MLBTR Chat Transcript: 1/5/17
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.
Phillies, Cesar Ramos Agree To Minors Deal
The Phillies have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with left-hander Cesar Ramos, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). The Wasserman client will add a southpaw with considerable Major League experience to Philadelphia’s depth chart.
Ramos, 32, opened the 2016 season with the Rangers and made four starts plus a dozen relief appearances before being released in late July. The 6.04 ERA, 11.3 H/9 and 2.3 HR/9 yielded by Ramos in his brief 47 2/3 inning stint with Texas weren’t pretty, but prior to that he’d enjoyed a nice run as a bullpen lefty with the Rays and Angels. From 2011-15, Ramos tossed 276 innings of 3.49 ERA ball, averaging 7.2 strikeouts and 3.6 walks per nine innings pitched. His ground-ball rate has fluctuated a bit over the years, but his career average is a solid 45.5 percent. Ramos has also held lefties in check reasonably well, limiting same-handed opponents to a .250/.314/.339 batting line.
The Phillies don’t have much certainty among left-handed relievers. Hard-throwing Joely Rodriguez is currently the only lefty projected in their big league bullpen, though starter Adam Morgan could also get a look due to the fact that the rotation looks to be full without him. The Phils have also added southpaw Sean Burnett as a non-roster invite this offseason, so he’ll be among the arms with which Ramos is competing for a roster spot this spring.
Latest On Cubs’ Search For Rotation Depth
The Cubs intend to deploy a six-man rotation at times throughout the life of the 2017 season as they look to lessen the workload of a rotation that shouldered a considerable burden in the postseason, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Chicago’s interest in right-hander Tyson Ross — Sherman, like Yahoo’s Jeff Passan and FOX’s Ken Rosenthal, calls the Cubs a finalist for Ross — is tied to this thinking. However, he adds that even if Ross ultimately signs elsewhere, the Cubs will pursue additional rotation depth to ease the workload on its current starters.
As it stands, the Cubs project to have Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey and Mike Montgomery in their Opening Day rotation. Arrieta had never thrown more than 170 innings in a full season (between the Majors and minors) prior to joining the Cubs, but he’s now thrown 468 1/3 innings between the regular season and the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. Lester, similarly, has taken on a high workload, tallying 457 1/3 frames between the postseason and regular season dating back to 2015. Hendricks, meanwhile, posted a career-high 190 regular-season innings and added 25 1/3 more in the playoffs, bringing his year-long total to 215 1/3 (up from his previous high of 180). Significant workloads are nothing new for Lackey, but the grizzled vet is now 38 years old and missed a couple of weeks with a shoulder strain late in the season.
If the Cubs aren’t able to land Ross, Sherman writes that Chicago could look to bring Travis Wood back into the fold as a swingman and spot starter. Wood obviously brings plenty of familiarity to the Cubs, having spent the past five seasons with the team. Wood was pushed out of the Cubs’ rotation after a rough 2014 season and poor start to 2015, but he did throw 200 very good innings for Chicago in 2013 and average 30 starts per year from 2012-14. From my vantage point, he’d be an interesting option as a starter for teams with more clear-cut rotation vacancies, though perhaps a return to the reigning World Series champs would outweigh the opportunity to have a definitive rotation job elsewhere. Sherman notes that Rule 5 lefty Caleb Smith (selected out of the Yankees organization by the Brewers and traded to Chicago) also intrigues the Cubs and may get a look in a swingman role this spring.
If Chicago wants to look elsewhere for someone to fill that role, there are a number of options remaining on the market with recent starting and relief experience. Yusmeiro Petit, old friend Scott Feldman, Vance Worley, Dillon Gee and Jorge De La Rosa are just a few low-cost options that could potentially fit the bill. Jason Hammel, whose option whose market has surprisingly not developed much after Chicago bought out his option, makes some logical sense as a candidate to return if he’s willing to accept a one-year offer (at a higher rate than the other listed names). And, of course, the trade market can never be ruled out. (It is, after all, where the Cubs procured Montgomery this past July.)
Ross brings the most upside of the free agents, but one has to wonder his thoughts on potentially being in a six-man rotation as opposed to receiving the opportunity to rebuild his stock by taking the ball every fifth day. Then again, as mentioned with regard to Wood, the notion of pitching for a clear-cut World Series contender carries allure for any free agent.
The Cubs’ desire to incorporate a sixth starter with more regularity isn’t exactly new. Manager Joe Maddon utilized Montgomery as a starter late in the season last year and has voiced a belief that more teams will begin to look to six-man rotations in the season’s second half in the years to come (as the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales wrote last September). While the April schedule will present plenty of off-days and allow the Cubs to organically incorporate some extra rest into their starters’ schedules, that luxury is long gone by midseason as many teams deal with pitching injuries both minor and major.
Blue Jays Sign Gavin Floyd To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve re-signed right-hander Gavin Floyd to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.
Floyd, 34 later this month, spent the 2016 campaign with the Jays and pitched reasonably well when healthy, logging a 4.06 earned run average with a 30-to-8 K/BB ratio in 31 innings out of the Toronto bullpen. His season, however, came to an end in late June when he hit the disabled list with a shoulder injury that later proved to be a partially torn lat muscle.
Floyd has been plagued by persistent arm issues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2013, twice fracturing the olecranon bone in his elbow in addition to his 2016 shoulder woes, but he’s steadfastly remained committed to getting back on a big league mound. He’s posted a 3.10 ERA in 98 2/3 innings since undergoing Tommy John, so the talent is clearly still there. The question with Floyd is simply one of whether his arm can hold up for the duration of a Major League season, even working in short relief stints. Certainly, it would seem that Toronto president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins are firm believers in Floyd’s abilities, as they’ve been a part of signing him in each of the past three offseasons (with Cleveland prior to the 2015 season and with the Jays last winter).
Rangers, Cubs, Nationals Pursuing Tyson Ross
11:30am: FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Nationals, too, covet Ross but are considered a “long shot” to land his services. Joe Ross, Tyson’s younger brother, is currently penciled into the Nationals’ rotation, so there’s some appeal beyond financial incentive for Tyson to ponder a match with the Nats. Then again, Washington also lacks a clear spot in the rotation for him. In addition to the younger Ross brother, the Nats project to utilize Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez in their starting five next season (though Gonzalez has been mentioned as a possible trade candidate at various times this winter).
10:25am: A deal between the Rangers and Ross was not close as of last night, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Ross did meet with the Rangers yesterday, and the team considers him the best available starting pitcher in free agency, per Wilson. However, the Rangers aren’t expecting Ross to be ready to open the season and aren’t likely to offer anything beyond a one-year deal.
JAN. 5, 7:20am: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports that Ross also met with the Cubs shortly before yesterday’s meeting with Texas (Twitter link). The Rangers and Cubs are considered the two favorites to sign the right-hander, according to Passan.
Presumably, once Ross is healthy enough to take the mound, he would push left-hander Mike Montgomery from the fifth spot in the rotation back to the bullpen. That’d give the Cubs a rotation consisting of Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey and Ross, with Montgomery standing as the first line of defense in the event of an injury.
While there’s certainly plenty about Montgomery that makes him an intriguing rotation candidate, he’s undeniably had more success in the bullpen to this point in his career. In 125 2/3 innings out of the rotation, the former top prospect has a 4.23 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 52.8 percent ground-ball rate. In 65 2/3 innings of relief work, though, he’s logged a pristine 2.10 earned run average to go along with 8.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 58.9 percent ground-ball rate.
Looking beyond the pure numbers, the Cubs also have a clear need for some additional left-handed relief. As it stands, Brian Duensing, Caleb Smith and Rob Zastryzny are the top candidates to serve as southpaw options out of manager Joe Maddon’s bullpen.
JAN. 4, 4:00pm: Ross is visiting the Rangers today, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Per Heyman, Ross is still choosing among six potential suitors, though he’s getting closer to making a decision.
3:54pm: Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that Ross’ asking price has dropped since the Winter Meetings, and talks are indeed advancing between Ross’ camp and the Rangers.
3:50pm: The Rangers are being aggressive in their pursuit of free-agent righty Tyson Ross as they try to strike up a deal, reports MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (on Twitter). Talks between the two sides “are definitely heating up,” Sullivan adds, further noting that the Rangers “really like” Ross.
[Related: Texas Rangers Depth Chart]
Ross, 30 in April, didn’t pitch last season after Opening Day as he battled ongoing shoulder problems that culminated in surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. Not wishing to pay him a repeat of last year’s $9.6MM salary, the Padres cut bait on Ross and non-tendered him, though they were said to be amenable to negotiating a return with a lower guarantee. Ross, however, has reportedly been seeking a comparable $9-11MM on a one-year deal in free agency (before incentives), and roughly two-thirds of the league has expressed some level of interest.
The reason for that widespread interest isn’t difficult to see. While Ross undoubtedly represents a roll of the metaphorical dice given his recent surgery, he’s expected to be ready at or near the beginning of the season and was one of the National League’s better all-around performers on the mound in the years leading up to his injury. From 2013-15, Ross totaled 516 2/3 innings for the Padres, working to a 3.07 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a gaudy 58.2 percent ground-ball rate.
The Rangers, as it stands, project to trot out Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels, Martin Perez, Andrew Cashner and A.J. Griffin in their 2017 rotation. However, Cashner is coming off a dismal season split between the Padres and Marlins, while Griffin was a non-tender candidate himself (5.07 ERA in 119 innings in 2016) but was retained quite possibly due to what is expected to be a low price tag in arbitration. There’s no guarantee, of course, that Ross will be ready to begin the season, though it stands to reason that he’d bump Griffin out of the starting mix when he’s ultimately ready to pitch at the Major League level. That could push Griffin to long relief, though his projected $1.9MM salary is perfectly reasonable for a pitcher in that role.
In addition to the Rangers and Padres, the Cubs, Pirates, Twins, Mariners, Giants and Indians have all been connected to Ross to varying extents over the course of the winter thus far.
Indians Designate Left-Hander Edwin Escobar For Assignment
The Indians announced that left-handed pitcher Edwin Escobar has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, whose three-year contract with Cleveland is now official.
Cleveland originally picked up the 24-year-old Escobar off waivers from the Diamondbacks in November, so his time with the organization could come to an end before he so much as throws a pitch. Escobar tossed 23 2/3 innings of relief for Arizona this past season and yielded a 7.23 ERA (19 earned runs) with a 17-to-12 K/BB ratio in that time (three of the walks were intentional). He’s pitched better in Triple-A but still comes with a modest track record, having compiled a 4.63 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 286 innings at that level.
Escobar won’t turn 25 until late April, so he’s still relatively young, and he’s traditionally held lefties in check quite well. In 2016, same-handed batters hit .266/.329/.329 against him between the Majors and Triple-A, and in three of the four prior seasons, he held lefties to a sub-.600 OPS. As a former Top 100 prospect and a player with baseball in his bloodlines — Escobar is the cousin of Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, Angels righty Vicente Campos and retired right-hander Kelvim Escobar — Escobar could find himself claimed by a rival club looking to add some left-handed depth to its ranks.
Follow ProFootballRumors.com (@pfrumors) For The Latest NFL News
The NFL playoffs are getting underway and, for 12 teams, that means a shot at a Super Bowl ring. For the rest of the league, the focus has already shifted to the 2017 season. Even if you’re just a casual NFL fan, Pro Football Rumors is a must-follow on Twitter.
The Rams, Chargers, 49ers, Jaguars, Bills, and Broncos are in search of their next head coach. Naturally, Los Angeles is being linked to the celebrities of the coaching world. The Rams are reportedly interested in yanking Jon Gruden out of the Monday Night Football booth and back on to the sidelines. They’re also entertaining the idea of trading for Saints head coach Sean Payton. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are giving serious thought to hiring Tom Coughlin, who turns 71 in August. You can keep up with every development by following us on Twitter and checking PFR’s 2017 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker.
Beyond that, the frenzy of free agency and the NFL Draft are on the horizon. This year’s free agent class could include the likes of quarterback Kirk Cousins, defensive end Chandler Jones, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, and running back Le’Veon Bell.
Stay in the loop by following us @pfrumors on Twitter and by bookmarking ProFootballRumors.com.
Jimmy Paredes Signs With Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines
The Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have announced the signing of infielder/outfielder Jimmy Paredes to a one-year deal. He’ll earn $1.2MM, according to the Japan Times. The Marines also announced the re-signing of former MLB right-hander Jason Standridge to a one-year deal — also worth $1.2MM, per the Times.
Paredes, who turned 28 in November, has spent parts of each of the past five seasons at the Major League level. Most recently, he appeared in 76 games for the 2016 Phillies but struggled at the plate, hitting .217/.242/.350 with four homers in 150 trips to the plate. He’s also spent time with the Astros, Orioles, Royals and Blue Jays, posting a collective .251/.286/.369 batting line in 1012 plate appearances along the way. A switch-hitter, Paredes has traditionally fared better as a left-handed batter, hitting righties at a .266/.299/.401 clip (compared to .197/.241/.247 from his weaker side).
Paredes has shown flashes of potential at the Major League level, including an .807 OPS and 10 homers in 68 first-half games with the Orioles in 2015. However, his position on the diamond has long been a question mark. Though Paredes has experience at second base, third base and in both outfield corners, his glovework rates as below average at each position. He’s listed as an infielder on the Marines’ official web site, so it seems fair to expect Paredes to spend most of his time at either second or third base in his first taste of Japanese baseball.
As for the 38-year-old Standridge, his name is likely familiar to many MLBTR readers, though it’s been a decade since he’s pitched in the Majors. The Rays selected Standridge with the 31st overall pick back in 1997, but he struggled to a 5.80 ERA across 80 games and 127 1/3 innings as a big leaguer from 2001-07. However, Standridge found great success pitching overseas and is signing on for his eighth professional season in Japan with this new deal. The Birmingham, Ala. native has spent four seasons with the Hanshin Tigers, two with the Fukuok Softbank Hawks and will now return for his second season with the Marines. In 1059 2/3 innings as a starter in NPB, Standridge has a career 3.21 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/4/17
Some minor signings from around the game as Wednesday night winds down…
- The Twins signed veteran right-hander Jim Miller to a minor league deal, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). The 34-year-old was a solid member of the Athletics’ bullpen back in 2012 (2.59 ERA in 48 2/3 innings) but has seen scarce MLB action since — most recently with the Yankees in 2014. Miller has a 3.48 ERA in 67 2/3 innings as a Major Leaguer and figures to head to Triple-A as a depth option for the Twins following a very strong showing in the independent Atlantic League last year. Miller fired 25 shutout innings and posted a 24-to-2 K/BB ratio for the Somerset Patriots.
- The Twins also added another player from the indy circuit, purchasing the contract of outfielder Leandro Castro from the Can-Am League’s Rockland Boulders, as the Boulders announced yesterday. The 27-year-old Castro, a former Phillies farmhand, saw his career sputter at the Triple-A level in 2013-14 but has turned in a consecutive pair of excellent seasons in independent ball. Castro hit .322/.364/.530 with 13 homers and 21 steals for the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League in 2015 and batted a combined .316/.355/.524 between the American Association’s Laredo Lemurs and the aforementioned Boulders this past season. Though he never generated all that much prospect fanfare, Castro did rank in the back third of the Phillies’ top 30 prospects from 2009-11, per Baseball America. BA rated him 24th in the Phillies system prior to the 2012 season and pegged him as a fourth outfielder with solid-average speed but not enough bat to profile in a corner slot.
- FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that right-hander Jaye Chapman has inked a minors pact with the Rangers. While he won’t get an invite to Major League Spring Training, Chapman will function as a Triple-A depth piece for a deep Texas bullpen. Chapman hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2012 in large part due to a rare genetic condition — femoroacetabular impingement in both hips — that caused considerable damage to the tissue surrounding the head of his thigh bones (as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy chronicled back in 2014). Chapman told McCalvy then that doctors who examined his hips said “it was like somebody had taken a razor blade to my labrums,” adding that if untreated, the condition could’ve resulted in hip replacements before his 30th birthday. Chapman has a career 4.21 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in parts of five Triple-A seasons and will turn 30 next May.
AL Central Notes: Brantley, Encarnacion, O’Brien, Tigers
After missing nearly the entire 2016 season due to shoulder surgery and undergoing a second shoulder operation in August, Michael Brantley began some non-contact swinging drills over the holidays, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti has maintained this offseason that Brantley is in the team’s plans to be the Opening Day left fielder in 2017, Bastian continues, although it’s worth noting that Cleveland offered similar optimism last offseason, penciling Brantley in for a late April/early May return. While Brantley did indeed make his season debut in that window, he was limited to just 11 games all season and didn’t produce when on the field. The amount that Brantley will be able to contribute in 2017 will be crucial for Cleveland, although the Indians will get a nice boost to the lineup in the form of Edwin Encarnacion. Cleveland announced tonight that they’ll host a press conference tomorrow at 10:15am ET “regarding a potential new member of the organization,” thus indicating that Encarnacion passed today’s physical.
More from the AL Central…
- New Royals acquisition Peter O’Brien will head to Spring Training and compete for at-bats as the team’s designated hitter, general manager Dayton Moore tells MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. Moore added that the Royals’ front office has long held some level of interest in O’Brien and has tried to deal for him in the past without success. However, as Flanagan points out, O’Brien has minor league options remaining and as such could serve as a depth option at Triple-A. Cheslor Cuthbert, on the other hand, is out of minor league options and might not have a better path to regular playing time than the team’s DH slot, which could give him the inside track. Kansas City will also use its DH slot to rest some position players, including Mike Moustakas, who is returning from an ACL tear.
- FanRag’s Jack Magruder writes that O’Brien has gone from virtually untouchable in the Diamondbacks‘ eyes to expendable in the eyes of the new Arizona regime. Both the Royals and Mariners expressed some interest in O’Brien at last year’s trade deadline, per Magruder, but talks never progressed beyond the preliminary stage in either case.
- Though it looked like the Tigers would move at least one veteran, if not more, earlier this offseason, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi writes that there’s now a strong chance that Detroit will open the season with a nearly unchanged roster. Ownership never mandated a payroll reduction from GM Al Avila, Morosi continues, so the general manager was only ever going to move players like J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler if a team offered an enticing package of near-MLB-ready talent, but those types of scenarios never surfaced. The Tigers could still move short-term veterans like Martinez and Kinsler this summer if they’re not contending, of course. Morosi does note that right-hander Jordan Zimmermann is throwing from 180 feet and expects to be ready for the start of Spring Training. A return to form for last year’s $110MM signing would go a long way toward the Tigers making a run in 2017.