Nationals Pick Up Gio Gonzalez’s 2017 Option, Decline Yusmeiro Petit’s
The Nationals have exercised left-hander Gio Gonzalez‘s club option for 2017 and declined right-hander Yusmeiro Petit‘s, the team announced. Gonzalez will earn $12MM next season, while Petit will hit the open market after receiving a $500K buyout from the Nats.
After logging ERAs ranging from 2.89 ERA to 3.79 in each season from 2010-15, Gonzalez allowed runs at a 4.57 clip per nine innings this year. Picking up Gonzalez’s option was a no-brainer in spite of that, though, especially given that the Nats could take advantage of a weak free agent market and use the 31-year-old as trade bait. Despite his bloated ERA, he still posted solid strikeout and walk rates of 8.68 and 2.99, and generated ground balls at a 47.6 percent clip. Gonzalez threw 177 1/3 innings, his highest total since 2013, and his $12MM club option for 2018 will vest if he manages to rack up 180 frames next season.
Like Gonzalez, Petit took a step back this year, but his was damaging enough for Washington to pass on him at an inexpensive cost for 2017. Petit’s 7.11 K/9 and 2.18 BB/9 aren’t far from his career averages, and he set a career high with a 41.5 percent grounder rate, but his 4.50 ERA across 62 innings is the worst figure he has put up since 2009. Left-handed hitters caused most of the damage this year, teeing off on Petit with a .269/.336/.588 line. He was far more effective against right-handers (.267/.295/.403) and will now try to catch on elsewhere as a bullpen option.
Phillies Decline 2017 Options For Ryan Howard, Charlie Morton
The Phillies have declined their 2017 club options for first baseman Ryan Howard and right-hander Charlie Morton, per a team announcement. Philadelphia will now pay Howard a $10MM buyout in lieu of the $23MM that it would have owed the slugger had it picked up the option. Morton would have made $9.5MM next season, but he will receive a far more modest $1MM buyout instead.
The club’s decision to move on from Howard comes as no surprise, but it’s the end of a long era that was quite fruitful at times. A fifth-round pick in 2001, Howard debuted in earnest in 2005 and served as one of the majors’ preeminent home run threats from then until 2011. Howard clubbed at least 45 home runs in four seasons during that span, including a majors-best 58 in 2006 en route to National League MVP honors. Two years later, Howard once again paced the league with 48 long balls in a season that ended with the Phillies’ first World Series championship since 1980.
On the strength of his early success, the three-time All-Star signed a five-year, $125MM extension with the Phillies in April 2010, but the deal was mostly disastrous for the team. From that point forward, Howard batted an underwhelming .240/.314/.452 in 3,386 plate appearances, though he did add 160 more homers to give him 382 as a Phillie – second in club history to Mike Schmidt’s 548. Between his declining offense and inability to contribute as a baserunner or defender, Howard combined for a microscopic 0.4 fWAR during his final seven years with the franchise. The soon-to-be 37-year-old indicated in September that he wants to continue his career, but it’s likely his only hope will be to catch on as a designated hitter with an American League team. Even that might be a stretch, though, as Howard slashed just .196/.257/.453 in 362 PAs this year while ceding at-bats to Tommy Joseph.
Morton should fare better than Howard on the open market, but injuries have beset the 32-year-old throughout his career and that continued in 2016. After making just four starts, Morton underwent season-ending surgery on a torn left hamstring. The Phillies hoped Morton would serve as a veteran anchor to their young pitching staff upon acquiring him from the Pirates last December, but the injury prevented that from happening. When healthy, Morton has been a usable back-end option, having pitched to a 4.54 ERA while inducing grounders at a 55.4 percent clip in 893 career innings. From 2013-14, his best two-year stretch, Morton logged a 3.52 ERA and 58.9 percent ground-ball rate in 273 1/3 frames.
Cubs Claim Conor Mullee From Yankees
The Cubs were busy winning their first World Series since 1908 on Wednesday, but that didn’t stop them from adding to their 40-man roster. The club claimed right-hander Conor Mullee off waivers from the Yankees.
Mullee, 28, had been a member of the Yankees organization since going in the 24th round of the 2010 draft. Injuries have been highly problematic during his professional career, unfortunately, as he missed nearly all of the 2011-13 campaigns because of various surgeries – including a Tommy John procedure. Remarkably, Mullee persevered through those issues to make his major league debut in 2016, tossing three innings of one-run ball with the Yankees. However, he once again underwent surgery – this time to repair a nerve issue in his elbow – thus ending his season in August.
Over 162 career minor league frames, including 40 at the Triple-A level, Mullee has pitched to a stingy 2.00 ERA with impressive strikeout and walk rates of 9.1 and 2.6 per nine innings. That terrific body of work has helped earn Mullee a place on the World Series champions’ 40-man roster, at least for now.
Rays To Acquire John Lamb
The Reds have agreed to a trade that’ll send lefty John Lamb to the Rays, tweets Zach Links of MLBTR and Pro Football Rumors. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets that the Rays are sending cash back to the Reds in return.
The 26-year-old Lamb was one of three left-handers that the Reds acquired from the Royals in 2015’s Johnny Cueto blockbuster. Once touted as one of the top 20 prospects in all of baseball by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, Lamb’s stock has dropped precipitously over the years due to multiple injuries. In addition to the two back surgeries to repair herniated disks, Lamb also underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer and missed nearly two full seasons as a result. He’s pitched with the Reds in each of the past two seasons but has struggled in the Majors, posting a combined 6.17 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in 119 2/3 innings.
Lamb’s struggles were present in Triple-A Louisville this year as well, but he’s excelled in the minors as recently as 2015, when he pitched to a stellar 2.67 ERA with 9.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 111 1/3 innings. The former fifth-round pick is out of minor league options, so while he could potentially open the 2017 season on the Major League disabled list, they’ll need to make a quick decision on him when he’s ready to be activated (assuming, of course, that the Rays don’t try to sneak Lamb through waivers this winter).
Rays, Dana Eveland Agree To Minor League Deal
The Rays and left-hander Dana Eveland agreed to a new minor league contract, as was first noted on the MiLB Roster Tracker Twitter account. (MLBTR has confirmed the move.) The 33-year-old was outrighted off the 40-man roster following the season but told MLB.com’s Bill Chastain shortly thereafter that he was likely to return to Tampa Bay on a new minor league pact.
Eveland totaled 23 innings out of the Tampa Bay ‘pen this season but was tagged for 23 runs on 32 hits and 19 walks in that time. He did manage 21 punchouts and a solid 47.4 percent ground-ball rate in that brief Major League stint as well. Furthermore, his minor league work was considerably more encouraging, as the veteran southpaw registered a pristine 0.30 ERA with 21 strikeouts against six walks in 29 2/3 innings of work. Eveland’s return will give the Rays a depth piece that has experience in parts of 11 MLB seasons dating back to 2005. In 446 1/3 innings in the Majors, Eveland has a 5.46 ERA with 308 strikeouts against 221 walks.
Mariners Announce Six Roster Moves
The Mariners announced on Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Ryan Weber off waivers from the Braves and designated catcher Steven Baron for assignment. Additionally, the team has outrighted catcher Steve Clevenger, left-hander Charlie Furbush and right-hander Ryan Cook off the 40-man roster. Beyond that, the Mariners also announced that righty Adrian Sampson has been lost on waivers to the Rangers (who made their own announcement of the move shortly before Seattle’s press release was issued).
Weber, 26, is the lone addition to the Mariners’ roster and will join the organization on the heels of a 2016 campaign that saw him post a 5.45 ERA in 16 appearances (two starts) with the Braves. Weber totaled 36 1/3 innings and averaged 5.7 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9 to go along with very solid 50.8 percent ground-ball rate. His work in Triple-A Gwinnett was considerably more impressive, as he posted a 2.76 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 62 innings there. Weber will give Seattle a depth piece for both the rotation and the bullpen and comes with a minor league option remaining, so there’s no need for him to break camp with the team next spring in order to remain in the organization (assuming he’s not trimmed off the 40-man roster later this winter).
Furbush, 30, is the most notable subtraction from the roster. He’s been a key cog in the Seattle bullpen since 2012 but missed the entire 2016 season due to shoulder troubles that ultimately resulted in surgery to repair a partial tear of his left rotator cuff in August. He’d likely have made the same $1.6MM that he made in 2016 if he remained on the roster and went through arbitration, so his outright, while noteworthy, isn’t much of a surprise, either. From 2012-15, Furbush logged a 3.23 ERA with 10.3 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in 175 1/3 innings with Seattle.
Clevenger, meanwhile, is another unsurprising roster cut. Acquired in the much-maligned swap that sent Mark Trumbo to the Orioles this past offseason, he batted .221/.303/.309 in just 76 plate appearances and missed time with injury before ending his season on a team-issued suspension following some offensive tweets. While Mariners fans rightly cringe at the trade in retrospect, the deal was largely regarded as a salary dump at the time, and trade interest in Trumbo around the league was tepid, at best (hence the limited return).
As for Cook, the former Athletics standout has seen his career stall in recent years due largely to injuries, and 2016 brought more of the same. The Mariners announced in their press release that the 29-year-old had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 20, so he figures to be out for the entire 2017 season as well after only pitching a single inning with Seattle’s Rookie ball affiliate in 2016. Cook notched a 2.60 ERA and averaged better than a strikeout per inning in 190 1/3 frames over the first three seasons of his career in Oakland, but injuries have limited him to just 8 2/3 innings in the Majors since that time.
Baron, 25, was the 33rd overall pick in the 2009 draft but clearly hasn’t lived up to that draft billing. He’s gone hitless in his only 11 Major League plate appearances and has received very limited time in Triple-A, slashing .277/.316/.391 in 197 plate appearances. Overall, he’s a .234/.291/.341 hitter in 544 minor league games.
Rangers Claim Adrian Sampson From Mariners
The Rangers announced on Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Adrian Sampson off waivers from the Mariners. Sampson, who turned 25 in October, had elbow surgery this past June and is expected to open the 2017 season on an injury rehab program, per Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake. At the time of the operation, Sampson explained to the Tacoma News Tribune’s Bob Dutton that he didn’t require Tommy John surgery but still had a Grade 3 strain in his flexor bundle that required surgical repair.
Sampson, a Seattle native, will leave his hometown organization after spending only a year there. He was acquired by the Mariners in July 2015 in the trade that sent J.A. Happ to Pittsburgh and showed well in his Triple-A time with the M’s this year, tossing 80 1/3 innings of 3.25 ERA ball with 6.8 K/9 against 1.3 BB/9. The Mariners likely hoped to be able to sneak him through waivers due to his injury in order to keep him in the organization while freeing up a 40-man roster spot, but the Rangers snagged him off waivers and will now need to carry him on their own 40-man roster throughout the offseason or attempt to pass Sampson through waivers themselves.
Mets Outright Jim Henderson, Eric Campbell
Right-hander Jim Henderson and corner infielder Eric Campbell have been outrighted off the Mets’ 40-man roster after clearing waivers, according to ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin. Both players can elect minor league free agency in lieu of their subtraction from the roster and seem likely to do so.
Henderson, who recently turned 34, made the Mets’ roster out of Spring Training after signing a minor league contract last winter. The former Brewers closer once again demonstrated his ability to miss bats, averaging 10.3 K/9, but he also struggled tremendously with the long ball. Henderson was among the game’s most fly-ball prone pitchers, and while he didn’t see an inordinate percentage of the fly-balls he yielded turn into homers (13.2 percent), the sheer volume of balls put in the air against him resulted in an average of 1.8 HR/9. In total, Henderson delivered 35 innings of 4.37 ERA ball for the Mets but also missed significant time due to tendinitis in his right biceps.
The 29-year-old Campbell (30 in April) has spent his entire professional career in the Mets organization and has been up and down between the Majors and minors over the past three seasons. He showed some promise in 2014 when he batted a respectable .263/.322/.358 in 211 plate appearances with New York, but his offensive output has deteriorated in each of the two subsequent seasons. All told, he’s a career .221/.312/.311 hitter in 505 big league plate appearances. Campbell has experience at both third base and first base and has also made cameos in each outfield corner over the course of his limited time with the Mets. He’s a career .322/.429/.488 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons — albeit in a wildly hitter-friendly Las Vegas/Pacific Coast League environment — and should be able to compete for a bench role in 2017, whether on a new minors pact with the Mets or with a new organization.
Tigers Sell Contract Of Dean Green To Japan’s Yakult Swallows
The Tigers announced today that the contract of first baseman/DH Dean Green has been sold to the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Presumably, Green has negotiated a salary with his new organization for the 2017 season.
Green, 27, is a former 11th-round draft pick who has played in the upper minors in Detroit’s system over the last several seasons. He has not yet reached the majors, and would again have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft had he not been moved to Japan. In all likelihood, though, his major league prospects weren’t great. He has spent most of his time in the minors serving as a DH, and has never played any position in the field other than first base.
Still, there’s a lot to like about Green’s bat. He mashed at Double-A (as he had over the prior two seasons) and kept things up following a call-up to Triple-A last year, posting a cumulative .296/.356/.500 batting line with 23 home runs over 534 plate appearances.
Giants, Josh Johnson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Giants and right-hander Josh Johnson are in agreement on a minor league contract, per the MiLB Roster Tracker account on Twitter (MLBTR has confirmed the move). Set to turn 33 in January, Johnson hasn’t appeared in a Major League game since the 2013 season due a cavalcade of injury issues.
Most notably, Johnson underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2014 after signing a one-year, $8MM deal with the Padres the preceding offseason. Johnson re-upped with San Diego on a one-year deal worth about $1MM for the 2015 season, but his rehab was slowed by a nerve issue in his neck and recurring soreness in his elbow later that year. The 2015 season brought the third Tommy John surgery of Johnson’s career — a procedure from which he is now attempting to return.
While the odds are certainly stacked against Johnson, the allure is easy to see. When Johnson was healthy and at his best, he was a top-of-the-rotation talent, as evidenced by an NL-leading 2.30 ERA in 2011 and a collective 2.99 ERA in 644 1/3 innings from 2009-12 while anchoring the Marlins’ rotation. Injuries have routinely been a problem for Johnson throughout his professional career, though, and the right-hander’s last MLB action saw him post a 6.20 ERA through 81 1/3 innings in an injury-shortened season with the Blue Jays after being included in the Jose Reyes/Mark Buehrle blockbuster.
Johnson, obviously, is somewhat of a lottery ticket for the Giants and amounts to little more than a low-risk depth move. The team currently has a deep rotation mix including Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore as locks, with former ace Matt Cain and intriguing young lefty Ty Blach both serving as options in the No. 5 slot. The bullpen may be a better option for Johnson in his attempt to return from a three-year absence from a Major League field. The Giants have Hunter Strickland, Will Smith, Derek Law and George Kontos among those who will be penciled into the ‘pen next season.