Let’s check in on other news from around the game…

• Former Dodgers first baseman James Loney has been hired by the GEM Agency in an advisory role, tweets Robert Murray. GEM launched in October 2019 based out of Dallas, Texas. They rep current big leaguers Justin Turner, Tommy Pham, and Roberto Osuna – which are all tracked in MLBTR’s Agency Database. Loney played 11 seasons in the big leagues, with his most productive years coming with the Dodgers from 2006 to 2012. He was eventually traded to the Boston Red Sox in the Dodgers’ monster deal for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. Loney would play just half a season in Boston before going on to post a pair of productive years with the Rays. He finished his playing career in 2016 as a 32-year-old with the New York Mets. For his career, the southpaw first baseman put up a line of .284/.336/.410 with 108 home runs in 5,487 plate appearances.
• Alex Cora will be eligible to return to Major League Baseball in 2021, and the former Red Sox skipper would love to return to the managing ranks, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe writes. How soon there will be interest in Cora as a manager remains to be seen given his role in the investigations into both the Astros and Red Sox sign-stealing allegations. Still, he has a tremendous track record in his short time as the Red Sox manager. Like many of us, Cora remains in wait-and-see mode for the time being. Said Cora, “If this was a regular time and they were playing games, I would say yes [to managing in 2021]. I would love to be back in 2021 in some capacity. I love managing at the big league level.  But right now, I’m still kind of like putting my game plan together. It’s not where I want it to be. But obviously with everything that’s going on, with my daughter going into her senior year of high school, we as a family have to see what we want to do.”

It’s been three years since Loney, now 35, appeared in a big league game. His last Major League work came in 2016 when he batted .265/.307/.397 through 366 plate appearances with the Mets. Loney had a brief stint with the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins, did not play in 2018 and appeared in just 11 games with the Skeeters this season before today’s announcement.

Although it’s been a bit since Loney was prominent in Major League Baseball, he’s still a well-known name to most fans thanks to a solid 11-year run at the MLB level. Selected by the Dodgers with the 19th overall pick in the 2002 draft, Loney debuted as a 21-year-old less than four years later and quickly solidified himself as a viable long-term piece in Los Angeles. He hit .284/.342/.559 in 111 plate appearances during that rookie effort and followed it up with a brilliant .331/.381/.538 showing in 375 plate appearances during the 2007 season.

That cemented Loney’s place in the L.A. lineup, and while his bat never matched that lofty standard again, he was a solid offensive presence for the Dodgers over the next four years, consistently hitting for average with quality on-base skills and one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates. In parts of seven seasons with his original organization, Loney hit .284/.341/.423 all while providing the Dodgers with above-average defense at first base.

Loney struggled in a brief run with the Red Sox after being included in 2012’s epic Adrian Gonzalez/Carl Crawford/Josh Beckett blockbuster and settled for a one-year deal with the Rays in hopes of rebuilding his stock. He did just that. Loney turned in a .299/.348/.430 performance with his characteristically strong glovework in his first season with Tampa Bay, and he parlayed that success into a three-year, $21MM deal to remain with the Rays. He’d give Tampa Bay a second season of above-average output before struggling in year two of that pact and eventually being released prior to the final season of the deal. It was at that point that Loney latched on for what now proved to be his final season — the aforementioned Mets run.

All told, Loney logged 1443 games in the Majors and hit .284/.336/.410 with 108 home runs, 267 doubles, 21 triples, 38 stolen bases, 528 runs scored and another 669 knocked in. Beyond that, Loney was a monster in the postseason, hitting .350/.429/.525 through 91 plate appearances across parts of eight different series (mostly with the Dodgers). Between his first-round bonus and his 11 seasons in the Majors, Loney racked up more than $38MM in career earnings.

As Cooper notes, Loney was seen as a two-way prospect as an amateur. Taken with the 19th overall pick in the 2002 draft, Loney ultimately pursued a career with the bat. He had his ups and downs over the years, but carved out an eleven-year career as a low-power first baseman, ultimately turning in 5,487 plate appearances of .284/.336/.410 hitting with 108 home runs.

Loney last appeared on the transactional map in 2017, when he signed on for a brief run with Korea’s LG Twins. The club was not pleased with what it received from him in a 23-game stint — a very Loney-esque .278/.366/.456 slash with three home runs and 11 walks against just 14 strikeouts over 93 plate appearances — and he elected to leave the KBO rather than accept a demotion.

Whether Loney can craft a return to the majors as a two-way player will obviously remain to be seen, though the odds seem long. Given that he’s taking on a coaching role as part of the signing, that may not even be the goal. He’ll reach his 35th birthday in three months and has not dedicated himself to the craft of pitching since high school. That said, it will surely be interesting to see whether Loney can find a spark upon re-taking the mound.

Loney, 33, has struggled to find a major league opportunity this year after eleven straight seasons of action in the majors. He opened the year in the Tigers’ system but was released after a rough start. And he landed with the Braves after Freddie Freeman’s injury, but then requested his release when the club went out and got Matt Adams to step in at the major league level.

Last year, Loney was able to find big league time after starting out at Triple-A. His early-season stint with the Padres’ top affiliate was his first non-rehab time in the minors since 2007. But Loney soon found a spot with the Mets, who needed a replacement for Lucas Duda. Loney ended the 2016 season with 366 plate appearances of .265/.307/.397 hitting.

That output fell shy of Loney’s typical offensive production. While he has never been much of a power threat — last year’s .131 ISO actually falls over his career average — Loney has typically hit for average and reached base at a steady clip. He also once drew top marks for his glovework at first, but has fallen back into the general range of average in recent campaigns.

All that said, the 33-year-old represents a polished hitter for his new club. We’re accustomed to reading of the exploits of power hitters in the KBO, with its high run-scoring environment. It’ll be interesting to see whether Loney finds his power stroke, but at a minimum he figures to make for a tough out for pitchers facing the LG Twins.

More from the Senior Circuit…

• Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak about the team’s decision to option struggling outfielder Randal Grichuk to Class-A Adavanced Palm Beach as opposed to Triple-A Memphis. Mozeliak indicated that the drop to Class-A ball was about the specific people in Palm Beach with which Grichuk could work and also perhaps about trying something different with a player that has twice been optioned back to Triple-A in the past. “My feeling is, you’ve always heard me say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different outcome,” said the GM. “This is no different, so I really felt like we had to do something different here, and it’s outside the box, but he’ll work with (offensive strategist) George Greer for a week or so and see how things go.” As Goold also notes on Twitter, with extended Spring Training still in progress in nearby Jupiter, Grichuk will also have the opportunity to rack up extra at-bats on the back fields.
• Despite the fact that right-hander Robert Gsellman will move to the bullpen in the near future when Steven Matz and Seth Lugo join the rotation, the Mets still view him as a starting pitcher in the long term, writes Danny Knobler for MLB.com. Manager Terry Collins expressed firm belief that Gsellman will be a “quality starter” in the Majors, but for the time being he’ll be relied upon to help in the ’pen. Gsellman will still get at least one more start this weekend, Knobler writes, and Collins pointed out that the righty could even return to the rotation in 2017 when Zack Wheeler’s innings count climbs to the point where the Mets need to cut back his innings.
• Braves GM John Coppolella chatted with FOX’s Ken Rosenthal about James Loney’s abbreviated tenure in his organization. Loney was signed almost immediately in the wake of Freddie Freeman’s wrist fracture, but he was granted his release four days later after the Braves landed Matt Adams from the Cardinals. Coppolella tells Rosenthal that the Braves were not yet engaged with the Cardinals in trade talks when Loney was signed and wasn’t sure the Adams deal would get done even after negotiations with St. Louis kicked off. The Atlanta GM added that Loney was offered the option to remain with Triple-A Gwinnett and showcase for the other 29 teams, but Loney and his reps elected to once again explore the open market.

The Braves were clearly searching for solutions in the wake of an injury to starting first baseman Freddie Freeman. While Loney would have represented a plausible fill-in, the club ended up finding a piece with somewhat greater long-term interest not long after coming to terms with Loney.

Atlanta acquired Matt Adams from the Cardinals over the weekend, and he’ll represent the team’s top option at first until Freeman returns. That left little room for Loney on the active roster.

“We wish him all the best going forward,” the Braves when announcing the move. Loney will now look to latch on with another club that has a clearer path to a spot on the big league roster.

Loney, 33, opened the year at Triple-A in the Tigers organization, struggling to a .200/.351/.222 batting line in 57 plate appearances before he was released. Last year, he hit .265/.307/.397 in 366 trips to the dish at the major league level for the Mets.

3:46pm: The Braves have agreed to a deal with veteran free agent James Loney, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports on Twitter. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney had just reported via Twitter that a deal was close. It’s unclear at this time whether it’s a MLB deal, though that certainly seems plausible in this case.

It is hardly surprising to hear of this match. Atlanta was in sudden need of a first baseman after losing Freddie Freeman for an extended stretch. And Loney had only recently been cut loose by the Tigers organization, where he had been playing at Triple-A.

Atlanta did also just promote corner infielder Rio Ruiz, though it seems he’ll likely remain at his natural third base for the most part. Understandably, the Braves did not have a natural replacement for Freeman, a fully established hitter who had stepped up to new heights thus far in 2017. Of course, the club had inked elder statesman Ryan Howard earlier this year, but he was released after a brief and unsuccessful run at Gwinnett.

It goes without saying that Loney won’t match Freeman as a middle-of-the-order threat. Even at his best, Loney delivered value by getting on base at a solid clip and playing good defense, not by delivering significant power. The 33-year-old has bounced around in recent years, most recently slashing .265/.307/.397 over 366 plate appearances last season for the Mets — who added him under similar circumstances to those now impacting their division rivals. While he has been a regular player at times in his career, Loney was hitting just .200/.351/.222 in his 57 trips to the plate at Triple-A thus far in 2017.

The news makes for an unfortunate birthday present for Loney, who turns 33 years old today.  The veteran signed a minor league deal with Detroit on April 12 after being released from another minors deal with the Rangers near the end of Spring Training.  Heading into today’s action, Loney had hit .200/.351/.222 over 57 plate appearances for Toledo.

After spending his first 10 seasons with the Dodgers and Rays, Loney has bounced around with four different organizations (Padres, Mets, Rangers, Tigers) since being released by Tampa Bay in April 2016.  He did score quite a bit of playing time for New York last season, hitting .265/.307/.397 over 366 PA as a replacement for the injured Lucas Duda.

Given Loney’s experience and left-handed bat, he seems like a good bet to catch on with another team as minor league depth.  He owns a career .295/.349/.431 slash line against right-handed pitching, and while his once outstanding first base defense has declined in recent years (as per UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved), Loney can still provide at least average glovework.

Detroit, of course, has no pressing need at first base on the MLB level with Miguel Cabrera locking down the position.  Alex Avila, Andrew Romine and Jim Adduci can play the position as backups, and youngster John Hicks (since demoted to Triple-A) hit quite well filling in for Cabrera during a recent DL stint.

Loney was released by the Rays early last year in the final season of a three-year, $21MM contract, though he latched on with the Mets and spent the bulk of the 2016 campaign with New York, filling in for the injured Lucas Duda. In 366 plate appearances with the Mets, Loney slashed .265/.307/.397 with nine homers, 16 doubles and a triple. Defensively, he rated out as slightly above average at first base, per Defensive Runs Saved (+2) and slightly below average, per Ultimate Zone Rating (-0.8).

The Tigers don’t have much of a need for Loney at the Major League level presently, with Miguel Cabrera locking down first base and Victor Martinez lined up as the primary designated hitter, but the 32-year-old Loney (33 next month) will add some depth to cover the team in the event of an injury. Detroit currently has Efren Navarro manning first base for its Triple-A affiliate in Toledo, though Navarro can play some corner outfield as well, and Loney comes with considerably more Major League experience. In parts of 11 Major League seasons, Loney is a career .284/.336/.410 hitter that has averaged a dozen homers and 30 doubles per 162 games played.

The Rangers signed Loney to a minor-league deal in January after he posted a .265/.307/.397 line in 366 plate appearances last year for the Mets. The team signed Mike Napoli the following month to occupy their vacant first base position, however, and Loney did himself few favors in camp, batting .174/.224/.261.

Once a productive player with the Dodgers and Rays, the 32-year-old Loney’s production has slipped in recent seasons, and he hasn’t posted a positive fWAR since 2014. He’ll likely attempt to catch on elsewhere, but he might be hard-pressed to find another big-league job until he proves himself again in the minors.

MLBTR sends our condolences to Hildreth’s family, friends and organization.

Here’s more from the American League:

• Thanks in part to injuries, the Angels’ rotation finished last season 20th in the majors in ERA and 28th in fWAR. The Halos responded by making several depth-oriented additions during the offseason, including Yusmeiro Petit, Bud Norris and John Lamb, and expect to have far more success in 2017 as a result. “We’re confident we have the depth that is going to give us a championship-caliber rotation,” manager Mike Scioscia said Tuesday (via Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times). “Exactly what the names are gonna be or what order remains to be seen, but we’re excited with the depth that we have. We’re excited with our defensive team, which should be an excellent team, and the positive effect that’ll have on all of our pitching, especially on our starters. We’re confident.” While Scioscia is clearly optimistic about the Angels’ pitching depth, rival talent evaluators are largely skeptical of the group, according to Moura.
• In the same piece, Moura relays that infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley still hasn’t received medical clearance to throw since the then-Yankee underwent shoulder surgery last June. Of course, that will make it all the more difficult for the early February minor league signing to earn a spot on the Angels’ Opening Day roster.
• With a strong spring, first baseman James Loney “could rise to prominence in the Rangers’ camp,” writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Fellow minor league signing Josh Hamilton is also competing for a roster spot, and his knee issues might aid Loney in his quest to crack the 25-man, suggests Sullivan, who points out that they could use a lefty-swinging first baseman to complement the right-handed Mike Napoli. It’s worth noting that Hamilton has never played first, whereas Loney has lined up there almost exclusively since debuting in 2006. Although Loney batted a meek .265/.307/.397 in 366 plate appearances last year, Rangers manager Jeff Bannister told Sullivan that the lifetime .284/.336/.410 hitter “has proven over time that he’s a pretty tough out.”
• While Blue Jays outfielder Dalton Pompey’s stock has dropped since he peaked as Baseball America’s 30th-best prospect after the 2014 season, the club remains bullish on the 24-year-old. “We think he’s part of the future, left field or whatever, in this organization,” manager John Gibbons informed Paul Hagen of MLB.com. Continued Gibbons: “We think he’s going to have a great career, but he just needs to go out there and play and don’t worry about anything else. Because he’s got a ton of talent. He’s really got everything he needs to be really, really good.” Only two of Pompey’s 384 plate appearances last season came in the majors, and with Kevin Pillar, Jose Bautista, Ezequiel Carrera, Melvin Upton Jr. and Steve Pearce around as outfield options, he seems likely to head to the Triple-A level to begin 2017.
• Twins right-hander Ryan Vogelsong was worried the line drive he took off the head last May would not only end his career, but perhaps cost him his vision, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Fortunately, the ex-Pirate returned to the mound with his vision intact last year, and he’s now vying for a role with Minnesota after signing a minor league pact in January. On coming back for 2017, the soon-to-be 40-year-old Vogelsong said: “I love to compete. I think talking to guys who are done, it’s hard to replace that. I love being around the guys. I just love the game. I don’t play this game to make tons of money. The money is nice, but I play it because I love it. That’s what drives me. I still feel like I have good seasons left.”
  

Loney, 32, played an even 100 games last year for the Mets, who acquired him in May from the Padres after losing Lucas Duda for a lengthy stretch. (San Diego had added Loney over the winter on a minor-league deal.) In his 366 MLB plate appearances in 2016, Loney slashed .265/.307/.397 and hit nine home runs.

Clearly, that wasn’t quite as much production as most teams would like to see out of the first base position. It was the second straight year in which Loney had checked in with below-average overall offensive results. He was much better over the 2013-14 campaigns, however, when he provided the Rays with 1,249 plate appearances of .294/.342/.404 batting.

There are some other limitations, too. Loney has long carried rather drastic platoon splits, though perhaps that makes him a relatively appealing option as a bench bat to face righties. And though he has long been considered a quality defender at first, Loney hasn’t rated quite as well with the glove in recent years — though he still draws average metrics.

For Texas, Loney could compete with prospect Joey Gallo and perhaps also veteran Josh Hamilton for a left-handed-hitting role in the team’s first base/DH mix. Both of those players could conceivably also spend time in the outfield, though neither would likely be a preferable option there and the Rangers aren’t much in need of southpaw-swinging corner outfielders anyway.

Cashman also says the Yankees tried to recruit James Loney, now with the Mets, at the end of Spring Training. “We had a conversation with Loney at the end of spring training, and at that time Loney was unwilling to go to Triple-A,” Cashman says. Loney would have given the Yankees a veteran first base option in the wake of Teixeira’s injury.

9:12am: The Yankees have announced that they’ve placed first baseman Mark Teixeira on the 15-day disabled list with a cartilage tear in his right knee. To take his place on the active roster, they selected the contract of veteran 1B/OF Chris Parmelee. They also transferred Dustin Ackley (shoulder) to the 60-day DL.

As we noted yesterday, Teixeira left yesterday’s game with right knee pain, and he received an MRI. The 36-year-old has struggled thus far this season, posting a .180/.271/.263 line while also dealing with a lingering neck issue. His 2016 has been a far cry from his performance last year, when he batted .255/.357/.548 while hitting a remarkable 31 home runs in 462 plate appearances.

With Teixeira (and Ackley) on the shelf, Parmelee, who was batting .252/.343/.444 with Triple-A Scranton, could take over a fair amount of playing time at first, perhaps along with Rob Refsnyder, although Refsnyder lacks experience at the position. (The team has elected to keep veteran slugger Nick Swisher, another potential first base option, at Triple-A after a slow start there.) Along with Teixeira, the Yankees are also missing Greg Bird, who is out for the season with a torn labrum.

Here’s more from the National League:

• The Mets are expected to activate just-acquired first baseman James Loney for action on Tuesday, manager Terry Collins told reporters including Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Acquired yesterday from the Padres, the veteran is expected to help fill in for injured first baseman Lucas Duda.
• Padres righty James Shields addressed the recent trade chatter surrounding him, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. The veteran hurler says that he’s used to the rumors. “I don’t really think about that kind of thing too much, to be honest with you,” said Shields. “I’ve been in the game long enough to where these things get thrown out there. I think my name gets thrown out there every single year. I don’t really put too much emphasis on it.”
• A prospective deal that would send Shields from the Padres to the White Sox would make sense for both organizations, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines. While Shields certainly doesn’t profile as an top-of-the-line starter any longer, Rosenthal says he’d unquestionably help the pitching-needy South Siders.
• Rosenthal notes that other Padres arms, including southpaw Drew Pomeranz, have drawn interest as well. Pomeranz had his worst outing of the season today, though he still managed to set down nine hitters via strikeout in just five innings of work. The 27-year-old is an interesting player to watch, as he comes with two more years of cheap control and has turned in the most promising work of his career thus far for the Pads.
• Meanwhile, the Padres learned that they will be without right-handed starter Cesar Vargas for a stretch, Lin also reports. Elbow soreness is the culprit, and it remains unknown how long he’ll miss. Vargas had been a nice surprise in the early going, though he was hit hard yesterday as his elbow flared up. The Friars are expected to bring back fellow righty Colin Rea to step into Vargas’s rotation spot. He had been optioned in order to limit his innings and maintain his availability for the rest of the season.

The Mets were on the lookout for a first baseman with Lucas Duda out for a significant stretch due to a stress fracture in his back. Loney was an obvious potential target, and many speculated from the beginning that the Mets could pursue him. That appears to be exactly what they did. Earlier this week, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Mets had at least some degree of interest.

Loney was hitting .342/.373/.424 with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso. He previously played in ten MLB seasons, spending time with the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Rays, while compiling a career .285/.338/.411 line. While he’s mostly retained his ability to hit for average as his career has progressed, though, his power numbers have dwindled — he once regularly hit ten to 15 home runs a season, but last year with the Rays he hit just four while posting a .357 slugging percentage. Once a plus defensive first baseman, his fielding numbers have taken a tumble as well, with both UZR and DRS marking him as significantly worse in the last two seasons than he was in 2011 through 2013.

Given the Mets’ need, though, and the fact that the cash return the Mets will send the Padres is presumably nominal, it’s no surprise that the team pursued him despite his flaws. He’s a longtime starter who has experience and some level of on-base ability. The team can also potentially protect the lefty hitter by using Eric Campbell at first against lefty starters.

Adam Rubin of ESPN reported that Loney was headed to the Mets and that the deal was a trade (Twitter links). Jon Heyman tweeted that the Padres would receive cash considerations in return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.