Mariners Rumors

Minor Moves: Franklin Gutierrez

By Jeff Todd | January 26, 2015 at 6:27pm CDT

We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves here:

The Mariners have brought back outfielder Franklin Gutierrez on a minor league pact, the club announced. He will receive an invite to major league camp. Gutierrez inked a big league deal with the Mariners last offseason but was placed on the restricted list when he informed the club that he would sit out the season due to gastrointestinal issues. In his most recent action, back in 2013, Gutierrez slashed .248/.273/.503 and hit ten home runs over just 141 plate appearances.

AL Notes: Rays, Gutierrez, Mariners, Butler, Royals

By charliewilmoth | January 25, 2015 at 11:28pm CDT

The Rays have dramatically improved their farm system since last summer, but they’ve had to do it by trading top talent, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune writes. Steven Souza, who Baseball America deems the system’s best prospect, arrived in the Wil Myers trade, with No. 2 prospect Daniel Robertson joining the system via the Ben Zobrist deal and No. 3 prospect Willy Adames arriving in the David Price trade. The Rays have gotten little talent in the draft lately, so their best young players have come from elsewhere. Souza, Robertson and Adames aren’t the only key prospects in their system they’ve gotten in trades — there’s also Hak-Ju Lee (from the Matt Garza deal), Boog Powell (from the Zobrist trade), Andrew Velazquez and Justin Williams (from the Jeremy Hellickson trade) and Jake Bauers and Burch Smith (from the Myers deal). “It was no secret that our minor league system didn’t have the talent that it has had in past years,” says Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman. “A number of players have graduated from our system and are on our major league club or have been part of trades that we made, and that left somewhat of a void that we needed to fill during these transactions.” Here’s more from the American League.

The Mariners have already bolstered their outfield depth by adding Endy Chavez on a minor-league deal, and they also appear likely to add Franklin Gutierrez, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Gutierrez, who appeared in 41 games with Seattle in 2013, missed last season due to gastrointestinal issues. Mariners sources indicate that he would have to begin the year in Triple-A if he were to sign with the team.
Dutton also notes the Mariners appear likely to head to an arbitration hearing with reliever Tom Wilhelmsen. Wilhelmsen has proposed a 2015 salary of $2.2MM, while the Mariners have countered at $1.4MM, and Dutton writes that the Mariners do not want to keep negotiating. After posting a 2.27 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 79 1/3 strong innings in 2014, Wilhelmsen is eligible for the arbitration for the first time.
Billy Butler signed a three-year deal with the Athletics earlier this offseason, but he wouldn’t mind returning to the Royals later in his career, Tod Palmer of the Kansas City Star writes. “It’s disappointing, but you understand that the game’s a business and I didn’t leave on bad terms,” Butler said. “I’d be more than happy to come back. That’s home for me. I’ll always be forever tied to the Royals organization and the community there.” For now, though, Butler is happy to be with the A’s, who he says told him he was their top priority this offseason.

West Notes: Vogelsong, Gutierrez, Doolittle

By charliewilmoth | January 24, 2015 at 9:35am CDT

The Astros nearly signed Ryan Vogelsong, but after Vogelsong took his physical with the Astros, he went another direction and re-signed with the Giants. Vogelsong later said he “really wasn’t comfortable with what was going on” with the Astros, as Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle notes. Vogelsong’s agent, Dave Meier, later said Vogelsong simply meant he wasn’t comfortable with the fact that negotiations were falling apart. Vogelsong also later added that his wife wanted to stay in San Francisco. As Drellich notes, though, Vogelsong’s phrasing was odd, and it’s unclear exactly why the two parties weren’t able to agree on a deal. “[E]verything that’s happened to me this offseason — and one of these days I’ll tell you guys all about it, when we’re all sitting around having a couple beers 10 years from now when I’m done playing — and you’ll go, ’There’s no way that happened,’ and I’ll say ’Yup,’ and you’ll understand what I’m talking about,” Vogelsong says. Here’s more from the West divisions.

The Mariners could still re-sign outfielder Franklin Gutierrez to a minor-league deal, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. “He wants to give it a shot,” says assistant general manager Jeff Kingston. “Full disclosure, there are some veteran non-roster players we’re still talking to, and we probably will add a few more here before the start of camp.” The 31-year-old Gutierrez hit .248/.273/.503 in 2013, hitting a remarkable ten home runs in 151 plate appearances, but he missed the 2014 season with gastrointestinal issues.
Athletics closer Sean Doolittle has a slight rotator cuff tear in his throwing shoulder, MLB.com’s Jane Lee notes. He is not expected to be ready to pitch to start the season (Twitter links). Doolittle dominated for the A’s in 2014, posting a 2.73 ERA with a ridiculous 12.8 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 in 62 2/3 innings. The newly acquired Tyler Clippard, who had 32 saves with the Nationals in 2012, could perhaps get save opportunities for however long Doolittle is out.

Mariners Notes: Happ, Rotation, Outfielders, Montero, Beimel

By Steve Adams | January 23, 2015 at 1:23pm CDT

The Mariners held their yearly pre-Spring Training media luncheon yesterday, and Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune has some highlights from sessions with manager Lloyd McClendon and GM Jack Zduriencik…

There’s been a bit of speculation that left-hander J.A. Happ, acquired from the Blue Jays in the Michael Saunders trade, would pitch out of the bullpen, but McClendon quickly squashed that chatter. “We didn’t acquire Happ to pitch out of the bullpen,” McClendon said. “We can put all of that to rest. He will be pitching in our rotation.”
McClendon added that there will be a competition for only one spot in the rotation, though he declined to specify who on the club’s roster will definitively be joining Happ, Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma in the rotation. Dutton, however, writes that “all signs point” to James Paxton being guaranteed a spot, meaning that the fifth slot in the rotation will be a battle between Taijuan Walker, Roenis Elias and possibly Erasmo Ramirez.
Others could join that competition, as Zduriencik told the media that he’s hopeful of adding another starting pitcher, although further additions would likely come in the form of minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training. The Mariners would like any non-roster invitees to be able to provide depth in the minors, which may be a tough sell, Dutton notes, as veteran starters that will have to settle for minor league deals may prefer to sign with a club that presents a clearer path to a Major League roster spot.
The Mariners are likely to sign a veteran outfielder as well, Dutton writes. Zduriencik acknowledged that the team “may do a few little tinkerings” before Spring Training to bring in a veteran player or two that could compete for a job. Seattle has been linked to Endy Chavez on multiple occasions.
Seattle is very happy with Jesus Montero’s offseason conditioning, as the former top prospect has lost roughly 40 pounds and is down to the team’s target weight of 235 pounds. Said Zduriencik of Montero: “He appears to be a guy who, maybe, the lights have gone on for him. He’s going to get a chance in spring training. We’ll see.”
Left-hander Joe Beimel is still a “possibility” for the club, Dutton writes. The 37-year-old Beimel (38 in April) posted a 2.20 ERA with 5.0 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 49.6 percent ground-ball rate in 45 innings for Seattle last season. He also held left-handed hitters to a paltry .188/.217/.288 batting line.
Dutton also provides updates on a few of the club’s top prospects and injury updates on Elias, Willie Bloomquist, Danny Hultzen and Dustin Ackley in addition to discussing what is likely to be a Spring battle between Brad Miller and Chris Taylor to see who will be the Mariners’ everyday shortstop. The entire roundup is worth a look for Mariners fans.

Minor Moves: O’Malley, Greene, White Sox

By Mark Polishuk | January 22, 2015 at 10:39pm CDT

Here are today’s minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

The Mariners signed infielder Shawn O’Malley to a minor league deal and invited the 27-year-old to Spring Training, the team announced. O’Malley made his Major League debut last season, appearing in 11 games with the Angels. A fifth-round pick by the Rays in the 2006 draft, O’Malley has a .258/.351/.338 slash line over 2985 minor league plate appearances.
The Phillies signed shortstop Tyler Greene to a minor league deal, ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports (via Twitter). Greene, drafted 30th overall by the Cardinals in 2005, posted a .645 OPS over 746 PA with the Cards, Astros and White Sox from 2009-13, and he spent last season at the Triple-A level in the Braves’ and Padres’ systems.
The White Sox signed right-handers Jairo Asencio and J.D. Martin to minor league deals and invited them to Spring Training, the team announced. Both righties spent last season pitching in the Korean Baseball Organization. Asencio posted a 5.34 ERA over 55 2/3 IP with four teams from 2009-13. Martin, drafted 35th overall by the Indians in the 2001 draft, last pitched in the majors in 2010.
The Yankees signed catcher Eddy Rodriguez to a minor league deal, as per the team’s MLB.com transactions page. Rodriguez has a .235/.286/.386 slash line over 2271 minor league PA, mostly in San Diego’s system, as well as a two-game cup of coffee with the Padres in 2012.

Outfield Notes: Ichiro, Schierholtz, Chavez, Bautista

By Jeff Todd | January 21, 2015 at 8:07am CDT

The Marlins have made a one-year, $2MM offer to Ichiro Suzuki, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. Miami is “optimistic, but not certain” that it will reach agreement with the veteran. If not, it could look to Nate Schierholtz or the trade market. Ichiro could be the next domino to fall now that Colby Rasmus has signed with the Astros.

The Orioles offered Rasmus a one-year, $7MM deal that might have included an option, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. After missing on Rasmus, Baltimore is looking down its list for other left-handed outfield options. Schierholtz is a possibility, as is Ichiro.
Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com also discusses the club’s efforts to add another outfielder, explaining that the uncertainty surrounding executive VP Dan Duquette has not been the reason that the team has missed on its outfield targets thus far. Instead, Baltimore is focused on only striking the right deal, and could take its current roster into camp with at least some hope that youngster Dariel Alvarez would be ready to contribute by the summer. As Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs wrote yesterday in his breakdown of the O’s minor league system, the club is much higher on Alvarez than outside evaluators.
In spite of making several outfield additions, the Mariners are interested in a reunion with Endy Chavez, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links). The 36-year-old, who spent each of the last two seasons in Seattle, might need to fight for a roster spot out of camp, says Crasnick.
Blue Jays star right fielder Jose Bautista says that his next contract is not the first thing on his mind right now, as Mackenzie Liddell of Sportsnet.ca writes (comments via an appearance on Brady and Walker of Sportsnet 590). Bautista did acknowledge that he is intrigued by the possibility of becoming a free agent after the 2016 season, but says his focus is on playing winning baseball this year.

Minor Moves: Bard, Berry, Hand, Pastornicky

By charliewilmoth and Brad Johnson | January 17, 2015 at 8:30pm CDT

Here’s a roundup of minor moves from late this week.

The Cubs have signed free agent pitcher Daniel Bard to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, tweets Mike Perchick of WAPT Sports. The former Red Sox relief ace last appeared in the majors during the 2013 season when he tossed just one inning. After three solid campaigns to begin his career, the wheels fell off in 2012 with a 6.22 ERA, 5.76 K/9, and 6.52 BB/9 in 59 and one-third innings.
The Red Sox have signed free agent outfielder Quintin Berry to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, tweets Mike Perchick of WAPT Sports. The 30-year-old outfielder has seen infrequent action since making his major league debut with the Tigers in 2012. That year, he hit .258/.330/.354 in 330 plate appearances with 21 steals. He’s since served short stints with the Red Sox and Orioles as a defensive replacement and pinch runner.
Free agent righty Donovan Hand tweets that he has agreed to a deal with the Reds. The deal would presumably be of the minor league variety. Hand, 28, spent his eighth season in the Brewers organization in 2014 as a swingman for Triple-A Nashville, posting a 5.20 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. Hand had the same role in the big leagues in 2013, posting a 3.69 ERA and 2.8 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings but with just 4.9 K/9.
The Braves have outrighted infielder Tyler Pastornicky, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. The Braves designated Pastornicky for assignment last week after he hit .290/.330/.347 in 189 plate appearances last year for Triple-A Gwinnett. The 25-year-old has appeared in parts of three seasons in the Majors, most notably hitting .243/.287/.325 in 188 plate appearances in 2012.
The Athletics have outrighted infielder Andy Parrino, MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The A’s designated Parrino for assignment in the wake of the Ben Zobrist deal last weekend. The 29-year-old hit .274/.352/.384 at the Triple-A level in 2014.
The Mariners have outrighted lefty Anthony Fernandez, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Fernandez, 24, has never pitched in the big leagues and missed most of last season due to injury, making just five starts for Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners designated him for assignment Thursday.
The Orioles have outrighted catcher Ryan Lavarnway, according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Lavarnway, 27, was claimed three times in the past six weeks (by the Dodgers, Cubs and Orioles) before finally making it through waivers. He hit .283/.389/.370 in 257 plate appearances for Triple-A Pawtucket in the Red Sox system in 2014.
The Blue Jays have outrighted righty Cory Burns, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The Jays designated Burns for assignment earlier this week when they claimed Matt West. Burns, 27, pitched well in relief at Double-A and Triple-A in the Rays organization early in the season, but struggled after being claimed by the Rangers in June. The Blue Jays then claimed him in late September.
The Rays have signed lefty Everett Teaford, the Ballengee Group announces (via Twitter). The contract will presumably be a minor-league deal. Teaford appeared in parts of three seasons with the Royals from 2011 through 2013, but pitched for the LG Twins in the offense-heavy KBO in 2014, posting a 5.24 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 99 2/3 innings.

Arbitration Roundup: 54 Players Exchange Figures

By Jeff Todd | January 17, 2015 at 12:27am CDT

With today’s flurry of activities in the books, 144 players have agreed to deals to avoid arbitration for a total spend of $433MM. But that leaves 54 players who have exchanged figures and have ground left to cover before their 2015 salaries are settled. That number is up from last year’s tally of 39, and may point to the possibility that we will see more hearings than the three in 2014 (which was itself up from zero the year before).

MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker is a great resource for seeing where things stand. It is fully sortable and even allows you to link to the results of a search. (The MLBTR/Matt Swartz arbitration projections are also quite handy, of course.) Using the tracker, I compiled some broad notes on where things stand in the arbitration process this year.

Remember, deals avoiding arbitration can still be reached even after the exchange of numbers. Hearings will be scheduled between February 1st and 21st, so there is plenty of time for the sides to come together before making their cases.

That being said, some teams are known for their “file and trial” approach to arb-eligible players, meaning that they refuse to negotiate after the exchange deadline and go to a hearing if agreement has not been reached. Among those clubs (the Brewers, Rays, Marlins, Blue Jays, Braves, Reds, and White Sox, per the most recent reporting), there are several open cases remaining: Mat Latos and Michael Dunn (Marlins), Josh Donaldson and Danny Valencia (Blue Jays), Mike Minor (Braves), and Aroldis Chapman, Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier (Reds).

Meanwhile, some other clubs have historically employed the “file and trial” approach on a modified or case-by-case basis: the Pirates, Nationals, and Indians. Among those clubs, the Pirates (Neil Walker, Vance Worley) and Nationals (Jerry Blevins) have open cases, though all of them feature relatively tight spreads.

And there are some other interesting cases to keep an eye on as well. Consider:

The Orioles and Royals not only faced off in last year’s American League Championship Series, but find themselves staring at by far the most unresolved cases (six and eight, respectively). They are also the only teams with eight-figure gaps between their submissions and those of their players ($10.85MM and $10MM, respectively).
Among the Orioles players, two stand out for the significant relative gulf separating team and player. Zach Britton, who excelled after taking over as the closer last year, filed at $4.2MM while the team countered at $2.2MM, leaving a $2MM gap that is worth nearly 91% of the club’s offer. Even more remarkably, the O’s will need to bridge a $3.4MM gap ($5.4MM versus $2MM) with surprise star Steve Pearce. That spread is 1.7 times the value of the team’s offer and easily beats the largest difference last year (Logan Morrison and the Mariners, 127.3%).
Of course, it is worth remembering that first-year arb salaries have added impact because they set a baseline for future earnings. (Each successive year’s salary is essentially calculated as an earned raise from that starting point.) For the Reds, the outcome of their cases with Frazier ($5.7MM vs. $3.9MM) and Mesoraco ($3.6MM vs. $2.45MM) could have huge ramifications for whether the team will be able to afford to keep (and possibly extend) that pair of strong performers.
Likewise, the Angels face an important showdown with Garrett Richards, a Super Two whose starting point will factor into three more seasons of payouts. As a high-upside starter, he has sky high earning potential, so any savings will be most welcome to the team. The current spread is $3.8MM versus $2.4MM, a $1.4MM difference that equates to 58.3% of the team’s filing price.
Interestingly, the biggest gap in absolute terms belong to Pearce and the Orioles at $3.4MM. After that come Bud Norris and the Orioles ($2.75MM), David Freese and the Angels ($2.35MM), Greg Holland and the Royals ($2.35MM), Dexter Fowler and the Astros ($2.3MM), Eric Hosmer and the Royals ($2.1MM), and Aroldis Chapman and the Reds ($2.05MM).

Of course, plenty of deals already got done today. Here are some of the more notable among them:

David Price agreed to a $19.75MM salary with the Tigers that stands as the single highest arbitration payday ever, by a fair margin.
Interestingly, the Rays agreed to rather similar, sub-projection deals with all seven of their arb-eligible players. Discounts on Swartz’s expectations ranged from 3.23% to 13.21%. In total, the club shaved $1.525MM off of its tab.
The opposite was true of the Tigers, who spent a total of $1.4MM over the projections on just three players. Of course, since one of those players was Price, the commitment landed just 5.2% over the projected total.
Detroit’s overages pale in comparison to those of the Cubs, who handed out several of the deals that beat the projections by the widest relative margin and ended up over $2.5MM (14.5%) over their projected spend.
The MLBTR/Swartz model badly whiffed (over 50% off) on just three players, all of whom earned well over the projections: Chris Coghlan of the Cubs (78.9%), Carlos Carrasco of the Indians (66.9%) Tony Sipp of the Astros (60%).
On the low side, the worst miss (or the biggest discount, depending on one’s perspective) was Mark Melancon of the Pirates, who fell $2.2MM and 28.9% shy of his projected earnings. Danny Espinosa (Nationals) and Chris Tillman (Orioles) were the only two other players to fall 20% or more below their projections. Of course, in the cases of both Melancon and Tillman, Swartz accurately predicted that they would fall short of the model.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Friday

By Steve Adams | January 16, 2015 at 5:55pm CDT

With the deadline to exchange arbitration figures set for noon CT, there figure to be a large number of agreements to avoid arb today, as there were yesterday. All arbitration agreements can be followed using MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker, and we’ll keep track of today’s smaller agreements in this post, with all projections coming courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz…

Righty Henderson Alvarez agreed to a $4MM deal with the Marlins, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported earlier today on Twitter. Alvarez had been projected to earn $4.5MM after putting up a huge 187-inning, 2.65 ERA campaign entering his first season of arb eligibility.
The Athletics have agreed to a $1.4MM deal with righty Ryan Cook that includes, MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports on Twitter. Cook gets a slight increase over the $1.3MM he had been projected to earn. Oakland has also inked outfielder Sam Fuld to a $1.75MM deal, per Mike Perchik of WAPT (via Twitter). He too lands just above his projection, which was for $1.6MM.
Outfielder Collin Cowgill avoided arbitration with the Angels for $995K, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. He was projected to earn $900K.
Righties David Carpenter and Nathan Eovaldi both have deals with the Yankees, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter. Carpenter will earn about $1.3MM while Eovaldi will take home $3.3MM
The Rockies have a deal in place with lefty Rex Brothers, tweets MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. Brothers was projected to earn $1.3MM but will take home $1.4MM, Harding adds via Twitter.
ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers reports that the Cubs have settled with both Travis Wood and Luis Valbuena (Twitter links). Wood will receive $5.686MM — a bit north of his $5.5MM projection, while Valbuena will earn $4.2MM, per Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald (on Twitter). Valbuena was projected to earn $3.1MM.
Mike Perchick of WAPT in New Jersey has a wave of arbitration agreements, starting with the Astros and Hank Conger settling on a $1.075MM, which is just $25K behind Swartz’s projection (Twitter link).
Also via Perchick, the Athletics and Brett Lawrie settled on a $1.925MM contract (Twitter links). Lawrie, who had been projected at $1.8MM, was acquired by Oakland in the Josh Donaldson blockbuster.
Rockies backstop Michael McKenry will earn $1.0876MM in 2015, via Perchick. McKenry was projected by Swartz to earn $1.5MM.
Michael Pineda and the Yankees settled on a $2.1MM salary for the upcoming season, Perchick tweets, which is a direct match with Swartz’s projection.
Domonic Brown and the Phillies settled on a one-year pact worth $2.6MM, via Perchick, which represents a difference of just $100K between Swartz’s projection and the actual figure. Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com tweets that Ben Revere has avoided arbitration as well, and the club now announces that he’ll earn $4.1MM — $100K north of his $4MM projection.
Red Sox setup man Junichi Tazawa agreed to a $2.25MM payday, according to Perchick. Swartz had pegged him for a $2MM contract.

Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports (on Twitter) that Royals hurlers Tim Collins and Louis Coleman have settled for $1.475MM and $725K, respectively. Collins was projected at $1.5MM and Coleman at $700K.
The Rays have avoided arb with all of their eligible players. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that John Jaso will earn $3.175MM in 2015 after being projected at $3.3MM. Topkin also tweets that Logan Forsythe ($1.2MM projection) will earn $1.1MM. Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports (via Twitter) that Alex Cobb will receive $4MM (was projected at $4.5MM), Jake McGee will earn $3.55MM (projected $3.8MM) and Rene Rivera will earn $1.2MM (projected $1.3MM). Lastly, Drew Smyly will earn $2.65MM in 2015 with $50K of bonuses available based on games started, tweets Topkin. He was projected to earn $3MM.
Jason Castro will receive $4MM from the Astros for the 2015 season, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. He’d been projected at $3.9MM. Meanwhile, southpaw Tony Sipp settled on a $2.4MM deal with Houston, per the Chronicle’s Even Drellich (on Twitter). That figure is significantly higher than his $1.5MM projection.
The Twins and Casey Fien settled on a $1.375MM salary for 2015, tweets 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, which is a bit north of his $1.1MM projection.
Marco Estrada will receive $3.9MM from the Blue Jays in 2015, tweets Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, which comes in lighter than his $4.7MM projection.
Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times reports (on Twitter) that the Angels and Fernando Salas have settled on a one-year, $1.37MM deal for the 2015 season that comes in just shy of his $1.4MM projection.
Hernandez also tweets that the Dodgers will pay Justin Turner $2.5MM in 2015 — which is $300K north of his $2.2MM projection.
The Cubs and Jake Arrieta settled at $3.63MM for 2015, tweets Heyman, which is south of Swartz’s $4.1MM estimate.
The Pirates and Francisco Cervelli settled at $987.5K, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports — a figure that is $112K below MLBTR’s projection.
Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets that Jared Hughes and the Pirates have settled at $1.075MM, or $25K less than his projected $1.1MM payday.
The Athletics and Josh Reddick agreed to a $4.1MM salary, per Heyman, which is $400K higher than his projected salary of $3.7MM.
Trevor Plouffe and Eduardo Nunez have settled on $4.8MM and $1.025MM salaries, respectively, with the Twins, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The duo projected to earn respective salaries of $4.3MM and $1.2MM.
Shawn Kelley’s agent, Mike McCann, tweets that his client agreed to a $2.835MM salary with the Padres, which is $335K higher than his $2.5MM projection.
ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports that Dillon Gee ($5.3MM) and Ruben Tejada ($1.88MM) have both settled on 2015 salaries with the Mets (Twitter links). Their respective projections called for salaries of $5.1MM and $1.7MM.
The Padres and Andrew Cashner have settled on a one-year, $4.05MM deal to avoid arb, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The figure is a bit south of the talented but oft-injured righty’s $4.3MM projection.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (on Twitter) that Kevin Jepsen and the Rays have settled on a one-year, $3.025MM pact to avoid arbitration. That figure is a ways north of his $2.6MM projection.
Heyman tweets that Michael Saunders and the Blue Jays have avoided arb with a $2.875MM, one-year deal. Saunders was acquired from the Mariners in a swap for J.A. Happ this season and will serve as Toronto’s everyday left fielder. He had projected to earn $2.9MM.
Heyman also tweets that Juan Nicasio and the Dodgers have avoided arb with a one-year, $2.3MM deal. Nicasio was picked up from the Rockies after being designated for assignment earlier this offseason. That’s just a bit less than his $2.4MM projection.
Justin Ruggiano and the Mariners are in agreement on a one-year, $2.505MM deal to avoid arbitration, tweets Heyman. That figure represents just a $5K difference from his $2.5MM projection. Ruggiano should pair with Seth Smith to form a very solid platoon in right field for the Mariners.
Heyman adds that Antonio Bastardo has avoided arb and will earn $3.1MM in 2015. The Pirates acquired Bastardo from the Phillies this offseason, and he had been projected to earn $2.8MM in his final year of team control.
Agent Tom O’Connell tweets that the Padres and Dale Thayer have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year, $1.375MM contract. The 34-year-old Thayer has been an excellent find for the Padres after signing a minor league deal prior to the 2012 season. In three years with San Diego, the Mets and Rays farmhand has notched a 3.02 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. He’s also picked up eight saves along the way, filling in at various points when Huston Street was injured or unavailable.
The Rangers announced that they’ve agreed to a one-year deal with lefty Ross Detwiler, who was acquired this offseason in a trade with the Nationals. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that Detwiler will earn $3.45MM — a bit north of his $3MM projection. Detwiler has had success as a starter and reliever in his big league career. He shifted back to the bullpen in 2014 but should compete for a rotation spot in 2015 with his new team.
Zack Cozart and the Reds have avoided arb by settling on a one-year, $2.35MM pact, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Cozart, who was projected to earn $2.3MM, is one of the game’s best defensive shortstops but batted a meek .221/.268/.300 in 2014. He’s controllable through the 2016 season.
Twins lefty Tommy Milone has agreed to a $2.775MM salary for the 2015 season, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Acquired for Sam Fuld at the trade deadline, Milone struggled in 2014, posting a 7.06 ERA in five starts for the Twins, but a 3.91 career ERA at the time of the trade suggests that he can deliver improved results in 2015. Milone was projected to earn $2.8MM in 2015.
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports (via Twitter) that the Cubs and Welington Castillo have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year, $2.1MM contract, matching Swartz’s projection exactly. The 27-year-old Castillo has batted .255/.323/.393 in 845 plate appearances as the Cubs’ primary catcher over the past two seasons, though he figures to have a reduced role in 2015 following the acquisition of Miguel Montero. As such, his name has frequently surfaced in trade rumors this offseason.
The Pirates and catcher Chris Stewart have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM to avoid arb, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The defensively gifted backstop hit .294/.362/.331 in 154 plate appearances with the Pirates last year and may see more time at the plate now that he’ll be splitting catching duties with Francisco Cervelli rather than Russell Martin. He falls just shy of his $1.3MM projection.
Marlins right-hander Aaron Crow has avoided arb by agreeing to a $1.975MM salary that is just $25K shy of his $2MM projection, tweets Heyman. Crow posted a career-worst 4.12 ERA with a career-low 5.2 K/9 in 59 frames for the Royals last season, but Miami clearly sees him as a rebound candidate, given the fact that they sent lefty Brian Flynn to the Royals in December to acquire Crow’s final two years of arbitration eligibility.
MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets that the Cubs have avoided arb with Chris Coghlan by agreeing to a one-year, $2.505MM deal. The 2009 NL Rookie of the Year enjoyed a resurgent season in his first year with Chicago, hitting a healthy .283/.352/.452 with nine homers in 432 plate appearances. He figures to platoon with offseason signee Chris Denorfia in left field. Coghlan significantly overshot his $1.4MM projection.
Yusmeiro Petit and the Giants have avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year, $2.1MM deal, tweets Heyman. The 30-year-old Petit had a brilliant season in 2014, setting a new Major League record for consecutive batters retired (46) and working to a 3.69 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 117 innings between the bullpen and the rotation. Metrics like FIP (2.78) and SIERA (2.84) feel he pitched much better than his ERA would indicate. Petit did well, topping his $1.6MM projection.
The Rays and Desmond Jennings have avoided arb by agreeing to a $3.1MM salary for 2015, according to Heyman (Twitter link). The 28-year-old had somewhat of a down season at the dish in 2014, batting .244/.319/.378 with 10 homers and 15 steals, and a knee injury late in the season limited him to 123 games. Jennings’ contract falls in line with his $3.2MM projection. He will receive an additional $25K for reaching 550 PA, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
The D-Backs and Jeremy Hellickson have avoided arb by settling on a one-year, $4.275MM pact, tweets Heyman. Hellickson, acquired this offseason from the Rays, posted a 4.52 ERA in 63 2/3 innings with 7.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in an injury-shortened season. The former Rookie of the Year was projected to earn $3.9MM.

Mariners Avoid Arb With Jackson, Morrison, Ackley, Furbush

By Steve Adams | January 16, 2015 at 4:10pm CDT

4:10pm: Jackson will earn $7.7MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.

2:02pm: The Mariners announced today that they’ve avoided arbitration with Austin Jackson, Logan Morrison, Dustin Ackley and Charlie Furbush. The team also confirmed its previously reported agreement with Justin Ruggiano, who also avoided arbitration.

Terms of Jackson’s signing are not yet known, though he projected to earn $8MM in arbitration, according to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Meanwhile, Mike Perchick of WAPT has the salary figures for each of the others (All Twitter links). Morrison will earn $2.725MM with the ability to earn an extra $25K for reaching 500 and 600 plate appearances. Ackley settled at $2.6MM and will receive an additional $50K upon reaching 500 plate appearances. Furbush is penciled in for a $1.3MM salary that contains no incentives or bonuses.

Morrison, Ackley and Furbush were projected to receive respective salaries of $2.6MM, $2.8MM and $1MM. Meanwhile, the Mariners noted that Tom Wilhelmsen is still arb-eligible, suggesting that the two sides have exchanged or will exchange figures. A deal could still be agreed upon before a hearing, however.

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