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Shawn Morimando In Talks With CPBL’s CTBC Brothers

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The CTBC Brothers of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League are reportedly in talks with former big league pitcher Shawn Morimando (h/t to CPBL Stats). If a deal emerges, it will be Morimando’s third stint with the Brothers, having made appearances with the team during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Morimando, 30, was selected by the Guardians in the 19th round of the 2011 draft and would make his major league debut with the team during the 2016 season. However, he would be unable to secure a permanent role in Cleveland’s bullpen, instead spending the 2017 season with their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus before being released mid-way through the 2018 season, eventually joining Toronto on a minor league deal. The lefty would spend the rest of the 2018 season and the entirety of the 2019 season with Toronto’s Triple-A team in Buffalo before spending the 2020 season in Australia.

Following the conclusion of the 2020 season, Morimando would return state-side, signing a minor league deal with the Marlins in February 2021 and eventually earning a promotion to the big league club in May — his first appearance at the Major League level since 2016. However, he struggled to a 9.58 ERA over 10 1/3 innings (four appearances) and was outrighted several times over the season before being released in late September. Morimando would spend the remainder of 2021 with the CTBC Brothers, and re-signed with the club following the conclusion of the season.

The southpaw had a strong start in his second season with the Brothers, pitching to a 2.56 ERA in 91 1/3 innings (14 starts) with an 89:29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Nevertheless, the club released Morimando in July to allow him to pursue an opportunity in South Korea with the SSG Landers. After joining the Landers, Morimando continued his strong 2022 form, pitching 75 1/3 innings of 1.67 ERA baseball, albeit with a poorer 67:23 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Despite having played in parts of 12 seasons of affiliate baseball, Morimando has only recently turned 30 and could eventually look for a return to the affiliated ranks if he performs well in the CPBL. For now, Morimando will likely slot into the starting rotation of a Brothers’ team fresh off their second consecutive league victory.

Mets Have “Raised Concerns” Over Carlos Correa’s Physical, Deal Still “Likely”

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2:51pm: According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, a deal with the Mets is still “likely”, although he reports that the contract could be reworked considering the issue. While it’s not known what a reworked contract would look like, it could include altering the duration or financial guarantee of the contract, or rewording it to alter the amount of guaranteed money Correa makes should he miss a period of time due to the specific leg ailment which is causing concern. Rogers adds that there is not a timetable in place to resolve the matter.

10:56am: Carlos Correa’s physical with the Mets has “raised concerns”, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal and Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Per the report, the concern centers on Correa’s surgically repaired lower right leg. Correa has agreed to a 12-year, $315MM deal with the Mets just days after a 13-year, $350MM deal with the Giants fell through over concerns over the physical.

While it’s jarring to hear given the events of the past week, it’s unclear yet what this means for the status of the deal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the two parties are currently trying to work through the issue.

Mets owner Steve Cohen has already addressed the deal, telling Heyman earlier this week that “we needed one more thing, and this is it”. That’s particularly significant as, per The Athletic’s report, addressing the deal on the record could make it trickier to back out of the agreement, although there’s nothing to suggest that’s what the Mets are looking to do.

It’s been a fascinating turn of events in Correa’s free agency over the past week. Generally, reported agreements pending a physical have become official without a hitch, but Correa’s has now hit a snag on two separate occasions in the space of a week. Further, he’s one of the top free agents this winter and had agreed to deals worth in excess of $300MM. Correa had agreed to a long-term contract with the Giants on December 13, but that fell over on Monday after the Giants reportedly asked for more time to look into the medicals after finding something that gave them pause. However, agent Scott Boras quickly pivoted and went to the Mets, who quickly agreed to their own long-term deal for $35MM less than the original Giants agreement.

Boras sought to re-engage with the Twins as well after the Giants deal fell through. Per The Athletic’s report, they’d offered him a ten-year, $285MM deal but would have put a greater emphasis on a physical before that deal than the deal he signed with Minnesota earlier in 2022, given the long-term nature of the proposal. The report also adds that after Correa became available again, the Twins were unwilling to alter their initial proposal, and would have wanted to investigate the issues raised in the player’s physical with the Giants.

The Giants have been quiet on the matter. HIPAA laws restrict them from disclosing clear answers about the precise nature of the injury, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi did offer a statement: “While we are prohibited from disclosing confidential medical information, as Scott Boras stated publicly, there was a difference of opinion over the results of Carlos’ physical examination. We wish Carlos the best.”

The Correa camp has denied any cause for concern. Prior to undertaking his physical with the Mets, Boras said “there is nothing with him that is currently any sort of medical issue,” via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He also added that the Giants were trying to use a “crystal ball” to try and predict Correa’s long term health (via Laura Albanese of Newsday).

Various reports have mentioned Correa’s right leg as the source of concern for both the Giants and Mets. Back in 2014, a teenage Correa fractured his right fibula and sustained minor ligament damage while playing in High-A in the Astros organization. That injury required arthroscopic surgery to repair. Correa has missed time for thumb, back and rib issues in the big leagues, but the right leg has never sent him to the injured list in his eight big league seasons.

It is worth remembering that only a few years ago the Mets did pull out of a deal with a player. In 2021, they drafted Kumar Rocker 10th overall and agreed to a $6MM signing bonus, before abandoning the deal after growing concerned by something they saw in the physical. Of course, backing out of a $6MM deal for draft pick and a $315MM contract for an All-Star are two different things, and Cohen’s comments certainly give confidence that a deal can still go through in some form.

It’s the latest twist in what has been a tumultuous time for Correa on the open market. He was the top free agent after departing the Astros last year, but after the long-term deal he sought didn’t eventuate he took a three-year, opt-out laden, $105.1MM deal with the Twins. After earning $35.1MM last season and putting up another strong season he opted out and hit the open market for the second-straight winter. The long-term mega deal he’d been seeking looked to have finally come to fruition when it was reported the Giants had agreed to a 13-year, $350MM pact. That deal fell through, but Correa was able to quickly land a $300MM+ deal with the Mets. While there’s every chance a deal with New York still goes through, there’s at least some doubt now hanging over it.

Angels Considering Corey Kluber

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The Angels have already signed Tyler Anderson this offseason, but the team might not yet be done adding starting pitching, as Corey Kluber is among the names still under consideration, The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Kluber is one of the more prominent arms still remaining on a thinned-out list of free agent starters, and MLBTR rated Kluber 48th on our ranking of the winter’s top 50 free agents.

Entering his age-37 season and what would be his 13th big league campaign, Kluber tossed 164 innings with the Rays last year — an important number considering that injuries limited the right-hander to only 116 2/3 innings total from 2019-21.  In addition to the durability, Kluber also had the lowest walk rate (3.0%) of any pitcher in baseball who threw at least 70 innings, while posting a 4.34 ERA/3.85 SIERA and doing a very good job of limiting hard contact.

While control and soft contact were also big parts of Kluber’s skillset in his heyday as Cleveland’s ace, he has experienced a big dropoff in missed bats.  Despite a chase rate that was among the best in the game, Kluber’s 20.2% strikeout percentage was well below the league average.  Kluber was never a big power pitcher even in his prime, but his fastball velocity dropped down to 88.9mph, and his once-deadly curveball was a borderline below-average pitch in 2022.

Kluber still looks like he can be a positive contributor to a rotation, and with another year removed from the injuries that sidetracked his career, the righty might even be able to take things to a slightly higher level in 2023.  The Rays took some extra caution with Kluber last season, as he only twice pitched as many as seven innings, and only hit the 90-pitch plateau in six of his 31 starts.

The Angels could continue this usage, as signing Kluber or another starter would seemingly indicate that Anaheim is considering going back to a six-man rotation.  The rotation currently lines up as Shohei Ohtani, Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, and Reid Detmers, and a sixth pitcher would help keep everyone fresh (in particular Ohtani, given his dual workload as a hitter).

Kluber’s age and injury history limited him to one-year contracts in each of the last two offseasons, as he signed with the Yankees for $11MM prior to the 2021 campaign and then $8MM last winter with the Rays.  Such a deal would line up with the Angels’ general preference for shorter-term and lower-cost deals with starting pitchers, though the three-year, $39MM deal with Anderson (which also had draft compensation attached) represented a slight stretch beyond the Halos’ usual comfort zone.

Since the Angels also haven’t exceeded the Competitive Balance Tax threshold since 2004, it is notable that a Kluber contract in that $8-$11MM range would get the team even closer to the CBT line. Roster Resource projects Los Angeles for a tax number of just under $220.3MM.  However, Angels GM Perry Minasian has said that ownership hasn’t given him instruction about staying under the tax line, so the luxury tax might not be a huge consideration this winter.  Even if it’s likelier than the team might just exceed the threshold rather than blow past it (say, to $253MM and the first penalty tier), the Angels have been pretty aggressively checking the market.  In addition to Anderson, the Halos also signed Carlos Estevez and Brandon Drury in free agency, plus they swung trades to add Hunter Renfroe and Gio Urshela.

GMs Ross Atkins, Mike Hazen Share Details On Blue Jays/Diamondbacks Trade

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After months of speculation and interest from multiple teams, the Diamondbacks finally traded one of their left-handed hitting outfielders and the Blue Jays finally moved one of their catchers.  The two clubs joined forces on Friday’s three-player deal that saw outfielder Daulton Varsho head to Toronto in exchange for catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., in a trade that checks several boxes for both organizations.

Given how the D’Backs and Jays’ needs dovetailed so neatly, it isn’t a surprise that Toronto GM Ross Atkins said it was “from the very beginning of the off-season that dialogue began” between the two sides.

“It absolutely was a great fit with their surplus of outfielders, specifically left-handed hitting centre fielders and us having a surplus of catching and their need,” Atkins told reporters, including TSN’s Scott Mitchell. “Right from the start, we felt that was going to be a very important team and fit.”

The Blue Jays entered the winter with Moreno, Alejandro Kirk, and Danny Jansen all lined up as options behind the plate, with Moreno (one of the game’s best prospects) looking ready for an extended audition after making his MLB debut with 25 games played in 2022.  While Varsho has only 283 MLB games on his resume, he was actually the most experienced of Arizona’s outfield core — Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas both made their big league debuts in 2022, and Jake McCarthy has appeared in 123 games for the Diamondbacks over the last two seasons.

Varsho’s longer track record seemingly made him the most sought-after player by interested teams, especially since the D’Backs made Carroll (another elite prospect) all but untouchable in trade negotiations.  With the Diamondbacks intent on adding “impact in this trade,” according to Arizona general manager Mike Hazen, that need couldn’t be met just by shopping Thomas or McCarthy.

“I think there was more certainty — and clearly, we have it, too — with Daulton’s performance to this point in his career, and probably rightly so, that teams were willing to pay more for that.  I don’t know that we were ever going to cross that divide otherwise,” Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters.

Such teams as the Yankees, Reds, White Sox, Athletics, Astros, Brewers, and Marlins were also linked to the Diamondbacks’ outfielders on the rumor mill, as both contenders and rebuilding teams alike had interest in Arizona’s mix of controllable young players.  Likewise, Toronto got lots of calls about its catchers, but reports suggested that the Blue Jays first wanted to wait and see where some other catchers on the free agent and trade market landed.  Once the Braves acquired Sean Murphy from Oakland and once Willson Contreras (Cardinals) and Christian Vazquez (Twins) signed, the road was then a little more clear for the D’Backs and Jays to align on a trade.

Even then, Atkins said that finding a match was tricky since “all three catchers were of some interest to them and all of their outfielders were of some interest to us.  The component that made it challenging is that we were both trying to consolidate more talent on our Major League roster.  They are looking to take steps forward obviously and push the envelope on the winning front and that’s why Lourdes Gurriel came into the picture and made this deal work.”

Gurriel’s inclusion gives the D’Backs a veteran but not old (Gurriel is entering his age-29) outfield presence to join with Carroll, McCarthy, Thomas, and former AL Rookie Of The Year Kyle Lewis, who was acquired in another trade with the Mariners earlier this winter.  “I’m hoping the contact, the on-base, the ability to hit, the two-strike approach, is going to lend itself to making our lineup even tougher to face with the way some of those kids are going to be running around the bases the way they did last year,” Hazen said.  “I feel like a lot of that dynamic offense has a chance to be enhanced.”

The trade with the Jays and Mariners represent Arizona’s biggest moves of the winter, as the D’Backs have otherwise mostly focused on their bullpen with relatively lower-tier moves like the signings of Miguel Castro and Scott McGough.  Friday also saw the D’Backs complete another trade, bringing Diego Castillo from the Pirates to add more infield depth to the mix.

With Arizona still trying to finds its footing after three straight losing seasons, the Blue Jays are in a different position as a club intending to compete for a World Series in 2023.  After a disappointing collapse against Seattle in the Wild Card Series, the Jays have been aggressive in signing right-hander Chris Bassitt to a three-year, $63MM deal, signing Kevin Kiermaier to a one-year contract, and trading Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners for Erik Swanson and prospect Adam Macko.

Now that the Jays finally pulled the trigger on a catcher trade, Atkins said “I think our heavy lifting is done” for the rest of the offseason, though the front office is “certainly not ruling anything out and would expect some incremental improvements.”  Varsho and Kiermaier are both left-handed hitters, and thus the Blue Jays will “look to improve our team from the subtraction of Gurriel, but in our view it doesn’t need to be right-handed or left-handed, it’s more about the impact and the fit beyond that.”

Dodgers Sign Steven Duggar To Minors Contract

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The Dodgers signed outfielder Steven Duggar to a minor league deal last week, according to Duggar’s MLB.com profile page.  Duggar hit the open market back in September, as he opted to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate.

The 29-year-old will now head to Los Angeles’ other team, and also make a return to the NL West after spending the bulk of his career in the Giants organization.  San Francisco had some designs on Duggar as its center fielder of the future, but while his strong glovework earned him at least a part-time role in both 2019 and 2021, Duggar was hampered by both injuries and a lack of production at the plate.  Shoulder injuries sidelined Duggar at the beginning of his MLB career, and an oblique injury sent him to the 60-day injured list last season.

Duggar has a .236/.293/.367 slash line over his 846 career plate appearance in the majors, 805 of which were in a Giants uniform.  Duggar appeared in eight games with the Giants in 2022 after being traded for Willie Calhoun in June, and the Angels then claimed Duggar off waivers after Texas designated the outfielder for assignment in August.

Jason Heyward and Bradley Zimmer have also joined the Dodgers on minors contracts in the last few weeks, as Los Angeles seems to be looking to fill the left-handed hitting outfield void created when Cody Bellinger and Joey Gallo signed elsewhere.  Like Heyward and Zimmer, Duggar is a good defensive player, and Duggar might yet have some upside at the plate.  As recently as 2021, Duggar had a 106 wRC+ over 297 PA with the Giants, fueled by a solid .262/.328/.458 over 247 PA against right-handed pitching.  On paper, there’s an opportunity for Duggar to win a roster spot as a platoon partner with Trayce Thompson in center fielder.

KBO League’s LG Twins Sign Austin Dean

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The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that outfielder Austin Dean has been signed to a one-year contract. (Hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net.)  Dean receives a $100K signing bonus and a $400K salary for the season, and another $200K is available in bonuses.

Dean (who turned 29 in October) heads to South Korea after 11 seasons in North American pro ball, beginning when he was a fourth-round selection for the Marlins in the 2012 draft.  After making his MLB debut in 2018, Dean has seen some action in each of the last five Major League seasons, though his 98 appearances with Miami in 2018-19 represents most of his big league experience.  The Marlins dealt Dean to the Cardinals in January 2020, and the outfielder has since only played in 28 MLB games.  That includes three games with San Francisco in 2022, after the Giants claimed Dean off waivers from the Cards last offseason.

Over 365 career plate appearances in the Show, Dean has 11 home runs and a .228/.286/.390 slash line.  Unfortunately for Dean, the dreaded “Quad-A” label may apply — while he hasn’t had much success in the majors, he has hit .301/.375/.508 with 45 home runs over 1134 PA at the Triple-A level.  That production at least helped Dean get a few more looks in the big leagues, and it may bode well for him in the more hitter-friendly KBO League.

As noted by Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, the LG Twins have now filled their three roster spots designated for non-Korean players.  Dean joins right-handers Casey Kelly and Adam Plutko as the Twins’ international contingent, with Kelly returning for his fifth season with the Twins and Plutko his second.

Padres, Angels Showing Interest In Nathan Eovaldi

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The Padres and Angels are both seeking starting pitching, with the two sides showing interest in top remaining free agent starter Nathan Eovaldi, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI. Bradford adds that one other unnamed AL East team is interested in Eovaldi. Meanwhile, Robert Murray of Fansided reports that the Padres are also among the teams “strongly in the mix” for free agent Johnny Cueto.

The Angels have a fairly solid five-man rotation on paper, but since Shohei Ohtani’s been around they’ve tended to opt for a six-man rotation. As such, the addition of Eovaldi to stabilize the rotation makes plenty of sense. Ohtani and Tyler Anderson look set to occupy the first two spots in their rotation, with Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval and Jose Suarez rounding out the five. That young trio has shown plenty of promise and the addition of a veteran like Eovaldi would give them a very formidable group of starters to go into the 2023 season with. Even if they don’t wind up signing Eovaldi, the Halos are keen to add more pitching, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, and certainly could make a play for some of the other remaining options on the market.

For the Padres, they currently have Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell locked in to three spots in their rotation. They’ve indicated that they plan to start Nick Martinez and new signing Seth Lugo in their rotation in 2023, which would make the need for a starter less obvious. However, Lugo has been far more effective as a reliever over his career and hasn’t made a start since 2020, while Martinez only made ten last year, so there’s a little bit of uncertainty there.

As for the unnamed AL East team, the Yankees would appear an unlikely suitor given their needs in left-field and recent signing of Carlos Rodon while the Blue Jays signed Chris Bassitt and don’t seem to be focused on the rotation. Hitters appear to be more of a pressing need for the Rays, who signed Zach Eflin earlier in the off-season and have the makings of a strong rotation as things stand. That leaves the Orioles – who have been vocal about wanting to add starting pitching this winter – and a return to the Red Sox – who have an uncertain rotation picture – as the obvious options. Bradford’s report does note that the Red Sox do not appear to be the front-runner for Eovaldi, although that doesn’t preclude them from being the AL East team interested.

With most of the starting pitchers off the board, Eovaldi is the top remaining option. MLBTR ranked him as the 23rd best free agent this winter, and predicted a two-year, $34MM contract. He’s shown tremendous consistency over the past three years in Boston, pitching to ERAs of 3.72, 3.75 and 3.87 over 340 innings. Shoulder and back issues restricted him to 109 1/3 innings in 2022, but he’s been a dependable starter when fit. In 2022, he struck out batters at slightly above-average 22.4% clip against a walk rate of 4.4%.

The Red Sox did offer Eovaldi a qualifying offer at the end of the season, so any team (outside of Boston) that signed him would be giving up draft picks. The Padres already forfeited their second and fifth-highest picks in the 2023 draft, as well as $1MM in international bonus money, for signing Xander Bogaerts. So if they added Eovaldi, they’d be giving up their third and sixth-highest picks in the draft as well. The Angels would have to forfeit their second-highest pick, as well as take a $500K hit in international bonus money.

In San Diego’s case, it would seem to make it more likely they’d go after someone like Cueto, who wouldn’t require any draft pick forfeiture. Of course, the Padres are squarely in win-now mode and may view draft picks as a necessary cost to put their team over the top, but given Eovaldi will surely command a multi-year deal with a strong AAV, as well as the draft pick forfeiture and their less-obvious need for rotation help, it’d be a surprise if they won a bidding war for the veteran’s services.

Instead, Cueto could make a lot of sense to deepen their starting pitching stocks. Cueto, 37 in February, tossed 158 1/3 innings of 3.35 ERA ball for the White Sox in 2022, his best season since finishing sixth in NL Cy Young voting for the Giants back in 2016. While his strikeout rate was the worst of his 15-year big league career, Cueto offset that by posting a strong 5.1% walk rate, and keeping the ball in the park far more often. That came after posting a 4.59 ERA over 194 innings over the previous three seasons.

It seems likely Cueto will land a one-year deal, which could help the Padres as a means to insure them against Lugo and/or Martinez needing to be moved back to the bullpen. He also brings a wealth of experience and won a World Series with Kansas City in 2015. That could well appeal to a San Diego team determined to take the next step and win a championship.

Diamondbacks, Phillip Evans Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks are in agreement with utility-man Phillip Evans on a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal comes with an invite to big league spring training.

Evans, 30, didn’t make it to the big leagues last season, playing out the entire year at the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. He slashed .244/.310/.366 with nine home runs and 17 doubles in 400 plate appearances. Defensively, he spent the bulk of his time at third-base and right-field, but also logged some innings at first, second and in left.

Originally drafted by the Mets in the 15th round of the 2011 draft, Evans slowly worked his way up through their minor league system, earning a big league debut in 2017. Over the next two seasons Evans would see brief time in the majors, slashing .241/.328/.278 without a home run in 61 plate appearances before the Mets released him at the end of the 2018 season.

He latched on with the Cubs the following year, but wouldn’t see the big leagues again until the Pirates called him up in 2020. A .359/.444/.487 line in 45 plate appearances that season for the rebuilding Bucs was enough to earn him a bit more playing time in 2021. Across 247 plate appearances, Evans would hit .206/.312/.299 with five home runs before Pittsburgh released him at the end of the year.

Evans could compete for a spot as a utility player on the Diamondbacks’ bench in the spring, or start the year at Triple-A and provide depth in the event of any injuries.

Cubs To Sign Nick Neidert To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are adding right hander Nick Neidert on a minor league deal, according to Robert Murray of Fansided. The deal includes opt-out clauses which Neidert can trigger on June 1 and July 1 of 2023.

Neidert, 26, made a solitary start for the Marlins last season, going five innings and giving up two runs. At Triple-A, he tossed 46 innings of 1.96 ERA ball, with a 26.1% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate. He was designated for assignment by the Marlins and became a free agent last month.

Originally drafted by the Mariners in the second round of the 2015 draft, Neidert was traded to Miami as part of a deal for Dee Strange-Gordon in 2017. He made his big league debut for Miami in the shortened 2020 campaign, tossing 8 1/3 innings of 5.40 ERA ball. He’d continue to serve as a depth piece for the Marlins moving between Triple-A and the majors, and since his 2020 debut has thrown 49 big league innings for a 4.59 ERA.

While he’s posted strong numbers in the minors, Neidert’s struggled to punch out batters in the big leagues, working to a 13.3% strikeout rate over his three seasons. Neidert throws a four-pitch mix, tossing a low-90s fastball alongside a slider, changeup and curveball. He still has one minor league option remaining.

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