Tagged: Winter Meetings
M’s Acquire Two Bats At The Winter Meetings
The Mariners have acquired two bats during the last day of Winter Meetings. They have signed 1B/OF Corey Hart to a 1-year deal worth 6 million and the deal could reach 13 million with incentives. Seattle traded away reliever Carter Capps to Miami in exchange for 1B/OF Logan Morrison.
Hart posted stat lines of .270/30/83/.340/.507/.841 in 622 plate appearances with the Brewers in 2012. He missed all the 2013 season due to a knee injury. Hart will be the Mariners’ starting designated hitter and start in the outfield on occasion if his knees hold up. He has averaged stats of .276/26/87/.334 /.491/.824 over 162 game span. Hart will bat 5th in the lineup after 240 million dollar man Robinson Cano.
Morrison posted stat lines of .242/6/36/.333/.375/.709 in 333 plate appearances with the Marlins last season. He has appeared in only 178 games the last 2 seasons due to injuries. In 2011, Morrison appeared in 123 games to post stat lines of .247/23/72/.330/.468/.797. This was the only season that Morrison has appeared in over 100 games in his 4 big league seasons. Morrison will play the outfield and start at first on occasion.
The Mariners have been looking for bats that can hit left-handed pitching during the off-season. Last season, the Mariners’ hitters posted stat lines of .229/51/173/.293/.364/.657 against lefties while the club posted stat lines of .241/137/424/.312/.402/.714 against righties. Both of these new acquisitions have had success against left-handed pitching. Hart has been an absolute monster against south paws over his 9-year career. He has posted career stat lines of .300/44/128/.370/.526/.896 in 1025 c plate appearances. Even though Morrison is a left-handed hitter, he has had some success in his career against left-handed pitchers. Morrison has posted career stat lines of .244/9/52/.329/.378/.707 in 407 plate appearances.
These acquisitions offer some clarity on other moves the team is going to make this off-season. After the signing of Hart and the trade for Morrison it seems like Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez are leaving Seattle. Morales can only play 1B/DH and those spots are presumably filled by Smoak and Hart. Raul Ibanez can only play OF/DH and those positions are going to be filled by the combo of Hart and Morrison. The M’s will be losing 52 home runs and 145 RBIs with the departure of these two players. The additions of Cano, Hart and Morrison will be able put up higher numbers than those players produced last season.
The team will be out of the Shin-Soo Choo and Nelson Cruz sweepstakes. After acquiring two players that can play in the outfield today, it seems very unlikely that the team will pursue these two high-priced players. The Mariners can now focus on adding players to the pitching staff. Seattle is still in need of a starting pitcher and 1 or 2 relief arms.
Seattle has made some nice moves today. They have addressed a glaring hole on the roster with two players that can produce in the lineup. Both players can offer big production if they can stay healthy all year-long. Some players from last year’s roster will be leaving Seattle for other teams while this season’s roster looks close to completion. Everything is looking up for the Mariners in 2014 after today’s acquisitions.
Phillies acquire Ben Revere from the Twins for Vance Worley and Trevor May
The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired outfielder Ben Revere from the Minnesota Twins for pitchers Vance Worley and Trevor May. Revere had stat lines of .294/0/32/.333/.342 with the Twins last season. He also had 70 runs and 40 stolen bases. Worley had a 6-9 record with an 4.50 ERA with the Phillies last season. May had a record of 10-13 with a 4.87 ERA in double A last season.
Revere has been the second Twins outfielder to be traded this off season. Last week Denard Span was traded to the Nationals for a young pitching prospect. Revere will become the Phillies everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter. He will bring gold glove caliber defense to the Phillies outfield. Revere is a slap hitter that will use his speed to get on base. Once on the bases he has the speed to steal at will. He has the potential to steal 50 plus bases for the team next season. After making this move the Phillies appear to be out of the Michael Bourn sweepstakes. As Revere is a cheaper version of Bourn.
The Twins have spent this off season looking for pitching help. Last week the team traded Denard Span for promising pitching prospect Alex Meyer. Today they used another outfielder to acquire pitching depth. Worley has the potential to become the number 2 starter on this team after Scott Diamond. At 25 years old Worley has time to grow and mature as a pitcher. Worley struggled a little last season but is only one year removed from an 11-3 rookie season. He is a pitcher that relies on getting hitters out with his off speed stuff.
May is in double A so it will be awhile until he makes it to the big leagues. He has the potential to become a frontline starter in a rotation. But he needs to work on his command in order to reach his full potential. He has 647 strikeouts in 525.1 innings over his minor league career. May and Meyer have the potential to be a lethal 1-2 combo in the future for the Twins.
Worley is a good young arm that will perform well for the Twins this year and beyond. The Twins still need to acquire a couple more arms to become a player in the central once again. The Phillies have upgraded their outfield and can now focus on other areas of need. This was a trade were both teams acquired pieces that filled needs on each club
Day 3 moves at the Winter Meetings
-Rockies acquire reliever Wilton Lopez to the Astros for pitchers Alex White and Alex Gillingham. Apparently the trade with the Phillies fell through and the Astros found a different trade partner for Lopez. Lopez appeared in 64 games with a record of 6-3 and an ERA of 2.17. He also compiled 10 saves and 9 holds last season. He will be the setup man for Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt and can come in for spot saves when Betancourt needs a day off.
-Rays acquire shortstop Yunel Escobar to the Marlins for infield prospect Derek Dietrich. Escobar stats lines from last season were .251/9/51/.300/.344/.644. This is the second time Escobar has been traded this off season. He was involved in the megatrade between the Jays and Marlins last month. The Rays needed to find offense and hope that Escobar can provide some from the shortstop position. Derek Dietrich had stat lines of .279/14/75/.324/.429/.753 between single A and Double A last season. He has only played professionally for 3 seasons so he is a couple of seasons away from making it to the big leagues.
-Giants re-signed second baseman Marco Scutaro to a 3 year deal worth 20 million dollars. Scutaro had stat lines of .306/7/74/.348/.405/.753 with the Rockies and Giants last season. He became a key contributor in the Giants playoff run last season. Scutaro was named the NLCS MVP and tied the record with most hits in a championship series. This will be his last big payday as he will be 40 years old at the end of this contract. With this move the Giants have signed three free agents that played key parts to winning the World Series: Scutaro, Jeremy Affeldt and Angel Pagan.
-White Sox signed infielder Jeff Keppinger to a 3 year deal worth 12 million dollars. Keppinger had stat lines of .325/9/40/.367/.439/.806 with the Rays last season. At the surface these look like great stats but he only played 116 games. In his 8 year career he has only played in over 130 games in a season. The White Sox plan on using him as their primary third baseman. So he will need to play in more than 130 games to deserve such a large contract.
-Diamonbacks signed catcher Will Nieves to a 1 year deal worth 800 thousand dollars and signed third baseman Eric Chavez to a 1 year deal worth 3 million dollars. Nieves had stat lines of .301/2/8/.330/.410/.738 with the Rockies and Diamondbacks last season. He only appeared in 32 games last season between the two clubs. Nieves will provide a veteran to backup starting catcher Miguel Montero. Chavez had stat lines of .281/16/37/.348/.496/.845 with the Yankees last season. He provided a veteran bat off the bench for the Yankees. He was thrust into the starting lineup when Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira were injured last season. The Diamonbacks have solidifed their bench with these two moves.
-Orioles signed outfielder Nate Mclouth to a 1 year deal worth 2 million dollars. Mclouth had stat lines of .241/7/20/.314/.380/.694 last season with the Pirates and Orioles. In 55 games for the Orioles Mclouth hit all 7 of his home runs and batted .268. He led the Orioles in Postseason RBIs and had key hits in the games leading up to the playoffs. After this signing it seems as though the O’s will no longer be in the hunt for outfielder Nick Swisher.
-Mariners signed outfielder Jason Bay to a 1 year deal worth under a million dollars. Bay had stat lines of .195/8/20/.237/.299/.536 with the Mets last season. Earlier this off season the Mets and Bay agreed to part ways. He will still receive all the money he is owned over the next 4 seasons. This is not the impact bat Mariners fans were hoping for. From 2004-2009, Bay averaged 30 home runs and 99 RBIs. During his Mets tenure, Bay averaged 9 home runs and 41 RBIs. He was plagued by concussions and a field were the dimensions were too big for anyone to put up decent power numbers. Bay is a low risk high reward type player. It’s a risk the M’s are willing to take to improve the weakest offense in the major leagues. I don’t think this will be the last outfielder the Mariners sign this off season.
-Cardinals sign reliever Randy Choate to a 3 year deal worth 7.5 million dollars. Choate appeared in 80 games while posting an ERA of 3.o3 for the Marlins and Dodgers last season. He only appeared in 38.2 innings pitched and had 20 holds between the two clubs. Choate will team up with Marc Rzepczynski to form a very formidable late inning lefty combo out of the bullpen.
-Angels sign reliever Sean Burnett to a 2 year deal worth 8 million dollars. Burnett appeared in 70 games and posted an ERA of 2.38 with the Nationals last season. He compiled a record of 1-2 with 31 holds. Burnett will team with Scott Downs to be the lefty bridge to closer Ernesto Frieri.
Signings from day 2 of the Winter Meetings
-Nationals signed pitcher Dan Haren to a 1 year deal worth 13 million dollars. With this move the Nats have solidify their rotation. Haren had a record of 12-13 with an ERA of 4.33 as an Angel last season. If Haren regains from in the 2013 campaign, the Nationals will have a rotation filled with double digit winners. The only team that accomplished this feat in 2012 was the World Champion San Francisco Giants.
-Red Sox signed outfielder Shane Victorino to a 3 year deal worth 39 million dollars. Victorino had stats of .255/11/55/.321/.383/.704 with the Phillies and Dodgers last season. He will become the Red Sox new right fielder this coming season. Victorino struggled last season but has the potential to be a 20/20 player that can hit for a high average as well. After this signing it seems that the Sox will no longer be in the running for free agent outfielder Josh Hamilton and Cody Ross.
-Diamondbacks signed utility player Eric Hinske to a 1 year deal worth a little more than 1 million dollars. Hinske stat lines were .197/2/13/.272/.311/.583 with the Braves last season. Over the last 3 seasons Hinske has been used primarily as a bat off the bench. He will continue to provide a veteran bat off the bench for the 2013 season with the Diamonbacks.
Signings from the first day of the Winter Meetings
Rangers- Signed reliever Joakim Soria to a 2 year deal with 8 million dollars and re-signed Geovany Soto to a 1 year deal worth 2.75 million
Rays- Signed first baseman James Loney to a 1 year deal with 2 million dollars
Red Sox- Signed C-1B Mike Napoli to 3 year deal worth 39 million dollars
Giants- Re-signed outfielder Angel Pagan to 4 year deal worth 40 million dollars
Padres- Re-signed pitcher Jason Marquis to a 1 year deal worth 3 million dollars
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