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NL West Notes: Sierra, Anderson, Thornton, Green

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The Dodgers’ investment in righty Yaisel Sierra will begin at $30MM, per a tweet from Jon Heyman of MLB Network, but could go up from there. Sierra will have the right to opt into salary arbitration if he becomes eligible. His contract will pay him a $6MM signing bonus and then salaries of $1MM, $2.5MM, $3.5MM, $4MM, $5.5MM, and $7.5MM, per the report.

Here’s more from Los Angeles and the rest of the NL West:

  • Dodgers lefty Brett Anderson had surgery on the very same disk that was previously repaired, GM Farhan Zaidi told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The medical experts involved say that occurs in about ten percent of cases, suggesting that Anderson and the team got a bit unlucky. Plunkett also takes a look at the competition to fill in for Anderson.
  • Newly-inked Padres lefty Matt Thornton is expected to have a solid shot at earning a job out of camp, GM A.J. Preller tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “He’s done it for a long time and still has quality stuff,” Preller explained. “I think the ‘pen is pretty open, so he’s got a legit chance to make the team.” Skipper Andy Green echoed that sentiment, calling Thornton “a very established left-handed reliever” who is “very dominant against lefties [and] very successful through his career.”
  • Speaking of Green, it’s well worth checking out his recent interview with David Laurila of Fangraphs. The first-year manager addressed the concept and impact of defensive shifting from every angle, including the mental components and possible counter-strategies on offense. Ultimately, he concluded: “The game is evolving, and it’s important to evolve along with it.”

Padres To Sign Christian Friedrich

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The Padres have brought in southpaw Christian Friedrich on a minor league deal, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. It appears that he’ll join the major league side of camp.

Friedrich will presumably join a lively bullpen battle in San Diego. Indeed, he’s not even the only southpaw to enter the fray today, as the club also reportedly reached terms with veteran Matt Thornton.

The 28-year-old Friedrich, a former first-round draft pick, had spent his entire previous career in the Rockies organization. He was designated for assignment and claimed by the Angels just a few weeks back, but that claim was reversed when an issue arose in his medicals.

Friedrich first reached the majors as a starter back in 2012, but didn’t stick at the time. He spent all of last year in the Colorado pen, making for his first full MLB campaign, but was only able to manage a 5.25 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 to go with a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate over his 58 1/3 frames of action.

Padres To Sign Matt Thornton

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The Padres have reached agreement on a minor league deal with lefty Matt Thornton, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). He is undergoing a physical today and will join the team in major league camp if he passes.

The deal will pay Thornton at a $1.6MM base salary if he can crack the MLB roster, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. It also includes $1.9MM in available incentives relating to his number of appearances.

Thornton, 39, saw his strikeout rate fall last year but continued to post excellent results while being tasked with a fairly light workload. Though he’s now within eyesight of 40, the southpaw owns a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings over the prior two seasons.

While he’s been particularly stingy against lefties, Thornton has also posted solid numbers (sub-.700 OPS against) in his exposure to right-handed pitching in that span. He’s finally experienced a bit of a downtick in velocity, but still brought his average heater at around 93.5 mph last year.

Preller On Non-Roster Invite Rosales

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  • Infielder Adam Rosales, who is with the Padres on a minor league deal/non-roster invite to Spring Training this season, spoke to MLB.com’s Corey Brock about the transaction whirlwind in which he was involved back in 2014. In a span of 13 days, Rosales was designated for assignment three times and claimed off waivers three times — each by either the Rangers or Athletics. Rosales called the sequence “challenging,” but eventually found some levity in his plight. “You just have to see some humor in it … and take it in stride and appreciate the opportunities you have,” he explained. GM A.J. Preller, who was an assistant GM with the Rangers at the time of that ordeal, spoke highly of Rosales’ versatility and clubhouse presence, explaining some of the reasoning behind his signing of Rosales this winter.

NL Central Links: Brooks, Soler, Williams, Morse, Wilkins

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Newly-acquired Cubs righty Aaron Brooks is looking forward to playing for his new team, though as he told reporters (including MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat), he’s already run into some online confusion.  The Aaron Brooks who has played guard for the Bulls for the last two NBA seasons has dibs as the most famous Chicago athlete with that name.  “I’ve talked to [the basketball player] on Twitter before because everybody thinks I’m him,” the Cubs’ Brooks said. “People keep tagging me….All they have to do is look at the profile picture and they’ll know it’s not me.”  Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • The Padres, Rays and Indians all offered various pitching and outfield prospects to the Cubs in Jorge Soler trade packages, but Chicago decided to stick with the highly-touted outfielder, CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine reports.  While Tampa and Cleveland were linked to Soler multiple times this winter, this is the first time the Padres have been mentioned in connection with Soler.  San Diego’s outfield currently features Matt Kemp, Melvin Upton and Jon Jay slated for most of the playing time with Travis Jankowski, Jabari Blash and Alex Dickerson in the mix for bench and platoon jobs.  Had Soler been acquired (depending on when the Padres/Cubs talks took place), it’s fair to assume that the Padres wouldn’t have acquired Jay from St. Louis and Soler would’ve been playing every day in either left or right field.  This is just my speculation, but since the Cubs were known to be targeting young pitching for Soler, I would guess Chicago floated the names of Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner in return.
  • From that same Levine item, Soler said he isn’t concerned about how the Cubs’ acquisitions of Dexter Fowler and Shane Victorino will impact his playing time.  “I will get my opportunity and chance. I will do my job and try to help the team,” Soler said through a translator.
  • In a recent talk with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other media about the Reds’ trades of pricey veterans over the last year, Cincinnati GM Dick Williams stressed that “we’re not saving to create a profit, we’re saving to invest in the future, for sure.  We’ve got the biggest amateur signing pool this year, when you combine domestic and international….I talked about investing in the analytics and sports science. We’ll be investing in personnel, scouting personnel, new player development initiatives. I’ll be talking a lot about that over the course of this year as we roll things out, but we’ll put that money [to] work for sure.”
  • Mike Morse took some grounders at third base, though it’s safe to say he’s not expecting to do the same for the Pirates during the season.  “We’re not trying to get me to play over there — unless the game goes 28 innings and no one’s left,” Morse told reporters (including Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review), noting that he routinely spends a bit of time around the infield every year in camp.  Morse has played nine games at third at the MLB level, though none since 2009.
  • If you’re wondering why it’s been over two months without a new Andy Wilkins transaction here on MLB Trade Rumors, it’s because he has seemingly settled down (finally) with the Brewers.  Wilkins discussed his wild 2015 with reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) and how he coped with six different transactions that made him a member of seven different organizations — the White Sox, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Orioles, Mariners, Rangers and Brewers — within roughly nine months’ time.  Speaking of nine-month spans, these moves came while Wilkins and his wife were expecting their first child, who was born in December just two days before Milwaukee claimed the first baseman on waivers.

NL West Notes: CarGo, Padres, Dee, Arroyo, Cain, Dodgers

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Another winter of trade speculation was no big deal to Carlos Gonzalez, as the Rockies star tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.  “Of course, it’s hard for…guys who’ve been with one organization for so long.  But I understand the process.  I’ve been traded twice, so it’s nothing new for me,” Gonzalez said.  Colorado’s lack of success has put Gonzalez in the middle of several trade rumors over the last few years, and that talk intensified when Troy Tulowitzki was dealt last summer.  So far, however, the Rockies have resisted pursuing a full rebuild.  Here’s some more from around the NL West…

  • The Padres are “keeping some dry power” payroll-wise for midseason moves, team president/CEO Mike Dee told reporters (including Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune).  “(We will) see how the Major League season unfolds, and we could be a participant in an additive way in July if the team performs as we hope,” Dee said.  The Padres’ payroll projects to be roughly $8MM less than last year’s approximate $108MM Opening Day figure, and given how much ownership and the front office has already invested last winter, you would think they’d be open to making up that difference should a notable upgrade be available at the trade deadline.  Dee also stressed that “the overall investment this year when the season is over and the book is written will be significantly more than what was the investment in 2015,” in regards to how the Padres are planning to heavily spend in both the amateur draft and the international market.
  • The Padres own six of the first 85 picks in the draft (including three of the first 26) and they’re known to be ready to exceed their spending pool limit in the upcoming international signing period.  In an online chat with Union-Tribune readers, Lin writes that though it may take a couple of years for this young talent to develop, general manager A.J. Preller “can’t afford to miss much this summer.  June and July could eventually play a large part in determining his fate as GM.”  Lin’s chat also contains several updates on Padres roster and position battles.
  • With Brandon Crawford locked up in an extension, Giants shortstop prospect Christian Arroyo knows a position switch may be in his future, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes.  Arroyo cited second, third and the outfield as possible options, and “as far as moving positions, I’m open to anything. I want to help the team win.”  With Joe Panik and Matt Duffy covering second and third in San Francisco, however, this could be why Giants farm director Shane Turner said that “down the road, we’ve got to look at left field.”  The 2016 Baseball America Handbook described Arroyo as a probable “fringe-average defender at shortstop” due to a lack of range, so a position change could’ve been in the offing anyway.  Whatever his position, Arroyo’s accomplished bat has earned him some notice; BA lists him as the Giants’ top prospect and the game’s 62nd-best prospect overall.
  • Giants righty Matt Cain had a cyst removed from his arm on Thursday and will be out of action for roughly the next week, though Bruce Bochy tells media (including MLB.com’s Chris Haft) that he thinks the setback shouldn’t cause Cain to miss any time in the regular season.  Though the cyst is a pretty minor issue, it marks yet another setback for Cain as he tries to rebound from two injury-plagued seasons.
  • “Lots of options, little certainty” is how Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times describes the Dodgers’ outfield situation.  The club technically has a surplus in the outfield with Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, Scott Van Slyke and Trayce Thompson all in the mix, though just about everyone on that list is questionable due to either injury history or inexperience.  Ethier is “the closest thing to a lock” of the seven, though he’ll be 34 on Opening Day and is rarely used against left-handed pitching.
  • In other NL West news from earlier today, the Diamondbacks signed Rickie Weeks to a minor league deal.

Lazarito Changes Representation

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FEB. 24: Lazarito and his family refute the notion that they’re in any danger, Rosenthal writes in a new column. Lazaro Sr. tells Rosenthal that his family is in “absolute control” of its travel documentation and elected not to travel to the U.S. to meet with the Braves because only Lazarito, and not his parents, were invited. (Rosenthal notes that a second source confirmed the accuracy of that statement.)

Lazarito has already hired Octagon as his new representation, though the timing of the entire agency shuffle is rather bizarre, as Lazarito’s family claimed that Hairston’s comments were the impetus for the change in representation, but Hairston was claiming to no longer be representing Lazarito at the time he made his comments. Additionally, securing new representation in a matter of one day seems unlikely. Hairston followed up with Rosenthal and maintained that buscon is driving the thought process of the family in an effort to steer them toward signing with a particular team.

FEB. 23: Agent Charles Hairston and the Culture39 agency will no longer be representing Cuban outfielder Lazaro Armenteros after Hairston tells Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that his life was threatened by a trainer/agent out of the Dominican Republic who also represents Armenteros.  At least for the time being, Hairston will no longer be representing the Cuban phenom known as “Lazarito,” and there is now great uncertainty about when or how Armenteros will sign.

Many young players from Latin America are represented by trainers/agents known as “buscones,” who take these players under their wing as children and train, feed and house them in makeshift training camps.  In exchange for helping develop the skills of these promising talents, a buscon will then receive roughly 20-25 percent of a player’s future salary if he should go on to sign a pro contract, Hairston explains.  The rather unregulated nature of the buscon/player business relationship has led to other issues in the past — for instance, when multiple buscones lay claim to the same player, or when Leonys Martin was sued by a Mexican baseball academy for allegedly not paying the full share of what the academy felt was owed.

This situation with Lazarito’s buscon and Hairston is of an even more chilling nature, with Hairston declining to name the buscon out of concerns for the safety of Culture39 employees.  According to Hairston, the buscon withheld travel documents from Lazarito and his parents, making them unable to travel from the Dominican Republic to the United States for a meeting Hairston had arranged with a team’s GM and ownership group.

“I feel for the kid. He is truly special. We are still looking forward to working with him when he comes to the United States once his situation is resolved….But when his safety and ours is put in jeopardy, we had to think about what is most important in life,” Hairston said.

The dispute allegedly centered around the buscon’s desire that Armenteros sign a contract as soon as possible, as opposed to waiting until the new international signing period opens on July 2.  (When Hairston last discussed his ex-client’s situation two weeks ago, he noted that their camp was still uncertain as to when Armenteros would sign.)  Signing in the current international class or the next would greatly shuffle the list of teams eligible to sign the 16-year-old, as his likely bonus would instantly put a team over its spending pool limit and subject it to a virtual two-year ban on blue chip international prospects.  Such teams as the Dodgers, Cubs, Giants and Royals have already exceeded their cap in the current spending period and could add to their bounty by signing Lazarito now, while waiting past July 2 would freeze those teams out (as their penalties would begin) and clear the path for other clubs known to be planning a big splurge in the next international period, such as the Braves, Phillies and Padres.  Rosenthal and Morosi list the Dodgers, Padres and Braves as three teams with interest in Armenteros.

NL Notes: McCutchen, Rockies, Morrow, D-Backs, Mattingly

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Pirates superstar Andrew McCutchen voiced his desire to spend his entire career in Pittsburgh yesterday, and on Tuesday general manager Neal Huntington told ESPN’s Jayson Stark that the Bucs would explore an extension for McCutchen at the “appropriate time,” though he declined to delve into specifics. Huntington explained that the Pirates would love to retain McCutchen for “an awfully long time,” though he noted that the remaining three years on McCutchen’s deal is a lengthy period of time in its own right. “At the same time, we do want to honor his interest,” the GM told Stark. “And at the appropriate time, in the appropriate way, we will look to see if there is a common financial ground that allows us to build a championship team around a given player. … Any team can basically afford any player. It’s just how do you afford championship-caliber players around that one player.” 

Some more notes from around the Senior Circuit…

  • Rockies GM Jeff Bridich declined to put a timeline on the Rockies’ path back to contention when meeting with reporters today, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “Why limit ourselves?” Bridich asked rhetorically. “So if I were to come out and say something that’s pleasing to the ear of you, or a fan here or a fan there, and I say, ‘We’re not going to win for X.’ So what? What’s the point of doing that? It’s about people. It’s about process. … Why say something where it’s got to happen X number of months and years in the future, where really a lot of good things can happen this year?” The Rockies have certainly acted as if they believe they can win in 2016 this winter, and Bridich’s comments seem to imply they indeed hold that belief, even if it’s not necessarily an expectation.
  • Brandon Morrow tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune that he probably could’ve secured a big league deal elsewhere this winter, as he had “soft offers” of Major League deals from other clubs, but he wanted to remain with the Padres and “wasn’t afraid” to take a minor league deal with an invite to camp. Morrow didn’t specify exactly what he meant with that explanation — verbal willingness by other teams to explore big league deals, perhaps — but he went on to explain to Lin that he thinks highly of San Diego’s training staff, team doctors and strength coaches. He also voiced an oft-overlooked aspect of remaining in one place (or in securing a multi-year deal): “I didn’t want to bounce around, I guess. It’s just the continuity; the doctors knew me since I was injured, obviously. … Going to a new spot, they’d only know what you tell them instead of having firsthand knowledge.” It’s easy to suggest that players should be comfortable on one-year deals, though Morrow’s comments serve as a reminder that there are benefits to the stability of remaining in one place.
  • Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall held court with the media on Tuesday and explained that the deferred money included in Zack Greinke’s stunning six-year contract isn’t the start of any sort of trend, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “It’s not something that we’re going to start doing now,” said Hall of deferring money,” “but in this case we felt we needed to really bite the bullet on this one, with that window we talk about and our big glaring hole.” As Piecoro notes and as Hall implies in his later comments, the D-backs have previously run into problems by offering too many deferred payments and don’t want to start down that road once again.
  • The hiring of manager Don Mattingly already has Marlins players buzzing about the upcoming season, writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Mattingly held a closed-doors meeting with the team before the first full workout of Spring Training, and the new skipper wasted little time in getting his players on his side. “I went out to practice [Tuesday] like I wanted to eat the world,” Jose Fernandez told Spencer. Fellow right-hander Tom Koehler said that Mattingly’s address gave him “chills.” Mattingly spoke to Spencer after the speech and discussed the upcoming season, noting that he believes payroll to be a largely overblown component of successful teams, highlighting the Royals’ back-to-back World Series appearances.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/23/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Padres signed right-hander Greg Reynolds to a minor league deal earlier this week, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports (Twitter link).  Reynolds was chosen by the Rockies with the second overall pick of the 2006 draft but he didn’t latch on the majors, posting a 7.01 ERA over 123 1/3 career innings with Colorado and Cincinnati.  Since his last MLB appearances (with the Reds in 2013), Reynolds has pitched in Japan in 2014 and didn’t pitch at all in 2015.
  • Former Major League infielder Donnie Murphy and former big league right-hander Juan Rincon have formally retired and have each signed on as minor league coaches with the Blue Jays, according to a press release from the team. Murphy, a career .212/.279/.395 hitter in 931 plate appearances between the Marlins, Royals, A’s, Rangers and Cubs, will be the new hitting coach at Class-A Lansing. Rincon, one of the Twins’ most consistent setup men from 2003-06, totaled 507 Major League innings between Minnesota, Colorado, Cleveland and Detroit, pitching to a combined 4.03 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. He’ll serve as the pitching coach for the Blue Jays’ Gulf Coast League affiliate. Best of luck to each in their transition to the coaching side of the game.

NL West Notes: Lincecum, Cueto, Gillaspie, Cain, Urias

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The Padres have spoken to Tim Lincecum’s agent and will have scouts in attendance to see the righty throw in a showcase scheduled for later in February, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.  Rick Thurman, Lincecum’s agent, said he’d talked to the Padres “a number of times” but had also been in contact with “quite a few other teams” as well, with at least 20 teams requesting Lincecum’s medical information.  There seems to be enough interest that, provided Lincecum’s showcase goes well, he should be able to land his desired Major League contract.  If such a deal is found with San Diego, the Padres could line Lincecum up as their fourth or fifth starter and move one of their many other back-of-the-rotation candidates into the bullpen.  Here’s some more from around the NL West…

  • Johnny Cueto’s extra workload from the Royals’ postseason run will slightly impact how the Giants treat him in camp, pitching coach Dave Righetti tells Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.  “He’s been through some playoff situations, but when you go to the World Series you go the extra mile,” Righetti said.  “We know it takes stuff out of guys regardless of how young and strong they are….So, absolutely, you would monitor him anyway. Being that he pitched an extra month, you’re darn right.”
  • Conor Gillaspie has regrets over his first stint with the Giants, telling reporters (including Schulman) that “obviously, I was young and probably not mentally or physically or socially where I needed to be” when he broke in with San Francisco as a rookie.  Now back with the team on a minor league deal, Gillaspie feels he’s matured and is thankful to the Giants for giving him a chance.
  • Matt Cain has gone from a cornerstone to an x-factor with the Giants, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes, as both the team and the pitcher are hopeful but measured about what Cain can deliver in 2016.  Injuries played a role in Cain’s rough last two seasons, though beyond health, his sudden propensity for allowing homers didn’t help Cain’s faith in himself.
  • Julio Urias is facing a lot of pressure as both arguably the game’s top pitching prospect and maybe even “the next Fernando Valenzuela,” though Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown relates how the 19-year-old Dodgers phenom is trying to take his development step by step.
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