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Mets, Eduardo Nunez Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have agreed to a minor league deal with free-agent infielder Eduardo Nunez, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. It includes a non-roster invite to Major League Spring Training.

Nunez, 32, is coming off a dreadful year that ended in July with his release from the Red Sox, with whom he had played since mid-2017. Nunez played in just 60 games for the Sox last year, and yet he accumulated -1.5 WAR thanks largely to an unsightly .228/.243/.305 batting line.

Those numbers are hard to swallow, but Nunez really isn’t that far from removed from a couple of seasons in 2016 and 2017 in which he provided above-average offensive output to go with his signature aggressive baserunning. Splitting the 2017 season between San Francisco and Boston, he posted an .801 OPS to go with 24 stolen bases. He’s never received high marks as a defender, but he’s at least capable of playing second and third base.

He will join an already crowded Mets infield mix with a chance to compete for a roster spot in the spring. The starting infield looks pretty well solidified, but Nunez may have a shot at supplanting Luis Guillorme, who’s a more polished shortstop but also has a patchy offensive track record, for bench at-bats.

Astros Interviewed Bobby Evans For GM Job

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The Astros have interviewed former Giants general manager Bobby Evans for their own vacant GM post, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Evans is the first name to have emerged in Houston’s hunt for its next top executive.

The Astros, of course, are in need of replacements for both deposed GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch. While we’ve had plenty of news to follow along with the managerial search, things have been mostly quiet on the GM front. It makes sense, given that spring training is just around the corner and, well, beginning the spring with no manager would be quite the bold move. However, hiring a manager before a GM is not an ideal scenario; it’s increasingly necessary that executives up and down the organization are on the same page. That’s created a tricky situation for owner Jim Crane, who placed himself in charge of the team’s baseball operations in the interim.

Evans worked in the Giants organization beginning in 1994, serving as the team’s vice president of baseball operations during the franchise’s dynastic run of success from 2010-2014. He earned a promotion to general manager prior to the 2015 season, a post that he held for nearly four seasons until he was fired in September of 2018. Interestingly, as the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome notes, Evans’ San Francisco tenure largely coincided with Dusty Baker’s stint as the Giants’ skipper from 1993-2002. Baker, of course, has been named as a candidate in the Astros’ managerial search.

That connection, if it’s anything meaningful, could serve to quell some of the tension that could arise between a manager who’s been hired before his GM. Of course, it has been nearly two decades since the two worked together, so that history may wind up being irrelevant anyway.

Diamondbacks Interested In Brian Dozier

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The Diamondbacks are one of the teams with interest in free-agent second baseman Brian Dozier, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network. If there are other clubs looking at Dozier, their identities are unknown as of now.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything regarding Dozier, and this is the first time a specific team has been named. Still, with Heyman implying that there’s multiple teams pursuing the 32-year-old, it’s anyone’s guess when and where Dozier will sign his next deal. It looks like a return to Washington, with whom Dozier spent just one season, can be ruled out after the team has made a series of infield acquisitions.

There’s not necessarily a gaping hole in the Arizona infield either, but that doesn’t mean the veteran Dozier couldn’t carve out a role with the Diamondbacks. Eduardo Escobar looks like the best bet to start at second base on Opening Day, but he could slide over to third—where he played last year—and bump Jake Lamb into a part-time role at first base.

Dozier enjoyed a nice bounce-back year in 2019 after seeing his 2018 numbers dip to career-worst marks almost across the board. Last year, he managed a respectable .771 OPS while belting 20 home runs, ultimately contributing to a World Series-winning team. There’s no doubt that he’s lost a step since his Minnesota days, but there could still be some value here. Notably, Dozier has graded out as a below-average defender in each of the last three years by Defensive Runs Saved, while Statcast’s Outs Above Average has also observed a similarly steep falloff since 2017.

Financially, the Diamondbacks shouldn’t have any trouble making another addition like Dozier, who made an affordable $9MM in 2019 and should once again come at a reasonable price. Even after a relatively busy offseason, Roster Resource tabs their current payroll obligations at just about $114MM, which comes in a little shy of the $125MM they owed last year.

So while it’s been a quiet offseason for Dozier, we should expect to hear more about his free agency in the near future, with Spring Training approaching and teams looking to round out their rosters with depth acquisitions.

Royals, Alex Gordon “Getting Close” To Deal

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The Royals are “getting close” to a one-year agreement with outfielder Alex Gordon, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. The financial details of said agreement are yet unknown. Nothing has been finalized yet, but Flanagan expects that an announcement might come in the next couple of days upon the completion of Gordon’s physical.

It’s long been expected that Gordon and the Royals would work out a deal to keep the 35-year-old in the organization with which he’s spent his entire career; Gordon has made it clear that he would opt for retirement if a return to Kansas City wasn’t possible. However, it looks as if the franchise icon will stick around for at least one more year.

Don’t expect Gordon’s earnings in 2020 to drive the Royals’ payroll through the roof. It’s clear he’s no longer the player he was when he was awarded with a contract that would’ve paid him $23MM this year had the Royals exercised his option. So, speculatively, $5MM or so seems like an agreeable price point for the two sides.

Either way, Gordon showed some signs of revitalization at the plate in 2019, especially early in the season. Overall, he managed his best offensive season since 2015 while remaining a reliable defensive presence in his native left field. He collected his seventh career Gold Glove Award for his efforts, and the Royals will surely expect more of the same next year, even at his advanced age.

Before confirmation that Gordon would be returning, the Royals were looking at a projected outfield trio of Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier (who will shift to right field with the signing of third baseman Maikel Franco), and Brett Phillips, the latter of whom is himself a defensive virtuoso but one who has mustered just a .620 OPS in his first three big league seasons.

Blue Jays Sign Ryan Dull To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays are have signed free-agent right-hander Ryan Dull to a minor league contract, according to Robert Murray. The deal comes with an invite to Major League camp.

The 30-year-old Dull split his 2019 season between four organizations, starting the season with the A’s and later being claimed off waivers by the Giants, Yankees, and Blue Jays, with whom he finished the season. He elected free agency after Toronto designated him for assignment in late October, but will now return to the organization with a chance to make the big league roster out of Spring Training.

The last couple of years have not treated Dull well, after he made a name for himself with a stellar 2016 season for the Athletics. He only managed 12 2/3 Major League innings last year while being yanked across the country, and struggled when he did get into games, surrendering 18 earned runs.

He’ll join a Blue Jays bullpen that looks relatively thin at this juncture. He should slot in behind the trio of Ken Giles, Anthony Bass, and new addition Shun Yamaguchi (though the latter could also have a shot at the starting rotation). That puts him on roughly the same footing as a group of inexperienced hurlers that includes Thomas Pannone, Trent Thornton, and Jordan Romano, among others. Dull should have a decent shot at breaking camp with the Major League team, and otherwise looks like a good bet to get a shot at some point this year.

Blue Jays Sign Joe Panik To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays have signed infielder Joe Panik to a minor league contract, reports Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. The deal includes an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, Panik will earn $2.85MM if he cracks the big league roster. Panik is a client of Jet Sports Management.

Panik, 29, is coming off a season in which he saw his six-year tenure with the Giants come to an end, finishing the season with the Mets. He was designated for assignment after posting a meager .627 OPS in 103 games with San Francisco. He fared better in Queens and managed a much more respectable .738 OPS, albeit in just 103 plate appearances. He offers little in the way of power, but consistently ranks among baseball’s best at avoiding strikeouts: for his career, he’s struck out in just 9.4% of his plate appearances. He’s also regarded as a solid defender at second base, though it bears mentioning that the advanced metric Defensive Runs Saved graded him as a net negative in each of the last three seasons.

With his new organization, Panik will have the opportunity to compete with the likes of Brandon Drury, Ruben Tejada, and Breyvic Valera for a roster spot and infield playing time. Cavan Biggio is penciled in as the Opening Day second baseman, but Charlie Montoyo and company could opt for some combination of Panik and Drury at the keystone while shifting Biggio to a more outfield-heavy role.

Padres Re-Sign Craig Stammen

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JANUARY 17: The Padres have announced the deal.

JANUARY 4: The Padres have agreed to a multi-year contract with free-agent righty Craig Stammen, reports Robert Murray. It’s a two-year deal that will guarantee Stammen $9MM through the 2021 season with a team option for a third year, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. If exercised, that $4MM option would raise Stammen’s earnings to a total of $12MM over three years—otherwise, he’ll collect a $1MM buyout. The deal, pending a physical, also includes $500K in yearly incentives (Twitter link), bringing the overall potential payout to $13.5MM. Stammen is represented by Paragon Sports International.

Stammen, 35, has spent the last three seasons with San Diego and has been an indispensable piece in a solid bullpen unit, with the Padres relying heavily on his right arm in the late innings: his 241 1/3 innings pitched since 2017 are the second most among all relievers during that span, with only Yusmeiro Petit pitching more in relief.

Not only has he been durable, but Stammen has quietly been one of the best bullpen arms in baseball since joining the Padres, posting a 3.06 ERA with the team; Fangraphs’ WAR metric ranks him as the 36th-best reliever over the last three years. He has served as a stellar second fiddle to relief ace Kirby Yates, with the pair anchoring a bullpen that was among the best in the National League in 2019.

Last year, Stammen notched a 3.29 ERA (4.12 FIP) in 82 innings for the Friars, striking out 73 batters and walking just 15. He’s proven to excel at preventing bases on balls, but he’s had some trouble preventing home runs, with opponents averaging 1.4 HR/9 against him. Not surprisingly, his best season came in 2018 when he allowed just three homers all year, but that was buoyed by a perhaps abnormally low 4.9% HR/FB rate.

The San Diego bullpen looks to once again receive top marks in 2020, with Stammen and Yates returning and free-agent signee Drew Pomeranz adding a solid lefty to the late-inning blueprint. There are a couple of wild cards in the mix, but the likes of Pierce Johnson, Matt Strahm, and Andres Muñoz have the potential to alleviate the workload of the high-leverage arms. If the offense, bolstered by Tommy Pham and (fingers crossed) a full year of Fernando Tatis Jr., can take a leap forward, one hopes that the likes of Yates and Stammen will more often be put in a winning position.

Stammen will play the 2020 season at age 36, so while he will no doubt remain a key cog in that San Diego ’pen, it’s reasonable to expect a slightly lighter workload for the veteran moving forward. He missed nearly all of 2015 with an elbow injury, but he’s quelled any lingering concerns about his durability with a weighty role in recent years. His new contract falls right about in line with the two-year, $10MM deal MLBTR projected for Stammen at the beginning of the offseason, and he’ll of course have the chance to tack on another year if he can keep up his current production.

Alex Gordon, Royals Discussing New Deal

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The Royals and longtime franchise cornerstone Alex Gordon are in talks to orchestrate a new deal this week that will keep Gordon in Kansas City, according to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com (via Twitter). MLB Network’s Jon Heyman adds that it’s “hard to imagine” Gordon doesn’t return for another season. 2020 would be his age-36 season.

An estimate of the price point isn’t yet known, though it’s safe to say any new deal (likely a one-year pact) will pay Gordon a good bit less than the $23MM he would’ve taken home had his 2020 option been exercised. He’s already collected a $4MM buyout after the Royals declined their end of the mutual option.

There’s no doubt that Gordon is no longer the player he was at the time that contract extension was signed. Still, he graded out as a net positive for the 2019 Royals, and his .741 OPS was his highest mark since 2015. He earned yet another Gold Glove award—his third straight and the seventh of his career—and was one of just a few veterans on an otherwise youthful Royals club. And with a new manager heading the clubhouse in 2020, Gordon could be an especially valuable presence as Mike Matheny acclimates to his new situation.

Gordon has made it known that he will only continue his career in the Royals uniform that he has worn for his entire career, which began in 2005 when he was Kansas City’s first-round draft choice. The only remaining question was whether Gordon would retire after playing the 2019 season at age 35. At this point, it appears retirement is off the table. And with mutual interest between the two sides, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be. Despite some promising young Major Leaguers and a burgeoning farm system, the Royals still look to be a few years away from genuine contention, so bringing Gordon back at little cost can hardly hurt their situation.

Rangers To Sign Todd Frazier

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The Rangers have reached an agreement with free-agent third baseman Todd Frazier, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that it’s a one-year, $5MM guarantee that includes a club option for a second year. Frazier will collect a $3.5MM salary in 2020 with a $5.75MM option for 2021 that comes with a $1.5MM buyout, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The deal is pending a physical.

Todd Frazier | Edit via MLBTR's Zach Gardner

Frazier, who will turn 34 in February, just wrapped up his second season with the Mets, authoring a nice bounce-back after a rough 2018. He posted a .251/.329/.443 slash line with 21 homers in 499 plate appearances. He’s been sapped of some of the power that made him a fan favorite in Cincinnati, but he has remained a roughly league-average hitter that also provides passable defense at third base. That’s enough to make him attractive to a Texas team that didn’t get great production from the position last year.

The numbers Frazier posted last year were in line with his career marks, making his dismal 2018 season look more like an outlier. If that’s true, and the Rangers get a version of Frazier that performs closer to his 2019 levels, it will be hard for Texas to be upset with such a low-cost signing that fills a clear need. Nick Solak looked to be the best in-house candidate to claim the position, though the Rangers may prefer to deploy him in a utility infield role.

Texas has been variously connected to all of the offseason’s big names at third base, including top free agents Anthony Rendon, now with the division rival Angels, and Josh Donaldson. The latter has yet to sign, but the Rangers are said to have backed off in their pursuit as he eyes a four-year deal. Most recently, they’ve been connected to Rockies star Nolan Arenado, though there’s skepticism that a deal will get completed. To be sure, Frazier doesn’t offer the same star power as the aforementioned trio, but he represents an adequate stopgap and insurance should they go 0-for-3 in their pursuit of the big fish.

Moreover, the addition of Frazier, who can also play first base, presumably doesn’t necessarily preclude the Rangers from continuing their pursuit of a top-flight option at the hot corner. Indeed, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that Texas will not cease in attempting to acquire Arenado even after signing Frazier. Should their play for Arenado come to fruition, Frazier would likely slide into a timeshare with Ronald Guzman at first base. And should the Rangers miss out on Arenado and Donaldson, then Frazier is penciled in as a short-term solution, with top prospect Josh Jung waiting on the horizon.

To this point, the Rangers have allocated most of their offseason resources to upgrades on the pitching side, adding Corey Kluber, Kyle Gibson, and Jordan Lyles to the projected starting rotation. That has left some work to be done on the position player side of things, with third base getting the most buzz. But the Rangers have some interest in free-agent slugger Nicholas Castellanos, though interestingly they like Castellanos only as a potential first base upgrade—not as an outfielder. On the other hand, Marcell Ozuna might still be in play for the outfield, which currently features Joey Gallo, Danny Santana, and Willie Calhoun.

Red Sox, Trevor Hildenberger Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Red Sox have signed right-handed pitcher Trevor Hildenberger to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Major League camp, according to Darren Wolfson of SKOR North. Chris Cotillo of MassLive adds that Hildenberger will earn $700k if he cracks the big league roster. Hildenberger is a client of the Ballengee Group.

Hildenberger, 29, has spent his entire professional career with the Twins after they selected him in the 2014 draft. After establishing himself as a busy piece of the Minnesota bullpen in 2017 and 2018, he fell off dramatically last year, seeing his ERA balloon to an unsightly 10.47 (albeit in just 16 1/3 innings of work). Hildenberger comes at batters from an unorthodox arm slot, which in part allows him to overcome unspectacular velocity. He works primarily with a changeup/sinker combination that frequently induced ground balls until 2019, when his GB% plummeted to 38.1%. The changeup is certainly his most lethal offering, drawing a 38.2 whiff% that surely piqued Boston’s interest.

Of course, the bullpen-needy Red Sox would be remiss if they didn’t take flyers on players of Hildenberger’s ilk. He’s by no means a lock to crack the Opening Day roster, but he’s a nice depth option who can compete for innings if he impresses in Spring Training or if injuries strike the Boston bullpen.

 

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