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AL Notes: Yanks, Machado, Didi, Romo, Cole

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The Yankees still aren’t pushing the market for Manny Machado, and probably never will, but also shouldn’t be counted out. That’s the word from Andy Martino of SNY.tv, who reports that the New York org is still keeping tabs on Machado in hopes that a golden opportunity will emerge. The Yanks aren’t interested in utilizing him at short, but would instead plan to put Machado at third while pushing Miguel Andujar across the diamond in the even of a signing. Of course, Martino cautions that it still seems unlikely that anything will come together.

  • It’s interesting that the Yankees evidently wouldn’t see Machado as a factor at shortstop. That lends greater credence to the idea that the team really is committed not only to allowing Troy Tulowitzki to take the job there to open the season, but also to paying a big arbitration salary to Didi Gregorius in hopes that he’ll return in relatively short order (and in good form) from Tommy John surgery. As Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports, Gregorius has now begun his throwing program. There’s still a long road ahead, but he seems to be on track to make his anticipated summer return.
  • In addition to the Blue Jays, the Twins and Rangers are looking into signing veteran righty Sergio Romo, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Minnesota and Texas organizations, though, only seem to be considering minor-league offers. (Toronto’s offer level isn’t clear.) It’s a bit surprising to hear of such limited interest in the 35-year-old, who still gets plenty of swings and misses and comes with ample late-inning (and opening) experience.
  • The Astros battled Gerrit Cole in front of an arbitration panel today, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). Obviously, that indicates that the sides were unable to agree to a last-minute deal. The outcome is expected later this week. As MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker shows, there’s just over $2MM at stake, as Cole is seeking $13.5MM and the club prefers to pay $11.425MM.

Athletics Not Giving Up Hope Of Landing Kyler Murray

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The Athletics were hit with the news today that top 2018 draft choice Kyler Murray intends to pursue a career in the NFL. While that seemed to all but resolve the question of which sport he’d pursue, the Oakland organization may not be ready to concede the matter.

According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link), the A’s still intend to engage with Murray’s camp as his NFL draft journey begins. As Rosenthal notes, the club still can beat any offer that a football team makes, at least in theory, by dangling a guaranteed MLB contract on top of the MLB draft bonus money that Murray presently stands to sacrifice.

Though the Heisman Trophy winner is now going to turn his full attention to football, his draft prospects remain up in the air. It’s certainly possible Murray will end up being taken lower than some pundits expect. Regardless where he goes, his earnings will be capped by the NFL draft slotting system, so the Oakland org will at least have a chance to submit a final, higher bid.

Realistically, there’s sure to be a limit as to how much cash the A’s will put up to keep Murray off the gridiron. The team clearly values his future, particularly since there’s no compensation for losing him, but Murray is also a long way from being a big league contributor. There’s risk in any prospect, but he’s seen a particularly boom-or-bust player given his relative lack of polish on the diamond.

It’ll certainly be fascinating, for a variety of reasons, to see how high the Oakland organization will ultimately bid for Murray, if it does indeed attempt to woo him back. Perhaps he won’t even entertain another baseball offer if he receives a good enough opportunity with the right NFL franchise. For the time being, there’s still some uncertainty to the matter — at least, that is, from the A’s perspective.

A.J. Ellis Reportedly Set To Join Padres In Baseball Ops Role

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The Padres have agreed to hire A.J. Ellis as a special assistant to GM A.J. Preller’s baseball operations department, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell (via Twitter).

Ellis’s precise role remains to be seen, but it obviously will not be as a uniformed player. He’ll wrap up his playing career after spending parts of eleven seasons in the majors.

It’s at least a bit of a surprise to see Ellis hang up his spikes now. After all, he turned in 183 plate appearances of .272/.378/.344 hitting last year for the San Diego organization. As ever, he compensated for a lack of power with outstanding plate discipline and contact ability.

In his 2,303 total plate appearances in the big leagues, Ellis managed only 44 long balls and a .113 isolated power mark, but walked at a hefty 12.2% rate. He managed to be nearly a league-average overall offensive producer by carrying a 5.5% swinging-strike rate and offering at pitches out of the zone at less than a twenty percent clip. (Check the 2018 leaderboards in SwStr and O-Swing% and you’ll see how notable those figures are.)

Ellis finished out his career with the Phillies, Marlins, and Friars, but he will be remembered best for his longstanding tenure with the Dodgers — and, in particular, his relationship with the great Clayton Kershaw. The two shared the field for 829 total innings, even though most of Ellis’s nine seasons in Los Angeles came in a reserve role. When the end came for Ellis in L.A. in the middle of the 2016 season, the two friends were moved to tears. Ellis also had a rather notable run of postseason success for the Dodgers, turning in a .365/.450/.615 slash in 61 total plate appearances, though he never had a chance to play in a World Series.

Twins Optimistic Of Reaching Extensions

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It seems the Twins are optimistic of reaching terms with one or more of their young core players. According to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, it’s even possible that some new contracts could be wrapped up and announced “by the end of the week.”

It’s still unclear precisely which players the Twins are pursuing, and which of those are likely to put pen to paper. There is no shortage of conceivable candidates. Jose Berrios and Eddie Rosario both stand out as the most obviously appealing targets, but a variety of others could also make sense under the right circumstances.

For his part, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey acknowledged that the club has real interest in extensions this spring. As in most cases, he suggested, the team’s interest is twofold. “Having those guys under control for longer than what they presently are would be a good thing, in our minds,” said Falvey. Likewise, he added, “it’s helpful to know you are going to be able to plan out a number of years with a lot of young players.”

The first deal to hit the books will, remarkably, represent the Twins’ first post-2019 player commitment. While the organization reportedly put a few multi-year offers on the table over the winter, it has yet to spill ink on its pristine future balance sheets. That has been cause for no little consternation from some fans, as the club seems to have quite a bit of unallocated spending capacity in 2019 and beyond.

Setting aside the question whether the organization is doing enough to boost its present roster, it’ll be interesting to see how aggressive it ends up being in reaching new deals with existing players. Falvey did clearly specify a desire to expand control rights, but that’ll likely cost a pretty penny in some cases — particularly, those of Berrios and Rosario, who turned in strong 2018 seasons after reportedly rebuffing prior extension efforts from the Twins.

Reds Designate Jose Lopez For Assignment

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The Reds announced Monday that they’ve designated minor league right-hander Jose Lopez for assignment. His roster spot will go to lefty Zach Duke, whose previously reported one-year contract to return to Cincinnati is now official.

Lopez, 25, isn’t that far removed from ranking as one of the Cincinnati organization’s more promising young arms. However, after pitching to a combined 2.57 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in 2017, the Dominican-born righty took a step back in 2018. This past season, Lopez turned in a 4.47 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.21 HR/9 and a significantly diminished 29.1 percent ground-ball rate in 141 innings.

The Reds have spent much of the offseason bolstering their pitching depth. The additions of Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark and Alex Wood not only create a difficult path for Lopez to make the big league roster, they also push several would-be MLB arms back down the ladder to the minors, which apparently further squeezed Lopez out of the 40-man picture. Cincinnati does have a pair of out-of-options arms in Robert Stephenson and Matt Wisler, though apparently the organization is more optimistic about that duo than Lopez.

That said, Lopez performed reasonably well up until reaching the minors’ top level and still has a pair of minor league options remaining, which could certainly make him appealing to other clubs that are thin on starting pitching and/or looking to build flexibility on the pitching staff with optionable upper-minors depth. He’s the type of arm that it’s tough to sneak through waivers, although clubs have a bit less 40-man flexibility this time of year, which could play to the Reds’ advantage should they attempt to outright Lopez.

Reds Sign Zach Duke

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Feb. 11: Duke’s one-year contract with the Reds has now been announced by the team. He’ll be guaranteed $2MM, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com (Twitter link).

Feb. 1: The Reds are in agreement on a contract with free-agent lefty Zach Duke, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Ken Rosenthal and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reported last night that the ISE Baseball client was in “serious” negotiations with Cincinnati.

Zach Duke | Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Duke, 36 in April, had mixed results as a starter with the Pirates early in his career but has come into his own in his mid-30s after shifting to the bullpen. That run of success may actually have kicked off with the Reds back in 2013, as Duke signed in Cincinnati after being cut loose by the Nationals and allowed just one run in 14 games (10 2/3 innings).

Over the five seasons that have followed, Duke has logged a 3.12 ERA and 3.35 FIP with 9.7 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, 0.6 HR/9 and a 58 percent ground-ball rate. The 2018 season was his weakest in that stretch, due largely to a poor finish to his season after being traded from the Twins to the Mariners. Duke pitched well in Minnesota, though, and his overall 4.15 ERA, 51-to-21 K/BB ratio and 59.4 percent ground-ball rate through 52 innings last season was solid.

Left-handed opponents, in particular, have struggled with Duke over that strong five-year stretch, hitting him at just a .209/.284/.311 clip. Right-handers have had an easier go of it but haven’t exactly thrived against Duke themselves, hitting him at a .240/.341/.357 clip dating back to the 2014 season.

The Reds weren’t exactly starved for left-handed relief options, but Duke will deepen the mix, and all of the team’s other southpaws have minor league options remaining. Among them are Amir Garrett (who thrived through late June but struggled over the final three months of 2018), Wandy Peralta and Brandon Finnegan. Cody Reed, too, could be a left-handed option for the Reds if he can’t earn a look as a starter in a suddenly crowded rotation.

It’s been a highly active offseason for the Reds’ front office. Already on board are Sonny Gray, Alex Wood, Tanner Roark, Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, with the organization reportedly still considering the possibility of adding a center fielder as well.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/11/19

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Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Right-hander A.J. Cole cleared waivers, the Indians announced Monday. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Columbus and will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee to Major League camp. Cleveland plucked Cole off waivers when the Yankees had designated him for assignment last month. The Indians will now have the luxury of trying to capitalize on the strong ability Cole showed to miss bats last season without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to that effort. Cole averaged 11.6 K/9 with a gaudy 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate and 34.3 percent chase rate in 38 innings of relief with the Yankees. The long ball was his undoing, though, as he surrendered a wholly unacceptable nine big flies in those 38 frames (2.13 HR/9).

Earlier Moves

  • The Rays have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Tyler Cloyd, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training when pitchers and catchers report this week. Cloyd, 31, didn’t appear in the Majors from 2014-16 but returned to MLB with a lone inning in 2017 before tallying 17 2/3 frames for the Marlins last year. He’s allowed 17 runs in 18 2/3 innings since returning to the Majors. Cloyd did post a solid 68-to-18 K/BB ratio in 85 1/3 innings with Triple-A New Orleans last year, although a susceptibility to home runs and a low strand rate led to a less encouraging 5.17 ERA overall with the Marlins’ top affiliate. The Rays cycled through 31 pitchers a year ago (which is less than it sounds like in today’s game) and could see that number rise in 2019 if they more aggressively employ their utilization of openers and bullpen-heavy games.

Kyler Murray Announces He Is “Firmly And Fully Committing” To NFL Career

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Outfielder/quarterback Kyler Murray, this year’s Heisman Trophy winner but also the No. 9 overall pick by the Athletics in the 2018 MLB draft, announced today that he will pursue a career in football rather than baseball (Twitter link). Murray’s statement reads as follows:

“Moving forward, I am firmly and fully committing my life to becoming an NFL quarterback. Football has been my love and passion my entire life. I was raised to play QB, and I very much look forward to dedicating 100% of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships. I have started an extensive training program to further prepare myself for upcoming NFL workouts and interviews. I eagerly await the opportunity to continue to prove to NFL decision makers that I am the franchise QB in this draft.”

The decision is a tough but not exactly unexpected one for the A’s. While the team had maintained some optimism that Murray might choose baseball, it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter at the time Murray declared for the NFL draft that his mind was largely made up.

Oakland paid Murray a $4.66MM signing bonus in last summer’s draft, and while they’ll reportedly recoup the vast majority of that sum, they won’t be given a compensatory pick in the 2019 draft to make up for Murray’s decision to choose an NFL career over MLB. More specifically, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that Murray will return $1.29MM of the $1.5MM of his signing bonus that has been paid out to him so far. He’ll also forfeit the remaining $3.16MM that would have been paid to him on March 1.

Although baseball’s guaranteed contract structure is alluring for the select few players who reach arbitration and free agency, choosing the NFL offers Murray a more certain financial future. If he’s selected anywhere in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, he can expect to earn more than twice what he’d have earned with the Athletics’ signing bonus; last year’s No. 32 overall pick, Lamar Jackson, signed for nearly $9.5MM and will earn the entirety of that sum. Beyond that, Murray won’t have to spend the next few years playing in largely empty minor league parks, nor will he spend the first two to three seasons of his career earning roughly the league minimum, as he’d have done as a pre-arbitration MLB player.

In exchange for a more immediate payday and a quicker path to competing at his sport’s highest level, of course, Murray will play a much more physically demanding game that comes with a heightened risk of both short- and long-term injury. One can imagine that all of those factors were weighed heavily by Murray when making the decision to ultimately spurn the A’s in pursuit of football.

Technically, the Athletics will be able to retain the rights to Murray, in the event that he ever has a change of heart or is forced to alter his career path. Oakland will put him on the restricted list for the time being, though that move is purely a formality for now, given the emphatic nature of Murray’s announcement.

Giants, Stephen Vogt Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants are in agreement with catcher Stephen Vogt on a minor league contract, reports Janie McCauley of the Associated Press (via Twitter). She notes that he’s yet to begin throwing from a crouch following shoulder surgery last year. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that Vogt is expected to be in MLB camp but adds that Vogt has yet to take his physical.

While the timing is sheerly coincidental, it’s nevertheless a bit odd that the news of Vogt landing in San Francisco comes on the heels of the Athletics’ announcement of a minor league deal with veteran backstop Nick Hundley. Vogt was a wildly popular catcher across the bay with the A’s a few years back, while Hundley had become something of a fan favorite among Giants fans from 2017-18. The two will now suit up on opposite sides of the bay, both hoping to ultimately secure roster spots with their new organizations, although it’s not fully clear exactly when Vogt might be full-go for baseball activities just yet.

Vogt, who turned 34 this offseason, didn’t play in 2018 due to the aforementioned shoulder procedure — one he feared at the time to be a career-ender. That, it seems, is not the case for the affable veteran, who is a known commodity to Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi dating back to the pair’s days together in Oakland, where Zaidi was an assistant general manager at one point.

Back in 2013, Vogt was a castoff from the Rays organization whom the A’s picked up in a minor, unheralded swap that merely sent cash considerations back to Tampa Bay. Vogt, however, went on to hit .255/.316/.416 with 49 homers in 1652 plate appearances for the Athletics across parts of five seasons there. His peak seasons, 2015-16, saw him hit a combined .256/.322/.424 and earn consecutive All-Star appearances. Along the way, Oakland fans embraced the catcher with open arms and made no secret that they “believed in Stephen Vogt.”

The Giants are currently navigating some uncertainty surrounding their own veteran catcher, as Buster Posey is on the mend from hip surgery, leaving Aramis Garcia as the only fully healthy catcher on the 40-man roster. Vogt will have company in MLB camp, though, as the Giants have also previously added veterans Rene Rivera and Cameron Rupp on minor league contracts of their own this winter.

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