Hot Stove: 12/5 | Markakis, Hunter Return Home in Different Ways

News

Many new players hit free agency after their teams decided not to tender them contracts, including Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy (Braves), Everth Cabrera (Padres), Juan Francisco (Red Sox), Gordon Beckham(Angels), Eric Young Jr. (Mets), Alexi Ogando (Rangers), John Mayberry andJustin Smoak (Blue Jays), and Daniel Descalso (Cardinals). The Nationals tendered contracts to all eligible players.

Former Cardinals reliever Kyle McClellan retired after six major league seasons, finishing 19-24 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 268 games (17 starts) for the Cardinals (2008-2012) and Rangers (2013). He is 30.

Free Agent Signings

Braves signed Nick Markakis (14 HR, 50 RBI, .276 AVG, 4 SB, 2015 age: 31) to a four year, $44 million deal ($11 million per season).

Twins signed Torii Hunter (17 HR, 83 RBI, .286 AVG, 4 SB, 2015 age: 39-40) to a one year, $10.5 million deal.

Royals resigned Luke Hochevar (missed 2014, 43-61 career, 5.10 ERA, 2015 age: 31) to a two year, $10 million deal ($5 million per season).

Braves signed Jim Johnson (5-2, 7.09 ERA, 1.95 WHIP, 2 SV, 2015 age: 31-32) to a one year, $1.6 million deal (plus up to $900,000 in incentives).

Rangers resigned Colby Lewis (10-14, 5.18 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 2015 age: 35-36) to a one year, $4 million deal.

Padres signed Clint Barmes (0 HR, 7 RBI, .245 AVG, 1 SB, 2015 age: 36) to a one year deal.

Blue Jays resigned Justin Smoak (7 HR, 30 RBI, .202 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 28) to a one year, $1 million deal.

Cardinals signed Matt Belisle (4-7, 4.87 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 2015 age: 35) to a one year, $3.5 million deal (plus up to $450,000 in incentives).

Blue Jays signed Ezequiel Carrera (0 HR, 2 RBI, .261 AVG, 7 SB, 2015 age: 27-28) to a minor league deal.

Braves signed Michael Kohn (2-1, 3.04 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 2015 age: 27-28, 2015 age:

A fan favorite in Baltimore, Nick Markakis is now coming home. Interestingly, Markakis has strong parallels with the man he is replacing, Jason Heyward. Both, obviously, were fan favorites with their first team. Both were born in the New York City metro area before moving to the Atlanta area as children. Both bat left handed, both play right field, and both mix good all-around hitting with dependable defense. In fact, both have two Gold Gloves, the latter of which came at the same position in opposite leagues in 2014. The only differences lie in age and contract length. Heyward, 25 years old and one year away from free agency, is about to get expensive. Markakis, 32 years old, was taken on for $44 million, much less than Heyward would have cost, and is now on board for four seasons. Markakis said the choice to come to Atlanta was easy, as he grew up there and lives there in the offseason. It won’t be easy leaving Baltimore, where he currently stands seventh on the all time team list with 1547 hits, but the Braves are getting a reliable left handed bat that can help stabilize their inconsistent offense. He had his best seasons in 2007 and 2008 with the Orioles, when he batted .303 with 43 home runs, 199 RBI, and 91 doubles over the two seasons. He had at least 43 doubles every year from 2007-2010, and he’s never batted below .271 in any of his nine seasons. The consistent hitting Markakis will stabilize the Braves lineup that includes streakier hitters like Justin Upton, B.J. Upton, and Freddie Freeman.

After seven years away, Torii Hunter is coming back to Minnesota. A member of the Twins from 1997-2007, Hunter joined the Angels from 2008-2012 and the Tigers from 2013-2014. Hunter, who is 39 and is nearing the end of his career, said that the decision was easy given that Minnesota was where he always felt he belonged. He said that he could have gone somewhere else to try and win the World Series at the end of his career, but he would rather help turn around a Minnesota team that has struggled in the past few seasons and win one with them. The Arkansas native, who won nine straight Gold Gloves from 2001-2009, will be a great mentor to young Twins outfielders like Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia. At 39, Hunter can still swing the bat, as he’s posted three straight seasons from 2012-2014 where he’s batted at least .286 with at least 16 home runs. Last year, at age 38-39, he hit 17 home runs and batted .286 with 33 doubles. His best season came in 2002, when he batted .289 with 29 home runs, 94 RBI, 37 doubles, and 23 stolen bases in 148 games for the Twins. That year, he also led the Twins to the ALCS, where they lost to the eventual World Champion Angels. He needs just nine home runs to tie Gary Gaetti for seventh on the Twins’ all time list, and just 15 to tie Kirby Puckett for sixth. Hunter has 331 career home runs, 192 of which came with the Twins. He is also sixth among active players with 2233 games played, behind only Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Adrian Beltre, Manny Ramirez, and Jason Giambi.

Trades

Mariners traded Michael Saunders (8 HR, 34 RBI, .273 AVG, 4 SB, 2015 age: 28) to the Blue Jays for J.A. Happ (11-11, 4.22 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 2015 age: 32).

Reds traded Chris Heisey (8 HR, 22 RBI, .222 AVG, 9 SB, 2015 age: 30) to the Dodgers for Matt Magill (0-2, 6.51 ERA, 1.99 WHIP, 2015 age: 25).

Remember in my analysis of the Josh Donaldson trade how I said the Blue Jays needed a left handed bat? Well, they got one in Michael Saunders. The second Canadian native that Toronto has added this offseason (after Russell Martin), Saunders will bring a much needed left handed bat to counter right handers Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, and Russell Martin. The Victoria, British Columbia native has always shown power potential, but low batting averages and high strikeout rates have kept him from truly making his mark. After not batting above .247 over the first five years of his career, he managed to raise his average to .273 in 2014, though injuries limited him to just 78 games. However, his strikeouts were down and his power was not sacrificed, so it can be reasoned that he is in for a breakout year if he can stay healthy. Saunders had his best full season in 2012, when he batted .247 with 19 home runs, 57 RBI, 31 doubles, and 21 stolen bases in 139 games for Seattle. Last year, he hit .273 with eight home runs and 34 RBI in 78 games. He is a career .231 hitter with 51 home runs in 553 games.

Across the continent, the Mariners picked up another starting pitcher. J.A. Happis not an ace, but he has been a dependable, back-end starter for the Phillies, Astros, and Blue Jays in his career. The 6’5” left hander will slot in behind Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Taijuan Walker as the Seattle fourth starter, coming off one of the best years of his career where he was 11-11 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 30 games (26 starts). His best season came in his rookie 2009, when he went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP over 35 games (23 starts) for the World Champion Phillies. Despite the strong showing, Happ finished a close second to Chris Coghlan (9 HR, 47 RBI, .321 AVG) in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. However, he can say that he finished ahead of a young Andrew McCutchen (4th place with 12 HR, 54 RBI, .286 AVG, 22 SB). Happ is a career 51-53 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over 164 games (140 starts).

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please email me and I will add them.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman