Padres Sign Sammy Solis To Minor League Deal
March 12: The Padres have announced the signing.
March 11: Left-hander Sammy Solis‘ foray into the free-agent market apparently proved to be extraordinarily brief; after being released by the Nationals on Saturday, Solis has agreed to a minor league contract with the Padres, according to Robert Murray and Dennis Lin of The Athletic (Twitter links). Solis is represented by CAA Baseball.
Following Solis’ release, manager Dave Martinez told MLB.com’s Richard Justice that the Nats opted to part ways with Solis in order to give him a chance to latch on with another club while Spring Training as still underway. It’d been determined that he wouldn’t make the team in Washington, and cutting ties with Solis not only gave him a chance to join another Major League camp in pursuit of a roster spot but also saved the Nationals a bit more than $700K of his non-guaranteed $850K salary. In that sense, the move helped out all parties, as Solis will still have more than two weeks to attempt to secure a roster spot in San Diego.
As Lin points out, the interest in Solis was heightened by the recent injury to fellow lefty reliever Jose Castillo, who sustained a flexor strain that, as of March 1, was expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. San Diego still has multiple lefties on the roster even with Castillo out — both Aaron Loup and Robbie Erlin are expected to claim roster spots — but Solis will provide a depth piece and could yet even work his way into a somewhat unsettled Opening Day bullpen role. Kirby Yates, Adam Warren, Craig Stammen, Loup and Erlin are all set for bullpen spots, but there are at least two jobs up for grabs — perhaps three, if San Diego carries eight relievers.
Solis, 30, has had a pair of rough seasons with the Nationals — most recently working to a dismal 6.41 ERA in 39 1/3 frames last year. However, he also averaged 10.1 K/9 last season and turned in strong marks in terms of swinging-strike rate (12.9 percent) and opponents’ chase rate (31.7 percent). Solis has averaged 94 mph on his fastball in his career and has generally excelled at the Triple-A level. He also still has only three years, 61 days of MLB service time, meaning that if he does find success in the Padres’ pen, the team can control him through at least the 2021 season (and potentially 2022, depending on the timing of a promotion to the Majors).
Roster Notes: Padres, Paddack, Rangers, Cubs, Scahill
The Padres #5 ranked prospect per MLB.com (#34 overall) is angling to get the nod on Opening Day, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. Chris Paddack threw four scoreless innings, which included a stretch in which he struck out five consecutive Oakland A’s batters in his most recent spring start. Last season, Paddack made seven starts in Double-A after cruising through High-A, where he notched an eye-popping 14.3 K/9 versus 0.7 BB/9 in 52 1/3 innings. Double-A didn’t slow him much, going 3-2 with a 1.91 ERA in 7 starts, 8.8 K/9 to 1.0 BB/9. Still, from Double-A to an Opening Day start would be quite the jump for the 23-year-old, just a year removed from missing all of 2017 to Tommy John surgery. The competition is fairly wide open, however, as the Padres, by design, brought very little in the way of established talent to camp. Since the offseason departures of veterans Clayton Richard (traded to Blue Jays) and Tyson Ross (signed with Tigers), Robbie Erlin boasts the most experience in the group, and he’s not even a lock to make the rotation. Fellow southpaws Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer each have a shot to get the Opening Day nod, as well. Let’s check in on the Rangers’ and Cubs’ camps as teams begin to whittle their spring rosters…
- The Rangers culled their number of players in camp to 60. Pitchers Taylor Guerrieri, Michael Tonkin, Miguel Del Pozo and Brady Feigl were all assigned to minor league camp, per the Rangers’ executive VP of communications John Blake (via Twitter). Guerrieri, 26, joined the Rangers after making his major league debut last season with the Blue Jays. A former first round pick of the Rays, he was a starter in the minor leagues until missing most of the 2017 season due to injury. Toronto claimed him off waivers before last season, where started 7 games in Triple-A before appearing 9 times out of the Blue Jays pen, pitching to a 5.02 FIP in a small-sample 9 2/3 big league innings. Tonkin, 29, appeared in parts of five seasons for the Twins from 2013 to 2017 with a 4.57 FIP across 141 games. Del Pozo, 26, reached as far as Double-A in the Marlins system before joining the Rangers as a non-roster invitee. While Feigl, 28, is back in the Rangers system where he has pitched for the past two seasons.
- The Cubs made a number of roster moves today, with promising righties Adbert Alzolay and Jen-Ho Tseng being optioned to Triple-A, while Justin Steele and Oscar De La Cruz were sent to Double-A, per the Athletic’s Patrick Mooney (Twitter links). Also on the move, Duncan Robinson, Ian Clarkin, Colin Rea, Ian Rice, Charcer Burks and Jacob Hannemann are being moved to minor league camp (Twitter link). Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter) adds Craig Brooks, Alberto Baldonado and Evan Marzilli to the list of players headed to minor league camp. The Cubs spring roster has now been cut to 54.
- Rob Scahill, meanwhile, was released outright by the Cubs, per Mooney (via Twitter). Scahill has pitched at the big league level for parts of seven seasons running, topping out at 31 appearances in 2016 spread between Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. In total, the 32-year-old boasts a career 3.95 ERA (4.67 FIP) in 124 games for Rockies, Pirates, Brewers and White Sox.
Joey Lucchesi Hires CAA Sports
Padres lefty Joey Lucchesi has hired CAA Sports to represent him, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic (Twitter link). His new representation is reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.
The 25-year-old Lucchesi is coming off of a rather promising first campaign in the majors. He turned in 26 starts in 2018, working to a 4.08 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
Lucchesi was a bit homer-prone, allowing 1.59 per nine, but otherwise did nothing but impress. He carried a 10.6% swinging-strike rate and 18.6% K%-BB% (placing him among the top thirty starters that threw at least 100 frames).
A former fourth-round pick, Lucchesi should be in line for another full season in the San Diego rotation. Indeed, as Lin notes, he’s even a candidate to toe the rubber on Opening Day. Lucchesi is still two seasons away from arbitration eligibility, though it’s certainly possible that the Friars will consider dangling an extension offer in the meantime.
Travis Jankowski Diagnosed With Broken Wrist
TODAY: Jankowski is expected to require surgery and miss approximately three months of action, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets.
YESTERDAY: Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski has been diagnosed with a broken wrist, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. It’s not yet known how long he’ll be sidelined, but it is anticipated that he “will miss significant time.”
The 27-year-old Jankowski suffered the injury laying out for a catch. Particulars aren’t yet known this time around, but he has once previously suffered a generally similar injury. Back in 2014, Jankowski fractured his wrist in a collision with an outfield wall.
Jankowski is earning $1.165MM this year as a Super Two player. While he has not yet shown much with the bat at the MLB level, he is coming off of a personal-best offensive season. Over 387 plate appearances in 2018, Jankowski slashed .259/.332/.346 with 24 stolen bases. He’s a quality outfield defender who can play up the middle, significantly boosting his utility.
The Friars have the depth to deal with an absence from Jankowski, with Manuel Margot and Franchy Cordero representing a potential righty/lefty mix up the middle. But they’ll lose a roster element they had hoped to carry entering the season. The Pads have a few lefty-hitting outfielders on the depth chart in Boog Powell and Alex Dickerson, though both were recently sent to minors camp.
With Jankowski down to open the year, then, the San Diego organization could consider a wide variety of alternative means of utilizing the 25-man roster opening. It could open the door to intriguing outfielder Franmil Reyes. Utilitymen Jose Pirela and Javy Guerra are also candidates who already have 40-man roster spots. The same goes for corner infielder Ty France, though it’s less clear how he’d function on a roster that now features high-priced regulars at his accustomed positions.
NL Notes: Phillies, Kershaw, Strahm
As it plodded forward over a period of months, the free agency of Bryce Harper was more laborious than intriguing for the outside observer. But the twists and turns, the strategies and stratagems, and the overriding uncertainty that blanketed the process are all much more interesting when told in a retrospective, narrative form. In a subscriber-only post, Matt Gelb of The Athletic has penned one of the most fascinating hot stove stories in memory regarding the Phillies‘ high-stakes offseason, which culminated recently with the signing of Harper. The 26-year-old star set out seeking a record-setting deal in all aspects (length, guarantee, AAV), per Gelb. He also told the Philadelphia organization during their mid-January meeting that he wanted to pick a long-term home and wasn’t interested in opt-outs. Meanwhile, the club was amply willing to make a lengthy commitment, so long as the competitive balance tax burden wasn’t too onerous. The club’s initial $330MM offer was for a 15-year term, with the final deal coming together when the Phils agreed to knock two years off of the length. By the end of the impeccably crafted article, Harper’s free agent process feels like a roller coaster — a thrilling ride with an utterly predictable result. As Gelb puts it, at the moment of decision, the organization realized that this was “a lifetime deal, a marriage between a starved franchise and the game’s most marketable star.”
Frankly, there’s no substitute for reading the full account, which paints a vibrant picture of the Phils’ winter efforts. Here’s more from the National League:
- Although the Dodgers remain hopeful that Clayton Kershaw will be ready to make his ninth consecutive Opening Day start, manager Dave Roberts acknowledged to reporters Monday that the left-hander may not be ready to go come March 28 (link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). Kershaw threw from 60 to 70 feet Monday, per DiGiovanna, and Roberts indicated that the lefty continues to trend in the right direction. Even if Kershaw isn’t ready for the opener, there’s no indication to this point that he’d need to miss significant time early in the season. Indeed, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets, Roberts says that Kershaw emerged from his throwing session today feeling “pretty excited” with how he felt. Understandably, Roberts also suggested that there’s too much emphasis being placed on Opening Day. If Kershaw isn’t ready to go, the Dodgers will still have Walker Buehler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Julio Urias and Ross Stripling as viable rotation pieces, with Brock Stewart and Caleb Ferguson serving as depth options.
- Padres skipper Andy Green has suggested that the main factor in determining whether lefty Matt Strahm will be in the rotation or bullpen will simply be whether he’s able to get stretched out this spring, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Strahm tossed 40 pitches in today’s three-inning spring outing, Acee notes, which could bode well for the southpaw’s chances given that there are still three weeks of camp remaining. Strahm, 27, was primarily a reliever in San Diego last season but has started at the minor league level in the past — primarily with the Royals. While Strahm shined as a bullpen option in San Diego last season, it’s understandable that the Friars would want to see if they could potentially coax more innings out of the intriguing southpaw.
NL Notes: Tatis, Senzel, Rox, Reynolds, Braves, Folty
As a consensus top three farmhand in baseball, shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. may be able to help the Padres from the outset of the season, but he’s no lock to make the team. After all, by keeping the 20-year-old in the minors until at least mid-April, the Padres would gain an extra year of control over him. Nevertheless, the Padres’ highest-profile player, Manny Machado, is hopeful Tatis will join him on Opening Day to comprise the left side of their infield, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic (subscription required). “If he’s in there, we’re going to be a dangerous team, and I think we’re all rooting for him to break camp with us,” said Machado, an experienced shortstop who’s set to hold down third base for the Padres after signing a 10-year, $300MM contract with them last month. Meanwhile, manager Andy Green isn’t ruling out Tatis for the Padres’ season-opening roster, but he cautioned: “In (Tatis’) case, he’s a couple months above Double-A ball. He’s had two incredibly slow Aprils that unbelievable seasons followed. “So, there’s some context there that we’re going to factor into the equation that other people probably aren’t.”
- As is the case with Tatis, Reds prospect Nick Senzel could be an early season victim of service time manipulation. Senzel’s also trying to learn a new position, center field, as he entered the spring with no game experience there. Already, though, “it’s become clear” Senzel has the ability to handle the position, manager David Bell said Sunday (via John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Regardless of whether Senzel’s in center for the Reds from the get-go, the 24-year-old seems like a good bet to see the lion’s share of time at the position for the Reds this year. Senzel’s customary spots – second and third – are spoken for, whereas there’s no established center fielder blocking him in Cincinnati.
- Although he only landed a minor league contract in free agency, first baseman Mark Reynolds is a near certainty to make the Rockies’ Opening Day roster, per Nick Groke of The Athletic (subscription required). If so, he’ll be the primary backup to first baseman Daniel Murphy, another offseason pickup for the club. The 35-year-old Reynolds was teammates with Murphy last season in Washington, where the former turned in a solid .248/.328/.476 line in 235 plate appearances after signing a minors pact with the Nationals in April.
- Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz has been down with elbow soreness, but it’s “expected” he’ll resume throwing Monday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets. Foltynewicz isn’t on track to serve as the Braves’ Opening Day starter, but it appears he’ll be able to make his regular-season debut sometime during the first week of the campaign. The 27-year-old will attempt to build on a breakout 2018 showing in which he pitched to a 2.85 ERA/3.37 FIP with 9.93 K/9, 3.34 BB/9 and a 43.1 percent groundball rate over 183 innings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/2/19
We’ll use this post to track the minor moves of the day…
- The Pirates are bringing fleet-footed infielder Alfredo Reyes to big league camp as a non-roster invitee, per the Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel (via Twitter). Reyes, 25, spent a majority of last season split between High-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona, earning a six-game stint with the Pirates Triple-A club in Indianapolis. All told, Reyes hit .286/.386/.356 across the three levels, though most of that damage was done during the 61-game stint in High-A where he slashed .310/.424/.386. The speedy utility player managed to steal 35 bases in 39 attempts, an 89.7% success rate. Defensively, Reyes appeared at every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher.
- Per Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Padres have signed lefty reliever Paco Rodriguez to a minor-league deal. Rodriguez, 27, jumped almost directly to the bigs after being selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 amateur draft by the Dodgers. In four seasons with LA, Rodriguez performed admirably – albeit in limited, LOOGY-exclusive role – twirling 85 1/3 innings of 9.6 K/9, 2.53 ERA-ball. Paco was shipped at the 2015 trade deadline to Atlanta, where rehab from a variety of injuries eventually culminated in a late-season Tommy John. He spent much of last season with Minnesota’s AA affiliate, notching a 4.26 ERA in 25 IP.
West Notes: Castillo, Arenado, Rockies, A’s, Ohtani
Padres left-hander Jose Castillo will be sidelined for an estimated six-to-eight weeks to recover from a flexor strain in his throwing arm, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Castillo began feeling forearm tightness last week, which caused San Diego to shut down his bullpens and then ultimately place him on the 60-day injured list today. Needless to say, any type of forearm injury is cause for concern, though the team is still “confident” that Tommy John surgery won’t be required. The 23-year-old Castillo made his MLB debut last season and immediately delivered results, posting a 3.29 ERA, 4.33 K/BB rate, and a whopping 12.2 K/9 over 38 1/3 innings out of San Diego’s bullpen. With Castillo on the IL, the Padres’ top left-handed options consist of Matt Strahm and the recently-signed Aaron Loup, with former big leaguers Eric Stout, Kyle McGrath, and Brad Wieck also available in the upper minors.
Some more from both the NL and AL West divisions….
- The specter of what Manny Machado or Bryce Harper could land in free agency theoretically loomed over the extension talks between Nolan Arenado and the Rockies, though the Machado/Harper situations “had a lot less to do with it than you might think,” Rockies GM Jeff Bridich said in an appearance on Inside Pitch show on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). While both the team and Arenado’s camp were obviously cognizant of the larger market forces at play, Bridich said “There were never any sort of deadlines or caveats put in going ‘Hey, we need to know this first before…’ We just focused on our business at hand, and I think that’s why we ended up getting what hopefully ends up to be a great deal for everybody involved.”
- Now that Arenado has been locked up to the biggest contract in franchise history, the Rockies don’t have any more big extension candidates on their radar for at least a couple of years, Kyle Newman and Jeff Bailey of the Denver Post write. Colorado’s top young stars are still controlled through arbitration or have yet to even reach their arb years — Trevor Story and Jon Gray are controlled through the 2021 season, while Kyle Freeland and German Marquez aren’t eligible for free agency until after the 2022 campaign. This doesn’t mean the Rockies couldn’t explore a long-term deal in advance, though it’s worth noting that Arenado and Charlie Blackmon both only signed their extensions when they were a season removed from the open market. Looking at Colorado’s long-term payroll, Arenado and Blackmon are the only players guaranteed salary beyond 2021, several of the team’s other big contracts (Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, Daniel Murphy, and likely Ian Desmond) come off the books after 2020 or 2021.
- The early start to the regular season for the Athletics and Mariners (who play a two-game series in Tokyo on March 20-21) has also pushed up some roster deadlines. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the A’s will have to decide by March 14 whether or not minor league signees Jerry Blevins and Nick Hundley will make the MLB roster. Otherwise, Blevins and Hundley each can opt out of their minors contracts. It could be a moot point, however, as “Blevins and Hundley both appear to be near-locks to make the team,” Slusser writes. Hundley’s inclusion could leave Josh Phegley as the odd man out of the catching mix, and the out-of-options backstop is a good candidate to be claimed off waivers, multiple scouts tell Slusser. Oakland’s early start doesn’t extend to out-of-options players, however, as the club has until March 28 (when their regular season resumes) to decide on Phegley, Frankie Montas, Aaron Brooks, and other players who can no longer be freely optioned to the minors.
- Shohei Ohtani has moved from hitting off a tee to hitting soft toss, as the Angels slugger continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery. The Halos are targeting a May return for Ohtani, though manager Brad Ausmus told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other media that the unique nature of Ohtani’s two-way status makes him “patient zero,” and thus “he doesn’t really have a set schedule. He is making the schedule for future Shohei Ohtanis.” Ohtani obviously won’t pitch this season, and he’ll be limited to DH-only duty once he does return to the team’s lineup.
Padres Sign Adam Warren
The Padres have inked reliever Adam Warren, per a club announcement. It’s a one-year deal with a club option. Warren, a client of Full Circle Sports Management, is promised $2.5MM on the contract, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). That includes a $2MM salary for 2019 and a $500K buyout on a $2.5MM option.
Southpaw Jose Castillo was placed on the 60-day injured list to create roster space. He is dealing with a flexor strain that is obviously considered a fairly significant malady.
Outside of a forgettable 2016 run with the Cubs, Warren has steadily produced good results at the MLB level. All said, he has thrown 463 2/3 innings of 3.42 ERA pitching. Warren carries only 7.8 K/9 in the aggregate, but he had boosted his strikeout numbers over the past two years — at least, that is, until he was dealt to the Mariners in the middle of the 2018 season. Warren racked up 11.1 strikeouts per nine in his first thirty frames of the year but dropped back to 6.2 K/9 down the stretch in Seattle.
Warren projects as another solid arm within a Padres bullpen that was already one of the team’s strengths in 2018. Led by Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen, San Diego’s relief corps has added a pair of notable veterans in the last two weeks, between Aaron Loup and now the Warren signing. Warren has pitched as a multi-inning reliever in the past, and perhaps could even be deployed as an “opener” should San Diego choose to adopt that strategy.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/28/19
We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves …
- The Padres have a deal in place with righty Chris Rowley, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Other terms of the pact aren’t known. Rowley, 28, has throw 19 1/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons, coughing up 17 earned runs with both 11 walks and strikeouts. He has been more effective in the upper minors, though. Last year at Triple-A, the West Point product worked to a 3.34 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 142 2/3 innings. Rowley has to this point spent most of his career with the Blue Jays, though he was claimed and later outrighted last year by the Rangers.