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NL West Notes: Reynolds, Valaika, O’Malley, Dodgers

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The Rockies “remain in contact” with free agent first baseman Mark Reynolds, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Reynolds, who hit 30 homers for Colorado in 2017, is the best free-agent first baseman available on the market, and a reunion between the two has long seemed like a solid fit in theory. However, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports recently contacted Reynolds’ agent, Jeff Boris, who tells him that the Rockies haven’t made any type of offer to Reynolds this winter.  The 34-year-old carries a .274/.354/.471 slash line across two seasons with Colorado, but graded poorly among first baseman in quality of contact statistics like hard contact rate, average exit velocity and barrels per plate appearance last season.

Other small news items out of the NL West…

  • In other Rockies news, Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes that the team is in a bit of a bind following news of injuries to utilitymen Pat Valaika and Shawn O’Malley. Valaika is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with an oblique strain, while O’Malley is expected to be out 4-6 weeks due to a broken right hand that will require surgery, according to Groke. He also notes that Desmond is capable of playing multiple infield positions, while top prospect Ryan McMahon has experience at second and third base. Beyond that, Colorado’s best options are minor-leaguers Daniel Castro, Garrett Hampson and Brian Mundell, and none of those players are on the club’s 40-man roster.
  • The Dodgers aren’t in a rush to add a pitcher following the news that right-hander Tom Koehler could miss “extended time” with an anterior capsule strain. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register quotes president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who says that the team is “no more likely” to add a pitcher through trade or free agency in the wake of Koehler’s injury. “I don’t think it necessarily changes the thought process in terms of deals that made sense 3 days ago will still make sense,” says Friedman. “And I don’t think the opposite is true. I don’t think something is going to make more sense right now than it did 3 days ago.” The Dodgers reportedly like their in-house options and the depth they have in spring training camp.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/3/18

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We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves in this post…

  • The Blue Jays announced that they’ve signed right-hander Nick Tepesch to a minor league deal; he’ll report to the club’s spring training camp. Tepesch began his MLB career with the Rangers in 2013, and went on to pitch 219 innings for the club to the tune of a 4.56 ERA from 2013-2014. However, he missed the entirety of the 2015 season with shoulder issues that eventually resulted in thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August. The Rangers elected to non-tender Tepesch after that season, and he hasn’t managed to latch onto an active roster spot for an MLB club since, despite getting a shots at the major league level with the Dodgers, Twins and Blue Jays.

Poll: Who Will Sign Carlos Gonzalez?

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A majority of the free agent dust has settled by now, but as MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently noted, there’s a large handful of top-50-ranked free agents who are still searching for a contract. The best outfielder on that list is Carlos Gonzalez, who appears mired amidst some unfortunate circumstances.

As Adams noted, the left-handed-hitting Gonzalez put up the worst season of his career in 2017. Under any circumstances, it would pretty bad timing for a player to do this in his walk year. However, Gonzalez’ walk year just happened to coincide with an abnormal offseason that’s moved at a historically slow pace. Further worsening his situation is the fact that power has been abundant in MLB for the past couple of seasons, and therefore bat-first corner outfielders might not hold as much value in the eyes of front offices around the league.

Not only that, but front offices seem wary of promising long-term contracts to average players on the wrong side of 30. Although CarGo has put up some impressive offensive seasons, hehasn’t played at an especially above-average level since 2013, and he comes with an injury history as well.

At this stage in his career, Gonzalez should probably be shielded against left-handed pitchers. He managed just a 29 wRC+ against them across 137 plate appearances during the 2017 campaign. If front offices see him strictly as a platoon player, that could put an even lower cap on his price tag.

Now we’re into March, and Gonzalez seems to be in a bad spot. Logan Morrison, another bat-first left-handed hitter, received just a $6.5MM guarantee from the Twins. Although the two have very different MLB track records on the whole, the Morrison contract doesn’t exactly shine optimism on Gonzalez’ market.

The list of suitors for Gonzalez at this point is short. The Orioles, Rockies, White Sox, Royals, Astros and Blue Jays are among the teams who shown interest in the outfielder at some point during the offseason. While those teams are all reasonable fits in theory, the market for him seems tepid at this time. With opening day fast approaching, the one-year, $12MM contract we predicted at the beginning of the offseason is beginning to look out of reach, barring some sort of injury that creates a need for his services.

What do you think? Where will Gonzalez end up? (Poll link for app users)

Tom Koehler Diagnosed With Anterior Capsule Strain

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An MRI showed that Dodgers reliever Tom Koehler has a mild anterior capsule strain. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that Koehler was seen in a sling, later noting that the righty will be out for “an extended time”, which could be weeks or months. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register adds that no surgery has been planned at the moment, and quotes Koehler as saying it’s “not the way I’d like my tenure as a Dodger to start two weeks in.” He’d left Friday’s spring training game early after retiring just one of the four hitters he faced.

Koehler struggled to a 7.92 ERA in 12 starts with the Marlins last season, but he excelled in a relief role after being acquired by the Blue Jays in August. From that day on, the right-hander posted a 2.65 ERA while striking out 9.53 batters per nine across 17 innings with Toronto. Though team elected to non-tender him following the 2017 season, the Dodgers snatched him up on $2MM contract with some added incentives. If Koehler misses a significant portion of the season, it would prove a blow to his ability to earn additional bonuses through accumulation of total starts and relief appearances.

From the team’s perspective, the loss of Koehler for any length of time would not only thin the Dodgers’ bullpen a bit, but also detract from the team’s rotation depth. Though he struggled in a starter capacity last season, he has an extended track record pitching above-replacement in that capacity. Koehler has made 131 starts in his career while pitching to a 4.44 ERA. Though he was always unlikely to make many starts for Los Angeles, the team’s injury prone starting group would benefit from as much depth as possible.

AL East Notes: Swisher, Gomez, Orioles

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Although the always-energetic Nick Swisher never made it back to the majors after signing a minors pact with the Yankees in 2016, he’ll end up contributing to the team in a different way. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com writes in the second half of a piece for MLB.com. “Swish” will now serve as a special advisor to GM Brian Cashman. Though the terms of that job are typically pretty broad, Cashman envisions Swisher spending a lot of his time with minor leaguers in the organization. “He had a huge impact on that crew in Scranton when he was playing with [Aaron] Judge, [Greg] Bird, [Gary] Sanchez and all those guys,” said Cashman. “He brought the joy of playing the game on a daily basis, and it was infectious throughout that locker room. The opportunity to bring him into the fold and sprinkle him throughout our farm system was attractive.” On the field, Swisher was a .249/.351/.447 lifetime hitter; his playing career came to an abrupt end after a pair of rough seasons spent with the Indians and Braves from 2014-2015.

Other items out of the AL East…

  • Rays outfielder Carlos Gomez is being met with a lot of excitement from his new teammates, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. In particular, Denard Span says that, “you’d rather have him on your team than playing against him. Because he’s a headache when you’re playing against him.” There are a lot of reasons for that, Topkin writes. Gomez likes to “mix it up” with bat flips and sometimes even instigates brawls. He’s also the type to play hard in every moment of every game, according to new teammate Kevin Kiermaier. “He’s a guy who just loves baseball,” says Kiermaier. “Every time he takes the field, it doesn’t matter if you’re up eight runs or down eight, he’s going to go and play with that intensity.” One of the most interesting points Topkin makes about Gomez is that he can be a little bit misunderstood. Although he appears animated and aggressive, Rays reliever Sergio Romo describes him as someone who “always means well” and that some of the things he’s done have simply taken the wrong way on occasion. Gomez is set to replace the recently-traded Steven Souza Jr. in the Rays’ outfield this season.
  • Looking for a bit of insight into how players are cut from major league spring training camp? Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun helps shed some light on the subject by way of some words from Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Notably, Showalter is committed to spending time meeting with players prior to cuts. “I’m not going to rush through anything,” he said. “I want to hear from them as much as I want to tell them [some things], because I don’t want a month or two or three months to pass, and all of a sudden our success depends on them being able to come up and do something and we didn’t have those proper conversations.” Showalter also believes player feedback is an equally important part of those conversations.

Pirates Sign Kevin Siegrist To Minor-League Deal

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March 1: Siegrist’s contract comes with a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman.  ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Siegrist can earn an additional $500K worth of incentives and has a pair of opt-out dates in the deal if he has not been added to the 25-man roster.

Feb. 24: The Pirates have inked left-hander Kevin Siegrist to a minor-league contract, the team announced today in a press release. He’s received an invitation to spring training camp as well.

Siegrist had recently pitched before a crowd of about 20 scouts in Florida, making an attempt to show teams he’s healthy and can bounce back after an injury-marred 2017 campaign with the Cardinals and Phillies. Apparently none of those teams were willing to offer Siegrist a major-league contract, but he’ll have a good chance to make a Pirates roster that features George Kontos and Michael Feliz as the top setup options behind newly-extended closer Felipe Rivero. If he does, the Bucs will have the option to control him through the 2019 season via the arbitration process.

Prior to 2017, Siegrist had enjoyed a largely successful career with the Cardinals. Across 206 1/3 frames with the club from 2013-2016, the southpaw pitched to a 2.70 ERA while racking up 243 strikeouts. He  had a bit of a walk problem (4.10 BB/9), and ERA estimators suggested he outperformed his peripherals a bit (3.87 xFIP), but nonetheless he was solid for the Redbirds, racking up 72 holds and 9 saves during that span.

Things took a turn for the worst for Siegrist last year, as a forearm strain and spinal sprain forced two separate stints on the DL. When on the field, his velocity and strikeout rate were both down, while his walk rate ballooned to a problematic 5.24 per nine. His 4.98 ERA became an eyesore, and by the end of August, the Cardinals had seen enough; they activated him from the DL only to designate him for assignment immediately.

Siegrist was quickly claimed by the Phillies, for whom he pitched just five innings during the month of September. He allowed two earned runs and struck out seven. However, his showing apparently wasn’t enough to convince Philadelphia to pay him a minimal arbitration raise on his $1.6MM 2017 salary. The club opted to outright Siegrist off their 40-man roster, and he elected free agency shortly thereafter.

The towering 6′-5″ Siegrist is just 28 years old. He was drafted and developed by the Cardinals organization, who plucked him out of Palm Beach Community College in the 41st round of the 2008 draft. Though he was a starter in the lower minors, a shift to the bullpen late in his 2012 season at the Double-A level spurred a quick rise to the majors. Siegrist pitched just 7 2/3 innings with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate before he was deemed ready to make his major-league debut on June 6th, 2013, a day on which he struck out four of the six hitters he faced while allowing no earned runs.

Latest on J.D. Martinez, Red Sox

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SUNDAY, 4:29pm: There is indeed a Martinez press conference scheduled for Monday, Drellich tweets. It’s “very fair” to say a deal is near, Boras told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

4:14pm: There could be a press conference announcing the Martinez signing as early as Monday, per both Jared Carrabis of Barstool Sports and Ian Browne of MLB.com. The Red Sox and Boras “had a productive weekend adjusting contract language,” according to Browne.

10:50am: The two sides “have continued to work though contract language,” tweets Heyman, who notes that there’s a “high probability” they’ll complete the agreement.

SATURDAY, 1:28pm: Both sides are being cautious, but the Red Sox and Martinez’ camp still expect to finalize the deal, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reassures. He adds that the delay mainly stems from “a desire to make sure the exact language of the contract is right in light of these potential red flags.”

10:01am: The Red Sox and slugger J.D. Martinez recently agreed to terms on a five-year, $110MM pact, but an official announcement has yet to come from the team, even though a press conference was expected as far back as Thursday. Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston shed some light on the situation today, reporting that the two sides are sorting through a “medical matter” following Martinez’ physical.

There’s a belief that the matter will not have any effect on the outfielder’s ability to take the field in the immediate future. At this time, there’s no further clarity as to what the issue is, but Drellich writes that “a better understanding between the parties” could come at some point today. There are apparently some additional medical experts involved, including a few consultants referred by agent Scott Boras.

It doesn’t seem as though the contract itself is in any real jeopardy. The process of ironing out the issue is reportedly “thorough and cooperative”. Yesterday, in a more speculative piece on the subject, Drellich suggested that a collapse of the contract at this point would be a “wildly unexpected scenario”. It’s entirely possible that the agreement will proceed untouched or be revised in only a slight way. Nevertheless, whatever snag the two camps have hit regarding Martinez’ physical only serves to delay the slugger’s spring training debut.

There are more questions than answers surrounding the situation at the moment, but we’ll be sure to provide updates as they come.

AL Central Notes: Santiago, Merritt, Liriano, Aybar

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Hector Santiago, who came back to the White Sox this offseason on a minor-league deal, has come up with a strategy to combat the  fastball decline that often comes with aging, James Fegan of The Athletic writes. The southpaw plans to bring back the screwball he threw in his days as a rookie. “I have not gone a day this offseason or in spring training where I have not thrown a screwball,” he said. “I’ve thrown a screwball in both my BPs and my only bullpen. It’s almost taken over my changeup. Lot of people say it’s gone, but nah, I just substituted my changeup for my screwball and I throw a lot more screwballs than changeup.” Notably, his arm motion for the screwball is similar to that of his changeup, which could help with deception in his delivery as he uses both to play off his fastball. Fegan notes that Santiago could be at the “top of the heap” of the White Sox’ MiLB free agent arms, if he can return to health and effectiveness.

A few other small items out of the AL Central…

  • Much has been made of the fact that young Indians lefty (and 2016 postseason hero) Ryan Merritt is out of options and faces an uphill battle to make the club’s rotation out of spring training. But the 26-year-old isn’t focused on that right now, writes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “I’m really not going to get caught up in what’s going to happen a month from now,” he said. “I can control today. And, when I show up tomorrow, I can control what I do that day.” Merritt has a career 1.74 ERA (albeit in just 20 2/3 major league innings), but is most famous for starting Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS for the Indians, allowing zero runs across his 4 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays. Cleveland would go on to win that game, punching their ticket to the World Series.
  • New Tigers lefty Francisco Liriano will compete for a spot in the club’s rotation during spring training, GM Al Avila says (via Jason Beck of MLB.com). However, if he’s unable to make the club in that capacity, he’s willing to pitch out of the bullpen. It’s possible that the 34-year-old’s best days are behind him, as he’s posted consecutive seasons with an ERA north of 4.60. Even as a reliever with the Astros last season, he posted a 4.40 ERA down the stretch with nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Still, if he can show some flashes of his peak performance with the Pirates from 2013-2015, he’d represent a solid option for a Tigers club that is largely devoid of secure rotation options outside of Michael Fulmer.
  • Erick Aybar recently signed with the Twins, but Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press tweets that the infielder had received interest from the Reds and Rangers as well. He reportedly chose the Twins because he liked their opportunity best. In a later tweet, Berardino reports that Aybar will make his spring training debut on Monday (though Aybar told manager Paul Molitor that he was ready to play in today’s matchup).

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/24/18

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Red Sox have signed left-hander Tommy Layne to a minors pact; he’d been playing in the MLBPA camp. Brian MacPherson (formerly of the Providence Journal) was first with the news; Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal has since confirmed the report. Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that the deal does not include an invite to spring training. This’ll be the 33-year-old’s second stint with the Red Sox, for whom he pitched 95 1/3 innings and earned 20 holds from 2014-2016. He put up a 3.30 ERA during that span, but with an unsettling walk rate (4.63 BB/9). Originally a late-round pick by the Diamondbacks, Layne has also spent time with the Padres, Yankees and Dodgers organizations. He’ll compete for a spot on a Boston roster that has plenty of high-end lefty starters but little in the way of lefty relief options.

Poll: Still-Unemployed Top Ten Free Agents

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Spring training has begun, and while recent announcements by the Cubs and Padres of nine-figure deals (with Yu Darvish and Eric Hosmer, respectively) have quieted cries of collusion from the player’s union, the unemployment level of top free agents remains historic. Specifically, five of MLBTR’s top ten free agents (excluding Masahiro Tanaka, who never actually reached free agency) are still unsigned. The recent mega-contracts have overshadowed the urgency of the situation for these free agents, as they’ve got barely more than a month left to find jobs before Opening Day. As each day passes, it becomes more difficult to simply assume that Jake Arrieta, Mike Moustakas, Lance Lynn, Greg Holland and Alex Cobb will all agree to terms before that time comes.

The market on the above players isn’t totally cold as of now. On the contrary, there seems to be some buzz surrounding many of them. Here’s what we know at the moment…

Arrieta and his representatives were said to be “having dialogue” as recently as four days ago, and it’s believed that there’s real interest being explored. At the same time, though, there appears to be a gap between the two sides’ bargaining positions. There have also been multiple recent reports that the Phillies don’t want to lock themselves into a long-term deal to improve their rotation. While Darvish fell short of expectations with a $126MM guarantee, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports says Boras is attempting to convince front offices that Arrieta compares more favorably to David Price, Max Scherzer and Zack Greinke. The oft-vehement Boras apparently sees Darvish as an “analytics phenom”, but describes analytics as a “management excuse to keep salaries down.” He also says that Arrieta beats Darvish in something he calls “prestige” value. Heyman lists seven teams as potential landing spots for Arrieta, believing he’s most likely to land with the Nationals, Brewers or Phillies.

Moustakas seems to have little traction with any MLB club at this point. The Braves have engaged his camp, but there seems to be no evidence that a deal is likely to come together. The White Sox have also been loosely linked to him. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll return to Kansas City at this point, as the Royals would apparently rather give Cheslor Cuthbert a shot at third base as they begin to rebuild. Moose reportedly has plenty of one-year offers on the table, but it’s not clear whether he’ll receive any significant multi-year offers at this point in the offseason.

Lynn hasn’t been forced to dramatically lower his asking price, and last we heard, the Twins preferred him to the other options available on the market. Earlier reports suggest he’s received interest from seven or eight teams in recent weeks, including the Orioles, Brewers, Nationals, and Mets in addition to the aforementioned Twins. For his part, Lynn believes there’s “nothing really to worry about — at this moment.“

Holland has the coldest market on this list, at least publicly. The Wade Davis signing seemingly eliminated the possibility of a reunion with the Rockies, and in nearly two months since then, the only public mentions of Holland have been from the Nationals and the Cardinals. Both of those mentions were negative, with the former saying they weren’t very high on him and the latter expressing trepidation about giving a big contract to a closer. Of course, those teams could still be suitors if Holland’s asking price drops far enough, and so could the Indians. I also mentioned the Astros, Rangers, Cubs and Brewers as potential fits back in mid-January.

Cobb reportedly had an offer from the Cubs earlier in the offseason that was said to be in three-year, $42MM range. His camp passed on it, and his market has little in the way of clarity at this point. The Twins showed interest at one point, while the Mets would reportedly explore signing him if his asking price drops far enough. That’s about the only direct link between him and an MLB club we’ve heard about in recent months, though. The Orioles seem to believe he’s too expensive, and the Cubs might not have a clear role for him following the Darvish pact.

A lot can happen in one month; the free agent action so far in February should serve as a prime indicator of that. But at this point it looks possible that one or more of the top ten free agents could hold out into the regular season in hopes of nailing down a guarantee to his liking. With that in mind, I’d like to ask the readers two questions. How many of these players do you think will still be unemployed when the first pitch is thrown on Opening Day, and who do you think is most likely to be unsigned by that point?

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