Pirates Acquire Kyle Keller, Designate Edgar Santana
The Pirates have acquired right-hander Kyle Keller from the Angels in exchange for cash considerations, both teams announced. To create roster space, the Pirates noted that right-hander Edgar Santana has been designated for assignment.
Keller hit the DFA wire himself earlier this week, and the 27-year-old now finds himself traded for the second time in 15 months, after joining the Angels in a swap with the Marlins in January 2020. Keller has appeared in each of the last two seasons, with a 4.15 ERA over 13 MLB innings with Miami and Los Angeles, striking out 12 batters but also walking ten.
Working almost exclusively as a reliever throughout his pro career, Keller has a 3.53 ERA and 31.8% strikeout rate over 249 2/3 career innings in Miami’s farm system. Control wasn’t nearly as much of a problem in the minors (8.9% walk rate) was it was at the big league level for Keller, and the Pirates are hoping he can provide some bullpen depth for a pitching staff that has lost both some starting and relief candidates to injury in the early going.
Santana is no stranger to injuries, having undergone Tommy John surgery in September 2018. The rehab process cost Santana all of the 2019 season, and he then missed all of 2020 due to an 80-game PED suspension. As per the terms of the suspension, Santana still had to sit out the first 20 games of this season before being eligible to return to the field.
Before his career was put on pause, Santana delivered solid results in his first two MLB seasons. The right-hander posted a 3.31 ERA/3.77 SIERA over 84 1/3 innings out of Pittsburgh’s bullpen in 2017-18, with an impressive 6.8% walk rate but a below-average 21% strikeout rate.
Mets, Francisco Lindor Agree On Ten-Year Extension
APRIL 5: The Mets have officially announced Lindor’s extension. Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News provides the release here.
MARCH 31: The stalemate is over. The Mets have reportedly come to terms on a ten-year, $341MM contract extension with star shortstop Francisco Lindor, covering the 2022-31 seasons. Lindor will be paid a $21MM singing bonus, followed by flat $32MM salaries in each year of the deal. The contract calls for $5MM of the annual salaries to be deferred, paid annually from 2032-41, for a total of $50MM in deferrals. The deal also contains a 15-team no-trade clause without any opt-out provisions. Lindor is represented by SportsMeter.
The extension is a monumental development, both for the Mets and for the sport as a whole. New York acquired the 27-year-old Lindor, one of the sport’s brightest stars, in an offseason trade with the Indians. Now they’ll ensure he spends the bulk of his career in Queens.
Lindor was the eighth overall draft pick by Cleveland back in 2011. He immediately became one of the game’s top prospects and moved quickly through the minors for a high school draftee, reaching the big leagues by June 2015. Lindor burst onto the scene that year with a .313/.353/.482 slash line as the Indians’ everyday shortstop, earning a runner-up finish in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
That sensational debut set the stage for a run of four consecutive star-level seasons. Between 2016-19, Lindor hit .284/.346/.495 (118 wRC+) with 118 home runs and 81 stolen bases. That’s quality offensive production from any player, but it’s particularly remarkable coming from a shortstop widely regarded as one of the game’s premier defenders. Lindor’s two-way production earned him an All-Star berth and a top 15 finish in AL MVP voting in each of those seasons.
That production did drop off a bit during the abbreviated 2020 season. Lindor played in all sixty games for Cleveland but hit a career-worst .258/.335/.415 (102 wRC+). It seems that average showing is something of a small sample anomaly, though. Lindor kept his strikeout rate at its customary 15.4% range (well better than the league average of 23.4%) while drawing walks in a career-best 9.0% of his plate appearances. His power production took a slight step back, but Lindor’s 89.9 MPH average exit velocity remained solid.
Clearly, the Mets aren’t concerned about that slight offensive downturn. They parted with four well-regarded young players (infielders Amed Rosario and Andrés Giménez and prospects Isaiah Greene and Josh Wolf) to acquire him and starter Carlos Carrasco from the Indians in January. They’re following that up with one of the largest contracts in MLB history.
Working out an extension with Lindor has been the Mets’ hope since they acquired him, but it seemed just a few hours ago the star infielder was headed for the free agent market. Lindor had rather definitively stated he wouldn’t negotiate an extension during the regular season, leaving the parties with dwindling time to work out a deal before tomorrow’s season opener. The Mets originally offered a ten-year, $325MM pact, while Lindor came back with a twelve-year, $385MM counterproposal. With the clock ticking, both sides budged a bit from their original asks, although Lindor ultimately relented on the deal’s length more significantly than the Mets did on the money.
That’s not to say he fared poorly. His deal checks in as the third-largest contract in MLB history in terms of total guarantee. Hardly coincidentally, it tops Fernando Tatís Jr.’s recent $340MM extension with the Padres by the narrowest of margins. The deferred money in Lindor’s deal keeps the contract’s actual value a bit below Tatís’, since none of the latter’s money is deferred. Nevertheless, Lindor picks up a symbolic $1MM more than one of the game’s other top shortstops. By average annual value, meanwhile, Lindor’s $34.1MM comes in sixth all-time. It is also easily the biggest financial outlay in Mets history.
Keeping one of the sport’s best players and most charismatic people for the next decade is certainly a huge development for the Mets on its own. But the Lindor deal also represents something of a symbolic leap for the organization’s future under new owner Steve Cohen. Under the previous ownership group, the Mets’ payrolls were closer to average than the top-of-the-market range one would expect from a team in New York City. The offseason sale of the franchise to Cohen, MLB’s richest owner, brought hope for Mets fans of a massive uptick in spending.
New York had an active winter, but they didn’t make a true splash at the top of free agency, to the consternation of some observers. By extending Lindor, the Mets keep one of the top players in next winter’s class off the market. The 2021-22 free agent shortstop class has drawn plenty of attention. It remains loaded, with Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa and Javier Báez all slated for the open market. Lindor was perhaps the face of that group, though, and he carried as much or greater earning power than his peers.
Because Lindor’s extension begins in 2022, the Mets’ books for the upcoming season are unaffected. The two sides had already agreed to a $22.3MM salary for this season to avoid his final potential trip through arbitration; Lindor will play out the year on that deal. Pushing the extension off a season also keeps the Mets’ competitive balance tax number for 2021 at the same level- around $194MM, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That leaves New York with about $16MM of breathing room if they wish to stay below the $210MM tax threshold this year.
Lindor’s deal will count for $34.1MM (a deal’s average annual value is measured for CBT purposes) against the luxury ledger every year from 2022-31, assuming the luxury tax system is still in place under the terms of the next collective bargaining agreement. The deal pushes the Mets’ actual payroll number in 2022 to over $127MM, per Cot’s, with a projected luxury tax number of $135MM. New York will need to shell out another significant outlay (albeit nothing approaching the Lindor range) if they wish to keep star outfielder Michael Conforto from hitting free agency over the offseason. The Mets and Conforto have talked about an extension this spring and could continue those conversations into the season.
Regardless of what decisions Cohen and team president Sandy Alderson make in the coming months, they’ll be able to build around their new franchise shortstop. In the waning moments before their self-imposed extension deadline, the Mets and Lindor got the deal done.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link) was first to report an agreement had been reached and the deal’s general range, as well as the presence of some deferrals. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was first with terms (Twitter link). Andy Martino of SNY (via Twitter) was first to report the existence of a no-trade clause and the absence of opt-out clauses. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was first to report the deal began in 2022 (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post was first to report the $50MM in deferrals (Twitter link), as well as the yearly rates (Twitter link) and deferrals (on Twitter) and the fifteen-team no-trade clause (on Twitter).
Nationals To Add Kyle McGowin To Active Roster
So far, we know that Sam Clay, Tres Barrera, Luis Garcia and Yadiel Hernandez are being added to the Nationals’ roster before their Tuesday opener, while Jon Lester, Alex Avila, Kyle Schwarber, and Josh Harrison are among the players expected to have their debuts delayed. We can now add right-hander Kyle McGowin to the roster additions, per the Athletic’s Maria Torres (via Twitter). At least one more player from their expected opening day roster will thus be unavailable. Reports have suggested that upwards of nine players could miss time due to contact tracing protocols, so there may be more moves coming.
There was positive buzz around McGowin for the work he’d put in refining his slider this winter. Nats’ fans will get an earlier look than expected. The 29-year-old has seen time in each of the past three seasons for the Nats. He has a 7.53 career ERA/6.20 FIP across 21 appearances (2 starts) spanning 34 2/3 innings. McGowin has primarily been a starter in the minors, though it’s not yet clear what role he’ll play early this season. At least one rotation spot will have to be filled in the short-term, though Erick Fedde or Austin Voth could easily step back into the role they filled in spring training.
Looking ahead, the Nationals are able to add players from off of their 40-man roster as replacements for COVID-related injuries, notes Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Thus far, all the names added to the roster have been on the Nats’ 40-man roster. There are a number of bullpen arms that could be natural adds as well, depending on need, but we should know the full roster by their opener against the Braves on Tuesday.
Dodgers Place Tony Gonsolin On 10-Day Injured List
Prior to today’s game, the Dodgers placed righty Tony Gonsolin on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The placement was retroactive to April 1. Right-hander Dennis Santana was called up from the alternate training site to take Gonsolin’s spot on the active roster.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times) that Gonsolin has been dealing with the shoulder problem “the last few days,” which explains why Gonsolin has yet to make his 2021 debut. Gonsolin had been ticketed for a multi-inning bullpen role to begin the season, though given the Dodgers’ penchant for managing pitchers and the right-hander’s own track record over his short MLB career, Gonsolin is likely in line to receive some proper starts as the year goes along.
Gonsolin has a 2.60 ERA/4.11 SIERA over 86 2/3 innings as a big leaguer, starting 14 of his 20 career games over the 2019-20 seasons. He also started both Game 2 and Game 6 of the World Series last fall, though both of his outings were essentially bullpen games as the Dodgers mixed and matched pitchers throughout the Fall Classic. With generally above-average career metrics, the 26-year-old Gonsolin would likely be seen as promising rotation building block on a team that wasn’t so deep in pitching, and it’s possible the Dodgers might still use him in a more traditional starter role down the road.
Blue Jays Outright Reese McGuire, Breyvic Valera
TODAY: McGuire and Valera have both cleared DFA waivers and been outrighted to the Blue Jays’ alternate training site, as per a team announcement.
APRIL 1: The Blue Jays announced Thursday morning that catcher Reese McGuire and infielder Breyvic Valera have been designated for assignment. Their roster spots will go to infielder Joe Panik and lefty Tim Mayza, whose contracts have formally been selected.
McGuire, 26, was the 14th overall pick by the Pirates back in 2013 and came to the Jays by way of the 2016 Francisco Liriano trade. The longtime top prospect hit well in 2018-19 (.297/.343/.539, seven homers in 138 plate appearances) before his bat fell off a cliff in 2020 (.073/.073/.146 in 45 plate appearances). That downturn in production, a bizarre and troubling Feb. 2020 arrest, and the breakout of fellow catcher Alejandro Kirk all combined to spell the end of McGuire’s days on Toronto’s 40-man roster.
Valera, meanwhile, has bounced around the league via the waiver wire for the past couple seasons. The Jays have claimed the versatile switch-hitter twice in that time, but he’s still only appeared in five games with the club. The 29-year-old Valera is a career .223/.294/.298 hitter in a small sample of 138 plate appearances, but he carries a much more appealing .302/.374/.442 line through 1550 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
The Jays told Panik that he’d made the roster last week, marking the second straight season that he’s cracked their big league club after inking a minor league pact in the offseason. Mayza, 29, pitched 104 innings with the Jays from 2017-19 but missed the 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery that he underwent in Sept. 2019. He’s healthy now and rattled off 6 2/3 shutout innings during Spring Training, yielding just one hit and two walks with six punchouts along the way.
Pirates Designate Tyler Bashlor For Assignment
The Pirates are designating reliever Tyler Bashlor for assignment, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among those to relay. The move opens 40-man roster space for infielder Wilmer Difo, whose previously-reported selection has been made official.
Bashlor, 27, has pitched 62.1 MLB innings with the Mets and Pirates over the past three seasons. He has only a 5.78 ERA with poor strikeout and walk rates (18.5% and 12%, respectively) in that time. Bashlor has been much better in the minors, with a 1.63 ERA in 38.2 Double-A innings and a 3.41 mark in 37 frames at Triple-A.
The Pirates have a week to trade Bashlor or place him on outright waivers. The hard-throwing righty still has a minor-league option remaining, so he can be shuttled back and forth between the majors and the alternate training site/Triple-A for the rest of the year if another team acquires him.
Pirates To Place Ke’Bryan Hayes On Injured List
The Pirates are placing rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on the 10-day injured list due to left wrist inflammation, Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were among those to relay. Infielder Wilmer Difo will be added to the active roster. Difo is not yet on the 40-man roster, so his contract will need to be formally selected.
Additionally, right-hander Kyle Crick has cleared COVID-19 intake protocols and returned to the team after the birth of his child, per a club announcement. Wil Crowe was optioned to the alternate training site to clear active roster space for Crick. Crick’s return filled the Pirates’ 40-man roster, so a corresponding move to clear space for Difo is forthcoming.
Hayes left yesterday’s game after injuring his wrist diving into a bag on a pickoff attempt. X-rays came back negative but an MRI revealed some inflammation. Hayes had issues squeezing his glove this morning so the Pirates elected to shut him down for the time being. There’s no indication at this point his absence is expected to last especially long.
The rebuilding Pirates have plenty of reason to play things cautiously. There’s arguably no more important player in the organization than Hayes, a top prospect who tore the cover off the ball in his brief MLB debut in 2020. Wrist injuries, in particular, can sometimes have a lingering impact on a player’s power potential, so it behooves Pittsburgh to be especially careful.
In Hayes’ absence, Erik González, Phillip Evans and Difo could pick up some extra playing time at third base. Difo was once a frequently deployed utility player for the Nationals, but struggles at the plate caused his playing time to dwindle and ultimately led Washington to cut him loose. The 29-year-old signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh over the winter.
Blue Jays Select Tommy Milone
The Blue Jays announced they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Tommy Milone. Reliever Joel Payamps has been optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move. To clear space on the 40-man roster, the Jays placed reliever Kirby Yates on the 60-day injured list. Yates will miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Toronto signed Milone to a minor league deal in February. The soft-tossing lefty started nine games between the Orioles and Braves in 2020, including getting the nod for Baltimore on Opening Day. After a decent start to the year with the O’s, Milone got knocked around in Atlanta. All told, he pitched to a 6.69 ERA/4.12 SIERA despite a career-best 22.1% strikeout rate (just worse than league average) and a stellar 3.3% walk rate.
Milone has never missed many bats or induced ground balls at an especially strong clip. However, the 34-year-old’s ability to throw strikes at an incredible rate has continued to get him MLB opportunities. When Milone takes the mound for the Jays, he’ll be suiting up for his ninth different team over the past eleven years.
Nationals To Sign Jonathan Lucroy
The Nationals have agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Jonathan Lucroy, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (Twitter links).
Lucroy returned to the free agent market earlier this week when he asked to released from his previous minors deal with the White Sox, since Chicago wasn’t going to include him on the big league roster. The Cubs showed some interest during Lucroy’s brief second stint on the open market, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that the Nats were considering the veteran backstop’s services.
A two-time All-Star in his heyday with the Brewers, Lucroy’s production has fallen off in recent years, as he has hit only .237/.297/.338 over 782 plate appearances with four different organizations since the start of the 2018 season. If Lucroy sees any time on Washington’s active roster, the Nats will become his eighth different franchise, and 2021 will be Lucroy’s 12th Major League season.
Yan Gomes and Alex Avila already provide the Nationals with a veteran tandem behind the plate, and Tres Barrera was also due to be called up before Washington’s season-opening series with the Mets was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Nats’ clubhouse. It’s possible Lucroy could be a replacement for Welington Castillo, who also sided a minor league deal with D.C. over the winter but was sidelined with a shoulder problem throughout Spring Training.
Braves Sign Yolmer Sanchez, Carl Edwards Jr., Jesse Biddle To Minor League Contracts
The Braves have signed infielder Yolmer Sanchez, right-hander Carl Edwards Jr., and left-hander Jesse Biddle to minor league deals, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page. In addition, The Athletic’s David O’Brien reports (via Twitter) that outfielder Phillip Ervin has been outrighted to the club’s alternate training site after Ervin was designated for assignment last week.
Sanchez was seemingly on track to be the Orioles’ regular second baseman heading into the season, though the O’s somewhat surprisingly DFA’ed and then released the veteran infielder last week. It didn’t take long for Sanchez to land another job, with the Braves perhaps looking for some additional infield depth while Ehire Adrianza is away from the team due to a personal matter. (Jason Kipnis and Ryan Goins are two more veteran infield options at the alternate training site.)
Though Sanchez has now been a member of four different organizations, he has still only worn a White Sox uniform at the MLB level. Sanchez hasn’t hit much (.245/.300/.360 in 2459 PA) over his 657 career Major League games, though he has delivered some very impressive glovework as a second baseman and third baseman over his career. His second base expertise was recognized in 2019 when Sanchez won a Gold Glove.
Biddle is back for his second stint in an Atlanta uniform, as he made his big league debut with the Braves back in 2018. Biddle delivered a 3.11 ERA/3.66 SIERA and an above-average 25.2% strikeout rate over 63 2/3 relief innings in that rookie season, and looked to have carved out a niche for himself in the bullpen after being a well-regarded pitching prospect in the Phillies farm system earlier in his career. Since then, however, Biddle has struggled to an 8.16 ERA over 28 2/3 innings with four different clubs in 2019-20.
Edwards is also technically returning to the Braves, as he opted out of his previous minor league deal with the team last week. The 29-year-old posted a 3.06 ERA over 159 relief innings for the Cubs from 2015-18 but Edwards was hit hard during a 2019 season that saw him post an 8.47 ERA over 17 innings with the Cubs and Padres. A shoulder injury hampered Edwards during that season and the injury bug struck again in 2020, as Edwards pitched only 4 2/3 innings for the Mariners before he was sidelined by a forearm strain in early August.