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Nick Wittgren

Royals, Nick Wittgren Agree To Minor League Deal

By Anthony Franco | December 23, 2022 at 8:35pm CDT

The Royals are signing reliever Nick Wittgren to a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll receive an invitation to MLB Spring Training.

Wittgren has pitched at the MLB level in each of the last seven seasons. The Purdue product spent three years apiece in Miami and Cleveland between 2016-21, typically posting solid results while soaking up low-leverage innings. Wittgren put up an ERA of 3.14 or lower in three of his first four campaigns, showing strong control and typically missing bats at a slightly above-average clip. Home runs became an increasing issue during his time in Cleveland, though, and he surrendered nearly two longballs per nine innings en route to a 5.05 ERA in 2021.

The Guardians outrighted him off their 40-man roster at the end of the 2021 season. He spent most of the winter in free agency but caught on with the Cardinals during Spring Training on a big league contract. That deal guaranteed him $1.2MM and a season-opening bullpen spot.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, Wittgren’s struggles during his final year in Cleveland were only magnified with the Cardinals. He was tagged for a 5.90 ERA across 29 outings. Wittgren got the longball in check but saw his ability to miss bats vanish. He struck out only 12.7% of opponents for St. Louis, seven percentage points lower than his previous personal-low mark. In early July, the Cardinals released him. He sat out the remainder of the 2022 campaign and will try to work his way back to the majors with their in-state rivals next spring.

Wittgren doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging only 91.4 MPH on his fastball this past season. He doesn’t have the kind of power arsenal that usually plays in high-leverage work, but he’s walked fewer than 7% of batters faced as a big leaguer. Kansas City hasn’t made any major league additions to their bullpen so far this offseason. Their relievers ranked 27th in the majors with a 4.66 ERA this year.

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Cardinals Release Nick Wittgren

By Anthony Franco | July 11, 2022 at 8:05pm CDT

The Cardinals have released reliever Nick Wittgren, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The veteran will head back to the open market upon clearing waivers.

St. Louis signed Wittgren to a one-year contract during Spring Training that guaranteed him $1.2MM. He’ll receive the remainder of that salary, with the Cards on the hook for the tab. A club that signs the righty will only be responsible for the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum for any time he spends on their MLB roster. That figure would be subtracted from the Cardinals obligations.

Wittgren, 31, appeared in 29 games for St. Louis. He tossed a matching number of innings, posting a disappointing 5.90 ERA while striking out a career-low 12.7% of opponents. That was a marked drop relative to the league average 23.6% mark he posted for Cleveland last season, and a particularly stark decline from his personal-best 28.6% during the truncated 2020 campaign. Wittgren demonstrated continued strong control, but the downturn in swing-and-miss led the Cardinals to go in a different direction.

A seven-year MLB veteran, Wittgren has also suited up with the Marlins and Indians during his career. He’s allowed just under four earned runs per nine over 300 1/3 innings, posting slightly below-average strikeout and grounder rates but working as a generally durable and reliable middle innings arm. He’ll surely get another opportunity elsewhere, although it’s likely to be of the minor league variety given his slow start in 2022.

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Cardinals Designate Nick Wittgren For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | July 2, 2022 at 11:30am CDT

The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game, with righty Jordan Hicks being activated from the 15-day injured list. Lefty Matthew Liberatore was also recalled to take a spot on the active roster. To create room for those two hurlers, the Cards optioned righty Jake Woodford and designated righty Nick Wittgren for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster now sits at 39, though T.J. McFarland and Genesis Cabrera are currently on the COVID IL and will need roster spots when they are eligible to return.

Wittgren, 31, spent the first three years of his career with the Marlins and the next three with Cleveland. In that time, he established himself as a solid if unspectacular bullpen piece. At the end of the 2021 season, he had 271 1/3 innings under his belt with a 3.75 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 39.9% ground ball rate. He had never posted an ERA above 5.00 until 2021, and even then, it was just 5.05. Cleveland could have controlled him for one more year via arbitration but decided to move on, after which he was scooped up by the Cards on a one-year deal for $1.2MM.

It’s been a difficult season to evaluate for Wittgren, with many of his stats differing from career norms. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 12.7%, barely half of his mark coming into the year. He’s allowed a .333 BABIP, well above his .292 career rate. However, his HR/FB is just 2.9%, well below the 12.4% rate of his career. All of that has resulted in a 5.90 ERA, though advanced metrics are divided as to whether that’s deserved or not. SIERA gives him a 4.73 with xFIP at 5.14, but xERA and FIP have him at 3.83 and 3.85, respectively. There’s some wide variance there, but all of those metrics feel he’s better than his ERA suggests. According to Statcast, Wittgren is in the 99th percentile in terms of barrel percentage and 78th percentile in terms of hard hit percentage. Any team that needs bullpen help and believes that Wittgren’s suppression of hard contract is sustainable could be interested in acquiring his services. The Cardinals will have a week to work out a trade or put him on waivers.

As for Hicks, he returns after just over a month on the IL due to a forearm strain. Though the Cardinals tinkered with adding him to the rotation earlier in the year, he seems ticketed for a return to the bullpen now. In his four rehab outings, he tossed five total innings, with all but one of those appearances being of the one-inning variety. Despite tantalizing stuff, Hicks has been limited by injuries in recent years. After throwing 77 2/3 innings in 2018, he’s thrown just 67 1/3 total frames in the four subsequent seasons.

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Cardinals Sign Nick Wittgren

By Darragh McDonald | March 13, 2022 at 2:40pm CDT

The Cardinals have announced that they’ve signed right-handed pitcher Nick Wittgren to a one-year contract. Wittgren will make $1.2MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided.

A veteran of six seasons, Wittgren will turn 31 in May. He spent his first three seasons in Miami before being traded to Cleveland, where he spent the past three years. In his career, he’s played in 258 games and thrown 271 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.75. His 23.5% strikeout rate is right around average, though his walk rate of 6.7% is quite good.

Last year was a bit of a setback for the righty, as his ERA jumped up to 5.05, a career high. His strikeout rate also fell to 23.6% after being at 26% in 2019 and 28.6% in 2020. The walk rate was still good, coming in at 6.6%. He was set to go through arbitration for a final time this winter, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a salary of $2.8MM. However, the club decided to put him on waivers at the end of the year, effectively non-tendering him. Wittgren cleared and elected free agency.

For the Cardinals, this is their second bullpen upgrade since the lockout ended, as they also added Drew VerHagen recently. Both Wittgren and VerHagen are righties and will likely join Giovanny Gallegos, Alex Reyes, Ryan Helsley and Jordan Hicks as right-handed options in the Cardinals bullpen to start the year.

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Nick Wittgren, Cam Hill Elect Free Agency

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | November 5, 2021 at 2:07pm CDT

Guardians right-handers Nick Wittgren and Cam Hill have each cleared outright waivers, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Both pitchers have elected minor league free agency.

Wittgren was arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $2.8MM. Cleveland determined not to make that kind of commitment after the veteran posted a career-high 5.05 ERA over 62 1/3 frames of relief in 2021. The 30-year-old posted solid strikeout and walk numbers (23.6% and 6.6%, respectively) but was plagued by the longball. Wittgren served up 1.88 HR/9 this past season, his third straight year allowing dingers at a higher-than-average rate.

Issues with homers notwithstanding, it stands to reason Wittgren will find some interest on the open market. He’s been a reliable bullpen workhorse, working 40+ frames in four of his five MLB seasons (excluding last year’s truncated schedule). Wittgren also has four seasons of a sub-3.50 ERA on his resume, and he’s only one season removed from punching out a very strong 28.6% of opposing hitters.

Hill was not arbitration-eligible, but the Guardians elected to take him off the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old debuted with 18 1/3 frames of 4.91 ERA ball in 2020, but he missed the first three-plus months of the 2021 season due to injury and ultimately spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Columbus. Over 24 2/3 frames with the Clippers, he managed just an 8.03 ERA with poor peripherals.

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Indians’ Recent Struggles Lead To Difficult Deadline Decisions

By Anthony Franco | July 11, 2021 at 2:51pm CDT

A couple weeks ago, the Indians season seemed to hit a crossroads. The team was in a good place in the standings. As recently as June 26, Cleveland was sporting a 41-32 record, sitting only a game and a half behind the AL Central-leading White Sox. They were the only real threat to Chicago in an otherwise bad division.

The state of the roster, though, told a different story. Cleveland’s offense has underwhelmed all year, with the team’s strong run prevention keeping them in the race. The Indians were dealt a series of injuries to their top three starters — Zach Plesac, Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale — in fairly rapid succession, though. That left an unproven, inexperienced group taking the bump without the benefit of a high-powered lineup to back them up.

Not surprisingly, it’s been tough sledding for Cleveland in recent weeks. The Indians have gone just 4-10 over their last fourteen games, falling 7.5 back of the White Sox. They’re a more manageable four games back in the Wild Card race, but their skid has raised some questions about the team’s ability to stay in contention. Plesac returned from the IL this week, but the Indians are still without Bieber and Civale and continue to have questions about the lineup. FanGraphs gives the Indians just a 7.1% chance of reaching the postseason at this point, with their odds of winning the division down to 3.5%.

The front office is no doubt aware of those dwindling playoff odds. Indeed, Jon Heyman of MLB Network hears from rival executives that Cleveland has made some players on the big league roster available to other clubs in advance of the July 30 trade deadline.

It’s not clear specifically which players are on the market, but there’s no indication the Indians are planning any sort of full-on teardown. Bieber and José Ramírez would be the top two players on the trade market were they made available, but it seems highly unlikely the Indians would market those kinds of controllable stars in response to two weeks of poor play. The Cleveland front office would probably figure to listen to offers on players with less club control. There aren’t many players on the Indians roster who stand out as obvious trade chips at first glance, though.

Second baseman César Hernández looks like the team’s most plausible trade candidate. He’s hitting .226/.305/.413 and has already tied his career high in home runs (15) this season. It’s a nontraditional shape of production for Hernández, who typically hits for strong averages and reaches base at a high clip without hitting for much power. While Hernández’s profile has changed in 2021, he’s been similarly valuable as before. His 95 wRC+ this year isn’t far off his career mark (99) and is essentially unchanged from his 2019-20 production (97). Hernández is making an affordable $5MM this season and comes with a $6MM club option (no buyout) for 2022.

Cleveland would figure to welcome interest in corner outfielder Eddie Rosario. He’s making $8MM, though, and wasn’t having a particularly good year even before landing on the 10-day injured list with an abdominal strain this week. The Indians have a handful of young relievers (James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, Nick Sandlin) who would figure to draw plenty of attention, but it’s not clear the team would consider moving any of them. Veteran relievers Nick Wittgren and Bryan Shaw would probably be more attainable but wouldn’t bring back franchise-altering returns.

More broadly, the Indians are facing an interesting few months as an organization. The controllable core of Ramírez, Bieber, Civale, Plesac and Franmil Reyes looks good enough to anchor a contender. They would obviously love for Andrés Giménez and Amed Rosario to produce enough to supplement that group. The farm system is regarded as one of the league’s best. It’s not inconceivable to see the Indians as a threat in the division in the coming years, even if the front office moves a couple veterans before the deadline in an acknowledgment of their increasingly slim playoff chances in 2021.

As the past few weeks have shown, though, there’s still plenty of work to be done to make the current roster a legitimate contender. The rotation is very strong at the top but the recent injury woes have exposed its lack of depth. The outfield has been a weak point for years. The catching duo of Roberto Pérez and Austin Hedges is a well-regarded defensive grouping but has offered virtually nothing at the plate, and the team’s first basemen have been the worst offensively in MLB this year. Giménez also struggled in his first crack at locking down shortstop.

There’s still a few weeks for president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and the rest of the front office to settle on a pre-deadline plan. Even if they stand pat or serve as minor sellers, the upcoming offseason will be a pivotal one to determining the franchise’s long-term direction.

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Cleveland Guardians MLBTR Originals Bryan Shaw Cesar Hernandez Eddie Rosario Nick Wittgren

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Indians Avoid Arbitration With Nick Wittgren

By Mark Polishuk | December 22, 2020 at 1:30pm CDT

The Indians and right-hander Nick Wittgren have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2MM salary for the 2021 season, The Athletic’s Zack Meisel reports (Twitter link).

The 29-year-old Wittgren was making his second of three trips through the arbitration process this winter.  MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Wittgren to earn between $1.4MM-$2.2MM after the righty earned $1.125MM last offseason in another arb-avoiding deal.

Acquired in something of a steal of a trade from the Marlins in February 2019, Wittgren built off the promise he showed in Miami to become a key part of the Cleveland bullpen.  Over 80 games and 81 1/3 innings with the Tribe, Wittgren has a 2.99 ERA, 4.19 K/BB rate, and 9.7 K/9.  ERA predictors haven’t been quite as impressed (4.24 FIP, 4.02 xFIP, 3.56 SIERA) since Wittgren has gotten some good luck in the form of an 84% strand rate and a .254 BABIP, and Statcast also doesn’t love many of his peripheral numbers.  Wittgren is also a bit homer-prone, though he does do a good job of limiting walks.

The Tribe has been comfortable using Wittgren as a setup man, and it seems likely that he’ll continue in that role in 2021, albeit in front of a new closer now that Brad Hand was cut loose.  James Karinchak or Emmanuel Clase could be tabbed as the top ninth-inning options, and it’s possible Wittgren might also pick up the stray save opportunity.

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Did The Marlins Gift The Indians A Setup Man?

By Steve Adams | May 7, 2020 at 12:39pm CDT

Like any club, the Indians have had their share of notable players slip through their fingers, though the losses of Kirby Yates and Gio Urshela can likely be forgiven when looking at the low costs of acquisition for the likes of Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger. Cleveland’s Feb. 4, 2019 acquisition of righty Nick Wittgren from the Marlins isn’t going to have that type of long-term impact on the franchise, but it nevertheless appears to be another high-quality, low-cost pickup for a team that has had its share of success in that regard in recent years.

Nick Wittgren | Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

When the Marlins designated Wittgren for assignment in Jan. 2019, it registered as something of a surprise, as noted here at the time. He’d had an up-and-down year in 2018 but finished out the season with a 2.94 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 0.27 HR/9 and a career-best 46 percent ground-ball rate in 33 2/3 innings with Miami. Wittgren was a 27-year-old with a minor league option remaining, a 3.60 ERA (3.50 FIP) and a 116-to-38 K/BB ratio in 127 2/3 innings of relief for the Marlins. He wasn’t expensive — still pre-arbitration at the time — and could’ve been controlled through 2022.

Whatever the reasons, the Marlins felt Wittgren was the most expendable piece on the 40-man roster when they signed Neil Walker. Five days after being designated for assignment, he was traded to Cleveland in exchange for Jordan Milbrath — a minor league righty who is only about two months younger than Wittgren and, at the time, had only briefly reached Triple-A.

For an Indians club that had moved on from the long-solid trio of Cody Allen, Zach McAllister and Dan Otero and, a year prior, had lost iron man Bryan Shaw in free agency, Wittgren proved to be a godsend. While he didn’t break camp with the team, Wittgren was summoned in early April and made his Cleveland debut by pitching 1 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. At no point in 2019 did the righty carry an ERA higher than 3.34, and by the time the season had drawn to a close, Wittgren was regularly pitching in the eighth inning as one of Brad Hand’s primary setup men. His 12 holds ranked third on the club behind Oliver Perez and Adam Cimber.

Wittgren doesn’t have the flashy Statcast numbers that some other relievers we’ve profiled recently do. He’s not a hard-thrower (92.3 mph average fastball), and he ranks below average in terms of spin rates and hard-hit rates. His home-run rate looked ripe for regression in 2018 and did indeed spike in 2019 — although the extent of that spike was surely impacted by the juiced ball (as was the case for virtually every pitcher in the league).

But Wittgren has demonstrated above-average control throughout his career and generally been effective against both righties and lefties (last year’s more pronounced platoon splits notwithstanding). Fielding-independent metrics suggest that the sub-3.00 ERA he’s managed over the past two seasons isn’t likely to hold up, but Wittgren has a career 3.71 FIP in 185 1/3 big league innings at this point.

In some ways, Wittgren mirrors the previously mentioned Shaw, who was a similarly unheralded pickup but emerged as a rock-solid late-inning stabilizer in Cleveland for a half decade. He’s not an overpowering righty but generally has solid control and has, to this point in his career, managed to maintain an ERA south of his FIP and (particularly) his xFIP thanks to home run suppression skills. He has a ways to go in terms of matching Shaw’s uncanny durability, but Wittgren still seems like a solid piece in the ’pen — even if his ERA trends a bit closer to his FIP marks.

As a 28-year-old middle reliever/setup man without huge strikeout totals, we probably won’t see Wittgren named to any All-Star teams in the near future. He’s the type of reliever who even in maintaining success will also maintain relative anonymity. Most seventh- and eighth-inning relievers on smaller market clubs aren’t exactly household names. But considering the cost of acquisition — Milbrath is already out of the Marlins organization after posting a 4.50 ERA an 5.49 FIP in 52 Triple-A frames last year — and the fact that Wittgren can be cheaply controlled through 2022, the trade looks like a nice under-the-radar move that can help Cleveland for the foreseeable future.

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Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | January 10, 2020 at 7:00pm CDT

Entering the day, there were more than 150 players on the clock to exchange arbitration figures with their respective teams prior to a noon ET deadline. As one would expect, there’ll be an utter landslide of arbitration agreements in advance of that deadline. We already ran through some key facts and reminders on the arbitration process earlier this morning for those who are unfamiliar or simply need a refresher on one of MLB’s most complex idiosyncrasies, which will hopefully clear up many questions readers might have.

We’ll track the majority of the American League’s settlements in this post and split off a separate one for NL settlements as well. Note that all projections referenced come courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

  • Newly acquired Angels righty Dylan Bundy receives a $5MM salary, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). He had projected at a $5.7MM price tag. Teammate Hansel Robles gets $3.85MM, per Heyman, just shy of his $4MM projection.
  • The Yankees have worked out deals with all of their eligible players. The team has a hefty $8.5MM pact with Aaron Judge, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Backstop Gary Sanchez settled for $5MM, per Feinsand (via Twitter). The New York org will pay righty Luis Cessa $895K and Jonathan Holder $750K, Murray reports (Twitter links). Fellow reliever Tommy Kahnle will earn $2.65MM, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). And star lefty James Paxton has settled at $12.5MM, Heyman adds via Twitter. Chad Green and Jordan Montgomery have also agreed to terms, the former at $1.275MM and the latter at $805K, per Heyman (Twitter links).
  • The Twins announced that they struck deals with Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton. Jon Heyman of MLB Network followed up with salary terms (all links to Twitter). May earns $2,205,000; Rogers takes home $4.45MM; Rosario lands at $7.75MM; and Buxton receives $3.075MM. While the first and last of those land rather close to the projected amount, Rogers got $550K more and Rosario got $1.15MM less than the calculators predicted.
  • Shortstop Carlos Correa settled with the Astros for $8MM, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (via Twitter). Righty Brad Peacock lands at a $3.9MM salary, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). The former went for more than his $7.4MM projection, while the latter ended up shy of the $4.6MM mark produced by the computers. The ’Stros also have agreed with closer Roberto Osuna as well, per an announcement. It’s a $10MM deal, slotting in just $200K shy of his projection, per Rome (via Twitter).
  • The Orioles have a deal with outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. It’s for $4.75MM, per Dan Connolly of The Athletic (via Twitter), well south of the $5.7MM projection.
  • Outfielder Jorge Soler has agreed to a $7.3MM deal with the Royals, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. That’s well off of the $11.2MM that MLBTR’s model projected, though it is likely that the cause of the gulf lies in the interpretation of the correct baseline to start from in building Soler’s salary. He’s in the 4+ service class but had been playing on the original deal he signed out of Cuba.
  • The Tigers have a deal in place with southpaw Matthew Boyd, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). It’ll pay him $5.3MM, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News (Twitter link). That falls comfortably below the $6.4MM, suggesting that Boyd’s camp was concerned with the way his suboptimal ERA would play in the arb process. Fellow lefty starter Daniel Norris will earn $2.96MM, McCosky tweets.

Earlier Settlements

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  • Carlos Rodon ($4.45MM) and Nomar Mazara ($5.56MM) each have deals with the White Sox, per Robert Murray (Twitter links). The former was projected at $4.5MM after an injury limited season, making for an expectedly light raise on his $4.2MM salary from the prior campaign. The latter, recently acquired from the Rangers, comes in just under the $5.7MM the MLBTR model projected. The Chicago organization also announced that it has agreed to terms with infielder Leury Garcia for $3.25MM and righty Evan Marshall for $1.1MM.
  • The Angels have a $900K deal in place with righty Noe Ramirez, per Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
  • Recently acquired Indians outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. will play for $1.875MM, per Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter).
  • Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones will play for $1.575MM, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter).
  • Righty Buck Farmer will earn $1.15MM from the Tigers, Robert Murray reports on Twitter.
  • The Rays will pay righty Oliver Drake $1.025MM, according to Murray (via Twitter). Infielder Daniel Robertson will play for the same rate, per John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).
  • The White Sox signed closer Alex Colome to a one-year deal worth $10.5325MM, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. A free agent next winter, Colome had been projected to earn $10.3MM. Chicago also settled at $1.1MM with righty Evan Marshall, per Robert Murray. He was projected at $1.3MM.
  • Infielder Gio Urshela and the Yankees agreed to a $2.475MM that tops his $2.2MM projection, tweets Murray.
  • The Rangers agreed to deals with Joey Gallo ($4.4MM) and Danny Santana ($3.6MM), Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). Murray adds that righty Rafael Montero gets $785K from Texas. Gallo bested his $4MM projection, while Santana fell shy of his $3.9MM projection and Montero cam in south of his $900K number.
  • Right-hander Nick Wittgren and the Indians are in agreement on a one-year, $1.125MM deal that checks in a bit south of his $1.3MM projection, per Murray.
  • The Mariners agreed to terms with outfielders Mitch Haniger ($3.01MM) and Mallex Smith ($2.35MM), tweets Murray. Haniger’s salary is a near-exact match with his $3MM projection, though Smith clocks in a bit south of his $2.7MM figure.
  • Right-hander Chris Devenski and the Astros settled on a $2MM salary that aligns perfectly with his $2MM projected salary, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.
  • The Angels and infielder Tommy La Stella agreed to a $3.25MM deal that tops his $2.9MM projection, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
  • Orioles infielder Hanser Alberto will be paid $1.65MM in 2020, tweets Joe Trezza of MLB.com. He was projected at $1.9MM.
  • The Twins and right-hander Tyler Duffey agreed to a $1.2MM deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North radio. That’s $100K north of his $1.1MM projection in the first of three trips through arbitration.
  • Southpaw Andrew Heaney and the Angels agreed on a $4.3MM salary, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. That’s quite a bit shy of the flat $5MM he was projected to earn on the heels of an injury-shortened campaign. A Super Two player, Heaney will be arb-eligible once more next winter.
  • Infielder/outfielder Chad Pinder and the Athletics settled on a one-year, $2.025MM deal, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. That tops the $1.8MM at which he was projected in his first year of eligibility.
  • The Orioles and righty Mychal Givens settled at $3.225MM, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. It’s nearly a dead match with the $3.2MM projection of Givens, who’ll be arbitration-eligible once more next winter before hitting free agency after the 2021 season.
  • Outfielder Hunter Renfroe and the Rays agreed to a $3.3MM deal, tweets Nightengale. That checks in $100K south of the $3.4MM projection for Renfroe, who’ll be arb-eligible three more times.
  • Nightengale also tweets that the Blue Jays and Matt Shoemaker agreed to a $4.2MM contract, topping his $3.8MM projection by a sum of $400K. He’ll be a free agent next winter.
  • The Indians and outfielder Tyler Naquin settled at $1.45MM, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He falls shy of his $1.8MM projection in the first of three trips through arb.
  • Righty Matt Barnes and the Red Sox have agreed to a $3.1MM deal, also via Feinsand. He was projected to earn $3MM as a second-time-eligible player. Nightengale adds that right-hander Heath Hembree and the Sox agreed to a $1.6125MM deal, which nearly matches his $1.6MM projection.
  • The Rays and righty Tyler Glasnow agreed to a $2.05MM salary for the upcoming season, MLBTR has learned. That salary clocks in north of his $1.9MM projection. As a Super Two player, Glasnow will be eligible for arbitration thrice more.
  • The Angels have agreed to a one-year pact with right-hander Keynan Middleton that’ll pay him $800K, tweets Robert Murray. That’s an exact match with the projection for Middleton, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 but returned to the mound in 2019.
  • Righty Sam Tuivailala and the Mariners agreed to an $800K salary for the upcoming season, tweets Murray. He was projected to earn $900K after returning from 2018 surgery to repair a tear in his Achilles tendon.
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Indians Acquire Nick Wittgren

By Steve Adams | February 4, 2019 at 2:55pm CDT

2:55pm: The Marlins have announced the trade, revealing that they’ll acquire fellow righty Jordan Milbrath from Cleveland in the deal.

Milbrath, 27, reached Triple-A for the first time last season but was hit hard in a small sample of 13 2/3 innings. He spent the bulk of the season in Double-A, where he notched a 3.42 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a gaudy 60.9 percent ground-ball rate. Milbrath’s ground-ball rate has exploded over the past two seasons — he was north of 70 percent in 2017 — though his success to date has come against younger competition. He’ll turn 28 on Aug. 1, making him a bit too old to be considered a “prospect,” perhaps, though his ground-ball tendencies still make him an intriguing bullpen candidate for the Marlins.

1:50pm: The Indians have reached a deal to acquire right-handed reliever Nick Wittgren from the Marlins, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Cleveland will send a minor league pitcher to Miami in return.

Wittgren, 27, was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment by the Marlins last week. On the surface, the righty pitched quite well, working to a 2.94 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 0.27 HR/9 and a career-best 46 percent ground-ball rate in 33 2/3 innings for the Fish. It’s unlikely that he’d be able to replicate the good fortune he had in terms of allowing home runs (one allowed; 2.7 percent homer-to-fly ball ratio), however, and the four walks he averaged on a per-nine-inning basis was the highest mark of his career.

Nonetheless, Wittgren has a career 3.60 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 127 2/3 of big league relief and still has a minor league option remaining, so the Indians will be able to shuttle him back and forth between Cleveland and their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus this season if need be. Wittgren doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging a bit better than 92 mph on his heater, and he doesn’t generate gaudy spin rate totals. However, he’s still managed solid results to this point in his career and represents a sensible addition for a Cleveland club that is facing enormous uncertainty in the bullpen while also navigating payroll concerns.

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Cleveland Guardians Miami Marlins Transactions Jordan Milbrath Nick Wittgren

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