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Indians Release Melvin Upton Jr., Ryan Hanigan

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The Indians announced Monday that they have released outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. and catcher Ryan Hanigan (via Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com). Both players signed minor league contracts with the Tribe over the winter.

The Indians added the 33-year-old Upton with the hope that he’d experience a revival similar to the one Austin Jackson enjoyed a season ago. Cleveland signed Jackson to a minor league deal and saw him turn in an excellent campaign as a reserve outfielder. Upton, meantime, essentially endured a lost 2017. After the Blue Jays released Upton during the spring, he settled for a minors pact with the Giants, but late-April surgery on a torn thumb ligament kept him off the field for several weeks. He ultimately totaled just 49 plate appearances, all with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.

Upton, who had been competing to be a backup outfielder this spring, struggled mightily in exhibition action before Cleveland released him. Across an admittedly small sample size of 37 at-bats, he hit just .189/.250/.297. That was enough to seal his fate with the Indians, though fellow minor league signing and veteran outfielder Rajai Davis hasn’t been any better (.242/.265/.373 in 33 ABs). He’s one of four outfielders remaining on the Indians’ projected Opening Day roster, though, while Michael Brantley and Brandon Guyer could each start the season on the disabled list.

Hanigan, 37, has a history of faring well defensively and getting on base (.344 lifetime OBP), but his production has gone backward in recent years. After combining to bat a woeful .218/.277/.291 in 225 PAs with the Red Sox and Rockies from 2016-17, he collected a meager 13 ABs this spring and hit .154/.214/.154. The Indians still have plenty of depth at catcher without Hanigan, as Yan Gomes, Roberto Perez, Francisco Mejia and Eric Haase remain on hand.

Braves Sign Anibal Sanchez

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MARCH 19: Sanchez’s deal is worth $1MM, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets.

MARCH 16: The Braves announced that they’ve signed right-hander Anibal Sanchez to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League camp for the remainder of Spring Training. The veteran Sanchez, a client of agent Gene Mato, had previously been in camp with the Twins on a non-guaranteed deal but was cut loose when Minnesota’s signing of Lance Lynn ended his bid for a rotation spot. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported recently that Sanchez was nearing a deal with a new club (Twitter link).

Sanchez, 33, wrapped up a five-year, $80MM contract with the Tigers last season, during which he delivered two sensational seasons followed by three ugly years. From 2015-17 with the Tigers, Sanchez logged a total of 415 2/3 innings and surrendered 262 earned runs (5.67 ERA) on 462 hits (85 homers) and 131 walks. Sanchez still shows a penchant for missing bats (8.2 K/9 over the final three years of the deal, 8.9 K/9 in 2017), but his ground-ball rate has eroded and he’s become stunningly homer prone.

The Twins saw enough to give Sanchez a 40-man roster spot earlier this spring, though his contract came with a non-guaranteed salary of $2.5MM, and Minnesota opted to give him 30 days’ termination (roughly $417K) upon signing Lynn, thus allowing Sanchez to reenter the free agent pool with a notable parting gift.

With the Braves, he’ll serve as depth for a starting staff that looks likely to include Julio Teheran, Mike Foltynewicz and Brandon McCarthy but has some uncertainty beyond that trio. It’s not known what veteran lefty Scott Kazmir has to offer after missing the 2017 season due to injury, and while the Braves have an enviable stock of arms on the cusp of MLB readiness, none has yet solidified himself as a definitive big league starter, Sean Newcomb, Luiz Gohara, Max Fried and Lucas Sims are all vying for rotation spots, while righties Matt Wisler and Aaron Blair remain on the 40-man roster (though that latter pairing has had its fair share of opportunities and subsequent struggles in the Majors).

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/19/18

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Here are the latest minor league moves from around baseball.  All transactions were reported by Matt Eddy of Baseball America, unless otherwise cited.

  • The Padres have released reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, whom they signed to a minor league contract last month. Before the Padres parted with him, Wilhelmsen tossed four innings of four-run ball during the exhibition season. Wilhelmsen was highly successful as a Mariner from 2011-15, a stretch in which he was their closer at times, but the right-hander has seen his career go off the rails since then. The 34-year-old combined for 72 2/3 innings of 5.94 ERA ball and posted 5.57 K/9 against 3.84 BB/9, with a strong 50.4 percent groundball rate, from 2016-17 as a member of the Mariners, Rangers and Diamondbacks.
  • The White Sox have released righty Michael Ynoa. The 26-year-old cracked the majors with the ChiSox in each of the previous two seasons, tossing 59 innings and posting a 4.42 ERA with 8.08 K/9, 5.95 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent grounder rate. Chicago outrighted Ynoa last summer, but he went on to re-sign with the organization in the fall.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Murphy, Phillies, Rupp

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There is “virtually no chance” Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy will be ready for Opening Day, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Murphy, who’s working his way back from the microfracture knee surgery he underwent last October, still hasn’t seen any game action this spring, notes Zuckerman, who expects Howie Kendrick to begin the season at the keystone for Washington. Wilmer Difo will back up Kendrick, and Zuckerman adds that Murphy’s unavailability could open the door for one of Matt Reynolds, Adrian Sanchez, Reid Brignac, Chris Dominguez, Andrew Stevenson, Moises Sierra or Ryan Raburn to be part of the Nats’ early season bench.

More on Washington and a division rival…

  • The Phillies have made catcher Cameron Rupp available, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports (subscription required). If they’re unable to find a taker for Rupp in a trade, the Phillies could end up cutting the 29-year-old and eating one-fourth of his $2.05MM salary, per Gelb. Rupp, who saw extensive action in Philadelphia in each of the previous three seasons, has hit .234/.298/.407 in 1,127 major league plate appearances and thrown out 31 percent of would-be base stealers (league average is 28 percent). He’s one of three catchers on Philly’s 40-man roster, along with starter Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp, and has a pair of minor league options remaining.
  • Phillies utilityman Jesmuel Valentin fell short of earning a roster spot in camp last year, but he may be playing his way to one this spring, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com observes. “The difference this year is more versatility. I’m playing more positions,” Valentin said. “I’ve played around 40 innings in the outfield. Last year, I did not do that. I’ve had more innings at third base, so I’m showing them that I am not only a second baseman and shortstop.” The 23-year-old Valentin, who hasn’t yet played in the majors, is one of five candidates for either two or three open bench spots, joining Roman Quinn, Pedro Florimon, Ryan Flaherty and Adam Rosales. He’s on the 40-man, as are Quinn and Florimon, which is an important advantage. Valentin, Quinn and Florimon are also switch-hitters.
  • Back to the Nationals, with whom reliever Tim Collins is attempting to revive his career. Formerly an effective cog in Kansas City, Collins underwent back-to-back Tommy John surgeries in recent years, thus derailing his career. Now, he’s making a case to earn an Opening Day bullpen spot for the Nats, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Both Collins and general manager Mike Rizzo have been pleased with the left-hander’s work, though he still hasn’t pitched back-to-back days since returning last season. Collins had a rough go in 2017 at the Double-A level, albeit over a mere 8 2/3 innings, as he allowed 14 earned runs on 12 hits and 10 walks, with eight strikeouts. He regarded the year as “a failure” at one point because he didn’t make it back to the majors, but a talk with team officials over the winter helped, which Castillo details in his piece.

Quick Hits: Extensions, Rizzo, Cardinals, Kelly

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The winter’s unusually slow free agent market has led to a number of major signings in March, though the 2017-18 offseason hardly has a monopoly on late signings.  It was on this day in 1981 that Carlton Fisk signed a five-year, $2.9MM deal to join the White Sox, concluding a very unusual (and unexpected) trip through the free agent process for the star catcher.  Fisk’s deal with the Red Sox was up after the 1980 season but, under baseball’s rules at the time, he was still under Boston’s control as long as the team mailed him a new contract by December 20, 1980.  Red Sox GM Haywood Sullivan, however, mailed contracts to both Fisk and Fred Lynn a day late, leading to arbitration hearings that eventually resulted in Lynn being dealt to the Angels and Fisk being declared a free agent.  Fisk went on to spend the next 13 seasons in Chicago, further adding to a resume that eventually led to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

Some notes from around the sport as we head into the new week…

  • Could the lack of free agent activity lead to more young players accepting early-career extensions?  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (subscription required) wonders if this could be the case, as “cautionary tales are swirling throughout baseball right now” as players and agents wonder if this offseason could be a harbinger of future free agent droughts.  Players with more limited or one-dimensional skillsets, for instance, might jump at taking a guaranteed deal early rather than risk facing a cold market once they hit free agency.  In the words of one agent, “The lesson to be learned is that for a lot of players, if you get offered a fair deal when you’re young, you should take it — to make sure you get paid. Then, if you get to free agency later, that can be the bonus on top.”
  • Mike Rizzo has built the Nationals into a contender and wants to remain as the team’s general manager, so the Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell isn’t sure why ownership doesn’t seem to be in a rush to extend Rizzo’s contract.  Rizzo is entering the last year of his deal, and though he said last month that he was “confident” a new agreement would be settled, there hasn’t been any news on that front in the interim.  Boswell wonders if the Lerner family has held off on an extension since they could be considering letting Rizzo leave if the team again falls short in the postseason — if this isn’t the case, however, it makes little sense to put Rizzo and the franchise itself through an awkward lame-duck period.
  • The Cardinals optioned catching prospect Carson Kelly to Triple-A today, seemingly solidifying Francisco Pena’s spot as Yadier Molina’s backup.  Pena was a non-roster invite to the Cards’ spring camp, and though neither Pena or Kelly hit much, the team would prefer to see Kelly continue his development with regular playing time in the minors rather than spending most of his days on the Cardinals’ bench.  “[Kelly] needs to play,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and other reporters. “He’s still too young with too high of a ceiling not to go and be ready. If something happens, we need him to step in and be our guy. There are not going to be a whole lot of repetitions to get here.”  As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes, Pena’s defense has helped his case in a camp that also saw catchers Steven Baron and Andrew Knizner impress the team.

AL West Notes: Iwakuma, Bassitt, Altuve

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Some notes from around the AL West…

  • Mariners manager Scott Servais is hopeful that Hisashi Iwakuma can throw a bullpen session before the end of Spring Training, Servais told MLB.com’s Greg Johns (Twitter link) and other reporters.  Iwakuma is roughly expected to return by late May or early June, as the veteran righty continues his recovery from undergoing shoulder surgery last September.  Iwakuma re-signed with Seattle on a minor league deal, giving the M’s a potential extra bit of rotation depth once he is fully healthy.
  • The Athletics optioned right-hander Chris Bassitt to Triple-A today in the wake of a rough Spring Training, though Bassitt told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes a lack of communication about his role contributed to his 7.11 ERA over 6 1/3 IP.  According to Bassitt, “I was told coming into camp I was going to compete for a starting spot and never got a single chance…It’s hard to prepare when you don’t know what you’re preparing for. Anyone just wants to know what they’re expecting out of you and so far no one can really answer that yet.”  Bassitt said he was willing to pitch in whatever role the A’s wanted, except he just wanted more notice and more clarity about that role.  “The way my mechanics are, I pretty much have to go out of the stretch when I come out of the bullpen, and I wasn’t prepared to be a reliever, I really wasn’t. It’s frustrating all around that wasn’t relayed to me all offseason,” he said.  Oakland manager Bob Melvin said he felt the team “tried to intimate that to” Bassitt that he would be deployed in an undefined role as a swingman, long reliever, or starter depending on the situation.  Bassitt last pitched in the majors in April 2016, as he was sidelined for much of that season due to Tommy John surgery, and he tossed 50 2/3 innings in the minors in 2017.
  • Though Jose Altuve’s five-year, $151MM extension doesn’t begin until the 2020 season, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards believes the Astros aren’t facing too much risk in locking up the star second baseman.  Comparing the Altuve deal to other extensions of five-plus years for players who were at least two seasons away from free agency, Altuve is younger than three of the names cited (Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard) and is coming off a much better platform year than Ryan Zimmerman when he inked his six-year, $100MM pact with the Nationals.  The best comp might actually be Joey Votto’s ten-year, $225MM extension from the Reds, though Houston’s commitment to Altuve was only half as long.  Since Altuve still projects to be an excellent player going forward, the extension also shouldn’t be considered a “gift” — as in, the Astros weren’t simply giving him a make-good deal since his original extension proved to be such an incredible bargain for the team.

NL West Notes: Greinke, Thompson, Dodgers, Shaw

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On a day when the Arenado brothers (Nolan and Jonah) were on opposite sites of a Rockies/Giants Spring Training tilt, here are some items from around the NL West…

  • Zack Greinke has been dealing with a lack of velocity and a minor groin injury this spring, but after a 40-pitch bullpen session today, the Diamondbacks ace is hopeful of being ready for the start of the season, he told MLB.com’s Owen Perkins and other reporters.  “If I felt this good every day for the rest of my career, it would be amazing,” Greinke said. “I’ll definitely be making the next outing. I felt healthy and the pitches were pretty good. Hopefully that continues. It should; it was a good day.”  Greinke left a start last Wednesday after just one inning due to mild groin tightness, and though he already seems to be feeling better, manager Torey Lovullo said the club will continue to monitor Greinke’s progress.  The setbacks have cost Greinke the Opening Day assignment, though he could pitch as soon as Arizona’s third game of the season.
  • With several outfielders seemingly ahead of Trayce Thompson on the Dodgers depth chart, the club is expected to explore trading the out-of-options Thompson, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times writes.  Thompson has shown some promise over three MLB seasons but he hasn’t been the same since suffering back injuries midway through the 2016 season.  Thompson appeared in just 27 games for the Dodgers last season, contributing a meager .483 OPS in 55 plate appearances.  Yasiel Puig and Chris Taylor are slated for starting duty in right and center field, respectively, with Thompson, Matt Kemp, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, Andrew Toles, and top prospect Alex Verdugo all competing for left field or backup duty.  If a trade partner can’t be found, the Dodgers will risk losing Thompson for nothing, as he would have to pass through waivers before the Dodgers could send him to the minors.
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed his rotation to reporters (including Bill Shaikin) today, with Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, and Hyun-jin Ryu lined up as the Los Angeles starting five.  Beyond those five, however, are some question marks, as Roberts admitted “We don’t have the starting pitching depth that we’ve had in past years.”  That depth allowed the Dodgers to reach the World Series despite DL stints for every member of their pitching staff, and now since Yu Darvish and Brandon McCarthy have both moved on to other teams, L.A. now has Ross Stripling, Brock Stewart, and Walker Buehler as the top depth options.  Tom Koehler was signed over the offseason to bring a veteran arm into the mix, though Koehler is sidelined indefinitely due to a mild AC strain.
  • A year after a surprising position switch, Chris Shaw is hoping to eventually crack the majors as a left fielder, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group writes.  The Giants already had Brandon Belt at first base, so with Shaw’s natural position blocked, the club began to deploy Shaw in left field as a way of finding a place in the lineup for his intriguing power bat.  Shaw was San Francisco’s first-round pick (31st overall) in the 2015 draft and is ranked as the second-best prospect in the team’s farm system by both MLB.com and Baseball America, making him a key part of the Giants’ future.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see Shaw make his Major League debut sometime in 2018, with a potential starting job awaiting him in 2019 if Hunter Pence isn’t re-signed.

MLBTR Originals

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Rounding up of the last two weeks’ worth of original content from the MLB Trade Rumors writing team…

  • Tim Dierkes compiled MLBTR’s annual list of out-of-options players, several of whom could be facing a roster crunch prior to Opening Day.
  • MLBTR began our annual “Offseason In Review” series, recapping and analyzing every team’s winter moves.  The first teams up were the Tigers (by Steve Adams), Marlins (by Jeff Todd), Giants, and Red Sox (both by Mark Polishuk).
  • Steve Adams and Jeff Todd provided an update on the 18 players selected in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft, and how many of those names are on pace to win 25-man roster spots with their new teams.
  • Spring is the time for long-term extensions, with teams looking to lock up both soon-to-be free agents, players entering their arbitration years, or even some less-conventional extension candidates.  To this last point, Jeff Todd examines the case for the Royals to explore an extension with late bloomer Whit Merrifield, who looks to be an important piece for the team in the near future even as K.C. goes into a rebuilding phase.
  • Speaking of extensions, the Astros made headlines this week when they agreed to add five years and $151MM to Jose Altuve’s deal, ensuring that the star second baseman will remain the face of the Houston franchise.  Kyle Downing submitted a pair of polls about the extension to the MLBTR readership, asking them to grade the deal both from the Astros’ perspective and from Altuve’s perspective.

AL East Notes: Torres, Pomeranz, Davis, Orioles, McKay

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The Yankees will deploy Gleyber Torres in roughly a “50-50” split between second base and shortstop at Triple-A this season, manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters.  Torres has spent the vast majority of his four pro seasons as a shortstop but received some time at second base over the last two seasons and third base in 2017.  One of the game’s top prospects, Torres is expected to make his big league debut at some point this season, and second base could be his ultimate position in New York given Didi Gregorius’ presence at short.  With Gregorius slated for free agency after the 2019 season, however, Torres’ presence gives the Yankees flexibility at both middle infield positions going forward.

Here’s some more from around the AL East…

  • “I felt great. I felt normal,” Drew Pomeranz told media (including the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman) after a 33-pitch simulated throwing session today.  The Red Sox southpaw has missed time with a mild flexor strain and his status for the start of the season is still in question, though today’s result was a good step for Pomeranz.  Between this outing and the positive updates on Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez yesterday, there is a chance Boston could begin the year without having to turn to minor league depth starters Hector Velazquez or Brian Johnson.
  • The Orioles optioned Austin Wynns to Triple-A today, as reported by MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli and others.  Wynns had been competing with Andrew Susac and Chance Sisco for the secondary catcher role, as Caleb Joseph is in line for the bulk of playing time behind the plate.  Sisco is ranked by both MLB.com and Baseball America as the third-best prospect in Baltimore’s system, and has long been considered the Orioles’ catcher of the future.  With that in mind, however, the O’s may prefer to keep Sisco in the minors for now in order to give him everyday at-bats rather than limit him to a part-time role.
  • As also noted in Ghiroli’s piece, Chris Davis made his return to the Orioles’ lineup today after a two-week absence due to a forearm injury.  Davis is tentatively scheduled to play in a minor league game tomorrow, assuming he feels ready to go.  Despite losing a good chunk of the spring to the injury, Davis is still expected to be ready for Opening Day.
  • Both the Rays and Brendan McKay are intent on seeing if the top prospect can reach the big leagues as a two-way player, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times outlines how McKay and the team are preparing and managing his workload for this unique challenge.  McKay, the fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, is thus far considered to be more polished as a pitcher, according to both the Rays and rival scouts.  A decision may eventually have to be made about McKay’s position at some point in the future, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards anytime soon.  “This is absolutely no gimmick. This is for real,” Rays farm director Mitch Lukevics said.  “This is every day, seven days a week that we’re getting Brendan McKay prepared to take on a full season and do both, as a starting pitcher and first baseman, with some DH.”

Mets’ Jason Vargas Suffers Fracture To Non-Pitching Hand

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6:06PM: Vargas will indeed undergo surgery to remove his hamate bone, with the Mets announcing that the procedure will take place on Tuesday.

9:22AM: Mets left-hander Jason Vargas suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right hamate bone during his outing Friday, the team announced. It’s unclear how long Vargas will be on the shelf, though Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News estimates two to six weeks, depending on whether he undergoes surgery. General manager Sandy Alderson told Tim Britton of The Athletic and other reporters Sunday that surgery is an option for Vargas, who will see a hand specialist Sunday.

“He’ll either pitch through it or he’ll have it surgically repaired,” Alderson said.

Vargas’ injury is the latest in a run of poor health for Mets starters, who suffered through a disastrous 2017. Jacob deGrom was the only member of the group to get through the season unscathed, while ace Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman each sat out significant periods of time. The only member of that injury-plagued group who delivered a high-end performance was Syndergaard. The rest struggled mightily when they stepped on the mound, contributing to the Mets’ unexpected fall from grace in 2017. Mets starters finished 17th in the majors in fWAR (8.8, exactly half of which came from deGrom) and 27th in ERA (5.12).

In response to last season’s issues in their rotation, the Mets added Vargas on a two-year, $16MM guarantee over the winter with the hope he’d competently eat innings. The 35-year-old did just that in 2017 as a member of the Royals, logging a 4.16 ERA (with a much less encouraging 4.67 FIP) over 179 2/3 frames. Now, it seems the beginning of his second stint with the Mets, with whom he previously pitched in 2007, will be delayed. If that ends up being the case, the Mets will likely plug Wheeler into their rotation to join Syndergaard, deGrom, Harvey and Matz, Mike Puma of the New York Post suggests.

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