Padres Claim Greg Garcia
The Padres announced today that they have claimed infielder Greg Garcia off waivers from the Cardinals. He’ll head out west after spending his entire professional career in the St. Louis organization.
Garcia, a native of the San Diego area, has received significant MLB playing time in the past three campaigns. All told, he’s a .248/.356/.339 hitter in the big leagues. With just ten career home runs, there isn’t much pop, though Garcia has managed a 12.3% walk rate in the bigs.
Unfortunately, the 29-year-old oversaw a downturn at the plate last year, with his walk rate sinking into the single digits and his overall output falling along with it. Garcia managed only a 72 wRC+ on the year.
With experience playing all over the infield, Garcia could represent a utility option for the Pads. At the moment, the San Diego organization is largely unsettled on the left side of the dirt.
White Sox Acquire Manny Banuelos
The White Sox have acquired lefty Manny Banuelos from the Dodgers, per an announcement from the Chicago organization. He’ll go onto the 40-man roster, James Fegan of The Athletic adds on Twitter. Corner infielder Justin Yurchak is headed to Los Angeles in return.
Banuelos, 27, has long been considered a promising talent but has only briefly seen MLB time. He spent all of the 2018 campaign working at the Dodgers’ Triple-A club, where he split his time between the rotation and the bullpen.
All told, Banuelos threw 108 2/3 innings last year, carrying a 3.73 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9. He could be an interesting candidate for a multi-inning role and figures to enter Spring Training with a chance at cracking the Chicago pen. The organization had to place him on the 40-man roster to keep him from minor-league free agency.
As for Yurchak, the 22-year-old scuffled through his second professional season, managing only a single home run in 363 plate appearances. But the 2017 12th-rounder did sport impeccable plate discipline numbers and showed better pop in the preceding campaign.
Angels Outright John Lamb, Sherman Johnson
The Angels announced today that they have outrighted lefty John Lamb and infielder Sherman Johnson. Both players were assigned to Triple-A after clearing waivers.
Lamb, 28, landed in the Halos organization after injuries (and a 2017 suspension for a drug of abuse) wiped out much of his former promise. He threw well for the club’s top affiliate, working to a 3.44 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 49 2/3 innings across 13 starts, but was bombed in his ten MLB frames.
As for Johnson, who is also 28 years of age, he received a brief major league promotion after spending the past four years in the upper minors. Over 979 career plate appearances at Triple-A, he carries a .241/.345/.367 slash with 15 home runs as well as 128 walks against 198 strikeouts.
Nationals Outright Jhonatan Solano
The Nationals announced today that they have outrighted catcher Jhonatan Solano after he cleared waivers. He rejected a minor-league assignment and elected free agency.
Solano, 33, has seen minimal major-league action over the years. That he was even on the Nats’ 40-man roster was something of an oddity: he was called up briefly early in the season but never played, then ended up on the 60-day DL owing to bone spurs in his elbow.
When the dust settled, Solano ended up sitting out the entire 2018 campaign. In his eight seasons at the Triple-A level, Solano carries a .239/.286/.331 batting line.
Braves Acquire Raffy Lopez
The Braves have acquired catcher Raffy Lopez from the Padres for a player to be named later or cash considerations, the Padres announced today.
The 31-year-old backstop figures to serve as catching depth for the Braves in 2019. A key part of this equation for the Braves is that Lopez still has minor-league options remaining, per the Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter).
Tyler Flowers will make up one part of Atlanta’s catching team for next year, but his partner from 2018, Kurt Suzuki, is currently a free agent. The Braves also had 28-year-old Carlos Perez, 36-year-old Chris Stewart, and 35-year-old Rene Rivera see limited time at the position last season. Rivera and Stewart are also free agents whom you can track with our 2018-19 free agent tracker.
Lopez came up in the Cubs’ system after they selected him in the 16th round of the 2011 draft. For his career, Lopez has hit .184/.270/.322 across 76 games in the big leagues. He has spent time with the Cubs, Angels, Reds, Tigers, Blue Jays and Padres organizations, getting some major-league roster time in each of the last three seasons with the Reds, Blue Jays, and Padres, respectively.
For the Padres, this move is likely motivated by a desire to clear a roster spot. They are facing a roster crunch ahead of December’s Rule 5 draft, so moving Lopez is the first of what could be many moves to shake up their 40-man roster.
Eduardo Nunez Exercises Player Option
As expected, Eduardo Nunez has exercised his $5MM player option to return to the Boston Red Sox for the 2019 season, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald was among those to confirm (via Twitter).
Nunez certainly earned his keep with some big hits this postseason, but it was a rough year all-in-all for the infielder. Nunez hit only .256/.289/.388 during the regular season, his first full season with Boston.
The Red Sox acquired Nunez in July of 2017 from the San Francisco Giants for a pair of minor leaguers and was re-signed last offseason for $4MM. Nunez stays with the team via a $5MM player option, selected over a $2MM buyout that would have returned the 31-year-old infielder to the free agent market.
Next season, Nunez figures to serve as a bench option for Alex Cora. His ability to play all three infield positions makes him valuable over the course of a long 162-game season, when he can spell Rafael Devers against tough left-handers and serve as depth in the middle infield, specifically second, one of the Red Sox’ few question marks heading into the offseason.
For his career, Nunez has played eight years in the big leagues with the Yankees, Twins, Giants and Red Sox. He split 2018 between second base and third base, but he came into the majors as a shortstop and has also spent limited time in the outfield corners. Nunez is a lifetime .279/.314/.410 hitter.
Astros Decline Option On Brian McCann, Outright Jandel Gustave
The Astros announced that they’ve declined their $15MM option on catcher Brian McCann and sent right-hander Jandel Gustave outright to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. Both players will become free agents. Their 40-man roster currently has seven open spots.
McCann, 34, gave the Astros a much-needed quality option behind the plate in 2017 following an offseason trade from the Yankees. But after hitting .241/.323/.436 with 18 home runs in his first season with Houston, his production fell off in 2018. This past season saw the seven-time All-Star and 14-year veteran bat just .212/.301/.339 with seven homers in 216 trips to the dish. McCann spent significant time on the disabled list in ’18 as well, logging more than two months on the shelf due to knee issues that required surgical repair.
Gustave, 26, missed the 2018 season recovering from Tommy John surgery performed back in late June of 2017. Certainly, the Astros were hoping that he’d be able to return to the club late in the 2018 campaign — hence rostering him all last offseason — but he’ll now hit free agency and have the ability to sign with any team of his choosing. Of course, he could very well opt to re-sign a minor league deal in Houston, which is the only organization he’s known outside of brief spells with the Royals and Padres following his selection in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft.
The hard-throwing Gustave has a 3.98 ERA in 20 1/3 big league innings and worked to a 3.79 ERA with a 55-to-23 K/BB ratio as a 23-year-old in his lone Triple-A campaign (2016).
Blue Jays Decline Option On Yangervis Solarte
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve declined their $5.5MM club option on infielder Yangervis Solarte, per a team announcement. He’ll instead earn a $750K buyout. However, because Solarte does not yet have six full years of Major League service, he’ll remain on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster as an arbitration-eligible player for the time being. It seems decidedly unlikely, though, that he’ll reach arbitration with the Jays. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Solarte for a $5.9MM salary through arbitration, and it’d obviously make little sense for Toronto to buy out an option that was already cheaper than what he might otherwise earn in arbitration.
Solarte, 31, was acquired from the Padres last offseason in exchange for prospects Jared Carkuff and Edward Olivares. At the time, he was coming off a fairly productive four-year run to open his big league career, having batted a combined .267/.327/.419 (105 OPS+) through 2061 plate appearances with the Yankees and Padres (with most of that work coming as a Padre, where pitcher-friendly Petco Park was his home).
Solarte seemed poised for a solid offensive season but instead faceplanted with a .226/.277/.378 slash in 506 PAs with Toronto. He did swat 17 home runs, but his OBP woes and career-worst defensive ratings led WAR to view him as a sub-replacement-level player in 2018. It’s possible that Toronto could try to cut Solarte loose and try to bring him back at a lower rate, but it’s also possible that he’ll simply be passed through waivers and, upon clearing, hit the open market as a free agent.
Athletics Exercise Club Option On Fernando Rodney
5:20pm: MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets that performance bonuses met by Rodney in 2018 actually increased the value of his option to $5.25MM.
5:09pm: The Athletics announced that they’ve exercised their club option on right-hander Fernando Rodney. Rodney, who will turn 42 during Spring Training, will earn a $4.25MM base salary next season under the contract.
The veteran Rodney joined the Athletics in an August waiver trade that sent right-handed pitching prospect Dakota Chalmers to the Twins. He’d opened the season as the closer in Minnesota but served as a setup man to breakout closer Blake Treinen in Oakland, enjoying relative success in both settings (though he did pitch better with the Twins than with the A’s). In all, Rodney turned in a 3.36 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 in 64 1/3 innings between the two clubs.
Despite his age, Rodney hasn’t shown much in the way of obvious signs of decline. His average fastball still checked in at a solid 94.2 mph in 2018, while his 11.1 percent swinging-strike rate and 29.2 percent chase rate on out-of-zone pitches were both within striking distance of league average (slightly above average in terms of swinging-strike rate and slightly below on his chase rate). Opponents did up their hard-contact rate against Rodney by a hefty five percent, thanks largely to a notable spike with the A’s.
Still, Rodney continued to generate results, and his modest price tag made the decision a fairly easy one — especially when considering the continually rising prices of bullpen help in free agency. He’ll return to the A’s alongside Treinen, Lou Trivino, Yusmeiro Petit and Ryan Buchter as part of a quality group of late-inning options for recently extended skipper Bob Melvin.
Mariners Outright Ryan Cook, Justin Grimm
The Mariners announced Wednesday that right-handers Ryan Cook and Justin Grimm have been sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma after clearing waivers. Both relievers have enough Major League service time to elect free agency and will surely do so. Seattle’s 40-man roster is now at a total of 35 players.
Both Cook and Grimm would’ve been arbitration-eligible this offseason, making the early outright of each player an effective non-tender. Cook was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $1MM, while Grimm was projected at $1.6MM.
Cook, 31, has seen his once-promising career largely derailed by injury issues but returned to the Majors for the first time since 2015 this past season. He allowed 10 runs in 17 innings (including four homers), but he did post a rather impressive 23-to-7 K/BB ratio in that short time. He was also quite impressive in Triple-A, logging a 2.16 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 33 innings.
Grimm, meanwhile, landed with the Mariners after opening the season with the Royals. He allowed just one run in 4 2/3 innings in Seattle but was clobbered for 19 runs in just 12 2/3 innings with the Kansas City organization after previously being released by the Cubs in Spring Training. The 30-year-old Grimm was terrific in his first two season with the Cubs in 2014-15 before seeing his results slip in 2016 and crater in 2017.