Blue Jays Rumors

Blue Jays Sign Tyler Clippard

By Jeff Todd | March 7, 2018 at 11:19am CDT

The Blue Jays have announced a minor-league deal with righty Tyler Clippard. It includes an invitation to MLB camp.

Clippard only just turned 33 and has a long history of outstanding bullpen production. While his fastball velocity has continued to dwindle, Clippard is coming off of a season in which he posted a healthy 14.0% swinging-strike rate that sits above his career average.

Of course, there are other areas of concern, too. Clippard worked in the zone just 40.6% of the time, a personal low, while doling out free passes at a rate (4.6 per nine) not seen since he was still establishing himself with the Nationals.

Then, there’s the fact that Clippard’s hidden weapon — the ability to induce infield flies — was no longer quite as potent. (He ended the year with a 10.3% infield fly rate, lowering his career rate to 16.0%.) A few more of those pops have been squared up and turned into long balls, perhaps owing in part to his reduced velocity, with an assist from the increasingly springy baseball that Clippard and others are throwing.

The end result wasn’t pretty, as Clippard finished with a 4.77 ERA, marking the first time he finished a full season having allowed more than four earned per nine. He bounced between three organizations and was not selected to participate on the Astros’ World Series roster despite landing in Houston late in the season.

Despite the struggles, it’s easy to justify giving Clippard another look. Entering the 2017 season, after all, he had compiled 587 2/3 innings of 2.77 ERA ball as a major-league reliever. Notably, too, he was still quite effective against lefties last year, holding them to a .213/.311/.366 slash. The change-up artist has long carried reverse platoon splits and dominated southpaw hitters.

As the Roster Resource Blue Jays depth chart shows, there ought to be a solid opportunity for Clippard to earn a job in Toronto, especially if the organization thinks it can use him in a somewhat more specialized manner against lefty hitters. That said, Clippard will have quite a lot of competition in camp, as the long list of non-roster pitchers in the above link shows.

AL East Notes: Tulo, Orioles, Reynolds, Walker, Lind

By Mark Polishuk | March 4, 2018 at 10:14am CDT

It doesn’t look like Troy Tulowitzki will be in the Blue Jays’ lineup on Opening Day, as manager John Gibbons told reporters (including Sportsnet.ca’s Arden Zwelling) today. “I don’t expect he’ll be ready. But he’s moving in the right direction,” Gibbons said, referring to Tulowitzki’s rehab from a severe ankle injury suffered last July. Toronto made a point of acquiring infield depth this winter given the lengthy injury histories of both Tulowitzki and Devon Travis this winter, and thus Yangervis Solarte or Aledmys Diaz are now the top shortstop candidates with Tulowitzki likely to miss at least some time at the start of the season.

Here’s some more from around the AL East…

The Orioles are “intrigued” by Neil Walker and some in the organization see him as a potential bargain signing, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. Walker has been linked to teams like the Royals, Yankees, Mets, Brewers, Angels, and Pirates over the course of the winter, though with many of those teams addressing their second base needs in other ways, Walker is still looking for a new home as we enter March. The O’s have Jonathan Schoop locked in at the keystone, of course, though Walker could be an intriguing add as a third baseman. Tim Beckham is currently slated to get the bulk of action at the hot corner, though Beckham is unproven as an everyday player and the Orioles might prefer using him in a super-utility role. If Walker was signed, the two players could form a third base platoon, as the switch-hitting Walker has struggled against left-handed pitching during his career.
Walker is just one of the names that could still be considerations for the Orioles given the vast number of notable players still available in free agency. Kubatko notes that the O’s have had some internal discussions about Mark Reynolds simply “because, well, he’s out there,” despite Baltimore’s current depth at first base and designated hitter.
Newly-signed Yankees first baseman Adam Lind was one of the many veterans caught up in the offseason free agent freeze, as he tells NJ.com’s Randy Miller that his only two offers of the entire winter (both minor league offers) came within the last week. A big asking price didn’t seem to be an issue (“I was just looking for a J-O-B,” Lind said) but the veteran was clearly frustrated at the lack of interest given his strong .303/.362/.512 slash line over 301 plate appearances with the Nationals last season. “I talked to my wife about it. I told her, ’What’s the point of doing well?’ What if I hit .280 this year? I probably won’t even get a big-league invite next year,” Lind said. “You think you’re a good player and then to have no one value you….it’s tough.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/3/18

By Kyle Downing | March 3, 2018 at 1:23pm CDT

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves in this post…

The Blue Jays announced that they’ve signed right-hander Nick Tepesch to a minor league deal; he’ll report to the club’s spring training camp. Tepesch began his MLB career with the Rangers in 2013, and went on to pitch 219 innings for the club to the tune of a 4.56 ERA from 2013-2014. However, he missed the entirety of the 2015 season with shoulder issues that eventually resulted in thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August. The Rangers elected to non-tender Tepesch after that season, and he hasn’t managed to latch onto an active roster spot for an MLB club since, despite getting a shots at the major league level with the Dodgers, Twins and Blue Jays.

AL Notes: Gordon, Orioles, Oh

By Steve Adams | February 28, 2018 at 12:25am CDT

Jim Bowden of The Athletic chatted with Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto about the decision to trade for Dee Gordon and place him in center field despite a lack of experience at the position (subscription required). Unsurprisingly, Dipoto revealed that the outside-the-box trade was rather data-driven in nature. “We had a need in CF and believed his profile fit perfectly if he was willing to commit to the transition,” said Dipoto. “We then took a look at some of the available data (Statcast) and our analysts created a projection of what his acceleration and wide open speed might look like in center field based on comparable speed athletes in the database. The results were encouraging enough that we decided to go for it.” Dipoto raved about the manner in which Gordon has embraced the move, praising his commitment to learning the craft and “tireless” work ethic. Gordon has already impressed Seattle with his range in center, though Dipoto notes that he still has work to do when it comes to scooping ground-balls in the outfield and coming up in a crow hop after years of infield work.

Elsewhere in the American League…

The Orioles could be looking at an extended absence for pitching prospect Chris Lee, who pitched to one batter on Tuesday before exiting with an injury. Manager Buck Showalter told reporters after the game that Lee suffered a right oblique strain and is set for an MRI on Wednesday morning (link via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko). Oblique strains often sideline players for a month or more, depending on the severity, and Showalter didn’t sound optimistic of a quick return. “There’s a pretty good pattern of the days it takes,” said the manager. “That’s one injury that pretty much runs its course. It isn’t earlier and it isn’t later.” Kubatko also notes that right fielder Austin Hays, who has been bothered by some lat soreness and was switched from right field to DH shortly before today’s game, will have an MRI on Wednesday as well. Lee wasn’t considered likely to make the Opening Day rotation, though Hays certainly projects as a possible impact piece for the O’s early in the 2018 season.
An issue with Seung-hwan Oh’s physical in Texas didn’t cause the Rangers to pull their offer entirely, writes Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling, but the Rangers did change their offer to Oh after his examination. That prompted Oh to further explore the market, at which point he latched on with the Blue Jays on a one-year, $2MM deal with an option for the 2019 season. GM Ross Atkins didn’t express any concern over Oh’s medical status, per Zwelling. “We feel really good about our process and about the information that we had prior to Texas and after Texas coming out,” said Atkins. “Our due diligence suggests that with his emphasis on strength and conditioning, his emphasis on how he takes care of himself, that he should be able to help us.”

Injury Notes: Gurriel, Frazier, Gausman, Stroman, Thornburg, Eaton

By Jeff Todd | February 27, 2018 at 1:13pm CDT

The Astros have shipped first baseman Yuli Gurriel to Houston so his injured hand can be evaluated, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). At this point, the situation is more or less a mystery, with no real indication how the issue arose or just what the club is concerned about. Clearly, though, the team’s training staff has found cause to get a closer look from a specialist.

Here’s more on some injury situations from around the game:

Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier has been diagnosed with a concussion, tweets MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Frazier made a leaping catch in yesterday’s Grapefruit League game against the Pirates and stumbled a bit before falling backwards and hitting his head against the base of the left-field wall (video link). Manager Aaron Boone said Frazier will be down for “a few days” and acknowledged the seemingly optimistic nature of that timeline. Frazier is far from a lock to make the Opening Day roster in New York with Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Jacoby Ellsbury all on the roster, but he remains a key potential long-term piece for the Yanks.
It seems that Orioles righty Kevin Gausman has largely shaken off a home-plate collision yesterday, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. The young starter, who is a key factor in the team’s hopes for the coming season, says he “feel[s] pretty good” on the whole despite slamming into Tigers youngster Jeimer Candelario. For the time being, at least, Gausman is expected to take the ball for his next scheduled spring outing.
The outlook is at least a bit more worrisome for Blue Jays righty Marcus Stroman. Per MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, shoulder inflammation is holding Stroman back. Though he has already been cleared by an MRI of structural concerns, Stroman will rest up in hopes of moving past a problem that has evidently been going on for a few weeks. The key Jays hurler says he’s hoping to be fully ramped up for “the very beginning of the start of the season,” even if it’s not Opening Day, though surely the organization will proceed with caution.
The Red Sox will welcome reliever Tyler Thornburg back to the hill for the first time since he underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. A bullpen session is just one of many steps back, of course, and Thornburg still has some hurdles to clear. He has yet to pitch competitively for the Boston organization (excepting brief spring action last year) since coming over in a trade in advance of the 2017 season.
Indications are that Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton is largely progressing well after a long layoff for a torn ACL. As Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes, though, Eaton has yet to appear in game action. That appears to be less a reflection of Eaton’s surgically repaired joint than it is a planned effort to build him up deliberately. “We’re going to take it and be methodical and do it right for the first time and make sure I’m overcooked, so to speak, before I go out there.” While it’s surely tempting to max out Eaton’s reps after a lost season, skipper Davey Martinez emphasized the primary goal is to have Eaton at full speed come Opening Day.
The rival Mets are reporting shoulder and back soreness for Yoenis Cespedes and Jacob deGrom, respectively, but those don’t seem to be real concerns at this point, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. However, the New York organization is likely to hold back first baseman Dominic Smith for a while after he was diagnosed with a strained quad. He already seemed to face a difficult task of cracking the Opening Day roster, so this setback is not likely to help the cause. (New reliever Anthony Swarzak just left his relief appearance with an apparent calf injury, as Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to tweet, though details are sparse at this time.)

Blue Jays Designate Ezequiel Carrera

By Jeff Todd | February 26, 2018 at 6:03pm CDT

The Blue Jays have designated outfielder Ezequiel Carrera for assignment, per the organization (h/t Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, via Twitter). The roster spot was needed for righty Seung-hwan Oh, whose signing is now official.

With Curtis Granderson and Randal Grichuk entering the Jays’ outfield mix this winter, Carrera lacked a clear path to a significant role. Though it seemed possible he might sneak in as a fifth outfielder, particularly since Granderson is the only Toronto outfielder who hits from the left side, that would have meant squeezing the infield or pitching depth. Clearly, that’s not the direction the Jays front office decided to go.

[RELATED: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]

Carrera, 30, turned in a useful season at the plate in 2017. Over 325 plate appearances, he slashed .282/.356/.408 with eight home runs and ten steals. That said, the outfielder’s lifetime offensive output (89 wRC+) is not quite as impressive and he needed a .358 batting average on balls in play to post his personal-best slash. While metrics soured on his glovework last year, Carrera has graded as an above-average corner outfielder in the past and has spent plenty of time in center.

It’s hardly an exciting profile, but Carrera could conceivably draw interest. He’s slated to earn a not-insignificant $1.9MM this year via arbitration, though, so interested teams may prefer to pursue him as a free agent than claim him or trade for him. Unless another organization takes over the contract, the Blue Jays will owe Carrera thirty days of pay (just over $300K).

Blue Jays Sign Seung-Hwan Oh

By Mark Polishuk | February 26, 2018 at 5:58pm CDT

Feb. 26, 5:58pm: The Toronto organization has announced the signing. He’ll earn $1.75MM for 2018, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), with a $250K buyout on a $2MM option that vests upon seventy appearances. The deal also includes $1.5MM in possible incentives.

12:08pm: Oh has passed his physical, tweets Nicholson-Smith. The move, then, should be officially announced in the near future.

Feb. 25: The Blue Jays have agreed to sign right-hander Seung-hwan Oh, FanRag Sports’ Robert Murray reports (Twitter link). The deal is a one-year contract that will guarantee Oh $2MM in 2018, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (Twitter links), plus there is a vesting option for 2019. Oh is a client of Rosenhaus Sports Representation.

The contract is contingent on Oh passing a physical, which could still be a notable obstacle given that a deal between Oh and the Rangers fell through earlier this month. The Rangers’ deal with Oh called for a $2.75MM guarantee, plus a $4.5MM club option (with a $250K buyout) for 2019. As per Sung Min Kim of the Sporting News (via Twitter), however, Oh’s MRI revealed some inflammation in his throwing elbow that wasn’t considered serious enough to scuttle the deal altogether, though the Rangers tried three times to re-work the terms. Oh’s representation didn’t want to re-open talks, and thus no contract was finalized.

Oh came to Major League Baseball in the 2015-16 offseason after 11 seasons as a top closer in both the Korean Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball. He made an immediate impact on the Cardinals’ bullpen, posting a 1.92 ERA, 11.6 K/9, and 5.72 K/BB rate over 79 2/3 innings and taking over the Cards’ closer job. Oh’s follow-up campaign, however, wasn’t nearly as successful, as his troubles with the home-run ball (1.5 HR/9) led to his removal from ninth-inning duty last summer. Beyond just the increase in homers, Oh also saw his grounder rate (40% to 28.7%), strikeout rate (down to 8.19 K/9), and swinging strike percentage (18% to 12.9%) drop from his 2016 numbers, and he posted a 4.10 ERA over 59 1/3 IP.

While it was a tough year for Oh, his stats didn’t crater to the point that a turn-around isn’t out of the question, or that his problems weren’t due to a normal sophomore slump. His hard-hit ball rate actually dropped from 2016 to 2017, for instance, even though his overall contact rates increased. Moving to Rogers Centre and the AL East might not be much help to Oh’s home run issues, of course, and since he is 35 years old, there’s also the chance that Oh is simply starting to decline.

[Updated Blue Jays depth chart at Roster Resource]

Still, the reasonable $2MM price tag makes Oh a decent risk for a Jays team that was known to still be looking around for bullpen help. Oh won’t be asked to be a “Final Boss” (his old KBO nickname) in Toronto with Roberto Osuna firmly holding down the closer’s job, though he’ll step right into the setup mix alongside Ryan Tepera and Danny Barnes (not to mention longer-shot non-roster invites like John Axford or Al Alburquerque). Joe Biagini could also again step into a meaningful bullpen role, though the Jays are currently stretching the righty out as a starter in Triple-A to provide depth and occasional spot-start duty.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

AL East Notes: Drury, JDM, Rasmus, Travis

By Steve Adams | February 22, 2018 at 10:18am CDT

While Brandon Drury may be the favorite, at present, to open the season as the Yankees’ third baseman, GM Brian Cashman made clear in speaking with the New York Post’s George A. King III that there will still be a competition for that spot. “Nothing has been handed to anybody, so the competition will play its way out,” said Cashman. “…You have horses coming into races as favorites and I think the experience that Drury has along with his abilities should give him a leg up going into this process. But we will wait and see what it looks like and how it plays out.” Miguel Andujar will still be given a chance to win the job this spring, per the GM, who also notes that the team still views Andujar as a player who will have a major long-term role with the Yankees. Both Cashman and new skipper Aaron Boone suggested that they’ll focus on third base as Drury’s primary position for now. Drury spent most of the 2017 season playing second base in Arizona, but the hot corner is his natural position.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tulo, Rays, Drury

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 9:11pm CDT

With J.D. Martinez heading to Boston, the Red Sox are facing somewhat of a roster crunch, writes Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. It is not, however, at first base as many have suggested. Manager Alex Cora suggested Tuesday that he views Hanley Ramirez as his No. 3 hitter and primary first baseman, even though the team re-upped Mitch Moreland on a two-year deal this winter. As Drellich points out, though, each of Moreland, Ramirez and Martinez have dealt with injury issues in recent years, so Moreland still figures to get his share of at-bats.

Rather, Drellich observes, the bigger crunch will be on the bench. Sandy Leon is the favorite to serve as the backup catcher, and one of Moreland or Ramirez will be on the bench most days. The Sox have two out-of-options players in Deven Marrero and Blake Swihart that are current bench options, but they also have Brock Holt who agreed to a $2.2MM arbitration salary earlier this winter. That deal, like the vast majority of arb deals, is non-guaranteed, but Holt’s versatility has been valuable for the Sox in recent seasons and he seems unlikely to be cut loose. Holt does have minor league options remaining, though obviously paying him to play in Triple-A is suboptimal as well.

A bit more on the Sox and their division…

The Red Sox are unlikely to trade Jackie Bradley after signing J.D. Martinez this week, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. That’s not much of a surprise, as Bradley’s name hasn’t come up on the rumor circuit much in recent months, and the trio of Bradley, Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts should be among the best defensive outfield units in all of baseball.
The Blue Jays are still seeking upgrades after last week’s signing of lefty Jaime Garcia to round out the rotation, and GM Ross Atkins suggested to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet that there’s a strong likelihood that they’ll make a move before Opening Day (Twitter links). Atkins somewhat candidly said he felt there’s about a 90 percent chance the Jays have another addition in store, citing a reliever as the likeliest pickup. Notably, Atkins added that improving at backup catcher, where light-hitting Luke Maile projects as the reserve behind Russell Martin, “is less likely at this point.”
Troy Tulowitzki is making progress from last year’s ankle injury, which included torn ligaments in his foot as well as a compression factor, writes Nicholson-Smith in a full column. However, he has yet to begin running this spring. Tulowitzki’s goal is to be ready for Opening Day, though the 33-year-old veteran said he’s not putting any timelines on his recovery and won’t risk a setback by pushing himself too far. He fielded grounders thrown to him by the coaching staff today, though the drills “weren’t designed to test his range too much” just yet, per Nicholson-Smith. Even if Tulo isn’t ready for Opening Day, the Blue Jays are much better prepared from a depth vantage point up the middle, where they’ll have offseason trade acquisitions Yangervis Solarte and Aledmys Diaz backing up Tulowitzki and Devon Travis.
Following the trade of Jake Odorizzi to the Twins, the Rays plan to use a four-man rotation of Chris Archer, Nathan Eovaldi, Jake Faria and Blake Snell for the first six weeks of the season or so, manager Kevin Cash tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The increased amount of off-days in the schedule this year due to the season’s earlier start will allow the club to use fifth starter Matt Andriese as a multi-inning reliever. The Rays, unsurprisingly, plan to keep top prospects like Brent Honeywell in the minors to begin the season, which will allow them to gain extra control and avoid Super Two status for arbitration purposes.
The most likely scenario for the Yankees and newly acquired Brandon Drury is that Drury opens the season as the team’s starting third baseman, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. That’d allow the Yankees to go with either Ronald Torreyes or veteran Danny Espinosa at second base and avoid rushing prospects Miguel Andujar or Gleyber Torres early in the season. Interestingly, despite the fact that Torres missed half the 2017 season with Tommy John surgery (in his non-throwing arm), the Yankees view Torres as closer to the Majors, per Sherman. Andujar is nearly two years older than Torres and has twice the Triple-A experience, though neither has even appeared in 60 games at the top minor league level yet.

Josh Donaldson Expects To Test Free Agency

By Steve Adams | February 20, 2018 at 1:15pm CDT

TODAY: The Toronto front office evidently isn’t giving up its hopes of working something out. GM Ross Atkins tells Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links) that he believes the team has simply not “realized a deal yet” with Donaldson — suggesting the emphasis falls on the word “yet.”

Whether an agreement can ultimately be struck may depend upon whether the sides can agree to a way of “sharing risk,” says Atkins. It seems the organization will also need to find a way to draw Donaldson and his reps to the bargaining table while respecting his stated desire to turn his focus to preparing for the season.

YESTERDAY: Blue Jays fans have long hoped that 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson would ink a long-term deal to remain with the club beyond the 2018 campaign, but the third baseman acknowledged to reporters today that he expects to reach free agency after initial extension talks didn’t prove fruitful (link via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith).

“We’re not quite there,” said Donaldson. “…not at the same type of area, the same ballpark.” Donaldson added that an extension is not a “major focus” for him at this time and said he’s “turning the page” on the matter and shifting his focus to the 2018 season. The Athletic’s John Lott tweets that Donaldson did suggest talks could “ramp back up” if things change, but it sounds like the Jays and Donaldson’s representatives at MVP Sports aren’t especially close at the moment.

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke two weeks ago about the possibility of signing Donaldson to a long-term contract, revealing that while the two sides hadn’t conversed at the time, the team had done its homework in determining a valuation for Donaldson that they’d take to negotiations. Said Atkins at the time: “…We have come up with a clear walkaway that we would be willing to commit to him to extend (the contract) for him to remain a Blue Jay probably for the rest of his career.” Evidently, that (still-unknown) offer level was not sufficient to interest the star.

Donaldson, 32, rebounded from a pedestrian start to his 2017 season to post a ludicrous .302/.410/.698 slash and 22 homers through his final 227 plate appearances last season. That brilliant stretch brought him to a final batting line of .270/.385/.559 and 33 home runs on the year overall. Donaldson, unsurprisingly, expressed to Nicholson-Smith, Lott and others that he feels he can maintain an elite level of play for years to come (Twitter links). “I truly believe that where I’m at today, I have longevity in this game performing at a high level,” said Donaldson.

Donaldson will play out his final season of team control on a $23MM salary that is a record for a player on a one-year deal in the arbitration process. Barring a revival of negotiations, he’s in line to hit free agency in advance of his age-33 season. Donaldson was, of course, something of a late bloomer, as he didn’t cement himself as a big league regular until his age-27 season. The fact that he’ll reach free agency a couple of years later than many of his peers only stands to present further hurdles for the two sides to clear in determining contract length and annual value.

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