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Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed yesterday at 1pm ET, and there has been a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track those settlements from the National League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Rounding out contract numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals, Dominic Leone will take home $1.26MM, Chasen Shreve will make $900K, and outfielder Marcell Ozuna will earn $12.25MM in his last season before free agency, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Ozuna has the most high-impact potential as he looks to rebound from a still-productive season in 2018 that saw his power output hindered at times by a balky shoulder. He still managed 23 home runs and a .280/.325/.433 slash line while playing just about every day outside of a 10-day DL stint late in August.
  • The Diamondbacks came to terms with a slew of players, per Feinsand (via Twitter), including Matt Andriese for $920K, Steven Souza Jr. for $4.125MM, shortstop Nick Ahmed for $3.6625MM, and potential closer Archie Bradley for $1.83MM.
  • The Rockies and starting pitcher Jon Gray have come to an agreement on a $2.935MM deal, per Feinsand (via Twitter). Gray had an up-and-down 2018 that is generally considered to be more promising than the optics of his 5.12 ERA make it seem.
  • The Pirates have come to terms on one-year deals with both of their arbitration eligible players, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Left fielder Corey Dickerson signs for $8.5MM, and reliever Keone Kela takes home $3.175MM. It’s a small arb class for the Pirates, whose list will grow next season as players like Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon, and Joe Musgrove, among others, reach their first season of eligibility.
  • The Dodgers signed a couple of their remaining arbitration-eligible players yesterday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Utility man Chris Taylor has a $3.5MM deal, while outfield Joc Pederson settled at $5MM.

Earlier Updates

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Minor MLB Transactions: 12/16/16

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Here are the latest minor moves from around the league:

  • The Rays added catcher Michael McKenry on a minor-league contract, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. Heyman further adds that McKenry will receive $900K if he’s in the Majors, plus a possible $475K in incentives. He has opt-outs on March 30 and June 1. With Wilson Ramos not expected to be ready to take over behind the plate for at least the first month or two of the year, there’s a need for depth. McKenry will presumably battle with pre-existing options Luke Maile and Curt Casali for a roster spot to open the season.
  • Outfielder Brandon Barnes is headed to the Marlins on a minors pact, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. The deal includes a Spring Training invite. Barnes, 30, figures to function as a depth piece after seeing time in the majors over parts of the last five seasons. He struggled to a .220/.250/.320 batting line in just 109 MLB plate appearances last year.
  • Lefty Jeff Beliveau is headed to the Blue Jays on a minors deal with a spring invite, per a club announcement. The 29-year-old has thrown 45 MLB frames spread over four years, with an even 4.00 ERA and 9.4 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. Last year, he didn’t pitch above the Double-A level in the Orioles system, but provided 49 2/3 innings of 2.54 ERA pitching with a dozen K/9 to go with a sub-optimal 5.3 BB/9.
  • Righty Erik Johnson is back with the Padres on a minor-league arrangement, Heyman tweets. Johnson will continue to work back from Tommy John surgery with San Diego, which had recently non-tendered him.
  • The Orioles announced a series of minors signings. Among those not previously covered at MLBTR, the club will bring back outfielder Chris Dickerson and take a shot on Tomo Ohka. Dickerson joined Beliveau at Double-A in the Baltimore organization last year, hitting well in brief action there, but hasn’t seen the bigs since 2014. Ohka, 40, is a much more speculative addition; he’s trying to return to the majors for the first time since 2009 by turning himself into a knuckleballer.
  • Anther pitcher seeking to make it back after a long run away from the majors is lefty Andy Oliver, who’ll try things out with the Brewers, per Heyman (via Twitter). Heyman adds that can opt out of his deal on June 15 if he’s not on the big-league roster, and Oliver also receives a foreign team inquiry clause. Oliver blitzed through the Tigers system after being taken in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft. He cracked the bigs briefly in 2010-11, but has plied his trade at Triple-A ever since. Oliver moved back to the rotation for half of his appearances last year with the Orioles’ top affiliate, which may have helped as he finally quelled some of his control issues. Oliver ended 2016 with a 3.43 ERA over 86 2/3 frames and 8.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 (his lowest walk rate since his debut year in full-season professional ball).
  • The Tigers added third baseman Zack Cox on a minor-league arrangement, the indy ball Wichita Wingnuts announced. Once a highly regarded prospect, Cox never earned a major league call-up during his time in the Cardinals and Marlins systems, but hit .290/.348/.452 last year in 460 plate appearances for Wichita.
  • Five players are returning to the Rangers organization on minor-league pacts, per Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter links). Utilityman Alex Burg will join right-handed hurlers Dario Beltre, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Anthony Carter, and David Perez in returning to Texas. There’s a new farmhand coming in, too, as the Rangers added righty James Dykstra from the White Sox in a cash deal. Dykstra, 26, reached Double-A last year, throwing 102 1/3 innings of 4.93 ERA ball with 5.8 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9.
  • Two previously designated players — catcher Justin O’Conner (Rays) and lefty Williams Jerez (Red Sox) — have been outrighted by their organizations, per club announcements.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/29/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves, all courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (except where otherwise noted):

  • The Braves have released backstop George Kottaras, who’ll re-enter the open market not long after he left it to join the Atlanta organization. Kottaras, 33, has only been at Triple-A Gwinnett for about six weeks, but his .196/.328/.294 batting line over 61 plate appearances wasn’t enough to warrant a lengthier stint. The veteran has seen action in seven major league campaigns, posting a useful .215/.326/.411 overall slash in 858 trips to the plate, but he hasn’t seen substantial time at the game’s highest level since 2013.
  • Outfielder Chris Dickerson has signed on with the Orioles on a minor league deal after sitting out the entire season to date. As Dan Connolly of Baltimore Baseball reports, the O’s seem to be looking for another possible major league piece from an unlikely place with this signing. Dickerson, 34, is still working back from shoulder surgery and hasn’t seen the majors since 2014. But he was hitting well before his injury last year, and VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette suggested that he could move into a “fifth outfielder” role at the major league level.
  • The Cubs have cut ties with left-handed reliever C.J. Riefenhauser, per Badler. The 26-year-oldhad briefly reached the majors in each of the last two years. But he was having trouble at the Triple-A level with the Chicago organization, compiling a 4.55 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9 over 27 2/3 innings.
  • Left-hander Jason Gurka has been released by the Rockies. He was bombed in brief stints at the majors in each of the last two seasons. But the results were much more promising at Triple-A, where Gurka had a solid campaign in 2015 and was largely lights out this year. In his 21 1/3 innings, he racked up 31 strikeouts against just six walks and permitted only four earned runs.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/20/16

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Saturday’s minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Rockies have announced that recently designated right-hander Gonzalez Germen has accepted an assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque. Colorado dropped Germen from its 40-man roster Aug. 12 after he had combined for 73 1/3 innings with the club since last season. More than half of those frames (40 2/3) have come this year, but Germen struggled with a 5.31 ERA, 7.08 K/9 and 5.53 BB/9. Previously with the Mets and Cubs, the 28-year-old has a 4.63 ERA, 8.06 K/9 and 5.06 BB/9 in 144 career major league innings.
  • In another pitching-related move, the Rockies will release lefty Jason Gurka, tweets Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Gurka, 28, has tossed 17 1/3 major league innings, all of which have come in Colorado since last year, with a 9.35 ERA, 7.27 K/9 and 2.08 BB/9.
  • The Braves have released righty Andrew Thurman, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter link). The Astros took Thurman in the second round of the 2013 draft before ultimately shipping him to Atlanta in a January 2015 trade involving catcher Evan Gattis. Control problems have hampered the 24-year-old Thurman since that year, having failed to post a sub-5.00 BB/9 in stints at the High-A and Double-A levels. With Double-A Mississippi this year, Thurman threw 62 2/3 innings and compiled a 6.89 ERA, 7.47 K/9 and 6.75 BB/9.

Earlier updates:

  • The Orioles will sign lefty-hitting outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor league deal and assign him to Double-A Bowie, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes. He could be called up to the Orioles in September. The Orioles are looking for outfield depth in the wake of Joey Rickard’s thumb injury. Connolly writes that they briefly considered pursuing Carlos Gomez, although that idea didn’t advance very far. The 34-year-old Dickerson played 38 games in the Blue Jays organization last season before undergoing shoulder surgery. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Indians in 2014 and has a career .257/.335/.395 line in parts of seven Major League seasons. He played for the Orioles in 2013.
  • The Astros have purchased the contract of lefty Eury De La Rosa from the Long Island Ducks, as Newsday’s Jordan Lauterbach seems to have been first to report (on Twitter). De La Rosa pitched yesterday for Triple-A Fresno, allowing seven runs over four innings. The 26-year-old last pitched in the big leagues with the Diamondbacks in 2014, and he has a career 4.21 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 51 1/3 innings over two Major League seasons. He pitched in the minors for three organizations in 2015 before heading to the Atlantic League.

Blue Jays Sign Chris Dickerson

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The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve signed outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Dickerson is represented by MVP Sports Group.

In 2014, the 32-year-old Dickerson hit .309/.407/.479 in a terrific half-season with the Pirates’ Triple-A Indianapolis affiliate before heading in a minor trade to Cleveland, where he hit .224/.309/.327 in 112 plate appearances. The veteran has a career .257/.335/.395 line in parts of seven seasons, providing teams with a reasonable left-handed bench option who can play all three outfield spots. The Blue Jays are a bit thin in their outfield, so Dickerson could compete for a bench job.

Chris Dickerson Elects Free Agency

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • After being outrighted by the Indians, outfielder Chris Dickerson has elected free agency, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Dickerson, 32, slashed .224/.309/.327 in 112 plate appearances this year for Cleveland. He has seen part-time duty with five different clubs in each of the last seven seasons, but has not managed to keep a sustained role at the game’s highest level.

Minor Moves: Chris Dwyer, Blake Wood, Chris Dickerson

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We’ll keep track of today’s outright assignments here..

  • The Royals have placed both Chris Dwyer and Blake Wood on outright waivers, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Both hurlers were designated recently to clear space for September call-ups. Once a top prospect, Dwyer has struggled to a 5.59 ERA working mostly in relief at Triple-A this year, while Wood has yet to re-establish himself since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012.
  • The Indians announced that they have outrighted outfielder Chris Dickerson to Triple-A Columbus.  Cleveland acquired Dickerson from the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later back in July.  GM Chris Antonetti traded for Dickerson because he valued his ability to play all three outfield positions and ability to hit against right-handed pitching.

Antonetti Talks Trade Market, Dickerson, Maronde

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Entering the All-Star break, the Indians find themselves at .500 and in third place in the AL Central, trailing the Tigers by 7.5 games. Before Cleveland’s 3-2 win over the White Sox, GM Chris Antonetti chatted with reporters for 25 minutes. Here are the highlights (MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian has the complete transcript) :

  • Antonetti hasn’t decided whether the Indians will be buyers or sellers at the Trade Deadline. “We’re exploring a lot of different things, opportunities to improve our team for the balance of this season and then position us better moving forward, too. We’ve spent a lot of energy on fits for acquiring guys that we’d have control over beyond this year, not just guys that would just be here for the balance of the year.“
  • The Indians’ trade strategy is muddied by the fact there isn’t one glaring weakness on the roster. “It’s actually one of the interesting challenges that we have,” Antonetti said. “So, for us to improve, we need to improve upon a higher standard. And, in some cases, we’re counting on guys that we’ve already made commitments to rebounding. So, it’s a little bit of a different dynamic for us as we look to try to improve our roster.“
  • The Indians will “potentially” explore the trade market for starting pitchers. “The one thing we continue to believe is we have quality Major League starting pitchers,” said Antonetti. “Anytime you acquire a guy, you have to think about who it displaces from the team and the rotation, in that case. You have to have a high degree of confidence that it’s an improvement.“
  • Antonetti traded for Chris Dickerson because his ability to play all three outfield positions and his success against right-handed pitching is a nice complement to the club in the wake of Michael Bourn’s hamstring injury. Antonetti added he had interest in Dickerson as a free agent this past offseason, but couldn’t commit at-bats to him at the time.
  • Yesterday, the Indians acquired Nick Maronde from the Angels. Antonetti has liked the left-hander “for quite a while” and acknowledged the 24-year-old has had “some trouble throwing strikes, but we think that there’s significant upside there and a guy worth taking a chance on. “

Indians Acquire Chris Dickerson, Designate George Kottaras

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The Indians announced that they have acquired outfielder Chris Dickerson from the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Dickerson’s contract will be selected for tonight’s game, and George Kottaras has been designated for assignment to create roster space.

The 32-year-old Dickerson has a spotty Major League track record, but he was having an excellent season for Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates organization. In 280 plate appearances, Dickerson batted .309/.407/.479 with seven homers and 12 steals.

Dickerson grades out as an excellent defender at all three outfield spots, per Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved — an attribute that likely appealed to Cleveland with Michael Bourn on the shelf for the next three to four weeks due to a hamstring strain. That glove has come along with a questionable bat for much of his career, however, as he’s batted just .233/.275/.361 over his past four stints in the Majors — a span of 287 plate appearances. Dickerson did have a strong start to his big league career with the Reds, however, hitting .283/.383/.440 through his first 421 PA in 2008-09.

The 31-year-old Kottaras has a strong .286/.385/.714 batting line for the Indians this season, though it’s come in a sample of just 27 PA. Nearly all of his production came in his first game with Cleveland, when he went 2-for-3 with a pair of homers. Nonetheless, Kottaras has long been known to have an excellent eye at the plate and some power. The career .216/.326/.415 hitter has 14 percent walk rate in 847 Major League plate appearances, and his .199 isolated power mark (slugging minus batting average) is well above-average for any hitter, let alone a catcher.

Pirates Sign Chris Dickerson

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8:33am: Dickerson signed a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, and he also drew interest from the Yankees and Indians, according to a second tweet from Biertempfel.

7:55am: The Pirates have signed outfielder Chris Dickerson, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune (Twitter link). Biertempfel does not specify whether or not the MVP Sports Group client received a Major League or minor league deal, but the latter of the two options seems likely. Dickerson is already in Bradenton, Fla. (the Pirates' Spring Training home) for workouts, adds Biertempfel.

The 31-year-old Dickerson batted .238/.266/.400 with four homers and five stolen bases in 109 plate appearances for the Orioles in 2013. He also saw 160 PAs at the Triple-A level where he slashed .243/.350/.368. Originally a 16th-round pick by the Reds in 2003, Dickerson is capable of playing all three outfield positions and has a .745 OPS in 708 career plate apperances.

Pittsburgh has their starting outfied set with Starling Marte in left, 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen in center and Jose Tabata in right, but Dickerson could compete with Travis Snider for a backup role with the Bucs.

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