Twins, Paul Clemens Agree To Minors Deal
The Twins are in agreement on a minor league deal with right-hander Paul Clemens, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The Ballengee client was recently released by the Padres. While the 29-year-old won’t factor into Minnesota’s Opening Day roster plans, he can serve as a depth option for an unstable rotation and as a potential long man in the bullpen as well.
[Related: Updated Minnesota Twins depth chart]
Clemens split the 2016 campaign between the Marlins and Padres, logging 10 innings for the former and a considerably larger 61 1/3 inning for the latter. Clemens finished the year in the San Diego rotation and posted solid surface-level numbers down the stretch, recording a 3.67 earned run average in 16 appearances (12 of which were starts).
A bit of a deeper look suggests that Clemens had some good fortune in posting that solid mark, though; his 6.9 K/9 rate, 3.4 BB/9 rate and 40.3 percent ground-ball rate were all worse than that of a league-average starter in 2016. ERA alternatives like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all pegged Clemens for a mark in the 4.80 to 5.00 range. In parts of three big league seasons, Clemens has a 4.89 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 in 169 1/3 innings between the Astros, Marlins and Padres.
The Twins are poised to enter the season with a rotation consisting of Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Hector Santiago, Kyle Gibson and one of Adalberto Mejia or Tyler Duffey. Well-regarded young righty Jose Berrios was recently optioned to Triple-A, and the team’s rotation depth took a notable hit earlier this month with the news of Trevor May‘s Tommy John surgery.
Orioles Release Michael Bourn, Release & Re-Sign Chris Johnson
TODAY: Johnson has re-signed on a minors deal, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. As Kubatko and others have noted on Twitter, Bourn seems likely to follow suit; neither player’s locker was cleared out despite their respective releases.
MONDAY: The Orioles have announced the releases of outfielder Michael Bourn and infielder Chris Johnson. In Bourn’s case, he utilized his opt-out clause, with the team evidently unwilling to place him on the 40-man roster.
Of course, Bourn has missed most of spring camp with a broken finger, which sapped any chance at making the Opening Day roster. But it had seemed there was a chance he’d remain in the organization while rehabbing to see whether there’d be an opportunity when he returned to full health.
That said, the fit in Baltimore was never that great — at least from an outside perspective. In Hyun Soo Kim and Seth Smith, the O’s already have a pair of lefty bats that ought to occupy the corners whenever there’s a righty on the mound. And while Bourn could have spelled Adam Jones in center, that wasn’t exactly a burning need. The righty-swinging Craig Gentry could fill that role while also providing a more sensible platoon option in the corners.
It still won’t come as much of a surprise if Bourn resurfaces in the majors before long. Whether he’ll wait to sign until he’s ready to return isn’t clear, but in either event he could represent an intriguing depth option for a variety of organizations. After all, though his bat has steadily declined of late, he finished strong last year with the O’s and is still capable of contributing in the field and with the glove.
As for Johnson, a solid spring (.269/.310/.493) wasn’t enough to move the needle for the O’s, who seem likely to prioritize flexibility and defense with their bench mix. The 32-year-old had been a rather productive major league hitter before signing an extension with the Braves early in the 2014 season. Over the past three campaigns, he has scuffled to a .252/.288/.348 batting line in 1,068 plate appearances.
Nationals Release Vance Worley
The Nationals have announced the release of veteran righty Vance Worley. With several other pitchers re-assigned to minor-league camp, fellow righty Jeremy Guthrie is left as the only non-roster hurler in MLB camp, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post notes (Twitter links).
Clearly, Worley won’t make the club as a long man, though perhaps he could still be re-signed to serve as depth. Also missing on the Opening Day roster are veteran minor-league signees Jacob Turner and Neal Cotts, while young 40-man righties Trevor Gott and A.J. Cole have officially been optioned to Triple-A.
That seemingly leaves Guthrie as the team’s long reliever of choice — if, that is, the Nats decide to carry one. Alternatives include carrying a third lefty (the out-of-options Enny Romero) or an additional bench player (Wilmer Difo or Michael Taylor).
Worley, who’s still just 29, received a long look this spring, throwing 15 frames for the Nationals. But he allowed nine earned runs on 16 hits while recording as many walks as strikeouts (six apiece). Though Worley got results last year, compiling a 3.53 ERA over 86 2/3 frames in a swingman capacity for the Orioles, he’ll have to return to the open market in search of a better opportunity.
As for Guthrie, who didn’t pitch last season, reports of a resurgence were borne out in his spring stat line. Over 18 2/3 innings, he allowed just five earned runs on a meager ten hits while racking up 15 punchouts to go with five walks. Whether or not he can carry that success into the regular season in his age-38 campaign remains to be seen, but it could be interesting to see how the longtime starter fares in a relief role.
Cubs Return Rule 5 Pick Caleb Smith To Yankees
The Cubs are returning left-hander Caleb Smith to the Yankees, reports Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago (Twitter link). Chicago selected Smith in the Rule 5 draft in December.
The 25-year-old Smith potentially could have made the Cubs’ bullpen as a southpaw swingman, but they’ll instead go with Mike Montgomery and Brian Duensing as their lefty relievers. Smith didn’t see much spring action with the Cubs, having tossed 6 1/3 innings and given up three earned runs on eight hits. Impressively, he struck out seven batters and only issued two walks.
Smith, whom the Yankees chose in Round 14 of the 2013 amateur draft, ascended to Triple-A in 2015, though he has only thrown 4 1/3 innings at that level. In 367 1/3 Double-A frames (94 appearances, 69 starts), he has logged a 3.41 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Smith is the second Rule 5 pick the Yankees have gotten back in the past few days – the Diamondbacks returned righty Tyler Jones to them last Friday – and will now head to their minor league camp.
Rockies Sign Ryan Hanigan To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have signed catcher Ryan Hanigan to a minor league contract, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag (on Twitter). Hanigan, who came available when the Phillies released him Monday, will earn at a $1.25MM rate if he cracks the Rockies’ roster, tweets Thomas Harding of MLB.com.
The 36-year-old Hanigan didn’t last long as a member of the Phillies, with whom he signed a minors pact in January. Hanigan will now try to find his way back to the majors in Colorado, which lost one of its top two catchers, Tom Murphy, to a fractured forearm two weeks ago. Murphy is likely to miss a few more weeks, leaving Tony Wolters, Dustin Garneau, Rule 5 pick Anthony Bemboom and Hanigan among the Rockies’ backstop choices.
Hanigan is easily the most experienced member of the group, and he did enjoy some fine seasons in his Reds tenure from 2007-13. However, Hanigan wasn’t all that effective over the previous three years with the Rays and Red Sox. After Hanigan hit a meager .171/.230/.238 in 113 plate appearances with Boston last season, the team declined his $3.75MM club option for 2017. He also saw his once-pristine pitch-framing marks decline significantly over the prior two years.
Yankees To Re-Sign Jon Niese To Minors Deal
The Yankees are bringing back left-hander Jon Niese on a minor league contract, reports George A. King III of the New York Post (Twitter link). New York released Niese on Sunday, but the expectation was that he’d quickly rejoin the organization if he couldn’t land a major league deal elsewhere.
Niese’s new pact comes with the same salary figures as the minor league accord he signed with the Yankees in February, as he’ll earn a $1.25MM base salary and could make $750K in incentives if he cracks the majors, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. The agreement also comes with a May 15 opt-out (Twitter links).
The 30-year-old Niese had been working to earn a bullpen role with the Yankees prior to Sunday, and it stands to reason he’ll resume those efforts. In order to get back to the majors, though, it’s likely Niese will have to regain his fastball velocity, which was only in the mid-80s range before the Yankees cut him. Niese typically sat in the high-80s with the Mets and Pirates from 2008-16.
A full-time job as a reliever would be uncharted territory for Niese, who has worked almost exclusively as a starter to this point. Of Niese’s 211 career appearances, 197 have come from the rotation. Niese has largely served as a competent starter, having logged a 4.07 ERA, 6.92 K/9, 2.78 BB/9 and a 50.1 percent ground-ball rate in nearly 1,200 innings. However, he picked up a personal-high nine relief outings (out of 29 appearances) between New York and Pittsburgh last year amid the worst season of his career. After recording a 5.50 ERA and a 22.1 percent home run-to-fly ball ratio across 121 frames in 2016, Niese was unable to take advantage of a weak class of free agent pitchers and land a guaranteed contract over the winter.
Orioles Acquire Alec Asher
The Orioles have acquired righty Alec Asher from the Phillies, per a team announcement. Baltimore will send a player to be named in the transaction, which gives Philadelphia an open 40-man spot.
This is the second trade the 25-year-old Asher has been a part of since the Rangers chose him in the fourth round of the 2012 draft. Texas sent him to Philadelphia as part of the package to acquire Cole Hamels in 2015, though Asher scuffled that year in his major league debut with the Phillies. Across seven starts and 29 innings, he logged a 9.31 ERA, 4.97 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 36.1 percent ground-ball rate. Asher was far more effective at the big league level last season (2.28 ERA, 4.23 K/9, 1.3 B/9 and a 35.2 percent grounder rate), but he did serve an 80-game Triple-A suspension after testing positive for a testosterone-related performance-enhancing drug.
With two minor league options remaining, Asher figures to see further Triple-A time with Baltimore, though general manager Dan Duquette expects him to contribute to the Orioles this year.
“Asher is a solid major league pitcher who our scouts have liked for a few seasons that we believe will help our club this season,” said Duquette (via Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun). “He has good size, three major league pitches and command of himself and his pitches.”
Article XX(B) Free Agent Decisions
With five days to go until Opening Day, decisions are due at noon eastern on players who qualify as Article XX(B) free agents. The rule applies to players who a) have six or more years of service; b) finished the prior season on a 40-man roster or on the 60-day DL; and c) signed Minor League deals over the offseason. If a team does not release such a player prior to the deadline, then they must either put the player on the active roster (or DL) to start the year or be on the hook for some extra benefits — a $100K retention bonus and June 1st opt-out date (at a minimum).
Here are updates on players who’ll be paid the bonus or have instead learned that they’ve made their respective teams …
- Righty Brandon Morrow will not make the Dodgers roster, but he will remain in the organization, as Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. Morrow will take a minor-league assignment, and his $100K retention bonus, to open the season.
- Giants minor-league signee Aaron Hill is set to receive his $100K bonus, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News tweets, though that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to take an active roster spot to open the year. Baggarly suggests the veteran still has an excellent chance of earning an Opening Day nod after his solid performance in camp.
- The Angels have informed righty Yusmeiro Petit that he’ll be added to the roster for Opening Day, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. He figures to work as a long reliever and swingman in Los Angeles. Petit struggled in the second half last year for the Nationals, ending the year with a 4.50 ERA over 62 innings.
- Righty Tom Wilhelmsen and lefty Jorge De La Rosa have both been added to the Diamondbacks‘ 40-man roster, the team announced, though only the latter is an Article XX(B) player. They’ll both join the bullpen for the start of the season. Wilhelmsen posted better numbers in the second half of 2016, but still wasn’t quite his former self. Meanwhile, De La Rosa is set to transition to the bullpen after serving mostly as a starter over his 13-year MLB career.
- The Padres will add shortstop Erick Aybar to their roster, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). The expectation is that Aybar will be the team’s regular at short to open the season. Clearly, that could change either now or in the future if the organization is able to pick up a somewhat younger player deemed worthy of a shot at a significant MLB opportunity. The 33-year-old Aybar has struggled badly in the past two seasons, though he was a productive, everyday player for years before that.
- Utilityman Emilio Bonifacio and lefty Eric O’Flaherty have been informed they’ll be on the Braves‘ Opening Day roster, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter link). The 31-year-old Bonifacio has struggled badly in his limited big league time over the past two seasons, though he had been a regular contributor before that. Never much with the bat, Bonifacio has long earned his keep through defensive versatility and excellence on the bases. Meanwhile, O’Flaherty has struggled to rediscover his form from his first stint in Atlanta. But he’ll receive another shot after a strong showing this spring; over 10 2/3 innings, O’Flaherty racked up 14 strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs on eight hits and three walks.
- The Rays have informed both infielder Rickie Weeks and righty Tommy Hunter that they will be on the active roster to open the season, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Weeks is expected to function as a righty bench bat, perhaps spending some time at both first base and DH, while Hunter will take up a spot in the Tampa Bay bullpen. Both players enjoyed productive Grapefruit League stints, with Weeks posting a .999 OPS and Hunter allowing just one earned run (with nine strikeouts against three walks) in his eight innings. Both will require 40-man spots, once the moves are made official. Meanwhile, it’s not yet clear whether the team will commit to doing the same with just-acquired outfielder Peter Bourjos. Topkin tweets that he may instead be paid the roster bonus, though the team’s final decision isn’t yet known.
D-Backs Claim Christian Walker, Designate Evan Marshall
The Diamondbacks have claimed first baseman/outfielder Christian Walker off waivers from the Reds, as Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer was among those to tweet. The move opens a roster spot for the Reds’ addition of infielder Scooter Gennett. Arizona has designated reliever Evan Marshall to create roster space, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets.
It’s not the first time that Walker has changed hands over the offseason. He bounced previously from the Orioles to the Braves before moving to Cincinnati. Though he hasn’t seen much MLB time, Walker has hit fairly well at Triple-A. In what amounts to about two full seasons at the highest level of the minors, he owns a .260/.324/.429 slash with 42 home runs.
The trouble is, Walker hasn’t quite hit enough to push out an established big leaguer from a first base job. And he is new to the outfield, leaving it unclear just how he’ll fit on a National League roster. While Arizona had previously parted with a similarly hard-to-fit player in Peter O’Brien, the club now evidently felt there was roster space to spare.
As for Marshall, who’ll soon turn 27, the results have just not been there over the past two seasons. He turned in a high-quality 2014 season (2.74 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9) that seemingly made him a long-term piece. But while his velocity has largely stayed consistent, he tumbled to an 8.8% swinging-strike rate in 2016 and was hardly dominant during his time at Triple-A. In his 5 1/3 spring innings, Marshall had permitted only two earned runs, but did allow nine base hits while compiling three strikeouts to go with one free pass.
Reds Claim Scooter Gennett
The Reds have claimed second baseman Scooter Gennett off waivers from the Brewers, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on Twitter. It’s not yet clear what the corresponding 40-man roster move will be.
Gennett, 26, agreed to a $2.525MM contract over the winter to avoid arbitration; that’ll now be the responsibility of his new club. He comes with two more seasons of arb control and also remains optionable.
Milwaukee had utilized Gennett quite frequently over the preceding four seasons, during which he carried a .279/.318/.420 batting line over 1,637 plate appearances. That’s roughly league-average production, though the vast bulk of his time — and his productivity — came against right-handed pitching. Gennett has hit just .187/.237/.254 against southpaws, greatly reducing his function.
While it seems there’s still hope that Gennett can expand his repertoire by learning to move around the diamond, he evidently hadn’t done enough to convince Milwaukee to keep him on the 40-man roster. The club is set to turn over second base to Jonathan Villar, which left Gennett without an obvious role.
The path to playing time isn’t really much more clear in Cincinnati, where the starting jobs are all accounted for. But Gennett could spell righty-hitting infielders Jose Peraza and Eugenio Suarez while perhaps also appearing in the corner outfield at times. Plus, if the organization finds a taker for Zack Cozart, or an injury occurs, it’s possible that Gennett could end up receiving an expanded opportunity.