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Giants Designate Zack Cozart, Claim Jake Jewell

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The Giants announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Jake Jewell off waivers from the Angels and designated infielder Zack Cozart for assignment to clear roster space. San Francisco acquired Cozart from the Angels earlier this winter, though it was obvious at the time that the trade was effectively a means of purchasing a prospect; the Giants took on the remainder of Cozart’s $12.167MM salary in order to land 2019 first-rounder Will Wilson from the Halos in that swap.

Jewell, 26, has yet to find big league success, as he’s served up 20 runs on 28 hits and eight walks with 23 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings over parts of two seasons with the Angels. Control has been a persistent problem for the 6’3″, 200-pound righty, but scouting reports on him have praised him as possessing a plus fastball and slider. He’ll need to curb the walks and do a better job limiting long balls, but there’s some potential for him to emerge as a viable two-pitch reliever.

Cozart’s days in San Francisco were numbered from the start. The Giants have a full infield with Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford, Mauricio Dubon and Brandon Belt all first in line for playing time around the diamond. Cozart’s 2016-17 run with the Reds was excellent, albeit injury shortened, but his health troubles have escalated to new heights since signing with the Angels on a three-year, $38MM deal. While some missed time was always going to be likely given his track record, there was little reason to predict that he’d be limited to just 96 games over the first two seasons of the deal.

Injuries haven’t helped Cozart’s productivity any, but the .190/.261/.296 slash he posted in 360 plate appearances with the Halos still registers as a shock, given his prior productivity in Cincinnati. He’ll surely be released within the week, at which point he’ll be free to sign with any club for nothing more than the league minimum (or, more likely, a minor league contract). The Giants will remain on the hook for the aforementioned $12.167MM he’s owed — minus the prorated league minimum for any time he spends in the big leagues with another team.

Checking In On Last Season’s Lowest-Scoring Offenses

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If you can believe it, sub-.500 teams comprised the majors’ five lowest-scoring offenses in 2019. With the offseason a couple months old and with most of the top free agents off the board, those teams have all had time to improve at the plate. But have they? Let’s take a look…

Detroit Tigers (582 runs, 77 wRC+)

  • Among Tigers regulars, only outfielder Nicholas Castellanos (whom they traded to the Cubs in July) and fellow outfielder Victor Reyes posted league average or better numbers last season. But the non-contending club has at least made an effort to upgrade its offense this winter. The Tigers have signed first baseman C.J. Cron and second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who were members of the division-rival Twins last year, as well as ex-Yankees catcher Austin Romine. None of those players will strike fear in the hearts of the opposition, but they’re respectable contributors who should be vast improvements over the hitters the Tigers ran out in those spots in 2019.

Miami Marlins (615 runs, 79 wRC+)

  • Like the Tigers, the Marlins have made a legitimate effort to get better this offseason. They’ve remade a good portion of their infield, where first baseman Jesus Aguilar and Jonathan Villar (who could play a super-utility role in 2020) are now aboard. Miami has also grabbed outfielder Corey Dickerson, who was the most productive offensive player of the trio last season. And former Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, who was highly valuable in 2018 before concussions helped stall his career in 2019, is in the mix as a backup to Jorge Alfaro. The Marlins should still be a sub-.500 club in the upcoming season, but at least they’ve put in some work to step up on offense.

San Francisco Giants (678 runs, 83 wRC+)

  • Aside from letting go of center fielder Kevin Pillar and deciding not to re-sign catcher Stephen Vogt or third baseman Pablo Sandoval, this has been a quiet offensive offseason for the Giants. Their projected lineup for 2020 includes nothing but familiar faces from last year. So, unless the likes of Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford channel their younger selves next season, it could be another lean showing for the Giants.

San Diego Padres (682 runs, 88 wRC+)

  • As far as spending on hitters goes, the Padres were one of the active teams in the game during the previous two offseasons. They added first baseman Eric Hosmer on an eight-year, $144MM guarantee two winters ago and third baseman Manny Machado on a 10-year, $300MM pact less than a year back. Neither decision has worked out all that well for the team thus far, and now it has taken a more modest approach. But that’s not to say the Padres have been silent. They picked up high-OBP outfielder Tommy Pham from the Rays, young OFer Trent Grisham from the Brewers and second baseman Jurickson Profar from the Athletics in separate trades. Pham’s the lone member of the trio who inspires much confidence at the plate, but the Padres are banking on all three to help them break a long playoff drought in 2020. And if the team has its druthers, it’ll find a taker via trade for outfielder Wil Myers, but his albatross contract (three years, $60MM) could prevent that from happening.

Kansas City Royals (691 runs, 84 wRC+)

  • The Royals, who lost 207 games from 2018-19, have done little to nothing at the plate this offseason. Third baseman Maikel Franco, who failed to live up to the hype in Philadelphia, joined KC on an affordable contract. There hasn’t been much otherwise, though, and the Royals continue to await left fielder Alex Gordon’s decision on whether to retire. Even if Gordon sticks around, he hasn’t been a legit threat at the plate since 2015. Maybe catcher Sal Perez will provide an impact bat after sitting out all of 2019 because of Tommy John surgery?

Giants Sign Joey Rickard, Matt Carasiti, Sam Moll

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The Giants have announced several of their non-roster invitees for 2020 Spring Training, thus revealing a few as-yet-unknown signings. Outfielder Joey Rickard is back after being non-tendered. He’ll be joined by hurlers Matt Carasiti and Sam Moll on minors deals.

Otherwise, the team’s tweets (pitchers / hitters) revealed a slate of preexisting minor-league signees and prospects. Of particular note is righty Andrew Triggs, who joined the organization late last season in search of a comeback, and recent top draft choices Sean Hjelle and Joey Bart.

Rickard is the best-known of the new additions. The 28-year-old, a former Rule 5 pick who stuck with the Orioles, landed in San Francisco via waiver claim last year. He’s just a .247/.301/.373 hitter in 978 MLB plate appearances, but did knock around Triple-A pitching last year with a .326/.404/.555 slash over 272 plate appearances.

As for the pitchers, both are 28 years of age, got their starts with the Rockies organization, and will be looking to return to the majors after brief prior action. The right-handed Carasiti got a few MLB appearances in 2019 with the Mariners but spent most of the year at Triple-A, working to a 3.53 ERA in 43 1/3 total Triple-A innings. Moll, a southpaw, returns to the San Francisco org after throwing 49 frames of 2.39 ERA ball with 9.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 with the team’s top affiliate.

Giants Sign Tyler Heineman

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The Giants have signed catcher Tyler Heineman, he announced Monday on Twitter. It’s presumably a minor league contract for Heineman, who comes with little experience in the majors.

Now 28 years old, Heineman entered the pro ranks as an eighth-round pick of the Astros in 2012. The part-time magician has since been a part of the Brewers, Marlins and Diamondbacks organizations. Heineman owns a respectable .287/.353/.430 line in 1,004 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, where he has played almost all of the past few seasons and shown an ability to avoid strikeouts. And Heineman did debut in the majors last season with 12 plate trips to the plate in September as a member of the Marlins, but they outrighted him off their 40-man roster in the middle of October.

Heineman will now join a Giants roster whose starting catching job is taken by the venerable Buster Posey. They also have Aramis Garcia on their 40-man, while high-end prospect Joey Bart shouldn’t be too far off from the majors.

Giants To Sign Tyson Ross

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The Giants have agreed to terms on a minor-league pact with veteran righty Tyson Ross, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. He’ll earn at a $1.75MM rate in the majors with $1.75MM in available incentives.

Ross fell flat last year with the Tigers, making seven middling starts before he was sidelined with nerve issues in his neck. Those troubles were never resolved. It’s not clear at this point just when Ross will be available to work off the mound, though the Giants can afford to be as patient as necessary with this low-risk agreement.

While he hardly returned to his once-lofty levels of performance in a bounceback 2018 season, Ross did show that he had something left in the tank. But he never came close to his prior heights — Ross’s 2018 swinging-strike rate was about a third lower than in his prime — and the more recent struggles raise yet more questions about his future. The former Athletics and Padres hurler lost more than a full tick on his fastball in 2019.

Clearly, there are some significant barriers. But teams around the game obviously saw some reason for hope, as the Giants were compelled to include a fair bit of contractual upside to lure Ross back out west.

Remaining Needs: NL West

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With the offseason almost two months old, MLBTR is going through all 30 teams’ remaining needs by division.  We’ve already checked in on the NL East, AL West, AL Central, and NL Central. Next up: the National League West.

Arizona Diamondbacks [Offseason Outlook]

The Snakes have overseen quite the busy offseason effort thus far. To an extent, though, the activity to date hints at more to come. If there’s an area that’s fully set, it’s the rotation … unless the organization decides to pull the trigger on a deal sending out pending free agent lefty Robbie Ray. That would be a strategic decision to turn a win-now asset into future value. It’s unlikely but not impossible that a hypothetical return would impact the immediate roster the way last year’s Paul Goldschmidt trade did.

The position-player mix could be settled, too, though it’s also possible to imagine the club adding another piece. In the event that the D-Backs find good value on a center field-capable 4th outfielder or a second/third baseman, they could shuffle the assignments of existing players accordingly. Otherwise, the bullpen unit still feels susceptible of improvement. If the Diamondbacks don’t find other ways of investing their remaining available payroll space, they could pick up one or more of the experienced late-inning arms still waiting around in free agency.

Colorado Rockies [Offseason Outlook]

For some teams, the remaining needs are largely the same as the preexisting needs. The Rox really haven’t done much of anything this winter, picking up well-traveled veteran catcher Drew Butera and taking low-cost shots on pitchers Tyler Kinley and Jose Mujica. Adding better options in those areas remains a priority, albeit a seemingly unfunded one.

If there’s a dramatic move to be made this winter, it’ll happen on the trade side. The Rockies are at least chatting with rivals about Nolan Arenado. No doubt they’re fielding calls on Jon Gray, German Marquez, and Trevor Story as well. And it still seems plausible to imagine Charlie Blackmon being made available as a means of alleviating the team’s payroll pressures, though we’ve seen no real indication of talks on the well-compensated outfielder.

Los Angeles Dodgers [Offseason Outlook]

What do you get for the roster that has everything? A bigger star, of course. That’s what the Dodgers have reportedly set out to find, eschewing marginal upgrades and allowing Hyun-Jin Ryu to depart via free agency while stalking bigger game.

With the open market now rather picked over, the Dodgers appear to be focused on structuring complicated trades involving some of the game’s best players. Francisco Lindor? Mike Clevinger? Mookie Betts? Intriguing targets abound. Whether any will land in Chavez Ravine remains unknown.

If the Dodgers whiff on their primary objective, will the offseason be a bust? Perhaps, though there’s still ample talent on hand to sweep away the NL West for the eighth-straight time and the summer trade deadline will offer new opportunities to add. There’s an argument that the club could really use another quality late-inning arm, even after a $10MM roll of the dice on Blake Treinen, but that’s about as close to a true “need” as you get with this stacked roster.

San Diego Padres [Offseason Outlook]

If you think this offseason could be drawing to a close, look no farther than the Friars for one of several rosters that could still see major change. The club has certainly picked up some new pieces — skyrocketing reliever Drew Pomeranz, solid starter Zach Davies, outfielders Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham, and second baseman Jurickson Profar — but doesn’t look to have made overwhelming strides in advance of a critical season.

There’s certainly an argument to be made that the Padres can roll with their existing talent. There’s upside in quite a few places of the roster and more coming through the pipeline. But making a real run at the Dodgers-dominated NL West is not going to be easy, if it’s plausible at all. And the NL Wild Card figures to be tightly contested. Even breaking a nine-year run of losing records isn’t a sure thing.

With the threat of organizational change looming, the Padres should continue pushing for a blockbuster, win-now addition. And they probably ought to increase their pain tolerance for striking a deal. There’s still potential to improve in the outfield, especially in center, and at the top of the rotation. The Friars would like to upgrade behind the dish but will probably find that difficult to pull off. Finding a taker for Wil Myers is another notable possibility, with extension talks to follow during Spring Training.

San Francisco Giants [Offseason Outlook]

The Giants are in an awkward position, carrying a combination of underperforming, expensive veterans and cheaply acquired, still-not-established (but not necessarily youthful) players. President of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi has made a few upside-oriented adds this winter but has yet to make any major moves.

Far more than plugging holes, Zaidi is looking for opportunities to build the organization’s talent base. But with the existing collection of established players and the team’s win-always market situation, there’s also some impetus to turn out a competitive product.

More than anything, the Giants could stand to improve at the back of the bullpen and in the outfield. Zaidi has gleefully churned through untold numbers of players at these precise areas since taking the helm. He has made a few finds but there’s plenty of work left to be done. Fortunately, there are some experienced relievers and higher-ceiling corner outfielders still floating around the open market, with trade opportunities perhaps also still alive, so the Giants could yet make more acquisitions.

Quick Hits: Arenado, Boyd, Andujar, Giants

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Nolan Arenado’s name has frequented the rumor mill of late, but ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required) that one evaluator whose team has spoken to the Rockies about Arenado is under the impression that the club isn’t aggressively looking to offload the contract. Arenado has seven years and $234MM remaining on his contract, an opt-out clause after 2021 and a full o-trade clause, making him a difficult player to trade even if the front office was strongly motivated to do so. Colorado GM Jeff Bridich rather broadly acknowledged that “this is the time of year where we at least listen” earlier this month, but there’s been little indication that there’s anything more significant than that “listening” going on with regard to Arenado.

Some more trade talk from around the league…

  • Matthew Boyd’s second-half struggles won’t push the Tigers to back down from the high asking price they’ve set in trade talks, writes Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. General manager Al Avila has repeatedly downplayed the notion that he’s shopping Boyd while also acknowledging that he’s been willing to listen to offers when approached by another club. Fenech, though, suggests that Boyd is likely to be Spring Training with the Tigers and might have to endure another half season’s worth of trade inquiries leading up to the July 31 trade deadline in 2020. He adds that Avila and the Tigers have yet to approach Boyd regarding an extension, which isn’t a huge surprise given the team’s rebuilding status and the fact that Boyd is controlled through 2022 anyhow.
  • Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone both said Friday that they expect third baseman Miguel Andujar to be ready for Spring Training, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. A shoulder injury that required surgery torpedoed Andujar’s would-be sophomore season in the Bronx. In his absence, he was both a subject of trade inquiries and at least somewhat pushed for his starting job by the surprise breakout of Gio Urshela. Andujar and Urshela seem likely to compete for at-bats this spring, though Cashman has previously called the hot corner Urshela’s position to lose. Andujar has minor league options remaining if he shows signs of rust in Florida; Urshela is out of minor league options.
  • The Giants will likely continue experimenting with the roles of their pitchers in 2020, writes Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Shaun Anderson is one of several younger pitchers identified by Pavlovic for a potential hybrid starter/reliever role, and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi tells Pavlovic that the right-hander expressed a willingness to pitch in any role in a meeting between the two after the season. It’s hard to imagine veterans Johnny Cueto or Jeff Samrdzija being deployed as anything other than conventional starters, and the Giants will surely want some continuity in their starting staff beyond that. (Offseason signee Kevin Gausman has been primarily a starter in the big leagues and was compensated as such with his $9MM deal.) But, as Pavlovic explores, the Giants also have several fringe rotation candidates who could get looks in multi-inning roles as the team looks to build out its pitching staff for the foreseeable future.

Outfield Rumors: Puig, ChiSox, Castellanos, Giants, Cardinals

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The White Sox were known to have continued interest in Nicholas Castellanos, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) adds that Chicago has also been in talks with free agent outfielder Yasiel Puig.  Whether the Sox ink either of these two players could now be in doubt, however, in the wake of yesterday’s reported agreement with Edwin Encarnacion.  At the very least, Castellanos might be out of consideration since there isn’t be an obvious spot for him to play every day, with Encarnacion and Jose Abreu handling first base/DH duties, Eloy Jimenez in left field, and Nomar Mazara playing at least a part-time role in right field.

It isn’t entirely out of the question that the White Sox could try to flip Mazara to make room for Castellanos, though the likeliest option is that Chicago will see if Mazara can still emerge as a reliable everyday player, or at least try to find a right-handed hitting platoon partner for him.  Puig could fit this description, and could potentially still be a target for the Sox on a one-year deal.  MLBTR projected such a one-year pact for Puig, and given the lack of news we’ve heard about Puig’s market this offseason, he could be more open to a platoon situation (that could very well evolve into more regular duty if Mazara struggles again).  The Marlins are the only team known to have shown interest in Puig this winter.

Some more rumblings on the outfield market…

  • While the Giants have been framed as a prime player in the Castellanos market, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the team’s portrayal as any sort of frontrunner to win the bidding is “overblown.” The organization does like Castellanos and is more willing to add a youthful free agent on a multi-year deal (Castellanos is still just 27) than a veteran entering his 30s. However, Pavlovic also questions whether the Giants would be willing to put forth a four- or five-year offer for any free agent while in the midst of an increasingly obvious rebuilding effort.
  • The Cardinals remain in the market for an outfielder, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explored in his holiday chat with readers this week. Corey Dickerson is at least under consideration, and the team hasn’t bowed out of the Marcell Ozuna bidding yet, either. The Cards’ preference is to have bring in an everyday outfielder as opposed to a platoon bat like Joc Pederson, whom the Dodgers have discussed in trades for a second straight offseason.

NL West Notes: Samardzija, Cueto, Dodgers

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We’ve already rounded up news from the American League twice today. Now, let’s take a look at the latest on a pair of bitter rivals from the Senior Circuit.

  • The Giants seem likely to hold onto Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto this offseason, opines Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. That’s not particularly surprising, as San Francisco has little in the way of rotation depth. Samardzija looks like a plausible trade candidate, but any return figures to be minimal. He’ll make $18MM as a 35-year-old rental and looks like a back-end starter at this point. Cueto, meanwhile, will need to reestablish his health before another club will consider paying down some of the $46MM he’s due over the next two seasons (including a 2023 buyout). The veteran (34 in February) started just four games in September following an August 2018 Tommy John Surgery. As Schulman notes, each pitcher could see his trade value rebound with a strong first half.
  • The Dodgers have had a quiet start to the offseason, observes Andy McCullough of the Athletic. Given the club’s repeated postseason disappointments in recent years, many L.A. fans have called for a roster shakeup. That sentiment is shared by some in the Dodgers’ front office, relays McCullough, although the club’s only significant acquisition thus far has been reliever Blake Treinen, who inked a one-year, $10MM deal two weeks ago. While there’s still time for the Dodgers to make a splash- they remain front and center on the latest Mike Clevinger and Francisco Lindor rumors- McCullough points out that they haven’t acted rashly under Andrew Friedman’s leadership. They may not need to so this offseason, as they again look to be the overwhelming favorites in the NL West.

Coaching Notes: Giants, Rangers, Pirates

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Here’s the latest coaching news from around the majors…

  • The Giants have hired Antoan Richardson to coach first base, base runners and outfielders, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Richardson previously worked as the Giants’ minor league outfield coordinator in 2019, and he’ll take over for Jose Alguacil in his new position. Now 36 years old, Richardson was a 35th-round pick of the Giants in 2005, though he never took a major league at-bat with the team. Richardson ultimately collected 21 MLB plate appearances as a Brave and Yankee in parts of two seasons, and he may be best known for scoring the winning run in Derek Jeter’s last AB at Yankee Stadium back in 2014.
  • The Rangers are set to hire Doug Mathis as their bullpen coach, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. He’ll take over for Oscar Marin, who served in the role last season and recently earned a promotion to become Pittsburgh’s pitching coach. The 36-year-old Mathis will now return to the Texas organization, which used a 13th-round pick on him in the 2005 draft. He wound up spending parts of three seasons (2008-10) in the majors, all with the Rangers, and concluded his professional pitching career in 2014. More recently, Mathis worked as Toronto’s Triple-A pitching coach in 2019.
  • Glenn Sherlock has joined the Pirates’ coaching staff, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. He’ll assist with Pittsburgh’s catchers and the club’s run prevention efforts. Sherlock, 59, divided the previous three seasons as the Mets’ first and third base coaches. He spent 19 years as a coach with the Diamondbacks prior to that. Before his coaching career began, Sherlock was a catcher in the minors from 1983-89.
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