Eric Hacker Re-Signs With KBO’s NC Dinos
Former Major League right-hander Eric Hacker is returning to the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization for a fourth season, the announced this week (via Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency). Per Yoo, Hacker will receive a $1MM guarantee, marking a $100K raise from last year’s salary. Hacker, like many others before him, has carved out a nice career in Asia after spending much of his pro tenure in relative anonymity in the United States. The 2017 season will be his fifth season with the Dinos, and the million-dollar salary he’s guaranteed dwarfs the money he’d have otherwise made pitching in minor league baseball (or even pitching at the Major League minimum, to a lesser extent).
The 33-year-old Hacker never panned out in Major League Baseball and in fact only totaled 18 innings in the Majors. The longtime Yankees farmhand made his big league debut with the Pirates in 2009 and saw brief stints with the Twins and Giants in 2011-12 but never stood out in terms of Triple-A performance. He found quick success with the Dinos in 2013, though, pitching to a 3.63 ERA in 178 1/3 innings in the hitter-friendly KBO. Since moving to the Korean league, Hacker has totaled 681 innings with a 3.57 ERA while displaying solid control and a strikeout rate that has improved with each passing season.
Hacker is the second American player to ink a contract with the Dinos this week, as word broke earlier today that former Cardinals and Marlins first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs has signed a one-year deal with the team (also for $1MM). KBO teams are permitted to carry three foreign players, so Scruggs and Hacker will occupy two of those spots with the Dinos.
Reds Name Dick Williams President Of Baseball Ops; Walt Jocketty Moves To Advisory Role
The Reds announced on Tuesday that general manager Dick Williams is moving up the ladder and is now also the president of baseball operations, with former president Walt Jocketty now serving as an executive advisor to CEO Bob Castellini (as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer chronicles in greater detail). The move has been expected for quite some time, as Jocketty himself suggested a year ago (when Williams was first promoted to GM) that he’d be shifting into an advisory role following the 2016 campaign.
Williams — who sat down for an interview with MLBTR last spring to discuss his college days and his path to a Major League front office — will now have final say over any and all baseball operations decisions for the Reds, who have been rebuilding for the past 18 months or so.
In that time, Williams and Jocketty have traded Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Aroldis Chapman, Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce for Brandon Finnegan, Cody Reed, John Lamb, Adam Duvall, Keury Mella, Rookie Davis, Eric Jagielo, Tony Renda, Caleb Cotham, Jose Peraza, Scott Schebler, Brandon Dixon, Dilson Herrera and Max Wotell. Some of those prospects — Finnegan, Duvall, Peraza, Schebler and possibly Herrera — already look to have significant roles on the 2017 Reds, while others such as Lamb and Cotham are no longer with the organization. Jocketty and Williams have also explored trades of Brandon Phillips, though the veteran second baseman has invoked his no-trade protection to nix multiple would-be deals.
Elsewhere in the Cincinnati front office, assistant GMs Sam Grossman and Nick Krall as well as amateur scouting director Chris Buckley each had “vice president” added to his title, among a slew of other promotions and title changes. Cincinnati also announced eight new hires that will add to its player development, analytics, amateur scouting and international scouting departments, including a pair of new additions that will focus on scouting the top professional leagues in Asia.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Joe Blanton’s Market Heating Up
Right-hander Joe Blanton is arguably the best reliever left on the free-agent market, but that may not be the case for long, as ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that interest in the 36-year-old has begun to pick up now that the upper tier of free-agent relievers have found new homes (Twitter link). A return to the Dodgers is still possible for Blanton, per Crasnick, though multiple teams figure to have interest following a pair of resurgent seasons for the former starter.
Blanton’s career looked to be running on fumes as recently as 2014. The long-time Athletics and Phillies hurler inked a two-year deal with the Angels prior to the 2013 season but was rocked for a 6.04 ERA in 132 2/3 innings before being released at the end of Spring Training 2014. He pitched briefly with the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate that year but ultimately walked away from the game for the majority of the 2014 campaign. It wasn’t until February of 2015 that Blanton elected to give things one more go, signing a minor league deal with the Royals that proved to be the beginning of a mid-30s renaissance.
In 41 2/3 innings with the Royals, Blanton posted a respectable 3.89 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9, but he wound up being designated for assignment anyway and landed with the Pirates. Pittsburgh is where Blanton really turned things around, though, working to a 1.57 ERA in 34 1/3 innings, which led to a one-year, $4MM deal with the Dodgers last winter. His success continued into his age-35 season in Los Angeles, as Blanton whiffed 80 hitters and issued just 22 unintentional walks in 80 innings of work for manager Dave Roberts.
All told, Blanton as posted a stellar 2.65 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 40.6 percent ground-ball rate in 156 innings of relief since resurfacing in the Majors in 2015. He was lit up by the Cubs in a pair of NLCS outings — seven runs on seven hits and two walks in three innings — but that shaky performance is vastly overshadowed by the larger body of work he’s turned in across the past two seasons. Despite the fact that he’ll pitch next year at the age of 36, Blanton still seems like a candidate for a solid multi-year deal — especially in a market that has been quite favorable for late-inning relievers to this point.
The rumor mill surrounding Blanton has been mostly quiet until now, with the Marlins and Dodgers as the only teams linked to his services. Miami, though, is likely done adding to its roster after signing Edinson Volquez, Brad Ziegler, Junichi Tazawa, Jeff Locke and A.J. Ellis. Crasnick further notes that Blanton lives in Napa Valley (and owns a vineyard there) and, all things equal, would prefer to pitch for a West Coast team. The Dodgers would obviously fit that bill, though other potential bullpen-needy teams could include the Mariners and Giants. Both Colorado and Arizona are western-division clubs that could look to further augment their bullpens as well.
Latest On Brian Dozier
TODAY: St. Louis is not “actively” working to acquire Dozier, per ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon (via Twitter).
YESTERDAY, 8:55pm: Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that the Nationals haven’t made any “serious” inquiries in Dozier. That could suggest that the Nats at least did some due diligence and checked in on the asking price, but with no natural fit for Dozier in D.C., it doesn’t seem they’re in hot pursuit. For those speculating on other possible landing spots for Dozier, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Braves aren’t in on Dozier, and Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that the Athletics aren’t in play either.
3:56pm: The Cardinals and Nationals are both among the teams showing interest in Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link). The Cardinals are “very much in” the mix for the slugger, while the Nats “remain in dialogue” with the Twins. The Dodgers and Giants, two clubs previously connected to Dozier (moreso Los Angeles), are also still involved, though the Giants are “trying to get creative” to make a deal work, as per Wolfson.
Multiple teams were known to have checked in on Dozier this winter, which wasn’t surprising given his power explosion last year (42 homers) and very affordable contract ($15MM owed through the 2018 season). While his production over the last four seasons and his relatively low price tag would theoretically make him of interest to any team, the Cards and Nats are both somewhat surprising suitors given their infield surpluses.
St. Louis’ projected starting infield looks like Aledmys Diaz at short, Matt Carpenter at first, Jedd Gyorko at either third or second, perhaps alternating between the two positions to give playing time to Jhonny Peralta at third and Kolten Wong at second. That’s not even counting Carpenter’s own ability to move between second and third, nor does that include first baseman Matt Adams‘ availability against righty pitching or the versatile Greg Garcia. One would think that if the Cardinals did acquire Dozier, at least one of these names would be going back to Minnesota — a younger, affordable player like Wong makes the most sense, though that’s just my speculation. Wong’s value is hardly at its peak right now, though, and any trade figures to be centered around young pitching.
Washington seems like even less of a fit, as Daniel Murphy is entrenched at second base, though metrics such as Defensive Runs Saved and UZR/150 have long considered Murphy to be a below-average defender there. Acquiring Dozier to play second and moving Murphy to play first isn’t really a fit given the presence of Ryan Zimmerman. While the longtime Nats fixture has been plagued by injuries in recent years and saw his production badly drop off in 2016, Zimmerman is probably too expensive ($46MM through 2019) to simply be relegated to a bench role. The Nats also have third base spoken for in the form of Anthony Rendon.
With the Twins in rebuilding mode, trading Dozier for a wealth of prospects makes sense, though the club hasn’t been thought to be in any particular rush to move their second baseman given his value as an asset. The Dodgers were reportedly willing to offer top pitching prospect Jose De Leon as part of a Dozier trade, though Minnesota has been holding out for more, either from L.A. or another team.
Latest On Jose Quintana, David Robertson
11:22am: Nightengale cites the Yankees and Pirates as the two most aggressive teams on Quintana, via Twitter, even noting that there have been some discussions of a three-team arrangement of some kind (as has been rumored elsewhere of late). But it’s still far from clear whether there’s any real reason to believe there is anything approaching a serious negotiation at this stage. In fact, sources tell Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link) that the Yankees aren’t currently working on any deal to land Quintana and Robertson.
8:38am: As the Yankees and White Sox continue to explore trade arrangements involving highly valued southpaw Jose Quintana, the organizations have now also “expanded” their discussions to include Chicago closer David Robertson, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The Sox would keep part of the remaining $25MM left on Robertson’s contract in any agreement.
We’ve heard varying suggestions recently as to just how serious New York’s interest in Quintana really is. Certainly, there’s a need on paper for the Yanks, who might at least be somewhat more willing to part with some of their newly acquired farm depth to add a youthful, affordable, controllable starter such as Quintana.
The insertion of Robertson into the mix adds some intrigue, though it still isn’t apparent how likely the sides are to line up on a deal. It’s possible to imagine the 31-year-old righty making a return to New York, where he spent seven strong years, to form another three-headed bullpen monster with Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances. But wrapping Robertson into a deal could also set up a variety of other alternatives for the Yanks, who could conceivably go on to flip Robertson or even move Betances to offset the presumably lofty cost it would take to pry Quintana loose.
From the White Sox’ perspective, there’s still no urgent need to deal their best remaining rotation piece, or even to part ways with Robertson except to help facilitate an appealing return of talent. But after already sending out ace Chris Sale, along with quality outfielder Adam Eaton, there’s certainly an argument to be made that the organization ought to make every effort to cash in Quintana this winter rather than rolling the dice on his continued health and effectiveness.
If there’s something of a game of chicken ongoing between the South Siders and the Bronx Bombers, there are also plenty of other forces at play. The Pirates have reportedly pushed hard to land Quintana, and a pair of AL West rivals are still competitive, too. We heard recently that the Rangers have interest, and the Astros have already kicked around some potential packages for the 27-year-old lefty.
Ross Ohlendorf Signs With Japan’s Yakult Swallows
Righty Ross Ohlendorf is bringing his old-school windup and mid-nineties fastball to Japan, according to multiple reports. Yahoo Japan recently reported the arrangement (in Japanese), with the Japan Times providing the club’s announcement today. Ohlendorf will earn $1.6MM and can add up to $400K via incentives, per Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
It has been a winding path for the veteran hurler, who most recently worked out of the Reds bullpen. Over his 65 2/3 innings in 2016, the 34-year-old compiled a 4.66 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. He continued to show a strong, 93.8 mph average fastball, and again posted a swinging-strike rate of over 10%, though he also demonstrated an ongoing susceptibility to the long ball (17.1% HR/FB, 1.92 HR/9).
Ohlendorf, a starter with the Pirates earlier in his career, reestablished himself with the Nationals in 2013. But ensuing injuries forced him to work his way back to big-league relevance once again. Ohlendorf made it back to the majors in 2015 with the Rangers, taking the ball 21 times and working to a 3.72 ERA over the course of the year, before joining the Royals for the spring of 2016.
After opting out of his minors pact with Kansas City, Ohlendorf scored a MLB roster spot with the Reds just before the start of the 2016 season. He ultimately earned $800K on that contract, and will now at least double that in his first foray into Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
It seems that Ohlendorf will also have a new shot at working from the rotation with Yakult. The team’s international scouting director said that it signed Ohlendorf to provide the organization with “a power pitcher in the rotation” to replace Kyle Davies, who will not return to the Swallows after wrapping up a 15-start stint.
Xavier Scruggs Signs With Korea’s NC Dinos
The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization have announced the signing of first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs, as Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net shares on Twitter. Scruggs will earn $1MM in the new arrangement.
Though Scruggs, 29, has reached the majors in each of the past three seasons, with the Cardinals and Marlins, the right-handed hitter has failed to gain much traction at the game’s highest level. All told, he has received just 130 plate appearances and slashed a meager .227/.292/.303 in the big leagues.
That being said, there’s also a lengthy backdrop of success throughout the minors on Scruggs’s resume. Most recently, in 2016, he posted an excellent .290/.408/.565 batting line and swatted 21 home runs over 382 plate appearances at Triple-A. While he has been plenty productive in the past, Scruggs had never hit at quite those levels. He has also delivered increasingly impressive plate discipline numbers in the upper minors, culminating in a promising distribution of 58 walks against ninety strikeouts in his latest campaign.
Scruggs will have some big shoes to fill in his first stint in Asian ball, as he’ll effectively be replacing perennial MVP candidate Eric Thames on the Dinos’ roster. Thames emerged as a superstar in the KBO over his three years in that league before testing free agency and latching back on in MLB by signing a three-year, $15MM deal with the Brewers.
Red Sox Interested In Trevor Plouffe
The Red Sox have interest in free agent corner infielder Trevor Plouffe, reports Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald, though their interest is contingent on Plouffe’s asking price. It’s not clear exactly what the career-long Twin is seeking at this time, but Drellich hears the BoSox are interested if Plouffe is willing to take a one-year deal worth $2-3MM.
[Related: Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]
The 30-year-old Plouffe, Minnesota’s first-round pick back in 2004 (20th overall), was outrighted following an injury-riddled 2016 campaign that saw him endure three DL stints for an intercostal strain, a broken rib and an oblique strain. Projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a hefty $8.2MM via his final trip through arbitration, Plouffe didn’t perform well for most of the season, though he did bat .277/.345/.465 with five homers and four doubles across his final 113 plate appearances. However, the aforementioned oblique injury landed Plouffe on the shelf for the final three weeks of the year. His injuries, projected price tag and a crowded Twins corner infield/DH picture led new Minnesota execs Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to move on from Plouffe rather than tender him a contract.
Plouffe didn’t develop into a regular for the Twins until his age-26 season, as he struggled as a shortstop (the position he played in high school prior to being drafted), second baseman and corner outfielder before settling in as Minnesota’s everyday third baseman from 2012-16. In his first four seasons as a regular, he proved to be a roughly league-average bat, hitting .248/.312/.426 and averaging 23 homers per 162 games played. A right-handed hitter, Plouffe has been significantly more productive against lefties. His defense at third base was never exceptional, but he grew from a poor defender to a somewhat above-average defender in the eyes of both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved. (He posted poor numbers in both fields in 2016, though injuries may have impacted his maneuverability in the field.) He also saw more than 100 innings at first base in each of the past two seasons.
Drellich notes that the Sox “fully intend” to give Pablo Sandoval a chance to handle the lion’s share of work at third base, Plouffe would give the team a right-handed complement to first baseman Mitch Moreland and to Sandoval at third base. The switch-hitting Sandoval has long fared better as a left-handed bat in his career, and Moreland has never had much success against southpaws himself. And, in the event that Sandoval isn’t able to recapture his form, Plouffe would provide somewhat of an alternative at third base.
It’s not clear if there’s a team out there that would afford Plouffe a better path to playing time, though the corner market isn’t exactly robust at this time, and there aren’t too many clubs looking for an everyday option at third base. Plouffe could potentially be a fit with teams like the Brewers (platooning with Travis Shaw and Eric Thames at the infield corners), the White Sox (if they trade Todd Frazier), the Braves (pushing Adonis Garcia for playing time at third base) or the Marlins (platooning at first base with Justin Bour), but that’s just speculation on my behalf, and none of those teams necessarily has a clear everyday role.
Finding A Landing Spot For Matt Wieters
The remaining free agents at the top of the market are largely comprised of corner bats and relief pitchers — not exactly an unforeseen development heading into the offseason if one were to look at the entire class as a whole. The market looked to be stocked with quality relievers and solid (if unspectacular in some cases) first base/corner outfield/designated hitter candidates. That those types of players remain available in bulk isn’t a huge surprise. A look at the top remaining free agents from MLBTR’s Top 50 list, though, does present a free agent with a markedly different skill set that has yet to find a home despite a fair amount of need at the position around the league: Matt Wieters.
Wieters isn’t coming off a great season, of course. His 17 home runs seem like a fair amount for a catcher, but homers were up league-wide in 2016, and there were eight backstops that hit more long balls than Wieters (plus another five that hit between 14 and 16). Wieters’ .243/.302/.409 batting line checked in about 12 to 13 percent below the league average, per park-adjusted metrics like wRC+ and OPS+, and it was a near-mirror image of the average batting line produced by catchers across the game (.242/.310/.391). He was able to display the durability he was lacking in 2015 when he returned from Tommy John surgery, though, tallying 424 plate appearances and building up to the point where he caught on six consecutive days in September. Wieters did halt 35 percent of would-be stolen bases attempted against him, but he also posted slightly below-average framing marks for the fourth straight season.
[Related: Matt Wieters’ Free Agent Profile]
Overall, Wieters’ age-30 season was a fine performance, even if it wasn’t outstanding. There may be a disconnect between his actual on-field value and his perception among fans — the former uber-prospect label and four All-Star nods inflate his reputation — but teams probably know they can expect a decent performance out of Wieters. He’s a solid everyday option behind the plate even if he’s not the superstar some believed he’d become. He’s also unsigned as New Year’s Eve approaches, despite the fact that other starting catchers such as Jason Castro, Wilson Ramos and Welington Castillo have all signed free-agent deals thus far. With those teams crossed off as potential fits (as well as the Astros, who traded for Brian McCann), Wieters’ market has shrunk a bit, but there are still several clubs that could reasonably be landing spots for the longtime Oriole. Let’s run down a few speculative possibilities…
- Angels: Following their trade of Jett Bandy to the Brewers, the Angels have Martin Maldonado and Carlos Perez atop their depth chart behind the plate. Both have sound defensive reputations, but neither has ever produced in the Majors. Some form of catching addition seems likely for the Angels, though Wieters might be too expensive for their tastes. The Halos have already added Cameron Maybin, Danny Espinosa, Jesse Chavez, Ben Revere and Maldonado via trade or free agency this winter — good for a total of $25.65MM (using MLBTR’s arbitration projections for Espinosa and Maldonado). For a luxury-tax-averse team, Wieters might prove too costly following all of those additions.
- Rockies: Colorado is clearly in win-now mode, and they’re looking at inexperienced options like Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy behind the plate right now (depth chart). The Rox might like the idea of bringing in a veteran catcher to work with a young rotation, and Wieters has to like the idea of playing at Coors Field, even if it’s on a shorter deal than he might’ve hoped heading into the offseason.
- Diamondbacks: After surprisingly non-tendering Castillo, the Diamondbacks have inked defensive stalwart Jeff Mathis to a two-year deal and claimed another solid defender off waivers in the form of Juan Graterol. It would seem that the new D-backs front office is prioritizing catcher defense, and they may not love Wieters’ framing numbers as a result. Still, for a team with Chris Herrmann and Mathis atop its catching depth chart, Wieters looks at the very least like an on-paper fit.
- Braves: Wieters has been connected to the Braves for years now, given his South Carolina roots and the fact that he starred at Georgia Tech in college. GM John Coppolella didn’t completely rule out a run at Wieters when asked about the possibility recently (Twitter link to MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM), but the Braves do have Tyler Flowers as a solid defensive option on a reasonable contract right now. And, although Wieters is a switch-hitter, he’s always been better from the right side of the plate, so he doesn’t line up with Flowers from a platoon standpoint.
- Nationals: Losing Ramos led the Nats to trade for Derek Norris, though he’s coming off a dreadful season with the Padres and there were some brief rumors of pursuing Wieters and flipping Norris elsewhere. Jose Lobaton is the primary fallback option to Norris, with youngsters Pedro Severino and Spencer Kieboom waiting in the wings. For a team looking to defend its NL East crown, the pairing of Norris and Lobaton isn’t exactly teeming with certainty. Norris won’t be so well-compensated that he couldn’t be dropped to a backup role, so there’s not exactly a need to move him in the event of a Wieters signing (though Lobaton would need to be moved elsewhere in order to keep both Wieters and Norris).
- White Sox: Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro did the bulk of the catching for the South Siders in 2016, but they’re both out of the organization, leaving Omar Narvaez as the likeliest option behind the plate. The ChiSox are rebuilding, so perhaps there’s simply no interest in spending on a relatively premium free agent, but if there’s a belief in the front office that Wieters’ market has dipped and he can be had on a potential value deal, he makes sense on paper. GM Rick Hahn could always hope to flip him for prospects down the line.
- Mets: New York is an admitted long shot, but Travis d’Arnaud has yet to prove he can stay healthy and productive in the Majors, while Kevin Plawecki has yet to provide any offense at the big league level. There’s been no indication that the Mets have any desire to add a new starting catcher, and they’re reportedly waiting to move a corner outfielder (e.g. Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson) before spending further. Relief help is a far likelier target for the Mets, but there’s certainly a case that Wieters makes the win-now Mets a better team.
There are certainly some other possibilities not listed here — the Phillies could jump in on a short-term deal or the Mariners could look to add a more consistent/stable option than Mike Zunino, for instance — but the bulk of the league does have its catching situation fairly solidified. Let’s close this out with a poll (link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)…
Where Will Matt Wieters Sign?
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Braves 30% (3,381)
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Rockies 17% (1,945)
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Nationals 14% (1,621)
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Other 11% (1,235)
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Mets 11% (1,203)
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Angels 9% (1,012)
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White Sox 6% (727)
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Diamondbacks 3% (305)
Total votes: 11,429