MLBTR Chat Transcript: 12/23/19
Click here to read a transcript of tonight’s live chat with Connor Byrne of MLBTR.
Astros Re-Sign Martin Maldonado
DEC. 23: The signing is now official, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was among those to tweet.
DEC. 20: The Astros have agreed to a two-year deal to bring back catcher Martin Maldonado, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). It includes a guaranteed $7MM for the MVP Sports Group client.
This is now the third time that the Astros have brought in Maldonado. After striking mid-season deals to acquire him in each of the past two campaigns, the Houston organization went ahead and committed to a full two-year term.
It’s possible the ‘Stros are now set to move on from primary 2019 receiver Robinson Chirinos. The club already locked up Dustin Garneau to a cheap deal at the outset of the winter and has been looking for cost-efficient means of filling out a star-studded, increasingly expensive roster. Maldonado could’ve earned more from another team, per Feinsand, but preferred the comfort and opportunity available in Houston.
Maldonado, 33, has long been regarded as an excellent defender. The Baseball Prospectus grading system no longer values him as the top option behind the plate in all of baseball — as it did in 2017 — but still rates him as an above-average performer. Given today’s signing, and the evident interest from other clubs, it seems fair to presume that organizations around the game still hold Maldonado’s capabilities in the dark arts of catching in high esteem.
Achieving the benefits of Maldonado’s work on the defensive side of the spectrum has typically meant tolerating his efforts with the bat in hand. There have been a few relative peaks, but he has long been a subpar contributor on offense. Through over two thousand career plate appearances, Maldonado carries only a .219/.289/.355 batting line.
That’s more or less precisely what Maldonado did as a hitter in 2019. He finished with a 76 wRC+, just north of his lifetime 73 wRC+ mark. Maldonado did finish strong upon moving to the Astros, due largely to a power burst of questionable sustainability. Over 98 plate appearances in Houston, he slashed .202/.316/.464 with six home runs.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
White Sox “Very Serious” Suitors For Edwin Encarnacion
DEC. 23: The White Sox seem to be aggressively going after Encarnacion, as they’re “very serious” in their pursuit and look as if they’re “at the forefront of talks,” Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. However, Heyman notes that it’s doubtful a deal will come together until after the holidays.
DEC. 22: The White Sox are showing interest in free agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score.
The South Siders have already made a couple of high-profile acquisitions this winter, dishing out multi-year contracts to catcher Yasmani Grandal and lefty Dallas Keuchel. They’ve also added Gio Gonzalez and Nomar Mazara in a pair of lower-profile moves. They’ve been one of the most active teams this winter, and there might still be more to come.
While the additions of Gonzalez and Keuchel—along with the presumed return of touted prospect Michael Kopech and the expected progression of Dylan Cease—figure to provide a healthy boost to the starting rotation, the White Sox could certainly stand to improve the lineup, which in 2019 put up the third-fewest runs in the American League. While Grandal is an unquestionable upgrade, he and Mazara alone are surely not enough to vault the offense into the league’s upper division.
Yoan Moncada and Tim Anderson are premium talents on the left side of the infield, and they showcased their talent with a pair of breakout seasons in 2019. Top prospects Nick Madrigal and Luis Robert loom as likely solutions to the vacancies at second base and in center field after putting up video-game numbers in the minors.
Between Anderson, Moncada, Madrigal, Mazara, Jimenez, and Robert, the upside of the lineup is undeniable and the best-case outcome is a lineup that goes nine deep, but Sox fans will more likely have to wait a couple years for that reality to actualize. As far as this year is concerned, the volatility of that group equals its potential. With that in mind, the veteran combination of Jose Abreu and Encarnacion looks like as good a pair as any to teach the young guns.
Enter Edwin? Encarnacion, who will play the 2020 season at age 37, is still among the finest designated hitters in baseball and could probably roll out of bed and put up 30 homers and 100 RBI. He would surely serve as a fine anchor for a youthful lineup that seems to lack a “sure thing.” And he won’t cost a fortune. Even if the Sox, after inking Grandal and Keuchel to hefty deals, are nearing their spending limit—Roster Resource estimates their current 2020 payroll at $112MM, compared to $96MM at the end of 2019—Encarnacion is an affordable option; MLBTR projected that he would earn a one-year deal worth $8MM in free agency.
Free-Agent LHP Rich Hill Arrested
Free-agent left-hander Rich Hill was arrested Saturday in Foxborough, Mass., after his wife, Caitlin Hill, “repeatedly” tried to enter an NFL game between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills with an oversized bag, John R. Ellement of the Boston Globe reports. Although police ordered the Hills to leave the grounds, they refused to so.
Caitlin Hill was booked on disorderly conduct and trespassing, but Rich Hill allegedly attempted to stop the authorities from taking her away in a police transport vehicle. As a result, he was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. However, the Hills’ charges have since been reduced to civil infractions. Rich Hill was fined $500 for a single count of disorderly conduct.
Hill then issued a statement, saying: “Despite Saturday’s events, my great respect for law enforcement remains unchanged. However, seeing my wife cuffed for a problem that started because of her fanny pack was extremely difficult to witness. This was all overblown and am glad to have it behind us.’’
It’s unlikely this arrest will have a serious effect on the market for Hill, who’s one of the most accomplished hurlers left in a consistently dwindling class of free-agent starters. If anything, the fact that Hill’s soon to turn 40, coming off primary revision surgery and won’t be ready to pitch again until the summer seem far more likely to weigh on teams’ minds if they consider signing him.
To Hill’s credit, although injuries have been a consistent problem since he unexpectedly revived his career with the Red Sox in 2015, he has pitched quite well when healthy. As a member of the Dodgers last season, Hill turned in a 2.45 ERA/4.10 FIP with 11.05 K/9, 2.76 BB/9 and a 49.6 percent groundball rate, though he did so over a mere 13 starts and 58 2/3 innings.
White Sox Reportedly Still Interested In Nicholas Castellanos
The White Sox have already filled a corner outfield spot by acquiring Nomar Mazara in a trade and added some notable salary by inking Yasmani Grandal, Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez as free agents. Despite that slate of moves, however, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the ChiSox are still interested in bringing free-agent slugger Nicholas Castellanos into the fold.
Morosi suggests that the White Sox are comfortable with their payroll continuing to grow. He lists the team’s current obligations as close to $100MM, though that seemingly isn’t accounting for pre-arbitration players; Jason Martinez of Roster Resource has the club currently projected at just over $112MM, including Keuchel and Gonzalez — neither of whom has been formally announced by the team.
Regardless, it certainly would seem as though the Sox have the payroll capacity to fit Castellanos into the budget. The White Sox’ previous record for Opening Day payroll came back in 2011 when they approached $128MM, and the team’s clear shift from rebuild to win-now mode has naturally been accompanied by expectations of greater spending. They’ll also see Alex Colome, James McCann and Kelvin Herrera come off the books next season, so there’s ample space down the road as well.
With the Sox, Castellanos, Mazara and Eloy Jimenez could seemingly be rotated through the corner outfield spots and designated hitter in an effort to keep all three fresh. None of the bunch is capable of playing center field, even in a pinch, although top prospect Luis Robert is looming in the upper minors and should get his first look at the big leagues in 2020. With Robert and top second base prospect Nick Madrigal both believed to be on the cusp of MLB promotions, it’s certainly arguable that adding another potent bat to step in at designated hitter is a greater need than adding insurance in center field or at second base.
That said, the White Sox surely aren’t the only ones still vying for Castellanos and arguably don’t have as acute a need as some rival clubs. The Rangers, for instance, have been aggressive in reshaping their pitching staff but haven’t done anything to upgrade their lineup. The Reds have added Mike Moustakas but have reportedly been in the market for an outfielder since, so Castellanos would still seem to fit the bill there as well. Other clubs, including the Giants, D-backs and Cubs have all been linked to Castellanos to varying extents, although the Cubs seemingly aren’t going to spend at anywhere near the level it would take to bring Castellanos back to Wrigley Field.
Yankees Trade Chance Adams To Royals
1:20pm: The Yankees announced that they’ve acquired minor league shortstop Cristian Perez in exchange for Adams. The 21-year-old had a down season in his first year at Class-A Advanced in 2019, hitting .252/.290/.285 in 424 plate appearances.
Perez has never shown any semblance of power in the minors and doesn’t walk much. However, he’s consistently posted low strikeout rates and hit for a respectable average (career .263/.312/.319). Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs called him an “instinctive defender with some feel to hit” in their write-up of the Royals’ farm system early in the 2019 season.
1:01pm: The Yankees and Royals have agreed to a deal that will send right-hander Chance Adams from New York to Kansas City, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Once rated as one of the organization’s best prospects, Adams was designated for assignment last week in order to open a roster spot for newly signed Gerrit Cole. The two teams have yet to formally announce the deal.
Adams, 25, has struggled to an 8.18 ERA in a small sample of 33 MLB innings but isn’t long removed from being considered one of baseball’s best pitching prospects. In the 2017-18 offseason, each of Baseball America, MLB.com ad Baseball Prospectus ranked Adams within the game’s top 100 overall prospects. At that point, he’d just wrapped up a season that saw him pitch to a 2.45 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 150 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
Things haven’t gone smoothly for Adams since, as he’s posted a 4.72 ERA in nearly 200 Triple-A innings since that time (in addition to the aforementioned MLB struggles). Adams has seen his walk rate tick upward as his strikeout percentages have dipped considerably from his time in the low minors. However, he won’t turn 26 until next August and has a minor league option remaining, so there’s little harm in a rebuilding club like the Royals taking a speculative look in hopes of striking gold.
Indians To Sign Cesar Hernandez
The Indians have reached a one-year agreement with free-agent second baseman Cesar Hernandez, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets. The Octagon client will earn a $6.25MM salary for the 2020 season.
Hernandez, 30 in May, was non-tendered earlier this month after a run of five solid seasons as the Phillies’ primary second baseman. From 2015-19, Hernandez racked up 3026 plate appearances in Philadelphia and turned in a .278/.355/.388 batting line with 45 home runs, 106 doubles, 27 triples and 79 stolen bases. His home run totals ticked up in 2018-19 as well, when the switch-hitter logged a combined 29 round-trippers.
However, Hernandez was eligible for arbitration for the final time this winter and due a raise on last season’s $7.75MM salary. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected an $11.8MM salary for his final trip through that process. The Phillies — and, clearly, other teams — deemed Hernandez’s likely arbitration price to be too steep and opted to non-tender him, sending him out into the open market for the first time in his career.
Several factors surely contributed to the decision to cut Hernandez loose. The free-agent market is arguably deeper at second base than any other position, thus hampering the Indians’ ability to drum up trade interest in Hernandez even in spite of his steady rate of play over the past half decade. The Phillies also had a versatile pair of infielders in Jean Segura and particularly Scott Kingery, allowing them to target virtually any infield option they saw fit upon moving on from Hernandez. (Eventually, the club zeroed in on Didi Gregorius.)
With the Indians, Hernandez will now slot in as their primary second baseman, replacing mainstay Jason Kipnis, whose 2020 club option was bought at the onset of the offseason. He’ll bring a generally solid defensive reputation to the table in Cleveland, though Hernandez isn’t likely to be bringing home any Gold Glove Awards in the near future. Metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved are a bit split on his total body of work, but Hernandez has only had one truly poor season per either of those measures. And, in 2019, he posted +6 DRS and a 0.7 UZR, suggesting he’s still more than capable of handling the position.
Installing Hernandez at second base means that two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Jose Ramirez will be locked in as Cleveland’s primary third baseman in 2020. Ramirez is capable of playing either second or third, which gave the Indians’ front office some flexibility when eyeing potential infield targets in free agency.
Of course, that flexibility only extends so far, as Cleveland ownership has rather clearly given the front office some notable payroll constraints. The Indians have already sent Corey Kluber to the Rangers in a trade that more closely resembled a salary dump than anything else. The fact that they nonetheless took what was widely regarded as a light return now — as opposed to keeping Kluber and hoping he built up some value early in the year — suggests that clearing the entirety of next year’s $17.5MM salary was a critical element of the swap.
Whether the Indians make any additional shakeups on the roster is currently one of the more interesting hot stove storylines in the game. Teams have been trying to pry superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor away from Cleveland to no avail, and burgeoning frontline starter Mike Clevinger is reported to be drawing interest as well. There’s no firm indication that the Indians plan to move either player, though, and even with Hernandez now on board, Cleveland’s payroll checks in at roughly $97MM, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. That’s a drop of $38MM from 2018’s Opening Day mark and $22MM from 2019’s Opening Day total.
Marlins Sign Francisco Cervelli
10:07am: The Marlins and Cervelli are in agreement on a one-year deal worth $2MM, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The contract is pending a physical.
9:40am: The Marlins are “making progress” on a one-year contract with free-agent catcher Francisco Cervelli, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports (via Twitter). Frisaro first linked to the two parties earlier this month, pointing out that early in his career, Cervelli was a teammate of Marlins CEO Derek Jeter with the Yankees. Cervelli is represented by Wasserman.
Miami will again deploy 26-year-old Jorge Alfaro as its primary backstop in 2020, but Cervelli would bring a veteran backup to help guide the still-developing Alfaro. Although injuries — primarily concussions — have ravaged Cervelli’s career over the past several seasons, he’s still a 12-year veteran who, at his peak, was one of the top defensive catchers in all of baseball.
This past season, the 33-year-old Cervelli was limited to 48 games and 160 plate appearances between the Pirates and the Braves, during which time he hit just .213/.302/.348. But he’s only one season removed from a much stronger .259/.378/.431 batting line and a career-high 12 home runs in 404 plate appearances. Drawing walks (career 10.3 percent) and avoiding strikeouts (19.2 percent) have always been a part of Cervelli’s game, so if he’s healthy he should be a solid source of on-base percentage who regularly puts the ball in play.
Defensively, Cervelli might not be the standout he once was, but he nonetheless enjoyed a solid season in some regards. Cervelli thwarted eight of the 25 stolen-base attempts against him (32 percent) and logged roughly average framing numbers per Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and Statcast. Cervelli did struggle a bit in terms of blocking pitches and yielding passed balls, though one can also imagine that with better health, there’d be improvement — particularly considering his much stronger track record in that area.
Padres, Pierce Johnson Agree To Two-Year Deal
The Padres have agreed to a two-year contract with right-hander Pierce Johnson, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The former Cubs top prospect will be guaranteed $5MM over the life of the deal, and the contract contains a team option for a third season. Johnson is represented by JBA Sports.
Johnson, 29 in May, spent the 2019 season pitching for the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he posted otherworldly numbers. In 58 2/3 innings of relief, he posted a 1.38 ERA with a 91-to-13 K/BB ratio (14.0 K/9, 2.0 BB/9). Unlike many big leaguers who enjoy overseas breakouts and return to find MLB deals, Johnson needed only one season of success to convince a Major League club that he was worthy of a multi-year deal.
Despite being selected by the Cubs with the No. 43 overall pick in 2012 and at one point ranking among the game’s top 100 prospects, Johnson pitched only a single MLB inning with the organization in 2017. He was booted from the 40-man roster in December and landed with the Giants on a waiver claim. He’d go on to pitch 43 2/3 innings with San Francisco the following year in 2018, although the results weren’t pretty. Johnson logged a 5.56 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 4.5 BB/9, 1.03 HR/9 and a 37.8 percent ground-ball rate out of the Giants’ bullpen in his lone season with the organization.
That limited sample represents the entirety of Johnson’s body of work in the big leagues, but he’ll become the latest in an increasing number of players to find success in either Japan or Korea and parlay that overseas breakout into a big league contract. This offseason, we’ve seen Johnson, Josh Lindblom and Joely Rodriguez cash in on multi-year contracts, just as Merrill Kelly, Miles Mikolas, Eric Thames and (several years prior) Colby Lewis did.
It’s a low-risk investment for any big league team to make, and the growing frequency of deals like looks like the beginning of a trend. Teams aren’t shy about mimicking successful strategies from other organizations, after all, and to this point there’s been a fair bit of success with this approach to talent acquisition.
From the player side of the equation, it’s a no-brainer, as most players jumping to play in NPB and the KBO — Adam Jones notwithstanding — are fringe 40-man roster candidates at best and will make significantly more playing in Asia than they would in a season of Triple-A ball (even with some occasional MLB promotions mixed in). And, upon returning, they’re able to sign seven-figure contracts, some of which even offer the opportunity to become a free agent at the completion of the deal rather than slotting back into the arbitration system.
Indians Outright Mike Freeman
Dec. 23: Freeman accepted his assignment and will be a non-roster invitee to Major League Spring Training in 2020, the Indians announced Monday morning.
Dec. 20: The Indians have outrighted utility player Mike Freeman to Triple-A Columbus, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com reports. The club previously designated Freeman for assignment last weekend when it traded right-hander Corey Kluber to Texas for reliever Emmanuel Clase and outfielder Delino DeShields.
Because the 32-year-old Freeman has been outrighted in the past, he has the right to reject the Indians’ assignment to Columbus in favor of free agency. They’ll know his fate by Sunday, Hoynes notes.
Although the Indians booted Freeman from their 40-man roster, he’s actually coming off a respectable season. Freeman amassed a personal-high 213 plate appearances in 2019 and slashed a playable .277/.362/.390 (good for a nearly league-average 99 wRC+), though he did benefit from an unsustainable .388 batting average on balls in play. Defensively, Freeman saw action at three infield positions – second, third and short – as well as left field. Freeman even pitched two innings for the team.
Considering his decent 2019 showing, it’s possible Freeman will return to the open market a little over a year after the Indians signed him to a minor league contract. Before joining the Cleveland organization, Freeman received big league at-bats with the Diamondbacks (who chose him in the 11th round of the 2010 draft), Mariners, Cubs and Dodgers. He’s a lifetime .232/.316/.332 hitter across 304 PA in the majors and a .305/.372/.418 batter in 2,030 attempts in Triple-A ball.