Click here to view the transcript for MLBTR Chat With Jason Martinez: March 15, 2017
Agent Bart Hernandez Convicted In Cuban Smuggling Case
Agent Bart Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada have been convicted by a Florida jury after being indicted on charges of human trafficking in February 2016, reports Curt Anderson of the Associated Press. Hernandez, once a prominent player representative, worked with Estrada in bringing players such as Leonys Martin, Jose Abreu, Raisel Iglesias and Jorge Soler to the United States.
The Miami Herald’s Linda Robertson reported earlier this week that two of the four counts of smuggling against Hernandez were dismissed, as U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled that the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Hernandez smuggled Abreu or Phillies right-hander Dalier Hinojosa into the country. Hernandez still faced charges for smuggling Martin into the country, per Robertson, while Estrada faced three counts of smuggling players into the country.
According to Anderson, Hernandez is facing between three and 15 years in prison, while Estrada faces between five and 35 years of incarceration. The pair is also facing the forfeiture of $15.5MM. Sentencing has been set for July 11, and the defense attorneys have “promised there would be appeals,” Anderson adds.
Martin and Abreu have both shared eye-opening stories of their departure from Cuba during the trial. A previous report from Yahoo’s Jeff Passan back in 2013 revealed that upon leaving Cuba, Martin and his family believed they were being transported to safety and were instead held hostage, at gunpoint, while Martin’s initial five-year deal with the Rangers was negotiated. And as Anderson wrote last month, Martin’s testimony included details of one evening in Mexico in which eight to nine men broke into his apartment with a crowbar and pressured him to leave with them. There were also abduction attempts made on the men who were aiding in smuggling Martin out of Cuba, and beyond that, Martin was forced to initially agree to pay 35 percent of his United States earnings to the smuggling group on top of the more standard five percent to Hernandez for negotiating his deal with teams.
As for Abreu, the White Sox slugger detailed in his testimony (via the AP) that he was advised by his main contact/fixer in Haiti (where he established residency upon departing Cuba) to destroy his fake passport while on his flight from Haiti to the United States. Abreu testified that he actually ate the page of the false documentation that contained his alias and photograph. Immigration policy at the time allowed Abreu to remain in the United States without proper travel documentation because he had already reached American land. Abreu stated that he feared that he needed to be at a meeting with the White Sox on a specific date or could see his contract fall through, and he could not risk being turned away due to forged paperwork.
As was the case with Martin, Abreu was forced to agree to part with an enormous amount of his U.S. earnings, 20 percent to the smuggling group plus five percent to Hernandez, in exchange for their illegal operations. Per Anderson’s latest story, Abreu testified that he had already paid Estrada more than $7MM of his career earnings.
According to Anderson, neither Estrada nor Hernandez testified over the six weeks during which the jury heard testimonies in the trial. Their defense sought to prove that the two men were running legitimate business operations.
Rays To Release Dana Eveland
The Rays are set to release veteran left-hander Dana Eveland, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 33-year-old had been back with Tampa Bay on a minor league pact after spending the 2016 campaign in the Rays organization. Now, he’ll look to latch on elsewhere with a team in need of left-handed bullpen help.
Eveland allowed a run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings this spring. The 2016 campaign was not a positive one for him in the Majors, as he yielded 23 runs on 32 hits and 19 walks (three intentional) with 21 strikeouts in 23 innings of work. His results in Triple-A last season, however, registered on the opposite end of the spectrum, as he posted a superlative 0.30 ERA in 29 2/3 innings of work with a 21-to-6 K/BB ratio.
Last year marked the 11th big league season for the journeyman southpaw, who has appeared in the Majors as a member of 10 different teams. In total, he’s logged 446 1/3 innings in the Major Leagues and pitched to a 5.46 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate.
AL West Notes: De Aza, Mariners, Cashner, Astros
The injury to Athletics outfielder Jake Smolinski gives non-roster invitee Alejandro De Aza a considerably stronger chance of making the roster, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. While both De Aza and fellow NRI Jaff Dacker have impressed the A’s in camp, De Aza appears to have an edge due to the fact that he has an opt-out in his contract at month’s end if he has not made the roster. Decker, meanwhile, does not have that luxury. Slusser notes that it’s possible that Mark Canha will be the only outfield reserve to break camp with the team, should the A’s wish to carry eight relievers (thereby allowing them to retain out-of-options righty Raul Alcantara), but that’d also leave them without much of a backup option in center field.
- The Mariners, too, could open the year with an eight-man bullpen, according to manager Scott Servais (as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes). Edwin Diaz is locked in as the team’s closer, and he’ll be joined by righties Nick Vincent and Evan Scribner as well as southpaw Marc Rzepczynski. Servais listed Dan Altavilla and Casey Fien as candidates as well. The Seattle ’pen picture is a bit muddied by the fact that Steve Cishek will open the season on the disabled list and that Shae Simmons is being slowed by forearm soreness. Other candidates for the bullpen include Tony Zych, James Pazos, Chris Heston and Ariel Miranda (as can be seen on the team’s depth chart at RosterResource.com).
- Ailing Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner had a good week of throwing, he told reporters earlier today (Twitter link via MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan). He’s set to meet with doctors on Friday of this week and added that he “should take off from there.” It’s already been reported that Cashner won’t be ready to begin the 2017 season, but an exact timetable for his regular-season Rangers debut is not yet known.
- The Astros have made an unorthodox coaching appointment, reports Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. Sig Mejdal, who was hired by the Astros in 2012 and given the title of “director of decision sciences” and more recently named a special assistant to GM Jeff Luhnow, will continue to fulfill those duties while also serving as a coach with the team’s short-season Class-A affiliate in 2017. Mejdal will be a “development coach” and be on the road with the team full-time when their season begins in June. He’ll help both the players and his fellow coaches to utilize the increasing amount of technology that is becoming available to them (in addition to more traditional coaching duties). Luhnow tells Kaplan that Mejdal, a former NASA researcher, will still be involved in all front office processes even when he relocates to upstate New York for the new position this summer.
Anthony DeSclafani Diagnosed With UCL Sprain
March 15: DeSclafani will explore the possibility of undergoing platelet-rich plasma and stem cell injections in an effort to accelerate his timetable, tweets Buchanan.
March 13: Reds righty Anthony DeSclafani has been diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm, president of baseball operations Dick Williams told reporters including Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. For now, he’ll be shut down for a month before being reevaluated.
It’s obviously good news that DeSclafani isn’t set for Tommy John surgery despite suffering an injury to his UCL. There are, after all, several new techniques being utilized to forestall a surgical option or limit the damage if a procedure is performed. And teammate Michael Lorenzen was able to avoid a TJ procedure last year with a “very similar” injury, per team doctor Timothy Kremcheck (via Buchanan, on Twitter).
Clearly, though, the club will still need to chart a cautious course to avoid greater damage to DeSclafani’s UCL. Steering clear of a future TJ procedure will no doubt be a top priority in determining his rehab approach and timeline. While it doesn’t seem to be on the table presently, avoiding the legendary procedure — with its year-plus rehab timeline — will require care.
What that means in the immediate future is that the Reds likely won’t welcome DeSclafani back to the MLB rotation for quite some time. Lorenzen, whose injury occurred in the middle of March last year, did not make it up to the majors until June 24th. In his case, a bout of mono intervened to extend the recovery timeline, so DeSclafani can reasonably expect to make it back sooner — though he will also need a lengthier ramp-up since he’ll return to the rotation.
For Cincinnati, it obviously stings to lose the presumptive staff ace for a decent chunk of the upcoming season. While there’s little chance the organization would’ve been competitive, DeSclafani certainly could’ve become a highly appealing mid-season trade chip; while that’s still possible, it’s perhaps less likely — and there’ll surely be at least a bit of an injury discount to his value given his recent health questions. Additionally, losing this much time after an injury-shortened 2016 season could mean that DeSclafani will face innings limitations in 2018.
The missing innings will also tell in arbitration, which DeSclafani will qualify for next fall. Even if he continues his excellent 2016 work — 3.28 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 — upon his return, his arb earnings will be held down by the limits on the number of frames he’ll be able to accumulate.
MRIs On Salvador Perez’s Knee Clean
March 15: Both MRIs conducted on Perez’s knee have come back clean, per MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter links). Perez will be sidelined for about a week nonetheless, however, due to a hyperextended left elbow that he sustained in the collision. While taking more than a week off of games isn’t ideal, the fact that Perez’s knee is just fine and the minor elbow injury occurred in his non-throwing arm are both positive outcomes from an initially frightening situation.
March 12: In a best-case scenario, Perez will be able to return in a week, general manager Dayton Moore told Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). The Royals will have more information after Perez undergoes a second MRI on Monday, though manager Ned Yost is optimistic.
“He’s going to be OK, we think,” Yost said (via Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star). “He’ll be all right. They checked him out yesterday, Pedro (Grifol, the Royals catching coach) was on the phone most of the night, and so was Nick (Kenney, the Royals’ head trainer), talking to the (Venezuela) GM, talking to the trainers, and talking to Salvy himself.”
Perez “feels much better,” Yost added.
March 11, 10:01pm: The Royals can breathe a sigh of relief: Perez only has inflammation, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag (Twitter link).
7:44pm: Perez has informed the Royals that the injury isn’t severe, per Rivera.
7:28pm: Perez has suffered a left knee injury and will undergo further testing, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
7:17pm: In what might lead to nightmarish news for the Royals, catcher Salvador Perez departed Saturday’s World Baseball Classic matchup between Venezuela and Italy with a potentially major injury to his left knee. Italy’s catcher, Drew Butera, collided with Perez on a play at the plate, and Perez was then unable to put any weight on his leg. He had to be carried into the clubhouse as a result, reports Marly Rivera of ESPN (Twitter link).
Although Perez and Butera were on opposite sides Saturday, they’re teammates in Kansas City. Butera is the backup to Perez, who has been among the majors’ most durable catchers since 2013, his first full season in the majors. Perez has appeared in between 138 and 150 regular-season games in each of his four full years, and he made the American League All-Star team in all of those campaigns. Along the way, he has helped the Royals to a pair of World Series berths, including a championship in 2015, while slashing a useful .272/.302/.432 with 87 home runs in 2,694 lifetime plate appearances. While Perez is not a well-regarded pitch framer, he has accounted for a catcher-leading 39 Defensive Runs Saved over the past four years. He’s also coming off a year in which he threw out a league-best 48 percent of would-be base-stealers.
Given his track record, it’s likely losing Perez for a significant period of time would cause notable damage to the Royals’ hopes of returning to the playoffs this year after a disappointing 2016. Behind Perez, the club’s top backstop options are three far less accomplished players in Butera, Brayan Pena and Cam Gallagher.
Latest On Eric Hosmer
We’ve heard ongoing chatter about the possibility of first baseman Eric Hosmer striking a new deal with the Royals. Last we checked in, it seemed that talks weren’t active, though there are also indications the organization could weigh a contract after the season. Then, of course, there’s the matter of potential asking and offering prices, which drew headlines recently when Hosmer himself had to shoot down talk that he’d be seeking a decade-long guarantee.
In the aggregate, there’s little in the way of momentum toward an agreement between the Kansas City organization and their homegrown star. Neither is there much in the way of optimism, it seems, based upon the latest reporting from Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star, who spoke with both Royals owner David Glass and Hosmer’s agent, Scott Boras.
Glass, who’s holding the checkbook in this situation, says that “it will be difficult” to find accord. His reasoning, though, is notable. While crediting Hosmer for his loyalty and saying that he “think[s] Hoz wants to stay here,” Glass suggested that the presence of Boras would complicate matters. While the owner didn’t specifically argue that Boras himself was a particularly problematic agent, he did suggest that Boras is subject to the same incentives as other representatives, and is therefore concerned with how his handling of Hosmer “affects his relationship with his other clients.”
For his part, Boras pushed back at any suggestion that Hosmer would be swayed away from his own self interest. “To suggest Hoz isn’t in total control of his decisions indicates someone has yet to notice that championship ring on his finger,” said the agent. As Mellinger well explains, there certainly seems to be a bit of underlying tension here, though Boras and the Royals have enjoyed a reasonably productive relationship in recent years.
If it’s hard for the Royals and Hosmer to find an agreeable range on a new deal, it’s equally difficult to do so from the outside. He won’t even turn 28 until October and has shown his talent at times at the game’s highest level, with three Gold Glove Awards, a top-25 MVP finish, and an All-Star Game appearance on his record. But Hosmer has also yet to establish himself as a consistently productive major league hitter. Over six full seasons in the big leagues, he owns a .277/.335/.428 slash that’s just about 7% above league average (by measure of both OPS+ and wRC+). As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explained yesterday, that makes Hosmer arguably “the most polarizing 2017-18 free agent,” and leaves the upcoming season as a critical barometer in determining his earning power.
Nationals Release Derek Norris
The Nationals have released catcher Derek Norris, the team announced and Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post first reported (via Twitter). Norris had been placed on waivers recently, but the Nats were unable to find a taker.
By releasing Norris now, the Nats will avoid the bulk of the $4.2MM arbitration salary the team had agreed to with the veteran catcher. Still, D.C. will owe him thirty days of pay, which amounts to around $688K. The organization will chalk that up to the cost of insurance, as the addition of Norris covered the club while it explored other options all winter.
As it turned out, the Nationals signed Matt Wieters in the middle of camp, which made Norris expendable. Washington will go with a combination of Wieters and Jose Lobaton at the major league level, with Pedro Severino working on his hitting at Triple-A and providing depth.
Norris has fallen off at the plate recently, with his strikeout and walk numbers plummeting from their once-excellent levels. On the other hand, he has improved his standing behind the dish, where he now grades well from a framing perspective.
It stands to reason that there’ll be pursuers for the veteran, though odds are he won’t make as much as he had been lined up for. The Rays are said to have some interest already. And it wouldn’t be surprising to hear of a pursuit from the Rockies, particularly with Tom Murphy sidelined, or organizations such as the Angels and Reds.
Offseason In Review: Houston Astros
This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series.
Even though the Astros underwhelmed en route to 84 wins and a third-place finish in the American League West in 2016, they still entered the offseason in enviable shape. When previewing their winter in October, I wrote, “Given the plethora of talent that’s already in place, a productive offseason from general manager Jeff Luhnow would restart the hype machine for Houston next spring.” Luhnow followed through, leading PECOTA to project an AL-high 93 wins for his club this year.
Major League Signings
- Josh Reddick, OF: Four years, $52MM
- Carlos Beltran, DH: One year, $16MM
- Charlie Morton, RHP: Two years, $14MM
- Total spend: $82MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired C Brian McCann and cash considerations from Yankees for RHPs Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman
- Acquired cash or a player to be named later from Phillies for RHP Pat Neshek
- Claimed OF Nori Aoki off waivers from Mariners
- Claimed LHP Ashur Tolliver off waivers from Angels
Notable Minor League Signings
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Neshek, Jason Castro, Doug Fister, Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena
Astros Roster; Astros Payroll Information
Needs Addressed
The 2016 Astros featured one of the majors’ least valuable outfields, a seven-man group which compiled a woeful .224/.302/.380 batting line (good for an AL-worst 86 wRC+) in 2,187 plate appearances. Carlos Gomez, whom Houston released in August, was one of the primary reasons for the unit’s bottom-of-the-barrel output. But nearly everyone else in the septet also failed to impress (only George Springer pulled his weight), so Luhnow elected to make over the outfield during the offseason. As a result of his moves, Springer will shift from right to center after logging just 17 appearances at the latter spot over his first three seasons.
The changes started with an early November waiver claim, Nori Aoki, whom the Astros picked up from the AL West rival Mariners. At $5.5MM, Aoki should give the Astros an acceptable left field regular at a reasonable price, though the 35-year-old’s upside is limited. The Japan native has been a competent hitter since debuting stateside in 2012, having slashed .286/.353/.387 while registering a minimal strikeout rate (8 percent) in 2,670 trips to the plate. However, there’s little power to speak of – as his career ISO (.100) shows – and he’s no longer a stolen base threat. After swiping anywhere from 14 to 30 bags in each of his first four seasons, Aoki was successful on only seven of his 16 attempts a year ago. He also had an ugly season versus same-sided pitchers (.227/.299/.258), albeit only over 108 PAs. Historically, Aoki has held his own against both left- and right-handed hurlers. He has also typically been a decent defender (6.6 Ultimate Zone Rating, one Defensive Run Saved), but his minus-four DRS and minus-5.5 UZR from 2016 pale in comparison to both his career numbers and the brilliant work of predecessor Colby Rasmus (20 DRS, 14.9 UZR last season). The Astros understandably said goodbye to Rasmus, however, on the heels of an injury-plagued season in which he hit a meager .206/.286/.355 in 417 tries.
Aoki figures to serve as a stopgap as the Astros await the arrivals of both Kyle Tucker, who tops out at No. 19 in Baseball America’s prospect rankings, and Derek Fisher (83rd on MLB Pipeline’s list), whereas Josh Reddick will occupy a spot in the team’s outfield for the long haul. At $52MM, the right fielder is in possession of the largest contract the Astros have awarded since Jim Crane bought the franchise in 2011. Reddick debuted in earnest that year with the Red Sox and has since slashed a respectable .259/.321/.435 in 2,809 PAs while thriving in the field (54 DRS, 41.2 UZR). The lefty-swinging 30-year-old does come with troubling platoon issues, though, having batted .218/.280/.360 line in 800 PAs against same-handed pitchers. He hit a nadir in that department last year with a hideous .155/.212/.155 line over 104 trips to the plate as an Athletic and Dodger. Should that carry into this season, the Astros do have righty-hitting outfield reserves he could platoon with in Jake Marisnick and Teoscar Hernandez, though utilizing a fairly expensive player in a timeshare wouldn’t be ideal.
In addition to securing Aoki and Reddick, the Astros acquired two more prominent players for their lineup in catcher Brian McCann and designated hitter Carlos Beltran. All of Aoki, Reddick, McCann and Beltran bat from the left side (Beltran’s a switch-hitter; more on him later), meaning an Astros team that went into the offseason with mostly right-handers came out with a balanced lineup. The four newcomers will complement righties in Springer, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yulieski Gurriel and Evan Gattis.
While the power-hitting Gattis ostensibly could have taken the reins at catcher (he earned mostly positive defensive marks from Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner in 52 games there last year), Houston instead swung a trade for the more established McCann. In doing so, the Astros lost a couple promising arms, per FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, and subsequently saw previous starting backstop Jason Castro and his excellent pitch-framing skills head to the Twins in free agency. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old McCann isn’t exactly a slouch behind the plate, and he’s a much better offensive player than Castro. Although McCann is no longer the force he was in Atlanta, where he slashed .277/.350/.473 from 2005-13, he is coming off a three-year stretch in which he hit an above-average .232/.320/.456 with the Yankees.
Among the pitchers who will throw to McCann is Charlie Morton, who will slot into the Astros’ rotation after totaling only 17 1/3 innings last season. Then with the Phillies, Morton suffered a torn hamstring in late April and didn’t pitch again. Morton did show encouraging signs during a tiny sample of work, though, as he ran his average fastball velocity up to a personal-best 93.3 (well above his 91.5 lifetime mark) and posted a 12.3 percent swinging-strike rate (far better than his 7.8 percent career figure). The 33-year-old has since thrown even harder this spring, and if those velocity gains stick, he could be a lot more interesting than the pitcher he was with Atlanta and Pittsburgh from 2008-15. To his credit, Morton did have some strong seasons with the Pirates, and his career 55.4 percent ground-ball rate makes him a good fit for a Houston team which plays in a homer-friendly ballpark and has a quality defensive infield. The biggest concern with Morton arguably centers on health, as he wasn’t able to avoid the disabled list in any of the previous five seasons. On the other hand, the still-unsigned Doug Fister – whom Morton is replacing – was one of just two Astros who threw at least 180 innings last year.
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NL Central Notes: Kang, Cardinals, Aguilar
Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang has decided to appeal his DUI sentence in South Korea, reports Jee-ho Yoo of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency (Twitter links). The appeal decision on Kang’s behalf was made in an effort to get his sentence reduced to a court fine, which would expedite his visa acquisition process and allow him to join the Pirates more quickly. The 29-year-old Kang admitted guilt following what was reportedly his third DUI arrest and received an eight-month sentence that was suspended for two years earlier this month. Kang can reportedly avoid any jail time if he does not violate the terms set forth as part of the agreement to suspend his sentence. The Pirates placed Kang on the restricted list over the weekend, as Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote, and as of that writing it had yet to be determined precisely how long Kang would require to secure his work visa. The infielder hoped to resolve the issue within a week, per Adamski, but Pirates president Frank Coonnelly chose not to comment on the matter. It’s not yet known if Kang will face any type of punishment from the team upon arriving in the U.S.
Here’s more from the NL Central…
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty is working to correct some bad habits in his swing that were related to the movement/placement of his back leg. Piscotty and hitting coach John Mabry break down some previous mechanical flaws in the 26-year-old’s swing to Goold, with Piscotty adding that his goal is to be able to elevate the ball more often. With his previous swing mechanics, Piscotty feels that he focused too much on his upper half and would subsequently roll over too many pitches and hit too many grounders. Mabry notes that Piscotty would like to boost his home run total from the low 20s to 30 or more. Per Goold, Piscotty is likely tabbed as the Cardinals’ cleanup hitter heading into the 2017 campaign.
- Goold also reports that 20-year-old Low-Class-A outfielder Magneuris Sierra has turned heads in Cardinals camp with his speed and defensive prowess. While Sierra isn’t pushing either Tommy Pham or Jose Martinez for a spot in the team’s Major League bench, he could move quickly through the organization and jump to Double-A to open the current season. Manager Mike Matheny lauded Sierra for his defensive ability and noted that his bat and approach give him a chance to be a well-rounded player in the Majors. Last season in the Class-A Midwest League, Sierra batted .307/.335/.395 with three homers and 31 steals in 122 games.
- Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar, who was claimed off waivers from the Indians this winter, is having a strong enough spring to force himself into the mix for a roster spot, writes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Aguilar, who has homered three times this spring and cracked a pair of doubles as well, tells McCalvy that he’s grateful for the opportunity to compete for a bench role after being largely blocked by players like Carlos Santana, Mike Napoli and, this offseason, Edwin Encarnacion in Cleveland. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for a new opportunity for a while, and thankfully I’m in an organization that is giving young players a lot of opportunity,” said the 26-year-old slugger. Aguilar mashed 30 homers last year in Triple-A Columbus, though his .247/.319/.472 slash line isn’t quite as impressive as that round home run total may immediately indicate. As McCalvy notes, though, the right-handed-hitting Aguilar could be a nice complement to lefty swinging Eric Thames.
