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Central Notes: Phillips, Reds, Pirates

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While a deal involving Brandon Phillips between the Reds and Nationals appears unlikely, it is not officially dead, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.  As of right now, both teams will wait and see if Phillips changes his mind and consents to the deal, but Washington could wind up taking care of its second base situation differently in the interim.

The two sides appeared to have a deal worked out last week, but Phillips reportedly wanted an extension as a condition of his approval of the trade.  Since he’s already owed $27MM over the next two seasons, the Nats weren’t eager to meet those demands.  As a player with 10-and-5 rights, the ball is in Phillips’ court on that matter.

Here’s more out of the Central divisions:

Pirates Acquire Kyle Lobstein

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The Pirates announced that they have acquired left-hander Kyle Lobstein from the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations.The Tigers had designated the 26-year-old for assignment last Friday in order to clear a spot on the roster for newly signed utility man Mike Aviles.

Since making his Major League debut with the Tigers in 2014, Lobstein has had a fairly significant role with the club, totaling 103 innings across 20 appearances, 17 of which came out of the rotation. His results haven’t been great — a 5.33 ERA, 5.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 — but he has capably soaked up innings as the Detroit rotation battled through injuries. He’s struggled due to an inability to miss bats, as evidenced by the low strikeout rate and the fact that he’s yielded 113 hits in those 103 innings.

While there are certainly some unimpressive elements there, Lobstein could be effective in a different role. He’s displayed the ability to throw multiple innings as a reliever, and lefties have batted just .234/.307/.321 against him over the course of his relatively brief career. The Pirates (and perhaps other clubs, as well) may have been drawn to that trait and been intrigued by Lobstein’s 3.19 FIP and 3.41 xFIP against left-handed pitching, believing him capable of working as a relief option. His 49.7 percent ground-ball rate undoubtedly piqued Pittsburgh’s interest as well, as the Bucs have shown an affinity for pitchers that can keep the ball on the ground. And, his superior Triple-A numbers — 4.08 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 in 236 innings — may simply have made him an appealing depth option for the Pirates, especially when weighed against the minimal cost of acquisition.

Lobstein will land in what appears to be a favorable situation. The Pirates have had a good bit of success in elevating the stock of newly acquired pitchers in recent seasons, and the club’s aggressive infield shifting will mesh nicely with his ground-ball tendencies should Lobstein log significant time in the Majors in 2016 and beyond. He’s totaled just over one year of Major League service time, so the Pirates could conceivably control him through the 2020 season if he establishes himself as a consistent Major Leaguer in some capacity.

NL Central Notes: Heyward, Cubs, Cardinals, McCutchen

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Jason Heyward says one reason he chose the Cubs over the Cardinals is that the Cubs’ young core is likely to be with the team longer than the Cardinals’ core is. “You have Yadier (Molina), who is going to be done in two years maybe. You have Matt Holliday, who is probably going to be done soon,” Heyward told reporters, including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. “I felt like if I was to look up in three years and see a completely different team, that would kind of be difficult.” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny says he believes in the core of his team and takes issue with Heyward’s comments, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. “I don’t blame him. But I don’t like it,” says Matheny. “I don’t think we have anything to apologize for in having a group like a Holliday, a Molina, a Wainwright. … [H]e’s a young player. But I can’t say I’m in any kind of agreement with that (Chicago) core being better than any kind of core that we have.” Here’s more from the NL Central.

  • Elsewhere in Hummel’s article, Cards GM John Mozeliak expresses a bit of frustration that the Cardinals’ biggest offseason targets — presumably players like Heyward and David Price — opted to head elsewhere. “Our success has really come from our pipeline, and I think we’re really going to lean on that. The last month has been trying to play in the big-boy pool, and unfortunately we just didn’t end up getting it done,” says Mozeliak. “Sometimes it’s not always about what you’re doing. You need the other party to want to be there, too.”
  • Jason Heyward’s mammoth deal with the Cubs got some reporters, including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, wondering how much it might cost a club to sign Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen if he reaches the open market after the 2018 season.  For his part, McCutchen doesn’t want to speculate on his own dollar value, but he did reaffirm his loyalty to Pittsburgh. “This is still a place I do want to be,” McCutchen said. “I love it here. If that’s something that they can do, that’s something they can do. I really can’t answer from their end. We’ll see what happens in the future.”  Of course, as Brink points out, Heyward in 2015 and McCutchen in 2018 are two separate cases.  Heyward got his monster contract, in part, because he is only 26 years of age.  Following the 2018 season, McCutchen will be 32.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Cafardo On Victorino, Cahill, Cubs

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe spoke with managing general partner of Sapient Global Markets Dave Donovan, who is trying to apply banking principles to baseball in order to help limit risk on the part of teams.

“Because there’s such an emphasis by teams on acquiring the right players, especially now where you have financial constraints with luxury taxes, etc., we’re looking at it the same way as we do with banks,” Donovan said. “Banks want to make as much money as they possibly can. Their constraint is regulation. They have stress tests they have to do for the government after banks almost took down the world because they weren’t financially compliant. We’ve been working with these banks to measure their risks and you can apply the same concepts in sports…Your roster is no different than a portfolio of securities. Those are your assets. That’s what you’ve put your investment in, so it only makes sense that you should monitor your assets”

When considering risk management, Cafardo wonders aloud if the Red Sox’s decision to sign David Price to a seven-year, $217MM was a prudent one.  Cafardo speculates that the hedge fund operator in owner John Henry probably wasn’t thrilled about the move.  However, in the short-term, he knew that Boston needed an ace pitcher.

Here’s more from today’s column:

  • Shane Victorino’s agent, John Boggs, said a couple of teams have shown interest in his client, but no deal is imminent at this time.  Boggs added that the veteran is looking to sign a one-year deal in order to re-establish his value.  The Flyin’ Hawaiian hit just .230/.308/.292 in 2015 in 204 combined plate appearances for the Red Sox and Angels.  Still, he’s only two years removed from his 2013 campaign in which he slashed .294/.351/.451 with 15 homers for Boston.  Victorino, who plans on getting back to switch-hitting, celebrated his 35th birthday in late November.
  • Right-hander Trevor Cahill had an opportunity to sign with the Pirates or Orioles as a starting pitcher, Cafardo writes.  However, he opted to stay with the Cubs where he will be used in a relief role.  Cahill’s clear preference was to start again, but he also didn’t want to leave Chicago.  Cahill gave the Cubs 17 brilliant innings of relief down the stretch, yielding just four runs and recording an outstanding 22-to-5 K/BB ratio to go along with a ground-ball rate of 61.8 percent. He also pitched 5 1/3 innings in the postseason, allowing two runs on seven hits and no walks with eight strikeouts (3.38 ERA).
  • Ron Gardenhire lost out on the Padres’ job but “the feeling” is that he could always go back to the Twins organization and work in some capacity.  However, Gardenhire’s preference would be to manage for a major league team again.  Gardenhire has extensive postseason experience from his time with the Twins, having led the club to six AL Central Division titles in 13 seasons and also bringing the team to a Game 163 tiebreaker that was lost to the White Sox in 2008. However he also has a disappointing 6-21 record in the playoffs, having only captured one series victory (against the A’s in 2002).

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.

Pirates To Release Allen Webster

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SATURDAY: Webster is indeed heading abroad — the Samsung Lions of the KBO have announced that they’ve signed him along with righty reliever Collin Balester. Sung Min Kim of River Ave. Blues initially tweeted that Webster was headed to Korea. The 29-year-old Balester has a 5.47 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in parts of five big-league seasons with Washington, Detroit and Cincinnati. He made 15 appearances with the Reds in 2015.

FRIDAY: The Pirates have released righty Allen Webster, as the team’s transactions page reflects and as Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Webster had been acquired for cash after the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment.

Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com first noted the unexpected change in Webster’s status on the Bucs’ transactions page, explaining that Pittsburgh did not seem to have an immediate need for a 40-man spot. That could mean that Webster is headed for an opportunity with an Asian club, as the Bucs had previously seemed set to give a chance this spring to the out-of-options right-hander.

Webster, 25, has long been seen as a rising power arm, but he’s struggled to make good on his promise in the majors. In 120 1/3 MLB frames over the past three years, he owns a 5.81 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9.

While he had previously put up strong numbers in the upper minors, Webster was bombed to the tune of a 8.18 ERA over 15 Triple-A starts last year. It’s worth noting, too, that Webster’s average fastball velocity (in the majors) dropped to 91.5 mph in 2015 after clocking in at over 94 in his first season of MLB action.

Pirates Sign Ryan Vogelsong

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4:39pm: Vogelsong receives a $2MM guarantee and can earn up to $3MM worth of incentives, according to MLB.com’s Adam Berry (Twitter link).

3:00pm: The Pirates have announced a one-year deal with free agent righty Ryan Vogelsong. Contract terms have not yet been reported, though a source tells MLBTR that it’s an incentive-laden deal that can max out at $5MM.

Vogelsong, 38, had seemed to wrap up his MLB career after a stint with the Bucs in the early and mid-2000s. But he returned with new vigor after a stint in Japan, and has played with the Giants for the past five seasons.

Last year was not the best season for the veteran. He logged a rough 4.67 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. And ERA estimators saw that earned run mark as a more-or-less accurate reflection of his actual contribution on the hill.

But there are still some positives. Vogelsong threw 135 innings over 22 starts and 11 relief appearances, and has a good track record of reliability. His velocity actually trended up slightly, with an average fastball of 91 mph.

For a Pirates organization that entered the offseason looking for rotation options with limited resources, it’s easy to see the appeal in the steady veteran. Pittsburgh recently dealt away Charlie Morton after acquiring Jon Niese, so the need is still there, and further staff additions still seem likely.

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.

Pirates Acquire Jason Rogers From Brewers

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The Pirates announced that they have acquired corner infielder/outfielder Jason Rogers from the Brewers in exchange for outfielder Keon Broxton and right-hander Trey Supak.

Jason Rogers

Rogers, 27, is a right-handed bat that will give the Pirates further depth at first base, although the club admittedly already had a right-handed hitting option there in the form of Mike Morse. In 169 plate appearances will Milwaukee last season, Rogers batted .296/.367/.441 with four homers. That marked Rogers’ first extended taste of the Major Leagues, as he’d previously accumulated just 10 plate appearances — all in 2014. Lack of MLB experience notwithstanding, Rogers is a highly accomplished minor league hitter, having compiled a lifetime .290/.372/.476 slash in the minors, including a more impressive .326/.406/.582 line in 90 games at the Triple-A level. Over the past two seasons, between the Majors and minor, Rogers has handled right-handed pitching better than lefties, though his track record prior to that indicates a more traditional platoon split.

In exchange for Rogers, the Brewers will receive a fleet-footed center fielder (Broxton) and a right-hander that was Competitive Balance (Round B) draft pick as recently as 2014 (Supak). Broxton, 26 in May, made his big league debut in 2015, though he received just seven plate appearances. Most of his work came in the minors, where he batted .273/.357/.438 with 10 homers and 39 stolen bases between the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for Pittsburgh. The Pirates originally acquired him from the D-backs early in 2014 in exchange for cash considerations. The former third-round pick (2009) long rated as one of Arizona’s more promising farmhands in the eyes of Baseball America, but he hasn’t appeared on a Top 30 list for either the D-backs or Buccos since 2012, when BA wrote that while he was a plus runner with a plus arm that played MLB-caliber defense in center field even at Class-A Advanced, he struggles to pick up breaking pitches and has a long way to go at the plate. Broxton’s drawn high praise for his athleticism, and it’s possible that even if he doesn’t hit much, he could seemingly be a defensive-minded reserve outfielder.

Supak is 19 years old and rated as the Pirates’ No. 15 prospect, per MLB.com. Supak received a healthy $1MM signing bonus out of the ’14 draft but hasn’t lived up to that investment just yet, as he struggled to a dismal 6.67 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 28 1/3 innings with the Pirates’ Rookie-level Appalachian League affiliate. MLB.com notes that his fastball sits in the low 90s and could grow as his 6’5″ frame develops. However, their scouting reports note that his curveball and changeup are a ways behind his fastball, and even his heater could use some work, as it presently lacks downhill plane.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pirates Re-Sign Sean Rodriguez

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THURSDAY, 10:57am: The Pirates confirmed the signing via press release.

TUESDAY, 1:07pm: The Pirates have reached a deal to bring back free agent infielder/outfielder Sean Rodriguez, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links). He’ll earn $2.5MM and can earn up to $500K in incentives, per Crasnick and Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter).

Rodriguez, 30, came to Pittsburgh last winter via trade. He earned $1.9MM via arbitration in 2015, so his new deal represents a slight bump up in earnings.

His primary value lies in his defensive versatility. He’s spent time at every position on the field other than pitcher and catcher. Though Rodriguez has spent a plurality of his innings at second base, he’s also accrued over 400 frames at first, short, third, and left field.

Last year, Rodriguez ended up being utilized most often at first base. He’s obviously not suited for that position from an offensive standpoint, as he slashed just .246/.281/.362 over his 240 plate appearances, but the club needed his glove there as Pedro Alvarez struggled defensively.

It seems likely that Rodriguez will be deployed more frequently elsewhere in the infield in 2016, especially early in the year. With Neil Walker now playing for the Mets and Jung Ho Kang looking to return from a significant injury, he’ll represent an important depth piece for the club. The veteran has shown more at the plate in the past, as he hit just shy of league average over 2013-14 in Tampa Bay, and a return to that level of production would make this deal an easy win for the club.

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