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Blue Jays Win Arbitration Hearing Against Marcus Stroman

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The Blue Jays won their arbitration hearing against right-hander Marcus Stroman, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). Stroman will receive the $6.5MM salary submitted by the team rather than the$6.9MM salary submitted by his representatives at the Legacy Agency (as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker). It still marks a healthy $3.1MM raise from last year’s $3.4MM salary.

Stroman, 27 in May, turned in his second straight 200-inning season for the Jays in 2017, working to a strong 3.09 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 through 201 frames. At a time when the league was surrendering home runs at historic levels, Stroman continued to limit the long ball, averaging just 0.9 HR/9 — thanks, in large part, to an MLB-best 62.1 percent ground-ball rate.

He’ll return to a rotation that will also feature Aaron Sanchez, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ, with the fifth spot still up for grabs. Toronto could potentially add a fifth starter from an abnormally deep pool of unsigned players at this stage of the offseason. If not, prospects Ryan Borucki heads up the team’s list of rotation options on the 40-man roster now that Joe Biagini is likely moving back to the bullpen.

The Blue Jays control Stroman, a Super Two player who was in his second trip through the arb process, through the 2020 season.

Jake Odorizzi Wins Arbitration Hearing

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Jake Odorizzi won his arbitration hearing against the Rays and will be paid $6.3MM in 2018 as opposed to the $6.05MM figure submitted by the team, reports Marc Tokpin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). It’s a $2.2MM raise overall for the right-hander, who earned $4.1MM in 2017. Odorizzi recently hired Excel Sports Management as his new representation after leaving CSE following the scandal involving former agent Jason Wood.

Odorizzi, 28 next month, has now topped the Rays in arbitration hearings in consecutive years, though his 2017 performance was not nearly as strong as his 2016 showing. This past season, Odorizzi worked to a 4.14 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 143 1/3 innings — a step back from 2016’s 187 2/3 frames of 3.69 ERA ball with an identical K/9 mark and a vastly superior 2.6 BB/9 rate.

Odorizzi’s name has come up frequently in trade rumors this offseason even with Spring Training underway, as the Rays are reportedly still looking to shed some payroll before the season begins. He’s been connected to the Twins, Brewers and Orioles, among other teams, in recent weeks.

Reds Void Agreement With Jeff Manship

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Feb. 15: The Reds announced today that they have voided Manship’s contract. Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Manship did not pass his physical earlier this week (Twitter link).

Feb. 6: The Reds and free-agent righty Jeff Manship are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). He’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee and compete for a roster spot.

Manship, 33, spent the 2017 season in the Korea Baseball Organization, where he posted a 3.67 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 112 2/3 innings for the NC Dinos. Manship worked as a starter in the KBO, taking the mound on 21 occasions, but his most recent MLB work (and the only real MLB success he’s ever experienced) has come out of the bullpen.

Through his first six MLB campaigns, Manship totaled a 6.46 ERA through 139 1/3 innings with the Twins, Rockies and Phillies. However, his career looked to hit a turning point in 2016 when he landed with the Indians and pitched to a scintillating 0.92 ERA in 39 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. He followed that up with a 3.12 mark through 43 1/3 innings the following season, though after a downturn in control that season (4.6 BB/9), metrics like xFIP (4.81) and SIERA (4.53) weren’t nearly as optimistic. Cleveland non-tendered him that December.

In all likelihood, Manship will vie for a spot in the Cincinnati bullpen. The team’s rotation already consists of Anthony DeSclafani, Luis Castillo, Homer Bailey and Brandon Finnegan, and the Reds have plenty of candidates for the fifth and final spot. Tyler Mahle, Sal Romano, Cody Reed, Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson are among the candidates to round out the starting five. The bullpen offers more opportunity, though the signings of veteran righties David Hernandez and Jared Hughes have already filled two potential vacancies.

Reds To Sign Cliff Pennington

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The Reds are in agreement with veteran infielder Cliff Pennington on a minor league contract that would pay him a $1.5MM base salary in the Majors, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). He’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Pennington is represented by Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon.

The 33-year-old Pennington spent the past two seasons with the Angels, where he batted a combined .232/.287/.320 through 405 plate appearances. Offense has never been a calling card for Pennington, a switch-hitter with a career .243/.310/.341 hitter through 3108 plate appearances, spanning 10 seasons. But, he’s a versatile defender capable of providing average or better glovework at shortstop, second base and third base, which makes him a nice utility option to have on hand — particularly for a Reds team that has yet to see Jose Peraza establish himself as a big leaguer.

Mariners’ Ryon Healy Out Four To Six Weeks Following Hand Surgery

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The Mariners announced today that first baseman Ryon Healy underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his right hand and will be sidelined for four to six weeks. Depending on which end of that timeline Healy’s recovery ultimately falls, the procedure could put his Opening Day status in jeopardy. Healy underwent the procedure yesterday and is beginning rehab immediately, per the announcement.

It’s a fairly short-term injury for the Mariners that isn’t likely to spur the team to make any kind of addition to its roster, as Dan Vogelbach and Rule 5 pick Mike Ford (selected out of the Yankees organization) remain on hand as first base options on the 40-man roster. Both hitters performed quite well in the upper minors least season and could reasonably be expected to bridge the gap at first base until Healy’s hand allows him to return to the lineup.

Seattle sent right-hander Emilio Pagan and minor league infielder Alexander Campos to the division-rival Athletics exactly three months ago in a trade to acquire Healy, who had been largely displaced by the booming emergence of Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, as well as Oakland’s desire to shift Khris Davis from left field to designated hitter.

Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said after the trade that the organization views Healy, who batted .282/.313/.475 with 38 homers through his first 888 MLB plate appearances with the A’s, as a potential long-term option at first base. He’s slated to serve as Seattle’s primary first baseman in 2018, and today’s announcement doesn’t figure to change that. In the short term, though, the injury to Healy could improve Ford’s chances of making the Major League roster.

Mets Maintaining Interest In Jason Vargas

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The Mets are maintaining “solid interest” in free-agent lefty Jason Vargas, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. The 35-year-old Vargas should would give the Mets some much-needed stability at the back of the rotation and could presumably be had on a short-term commitment.

Vargas recently wrapped up a four-year, $32MM contract with the Royals that featured a pair of healthy seasons in the first and last years of the contract, while the middle two (2015-16) were largely wiped out by Tommy John surgery. In his first full season back from surgery, Vargas made 32 starts for Kansas City, totaling 179 1/3 innings and being named to the All-Star team for the first time in a career that has spanned parts of 12 seasons.

That All-Star berth came on the heels of a 2.22 ERA through the season’s first three months, though Vargas achieved that mark by stranding an unsustainable 86 percent of the baserunners he allowed. That number came crashing back to Earth in the season’s second half (69.3 percent), and the pristine control that Vargas showed through the season’s first 101 innings eluded him, as he averaged 3.9 walks per nine innings pitched over his final 16 starts.

Vargas pitched to a 6.66 ERA in those 16 starts, leaving his final 2017 numbers looking solid but not especially impressive. The lefty turned in a 4.16 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.35 HR/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate. That work is a fairly close match for the 4.01 ERA he turned in over 1082 2/3 innings from 2009-15 upon establishing himself as a big league regular up until his 2015 Tommy John procedure.

Suffice it to say, Vargas wouldn’t give the Mets a massive boost at the top of their rotation. He would, however, be a fairly reliable source of innings in the middle of their rotation, and few teams could use stable innings to round out their starting corps more than the Mets. Only Jacob deGrom managed a full, healthy season in the Mets’ once-vaunted rotation last year, as Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman all saw significant time on the disabled list. Mets starters posted a collective 5.14 ERA and totaled just 865 2/3 innings in 2017, both of which were the fourth-worst marks among all 30 Major League teams.

Phillies Sign Drew Hutchison To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies announced this morning that they’ve signed right-hander Drew Hutchison to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Hutchison, 27, once looked like a potential long-term rotation cog for the Blue Jays. After missing the entire 2013 season due to Tommy John surgery, Hutchison returned in 2014 to make 32 starts in Toronto, pitching to a 4.48 ERA with more impressive 9.0 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 3.85 FIP and 3.59 SIERA marks. That solid performance came at just 23 years of age.

However, Hutchison endured some significant struggles in an uneven 2015 season and finished out the year with an unsightly 5.57 ERA in 150 1/3 innings. While fielding-independent metrics felt there was some misfortune at play (he did sport a lofty .343 BABIP and an uncharacteristically low 64.5 percent strand rate), Hutchison saw his strikeout, swinging-strike and home run rates all trend in the wrong direction during that ugly 2015 season.

Hutchison appeared sparingly in the Majors in 2016 and was ultimately traded from Toronto to Pittsburgh in the Francisco Liriano salary dump. While Hutchison seemed a reasonable buy-low piece for the Pirates in that swap, though, he never received much of an opportunity in the Majors despite posting quality numbers in Triple-A. Over the past two seasons at that level, Hutchison has tossed 297 1/3 innings of 3.57 ERA ball with 7.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 0.9 HR/9.

With the Phillies, he’ll compete for a rotation spot behind staff leader Aaron Nola. Others in the rotation mix for the Phils include Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively, Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin and Mark Leiter Jr. — each of whom saw some time in the Major Leagues last season. Eickhoff and Velasquez are probably penciled in for rotation spots, health permitting, though neither turned in an especially impressive showing in 2017.

Should Hutchison reestablish himself as a big league arm, the Phillies will have the added bonus of controlling him for up to three years via the arbitration process, as he’s currently sitting on three years, 165 days of Major League service time.

Quick Hits: Peavy, Orioles, Healy, Dombrowski

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Jake Peavy is planning to return to baseball, and is aiming to throw in a scouting showcase around May 1, Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller writes.  The timing of the showcase is due to his son Jacob’s school schedule, an example of how Peavy’s family life took priority over his career last year in the wake of a tumultuous 2016.  Peavy dealt with the dual stresses of a divorce and losing $15MM-$20MM of his money to a financial advisor who faced a lawsuit from the the Securities and Exchange Commission for misappropriating funds from Peavy and other clients.  Peavy stepped away from the game in 2017 to deal with both matters and spend time with his four children, and he is now ready to attempt a comeback to wrap up his career on a happier note.

Here’s more from around baseball….

  • Now that the Orioles have avoided arbitration with Kevin Gausman, the team has settled all its offseason arbitration business, allowing Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun to calculate how much the O’s may have left to spend this offseason.  With roughly $121.2MM now on the books for 2018, the Orioles have over $43MM in available payroll space assuming they’re willing to spend as much as they did last season.  That, of course, is no given, since the team hasn’t gotten much in return from recent big expenditures, and have now gained some financial relief now that some big contracts (i.e. Ubaldo Jimenez, J.J. Hardy, Chris Tillman, Wade Miley) have expired.  Still, the O’s have some major needs that need to be addressed, most notably in the starting rotation.
  • Newly-acquired Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy has been bothered by an offseason hand injury and received further tests today, manager Scott Servais told the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other media.  The seriousness of the injury isn’t yet known, though rather the problem’s rather uncertain nature is certainly a concern to an M’s team that was positioning Healy as its first baseman of the future.  Dan Vogelbach and Mike Ford are internal options at the position, plus several free agent options are available if Healy was sidelined for a significant amount of time.
  • The Red Sox are continuing to monitor the market for outfielders, as Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne and NBCSports.com’s Evan Drellich), and they haven’t given any type of deadline to J.D. Martinez or other free agents for signing with the team.  Dombrowski admitted that the team intended to have more lineup options in place by this point (“From a positional player perspective, no, that wasn’t, per se, our plan“) but noted that even a normal offseason is hard to predict, and this winter’s free agent freeze has made things particularly unusual.  The lack of free agent activity has led to more trade talks, Dombrowski said, as teams are trying to prepare themselves if and when any of these free agents eventually come off the board.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/14/18

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The latest minor moves from around the game….

Newest moves

  • The Mariners have agreed to sign outfielder Junior Lake to a minor league deal, the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish reports.  Manager Scott Servais said that Lake’s deal contains an invitation to their big league Spring Training camp, and the contract will be official once Lake passes a physical.  Lake, who turns 28 next month, hit .235/.278/.376 over 703 plate appearances with the Cubs, Orioles, and Blue Jays from 2013-16, and he played for the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate and in the Mexican League last season.

Earlier today

  • The Diamondbacks have signed outfielder Daniel Robertson to a minor league deal, according to Baseball Prospectus Kansas City’s David Lesky (Twitter link).  Robertson, 32, has a .262/.314/.328 slash line over 386 career plate appearances in the big leagues, with four different clubs since 2014.  He most recently played for the Indians, appearing in 32 games for Cleveland last season.
  • The Rays have signed right-hander J.D. Martin to a minors deal, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter).  Martin tossed 125 innings for the Nationals as a starter in 2009-10 but hasn’t been back to the majors since, with stints in Korea and independent baseball as well as the affiliated minor leagues.  Rosenthal notes that Martin, who turned 35 last month, is trying to recast himself as a knuckleballer.

No Extension Talks Yet Between Astros, Dallas Keuchel

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There have yet to be any extension negotiations between the Astros and Dallas Keuchel, the ace left-hander told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters today.  If a long-term deal is struck between the two sides, Keuchel said that it would have to happen by Opening Day — like most players, Keuchel doesn’t want to create a potential distraction for himself and his team by having talks drag into the season.

Keuchel and the Astros did work out a $13.2MM salary for 2018, avoiding arbitration in the southpaw’s final year of arb eligibility.  He’ll hit free agency next winter going into his age-31 season and has already lined up some new representation, hiring the Boras Corporation last December.  While some high-profile Scott Boras clients (i.e. Stephen Strasburg, Elvis Andrus, Carlos Gonzalez) have worked out major long-term extensions to stay with their teams, Boras generally advises his clients to test the open market, so it remains to be seen if a deal could be struck to keep Keuchel in Houston.  The lack of negotiations to this point shouldn’t be seen as a major red flag, as most teams usually wait until later in the spring to fully delve into extension talks with pending free agents.

After winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2015, Keuchel battled some injuries in both 2016 and 2017, posting a 3.79 ERA, 2.83 K/BB rate, 7.7 K/9 and a league-best 61.2% grounder rate over 313 2/3 IP in those two seasons.  That 3.79 ERA generally matched his ERA predictors in 2016-17, with the big swing in actual ERA (4.55 ERA in 2016, 2.90 ERA in 2017) likely due to a healthy difference in BABIP (.304 in 2016, .256 in 2017), which naturally has a big impact on a pitcher with so reliant on inducing ground balls.  His home run rate has steadily risen in each of the last three seasons, though Keuchel’s hard-hit ball rate also dropped back to his career average after a spike in 2016.

The Astros’ trades for Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole created some speculation that the team was guarding itself against Keuchel’s possible departure, bolstering the rotation with two front-of-the-rotation arms that are under contract through at least the 2019 season.  Talks between Keuchel and the Astros, as well as any other negotiations between teams and impending free agents, will be particularly interesting to monitor this spring in the wake of this offseason’s unusual lack of free agent activity.  It could be that players are more open to extensions if they’re worried about being stuck without teams next winter, particularly since next year’s market will several huge stars (such as Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, or Josh Donaldson) sure to soak up many of the available dollars.

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