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Mets Sign Jose Bautista

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The Mets have signed Jose Bautista to a one-year, Major League contract, the team announced via Twitter.  The veteran slugger has already been added to the Mets’ roster and is available for tonight’s game; Phillip Evans was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported earlier today that the two sides were progressing towards a contract, and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that an agreement had been reached.  The deal will pay Bautista a Major League minimum salary, Heyman tweets.

With Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier both on the DL, Bautista provides a right-handed bat capable of playing both third base and in the corner outfield.  Bautista could also spell Adrian Gonzalez and Jay Bruce (both lefty swingers) at first base, to boot.  The Mets’ media release about the signing (as noted by The Athletic’s Tim Britton) made particular mention of Bautista’s .913 OPS against southpaw pitching during his recent stint with the Braves, so it could be that New York will specifically deploy Bautista as a lefty masher.

Bautista only hit .143/.250/.343 overall during his brief time with Atlanta, with his success in 20 PA against lefties counterbalanced by a measly .308 OPS against right-handed pitchers.  It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from such a small sample size, of course, though given that Bautista didn’t get a proper Spring Training (he only signed with the Braves in mid-April) and he is coming off a sub-replacement year with the Blue Jays in 2017, it certainly seems like the 37-year-old might best be suited for part-time duty at this stage in his career.

This is technically Bautista’s second stint in the Mets organization, as he was initially acquired by the team back on July 30, 2004 in a trade with the Royals for righty Justin Huber.  On that very same day, however, Bautista was dealt as part of a three-player package to the Pirates for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger.  One can’t really fault for the Mets for not knowing what they had at the time, as it wasn’t until 2010 that Bautista broke out as one of the game’s premier sluggers with a 54-homer season for the Blue Jays.

That was the first of six superstar-level years for Bautista in Toronto, and he was still a solidly above-average bat as recently as 2016, though he was starting to show some of the signs of the decline that led to his ruinous 2017 campaign.  Since the Mets needed some right-handed hitting, though, there isn’t much risk on the team’s end in signing Bautista to the low-cost deal to see if he can recapture any of his old form, particularly if Bautista’s exposure to right-handed pitching is limited.

Mets Close To A Deal With Jose Bautista

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4:34PM: A deal between Bautista and the Mets is “close,” according to SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter link).

TODAY, 3:59PM: The two sides are still working towards a contract, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (Twitter link), and it seems if “they should have an answer one way or another as soon as today.”  There could also be more than one team interested in Bautista’s services.

YESTERDAY: The Mets are “showing interest” in veteran slugger Jose Bautista, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). The 37-year-old is back on the open market after being released by the Braves over the weekend.

It is not clear at this point how the Mets would envision utilizing Bautista, if a deal comes together. The veteran had lined up at third base for Atlanta, though there won’t be an opening at the hot corner in New York once Todd Frazier returns from the DL. Bautista would potentially represent a right-handed-hitting corner outfield option while Yoenis Cespedes is on the shelf.

Of course, it could also simply be that the Mets see Bautista as a possible upper-level depth piece. Whether he’d be willing to sign without at least a plan in place to return to the majors, though, is not immediately clear.

Clearly, things did not turn out as hoped for Bautista with the Braves. He had managed only a .143/.250/.343 slash over forty plate appearances in a dozen games. Though he was drawing walks in over 12% of his plate appearances, Bautista had gone down on strikes in three of every ten trips to the dish — far above his typical levels in that regard.

All that being said, it’s clearly too small a sample for the numbers to say anything definitive, and the Mets’ front office may believe there’s still some cause for optimism for a player who was not long ago one of the game’s best hitters. Plus, the fact that he is up to speed at third, and could still be used at first base or the corner outfield, does give Bautista some added versatility. The right-handed-hitting Bautista could fit reasonably well on the Mets’ current roster, which features a lefty-heavy outfield and southpaw-swinging veteran Adrian Gonzalez at first base.

Diamondbacks Place Steven Souza On 10-Day DL

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The Diamondbacks placed outfielder Steven Souza Jr. on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right pectoral.  This is the same injury that kept Souza from making his season debut until May.  Outfielder Socrates Brito has been recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Souza originally suffered the injury in the last week of Spring Training, while diving for a ball in the outfield.  This second DL placement would seem to confirm that the issue was still bothering Souza, as he didn’t look at all like himself at the plate, hitting just a .163/.234/.186 over his first 47 plate appearances for Arizona.  While no timeline was given about the DL placement, it’s fair to assume that Souza will miss more than the 10-day minimum absence to ensure that the injury is fully behind him.

[Updated D’Backs depth chart at Roster Resource]

After a breakout 2017 season (.239/.351/.459 with 30 homers over 617 PA) for Tampa Bay, Souza was traded to the D’Backs as part of the three-team deal with the Rays and Yankees that also saw Brandon Drury go to New York and pitching prospect Anthony Banda head to Tampa.  Souza was expected to be Arizona’s everyday right fielder and at least somewhat fill the offensive gap left behind by the departed J.D. Martinez, though his injury has essentially kept him from getting out of the blocks thus far in the 2018 campaign.

Injuries to Souza, A.J. Pollock, and Jake Lamb have contributed to a lack of offensive firepower for the D’Backs, not to mention protracted slumps from Paul Goldschmidt and Alex Avila.  Arizona ranks at or near the bottom of the league in runs, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS, and the hitting drought has started to catch up with the team, as the Snakes have lost 11 of their last 12 games.  Remarkably, however, the D’Backs are still hanging onto first place in the NL West.

Brito will get his first taste of the big leagues since 2016, as the 25-year-old missed a good chunk of last year recovering from finger surgery.  Brito has only a .612 OPS over 131 PA with the Diamondbacks in 2015-16, though he isn’t far removed from being a pretty well-regarded prospect in Arizona’s farm system.  He can play all three outfield positions, and has been hitting well at Triple-A Reno, with a .323/.365/.437 slash line over 170 PA this season.

Rays To Promote Willy Adames

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The Rays are slated to promote infield prospect Willy Adames, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (Twitter link). He’ll make his MLB debut at 22 years of age.

Adames has long been billed as a high-end prospect, though he was relatively unknown when he was shipped to Tampa Bay as a key piece in the 2014 David Price swap. At the time, he was an intriguing 18-year-old. Since, his profile has risen steadily.

Entering each of the past two campaigns, Adames was generally ranked by prospect hounds among the twenty-five or so best pre-MLB players leaguewide. In response, he has delivered an impressive forty-game stretch at the highest level of the minors. Thus far in 2018, Adames has compiled a .311/.387/.466 slash line with four home runs in 173 plate appearances for Durham.

Of course, Adames had already shown that he could produce at Triple-A. And that output falls in line with what Adames has done in prior seasons. He has long been a consistently quality producer at the plate, with good average, a solid walk rate, and manageable strikeout numbers. While he has yet to break out in the power department, evaluators generally expect there could be some added pop in the tank.

There’s good reason, then, to think that Adames is ready to contribute right out of the gates. He’s considered a polished defender at shortstop with quality makeup, so the expectation will surely be that he’ll be able to step into the everyday lineup if that’s what’s asked.

The Rays’ plans, though, aren’t yet clear. With Adeiny Hechavarria on the 10-day DL, Adames could receive regular time at shortstop, with the team reassessing its options once Hechavarria returns. On the other hand, the youngster may also just be up for a brief visit; after all, his active roster spot is coming from the placement of Joey Wendle on the paternity list, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets and the team has since confirmed.

West Notes: Treinen, Melancon, Lincecum

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Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle examines Athletics closer Blake Treinen’s improved results since coming to Oakland last summer. The big righty has always shown phenomenal pure stuff in the majors, but had not quite figured out how to maximize it on the hill. While he’s handing out less walks than before, he’s also working in the zone less than in prior years. And he has generated less grounders (a still-impressive 53.3%) in exchange for a jump in swinging-strikes (all the way up to 18.8%). Treinen credits experience gained through “the maturation process.” Whatever the precise cause, the results — a 1.19 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 over 22 2/3 innings in 2018 — certainly suggest that he has settled in nicely.

Here are a few more relief-related notes from out west:

  • The Giants, meanwhile, could soon face some interesting calls on their late-inning mix. As Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area writes, the club could welcome Mark Melancon back within two weeks or so, as the veteran reliever is set to begin a rehab assignment after opening the year on the shelf due to ongoing pronator issues. Skipper Bruce Bochy says the team will “let him get settled” rather than thrusting Melancon back into the closer’s role. Melancon, 33, is certainly being paid to handle the ninth. But Hunter Strickland has performed quite well in his absence, working to a 2.18 ERA with 9.6 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. Just how that situation will be navigated over the course of the season remains to be seen.
  • It also is not yet clear what kind of contribution the Rangers will get from righty Tim Lincecum. As Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes, the veteran hurler is only touching 90 mph with his fastball despite reportedly showing more in a pre-signing showcase. He has produced better results of late in his rehab work, but in sum he has managed a less-than-promising 8:6 K/BB ratio in 8 1/3 innings over six outings. Of course, that’s too small a sample to read much into things. It isn’t known yet when Lincecum will get a crack at the majors, but barring a setback it seems it’ll come between May 28th (when he’s first eligible to return from the 60-day DL) and June 6th (when his thirty-day rehab period will expire).

Twins Designate Phil Hughes

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TODAY: Outfielder Ryan LaMarre is coming back up for the Twins, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets.

YESTERDAY: The Twins have designated righty Phil Hughes, per a club announcement (as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to tweet). Manager Paul Molitor says the organization has not asked whether Hughes would waive his right to reject a minor-league assignment, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports on Twitter.

It seems, then, as if this is the beginning of the end of Hughes’s tenure in Minnesota. The club will have seven days to find a taker via trade. Otherwise, Hughes will go on the waiver wire. He’s sure to clear, given his contract, though he would not need to accept an assignment to Triple-A in order to keep the money he’s guaranteed.

The Twins still owe Hughes the balance of a $13.2MM salary this year and another $13.2MM for the 2019 season. That’s what’s left of the five-year extension he signed in December of 2014, which overwrote the rest of the three-year deal that Hughes signed with Minnesota as a free agent in the prior winter.

Students of hot stove history will recall that sequence rather well. Hughes had seemed likely to sign a make-good deal after a disappointing end to his tenure with the Yankees in 2013. But he went with a $24MM guarantee over a trio of campaigns with Minnesota, then made good on the contract in year one by spinning 209 2/3 innings of 3.52 ERA ball, with an unbelievable 186:16 K/BB ratio.

Unfortunately, the second pact — which boosted Hughes’s overall compensation while expanding the team’s control — just never worked out. He turned in 155 1/3 innings of 4.40 ERA pitching in 2015, but since has managed only a 5.99 ERA in 124 2/3 frames.

Health has been a major factor in recent seasons. Hughes requried two significant procedures to address thoracic outlet procedure, ending both his 2016 and 2017 seasons. He also dealt with knee and biceps injuries.

NL Central Notes: Krall, Vazquez, Anderson/Peralta, Hicks, Darvish

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On his latest podcast, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand chats with just-minted Reds GM Nick Krall, who took a grinder’s approach to getting into the game. The back story is an interesting listen and also provides some insight into Krall’s background with the Moneyball-era A’s. Of what he learned from Billy Beane, Krall says he was impressed by Beane’s scope of knowledge of players from outside the Oakland organization along with his certitude as to “what he wanted on his team.” From former Reds GM Walt Jocketty, Krall says he learned to exercise greater patience. (Krall describes himself as “a very impatient person” by nature.) It’s a worthwhile listen for fans who want to learn more about the most recent person to be named a major-league general manager.

Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at a few interesting subjects involving the Pirates. In particular, she dives into the question of fastball velocity in regard to closer Felipe Vazquez, whose slight loss of speed does not seem to represent much cause for concern — particularly since he has actually increased the spin rate on the offering. Though Vazquez only carries a 3.86 ERA on the year, it’s worth noting too that he has been hurt by a 58.3% strand rate. That said, while Vazquez is still getting loads of swinging strikes, his walk rate has gone backwards and he isn’t getting as many grounders as he has in years past. At this point, he hasn’t shown quite the level of dominance he did in 2017, but there’s not yet any reason to believe he won’t be a quality late-inning arm for the foreseeable future.
  • The Brewers activated righty Chase Anderson from the DL to take the ball yesterday, optioning Freddy Peralta to open a roster spot. It’s certainly good news for Milwaukee that Anderson was able to bounce back quickly from illness; now, the 30-year-old will look go get back on track after a messy start to the year. He has managed a 3.86 ERA in 51 1/3 frames, but has showing worrying trends in his peripherals that have fielding-independent pitching metrics raising red flags (6.02 FIP; 5.36 xFIP; 5.16 SIERA). The brief respite for Anderson may not have been the worst thing for all involved. In addition to giving him a chance to get sorted, the team surely now feels like it has a better sense of Peralta’s potential to help at the MLB level in the near term. His second outing wasn’t quite as stirring as his first, to be sure, but Peralta impressed overall by allowing just four earned runs on four hits while recording 18 strikeouts against eight walks in 9 2/3 innings.
  • Over at Fangraphs, there are a couple pieces well worth a read for fans of the division. Jeff Sullivan examines the curious case of Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks, the flamethrowing reliever who has thus far registered very few strikeouts. It’s a well-balanced take on the youngster, who certainly has exhibited a fascinating skill but still will need to make improvements to become a dominant MLB reliever. Speaking of fastballs, Jay Jaffe looks at the arsenal of Cubs starter Yu Darvish and his reasonably promising return from the DL. It’s a complicated picture, but well worth a look for anyone looking to gauge where things are headed for the high-priced hurler.

East Notes: Miller, Britton, Quinn

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The Nationals added lefty Tim Collins to the big league roster on Monday to step into the void left by Ryan Madson’s trip to the DL, but Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes that another Triple-A arm, veteran Justin Miller, could also emerge as an option in D.C. The former Rockies setup man has impressed to open the season, pitching 12 2/3 shutout innings with a 21-to-3 K/BB ratio and a 44.4 percent grounder rate. Miller’s minor league deal with the Nats has a June 15 opt-out provision, according to Janes, so the Nationals will need to make a call on him in the coming weeks. The 30-year-old Miller showed swing-and-miss stuff with the Rox in 2015-16 but struggled to strand runners and was plagued in 2016 by sub-par control and some home run troubles.

Here’s more from the eastern divisions …

  • Orioles reliever Zach Britton is scheduled to start a rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk at the end of the month, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com tweets. Presumably, the club will give Britton a fair bit of time not only to test his surgically repaired Achilles, but also to get his arm into shape, given that he did not participate in Spring Training. But it could be that Britton will be ready for the majors by the middle of June or so — plenty of time for him to build up trade value in advance of the deadline. Of course, the veteran southpaw still not only has to show that he can pitch without physical limitation, but also that he can bounce back from a subpar 2017 season in which he managed a 2.89 ERA over 37 1/3 innings but was nowhere near as dominant as he had been in prior campaigns.
  • Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn is slated for a six-to-eight week DL stint after surgery to repair a torn finger ligament, as Matt Gelb of The Athletic was among those to tweet. This is the latest malady to slow the 25-year-old, who has yet to appear in a hundred or more games in a single professional season. He reached the majors briefly in 2016, showing an interesting blend of patience and speed, but has logged just 294 Triple-A plate appearances since. Quinn was off to a nice start to the current season, slashing .289/.340/.444 and swiping a dozen bags in just 97 plate appearances. He might well have been the first man up had a need arisen at the MLB level. With Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams carrying below-average batting lines, it’s conceivable a chance might have come in the near future. Now, though, Quinn will need to get back to health yet again before waiting for another opportunity.

Jorge Soler Hires ACES

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Royals outfielder Jorge Soler has changed his representation, according to Robert Murray of Fan Rag. He will now be represented by the ACES agency.

Soler, 26, will finish the current season with over three years of MLB service, setting the stage for what could be a difficult decision. His original contract —signed after he left Cuba in 2012 — allows him to opt into arbitration upon reaching eligibility. (Though he finished 2017 with 2.143 years of MLB service, he wasn’t eligible as a Super Two because he lacked 86 days on the active roster in the immediately preceding season.)

Therefore, Soler’s new reps will have to help him determine whether to keep the existing deal, which promises $4MM annually through 2020, or instead to launch into the higher-upside, riskier waters of the arb process. If he keeps hitting as he has to this point in the 2018 season, going into arbitration might seem to be a pretty solid bet, though that’d mean giving up the guaranteed money for both of the two remaining seasons in hopes of commanding more in total.

Unless the contract specifies otherwise, it seems that Soler will be eligible for arbitration in the 2021 season regardless. But he could potentially earn more that year if he is seeking a raise from a loftier base rate than the $4MM that’s presently called for.

Whether the long-touted Soler is better off betting on continued production isn’t clear from the numbers. It has been a meandering path to this point. He exploded onto the MLB scene in 2014 before seeing his productivity dwindle in the next two seasons. After being dealt from the Cubs to the Royals, he struggled badly in 2017 and spent most of the year on optional assignment — though he did hit rather well at Triple-A.

Now, Soler is back to driving the ball like he did in his debut campaign. Over 177 plate appearances in 2018, he owns a .297/.401/.486 batting line with five long balls and a career-high 13.0% walk rate. Though his .379 batting average on balls in play is sure to fade, Soler has made plenty of hard contact as well.

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