Nationals Acquire Dan Butler From Red Sox For Danny Rosenbaum
The Nationals have acquired catcher Dan Butler from the Red Sox in exchange for lefty Daniel Rosenbaum, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. Butler had been designated for assignment a week ago.
Though Washington seemed to be set at the big league level, with three catchers on the 40-man and another (Steven Lerud) coming to camp, the 28-year-old Butler apparently held enough appeal to add. He only reached the big leagues briefly for the first time last year, but owns a .248/.329/.416 slash with 22 home runs over 739 career trips to bat at Triple-A.
Though his numbers dipped at the highest level of the minors last year, Butler showed in 2013 that he can reach base and hit for power against quality pitching. Whether that can carry to the big leagues remains to be seen, of course.
As the Red Sox give up on one of their organization’s development success stories in Butler, so too the Nats finally part with Rosenbaum. The 27-year-old rose from a 22nd-round pick to the highest levels of the minors and even earned a Rule 5 selection before the 2013 season.
A prototypical soft-tossing, crafty lefty, Rosenbaum has not carried his domination of the lower minors into the upper ranks. Across 178 1/3 Triple-A frames, he owns a 3.94 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. Rosenbaum will need to finish rehabbing back from Tommy John surgery last spring before he can take the hill for the first time in the Sox organization.
That the Nationals parted with an upper-level arm, rather than the usual cash settlement, could indicate that there was slightly more at work here than the average DFA deal. It could be that Washington faced competition in pursuing Butler and/or that the organization felt it had enough depth and was ready to move on from Rosenbaum, who would become a minor league free agent after the end of the season.
Minor Moves: Krauss, Peguero, Rodriguez, Lerud
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- First baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, who was designated for assignment by the Angels last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Krauss hit .194/.279/.323 with six homers in 208 PAs for the Astros last season but was designated to clear room on the 40-man roster when the Halos acquired Kyle Kubitza from the Braves.
- The Rangers have signed both Carlos Peguero to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, executive VP of communications John Blake announced (Twitter link). Peguero, 28 next month, had an excellent season with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in 2014, hitting .266/.349/.563 with 30 homers. The former Mariners prospect has shown huge power throughout his minor league career but hasn’t been able to carry his success over to the Majors, where he’s hit .196/.245/.379 and fanned in nearly 39 percent of his 229 PAs.
- The Rangers also re-signed Guilder Rodriguez to a minor league deal, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The 31-year-old infielder was a nice story in an otherwise dreadful Rangers season in 2014, as he reached the Majors for the first time after 13 minor league seasons and collected a pair of hits in 12 at-bats. Rodriguez hit .260/.340/.290 in 284 PAs at Triple-A.
- Catcher Steven Lerud has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals that contains an invite to big league camp, tweets Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington. The former Pirates third-rounder (2003) saw a bit of Major League time with the Phillies in 2012-13, but the 30-year-old has never received a prolonged look in the bigs. He’s a lifetime .225/.361/.337 hitter at Triple-A and has caught an excellent 34 percent of attempted thieves on the basepaths over the life of his career.
Players Avoiding Arbitration: Tuesday
One-year agreements for arbitration-eligible players figure to begin coming in rapidly this week, with the deadline to exchange figures coming this Friday. We’ll keep track of today’s agreements in this post, with all projections mentioned referring to those of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:
- The Dodgers and catcher A.J. Ellis have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $4.25MM contract, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Ellis, 33, had the worst offensive season of his career in 2014, slumping to a .191/.323/.254 batting line in 347 plate appearances. However, he proved capable with the bat from 2011-13, hitting .256/.351/.389 with 25 homers in 1056 plate appearances. From a defensive standpoint, he’s never graded out well in terms of framing pitches, but Ellis has thrown out a very impressive 33 percent of attempted base-stealers in his career. The ACES client’s salary comes in north of Swartz’s projection model, which had Ellis at $3.8MM.
Marlins, Nick Masset Agree To Minor League Deal
The Marlins have agreed to terms with right-hander Nick Masset on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
Masset, a client of Jet Sports Management, struggled through 45 innings with the Rockies in 2014 — his first big league action after a two-year absence due to shoulder problems and throacic outlet syndrome. Masset’s 5.80 ERA may be a bit misleading. Metrics such as FIP (4.33) and SIERA (4.12) feel that he was the recipient of some poor fortune, and indeed, his .371 batting average on balls in play was the third-highest mark among pitchers with 40 innings thrown (per Fangraphs).
The 32-year-old Masset was formerly a solid setup man for the Reds, pitching to a 3.05 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in parts of four seasons (240 1/3 innings) with Cincinnati. However, after signing a two-year, $5.5MM extension with the Reds, he failed to throw another pitch for the organization.
Masset isn’t without his faults; his 7.2 K/9 rate and 4.8 BB/9 rate from 2014 were both a far cry from his peak with the Reds. Still, if he can regain some of his lost control and continue to post a strong ground-ball rate (51.7 percent in 2014, 50 percent for his career), he could be a nice buy-low option for the Marlins.
Yankees Designate Gonzalez Germen
The Yankees have designated righty Gonzalez Germen for assignment, the club announced. Recently added from the Mets in exchange for cash, his roster spot will go to the similarly-acquired Chris Martin.
Germen, 27, has thrown a combined 64 2/3 frames at the big league level for the Mets over the last two years. He owns a 4.31 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9. He was much better at Triple-A last year, with a 1.93 ERA across 28 innings, though he allowed over five earned runs per nine the season prior with similar peripherals.
Wandy Rodriguez To Sign With Braves After Failing Physical With Phillies
Veteran lefty Wandy Rodriguez has failed his physical with the Phillies and instead agreed to a minor league deal with the Braves. Hector Gomez of Listin Diario first tweeted that a deal with Atlanta was close, with Marino Pepen tweeting news of the failed physical and David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constution confirming that a deal was done (via Twitter).
Rodriguez will have a chance to earn the fifth starter’s role in Atlanta. If he does make the club, he’ll earn a $2MM salary, per a tweet from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. It appeared that Rodriguez was ticketed for a similar situation in Philadelphia, but he will instead aim to throw for a division rival.
The Braves struck gold last year with veteran Aaron Harang, and will hope for the same in 2015. Harang, of course, is headed to Philadelphia, taking one of the rotation spots that Rodriguez may have been a candidate for.
Of course, it is far from a sure thing that Rodriguez will open the year with a big league job. Soon to turn 36, Rodriguez has struggled with injury and made only 18 largely unsuccessful starts over the past two seasons. On the other hand, he owns a track record of sturdy innings, with 1,471 career frames of 4.06 ERA pitching.
Royals Extend Ned Yost Through 2016
The Royals have extended the contract of manager Ned Yost through 2016, the club announced on Twitter. Much embattled in some circles, Yost nevertheless saw Kansas City through to a stunning run into and through the postseason, culminating in a World Series appearance.
With the new deal, Yost has an additional year of security. That will keep him from entering the coming season as a lame duck, though of course it does not ensure that he will stay around for the long haul. In any event, Yost is interested in remaining at the helm only for two or three more years, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter).
Yost took over the K.C. dugout back in 2011, overseeing a pair of sub-par efforts in his first two campaigns. But things trended up in 2013, when the club won 86 games, and culminated in a breakneck second half last year that vaulted the Royals from a 48-50 record to the Wild Card.
As if the first postseason appearance since the George Brett era was not enough, Yost and his squad launched an improbable run all the way to Game 7 of the sport’s final series. He took plenty of criticism along the way — bunting and bullpen utilization chief among them — but it is hard to argue with the results that he wrung from a scrappy, youthful club.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether Yost can help to orchestrate a repeat performance. But he will have the chance to do so without worrying whether he’ll be under contract for the following season.
Yankees Acquire Chris Martin From Rockies
The Yankees have dealt for righty Chris Martin of the Rockies in exchange for cash considerations, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports on Twitter. Martin had been designated for assignment on the fifth of this month.
Late to join the professional ranks at all, the 28-year-old Martin rose quickly and debuted with the Rockies last year. His results were unimpressive in a short sample, but he registered an outstanding 60.8% groundball rate and struck out eight batters per nine over 15 2/3 innings. Martin posted similarly encouraging peripherals at Triple-A, with 12.2 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in 26 2/3 frames.
As Curry notes, Martin has options remaining. Presumably, he will battle for a job this spring with the expectation that he will serve as depth in the upper minors.
Nationals To Sign Mike Carp To Minor League Deal
The Nationals have agreed to a minor league deal with first baseman/outfielder Mike Carp, his agents at O’Connell Sports Management tweeted. The deal includes an invitation to MLB camp, and will pay Carp $1MM if he makes the big league roster, per a tweet from Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Carp, 28, was an oft-discussed trade candidate last spring after slashing .296/.362/.523 in 243 plate appearances with the Red Sox in 2013. But he scuffled out of the gate for Boston last season, and ended up twice designated for assignment. Over 149 total trips to bat with the Red Sox and Rangers, Carp compiled a miserable .175/.289/.230 slash with no home runs.
Needless to say, Carp and the Nats will hope that he can return to the more promising trajectory he had shown at times earlier in his career. Carp will enter the season with 3.168 years on his service clock, meaning that his new team could control him for two additional seasons if things worked out.
Of course, the Nationals have made no commitments in signing this deal, and the left-handed-hitting Carp will have his work cut out to make the roster. Nevertheless, there is some opportunity: The Nats are somewhat right-handed heavy; presumptive fourth outfielder Nate McLouth struggled mightily last year; and newly-shifted first baseman Ryan Zimmerman hits from the right side.
Minor Moves: Cabrera, Skipworth, Blackley
Here are the notable minor moves of the day:
- The Reds released a list of nineteen non-roster invites to big league camp this spring, including several minor league free agent signings (via MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon). Among those not previously reported are catchers Ramon Cabrera, who was released by the Pirates earlier in the offseason, and Kyle Skipworth, who had spent his entire career in the Marlins organization. Neither player has seen significant MLB action, though Skipworth did get a cup of coffee in 2013. Cabrera has flashed some solid numbers with the bat in the minors, though both backstops put up sub-.700 OPS campaigns last year.
- Former big league lefty Travis Blackley says that he has signed a deal with the Giants (via Instagram). The 32-year-old Aussie saw action in parts of four MLB seasons, working to a 5.23 ERA over 192 2/3 frames (including 26 starts) with 6.2 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. He threw only 13 innings last year with Rakuten of Japan’s NPB.