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Rangers, Michael Tonkin Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Michael Tonkin, according to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. The former Twins righty spent the 2018 season pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan. He’s represented by Wasserman.

Tonkin, 29, posted a 3.71 ERA and saved a dozen games in 51 innings out of the Fighters’ bullpen, though his K/BB numbers took a dramatic turn for the worse in his lone season overseas. Missing bats was always a strong point for the lanky, 6’7″ righty when pitching in the Twins’ system, as he averaged 10.6 K/9 in parts of four Triple-A seasons and 9.2 K/9 in parts of five MLB campaigns. In Japan, however, he managed just a 33-to-23 K/BB ratio in those 51 frames — 5.8 strikeouts and 4.1 walks per nine innings.

Throughout his five seasons with the Twins, Tonkin pitched to a 4.43 ERA over the life of 146 2/3 innings. Control wasn’t a significant issue for him (3.3 BB/9), but Tonkin proved to be increasingly homer-prone as his time in the Majors wore on. Ultimately, he averaged 1.54 homers per nine innings pitched in the Majors and saw his ERA spike north of 5.00 in each of his final two seasons.

Tonkin averages 94 mph on his heater and pairs that primarily with a slider — a combo that resulted in a solid 11.3 percent swinging-strike rate from 2016-17. His penchant for serving up long balls doesn’t bode well for any time spent at Globe Life Park in Arlington, however, so the Rangers will need to curb that issue in a way the Twins couldn’t. He’ll be part of a fairly wide-open bullpen competition in Texas behind Jose Leclerc, Jesse Chavez and Chris Martin.

Free Agent Rumors: Moustakas, Phillies, ChiSox, Dozier, Mariners

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A few notes on the free-agent market as a quiet night in baseball draws to a close…

  • Both the Phillies and White Sox are looking at Mike Moustakas as a fallback option in the event that Manny Machado signs elsewhere, writes Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The 30-year-old Moustakas is a fairly logical fallback option for either club should it miss out on Machado, though Moustakas is a less concrete upgrade over either club’s top incumbent options. Morosi notes that the Phils will likely try to trade Maikel Franco in the event that either Machado or Moustakas signs in Philadelphia, and presumably the ChiSox would shift Yolmer Sanchez into a utility role should it land either free-agent target. Morosi lists the Padres as a potential landing spot for Moustakas as well, though with a preexisting logjam of corner options in San Diego, that fit seems more difficult to envision without some additional roster shuffling by general manager A.J. Preller.
  • The Mets are among the teams to “have talks regarding Brian Dozier lately,” tweets Jon Heyman of Fancred, though there’s no indication that the Mets plan to make a serious pursuit of Dozier. Both the Nationals and Rockies have been linked to Dozier over the past couple of weeks, and Heyman notes that the market for the longtime Twins slugger is beginning to pick up a bit of steam. Regarding the link between the Mets and Dozier, it’s worth pointing out that Mike Puma of the New York Post reported just yesterday that the Mets don’t have much more money to spend this offseason, although they’ve spent very little since GM Brodie Van Wagenen publicly stated that they “still have some real money to spend.”
  • Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto was clear about his plan to make some further additions on the free agent market following the signing of Yusei Kikuchi, writes Greg Johns of MLB.com. “We’re likely to sign both Major and Minor League contracts,” said Dipoto. “I’d be shocked if we don’t sign at least one Major League reliever. And I’d be surprised — heavily surprised — if we didn’t sign one middle-of-the-field type stabilizer in the infield to provide protection and allow J.P. Crawford to transition at the appropriate pace.” There’s still a slew of free-agent relievers remaining on the open market (MLBTR Free Agent Tracker link), and free agent shortstops are also in fairly abundant supply. Freddy Galvis, Jose Iglesias, Adeiny Hechavarria and Alcides Escobar are among the available infielders with strong defensive reputations.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/8/19

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves with this post …

  • The Nationals are in agreement on a minor league contract with corner infielder/outfielder Brandon Snyder, tweets Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. The 32-year-old journeyman went 1-for-6 in a brief cup of coffee with the Rays this past season and is a career .240/.276/.455 hitter with nine homers, 14 doubles and a triple in 211 Major League plate appearances. Since debuting with the Orioles back in 2010, the former No. 13 overall pick has played first base, third base and both outfield corners at the MLB level.

Earlier Moves

  • Righty Rob Wooten is returning to the Reds on a minor-league deal, he announced. Brandon Warne of Zone Coverage first tweeted the news. Wooten will be back for a third season in the Cincinnati org, though he hasn’t yet appeared at the MLB level since a three-season run with the Brewers. Wooten has only thrown 40 2/3 minor-league innings over the past two seasons while battling injuries.
  • Likewise, right-hander Aaron Northcraft has confirmed that he’s going to the Mariners on a minor-league arrangement. The 28-year-old is seeking to make a comeback after turning in a solid showing in the Venezuelan Winter League. He has allowed just three earned runs over 17 2/3 innings while compiling 17 strikeouts against nine walks. The former tenth-round pick never made it to the bigs in his first effort but will try to jump start his career this spring. He was previously shipped to the Padres along with Justin Upton in the 2014 blockbuster with the Braves.
  • The Indians have added southpaw Hector Hernandez on a minors pact, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Soon to turn 28, Hernandez is another former tenth-round draft choice who hasn’t yet appeared at the MLB level. Indeed, he only briefly touched Triple-A before dropping out of affiliated ball following the 2016 season. Still, it seems he caught someone’s eye with his winter efforts in his native Puerto Rico.

Reds, Odrisamer Despaigne Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne, as first reported by HalosHeaven’s Rahul Setty (Twitter link). Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (also via Twitter), the contract comes with an $875K base salary in the event that the righty cracks the MLB roster in Cincinnati. Despaigne is represented Movement Management Group.

Despaigne, 32 in April, split the 2018 season between the Marlins and Angels, struggling to a 6.69 ERA with a 35-to-19 K/BB ratio in 39 innings of work. He finished out the 2018 campaign on the Halos’ active roster but was outrighted and elected free agency early in the offseason.

The journeyman right-hander had a strong showing as a rookie with the Padres back in 2014 and enjoyed solid results with the Marlins in ’17, but Despaigne has generally been inconsistent at the big league level. Through 349 2/3 Major League innings, the Cuban-born righty has a 4.94 ERA with 5.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9 and a 46.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Despaigne has experience pitching both as a starter and a reliever, and he’s logged a 4.11 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in 225 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He’ll serve as a depth addition for the Reds but isn’t likely to be counted on early in the season with a slew of arms on the depth chart ahead of him.

Alex Wood, Tanner Roark, Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani are penciled into the first four spots in the Reds’ rotation, while the bullpen will feature right-handers Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen, Jared Hughes, David Hernandez and left-hander Amir Garrett, at the very least. The Cincinnati organization also has no shortage of 40-man options who’ll compete for those final few spots on the staff, including Tyler Mahle, Robert Stephenson, Matt Wisler, Brandon Finnegan, Wandy Peralta, Sal Romano, Cody Reed, Lucas Sims and Matthew Bowman, among others. Of that bunch, Stephenson and Wisler are out of minor league options.

CC Sabathia Cleared To Resume Baseball Activities

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Veteran lefty CC Sabathia gave Yankees fans some cause for concern when he underwent an angioplasty last month, but the team announced today that followup exams of Sabathia went well. Per the Yankees’ release, Sabathia “has now been cleared to begin working out, which will include baseball activities.”

Sabathia, 38, re-signed with the Yankees on a one-year, $8MM contract early in the offseason, agreeing to return to the Bronx for what will be the final season of his illustrious career. The prognosis at the time of his procedure was reportedly “excellent,” and the quick clearance for Sabathia to resume working out and performing baseball activities speaks to that. In all likelihood, then, the left-hander should be up to speed for Spring Training and on schedule for the Opening Day roster.

Recently, the bit of uncertainty surrounding Sabathia was cited by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman as a consideration as he mulls trade offers for right-hander Sonny Gray. Cashman told reporters over the weekend that Sabathia’s situation “has given us pause,” suggesting that he’s at least considered holding Gray into the season. Of course, the Yankees have plenty of other depth options behind Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ even if Gray is traded. Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chance Adams and Luis Cessa all started games for the Yankees last season, and lefty Jordan Montgomery could return from Tommy John surgery at some point late in the summer.

Regardless of its impact on any future Yankees maneuverings, the Sabathia update is a welcome one for the Yankees. While the former AL Cy Young winner clearly isn’t the ace he was at his peak, Sabathia has nonetheless recorded three straight seasons of sub-4.00 ERA ball with the Yankees. From 2016-18, he pitched to a 3.76 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 481 1/3 innings — with last year’s 3.65 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 8.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 all being his best marks in that three-year stretch.

Brewers, Giants Have Reportedly Discussed Madison Bumgarner Trade

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TODAY: Morosi now tweets that the Giants have left the Brewers with the impression that “a young starting pitcher — Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, or Freddy Peralta — would need to be part of [an] offer” to make a deal on Bumgarner. Of course, that may only be one portion of a palatable package.

Whether the Milwaukee organization has any inclination to pay such a price is not evident. It’s also far from clear just how active the discussions really are at this time. Per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, on Twitter, “nothing substantive is being discussed at the moment” regarding Bumgarner.

YESTERDAY: The Giants and Brewers have had “substantive communication” this offseason regarding a potential Madison Bumgarner trade, Jon Morosi of MLB.com wrote this morning. While there’s no indication that the sides are particularly likely to reach agreement, it seems there’s serious interest on the part of the Milwaukee organization.

From the surface, at least, it’s tempting to view this as a possible blockbuster. Morosi suggests a deal involving the star lefty — a still-youthful player with unmatched postseason credentials — could be the only immediate means available for the Giants to “obtain high-end young players.” And the Brewers rotation is more notable for its depth than for big names at the top of the staff — a state of affairs that has often led to outside calls for a major strike.

Upon closer examination, though, it’s hard to see immense value in the contract rights to the undeniably accomplished hurler. After all, he has not only been limited by injury over the past two seasons, but has exhibited numerous declines in peripheral numbers. To be sure, he has still managed to secure excellent results, and he’s hard to count out at just 29 years of age, but there’s real concern about Bumgarner’s outlook.

With just one season of control remaining, at a not-insignificant $12MM rate, it’s tough to imagine any team giving up its favorite prospects for the chance to see what’s left in the tank. Neither does it make much sense for new Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi to part with MadBum for little more than cost savings. All said, it’s not entirely surprising that there has been so little chatter this winter on Bumgarner despite the Giants’ reported willingness to move him. Indeed, last we heard (nearly one month back), it was said to be increasingly unlikely he’d be dealt before the start of the season.

Beyond that, Brewers GM David Stearns proved last year that he won’t be swayed by outside opinions on the state of his club’s pitching staff. While the consensus was that the Milwaukee org needed to bolster the top of its rotation — both last winter and in the mid-season trade period that followed — the club largely elected to go with internal options bolstered by seemingly unexciting outside acquisitions. While the resulting staff was hardly dominant, it was a solid unit (particularly when paired with an excellent bullpen) that allowed the Brewers to exceed expectations.

All that being said, it’s plenty notable that the Brewers seem to have serious, ongoing interest in Bumgarner. While the sides obviously have not lined up to this point, Morosi goes so far as to say that the Milwaukee club is “most likely” to land Bumgarner if he does end up being moved. The Brew Crew brass is said still to be conducting “internal deliberations” on the matter, suggesting that the two teams are still looking for ways to bridge the gap in negotiations — and, perhaps, that both sides have some reason to think they may be able to do so.

Dodgers Acquire Jaime Schultz

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The Dodgers have struck a deal to acquire right-hander Jaime Schultz from the Rays, per Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Fellow righty Caleb Sampen is headed to Tampa Bay in return.

Schultz was bumped from the Tampa Bay 40-man roster recently when the club added fellow righty reliever Oliver Drake. Now 27 years of age, Schultz has in the past been seen as a quality prospect, though he posted rough results at Triple-A and in the majors during the 2018 campaign.

It’s not hard to see why the Dodgers front office — which is, of course, led by former Tampa Bay GM Andrew Friedman — decided to take a shot on Schultz’s right arm. Though his MLB debut last year did not go as hoped, he did show a mid-nineties fastball. Schultz has struck out 11.7 batters per nine over the course of his minor-league career, though that has also come with more than five free passes per nine.

Sampen, meanwhile, debuted last year after being taken in the twentieth round of the 2018 draft. He pitched to a 5.04 ERA in 30 1/3 Rookie ball innings, but did record a promising blend of 43 strikeouts against just nine walks.

White Sox Designate Ian Clarkin, Announce Kelvin Herrera Signing

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The White Sox announced today that they have designated lefty Ian Clarkin for assignment. His roster spot will go to righty Kelvin Herrera, whose previously reported signing is now official.

Clarkin has already been bounced from the White Sox’ 40-man roster once this offseason, though he found his way back in short order. He was claimed in late November by the cross-town Cubs, only to be re-claimed by the South Siders less than a week later.

We’ll have to see how things play out this time around. The White Sox obviously like the 23-year-old, who was originally acquired in the 2017 deal that sent David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees. At the same time, the club’s numerous winter additions have created some roster pressures. The White Sox’ hope, no doubt, is that Clarkin will clear waivers so that he can be outrighted.

There have been some ups and downs to this point for the 2013 first-rounder, who has yet to crack the big leagues. Clarkin had generally produced promising results in the lower minors, but last year, he struggled to a 4.98 ERA with just 4.6 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9 through 68 frames at the Double-A level.

Looking At The Best Remaining Landing Spots For A.J. Pollock

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It was far from clear last winter when and where Lorenzo Cain would sign. Still, his status as the lone standout center fielder on the market gave confidence that he’d ultimately find a solid deal. That’s ultimately just what happened, as Cain landed just above MLBTR’s prediction (4/$70MM) with a five-year, $80MM pact.

This time around, A.J. Pollock entered the market without a terribly clear outlook. As with Cain, it was possible to imagine quite a few teams signing him, but hard to point to any particularly obvious fits. Likewise, he’s also obviously the best-available, up-the-middle outfield option. Pollock’s checkered health background led MLBTR to predict a contract of four years and $60MM, even though he has the edge on Cain in age.

So, how do things look now that the calendar has flipped to 2019? Though Pollock remains unsigned, the market has changed shape around him.

Several teams that seemed to be suitors may no longer be. Having signed Michael Brantley, the Astros don’t appear to be much of a fit. While the Mets would surely still like to upgrade, they seem to be limited financially from doing so, with the team evidently choosing to rely on bounceback candidates Juan Lagares and Keon Broxton up the middle. The Reds have added two veteran outfielders; if they were ever a likely suitor, they probably aren’t now.

It’s questionable, perhaps, whether the White Sox are still a plausible landing spot. On the one hand, the club just reached agreement with veteran Jon Jay, who has spent most of his career patrolling center. Of course, he’d also be a plausible corner piece. And it’s fair to wonder what the Chicago front office will do if it fails to land either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado. There still seem to be some scenarios where Pollock fits, depending upon how aggressive the organization ends up being.

Of course, the South Siders’ decisionmaking will surely also include reference to their division rivals in Cleveland. While the Indians have focused to this point on clearing salary, and may not be interested in adding any back, it’s also possible that they’ll find a way to squeeze in a significant contract. Pollock remains a strong roster fit, though the club does not need to focus up the middle specifically with Leonys Martin on hand.

The National League East also has a few possible landing spots. While the Phillies are weighing more significant additions, the team could still check back in after the Harper/Machado situations have further evolved. Innumerable possibilities — and lots of dollars — remain available to the Phils. It is less clear that the Braves will have the need and the willingness to chase down Pollock at this point, though they have been connected in the past. The club has other options up the middle, but could like the idea of utilizing Pollock at times in the corners while forming a ball-hawing, still offensively-capable outfield unit. Given the Atlanta organization’s recent history, though, it seems unlikely that it’ll chase the market.

Out west, the fit is yet more speculative. The Giants have long made some sense but aren’t exactly playing an active role in the offseason to this point. It’s possible to imagine a deal, but new president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi is no doubt realistic about the organization’s immediate outlook and will surely prefer not to tie up future payroll. There’s certainly a way to imagine the division-favorite Dodgers as a landing spot, particularly after the club dealt away a pair of right-handed-hitting outfielders, but signing a sizable deal with Pollock doesn’t really match the front office’s recent approach. Plus, Chris Taylor remains available as a right-handed-hitting center fielder.

Beyond those clubs, there are a few others that could be matches — but only if you squint. Pollock would be a luxury for the Rockies or Angels, but with other priorities and limitations those hopeful contenders likely won’t consider him at full price. The D-Backs would surely like to have Pollock back, but only at a discount. The Tigers or Rangers could still surprise, perhaps, as both have ample spending capacity against their historical levels, but there’s no reason at this point to believe that either club will hand out a long-term deal with little in the way of 2019 hopes and dreams. While the Athletics may or may not believe Ramon Laureano is ready to hold down near-everyday duties in center, they’re unlikely to allocate significant resources to the outfield with so many right-handed-hitting outfield options already available and ongoing rotation needs.

Given those considerations, where do you think Pollock is likeliest to land at this point? (Poll link for app users.)

Where is A.J. Pollock Likeliest To Sign?
One of the previously rumored teams (Astros, Mets, Reds) 15.33% (2,543 votes)
One of the dark-horse teams (Rockies, Angels, D-Backs, Rangers, Tigers, Athletics) 14.81% (2,456 votes)
Braves 13.96% (2,316 votes)
Phillies 13.42% (2,226 votes)
White Sox 10.81% (1,793 votes)
Dodgers 9.80% (1,626 votes)
Giants 8.30% (1,376 votes)
Indians 7.49% (1,243 votes)
[team MLBTR neglected to mention] 6.08% (1,008 votes)
Total Votes: 16,587

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