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Mariners Acquire Chase De Jong, Designate Mike Freeman

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The Mariners announced that they’ve acquired minor league right-hander Chase De Jong from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Drew Jackson and minor league right-hander Aneurys Zabala. To clear room for De Jong on the 40-man roster, the Mariners designated infielder Mike Freeman for assignment.

Chase De Jong

De Jong, 23, was the Blue Jays’ second-round pick back 2012 but was traded to Los Angeles alongside second baseman Tim Locastro in a swap that sent international bonus money to the Blue Jays.

The former No. 81 overall pick has raised his profile since joining the Dodgers organization and is coming off an impressive 2016 campaign that saw him reach Triple-A for the first time. De Jong tossed just 5 1/3 innings in Triple-A (allowing one run and striking out eight against one walk) but also delivered an excellent campaign at the Double-A level. With Tulsa, the righty logged 141 2/3 innings with a 2.86 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate.

Last offseason, Baseball America ranked De Jong 16th among Dodgers farmhands, praising his feel for a solid-average curveball. That scouting report noted that his 88-92 mph fastball, which can top out at 94 mph, is a bit straight. He also sports a fringe-average changeup, per BA, and could eventually surface in the Majors as a back-of-the-rotation arm.

De Jong will give the Mariners another upper-level arm to provide depth beyond a rotation that projects to include Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Drew Smyly, James Paxton and Yovani Gallardo. De Jong will join Dillon Overton, Rob Whalen, Ariel Miranda and Cody Martin — each of whom has been acquired by Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto in the past calendar year — as an upper level depth option. De Jong is merely the latest trade acquisition for the game’s most active general manager, as Dipoto is now up to 14 trades this offseason and 40 total since being tabbed as the Seattle GM following the 2015 season (hat tip: MLB.com’s Greg Johns, on Twitter).

[Related: Updated Seattle Mariners Depth Chart and Los Angeles Dodgers Depth Chart]

As for the Dodgers’ return, the 23-year-old Jackson rated 12th among Mariners’ farmhands, per MLB.com, and ranked 18th among Seattle prospects in the eyes of ESPN’s Keith Law (subscription required/recommended). The 2015 fifth-rounder spent last year at the Class-A Advanced level, where he batted .258/.332/.345 with six homers and 16 steals in 596 plate appearances. Jackson swiped 47 bags in Class-A a year prior, and the scouting reports from both MLB.com and from Law praise his speed, throwing arm and defensive prowess. His power is a question, though, as Jackson has just eight long balls in 862 pro plate appearances. Law noted that Jackson lacks power and hits the ball on the ground with regularity.

Baseball America was more bullish on Jackson this winter, ranking him seventh among Mariners prospects and calling him a potential everyday shortstop, though they too note that he’s routinely graded as a “fringe-average hitter with below-average pop.” Still, Jackson’s “double-plus” speed and arm create plenty of hope in BA’s scouting report (subscription required/recommended to read in its entirety).

Zabala, 20, spent the 2016 season in the Rookie-level Arizona League, pitching to a 2.88 ERA with a 28-to-15 K/BB ratio in 25 innings. He’s been used out of the bullpen exclusively in each of the past two years, and Law notes that he reached 99 mph in 2016. MLB.com rates him 22nd among M’s farmhands and puts a hefty 75 grade on his fastball, though he receives 40-grade control from that report. Zabala’s curveball draws praise from each report, though it’s not regarded nearly as well as his fastball. Low-level arms with this type of velocity are becoming more common in today’s game, but he makes for a nice long-term lottery ticket of sorts to add to a deep Dodgers farm system.

Losing his roster spot in all of this is the 29-year-old Freeman, who made his Major League debut in 2016 but received just 24 plate appearances between the D-backs and Mariners. Seattle claimed Freeman off waivers from Arizona shortly after the non-waiver trade deadline. In 503 Triple-A plate appearances last year, the former 11th-round draft pick hit .314/.285/.419 with four homers, 23 doubles and six triples. Those numbers, tallied across 104 games, bear a striking resemblance to the second baseman/outfielder’s career marks in 298 contests: .314/.376/.424.

The latest Mariners trade leaves Seattle with a full 40-man roster but does create an opening on the 40-man for the Dodgers, should they wish to make another move in the coming days. Alternatively, the Dodgers could simply keep the spot open to create the flexibility for some waiver activity throughout the remainder of Spring Training.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

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This is the first entry in MLBTR’s annual Offseason In Review series. We’ll be reviewing the other 29 clubs over the next several weeks as the season approaches.

The Pirates were at the center of multiple potential blockbuster trade rumors this winter, but none of the rumored deals came to fruition. Now, Pittsburgh looks poised to enter the 2017 with a familiar core while several young talents hope to cement themselves as big league contributors.

Major League Signings

RHP Ivan Nova: three years, $26MM (re-signed)
RHP Daniel Hudson: two years, $11MM
RHP Lisalverto Bonilla: Major League contract (later lost on waivers to Reds)

Notable Minor League Signings

Eury Perez, Jason Stoffel, Josh Lindblom, Casey Sadler (re-signed), Angel Sanchez (re-signed)

Trades And Claims

Acquired IF Phil Gosselin from Diamondbacks for RHP Frank Duncan
Acquired RHP Pat Light from Twins for PTBNL or cash
Selected LHP Tyler Webb from Yankees in Rule 5 Draft

Extensions

LHP Wade LeBlanc: one year, $750K, plus $1.25MM 2018 option or $50K buyout

Notable Losses

Neftali Feliz, Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, Jeff Locke, Ryan Vogelsong

Needs Addressed

Despite being connected to trade talks involving star lefty Jose Quintana throughout the winter, the Pirates’ offseason was generally a conservative one, designed to retain and augment the team’s top assets rather than adding more top assets to join them. That’s not to say, though, that their winter failed to prepare them for the upcoming season. The Bucs will have their work cut out for them as they attempt to compete with the Cubs again this year — that would be a tough assignment for any team, really. Still, there’s reason to think they can improve on their 78-win 2016 total, perhaps dramatically so if things go right.

The Bucs’ 2016 season was full of disappointments, particularly in their rotation. Ace Gerrit Cole couldn’t stay healthy and failed to build on his outstanding 2015. Francisco Liriano was a disaster, and he ended up heading to Toronto in a dubious August trade. Jon Niese, acquired prior to the season for a quality second baseman in Neil Walker, was a mess, posting a 4.91 ERA in Pittsburgh before heading back to New York. And Jeff Locke and Ryan Vogelsong, perhaps somewhat predictably, failed to pick up the slack. The Bucs’ rotation, formerly one of the team’s strengths, finished fifth-worst in the NL with a 4.67 ERA.

The disappointments extended to the lineup, where the Pirates got less than they were probably hoping for from Francisco Cervelli, Josh Harrison and John Jaso. By far the Bucs’ biggest disappointment, though, was Andrew McCutchen. The former MVP batted a mere .256/.336/.430 and looked markedly slower than he had in the past. His declining speed was a factor in his horrific -18.7 UZR and -28 DRS, with both statistics marking him as easily the worst regular center fielder in the game.

There’s reason to think the Pirates can avoid some of 2016’s troubles, even though they made few big on-paper moves. In the rotation, they re-signed Ivan Nova, who pitched better than he ever had after heading their way at the 2016 trade deadline. (More on Nova below.) They can also hope for a full, healthy season from Cole, and they should continue to receive help from a burgeoning group of young pitchers that includes Jameson Taillon (who had a strong rookie season in 2016), Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault and, if he can improve his control, top prospect Tyler Glasnow.

Andrew McCutchenThis offseason, the Pirates first attempted to address the McCutchen issue by trading him. The superstar has only one guaranteed year left on his contract, plus a team option for 2018, and with top prospect Austin Meadows on the way and Starling Marte looking like a far better defensive center fielder than McCutchen, McCutchen seemed like an increasingly strained fit in Pittsburgh. The Bucs were repeatedly connected to the Nationals as a potential trade partner, with the Nats reportedly offering pitchers Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning, plus another player. Those plans were scuttled when the Nationals traded Giolito, Dunning and Reynaldo Lopez for Adam Eaton instead. It then appeared the Pirates would keep McCutchen, and though there were whispers about other teams (including the Mets and Blue Jays) having interest, the Bucs never seemed all that likely to trade him once their talks with the Nationals fell through.

So the Pirates will keep McCutchen, at least for now, and they’ll head into 2017 with a new plan for how to use him. While McCutchen’s 2016 season was disappointing, he did end it well, batting .284/.381/.471 over the season’s final two months. It remains to be seen whether he can retain that pace going forward, of course. But the Pirates also addressed his defensive struggles by changing their outfield alignment — the very capable Marte will man center field going forward, with Gregory Polanco in left and McCutchen in right. McCutchen has a weak arm, suggesting that right field is an odd fit, but right field in PNC Park is small. Also, McCutchen is better at going to his right than to his left, suggesting that he could fare decently in right by staying relatively near the foul line.

The Bucs also addressed their bullpen, which had been depleted by the losses of Mark Melancon at last year’s trade deadline and Neftali Feliz to free agency, by signing Daniel Hudson to a two-year deal. Hudson produced a 5.22 ERA with the Diamondbacks last season, but his peripherals were somewhat more promising than that, and his fastball averaged 96 MPH in his second full year back from his second Tommy John surgery. He shares his good velocity, extensive injury history and modest recent performance record with pre-2016 Feliz, who had a successful comeback season with the Pirates last year.

More analysis after the break …Read more

Make Or Break Year: Avisail Garcia

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MLBTR is rebooting its “make or break year” series, in which we analyze players who enter the season with up-and-down track records but also an opportunity to stake a claim to significant future earnings. 

As you may have heard, the White Sox are entering a rebuilding phase. For 25-year-old Avisail Garcia, that may be a good thing. Otherwise, he might already have been pushed out of his current spot atop the South Siders’ depth chart in right field.

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Before this winter, the Chicago front office’s last significant selling move came at the 2013 trade deadline, when the team landed Garcia and three other prospects in the swap that sent Jake Peavy to the Red Sox and Jose Iglesias to the Tigers. The hope at the time was that Garcia would step right into the MLB lineup and make himself a fixture.

Despite his evident tools, Garcia has thus far fallen well shy of hopes. There has been no shortage of opportunity — he has taken over 1,500 trips to the plate in the majors — but the results just haven’t been there.

In the aggregate, Garcia has slashed a modest .258/.310/.385 while striking out at a 23.8% clip and walking just 6.2% of the time. Though he carries a solid 14.4% HR/FB rate, Garcia has put the ball on the ground quite a bit, carrying a 53.2% goundball rate. Despite the power potential, and a healthy .320 career BABIP, Garcia just hasn’t reached base enough or hit for enough power to rate as even an average corner outfielder.

Adding to the concern is the fact that Garcia has never shown polish in the other aspects of his game. Over his career, he has rated as a well-below-average baserunner and fielder. In the aggregate, Garcia has posted -1.4 fWAR and 0.1 rWAR for his career — anemic tallies considering the amount of time he has received.

If there’s a ray of hope, perhaps it can be found in the improvements Garcia did make in 2016. He drew positive metrics for both his glovework and baserunning for the first time; if that can be maintained, it would significantly boost his floor. Of course, the offensive work — .245/.307/.385 — hardly gave added cause for optimism. But Garcia has long been valued most for the upside in his bat, and he has yet even to reach his 26th birthday.

As noted, that background likely wouldn’t be sufficient for Garcia to enter the season with a regular job were it not for the fact that the White Sox already committed to a rebuild. With little in the way of roster pressure, he ought to receive a fair bit of rope to establish himself.

But there could well come a point where the White Sox decide to cut bait, particularly if they feel other, yet younger players are more deserving of an opportunity. Garcia’s contractual upside is limited, after all, and not just because he’s owed $3MM this year. Much like former top prospect Jurickson Profar, another younger player who isn’t fully established in the bigs, Garcia will enter the 2017 season with just two more years of club control remaining thereafter.

It’s not altogether clear whether Garcia has much of a future with the White Sox, whether or not he can pull himself out of his malaise. Perhaps the best-case scenario for Chicago is one in which Garcia plays well enough to turn himself into a solid trade candidate, freeing the organization to move him either this summer or next winter. For Garcia, though, there’s still plenty of opportunity both to build off of a nice platform arb salary and to develop a case for a free-agent payday after the 2019 campaign, which he’ll play at just 28 years of age.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Players Reflect On Arbitration Hearings Series

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In light of the recent arbitration hearing drama between the Yankees and reliever Dellin Betances, I remembered a three-part series B.J. Rains did for MLBTR four years ago that may be of interest.  In a series called Players Reflect On Arbitration Hearings, B.J. spoke to Dan Uggla, Jeff Mathis, and Kyle Lohse about their first-hand experiences.  Check out the full articles, but as you can see from these excerpts, arbitration hearings affect players differently.

  • Uggla: “It didn’t bother me at all. It’s just a process, the business side of it.” 
  • Mathis: “There’s stuff that goes on in that room that I wouldn’t suggest anybody experience or be a part of. … You don’t want to be a part of anything like that.”
  • Lohse: “It’s not a pleasant thing.  It’s hard to sit there and listen to the lawyer say how bad you are when the GM is sitting right there and you feel like he fed them the info to talk about how bad you are yet they still want you.”

AL East Notes: Tillman, Harvey, Duffy, Red Sox Rotation

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There was a bit of news on some Orioles arms this morning, as Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline.com was among those to report (Twitter link). Veteran righty Chris Tillman was able to make it through a flat-ground throwing session without incident, which bodes well as he attempts to get on track to join the rotation early in the upcoming campaign. There’s still a longer way to go for young right-hander Hunter Harvey, who is working back from Tommy John surgery. The organization expects him to be ready for game action by July, per manager Buck Showalter, which would represent a return within a year of his procedure.

  • Rays infielder Matt Duffy is expected to be ready to return to the field by mid-March, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. His surgically repaired heel appears to be on the mend, but it’s still not quite clear whether he’ll be ready to go for Opening Day.
  • While Red Sox camp has largely been a quiet affair, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing at stake, as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. In particular, the battle over the final two rotation jobs still appears unresolved. Cafardo takes an interesting look at the situation, with Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright discussing their approach this spring. Young lefty Eduardo Rodriguez is the third competitor for a rotation spot.
  • Meanwhile, Red Sox southpaw David Price is fully assured a spot on the staff. But he will need to make a slight adaptation to his pitching approach. As ESPN.com’s Buster Olney explains, the league has asked Price (and others with a similar delivery) to make clear to umps whether they are working from the stretch or the windup when there’s a runner on third.

NL East Notes: Braves, Nats Pen, Wright, Wheeler

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Because they are owned by a public company, the Braves are required to disclose financial information that other organizations can keep in house. Those interested in reading up on the financial health of the Atlanta organization can check out this article from Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constution, which rounds up some info from a recent conference call involving Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei. The team lost money last year, though he says that was due in large part to its major international expenditures. Maffei also commented on reports that the Marlins might sell for $1.6B, saying that he was “not surprised” to see those numbers, while adding that he sees the Braves as a “far more valuable” franchise.

Here’s more from the NL East:

  • The Nationals’ failure to land a top-tier closer this winter didn’t match the hopes of skipper Dusty Baker, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. Baker says he was hoping the team would bolster its 9th-inning situation, and suggested that he doesn’t expect any late-breaking move to do so. The veteran skipper continued to suggest that there’ll be a battle in camp to knight a closer. Just how Joe Blanton will fit into the mix (once his deal is made official) remains to be seen, but Baker called his addition “significant.”
  • Mets third baseman David Wright is headed for a second opinion on his ailing shoulder, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. Whether or not that visit has any hope of substantially changing the outlook isn’t known. As of now, however, he’s slated to stop throwing for at least a few weeks. Read up on the latest on Wright here.
  • After a delay caused by residual elbow soreness, Mets righty Zack Wheeler finally made it to his first live BP session of the spring today, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. Wheeler is scheduled to appear in game action for the first time on March 10th, at which time the organization may finally begin to get some clarity as to how much it can expect out of him this year. As with Wright, Wheeler has faced a non-linear road back from injuries. On the positive side for the Mets, Wheeler is just 26 years of age and is earning only $800K in his first season of arbitration eligibility.

Visit Pro Hockey Rumors For NHL Trade Deadline Coverage

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The NHL Trade Deadline is upon us, and Pro Hockey Rumors has you covered! With Matt Duchene still available will Colorado make the big splash fans have been waiting for? Carolina has made a young forward available, and legendary winger Jarome Iginla is still out there. How far will the fire sale in Detroit go? Visit Pro Hockey Rumors now and make sure to follow us @prohockeyrumors on Twitter for all the breaking action!

AL West Notes: Jeffress, Gomez, Castro

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Here’s the latest out of the American League West:

  • The Rangers are bringing several pitchers along slowly this spring, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports. In most cases, there’s no particular concern driving the approach, but reliever Jeremy Jeffress has been slowed by a sore right shoulder. Jeffress has yet to make his competitive spring debut, though he’s still throwing bullpen sessions and says it’s not a significant injury.
  • Meanwhile, Carlos Gomez talked about his decision to return to the Rangers, as Richard Justice of MLB.com writes, calling it an easy decision. “I hope I can stay here and finish my career,” he said. “I feel loyal to them. They picked me up when I was on the ground. That’s something me and my family will always be thankful for.” Texas was willing to take a no-risk chance at Gomez last year due in part to the voucher of just-acquired veteran Carlos Beltran; now, the club has seen enough to stake a considerably larger bet after landing him on a one-year, $11.5MM deal.
  • Righty Simon Castro is making a strong impression in camp with the Athletics, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports. Castro, who’ll soon turn 29, brings an unusual amount of pep to the mound, which has earned the praise of manager Bob Melvin. Though he has just 17 MLB innings under his belt, Castro is coming off of a strong 2016 season in which he pitched to a 3.38 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 over 53 1/3 Triple-A frames with the Rockies organization.

Tigers To Sign Cuban Infielder Luis Valdes

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The Tigers have reached agreement on a minor-league deal with free-agent Cuban shortstop Luis Valdes, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. Bonus information isn’t known, but Valdes was not subject to international spending limitations.

Valdes seems to be more of a veteran utility option than an interesting prospect to watch. He’s already 28 years of age and ought to open his tenure with the Tigers in the upper minors, per Badler, but there doesn’t appear to be much reason to believe that he’ll ever challenge for more than a reserve role in the majors.

Over his seven seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, Valdes owns a .275/.316/.392 batting line with 24 home runs over 1,267 plate appearances. Though his last season was by far his best, it also came way back in 2014. Whether his bat can keep up at the game’s highest level isn’t yet clear, Badler suggests, though Valdes holds greater promise in the field. Per Badler, the infielder “is a smart, fundamentally sound defender with an average arm that plays up because of his extremely quick release.”

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