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Mariners To Re-Sign Ichiro Suzuki

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The Mariners have reached agreement on a minor-league deal with ageless outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). It would pay him at a $750K rate in the majors.

While the contract may come as a surprise to some, it has long been something of an inevitability. When the legendary former star wrapped up his most recent stint with the M’s last May, the sides made clear that the arrangement — in which Ichiro traveled and trained with the big league club but did not suit up for games — would not preclude a return to action in the future. Since that time, Ichiro has prepared to play in 2019, with the club indicating it would give him an opportunity in camp.

At this point, it’s a risk-free move for the Seattle team. Indications are that Ichiro will at least be utilized to open the season, as the M’s are slated to kick things off with a two-game series in his native Japan in which the team will be able to carry a 28-man roster. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess whether Ichiro has a real shot at sticking on the active roster, but it certainly seems at least possible he’ll do so in what has already been declared something of a transition year for the club.

Needless to say, it’s an unusual situation. Then again, few if any players have combined Ichiro’s (metaphorically) towering stature with his unending drive to play the game. For a Seattle team that has failed to reach its goals over the past few seasons (and then some), there’s obviously an opportunity here to continue to benefit from a uniquely great player. There’s also still no shortage of potentially tricky terrain to navigate.

West Notes: Dodgers, Angels, Ichiro

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The Dodgers remain something of an enigma as Spring Training approaches. It’s possible to imagine the organization making any number of moves over the next few weeks, with so many opportunities still available on the market. At several areas on the roster, the team could conceivably either make an external move or utilize existing players. There is, however, an overarching need for a right-handed hitter, per manager Dave Roberts (via Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). While the skipper hardly gave much away, he did say that he believes there are more moves to come. And Roberts, at least, would like to see one transaction that would “kind of balance out the lineup with a right-handed bat.”

Here’s more from out west …

  • Angels GM Billy Eppler told reporters following his team’s signing of right-hander Cody Allen that the Halos had to “stretch” the budget and were only able to do so with the blessing of owner Arte Moreno (link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). As such, it seems unlikely that there are any other sizable moves on the horizon for the Angels. Eppler explained that the team was undeterred by Allen’s inflated 4.70 ERA last offseason, citing Allen’s long ninth-inning track record and plainly stating that the organization fully anticipates Allen serving as the closer in 2019.
  • Though Ichiro Suzuki has widely been expected to receive a send-off from the Mariners during the club’s season-opening series in Japan, Jim Allen of Kyodo News writes that the legendary outfielder doesn’t necessarily see things that way. Rather, per agent John Boggs, the aging but impeccably conditioned veteran is “working toward playing the whole season.” It’s a bit tough to imagine any MLB club giving Ichiro a guaranteed contract, but perhaps the 45-year-old still has another trick up his sleeve. He’ll have a chance to show his form in camp with Seattle, at least. Beyond the news item here, the article is well worth a read for Allen’s chat with Boggs about his famously unique client.

Mariners Designate Kaleb Cowart

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The Mariners announced that they have designated Kaleb Cowart for assignment. His roster spot was needed to accommodate today’s acquisition of infield prospect Shed Long.

When the M’s claimed Cowart in December, the club announced that he’d come to camp not only as an infielder, but also as a pitcher. That could still be the plan, but he’ll first have to clear waivers if he’s to remain with the Seattle organization.

It’d certainly be interesting to see whether Cowart can carve out a dual-use role. He also seems reasonably likely to outperform his dreadful career .177/.241/.293 MLB batting line, which has come in less than four hundred plate appearances spread over four seasons. After all, he has produced strong numbers at the Triple-A level, slashing .298/.361/.469 in 1,402 total plate appearances.

Reds Acquire, Extend Sonny Gray As Part Of Three-Team Trade

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After several days of reporting and speculation, right-hander Sonny Gray has officially been traded from the Yankees to the Reds and also agreed to a contract extension with Cincinnati. It’s a three-team deal that also involves the Mariners. Second base prospect Shed Long and a Competitive Balance Round A pick go from the Reds to the Yankees in exchange for Gray and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin. New York, in turn, has flipped Long directly to the Mariners in return for center field prospect Josh Stowers — the Mariners’ second-round pick in the 2018 draft.

Sonny Gray | Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

As part of the trade, Gray has agreed to a new, three-year contract extension with the Reds that’ll span the 2020-22 seasons. He’ll earn $30.5MM over those three campaigns — that’s in addition to his $7.5MM salary for the 2019 season. Along with a $500K signing bonus, the deal reportedly promises $10MM in each of its three years and also comes with a $12MM club option for the 2023 season. There are $500K worth of incentives in each new season of the deal, with that value achievable in full at 190 innings pitched, and his annual salaries can grow based on performance escalators. Gray’s contract doesn’t contain a no-trade clause but stipulates that he be paid a $1MM assignment bonus each time he is traded.

Cincinnati emerged as a front-runner to land Gray last Friday, and his addition will be the third such pickup of the Reds’ offseason, joining lefty Alex Wood and fellow righty Tanner Roark. That trio will be added to a new-look Cincinnati rotation that’s also projected to include holdovers Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani. It’s a group that should give the Reds a vastly more competitive outlook in 2019 while likely pushing names such as Robert Stephenson, Brandon Finnegan, Tyler Mahle, Jackson Stephens and others out of the Major League rotation mix and either into bullpen roles or back to the minors (Stephenson, it should be noted, is out of options).

A change of scenery for Gray, 29, only makes sense after he struggled profusely with the Yankees in 2018 — particularly when pitching at Yankee Stadium. Gray posted a ghastly 6.98 ERA at home in 2018 compared to a 3.17 ERA on the road, and while there’s surely more at play in those splits than the surface-level numbers exhibit, the contrast between the two numbers is unequivocally jarring.

The Reds quite likely found it encouraging that Gray’s velocity remained consistent with its previous levels (93.8 mph average fastball), that his swinging-strike rate remained north of 10 percent and that his ground-ball tendencies (50 percent) remained above the league average. Gray actually allowed home runs at his lowest rate since 2015 as well (0.97 HR/9; 13.3% HR/FB), despite pitching more than 40 percent of his innings at the homer-friendly Yankee Stadium. Of course, he’ll be moving to a similarly hitter-friendly setting in the form of Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, though the move to the National League should prove beneficial.

With the extension now in place, the trade of Gray differs starkly from Cincinnati’s acquisition of Wood and Roark, each of whom is a pure one-year rental. In essence, it’s a bet that the move into a lower-pressure setting could help Gray in a similar manner that Matt Harvey seemed to benefit following his own trade over from the Mets this past May. Gray, it should be noted, is not far removed from an extended run as a high-quality arm; the former No. 18 overall draft pick entered the 2018 season with a career 3.45 ERA in 770 1/3 innings, highlighted by an All-Star nod and a third-place Cy Young finish in 2015.

While it may be too much to expect for Gray to return to those lofty heights, he at the very least has the potential to help comprise a radically improved Reds rotation and gives the team some long-term stability a a time when many of the pitching prospects acquired over the course of Cincinnati’s rebuild have yet failed to pan out.

Cincinnati will also add a left-handed option to the middle levels of its farm system in the form of Sanmartin. While he wasn’t considered to be one of the organization’s top prospects, Sanmartin reached Double-A for the first time last season, at the age of 22, and pitched to an overall 2.81 ERA with a 58-to-4 K/BB ratio in 67 1/3 innings between Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A. New York originally acquired Sanmartin out of the Rangers organization in a swap that sent righty Ronald Herrera to Texas.

Long, meanwhile, will head to the Mariners in a surprise development and give Seattle a prospect that is not far from big league readiness. The 23-year-old Long was a 12th-round pick by the Reds back in 2013 but has vastly outperformed that draft billing, rising to the Double-A ranks and hitting at a .261/.353/.412 clip with a dozen homers and 19 stolen bases this past season. Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs ranked Long seventh among Reds farmhands just last month, noting that the converted catcher still has some defensive question marks at second base. That said, he has the bat to profile as a regular there if he can improve his glovework, and if not, he could move to an outfield corner.

Stowers, in turn, is several years further from the point where he’d need to be added to the 40-man roster in New York. He went a round or two higher in the draft than many expected on the heels of a strong finish to his college season at Louisville, and it seems that given New York’s quick acquisition of him, the Mariners weren’t the only ones who hoped to snag him in the draft’s early rounds. The Yankees will also acquire a pick that is currently slotted in at No. 36 overall but could move a bit, depending on the outcome of the remaining free agents who rejected qualifying offers (and the subsequent draft pick compensation attached to them). The No. 36 slot last season came with a $1.967MM slot value, meaning the Yankees have likely added another $2MM+ to their bonus pool in the 2019 draft.

A trade of Gray has been expected since early in the offseason since Yankees general manager Brian Cashman openly spoke about his desire to find a change of scenery for Gray. Today’s swap gives the Yankees a rotation consisting of Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia. With Gray no longer in the fold, the Yankees’ top depth options are Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Cessa and Chance Adams. The organization likely hopes to have lefty Jordan Montgomery, who underwent Tommy John surgery early last summer, can return late in the 2019 season, though it certainly possesses ample rotation depth even if he’s shelved into the 2020 season.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported Friday that the Reds were closing in on a deal to acquire Gray. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweeted over the weekend that Long and the draft pick would likely be involved in the deal, if completed. Rosenthal first added that the trade could hinge on an extension. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported today that Gray had been traded, confirming Long’s inclusion and adding that he’d been flipped to Seattle for Stowers. Rosenthal reported the extension and the terms of Gray’s new contract, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today adding salary details. Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer added Sanmartin’s inclusion in the swap. Heyman tweeted the trade assignment bonus.

Mariners Notes: Santana, Marlins, Perez

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Carlos Santana in a Marlins uniform?  Surprising at it may seem, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) reports that Miami was in talks with the Mariners about the veteran first baseman before Seattle flipped Santana to the Indians as part of a three-team deal with the Rays.  It’s been a quiet offseason for the Marlins as they continue their rebuild and weigh J.T. Realmuto trade offers, though since their past fire-sale moves have cleared a lot of future payroll space, there have been indications that the Fish could use this room to potentially to add future trade chips.  The Marlins had interest in free agent D.J. LeMahieu, and Santana is owed $35MM over the next two seasons.

Between the Marlins’ flexibility and Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto’s creativity in swinging deals, any number of scenarios could have been floated.  The most obvious offer could have been a “buying a prospect” type of trade, where the Marlins absorb a big chunk of Santana’s salary if the Mariners added some minor leaguers along in the deal.  If not a prospect, perhaps the M’s could have included a Major League player along with Santana in a package to Miami, potentially a needed reliever or a left-handed bat.  Whatever was discussed, Seattle ended up preferring the return from the three-team deal (a Competitive Balance Round draft pick and $10MM in salary relief), though the Marlins are certainly emerging as a possible trade partner for teams trying to unload an ill-fitting contract.

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  • The Astros and Mariners both had interest in left-hander Martin Perez before Perez agreed to join the Twins yesterday.  Perez picked Minnesota since he wanted to be a starting pitcher next season, which likely gave the Twins the edge over the Mets, though the other suitors might have had more room in their rotation.  The Astros are thin on pitching, though since Houston plans to contend next season, it might have been a taller order to assign a starting spot to a pitcher who struggled as Perez did in 2018.  The Mariners have a full rotation plus Justus Sheffield waiting in the wings at Triple-A, though more room could have made for Perez — Felix Hernandez’s health and future as a starting pitcher is questionable, and Mike Leake has been the subject of trade rumors this winter.

Rangers Claim John Andreoli

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The Rangers have claimed outfielder John Andreoli off waivers from the Mariners, according to club announcements. He had been designated for assignment recently.

Whether this’ll be the final landing spot for Andreoli remains to be seen. He was bumped from the Orioles’ 40-man at the end of October, landing back in Seattle — where he spent the bulk of the 2018 season.

Andreoli began his career with the Cubs organization, but never cracked the bigs there despite three consecutive full seasons (2015-17) at Triple-A. He made it up to the majors for the first time last year, but received only minimal opportunities. Through nearly two thousand career plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, Andreoli is a .264/.371/.408 hitter with 121 stolen bases.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed at 1pm ET yesterday, meaning over the next few hours, there will be a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track today’s minor settlements from the American League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Yankees 1B Greg Bird will make $1.2 MM next season, per Bob Nightengale on Twitter.
  • The controversial Roberto Osuna will make $6.5MM next season, per Feinsand. Teammate Jake Marisnick, who again scuffled in ’18 after a promising 2017, will make $2.2125MM.
  • Per Mark Feinsand on Twitter, A’s lefty Sean Manaea $3.15MM in what’s sure to be an injury-marred 2019.
  • Hard-throwing reliever Mychal Givens will make $2.15MM, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter), with additional incentives for making the All-Star team or placing in the Top-3 for the Rivera/Hoffman Reliever of the Year Awards, added MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).
  • The Mariners agreed on a $1.95MM deal with outfielder Domingo Santana, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). Santana is the second and last of the Mariners’ arbitration-eligible players.
  • The Angels agreed to contracts with a pair of players yesterday, per Maria Torres of the LA Times (via Twitter). Reliever Hansel Robles signed for $1.4MM. Robles threw 36 1/3 innings of 2.97 ERA baseball after the Angels claimed him off waivers from the Mets in June. Luis Garcia, acquired via trade from the Phillies this winter, signed for $1.675MM.
  • The Tigers and reliever Shane Greene settled on $4MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
  • The Yankees reached an agreement with Sonny Gray for $7.5MM, per Nightengale. Gray, of course, has been involved trade rumors most of the winter, but for the time being, he stands to play a role in the Yankee pen while providing insurance for the rotation.
  • Didi Gregorius has also come to an agreement with the Yankees on a one-year, $11.75MM deal in his final season before free agency, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links).
  • New Yankee James Paxton signed for $8.575, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Paxton is under contract for the 2020 season as well.
  • The Houston Astros came to an agreement with Collin McHugh for $5.8MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). McHugh could be moving back into the rotation after a stellar season in the pen, either way this will be his final season of arb eligibility before hitting the open market.
  • Jonathan Villar comes away with $4.825MM for what will be his first full season in Baltimore, per Nightengale (via Twitter).

Earlier Updates

Read more

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Thursday

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The deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration figures is tomorrow afternoon at 1pm ET. With the vast majority of teams now adopting a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration — that is, halting negotiations on one-year contracts once figures have been exchanged and simply going to a hearing at that point — there will be a deluge of arbitration agreements in the next 24 hours. It’s a minor deadline day in terms of newsworthiness — outside of the largest cases, at least — as few arbitration cases will have a significant impact on their team’s overall payroll picture. From a broader perspective, though, the exchange of arb figures is perhaps more notable. With most or all of their arbitration cases out of the way, teams can focus more heavily on the trade and free-agent markets.

As always, it’s interesting to refer back to MLBTR’s annual arbitration projections. Here are the day’s deals:

  • The Tigers will pay Shane Greene $4MM for the coming campaign, Murray tweets. Entering his second year of eligibility, the 30-year-old had projected at $4.8MM, owing largely to his strong tally of 32 saves. Despite appealing K/BB numbers, though, Greene finished the season with an unsightly 5.12 ERA.
  • Righty Nick Tropeano settled with the Angels at $1.075MM. (That’s also via Murray, on Twitter.) That falls well shy of his $1.6MM projection. The first-year arb-eligible hurler was not terribly effective in his 14 starts last year and has just over two hundred career frames in the big leagues, due in no small part to a long rehab owing to Tommy John surgery.

Earlier Updates

  • Newly acquired outfielder Domingo Santana will earn $1.95MM in his first season with the Mariners, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. That’s just a touch below the $2.0MM that MLBTR & Matt Swartz had projected. The 26-year-old Santana swatted thirty long balls and had a productive overall 2017 season, but only received 235 plate appearances in the ensuing campaign — over which he hit five home runs and carried a .265/.328/.412 slash — before being dealt to Seattle.
  • The Angels are on the hook for $1,901,000 to rehabbing righty J.C. Ramirez, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets. Ramirez will receive a nominal raise on his 2018 salary after requiring Tommy John surgery after just two starts.
  • Phillies righty Hector Neris has settled at $1.8MM, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter links). He had projected at $2.0MM but will settle for a bit less in his first season of arb eligibility. Right-handed starter Jerad Eickhoff, meanwhile, is slated to receive $975K. His projected first-year salary was much higher, at $1.7MM, but Eickhoff presented a tough case since he missed virtually all of his platform season with arm troubles.
  • Southpaw Ryan Buchter has agreed with the Athletics on a $1.4MM deal, Nightengale of reports on Twitter. That lands just a smidge over his $1.3MM projection. Soon to turn 32, Buchter worked to a sub-3.00 for the third-straight season in 2018, but only threw 39 1/3 innings while working as a lefty specialist.
  • Red Sox reliever Heath Hembree will receive a $1,312,500 salary next year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link). Starter Steven Wright checks in just a shade higher, at $1.375MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Both players had projected in this range, with Swartz pegging $1.2MM for the former and $1.4MM for the latter. It’s Hembree’s first time through the process and Wright’s second.
  • First-time arb-eligible righty Scott Oberg settled with the Rockies for $1.3MM, according to Nightengale (via Twitter). It’s $100K over the projected rate for the 28-year-old hurler, who turned in far and away his most productive MLB season in 2018.
  • The Yankees have a $1.2MM deal in place with first baseman Greg Bird, Nightengale was first to tweet. Though he had projected a bit higher, at $1.5MM, Bird’s relatively robust number of home runs (31 total in 659 career plate appearances) were threatened to be overshadowed in a hypothetical hearing by his rough overall stats over the past two seasons. He’ll need to earn his way back into a larger share of playing time in 2019.
  • Infielder Travis Jankowski will earn $1.165MM with the Padres, per Murray (via Twitter). He projected at a heftier $1.4MM, but the Super Two qualifier will still earn a nice raise after his best season in the big leagues. Jankowski will be looking to crack 400 plate appearances for the first time in the season to come.
  • The Nationals have agreed to a $1MM contract with righty Joe Ross, Murray also tweets. Though Ross projected at $1.5MM for his first season of eligibility, that was based largely upon the innings he accumulated over the prior three seasons. Ross made it back from Tommy John surgery in time for only three outings in 2018.
  • A pair of backstops have also put pen to paper on new salaries. Curt Casali will earn $950K with the Reds, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). John Ryan Murphy has a $900K agreement with the Diamondbacks, the elder Nightengale tweets. Casali, a Super Two, had projected for a $1.3MM salary, while Murphy projected at $1.1MM in his first arb year.

Mariners To Sign Cory Gearrin

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8:08pm: Gearrin is set to earn $1.5MM, with another $1.25MM available in incentives, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (via Twitter).

10:03am: The Mariners have agreed to a one-year, Major League contract with right-handed reliever Cory Gearrin, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). It’s the second free-agent agreement of the day for Seattle, as the M’s also agreed to a one-year deal with Tim Beckham. Because the Mariners’ 40-man roster is currently at 39 players, they’ll need to make a move to open a spot for the pair of signings. Gearrin is represented by agent Bo McKinnis.

Cory Gearrin | Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto has been open about his desire to add both a middle-infield “stabilizer” and at least one veteran reliever to the Major League roster recently, and the additions of Beckham and Gearrin fit the bill. While neither is a particularly exciting addition, they’re the type of moves one would expect for an organization that is currently in the midst of an on-the-fly rebuild. The addition of Yusei Kikuchi, of course, was a longer-term and far more significant splash, but the Mariners likely viewed the 27-year-old southpaw as an exception that aligned with the timeline of their long-term competitive vision.

Gearrin, 32, split the 2018 season between the Giants, Rangers and A’s, pitching to a combined 3.77 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.10 HR/9 and a 41.5 percent ground-ball rate through 57 1/3 innings. However, the Athletics non-tendered him rather than pay him a projected $2.4MM through arbitration (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). Over the past two seasons, Gearrin has notched a combined 2.80 ERA with a 117-to-56 K/BB ratio in 125 1/3 innings of work over the past two seasons and will bring seven years of MLB experience to a Mariners bullpen that has been completely revamped this offseason.

Gone are recognizable names such as Edwin Diaz, Alex Colome, Juan Nicasio, James Pazos, Erasmo Ramirez and Nick Vincent — each of whom departed the organization either via trade or, in the case of Ramirez and Vincent, via outright. Gearrin will now join Anthony Swarzak as an elder statesman in the Seattle ’pen — assuming Dipoto doesn’t find a trade partner for Swarzak prior to Opening Day, that is.

Mariners Designate John Andreoli

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The Mariners have designated outfielder John Andreoli for assignment. His roster spot was needed for the team’s just-announced (but previously reported) signings of Tim Beckham and Cory Gearrin.

Andreoli, 28, received his first, brief look at the MLB level last year. He managed only a .230/.284/.262 slash in 67 plate appearances while bouncing between the Mariners and Orioles organizations.

Unsurprisingly, Andreoli has generally been quite a bit more successful in the upper minors. He’s a .264/.371/.408 hitter in four seasons at Triple-A, where he has shown a propensity for drawing walks and swiping bags.

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