Padres Sign Brian O’Grady To Major League Contract
The Padres announced that they have signed outfielder Brian O’Grady to a major league contract. O’Grady cleared waivers with the Rays a couple weeks back and became a free agent.
O’Grady first joined the Reds as an eighth-round pick in the 2014 draft, eventually reaching the majors for the first time in 2019 after posting respectable numbers throughout his time in the minors. O’Grady was especially effective in Triple-A ball from 2018-19, when he slashed .286/.360/.553 with 36 home runs in 649 plate appearances.
Despite his success at the minors’ highest level, O’Grady hasn’t gotten much of a chance to establish himself in the majors, where he has batted .213/.302/.447 with two homers in 53 trips to the plate. After he collected 48 PA with the Reds in 2019, the team traded him to the Rays last offseason. The 28-year-old didn’t factor in much for Tampa Bay, though, and now he’ll try to earn a spot on a Padres club that already has Trent Grisham, Tommy Pham, Wil Myers, Greg Allen, Jorge Mateo and Jorge Ona as outfielders on its 40-man roster.
Royals Sign Carlos Santana
3:03PM: The Royals have officially announced the signing.
1:06PM: The Royals have agreed to a two-year deal with free agent first baseman Carlos Santana, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). The contract is worth $17.5MM in guaranteed money, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link), with another $1MM available in incentives. The majority of the money will come in 2022, as the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reports that Santana will earn $7MM in 2021 and then $10.5MM in the second year of the deal. Santana is represented by Octagon’s Ulises Cabrera and Brian Mejia.
The $17.5MM matches what Santana would have earned in 2021 had the Indians exercised their club option on his services. Instead, Cleveland declined the option and bought Santana out for $500K, sending him into free agency.
This is the Royals’ second notable two-year free agent contract in as many weeks, following their two-year pact with Mike Minor worth $19MM in guaranteed money. Kansas City had over $23.5MM coming off their books in the form of expired contracts for Ian Kennedy and Alex Gordon and Maikel Franco being non-tendered, and now just about all of that money has been reinvested in the form of Santana, Minor, and Michael A. Taylor.
As a smaller-market team facing a bigger financial hit than most clubs in 2020 given the lack of revenue-sharing funds, this type of aggressive spending from the Royals is a little surprising, yet it signals that owner John Sherman (who bought the team last offseason) is willing to green-light some significant roster upgrades. GM Dayton Moore openly said that he plans to field a competitive team in 2021, and while the Twins, White Sox and (even likely without Francisco Lindor) Indians still loom as powers in the AL Central, the organization clearly feels it is possible to contend.
Kansas City is very familiar with Santana over his years in Cleveland, and Santana has more career home runs (31) and RBI (93) against the Royals than any other opponent over his 11 Major League seasons. 2020, however, was a down year for veteran, as he hit .199/.349/.350 over 255 plate appearances for the Tribe — the lowest numbers Santana has ever posted in all three slash-line categories. While he still led the American League with 47 walks, Santana’s power numbers dropped significantly, and he posted his lowest hard-hit ball and barrel percentage (as per Statcast) of the last six seasons.
It isn’t what you want to see out of a player entering his age-35 season, making it somewhat surprising that Santana was able to land such a healthy two-year guarantee in free agency. (MLBTR projected Santana for a one-year, $6MM deal.) Still, Santana had only a .212 BABIP last season and his .360 xwOBA far outpaced his .311 wOBA, so some misfortune was baked into his lackluster results. Combine this lack of batted-ball luck with the small sample size of the shortened 2020 season, and there’s certainly reason to imagine Santana could look like his old self next year. It was just in 2019 that Santana hit .281/.397/.515 with 34 homers for Cleveland, earning the first All-Star and Silver Slugger nods of his long career.
Santana played all 60 games at first base last season, with somewhat mixed reviews (+5 Defensive Runs Saved, but -2.0 UZR./150 and -2 Outs Above Average) depending on the metric. Still, Santana has long been at least an average defender at first base, so he is likely to get the bulk of playing time at the position in 2021, with likely a fair number of DH days included to keep him fresh.
With Santana at first base and Franco gone, it now looks at if Hunter Dozier will slide back across the diamond to play third base. Dozier didn’t exactly shine defensively in his previous stints at third base, so there is some possible room for flexibility within the Royals’ lineups. Speculatively, Dozier could see some time in the outfield and Whit Merrifield could get some time at the hot corner, though Merrifield hasn’t played third base since 2017. If Bobby Witt Jr. is called up at some point in 2021, K.C. could also deploy the star prospect at third base.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
White Sox Acquire Lance Lynn
TODAY: The White Sox and Rangers have officially announced the trade.
DECMEBER 7, 11:57pm: The Rangers will also acquire lefty Avery Weems, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relays.
10:59pm: The White Sox are acquiring right-hander Lance Lynn from the Rangers, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Righty Dane Dunning is heading to Texas in the return, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The Rangers will also receive a second player, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. It’ll be another young pitcher, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
This is a major pickup for the White Sox, who are landing one of the most coveted arms on the trade market. Lynn was an innings-eating stalwart with the Cardinals for a large portion of 2011-17. Lynn then signed a one-year, $12MM contract with the Twins, and though he didn’t fare especially well with the club, he rebounded after a second-half trade to the Yankees and has continued to hold his own since then.
Lynn signed a three-year, $30MM guarantee with the Rangers before 2019, and that deal worked out brilliantly for the club. He posted a terrific 3.57 ERA/3.43 FIP with 10.31 K/9 and 2.59 BB/9 in 292 1/3 innings as a member of the team. The 33-year-old could have continued to serve as an asset for the Rangers’ rotation next season, but with the Rangers in a rebuild, president of baseball operations Jon Daniels and new general manager Chris Young elected to go in a different direction.
At one year and $8MM, Lynn will give Chicago – which is coming off its first playoff berth since 2008 – an affordable and effective No. 3 to plug into its rotation behind Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel. The White Sox also have Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez in line to compete for starting spots next year.
Considering the Rangers appear unlikely to vie for a playoff spot next year, their return looks good for one season of Lynn’s services.
Dunning, who will turn 26 later this month, is a former first-round pick and an an ex-top 100 prospect who is coming off an encouraging debut with the White Sox. Chicago originally acquired Dunning (not to mention Giolito and Lopez) from the Nationals for outfielder Adam Eaton in December 2016.
Dunning underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019, but he garnered his first experience in the majors a year ago and posted a 3.97 ERA/3.99 FIP with 9.28 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9 in 34 innings. Texas is certainly hoping Dunning will build on that effort and become a long-term member of its rotation. He’ll have ample time to reach that goal, as he’s controllable through at least the 2026 season. Given Lynn’s status as a one-year rental, adding an immediate rotation replacement with some early big league success and a good bit of upside is a nice outcome for Texas.
The Rangers also have high hopes for the 23-year-old Weems, a 2019 sixth-rounder who threw 60 1/3 innings in rookie ball that year. While Weems posted stellar numbers then (2.09 ERA, 11.0 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9), albeit against much younger competition, he is not regarded as a premium prospect at this time. He’ll give the Rangers another fairly polished college arm to add to their ranks, however, which is important for a farm system that is thin on pitching.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brewers Sign Luke Maile
TODAY: The deal has been officially announced.
DECEMBER 1: The Brewers have agreed to sign catcher Luke Maile to a major league contract, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Details are unknown. Maile is a client of Meister Sports Management.
The 29-year-old Maile saw major league action with the Rays and Blue Jays from 2015-19. Maile then signed a major league deal with the Pirates last winter, but he didn’t play at all in 2020 after suffering a fractured right index finger that required surgery in July. He’ll bring a .198/.252/.304 line and 10 home runs in 657 plate appearances to Milwaukee.
The Brewers relied on Omar Narvaez, Manny Pina and Jacob Nottingham at catcher in 2020, but they might not bring all three back next year. Narvaez and/or Pina could be non-tendered before Wednesday’s deadline, which makes the timing of the Maile addition especially interesting.
Reds Sign Cheslor Cuthbert To Minors Deal
The Reds announced that infielder Cheslor Cuthbert has been signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to the team’s big league Spring Training camp. The Reds also officially announced that Dwight Smith Jr. was signed to a minors deal, as was reported yesterday.
Cuthbert signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last winter that resulted in a single MLB game and plate appearance in 2020, and he was also outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster. Best known for his days with the Royals from 2015-19, Cuthbert was a starting third baseman for K.C. in 2016 but worked mostly as a reserve, hitting .250/.300/.378 over 1160 plate appearances in a Royals uniform.
With experience at both corner infield positions, Cuthbert will provide some veteran depth for Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez at the Triple-A level, or from Cincinnati’s bench if he wins a job on the Opening Day roster.
Rays Re-Sign Andrew Kittredge To Minor League Deal
The Rays and righty Andrew Kittredge have agreed to a minor league contract, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Kittredge hit the injured list with a season-ending UCL issue in August, but agent Brian Grieper tells Topkin that Kittredge has had three bullpen sessions at full intensity without further issue. He’ll be ready for the start of Spring Training with the Rays.
Kittredge, 30, has spent parts of the past four seasons with Tampa Bay, pitching to a combined 4.93 ERA and 4.25 FIP in 111 1/3 innings. Those numbers are skewed a bit by a nightmarish 2018 campaign, but since 2019 Kittredge has tossed 57 1/3 frames with a 3.90 ERA/3.51 FIP, a strong 61-to-14 K/BB ratio and a grounder rate north of 50 percent. Due to the uncertainty surrounding his injury, Kittredge was passed through outright waivers unclaimed at season’s end and opted to become a free agent.
If Kittredge is indeed back up to full strength, he’ll give the Rays an optionable righty with big league experience to complement a group of late-inning relievers that is headlined by righties Pete Fairbanks, Diego Castillo and Nick Anderson, as well as lefty Jose Alvarado.
Reds Sign Dwight Smith Jr. To Minors Deal
8:01pm: It’s a minor league deal with an invitation to MLB spring training, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets.
5:53pm: Outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. announced Monday on Twitter that he has signed with the Reds (h/t: Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com). It’s presumably a minor league contract for Smith, whom the Orioles outrighted in late August.
Smith, now 28, became a professional when the Blue Jays chose him 53rd overall in the 2011 draft. He went on to post impressive numbers with the Blue Jays from 2017-18, but that came in a small sample of plate appearances. The Blue Jays then traded Smith to the division-rival Orioles for international pool money prior to the 2019 campaign.
Rebuilding Baltimore gave Smith a chance to establish himself as a regular in his first year with the organization, and while he did hit 13 home runs and steal five bases, he could only muster a .241/.297/.412 line across 392 plate appearances. Smith followed up with a .222/.306/.365 mark with a pair of homers in 72 trips to the plate in 2020.
Now that he’s a member of the Cincy organization, Smith will join a team with a crowded outfield. Nick Castellanos, Jesse Winker, Shogo Akiyama, Nick Senzel and Aristides Aquino are among those in the mix for the Reds.
Mariners Claim Robert Dugger
The Mariners announced Monday that they’ve claimed righty Robert Dugger off waivers from the Marlins. Seattle also lost righty Ian Hamilton to the Phillies and righty Walker Lockett to the Blue Jays.
Dugger, 25, was an 18th-round pick of the Mariners back in 2016 but landed in Miami as part of the package that sent Dee Strange-Gordon to Seattle. He’s made a handful of appearances with the Fish over the past two seasons but hasn’t found much success, posting a 7.40 ERA and a 29-to-20 K/BB ratio in 45 innings. Dugger’s struggles have persisted in Triple-A, although he had a solid track record up through the Double-A level, where he owns a 3.60 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 180 innings of work.
Lack of track record in the Majors and Triple-A not withstanding, Dugger gives the Mariners an optionable piece of rotation depth — perhaps one they feel will benefit from a change of scenery. Dugger also saw a pronounced jump in his four-seam fastball velocity from 2019 to 2020 (90.3 mph to 92.1 mph) and in his heater’s spin rate (2191 rpm to 2321 rpm), so perhaps the Mariners believe they can help him build upon those positive indicators.
Phillies Claim Ian Hamilton From Mariners
The Phillies have claimed right-hander Ian Hamilton off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from Seattle.
This is the second time since September that a team has claimed Hamilton, as the Mariners did so when they got him from the White Sox. Chicago used an 11th-round pick on Hamilton in 2016 and then saw him turn into a decent prospect in its farm system, but the hard thrower hasn’t seen much action in the majors to this point.
Set to turn 26 years old next June, Hamilton has thrown 12 innings of seven-run (six earned) ball with 10 hits allowed and a 9:7 K:BB ratio. He owns a 4.85 ERA with tremendous strikeout and walk rates (10.1 K/9, 1.85 BB/9) across 42 2/3 innings in Triple-A ball.
Red Sox Outright Yairo Munoz
The Red Sox announced Monday that infielder/outfielder Yairo Munoz has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Still just 25 years of age, Munoz joined the Red Sox back in March after a bizarre scene that reportedly saw him leave the Cardinals and fly home to the Dominican Republic without informing the club. The Cards responded by releasing Munoz, who apparently had been frustrated with the organization over playing time, amid other reasons.
Munoz had an impressive debut effort in 2018, batting .276/.350/.413 in 329 plate appearances while spending time at every defensive position on the field other than first base and catcher. His bat took a step back in 2019, and his playing time, accordingly, waned.
This past season, Munoz again hit well in a limited sample with the Red Sox. He came to the plate just 45 times but hit .333/.333/.511 with a homer, five doubles and a pair of stolen bases. Boston used him exclusively as a corner outfielder this season, although it’s easy to imagine that if he makes his way back onto the 40-man roster, he could be utilized all over the infield as well.
With the outright of Munoz, the Red Sox now have a pair of 40-man vacancies leading up to this week’s Rule 5 Draft.