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Blue Jays Sign Caleb Joseph To Minor-League Deal

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The Blue Jays have signed catcher Caleb Joseph to a minor-league contract, reports Jamie Campbell of Sportsnet (via Twitter). The Wasserman client will receive an invitation to major league spring training, Campbell adds.

Joseph is most well-known for his time with the division-rival Orioles. The 33-year-old played in parts of five MLB seasons with Baltimore, serving mostly as the club’s number two option behind the plate. He spent last season in the Diamondbacks’ organization, although he only appeared in twenty MLB games. Joseph spent a little more time with Triple-A Reno, where he hit .265/.324/.481 with seven home runs in 179 plate appearances. On the surface, that looks plenty strong for a catcher, but it was fairly pedestrian in the hitters’ paradise that was the 2019 Pacific Coast League.

Joseph has never been much of a hitter, with just a .223/.270/.350 line (66 wRC+) in 1,358 career MLB plate appearances. He’s long drawn above-average marks as a pitch framer from Baseball Prospectus and has thrown out a strong 31.8% of attempted base stealers over his career, though. Despite the lack of offensive prowess, Joseph makes sense as a defensive-minded backup option.

As things stand, the Jays figure to give the first look behind the dish at the young duo of Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire. That pair drew some trade interest at the start of the offseason, but they remain on hand as spring training approaches.

Royals, Alex Gordon “Getting Close” To Deal

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The Royals are “getting close” to a one-year agreement with outfielder Alex Gordon, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. The financial details of said agreement are yet unknown. Nothing has been finalized yet, but Flanagan expects that an announcement might come in the next couple of days upon the completion of Gordon’s physical.

It’s long been expected that Gordon and the Royals would work out a deal to keep the 35-year-old in the organization with which he’s spent his entire career; Gordon has made it clear that he would opt for retirement if a return to Kansas City wasn’t possible. However, it looks as if the franchise icon will stick around for at least one more year.

Don’t expect Gordon’s earnings in 2020 to drive the Royals’ payroll through the roof. It’s clear he’s no longer the player he was when he was awarded with a contract that would’ve paid him $23MM this year had the Royals exercised his option. So, speculatively, $5MM or so seems like an agreeable price point for the two sides.

Either way, Gordon showed some signs of revitalization at the plate in 2019, especially early in the season. Overall, he managed his best offensive season since 2015 while remaining a reliable defensive presence in his native left field. He collected his seventh career Gold Glove Award for his efforts, and the Royals will surely expect more of the same next year, even at his advanced age.

Before confirmation that Gordon would be returning, the Royals were looking at a projected outfield trio of Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier (who will shift to right field with the signing of third baseman Maikel Franco), and Brett Phillips, the latter of whom is himself a defensive virtuoso but one who has mustered just a .620 OPS in his first three big league seasons.

Blue Jays Sign Ryan Dull To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays are have signed free-agent right-hander Ryan Dull to a minor league contract, according to Robert Murray. The deal comes with an invite to Major League camp.

The 30-year-old Dull split his 2019 season between four organizations, starting the season with the A’s and later being claimed off waivers by the Giants, Yankees, and Blue Jays, with whom he finished the season. He elected free agency after Toronto designated him for assignment in late October, but will now return to the organization with a chance to make the big league roster out of Spring Training.

The last couple of years have not treated Dull well, after he made a name for himself with a stellar 2016 season for the Athletics. He only managed 12 2/3 Major League innings last year while being yanked across the country, and struggled when he did get into games, surrendering 18 earned runs.

He’ll join a Blue Jays bullpen that looks relatively thin at this juncture. He should slot in behind the trio of Ken Giles, Anthony Bass, and new addition Shun Yamaguchi (though the latter could also have a shot at the starting rotation). That puts him on roughly the same footing as a group of inexperienced hurlers that includes Thomas Pannone, Trent Thornton, and Jordan Romano, among others. Dull should have a decent shot at breaking camp with the Major League team, and otherwise looks like a good bet to get a shot at some point this year.

Blue Jays Sign Joe Panik To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays have signed infielder Joe Panik to a minor league contract, reports Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. The deal includes an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, Panik will earn $2.85MM if he cracks the big league roster. Panik is a client of Jet Sports Management.

Panik, 29, is coming off a season in which he saw his six-year tenure with the Giants come to an end, finishing the season with the Mets. He was designated for assignment after posting a meager .627 OPS in 103 games with San Francisco. He fared better in Queens and managed a much more respectable .738 OPS, albeit in just 103 plate appearances. He offers little in the way of power, but consistently ranks among baseball’s best at avoiding strikeouts: for his career, he’s struck out in just 9.4% of his plate appearances. He’s also regarded as a solid defender at second base, though it bears mentioning that the advanced metric Defensive Runs Saved graded him as a net negative in each of the last three seasons.

With his new organization, Panik will have the opportunity to compete with the likes of Brandon Drury, Ruben Tejada, and Breyvic Valera for a roster spot and infield playing time. Cavan Biggio is penciled in as the Opening Day second baseman, but Charlie Montoyo and company could opt for some combination of Panik and Drury at the keystone while shifting Biggio to a more outfield-heavy role.

Reds Sign Jesse Biddle

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The Reds have signed left-handed reliever Jesse Biddle to a minor league contract, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports. The deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Biddle’s the second veteran reliever the Reds have added on a minors pact this week. They previously picked up former White Sox standout Nate Jones on a low-risk accord.

As recently as 2018, Biddle was a standout in his own right. The former first-round pick (2010, Phillies) fired 63 2/3 innings of 3.11 ERA/3.88 FIP ball with 9.47 K/9, 4.38 BB/9 and a sterling 55.6 percent groundball rate as a member of the Braves. But things went south in a hurry for the 28-year-old, who divided his 2019 among the Braves, Mariners and Rangers. Biddle dealt with shoulder troubles and stumbled to an 8.38 ERA/6.46 FIP across 28 frames, and the rest of his numbers also took a turn for the worse. He struck out 8.36 hitters per nine, posted a whopping 7.07 BB/9 and saw his grounder percentage plummet to 45.8. His average fastball velocity also tumbled a bit, going from 94.5 mph the prior season to 93.9.

Despite the difficulties Biddle endured last season, there’s no real harm in taking a flier on him from the Reds’ standpoint. He’ll compete for a spot in a bullpen that has one lefty lock, Amir Garrett, and could also feature Cody Reed.

Red Sox Designate Travis Lakins

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The Red Sox have designated right-hander Travis Lakins for assignment, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. His designation clears roster space for newly acquired southpaw Matt Hall.

This could bring an end to a Boston tenure that began when the team chose Lakins in the sixth round of the 2015 draft. Injuries have been a problem since then for Lakins, once a solid Red Sox prospect who suffered elbow fractures in both the 2016 and ’17 seasons. But Lakins persevered through those issues to make his major league debut last season, when he posted a solid 3.86 ERA/3.64 FIP with a strong 47.2 percent groundball rate across 16 appearances (three starts) and 23 1/3 innings. Lakins didn’t put up particularly impressive strikeout or walk rates, though, as he fanned just under seven batters per nine while recording a 3.86 BB/9.

Lakins spent the majority of last season as a member of Triple-A Pawtucket, with which he struggled to prevent runs after a successful (albeit brief) debut at the minors’ highest level in the previous campaign. The 25-year-old pitched to a 4.60 ERA/4.58 FIP with 8.4 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 over 45 Triple-A frames in 2019.

Cubs Sign Josh Phegley To Minor-League Contract

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The Cubs have signed catcher Josh Phegley to a minor-league contract, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). No further details are available, although it seems likely Phegley will receive an invite to MLB spring training. Phegley is represented by Pro Star Management.

Phegley (32 in February) has been with the A’s the past four seasons. He got his most extensive MLB action in 2019, logging 342 plate appearances of .239/.282/.411 hitting (82 wRC+). That’s passable work at the dish for a catcher, but Phegley’s framing metrics were among the league’s worst. With top prospect Sean Murphy reaching the big leagues last September, Oakland elected to non-tender Phegley after the season.

The Cubs’ catching tandem of Willson Contreras and Víctor Caratini is among the league’s best, so Phegley could have an uphill battle cracking the roster. Contreras, though, has been bandied about as a potential trade candidate this offseason.

Padres Designate Nick Margevicius For Assignment

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The Padres announced today they have designated left-hander Nick Margevicius for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster was needed for the re-signing of reliever Craig Stammen.

Margevicius surprisingly won a spot in the Friars’ rotation last spring. Unfortunately, he failed to stake much of a claim to it thereafter, managing only a 6.79 ERA across 57 MLB innings. He never worked more than six innings in a start and was bumped from the active roster by mid-May. Margevicius returned to the majors later in the season as an opener/reliever, but he continued to start for Double-A Amarillo after being optioned. He fared a bit better there, working to a 4.30 ERA in the Texas League, although it wasn’t quite at the level of his prior minor-league work.

The soft-tossing lefty has never generated many strikeouts. That carried over to the big leagues, where he mustered just a 16% strikeout rate. He’s always had a penchant for throwing strikes, though, and a 62.7% strand rate in the majors surely contributed to his bloated ERA.

Margevicius is only 23 and comes with two remaining option years. Perhaps some team seeking starting pitching depth will take a flyer on him. Wherever he lands, he’ll look to do a better job keeping the ball in the yard after a difficult season on that front.

Padres Re-Sign Craig Stammen

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JANUARY 17: The Padres have announced the deal.

JANUARY 4: The Padres have agreed to a multi-year contract with free-agent righty Craig Stammen, reports Robert Murray. It’s a two-year deal that will guarantee Stammen $9MM through the 2021 season with a team option for a third year, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. If exercised, that $4MM option would raise Stammen’s earnings to a total of $12MM over three years—otherwise, he’ll collect a $1MM buyout. The deal, pending a physical, also includes $500K in yearly incentives (Twitter link), bringing the overall potential payout to $13.5MM. Stammen is represented by Paragon Sports International.

Stammen, 35, has spent the last three seasons with San Diego and has been an indispensable piece in a solid bullpen unit, with the Padres relying heavily on his right arm in the late innings: his 241 1/3 innings pitched since 2017 are the second most among all relievers during that span, with only Yusmeiro Petit pitching more in relief.

Not only has he been durable, but Stammen has quietly been one of the best bullpen arms in baseball since joining the Padres, posting a 3.06 ERA with the team; Fangraphs’ WAR metric ranks him as the 36th-best reliever over the last three years. He has served as a stellar second fiddle to relief ace Kirby Yates, with the pair anchoring a bullpen that was among the best in the National League in 2019.

Last year, Stammen notched a 3.29 ERA (4.12 FIP) in 82 innings for the Friars, striking out 73 batters and walking just 15. He’s proven to excel at preventing bases on balls, but he’s had some trouble preventing home runs, with opponents averaging 1.4 HR/9 against him. Not surprisingly, his best season came in 2018 when he allowed just three homers all year, but that was buoyed by a perhaps abnormally low 4.9% HR/FB rate.

The San Diego bullpen looks to once again receive top marks in 2020, with Stammen and Yates returning and free-agent signee Drew Pomeranz adding a solid lefty to the late-inning blueprint. There are a couple of wild cards in the mix, but the likes of Pierce Johnson, Matt Strahm, and Andres Muñoz have the potential to alleviate the workload of the high-leverage arms. If the offense, bolstered by Tommy Pham and (fingers crossed) a full year of Fernando Tatis Jr., can take a leap forward, one hopes that the likes of Yates and Stammen will more often be put in a winning position.

Stammen will play the 2020 season at age 36, so while he will no doubt remain a key cog in that San Diego ’pen, it’s reasonable to expect a slightly lighter workload for the veteran moving forward. He missed nearly all of 2015 with an elbow injury, but he’s quelled any lingering concerns about his durability with a weighty role in recent years. His new contract falls right about in line with the two-year, $10MM deal MLBTR projected for Stammen at the beginning of the offseason, and he’ll of course have the chance to tack on another year if he can keep up his current production.

Cubs Acquire Casey Sadler

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The Cubs have acquired right-hander Casey Sadler from the Dodgers, per team announcements. Minor league infielder Clayton Daniel is headed back to L.A. Sadler lost his spot on the Dodgers’ 40-man when the club signed Alex Wood. The Cubs’ 40-man roster now sits at 39.

Sadler, 29, pitched to a stellar 2.14 ERA in 46.1 innings between the Rays and Dodgers in 2019. As might be expected, his peripherals hardly supported that level of run prevention. A below-average 9.1% swinging strike rate and 16% strikeout rate contributed to a 4.38 FIP. To Sadler’s credit, he did limit walks and features elite spin on his fastball and curveball. Perhaps he’ll be able to overcome some likely regression in his BABIP allowed and strand rate if he can better actualize his raw stuff in Chicago. Sadler’s out of options, so he’ll have to stick on the Cubs’ active roster or else again be traded or exposed to waivers.

Daniel, 24, has reached Double-A, albeit briefly. In 501 professional plate appearances, mostly in the low minors, the Jacksonville State product has compiled a .290/.367/.379 line with nearly as many walks (52) as strikeouts (53). The former 31st-rounder has logged starts at second, short, and third base, with much of that work coming in the middle infield.

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