AL Notes: Astros, Alburquerque, ERod, Tazawa, Castro
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow addressed a variety of issues today with Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. He suggested that the club’s first base mix may not be fully resolved this spring, with the organization remaining open to making changes over the course of the season. He made clear that Houston won’t just be relying on metrics in reaching its decisions, but is paying close attention to how the various contenders look against advanced competition this spring.
- Meanwhile, Luhnow said, the Astros‘ back-of-the-rotation competition may result in some bullpen time for one of Doug Fister, Scott Feldman, or Mike Fiers. But he emphasized that he expects “all three guys are going to end up making a lot of starts for us this year.”
- The Angels are hoping that reliever Al Alburquerque will be able to bounce back after a tough 2015, and improved health is one reason for optimism, as MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports. Albuquerque says that he was hobbled for all of the spring and much of the regular season last year after contracting the Chikungunya virus over the winter. His fastball velocity steadily increased over the course of the year, and Albuquerque says he feels “much better” in camp.
- The Red Sox now seem all but certain to go without young lefty Eduardo Rodriguez to open the year, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports. Though the swelling is down in his right knee, Rodriguez still hasn’t returned to the bump and manager John Farrell says there’s “still no time frame or date to get him on the mound yet.” With the club obviously exercising caution, and a full ramp-up still needed, it would appear to be surprising if he’s able to join the 25-man roster on Opening Day.
- In other Red Sox pitching news, Boston is hoping that the decision to shut down reliever Junichi Tazawa late last year will help him regain his form in 2015, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. Generally a highly reliable pen arm, Tazawa seemingly hit a wall late last year. Now, pitching coach Carl Willis says he sees improved “late action to his pitches,” cleaner mechanics, and better location. The 29-year-old’s ability to bounce back will not only be important to the club, but will also determine his market standing when he qualifies for free agency after the season.
- Reversing its prior stance, the Yankees don’t intend to prepare Starlin Castro to spend any further time at third base this spring, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. He’ll instead focus on settling in at second base and preparing to serve as the reserve shortstop, says manager Joe Girardi. As King notes, that could open up some additional opportunity for Rob Refsnyder to make the team as a utility piece.
Angels Sign Al Alburquerque
JAN. 19: The Angels have announced the signing, though some new details on the deal have emerged today. Alburquerque’s contract is non-guaranteed, according to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. While the contract does give Alburquerque a 40-man roster spot, the team is only responsible for up to one quarter of his $1.1MM base salary if he is cut prior to opening day, Gonzalez reports.
JAN. 15: Alburquerque will receive a $1.1MM guarantee with the Angels and can earn additional money through incentives, tweets Heyman.
7:11am: The Angels and right-hander Al Alburquerque are in agreement on a one-year, Major League contract, reports Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The 29-year-old MDR Sports Management client has spent his entire Major League portion of his career to date as a member of the Tigers but was non-tendered this past December.
The hard-throwing Alburquerque has never struggled to miss bats in the Major Leagues, as evidenced by a lifetime 11.0 K/9 rate and 14.1 percent swinging-strike rate. However, control has indeed been a problem for the right-hander, who has averaged 5.0 walks per nine innings over the life of his 225 innings in the big leagues. Alburquerque did take a step backwards in 2015 as well, as his velocity dipped to a still-strong 93.1 mph (down from 94.5 a couple of years ago), which resulted in a decline in the aforementioned K/9 (8.4) and swinging-strike (11.1 percent) rates.
With this new agreement, Alburquerque will slot into the Angels’ mix of right-handed setup men, in some ways serving as a replacement for young right-hander Trevor Gott, who was traded to the Nationals in exchange for new third baseman Yunel Escobar. He’ll join right-handers Joe Smith, Fernando Salas, Mike Morin, Cory Rasmus, Cam Bedrosian and Deolis Guerra as right-handed setup options behind closer Huston Street in Anaheim.
With four years, 147 days of Major League service time under his belt, Alburquerque can be controlled not only for the 2016 season but also for the 2017 season via arbitration, should he perform well in his new surroundings.
Al Alburquerque Joins Magnus Sports
Recently non-tendered right-hander Al Alburquerque has changed agencies, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes tweets. He’s now a client of Magnus Sports — the joint venture between Praver/Shapiro Sports Management and singer/actor Marc Anthony. The right-hander joins Aroldis Chapman and Yankees prospect Gary Sanchez as the fledgling agency’s newest additions.
Alburquerque was cut loose by the Tigers coming off a season in which he worked to a 4.21 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 and a 48.3 percent ground-ball rate in 62 innings of relief work. Alburquerque has long shown a penchant for missing bats in the Majors, but he’s also struggled to control the ball. After averaging six walks per nine innings across parts of three seasons from 2011-13, he improved to a career-best 3.3 BB/9 rate in 2014 before taking a step back this most recent season. Alburquerque will turn 30 next June, and the hard-throwing right-hander comes with two years of club control before he reaches the requisite six years of MLB service time to again become a free agent.
The change has been updated in MLBTR’s Agency Database. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
2015-16 American League Non-Tenders
Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2016 season. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR’s Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates (in the estimation of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes). Also important for reference is the set of arbitration salary projections from MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz.
We’ll run down the list of American League non-tenders here, and update it as reports come in.
- According to a club announcement this morning, the Yankees non-tendered righty Domingo German last night. By parting with the pre-arb-eligible hurler, New York cleared one open spot on its 40-man.
- The Rangers announced that they won’t tender contracts to righty Nick Tepesch or outfielder James Jones. Neither player was arbitration eligible, but the decisions clear two 40-man roster spots. Tepesch missed the 2015 season battling shoulder injuries. Jones was recently acquired in a trade with the Mariners, though the main component of that deal for the Rangers was probably right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen. Texas hopes to retain both on minor league contracts, tweets the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson.
- The Blue Jays have non-tendered backup catcher Josh Thole and tendered the rest of their players, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (via Twitter). Thole has served primarily as R.A. Dickey‘s personal catcher due to his familiarity with the knuckleball for much of his time with the Blue Jays.
- Outfielder David Lough has also been non-tendered by the Orioles, the club announced. Lough hit just .201/.241/.313 with the Orioles in 144 plate appearances this season but has a reputation as a good defensive outfielder in the corners and traditionally hit righties well prior to this season.
- The White Sox have non-tendered Tyler Flowers and Jacob Turner. More on that decision here.
- The Orioles will non-tender infielder Paul Janish, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. The defensively gifted journeyman was projected to earn a modest $600K in arbitration next season.
Earlier Updates
- Righty Al Alburquerque will be non-tendered by the Tigers, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets. The 29-year-old was projected to earn only $2.1MM, and Detroit could use pen depth, but it appears that the club decided to move on after watching the veteran contribute 62 innings of 4.21 ERA ball with 8.4 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 last year.
- The Athletics have announced that first baseman Ike Davis will not be tendered a contract, meaning he’ll become a free agent. The veteran was entering his final year of control at a $3.8MM projected salary. His non-tender was widely expected after a tough 2015 season, but became assured when the club swung a deal earlier today for his replacement.
Tigers To Non-Tender Neftali Feliz
The Tigers will non-tender reliever Neftali Feliz, according to James Schmehl of MLive.com (via Twitter). He’ll join fellow right-handed reliever Al Alburquerque in reaching the open market rather than returning to Detroit via arbitration.
Feliz signed on with the Tigers over the summer after being cut loose by the Rangers. The 27-year-old was projected by MLBTR to earn $5.2MM. That’s rather a steep price, but his numbers were driven up by prior saves and the fact that he was in his final year of eligibility.
Things didn’t work out at all in Detroit, as the former closer scuffled to a 7.62 ERA in his 28 1/3 innings. That’s probably not a fair reflection of his efforts, as ERA estimators saw him more as a ~4.00 performer, but Feliz had been outperforming his peripherals for some time.
It’s been a remarkable fall for a pitcher who once looked like a future ace reliever — if not a high-quality starter. But teams will still probably look at Feliz as a nice rebound candidate: youth remains on his side and he still brings his fastball in the 94 to 95 mph range on average.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Saturday
Here are the latest players to avoid arbitration:
- The Tigers and reliever Al Alburquerque have agreed to a one-year, $1.725MM deal, reports Mike Perchick of WAPT Sports. Additionally, Alburquerque will earn $12.5K if he makes 75 appearances, per CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Tigers filed at $1.375MM while Alburquerque asked for $2.05MM. The reported deal is just north of the $1.712MM midpoint. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected a $1.7MM payout. A Super Two player, this was Alburquerque’s second spin through arbitration. The 28-year-old is club controlled for two more seasons after posting a 2.51 ERA, 9.89 K/9, and 3.30 BB/9 in 57.1 innings in 2014.
- Lefty reliever Brian Duensing and the Twins have agreed to terms for one year and $2.7MM, Phil Ervin of FOX Sports North tweets. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected that Duensing would make $2.5MM in his last year of arbitration eligibility. Via MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker, Duensing’s camp proposed a $3.1MM salary and the Twins countered with $2.4MM, so $2.7MM is near the midpoint but a bit closer to the Twins’ side. Duensing is the last of the Twins’ six arbitration-eligible players to agree to terms. He posted a 3.31 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 54 1/3 innings last season.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Friday
We'll keep track of today's smaller deals to avoid arbitration in this post. Click here for background on the upcoming arbitration schedule and how MLBTR is covering it. You can also check in on our Arbitration Tracker and look at MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz's arbitration projections.
Today's noon CT deadline to exchange arb figures has passed, but negotiations to avoid an arbitration hearing can continue into February. The Braves are the only strict "file and trial" team that did not agree to terms with all of its arb-eligible players, meaning they could be headed for several hearings. The Nats and Indians have also shown a willingness to go to a trial and still have some players unsigned. On to today's contract agreements…
- After exchanging numbers, the Mets and pitcher Dillon Gee have agreed to settle at the midpoint of $3.625MM, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Swartz projected Gee to earn $3.4MM.
- The Cubs have avoided arbitration with reliever Pedro Strop, president Theo Epstein told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). He will earn $1.325MM next year, according to a tweet from Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. It is not immediately apparent whether the deal was reached before the sides exchanged terms.
- The Angels have reached agreement on a $3.8MM deal with reliever Ernesto Frieri, reports Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (on Twitter).
- Mike Minor has agreed to terms on a $3.85MM deal with the Braves to avoid arbitration, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com (Twitter links). The deal came before figures were exchanged, Bowman notes.
- Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish reports that the D-Backs and lefty Joe Thatcher have avoided arb with a one-year, $2.375MM deal (Twitter link).
- Nicholson-Smith tweets that the Angels and Fernando Salas reached an agreement to avoid arbitration. Salas is the first Halos player to avoid arb. Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets that Salas will earn $870K, which beats out his $700K projection.
- MLB.com's Jason Beck reports (via Twitter) that the Tigers and righty Al Alburquerque have reached agreement on a deal to avoid arb. The hard-throwing righty will earn $837.5K in 2014, tweets Beck.
- Sherman tweets that the Yankees and Ivan Nova avoided arbitration with a one-year, $3.3MM deal.
- The Pirates and Vin Mazzaro inked a one-year, $950K deal in lieu of an arbitration hearing, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune.
- The Royals announced that they've avoided arbitration with infielder Emilio Bonifacio. Heyman tweets that Bonifacio will earn $3.5MM in 2014.
- Sherman reports that the Rays avoided arbitration with Jeremy Hellickson and Sean Rodriguez (Twitter link). Hellickson landed a $3.625MM payday with a $25K bonus if he hits 195 innings pitched. Rodriguez will get $1.475MM with a $25K bump for hitting 300 plate appearances.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets that Brian Matusz avoided arb with the Orioles. Sherman adds that he'll earn $2.4MM in 2014.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets that Jason Castro and the Astros have avoided arbitration. McTaggart adds in a second tweet that Jesus Guzman avoided arb as well. Heyman reports that Castro will be paid $2.45MM, while Sherman tweets that Guzman will make $1.3MM.
- The Indians tweeted that they've avoided arb with lefty Marc Rzepczynski, and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian tweets that he'll earn $1.375MM in 2014. Bastian adds that Scrabble will earn an additional $25K for appearing in 55 games and another $25K for 60 games.
- The Giants avoided arbitration with Yusmeiro Petit, according to MLBTR's Steve Adams (on Twitter). He'll earn $845K, according to Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith (via Twitter).
Quick Hits: Alburquerque, Wada, Francis
Tigers pitcher Al Alburquerque has changed agencies from ACES to Beverly Hills Sports Council, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman tweets. Major League Baseball investigates ACES' possible ties to the Biogenesis scandal. Alburquerque has pitched 71 innings in his big-league career, posting a 1.90 ERA with 16.3 K/9 and 8.2 BB/9. He has 14 1/3 innings pitched for the Tigers this year. Here are more notes from around the Majors.
- MLB's latest PED scandal could impact pennant races and the trading deadline, says ESPN.com's Jim Bowden (Insider-only). Teams don't know the identities of all the players in the Biogenesis scandal and who might be suspended as a result, Bowden writes, and that could make it difficult for GMs as they head down the stretch. Melky Cabrera's abrupt departure from the Giants last August — after the trading deadline — is the sort of scenario that might be faced by some GMs, who will have a hard time preparing for suspensions they might not be sure are coming. The Giants, of course, won the World Series even without Cabrera, but they didn't have one of their most productive hitters in the final six weeks of the regular season. This year, the Rangers, for example, will have to consider their backup plan in case Nelson Cruz, who has been named in the scandal, is suspended.
- The list of sellers at this year's trade deadline could be large, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Rosenthal's list of potential sellers includes three teams that entered the season with lofty aspirations (the Dodgers, Angels and Blue Jays), along with the Astros, Marlins, Phillies, Padres, Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, Twins, Royals, Mariners and Mets. That's a very long list, which suggests that it might be a buyer's market at the deadline. Rosenthal says, however, that some of those teams (the Angels, Blue Jays, Phillies and Royals, in particular) might not actually sell, even though some of their records right now might dictate that they would.
- Tsuyoshi Wada of the Orioles could agree to remain in the minor leagues once his rehab stint is over, reports MASN Sports' Roch Kubatko. Wada has not pitched well for Triple-A Norfolk, posting a 5.87 ERA in 23 innings, and after having elbow surgery, he has yet to make his big-league debut despite being in the second year of a two-year, $8.15MM deal. That deal hasn't worked out well, but Kubatko quotes a scout who says it made sense at the time. "[Wada] was worth the gamble. When he came in, (Miguel) Gonzalez wasn't there, (Wei-Yin) Chen wasn't established, (Jason) Hammel wasn't there yet. So he was worth the gamble. And it wasn't a lot of money."
- Jeff Francis will likely start on Saturday for the Rockies, but his future with the organization is in question, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. "I think I can help this team, and I think I can do a lot of things," says Francis. "But I know that the reality of baseball is that if you don’t do them enough, then your time runs out." Francis had posted a 6.00 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 before landing on the disabled list with a strained groin. Tyler Chatwood, who Francis will replace on Saturday, will still have his rotation spot when he returns from a sore triceps, and Roy Oswalt, currently at Double-A Tulsa, is slated to join the big-league team shortly.