Red Sox Decline Option On Martin Perez
The Red Sox have declined their option on left-hander Martín Pérez, per various reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). If exercised, the option would’ve paid Pérez $6.85MM, as Chris Cotillo of MassLive breaks down (via Twitter). Instead, he’ll receive a $500K buyout and hit free agency.
The 29-year-old becomes one of the younger starters on the market. Once viewed as a key long-term rotation piece in the Rangers’ organization, Pérez has seen his stock fall off in recent seasons. He continued to log unexciting production in 2020, pitching to a 4.50 ERA with subpar strikeout (17.6%) and walk (10.7%) rates.
To his credit, Pérez did reliably take the ball for the Sox every fifth day, as he did with the Twins in 2019. The southpaw has never posted great strikeout-to-walk ratios and has seen his ground-ball rate fall off over the years, but he continues to induce soft contact. Pérez’s 86.3 MPH opponents’ average exit velocity this year ranked in the 85th percentile, per Statcast.
Giants Issue Qualifying Offer To Kevin Gausman
The Giants are planning to issue an $18.9MM qualifying offer to right-hander Kevin Gausman, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (Twitter link). Team and player remain in contact regarding a potential multi-year deal, Baggarly adds, making the move unsurprising. The team has officially announced the decision.
Gausman looked like a solid rebound candidate when San Francisco inked him to a buy-low, one-year contract last offseason. That turned out to be the case. In his first season in the Bay Area, Gausman tossed 59.2 innings of 3.62 ERA/3.09 FIP ball. He put up a career-best 32.2% strikeout rate on the back of an outstanding 15.2% swinging strike rate. Between his swing-and-miss stuff, youth (30 in January) and mid-90’s velocity, Gausman now looks like one of the best pitchers on the upcoming free agent market.
A multi-year deal might be in the cards. But Gausman’s only a year removed from being non-tendered by the Reds in a much more favorable economic situation. It’s possible he and his representatives will take that lofty single-year salary, then, although they’ll have ten days to weigh the market before making a decision. Gausman could also choose to accept the qualifying offer and then negotiate a multi-year deal with the Giants, as José Abreu and the White Sox did last offseason.
Padres To Decline Mitch Moreland’s Option
The Padres are planning to decline their $3MM club option on Mitch Moreland, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). The veteran first baseman will instead receive a $500K buyout and hit free agency. The Padres have confirmed the move.
San Diego gave up a pair of well-regarded prospects, outfielder Jeisson Rosario and infielder Hudson Potts, to acquire Moreland from the Red Sox before the August 31 trade deadline. Both Rosario and Potts would’ve had to be added to the 40-man roster or else be exposed to the Rule 5 draft this offseason. Freeing up roster space to protect each player figures to be easier for Boston than it would’ve been for the Padres, who have quite a few top prospects who’ll need roster space in the coming months. Nevertheless, losing Rosario and Potts looks like a hefty price to pay for one month of Moreland’s services.
Unfortunately, Moreland underwhelmed after the trade. While he got off to a scorching start in Boston, the 35-year-old put up subpar numbers in San Diego. A down 73 plate appearances surely hasn’t completely soured the Padres’ front office on Moreland’s ability, though. Overall, the left-handed hitter put up a fantastic .265/.342/.551 line between the two clubs.
As Chris Cotillo of MassLive points out (on Twitter), the uncertainty regarding the status of the designated hitter likely played a part in today’s decision. Eric Hosmer would likely have gotten the lion’s share of time at first base even if he had continued to perform at the unspectacular levels he’d managed between 2018-19. The 31-year-old Hosmer looked reinvigorated at the plate in 2020, cementing himself as an everyday player.
With the designated hitter available to NL teams in 2020, Hosmer and Moreland each had opportunity for playing time last season. Like all the other rule changes necessitated by the pandemic-impacted season, the universal DH was only approved for last season. While there’s long been an expectation the universal DH could become permanent under the terms of the next collective bargaining agreement, there’s no guarantee it’ll be in place for 2021.
Moreland will now join a first base market that doesn’t have many clear everyday options. He’ll probably attract a fair bit of interest, particularly if the NL does adopt the DH in the coming months. It’s a bit of a red flag the Padres resorted to declining his option, though. Presumably, the front office looked for a potential trade partner over the past five days and didn’t find a team willing to give up assets to bring Moreland aboard at a low price.
Mets Extend Qualifying Offer To Marcus Stroman
TODAY: The Mets officially announced that Stroman was issued a qualifying offer.
OCTOBER 31: The Mets plan on extending a qualifying offer to starting pitcher Marcus Stroman before tomorrow’s deadline, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). The move does not come as a particular surprise, despite Stroman opting out of 2020. Some mystery remained, however, as the revenue losses around the game already made for some surprising cost-cutting decisions.
With that in mind, Stroman could consider accepting the $18.9MM offer, play one more year in New York, and return unencumbered to what should be at least a marginally more favorable free agent ecosystem after 2021. Under traditional circumstances, Stroman should have no problem finding a multi-year deal on the open market, but there’s more uncertainty than ever. Still, Stroman is among the very best free agent starters available, should he decline the qualifying offer and test the open waters. He is represented by Klutch Sports.
The Mets would likely welcome him back, especially with Noah Syndergaard to miss the beginning of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Stroman made 11 starts down the stretch after GM Brodie Van Wagenen traded for him on July 28, 2019. Stroman was a long-rumored trade candidate with the Blue Jays, but the Mets emerged somewhat surprisingly as his ultimate destination despite being at the very fringes of contention at the time. Stroman was unable to move the needle even while going 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA/4.15 FIP in 59 2/3 innings with 9.1 K/8 to 3.5 BB/9. The Mets gave up two pretty good pitching prospects in Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson for those 11 starts from Stroman, though at the time, of course, the Mets expected to get a full 2020 from Stroman as well. He ultimately opted out of the 2020 season.
Throughout his career with the Mets and Blue Jays, the 5’7″ right-hander has a 51-47 record across 146 appearances (140 starts) totaling 849 1/3 innings with a 3.76 ERA/3.64 FIP and 7.36 K/9, 2.59 BB/9, and 59.6 GB%. He went 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA/4.15 FIP in 5 playoff starts with the Jays between 2015 and 2016, including a 6-inning, 2 earned run no-decision in a deciding game 5 ALDS win over the Rangers in 2015.
Dellin Betances Exercises $6MM Player Option To Remain With Mets
TODAY: Betances has indeed exercised his option, the Mets announced (Twitter link).
OCTOBER 31: Dellin Betances is likely to accept a $6MM player option to stay with the New York Mets rather than take a $3MM buyout, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter).
It’s telling that Betances would take the guaranteed money here. If Betances thinks he can get more than $3MM on the open market, it would make sense to take the buyout. Given the expectations for a depressed free agent market, it’s not shocking that Betances would take the $6MM to stay in his hometown – the only baseball town he’s ever known.
Betances was once one of the top setup men in baseball with the Yankees, but a partial tear of his Achilles in September of 2019 ended his tenure with the Yankees and sent him to the free agent market. He posted a 2.36 ERA over 358 appearances with the Yankees in his 8 seasons there.
In his first action since the injury, Betances made 15 appearances for the Mets in 2020 but struggled to a 7.71 ERA/4.91 FIP in 11 2/3 innings with a troubling 0.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Betances has been missing a key weapon from his arsenal since his return: his 93.6 mph heater not particularly close to the 97.7 mph four-seamer he sported in his heyday with the Yankees.
Dodgers Outright Terrance Gore
The Dodgers have outrighted outfielder Terrance Gore to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com transactions page. This is the second time Gore has been removed from the 40-man roster this season, having previously been outrighted back in August.
Gore signed a minor league deal with L.A. back in February and made the team’s Opening Day roster, but appeared in only two games before being designated for assignment. There was some speculation that the Dodgers could use Gore as a pinch-running specialist during the playoffs (as the Royals did with Gore in both 2014 and 2015), but he was never included on a postseason roster.
Gore has now appeared in parts of seven Major League seasons, primarily as a pinch-runner and late-game defensive substitute. Through 102 career games with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Royals, Gore has only 77 plate appearances, 58 of them coming with Kansas City in 2019.
Diamondbacks Exercise Merrill Kelly’s Club Option
The Diamondbacks have exercised their $4.25MM club option on right-hander Merrill Kelly for the 2021 season, as per a team press release. Kelly and fellow right-handers Corbin Martin and Jeremy Beasley were all reinstated from the injured list and placed on Arizona’s 40-man roster, bringing the team’s total to 38 of 40 players.
Kelly’s original two-year, $5.5MM contract with the D’Backs contained club options for both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, with this year’s option containing a $500K buyout and the $5.25MM option for 2022 containing no buyout. The Snakes therefore had a $3.75MM choice to make on Kelly, which wasn’t necessarily a sure thing given how we’ve already seen several notable players cut loose on option decisions in this young offseason, and Kelly is a health question mark going into 2021.
After posting a 2.59 ERA, 5.80 K/BB rate, and 8.3 K/9 over 31 1/3 innings this season, Kelly’s strong start was cut short after he required surgery to address a blood clot in his shoulder. A couple of weeks after that procedure, Kelly then underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. While Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen was optimistic that Kelly would be ready to go for Spring Training, past cases of TOS procedures have had varying timelines. And, of even more concern to Kelly and the D’Backs, several pitchers who have undergone thoracic outlet syndrome surgeries were unable to regain their past form on the mound.
Still, there was obviously enough comfort on the front office’s part to take the $3.75MM risk that Kelly will be recovered enough to contribute. The D’Backs are facing a likely reduction in payroll as a response to lower revenues, but in a vacuum, $3.75MM is a very reasonable price for a pitcher who has shown that he can be a solid member of a rotation.
Originally an eighth-round pick for the Rays in the 2010 draft, Kelly spent five years in the minors before heading to South Korea to pitch with SK Wyverns of the KBO League. He posted impressive numbers and established himself as a workhorse starter, doing well enough to land that multi-year contract from Arizona upon his return to North American baseball. Kelly acquitted himself well in his first taste of the big leagues, with a 4.42 ERA, 2.77 K/BB rate, and 7.8 K/9 over 183 1/3 innings for the D’Backs in 2019.
Orioles Exercise Jose Iglesias’ Club Option
The Orioles announced that they have exercised their $3.5MM club option on Jose Iglesias‘ services for the 2021 season. (MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko broke the news via Twitter earlier this morning.) It was a $3MM decision for Baltimore, as the shortstop would have otherwise received a $500K buyout had the option been declined.
Iglesias signed a one-year contract last winter that paid him $3MM in guaranteed money (which became just shy of $926K due to the reduced schedule) for 2020, and included the option for 2021. Traditionally a glove-first player and a strong defensive shortstop, Iglesias ended up contributing in a much different manner than the O’s probably expected, as Iglesias exploded to hit .373/.400/.556 over 150 plate appearances. A whopping .407 BABIP was a big contributor to this performance, as Iglesias was only a .273/.315/.371 hitter in 2915 career PA prior to 2020.
While Iglesias still provided solid glovework, he played less shortstop than expected, as quad problems led to a short injured list stint and quite a bit of DH time. Needless to say, the Orioles would love a continuation of Iglesias’ breakout at the plate, but even if a “normal” Iglesias season in 2021 is more probable, the $3MM decision still seemed like a pretty straight-forward call.
With Iglesias now officially back in the fold, the Orioles can turn their attention to other potential infield moves, as possibly upgrading second and third base beyond Hanser Alberto and Rio Ruiz. Former Gold Glover Yolmer Sanchez was claimed off waivers from the White Sox on Friday, leading to speculation that Alberto could be a non-tender candidate.
J.D. Martinez Will Not Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract
As expected, J.D. Martinez will not enact the opt-out clause in his contract with the Red Sox, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Martinez’s five-year, $110MM deal signed in February 2018 contained opt-outs after both last season and this season, and with Martinez staying put, he is slated to earn $19.375MM in each of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Martinez already suggested near the end of the season that he wouldn’t be leaving his deal, so today’s news is no surprise. After six years as one of the sport’s better batters, Martinez struggled badly in 2020, hitting only .213/.291/.389 with seven home runs over 237 plate appearances. In an offseason with limited dollars to be spent anywhere around baseball, teams would have been far more focused on Martinez’s 2020 performance, his age (33), and his mostly DH-only status than his past track record, so it’s hard to imagine Martinez would have topped two years and $38.75MM in free agency.
For now, the question might be what the Red Sox can expect from Martinez going forward. The slugger has been vocal about how his regular routine (everything from offseason work to in-game preparations such as watching video) was altered by the pandemic and COVID-19 protocols. Since the 2021 season certainly looks like normal operations won’t revert back to a pre-2020 state, it will be up to Martinez to figure out new adjustments to get himself back on track at the plate.
Mike Freeman Elects Free Agency
Infielder Mike Freeman elected free agency today, the Indians announced. He had previously been outrighted. With his decision, Cleveland now has 6 open spots on their 40-man roster.
Freeman has been outrighted before by the Indians, but he found his way back regardless for the 2020 season. The 33-year-old veteran has never been a major-league regular, but he’s nonetheless a 5-year veteran having spent time with the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Dodgers, Cubs, and Indians.
His most prolific season came in 2019 with the Indians when he slashed .277/.362/.390 with 4 home runs across 213 plate appearances. He appeared in 24 games in 2020, though just 8 as a starter. He slashed .237/.302/.316 over 43 plate appearances.
The former 11th round pick of the Diamondbacks plays all over the diamond, with his value coming primarily via defensive prowess and versatility. He appeared everywhere in the infield as well as left field for the Indians over the past two seasons.