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Minor MLB Transactions: 2/28/19

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We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves …

  • The Padres have a deal in place with righty Chris Rowley, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Other terms of the pact aren’t known. Rowley, 28, has throw 19 1/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons, coughing up 17 earned runs with both 11 walks and strikeouts. He has been more effective in the upper minors, though. Last year at Triple-A, the West Point product worked to a 3.34 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 142 2/3 innings. Rowley has to this point spent most of his career with the Blue Jays, though he was claimed and later outrighted last year by the Rangers.

Braves Notes: Rotation Health, Revenue Growth

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To this point of the spring, the biggest health questions in Braves camp have surrounded youngster Mike Soroka and his balky shoulder. There’s nothing new yet on Soroka, who’ll face something of a test when he throws today. But there are some other health issues of note, as well as an update on the state of the club’s finances. Let’s have a look:

  • Key righty Mike Foltynewicz was scratched from his next scheduled start due to elbow soreness, skipper Brian Snitker told reporters including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (Twitter links). Initial indications are that this isn’t considered serious, with Snitker saying that Foltynewicz wouldn’t have missed a regular season outing. Still, the club has set up a medical review for the weekend to take a closer look. It’s obviously tough to say whether there’s any real cause for concern here. As Bowman notes, some minor elbow issues have bothered Foltynewicz in recent season. On the one hand, that suggests some history in the joint; on the other, it didn’t prevent him from turning in a breakout 2018 campaign.
  • Meanwhile, fellow starters Luiz Gohara and Kevin Gausman are each dealing with some shoulder woes, Bowman further tweets. Both hurlers are throwing, which is certainly a good sign, though they’re each being handled with care. Whether they’ll be deemed ready to open the season in the MLB rotation will presumably be dictated by how their shoulders respond in the coming days, as they’ll need to begin building innings up to do so. In Gohara’s case, of course, he will also have to win a spot or take advantage of an opening.
  • It’s still theoretically possible that the Braves will choose to add to their existing pitching mix. The rotation was a secondary topic of conversation for the club’s top decisionmakers in a recent interview in which they discussed the decision (to this point) not to dedicate further payroll space to the 2019 roster. While the Braves insist they have untapped spending capacity, there are those who think they should be more eager both to spend what has been allocated and open the pocketbook yet further. Today’s disclosures from owner Liberty Media add yet more fuel to the flames. As Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal was among those to note (via Twitter), the ballclub reported a year-over-year jump from $7MM to $94MM in operating income before interest and depreciation. As the above-linked interview suggested would be the case, the club has indeed driven down its debt load, though Fisher notes it’s primed to take on more in loans to further build out its property investments surrounding SunTrust Park. Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution covered some other numbers from the team’s revenue report.

Latest On Offers To Bryce Harper

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If it seems we’re making only incremental progress in our understanding of the Bryce Harper saga, that may be due to the fact that the bidding is still progressing in a cautious manner. We learned yesterday that the Giants’ interest extended to the ten-year contract range, and there’s more chatter this morning, though it’s fair to wonder whether the recent movement is mostly just setting the stage for a final frenzy.

Harper’s camp seemingly expects to sign a record-breaking contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. It remains to be seen both where Harper will land and what record(s) he’ll break, but Nightengale writes that the three primary remaining contenders — the Dodgers, Giants, and Phillies — “have vowed to provide Harper with either the biggest overall free-agent contract in North American sports history or the largest average annual salary anyone has ever received in the sport.” The present record-holders in each of those two measures are Giancarlo Stanton ($325MM total contract) and Zack Greinke ($34.42MM AAV).

Agent Scott Boras is said to be “circling back with other teams” to see if they wish to get involved at the last moment. Presumably, that’ll include a phone call to the Nationals, Harper’s only professional club to date and a frequent match with Boras clients. It’s unknown at this point whether any other organizations will jump into the mix or whether the bidding is down to a final three. Regardless, Nightengale suggests, it seems the final stage of the process is finally upon us.

Here’s a quick breakdown of where the three aforementioned primary contenders stand, based upon reporting to date:

  • The Phillies “still have the highest offer on the table,” per Nightengale. As Matt Breen of Philly.com reported yesterday, though the club is increasingly pessimistic of landing the star. The Phils are holding the line for the time being, per Andy Martino of SNY.tv (via Twitter), with Harper looking to move past the Stanton guarantee. Clearly, there’s some tension between this report and Nightengale’s assessment of the organizations’ willingness to set new high-water marks in the financial department.
  • The Dodgers are evidently still not willing to go to a decade, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported yesterday on Twitter. They are, however, prepared to “obliterate” Greinke’s AAV record, Nightengale says. It seems the organization believes it’d need to dangle a term of “at least five years,” though that element of the interest is largely unknown. Neither is it known just how high the Dodgers would go in single-season AAV. It’s worth noting that the opt-out(s) included would be of even greater importance under this kind of scenario, though it’s unclear as yet how that could factor in.
  • As for the Giants, Nightengale says the club is willing to go past $300MM on a ten-year term to land Harper. That’s unsurprising, as it emerged yesterday that the San Francisco organization was willing to go to that length, but is notable nevertheless. Nightengale cites “panic and desperation about season-ticket sales and fan interest” as driving what is “strictly an ownership pursuit.”

Cardinals Sign Matt Wieters

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FEB. 28: Wieters would earn $1.5MM in the majors and can opt out on March 22nd, per Mark Saxon of The Athletic (via Twitter).

FEB. 27: The signing has been announced. It includes an invitation to MLB camp.

FEB. 26: The Cardinals have agreed to a minor-league deal with veteran catcher Matt Wieters, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). Salary terms are not yet known.

While he held out in hopes of securing a MLB commitment, the 32-year-old Wieters will settle instead for a chance to serve as a backup to Yadier Molina. The competition is fairly limited. Francisco Pena seemingly held the edge at the outset of camp after re-joining the organization on a minors pact. Joe Hudson is the only other backstop in camp with MLB experience.

Wieters can still put the ball over the fence, and posted career-best plate discipline marks in 2018, but he has not been very productive with the bat of late. Since the start of the 2016 season, he’s producing at only a .235/.303/.376 rate through 1,200 trips to the plate. That’s a far cry from the .254/.317/.436 output that Wieters managed over the prior half-decade.

Wieters isn’t generally regarded as a high-quality overall defender at this stage of his career, and fares poorly in particular in pitch-framing metrics, but does still block, throw, and manage a staff well. It’s possible there’s still some hope that he’ll restore some of his lost luster with the bat, making this a nice low-risk move for the St. Louis organization.

For the Cards, the addition deepens the catching unit as Molina closes in on his 37th birthday and works to recover from an offseason knee procedure. The switch-hitting Wieters has historically performed better against right-handed pitching, as has Molina, but neither carries significant career platoon splits. If Wieters can beat out Pena for the job, he seems like a potentially solid mate for Molina.

Dodgers To Sign Brad Miller

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The Dodgers have inked infielder Brad Miller to a minor league deal, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports on Twitter. He’ll join the MLB side of Spring Training once the deal is finalized.

Miller, 29, has generally been a solid offensive performer, with an overall track record of .239/.313/.409 hitting through 2,505 plate appearances in six MLB seasons. He delivers notable pop for a player capable of playing the middle infield, with a lifetime .170 isolated power mark and one thirty-homer season under his belt (2016). A left-handed hitter, Miller has typically found quite a bit more success against right-handed pitching, with a 46-point platoon split in his lifetime wRC+ figures.

It’s hard to characterize Miller otherwise, as his offensive profile has shifted over the last few seasons. His follow-up to his power surge was a 2017 season in which he lept to a 15.5% walk rate but managed only a .201 batting average and career-low .136 ISO.

It was also in 2017 that Miller began to strike out with greater frequency. That issue truly came to the fore last year, when he went down on strikes in nearly a third of his plate appearances. Otherwise, though, Miller turned in a relatively balanced campaign that mostly reflected his career mean, with a .248/.311/.413 slash and seven home runs through 254 plate appearances.

The shapeshifting hasn’t prevented Miller from typically turning in plenty of offense for a shortstop. But he hasn’t been asked to line up there since ’16, when metrics distinctly soured on his glovework. Miller hasn’t graded as a positive on the right side of the infield, either, but he can probably be trusted with at least some innings anywhere on the dirt.

Making the Dodgers roster out of camp will likely be a tall order for Miller, though his versatility and platoon-friendly offensive profile certainly suit the club’s mantra. Miller will look to follow in the footsteps of several other recent utilitymen — including former Mariners shortstop competitor Chris Taylor and 2018 breakout performer Max Muncy — in finding new form in Los Angeles. Muncy’s own presence on the roster is what makes Miller seem like a particularly tough fit at this point, though any number of developments could leave Miller with an opening to stake a claim to a job.

AL West Notes: Volquez, Astros, Mariners

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Rangers righty Edinson Volquez pitched in a game setting for the first time in nearly 20 months Wednesday, and while he was tagged for four runs in an inning of work against the Cubs, there were nonetheless signs of encouragement, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Volquez’s first pitch clocked in at 95 mph, and he immediately followed it with a 96 mph heater before eventually running that fastball up to 97 mph. “That’s about as happy as I’ve ever been after a four spot,” new manager Chris Woodward said in reference to Volquez’s day.

The Rangers originally inked Volquez to a two-year minor league contract following the 2017 season, knowing full well that he’d miss all of the 2018 campaign due to Tommy John surgery. Texas selected his contract in advance of the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft this season and will be counting on him, along with holdover Mike Minor and new additions Drew Smyly, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller, to comprise the team’s rotation early in the season.

Here’s a look at some spring scenarios around the AL West…

  • With the out-of-options Tony Kemp and Tyler White in line to make the Astros’ Opening Day roster, Houston seems likely to carry 13 position players and 12 pitchers, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. That’s a departure from the norm for the organization in recent years but likely a necessity, as the ’Stros would need to risk exposing one of Kemp or White to waivers in order to send either player to the minor leagues. Neither player’s performance in 2018 merits a trip back to Triple-A anyhow. The 27-year-old Kemp hit .263/.351/.392 in just shy of 300 plate appearances with the Astros last season, seeing action at all three outfield spots and at second base. White, meanwhile, turned in a massive .276/.354/.533 line with 12 homers, 12 doubles and three triples in 237 trips to the plate. Currently, White figures to get the lion’s share of plate appearances in the Astros’ designated hitter role, though he can also fill in at either corner-infield position.
  • Mariners camp in 2019 is filled with veterans who know they could be shipped out in trades at any moment, writes Larry Stone of the Seattle Times, who spoke to general manager Jerry Dipoto about how he manages a roster that is fully cognizant of that uncertainty. “Players generally do well when you tell them the truth,” said Dipoto in emphasizing that he’s been as up front as possible with veterans like Edwin Encarnacion and Jay Bruce (among others). Stone not only spoke with Dipoto, but Encarnacion, Bruce and Kyle Seager about the looming possibility of a trade to another club (be it now or during the regular season) and the manner in which they balance dealing with that knowledge and prepping for the 2019 season.

Peter Moylan To Retire From MLB

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Veteran reliever Peter Moylan has opted to retire from Major League Baseball at the age of 40, he tells David O’Brien of The Athletic (subscription required). The Australian-born hurler isn’t entirely walking away from the game, as he’ll pitch for a professional team in Italy this summer and hopes to pitch for the Australian Olympic baseball team, O’Brien adds.

Moylan details his decision in the lengthy interview, revealing that although the calendar is about to flip to March, he simply never received an offer this winter. Despite the fact that Moylan believes he’s still capable of competing at the game’s top level, he also insists that there’s no bitterness or anger with regard to how the offseason played out. “The game is trending younger,” said the veteran righty. “I’m certainly not that. It’s time for me to let the kids play, so I’m done.”

Moylan will walk away from Major League Baseball having put together one of the most improbable careers in history. He was released by the Twins after the 1998 season and spent seven years working various non-baseball jobs in Australia. During that time, he continued pitching on the side and adopted a sidearm slot, which restored his velocity and helped him to qualify for Team Australia in the 2006 World Baseball Classic (while he was working as a pharmaceutical sales rep). That, in turn, led to a contract with the Braves. Moylan made his MLB debut with Atlanta shortly thereafter, on April 12, 2006 — nearly a decade after he signed his original contract with the Minnesota organization.

Over the next 13 years, Moylan would appear in parts of 12 MLB seasons, pitching to a combined 3.10 ERA with 324 strikeouts against 180 walks in 418 2/3 innings of regular-season work (plus another scoreless frame in the postseason). Along the way, he posted a 24-10 record, recorded four saves and racked up 99 holds between the Braves, Royals and Dodgers. Even late in his career, he demonstrated an ability to pitch at a high level, as he led the Majors with 79 appearances and logged a 3.49 ERA over the course of 59 1/3 innings for Kansas City in 2017. Over the course of his professional career, he was a two-time Tommy John patient, had multiple back surgeries and also underwent shoulder and biceps procedures.

Those unfamiliar with Moylan’s remarkable baseball odyssey will want to fully digest O’Brien’s column, as it’s rife with stories from Moylan himself and quotes from former teammates such as Chipper Jones and Freddie Freeman; both heap praise on the sidearmer not only for his on-field contributions but his importance to the clubhouse and ability to elicit a laugh from any teammate at virtually any moment. Best wishes to Moylan in life after Major League Baseball.

Giants Discussing 10-Year Deal With Bryce Harper

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8:10pm: ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Dodgers’ interest in Harper is still “predicated on [a] short-term deal,” though he adds that the Giants are indeed in “heavy” on Harper.

1:26pm: All of the teams still engaged with Harper’s camp — including, presumably, the Dodgers and Phillies — have discussed contracts of at least one decade in length, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).

1:16pm: The sides are discussing a ten-year deal, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Salary levels are not known, but Pavlovic says the Giants’ offer would “likely give Harper a chance at the record dollar figure he has been looking for.”

11:48am: The Giants met again yesterday with Bryce Harper, according to a report from Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group. CEO Larry Baer and president of baseball operations made a return trek to Las Vegas.

This news is all the more notable given that the rival Dodgers have jumped into the mix on Harper. Having now met twice with Harper and agent Scott Boras, it seems the San Francisco organization remains a serious pursuer.

The Phillies are also continuing their efforts to land the prized free agent, who is surely hoping to spark a late bidding war. Philadelphia is reportedly willing to commit over $300MM in a deal, with one other (as-yet-unidentified) team perhaps also playing in that range.

There had been “optimism” that the Phils would work out a deal by this point, but more recent developments have kept the door open to other organizations. As a Vegas native, Harper may well prefer to land on the west coast, though that’s all still guesswork even at this late stage of the market proceedings.

It’s possible we’re seeing some final positioning here from the remaining suitors. Whether the last bidding is underway isn’t known, but there have been indications that Harper will make a call this week and it stands to reason that he’d prefer to get into camp sooner than later.

Mets Notes: Wheeler, Alonso, Smith, Rivera

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Zack Wheeler tells SNY’s John Harper that the Mets have yet to approach him about a contract extension, adding that while’s he’s open to talks and hopes to remain with the team, any contract “would have to be right on my end” given his proximity to free agency. Harper’s piece has extensive quotes from Wheeler, who sounds earnest in his desire to stay with the Mets but not necessarily at a discounted rate with free agency on the horizon next winter. Wheeler says his representatives have pointed out to him that he’ll be among the market’s youngest starters alongside Gerrit Cole next season, which bodes well for him. Of course, it should be noted that Alex Wood is younger than both and that the market is currently set to feature some big fish who are slightly older (e.g. Madison Bumgarner, Chris Sale) and substantially older but nonetheless elite (e.g. Justin Verlander).

All that said, if Wheeler can come within a stone’s throw of his utterly dominant finish to the season — 2.06 ERA, 2.71 FIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.45 HR/9, 44.8 percent grounder rate over his final 100 2/3 innings — he should indeed be poised for a strong payday. And, as Harper points out, the Mets’ farm is hardly teeming with high-end prospects to replace him.

Here’s more from Queens (er… from Port St. Lucie)…

  • Newsday’s David Lennon previews the Mets’ upcoming decision with first base prospect Pete Alonso (who has evidently dropped the “r” from his first name in favor of a monosyllabic moniker). The young slugger looked largely ready for a big league promotion last September, and his representatives were among the numerous agents throughout the league who decried what indeed looked to be another case of service time manipulation when Alonso did not receive an MLB call-up. With Jed Lowrie and Todd Frazier ailing, though, Alonso’s bat could be all the more necessary. Meanwhile, new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and manager Mickey Callaway have indicated that a player’s destination at the end of camp will be based on merit and nothing more. If Alonso has a strong spring effort, he’d put that to the test. The Mets would only need to send him down for just over two weeks to buy an extra year of team control, though the NL East figures to be ferociously competitive in ’19, so there’s every reason for all four presumptive contenders to put forth their best rosters right off the bat come Opening Day.
  • Dominic Smith chatted with Kyle Glaser of Baseball America on Tuesday and discussed changes to his offseason diet and workout programs as well as the extensive work he’s done in terms of watching video and making mechanical alterations to his swing. Once heralded as the Mets’ first baseman of the future, Smith has been leapfrogged for the time being by Alonso, though at just 23 years of age, he spoke confidently about the room for growth his youth still provides. Smith also discussed the “mixed emotions” of watching the Mets add pieces throughout the winter, explaining that the increased competition adds a level of excitement and energy to camp that hasn’t been there the past few seasons. Even after a down season in 2018, Smith is a career .300/.361/.460 hitter in 875 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • Infielder T.J. Rivera, who missed the entire 2018 season following 2017 Tommy John surgery, is “having trouble getting over the hump” in his rehab from that procedure, Callaway told reporters (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The now-30-year-old Rivera is still experiencing discomfort in his elbow and doesn’t appear close to seeing action in a Grapefruit League contest, DiComo notes. While Rivera hasn’t been considered a likely factor in the team’s Opening Day infield mix anyway, the fact that he’s still not ready for game action is of more note with veterans Jed Lowrie and Todd Frazier sidelined by respective knee and oblique issues. The Mets still have depth with Jeff McNeil, Amed Rosario, Robinson Cano, Alonso Smith and J.D. Davis as options around the infield, to say nothing of non-roster invitee Adeiny Hechavarria.

NL Central Notes: Martinez, Hamels, Diaz

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Carlos Martinez’s right shoulder is a major source of uncertainty for the Cardinals right now, as the righty was in camp with his arm in a sling yesterday following a platelet-rich plasma injection. Martinez was already halfway through a two-week shutdown when he received the injection, and the Cardinals indicated yesterday that said injection could push his timeline for throwing back another week. There’s been ample talk of Martinez pitching in a relief capacity this season, but Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch quotes Martinez as plainly and confidently stating, “I’m going to start, man.” Because Martinez won’t resume throwing until mid-March, it seems virtually impossible for him to build up to a starter’s workload by the team’s season opener on March 28. As such, if there is indeed a plan for Martinez to work in the rotation, he’d need to start the season on the injured list. As Hummel writes, that’d open the door for one of Dakota Hudson or Austin Gomber to step into the starting five to begin the season. Manager Mike Shildt praised both Hudson and Gomber when discussing potential rotation options with Hummel.

Elsewhere in the NL Central…

  • Asked about his future in the game Wednesday, Cubs lefty Cole Hamels told a flock of reporters that he has zero intention of retiring anytime soon (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand). There’s been little reason to think that Hamels, who just turned 35 in December, would give serious consideration to retirement, but his answer was nonetheless entertaining and telling of his goals. Hamels gave a blunt “Hell no!” when asked if he’s considered retirement and voiced a desire to play until he’s 45 years old, noting that he was a teammate of ageless wonder Jamie Moyer early in his career. Hamels had a rocky start to the season with the Rangers in 2018 but was revitalized by a trade to Chicago, as he pitched to a brilliant 2.36 ERA with 8.7 K.9, 2.7 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9 and a 47.7 percent grounder rate in 76 1/3 innings with the Cubs (12 starts).
  • Pirates catcher Elias Diaz is battling a viral illness, and it’s questionable whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day, as Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said that Diaz will be shut down from baseball activity for “a couple of weeks.” The 28-year-old Diaz quietly enjoyed somewhat of a breakout season in 2018, hitting .286/.339/.452 with 10 homers and a dozen doubles in just 277 plate appearances. He’s still firmly behind Francisco Cervelli on the team’s depth chart, but with Cervelli entering the final season of his current contract, the 2019 campaign could be a proving grounds for Diaz as he eyes the starter’s job in 2019. Presumably, 29-year-old Jacob Stallings would serve as Cervelli’s backup early in the year if Diaz isn’t ready to go, as he’s the only other catcher on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. The Bucs have minor league veteran Steven Baron in camp on a minor league deal as well.

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