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Greg Holland

Greg Holland Elects Free Agency

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The Rangers announced this evening that reliever Greg Holland has cleared outright waivers and elected minor league free agency. That was always the likeliest outcome once Texas designated him for assignment on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old will now have an opportunity to explore offers from all 30 clubs. He’ll presumably be looking at minor league pacts, as he was this past offseason. Holland tossed 55 2/3 innings over 57 outings for the Royals last year, but he managed below-average production. He posted a 4.85 ERA with a personal-low 21.8% strikeout percentage and an elevated 10.7% walk rate. That led him to sign a non-roster deal with Texas, although Holland cracked the Opening Day roster and locked in a $2.1MM base salary for this season.

Texas remains on the hook for that money. Any team that signs Holland would only owe him a prorated portion of the league minimum salary for whatever time he spends in the big leagues, which would be subtracted from the Rangers’ tab. Despite feeling comfortable enough with his Spring Training form to carry him out of camp, Texas didn’t give Holland much of a look. He made just five appearances in Arlington, serving up as many runs over 4 2/3 innings on six hits (including a trio of homers).

One of the game’s elite late-inning stoppers during his 2011-15 peak in Kansas City, Holland’s performance has been up-and-down since he underwent Tommy John surgery late in the 2015 campaign. He returned to save 41 games with a 3.61 ERA for the Rockies in 2017, but he posted an ERA of 4.54 or higher in three of the four seasons between 2018-21. The lone exception was the shortened 2020 season, when he pitched to a sterling 1.91 mark with a 27.7% strikeout rate during a reunion year with the Royals.

Despite his recent struggles, Holland shouldn’t have a problem finding a minor league deal somewhere. Not only is he a respected 12-year MLB veteran who reached heights few of his peers matched, Holland has still generated swinging strikes at a solid rate in recent seasons. His average fastball checked in at a capable 93.8 MPH during his brief look in Texas.

Rangers Designate Greg Holland For Assignment

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The Rangers announced this afternoon they’ve designated reliever Greg Holland for assignment. The move clears an active roster spot for starter Jon Gray, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list to start tonight’s ballgame against the Mariners. Texas’ 40-man roster now sits at 39.

Holland broke camp with Texas after signing a minor league deal over the winter. The veteran righty got off to a tough start to the season, however, allowing five runs on six hits (including three homers) with a walk and five strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings. Rangers’ brass elected not to give him much time to try to work through those struggles, instead bumping him off the roster.

The 36-year-old didn’t have a ton of leeway after struggling to a 4.85 ERA in 55 2/3 frames with the Royals last year. Holland had posted a sterling 1.91 mark in 28 games during the shortened 2020 schedule, but he hasn’t managed to build off that success the past couple years. Holland was a three-time All-Star and one of the sport’s best few relievers during his prime in Kansas City, but he posted an ERA of 4.54 or higher in the three other campaigns between 2018-21.

Texas will have a week to trade Holland or place him on waivers. He has more than enough experience to refuse an outright assignment and elect minor league free agency if he passes through waivers unclaimed. That’d seem the likeliest outcome, at which point Holland could explore offers from other teams.

Gray is back after a minimal IL stint due to a blister on his pitching hand. Signed to a four-year deal over the winter, he tossed four innings of three-run ball against the Blue Jays during his team debut.

Rangers Trade Yonny Hernandez To Diamondbacks

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The Rangers have set their Opening Day roster, announcing a series of transactions that includes the trade of infielder Yonny Hernandez to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league outfielder Jeferson Espinal. Arizona has designated right-hander Humberto Mejia for assignment in a corresponding roster move.

Texas also designated infielder Sherten Apostel for assignment and selected the contracts of veterans Matt Bush, Charlie Culberson and Greg Holland. Right-hander Garrett Richards, meanwhile, has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a blister issue, while righty Jose Leclerc has been placed on the 60-day IL as he continues recovering from last March’s Tommy John surgery.

Hernandez, 24 next month, made his big league debut with Texas last year and batted .217/.315/.252 in 166 trips to the plate. His work in Triple-A, where he slashed .250/.424/.323 in 261 plate appearances, was far better. Hernandez walked at a gaudy 20.3% clip in Triple-A last season and has a penchant for drawing free passes and making contact, albeit rarely with any real power. He’s walked in more than 15% of his professional plate appearances and also possesses plenty of speed, evidenced by 23 steals in the minors and another 11 in the big leagues last season.

Hernandez has experience all over the infield and has all three minor league option years remaining, so he’ll give the D-backs some flexibility and versatility not only in 2022 but for the foreseeable future. He can be controlled for at least the next six seasons, and possibly more, depending on how much big league time he accrues while he has those options remaining.

Espinal, 19, batted a combined .259/.340/.357 between Rookie ball and Low-A last season, with the vast majority of his production coming at the lower of those two levels. Eric Longenhagen and Brendan Gawlowski wrote at FanGraphs back in January that Espinal has 70 speed on the 20-80 scale but a long swing and serious questions about his overall hitting profile. Espinal did swipe 16 bases in 19 tries last season, but he’ll have a ways to go before the Rangers can even hope to have him as a viable option in the outfield.

Apostel, 23, went 2-for-20 in his big league debut back in 2020 and didn’t appear in the Majors last season. He’s primarily a third baseman but has experience at first base as well. Apostel posted a lackluster .235/.321/.416 across three levels last season, topping out with a sub-par showing in Triple-A Round Rock. The Rangers will have a week to trade Apostel, place him on outright waivers or release him.

As for the D-backs, they’re in the same boat with regard to the 25-year-old Mejia. He’s tallied 32 1/3 big league innings but struggled to a 6.68 ERA in that time, and last year’s work in the minors was not decidedly more encouraging. In 103 2/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A, Mejia pitched to a combined 5.12 ERA with a 22.1% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. Another club in need of some pitching depth might take a look in a small trade or via waivers, but Mejia has not yet found too much success above A-ball.

Greg Holland Makes Rangers’ Roster

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The Rangers have informed veteran reliever Greg Holland that he’s made the Opening Day roster, per Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News. He’ll need to have his contract formally selected to the 40-man roster before Opening Day.

The 36-year-old Holland joined the Rangers on a minor league deal and made a strong impression in camp, firing five shutout innings with four hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Holland is the third non-roster veteran known to be breaking camp with the Rangers, who’ve already informed Charlie Culberson and Matt Bush they’ve made the club. Texas will need to make a trio of 40-man roster moves to accommodate this group.

A three-time All-Star and a pivotal cog to the Royals’ consecutive World Series rosters in 2014-15, Holland returned to Kansas City in 2020 after spending three years between the Rockies, Cardinals, Nationals and D-backs. He was outstanding in his return to K.C. during the shortened 2020 season but struggled more in 2021 as his strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates all trended in the wrong direction. On the whole, Holland posted a 3.86 ERA with a 23.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.6% ground-ball rate through 84 innings between his 2020-21 Royals reunion.

The Rangers will now become the sixth club for which Holland has suited up at the big league level. While Holland could eventually be in the mix for some saves in Texas, manager Chris Woodward told Hoyt and other reporters that the team isn’t planning to designate a set closer — at least not for Opening Day. Early-season performance will likely help to dictate the distribution of the late-inning workload, as will the respective rehabs of flamethrowers Jose Leclerc and Jonathan Hernandez, each of whom is on the mend from Tommy John surgery but expected to return in the first half of the 2022 season. Leclerc’s surgery came on March 30 last year, while Hernandez went under the knife just two weeks later, on April 12.

Holland’s contract reportedly came with a $2.1MM base salary upon making the club, so that’ll be locked in once the team formally selects his contract this week. With Hernandez and Leclerc slated to open the season on the injured list, Holland will join Bush, Joe Barlow, Josh Sborz and Brett Martin as late-inning options for Woodward.

Rangers Sign Greg Holland To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers announced this evening they’ve signed reliever Greg Holland to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league Spring Training. If he cracks the Opening Day roster, he’ll receive a $2.1MM base salary, reports Levi Weaver of the Athletic (Twitter link).

Holland is a 12-year big league veteran and a three-time All-Star. An elite closer and vital piece of the bullpens that made the Royals so tough to beat in the middle of the last decade, he unfortunately blew out his UCL late in 2015 and required Tommy John surgery. Holland returned to post an NL-best 41 saves with the Rockies in 2017, but he wasn’t quite as dominant as he’d been in K.C. before the surgery.

Since then, Holland’s performance has fluctuated wildly as he’s bounced between a few different clubs. He posted an ERA above 4.50 in both 2018 (which he split between the Cardinals and Nationals) and 2019, where he played in Arizona. Holland returned to his old stomping grounds in Kansas City for 2020, where he pitched to a 1.91 ERA over 28 1/3 frames. The Royals re-signed him to a $2.75MM guarantee last winter, but he couldn’t replicate that success over a larger body of work.

Holland posted a 4.85 ERA in 55 2/3 frames last season. His 21.8% strikeout percentage and 10.7% walk rate were each a bit worse than the respective league averages, although he still generated swinging strikes at a decent 12.3% clip. The 36-year-old joins a rather crowded list of righty bullpen options the Rangers have added as non-roster invitees. Dan Winkler, Brandon Workman, Matt Bush, Justin Anderson and Jesús Tinoco are among the other players in camp.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported Holland was signing with the Rangers shortly before the team announcement.

Royals Reinstate Greg Holland From IL, Designate Brad Brach

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The Royals have reinstated reliever Greg Holland from the injured list, the team announced.  To create roster space, right-hander Brad Brach has been designated for assignment.

It ended up being just a one-day stay for Holland on the COVID-related injury list, so the veteran righty will make a quick return to his role as Kansas City’s closer.  It hasn’t been a good start to the season for Holland, who has issued seven walks (against only six strikeouts) and allowed three homers over seven innings of work, resulting in a 6.43 ERA.  While it’s still early in the season, Holland’s job could certainly be in jeopardy if his struggles continue.  The Royals have gotten excellent results from such bullpen arms as Kyle Zimmer, Scott Barlow, Jake Brentz, and Josh Staumont thus far, and it’s possible one of those less-experienced hurlers could supplant Holland in the closer’s position, or the Royals could adopt a more situational approach to the ninth inning.

Brach’s minor league contract was selected yesterday in a response to Holland’s IL placement, and Brach didn’t get any action during last night’s 6-2 Royals victory over the Tigers.  The 35-year-old now heads into DFA limbo after that cup of coffee in the 2021 season, though it seems a decent bet that Brach will clear waivers and remain in the K.C. organization.  A very solid reliever for the Padres, Orioles, and Braves from 2012-18, Brach has been much less productive over the last two seasons, posting a 5.54 ERA over 66 2/3 innings since the start of the 2019 campaign.

Royals Place Greg Holland On IL, Select Brad Brach

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The Royals have placed right-hander Greg Holland on the injured list and selected the contract of righty Brad Brach, per a team announcement. The club didn’t provide a reason for Holland’s IL placement.

Holland was largely a great reliever with the Royals from 2010-15, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in the last of those seasons and missed the team’s World Series run. The procedure kept Holland out for all of 2016, and he then endured an up-and-down few years divided among the Rockies, Cardinals and Diamondbacks.

Holland returned to Kansas City last year on a minor league deal, which proved to be a steal for the Royals. He reclaimed his old job as the team’s closer, went 6-for-6 in save opportunities and pitched to a 1.91 ERA with a 27.7 percent strikeout rate against a 6.3 percent walk rate over 28 1/3 innings.

Holland’s bounce-back 2020 performance earned him a guaranteed contract this past winter, when he re-signed with the Royals on a one-year, $2.75MM pact. Unfortunately for Holland and KC, he hasn’t been nearly as successful this year. Thanks to a couple of poor outings – including his most recent appearance on Tuesday – the 35-year-old has recorded a 6.43 ERA with three home runs allowed and more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six) in seven frames.

Brach, also 35, joined the Royals on a minors pact shortly after the Mets cut him loose in February. While the well-traveled Brach has enjoyed a quality career (3.39 ERA through 522 2/3 innings), his production and velocity have tailed off of late. Brach amassed a combined 66 2/3 innings with the Cubs and Mets over the previous two seasons and posted a 5.54 ERA with a below-average 9.7 K-BB percentage (24.7 K, 15.0 BB). Worsening matters, Brach’s average fastball velo fell from the 94 mph range to a career-low 90.4 last season.

Royals Re-Sign Greg Holland

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The Royals have re-signed reliever Greg Holland, the team announced. It’s a one-year, $2.75MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The pact also contains a possible $1.5MM in incentives, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (via Twitter).

Holland, 35, had a stellar rebound effort in Kansas City this past season after a pair of down years. Over 28.1 innings spanning 28 games, the right-hander worked to a 1.91 ERA/2.52 FIP. His 27.7% strikeout rate, while strong, wasn’t much different than it had been in prior seasons. Holland’s turnaround was more a reflection of a significant improvement in his strike-throwing. After walking over 15% of opposing hitters in each of the prior two seasons, the veteran sliced his walk rate to 6.3% in his return trip to Kansas City.

Always known for his slider, Holland leaned on the breaking stuff more than ever last season. Cutting his fastball rate from nearly half to less than two-fifths of his offerings, per Brooks Baseball, Holland generated whiffs on 13.1% of his pitches despite pedestrian velocity. Using the heater less often corresponded with an improvement in the pitch’s effectiveness. Presumably, that reflects opposing hitters’ expectations of seeing a breaking ball.

Even though the Royals weren’t contenders, Holland stayed in Kansas City past this year’s August 31 trade deadline. He’ll now return for another season at the back end of an intriguing bullpen. Kyle Zimmer, Josh Staumont, Jesse Hahn and Scott Barlow all join Holland in coming off strong seasons, making the relief corps a high-upside area of the roster for manager Mike Matheny.

This continues an active early portion of the offseason for Royals GM Dayton Moore and the front office. Moore suggested last month he expects the club to be competitive next season. Kansas City has since brought back Holland and added Carlos Santana and Mike Minor. The Royals still seem like something of a longshot to stick with the Twins, White Sox and Indians over a full season, but they’re markedly improved over the 2018-19 teams that each lost over 100 games.

Dayton Moore Expects Royals To Be Competitive In 2021

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The Kansas City Royals last made the playoffs in 2015. That was a good year. Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez, and a transcendent bullpen won the AL pennant for the second consecutive season, and they finished it off with World Series victory.

That team is the most recent Royals squad to post a winning record. They went 81-81 in 2016, 80-82 in 2017, and then the bottom fell out. They lost 100+ games in each of the next two seasons before posting a 26-34 record in this year’s shortened season. That’s a 70-win pace for a full season, definitely an improvement over back-to-back season in which they failed to crack 60 wins.

Manager Mike Matheny will need to coax a more substantial improvement from his squad if they want to compete in 2021. That’s indeed the plan, however. General Manager Dayton Moore spoke with reporters during a Zoom call today, and he made no bones about his expectations for the Royals in 2021. Moore said, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star:

“We expect to win next year. What does that look like? Is it going to be enough wins to make the playoffs? We’ll find out. Our mindset is going to be to win every single pitch, every inning, win every game. That’s the only way that we’re ever going to win another championship, you’ve got to expect to win at all aspects.”

Don’t expect the Royals to be major players in free agency, however. The small market club figures to be judicious in adding from the open market. The primary pieces of the next Royals contender are going to be developed in-house, as has been the Royals preference. They’ve long believed in their current crop of players, even as the team as a whole has struggled. Interestingly, Moore did say that he doesn’t see finances getting in the way of improving the team, should the right opportunity come along.

The Royals plan to pursue their own free agents before expanding to the open market, which would be very “Royals” of them, though returning any of Greg Holland, Ian Kennedy, Mike Montgomery, or even Trevor Rosenthal could help boost a bullpen that needs some work. The Royals have incrementally added young arms like Brad Keller, Kris Bubic, and Brady Singer to veteran Danny Duffy in the rotation. The bullpen remains a work in progress. They did, however, put forth a 3.84 ERA in 2020, a mark that ranked 8th in the majors. Losing Holland would create an opening, with first looks presumably going to Josh Staumont, Kyle Zimmer, Jesse Hahn, and Scott Barlow. That quartet present some intriguing options with which to move forward into 2021.

Otherwise, the Royals will continue to try to develop and build from within. Bobby Witt Jr., Khalil Lee, and Kyle Isbel received high praise from Moore as prospects that could turn into significant pieces. Witt was the #2 overall pick of the 2019 draft, and he has yet to play a full season in the minors.

Royals Interested In Re-Signing Greg Holland

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Unsurprisingly, the Royals have interest in re-signing free-agent reliever Greg Holland, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Holland was a highly accomplished part of the Royals’ bullpen from 2010-15, during which he made two All-Star appearances. However, the Tommy John surgery Holland underwent in the last of those seasons prevented him from partaking in the Royals’ run to a championship and cost him the entire 2016 campaign. Holland had a nice rebound effort with the Rockies in 2017, but his career largely went off the rails from 2018-19, which he divided among the Cardinals, Nationals and Diamondbacks.

To his credit, after settling for a minor league contract in a return to the Royals last winter, Holland emerged as one of the game’s best bounce-back stories in 2020. The 34-year-old ended the season with a sterling 1.91 ERA/2.52 FIP and went a perfect 6-for-6 in save opportunities over 28 1/3 innings, also posting 9.85 K/9 and a 51.4 percent groundball rate. While walks were a serious issue for Holland in the wake of his TJ procedure, he only issued 2.22 free passes per nine this past season, further leading to hope that he’s just about all the way back at this point.

With the offseason now underway, Holland should quickly go from someone who couldn’t land a guaranteed deal last winter to a sought-after commodity. He’s not in the Liam Hendriks/Trevor May/Trevor Rosenthal class of free-agent relievers in terms of potential earning power, but Holland should do pretty well for himself on a one- or two-year deal in the coming months.

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