NL West Notes: Dodgers, Pads, Panda, D-Backs
While there had been some hope of a deal to resolve the Dodgers‘ television dilemma, the issues will continue into 2016, as Meg James of the Los Angeles Times reports. Time Warner Cable had made renewed efforts to reach agreements on carriage fees with other cable companies, but the Dodgers’ SportsNet LA network remains available only to subscribers of certain cable companies. It’s certainly a disappointing result for all involved, and a path to resolution remains unclear.
Here’s more from the NL West:
- The idea that the Padres could try to land Pablo Sandoval from the Red Sox has been “overblown,” sources suggest to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links). Lin suggests that Sandoval wouldn’t be a good fit on the San Diego roster, which currently features Yangervis Solarte as the top option at third. Of course, if the Pads place any value on Sandoval’s upside in a bounceback scenario, they could presumably make it work — either by including Solarte in the deal or by moving him into a different role (possibly including some kind of timeshare with Sandoval). At this stage, though, Boston would without doubt have to eat a huge portion of the money left on Sandoval’s deal in any kind of trade.
- While the Padres were widely criticized for failing to strike any deals at last year’s trade deadline, Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests that the club may have been justified given the offers it was receiving. Ian Kennedy apparently drew extremely limited interest, with the best offer being then-Cubs outfielder Junior Lake — who has bounced around quite a bit and doesn’t appear to be that appealing an asset. Upton might have brought back Michael Fulmer from the Mets, which was at least a substantial return, but the Pads were said to have questions about his ability to stick in the rotation in the long run. Those two veterans ended up netting draft picks, of course, and that was inarguably the better outcome in Kennedy’s case, at least. And though San Diego could’ve had exciting infield prospect Jorge Mateo from the Yankees for closer Craig Kimbrel, per Sherman, the Friars were ultimately able to land a deeper package from the Red Sox at the outset of the offseason. It’s an interesting look back from Sherman, who also looks at the organization’s questionable future.
- Drew Pomeranz has won a rotation job for the Padres, the club announced. The southpaw came over in a winter deal with the Athletics, who received one-time top prospect Yonder Alonso and lefty specialist Mark Rzepczynzki. Now 27, and once a top prospect with the division-rival Rockies, Pomeranz has turned in two nice seasons in a swingman role with Oakland. San Diego will certainly hope he can lock down a starting role, as he’d represent a nice value with a $1.35MM arb salary and two more years of control remaining.
- The Diamondbacks have offered a bit of clarity on their infield mix, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports (Twitter links). Jake Lamb will receive regular reps at third base, says skipper Chip Hale, while the team will “rotate” Jean Segura, Chris Owings, and Nick Ahmed up the middle. That doesn’t give much of an indication as to how the playing time will be divided among those three players, and it could be that the spring battle will simply continue into the regular season. Meanwhile, outfield prospect Socrates Brito still appears to have a chance at cracking the roster to open the year, if only to help the club reduce the burden on regular center fielder A.J. Pollock as he ramps up to a full workload.
- With numerous arms on the shelf, the Dodgers will turn to Ross Stripling with the fifth starter role out of the gates, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. That represents a bit of a surprise, as Shaikin explains, as Stripling didn’t seem even to be on the radar when camp opened. The other two finalists — Carlos Frias and Zach Lee — will remain on hand as depth options in Triple-A.
Padres Have Had Internal Talks About Trading For Pablo Sandoval
The Padres have had internal discussions about the possibility of dealing for Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval, Jon Heyman tweets. (Via WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the Padres deny that there have been any substantive talks.) The Padres are not among the three teams to whom Sandoval can block a trade, Heyman adds. Sandoval is still owed $75MM through 2019, including a $5MM buyout on his 2020 option, so as Heyman notes, a deal to send Sandoval from the Padres to the Red Sox would likely include money to offset his contract.
The Red Sox recently named rookie Travis Shaw their starter at third base ahead of Sandoval, even though they’re only one year into Sandoval’s contract. The Padres, meanwhile, reportedly had a scout watching Sandoval, although it wasn’t clear how much interest they had in him or whether that scout might be watching someone else. The Padres had interest in Sandoval during their splashy 2014-15 offseason, reportedly offering Sandoval a nine-figure deal that exceeded the Red Sox’ offer in total value.
The Padres might now see Sandoval as presenting an opportunity to buy low, although it’s not clear whether Sandoval is an upgrade over current Padres third baseman Yangervis Solarte. Solarte hit .270/.320/.428 last season and projects to produce 1.6 fWAR, via ZiPS. Sandoval, meanwhile, batted .245/.292/.366 and projects to produce 0.9 fWAR (although another projection system, Steamer, rates him as being likely to produce half a win better than that). Sandoval would seem to be a curious addition for a Padres team that was badly burned by veteran additions two winters ago and now seems more focused on trading high-profile veterans rather than on adding them.
There’s been some speculative conversation about a trade that could send Sandoval to San Diego and James Shields to Boston, and a Sandoval/Shields framework might make some sense, at least on a purely financial level — the Padres still owe Shields $65MM on the deal he signed with them last offseason. While Shields’ home-run-heavy first year with the Padres was merely a relatively small disappointment, though, Sandoval’s first year with Boston was a disaster, so the two players’ current values seem somewhat different.
Reds Claim Dan Straily From Padres
The Reds have claimed righty Dan Straily from the Padres, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. It was reported earlier today that the Padres had placed Straily on waivers.
Straily spent most of last season pitching for the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in Fresno, where he produced a 4.77 ERA, 9.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 122 2/3 innings. He previously spent about a season and a half in the Athletics’ rotation, though, and his combination of relative youth (27), controllability (he’s still not yet eligible for arbitration) and experience make him an understandable target for a rebuilding team like the Reds. Straily can also start or relieve, and he can be optioned. The Reds’ current role for him is unclear, but it’s easy to see how they might find him useful in a variety of contexts, particularly given their injury-ravaged rotation and unsettled bullpen.
Padres Place Dan Straily On Waivers
The Padres have placed righty Dan Straily on waivers, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. Straily was out of options.
The Padres, of course, acquired Straily for catcher Erik Kratz in a minor deal with the Astros earlier this week. It appears their interest in Straily wasn’t particularly strong, or at least that they didn’t have an immediate use for him. They could be hoping to use him as minor-league depth if they anticipate he’ll go through the waiver process unclaimed.
Straily was once a regular in the Astros’ rotation, but he appeared in only four big-league games last season. He spent most of the year at Triple-A Fresno, posting a 4.77 ERA but with 9.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 122 2/3 innings. For his big-league career, the 27-year-old has a 4.60 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.
NL Notes: Jansen, Sky Sox, Braves
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen won’t discuss an extension during the season, which means he’s highly likely to test free agency next winter, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. Jansen says there are currently no discussions between the two sides. “I’m not going to talk about it,” he says. “I’ll just want to talk about that in October.” The Dodgers reportedly did not discuss a long-term contract with Jansen while they were reaching their arbitration-avoiding $10.65MM deal with him in January. As MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk pointed out at the time, top Dodgers exec Andrew Friedman tended to focus on cheaper relief pitching when he was with the Rays. The Dodgers do, however, have a much bigger budget, despite their relatively thrifty offseason, and their interest in Aroldis Chapman before revelations of his domestic violence issue this past winter perhaps indicates somewhat of a willingness to pay heavily for a top reliever. Jansen certainly fits into the “top reliever” category, given his 2.41 ERA with a spectacular 13.8 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 last year and his long track record of success. Here’s more from the National League.
- The Colorado Springs Sky Sox, currently the Brewers‘ Triple-A affiliate, will soon meet with San Antonio’s city council to discuss potential plans to move the franchise there, Brent Briggeman of the Colorado Springs Gazette writes. “If the City of San Antonio, the 37th largest TV market in the country, calls and says they would like to talk about a downtown stadium and the possibility of bringing Triple-A Baseball to San Antonio, it would be imprudent as business owners not to listen,” say the Sky Sox in a statement. The move would, apparently, be contingent upon San Antonio building a downtown ballpark appropriate for Triple-A baseball. The Elmore Sports Group, which owns the Sky Sox, also owns the Double-A San Antonio Missions, currently a Padres affiliate. The Sky Sox have been in Colorado Springs for nearly three decades, serving as the Rockies’ longtime Triple-A home most of that time before a recent switch to the Brewers.
- Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez expresses concern about the team’s bullpen in a three-part Q+A with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien (1, 2, 3). Gonzalez expresses confidence in the ability of both Arodys Vizcaino and Jason Grilli to close, and expresses a level of comfort with veterans Jim Johnson and Eric O’Flaherty. He does, however, hope that the team can improve its performance in the middle innings this season. Gonzalez says he doesn’t feel any more pressure than usual given that this will be the Braves’ last season in Turner Field before moving into a new ballpark next year. “I think you can do both – I think you can develop [young players] and I think you can win games,” he says. “I’m not going to say we’re going to go out and win 110 games or any of that crazy stuff, but as far as pressure I don’t feel any different from any other year.”
Quick Hits: Shields, Sandoval, Cardinals, Astros, Twins
On the notion of the Padres trading right-hander James Shields to the Red Sox for benched third baseman Pablo Sandoval, one scout told Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, “James Shields is not good in Fenway Park in his career. Some people think he’s a National League pitcher at this point of his career. But it’s one fewer year (on his contract) than Sandoval. I think Sandoval would be better off outside of Boston. I think he’s been eaten whole there. That trade actually would make some sense.” Both players are coming off down seasons, albeit Shields was easily the more valuable of the two in 2015. Shields, 34, exceeded the 200-inning barrier for the ninth straight year and set a career high with a 9.61 K/9, but he also logged personal worsts in BB/9 (3.6) and FIP (4.45) to accompany a mediocre 3.91 ERA. Sandoval is a half-decade younger (29), though that plus is offset by a well-known weight problem and the fact that he had the worst fWAR in baseball in 2015 (-2.0). Moreover, the two carry undesirable financial commitments. Shields is due $60MM over the next three years, though he can opt out and become a free agent after next season. That would mean leaving $44MM on the table, however. Sandoval, meanwhile, is owed $70MM through 2019. Both players’ deals have expensive club options at the end that their respective teams surely won’t exercise, which will lead to buyouts ($2MM for Shields in 2019, $5MM for Sandoval in 2020).
More from around the majors. . .
- With president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in charge, the Red Sox are a meritocracy when it comes to putting together a roster, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes. That was evident in the team’s decision to relegate Sandoval, whom it signed just a year ago, in favor of Travis Shaw at the hot corner. The Dombrowski-led Red Sox began the trend of valuing performance over contract when they elected last summer to end the short-lived, disastrous experiment of Hanley Ramirez in left field, Speier notes. “My focus is on the guys that are in uniform, not what’s attached to them or what their contract states,” manager John Farrell said. “We’re all about evaluating and what’s best for our team.”
- The Astros have informed left-hander Wandy Rodriguez that he will not crack their Opening Day Roster, tweets Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. Rodriguez, who inked a minor league accord with the Astros in the offseason, had been competing with James Hoyt and Michael Feliz for the final spot in the team’s bullpen. Rodriguez had an opt-out in his contract for last Saturday, per Evan Drellich of the Chronicle. With that deadline having passed, it’s unclear what the immediate future will hold for Rodriguez, but he could end up on the market and in search of a major league deal elsewhere. “Let me see what happens if somebody picks me (up),” he told Drellich.
- The Cardinals aren’t looking for outside help at shortstop in the wake of Ruben Tejada‘s injury, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Instead, the Redbirds will at least wait until they have a better understanding of Tejada’s status. He’ll start the season on the disabled list with a muscle strain in his left quadriceps, leaving Jedd Gyorko and Greg Garcia as the Cardinals’ options at the major league level. They also have Aledmys Diaz of Triple-A Memphis as a potential call-up.
- Nick Burdi, the Twins’ best relief pitching prospect, is “out indefinitely” with right forearm tightness and will begin the season on the DL, reports LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune. Of course, forearm injuries sometimes portend Tommy John surgery. Burdi, who’s capable of hitting 99 on the radar gun, threw three scoreless spring innings for the Twins. The 23-year-old tossed 63 2/3 innings at multiple minor league levels last season and pitched to a 3.82 ERA with an 11.7 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9.
- Right-hander Roberto Hernandez is drawing interest from teams that want to sign him to a minor league contract, but he’s holding out for a major league deal, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. Hernandez, 35, opted out of his deal with Toronto earlier this week after the club didn’t add him to its active roster. In 84 2/3 innings last year with Houston, Hernandez worked to a 4.36 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.
- Lefty reliever Wesley Wright has garnered multiple Triple-A offers, per Cotillo (Twitter link). Wright, whom Arizona released Monday, has thrown 371 innings of 4.16 ERA ball to accompany an 8.6 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in his major league career. Those mediocre numbers belie his success versus left-handed batters, who have hit a paltry .234/.313/.334 against Wright.
Padres Notes: Preller, Trade Deadline, Wood, Lincecum
Padres president Mike Dee denies recent whispers that GM A.J. Preller’s job is in danger after the team’s failed attempt at contention last season, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. “Not true,” says Dee. “We have more confidence and excitement about him as GM than when we hired him in 2014. … He’s here for the long haul.” Dee says one reason the team hired Preller was because of his background in acquiring amateur talent, and it will take awhile for his efforts in that area to bear fruit. Notably, the organization is already rumored to have committed almost $30MM to talent that will become available in next summer’s Latin American amateur market — a huge figure, particularly given the penalties that will be involved. Here’s more on the Padres.
- Sherman also has some fun details of the Padres’ activity — or lack thereof — on the trade market last summer. They were reportedly offered only outfielder Junior Lake from the Cubs in return for Ian Kennedy. The Mets offered pitching prospect Michael Fulmer (later the key to the Yoenis Cespedes deal) for Justin Upton, but the Padres were concerned about Fulmer’s long-term viability as a starter. The Yankees, meanwhile, offered infield prospect Jorge Mateo for Craig Kimbrel (who, of course, later netted a considerable return from the Red Sox). They let Kennedy and Upton walk, but will receive compensation picks for them.
- After trading Nick Vincent to the Mariners, Preller says he doesn’t think the team will make any more significant deals before the start of the season, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. “I don’t really think so,” says Preller. “I think at this point, our focus has been more on some of the position battles, the competitions to round the club out. But you never want to say no.” As Lin notes, the team acquired Kimbrel just as the season started last year, but it doesn’t appear they plan on something like that happening again. Preller adds that the team is happy with Wil Myers at first base, seemingly in response to a question about whether they might pursue someone like James Loney (who’s now in limbo after being told he won’t make the Rays’ Opening Day roster) to platoon with him.
- Former phenom Brandon Wood — who belted a remarkable 43 home runs as a 20-year-old for Class A+ Rancho Cucamonga in 2005 but never made an impact in the Majors — is now 31 and preparing for his first season as a minor-league manager, Ted Berg of USA Today writes. Before the 2006 season, Baseball America rated Wood (then with the Angels) the third-best prospect in the game. Now he’s set to manage the short-season Tri-City Dust Devils. Wood says anxiety was his undoing as a player, recalling that he at times struggled to control his body because he wasn’t breathing enough.
- The Padres are expected to be keenly interested in free agent starter Tim Lincecum, Jon Heyman writes (Twitter links). Lincecum is rumored to be throwing 90 MPH off flat ground, Heyman reports, but he hasn’t yet had a showcase (even though there has been talk of a showcase for months now), saying he wants to be “perfect” for it. Lincecum is making his way back from hip surgery.
Mariners Acquire Nick Vincent
The Marines have acquired righty Nick Vincent from the Padres, per a team announcement. San Diego will receive a player to be named later in the swap. MLB.com’s A.J. Cassavell first reported that a deal was in the works, via Twitter.
Seattle had long been on the look for another middle relief option with a variety of injuries impacting the team’s depth. The out-of-options Vincent was obviously available at a minimum cost, and will slot right into the pen.
Vincent, 29, owns a sparkling 2.63 ERA over 150 2/3 MLB frames, with 9.6 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. And he’ll be pitching at the league minimum this season before qualifying for arbitration next winter (if he achieves sufficient service time).
That looks like an intriguing package, but there are reasons he was had so cheaply. Vincent doesn’t generate very many groundballs and has a sub-90 average fastball. He may be in for some regression in terms of allowing home runs and saw his control lag last year (3.9 BB/9). Metrics like SIERA (3.90) and xFIP (4.26) took note of such factors in valuing Vincent’s 23 frames in 2015, though they have liked him quite a bit in prior years and it’s fair to note that he was rather dominant over his 50 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
West Notes: D’Backs, Padres, Sandoval
When Dave Stewart transitioned from being a successful agent to becoming the GM of the Diamondbacks, he left his agency behind. However, the firm – Sports Management Partners – stayed in the family, as Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic writes. Initially, the plan was for former big-leaguer Dave Henderson to take over SMP, but the firm was left in limbo after his untimely passing, which led to Lonnie Murray taking on Stewart’s roster of clients.
Of course, there are obvious conflict of interest concerns, particularly with SMP clients Chris Herrmann and Enrique Burgos competing for roster spots in Arizona. While the MLBPA has been aware of Murray managing SMP, the commissioner’s office apparently did not know Stewart’s wife was representing players until very recently. For the full story, we highly recommend reading Piecoro’s article.
Here’s more from the West divisions:
- The Padres reportedly sent a scout to watch Pablo Sandoval, but San Diego GM A.J. Preller downplayed the possibility of anything brewing with the Red Sox. “Our pro scouts work really hard to look at all 30 clubs. … That’s the nature of what goes on,” Preller said (Twitter link via Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego). In a twist that surprised many this month, Sandoval is currently competing with Travis Shaw for Boston’s third base job.
- Yasmany Tomas got a $68.5MM deal when he signed with the Diamondbacks, but making the jump was still tough decision for the outfielder as he had to leave one of his children behind, USA Today’s Jorge L. Ortiz writes. “Here you have everything, but in some ways you don’t have anything,’’ Tomas said. “There are times we may be at home and we’re down because we don’t have relatives or neighbors we can talk to and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’ In Cuba you always find people out, during the day or night. Money is not everything. You can have all the money in the world and not be happy.’’
- The Rangers traded for Bryan Holaday on Tuesday night in a deal that should strengthen their catching situation behind Robinson Chirinos. The Tigers got right-hander Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson in the deal.
- On Tuesday night, the Angels acquired right-hander Chris Jones from the Orioles in exchange for minor league outfielder Natanael Delgado and infielder Erick Salcedo.
Article XX(B) Free Agents Update: Tuesday
Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement contains a provision that allows certain free agents who are signed to minor league contracts to receive a $100K retention bonus if they are not on the team’s 25-man roster or the Major League disabled list five days prior to the season.
Free agents who qualify for this distinction are those who have at least six years of Major League service time and had a Major League contract expire at the end of the previous season, but signed a minor league deal ten or more days prior to Opening Day.
The deadline for teams to decide on these players is today at 11am central time. By the deadline, teams with these players in camp need to decide whether to:
- Add the player to their 25-man roster or Major League disabled list (or agree to do so in writing).
- Grant the player his outright release from the minor league contract so that he may pursue opportunities with other teams.
- Pay the player a $100K retention bonus to keep him in the organization beyond the deadline and send him to the minors.
Here’s the latest news from around the league on Article XX(B) signees and their roster statuses with their respective teams (newest updates on top):
- Matt Thornton has been told that he’ll break camp with the Padres, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). The veteran southpaw signed fairly late in camp after failing to find a big league deal, ultimately reaching a minor league pact that will pay him $1.6MM at the MLB level. He can also take home up to $1.9MM in incentives depending upon how many appearances he makes.
Earlier Updates
- Outfielder Ryan Raburn will be added to the Rockies‘ 40-man roster, Nick Groke of the Denver Post clarifies (Twitter links). He figures to play an important part-time role on the club, which features three left-handed outfielders in its regular lineup.
- The Braves have announced that outfielder Jeff Francoeur has made the Opening Day roster, with the team purchasing his contract. He’ll play a reserve role in his return to Atlanta, where he once featured as one of the most exciting young players in baseball.
- The Padres appear set to pay Brandon Morrow the $100K retention bonus to remain with the organization, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Morrow, 31, still needs to stretch out after getting a late start this spring.
- The Nationals have officially added righty Matt Belisle to the club’s 40-man roster and will be active on Opening Day, the team announced. He represents a somewhat surprising victor in the pen battle, and his addition seemingly leaves the organization with just one open job to give to minor league free agent lefty Sean Burnett or optionable righties Trevor Gott and Blake Treinen.
- Veteran outfielder Matt Joyce has made the Pirates‘ Opening Day roster and will be added to the 40-man, GM Neal Huntington told reporters including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). He had a forgettable 2015, but put up strong numbers in camp.
- Likewise, the Indians announced yesterday that southpaw Tom Gorzelanny will remain in the organization in the minor league system. He’ll be due a $100K bonus for the privilege.
This post originally incorrectly listed Alex Torres as an Article XX(B) free agent.