Yankees Designate Richard Bleier For Assignment
The Yankees announced on Thursday that they’ve designated left-hander Richard Bleier for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for slugger Chris Carter, whose one-year deal is now official.
The 29-year-old Bleier made his MLB debut last season and pitched quite well, logging a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings for the Yanks. Bleier averaged 5.1 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9 to go along with a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate, though his fastball checked in at just over 89 mph, on average. Bleier, a former sixth-round pick (Rangers, 2008), greatly outperformed his minor league numbers in his short big league stint with New York. He spent the rest of the year in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he posted a 3.72 ERA with just 25 strikeouts in 58 innings (10 starts, two relief appearances).
The Yankees signed Bleier as a minor league free agent prior to the 2016 season, and while he proved a very useful depth option for the organization, his overall track record at Triple-A creates some doubt about his ability to sustain last year’s Major League performance. In 147 innings across parts of four Triple-A campaigns, Bleier has a 3.29 ERA but has averaged just 3.7 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9. While he clearly has pristine control and a penchant for inducing ground-balls, likely hurt his standing within the organization.
If Bleier is ultimately exposed to waivers and clears, he can remain in camp with the Yankees as a non-roster player and hope to once again surface in the Majors later this season.
Pirates Win Arbitration Hearing Against Tony Watson
The Pirates have won their arbitration hearing against left-hander Tony Watson, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). As can be seen in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker, Watson had filed for a $6MM salary, while the Pirates filed at $5.6MM. He’ll receive the lesser of those two sums, which comes in about $300K shy of the projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Even with the loss, Watson still receives a healthy raise from last year’s $3.45MM salary.
The 31-year-old Watson stepped into the closer’s gig in Pittsburgh following the trade of Mark Melancon last summer and is the early favorite to reprise that role in 2017. He’s coming off a season in which he saved 15 games and logged a 3.06 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 67 2/3 innings out of manager Clint Hurdle’s bullpen.
Watson didn’t debut in the Majors until his age-26 season, but he quickly established himself as a quality bullpen arm. Since that time, he’s somewhat quietly emerged as one of the more successful setup men in the National League, pitching to an outstanding 2.22 ERA over the life of 292 innings in the past four seasons. Since the 2013 season, no reliever in Major League Baseball has thrown more regular-season innings than Watson’s 292, and no one has topped his 120 holds, either.
One more strong showing for Watson this coming season would be of particular importance for the southpaw, as he’s slated to hit free agency next winter. A strong performance could also make Watson a midseason trade candidate whether the Pirates contend or not, as was the case with Melancon a year ago. Pittsburgh assuredly won’t make a qualifying offer to Watson following the 2017 campaign, so moving him prior to this summer’s non-waiver trade deadline would be their only means of receiving some form of compensation for Watson’s potential departure.
The left-hander was reportedly available this offseason and had his name surface in trade rumors at times. A move this close to the season seems decidedly unlikely, though the Bucs reportedly aren’t completely closed off to the notion of moving veterans this spring.
Rangers Sign Mike Napoli
Mike Napoli is back for a third tour with the Rangers. Texas announced today that it has signed the slugging first baseman/designated hitter to a one-year contract that includes a club option for the 2018 season. The deal will reportedly guarantee Napoli $8.5MM in the form of a $6MM 2017 salary and a $2.5MM buyout on an $11MM option for the following season. Napoli is represented by Brian Grieper of Paragon Sports. The Rangers have an open spot on the 40-man roster after placing both Prince Fielder and Jake Diekman on the 60-day disabled list this week.
[Related: Updated Texas Rangers Depth Chart]
Napoli spent 2016 with the American League-winning Indians, who signed him to a one-year, $7MM pact last January. The well-regarded clubhouse presence went on to mash 34 home runs and post an overall line of .239/.335/.465 in 645 plate appearances. As is the case with fellow 2016-17 free agent Chris Carter, Napoli brings an enticing power/patience mix to the plate, but both his tendency to strike out (he fanned 30.1 percent of the time last season) and issues on the base paths detract from his offensive value. Plus, the normally respectable defender is coming off a rough year at first, where he logged career worsts in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-4) and Ultimate Zone Rating (minus-4.4) over 859 1/3 innings.
Although flawed, the lifetime .252/.352/.480 hitter gives the Rangers an established first base/DH, which is an obvious need. The reigning AL West champions have been lacking at each position since Mitch Moreland and Carlos Beltran departed in free agency earlier this winter. In-house options to fill those spots include two 24-year-olds with limited major league track records — Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo — as well as an unspectacular group of veterans consisting of Ryan Rua, James Loney and former superstar Josh Hamilton.
Napoli, of course, is hardly a foreign commodity for Rangers GM Jon Daniels and the Texas front office. The postseason veteran spent the 2011-12 seasons in Texas and hit quite well — slashing .275/.379/.552 in 221 total games before going on to spend most of the next three seasons in Boston. The Red Sox traded him back to Texas in August 2015, and Napoli will now return for yet another stint with the reigning AL West champions.
FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported that talks between the two sides were escalating (Twitter links). Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported the one-year agreement (Twitter link). Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News added some context on the size of the eventual contract (Twitter links). Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM reported the $8.5MM guarantee and the inclusion of an option (Twitter link). FOX’s Ken Rosenthal added details on the annual breakdown of the deal (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diamondbacks Sign Kevin Jepsen To Minor League Deal
FEB. 16: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Jepsen’s deal comes with a $2.25MM base salary upon making the Major League roster.
FEB. 13: The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve signed veteran right-hander Kevin Jepsen to a minor league deal. Arizona also announced its previously reportedly minors deal with Brian Matusz this morning as well, giving them a pair of experienced arms to add to their Spring Training mix. Jepsen is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Now 32 years of age, Jepsen enjoyed a career year in 2015 with the Rays and Twins, but he split the 2016 season between the same two clubs and struggled through the worst full season of his career. Traded from the Angels to the Rays in the 2014-15 offseason, Jepsen opened the year with 41 2/3 innings of 2.81 ERA ball for Tampa Bay that season. The Twins, who were surprising contenders in 2015, traded a pair of minor league arms (Chih-Wei Hu and Alexis Tapia) to the Rays to get Jepsen at the deadline, and he pitched brilliantly in Minnesota down the stretch. In 28 inning for the Twins, Jepsen logged a pristine 1.61 ERA with a 25-to-7 K/BB ratio, and he ultimately picked up 10 saves after Glen Perkins was injured late in the year.
A second Perkins injury early in the 2016 season again put Jepsen back into the ninth inning in Minnesota, but he faltered the second time around. Jepsen saw his strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates all take significant steps in the wrong direction in 2016, and the Twins eventually released him after 30 2/3 innings of 6.16 ERA ball. Jepsen latched back on with the Rays but wasn’t able to right the ship, as he logged a 5.68 ERA in 19 innings during his second stint with the Rays.
While the 2016 campaign was obviously a disaster for Jepsen, he posted a combined 2.47 ERA in 134 2/3 innings from 2014-15 and a cumulative 2.93 ERA in 215 1/3 innings from 2012-15. Jepsen’s heated no longer averages the 95-96 mph that it did in its peak, and his average fastball velocity did dip to a career-low 92.8 mph with the Rays last season. He averaged 93.6 mph on the season as a whole, though, and his 94.4 mph average velocity in his excellent 2015 campaign suggests that he doesn’t need to regain all of his heat to experience success.
MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert first reported the deal (via Twitter).
Dodgers Sign Sergio Romo
FEB. 16: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Romo would also earn $125K for making each his 50th and 60th appearance of the season.
FEB. 15: The Dodgers have added some experience to the back of their bullpen, announcing a one-year deal with veteran right-hander and longtime division rival Sergio Romo. The contract reportedly guarantees Romo, a client of Meister Sports, $3MM and affords him a chance to add to that total via incentives. To make room for Romo, right-hander Yimi Garcia was placed on the 60-day disabled list. Garcia is recovering from Tommy John surgery last October.
Romo, 33, is no stranger to Los Angeles; he has been a mainstay of the NL West-rival Giants for the past nine seasons. The right-hander’s familiarity with the NL West and his southern California roots seems to have impacted his decision, as the Nationals and others were said to be interested, but he took a reportedly smaller guarantee than other clubs had offered in order to pitch for the Dodgers.
In over 400 career innings with San Francisco, Romo has compiled an excellent 2.58 ERA with a sparkling 10.2 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9. Though he’s a soft-tosser, he has long beguiled hitters with his slider, helping to produce a lifetime 14.2% swinging-strike rate.
It was much the same in 2016, even as Romo lost about 1.5 mph on his fastball offerings as well as the vaunted slider. He also goes to a change-up at times, though it’s a little-used pitch. While the Giants’ 2016 club will long be remembered for its inability to finish out close games, Romo steadily produced results and did not actually record any of the team’s league-leading thirty blown saves. (Of course, he went on to have two unsuccessful appearances in the NLCS, including one in which he did record a blown save.)
The loss of velocity represents one area of potential concern moving forward. And Romo did spend some time on the DL in 2016, with a flexor tendon strain limiting him to forty total appearances — breaking a run of six-straight seasons in which he had made taken the ball at least 64 times. He also benefited from a lofty 92.3% strand rate and coughed up 1.47 home runs per nine innings, providing some context for his excellent results.
[RELATED: Updated Dodgers Depth Chart]
Still, it seems that Los Angeles did well to land Romo on a one-year commitment. Last time he hit the market, he landed back with the Giants for two years and $15MM. MLBTR had predicted much the same this winter, pegging Romo for another two year pact at a $7MM annual rate. (While that appears to have been off, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes did correctly guess the landing spot.)
Romo presumably slot in with Pedro Baez as part of the righty setup unit in front of closer Kenley Jansen. The move deepens a unit that could also be bolstered by whatever pitchers fail to crack a rotation that’s exceedingly deep — albeit also filled with a number of pitchers who come with health questions.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network first reported the agreement (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reported that it’d be a one-year pact (via Twitter). FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported the guarantee and said Romo turned down larger offers (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/15/17
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Two players are joining the Orioles on minor-league deals, per a club announcement. Outfielder Michael Choice and corner infielder Juan Francisco both signed on, though it’s not clear whether either has received an invitation to MLB camp. Choice, 27, is a former top prospect who has struggled in his limited chances at the MLB level and hit .246/.304/.456 in 276 Triple-A plate appearances last year. Meanwhile, it’s a return to the affiliated ranks for Francisco, who’s still just 29 years old. He hasn’t seen the majors since 2014, when he did manage above-average overall production despite a typically subpar on-base percentage, and did not play in 2016 after a brief stint in Japan during the prior season. (Note: Francisco’s signing was first reported yesterday, as we covered here.)
- The Orioles also outrighted catcher Francisco Pena after he cleared waivers, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com first reported on Twitter. Pena, 27, scuffled in limited MLB action but will still enter camp with at least a shot at winning a reserve role on the Opening Day roster. The out-of-options backstop owns a .248/.294/.453 batting line in extensive Triple-A action and is regarded as a solid defender.
- Also outrighted was right-hander Deolis Guerra, who’ll head to Triple-A for the Angels (though as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register notes on Twitter, he can still reject the assignment). The 27-year-old was recently dropped from the 40-man in favor of another reliever, but the club will get to keep both options on hand. Last year, Guerra contributed 53 1/3 frames of 3.21 ERA ball with 6.1 K/9 and an excellent 1.2 BB/9 for Los Angeles, but the soft-tossing control artist doesn’t seem to have generated much interest from other organizations.
- Finally, the Blue Jays have outrighted lefty Chad Girodo after he cleared waivers, per a club announcement. Recently designated, the 26-year-old will hope to earn his way back to the majors after making his debut in 2016. He did generate grounders at a healthy clip last year, but struggled in his 10 1/3 MLB frames and managed only a 3.79 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in his 35 2/3 innings at Triple-A.
Indians Sign James Russell
The Indians have announced a minor-league deal with lefty James Russell, as Tommy Stokke of Fan Rag first tweeted. It includes an invitation to MLB camp.
Russell, 31, saw limited action in the Phillies pen last year, surrendering nine runs on nine hits in his 4 1/3 major league frames. He spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A, even returning to a starting role briefly. There, he threw 79 2/3 innings of 4.29 ERA ball with 5.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
Of course, Russell has a much more extensive MLB track record prior to the 2016 campaign. He was once a mainstay in the Cubs’ relief corps, and owns a lifetime 4.09 ERA across over three hundred major league frames. Russell has generally struggled against right-handed hitters in his career, allowing them a cumulative .808 OPS, while holding opposing lefties to a .700 mark.
Royals Sign Travis Wood
FEBRUARY 15: Wood’s signing is official, with K.C. also announcing that the pact includes a mutual option for the 2019 season. He’ll earn $4MM in 2017 and $6.5MM in 2018, Heyman tweets. There’s a $1.5MM buyout on the option, which can be exercised at $8MM. Wood can also earn $1MM in incentives (either as a starter or as a reliever) in each year of the deal.
FEBRUARY 13, 5:07pm: Wood will receive a $12MM guarantee, per Heyman (via Twitter).
4:12pm: The Royals have agreed to a deal with free-agent lefty Travis Wood, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). The Frontline client will receive a two-year guarantee, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter link). Financial terms remain unreported.
[RELATED: Updated Royals Depth Chart]
Wood, 30, is expected to receive a chance to compete for a rotation job in Kansas City, though it seems he won’t be guaranteed a particular role entering camp. The organization recently signed righty Jason Hammel to take the spot that opened with the tragic death of Yordano Ventura. The staff already included Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, and Jason Vargas, and the Royals added Nate Karns to the mix earlier in the winter. Presumably, Wood and Karns will battle for the final rotation slot with veteran Chris Young, with the others heading to the bullpen. (In Karns’s case, he could also open at Triple-A.)
With this latest move, Royals GM Dayton Moore has perhaps largely completed an interesting offseason in which he sought to balance salary limitations, a large slate of core players on the brink of free agency, and the unimaginable loss of Ventura. Moore and his staff engineered deals that shipped out quality, short-term assets (Wade Davis and Jarrod Dyson) in exchange for controllable MLB players who come with upside but aren’t yet fully established (Jorge Soler and Karns). With the unexpected need to move on Hammel, the club has already driven its payroll right up to its record-setting 2016 level, and the signing of Wood will seemingly push it past that previous high-water mark.
Though he waited quite a while to sign, Wood drew strong interest throughout the winter. Clubs were seemingly intrigued by his ability to provide quality innings out of the pen or return to the rotation. Last year, he ran up a 2.95 ERA in his 61 frames for the Cubs — an exact match for his earned run average when working out of the pen in the prior year, when he made the transition after scuffling early as a starter. Of course, the real advance that Wood showed in 2015 was a leap in his swinging-strike (9.8%) and strikeout (10.6 K/9) rates. Both were easily career highs, but Wood fell back to typical numbers in his most recent season (6.5%; 6.9 K/9).
There’s little question that Wood was fortunate last year in the batted ball department, too, as opposing batters reached base on just .215 of the balls they put in play. And he still coughed up a few too many walks (3.5 BB/9) while generating a pedestrian groundball rate (37.4%). But there were some positives beyond the bottom-line results. In particular, as MLBTR’s Connor Byrne has noted, Wood exceeded his typically strong performance in generating infield pop-ups, posting one of the game’s best rates (17.8%). He also averaged just over 90 mph with his fastball, which is an unremarkable number in its own right but matched a career high for the soft-tossing southpaw. And Wood continued to baffle opposing lefties, who have compiled a paltry .206/.276/.316 slash against him over 949 total plate appearances.
Wood’s history as a starter likely contributed just as much to his value on the market. To be sure, it has been some time since he turned in a fully productive season out of the rotation, and his excellent 2013 season (exactly 200 innings of 3.11 ERA ball) looks more like an aberration than any kind of reasonable expectation going forward. But Wood has demonstrated an ability to churn out useful innings from the rotation, and seems to be a good bet to continue his strong health record over the two years of his new contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/14/17
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles signed former Major League slugger Juan Francisco to a minor league contract, as first reported this morning by Dominican news outlet Z Deportes (Twitter link). Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets that Francisco will get an invite to big league Spring Training. The corner infielder, still just 29 years of age, hasn’t played in the bigs since the 2014 season but has always demonstrated good pop. Francisco, though, struggles against left-handed pitching and strikes out in bunches, limiting his upside despite considerable power. In 941 career plate appearances against righties, he’s a .248/.310/.476 hitter, so he could conceivably return to the bigs and fill a bench role.
- The Mets announced today that infielder Ty Kelly cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. Kelly was outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas and will head to camp with the team on a non-roster invite. The 28-year-old switch-hitter made his MLB debut last year and hit .241/.352/.345 in 71 trips to the plate. Kelly’s a lifetime .275/.382/.383 at the Triple-A level and could again play a depth role for the Mets in 2017 with myriad injury questions throughout New York’s infield.
- The Indians announced that they’ve added left-hander Chris Narveson on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. The longtime Brewers hurler tossed 8 1/3 innings for the Marlins last season and 30 1/3 innings in Miami the year prior, but Narveson has logged a total of just 49 2/3 innings in the Majors since the 2011 season. The 35-year-old has a 4.71 ERA in 435 1/3 Major League innings, during which time he’s held left-handed opponents to a .220/.308/.335 batting line.
Rangers Acquire Eddie Gamboa From Rays
The Rangers announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Eddie Gamboa from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Both Prince Fielder and Jake Diekman have been placed on the 60-day disabled list, as well, per the Rangers’ announcement. That brings their current 40-man count to 39.
Gamboa was just designated for assignment by the Rays earlier this morning, though it didn’t take Tampa Bay long to find a team that was interested in the 32-year-old knuckleballer. A longtime Orioles farmhand, Gamboa finally cracked a big league roster with the Rays in 2016 after spending parts of nine seasons in the minors. He logged a pristine 1.35 ERA in 13 1/3 innings with the Rays, striking out 11 but also issuing a more troublesome eight walks in that time.
Gamboa has worked primarily as a starter in the minors and didn’t adopt his knuckleball until the 2013 season. He had a breakout campaign with the pitch last year in 2016, working to a stellar 2.68 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 across 94 innings. He split his time in 2016 more evenly between the rotation and bullpen than in previous seasons (15 relief appearances, 12 starts), though it’s not entirely clear how the Rangers intend to utilize him this year. The Rangers noted in their press release that Gamboa was originally signed by former Orioles scout James Keller, who is now a special assistant to Rangers GM Jon Daniels, so Gamboa comes as somewhat of a known commodity to at least one Texas exec.