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Nationals Designate A.J. Alexy For Assignment

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The Nationals announced Wednesday that right-hander A.J. Alexy, whom they claimed off waivers from the Rangers last month, has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to first baseman Dominic Smith, whose previously reported one-year deal is now official.

Alexy’s stay with the Nats could prove quite brief. The 24-year-old, originally a Dodgers draft pick who went to Texas as part of 2017’s Yu Darvish trade, has pitched 30 innings in the big leagues over the past two seasons, logging a combined 6.30 ERA with more walks (26) than strikeouts (23). However, he’s just one season removed from outstanding results in the upper minors, as he pitched to a combined 1.66 ERA with a 29.9% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate in 65 innings between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.

The 2022 season was rough all-around for Alexy, evidenced by a 5.91 ERA in 96 Triple-A frames and nine runs in seven big league innings. He averaged a solid 94.4 mph on his heater, though, and has above-average (but not elite) spin on his slider. In recent seasons, he’s favored that slider over a curveball he once used more frequently, but Alexy has a four-pitch mix that could intrigue some other clubs. He also has a minor league option year remaining, so any team that picks him up will be able to send him to Triple-A without needing to pass him through waivers.

Washington will have a week to trade him or else attempt to pass him through waivers themselves, a month after the Rangers were unsuccessful in doing so. The Nats pounced on Alexy with the top position in waiver priority, so there’s a decent chance another club will want to take a look.

Phillies Designate Francisco Morales For Assignment

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The Phillies have announced their signing of righty Craig Kimbrel, making it official. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, fellow righty Francisco Morales has been designated for assignment.

Morales, 23, was working as a starter in the lower levels of the Phillies’ minor league system in the early parts of his career. He showed some promise at that time, including throwing 96 2/3 innings at Single-A in 2019 with a 3.82 ERA. His 11% walk rate that year was a bit on the high side but he also struck out 30.9% of batters faced. Baseball America has liked Morales for some time, as he’s been on their list of top Philly prospects since 2018.

That strong 2019 campaign got him all the way up to the #4 slot at BA going into 2020, when the minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic. The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster in November of that year in order to protect Morales from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

However, the past couple of seasons have been a struggle. In 2021, he made 24 appearances, 22 of those being starts, between Double-A and Triple-A. He still struck out hitters at a healthy 27.1% clip but his walk rate shot up to an untenable 15.5%, helping his ERA climb to 6.28. That seemed to put an end to his days as a starter, as he pitched exclusively in relief in 2022. However, the move hasn’t suited him so far, as he tossed 51 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year with a 30.6% strikeout rate but a 19.7% walk rate and 4.76 ERA. He also made three appearances in the big leagues but walked 28.6% of the batters he faced and posted a 7.20 ERA.

It seems the rough results over the past couple of seasons have worn on the patience of the Phillies, costing Morales his roster spot. However, he’s still quite young and has shown promise in the past. He still has one option year remaining and could garner interest from the clubs in search of extra pitching depth. The Phils will have one week to work out a trade or pass Morales through waivers.

Red Sox Notes: Devers, Casas, Houck, Coaching Staff

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The Red Sox entered the offseason hopeful of re-signing Xander Bogaerts and extending Rafael Devers, locking that pair of dynamic hitters into the heart of the order for the foreseeable future. Instead, Bogaerts signed an 11-year deal with the Padres, and talks with Devers have yet to bear fruit. Devers did agree to a one-year contract with for the upcoming 2023 season yesterday, locking in his salary at $17.5MM, but he was already under club control and the newly agreed-upon pact doesn’t do much to move the needle in long-term talks.

Both Jon Heyman of the New York Post and Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com report today that talks on a long-term deal have been “steady” in the past few weeks, though. As Cotillo points out, that wasn’t true early in the offseason. Still, the parties have been known to be facing a substantial gap. Devers has reportedly been searching for a deal north of $300MM, and given his age (26) and proximity to free agency (next offseason), that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

If anything, the current offseason’s rash of mega-deals for in-their-prime stars has likely only further hardened Devers’ stance; he doesn’t have the defensive value of players like Trea Turner, Carlos Correa or even Bogaerts, but Devers will be a younger free agent than anyone who agreed to a major contract this winter. Devers will play all of the 2024 season (his first free-agent year) at 27. Turner (30 in June), Bogaerts (already 30) and Correa (who turned 28 in September) are all older, as was Aaron Judge, who inked a nine-year, $360MM contract entering his age-31 season.

Devers, of course, is one of the American League’s best hitters — evidenced by a .292/.352/.532 slash over the past four seasons. He’s twice topped 30 home runs, including a 38-homer campaign in 2021, and was on a roughly 30-homer pace in the shortened 2020 season as well. The primary knock on Devers has been his defensive prowess, or lack thereof, which has prompted some to wonder when a move to first base might become necessary.

The Sox, however, hope to have their first baseman of the future on the cusp of MLB readiness in the form of top prospect Triston Casas. The soon-to-be 23-year-old slugger debuted with a .197/.358/.408 batting line in 95 plate appearances last year, and while the low batting average was obviously discouraging, it came in a small sample. Casas also raked at a .273/.382/.481 clip in Triple-A Worcester over a larger sample of 317 plate appearances.

Casas has come up in trade rumblings recently, thanks to a report from the Miami Herald that the Marlins have inquired about the former first-round pick and Miami-area native in talks involving the Marlins’ stock of young pitchers. However, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe highlights the many reasons that a trade of Casas is decidedly unlikely. As Speier notes, the team’s belief in Casas helped to temper interest in Freddie Freeman during his free agency and also contributed to the Red Sox’ decision to release Eric Hosmer.

Speier writes that the Red Sox are indeed intrigued by adding to the top half of their rotation — as most teams are — but perhaps not at the expense of Casas. The Sox appear willing to move pitchers from their big league roster, per the report, “potentially” even including right-hander Tanner Houck. To be clear, there’s no indication that Houck has been discussed extensively (or at all) with the Marlins or another club, nor is there any suggestion that the Red Sox are outright shopping the 24-year-old righty.

Still, Houck would be an interesting name for other clubs to look into, given that he’s controllable for another five seasons and has pitched to a sharp 3.02 ERA (2.95 FIP) in his first 146 MLB innings. The Sox surely value Houck and would likely only part with him in exchange for a meaningful (and controllable) upgrade elsewhere on the pitching staff or in the lineup. Dealing Houck while simultaneously looking to bring in rotation help is perhaps counterintuitive, but despite rising through the system as a starter, Houck has worked out of the bullpen more than the rotation in the Majors — including making 28 of his 32 appearances in 2022 as a reliever.

If the Sox view Houck primarily as a reliever — GM Brian O’Halloran was somewhat noncommittal on Houck’s 2023 role back in November — there’s some sense in being willing to at least listen to offers. Boston has, after all, added to its bullpen with offseason additions of Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin and Joely Rodriguez but has been less active with regard to the rotation, where Corey Kluber is the lone addition to date. Again, none of this is to say Houck is readily available, but the mere possibility of the team entertaining offers is at least of some note.

Turning to a separate matter entirely, the Sox formally announced their coaching staff for the upcoming season earlier this morning. There are no surprises among the names included. Returning to manager Alex Cora’s staff will be pitching coach Dave Bush, hitting coach Peter Fatse, bullpen coach Kevin Walker, assistant hitting coaches Ben Rosenthal and Luis Ortiz, third base/infield coach Carlos Febles, game-planning/catching coach Jason Varitek, and field coordinator Andy Fox. As reported earlier in the offseason, Ramon Vazquez is the team’s new bench coach, while Kyle Hudson has been hired away from the Guardians as the new first base/outfield coach.

Phillies Sign Craig Kimbrel

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January 4: The Phillies have officially announced Kimbrel’s signing.

December 23: The Phillies are adding an established closer. They’re reportedly in agreement with Craig Kimbrel on a one-year, $10MM pact. Kimbrel is a SportsMeter client.

Philadelphia will be the seventh MLB team for Kimbrel, who is headed into his 14th season. He returns to the NL East, where he was arguably the sport’s best closer from 2011-14 as a member of the Braves. Kimbrel remained excellent after being dealt to the Padres and subsequently to the Red Sox. Dave Dombrowski was running baseball operations in Boston while Kimbrel was there for three straight All-Star seasons between 2016-18. They’re now reunited with Dombrowski leading the charge in Philly.

Since leaving the Red Sox, Kimbrel has had his share of ups and downs. He lingered in free agency until June 2019 before securing a three-year commitment from the Cubs. That deal looked like a misfire after he posted an even 6.00 ERA in 41 appearances through the end of the 2020 campaign. However, he looked good as ever at the start of the third season. The right-hander posted a microscopic 0.57 ERA through 31 2/3 innings in the first half of 2021, securing his eighth All-Star selection in the process. The Cubs flipped him to the crosstown White Sox in a deadline deal that brought back Nick Madrigal.

Kimbrel didn’t finish the season all that well, posting a 5.09 ERA for the Sox. Chicago exercised a $16MM option on his services for the 2022 season but shopped him most of last winter. In the days leading up to Opening Day, they sent him to the Dodgers in a one-for-one swap for AJ Pollock. Kimbrel spent his age-34 campaign in Los Angeles, putting up solid numbers overall but showing some worrisome signs down the stretch.

While his first half ERA was a pedestrian 4.35, he struck out more than a third of opponents in that time. The Dodgers relied upon him as their primary closer early in the year, but he began to fall out of favor as the season pulled along. Kimbrel’s strikeout rate in the second half was a modest 20.7%. His ERA checked in at 3.10 thanks to a meager .227 batting average on balls in play against him. The Dodgers were clearly skeptical of Kimbrel’s ability to maintain that kind of batted ball fortune. They removed him from the ninth inning in September and scratched him from the roster entirely come playoff time.

It’s surely not the way either Kimbrel or the team envisioned the season ending, but his 2022 campaign was hardly a disaster. He posted a 3.75 ERA across 60 innings overall. His 27.7% strikeout rate and 12.1% swinging strike percentage were each a bit better than par, and he averaged a quality 95.8 MPH on his fastball. He walked batters at a elevated 10.8% clip and gave up a fair bit of hard contact, but he still showed quality bat-missing stuff. While it wasn’t vintage Kimbrel or even at the level of his 2021 production, he showed enough to believe he’s still capable of solid play.

Kimbrel went 22 of 27 on save attempts this year. He’s now up to 394 saves for his career, most of any active player. Kimbrel should soon become the seventh pitcher in MLB history to reach the 400-save mark, and he’ll have a path back to ninth-inning work in Philadelphia. Players like José Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez previously stood as the in-house favorites for closing work, though they’re each capable of taking on higher-leverage responsibilities in the seventh or eight inning.

It’s a relatively low-cost gamble for the Phils, matching the $10MM flier they took on Corey Knebel last offseason. They’ll have to tack on a few million extra in taxes, as they’re likely to exceed the luxury tax threshold for a second straight season. Philadelphia’s luxury tax commitments are up to approximately $251MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. They’re subject to a 30% tax on every dollar spent between $233MM and $253MM, so the Kimbrel signing comes with an extra $3MM in fees. It also brings them within a couple million dollars of the second CBT threshold at $253MM. That would come with a 42% tax on overages, with higher penalties in the event they top $273MM.

Precisely where owner John Middleton wants to draw the line isn’t clear, though the Phils have little reason to spare much expense on the heels of a pennant win. Philadelphia has already brought in Trea Turner and Taijuan Walker this winter, and Kimbrel joins Matt Strahm as relief additions. The Phils are set for another battle with the Mets and Braves in a top-heavy NL East, and they’ll hope Kimbrel has plenty of opportunities to lock down wins at the back end of the bullpen.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported Kimbrel and the Phillies had agreed to a contract. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the one-year, $10MM guarantee.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cubs To Sign Ryan Borucki To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs and left-hander Ryan Borucki are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The southpaw will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training, though no formal announcement has been made.

Borucki, 29 in March, was drafted by the Blue Jays and had an encouraging rookie season with them in 2018. Working as a starter at that time, Borucki posted a 3.87 ERA over 17 starts. Unfortunately, elbow injuries limited him to just a pair of starts in 2019 and the Jays converted him to a reliever after that.

Since moving to the bullpen, the results have been mixed. He posted an ERA of 2.70 in 2020 but that jumped up to 4.94 and 5.68 in the following two seasons. As those ERAs have climbed, he’s struck out fewer hitters, though his command has improved. His strikeout rate went from 28.8 percent in 2020, down to 21.4 and 18.9 percent after that, while his walk rate went from 16.4 to 11.2 to 9.9 percent. Home runs have also suddenly become an issue, as he had allowed 10 long balls in 121 career innings by the end of 2020 but has allowed 11 homers in just 49 innings over the past two years.

Borucki is out of options and can no longer be sent to the minors. In 2022, the Jays designated him for assignment and flipped him to the Mariners, who outrighted him at season’s end. Despite the rough season, there are things to like about Borucki. He’s held lefties to a meager .204/.286/.289 batting line in his career and a .184/.286/.245 line last year. The Cubs don’t have a ton of lefties lined up to be in their bullpen, with Brandon Hughes and Anthony Kay the only options on the 40-man who don’t project to be in the rotation. If Borucki can make it onto the club’s roster, he won’t be able to reach six years of MLB service time this year and could be retained for 2024 via arbitration, if the Cubs so choose.

Cubs, Brad Wieck Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are in agreement on a two-year minor league contract with lefty Brad Wieck, reports Robert Murray of FanSided.  The two-year term of the deal is due to the fact that the southpaw is expected to miss most — if not all — of the 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. Wieck is represented by CAA.

The 31-year-old Wieck has spent the past four seasons with the Cubs, pitching well when healthy but spending the bulk of his time on the injured list. The Cubs removed him from the 40-man roster by passing him through outright waivers after the season, and as a player with three-plus years of big league service time, that afforded Wieck the right to become a free agent.

In addition to the elbow strain that led to this past summer’s Tommy John surgery, Wieck also missed nearly all of the shortened 2020 season due to a hamstring tear. He’s also undergone a paid of cardiac ablation procedures to address an irregular heartbeat — once in early 2020 and a second time in July 2021. He hasn’t pitched in the Majors since that ’21 procedure, though that’s due largely to the elbow troubles that popped up in 2022.

Though he’s struggled to stay on the field, Wieck remains a promising potential bullpen option, and the Cubs clearly aren’t keen on letting him get away. He’s tossed just 28 innings with the team but has pitched to a pristine 1.93 ERA while fanning a mammoth 42.1% of his opponents. Wieck’s 13.2% walk rate in that time speaks to some command issues, but the immense strikeout prowess is clearly tantalizing.

Wieck is something of a long shot to factor into Chicago’s bullpen mix in 2023, given that his surgery was performed in late July. He’ll remain with the team in 2024 if he’s not an option this year, though, at which point he’d presumably be invited to Major League Spring Training. Wieck won’t accrue service time in 2023 since he won’t be on the Major League injured list, but if he makes the roster in 2024, he’d be controllable for another three seasons via arbitration.

Phillies Acquire Erich Uelmen, Designate Vinny Nittoli

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The Phillies have acquired right-hander Erich Uelmen from the Cubs in exchange for cash and opened a spot on the roster by designating fellow right-hander Vinny Nittoli for assignment, per a team announcement. Uelmen was designated for assignment by the Cubs when they finalized their deal to re-sign southpaw Drew Smyly.

Uelmen, 26, made his big league debut with the Cubs in 2022, pitching to a 4.67 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate against a 9.8% walk rate in 27 innings. He averaged 93.8 mph on his heater, generally kept the ball in the yard (1.00 HR/9) and posted an above-average 47.6% ground-ball rate in that time.

That marked the continuation of a solid showing in Triple-A, where Uelmen tossed 42 innings with a 2.79 ERA and a huge 55.3% ground-ball rate. He also fanned 29.1% of his opponents in Triple-A, but Uelmen’s 12.8% walk rate clearly left plenty to be desired. He has a full slate of three minor league option years remaining, and he was dominant against fellow right-handers in 2022, limiting them to a .206/.282/.326 output.

Lefties had more success at .234/.390/.318, but if he can rein in his command, Uelmen could be a serviceable option against hitters from both sides of the plate. That’s easier said than done, of course, and Uelmen has walked 11.2% of the batters he’s faced in Double-A, Triple-A and the Majors combined.

Nittoli, 32, reached the Majors for the first time in 2021 when he tossed one inning for the Mariners. It was a tiny sample but a notable one for the former 25th-round pick, as it capped off an eight-year grind to the big league level. He split the 2022 season between the Yankees, Blue Jays and Phillies organizations, with Toronto flipping him to Philadelphia in an August swap. The Phils selected Nittoli to the Majors when rosters expanded on Sept. 1 and got a pair of scoreless innings out of him during his brief time with the big league squad.

Nittoli posted a 3.81 ERA in 52 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees, Jays and Phillies in 2022, whiffing 30.8% of his opponents against a tidy 6.7% walk rate. He still has a minor league option year remaining, and the Phillies will now have a week to trade him or place him on outright waivers.

Guardians Sign Touki Toussaint, Cam Gallagher To Minor League Deals

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The Guardians announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Touki Toussaint, catcher Cam Gallagher and righty Michael Kelly to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. Cleveland also confirmed its previously reported signing of outfielder Roman Quinn.

Toussaint, 26, is the most recognizable and most experienced name of the bunch. A former first-round draft pick (No. 16 overall, to the D-backs in 2014) and top-100 prospect in the sport, the 6’3″ righty was traded to the Braves and, for several years, was viewed as a potentially vital piece of the team’s most recent rebuilding cycle. It was easy enough to see why. Toussaint obliterated minor league lineups in 2018, pitching to a combined 2.38 ERA in 136 1/3 innings — including a 1.43 ERA in 50 innings during his Triple-A debut.

It’s been mostly downhill since that time, however. Toussaint was solid but wild in a 29-inning MLB debut late in the ’18 season, and he was clobbered both in Triple-A and in the Majors in 2019 (as were many pitchers in the juiced ball season). He allowed 24 runs in 24 1/3 innings during the shortened 2020 season, and Toussaint hasn’t really found his footing in either of the two subsequent seasons, despite a move to the bullpen and a change of scenery that sent him from Atlanta to Anaheim.

All in all, Toussaint has a 5.34 ERA in 170 1/3 big league innings. He’s punched out a solid 23.7% of his opponents and paired that with a solid 11.1% swinging-strike rate, but he’s also walked far too many hitters (13.6%) and been homer-prone more often than not (1.37 HR/9). His Triple-A work has been better, but not markedly so; in 160 innings he carries a 4.55 ERA with a 25.7% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate.

Gallagher, 30, has appeared in parts of six Major League seasons — all with the Royals. He’s primarily functioned as a glove-first backup to iron man Salvador Perez, never topping more than 142 plate appearances in a single big league season. He’s tallied just 469 trips to the plate during his time in the Majors, batting .240/.302/.355 overall. Gallagher draws plus marks for his framing and has registered 11 Defensive Runs Saved in 1136 career innings behind the plate, though he’s struggled a bit with the running game (20.6% caught-stealing rate in his career).

Also 30, Kelly made his Major League debut with the Phillies in 2022 when he tossed four innings of one-run ball with a 4-to-1 K/BB ratio. The longtime Padres farmhand has a spotty track record in the upper minors but had a big year with the Astros’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2021, pitching to a combined 2.70 ERA with a with a 29.5% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate. He was hit hard with the Phillies’ Triple-A club in 2022, but part of his unsightly 5.29 ERA can be chalked up to a sky-high .375 average on balls in play. Kelly also punched out better than 29% of his opponents for a second straight year in 2022.

Both Toussaint and Kelly will vie for bullpen spots this spring, though Cleveland has a deep and talented relief corps that might be tough to crack in the earlygoing. That said, either could be a fine depth option in the event of injuries. Gallagher will be behind each of Mike Zunino, Bo Naylor and Bryan Lavastida on the depth chart, as they’re all on the 40-man roster. He joins another former Royals backup, Meibrys Viloria, as catching depth in the upper minors.

Guardians, Roman Quinn Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Guardians are in agreement on a minor league deal with fleet-footed outfielder Roman Quinn, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The Roc Nation Sports client will be invited to Major League Spring Training with his new organization.

Quinn, 29, was considered one of the Phillies’ top farmhands for several years but has never appeared in more than 50 games or reached 150 plate appearances in a big league season. He held his own in brief call-ups with the Phils back in 2016 and 2018, hitting a combined .261/.335/.388 through 212 plate appearances while going 15-for-20 in stolen base attempts. However, since that time, Quinn has turned in a combined .207/.286/.326 batting line in 157 games and 387 plate appearances in the Majors.

The switch-hitting Quinn split the 2022 season between the Phillies, Royals and Rays organizations, struggling on the whole but posting a respectable .262/.340/.405 slash in 47 plate appearances with Tampa Bay to close out the season. That said, Quinn fanned in 44.7% of his plate appearances with the Rays and was buoyed by a whopping .524 average on balls in play, so his small-sample production there looked far from sustainable.

Though he’s struggled in the Majors, Quinn has had success in the upper minors, slashing .296/.358/.435 in 592 Double-A plate appearances and .287/.370/.437 in 395 Triple-A plate appearances. His speed has been an asset in the outfield, where he can handle any of the three positions and has posted above-average defensive grades in 1269 big league innings.

Quinn’s speed-and-defense skill set fits the Guardians’ mold to an extent, though he’s not the type of contact-oriented hitter that Cleveland has stockpiled in recent seasons. He’s fanned in 30.4% of his Major League plate appearances — including an alarming 35.5% clip over the past three seasons (265 plate appearances).

The Guardians’ starting outfield appears largely set, with third-place Rookie of the Year finisher Steven Kwan in left field, fellow speedster Myles Straw in center and the quietly productive Oscar Gonzalez in right field. Both Will Brennan and Will Benson are on the 40-man roster as alternatives or potential bench options, and top prospect George Valera will start the season in Triple-A and hope to improve on a pedestrian showing in his debut at that level last season. (Valera did produce a more sobust .264/.367/.470 output in Double-A prior to his promotion and is still just 22 years of age.)

Given that plethora of outfield options, Quinn will be hard-pressed to crack Cleveland’s Opening Day roster, but he’s a nice depth option to have on hand in the event of an injury (particularly if Straw ends up needing to miss time in center).

The Opener: 1B Market, Yankees, MLBTR Chat

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As the baseball world starts to wake back up, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on throughout the day:

1. 1B Market Update

There was some movement on the first base market yesterday, as Dominic Smith landed with the Nationals and Eric Hosmer appears to be headed to the Cubs. While many corners of the free agent market are running low on both suitors and options at this point, there are still several recognizable veteran names at first base. Trey Mancini is the top option remaining, but the likes of Luke Voit, Brandon Belt, and Miguel Sano all remain available to teams looking to make an addition. While both the Cubs and Nats were among the most obvious clubs for a first baseman, other teams still remain. The Orioles were known to have interest in Hosmer, while the Rays and Royals were in on Smith. The Marlins, Mariners, and Tigers are other teams for whom it could make sense to add another bat, though such an addition for any of these clubs would not necessarily need to come at first base.

2. Could the Yankees stand pat in left field?

The Yankees came into the offseason with the outfield as their most obvious hole, and while they’ve succeeded in retaining Aaron Judge, there’s still plenty of room for the club to make a second addition. Judge, Harrison Bader, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Aaron Hicks are the team’s current outfield options, and Giancarlo Stanton could potentially contribute on days he isn’t the team’s DH. There’s been a lot of talk throughout the offseason about who the team could add to play left field, but is it possible they’re content going into opening day with their current options? Cabrera was solid in a 44-game cup of coffee in 2022, batting .247/.312/.429 (111 wRC+) while splitting time between both outfield corners and all four infield spots. Meanwhile, Hicks is under contract for the next three seasons, so they may prefer to see if his value can bounce back in more of a part time role after a difficult season in 2022.

In addition to the options currently on the 40-man roster, the Yankees have loaded up on veteran outfield depth on minor league deals. Outfielders Michael Hermosillo, Willie Calhoun, and, most recently, Rafael Ortega have all landed deals to play in Scranton to start 2023. Any of them could prove to be plausible bench pieces for the big league club if the current position player mix suffers any losses, whether via injury or trade, before Opening Day. Ortega, in particular, posted a .265/.344/.408 line (108 wRC+) across 701 plate appearances with the Cubs during the 2021-22 seasons, and his left-handed bat could provide balance to a Yankees hitting corps currently dominated by righties.

3. MLBTR Chat Today

Yesterday, MLBTR’s Steve Adams fielded questions during a live chat (transcript here). If you still have unanswered questions about this offseason or the direction of your favorite team, you’re in luck, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco will be hosting another chat today at 5pm CT. You can submit a question in advance here, and you can use the same link to check back in this evening and participate live once the chat begins.

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