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Orioles Claim Chris Shaw, Release Renato Nunez, Designate Thomas Eshelman

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The Orioles announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Thomas Eshelman was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Additionally, the O’s revealed that corner infielder/designated hitter Renato Nunez, whom they designated for assignment last Friday, went unclaimed on waivers and has been released.

Shaw, 26, long seemed like a change-of-scenery candidate for the Giants. The former No. 31 overall draft pick has a productive .280/.328/.538 slash in more than 1000 Triple-A plate appearances, but he’s also struck out in 30 percent of his plate appearances there. He made his big league debut in 2018 but still only has 82 plate appearances, as the new-look Giants front office never seemed as bullish on Shaw as the prior regime that drafted him. Shaw was initially omitted from San Francisco’s 60-man player pool this season, and although he was later added, he never got called up to the big leagues. With the O’s, his left-handed bat will get some looks at first base, in the outfield corners and at designated hitter.

The release of Nunez in many ways opens a spot for Shaw to get an opportunity in Baltimore. While Orioles fans were alarmed to see Nunez, who slugged 43 home runs in just over 800 plate appearances from 2019-20, designated for assignment last week, the move wasn’t necessarily a shock.

Nunez has struggled to get on base even while showing considerable power, and he’s a below-average defender at both infield corners. The market for OBP-challenged, defensively limited sluggers has dried up considerably in recent years, and Nunez was due a raise in arbitration. That he went unclaimed speaks to the fact that his one-dimensional skill set isn’t one that’s valued highly around the game at the moment.

As for the 26-year-old Eshelman, he gave the Orioles an aesthetically pleasing 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 innings this past season, but that mark was likely misleading. Eshelman managed just 16 strikeouts in that time, and while many low-strikeout arms can mitigate damage by keeping the ball on the ground, his 35.9 percent grounder rate makes him a fairly extreme fly-ball pitcher.

Eshelman has just 38 strikeouts in 70 2/3 career innings, and he’s allowed 19 home runs in that time as well — a rate of 2.42 per nine innings pitched. He has a decent minor league track record, but that lack of missed bats and penchant for serving up the long ball has led to a career 5.22 ERA and even higher 6.56 FIP. The Orioles will have a week to trade Eshelman, run him through outright waivers or release him.

Diamondbacks Release Junior Guerra

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The Diamondbacks announced Wednesday that they’ve released right-hander Junior Guerra, who’d previously been designated for assignment last Friday.

Guerra, who’ll turn 36 in January, notched a tidy 3.04 ERA in 23 innings this past season, although his 21-to-15 K/BB ratio and 5.03 SIERA tell another story. The righty was a frequent contributor for the Brewers both out of the bullpen and the rotation prior to signing in Arizona. From 2016-19, he pitched to a combined 3.78 ERA in 416 2/3 frames with Milwaukee.

It seemed quite possible given his control troubles in 2020 and what is expected to be a flooded market for low-cost relievers, however, that Guerra could be cut loose. The D-backs carried a $3.5MM club option on Guerra but instead opted for a $100K buyout. They still retained his rights via arbitration — Guerra has four years, 155 days of MLB service — and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a possible $2.8MM salary for Guerra via that process. Arizona deemed a raise on last year’s $2.55MM salary too steep, however, and Guerra will now be able to explore the market in search of an opportunity with all 30 clubs.

Red Sox Claim Joel Payamps, Designate Robert Stock

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The Red Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Joel Payamps off waivers from the D-backs and designated fellow righty Robert Stock for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Boston also announced that right-hander Ryan Weber and southpaw Matt Hall, both of whom were designated for assignment last Friday, were assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket after clearing outright waivers.

Payamps, 26, has just seven Major League innings under his belt. He’s struggled in a hitter-friendly setting with Triple-A Reno in the Pacific Coast League but was solid in Double-A Jackson in both 2018 and 2019, working to a combined 2.95 ERA with a 135-to-19 K/BB ratio in 128 innings. Payamps has worked as both a starter and a reliever in the minors, and he has a minor league option remaining for the upcoming 2021 season, which surely appeals to the Sox.

Stock, 31, has a big fastball and punched out 14 hitters in 13 1/3 innings with the Red Sox this past season, but he’s battled control issues throughout his MLB career (31 walks, three hit batters, 10 wild pitches in 63 2/3 frames).

The Red Sox gave the journeyman Weber a rotation opportunity in 2020 and held out hopes that he could elevate his game to a new level with some tweaks to his repertoire. However, while Weber managed a respectable 4.40 ERA in 43 innings of work, he also posted a lackluster 27-to-14 K/BB ratio and a 5.54 FIP. Hall was acquired out of the Tigers organization and drew some intrigue for the huge spin on his breaking ball, but he also struggled in a more limited sample with the Red Sox. Both were designated for assignment last Friday as the Sox set their roster in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Pirates Claim Ashton Goudeau

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The Pirates have claimed right-hander Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Rockies, Fansided’s Robert Murray tweets. Colorado designated him for assignment last week when making some moves to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

Goudeau, 28, made his Major League debut with the Rockies this past season but totaled just 8 1/3 innings, during which time he allowed seven runs on 15 hits and a pair of walks with only two strikeouts. Those struggles notwithstanding, Goudeau was terrific at the Double-A level in 2019, where he pitched to a 2.07 ERA and 2.05 FIP with 10.5 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 0.46 HR/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate in 16 starts (78 1/3 innings).

The journeyman righty has bounced from the Royals to the Mariners to the Rockies and now the Pirates so far in his pro career, and he’ll give the Pittsburgh organization some depth either in the rotation or the bullpen. The Pirates’ 40-man roster was full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Goudeau’s acquisition.

Rockies, Reds Swap Jeff Hoffman For Robert Stephenson

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In a challenge trade of sorts, the Rockies and Reds have agreed to swap a pair of former top pitching prospects. The two clubs agreed to a trade Wednesday sending right-hander Jeff Hoffman and minor league righty Case Williams from Colorado to Cincinnati in exchange for right-hander Robert Stephenson and minor league outfielder Jameson Hannah. The Reds have formally announced the swap.

Hoffman, 28 in January, was the ninth overall pick by the Blue Jays in the 2014 draft and went to the Rockies as the centerpiece of the blockbuster deadline swap that shipped Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto. The hope at the time of the deal was that the former East Carolina University ace could develop into a key front-of-the-rotation piece at the ever-challenging Coors Field, but that simply hasn’t panned out.

Jeff Hoffman | John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Hoffman has logged Major League innings in each of the past five seasons but never performed up to those lofty prospect expectations. In a total of 230 2/3 frames at the MLB level, he’s compiled a 6.40 ERA and a similarly discouraging 5.58 FIP. Along the way, Hoffman has averaged 7.7 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and 1.79 HR/9 to go along with a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Unappealing as those baseline numbers are, however, there’s also reason to believe that Hoffman may yet have another gear into which he can tap. As noted here at MLBTR back in May, Hoffman possesses high-end velocity and spin rate on his four-seamer and above-average spin on a curveball that generally befuddled hitters in 2019. The Reds and their affinity for high-spin pitchers may have a different idea about how Hoffman can maximize what looks to at least be a viable two-pitch mix — be it concentrating his four-seamer more in the top of the zone, altering his release point or any number of other possible tweaks.

Hoffman is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to open the 2021 season on the Reds’ roster. If they’re able to successfully tap into his still-dormant potential, he’d be controllable for another four seasons.

The tale of Stephenson in Cincinnati is rather similar. He’s a hard-throwing 27-year-old who is out of minor league options and at various points ranked among the game’s elite pitching prospects but has yet to develop into a consistent producer.

Robert Stephenson | David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Stephenson has had recent success, however, giving the Reds 64 2/3 frames of 3.76 ERA and 3.63 FIP ball with 11.3 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 as recently as 2019. Unfortunately for both the Reds and Stephenson, he followed that up with a ghastly 2020 effort in which he served up 11 runs in just 10 innings — thanks largely to an astonishing eight home runs allowed.

It’s worth noting that Stephenson, like Hoffman, possesses excellent velocity and spin rate on his fastball — both of which contributed to him recording an 18.7 percent swinging-strike rate across the past two seasons. Stephenson’s whiff rate, in fact, ranked among the 99th percentile of all big league relievers in 2019, so there’s plenty of reason to think that he could also emerge (or reemerge) as a viable setup piece for the Rockies. He’s controlled for three more seasons — one less year than they controlled Hoffman.

Hannah, 23, was a second-round pick by the A’s back in 2018 but was traded to the Reds in the 2019 swap that brought righty Tanner Roark to Oakland. He has just one full professional season under his belt after this year’s minor league campaign was canceled, having slashed .274/.339/.369 at Class-A Advanced in ’19. Hannah currently ranks 15th among Cincinnati farmhands at MLB.com and 23rd at FanGraphs, drawing praise for a combination of plus speed, above-average fielding and an average or better hit tool. Hannah lacks power, and scouting reports peg his arm as below average as well.

Williams was the Rockies’ fourth-round pick just this past summer. He’s yet to pitch in a pro game due to the cancellation of the 2020 minor league system and was at least somewhat of a surprise pick, as he didn’t rank in the draft’s top 200 prospects at MLB.com or the top 500 at Baseball America.

However, as GM Jeff Bridich explained to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding at the time, Williams was a local product whom the club had scouted extensively. It’s possible that with a full high school season, of course, Williams would’ve been vaulted onto those pre-draft rankings. And it’s clear that the Rox aren’t the only club intrigued by Williams and his 96 mph heater, as evidenced by the very fact that the Reds have had him included in today’s swap. Indeed, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets that Cincinnati GM Nick Krall now says his team planned to draft Williams before the Rockies snagged him in the fourth round.

Fansided’s Robert Murray first reported that a trade was in place and that Hannah was in the deal. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal added details on the framework (Twitter links) before Murray reported all of the names involved.

Braves Sign Charlie Morton

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The Braves have signed their second veteran starter in as many weeks, announcing on Tuesday that they’ve agreed to a one-year pact with right-hander Charlie Morton. The contract will pay Morton, a client of Jet Sports Management, a guaranteed $15MM for the 2021 season. (The Braves are one of the few clubs who divulge contract details in their press releases.) There are no incentives or no-trade clauses in the deal, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that the Rays were the other finalist in Morton’s market.

Charlie Morton | Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The loss of Morton surely stings for Rays fans, particularly given that his $15MM guarantee matches the sum for which the Rays could’ve retained him had they simply exercised a club option for the upcoming season. It seems that Tampa Bay had hoped to keep Morton at a lesser rate for the upcoming season, perhaps seeking to leverage their proximity to his family’s home in Bradenton, but the market for Morton proved strong. He’ll remain reasonably close to his family — it’s a 75-minute flight from Atlanta to Tampa — and now return to the organization that originally drafted him back in 2002.

Morton, 37, battled some shoulder fatigue and was limited to nine starts and 38 innings in 2020, pitching to a 4.74 ERA in that short time. The down time on the IL after his first two starts clearly did him some good, however, as the veteran righty returned with improved velocity and a 3.72 ERA in seven starts before going on to post a 2.70 ERA through 20 postseason innings. And of course, Morton is just one year removed from a third-place Cy Young finish with the Rays in 2019, when he worked to a 3.05 ERA and 2.81 FIP with 11.1 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 through 194 2/3 regular-season frames.

As has been general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ modus operandi since assuming his post in Atlanta, the Braves have acted quickly to address a clear need — and done so with the addition of short-term contracts for veterans. Morton joins southpaw Drew Smyly, who inked a one-year deal worth $11MM last week, as two new faces who’ll round out the Braves’ rotation behind Mike Soroka, Max Fried and Ian Anderson. The addition of Morton and Smyly likely pushes Kyle Wright out of the Atlanta rotation, although he has minor league options remaining and could head to Triple-A Gwinnett as a depth piece in the event of injury.

The Braves’ signings of both Morton and Smyly will at least allow them to entertain the idea of dealing from their pitching depth to address other needs and strengthen other areas this winter, though. Not only is Wright displaced from the rotation, but each of Sean Newcomb, Bryse Wilson, Touki Toussaint, Huascar Ynoa, Tucker Davidson, Patrick Weigel and Jasseel De La Cruz is now without a clear path to big league innings — at least in the rotation.

Soroka may require some extra time to recover from an Achilles tear that ended his 2020 season, though an exact timeline on his return is still unclear. Wright is the likeliest option to stand in for him early in the year. Some of the names on that alternate arms be used as relievers and others in minor league rotations, but the Atlanta organization clearly has some young pitchers to peddle if they’re interested in virtually any trade asset on the market this winter.

As for the Braves’ payroll, the addition of Morton gives the team $93.7MM guaranteed to 10 players. Adding in an arbitration class projected to be worth roughly $20MM would push the payroll north of $113MM, although the Braves have some non-tender candidates among their ranks (e.g. Luke Jackson, Johan Camargo, Adam Duvall). The club could also look to move the final guaranteed year of center fielder Ender Inciarte’s contract in the coming months.

All of that is crucial to bear in mind as the team looks to retain free-agent left fielder Marcell Ozuna — or possibly to replace him if he lands elsewhere. We’ve not seen Anthopoulos spend at the levels it’d take to sign Ozuna since he took over the GM post in Atlanta, though it’s at least possible he’ll break that trend for Ozuna. To this point, Will Smith’s three-year, $40MM contract is the largest free-agent deal issued under this front office regime. It’s not known what extent the Liberty Media-owned Braves can further spend, but they’re a ways shy of the more than $150MM payroll they stood to carry on Opening Day 2020 (prior to the league shutdown and subsequent prorating of salaries).

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that the two sides were close to a deal. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the agreement and the contract’s value (via Twitter).

Royals Release Glenn Sparkman

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NOV. 23: The Royals announced that they have placed Sparkman on unconditional release waivers.

NOV. 20: The Royals have announced a series of roster moves (via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com). Right-hander Glenn Sparkman and left-hander Gabe Speier have each been designated for assignment, while right-hander Chance Adams cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Omaha. Those moves clear 40-man roster space for four players Kansas City added to protect them from the Rule 5 draft: outfielder Khalil Lee, catcher Sebastian Rivero, and left-handers Daniel Tillo and Angel Zerpa.

The 28-year-old Sparkman pitched in 31 games (23 starts) for Kansas City in 2019. He only managed a 6.02 ERA with a minuscule 13.4% strikeout rate in that time. The swingman started this season in the Royals’ bullpen but went down with a forearm strain after just five appearances.

Unlike Sparkman, Speier is exclusively a reliever. While he’s had some productive minor-league seasons, the 25-year-old hasn’t found much success at the game’s highest level. In seventeen MLB appearances for Kansas City over the past two seasons, Speier pitched to 7.62 ERA while walking an untenable 15.9% of opposing hitters.

Adams underwent Tommy John surgery last month and won’t pitch next season. The former well-regarded Yankee farmhand will try to work his way back into the mix in 2022.

Nippon-Ham Fighters Re-Sign Drew VerHagen

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The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters have re-signed right-hander Drew VerHagen to a new contract, the team announced earlier this week.  The 30-year-old will return to Japan for a second season after a successful 2020 campaign.

A veteran of six MLB seasons, VerHagen posted a 5.11 ERA, 2.08 K/BB rate, 53.9% grounder rate, and 7.1 K/9 over 199 innings with the Tigers from 2014-19.  As you might expect for a groundball specialist, VerHagen’s performance tended to ebb and flow based on his BABIP, with his three highest single-season ERAs (in 2016, 2017, and 2019) coinciding with his three largest BABIP totals.

With his Major League career not making much progress, VerHagen signed with the Fighters last winter, saying that he was “excited” by the chance to work as a starting pitcher.  (He started only eight of his 127 games with Detroit.)  VerHagen took advantage of his new opportunity in 2020, posting a 3.22 ERA, 3.97 K/BB rate, and 9.3 K/9 over 111 2/3 innings for the Fighters.

Hiroshima Carp Acquire Kevin Cron, Dovydas Neverauskas

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Catching up on some signings from earlier this week, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball agreed to one-year deals with first baseman Kevin Cron and right-hander Dovydas Neverauskas.  According to Sports Hochi (hat tip to Patrick Newman of NPBTracker), Cron will earn $1.1MM in the form of an $800K salary and a $300K bonus, while Neverauskas will earn $625K in salary and a $250K bonus.

Cron and Neverauskas were released by the Diamondbacks and Pirates, respectively, within the last month.  It was known at the time that the two players were heading to a team overseas, though specifics weren’t known until the Carp’s announcement.

Since the Diamondbacks have several first base options on the roster, GM Mike Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that “we just felt like if we couldn’t carve out legit opportunity for [Cron,] we should keep in mind there is a window by which he has an opportunity to make money.”  The D’Backs received $500K from the Carp in exchange for Cron’s rights.

After hitting 151 homers over 2765 plate appearances in the Diamondbacks’ minor league system, Cron showed some of that power in his 2019 rookie season, swatting six homers in 79 PA at the MLB level.  Cron couldn’t build on this start, however, and went hitless in 20 plate appearances in 2020, appearing in only eight games for Arizona.

Cron told Piecoro that the move to Japan is “bittersweet” since he enjoyed his time with the D’Backs, but as he heads into his age-28 season, “I might not get this chance again.  It’s a chance to go over there and learn as much as I can and maybe further my game even more and see what happens.”

The only Lithuanian-born player in MLB history, Neverauskas got his big league career off to a solid start in 2017, posting a 3.91 ERA over 25 1/3 relief innings for Pittsburgh.  After that debut year, however, the righty simply couldn’t get on track, as Neverauskas struggled to keep the ball in the yard.  Over 80 2/3 innings with the Bucs from 2017-20, Neverauskas posted a 6.81 ERA, 2.20 K/BB rate, 8.6 K/9, and a whopping 2.2 HR/9.

Looking for silver linings from that performance, Neverauskas did increase his strikeout totals every year, and he has solid velocity on a fastball that averaged 94.8mph (though his velo has steadily dropped after a 97mph average in 2017).  ERA predictors also indicate at least a slightly more favorable perspective on Neverauskas’ results than his 6.81 ERA does, as he has a 5.94 FIP, 4.72 xFIP, and 4.33 SIERA over his Pirates career.

Cubs Sign Five Players To Minor-League Deals

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The Cubs signed five players to minor-league contracts earlier this week. Outfielder Rafael Ortega, right-hander Jake Jewell, catcher Taylor Gushue and left-hander Jerry Vasto are all joining the organization, relays Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. (Marc Delucchi had previously reported Vasto’s signing). Additionally, outfielder Ian Miller has re-signed with Chicago, as noted by MLB.com’s transactions tracker.

The pair of outfielders are probably the most notable players involved. Miller was once a decently-regarded speed/defense prospect in the Mariners’ system. The 28-year-old has logged 18 MLB plate appearances between the Twins and Cubs over the past two seasons. Ortega has seen big league time in four seasons, picking up 447 plate appearances between the Rockies, Angels, Marlins and Braves. The 29-year-old has a career .229/.287/.290 slash line.

Jewell tossed 28.1 relief innings for the 2018-19 Angels. He got knocked around for a 6.99 ERA/6.67 FIP despite mid-90’s velocity. The 27-year-old made it into the Giants’ 60-man player pool in 2020 but didn’t see any MLB action. Similarly, Gushue got to the Nationals’ alternate training site this summer but never made the majors. The former fourth-rounder has a career .240/.309/.396 line in six minor-league seasons. Vasto, 28, pitched in six MLB games with the Rockies and Royals in 2018. He hasn’t seen any game action since, having spent all of 2019 on the minor-league injured list.

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