Giants Release Rene Rivera
The Giants have released catcher Rene Rivera from his minor league contract, as reported by several members of the Giants beat (including NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic).
Rivera and Stephen Vogt were the two veterans brought into the Giants’ camp on minor league deals to compete with Aramis Garcia for the backup role behind Buster Posey. Since Posey is recovering from hip surgery that cut his 2018 campaign short, the general consensus was that San Francisco might look for a catcher that could handle more playing time should Posey need more rest days. Instead, with Posey making good progress this spring, it seems like the Giants are comfortable using the rookie Garcia as the primary backup, as Vogt has already been assigned to Triple-A to begin the season. (Cameron Rupp was also in the Giants’ camp earlier this spring, though he has since been traded to the Tigers.)
This left Rivera as the odd man out. Unless he re-signs with the Giants on a fresh minor league deal, Rivera will now look elsewhere as he looks to embark on his 11th Major League season. Long known for his excellent framing and prowess at throwing out baserunners, Rivera has also posted decent numbers at the plate over the last two seasons — a .247/.297/.428 slash line and 14 homers over 328 PA with the Mets, Cubs, Braves, and Angels. Given his defensive reputation, Rivera seems like a good candidate to catch on with another team as clubs figure out their catching situations at the end of Spring Training.
Pirates To Add Francisco Liriano, Melky Cabrera To Opening Day Roster
The Pirates have announced that left-hander Francisco Liriano and outfielder Melky Cabrera will be on the team’s 25-man roster for Opening Day. (MLB.com’s Adam Berry was among those to report the news.) Since both players are in camp on minor league contracts, the Bucs will still need to make some room on their 40-man roster. Only one more spot will need to be created, as Edgar Santana is already headed for the 60-day injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September.
The news means that Liriano will officially make his return to the Pirates, after previously pitching for the club from 2013-16. Liriano will become the primary left-handed option in the Pittsburgh bullpen, with closer Felipe Vazquez currently the only other southpaw projected by Roster Resource for the 25-man roster. Steven Brault is the only other lefty on the 40-man roster, so Liriano clearly had opportunity to win himself a job.
Liriano has primarily worked as a starter throughout his 13 years in the big leagues, and it’s possible he could still be some action as an emergency starter or long man for Pittsburgh this year. At the moment, however, the 35-year-old looks to be primarily used against left-handed hitters, as Lirano has continued to excel against same-sided hitters in recent years even as his effectiveness against right-handed batters has declined. In 2017, Liriano worked exclusively out of the bullpen for the Astros after a deadline trade from the Blue Jays, and Liriano served as a solid bullpen piece down the stretch and during Houston’s World Series run.
With Gregory Polanco sidelined for the first part of the season, the Bucs were in need of extra outfield depth beyond starting center fielder Starling Marte and left fielder Corey Dickerson. The switch-hitting Cabrera will balance out the left-handed hitting Lonnie Chisenhall in right field, and Cabrera could also spell Dickerson against some southpaws. Cabrera isn’t far removed from a .296/.345/.455 performance over 646 PA with the White Sox in 2016, though the 34-year-old has been roughly a league-average hitter in 2015 and 2017-18.
As per the terms of the two minor league contracts, Liriano will earn $1.8MM in guaranteed money for making the Pirates’ roster, while Cabrera will earn $1.15MM. Both players also have more available in incentive bonuses.
Tigers Select Gordon Beckham’s Contract, Release Bobby Wilson
The Tigers have selected the contract of veteran infielder Gordon Beckham, as per a team announcement. Right-hander Michael Fulmer (who will undergo Tommy John surgery) was placed on the 60-day IL in order to create room for Beckham on the 40-man roster. Infielder Ronny Rodriguez was also optioned to Triple-A.
In another move, the Tigers have also released catcher Bobby Wilson, as per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit News (Twitter link). Multiple Tigers beat reporters noted earlier today that Wilson’s locker at the club’s Spring Training complex had been cleared out. Beckham and Wilson were both in camp on minor league contracts, vying to win jobs on a Detroit team with needs to fill at both the utility infield and backup catcher positions.
Beckham enjoyed a big spring at the plate, and is now set to appear in an eleventh MLB season for his sixth different franchise. Picked eighth overall by the White Sox in the 2008 draft, Beckham has spoken openly about the pressures he faced early in his career to live up to that top-prospect billing, as his career began to move along more of a journeyman path. He even considered retirement if he hadn’t made the Tigers’ roster this spring, though that appears to be a moot point now that he’ll suit up for Opening Day.
Beckham appeared in just 33 Major League games over the last two seasons, spending most of his time in the Mariners’ minor league system. The 32-year-old has a .329/.302/.366 slash line over 3542 career plate appearances, though his biggest role will be to provide backup at second base and third base. (Beckham could also fill in at shortstop in a pinch, with a handful of games at the position over his career.)
With rookie Grayson Greiner in line for regular catching duty in Detroit, the Tigers brought veterans Wilson and Hector Sanchez into camp to provide competition for the backup job, as ostensible backup John Hicks will also be getting some time at first base. Cameron Rupp was also acquired from the Giants a few weeks ago, which seems to have left Wilson out of the mix.
Wilson appeared in 47 games for Minnesota last season, his first taste of big league action since 2016 (when he played for the Rays, Rangers, and the Tigers in an earlier stint). A veteran of nine MLB seasons, Wilson has been known more for his defense and game-calling abilities than his bat, with just a .208/.264/.313 slash line over an even 1000 PA.
Giants To Select Contracts Of Nick Vincent, Yangervis Solarte, Gerardo Parra
The Giants have decided to carry a trio of veteran players who were in camp on minor-league deals, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic was among those to report on Twitter. Reliever Nick Vincent, infielder Yangervis Solarte, and outfielder Gerardo Parra are all headed onto the 40-man roster.
All three have had success at the MLB level, but were left to battle for jobs this spring. Vincent has thrown over three hundred frames of 3.17 ERA ball as a big-league reliever, with strong K/BB numbers throughout his career. As I examined upon his signing, Vincent is an interesting candidate to continue putting out solid numbers.
Solarte and Parra, each of whom is 31 years old, will take up important part-time positions in the lineup. At his best, Solarte provides infield versatility and an above-average bat. Consecutive down seasons have reduced his outlook, but he could still factor as a solid contributor. As for Parra, he just wrapped up a hefty three-year deal with the Rockies, over which he managed only a 81 OPS+ (.283/.320/.407). But he’s a well-regarded all-around player who posted a .270/.317/.541 slash in 41 plate appearances this spring.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/22/2019
Here are a few minor moves to round out the day’s transactions …
- The Brewers announced that they inked reliever Michael Tonkin after he was released by the Rangers earlier today. Tonkin has pitched in parts of five seasons with the Twins and threw last year in Japan. The 29-year-old allowed just two hits and one earned run in his 4 2/3 innings this spring, though that’s obviously quite a limited sample. Tonkin threw 51 innings last year for the Nippon Ham Fighters, carrying a 3.71 ERA with an unsightly (and uncharacteristic) combination of 5.8 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.
- Righty Christian Bergman was cut loose by the Cubs, who had signed him in early February. The 30-year-old reliever was knocked around in limited spring action. He carries a 5.59 ERA in 215 2/3 total innings in the big leagues, compiled over the past five seasons.
Twins Release Tim Collins, Adam Rosales
The Twins have released lefty Tim Collins and infielder Adam Rosales, the team announced. Both were Article XX(B) free agents, meaning they’d have required $100K retention bonuses if kept but not added to the 40-man roster.
With the Minnesota organization deciding to head in a different direction with its final roster spots, it was obviously deemed preferable to allow these two players a chance to seek opportunities elsewhere. Both could in theory return to the Twins on new arrangements.
Collins, 29, ran up a dozen strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings during camp. He also has thrown just 22 2/3 MLB frames over the past four seasons, with all of those coming last year with the Nationals. He pitched to a 3.86 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 for D.C.
AS fr the 35-year-old Rosales, he’s looking to crack the majors for the 12th-straight season. To this point, he has accumulated 1,807 plate appearances of .226/.291/.365 hitting while lining up all over the infield. He had been on fire at the plate this spring, running up a .294/.368/.735 slash with four home runs (as well as four walks and four strikeouts) in his 38 plate appearances.
Justin Grimm Opts Out Of Deal With Indians
Righty Justin Grimm has opted out of his minor-league contract with the Indians, the club announced. He’ll head back onto the open market in search of a new deal.
Grimm, 30, was looking for a chance to bounce back after a brutal 2018 campaign. He performed well in camp, allowing just one earned run while compiling nine strikeouts and four walks in 8 2/3 innings, but obviously didn’t show the Cleveland organization enough to command a roster spot.
While the results haven’t been there of late, Grimm was a solid pen arm for the Cubs not so long ago. Between 2014 and 2016, he compiled 171 1/3 innings of 3.36 ERA ball with 10.6 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.
Royals Sign Lucas Duda
The Royals have inked veteran first baseman Lucas Duda to a minor-league deal, per a club announcement. He had been cut loose recently by the Twins.
Duda, 33, played with Kansas City last year. Though he failed to return to his prior levels of output, he turned in a nearly league-average slash line (.241/.313/.418) and obviously left a good impression before he was traded late in the year to the Braves.
In 3,462 plate appearances with the Mets, the left-handed-hitting slugger put up a strong .246/.343/.457 output and knocked 125 home runs. He was a substantially above-average bat as recently as the middle of the 2017 campaign.
While things have turned south since, Duda still seems a reasonable candidate to reemerge as a quality option against right-handed pitching. That said, it’s tough to see where he fits on a Kansas City roster that features another left-handed-hitting first baseman in Ryan O’Hearn.
Astros Extend Alex Bregman
MARCH 22: The deal has now been announced.
MARCH 21: Bregman will be paid $11MM annually from 2020-22 before earning $28.5MM in both 2023 and 2024, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). He also has a 10-team no-trade clause for the 2023-24 seasons.
MARCH 20: The deal includes a $10MM signing bonus, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). That’s unusual for a pre-arb contract; Heyman even suggests it may be unprecedented. Bregman can also boost his salary through escalators based upon MVP award finishes, the details of which are not yet known.
MARCH 19, 9:12pm: The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome clarifies (via Twitter) that the contract is technically a five-year, $100MM extension. The new contract does not override Bregman’s 2019 salary, but it does cover his three arbitration seasons and what would have been his first two free-agent seasons.
It’s a technicality but not an insignificant one; because Bregman’s 2019 contract is a separate entity from his 2020-24 contract, the extension comes with a $20MM luxury hit (the average annual value of the deal). Had it been structured as a six-year pact overriding his current salary, the deal would’ve come with a $16.66MM luxury hit.
However, signing Bregman to a six-year deal with that $16.66MM hit would’ve pushed Houston to just about $3.5MM shy of paying the luxury tax in 2019, leaving the Astros with minimal wiggle room for in-season additions on the trade market. Instead, they’re about $19.5MM shy of the $206MM threshold right now, which should leave them plenty of room to take on salary in midseason trades.
8:55pm: The Astros have agreed to terms on a six-year, $100MM contract with star third baseman Alex Bregman, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (via Twitter). That contract covers the current season, three arbitration years and what would’ve been the first two free-agent seasons for Bregman. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal had tweeted not long before that the two sides had been discussing an extension.
Bregman, 25 at the end of the month, has rapidly ascended from No. 2 overall draft pick (2015) to one of the game’s premier players. The LSU product has improved in each MLB season, topping out with his first All-Star appearance and a fifth-place finish in American League MVP voting in 2018. Last season, he posted a brilliant .286/.394/.532 batting line with 31 homers, 51 doubles, four triples and 10 steals in a season that both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs was worth about seven wins above replacement.
The contract extension comes just weeks after Bregman voiced “disappointment” with the fact that the Astros renewed his contract for the upcoming season at $640,500. “I understand that it’s a business,” Bregman told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart at the time, “but I feel like good business would be wanting to make a player who performed at a high level on your team happy and want to feel like he wanted to be kept and feel like they wanted him to play here forever.”
Whether Bregman was referencing a desire to sign an extension or merely felt he should’ve been compensated at the record pre-arb levels attained by Mookie Betts ($950K) and Kris Bryant ($1.05MM), the point is now moot. The nine-figure extension offer emphatically makes clear that the ‘Stros view Bregman as a vital part of their future. At the same time, it also affords him the opportunity to reach the open market in advance of his age-31 campaign — enough time to perhaps lock in one more significant payday before reaching his mid-30s.
Historically speaking, Bregman’s contract is the third-largest deal ever promised to a player with between two and three years of MLB service time. Buster Posey‘s eight-year, $159MM pact tops the list for that service class, although unlike Bregman, he was a Super Two player and already eligible for arbitration when agreeing to that deal. He was also coming off a 2012 season in which he was named National League MVP, and beyond that, he had a National League Rookie of the Year Award on his mantle as well.
As for non-Super-Two players with between two and three years of service, Mike Trout‘s original six-year, $144MM contract still stands out as the high-water mark. Like Posey, he had a more impressive resume than Bregman through his first two-plus seasons before agreeing to that deal.
This marks the second extension for the Astros on what has been an apparently busy day for president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow and the rest of the front office. Houston agreed to a two-year, $17.5MM extension with reliever Ryan Pressly earlier tonight as well.
Bregman now joins 2017 American League MVP Jose Altuve as the only Astros locked up through the 2024 season. That pair will form the cornerstones of the Astros’ impressive nucleus for the next six years, and it’s still possible that others could be locked into longer-term pacts as well. Altuve, Bregman and Pressly are the only Astros players who are guaranteed any money beyond the 2020 season, and the team does have several important pieces up for free agency in the near future. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Collin McHugh are all free agents at the end of the 2019 season, while George Springer will hit the open market after the 2020 campaign. Carlos Correa, meanwhile is arbitration-eligible through the 2021 season. No one should expect the Astros to lock up all of those players — even securing two would be an impressive feat — but the Bregman deal likely doesn’t put an end to the team’s extension efforts.
Angels Release Daniel Hudson
The Angels have released righty Daniel Hudson, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times tweets. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Hudson would have commanded a $100K roster bonus had he not been added to the 40-man roster.
The Halos decided to go in a different direction after taking a look at the 32-year-old in camp. Hudson was touched for five earned runs and three long balls during his 6 2/3 innings in spring action.
Hudson got his career back on track in 2015 after a long run of arm issues. He has struggled since to produce results, but has continued to draw MLB opportunities by continuing to carry mid-to-upper nineties heat and strong swinging-strike rates (at least 12.0% in each of the past four years). Last year, he worked to a 4.11 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 46 innings for the Dodgers.