Minor MLB Transactions: 11/23/15
Here are the day’s minor signings from around the league…
- Infielder Steve Tolleson is headed to the Orioles on a minor league deal, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Tolleson will receive an invitation to major league camp. The 32-year-old owns a .245/.299/.372 slash in 363 career plate appearances in the bigs.
- Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee is joining the Giants on a minor league deal, Matt Eddy reported as part of a slew of signings. (See his Twitter feed for these and more.) Formerly a top prospect with the Rays, the 25-year-old suffered a serious knee injury and has not hit much since at the Triple-A level. Among other deals, San Francisco also brought back lefty Ricky Romero, per Eddy.
- The Diamondbacks have added righty Kyle Drabek on a minors deal, according to Eddy. He joins outfielder Kyle Jensen and third baseman Carlos Rivero as Arizona minor league free agent signees. Once one of the game’s best-regarded pitching prospects with the Blue Jays, the 27-year-old Drabek did not live up to his promise in Toronto. But he did toss a solid 137 1/3 innings last year at Triple-A for the White Sox, working to a 3.47 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9.
- The White Sox have signed righty Phillippe Aumont to a minor league pact, Josh Norris of Baseball America tweets. The former Phillies prospect lost his 40-man roster spot last year. He did put up a 3.14 ERA after moving back into the rotation at Triple-A, but continued to demonstrate serious control problems with 6.8 BB/9.
Earlier Transactions
- The Blue Jays have signed first baseman Casey Kotchman, second baseman David Adams and shortstop Jiovanni Mier to minor league contract with invitations to Major League Spring Training, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The 32-year-old Kotchman comes with far and away the most big league experience, having served as an everyday first baseman (or close to it) with the Angels, Braves, Red Sox, Mariners, Rays and Indians from 2007-12. However, Kotchman hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013 and hasn’t experienced much in the way of success since his career year with the 2011 Rays. He’s a lifetime .260/.326/.385 hitter in the Majors. Adams, meanwhile, was once a promising second base prospect with the Yankees but never received a consistent chance in the Majors (in part, due to injuries). The now-28-year-old did receive 152 PAs in New York in 2013 but batted just .193/.252/.286 in that short stint. Mier, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect, but his bat has never really come around. He’s now 25 years of age and is a career .239/.333/.340 hitter in the minors.
Details On Jay Bruce’s No-Trade Clause
Last week, Reds outfielder Jay Bruce had an opportunity to update his limited no-trade clause by changing the list of eight teams that he can block deals to. However, the 28-year-old decided to stand pat and keep the same clubs on his veto list, as Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com writes. Bruce can block any proposed deal that would send him to the Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Marlins, A’s, or Twins.
That mix of small and large-market teams presumably shields Bruce from destinations he may prefer not to play in while affording him leverage if a big-spending AL East club were to come calling. Of course, the Orioles are the one AL East club that is not on the block list and they have become the most recent team to be linked to the Cincinnati outfielder. There isn’t any “momentum” toward a trade at this time, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, but it seems that the talks are at least active.
Bruce, 29 in April, will earn $12.5MM in 2016 and can be controlled for the following year with a $13MM option — or be bought out for $1MM. The Reds are willing to listen on everybody and GM Walt Jocketty said that he would “probably” be open to moving Bruce and Aroldis Chapman, despite his previous reluctance to do so. Bruce slashed .226/.294/.434 in 2015, numbers that were well below his best offensive work from 2010-2013.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/21/15
Here are the latest minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles have signed first baseman Ji-Man Choi to a minor league deal, according to South Korean media outlet Ilgan Sports (hat tip to Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun). Choi will be invited to the Orioles’ Major League spring camp and he’ll earn a $650K base salary if he makes the club, plus at least another $350K available in incentives. Still just 24 years old, Choi has five years of minor league experience in the Mariners’ system, hitting .302/.404/.481 with 35 homers over 1378 PA. His bat has fallen off over the last two seasons, however, thanks to injuries and a 50-game PED suspension in 2014.
- The Indians announced that Taiwanese righty C.C. Lee was sold to the Saitama Seibu Lions, with Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporting that the Tribe received between $350K-$500K from the NPB club. Lee has been in the Indians organization since 2008 and he posted a 4.50 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 2.06 K/BB rate over 34 relief innings for the Tribe from 2013-15.
- The Athletics have signed left-hander Patrick Schuster to a minor league contract, MLBTR has learned. Schuster has a 3.46 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 1.92 K/BB rate over 408 career minor league innings, most of which came in the Diamondbacks’ farm system before he was dealt to the Reds last June. The 25-year-old was also briefly property of the Astros, Padres and Royals during the 2013-14 offseason, in a flurry of transactions in the wake of Houston taking Schuster first overall in the 2013 Rule 5 draft.
- The Braves have signed reliever David Carpenter to a minor league deal, Scout.com’s Bill Shanks writes. Carpenter elected free agency this week after being outrighted by the Nationals. He had two of the best seasons of his career with the Braves in 2013 and 2014 before being traded to the Yankees, so his signing with Atlanta represents a bit of a homecoming. Carpenter will now get a shot to re-join a Braves bullpen that struggled in 2015. Carpenter posted a 4.01 ERA, 5.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 24 2/3 big-league innings last season.
- The Nationals have agreed to terms outfielder Chris Heisey on a minor league deal, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. Crasnick notes that Heisey will be reunited with Dusty Baker, who managed him with the Reds. After spending most of the previous several seasons in the big leagues, Heisey collected only 72 plate appearances with the Dodgers in 2015, instead spending most of the season at the Triple-A level (where he hit .223/.350/.445 in 302 plate appearances). Heisey’s batting average in the big leagues has decreased in each of the last three seasons, suggesting he’s lost a step offensively. He remains, however, a solid defender at any of the three outfield positions.
- The Nationals have also signed infielder Scott Sizemore to a minor league deal, writes MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Sizemore, a veteran of parts of four seasons with the Tigers, Athletics and Yankees, spent 2015 with the Triple-A affiliates of the Marlins and Nationals, batting .263/.369/.354 in 289 plate appearances while playing second base and third base.
- The Blue Jays have signed Humberto Quintero to a minor league deal, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes. The 36-year-old, a veteran of 12 MLB seasons, will likely provide the Jays with catching depth at the Triple-A level. He spent the 2015 season with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, batting .254/.287/.354 in 305 plate appearances.
- The Brewers have announced a variety of minor league signings and re-signings, including righties Hiram Burgos and Jaye Chapman, outfielder Ben Guez, and catcher Rene Garcia. The 28-year-old Burgos, a longtime Brewers minor leaguer, had a solid year in the minors in 2015, pitching 149 1/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. Chapman, also 28, pitched in the bullpens at Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Colorado Springs for the Brewers in 2015, posting a 2.37 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 64 2/3 innings. Guez established himself as a good minor league hitter in the Tigers system before heading to Colorado Springs in 2015. There, he hit a strong .287/.410/.504, although he missed three months in the middle of the season, apparently due to injury. Garcia, 25, spent 2015 in the Phillies system, batting .318/.332/.359 in 200 plate appearances in the high minors. His previous performances in the Astros system, however, suggest that he’s more of an organizational catcher type than that high 2015 batting average suggests.
Blue Jays Acquire Jesse Chavez From A’s For Liam Hendriks
The Blue Jays have officially acquired righty Jesse Chavez from the Athletics. Right-hander Liam Hendriks is going to Oakland in return.
This swap could have wide-ranging implications. The 32-year-old Chavez figures to join the re-signed Marco Estrada in the Jays rotation, significantly reducing the team’s need to add a free agent starter. While neither figures to be a top-of-the-rotation contributor, that duo should provide innings, depth, and options. Of course, a bigger addition could still occur.
Chavez was something of a journeyman before he landed in Oakland. Over four seasons there, he worked to a 3.98 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 363 2/3 innings. He proved especially useful for his versatility, making 47 starts and 54 appearances from the pen after working almost exclusively as a reliever earlier in his MLB career.
MLBTR projects that Chavez will earn $4.7MM this year in his final season of arbitration eligibility. That’s obviously quite a bit cheaper than one would expect to pay for an arm of his quality on the open market, but he does come with just one season of control.
Meanwhile, the A’s will get four years of control over Hendriks, the first of which (2016) will be at league minimum. The 26-year-old enjoyed a breakout 2015 in the Toronto pen after functioning mostly as a starter earlier in his career — the opposite transformation of that enjoyed by Chavez.
The Aussie ended the season with 64 2/3 innings of 2.92 ERA pitching. Most impressively, he racked up 9.9 K/9 against just 1.5 BB/9 — figures that he never approached in prior seasons. As Chris Mosch of Baseball Prospectus explained in detail earlier today, a huge leap in fastball velocity and tweaking of pitch selection seemed to drive Hendriks’ success. His new team will now hope that he can continue that high level of performance and take up a key set-up role.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the trade (Twitter links).
Added To The 40-Man: Reds, Padres, Braves, Jays, Cards, Nats
The deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft is tomorrow night at 8:00pm ET. As such, there will be a large volume of players added to 40-man rosters in the coming day as well as a handful of moves to clear 40-man space for those new additions. The Astros’ trade of Jonathan Villar and release of Robbie Grossman and Luis Cruz earlier today, for instance, created three new spots on their 40-man for the purpose of protecting prospects. Players who signed at 18 or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to all 29 other teams in the Rule 5 Draft. Players who were 19 or older at the time they signed must be added within four seasons.
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has more specifics on the intricacies of the Rule 5 Draft for those that are interested. Mayo also notes that 11 of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects are in need of protection from the Rule 5 Draft, and he goes on to list the players from each organization’s Top 30 prospects who must be added by tomorrow night in order to be protected.
With all of that said, here’s today’s list of players that have been added to the 40-man roster…
- The Reds have added right-handers Robert Stephenson and Sal Romano as well as left-hander Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster, per a tweet from MLBPipeline.com.
- Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets that the Padres have added recently acquired outfielder Manuel Margot to the 40-man roster in addition to shortstop prospect Jose Rondon. Margot was one of the centerpieces in the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel to Boston.
Earlier Updates
- Outfielder Mallex Smith and right-hander John Gant have been added to the Braves‘ 40-man roster, the team announced today. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that there won’t be any further additions before tomorrow’s deadline.
- The Blue Jays have added right-handers Blake McFarland and Brady Dragmire to their 40-man roster, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. That still leaves five empty spots on the club’s 40-man roster, though there’s no guarantee that the Blue Jays will fill those voids prior to tomorrow’s deadline.
- The Cardinals announced today that they’ve purchased the contracts of shortstop Aledmys Diaz, left-hander Dean Kiekhefer and outfielder Charlie Tilson, thus protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft (Twitter link).
- The Nationals have selected the contracts of infielder Chris Bostick, catcher Spencer Kieboom and left-hander Nick Lee, per a team announcement (on Twitter).
AL East Notes: Miller, Papi, Orioles, Blue Jays, Yankees
Andrew Miller‘s name has been floated in trade rumors in the early stages of the offseason, and two Major League execs tell Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News that Yankees GM Brian Cashman does indeed seem at least open to the idea of moving him. The Yankees would be comfortable with Dellin Betances serving as their closer, Feinsand writes, but the execs to whom he spoke stressed that Cashman would need to be overwhelmed to deal Miller. Still, Feinsand notes that with the team reluctant to part with any of Luis Severino, Greg Bird or Aaron Judge and a lack of money coming off the books, Miller is one of the team’s most appealing assets that could be used to add talent to the Major League roster. Feinsand writes that the Yankees probably won’t pursue any top-of-the-market free agents this winter and are also unlikely to add any free agents that come tied to draft pick compensation, meaning previous connections to Wei-Yin Chen and Jeff Samardzija may no longer be apt.
A few more notes from the AL East…
- Starting pitching is the Blue Jays‘ top priority even after re-signing Marco Estrada, interim GM Tony LaCava told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. While LaCava recognized a need for bullpen help, he said the rotation is the primary focus, adding: “We may let the bullpen come to us a little bit.” Nicholson-Smith aptly notes that the relief market typically features many bargains later in the offseason, with names like Ryan Madson, Franklin Morales and Carlos Villanueva all among players who parlayed January minor league deals into strong 2015 seasons. Regarding internal rotation options, LaCava noted that Aaron Sanchez is more likely to transition to a starting role than Roberto Osuna, if the club decides to shift either’s role at all. LaCava explains that Sanchez has more experience starting, whereas health issues have prevented Osuna from going through a full five-month stretch as a starter.
- Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star relays some quotes from Estrada at the press conference to announce his new contract. Estrada told the Toronto media that his preference was always to come back, and once talks began moving toward a two-year deal following the qualifying offer, he barely considered testing the market at all. Estrada added that the number of key contributors returning to the club in 2016 also made re-upping in Toronto an appealing scenario: “I think even if they left [the roster] alone we’re going to do pretty well this next year. But I’m sure they’re working on stuff.”
- Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post spoke to former Red Sox scout Dave Jauss (now with the Pirates) about his strong push to convince the Red Sox front office to take a chance on David Ortiz back in 2003. Ortiz had been let go by the Twins, who didn’t want to risk paying him a raise in arbitration after having nearly been contracted by the league. Jauss tells Kilgore that he was aware of all the red flags with Ortiz at the time — problems with left-handed pitching and an inability to stay healthy — but he firmly believed from his time spent managing in the Dominican Republic that Ortiz could flourish in an environment that didn’t force him to be so pull-conscious (i.e. Fenway Park). Kilgore’s piece chronicles Jauss’ workouts for Ortiz in the Dominican Republic while he was a free agent as well as what Jauss saw from Ortiz in winter ball early in his career.
- In light of the Giants’ recent extension of Brandon Crawford, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski explores whether or not now is the time for the Orioles to try to secure one of their own homegrown stars: Manny Machado. Crawford inked a six-year extension while he was two years from free agency, but the fact that Machado is still three seasons away and the Orioles have so many other pressing needs this winter mean that an extension isn’t near the top of their priority list at this time, Melewski writes. Melewski’s colleague, Roch Kubatko, tweets that GM Dan Duquette said again today that he is trying to re-sign Chris Davis but can’t handicap the chances of it happening at this time.
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The Yankees announced their complete coaching staff this week. Mike Harkey will take the bullpen coach job, while Tony Pena will instruct the catchers while also handling first base. Per prior announcements, Alan Cockrell will serve as the hitting coach with Marcus Thames as his assistant.
Bryce Harper, Josh Donaldson Win MVP Awards
Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson were named the most valuable players in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced today. Harper was the unanimous choice for first place among the 30 who voted, whereas Donaldson took home 23 of the 30 first-place votes. Ballots for MVP voting go 10 deep and are based on a scale that awards 14 points for a first-place vote and then nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one respectively down the list.
Paul Goldschmidt was the runaway choice for second place, collecting 18 second-place votes and 234 points. Joey Votto, Anthony Rizzo, Andrew McCutchen, Jake Arrieta and Zack Greinke each received second-place votes and finished third through seventh, in that order. Rounding out the remainder of the ballot were (in order) Nolan Arenado, Buster Posey, Clayton Kershaw, Kris Bryant, Matt Carpenter, Yoenis Cespedes, A.J. Pollock, Jason Heyward, Dee Gordon, Trevor Rosenthal, Curtis Granderson, Gerrit Cole and Adrian Gonzalez. (Full voting breakdown here.)
That Harper won shouldn’t come as a surprise, as he was widely believed to be the favorite for the award on the heels of a historically great age-22 season. (Winning in unanimous fashion is perhaps a mild surprise, as there are still voters who prefer their MVPs to come from playoff clubs.) The former No. 1 overall draft pick batted .330/.460/.649 and led the National League in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs (42) and runs scored (118). Harper was consistent throughout the season, never posting a monthly OPS lower than .909, and his all-around contributions were valued at 9.9 wins above replacement by Baseball-Reference.com and 9.5 WAR by Fangraphs.
Shifting to the American League, Mike Trout unsurprisingly finished runner-up and received all seven of the other first-place votes that did not go to Donaldson. The top two finishers combined to receive all but one of the first- and second-place votes, with Nelson Cruz receiving one second-place vote. Donaldson’s final point total was 385, with Trout coming in at 304. Rounding out the top 20 (in order): Lorenzo Cain, Manny Machado, Dallas Keuchel, Cruz, Adrian Beltre, Jose Bautista, David Price, Jose Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion, Prince Fielder, Chris Davis, J.D. Martinez, Jason Kipnis, Kevin Kiermaier, Kendrys Morales, Chris Sale and Mookie Betts. (Full voting breakdown here.)
Donaldson’s first season with the Blue Jays was everything Toronto could’ve hoped for and then some when trading Brett Lawrie and three prospects for him last offseason. The 29-year-old batted .297/.371/.568 and blasted 41 homers, leading the American League in both runs scored (122) and RBIs (123). In addition to his outstanding offensive contributions, Donaldson ranked among the game’s elite at third base, saving 11 runs above the average defender, by measure of Defensive Runs Saved and nine runs above average per Ultimate Zone Rating. B-Ref (8.8) and Fangraphs (8.7) were more or less in agreement on Donaldson’s value in terms of wins above replacement.
AL Central Notes: Indians’ Starters, Fister, Tigers, Sox, Soria
The Blue Jays, Dodgers and Yankees are among the teams that have reached out to the Indians and had “preliminary” trade talks about Cleveland’s starting pitching, reports Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (links to Twitter). The still-very-early frameworks being discussed would each send a controllable starter away from Cleveland in exchange for an everyday outfielder, he continues. In an appearance on MLB Network (video link), Morosi noted that Brett Gardner‘s name has come up in talks with Cleveland. Of course, Gardner alone wouldn’t fetch Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar, given the outfielder’s poor second half (though that was said to be injury-driven) and the more general fact that it makes little sense for Cleveland to part ways with five affordable years of either pitcher in exchange for three to four years of a well-compensated veteran. Other young and very well-regarded pieces would be a necessity. Trevor Bauer could be a more intriguing candidate in that scenario, as the soon-to-be 25-year-old was impressive in bursts in 2015 but continued his longstanding battle with control issues for most of the season. Other very speculative fits from the listed clubs could include Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Kevin Pillar, Dalton Pompey and Aaron Judge. Of course, each of those suggestions comes with varying degrees of uncertainty.
Some more notes from the AL Central…
- The Tigers are among the teams with interest in free-agent right-hander Doug Fister, according to Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). Fister is coming off a poor season in D.C. that saw his velocity dip to about 86 mph, causing him to lose his rotation spot. However, he enjoyed his best seasons in Detroit, and I can envision him being interested in a return on a make-good contract as he looks to rebuild his value, perhaps on a one-year deal in search of a larger contract among next year’s weak crop of free-agent starters.
- MLB.com’s Jason Beck breaks down the Tigers‘ options in their search for a left fielder. As Beck writes, fans should put to bed the notion of Jason Heyward, Justin Upton or a Yoenis Cespedes reunion, as all figure to be out of Detroit’s price range. Avila spoke highly of Tyler Collins recently, Beck notes, lending some credence to the possibility of simply acquiring a platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting 25-year-old. Beck lists Chris Young, former Tigers Ryan Raburn and Rajai Davis as possibilities. However, if the club feels an everyday left fielder would be an upgrade over a platoon of Collins and one of those righty bats, names like Nori Aoki and Gerardo Parra could come into play. Of course, it should be noted that Parra himself could benefit from a platoon partner, though he has a stronger defensive reputation than Collins (his surprising 2015 downturn in the view of defensive metrics not withstanding).
- White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin that the team hasn’t made a definitive decision as to which direction it will go this offseason (Twitter link). While that will probably induce a large amount of Chris Sale and Jose Quintana trade speculation from fans of pitching-hungry teams, it does seem difficult to envision the White Sox changing course after spending so heavily last winter. Chicago’s core of Sale, Quintana, Carlos Rodon, Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton and David Robertson is an excellent start to a contending club. Previous reports have indicated that the Sox believe 2015 was just the first of a multi-year window to contend. Nonetheless, that Williams didn’t take the opportunity to firmly denounce the possibility of some retooling is notable.
- The Twins have reached out to Joakim Soria‘s agent and received his medical records for review, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, though it’s not known whether the team is comfortable with a number anywhere near his reported $27MM asking price. (My guess: no.) In other Soria/AL Central news, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweeted today that while the Tigers were interested in Soria as recently as this past weekend, the two sides weren’t on the same page in contract talks. Detroit’s acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez seems likely to have diminished their interest in Soria anyhow.
Devon Travis Out For 16-20 Weeks After Shoulder Surgery
Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis will not be able to resume baseball activities for 16 to 20 weeks after undergoing left shoulder surgery, per a club announcement (via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, on Twitter). If that time frame holds, Travis will not be ready for Opening Day of the 2016 season.
Travis, 25 in February, was an early Rookie of the Year favorite before shoulder troubles slowed and eventually cut short his excellent 2015 campaign. Acquired from the Tigers in an offseason swap that sent Anthony Gose to Detroit, Travis burst onto the scene with a .304/.361/.498 batting line but was limited to just 62 games and 239 total plate appearances. It’s unclear exactly when he’ll be ready to join the Blue Jays, but for the early portion of the season, it seems safe to assume that Ryan Goins will man second base in Toronto, as he did following Travis’ 2015 injuries.
The question for Toronto is whether or not to seek additional second base depth beyond Goins. While bringing in a starting-caliber second baseman seems unlikely, the team did go out and acquire Cliff Pennington (who signed with the Angels yesterday) to add some infield depth late in the season. Making a similar type of addition, perhaps on a minor league deal, could make sense for the Blue Jays as they look to safeguard themselves against further injuries. Losing Goins, for instance, would greatly call their infield depth into question.
Starting pitching and relief help figure to remain Toronto’s primary focus, but some speculative depth options for the Jays could include names like Jonathan Herrera, Mike Aviles and Alberto Callaspo. A reunion with fan favorite Munenori Kawasaki would, of course, provide additional middle infield depth as well.
AL East Notes: Boxberger, McGee, Yankees, O’s, Blue Jays
Rays relievers Jake McGee and Brad Boxberger are two of the more coveted relief arms on the trade market, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Nationals are among the interested teams (Twitter link). The Astros and Tigers have also been listed as possible suitors for Tampa Bay’s excellent eighth/ninth-inning duo. The left-handed McGee, 29, is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4.7MM this offseason. The right-handed Boxberger, 27, is not yet arbitration eligible. Both have seen significant time in the ninth inning over the past two seasons, as McGee collected 25 saves from 2014-15, and Boxberger led the AL with 41 saves in 2015. McGee seems like the more obvious trade candidate, on paper, due to his projected 2016 salary, but Boxberger’s first-year arbitration price could be huge if he serves as manager Kevin Cash‘s primary closer in 2016 and racks up 35 to 40 more saves. The Rays could simply elect to hold the pair as well; spending a combined $5.2MM or so for the pair certainly isn’t exorbitant, though it’s hard to envision both relievers in the mix beyond 2016, as they’ll probably be too expensive a pairing after next winter’s arb raises.
A few more notes from the AL East…
- Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes that Yankees GM Brian Cashman should be worrying about regression from players like Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez when constructing the roster this winter. Cashman said last week at the GM Meetings that his goal is to “upgrade our roster and not worry about regression on certain guys,” but Davidoff notes that it would be exceptionally risky to bank on Teixeira and A-Rod repeating both the health and the production they displayed in 2015, reminding how greatly they outperformed their preseason projections.
- Filling all of the holes on the Orioles‘ roster is a near-impossible task for GM Dan Duquette without a significant payroll hike, writes Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com. Melewski points out that after Matt Wieters surprisingly accepted a qualifying offer last Friday, the team now has $57.6MM committed to four players — Wieters, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones and Ubaldo Jimenez — plus $34.9MM worth of arbitration salaries (based on MLBTR’s projections). That places the Orioles at $92.5MM without even factoring in league-minimum players to round out the roster. Melewski uses Chris Davis and Alex Gordon as highly theoretical examples of players that could be brought in as major offseason signings (or, in Davis’ case, a re-signing), noting that that pair alone could cause Baltimore’s payroll to soar over $135MM while still leaving holes in the rotation and bullpen. Duquette has hinted that a payroll increase is certainly possible; over the weekend he discussed having the resources to not only re-sign Davis but also to bring in a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. The O’s opened the 2015 season with a $119MM payroll.
- The Blue Jays‘ entire coaching staff will return in 2016 after agreeing to new contracts, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Davidi notes that the news isn’t necessarily a surprise, as Shapiro said during his recent introductory press conference that the entire staff had been invited back, but the finalization of the contracts is nonetheless noteworthy.