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Nick Solak

Rangers Getting Nick Solak Work In Center Field

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Acquired in a July trade that sent righty Peter Fairbanks to the Rays, Rangers infield prospect Nick Solak impressed upon being promoted to the show late in 2019, hitting .293/.393/.491 with five home runs, six doubles, a triple and two steals in 135 plate appearances. Pair that with his .289/.362/.532 slash in Triple-A last year, and it’s easy to see why Rangers president of baseball ops Jon Daniels, manager Chris Woodward and the rest of the organization’s decision-makers are so intrigued by Solak’s potential.

However, while there’s room for flexibility in the infield, the Texas organization is more focused on having Solak learn a position that is largely new to him this spring; Woodward tells Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that learning the ropes in center field is Solak’s “top priority” in Spring Training. Danny Santana is currently the team’s top option in center, but playing Solak there would free Santana to bounce around the diamond.

It’s a semi-surprising development for the 25-year-old Solak, who has played just 165 professional innings in center — nearly all of which came with the Rays’ Double-A affiliate back in 2018. He’s played left field a bit more regularly (506 pro innings), but the overwhelming majority of Solak’s experience on defense has come at second base, where he’s logged 2951 innings.

The possibility of Solak suiting up as even a semi-regular option in center field is indeed intriguing. Playing Solak in the outfield and not at third base would free the Rangers to use Todd Frazier at the hot corner regularly, giving former top prospect Ronald Guzman and perhaps non-roster players like Greg Bird and Sam Travis a chance to impress at first base. It’d also allow Santana to shift into a super-utility role that probably better suits him; the Twins tried Santana as a regular center fielder early in his career without much success.

For much of the offseason, center field looked to be an area of need in Arlington. (Of course, it very arguably still does, even with the Solak wrinkle now in play.) Delino DeShields has been the Rangers’ most regular option in recent years, but he’s now in Cleveland. Joey Gallo logged significant innings there in 2019 and graded out surprisingly well in the estimation of many defensive metrics, but the Rangers seem to prefer him in right field. Prospects Leody Taveras and Julio Pablo Martinez need more time to develop. And the Rangers clearly weren’t enamored of the options on the free-agent and trade markets — at least not at their respective asking prices.

Can Solak successfully make the move? FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen pegs his speed and arm at average on the 20-80 scale but grades him as a well below-average defender overall (though he nevertheless checked in as the game’s No. 109 overall prospect on Longenhagen’s rankings). Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo offer similar opinions at MLB.com, calling him a “fringy” defender all over the infield and outfield despite his athleticism and ability to run. Of course, if Solak hits like he did in Triple-A and in his big league debut, the Rangers might very well be able to live with some defensive growing pains as he adjusts to increased outfield reps. Santana will remain on hand as an option, should the experiment prove unsuccessful, but the manner in which Solak takes to his new position will be an fascinating scenario to watch as the Cactus League progresses.

Rangers Place Nomar Mazara on IL, Purchase Nick Solak’s Contract

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Following an early exit from last night’s game, Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara will head to the injured list with a strained left oblique muscle, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning-News (link). The team has purchased the contract of infielder Nick Solak in a corresponding move.

This sequence of moves has been suspected since last night when Mazara went down. It’s been a difficult season for Mazara, with these last few weeks particularly trying as the Rangers have cut into his playing time in an open audition to get more production from his spot in the lineup. The 24-year-old outfielder was a star-in-the-making not all that long ago, but he has yet to improve much in any aspect of his game since his rookie season in 2016.

Still, it’s not all doom-and-gloom for Mazara, who was headed for a fourth-straight 20-homer campaign had he stated healthy. Depending on the length of his layoff, he’ll still have a decent shot at notching the three home runs needed to hit the mark in 2019. On the whole, the power has been there for Mazara this season, with .467 slugging and .197 ISO both career-high marks. The rest of his game has maintained an almost bizarre consistency for a player so young. He’s sitting right now at a 95 wRC+ mark–right in line with his previous three marks of 96, 89, and 91 in seasons dating back to 2016. Unfortunately, that’s not quite enough pop from a corner outfielder who doesn’t rate well on defense or on the basepaths.

Solak is penciled into the 6th spot in the batting order to make his major league debut today. He is listed right now as the designated hitter, though much of his perceived long-term value stems from his defensive versatility. Throughout his minor league career, he has shuttled between second base, left field, and centerfield, while seeing an occasional inning at third or in right. It’s a good time to be debuting in Texas: yesterday alone, Jose Trevino, 26, smashed his first career home run, Scott Heineman, 26, registered his first career RBI, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, 24, ended the night with his first career walkoff knock.

Joe Palumbo has also been added to the roster today to serve as the 26th man for the twin bill against the Angels – one of two rookie starters taking the hill in today’s doubleheader. Palumbo lines up against Andrew Heaney in the afternoon tilt. It will be Palumbo’s 4th appearance of the year for the Rangers, having been hit hard for 11 earned runs across 9 innings of work. Despite the slow start at the ML level, the 24-year-old native of New York state is highly-regarded. MLB.com lists Palumbo as the 6th-best prospect in the Texas system, while Baseball America ranks him 4th.

Danny Santana, Nomar Mazara Exit With Injuries

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TUESDAY: Santana’s confident he won’t miss time, according to manager Chris Woodward, but it doesn’t appear Mazara will be as fortunate. His oblique injury is similar to (but not as severe as) the strain that sent teammate Joey Gallo to the IL in June. Gallo wound up sitting out just over three weeks (via Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).

MONDAY: Rangers utilityman Danny Santana and outfielder Nomar Mazara left the team’s game Monday with injuries that seem as if they could lead to IL stints. Santana departed with left hamstring tightness, while Mazara succumbed to tightness in his left oblique. Should at least one of those players end up on the shelf, the Rangers are prepared to promote infield/outfield prospect Nick Solak from Triple-A Nashville, TR Sullivan of MLB.com suggests. Nashville pulled Solak from its game Monday.

At 60-64, the Rangers’ once-legitimate postseason hopes are now dead. But Santana has done everything in his power this season to help propel the Rangers back to prominence. The 28-year-old switch-hitter has slashed .305/.333/.576 with 21 home runs and 13 steals (on 19 attempts) over 376 plate appearances. Between Santana’s offensive production and his defensive versatility (he has appeared in double-digit games in the outfield, at first and at second), he undoubtedly looks like one of the best bargain signings of last offseason. Texas inked the former Twin and Brave to a minor league deal after a couple rough seasons, and the Rangers will be able to control him two more times via arbitration.

This season hasn’t been as prosperous for Mazara, who still hasn’t lived up to the considerable hype he garnered coming up through the Rangers’ system. While the fourth-year man has been on a tear of late, his overall .268/.318/.466 line with 17 HRs in 443 is merely mediocre. There have been rumblings about the Rangers possibly trading the 24-year-old Mazara, who has another two seasons of arb control left. That could be a situation to watch over the winter, but for now, the sizzling Mazara will hope to stay off the IL.

In the event that doesn’t happen, Solak, 24, could crack a big league roster for the first time. He’s just over a month into his tenure with the Rangers, who acquired him from the Rays on July 13 in a swap for young righty Peter Fairbanks. It was already the second trade involving Solak – a 2016 second-round pick whom the Yankees sent to the Rays in a three-teamer back in 2018.

Solak may yet emerge as a regular in Texas, with FanGraphs placing him just outside the game’s top 100 prospects and contending he’ll at least turn into “an average everyday second baseman.” Solak has made a strong case for a promotion by raking since he got to Nashville, where he has slashed an eyebrow-raising .357/.390/.670 with 10 home runs in 124 trips to the plate. Even in the offense-driven Pacific Coast League, Solak’s production has been 48 percent above average, according to wRC+.

Rays, Rangers Swap Nick Solak, Peter Fairbanks

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The Rangers have acquired INF/OF Nick Solak from Tampa for righty Peter Fairbanks, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Solak, 24, has slugged 17 homers for Triple-A Durham so far this season, though his .266/.353/.485 line checks in just 11 percent above the league average in the rocket-powered International League. The utility man sits at #93 on FanGraphs’ latest update of the game’s top prospects, with the site especially lauding his makeup, versatility, and power/speed combo. An addition to the 40-man roster would have been necessary for the former Yankee farmhand this offseason, and with the club already possessing of Joey Wendle, rookie-of-the-year candidate Brandon Lowe, Christian Arroyo, Willy Adames, Daniel Robertson, Matt Duffy, Mike Brosseau, Yandy Diaz, and up-and-comer Vidal Brujan in roles that would mirror Solak’s eventual place on the roster, a move did seem prudent.

Fairbanks, 25, brought his super-charged fastball to Arlington for the first time this season. The 6’6 righty struggled big-time with command in his short Ranger stint, walking seven in just 8 2/3 IP, to go with four homers allowed, but did flash world-beating stuff over that span (15 K, 97.2 MPH average fastball velocity). The two-time Tommy John survivor has logged just 43 minor-league innings since a transition to the bullpen in 2017, a sample which hasn’t held back plaudits from evaluators around the game. FanGraphs describes the flame-thrower as an “impact relief piece,” grading his fastball/slider combo as one of the best for burgeoning relief prospects across the minors.

Fairbanks’ll head to Triple-A Durham, per Topkin, where he’ll bolster an already-staunch register of high-leverage pieces in the Tampa ’pen. Even without effective seasons from lynchpins Diego Castillo and Jose Alvarado, the Tampa ’pen reigns FIP-supreme in MLB this season, with an AL-best 45.5% grounder rate.

The assignment for Solak is as-yet unclear, but he’d seem to represent a perfect right-side complement to Nomar Mazara, Shin-Soo Choo, or Asdrubal Cabrera, all of whom have slumped badly against southpaws this season. Rougned Odor, he of the dreadful 63 wRC+, has actually been far better against same-side hurlers this season, so perhaps the club pans to slot in Solak full-time at the keystone in his place.

Yankees Acquire Brandon Drury, D-Backs Acquire Steven Souza In Three-Team Trade With Rays

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The Rays, Yankees and D-backs have agreed to a significant three-team trade that will send outfielder Steven Souza from Tampa Bay to Arizona, infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury from Arizona to New York and prospects to Tampa Bay. The Rays will receive left-hander Anthony Banda and two players to be named later from the D-backs as well as minor league second baseman Nick Solak from the Yankees. Additionally, the Yankees will send right-hander Taylor Widener to the Diamondbacks. The teams have announced the trade.

Steven Souza | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The acquisition of Souza will be the second notable outfield pickup for the D-backs in as many days, as the Snakes added Jarrod Dyson on a two-year deal yesterday just minutes after losing out on J.D. Martinez, who signed a five-year deal with the Red Sox. Souza is a solid consolation price to that failed pursuit, as he’ll give the D-backs a right-handed bat with lesser power but superior defense to Martinez — and it’s certainly notable that he’s coming off a 30-homer season himself.

Souza, set to turn 29 in late April, hit .239/.351/.459 with 21 doubles, a pair of triples and 16 stolen bases in addition to his 30 home runs last season. While he can’t make up for the loss of Martinez’s bat on his own, he’s long shown plenty of pop at the plate and last season walked at a career-best 13.6 percent clip as well. He is, of course, not without red flags. Even if he’s able to sustain the uptick in walks, Souza figures to continue to hit for a questionable batting average so long as he continues to struggle with his overall contact skills. Souza whiffed at a 29 percent rate in 2017, and that actually represented an improvement over 2016’s alarming 34 percent strikeout rate.

That said, he comes to the D-backs with three years of club control remaining, meaning he’ll be a fairly long-term option for them in an outfield mix that also includes Dyson, impending free agent A.J. Pollock, David Peralta and Yasmany Tomas (though the D-backs would surely love to escape the remainder of Tomas’ onerous financial commitment).

Arizona will also add a former 12th-round pick, Widener, that turned in a strong season in Class-A Advanced last season when he tossed 119 1/3 innings of 3.39 ERA ball with a 129-to-50 K/BB ratio over the life of 27 starts. He’s had some durability issues in the past, with Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com noting last summer that he had ulnar transposition surgery in 2015 and dealt with back and knee injuries in college. There’s starter potential for Widener, but he’ll need to prove capable of handling a regular workload in the rotation.

[Updated Depth Charts: Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks]

The 25-year-old Drury, meanwhile, will give the Yankees the infield depth they’ve been seeking as they currently make evaluations of Miguel Andujar at third base and Gleyber Torres at second base. After trading Chase Headley and Starlin Castro this offseason, the Yanks lacked certainty at both of those positions, but Drury presents a more experienced option than any of their infield prospect that has seen plenty of Major League action at both slots. If Andujar and/or Torres prove ready to handle a full workload in 2018, then Drury can shift into a super-utility role and provide depth at a number of spots around the diamond.

Brandon Drury | Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Drury is fresh off a solid, if unspectacular .267/.317/.447 slash with 13 homers through 480 plate appearances this past season. Since establishing himself as a regular in the D-backs’ infield/corner outfield rotation in 2016, Drury has batted .275/.323/.453 with 29 home runs. He’s controllable for another four seasons and should factor into the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup, though which position he plays will likely be determined over the course of Spring Training.

Drury, a rumored target for the Yankees dating back to December, comes to the Yankees with more than 1000 innings of MLB experience at second base and more than 300 innings at third base; that division of labor was flipped during his minor league career, as he logged more than 3000 innings at the hot corner in the minors and just 620 at second base prior to reaching the Majors.

He drew above-average marks from Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating for his work in 947 innings at second base this past season, though both metrics feel his limited big league work at third base has been below average. Drury also has 700 innings of corner outfield work under his belt (where he’s drawn below-average marks as well) and has even played six innings at shortstop in the Majors.

The acquisition of Drury likely puts an end to the oft-speculated possibility of a Mike Moustakas signing for the Yankees. And, because he’s not eligible for arbitration until next winter, Drury allows the Yankees to maintain plenty of financial flexibility, leaving room for in-season moves, which was reported to be a priority for GM Brian Cashman.

As for the Rays, the trade sends the latest of several signals that the team is looking to retool its current group and scale back payroll. Souza avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.55MM deal earlier this winter, and he’ll now join Corey Dickerson ($5.95MM) and Jake Odorizzi ($6.3MM) as arbitration-eligible players whom the Rays have shipped out in recent days. The subtractions of Odorizzi and Souza leave the Rays with a projected payroll of just $78.77MM, and that’ll further drop once it’s determined how much (if any) of Dickerson’s salary they’ll need to pay in 2018. The Rays would owe Dickerson 30 days of his non-guaranteed arbitration salary for the 2018 season if he clears waivers and is released — roughly $975K — so this trio of moves should dip their payroll into the $73MM range.

Cost savings notwithstanding, the Rays also look to have bolstered their farm system in a meaningful way with today’s trade. Baseball America rated Banda second among D-backs farmhands (albeit in a weak minor league system), while the publication considered Solak to be the 10th-best second base prospect in the game.

The 24-year-old Banda entered the 2017 season as BA’s No. 88 overall prospect, but he struggled through a down year in 2017, pitching to a 5.39 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 42 percent ground-ball rate in 122 innings in the extremely hitter-friendly confines of Triple-A Reno. The former 10th-rounder also made his MLB debut in 2017, allowing 17 runs in 25 2/3 innings with a 25-to-10 K/BB ratio. Even with that rough run in Triple-A and the Majors, Banda still has a potential future as a mid-rotation starter, per BA, whose scouting report also noted that he also showed the skills to be a quality late-inning reliever.

Anthony Banda | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Solak, meanwhile, batted .297/.384/.452 with 12 homers and 14 steals through 130 games / 538 plate appearances split between Class-A Advanced and Double-A in his first full season in 2017. He also displayed strong K/BB ratios, striking out at an 18.5 percent pace to go along with a quality 11.7 percent walk rate.

It remains to be seen whether the trades of Souza, Odorizzi and Dickerson will serve as the catalyst for a full-scale fire sale in St. Petersburg, where the Rays still have highly appealing assets such as Chris Archer and Alex Colome. Technically speaking, the Rays have MLB-ready assets that can plausibly step into the fold in the place of Odorizzi, given the presence of pitching prospects like Brent Honeywell, Jose De Leon, Banda and Ryan Yarbrough, among others. Mallex Smith, meanwhile, is an option to step into the outfield in place of Souza or Dickerson, while veteran Denard Span can handle another outfield spot.

But, it’s also true that the Rays face an uphill battle in a competitive AL East — especially following the subtraction of two of their better hitters from 2017 and a rotation mainstay in Odorizzi. Viewed through that lens, there’s good sense for the Rays to continue to at least explore trade possibilities for the likes of Archer and Colome as they look to bolster their farm, improve their draft/international pools for the 2019 season and establish a new wave of controllable, pre-arbitration assets that can help their lower-revenue organization form a core in the next competitive cycle.

That type of thinking has drawn the ire of agents and the Major League Baseball Players Association this offseason, given the diminished number of teams that are even entertaining the thought of signing veteran free agents. But, it’s also factual that the system, as currently constructed in the latest CBA, favors aggressive tear-downs more than it does trying to walk the line between rebuilding and contending — a reality that could conceivably push the Rays into further action on the trade market.

FanRag’s Robert Murray got the ball rolling on the story by reporting that Solak was headed to the Rays for an unknown return (via Twitter). FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweeted that Drury had been traded to the Yankees. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic broke the three-team nature of the swap, including that Souza was going to the D-backs (Twitter link). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Banda was coming to the Rays in the deal. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Widener’s inclusion in the deal (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert added that there were a pair of PTBNLs going to the Rays in the swap as well (via Twitter).

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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