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NL Notes: Phillies, Dodgers, Rockies, Cardinals

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The Phillies only hired new GM Matt Klentak in late October, but he’s already been through a Winter Meetings and executed a big trade (that of Ken Giles to the Astros). In a Q+A, he tells MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that he’s happy with the Giles deal (in which the Phillies received Vincent Velasquez and Mark Appel), and says that as the Phillies continue their rebuild, they’re confident that they’ll be able to supplement their growing collection of young pitching with hitters acquired from outside the organization. “Hitters generally regard our park as a good place to play,” he says. “I know that our ownership is very committed — and will be in the future — to bringing in the right players and the top-caliber players to help us.” Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Dodgers still haven’t added any top-flight starting pitching to offset the loss of Zack Greinke, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says he is now happy with the organization’s depth, Bill Plunkett writes for Baseball America. “This offseason is different than last in that going into next year, we feel much better about our pitching depth that will be in (Triple-A) Oklahoma City,” says Friedman. “We have a number of guys that we like that will be there and that is a big difference for us next year compared to this year just in terms of the depth that we’ll have on hand.” Oklahoma City’s rotation will likely feature top prospects Julio Urias and Jose De Leon, along with 40-man members Jharel Cotton and Ross Stripling.
  • As FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweeted earlier this week, the Cardinals have spoken with the Rockies about a possible trade involving at least one Rockies outfielder. Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (and formerly of the Denver Post) writes that it’s probably more realistic that the Cardinals could pursue Corey Dickerson or Charlie Blackmon rather than Carlos Gonzalez, even though both Dickerson and Blackmon have negatives (for Dickerson, a weak arm; for Blackmon, poor numbers away from Coors Field). Hochman guesses that the Rockies’ end of a potential deal would likely begin with first baseman Matt Adams.

NL East Notes: Nats, Murphy, Marlins, Fernandez

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Greg Golson was the 21st overall pick in 2004 by the Phillies and appeared to be on his way to a promising career as he graded out as one of the organization’s Top 10 Prospects in four separate seasons.   However, thanks in part to injuries, the outfielder never fulfilled his potential and only had a cup of coffee in the major leagues.  Now, in an effort to get back on track, Golson is playing winter ball in Mexico, as he writes in an interesting read for Baseball America.

Here’s more out of the NL East:

  • The Nationals front office was apparently split on whether to sign Daniel Murphy, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.  However, there are two clear pros to adding the second baseman.  One is that the Nationals have effectively taken away a rival team’s best contact hitter.  The other is that Murphy fills a need by hitting left-handed.  On Thursday, the Nationals and Murphy reached agreement on a three-year deal worth $37.5MM.
  • There has been talk of an attitude problem when it comes to Marlins star Jose Fernandez, retired pitcher Dan Haren disagrees with that notion, as Scott Miller of Bleacher Report writes.  “No way,” Haren said. “No way. A lot of those things in [Slater’s] article were actually right. But at least from a pitcher’s standpoint, there’s no way anybody was on the bench rooting for Jose to get hit.”   Marlins starter Tom Koehler echoed Haren and backed Fernandez.  Still, multiple sources close to the Marlins indicated to Miller that Fernandez has grown more and more blunt with management, and some are miffed by the way he sometimes speaks to his superiors.
  • Borrowing a page from the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, the Braves are placing a heavy emphasis on building from within, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.  Prospects are never a sure thing, but Atlanta has more leeway to be wrong about their youngsters because they now have so many of them.  Pitcher Touki Toussaint, only 19 years old, is considered to be their strongest prospect and we could potentially see him make his big league debut in 2016.

Bronson Arroyo Drawing Interest From Multiple Teams

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Free agent hurler Bronson Arroyo is drawing interest from multiple teams this winter, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark (on Twitter).  So far, the Nationals, Pirates, Orioles, Padres, Braves, Reds, and Phillies have all called on Arroyo.

Arroyo, 39 in February, is now 17 months removed from Tommy John surgery.  For his part, Arroyo tells Stark that he is “perfectly fine.”  It’s been a while since Arroyo took the hill, as he missed about half of 2014 and all of 2015 after going under the knife. He bounced between organizations as part of the salary-swapping elements of a pair of trades, but he has said in the past that he expects to be ready to go in the spring.

The Reds’ interest in Arroyo was reported back in November, but GM Dick Williams indicated that they would only have interest if if he can first demonstrate that he’s healthy.  Arroyo enjoyed a solid eight-year run with the Reds before departing for the D’Backs via free agency after the 2013 campaign.  He contributed nearly 1700 innings in that stretch, carrying a 4.05 ERA with 5.9 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.

Considering all he’s been through in the last year-and-a-half and the money he’s earned over his career, no one would fault Arroyo for considering retirement.  However, now that he’s apparently healthy and has interest from at least seven teams, it sounds like the right-hander has no intentions of hanging up his spikes.  For his career, Arroyo has pitched to a 4.19 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 across 15 big league seasons.  He’s not hurting for cash either, as he has raked in more than $90MM in the sport.

Details On Jonathan Papelbon’s Current No-Trade List

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DECEMBER 18: That list was apparently the one in effect for 2015, as Crasnick now provides a list that, he says, will be in effect for the year to come. It is the same as the prior iteration except for four changes.

On this new list, the Braves, Reds, Royals, and Mariners have moved into the group of teams to which Papelbon can reject a trade. Meanwhile, the Giants, Phillies, Tigers, and Yankees are now among the clubs to which Papelbon may freely be dealt, without his authorization.

DECEMBER 15: Nationals reliever Jonathan Papelbon has the right to name 17 clubs to which he cannot be traded without his consent, and ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports on this year’s list.

Papelbon can block deals to the following clubs: the Athletics, Blue Jays, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Indians, Marlins, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rockies, Tigers, Twins, White Sox and Yankees. The league’s remaining teams can acquire the controversial veteran without his approval.

No-trade lists tend to reflect both personal preferences and strategic considerations. It’s hard to know the precise motivations here, but it’s worth remembering that Papelbon has previously made good use of his no-trade rights in exerting leverage. In approving the trade that sent him to D.C. last year, Papelbon received assurances he’d be used as the closer and picked up a guarantee of his 2016 option (though that would have vested anyway and he took a discount to facilitate the move).

While an exceedingly public spat with star Bryce Harper has led to wide speculation that Papelbon will be dealt, Nats GM Mike Rizzo has maintained that the team won’t simply cut him loose for whatever it can get. Papelbon is neither cheap ($11MM) nor young (35), but he’s continued to produce quality results and represents a fair value from a pure baseball perspective.

Indians Acquire Dan Otero, Designate Jerry Sands

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The Indians have acquired righty Dan Otero from the Phillies for cash considerations, Philadelphia announced. Outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands was designated for assignment to clear roster space, the Indians announced.

Otero was claimed off waivers from the Athletics earlier in the winter. But he was designated for assignment when the Phillies needed 40-man spots to facilitate the incoming players in the Ken Giles trade.

The 30-year-old scuffled to a 6.75 ERA in 46 2/3 innings last year after posting outstanding run prevention numbers in each of the prior two campaigns. But there were some indications of bad luck, and Cleveland will see if the soft-tossing, needle-threading Otero can return to his standing as an understated but high-performing reliever.

As for Sands, 28, the 2015 season represented his most extended major league look since his rookie year of 2011. The slugger hit only .236/.286/.390 in his 133 plate appearances, though he continued to compile impressive numbers in the upper minors.

NL East Notes: Chipper, Fernandez, Raburn, Mets, Phillies

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The Braves announced on Thursday that former NL MVP and likely Hall of Famer Chipper Jones has joined the front office as a special assistant to GM John Coppolella and president of baseball operations John Hart. Jones, who retired in 2012, will serve as an instructor in Spring Training, assist Braves hitters during the regular season, assist in amateur scouting in advance of the June draft and evaluate/instruct minor leaguers throughout the organization in his new role. Said Coppolella of the addition (via press release): “[Jones] brings a wealth of experience – from being a number one overall draft pick, to having a highly-successful career as a World Series champion, a league MVP and a batting champion, to coming back from major injuries. Chipper spent his entire Hall-of-Fame caliber career in a Braves uniform and we look forward to his input with our staff and with our hitters.” Indeed, Chipper seems Cooperstown-bound after wrapping up his career with a lifetime .303/.401/.529 batting line, 468 homers, eight All-Star appearances, an MVP Award, two Silver Slugger Awards and 85 wins above replacement across a brilliant 19-year career.

Here’s more from the NL East…

  • Joe Frisaro of MLB.com gets the sense that the Marlins don’t see the Dodgers as a fit for Jose Fernandez (Twitter link). Then again, he writes, Fernandez is highly unlikely to get traded anywhere. There’s been quite a bit of speculation connecting the Dodgers to the Marlins’ young ace recently, especially in light of the club’s acquisition of three new prospects in the three-team Todd Frazier deal.
  • The Mets have checked in on Ryan Raburn, according to Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record (on Twitter). Raburn would make a lot of sense for the Mets as a backup first baseman/outfielder, he adds, which makes sense given the left-on-left struggles we’ve seen from Curtis Granderson and, to a lesser extent, Lucas Duda (although Duda’s success against lefties in 2015 was heavily BABIP-driven). Raburn, 35 next April, batted .301/.393/.543 with eight home runs in 201 plate appearances. Despite those outstanding numbers (which were the result of extreme platooning), the Indians declined their $3MM option for him.
  • Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com notes (on Twitter) that there should be some interesting bullpen competition brewing in Phillies camp thanks to the additions of non-roster vets James Russell, Ernesto Frieri, Andrew Bailey, and Edward Mujica. (Bailey and Mujica are the newest additions to that mix, having agreed to deals on Thursday.) The bullpen picture in Philadelphia does indeed appear to be very open following trades that have seen Jonathan Papelbon, Jake Diekman and Ken Giles depart over the past five months. As it currently stands, the only pitcher on the Phillies’ bullpen depth chart at MLB.com that have even thrown 100 career innings are David Hernandez, Jeanmar Gomez and Luis Garcia (who barely reaches that threshold, with 112 innings under his belt). That could indeed open the door for veterans to make the club — any of whom could ultimately pitch his way into status as a trade chip.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Phillies Sign Andrew Bailey, Edward Mujica

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4:30pm: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Mujica’s contract comes with a Major League base salary of $2.5MM, though he of course needs to make the club to earn that sum (Twitter link).

11:02am: The Phillies announced that they have signed free agent right-handed pitchers Andrew Bailey and Edward Mujica to minor league contracts.  The deals include invitations to attend major league camp as non-roster invitees.

Bailey, 31-year-old, tossed 8 2/3 innings for the Yankees this season but allowed eight runs in that time. He’s spent the past two years in the Yankees’ minor league system, battling back from shoulder injuries that have halted the former Rookie of the Year and American League All Star’s career. Bailey notched a tidy 2.57 ERA with 10.8 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 35 innings across four minor league levels this season as he worked his way back to the Majors.

Mujica, meanwhile, is coming off of a rough year in which he posted a 4.75 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 across 49 appearances.  In May, the reliever was traded from the Red Sox with cash to the Athletics for a PTBNL/cash.  Unfortunately for Oakland, they did not get the Mujica of old.

Angels Claim A.J. Achter From Phillies

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The Angels have claimed reliever A.J. Achter off waivers from the Phillies, as Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register tweets.  The right-hander still has options remaining, Fletcher notes.

This marks the second time this offseason that Achter has been claimed off waivers. In late November, the Phillies claimed Achter off waivers from the Twins when teams were doing some Rule 5-related roster jostling. Achter, 27, has a career 5.18 ERA in the Majors but a stronger track record in Triple-A, where he most recently logged an impressive 2.63 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 48 innings. Achter’s ERA in Triple-A is well south of 3.00, and he’s displayed good control throughout his career, but he lacks velocity as well, having averaged just 90 mph on his fastball in the Majors.

As the MLBTR DFA Tracker shows, there are now only four players remaining in DFA limbo: Dan Otero (Phillies), Rey Navarro (Orioles), Tyler Olson (Mariners), and Chris Johnson (Indians).

NL East Notes: Nats, Clippard, Inciarte, Albers, Giles

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The Nationals would like to add a left-handed bat that can play second base, and Kelly Johnson is one possibility for them, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Per Rosenthal, the Nats plan to open next season with Danny Espinosa at shortstop while Trea Turner continues to develop. Once Turner is ready, Johnson (or another lefty batter) could slide over to second base and platoon with Espinosa, who is a stronger batter from the right side of the dish.

A few more notes from the division…

  • The Mets haven’t ruled out bringing back Tyler Clippard, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, though the Twins, Blue Jays and Dodgers are among the clubs also in the market for setup help, he notes. Crasnick wonders if Clippard’s high workload is causing clubs to shy away, though one exec said of the durable right-hander (Twitter link): “Considering the terrible contracts being given to relievers, he’ll get his money. He’s too good not to.”
  • Crasnick also notes that the Braves have received steady interest in Ender Inciarte since acquiring him (links to Twitter). Atlanta is willing to listen on anyone but Freddie Freeman, but the club’s plan is to keep Inciarte in the organization and use him as a leadoff hitter and center fielder for the foreseeable future.
  • The Mets are expected to show interest in free-agent right-hander Matt Albers as they look to upgrade the bullpen, reports ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin. Albers, 32, missed half of last season with a broken finger in his hand but didn’t allow a run across the final two months of the season. He’s been a Mets target in the past, Rubin notes.
  • Phillies GM Matt Klentak told reporters, including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, that the Ken Giles trade was an opportunity that was “too good to pass up.” Klentak maintains that he never wanted to trade Giles, but adding a slew of starting pitching candidates, headlined by Mark Appel and Vincent Velasquez, improves the club’s outlook in both the short and long term. Klentak also discussed the importance of the depth that veterans Charlie Morton and Jeremy Hellickson give to the club and called Brett Oberholtzer (also acquired in the Giles deal) a “stabilizer.” As Zolecki notes, Oberholtzer is out of minor league options, so he’s well-positioned to make the rotation in 2016.

Phillies Sign J.P. Arencibia To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies announced that they’ve signed catcher J.P. Arencibia to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The Phillies also confirmed their previously reported signing of Ernesto Frieri and announced minor league deals/camp invites for infielder Angelys Nina and right-handers Greg Burke and Gregory Infante.

Arencibia, 30 next month, enjoyed outstanding results at the plate in a short stint with the Rays last season, hitting .310/.315/.606 with six homers in 71 plate appearances. While those results are impressive, certainly, Arencibia’s Achilles heel over the life of his career has been huge strikeout numbers against dismal walk rates, and that continued in 2015. Arencibia walked just once in his 71 PAs but struck out a jarring 22 times (31 percent), which was enough that the Rays didn’t feel he was a part of their 2016 plans; he was designated for assignment and released this offseason.

Arencibia has caught base-stealers at a roughly league-average rate across parts of six Major League seasons, and he graded as a plus framer back in 2013 before posting average and below-average marks in smaller samples from 2014-15. Overall, he’s a lifetime .212/.258/.412 hitter in the big leagues.

Philadelphia could use some catching depth, however, as the only catchers on the 40-man roster there are Carlos Ruiz, Cameron Rupp and Jorge Alfaro, the latter of whom is not yet Major League ready despite his notable prospect status.

As for the rest of the signees, Burke and Infante figure to be depth options. Each has reached the Major Leagues in the past despite slightly below-average control numbers at Triple-A, with the 33-year-old Burke seeing significantly more big league time (4.77 ERA in 77 1/3 innings) than the 28-year-old Infante (4 2/3 innings with the 2010 White Sox). Nina, 27, is a versatile defender that saw action at second base, shortstop, third base and left field in 2015 while hitting .300/.333/.402 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

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