Cardinals Outright Joe Hudson
The Cardinals announced today that they have outrighted catcher Joe Hudson off of their 40-man roster. His roster spot was needed with several players being reinstated following 60-day injured list stints.
Hudson, 28, is a former sixth-round pick who has seen very brief MLB action in each of the past two campaigns. He owns a modest .249/.323/.411 slash line over 383 plate appearances at Triple-A since the start of 2018. As is often the case with offensively limited backstops of this ilk, Hudson is primarily valued for his sturdy glovework behind the plate.
Angels Claim Mike Mayers
The Angels announced that they have claimed righty Mike Mayers off waivers from the Cardinals. The out of options hurler will compete for a pen job in camp if he can stick on the Los Angeles 40-man roster the rest of the winter.
Mayers, 27, is coming off of a forgettable campaign in St. Louis. He was given just 19 innings, over which he allowed 14 earned runs with a 16:11 K/BB ratio. In his 80 2/3 total frames at the game’s highest level, Mayers has worked to a 7.03 ERA.
Though the results clearly haven’t been there at the game’s highest level, Mayers has shown a mid-nineties fastball. He has also been quite effective at Triple-A. This past year, he turned in twenty frames of 3.15 ERA pitching there with 24 strikeouts and seven walks.
Moustakas, Grandal Decline Mutual Options; Brewers Outright Austin, Spangenberg
The Brewers have announced some early-offseason roster moves. As anticipated, Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal have each declined their side of mutual options and will become free agents. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee organization opened two additional 40-man spots by outrighting first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin and utilityman Cory Spangenberg.
Those mutual options were never expected to be entertained seriously; they were included in the respective contracts as a mechanism of deferring salary. Moustakas receives $3MM on his way out the door and will forego an $11MM salary. He seems quite likely to surpass that $8MM gulf in free agent earnings, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll finally get a longer pact.
Grandal, meanwhile, will take a $2.25MM payout and another bite at the free agent apple rather than settling for a $16MM salary. He wagered heavily on his ability to turn in another high-quality campaign when he went to Milwaukee. That looks to have paid off both for Grandal and the Brewers, as he’s now in line to secure a large and lengthy pact in his return to the open market.
As for the other players involved in today’s moves, they’ll each have the right to elect free agency. Austin had only a brief stint in Milwaukee after a rough showing with the Giants. He’s a .219/.292/.451 hitter in 583 career plate appearances. The 28-year-old Spangenberg struggled badly in his brief MLB time this season but did hit .309/.378/.498 in 476 plate appearances at Triple-A.
Nationals Decline Mutual Option On Matt Adams
The Nationals announced today that they have declined their side of a $4MM mutual option on first baseman Matt Adams. He’ll instead receive a $1MM buyout and head back onto the open market.
While it’s still possible Adams could return again to D.C., perhaps it’s likelier he’ll move along elsewhere after a disappointing campaign. While he put in a solid early showing this year, Adams faded to a .217/.277/.406 line with sixty strikeouts over his final 155 plate appearances on the year.
At his best, Adams is a well-above-average hitter against right-handed pitching. But the 31-year-old has never enjoyed sustained productivity when facing southpaws and is likely only a candidate for platoon/pinch-hitting duties.
It remains to be seen what direction the Nats will take at first base following their epic finish to the 2019 campaign. Ryan Zimmerman could return on a lesser deal once his option is formally declined, with Adams or another lefty bat joining the roster to share time. Or Zimmerman could hang up his spikes after the thrill of finally raising a trophy, in which case the D.C. organization could go in any number of different directions.
Mariners Claim Phillips Valdez
The Mariners announced today that they have claimed righty Phillips Valdez off waivers from the Rangers. He becomes the latest player to be pared from the Texas 40-man roster.
Valdez, who’ll soon turn 28, cracked the majors briefly last year for 16 innings of relief. His fastball-change combination wasn’t exceedingly effective in his first taste at the game’s highest level, as he generated only an 8.9% swinging-strike rate, but Valdez showed that he can induce grounders against the world’s best hitters (53.3%).
Though he debuted in a relief capacity, Valdez has spent much of his time in the upper minors as a starter. It remains to be seen how the M’s will use him — or even whether they’ll keep him on their 40-man roster all offseason long — but he will help pad the Seattle organization’s pitching depth.
Phillies Release Jose Pirela To Play In Japan
The Phillies have announced the release of utilityman Jose Pirela. He intends to pursue an opportunity in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
Pirela landed with the Phils in the middle of the 2019 campaign after being designated by the Padres. He appeared briefly down the stretch but obviously did not make enough of an impression to make himself a significant part of the team’s plans in 2020.
While he had quite a productive showing in the big leagues in 2017, Pirela fell flat in a longer look the following season. He did post big numbers at Triple-A this year, with a .327/.376/.596 batting line in 372 plate appearances.
Royals Decline Mutual Option On Alex Gordon
The Royals announced today that they have declined their side of a mutual option over outfielder Alex Gordon. He exercised his end of the option, meaning he’ll receive a $4MM buyout.
There was never any question of this outcome. The mutual option was valued at a hefty $23MM, far outstripping Gordon’s present-day on-field abilities.
It remains unknown whether Gordon will return to play in 2020. All indications are that he’ll only suit up for Kansas City if he does wish to continue his career. The organization has indicated interest in a return, but it’d surely come at a much lower price point.
Gordon, 35, is still a qualify defender and surely represents a valuable clubhouse presence, but there’s no reason to think his bat will perk back up. He showed a bit of a spark at times in 2019 but still finished with only a .266/.345/.396 batting line. That’s the fourth consecutive campaign of below-average offensive output for Gordon, who hasn’t topped a .400 slugging percentage since the season preceding his just-concluded contract.
Mets Reportedly Narrow Managerial Search
The Mets’ managerial search is down to two names, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). Former Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran and former Astros bench coach/current ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez are the last two men standing. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman recently tweeted that Milwaukee bench coach Pat Murphy was out of the running, though Heyman suggested shortly before Feinsand that Twins bench coach Derek Shelton was still involved alongside Beltran and Perez.
Neither Beltran nor Perez has any big league managerial experience, but Perez did manage a pair of winter ball clubs in Puerto Rico and managed Team Colombia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. In addition to a brief stint as the bench coach in Houston, Perez spent a pair of seasons as the Marlins’ hitting coach earlier this decade. Beltran, who only retired as a player after the 2017 season, has spent his short post-playing days as a special advisor to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
Hiring Perez would, in many ways, mimic the crosstown Yankees’ hiring of Aaron Boone and the Cubs’ recent hiring of David Ross. Both were retired players hired away from ESPN jobs, though Perez, unlike that duo, does have the aforementioned coaching/managing experience. Beltran, notably, would jump from player to manager even more quickly than Ross did — if he is indeed hired. Ross retired after winning a World Series in 2016, while Beltran retired after winning a World Series in 2017. Perez was reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale last week to be the “clear front-runner,” but the search then carried on into a third round of interviews.
The Mets’ managerial search has dragged out even longer than the GM search that led the organization to hire then-CAA-agent Brodie Van Wagenen late last October. While a whopping eight teams entered the offseason in search of a new skipper, most identified a smaller set of initial candidates than New York. The Mets, meanwhile, not only conducted first-round interviews with a wide slate of candidates, they also carried a significant list of hopefuls all the way into a third round of interviews. (Most other organizations seemingly only went through two rounds.) At least five candidates — Perez, Beltran, Shelton, Murphy and Nats first base coach Tim Bogar — seemingly advanced to this stage.
The Mets, Pirates and Giants are the three remaining clubs that have yet to name a manager for the 2020 season. The Angels (Joe Maddon), Phillies (Joe Girardi), Cubs (Ross), Royals (Mike Matheny) and Padres (Jayce Tingler) have all hired new skippers since the regular season ended.
Rockies Name Darryl Scott Bullpen Coach
The Rockies announced a change in the coaching ranks Friday, promoting minor league pitching coordinator Darryl Scott to the role of bullpen coach. He’ll take the spot of now-former bullpen coach Darren Holmes.
The 51-year-old Scott has been with the Rockies organization for over a decade, serving as a pitching coach for four different minor league affiliates in addition to spending the three prior seasons as a pitching coordinator. Scott pitched in one big league season, tossing 20 innings for the 1993 Angels, and spent parts of 11 seasons as a reliever in the minor leagues (from 1990-2000). Double-A pitching coach Steve Merriman is stepping up to take on Scott’s former responsibilities.
Holmes, 53, had spent the previous five seasons as the Rockies’ bullpen coach. Five of his 13 Major League seasons as a pitcher came with the Rox from 1993-97, during which time he pitched to a 4.42 ERA and collected 46 saves as a reliever.
Chapman Hopes For Extension With Yankees, Will Otherwise Exercise Opt-Out Clause
Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is pursuing an extension but otherwise plans to utilize the opt-out clause in his five-year contract, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). A decision on that opt-out provision is due tomorrow, leaving his representatives at Magnus Sports with a small window to work out a new deal. (Although, presumably, the two sides have already been in contact well before today’s report.)
Chapman, 32 in February, has two years and $30MM remaining on the five-year, $86MM pact he inked prior to the 2017 season. In the event that an extension isn’t reached, the Yankees will surely issue him a $17.8MM qualifying offer, which he’ll reject in order to head into free agency. (That much is evident based on logic and common sense; if Chapman is to walk away from $30MM over the next two seasons, he’d certainly decline less than that on a one-year term even if it included a relatively small bump in terms of yearly salary.)
At 32, another five-year deal for Chapman won’t be there in free agency. Realistically, a three-year deal seems like the most plausible outcome whether it manifests with the Yankees tacking an extra year onto his current deal (as they did with CC Sabathia several years ago) or via an open-market agreement. Chapman’s $86MM guarantee is still a record among relief pitchers, but he’d have the opportunity to set another new record on the open market by taking aim at Wade Davis‘ precedent-setting annual salary ($17.33MM). Anything north of $52MM over a three-year term — or even something like $36MM over a two-year term — would give Chapman the relief pitcher records in both total guarantee and AAV.
Chapman’s on-field performance in 2019 was arguably the best of any of his three full seasons under his current deal. He tossed 57 innings — his most since signing — and worked to a pristine 2.21 ERA with averages of 13.4 strikeouts, 4.0 walks and just 0.47 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. That home-run rate is particularly impressive given his hitter-friendly home parks (and several others in the AL East) as well as the league-wide homer spike with this year’s superball. Chapman racked up 37 saves in 2019, marking his seventh 30-save season in the past eight years.
It’s true that Chapman doesn’t throw as hard as he used to. But while he’s no longer averaging 100.4 mph on his heater, this season’s 98.4 mph average still ranked as the sixth-highest among the 458 relievers who tossed at least 10 innings. In all, he’s given the Yankees 158 2/3 innings of 2.61 ERA ball with 91 saves, 14.0 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 over the first three years of the deal (including two All-Star nods). He’s added on another 16 1/3 innings of 1.65 ERA ball with a 29-to-7 K/BB ratio in the postseason, though this year’s final impression — a series-ending, walk-off homer to Jose Altuve — wasn’t a favorable note on which to end that otherwise strong run.
Some may point to Craig Kimbrel as evidence that Chapman should be wary of venturing into free agency as a reliever with a qualifying offer attached to his name, but Kimbrel should rather serve as a lesson in the importance of managing expectations. If Chapman goes to market seeking a record-setting guarantee over five or six years, as Kimbrel apparently did, then he’ll indeed have his share of troubles. If he’s seeking out a more palatable four- or three-year pact, he could have an easier time, as was the case with the aforementioned Davis two winters ago when he signed his own record deal in Colorado. Even Kimbrel himself ultimately landed a strong three-year deal worth a prorated $43MM when he ultimately did put pen to paper.