Ryan Goins

Royals To Reinstate Jorge Bonifacio

By Steve Adams | June 27, 2018 at 5:17pm CDT

The Royals will reinstate outfielder Jorge Bonifacio from the restricted list tomorrow, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. He’d been serving an 80-game PED suspension and will need to be added back to the 40-man and 25-man roster once activated. The corresponding move, according to Flanagan, will likely involve Ryan Goins. Indeed, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic tweets that Goins was “making the rounds” and shaking his teammates’ hands in the clubhouse after today’s game.

Bonifacio, 25, will likely be given an opportunity to receive regular work in the outfield. The former top prospect had a solid debut in 2017, hitting .255/.320/.432 with 17 homers, 15 doubles and a triple in 422 plate appearances. He logged 743 innings in right field for Kansas City last season, plus another 57 in left and eight in center. Defensive Runs Saved (-3) and Outs Above Average (-4) both pegged him as a slightly below-average defender, while Ultimate Zone Rating (+1.1) viewed him a bit more favorably.

Bonifacio has been able to begin gearing up for his return in the minors over the past two weeks, logging a dozen games with Triple-A Omaha and hitting quite well. Through 54 plate appearances, he’s batting .404/.481/.553 with five doubles and a triple.

The suspension for Bonifacio will prove costly if he is ultimately able to cement himself as a big league regular. He didn’t accrue Major League service time for the 80 games he missed, and by the time he’ll be activated from the disabled list, there won’t be enough days remaining in the season for him to reach a second full year of MLB service. As such, the suspension will push his eligibility for both arbitration and free agency back by a full year. Bonifacio would have been arb-eligible following the 2019 season and qualified as a free agent following the 2022 season. Instead, he’ll now have to wait until after the 2020 season for arbitration and won’t be a free agent until the completion of the 2023 season.

Goins, meanwhile, is out of minor league options, so the Royals can’t send him to the minors unless he first clears waivers. That makes it seem likely that he’ll be designated for assignment tomorrow, though the club could also opt to trade or release him as a means of opening a roster spot for Bonifacio. The 30-year-old Goins has given Kansas City has given the Royals quality defense through 224 innings at second base and has seen brief action at third base and shortstop as well. But, Goins has also struggled to the tune of a .226/.252/.313 batting line in 120 trips to the plate.

AL Notes: Dozier, Rays, Tucker, Lincecum, Royals

By Steve Adams | March 28, 2018 at 9:28pm CDT

Extension talks between the Twins and Brian Dozier are “dead,” reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who notes that the slugging second baseman has no intention of discussing a long-term deal during the season and will hit the open market next offseason (Twitter link). That much has looked apparent for much of the spring, as Dozier has reportedly been disheartened by Minnesota’s lack of engagement in extension negotiations despite a vocal desire on his behalf to remain in the Twin Cities for the long haul. A lack of an extension, of course, doesn’t mean Dozier’s days in Minnesota are numbered; he’ll assuredly receive a qualifying offer if he has a characteristically strong season in 2018, and the Twins will likely keep up with his market in free agency next winter. It seems probable that Dozier will remain with the Twins for the bulk of the season, as the AL Central features three rebuilding clubs — the Royals, Tigers and White Sox — and looks to be largely a two-horse race between Cleveland and Minnesota even before the season begins in earnest.

AL East Notes: Bautista, Rays, Orioles, Red Sox

By Connor Byrne | February 24, 2018 at 6:29pm CDT

Although the Rays have picked up a pair of right-handed hitters in Carlos Gomez and C.J. Cron since last weekend, they could add another outfield-capable righty-swinger, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. One free agent who might draw their attention is Jose Bautista, who’s “keenly interested in playing for the Rays, presumably knowing it would be for a low salary,” Topkin writes. The 37-year-old Tampa Bay resident has long been a rival of the Rays, having played with the Blue Jays from 2009-17. While Bautista was a terror for opposing pitchers for the majority of that run, he’s now coming off his worst year in nearly a decade, which helps explain why he remains on the market. Bautista took 686 trips to the plate in 2017 and batted a subpar .203/.308/.366, albeit with 23 home runs.

More on Tampa Bay and two of its AL East rivals:

The Rays have recently parted with several notable veterans, including Evan Longoria, Steven Souza Jr., Corey Dickerson and Jake Odorizzi, but their front office insists they’re not tanking and never have, as Topkin details in a separate piece. Rather, according to general manager Erik Neander: “This is a season, as things stand now, where on paper we’re somewhere in that middle territory yet again. But what’s been building underneath is getting awfully close to colliding with what’s a middle-of-the-pack team. And when those things come together, you’ve got a chance for something special.” And even though the Rays finished under .500 in each season from 2014-17, Neander believes there was serious progress behind the scenes. “As our teams have been kind of treading water, there’s been that wave that’s really building, really coming together, probably even better than I think we expect it,” Neander said. “It’s about there.”
In-house issues prevented the Orioles from signing free agent infielders Ryan Flaherty and Ryan Goins during the offseason, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports. Flaherty was with the Orioles from 2012-17 and wanted to re-sign with the club, even showing a willingness to take less money than he did to join the Phillies. Philadelphia made Flaherty an offer with a three-week deadline to accept it, but he wanted to hear from the Orioles before taking it. The O’s then submitted a counteroffer, though it “didn’t get club-wide approval in time to meet the Phillies’ deadline,” Encina writes. As a result, he said yes to the Phillies’ minor league proposal. Given that Flaherty has a late-March opt-out in his deal, it’s possible he’ll hit the market again and rejoin the Orioles before the season, Encina notes. Like Flaherty, Goins also settled for a minor league pact (with the Royals). However, he actually was set to sign a major league contract with the Orioles beforehand, according to Encina. Orioles ownership didn’t approve it in time, though, leading the former Toronto utilityman to head to Kansas City.
Red Sox reliever Robby Scott has changed representation and is now a client of Meister Sports Management, Rob Bradford of WEEI tweets. The 28-year-old, who’s currently vying to open the season as Boston’s top left-handed bullpen option, tossed 35 innings of 3.79 ERA ball and notched 7.82 K/9, 3.28 BB/9 and a 42.6 percent groundball rate in 2017. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 campaign.

Royals Sign Ryan Goins To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | January 24, 2018 at 3:44pm CDT

3:44pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Goins’ contract has a $1MM base salary if he makes the big league roster. The infielder can also earn an additional $825K of incentives.

3:18pm: The Royals announced that they’ve signed infielder Ryan Goins to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Goins is a client of Octagon.

Goins, 29, has spent the past half decade as a reserve infielder for the Blue Jays, appearing in 449 contests and coming to the plate a total of 1397 times at the big league level. He’s never been much of an asset at the plate, however, batting a combined .228/.275/.335 with 20 homers and six steals in that time. To Goins’ credit, he did hit a career-best nine homers last year, though that small spike in a power came during a historically high home-run environment for Major League Baseball.

While Goins isn’t a big threat at the plate, he’s been an asset in the field over his first five big league campaigns. Defensive Runs Saved credits him as an above-average shortstop and a superlative defender at second base (+6 in 1362 innings and +24 in 1870 innings, respectively). Ultimate Zone Rating, meanwhile, feels he’s been roughly average at shortstop and nine runs above average at second base. Goins also has limited big league experience at third base, first base and in both outfield corners, though he’s totaled fewer than 50 innings at each of those positions.

Toronto non-tendered Goins earlier this winter in his first offseason of arbitration eligibility. If he makes the Royals’ roster and the team likes what it sees, he can be retained for at least the 2019 and 2020 campaigns via arbitration.

Market Chatter: Marlins, Mets, Cobb, JDM, Astros, Hamilton, Royals

By Jeff Todd | January 5, 2018 at 10:23pm CDT

While the Marlins have reportedly been holding talks regarding catcher J.T. Realmuto and outfielder Christian Yelich, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says that four rival general managers expressed doubt” that a trade will actually take place involving these young assets. Whether that opinion is based on the reportedly astronomical asking prices or other factors isn’t immediately clear. There’s some suggestion from some of Rosenthal’s sources, though, that the Fish are concerned with perception and won’t make a deal unless it seems the offer was overwhelming. That seems largely unlikely, but the already less-than-rosy returns on the initial months of the new ownership have been marred further by reports from the Miami Herald about the incoming plans. Most recently, Barry Jackson reported that CEO Derek Jeter stands to receive a $5MM salary with multi-million-dollar bonuses if he can deliver profitability to the ownership group (of which he is a part). PR considerations aside, there’s certainly a compelling case to deal Realmuto and Yelich rather than take the risk of holding them. Rosenthal argues the organization ought to simply follow through on the rebuilding steps it has taken already, using this offseason as the time to cash in both of those quality young players.

Here are some more market notes:

The Mets are said to be checking in on the market for third basemen, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. The report suggests that the New York organization is positioning itself as a landing spot for Mike Moustakas or Todd Frazier if they reduce their current asking prices. Similarly, the club has checked in on backstop Jonathan Lucroy as well as left-handed-hitting first basemen Adam Lind and Logan Morrison. (Those two potential first base options, of course, occupy quite different market segments given the former’s age and the latter’s breakout 2017 season.) All told, it still seems the Mets are broadly canvassing the market for possible upgrades, but looking to do so with relatively limited financial resources still available.
Jon Heyman of Fan Rag has a variety of interesting notes in a look at the top remaining free agents and other notes from around the game. Free agent righty Alex Cobb is “willing” to take a four-year deal at a $70MM guarantee, says Heyman. Of course, that’s also a significant amount more than MLBTR, at least, projected he’d earn on the open market. It would appear there’s still some market development left to go between Cobb and his suitors. Of course, there are also a few higher-regarded starters left whose own situations may need to be resolved first. Meanwhile, fellow free agent righty Andrew Cashner is reportedly angling for a three-year pact. While the 31-year-old did manage a 3.40 ERA in 166 2/3 innings in 2017, teams will be wary given that he carried only a meager 4.6 K/9 on the year.
Years are also at issue for J.D. Martinez, Heyman explains. Red Sox president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski is not interested in offering more than five years, but Heyman suggests that agent Scott Boras could yet try to make his case at the ownership level. The “word is there are other five-year offers,” Heyman adds, though it remains hard to imagine which other reportedly interested club would be able to compete financially with the Sox for Martinez.
Heyman also checks in on the closer market. The Astros, he notes, remain interested in adding a high-end, late-inning arm. It’s not entirely clear if they are a realistic suitor for Greg Holland, but in theory he’d be an option. Holland is said to have set out in search of five years in free agency. That never really seemed likely, as he’s 32 years of age and had at least a few late-season stumbles in his first campaign back from Tommy John surgery. Of course, Holland is still expected to secure a significant contract, though a three-year arrangement may be likeliest at this point.
Though the Reds continue to engage in discussions regarding center fielder Billy Hamilton, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter that there’s one major potential roadblock. Club owner Bob Castellini is quite hesitant to part with Hamilton, it seems. While there’s no indication that the switch-hitting speed demon is completely off limits, the stance may make it harder to get a deal done.
As the Royals weigh their options at short, it seems the team is targeting some veterans that figure to be available on lower-cost deals. Incumbent Alcides Escobar remains an option, says Heyman, while Kansas City is also said to be favorably disposed toward Ryan Goins.

Orioles Notes: Gonzalez, Goins, Santander, Tejada

By Steve Adams | December 7, 2017 at 8:31am CDT

The Orioles are interested in a reunion with free-agenty righty Miguel Gonzalez and are one of at least three clubs to show interest in the 33-year-old thus far in the offseason, reports Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Gonzalez, who’ll turn 34 next May, made 27 starts between the White Sox and Rangers last year, logging a rather pedestrian 4.62 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 36.7 percent ground-ball rate over the life of 156 innings. Gonzalez spent the first four seasons of his career, 2012-15, as a member of the Orioles’ rotation and has enjoyed the most success of his career wearing an O’s uniform. He’s hardly a high-upside option, but the O’s are looking to add as many as three starters to the rotation this offseason, and Gonzalez could likely be had on a one-year deal, so he could conceivably step into the fifth slot in the Baltimore rotation next year.

A bit more on the O’s…

The latest column from Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com runs down a number of Orioles topics, including whether left-hander Chris Lee should be viewed as a starter or reliever heading into 2018 and how much time Mark Trumbo should be expected to see in right field (as opposed to at designated hitter). On the topic of the team’s utility infielder, Kubatko cites recently non-tendered Ryan Goins as an option in Baltimore. The Orioles have seen Goins up close with the Blue Jays for years, and while he’s just a career .228/.275/.335 hitter in nearly 1400 plate appearances, he comes with a sterling defensive reputation (despite a season of abnormally poor marks at shortstop in 2017).
Kubatko also examines whether the Orioles will carry switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander on their roster to open the season. The 23-year-old Santander was Baltimore’s pick in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, but a forearm injury kept him on the disabled list for most of the 2017 campaign. Santander was activated in mid August but still needs another 44 days on the active roster before his Rule 5 status expires, per Kubatko, who notes that the Indians would take Santander back if offered the opportunity. Baltimore plucked Santander out of the Cleveland system despite the fact that he’d never played above Class-A Advanced, but he tore through a 15-game rehab assignment in Double-A last year (.380/.458/.780 with five homers) and is considered one of the better prospects in the Orioles’ system. It seems likely that the O’s will want to hang onto him, and in a worst-case scenario they could simply option him to the minors after the season’s first 44 days, should he prove in need of more development.
Following the Orioles’ announcement of a new minor league deal with Ruben Tejada, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported (on Twitter) that the infielder’s deal comes with a $1.35MM base salary and another $600K of available incentives if he makes the Major League roster. Tejada, who turned 28 in October, will be in camp vying for a bench spot after hitting .230/.293/.283 in 124 PAs with the Orioles and .280/.357/.440 in 197 PAs at the Triple-A level in 2017. Luis Sardinas and Steve Wilkerson could be his primary competition right now, though as Kubatko suggests, the O’s could very well add further infield depth in the months to come.

2017 Non-Tenders

By Jeff Todd | December 1, 2017 at 7:10pm CDT

The deadline to tender 2018 contracts to players is tonight at 8pm EST. We’ll keep track of the day’s non-tenders in this post (all referenced arbitration projections courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) …

The Giants non-tendered righty Albert Suarez, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Suarez, 28, was not yet eligible for arbitration.
Righty Tom Koehler and infielder Ryan Goins are heading to the open market after being non-tendered by the Blue Jays, per a team announcement.
The Rays announced that lefty Xavier Cedeno has been non-tendered, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
The Cubs non-tendered catcher Taylor Davis, per a team announcement. He was not yet eligible for arbitration.
Four Rangers players have not been tendered contracts, per a club announcement. Righties Chi Chi Gonzalez, A.J. Griffin, and Nick Martinez have been cut loose along with infielder Hanser Alberto. Griffin ($3.0MM projection) and Martinez ($2.0MM) were both noted as non-tender candidates by MLBTR. The other two players were not yet eligible for arbitration. Gonzalez was a former first-round pick who had struggled of late and underwent Tommy John surgery in July.
The Diamondbacks have also non-tendered lefty T.J. McFarland, who had projected at a $1.0MM salary.
The Reds non-tendered lefty Kyle Crockett, a pre-arb lefty who was only recently claimed on waivers, per a club announcement.
Per a club announcement, the Brewers have non-tendered veteran righty Jared Hughes. He will end up being the only 40-man player not to receive a contract from Milwaukee. Hughes had projected at a $2.2MM arbitration value. The 32-year-old is a master at inducing grounders and has turned in repeatedly excellent results. He also averaged a career-best 93.9 mph on his sinker in 2017.
The Mariners have non-tendered lefty Drew Smyly and righty Shae Simmons, per a club announcement. While the former was expected, due to Smyly’s Tommy John surgery, the latter rates as something of a surprise given his cheap $700K projection. Of course, it’s possible the club is not optimistic of his chances of bouncing back from arm troubles.
The White Sox will not tender a contract to reliever Jake Petricka, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). He had projected to take home $1.1MM in his second trip through the arb process. Also non-tendered, per a club announcement, were righties Zach Putnam and Al Alburquerque as well as infielder Alan Hanson.
It seems that righty Bruce Rondon will wind up his tenure with the Tigers, as the organization is set to non-tender him, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press (via Twitter). Rondon was long viewed as a potential late-inning arm for the Tigers, but had some notable run-ins with the organization, struggled with control, and never consistently produced at the MLB level. Though he projected to earn just $1.2MM, Rondon will be allowed to find a new organization. He will turn 26 later this month.
The Diamondbacks will non-tender righty J.J. Hoover, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Hoover projected at just $1.6MM, but Arizona is watching every penny as it seeks to return to the postseason with a tight payroll situation. The 30-year-old turned in 41 1/3 innings of 3.92 ERA ball in 2017 with 11.8 K/9 but also 5.7 BB/9 on the year.
The Royals announced that they have non-tendered outfielder Terrance Gore. Though Gore was not eligible for arbitration, teams occasionally utilize today’s deadline to prune their 40-man rosters. Gore had quite an interesting run with Kansas City, scarcely playing at all during the regular season and then appearing as a speed-and-defense asset in the team’s two storied postseason runs. Now, though the fleet-footed 26-year-old is out of options. With an upper minors OPS that hovers just over .600, Gore just was not going to break camp with the club. It seems reasonable to think there’s a chance he’ll return to the organization on a minors deal, though Gore will also have a shot at exploring the broader market.

Quick Hits: Pagan, Tigers, Giants, M. Upton, Rangers, Brewers, BoSox

By Connor Byrne | March 28, 2017 at 10:35pm CDT

The expectation is that free agent outfielder Angel Pagan will choose his next team in the coming days, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN.com. The Tigers are among the clubs that have shown interest in Pagan, according to both Bowden and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. However, a Pagan-Tigers union “doesn’t sound like a real possibility,” per Fenech (Twitter link). While Bowden also relays that the Giants are in on Pagan, Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group tweets otherwise. Pagan, of course, spent the previous half-decade in San Francisco.

More from around the majors as Opening Day draws closer:

It’s likely that outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. will make the Blue Jays, but it’s not a lock, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The last spot on the team figures to go to either Upton, whom Toronto acquired last summer from San Diego, or out-of-options middle infielder Ryan Goins. While Upton will make $16.45MM in 2017, the final season of the five-year, $75.25MM contract he signed with the Braves in 2012, the Padres are on the hook for most of that money. The Blue Jays only took on $5MM of the remaining $22MM-plus Upton had coming his way when they traded for him. The 32-year-old was amid a decent season at that point, but he closed the campaign by slashing just .196/.261/.318 in 165 plate appearances as a Jay.
The Rangers are in talks with right-hander Dillon Gee about restructuring his contract, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Gee, who has an opt-out for Wednesday, is in line to make a guaranteed $2MM if he takes the last spot in the Rangers’ bullpen. That’s unpalatable to the Rangers, who might want to send Gee to the minors during the season; however, Gee would be able to refuse such an assignment because of service time and still collect the $2MM. Grant suggests the two sides should work out a minor league split, meaning Gee would earn a prorated $2MM in the majors and a lesser salary in the minors.
First baseman Jesus Aguilar has made the Brewers’ roster, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Aguilar cracking Milwaukee’s roster seemed like a long shot at the outset of camp, but the February waiver wire pickup from the Indians has since recorded a video game-like, major league-best 1.395 OPS in 54 spring at-bats. The right-handed, out-of-options Aguilar could pair with fellow first baseman Eric Thames, a lefty-swinger, to give the Brewers a powerful tandem at the position.
Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez came up as a trade candidate last week, when it appeared he had no place on the club’s roster, though an injury to Rule 5 pick Josh Rutledge may have created room. Rutledge suffered a strained left hamstring Tuesday, and Hernandez could be the beneficiary, notes Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. The problem is that the Red Sox want a right-handed hitter to complement corner infielders Mitch Moreland and Pablo Sandoval, but Hernandez is a lefty.

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