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Phillies Sign Ryan Hanigan

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The Phillies have signed catcher Ryan Hanigan to a minor-league deal, per a club announcement. Included in the deal is an invitation to MLB camp this spring. He can earn $1.25MM if he makes the major league roster, with $375K in available incentives, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). He’ll also receive a March 28th opt-out date, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.

Hanigan hit the open market when the Red Sox declined a $3.75MM club option after the 2016 campaign. Long valued for his high-contact approach at the plate and solid defensive skills, Hanigan deteriorated in both regards in 2016 while battling injuries.

Now 36, Hanigan posted an anemic .171/.230/.238 batting line over his 113 plate appearances last year. Though he typically draws free passes as much or more than he strikes out, Hanigan uncharacteristically took just seven walks while going down on strikes 27 times. And in the field, Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner both panned his pitch framing.

[RELATED: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]

Still, it’s an easy gamble for the Phils to take. The organization is expected to utilize Cameron Rupp as the starter after his strong 2016 effort, and has several young receivers in the upper levels of the minors. Rather than rush them along, though, it can compete the reserve job between Hanigan and fellow minor-league signee Bryan Holaday.

Cafardo’s Latest: Rays, Indians, Bautista, Arroyo, Hanigan

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The Rays shipped starter Drew Smyly to the Mariners earlier this month, and they might not be done dealing veterans from their rotation, a major league source told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. It’s doubtful the Rays will trade either ace Chris Archer or Alex Cobb, whose value is down because he hasn’t reestablished it since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015, observes Cafardo. That leaves right-hander Jake Odorizzi as a vet who could end up on the move. Odorizzi’s name has come up in rumors throughout the winter after a season in which he posted a 3.69 ERA with 7.96 K/9 against 2.59 BB/9 in a career-high 187 2/3 innings. The soon-to-be 27-year-old is under team control via arbitration through the 2019 campaign.

More from Cafardo:

  • The Indians were interested in right fielder Jose Bautista and reportedly even bid on him in free agency before he re-signed with the Blue Jays earlier this week. However, the Tribe’s pursuit of Bautista was overstated, according to manager Terry Francona. On the heels of an American League-pennant winning 2016, Francona also discussed other subjects with Cafardo – including the Indians’ signing of ex-Bautista teammate Edwin Encarnacion, reliever salaries and bullpen usage – so check out the column for the full rundown.
  • Free agent righty Bronson Arroyo said a month ago that he was unsure if he’d be able to pitch again because, at the time, his arm felt “terrible” on certain days. Fortunately, Arroyo has made “great progress” and is hoping to sign with a team in late February for what would be his age-40 season, per Cafardo. Long a capable major league starter with primarily the Red Sox and Reds, injuries have kept Arroyo out of action since a June 2014 outing with the Diamondbacks. Arroyo underwent a Tommy John procedure later that year, causing him to miss the entire 2015 campaign. He then signed a minor league contract with the Nationals last winter, but he suffered a partial tear of a tendon in his right rotator cuff during spring training and has been rehabbing since.
  • Interest in free agent catcher Ryan Hanigan is increasing as the spring nears, his agent, Tom O’Connell, informed Cafardo. The 36-year-old Hanigan has been available since November, when the Red Sox declined his $3.75MM option for 2017 after he batted an unappealing .171/.230/.238 in 113 plate appearances last season. Behind the plate, Hanigan also fell off in the pitch-framing department (via Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner), though he does carry a strong defensive track record.

Red Sox Exercise Clay Buchholz’s Option, Decline Option On Ryan Hanigan

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8:09pm: The Red Sox have also announced that they’ve picked up their 2017 option on David Ortiz. The move is a formality, since Ortiz is expected to retire.

2:30pm: Drellich also writes that the Red Sox plan to pick up Clay Buchholz’s $13.5MM club option, and Heyman tweeted that the team will indeed do so. Buchholz had a $500K buyout on the option, so the decision boiled down to a $13MM call for Boston. (The team has announced both option decisions.)

Buchholz, who turned 32 in August, struggled with the Red Sox for much of the season and at one point lost his spot in the starting rotation. However, despite a brief demotion to the bullpen, Buchholz finished the year quite strongly, logging a 3.14 ERA in 28 2/3 innings in September and a 2.86 ERA over his final 44 innings. He’s also a season removed from 113 1/3 innings of 3.26 ERA ball that came with outstanding peripherals. Given the lack of quality options on the free-agent market and the fact that Buchholz generated summer trade interest even before his strong finish to the year, there was an argument to exercise Buchholz’s option even if he’s traded elsewhere this offseason, as MLBTR detailed a couple of weeks ago.

1:56pm: The Red Sox have declined catcher Ryan Hanigan’s $3.75MM option for 2017 in favor of an $800K buyout, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reported earlier Thursday that the Red Sox were likely to let Hanigan go.

Hanigan joined the Red Sox in December 2014 in a trade that sent third baseman Will Middlebrooks to the Padres, with whom Hanigan never actually played a game. The Red Sox didn’t lose much in dealing Middlebrooks, but Hanigan was still a disappointment in Boston. After establishing himself as a defensively capable backstop with solid offensive skills in Cincinnati and Tampa Bay, Hanigan batted just .219/.298/.294 in two years and 319 plate appearances with the Red Sox. He finished third among Boston’s catchers this year in PAs (113), trailing Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez, and posted an unusable .171/.230/.238 line. That was poor enough for Boston to wave goodbye to Hanigan, who will try to hook on elsewhere in free agency.

In addition to Leon and Vazquez, the Red Sox also have Blake Swihart as a potential catcher option for next season. The outfield/backstop missed most of this year with an ankle injury. Alternatively, Boston could look to free agency for help, especially if it doesn’t trust Leon’s unexpected breakout.

AL East Notes: Bautista, Encarnacion, Travis, Price, Red Sox Catchers

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Let’s take a look at a few recent notes out of the AL East:

  • Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista still seems likely to depart in free agency, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes. While Toronto figures to have some level of interest, it probably won’t outbid the market for a player who has been the organization’s biggest star. While it’s never worth putting too much stock in postseason results, it may not help that he has just four hits and six walks in his 35 plate appearances in this year’s playoff action — though Bautista did enjoy a productive stretch to end the regular season.
  • Fellow star Blue Jays slugger Edwin Enarnacion still seems most likely to head to the Red Sox this winter, Heyman suggests. While Boston has given some signals that it may not go big for a free agent bat, the team does appear to represent a good fit for a player who raked for most of the year. Other potential landing spots, per Heyman, include the Yankees and Rangers. For what it’s worth, Encarnacion’s overall postseason results have been quite good: he’s slashing .323/.400/.645 with three home runs and four walks against just three strikeouts.
  • Devon Travis wasn’t able to carry on for the Blue Jays in the ALCS and won’t play again in 2016 due to a knee injury. He has continued to put up good numbers when healthy, but a variety of ailments have clouded his long-term outlook. Heyman does say that Toronto expects him to be ready for a full spring next year, but notes “there’s concern about his ability to stay healthy” within the organization.
  • Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald examines the case of Red Sox lefty David Price, who never quite seemed to gain his footing in Boston and has continued to come up short in the postseason. Unlike Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw, who has excelled this year after several notable disappointments in the playoffs, Price is still awaiting his time for redemption. Two general managers who employed Price in the past — Andrew Friedman and Alex Anthopoulos — discussed his situation, both suggesting that he has the competitive fire and track record to suggest he’s still a good bet to perform when the stakes are highest.
  • While the Red Sox have several options behind the plate in 2017, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal questions whether the overall quality is sufficient. Sandy Leon’s hard-to-fathom breakout stalled late in the year, Christian Vazquez never found his groove at the plate, Blake Swihart was moved to the outfield at Triple-A before a season-ending ankle injury, and veteran Ryan Hanigan posted an injury-plagued, anemic offensive season. All said, adding depth wouldn’t make much sense, and it’s not clear that there’ll be an opportunity to find a top-quality backstop this winter. That could leave Boston with some tough questions — beginning with a call on Hanigan’s $3.75MM option (which comes with a $800K buyout). As MacPherson notes, too, both Leon and Vasquez lack remaining options. While Swihart does have one more option year remaining, his most recent usage suggests that the organization isn’t bullish on his ability to stick behind the dish.

Cafardo’s Latest: Red Sox, White Sox, Hanigan, Papelbon, Miller, Bard, Marlins

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Here’s the latest notes column from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, with a particular focus on how the Red Sox will be targeting DH, the bullpen and the rotation as their three main areas of need this offseason…

  • Acquiring Chris Sale would be a major rotation upgrade for the Red Sox, and since they had discussions with the White Sox about the star southpaw this summer, talks could be revisited in the offseason.  Cafardo figures Boston would have to give up Jackie Bradley Jr. (who the White Sox have long liked) and at least one of top prospects Yoan Moncada or Rafael Devers to land Sale; Chicago could also ask for Eduardo Rodriguez as part of the trade package.  It would be a heavy price to pay, though the White Sox are obviously going to shoot for the moon if they explore dealing their ace, who is both one of the game’s best pitchers and one of its best bargains thanks to his team-friendly contract.  The Red Sox would have Andrew Benintendi take over for Bradley in center field, while left field would presumably be handled by some combination of Chris Young, Brock Holt, Blake Swihart.  If not dealt, Moncada would also be in the mix for both 2017 and as a long-term answer.
  • Beyond those three big areas, catcher is also something of a question mark for the Red Sox.  Boston seems to be looking at a tandem of Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez behind the plate in 2017, which would indicate an $800K buyout of Ryan Hanigan’s $3.75MM club option for the coming season.  Leon had a huge breakout at the plate but rather came back to earth over the last six weeks of the season, while Vazquez has yet to show any ability to hit Major League pitching.
  • There’s still a chance the Red Sox could reunite with Jonathan Papelbon, as Cafardo figures the team will again check in with the veteran reliever.  Papelbon drew interest from several teams (including Boston) after being released by the Nationals last summer, though he didn’t sign anywhere.  There hasn’t been much Papelbon news in the last several weeks, so it’s unknown what the former closer’s plans are for 2017.
  • In his sole year as Red Sox manager, Bobby Valentine wanted to use both Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard out of the bullpen.  Miller was turning to relief pitching after failing to catch on as a starter, and he went to become one of the game’s best relievers.  Bard was already a bullpen star for the Sox, though both he and the front office wanted to transition to starting pitching.  That move proved disastrous for Bard, as he developed severe control problems that have curtailed his career.  He last pitched in the bigs in 2013 and has since bounced around the minors with four different organizations.
  • Marlins management will soon meet with club owner Jeffrey Loria to decide on the team’s offseason plans, which were thrown into disarray in the wake of Jose Fernandez’s tragic death.  Miami was in need of pitching even with Fernandez in the fold, and this winter’s very thin pitching market could leave the team unable to augment its impressive lineup.  Cafardo notes that rumors of the Marlins reloading the farm system by trading Giancarlo Stanton have swirled for years, though with Fernandez gone, Stanton may have become even more of a cornerstone piece for the club.

Injury Notes: Ross, Lowrie, Hahn, Putnam, Hanigan

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Here are the latest injury notes from around the league.

  • Nationals starter Joe Ross is still dealing with shoulder soreness and has been removed from his rehab assignment, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes. Ross was in the midst of a solid first full season with the Nats, with a 3.49 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 95 1/3 innings, but he has not pitched in the big leagues in over a month. The team’s current rotation plans appear somewhat open-ended, although they have off days upcoming on Monday and Thursday and could potentially get by for the next week and a half or so with only four starters. Ross could make one more rehab start and then return right around the time the Nats need a fifth starter again.
  • The Athletics announced before last night’s game that they’ve placed infielder Jed Lowrie and righty Jesse Hahn on the 15-day DL and recalled outfielder Brett Eibner and righty Andrew Triggs from Triple-A Nashville to replace them. (Eibner, who recently arrived from the Royals organization in a trade for fellow outfielder Billy Burns, homered in his Oakland debut last night.) Lowrie is dealing with a toe injury that could be season-ending if he undergoes surgery, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle recently explained. Max Muncy will play at second in his absence. Hahn, meanwhile, has a shoulder strain, although John Shea of the Chronicle tweets that Hahn does not believe the situation is serious.
  • White Sox reliever Zach Putnam had surgery Thursday to remove a bone fragment from his right elbow, the team has announced. The team further notes that the ligament was intact, and that Putnam will begin rehab next week. Putnam was off to a great start this season, with a 2.30 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 27 1/3 innings, but he went down with the elbow injury in late June and hasn’t pitched since.
  • The Red Sox have placed catcher Ryan Hanigan on the DL with ankle peroneal tendinitis, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweets. The 35-year-old Hanigan has played sparingly this season, collecting 102 plate appearances and hitting just .158/.216/.221 while serving as a backup. He also missed significant time earlier in the season due to a neck injury. Bryan Holaday, who the Red Sox claimed from the Rangers yesterday, will now share catching duties with Sandy Leon.

AL East Notes: Vazquez, Farrell, O’Day, Sanchez, Estrada

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It was on this day in 1939 that the Yankees hosted a “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” ceremony between games of a doubleheader with the Washington Senators.  Gehrig had officially retired two weeks earlier, just after his ALS diagnosis had been made public.  Gehrig received many emotional tributes from city officials, teammates and former manager Joe McCarthy, plus he became the first player in Major League history to have a uniform number retired.  The most iconic moment, of course, was Gehrig’s own speech, in which he described himself as “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

Here’s the latest from around the AL East…

  • The Red Sox demoted Christian Vazquez to Triple-A and activated Ryan Hanigan off the 15-day DL today.  Despite good defensive numbers, Vazquez looked overmatched at the plate, hitting just .226/.278/.305 over 176 PA.  While the demotion wasn’t unexpected, the surprising element to the move is that unheralded veteran Sandy Leon has forced his way into regular starts.  Leon collected four more hits today and is now batting .500/.556/.775 over 45 plate appearances for Boston this season.  Since regression is inevitable for Leon, the Sox could look for catching help at the deadline.
  • Manager John Farrell described the Red Sox to reporters (including WEEI.com’s Ryan Hannable) as “a good team despite obvious areas of need.”  Farrell cited pitching and perhaps a right-handed hitting infielder as those areas of need.  Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez (both left-handed bats) are Boston’s primary backup infielders, and struggling third baseman Travis Shaw also swings from the left side.
  • The Orioles are hopeful that Darren O’Day can return after the All-Star break, manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com) today.  The reliever was enjoying another solid season out of the Orioles bullpen before suffering a hamstring strain that has kept hm out of action for over a month.  O’Day is making good progress, Showalter said, and a simulated game and rehab assignment could begin next week.
  • The Orioles and Blue Jays have both had talent evaluators watching the Twins recently, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.
  • The Blue Jays often talk about Aaron Sanchez’s role, and manager John Gibbons told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith) that he still thinks Sanchez will be shifted to the bullpen at some point this season.  Toronto has held to this plan since Spring Training in order to keep Sanchez’s innings in check, though the young righty has emerged as the ace of the Jays rotation.  After eight innings of one-run ball against the Royals tonight, Sanchez now has a 2.94 ERA, 56.7% grounder rate and 7.86 K/9 through 113 1/3 frames this season.  Sanchez’s previous career high is 133 1/3 (in both minor league and MLB innings) in 2014.
  • Marco Estrada received at least four cortisone shots in his bad back today, and the Blue Jays are hopeful he can make his scheduled start on Thursday, Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling writes.  This the second time Estrada has been hampered by back problems this season, as an early-season DL stint cost him his first start of the year though similar cortisone treatments helped correct those issues.  It’s also possible the Jays could start Drew Hutchison on Thursday and give Estrada an extended rest through the All-Star break.

Red Sox Make Handful Of Roster Moves

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The Red Sox have placed catcher Ryan Hanigan and catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart on the 15-day disabled list, brought up outfielder Rusney Castillo, right-hander Heath Hembree and backstop Sandy Leon from Triple-A Pawtucket, and optioned righty Noe Ramirez, the team announced.

Both Hanigan and Swihart left Boston’s win over Toronto on Saturday with injuries. Hanigan departed in the sixth inning with a neck strain, while Swihart exited in the seventh after crashing into the wall down the left field line on a catch and hurting his left ankle.

Hanigan hasn’t offered much at the plate this year, having hit an ugly .186/.250/.229 in 70 plate appearances, though he has thrown out six of 19 would-be base stealers (good for an above-average 32 percent rate). Swihart has provided a decent .258/.365/.355 line in 74 PAs while adjusting to an outfield role. The losses of him and Hanigan will obviously have a negative effect on the Red Sox’s catcher depth behind Christian Vazquez, which is why the club promoted Leon. In 129 PAs with Pawtucket this season, Leon has batted .237/.310/.333 with two home runs. He owns a .187/.258/.225 line in 235 major league trips to the plate.

With Swihart down, Castillo could now have a chance to reenter the picture for the Red Sox, though he’ll sit Sunday in favor of Chris Young. Since signing a $72MM deal with Boston in 2014, the Cuba native has garnered just 333 big league PAs, hitting an underwhelming .265/.304/.383. He has spent nearly all of this year in the minors, where he has continued to post less-than-stellar statistics (.241/.302/.317 with one homer in 159 PAs).

Hembree, on the other hand, has been successful for the Red Sox this season. The 27-year-old has compiled a 2.14 ERA, 7.71 K/9 and 2.14 BB/9 in 21 big league innings. Those numbers are relatively similar to his career totals (2.81, 7.17 and 2.95, respectively) over 64 frames. Hembree has also pitched to a solid 3.07 ERA, complemented by a superb 11.0 K/9, in 246 1/3 minor league innings.

Since debuting in the majors last season, Ramirez has racked up 24 innings of 5.25 ERA ball to accompany a 9.00 K/9 and 5.25 BB/9. Ramirez’s minor league career has been a different story, though, as he has a 2.86 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 283 innings at lower levels.

AL East Notes: Swihart, Conger, Orioles

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The Red Sox’ recall of Christian Vazquez from Triple-A Pawtucket brings into question Blake Swihart’s immediate role with the club, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Vazquez is known to be an excellent defensive backstop, whereas there have been concerns with Swihart’s glove early this season. The team made veteran Ryan Hanigan available during Spring Training, he notes, but Swihart’s struggles might make it more difficult to part with a sturdy backup like Hanigan. Drellich explores the possibility of a position change for Swihart, whose bat is his best asset, although it’s not clear that the team has entertained any such notion at this time.

A couple more items pertaining to the AL East as teams gear up for their series…

  • The Rays were confident that they could cure Hank Conger’s throwing woes when they acquired him from Houston this offseason, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, but Conger permitted five stolen bases in yesterday’s contest and is 0-for-7 in throwing out runners to begin the season. An 0-for-7 skid wouldn’t necessarily be an extreme concern for many catchers, but Conger threw out just one of 43 attempted base stealers last season and has now yielded 44 consecutive stolen bases. Manager Kevin Cash acknowledged that controlling the running game is an area in which Tampa Bay needs to improve, noting that he felt Chris Archer did a good job holding runners yesterday in spite of the barrage of steals. Conger’s sudden struggles are a bit curious, considering he threw out 35 of 145 runners (24 percent) with the Angels from 2012-14 before the issue arose. Conger does grade out as an excellent pitch framer, so if the Rays can improve his throwing, they’d have the makings of a very strong defensive backstop.
  • Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun looks at what could be an unexpectedly crowded corner outfield situation for the Orioles now that Adam Jones is back in the lineup. Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard and veteran Nolan Reimold have hit well thus far, and Hyun Soo Kim remains on option despite limited playing time thus far. Jones and Mark Trumbo figure to be in there virtually every day (though Trumbo can DH against lefties in place of Pedro Alvarez), but there could indeed be a carousel of sorts to be managed by Buck Showalter. I don’t know that the logjam is as pronounced as it would appear, as Rickard’s early success doesn’t strike me as overly sustainable given his high BABIP and lack of hard contact. (As Meoli points out, he’s 4-for-20 after a fast start to the season.) The club will have to carry Rickard all year, though, to keep him, so he’ll have to get his share of playing time.

AL Notes: Red Sox, Rangers, Eppler

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The Red Sox could trade from their considerable catching depth, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. Blake Swihart projects as their starter, while Christian Vazquez has looked good defensively after having Tommy John surgery last year. There’s also veteran Ryan Hanigan, as well as Sandy Leon, who MacPherson notes isn’t on the 40-man roster but is “being paid commensurate with a front-line depth option.” At some point, MacPherson suggests, youngsters Swihart and Vazquez will likely be the Red Sox’ top two catchers. That would imply that Hanigan could be a candidate to be dealt, with the Astros and Rangers as potential trade partners. Hanigan hit a decent .247/.337/.328 last year, has a reputation as a good defender and framer, and is only owed $3.7MM in 2016, so he could be an attractive target for teams in need of catching help. Here’s more from the American League.

  • The Rangers have announced that they’ve optioned high-profile youngsters Joey Gallo, Jurickson Profar and Nomar Mazara to Triple-A Round Rock. Gallo has wowed minor-league fans with his power and hit 29 home runs between three levels in 2015, but he struck out in over 40% of his plate appearances in the big leagues and at nearly as high a rate at Triple-A. Profar was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the game by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus prior to the 2013 season, but he missed all of 2014 and most of 2015 with shoulder issues and has only recently begun playing shortstop again. Mazara, an outfielder, batted .296/.366/.443 in a 2015 season split between Double-A Frisco and Round Rock. Via MLB.com, he ranks as the Rangers’ third-best prospect, with Gallo ranking first.
  • Tyler Kepner of the New York Times’ profile on new Angels GM Billy Eppler describes Eppler’s earlier days as assistant GM of the Yankees. In particular, Kepner gives Eppler credit for many of the Yankees’ smaller but effective moves, like their 2014 stretch-drive trade for Brandon McCarthy and their 2008 offseason deal for Nick Swisher, neither of which cost the Yankees much. “I think you demonstrate that to the people interviewing you, like, ’There’s other moves that the Yankees make,'” says Eppler, who had previously interviewed for the Padres’ and Mariners’ GM jobs, as well as interviewing for the Angels job when it previously went to Jerry Dipoto. “It’s not just the $150 million guys and nothing else. There are other moves; they just don’t grab the attention in New York.”
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