The Pirates’ signing of Carlos Santana was in part driven by the team’s belief that next year’s restriction on infield shifts will help to boost the veteran switch-hitter’s production, general manager Ben Cherington told reporters after finalizing the deal this week (link via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Beyond that, Santana’s reputation as a leader and mentor for younger players appealed to the club, as did a strong batted-ball profile that featured quality marks in metrics like average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and more.
At one year and $6.725MM, the Santana signing was somewhat remarkably the largest free-agent commitment given out by Cherington since he was hired to guide the Pirates’ latest rebuilding effort back in 2019. Cherington stressed there are other needs to address and that the Pirates, currently projected by Roster Resource to carry just a $54MM payroll, are hopeful of completing some additional deals.
A few more items out of the National League…
- The Reds inked local product Luke Maile to a one-year contract, setting the stage for him to serve as Tyler Stephenson’s backup. However, general manager Nick Krall suggested after signing Maile the team isn’t closed off to the possibility of adding a third catcher to the big league roster (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). “There is a chance,” Krall noted, pointing out that the addition of the universal designated hitter gives teams the flexibility to more easily work with three backstops. The Reds were reportedly in touch with Tucker Barnhart about a potential reunion before signing Maile, though there’s no indication they’re strongly pursuing him after coming to terms with Maile. Still, Stephenson missed significant time in 2022 with a broken thumb, a concussion and a broken collarbone, and he also has 147 innings of big league experience at first base. There’s some sense to bringing in another catcher — particularly if it’s someone who can handle multiple spots on the diamond to give the Reds some more flexibility.
- The Phillies were dealt a tough blow last week with the revelation Bryce Harper required a full Tommy John procedure. The Phils announced Harper was expected to return as a bat-only option by the All-Star Break while playing the outfield again at some point in the second half. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski left open the possibility of an earlier return this week (link via Matt Gelb of the Athletic) but suggested he didn’t want to project any kind of more optimistic timeline. “In my own mind, I’m looking at the All-Star break. Anything that’s before that is great,” Dombrowski said. The veteran executive downplayed the need for the Phils to add an outfielder in response to the surgery, pointing out that any pickup would lose his path to everyday playing time once Harper returned. The DH-only role would force Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos into the corner outfield regularly to flank center fielder Brandon Marsh, with righty-hitting Matt Vierling on hand as the fourth outfielder. Dombrowski suggested that while the Phils will be “open-minded” to the possibility of adding on the grass, “it’s not a priority for us.“
- Adding to the bullpen is certainly a key objective for the Mets, who saw each of Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodriguez and Trevor May hit free agency. Will Sammon of the Athletic reports that New York is one of several teams to have looked into Tommy Kahnle, although he cautions it’s presently unclear how interested the Mets are in the free agent right-hander. Kahnle is an interesting upside play. He lost almost all of 2020-21 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and renewed arm inflammation cost him almost four months with the Dodgers this past season. Kahnle allowed only four runs in 12 2/3 innings when healthy enough to pitch, though, striking out 14 against three walks. The 33-year-old racked up swinging strikes at a massive 17.2% clip while leaning on his stellar changeup more than three-quarters of the time. Kahnle posted a 3.67 ERA with an elite 35.5% strikeout rate over 72 appearances with the Yankees in 2019, his most recent full season.
I don’t Pittsburgh going without a lefty starter or a catcher. So at the very least I see that. Maybe another starter. And anyone willing to come on a minor league deal will be welcome.
So are the Reds saying they will add another catcher if it is cheap enough, or that they are protecting themselves against Stephenson having more concussions where he is unable to play and/or having to move positions?
They did good with quintana last yr.
I hope the Mets don’t throw a last minute bullpen together of potential bounce back players. Besides Diaz their bullpen isn’t nearly as good as all of the other top end teams.
Santana gonna be clutch next year.
And I don’t think the new shift rules will help Santana. teams could put their SS or 2b man up the middle, just on their side of the IF. the third and first basemen can shift more toward the ss or 2b man’s position if the mi shift to the middle. Really, the only changes in the shift is that 2b men can’t play on the OF grass and there has to be two fielders on either side of second base. The one question I have is, if a team brings an OF in to add a fifth IF, which side of the IF should he go?
Without the ability to use the “ shift “ which baseball is eliminating next year, your suggestion is a moot point, avenger 65.
SMH
The new shift rules also prohibit 3rd basemen from playing shortstop, shortstop from playing 2nd and 2nd basemen from playing almost right field
Apparently you don’t understand the change of shifts
I doubt teams will use a 5 man infield. They could play the left fielder in short right field against a dead lefty pull hitter, but be a big risk
Other teams are pursuing top of the lineup talent and the Reds article is about deciding whether or not to have two backup catchers that will hit about .220 and not contribute offensively.
You got your high price talent in Votto and Moustakas to provide the offense.
Do Votto and Moustakas know to try hard?
I am expecting them to practically give away Moose to a large market team needing a DH kind of what they did with Suarez last year, if they can.
Problem is, you have to wonder what good player they have to include to get them to do it, like happened with Winker last year.
That’s the problem with a bad contract on a small market team. It kills you for several years because there is no recovering from it since you can only afford one or two to begin with.
welcome to the approach of the Pittsburgh pirates, redhaze1
Pretty much the curse of the small market teams. Face it, there are only about 6-8 teams that are mentioned and able to sign free agent talent. The rest just get the leftovers.
This is what is killing the sport in flyover country.
Don’t bring up the luxury tax, there is not enough teeth in it to prevent teams from paying it. Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many teams willing to pay it.
If your a fan of a team you should be cheering against your team signing free agents as a majority of them don’t work out but that doesn’t fit your dumb narrative
Just like society. A lot of CEOs don’t work out, athletes in other sports, actors, the guy at the supermarket or the mail room, etc.
Not sure what that has to do with it. I thought this site was MLB Trade Rumors. Unfortunately it mostly centers around six to eight teams during free agent season.
I am guessing you are a fan of one of those considering the statement “dumb narrative”. Small market fans, which is becoming most of the major leagues anymore, get it.
And getting a salary floor isn’t going to make the free agent market centre around cincy either. If the salary is the same, players aren’t signing in cincy. If they pay slightly more, players aren’t signing in cincy. If they pay a lot more then they will and the reds get stuck with a terrible contract that keeps them from being competitive. You aren’t even smart enough to know that you shouldn’t want free agents to sign with your team and your crying about it. Draft develop, once the player reaches free agency let him go for picks and let a big market team pay for his decline rinse repeat and enjoy. That’s how baseball works. You’re welcome for education.
How often does a team come together and win anything even when you can buy a pennant? I’m sure you know the rarity of that.
Now think if you are not able to buy a pennant and have to count on those guys you develop do that in a 3-4 year shot before the big markets start picking them off for big money contracts you can’t afford.
There’s your education on what 20 or more teams and their fans deal with every season. This is why the game is dying in those markets.
Some of the most interesting hot stove news this year are the new assistant bench coach announcements.
I live for those.
The NHL instituted a floor and a cap. Perhaps with expansion and for economic survival of the league been a good thing , BUT what you get is 32 teams who basically look like each other. Football is close to that too.
Which is as it should be.
No it shouldn’t. It’s boring. Parity is actually bad for sports. Poorly run organizations don’t get better when you limit their ability to spend to cover up their mistakes. Salary caps are horrible for players.
Spoken just like a large market apologist.
Yeah, nothing is more exciting than a LAD vs Pirates game. THAT’S not boring.
In 2022 the Bucs took the overall yearly series against the Dodgers
Walk a mile in the shoes of any big market team fan, TheMan3. You are interested a in going to some games. How does your Dodgers, or Yankees, etc, seem exciting?
Look, baseball has largely returned to its barnstorming era of the 20’s and 30’s, when teams would get on trains and play teams in smaller markets, barnstorming across the Midwest and west coast
Big market teams can’t simply play each other forever. You’d kill the interest and the need for playoffs or WS. You have to provide variety. And if one of these small markets occasionally competes, it’s the gravy
As stated above, MLB is a multi billion dollar business. These people are sharp.
I haven’t been to a Pirate game since Nutting bought the team wholly from Kevin McClatchey, Dude, and won’t attend another until Nutting sells the franchise.
If he doesn’t, I still won’t attend any home games and will be happier for it.
Jeez. Old age. Should have read, how does the idea of your Dodgers or Yankees playing the Pirates, or Reds, seem like an exciting game to watch, let alone buy a ticket to?
If the players have less jobs because teams go bankrupt, that is not good for them either.
They have talked contraction before. Just counting the days until it come a up again.
Apparently you don’t remember the sport when it was king and most teams had an even playing field. Sure there were lousy teams because of lousy management but that happens in business everywhere.
Enjoy coastal baseball while you can. When the average age of 60 fans stop going and then die out, what will happen to the game then?
But then again, so called east coastal business geniuses don’t think past the next quarter profits, I forgot.
The Bucs swept LA last year…in LA…and won the season series.
You must be new here or just enjoying becoming noteworthy through boorish behavior, iverbure. Congratulations.
I think most people on this thread have valid thoughts but it’s good to know you have all the answer. Don’t know who exactly you are telling to “be quiet” but I can safely say you’re embarrassing yourself for all to see
Run along and get some air. You need it
Yeah and I loved that
And they fell apart at Yankee Stadium twice after being manhandled by the Mets
My point was….if you are a fan of a big market team, you want to see your team play the big boys. I don’t imagine the average Dodger fan is interested in seeing the Pirates play their club either at Dodger Stadium or on TV
Bucs took 5 outta 6. Weird. That’s why they play the games.
Interesting stat for you. The Pirates we’re 27th in home attendance but they were 10th in road attendance. I guess fans like to go out to see their team host the Pirates under the assumption that they will get to see their team win.
5 of 6 from the Dodgers
The sport is looking at expansion not teams going bankrupt. You don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about. And neither does that tired old dude. Both of you should just stop having opinions because they’re simply wrong mixed with some incorrect facts.
How long since the last expansion? It has been many years. Lip Service does not equal reality despite what a certain political party might think as to if you repeat something often enough that people will believe it, even if it is a lie.
Just cause you are a fan of a large market team, doesn’t mean you know reality outside your little world. You just want to be contrary with nothing to back it up except they are making money. Nothing about the health and long term future of the game, which is in jeopardy.
Go back to Twitter, this is a forum for knowledgeable fans that are older than a minute to discuss things about the game of baseball in a reasonable manner.
On a Phillies website someone mentioned Will Myers on a 1yr 5mill deal….?
Guess it kinda makes sense, no shift, better hitters park and he can play 1b, lf and rf….
Maybe it comes down to do they view Hall as a legit platoon guy on not?
Harper will be back @All Star break, but will still need time…..and Myers would stick all year….(and yes Vierling too)
Am tired of the Bohm to 1b posts, he was worse at 1b. If they really want to move him off 3rd, wait till ’24 and put him in LF/RF and give it a full off season…he has a good arm…..
Ugh. Will Myers. Phils need a corner outfielder, maybe even get Bellinger (and move Marsh?), so they can kick Schwarber or Castellanos to DH.
That makes a lot of sense regarding the Pirates signing of Santana. The Pirates were one of the first franchises that employed the shift on a regular basis around 10 years ago, so it makes sense that they would be among the most knowledgeable about what banning it will do.
Opposing teams shifted against Santana somewhere around 98% of his at bats last year. So it makes sense he specifically stands to benefit a little from the no shift rules.
“At one year and $6.725MM, the Santana signing was…” ridiculous. FTFY
—what kind of website routinely reposts the same comment a half-dozen times. Wth, mlbtr?
One way to even up money spent by teams is having a team ceiling of let’s say $85,000,000.00 and for each $2,000,000.00 they go over they lose on roster spot. For example if a team were to spend $91,000,000.00 they could only field 23 players instead of 26. That would certainly coo off teams like the Yankees and Dodgers who try to buy a in.
I read the Mackey article and immediate envisioned Pirates announcer Greg Brown at the keyboard, ghost writing as Mackey. I mean, to laud Cherington is one thing but to suggest the possible signing of Joey Gallo, another
Mackey articulates the paradigm shift that many of us here have perceived with these signings. We are moving from developing the young “talent” already here and in the minors to “being competitive” with the additions of retreads.
We’ve been down this road before. And repeatedly
Cherington casually throws out factoids about how Santana isn’t that far off from who he was 5 years ago. Pity the eye test says differently
This is once again an effort for the Pirates to have fans forget what they saw last year. That indeed, to know that what we saw really wasn’t as bad as it looked. That with these additions and a couple more retreads, happy days are here again
Simply amazing. If only Pirates pitchers could spin as well as their marketing people
The Reds used to always have a Corky Miller type at AAA to work with young pitchers coming up through the system and in case someone gets hurt.
After thinking about this, my guess is that is really what Krall is talking about here. Really cheap guy who will be lucky to hit his weight but a good defender.
Actually spend some cash on a Barnhart or someone like that? I doubt it.
Interesting that when Bryce Harper was on the IL for 2 months this past season, that the Phillies winning record was better without Harper than when Harper was back from his injury list stint. The Phillies peaked @ 18+ games over .500 WITHOUT HARPER.
Other players “stepped up” and filled the offensive production of Harper very nicely.
The Phillies bench produced nicely in 2022.
Castellanos had an career low year in 2022.. Castellanos just needs his average career production in ’23 to take up the slack when Harper is on the IL..
The Phillies have proven that they can win with or without Harper in the lineup.
The sky is not falling for the Phillies.
The Phillies peaked @ 18 games over .500 when Harper was on the IL for 2 months.
The Phillies have the depth to win and stay in the pennant race while Harper is on the IL in 2023. Castellanos is more likely than not to start hitting again at at least career average levels.
And, the Phillies bench is good enough to step it up and provide some extra offense also like it did last year.
With the money they spent, it should.
Man, the MLBTR staff is really using their thesaurus for these Mets article titles.
Mets “interested in”
Mets “considering”
Mets “have looked into”
Mets “in contact with”
Mets “meeting with”
So many ways to hide that they are using the same article template to place the Mets in on every single free agent on the planet. Let’s see how many more ways can it be said.
Well it is always Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, Red Sox, Astros, Giants this off-season .Probably cause the Cubs aren’t ready to spend money again yet.
And the funny part, is that they’ll name only certain teams, but then it’ll be clear that they miss the boat when many of the free agents in those articles will sign with some other team that doesn’t have one of these types of articles written for.
If the Phillies could add Turner, Taillon and a couple of relievers they are mostly set except for depth. Falter and Sanchez can fill out the rotation until the kids are ready.