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West Notes: D’Backs, Padres, Sandoval

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When Dave Stewart transitioned from being a successful agent to becoming the GM of the Diamondbacks, he left his agency behind.  However, the firm – Sports Management Partners – stayed in the family, as Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic writes.  Initially, the plan was for former big-leaguer Dave Henderson to take over SMP, but the firm was left in limbo after his untimely passing, which led to Lonnie Murray taking on Stewart’s roster of clients.

Of course, there are obvious conflict of interest concerns, particularly with SMP clients Chris Herrmann and Enrique Burgos competing for roster spots in Arizona.  While the MLBPA has been aware of Murray managing SMP, the commissioner’s office apparently did not know Stewart’s wife was representing players until very recently.  For the full story, we highly recommend reading Piecoro’s article.

Here’s more from the West divisions:

  • The Padres reportedly sent a scout to watch Pablo Sandoval, but San Diego GM A.J. Preller downplayed the possibility of anything brewing with the Red Sox.  “Our pro scouts work really hard to look at all 30 clubs. … That’s the nature of what goes on,” Preller said (Twitter link via Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego).  In a twist that surprised many this month, Sandoval is currently competing with Travis Shaw for Boston’s third base job.
  • Yasmany Tomas got a $68.5MM deal when he signed with the Diamondbacks, but making the jump was still tough decision for the outfielder as he had to leave one of his children behind, USA Today’s Jorge L. Ortiz writes.  “Here you have everything, but in some ways you don’t have anything,’’ Tomas said. “There are times we may be at home and we’re down because we don’t have relatives or neighbors we can talk to and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’ In Cuba you always find people out, during the day or night. Money is not everything. You can have all the money in the world and not be happy.’’
  • The Rangers traded for Bryan Holaday on Tuesday night in a deal that should strengthen their catching situation behind Robinson Chirinos.  The Tigers got right-hander Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson in the deal.
  • On Tuesday night, the Angels acquired right-hander Chris Jones from the Orioles in exchange for minor league outfielder Natanael Delgado and infielder Erick Salcedo.

Angels Acquire Chris Jones From Orioles

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The Orioles announced that they have acquired minor league outfielder Natanael Delgado and infielder Erick Salcedo from the Angels in exchange for right-hander Chris Jones.

Jones, 27, was designated for assignment less than a week ago.  Now, he has been traded for the third time in his career.  As Tim Dierkes noted on Wednesday, Jones was sent by the Indians to the Braves in October 2011 in the Derek Lowe trade. In April 2013, he was traded from Atlanta to the Orioles for Luis Ayala.  Last year, Jones made 22 starts and eight relief appearances for the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate.  In that span, he posted a 2.94 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.  Jones will help provide rotational depth in Triple-A, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).

Delgado, 20, was ranked as the No. 27 prospect in the Angels’ system after the 2014 season by Baseball America.  Delgado signed with the Angels for $280K in 2012 and has tacked on muscle mass and strength since then, per BA.  Blessed with “extremely strong hands and above-average bat speed,” Baseball America believes that he’ll have to improve his hitting in order to have value going forward.

Salcedo, 23 in June, has seen time at shortstop, second base, third base, center field, and right field in the minors.  The Orioles’ press release indicates that his future will be in the infield, however.  Salcedo was ranked as the Angels’ No. 27 prospect after the 2013 season by BA.

Rangers Acquire Bryan Holaday From Tigers

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The Rangers announced that they have acquired catcher Bryan Holaday from the Tigers in exchange for right-hander Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson.  In a related move, the Rangers have designated left-handed pitcher Sam Freeman for assignment.

The Rangers have been on the lookout for a catcher this offseason and it appears that the asking prices for their more ambitious targets were too high.  Texas was connected to Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy as well as Padres catcher Derek Norris.  A little over a week ago, however, Rangers GM Jon Daniels said that he was prepared to go into the season with the catchers he already had in camp.

“At this point I anticipate both our catchers are in camp,” Daniels said. “We are open if there is a true improvement to the team, but we’re not going to change for change’s sake.”

Now, Daniels has found what he perceives to be a better understudy for Robinson Chirinos.  The Rangers will presumably use Holaday  as their No. 2 catcher instead of Chris Gimenez, Michael McKenry, or 2010 sixth-round pick Brett Nicholas, who was said to be having a strong spring.  Holaday is not as big of a name as Lucroy, but he came at a much lower cost than the Brewers catcher would have and is also more affordable (Lucroy will earn $4MM in 2016).

Holaday was out-of-options and didn’t have a spot in Detroit with James McCann and Jarrod Saltalamacchia ahead of him.  The 28-year-old TCU product has appeared in the majors in each of the last four seasons for the Tigers.  Over a combined 282 plate appearances, he owns a .251/.283/.340 slash line.   In parts of three Triple-A seasons, he has slashed .245/.305/.339.

Wilson, 32, spent time with the Rays and Rangers in 2015 and didn’t do much with his bat in 147 plate appearances (.189 /.255/.250).  Of course, Wilson isn’t known much for his offense and instead has built his reputation as an excellent defensive catcher.

Jaye is a 24-year-old right-handed starter.  A former 17th round pick of the Blue Jays in 2010, Jaye pitched to a 3.29 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 26 Double-A outings last year.

Freeman is out-of-options and the Rangers did not have a spot for him on their 40-man roster.  The 28-year-old seems likely to get picked up by a team in need of relief help.  For his career, Freeman owns a 3.23 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 across four big league seasons.

AL West Roster Decisions: Rangers, Angels, A’s

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Hanser Alberto, Ryan Rua, and Justin Ruggiano will all make the Rangers’ roster, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to tweet.  Ruggiano, 34 in April, inked a one-year, $1.65MM major league deal with the Rangers in December.  Even though the late-February addition of Ian Desmond has made Ruggiano’s presence something of a luxury, it sounds like Texas will hang on to the veteran to start the year.

Here’s a rundown of some of the more important roster decisions to take place in the AL West today:

  • Nick Martinez has been optioned by the Rangers, which will likely make A.J. Griffin the team’s fifth starter, as The Associated Press writes.  Griffin, 28, has not pitched in a major league game since 2013 thanks to a Tommy John operation in the spring of 2014.  In 47 starts between 2012 and 2013, Griffin pitched to a 3.60 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9.
  • Veteran righty Al Alburquerque has been optioned by the Angels, per a club announcement. That may line up Cam Bedrosian for the final pen spot. He’s rung up an impressive number of opposing hitters via strikeout this spring.  Alburquerque had a rough year in 2015, but he chalked up his struggles to an offseason battle with the Chikungunya virus.  Last year, the 29-year-old (30 in June) pitched to a 4.21 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9.
  • The A’s have optioned Jesse Hahn, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets.  The move likely means that Felix Doubront will serve as Oakland’s fifth starter.  The A’s acquired Doubront from the Blue Jays at last year’s trade deadline in exchange for cash.  The left-hander went on to make eight starts and three relief appearances for Oakland and posted a 5.81 ERA.

Diamondbacks Release Matt Reynolds

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have unconditionally released left-hander Matt Reynolds.

Reynolds, 31, agreed to an arbitration-avoiding deal with Arizona back in November which gave him a $675K salary for 2016.  He also could have added $25K to that sum with 55 appearances.  The southpaw spent the bulk of 2015 in Triple-A Reno where he pitched to a 5.58 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 across 50 innings.  He also spent the last five weeks of the season with Arizona where he allowed seven earned runs while striking out 18 batters with seven walks across 13 2/3 innings.

Back in November, MLBTR’s Steve Adams identified Reynolds as a potential non-tender candidate.  The D’Backs retained the reliever for less than his projected $800K arbitration salary, but his improved value apparently did not sell the team on keeping him.  Reynolds is a client of agent John Shinn, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.

MLBTR Originals

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A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the last seven days:

  • Just days ago, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes unveiled his 2017 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings.  Stephen Strasburg takes the No. 1 position on the list as he looks to break David Price’s record deal for starting pitchers.
  • Chuck Wasserstrom sat down with Andy MacPhail to discuss the 25-year anniversary of the Twins’ 1991 World Series championship.  One of the key moves in building the Twins’ championship roster came in July 1989 when they dealt fan favorite Frank Viola.  MacPhail admits that trading the pitcher was difficult.  “I remember just wanting to have to sit down for a moment and sort of collect myself. Independent of the market size, it clearly was not an easy decision,” MacPhail said.  “It was not going to be popular, because you are trading a known for multiple unknowns to some degree. While I felt conviction that it was the right thing for us to make the trade … I wouldn’t say I was conflicted, but I recognized back then that of all the trades I had made in my career, this one was going to have the most riding on it. If it was not successful, it was going to come back and bite you personally – probably in a big way. You trade a potential 20-game winner to a New York club, you better be getting something back.”
  • Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart surprised everyone in baseball this winter with his moves.  Recently, Brett Ballantini sat down with the agent-turned-GM to discuss his offseason overhaul in Arizona.
  • Speaking of Stewart, MLBTR’s Steve Adams looked back on the Diamondbacks’ aggressive offseason.  Arizona committed a whopping $206.5MM over six years to pitcher Zack Greinke while trading a sizable package to the Braves for right-hander Shelby Miller (and left-hander Gabe Speier).  Now, the D’Backs are hoping to go from 79 wins to the top of the NL West.
  • On the latest edition of the MLBTR Podcast, host Jeff Todd spoke with former big league catcher John Baker to discuss his role with the Cubs organization.  Jeff also spoke with Tim about his power rankings for 2017.   A new episode of the podcast is released every Thursday and can be accessed on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.
  • This winter, the Braves continued their build towards contending in 2017 in an effort to boost fan interest when their brand new ballpark opens up.  Jeff looked back on Atlanta’s moves, including deals for Shelby Miller and Andrelton Simmons.
  • The Astros’ success in 2015 was a pleasant surprise.  In 2016, they’ll enter the season with some very real expectations for success.  Steve reflected on Houston’s offseason dealings, including the acquisition of reliever Ken Giles.
  • Faced with a payroll crunch, new GM Billy Eppler was somewhat limited in what he could do this past winter.  Still, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk writes, the Halos made a couple of trades to improve their infield situation while making some other low-cost moves.
  • The Rays needed offense this offseason and president of baseball operations Matthew Silverman wasted little time in getting that accomplished, as Mark writes in his Offseason In Review for Tampa Bay.  While Tampa brought some new bats into the mix, however, there are plenty of questions remaining for the team in the wake of their winter dealings.
  • The Orioles spent more than ever this winter in an effort to try and win the AL East.  Mark looked back on all of the O’s moves, including headline-grabbers like Chris Davis’ deal, the Darren O’Day re-signing, the addition of Yovani Gallardo, and the trade for Mark Trumbo.
  • After adding David Price and Craig Kimbrel, the Red Sox are hoping to make David Ortiz’s final season a memorable one, as Mark writes.
  • The Pirates’ offseason wasn’t splashy, but there are still additions that are worth paying attention to, as MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth writes.
  • The rebuild continues in Philly and Jeff looked at the deals made by the Phillies’ new forward-thinking regime.

Mariners Place Jesus Montero On Waivers

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7:28pm: Montero has indeed been placed on waivers, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  The Mariners will make an official announcement tomorrow once the 48-hour waiver period has passed, according to MLB.com’s Greg Johns (Twitter).

12:46pm: While there is no official word on the matter, it appears that the Mariners have placed Jesus Montero on waivers, as Bob Dutton of The News Tribune writes.  The Mariners declined to speak about Montero’s status on Sunday morning, but his locker in the clubhouse was empty.

When asked about Montero’s whereabouts, manager Scott Servais told reporters that the designated hitter is “spending a day with his family.”  Montero’s absence on Sunday coupled with the news that Dae-Ho Lee has been added to the 40-man roster seems to suggest that former top prospect is out of the picture in Seattle.

The Mariners traded right-handed pitcher Michael Pineda for the 26-year-old prior to the 2012 season. Since then, he’s disappointed by accruing -1.4 WAR over parts of four seasons. He did enjoy an extremely successful stint at Triple-A last season, hitting .355/.398/.569 in 430 plate appearances.

Brad Johnson contributed to this post.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Ortiz, Blue Jays, White Sox

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Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere:

Please send submissions to Zach Links at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

Nationals, Braves Trade Tyler Moore For Nate Freiman

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The Nationals announced that they have acquired minor league first baseman Nate Freiman from the Braves in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Moore.

Freiman, 29, signed on with Atlanta in December after having a disappointing year for the Athletics’ Triple- A affiliate.  In 305 plate appearances for Triple-A Nashville, the first baseman slashed just .220/.279/.321.  His last major league stint came in 2014 when he appeared in 36 games (93 plate appearances) for the A’s in 2014, slashing .218/.269/.448 with five homers.  Freiman had hoped to crack the roster in Atlanta, but he’ll now look to get back to the big leagues with the Nats.

Moore was put on waivers and then outrighted by Washington earlier this week, so it was pretty apparent that the out-of-options Moore was no longer in the team’s plans.  In four years as a bench bat in D.C., Moore hit .228/.281/.401 over 649 PA, with virtually equal numbers against both lefty and righty pitching.  Moore has played almost exclusively at first base and left field during his career, though he’s also appeared in nine games in right and worked out briefly as a third baseman this spring.

Padres Return Rule 5 Pick Blake Smith To White Sox

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Padres pitcher Blake Smith has cleared waivers, according to Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego (on Twitter). The Padres will now return the Rule 5 Draft selection to the White Sox.

Smith, 28, was a second round pick of the Dodgers in 2009 The University of California product was in the Los Angeles organization until May 2015 when he was shipped to the White Sox for left-hander Eric Surkamp.

Last year, Smith split time between Double-A (with both Dodgers and White Sox affiliates) and Triple-A, posting a combined 3.23 ERA with 10.9 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9. When he was left exposed, the Padres pounced in the Rule 5 draft. However, he apparently did not do enough to compel the Padres to add him to the big league bullpen.

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