Ian Desmond Opts Out Of 2020 Season
Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond will opt out of playing in the 2020 MLB season. He provided a thoughtful explanation of his decisionmaking process in an announcement on Instagram.
Desmond explains that “the COVID-19 pandemic has made this baseball season one that is a risk I am not comfortable taking.” He says he’s compelled to stay home “with a pregnant wife and four young children who have lots of questions about what’s going on in the world.”
Fortunately for all of us that care about the future of the game, the widely respected Desmond says he intends to work with his local Little League (in Sarasota, Florida) while he’s not playing this year. He did not offer an indication of his future plans for returning to the diamond.
Desmond’s announcement is essential reading for all baseball fans. It’s a powerful call to action to deal with glaring inequity in the game, from its lowest to its loftiest levels.
Three other big leaguers preceded Desmond in announcing that they would not participate in the 2020 season. No doubt others will follow. It is not known whether Desmond had any personal medical issue that will allow him to opt out while still accruing salary and service time. If not, he will forego a pro-rated portion of his $15MM salary for the year. He remains under contract with the Rockies through 2021; the club also controls him in 2022 via club option.
Dodgers Sign 2nd-Rounder Landon Knack
The Dodgers have signed second-round right-hander Landon Knack for $715K, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. It’s an under-slot deal for the 60th overall pick – whose selection carried a recommended value of $1,157,400 – but may be a record bonus for a fifth-year college senior, Callis notes.
The 22-year-old Knack was previously at East Tennessee State, where he logged a 2.29 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 in 122 innings from 2018-19. Despite the dominant numbers he posted in school, Knack did not rank among the top 100 draft prospects available at MLB.com, Baseball America, ESPN.com, FanGraphs or The Athletic. BA, which placed Knack at No. 113, writes that he possesses a high-90s fastball but only “fringy” offspeed offerings.
Although he’s just a couple weeks removed from coming off the draft board, it’s possible Knack will make his major league debut sometime this year. At the very least, there’s a good chance Knack will end up in the Dodgers’ 60-player pool, Callis suggests.
Athletics Sign Tyler Soderstrom
The Athletics have announced a deal with top pick Tyler Soderstrom. It includes a $3.3MM signing bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reported yesterday that Soderstrom would sign today and is expected to be added to Oakland’s 60-player pool.
Also going under contract was fifth rounder Stevie Emanuels. The University of Washington righty receives a $400K bonus. With his signing, the A’s have completed all of their draft business.
Soderstrom, a high school catcher out of California, received a bonus that weighed in about $646K north of his slot value at No. 26. Emanuels also went over-slot, with both players getting an extra payout from the cash the Athletics saved in signing second-rounder Jeff Criswell and third-rounder Michael Guldberg to below-slot deals.
The A’s obviously had their eyes on Soderstrom entering the draft. All major draft pundits rated him among the 25 best players available. ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel was particularly bullish, grading the youngster as the tenth-best player available due to his promise as a hitter.
While it’s awfully tempting to imagine Soderstrom as a bat-first catcher, there’s concern with his ability to develop defensively while also maximizing his offensive potential. It remains to be seen what course the A’s will take, but most scouts seemingly believe Soderstrom is athletic enough — and sufficiently talented with the bat — to man other areas of the diamond (third base or the corner outfield, most likely).
Marlins Sign Nick Vincent, Add No. 3 Pick Max Meyer To 60-Man Pool
The Marlins have signed veteran right-handed reliever Nick Vincent to a minor league contract and will add him to the team’s 60-player pool, president of baseball ops Michael Hill told reporters Monday (Twitter link via the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson). They’ll also add infielder/outfielder Sean Rodriguez once a minor league deal to re-sign him has been wrapped up. Perhaps of most interest to Fish fans, though, is that No. 3 overall pick Max Meyer will be added to the pool as well. That trio of moves will fill the Marlins’ initial pool.
Vincent, 33, had some uncharacteristic struggles with the Giants a year ago when he posted an ugly 5.58 ERA in 30 2/3 innings. A strained pectoral muscle may have been to blame, though, as Vincent was sharp for his first six weeks with San Francisco (2.25 ERA in his first 24 frames) before imploding over the next two weeks and eventually landing on the injured list. By the time he was healed up, the Giants opted to simply cut him loose. He caught on with the Phillies and yielded just three runs in 14 innings with a 17-to-4 K/BB ratio to close out the year.
From 2012-18, Vincent was quietly a very effective reliever. Over the life of 332 innings with the Padres and Mariners in that time, he compiled an impressive 3.17 ERA and 3.09 FIP with 9.0 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and 0.78 HR/9. Soft-tossing, extreme fly-ball righties aren’t exactly en vogue these days — Vincent averages 89.7 mph on his fastball and has a career 33.9 percent grounder rate — but there’s no denying Vincent’s solid track record. And if he does make his way to the Miami ‘pen, their spacious home park should help to keep those airborne balls in the yard.
The 35-year-old Rodriguez can play virtually anywhere on the diamond and has typically been a solid, albeit unspectacular bat against left-handed pitching. That makes him a nice potential bench bat for a club with an expanded roster in 2020, though. Rodriguez’s 2017-18 seasons were ruined by an offseason car accident in 2016 that ultimately led to shoulder surgery, but he turned things around to an extent last year. After batting .167/.277/.305 in the wake of that car crash, he logged a .233/.348/.375 line with Philadelphia in 2019.
Meyer, 21, is one of the best pitchers in the history of the University of Minnesota. The now-former Gopher ace was long expected to be a top 10 pick, but the Marlins still surprised some pundits by passing over fellow college arms like Asa Lacy and Emerson Hancock as well as Vanderbilt third baseman Austin Martin in order to scoop up Meyer third overall earlier this month. With a triple-digit fastball, a plus slider and a career 2.13 ERA and 187-to-41 K/BB ratio in 148 college innings, it’s easy to see why the Marlins were so enamored of Meyer though.
Many scouting reports on Meyer picked him to be among the fastest players to reach the Majors from this year’s draft — if not the fastest. The Athletic’s Keith Law even suggested that some clubs might be bullish enough to think that Meyer could pitch in the Majors as soon as this season, although that accelerated timeline would burn a year of control and service for the Marlins despite the fact that they’re not expected to contend. Anything can happen in a shorter season, though, so if the Fish do get out to a torrid start, perhaps they’ll be emboldened to bring Meyer up to the big leagues in an effort to bolster their staff.
Mets Sign Melky Cabrera, Erasmo Ramirez, Gordon Beckham
JULY 1: Cabrera can earn at a $1.1MM annual rate if he makes the roster, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.
JUNE 29: The Mets’ signing spree continued Monday with the additions of outfielder Melky Cabrera, infielder Gordon Beckham and right-hander Erasmo Ramirez. All three have been announced by the club, and all are “expected” to be added to the 60-man player pool, according to the team. They join earlier signees Hunter Strickland and Ryan Cordell in that regard.
At 35 years old, Cabrera isn’t the hitter he once was. That said, the Melk Man also hasn’t batted lower than .273 in the past decade, and his contact skills generally make him a source of a respectable OBP even though he doesn’t walk much.
The switch-hitting Cabrera’s .280/.313/.399 slash with the Pirates last year was below-average on the whole (88 OPS+, 85 wRC+), but he was an average or better hitter in the three preceding seasons. Cabrera carried an .807 OPS into the All-Star break last year, but he hit just .231/.257/.306 down the stretch as his role shrunk. To his credit, he struck out at just a 10.3 percent clip in 2019. He’s no lock to make the roster, but if he can shake off last year’s second-half slide, the Mets could conceivably work him into the DH mix and not need to worry about his glove.
Beckham, 33, inked a minor league pact with the Padres in February but had a rough showing in their initial camp that led to his release. Although he drew five walks, Beckham was hitless in 14 at-bats. He spent the 2019 campaign with the Tigers, hitting .215/.271/.372 with six homers, a dozen doubles and a pair of triples in 240 trips to the plate.
Beckham made his big league debut just one year after being selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2008 draft by the White Sox. He wasn’t able to replicate a strong rookie campaign, though, and eventually settled in as a journeyman utility infielder. He’s appeared in the big leagues each year since 2009, but Beckham carries a tepid .237/.300/.367 slash in 3782 plate appearances as a big leaguer.
Ramirez, 30, was a quality arm with the Mariners and Rays from 2015-17, pitching to a combined 3.97 ERA (4.22 FIP) with 7.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9 in 385 1/3 big league innings. A teres major strain wiped out most of his 2018 season, though, and Ramirez has yet to really regain his footing. He spent the 2019 season with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate, for whom he posted a 4.74 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 125 1/3 innings.
Mets Sign Hunter Strickland, Ryan Cordell
The Mets announced Monday that they’ve signed right-hander Hunter Strickland and re-signed outfielder Ryan Cordell, whom they’d previously released. Both received non-guaranteed deals, and both players are “expected” to be added to the Mets’ 60-man pool, per the club.
Strickland, 31, joins the Mets with nearly five years of big league service time under his belt. He was limited by a Grade 2 lat strain last year and struggled enormously when on the mound, pitching to a combined 5.55 ERA in 24 1/3 frames between the Mariners and Nationals. His track record on the mound prior to that unsightly campaign, however, was strong. From 2014-18, Strickland worked to a combined 2.91 ERA (3.40 FIP) with averages of 8.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9.
Of course, Strickland has drawn as much if not more attention for other reasons. He incited a benches-clearing brawl in 2017 after throwing at Bryce Harper — an incident most believe to be the result of a years-old grudge against Harper for homering twice off Strickland in the 2014 NLDS. The next year, upon being pulled from a game after blowing a saved, Strickland punched a door out of frustration and sustained a broken right hand. He required surgery and missed the next six weeks.
Cordell, 28, was once a fairly well-regarded prospect with the Rangers and Brewers but hasn’t put it together in the Majors. He’s had 287 plate appearances at the game’s top level but managed just a .205/.267/.335 slash line in that time. Cordell does possess a more solid .266/.323/.455 slash in three Triple-A seasons, and he’s capable of playing any of the three outfield slots.
Mariners Release Carlos Gonzalez, Wei-Yin Chen
The Mariners released a pair of veterans on minor league contracts, as Shannon Drayer of MyNorthwest.com reports that Carlos Gonzalez and Wei-Yin Chen were both let go from the organization within the last few days. Chen hinted as much in a tweet on his personal account on Saturday, while Gonzalez’s name was initially reported as being one of over 50 Seattle minor league releases in May, before later reports confirmed that CarGo was still with the team.
Gonzalez signed his minors deal in February, and didn’t seem likely to make Seattle’s Opening Day roster prior to the league shutdown. The 34-year-old hit only .200/.289/.283 over 166 PA with the Indians and Cubs in 2019, marking new career lows in both batting performance and playing time. While Gonzalez has posted some excellent numbers over his 12 big league seasons, he hasn’t delivered an above-average season (by wRC+ or OPS+) since 2016, and it could be difficult for the veteran to catch on with another team even with the 2020 season’s expanded rosters.
Chen joined the Mariners in January on a minor league deal, while still collecting the $22MM owed by the Marlins in the final year of his five-year, $80MM free agent deal from the 2015-16 offseason. Injuries and inconsistency resulted in a 5.10 ERA for Chen during his 358 innings with Miami, and the Fish finally parted ways with the southpaw last November.
Between this lack of performance and his age (35 in July), Chen may also have trouble catching on with another Major League organization. Indeed, there have already been reports out of Chen’s native Taiwan suggesting that the left-hander could catch on with a team in Japan. Chen began his career with the Chunichi Dragons back in 2005, and posted an impressive 2.59 ERA over 650 2/3 frames in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Red Sox Place Chris Sale On 60-Day Injured List
The Red Sox placed left-hander Chris Sale on the 60-day injured list, as per a team press release. Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in March and will miss the entire 2020 season.
Sale’s IL placement was inevitable given the nature of his injury, though as Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe puts it, the “odd timing suggests [the Sox] may have a need for the 40-man spot” that now becomes available with Sale on the injured list. Boston’s 40-man was full prior to the Sale transaction, so the club now has some flexibility with an open spot.
Jonathan Lucroy could be a possibility for that spot, as MLB.com’s Ian Browne reported earlier today that the Red Sox were working on a restructured version of the veteran catcher’s minor league deal, which is why Lucroy wasn’t on Boston’s initial 60-man player pool for training camp. With teams expected to carry three catchers on their expanded MLB rosters, the Sox could choose to keep Lucroy and Kevin Plawecki as Christian Vazquez‘s backups, which would require a purchase of Lucroy’s minors deal.
Marco Hernandez, Yairo Munoz, and Brian Johnson are some of the other notable non-roster players in the player pool, so Boston could be considering selecting one of their contracts as well. Or, the Red Sox could be keeping a 40-man spot available should another player come available over the next few weeks.
Reds’ Blake Trahan Retires
Reds shortstop Blake Trahan was invited to participate in the Reds’ training camp but instead opted to retire, GM Nick Krall told reporters including C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.
Just 26 years old, Trahan will close the books on his MLB career entering a season in which he figured to be a depth option for the Cincinnati infield mix. Though he didn’t appear in an MLB game last year, he very well could have gotten another crack at the Majors this year or next.
A 2015 third-round selection from UL-Lafayette, Trahan spent his entire career in the Reds organization, breaking into the big leagues in 2018. In 11 games at the Major League level, Trahan played all over the infield and notched a 3-for-14 batting line. In his minor league career spanning parts of five seasons, Trahan hit 14 home runs and stole 56 bases in 79 attempts.
We at MLB Trade Rumors wish Mr. Trahan all the best in his future endeavors, baseball-related or otherwise.
Yankees Sign Matt Duffy, Re-Sign Dan Otero, Place Luis Severino On 60-Day IL
The Yankees announced their 60-player Spring Training player pool earlier today, a list that included a couple of new faces to the organization. New York announced that infielder Matt Duffy and catcher Max McDowell were signed to minor league contracts, while righty Dan Otero was released from his previous minors deal with the club and re-signed to a new pact. In addition, right-hander Luis Severino was officially placed on the 60-day injured list in the wake of his Tommy John surgery last February.
Duffy was most recently a member of the Rangers organization, though Texas announced earlier today that Duffy had been released. It didn’t take him long to catch on with another team, as Duffy will now return to the AL East in the pinstripes after spending the last four seasons with the Rays.
Acquired in the 2016 trade that saw Matt Moore go from Tampa to San Francisco, the Rays had hopes that Duffy would become an everyday infielder, though Duffy was plagued by injuries. Duffy did manage a solid .294/.361/.366 slash line over 560 PA and 132 games for Tampa Bay in 2018, though that performance was sandwiched between missing the entire 2017 season and only 46 games played in 2019. Duffy has worked mostly as a third baseman, though he has enough experience at second base and shortstop that could provide utility depth for the Yankees if he cracks the MLB roster.
McDowell joins the Yankees after spending his five pro seasons with the Brewers, who selected him in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. McDowell has hit .232/.335/.323 over 1417 career plate appearances in the minors.
It’s safe to assume that Otero’s new deal overwrites some type of opt-out clause in his previous minor league pact, signed back in early February. The 35-year-old groundball specialist is looking to bounce back from a pair of shaky seasons in Cleveland’s bullpen, as Otero had a lot of trouble with home runs (1.8 HR/9) when batters did manage to get the ball in the air against him. Otero’s 5.09 ERA in 88 1/3 innings over the last two seasons stands in sharp contrast to his 2016-17 numbers — a 2.14 ERA, 5.00 K/BB rate, and 6.5 K/9 over 130 2/3 frames for the Tribe.