Minor Moves: Mijares, Bowden, Runzler
Here’s a roundup of some recent minor league transactions from around baseball, with the newest moves at the top of the post. All moves are from Matt Eddy of Baseball America, unless credited otherwise.
- The Reds have signed southpaw Jose Mijares and right-hander Michael Bowden to minor league deals. Mijares posted strong numbers (3.23 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 2.22 K/BB rate) over 259 relief innings with the Twins, Royals and Giants from 2008-13 but didn’t pitch in 2014 after he opted out of his minor league deal with the Red Sox last March. Bowden was drafted 47th overall by the Red Sox in the 2005 draft and was considered a top prospect during his stint in Boston’s minor league system. He couldn’t manage that same success in the majors, posting a 4.51 ERA over 133 2/3 innings with the Red Sox and Cubs from 2008-13. Bowden pitched in Japan in 2014.
- The Diamondbacks signed left-hander Dan Runzler to a minor league contract. Runzler posted a 3.86 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 over 72 1/3 IP with San Francisco from 2009-12 and was released by the Giants’ Triple-A team last July so he could pitch in Japan with the Orix Buffaloes.
- The Marlins inked outfielder Vinny Rottino to a minor league deal. Rottino, 34, is returning to North American baseball for the first time since 2012 after playing in Korea and Japan over the last two seasons. This is Rottino’s second stint in Miami, as he played for the Marlins, Mets, Indians and Brewers while collecting 110 career Major League plate appearances.
- The Rangers signed infielder Tommy Field to a minor league contract. Field received 81 plate appearances with the Rockies and Angels from 2011-13 and he spent last season at the Triple-A level in the Angels and Pirates organizations.
- The Royals outrighted outfielder Moises Sierra and right-hander Casey Coleman to Triple-A, the team announced via Twitter. The two players were both designated for assignment last week to create roster spots for the recently-signed Kendrys Morales and Yohan Pino, respectively.
- The Blue Jays announced the signing of left-hander Andrew Albers to a minor league deal that includes a Spring Training invite. Albers posted a 5.89 ERA over 28 starts for Hanwha of the (very hitter-friendly) Korean Baseball Organization in 2014. His Major League experience consists of a 4.05 ERA, 3.8 K/9 and 3.57 K/BB rate over 60 innings with the Twins in 2013.
Indians Sign Jeff Manship
The Indians have signed right-hander Jeff Manship to a minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Manship elected free agency in October, and the 29-year-old is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Manship signed a minor league deal with the Phillies last winter and earned a spot on their Opening Day roster. He went on to post a 6.65 ERA, 16 strikeouts and 14 walks over 23 innings out of the Philadelphia bullpen before being designated for assignment and then outrighted off their roster in July.
Over 139 1/3 career innings with the Phillies, Rockies and Twins, Manship has 6.46 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 1.55 K/BB rate. He is something of a reverse-splits pitcher, as right-handed batters have performed much better (.953 OPS) against Manship than left-handed batters (.753 OPS).
Rockies Sign Roger Bernadina
The Rockies have signed outfielder Roger Bernadina to a minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Bernadina, a client of the All Bases Covered agency, elected free agency from the Dodgers following the 2014 season.
Since posting a .291/.372/.405 slash line in 261 plate appearances with the Nationals in 2012, the veteran has since managed only a .550 OPS over 330 PA, going from the Nats to the Phillies in 2013 and then picking up only 80 PA while playing for both the Dodgers and Reds last season. Colorado’s crowded outfield picture (Carlos Gonzalez, Corey Dickerson, Drew Stubbs, Brandon Barnes, Charlie Blackmon) doesn’t seem to hint at an obvious Major League opportunity for Bernadina, though several Rockies outfielders have been mentioned in trade rumors this winter.
Kenta Maeda Re-Signs With Hiroshima Carp, Will Not Be Posted To MLB
One of the top pitching talents thought to be available this offseason will instead remain in Japan, as the Hiroshima Carp have signed right-hander Kenta Maeda to a new contract, The Japan Times reports. The re-signing comes on the heels of last week’s news that the Carp told Maeda he wasn’t going to be posted this winter, as per Jim Allen of the Kyodo News (Twitter link).
The 26-year-old Maeda is coming off his fifth consecutive season with a sub-3.00 ERA, having posted a 2.60 mark with 7.7 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 187 innings for the Carp. While he’s not thought to have the same ceiling as countrymen Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka, most feel that Maeda can, at the very least, be a competent mid-rotation starter in Major League Baseball. He’s totaled 1303 1/3 innings in a seven-season career with the Carp, working to a 2.44 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9.
“I am thinking this [going to the majors] is close to becoming a reality. Hopefully I can go in the offseason next year,” Maeda said.
As Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote in a scouting report following Maeda’s last game of the season, the right-hander offers three average-or-better pitches — a 90-94 mph fastball, an 80-84 mph slider and an 85-86 mph changeup — and occasionally works in a cutter and curveball. Maeda won’t turn 27 until next April, so his age alone could’ve resulted in a significant asking price. Under the new rules agreed to with Nippon Professional Baseball last winter, however, the Carp would only have been entitled to a maximum $20MM posting fee — a far cry from the posting fees of Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka, both of which were in excess of $50MM.
Maeda could still be posted next offseason and would be an unrestricted free agent following the 2017 season. While the entire list of clubs with interest in him is unknown, the Red Sox and Phillies have both scouted Maeda, with Philadelphia GM Ruben Amaro personally making a visit to Japan to watch the right-hander. Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart candidly admitted that he “loves” Maeda and would be a player if the right-hander were posted. MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranked Maeda twelfth on his list of this offseason’s top 50 free agents.
Orioles To Sign Delmon Young
The Orioles have agreed to a one-year, $2.25MM deal with free agent outfielder Delmon Young, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports (links to Twitter). Young can earn up to $750K more through incentives. The deal is dependent upon a physical, which will not take place until the new year.
Young, still a relatively youthful 29, enjoyed something of a renaissance last year in Baltimore. Splitting his time as a part-time DH and reserve outfielder, the one-time top prospect slashed .302/.337/.442 with seven home runs over 255 plate appearances.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether he can carry that performance forward. At least some skepticism is suggested by the fact that Young rode a .359 BABIP. And the Steamer projection system expects him to drop back to being a league-average bat.
Several other factors warrant mention as well. Somewhat curiously, despite strong career platoon splits (.091 OPS), Young actually posted much stronger numbers against righties last year. In fact, he was better across the board, with greater power and OBP when facing same-handed pitching. And then there is defense, where Young continues to rate rather poorly.
On the whole, though, the O’s are taking on very limited risk given the contract’s duration and value. With left-handed platoon mates already on board — and more potentially coming — Young can be deployed strategically to maximize his value.
Jake Peavy On His New Two-Year Deal With Giants
The Giants have some uncertainty in their rotation behind top starters Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson, but they shored things up by bringing back Jake Peavy on a two-year, $24MM deal. The pact became official yesterday and on a conference call with reporters yesterday evening, Peavy talked about his decision to stay put in San Francisco. Like Sergio Romo yesterday, Peavy had nothing but praise for the Giants organization and its close-knit locker room.
The veteran says that he had lots of interesting opportunities elsewhere, but ultimately it was an easy choice to return to the Giants.
“Not being Jon Lester, I wasn’t flying around everywhere nor did I want to get my door beat in but…we had six or seven teams wanting to make offers,” Peavy said when I asked him about interest from other clubs around baseball. “Once the market starts to go, it starts to go, and guys start to go to teams fast and teams want to get players fast.”
The veteran, 34 in May, intimated that he spurned more lucrative offers from other teams to remain in orange and black.
“I had some really nice offers but I wasn’t chasing the most money. There were opportunities for that, but I didn’t take those and I feel blessed. I wanted to be in a situation where A. I can win – [manager Bruce Bochy] and [Giants vice president Bobby Evans] will tell you this, it does nothing but re-energize you and it makes you want to win even more than you previously did.”
“I feel like I can be a really good major league player and I wouldn’t show up if I didn’t think I could go out and replicate what I did in August and September there and I wanted to get a fair deal – what I thought was very fair deal – and I think for both sides we gave a bit to make that happen and that’s about as good as I can answer.”
Peavy’s desire to return to the Giants has been clear for some time but he “waited for the dust to settle” rather than rushing into a deal. He was never skeptical about whether he could work out a new pact with the Giants but, rather, he wanted to see how the market played about before signing anywhere. As he alluded to, that was the smart move for free agent starters on the second-tier or below. With Lester and others off the board, things became much clearer for Peavy and other veteran starters looking for their landing spot.
At the age of 34, this was Peavy’s first go-round through free agency and it wasn’t a process that he terribly enjoyed. In the end, though, things appear to have worked out just fine. Peavy is back with the Giants – and back with Bochy – on a two-year pact. And, thanks to his full no-trade clause, he knows that he’ll be able to take off his coat and stay a while.
Orioles Discussing Outfielders With Padres
The Orioles are still talking with the Padres about the possibility of dealing for a piece of San Diego’s overstocked outfield, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports. Left-handed hitters Seth Smith and Will Venable are the two names that have drawn the most interest from Baltimore, Encina adds.
For their part, the Padres have asked about young arms Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy — a common target for teams eyeing the O’s system — but that appears to be a non-starter. Baltimore has already shown it will not rush to fill in for the losses of Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz, and Encina notes that the Padres are not exactly flush with leverage given their readily apparent logjam.
Though both Smith and Venable are most useful against right-handed pitching, Encina says that the O’s are content to combine such a player with another bat in a platoon. The club has long been said to be interested in a reunion with Delmon Young, for instance, and he would presumably be a candidate for that sort of role. Of course, Baltimore recently tendered a contract to Alejandro De Aza and owns the rights to David Lough, and adding a new left-handed-hitting outfielder would almost certainly push one or both of those players off the roster.
Blue Jays Prioritizing Closer, Looking At Trade Market
With Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Michael Saunders all in the fold, the Blue Jays are now prioritizing the ninth inning and are seeking a closer via trade, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets. The team will look at free agents if a trade scenario can’t be worked out, Heyman adds, although quality options are dwindling.
There’s no shortage of potentially available relievers with closing experience. Jonathan Papelbon, owed $13MM in 2015 with a 2016 vesting option at the same rate, is certainly available. Tyler Clippard‘s name has surfaced in trade rumors this offseason on a few occasions as well, and some have speculated that the Royals might be willing to move one of their excellent-but-expensive relievers (Greg Holland and Wade Davis). While there was some reactionary speculation after the Braves signed Jason Grilli earlier tonight, president of baseball operations John Hart quickly dismissed the possibility of trading Craig Kimbrel, saying it hasn’t been considered.
The free agent market offers far fewer options than it did a month ago, but there are still some notable former closers out there. Both Rafael Soriano and Francisco Rodriguez remain available and have had recent success. John Axford and Brian Wilson represent buy-low options as formerly elite closers that have struggled recently.
The Blue Jays currently have about $103MM committed to next year’s roster, not including arbitration raises. Toronto has Marco Estrada ($4.7MM projected salary), Donaldson ($4.5MM), Saunders ($2.9MM), Brett Cecil ($2.6MM) and Danny Valencia ($1.7MM) all eligible for arb this winter, which could take them to around $120MM total. That’s still well shy of last year’s $137MM Opening Day payroll, so the Blue Jays should be able to add a high-leverage relief arm even if the price tag is fairly substantial.
NL Notes: Kimbrel, Kang, Cueto, Phillies, Dodgers
The signing of a former closer, Jason Grilli, led to some speculation from Braves fans, but a team official tells David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a trade of Craig Kimbrel hasn’t even been discussed (Twitter link). President of baseball operations John Hart said tonight that he hopes the club can build the bullpen around Kimbrel for the next 10 years, O’Brien tweets. The Braves have moved both Jason Heyward and Justin Upton this offseason, but each is a free agent following the season. Kimbrel is locked up for at least three more seasons at a total of $34MM, and the Braves hold a $13MM club option for the 2018 season as well.
Here are some more notes from the NL…
- The Cardinals made a bid for Jung-ho Kang but lost out to the Pirates, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. GM John Mozeliak spoke with Hummel about the team’s desire to continue to develop a better understanding of Asian baseball and the talent in Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization.
- Bryce Dixon, agent for Johnny Cueto, has already stated that his client will not listen to extension offers after the season begins, but he spoke at a bit more length with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon about Cueto’s desire to remain with the Reds. Cueto “loves” Cincinnati, though Dixon did add the troubling caveat “if the numbers are right.” Dixon says he had preliminary contract talks with the Reds at the Winter Meetings and have exchanged a few text messages since, but there have been no further verbal discussions.
- Jimmy Rollins had an exclusive interview with Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com following his trade to the Dodgers, and CSN’s Enrico Campitelli breaks down one of the more interesting takeaways from the conversation. Rollins spoke about Phillies minority owner John Middleton, who is rumored to be pushing for majority ownership and reportedly has 48 percent ownership of the club right now. Rollins praised Middleton’s vision and desire to put a winning product on the field, adding that he thinks it’d be good for the Phillies if Middleton were given the reins. Rollins feels that Middleton would “be doing a lot of different things with the team.”
- The Dodgers are still looking for bullpen help, president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman tells Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Friedman says the bullpen will almost always be an area of potential improvement at any point of any offseason. “It has to be my nature never to feel comfortable with a bullpen in the offseason,” Friedman tells Saxon.
Braves Sign Jason Grilli
The Braves have struck a move to bolster their bullpen, adding right-hander Jason Grilli on a two-year deal with a third-year club option, the team announced Tuesday night. Grilli, a client of player-turned-agent Gary Sheffield, will reportedly earn $8MM over the life of the contract.
The two-year agreement pays Grilli $4.25MM in 2015 and $3.5MM in 2016. The club option, which comes with a $250K buyout, is valued at $3MM.
The 38-year-old Grilli got off to a rough start in 2014 — the second season of a two-year, $6.75MM pact with the Pirates. A 2013 All-Star, Grilli slumped to a 4.87 ERA through his first 20 1/3 innings this season and also missed roughly a month with an oblique strain. He ceded the closer’s role to Mark Melancon and was ultimately flipped to the Angels in a one-for-one trade that sent Ernesto Frieri to Pittsburgh. The swap of struggling closers didn’t pan out for Frieri, but Grilli managed to right the ship and was very good down the stretch with Anaheim.
In 33 2/3 innings with the Halos, Grilli notched a 3.48 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. The control problems he experienced in the season’s early stages seemed to be corrected with the Angels, and he showed no drop in velocity following the oblique injury, as he averaged 93.1 mph on his heater with both teams.
Grilli will likely assume a large chunk of the innings that would have gone to Jordan Walden, who was acquired by the Cardinals alongside Jason Heyward in the trade that sent Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins to Atlanta. Craig Kimbrel, of course, will again be tasked with defending ninth-inning leads, so Grilli will join Shae Simmons, David Carpenter and reclamation project Jim Johnson in bridging the gap from the rotation to Kimbrel. His two-year deal will lock in his age-38 and age-39 seasons, also giving the Braves an option for his age-40 campaign.
Grilli’s interesting Major League career began with the Marlins in 2003 but didn’t really take off until 2011 with the Pirates. Grilli missed the 2010 season after undergoing surgery to repair a quadriceps injury, and he carried a lifetime 4.74 ERA to Pittsburgh before breaking out with a 2.48 ERA and a hefty 10.2 K/9 rate. Grilli improved further in 2012, increasing his workload from 32 2/3 innings to 58 2/3 as his strikeout rate soared to 13.8 per nine innings. He eventually staked a claim to the club’s ninth-inning role and made his first All-Star team as Pittsburgh’s closer in 2013 at the age of 36. Over the past four seasons, Grilli has totaled a 3.09 ERA with 11.9 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 34.2 percent ground-ball rate in 195 1/3 innings. His outstanding 2.47 SIERA ranks 16th among 216 qualified relievers in that stretch.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement (Twitter links). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (via Twitter) and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (Twitter links) provided contract details
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.