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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Longoria, Teheran, Yelich, Phillies, Mets

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This week in baseball blogs…

Submissions: ZachBBWI @gmail.com

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/23/17

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We’ll use this post to keep track of teams’ minor moves throughout the day…

  • Infielder Matt Dominguez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball, Steve Adams of MLBTR reports (on Twitter). Once a highly regarded prospect, the 28-year-old Dominguez hasn’t panned out in the bigs since debuting with the Marlins in 2011. He spent all of last year with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate and hit .264/.295/.425 with 16 home runs in 451 plate appearances.

Earlier updates

  • The Rockies have agreed to terms on a minor-league pact with Dante Bichette Jr., whose father was a four-time Rockies All-Star. News of the pact was originally reported by Matt Kardos at Pinstripe Prospects, and later confirmed by the elder Dante Bichette (via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). Bichette Jr. began his career in promising fashion after the Yankees made him a supplemental first round pick in the 2011 draft; the third baseman hit .342/.446/.505 with the Yankees’ Rookie league affiliate. However, he’s never quite managed to replicate that success at any other level of the minors. As such, Bichette Jr. has yet to reach Triple-A. Most recently, he hit .262/.352/.352 with the Trenton Thunder (Double-A affiliate of the Yankees) in 2017.

Cafardo’s Latest: Machado, Red Sox, Yankees, Osuna

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A few AL East rumblings from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

  • The Red Sox and Yankees remain interested in Orioles third baseman/shortstop Manny Machado, though neither team has “moved the needle” in talks with the O’s, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. Baltimore is reportedly done actively shopping Machado, as it doesn’t believe any other club has put forth a suitable offer for the superstar as he prepares for a contract year. Given that both the Red Sox and Yankees are in the Orioles’ division, it figures to be especially difficult for either to persuade the Orioles to move Machado. The left side of Boston’s infield looks to be in fine shape anyway with Rafael Devers at third and Xander Bogaerts at short. The Yankees, on the other hand, don’t have an obvious third base solution to place next to shortstop Didi Gregorius.
  • Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna has garnered plenty of trade inquiries this winter, according to Cafardo. However, there’s no indication the Jays are considering moving the proven Osuna, who’s still young (23 in February) and set to play his first of three potential arbitration years in 2018. The right-hander turned in his third straight excellent year last season, tossing 64 innings of 3.38 ERA ball with career-best strikeout (11.67 K/9), walk (1.27 BB/9) and groundball (48 percent) rates.
  • While Boston had interest in first baseman Carlos Santana before he joined the Phillies, the Red Sox never actually made him an offer, per Cafardo. Santana secured a three-year, $60MM guarantee, easily outdoing the two-year, $13MM pact the Sox handed newly re-signed first baseman Mitch Moreland this week.

Bartolo Colon Interested In Rejoining Mets

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Free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon would consider signing a minor league contract with one team – the Mets – Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (Twitter link). It could be a moot point, though, as the Mets have only shown “minimal” interest in Colon this winter, per Puma.

There’s already plenty of familiarity between Colon and the Mets, of course, as he pitched for the club from 2014-16 and emerged as a beloved member of the team during that stretch. Colon threw between 191 2/3 and 202 1/3 innings in each of those seasons and combined for a 3.90 ERA, 6.34 K/9 and 1.31 BB/9.

Colon parlayed his late-career success as a Met into a $12.5MM guarantee with the NL East rival Braves last winter, but his short tenure in Atlanta was disastrous, leading the club to release him in July. Colon finished the year with the playoff-bound Twins on a minors deal and performed better than he did with the Braves, but his results still weren’t appealing. All told, Colon’s age-44 season saw him post a 6.48 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 across 143 innings (28 starts).

Now, given that he’s set to turn 45 in May and is coming off a dreadful season, a major league deal could be difficult to come by for Colon this winter. Still, Colon is looking to play one more season, which would be his 21st. With 240 victories, Colon is within striking distance of passing Juan Marichal (243) for most wins by a Dominican-born pitcher. While it would make for a nice story to see him accomplish that feat in a Mets uniform, it doesn’t appear likely the two sides will reunite.

Indians Notes: Santana, Spending, Alonso, Kipnis

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Indians GM Chris Antonetti told reporters today that the club was in on Carlos Santana until the very end (hat tip to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). It seemed that Santana’s reps kept the Tribe informed through the entirety of Santana’s free agency, but in the end, things just didn’t work out for Cleveland. This news comes as another sign that Santana wanted to remain with the Indians if possible; the first baseman also wrote an emotional goodbye letter to Tribe fans in which he stated, “I cried once it sunk in that I would no longer be suiting up for and living in the City of Cleveland.” Ultimately, he signed a three-year, $60MM contract with the Phillies. Santana came to Cleveland in the Casey Blake trade prior to the 2008 trade deadline. Though the Dominican Republic native came up as a catcher through the minors, his most recent years have been spent as a first baseman. He hit .249/.365/.449 during his time with the Indians, and provided them with 23 fWAR. The club will now hope that new signee Yonder Alonso can replace his fantastic patience in their lineup.

More from the Indians’ camp on the day the Alonso signing was announced…

  • Bastian also tweeted some words from Antonetti about the club’s spending plans for the remainder of the offseason. It seems as though the Alonso signing may be the Tribe’s most significant of the winter, though they’ll reportedly continue to explore their options. “We’ll continue to be active,” the Indians GM told reporters. “We had a certain amount of flexibility heading into the offseason that we had to use judicially, and this will represent the vast bulk of that flexibility. The cost of retaining the nucleus of our team is more expensive.” Indeed, the Indians have a number of expensive arbitration-eligible players. MLBTR projects that Trevor Bauer, Lonnie Chisenhall, Danny Salazar and Cody Allen alone will cost the club nearly $30MM, and there are still smaller salaries to account for within their arb-eligible group.
  • Antonetti isn’t worried about Alonso’s ability to sustain a high level of production, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets. The Indians GM cites his control of the strike zone and escalating average exit velocity across the past three seasons as evidence of a “purposeful adjustment”. It’s worth noting that there’s a healthy amount of skepticism in the industry over whether the former top prospect’s .266/.365/.501 season was a true breakout or a career year. As Evan Davis of FanRag Sports writes in a detailed piece, there’s reason to believe certain adjustments could yield sustainable results over the long-term, including a 9.1-degree spike in average launch angle that led to a .385 xwOBA in the season’s first half. However, Davis also points out that his second half was far more pedestrian; Alonso’s xwOBA and wRC+ both plummeted to levels more indicative of his previous self.
  • One of the remaining items on Antonetti’s docket is to speak with Jason Kipnis about a position plan, Bastian says in yet another tweet. Antonetti told reporters that it’s possible Kipnis could be a contingency plan for Michael Brantley in left field if the two-time All-Star isn’t ready for Opening Day. As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com notes, Antonetti’s words make it seem all the more likely that Kipnis will open the 2018 season in an Indians uniform.

Indians Sign Yonder Alonso

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Dec. 23, 10:32am: Jordan Bastian of MLB.com provides some additional details on Alonso’s 2020 option. It’s reportedly a $9MM vesting option that vests following a successful physical after 2019, on the added condition that he makes 550 trips to the plate during the 2019 season, or accumulates 1,100 PA combined across the 2018-2019 campaigns. In line with previous reports, the option becomes a $9MM club option with a $1MM buyout if the vesting criteria aren’t met.

9:32am: The Indians have officially announced the signing.

Dec. 21: MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Alonso will earn $7MM in 2018 and $8MM in 2019. The vesting/club option comes with a $1MM buyout.

Dec. 20, 8:55pm: It’s a two-year deal that comes with a $16MM guarantee, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). There’s also an $8MM vesting option for a third season.

8:38pm: The Indians have agreed to a deal with free-agent first baseman Yonder Alonso, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (via Twitter). Alonso is a client of MVP Sports.

Yonder Alonso | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Alonso, 31 in April, will step into the void that was created when longtime Indians first baseman Carlos Santana signed a three-year, $60MM contract with the Phillies. The former first-round pick and top prospect just wrapped up a career year in which he slashed .266/.365/.501 with a personal-best 28 home runs — shattering his previous highwater mark of nine long balls in a season. That quality season landed him 22nd on MLBTR’s list of the top 50 free agents, with a prediction of a two-year, $22MM contract.

Alonso was, for much of the 2017 season, the poster boy for the “fly-ball revolution,” as he made a concerted effort to lift the ball and experienced great success with that newfound approach in the season’s first half. Through 298 plate appearances prior to the All-Star break, Alonso sported a 48.7 percent fly-ball rate and batted a hefty .275/.372/.562 despite playing his home games in Oakland’s cavernous Coliseum. Alonso’s fly-ball rate fell to 36.1 percent in a second half that was far more pedestrian, though his post-break output of .254/.354/.420 was still generally solid.

Overall, Alonso’s average exit velocity (89.2 mph) was comfortably among the top quarter of hitters in the league (min. 100 batted ball events), and his 36 percent hard-contact rate ranked 47th among 144 qualified MLB hitters. That uptick in power for Alonso came at the cost of his previously excellent contact skills, as he whiffed in a career-worst 22.6 percent of his plate appearances this past season (though that mark comes in barely north of the league average 21.2 percent for non-pitchers). Even if there’s some regression in terms of his power, Alonso has long shown a penchant for getting on base, with a career walk rate just under 10 percent — including a strong 13.1 percent walk rate in 2017.

Of course, while Alonso enjoyed a terrific overall year at the plate in ’17, he’s not without his warts. His strong offensive production was in some part due to the fact that both the A’s and Mariners shielded him from facing left-handed pitching; Alonso absolutely clobbered righties (.283/.384/.519) but struggled to hit for average and get on base against fellow lefties, as evidenced by a .181/.263/.417 slash in just 72 plate appearances. In his career as a whole, Alonso has batted just .234/.303/.349 against same-handed opponents.

[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]

On the plus side for Cleveland, they have a ready-made platoon partner in the form of Edwin Encarnacion. While Encarnacion will obviously be in the lineup on a regular basis as the team’s DH, he can also shift to first base on days when the Indians face a left-handed starter, should skipper Terry Francona ultimately decide to keep Alonso out of the lineup for those matchups. That’d free the DH slot to keep other regulars fresh, or it could allow the Indians to sign a right-handed-hitting outfielder/first baseman to occupy a reserve role on the bench.

Cleveland currently has righty bats Brandon Guyer, Erik Gonzalez and Giovanny Urshela ticketed for bench spots, though president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff and the rest of the staff may yet look to augment the team’s stock of reserve options.

As far as his defense is concerned, Alonso doesn’t stack up to the stellar work that Santana provided in 2017. Alonso rated as an above-average defender at first base per both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating each season of his career up until the 2016 campaign. Both metrics pegged him slightly below average in ’16, and while UZR had him only slightly below average again in 2017 (-2.8), DRS graded him out at -9.

Alonso becomes the fourth first baseman to come off the board in the past week — the latest domino in a market for position players that is slowly beginning to pick up after a largely stagnant offseason. Beyond the agreements for Alonso and Santana, the Red Sox announced yesterday that they’ve re-signed Mitch Moreland on a two-year deal, while the Nationals earlier today reportedly agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Matt Adams. With that group now off the board, Eric Hosmer, Logan Morrison and Lucas Duda are the most notable names remaining on the free-agent market for first basemen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Notes: Gordon, Segura, Twins, Roberto Perez

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New Mariners center fielder Dee Gordon doesn’t like what’s happening in Miami, Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel reports. While his words don’t stir up controversy quite to the level of Giancarlo Stanton’s upon the slugger’s own exit from Miami, Gordon was very candid with his feelings about the direction of the Marlins’ franchise. “It’s terrible,” Gordon said, via Healey. “It’s almost — I’m not even going to say almost. It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing. I don’t want to bash anyone, but what’s happened is not good.” The former Marlins second baseman expressed a distaste for the franchise’s trades of Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and himself, accusing the team of getting rid of them because of payroll obligations the Marlins’ new ownership “can’t take care of.” When asked what he thinks the club should do with Christian Yelich, Gordon said, “I think you have to let the dude go win.” Under new ownership, or course, the Marlins have expressed a desire to change the way the team operates financially in order to create sustainable success for the long-term. While the strategy has been met with skepticism by many (including colorful agent Scott Boras), others side with Derek Jeter and co., believing that the new owners aren’t morally obligated to remain bound to the financial decisions of the old regime.

More from around baseball’s American League during the holiday season…

  • In other Mariners news, shortstop Jean Segura says he was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint by corrupt police in the Dominican Republic. Mark Townsend of Yahoo Sports delves into the details of incident, which Segura made public via a post on his Instagram account. The photo of the post appears to show a number of DICAN officers, one of whom is “visibly armed,” in Townsend’s words. The Dominican Republic National Police have since announced the appointment of a commission to investigate the incident. Segura followed up a breakout 5-WAR 2016 campaign with the Diamondbacks by hitting .300/.349/.427 across 566 plate appearances in 2017.
  • The Twins “hope to get a meeting soon with Darvish,” Darren Wolfson of KSTP reports in a tweet. While the prospect of a meeting certainly doesn’t imply a serious pursuit of the former Rangers ace (indeed, Wolfson adds that there’s no indication the club has made a formal offer), a potential pursuit of Darvish by Minnesota is intriguing. Any contract large enough to lure him in would need to nearly triple the club’s highest-ever guarantee given to a pitcher ($55MM to Ervin Santana). However, it’s no secret that the Twins are in dire need of pitching if they plan to compete this offseason, and as MLBTR’s Steve Adams notes, the club is definitely in a position to spend this offseason.
  • Roberto Perez, backup catcher for the Indians, is focused on getting his mother a new home. A story by Jordan Bastian of MLB.com details Perez’ desire to sit down with his mom Lilliam Martinez this holiday season and discuss plans to build a new house to replace the one that was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria. Bastian’s piece provides some insight into the emotions of Perez since the storm hit; the piece is well worth a read for fans looking to learn more about how Puerto Rico has been affected since landfall by the Class 5 storm. The 29-year-old Perez made his MLB debut with the Indians back in 2014. He signed a four-year, $9MM extension last spring following three excellent defensive seasons with the Tribe.

International Signings: 12/23/17

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Let’s check in on a few notable international signings that have just gone down …

  • The Yankees have struck agreements with two Venezuelan talents, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. With cash still left to spend after missing out on Shohei Ohtani, the Yanks are moving to bring in another big haul of talent from Latin America. Outfielder Raimfer Salinas and catcher Antonio Cabello will join an already strong haul from the current July 2nd class. Per BA’s rankings, these two are the 11th and 15th-best players available, respectively, leaving the Yankees with five of this year’s top twenty talents.
  • Another spurned Ohtani suitor, the Rangers, has found another investment opportunity with some of its funds. The Texas organization has added shortstop Osleivis Basabe out of Venezuela, Badler also reports. Basabe, who has a few family members already playing in affiliated ball, is said to be a quality athlete with excellent speed and a good arm. Though Basabe ranked as only the 46th player on the BA board due to questions about his hitting acumen, Badler says he has shown well in winter ball action.
  • It seems the Twins have finalized a deal with Taiwanese righty Kai-Wei Teng. That agreement was first reported by LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune and was noted as going in the books recently on Twitter by MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. The 19-year-old is said to be receiving a bonus in the $500K range.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/22/17

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As teams and agents look to wrap up their business before the holiday season, there’s no shortage of minor league deals being wrapped up. Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Backstop Rob Brantly is in agreement on a minors deal with the Braves, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The 28-year-old won’t have a shot at a MLB roster spot out of camp, barring an injury to Tyler Flowers or Kurt Suzuki, but he could be the first line of depth behind that duo. Brantly has received only brief MLB action over the past several seasons. He spent most of the 2017 campaign at Triple-A with the Reds and White Sox organizations, where he posted a solid .293/.352/.443 slash in 321 plate appearances.
  • Also agreeing to a minor-league pact is righty Pedro Beato, who Heyman tweets will remain with the Phillies. Beato, 31, returned to the majors in 2017 with the Phils for the first time since 2014. He only received a single appearance, though. In 55 2/3 innings at Lehigh Valley, Beato posted a 2.75 ERA — his third-straight season with excellent results at the highest level of the minors. Of course, Beato also averaged a less-than-dominant 6.8 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9, with his success coming in no small part due to some batted ball fortune (.233 BABIP, 5.2% HR/FB rate) that he likely would not carry with him to the majors.

Earlier Updates

  • The Nationals agreed to terms with right-hander Jeff Ames, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Ames, 26, was the 42nd overall pick in the 2011 draft but has yet to crack the majors. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2017, working to a 3.98 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 63 1/3 innings.
  • The Orioles announced minor league pacts with lefties Jayson Aquino and Andrew Faulkner, right-hander Tim Melville and first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez. Aquino, Faulkner and Rodriguez will be returning to the organization, while Melville will be joining the team for the first time. The 25-year-old Aquino has tossed 15 2/3 innings with the O’s over the past two seasons but struggled to a 6.32 ERA in that time. He does have a 4.02 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in parts of two Triple-A seasons. Faulkner, 25, logged a 2.79 ERA in 38 1/3 Triple-A innings with 8.1 K/9 last season but also averaged 5.6 walks per nine innings. Rodriguez, meanwhile, hit .279/.341/.471 with 22 homers in Double-A this past season, albeit at the age of 25 (older than much of the competition he was facing). The 28-year-old Melville has just 14 2/3 MLB innings on his resume and has been hit hard in that time. However, he also logged a 2.95 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in 12 starts (13 total appearances) with the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and Padres last year.
  • The Brewers announced that they’ve signed right-hander Radhames Liz to a minor league contract. Liz, a hard-throwing 34-year-old, has seen more time in the Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball than in the Majors in recent years. He didn’t pitch in 2017 but has allowed just two runs in 35 1/3 innings during the Dominican Winter League this offseason. He’ll compete for a bullpen spot in Spring Training.
  • Infielder Josh Rutledge has agreed to a minor league deal (and, presumably, a Spring Training invite) with the Giants, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Rutledge has spent the past three seasons in the Red Sox organization and picked up 118 PAs with Boston this past season. He’s batted just .252/.319/.313 in 259 plate appearances across those three seasons but has played second base, shortstop and third base in the Majors (plus a brief 13-inning cameo at first base).
  • Right-hander Anthony Bass announced (on Twitter) that he’s latched on with the Cubs. Assuming it’s a minor league pact — the Cubs themselves have yet to announce the signing — he’ll head to Spring Training and vie for a job in the ’pen. Bass was hit hard in 5 2/3 frames with the Rangers last year — his first MLB action since 2015 after spending the 2016 campaign pitching in Japan. Bass had a 4.14 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 75 1/3 Triple-A innings with Texas last year and has experience both as a starter and a reliever.
  • Outfielder Shane Peterson has landed with the Padres on a minor league pact, as per the team’s Triple-A broadcaster, Tim Hagerty (on Twitter). A career .254/.319/.359 hitter in 322 MLB plate appearances, Peterson brings an excellent .296/.374/.474 career Triple-A slash to the Padres organization. He’ll turn 30 in February and can handle any outfield spot

Alen Hanson Announces He Has Signed With Giants

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Infielder Alen Hanson has announced on his Instagram account that he has agreed to a deal with the Giants. It’s a minor-league pact, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter); h/t SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo, via Twitter, for noticing Hanson’s post.

Hanson, 25, was once viewed as one of the game’s hundred or so top prospects. The switch-hitter has continued to advance, first reaching the majors in 2016, but analysts have soured on his outlook along the way.

In 2017, Hanson received his first extended run in the majors. He was claimed off waivers in early June by the White Sox from the Pirates after a rough start to the season. Over his 175 plate appearances in Chicago, Hanson produced a .231/.276/.375 batting line with four home runs and nine steals.

The Sox non-tendered Hanson after the season, so clearly that rebuilding organization was not convinced of his future. But he did show quality baserunning ability while playing all over the diamond — second, short, third, and all three outfield positions — so perhaps there’s still a possibility that Hanson could turn into a useful utilityman if he can make some strides at the plate.

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