Braves, Nationals, Padres Expected To Exceed 2016-17 International Pools
The Braves, Nationals, and Padres are all expected to bust their international spending allocations for the upcoming July 2 period, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. With many other clubs serving the first or second year of their own bans on doling out $300K+ bonuses to pool-eligible players, and other organizations not heavily invested internationally, it appears these three clubs are prepared to enter the void.
As Badler explains, the teams don’t yet know exactly how much cash they’ll have to spread, but the general spending capacity won’t come as a surprise since it’s based on prior year’s record. Teams can also acquire individual spending allotments from other clubs via trade, and with many organizations unable to spend all of their slots, there should be plenty available. But a club can only increase its total allocation by 50%, so even adding in some new capacity presumably won’t keep the teams from avoiding the penalties.
The disincentive for going over the pool, of course, is a 100% tax on overages above 10% as well as up to a two-year timeout (after a 15% excess) on future bonuses of over $300K. But it’s long been expected that changes could be coming to the international amateur market — as commissioner Rob Manfred just addressed yesterday — and it’s certainly possible (but hardly certain) that budget-busting organizations won’t end up being handicapped under a new system.
Atlanta, especially, is expected to attack the market, per Badler. He says that the rebuilding organization is lining up a series of signings that could equal or exceed the Yankees’ spree from 2014-15. Their biggest targets are top-shelf infield prospect Kevin Maitan and fellow Venezuelan standout Abrahan Gutierrez, a catcher.
Meanwhile, the Nats are looking to build on their success at low-budget international signings with some real cash at their disposal. A pair of middle infielders — Dominican Yasel Antuna and Venezuelan Jose Sanchez — are near the top of their list.
Likewise, the Padres have not only been laying the groundwork for a series of deals with Dominican and Venezuelan players in the $1MM range, but are eyeing a major strike on the burgeoning market for young Cuban talent. Badler says that the San Diego organization is attempting to convince several players who may soon become free agents to wait for the new signing period to ink their deals.
West Notes: Rosario, Lincecum, Blackmon, Athletics
The Astros organization is mourning the loss of 20-year-old pitcher Jose Rosario, who died in a motorcycle accident yesterday evening in his native Dominican Republic. Rosario pitched in the Dominican Summer League and Gulf Coast League last year. The organization’s international director Oz Ocampo praised Rosario as “a beloved member of the Astros Latin American program.” Ocampo continued: “He will be remembered as a long, lanky-framed pitcher with tremendous ability, an outgoing personality and an ever-positive disposition. He was a true student of the game and was constantly looking to learn and improve his abilities. He was also a supportive teammate, as he made it a point to encourage his fellow Astros and deliver that message with a smile on his face. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Rosario family.” We here at MLBTR join in that message.
Here are the latest notes from the game’s western divisions:
- The Padres are interested in free agent righty Tim Lincecum, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. He notes that the Marlins also are continuing to look at the former Giants star, along with other teams, as he readies for a planned February showcase after undergoing hip surgery last year.
- Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon says he was surprised that the team decided to bring in yet another left-handed outfield bat in Gerardo Parra, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. “I was little perplexed at first,” said Blackmon. “Because I didn’t really see it coming. Going into the offseason, I didn’t know that was in play, really. But after looking at it, he’s a great player. I’ve played against him, seen him play. He’s got one of the best arms in the league. He can only make our team better.” Blackmon, of course, continues to draw trade chatter, all the more so after the Parra signing, but he said he’s not bothered by the rumors — while rightly noting that it’s always “good to be relevant.”
- Athletics closer Sean Doolittle says he is ready to go for spring camp without any restrictions after dealing with shoulder issues last year, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anybody I’m in the best shape of my life because I’ll never be 21 again,” said Doolittle. “But I think this is the most important offseason of my career, and I’ve been going about it with that mentality.”
- Meanwhile, the Athletics aren’t yet sure what to expect from outfielder Coco Crisp, Slusser adds. Though he’s beginning to swing the bat, it isn’t yet clear how he’ll bounce back from an injury-plagued 2015. DH Billy Butler is another question mark, but he says he’s “got a lot left in the tank,” as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Butler will look to build upon a solid final month in an otherwise forgettable season. “I’m in good shape. I’m strong. Everything’s great,” he said. “I know what the expectations are, so let’s go out there and do it. I’ve prepared this winter to do that.”
- It sounds like extension talks could soon take place between the Athletics and outfielder Josh Reddick, and GM David Forst said that the team intends to try to find ground for a multi-year deal, as SB Nation’s Jeremy Koo writes. Oakland “will make an effort at” a deal, said Forst. He added that Reedick has “kind of become the face of our team; somewhat the drive and energy of the club.”
Arroyo Has Minor League Offer From Nats; Four Other Teams Interested
Veteran right-hander Bronson Arroyo has a minor league offer on the table from the Nationals and is receiving interest from four other clubs, including the Reds, reports MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. In addition to that pair of teams, the Marlins, Pirates and Padres all have interest, though the interest of those three clubs does not appear to be as serious as the interest in Cincinnati and D.C. Sheldon tweeted earlier today that the Reds could make an offer soon, and in his column he notes that Arroyo expects to make a decision in the near future.
Arroyo tells Sheldon that he threw a bullpen session with Reds catching coach Mike Stefanski on Friday this past week. Sheldon adds that while the Reds didn’t have other personnel present to watch the session, they’ve received video and are determining a course of action. Arroyo sounds like his hope is to return to the Reds, though he doesn’t explicitly state that. He does, however, say that he hopes the Reds make an offer today, and he also adds: “I wanted to give the Reds every opportunity to keep me. Bryan Price has told me he’d love to have me in their locker room. I think it benefits both sides. It’s an opportunity for me to come into a less-stressed situation after a surgery and help young guys on the staff. If we can get something that’s in the ballpark [financially], I’d be happy.”
It’s unclear if Cincinnati, or any team, would be comfortable guaranteeing Arroyo a spot on the 40-man roster, though a minor league deal with a decent base salary and plenty of incentives could easily afford Arroyo several million dollars by season’s end if he remains healthy and proves capable of replicating anything close to his previous levels of performance. Arroyo does tell Sheldon that his arm feels 100 percent, though he admits that it took a full 16 months to get to that point, and he’s also frank in stating that he’s uncertain what to expect in terms of workload. “I’d be lying if I said I knew I could throw 200 innings with this arm,” said Arroyo. “I just don’t know.”
Arroyo, 39 next month, spent the 2006-13 seasons in a Reds uniform, pitching 199 innings or more in each of those eight campaigns. In total, he amassed a 4.05 ERA in 1690 1/3 innings, averaging 5.9 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings pitched. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2014 and missed the entire 2015 season as he worked his way back. The Nationals currently project to have a rotation consisting of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Joe Ross and Tanner Roark, while Cincinnati’s rotation is far more in flux. Homer Bailey is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery, while Anthony DeSclafani and Raisel Iglesias seem like easy calls for starting gigs. Beyond that, Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, John Moscot and Michael Lorenzen will compete for jobs in the rotation. Top prospect Robert Stephenson could eventually join that mix as well, though he has just 55 2/3 innings above the Double-A level.
Clearly, the Nats offer a better shot at contending than do the rebuilding Reds, and Washington can also offer a reunion with Arroyo’s former manager, Dusty Baker. However, Arroyo knows the Cincinnati organization quite well and has a clearer path to a rotation spot there. Additionally, as Sheldon notes, Arroyo’s girlfriend lives in Cincinnati, adding to the appeal for him on a personal level. The other three clubs, of course, have their merits as well, but they’re characterized more as secondary considerations than prime suitors by Sheldon for the time being.
Padres Notes: Cashner, Liriano, Draft
After a splashy — and ultimately unsuccessful — offseason in 2014-2015, A.J. Preller’s lack of big moves this offseason has been puzzling, FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron writes. The Padres did make what Cameron believes was an excellent trade to send Craig Kimbrel to the Red Sox, and they’ve also made a number of smaller moves to send Joaquin Benoit, Yonder Alonso, Marc Rzepczynski and Jedd Gyorko elsewhere while adding Drew Pomeranz, Jon Jay and Christian Bethancourt via trades and Alexei Ramirez, Fernando Rodney and Carlos Villanueva via the free agent market. They have, however, kept two of their most valuable trade assets in Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross, even though teams paid heavily for pitching in the free agent market this offseason and the Padres don’t project to contend in 2016. That they haven’t yet dealt Cashner is especially vexing, since he’s eligible for free agency next winter and since his new team won’t be able to extend him a qualifying offer if the Padres wait until after the start of the season to deal him. Here’s more from San Diego.
- Rymer Liriano was once a highly regarded prospect in the Padres’ system, but the team’s recent decision to designate him for assignment is, in some ways, unsurprising, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Liriano is merely the latest in a long line of pre-Preller prospects to depart from the organization, a line that also includes Joe Ross, Trea Turner, Max Fried, Matt Wisler, and many others. Also, the Padres’ string of outfield acquisitions before the 2015 season buried Liriano on their depth chart, and Liriano, though he’s generally hit well in the minors, has had problems with strikeouts. Finally, the team has a number of young outfielders it seemingly likes better, including Hunter Renfroe, Alex Dickerson and Rule 5 newcomer Jabari Blash.
- The Padres are currently loaded with top 2016 draft picks, Dennis Lin of the Union-Tribune writes. They already had the eighth overall pick, and they’ll also get compensatory picks for the departures of Justin Upton and Ian Kennedy, giving them three of the first 27 selections. They also have a selection (No. 71 overall) in Comp Round B, which means they’ll have made six picks by the time they’ve named their third-rounder at No. 85 overall. All those picks should help them restock after the departures of a number of top prospects last winter.
Padres Designate Rymer Liriano
The Padres have designated outfielder Rymer Liriano for assignment, the club announced. His roster spot goes to Alexei Ramirez, whose signing was announced today.
Liriano, 24, once rated as one of the game’s fifty or so best prospects. But he’s now lost his 40-man spot after only one brief and disappointing MLB cameo in 2014.
Heading into 2015, Baseball America still considered Liriano a top-ten organizational prospect, noting his impressive raw tools but limitations at the plate. Liriano went on to put up a solid .280/.375/.451 batting line (with 14 home runs and 18 steals) over 549 plate appearances in his first full season at Triple-A. He also posted a personal-best 11.7% walk rate, though he continued to strike out in about a quarter of his plate appearances.
That showing was apparently not enough to convince the Pads that Liriano has much of a future in the majors. It seems plausible to think that other organizations might see some upside left to tap into, though it obviously remains to be seen whether any will be willing to give him a 40-man spot to find out.
While the Padres’ offseason may not yet be complete, Liriano had figured to factor in the outfield mix this season. Indeed, it appeared that he and Rule 5 pick Jabari Blash (among others) might battle for a roster spot in camp. Both would have had to make the active roster to be retained. Liriano was added to the 40-man before the 2012 season, which would suggest that he had burned through a fourth option last year.
Padres Sign Alexei Ramirez
The Padres have officially added veteran infielder Alexei Ramirez, who’ll presumably slot in as the team’s regular shortstop. He reportedly receives a $4MM guarantee, with a $3MM salary for 2016 and a $4MM mutual option that comes with a $1MM buyout.
Ramirez, 34, had spent his entire career with the White Sox after coming over from Cuba before the 2008 season. He’s been a reliable, albeit rarely spectacular, performer ever since.
The first plate appearance that Ramirez takes in San Diego will be the 5,000th of his career. In the ones that precede it, he’s hit a cumulative .273/.310/.399 while adding about 14 home runs and 17 stolen bases annually.
Ramirez’s work at the plate has fluctuated somewhat year to year, of course, but he generally featured as a 3-or-more-win player for most of his tenure in Chicago. That’s because he also generated consistently strong overall baserunning ratings and above-average defensive metrics.
It all adds up to a nice, veteran package — except for the fact that Ramirez seemed to hit a wall in 2015. He posted a .249/.285/.357 batting line that set personal lows in all three triple-slash categories. And his work on the basepaths and with the glove drew negative overall ratings for the first time since his debut season.
San Diego will be banking on a turnaround, or at least a bounce back toward his career numbers. After all, he did suffer from an uncharacteristically low .264 BABIP while otherwise maintaining a K:BB ratio at his career norms and putting up more-or-less typical batted ball numbers. And things turned up markedly in the second half at the plate.
It’s certainly an understandable move for an organization that received dismal production at the shortstop position last year. While Ian Desmond would have been a bigger upgrade, he comes with plenty of risk and still seems likely to command a much larger contract. And it’s eminently arguable that Ramirez makes for a better fit, as San Diego has some younger players moving through the minor league ranks, led by Javier Guerra but also including names like Jose Rondon and Ruddy Giron. It’s not clear that any will be prepared by the time Ramirez’s deal is up, but at least there’s little chance that the organization will be paying big money to a player who is clogging the depth chart and reducing flexibility at a key position.
Jon Heyman reported the signing and financial details (Twitter links). Eno Sarris of Fangraphs first reported the guarantee and deal structure.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres To Sign Fernando Rodney
The Padres have agreed to a major league contract with right-handed reliever Fernando Rodney, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. Rodney and the Friars had been said to be nearing agreement in recent days.
The deal includes a $2MM guarantee for the Octagon Sports client, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links). He’ll receive a $1.6MM base salary, with a floating-value club option that comes with a $400K buyout.
The deal includes a complicated set of provisions for incentives and the option year, according to Lin (Twitter links). Rodney can earn $5MM annually in incentives. And the 2017 option price tag will be $2MM plus whatever incentive value Rodney reaches in 2016. For instance, if Rodney were to hit all incentives in the coming season, the option value would be $7MM (and his maximum earnings for 2017 would be $12MM, because that year’s incentives could still be reached as well).
Rodney, who’ll join San Diego for his age-39 campaign, seems in line for a chance at taking the save opportunities for the club. After dealing away quality arms in Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit, and watching Shawn Kelley depart via free agency, there’s a ton of uncertainty in the Padres’ pen.
The talented-but-unpredictable Rodney probably isn’t best characterized as a stabilizing presence, but he’ll certainly infuse some punch into the late-inning mix. If nothing else, he’s still delivering a blazing mid-90s fastball despite his age.
It’s hard to know what to expect out of the man with the big right arm and the tilted brim. He had one of the most dominating seasons in recent memory back in 2012; followed that up with two more strong overall campaigns (though he occasionally left fans on edge with his escape feats); and then imploded early last year in Seattle.
Certainly, 2015 presents two possible versions of Rodney at this stage of his career. With the Mariners, he put up 50 2/3 frames of 5.68 ERA pitching. A declining swinging strike rate (just 9.6% last year) left him with a relatively meager 7.6 K/9 to go with 4.4 BB/9 for the M’s. But he turned it on after joining the Cubs late in the year. In twelve innings, he allowed just one earned run while striking out 15 batters and issuing only four free passes. And it bears noting, too, that Rodney still generates groundballs on about half of the balls put in play against him.
MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez first reported on the option and incentives (Twitter links).
Padres Monitoring Yoenis Cespedes Market
The Padres are monitoring the market for outfielder Yoenis Cesepedes, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune, though his source characterizes a fit between San Diego and the Roc Nation client as unlikely.
San Diego has a vacancy in left field with the departure of Justin Upton now all but official, and Cespedes would fill that void more than capably. The Friars aren’t without in-house options at the position, of course, as prospects such as Hunter Renfroe and Rymer Liriano are nearly MLB-ready, and oft-injured but still-promising Wil Myers could slide back into the outfield from his currently projected role at first base (in theory, anyhow).
While the reserved nature of Lin’s connection between the two should temper speculation to an extent, it’s interesting that he points out ownership’s willingness to spend as much as $120MM on payroll, considering the fact that the team’s reported one-year deal with Alexei Ramirez will only push the 2016 payroll to about $100MM. Additionally, Cespedes won’t cost a draft pick, meaning the Padres wouldn’t have to forfeit one of the six picks they now possess in the top 100 selections of this June’s draft to sign him. From a purely speculative standpoint, the Padres wouldn’t even need to backload a contract too significantly in order to shoehorn Cespedes’ salary onto the 2016 ledger.
Then again, as Lin notes, there are longer-term payroll ramifications to consider. Matt Kemp is owed $21.75MM annually through 2019, and while the Dodgers are picking up $3.5MM of that commitment each year, that’s still an $18.25MM annual payout for San Diego. James Shields is owed $21MM this year and could command that same amount in both 2017 and 2018, depending on whether or not he exercises the opt-out provision in his contract following the upcoming season. (While such a scenario isn’t impossible by any stretch of the imagination, especially given the weak crop of starting pitching next winter, Shields would need to recover from some of the homer troubles that plagued him in 2015 to make such an outcome appear likely.) Additionally, the team has Melvin Upton Jr. on the books for $16.45MM in 2017 and will pay a portion of Jedd Gyorko‘s contract to the Cardinals in the 2017-19 seasons. If Shields declines to opt out of his contract, the Padres would run the risk of spending nearly half their payroll capacity on three players in 2017-18 following a Cespedes signing.
On the other hand, if Shields does take his release, the only money the team will have on the books beyond the 2017 campaign is that which is owed to Kemp and the fairly modest contributions they’ll be sending to St. Louis for Gyorko. That’s a much clearer long-term outlook than much of the league can claim. On paper, it would seem to create some degree of financial fit for Cespedes in the long run, though adding a second 30-something corner outfielder still carries risk. Cespedes is considered a plus defender in left field, though, quite unlike Kemp. His floor has to be considered significantly higher than that of Kemp at this stage of their respective careers.
While all of this is highly theoretical, the interest — however faint — does in some ways highlight the difficulties that this offseason’s rash of opt-out clauses could create for the teams that issued them in the future. A hypothetical decision on whether or not to pursue Cespedes would be made considerably easier if the Padres knew exactly what type of financial commitments are going to be on the books beyond the 2016 season. However, the aforementioned risk of allocating 50 percent of its payroll to just three individuals could potentially be a huge detriment to any pursuit.
California Notes: A’s, Kendrick, Freese, Padres
With the NFL’s Oakland Raiders probably unlikely to end up in Los Angeles, CSNBayArea.com’s Joe Stiglich looks at how this could impact the Athletics‘ bid for a new ballpark. It seems like the Raiders will share the O.co Coliseum with the A’s for at least one more year and big picture-wise, not much has changed, as per a press release from A’s co-owner Lew Wolff earlier this week: “The Oakland A’s will continue to explore our options with the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda on a new venue. This announcement by the NFL regarding the Raiders does not change our immediate plans or our goal of securing a new baseball-only facility.” The Raiders would like to build a new stadium on the Coliseum’s current site, which would allow the A’s to opt out of their lease and perhaps explore a new ballpark site in downtown Oakland or even a move to a new city. Pro Football Rumors (MLBTR’s sister site) has all the latest on the Oakland stadium situation in their Raiders news section. Here’s some more from the California teams…
- “The Dodgers want the draft pick they would get if (Howie) Kendrick signs elsewhere much more than they want to bring back Kendrick,” Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. Since Kendrick rejected the qualifying offer, the Dodgers will receive a compensation pick if he signs elsewhere, but only if Kendrick signs before the June draft. It’s not really clear who might make a play for Kendrick at this point in the offseason — teams like the Mets, Angels, Nationals and Diamondbacks have been linked to him, though some have since addressed second base needs in trades and others (such as the D’Backs) are balking at giving up another draft pick for a QO free agent. With Chase Utley, Enrique Hernandez and Micah Johnson all lined up to handle second base, Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said last month that the team “feel[s] pretty set” at the position.
- Also from Shaikin, he believes David Freese should’ve signed with the Angels when the two sides were in talks in December. When negotiations didn’t lead to a deal, the Halos traded for Yunel Escobar to play third base, and Freese hasn’t been since connected to any other teams. Though Freese was the best of a rather limited class of free agent third basemen, his market has likely been hurt by the fact that several of the teams in need of third base help this offseason (i.e. the Angels and White Sox) filled their holes on the trade market.
- The Pads bullpen is still wide-open heading into Spring Training, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Sanders lists some of the many internal options available to the Friars, and also notes that the team has been quite good at developing unheralded arms into quality relievers in recent years.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/16/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The Mariners‘ deal with Travis Ishikawa appears to have fallen apart, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News-Tribune tweets. The Mariners had agreed to a minor-league deal with first baseman and corner outfielder Travis Ishikawa, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo wrote (Twitter links). The deal would pay Ishikawa $900K if he were in the Majors. Ishikawa, a surprising 2014 postseason hero, played sparingly with the Pirates and Giants in 2015, missing time due to back issues and hitting .267/.337/.420 in 169 plate appearances in the minor leagues. The 32-year-old has a career .852 OPS at the Triple-A level, but he’s collected more than 174 big-league plate appearances in only one season in his career.
- The Cubs have signed utilityman Kristopher Negron and catcher Tim Federowicz to minor-league deals, tweets Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. After a promising 2014 season in Cincinnati, the 29-year-old Negron flopped in 2015, batting .140/.238/.161 in 107 plate appearances. He did, however, play every position but pitcher and catcher, potentially making him an interesting bench piece if he can recover his hitting stroke. The 28-year-old Federowicz missed most of the 2015 season with a knee injury. He had previously hit .194/.247/.300 in parts of four seasons as a reserve with the Dodgers.
- The Yankees have signed righty Anthony Swarzak to a minor-league deal, Eddy tweets. Swarzak, a longtime swingman in the Twins organization, pitched reasonably well in 13 1/3 innings with Cleveland last year before the Indians sold his contract to the Doosan Bears in Korea. Swarzak served as a starter there and posted a 5.26 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 — not terribly impressive numbers, but also not as bad as they look given how tough the KBO is on pitchers. His ability to start and relieve could make him a useful depth piece for the Yankees.
- The Giants have signed lefty Mike Kickham and righty Vin Mazzaro and re-signed center fielder Darren Ford, Eddy tweets. Kickham, who briefly appeared for the Giants in 2013 and 2014, struggled at Triple-A stops in the Mariners and Rangers organizations in 2015, walking 35 batters in 27 innings. Mazzaro held his own in 12 innings of relief with the Marlins last season but spent most of the year at the Triple-A level, where he posted a 2.70 ERA, 7.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. Ford, now 30, spent 2015 at Triple-A Sacramento, hitting .261/.333/.403 and stealing 33 bases.
- The Padres have signed 2B/CF/SS Jemile Weeks to a minor-league deal, Eddy tweets. Weeks, formerly a regular with the A’s, has played mostly at Triple-A the last several seasons. Last year, he batted a mere .204/.297/.281 for Pawtucket in the Red Sox organization, although, as Eddy notes, he has a strong track record at Triple-A, with a .371 career OBP there.