Blue Jays Sign John Axford To Minor League Deal
Feb. 9: The Blue Jays have announced the signing.
Feb. 8, 8:54pm: Axford has indeed agreed to a minor league contract with an invite to Major League Spring Training, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
7:46pm: The Blue Jays and free-agent right-hander John Axford are in agreement on a contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The Canadian-born Axford is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council. Details of the arrangement aren’t yet clear, though given his rough 2017 season, it’s possible that Axford agreed to a minor league pact with a Spring Training invite.
Axford, 34, struggled with the A’s last season in the second year of a two-year, $10MM contract, pitching to a 6.43 ERA with a 21-to-17 K/BB ratio in 21 innings out of the Oakland ‘pen before being designated for assignment and released. However, he’s a year removed from a solid 3.97 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 0.82 HR/9 with a 54.2 percent ground-ball rate through 65 2/3 innings in 2016.
Those numbers are largely in line with the overall production that Axford posted from 2013-16 in 241 innings with the Brewers, Cardinals, Indians, Pirates, Rockies and A’s. Axford has long shown the ability to miss bats (career 10.2 K/9) but has also had some longstanding issues in finding the strike zone with regularity (4.6 BB/9). His penchant for racking up strikeouts has led to multiple stints as a closer, as he’s saved 144 games in the Majors, including a 2011 campaign in which he led the National League with 46 saves for Milwaukee.
[Related: Toronto Blue Jays depth chart]
If he ultimately joins the Toronto relief corps, Axford would add an experienced arm to a group that largely lacks a track record. Roberto Osuna, of course, has emerged as one of the game’s top young relievers, and southpaw Aaron Loup has more than five years of big league service time under his belt. But, right-hander Ryan Tepera is the only other reliever on the roster with more than two full years of big league service time.
Joe Biagini, Carlos Ramirez, Danny Barnes, Matt Dermody and Tim Mayza are all 40-man options, but Biagini is the most experienced of the bunch and has not yet established himself in the Majors after a rocky 2017 campaign (mostly spent in the rotation). The Jays do have some veteran options that’ll be in camp as non-roster invitees this spring, including Al Alburquerque and and Jake Petricka (who reportedly agreed to a minor league deal earlier today).
Giants Sign Derek Holland To Minor League Deal
12:27pm: Giants GM Bobby Evans confirmed the deal to reporters, adding that Holland has already passed his physical (Twitter link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Holland will be given a chance to earn a spot in the rotation or in the bullpen.
The deal includes a $1.5MM potential base salary with as much as $2.5MM in possible incentives, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).
11:47am: The Giants are in agreement with left-hander Derek Holland on a minor league contract, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). Presumably, he’ll compete for a roster spot in big league camp this spring.
Holland, 31, spent the bulk of the 2017 season with the White Sox, getting off to a hot start but fading as the season wore on before ultimately being released. The longtime Rangers lefty 2.37 ERA with a 52-to-24 K/BB ratio in 60 2/3 innings through the first two months of the 2017 season, looking the part of a bargain for the ChiSox at the time.
ERA alternatives like xFIP (4.95) and SIERA (4.77) never fully bought into that success, though, and Holland’s production cratered in the months to come as his control worsened. Over his final 74 1/3 innings, he allowed 77 runs on 105 hits and 51 walks, causing his season ERA to balloon from 2.37 to 6.20.
Holland at one point looked like a promising young building block in Texas, pitching to a 3.83 ERA and a 3.89 FIP over 623 1/3 innings from 2011-14. Knee surgery cut short his 2014 season, though, and his 2015 and 2016 seasons were marred by shoulder injuries. The 93-94 miles per hour that Holland averaged on his fastball during those peak young seasons was replaced in 2017 by a more pedestrian average of 91.1 mph.
It’s not entirely clear how the Giants plan to use Holland, though their rotation has no shortage of uncertainty. Beyond Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija (each of whom will be looking to rebound in 2018, to varying degrees), the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are currently set to be filled by lefty Ty Blach and righty Chris Stratton. Blach had baseball’s lowest K/9 and K% marks in 2017, and his 6.2 percent swinging-strike rate was the game’s second-lowest. Stratton, meanwhile, is entering his age-27 season and has just 68 2/3 innings to his credit in the Majors, during which time he’s averaged 7.5 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 with below-average ground-ball tendencies.
San Francisco could also look at utilizing Holland in a bullpen role, even though he has never spent much time as a reliever. Lefties have batted just .246/.310/.349 against him in his career, and while those splits are hardly dominating, he could yet find some improvement if his velocity ticks up when pitching in shorter stints.
Blue Jays Reportedly Interested In Andrew Cashner
The Blue Jays are showing “continued interest” in free-agent righty Andrew Cashner, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, though he’s one of several starters they’re eyeing. The Jays have a need for a fifth starter to round out their rotation, and Morosi suggests that they’re hoping to fill that vacancy on a one-year deal. It’s not a surprise to see the Jays (or any team, for that matter) preferring a one-year term on the free-agent market, but Cashner reportedly entered the offseason in hopes of securing a three-year pact.
It’s possible that the crawling pace of the offseason has lessened his demands to an extent, but there’s been no indication that Cashner is willing to jump on a one-year offer to date. The 31-year-old made 28 starts for the Rangers last season and posted a 3.40 ERA, albeit one that looks to be largely smoke and mirrors. Cashner’s 4.64 K/9 rate was the second-lowest in the Majors, and his 3.46 BB/9 rate was worse than the league average. Overall, his K%-BB% of just 3.1 percent was the worst of any qualified pitcher in baseball, leading fielding-independent metrics like xFIP (5.30) and SIERA (5.52) to paint an unflattering picture of his work.
The said, Cashner’s fastball averaged better than 93 mph, his 48.6 percent ground-ball rate was comfortably above the league average, and he demonstrated the home-run suppression skills he’s shown for much of his career despite a move to a hitter-friendly setting in Arlington (0.81 HR/9). Cashner did rely less on his four-seam fastball with the Ranges than he ever has in previous seasons, instead favoring more cutters/sinkers. Some clubs may believe that altering that pitch selection a bit could restore some his strikeout prowess.
The Blue Jays currently project to have Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada in the top four spots of their rotation. Joe Biagini was their most frequent fifth starter in 2017, though he struggled in a move to the rotation after enjoying success as a reliever in his 2016 rookie season, when he was a Rule 5 pick. Prospect Ryan Borucki is close to big league ready and could conceivably step into the mix, though it stands to reason that the Jays would prefer to ease him into a big league job rather than throw him directly into the fire in the season’s first couple of weeks (without much of a veteran fallback option in place, should he struggle).
Latest On Rays’ Stadium Search
The Rays are set to host a press conference this afternoon to announce that they’ve settled on a preferred site for a new ballpark, per a report from Steve Contorno, Zack Sampson and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Hillsborough County commissioner Ken Hagan tells Contorno that the Rays will seek to move the team from St. Petersburg to Tampa — specifically a site on the outskirts of the Ybor City neighborhood near the Channel District.
“I’m hopeful this will continue to build momentum on our effort to bring the Tampa Bay Rays to Ybor,” Hagan says, adding that an announcement on the design of a new ballpark could follow in the near future. Generally speaking, the proposed new site would seemingly be more accessible to fans in Tampa (which has a larger population than St. Petersburg) as well as those in surrounding suburbs and cities, given its proximity to public transportation and major highways, the Times trio notes.
While the upcoming announcement is a definitive step forward in what has been a seemingly interminable process for the Rays in their quest to move out of one of the sport’s most antiquated facilities, there are still numerous hurdles to clear. Notably, financing for the construction of a new stadium must still be pieced together. A corporate campaign led by local businessmen will be announced today as well, and the number of sponsors and ticket packages the Rays can generate through that endeavor will impact the expected outlay. But, a price tag on the stadium can’t be ascertained until the design is finalized, and that process is still ongoing, per the report, in part due to the cost of a roof serving as a something of a roadblock.
It also remains to be seen exactly how much Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg is willing to commit to the financing of the stadium. Contorno and his colleagues report that the county initially “scoffed” at Sternberg’s suggestion of $150MM, deeming it too small a sum considering a projected cost of upwards of $700MM in total.
The point should also be made that determining a preferred location does not guarantee that the team will eventually break ground at that site. One need not look any further than Oakland as evidence of that fact; the A’s back in September made a similar announcement, touting the Peralta Community College District in Oakland as a viable spot for a new facility and appeared poised to move forward in gaining private funding — much like the Rays are set to do now. Just three months later, though, the district’s board of trustees shocked the A’s by passing a vote to halt the negotiations with the team.
Even if the Rays avoid similar landmines, the process of finalizing the design, generating the necessary funding and navigating the logistics of a construction undertaking of this magnitude will not be a short one. Hagan says that the hope is for the financial component of the process to be sorted out before the end of 2018. The Rays would not actually be on track to play games in the new stadium until 2022 or even 2023, per the Times, and they’d still owe the city of St. Petersburg some back pay in that event for breaking a lease with Tropicana Field that currently runs through 2027 — a sum of $2-3MM annually, depending on the timing of their theoretical move to a new site.
Free Agent Rumors: JDM, Darvish, Morrison, Giants, Twins, Orioles
J.D. Martinez‘s name has been connected more with the D-backs in recent days, though Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic posits that it’s difficult to envision the Diamondbacks finding a way to fit Martinez, Zack Greinke and Paul Goldschmidt all on the same payroll, should the team ultimately extend Goldschmidt beyond his current contract (which runs through 2019). That said, Piecoro notes that Martinez loved his time in Arizona, bonded with teammates and likes the upward trajectory of the team. Piecoro also points out that the D-backs hired one of Martinez’s personal hitting coaches, Robert Van Scoyoc, and appointed him to the newly created position of “hitting strategist” within the organization.
A reunion with the D-backs could be a stretch financially, but FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes that agent Scott Boras has met with D-backs managing partner Ken Kendrick on multiple occasions this offseason. How aggressive Boras can push Kendrick to be remains to be seen; Heyman notes that Arizona has “signaled a willingness” to go to five years and more than $100MM, though John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Arizona Sports tweets that, to the contrary, the D-backs aren’t willing to go to that length to retain the slugger.
More notes on the woefully slow free-agent market…
- The Brewers‘ offer to Yu Darvish was nine figures in total value, Heyman reports in his latest notes column. That’s perhaps not all that surprising, as he’s been expected to sign for more than $100MM all offseason, and any serious proposal to him would figure to top that sum. Heyman further notes that there’s “reason to believe” that neither the Brewers or the Twins are a top choice for Darvish, though, so either team could perhaps need to be more aggressive in order to land him. 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reported yesterday that Minnesota, too, recently made a formal contract offer to Darvish (which presumably was also worth more than $100MM in total).
- Logan Morrison is on the Red Sox‘ radar as a potential backup option should they not sign Martinez, per Heyman. The 30-year-old would be a considerably more affordable source of power to slot into the DH spot in the lineup (presumably with some occasional time at first base to give Mitch Moreland a break, or in the event of a Moreland injury). It’s been fairly quiet on Morrison for much of the offseason despite the fact that he’s run up a 130 wRC+ over his past 900 big league plate appearances. MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently took a lengthier look at Morrison’s merits.
- FanRag’s Robert Murray reports that the Giants are still looking for bullpen help and made an offer to Seung-hwan Oh before the righty ultimately signed with the Rangers. San Francisco is only about $2.1MM from the $197MM luxury tax threshold, so they don’t have much to spend while remaining under the tax line. Murray suggests a match with Huston Street as a possibility, though his characterization of Street as one of the top remaining options on the relief market seems rather overstated. Now 34 years old, Street was one of the game’s top relievers for the better part of a decade, but he’s pitched just 26 1/3 innings with a 5.47 ERA and a 17-to-13 K/BB ratio in the past two seasons as he’s dealt with oblique, knee, lat and groin injuries in that brief two-year span. That said, he certainly seems like someone that could fit into a limited budget, perhaps even on a minor league deal.
- The Twins have been most prominently linked to rotation help, but they’re also looking to bolster their offensive output against left-handed pitching, writes Dan Hayes of The Athletic. “…[I]f there’s a right fit for our roster from the right side, that’s probably a fair place to say, if we’re going to add on the position player side, that’s the right slot,” chief baseball officer Derek Falvey tells Hayes. Minnesota has been linked to Mike Napoli throughout the offseason, and Hayes runs through some other speculative fits that could bolster the club’s bench and overall output against lefties.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com looks at the Orioles‘ pursuit of rotation help and notes that he hasn’t heard any talk of interest in a reunion with Jeremy Hellickson. The O’s tried to gauge Wade Miley‘s interest in a one-year deal earlier this winter, and they perhaps unsurprisingly have not shown a “shred” of interest in bringing Ubaldo Jimenez back to Baltimore. The Jimenez deal, Kubatko notes, has led to a refusal on the Orioles’ part to consider offers beyond three years in length this offseason. (ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported a similar sentiment from owner Peter Angelos yesterday.)
MLBPA Preparing Spring Training Camp For Free Agents
10:00pm: Some Boras clients, it seems, will participate in the union’s camp, per Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links). He quotes Boras:
“A question arose as to where our clients would work out. Our clients will certainly take advantage of the union facilities as their schedule allows. Where they work out is a individual choice based upon convenience. Understandably, the camps do not allow our training staff to attend and many of our clients are comfortable continuing their [Spring Training] routines and preparation at one of Boras Corps facilities.”
Feb. 8, 1:46pm: The MLBPA camp is taking shape. Rosenthal reports (links to Twitter account) that it’ll be held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Here are a few additional details that the union has provided in an email that Rosenthal obtained:
- Bo Porter will lead the proceedings; no personal trainers will be allowed
- the union is arranging travel, housing, per diems, and insurance
- camp will open next Wednesday and run through at least March 4th
Interestingly, some players under contract are expected to partake before reporting to their respective organizations’ camps. That’s intended as a “show of support,” says Rosenthal, but at present it does not sound as if any players intend to miss any time with their teams.
Importantly, clients of Scott Boras are not expected to participate, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). The super-agent, who represents many of the top remaining free agents, says that he’ll continue to rely upon his and his clients’ own resources “to make sure our players are prepared when they reach agreements.”
Feb. 7: With more than 100 players unsigned in the week before Spring Training is set to kick off, the Major League Baseball Players Association is laying the groundwork to host training camps for free agents, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that a Spring Training for free agents “will happen.” Meanwhile, Brown’s colleague, Jeff Passan, tweets that a camp for unsigned players could kick off as soon as next Tuesday — the same day that many pitchers and catchers around the league will begin reporting to their teams’ respective Spring Training camps.
To be clear, while there are indeed more than 100 players that logged 50+ plate appearances or 20+ innings last year who remain unsigned, not all of those players would be reasonably expected to sign a Major League deal even in a more conventional offseason. MLBTR’s Free Agent Tracker for the 2017-18 offseason reveals 110 players who’ve not yet agreed to a deal, though nearly half of the players on that list seem unlikely to sign a big league deal either due to poor performance, lack of track record or injury. That said, there are still as many as 50 fairly clear-cut candidates for Major League deals, plus another handful of borderline options that could go either way in most offseasons. It’s not clear exactly how many free agents would attend a voluntary camp for unsigned players.
The union, according to Brown, is eyeing locations in both Arizona and Florida, with Bradenton’s IMG Baseball Academy one potential location. The MLBPA is also trying to find coaches and other personnel to help staff the facility and create an atmosphere that resembles a traditional Spring Training setting as closely as possible.
If (or perhaps more appropriately, when) a training camp for unemployed players ultimately comes to be, it’ll mark the first time that such measures have been necessary since 1995, when unsigned players organized a similar camp during MLB’s most recent labor stoppage. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick recently took a look back at that ’95 training camp, speaking to D-backs hitting coach Dave Magadan, who was one of the free agents that participated in the camp, about the experience.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/8/18
We’ll keep tabs on the latest minor moves in this post …
- Outfielder Collin Cowgill has signed on with the Phillies on a minor league pact, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The 31-year-old Cowgill would earn an $800K base salary if he cracked the big league roster, per Nightengale, though he’ll have an uphill battle ahead of him in that regard. Philadelphia will have Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr, Nick Williams and Roman Quinn in the outfield mix as it is. Cowgill didn’t play in the Majors in 2017 and only logged nine games in 2016. He’s a career .234/.297/.329 hitter in parts of six Major League seasons and a career .283/.356/.431 hitter in seven Triple-A seasons.
Earlier Moves
- The Yankees have agreed to a minor-league deal with outfielder Shane Robinson, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). He could earn at a $950K rate in the majors and will receive an invitation to MLB camp this spring. The 33-year-old Robinson has long been a reserve/depth piece, seeing action in eight MLB campaigns but compiling only 795 total plate appearances at the game’s highest level. He spent most of 2017 with the Angels’ top affiliate, slashing a sturdy .319/.370/.425 in his 385 trips to the plate.
- Righty Stephen Fife is heading back stateside after signing on with the Indians, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The 31-year-old, a third-round pick in 2008, hasn’t seen the majors since 2014 but does own a 3.66 ERA in 91 career frames. Fife made five starts last year for Japan’s Seibu Lions, but struggled to a 6.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts and 13 walks in just 21 frames. He’ll be looking to get back on track with the Cleveland organization, though he’ll certainly face very long odds to crack the roster out of camp.
Latest On Eduardo Nunez
Feb. 8: Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com tweets that the Braves can be counted among the teams that have “serious” interest in Nunez. Atlanta has something of an opening at third base, where Johan Camargo is presently projected to serve as a bridge to prospect Austin Riley.
However, there have also been multiple reports that the Braves aren’t likely to make a big splash at the hot corner; David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently characterized any such addition as unlikely, and FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that the Braves would primarily be open to a one-year deal with any third base target. Given the fairly robust level of interest in the versatile Nunez, it seems unlikely that he’d command only a one-year pact.
Feb. 6: Veteran infielder Eduardo Nunez has long seemed likely to command fairly broad interest, though his market got underway only recently since he spent the early part of the offseason recovering from a knee injury (though he was able to avoid surgery). It still seems that there’s some room for development in his market, as interest continues to percolate.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, via Twitter, the Rays have joined the division-rival Red Sox and Yankees with interest. Tampa Bay, according to Rosenthal, is generally gauging the market for right-handed bats while simultaneously fielding interest in some of its presently more expensive assets, including Jake Odorizzi and Alex Colome. In theory, either or both could be traded for younger, more controllable assets while clearing some salary for a free-agent addition such as Nunez.
Nunez has been tied most closely in recent weeks to Boston (see here and here), and Rosenthal wrote again tonight that the Red Sox have shown interest in re-signing him. But he has also been connected to both New York organizations and a host of other possible destinations given his experience at third base, shortstop, second base and in left field. While Nunez doesn’t thrive at any one position and grades out below average at several, the ability to place him at multiple spots on a short-term basis holds plenty of appeal all the same. He’s also taken his offensive game to a new level in recent seasons, slashing .296/.332/.443 in 1290 plate appearances for the Twins, Giants and Red Sox dating back to the 2015 campaign.
Of course, the Mets are no longer a reasonable possibility; per John Harper of the New York Daily News, the club believed it could’ve signed Nunez for approximately the same price it paid Todd Frazier (two years and $17MM). After some internal debate, though, the club opted for Frazier’s power and glovework at the hot corner over Nunez’s superior batting average and baserunning prowess but weaker contact profile and glovework.
NL East Notes: Mets, Cole, Jay, Braves
As the Mets have now managed to check off their most pressing needs at fairly reasonable prices, some attention has turned to the question whether the organization might now go on to spend on a starter. GM Sandy Alderson noted that “some opportunities arose for us that probably would not have been expected right after the end of the World Series,” as James Wagner of the New York Times reports. Given the noted health questions for the talented Mets pitching staff, the thinking goes, perhaps the team will look to score some rotation value and thrust itself into clear contention status. To this point, though, the Mets “have yet to engage in meaningful discussions” with free agent hurlers Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Rather, the focus seems still to be on finding some pitching depth.
More from the division…
- At a recent Nationals Hot Stove event, GM Mike Rizzo plainly stated that, as things presently stand, right-hander A.J. Cole is his team’s fifth starter (link via TalkNats.com). “Our number five starter, you know, is A.J. Cole which I’m really looking forward to seeing where he’s at this year,” said Rizzo. “If you look at his numbers last year, his last seven starts were outstanding. He pitched in eleven games last year in the big leagues with eight starts and had a 3.81 ERA… Look at the other teams in our division. See where that ERA ranks on those other staffs.” Of course, fielding-independent metrics like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all pegged Cole north of 5.00, due largely to a 4.7 BB/9 rate and a pedestrian 7.6 K/9 mark. One would think, too, that a strong Spring Training effort from someone such as Austin Voth or Erick Fedde could impact that plan, as could the addition of an arm via free agency or trade. At present, though, it’s certainly noteworthy that the job is Cole’s to lose. Cole figures to make the roster in some capacity, as he’s out of minor league options.
- Jon Jay “appears to be a consideration” for the Marlins in free agency, FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes in his latest notes column. Jay has some local ties, having played his college ball at Miami, though it’s not entirely clear at this point how much the Marlins are willing to spend. Heyman suggests that their payroll is south of the $85MM mark at present, though between the commitments to Wei-Yin Chen ($10MM salary + $8MM deferred signing bonus payment this June), Martin Prado ($13.5MM), Starlin Castro ($10MM), Brad Ziegler ($9MM), Junichi Tazawa ($7MM), Derek Dietrich ($2.9MM), Justin Bour ($3.4MM), J.T. Realmuto ($2.9MM) and Miguel Rojas ($1.18MM) they’re at nearly $68MM. Add in the $13MM they owe Edinson Volquez, the remaining unresolved arb case of Dan Straily and a slate of pre-arbitration players to round out the roster, and it’d seem they’re still north of $90MM.
- Heyman also notes that the Braves would add a third baseman if they can find a match on a one-year deal, but they’re comfortable using Johan Camargo there for a year while waiting for prospect Austin Riley to finish off his development in the upper minors. More generally, he adds that they’re looking more at “depth” signings than anything else at this point of the offseason.
Cubs Defeat Justin Grimm In Arbitration
The Cubs have won their arbitration hearing against righty Justin Grimm, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter link). Grimm will play for $2.2MM in the coming season after filing for a $2.475MM salary.
Grimm, who earned $1.825MM in 2017, struggled to a 5.53 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 1.93 HR/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 55 1/3 innings for the Cubs last year. The 2017-18 offseason marks his third winter of arbitration eligibility, though due to his status as a Super Two player, he’ll be eligible once more next offseason before reaching free agency upon the completion of the 2019 campaign.
Grimm represented the last unresolved arbitration case for the Cubs, who had previously cut deals to avoid a hearing with Kris Bryant, Tommy La Stella, Kyle Hendricks, Addison Russell and Justin Wilson.