Twins Outright Ian Gibaut
The Twins announced Friday that right-hander Ian Gibaut went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A St. Paul. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to righty Matt Shoemaker, whose previously reported one-year, $2MM deal is now official. Gibaut will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee for Spring Training.
Minnesota claimed Gibaut, 27, off waivers from the Rangers back on Oct. 30 and held onto him throughout the winter before utilizing his roster spot for a late-offseason addition to the 40-man. He’s spent time in the big leagues both with Texas and Tampa Bay over the past two years, pitching to an ugly 6.08 ERA in 26 2/3 frames. However, Gibaut has also fanned nearly a quarter of the batters he’s faced while showing a heater that averages 95.3 mph. He’s also pitched to a combined 2.53 ERA with a 30.7 percent strikeout rate in 124 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
Gibaut is the third offseason waiver claim the Twins have now managed to pass through waivers in the past week, joining righty Ian Hamilton and lefty Brandon Waddell. That’ll help keep the Twins’ upper minors stocked with some depth that has experience at the big league level to call upon as needed throughout the season. If he ends up being added back to the 40-man roster, he does have a minor league option remaining, which will allow the Twins to shuttle him from Target Field to their new Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul without being required to place him back on waivers.
Padres Sign Keone Kela
FEB. 18: The Padres have announced the signing of Kela to a one-year deal. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that he’ll be guaranteed $1.2MM with another $2.3MM available via incentives.
To make room for Kela on their 40-man roster, they placed righty Trey Wingenter on the 60-day injured list. Wingenter underwent Tommy John surgery last July, so he’s unlikely to pitch much — if at all — in 2021.
FEB. 15: The Padres have signed right-hander Keone Kela, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter). The deal is pending a physical. Perhaps accidentally, Kela broke the news himself in an updated bio on his Instagram page last night, though his bio was soon deleted.
Kela is the latest acquisition in a very busy offseason for the Padres, particularly on the pitching side. The addition of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove to the rotation has pushed some of the younger arms who might have been in contention for starting jobs down into the mix for bullpen time, and San Diego has further augmented its pen by signing Mark Melancon. Kela now joins Melancon and Emilio Pagan as pitchers with past closing experience, should the team prefer to mix and match save opportunities based on situations rather than fully entrust the ninth inning to Drew Pomeranz.
Of course, Kela is far from a lock for such a key role himself considering that he barely pitched in 2020. Between a positive COVID-19 test and then an injured-list stint due to forearm tightness, Kela appeared in only three games for the Pirates last season. This lack of playing time might well have kept him in a Pirates uniform, as he would surely have been a prime trade candidate for the Bucs so close to his entrance into the free agent market.
The 27-year-old Kela has been a source of controversy during his time in Pittsburgh, primarily during a 2019 season that saw him suspended twice. One was a 10-game, league-mandated punishment for throwing at Derek Dietrich and sparking a huge brawl between the Pirates and Reds, and the other was a team-mandated two-game absence for an altercation with a member of the coaching staff.
A change of scenery certainly seemed necessary, and Kela will now join a familiar face in Padres general manager A.J. Preller. The Rangers made Kela a 12th-round pick in the 2012 draft when Preller was still working in the Texas front office, and Kela joins Darvish and Jurickson Profar as prominent ex-Rangers who have made their way to San Diego during Preller’s tenure as GM.
It was in Arlington that Kela emerged as a hard-throwing future closing candidate, finally taking over the ninth inning for Texas during the 2018 season, and the Pirates were planning to use him as a closer prior to the 2020 season. Over six seasons and 216 2/3 innings with the Rangers and Pirates, Kela has a 3.24 ERA and a very strong 30.1% strikeout rate, though he has had some issues with walks (9.4% walk rate) and his spin rates range from average (his fastball) to mediocre (his curve).
Giants Win Arbitration Case Against Donovan Solano
The Giants have won their arbitration case against infielder Donovan Solano, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. Solano will earn $3.25MM in 2021 after filing for $3.9MM.
Solano, who previously appeared in the majors with the Marlins and Yankees, has turned into an unexpected success story since the Giants signed him to a minor league before the 2019 season. Since then, Solano has batted .328/.362/.459 in 431 plate appearances, and though he hasn’t shown much power (.131 ISO, seven home runs), his overall output has still been 20 percent than the league-average mark, according to FanGraphs. Defensively, Solano has mostly lined up at second for the Giants, with whom he has managed one Defensive Run Saved and a minus-3.0 Ultimate Zone Rating in almost 600 innings.
Solano should again earn plenty of playing time in San Francisco in 2021. It could be the 33-year-old’s last season in San Francisco, though, as he’s slated to become a free agent next winter.
Tigers Sign Wily Peralta To Minors Deal
The Tigers have signed right-hander Wily Peralta to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The deal comes with a $1.5MM base salary and up to $300K in incentives.
This is the first we’ve heard about Peralta in quite some time, as he didn’t surface in any rumors after the Royals released him in July 2019. He has not been part of any major league organization since then, though he’ll now get a chance to compete for a spot in the Tigers’ bullpen, Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets.
Peralta, who will turn 32 in May, has spent the majority of his career as a starter between Milwaukee and Kansas City, but all of his outings as a Royal came as a reliever. From 2012-19, Peralta amassed 120 starts and 779 1/3 innings across 211 appearances and pitched to a 4.52 ERA/4.39 SIERA with underwhelming strikeout and walk percentages (16.9 and 8.8), though he did put up an impressive 50.7 percent groundball rate.
Mariners Sign Ken Giles
FEB. 18: It’s a two-year, $7MM guarantee, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Giles will earn a $1MM salary in 2021 and a $5MM salary in 2022. There’s also a $9.5MM option or a $500K buyout for 2023. Additionally, the contract features a $500K signing bonus.
FEB. 11: The Mariners are in agreement on a two-year contract with free-agent reliever Ken Giles, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710 first reported the news. Giles is a client of Rowley Sports Management.
Because he underwent Tommy John surgery as a member of the Blue Jays on Oct. 1, Giles will not be able to help the Mariners in 2021. However, if his recovery goes well, Giles’ history suggests he will emerge as a valuable part of the Mariners’ bullpen the next season. Giles, after all, has logged a 2.74 ERA/2.57 SIERA with well-above-average strikeout and walk rates (33.3 and 7.7 percent, respectively) across a combined 351 innings with the Phillies, Astros and Jays. The 30-year-old right-hander has also converted 115 of 130 save attempts and averaged better than 97 mph on his fastball.
Giles’ elbow issues limited him to 3 2/3 frames last year, but it would be difficult to find many relievers who were harder to face in 2019. That season, Giles threw 53 innings of 1.87 ERA/2.49 SIERA ball and ended up sixth among bullpen arms in K-BB percentage (31.7).
Brian Dozier Announces Retirement
Former All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier announced on Thursday that he’s retiring after a nine-year career in the Majors and at the age of 33.
An eighth-round pick by the Twins back in 2009, Dozier was never considered a premium prospect even within his own organization, topping out as Baseball America’s No. 10 Twins prospect heading into the 2012 season. That didn’t stop the University of Southern Mississippi product from not only making it to the big leagues but to cementing himself as one of the club’s better players of the past decade.
After an inauspicious debut in 2012, Dozier claimed the everyday second base job at Target Field in 2013 and steadily improved his output at the plate over the next several years. In a brief but excellent peak from 2013-17, Dozier was one of the game’s best all-around second basemen, hitting at a .252/.333/.465 clip with 145 home runs, 81 stolen bases and solid defense. Along the way, he won a Gold Glove, made an All-Star team and took home MVP votes in three different seasons. Dozier was worth about 22 wins above replacement in that five-year stretch according to both the Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs versions of the metric.
Unfortunately for both the Twins and for Dozier, he sustained a knee injury early in the 2018 campaign that severely hampered him at the plate. He was traded to the Dodgers that summer and struggled badly down the stretch — hardly the platform any player would want for his first trip to free agency.
Dozier landed a one-year, $9MM deal with the Nationals that winter and served as the club’s primary second baseman for most of the year. In many ways, Dozier enjoyed a rebound campaign, posting a .238/.340/.430 output with 20 homers and 20 doubles alike. His playing time faded late in the year, however, as hot-hitting trade acquisition Asdrubal Cabrera saw more and more of the playing time at second base. Dozier kept his spot on the Nationals’ postseason roster and was hailed as a vital presence in the clubhouse, but he tallied just seven plate appearances during the club’s World Series run.
Dozier signed a minor league deal with the Padres prior to the 2020 season before requesting his release and turning up for a brief seven-game stint with the Mets. That proved to be the final act of Dozier’s career.
All in all, Dozier will head into retirement as a career .244/.325/.441 hitter with 192 home runs, 231 doubles, 21 triples, 105 steals, 664 runs scored and 581 runs driven in. He made an All-Star team, won a Gold Glove, and in his final full season took home a World Series ring for his role in the Nationals’ improbable Cinderella run. Dozier cleared $30MM in salary during a career that Baseball-Reference pegged at 22.7 WAR and FanGraphs valued at 23.7 WAR. Best wishes to Dozier on the next chapter.
Red Sox Claim John Schreiber, Place Chris Sale On 60-Day IL
The Red Sox announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed righty John Schreiber off waivers from the Tigers and placed left-hander Chris Sale on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. The Sale move shouldn’t come as a shock, given that he underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30 last year. It was reported last month that his rehab was expected to come near the back end of the typical 12-15 month recovery time. He’ll likely be an option for the Sox sometime early this summer.
Schreiber, 27 next month, has pitched 28 2/3 innings with Detroit over the past two seasons but has not fared well, logging a 6.28 ERA in that time. Other metrics are more bullish on the former 15th-round pick, however, thanks largely to an above-average 25.6 percent strikeout rate and a very manageable 6.2 percent walk rate. The sidearm-slinging Schreiber has a career 1.99 ERA in four minor league seasons, including a 2.28 mark in 59 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
Schreiber doesn’t throw particularly hard, as is common with sidearmers, but he’s been a thorn in the side of hitters throughout his minor league tenure — righties in particular. Right-handed opponents posted a laughable .192/.270/.311 slash against him in 2019. Beyond that, Schreiber has multiple minor league option years remaining, giving the Red Sox both depth and flexibility with their bullpen should they choose to keep him on the 40-man roster.
Mariners Sign James Paxton
Feb. 18: The Mariners have formally announced their one-year deal with Paxton. Right-hander Andres Munoz, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day IL to open a roster spot.
Feb. 13: The Seattle Mariners have an agreement in place with James Paxton, per Chad Dey of Sportsnet650 (via Twitter). The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal confirms the deal. Paxton will make $8.5MM on a one-year deal with bonuses upping the potential value to $10MM, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). “Big Maple” will earn an additional $750K with 10 games and $750K at 20 games, adds MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Paxton is represented by the Boras Corporation.
By signing for just one season, Paxton will have the opportunity to prove his good health and return to the open market. It’s no small thing that he’ll get to do so in an environment where he’s comfortable, having made T-Mobile Park his home from 2013 to 2018. Assuming good health, Paxton should have no trouble reaching those performance incentives to make this contract a clean $10MM.
Health hasn’t always been Paxton’s strong suit, of course. Before missing most of 2020 with a left flexor strain, Paxton spent time on the injured list with knee inflammation, left forearm contusions twice, lower back inflammation, a strained pectoral muscle, a left elbow contusion, a strained tendon in his middle finger, as well as twice hitting the shelf in 2014 with a left Latissimus dorsi muscle strain (read: back). He made just five starts for the Yankees this season after 29, 28, 24, and 20 the four years prior. Despite the litany of ailments, Paxton had largely persevered before missing most of 2020.
It’s worth mentioning, the Mariners have been clear about their intentions to run out a six-man rotation in 2021. Still, a healthy season would get Paxton well past the 20 games threshold, and the additional time between starts is more likely to help Paxton make it to 20 games than hurt. The 32-year-old will slot near the top of the Mariners’ rotation along with fellow southpaws Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield. Right-handers Chris Flexen and Justin Dunn are expected to round out the six-man crew.
For the Mariners, the deal has little downside. Seattle still has a payroll under $100MM and their long-term flexibility intact. Meanwhile, they get to return Paxton to the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. He made 102 starts over six seasons for the Mariners, earning himself a reputation as a starter with frontline potential by way of a 3.58 ERA/3.13 FIP over 582 1/3 innings to that point. The Mariners dealt him to the Yankees following the 2018 season for Dom Thompson-Williams, Erik Swanson, and Sheffield. The Mariners will now enjoy at least one season of Paxton and Sheffield in the rotation together.
On the diamond, Paxton has the potential to move the needle for the Mariners. Limited to just 20 1/3 inning in 2020, Paxton entered free agency on the heels of an uninspiring 6.64 ERA. His 90.7 mph opponents’ exit velocity was a career-high, and his average heater dipped by about three miles per hour. A 32.1 percent groundball rate continued a two-year spike in flyball rate, which led to more home runs allowed in the Bronx. Prior to joining the Yankees, however, Paxton had a 44.7 percent groundball rate.
Many of Paxton’s other metrics, however, were more bullish. He registered a 4.37 FIP/3.88 SIERA, typically-strong 28.9 percent strikeout rate and a 7.8 percent walk rate that was better than the league average of 9.2 percent. At this price point, betting on a return to his career norms is a reasonable gamble for the M’s, who continue to position themselves as a potential sleeper in a year when the AL West looks more wide open than ever.
Reds Sign Tyler Naquin To Minor League Deal
The Reds announced Thursday that they’ve signed outfielder Tyler Naquin to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. The Excel Sports client and former first-round pick his spent his entire career to date with the Indians.
Naquin, 29, hit the IL early in the 2020 season due to a broken big toe in his right foot. He returned in mid-August and scuffled through one of the worst stretches of his career at the plate, batting just .218/.248/.383 with four homers and a bloated 28.4 percent strikeout rate in 141 trips to the dish. Whether Naquin simply never found his timing at the plate, had difficulty maximizing the use of his lower half due to the injury or both, the struggles resulted in him being non-tendered after the season.
Naquin has had his share of productive stints in the big leagues, including both his rookie campaign in 2016 and a solid showing in 2019. A left-handed hitter, he’s always struggled against left-handed pitching but has handled righties at a solid .281/.329/.454 clip — good for a 105 wRC+ (or production that is five percent better than league average, when weighted for park and league). A healthy Naquin posted strong defensive marks in the outfield corners in 2018-19 as well, though he rated quite poorly as a center fielder during his rookie year.
In Cincinnati, Naquin adds an experienced option to an already muddied mix. Nick Castellanos, Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker and Shogo Akiyama are the favorites for playing time, but the club also has Aristides Aquino, Mark Payton and Scott Heineman on the big league roster, plus similar non-roster invitees in Nicky Delmonico and Dwight Smith Jr.
Indians To Re-Sign Oliver Perez
The Indians and veteran left-handed reliever Oliver Perez have agreed to a new deal, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It’s a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Tom Withers of the Associated Press. The 39-year-old Perez has spent the past three seasons in Cleveland. Perez is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Perez has had something of a late-30s renaissance in Cleveland, pitching to a combined 2.67 ERA and 3.22 SIERA in 91 innings since landing with the Indians back in 2018. His strikeout and walk rates trended in the wrong direction during last year’s shortened slate of games — likely a function of facing more right-handed batters than left-handed batters in a season for the first time since 2014. The three-batter minimum rule for relievers is a detriment to specialist relievers like Perez, but he held his own against righties, who managed only a tame .229/.341/.286 batting line in 41 plate appearances against him.
The Cleveland bullpen is clearly lacking in stability, though fireballer James Karinchak looked every bit the part of a dominant closer in 2020. He’ll be set up by steady Nick Wittgren and the talented but still inexperienced Emmanuel Clase. Righty Adam Plutko figures to give the team some long relief and spot-start innings, and Cleveland has also brought Blake Parker, Heath Hembree and Bryan Shaw into the fold on minor league deals similar to their pact with Perez.