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Blue Jays Exercise Jason Grilli’s Option

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The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve exercised righty Jason Grilli’s 2017 option. (SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo was first to tweet the news.) That means they’ll pay Grilli a $3MM salary for next season, rather than a $250K buyout.

Jays GM Ross Atkins recently described exercising Grilli’s option as “as near to a no-brainer” as there exists in baseball, so the team’s decision comes as no surprise. Grilli turns 40 this week, but he was very effective with Toronto in 2016, posting a 3.64 ERA with 4.1 BB/9 and an outstanding 12.4 K/9 over 42 innings following a trade from Atlanta. His option was part of a two-year, $7MM deal he signed with the Braves following the 2014 season.

Grilli, the fourth overall pick in the 1997 draft, struggled for his first several seasons in the big leagues, but he emerged as a quality late-inning reliever and then a closer with the Pirates several years ago. In addition to the Bucs, Braves, and Blue Jays, he’s played for the Marlins, White Sox, Tigers, Rockies, Rangers and Angels over the course of a 14-year career in the Majors.

Indians Interested In Retaining Rajai Davis

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The Indians are interested in keeping outfielder and would-be Game 7 hero Rajai Davis, notes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti reiterates that the team would also like to retain slugger Mike Napoli.

“[B]oth for Raj and Mike, we expressed our desire to potentially have them back,” Antonetti says. “And we recognize they both have alternatives, based on the years that they had, but we’re certainly open to exploring different ways where both of them could be back here.”

Davis batted a modest .249/.306/.388 in the regular season after signing a one-year, $5.25MM deal last December, but he still managed to produce good value, thanks in part to his AL-leading 43 stolen bases (and only six caught stealings). He also, of course, had that memorable Game 7 homer.

“This is the best season I’ve ever had in my Major League career,” says Davis. “That would be great if we could get us both back, especially with this group of guys.”

Davis would undoubtedly still be a good complementary piece for Cleveland, particularly given his baserunning value. It will be interesting to see whether they keep him, though, given their outfield depth. Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall and Brandon Guyer all performed well for the Indians this year and are controllable for 2017, and Guyer could potentially play center against left-handed pitching (although Cleveland used him exclusively at the corners down the stretch). The Indians also hope to have Michael Brantley healthy for next season, although his shoulder was a problem throughout the 2017 season.

Coaching And Front Office Notes: Rockies, Rangers, Cardinals

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As we head into the offseason, here’s the latest on MLB coaching and front office changes:

  • Earlier today, it emerged that the Rockies could hire their next manager within the next couple of days. One former manager who won’t be getting the position is former Brewers skipper Ron Roenicke, who was interested in the job but who has not been interviewed and does not believe he is a candidate, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Roenicke currently serves as the Angels’ third base coach.
  • With assistant Thad Levine departing to become GM of the Twins, Rangers GM Jon Daniels says his team could replace Levine with an outside hire but could also distribute his duties to other members of the front office, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
  • The Cardinals have hired Bob Gebhard as a special assistant to GM John Mozeliak, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The 73-year-old Gebhard briefly pitched for the Twins and Expos in the early 1970s, and he was the Rockies’ first GM, serving in that capacity throughout most of the 1990s.
  • It would appear the Cardinals have also created an entirely new coaching position. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that they’ve promoted Mike Shildt to the big leagues as a “quality control coach.” They’ve also promoted Oliver Marmol to be their new first base coach. Shildt has eight years of managerial experience in the Cardinals’ minor league system, spending the last two years with Triple-A Memphis. The 30-year-old Marmol spent several years in the Cards’ system as an infielder before transitioning to coaching. He managed at Class A+ Palm Beach last year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 11/3/16

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Here’s a collection of minor moves from around the game, to add to the long list of outrights we posted earlier:

  • The Braves have signed righty Danny Reynolds to a minor league deal, tweets MLBTR’s Zach Links. Reynolds struggled with Double-A Arkansas in the Angels’ system in 2016, with a 5.61 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 6.4 BB/9 over 33 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old was released in June and wound up in independent ball. Most reports offer praise for his velocity, however, and his stuff was interesting enough that he went from the Angels to the Dodgers to the Astros and back to the Angels in a four-month series of waiver claims starting last December, so the Braves might hope he provides a bit of upside than the typical organizational player.
  • Mariners catcher Steve Clevenger has elected to become a free agent, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. The M’s announced yesterday that they had outrighted Clevenger. The 30-year-old hit .221/.303/.309 while playing sparingly in the big leagues last season. He missed time to an elbow injury, then was suspended by the team following a pair of offensive tweets.
  • The Rangers have announced that they’ve selected the contract of IF/OF Drew Robinson, preventing him from becoming a minor league free agent. The 24-year-old had a solid season with Triple-A Round Rock in 2016, batting .257/.350/.480 with 20 home runs in 539 plate appearances. Robinson has struck out in more than a quarter of his career minor league plate appearances and typically doesn’t hit for good averages, but his walk-heavy offensive game has been resilient as he’s moved through the Rangers’ system, and his ability to play six positions (first, second, third and all three outfield spots) could help make him useful at the big-league level.

Avila: Tigers To Have “Wide Open Competition” In Center Field

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Following the Tigers’ decisions to exercise closer Francisco Rodriguez’s option and to trade center fielder Cameron Maybin to the Angels for pitcher Victor Alcantara, the team issued a statement with quotes from GM Avila. In the wake of Maybin’s departure, the team will sort through various options at center field next season, Avila says.

“We will weigh our options as far as center field is concerned for next season,” says the GM. “There will be a wide open competition starting in the spring and we’ll see how it plays out.”

The team’s options at center field could include JaCoby Jones, Tyler Collins and Anthony Gose. All three, though, come with drawbacks. Jones mostly played infield in the minors, has limited experience above Double-A and batted just .243/.309/.356 while striking out in 29.9% of his plate appearances at Triple-A Toledo last year. Collins posted a .687 OPS for Detroit last season and fared even worse at Toledo. And Gose also failed to hit, batting .209/.287/.341 in the big leagues in 2016. In contrast, Maybin’s 2016 season was a highly successful one, and it appears the Tigers will miss his .383 OBP in particular. Avila’s comments don’t preclude the possibility that the Tigers could expand their search for a center fielder outside the organization, however.

Regarding Rodriguez, Avila says, “We liked the job K-Rod did last season and the numbers show he was a reliable closer for us. He stabilizes the back end of our bullpen and provides veteran leadership to our younger bullpen arms.” The 34-year-old K-Rod figures to close for the Tigers next season, unless the Tigers decide to put him on the trade market.

Dick Williams On Reds’ Bullpen

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The Reds want to upgrade their bullpen this offseason, but GM Dick Williams admits that will be a challenge, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. “There is not a ton of options available, and there are a lot of teams talking about needing bullpen help right now. We just have to be careful that we don’t get swept up in a market that is overheated,” says Williams, who adds that he might prefer internal options like Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen to pitch in multiple-inning bullpen roles next season, rather than hunting for that sort of pitcher on in free agency. Both pitchers were among the Reds’ best in 2016, and both also have experience starting.

“In the second half of the season, we were trying to promote the usage of Iglesias and Lorenzen in that type of multi-inning role,” says Williams. “People are always looking for the market inefficiency, and if all of a sudden everybody is out chasing multi-inning guys, then you might have to look elsewhere.”

Williams adds that the Reds do not plan to re-sign J.J. Hoover, who was outrighted in August and became a free agent last month. Hoover was a solid contributor in the Reds’ 2015 ’pen, but he was awful in 2016 after being called upon to replace Aroldis Chapman as the Reds’ closer, allowing 29 runs in 18 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He did, however, fare well in an extended stay at Triple-A Louisville.

Rangers Prefer To Have Joey Gallo Start 2017 In Minors

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The Rangers’ plans for first base in 2017 aren’t entirely clear, but it appears Joey Gallo does not top their list of potential starters at the position, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News notes. “We think Joey is going to be a very good player in this league, but when is still too early to say,” says GM Jon Daniels. “Ideally, he’d probably get a little more time, unless there is a big jump like Ryan Rua took last year.” Daniels cites Jurickson Profar and Rua as candidates for playing time at first.

Incumbent first baseman Mitch Moreland is a free agent this winter, and Gallo is a talented minor league slugger with a long history of hitting for incredible power — he’s hit 152 home runs, many of the light-tower variety, in parts of five minor league seasons. He’s a third baseman by trade, but he played 32 games at first base in for Triple-A Round Rock last season and would appear to be an obvious candidate to take over the position now that there’s a vacancy. The Rangers could also have playing time available at DH, depending on how this offseason shakes out.

Gallo also has obvious weaknesses, however. He struck out in nearly 35% of his plate appearances last year at Round Rock, and has whiffed a ridiculous 76 times in 153 plate appearances in the big leagues. He would likely have a hard time posting batting averages above the Mendoza Line without improvements in that category, and the Rangers might feel Round Rock is the best place to address his deficiencies. Gallo went to Venezuela this offseason to work on his game in winter ball, but has been sidelined by a hamstring injury.

Latest On Diamondbacks’ Managerial Search, Front Office Changes

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Here’s the latest on the Diamondbacks’ hunt for a new manager, via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic:

  • It’s possible the D’backs have already interviewed most of their candidates, Piecoro writes. Those include Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo (who is perceived to be the favorite), broadcaster and former big-leaguer Alex Cora, Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu and Triple-A manager Phil Nevin, whose candidacies have been noted elsewhere.
  • Piecoro also adds a new name: that of Cardinals bench coach David Bell. Before taking his current position, Bell had previously served as an assistant hitting coach with the Cardinals, a third base coach with the Cubs and a minor-league manager with the Reds.
  • New Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen came from the Red Sox and has thus been strongly connected to Lovullo, with whom he had also previously worked in the Indians system. Hazen says that dynamic has had no impact on the interview process, however. “People can read or interpret how they want to,” says Hazen. “I don’t think any of that is fair, but it hasn’t been something that has been a major factor. It’s our responsibility to hire the best manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks. That’s the only way I’m looking at it.”
  • Piecoro confirms that pro scouting director Mike Russell has left the organization to take a job with the Tigers, for whom he worked from 2012 through 2014. Robert Murray of Today’s Knuckleball had previously reported Russell’s departure.
  • Of Ed Lewis, the former veterinarian who until recently headed the Diamondbacks analytics department, Hazen says, “I feel like there are just going to be some avenues that we want to explore on that side of the game that maybe bringing in people who are a little more specialized in certain things and maybe rebuild the department in a different way.” Lewis recently left the organization in the wake of recent changes to its front office.

Current CBA Rules Could “Roll Over” Through Offseason

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MLB’s collective bargaining agreement expires December 1, and both MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA head Tony Clark have expressed optimism that two parties can avoid a work stoppage. While Manfred had previously said he hoped to have a new deal in place by the end of the postseason, though, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that he hears there is still work to be done, even on the day of what could be the clinching game of the World Series.

It is possible, Sherman writes, that rules from the previous CBA could be “rolled over for at least this offseason.” A rollover of the current rules could potentially keep this winter’s free agent market from stalling by allowing free agents to negotiate with teams without either party worrying about how a new agreement might affect them.

Sherman notes that the two sides have batted around a number of possible changes to the qualifying offer system. One possibility is that MLB could agree to stop taking draft picks from teams that sign free agents who have rejected qualifying offers. (As we’ve seen in the cases of Kyle Lohse, Stephen Drew, Ian Desmond and others in recent years, these draft pick losses reduce free agents’ value, which is why the MLBPA would want to change the current rules.)

Sherman writes that, under the changes being considered, teams losing good free agents would still receive compensation. It remains to be seen what form that compensation would take, although it’s worth noting that, under the previous system, a team that offered a Type B free agent arbitration before his departure received a draft pick, without the signing team having to give up anything. Perhaps MLB and the MLBPA will consider reinstituting a similar system for a certain class of free agents.

World Series Notes: Trades, Rizzo, Martinez, Rebuilding

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Andrew Miller has thrived with the Indians and Aroldis Chapman has done well with the Cubs, but that doesn’t change the Yankees’ sides of the trades that sent those relievers packing, writes the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. Even if the Indians and Cubs had missed the World Series, the Yankees had two top-notch relievers to deal and needed to get peak value from them. The Yankees need to hit on their acquisitions of Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield and Gleyber Torres, but the spotlights on Miller and Chapman shouldn’t cause Yankees fans to become increasingly impatient. Sherman notes that many key Indians players (including Corey Kluber, Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Bryan Shaw) were acquired in veterans-for-prospects deals much like the ones the Yankees made in dealing Miller and Chapman. Here’s more on the World Series, and what, if anything, teams that aren’t in the Series can learn from the teams that are.

  • The Cubs had similar success in veterans-for-prospects trades, getting Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, Addison Russell, Pedro Strop and Travis Wood in such deals. But just as important was the 2012 deal that sent Andrew Cashner and a minor leaguer to the Padres for Anthony Rizzo and a prospect, as SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee notes in a list of key trades for both World Series teams. For awhile, Cashner looked like one of the NL’s better young starters, but the deal eventually tilted in the Cubs’ favor as Cashner struggled despite his excellent stuff and Rizzo became a force in the middle of Chicago’s lineup.
  • It’s doubtful whether Theo Epstein would have been able to rebuild the Red Sox the way he did with the Cubs, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. The Red Sox faithful would not have shown much patience for such a rebuild, MacPherson argues. Of course, Boston has had its share of losing seasons in recent years, but never were such losing seasons part of a broader rebuilding project, and MacPherson highlights the differences between some of the big trades the Cubs have made during losing periods and those of the Red Sox. When they traded Jon Lester, Jon Lackey and Miller in 2014, for example, the Red Sox got veterans like Yoenis Cespedes, Joe Kelly and Allen Craig. They did get youngster Eduardo Rodriguez in the Miller deal, and had success with the Lester deal too, in that they traded Cespedes and Alex Wilson for Rick Porcello. But it’s clear the Red Sox took a fundamentally different approach. Of course, it’s arguable that a full rebuild wasn’t necessary for the Red Sox at that time — by 2014 they were one year removed from a World Series victory and were already in the process of integrating youngsters like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley into their lineup, and they had an excellent season of their own in 2016, just two years later.
  • Regardless of what happens in the World Series, the Cubs plan to ask coaches to return in 2017, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers writes. They are, however, considering the possibility that bench coach Dave Martinez could depart, since Martinez appears to be a candidate for the Rockies’ open managerial job. Maddon says Martinez’s current job has prepared him well. “When the guy does the bench coaching properly, I absolutely believe it sets him up to be a manager,” says Maddon. “He should be there to let the manager intellectualize the day.”

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