The Washington Nationals have acquired infielder Yunel Escobar from the Oakland Athletics for right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Clippard, as Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first mentioned. Escobar was just acquired by the Athletics this past weekend from the Rays in the trade that sent Ben Zobrist to Oakland, but Billy Beane and the front office flipped him for Clippard, a nice piece at the back end of their bullpen. Clippard will help set up for closer Sean Doolittle, along with Eric O'Flaherty. The Athletics' bullpen was relatively thin and Clippard will be a nice addition to the group. The Nationals have needed a second baseman for some time now, and it appears that they have found their man with Yunel Escobar. While Escobar has only limited time at second, the Nationals have a need for second baseman and already have Ian Desmond at shortstop. However, if the Nationals were to trade Ian Desmond (and they have been in rumored talks), Escobar would serve as a good back-up plan. The 32-year-old Escobar hit .258/.324/.340 with seven home runs and 39 runs batted in over 529 plate appearances with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2014. He had a 92 Adjusted OPS+. Being both below-average on offense and defense last season, Escobar was worth 0.2 fWAR. He will likely be the starting second baseman over Danny Espinosa in 2015. Clippard, 30 in February, went 7-4 with a 2.18 ERA, 0.995 WHIP, and a 2.75 FIP last season. He posted a K/9 ratio of 10.5 and a BB/9 ratio of 2.9, working to his second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career. Clippard struck out 3.57 hitters for every walk last season. It has been an interesting offseason for the Athletics, who have made a lot of moves in both favor of contending and rebuilding. As for the Nationals, they have been relatively quiet this offseason, not making any major moves up to this point, but could still swing a blockbuster trade here in the last month of the Hot Stove season. --Devan Fink
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The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to sign Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network radio. Kang's deal is a four-year pact with an option for a fifth year, Bowden reports, and it is worth about $16 million. The Pirates reportedly won the bidding for Kang in December, and had a 30 day window to exclusively negotiate with him. Pittsburgh paid Kang's former team, the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, $5 million for his rights. If Kang did not sign with the club within 30 days, the Pirates would receive their fee back and Kang would go back to Korea. The 28-year-old Kang was an outstanding performer in the hitter-favoring KBO. Over 501 plate appearances this past season, he slashed .356/.459/.739 with 40 home runs and 117 runs batted in. While these numbers are quite eye-popping, his offensive production in a big league is truly unknown. An international scouting director told Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors that he feels Kang has above-average raw power. He added that Kang does have good instincts, so he may be able to make the most of his tools. However, the scouting director noted that Kang's raw power is not likely to translate well to the Majors. He compared him to Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who signed a two-year contract with the Athletics, but never reached the big leagues. He did note that Kang is the better of the two players. Defensively, Kang has been noted of having a good arm and good hands, but he is not particularly fast, and with his six-foot, 180 pound build, he may not be able to handle the shortstop position in the Major Leagues. He will also be transitioning from a turf field in Korea to grass in the United States. This could mean that he will have some trouble fielding and will need to work on ground balls. Overall, Kang is a complete unknown for the Pirates. However, he could be a real find for them. Currently, the Pirates have Jordy Mercer starting at shortstop. It appears that Kang will be given the chance to beat him out for the job in Spring Training, but that is yet to be determined. With Josh Harrison and Neil Walker at third and second base, respectively, it looks as if the Pirates are not expecting a position switch for Kang, or at least quite yet. --Devan Fink Athletics acquire infielders Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar from Rays for John Jaso and two prospects1/10/2015 The Oakland Athletics have acquired infielders Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for catcher John Jaso, shortstop prospect Daniel Robertson, and outfield prospect Boog Powell, Tampa Bay has announced. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Rays will receive $1.5 million in cash considerations.
Read the rest of the story on MLBDailyRumors.com. The Yankees added some infield depth yesterday as they have agreed to re-sign infielder Stephen Drew to a one-year, $5 million pact, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Drew's deal with the Yankees includes $1.5 million worth of incentives, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, so he can max out with a $6.5 million contract. Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that Drew will receive $500,000 for reaching 450, 500, and 550 plate appearances. The Yankees acquired Didi Gregorius from the Diamondbacks to play shortstop, so Drew will play second base with the club, at least against right-handed pitching. Drew can also serve as insurance in case anything does happen to Gregorius, or if he just can't handle playing shortstop full-time quite yet. At second base, the Yankees have two prospects, Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela, that would have been competing for the starting job out of Spring Training. They also have Brendan Ryan for depth. Refsnyder and Pirela are right-handed hitters, so they could platoon with Drew, especially considering that Refsnyder hit .385/.447/.587 against lefties last year. The 31-year-old Drew did not appear in the Major Leagues until June because him and agent Scott Boras were unable to find a multi-year guarantee in free agency. Drew was offered a qualifying offer that he did not accept following the 2013 season, which caused interest in him to seriously decrease. He ended up getting a one-year, $10.1 million deal from the Red Sox. The Yankees acquired Drew from the Red Sox on July 31 for Kelly Johnson. Drew hit a horrid .150/.219/.271 line with eight doubles, three home runs, and 15 runs batted in with the Yankees in 155 plate appearances after being traded. Overall, Drew slashed .162/.237/.299 with fourteen doubles, one triple, seven home runs, and 26 runs batted in. His Adjusted OPS+ was 51, the worst mark of his career. Drew is a good defender and traditionally has been. While he was pretty bad at second base last season, according to UZR and Defensive Runs Saved, Stephen Drew overall was a good fielder as according to FanGraphs' Defensive Rating. Overall, he was worth -1.1 fWAR. --Devan Fink The Baseball Writers Association of America announced that they have elected four player to the Baseball Hall of Fame today to serve as the 2015 class.
Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio all surpassed the 75% voting threshold, and will represent the largest number of players elected from the BBWAA to the Hall in a single class since the BBWAA elected four in 1955, 60 years ago. Mike Piazza (69.9%), Jeff Bagwell (55.7%), and Tim Raines (55%) were the first there players that did not reach the 75% threshold. In my mock Hall of Fame ballot, I voted for all three. Johnson, Martinez, and Smoltz are three first-ballot Hall of Famers, while Biggio, who received 68.2% and 74.8% of the vote the last two seasons, will go in after three years on the ballot. Overall, the BBWAA chose the best four candidates for the Hall of Fame, and pretty easily as well. Randy Johnson's name appeared on 97.3 percent of BBWAA ballots submitted, which is the eighth-highest percentage in the history of the balloting, behind Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken Jr., Ty Cobb, George Brett, Hank Aaron, and Tony Gwynn. Martinez got 91.1 percent of the vote, while Smoltz and Biggio received 82.9 and 82.7 percent, respectively. The 51-year-old Johnson won 300 games over his career, and has posted the highest career K/9 rate in MLB history. He struck out 4,875 hitters (2nd All-Time) in 22 big league seasons, spent mostly with the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks, both of whom may retire his number. Johnson is a five-time Cy Young award winner, four-time ERA champion, and nine-time strikeout champion. The 43-year-old Martinez won 200 games over his brilliant career, while helping the Boston Red Sox win their first title since 1918 in 2004. Martinez boasts a 2.93 career ERA, while being crowned ERA champion five times, including a career best 1.74 ERA in 217 innings in 2000. Martinez is a three-time Cy Young award winner and lead the league in strikeouts thrice. The 47-year-old Smoltz is the only player in MLB history with over 200 wins and 150 saves. Smoltz won a Cy Young award in 1996 as a starter, going 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA in a league-high 253 2/3 innings pitched. After being injured and having to sit out the 2000 season, Smoltz was converted to a relief pitcher, first taking on the closing role full-time in 2002, saving a league-high 55 games. The 49-year-old Biggio is perhaps the best Astros player in the history of the organization, playing with the club from 1988 to 2007, his entire career. Biggio was a good player, but was good for a long time, totaling 3,060 hits, 1,844 runs, and a career 112 Adjusted OPS+ in 20 seasons. Biggio only totaled less than 100 hits in a season in 1988, when he went 26-for-123 in a short MLB stay. Rafael Palmiero, Derek Jeter, and Pete Rose remain as the only members of the 3,000 hits club not in the Hall of Fame. --Devan Fink |
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