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Nori Aoki Reportedly Agrees To Three-Year Deal With NPB’s Yakult Swallows

By Steve Adams | January 30, 2018 at 11:34am CDT

After spending the past six seasons in Major League Baseball, outfielder Nori Aoki is reportedly headed back to Japan. Both the Kyodo News and Japan Times report that the 36-year-old Aoki has agreed to a three-year contract with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The CAA client’s deal is reported to be worth one billion Yen — or $9.19MM in total over that three-year term.

Aoki split the 2017 season between the Astros, Blue Jays and Mets, hitting a combined .277/.335/.393 with five homers and 10 steals over the course of 374 plate appearances. That marked the lowest total of plate appearances he’d received in a season since coming over from NPB with the Brewers in 2012, though his overall output at the plate was still only slightly below the league average in the estimation of metrics like OPS+ (98) and wRC+ (97).

That said, Aoki was one of many options for MLB teams on a crowded free-agent market for outfielders (MLBTR Free Agent Tracker link), and heading into his age-36 campaign, he was also one of the older players on that market. As the game increasingly gravitates away from guaranteeing significant commitments to players in their late 30s, it seems likely that Aoki would’ve had to settle for a minor league pact or a low-salary, one-year commitment from a big league team if he wished to continue playing in North America.

Instead, he’ll head back to the organization where he starred from from 2005-11 prior to making the move to Major League Baseball. In parts of eight seasons with Yakult, Aoki posted a hefty .329/.402/.454 batting line with 84 homers and 164 stolen bases. He’ll return as a well-traveled elder statesman on the tail end of his career, hoping to benefit the team both on the field as well as off the field as he shares his experiences with the organization’s younger talent.

Given that the reported contract will run through Aoki’s age-38 season, it seems quite likely that his days in the Majors could be over. If that indeed proves to be the case, then he more than held his own in the big leagues. The remarkably consistent Aoki hit between .277 and .288 in each of his six seasons here, and his on-base percentage never dipped below this past season’s mark of .335. In all, he batted .285/.350/.387 as a Major Leaguer, spending time with the Brewers, Royals (with whom he appeared in the 2014 World Series), Giants, Mariners, Astros, Blue Jays and Mets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kevin Towers Passes Away

By Steve Adams | January 30, 2018 at 10:06am CDT

In a sudden piece of heartbreaking news, Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reports that former Padres and Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers has passed away at the age of 56. Towers had been diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer back in December 2016.

Prior to his days as one of the game’s most prominent and recognizable executives, Towers broke into professional baseball as a player when he was selected by the Padres in the first round of the 1982 draft. A right-hander who starred at Brigham Young University, Towers would pitch in parts of eight minor league seasons that were slowed by injury before ultimately transitioning to the operations side of the game.

Well-respected for his scouting acumen, Towers parlayed his keen eye for player talent into a position as the Padres’ scouting director before ascending to their GM chair in 1996 — a position he’d occupy all the way through the 2009 season. That remarkable run is one of lengthier stints that any GM has enjoyed atop his organization in recent history.

San Diego won its division in two of Towers’ first three seasons at the helm and advanced to the World Series in 1998 under his watch. The Friars would go on to win the West on two more occasions under Towers’ guidance, taking home consecutive division crowns in the 2005-06 seasons. Never afraid to make a bold trade, Towers was affectionately referred to as the “gunslinger” for much of his career as a general manager.

Upon being dismissed after that 2009 season, Towers spent a year as a special assignment scout with the Yankees before being tabbed as the new general manager of the Diamondbacks. From 2010-14, Towers would hold that role, and it was during his tenure that the D-backs signed face of the franchise Paul Goldschmidt to one of the game’s best contracts.

Following his dismissal and replacement by the Dave Stewart/Tony La Russa regime, Towers joined the Reds as a special assistant to GM Dick Williams, specializing in player personnel — a role that he continued to hold even into his battle with cancer.

The immediate outpouring from the media, former players and others in the industry serves as a testament to Towers’ reputation as a venerable ambassador to the game of baseball, as well as to the love and respect that he fostered in more than three decades as a member of the MLB family. Yahoo’s Tim Brown has penned an especially poignant tribute to Towers, encapsulating the magnetic vigor that drew so many to him.

Our deepest condolences to his family, loved ones and the countless men and women both in the industry and the media whose lives he impacted over the course of a 35-year career in professional baseball.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Royals Rumors: Hosmer, Hahn, Escobar, Mondesi

By Steve Adams | January 30, 2018 at 8:49am CDT

The Royals took a second cost-cutting step last night and added a pair of controllable right-handers, acquiring Jesse Hahn and minor leaguer Heath Fillmyer from the Athletics in a trade that sent lefty Ryan Buchter, first baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss and a reported $3.25MM in salary relief to help cover some of Moss’ contract. It’s the second cost-cutting measure of the winter for the rebuilding Royals, who’ve also traded Joakim Soria and controllable lefty Scott Alexander in a three-team deal with the White Sox and Dodgers.

Here’s the latest out of Kansas City in the wake of last night’s deal…

“The economic part of it is very real to us,” GM Dayton Moore tells Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Dodd notes that the cost savings could be put toward a contract to bring Eric Hosmer back to Kansas City — a notion to which the Royals are reportedly very open in spite of their rebuilding initiatives. The Royals, according to Dodd, hope to open the season with a payroll in the $105-110MM range. That’s a tall order, considering they’re still still projected for a $113.7MM payroll even after shedding some of the Moss contract. Dodd notes that further salary-cutting trades could be on the horizon, though Moore stressed that no such move was close. (Nor, the GM said, is a free-agent signing.) The Royals could still jettison Jason Hammel’s remaining $9MM salary (plus a $2MM option buyout) or market Kelvin Herrera and his $7.9375MM contract for the 2018 season.
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reports that the Royals’ offer to Hosmer is believed to already be larger than the one made by the Padres, and freeing up some cash in the Moss trade only further benefits the Royals’ chances. The Padres would consider “tweaking” their offer if negotiations came down to a slim margin, he adds, but to date the Friars haven’t shown much of a willingness to substantially increase their bid.
With Hahn out of minor league options, he’ll compete for a rotation job this coming spring, Moore told Dodd (in the previously-linked column). The righty has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, but he showed plenty of promise in 2014-15 with the Padres and A’s. He’ll vie for a rotation spot alongside Wily Peralta and Nate Karns (returning from TOS surgery). Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy are locked into spots, of course, while Hammel (if he’s not traded) and Jake Junis figure to lock down spots as well. Fillmyer and Oaks are also on the 40-man roster, with other 40-man options including Sam Gaviglio, Eric Skoglund, Scott Barlow and Miguel Almonte.
Alcides Escobar said yesterday after his one-year deal was announced that he had offers from other clubs but jumped at the chance to return to the Royals (link via MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan). “I’ve been here for seven years, and I feel like I belong here in Kansas City,” said Escobar. “I got some offers outside. For me, I came back because I think it’s better here, that’s why I’m coming back.” Moore was noncommittal when it came to what the Escobar signing meant for young Raul Mondesi Jr., though he suggested that it might be tough for Mondesi to get everyday at-bats in the Majors. Mondesi is still in the team’s plans, though, the GM added, noting that he could play second base and is “good enough to play center field” as well.

Poll: How Good Are The Brewers?

By Kyle Downing | January 29, 2018 at 11:42pm CDT

The Milwaukee Brewers have had a busy offseason (especially over the course of the past week), and they appear to be nearing the end of a surprisingly short rebuild.

Just last week, it would have seemed odd to count the Brewers as serious contenders for an NL Central pennant in 2018, considering the apparent strength of the rival Cubs and Cardinals. But the Brew Crew shocked the baseball world by acquiring Christian Yelich from the Marlins and signing Lorenzo Cain to a five-year contract within a span of two hours. They’ve since signed Matt Albers to a two-year contract as well, who’ll join lefty Boone Logan as veteran upgrades to the club’s bullpen.

But even after all those upgrades, Fangraphs still projects the Brewers to finish with a record of 77-85. That’s surprising on the surface considering the club’s 86-76 record in 2017 in combination with the team’s offseason moves thus far. But when taking an in-depth look at the club’s roster, they have some key holes that may hurt their ability to compete with more complete teams.

The club’s rotation is their most obvious issue. Jimmy Nelson, who took an enormous leap forward last season, will be sidelined until June while recovering from a torn labrum. Chase Anderson and Zach Davies seem like safe bets, but beyond them is a risky and seemingly low-ceiling group that includes Brent Suter, Yovani Gallardo and Jhoulys Chacin. That’s not to say that the Cubs and Cardinals don’t have their own sets of question marks, but the Brewers’ rotation without Nelson could prove somewhat of a white-knuckle experience for fans.

It’s not as though the club can simply lean on its bullpen, either. Corey Knebel and Josh Hader will serve as an intimidating closer and fireman, respectively, but beyond them there’s plenty of uncertainty. The recently-signed Matt Albers isn’t a lock to repeat the figures of his career year in 2017, and Boone Logan is returning from a lat strain that sidelined him for the final two months of his contract with the Indians last season. The remainder of the club’s relief corps is a ragtag group that includes Junior Guerra, Jacob Barnes, Olivier Drake and the declining Jeremy Jeffress. The bridge to Hader and Knebel is a rickety one.

Milwaukee’s offense can probably be looked at as a strength, but it’s not without holes of its own. It remains to be seen whether Jonathan Villar can bounce back from an incredibly poor 2017 campaign during which he struck out more than 30% of the time and posted an on-base percentage below .300. The club will also count on 30-year-old catcher Manny Pina to sustain his sudden offensive breakout.

That being said, the Brewers lineup on the whole is intimidating, to say the least, particularly if the young Orlando Arcia takes another step forward, Travis Shaw keeps his foot on the gas and Ryan Braun remains mostly healthy. If things break right, their offense could end up being on par with those of the Cubs and Cardinals.

It’s time for the readers to weigh in. Sure, there’s some offseason left to go, and a pitching market that could certainly shift the division’s power balance once the dominoes begin to fall. But as things stand right now, do you think the Brewers are a playoff team?

(Poll link for app users)

Do you expect the Brewers to make the playoffs in 2018?

Yes 53.81% (14,885 votes)

No 46.19% (12,778 votes)

Total Votes: 27,663

Quick Hits: Rockies, Sign-Stealing, Houck, Moss

By Kyle Downing | January 29, 2018 at 10:20pm CDT

The Rockies have honed in on a few targets in their search for a right-handed-hitting corner infielder, Thomas Harding of MLB.com writes. The club is reportedly considering a reunion with either Mark Reynolds or Carlos Gonzalez, while also weighing the possibility of signing Todd Frazier (Harding cites some interesting data points relating to each player). While bringing one of these players into the fold appears to be their preferred option, they’ve also got plenty of young players who could conceivably force their way into the picture (even though the ones mentioned in the piece are all left handed). The club feels as though it has a lot of flexibility due to the presence of Ian Desmond, who’s capable of playing either at first base or in the outfield.

Here are a few other items of note from around MLB…

Though the pace of play debate has largely centered around replay review and the potential implementation of a pitch clock, Ken Rosenthal latest piece at The Athletic details a significant factor he believes is largely overlooked: sign-stealing. Rosenthal had an in-depth conversation with a major-league manager who believes that MLB must take action in order to prevent teams from using advanced technology to steal signs. The manager, like most around baseball, agrees that sign-stealing with one’s own eyes and relaying the signals without the help of technology is simply part of the game. Sign-stealing through the use of tech, however, is causing significant paranoia around the league and is at least one catalyst for an excess of mound visits that are slowing down the game. The manager suggests having an MLB official in every replay room around the league, while others around the league have advocated for pitchers and catchers to wear NFL-type receivers to eliminate the need for hand signals entirely. The piece provides some fascinating insight into an invasive issue that’s not talked about often enough.
Today, Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck became the latest player to leave agent Jason Wood and CSE, Robert Murray of FanRag Sports reports (separate links). The player exodus, of course, comes in the midst of allegations that Wood filmed players in his shower with a secret camera. Houck is now with CAA sports, and joins Mitch Keller, Jake Odorizzi, Riley Pint, Joey Wentz, Cody Asche, and Taylor Gushue as players who have left CSE to sign with other agencies. As Murray points out, many are expected to follow in their footsteps, perhaps including one of the agency’s most notable clients, Andrew Benintendi.
After acquiring left-handed slugger Brandon Moss just earlier today, the Athletics will attempt to find a taker for him, says Rosenthal on Twitter. Moss will earn $7.25MM this season, and the Royals sent over $3.25MM along with his contract, meaning the A’s need only to pay the 34-year-old $4MM for the coming season. While that’s certainly not a handicapping salary, it’s fairly significant considering Moss doesn’t have a clear role on the team outside of perhaps being a bench bat. For his part, Moss has every intention of forcing his way into the picture. “I’m going to figure something out,” he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’m going to rake all spring and they’ll have to keep me.”

Royals Re-Sign Alcides Escobar

By Steve Adams | January 29, 2018 at 8:47pm CDT

8:47pm: Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports tweets that Escobar will earn $75K for making 125 plate appearances, and confirms that his incentives will top out at 600 PA. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports adds that the shortstop will earn $75K for every 25 plate appearances after the first 125, up until the 600 mark.

2:13pm: The Royals aren’t completely breaking up their long-term core, as they announced on Monday that they’ve re-signed shortstop Alcides Escobar to a one-year deal for the 2019 season. Escobar, a client of the Legacy Agency, reportedly receives a $2.5MM base salary and can earn another $1.5MM via plate appearance incentives (topping out at 600 PAs).

Escobar, 31, has been among the game’s most durable players over the life of his seven-year tenure with the Royals, appearing in 1105 of the team’s 1134 games in that stretch — including consecutive 162-game seasons in 2016-17 (and a third such effort in 2014). While Escobar has managed just a .262/.293/.348 slash line in his seven seasons with the Royals, he comes with an excellent defensive reputation and ranks sixth among Major League shortstops in Ultimate Zone Rating (+18.5) over the past seven seasons.

For the Royals, the question raised by the re-signing of Escobar centers around the future of Raul Mondesi Jr. The 22-year-old has long been considered one of the organization’s top prospects, and while he’s yet to deliver in a tiny sample of 209 MLB plate appearances, he did slash a healthy .305/.340/.539 with 13 homers and 21 steals through 85 games for Triple-A Omaha in 2017. Obviously, the Royals would like to see more plate discipline out of Mondesi, who walked in just five percent of his Triple-A plate appearances, but there’s plenty to like about the second-generation talent.

Royals GM Dayton Moore told MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan last week that, if the deal were to be completed, Escobar would play “a lot” of shortstop. Flanagan notes that Mondesi would either rotate around the diamond or open the season in Triple-A Omaha.

[Related: Updated Kansas City Royals depth chart & Kansas City Royals payroll]

A full-time move to second base doesn’t seem particularly likely for Mondesi, given the presence of Whit Merrifield, though he could see occasional time there, at third base and even in the outfield if moved to a utility role. There was also some chatter earlier this offseason about the possibility of Merrifield being available in trade talks, though there’s been little since that time indicate that the Royals have had anything in the way of serious negotiations with other clubs on the matter. In fact, Kansas City has been surprisingly quiet on the trade front all together, shedding Joakim Soria’s contract and trading Scott Alexander but hanging onto other movable assets (e.g. Kelvin Herrera, Danny Duffy) despite an expectation that they’d embark on a lengthy rebuild.

Clearly, a reunion with Escobar on a small-scale deal doesn’t signal a change of trajectory for the club, so perhaps the hope is that some veterans that underperformed in 2017 (Herrera, Jason Hammel, Brandon Moss) will boost their stock with a solid showing in 2018, thus building stronger interest heading into the non-waiver deadline. Given his excellent glove, solid baserunning skills and now eminently affordable contract, it’s certainly possible that Escobar himself will emerge as a trade commodity for a team looking to bolster its defense this summer.

FanRag’s Jon Heyman first reported that the two sides were in talks. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweeted that the deal was official. ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted Escobar’s base salary. MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan and the Kansas City Star’s Rustin Dodd added details on the incentives package (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Diamondbacks Sign Neftali Feliz To Minor-League Deal

By Kyle Downing | January 29, 2018 at 8:37pm CDT

January 29th, 8:37pm: The Diamondbacks have announced the signing.

January 28th, 5:44pm: The Diamondbacks have agreed to contract terms with right-hander Neftali Feliz, Robert Murray of FanRag Sports tweets. A source close to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation confirms the news, and Cotillo also adds that it’s a minor-league pact that includes an invitation to spring training.

Feliz’ future looked incredibly bright from the outset. Upon first reaching the majors in 2009, Feliz pitched out of the bullpen in 20 games for the Rangers to the tune of a remarkable 1.74 ERA. He followed up his opening act with an excellent 2010 campaign during which he saved 40 games for Texas while posting a spectacular 3.68 WPA en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award.

It wasn’t until 2012 that things took a turn for the worse. The Rangers opted to move Feliz to the rotation at the beginning of the year, and while his first seven starts looked good on the surface (3.14 ERA and a 3-1 record), his peripherals painted a dramatically different picture headlined by an ugly 4.85 BB/9. Feliz would ultimately undergo Tommy John surgery in 2013, missing the entire season. Upon his return in 2014, the righty posted a 1.99 ERA across 31 2/3 innings, but with an uninspiring 17.2% strikeout rate.

Feliz’ career seemed at its valley following the 2015 season. He was hit hard with the Rangers in 19 2/3 innings across April and May, prompting the club to cut him. His results down the stretch with the Tigers were even more disastrous. But when the Pirates took a chance on him the following season, he didn’t disappoint; Feliz made 62 appearances for the Bucs in 2016 while pitching to a 3.52 ERA and 3.72 xFIP. His velocity rebounded, his strikeout numbers were his career best for a full season, and he appeared to be positioning himself for a nice contract before being shut down on September 3rd due to an arm injury.

That injury wasn’t enough to deter the Brewers, however, who signed him to a one-year, $5.35MM deal to be their 2017 closer. Feliz wasn’t quite able to deliver on that investment, however, and on June 19th the club bet instead on the young Corey Knebel by releasing Feliz. He latched on with the Royals, and pitched 19 innings of 4.74-ERA baseball for them across the remainder of the campaign.

Feliz joins Antonio Bastardo, Kris Medlen, Fernando Salas, Yoshihisa Hirano and Jake Buchanan as bullpen candidates to sign minor-league deals with Arizona within the past 40 days. That means he’ll face a crowded competition for a few available reliever jobs behind Archie Bradley, Brad Boxberger, Andrew Chafin, T.J. McFarland and Randall Delgado.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/29/18

By Kyle Downing | January 29, 2018 at 8:20pm CDT

We’ll collect the minor league transactions from today in this post…

The Cardinals have added right-handed starter Nestor Molina (no relation) on a minor-league contract, says Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Formerly a top prospect in the Blue Jays’ system, Molina is perhaps best known for being traded to the White Sox in exchange for Sergio Santos during the 2011-2012 offseason. The 29-year-old has never pitched at the MLB level, and has spent the bulk of the past two years pitching in the Mexican league. During the 2017 campaign, he pitched 152 2/3 innings across 23 starts to the tune of a 1.89 ERA. He’ll serve as an interesting depth piece for a Cardinals organization that has some question marks in its rotation, though it should be noted that Molina has only ever pitched four innings above the Double-A level.
The Brewers have re-signed 27-year-old second baseman Gabriel Noriega to a minors pact, the team’s player development account announced today on Twitter. Noriega’s spent ten years in the minors, shuffling between the Royals, Mariners, Brewers and Diamondbacks organizations. He’s hovered around a 50 wRC+ over the past two seasons in the upper minors. Noriega was originally signed out of Venezuela by the Mariners, and remained in the club’s farm system through the 2014 season.
The Nationals inked Reid Brignac to a minors pact that includes a spring training invite, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports on Twitter. Brignac, 32, has seen time at the major league level with the Braves, Marlins, Phillies, Rockies, Yankees and Rays while playing mostly at shortstop. Though he’s played below replacement level in each of the past seven seasons, Brignac has generally been an above-average defender. Perhaps that could be reason enough for Washington to look past his career .219/.264/.309 slash line and give him a shot at a utility infielder role.

A’s Acquire Ryan Buchter, Brandon Moss From Royals For Jesse Hahn, Heath Fillmyer

By Kyle Downing | January 29, 2018 at 6:25pm CDT

The Royals and Athletics have agreed to a four-player swap. Left-hander Ryan Buchter and first base/DH-type Brandon Moss will head to Oakland in the deal, while right-hander Jesse Hahn and minor-league righty Heath Fillmyer are ticketed for Kansas City. The Royals also included $3.25MM in cash as part of the deal. Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com was first with the news.

Though Moss is certainly the biggest name of the four, Buchter is actually the prize for the Athletics in this deal. In fact, the inclusion of Moss in the deal is probably more related to financial implications. Indeed, Royals GM Dayton Moore told Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star that “The economic part of it is very real to us,” which has in turn led to some speculation throughout the industry that the Royals are attempting to clear salary in order to make re-signing Eric Hosmer more feasible. Moore responded to an inquiry from Flanagan on the subject, telling him that it would be “inappropriate” for him to comment on a free agent right now. However, he did add that he’s been “very clear” about what the team’s thoughts are on Hosmer.

Turning away from speculation and rumors and focusing on the here-and-now of the deal, the A’s will fill a bullpen need by getting a much-needed lefty. Prior to this trade, the only southpaw reliever in their projected bullpen was Daniel Coulombe. Buchter will serve as a long-term piece for the budding A’s (perhaps into their next window of contention), as he’s under team control through the end of the 2021 season. The Royals, meanwhile, will add a new potential candidate to their rotation. Per Moore’s conversation with Dodd, Hahn will compete during spring training for a spot in Kansas City’s rotation.

Buchter’s a rare type of pitcher who’s been able to consistently out-perform his peripheral statistics. The soon-to-be 31-year-old has a career 2.85 ERA against a 4.68 xFIP. The latter statistic normalizes a pitcher’s homer/fly ball ratio as a method of estimating a pitcher’s true run-prevention skills, but it doesn’t account for the fact that many of Buchter’s fly balls are actually infield pop-ups, which go for outs nearly 100% of the time. Over the past two seasons combined, Buchter’s 16.7% infield fly ball rate (IFFB) ranks 10th in the majors among qualified relievers. He also ranks 14th during that span with a 26% soft contact rate against.

Buchter is even tougher against lefties, limiting them to a .160/.255/.306 batting line during his MLB career. The late-blooming Buchter spent a whopping eight seasons in the minors before finally making his debut with the Braves in 2014, and was shuffled through the Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers and Cubs before finally latching on in the majors with the Padres in 2016. Interestingly, the A’s were reportedly competing with the Padres for his services as a MiLB free agent.

As for Moss, 34, he’ll return to the team with which he broke out in 2012. That’s just about the only clarity surrounding his presence in Oakland, however. Athletics GM David Forst has already told him that it’s not clear how he fits on the roster (per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). With young phenom Matt Olson earmarked for the first base job and Khris Davis likely to assume full-time DH duties, the declining Moss doesn’t have a clear path to everyday at-bats. His sub-replacement-level 2017 performance (.207/.279/.428) was a far cry from his peak years in Oakland during which he slugged 76 homers and put up a .844 OPS across 1,381 plate appearances.

Hahn’s had a roller coaster career. The right-hander showed great promise early on, posting a 3.07 ERA and 3.59 xFIP across 12 starts following his major-league debut with the Padres in 2014. Prior to the 2015 season, he was shipped to Oakland in the Derek Norris trade, and continued to impress with a 3.35 ERA and 52.6% ground ball rate through the first day of July. However, a flexor tendon injury sidelined him for the rest of the season, and although he’s shown flashes of brilliance since, he’s not yet been able to maintain good numbers over the course of a full season. Hahn’s posted a 5.59 ERA with a 6.05 K/9 and 3.57 BB/9 across 23 games (22 starts) across the past two years while battling a number of injuries.

Fillmyer, 23, started 29 games for Oakland’s Double-A affiliate last season while pitching to a 3.49 ERA. MLB Pipeline considered him to be the team’s 18th-best prospect in 2017, noting his quick arm and a fastball that can reach 96MPH with good sinking action. Though his control and command took a step backwards last season, their report suggests that he can become a back-end starter at the MLB level. Fillmyer was selected by the A’s in the fifth round of the 2014 draft.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Brewers Sign Lorenzo Cain

By Jeff Todd | January 29, 2018 at 6:10pm CDT

January 29th, 6:10pm: Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports has the details on some incentives in Cain’s contract (Twitter links). The outfielder will reportedly earn $300K every time he makes the All-Star team. He’ll also earn $500K if he’s ever named league MVP, $250K if he finishes second through fifth in the MVP voting, and $125K if he finishes 6th through 10th. Cain can also make an extra $50K by winning the World Series MVP award, and he’ll pocket $25K any time he wins a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, or LCS MVP. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports confirms the incentives, and notes that the Brewers will also reserve a suite for Cain at Miller Park during 20 games each season, while pointing out that the estimated value of Cain’s contract with deferments in mind is actually $78,917,630.

January 26th, 2:48pm: Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Cain will earn $13MM in 2018, $14MM in 2019, $15MM in 2020, $16MM in 2021 and $17MM in 2022 (Twitter links). He’ll also receive an additional, deferred payment of $1MM in each of the five years following the contract’s conclusion. The no-trade provision offers complete protection in year one of the deal and limited protection each season thereafter, dropping down to five teams in the final year of the contract. More specifically, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy adds that Cain can block deals to 15 teams in 2019, seven teams in 2020 and five in 2021-22.

12:00pm: In a stunning turn, the Brewers even further bolstered their outfield, announcing on Friday that they’ve signed Lorenzo Cain to a five-year pact that will reportedly guarantee him $80MM. The All Bases Covered client will reportedly pick up no-trade rights as well, with full protection early in the contract and more limited no-trade provisions in its later years.

Cain will join Christian Yelich in a stunningly re-made Milwaukee outfield — opening up new avenues for trades of existing players that could shake the market. The signing also breaks open a moribund free agent signing period, with a premium player scoring a big contract for the first time in weeks.

Entering the day, the Brewers featured Ryan Braun and Domingo Santana in the corners, with a trio of young options — Keon Broxton, Lewis Brinson, and Brett Phillips — up the middle. Now, Brinson is out, Cain and Yelich are in, and the remaining players (excepting, perhaps, Braun) appear to be possible trade chips.

[RELATED: Updated Brewers Depth Chart]

Milwaukee had a clear need to improve its rotation when the winter started, particularly given uncertainty surrounding righty Jimmy Nelson. The organization has decided first to improve the outfield, though that could all be part of a plan to move other assets for starting pitching. Santana and Phillips could both be hotly pursued assets, with a variety of teams — the Athletics, Braves, and Rays all make some degree of sense on paper — potentially representing suitors with some pitching on offer.

As much as the signing could mean for the trade market, it’s a welcome sign for players anxiously watching a slow-motion free agent period. In MLBTR’s top 50 free agent ranking, we predicted that Cain would secure $70MM over four years, so this represents a strong contract for the excellent but soon-to-be 32-year-old outfielder. The contract is the first this winter that guarantees more than three seasons and more than $60MM. Cain becomes only the second of MLBTR’s ten top-rated free agents who has signed to this point.

It’s equally intriguing to consider the teams that missed out on Cain. Crasnick again has the details, tweeting that the Dodgers, Cubs, Giants, and Indians were involved in the market. While San Francisco was long known to have interest, tempered by its luxury tax considerations, the other clubs are all rather eye-opening pursuers in various regards. Los Angeles has been tough to decipher all winter long as it watches its own payroll. The Cubs have a fairly well-stocked outfield mix but seem to have irons in a variety of fires. And the Indians have signaled they don’t have much more to spend, but were evidently still willing to consider a major win-now move (presumably with other salary-shedding efforts to accompany it).

It seems hard to recall after his years in Kansas City, but Cain was once a Brewer. Indeed, he joined the Milwaukee organization as a 17th-round pick way back in 2004. As Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes on Twitter, both Cain and Jeremy Jeffress have returned to the Brewers after being dealt to the Royals in the 2010 Zack Greinke swap.

In the interim, Cain has emerged as a star. He reached his career pinnacle in 2015, turning in elite efforts at the plate, on the bases, and in the field to rack up 6.5 fWAR. After a step back in the ensuing season, which was marred in part by injury, Cain emerged again in 2017.

While initial reports connecting Cain to Milwaukee this offseason came as somewhat of a surprise, it appears he’s been on their radar since the onset of free agency. “They said from the minute free agency opened that I was on the top of their list,” Cain said in a chat with MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan.. “We just had to work through all the details, and eventually we both got to the numbers we liked.”

Even if Cain’s superstar-level ’15 output isn’t likely to be repeated, the Brewers will hope he can keep up his most recent efforts. Last year, Cain dropped his strikeout rate to a career-low 15.5%, walked at a career-best 8.4%, compiled 15 home runs and 26 steals, and ended with an even .300 batting average. While metrics now grade him more as a good than a great fielder in center, Cain remains a high-quality all-around performer.

Since Cain rejected a qualifying offer from the Royals, draft compensation will result from the signing. As an organization that received revenue sharing and did not go past the competitive balance tax line in 2017, Milwaukee will have to sacrifice its third-highest draft pick. Notably, MLBTR has confirmed that Competitive Balance draft picks are exempt from this type of forfeiture, however, meaning the Brewers will only have to surrender their third-round selection. For the Royals, bidding adieu to Cain — since he signed for more than $50MM — will mean recouping a pick after the end of the first round of the 2018 draft.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement (via Twitter). ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reported the terms of the deal (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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