Mariners To Select Leonys Martin’s Contract
Three months after the Mariners designated Leonys Martin for assignment, the outfielder will rejoin the club. The Mariners will select Martin’s contract prior to Sunday’s game, reports the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish, who adds that they could designate right-hander Cody Martin to create a 40-man spot.
As far as the 25-man roster goes, Leonys Martin will take the place of fellow outfielder Mitch Haniger, who’s going to the 10-day disabled list after suffering a scary injury Saturday. Haniger took a 95 mph fastball to the face from Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom, video of which is available in Divish’s story, and departed with a mouth contusion. Fortunately, that’s not a catastrophic injury. Nevertheless, it will force Haniger to undergo plastic surgery, general manager Jerry Dipoto said after the game, and shelve him “for a little while,” per the executive.
Haniger’s injury is a disappointing development for a Seattle team that’s 52-53 and out of a wild-card spot by 3.5 games. Haniger, whom the Mariners acquired from the Diamondbacks in the teams’ offseason Jean Segura–Taijuan Walker trade, has batted a respectable .255/.355/.425 in 246 plate appearances this season. However, the 26-year-old’s output has declined significantly since he landed on the DL in late April with an oblique strain that kept him out until early June. Haniger was hitting an incredible .342/.447/.608 prior to his return.
It’s unclear how much playing time the 29-year-old Martin will garner in his second go-around with the Mariners this season, as they still boast three capable outfielders in Jarrod Dyson, Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia. Martin was a satisfactory option in his own right as recently as last year, when the then-starting center fielder posted a .247/.306/.378 line with 15 home runs, 24 stolen bases and a 2.2 fWAR across 576 plate appearances, but he got off to a horrid start this season. Before the M’s booted Martin off their roster at the end of April, he batted .111/.172/.130 in 58 PAs. Martin, who’s on a $4.85MM salary, then cleared waivers and eschewed free agency in favor of an outright assignment to Triple-A Tacoma, where he has slashed .312/.352/.506 with 11 HRs and 24 steals in 373 trips to the plate.
Cody Martin, meanwhile, just rejoined the Mariners on Wednesday after spending the first few months of the season in Tacoma. The swingman registered a 3.81 ERA, 11.75 K/9 and 2.54 BB/9 over 28 1/3 innings there and hasn’t gotten into a major league game this season. That wasn’t the case in 2016, though, as the 27-year-old pitched to a 3.86 ERA and logged 5.26 K/9 against 3.16 BB/9, with a 47.5 percent ground-ball rate, across 25 2/3 frames in Seattle. The Mariners then outrighted Martin to Tacoma in January.
Mariners Outright Leonys Martin
APRIL 27: Martin has been outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers, Divish was among those to tweet. He’ll remain under Seattle’s control, then, though bringing him back to the active roster would require a 40-man move.
APRIL 23: The Mariners have designated outfielder Leonys Martin for assignment, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter links). First baseman Dan Vogelbach and right-hander Chris Heston have been called up from Triple-A Tacoma in corresponding moves, while righty Chase De Jong has been sent down to Triple-A.
[Updated Mariners depth chart at Roster Resource]
Martin is off to a very rough start this season, hitting just .111/.172/.130 through his first 58 plate appearances. This continues Martin’s slump from the last two months of the 2016 season, which put a damper on an overall productive first season in Seattle. Martin generated 2.2 fWAR on the heels of a .247/.306/.378 campaign in 576 PA, even if his base-running and defense contributed more to his value than his hitting.
Even Martin’s vaunted center field glove took a hit in 2016, however — he managed just a +4.2 UZR/150 and -2 Defensive Runs Saved, very middling numbers for a player who posted 45 DRS from 2013-15. Between this step backwards on defense, continued issues at the plate and a desire to give more playing time to Jarrod Dyson in center, it makes sense why Seattle would seek to move on from Martin.
The Mariners avoided arbitration with Martin by agreeing to a one-year, $4.85MM deal with him for the 2017 season, a sizeable enough salary that it seems unlikely another team would claim Martin on waivers. A trade could be a possibility; this is just my speculation, but the Tigers, Giants, and Pirates stand out as teams that could potentially use a left-handed hitting outfielder capable of playing center.
Vogelbach was originally ticketed for a timeshare at first base this season before a somewhat surprising demotion to Triple-A during Spring Training. With Danny Valencia struggling, however, it opens the door for Vogelbach to get some at-bats against right-handed pitching. The Mariners are also likely looking for ways to keep the hot-hitting Taylor Motter in the lineup with Jean Segura returning shortly from the DL, so Motter could factor into the mix at first or in left field (if Guillermo Heredia gets some time in center field).
Agent Bart Hernandez Convicted In Cuban Smuggling Case
Agent Bart Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada have been convicted by a Florida jury after being indicted on charges of human trafficking in February 2016, reports Curt Anderson of the Associated Press. Hernandez, once a prominent player representative, worked with Estrada in bringing players such as Leonys Martin, Jose Abreu, Raisel Iglesias and Jorge Soler to the United States.
The Miami Herald’s Linda Robertson reported earlier this week that two of the four counts of smuggling against Hernandez were dismissed, as U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Hernandez smuggled Abreu or Phillies right-hander Dalier Hinojosa into the country. Hernandez still faced charges for smuggling Martin into the country, per Robertson, while Estrada faced three counts of smuggling players into the country.
According to Anderson, Hernandez is facing between three and 15 years in prison, while Estrada faces between five and 35 years of incarceration. The pair is also facing the forfeiture of $15.5MM. Sentencing has been set for July 11, and the defense attorneys have “promised there would be appeals,” Anderson adds.
Martin and Abreu have both shared eye-opening stories of their departure from Cuba during the trial. A previous report from Yahoo’s Jeff Passan back in 2013 revealed that upon leaving Cuba, Martin and his family believed they were being transported to safety and were instead held hostage, at gunpoint, while Martin’s initial five-year deal with the Rangers was negotiated. And as Anderson wrote last month, Martin’s testimony included details of one evening in Mexico in which eight to nine men broke into his apartment with a crowbar and pressured him to leave with them. There were also abduction attempts made on the men who were aiding in smuggling Martin out of Cuba, and beyond that, Martin was forced to initially agree to pay 35 percent of his United States earnings to the smuggling group on top of the more standard five percent to Hernandez for negotiating his deal with teams.
As for Abreu, the White Sox slugger detailed in his testimony (via the AP) that he was advised by his main contact/fixer in Haiti (where he established residency upon departing Cuba) to destroy his fake passport while on his flight from Haiti to the United States. Abreu testified that he actually ate the page of the false documentation that contained his alias and photograph. Immigration policy at the time allowed Abreu to remain in the United States without proper travel documentation because he had already reached American land. Abreu stated that he feared that he needed to be at a meeting with the White Sox on a specific date or could see his contract fall through, and he could not risk being turned away due to forged paperwork.
As was the case with Martin, Abreu was forced to agree to part with an enormous amount of his U.S. earnings, 20 percent to the smuggling group plus five percent to Hernandez, in exchange for their illegal operations. Per Anderson’s latest story, Abreu testified that he had already paid Estrada more than $7MM of his career earnings.
According to Anderson, neither Estrada nor Hernandez testified over the six weeks during which the jury heard testimonies in the trial. Their defense sought to prove that the two men were running legitimate business operations.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League
The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures has come and gone, and there have been dozens of agreements broken throughout the league today. So many, in fact, that I’ve split the list up into a pair of league-specific posts to avoid having 100-something names in this list. You can see all the NL players here, and both of these will be updated as quickly as we’re able.
Many teams use the arbitration exchange as a hard deadline for negotiations on one-year deals — a “file and trial” approach which effectively means that once figures are exchanged, the only option they’ll pursue before a hearing is a multi-year deal. (The Mets and Orioles are both adopting that approach this year, and other teams to use that strategy in the past include Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Marlins, Rays, White Sox, Pirates, Reds and Nationals.)
The most significant arb agreements of the day have been snapped off into their own posts already. We’ll continue adding the smaller-scale agreements from the American League right here (all projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and all arbitration agreements and filings can be monitored in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker)…
- The Rangers have announced agreement on a deal to avoid arbitration with lefty Jake Diekman. With today’s deadline having passed, the sides did exchange figures — $3.1MM versus $1.9MM — but obviously were already nearing a number. The high-powered southpaw projected at $2.6MM, and will receive $2.55MM, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
- The Mariners announced that they’ve avoided arb with all eight of their eligible players, which includes Jean Segura (reported last night), Danny Valencia, Jarrod Dyson, Leonys Martin, Drew Smyly, James Paxton, Evan Scribner, Nick Vincent. Numbers aren’t all in yet, but Valencia took home $5.55MM, per FanRag’s Robert Murray (on Twitter). Martin will earn $4.85MM, per Heyman. They were projected at $5.3MM and $6.3MM, respectively. Meanwhile, Dyson gets $2.8MM, Heyman tweets, which lands just over his $2.5MM projection. Smyly will receive $6.85MM — right at his $6.9MM projection — while Scribner gets $907,500, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Paxton will land at $2.35MM and Vincent will receive $1.325MM, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (via Twitter), both of which fall shy of their respective projections ($2.7MM and $1.5MM).
- Catcher Martin Maldonado will receive $1.725MM from the Angels, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). That’s just over his $1.6MM projection.
- The Tigers announced that they settled with third baseman Nick Castellanos. He projected at $2.8MM, but will receive $3MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
- Jeremy Jeffress and Jurickson Profar have each avoided arbitration with the Rangers, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegarm (via Twitter). Jeffress receives $2.1MM, while Profar will receive $1.005MM. Also of note, the Jeffress deal includes incentives that can add up to $250K in incentives, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). He’ll get $50K apiece upon reaching 55, 60, 65, and 70 innings. He had projected for a $2.9MM salary, but his legal issues late last year certainly dented his bargaining power.
- The Athletics have avoided arbitration with catcher/DH Stephen Vogt, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports on Twitter. Vogt will receive $2.965MM, falling shy of his $3.7MM projection. Oakland has also reached agreement with starter Sonny Gray for $3.575MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter), which is just shy of his $3.7MM projection. Also, reliever Liam Hendriks has agreed to terms, per John Hickey of the Mercury News. He’ll get $1.1MM, per Heyman (via Twitter).
- Righty Adam Warren will get $2.29MM from the Yankees, per Baseball America’s Josh Norris (via Twitter). That’s just a shade under his $2.3MM projection. New York also announced deals with shortstop outfielder Aaron Hicks and lefty Tommy Layne, among other players whose arrangements were previously reported. Layne receives $1.075MM, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter).
- The Orioles have avoided arbitration with second baseman Jonathan Schoop, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). He’ll receive $3.475MM, just over his projection of $3.4MM.
- Adding to their previously reported deals, the Red Sox have announced agreement with all but two of their arb-eligible players. Salaries were reported by MLB.com’s Ian Browne for the players avoiding arb: shortstop Xander Bogaerts gets $4.5MM ($5.7MM projection), utilityman Brock Holt receives $1.95MM ($1.7MM projection), righty Joe Kelly will earn $2.8MM ($2.6MM projection), catcher Sandy Leon takes home $1.3MM (the same as his projection), lefty Robbie Ross gets $1.825MM (just $25K over his projection), and new righty Tyler Thornburg will earn $2.05MM (just under his $2.2MM projection).
- Two moreplayers have avoided arbitration with the White Sox, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (via Twitter). Among those not previously reported, starter Miguel Gonzalez gets $5.9MM and reliever Zach Putnam receives $1.175MM. That clearly indicates that Gonzalez and the Sox utilized his prior-years’ arb starting points, rather than his much lower earnings with the team last year. Putnam, meanwhile, had projected for $975K.
Earlier Updates
Leonys Martin Switches Agencies
Mariners center fielder Leonys Martin has changed agencies and will now be represented by Wasserman, according to a tweet from his new representation.
Martin, 29 next March, slumped badly over the final two months of the 2016 season but still enjoyed a nice all-around year in his debut campaign with the Mariners. Acquired from the division-rival Rangers in a trade that sent Tom Wilhelmsen to Texas (Wilhelmsen would return to Seattle after being designated for assignment mid-season by the Rangers), Martin hit .247/.306/.378 in 576 plate appearances. That slash is below the league average overall, but Martin clubbed a career-best 15 home runs despite moving to a pitcher-friendly ball park and also swiped 24 bags while making strong overall contributions on the basepaths (4.6 runs above average, per Fangraphs). His typically outstanding defense took a step back, per Ultimate Zone Rating and especially according to Defensive Runs Saved, but he was still a serviceable defender out there that comes with a strong enough reputation that a rebound in those metrics next season wouldn’t be a surprise.
The agency switch for Martin will come on the brink of his second trip through the arbitration process. The Cuban defector played the final season of his initial five-year, $15.5MM contract in 2015 but remained arbitration eligible and signed for a salary of $4.15MM. He now stands to earn a raise over that figure for the ’17 season, as MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to earn $6.3MM next year. The Mariners can control him through the 2018 season.
Martin will now join an agency that, as can be seen in MLBTR’s Agency Database, represents a large number of notable clients. Kendrys Morales, Bartolo Colon, Mark Trumbo and Edinson Volquez are among Wasserman’s free agents this offseason, and the agency also reps the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, among others. Martin’s shift is already reflected in our database, which features representation information on more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Injury Notes: Jordan, Gray, Ross, Martin, Ottavino, Smith, Chirinos
Nationals right-hander Taylor Jordan underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, the team announced. It’s his second time undergoing a UCL replacement for the 27-year-old. Jordan burst onto the scene for the Nats in 2013, but has failed to maintain that promise at the major league level. He did have a strong season in the results department last year at Triple-A, though, and allowed just three earned runs in 15 2/3 innings in his first three starts of the 2016 campaign. Now, it’ll be at least a year or so before Jordan can try to get back on track.
Here’s more on some injury situations around the game:
- Athletics staff ace Sonny Gray is readying to throw from a mound tomorrow, per Joe Stiglich of Comcast SportsNet California (via Twitter). It’s certainly good to hear that Gray feels good enough to begin working his way back from a trapezius issue, though his timeline remains completely unknown.
- Padres skipper Andy Green says that righty Tyson Ross may be ready to begin throwing within one week’s time, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. It’s been a slow process for Ross, as the Pads seek to ensure that his shoulder issues don’t worsen. While the trade deadline remains two months away, leaving some time to turn him back into a potentially valuable trade chip, it’s worth bearing in mind that Ross will need a full build-up and rehab stint before returning to the major league hill.
- The Mariners have placed outfielder Leonys Martin on the 15-day DL today with a hamstring strain, the club announced. The team had believed he might avoid such an outcome altogether, so it doesn’t seem as if there’s any reason for significant concern. Stefen Romero will take Martin’s roster spot for the meantime. Martin, an offseason trade acquisition, had been off to an eye-opening .262/.339/.483 start at the plate for Seattle.
- Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino is nearly ready to throw live batting practice, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. He’s still working back from Tommy John surgery, but it’s encouraging to hear that his rehab could soon begin in earnest. Colorado, meanwhile, will no doubt be excited to look forward to receiving a return on the team’s investment in Ottavino over the winter.
- Southpaw Will Smith is expected to return to the Brewers by next week, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. That’s great news for Milwaukee, which has been without the excellent 26-year-old reliever all year long. He’ll join Jeremy Jeffress at the back of the pen — and, perhaps, on the trade block.
- Rangers backstop Robinson Chirinos will begin a rehab stint tomorrow with hopes of returning to the majors on June 9, as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan was among those to tweet. Texas has been blessed with surprisingly productive starts from the catching position, but Chirinos had been expected to handle most of the duties before suffering a forearm fracture.
AL West Notes: Weaver, Martin, Alvarez, A’s
We covered some Rangers news earlier today, so let’s look around the rest of the AL West…
- Jered Weaver is looking to rebound from a rough 2015 season, and the Angels righty tells reporters (including MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez) that he focused on offseason flexibility and stretching exercises to help his durability for the coming year. Beyond just keeping healthy and helping the Halos win, Weaver is also entering the last year of his contract and wants to ensure his career continues past 2016. “I’d like to play for as long as I can. But if I go through another season like last year — with not just the frustration of the numbers but how my body felt — your heart and your mind can only do so much,” Weaver said. “Sometimes, your body pulls the reins back and tells you you need to slow down a little bit. That’s kind of what happened last year. I was definitely motivated every time I would go out. I was still competitive. I still love pitching. Sometimes your body’s just not on the same page.”
- Leonys Martin of the Mariners has issued the following statement on the indictment of his former agent, Bart Hernandez (Facebook link via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports): “I am obviously aware that Bart Hernandez was arrested yesterday by the United States government. The decision to arrest him was made by the government, not by me, and any questions about why he was arrested should be directed to the prosecutor in Florida. Out of respect for the judicial process, I will have no further comment on this matter, and I ask that the media respect my privacy and the privacy of my family. My total focus is on doing everything in my ability to contribute to a successful season for the Seattle Mariners.”
- Henderson Alvarez is feeling good in his recovery from shoulder surgery and tells the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that he is hoping to be throwing in minor league games by April. That would project Alvarez for a May debut with the Athletics, or roughly a month ahead of his original schedule. “If you watch him play catch, it looks like there’s nothing wrong with him….We want to make sure he’s healthy, but we’re really excited about having him,” manager Bob Melvin said. Obviously, if Alvarez is able to return healthy and get back to his old form, that would make his buy-low signing a steal for Oakland.
- In another item from Slusser, the A’s are hoping Stephen Vogt and Josh Phegley stay healthy since the club is otherwise quite thin at catcher. Those two are the only catchers on the 40-man roster, though Oakland recently signed Bryan Anderson to a minor league contract. Then again, as one AL executive tells Slusser, “The state of catching in the whole industry is scary. It’s unbelievable how few good catchers there are, everyone is concerned. Is Oakland in trouble? Sure they are. Is every else? Yes. It’s not unique.”
Agent Bart Hernandez Indicted On Human Trafficking Charges
Prominent baseball player agent Bart Hernandez has been indicted in Florida on human trafficking charges, Cuban baseball documentary filmmaker Sami Khan was first to report (links to Twitter). The counts stem from his alleged role in conspiring to smuggle outfielder Leonys Martin to the United States.
Hernandez is a prominent player rep who is known, in particular, for representing players from Cuba. As Ben Badler of Baseball America notes on Twitter, he has been involved with the agency work for players such as Jose Abreu, Jorge Soler, Raisel Iglesias, and Yaisel Sierra.
The 27-year-old Martin is now with the Mariners and is currently represented by Melvin Roman. He initially came to the U.S. in May of 2011 after signing a five-year contract with the Rangers. He reportedly established residency in Mexico before going through the process of achieving MLB free agency.
If convicted, Hernandez would face a minimum three-year sentence that could reach twenty years, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports. The indictment accuses Hernandez of bringing Martin to the United States for “commercial advantage and private financial gain” before he had received official authorization. It seeks forfeiture of Hernandez’s interest in contracts of three players identified only by their initials. One appears to be Martin, of course, and Abreu may well be another, along with Dalier Hinojosa.
The indictment also refers to an ongoing arbitration between Hernandez’s Global Sports Management and the Praver Shapiro agency, on the one hand, and Martin, on the other. If Hernandez is convicted, he would stand to sacrifice his interest in the outcome of that dispute.
As Passan notes, there’s also litigation between the parties. Indeed, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard news relating to Martin’s case, as another figure in Martin’s journey to the United States — Eliezer Lazo — previously pled guilty to charges. A Mexican baseball academy tied with Lazo had sought to collect a large portion of Martin’s earnings in the contract he signed with Texas. Passan reported details of the matter at the time.
Apart from the more direct results, Hernandez’s representation of still-unsigned Cuban players now appears to be in question. He currently works for Marc Anthony’s Magnus Sports, and represents several notable players. Among them, per Passan, are top Cuban prospects Luis Yander La O and Guillermo Heredia.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday
Here are the day’s lower-value arbitration deals, with all projections coming via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:
- The Padres and southpaw Drew Pomeranz have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year, $1.35MM deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. That’s a near-match with Swartz’s projection of $1.3MM. Acquired in an offseason trade with the A’s, Pomeranz will slot into the San Diego ‘pen this season and look to build on last season’s 86 innings of 3.66 ERA, during which he averaged 8.6 K.9 and 3.2 BB/9 to complement a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate.
- Fernando Salas and the Angels are in agreement on a one-year, $2.4MM deal, thereby avoiding a hearing, per Rosenthal. The 30-year-old Salas, who will be a free agent next winter, posted a 4.24 ERA in 63 2/3 innings this past season but had more encouraging peripherals; Salas averaged 10.5 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 with a 35.1 percent ground-ball rate, prompting FIP (3.15) xFIP (3.23) and SIERA (2.65) to forecast markedly better results.
- Right-hander Jeanmar Gomez and the Phillies have avoided arb with a one-year, $1.4MM agreement, Rosenthal tweets. The soon-to-be 28-year-old posted a strong 3.01 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 and also recorded a sound 48.8 percent ground-ball rate in 74 1/3 innings of relief across 65 appearances. He’ll again provide some valuable innings for the rebuilding Phillies.
Mariners Acquire Leonys Martin From Rangers For Tom Wilhelmsen
The Mariners have officially struck a deal to acquire outfielder Leonys Martin and righty Anthony Bass from the Rangers in exchange for right-handed reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, outfielder James Jones, and a player to be named later.
Martin had fallen out of favor in Texas after a rough 2015 season. The 27-year-old is an outstanding defender and major threat on the bases, but he slashed just .219/.264/.313 over 310 plate appearances. In the meantime, the Rangers found a Rule 5 gem in Delino DeShields Jr. While he and Martin made for a natural platoon pairing, there seemed to be some discord between Martin and the club after he was left off of the playoff roster and then refused to participate in Instructional League as a way to stay ready in case he was needed.
New Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said that he sees Martin as a victim of bad luck — citing his .270 BABIP last year, which fell well below his .313 career mark — who ought to turn things around. (Via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, on Twitter.) It appears that Martin will go right to the top of the depth chart in Seattle, though Dipoto also told reporters tonight that another outfield addition could still be in the offing. It’s a good bet, though, that the team won’t now chase top free agents such as Dexter Fowler or Denard Span.
In addition to adding three years of control over Martin, Seattle will pick up three arb seasons of Bass. He represents a useful arm who will help maintain the Mariners’ bullpen depth. The 28-year-old comes with three years of arb control. He contributed only a 4.50 ERA last year, with 6.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9, but tossed 64 innings and drew more positive reviews from advanced metrics. While Wilhelmsen had represented a late-inning option, Dipoto had already gone out and added veteran set-up man Joaquin Benoit. But the club’s pen struggled last year, and adding Bass in this trade helps to guard against any scrambling for innings.
Texas, meanwhile, will add two seasons of Wilhelmsen, a 31-year-old righty who possesses a mid-90s heater. The veteran has thrown over 300 frames in the majors, working to a 2.97 overall ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9. He was right in that range in 2015, but continued a trend of posting earned run results that are much better than ERA estimators would expect. (For his career, Wilhelmsen has a 3.39 FIP, 3.94 xFIP, and 3.67 SIERA.)
Wilhelmsen figures to bolster a Rangers’ late-inning relief corps that has its share of questions. While pitchers like Shawn Tolleson, Keone Kela, Jake Diekman, and Sam Dyson all turned in quality seasons, there are enough question marks with that group that another good arm made sense.
And Jones is more than a throw-in, as he could ultimately be a cheaper and more controllable version of Martin. The left-handed hitter has not shown much of anything in his 400+ major league plate appearances, but has generally been rather productive at the plate in the high minors. Notably, last year, he not only put up a solid .294/.373/.423 batting line at Triple-A, but struck out only 68 times (against 53 walks) in his 501 trips to the plate — representing a huge improvement over prior seasons. While he may not possess an elite glove, Jones has swiped 28 bags in his limited MLB action. He could make for a useful pairing with DeShields up the middle.
While this deal shifts the assets between the clubs, it’s worth noting that it won’t have much impact on their respective payroll situations. MLBTR projects Martin to earn $3.75MM next year, matching his salary from 2015 — he would have only been projected at $1.6MM without that starting point — while Bass lands at $1.1MM. Meanwhile, the arb model pegs Wilhelmsen at an even $3MM.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported the deal on Twitter. T.R. Sullivan first reported (on Twitter) the inclusion of Jones.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.