Blue Jays, Luke Scott Agree To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays have signed first baseman/outfielder Luke Scott to a minor league contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The Page Odle/PSI Sports Management client will report to Triple-A tomorrow, he adds.
Scott, 36, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since a 2013 stint with the Rays. He spent part of the 2014 season playing with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, slashing an impressive .267/.392/.505 with six homers in 33 games. He opened the season in the Mexican League, enjoying similar success with a .292/.400/.519 batting line and seven bombs in 28 games.
At his best, Scott would offer plus left-handed power and a keen eye that resulted in healthy walk rates. He’s a career .258/.340/.481 hitter in 3193 big league plate appearances, with his most impressive work coming from 2006-10 with the Astros and Orioles, when he posted a 126 OPS+, indicating that he was 26 percent better than a league-average hitter after accounting for park factors.
Scott was never known for his defense, but both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved give him slightly positive marks for his career work in left field. Of course, it seems doubtful that he’d still be capable of playing an average or better corner outfield. Even in his 2013 stint with Tampa, he logged just 21 innings in the outfield, and he hasn’t seen any significant Major League time there since 2011 with Baltimore. Presumably, Scott will hope to slug his way to the big league roster and stick as a bench bat, or part-time DH/first baseman. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where he hits well enough to challenge Justin Smoak for his spot on the roster.
NL West Notes: Lyles, Rockies, Johnson, Corbin, Puig, Baez
Rockies right-hander Jordan Lyles was forced to exit Wednesday evening’s start against the Angels after taking an Albert Pujols line drive off his pitching hand. Twitter reactions indicated that Lyles’ hand became visibly swollen in nearly instantaneous fashion (image via Vic Lombardi of CBS Denver on Twitter). Clearly, the struggling Rockies can ill afford to lose a reliable rotation arm such as Lyles for a significant amount of time. To date, the 24-year-old Lyles has a 4.30 ERA with a somewhat troublesome 21-to-17 K/BB ratio in 37 2/3 innings with the Rockies. He’s notched a characteristically strong 49.6 percent ground-ball rate as well. A serious injury would mark the second consecutive season in which a freak injury shelved Lyles, as last year he suffered a fracture in his non-throwing hand while covering home plate.
Here’s more on the Rockies and the rest of the division in what is an injury-tinted look at the NL West…
- Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post joined Sandy Clough and Scott Hastings of 104.3 The Fan in Denver (audio link) to discuss recent news in which Troy Tulowitzki‘s agent publicly mentioned that he and his client would consider requesting a trade. Saunders touches on the previous unwillingness of Rockies owner Dick Monfort to part with veteran players. Saunders offers a very candid take on his view of the state of the Rockies and how the team has handled Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez in the past, specifically wondering if the latter of the two has much of any trade value left. (At present, it would seem to me that he has very little, due to the remaining three years on his contract, his injury history and lack of productivity to begin the season.)
- Josh Johnson‘s return from Tommy John surgery had recently been slowed by some soreness, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the oft-injured righty has resumed throwing. The Padres are optimistic that Johnson can soon begin a rehab assignment, Morosi adds. Johnson returned to the Padres on a one-year, $1MM contract this winter after missing the entire 2014 season due to a torn UCL.
- Via FOX Sports Arizona’s Jack Magruder (Twitter link), Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart said in a recent TV interview that the club is targeting a June 4 return for fallen ace Patrick Corbin, who, like Johnson, underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2014 season.
- Yasiel Puig has experienced a setback in his recovery from a strained hamstring and isn’t expected to join the Dodgers anytime soon, manager Don Mattingly told reporters, including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. An MRI taken Monday revealed that Puig’s hamstring strain has not yet healed, and Mattingly said that it would be “at least a couple weeks” that Puig will remain on the shelf. It seems fair to believe that Puig may be sidelined into June.
- In other Dodgers injury news, righty reliever Pedro Baez was forced to leave tonight’s game after he felt something in his right pectoral muscle, tweets the L.A. News Group’s J.P. Hoornstra. Baez is slated to undergo an MRI tomorrow. He’s been a highly useful member of the Dodgers’ bullpen, entering play Wednesday with a 1.88 ERA and a 19-to-3 K/BB ratio in 14 1/3 innings.
- Giants right-hander Matt Cain threw his first bullpen session since his elbow surgery yesterday, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’ll have another session on Friday and will need three to four in total before moving onto facing liver hitters, Shea adds.
Jose Abreu Joins Relativity Sports
White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has changed agents and will now be represented by Diego Bentz and Fern Cuza of Relativity Baseball, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link).
As Passan notes, Abreu’s contract allows him to opt for arbitration once eligible, in lieu of his contract’s remaining guaranteed salaries. That would come after the 2016 season, giving Abreu the ability to perhaps out earn the $34MM he is guaranteed over the final three years of his deal ($10.5MM in 2017, $11.5MM in 2018 and $12MM in 2019). Those salaries represent the final three years of what was a then-record-setting six-year, $68MM contract signed by Abreu after he defected from Cuba in the 2013-14 offseason. (Rusney Castillo‘s seven-year, $72.5MM contract with the Red Sox has since eclipsed Abreu’s mark as the largest ever for a Cuban defector, while Yasmany Tomas‘ six-year, $68.5MM deal has also slightly topped Abreu’s mark.)
Abreu, formerly a client of Praver/Shapiro, was the unanimous American League Rookie of the Year in 2014 after a breathtaking debut in which he batted .317/.383/.581 with 36 homers despite a brief stint on the 15-day disabled list. Now 28 years old, the Cuban-born phenom is off to a strong, albeit less impressive start to his sophomore campaign, as he’s slashed .288/.349/.500 as of Wednesday morning.
Relativity, formerly known as SFX, is one of the larger agencies in the industry and represents a vast number of Major Leaguers, including Nelson Cruz, Paul Goldschmidt, Madison Bumgarner, Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Morneau and David Ortiz. The White Sox, in particular, have a large number of Relativity clients, including Zach Duke, Adam LaRoche, Jesse Crain and the recently outrighted Kyle Drabek.
Abreu’s change in representation has been noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains agent information on more than 2,000 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please don’t hesitate to let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Where The Marlins Could Look For Ninth Inning Help
Steve Cishek‘s struggles this season have not only cost him the ninth inning, they’ve caused the Marlins to recently explore the idea of signing veteran stopper Rafael Soriano, who did not sign as a free agent this offseason. The Marlins’ interest in the Scott Boras client appears to have been fleeting, as no sooner than a day after they were rumored to be “very much engaged” in talks with Boras, the team is now said to be out of the Soriano market.
Their interest in Soriano, however, underscores the fact that the Marlins may not be content to utilize in-house options in the ninth-inning. A.J. Ramos figures to see the bulk of the closing opportunities for now, with Mike Dunn and perhaps Bryan Morris getting occasional looks as well. However, none of the three comes with significant closing experience in the Majors — Ramos does have 83 minor league saves — and the Marlins entered 2015 gunning for a postseason berth after spending big to extend Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich in addition to bringing in Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, Michael Morse and Ichiro Suzuki this offseason.
With that in mind, it’s worth speculating on a few potential external options that could help Miami patch what could be a ninth-inning hole moving forward. Because speculating on available relievers/relief prospects could be an endless endeavor, I’ll limit the possibilities in this post to those with previous closing experience, though it certainly can’t be ruled out that the Marlins would use Ramos going forward and instead fortify the bridge to the ninth inning with a newly acquired power arm. All that said, a few speculative options…
Francisco Rodriguez/Jonathan Broxton, Brewers: Prior to K-Rod’s two-year deal with the Brewers, the Marlins were the last reported team in the mix for K-Rod, offering him as much as $10MM over a two-year term. Rodriguez landed $13MM to return to a familiar setting in Milwaukee, but things have soured at an unbelievably quick rate at Miller Park. The Brewers have baseball’s second-worst winning percentage, they’ve already dismissed manager Ron Roenicke, and the expectation seems to be that they’ll eventually sell off veteran pieces in an attempt to restock the team with young talent. K-Rod could certainly help them achieve that goal, and we know that the Marlins were interested in him on a two-year deal as recently as three months ago. As for Broxton, he’s earning $9MM and has struggled this season, but he’s notched an elite K/BB ratio and struggled primarily with homers. His 23.1 percent homer-to-flyball ratio figures to regress anyhow, but a move to Marlins Park could accelerate that process.
Jonathan Papelbon, Phillies: Papelbon’s abrasive personality, diminished velocity and fairly significant contract are no secret. However, none of those three seemingly negative factors have stopped the right-hander from delivering some of the best results of any closer over the past two seasons. Papelbon is owed $13MM in 2015 (of which about $10.3MM remains), and he has a vesting option at the same rate for the 2016 season that would almost certainly kick in if the Marlins installed him in the ninth inning. As such, the Phillies would likely need to eat some of the money owed to Papelbon, but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. recently expressed a willingness to do so in order to move Cole Hamels, so one would think that the same holds true of Papelbon.
Aroldis Chapman, Reds: The Reds are hanging around in the NL Central for the time being, but they’re without Homer Bailey for the entire season and may soon lose Devin Mesoraco for the majority of 2015 as well. That will make it tough for Cincinnati to remain in the thick of things in what should be a highly competitive NL Central that features three clubs with winning records as it is (the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs). Chapman would be a difficult piece to pry from GM Walt Jocketty and his staff, but he’s earning $8.05MM this season and may see that price soar beyond the $11MM mark in his final trip through arbitration this winter. If the Reds end up rebuilding, Chapman’s electric arm does little good on a rebuilding club.
Joaquin Benoit, Padres: It’d be a bit unconventional for the Padres to trade a dominant setup man while the team is striving for an NL West division title or, at the very least, a Wild Card berth. Nothing about A.J. Preller’s tenure as Padres GM has been considered all that conventional, however, and San Diego is rife with power arms — so much so that they had to begin the season with Kevin Quackenbush in the minor leagues. Benoit has plenty of closing experience and isn’t a long-term piece in San Diego, as he is a free agent at season’s end. Benoit is earning $8MM this season and has a club option for the same rate that comes with a $1.5MM buyout.
Addison Reed, D-Backs: Perhaps replacing one struggling closer with another wouldn’t really do the team any good, but the Marlins could look to buy low on Reed, who blew his second save Wednesday night and has an ERA of 7.20 in this season’s small sample of 10 innings. Homers were Reed’s undoing in 2014, but the 26-year-old has maintained good strikeout and walk rates since transitioning to the National League, and Miami’s spacious park could alleviate some of his issues with the long ball. Earning $4.875MM in 2015, Reed is controlled through the 2017 season.
Jason Grilli/Jim Johnson, Braves: Each member of Atlanta’s primary eighth/ninth-inning duo comes with significant experience as a closer, with Grilli currently occupying the role for manager Fredi Gonzalez despite Johnson’s superior numbers. Johnson’s numbers plummeted after his control evaporated in 2014, but he’s pitching well this season, with improved command and strikeout numbers in addition to his typically elite ground-ball tendencies. He’s on a cheap one-year deal and would be affordable for any club, though Grilli is hardly expensive in his own right. Grilli is on a two-year, $8MM contract with the Braves, and though his ERA is an unsightly 5.23, he’s posted a brilliant 17-to-4 K/BB ratio in 10 1/3 innings. Assuming his .391 BABIP regresses, Grilli should be just fine moving forward.
Neftali Feliz, Rangers: The former top prospect and Rookie of the Year is controlled relatively cheaply through the 2016 season — he’s earning $4.1MM in 2015 — and has pitched well in the early stages of the season. Gone is the fastball that averaged 96-97 mph prior to Tommy John surgery, but Feliz’s 93.7 mph average has been enough to get the job done. His strikeout rate is up from 2014, and his fly-ball tendencies figure to play better in Marlins Park than in Arlington’s Globe Life Park. The Rangers have once again been ravaged by injuries, and if they become sellers this summer, Feliz figures to generate interest.
Tyler Clippard, Athletics: As recently noted on Fangraphs, the A’s have been one of baseball’s unluckiest teams, due largely to bullpen deficiencies. Clippard currently sports an aesthetically pleasing ERA, but his strikeout and walk rates have gone in the wrong direction and suggest trouble could be on the horizon. If he turns it around, however, he could hold some appeal for a team in need of a ninth-inning arm. It may seem counterintuitive for Oakland to deal arguably its most talented reliever, but GM Billy Beane showed a willingness to deal from his Major League assets at the trade deadline in 2014. It’s also far from a guarantee that the A’s can climb out of the early hole they’ve dug; they currently trail the Astros by eight-and-a-half games, and given the number of expiring assets on their roster (Clippard, Scott Kazmir, Ben Zobrist), they may elect to retool this summer if the ship cannot be righted. His $8.3MM salary might be steep for Miami, but Oakland could kick in some money to facilitate the deal.
The Marlins’ farm system ranked 24th in the eyes of ESPN’s Keith Law and 26th in Baseball America’s late-March rankings, so there’s not a ton of elite talent to work with in trades. However, many of the listed options here are either buy-low candidates or some with reasonably high contracts that might limit the potential return for the selling club.
It should also be noted, of course, that Cishek may perform well in lower-leverage settings and eventually reclaim the role. The Marlins, one would think, certainly hope for that to be the case. But Cishek’s velocity is down two miles per hour from the 2014 season and nearly three miles per hour from its peak. He’s also walked eight hitters in 11 1/3 innings this season after previously exhibiting good control in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Perhaps most troubling of all, his once powerful sinker has plummeted from generating 56-60 percent grounders to just 25 percent in 2015. It should be stressed that we’re looking at a sample 11 innings when examining Cishek’s struggles, but there are unquestionably red flags that may override the oft-used “small sample size” caveat at this point.
Rangers Designate Stolmy Pimentel For Assignment
The Rangers have purchased the contract of left-hander Sam Freeman from Triple-A Round Rock and designated right-handed reliever Stolmy Pimentel for assignment, executive VP of communications John Blake announced (on Twitter).
The 25-year-old Pimentel has worked to a 3.97 ERA with a 7-to-3 K/BB ratio in his 11 1/3 innings with the Rangers since being claimed off waivers from the Pirates. Despite the lack of punchouts, Pimentel sports a swinging-strike rate of 10.9 percent this season and 12.9 percent in his career — both of which are considerably higher than the league average of about nine percent. He’s also racked up a 48.6 percent ground-ball rate and averaged 92 mph on his heater (though that mark is admittedly down from his 2014 average of 93.3 mph), making him a relatively intriguing bullpen piece for teams looking for middle relief help.
In a small sample of work this season, Pimentel has showed a pronounced platoon split, yielding a .443 OPS to righties but a 1.071 OPS to lefties (again — in just 14 plate appearances). His splits have been less notable throughout his brief, 53 1/2 inning Major League career, however. I’d imagine that Pimentel will generate some interest from other clubs in the 10-day window that Texas has to trade him or attempt to outright him to Triple-A.
Giants, Tommy Hanson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants have signed right-hander Tommy Hanson to a minor league contract, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The former Braves and Angels right-hander is a client of the Legacy Agency.
Hanson, now 28, once ranked among baseball’s top pitching prospects and briefly looked the part of a budding ace in Atlanta prior to succumbing to injuries. Hanson finished third in the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year voting, and between the ’09-’10 campaigns, he worked to a stellar 3.16 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate just north of 41 percent.
Shoulder problems began to plague Hanson in the 2011 season, however, and a Spring Training car accident in 2012 also resulted in a concussion. The Braves would ultimately flip Hanson to the Angels in exchange for setup man/closer Jordan Walden after Hanson worked to a 4.48 ERA with significantly diminished velocity in 2012.
The 73 innings that Hanson tossed in an Angels uniform in 2013 were the last he’s thrown in the Majors. Since that time, he’s signed minor league pacts with the Rangers and White Sox but has not surfaced at the Major League level. He may have a chance to do just that with San Francisco, if he can prove healthy, as the Giants have been beset by injuries to this point in the 2015 season.
Matt Cain has spent the entire season on the disabled list to this point, and Jake Peavy has been sidelined as well. The Giants have primarily relied on Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong and Chris Heston in their rotation. Vogelsong, however, has posted just a 5.67 ERA, while Lincecum’s somewhat surprising success has come in spite of an average of 87.5 mph on his heater. The Giants, of course, also have swingman Yusmeiro Petit as a potential rotation reinforcement, should further need arise.
Angels Extend Huston Street
The Angels have agreed to a two-year extension with closer Huston Street that includes a club option for 2018, the club announced. The deal guarantees Street $18MM, including a $1MM buyout on the option year, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
Street had been representing himself in negotiations, but brought on agent Alan Hendricks to handle talks when the season started. He was set to reach the open market after the season, but will instead be controlled through his age-34 campaign. The option is valued at $10MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link). Street will earn approximately $8MM next year and $9MM in 2017, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter).
Street, 31, has long been a quality back-end arm, though his flawless early start to the year has given way to a few less-than-perfect outing of late. On the year, he owns a 3.29 ERA with an excellent 9.9 K/9 against a somewhat uncharacteristic 3.3 BB/9.
All said, Street has produced as expected since coming to the Halos via trade last year. In 2014, between the Padres and Angels, Street worked to a 1.37 ERA over 59 1/3 frames, striking out 8.6 and walking 2.1 batters per nine in the process.
Never highly reliant on velocity, Street has maintained his average fastball in the upper eighties in recent seasons. Though he has missed a few games here and there with minor issues in the last few seasons, Street has not been troubled of late with the arm issues that cropped up at times earlier in his career.
The contract looks to be a solid investment for a Los Angeles club that has benefited greatly from Street’s presence in the 9th inning. It lines up rather closely with the two-year, $18MM contract agreed to by the Red Sox and Koji Uehara just before he would have reached free agency last fall. Street is much younger, albeit somewhat less dominant in terms of his strikeout history, and also gives a potentially useful option to Los Angeles.
Street and the Angels have long been said to be discussing an extension, and it seemed as if the groundwork was laid for a deal to get done. While it is probably too much to say that the recent Josh Hamilton deal spurred this investment, it certainly did not hurt that the Halos were able to clear some space under the luxury tax going forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Cuban Prospect Luis Yander La O Camacho
4:22pm: Camacho remains in Cuba at present, he tells Jorge Ebro of ElNuevoHerald.com.
9:46am: Cuban infielder Luis Yander La O Camacho has left his home nation with intentions of signing with a big league club, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports. It appears that he will seek to establish residency in Haiti.
The 23-year-old was rated recently by Baseball America as the tenth-best prospect still in Cuba. A speedy, aggressive line-drive hitter with limited power, the unique athlete is said by BA’s Ben Badler to warrant consideration at third, second, or even short at the big league level. The major question, it seems, is his bat. Having put six seasons of Serie Nacional ball under his belt already, teams will not have to consider international bonus pools if and when he reaches the open market.
Sanchez also passes on several other pieces of information from the island. 19-year-old lefty Cionel Perez is also seeking residency in Haiti, while center fielder Eddy Julio Martinez, 20, has now been declared a free agent by MLB. The pair of youngsters, neither of whom appears on the Baseball America list, would both fall within the signing limits. Per Sanchez, Perez struck out 75 hitters and walked 32 over 87 1/3 innings at Cuba’s highest level over the last two seasons, while Martinez will have a chance to impress scouts in person with a workout today and tomorrow.
As Sanchez goes on to explain, there has been a lot of action coming from the neighboring island over the last few months. You can catch up on the latest by checking out his full article.
Marlins No Longer Interested In Rafael Soriano
The Marlins are wrapping up their brief pursuit of free agent reliever Rafael Soriano, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports on Twitter. Miami was said to be exploring the addition of Soriano to shore up the team’s problematic closing situation, but has apparently decided to take another route.
Given the short-lived (but reportedly serious) dalliance between the sides, it would appear that the obvious initial match did not ultimately result in an ability to gain traction on terms. The most recent report indicated that Miami’s interest was contingent on achieving a low price on the veteran.
That makes sense: after all, the team has serviceable internal options, can still hope for a return to form for Steve Cishek, and will always have a chance to pursue a trade if it remains in contention over the summer. Miami has been said from the time it moved Cishek out of the 9th inning to be open to numerous alternatives, and now figures to take its time in sorting out the back of the pen.
NL East Notes: Doumit, Soriano, Mets’ Shortstop
Veteran Ryan Doumit, who played last year for the Braves, “considers his playing career over,” according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The 34-year-old switch hitter logged 166 plate appearances last year in Atlanta, slashing just .197/.235/.318. He has had many more productive seasons in his decade in the big leagues, of course, and owns a lifetime .264/.324/.432 batting line. Doumit also spent significant time with the Pirates and Twins after being drafted in the second round of the 1999 amateur draft by Pittsburgh. While it appears that Doumit will not look to make a return to the bigs, the wording of the report suggests that he is not yet prepared to make an official retirement.
Here are some NL East Notes:
- The Marlins‘ interest in Rafael Soriano is tied closely to his cost, according to a Twitter report from Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. As things stand, Miami is only willing to bite if it can add him “at a low price,” per the report. It is not terribly surprising to learn that the Fish are not prepared to break the bank at this stage for the veteran righty; as the initial reports of interest suggested, the club is looking at all options to deal with its late-inning relief woes.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson says he is not currently interested in adding a shortstop,Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. “Nothing has changed,” said Alderson of the team’s current daily deployment of Wilmer Flores. That is not terribly surprising given the timing, of course — to say nothing of the fact that Alderson would not be likely to broadcast any interest he did have — but should at least function to curb any immediate speculation about the possibility of a Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster.