The Detroit Tigers announced the acquisition of outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Atlanta Braves on Friday.
In return, the Braves received left-handed pitchers Ian Krol and Gabe Speier. They also sent cash considerations to Detroit to pay for part of Maybin's $8 million salary in 2016. Maybin, 28, returns to the team that made him their 1st round pick in the 2005 draft. He was sent to the Marlins in the trade that got the Tigers Miguel Cabrera. He only played 24 games in a Detroit uniform in 2007, but returns after spending time with Miami, San Diego, and Atlanta. Maybin hit .262/.327/.370 with 10 home runs and 59 RBIs over 555 plate appearances last season. He stole 23 bases and was caught just six times. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 1.0 WAR. What role Maybin will play has yet to have been determined by Detroit. The right-handed hitting Maybin could platoon in center field with Anthony Gose, similar to how Rajai Davis did so last season. Maybin hit for a .711 OPS against left-handers last season and could fill in nicely there. The Braves receive two arms in return for Maybin, one of which could provide big league innings in 2016. Krol, 24, was part of the Tigers' main return in their trade of Doug Fister two offseasons ago, but owns a career 4.91 ERA in 88 innings in the big leagues. He has struggled to stay up in the Majors, but with Atlanta he should get ample opportunity to do so. Speier, 20, posted a 2.86 ERA in Class A West Michigan last year. He was drafted in the 19th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Red Sox and was traded to Detroit in the Rick Porcello deal. --Devan Fink
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The Pirates and Orioles discussed a trade that would have sent second baseman Neil Walker to Baltimore at last week's GM Meetings, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports.
Nothing came of the trade, with the Pirates apparently wanting more from the Orioles than they were willing to offer. According to Kubatko, Baltimore's hope was that the Pirates would non-tender Walker, who is projected to make $10.7 million through in 2016 via MLBTradeRumors.com. This would have made him a free agent. However, as Kubatko says, the Pirates plan on tendering Walker a contract. As Edurado A. Encino of the Baltimore Sun reports, talks between the two sides have been "off and on." Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that the Pirates are fielding offers on Walker. A trade of Walker could come at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, which are scheduled to occur December 7-9. Walker, 30, hit .269/.328/.427 with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs over 603 plate appearances last season. He has been the Pirates' main second baseman in each of the past three seasons, but has also appeared briefly at third earlier in his big league career. The Orioles appear to be set at second base with Jonathan Schoop. Walker could transition over to first base, where he has brief minor league experience, with the Orioles if a deal gets done. --Devan Fink
The Detroit Tigers have acquired right-handed relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez from the Milwaukee Brewers, they announced on Wednesday. The deal was first reported by Venezuelan journalist Augusto Cárdenas.
In return, Class-A Advanced infielder Javier Betancourt heads to Milwaukee. Also, one or two players to be named later is included in the deal, with one possibly headed to both sides. Tigers GM Al Avila noted that the team will be sending a player to be named later to Milwaukee but noted that the Tigers might get one as well. "It could happen that way, but it may not. ... It's complicated," Avila told Jason Beck of MLB.com. The Tigers have been needing relief pitching for some time now. Their bullpen posted the third-worst collective Wins Above Replacement in 2015, according to FanGraphs. Thee group's ERA (4th-highest), FIP (T-2nd), and xFIP (1st) were all in the bottom five in baseball. The team had issues finding a true closer last season. Five players on their team recorded a save. Joakim Soria, their main closer, is a free agent this offseason and will likely head elsewhere. Even he, however, was not the best at his job, saving 23 games in 26 opportunities, posting a 2.85 ERA and 4.87 FIP. In Rodriguez, the Tigers will be getting a sure-fire closer. The 33-year-old has closed almost his entire career, breaking onto the scene as one of the best in 2005, when he saved 45 games. Three years later, he set the single-season record for saves with 62. Since 2008, Rodriguez has averaged 25 saves a season, but has made a reemergence in the past two years with the Brewers. He was named to the National League All-Star team both seasons. In 2015, Rodriguez went 1-3 with a 2.21 ERA and 2.91 FIP in 57 innings out of the bullpen, saving 38 games in 40 opportunities. He posted a 62 to 11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Rodriguez could be a free agent at the end of the 2016 season, but has a $6 million team option with a $4 million buyout for 2017 that looks almost like a lock to be picked up. Assuming it is, the Tigers will be on the hook for $11.5 million of Rodriguez's salary over the next two years. --Devan Fink
The San Francisco Giants have extended shortstop Brandon Crawford on a six-year deal, they announced Tuesday.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Crawford received a $75 million total guarantee in the extension. The deal covers his next two arbitration seasons and four free agent seasons. Crawford will make $5.8 million in 2016, $8 million in 2017, and $15 million from 2018-2021, according to Jamie McCauley of the Associated Press. Crawford's deal includes a full no-trade clause. The soon-to-be 29-year-old Crawford established himself as one of the best shortstop in the game this past season. Already known as a good defender, Crawford's bat really came alive in 2015, hitting .256/.321/.462 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs over 561 plate appearances. He was named to his first career All-Star team. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 4.7 WAR. Crawford and the Giants had reportedly expressed interest in completing an extension prior to this deal. Drafted in the 4th round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Giants, Crawford has been with San Francisco during his entire professional career and ultimately wanted to stay, forgoing free agency down the road. If Crawford can keep his bat at the same level as it was in 2015, this deal does look like a steal for the Giants. However, it also could be a risk for them, as all contracts are guaranteed. Crawford is given some financial stability with the deal. --Devan Fink
The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners announced the completion a five-player trade on Monday night. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports first reported news of the deal.
The Mariners acquired outfielder Leonys Martin and right-hander Anthony Bass from the Rangers in exchange for right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen, outfielder James Jones, and a player to be named. Seattle has been extremely busy this offseason, new GM Jerry Dipoto's first at the helm. The team has acquired the likes of Joaquin Benoit and Nathan Karns already this offseason. They also re-signed Franklin Gutierrez to a Major League deal. The Mariners have wanted an athletic center fielder for quite some time now but have not found one until now. They deployed Austin Jackson there in 2015, but he is a free agent this offseason. The Rangers found Martin to be expendable after the emergence of Delino DeShields this season and the soon arrival of Lewis Brinson from Triple-A. The 27-year-old Martin hit just .219/.264/.313 with five home runs and 26 RBIs in 310 plate appearances last season. Martin had never been an above-average bat, but his 50 wRC+ was by far the lowest mark of his career. In 2015, he made just 71 defensive starts, which could have attributed to the lack of offense. Texas was able to net themselves a solid return for the outfielder. They added a hard-throwing relief pitcher in Tom Wilhelmsen, a piece that nicely goes along with Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman, Tanner Scheppers, Kelone Kela, and Shawn Tolleson out of the bullpen. All of them are hard-throwing relief pitchers. Wilhemsen's fastball averaged about 95 mph last season, according to Pitch F/X data. His maximum velocity on the heater was 98. Other than throwing hard, Wilhelmsen was a solid relief pitcher last season statistically as well. He went 2-2 with a 3.19 ERA in 53 games (62 innings) last season. He posted a 60 to 22 strikeout-to-walk ratio and allowed just three home runs. Wilhelmsen registered a 3.33 FIP, 4.22 xFIP, and 0.8 FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement in 2015. --Devan Fink |
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