AL Notes: Davis, Aoki, Jones, Ondrusek, Angels, A’s
Wade Davis is making progress on his way back to the Royals, as he’s set for an inning of action at Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. Kansas City has thrived without their 30-year-old closer, but that doesn’t mean his return doesn’t come with anticipation. The defending World Series champs have clawed their way back into the postseason picture — no surprise for this group — but still sits four games out of Wild Card position and need every advantage that can be found.
Here’s more from the American League:
- The Mariners optioned outfielder Nori Aoki to Triple-A tonight as part of a series of roster moves, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was among those to tweet. While he has struggled for much of the year, Aoki has actually been quite useful at the plate in August with a .338/.392/.426 batting line for the month. But Seattle needed fresh arms, and so took advantage of the ability to remove the veteran from the active roster for the time being. He’ll surely be back shortly with rosters expanding in a few days.
- Orioles outfielder Adam Jones left tonight’s action with what the team is calling a hamstring strain. That could be a big problem for the O’s, who not only need Jones’s bat in the lineup but don’t have any ready replacements on their depth chart. But skipper Buck Showalter says that he doesn’t believe Jones will require a DL stint, as Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com tweets.
- Earlier today, the Orioles designated righty Logan Ondrusek off of their active roster. Unlike a typical DFA, the move simply puts the player on ice while he is passed through optional assignment waives. The procedural step was taken to enable the team to reinstate lefty T.J. McFarland from the DL.
- The Angels have hired a new amateur scouting, adding former Cardinals cross-checker Matt Swanson, as ESPN.com’s Keith Law reported on Twitter. Los Angeles has continued to experience change in the upper levels of its player intake and development departments, which is no surprise given that GM Billy Eppler only took the helm last October.
- Just like their AL West rivals, the Athletics are engaged in a complicated ballpark situation, though their’s may be trending away from their current digs at the O.Co Coliseum. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier & Ross recently provided a look at the latest on the search for a new site, with quiet majority owner John Fisher said to be looking closely at a spot in Oakland’s Howard Terminal that is the preferred spot of mayor Libby Schaaf.
Orioles Sign Logan Ondrusek To MLB Deal, Designate Chaz Roe
The Orioles have signed righty Logan Ondrusek to a major league deal, per a club announcement. Fellow right-hander Chaz Roe has been designated for assignment to clear roster space.
[Related: Updated Orioles Depth Chart]
Ondrusek, 31, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues — or, indeed, in North America — since 2014. But he has been pitching quite well in Japan for the Yakult Swallows. Over his 99 2/3 frames on the year in Japan’s NPB, Ondrusek has pitched to a 2.17 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.
Ondrusek previously enjoyed a solid, if uneven, run with the Reds from 2010 through 2014. He ran up a 3.34 ERA over his first two full seasons in the majors, then dropped off to a 4.69 earned run mark over his final two campaigns. Oddly, though, Ondrusek’s peripherals actually improved quite a bit over 2013-14, as he averaged an improved 8.9 K/9 while dropping his walk rate to 3.0 BB/9.
As for Roe, 29, he’ll enter DFA limbo after throwing 9 2/3 frames for the big league club this season. He has allowed four earned runs in his nine appearances, striking out 11 but also walking seven batters. In 75 1/3 innings over parts of four campaigns, Roe owns a 4.18 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9.
Yakult Swallows Sign Logan Ondrusek
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball have signed right-hander Logan Ondrusek to a one-year contract, the team announced (as reported in The Japan Times). The deal is worth $1.2MM and the Swallows have a club option on Ondrusek’s services for the 2016 season. Ondrusek is represented by Rich Thompson.
Ondrusek, 29, was non-tendered by the Reds last month following a season that saw him post a 5.49 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.63 K/BB rate over 41 relief innings. A .360 BABIP was largely to blame for Ondrusek’s struggles, as ERA indicators such as FIP (3.91), xFIP (3.80), SIERA (3.36) painted a more generous evaluation of his 2014 performance. Ondrusek was arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter, and was projected by MLBTR’s Matt Swartz to earn a $2.3MM salary in 2015
The 6’8″ righty has spent all five of his Major League seasons with the Reds, posting a career 3.89 ERA, 1.93 K/BB rate and a 7.1 K/9 over 270 2/3 IP, demonstrating roughly equal effectiveness against both right-handed and left-handed batters. Though he has only two career saves in the majors (not a surprise given Aroldis Chapman‘s presence in Cincinnati), Ondrusek will be in competition to serve as the Swallows’ closer.
2014-15 National League Non-Tenders
Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2015 season. We’ll run down the list of National League non-tenders here, and update it as reports come in. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR’s Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates (in the estimation of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes). Also important for reference is the set of arbitration salary projections from MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz. Click here for an explanation of the process, and be sure to check out this piece featuring some interesting observations from Tim regarding non-tender considerations.
- The Rockies have non-tendered lefty Kraig Sitton, the team announced.
- The Pirates have non-tendered Gaby Sanchez and Chaz Roe, the club announced. Sanchez was in DFA limbo.
- The Cardinals will non-tender Daniel Descalso, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. That move seemed rather likely, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reported last night.
- Lefty Wesley Wright and catcher John Baker have been non-tendered by the Cubs, the team announced. Wright certainly qualifies as a surprise, as the 29-year-old was solid for the Cubs and was projected to earn just $2MM.
- The Reds have non-tendered righties Logan Ondrusek and Curtis Partch, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports.
- Meanwhile, the Giants have tendered all arb-eligible players contracts, Alex Pavlovic of the Mercury News reports on Twitter.
- The Mets have announced that Eric Young Jr. has been non-tendered, ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin tweets.
- The Braves have dropped the biggest non-tender news of the day thus far, releasing Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy to the open market. Otherwise, the only teams announcing to this point have decided to tender all of their players.
- There will are no non-tenders to report for the Diamondbacks, who have announced that they have tendered contracts to all eligible players (via MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, on Twitter).
- The same holds true for the Marlins, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (Twitter link).
- The Nationals have announced that they have tendered contracts to all ten eligible players, per Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com (via Twitter). Washington had previously agreed to avoid arbitration with one other player from the packed class (Kevin Frandsen).
NL Notes: Phillies, Reds, Rockies, Figgins
As players, coaches, and front office personnel begin to arrive in Florida and Arizona for Spring Training 2013, let's take a look at the news and notes from the National League:
- The Phillies were surprised Ben Revere was available and, in fact, it was the Twins who brought his name up in trade talks after dealing Denard Span to the Nationals, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer's Bob Brookover.
- Within the same article, Brookover writes the struggles of Domonic Brown were one reason the Phillies were forced to alter their offseason blueprint. "We were hopeful that Domonic would lock down one of those corner outfield spots," GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He did not do that. He still may do that…but we can't necessarily count on that to happen. Because of that, then we were kind of filling all three outfield positions."
- MLB.com's Mark Sheldon provided additional contract details for some of the players the Reds have signed within the last month including right-hander Logan Ondrusek, who has more than two dozen different escalators, incentives, and bonuses written into the two-year deal he signed last month.
- Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Juan Nicasio, and Jeff Francis are near locks for the first four slots in the Rockies' starting rotation leaving Drew Pomeranz, Christian Friedrich, Tyler Chatwood and Chris Volstad jockeying for the fifth spot, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.
- MLB.com's Thomas Harding tweets the candidates for the Rockies' rotation change daily, but the final two spots could come down to Nicasio, Pomeranz, and Chatwood.
- Larry Beinfest, the Marlins' president of baseball operations, envisions the recently signed Chone Figgins in a Alfredo Amezaga-type role, tweets Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel. Amezaga played every position, except pitcher and catcher, during his four-year stint in Miami.
Reds, Logan Ondrusek Agree To Deal
The Reds and Logan Ondrusek have agreed to terms on a two-year deal to avoid arbitration, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The right-handed reliever is a client of Rich Thompson.
Ondrusek, 28 in February, posted a 3.46 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 63 games last season. This was the reliever's first time entering the arbitration process and it looks like he won't encounter it again until after the 2014 season. Ondrusek, who is a Super Two, is eligible for free agency after the 2016 campaign.
The Reds have several arbitration cases left, including Mat Latos. Earlier this week, Matt Swartz examined Latos' situation. Swartz's projections had Ondrusek pegged at $900K this winter.