Diamondbacks pick up Devenski
Former Astros reliever Chris Devenski is in agreement with Arizona on a minor league contract, a person with knowledge of the deal said on Wednesday.
Devenski can earn $1 million if he makes the major league team. The deal is pending a physical.
Acquired as the player to be named later in a 2012 trade that sent Brett Myers to the White Sox, Devenski blossomed in five years with the Astros, garnering an All-Star appearance in 2017. He finished that World Series-winning season with a 2.68 ERA in 80⅔ innings.
Devenski never found the same form during the following seasons. From 2018-20, the righthander had a 4.88 ERA and 1.292 WHIP in 120 innings.
He picthed 3⅔ innings during the 2020 season before undergoing elbow surgery in September to remove bone spurs.
Twins sign Happ to $8M contract
The Minnesota Twins and veteran starting pitcher J.A. Happ agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person confirmed the agreement to the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced it.
The 38-year-old Happ spent the past 21⁄3 seasons with the New York Yankees.
Acquired from Toronto
at the 2018 trade deadline, the lefthander went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts down the stretch to finish 17-6. The Yankees then rewarded him with a $34 million, two-year contract.
Happ will be just the second offseason addition by the Twins, who also added relief pitcher Hansel Robles to the team that has won the AL Central division in each of the last two years.
Jake Odorizzi and Rich Hill became free agents, creating openings in the rotation behind Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda and Michael Pineda. Minnesota was third in the AL in 2020 with a team ERA of 3.58.
Happ went 12-8 in 2019 and struggled at the start of the pandemic-delayed
2020 season, prompting the Yankees to skip his turn. Happ gained strength as the year went on and finished with a 2-2 record and 3.47 ERA in nine starts. His $17 million option originally would have become guaranteed with 27 starts or 165 innings, but the threshold was reduced to 10 starts with the shortened season. He fell one short.
Happ followed Deivi Garcia as an opener in Game 2 of the AL Division Series for New York and gave up two-run homers to Mike Zunino in the second inning and Manuel Margot in the third of the 7-5 loss to Tampa Bay. Happ said after the game he would have been more comfortable starting.
An All-Star in 2018,
Happ is 123-92 with a 3.98 ERA in 298 starts and 26 relief appearances over 14 major league seasons with Philadelphia (2007-10), Houston (2010-12), Toronto (2012-14, 2016-18), Seattle (2015), Pittsburgh (2015) and the Yankees.
Blue Jays secure Yates, Chatwood
The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to contracts with free agent pitchers Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press.
Yates agreed to a $5.5 million, one-year deal with $4.5 million in potential performance bonuses.
Chatwood agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract with incentives that could take it to $5.5 million.
Yates, a righthander who turns 34 on March 25, is coming off surgery in August to remove bone chips from his right elbow. He led the major leagues in saves in 2019 with 41 for San Diego and earned a place on the National League All-Star team. Slowed by elbow soreness, he had two saves in six games with a 12.46 ERA during last year’s pandemic-shortened season. Yates earned $2,615,741 prorated from a salary of $7,062,500 last year.
Chatwood, a 31-year-old righthander, went 2-2 with a 5.30 ERA in five starts with the Chicago Cubs last year. He earned $4,814,815 prorated from a $13 million salary.