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Offseason In Review: New York Mets

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This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series.  Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.

After the Mets endured a Murphy’s Law season in 2017, general manager Sandy Alderson replaced their skipper and brought in several familiar names in free agency over the winter.

Major League Signings

Options Exercised

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

[Mets Depth Chart; Mets Payroll Information]

Needs Addressed

The Mets posted back-to-back playoff seasons from 2015-16 – the first of which included a National League pennant – and there was optimism they’d remain a formidable club last year. Instead, a spate of injuries to key players and disappointing performances from others sunk New York, which never recovered from a 10-14 April. Expectations throughout the Mets’ dismal season were that they’d replace manager Terry Collins afterward, and that’s exactly what happened. The 68-year-old Collins remains in the organization in a front office role, while the much younger Mickey Callaway, 42, is now overseeing the team’s dugout and clubhouse. Although Callaway never managed at any level before the Mets hired him, he did develop a sterling reputation in Cleveland, where he worked to great success as Terry Francona’s pitching coach from 2013-17.

Among the hurlers now at Callaway’s disposal are left-handed starter Jason Vargas and righty reliever Anthony Swarzak, two of the team’s free-agent pickups. The Mets guaranteed Vargas two years and $16MM with the hope that he’d deliver adequate innings as part of a starting staff that didn’t amass nearly enough of those a year ago. Vargas has a handful of high-inning, acceptable ERA seasons under his belt, including his 179 2/3-frame, 4.16 ERA showing with the Royals in 2017. That’s somewhat similar to the production Bartolo Colon offered the Mets from 2014-16, and they missed that during a horrid 2017 in which Jacob deGrom was their only starter to both escape the injury bug and perform to his potential. Unfortunately for the Mets, an injury has already come for Vargas, who suffered a fracture to his non-pitching hand in mid-March. He’s now set to begin 2018 on the disabled list, thereby creating a temporary starting spot for Seth Lugo.

Swarzak is healthy, meanwhile, and surely looking to replicate the age-31 season he enjoyed with the White Sox and Brewers in 2017. After a fairly up-and-down career from 2009-16, Swarzak broke out with a 2.33 ERA/2.74 FIP and 10.59 K/9 against 2.56 BB/9 last year. Only 11 other relievers outdid Swarzak’s 77 1/3 innings, and even fewer (seven) bettered his 2.2 fWAR. The latter figure placed him in similar company to Andrew Miller, Chad Green, Felipe Rivero and Archie Bradley, among other star relievers. That top-notch production led to a two-year, $14MM payday for Swarzak, who had to settle for a minor league contract the previous winter.

Along with Swarzak, the Mets’ bullpen will heavily feature lefty Jerry Blevins, whose $7MM option was an easy one for the Mets to pick up. Blevins was outstanding in New York from 2016-17, a 91-inning stretch in which he logged a 2.87 ERA/3.09 FIP with 11.97 K/9 and 3.86 BB/9. Although, it’s alarming that right-handed hitters crushed him to the tune of .288/.447/.545 in 2017 – an enormous departure from the .172/.266/.345 line they compiled against him the prior year. Historically, the 34-year-old has ended up somewhere in the middle of those lines versus righties, who’ve slashed .242/.343/.400 off Blevins since he debuted in 2007.

The rest of the Mets’ offseason attention went to its position player group, which actually wasn’t that bad last year (tied for ninth in wRC+, 11th in fWAR, 18th in runs). The most productive member of that faction was outfielder Michael Conforto, who was either elite or close to it before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in late August. Conforto, 25, had to undergo surgery as a result, which will lead to a DL stint to begin 2018.

The Mets now know Conforto is on track to return soon, but they had to plan for a worst-case scenario in the offseason. To help protect against a potential long-term Conforto absence, they brought back outfielder Jay Bruce – a Met for parts of the previous two seasons – on a three-year, $39MM pact. Bruce got the exact contract MLBTR predicted back in November, but it still feels as if he did extremely well when considering the odd way in which free agency unfolded.

The 30-year-old Bruce landed his payday after enjoying one of his best seasons in 2017, which he divided between New York and Cleveland and hit .254/.324/.508 with 36 home runs and 2.7 fWAR across 617 plate appearances. In his second stint with the Mets, Bruce will work in right field (where the long-scrutinized defender quietly earned solid marks last year) and maybe even at first base, depending on what the Mets get from the combination of Adrian Gonzalez, Wilmer Flores and Dominic Smith.

Gonzalez will play with the Mets on a minimum salary after getting his release from the Braves, who acquired him from the Dodgers in a financially motivated trade. Atlanta, one of the Mets’ division rivals, will pay the rest of the $21.5MM Gonzalez was owed on the megadeal he signed with the Red Sox back in 2011. Gonzalez was among the premier sluggers in the game then, but he’s now a soon-to-be 36-year-old coming off a terrible season in which back problems limited him to 71 games, 252 PAs and an unsightly .242/.287/.355 line (69 wRC+). The lefty-swinger has been particularly poor against southpaws in three of the past four seasons (2014, 2016 and 2017), which could set him up to platoon with the righty-hitting Flores. Smith, a top 100 prospect prior to his ugly debut with the Mets last year, has been battling a strained quad for weeks. It’s unclear when he’ll return to action, but between his injury and the presences of Gonzalez, Flores and even Bruce, Smith seems likely to see a lot more time at Triple-A than in the majors this season.

Elsewhere in the infield, the Mets made one of the most impressive-looking signings of the offseason when they reeled in New Jersey native and ex-Yankee Todd Frazier on a two-year, $17MM accord in early February. Frazier was long on the radar of the Mets, who ended up with him instead of fellow targets Eduardo Nunez and Neil Walker (an ex-Met), Jason Kipnis (Indians, who nearly sent him to the Mets) Ian Kinsler (a former Tiger who’s now an Angel) and Josh Harrison (Pirates). The Mets understandably balked at dealing young outfielder Brandon Nimmo for Harrison after the former recorded a .379 OBP over 215 PAs in 2017. That was the first extensive big league action for the 24-year-old Nimmo, a 2011 first-round pick. Now, because he took last season’s audition and ran with it, Nimmo may play an even more prominent role this year.

Back to Frazier, who, unlike Bruce, didn’t make out nearly as well as expected in free agency. The 32-year-old was unable to parlay a consistently above-average career into a contract commensurate to it. Also a former member of the Reds and White Sox, Frazier has been worth between 2.5 and 4.8 fWAR in every season since 2012 (including an even 3.0 last year). He looks grossly underpaid relative to what he brings to the table, then, and should give the Mets a credible third bagger as pessimism continues to increase over the status of franchise icon David Wright. Back, neck and spine injuries limited Wright to 75 games from 2015-16, and he wasn’t able to take the field at all last year. Unfortunately, that may be the case again this season for the 35-year-old.

The signing of Frazier will kick Asdrubal Cabrera to second, his preferred position. Months before the Mets brought in Frazier, they exercised Cabrera’s $8.5MM option in early November. The 32-year-old isn’t going to wow anyone, but he has provided decent offensive production in both of his seasons as a Met.

The re-signed Jose Reyes will offer depth behind Cabrera and elsewhere around the infield, where he played everywhere but first base last season. The switch-hitting Reyes, 34, was effective along the way in totaling 2.0 fWAR and batting .246/.315/.413 with 15 home runs and a team-high 24 steals over 561 PAs. For a meager $2MM, it’s tough to argue with retaining Reyes from a baseball standpoint, though a past domestic violence suspension will always hang over his head.

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Nationals Re-Sign Jeremy Hellickson To New Minors Deal

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The Nationals have made a pair of on-paper transactions involving Jeremy Hellickson, as they released the right-hander from his original minor league deal and then re-signed him to a new contract with the same terms, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets.  The move was made to avoid paying Hellickson a $100K retention bonus that was due to him as an Article XX(B) free agent.  Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reported on Saturday that the two sides had previously agreed to this arrangement.

Hellickson has only been in camp with the Nats for a little over a week, and has thrown only four innings of work this spring.  Beyond just saving the $100K, then, the Nationals obviously wanted more time to stretch Hellickson out and properly gauge whether he could be a factor in their rotation plans.  A.J. Cole is slated to work as Washington’s fifth starter for now, though the club has amassed some young and veteran depth options (Hellickson, Erick Fedde, Austin Voth, Edwin Jackson, Tommy Milone) in the minors and as non-roster invitees to Spring Training.  There has been some speculation that Cole will eventually be moved into a long relief or spot starter role once Hellickson is fully ramped up.

As per the terms of both the old contract and the new, Hellickson will earn $2MM if he makes the big league roster, and he can earn up to $4MM more in incentives.  The deal gives Hellickson an opt-out clause on May 1 if he hasn’t already made the Nats’ 25-man roster, and he will receive further opt-out opportunities every 15 days thereafter.

Hellickson, who turns 31 on April 8, is looking to rebound from a rough 2017 season that saw him post a 5.43 ERA, 5.3 K/9, and an ugly 1.9 HR/9 over 164 innings with the Phillies and Orioles.  While homers had always been something of an issue for Hellickson throughout his career, he had never allowed more than 25 in a single season before surrendering 35 long balls last year.  Never a big strikeout pitcher, Hellickson’s swinging-strike rate dropped to only 8.3% in 2017, and he also saw spikes in his contact rates and a drop in his ground-ball rate.  Still, Hellickson put up solid numbers as recently as 2016, so there’s still hope that he could revive his fortunes with a change of scenery.

Quick Hits: Kingery, Phillies, Chen, Tigers, Maitan

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It was on this day in 2013 that the Brewers signed Kyle Lohse to a three-year, $33MM contract, ending Lohse’s extended stay in the free agent market.  The 2012-13 offseason was the first to feature the qualifying offer in its original form, and the draft pick compensation (a first-round pick, or the highest available pick for a team with one of the top ten draft spots) attached to Lohse’s services seemed to chill the market for the veteran right-hander.  Lohse became the first of several notable players whose free agency was impacted by the QO in the coming years, and even in its adjusted form under the new collective bargaining agreement, the qualifying certainly still acted as a seeming deterrent for several free agents this offseason.  The Brewers, it should be noted, ended up getting a pretty solid return on their investment, as Lohse posted a 3.45 ERA and 3.28 K/BB rate over 397 innings in 2013-14 before declining in the final year of the contract.

Some items from around baseball…

  • Talks about Scott Kingery’s precedent-setting extension with the Phillies came together within the last few days, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb writes (subscription required).  The team had been planning to keep Kingery at Triple-A long enough (April 13) to limit his service time and thus gain and extra year of control over his services.  At a guaranteed price of $24MM over six years, the Phillies see the contract “as a no-risk transaction,” as it isn’t too heavy a sum to eat if Kingery doesn’t live up to expectations as a big leaguer, though the organization is very high on the prospect as an important building block.
  • Of course, the Kingery deal was bound to generate some controversy given that he could be leaving a lot of future money on the table should he play well.  Speaking to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required), one rival agent described the contract’s three club options as “offensive,” given that the Phillies could control Kingery’s first three free agent years at a total price of $42MM, which surely won’t match the rate of market inflation by 2024-26.  Rosenthal’s notes piece is well worth a full read, as he catches up on some of the bigger stories of the past six weeks that he missed while recovering from back surgery.  (On behalf of all of us at MLBTR, it’s great to see Ken recovered and ready to go for the start of the season!)
  • Wei-Yin Chen faced live hitters in a 16-pitch batting practice session today, and the Marlins southpaw told reporters (including MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro) that it “felt like the old days,” prior to the elbow problems that have plagued him over the last two seasons.  Chen has been gradually moving through the recovery process, with today’s session being his first test against actual batters.  Without any injury setbacks, Chen could begin a proper ramp-up to the season and potentially return to Miami’s rotation by May, at the earliest.
  • The Tigers aren’t planning to make a trade to account for Mike Fiers’ potential DL stint, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi tweets.  The team already has Daniel Norris as an in-house replacement, plus Fiers isn’t expected to miss much time recovering from the back problems that have hampered him all spring.
  • Kevin Maitan’s prospect stock was already dimming after a difficult first full pro season, and the former Braves prospect has continued to draw mixed reviews from scouts in his first Spring Training with the Angels, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper writes.  Though Maitan is still just 18 years old, scouts already believe his body type won’t allow him to remain at shortstop, and he may also be too big even to handle third base.  This puts more pressure on Maitan to hit if he isn’t going to play at a premium defensive position, and evaluators also have some questions about Maitan’s swing. pessimistic

NL West Links: Lamet, Giants, Salas, Dodgers

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Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet is headed for the disabled list after leaving Sunday’s outing after just six batters due to elbow pain, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.  There doesn’t appear to be any structural damage to Lamet’s elbow and a source tells Acee that the righty will miss just “minimal time,” though that absence looks like it could last into May.  “The hope is he will miss only the season’s first month,” Acee writes, which is a somewhat ominously vague timeframe for a pitcher who was expected to play a big role in San Diego’s rotation.  Lamet posted a 4.57 ERA, 2.57 K/BB rate and a whopping 10.9 K/9 over 114 1/3 innings in his rookie season, displaying some control and home run-allowance issues but impressing many with his ability to miss bats.

More from around the NL West…

  • A Giants trade for starting pitching help is “not likely” as of tonight, a source tells MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi (Twitter links), though the team is considering adding a starter with Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija both on the DL.  Morosi cites the Astros’ Brad Peacock and Collin McHugh as arms that could be available, though these could be speculative names rather than pitchers the Giants are directly targeting.  San Francisco doesn’t have much luxury tax room to afford taking on any significant salary, nor does the club have much in the way of prospect depth to trade away, so it will be interesting to see how (or if) the Giants can adjust to these devastating early-season rotation losses.
  • Fernando Salas’ minor league contract with the Diamondbacks will pay him $1.5MM in base salary now that he has made the team’s Opening Day roster, The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan reports (Twitter link).  The right-hander can also earn some additional money via performances bonuses.  Salas posted an 0.90 ERA, 7.2 K/9, and just two walks over 10 spring innings for the D’Backs, an impressive performance that won him a slot on the 25-man roster.
  • Even though the Dodgers made moves to get under the luxury tax threshold this winter, ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) isn’t certain that this team will use the reset of their tax penalties to pursue a big-name free agent like Manny Machado or Bryce Harper.  Splurging on a decade-long contract for Machado or Harper would seem to run counter to how president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman works, though Olney wonders if Friedman could pursue a tactic like offering a shorter-term deal but with a higher average annual value.  Of course, L.A. could also spend in different ways next winter, such as acquiring an expensive player in a trade, or (most importantly) exploring an extension for Clayton Kershaw, who can opt out of his current deal after the season.

NL Central Notes: Maddon, Siegrist, Choi, Hendricks

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Joe Maddon aims to keep managing for at least five more years, which would take him beyond both his current deal with the Cubs and past his 68th birthday, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. (Maddon had previously made similar comments to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag.) The Cubs have yet to speak to Maddon about an extension, with GM Jed Hoyer that any discussions between the two sides won’t be made public, though there isn’t yet any immediate need for talks given that Maddon is still under contract through the 2019 campaign.  At age 64, Maddon is the oldest manager in baseball, though by all appearances he still connects with younger players as well as any skipper.  His clear desire is to stay with the Cubs, as Maddon said “I can’t imagine doing this anywhere else, I really can’t.  I’m very loyal to groups.  It also comes down to whether the Cubs want me or not, too. That’s really what it comes down to.”

Here’s some more from around the NL Central…

  • Kevin Siegrist will “probably look at other options first” before considering a Triple-A assignment if the Pirates don’t add him to their 25-man roster, the left-hander tells The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel (subscription required).  Siegrist signed a minor league deal with the Bucs in February that will pay him $1.5MM in guaranteed salary if he cracks the big leagues, and he can opt out of the deal if the Pirates don’t put him on the Opening Day roster and another club offers him an MLB job.  (The contract also contains a second opt-out clause, which Biertempfel reports is on June 1.)  A workhorse out of the Cardinals bullpen in 2015-16, Siegrist struggled with injuries last season and has yet to show much this spring, with a 7.94 ERA in 5 2/3 Grapefruit League innings.  Pittsburgh already has Steven Brault and Josh Smoker as left-handed options for the bullpen, so Siegrist could become expendable.
  • Ji-Man Choi has become a popular figure both on and off the field with the Brewers, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, as he has quickly won friends in the clubhouse and forced his way into consideration for a roster spot after a big spring.  Choi entered the day with a whopping 1.253 OPS over 51 plate appearances in camp, and though the Brew Crew are pretty set with first base options, manager Craig Counsell and GM David Stearns haven’t closed the door on the possibility of Choi being with the team on Opening Day.  Choi hasn’t hit much over 147 career Major League PA with the Angels and Yankees, though he has an impressive .305/.402/.497 slash line over 1943 plate appearances in the minors.  His minor league contract with the Brewers carries an opt-out date of May 15 if Choi hasn’t already been promoted to the big leagues.
  • Kyle Hendricks isn’t scheduled to hit free agency until after the 2020 season, and the Cubs right-hander tells The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney (subscription required) that he isn’t yet thinking about a potential contract extension with the team.  While Hendricks is taking a broader look at the game’s overall business due to his role as the Cubs’ assistant MLBPA representatives, his view when it comes to his own performance is “If you do the things out on the field, it’s going to end up taking care of itself.”  Hendricks will earn $4.175MM this season after agreeing to a deal to avoid arbitration with the Cubs, and his emergence as a front-of-the-rotation starter certainly puts him in line for more healthy salaries before he reaches the open market, unless Chicago looks to lock him up beforehand.

AL Roster Decisions: Sunday

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The latest from around the American League on players facing cuts, or earning Opening Day roster spots…

  • The Orioles all but finalized their 25-man roster today, re-assigning left-handers Joely Rodriguez and Josh Edgin to Triple-A while sending Luis Sardinas, Alex Presley, and Cedric Mullins to minor league camp.  (Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was one of several reporters with the details.)  While not officially announced, it seems as though Rule 5 draft pick Nestor Cortes Jr. has made the team based on these moves.  Rodriguez’s minor league deal with the O’s contains an opt-out clause sometime this summer, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports, and Rodriguez may have already attracted some attention after an impressive performance in camp.  Rodriguez has an 0.87 ERA over 10 1/3 Spring Training innings, with just one walk against six strikeouts.
  • It “seems likely” that veteran righty Blaine Boyer will make the Royals roster, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets.  Boyer signed a minor league deal with K.C. in February in the wake of a 2017 that saw him post a 4.35 ERA, 2.36 K/BB rate and 7.2 K/9 over 41 1/3 innings out of the Red Sox bullpen.  In making the Royals’ Major League roster, Flanagan reports that Boyer will earn $1MM in salary, plus another $250K available in incentives.
  • The Rays have informed southpaw Jonny Venters that he won’t make the team, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link).  Venters has already said he’ll accept a Triple-A assignment and is likely to remain in the organization unless another team offers him a job in their big league bullpen.  That scenario seems improbable, however, as Venters hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2012 due to three Tommy John surgeries, though he hasn’t yet given up his hopes for what would be an incredible comeback.

Diamondbacks Designate Chris Herrmann For Assignment, Select Jorge De La Rosa’s Contract

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The Diamondbacks have designated catcher Chris Herrmann for assignment, as per a team press release.  In a corresponding move, the team also selected the contract of left-hander Jorge De La Rosa.

Herrmann enjoyed something of a breakout season in part-time action with Arizona in 2016, when he hit .284/.352/.493 over 166 plate appearances with the team.  He was a particularly valuable part-time piece due to his ability to not just work behind the plate, but also to play some corner outfield if need be, not to mention a couple of games each in center field and first base.  Unfortunately for Herrmann, his production took a big step backwards last season with just a .181/.273/.345 slash line over 256 PA, though a .207 BABIP certainly may have contributed to that dropoff.

With Alex Avila signed as the new regular catcher and Jeff Mathis still in the mix for backup duty, Herrmann become an expendable piece for the D’Backs.  Though the club regularly used three catchers last season, John Ryan Murphy looks like the top choice for that role, perhaps due to his lower price tag.  Herrmann avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.3MM with the D’Backs for 2018, though since arbitration salaries aren’t guaranteed, the team would only owe Herrmann 30 days’ worth of termination pay (just under $227K) if the catcher was released before Opening Day.

De La Rosa posted a 4.21 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 2.14 K/BB rate over 51 1/3 innings for Arizona last season, his first full year as a relief pitcher.  While it could be something of a waste using a durable former starter as a specialist, De La Rosa had such enormous splits last season (left-handed batters hit just .192/.253/.292 slash line against De La Rosa in 79 PA, while right-handed batters hit .262/.362/.458 against him in 140 PA) that the D’Backs could be well-advised to at least limit his exposure against righty-swingers.  With Andrew Chafin and T.J. McFarland also projected to serve as left-handed options in the Snakes’ bullpen, the club has some flexibility to be creative with how it deploys its southpaw relief corps.

By making the Opening Day roster, De La Rosa will now earn $2.25MM in base salary, as per the terms of his minor league contract with the D’Backs.  Another $600K is available in bonus money.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/25/18

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Sunday’s minor moves…

  • The Twins have released right-handed reliever Michael Kohn, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets. Kohn was in the majors with the Angels and Braves from 2010-15, a 115-inning stretch in which he overcame a 6.18 BB/9 and a 26.4 percent groundball rate to post a 3.52 ERA and 8.69 K/9. Kohn then missed all of 2016 with rotator cuff problems before signing with the Twins last summer. While Kohn returned to log 13 minor league innings in the Twins’ system in 2017, yet another injury – a “nerve issue” – derailed the 31-year-old’s tenure with them this spring.

Mets Sign Fernando Abad

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3:45pm: Abad will earn a $1.25MM salary if he makes the Mets, and he’ll have a chance at another $650K in incentives, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag.

2:32pm: The Mets have signed left-handed reliever Fernando Abad to a minor league contract, Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. Abad came available when the NL East rival Phillies released him Wednesday. He’ll go to minor league camp with his new team, per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.

A veteran of the Astros, Nationals, Athletics, Twins and Red Sox, the 32-year-old Abad has logged a 3.65 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 317 2/3 innings since debuting in 2010. He has held same-sided hitters to a .237/.287/.383 batting line along the way, including a .224/.288/.438 showing in Boston last season.

If he cracks the Mets’ bullpen this year, Abad could give the club a second effective southpaw behind Jerry Blevins. The 32-year-old Blevins is the lone lefty reliever on the Mets’ 40-man roster.

Braves Sign Peter Bourjos To Major League Deal

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The Braves have signed outfielder Peter Bourjos to a major league deal worth $1MM, MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports. Bourjos is a client of Dishman Sports Group.

It wasn’t a long stay on the open market for Bourjos, whom the Cubs released Friday after an unsuccessful bid to make their roster. Bourjos joined the Cubs in February on a minors deal, which came after he spent 2017 with the Rays and batted .223/.272/.383 with five homers and five steals in 203 plate appearances. Long a well-regarded defender, the 30-year-old Bourjos racked up six Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.2 Ultimate Zone Rating in 476 innings divided among all three outfield spots last season.

Although Bourjos’ offensive production has dropped off since his best season – 2011 – when he hit .271/.327/.438 in 552 PAs with the Angels, the righty-swinger was a useful option against lefties last year (.260/.310/.442). If that continues, he could be a factor as a reserve in Atlanta, which features a lefty-heavy outfield (depth chart). Of course, righty-hitting, all-world prospect Ronald Acuna should debut soon, which could impact Bourjos’ playing time.

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