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Archives for March 2016

Indians Sign Marlon Byrd To Minor League Deal

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7:45pm: Byrd has passed his physical, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer tweets. He’ll earn $1MM if he cracks the major league roster. The contract also includes some incentives, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com adds on Twitter.

11:04am: The Indians and outfielder Marlon Byrd have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 38-year-old Byrd, who split last season between the Reds and Giants, is represented by ACES.

Marlon Byrd

Byrd will add to a growing mix of outfield options for the Indians, who figure to open the season without Michael Brantley (at least for a couple of weeks) and are otherwise relying on a mix of Tyler Naquin, Rajai Davis, Lonnie Chisenhall and Collin Cowgill in addition to fellow non-roster invitees Will Venable, Robbie Grossman and Shane Robinson. On paper, Byrd would bring the most offensive upside of the bunch to serve as a platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting Chisenhall, who thrived in the outfield last year but has longstanding difficulty against left-handed pitching at the plate. Byrd has long been a thorn in the side of southpaw pitchers, and he continued that trend in 2015, hitting .271/.324/.496 against lefties.

Though Byrd was quite productive following an August trade to the Giants, his tenure in San Francisco ended with some degree of controversy. Playing in the final season of a two-year, $16MM contract last in 2015, Byrd needed to reach a total 550 plate appearances for an $8MM vesting option to trigger. Over the final few games of the season, the Giants relegated Byrd to the bench in favor of young outfielders Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson. As GM Bobby Evans explained at the time, the club planned to play Byrd on an everyday basis up until the club was mathematically eliminated from the postseason. If and when that occurred, the team would shift focus and use the remainder of the year to evaluate future options such as Parker and Williamson. Unfortunately, due to the length of time for which the Giants staved off elimination, that meant that Byrd ultimately fell just six plate appearances shy of having his option vest.

Now with the Indians, Byrd will hope to make the club and approximate the solid overall production he’s posted since a career renaissance with the Mets and Pirates in 2013. Since that rebound campaign, Byrd has batted a collective .268/.313/.469. Over the life of a 14-season career in the Majors, his cumulative batting line sits at .275/.329/.430 in nearly 6,000 plate appearances.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/17/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Mariners have added righty Steve Johnson on a minor league deal, per a club announcement. Johnson, who was recently cut loose by the Rangers, will not receive an invite to big league camp. It’s been a disappointing spring thus for the the 28-year-old, who struggled in his time with Texas, but Seattle will hope he can provide some pen depth. There’s some track record to go on with Johnson, who is coming off of a 2015 season in which he carried a 2.30 ERA over 54 2/3 Triple-A frames while racking up 11.0 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • Former Cubs prospect Josh Vitters is headed to the indy league Bridgeport Bluefish, per a club announcement (via Twitter). Still just 26, Vitters has yet to return to the majors after a brief look back in 2012. Once a consensus top-100 prospect leaguewide, the infielder struggled badly at Triple-A in 2014 and was ultimately released by the Cubs. He joined the Rockies on a minor league pact last year, but Colorado ended up releasing him in the spring.

Justin Morneau Out Til Mid-Season After Offseason Elbow Surgery

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Free agent first baseman Justin Morneau will not be ready to resume swinging a bat until June after undergoing offseason elbow surgery, he tells LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. While the veteran says he isn’t yet writing off a return as soon as the coming season, he obviously won’t be available in the near-term for teams interested in adding a bat.

Morneau entered the open market after the Rockies turned down their end of a mutual option. He made it back to Colorado late last season after dealing with head and neck issues, but it’s another injury altogether that will prevent him from joining a team this spring.

The 34-year-old said he expected that trouble with a tendon in his left elbow would be cured by rest, but toward the end of 2015 was not experiencing progress. The issue first arose last spring, but obviously did not prevent him from returning down the stretch in 2015.

“Unfortunately, once teams starting calling in the offseason and things were moving along I didn’t feel confident that I was getting better,” he said, “so I decided to go get it checked out again on my own. After a new MRI, surgery was recommended and that was the path we chose to take.”

Morneau further explained that no teams were interested in signing him during the rehab process, meaning he’ll go it alone and see how things progress. “As of now I will do the rehab on my own and see how I feel going through that process and will make a decision on my future at a later date,” Morneau told Neal. “I have not ruled out returning to play this year at some point.”

The long-time Twins star has certainly shown he can still be productive at the plate, when healthy. He put up a strong 2014 season in Colorado, leading the league in batting average. And he managed a .310/.363/.458 slash line (good for a 109 OPS+) last year, though he was only available for 182 plate appearances — with those coming before and after a lengthy mid-year DL stint for concussion-like symptoms. It’s worth noting, too, that Morneau still rates as an average or better fielder at first.

Despite the health questions, Morneau took a spot at the back end of MLBTR’s top fifty free agent list. That he remains the only unsigned player from that list is now explained by today’s report.

MLBTR Podcast: Barry Svrluga Talks Nationals

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Washington Post national baseball writer Barry Svrluga — who recently authored The Grind, which is now available on paperback — joins the show to discuss the Nationals’ biggest stories heading into the season. Among the items of discussion are GM Mike Rizzo, new manager Dusty Baker, and the contract status of Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.

MLBTR’s own Charlie Wilmoth then hops on the line to cover the latest with the Pirates. (And it’s only fair to note that he has written his own volume on the Bucs.) Charlie breaks down the addition of David Freese and the team’s overall infield mix, addresses the uncertainty in the rotation, and talks about the possibility of an extension with one or more of the team’s candidates for a new deal.

 

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The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

Padres Sign Mike Olt To Minors Deal

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The Padres have signed Mike Olt to a minor league deal which does not contain an invite to big league Spring Training, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune. The 27-year-old Olt will head to minor league camp. Olt’s signing was first noted by MadFriars.com, who tweeted a picture of Olt in uniform at Spring Training.

Olt’s deal with the Padres will reunite him with general manager A.J. Preller, who was an assistant GM with the Rangers when Olt was one of the game’s top-ranked prospect as a member of the Rangers organization. The former No. 49 overall pick in the 2010 draft, Olt’s big-time right-handed power quickly landed him among the game’s Top 30 prospects in the eyes of MLB.com, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. The UConn product’s best season in the minors came in 2012, when he slashed .288/.398/.579 with 28 homers at the Double-A level.

Olt has never hit much in the Majors, amassing just a .168/.250/.330 batting line with a jarring 37 percent strikeout rate. Contact has long been an issue for the slugger, who split the 2015 campaign between the Cubs and White Sox but was released by the latter earlier this week. Olt missed considerable time last season with a fractured wrist suffered early in the year upon being hit by a pitch. He’ll give the Padres some depth at the infield corners, with third base being a particularly thin area for the organization.

Further Details On The Adam LaRoche Situation

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Adam LaRoche’s decision to step away from the game of baseball (and a $13MM salary) earlier this week surprised most of the baseball world and left his teammates stunned. The subsequent reports that LaRoche’s decision stemmed from a request made by White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams that LaRoche’s 14-year-old son, Drake, not be allowed in the clubhouse on a daily basis anymore in 2016 (as he has been for the past five seasons of Adam’s career with the Nationals and White Sox) added quite a few wrinkles to the story. That news has triggered reactions from teammates and the media alike in addition to yielding several additionally newsworthy items, which we’ll compile here…

  • White Sox players have emphatically sided with LaRoche in the matter, so much so that the team considered boycotting yesterday’s Spring Training game, reports ESPN’s Karl Ravech. Manager Robin Ventura intervened and convinced the players to take the field, but the clubhouse is none too pleased with the front office’s decision on the matter. Per Ravech, there’s a division between the clubhouse (including the players and Ventura) and the front office.
  • CSN Chicago’s David Kaplan reports a number of elements on the decision, including the fact that allowing Drake to be in the clubhouse every day was actually a requirement for LaRoche to even sign with the Sox in the first place (Twitter link). According to Kaplan (link), LaRoche would not have signed with Chicago had he not been promised full access for his son, and both Ventura and GM Rick Hahn agreed to the situation before LaRoche was signed (link). Furthermore, Kaplan hears that White Sox players had a “very heated” meeting with management wherein high-profile players, including Chris Sale, “really went after” Williams. Kaplan describes the meeting as “very contentious,” noting that the Sox clubhouse think highly of LaRoche and his son.
  • Yahoo’s Jeff Passan hears the same, tweeting that Sale “absolutely lit up” Williams over the situation. In a full column, Passan echoes the sentiment that Drake was welcome in the clubhouse and goes on to opine that, while the White Sox’ request was not necessarily misplaced, it was poorly timed. Implementing this new philosophy midway through Spring Training should never have happened, Passan writes, suggesting instead that it should’ve been handled before camp opened. Moreover, Passan tweets that the Sox roster feels that Williams isn’t around the clubhouse enough to understand the dynamics.
  • Outfielder Adam Eaton spoke to CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes about the matter yesterday, firmly voicing his support for LaRoche and Drake. “We wanted Drake in the clubhouse, and we were backing Adam in every aspect,” said Eaton. “…He chose family over allowing his son to be in the clubhouse and we respect what he had to do. … We can say we enjoyed Drake LaRoche in the clubhouse and everything he brought in the clubhouse. He brought perspective. He helped out and around, he wasn’t a burden by any stretch of the imagination.” Eaton says that both Adam and Drake are “probably the most respected people” he’s shared a clubhouse with, noting that Drake often helped by cleaning players’ cleats and assisting in drills. “Never a trouble in the clubhouse,” Eaton repeated.
  • USA Today’s Bob Nightengale contests that the Sox were in the right to make the request of LaRoche. Williams’ main point in speaking to Nightengale is that there is nary a business anywhere else in the country where a parent can bring his 14-year-old child to work every day. The longtime Chicago exec made it clear that he thinks highly of Drake, and the decision was in no way related to his conduct in the clubhouse. “Simply, you have to make a decision from the management perspective or an organization at large,” said Williams. “We went into this season saying to ourselves, ‘We are going to commit and focus and not leave any stone unturned.'” He also notes that he didn’t ask that Drake be completely absent, but rather simply dial back the frequency with which his son spent days in the clubhouse. Nightengale opines that it would be a shame for such a respected player to see his career end in this way, writing that LaRoche should “rip up his retirement papers” and return to the club on Friday.
  • The issue of children in clubhouses is not unique to the White Sox organization, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, examining some of the policies and measures recently implemented by the Red Sox pertaining to this exact manner. Rosenthal also provides further details on Sale’s words for Williams (links to Twitter), adding that Sale told Williams to get out of the clubhouse and stay out.
  • In a second column, Rosenthal reports that neither Hahn nor Ventura agrees with Williams’ approach. Asked why he made the decision and broke the news to LaRoche himself (as opposed to Hahn or Ventura), Williams told Rosenthal: “This had the potential to piss people off and I’m the best one to absorb the heat. Period.” A pair of sources also told Rosenthal that the agreement mentioned by Kaplan, in which Drake was permitted to be in the clubhouse on a daily basis, “might only have been verbal” as opposed to anything that was put in writing.

Reds To Sign Alfredo Simon To Major League Deal

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1:15pm: MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports that Simon receives a $2MM base salary on the deal and can take home another $1.5MM worth of incentives (Twitter link).

11:01am: The Reds and right-hander Alfredo Simon are in agreement on a Major League contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The MVP Sports client will return to the Reds, where he pitched from 2012-14 before being traded to the Tigers in exchange for Eugenio Suarez and minor league righty Jonathon Crawford.

Alfredo Simon

Simon, 35 in May, tallied 345 innings and a 3.16 ERA in his three years with the Reds, averaging 6.3 strikeouts and 2.7 walks per nine innings pitched to go along with a 48.5 percent ground-ball rate. Simon spent the first two years of his Reds tenure in the bullpen, but he made the jump to the rotation in 2014 and yielded better results than perhaps even the most optimistic expectations could’ve predicted. Simon made the first All-Star team of his career at the age of 33 that season, pitching to a 3.44 ERA in 196 2/3 innings. The outstanding work was enough to pique the Tigers’ trade interest and convince Detroit to cede a pair of intriguing young players for the final year of Simon’s club control.

Simon’s excellent season in ’14, though, looked to be largely smoke and mirrors, even at the time. The veteran benefited greatly from a minuscule .232 BABIP and 85 percent strand rate in the first half — neither of which appeared to make his 2.70 first-half ERA sustainable. That production did indeed prove too much to maintain, as Simon’s BABIP regressed to .309 in the second half, and his ERA after the break was a more pedestrian 4.52.

None of that, however, is to say that Simon can’t provide on-field value to the Reds’ pitching staff in 2016. (His off-field history, on the other hand, is a separate and lengthy issue.) The right-hander struggled to a 5.05 ERA with the Tigers last season, but that was partly due to a dip in strikeout rate and an increased walk rate. A move back to the NL could aid both of those factors, and despite the lackluster ERA, it has to be noted that Simon still racked up 187 innings in the Detroit rotation in what was another healthy year in the rotation. Making roughly 30 starts and delivering an ERA in the low- to mid-4.00 range would still be a boost to an uncertain Reds staff.

Indeed, Cincinnati has upside but also plenty of question marks beyond right-handers Anthony DeSclafani and Raisel Iglesias, so there’s certainly cause to add some depth in the form of Simon. While the club has a number of interesting young arms — Robert Stephenson, Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, Michael Lorenzen and Cody Reed, to name a few — it’s difficult to rely on such an unproven mix to round out the rotation. That’s especially true in light of a UCL sprain for Lorenzen and a delayed start to the year for Lamb, who is recovering from offseason back surgery. The Reds, of course, also have veteran Homer Bailey on the mend from Tommy John surgery, but he figures to miss at least a couple of months this season as he works his way back, so there’s no telling exactly how many innings the club can receive from him.

Simon’s late start might mean that he won’t quite be ready to step into the Opening Day rotation, but even if that’s the case, it’s easy enough to see him jumping into the starting mix by the middle of next month and providing a stabilizing presence to an otherwise youthful staff. The Reds needn’t make a 40-man roster move to accommodate the addition of Simon, as that roster will stand at just 39 players, even after Simon’s return is finalized.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bronson Arroyo Has Torn Rotator Cuff

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10:50am: The tear is in Arroyo’s rotator cuff, not his labrum, the pitcher himself told reporters (Twitter link via Zuckerman). Arroyo described the tear as “significant” and said that while he’s waiting for further evaluation, “It’s not looking real good.” Via James Wagner of the Washington Post (on Twitter), Arroyo says he will decide whether to rehab the shoulder or retire within the next couple of days.

MARCH 17, 9:15am: The Nationals told reporters this morning, including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, that reports of the labrum tear are “premature,” and they’re waiting for an MRI from the D-backs to compare the results to yesterday’s test (links to Zuckerman on Twitter). Zuckerman further notes, though, that Arroyo was seen hugging teammates in the clubhouse and that “everyone seems to sense what the likely result” of the situation is. Said manager Dusty Baker: “We don’t have to make a rash decision on anything. I think we owe him that as a man and as a professional.”

MARCH 16: Right-hander Bronson Arroyo, who is in camp with the Nationals on a minor league contract and has been vying for the fifth spot in their rotation, has an “80 percent tear” of the labrum in his right shoulder, tweets MLB Network’s Peter Gammons. Earlier today, it was reported that Arroyo would be scratched from his upcoming start due to shoulder soreness, but the severity of the injury will end Arroyo’s comeback attempt with the Nationals, Gammons notes.

Arroyo chose a minor league deal with the Nats (and his former skipper Dusty Baker) this winter over a return to Cincinnati on a minor league pact. The veteran innings eater had been hoping to make it back to the Majors for the first time since 2014 after missing the 2015 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Arroyo had long been known for his durability prior to signing a two-year pact with the D-backs spanning those 2014-15 seasons, but he underwent Tommy John after tearing his UCL three months into his first season with Arizona. He didn’t pitch in 2015, though his salary was included in a couple of trades to help balance out the financial element of said deals.

Arroyo could certainly look to rehab from the injury, but the possibility also has to be raised that this latest setback could bring to an end what has been a long and fruitful career in the big leagues. Earlier this spring, the 39-year-old told Tyler Kepner of the New York Times that he hoped to pitch beyond the 2016 campaign, but he also added, “If I don’t make it out of this camp and this arm just won’t go, I’m completely satisfied with what I’ve done in the game.”

From the team’s vantage point, the loss of Arroyo means that right-handers Joe Ross and Tanner Roark are likely to fill out the rotation behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. Top prospect Lucas Giolito figures to challenge for a rotation spot of his own at some point over the course of the season as well.

Tigers Notes: Verlander, Holaday, Nesbitt

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Justin Verlander’s somewhat quiet resurgence over the final two months of the season played a significant factor in the Tigers’ offseason, GM Al Avila tells ESPN’s Jayson Stark. “Justin’s finish gave us the confidence and the hope that we could go for it again, and rebuild this team and try to win a championship,” said Avila, who spent more than $270MM on free agents this winter and also made several upgrades on the trade market. As Stark notes, the Tigers’ rotation no longer has the star power it held in the days of Max Scherzer and David Price joining Verlander atop the starting five, but the addition of Jordan Zimmermann and a return to form for Anibal Sanchez could go a long way toward revitalizing the Detroit rotation and fueling yet another postseason push.

More notes out of Motown…

  • The Tigers have “quietly prepared” to trade backup catcher Bryan Holaday ever since signing Jarrod Saltalamacchia to serve as the backup to starting catcher James McCann, writes Lynn Henning of the Detroit News. Though Holaday is in the midst of a big Spring Training performance and has seen time at both third base and left field in Grapefruit League action, the out-of-options catcher, whom Henning notes is beloved by teammates and coaches alike, is all but certain to land on another club at the end of the month. While Saltalamacchia isn’t as strong a defender as Holaday, the Tigers’ right-leaning lineup will benefit from Salty’s left-handed swing and power — traits that made him attractive to the club. The Tigers now consider the younger Miguel Gonzalez, who will head to Triple-A to open the season, as the third catcher in the organization, per Henning. As a career .251/.283/.340 hitter, Holaday’s value to other clubs isn’t exceptionally high, but he still offers a superior option to many internal candidates on clubs with more questionable catching depth.
  • Right-hander Angel Nesbitt, who has been aiming to make the Opening Day bullpen, will now be out four to six weeks with a right ankle sprain suffered during pitchers’ fielding practice yesterday, as MLive.com’s Chris Iott writes. Nesbitt is currently using crutches and a walking boot to get around the clubhouse. Skipper Brad Ausmus told the Detroit media that Nesbitt had been throwing well and looked to have regained confidence after a shaky 2015 season. Nesbitt, who turned 25 this winter, earned a spot in the Tigers’ Opening Day ’pen last season but struggled through 21 2/3 big league innings, posting a 5.40 ERA in that time. Nesbitt, who jumped directly to the Majors from Double-A after posting dominant numbers there, was sent to Triple-A and continued to struggle, logging a 6.25 ERA in 40 1/3 innings there. The hard-throwing righty will now, presumably, open the season at the Triple-A level and hope that better results yield a return to the Major League staff.

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