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Tender Deadline Signings: 11/30/21

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With the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming tonight at 8pm ET — the MLBPA and MLB jointly agreed to move the deadline up a couple days due to the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement — we’ll likely see a slew of arbitration-eligible players signing one-year deals.

It’s commonplace for a large batch of players to sign deals in the hours leading up to the tender deadline. “Pre-tender” deals of this nature often fall shy of projections due to the fact that teams use the looming threat of a non-tender to enhance their leverage. Arbitration contracts at this juncture are often take-it-or-leave-it propositions, with the “leave it” end of that arrangement resulting in the player being cut loose. Given the widely expected lockout, there could be more incentive than usual for borderline non-tender candidates to take those offers rather than being cast out into free agency just hours before a transaction freeze is implemented.

As a reminder, arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed. In a typical year, a team can cut a player on an arb contract at any point before the halfway point in Spring Training and only be responsible for 30 days’ termination pay (about one-sixth of the contract). Releasing a player in the second half of Spring Training bumps the termination pay to 45 days of his prorated salary.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for each team’s arbitration-eligible players last month, although for many of the players listed below, this isn’t so much avoiding arbitration as it is avoiding a non-tender. Here’s a look at today’s agreements…

  • The Yankees have agreed to deals with infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Domingo German, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links). Urshela will make $6.55MM, while German has agreed to a $1.75MM deal. Urshela has two seasons of control remaining; German is controllable for three years. Urshela is coming off a .267/.301/.419 showing while playing third base and shortstop. German tossed 98 1/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.
  • The Twins have signed three arbitration-eligible pitchers, per reports from Feinsand and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). Right-hander Jharel Cotton signed for $700K, reliever Caleb Thielbar lands $1.3MM and reliever Tyler Duffey signs for $3.8MM. Thielbar and Duffey were both productive members of the Minnesota relief corps in 2021. Cotton was recently claimed off waivers from the Rangers.
  • The Giants have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Slater on a $1.85MM deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old (29 next month) appeared at all three spots on the grass while hitting .241/.320/.423 over 306 plate appearances in 2021.
  • Reliever Emilio Pagan and the Padres have agreed on a $2.3MM deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 30-year-old worked 63 1/3 innings of 4.83 ERA/3.93 SIERA ball this past season.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $2MM deal with left-hander Caleb Smith, reports Zach Buchanan of the Athletic (via Twitter). The 30-year-old posted a 4.83 ERA/4.68 SIERA across 113 2/3 innings in a swing capacity in 2021.

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Brewers Place Christian Yelich, Jace Peterson On COVID List

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The Brewers have placed Christian Yelich and Jace Peterson on the COVID-related injury list, president of baseball operations David Stearns told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links).  Yelich has tested positive for COVID-19 while Peterson is on the list due to contact tracing.  Stearns noted that Yelich had already been fully vaccinated and is exhibiting mild symptoms, though the outfielder is expected to be back after the mandatory 10-day quarantine period.

To fill the two open roster spots, Lorenzo Cain is being activated off the 10-day injured list and Pablo Reyes was called up from Triple-A.  Cain was expected to return from the IL today, following an absence of almost two months while recovering from a hamstring strain.

The most important news is that Yelich is feeling relatively good following his positive test, though the former NL MVP will now be sidelined for the third time this season.  Yelich had two earlier IL placements due to back problems, costing him close to five weeks’ worth of action.  This nagging back issue has bothered Yelich for a few years, contributing to his below-average performance since the start of the 2020 season.  After his last 522 plate appearances, Yelich has hit .221/.370/.397 — a far cry from his .327/.415/.631 slash line over 1231 PA in 2018-19.

The Brewers are known to be looking for hitting help prior to the trade deadline, and losing Yelich will only add to the team’s search.  Peterson has also been a good addition to the roster over 50 games 161 PA this season, hitting .244/.373/.397 (good for a 109 OPS+ and 113 wRC+) after signing a minor league deal with Milwaukee this past winter.

It isn’t known what Cain will be able to provide after his second IL trip of the season, and the veteran has mostly been an offensive non-factor since the start of the 2019 season.  Cain has hit only .256/.327/.369 over his last 762 PA, as he has been hampered by multiple injuries and also elected to sit out much of the 2020 season.

Brewers Select Jace Peterson

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The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson from Triple-A Nashville. He’ll take the roster spot of infielder Keston Hiura, whom the Brewers optioned on Monday.

The 31-year-old Peterson was with the Brewers earlier in the season, but they designated him for assignment on May 24. That came in spite of a productive year-plus offensive showing for Peterson, who has batted .203/.371/.391 (114 wRC+) with four home runs in 89 plate appearances as a Brewer since 2020. But Peterson hasn’t typically been that effective in the majors, evidenced by his lifetime .227/.317/.333 mark across 1,721 trips to the plate with a few teams. Regardless of how he hits, though, Peterson has shown that he’s versatile enough as a defender to line up all over the diamond.

Brewers Outright Josh Lindblom

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MAY 28: As expected, Lindblom has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Nashville. He has indeed accepted that assignment, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

MAY 26, 5:19pm: The Brewers expect Lindblom to accept a minor league assignment and remain with the organization, according to president of baseball operations David Stearns (via Sophia Minnaert of Baily Sports Wisconsin).

MAY 26, 3:32pm: The Brewers announced that they have designated right-hander Josh Lindblom for assignment, recalled lefty Eric Lauer and outrighted infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson to Triple-A Nashville.

Lindblom spent time with a few major league teams from 2011-17, during which he posted up-and-down production, and he then left for the Korea Baseball Organization. The decision couldn’t have gone better for Lindblom, who thrived as a member of the Lotte Giants and Doosan Bears from 2018-19. Lindblom started 56 games during that stretch and recorded sub-3.00 ERAs in both seasons, also totaling 363 1/3 innings. He also earned the Choi Dong-Won Award — the top pitching award in the KBO – in each campaign, and took home MVP honors in 2019.

Convinced Lindblom’s high spin rate and KBO success would transfer to the bigs, the Brewers signed him to a three-year, $9.125MM pact prior to 2020. But the move didn’t go as planned for Milwaukee, as Lindblom has struggled to a 6.39 ERA with a 25.0 percent strikeout rate and a 9.4 percent walk rate over 20 appearances (10 starts) and 62 frames since returning stateside. As a result, the Brewers are willing to eat a fairly significant chunk of money – around $4.6MM, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com notes – in order to cut ties with Lindblom. They’ll have a week to trade, release or outright him.

Peterson – who has been with the Brewers since 2019 – has been an on-base threat with the club, albeit over a small sample of work. The 31-year-old has collected 89 plate appearances (28 this year) with Milwaukee and batted .203/.371/.391 with four home runs.

Brewers Recall Keston Hiura

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2:20PM: Hiura has been officially called up, with the Brewers announcing that right-hander Alec Bettinger was optioned to Triple-A.  In addition, Jace Peterson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and then designated for assignment.

10:19AM: The Brewers are returning infielder Keston Hiura to the big league club, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter). The Brewers have not yet announced the move, nor do we know the corresponding roster move at this time.

Hiura had one of the more disappointing starts to the season, slashing just .152/.247/.266 in 89 plate appearances before his demotion. The 24-year-old seems to have figured something out in Triple-A, however. In nine games with the Nashville Sounds, Hiura mashed to the tune of .438/.526/.906 with three home runs in 38 plate appearances. Obviously, that doesn’t guarantee that Hiura has fixed whatever ails him, but it’s a step in the right direction.

With the recent Willy Adames trade, the Brewers now feature a full infield. Adames, Kolten Wong, Daniel Vogelbach, Luis Urias, Travis Shaw, and Daniel Robertson are all in the mix for infield reps. With Hiura, that’s seven players for four positions. Hiura also makes 14 position players, which is almost certainly one more than the team is willing to carry at a time, so somebody will be on the move. Urias and outfielder Tyrone Taylor are the only two players with options remaining.

Brewers Place Kolten Wong On 10-Day IL

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2:10PM: Wong’s injury may be “on the minor side,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).  A firmer timeline will be established after Wong undergoes more treatment, but the team is hopeful he won’t be out of action for much beyond the 10-day minimum.

10:28AM: The Brewers have officially announced the moves, placing Wong on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain.  Peterson’s minor league contract was selected, and to create a 40-man roster spot, righty Bobby Wahl was moved to the 60-day injured list.

10:03AM: The Brewers are placing second baseman Kolten Wong on the 10-day injured list due to an oblique injury, FanSided’s Robert Murray writes.  Utilityman Jace Peterson will be called up to take Wong’s spot on the active roster.

An IL stint seemed likely for Wong considering that he missed Wednesday’s game and then was forced into an early exit from Thursday’s game due to the same oblique problem.  No timetable is yet known for Wong’s return, as oblique injuries can sometimes require several weeks of recovery time based on the severity of the issue.

Even a shorter-term absence is an unfortunate outcome for both Wong and the Brewers, as the former Gold Glover just joined the team on a two-year, $18MM free agent contract during the offseason.  Wong’s injury also emerged just two days after Milwaukee traded shortstop Orlando Arcia to the Braves, so the Brewers are now even more short-handed in the infield.

The left-handed hitting Peterson and the right-handed hitting Daniel Robertson could form a second base platoon while Wong is out of action, with Travis Shaw and Luis Urias remaining as the everyday options at third base and shortstop, respectively.  Keston Hiura could also see some time at his old second base position, if the Brewers wanted to move him away from first base and give Daniel Vogelbach some playing time.  Dee Strange-Gordon just recently signed to a minor league deal for additional depth (perhaps essentially as Arcia’s replacement) and could see some time with the big league team in relatively short order depending on how the Brewers juggle the roster.

Brewers, Jace Peterson Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers are in agreement with utilityman Jace Peterson on a minor league contract, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (via Twitter). The team has since announced the signing. Peterson, an ISE Baseball client, will be invited to Major League Spring Training.

Peterson, 30, spent the 2020 season with the Brewers organization as well, appearing in 26 games and tallying 61 plate appearances. He went just 9-for-45 in that time but also drew a whopping 15 walks and slugged a couple of home runs, resulting in a .200/.393/.356 batting line. Peterson saw time at second base, third base, first base and in both outfield corners with Milwaukee but was non-tendered earlier this winter.

The Brewers were Peterson’s fifth organization, and he’ll have the opportunity to earn a bench role with them once again in 2021. He becomes the second utility option added by Milwaukee in as many days after yesterday’s signing of Daniel Robertson to a non-guaranteed, Major League contract. Peterson is a career .227/.317/.331 hitter in just shy of 1700 plate appearances split between the Braves, Orioles, Padres, Yankees and Brewers.

Brewers Non-Tender Ben Gamel, Alex Claudio, Jace Peterson

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8:06pm: Reports of Knebel being non-tendered proved premature, as he’s been traded to the Dodgers, per announcements from both teams. (More on that transaction here.)

8:05pm: The Brewers have also non-tendered outfielder Ben Gamel, lefty Alex Claudio and utilityman Jace Peterson, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.

The 28-year-old Gamel hit .237/.315/.404 while playing outfield spots in 2020, but the Brewers opted not to give him a raise on last year’s $1.4MM salary. It was a rough day for corner outfielders across the board, with several notable names hitting the market.

Claudio, 29 in January, posted serviceable results in 19 innings but saw his elite ground-ball rate trend more toward league-average levels this past season. Peterson’s non-tender isn’t particularly surprising given his status as a journeyman utility piece who has been on four teams in the past four seasons.

7:16pm: The Brewers have non-tendered right-handed reliever Corey Knebel, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. He had been projected to earn more than $5MM in arbitration.

Now 29 years old, Knebel was one of the majors’ most dominant relievers for a short time. At his best, Knebel threw 76 innings of 1.78 ERA/2.53 FIP ball with 14.92 K/9 and 4.74 BB/9 en route to his lone All-Star nod in 2017. Knebel was again highly effective the next season, but he underwent Tommy John surgery before 2019 and wasn’t able to return to form this past season.

During his comeback with the Brewers, Knebel could only muster a 6.08 ERA/6.64 FIP with 10.13 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9 across 13 1/3 frames. Knebel also saw his average fastball drop from around 97 mph in his peak to 94.4 in 2020. That said, he should still draw a fair amount of interest as a buy-low, bounce-back candidate in free agency.

Brewers Designate Brock Holt For Assignment

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The Milwaukee Brewers designated Brock Holt for assignment and selected Jace Peterson from their alternate site, the team announced.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise, given that Holt signed this past offseason and the Brewers have a club option for a second year. That said, the long-time Red Sox utility man had gotten off to a horrendous start. Through 36 plate appearances, Holt was hitting just .100/.222/.100 with 9 strikeouts and without an extra-base hit. The career .269/.338/.370 hitter obviously can do better, but in a shortened season, the Brewers clearly decide they did not have time to wait for a turnaround.

Holt signed for a $3.25MM guarantee after spending the past seven seasons with the Red Sox. The expectation was that Holt would fill in around the infield, but the Brewers aren’t short on other options – Peterson included – and Holt simply wasn’t hitting.

Peterson, 30, stands to replace Holt both on the roster and in his role. Capable of playing just about anywhere on the diamond, Peterson has bounced around, but appeared in the majors every season since 2014. The Brewers will be his fifth team, after the Padres, Braves, Orioles, and Yankees.

Brewers Sign Jace Peterson

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The Brewers have inked utilityman Jace Peterson to a minors deal, per a club announcement. The contract includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training.

Peterson has never quite made good on his promise, but has still appeared in each of the past six MLB campaigns and appeared in over five hundred big league contests. He’s a .228/.314/.330 hitter at the game’s highest level.

Now 29 years of age, Peterson is in all likelihood slated to provide depth for the Milwaukee organization. But he could yet end up in an important role should a need arise — or should he prove up to the task. He did show a spark last year at Triple-A, even against the offensively elevated International League standard, by turning in 377 plate appearances of .313/.398/.512 hitting.

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