Blue Jays Acquire Gift Ngoepe
The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Gift Ngoepe from the Pirates, per club announcements. The talented defender changes hands as the clubs go about trimming their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft. A player to be named later or cash will head to Pittsburgh in return.
Ngoepe, 27, became the first African-born player to reach the majors when he debuted in 2017. Though he moved around in Pittsburgh, Ngoepe has spent the bulk of his minor-league time at shortstop and is regarded as a proficient middle infielder.
Ngoepe could function as an optionable utility piece in Toronto. But he’ll need to boost his offensive production to hold down a steady job in the bigs. In his first 63 MLB plate appearances, Ngoepe slashed just .222/.323/.296. He has never shown all that much punch in the minors, either, with a .221/.295/.362 composite batting line over three seasons at Triple-A, but clearly some major-league organizations still think there’s some hope for improvement.
Indians Claim Rob Refsnyder, Designate Kyle Crockett & Dylan Baker
The Indians announced today that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder off waivers from the Blue Jays and designated left-hander Kyle Crockett and Dylan Baker for assignment. Cleveland has also selected the contracts of right-hander Julian Merryweather and infielders Willi Castro, Yu Chang and Eric Stamets. That series of moves fills the Indians’ 40-man roster and leaves the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster at a total of 33 players.
The 26-year-old Refsnyder split the 2017 season between the Yankees (who originally drafted him in 2012) and the Blue Jays but struggled to a composite .170/.247/.216 slash line. While Refsnyder has long turned in intriguing offensive stats in the minors, he’s batted just .233/.306/.311 in 320 big league plate appearances. At one point, Yankees fans hoped that Refsnyder could hold down the team’s second base job in the Majors, but he’s now split his time fairly equally between second, first base and left field in the Majors.
Crockett, 25, was a fourth-round pick back in 2013 and was the first player from that draft class to reach the Majors, debuting in 2014. While he turned in a promising 1.80 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 30 innings that season, he’s struggled to a 4.84 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 35 1/3 big league innings since then. To his credit, Crockett has allowed just a minuscule three homers in 65 1/3 MLB innings and has held lefties to a .614 OPS in 167 plate appearances. Righties have knocked him around at a .280/.373/.452 clip, though.
Baker, 25, has scarcely pitched since the 2015 season due to injuries, including Tommy John surgery. The 2012 fifth-rounder has tossed just 21 1/3 innings across three levels in the past three minor league seasons combined, though he’s posted a 3.58 ERA in 241 2/3 innings in his minor league career when healthy.
Chang (No. 4), Castro (No. 9) and Merryweather (No. 12) each ranked within the Indians’ top 30 prospects, according to Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
Blue Jays Outright Harold Ramirez, Chris Rowley
The Blue Jays announced that minor league outfielder Harold Ramirez and right-hander Chris Rowley have been outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers. The pair of moves creates some additional room on the 40-man in advance of tonight’s 8pm ET deadline to protect players from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Ramirez, 23, came to the Blue Jays alongside Reese McGuire and Francisco Liriano in a trade that sent Drew Hutchison to the Pirates in 2016. The Bucs were widely panned for parting with a pair of intriguing prospects in a trade that looked largely fueled by a desire to shed Liriano’s contract, but Ramirez flopped in his first full season in the Toronto organization. Once considered to be among the game’s top 100 prospects, the 23-year-old hit just .260/.320/.358 in 489 plate appearances at the Double-A level this past season.
The 27-year-old Rowley made his big league debut this season after working to a combined 2.24 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 116 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A (albeit against younger competition). Rowley tallied 18 2/3 frames for the Jays but was tagged for 14 runs on 24 hits (four homers) and 10 walks with 11 strikeouts in that time.
White Sox Outright Chris Beck, Tyler Danish
The White Sox announced today that right-handers Chris Beck and Tyler Danish have cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte, thus removing them from the 40-man roster. The moves will help pave the way for Chicago’s newest slate of 40-man roster additions, which includes minor league outfielders Eloy Jimenez, Luis Alexander Basabe and Micker Adolfo; minor league lefty Ian Clarkin; and minor league first baseman Casey Gillaspie, per the team’s announcement.
Beck, 27, soaked up 64 2/3 innings out of the White Sox’ bullpen in 2017 but struggled to a 6.40 ERA with an unsightly 42-to-34 K/BB ratio along the way. The 2012 second-rounder averaged nearly 95 mph on his heater in the process but proved extremely susceptible to home runs (2.23 HR/9). Beck does have a more palatable 3.72 ERA in 162 frames at the Triple-A level, though he’s averaged just 6.9 K/9 there in spite of his solid velocity.
Danish, meanwhile, has just 6 2/3 minor league innings under his belt — all coming in the past two seasons. Also a former second-round pick (2013), the 23-year-old was considered to be one of the Sox’ most promising minor league arms in the low minors before stalling in the upper levels. Danish logged a 5.47 ERA with just 4.6 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in Triple-A this past season and posted ERA marks in the mid- to upper-4.00s at Double-A in Triple-A from 2015-16.
With the exception of Adolfo, each of the new 40-man additions was acquired by the White Sox within the past 12 months on the trade market. Jimenez (acquired in the Jose Quintana swap) is considered among the top five to 10 prospects in all of baseball. Adolfo, Basabe (Chris Sale trade), Clarkin (Todd Frazier/David Robertson/Tommy Kahnle trade) and Gillaspie (Dan Jennings trade) are not quite as highly regarded but are all among Chicago’s top 30 overall prospects, per MLB.com.
Rangers Acquire Ronald Herrera From Yankees
The Rangers are set to acquire right-hander Ronald Herrera from the Yankees, reports MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (on Twitter). The two teams announced the trade shortly thereafter, revealing that lefty Reiver Sanmartin is going to the Yankees in return. Herrera was on the Yankees’ 40-man roster and will thus be added to the Rangers’ 40-man roster as well.
The Yankees entered the day with just three open 40-man spots and several players worthy of 40-man consideration, while the Rangers had a whopping 10 spots on their 40-man roster they can fill before tonight’s deadline to set rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. Shipping Herrera to the Rangers vacates one of those spots and paves way for another player to be protected to the Rule 5 Draft.
The 22-year-old Herrera was initially signed by the A’s back in 2011 but went to the Padres as part of the trade that sent Kyle Blanks to Oakland in 2014. More recently, the Padres traded him to the Yankees in exchange for Jose Pirela. The 22-year-old Herrera cruised through three minor league levels this season, pitching to a 1.91 ERA with 6.8 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings (14 starts).
[Related: Updated Texas Rangers and New York Yankees depth charts]
Herrera made his big league debut with the Yanks but tossed just three innings, allowing two runs with three strikeouts against one walk. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tweets that Herrera is a potential back-of-the-rotation arm, featuring a low 90s heater with an above-average changeup and fringier breaking pitches. For a Rangers club in dire need of rotation options, he’s a welcome addition.
As for Sanmartin, the Colombian-born 21-year-old spent the 2017 season in A-ball and tossed 66 innings with a 2.41 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 66 frames. Sanmartin made 11 starts in addition to three relief appearances. Longenhagen tweets that he sits in the upper 80s with his fastball and has an average changeup and slider, pegging Sanmartin as a reliever or a fifth/sixth starter. Sanmartin signed with the Rangers as a 19-year-old in 2015, so he still has another year before he needs to be considered for the 40-man roster.
Giancarlo Stanton Rumors: Monday
Another day, another slew of rumors pertaining to the game’s top slugger. Reports over the weekend indicated that the Cardinals have submitted a formal offer to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton, but that doesn’t mean that there’s any indication a trade involving Stanton is any closer. Here’s the latest on the 2017 home run king…
- Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM tweets that the Marlins and Giants have discussed second baseman Joe Panik, right-handed pitching prospect Tyler Beede and outfield prospect Chris Shaw. The Giants have also discussed the possibility of taking Dee Gordon back in the deal, which would make some sense with Panik possibly being of interest to Miami. It’s worth noting that Mish doesn’t specifically state that the two sides have talked about a Panik/Beede/Shaw for Stanton and Gordon package. To the contrary, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that he hears that is not the framework of a deal being discussed (nor is it close, according to Schulman). It seems, then, that the two sides are likely discussing multiple scenarios and those names have been involved (likely with others) in various permutations. The Giants reportedly made some type of trade proposal on Friday.
- Mish also tweets that the Cardinals are willing to part with hard-throwing right-handed pitching prospect Sandy Alcantara, who was included in the aforementioned formal offer to Miami. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com rank Alcantara ninth among Cardinals farmhands, noting he sits at 96 mph with a fastball that scrapes triple digits and also has the potential for a pair of average or better secondary offerings. Baseball America rated Alcantara fourth among Cardinals farmhands just two weeks ago (subscription required & recommended for their full scouting report).
- Meanwhile, Schulman tweets that the Marlins haven’t reached the point where they’re asking interested teams for their best and final offers for Stanton, thus indicating that an actual trade involving Stanton is not especially close at this time.
Brewers Reportedly Showing Interest In Jake Arrieta
With Jimmy Nelson set to miss a portion of the 2018 season following shoulder surgery, the Brewers are eyeing top-end rotation upgrades and showing some early interest in Jake Arrieta, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi.
Arrieta, 32 March, is a familiar commodity for the Brewers, who have watched him star for the Cubs for nearly four full seasons. While Milwaukee doesn’t typically play at the top of the free-agent market, we explained here at MLBTR recently that the Brewers are in an uncharacteristically strong position to spend given their lack of long-term payroll commitments and given that some more traditionally big-spending teams aren’t likely to pursue top-line starters.
The Brewers have just north of $32MM committed to the 2018 payroll, plus another $22.7MM in arbitration projections, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. They have similar commitments (in terms of guaranteed multi-year deals) lined up for the 2019 season, and the 2020 books have only Ryan Braun‘s $16MM salary guaranteed. Milwaukee, then, could easily afford to add a hefty multi-year contract, even if meant committing upwards of $25MM annually.
[Related: Milwaukee Brewers payroll outlook & depth chart]
Beyond the sheer financial plausibility, there’s a clear need in the Milwaukee rotation. Nelson broke out as the team’s top starter this season but will miss a fairly significant chunk of the 2018 season, per the Brewers, though the team won’t estimate precisely how long he’ll be out just yet. Beyond him, the recently extended Chase Anderson and fellow righty Zach Davies are the only two rotation locks. Brent Suter, Brandon Woodruff, Josh Hader and Junior Guerra are among the team’s top internal candidates to fill out the rotation while Nelson mends.
Milwaukee’s rebuild accelerated considerably in 2017 as Nelson, Anderson, Davies, Travis Shaw and Domingo Santana all put together breakout years while top prospects Hader, Woodruff and Lewis Brinson all proved to be on the cusp of MLB readiness. Orlando Arcia took hold of the team’s shortstop job (though there’s still room for improvement), while Eric Thames enjoyed a productive overall year in his first season back in the big leagues after an excellent run in the Korea Baseball Organization.
All of those positive signs now have the Brewers in position to vie for an NL Central title next season, which should prompt the front office to be more willing to spend than it has been in recent years. We’ve not yet seen a David Stearns-led front office play the role of an aggressive offseason shopper on either the free-agent or trade market thus far, but it seems reasonable to expect that the Brewers will make a number of win-now moves this offseason. On our annual top 50 free agent projections, MLBTR predicted that Arrieta would land in Milwaukee.
Arrieta did reject a $17.4MM qualifying offer from the Cubs, meaning he’d cost the Brewers their third-highest selection in next year’s draft. As of last week, we know that to be the team’s Competitive Balance Round B pick — No. 74 overall. The Cubs, meanwhile, would receive a compensatory pick after Comp Round B, assuming Arrieta signs a deal for more than $50MM guaranteed (which seems like a foregone conclusion).
Deadline To Set 40-Man Rosters For Rule 5 Draft Is Tonight
The deadline for Major League teams to set their 40-man rosters in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight at 8pm ET. As such, baseball fans should expect to see a flurry of activity over the next 11 hours. There will be likely be players designated for assignment, outrighted and claimed off waivers in addition to multiple smaller-scale trades as teams make room on their own 40-man rosters and also pick up fringe 40-man candidates out of other organizations.
The Rule 5 Draft will take place on the final day of next month’s Winter Meetings (Dec. 14) and allow clubs with open space on the 40-man roster to select Rule 5-eligible players out of other organizations. Rule 5 eligibility is dependent on the age at which a player signed and that player’s experience.
A player that signed at 18 years of age or younger and has played five seasons of pro ball with his organization is Rule 5 eligible if he is not added to the 40-man roster today. Players that signed at 19 or older and have played four seasons are also eligible to be selected if they’re not added to the 40-man roster today. (In other words, college draftees out of the 2014 class, high school draftees out of the 2013 class and most international amateurs signed in the 2013-14 international period are eligible this year if not protected.)
Readers looking for the most obvious candidates to be added can reference this excellent piece from Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. As Mayo notes, there were seven players on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list that needed to be added as of this morning: Gleyber Torres (Yankees), Eloy Jimenez (White Sox), Brent Honeywell (Rays), Austin Meadows (Pirates), Stephen Gonsalves (Twins), Jake Bauers (Rays) and Tyler O’Neill (Cardinals). Clearly, all seven of those players will be added to the 40-man roster today.
Mayo also provides a team-by-team rundown of the players from each club’s organizational top 30 prospect rankings that must be protected by tonight’s deadline or else exposed to Rule 5 eligibility, and MLBTR’s Jason Martinez has provided a team-by-team list of some notable players that are Rule 5-eligible as well.
Here’s a quick team-by-team look at the number of open 40-man spaces each team presently has to work with as of this morning:
American League West
- Astros: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Angels: 8 open spots (depth chart)
- Mariners: 4 open spots (depth chart)
- Rangers: 10 open spots (depth chart)
- Athletics: Full (depth chart)
American League Central
- Indians: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Twins: 7 open spots (depth chart)
- Royals: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- White Sox: 4 open spots (depth chart)
- Tigers: 9 open spots (depth chart)
American League East
- Red Sox: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Yankees: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Rays: 8 open spots (depth chart)
- Orioles: 10 open spots (depth chart)
- Blue Jays: 4 open spots (depth chart)
National League West
- Dodgers: Full (depth chart)
- D-backs: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Rockies: 7 open spots (depth chart)
- Padres: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Giants: Full (depth chart)
National League Central
- Cubs: 6 open spots (depth chart)
- Brewers: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Cardinals: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Pirates: 4 open spots (depth chart)
- Reds: 7 open spots (depth chart)
National League East
- Nationals: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Mets: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Braves: 4 open spots (depth chart)
- Marlins: 6 open spots (depth chart)
- Phillies: 2 open spots (depth chart)
Quick Hits: Int’l Market, Twins, Vizquel, Chatwood, Nats
The Blue Jays are the favorites to sign 15-year-old Dominican shortstop Orelvis Martinez, who scouts expect will receive the highest bonus of any player signed in next year’s July 2 international signing market, Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes (BA subscription required and recommended). Badler recently attended an MLB showcase for Dominican players and provides brief scouting breakdowns on some of the talents involved, plus the teams already connected to them in signing rumors. Besides Toronto and Martinez, the Giants, Tigers, Mariners, Rays, Indians, Royals, and Cubs were also linked to the seven other prospects featured in Badler’s report.
- Extensions could be a major element of the Twins‘ offseason, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes that the club could look to gain cost certainty over one or more of their young players with a multi-year agreement. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were often part of extension talks in their past jobs with the Indians and Rangers; Berardino gets some interesting quotes from Ian Kinsler about his dealings with Levine in working out his two extensions with Texas. for a lower-payroll team like Minnesota, though it’s worth noting that the Twins have no money at all on the books after the 2019 season. Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Eddie Rosario are all a season away from arbitration eligibility, while Jose Berrios and other possible cornerstone players still have multiple pre-arb years remaining.
- The White Sox have hired Omar Vizquel as the manager of their A-ball affiliate in Winston-Salem, according to Venezuelan reporter Efrain Zavarace on Twitter (hat tip to MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery). This will be Vizquel’s first managerial assignment after four seasons as the Tigers’ first base coach and one year as an infield coach with the Angels. He has often been mentioned as a potential managerial candidate in the big leagues, and Vizquel interviewed for the Tigers’ dugout vacancy earlier this offseason.
- There is “widespread interest” in free agent right-hander Tyler Chatwood, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets. As a result, it’s “probable” Chatwood will land a multi-year contract, a source informed Morosi. MLBTR forecasts a three-year, $20MM contract for Chatwood, who spent the previous five seasons with the Rockies organization. Chatwood combined for 60 appearances (52 starts) from 2016-17 and recorded a 4.27 ERA, with 6.98 K/9 against 4.33 BB/9, across 305 2/3 innings. His age (28 in December), high velocity and penchant for inducing grounders (57.6 percent over the prior two seasons) are surely helping his cause on the open market.
- After almost two years of trying, the Nationals aren’t close to selling the naming rights to Nationals Park, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports. If the Nats can eventually find a deal, it would create a short-term revenue bump for a club that has extensive short-term financial commitments and doesn’t seem any closer to resolving their ongoing TV rights dispute with the Orioles. (Janes also provides an update on the latest development between the Nats and O’s in that court case.)
5 Key Stories: 11/12/17 – 11/18/17
Here are the biggest stories from the past week here at MLBTR…
Carlos Beltran retires: After winning his first World Series championship, Carlos Beltran decided to go out on top, announcing his retirement after 20 years in the big leagues. The nine-time All-Star ends his career with a .279/.350/.486 slash line and 435 homers over 11031 PA, cementing himself as one of the best all-around players of the 21st century. Highly respected both on and off the field, Beltran is a strong candidate to reach the Hall Of Fame as soon as he is eligible.
Braves add Alex Anthopoulos, lose John Hart: Former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was hired as Atlanta’s new executive vice-president and general manager, ending an offseason of turmoil within the Braves’ front office. Anthopoulos now sits atop the team’s baseball decision-making pyramid, as former president of baseball operations John Hart was first shifted to a senior advisory role before announcing that he is leaving the organization.
Qualifying offer news: All nine players (Jake Arrieta, Lorenzo Cain, Alex Cobb, Wade Davis, Greg Holland, Eric Hosmer, Lance Lynn, Mike Moustakas, Carlos Santana) who were issued qualifying offers rejected the one-year, $17.4MM deals. The six teams who issued the QOs now stand to receive draft pick compensation should these free agents sign elsewhere. This is the first time in three offseasons that no free agents accepted a qualifying offer, which could have to do with the new QO rules in place this offseason, or simply all of these individual players felt they were better served in pursuing multi-year deals this winter.
J.D. Martinez aims high in contract talks: The free agent slugger and agent Scott Boras are reportedly looking for a seven-year, $210MM deal on the open market, setting the bar quite high for negotiations. MLBTR projects Martinez for “only” six years and $150MM, so it isn’t out of the question that Boras (with his notable history of finding bigger-than-expected paydays for his clients) can find another guaranteed year and even more money for the former Diamondbacks outfielder.
Trade winds blowing in Seattle: Jerry Dipoto is no stranger to swinging deals, as the Mariners GM continued his roster-shuffling ways by making three trades in four days. The biggest move of the trio was the acquisition of Ryon Healy from the A’s for Emilio Pagan and Alexander Campos, as the Mariners expect Healy to upgrade the team’s shaky first base mix. The M’s also picked up right-hander Nick Rumbelow from the Yankees in exchange for two minor league pitchers, and dealt righty Thyago Vieira to the White Sox for $500K in international bonus pool funds. The latter move could be particularly interesting, given that it gives Seattle a bit more financial ammunition to potentially lure Shohei Ohtani.
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