Angels To Exercise Club Option Over Yunel Escobar
Unsurprisingly, the Angels will pick up the $7MM club option over infielder Yunel Escobar, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. The team would otherwise have paid him a $1MM buyout.
Escobar, who just turned 34, continued to hit after heading to Los Angeles last winter in a deal that sent reliever Trevor Gott to the Nationals. He ended with a .304/.355/.391 batting line and five home runs over 567 plate appearances.
Ultimately, the veteran infielder isn’t a terribly exciting option. He doesn’t walk a ton but also rarely strikes out, and relies upon batting average to make up for below-average power. While he has carried a rather lofty batting average on balls in play over the last two years (.347 and .339, respectively), that’s supported in some part by the fact that Escobar keeps the ball on a line or on the ground much more than the league-average hitter. (He hit fly balls just 20.8% of the time, as against the league’s 34.6% rate.)
Though he was long a shortstop, Escobar isn’t considered a valuable defender at third. Both UZR and DRS have rated him as well below average at the hot corner in each of the last two seasons. Still, there’s value in the fact that Escobar can handle third reasonably, and also that he’d presumably be able to take residence at second if needed.
All said, it was an easy call for the Halos to make. The team recently added another one-year veteran in Cameron Maybin, and is looking to fill in needs on limited commitments wherever necessary. Locking in Escobar leaves the team looking to add a second baseman (or, perhaps, a third baseman) and build out the pitching staff. The future payroll situation remains unchanged thus far, maintaining some flexibility for the organization.
Cubs Decline Jason Hammel’s Option
TODAY: Chicago allowed Hammel to decide whether he’d be back for one more year or test the market, according to ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers. That was no doubt an easy call for him, at least financially.
YESTERDAY: The Cubs have declined right-hander Jason Hammel‘s $12MM option for 2017 in favor of a $2MM buyout, according to a team announcement. Hammel is now a free agent.
The World Series champions’ decision to cut the reasonably priced Hammel comes as a surprise, as he at least looked like a trade candidate prior to Sunday. However, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced that the team had no plans to pick up Hammel’s option just to shop him.
“The intent was never to exercise the option and then trade Jason, so we will not consider that path,” said Epstein. “Instead, Jason will have the opportunity to enter free agency coming off an outstanding season and the ability to choose his next club.”
Hammel, 34, contributed 166 2/3 innings of 3.83 ERA pitching to go with a 7.78 K/9, 2.86 BB/9 and 42.1 percent ground-ball rate in 2016. He experienced elbow tightness late in the regular season, though, and the club subsequently left him off its roster during playoff victories over the Giants, Dodgers and Indians.
This ends Hammel’s second stint with the Cubs, who signed him to a one-year contract entering the 2014 season and then sent him and Jeff Samardzija to Oakland in a July deal that brought shortstop Addison Russell to Chicago. Hammel subsequently returned to the Windy City in free agency the next winter, ultimately collecting $20MM from the team on what would have been a three-year, $30MM pact had the Cubs exercised his option.
For Hammel’s earning power, the Cubs’ move to buy him out comes at a fortuitous time. Given the weakness of this winter’s free agent class, he’ll return to the open market as one of the top starters available. Going back to 2014, Hammel has logged a 3.68 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 40 percent grounder mark over 513 2/3 innings.
Barring offseason acquisitions, the Cubs’ removal of Hammel from their roster will leave them with Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey and Mike Montgomery as their starting five entering 2017. That quintet should form one of the majors’ premier rotations next season if healthy, though the Cubs’ depth took an obvious hit with Hammel’s exit.
Donn Roach Signs With KBO’s KT Wiz
The KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization announced on Monday that they’ve signed right-hander Donn Roach to a one-year deal that will pay him $850K (via Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News).
Roach, 26, has bounced all over the league in the past two seasons, spending time on the 40-man roster with the Padres, Cubs, Reds, Blue Jays, Mariners, Tigers and Athletics. He finished up the 2016 campaign with Oakland but was outrighted off the 40-man roster following the season and became a free agent.
Roach pitched just 5 1/3 innings in the Majors this year and 3 1/3 innings in the Majors in 2015 despite all of that activity on the transaction front. In total, he has 39 Major League innings under his belt and a 5.77 ERA with 4.6 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. However, Roach has logged an enormous 67.1 percent ground-ball rate in his limited big league time, and that massive number is typical for the righty, who routinely racks up grounders at an elite clip in the minors as well. Though Roach has a 3.95 ERA in 357 2/3 innings at Triple-A and has averaged just 4.5 K/9, his control (2.3 BB/9) and ground-ball rate (61.6 percent) have been excellent at that level. Those two traits have made him appealing enough to appear on seven 40-man rosters since Opening Day 2014 despite a pedestrian strikeout rate and almost certainly played into his interest from Korea as well.
Indians Decline Option On Coco Crisp
SUNDAY: The Indians have officially declined Crisp’s option.
FRIDAY: The Indians have informed outfielder Coco Crisp that they will be declining his $13MM option for the 2017 season, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He’ll instead receive a $750K buyout and hit the open market in search of a new contract this winter.
Crisp, who turned 37 three days ago, returned to the Indians in an August trade with the Athletics. While he struggled for Cleveland in a reserve capacity down the stretch, Crisp did deliver a pair of important postseason home runs for the Tribe. Overall on the regular season, the switch-hitter recorded a .231/.302/.397 slash line that’s a bit better than it would appear on the surface due to the fact that so many of his at-bats came in Oakland’s cavernous Coliseum. Nonetheless, that line did check in below the league average, as did his defensive ratings in center field (though his left field work still received solid reviews from Defensive Runs Saved).
It’s worth noting that Crisp, though, did still tally 13 homers and 10 stolen bases, thereby demonstrating that he still has the blend of pop and speed that have made him such a solid contributor over the course of his 15-year Major League career. He also fared considerably better as a left-handed hitter than he did as a right-handed bat, so it certainly seems that he could still contribute to a big league club in the corner outfield in a part-time capacity at the very least.
Dexter Fowler Declines Mutual Option
SATURDAY: Fowler is now officially a free agent, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link).
FRIDAY: Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler will decline his half of a $9MM mutual option and re-enter the free-agent market, Fowler himself said on ESPN’s Sportscenter last night (via ESPN News Services). The news comes as little surprise on the heels of a career year for Fowler, who should be one of the top outfielders and top all-around free agents on this year’s open market.
“I’m definitely going to be a free agent, but hopefully it happens a little bit quicker than last year,” said the 30-year-old switch-hitting outfielder. “You can’t control what goes on, but I loved my time in Chicago and I’m definitely not counting them out, but we’ll see what God has planned for us now.”
Fowler, who will turn 31 next March, batted .276/.393/.447 with 13 homers and 13 steals in 125 games/551 plate appearances for the Cubs in the regular season before kicking in a trio of postseason home runs on during the Cubs’ curse-breaking World Series run. He’s a surefire candidate to receive a qualifying offer from Chicago, which would give him a one-year, $17.2MM offer to return to the team, but based on Fowler’s comments it seems safe to say he’ll be rejecting the QO to again test free agency.
That’s familiar territory for Fowler, who rejected a QO from the Cubs last winter and spent much of the offseason languishing on the free-agent market. While he reportedly came close to a three-year deal with the Orioles in February — many credible reporters indicated that the deal was agreed to, though Fowler’s agent vehemently denied that rumor after the fact — Fowler ultimately settled for a one-year deal to return to Chicago instead. That was a surprising development, considering Fowler entered the offseason seemingly poised to score a strong free-agent payday. Some teams weren’t willing to part with the draft pick required to sign him, however, and that could again prove true this winter. However, it also seems less likely, as Fowler is now coming off the two best seasons of his career and has seemingly erased some concerns about his defense in center field. Fowler recently told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that teams last winter weren’t convinced of his ability to play center field, but he altered his positioning this year and drew slightly above-average marks from both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved for the first time in his career.
Alternatively, if Fowler is open to playing an outfield corner, his market would almost certainly grow even more robust, as a number of contending clubs with money to spend (e.g. the Giants, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Rangers) could look to the free-agent market to find help in the outfield corners. It was genuinely surprising that a long-term deal did not materialize for Fowler earlier in the offseason last winter, but it’ll come as even more of a shock if he’s not able to lock down a lucrative multi-year commitment in the 2016-17 offseason. From my vantage point, Fowler should be able to land at least a four-year contract this winter even after rejecting the qualifying offer.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/5/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- The Astros have announced that they’ve selected the contract of Dominican lefty Reymin Guduan, preventing him from hitting minor league free agency. The 24-year-old struggled at Triple-A Fresno in 2016 and has a long history of control problems, with an extremely high career 7.1 BB/9. He did, however, have a brilliant stretch at Double-A Corpus Christi last season (with 19 strikeouts and three walks over 13 innings), and he can apparently touch 100 MPH, a very rare quality in a lefty.
- The Pirates have announced that they’ve added righty Dovydas Neverauskas and 1B/OF Jose Osuna to their 40-man roster, protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft. In 2009, the Bucs signed Neverauskas as a 16-year-old, and he made his way through their system slowly — perhaps unsurprisingly, given that his home country of Lithuania isn’t exactly a baseball hotbed. He transitioned from starting to relieving in 2015, and emerged as a hard-throwing relief prospect in a fine 2016 season in which he represented the Bucs in the Futures Game and posted a 3.10 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 58 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A. His year was sullied when he was arrested in a bar fight in Toledo in August, but the Pirates still appear to believe in his potential. The 23-year-old Osuna also spent the season at Double-A and Triple-A and held his own, hitting .279/.331/.457. He’s never had an exceptional minor league season and does not rate among the Bucs’ top prospects, but he’s been reliably productive and hit lefties very well last season.
Royals Decline Luke Hochevar’s Option
The Royals have announced they’ve declined Luke Hochevar‘s $7MM 2017 mutual option. That means they’ll owe him a $500K buyout. He is now a free agent.
The move was expected. Hochevar underwent surgery to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome in August, and it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to return to game action. There have, however, been indications that the Royals could attempt to sign Hochevar to a cheaper deal for 2017.
Hochevar generally pitched well in 2016 when healthy, posting a 3.86 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 over 37 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old former No. 1 overall pick struggled for years as a starter and missed the 2014 season after having Tommy John surgery, but he’s now had three relatively successful seasons as a hard-throwing reliever, including with the Royals’ 2015 World Series team.
Blue Jays Exercise Jason Grilli’s Option
The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve exercised righty Jason Grilli‘s 2017 option. (SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo was first to tweet the news.) That means they’ll pay Grilli a $3MM salary for next season, rather than a $250K buyout.
Jays GM Ross Atkins recently described exercising Grilli’s option as “as near to a no-brainer” as there exists in baseball, so the team’s decision comes as no surprise. Grilli turns 40 this week, but he was very effective with Toronto in 2016, posting a 3.64 ERA with 4.1 BB/9 and an outstanding 12.4 K/9 over 42 innings following a trade from Atlanta. His option was part of a two-year, $7MM deal he signed with the Braves following the 2014 season.
Grilli, the fourth overall pick in the 1997 draft, struggled for his first several seasons in the big leagues, but he emerged as a quality late-inning reliever and then a closer with the Pirates several years ago. In addition to the Bucs, Braves, and Blue Jays, he’s played for the Marlins, White Sox, Tigers, Rockies, Rangers and Angels over the course of a 14-year career in the Majors.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/4/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Orioles declined the team’s previously unknown option over righty Logan Ondrusek, as BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly was among those to tweet. Ondrusek had signed with the Orioles out of Japan in the middle of the 2016 season, but was outrighted in late August after a brief stint. It was essentially a formality at this point for the team to decline the option (which was for an unknown amount). Baltimore had hoped that adding Ondrusek would represent a creative way to bolster their relief corps in the middle of the season, and brought him back stateside after he continued to produce good results for the NPB’s Yakult Swallows.
- The Reds announced that utilityman Ivan De Jesus has been outrighted off of the 40-man roster. He has been a fairly significant part of the major league team over the last two years, playing in 180 total games. But his batting output dwindled in 2016: despite a slightly higher batting average and identical .311 OBP in comparison to his 2015 line, De Jesus slugged only .312 in his 243 plate appearances.
- Two recently outrighted Mariners — lefty Charlie Furbush and catcher Steve Clevenger — have both elected free agency rather than accepting a minor league assignment, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns. The team is still waiting to learn what righty Ryan Cook will do; he, too, was recently cut from the 40-man.
- Lefty Ricky Romero will remain with the Giants on a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). Soon to tun 32, Romero is now well removed from his days as an effective major league starter. He only appeared in two games in 2016, both at the Triple-A level, and has thrown just 53 2/3 total innings professionally since 2013 — the last season in which he reached the big leagues.
- The Yankees selected the contracts of catcher Kyle Higashioka and right-hander Domingo German, adding them to thee 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft. Though he’s already 26, and has been Rule 5-eligible before, Higashioka is coming off of his most promising season as a professional. Over 416 plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A, he slashed .276/.337/.511 with 21 home runs. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old German pitched last year at the Class A and High-A level after missing all of 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. He ended up starting ten games and posting a 3.81 ERA over 49 2/3 innings, with 6.9 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9, but will look to get fully back on his promising track next year.
Earlier Updates
- The Tigers announced that they have selected the contracts of right-hander Myles Jaye and left-hander Chad Bell from Triple-A Toledo. The 24-year-old Jaye split the 2016 season between Detroit’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, working to a combined 3.95 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 53.3 percent ground-ball rate in 161 2/3 innings (28 starts). MLB.com ranks Jaye as Detroit’s No. 26 prospect, writing that he has a 91-93 mph and a solid three-pitch mix but also noting that he lacks an out pitch. Their report pegs his ceiling as a fourth or fifth starter and says he’s not far from Major League readiness. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Bell posted a 3.29 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 52 percent ground-ball rate in 98 1/3 innings at Triple-A between the Rangers and Tigers organizations. Detroit picked him up from Texas in the May trade that sent catcher Bobby Wilson to the Rangers. Bell worked more as a reliever than a starter and held opposing lefties to a .605 OPS, including a .286 slugging percentage. He’ll join Kyle Ryan, Blaine Hardy and Joe Mantiply as options to serve as a second lefty behind Justin Wilson in Detroit’s bullpen next year.
Mets Outright Justin Ruggiano
The Mets have outrighted outfielder Justin Ruggiano off of the team’s 40-man roster, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Ruggiano elected free agency after clearing waivers.
After a brief stint early in the year with the Rangers, the 34-year-old was added by the Mets in July as the club sought to fill in for a variety of injured players. The hope was that he’d provide a boost from the right side of the plate, but his own maladies kept Ruggiano from playing much of a role (though he did have one rather memorable moment).
Ultimately, Ruggiano ended up taking just 26 plate appearances on the year, breaking a string of five consecutive seasons in which he had topped 100 trips to the plate. He did hit well in that very limited action, though, and also ended the 2015 season on a high note. With a .258/.322/.439 lifetime batting line to support him, Ruggiano figures to have a solid chance to earn a roster spot somewhere next spring.