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KBO’s KT Wiz Re-Sign William Cuevas

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The KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization announced they have re-signed right-hander William Cuevas (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). The deal comes with a $900K guarantee, with an additional $100K available in incentives.

Cuevas, 29, pitched in parts of three MLB seasons with the Red Sox and Tigers, although he combined for only 22.1 innings at the highest level. He’d typically been on hand as high minors starting pitching depth between 2015-18. Cuevas is probably most well-known for his time with the Red Sox, who originally signed him out of Venezuela a decade ago. In addition to Detroit and Boston, Cuevas briefly pitched in the Marlins’ system, although he never made the big leagues with Miami.

Cuevas made the jump to Korea after the 2018 season. In his first season with the Wiz, he tossed 184 passable innings. His 3.62 ERA ranked 14th among 27 qualifiers, per MyKBO Stats, while his 17.8% strikeout rate (11th) and 8.3% walk rate (22nd) were more serviceable than remarkable. Nevertheless, the Wiz were evidently encouraged enough to commit one of their three roster spots available for foreign-born players to Cuevas in 2020.

Dodgers, Scott Alexander Avoid Arbitration

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The Dodgers have agreed to terms with left-hander Scott Alexander on a one-year, $875K contract to avoid arbitration, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Alexander falls a bit shy of his $1MM projected salary.

The 30-year-old looked like a potential non-tender candidate, perhaps explaining his decision to settle for slightly less than expected. An integral part of the Los Angeles bullpen in 2018, Alexander was limited to just 28 games last season, none after June 5. Alexander suffered a season-ending forearm issue in his throwing arm, which culminated in surgery to relieve nerve irritation in September.

Alexander’s time in LA has been a bit of a mixed bag. Over the past two years, he’s given the Dodgers 83.1 innings with a 3.67 ERA and mediocre strikeout (18.9%) and walk (9.9%) rates. Alexander’s an elite ground-ball specialist, though. His 68.5% ground ball rate the past two seasons trails only Zack Britton among still-active pitchers (minimum 50 innings). The former sixth-round pick turned those worm-burners into stellar results with the 2017 Royals, spurring the Dodgers to part with fairly well-regarded pitching prospect Trevor Oaks to bring Alexander aboard.

Predictably, Alexander has been a bit better retiring lefties (.250/316/.328) than righties (.253/.325/.363) over the course of his career. The Dodgers already have Adam Kolarek on hand as a more extreme lefty specialist, although the three-batter minimum rule likely to be instituted in 2020 could adversely affect both hurlers.

Today’s news doesn’t cement Alexander’s status with the Dodgers. Arbitration salaries don’t become fully guaranteed until the start of the regular season, so LA could yet choose to part ways later on at minimal cost. Alexander will, though, at least keep his 40-man roster spot for the time being. If he sticks on the roster for the winter, he comes with two option years, giving the Dodgers some coveted flexibility.

Tayler Scott To Sign With NPB’s Hiroshima Carp

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The Hiroshima Carp of the NPB have announced the signing of righty Tayler Scott, as relayed in a tweet from Patrick Newman of NPBtracker.com (link). Scott, who is expected to serve in middle relief with the Carp, will receive a $525K salary and a $175K signing bonus.

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Scott made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Mariners after a seven-year minor league career in the Cubs, Brewers, and Rangers orgs. A rough sample of appearances (9.39 ERA in 7.2 innings) foreshadowed his placement on waivers, where he was scooped up by the pitching-needy Orioles.

Things went even more poorly in Baltimore, unfortunately, with the 27-year-old allowing 18 earned runs in 8.2 innings of relief. Still, the 6’3 righty has managed a 3.86 ERA over the course of his minor league career, armed with a sinking fastball that sits around 94 mph and a slider that elicited a respectable 36.1 percent whiff rate in Scott’s brief MLB tenure.

Padres To Sign Drew Pomeranz

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Nov. 30: Rosenthal adds that Pomeranz’s $8MM signing bonus is deferred and will be paid between November 2020 and November 2023.

Nov. 27, 4:02pm: Pomeranz received an $8MM signing bonus and will be paid annual salaries of $4MM in 2020, $6MM in 2021 and $8MM in 2022-23, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter).

1:54pm: Pomeranz will be guaranteed $34MM over a four-year term, pending a physical, Murray tweets.

1:20pm: Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports that Pomeranz has been promised a rather stunning four-year guarantee (Twitter link). Robert Murray adds that it’ll pay him $8-9MM annually.

10:20am: The Padres have struck a deal with free agent lefty Drew Pomeranz, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The signing of the CAA client adds to what is quickly becoming a barn-burner of a day for the Friars, who have already struck a four-player swap with the Brewers.

Drew Pomeranz | Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Details remain unknown, but it seems fair to guess the southpaw has done quite well for himself — likely on a multi-year pact — in a surprise return to San Diego. The 31-year-old had an excellent, but brief run with the organization back in 2016 before being flipped to the Red Sox in a trade for then-top prospect Anderson Espinoza. Pomeranz has had some ups and downs as a starting pitcher since that time, but he finished the ’19 season riding high in a return to a relief setting.

Just a few months ago, the notion of Pomeranz being considered a top-tier free agent would’ve seemed unthinkable. He’d been booted from a pedestrian Giants rotation after posting a 5.97 ERA through 18 starts, but Pomeranz morphed into one of baseball’s most dominant bullpen weapons down the stretch. In 28 relief appearances, he not only posted a 1.88 ERA but also punched out a staggering 50 of the 106 batters he faced (47.2 percent). The Brewers were clearly intrigued by Pomeranz’s early work out of the ’pen, acquiring him and flamethrower Ray Black in a deadline swap that sent infield prospect Mauricio Dubon to San Francisco.

The addition of Pomeranz will give the Padres a dynamic back-end bullpen duo, as he’ll team with right-hander Kirby Yates, who has emerged as one of baseball’s premier relievers since joining the Padres via waiver claim early in the 2017 season. Yates figures to continue handling ninth-inning duties, with Pomeranz serving as a top setup man, although today’s signing does give the San Diego organization even greater flexibility to shop Yates around as he enters his final year of club control. That said, the Padres have made a clear shift toward more of a win-now ideology after a grueling rebuild, and the Yates/Pomeranz pairing unequivocally makes them more formidable.

Diamondbacks Sign Stephen Vogt

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Nov. 29: Vogt will be paid $2.5MM in 2020 and has a $500K buyout of a $3MM option for the 2021 campaign, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. That option can trigger automatically depending on playing time, and the contract contains escalators (based on games started) that would boost Vogt’s salary in 2021.

Nov. 26: The Diamondbacks made a low-cost strike on the free-agent market, adding catcher Stephen Vogt on a one-year contract, the team announced Tuesday evening. The deal will reportedly promise Vogt a total of $3MM, and it also contains a vesting option for the 2021 season. Vogt is represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.

Stephen Vogt | Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Vogt, 35, feared his career could be over following a 2018 shoulder surgery with the Brewers, but he landed with the Giants on a minor league pact and proved himself with a quietly strong rebound season. In 280 plate appearances spread over the life of 99 games, the former All-Star hit .263/.314/.490 with 10 home runs.

Arizona’s need for a backstop isn’t necessarily acute, but Vogt’s left-handed bat will pair nicely with the up-and-coming Carson Kelly, who hits from the opposite side of the dish — and does so quite well (.356/.462/.667 versus lefties in 2019). Vogt will also give the 25-year-old Kelly another veteran mentor under whom to study, replacing fellow free agent Alex Avila, who remains unsigned but now appears destined to land elsewhere.

The D-backs also have veteran catcher Caleb Joseph on the 40-man roster as a third option, and given the fact that they’ve previously carried three catchers at a time even with a 25-man roster, it seems plausible that they’ll do so again now that rosters are set to expand to 26 players for the 2020 season. Alternatively, Vogt’s acquisition could also spell the end of Joseph’s time with the Arizona organization. He’s arbitration-eligible this winter and projected to receive a $1.2MM salary, which the club may feel too steep to pay a third catcher who falls behind both Kelly and Vogt on the depth chart.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link) and Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (Twitter links) added details on the financial structure.

Justin Bour To Sign With NPB’s Hanshin Tigers

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Free agent first baseman Justin Bour has reached an agreement with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Tigers GM Osamu Tanimoto tells the Japan Times. Bour had been outrighted by the Angels at season’s end and elected free agency.

The 31-year-old Bour signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Halos last winter but turned in a career-worst .172/.259/.364 batting line in his short time with the organization. He continued to display above-average walk tendencies (10 percent in 2019; 11.2 percent career) and also showed above-average power (.192 ISO), but Bour’s 30.6 percent strikeout rate this past season was far and away the highest of his career. Ultimately, he played in just 52 games as an Angel and tallied 170 plate appearances.

Bour will head to Japan as a career .253/.337/.457 hitter with 92 home runs, 71 doubles and a pair of triples in 1950 Major League plate appearance — most of which came with the Marlins. He’s never handled left-handed pitching particularly well (.215/.302/.324), but he owns a stout .262/.345/.490 career batting line against right-handed pitching.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/28/19

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The latest minor league moves from around baseball…

  • The Twins have agreed to a minor league deal with left-hander Mitch Horacek, reporter Robert Murray tweets.  A ninth-round pick for the Orioles in the 2013 draft, Horacek has a 4.21 ERA, 8.9 K/9, and 2.97 K/BB rate over 658 2/3 career minor league innings, with the last two seasons spent in Colorado’s farm system.  Horacek has worked exclusively as a reliever for the last three years and he got his first taste of Triple-A ball in 2019, though he posted a disastrous 18.75 ERA over 12 frames for Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League.  The 27-year-old did deliver much better numbers at the Double-A level, however, and Minnesota could be betting that Horacek performs better in a less homer-happy environment than the PCL.

Nationals To Re-Sign Yan Gomes

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The Nationals have agreed to re-sign free-agent catcher Yan Gomes to a two-year, $10MM contract, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. The pact also contains award bonuses for the Jet Sports Management client, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. He’s the latest notable catcher to come off the board in the past week, joining Yasmani Grandal (four years, $73MM to the White Sox), Travis d’Arnaud (two years, $16MM to the Braves) and Stephen Vogt (one year, $3MM to the Diamondbacks)

Gomes was one of the Nationals’ key pickups last offseason, when they acquired the 2018 All-Star in a trade with the Indians almost exactly one year ago (Nov. 30). While the Brazilian-born Gomes experienced his share of success in Cleveland, he wound up struggling somewhat during his first year in Washington. A poor first half doomed the 32-year-old to an uninspiring .223/.316/.389 batting line with 12 home runs in 358 plate appearances.

Behind the plate, Gomes did throw out 31 percent of would-be base-stealers, which ranked comfortably above the league-average mark of 26 percent, and establish himself as a favorite of star left-hander Patrick Corbin. Meanwhile, Baseball Prospectus assigned him above-average grades in the pitch-blocking department, but his framing left something to be desired.

It wasn’t a banner regular season for Gomes, nor was he an offensive hero in the playoffs, as he collected just seven hits (no home runs) in 29 at-bats. But he nonetheless received plenty of playing time behind the dish in the fall for the Nationals, who stunningly won their first-ever World Series title. Gomes and Kurt Suzuki divided reps at catcher from the beginning of the season through the end, and they figure to do the same in 2020 for a reasonable price.

The two-year, $10MM guarantee for Gomes matches the price the Nationals paid for Suzuki in free agency last season. It also represents a pay cut, at least on a per-annum basis, for Gomes. The Nats declined his $9MM option for next year shortly after their World Series triumph over the Astros.

While Washington’s catcher situation appears to be sorted out for next season, there’s plenty of other important business on the champions’ plate. The deep-pocketed franchise will presumably make a strong effort to re-sign two of the game’s premier free agents, third baseman Anthony Rendon and right-hander Stephen Strasburg. Not to be forgotten, the Nationals are also facing the departures of infielder Howie Kendrick, reliever Daniel Hudson and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, among others.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres Designate Pedro Avila, Announce Drew Pomeranz Signing

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The Padres announced that they’ve designated right-hander Pedro Avila for assignment. His exit will make room for the signing of left-hander Drew Pomeranz, whose deal is now official.

The 22-year-old Avila made his major league debut in 2019, throwing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball in a start against the Diamondbacks in April, but that’s his only MLB appearance to date. He also combined for just 24 innings among three minor league levels this past season, and saw his year come to an early end in late August when he underwent Tommy John surgery. As a result, Avila won’t factor in much (if at all) in the majors or minors next season.

Prior to his surgery, Avila was considered a promising prospect for the Padres, as FanGraphs ranked him 28th in a loaded San Diego farm system back in May. But Avila’s pro experience has largely been limited to High-A ball, where he has put up a 4.45 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 174 innings.

Rockies Sign Jose Mujica, Designate Wes Parsons

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The Rockies have signed right-hander Jose Mujica to a major league contract and designated fellow righty Wes Parsons for assignment, the team announced.

The 23-year-old Mujica is coming off a season lost to Tommy John surgery. In his most recent action, he fired 36 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA/2.81 FIP ball with 8.35 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 at the Triple-A level for the Rays in 2018. Mujica had never pitched in Triple-A ball before then, making his strong output all the more impressive.

Parsons is just a few months removed from joining the Rockies, who claimed him off waivers from the Braves toward the end of August. The 27-year-old wound up throwing 19 1/3 innings for the Rox this past season, but he stumbled to a 6.98 ERA with more walks (16) than strikeouts (14). Parsons showed similar control problems with the Braves earlier in the year, as he issued 13 walks and struck out 12 in 15 1/3 innings, though he did manage a 3.52 ERA. But Parsons has been far stingier with walks at the Triple-A level, where he has logged 8.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 3.41 ERA over 153 frames.

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