Article: Non-Tender Tracker: Avisail, Schoop Among Those to Become Free Agents

[Tom Froemming]

Today was the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. Ehire Adrianza has agreed to a deal worth $1.3 million for 2019, avoiding arbitration. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported that the Twins would not be tendering Robbie Grossman a contract.

 

I’ll do my best to update this article with all the players who are non-tendered as news breaks. Any player who is not tendered a contract becomes a free agent.*All projected arbitration salaries are from MLB Trade Rumors.

 

The White Sox did not tender contracts to a couple of their better hitters from the 2018 season: Matt Davidson and Avisail Garcia. Davidson was projected to make $2.4 million while Garcia was tabbed for $8.0 million.

 

Davidson had a .738 OPS in 496 plate appearances and slugged 20 homers for the second straight season. He got most of his reps at DH but has also played first base and third base. Garcia, an All-Star in 2017, had a .719 OPS with 19 home runs in just 385 plate appearances. Both Davidson (.268/.344/.461) and Garcia (.304/.358/.457) have handled left-handed pitching pretty well over their careers. Jeff Passan was first with the Davidson news while Scott Merkin was first to report on Garcia.

 

Also of note in the AL Central: Detroit is expected to non-tender catcher James McCann and reliever Alex Wilson, per Anthony Fenech. McCann made 112 starts behind the plate for the Tigers last year, but had a career-low .581 OPS. McCann was projected to make $3.5 million. Wilson had a 3.36 ERA and 1.05 WHIP last year despite a pitch-to-contact approach that saw him average just 6.3 K/9.

 

The Reds will non-tendered Billy Hamilton (as first reported by C. Trent Rosecrans), one of the most recognizable faces in Cincinnati over the past five seasons. The bat never came around, but Hamilton has averaged 65 stolen bases per 162 games played over his career and provides incredible defense in center field. He was projected to make $5.9 million.

 

The Mets non-tendered infielder Wilmer Flores. He’s posted a 109 OPS+ over the past three seasons combined. Flores has been seeing more time at first base the past couple seasons, but has still got in some reps at second base and third base. He was projected to make $4.7 million. Joel Sherman had that news first.

 

5:20 p.m. Update

The Brewers announced they would not be tendering a contract to second baseman Jonathan Schoop. After hitting 32 home runs with a .841 OPS in 2017, Schoop's numbers plummeted. He was struggling for Baltimore, then really tanked after a trade sent him to Milwaukee. He finished with a .233/.266/.416 (.682) slash line and was pinned to make $10.1 million through arbitration.

 

Milwaukee will also non-tender lefties Dan Jennings and Xavier Cedeno. In parts of seven seasons in the Majors, Jennings has a 2.96 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 7.1 K/9. He's made 70 appearances in each of the past two seasons. Cedeno pitched to a 2.43 ERA in 33 1/3 innings between the White Sox and Brewers last year. He averaged 9.2 K/9 but also walked a batter nearly every other inning (4.3 BB/9). Trade Rumors had Jennings expected to make $1.6 million while Cedeno was at $1.5 million.

 

Mark Feinsand reported that the Royals non-tendered Jason Adam, Samir Duenez, Andres Machado and Bubba Starling. Kansas City is expected to bring all four back on minor league deals.

 

5:55 p.m. Update

Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported that the Twins will non-tender Robbie Grossman. With the addition of C.J Cron, this seemed like a likely move. Jake Cave's emergence and LaMonte Wade being added to the 40-man roster also certainly played a part.

 

In three seasons with the Twins, Grossman hit .266/.371/.400 (.771), but he was projected to make $4 million next season. With the retirement of Joe Mauer and now Grossman's apparent exit the Twins could really use an OBP boost.

 

6:05 p.m. Update

The Diamondbacks announced they have non-tendered Shelby Miller, Brad Boxberger and Chris Owings.

 

A former first-round pick who was a centerpiece in two bit trades, Miller was been a big disappointment in Arizona. He made just 28 starts over thre seasons and had a 6.35 ERA with the Snakes. Boxberger led the AL with 41 saves back in 2015 when he was with the Rays, but has a 4.21 ERA and averaged 5.2 BB/9 in 107 innings since. Owings has played all over the diamond in his six years with the D-Backs. He's coming off a career-worst .574 OPS, but hit .273/.308/.428 (.736) in the two prior seasons.

 

The Blue Jays will not tender a contract to infielder Yangervis Solarte. In his only season with Toronto, Solarte hit .226/.277/.378 (.655) while making 79 starts at third base, 26 at second base and five at shortstop. The Twins originally signed Solarte out of Venezuela back in 2005.

 

6:20 p.m Update

The Twins will avoid going to arbitration with C.J. Cron. He agreed to a $4.8 million deal, slightly below the $5.2 million MLB Trade Rumors had him projected to receive.

 

6:25 p.m. update

Blake Parker will be non-tendered by the Angels, according to Mark Feinsand. This is the most surprising one so far in my book. Parker has pitched to a 2.90 ERA in 138 appearances over the past two seasons with the Angels, racking up 22 saves in the process. He also has an impressive 1.03 WHIP and 4.46 K:BB ratio over that same stretch (10.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9). Parker, 33, was projected to make a modest $3.1 million.

 

7:10 p.m. update

The Angels have also non-tendered starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker. The runner-up for the 2014 AL Rookie of the Year award, Shoemaker has seen his innings drop and his ERA rise in each of the past three seasons. He made just seven starts and had a 4.94 ERA for the Angels in 2018.

 

The Phillies non-tendered first baseman Justin Bour and left-handed reliever Luis Avilan.

 

Bour had incredible power numbers in 2017, slugging .536. That dipped to .404 last season, but he still had a 110 OPS+. His calling card is the ability to mash right-handed pitching (.269/.354/.499 career). Cleveland's rotation is very much skewed toward righties ... hmm.

 

Avilan has a career 3.09 ERA in more than 300 innings pitched. Over the past three seasons, he's posted a 10.6 K/9. Lefties have hit just .213/.289/.292 (.581) against him.

 

7:30 p.m. update

Another round of non-tenders!

 

Oakland: Mike Fiers, Kendall Graveman and Cory Gearrin.

 

After a couple of poor years with the Astros, Fiers had a nice bounce back. He started the year in Detroit, then was traded to Oakland in early August. Altogether he had a 3.56 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 3.76 K:BB ratio in 172 innings pitched.

 

Graveman has a 4.38 ERA for his career but in seven starts last season that was up to 7.60 ERA. Gearrin, a right-handed reliever, has a 2.80 ERA in 125 1/3 innings over the past two seasons, but he's also averaged 4.0 BB/9.

 

Giants: Hunter Strickland and Gorkys Hernandez.

 

Strickland had an outstanding first three seasons but took a step back in 2018. In 45 1/3 innings, Strickland had a 3.97 ERA and averaged 4.2 BB/9 while only striking out 7.3 K/9.

 

Baltimore: Tim Beckham and Caleb Joseph.

 

Beckham's a long ways away from being the No. 1 overall pick, but he flashed some skills in his time with the O's. He had a career year in 2017, hitting .278/.328/.454 (.782) with 22 home runs, but failed to back that up. Beckham had just a .661 OPS last season.

 

Cubs: Ronald Torreyes.

 

The Cubs acquired Torreyes in a trade from the Yankees on Wednesday for a player to be named later. Hard to figure this one out ...

 

8:00 p.m. update

Texas: Matt Bush

 

Another former No. 1 overall pick! Bush was converted to the mound and had an impressive debut back in 2016. Since then, however, he has a 4.06 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 75 1/3 innings. Still, that 96 mph fastball will surely open some eyes.

 

Houston: Chris Herrmann

 

Old friend alert. Herrmann hit .237/.322/.421 (.743) in 87 plate appearances for the Mariners last year and .250/.385/.425 (.809) in 78 games for their Triple-A affiliate.

 

Final Thoughts

Some of these guys could make a lot of sense for the Twins.

 

Blake Parker is a guy who jumps out in particular, mainly because I think bullpen help is probably the biggest need right now. Could Jonathan Schoop be a good bounce back candidate at second base? Love the power, love the arm strength but what happened? Can Mike Fiers back up his bounce back? He could be nice rotation insurance ... or he could turn back into a pumpkin.

 

I think Avisail Garcia could be a great guy to push Max Kepler and also get some DH at bats. Same for Justin Bour and Tyler Austin. Same for Tim Beckham and Ehire Adrianza, but he'd just be pushing him straight off the roster. Not sure if the Twins would have interest in Garcia, Bour or Beckham though.

 

Cleveland also traded away catcher Yan Gomes. All in all, it was a good day for the Twins. The rest of the division got a little worse on the whole and the free agent pool got a little deeper.

 

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[tarheeltwinsfan]

Garcia...hmmmm?

[7r4de me]

We could sign Hamilton and roll with him and buxton in the outfield with a 5-man infield

[mikelink45]

Hamilton reminds me of Buxton.  Lots of speed in CF, but no bat.  At least Hamilton stole bases.  Could this be a wake-up for Byron?  I hope the new coaches get to him before he becomes a future non-tender.

[tvagle]

What's your favorite Robby G Moment..per Dan Hayes

[tvagle]

Cron comes in under the MLBTR prediction....making the add look better each minute $400k in the bank of Pohlad

[Brandon]

Looks like the Twins kept Grossman until they signed Cron to a lesser than projected amount.  I wonder if the Twins told Cron if he didn't sign they would non-tender him and sign Grossman.  and because Cron signed Grossman gets let go.  

 

I will say i was for keeping him one more season.  We don't have a lot of on base threats in our lineup as is.  

[jkcarew]

 

Looks like the Twins kept Grossman until they signed Cron to a lesser than projected amount.  I wonder if the Twins told Cron if he didn't sign they would non-tender him and sign Grossman.  and because Cron signed Grossman gets let go.  

 

I will say i was for keeping him one more season.  We don't have a lot of on base threats in our lineup as is.  

I was thinking the same thing...punching bag that he's become, I can see us pining nostalgically next year for Grossman's 360-370 OBP. The Twins OBP last year was 318. It seems scary to contemplate it going lower. Then again, the astonishing thing to me is that 318 was actually middle of the 2018 AL pack.  And next year, it will probably be top half. It's the Apocalypse. You don't have to go back many years at all (10-15) to find a 318 team OBP being the worse in the league...by a wide margin.

[DocBauer]

Got to be honest, I'm intrigued by School a little bit. Not a bad career. If you really felt you'd get close to the 2016-2017 version you'd jump on him.

 

Also really interested in Solarte as a versatility utility guy. Escobar-lite/like with the bat and tons of experience at 2B and 3B with time at SS and the OF. He could make a really nice bench player with starting experience.

[Danchat]

I like some of the options that have been non-tendered - I think there are a few bullpen arms that could be scooped up for a decent price - Blake Parker, Hunter Strickland, and Alex Wilson would be nice complementary options.

[High heat]

Jonathan Schoop should be a guy we look at for 2nd base. Plays good defense and has had a good bat with power. I think a guy like Matt Shoemaker remind me of a guy like Joe Nathan. Has had some success but can’t stay healthy as a starter. Move him to the bullpen let him throw hard for 1 inning and not worry about setting up hitters.

[glunn]

Great and timely article. Thanks, Tom.

[Doctor Wu]

I also think Schoop is an intriguing "bounce back" candidate to fill our second base vacancy, and one with some power too. I also think Matt Bush could be a good bullpen addition, and even a healthy Shelby Miller might be someone to look at. But those guys the White Sox are getting rid of ... not that interested.

[DocBauer]

The market for FA was depressed last season and has seemed slow to get cranked up this year. Also, seems like a few of these non tender moves were very much cost related. This all bodes well for our Twins.

 

We need to make a couple serious moves. But taking on a couple of the guys here would not be "dumpster diving". They would just be wise moves.

[Doomtints]

There's a lot of interesting stuff going on this year.

 

Fortunately or not, this will help the Twins "let's not go crazy with the spending" plan.

[jmlease1]

I'm not a fan of Schoop. His 2017 season is starting to look like a fluke year to me; just not seeing him put up another BABIP of .330, which was driving some of that. I think he'll bounce back and be a decent power bat at 2B, but his ceiling looks like a 2-2.5 WAR player. I suspect his true value is the 2015-2016 version, not 2017. The low OBP is not what this team needs right now, that's for sure.

 

 

[Doomtints]

.330 BABIP isn't too far out of line. I don't see that number as a red flag.

 

But yes, the team needs some OBP guys now... not that Molitor ever used OBP guys properly anyway... maybe the new guy will.

Edited December 2, 2018 by Doomtints

[DocBauer]

I'm not a fan of Schoop. His 2017 season is starting to look like a fluke year to me; just not seeing him put up another BABIP of .330, which was driving some of that. I think he'll bounce back and be a decent power bat at 2B, but his ceiling looks like a 2-2.5 WAR player. I suspect his true value is the 2015-2016 version, not 2017. The low OBP is not what this team needs right now, that's for sure.

Were I the Twins, I'd be all in on Gonzalez to play 2B full time, knowing I can move him around if needed. My second choice would be Lowrie, banking on a drop in power, but still providing a quality bat, defense, leadership, etc, and the versatility to play 3B if needed. But Schoop is a fallback guy I'd strongly consider. I wouldn't expect his 2017 season, but his combined OPS for 2015-16 was .770 with solid overall numbers. That can't be dismissed easily.

[jmlease1]

 

.330 BABIP isn't too far out of line. I don't see that number as a red flag.

 

But yes, the team needs some OBP guys now... not that Molitor ever used OBP guys properly anyway... maybe the new guy will.

Schoop's BABIP in full MLB seasons (at least 135 games): .249, .305, .330, .261  The .330 feels like the flukiest of these. (admittedly, he put up a .329 once as well, but it was also the season he only played 86 games...)

 

I just don't think he's a guy who can sustain a high BABIP and it leaves him vulnerable. JMO. Kinda feel like a reunion with Dozier is a better idea than Schoop.

[Doctor Wu]

Schoop's BABIP in full MLB seasons (at least 135 games): .249, .305, .330, .261  The .330 feels like the flukiest of these. (admittedly, he put up a .329 once as well, but it was also the season he only played 86 games...)

 

I just don't think he's a guy who can sustain a high BABIP and it leaves him vulnerable. JMO. Kinda feel like a reunion with Dozier is a better idea than Schoop.

 

Schoop's BABIP in full MLB seasons (at least 135 games): .249, .305, .330, .261  The .330 feels like the flukiest of these. (admittedly, he put up a .329 once as well, but it was also the season he only played 86 games...)

 

I just don't think he's a guy who can sustain a high BABIP and it leaves him vulnerable. JMO. Kinda feel like a reunion with Dozier is a better idea than Schoop.

Your assessment of Schoop is probably accurate, And as much as I was happy to see Dozier get traded to another team, having him back for another year wouldn't be the worst scenario. As you noted, he's most likely put up better numbers than Schoop and most of the players are already familiar with his style of play. So many potential second base targets this year, I'm not sure what the best move would be?

Edited December 2, 2018 by Doctor Wu

[Riverbrian]

Why does Adrianaza have a deal for 2019 while Tim Beckham has been non-tendered?

 

Wouldn't Beckham fill the current Adrianaza role better than Adrianaza has/does or will? 

 

 

[Pardon My Dinger]

Sign Hamilton, two man outfield, shift the whole league to death.

[70charger]

Sign Hamilton, two man outfield, shift the whole league to death.

You might be tongue in cheek here, but I’m intrigued. Take someone with a Mauer hitting profile. Stick Rosario behind and deeper than the traditional second baseman position and slide your second baseman over toward the bag for the up the middle shots. First, short, and third don’t move. Then play Buxton in center-right, and Hamilton in left field. How much would Mauer hit then?

 

Edit: I wanted to add that Rosario is your second key (or a Marwin Gonzalez / Zach Cozart type) because he can play the infield, having spent a lot of minors time at second base, plus we know he can slide right back into the outfield too.

Edited December 3, 2018 by 70charger

[IndianaTwin]

 

You might be tongue in cheek here, but I’m intrigued. Take someone with a Mauer hitting profile. Stick Rosario behind and deeper than the traditional second baseman position and slide your second baseman over toward the bag for the up the middle shots. First, short, and third don’t move. Then play Buxton in center-right, and Hamilton in left field. How much would Mauer hit then?

Edit: I wanted to add that Rosario is your second key (or a Marwin Gonzalez / Zach Cozart type) because he can play the infield, having spent a lot of minors time at second base, plus we know he can slide right back into the outfield too.

 

I was also thinking of options like this and was coming up with something similar.

 

There's gotta be a software out there that draws a circle around each defender showing the radius they can cover and that can be superimposed upon a hitter's spray chart. It would be fun to play with.

 

Similarly, I wonder if it would make sense to play Hamilton and Buxton in left and right so they could cover foul line to alley and make CF small enough that a slower guy could cover it.

 

Or with Rosario, he could play a very shallow to take away singles and allow the SS and 2B to split wider to shrink the 5.5 and 3.5 holes.

 

(Of course, maybe it would make sense to have Buxton be the shallow guy so that he's farther away from any walls!)

[Number3]

As far as Schoop is concerned, just more evidence that the days of the long term contract should be in the rear view mirror and that includes the Bryce Harpers. Who ever signs him for what he (his agent) thinks he is worth will be more than disappointed.

 

As far as the Twins are concerned, as Tom wrote, "All in all, it was a good day for the Twins. The rest of the division got a little worse on the whole and the free agent pool got a little deeper."

In the Garfield comic strip today, Garfield's owner says, "Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing". To which Garfield replies. "You are preaching to the choir."

[Riverbrian]

I like the idea of Schoop but only the idea of Schoop playing like he is supposed to which he hasn’t been doung. Signing Schoop is fine with me but only as a replacement for Adrianaza and Schoop will have to beat a legit candidate for playing time out.

 

Beckham remains the guy from the non tenders who could be a sensible replacement for Adrianaza. His floor is close to Adrianaza’s ceiling but Beckham Ceiling is much much higher.

[nicksaviking]

 

I like the idea of Schoop but only the idea of Schoop playing like he is supposed to which he hasn’t been doung. Signing Schoop is fine with me but only as a replacement for Adrianaza and Schoop will have to beat a legit candidate for playing time out.

Beckham remains the guy from the non tenders who could be a sensible replacement for Adrianaza. His floor is close to Adrianaza’s ceiling but Beckham Ceiling is much much higher.

 

I'd take Tim Beckham as the utility/injury replacement guy.

 

But I'm also the resident "screw defense" guy and I don't think he's particularly good at any position, so I'd guess others are turned off by his glove.

[Riverbrian]

I'd take Tim Beckham as the utility/injury replacement guy.

 

But I'm also the resident "screw defense" guy and I don't think he's particularly good at any position, so I'd guess others are turned off by his glove.

With defense it depends on which year you are looking at. He wasn’t strong last year but the year before he was fine.

 

In my opinion... he is at least adequate across the infield.

[Mr. Brooks]

I like the idea of Schoop but only the idea of Schoop playing like he is supposed to which he hasn’t been doung. Signing Schoop is fine with me but only as a replacement for Adrianaza and Schoop will have to beat a legit candidate for playing time out.

 

Beckham remains the guy from the non tenders who could be a sensible replacement for Adrianaza. His floor is close to Adrianaza’s ceiling but Beckham Ceiling is much much higher.

They already signed Adrianza to a guaranteed contract.

I get it's not a lot, but they didn't have to, and they did, so they aren't cutting him now.

[Riverbrian]

 

They already signed Adrianza to a guaranteed contract.
I get it's not a lot, but they didn't have to, and they did, so they aren't cutting him now.

 

Yeah I know but I still have dreams.