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Notable Roster Decisions: Friday

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As Spring Training draws to a close, the final determinations about each team’s roster will be continue to come into focus. Here are some of the day’s more notable roster decisions…

  • Prized righty Tyler Glasnow will take the final spot in the Pirates rotation, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. He had been competing with Trevor Williams, who’ll head to the bullpen, Adam Berry of MLB.com adds on Twitter. With southpaw Wade LeBlanc also taking a job, that seems to set the stage for Rule 5 pick Tyler Webb to hit the waiver wire.
  • The Giants have nailed down their bench and rotation, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Aaron Hill and Chris Marrero will round out the bench. The veteran Hill figures to share the infield reserve duties with Conor Gillaspie, while Marrero will surprisingly open the season as a part of a left field platoon with the left-handed-hitting Jarrett Parker. Meanwhile, Matt Cain will keep a rotation spot, though Ty Blach will also make the club as a reliever — where he could often spell Cain in lengthier outings.
  • With injuries and young arms entering the picture, the Rockies’ pitching plans were interesting to watch this spring. As Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets, the team will roll with lefty Kyle Freeland and righties Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez to fill out their starting staff. It seems likely that the former two will open the year in the rotation, with Marquez heading to the pen and staying on hand if a need arises.

Click to read earlier updates …

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Brewers Sign Tommy Milone

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DEC. 15: Milone will receive a $1.25MM base salary plus incentives, on his non-guaranteed deal, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. He can earn up to $2MM if he maxes out the incentives package, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.

DEC. 14: The Brewers announced on Wednesday that they’ve signed left-hander Tommy Milone to a one-year, Major League contract. His addition gives the team a full 40-man roster, though Milone did not receive a fully guaranteed contract, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

[Related: Updated Milwaukee Brewers Depth Chart]

Tommy Milone

Milone, 30 in February, was arbitration eligible this offseason but was outrighted by the Twins back in mid-October, thus sending him to the free-agent market earlier than had been forecast. He had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to take home $4.9MM in arbitration — a slight raise on last year’s $4.5MM salary.

A soft-tossing lefty (~87.5 mph average fastball), Milone posted solid numbers with the Nats, A’s and Twins through the first four-plus seasons of his career, delivering a 3.97 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 in 619 innings (106 starts, four relief appearances). However, he limped to a 5.71 ERA in 69 1/3 innings with Minnesota last year. Milone’s strikeout and walk rates remained similar to his previous marks, and he actually posted a career-best 45.7 percent ground-ball rate last year, but he also became enormously homer-prone. More than 21 percent of the balls put in the air against Milone turned into home runs, and his hard-contact rate skyrocketed while his infield-fly rate dipped from 15 percent to five percent.

Milone joins an already crowded Brewers rotation picture that currently features Junior Guerra, Matt Garza, Wily Peralta, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies and Jimmy Nelson. It’s possible, of course, that one of those names is ultimately moved this offseason — Guerra has drawn trade interest, and the Brewers would undoubtedly love to shed some of Garza’s remaining contract — though the addition of Milone at what figures to be a low-cost rate doesn’t exactly guarantee that such a move is forthcoming.

Milone did spend time in both the bullpen and the rotation with the Twins last season, so perhaps the Brewers simply envision him occupying a swingman role and functioning as somewhat of a safety net if the team either incurs an injury or does find a taker for one of its current rotation options. He also gives the team a left-handed option in the rotation that wasn’t otherwise present, as each of the six aforementioned starters throws right-handed. Brewers general manager David Stearns told reporters, including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link), that Milone will compete for a rotation spot in Spring Training.

With four years and 113 days of Major League service time under his belt, Milone also gives the Brewers an arm that can be controlled beyond the 2017 campaign. In the event of a rebound, Milone would still fall a good bit shy of reaching six total years of service time, meaning the Brewers can control him through the 2018 season by way of arbitration should he prove worthy of such a commitment with a bounceback campaign next year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Twins Outright Tommy Milone, Four Others

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11:33pm: Milone has elected free agency, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports on Twitter.

8:08pm: The Twins have announced five outright assignments as the team clears 40-man roster space entering the offseason. Southpaws Tommy Milone, Andrew Albers, and Pat Dean were all cut, as were infielder James Beresford and outfielder Logan Schafer.

None of the moves is terribly surprising. Though incoming Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey has yet to join the organization — he’s staying with the Indians as they continue their postseason run — the organization obviously already knew these five roster spots would be opened up to make way for new acquisitions and/or Rule 5 draft protection.

Milone, 29, was slated to earn a slight raise on his $4.5MM arbitration salary, with MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz projecting a $4.9MM figure this winter. It never seemed particularly likely that the Twins would pick up that tab after Milone turned in 69 1/3 innings of 5.71 ERA ball on the year. He has provided some solid major league innings over the years, though, and could earn a shot at a swingman or even rotation role from another organization in the right circumstances (and at a lower price).

The 31-year-old Albers and 27-year-old Dean have not topped one hundred total major league frames in their careers, and neither have been particularly productive in their limited opportunities. Albers worked 17 frames this year for Minnesota, allowing five home runs and 27 base hits along with 11 earned runs. Dean ended his first MLB campaign with a 6.28 ERA on 6.7 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 over 67 1/3 innings.

As for the position players, Beresford briefly cracked the big leagues for the first time in 2016 but has never really hit much in a decade-long minor league run. The 30-year-old Schafer has seen action in six seasons, but owns only a .214/.292/.318 career batting line in 720 plate appearances.

AL Central Notes: Verlander, Molitor, May, Milone, Salazar, Cain

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In his latest column, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan chronicles Justin Verlander’s return to prominence as one of the game’s most dominant pitchers. Passan spoke to a very candid Verlander, who explained that during the 2014 season — the worst of his career — he felt pain in his shoulder through virtually every pitch he delivered. However, as Passan notes, Verlander was keenly aware of the expectations that came along with signing a $180MM contract and was resolved to pitch so long as he was physically capable. Verlander admitted to Passan that for awhile, baseball was no longer fun for him. The Detroit ace walked Passan through his recovery, beginning with recovery from surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle (which was, perhaps the root of all of his problems, as his mechanics were drastically altered to compensate). As Passan points out, Verlander’s velocity is sitting around 93 mph, and he’s now throwing his slider harder than in the past as a means of differentiating it from his curve. The result is one of the finest stretches of Verlander’s career: a 2.09 ERA and a 102-to-19 K/BB ratio over his past 90 1/3 innings that has firmly inserted Verlander into the mix for the AL Cy Young Award.

More from the AL Central…

  • Manager Paul Molitor has given the Twins every indication that he intends to return in 2017, tweets Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. While that in and of itself may not be overly newsworthy — owner Jim Pohlad has gone on record as stating that he wants Molitor to remain the team’s skipper even after hiring a new president of baseball ops — Walters does report that Molitor is slated to earn $2.5MM in the final season of the three-year deal he signed with Minnesota prior to the 2015 campaign.
  • Earlier today, the Twins activated righty Trevor May and lefty Tommy Milone from the DL, per a club announcement. The 26-year-old May has had an interesting season, racking up 12.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 but compiling only a 4.89 ERA in his 42 1/3 innings. Milone, meanwhile, seems headed for a non-tender barring a stirring performance over the last several weeks of the year. He has posted a rough 5.68 earned run average in his 65 frames thus far.
  • The Indians pulled Danny Salazar from tonight’s contest due to forearm tightness, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian was among those to tweet. The club emphasized that it was a precautionary move, but this isn’t the first time this year that forearm/elbow issues have sidelined the prized righty. He declined to speak to reporters after the game, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer tweets, with manager Terry Francona saying that the team hopes to “know more tomorrow when he comes to the park.” Salazar lasted only four frames in his latest outing, and hasn’t reached six innings in a start since mid-July. The 26-year-old did manage to rack up 11 strikeouts in his prior appearance, but it has been quite an uneven second half for a pitcher who could be a key part of the club’s hopeful postseason run. Entering his first year of arbitration eligibility — he’ll qualify as a Super Two — Salazar has thrown 137 1/3 innings of 3.87 ERA ball, with 161 strikeouts but also 63 walks on his ledger.
  • Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain was back in the lineup this evening after sitting out several contests due to a sprained hand, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports (Twitter links). It “doesn’t feel good” to swing, said Cain, who nevertheless managed to reach three times on a hit and two walks. Per skipper Ned Yost, the club will keep running Cain out so long as he can tolerate playing, with hopes that his glove, legs, and savvy at the plate will make up for any limitations with the bat. Asked by MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter link) whether he had caused any further damage by playing with the injury, Cain offered a somewhat resigned response: “It’s already torn. So I don’t know if it made it worse, unless I get another MRI.”

Rotation Rumors: Pirates, Quintana, Gray, Hill, Twins

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After dealing Mark Melancon, the Pirates may not be done with their deadline moves, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The team isn’t necessarily looking to act as a seller, though; instead, Pittsburgh is targeting a starter. The Melancon swap, after all, doesn’t represent full-blown capitulation, as it brought back a quality, major league level reliever in Felipe Rivero. Pittsburgh is said to be talking with the Rays, among other teams, and one can’t help but wonder whether the Bucs see an opportunity to achieve some value on an underperforming arm with a favorable contract situation.

Here are some more notes on major pitchers whose names are in discussions as the deadline approaches:

  • The Rangers have spoken with the White Sox about Jose Quintana as well as Chris Sale, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets, but there’s no more reason to believe the sides are closer on the former than there is to think they’ll line up on the latter. At this point, there’s a difference of opinion between the teams on those southpaws’ values, per Rosenthal.
  • There’s no chance that the Athletics will deal righty Sonny Gray at the deadline, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports. It is hard to call that a surprising revelation, given that we’ve heard no signals out of Oakland that he’d be made available. The A’s are obviously uninterested in selling low on a 26-year-old pitcher who had pitched like an ace heading into this season, but who has struggled badly in 2016. Gray’s strikeout rate has held steady, and he isn’t giving up many more walks than is typical, but he carries a 5.43 ERA over 107 2/3 innings and missed time with a trap strain. The 2016 downturn will at least tamp down Gray’s arbitration salary, and with three more years of control, it certainly behooves the Athletics to hold onto him at least until he can rebuild some value.
  • Meanwhile, word is the Athletics could still deal southpaw Rich Hill even though he won’t return to the mound before the deadline and just hit the 15-day DL. Heyman tweets that there’s still “significant interest” in the veteran despite his lingering blister issues. Though he carries a risky profile given his recent and prior injury issues and lack of a productive big league track record prior to his out-of-nowhere breakout late in 2015, Hill has been aces when healthy in 2016. Over 76 frames, he owns a stellar 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.
  • While none of these names are of the level of the pitchers discussed above, the Twins are said to be shopping Ricky Nolasco, Tommy Milone, and Fernando Abad, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Nolasco and Milone could both conceivably be looked at by teams in need of some rotation depth, while Abad remains a useful LOOGY option for organizations that hope to bolster their pen. None, of course, seem particularly likely to draw major returns; if anything, Nolasco would likely be moved for a bit of salary relief.

Cafardo’s Latest: Sox, D-backs, Royals, Marlins, Twins, Phillies

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With the free-falling White Sox open to selling off veterans, power-hitting third baseman Todd Frazier could end up switching uniforms by the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Frazier is on a reasonable $7.5MM salary this year and will make one more trip through arbitration in the offseason. His .212/.300/.476 batting line is far from great, but the right-handed Frazier is second in the majors in home runs (28). Meanwhile, the team’s second-best starting pitcher, lefty Jose Quintana, is available for an “overwhelming” package, a major league source told Cafardo. The highly effective Quintana, 27, is controllable and affordable through 2020, and has logged a 3.13 ERA, 8.15 K/9 and 2.26 BB/9 in 123 2/3 innings this season.

More from Cafardo as the deadline draws closer:

  • Regarding the possibility of the Diamondbacks trading star right-hander Zack Greinke in the first season of a six-year, $206.5MM contract, a source told Cafardo, “It would take a great return of players and the team would have to assume the entire contract. The Diamondbacks wouldn’t pay a dime.” It seems as if Greinke will stay put, then. Before landing on the disabled list with an oblique injury earlier this month, the soon-to-be 33-year-old recorded a 3.62 ERA, 7.49 K/9, 1.73 BB/9 and 47.6 percent ground-ball rate across his first 109 1/3 innings as a Diamondback.
  • The Royals have interest in Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz, who’s currently in their bullpen, but Boston would have to pick up large portion of his remaining $13MM salary for 2016 in a trade. Buchholz’s contract also includes a $13.5MM club option for next season. In 20 appearances (13 starts) and 82 2/3 innings this season, the 31-year-old has compiled a sky-high 6.10 ERA to pair with ugly strikeout and walk rates (5.99 and 4.03, respectively, per nine).
  • The Marlins scouted Red Sox southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez and a couple of Twins – right-hander Ricky Nolasco and left-hander Tommy Milone  – in Boston earlier this week. It looks as though the 23-year-old Rodriguez is unavailable, per Cafardo. Nolasco, a former Marlin, is on a $12MM salary through next season and has continued a trend of having difficulty preventing runs this year (5.40 ERA) through 116 2/3 innings. Milone has also posted a lofty ERA (4.71 in 49 2/3 frames), though he carries a more modest salary of $4.5MM.
  • Phillies righty Jeremy Hellickson is another candidate to join the Marlins, and southpaw reliever Mike Dunn could be part of a deal. As a 31-year-old pending free agent, Dunn would seemingly be an odd pickup for the rebuilding Phillies, however.

Dodgers Claim Casey Fien From Twins

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2:56pm: Fien will join the Dodgers’ big-league team, Shaikin tweets.

1:45pm: The Dodgers have claimed righty reliever Casey Fien from the Twins, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Minnesota placed Fien on waivers earlier this week along with Tommy Milone. The Twins also outrighted Milone today, as Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets.

Fien allowed 12 runs and five homers in 13 2/3 innings with the Twins this season. He had been significantly more effective in the previous several seasons, however (even as his strikeout rate has progressively declined), and last year he posted a 3.55 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and an excellent 1.1 BB/9 over 63 1/3 frames. He also hasn’t shown a significant loss of velocity in 2016 as compared to last season. Fien clearly seems able to throw strikes, but that tendency might sometimes get him into trouble, as he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher.

The Dodgers’ immediate plans for Fien aren’t yet clear. They’re looking for reliable bullpen help to complement Kenley Jansen (and are reportedly considering adding top prospect Julio Urias to their bullpen). Fien is optionable, however. Fien will make $2.275MM this season (a salary that the Dodgers will assume as a result of the claim), and the Dodgers can take him through the arbitration process for two more seasons beyond this one if they choose.

Twins Place Tommy Milone, Casey Fien On Waivers

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The Twins have placed southpaw Tommy Milone and righty Casey Fien on waivers, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Berardino suggests that both players are indeed being outrighted off of the 40-man, though it does not appear that Fien is out of options.

In making the move, Minnesota is cutting ties with two players from whom they expected significant contributions. After all, the pair of former Super Two qualifiers received $4.5MM and $2.275MM arbitration contracts this year, respectively.

Minnesota will remain on the hook for both salaries unless another organization puts in a claim, or either player rejects his assignment. As players with over three years of service, they can do so, though that would mean sacrificing the remainder of their guarantees. In all likelihood, it seems, both will end up accepting assignments to Triple-A.

Interestingly, both players entered the year with exactly 3.143 years of MLB service. With another month now added to their clocks, they’d clear another season on the arb timeline even if they don’t return to the majors this year.

Milone, 29, has established himself as a steady, if unspectacular starter. He gave the Twins 128 2/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball last year, posting 6.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, and the hope was that he’d do something similar this time around. Through his first five outings (four of them starts), though, Milone is carrying a 5.79 ERA. His strikeout and swinging strike numbers are actually up very slightly, as is his groundball rate, but Milone has been done in by a 23.8% HR/FB rate after sitting around 11% for much of his career.

The 32-year-old Fien, meanwhile, had been a mainstay of the Minnesota pen since his organizational debut in 2012. Over the last four years, he’s compiled 223 2/3 innings of 3.54 ERA pitching with 7.9 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9. But Fien has seen his strikeout rate plummet in recent years, and he’s allowed 12 earned runs on 21 hits through his first 13 2/3 innings in 2016, though his swinging strike rate has rebounded somewhat this year.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

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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.

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AL Rumors: Axford, Hamels, Red Sox

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It’s been almost one year since the trade that sent Tommy Milone from the A’s to the Twins and the deal has suited the hurler well, Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com writes.  Through eleven starts this season with Minnesota, Milone owns a 2.84 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.  Milone didn’t demand a trade from Oakland, but he did politely request one.

“It wasn’t like a ‘Here, trade me type thing,’” Milone said. “Obviously it wasn’t something that was supposed to be (public). It’s just one of those things that if they felt there wasn’t a spot open up here, then I’d like to see if there’s an opportunity elsewhere. And I guess it presented itself with Sam Fuld being available. It’s kind of bittersweet to leave after a few years of being here, leaving some of the guys and the coaching staff. But there was an opportunity.”

Here’s more from the AL..

  • The Tigers are among the teams that have inquired on Rockies reliever John Axford, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.  However, at this point, it’s far from a certainty that the Tigers will be buyers.  The Tigers are 45-46 after today’s loss against the Orioles.  Here’s more from the American League..
  • The Red Sox, as expected, were on hand for Cole Hamels’ Sunday start and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that there was a high-ranking scout there to watch the Phillies ace.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter) noted that it might be hard to gauge Hamels as the Marlins are missing Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, and Michael Morse.   Even with Miami at less than 100% strength, Hamels didn’t have a great showing, allowing five runs on eight hits in three innings of work.
  • A scout at today’s game told Crasnick (on Twitter) that Hamels “looked hot..and not very interested in being out there.”  Of course, that’s somewhat understandable to those of us in the Northeast today.
  • Manager John Gibbons told reporters that Aaron Sanchez will pitch in relief when he returns to the Blue Jays later this week, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets.   One might speculate that Sanchez being slotted in the bullpen might be a sign that Toronto intends on acquiring a starter between now and the deadline.  Sanchez will make one relief appearance in Triple-A before joining the Blue Jays’ bullpen.
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