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Phillies Designate Ian Hamilton For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve designated right-handed reliever Ian Hamilton for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to catcher J.T. Realmuto, whose record-setting five-year deal with the Phils has now been formally announced.

Hamilton, 25, was a waiver claim out of the White Sox organization who’d been expected to compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training. He could still do so, but in order for that to happen he’d need to go unclaimed on waivers and come to camp as a non-roster invitee.

An eleventh-round pick back in 2016, Hamilton has appeared briefly in the Majors with the South Siders in two of the past three seasons, allowing a combined six runs on ten thits and seven walks with nine strikeouts in a dozen innings. He’s averaged 95.7 mph on a four-seamer that he complements with a slider and a very seldom-used changeup.

Hamilton had a particularly strong showing between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, and throughout his minor league career as a whole, he’s posted better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (26.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively). He still has a minor league option remaining, so it’s feasible that a bullpen-needy team could take a low-risk flier now that the Phils have bumped him from the roster. He’ll have a week to be traded, placed on waivers or released.

Phillies Re-Sign J.T. Realmuto

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After years of anticipation, the Phillies have formally locked catcher J.T. Realmuto in as a member of their long-term core. The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve re-signed Realmuto to a five-year contract that will reportedly guarantee the CAA client $115.5MM. The contract is said to pay Realmuto $20MM for the coming season and then $23.875MM per year from 2022-25. The deal includes award bonuses, and Realmuto will earn $1MM each time he’s traded, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

The $23.1MM average annual value is the highest given to any catcher in baseball history, slightly topping the previous $23MM standard set by Joe Mauer in his eight-year, $184MM extension with the Twins back in March 2010.  Several previous reports indicated that Realmuto was looking to raise the bar on catcher salaries with his next contract, and while topping Mauer or Buster Posey in terms of pure dollars was perhaps going to be a stretch even before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted baseball’s finances, Realmuto did end up setting at least one new benchmark.

J.T. RealmutoRealmuto is now slated to remain in Philadelphia through at least the 2025 season, ending an extended negotiating process about his long-term future that seemed to begin almost as soon as the Phillies acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Marlins in February 2019.  While the two sides had mutual interest in an extension, talks were halted last spring due to the pandemic-induced roster freeze, and then it seemed as if Realmuto seemed more open to considering other options as his free agency approached.  Since the Phils spent the early weeks of the offseason overhauling their front office and seemingly putting looking to cut spending, it increased speculation that Realmuto would be playing elsewhere in 2021.

However, the hiring of Dave Dombrowski (no stranger to big payrolls) as the team’s new president of baseball operations seemed to indicate that owner John Middleton wasn’t entirely looking to cut costs.  Most reports in recent weeks seemed to hint that the Phillies were again the favorites for Realmuto, both because the team was willing to pay up, and also perhaps because Realmuto’s market was shrinking.

The Mets made an early exit from the Realmuto hunt by signing James McCann, and other speculative candidates like the Angels (Kurt Suzuki) and Astros (Jason Castro) made lower-cost catching additions, while the Yankees seem content to stay with Gary Sanchez.  The Nationals, Blue Jays, and Braves were also reportedly interested in Realmuto, though Toronto was perhaps done with top-tier contracts after landing George Springer, and Washington has seemingly opted on a strategy of spreading its money around on signings like Brad Hand and Kyle Schwarber rather than make a big splurge on a single star.

Regardless, Realmuto will now stay in a familiar and comfortable environment, and the Phillies will keep the consensus choice as the game’s best catcher.  Realmuto is a two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner, with a .282/.336/.466 slash line and 85 home runs in 2443 plate appearances with Miami and Philadelphia since the start of the 2016 season.  The odd nature of the 2020 season didn’t slow Realmuto down at all, as he continued to produce at the plate and also posted outstanding framing numbers (as per Statcast).

While he is entering his age-30 season, Realmuto’s track record is strong enough that a five-year contract doesn’t seem like too much of a risk.  MLBTR projected Realmuto for five years and $125MM, while ranking him second on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.

With Realmuto back in the fold, the question now turns to what else might be in store for Dombrowski and new general manager Sam Fuld.  As per Roster Resource, the Phillies have a projected payroll of $171.2MM for next season (not counting Realmuto’s $10MM in deferrals) and a luxury tax number just shy of $179.48MM.  It isn’t yet clear if Realmuto was the one big signing Middleton was willing to stretch the budget to land, or if Philadelphia still has room for another notable acquisition — perhaps a reunion with Didi Gregorius, or another arm for the rotation or bullpen.

Craig Mish of SportsGrid first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract (Twitter link). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and The Athletic’s Jayson Stark all added some further financial details (all Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Daniel Murphy Retires

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Three-time All-Star and 2015 National League Championship Series MVP Daniel Murphy is retiring from baseball after a 12-year Major League career, he tells SNY’s Andy Martino.

Daniel Murphy | Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

“This is a beautiful game, and I really just feel humbled and blessed that it let me jump on the ride for a little bit,” Murphy tells Martino. “It’s beautiful. It can teach you about so many things. And all I can say is, thank you.” Mets fans, in particular, will want to read Martino’s interview for dozens of quotes, stories and reflections on his time in New York, as well as additional thoughts from teammate and captain David Wright.

A 13th-round pick by the Mets back in 2006, Murphy made his MLB debut just two years later at the age of 23. He solidified a spot on the Mets’ roster with a strong showing in both 2008 and 2009, but a knee sprain late in Spring Training 2010 and a subsequent torn MCL suffered on a Triple-A rehab stint later that year wiped out his entire 2010 campaign.

Murphy returned to the field in 2011 and had his best year yet, hitting .320/.362/.448 in 423 trips to the plate. His offense over the next few years took a step back, but he settled in as an above-average contributor capable of seeing time at multiple positions. Late in the 2015 season, however, as the Mets were driving toward the postseason, Murphy took his game to new heights. He slugged 10 home runs after the All-Star break while hitting .285/.318/.500 through 280 trips to the plate, but he saved the best for a legendary postseason run that brought the Mets to the brink of a championship.

Thirty years old at the time, Murphy was a man on fire that October. He appeared in all 14 of the Mets’ games and posted a combined .328/.391/.724 batting line, belting seven home runs and a pair of doubles while scoring 13 runs and knocking in 11. Incredibly, Murphy homered in six consecutive playoff games during that Herculean performance — including a go-ahead, sixth inning shot of Zack Greinke in the decisive Game 5 of the NLDS and one in all four games of the Mets’ NLCS sweep of the Cubs. Wright tells Martino that Murphy’s 2015 postseason was “one of the most impressive things I ever witnessed on a baseball field.”

Murphy parlayed that brilliant postseason effort into a three-year deal with the Nationals, and while the club didn’t win its World Series until after he’d departed, that was through no fault of Murphy’s. He had his best season in 2016, his first year with the Nats, hitting .347/.390/.595 en route to a second-place finish in National League MVP voting. He hit .329/.380/.550 in his two and a half seasons with the Nats before being traded to the Cubs (and continuing to rake) — more than justifying the $37.5MM price of his contract.

From there, Murphy would sign a two-year deal to serve as the Rockies’ primary first baseman, but injuries took their toll during his time in Colorado. Murphy suffered a significant fracture in his finger after just two games, and though he was expected to miss at least a month at the time, he returned to the lineup just shy of four weeks later. Murphy swung a hot bat early on, but it seemed clear that the hand was bothering him; his hard-hit rate and exit velocities dropped precipitously that year, and his power wasn’t close to its peak levels despite playing his home games at Coors Field. Murphy posted a .279/.328/.452 line on the whole that year, and he followed it up with a .236/.275/.333 showing in 40 games in 2020’s shortened schedule.

All told, Murphy is a three-time All-Star, NLCS MVP and two-time Silver Slugger with a second-place MVP finish on his resume. He played in a dozen MLB seasons, hitting a combined .296/.341/.455 with 1,572 hits, 178 home runs, 371 doubles, 29 triples, 68 stolen bases, 710 runs scored and 735 runs driven in. Murphy tacked on eight more home runs and an OPS just shy of 1.000 in 25 postseason games split between the Mets, the Nats and the Cubs.

Cardinals Re-Sign Adam Wainwright

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Jan. 29: The Cardinals have announced Wainwright’s return. There’s a full no-trade clause and up to $775K in award bonuses, Heyman tweets.

Jan. 28: The Cardinals are bringing back franchise icon Adam Wainwright on what’s “believed to be” a one-year deal worth $8MM, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Wainwright’s contract includes incentives, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The right-hander is a client of Aegis Sports Management.

This is the first true sign of life this offseason from the Cardinals, who have seen Wainwright, catcher Yadier Molina and second baseman Kolten Wong (after a declined option) hit free agency but haven’t done anything to upgrade their roster. Nevertheless, it’s no surprise the Cardinals are keeping Wainwright, a longtime member of the organization whom they’ve been connected to throughout the winter.

A Cardinal since his major league debut in 20o5, Wainwright is one of the most accomplished pitchers in their storied history. The three-time All-Star may not be the ace he was earlier during his time in the majors, but he remains a quality starter at this late stage of his career. As a 39-year-old in 2020, Wainwright turned in 65 2/3 innings over just 10 starts and recorded a 3.15 ERA/4.39 SIERA with a 20.6 percent strikeout rate and an above-average 5.7 percent walk rate. Among Cardinals starters, Wainwright easily ranked first in innings, outdoing Jack Flaherty by almost 25 full frames, and checked in behind Dakota Hudson and Kwang Hyun Kim in ERA.

Because he underwent Tommy John surgery in September, Hudson won’t be available for the Cardinals in 2021. That only increases Wainwright’s importance for the club, which will count on him, Flaherty and Kim to perform well near the top of their starting staff. Carlos Martinez and Miles Mikolas, who missed all of last season after undergoing right flexor tendon surgery, look as if they’ll fill out the Cardinals’ rotation at the beginning of the campaign. It doesn’t appear to be the safest group, but Wainwright should be one of its stabilizing forces.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

MLB Names Ken Griffey Jr. Senior Advisor To Commissioner

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Major League Baseball announced Friday that Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. has been named a senior advisor to commissioner Rob Manfred. In his new role, Griffey will place an emphasis on “baseball operations and youth baseball development, particularly regarding improving diversity at amateur levels of the game,” although he’ll work with Manfred’s office on various other baseball operations issues. He’ll also serve as an ambassador at youth baseball initiatives and at events such as the All-Star Game.

“We are thrilled that Ken will represent Major League Baseball on some of our sport’s most important stages, alongside our current and future stars,” commissioner Manfred said in a prepared statement within today’s press release. “We welcome the perspective and insights that Ken gained as an historic player, as a parent, and as someone who has spent his life in and around our great game.”

Griffey offered his own statement as well: “I am humbled to be asked to work with Major League Baseball in this role. It will be an honor to represent the best sport in the world and to promote our game among today’s youth.”

The 51-year-old Griffey becomes the second high-profile name to join the commissioner’s office in an advisory capacity in recent weeks. MLB announced not long ago that Theo Epstein, former Cubs president of baseball operations and Red Sox general manager, would be joining the office as a consultant regarding on-field matters such as rule changes and pace of play initiatives.

FA Notes: Mets, Bauer, JBJ, Arrieta, Cubs, Shark

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While free-agent right-hander Trevor Bauer and center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. have frequently been connected to the Mets in recent weeks, no agreement appears imminent in either case. The club is “far apart” from deals with both of those players, Andy Martino of SNY says (video link). The race for Bauer could come down to the Mets and Dodgers, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who adds that the Padres showed interest before acquiring Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove in separate trades. The Padres presented a three- to four-year offer to Bauer, but that “didn’t fly,” according to Heyman.

As for Bradley, the Mets are more focused on a short-term deal, whereas the 30-year-old may want a longer pact, Martino suggests. The longtime member of the Red Sox is clearly the top center fielder left on a market that lost George Springer to the Blue Jays last week, so he may be in better position to secure a large guarantee.

  • Staying with the Mets, they will be in attendance for free-agent righty Jake Arrieta’s showcase on Friday, per Martino and Colin Martin of SNY. The former Cy Young winner disappointed with the division-rival Phillies from 2018-20, but Arrieta at least looks like a capable back-end starter at this point of his career. The Mets may have opened up a spot in their starting staff Wednesday when they traded lefty Steven Matz to the Blue Jays.
  • Free-agent righty Jeff Samardzija will work out for the Cubs “at some point in the next few days,” Bruce Levine of 670 The Score writes. This could lay the groundwork for a reunion between Samardzija and the Cubs, with whom he pitched from 2008-14 before a trade to the Athletics. The 36-year-old was a solid starter for the Cubs and has typically done a good job in that role with multiple teams, though he’s a free agent at an inopportune time after managing a miserable 9.72 ERA/7.35 SIERA over 16 2/3 innings and four starts last season.

Athletics Rumors: Semien, Olson, Chapman, Fiers

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The Athletics lost stalwart shortstop Marcus Semien to the Blue Jays via free agency this week, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Oakland never made a formal offer before Semien signed in Toronto for $18MM. Rather, the A’s “floated”  the concept of a one-year deal at a $12.5MM guarantee. Given that $12.5MM would represent a pay decrease, Semien was never likely to consider that in the first place, but Rosenthal further adds that a whopping $10MM of that sum would’ve been deferred over a period of 10 years.

No one expected the A’s to spend much this winter, but a contract structure of that nature feels borderline insulting to a player like Semien, who has been a constant on the A’s roster over the past six seasons. That’s all the more true when Semien had a clearly stronger offer from the Blue Jays and, seemingly, a stronger offer from the Twins (via The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). If the A’s are that strapped for cash, it’s both hard to envision them making any serious additions this winter and unsurprising that fellow infielder Tommy La Stella found a greater offer across town from the Giants.

Some more notes on the A’s…

  • Despite those payroll concerns and the escalating prices of third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Matt Olson, the A’s aren’t discussing either of their corner infielders in trades, Rosenthal further reports. Chapman agreed to a $6.49MM deal for the upcoming season, while Olson will earn $5MM. Both sluggers figure to be in line for considerable raises next winter, however, and it’s an open question as to just how long the A’s can hang onto them. Oakland controls both through the 2023 season, but it’s not unreasonable to think that one or both sluggers could vault close to the eight-figure range in 2022 or even exceed that threshold (particularly in Chapman’s case).
  • Free-agent righty Mike Fiers tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he hopes to return to the Athletics in 2021. “I had the best time there,” Fiers told Slusser. “I felt like I could be myself, just be the guy I am and help people and play for Bob Melvin, who is obviously one of the best managers in baseball and a guy that really wants to win and does everything he can to win.” Fiers added that while he’s pitched for several franchises, the A’s felt like “home.” The righty is open to a one-year deal, which almost feels like a prerequisite given the Athletics’ aversion to spending this winter, but it remains to be seen if they’ll even put forth an offer of any type to the righty. Fiers’ fastball dipped to a career-low 88.4 mph in 2020 — a 2.4 mph decrease from his 2019 velocity. He was still serviceable, however, with a 4.58 ERA in 11 starts and 59 innings. Since being traded to Oakland in 2018, Fiers has an even 4.00 ERA in 296 2/3 innings with the A’s. He’s logged a below-average 17.6 percent strikeout rate, but his 6.5 percent walk rate is much better than the league average of 8.6 percent.

Nationals To Sign Alex Avila

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The Nationals and free-agent catcher Alex Avila have reached a one-year agreement, pending a physical, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Avila is a client of Excel Sports Management.

Washington will be the sixth major league team for Avila, who will turn 34 on Friday. Most of Avila’s career has been spent in Detroit, which Jon Heyman of MLB Network notes vied for a reunion this offseason, but he was a member of the Twins last season. Avila has typically been known for logging low batting averages and high on-base percentages, and he did just that in Minnesota, with which he batted .184/.355/.286 with one home run in 62 plate appearances. The total lack of power was out of the norm for Avila, who has posted a .394 slugging percentage and swatted 104 homers across 3,527 trips to the plate in the majors.

Most of the damage the left-handed Avila has done on offense has come off righty pitchers, and he should get the majority of his playing time against them in 2021. Avila will complement the Nationals’ starting backstop, Yan Gomes, who bats from the right side. Notably, Gomes has fared much better at the plate versus lefties than righties throughout his career. He and Avila could make up a formidable offensive tandem if they perform the way they usually do offensively.

On the defensive side, Avila had difficulty as a pitch framer last season, ranking in Statcast’s 31st percentile in that category. However, Avila has never had much trouble throwing out would-be base stealers. His lifetime 30 percent caught-stealing rate checks in a few points above the league average. As Jessica Camerato of MLB.com points out, Avila will catch past teammates in Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Jon Lester in D.C.

Latest On Phillies’ Middle Infield

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The Phillies addressed their greatest need of the offseason earlier this week when they agreed to re-sign star catcher J.T. Realmuto to a five-year, $115.5MM contract. The focus now turns to the middle infield, where the Phillies haven’t found a replacement since shortstop Didi Gregorius became a free agent after last season. Gregorius is still on the open market – clearly the best shortstop option left in the wake of the deals Marcus Semien and Andrelton Simmons agreed to this week – but that doesn’t mean the Phillies will re-sign him.

In the event the Phillies don’t keep Gregorius, who was effective during what could be his lone season as a Phillie in 2020, they could choose to shift second baseman Jean Segura to short, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Should that happen, two league sources informed Lauber that the Phillies may pursue a second baseman in free agency. Lauber lists Kolten Wong, Jonathan Schoop and Jonathan Villar as possibilities for the club.

Among the Wong, Schoop and Villar trio, Wong stands out as the most valuable. The longtime Cardinal has typically blended excellent defense with passable offense. Schoop and Villar have been capable offensive cogs, meanwhile, though the latter is coming off a brutal season divided between the Marlins and Blue Jays.

In an ideal world, the Phillies will simply retain Gregorius, as Lauber reported Tuesday they want to keep Segura at the keystone. The soon-to-be 31-year-old Segura has extensive shortstop experience, including as recently as 2019, but he spent almost all of last season at second in the wake of the Gregorius acquisition.

Cubs, Kohl Stewart Agree To Major League Deal

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The Cubs have agreed to a major league contract for 2021 with free-agent right-hander Kohl Stewart, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago was among those to report. The deal is worth $700K, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic tweets. Stewart is a Frontline client.

Now 26 years old, Stewart entered the pros as the No. 4 overall pick of the Twins in 2013. Although he did eventually reach the majors with the team, he could only put up a 4.79 ERA/5.21 SIERA with a subpar 12.7 strikeout rate against a 9.7 walk percentage in 62 innings from 2018-19. Stewart owns a similar 4.87 ERA over 136 2/3 innings in Triple-A ball.

Stewart signed with the Orioles before last season, but the type 1 diabetic ultimately opted out of the campaign because of concerns related to COVID-19. He’ll now try to get back on the mound in Chicago, which has questions in its rotation and its bullpen.

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