Pirates “Shopping” Neil Walker, Have Talked With Orioles
FRIDAY: The Bucs are “shopping” Walker and have spoken not only with the O’s but with several other clubs, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
WEDNESDAY: The Orioles and Pirates discussed a trade that would’ve sent Neil Walker to Baltimore at last week’s GM Meetings, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Baltimore’s initial hope was that Walker could be non-tendered due to his impending raise (MLBTR projects him at $10.7MM in 2016), but the Pirates do plan on tendering him a contract, Kubatko notes. Trade talks between the two sides didn’t get very far, as Pittsburgh’s asking price on Walker was deemed too high.
Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun also heard the two sides talked Walker, adding that it’s “pretty evident” that the Pirates are attempting to move Walker (links to Twitter). He classifies talks between the two teams as “off and on.” Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review hears that the Pirates are fielding offers for Walker, though he doesn’t characterize the desire to move Walker quite as aggressively as Encina does.
Both Kubatko and Encina note that while Walker is a second baseman by trade, the O’s are set there with Jonathan Schoop. Rather, the duo suggests that Walker could see time at first base while spelling Schoop and third baseman Manny Machado on occasion. Kubatko adds that the two sides could revisit talks in Nashville at the Winter Meetings next month and notes that the Pirates are likely seeking young pitching in return.
Per Biertempfel, Pirates GM Neal Huntington appeared on KDKA-FM radio today and said that the team has the resources to retain Walker, closer Mark Melancon ($10MM projection) and first baseman Pedro Alvarez ($8.1MM projection). All three have been suggested as possibilities to leave the organization, however, with Melancon and Walker being trade candidates and Alvarez being either a trade or non-tender candidate. Recently, Jon Heyman noted that the Pirates have fielded offers on all three, plus the rest of their arbitration class.
Walker, who recently turned 30, will be a free agent next winter. He’s coming off a solid, albeit down season at the plate, in which he batted .269/.328/.427 with 16 home runs in 603 plate appearances. Walker has rated as a considerably above-league-average bat by measure of OPS+ (114) and wRC+ (115) in parts of six big league seasons dating back to 2010. A history of back troubles and a pair of fluke injuries — a 2014 appendectomy and a severely lacerated finger in 2013 — have limited him to an average of 136 games per season in that time. He also rates as a below-average defender, though not egregiously so. Defensive Runs Saved pegs him at -10 runs over the course of 6889 innings at second base, and Ultimate Zone Rating feels he’s about six runs below average per 150 games.
The intrigue surrounding Baltimore’s interest in Walker is somewhat dependent on how the team truly feels he’s best deployed. If Baltimore is looking at Walker as an everyday first base option, then that would signal that the team isn’t confident in its ability to retain free agent Chris Davis. If the plan is for Walker to split time between DH, first base, second base, third base and perhaps even the corner outfield, as Encina writes, the interest wouldn’t seem to immediately preclude a reunion with Davis.
Dodgers Interested In Zimmermann; Giants A “Threat” To Land Greinke
Righty Jordan Zimmermann is one of the Dodgers’ “top targets” among free agent starters, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (Twitter links). That shouldn’t be read as a shift of focus away from Zack Greinke, he adds, so much as an indication of the team’s affinity for Zimmermann.
That report comes on the heels of another suggesting that the Giants could be a “formidable threat” to land Greinke. As Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes, San Francisco is at least creating an impression in the marketplace that it is prepared for a serious pursuit of the talented — but less than youthful — veteran starter. Of course, the Giants are also said to be doing some diligence on David Price.
It’s always intriguing to consider these two division rivals competing over a player, but in truth the connection goes beyond the fact that only one can win the NL West. Los Angeles probably has more free agent spending capacity than any team in baseball right now — whether or not it chooses to use it — while their neighbors to the north seemingly saved their hefty war chest for this winter’s strong group of free agents. And, of course, both have obvious needs in the rotation.
One year ago, it wouldn’t have been surprising at all to expect to debate the relative merits of these two pitchers. At that point, Zimmermann was coming off of a season in which he looked like an improving, top-of-the-rotation arm, while Greinke was good but obviously not getting any younger.
Things have changed quite a bit in the meantime, though. The 29-year-old Zimmermann has lost some luster, while Greinke turned in a season for the ages. Of course, there’s an argument to be made that perceptions and recency bias could be clouding the situation, but it seems clear at this point that Greinke will out-earn his younger competitor.
All told, it remains far too early to get any kind of a reasonable read of the market. There’s arguably been more chatter surrounding Greinke than other top arms — it’s mostly been crickets, in particular, regarding Johnny Cueto — but as of yet there’s nothing to suggest any sort of clarity. Indeed, if anything, these reports serve only to confirm the fluidity at the top of the pitching market.
Blue Jays Acquire Jesse Chavez From A’s For Liam Hendriks
The Blue Jays have officially acquired righty Jesse Chavez from the Athletics. Right-hander Liam Hendriks is going to Oakland in return.
This swap could have wide-ranging implications. The 32-year-old Chavez figures to join the re-signed Marco Estrada in the Jays rotation, significantly reducing the team’s need to add a free agent starter. While neither figures to be a top-of-the-rotation contributor, that duo should provide innings, depth, and options. Of course, a bigger addition could still occur.
Chavez was something of a journeyman before he landed in Oakland. Over four seasons there, he worked to a 3.98 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 363 2/3 innings. He proved especially useful for his versatility, making 47 starts and 54 appearances from the pen after working almost exclusively as a reliever earlier in his MLB career.
MLBTR projects that Chavez will earn $4.7MM this year in his final season of arbitration eligibility. That’s obviously quite a bit cheaper than one would expect to pay for an arm of his quality on the open market, but he does come with just one season of control.
Meanwhile, the A’s will get four years of control over Hendriks, the first of which (2016) will be at league minimum. The 26-year-old enjoyed a breakout 2015 in the Toronto pen after functioning mostly as a starter earlier in his career — the opposite transformation of that enjoyed by Chavez.
The Aussie ended the season with 64 2/3 innings of 2.92 ERA pitching. Most impressively, he racked up 9.9 K/9 against just 1.5 BB/9 — figures that he never approached in prior seasons. As Chris Mosch of Baseball Prospectus explained in detail earlier today, a huge leap in fastball velocity and tweaking of pitch selection seemed to drive Hendriks’ success. His new team will now hope that he can continue that high level of performance and take up a key set-up role.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the trade (Twitter links).
Tigers Acquire Cameron Maybin
The Tigers have announced the acquisition of outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Braves. In return, Atlanta has added lefties Ian Krol and Gabe Speier.
Maybin, 28, returns to the organization that made him a first-round pick back in 2005. He seems likely to represent a platoon mate for fellow center fielder Anthony Gose. If that turns out to be the case, he’ll essentially step into the role of free agent Rajai Davis. It’s also possible to imagine Maybin spending time in left, though Detroit has plenty of time to look for another addition there.
It was an up-and-down 2015 for Maybin, who went to the Braves from the Padres as part of the salary swapping that facilitated the (first) Craig Kimbrel deal. In the end, he slashed .267/.327/.370 with 23 steals and ten home runs over 555 plate appearances.
That’s useful-enough production for an up-the-middle player, but Maybin also sported career-worst defensive metrics. Generally considered an average or plus defender in center, the athletic outfielder garnered a sub-par -7.3 UZR rating and a disastrous -16 DRS tally last year. That could be a short term blip, but it’s certainly an area of concern.
The Tigers will take over the extension that Maybin signed with the Padres. He is due $8MM this season, while a $9MM club option for 2017 comes with a $1MM buyout. The Braves, though, will apparently pick up part of the overall tab, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that the swap will save Atlanta something like $6.5MM.
It’s likely that the cash savings played a significant role in Atlanta’s interest. But the arms coming over do have some value. Krol, 24, has struggled to keep runs off the board but has a big arm. He’s worked to a 4.91 ERA in 88 total MLB innings, with 7.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. And the 20-year-old Speier — a minor part of the Yoenis Cespedes-for-Rick Porcello swap — put up a 2.86 ERA in 44 innings of relief at the Class A level last year, with 7.4 K/9 vs. 2.5 BB/9.
With the move, the Braves seem set to utilize Michael Bourn in center, with prospect Mallex Smith coming as soon as the middle of this coming season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him supplemented with a signing — or, perhaps, a more significant trade for a young player. Elsewhere in the outfield, Nick Swisher represents a reserve option behind presumptive starters Nick Markakis and Hector Olivera.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports images.
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday
Tonight at 8:00pm ET is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In other words: there will be a significant amount of 40-man roster moves made over the course of the next 13 or so hours. Six clubs already made moves to protect prospects from the Rule 5 yesterday, and each of the remaining 24 clubs should make moves today as well.
In brief: players drafted/signed at 18 years of age or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Players drafted/signed at 19 or older must be added within four years. Those interested in all of the specifics can refer to articles from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Perhaps of greater interest is that Mayo lists all of the prospects from MLB.com’s Top 100 list and from their organizational Top 30 lists that much be protected in advance of tonight’s deadline, while Cooper provides brief write-ups on each player that has been protected (and will continue to do so as additions are made).
Here are today’s additions to the 40-man roster. You can check out Baseball America’s coverage to learn more about the individual players listed below …
- The last team to report is the Giants, who have added a host of names to their 40-man: pitchers Ty Blach, Clayton Blackburn, Kyle Crick, Ian Gardeck, Adalberto Mejia, Steven Okert, Jake Smith, and Chris Stratton. With the roster filled up with that many pre-MLB arms, it’s fair to wonder whether the team anticipates trading from among that group.
- In their second set of 40-man promotions today, the Astros have selected the contracts of outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana.
- Moving onto the Marlins 40-man are lefty Jarlin Garcia and a trio of righties: Jacob Esch, Austin Brice, and Nick Wittgren.
- The Cubs have placed backstop Willson Contreras, righty Pierce Johnson, third baseman Jeimer Candelario, and first baseman Dan Vogelbach onto their 40-man, the team announced.
- The Phillies added outfielder Roman Quinn and righties Jimmy Cordero and Edubray Ramos.
- Joining the Royals‘ 40-man are pitchers Matthew Strahm, Alec Mills, and Kyle Zimmer, infielder Ramon Torres, and outfielders Brett Eibner and Bubba Starling, the club announced.
- The Rockies have selected the contracts of righties Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela, infielder Trevor Story, and outfielder Raimel Tapia.
- The Rays will add righties Jacob Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, and German Marquez to the 40-man roster along with infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter and rising lefty prospect Blake Snell.
- The Pirates have added top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell to the club’s 40-man, along with fellow youngsters Harold Ramirez (an outfielder) and Max Moroff (a middle infielder).
- Righty Victor Alcantara has been placed on the Angels‘ 40-man, the club announced. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez notes on Twitter, Alcantara is probably now the team’s single best prospect.
Earlier Updates
- Joining the big league side of the roster for the Yankees are righties Johnny Barbato and Rookie Davis along with outfielder Ben Gamel, the team announced.
- The Reds announced the additions of right-handers Robert Stephenson, Sal Romano, and Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster to keep them from Rule 5 eligibility.
- Going onto the Rangers‘ 40-man roster are outfielder Nomar Mazara, lefty Yohander Mendez, and righties Jose Leclerc and Connor Sadzeck.
- The Dodgers brought righties Jharel Cotton and Ross Stripling onto their 40-man, per a team announcement.
- Infielder Marco Hernandez, righty Pat Light, and lefty Williams Jerez are the newest members of the Red Sox 40-man, the club announced.
- The White Sox have protected righties Brandon Brennan and J.B. Wendelken from the Rule 5 by giving them roster spots.
- The Orioles have added a trio of pitchers, per an announcement. Parker Bridwell and Andrew Triggs throw from the right side, while Chris Lee is a southpaw.
- Moving onto the 40-man for the Indians are righties Mike Clevinger, Shawn Morimando and Dylan Baker, as well as outfielders Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey, per the club.
- The Mets announced the additions of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and righties Seth Lugo, Jeff Walters, and Robert Gsellman to the club’s major league roster.
- Second baseman Joey Wendle and left-hander Jose Torres were added to the Athletics 40-man roster, per the club.
- The Mariners announced that they have purchased the contracts of infielder Patrick Kivlehan and outfielder Boog Powell, thereby adding them to the 40-man roster and protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft.
- The Astros announced the additions of catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and right-handers Jandel Gustave, Juan Minaya, Joe Musgrove and David Paulino to the 40-man roster. Notably, Gustave was a Rule 5 pick last year and found himself with both the Padres and Royals before ultimately being returned to Houston.
- The Tigers announced that they’ve added right-handers Michael Fulmer and Montreal Robertson as well as left-hander Jairo Labourt to the 40-man. Fulmer was the main piece picked up in Detroit’s trade of Yoenis Cespedes, while Labourt was one of three lefties acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade.
Astros Designate L.J. Hoes
The Astros have designated outfielder L.J. Hoes for assignment, the club announced. In the team’s second round of 40-man additions today, it has added outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana to fill up its major league roster.
Hoes, 25, saw minimal time at the major league level last season after getting some opportunities in the prior two campaigns. All told, he owns a .237/.289/.328 batting line over 337 MLB plate appearances. Hoes has, however, shown some speed and on-base ability at the Triple-A level.
Rays Designate Arencibia, Gomes, Nava, Yates
The Rays have designated catcher J.P. Arencibia, outfielder Daniel Nava, and righties Brandon Gomes and Kirby Yates for assignment, the club announced. Tampa Bay will add righties Jacob Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, and German Marquez to the 40-man roster along with infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter and rising lefty prospect Blake Snell.
By parting with Arencibia, the club appears to have chosen to keep Rene Rivera around behind the dish, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 29-year-old Arencibia still benefited from his time in Tampa Bay, though, as he put on a power show in his 73 plate appearances and figures to have boosted his free agent stock. Nava, soon to turn 33, never really got going last year and will probably be left looking for an opportunity on a minor league deal this winter.
On the pitching side of the ledger, the 31-year-old Gomes has seen his share of action in the Rays’ pen over the last five years, throwing a total of 167 innings of 4.20 ERA ball. He could land an MLB deal with a team looking for reliever depth. As for Yates, the 28-year-old righty was hit hard last year, but will enter the market with 10.1 K/9 vs. 3.5 BB/9 on his ledger over 56 1/3 career MLB innings.
Notably, also, the move will save Tampa Bay some money. MLBTR projected Arencibia ($1.4MM), Nava ($1.9MM), and Gomes ($900K) to command salaries that are not insignificant for a team with Tampa Bay’s tight payroll.
Diamondbacks Designate Allen Webster
The Diamondbacks have designated righty Allen Webster for assignment, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter. Righties Jake Barrett and Matt Koch will take up 40-man roster spots along with outfielder Gabby Guerrero, Piecoro adds on Twitter.
Webster, of course, was an important part of the deal that sent Wade Miley to the Red Sox. Unlike the other young righty acquired in that deal, Rubby De La Rosa, he hasn’t shown the ability to transition into a MLB pitcher.
The 25-year-old owns a 6.13 ERA over 120 1/3 total MLB innings, with a miserable 5.7 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9. It’s probably fair to call this past season his worst as a professional, as Webster walked more batters than he struck out in the majors and was bombed for 70 earned runs in his 77 Triple-A frames. Notably, also, his average fastball velocity at the major league level is nearly three miles per hour slower than it was with the Red Sox in 2013.
Nevertheless, there ought to be more than one club with interest in attempting to turn things around for the still-young hurler.
Rockies Avoid Arbitration With Brandon Barnes
The Rockies have agreed to a one-year deal with outfielder Brandon Barnes to avoid arbitration, the club announced. Terms of the deal were not announced.
MLBTR projected Barnes, 29, to command $1.2MM in arbitration in his first season of eligibility. But as I wrote in assessing Colorado’s offseason outlook, he seemed like a reasonably plausible non-tender candidate given his recent struggles.
Barnes was demoted for part of the 2015 campaign and ended up contributing only a .251/.314/.341 slash over 281 plate appearances. Given that he benefited from playing at Coors Field, that translated to a meager 68 OPS+. He also hasn’t drawn terribly favorable ratings from defensive metrics.
Rockies Designate Axford, Rosario, Brothers, Kahnle
The Rockies have designated a notable group of players for assignment today to clear space on the 40-man roster, per a club announcement. Relievers John Axford, Rex Brothers, and Tommy Kahnle are all now in DFA limbo, as is first baseman/catcher Wilin Rosario.
Colorado has selected the contracts of righties Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela, infielder Trevor Story, and outfielder Raimel Tapia. All of those players will be protected from the Rule 5 draft.
It’s somewhat surprising to see all of those veterans being pushed out the door, but the move saves significant dollars for the Rockies. Per MLBTR’s arbitration projections, the trio of Axford, Brothers, and Rosario would’ve cost just over $11MM in 2016. All three could potentially score guaranteed contracts in free agency — and Axford almost certainly will after a solid campaign — but it also is easy to see why the team wasn’t willing to pay their respective arb prices to keep them.
Kahnle was not yet arb eligible, but lost his place after his walk rate ballooned to 7.6 BB/9 last year. The pre-2014 Rule 5 pick showed enough to stick in Colorado, and his mid-90s heater is still humming, so he ought to draw some interest from clubs that are looking for a project.