Phillies, Chris Coghlan Agree To Minor League Deal
FEB. 7: Coghlan’s contract comes with a $3MM major league salary and $1MM in incentives, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman.
FEB. 2: The Phillies and utilityman Chris Coghlan have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (Twitter link). The deal includes an invitation to spring training.
[RELATED: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]
Coghlan is settling for a minors pact on account of a subpar 2016 spent between the Athletics and Cubs, with whom he won the World Series. The 31-year-old hit a meager .188/.290/.318 across 300 plate appearances (and went hitless in eight postseason PAs), which represented a sharp decline from his output with the Cubs from 2014-15. Coghlan combined for a quality batting line of .265/.346/.447 and 5.7 fWAR over that two-year, 935-PA stretch.
Prior to his first of two stints with the Cubs, Coghlan spent the initial five years of his career as a member of the Marlins, who selected him in the first round of the 2006 draft. The lefty-swinging Coghlan won the National League Rookie of the Year with the Fish in 2009 on the strength of a .321/.390/.460 showing in 565 trips to the plate, though he never came close to replicating that success over his final four years in Miami.
Defensively, Coghlan has primarily been an outfielder during his career – mostly left field – but he does bring some infield experience. Despite his versatility, he’ll seemingly face an uphill climb in securing playing time with the Phillies. While Coghlan’s a more established option than reserve outfielders Aaron Altherr and Tyler Goeddel, the team is all set in center field with Odubel Herrera, and it has added a pair of somewhat pricey corner outfielders this offseason in Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders. Philadelphia also has Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez locked in at third and second base, the two infield spots where Coghlan has most frequently lined up, and Andres Blanco as a backup infielder.
Red Sox Sign Mike Olt To Minor League Deal
12:38pm: As expected, it’s a minor league contract, per Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (Twitter link).
9:21am: The Red Sox have signed corner infielder Mike Olt, who announced the news on Instagram (h/t Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). It’s presumably a minor league deal for Olt, who didn’t crack the majors in 2016 after inking a minors pact with the Padres last March.
The 28-year-old Olt went to the Rangers in the first round of the 2010 draft and eventually topped out as Baseball America’s 22nd-best prospect after the 2012 campaign. The Rangers then sent Olt to the Cubs the next season in a trade centering on right-hander Matt Garza, but he failed to live up to his considerable promise in Chicago. In 2014, the only season in which Olt has seen extensive major league action, he batted .160/.248/.356 and struck out in 38.8 percent of his 258 plate appearances. All told, Olt has slashed .168/.250/.330 in a combined 400 PAs with the Rangers, Cubs and White Sox. He has been more successful, albeit not great, at the Triple-A level, having posted a .234/.318/.429 line in 774 PAs.
Primarily a third baseman, the Connecticut-born Olt, an ex-UConn star, will now return to his native New England and attempt to stick with the Red Sox organization. Boston does have questions at the hot corner, where Pablo Sandoval is aiming to bounce back from a horrid 2015 and a lost 2016. Brock Holt and Josh Rutledge are on hand as major league depth, while another of BA’s former top 100 prospects, Matt Dominguez, is in the minors.
Royals Sign Brayan Pena To Minor League Deal
10:00am: Pena will earn at a $535K base salary if he cracks the majors, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). His deal also features $10K in incentives and opt-outs at the end of spring training and on May 1.
6:19am: Former Royals catcher Brayan Pena is returning to the organization on a minor league contract, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The deal comes with an invitation to spring training for Pena, who previously played in Kansas City from 2009-12.
Pena, 35, had been sitting on the free agent market since the Cardinals released him Nov. 28. In doing so, the Redbirds had to eat the remaining $2.5MM left on the two-year, $5MM deal they awarded Pena in free agency last offseason. Lingering knee issues weighed down Pena during his stint in St. Louis, where he collected just 14 plate appearances.
As a member of the Royals, Tigers and Reds from 2009-15, the switch-hitter batted .262/.303/.355 in 1,805 plate appearances. Defensively, Baseball Prospectus has given Pena positive overall grades as a pitch framer, though he has fallen into the negatives in recent seasons. Pena has also thrown out 28 percent of attempted base stealers during his career – just above the 27 percent league-average mark.
Barring injuries, Pena is unlikely to see much major league action with Kansas City this season. The Royals’ starting catcher is eminently durable standout Salvador Perez, who has played at least 138 games in four straight seasons, and they gave backup Drew Butera a guaranteed $3.8MM in November.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/6/17
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Blue Jays announced the signing of infielder Jonathan Diaz to a minor league deal earlier this week. Diaz was originally drafted by the Jays in 2006 and this is his third separate stint in the organization. Diaz has a .406 OPS over 65 career plate appearances in the majors, all with the Red Sox and Blue Jays during the 2013-15 seasons. The 31-year-old spent 2016 playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate.
- The Reds have signed infielder Zach Walters to a minor league contract, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 27-year-old switch-hitter spent the 2014-15 seasons in the Indians organization after being traded over from the Nationals in exchange for Asdrubal Cabrera, and he was with the Dodgers last season. Walters has displayed plenty of pop, with 10 homers in 181 career MLB plate appearances, but he’s also been extremely strikeout prone in the bigs. Overall, he’s a .176/.227/.382 hitter in the Majors, though his .265/.312/.482 career line in Triple-A is more palatable. Walters logged a .770 OPS in 94 games with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate last season and played every position on the diamond besides catcher.
- The Brewers announced today that right-hander Rob Scahill has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A. The 29-year-old had previously been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for infielder Ehire Adrianza, who was claimed off waivers before promptly being designated for assignment himself (in favor of first baseman and fellow waiver claim Jesus Aguilar). Scahill pitched well for the Brewers late in the 2016 season, tossing 18 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA and a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio. Scahill’s ground-ball rate has soared in each of the past two seasons, sitting around 62 percent in that time. He’s yet to find consistent success in the Majors, though he does possess a very solid 3.03 ERA in his past 65 1/3 innings in the big leagues.
- The Orioles announced that they’ve re-signed infielder Robert Andino to a minor league contract. Baltimore also confirmed its previously reported minors contract with Johnny Giavotella. The 32-year-old Andino will return to Baltimore for his second stint after previously spending the 2009-12 seasons with the Orioles. In 2016, Andino returned to the Majors following a two-year absence from the bigs and picked up seven singles in 24 plate appearances with the Marlins. He spent most of the season in Triple-A New Orleans, hitting .267/.319/.427. Capable of playing shortstop, second base and third base, Andino will likely provide the O’s with some infield depth in the upper minors. While Andino does receive an invite to Major League Spring Training (per Rich Dubroff of PressboxOnline, on Twitter), Ryan Flaherty is in line to be the team’s primary utility option.
Twins Claim Ehire Adrianza, Designate Pat Light
The Twins have claimed infielder Ehire Adrianza off waivers from the Brewers, as per a team press release. To make room on the 40-man roster, Minnesota designated right-hander Pat Light for assignment.
Adrianza has now been designated for assignment and claimed on waivers twice this week, as Milwaukee claimed him from the Giants on January 31. The Giants DFA’ed the 27-year-old to make room for Nick Hundley, while the Brewers quickly designated Adrianza themselves after claiming Jesus Aguilar off waivers from Cleveland (though Brewers GM David Stearns said that his team was hopeful of keeping Adrianza if he cleared waivers).
Adrianza has a .220/.292/.313 slash line over 331 career plate appearances in the big leagues, all with San Francisco from 2013-16. While the switch-hitter has never delivered much at the plate even at the minor league level, Adrianza has displayed defensive versatility as a shortstop and second baseman, plus a handful of games at third. He’ll join a fellow switch-hitter in Eduardo Escobar as the Twins’ primary reserve infielders, and while both could end up competing for a lone job, the Twins could have particular need for infield bench depth. Miguel Sano‘s ability to handle third base is still up in the air and Jorge Polanco is still largely unproven as a major leaguer. Polanco will obviously get a lot of time to prove himself, though Sano could ultimately be moved to DH if he can’t manage to be at least passable at the hot corner.
Light, 25, made his MLB debut in 2016 and had a rough introduction to the Show. The righty posted an 11.34 ERA over 16 2/3 innings with the Twins and Red Sox, allowing four homers in his brief amount of mound time and issuing as many walks (16) as strikeouts. The hard-throwing Light came to Minnesota from Boston at the trade deadline in exchange for Fernando Abad. The 37th overall pick of the 2012 draft, Light posted a 4.35 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 2.16 K/BB rate over 297 2/3 IP in the minors, though his results improved after being moved to full-time bullpen work in 2015.
Astros Agree To Two-Year Deal With Will Harris
FEB. 6: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Harris’ 2019 option will increase to $6.5MM with 15 games finished in 2018. It’ll increase to $7.5MM if Harris finishes 25 games and $8.5MM if he finishes 35 games.
FEB. 3: The Astros have avoided arbitration by striking a two-year deal with righty Will Harris, per Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle (links to Twitter). He’ll receive a $5MM guarantee ($2.2MM in 2017 and $2.8MM in 2018) in the pact, which also gives Houston a club option for the 2019 campaign. The value of the option will be determined by how many games Harris finishes in the 2018 season, with a range of between $5.5MM and $8.5MM.
The sides had been slated for an arbitration hearing, with Harris (via his agent, Gavin Kahn) filing at $2.3MM and the club countering at $1.95MM. MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz had projected a $2.5MM payday for the 2017 season. Instead of settling, or accepting the decision of an arbitration panel, the sides decided upon a multi-year arrangement that provides some cost certainty to the club while offering some protection to a late-blooming player.
Harris, 32, has largely flown under the radar since breaking into the majors in 2012 — at least until his brief recent stint as the Houston closer last year. But he has produced rather compelling peripherals for quite some time, and that has shown up in the results column since he was claimed by the ‘Stros from the Diamondbacks just after the conclusion of the 2014 campaign.
Over the past two seasons, Harris owns a 2.07 ERA over 135 innings. He carries a sturdy 9.1 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9, and has induced grounders on more than half of the balls put in play against him. That makes him one of the game’s better setup men, even if he’s rarely recognized as such.
Though there’s no added control in the arrangement, Houston could certainly stand to save quite a bit of money. Anything close to a repeat of his 2016 season would otherwise have lined Harris up for a big raise. And though he’ll retain a bit of upside in the option year, that too could prove a bargain (both in the arbitration context and more generally). That being said, it’s also easy to see the merit in the arrangement for the righty, who has earned at (or just over) the league minimum to this stage of his career. Given his age and the injury risk inherent to his trade, securing an added season worth of guaranteed money obviously made for a compelling opportunity.
Orioles, Kevin Gausman Avoid Arbitration
The Orioles and right-hander Kevin Gausman have struck a deal to avoid arbitration, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Gausman will earn a $3.45MM salary in 2017 – up from a $3.35MM midpoint – and could rake in $50K in incentives if he makes 30 starts and another $50K if he records 33.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a $3.9MM arbitration award for Gausman, whose hearing was set to take place this upcoming Tuesday. The 26-year-old is coming off his best season since his 2012 debut, having amassed 30 starts and registered a 3.61 ERA, 8.72 K/9, 2.35 BB/9 and 44.1 percent ground-ball rate across 179 2/3 innings. Gausman also induced infield fly balls at a 14.3 percent rate, which ranked fourth in the majors among qualified starters.
The Orioles had planned to employ a file-and-trial approach with all their arbitration-eligible players, including Gausman, though they scrapped it in his case. The club will also control Gausman via the arbitration process over the next three offseasons. The last unsigned player the Orioles have as the spring draws closer is reliever Brad Brach, whose hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Check out MLBTR’s arbitration tracker to keep up with this year’s cases.
Minor MLB Transactions: 2/5/17
Sunday’s minor moves:
- The Tigers have signed left-handed reliever Mike Zagurski to a minor league contract, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. Th 34-year-old will now return to the States after spending the past two seasons in Japan, where he pitched to a 4.15 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9 in combined 47 2/3 innings with Hiroshima and Yokohama. Previously, Zagurski logged 75 1/3 major league innings of 7.05 ERA ball with four teams from 2007-13. He has fared far better at the Triple-A level, having recorded a 2.86 ERA and 12.0 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 in 238 2/3 frames.
Cubs Sign Williams Perez To Minor League Contract
The Cubs have signed free agent right-hander Williams Perez to a minor league contract, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Perez had been available since the Braves released him Dec. 8.
[RELATED: Updated Cubs Depth Chart]
The 25-year-old Perez saw fairly extensive action the past two seasons in Atlanta, where he made 34 appearances (31 starts) and logged a 5.18 ERA, 5.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 over 170 1/3 innings. All 11 of Perez’s appearances came via starts in 2016, and his results were unsightly (6.04 ERA) despite the fact that he paired a high ground-ball percentage (57.1) with a quality walk rate (2.52 per nine innings).
Perez’s new organization has one of the majors’ top rotations on paper with Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey and either Mike Montgomery or Brett Anderson, though the need for more depth is obvious. The Cubs are cognizant of that, having added Perez, swingman Casey Kelly (another ex-Brave) and Eddie Butler in recent days.
Wilmer Flores Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Mets
Infielder Wilmer Flores has won his arbitration hearing with the Mets, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Flores, who was arb-eligible for the first time this winter, will earn $2.2MM for the 2017 season; the Mets had countered with a $1.8MM figure. Flores is represented by the McNamara Baseball Group.
Flores, 25, delivered something of a breakout offensive performance for the Mets in 2016, posting a career-best 112 wRC+ while hitting .267/.319/.469 with 16 homers over 335 plate appearances. Much of that damage came from against left-handed pitching, as Flores delivered a whopping 1.093 OPS over 107 PA against southpaws. He played a valuable utility role around the Mets’ infield, seeing action at all four spots but primarily serving as a third baseman in the wake of David Wright‘s health issues.
Flores’ season was cut short on September 10 when he injured his wrist in a home-plate collision with A.J. Pierzynski, and he underwent hamate bone surgery in October to correct the problems. With the minor procedure now behind him, Flores is again expected to play an important role for the Mets. He and Jose Reyes will be the primary options at third should Wright again hit the DL, and Flores’ ability to hit lefty pitching makes him a strong compliment at first base alongside the left-handed hitting Lucas Duda.
The $2.2MM figure is slightly higher than the $1.9MM that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Flores would earn. With Flores’ case now in the books, the Mets’ busy winter of arbitration dealings is now complete; New York entered the offseason with 10 players eligible for arbitration. You can follow the numbers for every arbitration-eligible player in baseball via MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.