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Winter Meetings Chatter: Phillies, Braves, Duffy, Kelly, Nava, Coke

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The Phillies’ “main focus” at this week’s Winter Meetings in San Diego is to find infield help, general manager Matt Klentak said Monday (via Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on Twitter). Klentak added that the club expects high-end third base prospect Alec Bohm to arrive in the majors sometime next year. That could affect the Phillies’ offseason plans, but as of now, they appear to have openings at third and at least one middle infield position (depending on where they want 2019 shortstop Jean Segura to line up). They’ve shown interest in the best shortstop on the open market, Didi Gregorius, and signing him would presumably bump Segura to second.

  • The Braves, one of Philly’s rivals, are also looking to address their infield. Third base is high atop the team’s wish list, GM Alex Anthopoulos revealed, as David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. Ideally, the club will land a “big bat” there (Josh Donaldson, one of the Braves’ premier players in 2019, is a free agent). They’re also seeking a defensively capable backup at the hot corner. If the Braves aren’t able to find a high-impact hitter for the position, though, Anthopoulos indicated they’re open to adding one in their outfield.
  • Matt Duffy has drawn interest from a variety of organizations, some of which may view him as a utility option, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams (Twitter link). Duffy, whom the Rays released toward the end of last month, has experience at both middle infield spots, third base and the outfield corners. The 28-year-old has had a couple successful major league seasons as a hitter, but injuries helped limit him to a punchless .252/.343/.327 line with one home run over 169 plate appearances in 2019.
  • Righty Casey Kelly seems primed for a return to the majors, with MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeting that he’s “drawing interest” from MLB teams. Once an elite prospect with the Red Sox, Kelly largely floundered in the majors in parts of four seasons with the Padres, Braves and Giants from 2012-18. However, the 30-year-old Kelly may have put himself back on the big league map in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2019, when he logged a 2.55 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 180 1/3 innings as a member of the LG Twins.
  • Outfielder Daniel Nava is in San Diego lobbying for a return to the bigs, per John Tomase of NBC Sports Boston. Nava, known for his on-base skills in the majors from 2010-17, didn’t play at all in 2018 because of injuries and then didn’t suit up in affiliated ball last season. The 36-year-old instead spent almost all of 2019 as a member of the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association.
  • Like Nava, left-hander Phil Coke is at the meetings trying to drum up major league interest, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. Coke, who says he’s healthy after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018, had a respectable MLB run with several teams from 2008-16. He hasn’t pitched professionally since suiting up in the Mexican League in 2018.

Quick Hits: Aardsma, Coke, Market Analysis

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Former MLB righty David Aardsma has announced on his podcast that he’s officially calling it quits as a ballplayer and joining the Blue Jays front office as coordinator of player development. The 36-year-old, a former first-round draft pick, last pitched in the majors in 2015 and spent some time at Triple-A in the following season with the Toronto organization. Over nine years with eight MLB organizations, Aardsma ran a 4.27 ERA over 337 frames. He’ll surely be remembered best for a two-year run with the Mariners in which he closed out 69 games and maintained a 2.90 ERA. MLBTR — which once hosted Aardsma on its own podcast — wishes him the very best in his new pursuit.

Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:

  • Lefty Phil Coke is hoping to reinvent himself as a knuckle-baller, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (via Twitter). The 35-year-old, a nine-year MLB veteran, spent some time last year with Japan’s Orix Buffaloes but has had a tough time gaining traction in recent seasons. Coke had long utilized a varied arsenal and shown good velocity from the left side, so he ought to have some interesting potential accompanying tools to go with his new knuckler.
  • Of course, looking at the state of the market is just not possible without examining the general lack of action. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic again offers some worthwhile perspective in a subscription piece, chiding both the player and team sides for “bickering” over pace-of-play discussions when what’s needed is a joint commitment to evolving the game — and, no doubt, an effort to deal with the dangerous rise in labor tension. ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, meanwhile, asks whether certain unsigned free agents could actually decide to open their own spring camp. Different players and agents have different takes on the concept; what’s most notable, perhaps, is the fact that it’s even a topic of conversation at all.
  • Even if there’s a resolution to the current impasse, it seems there’ll likely be a broader, ongoing conversation about where the game of baseball is headed when it comes to player-team relations. Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper argues that the current rules regime creates skewed incentives that do not reward teams that try to contend but come up a bit short. He discusses a few possible ideas, promoting in particular a “tank tax” that docks organizations in the draft if they put together consecutive sub-70-win campaigns. Cooper suggests this kind of mechanism could function similarly to the soccer approach of relegation. Ultimately, the MLBPA may need to begin considering more drastic measures, Nathaniel Grow writes at Fangraphs. He raises the possibility that the union could strategically disband to open the door to an antitrust lawsuit. While that threat might be utilized first as a means to gain leverage in future CBA talks, Grow explains that it could be a realistic option at some point.
  • Those interested in getting the full range of opinions on top prospects from around the game will want to check out the latest top-100 lists. The Baseball Prospectus staff and Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel have graded out the game’s best pre-MLB players from their perspectives.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/13/16

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Here are the latest minor moves:

  • Righty Ryan Webb has joined the Brewers on a minor-league deal, the team announced. He’ll come to MLB camp next spring in hopes of earning a spot in the Milwaukee pen. The 30-year-old allowed 10 earned runs on 27 hits in his 18 appearances last year with the Rays, but otherwise maintained the same sort of peripherals that have allowed him to compile nearly 400 innings of 3.43 ERA ball as a big leaguer.

Earlier Updates

  • The Red Sox have added third baseman Matt Dominguez on a minor-league deal, 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports on Twitter. Dominguez receives an invitation to MLB camp next spring. Still just 27, Dominguez had a short return to the majors last year with the Blue Jays but hasn’t seen substantial time at the game’s highest level since a disappointing 2014 campaign with the Astros. He posted a .269/.315/.421 batting line with 18 long balls at Triple-A last year with the Toronto organization.
  • Infielder Emmanuel Burriss is heading to the Nationals on a minors pact, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. He, too, gets a spring invite, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post adds on Twitter. The 31-year-old is a D.C. native who spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons with the Nats organization, only briefly cracking the majors. He struggled in brief time in the bigs last year with the Phillies, and hit .263/.296/.309 over his 187 plate appearances at Triple-A.
  • Japan’s Orix Buffaloes have added three former major league hurlers, per Yahoo Japan (h/t NPB on Reddit, on Twitter). Lefty Phil Coke will join righties Matt West and Gonzalez Germen in Nippon Professional Baseball. West has the least major league experience of the bunch, but put up a 2.33 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 over 46 1/3 innings last year and only just turned 28. Coke, 34, is a hard-throwing southpaw who has spent a fair bit of time in the majors — and on the pages of MLBTR. He threw ten major league frames last year, continuing a streak of appearing in nine-straight MLB campaigns. The 29-year-old Germen had posted solid results upon arriving with the Rockies in the middle of the 2015 season, though his peripherals did not support the 3.86 ERA. He came back to earth in his 40 2/3 innings in 2016, posting a 5.31 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9.

Pirates Acquire Brady Dragmire From Blue Jays, Designate Phil Coke

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The Pirates announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Brady Dragmire from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, lefty Phil Coke has been designated for assignment. Toronto designated Dragmire for assignment last week to add to its roster in the wake of Joaquin Benoit’s injury.

The 23-year-old Dragmire logged a 4.38 ERA with 5.1 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 72 innings at Double-A New Hampshire this season. While those numbers don’t exactly stand out, the Bucs have a history of targeting ground-ball pitchers, and Dragmire excelled in that aspect, recording a stellar 63.6 percent ground-ball rate in the minors this year. That factor, as well as his relative youth, likely made him an appealing target for Pittsburgh.

As for Coke, the veteran 34-year-old found himself in Pittsburgh following a late September trade. Pittsburgh sent cash to the Yankees in exchange for Coke, who tossed four innings scoreless innings for the Pirates. Coke could’ve been a free agent at season’s end anyhow, so the DFA is largely a formality.

NL Notes: Nationals, Roster Expansion, Coke

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Major League Baseball and many teams are currently celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, but Hispanic identity is a complex topic for the many US-born players of Latin descent, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post writes in an interesting look at the highly variable backgrounds of MLB players. “If I talk to a Latin ballplayer, I’m Cuban. And if I talk to an American guy, I’m American. No matter what,” says Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez, who is of Cuban heritage but who was born in the Miami area. “You’re never going to win in that argument. It’s never a win-win situation.” Nats reliever Rafael Martin, meanwhile, was born in the Los Angeles area but spent much of his childhood in Mexico. He had never met Latinos who weren’t Mexican before becoming a pro baseball player. “At first, it’s interesting,” says Martin. “Weird sometimes. Especially like [how] other countries use different words in Spanish. I find it very interesting, the way people come up in different countries, different styles.” Here’s more from the NL.

  • September roster expansion has led to some exhausting games between the Mets and Phillies this weekend, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. On Thursday, the Mets used 27 players and the Phillies 22 in an 11-inning game that lasted well over four hours. On Friday, the two teams combined to use 38 players in a game that lasted 3:40. Mets starter Gabriel Ynoa pitched just two innings and allowed two runs before departing, leading to a conga line of relievers and pinch-hitters. “It’s getting a little out of hand, but I think everybody would do the same thing,” said Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson. “You’ve got 15 guys down there, why not use them all? And it worked.” Rules regarding September roster expansion could be on the docket during CBA talks this offseason, Gelb notes. One possibility would allow teams to expand rosters to 40 as they currently do, but require them to submit a 25-man active roster before each game. That would limit the amount of specialization that’s currently so prevalent in September games.
  • Veteran lefty Phil Coke has spent the 2016 season traveling around the state of Pennsylvania, Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. After being released by the Braves near the end of Spring Training, Coke joined the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League. He eventually signed with the Yankees and headed to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, about two and a half hours away. Coke was in Scranton following the end of the minor league season when Yankees GM Brian Cashman called him earlier this week to ask if he wanted to join the Pirates’ bullpen. “OK, that’s not far away,” Coke said. “I’m in.” He officially headed to the Pittsburgh organization on Thursday in a minor trade.

Pirates Acquire Phil Coke

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The Pirates have acquired lefty Phil Coke from the Yankees for cash considerations, the teams announced. Pittsburgh will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate the acquisition.

Coke, 34, made three major league appearances earlier in the year for New York, but has spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A. Though he has pitched almost exclusively as a reliever for most of his big league career, Coke made 11 starts during his time at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

On the year, Coke threw to a 2.96 ERA over 70 frames at the highest level of the minors. He compiled 7.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9, with 68 hits and just three home runs recorded against him.

It’s a bit unclear what Pittsburgh plans to do with Coke, though he will indeed be headed for the major league roster. He could conceivably take a start or two in an effort at a Rich Hill-like metamorphosis, or may just log some frames from the pen. The Pirates are technically still alive in the Wild Card race, but only barely. Coke will again be a free agent at season’s end.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/20/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Southpaw Phil Coke has been outrighted by the Yankees after he was designated for assignment on Tuesday, Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog tweets. Coke wasn’t effective in his six innings over three appearances on the year, though he did show that he’s still capable of delivering his fastball at around 93 mph. The veteran bounced around last year after a five-year run with the Tigers ended followiing the 2014 season. He’ll accept the assignment, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets.
  • The Indians released righty Felipe Paulino so that he can pursue an opportunity in Japan, the club announced. A six-year MLB veteran who last appeared in the majors in 2014 with the White Sox, Paulino had converted to full-time relief work with Cleveland. Over his 13 frames, he allowed just four earned runs and five hits, though his 10:5 K/BB ratio was somewhat less promising.
  • The Angels have acquired infielder Ryan Jackson from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, the Phillies announced. Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times tweets that Jackson will be assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake. Jackson, 28, returns to the Angels organization after pending the majority of the 2015 season playing for their Triple-A affiliate (he also went hitless in 14 plate appearances for their big league club last season). Jackson split last season between the Royals and Angels organizations and hit a combined .294/.372/.374 in 362 plate appearances. He’ll give the Halos some depth at shortstop with both Andrelton Simmons and Cliff Pennington on the disabled list — a pair of injuries that has forced the club to acquire Brendan Ryan from the Nationals and bring Gregorio Petit up from Salt Lake. Jackson was not on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary for the Halos.

Yankees Designate Phil Coke For Assignment

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The Yankees have designated left-hander Phil Coke for assignment as part of a series of roster moves, per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Beyond Coke’s DFA, the Yanks have optioned right-handers Chad Green and Conor Mullee to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled left-hander James Pazos, right-hander Luis Cessa and infielder Rob Refsnyder from the same affiliate.

The 33-year-old Coke’s return to the organization which originally drafted him in 2002 was brief, as he logged just six innings in the Majors and surrendered four earned runs on seven hits and four walks with one strikeout. Coke did fire off seven strong innings at the Triple-A level prior to the selection of his contract to the big league roster, however, and if he clears waivers he’ll have the option of accepting an outright assignment and remaining with the team in hopes of another crack at the Majors.

A mainstay on the Tigers’ pitching staff from 2010-14 (after being traded by the Yankees in the three-team Curtis Granderson/Max Scherzer/Austin Jackson/Ian Kennedy/Edwin Jackson blockbuster), Coke’s production began to slip late in his Detroit tenure. He wound up signing with the Cubs last season but lasted 10 innings before being designated and released, at which point he signed with the Blue Jays. Coke tossed 2 2/3 innings for Toronto late in the year but didn’t stick on their roster, either.

Yankees Place CC Sabathia On DL, Select Contract Of Phil Coke

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The Yankees announced today that they have placed left-hander CC Sabathia on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin and selected the contract of left-handed reliever (and, of course, former Yankee) Phil Coke to take his spot on the roster. The Yankees had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is needed to clear a space for Coke.

Sabathia, 35, has given the Yankees three solid starts in five turns this season, most recently highlighted by an outing in which he tossed seven scoreless innings with six hits, two walks and six strikeouts against a tough Orioles lineup in Baltimore. He’s currently sporting a 3.81 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 47.7 percent ground-ball rate through 28 1/3 innings.

The hope is that Sabathia will only miss about three weeks, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets, but his placement on the disabled list further thins out what was already a fairly sparse rotation. The Yankees currently have Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, Luis Severino and Michael Pineda in the rotation, though there’s been talk of Severino needing additional time at Triple-A, and Pineda and Eovaldi have each struggled quite a bit as well. For the time being, right-hander Ivan Nova will transition from his long-relief role into the rotation. Nova has already made multiple four-inning appearances this season, and he has a lengthy background as a starter with the Yankees as well.

Coke, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees a couple of weeks ago after a brief stop on the independent circuit last month. Pitching for the Atlantic League’s Lancaster BarnStormers, Coke tallied four innings and yielded a pair of earned runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts. He’s yet to allow an earned run in seven innings for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, where he’s surrendered just three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Coke has a 4.20 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 411 Major League innings, and opposing lefties have batted .245/.298/.356 against him in 816 plate appearances.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/25/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Lefty Phil Coke will head to Triple-A for the Yankees after his rights were acquired from the indy league Lancaster Barnstormers, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter. Coke, 33, has bounced around quite a bit in recent years and was most recently released by the Braves during spring camp. He appeared in the majors last year with the Cubs and Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs with 12 strikeouts and five walks (two intentional) over 12 2/3 frames.
  • The Cubs have released right-hander Jonathan Pettibone from his minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Chicago signed the former Phillies right-hander to a minor league pact back in February in hopes that he’d be able to return to health following a pair of shoulder surgeries in 2014 and 2015. Pettibone last appeared in the Majors in 2014, but it was 2013 that he looked the part of an intriguing long-term piece in the Phillies’ rotation. That year (his age-22 season), Pettibone logged 100 1/3 innings with a 4.04 ERA, 5.9 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 49.4 percent ground-ball rate in 18 starts at the Major League level.
  • The Giants have added veteran minor league catcher Steven Lerud on a minors deal, per Eddy. The 31-year-old began the year with the Mariners but didn’t make the big league roster and was released in early April. Lerud, 31, spent the 2015 campaign in the Nationals organization, batting .238/.320/.301 in 231 plate appearances (60 games). Lerud saw brief action for the Phillies in 2012-13, but he’s spent most of his career in the minors and is a lifetime .229/.347/.324 hitter in parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level.
  • Righty Loek Van Mil was released by the Twins, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. The 31-year-old, who stands at 7’1, was bombed for 14 earned runs in just 5 1/3 innings at Triple-A this year, while issuing six walks against four strikeouts. The Netherlands native has yet to crack the majors, and has struggled in his time at the highest level of the minors. He has, however, been better historically at Double-A, where he owns a 3.01 ERA in 212 frames with 6.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9.
  • The Pirates have released outfielder Antoan Richardson from Triple-A, per a club announcement. Richardson, a speedy 32-year-old, was scuffling in limited duty. He’s been up in the majors before as a late-season option, recording six steals despite taking only 21 plate appearances. In 785 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Richardson owns a .261/.377/.347 slash and has 56 steals while being caught only three times.
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