Rangers To Sign Rafael Montero
The Rangers have reportedly agreed to a minor-league pact with right-hander Rafael Montero. The Roster Roundup site indicated a deal was in place, with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News citing a source who indicated Montero had indeed signed.
Once a top prospect with the Mets, Montero is still working back from Tommy John surgery. He’ll also be looking to get his career on track after running into difficulties in transitioning to the majors.
Montero has already thrown 192 1/3 innings at the game’s highest level, most of which came in 2017, but carries only a 5.38 cumulative ERA. He has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning in the bigs, but also has surrendered 5.2 free passes per nine. There were some positives in 2017, as Montero worked in the 94 mph range with his average fastball and produced a healthy 48.1% groundball rate.
Now 28 years of age, and rehabbing a TJ procedure from last March, Montero will not be at full health in time for compete for a job in camp. But he ought to be ramping up for a return to action by the middle of the upcoming season and could certainly put himself on the radar of the pitching-needy Rangers if he’s able to rediscover some of his former promise.
Rangers Non-Tender Matt Bush, Three Others
The Rangers announced tonight that they have non-tendered righty Matt Bush. He’ll be followed out the door by three other players who were not arb-eligible: Ricardo Rodriguez, Zac Curtis and Adrian Sampson.
Bush is still recovering from surgery; evidently, the club isn’t terribly optimistic on his outlook. The former first-overall pick reemerged in Texas as a flamethrowing reliever, but his initially excellent showing has not held up over time. He’ll still be an interesting bounceback target for some other clubs, with a return to the Rangers also a possibility.
Rangers Sign Jesse Chavez
Nov. 30: The Rangers have formally announced their two-year deal with Chavez.
Nov. 27: The Rangers are and right-hander Jesse Chavez are in agreement on a two-year contract worth a total of roughly $8MM, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had previously tweeted that the two sides were close to a deal. It’s the second straight offseason that the Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon client landed with the Rangers, as Chavez signed in Texas last offseason before being flipped to the Cubs in a midseason swap.
Chavez, 35, enjoyed the finest season of his career in 2018 after joining the Rangers as an unheralded, $1MM signing late in Spring Training. The journeyman righty posted a 3.51 ERA in 56 1/3 innings with Texas before joining the Cubs and turning into an absolute bullpen juggernaut. In 39 innings, Chavez allowed just five runs on 26 hits and five walks with 42 strikeouts out of Joe Maddon’s bullpen. He also chipped in a scoreless inning in the NL Wild Card Game against the Rockies.
Chavez’s unforeseeable ascension from mop-up man to a high-leverage hammer for Maddon was tied, in part, to a significant uptick in the usage of a cutter. With the Cubs, Chavez relied almost entirely on cutters and sinkers — largely abandoning his changeup, slider and curveball. The results speak for themselves and helped push a player who a year ago struggled to find a 40-man roster spot into a multi-year free-agent agreement (albeit at a relatively modest rate).
Many Cubs fans, of course, will remember Chavez’s proclamation that he’d retire if he didn’t return to the Cubs in 2019. That comment came in the emotional fallout of Chicago’s loss in the aforementioned Wild Card Game, though, and it’s also not clear how far the Cubs were willing to go in order to retain the righty. The Cubs, to the surprise of many, are reported to have substantial payroll concerns this winter — so much so that they felt it necessary to trade Drew Smyly before exercising Cole Hamels’ 2019 option. If funds are indeed as tight as it seems in Wrigleyville, then perhaps president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer simply balked at the notion of a multi-year deal for the 35-year-old journeyman on the heels of a career year.
For a Rangers pitching staff that was in shambles for much of the 2018 season, Chavez will bring some versatility to the table. He can certainly start for Texas, should rookie manager Chris Woodward desire, but Chavez can also be deployed in a more nontraditional setting. He’s already familiar with multi-inning relief stints, and for a Rangers club that seems likely to utilize the “opener” strategy in 2019 and beyond, there’d be some appeal in using Chavez as the “primary pitcher” to piggyback on an opener’s short stint. Alternatively, if the Rangers are able to amass enough depth elsewhere on the staff, Chavez could simply be used in a high-leverage capacity late in the game, helping to bridge the gap between the starters and burgeoning bullpen star Jose Leclerc.
Of course, if Chavez can replicate the success he experienced in 2018 (or at least approach those levels), he’ll quite likely find himself on the trade block once again this summer. The Rangers aren’t likely to find themselves even on the fringes of the playoff picture in 2019, given the team’s general dearth of pitching depth, which would make Chavez and any other short-term veteran assets fairly obvious trade candidates come June and July of next season.
Chavez ranked 44th on MLBTR’s list of the Top 50 free agents of the offseason and was projected to sign a two-year, $10MM contract. His comments prompted a whopping 39.6 percent of participants to pick Chavez to return to the Cubs in MLBTR’s Free Agent Prediction contest; only two percent of respondents correctly forecast his Rangers reunion.
AL Notes: Rays, Cruz, Rangers, Colon, Blue Jays, Biggio
The Rays, along with the previously reported Astros and White Sox, have shown interest in free-agent designated hitter Nelson Cruz, per Jon Heyman of Fancred and Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Although Tampa Bay’s not known for throwing money around in free agency, the club currently has cash to play with and a need for a big-hitting presence after designating power hitter C.J. Cron for assignment this past Tuesday. Judging by the offensive prowess Cruz has shown off during his long career, he’d deftly step in for Cron. The 38-year-old Cruz is limited to DH, though, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wrote Saturday that the Rays may want to replace Cron with a player who poses a threat at the plate while also offering some defensive versatility. It’s also unclear whether the Rays would meet Cruz’s potential price (MLBTR predicts he’ll land a two-year, $30MM guarantee), with Topkin noting they might only hand out a one-year, $10MM-plus contract.
Here’s more on a couple other American League teams…
- Despite their need for starting pitching, the Rangers haven’t shown a desire to re-sign free agent Bartolo Colon, according to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. Even though he was the majors’ oldest player in 2018, the 45-year-old Colon tallied 146 1/3 innings and recorded the league’s third-lowest BB/9 (1.54) among those who threw 140 or more frames. At the same time, however, the right-hander finished bottom two among qualified starters in ERA (5.78), FIP (5.47) and K/9 (4.98). It was the second straight rough year for Colon, who may struggle to find a contract this offseason as a result.
- Blue Jays prospect Cavan Biggio enjoyed a breakout 2018 at the Double-A level, where he thrived at the plate while seeing extensive action at second, third and first. The Blue Jays, hoping to add to Biggio’s defensive flexibility, then sent the 23-year-old to the Arizona Fall League to garner outfield experience, as John Lott of The Athletic details (subscription required). Biggio, the son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, performed well in the grass, per Lott. It’s unclear if the Blue Jays will continue using Biggio in the outfield next year, but as Lott points out, taking on a super-utility role would likely hasten his arrival to the major leagues. Biggio, for his part, seems more than happy to play wherever Toronto wants him to, and director of player development Gil Kim believes “he’s got the athletic ability and the baseball acumen to do that effectively.”
Latest On Sonny Gray’s Market
After a nightmarish year in the Bronx, his first full season with the Yankees, right-hander Sonny Gray is among the majors’ most obvious trade candidates this winter. General manager Brian Cashman has made it known the Yankees are aiming to move Gray, who has drawn plenty of interest this offseason. Along with the previously reported Athletics and Padres, teams that are eyeing Gray include the Braves, Rangers and Twins, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
Any team that picks up Gray would be taking on a rental, as 2019 will be the 29-year-old’s final arbitration-eligible campaign. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Gray to earn $9.1MM, which may look steep for a pitcher who failed to maintain a spot in the Yankees’ rotation for all of last season and only managed a 4.90 ERA across 130 1/3 innings (30 appearances, 23 starts). However, ERA estimators such as FIP (4.17), xFIP (4.10) and SIERA (4.28) suggest Gray deserved better in the run prevention department in 2018, and while he did issue a high number of walks (3.94 per nine), he also posted quality strikeout (8.49 K/9) and groundball (50 percent) rates. Moreover, Gray’s struggles were mostly limited to the Bronx, as he logged a horrendous 6.98 ERA/5.98 FIP at home and a terrific 3.17 ERA/2.65 FIP on the road. Historically, Gray has been closer to the pitcher he was away from Yankee Stadium last season, as his 3.66 ERA and 3.74 FIP over 900 combined 2/3 innings with the A’s and Yankees demonstrate.
Of the newly listed teams pursuing Gray, the Rangers stand out as the club likely to have the most difficult time making the playoffs next season. Not only are the Rangers a rebuilding team stuck in a division with the Astros, A’s, Mariners and Angels, but they’re ridiculously thin on starting pitchers and may soon deal their No. 1 option, Mike Minor. It would be a surprise to see Texas come out on top in the race for Gray, then, while the other teams seem like more plausible landing spots.
The reigning NL East champion Braves have shown past interest in Gray – albeit with different front office leadership than they have now – and need to replace free agent Anibal Sanchez, who was unexpectedly one of their best starters in 2018. And though the Braves seem to have the payroll room to aim higher than Gray, general manager Alex Anthopoulos has suggested they’re hesitant to dish out expensive long-term deals at this juncture. Therefore, it makes sense that the Braves are interested in Gray, who’d be a relatively low-risk addition.
Minnesota, unlike Atlanta, disappointed last season, taking several steps backward after earning a playoff spot in 2017. The Twins are in a division that may be there for the taking, though, so the right moves this offseason could make the team serious AL Central contenders next year. In Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda (who missed all of last season), the Twins already have four established starters under control for next season. However, they’re lacking another proven hurler along the lines of Gray, who’d seemingly slot in ahead of the likes of Fernando Romero, Adalberto Mejia, and Stephen Gonsalves – a trio which has combined for 203 innings and 40 starts in the majors.
Rangers Claim Jack Reinheimer; Outright Eddie Butler, Ronald Herrera
Nov. 22: Butler has rejected his outright assignment and will instead enter free agency, according to Gerry Fraley of SportsDay. Acquired as part of the return for Cole Hamels, Butler’s departure leaves the Rangers with just two players from the Hamels trade still under team control.
Nov. 20: The Rangers announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed infielder Jack Reinheimer off waivers from the Cubs and also outrighted Eddie Butler and Ronald Herrera to Triple-A Nashville after the pair of righties cleared waivers.
Reinheimer, 26, has just 40 big league plate appearances under his belt, most of which came with the Mets in 2018. He’s batted just .143/.250/.143 in the Majors but can play all over the infield. He’s spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A, hitting .278/.343/.371 in 1376 PAs — rather timid production given the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League. Reinheimer does have a minor league option remaining, so he can give Texas some infield depth next season.
Butler, 28 in March, was knocked around for a 5.62 ERA in 49 2/3 innings between the Cubs and Rangers in 2018. Texas acquired him as a secondary piece in the trade that sent Cole Hamels to Chicago, but the one-time premium prospect didn’t fare well in his limited time in the big leagues with the Rangers. Butler, the 46th overall pick by the Rockies in 2012, has a career 5.80 ERA in 263 2/3 innings.
Herrera, 23, was traded from the Yankees to the Rangers one year ago to the day in a move intended to create some roster flexibility in New York with the Nov. 20 deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft looming. He didn’t pitch in 2018, though, after experiencing shoulder troubles in Spring Training and ultimately requiring surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right arm.
Players Added To The 40-Man Roster
Tonight marks the deadline for players to be added to their respective organizations’ 40-man rosters. Over the nine hours, there’ll be a flurry of moves, ranging from minor trades (like the one the Indians and Rays made yesterday), waiver claims and players being designated for assignment or outrighted. Each will be made to clear room for players who need protection from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. As a reminder, players who signed at 18 years of age or younger and have five professional seasons are eligible, as are players who signed at 19 or older and have four professional seasons under their belts.
Here’s a rundown of players who’ve been added to their respective 40-man rosters (which will be updated throughout the day)…
- There are three additions for the Twins: outfielder LaMonte Wade and infielders Nick Gordon and Luis Arraez.
- The Giants announced that they have added a trio of righties: Melvin Adon, Sam Coonrod, and Logan Webb.
- Lefty Justin Steele is now a member of the Cubs‘ 40-man, per an announcement.
- The Rangers announced that they are protecting veteran hurler Edinson Volquez, who’s returning from Tommy John surgery, along with outfielder Scott Heineman, righty Wei-Chieh Huang, and lefty Taylor Hearn.
- Righties Mitch Keller and JT Brubaker, infielder Cole Tucker, and outfielder Jason Martin are all joining the Pirates‘ 40-man, per Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects (via Twitter).
- The Blue Jays will add righty Patrick Murphy to their 40-man, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Toronto has announced his addition, along with those of fellow righties Trent Thornton, Yennsy Diaz, Hector Perez, and Jacob Waguespack.
- Three Indians players have been boosted up to the 40-man, the club announced: first baseman Bobby Bradley, southpaw Sam Hentges, and righty Jean Carlos Mejίa.
- Righty Joe Harvey is joining the Yankees‘ MLB roster, the club announced.
- The Phillies have added shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa along with righties Edgar Garcia and Adonis Medina to the 40-man, per a club announcement.
- Former first-round draft pick Dillon Tate, a right-handed pitcher, was selected to the Orioles‘ 40-man.
Rangers Sign Jeff Mathis
NOVEMBER 20: The Rangers have announced the signing.
NOVEMBER 19: Mathis will receive a $6.25MM guarantee, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). He’ll get $3.25MM in 2019 and $3MM in 2020, Jon Heyman of Fancred adds on Twitter.
NOVEMBER 15: The Rangers have agreed to a contract (pending physical) with free agent catcher Jeff Mathis, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It’s said to be a two-year deal for the veteran receiver, with financial details not yet known.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way up front: Mathis is already 35 years of age and he’s an exceedingly unproductive hitter. Of course, even when he was 25 the deficiencies with the bat were well known. Over his 14-year MLB career, Mathis has rarely wavered too far from the anemic .198/.258/.306 mean batting line he has produced through 2,694 trips to the plate.
For virtually any other player, that sort of accumulation of statistics would not even be possible, simply because the opportunity would dry up. Mathis, though, is a rare bird. Not only is he still at the top of the class in many of the measurable tools of the trade, but he’s also regarded as a game-management savant.
Mathis just wrapped up a two-year pact with the Diamondbacks that promised him $2MM annually. For their money, the Snakes got 129 total games and just under 1,000 total innings behind the plate (plus three at second base and one on the hill).
During his time in Arizona, Mathis carried a 48 OPS+ that sits just shy of his lifetime 52 OPS+ mark. He also turned in a masterful 2018 pitch-framing effort, scored better than anyone but Tucker Barnhart at smothering balls in the dirt, and graded as average in controlling the running game. With his famed pitcher-whispering abilities mixed in, it’s eminently arguable that Mathis is the game’s best defender behind the dish — which, in fact, was the assessment of Sports Info Solutions (Twitter link).
For the Rangers, this move comes after the club rather surprisingly chose to bid adieu to Robinson Chirinos. The club chose to pay him a $1MM buyout rather than picking up his option for $4.5MM, an outwardly reasonable sum for the 34-year-old. Chirinos has steadily produced league-average-or-better offensive numbers over recent years but is not valued nearly so much for his efforts behind the dish. In particular, Chirinos received quite poor grades for his throwing and framing in 2018.
While Chirinos is reputedly a valued clubhouse leader, he evidently did not impress the team quite as much in squeezing value from the pitching staff. That’ll be the chief duty of Mathis, who’ll presumably see a fair bit of action and take a leading role in guiding a still-largely-undetermined group of hurlers. He could be paired with (and teach the dark arts to) Jose Trevino, utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and/or minor-league signee Jett Bandy, though the Rangers could still add options to the mix.
Adrian Beltre Retires
After a brilliant career that spanned parts of 21 seasons, Adrian Beltre announced today that he is retiring from baseball. Via a Rangers press release, Beltre has issued the following statement:
After careful consideration and many sleepless nights, I have made the decision to retire from what I’ve been doing my whole life, which is playing baseball, the game I love.
I have thought about it a lot and although I appreciate all the opportunities and everything that baseball has given me, it’s time to call it a career. I have enjoyed the privilege of playing professional baseball since I was 15 years old. I have been blessed to have played 21 seasons at the highest level in Major League Baseball.
I want to thank God, my amazing wife Sandra for your unwavering and unconditional love, support and understanding throughout my entire baseball career, my three awesome children, Cassie, A.J and Camila for being the best baseball kids, my parents, and my entire family for all your love and support.
I also want to thank my agents, Scott Boras, Mike Fiore and the entire Boras Corp. for always believing in my talent. A huge THANK YOU goes to the numerous teammates, managers, coaches, and staff members from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and especially the Texas Rangers. These past eight seasons playing in a Rangers’ uniform have been the best of my career and were made possible thanks to Rangers’ owners Ray Davis, Bob Simpson, and Neil Leibman, General Manager Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan, and the late Don Welke.
I also owe a huge part of my success in Texas to the amazing Rangers’ fans. You guys are the best!
I also have to acknowledge and thank Tommy Lasorda for believing in this young kid from the Dominican Republic when others thought I was too young to be called up to the Big Leagues.
To all my fans in the Dominican Republic, the United States and Latin America, my sincerest THANK YOU for your continuous support throughout my career. While I will forever cherish the memories from my time playing the greatest game on earth, I am excited to become a fulltime husband and father, and I am ready to take on the next chapter of my life.
It’s been one hell of a ride!
Muchas gracias,
Adrian Beltre
The march to Cooperstown now begins in earnest for Beltre, one of the greatest third basemen to ever play the game. Signed by the Dodgers out of Santo Domingo in 1994, Beltre debuted in the Majors as a 19-year-old just four years later and never looked back. While his first season didn’t yield quality results, Beltre improved greatly in his age-20 campaign and cemented himself as a star in the years to follow. Beltre ultimately accrued more than 20 years of Major League service time, spending at least five years with each of the Dodgers, Mariners and Rangers (in addition to one year with the Red Sox in 2010).
Already a highly regarded player in the first half of his career, Beltre is the rare player who actually improved with his age. While most players begin to fade in their early to mid-30s, Beltre seemingly won a staredown with Father Time. Incredibly, he’d never made an All-Star team prior to his 31st birthday, but he was named to four Midsummer Classic rosters over the final nine seasons of his career. After hitting a combined .270/.325/.453 with superlative defense from 1998-2009, Beltre exploded to hit .307/.358/.514 from 2010-18. Along that remarkable 21-year journey, his glovework scarcely deteriorated, making him one of the best all-around players in the game for the better part of two decades.
Beltre will retire as a career .286/.339/.480 hitter, with 477 home runs, 636 doubles, 38 triples and 121 stolen bases on his resume. He totaled 3166 hits as a Major Leaguer, scored 1524 runs and knocked in another 1707 runs. In addition to his four All-Star nods — which, in retrospect, was far too few — Beltre won four Silver Sluggers, five Gold Gloves and a pair of Platinum Gloves. Even that considerable amount of hardware feels light — particularly on the Gold Glove front, as Beltre is the runaway all-time leader in Defensive Runs Saved at any position since the stat was introduced in 2003. No one is even close to Beltre’s towering mark of 222, with Andrelton Simmons‘ 184 DRS currently sitting in a distant second place.
Beltre earned $219MM in one of the greatest careers we baseball fans will ever have the privilege to witness. Fangraphs tallies his career at 84 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference pegs him at a whopping 95.7 WAR. As surefire a Hall of Famer as one can find, Beltre will take his place among the game’s elite in five years once he’s eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Mets, Syndergaard, Rangers, Minor, Orioles
Star right-hander Noah Syndergaard has drawn trade interest this offseason, but if the Mets do deal him, it’s not going to be for a package of prospects, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Rather, because the Mets aim to contend in 2019, they’d need to make a trade that improves their roster both now and in the future, according to Rosenthal. Moving Syndergaard would likely cause significant damage to the Mets’ rotation heading into 2019, though, so they’d almost have to sign a replacement in free agency, Rosenthal notes. To this point, the Mets have been “very engaged in the marketplace,” a representative for a free-agent starter tells Rosenthal.
Syndergaard’s not the only established Mets hurler whose future is in question, per Rosenthal, who adds that all of their starters are generating interest. Syndergaard’s fellow ace, National League Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, isn’t going anywhere, sources tell Rosenthal. The rest of the Mets’ rotation – which consists of Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and Jason Vargas – isn’t as impressive, though Wheeler and Matz are appealing. Wheeler, healthy for the first time since 2014, is coming off a terrific season, but he only has a year of control remaining; Matz is an injury-prone lefty who was a mixed bag in 2018, but he’s still just 27 and has three years of control left; Vargas, meanwhile, endured a disastrous 2018, and with a guaranteed $10MM left on his contract, the Mets may be fortunate to find a taker for him. However, as with Syndergaard, the Mets’ goal in giving up any of Wheeler, Matz or Vargas would be to better themselves in the near and long term, Rosenthal writes.
More rumblings from Rosenthal…
- Even though the Rangers’ rotation is perilously thin, the rebuilding club would likely trade its top starter, left-hander Mike Minor, for the right offer, Rosenthal suggests. Minor’s drawing interest on the heels of his first season in Texas, which signed him to a three-year, $28MM guarantee last December. When he joined the Rangers, Minor was coming off an excellent season as a full-time reliever for the Royals, but he returned to a starting role in 2018 and posted a 4.18 ERA/4.43 FIP with 7.57 K/9 and 2.18 BB/9 over 157 innings (28 starts). Minor has an affordable $19MM left on his contract, though his 10-team no-trade clause could block some prospective suitors from acquiring him.
- After a drawn-out search, the Orioles finally named a general manager, Mike Elias, whom they hired Friday. Elias is now seeking a manager for the Orioles, and it’s “more likely” he’ll hire an experienced skipper than a neophyte, Rosenthal relays. However, Elias isn’t necessarily aiming to make a high-profile hire, per Rosenthal, who writes that the O’s next manager could be a “caretaker.”