Cubs, Jason Kipnis Agree To Minor League Deal
5:08pm: The two sides have agreed to a deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Kipnis, a Beverly Hills Sports Council client, will earn $1MM if he makes the club. He can boost that base salary via performance bonuses.
3:30pm: The Cubs are “zeroing in” on free-agent second baseman Jason Kipnis, tweets ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Jordan Bastian of MLB.com adds that the two sides are working to finish up a minor league deal and non-roster invite to Spring Training. Kipnis still has to take a physical before any deal is complete, however.
Kipnis, 32, was once a star-caliber second baseman with the Indians, who signed him to a $52.5MM extension back in 2014. He was excellent both in 2013 and 2015, making a pair of All-Star teams and garnering MVP votes in each of those seasons. On the whole, from the time he debuted through the completion of the 2016 season, Kipnis batted a combined .272/.345/.423 while averaging 17 homers, 38 doubles and 25 steals per 162 games played.
However, over the pat three seasons, Kipnis simply hasn’t hit much, combining for just a .236/.305/.403 slash (86 OPS+) in 1485 plate appearances. His decline eliminated any surprise over the Indians’ decision to pay a $2.5MM buyout on what once looked to be a reasonable $16.5MM club option for the 2020 season.
The Cubs’ second base mix is muddled, at best. Nico Hoerner hit .282 in 82 plate appearances late in the year but managed only a .305 on-base percentage. He’s also yet to play a game in Triple-A. Former first-round pick Ian Happ has yet to establish himself in the Majors, and late-blooming David Bote has been more of a utility player than an everyday option at Wrigley. The versatile Daniel Descalso flopped in his first year with Chicago, posting an alarming .173/.271/.250 slash in 194 plate appearances. Non-roster options include Hernan Perez, Carlos Asuaje and Corban Joseph. The Chicago-born Kipnis, however, figures to have a very legitimate chance of cracking the roster and suiting up to play his home games at Wrigley Field — just 19 miles from the high school he attended.
Mariners To Sign Carlos Gonzalez
The Mariners have agreed to a minor league contract with three-time All-Star Carlos Gonzalez, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). The 34-year-old Boras Corporation client has been invited to Major League Spring Training and would earn $750K if he cracks the big league roster.
A star-caliber player with the Rockies from 2010-16, Gonzalez is now three full seasons removed from his last above-average year at the plate by measure of park-adjusted metrics like OPS+ and wRC+. Dating back to Opening Day 2017, he’s slashed .260/.328/.423 in 1204 plate appearances with the Rockies, Indians and Cubs — including a .200/.289/.283 output in 166 plate appearances in 2019. Both Cleveland and Chicago released Gonzalez during the 2019 season.
That said, Gonzalez is a perfectly sensible roll of the dice for the Mariners, who’ll be without right fielder Mitch Haniger early in the season due to his recent core surgery. The Mariners figure to have Mallex Smith in center field in 2020, with rising prospect Kyle Lewis likely tabbed for left field duties. In right, they’ll take a look at Jake Fraley, Braden Bishop, recent waiver claim Jose Siri and now CarGo as they look to bridge the gap to Haniger’s return to the roster.
From 2010-16, Gonzalez posted a very strong .296/.353/.535 slash with 184 home runs, 197 doubles and 28 triples in 3714 plate appearances. Along the way, he racked up an even 1000 hits in total and captured three Gold Glove Awards, two Silver Sluggers and a National League batting title (.336 in 2010). It’s obviously doubtful that he’s capable of anything approaching that peak form, but the Mariners will take a free look at what Gonzalez has left in the tank this spring.
Phillies Outright J.D. Hammer
The Phillies have outrighted right-hander J.D. Hammer, the club announced. He had recently been designated for assignment.
Hammer reached the bigs last year but didn’t exactly find success right out of the gates. He did manage a 3.79 ERA in his 19 innings of action, but did so in spite of an ugly 13:12 K/BB ratio.
The 25-year-old Hammer also showed major walk problems during his time at Triple-A last year. But he was lights out before that at the penultimate level of the minors and has a history of gaudy K/BB numbers.
Orioles Claim Ramon Urias
The Orioles announced they’ve claimed infielder Ramon Urias off waivers from the Cardinals. Fellow infielder Pat Valaika was outrighted after clearing waivers, the team further announced.
It’s the latest in a long-running string of infield additions for the O’s, who’ve collected young glove-men at nearly the same rate the Giants have claimed relief pitchers. Urias and Valaika will both be among the camp competitors for utility roles, presuming there is no further action in the next week.
Urias spent most of his developmental time in the Mexican League, impressing there before jumping to the Cards. He’s primarily a second baseman but also has logged substantial time at the hot corner.
Though Urias has shown well with the bat at times over the past two seasons, he hasn’t yet forced his way into the majors. Urias slashed .263/.369/.424 in 375 Triple-A plate appearances last year — a touch below average in that high-powered offensive environment — but has since struggled quite a bit in Mexican winter ball.
Red Sox Sign Cesar Puello
The Red Sox have added outfielder Cesar Puello on a minor-league deal, the team announced (h/t Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, on Twitter). He’s one of five new additions to the Boston non-roster invitation list — a group that also includes just-acquired prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.
Puello has seen action in two MLB campaigns with four different clubs, appearing in just 61 total games. He had a bit of an outburst with the Angels when called up last year, turning in a huge dozen-game run, but nevertheless ended up being cut loose. Puello wasn’t able to keep things going when he landed with the Marlins.
In total, the 28-year-old carries a .239/.346/.346 slash line in his 186 MLB plate appearances. Once considered a prospect of some note, Puello has largely plied his trade in the upper minors of late. In 1,580 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, he owns a solid .292/.391/.446 batting line.
Dodgers Designate Tyler White, Kyle Garlick
The Dodgers have designated first baseman Tyler White and outfielder Kyle Garlick for assignment, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register was among those to report. These moves come in the wake of Los Angeles’ acquisitions of Mookie Betts and David Price from Boston, leaving the Dodgers’ 40-man roster at capacity.
The 29-year-old White didn’t last long on the Dodgers’ 40-man. They acquired White last July from the Astros, with whom he was once a top-100 prospect. White posted a strong .276/.354/.533 line in 237 plate appearances in 2018, but he was unable to approach that production last year between Houston and Los Angeles. He combined for a .208/.308/.304 line in 279 trips to the plate, and injury issues helped limit White to a meager 26 PA as a Dodger.
Garlick, 28, was far more successful than White last season. A 28th-round pick back in 2015, Garlick showed well in his brief MLB debut in 2019, slashing .250/.321/.521 with three homers in 51 trips to the plate. He saw time in both outfield corners during that stint. Garlick spent the majority of the year in Triple-A ball, where he was excellent. His .314/.382/.675 showing (23 HRs) in 304 PA was 45 percent better than the league-average line, per FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.
Garlick still has two minor league options left, so perhaps some other team will take a chance on him via trade or waivers. White’s out of options, so he’d have to stick on an acquiring club’s 26-man roster or head to the waiver wire.
Twins Acquire Kenta Maeda
FEBRUARY 10, 7:36pm: This deal is now official.
6:36pm: Young catcher Jair Camargo represents the last piece of the puzzle going to Minnesota, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic (via Twitter).
FEBRUARY 9, 6:35pm: The Twins are sending outfielder Luke Raley to the Dodgers as the final piece of the package heading to California, per MLB Insider Jeff Passan (via Twitter). Interestingly, Raley was originally drafted by the Dodgers. He was traded to Minnesota as part of the Brian Dozier deadline deal in 2018. Raley, 25, rejoins the Dodgers organization after hitting .302/.362/.516 in 33 games at Triple-A Rochester in 2019.
5:32pm: Interestingly enough, now that the Mookie Betts to the Dodgers deal is again near completion, the rest of the baseball world can move on. That includes the Minnesota Twins, who are completing their leg of this mega-deal in a new iteration.
The Twins will now receive right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda, along with $10MM cash from the Dodgers, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links). They are also likely to receive a lower level prospect from the Dodgers, per Rosenthal, though the name of that prospect has not yet been revealed. Another report has the Twins sending an additional prospect to the Dodgers, per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. That player is said to be an outfielder, per MLB Networks Jon Heyman.
If your head is spinning at this point, that’s okay. In total, Maeda, $10MM cash and a prospect is headed to the Twins for Brusdar Graterol, a draft pick (#67 overall) and another prospect. Deals are still pending physicals, which of course, is no small caveat, though expectations are that the deal will go through. We’ll keep this post updated as the names of those final prospects come rolling in.
The Dodgers will now keep Graterol, presumably making him a part of their bullpen picture in 2020. It’s certainly an interesting gambit for the Dodgers to take on Graterol after the Red Sox passed. Regardless, he becomes another weapon for the Dodgers to use in their quest to return to the World Series. He may even be the perfect candidate to take on the multi-inning fireman role that Maeda had played for the Dodgers over the past few postseasons. Alternatively, if Kenley Jansen‘s struggles continue, Graterol could step into a finishing role. However they plan on using him, the Dodgers not only added one of the best player’s in the game today, but also a high-risk, high-reward young hurler.
For the Twins, they get a reliable arm for their rotation at little financial investment to slot in with Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi at the top of their rotation. Even Maeda wins here, as he gets the security of starting for a playoff contender, something he’s long desired, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Maeda has a fairly complex contract, but given the money being sent Minnesota’s way, the Twinkies have Maeda for the next four seasons at very reasonable rates. Maeda is only really assured of earning $3.15MM in each of the next four seasons by way of a $3MM base contact and $150K bonus for making the opening day roster. Of course, with Maeda in the rotation, there’s room for him to raise his worth on an annual basis with up to $6.5MM in potential bonuses.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Red Sox Announce Deal Sending Mookie Betts, David Price To Dodgers
The Red Sox have officially announced a long-awaited swap to send superstar outfielder Mookie Betts and starter David Price to the Dodgers.
The Boston organization will pay down half of Price’s $96MM remaining contractual obligations. In return, the Sox will acquire outfielder Alex Verdugo, infield prospect Jeter Downs, and minor-league catcher Connor Wong.
New Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced the blockbuster, saying that “it’s reasonable to expect we’re going to be worse without” Betts and Price. (Alex Speier of the Boston Globe is among those covering the presser on Twitter.) That’s stating the obvious. At the same time, Bloom says he anticipates a competitive roster that can realistically compete.
So, why do the deal? Not long ago, Bloom says, he expected to keep Betts for 2020. But “teams stepped forward” with increased offers over the course of the offseason. The ultimate package achieved constitutes a “major step forward” for the Boston organization’s future, in Bloom’s view.
You may recall that an initial formulation of this deal included young righty Brusdar Graterol, with supposed health issues said to have scuttled that arrangement. Bloom didn’t talk about that directly, but did deny that fan reaction had any role in the implosion of the earlier trade structure. Graterol is now ticketed for the Dodgers in a separate but related swap.
The deal wasn’t just driven by the Red Sox’ desire to dip below the competitive balance tax line, Bloom said. In fact, as the Globe’s Peter Abraham characterizes his comments on Twitter, Bloom would’ve been open to dealing away the franchise cornerstone in the interest of long-term sustainability even had the club not needed to do so to reset their luxury obligations. That’s a notable and somewhat startling statement from the top baseball ops exec of one of the game’s blue-chip teams regarding his organization’s approach to competition and roster-building — particularly given that Bloom emphasized that he still sees this as a winning roster.
Padres To Sign Juan Lagares
The Padres have agreed to a deal with outfielder Juan Lagares, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). It’s a minor-league pact that’ll pay out at $1.4MM if Lagares can crack the big league roster. There are also $1.1MM in available incentives and a March 19th opt-out date, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
Lagares could step into the shoes of just-traded center fielder Manuel Margot. First, Lagares will have to show that he’s primed to bounce back from a rough 2019 season.
At his best, Lagares gave the Mets high-end defensive work and approximately league-average hitting — quite a nice combination for an up-the-middle performer. But that was way back in 2014, when Lagares logged a Gold Glove and set the table for a spring 2015 extension.
Things just haven’t gone as well since. Lagares has dealt with some health problems and back-slid at the plate. UZR and DRS both soured on his glovework in 2019, though Statcast provided plenty of evidence that Lagares still has plenty of skill with the glove on his hand.
It seems the Friars will have a rather wide-open camp battle. Lagares and Wil Myers are each right-handed-hitting candidates to see time in center. Word is that lefty swinging Franchy Cordero could shift to the prime defensive spot; the recently acquired Trent Grisham is also an option there. Tommy Pham is sure to see a lot of action in the corner, with all of the above-listed players and a few others (in particular, Josh Naylor and Abraham Almonte) also potentially competing.
Rays Finalizing Deal With Aaron Loup
5:07pm: There is a deal in place, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.
10:15am: The Rays are finishing up a minor league contract with veteran left-handed reliever Aaron Loup, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. If and when the deal is completed, the Beverly Hills Sports Council client would head to Major League camp as a non-roster invitee.
Loup, 32, spent the 2019 season in the Padres organization but has spent the vast majority of his eight-year big league career with the Blue Jays. An elbow strain limited him to just 3 1/3 innings with San Diego last season, but Loup holds a lifetime 3.45 ERA with averages of 8.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and 0.69 HR/9 to go along with a 54.3 percent ground-ball rate.
Loup has fared considerably better against left-handed opponents in his career, but unlike many traditional lefty specialists, he hasn’t been completely obliterated by hitters holding the platoon advantage. Lefties have managed only a .234/.303/.321 slash against him through 584 plate appearances in the Majors, while righty hitters have put together a .269/.338/.424 slash. It’s certainly more production than one would hope to allow, but Loup isn’t a liability who can only be trusted in left-on-left spots, either.
Tampa Bay isn’t exactly hurting for left-handed depth at the moment, but Loup further deepens what’s already any areas of strength. Ryan Yarbrough is likely to open the 2020 season in the Rays’ rotation, while Jose Alvarado and Colin Poche could be in the Opening Day ‘pen. Elsewhere on the 40-man roster are Jalen Beeks, Anthony Banda and top prospect Brendan McKay, although that trio could begin the year as starters in the Triple-A and serve as rotation depth. Loup will join a list of non-roster lefties that also includes former big leaguers Sean Gilmartin and Ryan Sherriff.