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White Sox Sign Chris Volstad, T.J. House, Matt Skole To Minor League Deals

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The White Sox announced a slew of non-roster invitations to Major League Spring Training today, including minor league deals with right-hander Chris Volstad, left-hander T.J. House and corner infielder Matt Skole. (The Sox also confirmed their previously reported minor league agreements with free agents Rob Scahill, Michael Ynoa and Patrick Leonard.)

Volstad, 31, will return to the South Siders after making a return to the Majors with them in 2017. The former Marlins right-hander had pitched just 10 1/3 innings in the Majors since the conclusion of the 2012 campaign but was called upon for a pair of starts and four relief appearances with the Sox, totaling 19 1/3 innings with a 4.66 ERA and a 10-to-5 K/BB ratio. This will be the third straight season that Volstad has spent in the ChiSox system, as he also pitched for their Triple-A affiliate in 2016.

House, meanwhile, should be somewhat familiar with the Sox having faced them often as a member of the Indians from 2014-16. Shoulder troubles slowed House’s career in 2015, and he’s scarcely appeared in the Majors since. House, 28, did enjoy a healthy season with the Blue Jays after a Spring Training scare in which he was struck in the head by a line drive. He recovered and went on to make 24 starts for Triple-A Buffalo, where he posted a 4.32 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in 133 1/3 innings of work. He also logged a pair of innings for Toronto in the Majors in August before being outrighted back to Buffalo.

Skole, also 28, has never appeared in the Majors. The former Nationals farmhand was considered one of the organization’s best prospects after a massive 2012 season in A-ball, but his 2013 campaign was cut short in a collision at first base that left him with a broken wrist and a torn UCL in his non-throwing elbow. Skole has played three full seasons in the upper levels of the minor since that time but has never rediscovered the form he showed in that promising 2012 campaign. He’s a career .238/.332/.444 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons.

Quick Hits: Pace Of Play, Prospects, Orioles, McCutchen

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In his latest column for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal chats with five players — Max Scherzer, Daniel Murphy, Paul Goldschmidt, Jerry Blevins and Chris Iannetta — about their concerns over the proposed 20-second pitch clock and their more general thoughts on the league’s pace of play initiatives. All of the players express a willingness to change and acknowledge that they’re in favor of speeding up the game to an extent, though none voiced support of a clock. Iannetta states that the clock “fundamentally changes the way the game is played,” while Goldschmidt shares some concerns he’s heard from Double-A and Triple-A players that have played with the clock but found it to be a headache.

“In some cases, I heard of ways around the rule,” says Goldschmidt. “You could kind of gimmick it. You could slow down the game. You could step off. It wasn’t like it just forced guys to throw pitches a lot quicker. There was a lot of gray area guys weren’t comfortable with.” Both Scherzer and Blevins, meanwhile, expressed some frustration with the fact that they’re routinely on the mound ready to go but have to wait an additional 20-30 seconds for commercial breaks to end. It’s an interesting read for those who have strong feelings, one way or another, on the newest slate of proposed rule changes to the game.

A few more notes from around the league…

  • It’s prospect ranking season! Baseball America rolled out their 2018 Top 100 list today, headlined by Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna in the top spot. Of course, the decision was far from easy for them, and the BA staff explained the decision process at length in a separate post for BA subscribers. As JJ Cooper, Ben Badler, Kyle Glaser, Josh Norris and Matt Eddy explain in great detail, there were feelings among the BA staff that any of Acuna, Shohei Ohtani or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could have been the No. 1 overall prospect this season. Among the factors considered when trying to reach a consensus were the age-old position player vs. pitcher debate as well as Acuna’s proximity to the Majors relative to Guerrero.
  • Meanwhile, over at ESPN, Keith Law published the first half of his Top 100 prospects today. There are several notable players that have been traded in the past year on the back half of the list, including Sandy Alcantara (whom the Marlins received as the headliner in the Marcell Ozuna swap), James Kaprielian (who went to the Athletics as part of last July’s Sonny Gray trade) and Franklin Perez and Daz Cameron (who went to the Tigers in the Justin Verlander blockbuster). Angels fans will be heartened to see four entrants on the list — Jahmai Jones, Chris Rodriguez, Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell — as their once lowly farm system begins to build back up.
  • Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com looks at the Orioles’ need for a left-handed-hitting outfielder to balance out the lineup and runs down a list of players that have “intrigued various members of the organization.” That includes Carlos Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera and Nori Aoki, according to Connolly, in addition to other names that have been recently mentioned (e.g. Jarrod Dyson). Trey Mancini and Adam Jones figure to be in the outfield regularly, but the Orioles’ hope is that they can acquire a defensively superior option to Mark Trumbo to slot into right field, thus pushing Trumbo to DH.
  • In a fantastic column for the Players’ Tribune, Andrew McCutchen bids an emotional farewell to the city of Pittsburgh, which he writes “will always be home” and “will always mean everything” to him. McCutchen recounts the overwhelming experience of the standing ovation he received at the Pirates’ final home game of the season last year, as Bucs fans recognized that they may never see him in a Pirates uniform again. He also shares his experience of finding out about the trade, with credit to Neal Huntington for how he handled the process. Fans of the Pirates, Giants and baseball in general will all want to check out the column in its entirety.

Hector Neris Switches Agencies

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Phillies closer Hector Neris has changed his representation and is now a client of Octagon, FanRag Sports’ Robert Murray tweets.  Neris joins Carlos Santana, Cesar Hernandez, and Cameron Rupp as notable Phillies players under the Octagon banner.

After a breakout 2016 season, it was seen as just a matter of time before Neris was eventually given the ninth-inning job in Philadelphia.  The team began the year with Jeanmar Gomez and Joaquin Benoit getting the bulk of save chances, but Neris eventually shifted into the closer role and, after some early struggles, looked dominant down the stretch.  Over his last 42 appearances (43 1/3 IP), Neris posted a 2.49 ERA and 52 strikeouts against just 15 walks.  Overall, Neris had a 3.01 ERA, 10.37 K/9 and 3.31 K/BB rate over 80 1/3 innings, saving 26 of 29 chances and missing a lot of bats (16.4% swinging strike rate) thanks to a notoriously tough splitter.

Neris turns 29 in June but he still offers four years of team control for the Phils, and isn’t arbitration-eligible until next winter.  Saves are one of the traditional counting stats that play a big role in arbitration numbers, so Neris is in line for a pretty nice payday next offseason and in his two other arb years if he retains his hold on the closer’s job.

Neris’ switch in representation has been noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains agent information on more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you come across any errors or omissions in the database, let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

AL Notes: Lewis, Reed, Blue Jays, Royals

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Colby Lewis’ playing career seemed to end back in November when he accepted a job as a special assistant to Rangers GM Jon Daniels, and the veteran righty confirmed to reporters (including MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan) that he has indeed hung up his glove.  Drafted 38th overall by the Rangers in the 1999 draft, Lewis spent nine of his 11 MLB seasons with Texas, also notching brief stints with the A’s, Tigers, and the Hiroshima Carp.  He didn’t pitch in 2017 after declining to accept anything but a Major League contract last winter in free agency.  Lewis finishes his career with a 4.70 ERA over 1215 career innings, three times topping the 200-inning plateau as a durable member of the Texas rotation.  We at MLBTR wish Lewis the best on his retirement and on the next stage of his baseball career.

Here’s more from around the American League…

  • The Twins’ acquisition of Addison Reed is chronicled by Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who writes that Reed put a high priority on joining a team in the Midwest, close to his wife’s hometown of Akron, Ohio.  The Indians “were high on” a short list of preferred destinations Reed gave to his agent, though Cleveland didn’t have the payroll space to add to its bullpen.  Sensing an opportunity to further reinforce their bullpen, the Twins circled back to Reed (an early offseason target) and were ultimately convinced after Minnesota special assistant Michael Cuddyer heavily endorsed Reed due to their time together on the 2015 Mets.  Reed turned down at least one three-year deal to sign his two-year, $16.75MM deal with the Twins.
  • The Blue Jays roster is broken down by Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi, who feels that another move or two might be in the offing given a lack of 25-man spots.  Aledmys Diaz, for instance, may have to start the year in the minors if the Jays are to fit five outfielders and Kendrys Morales on the roster.  Moving an outfielder is a more realistic option than trading Morales, as a rival executive “couldn’t envision a possible landing spot” for the veteran hitter.  Morales is coming off a sub-replacement season (-0.6 fWAR) last year and is owed $23MM through 2019, giving him very little trade value.  Toronto still has some more moves to come on the pitching side, and Davidi speculates that Seung-hwan Oh or Tyler Clippard could fit the Jays’ needs in the bullpen.
  • In a set of 18 predictions about the 2018 Royals, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star opines that Eric Hosmer will re-sign with his former club due to a lack of clear rival suitors for the free agent first baseman.  There is maybe only a 30-40 percent chance of a reunion between the two sides, “but for now, that might make the Royals the favorite” in Dodd’s view.  Other predictions include Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas signing elsewhere, and the Royals suffering a 90-loss season as they begin a rebuilding phase.

Brewers Make Contract Offer To Yu Darvish

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The Brewers have made an official contract offer to Yu Darvish, according to reports from Yahoo Japan (hat tip to Kazuto Yamazaki for the translation).  Interestingly, the original link was retweeted by Darvish himself, whose response of a thinking-face emoji could be interpreted in a few different ways.

Darvish’s list of suitors had reportedly narrowed to a field of six teams: the Astros, Cubs, Rangers, Twins, Yankees, and an unknown sixth club referenced by Darvish in another tweet.  There was speculation that the sixth team could’ve been the Dodgers, Darvish’s most recent club, though perhaps the Brewers were the mystery team, depending on the timing of their offer.

Or, it also isn’t out of the question that Milwaukee has just entered the race for Darvish’s services, perhaps sensing an opening in the Darvish sweepstakes.  MLBTR projected Darvish for a six-year, $160MM contract at the start of the offseason, and it’s fair to wonder if the Brewers’ offer was anywhere near that figure given the uncertainty surrounding Darvish’s market.  The Astros, for instance, are likely no longer bidding for another top starter now that they’ve landed Gerrit Cole.  The Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, and Rangers were all either hoping to avoid the luxury tax threshold or simply weren’t keen on committing the payroll space required to sign Darvish.  With all of these teams somewhat hamstrung in their pursuit of the star right-hander, the Brewers could well have liked their chances in a bidding war against a fellow smaller-market team in Minnesota.

The idea of the Brewers and Twins dueling for top pitchers this offseason was actually posited by MLBTR’s Steve Adams back in early November, with Steve reasoning that both teams had the rotation needs, the long-term payroll room, and a revived hope of contention in 2018 to make the pursuit of a pitcher like Darvish or Jake Arrieta into a reality.  Despite some rumors about potential big-ticket signings or trade targets (i.e. Chris Archer), the Brewers have thus far made more modest pitching acquisitions in the form of Jhoulys Chacin and Yovani Gallardo.  Milwaukee has also been rumored to be discussing outfielders in trades, perhaps to make another surprising free agent splash in the form of pursuing Lorenzo Cain.

NL West Notes: Padres, Yelich, Giants, Dahl

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Some news and notes from around the NL West…

  • In a reader mailbag piece, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune casts doubt on the Padres’ chances of trading for Christian Yelich.  The team’s pursuit of Eric Hosmer indicates a desire to acquire a younger star player who will still be productive when the Padres return to contention, so Yelich (who is over two years younger than Hosmer) would theoretically fit the bill.  The Marlins, however, are understandably demanding elite prospects in any Yelich deal, and Lin doubts the Padres would part with top minor leaguers like Fernando Tatis Jr., Mackenzie Gore, or Michel Baez when San Diego’s own rebuild is still ongoing.  Lin’s piece is well worth a full read, as he answers several other questions about the Padres roster.
  • There hasn’t been any connection between Yu Darvish and the Giants this winter, though The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly (subscription required) opines that San Francisco should offer the free agent hurler a one-year deal in the $30MM range.  Essentially, Baggarly is proposing a very high-priced version of the “pillow contract” strategy, wherein Darvish would build more value in 2018 with an eye towards finally landing a major long-term deal next winter.  Such a contract would put the Giants over the luxury tax threshold for 2018, though they’d avoid another multi-year commitment while landing a star pitcher for a roster clearly designed to win now.
  • Rockies manager Bud Black shared some positive health news about David Dahl, as Black told the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders and other reporters that Dahl should be “full go” at the start of Spring Training.  “He’s engaged, he’s running, he’s lifting weights, he’s swinging at 100 percent. Right now there are no concerns, and medically everybody feels really good about David,” Black said.  Dahl was limited to just 19 minor league games in 2017 due to a stress reaction in his rib cage, and his potential return gives Colorado another intriguing piece for its outfield.

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/21/18

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Here are the latest minor league moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

  • The Dodgers have agreed to a deal with right-hander Andrew Robinson, as announced by Robinson himself via Twitter.  The contract is presumably a minor league pact for the former Georgia Tech hurler, who turns 30 in February.  Robinson has a 3.88 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 3.35 K/BB rate over 531 career minor league innings, with only eight of those frames coming at the Triple-A level.  He spent 2017 with the Nationals’ Double-A affiliate, and Robinson’s previous seven pro seasons included stints in the Houston, Atlanta, and Baltimore farm systems.

Brewers Reportedly Close To Making Trade

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There’s “buzz” that the Brewers are closing in on a trade, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. Crasnick doesn’t offer any details about an exact trade partner or players involved, though he notes that the Brewers have been discussing outfielders with multiple teams (Twitter link).

At present, the Brewers have several outfielders who are either established major leaguers or players who are closing in on regular roles. The group includes Ryan Braun, Domingo Santana, Keon Broxton, Brett Phillips and Lewis Brinson. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier this month that the Brewers could move someone from that quintet for much-needed starting pitching and to open up room for free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain. The 31-year-old Cain was a “frequent topic of conversation” for Milwaukee’s front office, Rosenthal wrote at the time.

If a deal does happen, it won’t be with San Francisco, according to Crasnick, even though the Giants and Brewers discussed Santana and Broxton earlier this offseason. The White Sox, on the other hand, are a possibility, Crasnick suggests (via Twitter).

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel adds (on Twitter) that the Brewers have been shopping Santana since last month’s Winter Meetings, and he notes that they’re also in the market for second base help. Milwaukee received disappointing production at the keystone most of last season from Jonathan Villar, who remains in the fold. Villar’s down season led the Brewers to acquire Neil Walker last August. Although Walker thrived during his month and a half with the Brewers, he’s currently a free agent.

Quick Hits: Cobb, Uehara, Slow Offseason

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Right-hander Alex Cobb entered free agency among the best available players, a 30-year-old destined to land one of the offseason’s richest contracts. While a hefty payday should still come, Cobb – like the rest of this year’s premier free agents – continues to wait for a deal nearly three months after the market opened. Cobb acknowledged to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that his trip to free agency during this famously plodding winter hasn’t gone according to plan, noting that “somewhere between November and December you realize how slow things are going and you kind of start reading the writing on the wall that this is a little bit of a different offseason than years before.” Cobb added that there has been frustration along the way, though he realizes he’s in the same situation as so many other unsigned players. “You just kind of change your frame of mind to accepting the fact that this thing is going to go down to the wire and you get comfortable with that,” he told Topkin in a piece that features other interesting quotes.

  • Reliever Koji Uehara also seems perturbed with this offseason’s free agent process. And at 42 years old (43 in March), he’s unsure if he’s going to receive a major league offer. If one doesn’t come, Uehara could call it quits. “I’ll retire if I’m only offered a minor league deal,” he said (via the Kyodo News). “There have been some talks, but no offers have been forthcoming. It seems like something’s on the horizon and then it isn’t. I can be patient for a little longer.” In the event Uehara does secure a big league pact for 2018, he’s “more than 90 percent certain” he’ll stick with his previously stated goal to retire after the season. That would give him 10 major league campaigns and 10 years as a pro in his native Japan. Despite his age, Uehara remained a major league-caliber reliever in 2017. As a member of the Cubs, the righty registered a 3.98 ERA with 10.47 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9 across 43 innings.
  • As MLB and the MLBPA spar over the league’s forthcoming implementation of a pitch clock, Buster Olney of ESPN writes that the two sides’ relationship may be at its worst point since the 1994-95 labor stoppage. The current collective bargaining agreement (which expires in December 2021) is seemingly a key reason, as many agents have suggested to Olney that the MLBPA “lost enormous financial ground” when it agreed to the CBA a year ago. As mentioned earlier, there’s a lack of movement in free agency; some agents believe the market inactivity has helped lead to the union’s close-mindedness toward the league’s ideas to speed up pace of play, per Olney, who argues that would be senseless on the MLBPA’s part. While there are plenty of theories about what has caused the offseason to go the way it has, one agent opined to Olney that collusion on the part of teams isn’t an issue. “I don’t think for one instant that this is collusion,” stated the agent. “[The union] negotiated the terms of this CBA, and it’s up to us [the agents] to adjust and give the best possible advice to our clients based on the market.”
  • Continuing with the slow winter theme, Travis Sawchik of The Athletic observes that teams’ growing skepticism toward paying for free agents’ decline years is among the primary reasons for the glacial pace (subscription required/highly recommended). Indeed, one executive told Sawchik that “it’s not if you will lose on free agency, it’s how much you will lose.” Sawchik goes on to posit that the longer the offseason stays this way, the more likely it is low- to mid-spending teams could land quality players at discounted costs. He points to the Pirates’ signing of David Freese in 2016 and the Indians’ addition of Edwin Encarnacion last winter as recent examples of that happening.

5 Key Stories: 1/13/18 – 1/20/18

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Here are the biggest stories MLBTR has featured since last weekend…

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Pittsburgh says goodbye to two stars: Dating back to the 2016 season, it seemed like a matter of when – not if – the Pirates would trade center fielder Andrew McCutchen and right-hander Gerrit Cole. It finally happened in separate deals over the past week. McCutchen went to San Francisco for two players, and Cole headed to Houston to join the reigning champions in a package that netted the Bucs a quartet of potential contributors.

McCutchen and Cole (particularly the former) were terrific Pirates during their long tenures with the organization, but their lack of team control helped lead to the end of both eras. The 31-year-old McCutchen is only signed through the upcoming season, and it seemed unlikely before the trade that the Pirates would extend him. While Cole has two more years remaining, the low-payroll Pirates weren’t going to re-up the Scott Boras client before his eventual trip to free agency. As such, general manager Neal Huntington took what he believed were the best offers for both players. Some Pirates fans are incredibly displeased, though, even petitioning for owner Bob Nutting to sell the franchise.

…But Felipe Rivero’s sticking around: The Pirates’ excellent closer was already under control via arbitration for the next four seasons, but the club elected to extend him anyway. In doing so, the Bucs bought out all of Rivero’s arb years and potentially a couple free agent seasons. The reasonably priced deal guarantees the 26-year-old left-hander $22MM, while each option (2022 and ’23) is worth what will be a team-friendly $10MM if Rivero’s dominance continues.  In 2017, his first full season in Pittsburgh, the ex-National saved 21 of 23 opportunities and pitched to a 1.67 ERA across 75 1/3 innings. In the process, Rivero notched 10.51 K/9 against 2.39 BB/9 and logged a 52.9 percent groundball rate.

Padres extend a (Brad) Hand: San Diego’s Hand, another of the game’s premier southpaw relievers, landed an extension before Rivero. Like Rivero, Hand was already under control prior to the deal, as he wouldn’t have been eligible for free agency until after 2019. Hand’s payday is for a guaranteed $19.75MM over the next three years, and it also comes with a $10MM club option for 2021. The soon-to-be 28-year-old Hand had been popular in trade rumors prior to the extension, but he could now be part of the next good Padres team – if their rebuild goes as planned, that is. Hand was about as effective as Rivero last season, with a 2.16 ERA, 11.8 K/9 against 2.27 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent grounder rate over 79 1/3 frames.

Blue Jays add power to outfield: The Blue Jays picked up a couple home run-hitting corner outfielders in Randal Grichuk, whom they acquired from the Cardinals, and free agent signing Curtis Granderson. Grichuk, a 26-year-old right-handed hitter, cost Toronto reliever Dominic Leone – who was a standout in 2017 – as well as pitching prospect Conner Greene. The lefty-swinging Granderson pulled in a one-year, $5MM guarantee entering his age-37 season. With Grichuk and Granderson in the fold, GM Ross Atkins acknowledged that the Jays could listen to offers for corner outfielders Steve Pearce and Ezequiel Carrera.

A few other recognizable free agents come off the board: Surprisingly, the Twins reeled in reliever Addison Reed for just $16.75MM over two years – a much lower guarantee than most expected entering the offseason. A desire to play in the Midwest reportedly helped lead Reed to Minnesota, where he’s likely to set up for recently signed closer Fernando Rodney. At 29, Reed is the youngest free agent to find a team over the past week-plus. Aside from the previously mentioned Granderson, a slew of other 30-somethings in Jay Bruce, Adrian Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick and Brian Duensing also exited the market.

Bruce got the richest deal (three years, $39MM) and is once again a member of the Mets, with whom he played parts of the previous two seasons. Gonzalez will join him as part of the 2018 Mets, though his previous employer – the Braves, who released him in December after a luxury tax-geared trade with the Dodgers – will take care of nearly all of his $22MM salary. The Mets will only pay Gonzalez a minimum salary. Kendrick, who finished 2017 with the Nationals after they acquired him from the Phillies at midseason, returned to Washington for a two-year, $7MM guarantee. He figures to once again offer the Nats a quality utility player. And after a resurgent 2017, Duensing re-upped with the Cubs – also on a two-year, $7MM contract.

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