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Max Fried Will Reportedly Choose Destination In Coming Days

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Left-hander Max Fried is one of the top remaining free agents but he could be coming off the board soon. Per a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Fried is expected to pick his next club by Thursday, with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays presented as the frontrunners. Rosenthal adds that right-hander Corbin Burnes is generating interest from the same three clubs, with the Giants perhaps involved there as well but not for Fried. The Rangers are mentioned as a possibility for Fried but that’s depicted as more of a long shot, with the Angels listed alongside the Giants as cubs that are not finalists for Fried.

It’s perhaps not a coincidence that the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays were finalists in the Juan Soto frenzy and are now listed as the most likely landing spots for Fried. The general expectation throughout the baseball world has been that the clubs with money to spend would focus on Soto until getting clarity on that situation, with those that missed out then pivoting to other targets. Now that Soto is going to the Mets, that seems to be how things are indeed playing out.

All three clubs are looking to make a big splash, though for different reasons. The Yankees just made it to the World Series, but suffered a deflating five-game loss to the Dodgers in which they looked clearly outmatched. They then lost last year’s big splash when Soto moved from the Bronx to Queens. The Red Sox have been dialing back payroll in recent years with lackluster results to go along with it, though now seem motivated to big big dogs again. The Jays were good during the regular season from 2020 to 2023 but suffered heartbreaking ends in each of those years, narrowly missing the playoffs in one of them with three quick postseason exits in the others. They followed that up with a dismal 2024 season that saw them fall to the basement of the A.L. East.

In different ways, each club is looking to both improve their respective rosters for next year while also perhaps mollifying a restive fanbase. Soto would have been one way of doing that but that’s now off the table.

Fried, 31 in January, has been a strong pitcher at the major league level for quite some time. He got brief big league looks in 2017 and 2018 but has been an established big leaguer for the past six seasons. From 2019 to the present, he has tossed 824 2/3 innings, allowing 3.06 earned runs per nine. His 23.8% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate in that time were both a bit above average while his 54.1% ground ball rate was excellent. Only Framber Valdez and Logan Webb had better ground ball rates for that time, among pitchers with at least 550 innings pitched, and Fried had a slightly better strikeout rate than those two. Fried was also a key part of Atlanta’s postseason rotations throughout that time.

There is a little bit of injury risk, as Fried was limited to 14 starts last year due to a forearm strain and had a brief IL stint in 2024 due to neuritis in that same forearm. That’s bit concerning but Fried managed to make 29 starts this year, logging 174 1/3 innings, and there hasn’t been anything to suggest he won’t be healthy for 2025.

At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Fried could land a six-year deal with a $156MM guarantee, though it’s possible that Fried’s earning power has jumped since then. Pitchers like Luis Severino, Yusei Kikuchi, Frankie Montas, Matthew Boyd and Clay Holmes have outearned expectations and the massive Soto deal has perhaps altered industry spending expectations more generally.

For the Yankees, they don’t strictly need pitching. Their rotation is already fairly deep with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes and other options on the roster. However, Fried would certainly upgrade that group and they could then perhaps use the surplus to make a trade, with both Stroman and Cortes have been in previous rumors.

Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has said he would like to raise the ceiling of the club’s rotation, which currently has a core three of Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. The Sox will get Lucas Giolito back at some point during the 2025 season, once he recovers from last year’s elbow surgery. They have depth options like Richard Fitts, Cooper Criswell and Quinn Priester but adding Fried would help the club with its aims of improving the rotation and the club more generally.

The Toronto rotation has a veteran core of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt. It seems likely that Bowden Francis will get a shot at having a spot next year since he was so strong in the second half of 2024. Yariel Rodríguez is an option for the fifth spot but he also has plenty of relief experience and could get bumped to the bullpen. Jake Bloss is on the roster and has encouraging potential but limited experience and could be ticketed for the Triple-A rotation.

While all three clubs are looking at Fried, they have another option in Burnes. He has flashed a higher ceiling than Fried but hasn’t hit that ceiling in the past two years. From 2020 to 2022, he posted a 2.62 ERA with a 33.4% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 47.6% ground ball rate. Over the past two seasons, his 3.15 ERA has still been a strong mark but with a diminished strikeout rate of 24.3%. He is still perceived as a strong option on account of his durability and overall strong results, with MLBTR predicted him for a $200MM guarantee over seven years.

The Giants make sense for a rotation addition and seemingly prefer Burnes to Fried. Their rotation currently consists of Webb, Robbie Ray and Kyle Harrison. President of baseball operations Buster Posey said this week that Jordan Hicks will get another shot at a rotation job. Guys like Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp could battle for the fifth spot but getting Burnes would obviously be a boon to the group.

Both Burnes and Fried rejected qualifying offers and are therefore associated with penalties, which differ depending on who ultimately signs them. The Giants are perhaps the most interesting club in this group as they already agreed to sign QO guy in Willy Adames. Since they paid the competitive balance tax last year, that means forfeiting $1MM of international bonus pool space and two draft picks, while signing another QO would effectively double that.

The Rangers’ interest in Fried was reported previously but also characterized as more of a long shot. They definitely want rotation upgrades, including a hope of re-signing Nathan Eovaldi, but they might need more clarity on their finances. They no longer have a broadcast deal with Diamond Sports Group and have been looking into creating their own regional sports network but haven’t quite figured that all out yet. They are reportedly hoping to stay under the CBT in 2025 and they might need to make progress on the broadcast deal before throwing big money around.

The Angels are seemingly only mentioned to touch on Fried’s potential geographic preferences. Fried was born and raised in Southern California, then committed to UCLA before being drafted by the Padres. He was traded to Atlanta as a prospect and has spent his entire major league career with them so far. That club has signed many players to extensions but Fried wasn’t one of them. Rosenthal relays that some clubs feared Fried would prefer to return to the West Coast but it seems his three primary suitors are all A.L. East clubs.

Time will tell how things play out with Fried and Burnes, but it seems that the expected post-Soto domino effect might be coming to pass. As clubs pivot to plan B or plan C or plan D, guys like Fried and Burnes are seeing their markets heat up, which could potentially also impact guys like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and others soon as well.

Giants Intend To Keep Jordan Hicks In Rotation

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The Giants continue to view Jordan Hicks as a starting pitcher, baseball operations president Buster Posey said this afternoon (X link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). The 28-year-old righty finished this past season in the bullpen.

San Francisco signed Hicks to a four-year, $44MM free agent contract last winter. They gave the hard-throwing sinkerballer a starting job. That was Hicks’ first extended rotation work. He had started eight games for the Cardinals in 2022 but moved back to the bullpen relatively early in that year. He was a full-time reliever in ’23 before getting the rotation spot with the Giants.

Hicks showed early promise as a starter. He posted a 2.70 earned run average over 12 starts through the end of May. It looked as if Hicks would be a reliever-to-rotation success story in the Seth Lugo or Michael King mold, but things went off the rails midway through the year. Hicks’ velocity trended down each month. While he averaged 95.6 MPH on his sinker in April, that was down to 93.4 MPH by July. The results sharply dropped with it, as he posted a 5.24 ERA in June and allowed nearly a run per inning in July.

San Francisco kicked Hicks to the bullpen by the end of that month. He pitched well in the more familiar one-inning role but battled shoulder inflammation late in the year. Hicks finished the season with a 4.10 ERA in a career-high 109 2/3 innings. The rate production was around average when all was said and done, but it was an up-and-down year.

Given the way Hicks wore down physically, it was fair to wonder if the Giants would move him back to relief for good. Posey also wasn’t responsible for signing him as a starter, a move that came under previous front office leader Farhan Zaidi. Nevertheless, it seems they’ll give Hicks another shot at a rotation spot.

Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Kyle Harrison are locked into rotation roles going into camp. If Hicks takes the fourth spot, that’d leave one job up for grabs. That’ll probably be an external acquisition of some kind. The Giants have been linked to Corbin Burnes, though that reported interest predated their $182MM agreement with Willy Adames. It’s not clear if they’re still willing to play at the top of the rotation market. There are a number of more affordable possibilities in the middle tiers of free agency. Mason Black, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp are the top internal candidates for the fifth starter role. They each have options and could open next season in Triple-A if San Francisco makes an addition.

In other pitching news, Posey downplayed the possibility of trading former closer Camilo Doval (relayed on X by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). The Giants have gotten interest in the one-time All-Star, who struggled to a 4.88 ERA as his command deteriorated this year. Trading Doval this winter would be selling low, though, and the Giants are already a bit thin at the back of the bullpen. Ryan Walker had a breakout season to take the ninth inning, while Taylor Rogers and Tyler Rogers are in potential leverage roles. Doval, whom MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects to make $4.6MM in his first season of arbitration eligibility, represents a volatile middle innings option.

Giants Receiving “Strong” Interest In Camilo Doval

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While the Giants aren’t actively shopping hard-throwing righty Camilo Doval this winter, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier today that the club is receiving “strong” interest in his services around the league.

Doval, 27, is an intriguing trade candidate even after an undeniably lackluster 2024 campaign. The right-hander was an All-Star in 2023 who led the National League in saves and turned in his second consecutive excellent season as the closer in San Francisco, but 2024 saw him struggle with uneven performance throughout the year. That led the Giants to option him to the minors for a brief period in August, and upon his return to the majors he was replaced by right-hander Ryan Walker in the closer role. Overall, Doval pitched to a 4.88 ERA with a 3.71 FIP this past year with a strong 28.8% strikeout rate that was overshadowed by a massive 14.4% walk rate.

Difficult as 2024 was for Doval, it’s hard to deny the right-hander’s talent. Entering this year, Doval’s career numbers were nothing short of elite. In 162 1/3 innings of work across three seasons with the Giants prior to 2024, the right-hander dominated to the tune of a 2.77 ERA with a 2.97 FIP while striking out 30.2% of opponents, walking 9.6%, and racking up 69 saves. He combines his high strikeout rates with an excellent ability to induce contact on the ground as well, as he’s posted a 55.2% grounder rate in his career that ranks fourth among all relievers with at least 200 innings over the past four seasons. Even in his down season this year, Doval generated grounders at an incredible 60% clip that was good for seventh in the sport this year among qualified relief arms.

While the wide chasm between Doval’s ERA and FIP along with an elevated .333 BABIP and a below-average 68.2% strand rate might suggest Doval was simply unlucky in 2024, there are plenty of red flags that figure to give potential suitors pause. That walk rate is surely particularly concerning to interested clubs, seeing as it was the second-highest figure among qualified relievers last year. Only southpaw Aroldis Chapman walked batters at a higher clip than Doval, and Chapman’s 37% strikeout rate last year dwarfs even Doval’s best figures in his career. As tantalizing as the upside surely is for a hard-throwing ground ball specialist like Doval who has three years of team control remaining, his concerning 2024 campaign could make rival clubs cautious about paying a premium for the righty.

If the Giants believe Doval is likely to bounce back to his previous form in 2025, it would be a bold choice for the club to move him for what would surely be a lower price than he could garner following a dominant season—or even half of one, should San Francisco be in position to sell at this summer’s trade deadline. Given Doval’s significant upside, the club might be better off exploring trades involving other players like LaMonte Wade Jr. or Mike Yastrzemski, both of whom are rumored to be available as well.

With that being said, Slusser suggests that the club figures to listen on “significant offers” that would address another area of need thanks in part to the club’s impressive stock of high leverage arms. Aside from Doval and Walker, the club also figures to employ Taylor Rogers, Tyler Rogers, and Erik Miller in the late innings. Jordan Hicks was also used as a late inning option down the stretch this year, but he appears likely to be ticketed for the rotation after an up-and-down season that saw him make 20 starts and enjoy some success in the role during the first half.

Matt Chapman Open To Temporary Shortstop Move If Giants Sign Ha-Seong Kim

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The Giants are in the market for a shortstop. President of baseball operations Buster Posey acknowledged as much at the start of the offseason. San Francisco has been tied to Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim in recent weeks.

While Adames could play shortstop on Opening Day, that’s not the case with Kim. He underwent surgery to repair a labrum injury in his throwing shoulder. There’s still not a ton of clarity on when he’s expected back in game action. Kim’s agent Scott Boras has unsurprisingly taken an optimistic stance on the infielder’s recovery. Boras said at last month’s GM Meetings that Kim could be ready early in the season — potentially before the end of April. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has previously suggested the rehab could carry into “May, June, July,” a much more nebulous timeline.

Whichever team signs Kim will need a stopgap shortstop for at least a few weeks, potentially months. For the Giants, that could be Matt Chapman. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that the star third baseman told team officials he’d be willing to play shortstop early in the year while Kim recovers. According to Rosenthal, that’s one of various possibilities the team is considering.

That’d be a creative solution. It’s not an outlandish one. Chapman is one of the sport’s best defensive third basemen. He’s a five-time Gold Glove winner. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have graded him as a strong defender in every season of his career. Chapman tied Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz for the league lead among third basemen in Outs Above Average this year. He’s fifth at the position by that metric across the past three seasons.

Chapman, who has 10 career innings at shortstop, has plenty of arm strength. He certainly has the hands for the position. The only question is whether he’d have enough lateral quickness to be a plus in the middle of the diamond, but he could probably at least play a competent shortstop for a month or two.

Sliding Chapman to shortstop would open a short-term hole at third base. Tyler Fitzgerald, Marco Luciano, Brett Wisely, Casey Schmitt and David Villar are among the options for work there. Aside from Villar, everyone from that group has some shortstop experience as well. None seems like a long-term answer. Wisely was primarily a second baseman in the minors, while Schmitt has spent most of his career at third base. Luciano has come up as a shortstop but was a disaster defensively in a limited MLB look. His long-term future is probably in the corner outfield.

Fitzgerald got the majority of the shortstop reps late in the season. He’d probably start there if the Giants came up empty in their pursuit. While he hit well enough to earn everyday playing time, the Giants seem to prefer him elsewhere. Posey suggested last month that Fitzgerald could be a second baseman. He also implied they were hopeful they could avoid bouncing him around the diamond as much next season.

“Tyler Fitzgerald did a great job at short last year. I think he has value and in multiple spots on the field,” Posey said at the GM Meetings (link via Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle). “I do think it’s hard to play multiple spots at the same time during the season. Whether he’d be better suited to play second base long-term is a discussion we’re having.“

Giants Hire Oscar Bernard, Damon Minor As Assistant Hitting Coaches

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December 5: The Giants made Bernard’s hiring official today, per Justice Delos Santos of Mercury News (X link). They also hired Damon Minor as another assistant hitting coach and promoted Taira Uematsu to quality control coach.

December 4: The Giants are hiring Oscar Bernard as an assistant hitting coach, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (on Bluesky). He’ll work alongside lead hitting instructor Pat Burrell.

Bernard, 41, comes over from the Padres. He spent the 2023 season as an assistant hitting coach in San Diego underneath Bob Melvin. Bernard moved back to a minor league hitting coordinator role this year after Melvin departed to take over the dugout in San Francisco. He’d also worked as a hitting coordinator with the Friars between 2016-22. Bernard has previously worked with minor league hitters in the Rangers and Cubs systems.

Baggarly indicates the Giants could still hire another assistant hitting coach. Prior co-hitting coach Justin Viele departed to join the Rangers last month.

Yankees, Giants Showing Interest In Willy Adames

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The Yankees and Giants are among the teams that have shown interest in Willy Adames, writes Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The market’s top shortstop has also been tied to the Astros, Phillies, Blue Jays, Braves and Red Sox throughout the offseason.

New York’s top priority is re-signing Juan Soto. They could know within the next few days whether Soto will stay in the Bronx or accept a $600MM+ offer elsewhere. If Soto walks, there’d be a lot of pressure on both owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman to land one or more players from the next tiers of free agency.

Adames and Alex Bregman are probably the next-best position players. Neither is going to come close to Soto’s contract, of course, but they could each land a deal in the $150-200MM range. While Bregman would be a more straightforward positional fit, it’s possible the organization could still have animosity over the third baseman’s role in the 2017 sign-stealing operation. Adames carries no such baggage.

The Yankees don’t need a shortstop. Anthony Volpe is one of the game’s top defensive infielders. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com wrote recently that the Yanks were unwilling to move Volpe off the position. Adames is reportedly willing to consider a position change, though it’s possible he’d sign with a team that’ll keep him at shortstop if he’s weighing multiple offers in the same price range.

Shortstop is the only infield position that is settled in the Bronx. Jazz Chisholm Jr. will be in the mix at either second or third base. If Chisholm replaces Gleyber Torres at the keystone, the top internal third base possibilities are DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and prospect Caleb Durbin. That’s not sufficient for a team trying to get back to the World Series. The Yankees could also upgrade at first base, where Ben Rice is the best in-house option.

Adames hasn’t played third base in the majors. He has 10 career games outside of shortstop, all of which came at second base during his 2018 rookie season. Shortstops usually move to other infield positions without issue. Adames has plus arm strength and athleticism. His typically strong defensive grades dipped this year because of a spike in errors, but there’s not much reason to believe he wouldn’t be an effective third baseman.

There’d be no need for a position change in San Francisco. President of baseball operations Buster Posey said at the start of the offseason that the Giants wanted to add a shortstop. That’d allow them to move Tyler Fitzgerald to second base, where he’s a better fit. San Francisco was linked to Ha-Seong Kim, the market’s #2 shortstop, a few weeks ago.

Kim is coming back from labrum surgery on his throwing shoulder. That makes him riskier than Adames but should dramatically reduce the price. While Adames is likely to sign for six or seven years, Kim could settle for a two-year deal that allows him to opt out after next season. The former Padres infielder also has an obvious connection to San Francisco skipper Bob Melvin.

Adames rejected a qualifying offer from the Brewers. The Yankees and Giants each exceeded the luxury tax threshold this year, so they’d pay the highest penalties to sign a qualified free agent. Either team would lose their second- and fifth-highest pick in next summer’s draft and $1MM from their 2026 international signing bonus pool.

Giants Interested In Corbin Burnes

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The Giants have already been linked to some prominent free agents this winter, and it appears as though Corbin Burnes is another name on the club’s list of targets.  MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes that the Giants “are believed to have significant interest in Burnes,” and thus San Francisco joins the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, and Burnes’ former team the Orioles as clubs known to be pursuing the right-hander to some degree.

MLBTR projects Burnes to land a seven-year, $200MM deal as the top pitcher on the free agent market, and signing the hurler at such a price would be a fascinating move for a Giants club that is reportedly looking to reduce payroll.  The Giants’ Opening Day payroll last season was roughly $208.1MM (as per Cot’s Baseball Contracts) and they currently have around $154.8MM on the books for 2025 according to RosterResource’s calculations.  Trading any of Mike Yastrzemski, Camilo Doval, LaMonte Wade Jr., Taylor Rogers or Tyler Rogers would free up some more money, but as it stands right now, there’s room for San Francisco to ink Burnes for something in the ballpark of a $28.5MM average annual value and still have space for more additions before reaching the 2024 payroll number.

The Giants also haven’t necessarily been acting like a team that is planning on limited spending.  San Francisco has shown interest in two of the offseason’s bigger-name free agents in Willy Adames and now Burnes, plus the Giants had at least a check-in on Juan Soto’s market.  Ha-Seong Kim and Tomoyuki Sugano are two other notables on the team’s radar, among less-pricey options.  And, of course, the Giants already made a big spending splurge before free agency even opened by keeping Matt Chapman off the market with a six-year, $151MM extension.

Buster Posey was reportedly heavily involved in the Chapman negotiations even before becoming the team’s new president of baseball operations, and those efforts to retain a prominent star seemingly indicated that Posey’s front office was prepared to take a more aggressive stance in trying to land top-shelf talent.  Signing a Burnes or an Adames would finally put to rest the narrative that the organization is unable to attract star free agents, though it remains to be seen if these forays into the top of the 2024-25 free agent market are anything more than due diligence, if Giants ownership does want to limit spending.

Burnes has some West Coast ties, as he hails from Bakersfield, California and he played college ball at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga (about 40 minutes away from San Francisco).  From a purely on-field perspective, there’s also a natural fit — Burnes would step right into Blake Snell’s shoes as the new ace, teaming with Logan Webb to become one of the game’s better one-two rotation punches.  Kyle Harrison and Robbie Ray would each move a slot down in the rotation order, and San Francisco would gain some flexibility in deciding what to do with the fifth starter’s job.  Any of Landen Roupp, Hayden Birdsong, Mason Black, Keaton Winn, or top prospect Carson Whisenhunt could compete for the job in Spring Training, or Jordan Hicks could be given another shot at a starting role if the Giants don’t want to just keep him in the bullpen.

Since San Francisco exceeded the luxury tax threshold last season, they would pay an additional penalty for signing Burnes or any free agent that rejected a qualifying offer.  The Giants would have to give up $1MM of funds from their international signing bonus pool, and also their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2025 draft.  The club already gave up two picks (their second- and third-rounders) in the 2024 draft to sign Snell and Chapman last winter, as both players rejected qualifying offers before entering free agency.

Brandon Crawford Announces Retirement

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Giants legend and long-time shortstop Brandon Crawford has announced his retirement in a post on his personal Instagram account today. The Giants announced (X link from Justice delos Santos of The Mercury News) that Crawford will be celebrated at the club’s upcoming game on April 26, when they will be hosting the Rangers, managed by Crawford’s former skipper Bruce Bochy.

“Growing up in the Bay Area and going to games at Candlestick,” Crawford says, “I always dreamed of playing for the San Francisco Giants. Being drafted by my hometown team and spending most of my career with them far surpassed any dream I had as a kid. I definitely pretended to win a World Series in my backyard – but winning two? That was beyond my wildest dreams.” He goes on to express gratitude to that organization as well as the Cardinals, his family members, coaches, teammates, fans and many others who he crossed paths with.

As Crawford himself mentioned, he could hardly have asked for more of the platonic childhood baseball dream. In 2008, he was drafted by the club he grew up cheering for, with the Giants selecting him in the fourth round out of UCLA. In 2010, the Giants won the World Series, their first title since the club moved from New York to San Francisco. However, Crawford was still a minor leaguer at that time.

He was able to make his major league debut in late May of 2011, and he did so in memorable fashion. In his first game in the show, he hit a grand slam in the seventh inning, his first major league hit (YouTube link from MLB). That gave the club a 5-3 lead over the Brewers and they held on to win 5-4. Despite that notable start, the first season wasn’t great overall. He hit just .204/.288/.296 and only got into 66 games. The Giants finished 86-76 and missed the playoffs.

In 2012, Crawford took a firmer hold of the shortstop job in San Francisco, getting into 143 games. His offense still wasn’t especially impressive but it was better than the year prior and his defense was well regarded. The club went 94-68, winning the National West and advancing to the postseason. Crawford hit just .217/.321/.283 in the playoffs but the Giants went on to defeat the Reds, Cardinals and Tigers, earning their second title in three years.

The following year, Crawford’s performance held fairly steady. His offense was again a bit below league average but with strong shortstop defense. However, the Giants slid to 76-86, well out of contention. They came back in 2014, with an 88-74 record that was enough to snag a Wild Card spot. At that time, there were just two such spots per league and those clubs faced off in a one-game, winner-take-all matchup. The Giants cruised through that game with an 8-0 victory, then defeated the Nationals, Cardinals and Royals to secure yet another title. The Giants had three trophies in five years and Crawford had two rings with his hometown club before his 28th birthday.

Crawford had his best offensive season to date in 2015, as he hit 21 homers with a .256/.321/.462 slash line. He made his first All-Star Game and collected both a Silver Slugger and his first Gold Glove award. While the team’s performance fell off, Crawford emerged as a legitimate star. The Giants recognized as much and signed him to a six-year, $75MM extension.

It was more of the same in 2016. Crawford hit .275/.342/.430 while continuing to play elite shortstop defense. He won his second straight Gold Glove and found his name on MVP ballots for the first time. Crawford’s offense dropped over the next few years, but he continued to play excellent defense. He earned a third straight Gold Glove in ’17 and another All-Star appearance in ’18.

While Crawford appeared to be on the downswing of his career toward the end of the 2010s, he hit surprisingly well in the shortened ’20 season. It would’ve been easy to write that off as a small sample blip if Crawford didn’t follow that up with a monster year. At age 34, Crawford set a career mark with 24 homers while hitting .298/.373/.522 in 138 games. He earned another Gold Glove and All-Star nod and finished fourth in NL MVP balloting as the Giants reeled off 107 wins to secure their first division title in a decade.

San Francisco re-signed their longtime shortstop to a two-year, $32MM extension on the heels of that resurgent showing. Neither Crawford nor the team managed to sustain their ’21 form, though, and that deal didn’t wind up working as the club hoped. San Francisco let Crawford walk once he hit free agency last winter. He signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals but was limited to 29 games as a veteran backup to rookie Masyn Winn in St. Louis.

Crawford finishes his career with more than 1400 hits and a .249/.318/.395 batting line over more than 6300 plate appearances. He hit 147 homers and drove in 748 runs. Crawford’s production was even more impressive on the other side of the ball. He was one of the preeminent defensive shortstops of his era and earned four Gold Glove nods. Crawford made three All-Star teams, appeared on MVP ballots twice, and won the aforementioned two titles with his hometown club. Baseball Reference valued his career around 29 wins above replacement over parts of 14 seasons. B-Ref calculated his career earnings around $114MM. MLBTR salutes Crawford on an excellent career and sends our best wishes in his post-playing days.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Giants, Max Stassi Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants agreed to a minor league contract with Max Stassi, as first reported by Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton (on X) and subsequently reflected on the catcher’s MLB.com transaction log. It’s likely the Wasserman client will get a non-roster invite to big league camp.

Stassi hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2022. He started the ’23 season on the injured list with a left hip problem and was eventually transferred to the restricted list as he attended to a family matter. (The Stassis later announced that their son was born prematurely and spent weeks in intensive care.) He was traded twice last offseason, going from the Angels to the Braves to the White Sox in a chain of salary-driven moves.

The Sox intended to give Stassi a look as their backup catcher, but he reaggravated his hip injury and underwent season-ending surgery in June. Chicago paid a $500K buyout in lieu of a $7.5MM option, ending his White Sox tenure without any games. The consecutive lost seasons made it apparent he’d need to accept a minor league contract.

Stassi’s most recent healthy season was a disappointment. He hit .180/.267/.303 across 375 plate appearances in 2022. The two preceding years were far more impressive. Stassi combined for a .250/.333/.452 slash between 2020-21. He rated as an above-average receiver and looked like a late-blooming #1 catcher. The Halos signed Stassi to a $17.5MM extension in Spring Training 2022, though his numbers fell off almost immediately thereafter.

Patrick Bailey is locked in as San Francisco’s starting catcher. The backup job could be up for grabs. Tom Murphy had an injury-ruined season in year one of a two-year free agent deal. Blake Sabol is also on the 40-man roster but carries a questionable defensive profile.

Personnel Notes: Nakken, Giants, Guardians, Pirates

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Major league coach Alyssa Nakken has departed the Giants and taken a new role with the Guardians in player development, as noted by Maria Guardado of MLB.com.

Nakken, perhaps best known for being the first woman to serve as a full-time coach in MLB history, was hired as an assistant coach by then-Giants manager Gabe Kapler prior to the 2020 season. She remained with the club for five years in that role, even interviewing to replace Kapler during the 2023-24 offseason after he was fired just before the end of the 2023 regular season. The Giants ultimately decided to go with Bob Melvin in that role, but she remained on staff for the 2024 season in the same position she held under Kapler.

Now that the sides have parted ways, she’ll be joining former Giants coaches Craig Albernaz and Kai Correa in Cleveland under sophomore manager Stephen Vogt for the 2025 season. As noted by the Associated Press, Nakken will be an assistant director of player development with the Guardians, though her exact duties have yet to be determined. That could include determining whether or not she’ll travel with the team; after traveling with the Giants on road trips under Kapler, Nakken stayed in San Francisco during most road trips under Melvin after giving birth to her first child, Austyn, back in January.

Nakken’s departure is the latest among a number of coaching departures in San Francisco this winter. Pitching coach Bryan Price stepped down earlier this winter, while hitting coaches Pedro Guerrero and Justin Viele both departed the club to take jobs with other organizations. Price’s role has been filled by the promotion of assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez, but the Giants remain in the market for a hitting coach to partner with Pat Burrell and may now be in the market for a replacement for Nakken as well.

More personnel notes from around the majors…

  • Sticking with the Guardians, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier this week that the club has hired Bobby Kinne to serve as director of baseball operations in the club’s front office. Cleveland hired Kinne away from the Rays, for whom he served as the club’s major league pitching strategist. Kinne got his start in baseball with Tampa as an intern back in 2018 and worked his way up the organizational ladder over six years with the club, serving as a scout and a coordinator of major league operations before landing in the pitching strategist role he held for the 2024 season. Now, Kinne will get the opportunity to work with one of the better pitching staffs in the big leagues as Guardians pitchers ranked third in the majors with a 3.61 ERA this year, behind only the Braves and Mariners.
  • The Pirates are promoting bullpen catcher Jordan Comadena to the role of major league catching coach, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. Comadena joined the Pirates back in 2016 and Stumpf notes that he’s worked closely with former first overall pick Henry Davis on his defense behind the plate over the past year and a half. Davis, 25, has struggled in the majors at the plate and has moved back behind the plate after coming up as a catcher but getting his first MLB experience as an outfielder in 2023. He’ll likely be a potential option for the Pirates at catcher next year alongside Joey Bart, Endy Rodriguez, and Jason Delay.
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