Minor MLB Transactions: 12/20/16
The latest minor moves from around baseball:
- Outfielder Juan Perez, third baseman Zack Cox and right-handed reliever Waldis Joaquin have joined the Tigers on minor league deals. Perez’s only major league experience came as a member of the Giants, with whom he batted .224/.267/.316 in 246 plate appearances from 2013-15. All of his time in 2016 was spent with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, where he slashed .276/.310/.444 with nine home runs and 16 steals in 412 trips to the plate. Cox went to the Cardinals in the first round of the 2010 draft (25th overall), but he didn’t get to the majors with either them or his second organization, the Marlins. The 27-year-old hit .290/.348/.452 in 460 PAs with Wichita of the independent American Association last season. Joaquin, who spent the past few seasons pitching in Mexico and his native Dominican Republic, was with the Giants from 2007-11. He notched 21 2/3 big league innings of 5.40 ERA ball during that period, also adding matching strikeout and walk rates of 7.06 per nine.
- The Reds have signed righty reliever Rob Wooten to a minor league contract, tweets Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. Wooten last pitched in the majors in 2015, when he totaled six innings as a member of the Brewers. Overall, he has registered a 5.03 ERA, 7.01 K/9, 2.91 BB/9 and 48.1 ground-ball rate in 68 major league innings – all of which have come with the Brewers, who selected him in the 13th round of the 2008 draft. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate and recorded a 3.58 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 1.36 BB/9 in 73 frames.
- The Diamondbacks have added righty swingman Brooks Hall on a minors deal. Hall, 26, went to Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2009 draft and stayed with the organization through last season, but he hasn’t yet cracked the majors. He saw his first action at the Triple-A level in 2016 and struggled with a 6.94 ERA, 4.24 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 23 1/3 frames. Most of Hall’s recent work has come at the Double-A level, where he has logged a 3.90 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 across 267 2/3 innings since 2013.
- To continue the theme of ex-Brewers catching on elsewhere, third baseman Garin Cecchini has signed a minor league deal with the Royals. Cecchini, whom the Brewers designated for assignment in October, hit .271/.325/.380 over 469 Triple-A plate appearances last season. The 25-year-old was previously a high-end prospect with Boston, and even slashed a terrific .258/.361/.452 in a small sample of 36 major league PAs in 2014, but the shine truly wore off in 2015. That year, Cecchini batted just .213/.286/.296 in 496 Triple-A plate appearances.
- Righty Jon Edwards has re-signed with the Padres on a minors pact, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). The 28-year-old reliever missed all of last season after suffering a flexor strain in spring training. He previously totaled 25 innings with the Rangers and Padres from 2014-15.
- The Cubs have reached a minors agreement with middle infielder Elliott Soto, who was previously with the organization from the 2010 draft (15th round) through the 2015 campaign. All of Soto’s action last season came with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate, with which he hit .241/.358/.297 in 190 plate appearances. In 2,202 minor league PAs, Soto has batted .249/.329/.299.
Padres Re-Sign Clayton Richard
4:07pm: The Padres have announced both Richard’s deal and the signing of Jhoulys Chacin.
3:26pm: Richard’s pact also features $1MM in incentives, including a $250K assignment bonus if the Padres trade him, reports Heyman (Twitter links).
12:35pm: The Padres have agreed to re-sign lefty Clayton Richard to a one-year deal, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’ll earn $1.75MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
Richard and the Padres have already had their formal reunion, so this move represents a continuation of a revived partnership that began way back at the 2009 trade deadline. San Diego picked up Richard as a big part of the swap that sent righty Jake Peavy to the White Sox.
Long a member of the Padres rotation, Richard turned in some quality seasons but left the organization after his shoulder issues resurfaced in 2013. After a brief 2014 appearance in the minors with the Diamondbacks, he joined the Pirates in advance of the 2015 season. With Richard showing well at Triple-A, he was able to make use of an “upward mobility” clause in his contract; when the Cubs showed interest in adding him to their MLB roster, he was back in the bigs.
That 2015 campaign was a good one for the veteran, though he returned primarily in a long relief role. Over his 42 1/3 innings, Richard worked to a 3.83 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. That led to a $2MM major-league contract in the ensuing winter. But things didn’t work out quite as well the second time around in Chicago; over his 14 frames in 25 appearances, he managed only a 6.43 ERA with as many walks as strikeouts (seven apiece).
Cut loose by the Cubs, Richard headed back to San Diego and turned things around — at least in terms of the bottom-line results. Over nine starts and a pair of relief appearances, he turned in 53 2/3 innings of 2.52 ERA ball. Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that he still managed only 5.7 K/9 to go with 4.0 BB/9, though Richard also ended the year with a career-best 65.1% groundball rate over his 67 2/3 total frames.
[RELATED: Updated Padres Depth Chart]
With opportunity aplenty in the Padres’ rotation, it seems likely that Richard will enter camp with the expectation of securing a starting job. But if that doesn’t work out, or if he falters during the season, it’s certainly possible that he could end up spending time in the pen as well. Despite the middling K/BB numbers last year, Richard did show signs of hope for the coming season. Beyond the groundball advances, Richard also sported an average fastball velocity in his typical career range (91.2 mph) and boasted a personal-best swinging-strike rate of 8.5%, due in part to the fact that he got hitters to chase and whiff even as he worked out of the zone at by far the lowest levels of his career (42.6%).
Diamondbacks To Sign Oswaldo Arcia
3:15pm: It’s a minor-league contract, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
2:38pm: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal with free-agent outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Terms — including whether it’s of the major or minor-league variety — remain unreported.
Arcia, 25, ended up spending time with four organizations — reaching the bigs will all of them — during the 2016 season. Over 222 plate appearances split between the Twins, Rays, Marlins, and Padres, he slashed just .203/.270/.366 with eight home runs. While the constant movement probably didn’t help, that represented a continued decline for the still-youthful Venezuelan.
Never regarded as a good defender, Arcia blasted his way through the minors and posted just-above-average batting numbers during his first two years in the majors with Minnesota. But his on-base abilities have lagged his power at the game’s highest level. Even as he posted a strong .220 ISO over 410 plate appearances in 2014, Arcia went down on strikes in 31.0% of his trips to the dish while walking 7.6% of the time.
Still, there’s reason to hope that Arcia can turn the corner. He carried much more palatable K/BB numbers before his initial promotion, though he struggled at Triple-A in 2015 after a demotion, and he could perhaps have some development left given the rapidity with which he initially ascended the ladder. (Arcia played in only 107 games in the upper minors before his first call-up.) He does carry pronounced platoon splits, limiting his appeal, though his career 110 wRC+ against righties could make him a useful platoon/bench piece.
Earning playing time in the majors with the D-Backs likely won’t be straightforward, though it certainly seems there’s a path to opportunity in Arizona. Other left-handed corner options include David Peralta, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Socrates Brito, Zach Borenstein, and minor-league signees Reymond Fuentes and Jason Pridie.
Indians Acquire Nick Goody
The Indians have acquired righty Nick Goody from the Yankees, both clubs announced. New York will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Goody, 25, had been designated for assignment by the Yanks to make way for the addition of Aroldis Chapman. Now, he’ll occupy the final open spot on Cleveland’s 40-man roster.
The slider-heavy reliever struggled with the long ball last year, allowing seven dingers in 29 innings while working to a 4.66 ERA. But he did produce 10.6 K/9, with a robust 15.0% swinging-strike rate, along with 3.7 BB/9. Goody has also posted some rather notable figures in the upper minors of late. In parts of two years at the Triple-A level, he owns a 1.64 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.
Phillies Sign Bryan Holaday
The Phillies have added backstop Bryan Holaday on a minor-league deal with a MLB Spring Training invitation, per a club announcement, as had been reported over the weekend. The 29-year-old was non-tendered earlier in the winter by the Red Sox after being projected by MLBTR to earn $900K in arbitration.
[RELATED: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]
Holaday will reunite with fellow former Boston player Clay Buchholz in camp for the Phils, with both officially joining the organization today. Of course, the catcher will cost the team quite a bit less than did the pitcher, who is earning $13.5MM for the 2017 season.
Last year with the Rangers and Red Sox, Holaday hit .231/.281/.359 and contributed two home runs over 129 trips to the plate. Clearly, it’s his defensive work rather than his bat which earned him time in the majors in each of the last five seasons. Holaday never hit much in the minors, and owns a meager .245/.282/.346 career MLB line in 411 plate appearances.
While the Phils have several young catchers in the upper ranks of their farm system, it could be that the organization prefers to utilize a veteran as the primary reserve behind presumptive starter Cameron Rupp. While additional competition could be brought in later in the winter, Holaday seems to have a solid chance at making the big league club as things stand.
Phillies Acquire Clay Buchholz
The Phillies have officially struck a deal to acquire righty Clay Buchholz from the Red Sox, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag first reported (via Twitter). Second baseman Josh Tobias will be the piece going to Boston in the swap, in which Philadelphia will pick up all the remaining obligations to Buchholz, as Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer was first to report (via Twitter). Philadelphia designated just-acquired third baseman Richie Shaffer for assignment to clear roster space.
Buchholz, 32, has seemed like a fairly likely trade candidate ever since Boston struck its deal to acquire Chris Sale. That acquisition left the team with a somewhat over-stuffed depth chart in its rotation, with the luxury tax line also representing a possible factor. The Sox had previously picked up Buchholz’s $13.5MM option for the 2017 season, making him an expensive depth piece. He is slated to hit free agency after the upcoming campaign.
[RELATED: Updated Phillies & Red Sox Depth Charts]
For the Phils, the move represents a clear continuation of the strategy put in place this winter (and reflects much the same approach as that employed a year ago). After starter Jeremy Hellickson took his qualifying offer to remain in Philadelphia, the club went on to deal for veteran infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick and reliever Pat Neshek, each of whom had one season left on their original free-agent contracts. And the organization also added late-inning man Joaquin Benoit and infielder Andres Blanco on single-season, MLB arrangements while picking up minor-league free agents such as Daniel Nava, Sean Burnett, and Pedro Florimon. While building out the roster with solid veterans who don’t tie up the payroll beyond the 2017 campaign, Philadelphia also made a value bet on center fielder Odubel Herrera, who inked a five-year extension.
All told, the new additions add $57.7MM to the books for Philadelphia in the coming season. Given that much of the rest of the roster will earn at or near the MLB minimum, it’s hardly a massive outlay for an organization that routinely placed among the game’s biggest spenders before embarking upon a rebuilding path (and has only recently begun a lucrative new TV deal). Importantly, none of these acquisitions cost the Phillies much in the way of future value. They’ll allow the club to field a more competitive product, reduce the pressure on younger players in the system, and, potentially, cash in some of the new assets for future value — either by trade-deadline swaps or even future qualifying offers.
In Buchholz, the Phils have added an enigmatic starter who has at times been rather excellent and still comes with his share of upside. In 2015, he worked to a 3.26 ERA over 113 1/3 frames with a strong 8.5 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9, representing one of several seasons in which he looked like a quality number 2 or 3 starter. But he dealt with elbow issues in 2015 and wasn’t able to repeat in his latest campaign. Buchholz was bumped from the rotation at one point and ended 2016 with 139 1/3 frames of 4.78 ERA pitching to go with 6.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. While he has often generated grounders on about half of the balls put in play against him, he dipped to 41.2% last year.
Despite the struggles, Buchholz did carry a typical 92.1 mph average on his fastball and a 9.5% swinging-strike rate that’s right at league average for a starter. He also ended the year on a good note, posting a 2.86 ERA across the last 44 innings he’ll throw in a Red Sox uniform (barring, at least a surprise reunion at some point down the line). As Tim Britton of the Providence Journal detailed at the time and Buchholz himself discussed with David Laurila of Fangraphs, there were adjustments that may help explain the turnaround and could add some confidence to the Phillies’ hopes. Buchholz wasn’t able to work in the zone as much as he had in 2015 (though that was something of an outlier year), and also couldn’t maintain the 5.9% HR/FB rate that helped drive his success in the prior season.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams posited at the outset of the winter, pitchers such as Buchholz and then-Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia could have their options picked up before being dealt. While neither brought back major hauls in their respective trades, their respective teams were able to hold onto them as depth to enhance their flexibility entering the offseason, then pivot to a trade when it was determined that their services wouldn’t be needed.
Certainly, the Cards seem to have earned more for Garcia (who came with a $12MM salary) than the Sox got out of Buchholz’s final season. The trio of youngsters shipped from the Braves for Garcia all had placed among the Atlanta organization’s top thirty prospects (per MLB.com), while Tobias has never received that kind of recognition. The 24-year-old split last year between the Class A and High-A levels, hitting well (.304/.375/.444) for much of the year at the former and struggling (.254/.324/.357) in 146 plate appearances after his promotion.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Indians Sign Chris Colabello
9:57am: There’s an opt-out in the deal, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Colabello can exercise it on June 1 if he has not been added to the MLB roster, Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds on Twitter.
9:38am: The Indians have announced the signing of outfielder/first baseman Chris Colabello to a minor-league deal. It comes with an invitation to participate on the majors side of spring camp.
Colabello, 33, recently elected free agency after being outrighted by the Blue Jays in a move that long seemed all but inevitable. He struggled out of the gates in 2016 before being slapped with an 80-game suspension for failing a PED test during the offseason. Colabello’s miserable year continued when he returned to action at Triple-A, where he hit just .180/.248/.288 over 153 plate appearances.
Despite those issues, Cleveland seems to offer a fairly promising landing spot. The organization has been on the hunt for pop, and could conceivably utilize Colabello in the corner outfield, at first, or in a bench bat/DH role — if he can earn a roster spot at some point.
The upside here lies in Colabello’s 2015 campaign in Toronto. Over 360 plate appearances, he hit a robust .321/.367/.520 with 19 home runs. Though he had never put up that kind of production in his earlier time with the Twins, perhaps there’s hope that the one-time indy ball find could again be a major-league contributor.
International Signings: 12/20/16
Here are some of the latest comings and goings on the international market:
- There are a few recent moves to cover on the KBO side as well. Southpaw Hyeon-jong Yang will return to Korea’s Kia Tigers, Yonhap News reports (h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, via Twitter). The 28-year-old has been on the MLB radar for some time, and had been expected to gauge interest as a free agent this winter. Evidently, there wasn’t enough of an opportunity in North American ball for him to forego a chance at what’s reported to be the biggest single-season contract ever awarded in the KBO: 2.25 billion won, or about $1.89MM. Yang carries a 3.02 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 373 innings in the past two seasons in the hitter-friendly KBO.
- Also, SK Wyverns recently announced the signings of infielder Danny Worth (for $700K) and lefty Scott Diamond ($600K). Both have seen action in multiple MLB campaigns. Most recently, Worth briefly cracked the Astros’ major-league roster. Though he struggled there, he did slash an excellent .330/.431/.525 in his 368 Triple-A plate appearances in 2016. And Diamond, once a rotation piece for the Twins, made one major-league appearance last year with the Blue Jays, but spent most of the year working to a 4.50 ERA (with 5.4 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9) over 166 innings at Triple-A.
Earlier Updates
- The Yakult Swallows have added righty David Buchanan on a one-year deal worth about $750K, per a team announcement (via Kyodo News). Buchanan, 27, had been cut loose by the Phillies after spending all of 2016 at Triple-A, working to a 3.98 ERA over 167 1/3 innings. He had some success in a twenty-start rookie year at the major-league level back in 2014, but struggled there in 2015 and wasn’t able to return last year. “He can keep his pitches low with a high strike rate, and has strong fighting spirit. We wanted that kind of a pitcher,” said Yakult international director Masayuki Okumura.
- Also heading to Japan after a recent stint with the Phillies is fellow righty Phil Klein, who the club recently released to pursue an opportunity in the NPB. He’s heading to the Yokohama BayStars, the team announced (Japanese-language link), for a deal that’s said to promise him around 150MM yen (~$1.27MM) along with an incentives package. Though Klein hasn’t succeeded in his looks at the majors, he obviously drew real interest from Asia with his intriguing numbers in the upper minors — including a 2.14 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 over 160 Triple-A frames.
- The BayStars will not retain free agents Guillermo Moscoso and Zach Petrick, the team also noted. Moscoso, a former big leaguer, had spent three years with the organization. The 27-year-old Petrick, a former Cardinals farmhand, struggled to a 5.51 ERA in his only campaign in Japan.
- Continuing their international spree, the Padres have agreed to a $400K bonus with Cuban lefty Ramon Ernesto Perez Favier, according to a report from Francys Romero of OnCuba.com (Twitter link), which Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune confirms (also via Twitter). There isn’t much public information on the 17-year-old, though you can check out his stuff on this YouTube video that reputedly features him. Lin provides a few tidbits on Favier as well, tweeting that the young southpaw sits in the low-nineties with his fastball and features a breaker with two varieties of change-ups. Since San Diego has long seen blown past its bonus limitations, the team will double its investment in the form of a penalty tax.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/19/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Tigers have a minor-league deal with infielder Brendan Ryan, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The 34-year-old can earn $625K in the big leagues. Once a slick-fielding, semi-regular shortstop with the Cardinals and Mariners, Ryan has received just 241 MLB plate appearances over the past three seasons, slashing just .188/.231/.251 in that span. He spent the bulk of 2016 at the Triple-A level in the Nationals and Angels organizations.
- Outfielder Shane Peterson is headed to the Rays on a minors pact, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Peterson, 28, hit .259/.324/.353 in a 226 plate appearance stint with the Brewers in 2015, his first real crack at the big leagues, after showing well at Triple-A that year. An arm injury limited the left-handed hitter to just 15 games in 2016, but he did continue to hit well when he was on the field. All told, the former second-round pick owns a productive .298/.385/.468 slash across 1,775 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.
Pirates Sign Daniel Hudson
WEDNESDAY: The deal is now official.
MONDAY 7:43pm: The deal is split into two $5.5MM annual salaries, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.
2:49pm: The Pirates have agreed to a two-year, $11MM contract with free agent right-hander Daniel Hudson, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Hudson, a client of Jet Sports, can earn up to $1.5MM of incentives per year based on games finished and could end up being a factor for the Pirates in the ninth inning on this new contract.
[Related: Updated Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart]
Hudson, 30 in March, posted an unsightly 5.22 ERA in 60 1/3 innings with the D-backs last season, but all of the damage done against him was confined to one dismal stretch over the summer. Hudson was sporting a 1.55 ERA as deep into the season as June 21, but he was rocked for 26 runs over his next 15 appearances (during which time he had a staggering .625 BABIP). To close out the season, Hudson allowed just four runs in 21 1/3 innings.
The Pirates are clearly banking that the dominant form with which Hudson bookended his 2016 campaign is a true representation of his talent. Since coming back from his second Tommy John surgery, Hudson has averaged about 96 mph on his fastball and looked the part of a potentially dominant late-inning presence, though his bottom-line results have yet to line up with that perception. The Pirates, though, have a history of success when it comes to turning pitchers’ careers around, and Hudson becomes the latest in a long line of arms to attempt to go that route.
While Hudson probably won’t be handed the closer’s role outright, he’ll compete with longtime setup man Tony Watson for that role. Watson stepped into the ninth inning following the trade of Mark Melancon last year and performed well, though Watson himself has been an oft-mentioned trade candidate and could be moved this winter or next summer, as he’s just a year from reaching free agency. Other late-inning options for manager Clint Hurdle include hard-throwers Felipe Rivero (acquired in the Melancon trade) and Juan Nicasio.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.