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Archives for January 2019

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Turner, Yelich, Rays, Marlins, ChiSox, Bryce, Manny

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This week in baseball blogs…

Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com

Jeff Banister Joins Pirates’ Front Office

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The Pirates have hired Jeff Banister as a special assistant, baseball operations, the team announced. He joins fellow new hire David Eckstein in that regard.

The 54-year-old Banister is headed back to Pittsburgh, which selected him in the 25th round of the 1986 draft. Banister then spent seven seasons in the Pirates’ minor league system and picked up his sole majors plate appearance with the team in 1991. He eventually went on to manage for five seasons in the minors with Pittsburgh and also spent three seasons as its major league field coordinator and eight as a minor league field coordinator. Banister topped that off by serving as the Pirates’ interim pitching coach in 2008 and their bench coach in 2010.

After his long tenure in Pittsburgh, Banister became the Rangers’ manager in 2014. He held that position through last year, posting a 325-313 regular-season record with a pair of playoff berths and two American League West titles. Perhaps Banister will be in line to become the Pirates’ next manager if Clint Hurdle’s run ends, then, though there’s no indication the Bucs are down on the latter despite three straight non-playoff seasons.

Indians Acquire Kevin Plawecki

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The Indians have acquired catcher Kevin Plawecki from the Mets for right-hander Walker Lockett and infielder Sam Haggerty, Cleveland announced.

This is the second trade of the day for the Mets, who previously acquired infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis in a five-player swap with the Astros. Plawecki became expendable to the Mets when they signed Wilson Ramos in free agency last month, and Sunday’s trade leaves them with three catchers – Ramos, Travis d’Arnaud and Tomas Nido – on their 40-man roster.

The Indians entered Sunday in need of reinforcements behind the plate, as they traded Yan Gomes to the Nationals in November. The subtraction of Gomes left the Indians with Roberto Perez and Eric Haase as the only catchers on their 40-man roster. Perez was a dreadful offensive player in 2018, though, while Haase has totaled a meager 17 major league plate appearances.

A former top-1o0 prospect, the 27-year-old Plawecki debuted in 2016. He has been a respectable hitter since 2017, having batted .225/.330/.379 (97 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 395 PAs. But Plawecki hasn’t been as useful on the defensive end, as Baseball Prospectus ranked him near the bottom of the majors in 2018, when he threw out 23 percent of would-be base stealers (28 percent was the league-average mark).

The 24-year-old Lockett had a short stint with the Indians, who acquired him in a November trade with the Padres. A fourth-round pick of the Padres in 2012, Lockett debuted in the majors last year, though the results weren’t pretty. Lockett pitched to a 9.60 ERA in 15 innings in San Diego, but he has been better at the Triple-A level, where he has put up a 4.60 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 over 206 2/3 frames. Haggerty, also 24, joined the Indians as a 24th-round pick in 2015. He has since hit .244/.349/.373 in 1,341 minor league PAs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets Acquire J.D. Davis

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The Mets and Astros have swung a five-player trade centering on corner infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis, according to both teams. New York has acquired Davis and minor league infielder Cody Bohanek in exchange for three minor leaguers – second baseman Luis Santana, outfielder Ross Adolph and catcher Scott Manea.

A third-round pick of the Astros in 2014, Davis ranked among the team’s top-15 prospects at Baseball America through the 2017 campaign. Davis has shown plenty of promise by raking in the minors, particularly at the Triple-A level, where he debuted in 2017 and has slashed .335/.400/.589 with 22 home runs in 450 plate appearances. He has also picked up experience at all four corner positions at Triple-A, though most of his professional work has come at third base.

While Davis held his own in Houston’s system, he wasn’t much of a factor in the majors for the club. The right-handed batter performed decently across 68 PAs in 2017, the year the Astros won the World Series, but was ineffective across 113 trips last season. Thus far, Davis is just a .194/.260/.321 hitter with five homers in 181 major league PAs. Thanks in part to Davis’ big league struggles, not to mention the Astros’ collection of talent at the corners, they deemed him expendable.

In New York, the soon-to-be 26-year-old Davis will provide depth behind third baseman Todd Frazier, whichever first baseman the Mets choose (be it Peter Alonso, Dominic Smith or Jeff McNeil) and corner outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto. With two minor league options remaining, the Mets won’t be under pressure to place Davis on their Opening Day roster. Bohanek, meanwhile, will surely start in the Mets’ minor league system, as the 23-year-old has totaled just 43 PAs above the High-A level since the Astros chose him in the 30th round of the 2017 draft.

Of the players going to Houston, only Santana, 19, ranked among New York’s top 30 prospects at MLB.com. The 5-foot-8 Santana placed 24th, with the outlet lauding his “very advanced approach at the plate” and his makeup. Santana was dominant last season in rookie ball, where he hit .348/.446/.471 with more walks (27) than strikeouts (23) over 242 PAs. He’s a “shrewd” addition for the Astros, Keith Law of ESPN observes.

Adolph, 22, joined the Mets in the 12th round of last summer’s draft. He then proceeded to slash .276/.348/.509 with seven homers and 14 steals in 264 PAs at the Low-A level. The 23-year-old Manea had been with the Mets since they grabbed him in the 40th round of the 2014 draft. He hasn’t yet gotten past Single-A, though Astros president Jeff Luhnow said Sunday (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle) that the team believes Manea “can move pretty quickly and has a chance to be a big league catcher.”

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports first reported the Mets were close to acquiring Davis. Andy Martino of SNY tweeted the Mets would get Davis and that the Astros would receive minor leaguers in the swap. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

6 To 7 Teams Interested In Justin Wilson

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With left-hander Zach Britton having come off the free-agent market Saturday, Justin Wilson is arguably the most desirable southpaw reliever available. Interest in Wilson is high, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports six to seven teams are vying for him.

The Mets are the only known team who have eyed Wilson, a 31-year-old who has been largely effective since he cracked the majors with the Pirates in 2012. Also a former Yankee, Tiger and Cub, Wilson has tossed upward of 50 innings in each of his six full big league seasons, and has notched a 3.33 ERA/3.30 FIP with 9.88 K/9, 4.03 BB/9 and a 46.4 percent groundball rate. Along the way, Wilson has been useful against both left- and right-handed hitters, having held the former to a .239/.319/.345 line and the latter to an even worse mark (.210/.305/.323).

Unfortunately for Wilson, he hit the market at a somewhat inopportune time, as he wasn’t at top form over the previous two seasons. While Wilson prevented runs at a solid clip (3.43 ERA/3.51 FIP in 112 2/3 frames) and struck out hitters at an even more impressive rate (11.9 per nine), his control and groundball numbers took significant steps backward. Wilson walked 5.43 batters per nine in each of those seasons and, after generating grounders 54.9 percent of the time in 2016, fell into the mid-30s from 2017-18. Still, though, the hard-throwing Wilson has seldom been prone to the home run ball, and he has limited damaging contact by posting a double-digit infield fly percentage in each of his seasons.

Market Notes: Dozier, Allen, Yanks, Tulo, Mets

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Free-agent second baseman Brian Dozier’s market is “starting to heat up,” Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. On the heels of an uncharacteristically pedestrian campaign divided between the Twins and Dodgers, the 31-year-old Dozier has drawn reported interest from just two teams – the Nationals and Brewers – this offseason. But Dozier’s no doubt one of the most accomplished veterans remaining in free agency, and he’s not far removed from posting excellent production on a regular basis. From 2013-17, Dozier averaged 4.3 fWAR, 29 home runs and 16 stolen bases per season.

  • As with Dozier, free-agent reliever Cody Allen has encountered more interest of late, Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com relays. Reported interest in Allen has been scarce since he, like Dozier, put up surprisingly underwhelming numbers in 2018. Now 30, Allen was consistently one of the majors’ most reliable closers and bullpen workhorses from 2013-17, over which he converted 120 of 135 save chances and registered a 2.59 ERA with 11.93 K/9 and 3.26 BB/9 across 344 2/3 innings. Had that version of Allen stuck around in ’18, he’d have been in contention for one of the majors’ richest contracts among this winter’s crop of free-agent relievers. Instead, Allen pitched to a 4.70 ERA with 10.75 BB/9 and 4.43 BB/9, though he did make good on 27 of 32 save chances and tally another 67 frames.
  • During the Yankees’ courtship of Troy Tulowitzki, the two sides never discussed a utility role for the longtime shortstop, according to Andy Martino of SNY. Rather, short was the only position on the table for the 34-year-old Tulowitzki, whom the Yankees officially signed Friday. Barring a change from the Yankees (who are pursuing free-agent shortstop/third baseman Manny Machado), Tulo will fill in for injured shortstop Didi Gregorius at the outset of next season. It’ll be interesting to see how the Yankees’ infield will align if they sign Machado, then. He could go back to third, the position he has handled with brilliance for most of his career, but it’s unclear how that would affect 2018 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Miguel Andujar.
  • After acquiring center fielder Keon Broxton from the Brewers on Saturday, the Mets “aren’t so sure” they’ll pick up another major league outfielder this offseason, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. The club could still scoop up a free-agent outfielder(s) on a minor league deal – as it did Saturday with Rymer Liriano, who followed Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco in that regard – but it doesn’t seem as if New York is in play anymore for a high-profile addition in the grass. The Mets have frequented rumors for free-agent center fielder A.J. Pollock as much as any other team, though it’s questionable whether there’s room for him on the roster. Along with Broxton and Juan Lagares in center, the team has everyday outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto in the corners, not to mention the rehabbing Yoenis Cespedes.

Pirates Add David Eckstein To Front Office

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The Pirates have hired former major league infielder David Eckstein to serve as a special assistant for baseball operations, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to cover. He’s now in the same organization as his brother Rick Eckstein, who’s entering his first season as the Pirates’ hitting coach.

This is David Eckstein’s first front office role since his playing career ended in 2010, though he has garnered some coaching experience with the Angels, Diamondbacks and USA Baseball, as Berry points out. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington noted that the “intelligence, intensity and a unique drive and energy” of Eckstein “will be an asset for our Major League team and player development system as a teacher and mentor.”

Now 43, the diminutive Eckstein was known for getting the most out of his talent during his tenure as a big league second baseman and shortstop. A 19th-round pick of the Red Sox in 1997, Eckstein began making his mark a few years later in Anaheim, which claimed him off waivers from Boston in 2000. Eckstein debuted in 2001 and enjoyed a successful four-year run with the Angels, whom he helped take home their only World Series title in 2002. He then moved on to St. Louis, where he played from 2005-07, earned a pair of All-Star nods and collected 2006 World Series MVP honors as part of yet another championship-winning squad.

Eckstein divided the final three years of his career among Toronto, Arizona and San Diego, finishing with a .281/.345/.355 lifetime line, 35 home runs, 123 stolen bases and 16.8 fWAR in 5,705 plate appearances.

Poll: The Mariners’ Direction

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The 2018 Mariners piled up 89 wins, their most victories in a season since 2003, but the club still extended its playoff drought to 17 years. No North American pro sports franchise owns a longer postseason-less streak than the Mariners, who have elected to radically reconstruct their major league roster and minor league farm system over the past couple months. Believing the Mariners were neither good enough to compete for a title nor bad enough to bottom out with the talent they had, general manager Jerry Dipoto set out to “re-imagine” their roster this winter. Dipoto has done just that in ultra-aggressive fashion, having traded one familiar veteran after another in hopes of assembling a roster capable of striving for relevance as early as 2020 or ’21.

Dating back to Nov. 8, the Mariners have shipped out catcher Mike Zunino, left-hander James Paxton, second baseman Robinson Cano, shortstop Jean Segura, first baseman Carlos Santana (acquired for Segura), outfielders Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia, and relievers Edwin Diaz, Juan Nicasio, Alex Colome and James Pazos. In return, the Mariners have received a few 30-something veterans (first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, outfielder Jay Bruce and reliever Anthony Swarzak), substantial salary relief (including $64MM from the Cano trade) and a host of potential long-term pieces. The team’s hope is that recently acquired outfielder Mallex Smith, catcher Omar Narvaez, shortstop J.P. Crawford and outfielder Domingo Santana – all major leaguers who are controllable for three or more years – will be part of the solution for the foreseeable future, and it has the same plan for the bevy of prospects it has landed in its multitude of recent trades.

Prior to Dipoto’s November/December transactions spree, the Mariners had the majors’ worst farm system and none of MLB.com’s top-1oo prospects. But they got three such farmhands – lefty Justus Sheffield (No. 31), outfielder Jarred Kelenic (No. 62) and righty Justin Dunn (No. 89) – in those trades. Unsurprisingly, thanks to the additions of Sheffield, Kelenic, Dunn and an array of other prospects, the Mariners now boast one of the majors’ most improved systems, per Jim Callis of MLB.com.

Adding to the long-term optimism, the Mariners made a major strike in free agency to kick off the New Year when they signed Japanese lefty Yusei Kikuchi. While Kikuchi’s not on the level of countryman Shohei Ohtani, whom Dipoto badly wanted last winter before he signed with the division-rival Angels, he could nonetheless be a game-changing acquisition. Kikuchi will slot in near the top of the Mariners’ rotation immediately, and at 27, he’s young enough and controllable for long enough (possibly through 2025) that he could be a key factor for perennially contending Seattle clubs. The same applies to Smith, Narvaez, Crawford, Santana, Sheffield, Kelenic, Dunn (and the other acquired prospects), not to mention outfielder Mitch Haniger and left-hander Marco Gonzales.

Haniger and Gonzales – each controllable for the next handful of years – stand out as the most valuable players remaining from last season’s Mariners team. Both players, especially Haniger, no doubt possess high trade value, but it seems they’ll remain on hand as prominent members of Seattle’s next core. Still, with several other trade candidates on the roster (Encarnacion, Bruce, Swarzak, second baseman Dee Gordon, third baseman Kyle Seager and righty Mike Leake), the ever-active Dipoto may not be done flipping veterans for prospects and/or future salary room in advance of next season.

No matter what happens between now and Opening Day, the Mariners’ 2019 roster will look far different than it did last year, when the club tallied the majors’ 11th-most wins but once again fell short of a playoff spot. Are you on board with Seattle’s decision to take a step back in 2019 with the goal of becoming a perennial contender thereafter? Or should Dipoto & Co. have taken more of a win-now approach this winter in an effort to snap the team’s embarrassing playoff drought next season?

(poll link for app users)

Angels Were Main Finalists For Zach Britton

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Reliever Zach Britton exited free agency Saturday when he agreed to re-sign with the Yankees. Before that, Britton drew serious interest from the Angels, who were the top runners-up in the derby for the left-hander, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.

Britton will receive anywhere from $26MM to $53MM with the Yankees, and a deal along those lines would have easily made him the Angels’ richest signing this offseason. Thus far, the Angels haven’t handed out more than $11MM in guaranteed money to any free agent, nor have they committed a multiyear deal to anyone. Plus, having plucked Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Justin Bour and Jonathan Lucroy from the open market, the Angels’ Opening Day payroll already projects to roughly $167MM without Britton. They came close to that figure in each of the previous three seasons, but they’ve never matched or exceeded it under owner Arte Moreno.

Unfortunately for the Angels, with Britton and ex-Yankee teammate David Robertson (whom the Halos were interested in before he signed with Philadelphia), no longer available, high-end relief options in free agency are dwindling. In terms of predicted salaries, the premier free-agent arms are Craig Kimbrel and Adam Ottavino, a pair of righties who are likely to require substantial multiyear commitments. Perhaps the Angels will vie for one or both of them; otherwise, they may opt for a less expensive option such as Kelvin Herrera, Cody Allen, old pal Bud Norris, Brad Brach or Justin Wilson, among others.

As things stand, the Angels haven’t reeled anyone in to upgrade last year’s bullpen, which ranked 13th in ERA and 20th in fWAR. The unit has since lost Blake Parker, whom the Angels non-tendered, and seen Jim Johnson reach free agency. Those two each logged sub-4.00 ERAs (albeit with less encouraging peripherals) across a combined 129 2/3 innings of work in 2018. They also provided the Angels a pair of fairly experienced closer options, which is something the team lacks at the moment. Either Britton or Robertson would have given the Angels a far more proven game-ending choice than anyone on their roster. However, with those two now out of play, the club will have to continue searching if it wants to add an established veteran to its cast of relievers before next season.

Rosenthal’s Latest: BoSox, JBJ, Mets, Grandal, D. Holland, A’s, Anibal, Astros, Keuchel

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Of the pricey veterans the Red Sox reportedly considered trading last month, they “pushed” center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. harder than anyone else, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears (subscription required). However, the Red Sox couldn’t find a deal to their liking for JBJ, Rosenthal notes. The Diamondbacks were the only team publicly connected to Bradley around that time, though there were conflicting reports about whether they were truly interested in him. As of now, it seems the soon-to-be 29-year-old Bradley will once again man center in Boston in 2019, his second-last second of arbitration eligibility. Bradley will make a projected $7.9MM during the upcoming season.

Here’s more from Rosenthal:

  • The report that free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal rejected a four-year, $60MM proposal from the Mets earlier this winter is “essentially accurate,” Rosenthal writes. While the Mets didn’t submit a formal offer to Grandal, the two sides did discuss a deal in the $55MM to $60MM neighborhood, per Rosenthal, who adds the 30-year-old was aiming for a contract worth closer to $65MM. The Mets balked at Grandal’s request, though, and then signed the No. 2 catcher available, Wilson Ramos. There’s now “doubt” Grandal’s next contract will approach what the Mets were willing to give him, Rosenthal relays.
  • More from Rosenthal on the Mets, who – in need of starting depth – are considering left-hander Derek Holland and righty Josh Tomlin in free agency. Holland easily had the stronger year of the two in 2018, which figures to make him the more difficult hurler to sign. He should be able to net a major league contract this winter, whereas the Mets are hoping to land someone on a non-guaranteed pact, Rosenthal reports. With that in mind, Tomlin may be a more realistic option, as he endured a miserable 2018 with the Indians. However, the 34-year-old was successful at times from 2014-17 under ex-Tribe pitching coach and current Mets manager Mickey Callaway.
  • Before righty Anibal Sanchez signed a two-year, $19MM guarantee with the Nationals last month, the Athletics made him a three-year offer, according to Rosenthal. It’s unclear how much the A’s were willing to pay Sanchez, but Rosenthal points out that the proximity of Washington, D.C., to the the 34-year-old’s South Florida home helped tip the scale in the Nationals’ favor. Further, the Nats train in West Palm Beach, Fla., while the A’s are headquartered in Mesa, Ariz. Based on his bounce-back 2018 in Atlanta, Sanchez would’ve provided a much-needed upgrade in Oakland, which hasn’t improved its rotation this offseason.
  • Southpaw Dallas Keuchel stands as the most decorated starter remaining on the open market, but if the Astros had their way, he wouldn’t be available. The Astros offered Keuchel a five-year, $90MM extension early in the 2016 campaign, but he turned it down, according to Rosenthal. At that point, Keuchel was a 28-year-old coming off an AL Cy Young-winning season. Now 31, Keuchel hasn’t been quite as effective since his career-best campaign, though he remains an above-average starter and should rake in a high-paying multiyear deal before the offseason is out. Having made $22.35MM in salaries since he rejected the Astros’ offer, Keuchel will need to sign for $67.65MM as a free agent in order to match what Houston offered him, Rosenthal notes.

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