The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed right-handed pitcher Louis Coleman to a one-year, $750,000 deal, a league source told Cover Those Bases on Thursday.
A corresponding move has yet to be announced, but today represented the first day that teams can open 40-man roster spots with the 60-day disabled list. It is possible that the Dodgers will be taking advantage of that. The 29-year-old Coleman has spent his entire career pitching out of the Royals' bullpen, and he appeared in four games in 2015. Coleman spent the majority of last season pitching in Triple-A Omaha, where he went 8-2 with a 1.69 ERA and a 63 to 23 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 64 innings. Over his short Major League stint, Coleman did not allow a run, and struck out one while walking two in three innings. Coleman and the Royals avoided arbitration earlier this offseason to keep him in Kansas City. He reportedly would have made $725,000 this year. Just weeks later, the Royals designated him for assignment and subsequently released him. Now Coleman heads to Los Angeles and becomes the second bullpen arm they've added this offseason, after Joe Blanton. The Dodgers bullpen was collectively worth 4.5 fWAR last season, good for eighth in the Majors. They pitched to a 3.91 ERA, however, placing them at 19th. Their third-best xFIP was likely the reason for the high Wins Above Replacement total. Coleman has been very solid over a five-year Major League career. He is 6-4 with a 3.20 ERA and a 186 to 78 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 177 1/3 innings pitched. According to FanGraphs, his career FIP is 4.30 and his xFIP is 4.05. Overall, he has been worth 0.3 fWAR. --Devan Fink
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The Chicago White Sox are exploring a trade for Los Angeles Dodgers' outfielder Andre Ethier, Phil Rogers of MLB.com and Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago reported.
It is known that the White Sox have been looking for outfielders this offseason, showing varying degrees of interest in Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, and Alex Gordon. The club could not complete a contract with any of the trio. Dexter Fowler still remains as a free agent, though Rogers reported that the White Sox would prefer to add a left-handed hitting outfielder. Fowler is a switch hitter. The team is projected to run out Adam Eaton, Melky Cabrera, and Avisail Garcia to the outfield on Opening Day. If the White Sox got any deal done, the player would likely replace Garcia, who hit for a discouraging .675 OPS (89 OPS+) in 601 plate appearances last year. He has not lived up to the top prospect potential he once had. The Dodgers would be a logical trade partner for the White Sox, even though Ethier had a good season last year. Los Angeles currently employs arguably five starting caliber outfielders, in Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Carl Crawford, Enrique Hernandez, and Ethier. It is hard to know what they would be looking for in return. Ethier had a bounce-back season in 2015, hitting .294/.366/.486 with 14 home runs, 53 RBIs, and a 136 OPS+ in 445 plate appearances. The 33-year-old was worth 2.9 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement. Ethier is still under contract through 2017 and is guaranteed $35.5 million over the next two years. His deal comes with a vesting option for 2018, valued at $17.5 million with a $2.5 million buyout. --Devan Fink
The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to sign Cuban righty Yaisel Sierra to a six-year, $30 million deal, pending a physical, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reported
The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the election of two candidates to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.and catcher Mike Piazza will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame this summer in Cooperstown, New York, cementing themselves alongside baseball's greatest players of all time. Griffey was almost a unanimous selection, getting 99.3 percent (437 of 440) of the vote. He breaks the record for the highest percentage of the vote, previously held by Mets' starter Tom Seaver, who got 98.8 percent of the vote in 1992. Griffey, known as "The Kid," will become baseball's first No. 1 overall pick to make it to the Hall of Fame. Selected by the Mariners in the 1987 MLB Draft, Griffey made his Major League debut at 19 and quickly became one of the greatest sluggers of his time. He hit 40 home runs in just 493 plate appearances in 1994, winning his first of four home run titles. Just three years later, at the age of 27, Griffey hit .304/.382/.646 with 56 home runs and 147 RBIs in 704 plate appearances, unanimously taking home the American League MVP. Griffey followed up his 56 homer campaign with another one in 1998. He slugged a cool 112 home runs and drove in 293 RBIs in 318 games from 1997 to 1998. He was worth a staggering 15.6 fWAR in those two years combined. Griffey was named to 11 consecutive All-Star Games and 13 total. Spending most of his career with the Mariners, Griffey retired with a career .284/.370/.538 slash line and 630 home runs, good for sixth on the all-time list. While Griffey was the trailblazer in one regard, Piazza is in almost the complete opposite, becoming the latest player drafted to enter the Hall of Fame. Piazza was selected in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft as a favor by Tommy Lasorda, a friend of his dad's. That round no longer exists. All Piazza did was hit. Even with such a low draft selection, Piazza eventually turned heads inside the Dodgers' organization with his explosive bat and made his Major League debut at 23. Piazza went on to become the face of the Dodgers, breaking out in his first full season in 1993. He hit for a .318/.370/.561 slash line with 35 home runs and 112 RBIs in 602 plate appearances. He continued his excellence at the plate, hitting 30 or more home runs every year from 1993 to 2002, excluding the strike-shortened 1994 season (he still hit 24 in just 112 games). Piazza ended up being traded to the Mets in 1998. He then spent the majority of his career with New York. Overall, Piazza finished with a .308/.377/.545 slash line with 427 home runs (the most by a catcher ever) and 1,335 RBIs in 16 big league seasons. He received 83 percent of the ballot in his fourth try. Congratulations to both Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza on being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. --Devan Fink Full voting results are here.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to sign Japanese ace right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda, Christopher Meola reported. The deal was then confirmed by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Meola and Joel Sherman of the New York Post went on to report that the deal is for eight seasons and worth $25 million. He added that the deal includes plenty of incentives, which could add an extra $10 to $12 million per season. If all things cash out, Maeda could end up making over $100 million on the contract. Maeda becomes the second addition to the Dodgers' rotation in just two days, after they announced the signing of Scott Kazmir to a three-year deal. After the loss of Zack Greinke, Los Angeles needed another starter, but they missed out on many of the top options. Maeda provides balance to a Dodgers' rotation that had been completely filled by left-handed pitchers. With the move, Alex Wood is likely bumped to the bullpen. To go along with Maeda the rotation includes Clayton Kershaw, Kazmir, Brett Anderson, and Ryu. Brandon McCarthy, another starter, is recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Dodgers get quite a steal with the contract, as just $24 million of it is fully guaranteed. It was initially thought that Maeda would be a big risk, considering he is an international talent. However, with these terms, the contract completely becomes no-risk for the club. Maeda becomes the second Japanese ace to sign with a Major League Baseball team in a few years, with Masahiro Tanaka joining the Yankees during the 2013-2014 offseason. The new posting system will require the Dodgers to pay a posting fee for Maeda of up to $20 million. Under the new system, the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club sets the fee (up to $20 million) and any team that pledges to pay the fee is able to negotiate with the player. It is assumed that Maeda was placed on the market for $20 million, though that is not confirmed. Maeda does not post flashy strikeout numbers, however, his pinpoint control is his best asset. In the 2015 season in Japan, Maeda went 15-8 with a 2.09 ERA and a 175 to 41 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 206 1/3 innings pitched. Meola reported the Diamondbacks and Astros were also in on Maeda. It is unknown whether either of them offered him a contract. --Devan Fink |
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