Giants Acquire Zack Cozart
Dec. 12: The Angels announced that they’ve acquired left-hander Garrett Williams from the Giants as a player to be named later, thus completing the Cozart swap. Sending him out as a player to be named later seems likely have been a measure of ensuring that Williams wasn’t selected in today’s Rule 5 Draft.
Williams, 25, was the Giants’ seventh-round pick back in 2016 and just completed his second season at the Double-A level, where he posted a 3.60 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 5.0 BB/9, 0.49 HR/9 and a 55.7 percent ground-ball rate in 110 innings (20 starts, nine relief outings). Williams, who was the Giants’ No. 29 prospect at MLB.com and landed outside the top 29 at FanGraphs, draws praise for a plus curveball but is obviously lacking in the command department. He’s averaged 4.9 BB/9 in his pro career to date, including a 5.7 mark in two seasons of Double-A ball.
Dec. 10: The Giants have acquired infielder Zack Cozart and shortstop prospect Will Wilson from the Angels for cash considerations or a player to be named later, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports. San Francisco will pay all of Cozart’s $12.167MM salary for 2020, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Cozart joined the Angels as a high-priced free-agent signing two winters ago, when he inked a three-year, $38MM contract after a career campaign with the Reds. But Cozart was neither healthy nor effective as a member of the Angels, with whom he consistently struggled to perform and dealt with injuries. The 34-year-old took just 107 plate appearances in 2019, when he slashed a horrid .124/.178/.144 without a home run and missed the majority of the season with shoulder problems. Cozart’s year came to an end in mid-July when he underwent what the Angels called an “arthroscopic debridement of his left shoulder.”
Getting rid of Cozart looks like a major score for the Angels, who could use his money to further improve their chances of landing a major free agent (Gerrit Cole? Anthony Rendon?). In the Giants’ case, it’s unclear how much playing time Cozart will receive next season. They already have Evan Longoria at third base and Brandon Crawford at shortstop, after all, with youngster Mauricio Dubon possibly in line to garner the lion’s share of reps at second base.
Considering Wilson’s involvement, this may be a case of the Giants essentially buying a prospect. The 21-year-old Wilson, formerly with North Carolina State, is just months removed from joining the Angels as the 15th pick in the 2019 draft. The Angels paid $3.4MM to lock up Wilson at the time, but they’ve now deemed him expendable in an effort to get Cozart’s money off the books.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On David Price Trade Talks
It seems more and more plausible that the Red Sox will end up working out a deal involving lefty David Price, MLB.com’s Mark Feisand reports. The Padres, Cardinals, White Sox, Reds, and Angels have all shown varying degrees of interest in the 34-year-old, per the report.
Price is still owed $32MM a year for the next three seasons. That’s a big chunk of change for a 34-year-old who has made just 63 starts over the past three seasons — including 22 starts in a 2019 campaign that was cut short by elbow and wrist issues. Price was the embodiment of durability from 2010-16, pacing the Major Leagues with 1529 1/3 innings over that seven-year stretch, but he’s totaled just 358 frames over the past three seasons.
When on the field, of course, Price remains an effective pitcher — albeit one whose weighty annual salary no longer aligns with his rate of compensation. Dating back to 2017, Price owns a 3.75 ERA and 3.82 FIP. The 2019 season resulted in one of the worst ERAs of Price’s career (4.28), but he did give some reason for optimism with a career-high 10.7 K/9 and 28 percent strikeout rate. Price’s control remained solid (2.7 BB/9, seven percent walk rate), and his 21.0 K-BB% was the second-best of his career. Stranding runners was an issue, and a career-high .336 average on balls in play against him assuredly did Price no favors. Ultimately, though, Red Sox ownership’s desire to drop back below the luxury tax line is the driving factor in moving Price, whose seven-year, $217MM contract comes with a $31MM annual luxury hit.
Feinsand notes that the Red Sox have no desire to attach a desirable young player such as Andrew Benintendi to Price in order to simply shed the remainder of his contract. The Athletic’s Chad Jennings offers a similar sentiment (subscription required). “I don’t think we’d ever want to rule anything out,” chief baseball office Chaim Bloom of parting with prospects to help facilitate a Price trade (quote via Jennings). “But so much of what we’re always going to be trying to accomplish, but certainly now, is to make sure we have as strong a farm system as possible.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Sox would be forced to simply include cash along with Price in a trade. The Boston organization could certainly acquire another unpalatable contract in return, thus helping to . The Padres have discussed the possibility of including Wil Myers in a deal, for instance, although there’s no indication that such talks gained any traction. Myers himself is owed a regrettable $61MM over the next three seasons and just wrapped up an ugly .239/.321/.418 effort, striking out in 34.2 percent of his plate appearances along the way.
Athletics Acquire Buddy Reed To Complete Jurickson Profar Trade
The Padres announced Thursday that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Buddy Reed to the Athletics as the player to be named later in this month’s Jurickson Profar deal. Oakland traded Profar to San Diego in exchange for catcher Austin Allen and a PTBNL back on Dec. 2.
Now 24 years old, Reed starred at Florida in college and was selected by the Padres with the 48th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Scouting reports at FanGraphs and MLB.com tout him as a plus-plus runner with the potential to be a plus defender in center field, but he’s struggled with the bat at every level in the minors to this point outside of a strong half season in Class-A Advanced last year (which preceded additional struggles in Double-A).
In 2019, Reed hit .228/.310/.388 with 14 home runs, 15 doubles, two triples and 23 stolen bases with the Padres’ Double-A affiliate in Amarillo. Reed did post a career-best 9.5 percent walk rate in the Texas League this year, but he also whiffed at a 28.6 percent clip. Even if he’s unable to make substantial gains at the plate, Reed could still draw enough walks, run well enough and play strong enough defense to eventually be a fourth outfielder in Oakland. That said, he was eligible to be selected in today’s Rule 5 Draft and went unclaimed, so it’s fairly clear that other clubs are wary of his flimsy offensive profile at the moment.
Athletics fans looking to learn more about their new outfield prospect can check out MLBTR’s Q&A with Reed shortly before he was drafted back in 2016.
Marlins To Sign Yimi Garcia
1:00pm: Garcia’s deal is a Major League contract, per SiriusXM’s Craig Mish (Twitter link).
11:30am: The Marlins have a deal with free agent righty Yimi Garcia, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). He had been non-tendered by the Dodgers. Details of the agreement aren’t known.
Garcia, 29, certainly fulfills the Marlins’ stated desire for relievers that can put the ball in the zone. He has allowed just 30 walks in 159 2/3 career innings at the game’s highest level. Garcia has also averaged more than a strikeout per frame, with 166 over that same span.
The trouble for Garcia — and the likely reason he was non-tendered by the Dodgers despite a modest $1.1MM projected tab — is that he has yet to figure out how to keep the ball in the yard. Garcia has coughed up 22 long balls in his past 84 2/3 innings. But he rates excellently in terms of fastball spin, curveball spin, hard-hit rate and opponents’ exit velocity despite yielding an exorbitant number of homers (15 in 62 1/3 innings this past season). He’d be controllable via arbitration through 2021 if he can right the ship in a reunion with former Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly.
Phillies To Re-Sign Phil Gosselin
The Phillies have agreed to re-sign veteran infielder Phil Gosselin to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. He’s represented by Meister Sports Management.
Gosselin, 31, appeared in 44 games with the Phillies in 2019 and spent the rest of the year with their Triple-A club, where he hit .314/.405/.497 in 353 trips to the dish. He was limited to a pinch-hitting and defensive replacement role in the big leagues and went 17-for-65 with three doubles (.262/.294/.308 on the whole).
Gosselin has played primarily second base in the Majors but has experience at all four infield spots and in the outfield corners as well. He’s a veteran of 320 games spanning parts of seven Major League seasons and has batted .263/.312/.355 in 647 big league plate appearances. He’s unlikely to play a major role with the Phillies next year but provides some versatile depth to stash in Triple-A or perhaps to bring north from Clearwater as the team’s 26th man on next year’s expanded regular-season rosters. He’ll join fellow veteran Josh Harrison in competing for a spot in an infield that recently subtracted both Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez (non-tenders) but added Didi Gregorius on a one-year free-agent deal.
Cardinals Reportedly Interested In Hyun-Jin Ryu
The Cardinals are another club with interest in veteran lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Ryu is among the top remaining pitching options on the open market.
We’ve heard the St. Louis organization tied to starters here and there, but it’s not yet fully clear how dedicated a pursuit will occur. The club already brought back Adam Wainwright but also saw Michael Wacha depart via free agency.
Ryu is said to be seeking the security of a three or four-year pact. While he comes with a dodgy health history, the 32-year-old was healthy in 2019. And Ryu has always been effective when healthy — never more than of late. He owns a ridiculous 2.21 ERA over 265 innings in his past 44 starts, with 8.6 K/9 to go with a meager 1.3 BB/9.
Given that history, it’s no surprise that quite a few organizations see Ryu as a target. The incumbent Dodgers are an option, with the Blue Jays and Twins reportedly among the other pursuers.
2019 Rule 5 Draft Results
The Rule 5 draft begins at 12 p.m ET as this year’s Winter Meetings in San Diego draw to a close. Those unfamiliar with how the draft works can check out MLBTR’s full primer on the event here, but the short version is that teams with open 40-man roster spots can select a player with four to five years of pro experience from other organizations if said player hasn’t been given a spot on the 40-man roster. Players who signed at 18 years of age or younger but have five years of experience can be selected, as can players signed at 19 or older who have four years of experience. Each selection costs $100K, but it’s not mandatory for teams to make picks. Clubs must carry chosen players on their active rosters (or the major league disabled list) throughout the entire 2016 season. Otherwise, the player must be placed on waivers; if no other team steps into the Rule 5 rights, the player is offered back to his original club.
The Rule 5 order is based on the reverse order of last season’s standings. You can find Baseball America’s preview of the festivities right here (subscription required). Here are this year’s results:
1) Tigers: RHP Rony Garcia (Yankees)
2) Orioles: RHP Brandon Bailey (Astros)
3) Marlins: RHP Sterling Sharp (Nationals)
4) Royals: RHP Stephen Woods Jr. (Rays)
5) Blue Jays: pass
6) Mariners: RHP Yohan Ramirez (Astros)
7) Pirates: pass
8) Padres: pass
9) Rockies: pass
10) Angels: pass
11) White Sox: pass
12) Reds: OF Mark Payton (Athletics)
13) Giants: RHP Dany Jimenez (Blue Jays)
14) Rangers: pass
15) Phillies: INF Vimael Machin (Cubs) (traded to Athletics)
16) Cubs: RHP Trevor Megill (Padres)
17) Red Sox: SS Jonathan Arauz (Astros)
18) D-backs: pass
19) Mets: pass
20) Brewers: pass
21) Cardinals: pass
22) Nationals: pass
23) Indians: pass
24) Rays: pass
25) Braves: pass
26) Athletics: pass
27) Twins: pass
28) Yankees: pass
29) Dodgers: pass
30) Astros: pass
Second Round
2) Orioles: RHP Michael Rucker (Cubs)
Yankees To Re-Sign Brett Gardner
The Yankees have struck a deal with outfielder Brett Gardner, per George A. King III of the New York Post (via Twitter). It’ll pay him a guaranteed $12.5MM. There’s a $2MM signing bonus and $8MM 2020 salary, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). The Yanks also have a $10MM club option in 2021, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link), with the alternative of a $2.5MM buyout (via King, on Twitter).
There was never much doubt that Gardner would end up returning to New York. The 36-year-old has already been with the club for a dozen seasons and has been rumored all offseason to be in talks for another. Gardner reportedly drew multi-year interest from other organizations but evidently didn’t have much appetite for change at this point in his career.
It is easy to overlook just how big a role Gardner has played over the years for the Yanks. Excepting his injury-ravaged 2012 campaign, he has appeared in at least 140 games for the team in every season for the past decade. Gardner is one game and five plate appearances shy of tallying 1500 games-played and six thousand PAs with the Bronxn Bombers.
The formula remains much the same now as ever. Gardner is an outstanding defender and baserunner who has consistently delivered league-average offensive production. He has grown into power over the years, though it remains to be seen whether he can repeat last year’s career-high 28 long balls and .503 slugging percentage. (Those stood out even in a year of leaguewide power enhancement.)
The Yankees will certainly need Gardner quite a bit out of the gates with Aaron Hicks slated to miss time. Just how roles will be sorted once Hicks is back will remain to be seen. The health and performance statuses of quite a few other players — including sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton — will surely factor heavily. Having the dependable Gardner, along with 2019 breakout performer Mike Tauchman, will leave the Yanks plenty of options for filling in or mixing and matching if and when the roster is at full strength.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yankees, Dodgers, Mets Reportedly In Market For Josh Hader
With the top end of the relief market going off the board early, teams looking for elite pen arms have been eyeing trade possibilities. The most intriguing of those: star Brewers lefty Josh Hader, who was recently reported to have been made available in talks. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently updated the market situation (subscription link).
Left-handed American League East hitters will be particularly distraught to learn that the Yankees “have been the most active pursuer” of Hader. The Yanks already possess two dynamic southpaws in Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton. Having already brought in Chapman and Gerrit Cole this offseason, a move for Hader would make a stunning trifecta of high-powered arms.
Other clubs have also put in calls to Brewers GM David Stearns. The list includes the Dodgers and Mets, according to Rosenthal. No doubt a variety of other organizations are also checking in to see whether it might be possible to structure a mutually agreeable trade. Hader could take over as a traditional closer or function as a roving high-leverage out-getter, as suits a given team’s preferences.
Hader’s appeal lies not only in his strikeout-producing left arm, but also his age (26 in April) and contract rights. He’s controllable for four more seasons through the arbitration process. Those won’t come cheap, as Hader projects to earn $4.6MM as a Super Two and could yet attempt to argue for more in a high-stakes hearing. (A prior attempt to shake up the arb system for relievers didn’t work out for Dellin Betances, though Hader has more saves to his record.) Still, it’s a far sight shy of what it would cost to acquire a similar pitcher on the open market — not that it’s even possible to do so.
Free Agent Notes: Keuchel, Cards, Hudson, Nationals, Jays, Porcello, Rondon, Moose, Treinen
The Cardinals haven’t checked in on Dallas Keuchel since initially showing interest in the veteran lefty near the start of the offseason, The Athletic’s Mark Saxon reports (subscription required). While president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said told Saxon and other reporters that his team has been focused mostly on pitching during the Winter Meetings, “the Cardinals have chosen instead to slow-play their hand,” Saxon writes, perhaps to the chagrin of agents trying to get St. Louis involved in the fast-moving pitching market. “For us, we’re OK being patient,” Mozeliak said of a rotation that currently consists of Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, and the club’s biggest winter addition to date, the re-signed Adam Wainwright. This decent group and multiple fifth-starter candidates on hand give the Cardinals the comfort in waiting until later in the offseason to add pitchers once asking prices from both free agents and trade partners could begin to drop.
More from the free agent market….
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman) that he had begun talks with Daniel Hudson‘s agent about a possible return to the World Series champs. After being acquired in a trade deadline deal from the Blue Jays, Hudson had a huge role in stabilizing Washington’s season-long bullpen problems, posting a 1.44 ERA over 25 regular season innings and then a 3.72 ERA over 9 2/3 frames in the playoffs as the Nats’ closer. This great showing down the stretch has Hudson asking for a multi-year deal in free agency, Zuckerman hears from a source, though Zuckerman isn’t sure the Nationals will make such a commitment to a pitcher whose overall performance over the last few years is far more inconsistent. MLBTR did predict a multi-year contract for Hudson (two years, $12MM) while ranking him 28th on our list of the winter’s 50 best free agents.
- In terms of other pitching needs, Rizzo expressed confidence in internal arms. The general manager feels relievers Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland will be better than 2020 due to improved health, and Joe Ross, Austin Voth, Erick Fedde will seemingly provide all the competition necessary for the fifth starter’s job. “I think we’re more than satisfied with our rotation,” Rizzo said, and with good cause, considering the Nationals‘ starting four of Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, and the re-signed Stephen Strasburg.
- With multiple pitchers flying off the board, the rotation-needy Blue Jays “began to engage more aggressively with” Tanner Roark, Josh Lindblom, and Rick Porcello over the last two days, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes. The result was one miss as Lindblom signed with the Brewers, one success in the form of a two-year, $24MM deal with Roark, and one result to be determined as Porcello continues to weigh his options. Toronto is also looking towards relief pitchers, as Davidi reports that Hector Rondon has received some interest.
- Davidi’s piece also contains some interesting details on two other Blue Jays targets who signed elsewhere. The Jays met with Blake Treinen‘s agent prior to Treinen’s one-year, $10MM pact with the Dodgers. Perhaps more surprisingly, it seems the Blue Jays put significant effort into a pursuit of Mike Moustakas, as GM Ross Atkins and manager Charlie Montoyo both visited Moustakas at his home. Toronto wasn’t known to be an ardent suitor for Moustakas, though his left-handed power bat and multi-positional infield ability would have made him a quality upgrade for the Jays’ lineup. Moustakas wound up surpassing all expectations by landing four years and $64MM in a deal with the Reds.