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Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12/2/20

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With the non-tender deadline coming today at 7pm CT, expect quite a few players to agree to contracts for the 2021 season, avoiding arbitration in advance.  In many (but not all) cases, these deals — referred to as “pre-tender” deals because they fall prior to the deadline — will fall shy of expectations and projections.  Teams will sometimes present borderline non-tender candidates with a “take it or leave it” style offer which will be accepted for fear of being non-tendered and sent out into an uncertain market.  Speculatively, such deals could increase in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty sweeping through the game, although there are also widespread expectations of record non-tender numbers.

You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through today’s smaller-scale pre-tender deals in this post.  You can also check out Matt Swartz’s arbitration salary projections here.

Latest Agreements

Earlier Agreements

  • Twins righty Jose Berrios will earn $6.1MM with a $500K signing bonus in 2021, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. Catcher Mitch Garver will rake in $1.875MM, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Center fielder Byron Buxton ($5.125MM) and reliever Taylor Rogers (terms not released) also agreed to deals, according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune.
  • The Phillies have deals with starter Zach Eflin ($4.45MM) and relievers Hector Neris ($5MM), David Hale ($850K) and Seranthony Dominguez ($727,500), Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Heyman and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com relay.
  • The Marlins and first baseman Garrett Cooper have a $1.8MM agreement that could max out at $2.05MM with performance bonuses, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets.
  • The Brewers are keeping catcher Manny Pina in the fold for $1.65MM, according to Heyman. They’re also retaining first baseman Daniel Vogelbach for $1.4MM, Nightengale reports.
  • The Giants and outfielder Austin Slater have a one-year, $1.15MM deal, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.The club also reached a $925K agreement with lefty Wandy Peralta and a $700K pact with righty Trevor Gott, Heyman tweets.
  • The Cubs are bringing back hurlers Dan Winkler ($900K), Colin Rea ($702,500) and Kyle Ryan ($800K), Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Ryan’s agreement is a split contract that features a $250K minor league salary.
  • The Mets are retaining lefty Steven Matz for $5.2MM, Nightengale tweets. Matz had a brutal campaign in 2020 with a 9.68 ERA/7.76 FIP over 30 2/3 innings in 2020, but the Mets will give him a chance to rebound.
  • The Padres and lefty Matt Strahm have a one-year, $2MM deal, Nightengale reports. Strahm gave the Padres a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP in 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
  • Outfielder Guillermo Heredia, whom the Mets claimed from Pittsburgh in August, will earn $1MM in 2021, according to Nightengale.
  • The Astros and reliever Austin Pruitt have settled for $617, 500, per Heyman. The right-hander missed the season with elbow issues.
  • The Royals and outfielder Jorge Soler have agreed to a one-year, $8.05MM deal with $250K in incentives, Nightengale reports. Soler was a 48-home run hitter in 2019, but his production went backward this past season, in which he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight HRs in 174 trips to the plate.
  • The Red Sox have kept relievers Matt Barnes ($4.4MM) and Ryan Brasier ($1.25MM) and catcher Kevin Plawecki ($1.6MM), per tweets from Nightengale, Robert Murray of FanSided and Heyman. Barnes has been a solid reliever as a member of the Red Sox, though he yielded more than five walks per nine and upward of four runs per nine in 2020. Brasier was more successful this past season, as he tossed 25 frames of 3.96 ERA/3.15 FIP ball and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Plawecki had a nice year as the backup to Christian Vazquez, as he batted .341/.393/.463 in 89 PA.
  • The Giants and southpaw Jarlin Garcia have settled for $950K, according to Heyman. Garcia is coming off an 18 1/3-inning effort in which he posted a near-perfect 0.49 (with an impressive 3.14 FIP) and 6.87 K/9 against 3.44 BB/9.
  • The Marlins have agreed to a one-year, $4.3MM deal with first baseman Jesus Aguilar, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. The 30-year-old slugger put up strong numbers in his first year with the Fish, slashing .277/.352/.457 with eight long balls in 216 plate appearances.
  • The Giants and outfielder Alex Dickerson settled at a year and $2MM, tweets Nightengale. The 30-year-old slugger has a lengthy injury history but has been excellent in limited work with the Giants, including a .298/.371/.576 slash in 170 plate appearances this past season.
  • Luis Cessa will be back with the Yankees on a one-year deal, tweets Nightengale. He’ll earn $1.05MM. The righty notched a 3.32 ERA and 3.79 FIP with a 17-to-7 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings this past season. Fellow righty Ben Heller will also return, the team announced, though it didn’t disclose financial details.
  • First baseman Matt Olson and the Athletics settled on a one-year deal worth $5MM, tweets Nightengale. The 26-year-old Olson’s .198/.310/.424 slash was an obvious step back from his 2019 campaign, but he’s still viewed as a vital part of the club’s future moving forward.
  • The Braves and righty Luke Jackson agreed to a one-year deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The 29-year-old was rocked for a 6.84 ERA in this year’s shortened slate of games but posted a 3.84 ERA and 3.24 FIP with better than 13 K/9 as one of the team’s steadiest relievers in 2019. The contract is valued at $1.9MM, per a team announcement.
  • The Brewers are bringing back catcher Omar Narvaez for one year and $2.5MM, Heyman tweets. Narvaez was a very good offensive catcher from 2o16-19 with the White Sox and Mariners, but he struggled last season after the M’s traded him to the Brewers. Thanks in part to a career-worst 31 percent strikeout rate, Narvaez could only muster a .176/.294/.269 line and a paltry two HRs in 126 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he’s in line to return to the Brewers for a second season.
  • The Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $2MM contract with shortstop Orlando Arcia, Nightengale relays. Arcia endured serious struggles on offense in prior years, but the 26-year-old managed a respectable .260/.317/.416 line with five home runs over 189 plate appearances this past season.
  • The Phillies and catcher Andrew Knapp have reached a one-year, $1.1MM agreement, per Nightengale. Typically a light-hitting backstop, Knapp batted a career-best .278/.404/.444 in 89 plate appearances in 2020. He’s currently the No. 1 catcher on a Phillies team that could lose J.T. Realmuto in free agency.
  • Pirates infielder Erik Gonzalez agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.225MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. It was the second year of arb eligibility for Gonzalez, whose glovework will earn him a contract despite a brutal .227/.255/.359 batting line in 193 plate appearances in 2020.
  • The Royals and Hunter Dozier agreed to a one-year deal worth $2.72MM in entirely guaranteed money, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.  More is available to Dozier via contract incentives.  Dozier hit .228/.344/.392 over 186 PA after missing over the first two weeks of the season recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
  • The Red Sox agreed to an $870K deal with right-hander Austin Brice for the 2021 season, as per Nightengale.  Brice posted a 5.95 ERA, 11.4 K/9, and 5.9 BB/9 over 19 2/3 innings in his first season in Boston, and was considered a potential non-tender candidate.
  • The Twins and righty Tyler Duffey agreed to a one-year, $2.2MM pact, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports.  According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Duffey’s deal is fully guaranteed.
  • The Braves agreed to a one-year, $900K deal with southpaw Grant Dayton, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Dayton had a 2.30 ERA over 27 1/3 innings in 2020.
  • The Braves announced an agreement with utilityman Johan Camargo on a one-year, $1.36MM deal.  Camargo was thought to be a non-tender candidate after struggling to a .222/.267/.378 slash line in 375 plate appearances over the last two seasons, but he will return for a fifth year in Atlanta.
  • The White Sox and left-hander Jace Fry agreed to a one-year deal worth $862.5K, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  Fry posted a 3.66 ERA, 2.00 K/BB rate, and 11.0 K/9 over 19 2/3 innings in 2020, and he has strong overall career numbers against left-handed batters.
  • The Orioles agreed with second baseman Yolmer Sanchez on a one-year deal worth $1MM, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).  Baltimore claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox at the end of October.  A Gold Glove winner in 2019, Sanchez was non-tendered by Chicago prior to last year’s deadline, though after signing a minors deal with the Giants, he returned to the White Sox on another minors deal and appeared in 11 games on the South Side.
  • The Twins agreed to a one-year deal worth roughly $700K with left-hander Caleb Thielbar, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reports (via Twitter).  2020 marked Thielbar’s first taste of MLB action since 2015, as the southpaw worked his way back from independent ball to post a 2.25 ERA, 2.44 K/BB rate, and 9.9 K/9 over 20 innings for Minnesota.
  • The Dodgers and left-hander Scott Alexander have agreed to a one-year, $1MM deal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link).  Alexander posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season, recording an equal number of walks and strikeouts (nine).  The southpaw was thought to be a potential non-tender candidate given his relative lack of usage and his non-inclusion on the Dodgers’ playoff roster, but the team will retain Alexander for his second arb-eligible year.  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) adds the noteworthy detail that Alexander’s $1MM salary is fully guaranteed, as opposed to the usual contracts for arbitration-eligible players that allow their teams to release them prior to Opening Day and only pay a fraction of the agreed-upon salary.

NL West Notes: Martin, Giants, Ubaldo

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Right-hander Corbin Martin, one of four players the Astros sent to Arizona in the Zack Greinke blockbuster, had been on the Diamondbacks’ radar for awhile, writes Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (subscription required). They’d first targeted him in the 2017 draft and again in trade talks with the ’Stros centered around Paul Goldschmidt — but Houston wasn’t keen on including him in such a deal. At the time, Martin was 22 and fresh off 122 innings of 2.51 ERA ball between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, while Goldschmidt only had a year of control left.

Martin made his MLB debut in 2019 but underwent Tommy John surgery in July and was suddenly on the shelf for a win-now Astros club. Thus, D-backs GM Mike Hazen inquired again, and the Astros were more willing to listen the second time around. A package of Martin, J.B. Bukauskas, Seth Beer and Josh Rojas (plus plenty of cash to help offset Greinke’s salary) got the job done. Martin may not be an option for the Snakes until 2021, but he’s a second-rounder with a career 2.58 ERA in the minors who has ranked on Top 100 lists in both of the past two offseasons, making him an intriguing piece down the road. D-backs and Astros fans alike will want to check out the piece for thoughts from Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye on the club’s longstanding interest in Martin.

Some more out of the NL West…

  • The Giants’ release of veteran lefty Jerry Blevins only increased the odds of southpaws Jarlin Garcia and Wandy Peralta making the club, notes Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Both pitchers hurled five shutout innings when exhibition games were still being played — Garcia with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio and Peralta with a 10-to-4 mark. Given that Garcia is out of minor league options, he’d appear a particularly likely candidate to secure a spot in the ’pen, although there’s certainly room for both. The Giants claimed both lefties off waivers, with Peralta coming over from the Reds in September and Garcia coming over from the Marlins over the winter. Each has had some success in the Majors and is controllable all the way through the 2023 season should things pan out in the Bay Area.
  • Baseball’s shutdown put Ubaldo Jimenez’s comeback attempt with the Rockies on hold, but the right-hander is open to pitching in the minors if play is able to resume, writes Nick Groke of The Athletic in an excellent column on Jimenez’s unexpected bid to revive his career (subscription required). As Groke details, Jimenez received a “fringy” Major League offer in the 2017-18 offseason but opted to stay home in the Dominican with his pregnant wife and soon-to-be-born child. This offseason, wanting to take one last shot, he called Rockies VP of international scouting Rolando Fernandez about using the team’s complex in the Dominican to refine his mechanics. That eventually turned into a solid Dominican Winter League stint, a minor league deal with the Rox and several weeks serving playing the role of wise old sage to younger Rockies pitchers like German Marquez. Manager Bud Black tells Groke that Jimenez was sitting around 91 mph with his heater early in camp. A comeback at age 36 is a long shot but would make for one heck of an in-season storyline to root for.

Players Avoiding Arbitration Prior To 2019 Non-Tender Deadline

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With tonight’s 8pm ET deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players looming, there’ll be several players who agree to one-year contracts for the 2020 season today. It’s common for the day of the non-tender deadline to be a big one for arbitration agreements, though it’s also worth noting that many of the players who agree to terms today will do so at a rate that’s lower than the salary figures projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

Broadly speaking, players who agree to terms on a salary this far in advance tend to be those who were at risk of being non-tendered, and their teams are able to use tonight’s deadline as leverage in bringing about a deal that saves them a bit of cash. A look at some of the early instances of players agreeing to terms reveals this to be true already; Mike Zunino ($4.5MM salary vs. $4.9MM projection), Wilmer Difo ($1MM salary vs. $1.2MM projection) and Scott Alexander ($875K salary vs. $1MM projection) have all agreed to lesser terms rather than risk being cast out into the free-agent market.

We’ll keep track of today’s players who avoid arbitration in this post and update throughout the day…

  • The Padres have a deal for $1.5MM with infielder Greg Garcia, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. That’s a shade under his $1.7MM projection for the 30-year-old.
  • Infielder Orlando Arcia has avoided arbitration with the Brewers, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Though he’s set to lose some playing time, it seems Arcia will be expected to retain a notable role. He’s considered a talented defender at short and was long expected to come around with the bat, but it hasn’t happened yet.
  • Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes is in agreement on a $1.1MM deal, per Robert Murray (Twitter link). It’s a guaranteed deal, which isn’t standard for arbitration pacts. Barnes had projected at $1.3MM on the heels of a disappointing season. It seems he’ll be asked to function as the club’s second backstop in 2020.

Earlier Moves

  • The Rangers have a deal in place with right-hander Nick Goody, the club announced. He’ll earn $915K, according to MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). Goody projected to earn $1.1MM, so he’s taking a discount on that mark with his new club.
  • Just-acquired righty Jharel Cotton has agreed to a $640K deal with the Cubs, Rosenthal tweets. Cotton had projected at $800K but he’s surely focused first and foremost on getting a significant MLB opportunity. He didn’t quite make it back to the majors in 2019 after a long injury layoff but figures to represent a swingman option for the Chicago club in 2020.
  • Outfielder Alex Dickerson and lefty Wandy Peralta are in agreement with the Giants, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Dickerson settled for $925K, which is well under his $1.2MM projected earning power. The 29-year-old has had trouble staying healthy but usually hits when he is on the field. He rewarded the San Francisco organization for taking a shot on him last year by turning in a .290/.351/.529 batting line in 171 plate appearances. As for Peralta, he lands right at his projected value with a $805K salary. The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers late in the 2019 season.
  • The White Sox and James McCann avoided arbitration with a one-year deal worth $5.4MM, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Passan. McCann’s deal checks in a half million dollars north of his $4.9MM projection. Chicago’s addition of Yasmani Grandal has likely relegated McCann to backup duties, so he’ll be a rather expensive second catcher for the South Siders. A free agent next winter, McCann hit .273/.328/.460 with a career-high 18 home runs, but his bat went dormant in the season’s final few months and his .359 BABIP seems particularly ripe for regression.
  • The Athletics avoided arbitration with left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $1.8MM, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. That salary effectively puts McFarland in line for the same salary he’d have received had he had his $1.85MM club option exercised by the Diamondbacks. Arizona, however, bought him out for $50K and then ran him through waivers, at which point the A’s claimed him. The 30-year-old posted a 4.82 ERA with a middling 5.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings this past season, but he’s a ground-ball behemoth (61.1 percent). He’ll be a free agent next winter and had been projected at $2.1MM.
  • Infielder Ehire Adrianza and the Twins agreed on a $1.6MM salary for the upcoming season, Nightengale tweets. The versatile utilityman hit .272/.349/.416 in 236 plate appearances while appearing at all four infield spots and both outfield corners. Adrianza, a free agent next winter, was projected at $1.9MM.
  • Outfielder Travis Jankowski agreed to a rare arbitration pay cut with the Reds, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. After earning $1.165MM in 2019, he’ll be owed $1.05MM in 2020 if he makes the club. A fractured wrist cost him much of the season in 2019, and he was just 4-for-22 when healthy and in the Majors. Jankowski did have a nice season in Triple-A, though (.393 OBP in 39 games), and the Reds gave up some international funds to acquire him, which seemingly indicated that they planned to tender him a contract. He was projected to earn $1.2MM.

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Giants Claim Wandy Peralta

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The Giants have claimed left-handed pitcher Wandy Peralta off waivers from the Reds, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. He’ll report to his new club on Monday, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, adding that the Giants have placed infielder Zach Green on the 60-day injured list thanks to a hip impingement.

Peralta has thrown 34 innings for the Reds this year, striking out 27 batters and walking 15 en route to a 6.09 ERA. He hasn’t been able to duplicate the success he generated in 2017, but he’ll have a chance for a change of scenery as he joins the stable of Giants relievers for a September tryout.

Injury Notes: Stroman, Pollock, Wood, Peralta, Reed, Gennett

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The latest on some injury situations from around baseball….

  • Marcus Stroman was originally scheduled to start for the Blue Jays against the Red Sox tonight, but the team has opted to instead use Derek Law as an opener and Thomas Pannone as a bulk pitcher.  Stroman left his last outing with a left pectoral cramp, and the Jays will delay his next start by at least one day, though “there’s a chance that he won’t pitch until after the All-Star break,” manager Charlie Montoyo told media (including MLB.com’s Alexis Brudnicki.  “He’s still the same way, day to day,” Montoyo said.  “But again, if he’s not 100 percent, we’re not going to pitch him….If he plays catch today and feels like he could throw a bullpen or something nice and easy, that he could go, then we’ll pitch him.”  Stroman’s injury isn’t thought to be serious, though the Blue Jays are being as cautious as possible with their ace, particularly given his status as one of the game’s top trade deadline candidates.
  • A.J. Pollock is beginning his minor league rehab assignment tonight with the Dodgers’ high-A affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga, as per the team’s Twitter feed.  Pollock has been out of action since late April, when a staph infection in his right elbow led to surgery to remove metalwork in that elbow from a previous procedure in 2016.  The outfielder had managed only a .223/.287/.330 slash line over his first 115 plate appearances as a Dodger before hitting the IL, and is hopeful of returning to the Los Angeles roster after the All-Star break.
  • Reds manager David Bell provided updates on several injured members of the Cincinnati roster in his pregame meeting with reporters, including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Alex Wood is slated to begin a rehab assignment this week, as the lefty will pitch for the first time this season after being beset with back problems since Spring Training.  Wandy Peralta (hip) may need a minor league rehab game or two, though he had a bullpen session today and is pretty close to a return.  Cody Reed (knee strain) is back “throwing” since hitting the IL in late May, Bell said, though “he’s probably still a couple of weeks away from pitching.”
  • There has also been “no talk of IL at this point” about Scooter Gennett, Bell said, after Gennett left Wednesday’s game with tightness in his left groin.  Gennett didn’t play today, as Bell decided to give the veteran two full days of rest since the Reds have an off-day on Friday.  Gennett only recently returned from a right groin strain that had sidelined him since March 22.

Wandy Peralta Switches Agencies

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Reds left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta has hired The MAS+ Agency to represent him, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

The 27-year-old Peralta debuted in 2016 with the Reds, who signed him as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. The hard-throwing Peralta showed promise in 2017, his first extensive look in the majors, but he has fallen off since then. Peralta now owns a 4.89 ERA/4.64 FIP with 7.26 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent groundball rate in 140 innings. He hasn’t been able to completely stifle same-handed batters, who have hit .254/.349/.386 against him since he debuted in the bigs.

While Peralta’s numbers aren’t anything to write home about, his agency switch is relevant because he’s on track to reach arbitration for the first time during the upcoming offseason. Peralta’s also on schedule to hit free agency after the 2022 campaign.

MLBTR will note Peralta’s agency change in our Agency Database. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Reds Place Robert Stephenson On IL, Activate Zach Duke

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The Reds announced today that they have placed righty Robert Stephenson on the 10-day injured list. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by southpaw Zach Duke, who is back from an IL stint for a right calf strain.

Stephenson is said to be dealing with a cervical strain. There’s really no indication at this point of how long he might be sidelined. Hopefully, it’ll only require a short bit of rest.

It’s unfortunate to see a health issue arise now for Stephenson, who has finally found something at the MLB level at 26 years of age. The former first-round pick has largely struggled in prior opportunities.

Stephenson is only carrying a 3.96 ERA in 25 innings this year, due in no small part to a low 58.6% strand rate. But he has shown signs of becoming a dominating reliever.

Moving to a full-time relief role has worked out quite nicely. Stephenson isn’t showing a huge fastball velocity jump, but he has all but shelved his change-up and drastically increased the usage of his slider. He now hucks it in with spin on over three of every five pitches.

Those changes have resulted in a hefty 21.1% swinging-strike rate, which Stephenson has converted into 12.6 K/9 while permitting a palatable 3.6 BB/9. Statcast calculates that he’s allowing just 28.6% hard contact.

Also heading onto the active roster for the Reds is lefty Wandy Peralta. There was another opening when Lucas Sims was optioned down after his spot start yesterday. The team also shifted starter Alex Wood to the 60-day injured list to make 40-man room for the claim of R.J. Alaniz. That’s a paper move regarding Wood, since he has already missed more than the sixty day minimum.

Reds Designate Kyle Crockett

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The Reds have designated southpaw Kyle Crockett, the club announced. That move, along with the optioning of righty Austin Brice, allowed the club to promote southpaw Wandy Peralta and right-hander Keury Mella.

Crockett, 26, had recorded 11 strikeouts while issuing only one walk in his 9 1/3 MLB innings this year. Of course, he was also touched for six earned runs on 16 base knocks. He has seen scattered action over each of the past five MLB campaigns, holding same-handed-hitters to a cumulative .640 OPS but surrendering a .862 mark to opposing righty bats.

Reds Select Kyle Crockett, Option Wandy Peralta, Release Tony Cruz

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The Reds announced a series of roster moves Thursday, most notably selecting the contract of left-handed reliever Kyle Crockett and optioning fellow southpaw Wandy Peralta to Triple-A Louisville in his place. Cincinnati opened a spot on the 40-man roster for Crockett by releasing Triple-A catcher Tony Cruz. Additionally, the Reds placed Scott Schebler on the bereavement list and recalled outfielder Phil Ervin from Louisville.

[Related: Updated Cincinnati Reds depth chart]

The decision to option Peralta was likely a disheartening one for the organization. The hard-throwing 26-year-old looked to be on the path to establishing himself as a quality big league reliever last season when he tossed 64 2/3 innings with a 3.76 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9 and a 54.2 percent ground-ball rate. Most encouragingly, Peralta showed minimal platoon splits (.287 wOBA vs. lefties, .298 vs. righties).

Unfortunately for Peralta, the 2018 campaign has been nothing short of a nightmare. He has more walks (25) than strikeouts (21) in 29 1/3 innings so far in 2018, and he’s hit a pair of batters as well. He’s allowed just one homer on the season, but his awful control in 2018 has resulted in a 6.14 ERA. Things have been particularly bad of late, as Peralta has surrendered 11 runs over his past five innings of work; he was charged with five earned runs without recording an out in his final appearance before being optioned.

Cincinnati will hope that Crockett, 26, can step into the role they’d set aside for Peralta. The 2013 Indians fourth-rounder was somewhat improbably the first player from his draft class to reach the Majors, and he did so in impressive fashion, posting a 1.80 ERA with a 28-to-8 K/BB ratio in 30 innings for Cleveland as a rookie in 2014. Since that time, however, he’s managed just a 4.84 ERA in 38 MLB innings. Crockett pitched well for Cleveland’s Triple-A club in 2017 and has a 4.00 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 27 Triple-A innings this season.

Cruz, 31, hit .154/.154/.308 in 26 plate appearances this season while serving in a backup capacity for the Reds. However, the Reds picked up Curt Casali in a minor trade with the Rays, displacing Cruz as the backup to Tucker Barnhart. In 73 plate appearances with Louisville this year, Cruz has batted .188/.260/.344.

NL Notes: Callaway, Marlins, Peralta, Hickey

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While the Mets had intended to conduct a second round, the team jumped at the chance to hire Mickey Callaway as manager after his first interview, Marc Carig of Newsday writes. He stressed a need to engage the team’s players as “human beings and individuals,” while GM Sandy Alderson cited a need to establish “rapport [and] empathy.” In other news relating to the hiring situation, Carig also notes (Twitter link) that the club interviewed Mark DeRosa before reaching its decision. The long-time big leaguer currently works for MLB Network; his candidacy had not previously been reported.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • Trimming payroll down to a reported $90MM obviously represents a big challenge for the Marlins. The challenge is made all the more difficult, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes, by the state of the team’s rotation. With some paring of veteran assets seemingly all but inevitable, it seems likely that the team will look to bring back some new arms if at all possible. Of course, the organization will surely still be looking to rely on internal options to fill out the staff. A team source had some rather harsh words for two such candidates, telling Jackson that promising youngster Dillon Peters “needs to lose weight” and charging that the struggling Adam Conley fails to accept instruction and “thinks he has all the answers.” Neither of those two southpaws produced appealing results in 2017, though the former drew a ton of groundballs in his first 31 1/3 MLB frames (and was also quite good at Double-A) while the latter had quite a lot of success in the prior two seasons.
  • The Reds’ pitching staff has easily been the worst in baseball over the past two seasons, but there are certainly some useful pieces in place. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon takes a look at one such pitcher, southpaw reliever Wandy Peralta. The 26-year-old was a pleasant surprise in his rookie campaign, working to a 3.76 ERA in 64 2/3 frames with 7.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 to go with a 54.2% groundball rate. Peralta has a diverse slate of pitch offerings — a pair of big fastballs along with a slider and change — that he utilized nearly equally in 2017. Given the number of questions marks among Cincinnati hurlers, hopes are obviously high that Peralta will continue to cement his status as a solid bullpen asset.
  • The pitching coach carousel seems to be a particular area to watch in the coaching ranks this offseason, with Jim Hickey among the notable names on the market. Per MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat, via Twitter, the former Rays pitching coach held a chat with the Cubs today. He has also already engaged with the Giants and Cardinals, she notes.
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