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Francisco Pena

Orioles Acquire Gabriel Ynoa From Mets, Designate Francisco Pena

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The Orioles have acquired right-hander Gabriel Ynoa from the Mets in exchange for cash and designated catcher Francisco Pena for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, per a team announcement. The move opens a spot on the Mets’ 40-man roster, which the team still needed to do in order to make the re-signing of Fernando Salas official.

The 23-year-old Ynoa made his MLB debut with the Mets this past season, tossing 18 1/3 innings with a 6.38 ERA. His 17-to-7 K/BB ratio, 49.2 percent ground-ball rate and average fastball velocity of 93.5 mph were all more encouraging numbers than the unsightly ERA in that small sample. In 154 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this past season, Ynoa posted a 3.97 ERA with 4.5 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent grounder rate.

Ynoa ranked among the Mets’ top 20 prospects each year from 2012-15, with BA’s most recent report calling him a “control artist” and a potential fourth starter if he can make improvements to his secondary offerings. Also noted, though, was that while Ynoa has a knack for throwing strikes, he doesn’t hit his spot within the zone often enough, so honing his command could also be an area of focus moving forward.

“Our scouts feel he can develop into a Major League starting pitcher by developing a consistent breaking pitch,” said Orioles GM Dan Duquette of the newly acquired Ynoa. “We look forward to his contributions to the Orioles this season and beyond.”

Ynoa will give the Orioles some much-needed rotation depth beyond the quintet of Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez. He has a minor league option remaining, which was likely a key factor for the Orioles, as there doesn’t look to be an immediate spot in the rotation for Ynoa, barring a spring injury to one of the previously listed rotation members. The 154 innings that Ynoa threw at Triple-A last season represent his only experience at that level, so it seems likely that he’ll head to Norfolk to open the season for further development. Should things pan out for Ynoa, he’ll be under club control through the 2022 season in Baltimore.

Pena, 27, appeared in 14 games and hit .200/.238/.275 across 43 plate appearances for the Orioles last season. He was expected to compete with Caleb Joseph for the backup catcher role this spring and may still do so if he clears waivers. The defensive-minded backstop was out of minor league options, which undoubtedly played a role in the Orioles’ decision to designate him. In parts of four Triple-A seasons (1188 plate appearances), Pena has displayed good power but struggled to get on base, as evidenced by his .248/.294/.453 batting line. He’s thrown out 32 percent base base thieves in his minor league career and routinely draws considerably above-average framing grades from Baseball Prospectus.

Injury Notes: Dodgers, Joseph, Romo, Perkins, Minor

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The Dodgers will place left-hander Alex Wood on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his left elbow and will recall fellow lefty Julio Urias from Triple-A just a few days after optioning him back to the minors, reports Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). McCullough tweets that Wood’s injury is not structural, though he informed the team earlier in the day that he’s has some lingering soreness in his triceps. It’s not entirely certain that Urias will step into the rotation for Wood, McCullough notes. That decision will be impacted by righty Kenta Maeda, who has some swelling in his right hand after being hit by a comeback line drive over the weekend.

A few more notes on some injury situations from around the league…

  • The Orioles have placed backup catcher Caleb Joseph on the 15-day disabled list after he underwent surgery for a testicular injury sustained over the weekend when he took an unfortunately placed foul ball, tweets Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Encina wrote earlier in the day that the injury was sustained on a foul tip in the eighth inning of yesterday’s contest. As MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes, the O’s have recalled Francisco Pena from Triple-A, and he’ll receive an equal workload to the one that had been shouldered by Joseph. In other words, Matt Wieters’ workload will not increase in light of Joseph’s absence. “We’re not going to start pushing up his load and jeopardize something down the road,” said manager Buck Showalter of Wieters. “He may feel differently, but we’ll take it day to day. Shouldn’t change anything about that, but we’ll see.”
  • Giants right-hander Sergio Romo has had a setback in his rehab from a flexor strain in his right elbow, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Romo has been experiencing tenderness in his right elbow, which prompted the Giants to order an MRI on their longtime late-inning reliever. On the positive side, Schulman notes that the MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage. However, he’ll still be backed off for four to five days, making it unlikely that he’ll be back with the team anytime soon.
  • Twins closer Glen Perkins suffered a setback in his return from a shoulder injury earlier this month, but assistant GM Rob Antony told reporters, including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link), that Perkins’ throwing program since that time has been going well. The Minnesota native and career-long Twin will throw his first mound session since hitting the DL back on April 13 this coming Saturday. He’s pitched in just two games this season — a significant factor the Twins’ season-long bullpen woes.
  • Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes that Royals left-hander Mike Minor returned to Kansas City today to have his surgically repaired left shoulder checked out by the Major League training staff. Minor, who signed a two-year deal this winter on the heels of the aforementioned surgery, has been dealing with some fatigue in that shoulder. Manager Ned Yost said the team doesn’t consider the injury to be serious at this time and isn’t calling the fatigue a setback, though as Dodd notes, he’s just over a week away from the end of his 30-day rehab window, which comes to a close on June 9.

Orioles Acquire Francisco Pena From Royals, Designate Paul Janish

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The Orioles announced that they have acquired catcher Francisco Pena from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations and designated infielder Paul Janish for assignment in order to clear room on the 40-man roster.

Pena, 26, is the son of former Major League catcher Tony Pena. He picked up seven plate appearances with the Royals this past season — the first seven he’s seen in the big leagues — and collected a single in that brief cup of coffee. Pena spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A Omaha, where he’s played since 2014, and batted .251/.305/.430 with 13 homers. He’ll replace some of the depth that the Orioles lost when they traded Steve Clevenger to the Mariners earlier today.

Janish, 33, is a well-traveled veteran known for outstanding infield defense but a light bat. He hit .286/.278/.381 in 14 games with Baltimore this season and is a career .216/.284/.291 hitter at the Major League level. He can elect free agency upon clearing outright waivers and should draw interest from multiple clubs as an infield depth option due to his veteran status and defensive prowess.

Minor League Free Agents Finding Major League Deals

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40-man roster spots are a precious commodity in Major League Baseball.  Many of the transactions on MLB Trade Rumors stem from this fact, as teams decide which players will occupy those last few spots.  The roster squeeze prevents many recognizable free agents from securing a Major League contract each offseason, from useful veterans like Jason Kubel, Shaun Marcum, and Jamey Carroll to former top prospects like Trevor Crowe and Taylor Teagarden.  Those players, despite a decent amount of name value, signed minor league deals.  However, a new trend emerged this offseason, as eight players with scant Major League experience signed Major League deals: Francisco Pena (Royals), Kelvin De La Cruz (Orioles), Edgmer Escalona (Orioles), Erik Cordier (Giants), Francisco Peguero (Orioles), David Cooper (Indians), Angel Castro (Cardinals), and David Adams (Indians).  Four of the players have no Major League experience at all, while none of the eight have more than 100 innings or 226 plate appearances in the bigs.

Upside As A Separator

The average age of these eight players is about 27 years old, significantly younger than a standard free agent who signs a Major League deal.  Many of these seven come with top prospect pedigrees.  Peguero, an outfielder signed by the Giants out of the Dominican Republic in 2005, was ranked as the team's fourth-best prospect prior to the 2011 season by Baseball America.  As recently as last year, Peguero was ranked eighth by BA, who said he "still has the most exciting combination of speed and power in the system, along with perhaps the best bat speed."  He went on to hit .316/.354/.408 in 70 Triple-A games to earn his second big league call-up with the Giants, though he received only six starts in September.

The Giants were faced with a difficult situation.  With Peguero having used his four minor league options, they risked losing him to a waiver claim if they weren't willing to put him on the 25-man roster out of spring training in 2014.  The Giants decided to remove Peguero from the 40-man roster by designating him for assignment in late November, cutting ties by non-tendering him five days later.  As agent Dan Rosquete tells it, "The minute the Giants said 'Hey, we're taking him off the roster,' they backed it up with, 'Well, we want him back, what's it going to take?'"  After Peguero's frustration from the lack of opportunity at the end of the season with the Giants, Rosquete's primary goal was to secure playing time for his client in 2014.  Interestingly, the Giants designated Peguero for assignment in part to make room for Cordier, a big arm who had become a six-year minor league free agent after pitching in relief for the Pirates' Triple-A team.  Cordier is one of four six-year minor league free agents this offseason to sign a Major League deal with no Major League experience.

The Orioles swooped in with an appreciation for Peguero's tools, an opportunity for playing time, and a Major League offer.  Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette "could tell me more about my client than I knew about him," jokes Rosquete.  "Dan Duquette called me and said 'Listen, I'm looking at everything and I can see this guy as an everyday outfielder.'"  In an email, Duquette tells MLBTR Peguero "has good talent as he is a lifetime .300 plus hitter in the minors and [is a] very good defensive player."  As a group, these eight Major League signings possess upside rarely found affordably in free agency. For example, the Indians landed a former first round draft pick in first baseman Cooper, the Orioles added a strikeout lefty who has touched 94 miles per hour in De La Cruz, and the Giants picked up a power reliever who can touch 97 in Cordier.  Plus, all of them are considered to be near big league ready.  

Contracts Dictated By Strong Markets

The majority of the eight players were six-year minor league free agents, with a handful of non-tenders mixed in.  Ultimately, teams wouldn't give Major League deals and the accompanying 40-man roster spot to this level of player unless it was necessary to get the deal done.  Duquette, who authored three of these eight big league deals with Peguero, De La Cruz, and Escalona, notes, "In each case other clubs were offering Major League contracts, so you could say that the Major League contract was required by the market."  

The only way for an agent to really know what it will take is to let the market play out.  Paul Kinzer represents the 24-year-old Pena, who became a six-year minor league free agent after 2013 when the Mets decided not to add him to their 40-man roster.  "I don't know if anybody expected the kind of response we got on him," says Kinzer of Pena.  Kinzer says the strong demand for catchers worked in Pena's favor.  Three teams were close on the player, and the Royals had to offer a Major League deal to separate themselves.  Cooper signed a minor league deal with the Indians in August after recovering from career-threatening herniated disk in his chest cavity.  He opted for free agency at the end of the month, and demand was strong enough that the Indians re-signed him to a Major League deal.  The Rays put pressure on the Tribe by also reportedly making a Major League offer.

A Possible Trend

Though we don't have complete data on the number of inexperienced players signing Major League deals each offseason, the eight such contracts from 2013-14 is definitely the highest number in recent years.  Kinzer, who by his recollection has done three or four of these types of deals in his career, "absolutely" sees a trend toward more of them.  He explains, "Teams can go out and spend a little more on these guys and sometimes get a better return on their money than going with an older, veteran guy."  By "spend a little more," Kinzer is referring to the cost of a roster spot, since none of these contracts were for more than $75K above the $500K league minimum.  The going rate for a veteran backup catcher this winter has been in the $1-3MM range.

Teams are continually trying to find outside-the-box means of acquiring younger talent.  Showing a greater willingness to barter with a 40-man roster spot in November and early December, when most clubs are not near capacity, seems savvy.  The trend could truly explode if more success stories emerge.

The biggest recent success story is the signing of lefty Jose Quintana by the White Sox after the 2011 season.  Quintana was signed by the Mets out of Colombia for $40K in 2006, and signed with the Yankees about a year later after the Mets released him due to a violation of the Minor League Baseball drug policy.  Baseball America never ranked Quintana among the Yankees' top 30 prospects, and he became a six-year minor league free agent after '11.  GM Brian Cashman told Joel Sherman of the New York Post in June 2012, "We looked at him as a fringy prospect. We offered him a minor league contract to stay, but not a 40-man roster position. We didn’t feel he was ahead of other guys we gave spots to. It was a numbers game, but right now it does not look like a good decision."  White Sox scouts Joe Siers and Daraka Shaheed "made him stand out on the six-year free-agent list," then-assistant GM Rick Hahn told Sherman, and the Sox and GM Kenny Williams separated themselves from the pack by offering Quintana a Major League deal.  Fresh off 200 innings of 3.51 ball in 2013, Quintana is a scouting success for Chicago and the best recent example of a Major League deal paying off big for a player with no experience at the game's highest level.  

Quintana, who would go a long way toward stabilizing the Yankees' current rotation, is one that got away.  The team had a firsthand look at the southpaw for five years, but preferred to keep the roster spot open when he reached minor league free agency.  Of the eight who signed this offseason, seven landed with new clubs.  Time will tell whether the Mets, Dodgers, Pirates, Rockies, Giants, and Yankees will regret letting these players go, but if more credible big leaguers emerge from the group, it's likely we'll continue to see an increase in Major League deals for minor league free agents.

Quick Hits: Marlins, Rockies, Pena

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Former Marlins infielder Chris Valaika recently signed with the Cubs, and it's no surprise that he would leave Miami behind, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes. In August, the Marlins were about to promote Valaika from Triple-A New Orleans, but Valaika was among the players who had complained about harrassment by former hitting coach Tino Martinez. So Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria refused to allow the team to promote Valaika. Loria also blocked the promotion of second baseman Derek Dietrich. Spencer points to an innocuous-sounding comment from Valaika's agent Joel Wolfe following Valaika's signing with the Cubs (via FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal on Twitter): "Chris is very excited to be with a first-class organization." That seemingly mild statement might be a shot at the Marlins, Spencer suggests. Here are more notes from around the Majors.

  • The Rockies have about $9MM to spend this offseason, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post writes. That's a far cry from previous big-ticket expenditures like Mike Hampton, Renck points out, but their $63MM offer to Jose Dariel Abreu, who ended up signing with the White Sox, was a "bold move" in that direction. In any case, the Rockies could look to add talent at first base (where Justin Morneau, James Loney or Mike Carp might make sense), catcher and the pitching staff. The Rockies are seeking hard-throwing relief help, as well as an innings-eater in the rotation. At catcher, however, they could just decide to go with Wilin Rosario and Jordan Pacheco.
  • The Royals have been aware of newly-signed catcher Francisco Pena for many years, and not just because Pena's father Tony used to manage the Royals, MLB.com's Dick Kaegel reports. "We've got a long history with him, from the time he was an amateur and signed with the Mets," says assistant GM J.J. Picollo. The Royals feel Pena's offensive track record, defensive ability and youth are interesting enough to make him worth adding to their roster.

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