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Rays Exploring Outfield Additions

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The Rays are looking at a variety of possibilities for improving their outfield mix, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter).

The Tampa Bay organization previously struck a deal that shipped out one outfielder (Tommy Pham) and brought in another (Hunter Renfroe). While there had been some whispers of hiccups in the deal, it is now fully locked up, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).

While there isn’t exactly a new hole to be filled, then, the Rays are still looking to bolster a unit that is now missing Avisail Garcia and his 530 plate appearances from 2019. Garcia is, as previously rumored, one of the ongoing targets, per Sherman.

In addition to exploring a return for Garcia, the Rays have also turned their gaze to the west. A pair of left-handed-hitting Japanese players, rangy center fielder Shogo Akiyama and slugging corner outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, are each said to carry appeal. While they’re quite different players — from one another and from Garcia — it seems the Rays can conceive of ways that all would fit into their ever-adaptable roster.

West News & Rumors: Pham, Padres, Dodgers, Giants

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The Padres and Rays already announced last week’s trade, one that saw outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Tommy Pham switch homes, but some complications have arisen since then. Specifically, even though 31-year-old Pham “effectively passed a series of physicals this weekend,” per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, there are concerns over his right elbow. The joint kept Pham out of action for some of 2019, and according to Acee, the Padres’ medical staff still hasn’t cleared him. The trade’s currently “in limbo” as a result, writes Acee. However, Padres general manager A.J. Preller suggested Monday that it should still go through. “We’re still working through some final details but hope to have some clarity on that in the next 24 hours,” Preller said. “When we made the trade, we made the trade with the players involved. I don’t expect anything to change between now and the time we move forward. But we just have to finish the process up.”

  • The Dodgers have their eyes fixed on “roughly” a dozen acquisitions, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Pedro Moura of The Athetic and other reporters Monday. What’s more, Friedman indicated the already loaded Dodgers are primarily looking at elite talent. The rotation and third base have been rumored areas of interest for the Dodgers, and both spots do feature top-tier free agents (Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson, for instance). Great free-agent relievers are harder to find, but upgrading there is a focus for the Dodgers. That’s their only “omnipresent” need area, Friedman observes (via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). As of now, though, Friedman does expect Kenley Jansen to continue as the Dodgers’ closer in 2020. Formerly automatic, Jansen had a difficult year (by his standards) last season.
  • The rotation-needy Giants expect to sign at least one starter to a major league contract, possibly before the Winter Meetings conclude, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group. They at least appear to still be in the mix for their No. 1 free agent, Madison Bumgarner, whom they’ll sit down with during the meetings. While pitching’s a priority for the club, they don’t seem to be focused on picking up a backup catcher to take over for Stephen Vogt (now with the Diamondbacks), Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area suggests. Vogt’s replacement could be Aramis Garcia, to whom they’d like to give a chance, Pavlovic reports. They also have standout prospect Joey Bart waiting in the wings as the potential heir apparent to Buster Posey.
  • Josh Bard will serve as the Dodgers’ bullpen coach next season, Gurnick tweets. Bard worked in that role from 2016-17 before leaving to join the Yankees’ staff as their bench coach. The Yankees and Bard parted ways after last season. The Dodgers’ previous bullpen coach was Mark Prior, who’s now their pitching coach.

Rays, Padres Announce Tommy Pham-Hunter Renfroe Trade

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DECEMBER 6, 6:32pm: The trade has been announced. The Rays will acquire a player to be named later to go with Renfroe and Edwards, with the Padres picking up Pham and Cronenworth.

2:00am: It appears the Rays will also land another prospect in the deal, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com.

12:27am: The Padres will also acquire minor leaguer Jake Cronenworth in the trade, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports. The 25-year-old Cronenworth enjoyed an eminently successful year at the Triple-A level in 2019, when he hit .334/.429/.520 with 10 HRs and 12 steals in 406 trips to the plate. Cronenworth’s primarily a middle infielder, but the 2015 seventh-rounder can also pitch. He put up 7 1/3 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and four hits allowed at the minors’ highest level in 2019, though the righty hurler did surrender eight walks.

DECEMBER 5, 10:55pm: The teams have agreed to the trade, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. However, it won’t be announced until medical reviews of all the involved players are completed Friday.

10:42pm: The Rays and Padres are deep into talks on a trade that would see Tampa Bay outfielder Tommy Pham and San Diego outfielder Hunter Renfroe switch clubs, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Rays would also land Single-A shortstop Xavier Edwards, while the Padres would pick up an unnamed prospect to go with Pham.

This is already the second major outfield trade of the winter for the Padres, who acquired Trent Grisham from the Brewers last week. Pham is far more proven than Grisham, as the former is coming off yet another outstanding season at the plate. The 31-year-old Pham, whose first full season came with the Cardinals in 2017, has somewhat quietly been among the majors’ most effective outfielders over the past three campaigns. He has totaled 13.6 fWAR, including 3.3 in 2019, dating back to his initial full season. Typically one to post high on-base percentages, Pham’s coming off a year in which he slashed .273/.369/.450 with 21 home runs and 25 stolen bases across 654 plate appearances.

In Pham, the Padres – led by under-fire general manager A.J. Preller – are getting a player with two years’ control remaining. Pham, who’s slated to earn a projected $8.6MM next season, will join Grisham, Manuel Margot, Wil Myers, Franchy Cordero and prospect Taylor Trammell as the Padres’ most prominent outfielders.

While Pham looks like an intriguing addition for the Padres, they’re giving up a powerful and affordable outfielder at the same time. Renfroe, soon to turn 28, entered the bigs as a first-round pick of the Padres in 2013. He has hit at least 26 homers in each season since debuting in earnest in 2017, including 33 this year, though injuries helped undermine him after a hot start in 2019. Renfroe wound up slashing .216/.289/.489 over 494 PA, and he earned elite marks in 998 innings divided among all three outfield positions (22 Defensive Runs Saved, 10.1 Ultimate Zone Rating).

Never a team to boast a high payroll, the Rays are saving quite a bit of money in this swap. Renfroe should only make around $3.4MM next season, which will be his first of four arbitration-eligible years. He’ll presumably accompany Austin Meadows and Kevin Kiermaier as the Rays’ starting outfielders in 2020, thus replacing free agent Avisail Garcia.

Along with Renfroe, the Rays are getting a quality farmhand in Edwards, a 2018 first-rounder whom FanGraphs ranked as the Padres’ 14th-best prospect in a loaded Padres system back in May. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel wrote then that Edwards “is a high-effort offensive catalyst who knifes at defenses with line drives and well-placed bunts,” adding that second base or center field could be in his future. The 20-year-old divided 2019 between both middle infield positions and batted .322/.375/.396 with just a single homer in 596 PA at the Single-A and High-A levels.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Turner, Pham, Osuna To Be Represented By Newly Formed Agency

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Long-time MLB player representative Greg Genske has formed a new agency along with former Ballengee executive Alex Hicks, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). The new outfit will be known as GEM Agency and will initially feature several former Genske clients.

According to Heyman, three notable players who’ll start out under the GEM roof: Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, Rays outfielder Tommy Pham, and Astros reliever Roberto Osuna. All had previously been represented by Genske. Turner will be a free agent after the 2020 campaign, when Pham and Osuna will be entering their final seasons of arbitration eligibility.

This move comes after a period of immense upheaval following the purchase of Genske’s former outfit, The Legacy Agency, by Gatemore Capital Management. The ensuing maneuvering, including Genske’s firing, have led to various splinter agencies, representatives moving to other firms, and the re-badging of Legacy as GSE Worldwide. It wasn’t exactly an orderly transition. Genske initiated litigation regarding the matter, which is still pending in California.

As always, these latest moves are reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Health Notes: Hill, Pham, Nats, Padres

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Let’s check in on a few notable health situations from around the majors…

  • Dodgers southpaw Rich Hill’s strained left MCL looked like a possible season-ender when it happened last week, but the 39-year-old will manage to rejoin the club before the playoffs. The plan is for Hill to take a major league mound again next Tuesday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. Although he has missed a substantial amount of time this year, Hill has yet again been one of the Dodgers’ most effective starters in 2019. It’s unclear how much length he’ll be able to give the team for the rest of the season, though. Manager Dave Roberts told Gurnick and other reporters that the Dodgers’ pitching situation for Game 4 of the NLDS – which Hill had been lined up to start – looks “cloudy.” The team expects to take an “unconventional” route with its pitching staff in that contest, Roberts added. Of course, if the Dodgers sweep their first-round opponent in three games, it’ll prove to be a moot point.
  • If the Rays weren’t in the American League playoff race, banged up outfielder Tommy Pham would “one thousand percent” have shut it down for the season by now, he said (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Pham’s dealing with injuries to his right hand and elbow that don’t figure to heal until the offseason, and he hasn’t been a consistent presence in the Rays’ lineup lately as a result. But Pham has nonetheless been productive in his recent appearances and throughout the season, as he owns a .276/.373/.455 line with 20 home runs and 22 stolen bases (25 attempts) in 616 plate appearances.
  • Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki has been out with right elbow troubles since Sept. 7, and a return still doesn’t look imminent. While Suzuki is able to hit and catch again, he remains “days away” from receiving clearance to throw, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Suzuki seems optimistic he’ll be back sometime soon, but meanwhile, the playoff-contending Nats will continue to rely almost exclusively on Yan Gomes behind the plate.
  • The Padres have shut 20-year-old reliever Andres Munoz down for the season, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The rookie righty tossed a professional-high 58 2/3 innings this season between the majors and minors, more than doubling the previous best of 24 2/3 he logged at the lower levels a year ago. Munoz impressed in 23 frames with the Padres this season, as he notched a 3.91 ERA/3.17 FIP with 11.74 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9. Plus, as Acee points out, Munoz’s average fastball velocity of 99.9 mph sits second in the league.

East Notes: Red Sox, Mets, Diaz, Rays, Jays

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The Red Sox are going to have to “be creative” in the near future when it comes to drawing up a plan for their floundering rotation, manager Alex Cora said Sunday (via Chad Jennings of The Athletic; subscription required). The club has six days off in the next three weeks, which will enable it to skip certain starters, but there’s no denying Boston’s in trouble. The reigning world champions are what could be an insurmountable 7 1/2 games back of an American League wild-card spot, in part because their rotation has endured a Murphy’s Law year. Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez have arguably been the Red Sox’s best starters, but the former hasn’t been the dominant ace we’ve grown accustomed to watching, and the latter has been more good than great. Meantime, David Price is on the injured list (and went through a horrid stretch before hitting the shelf Aug. 8), former Cy Young winner Rick Porcello has been horrid, and the pre-trade deadline acquisition of Andrew Cashner has blown up in the team’s face.

Here’s more from the East Coast…

  • Despite his ongoing struggles, the sizzling Mets aren’t considering demoting reliever Edwin Diaz to the minors, according to Andy Martino of SNY. The hyped offseason acquisition has surrendered at least one earned run in five of his past six outings, contributing to a horrendous 5.60 ERA in 45 innings on the season. That’s almost four runs higher than the 1.96 ERA the hard-throwing Diaz posted in his final season as a Mariner last year. Most of Diaz’s other numbers have also gone way downhill, though he has still struck out 14.6 batters per nine.
  • The sprained right hand Rays outfielder Tommy Pham is “something he’s going to have to manage” through the end of the season, skipper Kevin Cash said Sunday (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). The Rays don’t expect Pham to land on the injured list, but it seems the sprain has negatively affected his production. He’s just 5 for 30 since suffering the injury, though Pham’s still batting a strong .266/.365/.440 with 16 home runs and 13 steals in 485 plate appearances on the season.
  • Blue Jays executive vice president, business operations Andrew Miller has joined the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings as their chief operating officer, Adam Schefter of ESPN tweets. Miller had been with the Blue Jays since 2016. His familiarity with Jays president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins dates back to their time in Cleveland’s front office. For more on the Vikings and the NFL, visit ProFootballRumors.com.

Quick Hits: Braves, Keuchel, Rangers, Calhoun, Yanks, Giants, Rays

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Reports have pegged the Braves as one of the favorites to sign free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel, but David O’Brien of The Athletic throws cold water on that possibility. The Braves have inquired about Keuchel and do have interest in him, per O’Brien, though he writes their interest has been “overstated.” Atlanta has not engaged in deep negotiations with Keuchel, O’Brien adds. The latest from O’Brien jibes with a Tuesday report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who wrote that the Braves are “uncomfortable” with the idea of paying Keuchel the prorated value of the $17.9MM qualifying offer (approximately $11.5MM).

  • Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun landed on the 10-day IL on May 22 with a left quadriceps strain. It turns out the injury will likely keep him out of their lineup until at least late June, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests. The 24-year-old Calhoun, a former top 100 prospect, was amid an encouraging season before he went to the IL. Not only did Calhoun hit .304/.416/.557 with eight home runs and more walks (22) than strikeouts (19) in 138 Triple-A plate appearances, but he got off to a .435/.458/.739 start with a pair of HRs in 24 major league PA.
  • The Yankees and Giants were among the many teams that showed interest in outfielder Harold Ramirez during his brief stay on the open market last offseason, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Blue Jays outrighted Ramirez on Nov. 20, and he ended up signing a minor league deal with the Marlins exactly a week later. The 24-year-old has since given the offensively challenged Marlins some much-needed production, having slashed .346/.386/.449 (128 wRC+) in 83 plate appearances.
  • Rays outfielder Tommy Pham has been out since May 30 with a strained right calf, but it appears he’ll avoid an IL stint. The club expects to plug Pham back into its lineup Thursday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. Pham’s enjoying his third straight prodigious campaign at the plate, with a .300/.414/.483 (145 wRC+) line, eight home runs and 38 walks against 43 strikeouts in 244 attempts.

Tommy Pham Wins Arbitration Case Against Rays

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Outfilder Tommy Pham won his arbitration case against the Rays, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). The GSE client will earn $4.1MM rather than the $3.5MM figure that the team had submitted.

This victory may not make for a particularly massive increase in Pham’s 2019 earnings, but it’s a substantial sum that will also be reflected in both of his two ensuing arb paydays. Arbitration salaries are critical to any player, but are perhaps of particular importance to Pham, given that he’ll reach his 31st birthday before the start of the 2019 season.

The Tampa Bay organization happily took a chance on the late-blooming Pham over the summer and will still enjoy his services at an appealing rate of pay. Pham raked upon joining the Rays, slashing .343/.448/.623 down the stretch. All told, he’s now a .279/.375/.482 hitter through 1,458 MLB plate appearances.

This decision is now reflected in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

AL East Notes: Orioles, Sanchez, Farquhar, Pham

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Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez will formally be eligible to sign with teams beginning tomorrow, and Joe Trezza of MLB.com looks at the Orioles’ chances of signing the soon-to-be 22-year-old. While Baltimore’s level of interest in Sanchez isn’t fully clear to this point, they still have to be considered the favorite to add Sanchez given that their near-$6MM international pool is more than four times larger than the next-largest pool: the Dodgers’ $1.4MM. Trezza spoke to one non-Orioles exec who likened Sanchez to a second- or third-round pick in terms of overall talent, given his limited offensive potential but quality glove and speed. Still, while he may not be an elite prospect, Sanchez looks like the best international talent on the board at the moment, and the O’s have the spending capacity to trounce any offer made during the current signing period. Sanchez could, alternatively, wait until July 2 to sign, which would open the field up considerably.

Elsewhere in the division…

  • Right-hander Danny Farquhar discussed his remarkable comeback in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). Farquhar, who recently inked a minor league contract with the Yankees, was fighting for his life 10 months ago after suffering a brain aneurysm in the White Sox’ dugout. Soon to turn 32, Farquhar acknowledged that he’s lucky to be alive but also put a positive spin on his harrowing medical status, noting that in the time since recovering, he’s been able to dedicate himself solely to training. While this time of year brings about frequent “best shape of his life” stories, Farquhar’s is certainly of more note than most others given a recent near-death experience. While the Yankees’ bullpen will be a tough one to crack, Farquhar can either head to Triple-A as a depth option if he doesn’t make the roster or, potentially, attract the interest of another team with a strong spring showing for the Yankees.
  • Outfielder Tommy Pham’s arbitration hearing with the Rays is set to take place today, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Pham logged a ridiculous .333/.448/.622 slash with seven homers, seven doubles and six triples in 174 plate appearances with Tampa Bay following last summer’s trade from the Cardinals organization. He’d struggled previously in St. Louis, though his combined .275/.367/.464 slash between the two teams was still quite strong. Pham filed for a $4.1MM salary, while the Rays countered at $3.5MM — as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2019 Arbitration Tracker.

Unresolved 2019 Arbitration Cases

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Yesterday’s arbitration deadline wasn’t a firm date for agreeing to terms. Rather, it was the end of the period to negotiate before submitting numbers for possible hearings. Negotiations can continue thereafter, but teams and players will now have to defend their submission numbers if they can’t bridge the gap before a hearing. Baseball arb panels simply pick one side’s number; that aspect of the process is designed to force the parties to the bargaining table.

[RELATED: MLBTR Arbitration Projections; MLBTR Arbitration Tracker]

Here’s what we know thus far about the still-unresolved cases:

Today’s Updates

  • The Yankees have yet to come to a deal with ace starter Luis Severino, and they may be heading to arbitration. The Yanks have submitted their bid at $4.4MM, while Severino has asked for $5.25MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • Tommy Pham and the Rays have submitted their numbers for arbitration, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). Pham filed at $4.1MM while the Rays submitted a bid of $3.5MM. Pham has had no problem expressing his honest opinion about the Rays fanbase of late, and it will be interesting to see if he gets an equal portion of honest feedback in return in his arbitration hearing.
  • The Oakland A’s and their closer Blake Treinen have both submitted their numbers, with the team coming in at $5.6MM while Treinen files for $6.4MM, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It’s not a shock to see these sides far apart, given Treinen’s remarkable 2018 and how far above his usual standard of production last season’s numbers fell.
  • Washington Nationals filed at $1.725MM for newcomer Kyle Barraclough, who counters at $2MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). The former Marlin was acquired in an uncommonly early offseason trade that sent international bonus pool money the Marlins’ way.
  • The Diamondbacks have only one player they did not reach an agreement with, lefty reliever T.J. McFarland. The Dbacks submitted a bid of $1.275MM, while McFarland is asking for $1.675MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • Alex Wood submitted $9.65MM for his 2019 salary, while his new club the Cincinnati Reds countered at $8.7MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Wood will be a free agent at season’s end.
  • The Detroit Tigers reached agreements with all of their arbitration eligible players except for right-handed starter Michael Fulmer. Fulmer comes in at $3.4MM with the team countering at $2.8MM, the difference being 600K, per Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • Ryan Tepera has filed for $1.8MM while the Blue Jays submitted their bid at $1.525MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Tepera has been a reliable bullpen arm for the Jays through his first four seasons. He has two more seasons of arbitration remaining, set to reach free agency in advance of the 2022 season.
  • Reserve outfielder Michael A. Taylor and the Washington Nationals are a 250K apart, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Seems like a rather small sum to quibble over in the grand scheme of things, but every cent counts right now in Washington, it seems. Taylor submitted a bid of $3.5MM, with the Nats countering at $3.25MM.

Earlier Updates

  • Rockies star Nolan Arenado is headed for a record arb salary, unsurprisingly. The question is by how much. He has filed at a whopping $30MM, with the club countering at $24MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Even the lower figure would represent a record. It doesn’t seem as if the sides will go to a high-stakes hearing on this one; Jeff Passan of ESPN.com tweets that the odds are good they’ll find common ground. MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz projected Arenado to earn $26.1MM, though he also explained that it’s not hard to see that number swaying in either direction based upon a close examination of the (few relevant) comps.
  • Despite a monster 2018 season, Phillies righty Aaron Nola isn’t seeking to set a record first-year arb starter salary. (That belongs to Dallas Keuchel, at $7.25MM, when he was coming off of a Cy Young season.) Nola did file at a hefty $6.75MM, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (via Twitter), while the club entered just $4.5MM. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. The Keuchel salary represented a sea change for young starters, but few others have tested the process since. MLBTR’s projection system spit out a $6.6MM figure for Nola.
  • Righty Gerrit Cole filed at $13.5MM, while the Astros countered at $11.425MM, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Teammates Carlos Correa and Chris Devenski have also yet to agree to terms. MLBTR projected Cole to earn $13.1MM in his final arb season, Correa to check in at $5.1MM in his first arb year, and Devenski to take home $1.4MM his first time through the process.
  • Indians righty Trevor Bauer is seeking a $13MM payday, while the club will argue instead for $11MM, per Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). The Cleveland org has long utilized a file-and-trial approach on a case-by-case basis. It’s not totally clear whether that’ll be the approach here, but as Hoynes notes, the sides did go to a hearing already last year. (Bauer won.) MLBTR projected a $11.6MM payday; Swartz also explained why he thought the model was likely in the right ballpark for Bauer in a detailed post.
  • Passan provides a list of other players who have yet to agree to terms and who could therefore still end up before a panel. There are fifteen in total, including those already noted above as well as Kyle Barraclough and Michael Taylor (Nationals), Michael Fulmer (Tigers), T.J. McFarland (Diamondbacks), Tommy Pham (Rays), Luis Severino (Yankees), Ryan Tepera (Blue Jays), Blake Treinen (Athletics), and Alex Wood (Reds).
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