Braves Acquire Trevor Cahill
The Braves have acquired right-hander Trevor Cahill and cash considerations from the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league outfielder Josh Elander. Both teams have officially announced the trade. The D’Backs will send roughly $6.5MM to Atlanta to help cover Cahill’s $12MM salary for 2015, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports (Twitter link).
Cahill brings the Braves some veteran stability to the pitching staff, as the righty looks to slot into the fourth rotation spot behind Julio Teheran, Alex Wood and Shelby Miller. Eric Stults, Wandy Rodriguez and Mike Foltynewicz are in competition for the fifth spot, as the club was reportedly concerned about the possibility of using southpaws Stults and Rodriguez in consecutive order at the back of the rotation. Mike Minor is expected to eventually be the fifth starter, though he’ll begin the season on the DL with shoulder problems.
Atlanta potentially has two more years of control over Cahill, as the Braves hold a $13MM club option on his services for 2016 (with a $300K buyout) and a $13.5MM club option for 2017 ($500K buyout). Cahill is looking to rebound from a rough 2014 season that saw him lose his rotation job for a large chunk of the year en route to posting a 5.61 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 1.91 K/BB rate over 110 2/3 innings. It’s fair to place part of the blame on poor luck, as opposing batters had a .350 BABIP against Cahill and his advanced metrics (3.89 FIP, 3.83 xFIP, 3.96 SIERA) were much more solid.
Prior to last year and an injury-plagued 2013, Cahill emerged on the scene as a promising young arm, averaging a 3.87 ERA and 196 innings per season from 2009-12 with the A’s and D’Backs. He also has a career 54.6% ground ball rate, so Cahill will undoubtedly be thrilled to have Andrelton Simmons behind him in the infield.
Between trading Cahill and Miguel Montero this offseason, the Diamondbacks have cleared $45.5MM of future commitments off their books, including $17.5MM for 2015 alone. That’s not a bad figure for a semi-rebuilding club, as it also opens up a spot in the rotation for top prospect Archie Bradley (as per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic), who has been impressive this spring.
Elander, 24, was Atlanta’s sixth-round pick in the 2012 amateur draft. The TCU product has a .275/.356/.435 slash line and 21 homers over 870 minor league plate appearances, none above the high-A level. The 2014 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Elander as the 13th-best prospect in the Braves’ system prior to last season, praising his solid adjustment from catcher to the outfield and noting his “quick hands, and a compact right-handed with good bat speed.” An injury-plagued 2014 season, however, dropped Elander’s prospect stock.
Nick Piecoro was first reported that the trade was official, also reporting earlier today that the D’Backs were shopping Cahill, the Braves’ interest and that Elander was involved. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported earlier tonight that a trade was “on the verge” of happening, while MLB.com’s Mark Bowman noted that the Braves still needed to review Cahill’s medicals before making anything official.
Photo courtesy of Brad Mills/USA Today Sports Images
Minor Moves: Axelrod, Oliver, Blackley, Ledezma
Here are today’s minor transactions from around baseball, with the latest moves at the top of the post…
- The Reds outrighted right-hander Dylan Axelrod off their 40-man roster and down to Triple-A, according to the team’s official transactions page. This move will help free up space for one of the several veterans Cincinnati is looking to add to its 40-man roster. Axelrod posted a 2.95 ERA in 18 1/3 IP for the Reds last season and a 4.01 ERA in 103 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level in the Reds and White Sox organizations.
- The Phillies have put Rule 5 Draft pick Andy Oliver on waivers, CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury reports. If Oliver clears waivers, Salisbury notes that the Phils could try to fully obtain the lefty’s rights from the Pirates in a trade. As a Rule 5 Draft player, Oliver must spend the entire season on a 25-man roster or else be offered back to his original club (Pittsburgh).
- The Giants seem to have released left-hander Travis Blackley, as per the southpaw’s own Twitter page. Blackley tweeted his thanks to the organization for giving him a chance to pitch this spring (on a minor league deal) and used the past tense in describing the Giants as “a very classy organization that I was proud to play for!” Blackley posted a 5.23 ERA over 192 2/3 innings spread over four MLB seasons between 2004-13 with the Mariners, Giants, A’s, Astros and Rangers, and he spent the 2014 campaign pitching in Japan.
- The Twins have released left-hander Wil Ledezma, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports (via Twitter). Ledezma, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Twins in December and was looking to reach the big leagues for the first time since 2011.
- The White Sox released outfielder Brian Anderson, CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes reports (via Twitter). The Sox also parted ways with two more veterans according to their team transactions page, releasing right-hander J.D. Martin and infielder Andy LaRoche.
Mariners Sign Joe Beimel
The Mariners have signed left-hander Joe Beimel to a minor league contract, the team announced. Beimel unofficially announced the deal himself via his Instagram page earlier tonight, with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times confirming that the deal would be finalized when Beimel passed a physical.
Beimel posted a strong 2.20 ERA in 45 relief innings for Seattle in 2014, though his advanced metrics (4.18 FIP, 4.17 xFIP, 4.09 SIERA) paint a different picture of his effectiveness, as Beimel was aided by a .250 BABIP and a whopping 86.8% strand rate. Left-handed hitters managed only a .504 OPS against Beimel last season, indicating that the veteran can still contribute as a specialist out of the bullpen.
Beimel, who turns 38 on April 19, signed a one-year, non-guaranteed Major League deal with the Rangers in early March but was released just over two weeks later after being hit hard in brief spring action. Charlie Furbush and rookie Tyler Olson project to be Seattle’s two left-handed bullpen options on Opening Day.
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Thursday
With rosters being finalized around the league, it’s a busy time for players departing and ascending to the 40-man roster. Here’s the latest:
- The Twins announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Shane Robinson, who had been in camp on a Minor League deal. The 30-year-old Robinson had previously spent his entire career in the Cardinals organization and will presumably serve as the right-handed half of a center field platoon with Jordan Schafer. Minnesota entered Spring Training hoping that Aaron Hicks would show progress and win the center field job outright, but he struggled throughout the month and was optioned to Triple-A, paving the way for Robinson to make the roster. In parts of five seasons with St. Louis, Robinson is a .231/.303/.308 hitter in 452 plate appearances. He’s received strong marks at all three outfield spots, per UZR and DRS, and he hit .283/.340/.370 in Grapefruit League action this year.
Earlier Updates
- The Reds are set to add several veterans to their 40-man roster, as John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Veteran righties Kevin Gregg and Jason Marquis will be joined by reserves Brennan Boesch and Chris Dominguez on the Opening Day roster, and all will need a 40-man spot. That crunch already led the team to outright reliever Sam LeCure, and several other slots will need to be created before things are official.
- The Rockies have selected the contract of right-hander Rafael Betancourt, the team announced last night (on Twitter). Betancourt, who will turn 40 at the end of this month, has gone through a somewhat remarkable comeback, recovering from Tommy John surgery that he underwent as a 38-year-old to return to the 40-man roster. The former Rox closer has had an excellent spring, yielding just one run on eight hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings. He adds another arm with closing experience to what is looking like a fairly murky bullpen situation in Colorado. It’s worth mentioning that setup man Rex Brothers was optioned to Triple-A and won’t be a factor in the ‘pen in the season’s early stages.
Rangers Claim Rule 5 Pick Logan Verrett From Orioles
1:03pm: Rangers EVP of communications John Blake has announced the move (on Twitter), adding that outfielder Antoan Richardson has been placed on the 60-day DL to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Verrett.
12:58pm: The Rangers have claimed right-hander Logan Verrett off waivers from the Orioles, reports MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). Verrett, a 24-year-old right-hander, had been selected by the Orioles from the Mets organization in December’s Rule 5 Draft.
The Rangers will have to carry Verrett on their 25-man roster all season or expose him to waivers themselves. Should he clear waivers, he’d then have to be offered back to the Mets for $25K before the Rangers even had a hope of outrighting him to the Minor Leagues. Texas could also work out a trade with New York to retain Verrett’s rights and be able to option him to the Minors.
Verrett was a third-round pick of the Mets back in 2011 and reached the Triple-A level for the first time in 2014, where he pitched 162 innings to 4.33 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 over the life of 28 starts. This spring, he’s been excellent, allowing just three earned runs with a 12-to-2 K/BB ratio in 14 innings of work for Baltimore. It seems, however, that he was still unable to crack the Orioles’ bullpen.
Mets Extend Juan Lagares
After a largely quiet offseason, the Mets have sprung into action by acquiring a pair of left-handed relievers and now formally announcing a four-year extension with center fielder Juan Lagares. Lagares’ new contract reportedly calls for a $23MM guarantee. New York will also pick up a $9.5MM club option ($500K buyout) for an additional season.
Lagares, 26, is represented by ACES. The annual breakdown of the deal is as follows: $2.5MM in 2016, $4.5MM in 2017, $6.5MM in 2018 and $9MM in 2019. As that indicates, the contract does not kick in until meaning that New York has locked in salaries for all of Lagares’s arbitration years while picking up a club option over his first season of free agent eligibility. Lagares entered the offseason with 1.160 years of service, meaning he’d almost certainly have qualified for Super Two eligibility next year. All told, New York will stand to gain control over Lagares through his age-31 season.
Lagares established himself last year with an outstanding campaign in the field and solid effort at the plate. There is no doubt that his primary value comes with the glove: Lagares led all qualifying outfielders with 25.3 UZR/150, with Defensive Runs Saved and scouting reports concurring in his excellence.
Of course, Lagares had already showed that kind of capability in center. What last year did more than anything was show his capacity on the offensive side of the equation. Lagares slashed .281/.321/.382 over 452 plate appearances, an approximately league average line, while contributing four home runs and 13 stolen bases.
There may not be much upside left in the bat given his age, but the aggregate package has obvious appeal. Lagares was worth 4 fWAR and an even more impressive 5.5 rWAR last year, making him the type of well-above-average player that any team hopes to be able to lock in up the middle.
In terms of the payday, which is yet to be reported precisely, Lagares obviously had some reasonably anticipated caps on his earning capacity since his skillset is presently not valued highly in arbitration. The most obvious comp for this deal is the recent Adam Eaton extension — a five-year, $23.5MM pact (plus two club options) for a center fielder who had one less year of club control but who was on track to qualify for arbitration just three times. Eaton is also 26, and both players have missed some time due to injuries over the last few years. While they profile differently, and appear to have agreed to differently-structured deals, the overall value of the two players is arguably fairly similar.
Another way of looking at it, though, would be to compare this agreement to the Andrelton Simmons extension from last winter. Simmons, of course, is also an elite defender whose bat is slightly below average to average. The Braves cornerstone, then 24, got seven years and $58MM in exchange for his age-24 through age-31 seasons. With this deal, the Mets appear set to control Lagares through his age-31 season with a more modest annual guarantee and lower overall risk.
ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden first reported the deal and its parameters (links to Twitter). Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported the final terms (via Twitter; web link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jose Valverde Opts Out Of Deal With Padres
12:28pm: Valverde tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune (Twitter link) that his agent has informed him that a new deal may come quickly. Given the fact that Valverde opted out of his deal (as opposed to being released) and has pitched reasonably well this spring, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s drawing interest from other clubs.
10:03am: Righty Jose Valverde has opted out of his deal with the Padres and will be given his release, MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports on Twitter. The 37-year-old was in camp on a minor league deal.
Valverde enjoyed a long stretch as a quality reliever who racked up a lot of saves. But his struggles over the past two years have been rather pronounced: over 40 innings, he owns a 5.63 ERA. Though the veteran still has a useful K:BB ratio in that stretch (9.5 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9), he has been exceedingly home run prone. Among the major ERA estimators, only SIERA values Valverde as an average or better reliever since 2013.
It seemed at one point that Valverde could be headed toward a job with the Pads. He has maintained quite a bit of fastball velocity into his later years, but reportedly was working into and above the mid-90s at times this spring. He allowed four earned runs in 8 2/3 spring innings, but fanned eight while walking only one batter.
Reds Outright Sam LeCure
11:00am: LeCure has cleared waivers but may still elect whether to decline the assignment, Fay tweets. Of course, doing so would mean giving up his guaranteed salary, and LeCure himself tweets that he is heading to the organization’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville.
10:34am: The Reds have outrighted reliever Sam LeCure, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on Twitter. LeCure, 30, has not seen minor league action since a brief stint back in 2011.
Cincinnati has leaned heavily on LeCure’s right arm over the past four years. On average, he’s thrown 63 innings of 3.35 ERA ball in that span, averaging 8.8 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9. But those numbers all took a downturn last year, when LeCure struck out 7.6 and walked 3.8 batters per nine. His ERA fell below league average, with estimators backing that assessment.
LeCure was not able to secure a place in the pen despite a solid Cactus League stat line. He K’ed twelve and walked four over 8 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs. The move is somewhat surprising given LeCure’s track record, but the club has apparently decided to go in another direction.
Though he loses his roster spot, LeCure will not go without his salary. He signed a two-year deal last year guaranteeing him $3.05MM, the majority of it coming in 2015. (In fact, LeCure’s guaranteed 2015 base salary of $1.85MM has increased to$1.9MM due to escalators.) Depending upon how much big league service time he ends up accruing this year — he enters the year with 4.072 years of service — LeCure will be eligible for one more season of arbitration before hitting the open market.
Pirates Acquire Hunter Morris From Brewers
The Pirates have acquired first baseman Hunter Morris from the Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later, the clubs announced. The 26-year-old had already been outrighted over the offseason.
Morris has spent most of his time at Triple-A over the last two seasons, slashing .260/.315/.453 and hitting 35 home runs in 902 plate appearances. He earned the organization’s minor league player of the year award back in 2012. A left-handed hitter, Morris will presumably land with the Bucs’ top affiliate.
Blue Jays Sign Felix Doubront
The Blue Jays have signed lefty Felix Doubront to a minor league deal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. Doubront spent all of camp with the Cubs before he was released on Saturday.
Doubront agreed to a $1.925MM salary to avoid arbitration, but Chicago will pay him around $473K by cutting him loose before the season. He had a rough spring and lacked options, making it hard for Chicago to keep him.
For a Jays club that has been in need of pitching depth, Doubront represents a welcome and risk-free investment. The 27-year-old has certainly had his struggles at times, but has shown the ability to miss bats at the big league level even in a starting capacity. Presumably, he could ultimately see time in the rotation or pen for Toronto if he can prove his worth at Triple-A.