AL Notes: Vogt, Fister, White Sox, Moustakas, Plouffe, Royals
Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt will likey miss four to six weeks after elbow surgery, MLB.com’s Jan Lee tweets. He is still expected to be good to go for the start of the season, though he’ll be delayed in getting going this spring.
Here are a few more notes from around the American League:
- Doug Fister‘s MRI with the Astros did not gum up the deal, but nevertheless showed some cause for concern, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said today on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter links). “There is some risk, but we’re confident he’s going to be healthy this year,” said Luhnow.
- White Sox GM Rick Hahn made clear today that the team feels urgency to win, as Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com reports. Hahn acknowledged frustration that “we haven’t been able to convert on any [free agent] targets,” as CSNChicago.com’s Dan Hayes reports, but told fans that “there still is the possibility we are going to have changes before camp or Opening Day.”
- Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas says that his representatives have talked to the club about a two-year contract arrangement, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports on Twitter. “I think it’s extremely important ,” he said. “We are blessed with some very unique, special talent on this roster right now.”
- Coming into the winter, Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe seemed a plausible trade piece, but we never heard much buzz on that front. Minnesota GM Terry Ryan tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link) that the club did not consider scenarios for a deal — let alone make Plouffe available to other clubs.
- The Royals‘ many successes have led many to point to their outstanding pen as a model of sorts, and ESPN.com’s Jayoson Stark (Insider link) explains that it has helped drive the idea of relying heavily on a relief corps. But the rise of the importance of the relief pitcher has other, deeper causes, Stark argues.
International Notes: Lee, Fernandez, Heredia, Bell
KBO and NPB slugger Dae-ho Lee is reportedly drawing interest from MLB organizations, and has put up some strong numbers over the years. But he remains a difficult player to peg, as a Korean scout tells MLBTR’s Zach Links (Twitter link). “Maybe Carlos Lee minus some power,” the scout said when asked for a comp. “It’s tough. He is not typical, that’s for sure.”
Here are some more international notes, courtesy of Baseball America’s Ben Badler, who has a significant update on currently (or soon-to-be) available Cuban talent that isn’t subject to bonus pool restrictions.
- Cuban infielder Jose Fernandez has long had his share of attention, though he’s been delayed in reaching the majors. While he is on track to finally have that chance, once he achieves free agency, he’s had to delay his scheduled showcase, Badler notes. It appears that Fernandez has dengue fever, which would certainly make it hard for him to put his best foot forward for scouts. It’s worth noting, too, that it’s already proving to be a tough time to sign for established major league infielders, though it’s always hard to know how things will look in a few months’ time.
- Outfielder Guillermo Heredia is still unsigned despite a lengthy stint on the open market, with teams not sold on his bat. The Cubs and Astros are among the teams that have had him in for private workouts, though, Badler says.
- Badler provides plenty of interesting analysis and insight into a variety of other players, including “unorthodox” but “tooled up” infielder Luis Yander La O and outfielder Yadiel Hernandez (who Badler compares to Daniel Nava). Shortstop Luis Valdes would draw interest, says Badler, and appears to be off of the island and readying to attempt a big league career. Outfielder Urmani Guerra is set to showcase on February 4th and could profile as a fourth outfielder. And outfielder/infielder Maikel Caceres, 32, could get a shot with an organization. He is said to have drawn some interest from the Padres and Tigers.
- Outfielder Alexei Bell has long been a successful player in Cuba and internationally, but like Lee he’s facing a hard-to-guess market situation as a player who is already well into his thirties. Of course, he’s still waiting to reach free agency and put on a showcase on February 15, so we don’t yet have much of an idea of what kind of interest he’ll receive, though Badler says that interest has waned as Bell has aged. If you want to get an idea of his physical skills, be sure to check out this highlight video.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/29/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Righty Steve Johnson has signed on to a minor league pact with the Rangers, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He’ll get a spring invite. Johnson lost his 40-man spot with the Orioles earlier in the winter. The 28-year-old has seen limited major league time over the past several years, but has put up some intriguing numbers in the upper minors. Last year, he threw 54 2/3 Triple-A frames with a 2.30 ERA and 11.0 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
- The Reds have agreed to terms with lefty Jonathan Sanchez, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Sanchez, 33, hasn’t seen the majors since a brief stop with the Pirates in 2013. Best known as a former starter with the Giants, Sanchez has seen only minimal action in organized ball over the last two seasons and will be looking to get back to action in the Cincinnati organization.
- Veteran infielder Maicer Izturis has joined the Blue Jays and will head to major league camp, the team announced. The 35-year-old switch-hitter missed last year with shoulder surgery. Izturis will presumably try to battle onto the roster as a utility candidate. It’s been a while since he’s posted league-average numbers at the plate, but he is a versatile defender.
Avoiding Arbitration: Jake Diekman, Robbie Ross
We’ll track the day’s lower-value arbitration settlements right here:
- Lefty Jake Diekman has agreed to a $1.255MM deal with the Rangers, Heyman adds on Twitter. The 29-year-old put up stellar results in Texas, though he still ended the year with a 4.01 ERA after a tough start in the run prevention department before his mid-season trade from the Phillies. He had projected at $1MM, so he’ll beat that while falling just shy of the midpoint between his $1.55MM request and the team’s $975K filing.
Earlier Updates
- The Red Sox have avoided arbitration with lefty Robbie Ross Jr. by agreeing on a $1.25MM salary, Jon Heyman tweets. That’s just a shade over the $1.2MM midpoint between his and the team’s filing numbers, as well as the projected $1.1MM tab. The 26-year-old reached arbitration eligibility for the first time after throwing 60 2/3 innings of 3.86 ERA ball last year for Boston. He struck out 7.9 and walked 3.0 batters per nine in the bounceback campaign.
Rockies Outright Kyle Parker
JANUARY 29: Parker has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, Harding tweets.
JANUARY 20: The Rockies will designate former first-round draft pick Kyle Parker for assignment, according to reports from MLB.com’s Thomas Harding and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Harding suggested last night a roster move involving Parker would likely be forthcoming, while Saunders confirmed today that he will indeed be designated.
Parker, a 26-year-old outfielder, was taken 26th overall out of Clemson in the 2010 draft. While he reached the majors briefly in each of the last two years, he never earned much of a look at the big league level.
Spending most of his time over 2014-15 at the Triple-A level, Parker put up a combined .285/.332/.442 line with 24 home runs across 930 total plate appearances. It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that he’s carried that production level in two of the upper minors’ most hospitable offensive environments (Colorado Springs and Albuquerque).
Mets Place Carlos Torres On Outright Waivers
JANUARY 29: New York has placed Torres on outright waivers after being unable to strike a trade, Rubin reports.
JANUARY 22: The Mets have designated righty Carlos Torres for assignment, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. He’ll lose his roster spot to fellow reliever Antonio Bastardo.
Torres had already agreed to a $1.05MM arbitration salary, so any team claiming him would be obligated for that amount. If he is not traded or claimed, then New York would still owe him one-sixth ($175K) of that amount.
The 33-year-old had put together two straight solid seasons as a swingman and long reliever for the Mets, but ended 2015 with a 4.68 ERA over 57 2/3 frames. It’s worth noting, though, that Torres suffered from some ball-in-play (.326 BABIP) and sequencing (65.3% LOB%) misfortune, while his peripherals were otherwise fairly strong. He ended the year with 7.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 and a 48.3% groundball rate, leading ERA estimators to value him at a mid-3.00 level.
Certainly, it isn’t difficult to imagine another club deciding that’s enough of a track record to wager $1MM on. After all, similar background statistics supported 3.24 ERA over 183 1/3 frames over 2013-14. And Torres actually showed a slight velocity increase last year.
Dodgers To Re-Sign Howie Kendrick
The Dodgers have reached agreement on a two-year deal with second baseman Howie Kendrick, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Kendrick gets a $20MM guarantee over the two years, Jon Heyman tweets.
With the move, Los Angeles will sacrifice its chance to tack on an additional draft selection. Kendrick, 32, turned down a $15.8MM qualifying offer from the club earlier in the offseason. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained earlier today, the Dodgers stood to increase their draft pool had Kendrick headed elsewhere.
Instead, the club will add Kendrick right back into a crowded mix of position players. Presumably, he’ll see the bulk of the time at second, displacing an anticipated Enrique Hernandez/Chase Utley platoon. But Hernandez could also spell Corey Seager at short and Joc Pederson in center, while Utley can not only spend time at second but also might fill in for Justin Turner at third. Players such as Micah Johnson, Charlie Culberson, and Alex Guerrero could also feature in the infield mix.
Coming into the winter, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes had predicted that Kendrick could land $50MM over four years. Clearly, he stands to fall well shy of that after his market failed to develop as anticipated. It’s not difficult to see that market developments played a huge role, along with the qualifying offer.
The older Ben Zobrist hit on a $56MM guarantee, besting his own projection. He didn’t carry draft compensation requirements since he was traded in mid-season. Meanwhile, the younger but also QO-bound Daniel Murphy came closer to his expectations with a three-year, $37.5MM pact. But Kendrick was left without an obvious place as the board began to clear. As Steve Adams and I discussed just yesterday on the MLBTR podcast, even the best apparent landing spots all had complications. Indeed, he’ll ultimately take home a guarantee that barely tops that reached by the less-accomplished Asdrubal Cabrera.
At the end of the day, the acquisition cost was much lower than Los Angeles paid the last time they added Kendrick. The Dodgers sent young lefty Andrew Heaney last year for Kendrick (and his $9.5MM salary). And as the qualifying offer shows, the team was willing to pay him over three-quarters of the total value of his new contract for just one season.
As things shook out, it looks like a nice get for the depth-focused Dodgers. While Kendrick dealt with some injuries late last year, and is certainly not the youngest open market option, he’s been a steadily excellent performer for quite some time. Since taking over full-time duties at second with the Angels back in 2010, Kendrick has carried a sturdy .289/.332/.418 batting line. And he’s rarely varied too far from that production level, making him one of the more reliably above-average hitters in the league.
It’s been a while since Kendrick put up his career best of 18 long balls, but he’s a reasonable bet to approach or exceed double digits in that area. And the same holds in the stolen base department, though he’s more of an average overall baserunner than a plus in that area. It’s tough to judge the defensive component for the respected veteran. Kendrick undoubtedly slipped last year, with roundly negative overall glovework in the eyes of both UZR and DRS. But he’s generally been at least an average defender over his career, and even if his loss of range proves permanent, he is still reliable on more easily-made plays.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mets Avoid Arbitration With Neil Walker
The Mets have avoided arbitration with second baseman Neil Walker, per a team announcement. He’ll earn $10.55MM for the coming season, Jon Heyman tweets.
Walker’s salary falls just under the midpoint between the respective filing values of $11.8MM and $9.4MM. It also lands only a bit shy of his $10.7MM projection, via MLBTR and Matt Swartz.
Walker, a switch-hitter, has long been a significant offensive contributor. He carries a .272/.338/.431 slash in 3,426 major league plate appearances. He’s not a great fielder, but is solid enough with the glove to profile as a strong first-division regular.
The 30-year-old came over from the Pirates in a trade that sent southpaw Jon Niese to Pittsburgh. He’ll step into the second base role vacated by former Met and current National Daniel Murphy. Walker will qualify for free agency following the 2016 season.
Phillies Claim Bobby LaFromboise, Designate Jesse Biddle
The Phillies announced that they have claimed left-handed reliever Bobby LaFromboise off waivers from the Angels and designated former top prospect Jesse Biddle for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. While Biddle’s DFA may come as a surprise to those who recognize his name, Biddle underwent Tommy John surgery back in October and is expected to miss the entirety of the 2016 season as a result.
LaFromboise, 29, had a very nice year with Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates organization last year, working to a 2.98 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 54 1/3 innings. He also recorded eight innings at the big league level, during which he yielded just one run on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. LaFromboise has a generally strong track record at the Triple-A level and has also had a fairly reasonable degree of success in his brief Major League time, having pitched to a 4.03 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 22 1/3 innings. This past season, he held lefties to a .218/.255/.366 batting line with a 36-to-5 K/BB ratio between the Majors and minors.
Because they finished the season with the worst record in the Majors, the Phillies have first crack at claiming any player that is placed on waivers, meaning LaFromboise was snatched up by the first team to which he was made available. He’ll compete for a spot in the bullpen along with lefties Elvis Araujo, Mario Hollands (who is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery), Daniel Stumpf and non-roster invitee James Russell in Philadelphia.
As for Biddle, the former 24-year-old will sit out the 2016 campaign and hope to get his once-promising career back on track in 2017. The Philadelphia native was drafted by the Phillies with the 27th overall pick in 2010 and quickly found himself as a universal entrant in top 100 prospect rankings, appearing on such lists from publications like Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. By the time he was 21, Biddle had a full season of work at the Double-A level under his belt, and while he battled some control issues there, he worked to a 3.64 ERA and averaged 10 strikeouts per nine across 138 1/3 innings despite being nearly four years younger than the average age in the league. However, he struggled in repeating the league, and while he moved up to Triple-A in 2015, Biddle posted a 6.25 ERA in 44 1/3 innings there late in the year before news of his surgery was reported shortly after the conclusion of the regular season.
Royals Sign Ian Kennedy
11:40am: MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets that if Kennedy does opt out after two years, he receives a $6MM buyout, so he would actually be opting out of three years and $43MM, as opposed to three years and $49MM.
11:17am: After reportedly agreeing to a deal nearly two weeks ago, the Royals announced on Friday that they have signed right-hander Ian Kennedy to a five-year contract. The Scott Boras client will reportedly be guaranteed a total of $70MM and is said to have secured an opt-out clause that would allow him to re-enter the free agent market after the 2017 season. Kennedy’s contract, however, is significantly backloaded; he’ll earn $7.5MM in 2016 and $13.5MM in 2017, meaning he’d have to forgo a guaranteed $49MM from 2018-20 in order to again test free agency (entering his age-33 season).
Kennedy notably rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres earlier this offseason, a decision that now looks astute, as he will receive a lucrative long-term deal despite a somewhat sketchy recent history and the fact that he’ll cost his new team a top draft pick. Kennedy posted mediocre numbers in 2015, with a solid 9.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 but with a 4.28 ERA and 31 home runs allowed in 168 1/3 innings.
Kennedy did allow only 11 homers in the second half versus 20 in the first. His home run totals throughout the 2015 season were also perhaps somewhat high given his underlying numbers, and he had a strong season in San Diego in 2014. But his struggles to control the long ball last year were still hard to ignore.
Kennedy’s qualifying offer, his underwhelming performance and the large number of good free agent pitchers available did not prevent him from receiving a lucrative contract, however. And the opt-out is icing on the cake, adding considerable value to the deal by potentially giving Kennedy one more chance to land a big free agent contract at age 33, should his first two years in Kansas City go well. Opt-outs have, of course, become increasingly common this winter, and even a non-top-tier free agent in Scott Kazmir received one. But it’s still a bit surprising that Kennedy would get one on a $70MM deal, as the financial outlay of the deal looks rather generous even before considering the opt-out.
For the Royals, the appeal of adding a starting pitcher is obvious. Despite winning the World Series in 2015, the team’s 4.34 rotation ERA was fourth-worst in the American League. They had not yet significantly upgraded that rotation this offseason, and they projected to open with a staff consisting of Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Kris Medlen, Danny Duffy and veteran Chris Young. Kennedy should, at the very least, significantly improve their rotation depth.
To some extent, also, K.C. is betting that there’s positive regression to come. Metrics such as SIERA (3.61 last year) could be a better gauge of Kennedy’s true talent than his underwhelming earned run average. His weaknesses might also be somewhat minimized in Kansas City. While Kauffman Stadium is by no means a pitcher’s park, it does limit home runs, and the Royals’ strong outfield defense should help Kennedy turn his fly balls into outs.
But the organization is also simply continuing a well-established strategy of seeking durability in its starters, as it has in the past with pitchers like Edinson Volquez, Jason Vargas, and Jeremy Guthrie. Kennedy has made at least thirty starts in every season dating back to 2010. Though he hasn’t always reached 200 innings annually, the length of his outings is probably of less importance to the Royals — with their deep and excellent pen — than is his ability to take the ball every fifth day.
The deal also marks somewhat of a milestone for the Royals, who appear to be heading into 2016 with a set of commitments that are, for them, unprecedented. With Alex Gordon now back under contract, Kansas City already had $113MM in commitments. Add in Mike Moustakas‘ as-yet-undetermined arbitration-year salary and Kennedy’s deal, and the Royals’ 2016 Opening Day payroll could top $130MM, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. That figure will fly past their $113MM Opening Day payroll in 2015, to say nothing of their series of eight-figure Opening Day payrolls before that.
For yet more evidence of Kansas City’s enhanced willingness and ability to spend, it bears noting that Kennedy becomes the second record-breaking deal the organization has struck this winter. Gordon’s contract was (and still is) the largest single obligation ever entered into the Royals’ payroll ledger, topping the much earlier Mike Sweeney and Gil Meche contracts, while Kennedy takes over for Meche with the team’s top overall commitment to a pitcher.
Due to the qualifying offer, the Royals will give up the No. 24 overall pick in the draft. The Padres will receive a pick at the end of the first round.
Jon Heyman first reported the agreement and the terms (Twitter link). ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported the opt-out clause (also via Twitter). Heyman later added further details on the contract’s backloaded nature (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.