Do you have a slightly used, not that expensive free agent who might make a positive contribution to a ballclub in the 2019 season? Maybe a backup catcher known for handling pitchers well? A starting pitcher with a recent history of Tommy John surgery? An older reliever with a little success last season? What about an aging utility infielder who can’t seem to get any good offers? If so, the Texas Rangers are interested. In a busy offseason, the Rangers have added Jeff Mathis, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Edinson Volquez, Jesse Chavez, and Asdrubal Cabrera in free agency, and Drew Smyly in a trade with the Cubs, for a combined total under $60 million, with half that total going to Lynn. The team is continuing down the same road with relievers, inking the soon-to-be 35-year-old Shawn Kelley to a one year deal worth $2.5 million, per Jeff Passan.

It’s pretty clear the Rangers aren’t aiming to compete for a division title next season. Even after adding Kelley, the Rangers projected payroll is around $113 million, more than $50 million less than it was just two seasons ago. In what is pretty clearly a transition year, Texas has amassed a cadre of players with very low floors and middle of the road ceilings. The team doesn’t need Smyly, Volquez, and Miller to work out, but if one of them did, they might have a decent player to trade at the deadline in exchange for some prospects that can help in the future. Relievers always have some value at the deadline. In fact, the team just traded the recently signed Jesse Chavez when he was on their club in July, receiving Tyler Thomas in return. The Rangers aren’t likely to get much from Tyler Thomas, but if you can acquire enough similar players, some of them are bound to work out. That brings us to Kelley.

In 2015 and 2016, Kelley was a solid reliever for the Padres and Nationals, putting up a 2.78 FIP, a 2.55 ERA, and striking out a third of the batters he faced while walking just 6% of hitters. The 2017 season didn’t go so well. Kelley missed time with lower back problems, a strained right trapezius, and bone chips in his right elbow. He only pitched 26 innings, but gave up 12 homers and both his ERA and FIP were around eight.

Last season, Kelley gave up three homers in his first eight appearances, but was mostly fine all year. From May through the end of the season, Kelley had a 3.30 FIP and 2.72 ERA. His strikeouts and velocity were down a bit, but he his fastball/slider combination got the job done. The Nationals traded him to the A’s at the deadline for international bonus pool money after Kelley lost his temper during a blowout win in an otherwise lost season. The A’s had little problem with Kelley as the righty posted an ERA and FIP both in the low-twos.

Kelley could be the valuable reliever he’s been for most of his career and net the team a prospect at the deadline. Or he might be the less-good, hurt reliever from 2017. Either way, the Rangers aren’t taking a lot of risk to find out if Kelley can still get outs.

The Chicago Cubs have made the playoffs for four straight years, getting to the National League Championship Series three times and quite famously winning it all to finish the 2016 season. Despite making the playoffs in 2018, the Brewers took the division in a tie-breaking game 163, before the Rockies got the best of the Cubs in the Wild Card game. After the disappointing defeat, the offseason has changed little about the Cubs’ 2019 outlook. The coaching staff has undergone some drastic changes with a new pitching coach, hitting coach, and bench coach. The team brought back Cole Hamels, but had to jettison the salary of Drew Smyly in the process; they failed to make a competitive offer on Jesse Chavez, a reliever they liked. Their biggest free agent addition has been that of utilityman Daniel Descalso. To top it off, the team decided to bring back Addison Russell despite his admission of domestic violence; Joe Maddon addressed the matter with fans in a way that could at best be described as clumsy.

Not much has gone well for the Cubs this offseason, but in bringing in Brad Brach for $3 million, as Ken Rosenthal reports, the club might have cheaply added a pitcher who can take some important innings for the club this season. If he does pitch well, the Cubs have an option to bring him back for 2020. With Brandon Morrow’s status uncertain and Carl Edwards, Jr. struggling near the end of the season, Chicago’s bullpen could use some help, and if Brach pitches anything like he has the past few seasons, the 33-year-old righty should provide it.

Back in 2008, Brach was drafted by the Padres in a round that no longer exists in the draft. Despite the low draft profile, Brach pitched well enough in the minors to make the majors in 2011, though he bounced up and down through the 2013 season. That winter, the Padres designated him for assignment and traded him to the Orioles for Devin Jones. Brach struck out 43 of the 101 Triple-A batters he faced in 2014 and became a useful multi-inning reliever for Baltimore that year. In 2015 and 2016, Brach reached nearly 80 innings in both seasons, striking out nearly 30% of batters and walking a third that amount.

In 2017, Brach pitched well again, filling in for injured closer Zach Britton for a time. He got off to a solid start in 2018, but a poorly timed swoon in June and July meant he had very little trade value and the Orioles were only able to pick up $250,000 in international pool money for him at the end of July. He pitched decently well for the Braves in the final two months of the season. Brach looks like a great bargain signing for a team that has decided it is allergic to spending this offseason, but there are some warning signs.

Brach’s strikeout rate has gone from nearly 30% in 2016 to 26% in 2017 to 21% last year. He’s still been able to pitch decently well by avoiding home runs, but if those numbers tick up a bit, he moves closer to being a replacement-level reliever. He’s lost a little bit off his fastball in recent seasons, which might help to explain the lower strikeout totals, though his swinging strike rate has remained solid. The Cubs should be adding a solid reliever at a low cost next season. It looks like a couple poorly timed months around the trade deadline this season might have soured some on his ability, but he still turned in a decent season overall. He is a reliever, so he might be awful, but as far as relief signings go, there’s not a lot to dislike here.

Everything here is always handled on a case-by-case basis, but there are certain free-agent contracts that get signed that just don’t rise to the threshold where we feel like it’s worthy of a post. Martin Perez recently signed one of those contracts with the Twins. Wilmer Flores recently signed one of those contracts with the Diamondbacks. Jordy Mercer signed one of those contracts with the Tigers. Matt Adams signed one of those contracts with the Nationals. Editorially, some moves have it, and some moves don’t. You sort of know them when you see them.

Interestingly enough, Nick Markakis has now signed one of those contracts with the Braves. Or, you’d think so, based on the terms — Markakis will make $4 million in 2019, and then there’s a $6-million club option for 2020, with a $2-million buyout. This is in that money range where we frequently ignore the transaction. But Markakis is again going to be a regular player. And he’s also coming off a year in which he made the All-Star Game for the first time in his 13-season career. It’s almost impossible to suggest the Braves aren’t getting a team-friendly deal. Markakis was evidently willing to take a discount. This just isn’t the impact move Braves fans have been looking for. It’s re-signing a 35-year-old Nick Markakis.

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Sources tell FanGraphs that earlier today, Cuban defector shortstop Yolbert Sanchez was cleared by MLB to sign with clubs starting on February 5. He’s scheduled to hold private workouts in the Dominican Republic later this week. According to Francys Romero, Sanchez and fellow Cuban Jorge Tartabull left Cuba in June. Sanchez resurfaced in the Dominican Republic in the last 3-5 weeks, according to scouts. Very few decision-making evaluators have seen him recently, but that’s expected to change between now and February 5. Sanchez has been scouted in international tournaments (the video embedded below is of Sanchez playing for Industriales in Cuba’s top pro league), so scouts do have some history with him.

Sanchez, and the timing of his free agency, are notable for two reasons. First, he’s an older prospect who will be paid from a team’s international bonus pool, money normally spent on 16-year-old prospects who don’t even play regular pro games until almost a year after signing. Compared to most other prospects acquired this way, Sanchez, who turns 22 in March, is less risky and should have a quicker timeline to the big leagues. Second, the Baltimore Orioles have by far the most international pool money left of any team, as they’ve spent little of their initial $5.5 million bonus pool, and might have over $6 million in space after trading for additional pool space. We’re unsure of the precise amounts, but believe the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies to have the most pool space remaining behind Baltimore, though all three are thought to have less than $3 million in space, leaving the Orioles with a potentially significant amount of breathing room between themselves and the nearest competition. Sanchez is seen by scouts as a $2-4 million type prospect.

After missing out on the last consensus seven-figure prospects on the market in current Rays prospect RHP Sandy Gaston and current Marlins prospect CF Victor Victor Mesa, who last showcased and then signed in October, some speculated the Orioles would be forced to sign several prospects in the $100,000-to-$500,000 per player bonus range in order to use their full pool space, which they already began doing before the new front office regime was put in place.

The Orioles had to be hoping a player like Sanchez would come along before this signing period closes on June 15, 2019, allowing new GM Mike Elias to add a premium individual talent to the farm system. Sources speculated to us that clubs that have not yet verbally allocated most of their 2019 signing pool can offer Sanchez millions and hope he waits a few more months to sign, though this may be a means of trying to keep Baltimore honest and force them to use most of their pool to sign Sanchez, rather than offering an amount that’s slightly more than the club with the second-highest remaining 2018 international bonus pool.

Sanchez draws mixed reviews for his offensive potential, but scouts agree he has above average-to-plus running, fielding, and throwing tools, and he will stick at shortstop. The Orioles took two shortstops with their Rule 5 Draft picks in December and the position is seen as an organizational weakness at the upper levels for the rebuilding club.

If we consider 2018 performance and 2019 projections, the Texas Rangers signing Asdrubal Cabrera for one year and $3.5 million might be the biggest bargain a team got for a player taking a one-year deal. Ken Rosenthal had the news first, with Jeff Passan coming through with the contract. After five playoff appearances in seven years from 2010 through 2016, the Rangers fell to third place in 2017, then cut $30 million in payroll last season on their way to a last place campaign. The team appears to be cutting even more this season, but has made a handful of interesting cheaper, short-term moves, adding Lance Lynn, Drew Smyly, Shelby Miller, and Jesse Chavez. We can add Asdrubal Cabrera to that list.

In our list of Top 50 free agents, Cabrera ranked 27th, just behind Andrew Miller and ahead of Zach Britton. Kiley McDaniel thought Cabrera was in line for a two-year deal worth $16 million; the crowd agreed on the length though had him making a couple million dollars more per season. Eric Longenhagen described Cabrera like this:

The advent of fluid defensive positioning has enabled aging infielders to stay at shortstop longer, and Cabrera, who has plus hands and arm strength but quickly dwindling lateral range, is among them. Fold in a resilient, well-rounded offensive profile, and Cabrera still has value as a multi-positional infielder despite some clear deficiencies. He’s amassed about 2.5 annual WAR during the last half-decade and will continue getting short-term deals until his bat declines beneath playability.

In Texas, Elvis Andrus plays shortstop and Rougned Odor plays second base, leaving Cabrera as the best option at third. Cabrera’s positional flexibility leaves open the possibility that 27-year-old Patrick Wisdom could still earn his way to playing time and allow Cabrera to move around the diamond, but the more likely scenario is that Cabrera simply makes third base his home. Defensively, that’s is probably his best position, as he lacks the range to play shortstop regularly and range is less of an issue at third base compared to second.

Most teams already have decent third basemen. and the market was full of second basemen this offseason, so it is possible that Cabrera’s declining range hurt in terms of opportunities. He did struggle offensively after his trade from the Mets to the Phillies, but we are talking about under 200 plate appearances. On the season, Cabrera put up a 111 wRC+, nearly matching his 112 mark from the previous season. Factoring in a little decline, Cabrera should be average or better offensively and about the same defensively at third base. The Rangers just made themselves two wins better with barely any investment. If he plays well, the team should be able to trade him for a prospect who might help them down the line.

In October, we asked you what contracts you expected Bryce Harper and Manny Machado to sign. Months later, Harper and Machado are still looking for an employer, and so on Wednesday, we asked you about the contracts again. The idea was to see whether the community has lost a little faith in the agents or the market. Do you still see the same big contracts, or do you expect smaller terms? What have you made of all the recent reports?

As you all know, you are (probably) not Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Scott Boras, or Dan Lozano. This is just a fun exercise that means literally nothing in the end. But, it might not surprise you to learn that FanGraphs readers don’t see quite the same dollars anymore. After running the project again yesterday, we’ve received thousands of entries, so everything ought to be stabilized. The results are posted in the table below.

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Position: Analyst, Baseball Research & Development

Job Description Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking a Data Analyst to work on its Research and Development team. The employee will analyze baseball data in order to build models that support player development, baseball operations, and scouting. The Analyst will report to the Director, Baseball Research and Development.

Job Description:

• Assist development team to create and integrate new tools into existing enterprise application.
• Collaborate with members of Research and Development team to maintain long term information and systems architecture for Baseball Operations.
• Write scripts which support data collection, automation, and report generation.
• Interface with Baseball Operations leadership on player evaluation, in-game strategy, scouting, and player development.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, or similar quantitative field.
• Strong experience querying and managing data with SQL.
• Demonstrated experience using statistical tools and packages in R or Python.
• Familiarity with baseball specific datasets (i.e., Trackman, Statcast, etc) and knowledge of current baseball research.
• Preference for candidates who have demonstrated experience building web applications in Python, Java, PHP, Javascript, etc. Please provide a link to the application and/or codebase (Github) if possible.

To Apply:
Please follow the link to the application and apply by January 25th.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the New York Mets.

There was a minor trade on Tuesday night as the Angels acquired recently DFA’d righty John Curtiss from Minnesota for 18-year-old Dominican infielder Daniel Ozoria.

The Curtiss addition is the latest of many examples of relief pitcher diffusion happening on the fringe of the Angels 40-man roster. Since November, the Angels have been part of eleven transactions involving relief pitchers, either via trade, waiver claim, or DFA. The likes of Austin Brice, Parker Bridwell, Luke Farrell, and Dillon Peters have been on and off the roster, sometimes more than once (Bridwell, who was DFA’d for Curtiss, has now been DFA’d three times since this offseason), as the Angels try to patch holes in their bullpen for free.

Curtiss, who is 25, has thrown an unsatisfying handful of innings during each of the last two seasons, totaling 15 big league frames. He throws hard, 92-96 with the occasional 7 or 8, and can really spin a power, mid-80s slider (he averaged 2600 rpm in 2018). His command backpedaled last season and is the biggest thing standing between Curtiss and a steady middle relief gig. Perhaps the change of scenery will be good for him.

Ozoria spent his second professional season as a 17-year-old in the AZL, and at times he looked like he could have used a second pass at the DSL. Listed at 5-foot-9, 135 pounds, Ozoria struggled with the pace and comparably mature athletes of Arizona. He does have interesting tools, though, and played hard throughout a tough summer on a team that was really struggling. He’s an above-average runner and athlete. Though not a polished, instinctive defender, he has good range and hands, and enough arm for the left side of the infield.

Because Ozoria so lacks present strength, he needs to take max-effort, full-body hacks just to swing the bat hard, and sometimes things can get out of control. His swing also has some length, but I’m not sure it matters as much for hitters this size, because their levers aren’t. Much of Ozoria’s offensive potential just depends on how much growing he has left to do. He’s small enough that I believe that were he a high school prospect, scouts would rather he go to college to get a better idea of how his body might mature than sign him now. The realistic upside is probably a utility infielder, and even that depends on significant growth that may not materialize, but Ozoria is so uncommonly young for a pro prospect that it’s fair to like the things he can already do and project heavily on the stuff he can’t. He will likely spend all of 2019 in Fort Myers and is probably four or five years away from the big leagues.

Position: Baseball Systems Software Engineer

Location: Chicago, IL

Description:
This role will primarily focus on the development and maintenance of the Cubs internal baseball information system, including creating web interfaces and web tools for the user interface; building ETL processes; maintaining back-end databases; and troubleshooting data sources issues as needed.

Responsibilities:

• Assist in the design and implementation of web interfaces for the Baseball Ops information system
• Develop and maintain ETL processes for loading, processing and quality-checking new data sources
• Identify, diagnose and resolve data quality issues
• Build and/or support mobile-friendly user interfaces and experiences
• Build and/or support web services and business-layer applications that speak to both back-end databases and front-end interfaces
• Provide development support and guidance to Baseball Operations power users and general support to all Baseball Operations front-office and field personnel, as needed
• Examine, and where appropriate, prototype new technologies in the pursuit of creating competitive advantages through software, applications and tools
• Partner with Data Architects and Infrastructure/Operations resources on the Information Technology team to ensure secure, scalable and high-performing applications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Related Quantitative Subjects
• Expertise with modern database technologies and SQL
• Expertise in Python, Java or C#
• Experience with Javascript
• Experience with front-end Javascript frameworks like ReactJS, Angular or Vue
• Experience with HTML/CSS
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and sabermetric concepts

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with the R programming language
• Experience with Pandas, NumPy and SciPy Python Libraries
• Experience working in a Linux environment
• Experience building web or native applications for mobile devices
• Experience building and supporting ETL processes

To Apply:
To apply, please use this link to complete the online application.

Response Expectations:
Due to the overwhelming number of applications the Cubs receive, they unfortunately may not be able to respond in person to each applicant. However, they can assure you that you will receive an email confirmation when you apply as well as additional email notifications whether you are selected to move forward for the position or not. Please note, the Cubs keep all resumes on file and will contact you should they wish to schedule an interview with you.

The Chicago Cubs and its affiliates are an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to inclusion and employing a diverse workforce. All applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, disability, or other legally protected characteristics.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Chicago Cubs.

One season ago, Derek Holland was one of the worst pitchers in baseball. There were 134 pitchers in the majors who threw at least 100 innings. Holland wound up with the fifth-worst ERA-. He wound up with the single worst FIP-, and the single-worst xFIP-. He allowed the second-highest wOBA, and he allowed the very highest expected wOBA, based on Statcast. It was a new low for Holland in what had earlier been a promising career. After peaking with the Rangers when the Rangers were good, Holland fought knee trouble and shoulder trouble. After that miserable 2017 with the White Sox, Holland joined the Giants on a minor-league contract.

Last year’s Giants were bad. One of the things that happens when a team is bad is that the team also doesn’t draw very much attention. Criticism is heaped upon the good players who disappoint, and optimists might hunt for bright spots among youth. But bad teams are by and large forgotten or ignored as a summer wears on. As a consequence of that, you might not have noticed Derek Holland’s 2018. I know I didn’t, for a while. It was a terrible year for the Giants. It was a successful year for Holland.

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