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Rangers Sign Jharel Cotton, Jason Martin To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers announced that they have signed right-hander Jharel Cotton, outfielder Jason Martin and righty Edubray Ramos (previously reported) to minor league contracts. All three deals come with invitations to spring training.

The 28-year-old Cotton was a top 100 prospect during his younger days, and he posted encouraging numbers (2.15 ERA/3.76 FIP) during his 29 1/3-major league debut with the Athletics in 2016. Cotton was then a regular in the A’s rotation the next season, in which he totaled 129 1/3 frames on 24 starts, but he could only muster a 5.58 ERA with a similar 5.68 FIP that year. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since then, owing largely to the Tommy John surgery he underwent in March 2018. Cotton tried to work his way back in 2019, but hamstring injuries helped prevent that from happening. Oakland then sent Cotton to the Cubs in a minor trade, though Chicago released him in September.

Martin entered the pros as a 2013 eighth-round pick of the Astros, who traded him to the Pirates five years later as part of the teams’ Gerrit Cole swap. But Martin didn’t produce much in two Triple-A seasons as a Pirate, and he slumped to a .200/.294/.244 line in the majors over a small sample of plate appearances (51) from 2019-20. The Pirates outrighted the 25-year-old after the season.

Royals Re-Sign Greg Holland

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The Royals have re-signed reliever Greg Holland, the team announced. It’s a one-year, $2.75MM deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The pact also contains a possible $1.5MM in incentives, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (via Twitter).

Holland, 35, had a stellar rebound effort in Kansas City this past season after a pair of down years. Over 28.1 innings spanning 28 games, the right-hander worked to a 1.91 ERA/2.52 FIP. His 27.7% strikeout rate, while strong, wasn’t much different than it had been in prior seasons. Holland’s turnaround was more a reflection of a significant improvement in his strike-throwing. After walking over 15% of opposing hitters in each of the prior two seasons, the veteran sliced his walk rate to 6.3% in his return trip to Kansas City.

Always known for his slider, Holland leaned on the breaking stuff more than ever last season. Cutting his fastball rate from nearly half to less than two-fifths of his offerings, per Brooks Baseball, Holland generated whiffs on 13.1% of his pitches despite pedestrian velocity. Using the heater less often corresponded with an improvement in the pitch’s effectiveness. Presumably, that reflects opposing hitters’ expectations of seeing a breaking ball.

Even though the Royals weren’t contenders, Holland stayed in Kansas City past this year’s August 31 trade deadline. He’ll now return for another season at the back end of an intriguing bullpen. Kyle Zimmer, Josh Staumont, Jesse Hahn and Scott Barlow all join Holland in coming off strong seasons, making the relief corps a high-upside area of the roster for manager Mike Matheny.

This continues an active early portion of the offseason for Royals GM Dayton Moore and the front office. Moore suggested last month he expects the club to be competitive next season. Kansas City has since brought back Holland and added Carlos Santana and Mike Minor. The Royals still seem like something of a longshot to stick with the Twins, White Sox and Indians over a full season, but they’re markedly improved over the 2018-19 teams that each lost over 100 games.

Red Sox Sign Hunter Renfroe

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The Red Sox announced they’ve signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year contract (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll be guaranteed a base salary of $3.1MM with an additional $600K available in incentives, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

Renfroe, 29 in January, became a free agent after he was outrighted by the Rays last month. Tampa Bay decided it wasn’t prepared to tender him an arbitration contract, projected in the $4MM range, on the heels of a disastrous 2020 season. The right-handed hitter managed just a .156/.252/.393 slash line with eight homers over 139 plate appearances in his lone season in Tampa Bay. That certainly wasn’t what the Rays had in mind when they acquired Renfroe as part of the deal that sent Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth to the Padres last offseason.

That the Rays were willing to part with talented players to bring Renfroe aboard in the first place, though, speaks to the decent player he’d become in San Diego. Between 2018-19, Renfroe hit .231/.295/.496 with 59 home runs (106 wRC+). That made him slightly better than the average hitter in aggregate, but the shape of that production was more variable. Over the course of his career, Renfroe has mashed (.258/.339/.573) against left-handed pitching, while posting subpar numbers (.216/.268/.449) against righties. That could point to a future as the short side of a platoon, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic) Renfroe could be an everyday option in the grass.

That’s a testament to his defensive aptitude. Despite his size, Renfroe has generally rated as a strong corner outfielder. Over the past three seasons, he’s racked up 23 defensive runs saved between left and right field. Much of that value comes from his plus arm, although Statcast’s range-based metric also pegs Renfroe at five outs above average in that time. That defensive prowess has helped differentiate the former first-rounder from other on-base deficient sluggers around the league. During his final two seasons in San Diego, Renfroe accrued a solid four to five wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

If he can recapture that level of production, Renfroe could find a home in Boston for a few seasons. He remains controllable via arbitration through 2023. In the immediate future, he joins an outfield consisting of Alex Verdugo and Andrew Benintendi (as well as primary designated hitter J.D. Martinez).

Both Verdugo and Benintendi worked in the corner outfield last season in deference to Jackie Bradley Jr. Either could be capable of replacing Bradley, who has since hit free agency, if the Sox see Renfroe as an everyday player. Bloom told reporters (Cotillo link) that Verdugo would open the season in centerfield as things stand but didn’t rule out the possibility of future additions to the outfield.

KBO’s KT Wiz Re-Sign William Cuevas

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10:01PM: The Wiz have announced the deal, with Cuevas’ 2021 salary breaking down as $750K in guaranteed money and $250K in incentives.  The 2022 option is also a mutual/vesting option.

5:35PM: Right-hander William Cuevas is re-signing with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN (Twitter link). His 2021 base salary will check in at $1MM, with additional money available via incentives. The pact also contains a 2022 player option worth $1.7MM, Rojas adds.

Cuevas has spent the past two seasons as an innings eater for the Wiz. He’s tossed 342 frames of 3.84 ERA ball over 57 starts. Along the way, the 30-year-old has amassed 6.45 K/9 against 2.87 BB/9. Cuevas’ run prevention numbers were better in 2019 than they were in 2020, although his strikeout and walk rates were fairly consistent year over year.

Prior to going to South Korea, Cuevas pitched in parts of three MLB seasons with the Red Sox and Tigers. He only managed an 8.06 ERA/5.71 FIP across 22 1/3 innings in that time. He was generally a reliable depth option in the high minors, though, posting Triple-A numbers similar to his KBO performance.

Mets Hire Jared Porter As General Manager

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DECEMBER 13: The Mets have officially announced Porter’s hiring as general manager. He signed a four-year contract.

DECEMBER 12: The Mets have focused their search for a new general manager on Arizona Diamondbacks Assistant GM Jared Porter, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Porter has been talked about in conjunction with a number of front office openings, including the recent Angels’ opening, for which he was a finalist. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirms that the Mets are now working to finalize a four-year agreement with Porter (Twitter links). The two sides are merely working out some final details, adds Heyman.

Porter’s background is in professional scouting, though he isn’t limited to any one area in his current role with the Diamondbacks. Prior to joining the Diamondbacks, he was the Director of Professional Scouting for the Cubs for two seasons, a title he held with the Red Sox from 2012 to 2015. Currently, he’s a Senior VP & Assistant GM to Mike Hazen in Arizona, a position he’s held for since just after winning the World Series with the Cubs. Hazen hired Porter in November of 2016.

Porter has contributed to four World Series winners, including a pair of “cursebreakers” in Boston and Chicago. Sherman offers this assessment of Porter: “Reputation as personable, hardworking, scout at heart who knows analytics, not afraid to make decisions. Theo Epstein disciple.” Porter will work closely now with Sandy Alderson to head up the Mets baseball operations department.

Back in 2017, Porter was kind enough to grant an interview to MLBTR, which can be found in two parts: here and here.

NPB’s Hanshin Tigers To Re-Sign Robert Suarez

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The Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball are re-signing right-hander Robert Suárez, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Suárez will return to the Nishinomiya-based club in 2021 and has a player option for 2022. Altogether, the deal comes with a guarantee in the $6.75MM range, per Morosi.

A 29-year-old reliever, Suárez has spent the past four seasons at Japan’s highest level. He has a cumulative 3.53 ERA across 142.2 relief innings for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and the Tigers. This past season, his first as a Tiger, Suárez logged a 2.24 mark over 52.1 innings, with a solid combination of 8.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.

Suárez has never played affiliated ball in the United States, but he’d drawn some attention from MLB teams this winter on the heels of that strong season, Morosi notes. Instead, he’ll remain with the Tigers, where he figures to again serve as the primary closer for the Central League team.

Royals Re-Sign Bubba Starling, Carlos Sanabria, Foster Griffin

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The Royals have brought back three familiar faces, announcing that outfielder Bubba Starling, right-hander Carlos Sanabria, and left-hander Foster Griffin have all been signed to minor league contracts.  The trio were all cut loose by the Royals within the last two weeks, with Starling being non-tendered and Sanabria and Griffin both electing free agency after being designated for assignment by the club.

Starling is the best-known name of the bunch, owing to his status as the fifth overall pick of the 2011 draft.  A local product from Gardner, Kansas, Starling never put things together in the minors (and considered retiring in 2017) until posting an .806 OPS in 285 PA for Triple-A Omaha in 2019, which earned him his first trip to the big leagues.  Over 261 plate appearances over the 2019-20 seasons, Starling has a .204/.246/.298 slash line against MLB pitching.

Sanabria was claimed off waivers from the Astros in October.  The righty (who turns 24 in January) made his Major League debut in 2020, tossing two innings over two games.  An international signing out of Venezuela in 2014, Sanabria has spent his entire career in Houston’s organization, posting a 3.81 ERA, 2.15 K/BB rate, and 8.9 K/9 over 354 minor league innings and working exclusively as a reliever over the last three seasons.

Griffin also made his MLB debut in 2020, throwing 1 2/3 hitless innings for the Royals on July 27 before suffering a tear in his UCL during that first outing.  Griffin will now miss the entire 2021 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.  The Royals drafted Griffin with the 28th overall pick in 2014, and he has a 4.77 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 7.2 K/9 over 708 innings in Kansas City’s farm system.

Rakuten Golden Eagles To Sign Adam Conley

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Left-hander Adam Conley has agreed to a deal with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, according to SportsGrid’s Craig Mish (via Twitter).  Talks between Conley and the Eagles were first reported by Sponichi Annex two weeks ago.

Once a promising starter in the Marlins rotation, Conley struggled in 2018 but seemed to again turn a corner after taking on a full-time relief role in 2018.  In 2019, however, Conley posted a 6.53 ERA over 60 2/3 innings and was hit hard by both right-handed and left-handed batters.

Conley didn’t make any appearances for the Marlins this past season, as he was placed on the injured list for unspecified reasons (though it was around the time of the Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak) and was then outrighted off the 40-man roster in September.  After opting to become a free agent, the 30-year-old southpaw will now head to Japan for a new chapter of his career.

Minor Transactions: 12/11/20

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The latest minor moves from around the game…

  • The Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they have signed right-hander Josh A. Smith, Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net relays. Smith will earn a $500K salary and could receive another $100K in incentives. The 33-year-old Smith spent last season in Miami, where he was teammates with fellow reliever Josh D. Smith, and struggled to a 6.84 ERA/4.67 FIP with 6.15 K/9 and 3.76 BB/9 in 26 1/3 innings. The Marlins outrighted him at the end of October. Smith has appeared in the majors with four different teams since his 2015 debut and logged a 5.60 ERA/5.27 FIP across 184 2/3 innings.
  • The Reds have signed lefty Jesse Biddle and righty R.J. Alaniz to minor league contracts with invitations to big league camp, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com tweets. The club previously outrighted Biddle and non-tendered Alaniz. Biddle garnered extensive MLB experience with the Braves, Mariners and Rangers from 2018-19, but after offering subpar production in the second of those seasons, he had to settle for a minors pact with the Reds last winter. The 29-year-old did make it back to the majors in 2020, though he only made one appearance. Alaniz, also 29, made his big league debut in 2019, throwing 15 2/3 innings of 16-earned run ball between Seattle and Cincinnati. He didn’t return to the bigs last season.

Mets Sign Jerry Blevins To Minors Deal

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The Mets have signed veteran left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins to a minor league contract, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Blevins will earn a $1.25MM salary if he makes it to the majors, according to Nightengale, who adds that the deal comes with $750K in incentives.

The 37-year-old Blevins has enjoyed some of the finest seasons of his career as a member of the Mets, with whom he previously pitched from 2015-18. Blevins combined for 138 2/3 innings of 3.38 ERA/3.61 FIP ball with 10.77 K/9 and 3.96 BB/9 then, though he struggled in his last season with the Mets and didn’t return to his best form with the Braves in 2019. Blevins didn’t pitch in the majors last season after signing a minors pact with the Giants, who released him in early April.

MLB’s three-batter-minimum rule doesn’t do lefty relievers like Blevins any favors. However, considering how righty-heavy the Mets’ bullpen is, returning to the organization could give Blevins a legitimate shot to get back to the bigs in 2021. Daniel Zamora is the lone southpaw reliever on the Mets’ 40-man roster.

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