Nationals Acquire Derek Norris
The Nationals have dealt for catcher Derek Norris from the Padres, per a club announcement. Righty Pedro Avila will head to San Diego in return.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Norris, who was once a well-regarded prospect in the D.C. system before being shipped to Oakland in the deal that landed Gio Gonzalez. Now, he joins righty A.J. Cole in finding his way back to the Nationals organization via trade.
Norris never suited up at the major league level with the Nationals, but he’ll surely do so in 2017. The organization was looking for a replacement for Wilson Ramos to pair with incumbent reserves Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino. Odds are that the organization is planning some form of timeshare, presumably featuring Norris against left-handed pitching while Lobaton (a switch-hitter) gets the bulk of his time against righties. Severino still has options and will likely begin the year at Triple-A.
Washington will obviously tender Norris a contract, and can expect to pay him in the neighborhood of a projected $4.0MM arbitration salary. He can be controlled for one more season via the arbitration process.
The move almost certainly spells the end of Ramos’s tenure in D.C. In conjunction with the new deal just given to Lobaton, it likely also means that the Nats won’t chase free agent Matt Wieters or an alternative option behind the dish.
In Norris, the Nationals are taking a gamble on a return to form offensively. The 27-year-old posted an anemic .186/.255/.328 batting line over 458 plate appearances last year for San Diego, though he did manage to tie a career high with 14 home runs. But he was a near-average hitter in the season prior, and carried a strong 115 OPS+ in the 2013-14 seasons with the Athletics. As we noted in reviewing the organization’s offseason outlook, Norris seemed a reasonable candidate to roll the dice on given this year’s weak crop of available receivers.
The concern with Norris isn’t so much that he had a rough year — after all, his .238 BABIP figures to improve — but that his approach has eroded rather drastically. In his heyday with the A’s, Norris drew walks at about a 12% clip while striking out in around a fifth of his plate appearances. Both numbers have moved in the wrong direction in San Diego, though; last year, he posted a 7.9% walk rate (improving upon his 6.3% from the year prior) and jumped up to a 30.3% strikeout rate. Norris is both chasing pitches out of the zone and swinging and missing far more often than he had previously. Despite the anemic BABIP last year, he did post a career-best 34.4% hard-hit ratio and put the ball on a line as much (21.9%) as he ever had previously.
While the Nationals would surely love to see improvement with the bat, that’s not the only basis for the move. Norris has turned into one of the game’s better pitch framers (2016; 2015) after previously rating poorly in that area. And he rates as approximately average in other defensive areas. Plus, Norris can add some value with his legs, as he swiped nine bags last year and made an above-average overall baserunning contribution.
For the Padres, parting with Norris opens the door for top prospect Austin Hedges behind the dish. Though Christian Bethancourt remains on hand as a reserve, he has been dabbling in the idea of becoming a part-time pitcher, and certainly does not profile as anything like a regular.
The Friars also add an interesting arm in the 19-year-old Avila. A native of Venezuela, he has shown some swing-and-miss ability in the lower minors. At the low-A level in 2016, Avila ran up a solid 3.48 ERA over 93 frames across twenty starts, with 8.9 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9. As Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser writes, the young righty has a slight frame and lacks a huge heater, but makes up for that with a solid three-pitch mix and “an excellent feel to pitch.” He did end the year with an injury of some kind, the details of which remain unknown.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rangers Claim Brady Dragmire
The Rangers have claimed righty Brady Dragmire off waivers from the Pirates, per an announcement from Texas. Pittsburgh had acquired him from the Blue Jays in early October.
Dragmire has yet to advance past the Double-A level, though he’s still just 23 years of age. At the penultimate level of the minors last year, he tossed 72 relief innings of 4.38 ERA pitching, with 5.1 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9. That’s the second straight campaign in which Dragmire has posted underhelming earned-run and K/BB numbers, but there is something of an ace up his sleeve. Despite otherwise underwhelming results, he continues to induce grounders on more than three out of every five balls put in play against him.
Phillies Designate Cody Asche For Assignment, Claim David Rollins
The Phillies announced that they’ve claimed lefty David Rollins off waivers from the Rangers and designated infielder/outfielder Cody Asche for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Asche, formerly one of the Phillies’ top prospects, has struggled in parts of four seasons and was a non-tender candidate prior to tonight’s 8pm ET deadline.
Philadelphia was hopeful at one point that Asche, now 26, could develop into a regular option at the hot corner, but his bat has never come around at the Major League level, and Maikel Franco‘s arrival pushed him out to left field. The left-handed hitter owns a career .240/.298/.385 batting line with 31 homers in 1287 Major League plate appearances — a far cry from the .297/.359/.491 slash he’s compiled in 150 games across parts of four seasons at Triple-A.
Prior to the 2013 season, Baseball America rated Asche seventh among Phillies farmhands and noted that while he doesn’t have the prototypical power or high-level defense one would expect out of a regular third baseman, he had the potential to hit enough to land a role as a Major League regular. To this point in his career, that hasn’t panned out.
Rollins, 27 next month, has gone from the Mariners to the Cubs to the Rangers to the Phillies on waivers in a matter of two months. The former 24th-round pick has a 7.60 ERA in 34 innings with the Mariners across the past two seasons and has averaged 7.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 with a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate. He’s been rather unlucky, as evidenced by a .379 BABIP, but even the most optimistic ERA estimator pegs him in the mid-4.00s (4.41 SIERA). Rollins does have minor league options remaining, so the Phils could stash him in Triple-A next year if he doesn’t break camp with the club. Then again, the Phillies may try to pass Rollins through waivers themselves at some point with an eye toward keeping him in the organization but freeing up a 40-man roster spot. No team has been able to successfully do that this winter, however.
Orioles Claim Adam Walker From Brewers
The Orioles announced today that they’ve claimed outfielder Adam Walker off waivers from the Brewers. Milwaukee claimed Walker off waivers from the Twins two weeks ago but designated him for assignment last week when they claimed right-hander Steve Geltz from the Rays.
The 25-year-old Walker fits a profile that has become somewhat of a trend in Baltimore, as he possesses enormous power but brings little defensive value to the table and strikes out in abundance. The former third-round pick has received 60 and 65 grades for his raw power (on the 20-80 scouting scale), and has homered 58 times across the past two minor league seasons. However, he punched out an incredible 202 times in 531 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this season (38 percent) and whiffed at a 34.8 percent clip at Double-A in 2015. He also lacks any true defensive position, as he’s played left field recently but is projected by most to ultimately function as a first baseman or DH if he ever breaks into the Majors. The addition of the right-handed-hitting Walker gives the Orioles 37 players on their 40-man roster.
Angels Acquire Brooks Pounders From Royals
The Royals announced that they’ve traded right-hander Brooks Pounders to the Angels in exchange for minor league righty Jared Ruxer. The move opens a spot on the Royals’ 40-man roster to make a selection in next week’s Rule 5 Draft, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan points out (on Twitter).
Pounders, 26, made his Major League debut this season but allowed 13 runs on 19 hits and three walks in 12 2/3 innings of work. He did pick up 13 strikeouts and average 92.6 mph on his fastball, and Pounders delivered solid results in his time at the Triple-A level. In 80 1/3 innings with Kansas City’s top affiliate in Omaha (seven starts, 24 relief appearances), Pounders notched a 3.14 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 38.5 percent ground-ball rate. He’ll give the Halos a depth piece that has minor league options remaining to help out in the ‘pen in the coming season.
Ruxer, meanwhile, was the Angels’ 12th-round pick in 2014. He split the 2016 season between the Class-A Midwest League and the Class-A Advanced California League, pitching to a combined 3.08 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent ground-ball rate in 111 innings (19 starts, 10 relief appearances). Flanagan tweets that Ruxer had Tommy John surgery in his final season at Louisville in 2014 before being drafted, but Ruxer’s solid season certainly makes it seem as though he’s recovered nicely from the injury.
Dodgers Avoid Arbitration With Van Slyke, Hatcher
6:14pm: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Hatcher receives a $1.25MM salary next season (Twitter link).
4:25pm: SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Van Slyke and the Dodgers agreed to a $1.325MM salary for 2017.
4:14pm: The Dodgers announced today that they’ve signed outfielder Scott Van Slyke and right-hander Chris Hatcher to one-year deals, thus avoiding arbitration with both players. Van Slyke is represented by agent James Kuzmich, while Hatcher is a client of Turner Gary Sports.
Van Slyke, 30, was limited to 52 games this past season due to back and wrist injuries. When healthy, he batted a disappointing .225/.292/.314 in 113 plate appearances. Van Slyke, however, has a nice track record as a complementary outfielder, having slashed .261/.349/.455 with 24 homers in 651 plate appearances from 2013-15. Most of the damage he’s done in his career has come against left-handed pitching, as he holds a career .845 OPS against southpaws as compared to a .678 OPS against right-handed pitching. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Van Slyke for a $1.3MM salary in 2017.
Hatcher, 32 in January, was limited to 40 2/3 innings by an oblique injury in 2016 but struggled to a 5.53 ERA even when healthy enough to take the field. Hatcher’s velocity remained strong, though, as his fastball averaged just under 96 mph. He also averaged 9.5 K/9 with a solid 44.3 percent ground-ball rate. His walk rate spiked from 3.0 BB/9 in 2015 to 4.6 BB/9 in 2016, however, and he was exceptionally homer-prone (1.8 HR/9, 18.2 percent HR/FB ratio). In 95 innings from 2014-15, Hatcher logged a 3.51 ERA and posted a 105-to-25 K/BB ratio. Swartz projected him at $1.4MM.
Braves Acquire Jaime Garcia
6:04pm: Both teams have announced the trade via press release.
5:20pm: The Braves have been one of the most active teams of the offseason thus far, and that continued on Thursday as the team reportedly struck a deal to acquire veteran lefty Jaime Garcia from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league infielder Luke Dykstra and young right-handers John Gant and Chris Ellis.
[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals Depth Chart and Atlanta Braves Depth Chart]
Garcia, 30, has long been a steady member of the Cardinals’ rotation but struggled a bit in 2016, working to a career-worst 4.67 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a very strong 56.7 percent ground-ball rate in 171 2/3 innings. He’s controllable only through the 2017 season, as the Cardinals exercised his $12MM option at season’s end. Despite the fact that St. Louis picked up that option, though, trading Garcia has long seemed like a highly plausible outcome. The Cards already have Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake and Alex Reyes in the fold in addition to right-handers Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn returning from injuries.
As for the Braves, Garcia will be the third veteran arm they’ve added to their rotation already this winter. He’ll join fellow newcomers Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey in the Braves’ rotation behind right-handers Julio Teheran and Mike Foltynewicz. Like Colon and Dickey, Garcia is a one-year commitment that can function as a reasonable stopgap to upper-level arms in the Braves system like Sean Newcomb while also give young righties Aaron Blair and Matt Wisler, who have struggled in the Majors, additional time to develop in Triple-A.
Despite Garcia’s 2016 struggles, he’ll bring to the Braves a career 3.57 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 56.5 percent ground-ball rate in 896 innings as a Major Leaguer. Shoulder injuries have limited him throughout his career, and he missed time with a groin strain as well in 2016, but he’s averaged 151 innings in 2015-16 and made a total of 50 starts in that time.
While the Braves have been connected to Chris Sale and other front-of-the-rotation names in trade chatter, the addition of Garcia lessens the chances of that hope becoming a reality for Atlanta fans, though it doesn’t eliminate the possibility. Both Mark Bowman of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports note (Twitter links) that the Braves still intend to pursue front-line starters. The rotation certainly looks full at the moment, but it’s possible that as a young right-hander with a fair bit of MLB experience under his belt, Foltynewicz himself could be added to a trade package to help bring in a significant upgrade (though that’s merely speculation).
Each of Ellis (No. 17), Gant (No. 21) and Dykstra (No. 29) appeared on MLB.com’s midseason list of the Braves’ Top 30 prospects. Ellis, who turned 24 in September, was acquired with Newcomb in last year’s Andrelton Simmons trade. The former third-rounder posted a strong 2.75 ERA in 78 innings at the Double-A level this year, averaging 7.0 strikeouts against 4.0 walks per nine innings before moving up to the Triple-A level. He struggled in 67 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett, though, working to a 6.52 ERA. He did register an improved 8.6 K/9 mark, though he also averaged 6.9 walks per nine innings there as well. MLB.com’s report on Ellis notes that he has the size, strength and repertoire to become a No. 4 starter with three average to above-average offerings but slightly below-average command.
Gant, also 24, was acquired from the Mets in the 2015 Kelly Johnson/Juan Uribe trade and made his MLB debut last year, totaling 50 innings with a 4.86 ERA. Gant logged 49 strikeouts against 21 walks with a 42.1 percent ground-ball rate. He also worked to a 4.18 ERA with better than a strikeout per inning in 56 Triple-A innings. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com call Gant’s fastball, changeup and curveball each an average offering but also note that he has a tremendous feel for pitching. Nonetheless, they peg his ceiling as a back-end starter, albeit one that could conceivably join the Cardinals’ staff immediately out of Spring Training if necessary.
Dykstra, the son of former Mets/Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra, is a 21-year-old middle infielder that the Braves plucked with their seventh-round pick back in 2014. He went through his second stint in the Class-A South Atlantic League in 2016, hitting .304/.332/.363 with no homers and seven stolen bases in 81 games. Callis and Mayo call him a fringe defender with an average arm and note the he hasn’t shown any power to this point in his career, but his hit tool draws strong marks — and that skill is reflected in his career .300/.335/.385 batting line through parts of three minor league seasons.
ESPN’s Mark Saxon first reported that Garcia had been traded to the Braves. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported (on Twitter) that three prospects were going to St. Louis in exchange. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Dykstra and Ellis were in the deal (Twitter link). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reported Gant was the third piece (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nationals, Jose Lobaton Avoid Arbitration
4:43pm: Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that Lobaton will earn $1.575MM next season (Twitter link). He’ll also earn an additional $25K if he reaches 200 plate appearances, according to Janes’ colleague, Jorge Castillo (also on Twitter).
4:23pm: The Nationals announced today that they’ve agreed to a one-year deal with catcher Jose Lobaton, thus avoiding arbitration. Terms of the agreement weren’t announced, but MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected the Athletes X client would receive a $1.6MM salary in 2017.
The 32-year-old switch-hitter served as the primary backup to Wilson Ramos in Washington this patch season, batting .232/.319/.374 with three home runs in 114 plate appearances. Those numbers are fairly in line with the production that Lobaton has posted since he established himself as a regular member of the Rays’ roster back in 2012. In 1007 plate appearances since that time, he’s batted .231/.307/.340. Lobaton halted 28 percent of attempted stolen bases last year and delivered his typically above-average framing marks along the way. This will be his final trip through the arbitration process, as he’ll be a free agent for the first time in his career next winter after reaching six years of Major League service time.
Indians Sign Michael Martinez, Erik Kratz To Minors Deals
The Indians announced on Thursday that they’ve signed re-signed infielder/outfielder Michael Martinez to a minor league deal and also added veteran backstop Erik Kratz on a minor league pact. Both players will be invited to Major League Spring Training.
Martinez, 34, appeared in 59 games with Cleveland last year and batted .242/.265/.316 with a homer and four doubles in 99 plate appearances (across two stints with the team). The longtime Phillies utility piece showed some versatility by appearing at all three outfield positions, second base, shortstop and third base this past season. For his career, he’s graded out as a roughly average infielder all around the diamond, and while he doesn’t bring much to the table from an offensive standpoint, that level of versatility can certainly be valuable to a club, even if he doesn’t excel at any one defensive position. Young Erik Gonzalez would seem to have the inside track on a utility role for Cleveland next year, but there could be room for Martinez as well depending on how the rest of the team’s offseason shakes out.
Kratz, 36, appeared in 33 games with the Astros and Pirates last season but struggled to a .094/.105/.153 batting line in his 87 trips to the plate. While he’s never been a standout offensive contributor, Kratz has certainly delivered better production than that in the past, as he entered the 2016 season as a lifetime .218/.270/.397 hitter in 560 Major League plate appearances. Cleveland figures to deploy Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez as its primary receivers in 2017, but Kratz could see some time at Triple-A or be a veteran depth option in the Majors should an injury force the need. He’s thrown out 34 percent of opposing base thieves in his career and typically receives positive framing grades both in the minors and in the Majors.
Braves Avoid Arbitration With Tuffy Gosewisch
TODAY: Gosewisch will earn $635K, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. His contract entitled him to either $625K or $100K over the new league-minimum rate, which has been set at $535K.
YESTERDAY: The Braves have struck a deal to avoid arbitration with catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, according to a team announcement. Terms of the deal were not announced; MLBTR projects him to command a $600K salary.
Atlanta just claimed Gosewisch off waivers from the Diamondbacks, suggesting that the team would look to hammer out a deal with him. It remains unclear just what this means for the team’s backstop mix. Tyler Flowers remains on the books and Anthony Recker is also eligible for arbitration.
Gosewisch, 33, has seen time in each of the last four major league campaigns. He has slashed just .199/.237/.286, with five home runs, but he’s obviously regarded as a trustworthy presence behind the plate. It’s fair to note, too, that Gosewisch hit a robust .342/.399/.553 in his 219 Triple-A plate appearances in 2016.