Marlins Sign Ross Detwiler To Major League Contract
TODAY: Detwiler will earn $850K in guaranteed money, Craig Mish reports (via Twitter), with another $100K available in potential incentives.
JANUARY 1: The Marlins have signed left-hander Ross Detwiler to a major league contract, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets. It’s a one-year deal for the CAA Sports client.
Detwiler was the sixth overall pick of the Nationals in 2007, and while he did stick with the organization through 2014, he has bounced around since then. He spent parts of 2015-20 with the Rangers, Braves, Cleveland, Athletics, Mariners and White Sox, and there were multiple independent league stints mixed in there.
Although Detwiler has seldom posted impressive production in the majors, he did perform well out of the White Sox’s bullpen last season, finishing with a 3.20 ERA/3.90 FIP with 6.86 K/9, 2.29 BB/9 and an excellent 58.3 percent groundball rate in 19 2/3 innings of work. Detwiler spent all of 2020 as a reliever, and if that’s his role in Miami, he could help a bullpen that ranked last in the National League in ERA (5.50) and FIP (5.65) a season ago.
Marlins Designate Stephen Tarpley For Assignment
The Marlins have announced that left-hander Stephen Tarpley has been designated for assignment. The move creates roster space for Ross Detwiler, whose signing is now official.
Acquired from the Yankees just shy of a year ago, Tarpley missed a month of the 2020 season due to an oblique strain and otherwise struggled over 11 innings with Miami. The southpaw posted a 9.00 ERA while allowing two homers and eight walks during his small sample size of work. While Tarpley has a 5.8 BB/9 and 1.6 HR/9 over his 44 2/3 career MLB innings with the Marlins and Yankees, he has been almost an entirely different hurler over his 450 2/3 minor league innings — he owns a modest 3.0 BB/9 and only an 0.4 HR/9, while posting often extreme groundball numbers.
With this intriguing resume, it isn’t out of the question that Tarpley is claimed by another team during his DFA period in the hope that another change of scenery could unlock some late-career (Tarpley turns 28 in February) potential. A third-round pick for the Orioles in the 2013 draft, Tarpley also spent some time in the Pirates’ farm system during his career.
Yankees, Socrates Brito Agree To Minor League Deal
The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Socrates Brito, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The MAS+ client will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Brito, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Pirates last year and opened the shortened season in Pittsburgh’s 60-man player pool at their alternate training site in Altoona. However, Brito opted out of the remainder of the year in September following the tragic loss of his brother to Covid-19.
He’ll now join a Yankees club that has seen plenty of outfield injuries over the past couple of seasons, which could afford him another opportunity in the big leagues. Brito has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors between Arizona and Toronto, but he’s yet to replicate the solid production he posted in his first cup of coffee when he batted .303/.324/.455 in 18 games with the 2015 D-backs. Brito carries just a .525 OPS in 218 Major League plate appearances, but he’s notched a much more impressive .297/.345/.491 batting line in 1541 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
NC Dinos Re-Sign Aaron Altherr, Drew Rucinski
The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization kicked off the New Year by announcing that they’ve re-signed outfielder Aaron Altherr and right-hander Drew Rucinski to new one-year contracts for the 2021 season. Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net tweets that Altherr’s deal comes with a $1.3MM guarantee and another $100K available via incentives, while Rucinski will be paid $1.6MM with up to $200K of incentives. Altherr is represented by All Bases Covered. Rucinski is represented by Paragon Sports.
Altherr, 30 next month, had some success with the Phillies in 2015 and 2017 but never fully established himself as a big league regular. By 2019, he was designated for assignment multiple times and split the season between three clubs, going just 5-for-61 at the MLB level.
It was a different story in South Korea for Altherr. He mashed opposing pitching at a .278/.352/.541 clip and belted 31 home runs, 20 doubles and seven triples to go along with 22 steals in 25 tries. Altherr was 27 percent better than a league-average hitter, by measure of wRC+, so it’s not a surprise that the KBO-champion Dinos sought to bring him back for a return effort.
Rucinski, who turned 32 just two days ago, will return for a third season with the Dinos. The former Indians and Angels farmhand made it to the Majors as an undrafted free agent, logging a combined 54 innings between the Halos, Twins and Marlins from 2014-18 — albeit without much success. He’s found a home with the Dinos, however, pitching to an identical 3.05 ERA in each of his first two seasons there. Rucinski racked up 183 innings in 2020, averaging 8.2 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine frames along the way.
Padres Designate Greg Allen
The Padres announced that they have designated outfielder Greg Allen for assignment. The move creates 40-man roster space for newly signed infielder Ha-Seong Kim, whose deal is official.
Allen joined the Padres as a secondary piece in the blockbuster August trade that also sent right-hander Mike Clevinger from Cleveland to San Diego, though the outfielder only played in one game with his new team. He ended the year as a .154/.281/.308 hitter with one home run in 32 plate appearances between the two clubs.
Last season’s 61 wRC+ was essentially par for the course for the 27-year-old Allen, who has batted .239/.298/.343 (69 wRC+) over 618 PA since he first played in the majors in 2017. Allen has lined up at all three outfield positions and combined for four Defensive Runs Saved, which is a plus; on the other hand, Allen’s offensive struggles and total lack of minor league options shouldn’t do him any favors as he reaches DFA limbo.
Padres Sign Ha-Seong Kim
DEC. 31, 6:06pm: The Padres have announced Kim’s signing. His deal includes a mutual option for 2025. The option could increase the value to $39MM, Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News reports. Yoo adds that the Heroes will receive $5.25MM as the posting fee.
5:21pm:Kim’s actually guaranteed $28MM, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. He could earn a maximum of $32MM based on incentives for plate appearances.
DEC. 28: The Padres have reached an agreement to sign free-agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic (Twitter link). Kim, a client of ISE Baseball, will receive a four-year, $25MM contract according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Kim, 25, became available to MLB clubs earlier this month when his KBO team, the Kiwoom Heroes, posted him for bidding.
Kim debuted as a teenager in the KBO, allowing him to push for his team to post him at a much earlier age than most stars in South Korea and Japan. Because of his youth and excellent track record, Kim was among the more desirable free agents on the market this winter, landing seventh on MLBTR’s Top 50 list back in November.
Throughout his career to date, Kim has been an above-average player in Korea, but his game soared to new heights in 2019 even as the KBO altered the composition of its ball in order to cut back on the league’s hitter-friendly environment. Since 2019, Kim has batted .307/.393/.500 with 49 home runs, 62 doubles, three triples and a 56-for-62 showing in stolen base attempts. He’s been 42 percent better than a league-average hitter there over the past two seasons, by measure of wRC+. Back in May, Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser wrote that signing Kim would be akin to inking a Top 100 prospect. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen have expressed similar sentiments, calling Kim a potential regular at second base, shortstop or third base in MLB.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that San Diego’s plan is to play Kim at second base and move 2020 Rookie of the Year runner-up Jake Cronenworth to left field. Of course, at this point it’s not wise to make any assumptions about just how the Padres’ roster will take shape. General manager A.J. Preller agreed to acquire Blake Snell from the Rays just last night and is simultaneously “deep” into talks to acquire Yu Darvish and perhaps some catching help — either Willson Contreras or Victor Caratini — from the Cubs. Until we know the players headed back to Chicago in that potential swap, it’s hard to gauge exactly how things will look.
At this point, however, it should be expected that Kim will be utilized on a near-everyday basis — be it as the primary second baseman or as an oft-used super-utility player. Kim is an above-average defender at shortstop, per Longenhagen, who cites “expansive” lateral range and a plus-plus throwing arm as the primary factors working in his favor. Generally speaking, most players capable of playing a strong shortstop are well-equipped to provide good defense at either second or third base, so Kim has the potential to impact the Friars on both sides of the ball.
There figures to be an adjustment period at the plate, given the gap between KBO pitching and MLB pitching, but Kim struck out at just a 10.9 percent clip in 2020. Even with inevitable regression as he gets used to better velocity, those bat-to-ball skills should give him a chance to hold his own right out of the gate.
Whether it’s Darvish or someone else, other moves figure to follow now that agreements to bring Kim and Snell to San Diego are in place. Preller has shown in the past that his additions come in rapid succession, and his activity over the past 24 hours seems to suggest that we’re in the midst of another deluge of Padres moves.
White Sox, Evan Marshall Avoid Arbitration
The White Sox and right-hander Evan Marshall have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $2MM, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
Marshall, a client of ISE Baseball, was outstanding for the South Siders in 2020. The 30-year-old righty tossed 22 2/3 innings with a 2.38 ERA and even better 2.04 FIP — thanks largely to a 30-to-7 K/BB ratio and a terrific 54.6 percent ground-ball rate. That marked the second consecutive sub-2.50 ERA season for Marshall, who was cut loose by each of the D-backs, Mariners and Indians in 2017-18 before emerging as a key bullpen piece in Chicago after signing a minor league deal with the Sox.
At present, Marshall projects as one of the top late-inning relievers for the White Sox, although the expectation is that they’ll add at least one late-inning arm between now and Opening Day — particularly given the fact that closer Alex Colome is a free agent. Colome himself seems like a candidate for a reunion, and the Sox have also been linked to Liam Hendriks, among others.
Marshall is the second player in as many days to avoid arbitration with the White Sox. Adam Engel signed a one-year, $1.375MM deal with the Sox yesterday. With Marshall now joining him in signing for the upcoming season, only right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez remain among Chicago’s arbitration class.
Eric Thames To Sign With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants
Slugger Eric Thames is in agreement on a one-year deal with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, as first reported by Sports Hochi. Reports out of Japan have pegged the one-year contract’s value in the vicinity of $1.2MM, though the precise number remains unclear. Thames is repped by Apex Baseball.
Thames becomes the second former Brewers first baseman to join the Giants in as many days, as Justin Smoak is also reported to be wrapping up a deal to join the Giants. That could mean that one or both will spend ample time at designated hitter, and Thames of course has plenty of experience playing the outfield corners as well.
The 2020 season was a tough one for Thames, who inked a one-year pact with the Nationals last winter. The 34-year-old had a productive three-year run with the Brewers (.241/.343/.504 with 72 homers and a 118 wRC+), but his lone season in D.C. resulted in a .203/.300/.317 batting line through 140 trips to the plate.
Thames is no stranger to playing overseas, having starred for the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization from 2014-16 before returning to MLB with the Brewers in 2017. This will mark his first action in NPB, however. Depending on how the 2021 season plays out for Thames, he should again be an interesting free agent next winter. With a productive year for the Giants, it’s easy to see him drawing legitimate interest from all three of MLB, NPB and the KBO a year from now.
White Sox, Adam Engel Avoid Arbitration
The White Sox have signed outfielder Adam Engel to a one-year deal worth $1.375MM, avoiding arbitration, per a team announcement.
Engel, 29, had a nice year with the ChiSox in 2020, albeit in a tiny sample of 93 plate appearances. In that time, he put together a career-best .295/.333/.477 slash, adding in three homers, five doubles, a triple and a stolen base. That type of production is a far sight from the tepid .215/.271/.330 batting line that Engel carried into the 2020 campaign.
Of course, Engel won’t be pressed into everyday duties with the Sox in 2021. He’s expected to pair with the team’s other Adam E. (Adam Eaton) to form a right field platoon. Engel is a career .257/.303/.386 hitter against lefties, and while that’s still a rather modest line, it’s passable when factoring in his strong outfield defense and his above-average speed.
This was Engel’s first year of arbitration eligibility. He’ll be eligible twice more and is on track to reach free agency following the 2023 season. With his case now settled, the South Siders’ remaining three arbitration players in need of contracts are right-handers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Evan Marshall.
Mariners Sign Jimmy Yacabonis To Minor League Deal
The Mariners are in agreement on a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Jimmy Yacabonis, per an announcement from the team’s player development department.
Yacabonis, 28, tossed 2 1/3 innings for the Mariners in 2020 before being dropped from the 40-man roster in mid-September. He’d opened the season in the Padres’ 60-man player pool but was traded to Seattle for cash in mid-August.
The 2020 season marked Yacabonis’ first big league experience outside of Baltimore. The former 13th-round pick pitched extensively out of the Orioles’ bullpen each season from 2017-19 but struggled to a 5.75 ERA through 101 2/3 frames. Yacabonis doesn’t have much of a big league track record, but he gets well above-average movement on his pitches, which has been enough to pique the interest of several clubs. He also has solid velocity and above-average spin on his four-seamer, although he scrapped that pitch entirely in favor of a sinker during his brief 2020 showing with the Mariners. He’ll likely head to Triple-A Tacoma to open the season and give the M’s some depth should a need arise.