Free Agents That Have Boosted Their Stock On One-Year Deals
With the offseason looming, it’s easy to focus on the top free agents this winter will have to offer. We at MLBTR reinforce that line of thinking with monthly Free Agent Power Rankings that profile the top names slated to hit the open market and ranking them in terms of earning power.
Settling for a one-year contract isn’t an ideal route for most free agents, but that doesn’t mean that those (relative) bargain pickups can’t bring significant on-field impact to the teams with which they sign. While none of the players on this list received all that much fanfare when signing, they’ve all provided some notable benefit to the teams that made these commitments:
- Kurt Suzuki, $1.5MM, Braves: Suzuki languished in free agency for several months as players like Jason Castro, Matt Wieters and Welington Castillo all generated more attention from teams and fans. However, it might be Suzuki that has provided the most bang for buck on last winter’s catching market. The 33-year-old has had a surprising career year in Atlanta, hitting .266/.344/.507 with 15 homers to date. Some have been quick to suggest that Atlanta’s new homer-happy stadium has benefited Suzuki, and while that may be true to an extent, he’s hit for more power on the road than at home. He’s put himself in position for a possible two-year deal this winter, but if he has to settle for one yet again, it should come at a higher rate.
- Adam Lind, $1.5MM, Nationals: An awful 2016 season and an overcrowded market for corner bats created some questions about whether Lind would have to settle for a minor league contract late last winter. He ultimately secured a guaranteed deal, but it came with just a $1MM base and a $500K buyout of a mutual option. For that meager commitment, he’s given the Nats 267 plate appearances with a .297/.352/.490 slash to go along with 11 homers. Like Suzuki, that might not land him a starting role, but it could land him multiple years as a complementary bench piece.
- Chris Iannetta, $1.5MM, Diamondbacks: Iannetta has not only rediscovered his power stroke in 2017 — he’s made it better than ever. The 34-year-old’s .249 ISO is a career best, and he’s slugged 14 homers. While that’s still four shy of his career-best with the 2008 Rockies, Iannetta’s 14 big flies this year have come in just 272 PAs, whereas he needed 407 to reach 18 back in ’08. He’s also bounced back from a down year in the framing department and been above average in that regard, per Baseball Prospectus.
- Jhoulys Chacin and Clayton Richard, $1.75MM each, Padres: The Friars signed four starters for $3MM or less last winter — Jered Weaver and Trevor Cahill being the others — and have received a combined 345 innings out of this pair. Chacin’s run-prevention (4.06 ERA) and strikeout rate (7.44 K/9) have been better, while Richard has 13 more innings (179 total), superior control (2.6 BB/9) and superior ground-ball tendencies (59.1 percent). Neither is going to be mistaken for much more than a back-of-the-rotation stabilizer, but both have done enough to garner larger commitments on the upcoming open market.
- Brian Duensing, $2MM, Cubs: I doubt I was alone in being surprised to see Duensing, 34, land a Major League deal last winter on the heels of a lackluster season in the Orioles organization. Duensing, though, has quietly been outstanding for the Cubs. In 54 2/3 innings, he’s logged a career-high 9.05 K/9 rate with 2.30 BB/9 and a 47 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 2.63 ERA. He’s held lefties in check reasonably well, but the first time in his career he’s also striking out right-handed batters at a lofty rate. In fact, the .211/.276/.317 that righties have posted against him is actually weaker than the .256/.300/.388 slash to which he’s limited left-handed bats.
- Matt Belisle, $2.05MM, Twins: Belisle’s inclusion is arguable; he’s posted a pedestrian 4.36 ERA with 8.55 K/9, 3.69 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate. Those numbers are largely skewed by a putrid month of May, however. Since June 3, Belisle has a 2.25 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning and improved control and ground-ball tendencies — all while stepping into higher and higher leverage roles. He’s now serving as the Twins’ closer and has a 1.54 ERA with a 29-to-5 K/BB ratio since July 1. He’ll be 38 next season, so the earning power here isn’t sky-high, but he’s probably earned a raise, barring a late collapse.
- Logan Morrison, $2.5MM, Rays: Few players have benefited more from one-year, “pillow” contracts in recent memory than Morrison, who has parlayed his $2.5MM deal into a .248/.355/.529 batting line and a 36-homer season campaign to date. Morrison only just turned 30 years old, so he’ll have age on his side this winter as well. A three- or four-year deal seems plausible for Morrison even with the diminished recent market for corner bats.
- Alex Avila, $2.5MM, Tigers: Avila hasn’t been as excellent with the Cubs as he was with the Tigers, but he’s still among the league leaders in hard contact and exit velocity — both of which have beautifully complemented his always-terrific walk rate (15.9 percent in 2016). With 14 homers under his belt and a batting line that grades out roughly 25 percent better than the league average, per context-neutral metrics like OPS+ (124) and wRC+ (127), Avila could vie for a multi-year deal and/or a starting job this offseason.
- Joe Smith, $3MM, Blue Jays: Smith’s K/9 has nearly doubled, from 6.92 in 2016 to 11.86 in 2017, and he’s posted a dramatically improved 1.82 BB/9 this year as well. Smith has also served up just three homers in 49 1/3 innings of work, and his 3.10 ERA, while solid, is actually representative of some poor fortune in the estimation of fielding-independent metrics (1.97 FIP, 2.35 xFIP, 2.34 SIERA). He’ll be 34 next year but should top that $3MM mark and could net the second multi-year free-agent deal of his career.
- Andrew Cashner, $10MM, Rangers: MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently took a more in-depth look at Cashner, noting that his strong 3.19 ERA isn’t backed up by his K/BB numbers. Cashner’s complete lack of missed bats — he has the lowest swinging-strike rate and second-lowest K/9 rate of qualified MLB starters — is going to limit his earning power. But, he’s undeniably been better than he was in 2016, his velocity is comparable to last season and he’s limited hard contact quite well. A multi-year deal is certainly a possibility this offseason.
- Carlos Gomez, $11.5MM, Rangers: Gomez’s production hasn’t reached the star levels it did in 2013-14, but he’s been a better performer at the plate this season. A spike in his OBP (from .298 to .337) is due largely to a massive increase in the number of pitches by which he’s been hit, which is less encouraging than if he’d upped his walk rate considerably. However, Gomez has also shown quite a bit more power in 2017 than he had in recent seasons (.208 ISO in ’17 vs. .153 in ’15-16 combined), and Defensive Runs Saved feels he’s improved in center field as well. Gomez won’t see the massive payday he looked to be on pace for after 2014, but he’s still young enough to notch a multi-year deal this winter.
Notable exceptions: Neither Welington Castillo nor Greg Holland is included on this list, though both have provided good value to their new teams (Castillo in particular). While their contracts are often referred to as one-year deals with a player option, that type of contract is no more a one-year deal than Jason Heyward‘s eight-year, $184MM deal with a third-year opt-out is a three-year deal. Both players were guaranteed the possibility to be under contract for two years, and those agreements are considered two-year deals for the purposes of this list.
Jerry Blevins has also given the Mets terrific value on his one-year, $6.5MM deal, but the club option attached to that deal is a veritable lock to be exercised, so he’s unlikely to hit the free-agent market again following the season.
NL Notes: Hoskins, Phillies, Braves, Brewers
Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins hit his 10th home run in his 17th major league game Saturday, making him the fastest player in MLB history to reach the double-digit mark. All the more remarkable: Joey Davis, the scout who implored the Phillies to draft Hoskins out of Sacramento State in 2014 (they did, in the fifth round), only saw him as a potential 15- to 20-homer type at best, according to Matt Gelb of Philly.com. Davis was nevertheless bullish on Hoskins, and after the first baseman/outfielder joined the Phillies organization, minor league hitting coordinator Andy Tracy told him to add a leg kick in order to generate more power. Hoskins did, and both that mechanical adjustment and some mental tweaks he made with the help of Double-A Reading hitting coach Frank Cacciatore turned him into the slugger he is today, Gelb explains. “With scouting, it’s a team effort,” said Davis, who Gelb notes is close with Hoskins to this day. “We have to give them good players, and they have to do a good job of coaching. That’s what happens. You have a kid like this who is willing to learn and put in the work. He has the body and the size. So it was worth a shot in the fifth round.”
More from Philadelphia and the National League:
- While Hoskins looks like an excellent find for the Phillies, they still own the majors’ worst record (37-81) and appear to be a long ways from contention. One of the team’s problems this season has been a starting rotation that entered Saturday 23rd in the league in ERA (4.82) and 20th in fWAR (6.5). Manager Pete Mackanin would like to see the front office add outside help to the staff over the winter. “I think we have to upgrade,” Mackanin told reporters, including Ben Harris of MLB.com. Among the Phillies’ young starters, the only locks for rotation spots next year look to be Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff and Vince Velasquez, Harris notes. Veteran reinforcements could be on the way, then, and Mackanin suggested that the Phillies should look for more Jeremy Hellickson types or “try to do even better.”
- Catcher Kurt Suzuki sat on the open market until January before taking a one-year, $2.5MM deal from the Braves last winter, but the production he has posted this season means he could find a deal quicker next offseason, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Serving as Tyler Flowers‘ backup, Suzuki has slashed a career-best .268/.342/.546 with 15 home runs in 220 plate appearances, and he credits “always positive” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer for some of his success. Suzuki’s contract status gives him an uncertain future beyond this season, though he informed Burns that he doesn’t necessarily have to be a starter going forward and expressed a willingness to re-sign with the Braves. “Yeah, I don’t see why not,” he said. “It’s a great place. I like all the guys here and stuff. But there’s a lot of factors: family, my kids starting school (in California), proximity to home (Hawaii). There’s a lot of things you can factor in, but you know, this is a place I’ve grown to love.”
- Infielder Jonathan Villar looked like a long-term core piece for the Brewers last year when he slashed .285/.369/.457 with 19 home runs and stole a major league-high 62 bases as a shortstop/third baseman. That performance was good enough for the Brewers to offer Villar $23MM on an extension in the offseason. Villar rejected the Brewers’ proposal, though, and has taken major steps backward this season as a second baseman, having hit .227/.283/.348 with nine homers and 23 steals over 393 PAs. Now, thanks to his sharp decline from 2016 to ’17, the Brewers are unsure of what they have in the 26-year-old Villar, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers will commit to Villar at the keystone again next year or look elsewhere, as they did when they acquired free agent-to-be Neil Walker from the Mets a couple weeks ago. General manager David Stearns hasn’t made any decisions yet for 2018, but he admits there’s uncertainty regarding Villar. “How do you judge him?” Stearns said. “I think it’s the right question. I just don’t have a good answer for you.”
Rockies Seeking Catching Upgrades, Bullpen Arms
The Rockies are looking to upgrade behind the dish and are interested in Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Sullivan’s colleague, Thomas Harding, reports that the Rox also have some interest in Braves backstop Kurt Suzuki and Tigers catcher Alex Avila.
All three of the options listed are set to hit free agency upon completion of the 2017 campaign, and none of the bunch is earning at a substantial rate. Lucroy’s $5.75MM salary is the heftiest of the bunch, while Avila is earning $2MM in 2017 and Suzuki is owed only the balance of a $1.5MM base salary (plus some modest incentives).
The 31-year-old entered the season as one of the consensus top free agents on the 2017-18 market, but he’s seen both his bat and his glove take steps backward in his first full season with Texas. After being acquired just prior to last year’s non-waiver deadline, Lucroy raked at an exceptional .276/.345/.539 pace with 11 homers in 168 plate appearances down the stretch. However, he’s batting just .240/.293/.339 through 294 plate appearances this season and has begun to cede some playing time to Robinson Chirinos.
Lucroy has caught 30 percent of those that have attempted to steal against him, but he’s also seen his once-vaunted framing numbers deteriorate to the point that Baseball Prospectus ranks him as one of the league’s worst pitch framers.
It’s the opposite story for the 30-year-old Avila, who has broken out in a substantial way in 2017. A well-above-average catcher with the Tigers in 2011-12, Avila’s career was mired in a downward spiral before a return to the Motor City sparked a renaissance. He’s hitting .280/.402/.488 with 11 homers through just 256 plate appearances and has slashed his strikeout rate from 37.3 percent in 2016 to a more passable (but still too high) 29.7 percent this year.
While many have questioned Avila’s ability to sustain this pace, there isn’t a player in baseball (min. 250 PAs) that has a higher hard-contact rate than Avila’s 50 percent. His 92 mph average exit velocity is also among the top 10 in the league, trailing only Aaron Judge, Miguel Sano, Khris Davis, Joey Gallo, Manny Machado and Nelson Cruz. He’s sporting a 31 percent caught-stealing rate but, like Lucroy, has received below-average marks in framing this year (albeit to a lesser extent than Lucroy).
Suzuki, meanwhile, is hitting .255/.340/.468 through 163 plate appearances in his first season with Atlanta. While SunTrust Park has a homer-friendly reputation, six of Suzuki’s eight big flies have come on the road this season. He’s caught a much-improved 26 percent of potential base thieves with the Braves and has demonstrated some improved but still shaky framing skills, per B-Pro.
The reason for the Rockies’ interest in catching upgrades isn’t difficult to see. Tony Wolters has shouldered the bulk of the time behind the dish this season, but he’s posted a meager .255/.351/.306 batting line, with much of that OBP boost coming from batting in front of Rockies pitchers. On the whole, Rockies backstops have posted a dismal .234/.313/.310 batting line — an especially unsightly level of output when considering their hitter-friendly home park.
Harding further reports that the Rox have “extensively” scouted Tigers left-hander Justin Wilson, adding names like Brad Brach, Zach Britton and AJ Ramos as other names the Rox have at least kept an eye on.
It’s not hard to connect some dots and expect that the Rox could have interest in a combo deal that would net them both Avila and Wilson from Detroit, though the asking price on that affordable and excellent pairing would figure to be high. Similarly, I’d imagine there’ve at least been internal discussions about the possibility of pairing one of the Baltimore relievers with Orioles catcher Welington Castillo, though his bat has cooled considerably since suffering a groin injury earlier this summer. That last connection is merely my own speculation, but if the Orioles do indeed listen on their relievers, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see them gauge interest in Castillo as well.
Braves Release Eric O’Flaherty
The Braves have released lefty Eric O’Flaherty, per a club announcement. He had been on the 10-day DL.
A roster spot was needed so that catcher Anthony Recker could be brought up. Kurt Suzuki is on the bereavement list, creating the need for another backstop.
The 32-year-old O’Flaherty has continued to find work over the past several seasons, but hasn’t really been the same since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013. In 18 1/3 innings this season, he struggled to a 7.85 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9.
9 Budget Free Agent Hitters Off To Strong Starts
Mining the free agent ranks for good value remains an art, with the potential for rather significant rewards. While it’s unusual for a team to find a true gem — think Justin Turner — there is quite a lot of potential for adding impact in part-time roles.
We already looked at some minor-league signees who have impacted their organizations’ bullpens. Now, let’s check in on some hitters who signed for little but have been rather useful through about two months of action:
- Alexi Amarista, INF, Rockies — The 28-year-old has helped cover for the injured Trevor Story, and he’s doing more than just keeping the team afloat. Through 69 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .338/.348/.515. There’s obviously quite a lot of room for regression baked in — Amarista has drawn just one walk and carries a .412 BABIP — but he’s been a big help for the emerging Rockies team at the meager cost of $1.25MM.
- Daniel Descalso, INF, Diamondbacks — After Colorado let the utilityman go over the winter, Descalso landed only $1.5MM despite a solid 2016 season. That has worked out just fine for Arizona, which has received 92 plate appearances of .218/.337/.410 hitting from the veteran, who is walking at a 13.0% clip and succeeding despite a .250 BABIP.
- Chris Iannetta, C, Diamondbacks — Also earning a meager $1.5MM, Iannetta has helped the DBacks feel better about the decision to allow Welington Castillo to walk. Though the typically patient Iannetta is walking at about half of his career rate, he’s driving the ball like never before. Over eighty plate appearances, Iannetta has smacked six long balls and owns a .288 isolated slugging mark.
- Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Dodgers — Taking home a modest $2.6MM salary, Gutierrez has been quite productive when healthy. While Los Angeles will only ask him to play a limited role, the team will be thrilled if he can keep producing at a .257/.350/.429 rate the rest of the way.
- Austin Jackson, OF, Indians — After settling for a minor-league deal over the winter, Jackson came with low expectations. But he made the Opening Day roster and owns a .273/.327/.523 batting line that points back to his days as one of the game’s more promising young players.
- Adam Lind, 1B, Nationals — Lind languished on the market along with a variety of other sluggers, eventually scoring just $1.5MM to function as a lefty complement to Ryan Zimmerman at first base. While the Nats have received plenty of production from Zimmerman, the team is also enjoying Lind’s robust output off the bench. He owns a .340/.400/.604 slash over sixty plate appearances, with as many walks as strikeouts (10.0% apiece).
- Mark Reynolds, 1B, Rockies — Expected to land on the bench after returning to Colorado on a minors deal, Reynolds was thrown into a more significant role when Ian Desmond opened the year on the DL. He has responded with outstanding production: .313/.388/.555 with 13 home runs in 206 plate appearances.
- Kurt Suzuki, C, Braves — At just $1.5MM, Suzuki has been quite the bargain. He’s outhitting most of the league’s catchers in his 88 plate appearances, with a .257/.379/.457 slash. Interestingly, Suzuki is walking 11.4% of the time — nearly double his typical levels — while also hitting for good power (.200 ISO).
- Chase Utley, INF, Dodgers — The former star took home just $2MM in exchange for his services this year, and seemed ready to take a smaller role on the Dodgers’ bench. After a slow start, though, he has begun to deliver. 125 plate appearances into the season, he’s batting .252/.347/.430 with three dingers and three steals — the type of production not seen since back in 2013, when he was still with the Phillies.
NL East Notes: Suzuki, Eickhoff, Tebow
The action this morning has been in the NL East, with the Nationals making an important bullpen addition and the Mets receiving some unfortunate injury news. Nats fans may also want to have a look at a profile of manager Dusty Baker penned by Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. For followers of other organizations in the division, here are a few more notes:
- Braves catcher Kurt Suzuki is drawing praise for his handling of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Dickey himself and manager Brian Snitker both said that the veteran Suzuki did well receiving the tricky righty in his first attempt in game action. That may bode well for his bid to carve out playing time, as the organization intends to utilize either Suzuki or Tyler Flowers as the primary knuckleball catcher. It’s not yet clear how the playing time will be allocated between the two backstops out of the gate, though that seems likely to change throughout the season depending upon performance. Anthony Recker is also on hand as an option behind the dish, but he doesn’t appear to have a clear path to a roster spot.
- Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com checks in on Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff, who has continued to impress the club this spring. Asked about Eickhoff’s ceiling, skipper Pete Mackanin said that the 26-year-old hurler “is a pretty darn good pitcher right now” — an assessment that certainly is supported by his strong showing in 2016. Eickhoff is a notably hard worker, per Salisbury, who explains that he’s focusing currently on refining his change. The righty himself certainly isn’t tamping down expectations. “I think the sky is the limit,” he said. “I’m going to continue working, whether it’s being Greg Maddux-esque with command or having a good breaking ball, or throwing a changeup like Maddux and guys like that did. There’s always something I’m working on and trying to develop and sharpen up.”
- With Tim Tebow drawing his share of attention at Mets camp, though he’s working on the minor-league side, his comments yesterday drew an interesting take from Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Having previously asserted that he intends to push toward the majors, Tebow struck a somewhat different tone, saying that his “ultimate goal is to be able enjoy it every day.” Davidoff argues that his tweaked stance ought to free fans to simply enjoy (or ignore) Tebow as a sideshow, rather than continuing to debate whether the former NFL QB has any future in the game worthy of the attention he has received.
Braves Sign Kurt Suzuki
The Braves continued their pattern of adding veterans on one-year commitments Monday, announcing the signing of Kurt Suzuki to a one-year contract. The MVP Sports client will reportedly receive a $1.5MM guarantee and can earn up to $2.5MM worth of incentives based primarily on games started. The Braves had an open 40-man roster spot, so no corresponding move is necessary to accommodate the signing. Atlanta’s 40-man roster is now full.
Suzuki, 33, hit .258/.301/.403 with eight homers over 373 plate appearances for the Twins last season. That somewhat modest output that still represented a big improvement from a dire 2015 season for the veteran catcher, though it fell short of Suzuki’s strong 2014 campaign (.288/.343/.383 in 503 PA) that earned him an All-Star berth.
[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves Depth Chart]
In Atlanta, Suzuki joins Tyler Flowers as the Braves’ top catching options. A traditional platoon isn’t an option since both are right-handed hitters, though Flowers is likely to get the bulk of starts behind the plate given his superior pitch-framing abilities. Both Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner ranked Flowers as one of the game’s best framers last season, while Suzuki was ranked near the back of the pack. (Suzuki’s defensive issues reportedly played a part in a relative lack of trade interest in his services last summer.)
The Braves have been looking for catching help for much of the offseason, heavily pursuing Jason Castro and also being linked in rumors to the likes of Welington Castillo, Nick Hundley, Brian McCann and Matt Wieters. Suzuki represents something of a fallback option to those higher-profile names, and with Atlanta now ostensibly set behind the plate, it further limits the market for the still-unsigned Wieters and Hundley.
Rosenthal notes that with Suzuki now in the mix for the Braves, backup Anthony Recker could receive some trade interest from other teams. Atlanta has also added Blake Lalli and David Freitas as minor league depth this winter, and already acquired and then traded away veteran Tuffy Gosewisch.
SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo first reported the agreement. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted the financial terms. Cotillo tweeted context on the incentives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL Notes: Moylan, Suzuki, Wieters
Royals manager Ned Yost would have interest in the team retaining reliever Peter Moylan, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com writes. “He’s a great teammate. Great in the clubhouse. Great in the bullpen. Great on the field,” Yost says. The 37-year-old Moylan looked like he might be entering a new phase of his career in 2015, when, after having Tommy John surgery, he signed a two-year minor-league deal with the Braves with the idea that he would coach while he was recovering. He did return to the mound last season, though, and this year he’s pitched 44 2/3 effective innings in the Royals’ bullpen, posting a 3.43 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 while thriving against righties. Here are couple more notes on potential AL free agents.
- Geography will be a consideration when Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki picks a team as a free agent this winter, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets. Suzuki’s family lives in the Los Angeles area. Suzuki has recovered somewhat from a poor 2015 season to post a .258/.301/.403 line in his walk year, although it remains to be seen how he’ll fare on the free agent market, which currently is slated to feature competition like Matt Wieters, Jason Castro and the now-injured Wilson Ramos.
- Speaking of Wieters, the veteran isn’t looking too far ahead with regard to his future with the Orioles, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes. Wieters was a free agent last season, and ended up accepting the Orioles’ qualifying offer, an outcome he says he couldn’t have predicted months before. “It was different than I would have thought the process would have been last year and it’ll probably be different this year then I think it will be this year,” he says. “I don’t like thinking about things that I actually have no idea how they are going to go.” The 30-year-old Wieters hasn’t had a strong season by his standards, batting .241/.301/.395, although he’s stayed healthy enough to accumulate 456 plate appearances. He likely has more on his mind than free agency right now anyway, given that the Orioles are still fighting for a Wild Card spot.
Kurt Suzuki Unlikely To Be Traded
The interest around the league in Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki is “muted at best,” Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports (Twitter links). It seems rather unlikely, then, that he’ll end up joining a new organization today, before the deadline for teams to add postseason-eligible players.
While Suzuki has produced a roughly league-average batting line (.275/.318/.417), which is quite good for a catcher, we’ve heard mention on several occasions about increasing concerns with his work behind the dish. That may help explain the lack of interest in the veteran, who has helped teams fill needs down the stretch in years past.
Suzuki has cleared waivers, so he can be traded freely. But that has been the case for some time. A few contenders have gone on to add different backstops while others are, perhaps, satisfied with what they have on hand. “It would take an injury to create any kind of market,” a source tells Berardino.
Suzuki is owed $1.05MM from the start of September to year’s end, by Berardino’s calculations, which is a fairly modest but not inconsequential sum. His vesting option is no longer a consideration, so that isn’t a hindrance. Even if Minnesota finds a surprise, late-breaking taker, the report suggests that the team would anticipate only a minimal return — perhaps largely consisting of some salary relief.
Players That Have Cleared Revocable Waivers
The first three two and a half weeks of August yielded only a few minor trades, featuring pickups by the Mariners (Arquimedes Caminero and Pat Venditte), a swap of veteran infielders (Erick Aybar and Mike Aviles) and the Marlins adding some left-handed depth to their ‘pen (Hunter Cervenka). Since that time, several names have changed hands, though, including Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Ellis, Dioner Navarro, Jeff Francoeur, Daniel Nava, Marc Rzepczynski and Erick Aybar. A trade sending veteran outfielder Coco Crisp to the Indians should be announced on Wednesday as well.
Before diving into the names, a few items bear repeating. The majority of Major League players will be placed on trade waivers this month, with most instances going unreported. There are undoubtedly players (quite a few of them, most likely) who have already cleared waivers but have not been reported to have done so. Players can be traded into September, as well, but only those traded on or before Aug. 31 will be eligible for the postseason with their new teams, so there’s some urgency for contending clubs to complete deals by month’s end. And, of course, for those who aren’t familiar with the inner-workings of waiver trades, MLBTR published a full explanation of how August trades work earlier this month. Onto the known names…
- Ryan Braun (link): Although Braun has slashed an excellent .315/.377/.551 with 24 homers and 14 steals through 454 plate appearances this season, his pricey contract enabled him to slip through waivers. Braun, 32, is owed $76MM through 2021, and any team acquiring him would likely need Milwaukee to pick up a sizable chunk of his contract, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. That doesn’t seem to bode well for the possibility of a trade this month.
- Ervin Santana (link): Santana, 33, is due $13.5MM per year through 2018, which makes him a fairly expensive investment, but he’s in the midst of another fine season. The righty has been among the few bright spots for the last-place Twins, having recorded a 3.54 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 2.38 BB/9 in 147 1/3 innings. Given that he cleared waivers, the Twins might have to eat some of Santana’s contract if they wish to move him for a decent return. However, Minnesota reportedly needed to be “overwhelmed” to deal Santana in July, and it’s doubtful their bullish opinion of him has changed since then.
- Ryan Howard (link): It seems as if any possibility of a Howard trade has gone out the window with his time with the Phillies drawing to an increasingly pleasant end. But he does still deliver more pure power than most hitters — albeit almost exclusively against righties — with 19 long balls in less than half a season worth of plate appearances.
- Matt Wieters (link): Not only is Wieters expensive ($15.8MM salary this year), but he’s also underperforming both offensively and defensively. Thus, with fellow backstops Kurt Suzuki and Brian McCann having already cleared waivers, it’s no surprise that Wieters did, too. Regardless of his struggles, Wieters is the starting catcher for a playoff contender with no better in-house option in place, making a trade involving the impending free agent all the more unlikely.
- Scott Kazmir (link): Kazmir is owed $16MM in each of the next two seasons, but he has the ability to opt out of his deal after this year. Kazmir’s run prevention (4.41 ERA) has been a letdown in 132 2/3 innings this season, although he has recorded an outstanding K/9 (9.02) to go with a 3.32 BB/9 and a superb 15.2 percent infield fly rate. The positives weren’t enough for anyone to claim Kazmir, though, and it’s doubtful the injury-riddled Dodgers will move out a healthy starter in the middle of a playoff race.
- James Shields (link): The right-hander was previously a high-end option that every team would’ve loved to slot into its rotation. At 34, he’s now pitching like a DFA candidate. The White Sox, who acquired Shields from the Padres earlier this year, owe him $10MM per season through 2018. Thanks largely to a plummeting strikeout rate and a propensity for allowing HRs, Shields has run up a 7.62 ERA in 69 2/3 innings with Chicago. Overall, he has a 5.98 ERA in 137 frames this year. While Shields is on track for a 10th straight 30-start season, there’s no point in trading for someone who isn’t at least keeping his team in games every fifth day.
- Nick Markakis (link): The negatives seem to outweigh the positives with Markakis, who’s on a $10.5MM salary through 2018 and doesn’t bring the offensive value to the table that he used to. Since leaving Baltimore for Atlanta last year, the right fielder has hit .285/.360/.384 with a mere 12 HRs in 1,200-plus plate trips. The average and on-base percentage are clearly pluses. Fact is, though, a corner outfielder who has little power, doesn’t grade well defensively and isn’t all that cheap isn’t too appealing.
- Mitch Moreland (link): Moreland is amid his third straight 20-homer season and isn’t overly expensive ($5.7MM salary) in the last year of his contract, so it wouldn’t have been shocking had someone claimed him. Instead, the lifetime .251/.316/.481 hitter got through waivers and looks likely to remain with World Series-contending Texas for the rest of the season.
- Matt Kemp (link): Once an MVP-level player, the 31-year-old Kemp has fallen off thanks to defensive issues and a decline at the plate. As a roughly league-average hitter on a $21.5MM salary through 2019, he was fully expected to go unclaimed had the Braves placed him on waivers. They did, and that’s exactly what happened. Atlanta’s on the hook for $18MM per year of Kemp’s money for the duration of his contract. The Padres, his previous team, make up the difference. For any deal to happen, the Braves would likely have to eat a hefty portion of that cash.
- Joakim Soria (link): The 32-year-old Soria has become increasingly homer prone and displaying some concerning control issues in 2016, so it’s not surprising that no team risked claiming the remaining $19.72MM that he is owed through the completion of the 2018 season. Soria’s 92.8 mph average fastball is actually a career-high, and his strikeouts and ground-ball rate both remain sound, so perhaps he could be moved if Kansas City were to eat some of the remainder on that deal.
- Eric O’Flaherty (link): Once a powerhouse out of the Braves’ bullpen, O’Flaherty’s second stint with Atlanta hasn’t gone nearly as well. He’s never fully regained his form after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, and his ERA in 2016 rested just shy of 7.00 when word of his clearing waivers broke. His $1.75MM salary wouldn’t be prohibitive were he pitching well, but even opposing lefties have roughed up O’Flaherty this season, and he’s been positively obliterated by right-handed opponents.
- Kurt Suzuki (link): The Twins’ catcher was reported to have cleared waivers just yesterday. Unlike a number of players that clear waivers in the month of August, Suzuki is relatively affordable, making it something of a surprise that no teams placed a claim on him. While he’s not regarded as a highly skilled defensive backstop, he’s hitting .281/.321/.431, which is quite a step up from the league-average catcher (.242/.311/.380). He doesn’t walk much, but he’s also very tough to strike out (12.9%), and he was owed just $1.54MM through season’s end when he reportedly cleared on Aug. 16.
- Brian McCann (link): It’s no surprise that McCann cleared waivers, as he’s owed a hefty $34MM beyond the 2016 campaign. McCann’s offensive production has wilted a bit in recent weeks, and while his .232/.333/.404 batting line and 15 homers are still solid marks for a catcher, it’s tough to imagine the Yankees moving him without absorbing a fair amount of the money that remains on his contract. Also standing in the way of a potential deal is the fact that teams looking for catching help beyond this year have a fair number of choices on the upcoming free agent market.
One final note: outfielder Jeff Francoeur (link) and catcher Carlos Ruiz (link) were both reported to have cleared waivers as well, but each has already been traded to a new team, with Francoeur going to the Marlins and Ruiz going to the Dodgers.