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Simon Castro, Michael Brady, Josh Smith Elect Free Agency

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TODAY: Castro, Brady, and Smith all indeed elected to become free agents, as per Matt Eddy of Baseball America.

NOVEMBER 6: The A’s announced on Monday that right-handers Simon Castro, Michael Brady and Josh Smith have all been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville after clearing waivers. The moves give Oakland enough space to reinstate outfielder Dustin Fowler and righties Andrew Triggs, Paul Blackburn and Bobby Wahl from the 60-day disabled list.

Castro, 29, totaled 37 innings out of the Oakland bullpen, working to a 4.38 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9. Castro averaged nearly 94 mph on his heater, but as an extreme fly-ball pitcher that saw 14 percent of flies against him turn into homers, he also averaged 1.7 long balls per nine innings pitched. The journeyman righty posted a career-best 14.9 K/9 in 38 Triple-A innings this season but averaged five walks per nine, as well. He’s set to turn 30 next April.

Brady, 30, made his big league debut in ’17 but struggled to a 5.68 ERA in 31 2/3 innings. He averaged just over six punchouts per nine frames but did so with strong control (1.7 BB/9). Like Castro, he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher that struggled to keep the ball in the yard despite the spacious confines of the O.Co Coliseum. But, also like Castro, he enjoyed an impressive year in Triple-A, tossing 53 1/3 innings with a 3.21 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9.

The 30-year-old Smith turned in 35 MLB innings with an ERA just south of 5.00 but posted a 3.70 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 41 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level. He’s yet to find success in the Majors in parts of three seasons with the Reds and A’s but has fared better in Triple-A and should latch on as a depth option in another organization.

All three players outrighted by the A’s will have the option of electing minor league free agency in lieu of the outright assignment and figure to do just that.

Latest On The Braves’ Front Office Search

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10:14pm: The Braves are moving on from Moore, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports, as “hope evaporated this weekend” that Moore would be made available by the Royals.  In regards to Hart’s future, Bowman notes that since both Anthopoulos and Hendry are experienced general managers, either could take over the Braves’ baseball ops department should Hart no longer continue with the organization.  “The Braves likely will make a decision as soon as possible” about their new GM, and Anthopoulos looks like the favorite.

7:39pm: Dayton Moore is still the Braves’ top choice to become the club’s new general manager, though if Atlanta isn’t able to get Moore away from the Royals, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is “the preferred Plan B” option.  Three sources paint Anthopoulos as the front-runner for the job, given that there still seems to be little traction to the idea of Moore leaving Kansas City for Atlanta.

The situation is far from being finalized, however, due to the Braves holding out hope that Moore could still become available, Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation into signing violations under former Braves GM John Coppolella, and the status of Braves president of baseball operations John Hart.  Sherman reports that Hart prefers Anthopoulos for the GM job, while club vice chairman John Schuerholz is thought to prefer former Cubs GM Jim Hendry.  Hart’s own contract with the Braves expired after the 2017 season, and it isn’t yet clear if he will remain atop Atlanta’s baseball ops pyramid or if the team could desire a clean slate with a new name in charge of the front office.  (In regards to Moore, he would reportedly want full control over the Braves’ operations if he were to join the organization.)

Anthopoulos, 40, worked as Toronto’s GM for six seasons, building the nucleus that led the Jays to consecutive runs to the ALCS in 2015-16.  He somewhat surprisingly left the job after his contract was up after the 2015 season, however, the presence of new Jays president Mark Shapiro meant that Anthopoulos would’ve essentially been demoted to second-in-command on the team’s depth chart of baseball decision-makers.

Anthopoulos has worked as the Dodgers’ VP of baseball operations since January 2016, and turned down offers from the Twins and Diamondbacks last year when the two clubs were in the midst of their own GM searches.  Family concerns were reportedly behind Anthopoulos’ decision to bow out of those searches, as he didn’t want to uproot his young children from the west coast so quickly.  As Sherman notes, however, the Braves’ job “is viewed as attractive” around baseball due to the team’s deep well of prospects, even despite the likelihood that MLB will level some type of punishment against the franchise.

AL West Notes: Trout, Hernandez, Angels, Bruce

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If Mike Trout hadn’t signed his six-year, $144.5MM extension with the Angels in March 2014, the superstar outfielder would’ve been a free agent this offseason.  As CBSSports.com’s Mike Axisa writes, this would have led to the single biggest contract in sports history, let alone baseball history.  Trout just turned 26 last August, and thus a long-term deal would’ve easily topped Giancarlo Stanton’s record 13-year, $325MM record pact with the Marlins.  Axisa figures a Trout free agent deal would’ve landed well north of $500MM, with even a potential of $600MM in total earnings (in the event of a 14-year deal with bonuses and a buyout of an option year) if Trout didn’t exercise any of what probably would’ve been multiple opt-out clauses.  The scenario makes for a fun “what-if” read for baseball fans, and certainly a sigh of relief for Angels fans in particular.

Here’s more from around the AL West…

  • The Angels “extensively examined” Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez this season, Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times writes, and Hernandez figures to be on the Halos’ target list as the club looks to fill its longstanding hole at second base this winter.  The two teams also briefly discussed Hernandez last offseason but the Angels balked at Philadelphia’s high asking price.  If anything, that price tag will be even higher now, as Hernandez is coming off another strong campaign — .294/.373/.421 with nine homers and 15 steals over 511 plate appearances.  Hernandez is projected by MLBTR to earn $4.7MM in 2018, the second of four arbitration-eligible years as a Super Two player.
  • Beaumont native Jay Bruce would like to sign with one of his home-state teams (the Astros or Rangers), NJ Advance Media’s Abbey Mastracco writes.  A return to the Mets is also a possibility, though Bruce’s top priority is to play for a contender.  Bruce isn’t a perfect fit on either the Houston or Texas rosters, though the Astros could use another left-handed bat and the DH spot is opening up with Carlos Beltran’s likely departure.  The Rangers could also have DH or right field at-bats open depending on where Shin-Soo Choo plays, or if the team wants to give top prospect Willie Calhoun a look.  What doesn’t seem likely, however, is that either Texas club signs Bruce at his initial five-year, $80-$90MM asking price.

KBO’s KT Wiz Sign Jae-Gyun Hwang

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Jae-gyun Hwang has signed a four-year, $7.9MM deal with the KT Wiz of South Korea’s KBO League,  Yonhap News’ Jeeho Yoo reports (Twitter link).  Hwang was outrighted off the Giants’ 40-man roster in September and he elected to become a free agent after the season.

In returning to the KBO, Hwang ends his big league experiment after just one season.  He signed a split contract with the Giants last January and hit a solid .285/.332/.453 over 386 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.  After being called up to the big leagues in June, however, Hwang only managed a .154/.228/.231 slash line, albeit in just 57 plate appearances.  Hwang was called up while regular third baseman Eduardo Nunez was on the DL, though even after Nunez was traded, the Giants preferred to give the starting third base job to the returning Pablo Sandoval rather than give Hwang a fuller look at the hot corner.

It was reported last season that Hwang turned down much richer offers from Korean teams (including the KT Wiz) in order to test himself in MLB, and clearly he wouldn’t have found anything near a $7.9MM deal if he’d chosen to remain in North America for another season.  The 30-year-old Hwang posted some impressive numbers in his first 10 KBO seasons, hitting .286/.350/.436 over 4690 PA with 115 homers and 173 stolen bases.

Yankees Notes: Rule 5 Draft, Cashman, Sabathia, Manager

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Given the Yankees’ recent history of making trades during or just after the GM Meetings, Joel Sherman of the New York Post wouldn’t be surprised to see the club swing a deal in the coming week.  Such a trade could involve young players that the Yankees can’t find 40-man roster space for in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, Sherman notes, as teams have until 8pm on November 20 to finalize their 40-man rosters for this year’s Rule 5 selections (which take place after the Winter Meetings in December).  Names such as Garrett Cooper, Bryan Mitchell, Luis Cessa, or Tyler Austin could potentially be dealt instead of kept on the 40-man — the latter two names are included by Sherman along with Starlin Castro in a speculative trade with the Giants for Joe Panik.  That proposed deal is one of three speculative trades floated by Sherman “as an exercise to understand needs, goals and possibilities as much as anything else,” with the other two trades involving the Mets and Indians, and a three-team blockbuster between the Giants, Marlins, and Cubs.

Some more news from the Bronx…

  • GM Brian Cashman told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and other reporters (all links to Feinsand’s Twitter account) that he has yet to speak to C.C. Sabathia or his representatives this offseason, though the general manager said he is likely to see Sabathia’s agent at the GM Meetings this week.  Sabathia has already expressed an interest in returning to the Yankees in free agency, and given the veteran’s solid numbers in 2017, he’d give the club an experienced and productive arm at the back of the rotation, if the Yankees weren’t sold on Cessa or Mitchell as the fifth starter.  Still, if New York makes a play for Shohei Ohtani as rumored, there might not be room for Sabathia in a rotation that also includes Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Montgomery.
  • The Yankees’ managerial search will be delayed until Thursday, while Cashman is at the GM Meetings.  It isn’t known which candidate will be interviewed on Thursday.  Cashman said his club is still “early” in the search process, noting that “I know we’re on the clock, but we have to go through the steps regardless….I’d like something to be in place, but we have a vacancy and we have to take our time to fill that void.”

Twins Interested In Raisel Iglesias

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The Twins have checked in with the Reds about a trade for closer Raisel Iglesias, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link).  Iglesias is one of several relievers Minnesota is “performing due diligence on” as the club looks to upgrade its bullpen for next season.

Iglesias stands out as a logical target for any team in the market for saves, given that a closer is a luxury on a rebuilding team like Cincinnati.  Working as a full-time reliever for the first time, Iglesias just completed the best of his three MLB seasons, posting a 2.49 ERA, 10.89 K/9 and 3.41 K/BB over 76 innings.  Iglesias closed out 28-of-30 save opportunities while generating a career-high swinging strike rate (13.9%) on the strength of an excellent slider and a 96.4 mph fastball.

Iglesias, who turns 28 in January, brings value both as a strong closer now and as a long-term asset who isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season.  As per the terms of his original seven-year, $27MM deal with the Reds, Iglesias had the right to opt out of his guaranteed salary (with the Reds still retaining team control) in any offseason once he became eligible for arbitration, in order to chase a potentially larger payday through the arb process.  MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects Iglesias to earn $2.8MM through arbitration salary next season, so it is likely Iglesias will remain in his current deal for at least one winter, as his contract guarantees him $4.5MM in 2018.

Iglesias is also slated to earn $5MM in both 2019 and 2020 if he doesn’t opt into arbitration, and then he’ll have one final arb-eligible year as a Super Two player in the 2020-21 offseason.  So while Iglesias’ price tag could potentially grow if he continues to rack up the saves, he’ll still be a cost-effective acquisition for a mid-market team like the Twins, particularly since Minnesota has very little salary on the books past the 2018 season.

Brandon Kintzler and Matt Belisle handled most of the ninth-inning duties for the Twins last season, though Kintzler was traded at the deadline and Belisle is a free agent, leaving Minnesota in search of a new closer this winter.  The Twins didn’t get strong relief pitching in general in 2017, so it isn’t surprising that they’re looking at Iglesias and other notable bullpen arms on the trade and free agent fronts.  We’ve already heard that the Twins have checked in with Kintzler about possibly bringing the free agent righty back to Target Field.

The Reds were only interested in hearing big trade offers for Iglesias last summer, and that asking price almost certainly hasn’t changed.  The Twins’ farm system is middle-of-the-pack in terms of prospects to offer (Minnesota was ranked 19th in Baseball America’s post-deadline organizational ranking) since they were a team that seemed to be headed into a rebuild themselves before their surprising AL wild card finish in 2017 changed their outlook.  If comes down to a prospect bidding war for Iglesias’ services, Minnesota might not have the young talent to meet the Reds’ needs.

Quick Hits: Archer, Red Sox, Tigers, Cubs

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Rays right-hander Chris Archer may come up frequently in trade rumors this offseason, but general manager Erik Neander suggested Sunday that he plans to keep the 29-year-old. Neander told MLB Network Radio that Archer “is one of our core guys” and “exactly the type of player” the Rays need to retain if they’re going to compete in the future (Twitter link). Archer, who’s signed to one of the majors’ most team-friendly contracts, will make a combined $13.75MM over the next two seasons. After that, Archer’s employer will have a chance to control him through 2021 via ultra-affordable club options ($9MM and $11MM).

  • The Red Sox are hiring Craig Bjornson as their bullpen coach, according to Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. He’ll take over for Dana Levangie, whom the team promoted to pitching coach this week. Bjornson was with the Astros from 2012-17 and spent some of that time as their bullpen coach. He was on the same staff last season as new Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was the Astros’ bench coach during their World Series-winning campaign.
  • The Cubs and Tigers still haven’t finalized the trade they made in July that saw reliever Justin Wilson and catcher Alex Avila head to Chicago for third baseman Jeimer Candelario, infielder Isaac Paredes and a player to be named later or cash, Mark Anderson of Baseball Prospectus tweets. It turns out the Tigers will receive the PTBNL in lieu of cash, but the teams haven’t decided on which player yet.
  • Mike Petriello of MLB.com breaks down the most appealing free agents available based on Statcast metrics xwOBA, Sprint Speed and Outs Above Average. Going by xwOBA, right fielder J.D. Martinez stands out on the offensive side; righties Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta bring the best track records among starters, while Pat Neshek is the top reliever. The OAA crown goes to Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain, who falls just shy of fellow outfielder Rajai Davis in the battle for fastest runner on the market. Petriello also suggests that, based on Statcast data, outfielder Hyun Soo Kim and a trio of righties – Tyler Chatwood, Anibal Sanchez and Tyson Ross – could end up as good buy-low signings.

Free Agent Profile: Eduardo Nunez

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On the heels of the two best seasons of his career, journeyman Eduardo Nunez ranks as one of the top infielders available in free agency. Nunez, 30, played for a pair of teams in each of those seasons, so landing a multiyear contract would presumably give him some stability going forward.

Pros/Strengths

Eduardo Nunez

Nunez made his major league debut with the Yankees in 2010, but it took him until 2015, when he was a member of the Twins, to truly break out at the plate. While no one would call Nunez an offensive force, the right-handed hitter did post an above-average .296/.332/.443 line with 28 home runs in 1,290 plate appearances over the previous three seasons. Nunez was at his best in 2017, slashing .313/.341/.460 with 12 homers in 491 PAs between San Francisco and Boston. And when he got on base from 2016-17, Nunez was a legitimate threat, with 64 stolen bases (40 in ’16) and a 4.9 BsR.

Although strikeouts have become more and more prevalent over the years (there were a record 40,104 Ks in 2017), Nunez hasn’t really contributed to the trend. His lifetime strikeout rate is a meager 13 percent, and he only fanned a career-best 11 percent of the time last season. The rest of the league went down on strikes in 2017 at an average of 21.6 percent, and it made contact at a 77.5 percent clip. Nunez logged a much stronger 83.8 percent contact rate and sits at 85.5 percent for his career. He clearly excels at putting the ball in play, which is especially important for someone whose game is largely predicated on speed.

On the defensive side, Nunez’s value comes from his versatility. Most of his career has been spent at shortstop (270 games) and third base (255), but he played a personal-high 26 contests at second base with the Red Sox last season. He also has 49 games’ worth of outfield experience on his resume.

Weaknesses/Cons

While flexibility in the field is an obvious asset, Nunez isn’t really a well-regarded defender. His stint at the keystone in 2017 didn’t yield great results (minus-4 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-9.1 UZR/150), nor has he been a plus fielder at any other position during his career. In fairness to Nunez, though, he was hardly unplayable from 2016-17 at his primary spot – third base – combining for minus-2 DRS and a minus-0.3 UZR over nearly 1,100 innings.

Offensively, despite Nunez’s respectable output of late, there are some concerns. He seldom walks, for one, with a career rate of 4.9 percent. He checked in at 3.7 percent this past year, ranking seventh last among hitters who amassed at least 400 at-bats. And though Nunez still managed to finish 2017 with a .348 weighted on-base average, easily bettering the .321 league mean, Statcast’s xwOBA metric suggests it was far from legitimate. Among 183 hitters with at least 400 ABs, Nunez had the greatest disparity (a 73-point gap) between his wOBA and xwOBA (.275). The latter figure ranked eighth worst in the majors. Additionally, Nunez carries a weak .133 ISO for his career and registered a .148 in that category last season, falling well below the .171 league average. Of course, Nunez’s speed somewhat helps make up for the fact that he doesn’t pack a wallop, as he posted the league’s 23rd-highest infield hit rate last season (10.5 percent; league average was 6.6 percent). For his career, Nunez has reached via the infield single at a 9.6 percent clip.

Even if Nunez sustains his production over the next couple years, history suggests his availability could come into question. Nunez spent time on the disabled list in four of the five prior seasons, including in 2017 when he missed parts of June and July with a hamstring injury and most of September with a sprained PCL in his right knee. Nunez returned for the playoffs, but he left Game 1 of Boston’s ALDS matchup against Houston after aggravating that knee, causing him to miss the remainder of the series.

Background

Nunez is a native of the Dominican Republic who signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2004. Since then, he has been part of three trades – going from the Yankees to the Twins in 2014, the Twins to the Giants in 2016 and the Giants to the BoSox last season. A client of ISE Baseball, Nunez has collected more than $8.75MM in his career, per Baseball-Reference.com.

Market

Nunez hasn’t been part of any rumors early this offseason, but a return to the Red Sox could make sense with starting second baseman Dustin Pedroia likely to miss the first couple months of 2018 after undergoing knee surgery. But if Nunez is looking for a season’s worth of full-time work, he might be able to find it with several teams that should be on the hunt for a second baseman and/or a third bagger, including the Giants, Mets, Braves, Angels, Brewers and Blue Jays.

Expected Contract

MLBTR predicts Nunez will land a two-year, $14MM deal, which would represent a nice raise over the $4.2MM he earned in 2017.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

MLBTR Originals

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Recapping MLBTR’s original content from the past week:

  • Jeff Todd took a comprehensive look at the trade market for Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, whom the payroll-slashing club looks primed to ship out on the heels of his 59-home run season. Jeff laid out reasons why acquiring the high-priced NL MVP finalist would and would not make sense for 15 major league teams.
  • Fellow Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna could also end up on the move this winter, inspiring Kyle Downing to seek a logical fit via trade for the 26-year-old standout.
  • As small-market teams, the Twins and Brewers aren’t known for spending big on free agents, but Steve Adams explained why this winter could be the ideal time for both clubs to make bold moves.
  • Six teams made qualifying offers to free agents prior to the Nov. 5 deadline. Tim Dierkes subsequently examined draft pick compensation for those teams if they lose those players. In another piece, he detailed which draft picks each club would lose by signing a free agent who rejected a QO.
  • The latest editions of this year’s Offseason Outlook series focused on the Red Sox, Cubs, Twins and Rockies.
  • In the first of two polls at MLBTR this week, I asked readers whether the Dodgers will trade catcher Yasmani Grandal this offseason. Then, Kyle wondered which high-profile prospect is most likely to be dealt in the coming months. He listed the Nationals’ Victor Robles, the Astros’ Kyle Tucker, the Indians’ duo of Francisco Mejia and Triston McKenzie, and the Dodgers’ Alex Verdugo as possibilities.
  • Although Mike Moustakas will probably land a much richer contract than fellow third baseman Todd Frazier in free agency, I made a case that the latter could wind up as the better signing.

Central News & Rumors: Royals, Bucs, Cards, Brewers

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The Royals are holding out hope that they’ll be able to re-sign first baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas, but they’ve “all but given up” on bringing back center fielder Lorenzo Cain, Jon Heyman of FanRag reports. Hosmer and Moustakas figure to collect two of the largest contracts of the offseason, which could pose a problem for small-market Kansas City, but owner David Glass believes the Royals would stay competitive by re-upping the homegrown duo and doesn’t want to “disappoint” the team’s fan base by letting either go, Heyman relays. Before Hosmer, Moustakas and Cain officially hit the market, each will have to reject $17.4MM qualifying offers from the Royals by Nov. 16. Unsurprisingly, that will happen, according to Heyman.

Here’s the latest from the National League Central:

  • With their control over outfielder Andrew McCutchen and right-hander Gerrit Cole dwindling, the Pirates would be wise to listen to offseason proposals for both players, Buster Olney of ESPN opines. McCutchen, who will make $14.5MM in the final year of his contract in 2018, will “almost certainly” be in another uniform in 2019, writes Olney. Cole, meanwhile, is controllable via arbitration through ’19, and Olney argues that now may be the time to move the Scott Boras client because the Pirates probably won’t be able to extend him. Elsewhere on the Bucs’ roster, Olney points to righty Ivan Nova and lights-out closer Felipe Rivero as speculative trade pieces. Nova’s unspectacular, but he’d garner interest as a capable innings eater who’s due an affordable $9.1MM-plus per annum through next year. Rivero is only entering the first of four arb-eligible years and would likely warrant a massive return for a reliever, leading Olney to conclude that the Pirates should consider dealing him.
  • The Cardinals are interested in upgrading the left side of their infield, perhaps by way of a Josh Donaldson acquisition and/or the addition of a defensively gifted shortstop, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests. This isn’t the first time the Cardinals have been connected to Donaldson, but the Blue Jays are unlikely to trade the soon-to-be 32-year-old in advance of 2018, his final season of team control. The 2015 AL MVP is projected to rake in a $20.7MM arbitration award this offseason.
  • Second baseman Neil Walker is currently a free agent, so the Brewers will have to decide whether to pursue him (or another outsider) or simply stay in-house at the position, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel observes. The Brewers have experienced second base possibilities on hand in Jonathan Villar, Eric Sogard and Hernan Perez, but there may not be an ideal starter in the group. While general manager David Stearns seems to believe the Walker-less Brewers are in good shape at the keystone, he’s keeping his options open. “I do think we have pieces to handle it internally,” Stearns said. “I would be happy coming back with our same position player group, if that’s the way this offseason plays out. At the same time, we’re looking to get better.”

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