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Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock turned in a career season in 2015, and the team rewarded him financially as a result.

According to Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine, the Diamondbacks and Pollock avoided arbitration Monday with a two-year, $10.25 million deal.

Steve Gilbert of MLB.com noted the deal “covers his first two years of arbitration.”

Gilbert also shared a quote from Pollock: “It’s an exciting time to be a Diamondback. I’m glad to get the business side taken care of and focus on helping this team win.”

Jeff Todd of MLBTradeRumors.com added some context to Monday’s news:

And for Pollock, he won’t have to worry about injury or a performance decline sapping his earning power for 2017. Certainly, the new deal builds in a substantial raise for the burgeoning star. He’ll be promised nearly a $6.5MM raise — assuming the filing numbers’ midpoint as a baseline for 2016 — for the added season covered in the pact. … A longer-term arrangement still seems plausible for the 28-year-old, who cemented himself as the D-Backs’ center fielder with an excellent 2015 campaign. If nothing else, the major raise baked into the deal suggests that the team doesn’t expect him to fall off in the coming year.

As long as that falloff doesn’t come, the Diamondbacks will get what they paid for. Pollock appeared in 157 games in 2015, which was a significant increase in playing time after he tallied a combined 243 games in his first three seasons (31 in 2012, 137 in 2013 and 75 in an injury-marred 2014).

Pollock finished with a .315 batting average, 20 home runs and 76 RBI at the plate. He also stole 39 bases, scored 111 runs and turned in an OPS of .865 and WAR of 7.4, per ESPN.com. All of those numbers were career highs, and the outfielder earned his first All-Star nod as one of the league’s best all-around center fielders.

Pollock did more than provide on the offensive side, as the WAR number indicates. He won his first career Gold Glove in 2015 and was responsible for 14 total defensive runs saved above average in the outfield, per FanGraphs.

If Pollock replicates or even improves on his 2015 numbers, it will mean critical production for a team that could challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in the loaded National League West.

Arizona has bolstered its pitching staff with the additions of reliever Tyler Clippard and starters Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller in the offseason. Considering the Diamondbacks were eighth in the big leagues in runs scored last year, even a marginal improvement on the majors’ 16th-best team ERA could be the formula for a strong season.

With Paul Goldschmidt as one of the best offensive players in baseball, Pollock as an all-around star in the outfield and Greinke leading the way for a formidable pitching staff, Arizona could reach the postseason for the first time since the 2011 campaign.

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Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is coming off the best season of his career, and the team’s front office has decided to reward the 30-year-old with a new contract. 

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, Donaldson and the Blue Jays agreed to terms on a two-year deal worth just under $29 million to avoid arbitration on Monday. The Blue Jays announced the deal on Wednesday, via Davidi.

Donaldson tweeted his reaction:

On Thursday, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reported Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said the two sides were “going to work toward a multiyear deal” even though Donaldson was already under team control through 2018.     

To say Donaldson’s 2015 season was a revelation would be selling it short. Although his stock was trending up following a 2014 All-Star selection with the Oakland A’s, Donaldson broke out and captured American League MVP honors as he helped the Blue Jays nab the franchise’s first AL East title since 1993. 

“We tore down a lot of thresholds this organization has had,” Donaldson said after winning the MVP Award, according to ESPN.com. “For us to come out on top…I definitely think that helped.”

Donaldson played 158 games and led the league in runs (122), RBI (123) and total bases (352) while drilling a career-best 41 home runs and batting a stellar .297. Donaldson’s mark of 7.7 offensive wins above replacement also ranked third overall behind Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, each of whom tallied an offensive WAR of 8.9. 

Donaldson ranked third in the majors in total WAR (8.8) among position players—behind National League MVP Harper (9.9) and Trout (9.4).

It would have been understandable if the Blue Jays had opted to retain Donaldson’s services via the arbitration process until their period of team control expired, but his accelerated growth proved worthy of a long-term commitment.

The fresh deal also mitigates the risk that would have accompanied paying Donaldson through arbitration, as CBS Sports’ David Brown wrote in January:

Look ahead to free agency in 2019: After listening to the Jays rip him in arbitration, is it going to make Donaldson more willing to take a “hometown discount” to stay in Toronto? Yeah, it’s not likely that Donaldson will be signing a contract extension with the Jays at that point, and it’s probable that other teams would outbid the Jays in free agency.

Now that Donaldson is locked up, Toronto can focus on trying to reach the World Series for the first time since 1993. The 2015 season proved to be a monumental step forward for a franchise that hadn’t reached the postseason in over two decades, but Donaldson and Co. figure to be eyeing a much bigger leap in the months ahead. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com. 

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The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms on a new two-year, $18.5 million deal with All-Star outfielder J.D. Martinez on Monday to avoid arbitration, according to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.

Martinez was an All-Star for the first time in 2015, his second year with the Tigers after spending the first three seasons of his big league career with the Houston Astros. He played in a career-high 158 games and hit a career-high 38 home runs while batting .282.

After hitting 24 homers combined in three seasons with the Astros, Martinez has developed into one of the game’s best hitters with the Tigers, hitting 61 home runs and driving in 178 runs.

Jennifer Hammond of Fox 2 noted that Martinez was seeking a deal in the ballpark of $8 million per year last month, but he will be getting $9.25 million per season instead.

Detroit needed every bit of Martinez’s production at the plate in a lackluster year for the team. One year after finishing second in the league in runs scored, Detroit finished 15th while falling to last place in the American League Central.

Two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera hit only 18 home runs last year, his lowest output since his rookie year. Yoenis Cespedes also hit 18 home runs for Detroit before the team traded him to the New York Mets at the trade deadline.

“I want to be a Tiger for life,” Martinez said Jan. 31, per McCosky. “This team gave me my opportunity, so I would love to stay here as long as I can and finish my career next to Miggy (Cabrera) and Victor (Martinez). That would be awesome.”

Martinez’s deal means the Tigers have their outfield set for 2016. Detroit signed Justin Upton to a six-year, $132.5 million contract in January and also acquired Cameron Maybin in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on Nov. 20.

The Tigers will be looking for redemption in 2016, and locking up their best offensive player for the next two years is a step in the right direction.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com.

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Veteran MLB outfielder Delmon Young was arrested Sunday night in Miami and charged with one count of battery after allegedly choking and threatening to kill a valet employee at the Viceroy hotel.

Peter Burke of Local10.com reported the news Monday, noting Young also allegedly used derogatory slurs in addition to physical violence.

“Stupid Cuban. Open the (expletive) door. I’m here. Now what?” Young said during the altercation, according to the police report. He later reportedly said to the valet attendant, “I’m gonna (expletive) kill you, you Latin piece of (expletive).”

The police report also indicated Young was slurring his speech and was unsteady on his feet when police arrived at his condominium after the incident. Per the police report, Young told one of the officers, “I’ll slap you in the face with money, you (expletive) Cuban.”

Per Burke, Young was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Andy Slater of SlaterScoops.com reported Young bonded out Monday afternoon.

Young played for the Baltimore Orioles in 2014 and 2015 and is now a free agent. The 30-year-old was arraigned on a hate crime harassment charge in 2012 after reportedly using anti-Semitic slurs during a fight in New York City.

In the minor leagues in 2006, Young was ejected from a game for protesting a third-strike call by staying in the batter’s box. He flung his bat at the umpire as he headed to the dugout.

The most notable accomplishment of Young’s playing career came in 2012, when he played for the Detroit Tigers. Young was named the American League Championship Series MVP after a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees during which he hit .353 with two home runs and six RBI. He’s otherwise struggled to fulfill his promise as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 MLB draft.

Young appeared in only 52 games for Baltimore in 2015, batting .270 with two home runs and 16 RBI.

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Veteran right-hander Gavin Floyd has found a home for 2016, as the Toronto Blue Jays announced they signed him to a one-year, $1 million contract. 

Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish initially announced the news.

It’s likely a minor league deal, according to Max Wildstein of Scout.com.

The 12-year veteran Floyd hasn’t been a full-time starter since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012 but has been throwing off a mound the last two weeks and appears fully healthy, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. 

Should he reach the majors, Floyd will likely be eased into a reliever role and join a bullpen that last year held hitters to a .231 batting average, third-best in the majors. 

Floyd was expected to land nothing more than a minor league deal, but the interest figured to come from the Baltimore Orioles, per Kubatko.

The fourth overall pick in the 2001 draft, Floyd debuted in 2004 with the Philadelphia Phillies then was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2006, where he burgeoned into an everyday starter from 2008-2012 before undergoing elbow surgery.    

After recovering, Floyd signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2014 then with the Cleveland Indians last March. But he suffered another elbow injury that kept him out until rosters expanded in September.

In a generous seven appearances, he allowed 11 hits and four earned runs in 13.1 innings. 

While he is an injury risk, bringing in Floyd at a reduced rate doesn’t present much of an opportunity cost—particularly given the Blue Jays have a slew of impending free agents to address next offseason, headlined by sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. And if the 33-year-old can rekindle some of his old form, even in the bullpen, he’ll be a cost-effective contributor. 

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The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to add more brainpower and manpower to their front office, hiring former big leaguers Greg Maddux and Raul Ibanez on Tuesday. 

According to the Dodgers’ official Twitter account, Maddux and Ibanez have joined the team as special assistants to the president of baseball operations and baseball operations department.    

The Dodgers have had an eventful offseason, though not for reasons most fans in Los Angeles like. They lost Zack Greinke to their National League West rivals in the Arizona Diamondbacks, opting to sign Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda for their starting rotation. 

Yet what the Dodgers have lacked in free-agent buzz, they have more than made up for with the bolstering of their front office.

Already boasting a group that included president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes and general manager Farhan Zaidi, the Dodgers brought in former Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos as vice president of baseball operations. 

The job of special assistant to the president of baseball operations, which Maddux and Ibanez will be serving, is often left vague. Many former players serve in that role, with Chipper Jones returning to the Atlanta Braves under the same banner. 

According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Jones’ role in Atlanta includes spending time with the team during spring training and doing work at major league and minor league levels throughout the regular season. 

Maddux and Ibanez could conceivably do the same thing for the Dodgers, helping inform Friedman and Zaidi about personnel decisions throughout the year and about when to bring players up from the minor leagues. 

Regardless of what Maddux and Ibanez will be doing for the Dodgers, their hiring continues the franchise’s trend of adding as many smart, informed baseball voices as possible to the mix so it is making the best decisions for 2016 and beyond. 

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The Seattle Mariners have dipped into the Cuban talent pool, signing utility man Dainer Moreira to a minor league contract just three weeks before the team’s minor league minicamp in Peoria, Arizona, per Bob Dutton of the News Tribune.

Mariners vice president of player personnel Tom Allison hasn’t determined where Moreira will fit, but the new signee’s versatility intrigues him, per Dutton.

“What you have is a 32-year-old who can really, really run. He’s got multipositional flexibility,” he said. “He can play short. He can play third. We’ve never seen him in the outfield. Maybe he can run out to left field. Maybe he can be another depth option.”

Moreira defected from Cuba in February 2015 after competing in the Caribbean World Series, hoping to enjoy the same success many of his countrymen such as Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu and Yoenis Cespedes have seen in the majors. 

Moreira isn’t at their level yet and will likely need extended time in the minors to adjust—particularly since he hasn’t played in a game since leaving the Cuban national team. 

“That’s why we’re going to bring him in early [to minicamp],” Allison said. “We’re trying to add depth and flexibility. That’s one thing he can do.”

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The Milwaukee Brewers bolstered their outfield depth Thursday via a trade.

The team announced on Twitter it acquired outfielder Rymer Liriano from the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor league pitcher Trevor Seidenberger. The Brewers designated outfielder Shane Peterson for assignment as well.

Chris Mitchell of FanGraphs noted the Padres recently designated Liriano for assignment to make room on the roster for Alexei Ramirez. Steve Adams of MLBTradeRumors.com pointed out Liriano underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2013 campaign, although he did play for the Padres in 2014.

The outfield prospect appeared in 38 games at the major league level in 2014 and hit .220 with one home run, six RBI and four stolen bases. He flashed some speed on the basepaths and in the field, but he also struck out 39 times.

The lack of contact follows a scouting report Mitchell offered that said Liriano struck out in 24 percent of his at-bats in Triple-A last season and has suffered the same fate in more than 20 percent of his total plate appearances throughout his entire minor league career.

However, Mitchell also mentioned the outfielder’s versatile tool set with power, speed and a strong arm and said “relatively few prospects have such a strong and diverse collection of skills. Furthermore, he’s parlayed those tools into some nice numbers in the high minors. He hit .291/.375/.466 with nearly 40 steals between Double-A and Triple-A in the past two seasons.” 

Dayn Perry of CBS Sports added, “I’d definitely take a flyer [sic] on Rymer Liriano.”

MLB.com provided a video highlighting Liriano’s talent before the 2015 season:

As for Seidenberger, MLB.com did not rate him as one of Milwaukee’s top 30 prospects heading into 2015. According to MiLB.com, the southpaw posted a mediocre 4.07 ERA in 48.2 innings pitched of minor league ball in 2015. The 23-year-old is yet to pitch above the Double-A level and likely needs more seasoning before he is ready to contribute for a major league roster.

Liriano is the headliner in this trade, especially since he is only 24 years old. MLB.com rated the outfielder as the 13th-best prospect in San Diego’s system before the 2015 season even after the surgery that cost him 2013.

Liriano posted solid numbers in Triple-A in recent years and is a low-risk, high-reward addition for a Brewers team looking to rebuild in a daunting division over the course of the next few seasons.

If he finally delivers on his versatile skill set at the major league level, Liriano can develop into an everyday starter in the near future.

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The Tampa Bay Rays plugged a major hole in their outfield Thursday, acquiring Corey Dickerson and third baseman Kevin Padlo from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for pitchers Jake McGee and German Marquez, the Rockies announced.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the news.

Rosenthal spoke about the financial impact the move will have on the Rays:

“A hitter like him … often times is hard to come by. Too much to pass up in this case,” said Rays team president Matthew Silverman to reporters. 

Dickerson, 26, hit .304/.333/.536 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI in 65 games played last season. He suffered rib and foot injuries that cost him most of the year.

McGee, 29, went 1-2 with a 2.41 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. He had six saves and 19 holds, emerging as a reliable late-inning option leading up to closer Brad Boxberger.

On nearly every level, this is a curious move from Colorado’s perspective. Dickerson is a promising young talent who has come into his own when healthy over the last two seasons.

FanGraphs‘ formula graded him at 2.6 wins above replacement in 2014, and he likely would have come close to matching that in 2015 had he stayed on the field. The Rockies also retained team control on Dickerson until at least 2020, so their reasoning for moving him now is a little dubious.

From an internal perspective, the justification will be that Colorado had a logjam in the outfield. The issue was it was a self-created one. The Rockies signed 28-year-old Gerardo Parra to a three-year contract earlier this month. Parra has put up a combined 0.5 FanGraphs WAR over the last two seasons—the same number Dickerson contributed in 65 games last year.

While Parra was brilliant in his final full season with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013, the logistics here don’t really add up. The Rockies will be paying more for Parra over the balance of his deal than they would Dickerson, who many would argue is the better player. At the very least, they’re a rebuilding team that added three years in age without upgrading from a skill perspective.

Doing so based on a package based around McGee is the ultimate sell-low. McGee is a fine middle reliever, but that’s what he is. He’s almost exclusively a fastball pitcher and will make $4.8 million next season before again hitting arbitration. The Rockies aren’t anywhere near competing in the NL West either, so bolstering their mid-innings relief is unlikely to make much of a dent next season.

Good luck sorting this one out from Colorado’s perspective. As for the Rays, this is a poaching of a promising young talent at a position of need for minimal cost.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter

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The New York Mets announced Monday that longtime catcher Mike Piazza will have his No. 31 jersey retired by the franchise on July 30.  

Adam Rubin of ESPN.com added that Piazza will be only the fourth uniformed team member in Mets history to have his number retired. Piazza played for the club from 1998-2005.

The 12-time MLB All-Star spoke about the impending number retirement, thanking majority owner Fred Wilpon and COO Jeff Wilpon in particular, per the team’s official news release: “It is such a tremendous honor to have my number retired alongside the great Tom Seaver. My time as a Met was truly special and I want to thank Fred, Jeff and the entire organization for this incredible gesture.”

MLB Network Radio’s Casey Stern was among those who approved of New York’s decision:

Piazza spent approximately eight of his 16 seasons with the Mets and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2016.

After enjoying a fine start to his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Piazza settled down in the Big Apple for the majority of his remaining playing days. He wasted little time making a tremendous impact, leading the Mets to a World Series appearance in 2000, where they lost to the New York Yankees.

Because of how tremendous a hitter Piazza was with a career .308 batting average and 427 home runs, his prowess at the plate overshadowed his defense.

Although he wasn’t the best at keeping runners in check on the basepaths, other facets of Piazza’s game as a catcher were respectable. He was most adept at blocking stray pitches and framing the ball for extra strikes, per FiveThirtyEight’s Ben Lindbergh.

On the strength of his unique accomplishments in the batter’s box alone Piazza deserved to have his jersey retired. It took until the fourth ballot for his bust to be in Cooperstown, so perhaps it’s fitting Piazza will become the fourth Met to have his jersey retired.

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