Players Avoiding Arbitration Prior To 2019 Non-Tender Deadline
With tonight’s 8pm ET deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming, there’ll be several players who agree to one-year contracts for the 2020 season today. It’s common for the day of the non-tender deadline to be a big one for arbitration agreements, though it’s also worth noting that many of the players who agree to terms today will do so at a rate that’s lower than the salary figures projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Broadly speaking, players who agree to terms on a salary this far in advance tend to be those who were at risk of being non-tendered, and their teams are able to use tonight’s deadline as leverage in bringing about a deal that saves them a bit of cash. A look at some of the early instances of players agreeing to terms reveals this to be true already; Mike Zunino ($4.5MM salary vs. $4.9MM projection), Wilmer Difo ($1MM salary vs. $1.2MM projection) and Scott Alexander ($875K salary vs. $1MM projection) have all agreed to lesser terms rather than risk being cast out into the free-agent market.
We’ll keep track of today’s players who avoid arbitration in this post and update throughout the day…
- The Padres have a deal for $1.5MM with infielder Greg Garcia, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. That’s a shade under his $1.7MM projection for the 30-year-old.
- Infielder Orlando Arcia has avoided arbitration with the Brewers, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Though he’s set to lose some playing time, it seems Arcia will be expected to retain a notable role. He’s considered a talented defender at short and was long expected to come around with the bat, but it hasn’t happened yet.
- Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes is in agreement on a $1.1MM deal, per Robert Murray (Twitter link). It’s a guaranteed deal, which isn’t standard for arbitration pacts. Barnes had projected at $1.3MM on the heels of a disappointing season. It seems he’ll be asked to function as the club’s second backstop in 2020.
Earlier Moves
- The Rangers have a deal in place with right-hander Nick Goody, the club announced. He’ll earn $915K, according to MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). Goody projected to earn $1.1MM, so he’s taking a discount on that mark with his new club.
- Just-acquired righty Jharel Cotton has agreed to a $640K deal with the Cubs, Rosenthal tweets. Cotton had projected at $800K but he’s surely focused first and foremost on getting a significant MLB opportunity. He didn’t quite make it back to the majors in 2019 after a long injury layoff but figures to represent a swingman option for the Chicago club in 2020.
- Outfielder Alex Dickerson and lefty Wandy Peralta are in agreement with the Giants, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Dickerson settled for $925K, which is well under his $1.2MM projected earning power. The 29-year-old has had trouble staying healthy but usually hits when he is on the field. He rewarded the San Francisco organization for taking a shot on him last year by turning in a .290/.351/.529 batting line in 171 plate appearances. As for Peralta, he lands right at his projected value with a $805K salary. The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers late in the 2019 season.
- The White Sox and James McCann avoided arbitration with a one-year deal worth $5.4MM, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. McCann’s deal checks in a half million dollars north of his $4.9MM projection. Chicago’s addition of Yasmani Grandal has likely relegated McCann to backup duties, so he’ll be a rather expensive second catcher for the South Siders. A free agent next winter, McCann hit .273/.328/.460 with a career-high 18 home runs, but his bat went dormant in the season’s final few months and his .359 BABIP seems particularly ripe for regression.
- The Athletics avoided arbitration with left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $1.8MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. That salary effectively puts McFarland in line for the same salary he’d have received had he had his $1.85MM club option exercised by the Diamondbacks. Arizona, however, bought him out for $50K and then ran him through waivers, at which point the A’s claimed him. The 30-year-old posted a 4.82 ERA with a middling 5.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings this past season, but he’s a ground-ball behemoth (61.1 percent). He’ll be a free agent next winter and had been projected at $2.1MM.
- Infielder Ehire Adrianza and the Twins agreed on a $1.6MM salary for the upcoming season, Nightengale tweets. The versatile utilityman hit .272/.349/.416 in 236 plate appearances while appearing at all four infield spots and both outfield corners. Adrianza, a free agent next winter, was projected at $1.9MM.
- Outfielder Travis Jankowski agreed to a rare arbitration pay cut with the Reds, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. After earning $1.165MM in 2019, he’ll be owed $1.05MM in 2020 if he makes the club. A fractured wrist cost him much of the season in 2019, and he was just 4-for-22 when healthy and in the Majors. Jankowski did have a nice season in Triple-A, though (.393 OBP in 39 games), and the Reds gave up some international funds to acquire him, which seemingly indicated that they planned to tender him a contract. He was projected to earn $1.2MM.
Quick Hits: Mariners, Narvaez, Stewart, Padres, Pomeranz
Shake off your tryptophan coma with a few quick bursts of baseball-related action…
- The availability of catcher Omar Narvaez in trade talks can be directly linked to the Mariners‘ recent extension with first base prospect Evan White, suggests Greg Johns of MLB.com (link). While that may seem like a logical leap at first glance, White’s forthcoming presence on the club’s major league roster should allow GM Jerry Dipoto to utilize Austin Nola as a backup catcher. Nola, a catcher by trade, was mostly used in combination with Daniel Vogelbach at first last season. Johns also notes that the club’s recent signing of Patrick Wisdom, though minor in nature, gives the club yet another option at first in the event of an injury to White. As explored earlier, the bat-first Narvaez should only look more appealing as a trade target as this offseason progresses; as of Friday, open market catchers Yasmani Grandal, Travis d’Arnaud, Tyler Flowers, and Yan Gomes have all been spoken for.
- Carter Stewart‘s foray into the Nippon Professional Baseball ranks is covered in a recent profile from Jim Halley of Baseball America, with several interesting notes on the youngster’s on-and-off-field adjustments in Japan. Beyond the obvious cultural adjustments that a nineteen-year-old American would face in moving to Japan, Matt Skrmetta, a scout with Stewart’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, relays that the right-hander is currently adapting to the league’s more contact-oriented hitters. For those who may not remember, the 6’6 Stewart was originally the 8th overall draft pick of the Braves in 2018, although a longstanding wrist injury led the club to only offer him a signing bonus at less than half of the pick’s $4.98MM slot value. The righty spurned that offer and spent a year pitching in the JuCo ranks before a lack of interest at the top of the 2019 draft led Fukuoka to come calling with an unprecedented long-term deal.
- For the time being, the Padres are penciling in Drew Pomeranz and Kirby Yates as their back-end bullpen options, conveys The Athletic’s Dennis Lin in a recent mailbag. While there were Twitter rumblings this week that Pomeranz’s acquisition only made an offseason trade of Yates more likely, Lin notes that an extension with the 32-year-old Hawaiian is still an entirely plausible scenario. For what it’s worth, Pomeranz and Yates compiled 89.1 innings of a combined 1.41 ERA as relievers last year, potentially setting San Diego out with a thoroughly effective–if pricey–backend. MLBTR projects Yates to receive a $6.5MM award in a final pass through arb, while Pomeranz’s deal included an $8MM signing bonus in advance of a $4MM 2020 salary.
Mariners Sign Patrick Wisdom To Major League Deal
The Mariners announced that they’ve signed infielder/outfielder Patrick Wisdom to a Major League contract. Seattle’s 40-man roster is ow up to 39 players.
Wisdom, 28, has minimal MLB experience, having appeared in 32 games for the Cardinals in 2018 and nine games for the Rangers in 2019. He’s a career .224/.306/.408 hitter in 86 MLB trips to the plate, but the former No. 52 overall draft pick (Cardinals, 2012) has a solid track record in Triple-A. Wisdom has played in parts of four Triple-A campaigns and posted a .252/.328/.478 batting line with 82 home runs in 1674 plate appearances.
Most of Wisdom’s career has been spent as a corner infielder, but he also appeared at all three outfield positions with the Rangers’ Triple-A club last season. He also has minor league options remaining, so the move to get him on the 40-man roster is likely more about adding some versatile depth with power upside — he hit 31 home runs in 107 Triple-A games in 2019 — than it is about penciling him in as a lock for the 2020 roster.
Mariners To Sign Carl Edwards Jr.
The Mariners have agreed to a contract with righty Carl Edwards Jr., per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). It’s a MLB deal for the reliever, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Edwards will earn $950K with another $500K in available incentives, Nightengale adds via Twitter.
Shoulder troubles ended Edwards’s 2019 season early. But it had been a forgettable one before that point. Edwards struggled on both sides of a trade that sent him from the Cubs to the Padres before being cut loose by the San Diego organization.
The M’s obviously are hoping that Edwards can regain the form that enabled him to throw 118 1/3 innings of 2.81 ERA ball over 2017-18. Even then, his 12.2 K/9 was accompanied by 5.3 BB/9, so there was room for improvement. But Edwards has a big arm and will bring plenty of upside with him to Seattle.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/26/19
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Mariners have signed outfielder/first baseman Jose Marmolejos to a minor league contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. The deal comes with an invitation to spring training for the 26-year-old Marmolejos, who had been with the Nationals his entire professional career (which began in 2011). He divided last season between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .315/.366/.545 with 16 home runs in 382 plate appearances at the minors’ highest level.
Mariners Sign Kendall Graveman
2:14pm: The Mariners have announced the signing. Their 40-man roster is now up to 38 players.
9:35am: The Mariners have agreed to a one-year, MLB deal with righty Kendall Graveman, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). It’ll promise him $2MM, a sum that includes a $1.5MM salary for 2020 and a $500K buyout of a $3.5MM club option for 2021.
As we explored last month, Graveman worked hard to put himself back on the map after returning from Tommy John surgery. While the Cubs ultimately decided not to hang onto the hurler for a $3MM price tag, the M’s obviously saw enough to bring him in for a lesser guarantee — while also picking up an affordable option if things go well.
There’s also a provision to allow some extra earning power for Graveman, a client of Sports One Athlete Management. He’ll have the ability to earn up to $1.5MM in incentives for each year of the contract (assuming that he’s picked up for 2021). It’s not yet known how readily achievable those extra dollars are.
Seattle makes for a perfect landing spot for the 28-year-old hurler, who was able to return to the mound — but not the majors — during the 2019 season. He’ll likely have the inside track on a rotation spot, with the backstop of serving as a swingman out of the pen.
Graveman was a productive starter with the Athletics for a solid stretch earlier in his career. Up until the roadblock he hit in 2018, the Mississippi State product had dialed up 411 2/3 innings of 4.11 ERA ball. While he never was and surely never will punch out many hitters, Graveman boasts a strong 51.7% groundball rate for his career.
Though he was not able to make it back to the majors last year, Graveman made it into competitive action in the minors. That gave the Mariners a chance to get a look at his form. And it should leave full confidence that Graveman will be a full participant in Spring Training from the outset.
Mariners Reportedly Nearing Another Rotation Signing
Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto is evidently cooking up some pre-Thanksgiving surprises for fans of the franchise. The reported addition of Kendall Graveman is but one of two pitching signings in the works, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (links to Twitter).
So, is it the turkey or another side? It seems we’ll find out tomorrow morning, when Divish says the second deal for a starting pitcher will likely be announced.
The M’s entered the winter with obvious needs in the rotation. As MLBTR’s TC Zencka characterized things in rounding up the needs and opportunities for the Seattle org, it seemed possible that the club would pursue as many as three new starting pitching candidates on the open market and/or in trade.
Graveman — one of the possible targets that TC noted — is likely pegged to take one rotation spot. But he could soon be joined by another. It isn’t impossible to imagine the Mariners making a bit of a splash here. No, we’re not expecting another Robinson Cano-sized surprise. But the club has the payroll availability needed to pursue just about any pitcher it likes. It’s also possible, of course, that the other new incoming arm will be more of a depth option than a clear-cut rotation piece.
We won’t offer any specific guesses here, as the possibilities are more or less endless. Dipoto is nothing if not freewheeling. There are some intriguing overseas possibilities, in addition to the full slate of available pitchers that threw in the majors last year. Could be mashed taters and gravy; might be little tiny onions. Hopefully it isn’t canned cranberry “sauce.” It’ll be fun to see who strolls into Seattle with Graveman for Turkey Day.
Mariners, Evan White Agree To Long-Term Contract
NOVEMBER 25: The Seattle organization has announced the signing.
NOVEMBER 22: The Mariners and first base prospect Evan White are in agreement on a six-year, $24MM contract that contains three club options, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The contract, which can max out at $55.5MM if the options are exercised (via Robert Murray), locks up a key piece of the Mariners’ future before he even sets foot in the Majors. White is represented by True Gravity Baseball.
White, the No. 17 overall pick in the 2017 draft, spent the 2019 campaign with the Mariners’ Double-A in Arkansas, where he batted .293/.350/.488 with 18 home runs, 13 doubles, two triples, a 7.3 percent walk rate and a 23 percent strikeout rate in 400 plate appearances. Those numbers were particularly impressive in a pitcher-friendly setting, evidenced by White’s robust 132 wRC+ (indicating that he was 32 percent better at the plate than the average hitter in the Texas League).
From a broader offensive standpoint, the University of Kentucky product has performed well throughout his minor league tenure. He hit .277/.345/.532 in a tiny sample of 14 games of short-season Class-A ball in 2017 after being drafted and followed that up with a .303/.375/.458 slash in a full season at Class-A Advanced in 2018.
White is also regarded as a superlative defensive first baseman, with scouting reports at FanGraphs and MLB.com pegging him as a 70-grade defender. He currently ranks in the game’s top 100 overall prospects at MLB.com (No. 58), Baseball America (No. 73) and FanGraphs (No. 77).
The extension in many ways mirrors the long-term deal signed by Scott Kingery just prior to the 2018 season. As was the case with Kingery at the time, White is a 23-year-old top prospect who is widely expected to be a key contributor for his club in the near future. Both deals guaranteed the player $24MM over six years, though Kingery’s option years are valued at a slightly higher rate, as his contract can max out at $65MM. That’s perhaps reflective of the fact that Kingery, unlike White, had already played in Triple-A and was perhaps on the cusp of making the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training. White, meanwhile, could still be ticketed for some Triple-A time to being the 2020 season, although the long-term deal should increase his chances of breaking camp with the team. There’s no longer any reason to play service-time games and option him to Triple-A if he convinces the team of his MLB readiness with a strong spring effort.
White is suddenly the only player on the Mariners’ roster signed to a guaranteed contract beyond the 2021 season. The 2020 campaign will be a pivotal one for the “reimagining” Mariners, as they’ll get their first glimpse at White and quite possibly (later in the summer) at vaunted outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic (acquired in last winter’s Edwin Diaz/Robinson Cano trade). Lengthy auditions for lefty Justus Sheffield, righty Justin Dunn and outfielders Kyle Lewis and Jake Fraley — each of whom made his MLB debut in 2019 — are likely on the 2020 docket as well.
Yankees Trade Nestor Cortes Jr. To Mariners
1:41pm: The two teams have both announced the move.
“Nestor is a versatile lefty who can do a little bit of everything,” Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said in a statement announcing the swap. “He can start, he can relieve, he can give you those middle innings or even operate as an opener.”
Seattle’s 40-man roster is now at 36 players.
1:30pm: The Yankees have traded left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. to the Mariners in exchange for international bonus allotments, Buster Olney of ESPN reports (via Twitter). New York designated Cortes for assignment last week when setting the 40-man roster in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Cortes, 25 next month, has appeared in 37 big league games over the past two seasons — all but one of which was a relief outing. Though he’s been a longtime Yankees farmhand, the lefty actually made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2018 after Baltimore selected him in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft. He wasn’t able to hold his roster spot, however, and was returned to the Yankees during the ’18 season.
This past year, Cortes made his Yankees debut but limped to a 5.67 ERA in 66 2/3 innings. He averaged 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and logged a 10.5 percent swinging-strike rate, but Cortes also averaged 3.8 walks and 2.2 home runs per nine frames in his limited time with the Yanks. He doesn’t generate many grounders (34.2 percent), nor does he throw especially hard (89.6 mph average fastball), but lefties with strong Triple-A track records and minor league options remaining will always have some appeal throughout the league. Cortes has a pair of options left and, in 205 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, has a 3.11 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. A move to a more pitcher-friendly setting could certainly help to curb the home-run troubles that plagued him in 2019, and at the very least he’ll give the Mariners some depth both in the rotation and as a long relief option.
The amount of money the Yankees received in return for Cortes isn’t presently known, but international allotments have to be traded in blocks of $250K, so New York picked up at least that much in additional resources to add to its pool.
Mariners Exploring Omar Narvaez Trade Scenarios
The Mariners have been exploring several trade possibilities involving catcher Omar Narvaez, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The Seattle club has “shown a desire” to trade the 27-year-old (28 in February) and could complete a deal “soon,” per Passan.
At this point, there’s little doubt that Narvaez is a quality offensive player. The Venezuelan-born backstop has been an OBP machine since debuting in the Majors back in 2016, and his power has increased both in 2018 and in 2019. He’s a career .276/.361/.411 hitter in 1216 plate appearances at the MLB level, including a stout .278/.353/.480 batting line with a career-high 22 home runs in 482 plate appearances this past season. He’s walked in 11.3 percent of his MLB plate appearances against a 17.8 percent strikeout rate — both of which are better than the league average in today’s game of three true outcomes.
It’s easy to attribute the power spike to the juiced ball in 2019, but Narvaez’s new career-high in home runs is also reflective of the fact that he shattered his previous career-high in plate appearances by a measure of 160. In fact, his .182 isolated power mark (slugging minus batting average) was only 28 points higher than 2018’s .154.
What’s also clear about Narvaez, however, is that he’s struggled defensively in every season of his big league career. His 21 percent caught-stealing rate at the MLB level is well south of the 28 percent league average in that time, and Baseball Prospectus has ranked him near the bottom of the league for his abilities (or lack thereof) to block pitches. Narvaez did markedly improve in terms of limiting passed balls in 2019 (three in 815 2/3 innings after allowing 12 in 653 1/3 innings in 2018), but that was the one silver lining in his glovework.
Framing, in particular, has been a struggle for Narvaez, who ranks poorly in that regard by virtually any estimation. Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and Statcast all peg Narvaez near the bottom of the league in terms of framing value. Narvaez has caught 2386 1/3 innings in his career and registered -41 Defensive Runs Saved. Baseball Prospectus ranked him alongside Josh Phegley, Welington Castillo, Pedro Severino, Chance Sisco and James McCann as one of MLB’s worst defenders at the position in 2019.
Narvaez is under club control for another three seasons and will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $2.9MM salary for Narvaez in his first trip through that process, and he’ll be eligible twice more before reaching free agency in the 2022-23 offseason.
Though his glove is hardly appealing, it’s hard to understate just how much better than the league-average catcher Narvaez been at the plate in his big league career. Since he debuted, the league-average offensive output from catchers has checked in at .240/.310/.396. Narvaez’s .276/.361/.411 line is markedly better across the board. And while the average catcher’s production has actually declined across the past two seasons, Narvaez has improved, posting a .277/.358/.448 that trounces the average catcher.
A club that either believes itself to be capable of improving Narvaez’s glove or is simply willing to trade some defense for uncannily solid offense from the catcher position could certainly look into acquiring Narvaez — particularly if it’s an AL club that can occasionally stash him at DH. Among the teams with yet-unaddressed needs behind the plate this winter are the Astros, Angels, Rangers, Rockies, Pirates and Brewers. Several other clubs could stand to add a second catcher, with the A’s in particular having been linked to lefty-hitting catchers. Given the awful level of production from most catchers — particularly backup options — Narvaez could be argued as a logical fit for most clubs throughout the league, although his defensive red flags make it every bit as easy to craft a counterargument against acquiring him.
Moving Narvaez now could be sensible for the Mariners, given the substantial demand for catchers with both Yasmani Grandal and Travis d’Arnaud now off the market. Jason Castro and Robinson Chirinos are the top two catchers remaining in free agency, and while other catchers could surely be on the move via the trade circuit, there’s no clearly available star-caliber option as there was last winter with J.T. Realmuto. The Cubs’ Willson Contreras has seen his name pop up in rumors already, but Chicago needn’t feel pressure to trade him. And, with Seattle possessing a solid in-house option (Tom Murphy) as well as an intriguing prospect on the horizon (Cal Raleigh), it doesn’t appear that Narvaez will be a vital piece of the core once the rebuild ends — perhaps as soon as 2021.