plan all along.
The voluminous waiver activity of the Giants has brought in a host of new players. Whether any will provide much value remains to be seen.
Jewell is coming off of a tough 2019 effort in which he was bombed at both the MLB and Triple-A levels. But he features a mid-to-upper-nineties fastball and has shown some swing and miss potential. Perhaps the Giants can re-think his approach and help improve the results.
For Oaks, the standout skill is groundball induction. The soft-tossing sinkerballer has worked almost exclusively as a starter and was successful in that role last year at Triple-A. Though he recorded just 4.9 K/9, he drew grounders on 50.2% of the balls put in play against him and allowed just five home runs in 128 1/3 innings — no small achievement given the offensive explosion in the highest level of the minors.
Free Agent Spending By Team: American League
As we covered earlier this week, almost all of the prominent free agents in this year’s class have already exited the board. Because of that, we’ll see more and more minor league signings and fewer and fewer major league deals in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season. This has been an aggressive offseason in terms of spending, though. To this point, which teams have handed out the most guaranteed money via the open market? We’ll examine both leagues, but let’s begin with the AL (reminder: This exercise excludes trades, club options, extensions, waiver claims and Rule 5 selections)…
Yankees: $336.5MM on two players (Gerrit Cole and Brett Gardner; top 50 MLBTR signings: two)
Angels: $260.85MM on three players (Anthony Rendon, Julio Teheran and Jason Castro; top 50 signings: three)
White Sox: $196.5MM on six players (Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, Dallas Keuchel, Edwin Encarnacion, Steve Cishek and Gio Gonzalez; top 50 signings: five)
Twins: $151.8MM on eight players (Josh Donaldson, Michael Pineda, Jake Odorizzi, Homer Bailey, Sergio Romo, Alex Avila, Rich Hill and Tyler Clippard; top 50 signings: four)
Blue Jays: $114.35MM on four players (Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi and Travis Shaw; top 50 signings: two)
Rangers: $62.25MM on five players (Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, Robinson Chirinos, Joely Rodriguez and Todd Frazier; top 50 signings: two)
Tigers: $17.8MM on four players (C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, Austin Romine and Ivan Nova; top 50 signings: one)
Astros: $15.65MM on three players (Joe Smith, Martin Maldonado and Dustin Garneau; top 50 signings: zero)
Rays: $12MM on one player (Yoshitomo Tsutsugo; top 50 signings: zero)
Red Sox: $9.9MM on three players (Martin Perez, Jose Peraza and Kevin Plawecki; top 50 signings: zero)
Athletics: $7.5MM on one player (Jake Diekman; top 50 signings: zero)
Royals: $6.95MM on two players (Alex Gordon and Maikel Franco; top 50 signings: zero)
Indians: $6.25MM on one player (Cesar Hernandez; top 50 signings: zero)
Orioles: $3MM on one player (Jose Iglesias; top 50 signings: zero)
Mariners: $2.95MM on two players (Kendall Graveman and Carl Edwards Jr.; top 50 signings: zero)
Twins Designate Ryne Harper
The Twins have designated right-hander Ryne Harper for assignment, the club informed reporters including Dan Hayes of The Athletic (Twitter link). His roster spot was needed for the addition of Josh Donaldson.
It’s a tough result for the 30-year-old Harper, who had a solid showing in his long-awaited MLB debut campaign. He worked to a 3.81 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 over 54 1/3 innings.
Teams interested in cheap and steady innings will surely take a hard look at Harper. He doesn’t throw hard and generates bottom-of-the-barrel fastball spin. But his command-driven, slider-heavy approach still permitted an 11.6% swinging-strike rate and a palatable 1.16 HR/9.
Nationals To Sign Welington Castillo
The Nationals have a deal in place with backstop Welington Castillo, per reports from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter) and Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington (via Twitter). He’ll be in big league camp this spring.
Castillo will join a catching mix that already includes two MLB fixtures in Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes, both of whom are playing on guaranteed contracts. The former has dealt with some health issues, but all indications are that the pairing will be available at the outset of the season.
Accordingly, Castillo will have a hard time cracking the Nats’ 26-man roster unless an injury arises or the club decides to carry three backstops. It’s certainly possible he could look to catch on elsewhere if he turns in a solid spring but can’t get a look in D.C. Alternatively, Castillo could end up as depth at Triple-A.
At times in his career, Castillo has been quite a strong offensive producer for a catcher. But he’s coming off of a suboptimal 2019 season (.209/.267/.417) after sitting out for a big chunk of the prior campaign owing to a PED suspension. Through 2,701 career plate appearances over the past decade, Castillo carries a .254/.313/.426 batting line.
Castillo’s reputation isn’t quite as good on the other side of the action. Outside of an outlying 2017 season, he has mostly rated as a poor framer. Castillo has typically graded well as a blocker and thrower, but nosedived in both areas (the former, especially) in that rough 2019 showing.
Mariners Claim Nick Margevicius
The Mariners have claimed lefty Nick Margevicius off waivers from the Padres, per a club announcement. Right-hander Reggie McClain was designated for assignment to create roster space.
Margevicius was designated for assignment recently by the Friars. This move officially ends a rather unusual run through the San Diego system.
A seventh-round choice in the 2017 draft, Margevicius lept from High-A to the majors early in the 2019 season — only to end up in DFA limbo after the close of the campaign. Had he not been utilized in the majors last year, Margevicius wouldn’t have added to the team’s 40-man roster pressures.
Presumably, the Pads felt they got enough of a look at the soft-tossing 23-year-old to shrug off his loss. Margevicius certainly wasn’t ready for prime time, as he managed only a 6.79 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 19 walks in his first 57 MLB innings (over a dozen starts and five relief appearances). But he was better in his dozen Double-A outings, where he worked to a 4.30 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.
As for McClain, he’s also off the MLB roster after debuting in 2019. He mustered an ugly 11:13 K/BB ratio in 21 innings in the bigs but did produce a hefty 64.8% groundball rate. The 27-year-old was much more effective in the minors, compiling 72 2/3 innings of 2.23 ERA ball over stints at the High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels.
Cubs Nearing Deal With Steven Souza
The Cubs are closing in on a deal with free agent outfielder Steven Souza Jr., per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). If completed, it’ll be the Chicago organization’s first MLB contract of the offseason.
Souza was previously cut loose by the Diamondbacks. The Arizona organization decided against tendering him and paying a projected $4.125MM salary in Souza’s final year of arbitration eligibility.
This news helps explain the Cubs’ decision to open a 40-man spot today. Adding Souza will not really change the pitch of the austerity-themed offseason, but it does represent a notable commitment that could potentially have an intriguing butterfly effect.
Souza, who’s looking to bounce back following a 2019 season lost to injury, has played almost exclusively in right field during his five seasons in the majors. That has been the primary domain of high-proced Cubs veteran Jason Heyward, who could also appear in center.
There’s now a bit of a crowd in the outfield picture. Kyle Schwarber has spent most of his time in left and figures to do so again. Ian Happ has been seen as an option up the middle but could be utilized in a variety of manners (including in the infield). Albert Almora is a possible platoon partner for Heyward or Happ. Star third baseman Kris Bryant has also spent time in the corner outfield in recent seasons.
At a minimum, the addition of Souza makes it tougher than ever to envision Nicholas Castellanos returning. Even sans Castellanos, the roster may yet be pared through trade — with Bryant still the most intriguing possibility.
Souza won’t necessarily be assured of a significant role — or even a roster spot out of camp. He’s not only working back from a serious knee injury, but needs to prove he can rebound at the plate. Souza managed only a .220/.309/.369 batting line in 272 plate appearances in 2018, another injury-limited campaign.
The Cubs obviously hope that Souza can rediscovery the form he showed back in 2017, when he was an effective performer for the Rays. He turned in .239/.351/.459 slash with thirty long balls and 16 steals over 617 trips to the plate, easily representing his best season in the bigs. Souza was even then prone to strike out in about three of every ten plate appearances, but drew walks at a healthy 13.6% clip and made plenty of good contact.
Souza has also graded as a plus defender and baserunner at times. When he put it all together in ’17, he was a 3.8 fWAR / 4.1 rWAR performer. Anything approaching that level of production would make this signing a slam dunk for the Cubs, though that’s probably also a low-likelihood outcome given Souza’s more recent track record.