Tigers Re-Sign Joba Chamberlain
7:54am: Chamberlain can earn up to $500K with the same incentive scale that he had on his previous one-year deal with the Tigers, tweets MLB.com’s Jason Beck. Per Cot’s Contracts, that included an additional $100K for reaching 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 appearances.
7:33am: Chamberlain will receive a $1MM base salary plus incentives, tweets Rosenthal.
6:50am: The Tigers have reached an agreement on a one-year, Major League deal with reliever Joba Chamberlain, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Chamberlain, a client of Excel Sports Management’s Jim Murray, was spotted in Tigers Spring Training camp this morning, notes Rosenthal.
Chamberlain, 29, posted a 3.57 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9, and 53.2% groundball rate in 63 innings for the Tigers last year. The Dodgers also had late interest in him this offseason. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted earlier this month, Chamberlain makes for a solid buy on a one-year deal, perhaps more so than remaining free agent relievers Francisco Rodriguez and Rafael Soriano. Chamberlain did experience a second-half dropoff, at a time he was also helping his ailing mother.
Chamberlain rejoins a Tigers bullpen that hasn’t seen much turnover since the end of last season. The Tigers did add lefty Tom Gorzelanny in January, and they’ve got Bruce Rondon on the mend from March 2014 Tommy John surgery. They’ll have a full season of Joakim Soria, and closer Joe Nathan remains under contract as well. However, for the most part, the Tigers will deploy a very similar mix to the grouping that cost them in the 2014 American League Championship Series. Receiving better production from that group will be vital for the Tigers in an improved AL Central that saw the White Sox, in particular, make an aggressive push toward contention this winter.
On the whole, Detroit relievers posted an unsightly 4.29 ERA and a 4.09 FIP, both of which ranked 27th among 30 big league clubs. They’ll hope that the return of Rondon and a full season of Soria can help to right the ship in the bullpen.
Tigers Designate Chad Smith For Assignment
The Tigers have designated right-hander Chad Smith for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for the newly re-signed Joba Chamberlain, GM Dave Dombrowski tells Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
The 25-year-old Smith had his Major League debut with the Tigers in 2014, yielding seven runs on 15 hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings of work. A 17th-round pick of the Tigers back in 2011, Smith has a career 2.68 ERA in the minor leagues with 8.8 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. After working as a starter for part of his first minor league season, he transitioned to the bullpen in 2013 and has posted solid numbers since, though he did struggle in 27 innings at the Triple-A level last year.
Minor Moves: Elliot Johnson
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Rangers have added utility infielder Elliot Johnson on a minor league deal, the club announced. Soon to turn 31, Johnson will receive an invite to big league camp. After a three-year run in which he made at least 180 plate appearances per season, Johnson earned only twenty trips to the plate last year with the Indians. Across his 826 career plate appearances, Johnson owns a .215/.269/.316 slash with 46 stolen bases. Johnson has been more productive in parts of six seasons at Triple-A, where he owns a lifetime .732 OPS.
Rangers Exercise Adrian Beltre’s 2016 Option
2:11pm: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that in exchange for guaranteeing the option in advance, Beltre has agreed to juggle his salaries a bit (Twitter link). Beltre will now earn $16MM in 2015 instead of $18MM, while his 2016 salary will jump from $16MM to $18MM.
1:07pm: The Rangers announced today that they have exercised their 2016 option on Adrian Beltre in advance, meaning that he will be guaranteed $16MM. The Rangers had the ability to void the option if Beltre didn’t reach 600 plate appearances in 2015, but GM Jon Daniels said over the weekend that he was considering removing the clause and locking in Beltre’s salary, as he didn’t want the clause to become a storyline.
Beltre, 36 in April, is coming off another typically excellent season, having batted .324/.388/.492 with 19 home runs and excellent defense at third base. He had been slated to enter the final guaranteed year of a five-year, $80MM contract signed in the 2010-11 offseason, but he’s now guaranteed to earn the full $96MM maximum that was available to him on the contract.
While one could argue that there’s risk involved with locking in that salary ahead of time, it’s unlikely that Beltre would suddenly deteriorate to the point at which a $16MM salary in 2016 would look like a substantial overpay. His defense alone gives him a considerably higher floor than most players, and he’s been very durable over the past three seasons, averaging 155 games per year.
Dodgers Sign Dustin McGowan
11:05am: McGowan’s base salary with the Dodgers will be just the league minimum, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). However, he’ll have the opportunity to earn $1MM via roster bonuses and $1.5MM via performance bonuses, which peak at 60 appearances and 60 innings pitched. In total, he can earn $3MM.
8:59am: The Dodgers announced today that they have signed right-hander Dustin McGowan to a one-year, Major League contract. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, fellow righty Brandon Beachy, whom the team signed last week, was placed on the 60-day disabled list. (Beachy is recovering from Tommy John surgery.) The move was expected following news yesterday that McGowan showed up at the Dodgers’ Spring Training camp.
McGowan, who turns 33 in March, has spent his entire career to this point in the Blue Jays organization. The ACES client was selected 33rd overall by Toronto back in 2000 but has seen much of a promising career slowed by injuries. McGowan had Tommy John surgery back in 2004, but it’s been his right shoulder that has truly plagued him, as he’s undergone three separate surgeries on his throwing shoulder.
The end result of all the injuries is that McGowan has totaled just 482 1/3 innings of Major League action, but he’s shown flashes of potential throughout his career. He has a lifetime 4.57 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 45.9 percent ground-ball rate. He’s been used both as a starter and reliever, though more of his work has come out of the bullpen in recent years.
It’s not clear whether or not this signing is tied to the injury of Kenley Jansen, although reports indicated that the Dodgers may look to add another relief arm — but likely a middle reliever as opposed to a closer — in the wake of Jansen’s foot surgery. (He’ll be sidelined eight to 12 weeks.) McGowan, along with Beachy and Brett Anderson, is the third talented but injury-prone pitcher that the Dodgers have signed to a big league deal this winter.
Ben Cherington Has Extension With Red Sox
GM Ben Cherington and the Red Sox at some point agreed to a contract extension beyond 2015, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. When Cherington agreed to the deal isn’t known, and neither are its terms. Cherington received a contract upon becoming GM in 2011, but he is now signed to a new deal that hadn’t previously been made public.
“I’m under contract. I have a contract,” said Cherington at a press conference today to discuss manager John Farrell’s new deal. “We understand that contracts for people in uniform are important and need to be discussed. … I have a contract. I’m in good shape. There’s no issue. Glad to be working with [principal owner John Henry] and the rest of the group.”
Since Cherington became general manager, the Red Sox have had two losing seasons out of three, but Cherington’s moves to remake the team following an ugly 2012 season helped the Red Sox to a 2013 World Series win and Cherington to a Sporting News Executive of the Year award. This offseason, his big acquisitions have included Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez, Rick Porcello, Justin Masterson and Wade Miley, and he signed Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo late last season.
Blue Jays Sign Chris Dickerson
The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve signed outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Dickerson is represented by MVP Sports Group.
In 2014, the 32-year-old Dickerson hit .309/.407/.479 in a terrific half-season with the Pirates’ Triple-A Indianapolis affiliate before heading in a minor trade to Cleveland, where he hit .224/.309/.327 in 112 plate appearances. The veteran has a career .257/.335/.395 line in parts of seven seasons, providing teams with a reasonable left-handed bench option who can play all three outfield spots. The Blue Jays are a bit thin in their outfield, so Dickerson could compete for a bench job.
Mariners Defeat Tom Wilhelmsen In Arbitration
The Mariners have won their arbitration hearing against reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Wilhelmsen had asked for $2.2MM, but he will instead receive a 2015 salary of $1.4MM.
Wilhelmsen, 31, is coming off a strong year in which he posted a 2.27 ERA in 79 1/3 innings. His peripherals (8.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9) and track record suggest he isn’t likely to sustain an ERA that strong, but he has a terrific mid-90s fastball, and he’ll continue to pitch in a pitcher-friendly ballpark.
Wilhelmsen might have made more through the arbitration system this winter had he continued as the Mariners’ closer — he saved 53 games in 2012 and 2013 combined, but only one in 2014 after the team signed Fernando Rodney. Wilhelmsen has two more years of arbitration eligibility, and is currently eligible for free agency following the 2017 season.
Dodgers Sign Brandon Beachy
The Dodgers have announced that they’ve signed righty Brandon Beachy to a one-year deal. Beachy will receive $2.75MM, and the Dodgers will get a club option for 2016 that can be worth between $3MM and $6MM depending on how much Beachy pitches in 2015. To clear space for Beachy on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers moved pitcher Chris Withrow to the 60-day DL. Beachy is represented by Icon Sports Management.
Beachy missed the entire 2014 season after having his second Tommy John surgery and will likely spend the first part of the 2015 season on the disabled list. As Rosenthal notes, though, Beachy gives the Dodgers an extra starting pitching option for 2016 after a 2015-16 offseason in which Brett Anderson and perhaps Zack Greinke (who has an opt-out) could depart via free agency. Once Beachy is healthy, he’ll join Anderson and Brandon McCarthy as newcomers to the Dodgers’ group of rotation candidates.
Should Beachy return to form, he could end up being very helpful — the 28-year-old has a career 3.23 ERA with an excellent 9.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in parts of four seasons with the Braves, giving him upside that’s rare in a pitcher signed to a one-year deal. Finding a pitcher with Beachy’s talent is especially tricky at this point in the offseason — the free agent starting pitching market is now largely bare, with Kevin Correia, Randy Wolf and Chris Young as the only significant free agents remaining. It’s not yet clear, however, how well Beachy will pitch after having surgery for the second time in three years.
Atlanta non-tendered Beachy earlier this offseason. He still only has four years and 14 days of service time, so as MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted earlier this month, he would have had two years of team control remaining regardless of the terms of his new deal. The Dodgers’ club option for 2016 means they won’t have to take him through the arbitration process for his last year before he becomes eligible for free agency.
FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the deal (via Twitter). CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweeted that Beachy would receive $2.75MM guaranteed. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweeted the terms of the Dodgers’ 2016 option.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Moves: Daniel Cabrera
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The Reds have signed righty Daniel Cabrera to a minor-league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. Cabrera, who last appeared in the big leagues in 2009, issued 520 walks in 892 1/3 innings over parts of six seasons, frequently frustrating his teams despite his terrific velocity. The 33-year-old spent the last two years starting for Chunichi in Japan, posting a combined 3.49 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. He then pitched for Leones de Escogido in Dominican winter ball this offseason and walked 11 batters in 12 2/3 innings, struggling with the control issues that dogged him throughout his big-league career.