Quick Hits: Wedge, Nathan, Draft, Roster Building
A surprisingly large number of noteworthy veteran free agents are still available, a phenomenon that ESPN’s Buster Olney explores in his latest subscription-only column. The signing drought extends to big-name free agents like Dexter Fowler and Yovani Gallardo to lower-tier players just looking for Spring Training invites. “I understand that my guy isn’t what he once was, but nothing? Not even a chance to come in and impress and beat out other guys for a job in camp? I just don’t get it,” one agent said. Several executives and agents believe that tanking could be part of the issue, as teams looking for a higher draft pick in 2017 have little need for a veteran who could provide a win or two. Other factors include an under-valuing of experience, and a greater reliance on both young players and trades to fill out a roster.
Here’s more from around the baseball world on Babe Ruth’s 121st birthday…
- The Blue Jays have hired Eric Wedge as a player development advisor, the team announced. The former Indians and Mariners manager is well known to Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins from their time together in Cleveland, which included an AL Central title and a run to Game Seven of the ALCS in 2007. Wedge had been rumored to join Toronto’s front office for several weeks.
- Wedge’s hiring “has the feel of manager in waiting,” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) opines. A managerial change would be rather a surprise in the wake of the Blue Jays‘ AL East championship, though skipper John Gibbons has a well-known close relationship with former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and it isn’t unusual for a new front office to install a new face in the dugout.
- Dave Pepe, Joe Nathan‘s agent, tells FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi (Twitter links) that his client is planning to pitch in 2016. “He feels great…We are just going to look for the best opportunity and are not necessarily in any rush to sign,” Pepe said. Nathan underwent Tommy John surgery (the second such procedure of his career) last April and said earlier this offseason that he was hoping to pitch by May or June. Despite Nathan’s age and injury history, around 10 teams were checking in on him.
- It wouldn’t be a surprise to see a high school pitcher be selected near the top of the amateur draft, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron writes, with perhaps even the Phillies using their first overall pick on highly-touted southpaw Jason Groome. While only a few of the high school arms taken with the top few picks have developed into productive big leaguers, Cameron notes that this year’s draft class doesn’t yet offer much in the way of standout hitting prospects or college pitchers who could be technically “safer” choices.
- Some of the draft’s intriguing junior college prospects are profiled by ESPN.com’s Eric Longenhagen (Insider subscription required), including the children of some prominent former Major Leaguers.
- Each team’s roster is broken down by Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom to investigate how clubs acquire their players — whether by trades, international signings, free agent signings, waiver pickups, or the amateur or Rule 5 drafts. Fagerstrom breaks down each category by fWAR to see where each club excels at deriving value, including some notable observations about the Giants‘ unmatched wealth of homegrown talent and the Cubs‘ strong run of recent trades.
Padres Notes: Rebuild, Drafting, Int’l Spending, Butler
Here’s the latest on the Padres’ present and future…
- In a wide-ranging interview with several members of Padres upper management, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune hears that the club isn’t looking at 2016 as a rebuilding year. “[2015] was part of a journey, part of the plan. 2016 brings a next step with a new manager and a team we think is going to compete,” team president/CEO Mike Dee said. The general refrain is that the Padres’ quieter offseason has been about bolstering the minor league ranks while also adding some Major League pieces “who are going to be a fit and complement the roster,” GM A.J. Preller said. Part of the reason for optimism is, simply, the feeling that the Padres are bound to improve simply because pretty much everything went wrong last season.
- Preller defended the decision to not trade Craig Kimbrel, Ian Kennedy or other pieces at last July’s deadline, noting that what was offered for those players last year wasn’t as valuable as what the Padres eventually got back from the Red Sox for Kimbrel, or the first-round compensation pick received when Kennedy signed with the Royals. “There’s always a time and a place to make deals. It’s not as easy as saying, hey, we should’ve traded everyone at the trade deadline. Whether it’s adding or moving players, you’re trying to get value,” Preller said.
- The Padres are widely expected to be heavy spenders in the 2016-17 international signing period that opens on July 2, and they also own six picks within the top 85 selections of the 2016 amateur draft. This focus on lower-priced youngsters who (ideally) can develop into stars is a key part of San Diego’s strategy. “What we feel strategically is, money spent on amateur draft signings is money well spent,” chief shareholder Peter Seidler tells Lin. “It’s basically going to be almost certainly less than what Ian Kennedy gets for one year…If we get back out of this draft two players that go through our system and become All-Stars, obviously it’s money well spent.”
- ESPN’s Buster Olney took a much less optimistic view of the Padres’ situation in a recent subscription-only column, arguing that the team’s offseason moves have all the look of a club that is embarking on a rebuild. The Padres, in Olney’s view, have little choice but to start over after “last winter’s ill-fated binge” of spending. Between adding expensive salaries and trading prospects, Olney hears from some rival evaluators that the Padres cost themselves hundreds of millions worth of value last offseason. Olney suggests that the Padres should take advantage of the weak 2016-17 free agent class by offering their veterans (and really, anyone on the roster) in trades to amass young talent.
- Right-handed pitching prospect Ryan Butler has been issued a 50-game suspension for violating the minor league drug policy, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. This is Butler’s second positive test for a drug of abuse. The 23-year-old Butler was a seventh-round draft pick for the Padres in 2014 and he cracked the Double-A level for the first time last season. Butler was ranked 13th (by MLB.com) and 14th (by Baseball America) in recent rankings of the top prospects in San Diego’s minor league system, with MLB.com’s scouting report noting that Butler could be on the fast track to the majors if he was made a full-time reliever.
Blue Jays Sign Gavin Floyd
SATURDAY, 12:17PM: The move is official, as per a Blue Jays press release.
SATURDAY, 11:59AM: Floyd’s deal with the Jays is a Major League contract, Gideon Turk of Blue Jays Plus was first to report (via Twitter). Floyd will earn a $1MM base salary and can get up to $1MM in incentives based on how many days he spends in the 25-man roster. He’ll also receive $500K for 90 days on the roster, $250K for 120 days and another $250K for 140 days, per Jon Heyman (Twitter links).
THURSDAY: Right-hander Gavin Floyd “appears headed for [a] deal with [the] Blue Jays,” Jon Heyman reports (on Twitter). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the Moye Sports client is indeed in agreement with the Jays, pending a physical.
Floyd, who turned 33 just last week, would serve as a back-of-the-rotation option for the Blue Jays, though it’s tough to imagine he’d be promised a spot in the starting five after throwing just 92 Major League innings across the past three seasons. The longtime White Sox righty underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2013 season and returned with a flourish with the Braves in 2014 (2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings) before missing the remainder of the season due to a fractured olecranon bone in his right elbow. Somewhat astoundingly, Floyd suffered the exact same injury in Spring Training with the Indians last year. He was thought to be lost for the season, although he did return to toss 13 1/3 effective innings of relief late in the year. Given the lengthy list of recent injuries, Floyd seemed like a candidate for a minor league deal, though details on his agreement with Toronto remain unclear.
At his best, Floyd has proven to be a highly capable mid-rotation arm, although it’s obviously been quite some time since he was healthy enough to display that over the course of a full season. Nevertheless, from 2008-12, Floyd averaged 190 innings of 4.12 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. When adjusting for Floyd’s hitter-friendly home park and the heightened offensive output league-wide during that period, Floyd was about eight percent better than the league-average pitcher in terms of both ERA and FIP.
Clearly, president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins, both former executives with the Indians, think highly of Floyd, as this is the second time he’s signed with a team under that duo’s leadership. Floyd had reportedly drawn interest from the division-rival Orioles on a minor league pact earlier this offseason and had also been speculatively mentioned as a fit for the Rangers, among other clubs.
Floyd will look to crack a rotation that currently has Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ locked in place. Toronto has no shortage of candidates for the fifth spot, with Drew Hutchison, Jesse Chavez and Aaron Sanchez representing rotation options on the 40-man roster (to say nothing of non-roster invitees like Scott Diamond, Roberto Hernandez, Wade LeBlanc and Brad Penny as potential depth pieces to stash at Triple-A).
Blue Jays Designate Chad Jenkins For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated righty Chad Jenkins for assignment, as per a team press release. The move creates roster space for Gavin Floyd, whose deal with the club was officially announced.
Jenkins was Toronto’s first round pick (20th overall) in the 2009 draft, though his big league career to date has consisted of 100 2/3 innings pitched, with 40 of his 46 MLB appearances coming out of the bullpen. Jenkins has a 3.31 ERA, 1.96 K/BB rate and 4.6 K/9 over parts of four Major League seasons with the Jays, and he appeared in just two games last year.
As per the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker, Jenkins joins four other players in awaiting their next assignment.
Jesse Chavez Wins Arbitration Hearing With Blue Jays
Right-hander Jesse Chavez will earn $4MM in 2016 after winning his arbitration hearing with the Blue Jays. The news was reported in a tweet from Chavez’s representatives at the Sosnick Cobbe Karon agency.
There was a fairly modest gap between the two sides, as the Jays had countered with a $3.6MM offer. As a “file-and-trial” team, the Jays’ policy is to go to a hearing with any player that doesn’t reach agreement on a new contract before the arbitration filing deadline. (The exception would be if the team and player are discussing a multi-year extension, such as is the case with Toronto and Josh Donaldson before the AL MVP’s hearing on February 15.)
Matt Swartz predicted Chavez to land an even bigger salary of $4.7MM in his arbitration projections for MLBTR, though the $4MM number still represents a nice bump for Chavez over his $2.15MM salary he earned in 2015. This was Chavez’s third and final year of arbitration eligibility and he’s slated to hit free agency next winter.
Thus far, players who have gone to hearings this offseason are a perfect 3-for-3, as Chavez joins the Reds’ J.J. Hoover and the Rays’ Drew Smyly as players ruled worthy of their higher salaries. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have lost two of three arbitration hearings over the last two winters, losing to Chavez and Danny Valencia while winning last year’s hearing with Donaldson.
Chavez, 32, is entering his second stint as a Blue Jay after being acquired from the A’s in a deal for Liam Hendriks in November. Chavez will compete for the fifth spot in the Jays’ rotation, though he could essentially fill Hendriks’ old job as the long man in Toronto’s bullpen. In three-plus years in Oakland, Chavez posted a 3.98 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.80 K/BB rate in 363 2/3 innings (split between 47 starts and 54 relief appearances).
AL Central Notes: White Sox, Uribe, Urshela, Freese, Rosario
Here’s the latest from around the AL Central…
- The White Sox and Cubs have both contacted the Rays about their pitching and outfield surplus, CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine reports. The Cubs’ discussions with the Rays have been well-documented this winter, though the Sox are a new entry among the many teams to touch base with the Rays about their young arms; Levine notes that at least 11 teams have asked Tampa Bay about pitchers. The White Sox have needs at both corner outfield positions and at the back end of their rotation. The all-lefty trio of Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon will headline the Pale Hose rotation, while John Danks, Jacob Turner and Erik Johnson are the current competitors for the fourth and fifth starters’ jobs.
- The White Sox went on a seven-game winning streak from July 23 to July 29 last season, though this hot stretch right in the leadup to the trade deadline didn’t really change the team’s plans, GM Rick Hahn tells MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. The decision to keep Jeff Samardzija at the deadline, for instance, wasn’t made because of the win streak; “nothing materialized and nothing was done in principal” in terms of a possible Samardzija trade, though the Sox were discussing him with teams. “Those [talks] don’t necessarily happen July 27, 28, 29 and 30th. Those are going on for several weeks,” Hahn said.
- The Indians have offered Juan Uribe around $3MM, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports as part of his latest subscription-only column. Uribe has been linked to the Tribe and a few other teams, though salary will depend on whether or not Uribe is slated for a starting or backup role. Cleveland seems likely to use Uribe and Giovanny Urshela in a time-share at third, so Uribe wouldn’t get the lion’s share of playing time.
- Speaking of Urshela, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer looks at the Indians‘ incumbent at the hot corner, noting that it’s too soon to write off the 24-year-old as an all-glove, no-bat player. While Urshela’s minor league numbers aren’t impressive overall, he did post an .825 OPS over 528 PA at Double-A and Triple-A in 2014. Pluto notes that Urshela battled injuries in 2015 and was probably promoted too quickly. Urshela’s glove is so impressive that he can be a very useful everyday player if he hits even just a little, though Pluto notes that there are enough questions surrounding Urshela that the Tribe is justified in looking for an upgrade, especially in a season when team plans to contend.
- The Indians are leaning more towards Uribe than David Freese to address their third base need, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes as part of a reader mailbag. Freese entered the winter as the best of a fairly thin free agent third base market but there’s been very little news about him this winter, aside from some talks with the Angels before they acquired Yunel Escobar.
- Randy Rosario was something of a surprising addition to the Twins‘ 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft, but as Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes, the Twins are impressed by the young left-hander’s promise. Rosario, 21, missed much of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery before returning to pitch 53 2/3 innings in A-ball last season. The Dominican Republic product signed an $85K contract with the Twins in 2010.
AL East Notes: Yankees, Betts, Bogaerts, Porcello, Chavez
There are several big-picture reasons for the Yankees‘ lack of free agent spending this offseason, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan writes. With a new collective bargaining agreement looming, the Yankees may be hesitant to commit millions more in player salaries until they know what the new luxury tax and revenue-sharing formulas will entail. Sources tell Passan that the luxury tax limit is likely to be raised from $189MM and New York therefore has a better chance of getting under the new threshold to lower its yearly penalty rate. Between cutting down on luxury tax payments and losing several huge contracts (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, etc.) over the next two seasons, it could position the Yankees to splurge in the incredibly star-studded 2018-19 free agent market. The crown jewel of this free agent class is Bryce Harper, who has long been considered a future Yankees target — “their future marriage is considered so inevitable by most in the sport,” Passan writes.
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- The Red Sox may not be in a rush to sign Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts to extensions, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes. Even if Betts and Bogaerts continue to blossom into superstars, waiting another year to explore extensions might cost Boston only a couple of million dollars, a negligible amount for a big-market team. The two players may themselves have reason to wait, as Speier cites the argument from Over the Monster’s Matt Collins that Betts and Bogaerts may want to see what the next CBA holds before committing to long-term deals. Given the huge recent free agent contracts signed by players in their 20’s, Betts and Bogaerts also might not want to sign away any of their free agent years in an extension when a much larger score could await them down the road.
- In a recent podcast interview with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, Rick Porcello discussed the decision process that went into signing his four-year, $82.5MM extension with the Red Sox last offseason. Without that contract, Porcello would’ve been a free agent this winter on the heels of a pretty shaky 2015 campaign. Despite the righty’s struggles, Bradford notes that Porcello still could’ve found himself a healthy contract on the open market — Jeff Samardzija and Ian Kennedy both landed large multi-year deals despite coming off of rough seasons themselves, and Porcello is four years younger than either of those pitchers.
- Jesse Chavez‘s arbitration hearing with the Blue Jays took place Friday and a decision is expected today, according to the Associated Press. Chavez is arguing for a $4MM salary in 2016 while the Jays countered with a $3.6MM offer.
- Mark Trumbo is excited to be an Oriole, he tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, though he was surprised when the O’s acquired him from the Mariners since he didn’t know the club had interest. Trumbo believes he’s a better first baseman than outfielder, though with Chris Davis now back at first for years to come in Baltimore, Trumbo says “it doesn’t matter to me one bit” where he slots into the lineup as long as it helps the team win.
Cubs Avoid Arbitration With Jake Arrieta
The Cubs have agreed to a $10.7MM deal with righty Jake Arrieta to avoid arbitration, Jay Cohen of the Associated Press (Twitter link). There was plenty of incentive for both sides to get something done, as Arrieta filed at $13MM and the team countered at $7.5MM, setting the stage for what would have been quite a high-stakes hearing.
Instead, Arrieta will land $450K above the midpoint. As MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz has explained in detail, Arrieta’s case provided a test for assessing arbitration raises. While the MLBTR arb model projected a $10.9MM salary after Arrieta’s monster 2015 season, Swartz revised that downward to $10.4MM as a limitation on the predicted record raise for a second-year-eligible player. Obviously, Arrieta landed right between those figures.
Arrieta, who is nearing 30, somehow managed to improve upon his stellar 2014 campaign with the Cubs, taking home a Cy Young award in the face of stiff competition. Chicago successfully reclaimed him after a 2013 deadline trade with the Orioles that also landed Pedro Strop in exchange for a few months of Scott Feldman.
Over his 229 innings in 2015, Arrieta worked to a 1.77 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. He also improved upon his groundball induction numbers, posting an excellent 56.2% grounder rate on balls in place. With the righty showing career-best average fastball velocity, a true five-pitch arsenal, and non-existent platoon issues, there weren’t many pitchers this side of Los Angeles that could even come close to Arrieta’s work last season.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether there is any realistic hope of a longer-term pact. Arrieta is eligible for arbitration one final time next winter, and then stands to reach free agency. He won’t exactly be a youthful entrant onto the market, but as Zack Greinke just proved, it’s possible to take home over $200MM at an even later point in one’s career. Certainly, Chicago will have a tough decision as to how high it would be willing to go to keep Arrieta around.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/5/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Yankees added outfielder Jared Mitchell on a minor league pact, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Mitchell has been playing in the upper minors for quite some time after moving quickly upon being taken as the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft, but he’s yet to crack the majors. He spent most of last year with the Angels after breaking in with the White Sox, and owns a .213/.329/.338 batting line with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases over 695 total plate appearances in parts of four seasons at Triple-A.
- Meanwhile, the division-rival Rays are evidently working on a new pitching angle after adding converted catcher Jeff Howell on a minor league deal, as Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets (with an assist from Mick Reinhard of PennLive, on Twitter). He joins fellow knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa in the Tampa Bay organization, which has also recently added former big league knuckler Charlie Haeger to its instructional staff. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see how this apparent experiment pans out.
- The Rays also picked up righty Adam Reifer on a minors deal, per Eddy. The 29-year-old reliever owns a 4.35 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 over 176 total minor league frames.
Giants To Sign Conor Gillaspie To Minors Deal
The Giants have agreed to terms with third baseman Conor Gillaspie on a minor league pact, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports on Twitter. He’ll presumably join the competition for an infield bench role in San Francisco.
Gillaspie, 28, first appeared as a professional and a major leaguer in the Giants organization. He was shipped off to the White Sox before the 2013 season, and has spent most of his MLB time in Chicago.
Things were looking up for the left-handed hitter after a strong 2014 in which he put up a .282/.336/.416 slash line. That was enough to make him a useful player despite a questionable glove. (Defensive metrics have largely panned his work at the hot corner.)
But Gillaspie never got going at the plate last year. He ultimately found himself designated for assignment twice — first by the White Sox and later by the Angels, who had acquired him.