Dodgers, Kenley Jansen Avoid Arbitration
The Dodgers and Kenley Jansen have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $7.425MM deal, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times. That sum falls shy of the projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, whose model estimated a salary of $8.2MM.
Rockies, Jhoulys Chacin Avoid Arbitration
The Rockies and right-hander Jhoulys Chacin have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year, $5.5MM deal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Chacin, whom MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected to earn $4.9MM in 2015, will be a free agent next winter.
Brewers, Gerardo Parra Avoid Arbitration
The Brewers announced today that they’ve avoided arbitration with outfielder Gerardo Parra by agreeing to a one-year deal. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports (via Twitter) that Parra will earn $6.2375MM — a nearly identical sum to the one projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Pirates Sign Jung-ho Kang
10:40am: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports (via Twitter) that Kang’s deal actually guarantees him $11MM. MLB.com’s Tom Singer tweets that the option is valued at $5.5MM and contains a $1MM buyout.
JAN. 16, 9:58am: The Pirates have officially announced the signing of Kang to a four-year contract with a club option for a fifth season.
JAN. 12: The Pirates and Korean infielder Jung-ho Kang have agreed to terms on a four-year deal with a fifth-year option, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio (Twitter links). Kang’s contract, which is still pending a physical, will guarantee him about $16MM, according to Bowden. Kang is represented by Octagon’s Alan Nero.
Kang’s former club, the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, announced recently that the 2014 KBO MVP was flying to Pittsburgh to take a physical this week, and Nero himself told reporters last week that he expected an agreement to be reached with the club this week. Kang had reportedly been seeking about $5MM per year on a four-year deal, so it appears that Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington and his staff were able to talk Kang and Nero down a bit.
The 27-year-old Kang (28 in April) is coming off an incredible season with the Heroes in which he batted .356/.459/.739 batting line and 40 home runs in 117 games between the regular season and the playoffs. Though KBO is notoriously hitter-friendly, those numbers still garnered quite a bit of attention from big league clubs, even though some were clearly skeptical, as Pittsburgh’s $5,002,015 winning bid for the negotiation rights was relatively modest.
MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth recently penned an international profile on Kang, noting that Dan Szymborski, who created the ZiPS projection system, likened the KBO to a hitter-friendly version of Double-A. Within that profile, Charlie notes that an MLB international scouting director to whom MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes spoke opined that Kang possessed no plus tools, merely raw power that wouldn’t translate to games in the Majors.
On the other side of the coin, however, some scouts do think that Kang can be a regular in the Majors. ESPN’s Keith Law ranked Kang 15th among free agents this offseason, noting that he’d start Kang at shortstop and give him every opportunity to prove he belongs. Likewise, former MLB and KBO pitcher Ryan Sadowski, now with Global Sporting Integration, said that he feels Kang can absolutely be a regular player and hit about 20 homers per season at the big league level when he spoke with Jeff Todd on the MLBTR Podcast.
It’s unclear exactly how Kang will fit into the Pirates’ plans. He could supplant Jordy Mercer as the club’s starting shortstop, but Mercer is coming off a solid enough season that he could make a case to start in spite of Kang’s arrival. Kang has said that his preference is to play third base if he has to move off shortstop, per Jeeho Yoo of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency (Twitter link), as he’s more familiar with that position. However, Josh Harrison appears locked in at third coming off a brilliant season in which he was one of the National League’s most valuable players. Kang could bounce around the diamond in a role similar to the one that Harrison filled for much of 2014 and settle into a permanent spot in the event of an injury to one of Pittsburgh’s infielders or regression from Mercer or Harrison.
Padres, Alexi Amarista Agree To Two-Year Deal
10:27am: Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Amarista receives a $100K signing bonus before earning $1.1MM in 2015 and $1.3MM in 2016 (Twitter link).
8:38am: The Padres and infielder Alexi Amarista have agreed to a two-year, $2.5MM contract, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The deal will buy out Amarista’s first two years of arbitration eligibility. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a $1.5MM salary for Amarista in 2015.
Amarista, 26 in April, batted .239/.286/.314 in 2014 and is a lifetime .234/.279/.336 hitter. He’s homered five times in each of the past three seasons and swiped 12 bags in 13 attempts last year. Amarista is, at this point, one of two players (along with Clint Barmes) projected to see significant time at shortstop for the Padres this season, though the team could always look for an upgrade and shift Amarista into a super utility role, as he’s capable of playing short, second base, third base and the corner outfield positions. San Diego originally acquired Amarista along with Donn Roach from the Angels in exchange for Ernesto Frieri.
Yankees Designate Eury Perez For Assignment
The Yankees announced that they have designated outfielder Eury Perez for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for infielder Stephen Drew, whose one-year deal is now official.
The Yankees claimed Perez off waivers from the Nationals in late September, and the 24-year-old went 2-for-10 with a pair of singles in a brief cameo with the Bombers late in the season. Perez has just 23 big league plate appearances and a .174/.174/.174 batting line to show for it, but he possesses a well-regarded glove and blistering speed in center field. In 844 PAs at the Triple-A level, he’s a career .310/.354/.411 hitter with eight homers and 63 steals (in 79 attempts).
Nationals, Drew Storen Avoid Arbitration
The Nationals and Drew Storen have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $5.7MM, according to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post (Twitter link). That salary is just a hair off from the $5.8MM that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected for the CAA Sports client.
Storen, 27, was dominant in 2014, working to a 1.12 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 56 1/3 innings for the Nats. The former No. 10 overall pick began the season as a setup man for Rafael Soriano but inherited the ninth inning when Soriano struggled at season’s end. Storen figures to be the primary closer in 2015, particularly with Tyler Clippard having been traded to the Athletics and Soriano departing via free agency. As a Super Two player, this marks Storen’s third trip through the arbitration process, and he’ll be eligible one more time next offseason before hitting the open market following the 2016 season.
Nationals, Stephen Strasburg Avoid Arbitration
8:53am: Strasburg will earn $7.4MM in 2015, tweets Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post.
8:45am: The Nationals announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with right-hander Stephen Strasburg by agreeing to a one-year deal for the 2015 season. Terms haven’t been disclosed, although MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected an $8.1MM payday for the Scott Boras client.
Strasburg, 26, pitched a career-best 215 innings and made a career-high 34 starts in 2014, working to a 3.14 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 45.9 percent ground-ball rate. The former first overall pick earned $3.975MM last year in his first trip through the arb system.
Minor Moves: Putknonen, Orioles
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Tigers announced yesterday that right-hander Luke Putkonen has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers. The 28-year-old appeared in just two games for the Tigers in 2014 and allowed an alarming eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. However, he logged 45 2/3 quality innings over the course of the two prior seasons, notching a tidy 3.35 ERA (3.66 FIP) with 7.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. His 2014 struggles were likely injury related, as he went on the DL in mid-April due to right elbow inflammation that eventually resulted in surgery to remove bone chips in June. He was designated for assignment last week to clear roster space for left-hander Tom Gorzelanny.
- The Orioles have inked a pair of independent league players to minor league deals, tweets Rich Dubroff of CSN Baltimore: first baseman Casey Haerther and outfielder Jake Luce. The 27-year-old Haerther, a fifth-rounder with the Angels in 2009, has spent the past two seasons playing with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association and batted an impressive .360/.390/.535 with 13 homers and 29 doubles in 418 plate appearances in 2014. Luce, 25, has never been in affiliated ball to this point. After struggling in his first year of indy ball, he split the 2014 season between the United Baseball League’s Brownsville Charros and the American Association’s Wichita Wingnuts (partly owned by former Tigers hurler Nate Robertson), batting a combined .313/.372/.453 with seven homers and 22 steals in 341 PAs.
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