Rangers Acquire Nate Lowe From Rays
The Rangers are acquiring first baseman Nate Lowe from the Rays for catcher Heriberto Hernandez, infielder Osleivis Basabe and outfielder Alexander Ovalles. The Rays are sending first baseman Jake Guenther and a player to be named later to Texas along with Lowe. Tampa Bay has announced the deal.
Lowe, 25, is the only player in the deal with Major League service time, but he was unable to break into the first-string rotation with Tampa. The Rays have a plethora of options at first base and designated hitter, splitting time primarily between Ji-Man Choi and Yandy Diaz. Yoshi Tsutsugo also fits into the timeshare, while Mike Brosseau and Brandon Lowe are capable of handling the position. There simply wasn’t much room for Lowe to break into a regular role.
Ronald Guzman has kept one foot on the first base bag the last three seasons for the Rangers, but a triple slash of .230/.308/.417 leaves room for an upgrade. The 26-year-old has posted just 0.9 bWAR per 650 plate appearances over that time. Lowe is now in line to take over for Guzman as the Rangers’ primary first baseman, president of baseball operations Jon Daniels told TR Sullivan of MLB.com and other reporters. In 245 plate appearances in 71 games over the past two seasons, Lowe has slashed .251/.322/.447, good for a 106 wRC+. While that may not blow your hat away, conversely, Guzman owns a career 85 wRC+.
Texas fans might remember Guenther from his time at TCU. The Rays chose him in the seventh round of the 2019 draft, giving him time to get just one professional season under his belt. He raked in that time, slashing .320/.431/.423 in the Appalachian League. Despite his lack of professional time, Guenther might be closer to the big leagues than it may seem, as he’ll turn 24 years old in May.
Basabe (No. 20) and Hernandez (24) ranked among the Rangers’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com before the trade. The 20-year-old Basabe has so far topped out in Low-A ball, though he has only accrued 10 plate appearances there. MLB.com is bullish on Basabe, complimenting his contact-oriented skills at the plate and noting his “well-above-average speed” could help him turn into “a dynamic basestealer.”
Hernandez, also 20, has torn the cover off the ball between the rookie and Low-A levels since his professional career began in 2020. To this point, Hernandez has batted .320/.450/.635 with 23 home runs in 473 minor league plate appearances. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Hernandez third in the Rangers’ system last April and argued he could “be a very special hitter,” though Longenhagen isn’t high on his defense behind the plate.
Ovalles, yet another 20-year-old, isn’t as highly regarded as Basabe or Hernandez. He does have the most experience among the three in Low-A (100 plate appearances), but Ovalles only put up a .187/.250/.319 line there in 2019.
Initial news of the trade came from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (via Twitter) noted the inclusion of Basabe as part of the six-player deal. Rangers’ Executive Vice President of Communications John Blake filled in the rest of the deal (via Twitter).
2020 Rule 5 Draft Results
The Rule 5 draft marks the end of this year’s Virtual Winter Meetings. Those unfamiliar with how the draft works can check out MLBTR’s full primer on the event here, but the short version is that teams with open 40-man roster spots can select a player with four to five years of pro experience from other organizations if said player hasn’t been given a spot on the 40-man roster. Players who signed at 18 years of age or younger but have five years of experience can be selected, as can players signed at 19 or older who have four years of experience. Each selection costs $100K, but it’s not mandatory for teams to make picks. Clubs must carry chosen players on their active rosters (or the major league injured list) throughout the entire 2021 season. Otherwise, the player must be placed on waivers; if no other team steps into the Rule 5 rights, the player is offered back to his original club.
This year’s draft brings more uncertainty than usual as teams keep a close eye on their change purses following large-scale revenue losses due to the pandemic. What’s more, the players available in this year’s draft haven’t played organized baseball in more than a year because of the cancellation of the minor league season.
You can find Baseball America’s preview of the festivities right here (subscription required). The Rule 5 order is based on the reverse order of last season’s standings. Here are this year’s results:
First Round
1. Pittsburgh Pirates: Jose Soriano (Angels)
2. Texas Rangers: Brett de Geus (Dodgers)
3. Detroit Tigers: Akil Baddoo (Twins)
4. Boston Red Sox: Garrett Whitlock (Yankees)
5. Baltimore Orioles: Mac Sceroler (Reds)
6. Arizona Diamondbacks: Zach Pop (Royals)
7. Kansas City Royals: Pass
8. Colorado Rockies: Jordan Sheffield (Dodgers)
9. Los Angeles Angels: Jose Alberto Rivera (Astros)
10. New York Mets: Luis Oviedo (Indians), traded to Pirates for cash considerations, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo
11. Washington Nationals: Pass
12. Seattle Mariners: Will Vest (Tigers)
13. Philadelphia Phillies: Kyle Holder (Yankees)
14. San Francisco Giants: Dedniel Nunez (Mets)
15. Houston Astros: Pass
16. Milwaukee Brewers: Pass
17. Miami Marlins: Paul Campbell (Rays)
18. Cincinnati Reds: Pass
19. St. Louis Cardinals: Pass
20. Toronto Blue Jays: No 40-man roster space
21. New York Yankees: Pass
22. Chicago Cubs: Gray Fenter (Orioles)
23. Chicago White Sox: Pass
24. Cleveland Indians: Trevor Stephan (Yankees)
25. Atlanta Braves: Pass
26. Oakland Athletics: Ka’ai Tom (Indians)
27. Minnesota Twins: Pass
28. San Diego Padres: No 40-man roster space
29. Tampa Bay Rays: Pass
30. Los Angeles Dodgers: Pass
Second Round
5. Baltimore Orioles: Tyler Wells (Twins)
26. Oakland Athletics: Dany Jimenez (Blue Jays)
The full results, including the minor league phase, can be found here.
White Sox Sign Adam Eaton
Dec 10: The White Sox have formally announced the signing via a press release, tweets James Fegan of the Athletic.
Dec 8: The White Sox have brought a familiar face back to the South Side, as NBC Sports Chicago’s Chuck Garfien (Twitter link) reports that the Sox have signed outfielder Adam Eaton to a one-year, $7MM contract. The deal contains a club option worth $8.5MM for the 2022 season, with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reporting that the option has a $1MM buyout. Eaton is represented by Diamond Sports Management.
Eaton previously played for the White Sox from 2014-16, emerging as a reliable and productive everyday outfielder over those three seasons. With Chicago embarking on a rebuild, Eaton was traded to the Nationals almost exactly four years ago to the day in a very notable deal that brought the Sox a trio of young arms — Lucas Giolito, Dane Dunning, and Reynaldo Lopez.
Flash forward to today and Giolito is the ace of Chicago’s staff, Lopez is on the roster though perhaps looking at a move to the bullpen after struggling as a starter, and Dunning was just traded to the Rangers yesterday in the swap that brought Lance Lynn to Guaranteed Rate Field. Between adding Lynn and Eaton within 24 hours, the White Sox have now checked two notable items off their offseason to-do list.
After Nomar Mazara didn’t produce much in 2020, the White Sox were known to be looking at outfield help, with such names as Michael Brantley and Joc Pederson linked to the team. (USA Today’s Bob Nightengale also reported this morning that Eaton was “on their radar.”) With Eloy Jimenez in left field and Luis Robert in center, Eaton will be slated for right field, his regular position over the last three years in Washington. Adam Engel, coming off a strong 2020 season, now looks to be set for fourth outfielder duty, though the right-handed hitting Engel could spell the left-handed hitting Eaton when a southpaw is on the mound.
Eaton’s lefty bat will provide some balance to a White Sox lineup that leans to the right, though Eaton will be looking to rebound from his worst offensive season as a starter. He hit .226/.285/.384 over 176 plate appearances for the Nats last season, with his lowest walk rate (6.8%) since 2013. Between this lack of hitting and a tough year defensively (-6.1 UZR/150, -6 Defensive Runs Saved over 335 innings in right field), Eaton was a sub-replacement level player, with -0.5 fWAR. These numbers led the Nationals to decline their club option on Eaton’s services for 2021, instead buying him out for $1.5MM.
The White Sox are clearly hoping that Eaton’s struggles were due to the abbreviated and unusual nature of the 2020 season, and that he’ll produce something closer to his usual numbers (.289/.367/.423 over 3066 PA from 2014-19) under somewhat more normal circumstances next season. The one-year deal doesn’t represent a huge investment on Chicago’s part to see if the 32-year-old Eaton can bounce back, and by signing Eaton rather than investing in a more expensive option like Brantley or Pederson, the Sox now theoretically have more money to spend on other potential roster moves later in the winter.
Mariners, Chris Flexen Agree To Two-Year Deal
The Mariners have agreed to a deal with right-hander Chris Flexen, reports Mike Mayer of MetsMerized (Twitter link). The New York Post’s Ken Davidoff hears the same, adding that Flexen will be guaranteed $4.75MM over two years on the pact. The pact also includes a pair of options for 2023, per Davidoff. There’s a $4MM club option and, if Flexen throws 150 innings in 2022 or 300 frames from 2021-22, an $8MM vesting option. The O’Connell Sports Management client could also make an additional $1MM in performance bonuses, and he’ll earn $250K if he’s traded. The Mariners won’t be able to send Flexen to the minors without his consent, Davidoff adds.
Flexen, 26, was an up-and-down depth piece with the Mets from 2017-19 before signing with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Doosan Bears last winter. While Flexen – a former 14th-round pick – could only muster an 8.07 ERA and a 6.92 FIP in 68 innings as a Met, the right-hander put together a dominant season in South Korea, logging a 3.01 ERA/2.74 FIP with 10.2 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 116 2/3 innings as a member of the Bears’ staff.
Flexen was exclusively a starter for the Bears, though most of his work in the majors so far (16 of 27 appearances) has come out of the bullpen. It’s unclear which role he’ll take for the Mariners, who have Marco Gonzales, Justus Sheffield and Yusei Kikuchi as locks to start next year. Justin Dunn, Nick Margevicius, Ljay Newsome and the just-acquired Robert Dugger represent other 40-man options. General manager Jerry Dipoto said at the outset of the season that he was targeting relief help, so if Flexen doesn’t win a spot in the M’s starting staff, he could be a factor out of their bullpen.
Giants Sign Dominic Leone, Several Others To Minor League Deals
The Giants announced a series of minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training today, with right-handers Dominic Leone, Silvino Bracho and Rico Garcia among them. Lefty Anthony Banda, whom the Giants outrighted at season’s end, is also back on a minors pact. Others invited to camp include right-handers Melvin Adon, Daniel Alvarez, Yunior Marte, Raffi Vizcaino and Sam Wolff, as well as lefty Sam Long and infielder/outfielder Jason Krizan.
Of the group, Leone comes with far and away the most big league experience. The 29-year-old reliever has appeared in parts of seven MLB seasons, pitching to a combined 4.09 ERA with 9.6 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 over the course of 253 innings out of the bullpen. Leone’s peak season came with the Blue Jays in 2017, when he racked up a career-high 70 1/3 innings and struck out a hearty 29 percent of the batters he faced (10.4 K/9).
Following that strong effort, Leone was traded to the Cardinals alongside righty Conner Greene in the deal that sent Randal Grichuk to Toronto. Things didn’t pan out in St. Louis for Leone, who limped through a pair of injury-plagued seasons and ultimately record a 5.15 ERA and 4.77 FIP in 64 2/3 frames as a Cardinal. Although he’s been inconsistent, Leone makes for a sensible enough flier by a Giants club looking high and low for bullpen depth after seeing several key relievers depart in recent years.
Others in the group with MLB experience include former Bracho, a former D-backs reliever, Garcia and Banda. Garcia tossed 10 innings with the Giants in 2019 but has generally been hit hard between his brief time between San Francisco and Colorado. Banda was at one point considered to be one of the game’s top overall pitching prospects but has since had his career derailed by injuries, including Tommy John surgery. He was with the Giants org late in the season but did not pitch in a big league game.
Bracho, 28, was up and down with Arizona from 2015-17 but looked to turn a corner in 2018 when he pitched 31 innings with a 3.19 ERA/3.26 FIP and a 34-to-12 K/BB ratio. However, he missed the entire 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and had his 2020 return slowed this summer when he tested positive for Covid-19. Bracho did make it back to toss an inning with the D-backs, but he hasn’t had a full, healthy season since 2018. With three-plus big years of MLB service, he’s technically controllable through at least the 2023 campaign if he can crack the MLB roster and seize a spot in the San Francisco bullpen.
Giants Re-Sign Chadwick Tromp
Dec. 9: The Giants have announced the deal, which is a Major League contract for Tromp.
Dec. 8: Catcher Chadwick Tromp announced on Twitter that he has re-signed with the Giants (h/t: Maria Guardado of MLB.com). The Giants non-tendered Tromp last week.
Tromp spent his first several professional seasons with the Reds, but he signed a minor league contract with the Giants last offseason and earned a major league opportunity. The 25-year-old finished second among Giants in games played (19) and batted .213/.219/.426 in 64 plate appearances in 2020. While Tromp did hit four home runs over that small sample size, a 20:1 K:BB ratio led to a poor overall line. Defensively, though, Tromp threw out 2-of-6 would-be base stealers (which aligns with his 33 percent rate in the minors) and, according to Statcast, finished in the league’s 67th percentile as a pitch framer.
While Tromp is surely hoping to continue as a major leaguer in 2021, it could be more of an uphill battle than it was this year. After all, starting catcher Buster Posey may return after opting out of the 2020 season. The Giants also still have prized prospect Joey Bart, who led their catchers in games played this past campaign, though it’s possible they will elect to send him to the minors and give the season-opening backup role to Tromp.
KBO Signings: Tucker, Buchanan
As MLB fans wait for free agency to pick up stateside, former big leaguers continue to hammer out deals with teams in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization. We’ll track the latest KBO and NPB re-signings here:
- The Kia Tigers have re-signed outfielder Preston Tucker to a one-year deal worth $1.05MM guaranteed, tweets Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. It’s a $200K raise for Tucker, who has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons, after he gave the Tigers an outstanding .306/.398/.557 slash and 32 home runs in his second season there in 2020. Yoo adds that Tucker has been getting some offseason work in at first base, which could allow the Tigers to use him at multiple positions next year. Tucker is still just 30 years old, so if he continues to mash in the KBO, a return bid to the Majors remains possible. For now, he’ll receive the first seven-figure salary of his career.
- Yoo also tweets that righty David Buchanan has re-upped with the Samsung Lions for a $1MM guarantee and up to $500K worth of performance incentives. Buchanan, 31, had a solid three-year run in Japan before moving to the KBO for the first time in 2020. The former Phillies right-hander gave the Lions 27 starts and 174 2/3 innings of 3.45 ERA ball with averages of 6.2 strikeouts, 2.6 walks and 0.8 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. Buchanan never found his footing in the big leagues, but with this latest contract he’ll have topped $5MM in earnings between NPB and the KBO. And as we’ve seen numerous times in recent offseasons, consistent success in Japan and/or South Korea can always serve as a gateway back to the Majors.
Mel Rojas Jr. Signs With NPB’s Hanshin Tigers
Dec. 9: Rojas is guaranteed $5MM over his two years with Hanshin, reports Hector Gomez of Z Sports 101 in the Dominican Republic (Twitter link). ESPN’s Buster Olney hears the same, adding that Rojas can earn up to $500K worth of incentives in each season of the deal.
Dec. 8: 2020 Korea Baseball Organization MVP Mel Rojas Jr. is heading to Nippon Professional Baseball on a two-year deal, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com. He’ll join the Hanshin Tigers. Financial details aren’t yet available.
Rojas, the son of former major leaguer Mel Rojas, was a third-round pick of the Pirates in 2010. He never reached the majors with the Pirates or the Braves, who acquired him in a minor trade in 2016, but has found his niche overseas.
Rojas signed a $400K contract with the KT Wiz of the KBO in 2017 and then slashed .321/.388/.594 with a whopping 132 home runs in 2,218 plate appearances. The 30-year-old Rojas batted .349/.417/.680 with 47 homers in 628 PA en route to MVP honors in 2020.
Following his tremendous effort this year, Rojas drew major league interest in recent weeks, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes and Steve Adams wrote. However, instead of going to MLB, he will remain in Asia.
Giants Sign Matt Wisler
8:12pm: The deal is official. Wisler has a chance to earn an additional $500K in performance bonuses, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.
9:15am: The Giants are in agreement with righty Matt Wisler on a one-year, $1.15MM contract for the 2021 season, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Wisler was recently a surprise non-tender by the Twins on the heels of a strong 2020 season. The Giants will be able to control Wisler through the 2022 campaign via arbitration.
Wisler, 28, was a waiver claim by the Twins last offseason but emerged as a key bullpen piece in 2020, racking up 25 1/3 frames with a pristine 1.07 ERA on the year. He punched out 35 hitters in that time (12.4 K/9) and recorded a strong 13.9 percent swinging-strike rate, although control issues and good fortune in terms of stranding runners also led fielding-independent metrics to cast a more negative light on his season.
Wisler walked 14 batters (5.0 BB/9) and hit another pair while stranding an unsustainable 99 percent of the runners he allowed. The resulting 3.35 FIP and 4.00 SIERA weren’t quite as rosy as that more rudimentary ERA.
That said, Wisler is still an intriguing addition for a Giants club that is known to be in the market for bullpen help. While he’s not a marquee name by any stretch of the means, Wisler is a former high-end pitching prospect who washed out as a starter but has been more interesting in a bullpen role.
This past season with the Twins, he leaned more aggressively into his slider usage than any pitcher in MLB, tossing the pitch at a ridiculous 83.4 percent rate. The 16.6 percent clip at Wisler threw his four-seamer was just enough to keep hitters off balance, and though they surely knew the slider was coming more often than not, that predictability didn’t matter; in the 92 plate appearances that ended with a Wisler slider, opponents posted a pitiful .148/.250/.222 batting line.
The Twins seemingly weren’t sold on Wisler’s ability to maintain his output. They wrapped up arb deals with all of their players who were tendered contracts prior to or just after last week’s tender deadline. Since cutting Wisler loose, president of baseball ops Derek Falvey has explained that the team couldn’t come to terms with Wisler on a mutually agreeable number but would still be open to a reunion. That won’t happen now, leaving another hole to be filled in the Minnesota ‘pen.
With the Giants, Wisler will join a pretty wide-open late-inning mix. Tyler Rogers, Sam Coonrod, a returning Reyes Moronta and rebound hopeful Trevor Gott comprise the team’s top right-handed options at the moment, while Wandy Peralta and Jarlin Garcia are the most experienced southpaw options of the bunch. Wisler could eventually work his way into some high-leverage spots if he can build on his 2020 success, though he also served as an opener in Minnesota and could be an option to do so with San Francisco as well, depending on how their rotation shapes up.
Mets Sign Trevor Hildenberger To Minor League Contract
The Mets have signed right-handed reliever Trevor Hildenberger to a minor league contract, Andy Martino of SNY tweets.
The 29-year-old Hildenberger will now reunite with Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who coached Hildenberger as an assistant in Minnesota in 2019. Hefner recruited Hildenberger to the Mets, according to Martino.
Hildenberger is a three-year major league veteran whose career got off to a fast start in 2017, as the soft-tossing sidearmer threw 42 innings of 3.21 ERA/3.01 FIP ball with 9.43 K/9, 1.29 BB/9 and a 58.8 percent groundball rate that season. It appeared the Twins had a lights-out reliever then, though Hildenberger’s career went off the rails from 2018-19. He combined for a 6.35 ERA/4.58 FIP with 8.56 K/9, 3.32 BB/9 and a 44.5 percent grounder mark across 89 1/3 innings during those two seasons.
After Hildenberger’s pair of rough campaigns, the Twins non-tendered him last winter. Hildenberger inked a minors deal with the Red Sox a few weeks later, but he didn’t make it back to the big leagues in 2020. Now, along with rejoining Hefner, Hildenberger is reuniting with fellow ex-Twins reliever Trevor May, whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $15.5MM guarantee last week.