Dodgers To Sign Joe Blanton
The Dodgers have struck a one-year deal with righty Joe Blanton, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. He’ll earn a guaranteed $4MM in the agreement, per the report.
Blanton’s new deal includes some incentives as well, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds on Twitter. He stands to earn $250K bonuses at the fifty and sixty-inning threshold, and another $500K if he can make it to seventy.
The 35-year-old Blanton had long been a durable, back-of-the-rotation starter. But his career was at risk of stalling out after a string of rough seasons; indeed, it seemed at one point he might be retiring and he never pitched in the majors in 2014.
2015 proved a revelation for the veteran hurler, though, as he put up a sparkling campaign while working primarily from the pen for the first time in his career. He was good for the Royals and even better after being acquired off of the waiver wire by the Pirates. All told, Blanton spun 76 frames of 2.84 ERA pitching with 9.4 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 to go with a 48.6% groundball rate.
Los Angeles intends to utilize Blanton in the pen, of course, with Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times suggesting (Twitter link) that he may function as a long man. As Hernandez notes, it makes particular sense to have an effective, multi-inning righty given the large number of southpaws in the Dodgers’ rotation.
Pirates Claim A.J. Schugel
The Pirates have claimed righty A.J. Schugel off waivers from the Mariners, Pittsburgh announced. A corresponding move was not announced.
Schugel has found himself bouncing around the wire this winter. First, he was bumped from the Diamondbacks’ roster to make way for Zack Greinke. Seattle claimed him but set him loose to add Joe Wieland. And now he’s landed in Pittsburgh.
The 26-year-old threw 115 1/3 innings of 4.84 ERA pitching with 6.2 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in his second attempt at Triple-A last year. He did earn his first brief call-up to the majors, though, and has more success in the lower levels of the minors in prior seasons.
Marlins Sign Wei-Yin Chen
The Marlins have officially agreed to a deal with free agent lefty Wei-Yin Chen. He’ll reportedly receive a five-year, $80MM guarantee — just as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted before the offseason — but the deal negotiated between the Miami front office and the Boras Corporation is much more complicated than that.
First and foremost, while Chen won’t gain no-trade protection, the contract comes with an opt-out opportunity for the 30-year-old Chen after 2017. And he’ll receive just $28MM of the guaranteed money in the first two years of the deal ($8MM signing bonus, $6MM salary in 2016, and $14MM for 2017). That would mean the team could get two prime years of the southpaw at a very appealing rate if he opts out, though the backside of the deal could turn ugly if Chen falters. (It’s worth noting, too, that the club could pick up a draft pick via a qualifying offer in an opt-out scenario.)
In the event that Chen remains in Miami, he could pick up a vesting/player option for a sixth season by logging 180 innings in the prior campaign or 360 frames over the two preceding years. That’s a somewhat unusual provision. Presumably, Chen would gain the right to choose between a one-year guarantee or free agency if he hits the innings tally. That option could bring the deal’s total value to $96MM.
As Dierkes explained at length in the above-linked post, Chen earned that contract by posting a 3.44 ERA over 377 innings in the last two seasons. He rarely issues free passes, dominates lefties, and brings a strong low-to-mid-nineties fastball. It’s important to note, too, that Chen has missed only minimal time and has not had any reported arm issues.
Of course, there’s more to it than that, and there are some indications that the lefty may have benefited from some good fortune (including playing in front of a stellar defensive unit in Baltimore). He’s only carried a 3.91 SIERA since the start of 2014, isn’t a major strikeout or groundball pitcher, and has been susceptible to the long ball. And Chen hasn’t exactly chewed up innings; despite being ready almost every fifth day, he doesn’t tend to go deep into games.
With the move, Miami has significantly upgraded a rotation that long seemed in need of a quality arm. The team lost Henderson Alvarez to free agency after non-tendering him, and that left the club with some uncertainty behind ace Jose Fernandez. Chen will join Jarred Cosart and Tom Koehler as near-locks for the staff, with Edwin Jackson now joining in-house options such as Adam Conley, Brad Hand, David Phelps, Justin Nicolino, Jose Urena, and Kendry Flores. (Some of those names, of course, could well end up in the pen.)
As Chen turned down a qualifying offer at the start of the offseason, he’ll cost the Marlins their top non-protected pick, which will come in the second round. The club’s first selection, at seventh overall, is protected. The Orioles, meanwhile, will stand to pick up a compensation pick for losing Chen.
It’s easy to forget that the Marlins were viewed by many as a legitimate contender heading into the 2015 season. A lot has changed since then, certainly, but the team’s young core still features a lot of talent. And while Chen himself has faced his share of questions, there’s no denying that he upgrades the Miami staff.
Jon Heyman reported a deal was close on Twitter. Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweeted that a deal was in place. Miami’s ongoing negotiations were reported on Twitter by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the guaranteed money on Twitter. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter links), Heyman (links to Twitter), and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (links to Twitter) had other key contract provisions.
Yankees, Didi Gregorius Avoid Arbitration
While the majority of the 156 players that filed for salary arbitration last week have agreed to terms with their teams, either on a one-year deal for 2016 or on an extension, the cases of more than 30 players remain unresolved. You can track the status of each case using MLBTR’s 2016 Arbitration Tracker, and we’ll keep track of all of today’s smaller deals to avoid arbitration in this post (all referenced projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)…
- The Yankees and shortstop Didi Gregorius have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.425MM contract, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network (via Twitter). Gregorius, who qualified for Super Two status with two years, 159 days of big league service time, had been projected to receive a $2.1MM salary. He’ll clear that sum by a fair margin following a season that saw him produce a .265/.318/.370 batting line with nine home runs in his Yankees debut. Gregorius established new career-highs in virtually every category while also contributing strong defense. Though his Yankees career got off to a slow start when he slashed .221/.283/.297 through the end of May, Gregorius recovered with a solid .282/.332/.397 batting line across the season’s final four months. He’s controllable through the 2019 season via the arbitration process.
Shaun Marcum Retires, Joins College Coaching Staff
Former Major League right-hander Shaun Marcum has joined the coaching staff at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, the school previously announced. The move effectively brings to a close the playing career of Marcum, who expressed excitement about the opportunity to begin sharing his knowledge with a younger generation.
“I played long enough and now I feel like it’s time for me to see if I can help these kids reach their goals of playing professionally and winning a National Championship,” Marcum said at the time of the announcement. “Getting to be on Coach [Sam] Carel’s staff was something I couldn’t pass up. I’m really excited and looking forward to being a part of the NWOSU baseball program.” Carel, a former college teammate of Marcum from the pair’s days at Missouri State University, added: “Shaun’s playing experience at the Major League level speaks for itself, and his knowledge will help this program continue to advance the process forward. Personally, I am just as excited to have an individual who I shared a dugout with at Missouri State University, and who I would consider to be one of the best collegiate competitors I had ever seen come out of a Keith Guttin program. Shaun’s tenacity has always been non-negotiable, and that tenacity will perpetuate itself throughout our club immediately. This program got better today.”
The upcoming season will be Marcum’s first full year of coaching, as he spent much of the 2015 campaign with the Indians organization, splitting the year between Triple-A and the Majors. While Marcum logged a 5.40 ERA in 35 Major League innings last year, he worked to a 3.26 ERA in 88 1/3 minor league innings in his final professional season. Though he struggled in his final Major League stint, Marcum’s career will come to a close with very solid numbers: a 61-48 record, a 3.93 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 38.2 percent ground-ball rate across 1030 Major League innings spent with the Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets and Indians.
Marcum’s career numbers are solid, to be sure, though injuries certainly slowed his production. His 2007 season ended with surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee and would undergo Tommy John surgery a year later at the end of the ’08 campaign, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2009 season. Further elbow issues, a pinched nerve in his neck and, lastly, thoracic outlet syndrome cost Marcum significant time later in his career. While those injuries limited his ability to take the field, the former third-round pick nonetheless amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience from the time he was drafted in 2003 through his playing career’s end in 2015 — and the players he coaches now stand to benefit from those experiences. We at MLBTR wish Marcum the best of luck in the next phase of his baseball career.
Royals Sign Lorenzo Cain To Two-Year Deal
The Royals announced on Monday that they have reached a two-year contract with All-Star center fielder Lorenzo Cain that will buy out his final two seasons of arbitration eligibility for a $17.5MM guarantee. Cain, a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management, will is set to earn $6.5MM for the coming season and $11MM in 2017, per reports.
Cain had projected to earn $6.1MM. On Friday, he filed at $7.85MM with the team countering at $5MM, per Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The resulting $6.42MM midpoint would represent nearly a $4MM raise over Cain’s 2.725MM salary last year.
As Yahoo’s Jeff Passan noted on Twitter, the potential for another significant arbitration raise — perhaps by referencing free agent comparables after another big season — might explain why Kansas City was willing to lock in at such a high rate. Certainly, we’ve seen this deal format before; the Nationals, for instance, bought out the last two years of both Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann prior to the 2014 season.
Cain put up a stellar campaign last year, his age-29 season, to follow up on and exceed a solid 2014 effort. Put together, he’s racked up a .304/.351/.447 slash line with 21 home runs and 56 stolen bases over 1,106 plate appearances dating back to 2014, and his outstanding production in 2015 led to a third-place finish in the American League MVP voting. With top-quality defense and overall baserunning contributions factored in, it’s hard not to label Cain one of the game’s most productive position players.
Of course, as Passan notes in another tweet, Kansas City wasn’t willing to reach the kind of long-term deal that would have kept Cain around beyond 2017. Given his relatively advanced age, and the signing of Alex Gordon, the six-year pact that Cain reportedly sought probably entailed too much risk. It’s hardly preordained that Cain will be gone after the conclusion of this contract, but — much as in the cases of Desmond and Zimmermann — there’s a sense that the most realistic window for a deal has already closed.
Passan first reported a deal was close (via Twitter) and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reported that there was an agreement in place (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/18/16
Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the latest minor moves from around the game. Among those that have not previously appeared at MLBTR:
- Lefty Andy Oliver is headed back to the Orioles, per Eddy. The 28-year-old made some brief MLB appearances years ago, when he was a starter in the Tigers’ organization, but spent last year at Triple-A for the O’s. He posted a 3.79 ERA over 57 Triple-A innings, with 10.4 K/9 against 6.3 BB/9.
- The Royals have once again united with outfielder Mitch Maier. Originally taken 30th overall back in 2003, Maier is now 33 years old and hasn’t seen the majors since 2012. It’s not immediately clear what his role will be, as he spent last year transitioning into a coaching role with the organization — though he acknowledged at the time that he still had a desire to play.
- Outfielder Corey Brown is headed to the Dodgers on a minors deal, Eddy adds. The 30-year-old has seen only minimal major league time over the years, but certainly qualifies as another outfield depth piece for Los Angeles. He put up a .248/.324/.445 slash with 17 long balls over 472 Triple-A plate appearances last year in the Rays organization.
- The Blue Jays added southpaw Daniel Schlereth on a minor league pact. It’s been a while since Schlereth, 29, cracked the bigs — 2012, with Detroit — and he was released by the Cubs last year after a brief stint in the organization. Schlereth was the 26th overall pick in the 2008 draft.
Rangers Announce Colby Lewis Signing
The Rangers have announced the signing of righty Colby Lewis to a one-year deal. He reportedly agreed to terms for a guaranteed $6MM back in mid-December, but the sides took their time completing a physical and finalizing the arrangement.
The 36-year-old Lewis has been with Texas since the 2010 campaign, when he came back to the majors after a strong two-year run in Japan. While he only managed a 4.66 ERA last year, he contributed better than 200 frames.
Despite an absence of strikeouts and grounders in Lewis’s game, there are some positives. He still carried an 11.6% K%-BB% that lands just below league average. And, as Eno Sarris of Fangraphs has explored, it seems Lewis may have figured out a way to generate results by managing contact.
The Rangers won’t be expecting a world-beating effort from Lewis, anyway, so much as continued durability and a solid, veteran presence. Texas’s staff has certainly settled down quite a bit after an injury-riddled recent past, but still carries sufficient uncertainty to make such an investment a clear need entering the winter.
Marlins Extend Dee Gordon
The Marlins have officially announced the extension of second baseman Dee Gordon, meaning he’ll join the organization’s stable of talented, young players under team control for the foreseeable future. The reigning National League batting champion, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, will receive five guaranteed years in a deal that comes with a sixth-year vesting option, per the announcement.
Gordon will take home a $50MM guarantee for his age 28 through 32 seasons, according to reports. That includes a $1.5MM signing bonus and yearly salaries of $3MM (2016), $7.5MM (2017), $10.5MM (2018), $13MM (2019) and $13.5MM (2020). Also, the sixth-year option contains a $1MM buyout. If it is triggered — by Gordon reaching 600 plate appearances in the prior season or 1,200 total over the preceding two years — then he’d stand to earn $14MM in 2021 to bring the total value of the contract to $63MM. The contract doesn’t contain a no-trade clause, although the Marlins generally don’t include such provisions as a general club policy.
A former fourth-round pick of the Dodgers, Gordon rated as one of the game’s brightest prospects from 2010-11 but didn’t establish himself early on and soon dropped off of those same prospect rankings. After struggling greatly at the Major League level in both 2012 and 2013, Gordon cemented himself as a regular in 2014 at the age of 26, batting .289/.326/.378 and leading the National League in both triples (12) and stolen bases (64).
That breakout was enough to pique the Marlins’ trade interest, and Miami parted with highly touted left-handed pitching prospect Andrew Heaney as well as versatile utility man Enrique Hernandez, right-hander Chris Hatcher and catching prospect Austin Barnes to land Gordon, fellow infielder Miguel Rojas and Dan Haren from Los Angeles in a 2014 Winter Meetings blockbuster.
Gordon’s first season with Miami went better than perhaps anyone could have expected, as he captured the National League batting crown and posted an outstanding .333/.359/.418 batting line with four homers, 58 stolen bases and markedly improved defensive contributions according to metrics such as Defensive Runs Saved (+13) and Ultimate Zone Rating (+6.4). Gordon made his second consecutive All-Star team in 2015 and also earned his first Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards in recognition of his brilliant season. Fangraphs rated his overall contributions at 4.6 wins above replacement and Baseball-Reference rated him at 4.9 WAR.
With this extension, the Marlins will buy out Gordon’s three remaining arbitration seasons as well as two free-agent years, with a vesting option that can extend the deal into what would have been his third free-agent year. That, perhaps, served as a compromise between the two sides, as the Marlins had reportedly been interested in a five-year term, whereas Gordon’s camp was said to be eyeing a seven-year deal. If the option is ultimately triggered, this contract will cover Gordon’s age-27 through age-32 seasons, allowing him to once again hit the open market at the age of 33.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had pegged Gordon for a $5.9MM salary in 2016 — one year after he had earned $2.5MM as a Super Two player. Gordon would’ve been eligible for arbitration two more times after this season, so it’s probably reasonable to expect that his remaining three arbitration seasons could have been worth anywhere from $25-27MM. That would suggest a value somewhere in the range of about $12MM or so on each of his two free-agent seasons, with the third coming at a slightly higher price, dependent on Gordon’s own performance. While Gordon would certainly receive a larger annual sum were he on the open market this winter, concessions are always necessary on the player side of the equation in order to receive guarantees of this nature so far in advance.
The Marlins were well-positioned to add another long-term commitment to their ledgers. Giancarlo Stanton‘s behemoth $325MM contract is, of course, the largest obligation on the books, but beyond that, Christian Yelich and the just-signed Wei-Yin Chen possess the only guaranteed contracts extending beyond the 2016 season.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the signing (Twitter link). Jon Heyman reported important financial details in a series of tweets: 1; 2; 3; 4.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/17/16
We’ll track the day’s minor moves right here:
- The Cubs have re-signed infielder Logan Watkins on a minor league pact, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports on Twitter. He missed the 2015 campaign with an Achilles injury, but appears to be back to full heath now, per the report. Watkins, 26, saw brief duty in the majors over 2013-14. He spent most of his time in those years at Triple-A, putting up a cumulative .249/.330/.372 slash over 840 plate appearances while contributing 33 stolen bases.