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Archives for January 2017

Dodgers Re-Sign Kenley Jansen

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Kenley Jansen has spent his entire career with the Dodgers, and he won’t be leaving anytime soon. The Dodgers on Tuesday announced that they’ve re-signed Jansen to a five-year contract, which is reportedly worth $80MM and allows Jansen to opt out after the 2019 season. The 29-year-old Jansen is represented by Wasserman.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Dodgers Depth Chart]

Kenley Jansen

Jansen will reportedly receive a $4MM signing bonus and earn salaries of $10MM in 2017-18, $18MM in 2019-20, and $20MM in 2021. His contract doesn’t have a no-trade clause, but he’ll reportedly take home a $1MM assignment bonus each time he’s traded. Based on that breakdown, Jansen will need to choose between two years and $41MM from the Dodgers or again testing the open market when his opt-out date arrives. Notably, the new collective bargaining agreement stipulates that he won’t be able to receive a second qualifying offer, so he’d be able to test the market free of draft-pick compensation in advance of his age-32 season.

Jansen’s new agreement comes on the heels of what was arguably the best season of his excellent career. In 68 2/3 regular-season innings, the Curacao native notched a career-best 1.83 ERA with 13.6 K/9, 1.4 BB/9 and a 30 percent ground-ball rate to go along with a career-best 47 saves. That performance earned him his first All-Star berth, though how he’d gone five full seasons without an All-Star appearance is a mystery. Jansen has, after all, compiled a 2.20 ERA with 13.9 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 408 2/3 innings in the regular season over the life of his career. He’s never posted an ERA higher than 2.85 in any season, and even that mark came back in 2011. Since that time, his control has improved remarkably, and his ERA numbers have dipped accordingly. Dating back to 2010, Jansen ranks third among all qualified relievers in total strikeouts, fourth in strikeout percentage and seventh in earned run average.

Jansen entered the winter as one of the market’s premium free agents and drew significant interest from the Yankees (who instead re-signed Aroldis Chapman), Nationals and Marlins — the latter of whom reportedly made an offer to Jansen that was greater than the five-year, $80MM pact to which he has agreed with the Dodgers. (It’s not known whether the Marlins’ offer included any sort of opt-out clause or deferred money, however.)

Similarly, the Nationals offered a larger guarantee, agent Adam Katz explained to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (all links to Sherman on Twitter). Said Katz: “The Nationals’ presentation was exceptional and generous and for more money. They conducted recruitment of this player in a high caliber professional way. Kenley and I were very impressed. At the end of the day Kenley loves Los Angeles, his Dodger family, the fans here and although money was a factor, it wasn’t the most important thing.”

Of course, it must be noted that Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reported (on Twitter) that Washington’s offer included deferred money. That could very well have brought the present-day value of the deal south of $80MM, and there’s been no word that the Nats were willing to include an opt-out in the deal, either (and such clauses add significant value to the deal as well, as MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz explained when attempting to monetize opt-out clauses last winter). As such, while the Nationals’ offer may have been for more money on paper, the overall value of the proposal could’ve been lower than the Dodgers’ offer.

All of that is largely moot now, though, as Jansen join Rich Hill (three years, $48MM) and Justin Turner (four years, $64MM) back in Los Angeles. That trio comprised the Dodgers’ top three offseason targets, and though it cost the club just shy of $200MM, that expenditure will net president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, GM Farhan Zaidi and the rest of the Dodgers’ front-office staff three of the winter’s top open-market talents. Adding Jansen’s contract to the long-term ledger pushes the Dodgers’ 2017 payroll up to a projected $226.67MM (via Jason Martinez of MLBTR/Roster Resource).

The Dodgers are known to be working to decrease their payroll, which may seem counter-intuitive after they’ve spent nearly $200MM on their top three free agents. However, the Dodgers will also see their commitments to Alex Guerrero and Carl Crawford (roughly $28MM combined) come off the books next winter, at which point they can also buy out the mutual option on Andre Ethier’s contract. A year later, they’ll see Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir, Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy each come off the books as well, creating further opportunity to trim down the payroll. And, with a number of young in-house options both on the roster (Corey Seager, Julio Urias, Joc Pederson) and rising through the farm (Cody Bellinger, Jose De Leon, Yadier Alvarez, Alex Verdugo, among others), they could eventually field a roster that is built more on homegrown talent than through free-agent spending, as recent iterations of their roster have been.

FOX’s Ken Rosenthal first reported that the Dodgers and Jansen were closing in on a deal. Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM reported that the agreement and the terms (Twitter link). Yahoo’s Tim Brown reported the inclusion of the opt-out clause (on Twitter). Rosenthal tweeted that the deal doesn’t include a no-trade clause but does come with an assignment bonus in the event of a trade. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported the financial breakdown of the deal (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Indians Release Edwin Escobar To Pursue Opportunity In Japan

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The Indians announced today that lefty Edwin Escobar has been released to pursue an opportunity with a Japanese organization. The specific team remains unreported. He had recently been designated for assignment, so there’s no impact on the team’s 40-man roster.

Escobar, 24, struggled to a 7.23 ERA in his 23 2/3 MLB innings in 2016, all of which came with the Diamondbacks. The Indians claimed him off waivers after the season ended, suggesting that major-league organizations are still intrigued by his arm despite those difficulties.

Escobar, who rated as a top-100 prospect leaguewide before the 2014 season, has largely underwhelmed since reaching the highest level of the minors that year. Over his 286 total Triple-A innings, he carries a 4.63 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Still, he’s certainly young enough to engineer a return to the top level of the game if he throws well in Japan.

Reds To Sign Louis Coleman

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The Reds have agreed to a minor-league deal with righty Louis Coleman, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter link). Details of the arrangement remain unreported.

Coleman, 30, tossed 48 frames last year for the Dodgers, working to a 4.69 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9. Despite the unfavorable results, he did at least return to health after an injury-ravaged 2015 season that represented the conclusion of his run with the Royals.

There are some reasons for Cincinnati to hope it can find a serviceable arm on a meager commitment. Coleman ran up a 2.69 ERA across 140 1/3 innings between 2011 and 2013, so he has a track record of success. And he still managed a useful 12.4% swinging-strike rate last year.

Though he isn’t a hard thrower, Coleman has consistently generated swings and misses with his oft-utilized slider. He relied on that offspeed offering on nearly three of five deliveries to the plate in 2016, which perhaps helps to explain why he ended up in the zone on just 39.7% of his pitches.

The Reds will likely allow Coleman to battle for a pen spot this spring. Cinci already signed Drew Storen to a modest pact, and could still look to add to a relief corps that was terrible in 2016 but figures to be better in the season to come.

Dodgers Avoid Arbitration With Vidal Nuno

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The Dodgers have avoided arbitration with lefty Vidal Nuno, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll earn $1.125MM in the deal.

Nuno, 29, had been projected by MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz to earn $1.1MM in his first season of arbitration eligibility. He landed in Los Angeles earlier in the offseason in the swap that sent catcher Carlos Ruiz to Seattle.

L.A. will likely utilize Nuno from the pen, but he could also spend time in the rotation if a need arises. He has logged 38 total major-league starts, though he spent the vast bulk of the 2016 season in a relief capacity. Nuno provided Seattle with 58 2/3 innings of 3.53 ERA pitching with 7.8 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.

Market Notes: Ross, Bourn, Braves, Bruce

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With plenty of apparent interest, veteran righty Tyson Ross is “taking a methodical approach” to deciding upon his next organization, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports in his latest notes column. Among the elements under consideration are the rehap options and “contractual structures” being proposed. Last we heard, the Rangers and Cubs were pursuing Ross most aggressively, with the Nationals also showing interest. All three clubs, it seems, are also lining up other possibilities in the event that they miss on the talented 29-year-old, who is attempting to work back from thoracic outlet surgery. Chicago, in particular, could turn its attention back to southpaw Travis Wood, notes Rosenthal, who says the team still likes the lefty.

  • Meanwhile, per Rosenthal, the Orioles remain interested in Michael Bourn despite adding another left-handed-hitting outfielder in Seth Smith. Baltimore wants to boost the glovework in its outfield mix, he says, and evidently remains favorably disposed toward the veteran after his late-season run with the club in 2016. It’s not immediately clear how things would look if Bourn joins Smith and Hyun Soo Kim as southpaw-swinging options, though presumably either of the existing players could also mix in at DH, while Bourn could also spell Adam Jones in center.
  • Though the Braves have added three veteran pieces to their rotation this winter, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman suggests that the club will continue to pursue a controllable, top-flight hurler. He cites Jose Quintana of the White Sox and Chris Archer of the Rays as the likeliest targets; indeed, Atlanta has long been connected to both, among plenty of other organizations. It would surely represent something of a surprise at this point were the Braves to make a major strike for a starter, but the organization has proved willing and able in the past to pull off significant deals at any stage of the year.
  • The Mets continue to face a seeming dilemma with outfielder Jay Bruce, who hasn’t generated much demand on the trade market with a variety of power-hitting free agents still available on the open market. Joel Sherman of the New York Post takes a look at the situation, arguing that the club simply needs to make the best deal it can — even if it means eating salary. New York could explore ways to add a reliever in a Bruce swap, he notes, but shouldn’t allow his $13MM salary to get in the way of bolstering the pen.

Increasingly Unlikely Orioles Will Re-Sign Mark Trumbo

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With “no movement” in talks between the Orioles and slugger Mark Trumbo, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, it is “becoming less likely” that the sides will line up on a new deal. There’s still some ongoing interest, he notes, but the sides haven’t made progress since their original talks halted.

Earlier in the offseason, there was reason to believe that Trumbo was destined to reprise his role as a corner outfielder and DH in Baltimore. But the O’s have reportedly pulled the four-year offer, reportedly worth over $50MM, that was dangled early in December.

It seems there’s little momentum at this point toward a reunion. Executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette suggested recently that the club has its eye on less costly alternatives. And the addition of lefty-hitting corner outfielder Seth Smith perhaps reduces the urgency of adding a bat — though, certainly, it doesn’t preclude a move on Trumbo or another righty.

Trumbo remains the top-rated player from MLBTR’s top 50 free agent list who has yet to sign. His leverage surely isn’t helped by the ongoing presence on the open market of fellow right-handed sluggers Mike Napoli and Chris Carter, each of whom also profiles best in a first base/DH role, along with a variety of powerful lefties such as Brandon Moss, Adam Lind, and Pedro Alvarez.

Alexi Ogando To Sign With KBO’s Hanwha Eagles

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Righty Alexi Ogando will head to Korea for the 2017 season, per an announcement from the Korea Baseball Organization’s Hanwha Eagles (in Korean; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). He’ll receive $1.8MM in the deal.

Ogando, 33, has been a fairly productive relief pitcher for most of his seven-year MLB career, and showed well during two stints in the Rangers rotation. But he dealt with arm issues late in his tenure with Texas, and hasn’t quite been the same since.

While the results have been fine — Ogando has a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the last two years — the rest of the picture isn’t as rosy. With the Red Sox in 2015, Ogando was inordinately home-run prone, coughing up 1.65 dingers per nine. Though he both reduced the dingers and worked in the zone much more frequently last year, with the Braves, Ogando ended up with a sky-high 6.5 BB/9 walk rate. ERA estimators viewed him as a 4+ to 5+ earned run per nine pitcher over those years.

Ultimately, Ogando was cut loose by the Braves after 32 innings in 2016, after a particularly rough stretch, despite the fact that the team had invested $2MM in him. He landed with the Diamondbacks on a minor-league deal, but threw poorly at Triple-A and opted out of his deal before he had a chance to make it back to the majors.

That said, it’s not hard to see the appear for Hanwha. Gone are the days when Ogando sat in the 96 mph range with his fastball, though he still works at a robust 94. And his swinging-strike rate has still been there, ranging from 11.2% in 2015 to 9.4% last year. It’s certainly at least theoretically possible that he could return to a starting role, though that’s pure speculation.

Prospect Luis Robert Leaves Cuba

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Top Cuban outfield prospect Luis Robert left his home island in November, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. His whereabouts are not given in the report, but it seems he is working towards joining a major league organization.

Clubs figure to line up for a chance at the 19-year-old Robert, a right-handed-hitting outfielder who Badler labels one of Cuba’s five best talents, citing his plus bat speed and power. Though he may ultimately turn into a corner outfielder, Robert is currently capable of playing center. Already a productive player in his age-18 season, Robert turned things up a notch in his most recent Serie Nacional action. Before he departed, Robert was hitting a robust .401/.526/.687 with 12 home runs and 11 steals over 232 plate appearances. That put him at or near the top of the leaderboard in most major offensive categories — certainly, rather a notable output given his age (even with the number of talented players that have departed Cuba’s top league in recent years).

As Badler explains at length, Robert’s timeline for obtaining clearance will play a major role in determining his earning capacity and ultimate landing spot. Because the old CBA’s international rules will apply through to the end of the current July 2 signing period — which wraps up on June 15 of this year — it’s still possible that Robert will become eligible to sign under the current system. If not, he’ll be subject to the tighter cap that is set to go into effect under the new CBA (which Badler detailed in full right here).

While Robert could certainly still land a significant payday under either regime, the current one holds out the hope for the greatest riches. That’s because it allows organizations to spend at leisure, so long as they are willing to sacrifice their ability to dole out $300K+ bonuses for two future years and pay a 100% tax on the amount they go past their pool allocation. Under the new system, all clubs will face spending caps, which can be extended only through trades for additional space. While some smaller market teams will receive slightly higher allocations, most organizations won’t be able to go past $4.75MM with their base pool and can’t trade for more than a total of $8.3MM. Plus, Badler notes, some teams have already committed portions of their 2017-18 pool space to other players.

If Robert is cleared to sign before the signing period is up, he’d at least have greater options. That would open the door to the clubs that have already gone past their limits — the Astros, Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, Nationals, Padres and Reds. Otherwise, those organizations would join others (the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, and Royals) on the sidelines for significant international talents. Alternatively, he could join another club either before or after the signing calendar flips. Badler notes that the White Sox have been discussed as a team with possible interest; if Robert is cleared in time, Chicago (or another hypothetical team with heavy interest) could elect to spend past its 2016-17 pool limits (thus taking on penalties) or make Robert the signature piece of their 2017-18 signing group.

Cashman: Yankees Likely Done Adding To 2017 Roster

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman suggested in an appearance on the YES Network that his organization is all but done with its offseason roster moves, as Jack Curry of YES reports (Twitter links). Though he’s still checking in on available free agents, Cashman says it’s 99.9 percent likely that there won’t be any significant new additions.

The long-time New York front office man also addressed the club’s reported pursuit of White Sox lefty Jose Quintana. Chicago’s asking price is simply too high, says Cashman, with Curry reporting that the rebuilding South Siders are seeking “at least 3 elite prospects” in return for the talented southpaw.

[RELATED: Yankees Depth Chart]

To date, the Yankees have made two significant additions in lefty Aroldis Chapman and outfielder/DH Matt Holliday. But the club is set to rely on quite a few younger players as it continues an effort to transition to a somewhat leaner, more sustainable roster.

It’s certainly arguable that there’s work left to do. The rotation, especially, has quite a few questions and could obviously stand to be upgraded. And there’s some reason to think another bullpen lefty might be desirable. Unless something changes, though, it appears that the Yankees are more or less prepared to head into camp with the current mix of MLB talent available to them.

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