Dodgers Notes: Friedman, Frazier, Turner
Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda has traveled to Los Angeles to start meeting with teams, according to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register (on Twitter). The Dodgers, he adds, are expected to be among the clubs that place a bid in order to negotiate with the right-hander.
If the Dodgers are serious about making a run at the Hiroshima Carp star, they might find that the market for him isn’t as competitive as it might have been a few weeks ago. We learned last week that the Red Sox will not submit a bid to negotiate with Maeda thanks to the mammoth deal given to David Price. At the Winter Meetings, Giants GM Bobby Evans told MLBTR that his club had internal conversations about Maeda, but they’re almost certainly out on him after adding Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto.
Here’s more out of L.A.:
- Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters, including Shaikin (Twitter link) that he didn’t land Todd Frazier himself because he wanted Justin Turner to remain at third base. Acquiring Frazier and putting him elsewhere on the diamond would have been “messy,” in Friedman’s estimation. Frazier, of course, went to the White Sox in Wednesday’s three-way deal involving the Reds and Dodgers.
- Friedman says that the Dodgers like the newly-acquired Frankie Montas as a starting pitcher and, if not, they see him as an “impact bullpen arm,” Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Many scouts see Montas as a power reliever. Friedman says that his scouts believe that Montas has one of the best fastball/slider combos in the minors, Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweets.
- Friedman said he knows some teams are interested in the players he acquired today, but he cautioned that one trade is not necessarily precursor to another, Shaikin tweets. Still, when asked if he’s now more comfortable with the idea of parting with elite pitching prospects, Friedman answered in the affirmative (link).
- In an interview on KLAC, Friedman did acknowledge that the trade improves the team’s “trade capital to match up with other teams,” according to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register (on Twitter).
AL West Notes: Angels, Cespedes, Upton
Here’s tonight’s look at the AL West:
- Angels owner Arte Moreno said the Halos didn’t make any serious offers to any of the big free agents out there this winter, Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register tweets. More specifically, Moreno indicated that Angels did not make an offer to Jason Heyward and that the club is not in serious talks with Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, or Chris Davis (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times)
- Angels GM Billy Eppler told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter), that the team is still “engaged in conversations” with other outfielders even after the signing of Daniel Nava. Nava, it appears, is being counted on to provide the Halos with depth in left field, right field, and at first base. For his part, Eppler feels that there are still going to be opportunities to improve the club, even without the addition of marquee names, Fletcher tweets.
- Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter) gets the impression that the A’s were among those willing to bid more on Bartolo Colon than the Mets did. On Wednesday, Colon and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $7.25MM deal and he reportedly received more lucrative offers elsewhere. Colon enjoyed great success in Oakland, pitching to a 2.99 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 between 2012 and 2013.
Blue Jays Inquire On Cory Luebke
The Blue Jays have inquired on pitcher Cory Luebke, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). However, an industry source tells Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet that there have not been substantive discussions between the two sides. The inquiry, BN-S hears, was primarily health-based.
Luebke, 31 in March, has started 25 MLB games and has 30 relief appearances to his credit. Therefore, the Blue Jays could be eyeing the 2007 first-round draft pick as a rotation option or as a bullpen piece. It’s not clear exactly how much interest there is at this time, however. So far this winter, Toronto has addressed the starting five with deals for J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada, and Jesse Chavez.
Luebke hasn’t pitched since the 2012 season due to a pair of Tommy John surgeries that have derailed his once promising career. The pitcher’s most recent Tommy John comeback was halted when a flexor strain slowed him in Triple-A, and he eventually had surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. In November, the Padres declined their $7.5MM option on Luebke, opting instead to pay him a $1.75MM buyout.
Needless to say, that’s not how the Padres saw things playing out when they inked Luebke to a four-year, $12MM contract following his strong rookie season in 2011. Luebke logged a 3.29 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 139 2/3 innings that season, and the modest $12MM guarantee on his four-year pact would’ve bought out a pair of pre-arb seasons as well as his first two arbitration years while giving San Diego control of his final arb year at $7.5MM and his first free agent year at $10MM. Had Luebke remained healthy for even a couple of years, he likely could’ve delivered more than $12MM worth of value, but he’s pitched just 31 Major League innings since signing at the end of Spring Training 2012. While the deal seemed club-friendly at the time, it serves as a reminder that even contracts that look to favor the team on the surface can ultimately result in misses.
Angels Sign Daniel Nava
6:00pm: It’s a one-year, $1.375MM deal for Nava, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
5:32pm: The Angels announced that they have signed outfielder Daniel Nava to a one-year, major league deal. Nava, 32, was a free agent for the first time in his career this winter.
Nava, 33 in February, suffered through the worst season of his career but has been a regular or semi-regular contributor in each season dating back to 2010 (primarily with Boston). The switch-hitter batted only .194/.315/.245 in 166 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Rays this year but is a career .265/.358/.383 hitter overall and sports an even more impressive .281/.377/.409 batting line against right-handed pitching. Nava was projected to earn $1.9MM through arbitration in 2016 but the Rays designated him for assignment, prompting the veteran to elect free agency.
Nava’s track record against righties and history of above-average defense in the outfield corners led to interest from multiple teams this offseason. Nava could form a platoon in left field with the newly-signed Craig Gentry but it’s not immediately clear if that’s the plan. Gentry inked a one-year deal with the Halos that could be worth up to $1MM. Gentry is a career .274/.354/.366 hitter against lefties with a less impressive .256/.321/.311 line vs. righties.
The Rays wanted to bring Nava back on a minor league deal but they were rebuffed as he searched for a better opportunity. The Padres were also believed to have interest in Nava.
Braves Outright Dian Toscano
The Braves announced today that they have outrighted Dian Toscano to Triple-A Gwinnett, removing him from the 40-man roster. The outfielder’s spot will go to catcher Tyler Flowers, whose two-year contract to return to the Braves is now official.
Toscano, 26, was signed to a four-year, $6MM contract with the Braves one year ago yesterday, but visa issues kept him from officially joining the organization until November. It’s now been three years since Toscano played competitively in Cuba, making the fact that he cleared waivers unsurprising. He’ll remain with the organization, however, and hope to play his way back into the picture for the Braves in 2016 or 2017. Given the relatively minimal nature of his guarantee, he doesn’t need to do much at the big league level to justify the investment.
Toscano is a career .300/.403/.427 hitter in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, though many scouts pegged him to be more of a fourth outfielder at the Major League level. He’s drawn praise for his speed but is said to have a suspect arm.
Rockies Sign Mark Reynolds
DEC. 16: The Rockies have announced the signing of Reynolds to a one-year contract.
DEC. 10: The Rockies have reached an agreement with free-agent first baseman Mark Reynolds, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). It’s a one-year deal that will guarantee the Ballengee Group client $2.6MM plus the opportunity to earn more via incentives.
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, it seems, will fill that void without costing the Rockies a great deal, financially speaking. His agreement marks the third negotiated by GM Jeff Bridich down in Nashville, as the Rox have already added Jason Motte and Chad Qualls to their bullpen this week.
Braves Sign Tyler Flowers
DEC. 16: The Braves have now announced the signing.
DEC. 8: The Braves are in agreement on a two-year deal with catcher Tyler Flowers, pending a physical, multiple reports indicated on Tuesday evening. Flowers, a client of agent Tom O’Connell, will receive a two-year contract that guarantees him $5.3MM. He’ll reportedly take home $2MM in 2016 and $3MM in 2017 before the Braves decide on a $4MM option or a $300K buyout. Flowers can earn $1.5MM worth of incentives each season based on games caught (each year maxes out at 120 games), meaning he can earn up to $13.5MM over a three-year term in Atlanta.
With this signing, Flowers will return to the organization that drafted him back in 2005. He will presumably serve as a backup for A.J. Pierzynski, with whom he can form a solid platoon. Flowers, who will turn 30 in January, is a career .223/.289/.376 hitter across parts of seven seasons, but he’s produced offensively at a clip that is roughly average for catchers over the past two seasons (.240/.296/.378, 90 OPS+). He also delivered positive pitch-framing metrics in 2015 and has caught about 28 percent of attempted base-stealers over the past two seasons.
The addition of Flowers, on a multi-year deal no less, further calls into question the future of Christian Bethancourt with the Braves. Once viewed as Atlanta’s catcher of the future, the rocket-armed Bethancourt has struggled considerably at the plate in the Majors and also struggled tremendously with passed balls — an unexpected and unforeseen deficiency in his game. While it’s conceivable that Bethancourt will iron out the kinks in 2016 at the Triple-A level and be ready for a significant role in 2017, it has long seemed like the Braves may simply have lost faith in him. However, a club looking for a long-term upgrade behind the dish could certainly take a chance at buying low on him this offseason, as Bethancourt will be hard-pressed to earn playing time behind Flowers and Pierzynski in the coming season.
MLB.com’s Scott Merkin first reported the agreement (Twitter link). David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted shortly before Merkin’s report that the Braves were believed to have made some progress on a deal with Flowers. Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted the guarantee and incentives. Mark Bowman of MLB.com added the yearly breakdown (Twitter link).
Yadier Molina Undergoes Second Thumb Surgery
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina underwent a second operation on his ailing left thumb yesterday, reports MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (on Twitter). The first surgery “didn’t take,” as Langosch puts it, and with a second operation coming in mid-December, she adds that it’s likely Molina will miss most of Spring Training.
Molina originally sustained the injury — a torn ligament — in mid-September but returned briefly in the playoffs after sitting out the final few weeks of the regular season. However, he exited Game 3 of the NLDS after very clearly aggravating his hand on a swing and didn’t return for the final game of that series. St. Louis has since added the switch-hitting Brayan Pena as a backup for Molina this offseason, but it certainly seems possible that he’ll now begin the regular season behind the plate with Molina landing on the DL for the early portion of the year.
Molina has suffered a torn ligament in each of his thumbs over the past two years, missing about seven weeks in 2014 before incurring this injury late in 2015. That pair of injuries may have impacted Molina’s offense, as he batted just .267/.309/.317 in 27 games following his 2014 injury and was sporting an uncharacteristically light .270/.310/.350 batting line in 2015 before injuring his other hand.
Beyond that, Langosch also tweets that center fielder Randal Grichuk underwent sports hernia surgery recently but is expected to be ready for Spring Training. Favorable timeline notwithstanding, Grichuk’s situation bears monitoring, as setbacks could impact his availability for the season. Grichuk projects to be the everyday center fielder in St. Louis following Jon Jay‘s trade to the Padres; he will, presumably, be flanked by Matt Holliday and Stephen Piscotty on the outfield corners.
Projected Arbitration Spending For Each Team
Now that the non-tender deadline has passed, we have a clearer picture of which arbitration eligible players will be on each team’s Opening Day roster. Of course, trades and multiyear extensions will change this, but here’s a snapshot of each team’s projected arbitration spending for 2016. (Players such as A.J. Ellis, Justin Smoak, Vance Worley and others that have already avoided arbitration are still included in these totals, but with their actual 2016 salaries in place of MLBTR’s projection.) For more information, check out our arbitration tracker and our individual salary projections by Matt Swartz.
- Angels: $17.7MM (Fernando Salas, Hector Santiago, Garrett Richards, Kole Calhoun)
- Astros: $22.9MM (Luis Valbuena, Jason Castro, Marwin Gonzalez, Dallas Keuchel, Evan Gattis, Josh Fields)
- Athletics: $21.9MM (Sam Fuld, Marc Rzepczynski, Josh Reddick, Danny Valencia, Yonder Alonso, Eric Sogard, Felix Doubront, Fernando Rodriguez, Jarrod Parker)
- Blue Jays: $37.8MM (Brett Cecil, Michael Saunders, Jesse Chavez, Justin Smoak, Ben Revere, Josh Donaldson, Drew Hutchison, Aaron Loup, Steve Delabar)
- Braves: $1.7MM (Arodys Vizcaino, Chris Withrow)
- Brewers: $7.2MM (Jean Segura, Wily Peralta, Will Smith)
- Cardinals: $17.1MM (Brandon Moss, Trevor Rosenthal, Matt Adams, Seth Maness)
- Cubs: $35.1MM (Clayton Richard, Chris Coghlan, Travis Wood, Pedro Strop, Jake Arrieta, Rex Brothers, Adam Warren, Hector Rondon, Justin Grimm)
- Diamondbacks: $22.0MM (Daniel Hudson, Matt Reynolds, Welington Castillo, Patrick Corbin, Randall Delgado, Rubby De La Rosa, A.J. Pollock, Shelby Miller)
- Dodgers: $27.7MM (A.J. Ellis, Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner, Yasmani Grandal, Luis Avilan, Joe Wieland, Scott Van Slyke, Chris Hatcher)
- Giants: $7.2MM (Brandon Belt, George Kontos)
- Indians: $15.1MM (Josh Tomlin, Bryan Shaw, Lonnie Chisenhall, Collin Cowgill, Zach McAllister, Cody Allen, Jeff Manship)
- Mariners: $7.3MM (Charlie Furbush, Anthony Bass, Leonys Martin, Evan Scribner)
- Marlins: $21.5MM (David Phelps, Dee Gordon, Adeiny Hechavarria, A.J. Ramos, Tom Koehler, Bryan Morris, Carter Capps, Jose Fernandez)
- Mets: $37.7MM (Neil Walker, Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda, Addison Reed, Carlos Torres, Jenrry Mejia, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Josh Edgin)
- Nationals: $32.1MM (Drew Storen, Stephen Strasburg, Wilson Ramos, Jose Lobaton, Danny Espinosa, Tyler Moore, Anthony Rendon)
- Orioles: $42.9MM (Brian Matusz, Nolan Reimold, Mark Trumbo, Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, Ryan Flaherty, Zach Britton, Vance Worley, Brad Brach, Manny Machado)
- Padres: $22.7MM (Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Derek Norris, Drew Pomeranz, Brett Wallace)
- Phillies: $13.5MM (Peter Bourjos, Jeremy Hellickson, Andres Blanco, Jeanmar Gomez, Freddy Galvis)
- Pirates: $26.2MM (Francisco Cervelli, Mark Melancon, Chris Stewart, Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, Jordy Mercer, Jeff Locke)
- Rangers: $15.9MM (Mitch Moreland, Tom Wilhelmsen, Chris Gimenez, Shawn Tolleson, Tanner Scheppers, Robinson Chirinos, Jake Diekman, Jurickson Profar)
- Rays: $30.6MM (Logan Morrison, Jake McGee, Logan Forsythe, Desmond Jennings, Rene Rivera, Alex Cobb, Hank Conger, Drew Smyly, Brandon Guyer, Erasmo Ramirez)
- Red Sox: $7.6MM (Junichi Tazawa, Joe Kelly, Robbie Ross)
- Reds: $16.9MM (Aroldis Chapman, Zack Cozart, J.J. Hoover)
- Rockies: $20.4MM (Adam Ottavino, Jordan Lyles, DJ LeMahieu, Charlie Blackmon, Brandon Barnes, Nolan Arenado)
- Royals: $22.1MM (Drew Butera, Mike Moustakas, Tony Cruz, Tim Collins, Jarrod Dyson, Danny Duffy, Lorenzo Cain, Louis Coleman)
- Tigers: $11.3MM (J.D. Martinez, Andrew Romine, Jose Iglesias, Justin Wilson)
- Twins: $23.7MM (Kevin Jepsen, Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Nunez, Tommy Milone, Casey Fien, Eduardo Escobar)
- White Sox: $8.6MM (Brett Lawrie, Nate Jones, Dan Jennings, Avisail Garcia, Zach Putnam)
- Yankees: $19.9MM (Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, Dustin Ackley, Nate Eovaldi, Didi Gregorius)
Overall we’re projecting about $614MM to be spent on 184 arbitration eligible players. The projected average team spend is $20.5MM, and the range varies from the Orioles at $42.9MM to the Braves at $1.7MM.
Mariners Claim A.J. Schugel, Designate Tyler Olson
The Mariners announced that they’ve claimed right-hander A.J. Schugel off waivers from the D-backs and designated lefty Tyler Olson for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
The 26-year-old Schugel was designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster for Zack Greinke. The former Angels farmhand who went to the D-backs in the first Mark Trumbo trade, yielded five earned runs (13 total runs) in just nine innings of work in his 2015 MLB debut. This claim reunites him with GM Jerry Dipoto, who knows him well from his days as general manager in Anaheim. Schugel posted a 4.84 ERA with 6.2 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 115 1/3 innings of work for the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno this past season. While it’s a notoriously hitter-friendly environment, those results were nonetheless discouraging after a solid 2014 season at the Double-A level.
Olson, like Schugel, is 26 years old and made his Major League debut in 2015. Olson tallied 13 1/3 innings out of the Mariners’ bullpen but surrendered eight runs on 18 hits and 10 walks, although a staggering seven of those 10 walks were intentional in nature. In 54 1/3 Triple-A innings, Olson managed a more palatable 4.47 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. However, after holding lefties to a .206/.280/.279 batting line in 2014, the Gonzaga product yielded a .253/.340/.448 slash to lefties between the Majors and minors in 2015.