Red Sox Exercise Club Option On John Farrell For 2018
The Red Sox have picked up their 2018 club option on manager John Farrell’s contract, president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford). 2017 was the last guaranteed year of Farrell’s contract, so he avoids any lame-duck status due to the Sox making the early decision to exercise the option year.
Farrell’s four years as Boston’s manager have been something of a roller-coaster, as the club won the World Series in his first season but then stumbled to last-place finishes in the AL East in both 2014 and 2015. That latter season was particularly trying for Farrell both on and off the field, as he took a leave of absence from August to the end of the year in order to get treatment for lymphoma (which thankfully went into remission last fall). Last season, Farrell led the Sox to the AL East title and, despite a rather ignominious sweep at the hands of the Indians in the ALDS, Boston certainly looks well-positioned to contend in 2017 and into the future.
Farrell has a 339-309 record as Boston’s skipper, and a 493-479 career record as a manager, counting his two seasons as the Blue Jays’ manager in 2011-12.
Dodgers Re-Sign Rich Hill
1:48pm: Hill gets a $2MM signing bonus and will earn $12MM in 2017, $16MM in 2018 and $18MM in 2019, according to the Associated Press.
12:02pm: The Dodgers announced today that they’ve officially re-signed left-hander Rich Hill to a new three-year contract. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reported over the weekend that the two sides were closing in on a deal. Yahoo’s Tim Brown reports that Hill, an ACES client, will receive a $48MM guarantee over the life of the deal (Twitter link).
Hill, 37 next Spring, has had one of the most remarkable late-career renaissances in history, as he’s still just 18 months removed from pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Hill parlayed a September roll of the dice by the Red Sox in 2015 into a one-year, $6MM deal with the A’s last offseason. For Hill, even last year’s $6MM represented a life-changing number, as he’d never earned more than $1MM in a single MLB season. Prior to this deal, Hill had earned just over $9MM in parts of 12 big league seasons, per Baseball Reference.
Despite a groin strain and a blister issue that limited him to 110 1/3 regular season innings in 2016, he proved to be a steal for Oakland, who traded him to the Dodgers alongside Josh Reddick for three well-regarded young arms (Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas) just before the non-waiver trade deadline.
Over his past 152 1/3 Major League innings (including the postseason), Hill owns a ludicrous 2.13 ERA. He’s racked up 184 strikeouts against just 44 walks in that time while also keeping the ball on the ground at a roughly league-average rate. While the durability concerns that accompany him are very real — Hill has made more than 20 starts just once in his career, back in 2007 — Hill was the only arm on the free-agent market that had the potential to pitch at the top of a Major League rotation. The Dodgers, in need of quality innings behind ace Clayton Kershaw (who missed two months with a back injury in 2016), can afford better than any club to take this level of risk on Hill.
With this re-signing, Hill will join Kershaw, Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias in the team’s Major League rotation next season, and the Dodgers are teeming with options beyond that quartet. Los Angeles has three injury-prone options that have proven to be quality arms when healthy in Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu, but reports have indicated that the Dodgers are shopping Kazmir and McCarthy. Other options for the fifth spot include Alex Wood, Jose De Leon, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart, giving president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, GM Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the L.A. front office plenty of flexibility as they explore various trade scenarios this winter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Astros Claim Ashur Tolliver From Angels
The Astros have claimed left-hander Ashur Tolliver off waivers from the Angels, tweets Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle.
The 28-year-old reliever made his big league debut with the Orioles last season after impressing with a 2.23 ERA, 10.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 44 1/3 innings across three minor league level. However, Tolliver was still designated for assignment when the Orioles picked up Kyle Lobstein, and he want to the Angels on waivers shortly thereafter. Tolliver has just 4 2/3 big league innings under his belt, during which time he allowed three runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts, but he’ll give Houston an MLB-ready southpaw option to add to its depth chart.
Astros Sign Carlos Beltran
DEC. 5: The Astros announced that Beltran has passed his physical, making the contract complete.
DEC. 3: The Astros have agreed to a one-year, $16MM deal with free agent DH Carlos Beltran, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (Twitter links). Beltran is an MVP Sports Group client. Beltran will receive a no-trade clause, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News had previously tweeted that Beltran would sign today. Since Beltran was traded last season, the Yankees could not extend him a qualifying offer, and thus the Astros will not have to sacrifice a draft pick.
[RELATED: Updated Houston Astros Depth Chart]
The Astros had repeatedly been connected to Beltran, and earlier this week it emerged that they were confident they could sign either Beltran or Edwin Encarnacion. The Red Sox, too, reportedly were very strongly interested in signing Beltran. The Yankees looked like a possibility as well, although Feinsand tweeted today that they were out of the running. Beltran agreeing to terms with Houston could pave the way for the Yankees to sign Encarnacion, though, as FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets.
In Houston, Beltran will join a new-look Astros lineup that also now features catcher Brian McCann, left fielder Nori Aoki and right fielder Josh Reddick. Those three veterans will join a young core that includes Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and George Springer, alongside top second baseman Jose Altuve.
Before the Beltran deal, Evan Gattis had been slated to fit in with the Astros at DH, and the Astros recently exercised their $5.2MM option on him. Gattis is coming off a strong season in which he hit .251/.319/.508 with 32 home runs. His exact role with the 2017 Astros is unclear, but he figures to catch sometimes (playing while McCann sits), while also sometimes playing corner outfield or DH’ing on days in which Beltran plays in the field.
Beltran turns 40 in April, but he showed no signs of slowing down last season, batting .295/.337/.513 with 29 homers for the Yankees and Rangers. That hitting line placed him among the game’s better designated hitters — the only ones who were markedly better were David Ortiz, Nelson Cruz and Encarnacion. The switch-hitting Beltran was particularly deadly against lefties, batting .338/.380/.589 with nine homers in 163 plate appearances, but he also hit righties well. Beltran no longer has the baserunning or defensive value he did as a young man, but his skills at the plate have aged remarkably well, as he’s topped an .800 OPS in five of the last six seasons.
Beltran now has 421 home runs in a career that stretches all the way back to 1998. In that span of nearly two decades, he’s played with both Astros manager A.J. Hinch (with the Royals in 2001 and 2002) and bench coach Alex Cora (with the Mets in 2009 and 2010). Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets that Hinch and Cora’s familiarity with Beltran might have played a role in the Astros’ decision to acquire him. This will be Beltran’s second stint with the Astros — he hit .258/.368/.559 with 23 homers with them down the stretch in 2004.
MLBTR ranked Beltran the 33rd-best free agent available this offseason and predicted he would get a one-year, $14MM deal. The $16MM Beltran will receive next season is a slight raise on the $15MM per season he received on his previous three-year deal with the Yankees, and is the same as the amount Ortiz received in both 2015 and 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Blue Jays Sign Steve Pearce
The Blue Jays have announced a two-year, $12.5MM contract with first baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce. ESPN’s Buster Olney had reported earlier this morning that talks between the two side were gaining some traction.
The 33-year-old Pearce will bring to Toronto a strong right-handed bat that can either share time with Justin Smoak at first base (though Smoak is a switch-hitter, he hits right-handed pitching better than lefties). Pearce’s lefty-mashing ways will complement Smoak’s skill set nicely, and he also has plenty of experience in the corner outfield, where the Jays are lacking options with both Michael Saunders and Jose Bautista hitting the open market. What the signing means for Edwin Encarnacion remains to be seen. Certainly, Toronto could view Pearce and Smoak as a serviceable combination at first base and shift focus to the corner outfield. As was the case with the addition of Kendrys Morales, this signing doesn’t seem to preclude a reunion, but it does appear to further diminish the likelihood of a deal.
Dating back to 2013, Pearce has slashed a robust .266/.348/.485 with an average of 27 homers per 162 games played. He’s been especially productive against southpaws in that time, batting .272/.359/.523 in 418 plate appearances. From a defensive standpoint, Pearce has more than 650 innings at both corner outfield spots and first base, and he’s also 242 innings at second base over the past two seasons with the Rays and Orioles. While Pearce may not contend for a Gold Glove anytime soon, his defense in both outfield corners and at first has graded out as average to slightly above average over the course of his career (per Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating).
Pearce underwent forearm surgery back in September, but that procedure was said to come with a four- to six-month recovery timeline, suggesting that he should on track for Spring Training. That the Jays felt confident enough to offer two years would indicate that his rehab is progressing as planned. It’s a notable departure from last winter, when Pearce languished on the free agent market into late January before he took a one-year deal with the Rays.
Olney was the first to report the agreement and the terms of the deal (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Twins Sign Ben Paulsen To Minors Contract
The Twins have signed first baseman/outfielder Ben Paulsen to a minor league deal, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link). The contract contains an invitation to Minnesota’s big league Spring Training camp.
Paulsen was outrighted off of Colorado’s 40-man roster in September and granted free agency after the season. The 29-year-old saw regular action for the Rockies at first base and in left field in 2015, when he hit .277/.326/.462 with 11 homers over 354 plate appearances, but he appeared in just 39 games last season and spent the bulk of 2016 at Triple-A. Of Paulsen’s 517 career PA in the bigs, 458 of them have come against right-handed pitching (he has a .758 career OPS against southpaws) and he has significant home-away splits — an .810 OPS at the batter-friendly Coors Field and a .705 OPS on the road.
With Joe Mauer locked into the Twins’ first base job, Paulsen can provide some left-handed hitting depth, or an alternative to Byung Ho Park (a righty bat) or the switch-hitting Kennys Vargas at DH.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/4/16
Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Braves have announced a one-year major league agreement with left-handed reliever Jacob Lindgren, whom the Yankees non-tendered Friday. The 2014 second-round pick briefly cracked the majors in 2015, but elbow issues limited him both that year and this past season. Lindgren threw just seven innings in 2016 – all with the Yankees’ High-A affiliate – before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. The 23-year-old could miss all of next season while recovering from the procedure, but the Braves will retain his rights beyond then if he’s on their 40-man roster, as ESPN’s Keith Law notes (via Twitter).
- Two days after the Reds non-tendered Gabby Guerrero, the club has re-signed the outfielder to a minor league deal, according to Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The Reds claimed the nephew of former major league star Vladimir Guerrero off waivers from the Diamondbacks last week. The soon-to-be 23-year-old was a well-regarded prospect with the Mariners at one time, but he struggled with the Seattle and Arizona organizations over the past two seasons. Guerrero posted a .223/.258/.346 line in 488 Double-A plate appearances in 2015, when he was part of a trade involving Mark Trumbo and Welington Castillo, and stumbled to a combined .234/.281/.383 showing with the D-backs’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates last season.
Casey McGehee To Sign With Japan’s Yomiuri Giants
Free agent corner infielder Casey McGehee has agreed to a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The deal guarantees the Meister Sports Management client $2MM for 2017 and includes another $1MM in incentives, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. It also features a club option for 2018.
This will be the second stint in Japan for McGehee, who spent the 2013 campaign with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Between cracking the major leagues in 2008 and joining Tohoku, McGehee combined to hit .257/.314/.414 in 2,041 plate appearances with the Cubs, Brewers, Pirates and Yankees. His best full season came in 2010 as a member of the Brewers, with whom he slashed .285/.337/.464 and tallied a career-high 23 home runs in 670 PAs.
McGehee returned from Japan in 2014 to sign with the Marlins, and he ended up earning National League Comeback Player of the Year honors after posting a respectable .287/.355/.357 line in 691 trips to the plate. His numbers cratered over the past two seasons with the Marlins, Giants and Tigers, though, and McGehee spent the majority of 2016 with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate in Toledo. Now, as a result of his recent struggles in the majors, the 34-year-old will head back to Japan.
Minor MLB Transactions: 12/3/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Free agent right-hander Parker Markel has agreed to terms with a team in Asia, reports Zach Links of Pro Football Rumors and MLBTR (Twitter link). The 26-year-old performed well in 2016 with a 2.52 ERA, 6.97 K/9 and 3.56 BB/9 in 60 2/3 innings as a member of the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in Durham. Between going to the Rays in the 39th round of the 2010 draft and heading to Asia, Markel posted a 3.99 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 across 197 minor league appearances (54 starts) and 466 1/3 frames.
- The Angels have added lefty John Lamb and catcher Tony Sanchez on minor-league deals, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). A top prospect not long ago, Lamb has changed hands a few times this winter as he has continued to deal with injury issues. Sanchez also has quite a prospect pedigree, but has failed to gain traction in the upper minors.
- Recently acquired righty Ryan Weber was outrighted to Triple-A by the Mariners, per a club announcement. Added through a waiver claim from the Braves, the 26-year-old lost his 40-man spot when Seattle acquired two other former Atlanta hurlers. Weber’s quality upper-minors numbers have yet to translate to the majors, where he owns a 5.15 ERA over 64 2/3 innings over the past two seasons.
- The Brewers outrighted righties Steve Geltz and David Goforth, the team announced. Geltz had just been claimed off waivers, so perhaps Milwaukee will hope he clears and can be stashed. The 29-year-old struggled to a 5.74 ERA in his 26 2/3 major league frames in 2016, but was much better in prior years and also showed well at Triple-A. While Goforth had a solid debut year in 2015, he scuffled in both the majors and at Triple-A in his most recent campaign.
Mariners Make Handful Of Roster Moves
In addition to confirming the signing of left-hander Marc Rzepczynski, the Mariners have inked right-hander Casey Fien to a major league contract, per a team announcement. To make room for those bullpen additions, Seattle has designated southpaw Dean Kiekhefer and righty Zach Lee for assignment.
[RELATED: Updated Mariners Roster]
Fien became eligible for free agency shortly after the Dodgers outrighted him off their 40-man roster in mid-September. In a combined 39 1/3 innings with them and the Twins last season, Fien recorded a 5.49 ERA, 8.01 K/9, 2.29 BB/9 and 33.9 percent ground-ball rate. Fien was much more successful at preventing runs over the previous four years, as he logged a 3.54 ERA, 7.93 K/9, 1.57 BB/9 and 33.6 grounder rate in 223 2/3 frames with the Twins from 2012-15. Home runs weren’t a serious problem then for Fien, but the 33-year-old allowed 13 this past season en route to a bloated ERA.
Fien has a minor league option remaining, but if he earns a place on the Mariners’ roster, he’ll make $1.1MM, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter link). He’ll vie to join a relief group that, at least for now, also includes righty setup men in the injured Steve Cishek, Nick Vincent, Evan Scribner, Dan Altavilla and Arquimedes Caminero.
Kiekhefer originally joined the Mariners less than a month ago as a waiver claim from the Cardinals. A 38th-round pick in the 2010 draft, Kiekhefer cracked the major leagues for the first time in 2016 and registered a 5.32 ERA, 5.73 K/9, 2.86 BB/9 and 47.3 percent ground-ball mark in 22 innings with St. Louis.
Lee, a former high-end prospect with the Dodgers, became a Mariner when they acquired him for infielder Chris Taylor last June. The 25-year-old Lee, who went in the first round of the 2010 draft, debuted in the big leagues with 4 2/3 frames as a member of the Dodgers in 2015. He spent last season at the Triple-A level and combined for 148 innings – 74 1/3 of which came with the Mariners’ affiliate in Tacoma. Lee struggled to a 7.39 ERA with the Rainiers, though his strikeout and walk rates per nine (6.05 and 2.91) weren’t nearly as ugly.