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Phillies Likely To Select Tyler Goeddel First In Rule 5 Draft

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The Phillies are likely to take Rays outfielder Tyler Goeddel with the first pick in Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft, MLB.com’s Jim Callis writes, citing his colleague Todd Zolecki. The Rule 5 takes place at 9:00 Central on Thursday.

Callis names Mariners outfielder Jabari Blash, Astros lefty Raymin Guduan, Twins righty Zack Jones, Astros catcher Roberto Pena, Cardinals righty Luis Perdomo and Diamondbacks righty Nick Sarianides as potential selections. Compared to the June draft, however, there’s generally far less consensus about potential Rule 5 picks, due to the restrictions on which players can be selected. (Here’s a primer on how the Rule 5 Draft works.)

Goeddel is the brother of Mets reliever Erik Goeddel. Callis notes that the younger Goeddel has good raw power and speed, and a strong arm that could play in right field. The 23-year-old hit .279/.350/.433 in 533 plate appearances for Double-A Montgomery in 2015, hitting 12 home runs while swiping 28 bases.

If Goeddel is indeed the Phillies’ pick, he could join their top selection last year, Odubel Herrera, in the Philadelphia outfield. Other key picks from that draft included Delino DeShields, Mark Canha, Sean Gilmartin and J.R. Graham.

Nationals To Sign Yusmeiro Petit

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11:57pm: The deal between the Nationals and Petit is in place, a source tells MLBTR (links to Twitter). He’ll earn a $3MM guarantee on a one-year deal, taking home $2.5MM in 2016 plus a $3MM club option for the 2017 season that comes with a $500K buyout and vests upon reaching 80 innings pitched.

8:04pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Nationals have reached a one-year deal with right-hander Yusmeiro Petit, who was recently non-tendered by the Giants. A source tells MLBTR, though, that while an agreement is in indeed close, there’s still no deal in place.

Petit, who just turned 31, has spent the past four years with San Francisco where he’s worked to a combined 3.66 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. He’ll give the Nationals an option for the final spot in their rotation or could also be deployed in a multi-inning relief capacity — a role in which he thrived with the Giants. While Petit doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging about 88 mph on his fastball, he’s nonetheless generated above-average swinging-strike rates over his tenure with the Giants, though he took a step back in that regard last season.

Petit is perhaps best-known for setting a Major League record in 2014 when he retired 46 consecutive batters over the course of the summer, narrowly eclipsing Mark Buehrle’s previous record of 45 straight. The Nats know Petit well, as he cemented himself in San Francisco lore by delivering six shutout innings of relief with seven strikeouts in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS against the Nationals — an 18-inning marathon affair in which Petit was credited with the win.

Rangers Notes: RH Bat, Barnette, Moreland, Catchers, Nathan

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The Rangers are “making progress” in talks with a yet-unknown right-handed hitter, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. That hitter isn’t Mike Napoli, Grant hears, and while he initially noted that the Rangers have some interest in Steve Pearce, he’s since tweeted that it’s not Pearce, either. Ideally, the Rangers want a player that can handle first base and also spell Josh Hamilton in left field against left-handed starters, Grant notes. There aren’t many right-handed first base/outfield types on the market at present, though I wonder if Ryan Raburn could be of interest in such a role, provided he can prove capable at first.

A few more Rangers notes…

  • General manager Jon Daniels “hasn’t been motivated” by any of the trade talks he’s had regarding Mitch Moreland, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (links to Twitter). Wilson adds that if the Rangers are to make any trades, they’ll likely trade away prospects or Major League relievers rather than dealing from their core of position players or starting pitchers.
  • Wilson also reports that the Rangers are among the teams with interest in right-hander Tony Barnette — a former D-backs farmhand that broke out as a dominant closer with Japan’s Yakult Swallows in recent seasons. Yakult set a $500K posting fee on Barnette, and MLBTR reported recently that five teams were in the mix for his services. Daniels confirmed the interest to Wilson tonight when speaking to the media.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Rangers checked in with the Orioles on Matt Wieters after Wieters accepted the one-year, $15.8MM qualifying offer. Wieters, of course, would’ve had to approve any trade proposal that may have arisen (as is stipulated by the CBA for players who accept QOs), but talks went nowhere anyhow, according to Rosenthal.
  • The Rangers like Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy but consider the cost to acquire him to be prohibitive, Rosenthal further tweets. That shouldn’t come as a surprise in light of a tweet from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt, who says the asking price for Lucroy begins with highly touted minor league slugger Joey Gallo.
  • The Rangers were one of eight clubs to visit with right-hander Joe Nathan in Nashville, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Giants and Tigers also met with the former All-Star at the Winter Meetings as he seeks a new team while recovering from 2015 Tommy John surgery.

Giants, Cardinals Interested In Wei-Yin Chen

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The Giants and Cardinals are both interested in left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, who calls the Royals another possible fit and says the Nationals may take a look at Chen if they don’t sign Mike Leake (a deal between the Nats and Leake is said to be unlikely at this point).

Chen, 30, is coming off a nice four-year run with the Orioles which was highlighted by a particularly strong two-year platform in 2014-15. Over the past two seasons, he’s logged a 3.44 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 to go along with a 40.8 percent ground-ball rate in 377 innings of work. A move to any of the clubs listed could benefit Chen’s production, as he’s struggled with home runs in the American League East (career 1.24 HR/9). The Giants and Royals, in particular, play in spacious parks that tend to suppress home runs.

St. Louis offers, in my eyes, the best mix of both need and financial capability of the listed clubs. The Giants have already inked Jeff Samardzija — though they’re still connected to other arms and could bring in a second starter — while the Royals have a number of needs and have never spent the type of money which Chen figures to command. (MLBTR projected a five-year, $80MM contract.) Then again, Kansas City has a good relationship with Chen’s agent, Scott Boras, and the reigning World Champs could use a boost in the rotation.

Johnny Cueto remains the top arm on the market, but Chen is joined by Leake and Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda as one of the more intriguing arms remaining in free agency. To this point, he’s also been linked to the Cubs, whereas a return to the Orioles has been deemed unlikely. Earlier today, MLBTR’s Zach Links was on hand when Boras held court at Nashville’s Winter Meetings. Boras characterized Chen’s market as “strong” and, as Zach noted, made one of the types of comments we’ve come to expect of Boras over the years, noting that Chen’s ERA within the AL East over the past two seasons is lower than that of David Price.

Rockies Likely To Sign Mark Reynolds

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The Rockies are likely to have finalized a deal with free-agent first baseman Mark Reynolds by the end of the Winter Meetings, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Yahoo’s Tim Brown tweets that a one-year deal is likely for the Ballengee Group client.

Reynolds, 32, spent last season with the Cardinals and batted .230/.315/.398 with 13 homers in 432 plate appearances. Once known for his prodigious power and enormous strikeout rates, Reynolds has seen his pop diminish in recent seasons, although a move to Coors Field could certainly boost his numbers in that regard.

The Rockies stand to lose Justin Morneau to free agency, though they have a younger left-handed option at first base in-house, in the form of Ben Paulsen. The 28-year-old Paulsen got his first extended look in the Majors this past season and batted .277/.326/.462 with 11 homers in 354 plate appearances. Paulsen, though, hit just .235/.285/.265 against fellow lefties, clearly illustrating the need for a platoon partner. Reynolds can fill that void without costing the Rockies a great deal, financially speaking. If a deal is completed by the end of the meetings, he’ll be the third free agent signed by GM Jeff Bridich down in Nashville, as the Rox have already added Jason Motte and Chad Qualls to their bullpen this week.

Rangers Interested In Extending Beltre Beyond 2016

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The Rangers are interested in extending Adrian Beltre beyond the 2016 season, which is slated to be the final year of his contract, GM Jon Daniels told reporters, including MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (Twitter link). The team’s hope is that Beltre will finish his potentially Hall-of-Fame career as a member of the Rangers.

Guaranteeing Beltre a contract into his age-38 season (or beyond) more than a year in advance carries risk, to be sure, but he remains a quite productive player despite the fact that he’ll turn 37 in April. Beltre just completed a season in which he batted .287/.334/.453 despite battling through a serious thumb injury and some late back issues as well. (Beltre’s surgically repaired thumb is healing well this offseason, Sullivan added above.) And, in spite of his relatively advanced age, Beltre still drew rave reviews from defensive metrics in 2015 (+18 DRS, +11.8 UZR).

While contemplating the risk associated with Beltre’s age and recent injury history, the Rangers must consider the future of prospect Joey Gallo. The left-handed hitter possesses as much pop as anyone in baseball, with scouts placing an 80-grade on his power. Gallo has 40-homer potential in the Majors, though he also brings a propensity for strikeouts with that power upside, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll stick at third base. The Rangers began playing him in left field in 2015 and could permanently transition him to the outfield, clearing a path to playing time for Beltre in 2017 while still finding a way to work Gallo’s bat into the lineup if he can improve on his contact abilities.

It’s not clear exactly how long Beltre hopes to continue his playing career, but because he remains so productive, it’s easy to envision him seeking multiple years beyond the upcoming campaign. Productive elder statesmen such as David Ortiz and Carlos Beltran have recently signed away their age-38 and age-39 seasons for $15-16MM per season, though Beltre, of course, comes with significantly more defensive value than either player.

White Sox Acquire Brett Lawrie

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The White Sox and Athletics have officially struck a trade sending infielder Brett Lawrie to Chicago, the teams announced. Young lefty Zack Erwin and righty J.B. Wendelken make up the return to the A’s.

Sep 2, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics second baseman Brett Lawrie (15) rounds the bases on a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the eighth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

It hurts, no doubt, for Oakland to part with Lawrie after he was one of the key pieces of the deal that sent Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays last year. But that seemed a near certainty after the A’s elected to bring back Jed Lowrie in yet another swap.

Soon to turn 26, Lawrie struggled to reach base consistently last year and still has not returned to the ceiling he showed earlier in his career. He slashed .260/.299/.407 with 16 homers and five steals over 602 plate appearances.

Of course, Lawrie has always been regarded as a high quality defender. But while he used to draw defensive metrics that supported that opinion, he’s seen his DRS and UZR numbers erode over the years. While a variety of injuries could be the cause for that falloff, it remains a major factor in valuing him as a player.

The Sox will get a player who can slot in either at third or second, both positions of obvious need in the organization. In spite of Lawrie’s age, he’ll only come with two years of control. But he is cheap, as MLBTR projects him to earn just $3.9MM in arbitration for the coming season.

It remains to be seen whether the South Siders will deploy Lawrie at the hot corner or up the middle, but that represents part of his appeal. Chicago can now retain some flexibility in assessing its other options, knowing that it can utilize him at either or both. Internal options include Mike Olt at third, Micah Johnson at second, and Tyler Saladino potentially at both. Of course, the team could still pursue a shortstop (if not yet another infielder) over the coming months.

In return for Lawrie, the A’s get a pair of pitching prospects, neither of whom factored among the top thirty prospects in Chicago’s system in MLB.com’s most recent ranking.

Erwin, 21, was just taken out of Clemson in the fourth round of the 2015 draft and signed for the slot bonus of $508K. He showed enough to earn a Class A placement to end the year, and had good results in his first forty or so professional innings. Entering the draft, Baseball America rated Erwin the 117th-best draft prospect, calling him a good athlete with the potential to harness three above-average offerings.

Meanwhile, Wendelken has reached Triple-A at the age of 22. He worked to a 3.81 ERA in 59 frames last year, most of them at Double-A, and put up a strong 10.5 K/9 vs. 2.4 BB/9 over that span. Wendelken came to Chicago in 2013 along with Avisail Garcia, Frankie Montas, and Cleuluis Rondon in the three-team Jake Peavy trade.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported (Twitter links) that the deal was nearing finalization and the return to Oakland (via Twitter). Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com tweeteds that the agreement is done.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chris Davis Reportedly Seeking Eight Years, $200MM

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The Orioles are said to have extended a seven-year offer worth roughly $150MM to bring free-agent first baseman Chris Davis back to Baltimore, but Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Davis is “believed to be seeking” an eight-year pact that will guarantee him $200MM through what would be his age-37 season.

Heyman reports that the Orioles’ offer to Davis now exceeds $150MM over a seven-year term, although MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli tweets some dissenting information, stating that the Orioles have not upped their offer. Baltimore has met with the representatives for Justin Upton and also are interested in Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and free-agent Pedro Alvarez as the team lines up potential contingency plans.

A $200MM guarantee for Davis may seem difficult to fathom, and may not prove achievable, but it’s notable that Boras feels comfortable seeking it — particularly with such a significant chunk of change already on the table. We’ve yet to hear of much concrete interest from other teams around the league, but surely Davis has caught the attention of several other organizations.

Phillies Sign David Hernandez

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7:25pm: Hernandez will earn $3.9MM on his one-year deal with the Phillies, which contains incentives based on games finished, reports Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link).

7:25am: The Phillies have announced the signing of righty reliever David Hernandez, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first tweeted. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo connected Hernandez to the Phillies in a tweet last night. Hernandez is represented by Jason Hoffman.

Hernandez, 30, was once a key part of the Diamondbacks bullpen (even briefly serving as their closer in 2011). He posted a 4.28 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 33 2/3 innings in Arizona last season after having missed all of 2014 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was little worse for wear upon returning, throwing in the mid-90s (although his strikeout rate was down slightly from prior seasons, and he allowed six home runs). Hernandez was drafted by the Orioles in 2005 and was in their system when current Phillies president Andy MacPhail became the Orioles’ president of baseball operations.

Scott Boras On Span, Wieters, Kennedy, Chen

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In what has become an annual tradition at the Winter Meetings, agent Scott Boras held court for all of the reporters in attendance.  MLB Trade Rumors was on hand for the scrum and we’ve got a few of the highlights below:

  • One reporter asked if Boras would be willing to consider a one-year deal for free agent outfielder Denard Span.  Boras flatly rejected that notion and said that he will be gunning for a multi-year contract.  Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter) hears from some in the industry that feel Span may have to settle for a one-year deal with incentives due to health concerns.
  • Boras was asked about the decision for Matt Wieters to accept the qualifying offer from the Orioles and he explained that the catcher’s free agent market would have been bogged down too much by the draft pick forfeiture had he tried it.  When asked by MLBTR why he and Ian Kennedy opted to reject the QO, Boras quipped, “Well, someone told me this pitching market was going to be advanced.  I think it was pretty obvious to us at the time that the decision was going to be what it is.”
  • I asked Boras about the market for starter Wei-Yin Chen, who stands as one of the strongest remaining starters available.  Boras characterized his market as “great” and made a fun, agent-slanted case for his client.  “The last two years his ERA is lower against AL East teams than David Price, so that tells you how good a pitcher he is,” Boras said.
  • I also asked Boras about reliever Greg Holland and his unique situation in free agency.  Boras confirmed the widely expected notion that Holland will seek out a two-year deal and he says that “a number” of teams with interest in that type of deal have spoken to him about such a pact.  Boras also said that Holland could return to action in time for the 2016 postseason.  From the outside, one has to wonder if Holland will be able to rebound that quickly after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late September.

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