Diamondbacks Sign Dansby Swanson
The Diamondbacks and No. 1 overall draft pick Dansby Swanson have agreed to terms on a contract with about two minutes to go until the signing deadline, reports MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (via Twitter). Swanson, who was advised by and is now a client of Excel Sports Management, was said by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports to have an offer of $6.5MM+ on the table, and Baseball America’s John Manuel now reports (via Twitter) that Swanson signed for $6.5MM on the dot. The Diamondbacks have now officially announced the signing (Twitter link).
Swanson, a shortstop out of Vanderbilt, ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the draft in the eyes of Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel, while both Baseball America and MLB.com ranked him second, and ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him third. The right-handed hitter batted .335/.423/.623 with 15 home runs, 24 doubles, six triples and 16 steals (in 18 tries) during his junior season with the Commodores.
McDaniel feels that Swanson has plus speed and a plus arm to go along with what will eventually be an above-average glove, an above-average hit tool and average power. BA notes that he smoothly transitioned from playing second base as a sophomore to shortstop as a junior. Their report also praises his all-fields approach at the plate as well as his patience, two-strike approach, work ethic and makeup. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com feel that he can stick at shortstop and use his strong on-base skills and plus speed to profile as a leadoff hitter with some home run pop and plenty of gap power. Law projects him as an above-average regular at shortstop who can hit for some power while posting above-average marks in terms of both batting average and on-base percentage.
The expectation had been that Swanson would sign, although negotiations between the D-Backs and Swanson’s now-agents at Excel Sports Management appear to have gone down to the wire. Despite the fact that Swanson hadn’t signed at the time Law published his midseason Top 50 prospects list, Law was confident enough in a deal getting done that he ranked Swanson as the No. 22 prospect in all of Major League Baseball.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Top Picks Funkhouser, Singer, Hughes, Cody Do Not Sign
The deadline for 2015 draft picks to sign is today at 5pm ET, and entering Friday, there were seven players from the top two rounds that remained unsigned: No. 1 overall pick Dansby Swanson; Dodgers top picks Walker Buehler (No. 24) and Kyle Funkhouser (No. 35); Brewers Competitive Balance (A) pick Nathan Kirby (No. 40); Blue Jays second-rounder Brady Singer (No. 56); Orioles second-rounder Jonathan Hughes (No. 68); and Twins Competitive Balance (B) pick Kyle Cody (No. 73).
Swanson, Buehler and Kirby have reportedly agreed to sign, but we’ll run down the list of top picks that have elected not to sign right here…
- Baseball America’s John Manuel reports (on Twitter) that Cody will not sign with the Twins and will instead return to Kentucky for his senior season. Minnesota will receive the No. 74 pick in this year’s draft.
- Singer will indeed attend college rather than sign with the Blue Jays, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. As Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper tweets, this marks the third time in five seasons that the Blue Jays have failed to sign a first- or second-round pick. Toronto will receive the No. 57 pick in next year’s draft.
Earlier Updates
- Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that the D-Backs have offered Swanson a bonus of $6.5MM or more, but he’s yet to decide on whether or not to accept. That’s about $2.116MM below the slot value at No. 1 overall. Swanson is reportedly being advised by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management.
- It “looks like” Singer will attend Florida rather than sign with the Blue Jays, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter links). That’s not the same definitive type of report listed below, however, so there would at least appear to be room for the two sides to strike a last-minute deal in the final hour. The Blue Jays would receive the 57th pick in next year’s draft if the high-school righty elects college over pro ball.
- Funkhouser tweeted today that he will not sign with the Dodgers and will instead return to Louisville for his senior season. The college right-hander was at one point thought to be a potential Top 10 pick, but as Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill wrote last night, attrition of Funkhouser’s stuff as the draft approached caused his stock to slip. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that the Dodgers offered Funkhouser roughly $2MM, which was above his $1.756MM slot, though also considerably lower than the amount he’d have gotten without the late dip in his draft stock. The Dodgers will receive the No. 36 pick in the 2016 draft as compensation, and they’ll now turn their focus to signing Buehler, a right-hander out of Vanderbilt. Because Funkhouser did not sign, however, his $1.756MM slot value will be subtracted from the Dodgers’ allotted draft pool.
- MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports that Hughes will not sign with the Orioles and will instead Georgia Tech. A high school righty out of Georgia, Hughes’ No. 68 overall slot came with a value of $907K, though it’s not clear what sort of offer the Orioles made. Baltimore will be awarded the 69th pick in next year’s draft as compensation for failure to sign Hughes. Still, the loss of a top pick just one year after not picking until the third round (the Orioles forfeited draft picks to sign both Nelson Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez) and just months after trading a Competitive Balance pick to the Dodgers to relieve themselves of Ryan Webb‘s salary is a tough blow for the Baltimore farm system. They did, however, net an extra pick when Cruz, who had received a qualifying offer, signed in Seattle.
Brewers To Sign Comp Pick Nathan Kirby
The Brewers have signed left-hander Nathan Kirby, reports ESPN’s Keith Law (via Twitter). Kirby, who was selected with the 40th pick in this year’s draft, will receive a signing bonus of $1.25MM, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (also on Twitter). That figure comes in a ways below his slot value of $1.548MM. According to a second tweet from Heyman, Kirby at one point had an above-slot offer from Milwaukee, but a new medical concern caused the team to drop its offer.
Kirby was once looked as a potential top five pick but slipped down draft rankings rapidly due to a lat strain. The final edition of draft rankings from Law, Baseball America, MLB.com and Fangraphs placed Kirby 20th, 26th, 26th and 29th, respectively.
Law felt that Kirby represented a value pick in the late first round or Competitive Balance round, which is where Milwaukee selected him. Per Law, he has the upside of a mid-rotation starter if everything comes together, and Baseball America agrees. BA has his fastball in the low 90s, noting that he touched 94 frequently and made significant strides with a changeup this season. BA notes that he battled command in 2015, but some scouts think his issues are correctable, and he could move quickly to the Majors. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com note that his command may have suffered in 2015 from throwing too many sliders, though they also call the slider is a plus pitch for Kirby.
Reds Prefer Not To Package Cueto, Chapman In Same Trade
The Reds are reportedly prepared to trade both Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, but while there’s been a good deal of speculation about the possibility of packaging Cueto and closer Aroldis Chapman, the team is not presently entertaining the notion, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. If the Reds do decide to make Chapman available — and based on Nightengale’s wording, there’s been no decision on that front yet — the preference would be to move the pair in separate transactions.
There’s less motivation for the Reds to move Chapman in the coming two weeks than there is for the team to move Cueto and Leake, as Chapman still has one season of team control remaining beyond the current campaign. Of course, that season will be an expensive one. Chapman’s earning $8.05MM in 2015 and is due a raise in arbitration this winter. Given his brilliant numbers — 32 saves, 1.69 ERA, 65-to-20 K/BB ratio in 37 1/3 innings — it’s easy to envision his price tag soaring into the $11-12MM range. Chapman did, after all, receive a $3.05MM raise this past offseason on the strength of similar numbers in 2014.
It would seem to me that if the plan is to trade Cueto and Leake at peak value, then moving Chapman is a reasonable step as well. His value certainly goes down following the season — he’ll have less team control and a higher price tag — and the 2016 season could be one of transition for the Reds. He’d still fetch a haul this winter or even next July, but when considering the number of teams needing bullpen help and the lack of clear sellers on the market, it’s easy to see that Chapman would be among the game’s most coveted trade targets.
Orioles Agree To Minors Deals With Dana Eveland, Andy Oliver
The Orioles have agreed to minor league contracts with left-handers Dana Eveland and Andy Oliver, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). Both will head to Triple-A, according to Kubatko.
Eveland, a client of PSI Sports Management, began the year in the Red Sox organization but opted out of his deal after pitching well at the Triple-A level. He signed with the Braves and joined their big league roster but pitched just 3 1/3 innings before being designated for assignment and released.
The 31-year-old Eveland returned to Major League Baseball last season after spending the 2013 campaign pitching for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. He made 30 appearances with the Mets and worked to a 2.63 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 27 1/3 innings. Despite that solid performance, Eveland settled for a minor league contract this past offseason. In 25 innings split between Triple-A Pawtucket (Boston) and Gwinnett (Atlanta) this season, Eveland has worked to a 1.54 ERA with 23 strikeouts and three walks.
Oliver was selected in the minor league portion of the most recent Rule 5 Draft by the Phillies but was cut loose in Spring Training. He ended up with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate, where he notched a 3.86 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 28 innings. However, Oliver also walked a troublesome 24 hitters in that time. Control problems have long plagued Oliver, who was once one of the more promising prospects in the Tigers’ farm system. He’ll hope to reach the Majors for the first time since 2011 with the Orioles.
Braves To Sign Ross Detwiler
1:52pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that Detwiler’s contract is a Major League deal.
1:42pm: The Braves have agreed to terms on a contract with free agent left-hander Ross Detwiler, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Detwiler, a client of CAA Sports, was recently released by the Rangers after struggling in his first brush with the American League. The Rangers had acquired him from the Nationals in an offseason trade.
Detwiler, 29, was the sixth pick in the 2007 draft out of Missouri State University. Though he never emerged as the consistent rotation option that the Nationals had hoped for when he was selected with that high pick, Detwiler looked the part of a serviceable starter from 2012-13 (3.59 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 in 46 games/40 starts) and posted solid, if unspectacular numbers in the bullpen in 2014. Last year, he notched a 4.00 ERA in 63 innings, averaging 5.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
The 2015 season, however, has been an ugly on for Detwiler. In 43 innings split between the Texas rotation and bullpen, the lefty has a 7.12 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and a career-worst 36.4 percent ground-ball rate. With the Rangers, Detwiler cut down on the usage of his four-seamer and relied much more heavily on his sinker, slider and changeup, and the change in pitch selection seems to have contributed to his unfavorable results.
The Braves will hope that a return to the NL East and working with pitching coach Roger McDowell can help Detwiler return to his previously effective form. If nothing else, Detwiler should be a useful relief option against left-handed hitters; even in his poor 2015, he held same-handed batters to a .220/.280/.317 slash line. Throughout his career, lefties have batted just .232/.305/.301 against him.
Detwiler’s earning $3.45MM this season after avoiding arbitration last winter, but the Rangers will be on the hook for all of that figure, less the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time spent on Atlanta’s active roster.
Braves Extend Fredi Gonzalez, Coaching Staff Through 2016
The Braves announced today that they’ve extended the contract of manager Fredi Gonzalez through the 2016 season. Gonzalez’s new contract contains a club option for 2017, and the entire coaching staff has been extended through 2016 as well.
In four and a half seasons as the Braves’ manager, Gonzalez has compiled a 400-337 record, although the 2015 season has been a difficult one to date. That, however, shouldn’t come as a total shock considering the fact that Atlanta traded away Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, Evan Gattis, Jordan Walden and David Carpenter this offseason as the team shifted its focus toward the future. His detractors, though, will point not only to the club’s losing ways in 2015 but a late collapse in 2014 after spending a total of 94 days in first place. (Atlanta went 27-40 in the season’s second half.)
While Gonzalez is a polarizing figure among Braves fans, he’s long appeared to be in good standings with Atlanta’s top decision-makers, and an overhaul in the Braves’ front office this past offseason appears to have done little to change that. The new contract gives Gonzalez and his staff further time to work a new, younger core that has seen the likes of Shelby Miller, Mike Foltynewicz, Matt Wisler, Jace Peterson and others added to previous stalwarts such as Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons.
As the Braves note in the press release announcing the move, this extension for the coaching staff ensures that Terry Pendleton will be back for an 15th season as first base coach, Roger McDowell return for an 11th year as pitching coach, Eddie Perez will return for a 10th year as bullpen coach and Carlos Tosca will be back for a sixth season as bench coach. First-year coaches Bo Porter (third base), Kevin Seitzer (hitting) and Jose Castro (assistant hitting) will all return for second seasons.
Heyman’s Latest: Dodgers/Hamels, Braves, Frazier, Price, Brewers, Upton
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports kicks off his weekly Inside Baseball column by reporting that the Dodgers have “quietly continued having dialogue with the Phillies” regarding Cole Hamels. The Dodgers are also giving serious consideration to the rental market and prioritizing Johnny Cueto over others among such targets. The Dodgers “appear determined” to land a top-of-the-rotation arm to pair with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, writes Heyman, but most executives think they’ll hold onto top prospects Corey Seager and Julio Urias. The Dodgers have a deep farm system beyond that pairing (righty Jose De Leon has recently been ranked a Top 25 prospect by Baseball America and ESPN), and one exec tells Heyman that the Phillies’ asking price on Hamels has become “more reasonable” recently. The Dodgers feel that Greinke is a lock to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, and while they could possibly re-sign him by adding a year or two to the deal and upping his $24.5MM AAV, Hamels would provide insurance should Greinke sign elsewhere. Jeff Samardzija is also a consideration for the Dodgers, but while they like him, they consider him more of a No. 2/3 starter and don’t love him.
Some more highlights from Heyman’s article, though the synopsis won’t cover everything within the piece, so I’d highly recommend reading it in its entirety…
- The Braves will be deadline sellers, Heyman hears, with Jim Johnson, Juan Uribe and Cameron Maybin among the players that will be available to interested teams. Chris Johnson, too, continues to be available, but there are no takers for his contract, which Atlanta has aggressively tried to move in the past.
- With the Reds expected to trade so many veterans to other clubs, many in the industry expect the team to make a run at extending Todd Frazier beyond his current two-year deal, Heyman writes. (Frazier has one more year of arbitration following his current pact.) Jeff Todd and I have discussed Frazier’s situation on the MLBTR Podcast in the past (and will do so again this afternoon), and I’ve personally taken the stance that given the significant commitments to Joey Votto and Homer Bailey, the Reds could have a difficult time affording Frazier, whose 2014-15 breakout has hugely inflated his price tag. Given the lack of impact bats on the trade market, Frazier would net a king’s ransom and could rapidly expedite the rebuilding process, though the PR hit of trading him with so much control and on the heels of a Home Run Derby victory would of course be significant.
- In other Reds news, Heyman hears Mike Leake‘s ground-ball tendencies are appealing to AL East clubs, and he’s drawn interest from the Blue Jays, Orioles and Red Sox in addition to the Royals, Dodgers, Rangers, Cubs and Giants. Manny Parra and Marlon Byrd are both “likely to go” as well.
- Asked about the possibility of signing with the Cubs this offseason due to his relationship with skipper Joe Maddon, Tigers ace David Price replied, “Wherever I play baseball next year it’s not going to be because of a manager.”
- The Astros are interested in both Cueto and Leake, and Houston seems willing to deal from its glut of MLB-ready outfield prospects, including Domingo Santana and Preston Tucker. (Previous reports have indicated they’re reluctant to part with Brett Phillips, however, who may be the best among the outfield bunch.)
- The Brewers are now showing a willingness to trade both Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura, Heyman hears. Though it was previously believed they were reluctant to move Segura, the emergence of Orlando Arcia (the younger brother of the Twins’ Oswaldo Arcia) may have changed Milwaukee’s thinking. However, Arcia himself is also drawing a huge amount of trade interest, and the Padres have called to express interest. One NL exec called him the best player he’s seen in the minors this year, while another comped him to Francisco Lindor, but said Arcia is better. Regarding Segura, Heyman hears that the Mets dislike his free-swinging approach.
- The Twins aren’t closed off to the idea of re-acquiring Gomez from the Brewers, but their primary focus at this point is bullpen help.
- The Mets are aiming high in their pursuit of an outfield bat and have both Gomez and Justin Upton on their radar. They’re not likely to add Aramis Ramirez from the Brewers unless they receive bad news on the prognosis of David Wright. They also have little interest in swinging a deal for Uribe.
- Padres officials insist that they haven’t determined their course of action heading into the deadline, but Heyman writes that free-agents-to-be such as Upton, Ian Kennedy, Joaquin Benoit and Will Venable could be traded regardless. James Shields‘ backloaded contract limits his value, but one GM felt Benoit has “big value” and Heyman notes that Craig Kimbrel would be in huge demand as well, should the Padres try to recoup some value from that deal.
- Cueto, Samardzija and Leake are atop the Blue Jays‘ wish list, and the team was also in talks with the Braves regarding Jason Grilli prior to his season-ending injury. A top starting pitcher is Toronto’s top priority at this point, says Heyman. He also adds that there’s no evidence to suggest that manager John Gibbons is on the hot seat.
Phillies To Promote Aaron Nola
The Phillies will promote right-hander Aaron Nola to start against the Rays next Tuesday, July 21, in Philadelphia, according to a team release. Nola, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 draft, is considered the Phillies’ top pitching prospect and one of the 50 best prospects in all of baseball.
On their recent midseason top prospect lists, Baseball America and Keith Law of ESPN ranked Nola 12th and 38th, respectively. The former Louisiana State hurler has excelled in the minors every step of the way, totaling a 2.57 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 in 164 2/3 professional innings. BA calls him a “very safe” big-league-ready starting pitcher, and Law praises Nola’s “uncanny” fastball command. Most scouting reports peg the 6’1″, 195-pound Nola as an excellent bet to hold down a spot in the middle of the Phillies’ rotation for years to come, likely as a No. 3 type starter.
Assuming Nola is called up on Tuesday (not sooner) and is not sent back down to Triple-A, he’ll accumulate 76 days of big league service in 2015, which will leave him well shy of Super Two designation and make him controllable through the 2021 season.
Phillies fans have been waiting for months to see Nola pitching for a big league club that has had little in the way to cheer for. Philadelphia is widely expected to clean house over the coming two weeks, trading the likes of Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, Ben Revere and likely a few other veterans as it continues a lengthy rebuilding process that began with offseason trades of Jimmy Rollins, Marlon Byrd and Antonio Bastardo. Those trades netted pitchers Ben Lively, Zach Eflin and Tom Windle, but Nola is considered a significantly superior prospect to each of that grouping.
Nola has spoken with MLBTR’s Zach Links on a pair of occasions — once heading into the draft and once in Spring Training this season as he looked ahead to his first full year of pro ball.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Reds “Prepared To Trade” Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake
Now that this week’s All-Star festivities in Cincinnati have come to a close, the Reds are prepared to trade right-handers Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Both longtime Reds hurlers are eligible for free agency at season’s end.
While Morosi’s report is not necessarily unexpected news — many reports over the past few months have indicated that Cincinnati was loath to sell major pieces prior to hosting the Midsummer Classic — it does serve as confirmation that the team won’t deviate from its expected course. The Reds currently sit eight games under .500 at 39-47, placing them 15.5 games behind the Cardinals for the NL Central lead and 7.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race.
Cueto figures to be among the most desirable trade chips on this year’s summer market, if not the most desirable trade chip. The 29-year-old is as appealing a target as one could hope for in a rental — a pure ace that is enjoying an excellent season and signed to an affordable contract. Cueto’s worked to a 2.73 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate in 118 2/3 innings this season. He’s earning a relatively modest $10MM salary in 2015, of which about $4.37MM remains.
Leake, 27, is not as high-profile a target but still carries a good deal of value to teams looking to stabilize the middle or back end of their rotations. The former No. 8 overall pick is sporting a 4.08 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 53 percent ground-ball rate in 114 2/3 innings with the Reds this season. His collective work over the two most recent full seasons has been impressive; despite pitching half his games in the hitters’ paradise that is Great American Ball Park, Leake has worked to a 3.54 ERA and averaged 203 innings, helping to establish himself as a solid mid-rotation cog. Leake is earning $9.775MM in 2015, and he’s still owed about $4.27MM of that sum.
Given the willingness to part with Cueto and Leake, it would stand to reason that other impending free agents are also available in trades as well. That could include Marlon Byrd (who has a vesting option for 2016), catcher Brayan Pena and lefty reliever Manny Parra. More interesting, however, are right fielder Jay Bruce and closer Aroldis Chapman. Both have been rumored to be available and could potentially return a significant haul for what appears to be a rebuilding Reds club. Chapman’s controlled through 2016 and could see his salary clear $11MM this offseason, though that’s unlikely to give pause to many of his suitors. Bruce is under control through 2016 for a guaranteed $13.5MM, but a club option means that he could be controlled for $25.5MM from 2016-17 (plus the remaining $5.25MM on his 2015 salary).