Dodgers Move Danny Lehmann To Bench Coach
The Dodgers announced their 2023 coaching staff this afternoon (link via Dodger Insider). The biggest news is the hiring of Danny Lehmann as bench coach, his first time serving as Dave Roberts’ top assistant.
Lehmann, 37, is a graduate of Rice University. He spent some time in the Twins’ minor league system, reaching Triple-A for parts of four seasons. After a seven-year professional playing career, he transitioned to executive work by 2015. Initially hired by the Dodgers as a video scout, he worked his way up to game planning/communications coach on Roberts’ staff. He’s held that position in four of the last five years — with an intervening 2019 stint as a front office special assistant — and now looks set to shoulder his largest responsibility for the organization.
He’ll replace Bob Geren in that role. The veteran coach moves to major league field coordinator for his eighth season in the organization. Geren had been L.A. bench coach for the past seven years. He remains on the big league staff but vacates the bench coach position.
The rest of Los Angeles’ staff had been previously reported. Mark Prior is back as pitching coach, while Robert Van Scoyoc and Aaron Bates will share hitting coach duties. Josh Bard is back as bullpen coach, with Clayton McCullough and Dino Ebel coaching the bases. Connor McGuiness returns as Prior’s assistant pitching coach. There is no new hire to fill Lehmann’s previous role.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to view the transcript of today’s chat with MLBTR’s Anthony Franco.
Reds Sign Jason Vosler To Minor League Deal
The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve signed corner infielder Jason Vosler to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. He’s a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management. The deal with Vosler comes not long after the infielder looked to have signed a similar pact with the Mariners, only to be released a few days later. Cincinnati also confirmed its previously reported minor league deal with utilityman Chad Pinder.
The 29-year-old Vosler has spent parts of the past two seasons in the big leagues with the Giants, batting a combined .228/.306/.421 with seven homers in 193 trips to the plate. That includes a robust .265/.342/.469 showing in 111 plate appearances in 2022. Vosler, however, posted inferior numbers down in Triple-A, with a .242/.311/.433 output in a much larger sample of 398 plate appearances.
Solid showing in the big leagues notwithstanding, San Francisco designated Vosler for assignment when setting their roster in advance of this year’s Rule 5 Draft and non-tendered him shortly thereafter. He became an immediate free agent and will now hope to work his way into a generally unsettled infield mix in Cincinnati. Vosler has played all four infield positions and both outfield corners in his career, although the four innings the Giants gave him at shortstop marked his first appearance there since 2015. He’s been predominantly a corner infielder dating back to 2019.
Cincinnati is a hitter-friendly spot for Vosler to land, and one with a fair bit of opportunity. The Reds have 2021 Rookie of the Year Jonathan India locked in at second base, but first baseman Joey Votto‘s return date from last summer’s season-ending shoulder surgery isn’t yet clear. It’s possible he’ll be behind schedule in camp, as Votto himself said early last month that he wasn’t sure whether he’d be ready for Opening Day.
Third base, meanwhile, will likely be up for grabs, with prospect Spencer Steer the current front-runner. The Reds picked up Steer from the Twins in the trade that sent Tyler Mahle to Minnesota, and while he hit just .211/.306/.326 in 108 plate appearances down the stretch in ’22, he also turned in a stout .274/.364/.515 showing between Double-A and Triple-A. Looking elsewhere on the 40-man roster, both Alejo Lopez and Nick Solak have experience at third base, though it hasn’t been either’s primary position. Lopez and Solak both have more experience at second base, and Solak has played more outfield than infield in recent years.
Both Vosler and Pinder stand as potential non-roster competition for that group at the hot corner, and the added versatility each brings to the table could further their cause when it comes to securing a spot on the roster. Vosler, in particular, could hold some appeal as a left-handed bat on an otherwise largely right-handed-hitting roster.
Braves Sign Yolmer Sanchez To Minor League Deal
The Braves announced their full slate of non-roster invitees to spring training Wednesday, noting within that they’ve signed veteran infielder Yolmer Sanchez to a minor league contract. The MVP Sports Group client will vie for a roster spot this spring. It’s his second stint with the Braves, having also spent the 2021 season with their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett.
Sanchez, 30, has appeared in parts of eight big league seasons dating back to 2014. That includes a three-year run as the White Sox’ primary second baseman from 2017-19, which culminated in Sanchez winning a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess at the position.
While he had a roughly average year at the plate in 2017, when he batted .267/.319/.413 through 534 plate appearances, Sanchez’s overall offensive track record is lackluster. He’s a career .243/.299/.355 hitter, including just a .244/.316/.317 slash dating back to 2019. He totaled 44 trips to the plate between the Red Sox in 2022 but went just 4-for-37 at the plate in that stretch. He posted a heartier .246/.372/.394 slash in 396 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Red Sox and Mets last year.
Sanchez has been primarily a second baseman in his career, but he has more than 2700 innings at third base and more than 2100 innings at shortstop under his belt as a professional as well. He’s posted plus defensive grades at second base (11 Defensive Runs Saved, 16.2 Ultimate Zone Rating, 6 Outs Above Average in 3581 innings) and at third base (12 DRS, 6.3 UZR, 9 OAA). He’s only logged 99 innings at shortstop in the big leagues, though, and the majority of his experience there came in the minors back in 2012-14.
The shortstop experience could still hold some appeal to a Braves club that let Dansby Swanson walk as a free agent and has opted to stay in-house to replace him. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has touted young Vaughn Grissom and veteran Orlando Arcia as the two primary options to replace Swanson. It’s doubtful Sanchez would be under consideration for a full-time look at short, even in the event of injuries/struggles from both Grissom and Arcia, but he could be an occasional option there if he snags a bench job. He joins fellow veterans Adeiny Hechavarria and Ehire Adrianza as non-roster players who’ll look to work their way into the infield mix in some capacity this spring.
Mets’ Khalil Lee Under Investigation Following Assault Allegations
Mets outfielder Khalil Lee was named in a federal lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend this week, which alleges that Lee assaulted her physically and verbally last May, Anne Hayes of Syracuse.com reports. The alleged victim went to law enforcement the day after the purported incident, and Hayes writes that an arrest warrant charging Lee for criminal obstruction of breath was signed by a judge back in August. Hayes’ report has a timeline and more specific details on the allegations against Lee, which include choking and kicking the plaintiff during an argument.
SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that Lee is also being investigated by Major League Baseball under the league’s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. That policy, jointly agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA, affords commissioner Rob Manfred the authority to levy disciplinary action against a player even in the absence of a criminal conviction.
The Mets issued a statement acknowledging that the team “immediately notified MLB upon becoming aware of the allegations,” adding that they will “fully comply with MLB’s policy and cannot comment until the completion of the league’s investigative process.”
Lee, 24, is on the Mets’ 40-man roster. The team acquired him from the Royals in 2021’s three-team trade that sent Andrew Benintendi from Boston to Kansas City. Lee has spent the past two seasons in the Mets organization, appearing in 13 Major League games but spending the vast majority of his time with their Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Outfielder Chad Hermansen
Chad Hermansen was drafted tenth overall by the Pirates out of Nevada’s Green Valley High School back in 1995, setting a club record with a $1.15MM bonus. Hermansen started his pro career as a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast League. For the next five years as he worked his way through the Pirates’ minor league affiliates, he was considered a top-50 prospect by Baseball America, peaking at #13 before the ’98 season.
Hermansen made his MLB debut with the 1999 Pirates as a September call-up. At the 2002 trade deadline, he was dealt to the Cubs, joining an interesting but bad roster.
After that season, Hermansen was traded with Todd Hundley to the Dodgers, bringing Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros to the Cubs. Hermansen got a final taste of the Majors in 2004 with the Blue Jays. Chad spent some additional time at Triple-A beyond that, playing in the Marlins and Mets organizations.
In the end, Hermansen tallied 541 plate appearances in the Majors from 1999-2004. He popped 13 home runs in that span, including shots off Zambrano and Al Leiter.
After his playing career, Chad spent eight years scouting for the Angels. He’s now focused on being a life coach for former athletes. You can check out Chad’s website here and follow him on Twitter here. He also has a podcast and YouTube Channel called Mental Edge Training Coach where he interviews current and former players, coaches, scouts, and parents on their baseball story and the mental game.
Chad held a very informative and interesting chat with MLBTR readers today, talking about dealing with high expectations, the mental side of baseball, how scouting has changed, getting traded twice in one year, how he spent his signing bonus, and much more. Read the transcript here!
Dodgers, Matt Andriese Agree To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers and veteran righty Matt Andriese are in agreement on a minor league contract, as first indicated on the transaction log at MLB.com. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client will return stateside after spending the 2022 campaign with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
Andriese, 33, pitched quite well overseas, albeit in a relatively limited sample of 44 1/3 innings. The former Rays, D-backs, Angels, Red Sox and Mariners right-hander notched a tidy 2.03 ERA in NPB, fanning 21.3% of his opponents against a very strong 5.6% walk rate.
The 2022 season marked the first time in seven years that Andriese didn’t throw a pitch at the big league level. He appeared in every MLB season from 2015-21, working as both a starter and reliever with the aforementioned five clubs. The bulk of that work — and the bulk of his MLB success — came with the Rays, for whom he posted a 4.30 ERA in 339 innings.
On the whole, Andriese has a lifetime 4.63 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 509 frames in the Majors. He’s started 50 games and made another 167 relief appearances; while he’s typically worked in multi-inning relief stints, he’s tallied eight rogue saves and 15 holds over the course of his time in a big league bullpen.
The Dodgers have a full rotation — Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Noah Syndergaard — with several top-ranked prospects waiting in the wings whenever an opportunity arises (e.g. Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, Ryan Pepiot). It’s a fairly similar story in a generally crowded bullpen mix. Right-hander Brusdar Graterol and lefties Alex Vesia and Caleb Ferguson are the only projected members of the L.A. relief corps that can be freely optioned to Triple-A, and they’re all coming off strong 2022 showings that likely give them an inside track on Opening Day roster spots.
That said, pitching injuries are an inevitability. Andriese gives the Dodgers a potential depth option whenever health woes pop up for either the starting staff or the bullpen. He’s a nice veteran insurance policy to have on hand in the upper minors to begin the season. He’ll join recent minor league signees like Jordan Yamamoto and Dylan Covey in that regard.
The Opener: Orioles, MLB Events, Signings
As the calendar flips to February, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Orioles face decision on Camden Yards lease:
The Baltimore Orioles face a deadline today to pick up a one-time option that would extend the club’s lease at Camden Yards for five more years. Currently, the organization’s lease is set to expire on December 31st of this year. Orioles ownership, Commissioner Rob Manfred, and Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott have declared that the Orioles will remain in Baltimore long term, regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the club’s stadium situation going forward. Another temporary extension that pushes back the option, as the Orioles agreed to in 2021 when their extended their lease through 2023, would be an alternative that preserves the five-year option safety net. While shorter-term options abound for the Orioles organization, Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun notes that a longer-term lease would allow the Orioles to take advantage of a 2022 state law that would allow $600MM to be borrowed to make improvements to Camden Yards.
2. MLB celebrates National Girls & Women in Sports Day:
MLB Youth Academies across the country will be hosting events and activities today in celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day, with events taking place in Cincinnati, Compton, Kansas City, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Events previously scheduled to take place in Houston and Dallas will be postponed until February 15th due to weather concerns. In addition to these events, the Commissioner’s office will be hosting a networking event and panel discussion that includes a tour of the MLB offices in Manhattan.
3. Signings to be made official:
Despite reports to the contrary, the Royals did not make their one-year agreement with future Hall of Famer Zack Greinke official yesterday. MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reports that the Greinke signing can be expected to be made official later this week, most likely on Thursday. Whenever the deal is made official, Kansas City will have to clear a 40-man roster spot to make room for Greinke. Another reported signing that has been left outstanding to this point is the deal between catcher Roberto Perez and the Giants. If that also proves to be a big league deal, the Giants will need to make a 40-man move as well.
Blue Jays Sign Chad Green
The Blue Jays have signed right-hander Chad Green to a deal that will reportedly guarantee him $8.5MM over two years. He will make $2.25MM in 2023 and then Jays will then have the option of triggering a $27MM option for the next three years, with up to $1MM in bonuses. If they decline, Green’s player option for 2024 will be for $6.25MM with $2MM in bonuses. If he declines that, the Jays can trigger a two-year, $21MM option with $1MM in bonuses. Since player options are considered guaranteed, the $8.5MM figure comes from the 2023 salary and 2024 player option. Green is a Frontline client.
Green, 32 in May, has been serving as a quality reliever for the Yankees for the past seven seasons but was sidelined in May of last year and underwent Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter. This deal provides both parties with a bit security for the future. If Green comes back healthy and looks like his old self, the Jays can get some long-term value out of their investment by keeping him around for future seasons. If Green should suffer some kind of setback or struggle to get back on track in his return, he will at least be able to lock in some salary for 2024.
An 11th round draft pick of the Tigers in 2013, Green and Luis Cessa went to the Yankees in the December 2015 trade that sent Justin Wilson to Detroit. He was primarily a starter at that time and made his MLB debut in 2016 in a swing capacity. That was essentially the end of his time as a true starter, as the Yanks converted him to relief on a full-time basis. He did make one start in 2017 and 15 in 2019, but those were of the “opener” variety, none of them longer than two innings.
Since making that transition, he has somewhat quietly been one of the most effective relievers in the league. Over the past six major league seasons, he’s pitched 338 innings over 260 total appearances with a 2.96 ERA, striking out 33.4% of batters faced while walking just 6.1%. Among relievers to throw over 300 innings in that stretch, he ranks fourth in strikeout rate, trailing only elite guys Josh Hader, Edwin Díaz and Liam Hendriks and coming in ahead of Kenley Jansen and Ryan Pressly. Green was never given the closer’s role due to the presence of Aroldis Chapman, tallying just 11 saves in his career so far, but he does have 52 holds.
The Tommy John surgery was quite poorly timed for Green, as he was just a few months away from qualifying for free agency. He would have been one of the top relievers this offseason if not for that. However, if he can return to the mound and post results similar to those already on his track record, he’ll still wind up with a nice payday. After making $2.25MM this year, if he Jays pick up that three-year option, he’ll get to $29.25MM in earnings. That’ll be just a bit shy of some other deals for notable relievers this offseason, such as the $32MM for Jansen, $33MM for Taylor Rogers and $34.5MM for Rafael Montero.
For the Jays, this won’t affect their bullpen immediately but it will potentially give them a boost at some point later this year. They will likely have Jordan Romano in the closer’s role, with other high-leverage jobs going to pitchers like Yimi García, Erik Swanson, Anthony Bass and Tim Mayza. Once Green is able to return, he will jump into the mix with that group. The Jays will now have two pitchers potentially bolstering their staff midway through the upcoming campaign, as Hyun Jin Ryu also underwent TJS last year and is targeting a return around the All-Star break.
Financially, this nudges the Jays slightly farther into luxury tax territory. Roster Resource now pegs their competitive balance tax figure at $246MM, about $13MM beyond the $233MM threshold. As a first-time payor in the lowest tax bracket, the club is subject to a 20% tax on its overages, currently just over $2.5MM.
Michael Marino of Fantrax first reported the Jays and Green were in agreement. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet for had the $8.5MM guarantee and presence of options for 2025 and 2026, as well as later adding the breakdown of the options (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first added the complex option framework and that Green passed his physical (Twitter links).
Mariners Re-Sign Taylor Williams To Minor League Contract
The Mariners announced a number of non-roster Spring Training invitees this afternoon. Among those in camp are reliever Taylor Williams and catcher Brian O’Keefe, meaning both have signed minor league deals to return to the organization.
Williams has 97 MLB appearances to his name, splitting that over four clubs. The right-hander broke into the big leagues with Milwaukee and landed with Seattle for the 2020 campaign. He struck out 19 in 13 2/3 innings through the first month-plus of the shortened season. With Seattle out of playoff contention, they flipped him to the Padres in a deal that netted then-prospect Matt Brash. It proved a coup for Seattle, as Brash quickly blossomed into a highly-regarded talent and now looks a key piece of the Seattle relief corps moving forward.
San Diego got just five outings from Williams, as he lost most of the 2021 season battling a knee injury. The Friars waived him in September 2021, and he had brief stints in the Marlins’ and Giants’ organizations before returning to the Mariners via minor league deal last summer. The 31-year-old posted a 1.14 ERA over 23 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma, racking up grounders at an incredible 60% clip. With the Mariners overloaded with bullpen depth, he never got an MLB look but impressed the front office enough to get another crack this spring.
Seattle still has an excellent relief corps. The offseason trade of Erik Swanson in the Teoscar Hernández deal subtracted one player from the mix, but Seattle added the out-of-options Trevor Gott on a free agent contract. He joins Paul Sewald, Andrés Muñoz, Diego Castillo, Penn Murfee and Brash as virtual locks for the season-opening group. Matt Festa is out of options himself and probably cracks the roster, while one of Marco Gonzales or Chris Flexen could take a long relief role if not traded before Opening Day given Seattle’s rotation depth. The M’s also have offseason trade acquisition Justin Topa and nabbed Tayler Saucedo off waivers from the Mets today.
That’s a deep collection of arms, meaning Williams and other non-roster invitees like Casey Sadler, Nick Margevicius, Ryder Ryan and Riley O’Brien could have an uphill battle to the roster. Most of that group is likely to start the season with the Rainiers. Williams is out of options himself, so if he cracks the MLB roster at any point, he’d have to stick in the majors or be made available to other clubs via trade or waivers.
O’Keefe is a 29-year-old backstop who played in two games for the M’s last year. He picked up a hit and a walk in his first four MLB plate appearances. The righty-swinging catcher had a decent .253/.330/.449 line with 13 homers over 352 trips to the dish with Tacoma last year. He joins Jacob Nottingham as non-roster catchers with previous big league experience. Seattle has Cal Raleigh and Tom Murphy as their catching duo but no additional depth on the 40-man at the moment.