Minor MLB Transactions: 12/4/15
It’s been a huge day for news, with Zack Greinke and John Lackey agreeing to terms with new teams and the Red Sox officially announcing their signing of David Price. Here are some smaller moves that might have fallen through the cracks.
- The Dodgers have announced that they’ve outrighted righty Brooks Brown, clearing a spot on their 40-man roster. They claimed the 30-year-old from the Rockies in October after he pitched parts of two seasons in the Colorado bullpen, posting a 3.97 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 59 innings.
- The Dodgers are also expected to sign outfielder Donavan Tate, Baseball America’s John Manuel tweets. Tate, now 25, has struggled to establish himself since the Padres drafted him with the third overall pick in 2009. In 2015, he hit .211/.290/.334 for Class A+ Lake Elsinore.
- The Yankees have signed infielder Pete Kozma to a minor league deal, Anthony McCarron of New York Daily News writes. Kozma was the Cardinals’ starting shortstop in 2013, but he failed to establish himself at the position and now has a career .222/.288/.293 line in parts of five big-league seasons. He has just three extra-base hits, all doubles, in his last two seasons, spanning 137 plate appearances. He is, however, solid in the field.
- The Twins have announced that they’ve signed lefty Aaron Thompson, catcher Juan Centeno and outfielder Joe Benson to minor league deals. Thompson pitched in 41 games for the Twins last season, posting a 5.01 ERA, 4.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 out of the bullpen. Centeno, a longtime Mets farmhand, served as a depth catcher in the Brewers system in 2015, batting .295/.312/.364 while backing up Nevin Ashley at Triple-A Colorado Springs. The 27-year-old Benson, a Twins second-round pick in 2006, hit .248/.351/.361 last season while playing in the Mets and Braves systems.
- The Royals have signed shortstop Orlando Calixte to a minor league deal, tweets MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. The Royals non-tendered Calixte earlier this week after the 23-year-old batted .229/.287/.339 for Triple-A Omaha.
- The Royals have also signed outfielder Cody Decker to a minor league deal, Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan tweets. The 28-year-old Decker hit .252/.335/.488 for Triple-A El Paso in the Padres’ system in 2015.
- Righty Paul Clemens has signed a minor league deal with the Marlins that includes a Spring Training invite, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Clemens struggled in parts of two seasons pitching for the Astros in 2013 and 2014, then carried those struggles over to the minors in the Phillies and Royals systems 2015. He should provide the Marlins with minor league depth.
Braves Sign Gordon Beckham
The Braves have announced that they’ve signed longtime White Sox infielder Gordon Beckham to a one-year deal. The Relativity Sports client will receive $1.25MM, with the possibility of an additional $500K worth of incentives.
Despite having been in the league for seven seasons, Beckham is still just 29 years of age. He’s coming off a disappointing season in Chicago that saw him bat a career-worst .209/.275/.332 in 237 plate appearances, though defensive metrics did praise his work at both second base and third base last season. Beckham carries a good bit of experience at both positions and is a lifetime .242/.304/.372 hitter that has averaged 13 homers per 162 games.
While he hasn’t lived up to the expectations many carried when he was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2008 draft, Beckham will provide the Braves with an option at either second base or third base, both of which are positions of need in Atlanta. While Jace Peterson had a solid three-month run at second base in 2015, he wilted considerably from July through season’s end, hitting just .212/.281/.297 over his final 80 games/299 plate appearances. Some pegged Peterson as a utility player more than a starter when he was coming through the Padres’ system, and Beckham at least gives Atlanta a platoon partner for Peterson, who hit a dreadful .190/.234/.276 versus lefties in 2015.
At third base, Hector Olivera was believed to be a possible long-term option, but the Braves have recently transitioned him to the outfield, so there’s an opening at the hot corner as well. While Beckham probably won’t be counted on as an everyday option there, he does provide some experience at the position and give the Braves an element of depth.
Beckham’s signing could mean that infielder Pedro Ciriaco isn’t long for the Braves’ 40-man roster. The deadline to tender arbitration-eligible players a contract is tonight, and with Beckham and Adonis Garcia both serving as fellow right-handed options, the Braves could jettison the well-traveled Ciriaco.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the signing and the dollar amount (via Twitter). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was the first to tweet the incentive structure of the deal.
Red Sox Designate Garin Cecchini
The Red Sox have announced that they’ve designated corner infielder and outfielder Garin Cecchini for assignment. The move clears space on their roster for David Price.
Following a 2013 season in which he hit .322/.433/.471 between Class A+ Salem and Double-A Portland, Cecchini was regarded as a top prospect — prior to the 2014 season, Baseball America rated him the 74th best prospect in the game. Since then, though, the 24-year-old’s stock has slipped, as he struggled to establish himself at Triple-A Pawtucket. This season, he batted .213/.286/.296 there (while playing mostly left field, although he also appeared in 42 games at the infield corners) and went 0-for-4 in two games in the big leagues. He is, however, still young enough that other clubs could find him to be an attractive option as a waiver claim.
Red Sox Sign David Price
The Red Sox have announced that they’ve signed ace lefty David Price to a seven-year, $217MM contract. The Bo McKinnis client will sign the largest contract for a pitcher in history when the deal becomes official, narrowly eclipsing Clayton Kershaw‘s $215MM contract with the Dodgers. Price’s deal contains an opt-out after the third year. He will receive $30MM in each season from 2016-18, $31MM in 2019 and $32MM per year from 2020-22. As FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets, Price’s $31MM average annual value ties Miguel Cabrera for the richest AAV in Major League history. Price will not receive a no-trade clause.
Price, who turned 30 in August, is the consensus top free agent on this season’s market and gives the Red Sox the bona fide ace that many feel their rotation needs to function as a serviceable unit. He’s coming off a second-place finish in the American League Cy Young voting (Houston’s Dallas Keuchel took home first-place honors) after tossing 220 1/3 innings of 2.45 ERA ball with 9.2 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and a 40.4 percent ground-ball rate between the Tigers and the Blue jays. That type of production has come to be expected of Price, who has averaged 217 innings and a 2.97 ERA per season dating back to the 2010 season.
The opt-out clause affords Price the chance to again test the open market heading into his age-33 season. It will be a challenge although not impossible, for Price to be able to secure more than the four years and $127MM that remain on his contract at the point at which he can opt out. For comparison, Price’s main competitor in free agency, Zack Greinke, opted out of the remaining three year on his $147MM contract to begin this offseason, but he did so entering his age-32 season (one year younger than Price will be after the 2018 campaign) and with $71MM remaining on his contract.
Price will immediately slot into the top spot in Boston’s rotation and be joined by some combination of Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Wade Miley, Rick Porcello, Joe Kelly and Henry Owens to round out the remainder of the starting five. His addition gives Boston a surplus of useful starting pitchers from which it could deal to address other needs throughout the roster, possibly in the bullpen or possibly for further starting pitching upgrades.
The move represents the second major transaction pulled off by new president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowksi this offseason. The former Tigers GM is more than familiar with Price, having acquired him from the Rays in a trade that cost him Austin Jackson, Drew Smyly and Willy Adames in July of 2014 and having traded him to the Blue Jays in exchange for young left-handers Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt this past July shortly before being dismissed in Detroit. In his first major order of business atop the Red Sox’ baseball operations hierarchy, Dombrowski spent extravagantly in a different manner, surrendering four prospects — Manuel Margot, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen — to acquire an elite closer from the Padres in the form of Craig Kimbrel.
Such transactions are the types we’ve come to expect from Dombrowski dating back to his Tigers days, but they represent a dramatic philosophical shift for the Red Sox, who previously shied away from long-term commitments of this nature and went to great lengths to build up their farm system under previous general manager Ben Cherington (who resigned after Dombrowski was hired). In order to make moves of this magnitude, Dombrowski likely had to sell ownership on a new direction for the club that aligned more closely with the strategies he employed while guiding the Tigers to a pair of American League pennants and three division titles from 2006-13. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the thus-far bold actions of Dombrowski, Red Sox GM Mike Hazen and the rest of the team’s decision-makers will lead to similar success in Boston.
The Price contract is a significant departure from the reported $144MM that the Tigers felt comfortable offering to Max Scherzer while under Dombrowski’s watch, although the Red Sox have a different long-term financial outlook — namely that they don’t have mega-contracts on the books for Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera, as Detroit did. The contract also shows how far ownership’s thinking has come since attempting to retain Jon Lester with a reported four-year, $70MM offer that was ultimately boosted into the $120MM range but never approached the $155MM that Lester received from the Cubs.
With Price and Jordan Zimmermann now off the market, Greinke and Johnny Cueto are the top remaining arms on the market. As the top-tier names begin to come off the board, the second tier of free agent starters — highlighted by names such as Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Wei-Yin Chen, Scott Kazmir and Yovani Gallardo — should come into play. Jason Heyward now stands as the top-ranked free agent from MLBTR’s Top 50 list, wherein we pegged Price to land exactly $217MM over a seven-year span (albeit from the incorrect team and without the inclusion of an opt-out clause, which does strengthen the deal’s overall value for Price).
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe initially reported that Price and the Red Sox were in agreement. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that Price would receive an opt-out after three years. Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported details of the contract’s structure.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Blue Jays Re-Sign Josh Thole
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve re-signed catcher Josh Thole to a one-year contract that will guarantee him $800K in 2015. Thole, a client of Excel Sports Management, had been non-tendered earlier this week and will make less than his previously projected arbitration arbitration price of $1.8MM.
Thole, 29, has batted just .212/.283/.258 across parts of three seasons with the Blue Jays but is highly experienced when it comes to catching R.A. Dickey‘s knuckleball. He’s a career .249/.319/.314 hitter between parts of seven seasons at the Major League level and will give the Blue Jays an option as a backup to Russell Martin, though the club may continue to search for further catching help.
Cubs Claim Lefty Edgar Olmos From Mariners
The Cubs have claimed left-handed reliever Edgar Olmos from the Mariners, the teams announced this afternoon. Olmos was designated for assignment earlier this week.
Olmos, 26 in April, logged 14 innings for the Mariners last season. He yielded seven runs but also walked eight batters against just four strikeouts in his limited Major League action. The lefty has bounced from the Marlins to the Rangers to the Mariners and now the Cubs since 2013 but throws hard for a lefty, having averaged 93.3 mph with his fastball in his 19 Major League frames. Olmos pitched to a 3.55 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 at Triple-A last year and has held opposing lefties to respective OPS marks of .628 and .619 in 2015 and 2014 (combined Major League and minor league numbers).
Braves Acquire Right-Hander Jose Ramirez From Mariners
The Braves have acquired right-handed reliever Jose Ramirez from the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later and/or cash considerations, per announcements from each club. By moving Ramirez, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto has now traded both players that were acquired by his predecessor, Jack Zduriencik, in the trade that sent Dustin Ackley to the Yankees. (Outfielder Ramon Flores was sent to Milwaukee in exchange for infielder Luis Sardinas.)
Ramirez, 25, is a hard-throwing reliever that is out of minor league options and will thus need to break camp with the Braves out of Spring Training or be exposed to outright waivers. He’s averaged 95.2 mph on his heater in limited Major League experience but yielded 17 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings as a big leaguer.
Ramirez’s strikeout rate began to climb in the minors when he was shifted from a starting role to the bullpen, and he’s displayed a penchant for missing bats since the transition. However, while he’s struck out 110 batters in 106 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level (mostly out of the bullpen), he’s also issued 61 walks and hit seven batters in that time, demonstrating some troublesome control problems. Former Fangraphs scribe Kiley McDaniel ranked Ramirez 23rd among Yankees farmhands heading into the 2015 season last year, noting that he’s hit 100 mph with his fastball and has, at times, displayed a 70-grade changeup, stating that he’s shown “relief phenom-level stuff” when at his best but has struggled greatly to stay on the field (albeit not due to arm struggles).
Nonetheless, he’ll give Atlanta another intriguing arm to add to its bullpen mix in Spring Training at what appears to be a low cost of acquisition.
White Sox Sign Dioner Navarro
The White Sox continued to reshape their catching corps on Friday, officially announcing the signing of veteran switch-hitter Dioner Navarro to a one-year, $4MM contract.
Chicago has now completed a total overhaul of its backstop situation this winter. The club signed Alex Avila to a one-year deal, non-tendered Tyler Flowers last night, and has now brought in Navarro to share time with his fellow free agent signee.
Navarro, a client of MDR Sports Management, served as the Blue Jays’ primary receiver in 2014 after signing a two-year deal. He put up a solid .274/.317/.395 slash with 12 home runs. But he lost his starting role last year when the Jays added Russell Martin. In his 192 turns at the plate in 2015, Navarro slashed .246/.307/.374, which was still good for an 88 OPS+.
On the defensive side of the ledger, Navarro was one of the league’s worst-rated pitch framers in 2014. But he’s generally rated more as a below-average framer than an awful one, and he returned to that status last year. More broadly, Defensive Runs Saved has pegged Navarro right at league average in terms of overall performance behind the plate.
It remains to be seen exactly how the South Siders will deploy this two-backstop unit, but presumably both were enticed to join the team by the promise of significant time. Avila, who hits from the left side, is much more productive against right-handed pitching, slashing .251/.348/.423 over his career with the platoon advantage. The opposite is true of Navarro, who has hit lefties to the tune of .270/.336/.439. GM Rick Hahn would surely be thrilled to get that kind of combined production from the position for a limited overall investment.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement (on Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
White Sox Re-Sign Jacob Turner
The White Sox announced on Friday that they have re-signed the recently non-tendered Jacob Turner to a one-year contract that will pay the right-hander $1.5MM.
It seems curious, at first glance, that Chicago declined to tender Turner a contract at yesterday’s deadline but then struck a deal with him today. Turner, after all, was projected to earn $1MM in arbitration this year, as it’s standard for players to receive an identical salary to the previous year after sitting out a season due to injury.
However, Turner’s situation was rather unique, as the former top prospect signed a Major League contract out of the draft (an outcome that is no longer possible under the since-revamped collective bargaining agreement). Turner’s big league deal out of the draft — he was selected ninth overall in 2009 — included a $4.7MM signing bonus, and an annualized portion of that sum has to be included when calculating his salary. As such, the White Sox and Turner have most likely split the difference between what he might’ve netted in arbitration and what the team would have filed.
The White Sox claimed Turner off waivers just over a month ago from the cross-town Cubs, who carried him for most of the season on the 60-day DL as Turner dealt with arm issues. Turner is out of minor league options and will have to stick on the club’s 40-man roster this spring or be exposed to outright waivers, but the Sox will hope that he can maintain better health in 2016 and realize some of the potential that once made Turner such a highly touted arm.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported the agreement (on Twitter).
Tigers, Mike Pelfrey Agree To Two-Year Deal
10:15am: Sherman tweets that the contract is a two-year, $16MM deal. MLB.com’s Jason Beck hears the same (Twitter link). Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Pelfrey’s physical is scheduled for today.
10:08am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears differently (Twitter link), as he’s been told the contract is a two-year deal.
9:15am: MLive.com’s James Schmehl reports that the contract is a one-year deal that will pay Pelfrey roughly $8MM. The deal is pending a physical.
9:08am: The Tigers are in agreement on a contract with free agent right-hander Mike Pelfrey, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Pelfrey is represented by agent Scott Boras.
Pelfrey, 32 in January, is coming off a three-year stretch with the Twins that saw him struggle in a return from Tommy John surgery in year one, battle further arm injuries in year two but bounce back to deliver solid, if unspectacular results in his final season in Minnesota. His 2015 campaign included 164 2/3 innings of 4.26 ERA ball with 4.7 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 51 percent ground-ball rate. Pelfrey’s addition figures to round out a Tigers rotation that will also include Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez and Daniel Norris.
While Pelfrey struggled throughout most of his time in Minnesota, the 2015 season saw his average fastball velocity climb back to 93.3 mph — its fastest mark since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012. Pelfrey’s ground-ball rate was also the highest it’s been since his TJ operation, and if he can maintain a mark north of 50 percent, that should play well with a strong defensive double-play tandem of Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler behind him in Detroit. (Of course, the corner infield situation — Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos — certainly leaves something to be desired, from a defensive standpoint.)
Tigers GM Al Avila recently indicated that Detroit would look to add another starter in addition to Zimmermann, who signed a five-year, $110MM contract, however a back-of-the-rotation arm was the implied likelihood. I speculated at the time that Pelfrey would fit the bill, given his 2015 results and the typically strong relationship between the Tigers and Boras.
Detroit could have elected to pursue more upside to fill out its rotation, but the team is still eyeing bullpen upgrades and already projected to have a roughly $152MM committed to just 11 players even before this signing. Pelfrey’s contract will push the payroll to about $160MM (plus another $6.5MM or so for league-minimum players), bringing the team within striking distance of last year’s record $172MM Opening Day payroll.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.