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Giants Designate Hunter Strickland, Gorkys Hernandez

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The Giants have designated righty Hunter Strickland for assignment, making him a surprise free agent. Also heading out the door is outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.

Strickland’s projected arbitration hit was only $2.5MM, which seems quite reasonable for a flamethrowing reliever who has generally been quite successful. Still, he’s known also for his temper and is coming off of his worst season in the majors.

Over 45 1/3 innings in 2018, Strickland worked to a 3.97 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9. A self-sustained finger injury broke up the campaign, with Strickland showing reduced velocity upon his return.

Cubs Non-Tender Ronald Torreyes

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The Cubs have non-tendered recently acquired infielder Ronald Torreyes, per a club announcement. Also non-tendered were non-arb-eligible players Justin Hancock and Allen Webster.

It’s not entirely clear why the Cubs decided to pick up Torreyes days ago, only to set him free. It could be, though, that the club wanted the added insurance while deciding what to do with Addison Russell, who was tendered earlier today. And several other teams have done the same with certain players, so it’s hardly a one-off situation. It seems clear the utilityman could end up in the Chicago organization, though perhaps only if he is willing to sign a minors deal.

Orioles Non-Tender Tim Beckham, Caleb Joseph

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The Orioles announced that shortstop Tim Beckham and catcher Caleb Joseph have been non-tendered. Both are heading onto the open market; the former had projected to earn a $4.3MM salary, the latter $1.7MM.

Beckham seemed to have turned a corner when he landed with the O’s last year, but he fell back to earn in 2018. Over 402 plate appearances, he slashed just .230/.287/.374 and did not grade well at short. As for Joseph, he has bounced up and down with the bat in recent years but turned in a miserable .219/.254/.321 season last year.

Athletics Non-Tender Mike Fiers, Kendall Graveman, Cory Gearrin

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The Athletics have non-tendered a trio of right-handed pitchers, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. Starters Mike Fiers and Kendall Graveman will be sent to free agency along with reliever Cory Gearrin.

It had been widely expected that Fiers would return to Oakland. After all, the A’s certainly need arms and he was quite successful in 2018 on both sides of the trade that sent him out west from the Tigers. He ended the season with a 3.56 ERA in 172 innings.

Still, Fiers projected to earn a hefty $9.7MM salary. And the results came in spite of some rough underlying stats. Fiers checked in with 7.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9, but coughed up 32 home runs — the same tally he allowed in the prior campaign. All of the major ERA estimators value him as a 4+ performer over each of the past four campaigns.

Graveman, meanwhile, is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and will likely miss most or all of the 2019 campaign. But he’s an interesting pitcher who should draw plenty of looks on the market. Gearrin, too, seems like a prime target as a steady veteran reliever. The A’s simply preferred not to pay their salaries, which were projected at $2.5MM and $2.4MM, respectively.

Phillies Non-Tender Justin Bour, Luis Avilan

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The Phillies announced that they have non-tendered two players who were acquired in the middle of the 2018 campaign. Left-handed-hitting first baseman Justin Bour and lefty reliever Luis Avilan will head to the open market. The former was projected by MLBTR & Matt Swartz to earn a $5.2MM salary, while the latter projected at $3.1MM.

Bour was added as a rental bat last summer, but the 30-year-old was a tough long-term fit on a Phillies roster that already has plenty of immobile sluggers. The 30-year-old will be a prime target of teams looking for lefty pop, though he didn’t perform to his typical standards at the plate in 2018 and is far and away most effective against right-handed pitching.

As for Avilan, 29, he’s sure to find another opportunity. The seven-year MLB veteran has thrown 308 2/3 total frames of 3.09 ERA ball, though of course that has come mostly in action against same-handed hitters. Avilan has held opposing righties to a .672 OPS, which is rather impressive — particularly given that lefty bats carry only a .213/.289/.292 slash against him.

Players Avoiding Arbitration Prior To Non-Tender Deadline

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Tonight marks the deadline for MLB clubs to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. As such, there’ll be a slew of pre-tender agreements announced today — particularly for arbitration-eligible players who might have otherwise been non-tender candidates. As we saw yesterday (and frequently in previous seasons), players agreeing to terms before the tender deadline will often sign for less than they’re projected, as the alternative in some cases may simply be to be cut loose into a crowded free-agent market.

We’ll track today’s pre-tender agreements here, with all referenced projections coming courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz…

  • Giants infielder Joe Panik settled at a $3.8MM price tag, per Heyman (via Twitter). That’ll represent a savings as against the $4.2MM projected salary. Many had wondered whether the new San Francisco front office would move on from Panik, who has one more year of arb eligibility remaining. Meanwhile, Heyman tweets that reliever Sam Dyson has agreed to a $5MM pact. That also comes in $400K below his projection.
  • The Padres settled with righty Bryan Mitchell for $900K, Heyman tweets. Mitchell had been a non-tender candidate at a projected $1.2MM sum.
  • Newly acquired first baseman C.J. Cron has agreed to a $4.8MM contract, the Twins announced. He projected to a $5.2MM salary; this becomes the latest of many indications of the unstable market position of defensively limited slugger types.
  • The Indians have settled with righty Danny Salazar for $4.5MM, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. He was projected at $5MM, with some wondering whether the Cleveland organization might non-tender him. The talented hurler missed the entire 2018 season. Meanwhile, righty Nick Goody is slated to earn $675K, Heyman tweets.
  • Southpaw Jonny Venters avoided arb with the Braves, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. It’s a $2.25MM deal, sitting well over the $1.5MM projection, though certainly his unusual career path could have led to some additional arguments for a stronger raise.
  • The Cardinals announced an agreement with lefty Chasen Shreve. Terms aren’t yet known. The 28-year-old had projected to take home $1.2MM for the 2019 campaign, but will settle at $900K per Heyman (via Twitter).
  • Pirates righty Michael Feliz has avoided arbitration with the club, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic was among those to report on Twitter. Feliz projected at a $900K salary and will get $850K, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’s a split agreement that promises $375K in the minors, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter).
  • Infielder Tyler Saladino has agreed to a $887,500 salary with the Brewers, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. That comes in below the $1MM he projected to earn.
  • The Athletics settled at $2.15MM with Liam Hendriks, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), all of which is guaranteed. That’s just where he projected ($2.1MM) on the heels of a fascinating 2018 season. Hendriks was dropped from the MLB roster in the middle of the season but returned late in the year in dominant fashion as the A’s “opener.”
  • Lefty Sammy Solis agreed to terms with the Nationals to avoid arbitration, the club announced. He profiled as a potential non-tender candidate, so it seems likely the organization pushed to get something done before the deadline. Solis, who has an intriguing power arsenal but struggled through a homer-prone 2018, projected at $900K. He’ll earn $850K, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
  • The Athletics announced that they’ve agreed to a one-year deal with righty Ryan Dull in advance of tonight’s deadline. He’ll get $860K, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets, which checks in pretty closely with his $900K projection. Dull, 29, posted a 4.26 ERA with 21 strikeouts and seven walks in 25 1/3 innings of relief in 2018.
  • Heyman also tweets that the Padres and Greg Garcia, whom they claimed off waivers earlier this offseason, settled on a one-year deal worth $910K that aligns with his $900K projection. Garcia hit .221/.309/.304 in 208 plate appearances with St. Louis last season and is a career .248/.356/.339 hitter in 860 plate appearances.

Earlier Agreements

  • The Brewers and Hernan Perez avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $2.5MM, as first reported by Heyman. He’ll check in a bit shy of his $2.7MM projection but remain on hand as a versatile utility option in Milwaukee.
  • Left-hander Tony Cingrani and the Dodgers avoided arb with a one-year deal worth $2.65MM. That checks in just south of the lefty’s $2.7MM projection. Cingrani turned in a brilliant 36-to-6 K/BB ratio in 22 1/3 innings but was also tagged for a considerably less palatable 4.76 earned run average.
  • The Red Sox announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a one-year contract for the 2019 season with right-hander Tyler Thornburg. They’ve also tendered contracts to the remainder of their arbitration-eligible players, though the terms of those deals will be negotiated in the coming weeks. Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston tweets that Thornburg will earn $1.75MM i 2019 and can earn another $400K via incentives. I’m told that includes $100K for reaching each of 45, 50, 55 and 60 appearances. Thornburg, 30, was roughed up to the tune of a 5.63 ERA in 24 innings for the Sox this season — his first action for Boston since being acquired prior to the 2017 season. His Boston tenure has been utterly derailed by thoracic outlet syndrome and the ensuing surgery. Thornburg was excellent for the 2016 Brewers, and Boston parted with Travis Shaw in order to acquire him, so the Sox will surely hope that a regular offseason of rest and further removing himself from TOS surgery will get the righty back on track. This will be Thornburg’s final season of club control. He’d been projected to earn $2.3MM.

Angels Non-Tender Blake Parker, Matt Shoemaker

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6:57pm: Matt Shoemaker has also been non-tendered, per a club announcement, which will keep an estimated $4.3MM off the Halos’ books.

6:21pm: The Angels are set to non-tender righty Blake Parker, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). He was projected to earn $3.1MM by MLBTR & contributor Matt Swartz.

It’s surprising to see Parker kicked to the open market, given that he has worked to a 2.90 ERA in 133 2/3 frames over the past two years with the Halos. On the other hand, the 33-year-old did not sustain his 2017 bump in swinging-strike rate, coughed up quite a few long balls (1.63 per nine), and lost a tick of average fastball velocity in 2018.

Royals Non-Tender Bubba Starling, Three Others

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The Royals have utilized the opportunity of today’s non-tender deadline to drop four players from their MLB roster, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reported on Twitter and the team has now announced. Outfielder Bubba Starling is the most recognizable name who’ll be cut loose; he’s joined by righties Jason Adam and Andres Machado along with first baseman Samir Duenez.

Notably, per Flanagan, the club anticipates reaching new, minor-league pacts with all four players in short order. They’ll technically become free agents, and can certainly explore interest with other organizations if they wish, but it seems the hope is to retain this group while opening 40-man space.

Starling, the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft, has failed to develop as hoped and has also faced injury setbacks. Adam coughed up nine home runs and 22 earned in his first 32 1/3 MLB frames in 2018, but did manage to rack up 37 strikeouts. There was a much briefer, two-appearance major-league debut for Machado, but he spent most of the 2018 season turning in marginal numbers in the upper minors. Duenez hit well at Double-A last year, with a .282/.357/.463 slash.

Tigers Non-Tender James McCann, Alex Wilson

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6:06pm: McCann and righty Alex Wilson will both be non-tendered, Fenech tweets.

3:55pm: The Tigers are likely to non-tender catcher James McCann before tonight’s deadline, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. MLB.com’s Jason Beck offers a similar sentiment, tweeting that McCann will be non-tendered “barring a last-minute surprise.”

McCann, 28, hit .253/.318/.415 with a career-high 13 home runs as recently as 2017, but his offense cratered in 2018 as he slashed just .220/.267/.314 with eight home runs in 457 plate appearances as Detroit’s primary catcher. More troubling, perhaps, was the fact that while the right-handed-hitting McCann had previously been a force against left-handed pitching, he batted a woeful .176/.229/.284 when holding the platoon advantage in 2018.

On the defensive side of the coin, McCann has continually been sensational in terms of controlling the running game. He’s registered at least a 30 percent caught-stealing rate in each of his four full big league seasons, including a 36 percent mark in 2018 and an overall rate of 37 percent. He’s been well below-average in terms of pitch framing across the past two seasons, though, and has struggled similarly in terms of blocking balls in the dirt.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected McCann to earn $3.5MM in arbitration, but it seems he’ll instead hit the open market and join a top-heavy but nonetheless crowded crop of free-agent catchers. Yasmani Grandal, Wilson Ramos, Martin Maldonado, Jonathan Lucroy, Robinson Chirinos, Devin Mesoraco, Matt Wieters, Nick Hundley and Rene Rivera are among the available options, to say nothing of trade candidates like J.T. Realmuto and Francisco Cervelli. Suffice it to say, McCann will have competition as clubs weigh their options — especially considering he’s likeliest to be looked at as a candidate to fill a backup role.

Twins Non-Tender Robbie Grossman

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The Twins have non-tendered Robbie Grossman, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic (via Twitter). He had projected to earn a $4.0MM salary.

Grossman is a productive offensive player owing to his outstanding plate discipline, which has allowed him to maintain a .371 on-base percentage over three seasons in Minnesota. Unfortunately, he delivers little in the way of power and is more or less limited to appearing in the corner outfield, a place where teams typically prefer more than a smattering of home runs.

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