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Pedro Alvarez

Quick Hits: Keuchel, Alvarez, Young

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Yesterday, Mets broadcaster and long-time MLB hurler Ron Darling announced on his personal Twitter account that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Thankfully, the outlook seems to be good. Darling says he hopes to be back in the booth in around a month’s time, which is certainly quite promising to hear. I’ll be among the many fans looking forward to Darling’s return to action. He’s an attentive, thoughtful, and honest broadcaster and I always enjoy tuning in. MLBTR extends its very best wishes to Darling and his family for a speedy recovery.

  • Veteran lefty Dallas Keuchel discussed his never-ending free agency with Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports in an interesting interview. Keuchel says he is anxious to sign but won’t just settle for the lowball offers he has received to this point. He acknowledges that he may need to wait until after this summer’s draft, at which time teams will no longer need to give up draft compensation to add him. Keuchel says he wasn’t looking for this sort of standoff and wasn’t unrealistic in his asking price, noting that “it’s not just the front offices who have all these numbers” when it comes to understanding market value. He says he’d rather be pitching; agent Scott Boras has even advised him to settle and get back on the field. So why is Keuchel still available? “I told [Boras] no on numerous deals because it’s about principle. It’s about fair market value. And I wasn’t getting that.”
  • Another Boras client, slugger Pedro Alvarez, is also still on the open market — albeit under quite different circumstances. The left-handed power-hitter opted out of his minor-league deal with the Marlins late in camp and is now nursing an Achilles injury. But the 32-year-old isn’t calling it quits just yet. Alvarez turned in a middling showing at the plate in limited MLB opportunities last year. But he has long been an above-average performer at the plate (when limited to facing right-handed pitching, at least) and had a torrid showing in Cactus League action this spring.
  • Former MLB hurler Chris Young is thriving in his new career in the league offices, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. It’s an interesting look at the end of an uncommon playing career and the start of what could be an important new run in a management capacity. Young was hired as MLB’s vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy — a new role that deputy commissioner Dan Halem says was “expanded” to match Young’s skillset. The story is particularly interesting because it touches upon the changing labor dynamics in the game. Young says he only took the job after explaining that he “view[s] this as a partnership between the players, owners and fans” and emphasizing that he “want[s] what is best for the game.” Halem says that Young has brought “strong opinions on what is good and what we may have to change” and has been “really good at explaining the players’ viewpoint on things.” It seems that Young is operating more on the rules side at at the moment, but it’ll be interesting to see whether and how his presence ultimately impacts the league’s approach to the thorny collective bargaining issues that have arisen in the past several seasons.

Bryan Holaday, Pedro Alvarez Opt Out Of Marlins Deals

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8:50pm: First baseman Pedro Alvarez has also opted out of his deal, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, who adds that outfielder Harold Ramirez will not exercise his out clause. Both Holaday and Alvarez have 48 hours to decide whether to go to Triple-A New Orleans, Frisaro notes. Alvarez has raked this spring with a .324/.400/.647 line in 34 at-bats, but the former star prospect hasn’t been much better than a league-average hitter across 3,321 major league PAs with the Pirates and Orioles. The 32-year-old struggled mightily across 127 PAs in Baltimore last season, when he hit a meager .180/.283/.414.

5:17pm: The Marlins are releasing catcher Bryan Holaday, who exercised the opt-out in his minor league contract, per Craig Mish of SiriusXM.

Holaday spent the 2018 campaign in Miami serving as the primary backup to star J.T. Realmuto, whom the team traded to the Phillies in the offseason. With Realmuto out of the picture, Holaday has been competing with Chad Wallach to work as a reserve behind Jorge Alfaro this season. But it appears Wallach has won the battle over Holaday, who hit .276/.364/.310 in 29 at-bats during spring training. That was an improvement over the .205/.261/.258 line Holaday authored over 166 PAs last year with the Marlins.

Offensive issues have been the norm for the 31-year-old Holaday, a .234/.274/.320 hitter in 606 PAs, though he has held his own at times behind the plate. Just last year, Holaday threw out a league-leading 45 percent of would-be base stealers (17 of 38) and, per Baseball Prospectus, offered above-average marks as a pitch framer and blocker.

Marlins Sign Pedro Alvarez, Dixon Machado, Deven Marrero To Minor League Contracts

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The Marlins announced Monday that they’ve signed a slew of players to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. First baseman Pedro Alvarez and middle infielders Dixon Machado and Deven Marrero have the most recent MLB experience of the bunch. Left-hander Mike Kickham, right-hander R.J. Alvarez, infielder Jon Berti and outfielder Gabriel Guerrero all have big league experience as well. Miami also made its previously reported re-signing of catcher Bryan Holaday to a minor league contract official and revealed that prized outfield addition Victor Victor Mesa will participate in Major League Spring Training.

Alvarez, 32 in February, is the most recognizable name of the bunch. The former No. 2 overall draft pick and Pirates slugger has spent the past three seasons in the Orioles organization. “El Toro” swatted 22 homers and had a solid year at the plate — primarily as a platoon designated hitter. He returned to the O’s on minor league pacts in each of the past two seasons but spent more time in Triple-A than in the Majors. Last year, Alvarez batted just .180/.283/.414 with eight homers in 127 Major League plate appearances and hit .243/.311/.446 with 16 homers in 305 Triple-A plate appearances. He’ll give the Marlins another option to compete for playing time alongside Peter O’Brien and Garrett Cooper.

Machado, 26 (and of no relation to the free-agent market’s more prominent Machado), appeared in 140 games with the Tigers from 2017-18. He’s generally regarded as a quality up-the-middle defender but didn’t provide enough hope with the bat to keep his roster spot in Detroit, even as the Tigers themselves are somewhat starved for middle-infield options. Machado batted just .229/.280/.303 in 414 PAs over the past two seasons, and he’ll give the Miami organization a glove-first depth option.

Marrero fits a similar profile. The former Red Sox first round-pick (2012) has long drawn praise for his defensive prowess but has yet to find success at the plate in parts of three seasons with Boston and another in Arizona. In 343 MLB trips to the plate, Marrero has posted a woeful .197/.250/.283 slash with five homers, 10 doubles and 10 steals. He does have experience at three infield positions, so he’ll join Machado in competing for a bench job in Miami this spring.

Kickham, soon to turn 30, will return to the Marlins organization after a solid minor league campaign in 2018. Through 42 innings (34 1/3 of which came in Triple-A), Kickham notched a 3.64 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9. He hasn’t been in the Majors since 2014 and has surrendered 37 earned runs in 30 1/3 frames as a big leaguer, but he’s thrown well in the Miami minor league ranks since 2017.

R.J. Alvarez, 27, hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2015 and has a career 7.39 ERA through 28 innings at the game’s top level. He’s punched out 101 hitters through 88 2/3 innings with the Rangers’ Triple-A club across the past two seasons, though he’s done so while exhibiting questionable control (48 walks).

Berti, 29 next month, received a four-game cup of coffee with the Blue Jays late in 2018, which marked his MLB debut. He’s struggled to a .593 OPS in 506 career PAs in Triple-A but posted much better numbers in Double-A. As with Machado and Marrero, he’ll provide some infield depth.

Guerrero, 24, was once considered to be one of the Mariners’ best prospects but has seen his production evaporate since reaching the Double-A level. The Reds gave him his first taste of the Majors in 2018, and he managed to connect on his first big league homer in a brief 14-game stint with Cincinnati. On the whole, though, he went 3-for-18 with eight strikeouts and no walks in his first MLB cup of coffee. There’s certainly reason to believe that a player with Guerrero’s bloodline can improve; he’s the nephew of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero and the cousin of Blue Jays uber-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Beyond the aforementioned players, the Marlins also added catchers B.J. Lopez, Sharif Othman and Rodrigo Vigil to minor league contracts, as well as left-hander Brian Moran. None of that quartet has MLB experience, though each will have the opportunity to win a job in Spring Training, it seems. Lopez, Othman and Vigil were minor league free agents of the Marlins and each re-signed to return to the organization.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/26/18

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We’ll track some minor moves from around the game here…

  • The Indians announced yesterday that they’ve re-signed left-hander R.C. Orlan and right-hander Shao-Ching Chiang to minor league contracts and invited both to Major League Spring Training in 2019. Orlan returned from injury in 2018 and worked his way back to Triple-A by season’s end, posting a combined 0.61 ERA with a 39-to-7 K/BB ratio across 29 2/3 innings. Much of that impressive-looking work came against Rookie-level opposition for the 27-year-old Orlan, but he also combined for 17 1/3 shutout innings between Double-A and Triple-A, making it easy to see why the organization was quick to retain him. Chiang, 24, generated strong results in a dozen Double-A starts before struggling more in his first 11 career starts at the Triple-A level. In all, the Taiwanese righty pitched to a 3.90 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 136 innings.
  • Baseball America’s Matt Eddy runs through a couple hundred minor league signings, releases, Arizona Fall League assignments, Winter League assignments and free-agent elections in his latest Minor League Transactions roundup, which has notes on all 30 big league clubs. Among the more recognizable names to formally elect free agency were Pedro Alvarez, George Kontos, Carter Capps and Chase Whitley. All should have been expected when they weren’t on 40-man rosters at season’s end, but the formalities are still at least of some note.

Pedro Alvarez Accepts Outright Assignment

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The Orioles announced Thursday that corner infielder/designated hitter Pedro Alvarez has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. The veteran Alvarez would’ve had the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency, though Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com tweets that he has accepted the assignment and will remain in the organization.

Alvarez, 31, showed that he still has plenty of power in his latest run with the Orioles, swatting eight homers in just 127 plate appearances and notching an impressive .234 ISO. However, he remains strikeout-prone and posted just a .180/.283/.414 batting line on the season overall.

Baltimore actually used Alvarez at third base more than at first base in his latest run with the team, as an early injury to Tim Beckham created an opening at the hot corner. Manny Machado had been the team’s primary third baseman for years, of course, but he voiced a preference to move over to shortstop, his original position, following the departure of J.J. Hardy, and the organization accommodated that wish. Unsurprisingly, defensive metrics weren’t kind to Alvarez in his limited time at third base, though that was to be expected. The slugger drew poor ratings at third base even when it was his primary position, but he’d seen all of 53 innings at third over the past three seasons combined before lining up there in 2018.

Alvarez will remain on hand in Triple-A and could conceivably get a call to the big leagues again later this year. The O’s figure to be active sellers at this summer’s trade deadline and will need to plug some of the myriad holes created by trading away more productive veterans. Of course, the club may also want to fill those eventual vacancies with younger options than Alvarez, who’ll once again be a free agent at season’s end.

Orioles Designate Pedro Alvarez

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The Orioles have designated corner infielder Pedro Alvarez for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to infielder Steve Wilkerson, whose contract was selected.

Also coming up to the O’s is catcher Caleb Joseph, who was recalled from optional assignment. He’ll join his younger brother, Corban Joseph, on the active roster.

Alvarez, 31, has slumped badly of late. Through 127 plate appearances, he owns a .180/.283/.414 slash with eight home runs. He has likely been unfortunate to carry a .179 BABIP, and has shown a solid walk rate (12.6%) and robust power output (.234 ISO), so there ought to be some interest from other organizations.

The real difficulty for Alvarez, of course, is his lack of defensive ability. Though the O’s have plugged him in at third base from time to time, few organizations will be really comfortable doing so. As a lefty who has traditionally done damage against right-handed pitching, there could yet be a niche for Alvarez, but there just hasn’t been much demand for that sort of player of late — as the plight of Adam Lind demonstrates.

Injury Notes: Naquin, Graveman, Buchter, Hendriks, Vielma, Alvarez,

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The Indians have placed outfielder Tyler Naquin on the DL with a left hamstring strain, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes. Naquin limped into second during yesterday’s game while running out a double, and stayed in the game through the remainder of the inning. He was taken out subsequently, though, and sent to get an MRI. There’s no word yet on the severity of Naquin’s injury, nor how long he’ll be out. It’s surely a disappointing development for the Indians; Naquin’s hitting .333/.367/.453 on the year, albeit with an unsustainable .442 BABIP. In a related move, the Indians activated reliever Tyler Olson from the paternity list for today’s game.

Other injury notes from around the league…

  • Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle provided some injury updates on Athletics players with a pair of tweets today. Right-hander Kendall Graveman is “limping around” after taking a liner off his shin last night. While the situation is reportedly better than expected, the A’s aren’t yet certain whether they’ll need to push back Graveman’s next side session. Meanwhile, Ryan Buchter (shoulder strain) will begin a throwing program next week, and Liam Hendriks (groin strain) is scheduled to throw off a mound today.
  • In Orioles injury news, infielder Engelb Vielma is set to have surgery on his knee (according to Rich Dubroff of PressBoxonline.com). He sustained the injury after tripping over a mound while running down a fly ball in foul ground during a minors game, and while it’s not thought to be season-ending, some in the Orioles organization have loudly voiced their frustrations about the circumstances surrounding the injury. Meanwhile, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets that Pedro Alvarez’ hamstring tightness will hold him out of today’s lineup, though there’s still hope that he could be called upon to hit if needed.

Orioles Designate Four Players, Set Opening Day Roster

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The Orioles set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated right-handers Alec Asher, Stefan Crichton, Michael Kelly and Jesus Liranzo for assignment. Their 40-man spots will go to Pedro Alvarez, Colby Rasmus, Craig Gentry and Danny Valencia. Mark Trumbo and Gabriel Ynoa, meanwhile, will open the season on the 10-day DL. Right-hander Alex Cobb will open the year in Double-A as he ramps up after signing late in Spring Training.

Asher, 26, appeared in 24 games for the O’s last season, including six starts, totaling 60 innings of work with a 47-to-23 K/BB. While Asher showed that he can work out of both the rotation or bullpen in multi-inning stints, he struggled to a 5.25 ERA and yielded 10 homers in last year’s 60 frames with the O’s. Asher does sport a quality 3.75 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of Triple-A work, where he’s averaged 6.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. He has also has a minor league option remaining, so he could make sense for a team in need of some rotation depth.

Crichton, also 26, debuted with the Orioles last year, though he tossed just 12 1/3 innings in the Majors. In that brief sample, he yielded 11 runs on a whopping 26 hits and four walks with eight strikeouts and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The former 23rd-rounder did average better than 94 mph on his heater in the bigs, though, and he logged a strong 3.02 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 0.38 HR/9 in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining.

The 25-year-old Kelly has never appeared in the big leagues, but he nonetheless scored a Major League contract from the O’s this past offseason on the heels of a strong Double-A showing with the Padres’ San Antonio affiliate in 2017. The former No. 48 overall pick worked to a 2.89 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 with a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate in 89 Double-A innings before being roughed up in his second go-around at the Triple-A level (albeit in an extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League setting).

Liranzo, 23, also comes without big league experience, but Baseball America ranked him 19th among Orioles farmhands this offseason. Liranzo isn’t lacking for velocity and has the upside of a quality bullpen piece, but he’s struggled with control throughout his pro career, including last season when he averaged six walks per nine innings pitched and posted an unsightly 4.85 ERA in 65 Double-A innings with the Orioles’ Bowie affiliate.

Each of Alvarez, Gentry and Valencia have been with the Orioles before. Alvarez’s stay with the team could be directly tied to Trumbo’s rehab, as each projects primarily as a DH. A brief experiment with Alvarez as an outfielder didn’t prove fruitful for the O’s last season, and they’re largely set at the infield corners as well. Gentry can back up at all three outfield spots and provide some speed off the bench, while Valencia provides a right-handed complement to Chris Davis as well as some insurance at third base and in the outfield corners.

As for Rasmus, it seems likely that he’ll receive fairly regular reps in right field after signing a minor league contract this winter. He showed well in a limited sample with the Rays last season before incurring an injury and ultimately stepping away from the game to be with his young family midway through the ’17 season.

Orioles Sign Pedro Alvarez To Minor League Deal

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Feb. 26: Baltimore has announced the signing.

Feb. 25, 10:30am: Alvarez will earn a $1MM salary and have a chance at $2MM in performance bonuses if he makes the Orioles, according to Rich Dubroff of PressBoxonline.com (Twitter link).

Opt-out opportunities are available on May 15th and July 15th, per Bob Nightengale USA Today (via Twitter).

8:26am: The Orioles have signed first baseman Pedro Alvarez to a minor league contract, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The deal includes an invitation to big league camp.

This is the third straight year in which the Orioles have signed Alvarez, who performed well in 2016 (.249/.322/.504 with 22 home runs in 376 plate appearances) but was a non-factor at the big league level last season. The left-handed Alvarez totaled just 34 PAs with the Orioles and spent nearly all of the year at Triple-A Norfolk, where he hit an underwhelming .239/.294/.442 with 26 HRs in 595 PAs.

Alvarez tried to help his cause in 2017 by working in the outfield, but he’ll return to a first base/designated hitter role this year, per Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Orioles are already set at those spots with Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo, respectively, leaving little hope that Alvarez will crack their roster, as Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun notes on Twitter. As such, if the 31-year-old Alvarez remains with the organization into the season, he’s likely to function as minor league depth for the second straight campaign.

Earlier in his career, it would’ve been unimaginable for Alvarez to end up in a minor league role. The 2008 second overall pick was one of the top prospects in baseball with the Pirates, though he never developed into the offensive force he was supposed to become and has struggled in the field at both third and first base. Overall, Alvarez has slashed .238/.311/.449 (107 wRC+) with 154 home runs and 7.4 fWAR across 3,194 major league PAs.

AL East Notes: Beltran, Rays, Yankees, Orioles

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Just-retired slugger Carlos Beltran turned down a front office role with the Yankees earlier this offseason, reports The Athletic’s Marc Carig (subscription link). Beltran says that only a managerial position would’ve dissuaded him from his plan to take at least a year off from the game after retiring as a player, but he would consider other roles in the future. Carig chronicles Beltran’s indoctrination to the business side of baseball, which began back in a 2003 arbitration hearing with the Royals. Now, Beltran draws praise from executives like Cashman and field staff like Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who both effused praise for Beltran’s baseball acumen and future in the game in interviews with Carig.

Elsewhere in the AL East…

  • Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times examines some of the many open questions facing the Rays as camp opens. He says the organization is still “working hard through the spring thaw” to work out trades that will draw down payroll. Interestingly, that could come through some kind of swap that includes not only a pitcher but also a more expensive position player, says Topkin, who suggests that Corey Dickerson or Denard Span could be moved along with righty Jake Odorizzi. That concept seemingly increases the variety of potential outcomes that one might imagine, though it doesn’t help provide much clarity to an overall market situation that remains largely unresolved as camps open.
  • The Orioles have discussed the possibility of a non-roster invitation to Spring Training for Pedro Alvarez, Michael Bourn, Colby Rasmus and Michael Saunders within the past week, according to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. It’s a bargain-hunter’s collection of names, considering the fact that higher-profile left-handed bats such as Logan Morrison, Carlos Gonzalez, Jon Jay and Jarrod Dyson remain available in free agency. (Morrison, of course, isn’t an outfielder at this point in his career, though the same is true of Alvarez.) The O’s have been interested in Rasmus and Saunders in prior offseasons, Encina notes, though it’s not clear what Rasmus’ plans are at present. The veteran outfielder stepped away from the game for personal reasons last July, and there hasn’t been much mention of him this winter.
  • While he still expects the Orioles to acquire at least one starter via trade or free agency, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com also indicates that he expects right-hander Mike Wright to get another opportunity to prove himself in the rotation in April. The 28-year-old Wright is out of minor league options, Connolly notes, adding that the Orioles do not want to give up on Wright despite a lack of results in the Majors. Wright has a paltry 5.86 ERA, 5.46 FIP and 5.16 xFIP in 144 2/3 big league innings, but he’s been considerably better in Triple-A, where he owns a lifetime 3.53 ERA in 389 2/3 frames — including a flat 3.00 ERA in 240 1/3 innings across the past three seasons.
  • Beyond all the other uncertainties permeating the game this spring, there are still a fair number of unresolved arbitration cases, as our 2018 MLB Arbitration Tracker shows. As Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca notes on Twitter, Blue Jays righty Marcus Stroman had his hearing yesterday, though results aren’t yet known. Meanwhile, Orioles starter Kevin Gausman is still hoping to work something out rather than heading for a hearing tomorrow, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets.
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