AL West Notes: Lee, Peralta, Ruggiano, Rangers
Some news from the AL West…
- Dae-Ho Lee can opt out of his minor league deal with the Mariners on Sunday and become a free agent if he isn’t on the 40-man roster, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. It seems as if Lee is on track to indeed make the M’s as the right-handed side of a first base platoon with Adam Lind, and Lee will earn a $1MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster (plus another $3MM in possible bonuses). If Lee beats out Jesus Montero for the job, Dutton figures the M’s will try to deal the out-of-options Montero before exposing him to the waiver wire.
- Also from Dutton’s piece, the Mariners face the Tuesday deadline for Article XX(B) free agents to let Joel Peralta know if he’s made the roster, though Dutton figures Peralta is a pretty safe bet. Peralta signed a minor league deal with Seattle last month that will pay the 11-year veteran $1.25MM in guaranteed salary if he makes the M’s roster. While Peralta hasn’t had a great spring, his case has been helped by some injuries to other Mariners relievers.
- Rangers outfielder Justin Ruggiano could become a trade target for clubs looking for outfield help, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal opines (Twitter link). Ruggiano signed a one-year, $1.65MM Major League deal with Texas in December to provide depth in left given Josh Hamilton‘s injured status, though with Ian Diamond now signed as the regular left field, Ruggiano has become a bit of a surplus. Ruggiano turns 34 in April and owns an impressive .272/.336/.520 career slash line after left-handed pitching.
- The Rangers could use a modified four-man rotation as a way of sidestepping a roster crunch in April, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News opines. The club’s fifth starter candidates operate as swingmen to cover both those spot starts and the role as eighth man in the bullpen. This could also allow Texas to keep out-of-options Sam Freeman rather than exposing him to waivers.
- “A baseball team can’t ever be carried by one individual player. Yet Mike Trout comes the closest,” Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan writes in a piece about his site’s outfield projections. Trout’s projected 8.8 fWAR for 2016 almost single-handedly gives the Angels the best projected outfield in baseball (with right fielder Kole Calhoun contributing 2.8 fWAR and the Daniel Nava/Craig Gentry platoon in left at 0.7 fWAR). Sullivan feels Trout alone is keeping the Halos competitive, as without him, “the Angels are a group we’d think ought to be rebuilding….the Angels’ situation is miserable. They’d be a bad team with a bad farm system. That’s the worst situation to be in.”
- In other AL West news from earlier today, the Astros released veteran southpaw Neal Cotts…the Angels shut down C.J. Wilson‘s throwing program, and thus the lefty will be sidelined until at least May.
C.J. Wilson To Miss At Least First Month Of Regular Season
Left-hander C.J. Wilson‘s shoulder soreness has led the Angels to shut down his throwing program for at least 8-10 days, manager Mike Scioscia told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). There was already speculation that Wilson would miss some significant time to begin the season, and this latest setback means that he won’t be able to return until May at the earliest.
An MRI last month revealed that Wilson was suffering from tendinitis rather than a more serious injury, though that’s probably little comfort to Wilson now as he’s missed all of Spring Training. The southpaw was already recovering from another injury, an August surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow that cut short his 2015 season.
Wilson is owed $20MM in 2016, the last season of the five-year, $77.5MM free agent deal he signed with the Halos following the 2011 campaign. That salary, the elbow surgery, an eight-team no-trade clause and Wilson’s age (35) all limited his trade value this past winter, as the Angels were known to be shopping the veteran in an attempt to get some payroll relief. A few teams showed interest but only as a buy-low candidate. Now that Wilson will miss at least a month, it creates less time for him to re-establish his health and effectiveness before either the July trade deadline or for free agency in the offseason.
Over his four years in Anaheim, Wilson has averaged 181 innings per season with a 3.87 ERA, 7.7 K/9 and 2.03 K/BB rate. His absence further thins out an Angels rotation that also has Jered Weaver battling neck stiffness. The rotation projects as Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney, Weaver, Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker, with Nick Tropeano and (when he returns from Tommy John rehab) Tyler Skaggs also on hand.
Orioles Among Teams Talking To Padres About James Shields
2:04pm: The Padres are getting calls from other teams but aren’t in active trade talks about Shields or any other big-name veterans at this time, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
1:45pm: The Orioles are one of “a few teams” who have talked to the Padres about veteran righty James Shields, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links). The Red Sox have also been in contact with San Diego about starting pitching, so Heyman feels Shields’ name likely came up between the two sides. No trade is thought to be close at the present time, however.
At least $65MM remains owed to Shields on his current contract — $21MM in each of the next three seasons, and a $2MM buyout of a $16MM club option for 2019. According to Heyman, the Padres are willing to cover some of Shields’ contract, though the exact number depends on how much they get back in a trade.
Shields can also opt out of the contract after this season, which adds another wrinkle to trade negotiations as a suitor may not want to give up too much for just one season of Shields’ services. Shields will be 35 on Opening Day 2017 so he may not want to test the open market again if he doesn’t think he can top the $44MM already guaranteed to him, though another solid season could make him a hot commodity in a 2016-17 free agent market that’s very thin on quality pitching.
Shields is coming off something of an unusual season that saw him post a 3.91 ERA with a career-best 9.61 K/9, yet he also had career highs in walk rate (3.6 BB/9) and homer rate (17.6%). That last stat is particularly odd given that he pitched his home games at Petco Park — it could be a total fluke, or perhaps a portent of trouble if Shields ends up moving to a more hitter-friendly ballpark like Camden Yards or Fenway Park. Still, Shields was as durable as ever, topping the 200-inning plateau for the ninth straight season, even if his 202 1/3 IP was his lowest mark of those nine years.
This isn’t the first time that the O’s have been linked to Shields this offseason, and the veteran would add some stability to a questionable Baltimore rotation. Kevin Gausman may hit the DL with shoulder soreness, while Miguel Gonzalez has had a rough spring and could lose his starting spot to Tyler Wilson. Yovani Gallardo, Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Tillman project as Baltimore’s other starters. The Orioles don’t have a deep minor league system to trade from and they’re notoriously finicky about acquiring pitchers due to injury concerns, though Shields’ track record of durability should at least somewhat mitigate the latter issue.
Beyond David Price, the Sox also have some rotation question marks. Clay Buchholz has a well-documented injury history and Eduardo Rodriguez will spend the first month of the season on the DL (with knuckleballer Steven Wright the favorite to step in). Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly are both looking to rebound after difficult 2015 seasons. Boston has enough farm system depth to offer a blue chip prospect to San Diego in order to get the Friars to cover a larger chunk of Shields’ deal, though the Sox also have the payroll space to absorb more of the contract in exchange for a lesser prospect in a semi-salary dump.
Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner both drew a lot of trade buzz this winter, so it’s fair to assume that the Red Sox at least checked in with the Padres about both younger arms. Ross would be the bigger prize, a top-of-the-rotation type who’s controllable through the 2017 season. Cashner has shown flashes of ace ability in the past, though he will be a free agent after this season.
Phillies Sign Pete Mackanin To New Extension
The Phillies have announced that manager Pete Mackanin has been signed to a new contract that will cover the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The deal also includes a club option for 2018.
This fresh contract overwrites the extension Mackanin received just last September when the Phils removed his interim tag and made him their official manager for the 2016 season. That older deal gave Mackanin a guarantee for 2016 and a club option for 2017, whereas this new contract adds an extra year of security for the 64-year-old.
Mackanin stepped in as the Phillies’ interim manager when Ryne Sandberg resigned in June, and the team went 37-51 under his leadership. More importantly than wins and losses for the rebuilding Phillies, Mackanin impressed upper management with his handling of the young talent. In a statement when Mackanin was originally extended in September, Phillies president Andy MacPhail said “Since assuming the interim manager position in June, Pete has developed an excellent rapport with our players and has also connected well with the media and our fans. Equally as important is his eagerness to take on the challenge of rebuilding the team and further developing our players.”
Prior to taking over managerial duties, Mackanin served as the Phillies’ third base coach and bench coach in two stints with the club since 2009. This is Mackanin’s first non-interim managerial job in the bigs after a long career of coaching and managing at both the Major League and minor league levels.
AL East Notes: Tejada, Gausman, Matusz, Rays
Some news from around the AL East…
- The Blue Jays had interest in Ruben Tejada and “were serious” about adding the infielder before he signed with the Cardinals, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link). With Devon Travis still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and not expected back until May or June, Tejada would’ve provided depth for Toronto’s infield. Ryan Goins will start at second until Travis is healthy, with Troy Tulowitzki at short, Josh Donaldson at third and Darwin Barney serving as the utility infielder.
- Two very notable Orioles arms are battling injuries as Opening Day approaches. Kevin Gausman told reporters (including Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun) that a recent cortisone shot has helped relieve some of the soreness caused by right shoulder tendinitis. Still, Gausman is going to be very cautious with the injury to avoid causing a problem that would drag into the regular season. Manager Buck Showalter hinted that Gausman could face a DL stint, but one backdated to March 25 so he’d be eligible to start on April 10.
- In another piece from Meoli, Brian Matusz will meet with Orioles coaches and trainers today to plan what’s next for the lefty reliever, who’s been sidelined for almost all of Spring Training due to a bad back. It seems like Matusz will require a DL stint as well, if only to give him time to get loose and make up for his lost time in camp. The O’s have acquired southpaws Edgar Olmos and Zach Phillips in recent days, indicating that the club is preparing to be without Matusz.
- The Rays have some roster flexibility since they only need four starters in April, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. The Rays have four off-days scheuled between April 3 and April 29. With an extra roster spot to work with, the Rays could keep an extra first baseman — as noted in my Rays Offseason In Review piece, Tampa has a surplus at first, the outfield and at catcher. Rosenthal notes that the Rays could address catcher by keeping out-of-options backstops Curt Casali and Rene Rivera while optioning Hank Conger.
- In other AL East news from earlier today, check out this Blue Jays Notes post.
Blue Jays Notes: Encarnacion, Bautista, Sanchez
“The external perception is that the Blue Jays are a team ready to win but also a team in transition,” MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince writes in a piece detailing how 2016 stands out as a win-now season for the franchise. While the Jays have several major players and young stars controlled into 2017 and beyond, this could also be Toronto’s last season with Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, R.A. Dickey, Brett Cecil and (perhaps) even manager John Gibbons if the new front office wants to hire its own dugout boss. Here’s some more from north of the border…
- The Jays are “willing to be much more flexible” in talks with Bautista than Encarnacion when it comes to contract length and money, Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair reports. Encarnacion is rumored to be asking for a five-year deal, though even a four-year pact could be too much for the Jays. The debate over contract length has reportedly already been a stumbling block in talks between Encarnacion’s camp and the Jays, with the club reportedly offering extensions of only one or two years. It seems like Toronto will have to be flexible if the team is to keep Bautista, as its reported preference for a deal in the three-year/$75MM range is about half of Bautista’s demands.
- Paul Kinzer, Encarnacion’s agent, told Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun that his client’s reported demand for a five-year deal is inaccurate. “We have never put a number on the terms of the length of the contract. We have never discussed a dollar amount,” Kinzer said.
- There is “no chance” the Jays re-sign both Bautista and Encarnacion, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets, as the club simply can’t put two more large salaries on the books when Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki are also signed to major deals through 2019 and 2020, respectively. I explored the difficulties Toronto would face in extending both sluggers in a Bautista extension candidate piece last November, and given the reports since, it’s becoming increasingly possible that neither player is wearing a Jays jersey in 2017.
- Gavin Floyd will make a start in a minor league game today, which could bring more clarity to the still-unsettled fifth starter’s battle between Floyd and Aaron Sanchez. Gibbons was rather vague in comments to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) yesterday about whether the Jays were any closer to a decision. Both starters have pitched very well this spring, adding to the debate as to whether the Blue Jays should go with the veteran reclamation project or the promising but still raw youngster. Andrew Stoeten of Blue Jays Nation points out that Sanchez still has unanswered questions about whether or not he can retire left-handed hitters after getting hit hard by lefty bats last season, while an NL scout tells Jeff Blair (in the previously-linked piece) that Sanchez has the “best stuff I’ve seen anywhere this spring. They’re crazy if they put him in the bullpen.”
- Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom opines that Sanchez should be in the rotation, arguing that if the Blue Jays put him in the bullpen again, transitioning Sanchez back to a starting role will be more difficult down the road. Given Sanchez’s top prospect status, “it’s far more important to the organization to know whether Sanchez can stick as a starter than it is to know whether Floyd can stick as a starter….The information on Sanchez is just worth more.”
Astros Release Neal Cotts
The Astros have released lefty Neal Cotts, the club announced. Cotts was in camp on a minor league deal that contained an opt-out for March 26 if he wasn’t on Houston’s MLB roster.
The release is something of an unfortunate birthday present for Cotts, who turns 36 today, though he still has over a week to try and catch on with another club prior to Opening Day. The 10-year veteran posted a 3.41 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.64 K/BB rate over 63 1/3 innings with the Brewers and Twins last season, holding left-handed batters to just a .186/.243/.330 slash line. Cotts has very even lefty/righty splits over his career, though right-handed hit him hard (.867 OPS) in 2015.
Houston also optioned left-hander Kevin Chapman to the minors, so with Chapman and Cotts out of the picture, it’s possible Tony Sipp may be the only southpaw in the Astros bullpen. As Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets, veteran lefty Wandy Rodriguez still has a chance at the last open spot in the pen, competing with righty Dan Straily.
Twins Release Ryan Sweeney
The Twins have released outfielder Ryan Sweeney, the team announced. Sweeney signed a minor league deal in December that would’ve paid him $750K had he made Minnesota’s roster.
Sweeney sat out the 2015 season in order to get healthy from a series of nagging injuries that had plagued his career. The well-regarded defender was hoping to win a job as a backup outfielder for the Twins, and he’d been hitting well (.294/.400/.412) over 40 Spring Training plate appearances. The 31-year-old has a .276/.333/.380 slash line over 2338 career PA with the White Sox, A’s, Red Sox and Cubs over nine years in the bigs, most notably as a starter in Oakland in the late aughts.
Bullpen Notes: Ohlendorf, Giles, Luebke
Here’s the latest on some relief situations from around baseball…
- Free agent righty Ross Ohlendorf has garnered multiple offers and could sign with a team as early as today, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Ohlendorf might even land a guaranteed Major League deal, Cotillo suggests. The 33-year-old opted out of his minor league contract with the Royals earlier this week, and the club subsequently released him. Ohlendorf, an eight-year veteran, threw 19 1/3 innings in relief for Texas last season and put up a 3.72 ERA, 8.84 K/9 and 3.26 BB/9. It’s worth noting that his average fastball velocity in 2015 was 93.7, a solid increase over his career mean (92.0).
- The Marlins are one of the teams connected to Ohlendorf, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com reports. Miami took a hit to its bullpen with the news that Carter Capps will miss all of 2016 recovering from Tommy John surgery, so it makes sense that the Fish would be looking at relief help. Jim Benedict, the newly-hired Marlins VP of pitching development, is familiar with Ohlendorf from their shared time in the Pirates organization.
- The Astros‘ trade for Ken Giles surprised many in the industry, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes, particularly since dealing five young players for a reliever seemed so counter to Jeff Luhnow’s strategy since taking over Houston’s front office. Three factors seemed to fuel the trade — the Astros’ bullpen meltdown in last year’s ALDS, the trend around the game for a lockdown relief corps for late in games, and Giles’ own unique promise as a long-term star closer.
- Pirates lefty Cory Luebke has scouts “buzzing,” tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who notes that the 31-year-old is hitting 94mph with his fastball and 87mph with his curve this spring. Luebke has an out clause in the minor league contract he signed with the Pirates last month, meaning he could be available to sign anywhere soon if he doesn’t win a spot in the Bucs’ bullpen. Luebke last pitched in the majors in 2012, having since undergone a pair of Tommy John surgeries. His most extensive action came as a Padre in 2011, when he tossed 139.2 innings of 3.29 ERA ball to accompany an outstanding 9.92 K/9 and 2.84 BB/9. San Diego then signed the seemingly emerging starter to a four-year, $12MM extension, only for Luebke to fall victim to injuries. Luebke finally returned to the field last June to throw seven innings at three different minor league levels in the Padres organization, but a flexor strain diagnosis and a subsequent minor forearm surgery brought an end to his season.
Connor Byrne also contributed to this post
Mets Release Buddy Carlyle
The Mets have released right-hander Buddy Carlyle, ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link). Carlyle told Rubin that he isn’t sure if he wishes to continue his career, though the veteran righty noted he’s healthy in the wake of hip surgery that cut short his 2015 season.
It was an all-around injury-plagued year for Carlyle in 2015, as he also missed time with back and hamstring issues and was limited to just eight innings. It was a far cry from his first year with New York in 2014, when he posted some very impressive numbers (1.45 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 5.6 K/BB rate) in 31 innings out of the Mets bullpen. Carlyle signed a new minor league deal to rejoin the Mets in January.
The 38-year-old Carlyle has enjoyed a 20-year pro career that has seen him pitch for 10 different Major League organizations as well as stints in Japan and the Korea Baseball Organization. Carlyle has appeared in parts of nine MLB seasons since 1999, posting a 5.14 ERA over 292 1/3 innings with the Mets, Yankees, Braves, Dodgers and Padres.