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West Notes: Diamondbacks, Marte, Marte, Mariners, Lewis, Kikuchi

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The Arizona Diamondbacks have put together one of the more intriguing rosters as we approach spring camp, and they’ve done so while maintaining flexibility. The Starling Marte acquisition, for instance, secures center field as GM Mike Hazen had hoped – secondarily allowing star Ketel Marte to stay at second base –  but that doesn’t mean Ketel’s days in center are done. The Martes could very well play side-by-side in the outfield against tough lefties while David Peralta or Kole Calhoun gets a breather, writes MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. Most of Arizona’s bench hits from the left side, though Ildemaro Vargas, Domingo Leyba, and Andy Young can all hit righty, making them candidates to spell Marte at second when he vacates. Let’s jump the the Junior Circuit to check in on the Mariners…

  • Opportunity abounds in the Mariners outfield now that Mitch Haniger is set to miss opening day. With plenty of internal candidates to choose from, there’s no need for a reactionary signing in Seattle, though Executive VP and GM Jerry Dipoto never rules anything out. For now, Kyle Lewis has the inside track on left field, writes MLB.com’s Greg Johns. Lewis put together a mighty 75 plate appearances at the end of 2019 to stake his claim to the grass in 2020. The Haniger injury may mean more consistent at-bats for Mallex Smith in the early going, but the real growth opportunity exists for youngsters like Braden Bishop and Jake Fraley. It’s unclear how much time they’ll have to put their stamp on 2020, but the Mariners are likely to temper their expectations for Haniger’s return and enjoy the opportunity to preview Bishop and/or Fraley in the outfield. The Mariners also recently brought Eric Filia into their spring mix, who could earn a spot, while infielders Shed Long, Dee Gordon, Tim Lopes and Aaron Nola can capably shag fly balls as well.
  • Yusei Kikuchi put together a less-than-stellar inaugural season in Seattle, but he’s not a lost cause, writes Johns. The 28-year-old southpaw went 6-11 with a 5.46 ERA/5.71 FIP across 32 starts (161 2/3 innings) in 2020. Despite Kikuchi’s struggles and a lack of established rotation arms, the Mariners have less interest in extending their use of the Opener in 2020. A focus on relievers who can throw multiple innings will allow the Mariners to protect Kikuchi somewhat. Mostly, the Mariners envision progress through regression. Writes Johns, “…there is a feeling that he tinkered far too much with his arm angles and throwing motion — both over the course of the year and even during games — and needs to get back to just being himself and letting it rip as he did when he first arrived.”

Phillies Claim Reggie McClain

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The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-hander Reggie McClain off waivers from the Mariners and designated fellow righty Trevor Kelley for assignment in order to open space on the 40-man roster.

McClain, 27, was designated for assignment by Seattle last week when the club claimed lefty Nick Margevicius from the Padres. McClain made his big league debut in 2019 but struggled to a 6.00 ERA in 21 innings with the Mariners. McClain had a big season in the minors last year, however, skyrocketing across three levels and notching a combined 2.23 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and 0.5 HR/9 in 72 2/3 innings.

McClain averages just under 94 mph on a heavy sinker that led to a huge 64.8 percent ground-ball rate in his 21 MLB innings, and his grounder rate in the minors checked in at nearly 60 percent as well. McClain still has all three minor league option years remaining, so if he sticks with the Phillies, they’ll be able to shuttle him back and forth between Philadelphia and Triple-A Lehigh Valley as often as they see fit.

The 26-year-old Kelley was also a waiver claim by the Phillies, coming over from the Red Sox organization in early December. Like McClain, he struggled in his MLB debut this past season (eight runs in 8 1/3 innings) but posted impressive minor league numbers in 2019 (1.79 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 in 65 2/3 innings).

Latest On Mariners, Taijuan Walker

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The Mariners have added a pair of potential rotation candidates in Wei-Yin Chen and Nick Margevicius since last week, and they may not be done yet. It’s “believed” that they’re still interested in free-agent right-hander Taijuan Walker, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. Johns first connected the Mariners to Walker over a month ago, but rumors centering on the 27-year-old have been scarce in the past several weeks.

There has already been one Seattle stint for Walker, whom the team chose 43rd overall in the 2011 draft and then saw blossom into an elite prospect. Walker stayed with the organization through 2016, but the M’s then traded him to Arizona in a move that netted them outfielder Mitch Haniger and middle infielder Jean Segura (now with the Phillies). Segura was later shipped out as part of a deal for the Mariners’ current shortstop, J.P. Crawford.

Walker, still only 27 years old, perhaps hasn’t lived up to the billing he had as a prospect. He had an uneven tenure with the M’s, though Walker was effective with Arizona in his first season there. Unfortunately, shoulder and elbow injuries (including Tommy John surgery) have cut him down dating back to 2018, having limited him to 14 innings in the past two seasons. Walker tossed just one frame last year, in the Diamondbacks’ final game.

Despite the arm troubles Walker has endured of late, he does look like one of the most interesting starters left in a free-agent market that has mostly been picked over. In the Mariners’ rebuilding position, Walker makes sense as a buy-low type who could have a chance to push for a spot in a rotation that’s short on established options behind Marco Gonzales.

Mariners To Sign Wei-Yin Chen

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The Mariners have agreed to a deal with left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  Seattle will owe Chen a Major League minimum salary ($563.5K) if he makes their big league roster, and that minimum salary will be subtracted from the $22MM the Marlins owe Chen for the 2020 season, the final guaranteed year of the southpaw’s original five-year, $80MM contract with Miami.

That deal ended up being a significant misfire for the Marlins, as Chen battled injuries and struggled over the length of his time in South Florida.  Chen posted a 5.10 ERA over 358 innings as a Marlin, including a 6.59 ERA over 68 1/3 frames in 2019, working exclusively as a reliever.

Seattle is likely to see what Chen can do as either a starter or a reliever in camp, while gauging if the 34-year-old still has anything left in the tank following his rough stint in Miami.  Chen will at least get opportunity on a Mariners club that is open to all contributions at both the back of the rotation or in the bullpen.  Seattle is particularly thin on left-handed relief options, so that stands out as perhaps Chen’s best shot at making the Opening Day roster.

GM Jerry Dipoto said last week that the M’s were close to adding some new arms, and Seattle has since brought Nick Margevicius, Yoshihisa Hirano, and now Chen into the fold.  Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield project as the top three starters in the Mariners’ rotation, though the last two spots are still up in the air, with Margevicius, Chen, Kendall Graveman, Nestor Cortes, Phillips Valdez, and top prospect Justin Dunn all in the mix as potential rotation members.

Mariners Sign Yoshihisa Hirano

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano has been signed to a one-year, Major League contract.  Hirano is represented by John Boggs & Associates.  Left-hander Ricardo Sanchez has been designated for assignment to create roster space.

Hirano will earn $1.6MM in guaranteed money, as per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (all Twitter links), plus incentive bonuses based on numbers of games pitched and finished.  Hirano can begin to unlock these bonuses if he makes at least 30 appearances, or finishes at least 20 games.  There is also a $250K transaction payment due to Hirano whenever he is traded.

After coming to Major League Baseball on a two-year, $6MM deal with the Diamondbacks in the 2017-18 offseason, Hirano finished sixth in NL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2018 after posting a 2.44 ERA, 2.57 K/BB rate, 50.3% grounder rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 66 1/3 innings out of Arizona’s pen.  Despite a higher strikeout rate (10.4 K/9) and K/BB rate (2.77) in 2019, Hirano’s ERA ballooned to 4.75 over 53 frames, and he also spent a few weeks on the injured list due to elbow inflammation.

Despite the wide gap in ERA over the two seasons, Hirano’s advanced metrics indicate a pretty similar level of performance in both 2018 (3.69 FIP, 4.01 xFIP, 3.76 SIERA, .311 xwOBA) and 2019 (4.04 FIP, 4.24 xFIP, 3.95 SIERA, .296 xwOBA).  Hirano finished in the 94th percentile of all pitchers in terms of limiting hard contact last season, so the Mariners are hoping the righty can translate that soft contact into better on-field results.

Though Hirano (who turns 36 in March) only has four career saves, the number of finish-saved incentives in his contract indicate that the Mariners see him as a potential answer to their unsettled ninth-inning situation.  Matt Magill is ostensibly the top in-house choice after saving five games for the M’s down the stretch last season, though those were the only five saves of Magill’s big league career.  While Hirano rarely got the call in save situations for the D’Backs, he has a long and successful history of saving games in Japan, racking up 143 saves for the Orix Buffaloes between 2013-17.

Sanchez posted a 4.44 ERA, 3.55 K/BB rate, and 8.3 K/9 over 146 innings for Double-A Arkansas last season, starting all 27 of his games.  The 22-year-old southpaw already has six years of professional experience, beginning in the Angels’ system before pitching with the Braves from 2015-18.

Free Agent Spending By Team: American League

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As we covered earlier this week, almost all of the prominent free agents in this year’s class have already exited the board. Because of that, we’ll see more and more minor league signings and fewer and fewer major league deals in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season. This has been an aggressive offseason in terms of spending, though. To this point, which teams have handed out the most guaranteed money via the open market? We’ll examine both leagues, but let’s begin with the AL (reminder: This exercise excludes trades, club options, extensions, waiver claims and Rule 5 selections)…

Yankees: $336.5MM on two players (Gerrit Cole and Brett Gardner; top 50 MLBTR signings: two)

Angels: $260.85MM on three players (Anthony Rendon, Julio Teheran and Jason Castro; top 50 signings: three)

White Sox: $196.5MM on six players (Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, Dallas Keuchel, Edwin Encarnacion, Steve Cishek and Gio Gonzalez; top 50 signings: five)

Twins: $151.8MM on eight players (Josh Donaldson, Michael Pineda, Jake Odorizzi, Homer Bailey, Sergio Romo, Alex Avila, Rich Hill and Tyler Clippard; top 50 signings: four)

Blue Jays: $114.35MM on four players (Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi and Travis Shaw; top 50 signings: two)

Rangers: $62.25MM on five players (Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, Robinson Chirinos, Joely Rodriguez and Todd Frazier; top 50 signings: two)

Tigers: $17.8MM on four players (C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, Austin Romine and Ivan Nova; top 50 signings: one)

Astros: $15.65MM on three players (Joe Smith, Martin Maldonado and Dustin Garneau; top 50 signings: zero)

Rays: $12MM on one player (Yoshitomo Tsutsugo; top 50 signings: zero)

Red Sox: $9.9MM on three players (Martin Perez, Jose Peraza and Kevin Plawecki; top 50 signings: zero)

Athletics: $7.5MM on one player (Jake Diekman; top 50 signings: zero)

Royals: $6.95MM on two players (Alex Gordon and Maikel Franco; top 50 signings: zero)

Indians: $6.25MM on one player (Cesar Hernandez; top 50 signings: zero)

Orioles: $3MM on one player (Jose Iglesias; top 50 signings: zero)

Mariners: $2.95MM on two players (Kendall Graveman and Carl Edwards Jr.; top 50 signings: zero)

Mariners Claim Nick Margevicius

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The Mariners have claimed lefty Nick Margevicius off waivers from the Padres, per a club announcement. Right-hander Reggie McClain was designated for assignment to create roster space.

Margevicius was designated for assignment recently by the Friars. This move officially ends a rather unusual run through the San Diego system.

A seventh-round choice in the 2017 draft, Margevicius lept from High-A to the majors early in the 2019 season — only to end up in DFA limbo after the close of the campaign. Had he not been utilized in the majors last year, Margevicius wouldn’t have added to the team’s 40-man roster pressures.

Presumably, the Pads felt they got enough of a look at the soft-tossing 23-year-old to shrug off his loss. Margevicius certainly wasn’t ready for prime time, as he managed only a 6.79 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 19 walks in his first 57 MLB innings (over a dozen starts and five relief appearances). But he was better in his dozen Double-A outings, where he worked to a 4.30 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.

As for McClain, he’s also off the MLB roster after debuting in 2019. He mustered an ugly 11:13 K/BB ratio in 21 innings in the bigs but did produce a hefty 64.8% groundball rate. The 27-year-old was much more effective in the minors, compiling 72 2/3 innings of 2.23 ERA ball over stints at the High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels.

Mariners Expect To Add More Pitching Soon

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The rebuilding Mariners have largely stayed away from making noteworthy acquisitions this offseason. To this point, starter Kendall Graveman and reliever Carl Edwards Jr. – two low-cost signings – have been their most recognizable pickups of the winter. It’s possible that will change soon, however, with general manager Jerry Dipoto planning to further address the team’s starting staff and bullpen imminently. Dipoto said Thursday afternoon that the Mariners could make signings within 48 to 72 hours or by sometime next week, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

It’s unclear whom the Mariners are targeting, but with most high-quality arms off the free-agent market, any signing is likely to be of the buy-low variety. While Mariners rumors have been scarce since the offseason began, the team did show interest in Jimmy Nelson before he signed a cheap pact with the Dodgers. The M’s have also been in on Taijuan Walker, an ex-top prospect and former starter of theirs who remains available after two seasons ruined by arm problems. As inexpensive hurlers with some upside whose careers have been derailed by injuries over the past couple years, Graveman, Nelson and Walker are all cut from the same cloth.

In the Mariners’ non-contending position, it seems logical to vie for lottery tickets on the open market, perhaps in hopes the pitchers they land will rebuild their stock and wind up as in-season trade chips. Speculatively, Matt Harvey and Shelby Miller stand out as other free-agent starters who might interest the club. Regardless, the M’s rotation could use the help. Among their starters, only Marco Gonzales looks like a strong bet to put up above-average production in 2020.

Questions also abound in Seattle’s bullpen, a unit that had a hard time keeping runs off the board last season and hasn’t welcomed many new faces since then. The bullpen market – where someone like Collin McHugh may be a fit (again, just my speculation) – contains far more options than the starting class, so the Mariners could be deciding among a host of different relievers right now.

Mariners To Sign Alen Hanson To Minors Deal

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The Mariners have agreed to sign utilityman Alen Hanson to a minor league contract, according to Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors (Twitter link).  The deal contains an invitation to Seattle’s Major League spring camp.

Most immediately, Hanson gives the M’s some experienced outfield depth in the wake of today’s news that Mitch Haniger recently underwent core surgery and will miss the start of the season.  Since Haniger is expected to be back before the end of April, however, Hanson’s versatility gives him a shot at remaining on Seattle’s roster even after Haniger returns.  Over 261 career games at the big league level, Hanson has started at every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher.

Not much hitting pop has come along with that defensive flexibility, as Hanson has only a .232/.266/.368 slash line over 625 career plate appearances in the majors, and he also hasn’t hit much at the Triple-A or even Double-A levels.  The 27-year-old has bounced around between four different organizations over his pro career, seeing MLB action with the Pirates, White Sox, Giants, and Blue Jays.

With Haniger on the shelf, Jake Fraley and Braden Bishop stand out as Seattle’s top candidates for right field playing time.  Kyle Lewis could also see some time at the position if not in left field, while Dee Gordon is expected to be deployed at multiple positions.  Hanson will be battling for a utility role with such players as Tim Lopes, Patrick Wisdom, Dylan Moore, and Donnie Walton.

Mitch Haniger To Miss 6-8 Weeks After Undergoing Core Surgery

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Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger underwent core surgery earlier this week, GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters, including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter links), MLB.com’s Greg Johns, and The Athletic’s Corey Brock.  Haniger is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, and the outfielder will miss some time at the start of the season after missing such a large chunk of Spring Training.

The procedure was necessitated by a setback while Haniger was already rehabbing from the surgery that ultimately cut short his 2019 season after just 63 games.  Haniger didn’t play after June 6 after suffering a ruptured testicle, and Divish noted he was at risk of suffering from a hernia or another core injury “if Haniger pushed too much in his recovery and rehab.”

While Dipoto said that he didn’t think Haniger would miss too many of the Mariners’ early games, today’s news obviously isn’t a welcome one given how Haniger’s career has already been interrupted by this particularly brutal injury.  The right fielder was becoming a breakout star in his first two seasons in Seattle, hitting .284/.361/.492 with 42 home runs over 1093 plate appearances in 2017-18.  While Haniger’s 2019 production was down a bit from that level prior to his injury, he was still providing above-average offense (106 wRC+, 109 OPS+) in his abbreviated season.

Haniger’s surgery also almost surely ends any possibility that he might be a late-offseason trade candidate.  The M’s received some significant trade interest in Haniger this past winter, with the Diamondbacks cited as one of the known suitors.  Dipoto reportedly set a high asking price in trade talks, and wasn’t willing to settle for any sort of buy-low offer in the wake of Haniger’s injury.

Assuming no further setbacks and Haniger is indeed able to return by late April, the 29-year-old will have plenty of time to re-establish himself as a quality offensive and defensive performer.  Haniger is set to earn $3.01MM in 2020, and with two more arbitration-eligible seasons to come, he’ll put himself in line for a nice raise if he returns to his 2017-18 form.  Such a performance could also make Haniger a name to watch for the July trade deadline, if Dipoto and the Mariners still have their eyes set towards the future.

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