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Roughly 20 Teams Interested In Tyson Ross

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Although free agent right-hander Tyson Ross threw just 5 1/3 innings last season and is on the mend from October thoracic outlet surgery, the vast majority of major league teams are interested in his services. Roughly 20 clubs are in on Ross, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who specifically names his previous team – the Padres – along with the Cubs, Rangers, Pirates and Indians as suitors.

The Padres non-tendered Ross at the outset of this month, but general manager A.J. Preller then revealed there’s “mutual interest” in a reunion between the two sides. However, Ross is reportedly seeking $9MM or more in guarantees, and the Padres were already unwilling to pay him a similar amount in arbitration (an estimated $9.6MM).

Since the Padres cut Ross, no team has been connected to the 29-year-old more than the Cubs. Chicago – which Heyman indicates has visited with Ross – nearly acquired him via trade in July 2015, when he was amid a three-year run as a front-line starter. From 2013-15, Ross posted a 3.07 ERA, 9.16 K/9, 3.48 BB/9 and 58.2 ground-ball rate over 516 2/3 frames, but San Diego elected against dealing him. That proved to be a mistake in hindsight, as Ross’ shoulder troubles kept him off the field last season after a truncated Opening Day start and ultimately led to the end of his Padres career (temporarily at least).

If healthy, Ross would slot into a Cubs rotation that’s currently set to feature Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey and Mike Montgomery. The reigning World Series champions could use another left-hander in their righty-packed bullpen, and adding Ross would perhaps enable them to shift Montgomery, a southpaw, to a relief role. Ross would have to recover first, of course, and Peter Gammons tweeted earlier this month that he should be OK by April.

The Rangers and Pirates have also been in the Ross chase since the Padres non-tendered him, though it’s difficult to imagine low-payroll Pittsburgh approaching his asking price. The Indians, whom FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal previously named as a possible landing spot for Ross, also aren’t known for spending. The Tribe’s run to the World Series proved lucrative, though, which could help them secure Ross.

Padres Re-Sign Clayton Richard

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4:07pm: The Padres have announced both Richard’s deal and the signing of Jhoulys Chacin.

3:26pm: Richard’s pact also features $1MM in incentives, including a $250K assignment bonus if the Padres trade him, reports Heyman (Twitter links).

12:35pm: The Padres have agreed to re-sign lefty Clayton Richard to a one-year deal, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’ll earn $1.75MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).

Richard and the Padres have already had their formal reunion, so this move represents a continuation of a revived partnership that began way back at the 2009 trade deadline. San Diego picked up Richard as a big part of the swap that sent righty Jake Peavy to the White Sox.

Long a member of the Padres rotation, Richard turned in some quality seasons but left the organization after his shoulder issues resurfaced in 2013. After a brief 2014 appearance in the minors with the Diamondbacks, he joined the Pirates in advance of the 2015 season. With Richard showing well at Triple-A, he was able to make use of an “upward mobility” clause in his contract; when the Cubs showed interest in adding him to their MLB roster, he was back in the bigs.

That 2015 campaign was a good one for the veteran, though he returned primarily in a long relief role. Over his 42 1/3 innings, Richard worked to a 3.83 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. That led to a $2MM major-league contract in the ensuing winter. But things didn’t work out quite as well the second time around in Chicago; over his 14 frames in 25 appearances, he managed only a 6.43 ERA with as many walks as strikeouts (seven apiece).

Cut loose by the Cubs, Richard headed back to San Diego and turned things around — at least in terms of the bottom-line results. Over nine starts and a pair of relief appearances, he turned in 53 2/3 innings of 2.52 ERA ball. Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that he still managed only 5.7 K/9 to go with 4.0 BB/9, though Richard also ended the year with a career-best 65.1% groundball rate over his 67 2/3 total frames.

[RELATED: Updated Padres Depth Chart]

With opportunity aplenty in the Padres’ rotation, it seems likely that Richard will enter camp with the expectation of securing a starting job. But if that doesn’t work out, or if he falters during the season, it’s certainly possible that he could end up spending time in the pen as well. Despite the middling K/BB numbers last year, Richard did show signs of hope for the coming season. Beyond the groundball advances, Richard also sported an average fastball velocity in his typical career range (91.2 mph) and boasted a personal-best swinging-strike rate of 8.5%, due in part to the fact that he got hitters to chase and whiff even as he worked out of the zone at by far the lowest levels of his career (42.6%).

Padres Have Held Talks With Jake Peavy

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The Padres have held discussions with free-agent righty Jake Peavy about a possible reunion, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Peavy, 35, last played with San Diego in 2009, when he was shipped to the White Sox in a mid-season deal that landed fellow hurler Clayton Richard — whose own return to the Pads was just extended with a one-year deal.

Peavy established himself as a dominant starter with San Diego, the organization that drafted him in the 15th round of the 1999 draft. He was a key part of the team’s last two postseason entrants (in 2005 and 2006) and won the Cy Young award with the club back in 2007.

Since that time, Peavy has gone from the White Sox to the Red Sox (by way of trade) and then on to the Giants (via trade and a subsequent free-agent contract). While he has never again been quite a dominant as he was with the Friars for a full season, Peavy has continued to provide solid innings for the vast bulk of a 15-year career.

Last year didn’t go quite as hoped, however, as Peavy managed only 118 2/3 innings of 5.54 ERA ball with San Francisco. A demotion to the pen and back issues marred his final season with the Giants, but Peavy still managed 7.7 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. He coughed up a .320 BABIP that sat well above his career .285 mark (though that’s partially attributable to a career-worst 37.1% hard-contact rate), and also posted a low strand rate of 65.4%, so there’s some cause to see poor fortune as a driver of the results. Indeed, metrics such as FIP (4.36), xFIP (4.70), and SIERA (4.41) all suggested that Peavy performed about as well as he had in prior recent years.

While a return to his 3.58 ERA from the 2015 season may be hoping for too much, then, there’s still reason to believe that Peavy can be a useful back-of-the-rotation arm. Though he sat at a personal low of 88.9 mph with his average fastball, Peavy’s swinging-strike rate rebounded to double digits (10.5%) for the first time since 2009. And as Lin notes, Peavy still generates excellent spin rates compared to the rest of the league.

San Diego’s interest would be on a one-year arrangement, Lin suggests, which would meet with expectations heading into the winter. It’s not clear how much longer Peavy will continue to ply his trade, and certainly there are enough red flags to make a lengthier commitment suspect from any team’s perspective.

International Signings: 12/20/16

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Here are some of the latest comings and goings on the international market:

  • There are a few recent moves to cover on the KBO side as well. Southpaw Hyeon-jong Yang will return to Korea’s Kia Tigers, Yonhap News reports (h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). The 28-year-old has been on the MLB radar for some time, and had been expected to gauge interest as a free agent this winter. Evidently, there wasn’t enough of an opportunity in North American ball for him to forego a chance at what’s reported to be the biggest single-season contract ever awarded in the KBO: 2.25 billion won, or about $1.89MM. Yang carries a 3.02 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 373 innings in the past two seasons in the hitter-friendly KBO.
  • Also, SK Wyverns recently announced the signings of infielder Danny Worth (for $700K) and lefty Scott Diamond ($600K). Both have seen action in multiple MLB campaigns. Most recently, Worth briefly cracked the Astros’ major-league roster. Though he struggled there, he did slash an excellent .330/.431/.525 in his 368 Triple-A plate appearances in 2016. And Diamond, once a rotation piece for the Twins, made one major-league appearance last year with the Blue Jays, but spent most of the year working to a 4.50 ERA (with 5.4 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9) over 166 innings at Triple-A.

Earlier Updates

  • The Yakult Swallows have added righty David Buchanan on a one-year deal worth about $750K, per a team announcement (via Kyodo News). Buchanan, 27, had been cut loose by the Phillies after spending all of 2016 at Triple-A, working to a 3.98 ERA over 167 1/3 innings. He had some success in a twenty-start rookie year at the major-league level back in 2014, but struggled there in 2015 and wasn’t able to return last year. “He can keep his pitches low with a high strike rate, and has strong fighting spirit. We wanted that kind of a pitcher,” said Yakult international director Masayuki Okumura.
  • Also heading to Japan after a recent stint with the Phillies is fellow righty Phil Klein, who the club recently released to pursue an opportunity in the NPB. He’s heading to the Yokohama BayStars, the team announced (Japanese-language link), for a deal that’s said to promise him around 150MM yen (~$1.27MM) along with an incentives package. Though Klein hasn’t succeeded in his looks at the majors, he obviously drew real interest from Asia with his intriguing numbers in the upper minors — including a 2.14 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 over 160 Triple-A frames.
  • The BayStars will not retain free agents Guillermo Moscoso and Zach Petrick, the team also noted. Moscoso, a former big leaguer, had spent three years with the organization. The 27-year-old Petrick, a former Cardinals farmhand, struggled to a 5.51 ERA in his only campaign in Japan.
  • Continuing their international spree, the Padres have agreed to a $400K bonus with Cuban lefty Ramon Ernesto Perez Favier, according to a report from Francys Romero of OnCuba.com (Twitter link), which Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune confirms (also via Twitter). There isn’t much public information on the 17-year-old, though you can check out his stuff on this YouTube video that reputedly features him. Lin provides a few tidbits on Favier as well, tweeting that the young southpaw sits in the low-nineties with his fastball and features a breaker with two varieties of change-ups. Since San Diego has long seen blown past its bonus limitations, the team will double its investment in the form of a penalty tax.

Padres Sign Jhoulys Chacin

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9:11pm: Chacin’s contract is worth $1.75MM, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman. He rejected “significantly more money” from other teams because he felt the Padres offered the best opportunity (Twitter links).

3:13pm: Righty Jhoulys Chacin and the Padres have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, pending a physical, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Chacin is a client of the Legacy Agency.

The Padres will likely count on Chacin to eat innings in an otherwise thin and inexperienced rotation that has lately lost veteran arms like James Shields, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. There should be no shortage of opportunities for Chacin in San Diego. As of this afternoon, they had Christian Friedrich (who has never posted an ERA below 4.80 in the big leagues) top their starting pitching depth chart; below him was Luis Perdomo, who had a 5.71 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 while pitching as a Rule 5 player last season.

The 28-year-old Chacin began last season in a somewhat similar situation but on a minor league deal with the Braves, who later traded him to the Angels to plug their rotation, which was riddled with injuries. All told, Chacin ate 144 innings, posting a 4.81 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. That line, of course, is somewhat underwhelming, and Chacin’s modest velocity and fairly recent history of shoulder trouble also limit his upside somewhat.

On the bright side, Chacin’s peripherals were a bit better than his ERA, and he gets his fair share of ground balls, with a 48.4 GB% last season. Before that, he managed to survive several seasons pitching in Coors Field, and spending two-thirds of one’s career with the Rockies and retaining a 3.94 ERA is no mean feat. Whatever his virtues, though, the Padres likely won’t expect Chacin to be perfect, only to help them get through what could be a tough season.

Padres Re-Sign Erik Johnson

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  • Righty Erik Johnson is back with the Padres on a minor-league arrangement, Heyman tweets. Johnson will continue to work back from Tommy John surgery with San Diego, which had recently non-tendered him.

Hedges The Favorite For Starting Catcher

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  • Austin Hedges is “obviously … the clear frontrunner” to serve as the Padres’ primary catcher in 2017, manager Andy Green tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The 24-year-old Hedges was rushed to the Majors out of necessity two years ago and struggled in his brief time with San Diego, but he laid waste to Triple-A pitching last season and has always had a reputation for tremendous glovework among scouts. “I think what he needs to do is take command of the team from a leadership perspective, and I know that’s very difficult when you’re short on time served in the major leagues,” said Green. “But when you’re in the catching position, the shortstop position, those are positions of authority on the baseball field where you’ve got to come in and help pitchers … and not worry about how much time you have on a major league field right now.” As Lin notes, Christian Bethancourt is the presumptive backup to Hedges, but the Friars still have plenty uncertainty permeating their pitching staff, with as many as three open rotation spots yet to be filled.

Padres To Re-Sign Jose PIrela, Hector Sanchez; Sign Rafael Ortega, Andre Rienzo

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  • The Padres have agreed to minors deals with non-tendered players Jose Pirela and Hector Sanchez, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports via Twitter. San Diego will also bring in outfielder Rafael Ortega and righty Andre Rienzo on minor-league deals. Of this group, Sanchez has the most major league experience and seems most likely to have a chance to reaching the bigs in San Diego. He has seen time in each of the past six major league campaigns, compiling a .241/.278/.354 batting line across 691 plate appearances. Ortega, though, saw the most time in 2016, posting a .232/.283/.292 slash in 202 plate appearances with the Angels.

Padres, Cubs Had Discussions About Ross, Castro In 2015

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  • Speaking of the Cubs, they’re maintaining some interest in right-hander Tyson Ross, reports Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago/670 The Score. Ross was non-tendered by the Padres after undergoing surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome in October, and while he could well be ready to pitch early in the 2017 campaign, the Padres clearly weren’t comfortable with a projected salary between $9-10MM. Levine spoke to one NL exec who expected Ross to receive an incentive-laden contract that allows Ross to earn nearly as much as he otherwise would have through arbitration with the Padres. The Cubs, according to Levine, have had interest in Ross since the summer of 2015, when they tried to broker a deal that would’ve sent Starlin Castro to the Padres in return. According to Levine, the Rangers are also interested in swinging a deal with Ross now that he’s a free agent, though it’s easy to imagine a wide number of teams showing interest in a short-term commitment to a player with Ross’ upside. The 29-year-old turned in a 3.07 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 and a strong ground-ball rate in 516 2/3 innings with the Padres from 2013-15.

Padres Claim Zach Lee

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The Padres have claimed righty Zach Lee off waivers from the Mariners, Seattle announced. He had recently been designated for assignment.

Once considered a top-100 prospect leaguewide, Lee’s star has waned in recent years. He was acquired last year from the Dodgers in the deal that sent infielder Chris Taylor to Los Angeles. Lee was originally taken in the back end of the first round of the 2010 draft, back when current San Diego front office man Logan White was running the Dodgers’ drafts, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes on Twitter.

[RELATED: Updated Padres Depth Chart]

Still just 25, Lee briefly reached the majors in 2015. But he fell well shy of earning a return in the ensuing campaign. Over his 148 Triple-A innings in 2016, Lee scuffled to a 6.14 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. Lee was torched for 193 hits in that span, including 22 long balls, but it seems that the Pads have reason to believe they can get him back on track.

 

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