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Dodgers, Athletics Swap Kolarek For Neuse In Four-Player Trade

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11:45am: The two teams have announced the trade.

11:02am: The Athletics and Dodgers are in agreement on a trade that’ll sent lefty Adam Kolarek and minor league outfielder Cody Thomas from L.A. to Oakland in exchange for infielder Sheldon Neuse and minor league righty Gus Varland, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter).

Adam Kolarek | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Kolarek, 32, will be an immediate boost to an Oakland bullpen that has lost Liam Hendriks and Joakim Soria this winter and could yet lose Yusmeiro Petit (still a free agent) as well. Kolarek has emerged a ground-ball specialist capable of utterly overwhelming left-handed hitters in recent years, pitching to a combined 3.07 ERA and 3.61 SIERA with a below-average 17.4 percent strikeout rate but strong walk (5.7) and ground-ball (63.3) percentages. He’s controllable for four seasons and won’t be eligible for arbitration until next winter, so he’s a cost-efficient add for an A’s team that has aggressively slashed payroll this winter while eschewing any real expenditures.

The near-term piece headed back to L.A. is the 26-year-old Neuse, who made his MLB debut with Oakland in 2019 but didn’t appear in the Majors this past season. Neuse saw sparing action in his brief debut, taking 61 trips to the plate and batting .250/.295/.304 with a 31 percent strikeout rate. It wasn’t a particularly encouraging debut, but Neuse posted big numbers in his last season of Triple-A ball, hitting .317/.389/.550 with 27 big flies — good for a 126 wRC+.

Sheldon Neuse | Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Neuse has seen some time at second base, but his best position is probably third base, which left him blocked by Matt Chapman in Oakland. His presence gives the Dodgers something of a fallback option in the event that Justin Turner ultimately decides to sign elsewhere, but it’s unlikely that Neuse’s acquisition in any way closes the door on a reunion with Turner. Neuse has a pair of minor league options remaining, making him the type of depth the Dodgers tend to stockpile: a formerly high draft pick who’s a bit old to be a prospect now but has some defensive versatility and a solid upper-minors track record at the plate.

Turning to the minor league pieces in the swap, the A’s will acquire Thomas, a 26-year-old corner outfielder with plenty of power but some swing-and-miss tendencies that limit his overall upside t the plate. The former 13th-round pick hit .236/.308/.443 (108 wRC+) in a Double-A environment that proved to be a hitters’ wasteland in 2019 and batted .285/.355/.497 a year prior in Class-A Advanced.

Thomas went unselected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, illustrating that he’s far from a premium prospect, but he’s a near-MLB bat with a career .219 ISO (slugging minus average) in the minors. It’s conceivable that he could emerge as a big league option in 2021-22.

Varland, 24, was the Athletics’ fourth-round pick back in 2018 and still has just 64 1/3 professional innings under his belt. He didn’t rank prominently among Oakland’s top prospects, though Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs gives him the potential for an above-average heater and slider — albeit with work to do in terms of control and improvement of a third pitch. Varland pitched just 26 1/3 innings at the Class-A Advanced level in 2019, working to a 2.39 ERA and 4.00 FIP with a 27-to-8 K/BB ratio and 37 percent ground-ball rate.

Rangers, Brock Holt Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers are in agreement on a minor league contract with free-agent infielder/outfielder Brock Holt, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). The contract would pay the Lagardere Sports client $1.75MM if he makes the roster. He’ll be in Major League Spring Training.

Holt, 32, had a strong run with the 2018-19 with the Red Sox, hitting at a combined .286/.366/.407 while playing above-average defense at each of second base, third base and the outfield corners. Holt, who also has time at shortstop, still found something of a tepid market last winter and settled for a one-year deal with the Brewers. Things didn’t pan out in Milwaukee, however, as Holt hit just .100/.222/.100 before being cut loose. He bounced back after latching on with the Nationals, however, hitting at a .262/.314/.354 clip in 70 trips to the plate.

With the Rangers, Holt joins fellow non-roster invitee Charlie Culberson as a veteran bench option for manager Chris Woodward. With Isiah Kiner-Falefa now ticketed for everyday work at shortstop and Nick Solak likely getting the lion’s share of time at second base, Holt and Culberson will battle Rougned Odor for playing time at the hot corner as the Rangers organization awaits the eventual arrival of top prospect and former first-rounder Josh Jung.

Blue Jays, Joe Panik Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent infielder Joe Panik, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The Jet Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training and would earn $1.85MM with another $400K available via incentives if he makes the roster.

It’s the second straight minor league pact with Toronto for Panik, who ultimately did crack the 2020 roster and appear in 41 games for the Jays. The longtime Giants infielder tallied 141 trips to the plate with Toronto, batting at a .225/.340/.300 clip with a homer, six doubles and a gaudy 14.2 percent walk rate.

Panik hasn’t hit for much average since his first two years in the Majors, but he’s settled in as a quality defender with a solid walk rate and one of the game’s lower strikeout rates. Dating back to the 2016 season, Panik carries a .255/.324/.366 slash in addition to a 2016 Gold Glove Award for his work at second base. He’s played second base almost exclusively in his MLB career, but Panik was a college shortstop who also saw time at third base with the Blue Jays in 2020.

If he’s able to make their roster a second time, Panik could bounce around the infield as a utility piece. Santiago Espinal is his primary competition on the 40-man roster for that role, though the Jays will also have Richard Urena in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Rays Add Four Pitchers On Minor League Deals

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The Rays are reported to be nearing a big league deal with veteran righty Collin McHugh, but they’ve also been active in minor league free agency this week. Tampa Bay has agreed to non-roster invitations with lefty Brian Moran and right-handers Joey Krehbiel and Louis Head, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ve also signed righty Stetson Allie to a minor league deal and Spring Training invite, as announced by agent Gavin Kahn on Twitter.

Each of Moran and Krehbiel have some big league experience under their belts. Moran, the older brother of Pirates first baseman Colin Moran, has pitched 11 innings between the Marlins and Blue Jays over the past two seasons. He’s surrendered eight runs in that time and displayed some problematic control (14.5 percent walk rate, three hit batters, three wild pitches), but Moran has also whiffed 31 percent of opponents. The 32-year-old has pitched in parts of five Triple-A seasons with a 3.67 ERA and 30.2 percent strikeout rate.

The 28-year-old Krehbiel tossed three scoreless frames for the 2018 D-backs but hasn’t made it back to the Majors since that time. Like Moran, Krehbiel has some bat-missing ability (25 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A) but problematic control that has held him back (12.5 percent walk rate in Triple-A).

Allie may be a familiar name to some due to his status as a once-touted pitching prospect. The 2010 second-rounder was considered one of the top high school arms in the draft and landed on a few Top 100 lists before injuries stalled his career. Allie pivoted and tried to make it as a first baseman/outfielder for several years before returning to the mound on a full-time basis in 2018. He’s spent time with the Pirates, who drafted him, and the Dodgers. He’s yet to make it to the big leagues, but the Rays will hope to coax another level out of the now-29-year-old righty, whose fastball has in the past reached triple digits.

Head, a longtime Indians farmhand who spent 2019 with the Dodgers organization as well, is a career reliever who posted strong numbers through Double-A but hasn’t yet matched that success in Triple-A. He has a 5.46 ERA in 90 2/3 frames of Triple-A ball while striking out just shy of a quarter of opponents against an 11.5 percent walk rate he’ll need to reduce.

Red Sox To Sign Marwin Gonzalez

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The Red Sox have reached an agreement with free-agent utilityman Marwin Gonzalez, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. It’s a one-year, $3MM pact, Feinsand tweets. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Gonzalez can tack on an additional $1.1MM via bonuses based on plate appearances.

This deal will reunite Gonzalez with Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was Houston’s bench coach during Gonzalez’s best season in 2017. Gonzalez played with the Astros from 2012-18, and though it took a couple years for his offense to come around, he became a solid producer at the plate for the club during those last years. The switch-hitter amassed 2,265 plate appearances as an Astro from 2014-18 and batted .271/.328/.438 (111 wRC+) with 70 home runs. He also lined up at every position but pitcher and catcher while with the Astros.

Gonzalez parlayed his all-around success with the Astros into a two-year, $21MM contract with the Twins entering 2019. He continued to provide impressive defensive flexibility in Minnesota, taking the field at all of his previous spots except center field, but his offense faded. The 31-year-old concluded his Twins tenure with a subpar line of .248/.311/.387 (85 wRC+) and 20 homers in 662 trips to the plate.

Although he didn’t produce as hoped as a Twin, it isn’t a surprise Gonzalez garnered interest from several teams this free-agency period. The Blue Jays, one of Boston’s division rivals, were also among the teams fighting for him, per Feinsand. Like fellow new Red Sox utilitman Enrique Hernandez, Gonzalez figures to play all over the diamond for the club. That should include the outfield, as the Red Sox traded one of their previous starters – Andrew Benintendi – on Wednesday.

Tigers To Sign Nomar Mazara

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The Tigers are closing in on a deal with free-agent outfielder Nomar Mazara, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports. It’s a major league contract that will pay Mazara $1.75MM plus incentives, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Mazara was a much-ballyhooed prospect in his younger days, as he entered the pro ranks with a whopping $5MM bonus from the Rangers when he signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011. He topped out as Baseball America’s No. 21 overall prospect in 2016, when he debuted in the majors and played his age-21 season. Mazara got off to a nice start then relative to age, hitting .266/.320/.419 with 20 home runs in 568 plate appearances, but hasn’t progressed much since then.

From 2017-19 as a Ranger, Mazara hit .259/.320/.440 with 59 homers and just 1.2 fWAR across 1,621 trips to the plate. The Rangers decided to part with Mazara after the last of those seasons, sending him to the White Sox for outfield prospect Steele Walker prior to 2020.

Chicago was obviously hoping the proverbial light bulb would go on for Mazara in its uniform, but that didn’t happen. He wound up slashing a disastrous .228/.295/.294 with a single HR and a microscopic .066 isolated power number in 149 PA. The White Sox saw enough and elected to non-tender Mazara in lieu of paying him a projected $5MM-plus in arbitration in 2021.

Mazara is still only 25, so the Tigers will follow the division-rival White Sox in hoping he’ll be able to tap into his potential sometime soon. The left-handed-hitting Mazara has typically had a terrible time against same-handed pitchers, though he has offered league-average offense versus righties. He could at least emerge in Detroit as a platoon partner for fellow corner outfielder Victor Reyes, who has had trouble against righties during his career.

Blue Jays Designate Derek Fisher

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The Blue Jays have designated outfielder Derek Fisher for assignment, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The move clears space for the signing of right-hander David Phelps.

Fisher was the 37th overall pick of the Astros in 2014 and someone who ranked among their top prospects in the ensuing few years, but he hasn’t panned out in the majors thus far. He debuted in 2017 and has since batted .194/.286/.376 with 17 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 458 plate appearances, including 146 with the Blue Jays. Toronto acquired him from Houston in 2019 in a trade that saw righties Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini join the Astros.

Fisher is still just 27 years old, owner of a .289/.379/.520 line with 50 homers in 1,053 Triple-A PA, and not on track to become eligible for free agency until after 2024. All of that suggests another team could take a chance on him in a trade or via waivers. However, Fisher is out of minor league options, meaning he can’t be sent down without going back to the waiver wire.

Mets Designate Brad Brach For Assignment

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The Mets announced that they have designated reliever Brad Brach for assignment. They did so to make room for the signing of infielder Jonathan Villar.

The well-traveled Brach joined the Mets in August 2019, shortly after the Cubs released him, and did well enough in the season’s final weeks for New York to re-sign him entering last year. Brach wasn’t able to follow up on that success, though, as he gave the Mets 12 1/3 innings of eight-earned run ball with just as many walks as strikeouts (14). Also of concern: Brach averaged just over 90 mph on his fastball – far below his lifetime mean of 93.6.

The soon-to-be 35-year-old Brach forewent another trip to free agency this past October when he chose to exercise a $2.075MM player option for 2021. However, Brach could soon head back to the open market if the Mets don’t find a taker for him in a trade, as he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment.

While 2020 was rocky for Brach, he has been durable and adept at preventing runs for most of his career. He has thrown at least 60 innings in six different seasons and has pitched to a 3.39 ERA/3.78 SIERA with an above-average strikeout rate of 25.1 percent over 522 2/3 frames.

Angels Sign Jon Jay To Minor League Contract

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The Angels announced that they have signed veteran outfielder Jon Jay to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported earlier that Jay was close to a deal with a club.

Jay, 36 next month, has appeared with six different teams since he first entered the majors as a Cardinal over a decade ago. His finest years came from 2010-14, all in St. Louis, as Jay overcame low power to post above-average batting averages and on-base percentages en route to a .295/.359/.396 line (112 wRC+) in 2,424 plate appearances.

Jay struggled during his final year as a Cardinal, 2015, but rebounded to log league-average numbers in the ensuing two seasons with the Padres and Cubs (Angels manager Joe Maddon was the Cubs’ skipper then). Since 2018, though, Jay’s output has fallen off a cliff. In a combined 1,258 PA with the Royals, White Sox and Diamondbacks, he batted an underwhelming .272/.337/.347 (86 wRC+). Last season was especially tough for Jay, who hit by far a career-worst .160/.211/.240 as a D-back, though that came over just 57 trips to the plate.

Jay, despite his difficulties in 2020, did parlay a minors deal into a big league roster spot then. He’ll hope to do the same this year as outfield depth for the Angels. The fact that Jay has extensive experience at all three outfield positions surely appealed to the Halos.

Giants Outright Luis Alexander Basabe

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FEB. 11: Basabe cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.

FEB. 4: The Giants have designated outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe for assignment, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to infielder Tommy La Stella, whose three-year deal with the Giants has now been officially announced.

Basabe, 24, was originally signed by the Red Sox but flipped to the White Sox as one of the secondary pieces — behind Michael Kopech and Yoan Moncada — in the blockbuster that brought Chris Sale to Boston. Basabe struggled at Class-A Advanced in 2017 and bounced back with a nice showing between High-A and Double-A in 2018, but he slumped again at those same levels in 2019.

The Giants picked up Basabe in exchange for cash during the 2020 season and afforded him the opportunity to make his MLB debut late in the year. He appeared in nine games and went 2-for-14 with four walks, five strikeouts and a pair of stolen bases.

Basabe was at one point a rather well-regarded prospect — a potential regular in center field who was seen as having a high floor due to above-average range and a strong throwing arm. Another club in need of some center field depth could give him a look based on that defensive prowess, though Basabe is also out of minor league options, so a new team would need to either carry him on the Opening Day roster or again designate him for assignment. A rebuilding club willing to take on a center field project could make some sense, but it’s also possible that the Giants will be able to retain Basabe by passing him through waivers. They’ll have a week to either go that route or trade him now that he’s been removed from the 40-man roster.

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