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Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

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As detailed earlier this morning at MLBTR, the deadline for Major League clubs to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight. Because of that, there will be literally dozens of moves between now and 8pm ET as teams make final determinations on who to protect and who to risk losing in next month’s Rule 5 draft. This process will lead to smaller-scale trades, waiver claims and DFAs, but for some clubs the only necessary moves will simply be to select the contracts of the prospects they wish to place on the 40-man roster. We’ll track those such moves in this post…

Click to check in on other teams that have selected players to their 40-man rosters …

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Rangers Acquire Ronald Herrera From Yankees

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The Rangers are set to acquire right-hander Ronald Herrera from the Yankees, reports MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (on Twitter). The two teams announced the trade shortly thereafter, revealing that lefty Reiver Sanmartin is going to the Yankees in return. Herrera was on the Yankees’ 40-man roster and will thus be added to the Rangers’ 40-man roster as well.

The Yankees entered the day with just three open 40-man spots and several players worthy of 40-man consideration, while the Rangers had a whopping 10 spots on their 40-man roster they can fill before tonight’s deadline to set rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. Shipping Herrera to the Rangers vacates one of those spots and paves way for another player to be protected to the Rule 5 Draft.

The 22-year-old Herrera was initially signed by the A’s back in 2011 but went to the Padres as part of the trade that sent Kyle Blanks to Oakland in 2014. More recently, the Padres traded him to the Yankees in exchange for Jose Pirela. The 22-year-old Herrera cruised through three minor league levels this season, pitching to a 1.91 ERA with 6.8 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings (14 starts).

[Related: Updated Texas Rangers and New York Yankees depth charts]

Herrera made his big league debut with the Yanks but tossed just three innings, allowing two runs with three strikeouts against one walk. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tweets that Herrera is a potential back-of-the-rotation arm, featuring a low 90s heater with an above-average changeup and fringier breaking pitches. For a Rangers club in dire need of rotation options, he’s a welcome addition.

As for Sanmartin, the Colombian-born 21-year-old spent the 2017 season in A-ball and tossed 66 innings with a 2.41 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9 in 66 frames. Sanmartin made 11 starts in addition to three relief appearances. Longenhagen tweets that he sits in the upper 80s with his fastball and has an average changeup and slider, pegging Sanmartin as a reliever or a fifth/sixth starter. Sanmartin signed with the Rangers as a 19-year-old in 2015, so he still has another year before he needs to be considered for the 40-man roster.

Morosi’s Latest: Rangers, Cards, Rockies, Phillies

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A few early morning free agent rumors from Jon Morosi of MLB.com…

  • The Rangers “have had preliminary contact” with right-hander Alex Cobb’s representatives, Morosi writes. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported earlier this month that the starter-needy Rangers covet Cobb, one of the top hurlers on the open market. Cobb returned in earnest from 2015 Tommy John surgery last season to turn in a career-best 179 1/3 innings of 3.66 ERA pitching, with 6.42 K/9, 2.21 BB/9 and a 47.8 percent groundball rate.
  • The Cardinals and Rockies are among teams with interest in reliever Brandon Kintzler, whose experience as a closer has executives wondering if a club will sign him to handle that role, according to Morosi. Both the Cardinals and Rockies need more than ninth-inning help, as each team has seen multiple key relievers hit free agency this month. The 33-year-old Kintzler has overcome a paucity of strikeouts to ride a low-walk, high-grounder combination to success throughout his career, including in a 2017 campaign that saw the righty amass a career-high 29 saves between Minnesota and Washington (28 with the Twins).
  • The Phillies are one of the teams eyeing left-hander Jake McGee, reports Morosi, who notes that the reliever was once teammates with new Philadelphia skipper Gabe Kapler in Tampa Bay. With Colorado in 2017, McGee, 31, posted a 3.61 ERA and logged 9.1 K/9, 2.51 BB/9 and a 40.5 percent grounder rate over 57 1/3 innings. Along the way, he was effective against both righty- and lefty-swingers, the latter of whom had their way against Phillies relievers (.270/.347/.459).

AL Notes: Rays, Longoria, Colome, Rangers, Tigers

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As they look to reduce payroll and perhaps rebuild this offseason, the Rays will be open to trading most of their high-paid players – including third baseman and franchise icon Evan Longoria – Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Longoria hasn’t yet reached 10-and-5 status, meaning he doesn’t have full no-trade rights, but the Rays would likely only deal him with his blessing, according to Topkin. The 32-year-old will rake in $13.5MM in 2018 and up to $94MM through 2023, depending on what happens with a club option in the final season of his deal. In addition to Longoria, right-handers Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, closer Alex Colome, catcher Wilson Ramos, outfielder Corey Dickerson, infielder Brad Miller and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria stand out as potential trade candidates, Topkin observes. Colome seems particularly likely to go, Topkin suggests, and has already drawn reported interest from the Cardinals. He’s projected to earn $5.5MM in 2018, his first of three possible arbitration years.

More on Tampa Bay and two other AL clubs:

  • While the Rays may spend the coming months subtracting veterans, there will probably be mutual interest between them and free agent first baseman Mike Napoli, per Topkin. The Florida native continued his power-hitting ways in Texas last season, swatting 29 home runs and posting a .235 ISO, but he still batted an ugly .193/.285/.428 across 485 plate appearances. As a 36-year-old coming off a career-worst campaign, he’ll be in the Rays’ price range.
  • With the Rangers in desperate need of starters, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News lists several bargain free agents who might be worthy of their attention on the open market. Two of those players, Miguel Gonzalez and Miles Mikolas, bring past Rangers experience to the table. Recent Tommy John surgery recipient Michael Pineda, John Lackey and Jhoulys Chacin could also land on the club’s radar, Grant writes.
  • Aside from switch-hitters Victor Martinez and Jeimer Candelario, the Tigers don’t have lefty-capable regulars on their roster at the moment. General manager Al Avila is looking to change that this winter. “We’re very right-handed, so left-handed anything — infield and outfield — would be very handy for us as far as somebody that could help at the Major League level in 2018,” Avila told Jason Beck of MLB.com and other reporters this week. Given that the Tigers are in rebuilding mode, any move(s) they make to balance their lineup will be small, Beck notes.

Heyman’s Latest: Moore, Cain, Rangers, Vargas/O’s, Rodney/D-Backs

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In his latest Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag looks into the Royals front office. Owner David Glass is “considering a possible two-year extension” for GM Dayton Moore, writes Heyman, even though Moore has “no leverage” given that he’s already under contract for three more seasons. This all arises after Glass declined to allow the Braves to speak with Moore about changing squads. While Moore has expressed gratitude to ownership, his recent comments were interesting, if difficult to interpret with any precision. All told, it seems there could still be some unresolved matters in the Kansas City front office.

Let’s look at a few more items from Heyman of particular relevance to the still-developing hot stove season:

  • Top free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain has drawn some early interest from the Mets and Giants, according to Heyman. As regards the New York organization, this information seems to conflict with recent statements from Mets GM Sandy Alderson — though as ever it’s worth taking things with a grain of salt and acknowledging fluidity this time of year. As for the Giants, we at MLBTR pegged San Francisco as the likeliest landing spot for Cain, though some doubt whether the organization will go over the luxury tax line and sacrifice draft choices to land him. At a minimum, though, the organization would seem to be wise to do some diligence on the possibility.
  • The Rangers have “looked into” free agent righties Lance Lynn and Tyler Chatwood, says Heyman. While it’s not clear just how serious the interest is, the link isn’t surprising. Texas clearly needs arms; indeed, MLBTR guessed they’d land Lynn. While Chatwood doesn’t have nearly the track record of results that Lynn does, he is an intriguing option in his own right and shares some of the characteristics of Andrew Cashner — the former Ranger free agent signee who is himself back on the open market.
  • Another team with a desire to add several starters (and with reputed interest in Chatwood) is the Orioles. The Baltimore front office met with agents for lefty Jason Vargas during the GM Meetings, Heyman reports. The 34-year-old veteran seems to be a good match for the O’s, as we predicted, since the team needs to find so many rotation innings and can’t afford to make major long-term commitments to multiple starters.
  • The Diamondbacks are “open” to bringing back Fernando Rodney, GM Mike Hazen tells Heyman. Arizona is facing a difficult payroll situation but obviously will be looking to maintain and improve upon a Wild Card-winning roster. Though Rodney didn’t dominate last year, he’s still throwing mid-nineties heat and generating quite a few swings and misses — and obviously met with the approval of the D-Backs’ brass in the closer’s role. Beyond improving the pen, the Arizona priority is to improve in the outfield, per the report. That could mean pursuing under-the-radar additions; though Hazen says he’s not ruling out a return for J.D. Martinez, that’d almost certainly require the kind of payroll increase that does not appear to be under consideration.

AL West Notes: Maxwell, Avisail, Healy Trade, Rangers, Astros

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Despite recent allegations of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct, Bruce Maxwell is still viewed by the Athletics as their catcher next season, GM David Forst told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle at this week’s GM Meetings. “We’ll let the criminal proceedings play out,” said Forst, “But from a baseball standpoint, I expect Bruce to be our catcher next year.” Maxwell has already plead not guilty to the charges brought forth against him after he allegedly waved a gun in the face of a Postmates delivery employee last month. The Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reported earlier this week that there’s no trial date yet, but a hearing wouldn’t occur until early 2018.

Even without Maxwell’s off-the-field issues, though, catcher would seem to be a potential area for improvement for the Athletics. Maxwell will turn 27 in a month, has batted just .251/.331/.354 in 354 MLB plate appearances over the past two seasons and has thrown out a respectable but unspectacular 25 percent of opposing base thieves in his big league career. Baseball Prospectus rated him as an excellent pitch framer coming up through the minors, though he’s yet to post quality marks with the A’s.

More from the AL West…

  • Within that same piece, Shea also reports that the A’s have some interest in White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia. Oakland is known to be on the lookout for a right-handed-hitting outfielder that can play left field now that the trade of Ryon Healy has opened the door for Khris Davis to serve as the DH. While Garcia, 26, checks some boxes for Oakland, however, he’s not a perfect fit; the young slugger is only controlled for another two seasons, making him more of a mid-term play than a long-term asset. Beyond that, he’s only played 118 innings in left field as a big leaguer, and his defensive ratings in right field haven’t been positive on the whole (though they’ve improved dramatically in the past two seasons). The Sox will be open to moving Garcia, though, who figures to be one of many options Oakland pursues this winter.
  • Forst told reporters following last night’s Healy trade that the Mariners first contacted the Athletics about Healy “right after” the regular season ended (link via MLB.com’s Jane Lee). The two sides talked on and off over the past month, and Forst notes that right-hander Emilio Pagan, one of two players Oakland received in the deal, is someone they’ve tried to acquire from the Mariners in the past. “Once it was clear [Pagan] could be part of this deal, then we spent the last week or so trying to work it out,” said Forst. Lee notes that the A’s will continue to seek bullpen help and could place an emphasis on finding a left-handed reliever.
  • Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto also spoke with reporters following last night’s trade and firmly stated that Healy is expected to be the team’s regular first baseman (link via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). “We are planning on Ryon playing first base in an every-day or near-every-day role or basis,” said Dipoto shortly after praising Healy’s all-fields power. “…He’s performed quite well against left-hand pitching. You saw a little bit of a dip against righties. But I think that’s the league adjusting to Ryon and now is his chance to adjust back.” Divish also has quotes from Healy about being traded and further quotes from Dipoto on the difficulty of informing Pagan that he’d been dealt.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels said at the GM Meetings that his team is approaching the 2018 season with the mindset that Delino DeShields Jr. will be the center fielder, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That doesn’t entirely rule out the possibility of signing a center fielder, as Daniels stated that DeShields could end up in left if the team lands a center fielder “that makes us better as a club.” It does, however, suggest that center field may not be a top priority for Texas this winter. Daniels praised DeShields for his defensive improvements in center over the past couple of seasons, reminding that he’s a converted second baseman who has been learning on the job.
  • Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle runs down some of the decisions the Astros will face as they look to set their roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, noting that outfield prospect Ramon Laureano could prove one of the most difficult calls to make. The 23-year-old Laureano elevated his prospect stock with a huge 2016 campaign (.319/.428/.528 between Class-A Advanced and Double-A) but faltered significantly in his first full season in Double-A. Kaplan notes that lefty Cionel Perez “is certain to be protected” and also lists some other candidates that could land on the 40-man roster by next Monday’s deadline.

Rangers Plan To Discuss Extension With Jon Daniels

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The Rangers have no plans to move on from president of baseball ops/general manager Jon Daniels, whose contract expires after next season, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Wilson was told that Daniels “isn’t going anywhere” and may already be discussing a new contract with the team.

Daniels was barely 28 years of age when he was named general manager of the Rangers, making him the youngest GM in the game’s history. He’s now overseen the Rangers for 12 seasons, though, and is among the game’s longest-tenured general managers.

At the time Daniels was promoted to GM (when then-GM John Hart resigned), the Rangers had struggled to losing records in five of their past six seasons. While winning didn’t come immediately under Daniels’ watch, he eventually built the Rangers up to a perennial contender. Texas averaged 92 wins per season from 2009-12 and appeared in back-to-back World Series in 2010-11. The Rangers have won 87 or more games six times in the past nine seasons and only had two losing records in that span (including this past year’s 78-84 finish).

While the Rangers’ outlook is somewhat bleak given their substantial pitching needs and the presence of the Astros atop the AL West, Daniels and his staff have kept the club largely competitive for the better part of a decade. In that time, some of his more notable moves include trading Mark Teixeira to the Braves in exchange for Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Beau Jones; acquiring Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman from the Phillies in exchange for Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, Jerad Eickhoff, Jake Thompson and Alec Asher; and the signings of Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish.

Of course, Daniels’ regime has had its share of misses. Surrendering Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz in the trade that netted the Rangers Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress stands out as a recent regrettable decision, and the Prince Fielder/Ian Kinsler swap didn’t pan out after a debilitating neck injury ended Fielder’s career.

Obviously, every front-office regime comes with its triumphs and low points, but Texas has been a generally successful organization under Daniels during his time as general manager and president of baseball operations (which was added to his title back in 2013).

Yankees Reportedly Interested In Jurickson Profar

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10:57am: Most teams have at least checked in on Profar’s availability, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). Grant, however, adds that he finds it likelier that Profar would be part of a larger deal than this and/or that the Rangers would wait until deeper into the offseason to make a move.

10:01am: The Yankees have interest in swinging a deal for Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar in the next few days, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Yanks are a surprising entrant into Profar’s list of potential suitors given their considerable infield depth. New York has Didi Gregorius at shortstop, Starlin Castro at second base and Chase Headley at third, with Ronald Torreyes in a utility role and well-regarded prospects Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar on the cusp of MLB-readiness. Young Tyler Wade represents another utility option that is already on the 40-man roster.

Nonetheless, Sherman notes, the Yankees are intrigued by the idea of adding the game’s former No. 1 overall prospect in exchange for some of the pitchers on the fringes of their 40-man roster as they look to set that 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft will come on Monday. Names like Bryan Mitchell, Caleb Smith, Luis Cessa and Chasen Shreve are among those listed by Sherman as possible players on the Yankees’ 40-man bubble.

[Related: New York Yankees depth chart & Texas Rangers depth chart]

Profar has long been an obvious trade candidate. The Rangers have Elvis Andrus at shortstop and Adrian Beltre at third base, and they committed to Rougned Odor as their long-term second baseman last offseason by signing him to a $49.5MM extension. While both Beltre and Andrus could leave the Rangers after next season — Beltre’s contract runs through 2018, while Andrus has an opt-out next offseason — the Rangers don’t have much of a spot for Profar in the interim. He’s out of minor league options and hasn’t thrived in a utility role in recent seasons.

The Rangers, furthermore, need starting pitching depth more than almost any other club in the Majors. Their rotation options beyond Cole Hamels and Martin Perez (neither of whom was impressive in 2017) are sparse, at best. If the Yankees like the idea lessening their 40-man crunch by condensing two arms into a single player with greater individual upside, then Profar certainly makes some degree of sense.

Of course, it remains to be seen just how Profar would fit into their plans. He’s controllable for another three seasons but cannot be optioned to the minors, meaning he’d leapfrog one of Torreyes or Wade on the current depth chart. Neither Torreyes nor Wade has proven himself to be an especially potent bat in the Majors, though the same can be true of Profar. That said, Profar was once considered baseball’s best prospect before a pair of shoulder surgeries wiped out two years of his career, and he did hit .287/.383/.428 in 383 Triple-A plate appearances this season. The Yankees may very well relish the notion of acquiring a player they can slot in at any position on the infield if he comes with greater offensive upside than either of their currently projected utility candidates.

Rangers Acquire Hunter Cole To Complete Sam Dyson Trade

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The Rangers have acquired minor-leaguer Hunter Cole from the Giants, per a club announcement. Cole becomes the player to be named later from the deal that sent reliever Sam Dyson to San Francisco over the summer.

Cole, 25, has topped out at the Double-A level thus far in his career. Indeed, he has played there in each of the past three seasons without yet cracking the highest level of the minors. In 2017, he slashed only .249/.323/.431 over 319 plate appearances with seven home runs, though Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that he finished strong.

Dyson, whose unbelievable struggles early in the year prompted the swap, turned things around to some extent upon landing with the Giants. While he was still far from the high-quality hurler he had been previously, Dyson managed a 4.03 ERA and even picked up 14 saves in his 38 frames with the Giants.

Trade Rumblings: Padres, Ellsbury, Profar, Cardinals

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The Padres have built up a number of options to use at second base or third base in 2018 and beyond, so much so that they’re receiving calls on infielders Yangervis Solarte, Cory Spangenberg and Carlos Asuaje, reports MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. “That’s an area where we’ve created some Major League depth,” GM A.J. Preller said. “…It gives us a group of infielders that we’re excited about. And it’s a group that, other teams, they see that depth as well.” Solarte is the most established of the bunch and is cost-controlled through 2020 thanks to last offseason’s contract extension. He’ll earn $4.125MM in 2018 and has a pair of options valued at $5.5MM and $8MM for the following two seasons. Spangenberg is arbitration-eligible through that same period of time, while Asuaje can still be controlled all the way through the 2023 season.

A few more notes on some trade scenarios throughout the league…

  • Though many Yankees fans may be hopeful that the team can find a way to shed some of Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract this winter, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports that there’s been no traction to this point on a potential deal. In fact, GM Brian Cashman tells Davidoff that he hasn’t so much as even broached the subject of Ellsbury’s no-trade clause with agent Scott Boras. “They have the full no-trade for a reason and I would walk through that process with the highest level of communication and respect because of it,” says Cashman. In addition to that full no-trade provision, Ellsbury is guaranteed more than $65MM over the life of the next three seasons, meaning the Yankees would have to pay down a massive amount of that remaining salary in order to facilitate a deal.
  • Jurickson Profar is among the most oft-speculated trade candidates of the winter, but GM Jon Daniels stressed today that the Rangers don’t need to move him to another club this winter (link via MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan). Profar, 25 in February, will be out of minor league options next season and will need to be carried on the 25-man roster to avoid being exposed to waivers. However, Daniels notes that Elvis Andrus has the ability to opt out of his contract following the 2018 season — the same point at which Adrian Beltre’s contract will expire. To be sure, there’d be sense in keeping Profar around in a utility capacity next year while prepping him for a potentially larger role, though there still figures to be interest as teams look to buy low on the former No. 1 overall prospect.
  • The Cardinals are looking to trade multiple outfielders given their logjam of upper-level talent, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Phillies, Orioles and Giants have had interest in some of the Cards’ outfielders in the past, Goold notes, adding that Randal Grichuk is the outfielder that “comes up the most often.” Goold also reports that the Dodgers tried to pry Tommy Pham away from the Cardinals prior to the non-waiver trade deadline but were unsuccessful in doing so. In addition to Grichuk and Pham, the Cards have Stephen Piscotty, Dexter Fowler and Jose Martinez at the big league level. Beyond that, younger options include Harrison Bader, Magneuris Sierra, Randy Arozarena (who Goold profiles at the beginning of his column) and Tyler O’Neill.
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