Minor MLB Transactions: 3/20/17
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Royals released lefty Jonathan Sanchez, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets. Sanchez, 34, struggled badly in camp as he tried once more to make it back to the majors. Once an established starter, Sanchez hasn’t appeared in the bigs since 2013, when he failed to recover from a disastrous 2012 campaign. He also has not played in affiliated ball in either of the past two seasons, though he did go to camp with the Reds last year.
- The Diamondbacks released former first-round draft pick Stryker Trahan, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). Taken 26th overall in 2012 as a catcher, he had shifted more recently to the outfield. Though he’s still just 22 years of age, though, the bat never showed much life after promising work at the Rookie ball level. While he hit 19 home runs in 2014, Trahan managed only a .283 OBP and hasn’t turned it around since. Last year, he slashed just .201/.256/.322 combined over 258 plate appearances at the Class A and High-A levels.
Padres To Release Paul Clemens
The Padres are set to release righty Paul Clemens, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). It’s not apparent whether the organization has an immediate, corresponding 40-man move in mind.
Clemens, 29, entered the spring out of options, meaning he had to crack the Opening Day roster or face the waiver wire. Instead, the club has made up its mind early, with Clemens now set to head to the open market.
The Friars added Clemens last summer on a waiver claim after he struggled with the Marlins. He ended up providing 61 1/3 innings of 3.67 ERA ball, with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Clemens managed only a 39.8% groundball rate and 6.6% swinging-strike rate.
That showing was reasonably promising, all things considered, though it didn’t do enough to move the ball on Clemens’s overall trajectory. He owns just a 4.89 career ERA over 169 1/3 major league frames. And Clemens was off to a rough start this spring, with ten earned runs and 15 hits charged to him over a dozen frames, over which he has just six strikeouts to go with seven walks.
While it seemed there was a reasonable chance Clemens might crack the Padres’ rotation at the start of the offseason, San Diego added four starters over the winter. It seems the club has other plans with its fifth and final rotation spot; Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource currently projects lefty Christian Friedrich to take that job.
Braves Release John Danks
3:27pm: The Braves have officially announced the move.
2:20pm: MLBTR has learned that veteran lefty John Danks asked for and will be granted his release by the Braves. Danks is willing to sign elsewhere, but is not interested in pitching in the minors.
Danks reached a minor-league deal with Atlanta in December, then allowed seven runs while striking out seven and walking six over 9 2/3 innings of spring work. Even before those disappointing performances, Danks seemed unlikely to crack a Braves rotation that will feature Julio Teheran, Bartolo Colon, Jaime Garcia, R.A. Dickey and Mike Foltynewicz. The 31-year-old Danks pitched with the White Sox early in the 2016 season but did not pitch for another team after being released in May.
Danks has pitched over 1,500 innings and won 79 games over parts of ten seasons in the big leagues, all of them with the White Sox, and he stood out as a rotation workhorse from 2008 through 2011. He has, however, had a rough go since shoulder problems that resulted in surgery in 2012 — in the last five seasons, he has a 4.92 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 while dealing with an average fastball velocity that’s gradually slipped from 91.6 MPH to 87.1 MPH last year. He made $65MM over those five seasons thanks to a long-term deal he signed prior to the 2012 season, although that contract expired last fall.
Rays Extend Kevin Kiermaier
The Rays announced at a press conference on Monday that they’ve signed center fielder Kevin Kiermaier to a six-year extension that would pay the defensive star a guaranteed $53.5MM. Kiermaier is represented by Reynolds Sports Management.
The deal would begin with the 2017 season, meaning it would replace the $2.975MM salary to which Kiermaier agreed when avoiding arbitration as a Super Two player earlier this offseason. The center fielder receives a $1MM signing bonus, a $3MM salary in 2017 and then salaries of $5.5MM in 2018, $8MM in 2019, $10MM in 2020, $11.5MM in 2021, and $12MM in 2022. The Rays have a $13MM club option (with a $2.5MM buyout) on Kiermaier for 2023, though that figure can rise due to performance escalators. With the option and the escalators, he deal would max out at $66.15MM.
The contract, then, buys out all four of Kiermaier’s potential arbitration years in addition to a pair of would-be free agent campaigns. The six-year guaranteed term runs through his age-32 season, while the option year would cover his age-33 season. By taking the deal, Kiermaier is effectively trading in his chance at a massive free-agent deal, though he’s doing so in exchange for a significant up-front guarantee that tops recent comparables in his service class.
Kiermaier, who will turn 27 in April, is regarded as one of the best, if not the best defensive player in all of Major League Baseball, regardless of position. Over the past two seasons, his 44 Defensive Runs Saved are the highest among any Major League player, and he’s also pacing all of baseball with an Ultimate Zone Rating of +42.3 runs. Unsurprisingly, he won a Gold Glove in each of those two years.
In addition to his superlative glovework, Kiermaier has produced at a slightly above-average clip at the plate. He’s reached double-digit home run and stolen base totals in each of the past twos years, topping out at 12 long balls and 21 steals in 2016. Overall, in 1314 plate appearances since making his big league debut, the former 31st-round pick has turned in a .258/.313/.425 batting line that checks in at five percent better than the league-average hitter, per context neutral stats like OPS+ and wRC+.
Kiermaier had come up as a mostly speculative trade candidate at various points in the offseason, but the news of a long-term deal all but eliminates the possibility that he’ll be moved at any time in the near future. While the team’s corner outfield scenario is far less clear — Colby Rasmus, Steven Souza, Corey Dickerson and Nick Franklin all figure to be in the mix — Kiermaier now joins franchise icon Evan Longoria and ace Chris Archer as a cornerstone for years to come. Outside of that talented trio, the Rays don’t have a single player on a guaranteed contract beyond the 2018 campaign, so even with this new deal and a perennially modest payroll, the Rays will be able to supplement the roster with additional pieces to whatever extent ownership allows.
Taking a step back, the extension for Kiermaier proved to be considerably more costly for the Rays than recent extensions for center fielders with two-plus years of big league service. Ender Inciarte, who was also a Super Two player, inked a five-year deal worth $30.525MM this offseason, while Odubel Herrera inked a virtually identical five-year, $30.5MM deal with the Phillies. (Herrera, unlike Inciarte and Kiermaier, was not a Super Two player.) Of course, while Inciarte is a very strong defender himself and Herrera has been a superior bat to this point in his career, neither of those players has matched Kiermaier’s defensive accolades.
To that end, Kiermaier’s deal serves to further exemplify the premium that’s being placed on defense on a league-wide basis. It was five years ago that Cameron Maybin, then considered a premium defender in center field, signed for half this amount, while a more established offensive center fielder, Andrew McCutchen, inked an exceptionally similar pact to the one Kiermaier will land.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was first to report the deal was close, and also reported many of its specifics. ESPN’s Jim Bowden reported that a deal was in place, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale was first to report the amount of the guarantee.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Royals Release Brandon League; Trade Brandon Dulin To White Sox
The Royals have released veteran reliever Brandon League, reports Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Additionally, they’ve traded first baseman Brandon Dulin to the White Sox for a player to be named or cash, according to Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links).
The 33-year-old League, who hasn’t taken a major league mound since 2014, joined the Royals on a minor league deal in January. That came after shoulder problems limited the former Mariners and Dodgers closer to 10 2/3 minor league innings in 2015 and helped keep him out of baseball last year. In his comeback attempt with the Royals, the right-hander tossed five spring frames and yielded just two earned runs on three hits, though he did issue four walks while totaling only two strikeouts.
Long a hard thrower, League has registered 532 big league innings with Toronto, Seattle and Los Angeles, and recorded a 3.65 ERA, 6.34 K/9, 3.13 BB/9 and 60.5 percent ground-ball rate. After a strong stretch from 2010-12, the Dodgers signed League to a three-year, $22.5MM. League then delivered mixed results over two years, and the Dodgers released him in 2015 amid his aforementioned shoulder troubles.
Dulin, whom the Royals selected in the 12th round of the 2013 draft, hasn’t gotten past Single-A. The 24-year-old hit .254/.312/.391 in 269 plate appearances at that level last season.
Orioles Release Logan Ondrusek
The Orioles have released right-hander Logan Ondrusek, tweets Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. (The move was first noted on the Orioles’ Transactions page at MLB.com.) As Connolly reported at the time of Ondrusek’s deal with Baltimore, the 31-year-old’s $605K salary was not fully guaranteed, so by cutting him loose today, the Orioles won’t be responsible for that entire sum. Ondrusek has been battling elbow soreness and is slated to make the dreaded visit to Dr. James Andrews for further examination.
Ondrusek joined the Orioles midway through the 2016 season after beginning the year with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and pitching quite well. His overseas work resulted in a 2.45 ERA and a 29-to-11 K/BB ratio in 29 1/3 innings of work, which garnered enough interest from the Orioles to bring Ondrusek over on a Major League contract. However, the veteran righty wasn’t able to replicate that success with the O’s, surrendering seven runs in the 6 1/3 innings he spent with the big league club before being sent down to the minors. Baltimore declined a club option on Ondrusek this winter and later re-signed him to the aforementioned one-year deal.
Ondrusek’s 2016 season was his second pitching with Yakult and his second in which he enjoyed great success in Japan. Prior to his work there and with the Orioles, the former 13th-rounder spent five seasons as a member of the Reds’ bullpen. While he struggled in 2014, Ondrusek’s overall work with Cincinnati was typically solid, though he’s primarily been used in low-leverage situations throughout his MLB career. Even with unsightly numbers in 2014 and 2016, Ondrusek owns a career 4.03 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 277 innings.
Yankees Sign Ernesto Frieri
TODAY: The Yankees have announced a minor-league deal with Frieri that includes an invitation to MLB camp.
YESTERDAY: Veteran reliever Ernesto Frieri worked out for the Yankees today, as Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (Twitter links). While he hasn’t yet agreed to terms with New York, Frieri says he hopes to do so tomorrow.
Frieri, 31, last pitched in affiliated ball in 2015, when he worked to a 4.63 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 over his 23 1/3 frames with the Rays. While that represented an improvement in the earned-run department after Frieri’s massive struggles the season prior, when he allowed 7.34 earned per nine, the peripherals were a big step back.
After all, Frieri had never before finished a MLB season (excepting his two-frame showing in 2009) with anything shy of double-digit strikeout-per-nine numbers. Over his seven years in the bigs, Frieri has averaged 11.6 K/9, though he has also been prone to the free pass (4.2 BB/9) and generates very few groundballs (26.2%).
The swing-and-miss that had defined Frier’s career began to erode in 2014, when he dropped to a 10.0% swinging-strike rate. That fell yet further in the ensuing campaign, when Frieri also exhibited a career-low fastball velocity. Having sat in the 94 mph range for much of his career, Frieri was reduced to working at 91 to 92 mph in his most recent season in the majors.
Those struggles left Frieri without an opportunity in 2016. He spent camp with the Phillies but was released at the onset of the season. Frieri did appear briefly in the Venezuelan Winter League, though, and did notch two scoreless frames in the WBC recently for his native Colombia.
While the overall body of work doesn’t suggest that Frieri would have much of a shot at pitching in the majors out of camp — particularly since he has yet to sign — the key factor will be how he’s throwing. Indeed, Yankees skipper Joe Girardi says that the veteran would have a real shot at making the roster if he is added to the mix, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets.
Padres Sign Cuban Lefty Osvaldo Hernandez
THURSDAY: San Diego has announced the deal.
MONDAY: The Padres are in agreement on a deal with Cuban left-hander Osvaldo Hernandez, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter). The 18-year-old southpaw, who was declared a free agent last month, will receive a $2.5MM signing bonus. Because the Padres have shattered their league-issues international spending allotment already, Hernandez will come with a 100 percent luxury tax, meaning he’ll effectively cost the Friars a total of $5MM.
Hernandez hasn’t been included on lists of top international prospects from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB.com, etc., making information on him somewhat scarce. BA’s Ben Badler wrote up a couple of paragraphs of scouting info on Hernandez following today’s deal, writing that Hernandez has an 89-94 mph fastball to go along with a tight-spinning curve that could eventually be a plus offering and a slider that could eventually be above-average as well. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reported when Hernandez was declared a free agent that in addition to the Padres, the Reds, Astros, Mets, Braves, Rangers and Red Sox had varying levels of interest in the young southpaw.
The Padres have been baseball’s most active team on the international front during the current signing period, and Monday’s agreement serves as a reminder that the team could continue to add further international talent in the three months between now and the current signing period’s June 15 closing date. Among the Padres’ top international commitments this winter have been Cuban left-hander Adrian Morejon ($11MM), Cuban outfielder Jorge Ona ($7MM), Dominican shortstop Luis Almanzar ($4MM) and Cuban right-hander Michel Baez ($3MM). San Diego opened the international signing period on July 2 with fireworks, agreeing to terms with 10 highly touted prospects that day alone (headlined by Almanzar). Since that time general manager A.J. Preller and his staff have continued to aggressively supplement the team’s minor league system on the international market.
The Padres entered the current signing period with a bonus pool of $3.347MM, but they’ve exceeded that mark by well north of $30MM at this point and, subsequently, been taxed at a 100 percent rate for every dollar over that allotment. By my count, from the bonuses we’ve tracked at MLBTR, the Padres have exceeded their pool by at least $34.833MM, though the size some of their smaller-scale signings (which could be worth a few hundred thousand dollars) went unreported. Those numbers, though incomplete, put the Friars at just over $73MM worth of total expenditures on the international front, though the true number could very well exceed $75MM and approach $80MM in total.
Rays To Release Dana Eveland
The Rays are set to release veteran left-hander Dana Eveland, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 33-year-old had been back with Tampa Bay on a minor league pact after spending the 2016 campaign in the Rays organization. Now, he’ll look to latch on elsewhere with a team in need of left-handed bullpen help.
Eveland allowed a run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings this spring. The 2016 campaign was not a positive one for him in the Majors, as he yielded 23 runs on 32 hits and 19 walks (three intentional) with 21 strikeouts in 23 innings of work. His results in Triple-A last season, however, registered on the opposite end of the spectrum, as he posted a superlative 0.30 ERA in 29 2/3 innings of work with a 21-to-6 K/BB ratio.
Last year marked the 11th big league season for the journeyman southpaw, who has appeared in the Majors as a member of 10 different teams. In total, he’s logged 446 1/3 innings in the Major Leagues and pitched to a 5.46 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate.
Nationals Release Derek Norris
The Nationals have released catcher Derek Norris, the team announced and Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post first reported (via Twitter). Norris had been placed on waivers recently, but the Nats were unable to find a taker.
By releasing Norris now, the Nats will avoid the bulk of the $4.2MM arbitration salary the team had agreed to with the veteran catcher. Still, D.C. will owe him thirty days of pay, which amounts to around $688K. The organization will chalk that up to the cost of insurance, as the addition of Norris covered the club while it explored other options all winter.
As it turned out, the Nationals signed Matt Wieters in the middle of camp, which made Norris expendable. Washington will go with a combination of Wieters and Jose Lobaton at the major league level, with Pedro Severino working on his hitting at Triple-A and providing depth.
Norris has fallen off at the plate recently, with his strikeout and walk numbers plummeting from their once-excellent levels. On the other hand, he has improved his standing behind the dish, where he now grades well from a framing perspective.
It stands to reason that there’ll be pursuers for the veteran, though odds are he won’t make as much as he had been lined up for. The Rays are said to have some interest already. And it wouldn’t be surprising to hear of a pursuit from the Rockies, particularly with Tom Murphy sidelined, or organizations such as the Angels and Reds.