Minor MLB Transactions: 12/9/15
Here are a couple minor moves that were lost in the shuffle during a very busy Tuesday.
- The Dodgers have signed 25-year-old righty Lisalverto Bonilla to a minor league deal, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. They non-tendered Bonilla earlier this month, six weeks after claiming him from the Rangers. Bonilla missed the entire 2015 season after having Tommy John surgery in the spring, but he struck out 11.1 batters per nine innings at Triple-A Round Rock in 2014 and held his own in the big leagues. He might have some upside as a reliever once he gets healthy.
- The Angels have signed outfielder Quintin Berry to a minor league deal, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Berry hit .228/.329/.287 in 426 plate appearances with the Red Sox’ Triple-A Pawtucket affiliate in 2015, then caught on briefly with the Cubs at the end of the season. Between the two stops, he stole 37 bases. Though he has only 342 career regular season plate appearances in the big leagues, he played in the postseason with the Tigers in 2012 and Red Sox in 2013, also suiting up with the Cubs in last season’s playoffs. His speed could perhaps make him an October weapon again at some point despite his age (31) and limited offensive ability.
Reactions To The Zobrist Deal & Castro Trade
Here’s a roundup of reactions to Ben Zobrist‘s reported four-year, $56MM pact with the Cubs and their trade of infielder Starlin Castro to the Yankees for Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan.
- The Cubs are hoping Zobrist’s decreased production last year was due primarily to his knee injury and that he can approach the levels of performance he had previously established, ESPN’s Jonah Keri writes. WAR rated Zobrist as one of baseball’s best players from 2009 through 2014 and, as Keri notes, Zobrist’s versatility added value that WAR doesn’t reflect.
- Zobrist’s deal should help move the markets for hitters like Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and Alex Gordon, August Fagerstrom of FanGraphs writes. Fagerstrom also notes that the structure of Zobrist’s contract (which only pays him $10MM next season) and the salary-shedding trade of Castro to the Yankees strongly suggest that the Cubs can continue to make moves, particularly given that they were willing to bid heavily on David Price.
- The Zobrist contract and the Castro deal improve the Cubs, but perhaps not enough to justify the expense, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider-only). Exchanging Castro for Zobrist and Adam Warren should improve the Cubs by “a couple wins” next season, but the end of Zobrist’s contract could be ugly, given that advanced fielding numbers suggest his defense has already declined.
- Zobrist is a great match for the Cubs, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi writes. Since Zobrist rarely strikes out, he fits well with the strikeout-heavy Cubs offense, and since he can play multiple positions, he’ll help the Cubs find the best spots to use young players like Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez. Meanwhile, they can effectively pay three quarters of Zobrist’s contract with money they previously owed Castro.
NL Central Notes: Chapman, Cubs, Pirates
The domestic violence allegations against closer Aroldis Chapman will likely make it very difficult for the Reds to trade him, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. Police records indicate that, in late October, Chapman allegedly choked his girlfriend, shoved her against a wall and fired eight gunshots in his garage. The allegations appear to have derailed the Reds’ trade of Chapman to the Dodgers. “I know we can’t touch him. Our owner would never go for that. And I’m getting the sense from other teams that they feel the same way,” one NL executive says. “Yeah, we know talent can cover up some character flaws, but domestic violence is such a hot topic now.” Spurred by cases involving Ray Rice and others in the NFL, domestic violence has become a high-profile issue in sports, and a team trading for Chapman would likely now be opening itself to a barrage of criticism. It doesn’t look like MLB’s investigation into Chapman’s situation will be resolved quickly, either. Nightengale notes that Chapman’s situation could lead to changes in the way MLB teams announce player acquisitions, potentially including language about completing background checks as well as physicals. Here are more notes from the NL Central.
- The Cubs have maintained steady contact with Jason Heyward‘s representation, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets. It’s uncertain, however, whether they’ll continue to have interest after agreeing to terms with Ben Zobrist. Heyward has lately been connected to the Giants, Angels and Cardinals.
- One possibility for the Cardinals if they can’t re-sign Heyward is to sign Alex Gordon for less, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests (Twitter links). With the savings, they could then pursue NPB starter Kenta Maeda. Gordon could play right field in 2016, then move to left if the Cardinals decline Matt Holliday‘s option for the following season.
- The Pirates are interested in re-signing Sean Rodriguez, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. Rodriguez batted a modest .246/.281/.362 with the Bucs in 2015 but helped with his versatility, playing competent defense while splitting his time between first and the corner outfield positions (and also occasionally helping elsewhere in the infield).
- The Bucs are exploring a variety of possibilities at first base, writes MLB.com’s Adam Berry. Specifically, Berry writes that the Pirates have expressed interest in Mike Napoli, although the right-handed Napoli seems like a slightly awkward fit given the presence of the right-handed Michael Morse on the Bucs’ roster. After non-tendering Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates are looking for a new first baseman to form a bridge to top prospect Josh Bell.
Gerardo Parra Has Received Three-Year Offers
Free agent outfielder Gerardo Parra has three-year offers “currently in hand” but would like to receive a four-year deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo writes. It’s unclear which teams have made those three-year offers, although Cotillo notes that the Giants, Royals and Cubs all have serious interest. Giants GM Bobby Evans told MLBTR on Tuesday that he had spoken with Parra’s camp, although he also noted that he had spoken with representatives of other available outfielders as well. FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi recently reported that the Royals liked Parra as a backup plan in case they were unable to retain Alex Gordon. In addition to the Giants, Royals and Cubs, the Mets have also recently been connected to Parra.
The 28-year-old Parra’s relative youth and solid .291/.328/.452 2015 season should help him land a healthy new contract this winter. He also has a strong reputation as a defensive outfielder, even though his fielding statistics took a surprisingly big step backward last season. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in August, a four-year deal wouldn’t be a shock for Parra if teams still view him as having plus defense.
Athletics Pursuing John Axford
The A’s are “moving in on” free agent righty John Axford, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The Athletics’ signing of Axford would be yet another move to change the composition of their frequently frustrating 2015 bullpen, following their recent agreement to sign Ryan Madson to a three-year deal, recent trades for Liam Hendriks and Marc Rzepczynski, and tonight’s deal of Evan Scribner to Seattle.
Axford elected free agency after the Rockies outrighted him last month. He had been projected to make $6.5MM through the arbitration process. Axford spent the 2015 season closing in Colorado, posting a 4.20 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 55 2/3 innings while recording 25 saves. The 32-year-old Axford’s control troubles have caused him to bounce from team to team in recent years, but his mid- to upper-90s fastball remains formidable, and he has a long and reasonably successful history pitching in the ninth inning (although he likely wouldn’t supplant Sean Doolittle as Oakland’s closer).
Mariners Acquire Evan Scribner From A’s
10:05pm: The Mariners have announced the trade.
10:00pm: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Mariners will send minor league right-hander Trey Cochran-Gill to the Athletics to complete the trade. Seattle selected Gill out of Auburn University in the 17th round of the 2014 draft, and the 23-year-old reached Triple-A this past season. Collectively, Cochran-Gill logged a 4.18 ERA with 6.1 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings (almost exclusively out of the bullpen). Gill dominated at Class-A Advanced but struggled in his exposure to Double-A and Triple-A hitting. He was a fair bit younger than the average age of his competition at each level, though.
6:20pm: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Scribner to the Mariners “sounds as if” it “is indeed happening.”
5:55pm: The Mariners “appear close” to a trade that would send Athletics right-hander Evan Scribner to Seattle, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter link).
Scribner, 30, is coming off a season in which he posted a 4.35 ERA in 60 innings with Oakland, though there’s quite a bit to like about him when glancing at numbers beyond ERA. Scribner posted an incredible 64-to-4 K/BB ratio this past season, which, when paired with the numbers he posted in a small sample of work in 2014, gives him 75 strikeouts against just four walks over his past 71 2/3 innings in the Majors.
Scribner’s main problem has been an unusually high homer-to-flyball ratio; nearly one of every four balls put into the air against him has left the yard dating back to 2014. Homer-to-flyball rate tends to stabilize around 10 to 11 percent for the average pitcher, and home runs were never much of a problem for Scribner in the minor leagues, where he has a career HR/9 rate of just 0.6 despite spending his Triple-A days in the incredibly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Metrics like xFIP and SIERA peg Scribner’s work over the past two seasons more along the lines of a mid-2.00s ERA.
The Mariners would be acquiring four years of control over Scribner, who is a Super Two player (two years, 142 days of Major League service time) and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a modest $700K salary in 2016.
Giants GM Bobby Evans On Fowler, Maeda, Soria
After missing out on their top pitching target this winter, the Giants knew that they had to act fast in order to shore up their rotation. When Diamondbacks acted completely sub rosa and shocked the world by landing Zack Greinke, the Giants quickly pivoted to Jeff Samardzija, giving him a five-year, $90MM deal. Even though the deal carries an average annual value of $18MM, Giants GM Bobby Evans tells MLB Trade Rumors that there’s still potentially enough in the coffers to make another impact signing at a similar level.
“There’s flexibility, yes,” Evans told MLBTR. “I think [last year] we didn’t go as far on multi-year deals and we did shorter term deals. It does give you some flexibility this time around.”
Right now, Evans is looking to allocate some of those funds towards the left field position. The Giants GM indicated that he has talked with reps for Dexter Fowler and Gerardo Parra this week, but, he also went on to say that he has been in touch with “almost everyone on the outfield market.” The idea of flexibility goes beyond payroll for Evans as the Giants refuse to lock in on a limited group of left field candidates.
While left field is a priority for Evans, the bullpen is admittedly “on the back burner.” The Giants were long connected to veteran reliever Joakim Soria, but Evans explained that he was not especially desperate to sign him because of his confidence in the current ‘pen and the minor league depth backing it up. Without taking anything away from Soria, who signed for $25MM over three seasons, Evans explained that it was “too early” in the offseason for the Giants to allocate money towards relievers. In other words, Evans & Co. have bigger fish to fry before they get to fortifying the late innings.
As it turns out, that big fish could be a Carp. Evans confirmed that the club is having internal discussions about Japanese star Kenta Maeda, who was formally posted on Tuesday. Factoring in the expected $20MM posting fee that it will take to have an audience with the right-hander, the total outlay for him could be $80MM or more. Suffice it to say, a flirtation with Maeda while also adequately filling the left field vacancy could really test the limits of the Giants’ budget.
Yankees To Acquire Starlin Castro For Adam Warren, Brendan Ryan
The Yankees and Cubs have agreed to a trade that will send Starlin Castro to New York, pending medical reviews. The deal will also see right-hander Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan (listed as a player to be named later) heading to the Cubs.
Castro, 26 in March, is a three-time All-Star that struggled mightily for much of the 2015 campaign but had a strong finish to the season and an even better showing in the playoffs. Overall, Castro batted .265/.296/.375 last season, marking the second time in the past three seasons in which he’s delivered a well-below average output on offense. However, the 2014 campaign was excellent, as Castro batted .292/.339/.438 with 14 home runs. The Yankees will be counting on Castro to look more like his 2014 and the late-2015 versions of himself over the course of the next four seasons that remain on his contract.
A total of $38MM remains on the seven-year, $60MM contract extension Castro signed three years ago. With the Yankees, he will, presumably, step in as the everyday second baseman for the foreseeable future. His addition calls into question what the Yanks will do with incumbent second basemen Dustin Ackley and Rob Refsnyder, who had previously been slated to platoon in 2016. While one could remain on the roster as a utility option, it’s tough to envision the club keeping both players and Castro on the active roster next year.
Warren, 28, will give the Cubs a right-hander that was one of the more valuable swingmen in the game last season. The former fourth-round pick appeared in 43 games for the Yankees, making 17 starts and 26 relief appearances en route to a career-high 131 1/3 innings. In that time, Warren posted a 3.29 ERA with 7.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate. Those numbers are more or less commensurate with the production he delivered from 2013-14 while working almost exclusively out of the bullpen (101 relief appearances, two starts) and can be a reasonable expectation for him going forward. (If anything, one could perhaps forecast slightly better results due to the move to the National League.) He can be controlled for another three years in arbitration.
Ryan, 34 in March, exercised his $1MM player option this offseason. Ryan has not been terribly productive since coming to New York, taking just 289 plate appearances and compiling a poor .201/.244/.271 batting line over his three years with the team. Still, he is valued most for his glove and he can contribute at second base and in other infield roles.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter) and ESPN’s Buster Olney (on Twitter) first reported that Castro was New York-bound. YES Network’s Jack Curry (Twitter link) reported that Adam Warren and a PTBNL were going to the Cubs. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that the PTBNL was Brendan Ryan. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cubs To Sign Ben Zobrist
Ben Zobrist‘s free agency has reached its long-awaited conclusion as the veteran elected to join an exciting, young Cubs roster. He’ll reportedly receive a four-year, $56MM contract that comes with full no-trade protection in the first three years and an eight-team no-trade list in year four.
The deal will reunite the utilityman with former Rays manager Joe Maddon, who now runs the dugout in Chicago. Zobrist, who is represented by Octagon, will take home a $2MM signing bonus, $10MM in 2016, $16MM in both 2017 and 2018, then $12MM in 2019.
The addition of Zobrist creates a number of logjams on the Chicago roster, as his best positions — corner outfield and second base — are currently occupied by a combination of Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez and Starlin Castro. Then again, the Cubs are said to be discussing a trade of Castro to the Yankees,* which would potentially free up second base and move Baez into a super-utility role (provided he isn’t traded himself).
Zobrist, 35 next May, is coming off a season in which he batted a combined .276/.359/.450 in 535 plate appearances between Oakland and Kansas City. The switch-hitter handled both right-handed pitchers and left-handed pitchers well and delivered arguably his best offensive season in the past three years despite splitting most of his time between the pitcher-friendly O.Co Coliseum and Kauffman Stadium.
Defensive metrics were down on Zobrist this season, though one has to wonder whether or not knee surgery that he underwent early in the year sapped his range and led to the uncharacteristically low ratings placed upon his glove by Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. Zobrist has typically graded out as a well-above-average defender in the outfield corners and at second base, and he also comes with big league experience at shortstop, third base and first base. That defensive versatility is one of the reasons that he was such a hot commodity on this winter’s free-agent market, with upwards of a dozen clubs connected to him at various times.
Zobrist was long tied to the Mets, Giants, Braves and Nationals, but the Cubs re-emerged as an apparent suitor in media reports earlier this afternoon. Zobrist’s priorities were said to be a winning team and a team that is relatively close to his Nashville home, and the Cubs check both of those boxes.
*Editor’s Note: A trade sending Castro to New York was reported later in the same evening.
Tommy Stokke of FanRag Sports tweeted that Zobrist would sign with the Cubs. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted the contract terms. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff reported details of the no-trade provision and annual breakdown.
Ben Zobrist Choosing Between Mets, Cubs
5:43pm: Zobrist is choosing between the Cubs and Mets, according to Rosenthal (Twitter link). The two have made comparable offers, says Rosenthal, so the decision comes down to which club he’d rather join. The Nationals are now on the periphery of talks, Rosenthal adds.
5:26pm: Heyman tweets that the Mets, Giants and Nationals are all willing to go to four years on Zobrist.
4:36pm: Rosenthal hears the same as Rogers — the Cubs are in on Zobrist, he tweets. However, Chicago would need other moves to come together before signing Zobrist. The Cubs, of course, have reportedly been discussing infielder Javier Baez with other teams. Starlin Castro‘s name, too, has been frequently mentioned in trade rumors over the past several months.
3:39pm: Zobrist has at least one four-year offer in hand and could make his decision within the “next several hours,” Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.
ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers adds on Twitter that the Cubs are “not out” of the Zobrist sweepstakes but also don’t seem like the favorite to sign him.
3:34pm: Contrary to prior indications, the Nationals have not met in person with Zobrist and don’t have anything lined up to do so at present, according to reports from Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter) and Mark Zuckerman of CSNmidatlantic.com (Twitter link). But they have met with his representatives and the team has made a “nice, hard push” to acquire Zobrist, per a tweet from the Post’s James Wagner.
Janes provides a full quote from Rizzo, on Twitter: “We have plans, not necessarily to meet him face-to-face, but we’ll keep those to ourselves.”
1:46pm: Zobrist is talking over his decision with his wife and a decision could come as soon as this evening, his agent tells Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
1:03pm: A source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link) that there’s “no way” Zobrist has received such an offer.
Meanwhile, a source with the Mets says that the team did not make such an offer and wouldn’t match it, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
1:02pm: Free agent infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist has been as heavily pursued as expected, but his market is apparently reaching heights not previously anticipated. One unidentified team has made him a four-year, $80MM offer, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. He adds that the Mets remain the favorites to land Zobrist.
Needless to say, that’s an incredible figure to hear connected with Zobrist. Most prior estimates have pegged his anticipated value more in the $15MM annual range, give or take a few million. Despite his consistent excellence, Zobrist is no longer posting quite the numbers he did during his heyday and is entering his age-35 season.
One relevant comp that has previously been discussed is Victor Martinez, another older player who was coming off of a big season at the plate when he inked with the Tigers for four years and $68MM. While Martinez had obvious defensive limitations, whereas Zobrist can play just about everywhere, the latter is also not the offensive force that Martinez was. All said, then, there are some general similarities in their market outlook, and going all the way to eighty million would add an additional $3MM annually to what Martinez achieved.
The latest reports all suggest that Zobrist’s decision is coming soon, with the Nationals and Mets said to be leading the way. The Giants and possibly the Dodgers are also said to be in the mix, too. Of course, late-emerging mystery teams have driven up bidding on plenty of previous occasions, and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com did tweet earlier today that some believe other clubs could still enter the fray.