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Ian Kennedy

Rangers, Ian Kennedy Agree To Deal

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The Rangers are re-signing Ian Kennedy, the veteran reliever announced on Instagram this afternoon. Presumably, it’ll be a minor league deal for the Boras Corporation client.

Kennedy spent the first half of the 2021 season in Arlington. Those months were among the best of his past four seasons as a full-time reliever. After cracking the MLB roster following an offseason minors deal, Kennedy quickly pitched his way into the closer’s role. He saved 16 games through 32 appearances while posting a 2.51 ERA over 32 1/3 frames. At that summer’s deadline, the then-rebuilding Texas club packaged Kennedy with veteran starter Kyle Gibson to Philadelphia for righty Spencer Howard.

The 16-year MLB veteran fanned almost 27% of opponents with the Phils but surrendered a staggering seven homers in 24 innings. In spite of the poor finish, Kennedy landed a $4.75MM guarantee from the Diamondbacks last winter. He made 57 appearances during his second stint in the desert but struggled. Kennedy managed only a 5.36 ERA over 50 1/3 innings. He continued to battle the longball, allowing nearly two home runs per nine innings, while his strikeout percentage plummeted to a 19% clip. At season’s end, the D-Backs made the fairly easy call to buy out a mutual option on his services for 2023.

Kennedy carries a 4.30 ERA in 190 appearances since making his bullpen conversion during the 2019 campaign. He’s shown the ability to miss bats at an above-average rate while throwing a decent number of strikes at his best. The 38-year-old will look to recapture some of his early-2021 success in a second crack as a Ranger.

Diamondbacks Decline Ian Kennedy’s Mutual Option

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The Diamondbacks have declined their end of a mutual option for reliever Ian Kennedy’s 2023 services, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The D-Backs will pay him the $250K buyout instead of a $4MM salary.

There wasn’t much intrigue with this decision. Signed to a one-year, $4.75MM guarantee last offseason, Kennedy had a rough go in his second stint in the desert. Manager Torey Lovullo called the right-hander out of his bullpen on 57 occasions, but he only mustered a 5.36 ERA through 50 1/3 innings. Kennedy posted a below-average 19% strikeout rate and was extremely fly ball prone, contributing to his allowing nearly two home runs per nine innings.

Now headed into his age-38 season, Kennedy could be looking at minor league offers this winter. He’s had some prior success both as a starter and as a full-time reliever late in his career, including a 3.20 ERA between the Rangers and Phillies in 2021. However, on the heels of a uniformly disappointing campaign, the 16-year MLB veteran may need to work his way back to the highest level.

Arizona figures to dip into the free agent and/or trade markets for bullpen help this offseason. Protecting leads late in games has been a problem for the Snakes for a while, and general manager Mike Hazen has already spoken of a desire to some add some power arms to the unit.

Diamondbacks Designate Dallas Keuchel, Reinstate Ian Kennedy

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July 21: The Diamondbacks have announced their slate of roster moves, with Keuchel being designated for assignment. His active roster spot will go to right-hander Ian Kennedy, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. With the open spot on the 40-man roster, righty J.B. Bukauskas has been reinstated from the 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A.

July 20: The Diamondbacks have designated veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel for assignment, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The team has not yet formally announced the move.

It’s the second DFA of the season for Keuchel, who was cut loose by the White Sox earlier this year while playing out the third and final season of a three-year, $55.5MM contract. The former AL Cy Young winner posted a pristine 1.99 ERA in 11 starts with the ChiSox during the shortened 2020 season but logged a lackluster 5.28 ERA in 30 starts a year ago before taking another step back in 2022.

Keuchel was rocked for a 7.88 ERA with the Sox, tallying just 32 innings despite making eight starts. The D-backs brought him in on a minor league deal after he cleared waivers and became a free agent, hoping that a reunion with former Astros pitching coach Brent Strom — now the pitching coach in Arizona — might help Keuchel tap into some of his prior success. That, however, hasn’t proven to be the case. Keuchel somewhat remarkably struggled even more with the Snakes, yielding 22 runs (20 earned) in just 18 2/3 frames before today’s DFA.

To Keuchel’s credit, he did post markedly improved strikeout and walk rates in Arizona. After posting identical 12.2% strikeout and walk rates in Chicago — both among the worst marks in the league for starters — he turned in a 20.2% strikeout rate against a 7.9% walk rate with the D-backs. The strikeout rate is still below average, but that walk rate is solid, and Keuchel can still induce grounders at an above-average rate (albeit nowhere near his peak rate when he was perennially among the league leaders).

Whether that’s enough for another club to take a look remains to be seen. Keuchel will be placed on waivers within the week and will surely clear a second time and again become a free agent. He’ll likely settle for a minor league deal wherever he lands next.

Diamondbacks Place Ian Kennedy On 15-Day IL

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The Diamondbacks placed right-hander Ian Kennedy on the 15-day injured list due to right calf inflammation.  The club also announced that Keynan Middleton was called up from Triple-A Reno to take Kennedy’s place on the active roster.

Kennedy had to make a quick departure from Sunday’s game due to the injury, and was scheduled to undergo an MRI today.  While the specifics of that MRI result aren’t known, things were obviously serious enough for the D’Backs to put Kennedy on the injured list.

A timetable isn’t yet known about when Kennedy could return, though even if he is able to get back on the mound after the 15-day minimum, he won’t have much time to audition for possible trade suitors.  The 35-44 Diamondbacks are looking like sellers at the August 2 trade deadline, and Kennedy (signed to a one-year, $4.75MM deal in March) is a logical candidate to be moved as a rental player.

Since becoming a full-time reliever prior to the 2019 season, Kennedy has sandwiched two solid years around an injury-plagued 2020 campaign.  This year in Arizona, the 37-year-old has a 3.58 ERA over 27 2/3 innings, but with plenty of unfavorable Statcast metrics.  The righty’s 10.4% walk rate is his highest since 2009, and his 20% strikeout rate is well below the league average.

Kennedy’s trade value could be a moot point if his injury continues to linger throughout July.  However, given his track record, there is a chance a team could look past both his health issues and his poor advanced metrics and swing a deal with the D’Backs, even if Arizona might end up still eating the bulk of Kennedy’s remaining salary.

Diamondbacks Sign Ian Kennedy

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TODAY: The D’Backs officially announced the signing, also including the detail that Kennedy’s contract includes a mutual option for the 2023 season.

MARCH 13: The Diamondbacks are in agreement on a one-year deal with reliever Ian Kennedy, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.  According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the deal is worth $4.75MM plus $2.35MM in incentives.  Kennedy, 37, returns to the place of his initial big league success, as he had a strong three-plus-year run as a member of Arizona’s rotation from 2010-13.  The righty is represented by the Boras Corporation.

Kennedy signed a five-year, $70MM free agent deal with the Royals back in January of 2016.  Kennedy scuffled in the second and third years of that deal, missing a large chunk of the second half of 2018 with an oblique injury.  By 2019, the Royals felt they’d get more value out of Kennedy in a relief role.  That proved correct, as he served as the team’s closer that year and saved 30 games with a 3.41 ERA.

Kennedy failed to get on track in the shortened 2020 season, suffering from a calf strain and generally working in the middle innings.  In February of last year, Kennedy wound up with the Rangers on a minor league deal.  He made the team and generally worked as the Rangers’ closer until he was traded to the Phillies along with Kyle Gibson.  On the season Kennedy worked to a 3.20 ERA, 27.2 K%, 7.5 BB%, and 23.3 groundball rate in 56 1/3 innings.  It was the lowest groundball rate of his 15-year career, so the resulting 12 home runs allowed were no surprise.  Statcast doesn’t speak highly of Kennedy’s work in 2021.

Kennedy will not likely be asked to close by D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo, as the team inked longtime stopper Mark Melancon to a two-year, $14MM deal prior to the lockout.  Though Arizona tied the Orioles for the worst record in baseball in 2021, GM Mike Hazen isn’t looking to launch a rebuild.  Third base remains an area of need, though Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that the Diamondbacks were “among the teams showing the most interest in [Michael] Conforto before the lockout.”

Kennedy was one of seven relievers to reach or near an agreement on a big league deal today, along with Jesse Chavez, Matt Strahm, Jake Diekman, Adam Ottavino, Nick Wittgren, and Brad Boxberger.  Click here to see which relievers are still available.

Phillies Acquire Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy For Package Including Spencer Howard

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The Phillies struck a deadline deal to add a pair of quality arms — one each for the rotation and the bullpen. Philadelphia acquired starter Kyle Gibson and reliever Ian Kennedy from the Rangers, along with pitching prospect Hans Crouse. In return, the Phils are sending three players, including young righty Spencer Howard. Texas also added pitching prospects Kevin Gowdy and Josh Gessner.

After Max Scherzer and José Berríos were dealt, Gibson was perhaps the top remaining starter on the market. The Phils were known to be targeting pitching help, and they struck big with a package deal to address the middle of the rotation and the back end of the bullpen.

Gibson signed a three-year, $28MM deal with Texas over the 2019-20 offseason. It started inauspiciously, as he tossed 67 1/3 innings of 5.35 ERA ball during last year’s shortened season. However, the veteran righty flipped the script this season. After a rough Opening Day, Gibson got on a roll and eventually pitched his way to his first career All-Star selection with a fantastic first half. He’s hit a rough patch recently, but his overall line remains impressive.

The 33-year-old has worked 113 innings across 19 starts, pitching to a 2.87 ERA/4.46 SIERA. His run prevention numbers have been aided by opponents’ .267 batting average on balls in play and an elevated 79.7% strand rate. That said, Gibson has a long track record of inducing grounders, and he’s continued to do so this season. He’s a generally durable hurler who throws strikes at a decent rate and has had success limiting damaging contact.

Gibson’s not the top-of-the-rotation starter his ERA and All-Star nod might suggest at first glance. But he’s a dependable arm who can be counted on to log average or slightly better production. That’s an upgrade over the inconsistency that has plagued the back of the Philly rotations for the past few years.

Speaking of longstanding troubles in Philadelphia, the bullpen has again been a problem for the Phils. They’ll try to shore that up with Kennedy, who has made good on an offseason minor league deal. The veteran righty gave the Rangers 32 1/3 innings of 2.51 ERA ball, striking out a strong 27.8% of opposing hitters against a 5.6% walk rate. The deal turned out exactly as the rebuilding club had hoped, with Kennedy performing well enough to be flipped midseason to a contender.

Gibson is playing out the season on a $10MM salary (about $3.5MM of which remains to be paid out). He’s controllable affordably for 2022 at $7MM as part of a backloaded arrangement. Kennedy, meanwhile, locked in a $2.15MM base salary when he made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster and is due about $750K for the stretch run before hitting free agency at the end of the year.

The Rangers are reportedly including around $4MM in salary, which was critical for the Phillies as they looked to stay below the $210MM luxury tax threshold. Philadelphia’s luxury mark sits at around $204MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource, so the front office successfully stayed below the figure in pulling off their big midseason additions.

Doing so will require parting ways with Howard, who has long been one of the organization’s (and league’s) top pitching prospects. Baseball America ranked the righty among MLB’s top thirty prospects entering both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He’s bounced on and off the big league roster over the past couple years, tossing 52 2/3 innings of 5.81 ERA/4.81 SIERA ball.

Clearly, Howard has yet to find consistent major league success. But the 24-year-old is a well-regarded stating pitching prospect with a strong minor league track record. He’s performed very well over six starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season and is a quality young arm around whom the Rangers can build as they continue their organizational retooling effort. Howard is controllable through at least the 2026 season, and future optional assignments could push back that trajectory.

Texas also adds a pair of pitchers who haven’t yet gotten to the big leagues. Gowdy is a former second-round draft choice, but the righty has yet to get out of the low minors. The 23-year-old has performed fairly well in High-A, though, tossing 61 innings of 4.43 ERA ball with strong strikeout and walk numbers (24.0% and 5.7%, respectively). Gessner, a former international signee out of Australia, has yet to advance beyond the complex level.

In a final twist, the Phillies add a prospect of their own. Crouse was a 2017 second-round draftee, and he’s spent the season in Double-A. The righty has tossed 51 innings with a 3.35 ERA at that level, punching out 27.7% of batters faced while walking 9.7% of opponents. Eric Logenhagen of FanGraphs wrote over the winter that Crouse’s injury history and atypical mechanics seem likely to push him to the bullpen, but noted that his repertoire depth could be good enough to give him a chance to stick as a starter. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster this winter or exposed to the Rule 5 draft.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Phillies were acquiring Gibson and Kennedy. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report that Howard was included as part of the deal. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported Gowdy’s and Gessner’s inclusions. Jeff Wilson reported the Rangers were including a prospect, whom Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported to be Crouse. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reported the Rangers were including approximately $4MM in cash considerations.

Kyle Gibson Rumors: Deadline Day

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Rangers right-hander Kyle Gibson is enjoying a career year, reaching his first All-Star Game and posting a 2.87 ERA and 50.8% grounder rate over 113 innings.  There are some red flags (a 4.46 SIERA and a below-average 20.4% strikeout rate), but for a veteran arm controlled through 2022 on an $8MM salary, Gibson has been drawing a lot of attention.  Here is the latest on Gibson as the deadline approaches…

Latest Updates

Earlier Today

  • The Rays may be the leaders to acquire Gibson, The Athletic’s Levi Weaver tweets.  Tampa Bay was initially linked to Gibson a few days ago, as the team has continued to overhaul its starting and relief pitching mix.
  • The Phillies are a new team in the Gibson sweepstakes, as MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports that Philadelphia is “making a hard push” for Gibson’s services.  The Phils are known to be looking for help at the back end of their rotation, behind their top trio of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and the currently-injured Zach Eflin.
  • The Padres were also rumored to have interest in Gibson earlier this week, and they have “maintained” that interest heading into this afternoon, according to The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.  Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda is another name on San Diego’s radar, but the “price tag has been too high for the Padres’ liking,” which could indicate that the club is perhaps now turning more towards Gibson or other rotation options.

Dodgers Considering Ian Kennedy

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The Dodgers are interested in acquiring Ian Kennedy, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

This isn’t terribly surprising news, as every contending team is always interested in improving their pitching arsenal as the trade deadline approaches. What is surprising is that the Dodgers find themselves three games behind the Giants in the NL West, a team that few picked as division favorites at the start of the season. And that divisional alignment is at least somewhat attributable to the fact that the Dodgers have lost to the Giants by blowing ninth-inning leads the past two nights.

Overall, the bullpen hasn’t been a glaring weakness for the club this year. The Dodgers’ relievers, as a whole, have an ERA of 3.73, the 10th best in the Majors. But they’ve also taken some hits lately, with Jimmy Nelson and Scott Alexander heading to the Injured List. David Price has also had to move from the bullpen to the rotation, in order to cover for the recent injury to Clayton Kershaw.

For Kennedy, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that he will be changing jerseys in the coming week. He is a free agent at year’s end and is currently playing for a Rangers team that is 35-62, behind every team in the American League except the Orioles. Thus far, he’s pitched 31 1/3 innings for Texas, accumulating 15 saves with an ERA of 2.59. Advanced metrics are somewhat skeptical, with xERA, FIP and xFIP pegging him at 3.40, 3.80 and 3.88, respectively. But he has excellent strikeout and walk rates of 26.8% and 5.7%.

Kenley Jansen has been the Dodgers closer for a decade now, and will probably continue in that role. But there are reasons for pessimism in his profile this year. Despite 21 saves, an ERA of 3.05 and a strikeout rate of 27.2%, Jansen has a ghastly walk rate of 16%, more than double his career rate. That’s probably why some advanced metrics think his ERA is a mirage, with xFIP placing him at 4.79 and SIERA at 4.56.

It’s possible this is just small sample noise, since we’re only talking about 38 1/3 innings and Jansen’s Statcast profile still looks quite healthy. But since Jansen is in the last year of his contract and will be 34 years old by season’s end, the Dodgers don’t have to be invested in Jansen for the long term and could certainly pivot to an alternative such as Kennedy if they felt they had to.

On the money side, Kennedy’s is playing on a salary of $2.15MM this year, leaving less than a million still to be paid out. The Dodgers don’t have to worry about tiptoeing under the luxury tax, since they’ve already blown past the top threshold of $250MM. (Roster Resource currently has their luxury tax calculation at $262MM.) But that means that they’re paying a whopping 62.5% tax on any additional salary they take on, which could make a modest contract like Kennedy’s more appealing than a costlier addition such as Craig Kimbrel, who is still owed over $6MM of his $16MM salary this year.

Rangers Activate Ian Kennedy From Injured List

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The Rangers announced they’ve activated reliever Ian Kennedy from the injured list in advance of tonight’s game against the Astros. Lefty Hyeon-jong Yang was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to create active roster space.

Kennedy was placed on the IL last week with a mild hamstring strain, but he’s back after a minimal absence. He’ll presumably return to his ninth-inning role in Arlington, where he’s found plenty of success. The veteran righty has made 21 appearances and tossed 21 1/3 innings of 2.53 ERA/3.25 SIERA ball this season. Kennedy, who was forced to settle for a minor league deal over the winter after a terrible 2020 season in Kansas City, has seen significant jumps in his strikeout and swinging rates (to a strong 29.8% and 13.2%, respectively). Equally importantly, he’s held opponents to just two home runs after coughing up seven long balls in 14 innings last year.

That seems to have been driven by much grater reliance on his high-spin four-seam fastball, which he’s thrown 82% of the time in 2021, with fantastic results. Kennedy’s benefitting from an elevated strand rate (84.2%) and fairly low HR/FB rate (8.3%), so he’s unlikely to sustain quite this level of run prevention, but he’s made meaningful improvements that should allow him to continue to perform as a solid high-leverage relief option down the stretch.

Kennedy’s strong season makes him one of the likeliest players in baseball to change teams over the next six weeks. The Rangers didn’t expect to compete this year, and they’ve unsurprisingly posted the second-worst record in the American League. With Kennedy hitting free agency at the end of the season, there’s little reason for Texas not to move him to a contender in exchange for younger talent before the July 30 trade deadline.

Rangers Place Ian Kennedy On Injured List, Select Spencer Patton

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The Rangers announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Ian Kennedy on the 10-day injured list due to a “mild” hamstring strain and selected the contract of right-hander Spencer Patton from Triple-A Round Rock in his place. Texas already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so an additional corresponding move is not necessary. Patton will be in the club’s bullpen for today’s game.

Kennedy, 36, has proven to be one of the best minor league signings in all of baseball this season. He inked a non-guaranteed pact with an invite to Spring Training and parlayed a strong showing there into a $2.15MM base salary. He’s not only justified that modest investment, he’s thrived as one of the game’s more effective late-inning relievers. Kennedy has pitched 21 1/3 innings and racked up 12 saves to go along with a 2.53 ERA, a hefty 29.8 percent strikeout rate and a tidy 8.3 percent walk rate.

That standout performance, coupled with a generally poor performance from the team as a whole, makes Kennedy one of the most obvious trade candidates on this summer’s market. Texas has dropped nine of its past ten games, falling to 16 games south of the .500 mark and 13 games back of the division-leading Athletics. As such, it’s good news for the Rangers that Kennedy is dealing with only a “mild” strain. While a timeline for his return wasn’t provided, the mild nature of the injury should allow him to return long before the July 30 trade deadline.

As for Patton, today’s promotion will mark the culmination of a nearly five-year journey back to the big leagues. A 24th-round pick of the Royals back in 2011, Patton made his MLB debut as a Ranger in 2014 and spent parts of the next three seasons as an up-and-down member of the bullpen for both the Rangers and Cubs.

From there, Patton went on to spend four seasons pitching with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The righty was one of NPB’s best relievers in 2017-18 before struggling, in part due to injury, in 2019-20. Even with the downturn in his final two years in Japan, however, Patton’s overall NPB track record was strong: 205 2/3 innings of 3.68 ERA ball with a 27.4 percent strikeout rate against a 9.5 percent walk rate.

Patton returned to the Rangers on a minor league deal of his own this winter, and he’s fired off 12 scoreless innings to begin his season in Round Rock. He’s walked six hitters, which clearly isn’t ideal, but has also yielded only six hits and whiffed a dozen of the 45 batters he’s faced. He’ll now get the chance to prove that the gains he appeared to make in NPB are sustainable here at the game’s top level in North America. Patton turned 33 back in February, so if he is indeed able to replicate his NPB success here in MLB, he could have several years remaining as a productive, late-inning reliever — be it with the Rangers or with another club.

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