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AL Notes: Yanks, Andujar, Rangers, Harrison, Solarte, Ottavino, Jays, Angels

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In the wake of the Yankees’ agreement with infielder DJ LeMahieu, their talks with free agent Manny Machado “are either dormant or completely dead,” ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required). Although Machado would greatly improve the Yankees’ infield, they haven’t been willing to approach his exorbitant asking price, and there’s no obvious free spot in their infield with LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki having come aboard this offseason. While the Yankees could trade third baseman Miguel Andujar to open up room for Machado, it seems they’re more inclined to bet on the former, as Olney details. Andujar excelled at the plate in 2018, his rookie year, but had a horrific time in the field. However, Andujar has consistently demonstrated a willingness to better his defense – including this winter – and the Yankees are confident his work will yield positive results in 2019. If not, Olney posits the Yankees could make a run at Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado should he reach free agency a year from now.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • The Rangers have continued to discuss a couple of free-agent infielders – Josh Harrison and Yangervis Solarte – and stayed in contact with free-agent right-hander Adam Ottavino, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Either Harrison or Solarte, the latter of whom has already been in the Texas organization, could help fill the void for the departed Adrian Beltre and Jurickson Profar at third base. Ottavino, meanwhile, would be the priciest of the three to reel in, as he lags behind only Craig Kimbrel when it comes to current free-agent relievers. Contending clubs may be more realistic fits for the 33-year-old Ottavino than the Rangers, who don’t figure to push for a playoff spot in 2019.
  • Free-agent reliever John Axford said Saturday that he hopes to rejoin the Blue Jays, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. A native of Canada, Axford signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last February and stuck in Toronto up until the club traded him to the Dodgers at the July 31 non-waiver deadline. All told, the 35-year-old right-hander pitched to an ugly 5.27 ERA in 54 2/3 innings. Much of the damage came in Axford’s 3 2/3 frames as a Dodger, though, and he did pair playable strikeout and walk numbers (8.89 K/9, 3.62 BB/9) with an appealing groundball rate (54.6 percent).
  • The Angels opted out of their ballpark lease in October, which could make the upcoming season the team’s last at Angel Stadium. But the Angels are “expected” to sign a one-year lease with the city of Anaheim to remain at the facility through at least the 2020 campaign, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Should that come to fruition, the two sides would then work toward a long-term solution to keep the Angels in Anaheim, Shaikin notes. The franchise has called Angel Stadium home since 1966.

White Sox Sign Randall Delgado, Jacob Lindgren, D.J. Peterson

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The White Sox have signed a pair of pitchers – right-hander Randall Delgado and lefty Jacob Lindgren – as well as first baseman D.J. Peterson to minor league contracts, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports.

Among the trio, the most major league experience belongs to Delgado, who accumulated 542 2/3 innings and 271 appearances (53 starts) with the Braves and Diamondbacks from 2011-18. He pitched to a 4.10 ERA/4.19 FIP with 7.71 K/9 and 3.37 BB/9 along the way, and was particularly successful in Arizona during the 2015 and ’17 campaigns. However, the 28-year-old Delgado endured a rough 2018, during which he totaled just 11 1/3 innings and saw his velocity decline. An oblique injury helped slow Delgado, who lost his spot with the Diamondbacks when they released him in late July, only to re-sign him in mid-August.

Lindgren, 25, had been on the market since the Braves outrighted him in October, ending a two-year run with the franchise. Formerly a promising prospect with the Yankees, who chose him in Round 2 of the 2014 draft, Lindgren never threw a professional pitch with the Braves on account of significant arm problems. Lindgren underwent Tommy John surgery during the 2016 season, but the Braves nonetheless signed him to a major league deal entering 2017. But Lindgren underwent yet another TJ procedure prior to last season, which at least temporarily derailed his comeback efforts. When healthy, Lindgren has recorded a sterling 1.83 ERA with sky-high strikeout and walk rates (14.2 K/9, 5.3 BB/9) across 54 frames in the minors. He also reached the bigs in the Yankees in 2015, when he yielded four earned runs with eight strikeouts and four walks over seven innings.

Like Lindgren, Peterson was a well-regarded prospect somewhat recently. After going 12th overall to the Mariners in the 2012 draft, Peterson cracked BA’s top-100 prospects list over the next couple years. While Peterson had his moments in the Mariners’ system, they designated him in July 2017, leading his current club – the White Sox – to claim him off waivers. Peterson didn’t last long during his first stint with the Pale Hose, though, as the Reds grabbed him off waivers in September 2017. His time with the Reds concluded when they released him last month, even though he batted a decent .277/.322/.462 with 16 home runs in 453 plate appearances as a member of their Triple-A affiliate in 2018. Thus far, the 27-year-old Peterson is a .262/.315/.431 hitter in 1,177 PAs at the minors’ highest level.

Rays Interested In Matt Davidson

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The Rays are showing interest in free-agent corner infielder Matt Davidson as a potential two-way player, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.

To this point, the 27-year-old Davidson has mostly made a name for himself on the offensive end. He was a former top-100 prospect who combined for 46 home runs with the White Sox from 2017-18, during which he batted a so-so .224/.291/.345 (94 wRC+) in 939 plate appearances. He’s coming off the better of those two years, though, as he walked a career-high 10.5 percent of the time (up from 4.3 in 2017) and posted a 104 wRC+ across 496 PAs. More interestingly, Davidson was somewhat of a late-season factor out of Chicago’s bullpen, as he tossed 3 1/3 innings of one-hit ball in three appearances from June through August.

Since the 2018 campaign ended, Davidson has worked to become more of a legitimate option on the mound, and the White Sox reportedly liked what they saw out of the right-hander’s 92 mph fastball. Still, rather than pay Davidson a projected $2.4MM via arbitration in 2019, Chicago decided to non-tender him in November.

Now, if he joins the Rays, it’s likely Davidson’s main purpose would be to augment the club’s corner infield. It appears Tampa Bay is in OK shape at third base, where Matt Duffy turned in a fine season in 2018, but it may not be as set at first. Since last season ended, the Rays have non-tendered 30-HR hitter C.J. Cron, who’s now a Twin, leaving Tampa Bay with Ji-Man Choi as its projected starter across the diamond from Duffy. The left-handed Choi logged tremendous production last year, but his success came over just 221 PAs, and he was borderline unplayable against southpaw pitchers. The righty-swinging Davidson destroyed lefties, though, meaning he and Choi could form a platoon at first.

On the mound, Davidson may further help the low-budget Rays innovate after they used the opener to encouraging results last season. Plus, as Rosenthal notes, he’d give the Rays another two-way player to join young first baseman/pitcher Brendan McKay, whom the franchise drafted fourth overall in 2017 and who ranks as MLB.com’s 24th-best prospect.

Latest On Padres’ Third Base, Outfield Situations

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Wil Myers was one of the Padres’ most popular options at third base last year, but it doesn’t appear he’ll factor in at the hot corner in 2019. On Saturday, Myers told reporters – including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune and AJ Cassavell of MLB.com –  that he’ll be a full-time outfielder next season.

Of course, Myers’ shift back to the outfield will have ripple effects on the rest of the Padres’ position player group. Not only will it add to an outfield logjam – one that also includes Franchy Cordero, Hunter Renfroe, Franmil Reyes, Manuel Margot and Travis Jankowski – but it’ll make it all the more important for San Diego to find a starting third baseman. The Padres have been prioritizing third this offseason, as Cassavell reported last month and as Acee further emphasizes.

One potential third base target could be free agent Mike Moustakas, first baseman Eric Hosmer’s longtime Royals teammate, though Acee casts doubt on the Padres signing him. Meanwhile, they have “explored” trades for the Yankees’ Miguel Andujar (previously reported), the Reds’ Nick Senzel and the Cubs’ David Bote, according to Acee. Speculatively, both Andujar and Senzel may be unrealistic targets for the Padres (or just about anyone else), given their importance to their current teams. The 25-year-old Bote could be easier to land, on the other hand, as he’s stuck behind Kris Bryant in the Cubs’ pecking order at third base. An 18th-round pick of the Cubs in 2012, Bote debuted in the majors last season with a .239/.319/.408 line and six home runs over 210 plate appearances. He carries a much more imposing .281/.355/.502 slash and 15 HRs in 299 Triple-A PAs.

Regardless of whom the Padres pick up to handle third in 2019, it doesn’t seem as if their entire contingent of outfielders will stick around for the foreseeable future. Except for Myers, the Padres could option anyone from the group to the minors. Nevertheless, the team’s “motivated” to part with at least one of its outfielders either prior to the season or before July’s trade deadline, Acee suggests. Should a trade happen, Cassavell contends one of Myers, Renfroe or Reyes would go, as they’re all relatively similar players. With a guaranteed $64MM coming his way over the next four seasons (including a $1MM buyout in lieu of a $20MM club option in 2023), Myers may be the most difficult of three to move. Indeed, as of last season and earlier this winter, trading Myers likely would have required San Diego to take on another team’s undesirable contract, Acee relays. So far, though, the Padres haven’t found a deal to their liking for the 28-year-old.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/12/19

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • Right-hander Brandon Mann has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (h/t to Kyle Boddy of Driveline Baseball). The 34-year-old Mann, whom the Rangers outrighted in November, was a 27th-round pick of the then-Devil Rays in 2002 who finally debuted in the majors last season. He struggled to a 5.40 ERA with 3.2 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 over 8 1/3 innings, however, and will now return to Japan, where he pitched with Yokohama from 2011-12.
  • In a move that flew under MLBTR’s radar, infielder Sean Miller signed a minor league contract with the Orioles in December, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Miler, a 24-year-old Maryland native, had been with the Twins since they picked him in the 10th round of the 2015 draft. While with the Twins, Miller managed a mere .599 OPS over 1,287 minor league plate appearances, including 34 at the Triple-A level last season.

NL Notes: Kluber, Padres, Dodgers, Harper, Nats, Cubs, Boras/Phils

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The Padres persist in their dogged pursuit of Indians ace Corey Kluber, per MLB.com’s JP Morosi, who notes that the club would prefer to hold on to each of its top five prospects. The Tribe reportedly “have interest” in lefty Adrian Morejon, who, despite his status as a consensus top 50-75 prospect, wouldn’t fall into the aforementioned category in a loaded Padre farm. Still, it’s tough to see a deal consummated without one of those players; Cleveland, after all, has been widely reported to be seeking a Chris Sale-esque return for Kluber, and wouldn’t likely settle for even high-grade chaff. If the club is still interested in dealing the 32-year-old ace, the Padres would be seem a perfect fit: the club is loaded not only with blue-chip prospects, but also sport a glut of young, if underperforming, outfielders at every position. Morosi lists Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe as options, though the Tribe may also have its eyes on Franmil Reyes and Franchy Cordero, in addition to the richly-paid Wil Myers.

More from the Senior Circuit …

  • In the same article, Morosi reports that the Dodgers still “remain involved” in discussions for Kluber. The club certainly boasts its share of high-level farm talent – though it can’t match the San Diego riches – but thus far, under the tenure of Baseball Ops President Andrew Friedman, has been altogether opposed to dealing from the top of its farm. Multiple high-level departures would be an unequivocal sea change for the boys in blue, who may be feeling the pressure from a desperate fanbase after so many near-misses in the recent past. Adding Kluber to the top of the team’s rotation without a 25-man prune has to be tempting for even the most measured of front offices, but the slotted five (Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda, and Rich Hill) already rival any in the game.
  • Though many executives questioned the veracity of the Nationals’ reported 10-year, $300MM offer to Bryce Harper on the last day of the season, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the offer was “indeed real,” and that the two sides continue to negotiate. Harper, it seems, would very much like to surpass the $325MM guaranteed to Giancarlo Stanton, though doesn’t appear to have the wind-ranging market he once envisioned. Some interested teams continue to disguise their intentions, but not the Cubs, who Rosenthal notes “would love” a shot at Harper, if only the front office could get the “unlikely” go-ahead from ownership.
  • Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia details the Fightins’ unique relationship with agent Scott Boras over the years, which reached a tipping point over 1997’s bitter dispute with number two overall pick J.D. Drew. The Phillies, of course, are set to meet with Harper today in Las Vegas, and have long been considered the near-favorite for his services. Per Salisbury, the club plans to address recent reports that the 26-year-old star is not fond of Philadelphia, which would seem to strike a death knell to the team’s chances. Among all potential suitors with near-term competitive ambitions, the Phils have the greatest need – and, perhaps, the most available cash – for Harper, and perhaps the team’s recent amenability with Boras could tip the scales in its direction.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed at 1pm ET yesterday, meaning over the next few hours, there will be a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track today’s minor settlements from the American League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Yankees 1B Greg Bird will make $1.2 MM next season, per Bob Nightengale on Twitter.
  • The controversial Roberto Osuna will make $6.5MM next season, per Feinsand. Teammate Jake Marisnick, who again scuffled in ’18 after a promising 2017, will make $2.2125MM.
  • Per Mark Feinsand on Twitter, A’s lefty Sean Manaea $3.15MM in what’s sure to be an injury-marred 2019.
  • Hard-throwing reliever Mychal Givens will make $2.15MM, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), with additional incentives for making the All-Star team or placing in the Top-3 for the Rivera/Hoffman Reliever of the Year Awards, added MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
  • The Mariners agreed on a $1.95MM deal with outfielder Domingo Santana, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). Santana is the second and last of the Mariners’ arbitration-eligible players.
  • The Angels agreed to contracts with a pair of players yesterday, per Maria Torres of the LA Times (via Twitter). Reliever Hansel Robles signed for $1.4MM. Robles threw 36 1/3 innings of 2.97 ERA baseball after the Angels claimed him off waivers from the Mets in June. Luis Garcia, acquired via trade from the Phillies this winter, signed for $1.675MM.
  • The Tigers and reliever Shane Greene settled on $4MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • The Yankees reached an agreement with Sonny Gray for $7.5MM, per Nightengale. Gray, of course, has been involved trade rumors most of the winter, but for the time being, he stands to play a role in the Yankee pen while providing insurance for the rotation.
  • Didi Gregorius has also come to an agreement with the Yankees on a one-year, $11.75MM deal in his final season before free agency, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links).
  • New Yankee James Paxton signed for $8.575, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Paxton is under contract for the 2020 season as well.
  • The Houston Astros came to an agreement with Collin McHugh for $5.8MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). McHugh could be moving back into the rotation after a stellar season in the pen, either way this will be his final season of arb eligibility before hitting the open market.
  • Jonathan Villar comes away with $4.825MM for what will be his first full season in Baltimore, per Nightengale (via Twitter).

Earlier Updates

Read more

Blue Jays Sign David Phelps

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Jan. 12, 2:07 PM: Per a team announcement, the signing is now official.

Jan. 10, 10:25 PM: The Blue Jays have agreed to a contract with righty David Phelps, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). It’s said to be a one-year deal that comes with a club option.

Phelps will receive a $2.5MM guarantee, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (links to Twitter). The deal also dangles a variety of incentives along with a floating option value depending upon how many frames Phelps throws in the season to come.

The terms reflect the fact that Phelps, a client of Jet Sports Management, is coming off of a season lost to Tommy John surgery. The 2020 option price will start at just $1MM. It goes up to $3MM if he appears in 30 games and hits $5MM if he makes his 40th outing. If Phelps reaches fifty appearances the option will jump to $7MM; it can climb by another $1MM if he also finishes forty games, which obviously would not take place unless he earns and keeps the Jays’ closer job for much of the season.

In terms of incentives, Phelps can boost his 2019 pay quite a bit if he’s able to get on the hill early and often. He’ll get a quarter-million boost upon throwing his 25th, 30th, and 35th games, then take home successive $350K payouts if he can reach appearances 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60. The option year also has available incentive pay.

All told, the contract generally reflects an optimistic view about Phelps’s outlook. The 32-year-old had been on a great run when he ran into arm troubles during the 2017 season. Unfortunately for him and the Mariners, the issues reached a breaking point last spring, when it was decided he’d require Tommy John surgery just before the start of the 2018 campaign.

Before things went south, Phelps had been on an excellent run of success. Something of a non-descript starter earlier in his career, Phelps caught fire in a relief role in 2016 and never really looked back. He ultimately threw 142 1/3 innings of 2.72 ERA ball, with 11.1 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9, over the 2016 and 2017 campaigns.

Looking ahead, it seems fair to presume that Phelps will be looked upon to play a significant role in a generally inexperienced Blue Jays bullpen. He joins veteran hurlers Matt Shoemaker and Clayton Richard as recent veteran additions who will head to Toronto in search of a rebound. Though Phelps has plenty of experience as a starter — including an intriguing but brief return to the rotation late in 2016 — it seems from his incentive structure that he will not be joining Shoemaker and Richard in the competition for a starting job.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brewers Sign Jake Petricka

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Jan. 12, 2:03 PM: The club has made the signing official this afternoon.

Jan. 8, 8:52 PM: The Brewers have agreed to terms on a split, Major League contract with free-agent righty Jake Petricka, per The Athletic’s Robert Murray (Twitter links). He’ll land a spot on the Brewers’ 40-man roster as part of the deal, which is still pending a physical. Petricka is represented by Platinum Sports.

Jake Petricka | Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Petricka, 30, spent the 2018 season with the Blue Jays and logged 45 2/3 innings out of the Toronto bullpen, working to a 4.53 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 1.18 HR/9 and a strong 51 percent ground-ball rate. The former White Sox setup man averaged better than 95 mph on his sinker and posted a career-best 10.5 percent swinging-strike rate in his lone year with Toronto.

Prior to his time with the Jays, Petricka appeared in parts of five seasons for the ChiSox, though his final two years in Chicago were marred by injury. He pitched to a 3.24 ERA / 3.56 FIP through his first three seasons on the South Side, averaging 6.1 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 with a ground-ball rate of nearly 64 percent in that time. Petricka, though, required elbow surgery in 2016 and pitched just 33 2/3 innings from 2016-17 combined before last year’s return effort.

Because he only has four years, 157 days of Major League service time, Petricka will be controllable for both the 2019 season and the 2020 season. If he carves out a spot in the Brewers’ bullpen this season, he’ll be arbitration-eligible next winter before becoming a free agent in the 2020-21 offseason.

Petricka does have a minor league option remaining, and by virtue of the split deal he signed, he’ll earn at different rates for time spent in the Majors and the minors. Once his deal is complete, the Brewers will have 39 players on their 40-man roster.

Poll: The LeMahieu And Lowrie Signings

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On Thursday, news broke that the Mets, one of the few teams who’d continued to kindle the Hot Stove throughout the winter, were again firing up, with the signing of 34-year-old Jed Lowrie. And then on Friday, amidst a chaotic deluge of arbitration settlements, the Yankees added to perhaps the league’s most crowded infield mix, signing second baseman (and now, perhaps, utility infielder) DJ LeMahieu.

On the surface, both deals were head-scratchers: the Mets, of course, just replaced a pop-up option at the keystone with a potential hall-of-famer, and already seemed set at third and short. First base was tentatively reserved for a Peter Alonso/Dominic Smith/J.D. Davis mix, and the team had spent much of this month assembling depth options of every sort. So where would Lowrie fit? And why wouldn’t the team have used its (ostensibly) few remaining resources where it needed it most, viz. in center field, or to tighten a loose mid-relief corps?

The Yankees, then, may have seized the enigmatic upper hand with Friday’s LeMahieu signing. Gleyber Torres, an early-season option at shortstop during Didi Gregorius’ absence, looked to have second-base on lock for the next half-dozen years at least, and the team has young, good, and very cheap options at the corner spots.  Plus, there’s the addition of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, brought in to hold down the early-season fort if he can make his way to the field, who seemed interested in New York only because of its clear path to playing time. LeMahieu has played positions other than his native second before, but none since 2014, since which time he’s entrenched himself as (arguably) the game’s premier defender at the position. Utility men don’t typically make $12MM a year, especially on the heels of two below-league-average offensive seasons, so perhaps the signing is a mere precursor to a move on a larger scale.

Lowrie has been excellent over the last two seasons, accruing 8.5 fWAR in 310 games. He appeared in more games last season, though, than he did from 2015-16, and nearly as many games in ’17 as he did from ’10-’12. Injuries have always been a major part of the profile, and the soon-to-be 35-year-old had mostly dropped the utility moniker in recent years, appearing only in cameo roles at positions other than second. So where will the team deploy him?  Third base is an option, but that’d move Todd Frazier to first, where, after three middling offensive seasons, he seems a disjointed fit at best. Such a move, too, would likely keep Peter Alonso in the minors, where the recurrence of a demolition tour would seem of little benefit to anyone. Lowrie probably doesn’t have the range for short at this point in his career, and a utility role wouldn’t be appropriate for someone of his pay grade. Perhaps Frazier will shift full-time to the bench, where the club already has much younger and much cheaper options, or is sent away in a back-page trade, netting a fringe return at best. Steamer, for its part, forecasts Lowrie to be just two percent better offensively than Frazier next season, so hoping for a straight upgrade seems presumptuous.

LeMahieu is part of the rare breed, since Statcast data was made public, to post well-above-average exit velocities and a well-below-average launch angle. The combo works for Christian Yelich, but for most others – Eric Hosmer, Ian Desmond – it spells disaster. If the Yanks can rework LeMahieu’s swing – he already boasts an opposite-field-dominated approach that should fit perfectly in their park – and transplant his defensive wizardry at second to another position(s), the club may have a bargain on its hand, but such an outcome seems unlikely. He doesn’t fit at first, and the club has now lost leverage in a potential Miguel Andujar trade. If the rookie-of-the-year runner-up can shore-up his defensive woes and find a bit better control of the strike zone, the Yankees are looking at a perennial all-star. With a value nowhere near his potential peak, shipping out Andujar now – or moving him to first base – seems altogether shortsighted.

Do you like the respective moves? Pick your answer in the poll below.

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