Reds Claim Keyvius Sampson From Padres
The Reds have claimed right-hander Keyvius Sampson off waivers from the Padres, assistant director of media relations Jamie Ramsey announced today (on Twitter). This waiver claim gives the Reds a full 40-man roster.
The 23-year-old Sampson found himself designated for assignment last week to clear roster space following the acquisition Shawn Kelley from the Yankees. Sampson was long regarded by Baseball America as one of the Padres’ top 30 prospects, peaking at No. 9 just last offseason. However, Sampson had a very rough season in 2014, struggling to a 6.68 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 6.7 BB/9 in 91 2/3 innings between the rotation and bullpen at Triple-A El Paso.
Nonetheless, the former fourth-round pick does come with some upside for the Reds. As recently as last offseason, BA noted that Sampson sat 93 to 95 mph with his fastball and had scrapped a below-average curveball for a more effective slider. Those two pitches paired with a “quality changeup,” per BA, though their scouting report noted that his below-average command could be an obstacle, and that was clearly the case in 2014.
White Sox Designate Jordan Danks For Assignment
The White Sox announced that they have designated outfielder Jordan Danks for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for the recently signed Emilio Bonifacio.
Danks, not to be confused with older brother and longtime White Sox left-hander John, saw 132 plate appearances over 51 games with Chicago last season and is a career .227/.303/.326 hitter in 386 Major League plate appearances. The younger Danks has played all three outfield spots in his big league career and has generally positive marks in just over 500 innings in center field, although that’s obviously a small sample upon which to pass judgment. Though he’s never established himself in the Majors, the 28-year-old has a solid .267/.352/.430 batting line in 1945 PA at the Triple-A level.
Orioles Sign J.P. Arencibia To Minor League Deal
The Orioles have reportedly been looking to add another catcher (despite having five on the 40-man roster), and they did so today, announcing the signing of J.P. Arencibia to a minor league deal. The CAA Sports client will receive an invite to Major League Spring Training.
Arencibia, who just turned 29, handled most of the catching duties for the Blue Jays over the 2011-13 campaigns. His low-OBP, high-strikeout approach yielded a steady diet of ~20-home run campaigns, but reached an extreme in his final year in Toronto, when he managed only a .227 on-base percentage while striking out 148 times and walking only 18 times in 497 turns at the plate.
It was much the same last year in Texas, where Arencibia scuffled to a .177/.239/.369 slash with ten long balls in 222 plate appearances. On a Rangers team beset with injury issues, he split his time evenly between catching, playing first, and slotting in as the designated hitter.
Arencibia will presumably challenge for a similar role in Baltimore or serve as depth while starting the year in the upper minors. As Connolly notes on Twitter, Arencibia put up big numbers at Triple-A during his time in Texas, when his swing was being overseen by new O’s hitting coach (and then-Rangers minor league hitting coordinator) Scott Coolbaugh.
From a defensive standpoint, Arencibia has prevented base stealing at a roughly league-average clip throughout his career (26 percent). He’s also typically graded out as a plus pitch-framer, according to both Baseball Prospectus and Matthew Carruth’s Framing Report at StatCorner.com.
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun first reported that the deal was close (on Twitter), and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that an agreement had been reached.
Japan’s Rakuten Golden Eagles Sign Gaby Sanchez
The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have announced a one-year deal with first baseman Gaby Sanchez, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). Sanchez will earn approximately $2.5MM and can achieve more through incentives, per the report.
Sanchez, 31, swings from the right side of the plate. He has been with the Pirates since a mid-season deal back in 2012. Serving in a platoon capacity in Pittsburgh, Sanchez had a solid 2013 but took a step back last year with a .229/.293/.385 slash over 290 plate appearances while enjoying the platoon advantage in over half of his trips to bat.
That recent performance did not meet the expectations set earlier in Sanchez’s career with the Marlins, when he became a steady regular at the first base position. Sanchez hit .269/.346/.437 with 38 total home runs while playing every day in 2010-11 with the Fish. After an All-Star appearance in 2011, however, Sanchez struggled in the second half and never regained his footing in Miami.
The University of Miami product was designated and non-tendered by the Pirates back in December. With just over $5MM in career earnings at the big league level, and a likely lack of an opportunity to land a significant guarantee in the big leagues, it is easy to see the appeal in the contract that Sanchez accepted. And, of course, the path back from Japan to MLB has been taken by many players who have performed in the NPB.
Minor Moves: Marcos Mateo
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Padres have inked righty Marcos Mateo to a minor league pact, MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports on Twitter. The 30-year-old has thrown in the upper minors over the last two years with the Cubs, putting up fairly solid results but failing to earn his way back to the big leagues. Across 44 2/3 MLB frames in 2010-11, Mateo logged a 5.04 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. ERA estimators were more favorably disposed to his work at the game’s highest level than his results showed, however. Mateo’s impressive stuff drew attention last winter, when he was taken in the Rule 5 draft by the D’backs before ultimately being returned to Chicago.
Padres Sign Josh Johnson, Designate Jake Goebbert
7:01pm: The deal does indeed include $6.25MM in achievable incentives based on games started, with triggers ranging from his fifth to 33rd start, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
4:10pm: The Padres announced today their widely expected signing of right-hander Josh Johnson to a one-year deal. Previous reports indicated that Johnson, a client of Sosnick/Cobbe Sports, would earn $1MM plus incentives. To clear room on the 40-man roster, the Padres designated Jake Goebbert for assignment.
Assuming previous reports remain accurate, Johnson will receive $500K for making his fifth start, $1MM for his 10th start, $500K for his 15th start and $1MM for his 20th. He will then earn $250K per start for starts 21-33. In total, his $1MM contract can reach $7.25MM if all of the incentives are reached.
The 30-year-old Johnson (31 at the end of this month) signed a one-year, $8MM deal with the Padres last offseason coming off a down season with Toronto. However, Johnson underwent Tommy John surgery in April and never made a start wearing a Padres uniform. His contract contained a conditional $4MM club option that triggered in the event he made fewer than seven starts, but the Friars declined that option and chose to re-sign him to an even lower guarantee. Though Johnson had the ability to test the open market, it was widely expected that he’d return to San Diego, as agent Matt Sosnick said more than once that Johnson felt he has “unfinished business” in San Diego.
It’s been two full years since Johnson was fully healthy, but there’s little denying what an impactful arm he can be when healthy. Johnson led the National League with a 2.30 ERA/2.41 FIP over the course of 183 2/3 innings with the Marlins in 2010 and has a career 3.40 ERA in 998 innings at the Major League level. Staying healthy has never come easy to Johnson, however, who has topped 180 innings just three times since debuting in 2005.
Johnson is the second injury-prone, high-upside arm that the Padres have added this offseason. GM A.J. Preller also inked Brandon Morrow to a one-year, $2.5MM contract that is heavily incentive-laden as well. Those two will give the Padres some rotation depth beyond a front trio of Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross and Ian Kennedy. Right-hander Jesse Hahn, who pitched well out of the Friars’ rotation in 2014, was dealt to the A’s in the Derek Norris trade, and fellow righty Joe Wieland went to Los Angeles in the Matt Kemp deal. Johnson and Morrow will compete with Robbie Erlin and Cory Luebke (who is recovering from his second Tommy John operation) for spots in manager Bud Black’s rotation. Johnson, however isn’t likely to be ready to pitch on Opening Day, as his operation came on April 24 last season.
The 27-year-old Goebbert, meanwhile, was acquired from the Athletics along with a player to be named later (Ronald Herrera) in exchange for Kyle Blanks back in May of 2014. Goebbert made his big league debut with the Padres this season, hitting .218/.313/.317 in 115 plate appearances. Goebbert hit a strong .296/.410/.539 with 14 homers between the Padres’ and Athletics’ Triple-A affiliates in 2014.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported the terms of the contract last month.
Braves To Designate Tyler Pastornicky For Assignment
The Braves will designate infielder Tyler Pastornicky for assignment tomorrow in order to clear 40-man roster space for the three signings they announced earlier today, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (on Twitter).
The 25-year-old Pastornicky struggled in 47 plate appearances with the Braves in 2014 and has never hit much at the Major League level, as evidenced by his .243/.295/.314 batting line in 268 plate appearances. However, he only just turned 25 last month and has a much stronger track record in the minors, where he’s a .290/.348/.386 batter in 793 Triple-A plate appearances.
By releasing Dan Uggla midseason, trading Tommy La Stella earlier this winter and now designating Pastornicky, the Braves have jettisoned the three players that saw the bulk of the playing time at second base in Atlanta last season. The Braves inked Alberto Callaspo to a one-year deal to hold down the fort at second this year, presumably while top prospect Jose Peraza continues his development in the minors. Additionally, the club acquired Jace Peterson from the Padres in the Justin Upton deal — another infielder capable of handling second base.
Braves Sign Josh Outman
3:13pm: Outman’s deal guarantees him $925K and allows him to earn an additional $475K via performance bonuses, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.
2:34pm: The Braves announced today that they have signed left-hander Josh Outman to a one-year, Major League deal. The team also officially announced A.J. Pierzynski‘s one-year deal and Jason Grilli‘s two-year pact, both of which had been previously reported. Outman is a client of Turner Gary Sports.
The 30-year-old Outman posted a 2.86 ERA with 8.3 K/9 but a more troubling 5.1 BB/9 in 28 1/3 innings between the Indians and Yankees last season. Those control problems were a bit uncharacteristic for Outman, however, as he entered the season with a lifetime 3.6 BB/9 rate in 246 innings of work.
Outman registered a 53.9 percent ground-ball rate in 2014 — the highest mark of his career. If he can repeat that feat while rediscovering his previous command, his peripheral stats — he had just a 4.83 FIP and 4.18 xFIP in 2014 — should rebound, and a strong ERA is a definite possibility. Outman gives Atlanta skipper Fredi Gonzalez a particularly potent weapon against left-handed hitters, as he’s held same-handed opponents to a minuscule .186/.254/.283 batting line in 413 career plate appearances. And, as a bonus to Atlanta, he has just four years, 155 days of Major League service time. In other words, if Outman performs well, he can be controlled through the 2016 season via arbitration.
Outman will join James Russell and Luis Avilan as a third left-handed option to bridge the gap from the rotation to lights-out closer Craig Kimbrel. He and Grilli will join reclamation project Jim Johnson as newcomers to an Atlanta bullpen that also features Shae Simmons and possibly Arodys Vizcaino. By and large, it should be a new-look group in the Atlanta bullpen, as the team has parted with excellent setup men Jordan Walden and David Carpenter in separate trades this winter.
Twins Sign Blaine Boyer To Minor League Deal
1:42pm: Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has some further detail on Boyer’s deal (Twitter links). Boyer will earn $750K if he makes the big league roster, with an additional $100K available via performance bonuses. His contract also contains a March 30 opt-out clause that can be exercised if he has not been added to the 40-man roster.
10:28am: The Twins have signed right-hander Blaine Boyer to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, team director of communications Dustin Morse announced (on Twitter).
The 33-year-old Boyer returned to the Majors for the first time since 2011 last season, firing 40 1/3 solid innings out of the Padres’ bullpen. Though he averaged just 6.5 K/9, Boyer showed strong control, averaging just 1.8 walks per nine. His fastball lost very little of its heat despite the two-year gap between big league stints, as he averaged a healthy 93.1 mph on the pitch. Despite his solid season, however, Boyer was outrighted by the Padres following the year. He had projected to earn $1MM in arbitration, via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
The Twins’ bullpen currently features All-Star closer Glen Perkins and several solid, albeit unspectacular setup men. Casey Fien and recent signee Tim Stauffer (another former Padre) will serve as right-handed options for new skipper Paul Molitor, while Brian Duensing and perhaps Caleb Thielbar will join Perkins as southpaws. Others in the mix include righties Ryan Pressly, Michael Tonkin and Lester Oliveros in addition to southpaws Logan Darnell and Aaron Thompson.
John McDonald Retires
Veteran middle infielder John McDonald has officially retired, according to the Twitter accounts of the Angels, Blue Jays, D-Backs and Indians, each of whom McDonald played for over the life of a 16-year Major League career.
McDonald, 40, said in September that he recognized the 2014 season could be his last, telling reporters that he got more out of his career than he ever thought possible. “I didn’t think I’d get a day in the big leagues, let alone parts of 16 years,” McDonald told MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez at the time.
Though he never brought much to the plate from an offensive standpoint, McDonald rode his excellent glovework to a lengthy career at the Major League level. Ultimate Zone Rating graded McDonald at 15.9 and 6.3 runs above average per 150 games at second base and shortstop, respectively, over the course of his career. Defensive Runs Saved credited him with 15 runs saved in 1376 innings at second base and a hefty 51 runs saved in 4082 innings at shortstop.
McDonald’s career will come to a close with a .233/.273/.323 batting line, 28 homers and 34 steals in 2651 Major League plate appearances split between the Indians, Blue Jays, D-Backs, Pirates, Phillies, Red Sox, Angels and Tigers. On an anecdotal note, he also holds the rare distinction of being traded for himself. In July of 2005, Toronto sent him to the Detroit in exchange for a player to be named later, only to complete the deal by re-acquiring him from the Tigers in exchange for cash considerations four months later.
All told, McDonald earned more than $13MM over the course of his time in the Majors. MLBTR extends its best wishes to McDonald and his family as he embarks on his post-playing days.