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Archives for February 2018

Angels Acquire Jabari Blash

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The Angels announced today that they’ve acquired outfielder Jabari Blash from the Yankees in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. In a corresponding move, the Angels have placed right-hander Alex Meyer on the 60-day disabled list. Blash was designated for assignment yesterday when the Yankees acquired Brandon Drury. Meyer was never likely to pitch in 2018 after undergoing shoulder surgery last September.

Blash, 28, has long boasted impressive power in the minors but hasn’t put that together in the Majors. Blash logged a career-high 195 plate appearances with the Padres this past season, hitting .213/.333/.341 with five homers and six doubles but an alarming 66 strikeouts in that time (33.8 percent). While he’s limited to the outfield corners, Blash has strong on-base skills to go along with his considerable power, as evidenced by his career .258/.381/.571 batting line and 65 homers through 235 games at the Triple-A level.

The Halos already have Chris Young on hand as a fourth outfield option, and Blash isn’t an ideal fit for that role anyhow, given his lack of prowess in center field. He could stick as an additional source of pop off the bench, though Blash also has a pair of minor league options remaining, so it seems likelier that he’ll head to Triple-A Salt Lake to open the season.

Orioles Re-Sign Chris Tillman

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Feb. 21: Tillman will earn a $1MM bonus for reaching 125 innings and 150 innings, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). He’d earn $1.5MM upon reaching 175 and 190 innings and an additional $2MM for crossing the 200-inning barrier for the first time since 2014. Heyman adds that some of the incentive payments are deferred, but any deferrals would be voided with a trade.

Feb. 19, 10:42am: Kubatko tweets that Tillman can earn another $7MM via incentives, meaning the deal can max out at $10MM.

10:18am: The Orioles are in agreement on a contract that will bring right-hander Chris Tillman back to Baltimore, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets that it’s a big league contract, and Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com adds that it’s a one-year deal.

Tillman, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, receives a $3MM guarantee, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (all Twitter links). Kubatko adds that Tillman is taking his physical this morning and, unsurprisingly, can boost his salary via performance bonuses for innings pitched.

Chris Tillman | Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The 29-year-old Tillman will return to the only organization he’s known as a Major Leaguer. The former second-round pick (Mariners, 2006) has spent parts of the past nine big league seasons pitching for the Orioles since coming to Baltimore alongside Adam Jones in the 2008 Erik Bedard blockbuster.

Last season was the worst full season of the veteran Tillman’s big league career, as the long-time rotation stalwart opened the year on the disabled list due to bursitis in his throwing shoulder and seemingly never made a full recovery. Tillman struggled to a ghastly 7.84 ERA in just 93 innings due to that ailment, posting the worst full-season averages of his career in strikeouts (6.1 K/9), walks (4.9 BB/9) and home runs (2.3 HR/9). His average fastball velocity (90.7 mph) dropped by a full mile per hour from 2016 as well.

Those undesirable results notwithstanding, the Orioles did well to bring Tillman back on a modest $3MM base. Last offseason, for instance, rotation rebound candidates such as Tyson Ross and Derek Holland each landed $6MM contracts, while Andrew Cashner took home a $10MM guarantee from the Rangers. That said, shoulder issues tend to throw up significant red flags for clubs, and several potential suitors for Tillman have already made rotation acquisitions this offseason (e.g. Mike Fiers to the Tigers, Jake Odorizzi to the Twins, Jaime Garcia to the Blue Jays).

Tillman joins Cashner, whom the Orioles signed to a two-year deal worth $16MM last week, as the second arm added to a rotation that was in dire need of some veteran additions entering the offseason. Baltimore had as many as three vacancies to fill, and GM Dan Duquette has said in the past that he’d like to add a left-hander to the mix, so it’s possible that there’s another addition yet to come. Assuming he passes his physical, Tillman will slot into the rotation behind Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy and the newly signed Cashner, giving Baltimore a fairly experienced quartet of arms on which to rely.

If he’s healthy, Tillman could very well be among the best of that bunch, too. From 2012-16, he started 143 games for the Orioles and worked to a 3.81 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9 with a 40.2 percent ground-ball rate. He doesn’t need to replicate those numbers to justify a commitment ranging from $3MM to $10MM, of course; if he can merely provide 30 mostly serviceable starts, he’ll be well worth the investment for the O’s.

Even with Tillman and Cashner on board, the team still faces an uphill battle in competing with the Red Sox and Yankees for a division crown. A healthy Tillman increases their chances of remaining competitive but also gives the team a potential trade chip midway through the year should Baltimore find itself facing a sizable deficit in the standings. The team’s ability to compete in the season’s first half will be among the most fascinating storylines to follow, as if the Orioles are out of contention come July, they’ll have tough decisions to make not only on Tillman but on free-agents-to-be Brad Brach, Zach Britton, Adam Jones and Manny Machado.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/21/18

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We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post:

  • The Braves outrighted right-hander Mauricio Cabrera, who has cleared waivers, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Atlanta will surely be glad to hold onto the fireballing reliever, who could be an intriguing piece of the late-inning unit if he’s able to get a hold of his arsenal. Cabrera’s control evaporated in 2017 but he did carry a 2.82 ERA in 38 1/3 MLB innings in the prior season.
  • Lefty Manny Parra is joining the Giants on a minors deal, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The 35-year-old struggled quite a bit in limited action last year at Triple-A with the Cubs and sat out for all of 2016. Still, he was a useful reliever as recently as 2015, when he threw 32 1/3 innings of 3.90 ERA ball. Once a starter with the Brewers, Parra’s best years came as a pen piece for the Reds — including a strong 2013 campaign in which he worked to a 3.33 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.

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Pirates Sign Michael Saunders

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The Pirates have inked a minor-league deal with outfielder Michael Saunders, per a club announcement. He has been invited to participate in the MLB side of camp.

Saunders, 31, has had something of a roller-coaster career to this point. After an injury-riddled run with the Mariners, he seemed to turn a corner in 2016 with the Blue Jays. Saunders ran up a .253/.338/.478 slash through 558 plate appearances, though the bulk of the output came in the first half of the season.

The open market was not quite as kind to Saunders as many anticipated, but he still commanded a $9MM guarantee to join the Phillies in advance of the 2017 season. Things just did not work out in Philadelphia, though, as Saunders limped to a .205/.257/.360 slash before being cut loose. He ended up back with the Toronto organization but was not overly impressive at Triple-A or in a brief, late-season return to the majors.

Those ups and downs have shown up in baserunning and fielding metrics, too, perhaps reflecting the role that injuries have played. Saunders has at times graded as a high-end threat on the bases (2012-13) and corner outfield defender (2014), but received below-average marks in both areas in 2016 before bouncing back somewhat in his 73 total MLB games in the following campaign.

Pittsburgh enters Spring Training with several options for filling the outfield vacancy created by the trade of Andrew McCutchen. It could be that Saunders will battle Daniel Nava (a switch-hitter who’s much better against righties) for a single spot. Saunders carries narrow platoon splits over his career, it’s worth noting. That represents a point of distinction from Nava, who was productive when healthy last year but has never hit a lick against southpaws.

Perhaps both players could earn jobs if they are sufficiently impressive, but that seems like a tight fit. The Bucs could utilize southpaw-swinging utilityman Adam Frazier in the outfield, after all. And the team will need to ensure that it has the other pieces needed for a platoon, with right-handed hitters Bryce Brentz and Sean Rodriguez providing options.

If he’s not able to crack the Opening Day roster, Saunders will presumably spend some time digging in against Triple-A pitching in hopes of getting back to form. (Whether and when he can opt out of his deal is not yet known.) Given the amount of uncertainty at the major-league level for the Pirates, Saunders should at a minimum represent a worthwhile depth option to have on hand.

Rangers Acquire International Slot Money From Reds

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The Rangers have officially picked up $350K in international slot money from the Reds, as Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer first reported on Twitter. Righty Miguel Medrano is heading to the Reds in return.

This move will further pad the Rangers’ international purse for the current signing period, which was already rather full in the wake of the team’s unsuccessful bid for Shohei Ohtani. It seems that Texas is lining up to chase top young Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter) and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link) suggest. Ben Badler of Baseball America has long cited the Rangers as a top pursuer of Martinez.

Martinez was officially cleared to sign recently. MLBTR’s Steve Adams broke down the Texas pool situation in that post. It’s worth noting, as Adams points out on Twitter, that the Reds have likely now parted with all of their remaining pool money. (The rules only permit $250K increments to be dealt unless it’s a trade that moves all the remaining funds from a team’s pool.) Texas could still acquire another $250K before being capped, BA’s Matt Eddy notes on Twitter. (The CBA stipulates that a team may acquire no more than 75 percent of the value of its initial pool in trades.)

All that’s known at this point, though, is that the 20-year-old Medrano will head to the Cincinnati organization. He has pitched exclusively with the organization’s Dominican Summer League outfit to this point in his professional career. Medrano certainly produced some interesting numbers there last year, working to a 2.59 ERA in 59 innings over ten starts and two relief appearances and racking up 9.3 K/9 against just 1.1 BB/9.

Marlins Sign Cameron Maybin

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10:15am: Maybin will earn $3.25MM for the coming season, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The deal includes up to $750K in plate appearance-based incentives, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

8:00am: The Marlins have announced the signing of outfielder Cameron Maybin, as Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel first reported (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, MLB deal for the Excel Sports Management client, though salary terms remain unknown.

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Maybin, 30, will help fill out a Miami outfield mix that was drastically altered with a series of offseason moves. Stars Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich were all dealt away, while reserve Ichiro Suzuki departed via free agency.

Those deals did return some younger options, though perhaps only Lewis Brinson is fully prepared for his first full attempt at the major-league level. Otherwise, Magneuris Sierra and Braxton Lee are the only other outfielders currently holding down spots on the 40-man roster.

Expectations for Maybin won’t be too lofty, but he could function as a solid-average, semi-regular player. His strong 2016 season at the plate — .315/.383/.418 — stands out as a bit of an outlier and was no doubt aided by a .383 batting average on balls in play. Perhaps it’s reasonable to expect something that looks more like his 2017 season, which was split between the Angels and Astros. In 450 plate appearances, Maybin slashed .228/.318/.365 with ten home runs and 33 steals while also grading out as a high-end overall baserunner and solid defender.

Adding some veterans to the Marlins outfield unit clearly makes good sense; indeed, it seems reasonable to wonder whether yet further acquisitions could take place. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro suggests (Twitter link) that Derek Dietrich is likely to see action in left field. Whether or not Brinson is ultimately utilized out of the gates, he’ll be expected to carry a major load in center, with Maybin representing the other possibility up the middle.

Beyond that, though, there still seems to be quite a lot of uncertainty. Minor-league signees Scott Van Slyke, J.B. Shuck, and Rafael Ortega will battle for jobs in camp. Sierra and Lee could as well, though both are rather thin on upper-level experience. Veterans Garrett Cooper and Martin Prado may conceivably see time on the grass, though all have spent the bulk of their careers in the infield. And the organization no doubt hopes that prospect Monte Harrison will force his way into the majors before too long.

This move is the latest for a player who carries an interesting transactional history. It’ll be Maybin’s second stint with the Fish, as he played for the then-Florida Marlins between 2008 and 2010. A former first-round pick of the Tigers, Maybin was shipped to Miami as part of the Miguel Cabrera trade. He was then passed on to the Padres in a deal that sent Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb to the Marlins. After inking an extension with the Friars and then falling out of favor, Maybin ended up moving to the Braves as part of the (first) Craig Kimbrel swap. A second run in Detroit came after a trade with the Braves; the Tigers then shipped Maybin to the Angels, who allowed him to go to the Astros in a surprising August 31st waiver claim last year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros Prospect Forrest Whitley Suspended For 50 Games

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Astros pitching prospect Forrest Whitley has been suspended for fifty games, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The ban is drug-related, per the report, though it is not clear just what improper substance Whitley was deemed to have used.

Whitley, a 20-year-old right-hander, greatly elevated his stock in 2017. Indeed, many outlets now consider him one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball, with only the uniquely situated Shohei Ohtani drawing greater plaudits. Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN.com, and Fangraphs all rated Whitley within the top ten overall pre-MLB players in the game in their most recent rankings.

Typically, fifty-game bans are handed out for drugs of abuse or amphetamines rather than performance-enhancing substances. In this case, Chuck Miketinac of FOX San Antonio says (Twitter link) a source told him that Whitley took an “unknown stimulant” to help keep him awake on a drive. The youngster intends to challenge the suspension, per that report. JJ Cooper of Baseball America notes (Twitter links) that the official release on the suspension does not follow the typical template utilized either for drugs of abuse or PED bans and also stands out because it does not state there was a positive test.

Clearly, there’s still quite a lot that is not known about the situation. Whitley himself released a statement through his agent (via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, on Twitter) in which he accepted responsibility and apologized. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says he’s disappointed in what has transpired but also says he believes Whitley will learn from the situation. (Video via Twitter, also from McTaggart.)

Whitley, a 2016 first-rounder, reached the Double-A last year, compiling 92 1/3 innings of 2.83 ERA ball with 13.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 across three levels of the minors. He will be eligible to return around the end of May and will likely work out in the meantime at the organization’s spring facilities, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (Twitter links).

Nationals Sign Joaquin Benoit

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WEDNESDAY: Washington has announced the signing. Benoit also can earn up to $1MM via incentives, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

MONDAY: The Nationals have agreed to a contract with free-agent reliever Joaquin Benoit, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). It’s a one-year, Major League contract worth $1MM for the ACES client, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (Twitter link).

Joaquin Benoit | May 10, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit (53) pitches in the seventh inning of the game against the Seattle Mariners at Citizens Bank Park. The Mariners won the game 11-6. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Benoit, 40, split the 2017 season between the Phillies and Pirates, delivering solid results in 42 innings with Philadelphia before being torched in 8 1/3 frames with the Bucs late in the season, Overall, Benoit logged a 4.65 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9 and a 33.3 percent grounder rate in 50 1/3 innings of work.

That represented a down season for Benoit, of course, but it was only the second time in the past eight seasons that he’s posted an ERA north of 3.00. Benoit’s average velocity (94.8 mph) and swinging-strike rate (13.3 percent) both remained solid as he pitched for both Pennsylvania clubs last year, and he’ll look to keep those positive trends going as he seeks to rebound in terms of overall run-prevention.

Dating back to the 2010 season, Benoit has turned in a 2.64 ERA (3.37 FIP, 2.95 SIERA) with 9.8 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 0.98 HR/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate. He’s no stranger to high-leverage roles, having notched 45 saves and 168 holds across that terrific late-career renaissance, and he’ll give the Nats an experienced arm to complement a late-inning relief corps that also features veterans Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler.

It’s not clear on what level the two are related, but it’s nonetheless worth noting that young Koda Glover reported to camp with shoulder soreness and was diagnosed with inflammation following an MRI (via a report from Castillo). He’s not throwing at present, making the added depth from Benoit all the more important.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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