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Padres Designate Nick Martini

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The Padres have designated outfielder Nick Martini for assignment, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets. The club selected the contract of outfielder Jorge Ona from Double-A Amarillo in a corresponding move.

Martini joined the Padres off waivers from the Athletics at the end of August, but the 29-year-old then struggled over 96 plate appearances, hitting .244/.344/.317 with no home runs. He logged just 13 PA with the A’s this past season before they moved on from him, though Martini was a respectable member of their offense in 2018. The lefty slashed .296/.397/.414 across 179 trips to the plate, but he only hit one HR then.

Ona, now 22, came to the Pads as a hyped prospect out of Cuba in July 2016. The club signed Ona for $7MM, and he’s now coming off a short season in which he starred in his first taste of the Double-A level. Ona racked up 103 plate appearances and batted .348/.417/.539 with five homers, though the right shoulder surgery he underwent in July limited his campaign.

Players Added To 40-Man Roster: National League

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We’re going to see a whole lot of players added to 40-man rosters in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. We will use this post to track those contract selections from National League teams that are not otherwise covered on the site.

NL West

  • The Dodgers announced that they’ve selected the contracts of right-hander Mitchell White, infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry and outfielder DJ Peters. Both White and Peters are considered to be among the club’s top 15 prospects. McKinstry isn’t generally ranked inside L.A.’s top 30, but the 24-year-old had a big season between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019 while appearing at six defensive positions (shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield slots).
  • The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve selected the contracts of right-handers Taylor Widener and Riley Smith as well as the contracts of infielders Andy Young and Wyatt Mathisen. Widener, 24, was one of the organization’s best pitching prospects coming into the season but was blown up for an eye-popping 8.10 ERA in 100 innings. He’s only a year removed from 137 1/3 innings of 2.75 ERA ball and an 11.5 K/9 mark in Double-A, however. Smith, 24, was sharp in Double-A before struggling in Triple-A — like many pitching prospects throughout the league (and with the D-backs in particular). Young, acquired in the Paul Goldschmidt trade last winter, hit 29 homers while playing three infield positions between Double-A and Triple-A. Mathisen, 26 in December, hit .283/.403/.601 in 345 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • The Giants, surprisingly, did not add anyone to their 40-man roster prior to tonight’s deadline.
  • The Rockies selected the contracts of infielder Tyler Nevin, left-hander Ben Bowden and right-handers Ashton Goudeau and Antonio Santos (Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post first reported the news on Twitter). Those four moves will fill the team’s 40-man roster. Of the four, Bowden and Nevin draw the most fanfare. Nevin, the No. 38 pick in the 2015 draft and son of former MLB slugger Phil Nevin, posted deceptively solid numbers in an extremely pitcher-friendly Double-A environment in 2019 (.251/.345/.399 — good for a 122 wRC+). Bowden, a second-round pick in ’16, posted gaudy strikeout numbers but struggled in Triple-A after dominating in Double-A in 2019.
  • The Padres selected outfielder Jorge Ona’s contract and designated outfielder Nick Martini for assignment, as outlined here.

NL Central

  • The Cardinals announced the additions of Jake Woodford, Elehuris Montero and Alvaro Seijas while designating righty Dominic Leone for assignment (as detailed here at greater length).
  • Outfielder Corey Ray and right-hander J.P. Feyereisen will head onto the Brewers 40-man, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). It’s not yet known if the team will make further roster additions, but it would have five additional spots to work with to do so. Ray was the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft but is coming off of a rough season. Feyereisen, who was added in a quiet September swap, will have a chance to challenge for MLB relief opportunities. Milwaukee also added infielder Mark Mathias to the 40-man roster after acquiring him in a trade with the Indians tonight.
  • The Cubs announced that they’ve added catcher Miguel Amaya, infielder Zack Short and right-handers Tyson Miller and Manuel Rodriguez to the 40-man roster. Amaya is the most highly regarded of the bunch, ranking second among Chicago farmhands and drawing some top 100 consideration at MLB.com.
  • Four additions to the 40-man were announced by the Reds, who have selected the contracts of catcher Tyler Stephenson and right-handers Tony Santillan, Ryan Hendrix and Tejay Antone. All four rank within the club’s top 30 at MLB.com, headlined by Santillan at No. 4 and ranging all the way to Antone at No. 30. Santillan thrived in a brief Double-A debut in 2018 but struggled there in a larger 2019 sample (4.84 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 in 102 1/3 innings). He’s still just 22, though, and is regarded as a potential big league starter. Stephenson is a former first-round pick who hit well in a highly pitcher-friendly Double-A setting (.285/.372/.410; 130 wRC+). Hendrix posted big strikeout numbers as a reliever in 2019, while Antone displayed sharp ground-ball skills as a starter and reached Triple-A for the first time.
  • The Pirates added prospects Ke’Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Will Craig, Blake Cederlind and Cody Ponce to the 40-man roster while also designating four pitchers for assignment (as explored in greater length here). Lefty Williams Jerez and right-handers Dario Agrazal, Montana DuRapau and Luis Escobar were cut loose.

NL East

Report: Paddack, Gore Are “Virtually Untouchable” In Padres’ Trade Talks

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The Padres are more likely to upgrade their roster through trades moreso than free agency this winter, though that hardly means the Friars are open to moving just anyone.  As per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, sources both from within the Padres and on rival teams feel that Chris Paddack and top prospect MacKenzie Gore are “virtually untouchable” within the the Padres’ ranks of young arms.  Right-handed pitching prospect Luis Patino “is just slightly more available than” Paddack or Gore, meaning that San Diego seems unlikely to move any of the three best impact arms in the organization.

It’s no surprise that Paddack is off limits following his impressive rookie season, or that Gore (a consensus top-five prospect in baseball in the eyes of Baseball America, MLB.com, and Fangraphs) isn’t a trade chip.  Patino’s name isn’t as well-known as the others, though he also possesses an impressive pedigree.

An international signing out of Colombia, the 20-year-old Patino has a 2.35 ERA, 10.7 K/9, and 3.49 K/BB rate over 234 innings in pro ball.  He cracked the Double-A level last season, so it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Patino reach the majors by late in the 2020 campaign.  A converted shortstop, Patino has a fastball that usually sits in the mid-90s and has touched the 98mph threshold, while also possessing a plus slider and some very promising breaking pitches.  Fangraphs ranks Patino 26th among all minor leaguers, with BA (29th) and MLB.com (30th) not far behind on their own top-100 lists.

Interest in Patino has grown as other teams are “realizing the Padres won’t part with Gore,” Acee writes, though if Patino is almost surely staying put, trade suitors will likely turn their attention elsewhere in the organization.  To this end, there are still plenty of options available, since “any starting pitcher among [the Padres’] deep trove of highly-rated prospects and young major leaguers can be had as part of a trade package.”

Since Acee wrote over the summer that Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eric Hosmer are the only position players San Diego is unwilling to trade, that leaves basically anyone else on the organizational depth chart available as a possible trade chip.  Acee’s report came prior to the Padres’ acquisition of Taylor Trammell in the Trevor Bauer/Franmil Reyes deal, so one would imagine that the highly-touted Trammell also won’t be moved.  (And, I would suspect that after two middling seasons from Hosmer, the Padres might be at least willing to listen if another team offered to take the first baseman and his $99MM in remaining salary off San Diego’s hands.)

It leaves the Padres with no shortage of possibilities in figuring out how to upgrade their team, as the franchise enters what could be a pivotal year.  Executive chairman Ron Fowler described the club’s 70-92 season as “embarrassing,” and promised changes if the Padres didn’t improve in 2020.  This puts extra pressure on general manager A.J. Preller to finally end the Friars’ streak of nine consecutive losing seasons.

Brewers Claim Eric Yardley

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The Brewers have claimed righty Eric Yardley off waivers from the Padres, per a club announcement. While the MLB.com transactions page indicates that Yardley was released, he evidently had not yet cleared release waivers.

With the move, the Milwaukee club will hand a 40-man spot over to an intriguing sidearmer who could compete for a bullpen job in camp. Yardley doesn’t have much MLB experience but was able to make it through 11 2/3 frames with just three earned runs in his 2019 debut.

Yardley’s low-velo offerings have proven effective over a longer run in the upper minors. He recorded 63 2/3 frames of 2.83 ERA pitching at Triple-A last year, racking up a 63.8% groundball rate while limiting the long ball (0.42 HR/9) and carrying 7.4 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9.

NL West Notes: Padres, Cordero, Giants, Fetter, Dodgers

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Padres GM AJ Preller spoke to reporters at the GM Meetings in Arizona yesterday, with a few interesting notes on the club’s current roster concerns. While Preller didn’t unequivocally dispel rumors of Luis Urias’ availability on the trade market, he did offer that he sees “a lot of scenarios” in which the youngster is starting in the middle infield in 2020 (as noted in an article from Dennis Lin of The Athletic). Meanwhile, catcher Francisco Mejia is “very much in the catching equation” for the club next year, and team officials still feel like Austin Hedges can “swing the bat a lot better than he did [in 2019]”.

Preller also shared that the club is expected to retain second bagger Greg Garcia and that the club’s catching depth is “an area we get hit on” from other teams. Taken together, these comments don’t provide much clarity with regard to the team’s plans at catcher and second, but could be seen as typical of an executive staring down an offseason that offers a dizzying number of potential routes toward club improvement.

More from the NL West…

  • Another one of Preller’s many touted young players, outfielder Franchy Cordero, tweaked a glute muscle while rehabbing at the team’s complex in Arizona this week. As reported by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (link), the injury is not expected to be overly serious but should delay the 25-year-old’s participation in the Dominican Winter Leagues. Padres fans know well the extent to which Cordero has been limited in recent years by injuries, as a chronic elbow issue acted in concert with a quad injury to rob him of the majority of his 2019 season. Cordero, a lefty-swinging outfielder capable of playing center, fits exactly the type of player the Padres have been rumored to be in pursuit of this offseason, though he has been limited to just 79 major league games since debuting in 2017.  For what it’s worth, Preller still characterized Cordero as, “One of the more talented and physically gifted players in the league in terms of a speed/power combo.”
  • The Giants are considering University of Michigan coach Chris Fetter for their pitching coach vacancy, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (link). As noted previously, Fetter was a considered as a candidate for the Mets’ pitching coach opening. Fetter, a former ninth-round pick of the Padres back in 2009, previously spent time as a coach in the Dodgers system while new Giants manager Gabe Kapler was serving as the Los Angeles director of player development.
  • Speaking of L.A., Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman reiterated the club’s plans to use Julio Urias in the rotation next season, as noted in a tweet from Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times (link). Friedman currently projects to use Urias, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Kenta Maeda in the rotation, while Ross Stripling will “have a chance” to compete for a spot. The perennial NL West champs have also been connected to a number of high-profile starting pitchers this offseason (Gerrit Cole included), and starter Rich Hill has expressed a strong desire to return to the Dodgers.  The team also has Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May on hand as starting options, with Pedro Moura of The Athletic (link) relaying that the club still views May as a big league starter moving forward despite his late-season 2019 deployment from the bullpen.

Jon Gray Drawing Trade Interest

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Rockies right-hander Jon Gray was an oft-mentioned name at this week’s GM Meetings, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com, with the Padres among the clubs interested in acquiring the former No. 3 overall pick.

That Gray would emerge as a potential trade candidate isn’t really a surprise; as explored here at MLBTR a month ago, the Rockies are in a tough spot as a team that is projected to have a franchise-record payroll in 2020 before making a single addition to improve what was a 71-91 club in 2019. Gray and shortstop Trevor Story are the two members of the club that are relatively short-term assets (both controlled through 2021) and have performed well enough to have legitimate trade value. Owner Dick Monfort began the offseason by declaring a lack of payroll flexibility. As such, if the Rockies are to look to ways to improve, they may need to walk a fine line and move some quality big league pieces to simultaneously pare back spending and add more affordable (but less proven) near-MLB talent.

Gray, who last week turned 28, has demonstrated front-of-the-rotation ability at times in his big league career but has yet to establish much in the way of consistency. He’s averaged better than a strikeout per inning in 641 1/3 MLB frames and has delivered sub-4.00 ERAs in two of the past three seasons despite pitching his home games at Coors Field. However, Gray also logged a mediocre 4.61 ERA in 2016 and a woeful 5.12 mark in 2018.

Inconsistency notwithstanding, Gray is a former No. 3 overall pick and vaunted top prospect who averages better than 96 mph on his heater and owns a career 11.4 percent swinging-strike rate. He’s not exactly the prototypical Statcast darling, as he has below-average spin on his fastball and slider, but he’s managed to consistently generate punchouts all the same. And, that low spin rate has helped Gray to post above-average ground-ball tendencies throughout his MLB tenure.

Gray has only made 30 starts in a big league season once, although his durability isn’t questionable in the same way that it would be for a pitcher with a history of arm troubles. Rather, Gray has twice suffered a fracture in his left foot, limiting him to 110 1/3 innings in 2017 and 150 innings this past season. Outside of those two injuries, the only issue that’s ever shelved Gray during his MLB career was an abdominal strain in 2016. He did have some shoulder fatigue late in the 2014 season — his first full year of pro ball — but Gray’s right arm has an otherwise clean bill of health.

There are at least some parallels between the Rockies’ current situation with Gray and the situation the Pirates faced with Gerrit Cole two offseasons ago. Both are flamethrowing former top picks/prospects. Gray has a 112 ERA+ over his past four seasons — the same mark that Cole posted from 2014-17 in Pittsburgh. And, as was the case with Cole, Gray has another two years of club control remaining and a decidedly non-prohibitive (for most clubs) projected arbitration salary at $5.6MM. (Cole had settled at $6.75MM at the time of his trade.)

That’s not to suggest that Gray will erupt with a new club in the same manner that Cole did, but rather to underscore that Gray is the type of pitcher teams will dream on when scouring the trade market. The fact that this winter’s trade market lacks a clearly available frontline starter should only lead to further intrigue surrounding Gray, although there’s no guarantee that the Rockies will ultimately part ways with the hard-throwing right-hander. The Colorado organization, by all accounts, is hopeful of a bouncing back as a collective unit in 2020, so moving Gray for down-the-pipeline prospect who won’t reach the Majors until 2021-22 doesn’t seem likely.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/13/19

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The latest minor transactions from around baseball…

  • Utilityman Kristopher Negron has retired, as he announced on Twitter on Tuesday. A seventh-round pick of the Red Sox in 2006, the 33-year-old Negron walked away from the game after appearing in the majors in parts of six seasons from 2012-19 with the Reds, Diamondbacks, Mariners and Dodgers. He divided his final season between the Seattle and Los Angeles organizations. Overall, Negron batted .221/.291/.336 with nine home runs across a 416-plate appearance span in the majors. He was more successful at the Triple-A level, where he collected 3,291 PA and hit .256/.323/.403 with 76 homers.
  • The Padres have signed Mexican left-hander/outfielder Zayed Salinas for $800K, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs tweets. The 16-year-old Salinas offers a three-pitch mix – an 87 to 90 mph fastball, a curveball and a changeup – and ranks as FanGraphs’ top prospect from Mexico in 2019, Longenhagen notes. Salinas could turn into a “contact-oriented” center fielder if he doesn’t pan out as a pitcher, per FanGraphs’ scouting report.

Clint Hurdle Retires From Managing

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Nov. 13: Hurdle says he has indeed decided not to seek in-uniform positions, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. But that doesn’t mean he’s through with the game. Hurdle says he has spoken with organizations about front-office possibilities, so it seems likely he’ll remain engaged in some capacity.

Nov. 12: Longtime major league manager Clint Hurdle has decided to retire, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres interviewed Hurdle for their hitting coach vacancy, but he decided not to pursue the opportunity, per Acee.

The 62-year-old Hurdle’s just a few weeks removed from the end of a lengthy tenure as the Pirates’ manager. The team fired Hurdle in late September after a disastrous season in which it went 69-93. It was the fourth straight non-playoff season for the Hurdle-led Pirates, though they did have success earlier in his run. Pittsburgh went to the playoffs in each season under Hurdle from 2013-15, but it never won a playoff series. Hired prior to 2011, Hurdle oversaw Pirates teams that went a combined 735-720-1 – which is plenty respectable for a low-budget franchise that has largely struggled over the past few decades.

Before joining the Pirates, Hurdle managed the Rockies to a 534-625 mark from 2002-09. The Rockies only made the playoffs once in that span, in 2007, but they did win the NL pennant that year before falling to the Red Sox in the World Series.

Long before his managerial career started, Hurdle was an outfielder/infielder/catcher for the Royals, Reds, Mets and Cardinals from 1977-87. Hurdle hit a solid .259/.341/.403 across 1,596 plate appearances. Now, if Hurdle’s decades-long stay in the majors truly is up, MLBTR wishes him the best in retirement.

Padres Will Attempt To Extend Fernando Tatis Jr.

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The Padres will attempt to work out a long-term deal with budding superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The timing of negotiations and the organization’s spending tolerances aren’t known, but it seems the club will make a real push to agree to terms before the start of the 2020 season.

Tatis is exceptionally youthful; he won’t celebrate his 21st birthday until the new year. And he’s exceptionally talented, as evidenced by a thrilling rookie campaign. The debut effort was cut short by injury, but not before Tatis turned in 372 innings of .317/.379/.590 hitting with 22 home runs and a boat load of highlight reel contributions. He could stand to smooth out his glovework and cut back on the strikeouts, but that showing was a full-blown success regardless.

At this time last year, you could’ve said many of the same things about precocious Braves slugger Ronald Acuna Jr., who ended up signing a stunning $100MM extension that gave the team control over ten seasons of likely superstardom. That pact entered an unprecedented realm for early-career contracts, but it was also arguably the easiest nine-figure deal ever signed by a professional baseball team.

Acee rightly notes the Acuna contract as a highly relevant comp in the case of Tatis. No doubt the team will try to frame it as a ceiling, or at worst a direct comp, while nudging Tatis back down toward the other major contracts inked by burgeoning young stars last winter — the $43MM deal between Eloy Jimenez and the White Sox and the $35MM agreement the Braves scored with Ozzie Albies.

But there’s no question Tatis belongs in the Acuna stratosphere as a player. And his reps at MVP Sports can make an argument that he ought to earn more — supposing his injury woes are just a blip, at least. First and foremost, the Acuna contract doesn’t need to function in any way to limit what Tatis can and should demand for his own services. If he’s interested in a deal, Tatis can do his own math on his future free agent earnings and whether and how he’s willing to discount them. It’s eminently arguable that Acuna is undercompensated for his immense ability; Tatis doesn’t need to make the same bargain.

Then there’s the fact that Tatis is a season ahead in the service-time game than Acuna was this time last year, owing to the Friars’ decision to put him on the Opening Day roster in 2020. That surprising decision by the San Diego organization last spring was a notable gambit that could factor heavily in this new contract push. It gave leverage to Tatis, who’s a full year closer to the open market than he would have been had the team waited a few weeks to call him up. But the risky ploy may also have been part of the team’s now-evident effort to do everything it can to ensconce Tatis as a franchise-defining star for the bulk of his career. The goodwill generated by the on-time promotion might help the team secure a monster contract that’s laden with value for the organization. The tens of millions more it could in theory cost to get the deal done? That’s secondary to the ability to complete such a pact with a player of this kind.

Cole Hamels Drawing Significant Interest

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Free-agent left-hander Cole Hamels has indicated he’s open to signing a one-year deal, but that doesn’t mean the veteran is nearing the end of his career. On the contrary, agent John Boggs told Jon Morosi of MLB.com that the soon-to-be 36-year-old Hamels aims to pitch “at least five more seasons” in the majors.

Whether Hamels has another half-decade left in him is up for debate. What’s not debatable? Hamels is one of the best, most accomplished starters on this year’s open market. Unsurprisingly, there has been plenty of interest in the former Phillie, Ranger and Cub. Thirteen teams have already reached out in regards to Hamels, according to Boggs. The identities of those clubs are unclear, though Hamels has made it known his preference is to sign with a contender. It’s also worth noting Hamels is from San Diego, and though the Padres are mired in a painfully long playoff drought, he seems open to signing with his hometown team.

“It’s cool for him to think about coming home to San Diego,” Boggs told Morosi. “More than anything, he wants to compete for a championship. The chance to win is what’s going to drive his decision-making.”

The Padres happen to be among a slew of teams in line to chase starting pitching this offseason. Hamels isn’t a top-end free agent like Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg, nor is he even a second-tier type like Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu or Jake Odorizzi, but he still looks capable of improving just about any team’s staff. While injuries limited Hamels to a mere 141 2/3 innings in 2019, he did give the Cubs a 3.81 ERA/4.09 FIP with 9.08 K/9, 3.56 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent groundball rate. Now, with no qualifying offer weighing him down, a large selection of teams seem to be zeroing in on the still-effective Hamels.

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