Diamondbacks, Aaron Blair Agree To Minor League Deal
The D-backs are bringing one of their first-round picks back to the organization, signing right-hander Aaron Blair to a minor league contract, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). He’s repped by PSI Sports Managament.
Blair, 27, was a supplemental first-rounder out of Marshall University in 2013. He ranked among baseball’s 100 best prospects per Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 offseasons. But while Blair was a fast riser who thrived during his first extended looks at Double-A and Triple-A, his career stalled out upon reaching the Majors.
Arizona included Blair in the franchise-altering trade that also sent Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte to Atlanta in exchange for Shelby Miller. He made his MLB debut with the Braves in April 2016, but from 2016-17 he combined to allow 64 earned runs with a lackluster 49-to-39 K/BB ratio over the life of 73 innings.
Blair eventually underwent surgery to repair a torn capsule in his pitching shoulder in April 2018 — a procedure that wound up sidelining him for not only the 2018 season but all of the 2019 campaign as well. After pitching just 2 2/3 innings between the Majors and Triple-A over the past two seasons, Blair will face an uphill battle in pitching his way back to the big leagues, but he’ll do so in his original organization — one where he had more success than he did at any point during his Braves tenure.
Padres Claim Breyvic Valera
The Padres announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Breyvic Valera off waivers from the Blue Jays. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, San Diego has placed right-hander Anderson Espinoza on the 60-day injured list. Espinoza underwent Tommy John surgery late last April.
Valera, 28, was designated for assignment earlier this week when Toronto finalized its one-year deal with reliever Rafael Dolis. Valera spent time with both the Jays and Yankees in 2019, though he appeared in just 17 games and took just 52 plate appearances. Overall, Valera has appeared in the Majors with five teams but played in just 54 games, hitting .223/.294/.298 in 138 trips to the plate.
Lack of MLB track record aside, the switch-hitting Valera is the owner of a .302/.374/.442 slash in 1550 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Coupled with his defensive versatility –he’s played second base, third base and all three outfield positions — it’s easy to see why so many clubs have been intrigued by his skill set and taken brief looks at him. At this point, however, Valera has exhausted all three of his minor league option years, meaning he’ll need to break camp with the Padres (or another club) or else be traded or placed on waivers once again.
Yankees Sign Tony Zych To Minor League Deal
The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Tony Zych to a minor league contract. The former Mariners reliever, a client of ISE Baseball, will be in Major League camp with the team this spring.
It’s been more than two years since Zych, 29, threw his last pitch at the big league level, as injuries have beset the righty for much of his career. Zych had surgery to repair a biceps/shoulder injury back in 2016 and was slowed by a forearm issue in 2017. He didn’t pitch at all in 2019 — an absence that stemming from 2018 thoracic outlet surgery.
Though Zych has a long line of arm troubles in his past, he’s been impressive when he’s been able to take the mound. The 2011 fourth-rounder (Cubs) has logged 72 2/3 innings in the big leagues and compiled a 2.72 ERA/3.22 FIP with 9.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9, 0.37 HR/9 and a 49.7 percent ground-ball rate. Right-handed batters have posted an awful .216/.327/.269 batting line against him, while lefties have hit him at just a .217/.311/.370 clip. Zych has faced 203 right-handed hitters in the Majors without allowing a home run.
The track record of pitchers coming back from TOS surgery isn’t great, and the Yankees have a rather impressive bullpen mix as is. But Zych’s track record of big league success is rather impressive, so even if he doesn’t crack the Opening Day roster, he’ll be a nice piece to stash in Triple-A if his arm is back at full strength.
Mariners Sign Taijuan Walker
5:10pm: The Mariners have announced Walker’s return to Seattle. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Austin L. Adams was placed on the 60-day injured list. The 28-year-old Adams — not to be confused with Austin D. Adams, who signed a minor league deal with the Twins earlier this winter — underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL last October.
12:59pm: It’s a one-year, $2MM deal, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The pact also comes with another $1MM available in incentive money.
12:42pm: All indications are that the Mariners have or soon will reach an agreement to bring back former hurler Taijuan Walker. The free agent was spotted in Seattle’s camp and has since posted a rather suggestive tweet about his next destination.
Previous indication was that the M’s had a standing MLB offer out to Walker. Other clubs were also in pursuit; he had recently put on a showcase for the Cubs, for instance. As it turns out, the 27-year-old will return to where he got his start. The Mariners chose him with the 43rd overall pick of the 2010 draft and called him up to the majors for the first time in 2013. Walker never quite came into his own in Seattle but did have two productive campaigns. He ended up being dealt away — one of many players spun off in recent seasons by GM Jerry Dipoto.
The Diamondbacks got some good work from Walker, including 157 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball in 2017, before losing him to Tommy John surgery. A year later, his rehab from said operation was slowed by a strained shoulder capsule that ultimately wiped out nearly all of his 2019 campaign. Although Walker made it back to the MLB mound late in 2019, the Snakes decided it wasn’t worth the investment of one more arbitration-eligible season to bring him back.
Health permitting, it seems that Walker will now slide into the fifth spot of a Seattle rotation that’ll also include Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield and fellow offseason pickup/Tommy John returnee Kendall Graveman. There’s a good deal of upside in the second through fifth slots in the rotation behind the quietly solid Gonzales, but the Seattle rotation is also rife with uncertainty.
Depth options such as Justin Dunn, Erik Swanson, Nick Margevicius and Nestor Cortes Jr. could all get some run in 2020, be it do to injuries within the big league staff or merely poor performance. Non-roster options who could head to Triple-A if they don’t break camp with the club include veteran Wei-Yin Chen and former top prospect Manny Banuelos, each of whom signed minor league deals this winter.
Nationals Sign JB Shuck, Sam Freeman To Minor League Deals
The Nationals announced a slate of minor league deals and non-roster invites to Spring Training, including previously unreported pacts with outfielder JB Shuck and left-handed reliever Sam Freeman.
Shuck, notably, is now being listed as an outfielder/left-handed pitcher. The 32-year-old journeyman began an attempt to convert to a two-way player last May after being outrighted to Triple-A by the Pirates. Shuck wound up tossing 20 innings — 19 in Triple-A and one scoreless frame in the Majors — and allowed eight runs for a combined 3.60 ERA. But while Shuck only allowed 16 hits in those 20 frames and managed to rack up 23 strikeouts, he also issued 18 walks and hit a pair of batters. Those types of control issues are fairly common for position players as they transition to the mound, and Shuck will look to improve upon them in 2020.
Turning to his longstanding role as an outfielder, Shuck is capable of playing all three slots and has batted .243/.296/.314 in just shy of 1300 plate appearances. He’s been a solid bat in Triple-A, evidenced by a career .292/.365/.392 slash at that level. It’s a long shot that Shuck is able to successfully reinvent himself as a fourth outfielder/reliever, but if he can do so, he’ll be an increasingly valuable asset in light of today’s newly implemented changes to roster construction at the MLB level. Taking a look in Spring Training, of course, won’t cost the Nats anything.
As for the 32-year-old Freeman, he finished out the 2019 season in the Nationals organization after signing a minor league deal, but he didn’t appear in the big leagues with them. Freeman pitched only two innings in the Majors last season (both with the Angels), and he was torched in 52 2/3 frames with the Halos’ Triple-A affiliate. He tossed six shutout innings with an 11-to-1 K/BB ratio with Washington’s top affiliate, though, and is still not far removed from a 2017 season that saw him log a 2.55 ERA/3.34 FIP in 60 innings with the Braves. In 228 2/3 innings at the big league level, Freeman has a 3.62 ERA with averages of 8.9 strikeouts, 5.1 walks and 0.7 homers per nine innings pitched.
Cardinals Sign Brad Miller
3:27pm: The deal is “believed” to guarantee Miller $2MM, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.
3:10pm: The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve signed infielder/outfielder Brad Miller to a one-year, Major League contract. Right-hander Jordan Hicks, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Miller is represented by ISE Baseball.
Miller, 30, split the 2019 season between the Indians and Phillies, turning in a particularly productive showing with the latter. In an admittedly limited sample of 130 plate appearances, Miller slashed .263/.331/.610 with a dozen home runs, three doubles and a triple. With the exception of the 2017 season, Miller has been a roughly average or better bat each season dating back to 2015, by measure of OPS+ and wRC+. In that time, he’s logged a combined .241/.318/.431 line.
Defense hasn’t been Miller’s strong point, however. While he’s appeared at every spot on the diamond outside of pitcher and catcher, Miller doesn’t have particularly strong ratings at any of them. But he’s nevertheless a versatile piece to add to manager Mike Shildt’s bench — one who has been particularly impactful against right-handed pitching. The St. Louis organization has long been reported to be seeking a left-handed bat, and while Miller isn’t exactly a high-profile means of satisfying that need, he’s been solid in a platoon role each season beyond the aforementioned 2017 campaign.
Giants Sign Wilmer Flores
February 12: The Giants have announced the signing, adding that right-hander Reyes Moronta has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Moronta underwent shoulder surgery late in the 2019 season and is expected to miss substantial time in 2020.
Flores will earn $3MM in 2020 and 2021, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 2022 club option is valued at $3.5MM and comes with a $250K buyout.
February 4, 7:00pm: Flores’ contract with the Giants is a two-year deal worth more than $6MM guaranteed, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The Giants will also have a club option for a third season.
2:40pm: The Giants and free-agent infielder Wilmer Flores have agreed to a multi-year deal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The Giants will need to make a 40-man roster move in order to create space for him.
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The 28-year-old Flores spent the 2019 season with the division-rival Diamondbacks but was limited to 89 games by a foot injury that sidelined him from late May until late July. When healthy, Flores turned in a strong .317/.361/.487 batting line with nine home runs and 18 doubles in 285 plate appearances. While most of Flores’ power output came against left-handed pitching (.337/.367/.615), the longtime Mets utilityman also hit for average and got on base against righties, albeit without much extra-base pop (.304/.358/.404).
The exact manner in which Flores fits into the Giants’ infield rotation isn’t clear. He can back up Brandon Belt at first base and Evan Longoria at third base, although it’s likely that non-roster invitee Pablo Sandoval will also be viewed as a backup at the corners. Flores could log semi-regular reps at second base, with Donovan Solano serving in a traditional utility role, although that doesn’t leave regular at-bats for young Mauricio Dubon at the position. Dubon, though, has been working out in the outfield and could earn himself a lengthy audition in center field, which would help to create additional playing time for Flores at second base.
Bringing Flores aboard on a multi-year agreement doesn’t bode well for 2019 Gold Glover Yolmer Sanchez, who agreed to a minor league contract with San Francisco just last week. Sanchez reportedly passed on big league offers for the chance to earn himself regular playing time at second base with the Giants, but the acquisition of Flores doesn’t help his chances any.
Looking further ahead, the Giants still have Belt, Longoria and Brandon Crawford all signed to guaranteed contracts through at least 2021, so there’s no creation of an everyday spot for Flores on the horizon. That’s nothing new for Flores, however. He’s typically appeared in more games and logged more plate appearances than your average bench bat but has also only topped 500 plate appearances once in seven Major League seasons.
Pedro Baez Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Dodgers
Dodgers right-hander Pedro Baez won his arbitration hearing against the team, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter). Baez will be paid at the $4MM rate submitted by agent Kelvin Nova rather than the $3.5MM submitted by the team, as shown in MLBTR’s 2020 Arbitration Tracker.
Baez, who’ll turn 32 in a month, has been one of the Dodgers’ most-frequently-used middle relief/setup pieces since debuting back in 2014. While the L.A. organization has had bullpen troubles in recent seasons, Baez’s overall results in that time and throughout his career have been steady. In 2019, he turned in 69 2/3 innings of 3.10 ERA/3.52 FIP ball with 8.9 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and 0.78 HR/9.
Baez, who notched a career-high 25 holds in ’19, has appeared in 52 or more games in each of the past five seasons — averaging 63 appearances and 63 innings along the way. He’s never posted an ERA higher than the 3.35 mark he recorded back in 2015, and his overall body of work has perhaps quietly been terrific. In 339 innings as a big leaguer, Baez has a 3.03 ERA with 356 strikeouts (9.5 K/9) against 113 walks (3.0 BB/9).
This was Baez’s final trip through the arbitration process. As a player who currently possesses five-plus years of Major League service time, he’ll reach the free-agent market for the first time in his career next winter.
The win for Baez and Nova finally puts the players on the board in this year’s arbitration proceedings. Prior to this hearing, teams had gone 4-for-4 in arbitration hearings. The Dodgers had previously beaten Joc Pederson, while the Twins (Jose Berrios), Braves (Shane Greene) and Rockies (Tony Wolters) had also come out ahead in their own cases.
Reds Re-Sign Derek Dietrich
The Reds have re-signed infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training, per a team announcement. He’s represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.
It’s the second straight winter that Dietrich has inked a minors pact with Cincinnati. An injury to then-second baseman Scooter Gennett helped pave the way for him to land a spot on the big league roster last winter, and partway through the season, Dietrich looked to be one of the best minor league pickups in all of MLB. As of that early-June check-in, Dietrich had posted a stout .263/.369/.684 batting line while already establishing a new career-high in home runs through just 157 plate appearances. He was thriving both at the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park and on the road, but the now-30-year-old slugger saw his offensive output crater shortly thereafter.
From June 7 through season’s end, Dietrich turned in one of the least-productive lines of anyone in baseball: a .102/.284/.212 slash through 149 plate appearances. He managed to the uptick in walks he enjoyed through the season’s first two months, but the rest of his offensive skill set deteriorated at a rapid rate.
In all, Dietrich is a career .246/.334/.427 hitter with 79 home runs, 106 doubles and 21 triples in 2438 plate appearances between the Marlins and Reds. He has experience playing second base, first base, third base and the outfield corners.
This time around, Dietrich will face a new series of challenges in cracking a bulked up Cincinnati roster. The Reds have added sluggers Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos on four-year deals this winter, and they picked up Japanese star Shogo Akiyama on a three-year pact as well. It’s possible that the injury to Eugenio Suarez will give Dietrich a chance to win a roster spot, however, as the Reds could opt to deploy Moustakas at the hot corner while giving Dietrich a look at second base — if he performs well in Spring Training.
Tigers Sign Cameron Maybin
1:11pm: The Tigers have announced the deal. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Michael Fulmer was placed on the 60-day injured list. It was reported a couple months back that Fulmer, the former AL Rookie of the Year, was expected to be out until July, so the 60-day IL placement shouldn’t come as a surprise.
12:51pm: There is a deal in place with a $1.5MM salary, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News (Twitter links). He can tack on another $1.3MM via incentives, Heyman tweets.
10:37am: The Tigers are nearing an agreement with veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). Prospective contract terms aren’t yet known.
This’ll be Maybin’s third stint with the Detroit organization, which selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft. He broke into the majors with the club in 2007 before being dealt to the Marlins as part of the Miguel Cabrera deal. Maybin returned for a productive single-season run in 2016.
There have been ups and downs over the years, but Maybin makes his way back to the Motor City on the upswing. He was waiting and hoping with the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate last April when the injury-plagued Yankees came calling. Maybin ended up posting his best-ever season with the bat, slashing a hefty .285/.364/.494 with 11 home runs.
Maybin isn’t especially likely to repeat quite that output; he turned in consecutive 86 OPS+ finishes in the prior two seasons and rarely produced at better than the league-average rate. But he did shows some real changes in his batted-ball profile to support the improvement. Maybin’s barrel percentage vaulted to 10.2% from a prior high of 4.1%; he increased his launch angle to 11.1 degrees from a previous peak of 7.5. He also posted a career-best 88.8 mph average exit velocity and personal-high 16.9% HR/FB rate.
Even if there’s a step back offensively, Maybin figures to be a solid piece. He’s still fleet of foot, even if he won’t steal bases like he did in his youth, and capable of playing all three outfield positions. The Tigers certainly had a need for sturdy performers in an outfield unit that is filled with uncertainty. There’s also a good shot that Maybin will turn into a mid-season trade chip.