Athletics To Sign Cody Ross
The Athletics will sign outfielder Cody Ross once he officially clears release waivers tomorrow, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Oakland will be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum in terms of Ross’ salary, while the D-Backs, who released him this weekend, will be on the hook for the remainder of his $8.5MM salary and $1MM option buyout.
Last night, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the A’s were on the hunt for veteran outfielders in the wake of surgery that will sideline Coco Crisp for up to two months, and Oakland clearly acted quickly upon that interest, reaching an agreement with Ross’ agents at Relativity Baseball.
Ross, 34, signed a three-year, $26MM contract with the D-Backs in the 2012-13 offseason that proved to be a bust, due largely to injuries. A .267/.326/.481 batting line and 22 homers with the 2012 Red Sox earned him that sizable deal, but Ross batted just .268/.322/.378 in 177 games (570 plate appearances) over the past two years in Arizona. Calf injuries and hip surgery limited his ability to stay on the field, and the presence of A.J. Pollock, David Peralta, Ender Inciarte, Mark Trumbo and Yasmany Tomas in the D-Backs organization left Ross without a spot on the roster.
Oakland figures to deploy Ross primarily in left field, as a platoon of Craig Gentry and Sam Fuld will handle center field, and Josh Reddick will be the primary right fielder once he is activated from the disabled list. Speedster Billy Burns and Rule 5 pick Mark Canha seem to be the likeliest candidates to be squeezed out of playing time, but the A’s regularly rotate a mix of players throughout various positions on the diamond, with many players serving in more of a part-time role than in true full-time capacities.
Ross is particularly effective against left-handed pitching, having authored a .294/.360/.557 batting line when holding the platoon advantage over the duration of his 11-year Major League career. From a defensive standpoint, he’s experienced at all three positions, but he hasn’t seen significant time in center field since 2010. He’s graded out as a plus corner outfielder in his career, per Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating, though his marks in the eyes of those metrics have been skewed by the aforementioned injuries to his lower half in recent years.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Indians, Carlos Carrasco Agree To Extension
The Indians have announced yet another extension, this one with righty Carlos Carrasco. The contract guarantees him $22MM over the next four years and includes two club options.
Carrasco will earn $4.5MM next year, $6.5MM in 2017, and $8MM in 2018. The option years are for $9MM and $9.5MM, respectively, and can each be escalated by $4MM based on top-ten Cy Young finishes, bringing the total max value of the contract to $48MM. Those options come with $662.5K in total buyouts. Carrasco was already set to earn $2.337MM in his first of three arbitration years, which the new deal leaves in place — meaning that Carrasco nets just under $20MM in new money.
Carrasco, who just recently celebrated his 28th birthday, posted a 5.29 ERA over his first four seasons (238 1/3 IP) with the Tribe and struggled last April, losing his starting job and even getting designated for assignment last summer. However, he started to turn things around after a stint in the bullpen. As a reliever, he posted a 2.30 ERA with 43 relief innings.
When Carrasco came back to the starting five, he closed out 2014 and in a small sample size of ten games he looked like an absolute superstar. During that span, the hurler posted a 1.30 ERA and 78 strikeouts (against just 11 walks) over 69 innings.
Carrasco, an ACES client, now has financial security going forward despite a rocky career which included a lost 2012 season thanks to Tommy John surgery. Now, with Carrasco and Corey Kluber both under contract, the Indians could have a potent No. 1 and No. 2 locked in for years to come. The Cy Young winner’s deal looks different however as he’ll earn a reported $38.5MM across his guaranteed five seasons while Carrasco will get $22MM across his additional three years. Kluber receives additional years on his deal, but the difference in average annual value is a modest $400K.
Carrasco, in theory, could have rolled the dice with another solid season of pitching. Even though he could have secured a sizable arbitration raise and even more leverage in extension talks by building on his close to 2014, he understandably opted for security.
On Saturday night, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the two sides were discussing a deal. Rosenthal tweeted that the deal was done. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links) reported contract details, as did MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cubs Release Ryan Sweeney
TUESDAY: Chicago has announced that Sweeney has been released, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets.
SUNDAY: The Cubs have announced they have designated outfielder Ryan Sweeney for assignment. The Cubs also purchased the contract of infielder Jonathan Herrera; but, with the Sweeney DFA, their 40-man roster still has one opening.
The 30-year-old had a .251/.304/.338 slash last year in 226 plate appearances for Chicago. He had shown more promise in the 212 turns at bat he had the prior season, his first with the Cubs, when he slashed .266/.324/.448.
Astros Designate Alex White For Assignment
TUESDAY: White has been placed on outright waivers, Drellich reports.
SUNDAY: The Astros have designed right-hander Alex White for assignment, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. Between this move and designating Alex Presley for assignment earlier this week, Houston now has two 40-man roster spots for Roberto Hernandez and Joe Thatcher.
White was selected by the Indians as the 15th overall pick of the 2009 draft and was formerly a high-rated prospect, ranked as high as 47th in Baseball America’s preseason list of the top 100 prospects in the sport prior to the 2011 season. He has struggled over 149 Major League innings with Cleveland and Colorado in 2011-12, posting a career 6.03 ERA with 6.09 K/9, and 4.58 BB/9 and he also missed all of the 2013 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
White and Presley are two of the four players currently in “DFA limbo” according to the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker. The two Astros join the Yankees’ Austin Romine and the Tigers’ Chad Smith in awaiting their next assignment.
Blue Jays Release Juan Oramas
TUESDAY: Toronto has released Oramas, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The club says it did so to allow him to pitch in Mexico, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets.
SUNDAY: The Blue Jays have announced they have designated left-hander Juan Oramas. Toronto also placed Marcus Stroman on the 60-day disabled list, which creates the needed roster spots for second baseman Devon Travis and right-handers Miguel Castro and Roberto Osuna.
Oramas only got 1 1/3 spring innings to show his stuff to the Jays after being claimed over the winter. The 24-year-old owns a 4.32 ERA over 204 career Triple-A innings, averaging 8.2 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9. He has yet to crack the big leagues.
Astros Place Alex Presley On Outright Waivers
APRIL 7: Houston is seeking outright waivers on Presley, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets. That means that a trade could not be arranged, leaving Presley open for the taking by any club willing to absorb his contract.
If Presley is not claimed, he would likely remain within the Houston organization as Triple-A depth. Though he could elect free agency because he is a Super Two player, Drellich tweets, that would mean giving up his guaranteed salary.
APRIL 1: The Astros have designated outfielder Alex Presley for assignment, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports on Twitter. While the club would like to keep him, they may attempt to work out a trade, McTaggart tweets.
Presley saw 271 plate appearances with Houston last year after being claimed off waivers. He slashed just .244/.281/.346 with six home runs and five steals. Playing mostly in the corner outfield, Presley was unable to stay above the replacement line. His work at the plate showed more of the same this spring.
Presley should draw interest from teams looking for some versatility. He is out of options, of course, meaning that a team would have to give him an active roster spot in claiming him. Presley also comes with a $1MM salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility (as a Super Two).
Rangers Sign Wandy Rodriguez To Minor League Deal
9:04pm: Rodriguez will earn the pro-rated portion of the league minimum upon promotion to the Majors, but his contract also contains up to $1.8MM worth of incentives for games started, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
7:01pm: The Rangers announced that they’ve signed left-hander Wandy Rodriguez to a Minor League contract. The veteran southpaw will be assigned to Triple-A to begin his Rangers career.
Rodriguez, 36, made a name for himself in the Astros rotation beginning in 2008, and from that season through 2013, he worked to a combined 3.48 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 997 1/3 innings between Houston and Pittsburgh. He was in the mix for a rotation spot with the Braves in March but wasn’t able to lock down a spot despite enjoying an excellent spring. In 23 innings this spring, Rodriguez notched a 3.13 ERA (eight earned runs) on 22 hits and eight walks with 23 strikeouts.
The Rangers’ pitching woes have been well documented, with the most notable blow coming earlier this spring when they learned that ace Yu Darvish required Tommy John surgery. Additionally, former rotation cornerstone Matt Harrison‘s career is in jeopardy after a series of back injuries, and lefty Derek Holland missed much of the 2014 season due to knee troubles. The Rangers are currently relying on a rotation of Yovani Gallardo, Holland, Colby Lewis, Ross Detwiler and Nick Martinez — a questionable group whose ranks could eventually be cracked by a healthy Rodriguez.
Red Sox Sign Rick Porcello To Four-Year Extension
The Red Sox announced that they’ve signed right-hander Rick Porcello to a four-year contract extension that covers the 2016-19 seasons. Porcello, a client of Excel Sports Management’s Jim Murray, will reportedly receive $82.5MM over the four-year term of the contract. He’ll first receive a $500K signing bonus before earning $20MM in 2016 and 2017 then $21MM in 2018 and 2019. Porcello was already slated to earn $12.5MM this season after avoiding arbitration this winter, and that salary remains intact.
For the 26-year-old Porcello, there’s certainly risk involved in taking a long-term deal at this juncture, as he was set to hit the open market just six months from now at the age of 27. However, while he’d have had a chance at a lengthier deal, the $20MM+ annual salary is likely one that few would have foreseen a year ago, when the former first-round pick entered the season with a career 4.51 ERA and a career-high of 182 innings.
Last year’s excellent performance turned Porcello’s fortunes, however, as he worked to a career-best 3.43 ERA in a new career-high 204 2/3 innings. Porcello averaged 5.7 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and posted a 49 percent ground-ball rate in 2014 — a significant step forward for a pitcher that many have believed to have untapped potential prior to last year’s breakout. Porcello will surrender his first four free agent seasons by signing this deal — and perhaps the ability to lock in a $100MM+ contract next offseason — but he’ll retain the right to hit the open market again at the age of 30, setting him up for another significant contract. Beyond that, however, is the fact that Porcello seems genuinely excited to be a member of the Red Sox. In a Players Tribune article that he penned himself, Porcello explains that the dedication to winning he’s seen since the day he joined the Red Sox played a major role in his decision to sign a long-term deal now, thereby forfeiting the exceptionally rare opportunity to be a 27-year-old free agent starting pitcher.
While the Red Sox will certainly hope the early stages of his contract go better than this comparison, the contract isn’t entirely dissimilar, philosophically, from the one signed by Homer Bailey a year ago. Cincinnati paid what most considered to be market value for Bailey, tacking five years and $95MM on top his final arbitration year, despite relatively underwhelming career statistics. The hope in that contract, as is the case with this deal, is that recent steps forward will be sustainable, if not a portent for even further development.
From the Red Sox’ perspective, the deal provides them with additional certainty in their rotation in the long-term. They’ll now have Porcello under control through 2019, Wade Miley and Joe Kelly under team control through 2018, and Clay Buchholz under team control through the 2017 season. It’s also another example of the Red Sox’ preference to avoid investing in pitchers in their 30s and their preference to limit the length of long-term contracts (in this case, likely at the expense of a higher average annual value).
That last item is probably the key to this deal. There will undoubtedly be detractors who focus on the contract’s average annual value as opposed to limiting the risk by minimizing the years and investing in prime seasons rather than potential decline years. It’s certainly possible that the contract will look poor at some point over the life of the deal, but it’s roughly the same figure for which James Shields signed, and Porcello is seven years Shields’ junior. And while Porcello clearly lacks the type of track record that Shields and other veteran free agents will typically sign for, such contracts typically begin at the time Porcello’s current deal will end. It wouldn’t be a surprise for a prime-aged Porcello to outperform an aging veteran that might be more typically expected to sign this size contract, and Boston certainly seems to be of the belief that betting on those prime years, particularly in terms of starting pitchers, is a better route than paying premium prices for potential decline years.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported the financial details of the contract (Twitter links). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the limited no-trade clause (also on Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mets Retract Outright Of Cesar Puello
APRIL 6: The Mets have retracted Puello’s outright and placed him on the Major League disabled list, reports Rubin (Twitter links). Puello contested the outright assignment, stating that he was injured, and he does indeed have a stress fracture in his back. Puello will gain Major League service time and is on the team’s 40-man roster. Josh Edgin has been transferred to the 60-day DL to clear room, tweets The Record’s Matt Ehalt.
APRIL 3: Puello has cleared waivers, Rubin tweets.
APRIL 1: The Mets have placed young outfielder Cesar Puello on outright waivers, ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Out of options and a roster spot, Puello has long seemed destined to be headed either to another organization or off of the Mets’ 40-man.
Puello hits the wire on his 24th birthday. He reached Triple-A last year, slashing .252/.355/.393 in 371 plate appearances with seven home runs and 13 stolen bases. Though primarily a corner outfielder, Puello has seen at least some time in center in the minors.
Presumably, the Mets would have worked out a deal if Puello was in high demand, but his low power output in the hitter-friendly environs of Las Vegas — combined with a .265 spring slugging percentage — may have eliminated any serious interest. Of course, Puello has shown some promise in the past and could at least be a credible fourth outfielder, so he figures to draw interest. The question is whether any team will be interested in adding him to their 40-man roster, which would require an Opening Day roster spot at this juncture.
Mike Carp Elects Free Agency
First baseman/outfielder Mike Carp declined his minor league assignment with the Nationals and elected free agency, James Wagner of the Washington Post reports on Twitter.
The 28-year-old lost a spring battle for a left-handed-hitting bench role to Clint Robinson, who enjoyed a big spring. Carp had underwhelming numbers in Grapefruit League action, meanwhile, following a 2014 season in which he slashed just .175/.289/.230 in 149 plate appearances.
Of course, it was not long ago that Carp looked like a rather useful player. In 2013, with the Red Sox, he took 243 turns at bat and his .296/.362/.523 with nine home runs. Combined with a productive 2011 campaign in Seattle, sandwiched around a less useful campaign, Carp was expected to play an important role in Boston’s championship defense.