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Athletics Nearing Trade, Likely With Brewers

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5:27pm: Davis is indeed in the prospective deal, Slusser tweets.

5:06pm: The Athletics appear to be nearing some kind of trade, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). It appears to involve the Brewers, she suggests, with outfielder Khris Davis a possible target. Slusser also notes, though, that there’s “nothing official” and that the team has previously had interest in southpaw Will Smith.

That’s obviously not much to work from, but it certainly seems as if some kind of transaction could be going down this evening. We haven’t heard of any particular connection between these two clubs, but it’s not surprising to learn of one now. Oakland has been actively seeking to put a winning roster on the diamond for 2016, of course, while Milwaukee is headed in quite the opposite direction.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: Friday

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The deadline for teams to exchange arbitration figures with eligible players is 1pm ET today. Dozens of arb agreements figure to flow in over the next few hours, and we’ll keep track of the smaller arb agreements in this post. All projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and can be viewed on the full list of 156 players that filed for arbitration this year. Remember also that you can keep track of everyone that has avoided arbitration by checking out MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

Onto the agreements…

  • Shortstop Zack Cozart is in agreement with the Reds for an undisclosed sum, per a team announcement. He projected at $2.9MM in his second year of eligibility after a promising start to the 2015 season was cut short by a serious knee injury.
  • The Diamondbacks announced that they have avoided arbitration with righty Rubby De La Rosa for an undisclosed sum. He was projected at $3.2MM but, per Jack Magruder of Fanragsports.com (on Twitter), will earn only $2.35MM.
  • Reliever Fernando Rodriguez settled with the Athletics for $1.05MM — beneath his projected $1.3MM — per the Associated Press.
  • Dodgers infielder Justin Turner will earn $5.1MM next season, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. That’s just a shade under his $5.3MM projection.
  • The Braves settled with reliever Arodys Vizcaino for $897,500, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets. He had a $1.1MM projection entering the fall.
  • Both Zach Putnam will earn a $975K salary next year after agreeing with the White Sox, per a club announcement. That’s $175K over the projected arb value of the Super Two.
  • The Cardinals settled with first baseman Matt Adams for $1.65MM, Heyman tweets. That’s a small bump over his $1.5MM projections. The team is also in agreement with right-hander Seth Maness, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Super Two reliever projected at $1.2MM but will receive $1.4MM, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter).
  • Righty Tom Koehler receives a $3.5MM payday from the Marlins, per Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The team gets a break on the $3.9MM that had been projected. The team also has an agreement with righties David Phelps and Carter Capps, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Heyman adds (via Twitter) that Phelps will earn exactly his projected amount of $2.5MM. Capps was predicted to earn $800K, but his salary is yet to be reported.
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $4.35MM rate with first-year-eligible starter Shelby Miller, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. He had projected at $4.9MM. Notably, Miller comes in just ahead of fellow 3+ service-class pitcher Harvey (who is covered below). Fellow Arizona hurler Patrick Corbin will earn $2.525MM next year, Passan also tweets.
  • The Nationals have agreed with infielder Danny Espinosa for $2.875MM, Jon Heyman tweets. He gets a slight bump over his $2.7MM projection in his second season of arb eligibility.
  • Nolan Arenado will receive a $5MM salary from the Rockies in his first season of eligibility, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. That’s exactly what fellow star young third baseman Manny Machado settled for as well, though Arenado was a Super Two. As Swartz explained recently, those two players’ cases may well have been tied together despite some important distinctions. He also explained why Arenado might not reach his sky-high $6.6MM projection in actuality.
  • The Orioles have agreed with starter Miguel Gonzalez for $5.1MM, Eduardo Rodriguez of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Gonzalez projected for $4.9MM.
  • Outfielder Chris Coghlan agreed at $4.8MM with the Cubs, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets. That’s quite a nice increase over his projected $3.9MM. Also agreeing with Chicago was reliever Pedro Strop, who gets $4.4MM, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). He had been projected at $4.7MM.
  • Both righty Michael Pineda (for $4.3MM) and infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley ($3.2MM), according to Passan (via Twitter) and Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Those numbers largely track the projected amounts of $4.6MM and $3.1MM, respectively.
  • Danny Duffy will play at $4.225MM next year after reaching terms with the Royals, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). Catcher Drew Butera, meanwhile, will get $1,162,500 from Kansas City. Both represented small bumps over their projected values of $4MM and $1.1MM.
  • Marlins closer A.J. Ramos will get $3.4MM in 2016, Heyman reports (Twitter links). Teammate Adeiny Hechavarria, meanwhile, will take down $2.625MM. Both first-year-eligible players went over their projections ($2.8MM and $2.3MM, respectively).
  • The Mets will pay $4.325MM to Matt Harvey and $3MM to shortstop Ruben Tejada for 2016, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports (Twitter links). Harvey approaches, but doesn’t quite reach, his $4.7MM projection. Though he’s still recovering from an unfortunate leg injury suffered during the post-season, Tejada will take home a cool half-million more than had been projected.
  • Righty Joe Kelly has agreed with the Red Sox at $2.6MM, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. He falls a fair sight shy of the $3.2MM that MLBTR projected. Though he reached ten wins on the year, Kelly scuffled to a 4.82 ERA over his 134 1/3 innings.
  • Righty Drew Hutchison agreed with the Blue Jays for $2.2MM, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. He falls short of a $2.6MM projection after a tough 2015 campaign.
  • The Tigers have reached terms with shortstop Jose Iglesias for $2.1MM, per another Heyman tweet. The deal also includes some incentives, per the report. That’s a healthy jump up over the $1.5MM projection for the slick-fielding infielder, who did have a strong 2015 season.
  • The Mariners announced that they reached agreement with lefty Charlie Furbush and righty Evan Scribner. Furbush will receive $1.7MM, while Scribner will get $807.5K, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
  • Both shortstop Jean Segura and righty Wily Peralta are under contract with the Brewers, per a team announcement. Segura gets $2.6MM after being projected at $3.2MM, per Heyman (Twitter link). Matt Swartz’s system pegged Peralta at $2.8MM, and that’s exactly what he’ll earn, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).

There are plenty more after the jump:

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NL Central Notes: Epstein, Brewers, Oh, Nicasio

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An extension for Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein is “just a matter of time,” team owner Tom Ricketts told reporters, including Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times at a charity event on Wednesday. “We talk all the time, and it comes up,” Ricketts explained, adding that he is “on the same page” with Epstein in that regard. Epstein, of course, is entering the final season of his five-year contract with the Cubs, though given the manner in which Chicago has returned to prominence in the NL Central and the team’s very positive long-term outlook, it’d come as a surprise if the two sides didn’t work out a new contract.

Here’s more from the division…

  • Brewers GM David Stearns wouldn’t disclose whether he will continue the “file and trial” approach to arbitration that the Brewers have employed in recent years, writes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. For those unfamiliar, “file and trial” teams cease negotiating one-year deals with players once arbitration figures are exchanged — which will happen this Friday. While some file-and-trial clubs will continue negotiating multi-year deals after arb figures are exchanged, such teams will head to a hearing if no multi-year deal talks are in the works. The Brewers have three arbitration-eligible players — Wily Peralta, Jean Segura and Will Smith. Stearns said he didn’t expect any updates on the trio’s contract status until closer to the exchange deadline.
  • Seung-hwan Oh told reporters in Korea, including Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency, that he got the impression all throughout negotiations with the Cardinals that the team felt it needed him, and he’s happy with the deal he received. Oh apologized to his Korean fans for some legal troubles that he incurred which resulted in a 72-game suspension from the KBO, though his actions wouldn’t have warranted any consequences in the United States. Oh was suspended for gambling at an overseas casino in Japan (not on baseball), which is against the KBO’s rules. He’d be forced to miss a half season if he returned to Korea’s top league, though he spoke like a man who doesn’t intend to do so in the near future, saying he hoped to reach the World Series and wouldn’t be satisfied with an ERA over 3.00. Instead, Oh said, he hopes to keep that number closer to 2.00 — a threshold with which he is familiar after a stellar career in both Korea and Japan. Oh said he doesn’t plan to add a new pitch but might rely more heavily on his split-finger. He’s also looking forward to a potential showdown with countryman and new division rival Jung Ho Kang, who was 4-for-13 with a homer off Oh in Korea, per Yoo.
  • Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters, including Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that right-hander Juan Nicasio will be stretched out in Spring Training so that he may serve as depth in a number of roles (Twitter link). Depending on how Nicasio fares, he could be used as rotation depth, a long man or in middle relief, according to Biertempfel. Nicasio was a bit wild but had generally strong results out of the L.A. bullpen last season, working to a 3.86 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9.

AL Central Notes: Indians, Santana, Twins, Park, Gordon

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In an excellent piece for Sports on Earth, MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince profiles the Indians’ “dream team” front office from the mid-1990s, which featured eight men that have now occupied (or currently occupy) the title of GM or president of baseball operations. John Hart was the Cleveland GM at the time, but the front office also included assistant GM Dan O’Dowd (who went on to become GM of the Rockies); director of player development Mark Shapiro (former GM and president of the Indians and now president of the Blue Jays); scouting director Josh Byrnes (former GM of the Padres and D-backs); advance scouts Ben Cherington and Paul DePodesta (former GMs of the Red Sox and Dodgers, respectively); assistant director of minor league operations Neal Huntington (current GM of the Pirates); and baseball operations assistant Chris Antonetti, who is of course the current president of baseball ops in Cleveland. Hart and O’Dowd spoke fondly of the group’s explorations of baseball philosophy, and Castrovince explains how O’Dowd and Shapiro wrote a 15-page whitepaper that was pitched to Hart detailing their models of extensions for arbitration-eligible players. While such extensions are commonplace now, the Indians pioneered such extensions in early to mid-90s, allowing them to retain their top talent and emerge as perennial contenders in the American League. Castrovince examines other statistical and technological trends of which the Indians were early adopters and looks at how each now-well-regarded executive got his foot in the door with the Indians.

Here’s more from the AL Central…

  • The addition of Mike Napoli to the Indians’ roster almost certainly means that Carlos Santana has gone from catcher to first baseman to DH (with a brief, ill-fated stop at third base along the way), writes Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel. While there’s the possibility that focusing solely on offense could help Santana build his offense back up to its 2011-14 levels, Meisel also notes that the $12MM club option the team holds over Santana for the 2017 season is a steep amount for a club with an eight-figure payroll to pay a designated hitter. Meisel’s implication, of course, is that Santana’s future with the club is somewhat murky. Considering the raises Cleveland will owe Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Jason Kipnis on their guaranteed contracts and also the raises that will be owed to Cody Allen, Lonnie Chisenhall, Bryan Shaw, Trevor Bauer and Zach McAllister in arbitration, a crunch does appear to be coming.
  • Brewers left-hander Will Smith has some fans in the Twins’ front office, says 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson in the first edition of his new podcast (Soundcloud link; Twins talk beginning around 19:30). Nationals right-hander Drew Storen also has some fans among Twins brass, though his projected $8.8MM salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) could serve to curb the team’s interest. Wolfson also notes that the Twins remain interested in free agent southpaw Antonio Bastardo but still aren’t keen on his three-year, $15-18MM asking price. A Twins official told Wolfson recently that even if the Twins don’t make further moves this winter, they’re happy with what they have, though Wolfson notes that he does expect at least one more move out of the Twins.
  • Twins manager Paul Molitor tells MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger that he’s hopeful that Korean slugger Byung-ho Park will be ready to be his Opening Day designated hitter next season, though Molitor also recognizes that there will be some adjustment as Park transitions to a new league. Molitor notes that Park’s former KBO teammate, Jung Ho Kang, “looked beatable” when he saw him in Spring Training last season but had made enormous adjustments by the time the Twins played the Pirates in the summer. Molitor and the Twins feel that Park can make a similarly quick adjustment. “I think that our scouts understand bat speed, eye-to-hand coordination, pitch recognition abilities, even if velocities and breaking pitches are not Major League quality,” said Molitor in reference to Park’s impressive work in the KBO.
  • Alex Gordon’s desire to come back to the Royals “was a 10,” he told reporters at a press conference yesterday (as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes). Gordon spoke about how appreciative he is of both ownership and the front office for bringing him back to the Royals, although GM Dayton Moore explained that Gordon was always the team’s top priority. “When we went around the table and talked to our scouts, they said, ’Get Alex Gordon,'” said Moore to the media. “”I talked to our analytical guys and they said, ’Get Alex Gordon.’ I talked to our coaching staff and it was, ’Get Alex Gordon.’ Talked to his teammates along the way and it was ’Get Gordo back.’ My momma didn’t raise no dummy. We had to get him back.” According to Moore, things began coming together on New Year’s Eve, and the final details were hammered out over the next few days prior to yesterday’s announcement.

List Of 2016 Super Two Qualifiers

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Presented below is the list of players who have qualified for Super Two status for arbitration purposes this year. (Service time in parentheses.) As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently tweeted, the service time cutoff is 2.130. You can find arbitration salary projections for these players right here.

Click here to read more about how the Super Two concept works. Note that, as the link shows, the originally projected service time cutoff moved down as things played out over the course of the season. That brought some notable names into early arbitration qualification — namely, Calhoun and Rendon — which could have a big impact on their earning power in potential extension scenarios.

It’s also important to bear in mind that several of the players listed above have already agreed to long-term extensions: Gyorko, Lagares, and Archer. Notably, the size of the guarantee provided by Archer’s contract is dependent upon his Super Two status. By reaching it (as had been expected), he keeps a $25.5MM overall guarantee. That total would have been reduced to $20MM otherwise.

That contract structure reflects the importance of reaching Super Two status. Doing so not only bumps a player’s salary a year early, but sets a higher floor for future paydays.

Quick Hits: Drew, Nelson, Smith, Marquis, Hall, July 2

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As expected, recently signed Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew has cleared waivers and appeared in his first minor league game for the organization, reports Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). The procedural move of placing Drew on revocable outright waivers — a mechanism through which claims are rarely made — was needed since he inked a big league deal. Here’s the latest from around the game:

  • The Brewers will call up top pitching prospect Jimmy Nelson to start Sunday to take the rotation turn of Yovani Gallardo, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. At this point, at least, it seems that Nelson may only get one start, as Gallardo is not expected to miss significant time. As I explained back in April, Nelson already has 27 days of service to his credit. Accordingly, if he did stay in the bigs from this point forward, he would accrue enough service time to set himself up to become eligible for an additional year of arbitration as a Super Two player, though he will not be able to pass the one-year service mark by the end of the year.
  • Milwaukee’s decision to deal for reliever Will Smith (in exchange for outfielder Norichika Aoki) has been a key element in the team’s success this year, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The team’s pro scouting staff gave Smith high marks, leading GM Doug Melvin to pull the trigger on the trade. He has allowed just one earned run in 21 2/3 innings of work, posting 12.9 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9.
  • Pitcher Jason Marquis was scheduled to throw for scouts today, Rosenthal reports in the same piece. The 35-year-old had Tommy John surgery last summer after tossing 117 2/3 innings of 4.05 ball for the Padres.
  • Another former big leaguer looking to make a return is infielder Bill Hall, who tweets that he is on the comeback trail. The 34-year-old has spent time at third, short, second, and all over the outfield in his 11 seasons of MLB action, and owns a career .248/.308/.436 line. He spent last year with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, putting up a .225/.321/.407 mark with 17 home runs in 452 plate appearances.
  • Ben Badler of Baseball America has the latest updates on the July 2 market. Yesterday, Badler ticked through the top ten expected bonuses among players eligible to sign for the 2014-15 period, along with the clubs expected to land them. Leading the way is infielder Gilbert Lara, who has been linked to the Brewers and could earn $3MM. Four of the players are expected to go to the Yankees, with the Rays, Red Sox, and Blue Jays also said to be set up for some large outlays among AL East clubs. (The American League could also be in line to pick up the other two players on that list, with the Mariners potentially in position to sign outfielder Brayan Hernandez and the White Sox predicted to land righty Huascar Ynoa.) And today, he profiles a set of field position prospects who figure to be among the best available players, headlined by Venezuelan shortstop Kenny Hernandez, who Badler says could get a nine-figure bonus.
  • Meanwhile, the Yankees are reportedly prepared to ink Korean shortstop Hyo-Jun Park for a $1.1MM bonus, according to a report from Korean outlet Naver (Korean language link; translated article; hat tip to River Ave. Blues ). Jason Cohen of Pinstripe Alley recently compiled the available information on Park, who is said to be a solid all-around player.

Royals Acquire Norichika Aoki

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The Royals have acquired outfielder Norichika Aoki from the Brewers in exchange for left-hander Will Smith, the Brewers have announced via press release. The trade was first reported last night by the folks at the Royal Revival blog (on Twitter).

Aoki-Norichika

Aoki, 32 next month, enjoyed his second solid season with the Brewers since coming over from Japan. The lefty swinger batted .286/.356/.370 with eight homers and 20 stolen bases. Though his power numbers dipped in 2013, the former NPB batting champion has a solid .287/.355/.399 line in his two Major League seasons to go along with excellent right-field defense (+4.2 UZR/150; +21 DRS). He comes at a highly affordable rate also, as the Brewers exercised a cheap $1.9MM club option on Aoki following the season. He is a free agent following the 2014 campaign.

Aoki's acquisition would seem to call Kansas City's pursuit of Carlos Beltran into question. The Royals had reportedly been one of the front-runners to land Beltran (if not the front-runner), but unless they plan on shifting Aoki to center field, his presence in right field and Billy Butler's presence at DH make it more difficult to see Beltran fitting into the plans. However, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Royals still plan on pursuing Beltran even after acquiring Aoki.

Smith, 24, was shifted to the bullpen in 2013 and enjoyed an outstanding breakout campaign in a half-season's worth of big league action. Smith posted a 3.24 ERA with 11.6 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and a 43 percent ground-ball rate in 33 1/3 innings for the Royals. His ERA would likely have been lower had it not been for a fluke 18.8 percent homer-to-flyball ratio that figures to regress going forward. xFIP, which assumes a normalized HR/FB ratio, pegged Smith at 2.50 last season. Smith held opposing right-handers to a .684 OPS and stifled lefties to the tune of a .157/.204/.353 line, so he's capable against hitters from both sides of the dish.

The Royals originally acquired Smith along with Sean O'Sullivan in a deal that sent Alberto Callaspo to the Angels. He's spent most of his career as a starting pitcher in the minors, where he has a 3.85 career ERA in 231 1/3 innings. Smith won't be eligible for arbitration until after the 2015 campaign and can be controlled through the 2019 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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