Indians Acquire Nick Goody
The Indians have acquired righty Nick Goody from the Yankees, both clubs announced. New York will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Goody, 25, had been designated for assignment by the Yanks to make way for the addition of Aroldis Chapman. Now, he’ll occupy the final open spot on Cleveland’s 40-man roster.
The slider-heavy reliever struggled with the long ball last year, allowing seven dingers in 29 innings while working to a 4.66 ERA. But he did produce 10.6 K/9, with a robust 15.0% swinging-strike rate, along with 3.7 BB/9. Goody has also posted some rather notable figures in the upper minors of late. In parts of two years at the Triple-A level, he owns a 1.64 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.
Phillies Sign Bryan Holaday
The Phillies have added backstop Bryan Holaday on a minor-league deal with a MLB Spring Training invitation, per a club announcement, as had been reported over the weekend. The 29-year-old was non-tendered earlier in the winter by the Red Sox after being projected by MLBTR to earn $900K in arbitration.
[RELATED: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]
Holaday will reunite with fellow former Boston player Clay Buchholz in camp for the Phils, with both officially joining the organization today. Of course, the catcher will cost the team quite a bit less than did the pitcher, who is earning $13.5MM for the 2017 season.
Last year with the Rangers and Red Sox, Holaday hit .231/.281/.359 and contributed two home runs over 129 trips to the plate. Clearly, it’s his defensive work rather than his bat which earned him time in the majors in each of the last five seasons. Holaday never hit much in the minors, and owns a meager .245/.282/.346 career MLB line in 411 plate appearances.
While the Phils have several young catchers in the upper ranks of their farm system, it could be that the organization prefers to utilize a veteran as the primary reserve behind presumptive starter Cameron Rupp. While additional competition could be brought in later in the winter, Holaday seems to have a solid chance at making the big league club as things stand.
Phillies Acquire Clay Buchholz
The Phillies have officially struck a deal to acquire righty Clay Buchholz from the Red Sox, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag first reported (via Twitter). Second baseman Josh Tobias will be the piece going to Boston in the swap, in which Philadelphia will pick up all the remaining obligations to Buchholz, as Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer was first to report (via Twitter). Philadelphia designated just-acquired third baseman Richie Shaffer for assignment to clear roster space.
Buchholz, 32, has seemed like a fairly likely trade candidate ever since Boston struck its deal to acquire Chris Sale. That acquisition left the team with a somewhat over-stuffed depth chart in its rotation, with the luxury tax line also representing a possible factor. The Sox had previously picked up Buchholz’s $13.5MM option for the 2017 season, making him an expensive depth piece. He is slated to hit free agency after the upcoming campaign.
[RELATED: Updated Phillies & Red Sox Depth Charts]
For the Phils, the move represents a clear continuation of the strategy put in place this winter (and reflects much the same approach as that employed a year ago). After starter Jeremy Hellickson took his qualifying offer to remain in Philadelphia, the club went on to deal for veteran infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick and reliever Pat Neshek, each of whom had one season left on their original free-agent contracts. And the organization also added late-inning man Joaquin Benoit and infielder Andres Blanco on single-season, MLB arrangements while picking up minor-league free agents such as Daniel Nava, Sean Burnett, and Pedro Florimon. While building out the roster with solid veterans who don’t tie up the payroll beyond the 2017 campaign, Philadelphia also made a value bet on center fielder Odubel Herrera, who inked a five-year extension.
All told, the new additions add $57.7MM to the books for Philadelphia in the coming season. Given that much of the rest of the roster will earn at or near the MLB minimum, it’s hardly a massive outlay for an organization that routinely placed among the game’s biggest spenders before embarking upon a rebuilding path (and has only recently begun a lucrative new TV deal). Importantly, none of these acquisitions cost the Phillies much in the way of future value. They’ll allow the club to field a more competitive product, reduce the pressure on younger players in the system, and, potentially, cash in some of the new assets for future value — either by trade-deadline swaps or even future qualifying offers.
In Buchholz, the Phils have added an enigmatic starter who has at times been rather excellent and still comes with his share of upside. In 2015, he worked to a 3.26 ERA over 113 1/3 frames with a strong 8.5 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9, representing one of several seasons in which he looked like a quality number 2 or 3 starter. But he dealt with elbow issues in 2015 and wasn’t able to repeat in his latest campaign. Buchholz was bumped from the rotation at one point and ended 2016 with 139 1/3 frames of 4.78 ERA pitching to go with 6.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. While he has often generated grounders on about half of the balls put in play against him, he dipped to 41.2% last year.
Despite the struggles, Buchholz did carry a typical 92.1 mph average on his fastball and a 9.5% swinging-strike rate that’s right at league average for a starter. He also ended the year on a good note, posting a 2.86 ERA across the last 44 innings he’ll throw in a Red Sox uniform (barring, at least a surprise reunion at some point down the line). As Tim Britton of the Providence Journal detailed at the time and Buchholz himself discussed with David Laurila of Fangraphs, there were adjustments that may help explain the turnaround and could add some confidence to the Phillies’ hopes. Buchholz wasn’t able to work in the zone as much as he had in 2015 (though that was something of an outlier year), and also couldn’t maintain the 5.9% HR/FB rate that helped drive his success in the prior season.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams posited at the outset of the winter, pitchers such as Buchholz and then-Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia could have their options picked up before being dealt. While neither brought back major hauls in their respective trades, their respective teams were able to hold onto them as depth to enhance their flexibility entering the offseason, then pivot to a trade when it was determined that their services wouldn’t be needed.
Certainly, the Cards seem to have earned more for Garcia (who came with a $12MM salary) than the Sox got out of Buchholz’s final season. The trio of youngsters shipped from the Braves for Garcia all had placed among the Atlanta organization’s top thirty prospects (per MLB.com), while Tobias has never received that kind of recognition. The 24-year-old split last year between the Class A and High-A levels, hitting well (.304/.375/.444) for much of the year at the former and struggling (.254/.324/.357) in 146 plate appearances after his promotion.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Mets Outfield Situation
10:03pm: Though there have been some discussions involving McCutchen, “there’s no traction there,” per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). New York is “not actively looking to upgrade” at the center-field position at this time, he adds.
9:18pm: On the selling side of the equation for the Mets, the Blue Jays “remain in talks” regarding both Bruce and Granderson, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network (via Twitter).
8:45pm: The Mets are at least looking into the possibility of a trade for a center fielder, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. He describes the organization as being “semi-engaged” in talks for a variety of possibilities.
Among the options, it seems, are a few high-profile veterans. There has been some “preliminary” talk with the Pirates on Andrew McCutchen, but there’s no present momentum towards a deal. Likewise, New York has spoken with the Royals, but doesn’t want to add a one-year rental in Lorenzo Cain and evidently is not excited about adding another speed/glove player in Jarrod Dyson, who Rosenthal says is viewed as being “too similar” to in-house option Juan Lagares.
There are other theoretical options that could be pursued, but Rosenthal notes that Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies and Billy Hamilton of the Reds don’t necessarily appear to represent matches. (Colorado doesn’t seem interested in dealing Blackmon, at least at a palatable price; Hamilton doesn’t deliver the kind of on-base threat that the Mets prefer, and he too is said to come with a high asking price.) The report does not indicate that the Mets have specifically considered or inquired about either player.
Of course, even if there was a clear target, matters are complicated by the fact that the Mets would need to pull off at least one other move to clear roster space. In addition to the center-field-capable Lagares, and newly re-inked left fielder Yoenis Cespedes, New York employs three left-handed-hitting options for right field: Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, and Michael Conforto.
While it has long been assumed that one of the two veterans (Granderson and Bruce) will end up being traded, adding a regular in center might entail finding takers for both. And the open market still has a few players that interested teams could view as alternatives. There’s certainly value in the fact that both of those options have only one year left on their contracts, but they aren’t exactly cheap seasons; Bruce is owed $13MM after the Mets picked up his option, while Granderson will earn $15MM in the final year of his free-agent deal. While one of the three in-house players could conceivably end up at first base, that’s already manned by southpaw-swinging Lucas Duda, and there’s no indication that the Mets have looked to find a taker for him in a market still flooded with lefty first base/DH bats.
As Rosenthal goes on to note, the Mets’ remaining needs in the bullpen also complicate matters. Trade partners will likely be interested in young talent at or near the majors, and if New York continues to hold off on dealing Conforto or top prospect Amed Rosario, it may well need to part with arms (such as Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo) to get a deal done. That would mean further paring back the depth in the relief corps, which already could stand to add one or two arms.
While there are obvious complications here for the Mets, it’s not hard to see the reasoning behind exploring the market for a center fielder. Lagares is still just 27 and still brings value with the glove, but hasn’t produced at the plate since signing his five-year extension before the 2015 season. While a platoon would make sense — his career OPS is about 100 points higher against lefties — the lefty bats mentioned above would be stretched defensively up the middle.
Purely hypothetically, if the Mets end up dealing one or more of their slugging corner bats, and can’t find a suitable trade for a regular center fielder, the alternative might be to add a lefty platoon piece that is capable of playing center. Potential options could include free agents Ben Revere and Michael Bourn, though neither impressed at the plate over the full course of the 2016 season.
Indians Sign Chris Colabello
9:57am: There’s an opt-out in the deal, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Colabello can exercise it on June 1 if he has not been added to the MLB roster, Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds on Twitter.
9:38am: The Indians have announced the signing of outfielder/first baseman Chris Colabello to a minor-league deal. It comes with an invitation to participate on the majors side of spring camp.
Colabello, 33, recently elected free agency after being outrighted by the Blue Jays in a move that long seemed all but inevitable. He struggled out of the gates in 2016 before being slapped with an 80-game suspension for failing a PED test during the offseason. Colabello’s miserable year continued when he returned to action at Triple-A, where he hit just .180/.248/.288 over 153 plate appearances.
Despite those issues, Cleveland seems to offer a fairly promising landing spot. The organization has been on the hunt for pop, and could conceivably utilize Colabello in the corner outfield, at first, or in a bench bat/DH role — if he can earn a roster spot at some point.
The upside here lies in Colabello’s 2015 campaign in Toronto. Over 360 plate appearances, he hit a robust .321/.367/.520 with 19 home runs. Though he had never put up that kind of production in his earlier time with the Twins, perhaps there’s hope that the one-time indy ball find could again be a major-league contributor.
Red Sox May Be Nearing Deal Involving Clay Buchholz
The Red Sox may soon strike a deal to move righty Clay Buchholz, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The potential acquiring team has not yet been identified, but Heyman adds (on Twitter) that the Phillies were looking into the veteran starter. Other organizations could conceivably have interest as well, of course; the Marlins have previously been linked, though at last check the sides were not lining up on a deal.
International Signings: 12/20/16
Here are some of the latest comings and goings on the international market:
- There are a few recent moves to cover on the KBO side as well. Southpaw Hyeon-jong Yang will return to Korea’s Kia Tigers, Yonhap News reports (h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). The 28-year-old has been on the MLB radar for some time, and had been expected to gauge interest as a free agent this winter. Evidently, there wasn’t enough of an opportunity in North American ball for him to forego a chance at what’s reported to be the biggest single-season contract ever awarded in the KBO: 2.25 billion won, or about $1.89MM. Yang carries a 3.02 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 373 innings in the past two seasons in the hitter-friendly KBO.
- Also, SK Wyverns recently announced the signings of infielder Danny Worth (for $700K) and lefty Scott Diamond ($600K). Both have seen action in multiple MLB campaigns. Most recently, Worth briefly cracked the Astros’ major-league roster. Though he struggled there, he did slash an excellent .330/.431/.525 in his 368 Triple-A plate appearances in 2016. And Diamond, once a rotation piece for the Twins, made one major-league appearance last year with the Blue Jays, but spent most of the year working to a 4.50 ERA (with 5.4 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9) over 166 innings at Triple-A.
Earlier Updates
- The Yakult Swallows have added righty David Buchanan on a one-year deal worth about $750K, per a team announcement (via Kyodo News). Buchanan, 27, had been cut loose by the Phillies after spending all of 2016 at Triple-A, working to a 3.98 ERA over 167 1/3 innings. He had some success in a twenty-start rookie year at the major-league level back in 2014, but struggled there in 2015 and wasn’t able to return last year. “He can keep his pitches low with a high strike rate, and has strong fighting spirit. We wanted that kind of a pitcher,” said Yakult international director Masayuki Okumura.
- Also heading to Japan after a recent stint with the Phillies is fellow righty Phil Klein, who the club recently released to pursue an opportunity in the NPB. He’s heading to the Yokohama BayStars, the team announced (Japanese-language link), for a deal that’s said to promise him around 150MM yen (~$1.27MM) along with an incentives package. Though Klein hasn’t succeeded in his looks at the majors, he obviously drew real interest from Asia with his intriguing numbers in the upper minors — including a 2.14 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 over 160 Triple-A frames.
- The BayStars will not retain free agents Guillermo Moscoso and Zach Petrick, the team also noted. Moscoso, a former big leaguer, had spent three years with the organization. The 27-year-old Petrick, a former Cardinals farmhand, struggled to a 5.51 ERA in his only campaign in Japan.
- Continuing their international spree, the Padres have agreed to a $400K bonus with Cuban lefty Ramon Ernesto Perez Favier, according to a report from Francys Romero of OnCuba.com (Twitter link), which Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune confirms (also via Twitter). There isn’t much public information on the 17-year-old, though you can check out his stuff on this YouTube video that reputedly features him. Lin provides a few tidbits on Favier as well, tweeting that the young southpaw sits in the low-nineties with his fastball and features a breaker with two varieties of change-ups. Since San Diego has long seen blown past its bonus limitations, the team will double its investment in the form of a penalty tax.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/19/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Tigers have a minor-league deal with infielder Brendan Ryan, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The 34-year-old can earn $625K in the big leagues. Once a slick-fielding, semi-regular shortstop with the Cardinals and Mariners, Ryan has received just 241 MLB plate appearances over the past three seasons, slashing just .188/.231/.251 in that span. He spent the bulk of 2016 at the Triple-A level in the Nationals and Angels organizations.
- Outfielder Shane Peterson is headed to the Rays on a minors pact, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Peterson, 28, hit .259/.324/.353 in a 226 plate appearance stint with the Brewers in 2015, his first real crack at the big leagues, after showing well at Triple-A that year. An arm injury limited the left-handed hitter to just 15 games in 2016, but he did continue to hit well when he was on the field. All told, the former second-round pick owns a productive .298/.385/.468 slash across 1,775 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.
Pirates Sign Daniel Hudson
WEDNESDAY: The deal is now official.
MONDAY 7:43pm: The deal is split into two $5.5MM annual salaries, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.
2:49pm: The Pirates have agreed to a two-year, $11MM contract with free agent right-hander Daniel Hudson, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Hudson, a client of Jet Sports, can earn up to $1.5MM of incentives per year based on games finished and could end up being a factor for the Pirates in the ninth inning on this new contract.
[Related: Updated Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart]
Hudson, 30 in March, posted an unsightly 5.22 ERA in 60 1/3 innings with the D-backs last season, but all of the damage done against him was confined to one dismal stretch over the summer. Hudson was sporting a 1.55 ERA as deep into the season as June 21, but he was rocked for 26 runs over his next 15 appearances (during which time he had a staggering .625 BABIP). To close out the season, Hudson allowed just four runs in 21 1/3 innings.
The Pirates are clearly banking that the dominant form with which Hudson bookended his 2016 campaign is a true representation of his talent. Since coming back from his second Tommy John surgery, Hudson has averaged about 96 mph on his fastball and looked the part of a potentially dominant late-inning presence, though his bottom-line results have yet to line up with that perception. The Pirates, though, have a history of success when it comes to turning pitchers’ careers around, and Hudson becomes the latest in a long line of arms to attempt to go that route.
While Hudson probably won’t be handed the closer’s role outright, he’ll compete with longtime setup man Tony Watson for that role. Watson stepped into the ninth inning following the trade of Mark Melancon last year and performed well, though Watson himself has been an oft-mentioned trade candidate and could be moved this winter or next summer, as he’s just a year from reaching free agency. Other late-inning options for manager Clint Hurdle include hard-throwers Felipe Rivero (acquired in the Melancon trade) and Juan Nicasio.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Astros To Sign Juan Centeno
The Astros have struck a minor-league deal with catcher Juan Centeno, according to Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). He’ll join the MLB side of spring camp as part of the arrangement.
Centeno, who recently turned 27, was outrighted a month ago by the Twins. While the relationship didn’t continue with Minnesota, he got his first real look at the majors there in 2016. Previously, Centeno had seen action in three MLB seasons, but appeared in only 24 games.
Over 192 plate appearances with the Twins, Centeno slashed .261/.312/.392 — good for a 91 OPS+, which is just fine for a backstop. But he also rated as one of the game’s worst pitch framers, by measure of both StatCorner and Baseball Prospectus, which doubtlessly did not endear him to a new Minnesota front office that ended up signing catcher Jason Castro (one of the game’s best at earning strikes for his pitchers) away from Houston. (It’s fair to note that Minnesota did offer him a minors pact, per ESPN1500’s Darren Wolfson, via Twitter.)
Despite that solid showing at the plate, offensive expectations remain limited for Centeno, a long-time Mets farmhand who spent 2015 in the Brewers organization. In parts of four seasons at the highest level of the minors, after all, he has demonstrated good contact skills but also an utter absence of power. Over 681 Triple-A plate appearances, Centeno carries a .293/.333/.355 batting line with a pair of home runs.
For Houston, the move adds another plausible major league option to the organization. Brian McCann and Evan Gattis are expected to handle things at the MLB level, and youngsters Max Stassi and Tyler Heineman remain on hand, but Centeno will represent another experienced backstop to call upon if a need arises.