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Jim Adduci

Cubs Notes: Bryant, Lester, Adduci

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A few items centering on the Cubs…

  • Third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant has frequently come up as a trade candidate this offseason, but president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Thursday that there is “absolutely” a way he’ll return to the team next year, per Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. “I don’t think it should be treated as a fait accompli that [a trade is] going to happen,” added Hoyer, who expects Bryant to bounce back to his usual form after a 2020 season in which his production fell flat. The Cubs would be selling low on Bryant in a deal as a result of his adverse year, and his projected $18.6MM arbitration salary for 2021 (his final season of team control) doesn’t do his trade value any favors.
  • The Cubs have not had “substantive conversations” regarding a new deal with free-agent left-hander Jon Lester, but neither side has closed the door on staying together, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score writes. Lester established himself as a Cubs icon from 2015-20, but after he struggled last season, the Cubs predictably bought out the soon-to-be 37-year-old for $10MM instead of paying him $25MM. They’re now down to Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks as their only proven starters for next season, though that could change as the offseason progresses.
  • First baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci had two stints in the Cubs organization, but it appears his playing career is over, as he’s now moving on to another role in baseball. The Cubs have hired the 35-year-old as their run production coordinator, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. Adduci, whom the Rangers selected in the 42nd round of the 2003 draft, played from 2013-19 in the bigs and also saw time in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Position Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.

Here are the position players that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/7/19

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Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • First baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cubs and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa, per the league’s transactions page. He’d have had the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports (via Twitter) that Adduci was indeed added to the Iowa roster, with Matt Carasiti landing on the temporarily inactive list in a corresponding move. The 34-year-old Adduci was hitless in five plate appearances during his extremely brief time with the Cubs before being designated for assignment to accommodate the addition of Carlos Gonzalez. He hit .261/.306/.478 through 41 games in Iowa earlier this season and .267/.290/.386 in 185 plate appearances for the Tigers in 2018.

Cubs Select Carlos Gonzalez, Designate Jim Adduci For Assignment

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The Cubs have selected the contract of veteran outfielder Carlos Gonzalez from Triple-A, per a team announcement. His promotion was first reported by Daniel Alvarez Montas of El Extra Base (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, outfielder/first baseman Jim Adduci has been designated for assignment (as ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers suggested would be the case).

Gonzalez, 33, began the season on a minor league deal with the Indians but cracked the big league roster there in late April. His time with Cleveland didn’t prove fruitful, however, as he struggled to a .210/.282/.276 batting line with a pair of home runs, a double and 33 strikeouts in 117 plate appearances. The former All-Star, batting champion and MVP candidate signed a minor league deal with Chicago last week. His power and overall offensive performance has waned in recent seasons, but Gonzalez did hit .276/.329/.467 with 16 homers for the Rox a season ago.

The Cubs are essentially taking a free look at Gonzalez to see if he can help to provide some left-handed punch to their lineup. At the moment, with Ben Zobrist away from the team indefinitely and Ian Happ posting pedestrian numbers in Iowa, the Cubs’ only lefty bats off the bench were Adduci and backup catcher Victor Caratini (a switch-hitter). He’ll get a new chance to prove he still has some fuel left in the tank and will be thrown right into the mix; Gonzalez is hitting fifth and playing right field for the Cubs today.

Adduci, 34, went hitless in five plate appearances with Chicago after joining the roster last week. He batted .261/.306/.478 through 41 games in Iowa prior to his call back to the Majors and hit .267/.290/.386 in 185 plate appearances for the Tigers last season.

Cubs Select Jim Adduci

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10:04am: Neither Bryant nor Heyward (sore hip) will start Monday, opening the door for Adduci to line up in right field, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com relays.

9:46am: The Cubs have selected outfielder/infielder Jim Adduci’s contract from Triple-A Iowa, giving them a full 40-man roster, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets. In a corresponding move, the Cubs optioned reliever Tim Collins.

This will be the first time in a Chicago uniform for Adduci, whom the team signed to a minors deal over the winter. He previously played in their minor league system from 2007-12.

The 34-year-old didn’t hit much with Iowa this season prior to Monday’s promotion, batting .261/.306/.478 with seven home runs in 147 plate appearances, though he has been hot of late. Adduci will give the Cubs a fourth bench player as they await Kris Bryant’s status. The superstar third baseman/outfielder had to leave the Cubs’ game early on Sunday after colliding with teammate Jason Heyward in the outfield, and it’s unclear whether Bryant will play Monday.

Adduci has spent most of his professional career in the minors, but he did combine for 426 plate appearances with the Rangers and Tigers from 2014-18. However, he only put up a .235/.286/.340 line with five home runs in that span.

Cubs Sign Jim Adduci, Phillip Evans To Minors Contracts

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Catching up on some transactions from December, the Cubs signed first baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci and infielder Phillip Evans to minor league contracts.  Zone Coverage’s Brandon Warne (Twitter link) had the news on Adduci, while MetsMerized’s Michael Mayer (via Twitter) was first with the Evans signing.

After posting 241 Major League plate appearances in parts of three previous big league seasons, Adduci received a career-high 185 PA for the Tigers in 2018, hitting .267/.290/.386 with three homers.  Adduci broke into the Show with the Rangers in 2013-14, before spending the next two seasons with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, and then returning to North America on a minor league deal with Detroit prior to the 2017 campaign.  This will be Adduci’s second stint with the Cubs, as he played in their farm system from 2007-12.

Evans is moving on to a new organization for the first time in his pro career, after spending his first eight seasons with the Mets.  A 15th-round pick for New York in the 2011 draft, Evans cracked the big league roster in each of the last two seasons, appearing in 34 games for the Mets and posting a .606 OPS over 61 career plate appearances.  Evans fits the Cubs’ preferred model of a versatile player, as he has logged extensive time at second base, shortstop, and third base, and has also played some left field and first base.

Tigers Outright Four Players

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Oct. 25: The Tigers have announced all the moves, adding that Coleman, Adduci and Kozma have indeed elected free agency. Castro, it seems, will remain with the organization.

Oct. 24: The Tigers have outrighted shortstop Pete Kozma, right-hander Louis Coleman, first baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci and infielder Harold Castro after each the four cleared waivers, per the team’s transaction page at MLB.com. They’ll join right-hander Artie Lewicki, who did not clear waivers and was claimed by the D-backs, as the first five offseason roster casualties for the Tigers.

Kozma, still just 30 years old, had two stints with the Tigers this season but hit just .217/.236/.348 in 73 trips to the plate. His Triple-A work wasn’t any prettier (.203/.260/.295), though the defensive specialist has always been known more for his glovework than his bat.

Coleman, 32, racked up a fairly significant workload in Detroit this year, tallying 51 1/3 innings out of manager Ron Gardenhire’s bullpen. His 3.51 ERA looks fairly appealing at first glance, but he managed just 7.2 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 and worked off a fastball that averaged 89.1 mph. Coleman benefited from a strand rate (78.8 percent) well north of the league average and a BABIP (.270) that was a good bit shy of the league norm, though both those numbers were in line with his career marks.

The 33-year-old Adduci has spent time with the Tigers in each of the past two seasons but mustered only a .267/.290/.386 batting line in 185 trips to the plate in 2018. The Canadian-born veteran has had plenty of success in Triple-A (career .287/.354/.414 hitter) and also fared well in a pair of seasons with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization (.307/.369/.530).

Castro, 25 next month, went 3-for-10 in his big league debut this season after having his contract selected in late September. He didn’t give the organization much reason for optimism with his Triple-A showing, hitting .257/.270/.310 in 251 plate appearances, and it’s been four years since he was ranked 28th among Tigers farmhands by Baseball America.

All four players — certainly Kozma, Coleman and Adduci — seem likely to become free agents and look for new minor league pacts in the offseason. Both Kozma and Coleman would’ve been arbitration-eligible this offseason, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting Kozma at a modest $700K and Coleman at $1.1MM.

Tigers Select Jim Adduci

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The Tigers announced following today’s game that first baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci will have his contract selected from Triple-A Toledo. Young catcher Grayson Greiner is being optioned to Toledo in his place, and the Tigers are shifting Miguel Cabrera from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL in order to open up a roster spot. Cabrera underwent season-ending surgery on a ruptured biceps tendon earlier this summer.

Adduci, 33, will return for a second stint with the Tigers after hitting .241/.323/.398 with a homer, six doubles and two triples for them through 93 plate appearances last season. That marked the first MLB action for Adduci since 2014 with the Rangers, as he spent the 2015-16 seasons enjoying a productive run with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization.

This season, Adduci turned in one of the most productive Triple-A campaigns of his six-year career at that level. Through 296 plate appearances, he’s hitting .309/.358/.474 with seven homers, 22 doubles, a triple and eight steals (in nine tries). He’ll give the Tigers a left-handed option both in the outfield and at first base, which could give John Hicks some additional opportunities to get back behind the dish — especially with Greiner being optioned to Toledo.

Tigers Sign Leonys Martin To Major League Deal, Sign Derek Norris To Minors Pact

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The Tigers announced that they’ve signed outfielder Leonys Martin to a one-year, Major League contract for the 2018 season. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter) that he’ll earn a guaranteed $1.75MM with the opportunity to pick up another $1.1MM via incentives.

Meanwhile, catcher Derek Norris, right-hander Enrique Burgos and outfielder Jim Adduci have signed minor league deals that contain invites to Spring Training, per the team. The Tigers also confirmed their previously reported minor league deal with first baseman Edwin Espinal.

Martin, 30 next March, should have ample opportunity to pick up at-bats with the Tigers, who enter the offseason with a thin outfield mix. Mikie Mahtook, JaCoby Jones and Nicholas Castellanos currently sit atop the depth chart in Detroit, though Jones has yet to establish himself in the Majors while Castellanos is a trade candidate. Martin could supplant Jones, and at the very least the two will compete for regular at-bats during Spring Training this year.

In Martin, the Tigers are adding a left-handed bat and a fleet-footed defender that can handle all three outfield spots. The former Rangers/Mariners outfielder hasn’t hit much in recent years, but Martin has consistently drawn top-notch reviews for his defensive work — most of which has come in center field. Defensive Runs Saved pegs him at +46 in nearly 4500 big league innings, while Ultimate Zone Rating has him at 30 runs better than average. Detroit outfielders, collectively, drew marks of -10 and -7 from DRS and UZR last season, so adding Martin to the mix should prove to be a significant boon, even if it comes at the expense of some offense.

Martin’s struggles with the bat have indeed been pronounced over the past three seasons, during which time he’s twice posted an OPS south of .600. Overall, in his past 1024 MLB plate appearances, Martin has batted .228/.283/.345. At his best, Martin does show some pop, and he’s always a threat on the basepaths as well. Martin’s batted-ball profile has been increasingly fly-ball oriented in recent years, and while many in the league have had great success in that regard, it hasn’t worked out for him. Perhaps a return to a more ground-ball-based approach and some work to curtail his recent uptick in punchouts can at least return his bat to serviceable levels.

As a bonus for the Tigers, Martin comes with just four years, 161 days of Major League service time, meaning if he does turn things around at all, he’ll be controllable through the 2019 season via arbitration. That could help both in making him a multi-year asset for a rebuilding Detroit club or by making him more appealing to potential trade suitors in the event of a bounceback.

Norris, 29 in February, struggled to a .201/.258/.380 line in 198 plate appearances with the Rays last season. He hasn’t performed well at the plate since a solid run with the A’s and Padres in 2013-15, though he at one point in his career showed a penchant for drawing walks and the power to post double-digit homer totals. He’ll compete for a backup catching job, though with James McCann and John Hicks in the fold, it seems likelier that he’ll head to Triple-A to open the year.

Norris was released by the Rays this past June, and his season formally came to a conclusion on Sept. 1 when commissioner Rob Manfred placed him on the restricted list for the final month of the year “based on the results of” an investigation into domestic violence allegations made by his former fiancee. Notably, it does not seem as though there were ever any criminal charges brought forth against Norris. He’s not facing any punishment from the league in 2018.

The 27-year-old Burgos has shown the ability to miss bats at the big league level, averaging 10.8 K/9 in 68 1/3 innings across multiple stints with the D-backs, dating back to 2015. He’s averaged nearly 96 mph on his fastball but has also issued five walks per nine innings as a Major Leaguer. He’ll vie for a spot in an unsettled Tigers bullpen and, if he can eventually put things together, is controllable all the way through the 2022 season.

Adduci, 32, returned from a strong stint in the Korea Baseball Organization this year and made his way to the Tigers’ big league roster, where he batted .241/.323/.398 in 93 PAs. Adduci has just 241 big league PAs, which have resulted in a .209/.283/.302 slash.

Tigers Decline Anibal Sanchez’s Option, Outright Eight Players

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TODAY, 5:12pm: The Tigers have also outrighted catcher Bryan Holaday and first baseman Efren Navarro. Both are eligible to decline the assignments and instead elect free agency, though they’ll qualify for minor-league free agency in a few days regardless.

Holaday, 29, saw brief action for the Tigers this year and spent most of the season at Triple-A. He slashed .269/.325/.450 over 347 plate appearances at Toledo and will certainly land somewhere as a depth option. As for the 31-year-old Navarro, it was much the same story. He saw 557 plate appearances at Triple-A, posting a .276/.370/.395 batting line.

YESTERDAY, 9:10pm: Detroit has also placed righty Myles Jaye and lefty Kyle Ryan on outright waivers, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press (via Twitter).

The 25-year-old Jaye cracked the bigs for the first time, but received a rude welcome. In 12 2/3 frames, including two starts and three relief appearances, he was tagged for 17 earned runs and managed just four strikeouts against ten walks. That said, Jaye has been a steadier option in the upper minors; in 25 starts in the Detroit system in 2017, he compiled 131 2/3 innings of 3.96 ERA ball with 7.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

As for Ryan, 26, he has thrown 128 MLB innings over the past four seasons and was rather effective in 2016. But he struggled badly in just eight major league appearances in the 2017 campaign. In his 45 1/3 Triple-A frames, Ryan managed only a 4.96 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9.

1:43pm: The Tigers announced that they have formally declined their $16MM club option on right-hander Anibal Sanchez, opting instead for a $5MM buyout. Additionally, the Tigers announced that right-hander Jeff Ferrell and outfielders Tyler Collins, Jim Adduci and Alex Presley have been outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers. Each can become a free agent. Detroit also added that utilityman Andrew Romine was claimed off waivers by the Mariners, as Seattle had announced.

The 33-year-old Sanchez signed a five-year, $80MM contract with the Tigers that spanned the 2013-17 seasons and turned in a sensational campaign in the first year of that deal. In 182 innings that year, Sanchez captured the American League ERA title with a mark of 2.57, averaging 10.0 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 along the way. He finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting and was worth roughly six wins above replacement per both fWAR and rWAR. Though he was limited to 126 innings in 2014, Sanchez was again quite good, logging a 3.43 ERA with improved control but diminished strikeouts.

Since contributing about nine wins’ worth of value in those first two seasons, though, the Sanchez contract has been regrettable for the Tigers. He’s logged a total of 415 2/3 innings in that time and surrendered 262 earned runs (5.67 ERA) on the strength of 462 hits (85 homers) and 131 walks. Sanchez still shows a penchant for missing bats (8.2 K/9 over the final three years of the deal, 8.9 K/9 in 2017), but his ground-ball rate has eroded and he’s become stunningly homer prone.

Collins, 27, showed promise back in 2015 when he hit .266/.316/.417 in 207 plate appearances as a 25-year-old, but his bat has tailed off since that time. In 2016-17, he’s managed just a .213/.291/.357 line through 320 trips to the plate. He struggled enormously in Triple-A in 2016 as well, though he bounced back with a strong .288/.358/.462 slash there in 296 PAs this season.

Presley, 32, posted a very solid .314/.354/.416 with three homers and five steals through 264 PAs. A veteran of eight big league seasons, Presley hasn’t settled in as a regular with one organization but has found his way onto a 25-man roster in each of the past eight campaigns. Since 2011, he’s averaged 211 MLB plate appearances per season and batted .263/.306/.390 in the process. He shouldn’t have much trouble finding an opportunity to head to camp and compete for a roster spot in 2018.

Adduci, also 32, returned from a strong stint in the Korea Baseball Organization this year and made his way to the Tigers’ big league roster, where he batted .241/.323/.398 in 93 PAs. Adduci has just 241 big league PAs, which have resulted in a .209/.283/.302 slash.

Ferrell will turn 27 in three weeks and just wrapped up his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. He has a career 6.53 ERA in 20 2/3 big league innings but owns strong K/BB numbers in a limited sample of 65 2/3 innings in Triple-A. Ferrell has averaged better than 93 mph on his fastball in the big leagues and otherwise relies primarily on a changeup for his secondary offering.

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