Red Sox Add Marcus Walden, Tzu-Wei Lin To Roster
10:30am: The Red Sox have officially announced the roster changes. Holt hits the 10-day IL with a scratched cornea in his right eye, while Johnson is placed on the 10-day IL with left elbow inflammation.
9:50am: The Boston Red Sox have called up right-handed reliever Marcus Walden, a source tells Evan Drellich of the MLB Network and WEEI in Boston (via Twitter).
Walden, 30, made eight relief appearances for the Red Sox last season, giving up six earned runs in 14 2/3 innings (3.86 ERA). He joined the Red Sox as a minor league free agent prior to the 2017 season after stints with the Blue Jays, Reds, Twins and A’s organizations. Though most of his time in the minors has been as a starter, the Joe-Kelly-lookalike pitched primarily out of the bullpen for Pawtucket last year after missing most of June and July due to injury.
He’ll join a Red Sox bullpen that is second in volume usage thus far in 2019 with 33 2/3 innings of work. The unit is under the microscope this season after management chose not to resign back-end stalwarts Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel, the latter of whom, of course, remains available on the open market. The 8-man unit has held form thus far, striking out 10.69 batters per nine innings while stranding 77.4% of inherited baserunners.
Walden can help as a long man to bolster a rotation that has, meanwhile, absolutely cratered (to put it nicely). The unit as a whole is 0-7 in nine starts with a 9.60 ERA and -1.5 fWAR in a little over a week. Their 5.76 xFIP paints a slightly less face-melting picture, though even that number ranks dead last among starting units this season.
Infielder Tzu-Wei Lin is also being added to the 25-man roster, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Lin started at least one game at shortstop, second base, third base and centerfield for the Red Sox last season. Brock Holt and Brian Johnson will land on the injured list as the corresponding roster moves, per Speier (via Twitter).
Rockies Extend German Marquez
April 6: The Rockies have formally announced the extension. Marquez is now signed through at least the 2023 season.
Per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link), he’ll receive a $1.5MM signing bonus and earn $1MM this season before earning $4.5MM in 2020, $7.5MM in 2021, $11MM in 2022 and $15MM in 2023. The option is valued at $16MM and comes with a $2.5MM buyout.
April 2: The Rockies and right-hander German Marquez are in agreement on a five-year, $43MM contract extension, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports (via Twitter). The deal contains a club option for a sixth season, though a pair of top-three finishes in Cy Young voting over the life of the deal would convert that into a mutual option. The contract begins in 2019 and runs through the 2023 season, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Marquez is represented by Daniel Szew of L.A. Sports Management.
The $43MM figure promised to Marquez is the second-largest guarantee ever received by an arbitration-eligible pitcher with between two and three years of MLB service time. Rays lefty Blake Snell recently set a new precedent in that regard by landing a $50MM sum over the same five-year term, which may have helped to move the market forward a bit for Marquez.
Marquez, who turned 24 in February, was not yet eligible for arbitration and will now forgo that entire process. The new contract includes the current season as well as three arbitration years and what would have been Marquez’s first season of free agency. The club option covers a second would-be free-agent season. Marquez would’ve been on track to reach free agency heading into his age-28 season, but he’ll now be controlled by the Rockies through age 29 and reach the market in advance of his age-30 campaign.
While Marquez didn’t generate the most attention among Rockies starters last year — teammate Kyle Freeland placed fourth in National League Cy Young voting — he did break out as a high-quality mid-rotation piece with the potential upside to become more. Over the life of a career-high 196 innings, Marquez posted a 3.77 ERA with 10.6 K/, 2.6 BB/9, 1.10 HR/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate. Metrics such as FIP (3.40), xFIP (3.10) and SIERA (3.31) all felt that Marquez handily outperformed an earned run average that already appeared solid (particularly when accounting for the fact that his home games are played at Coors Field).
Marquez complemented those numbers with a fastball that averaged 95.2 mph, a 12.5 percent swinging-strike rate and a 30.7 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone. Dating back to Opening Day 2017 (and including the lone start he’s made in 2019), Marquez has a 4.01 ERA with 384 strikeouts against 109 walks across 364 innings for the Rox.
Moving forward, the Rockies will count on Marquez and Freeland to anchor a rotation that also features lefty Tyler Anderson, the talented but wildly inconsistent Jon Gray and veteran righty Chad Bettis. There’s a chance that Marquez proves to be the best of that bunch, though the rates at which he’s being paid would be a bargain even for a mid-rotation starter (as is the inherent nature of pre-arbitration contract extensions).
The Rockies now control Marquez longer than any player on the roster other than their other spring extension recipient, Nolan Arenado, who is signed through the 2026 season (albeit with an opt-out after 2021). The Rockies aren’t in any real proximity to the luxury tax threshold, so any ramifications of the deal’s impact on Colorado’s luxury payroll are negligible. Colorado already had $116.75MM on the books for the 2020 season, and the Marquez contract will nudge that forward by a few million dollars.
Marquez’s agreement continues an unprecedented barrage of long-term extensions for players who are already under club control — many of whom have signed on the dotted line just months before what would’ve been their first foray into free agency (e.g. Arenado). The onslaught of long-term deals has manifested against the backdrop of significant tension labor tensions stemming from a deteriorating middle class among MLB free agents and questions surrounding the increasing number of tanking (“rebuilding”) teams throughout the league.
As shown in MLBTR’s Extension Tracker, Marquez’s deal is, stunningly, the 25th extension of the calendar year. In past offseasons, it was commonplace for a handful of players to ink long-term deals each spring, but this is the first time in league history that the equivalent of an entire team’s active roster has signed extensions. While it’s hard to fault any player for signing on board for a life-changing sum of money, the increased number of pre-market deals also serves to suppress the age at which players reach free agency, leading to more free agents in their early 30s and creating potential for additional strife down the line. Of course, the league and MLBPA are already in the process of discussing changes well in advance of the current Basic Agreement’s expiration at the end of the 2021 season, so perhaps there’ll be changes that mitigate much of that tension as we move ahead.
Pirates Place Kyle Crick On 10-Day IL, Recall OF Jason Martin
Yesterday, the Pirates placed right-hander Kyle Crick on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 4th. Outfielder Jason Martin was recalled to take his place on the 25-man roster.
Crick is suffering from right triceps tightness after making just two relief appearances this season. A former first round pick of the Giants, Crick joined the Pirates before last season as part of the Andrew McCutchen trade. While he may not be a household name, Crick was an effective piece for the Pittsburgh bullpen after being called up in mid-April. Appearing in 64 games, Crick went 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA (3.14 FIP, 4.00 xFIP) across 60 1/3 innings – good for exactly 1.0 fWAR. He throws a 95.8 mph heater, augmented with a hard-driving sinker and a slow-down slider, effectively used to put away right-handed batters last season (44.4 K%, 50% whiff rate).
He figured to serve in a primary setup role after tallying 16 holds last year, second on the team to only Edgar Santana, who is out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Trade deadline acquisition Keone Kela will be relied upon even more heavily in his stead to set up closer Felipe Vasquez. Elsewhere in the pen, tule 5 pick Nick Burdi is getting looks early this season, while Richard Rodriguez will claim whatever high leverage innings aren’t taken by Kela/Vasquez. The Pirates bullpen was generally middle of the pack last season, finishing 14th in ERA, 12th in xFIP and 14th in fWAR.
Taking Crick’s roster spot is outfielder Jason Martin, who will make his major league debut. Martin, 23, came over in the Gerrit Cole trade. He ranked 24th on Fangraphs’ list of top Pirates prospects coming into this season. With a roughly even split between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, Martin hit a combined .274/.337/.429, though with a stark difference between the levels. After raking in Double-A to the tune of .325/.392/.522, Martin hit only .211/.270/.319 in Indianapolis. While he’s being pressed into duty with the big league club a little earlier than the Pirates likely hoped, he had a strong spring, and they are definitely in need of outfield depth after injures to Gregory Polanco, Lonnie Chisenhall and Corey Dickerson.
Giants Re-Sign Michael Reed
7:19pm: Reed elected free agency and then signed a minor-league deal with the Giants, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports on Twitter.
11:56am: Giants outfielder Michael Reed has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Sacramento, as first reflected on the Pacific Coast League’s transactions page. Because he’s been outrighted once in the past, Reed will have the option of declaring free agency and seeking a different opportunity.
Reed, 26, went 0-for-8 in a brief four-game stint with San Francisco to open the season. The Giants picked him up near the end of Spring Training in a minor trade that sent fellow outfielder John Andreoli to the Twins, but Reed is out of minor league options and became a roster casualty following this week’s Kevin Pillar trade.
Reed spent the 2018 season with the Braves organization and had a monster season split between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .342/.423/.520 over 404 plate appearances. Despite that ridiculous stat line, he only tallied seven plate appearances at the MLB level. Atlanta placed him on outright waivers at season’s end, and the Twins not only claimed him but carried him on the 40-man roster for the entire offseason.
The 2019 season marks the fourth time Reed has seen action in the big leagues, but he’s totaled just 26 games and 45 plate appearances between Milwaukee, Atlanta and San Francisco. He’s a career .278/.388/.414 hitter through 869 plate appearances at the Triple-A level and can play all three outfield spots. A team with a less-defined outfield arrangement may show interest, but the Giants are currently committed to the trio of Pillar, Steven Duggar and Gerardo Parra, with Austin Slater, Mac Williamson and Chris Shaw all still in the organization as alternative options should a need arise.
Rockies Sign Jorge De La Rosa
Lefty Jorge De La Rosa is back in the Rockies organization after officially inking a minors deal with the club. His initial destination is not yet known, but it may be that he’ll begin with some time at extended spring training.
De La Rosa found himself in Colorado after a few rough seasons to open his career. Over nine years with the Rockies, he made two hundred starts and pitched to a 4.35 ERA.
Now 38 years of age, De La Rosa will return to the organization after two years spent with the Diamondbacks and Cubs. He has been utilized exclusively in a relief role of late, and it seems reasonable to presume he’ll continue to do so.
While he struggled to open the 2018 season, De La Rosa picked up steam upon landing in Chicago later in the year. He spun 21 innings of 1.29 ERA ball over 17 appearances with the Cubbies, compiling twenty strikeouts against eight walks and 14 hits.
For the Rockies, the addition brings a familiar southpaw with ample experience pitching at altitude. Veteran lefties Jake McGee and Chris Rusin are on the inured list at present, increasing the appeal of adding De La Rosa.
Orioles Re-Acquire Pedro Araujo
The Orioles announced today that right-hander Pedro Araujo was re-acquired after being returned to the Cubs. $750K of international bonus signing availability went to the Chicago organization in the deal, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweets.
Araujo’s Rule 5 status made him a tough fit on the Baltimore roster. As a 2017 selection who missed some action due to injury last year, he only needed to be held on the active roster for a few weeks for his rights to permanently go to the O’s. But he’d still have required a 40-man roster spot even if he was optioned down.
By working things out this way, the Orioles will keep Araujo without having to tie up a 40-man spot. They’ll cough up some international pool availability, but the organization has already been utilizing its excess bonus cash in other trades. The long-term plan is likely to begin putting that asset to work directly through prospect signings, but the O’s first need to establish an international infrastructure that was not pursued under the prior front office regime.
The 25-year-old Araujo obviously has impressed the Baltimore brass to some extent, given that they wanted to keep him in the organization. But it was plain that he wasn’t really ready for the majors. Last year, he was torched for 7.71 earned runs per nine over 28 frames, coughing up nine home runs along the way. But he also generated a healthy 13.9% swinging-strike rate at the MLB level.
Orioles Sign Dan Straily
4:53pm: Baltimore announced the signing. Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson was designated for assignment to create roster space.
Jackson, 25, will be offered back to the Dodgers if he clears waivers. He had not appeared above the Double-A level prior to his brief stint with the O’s. Jackson slashed .251/.356/.447 with 15 home runs in 410 Double-A plate appearances last year.
3:42pm: The Orioles have agreed to a MLB deal with righty Dan Straily, as first reported on a transactional website that declines attribution. The deal comes with a $575K salary along with a $250K trade bonus, per Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link).
This move will help the O’s fill some innings and give Straily a sure rotation spot as he seeks to rebuild some value. Straily was cut loose late in camp by the Marlins, who are obligated to him for 45 days of severance pay on his previously agreed-upon, $5MM arbitration salary — about $1.21MM.
Straily, 30, has rarely been a high-end producer but has steadily eaten innings while providing solid results. Through 495 1/3 frames over the past three seasons, he carries a 4.03 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Straily gives up too many home runs and has typically outperformed his peripherals. He has long generated a solid number of swinging strikes (10.8% for his career), but declined in that area last year while also seeing a worrying jump in hard contact. Long an extreme flyball pitcher, Straily will face a big challenge in Orioles Park.
Contenders that find themselves with a rotation opening and little in the way of cash to work with may see some appeal in Straily come late July. It’s not hard to imagine him turning into something of a trade deadline chip for the O’s, who’ll no doubt be willing to strike a deal if there’s any kind of intriguing return to be found. That possibility was obviously foreseen by both sides, given the inclusion of an unusually hefty (for this level of signing) assignment bonus.
Yankees Sign Cliff Pennington
The Yankees have announced that they’ve signed veteran infielder Cliff Pennington to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The deal was first reported by Pinstriped Prospects.
Pennington, 34, was with the Athletics in Spring Training and traveled with them to Tokyo as a non-roster player, but Oakland cut him loose at the end of March. Pennington split the 2018 season between the Reds and Rangers organizations, appearing in 16 games with Cincinnati and tallying 34 plate appearances. The rest of his season was spent between the two clubs’ top minor league affiliates. Prior to that, Pennington had been playing with the Angels on a two-year contract, primarily serving as a utility infielder.
That utility role is one that Pennington has settled into over the course of an 11-year big league career. He’s shown plenty of versatility, with nearly 5000 innings at shortstop, 1600 innings at second base, 350 at third base and some brief work in the corner outfield. In that time, he’s drawn excellent reviews for his glovework at second base and solid marks for his defense at shortstop. A switch-hitter, Pennington is a lifetime .242/.309/.339 hitter in 3142 trips to the plate.
The veteran Pennington will provide the injury-plagued Yankees with some depth all over the diamond. New York opened the season without shortstop Didi Gregorius, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, and has since seen both Miguel Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki land on the injured list. The former of those two injury situations is particularly troubling, as Andujar has been diagnosed with a small tear in the labrum of his right shoulder. While Andujar is currently opting for physical therapy and rehab, the possibility of surgery looms.
Indians Release Ben Taylor
The Indians announced that right-hander Ben Taylor, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent.
Taylor, 26, pitched six innings out of the Cleveland ‘pen last season and has logged 23 1/3 innings between Cleveland and Boston over the past two seasons. In that time, he’s struggled to a 5.40 ERA but carries a more encouraging 26-to-10 K/BB ratio. The former Red Sox farmhand also has a strong Triple-A track record, having compiled a 2.55 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in 70 2/3 innings of relief across parts of two seasons at that level.
In his brief time in the big leagues, Taylor has averaged 92.5 mph on a heater that he complements with a slider and a much more occasional changeup. Despite his strong K/9 rate, his swinging-strike rate has been a below-average 8.4 percent, and he’s also had a tough time inducing chases on pitches out of the strike zone (25.4 percent).
Yankees Acquire Jake Barrett
The Yankees announced today that they have claimed righty Jake Barrett off waivers from the Pirates. Fellow right-hander Ben Heller was shifted to the 60-day injured list while he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery.
Barrett already spent the offseason bouncing between rosters; now he’s doing so again to open the season. He’ll start things off at Triple-A with the New York organization, where he’ll represent a depth option should a need arise in the big league pen.
As we’ve now discussed several times in recent months, Barrett is looking to rediscover the form he showed back in 2016, when as a 24-year-old rookie, he gave the Diamondbacks 59 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with nearly a strikeout per inning. He’s posted a 5.03 ERA in 34 big league innings since that time and spent most of 2018 at Triple-A, pitching to a 2.87 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 over 53 1/3 innings.