Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.
Archives for February 2017
Mets Designate Ty Kelly For Assignment
The Mets announced that they’ve designated infielder Ty Kelly for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for left-hander Jerry Blevins, whose one-year deal to return to the Mets is now official.
The 28-year-old Kelly made his Major League debut with New York last season, hitting .241/.352/.345 in 71 trips to the plate. Originally drafted by the Orioles in the 13th round of the 2009 draft, Kelly has spent the bulk of his minor league career playing second base and third base, though he does have more than 1000 innings of experience in left field as well. The switch-hitter has a lifetime .275/.382/.383 batting line in 397 games and 1586 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
Mets Re-Sign Jerry Blevins
FEB. 9: The Mets have announced the signing. FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Blevins will earn $5.5MM in 2017 and has a $7MM club option for the 2018 season that comes with a $1MM buyout.
FEB. 4: Blevins will make $6.5MM in 2017 and could earn $12.5MM over the next two seasons if the Mets exercise his 2018 club option, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. He’ll also get $100K in incentives in each year (Twitter links).
FEB. 3, 8:10pm: The deal includes an option, per James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter).
7:52pm: The Mets have agreed to a deal to bring back free-agent lefty Jerry Blevins, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll be guaranteed around $6MM in the deal, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (via Twitter).
With the move, New York further adds to a relief corps that already saw new additions earlier today. The organization also brought back righty Fernando Salas and brought in southpaw Tom Gorzelanny on a minor-league pact for depth.
[RELATED: Updated Mets Depth Chart]
Blevins, though, was arguably a particular priority for New York. He’ll step in front of Josh Edgin and Sean Gilmartin in the pecking order among southpaws. Gorzelanny joins other depth options, including Josh Smoker and Adam Wilk.
Ultimately, it’s an appealing price tag for the Mets, who brought back Blevins last year for $4MM after an injury-shortened 2015 season. The results were excellent for both team and player, as Blevins turned in what was arguably his best full season as a big leaguer.
Over 42 innings last year — compiled across a personal-high 73 appearances — Blevins worked to a strong 2.79 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 to go with a 45.8% groundball rate. Long a weapon against opposing lefties, Blevins has increased his effectiveness against righties since coming to New York, perhaps aided by the increased deployment of his cut fastball. He also throws a sinker, a slider, and (much less frequently) a change.
With Blevins signed, the bulk of the left-handed relief market has now settled out. It’s interesting to see how things landed. Blevins, Boone Logan, and J.P. Howell all settled for single-season pacts, while Brett Cecil, Mike Dunn, and even Marc Rzepczynski landed bigger guarantees in multi-year arrangements.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Byung Ho Park Clears Waivers, Outrighted To Triple-A
First baseman/designated hitter Byung Ho Park has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the Twins’ 40-man roster, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The team has since announced the move. Park will be in camp with the Twins as a non-roster invitee in Spring Training.
Park was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment last week in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Matt Belisle, who signed as a free agent. However, the guaranteed $9.25MM remaining on Park’s contract allowed him to pass through waivers unclaimed, and he’ll now remain with the Twins and vie for a job in camp or early this season after getting in some work with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in Rochester.
The 30-year-old Park was a superstar in the Korea Baseball Organization prior to being posted by the Nexen Heroes, and the Twins secured exclusive negotiation rights with him in December 2015 by submitting a blind bid of $12.85MM. Minnesota and Park’s representatives at Octagon worked out a four-year, $12MM contract that came with a fifth-year club option, and Park was penciled in as Minnesota’s primary DH heading into the 2016 campaign.
Park rallied after a slow first week and was hitting .257/.339/.578 with nine homers through his first 124 plate appearances. Strikeouts were a problem for Park from the get-go, however, and his production fell off the table before a June demotion to Triple-A. With Rochester, Park was eventually sidelined by a wrist injury that ultimately required surgical repair. The slugger wouldn’t blame his struggles in the Majors on the injury, though it’s certainly possible that Park’s ailing wrist/hand contributed to his .191/.275/.409 slash in the Majors.
Minor League Deal Between Braves, Jordan Walden Voided
The Braves have voided their minor league contract with right-hander Jordan Walden, reports MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (on Twitter). The 29-year-old’s rehab from a shoulder injury has not progressed as expected, according to Bowman. David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that the two sides mutually agreed to void the deal.
Walden didn’t pitch in 2016 due to the shoulder troubles. He tossed just 10 1/3 innings with the Cardinals in 2015 after being traded to St. Louis from Atlanta alongside Jason Heyward in exchange for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. Prior to his shoulder woes, Walden was a useful late-inning arm with the Angels and Braves, pitching to an even 3.00 ERA in 222 innings with 10.8 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate.
Depending on the state of his shoulder, Walden could always latch on elsewhere on a minor league contract. But his exact health remains an unknown at this time, and it seems unlikely that the Braves would have voided his contract were there a chance that he’d be ready for Opening Day in 2017.
Walden, of course, wasn’t being counted upon to contribute meaningful innings with the Braves, though a rebound would’ve given the team a nice reward on a low cost of acquisition. The Braves’ bullpen will again be anchored by Jim Johnson, Arodys Vizcaino and Mauricio Cabrera in 2017, with right-handers Jose Ramirez, Josh Collmenter, Armando Rivero and Dan Winkler also vying for spots in manager Brian Snitker’s relief corps.
David Phelps Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Marlins
Right-hander David Phelps has won his arbitration hearing against the Marlins, reports Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link). As shown in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker, Phelps had filed for a $4.6MM salary against the Marlins’ submission of $4.3MM. Phelps, a client of Arland Sports, will earn the greater of those two sums in 2017.
The 30-year-old Phelps had a breakout season with the Marlins in 2016, emerging as a lights-out setup man for much of the season and making five starts late in the year as well. All told, the former Yankee tossed 86 2/3 innings with a 2.28 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 4.0 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent ground-ball rate. He also racked up 25 holds, which figures to have aided his arbitration case.
Phelps is capable of both starting and relieving, though the Marlins are said to prefer him in a bullpen role this coming season. He’ll team with A.J. Ramos, Kyle Barraclough, Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa at the back of what looks to be a formidable Marlins relief corps.
With Phelps’ salary now settled, the Marlins have resolved all six of their offseason arbitration cases.
Latest On Matt Wieters
Matt Wieters suffered a laceration that required stitches to his left (non-throwing) arm earlier this offseason but is fully healthy with Spring Training on the horizon, agent Scott Boras tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Rosenthal spoke to Boras about the circumstances that have led to Wieters remaining on the open market, and the agent acknowledged that his client’s poor pitch-framing metrics likely have impacted his free-agent stock. However, Boras also noted that framing numbers are impacted by the velocity of the pitcher, seemingly indicating that they might not be as dependable as some make them out to be. Says Boras:
“…Because the hitters have to commit early, because you have big velo, your command comes from actually learning to throw balls — hitters often swing at ’em. That’s why velo pitchers are very, very effective in the ERA category with a catcher, but their framing statistics are going to be well less than the norm.”
There may well be merit to Boras’ claims that velocity significantly impacts pitch-framing metrics — he’s not the first to suggest as much — but the parallel that’s being drawn seems out of place. The Orioles, as a staff, tied for 18th in overall fastball velocity last season, so it seems somewhat counter-intuitive to point out that higher-velocity arms can lead to dubious framing grades. If softer-tossing arms generally portend superior framing marks for their catchers, one would expect Wieters to have somewhat of an edge over those that caught harder-throwing staffs. Instead, he’s been consistently below-average in that regard for the past several seasons. The O’s have never been one of the 10 hardest-throwing teams in baseball in that time, with the exception of the 2014 campaign, in which Wieters played just 26 games.
ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote today that Wieters’ best chance at landing a notable contract at this point could be to wait until an injury arises in either Spring Training or the World Baseball Classic that could create an opportunity. Wieters has been tied to the Nationals and the Angels all winter long, it seems, but Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post recently appeared on Olney’s Baseball Tonight Podcast (audio link) and explained that the Nats are largely set on Derek Norris entering the season as the starter behind the dish. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, meanwhile, wrote earlier this morning that if Wieters does end up with the Halos, it’d likely have to be on a one-year deal at a discount rate.
Boras tells Rosenthal that Wieters’ market has only truly begun to take shape in the past month, but he unsurprisingly offers no indication of a potential asking price. (Rosenthal notes that “even a $50 million deal is probably a stretch,” though I’d contend that’s been the case all offseason.) Wieters would be far from the first Boras client to secure a surprising multi-year deal late in the offseason, so it’s certainly possible that the market for his services is more robust than most reports indicate at present. However, while the majority of theoretical suitors listed by Rosenthal in his column — the Orioles, Nats, Mets, Rockies, Rays, Angels, D-backs and White Sox — all make sense on paper, it’s also difficult to see any from that group breaking the bank on a multi-year deal barring an injury elsewhere on the staff.
Blue Jays Sign Jake Elmore To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays announced that they’ve signed utility infielder Jake Elmore to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.
The 29-year-old Elmore logged 99 plate appearances with the Brewers in 2016, hitting .218/.371/.244. Elmore boast a solid 10 percent walk rate in his big league career (some, but not all of which is attributable to batting eighth in front of the pitcher at times in the National League), but he’s just a .215/.297/.280 hitter in 478 Major League plate appearances. His greatest asset is his defensive versatility, as Elmore has played every position on the diamond — including pitching — in his big league career.
Most of Elmore’s work has come at shortstop (352 innings), but he has 100+ innings at first base, second base and in left field, as well as 84 innings at the hot corner in the Majors. He’s bounced all over the diamond in the minors as well and can function as a safety net for the Blue Jays at a number of positions as a result.
Active MLB Players That Are Exempt From Future Qualifying Offers
Under Major League Baseball’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, clubs may not tender a qualifying offer to a player who has previously received one. In many cases, it’s a moot point, as the player in question has reached a point in his career where another qualifying offer is no longer realistic. Others, though, are set to hit the open market as soon as next season at an age where another qualifying offer would’ve been plausible with a strong season. We’ll keep this post updated each offseason as new waves of players receive the qualifying offer, but for now, the following players are ineligible to receive one in the future.
Brett Anderson, SP
Jose Bautista, OF
Carlos Beltran, OF
Michael Bourn, OF
Melky Cabrera, OF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Yoenis Cespedes, OF
Wei-Yin Chen, SP
Shin-Soo Choo, OF
Nelson Cruz, OF
Chris Davis, 1B
Ian Desmond, INF/OF
Stephen Drew, INF
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B
Marco Estrada, SP
Dexter Fowler, OF
Yovani Gallardo, SP
Alex Gordon, OF
Curtis Granderson, OF
Zack Greinke, SP
Josh Hamilton, 1B/OF
Jeremy Hellickson, SP
Jason Heyward, OF
Hisashi Iwakuma, SP
Kenley Jansen, RP
Ubaldo Jimenez, SP
Howie Kendrick, INF/OF
Ian Kennedy, SP
John Lackey, SP
Francisco Liriano, SP
Kyle Lohse, SP
Russell Martin, C
Victor Martinez, DH
Brian McCann, C
Kendrys Morales, DH
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Mike Napoli, 1B
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
Colby Rasmus, OF
David Robertson, RP
Jeff Samardzija, SP
Pablo Sandoval, 3B
Ervin Santana, SP
Max Scherzer, SP
James Shields, SP
Nick Swisher, 1B/OF
Mark Trumbo, 1B/OF
Justin Turner, 3B
Justin Upton, OF
Melvin Upton Jr., OF
Neil Walker, 2B
Matt Wieters, C
Jordan Zimmermann, SP
Retired: Michael Cuddyer, Hiroki Kuroda, Adam LaRoche, David Ortiz, Rafael Soriano
MLBPA Weighing Proposals For Multiple Rule Changes
FEB. 8: Another rule change being weighed by Major League Baseball is more radical and would put a runner on second base at the onset of extra innings, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The league is planning to test the scenario in the lowest levels of the minor leagues, according to Passan, and there’s already at least one proponent of the idea among the league’s top decision-makers: MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre.
“Let’s see what it looks like,” Torre told Passan. “It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch. As much as it’s nice to talk about being at an 18-inning game, it takes time. … What really initiated it is sitting in the dugout in the 15th inning and realizing everybody is going to the plate trying to hit a home run and everyone is trying to end the game themselves. I don’t know what inning is the right inning. Maybe the 11th or 12th inning. But there are a number of reasons.”
Passan notes that any implementation of this type of radical change to the course of play would likely take years, adding that adoption would be an easier sell to players that have become accustomed to the shift throughout their minor league career. Nonetheless, there figures to be strong opposition to a change of this magnitude, which could have far-reaching impacts ranging from scoring decisions to in-game strategy to actual roster construction.
FEB. 6: Major League Baseball has made formal proposals to the MLB Players Association for two rule changes, ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports. The proposed changes would affect the size of the official strike zone (raising the lower part of the zone to the top of the player’s knees from its present location at “the hollow beneath the kneecap,” as per the official wording) and allow a team to simply signal if it wants to intentionally walk a hitter, letting the batter advance to first base without the pitcher having to lob four balls wide of home plate.
The latter change would be largely symbolic of MLB’s efforts to increase the pace of play, as Stark notes that the actual time saved by eliminating the four tosses per intentional walk is fairly negligible. Reducing the size of the strike zone is also technically a time-saving proposal, as the move would theoretically cut down on strikeouts and produce more balls in play, and thus more action.
The MLBPA is weighing both rule change proposals with membership, with Stark reporting that the intentional walk elimination is the more likely of the two to be approved for this season. An automatic intentional walk is a cosmetic change, whereas altering the strike zone obviously has much more impact on the game itself. According to Stark, the new zone would be roughly two inches higher than the old one, as umpires have been calling strikes below the knees with more regularity.
There are “mixed feelings” amongst players about the strike zone proposal, Stark reports, and thus it could be difficult for a decision to be reached in time for the new regulation to be implemented for the start of the 2017 season. Since Spring Training is so close, a decision on either proposal for 2017 will need to come “sooner rather than later,” according to one Stark source.
