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Archives for December 2015

Quick Hits: Baez, Baker, Prospects, Market

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Barring a late-breaking move as the ball drops, this’ll be the last post of 2015 on MLBTR. Thanks for another great year! Be sure to join us bright and early tomorrow for a new one that will start with an arguably unprecedented slate of unsigned free agents.

Here are a few stray notes from around baseball:

  • In a piece for Baseball America, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times explores the question whether Javier Baez can turn into a Ben Zobrist-esque player for the Cubs. Baez has been getting a look in the outfield this spring, as has previously been reported. “It just adds to his versatility,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. “He’s someone who always enjoyed taking fly balls during batting practice out in center field shagging, and he’s always looked really good doing so.” Of course, Chicago will enjoy Zobrist regardless, since it just signed the genuine article this winter
  • The Cubs have hired former backstop John Baker as a baseball operations assistant, as Wittenmyer also notes. The veteran wrapped up his seven-year MLB career in Chicago with a 68-game run in 2014. MLBTR wishes him the best of luck in his new gig.
  • MLB.com’s Jim Callis lists his ten breakout prospects for the coming year. Among the interesting names to watch is Jake Bauers, a little-known piece of last year’s blockbuster three-team trade that sent Wil Myers to the Padres and netted the Rays Steven Souza. The rising youngster could make that deal sting even more for San Diego than it has already. Likewise, pitchers Josh Hader of the Brewers (added in the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers deadline swap), Frances Martes of the Astros (who came from the Marlins in the deal that sent Jarred Cosart to Miami), and Cody Reed of the Reds (a part of the Johnny Cueto flip this past summer) could change the calculus of the transactions that brought them to their current organizations, in the estimation of Callis.
  • ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden provides his breakdown of the single most important missing piece for every team in the league in an Insider piece. Looking down his list, it’s notable how many clubs he cites as needing a corner outfielder. That market figures to explode at some point early in 2016.

Reactions To The Dodgers’ Signing Of Scott Kazmir

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The Dodgers officially agreed yesterday to a three-year, $48MM deal — which also includes an opt-out after the 2016 campaign — with free agent southpaw Scott Kazmir. Here are some reactions to the deal from around the game:

  • Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi addressed the signing yesterday, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. Giving in to an opt-out clause after just one season fit the team’s situation in several ways, he suggested. For one, there are several quality pitching prospects that could be ready to step in for 2017. And if Kazmir triggers the clause, then L.A. will be able to recoup a draft pick by making a qualifying offer. “In Scott’s case, he and his representation are aware that next year’s free-agent starting pitching market will probably be a pretty good seller’s market,” said Zaidi. “From our standpoint, we have a lot of good young pitching that we feel is going to be ready to contribute at some point in 2016 and certainly by 2017.”
  • The move to add Kazmir wouldn’t necessarily preclude other rotation additions, said Zaidi. Indeed, the club has since reportedly reached agreement with Japanese righty Kenta Maeda. “There are some guys coming back from injury,” Zaidi said. “To the extent that adding more certainty to the rotation is an option for us over the next couple of months, we’ll definitely continue to look.”
  • The Astros had interest in Kazmir “all along,” Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets. But the team simply wasn’t willing to reach the salary level that the Dodgers offered the lefty. As Drellich explains in a post on the signing, Houston could stand to add a rotation arm after losing Kazmir and giving up some depth via trade. Whether or not that might come via free agency remains to be seen, as Drellich notes that it’s possible to imagine the organization dealing for an arm and then signing a position player off of the open market to compensate for whatever trade chips are utilized.
  • Missing on Kazmir hurts the Orioles, who look in need of some upgrading in the rotation. But while noting his value, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com also questions the wisdom of including an opt-out clause one year into a three-year pact.
  • MLB.com’s Mike Petriello likes the signing for the Dodgers, noting that Kazmir’s recent durability has flipped the script on the idea that he’s an injury risk. Petriello explains that the lefty has varied his arsenal and proved effective over a long enough stretch to warrant this kind of payday. But, he argues, it’s also a nice value for the team given the price of other pitchers this winter.
  • MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette argues (audio link) that the Dodgers can find value late in the free agent market after inking Kazmir. (Of course, the club has already gone on to reportedly strike a deal with Maeda.) He suggests that bringing back Howie Kendrick would make a good deal of sense — presumably, by deepening the infield and bumping Kike Hernandez to an outfield role — though Zaidi downplayed that possibility.

Yankees Notes: Chapman, Miller, Betances

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The latest from the Bronx:

  • The Yankees bullpen probably won’t be any better in 2016, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs opines.  The Yankees now have the most fearsome trio of relievers of any team in baseball with Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances, but Sullivan can’t fathom the ’16 bullpen actually besting the 2015 bullpen.  The Yankees were 66-3 when leading after six, and 73-2 when leading after seven innings, and there’s not much room to grow from there.  Still, the Yankees were projected to regress a bit in the bullpen area, so the Chapman acquisition made plenty of sense.
  • The Bombers head into 2016 with plenty of work to do, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes.  The Yankees may look to address their starting pitching as none of their starters topped 170 innings in 2015.  Still, they have plenty of names to work with as Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell are already in-house.   It appears that outfielder Brett Gardner and left-handed closer Andrew Miller could be available if the Yankees get an offer they can’t refuse, but that has not come along yet.
  • The Yankees’ bullpen trio could make history, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes.  No team has ever featured three relievers who recorded at least 100 strikeouts in a season and only six teams have ever had two pitchers reach the 100 K mark.  Cassavell stacked the three Yankees hurlers up against the 2014 Royals bullpen trio and also compared them to some reliever groups from the past.

Heyman On Cespedes, Parra, Davis

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There could be more great star free agents still available as we head into the New Year than ever before, in the estimation of CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. The question now is – where will they land?  Here’s the latest from Heyman:

  • Angels owner Arte Moreno has indicated that he’s not going to make a major free agent splash between now and Opening Day, but Heyman hears that the Halos have been in contact with Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and perhaps Alex Gordon as well.  It’s not clear how serious they are about signing one of the three, however.
  • Gerardo Parra is said to have “seven or eight” teams in on him and the Rockies are in “serious” pursuit.  Colorado has been considering trades involving Carlos Gonzalez and their other outfielders, so a Parra signing could be a part of a serious outfield overhaul for them.  Parra slashed .291/.328/.452 in 2015 and he boasts a strong reputation as a defensive outfielder, though his fielding statistics took a big step backward last season.  The Royals are also known to have interest.
  • When asked about free agent slugger Chris Davis, one person connected to the Astros said the player is “not in our plans.”  Davis would be a strong fit for Houston, in theory, but he is out of their price range.  The 29-year-old Davis is the top power bat on the open market, as he has led the Majors in homers over the past three seasons.
  • When approached, the Yankees asked the Astros for Lance McCullers Jr. in exchange for Andrew Miller, and Houston quickly rebuffed that attempt.  The Yankees are seeking a No. 1 pitcher in order to part with Miller, so it seems unlikely that he’ll go anywhere.
  • Word is that new Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman is unlikely to serve a lengthy suspension for his alleged domestic violence incident.  Heyman reasons that the Bombers wouldn’t have made the deal if they felt that Chapman was in store for a long ban.
  • The Padres still need a shortstop but one person with Padres connections wondered whether an investment of  “$60MM to $70MM” (his estimate) made sense for them given that they are not expected to contend this year. However, Heyman notes that president Mike Dee and GM A.J. Preller are aggressive and they might not want to pass up on the chance to ink a player like Desmond at a sensible number.  Heyman also IDs the Rockies and White Sox as dark horse teams for Desmond.
  • The Cardinals were another club that downplayed the possibility of a major move, but GM John Mozeliak went out and signed Mike Leake after publicly stating that he wasn’t going to make any “dynamic” moves.  Could they have another significant move in store?  Heyman has heard buzz that the Cards may also be looking again at a big bat at first or in the outfield.
  • When asked about the possibility of Cespedes, one Nationals-connected person said, “Probably not, at least not at the moment.”  That doesn’t make a signing likely by any means, but it also doesn’t rule out a pursuit.
  • There are still “about six to seven teams involved” when it comes to Cespedes, Heyman writes.
  • The Dodgers are still looking around after signing Scott Kazmir, so they are not out on Japanese star Kenta Maeda.  The Yankees, meanwhile, can be crossed off the list as they are not interested.  Maeda, 28 in April, is widely considered to be one of the best pitchers in Japan. He just wrapped up a season in which he pitched to a 2.09 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 across 206 1/3 innings, marking his sixth consecutive season with an earned run average of 2.60 or better.
  • Marlins president president David Samson contends that owner Jeffrey Loria still has “no interest” in selling the club.

Braves To Sign Kyle Kendrick

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1:20pm: Kendrick’s deal will call for him to earn a $2MM base if he makes the big league roster and incentives can boost the total value to $6MM, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets.

10:09am: The Braves announced that they have signed right-hander Kyle Kendrick to a minor league deal.  The pact includes a non-roster invite to spring training.

Kendrick, 31, is coming off a poor season with the Rockies after signing a one-year, $5.5MM contract last winter. As a fifth starter that doesn’t miss many bats, Kendrick and Coors Field always seemed like a poor fit, but he presumably went with the largest guarantee offered to him last winter.

In 142 1/3 innings with the Rockies, Kendrick limped to a 6.32 ERA. His K/9, BB/9 and ground-ball rates each trended in the wrong direction in his lone season in Denver, and he finished the year with respective marks of 5.1, 2.9 and 38.8 percent in those regards. While Kendrick’s season was easily the worst of his career and likely hampered his 2015-16 market, he did have a track record as a serviceable source of 25 to 30 starts per year in a different hitter-friendly environment: Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.

From 2010-14, Kendrick worked to a 4.33 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate near 46 percent in 835 2/3 innings. He missed some time this past year with inflammation in his right shoulder and has previously spent time on the DL (2013) for the same injury.

Earlier this month, the Pirates were mentioned as a club with interest in Kendrick and that pairing would have made a lot of sense given the club’s reputation for restoring the values of veteran pitchers who have stumbled.  Instead, however, Atlanta has picked him up on a low-risk deal.

Orioles Notes: Span, Kazmir, Kim

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Earlier this week, a report listed the Orioles as one of the favorites to land free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.  However, a team source later told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that there’s no real chance of the O’s going anywhere near MLBTR’s projected $140MM price tag on Cespedes.  On the other hand, the Orioles have reportedly been willing to lay out a similar amount of money to retain Chris Davis.

While we wait to see if the O’s step up their pursuit of Cespedes or offer up more cash to Davis, here’s a look at the latest from Baltimore:

  •  The Orioles have done their homework on Denard Span, but Kubatko gets the sense that they are unlikely to go beyond a one-year deal for him.  Baltimore has concerns about Span’s durability and the club also wonders if he can pass their physical.  Span, who is coming up on his 32nd birthday, has been excellent when healthy, slashing a combined .301/.358/.421 over the past two seasons with 42 stolen bases in 943 plate appearances.
  • Dan Duquette’s disdain for opt-outs is understandable, but it will be interesting to see if he bends on his policy against them at some point, Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes.  Dubroff points out that the Orioles long refused to give four-year deals to free agent pitchers, but they folded for Darren O’Day and Ubaldo Jimenez.  The Orioles missed out on pitching target Scott Kazmir this winter when the veteran inked a three-year deal – including an opt-out – with the Dodgers.
  • On Wednesday, we rounded up some news on the Orioles, including an item on new Korean signee Hyun Soo Kim.

Quick Hits: Shapiro, Kendrick, Chapman, Parra

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Mark Shapiro’s tenure as president of the Blue Jays hasn’t exactly been met with a full embrace by the team’s fans, but he tells John Lott of the National Post that he’s focused on the job at hand rather than worrying about criticism. “I think it’s just inefficient for me to spend a lot of time and energy on that,” says Shapiro. “What I think fans ultimately want is for me to work for this team and make it as good as it can possibly be. If I spend my energy worrying about how to be popular, it’ll be time away from doing the job. That’s not what I’m going to do.” The piece offers a lengthy and interesting look at the veteran executive, and is well worth a full read.

Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:

  • When asked about free agent second baseman Howie Kendrick today, Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said that the organization “feel[s] pretty set” at the position at this point, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The Dodgers will utilize Chase Utley and Kike Hernandez there, he said, indicating that there’s little reason for the club to pursue a reunion with Kendrick. Otherwise, per Zaidi, the team could still add another starter and is “still evaluating” its options in the bullpen (via J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group, on Twitter).
  • Zaidi also addressed the Dodgers’ reported deal with the Reds for Aroldis Chapman, via another Shaikin tweet. Los Angeles wasn’t “comfortable making the move” and “moved on” after allegations of a domestic dispute involving Chapman surfaced.
  • Unsurprisingly, Gerardo Parra is expected to wait to sign until the top of the outfield market sheds some names, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. He is still drawing interest from the Royals, Nationals, Giants, and Angels, per the report.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post takes a broader look at the outfield market and wonders what teams could be readying to spring. The Nats top his list, followed by four AL clubs: the White Sox, Orioles, Tigers, and Angels. I agree with Sherman’s assessment that the market will still likely pay these players, as I recently wrote. As an anonymous GM told Sherman: “You will have some owners soon say, ‘Wow, we can have this guy rather than what we have now.’ That is when the aggressiveness comes back in.”

Braves To Sign Alex Torres

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The Braves have struck a minor league deal with lefty Alex Torres, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports on Twitter. He’ll receive an invitation to big league training camp this spring.

Torres just turned 28 in December and has seen fairly consistent time in the big leagues over the past three years. But he was designated for assignment by the Mets last August.

At the surface, that was a puzzling move for New York, which had acquired Torres over the prior winter and received 34 1/3 innings of 3.15 ERA pitching with 35 strikeouts. But a closer look revealed the obvious cause: Torres also permitted 26 free passes in that span and was ineffective against opposing lefties, who touched him for a .268/.406/.393 batting line.

Atlanta will hope that Torres can return to the form he showed over 2013-14. While he was still wild at times — especially in the latter season — he did put up 112 innings of 2.49 ERA pitching while posting 9.1 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9.

The route back isn’t immediately clear. Torres hit the strike zone with just 41.0% of his pitches in 2015, but that was actually up from his 2014 campaign. The biggest issue, it seems, was a drop in his swinging strike rate — from nearly 13% in the prior two years to 9.2% — that occurred as batters made more frequent contact while chasing less of his offerings outside of the zone.

If the Braves and Torres can figure things out, there’s some potential future upside for the team — and not just through the possibility of a mid-season flip. Torres will enter the year with just 2.095 days of service, meaning he could be controlled for up to three more seasons via arbitration.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/30/15

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Tigers have added righty Michael Crotta and outfielder Chad Huffman on minor league deals, per a club announcement. (Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press first tweeted the former’s signing.) Both players have briefly reached the majors in the past and spent the last two seasons playing in Japan. Crotta, 31, posted a 6.59 ERA in 28 2/3 frames last year for the Nippon Ham Fighters while struggling badly with his control (6.0 BB/9). But he allowed just 2.62 earned per nine in his 58 1/3 frames in the prior season. And the 30-year-old Huffman received only eleven turns at bat for the Chiba Lotte Marines this year, though he slashed .270/.354/.443 over 210 plate appearances for the club in 2014.

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