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Mariners Do Not Extend Qualifying Offer To Teoscar Hernández

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The Mariners have decided not to extend a $20.325MM qualifying offer to outfielder Teoscar Hernández, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.

This is arguably the most surprising news to come out of the qualifying offer deadline, which just passed at 4:00 pm Central. All seven players to receive the QO were obvious locks, but it seemed possible that some other pitchers and position players could be on that list. Hernández seemed like one of the more likely QO candidates but will now head to the open market unencumbered.

An impending free agent is eligible for a qualifying offer if they just spent the entire season with only one club and have not received one previously in their career. If the player rejects a QO and signs elsewhere, the signing club is subject to draft pick forfeiture and possibly other penalties while the player’s previous club gets draft pick compensation.

Hernández had a bit of a down year in 2023, relative to his own standards, but had been one of the better sluggers in baseball over the previous three seasons. He hit 73 home runs for the Blue Jays from 2020 to 2022, slashing .283/.333/.519 in the process. That amounted to a wRC+ of 133, indicating he was 33% better than the league average hitter in that stretch, putting him in the top 20 of all qualified hitters in that time.

The Jays traded him to the Mariners going into 2023 and then his production slipped. He still hit 26 home runs but his strikeout rate jumped to 31.1%, after being at a combined 27.2% over the previous three years. His .258/.305/.435 line translated to a wRC+ of just 105. That was obviously not what the M’s envisioned when they traded for him, but it’s possible their pitching-friendly home park played a role, as he had a wRC+ of just 81 at home for the year but 126 on the road.

The upcoming free agent market is generally weak in terms of impact bats, despite being headlined by Shohei Ohtani. Despite his down year, Hernández was going to be one of the most attractive bats available. It was generally expected that the Mariners would extend the qualifying offer to him and he probably still could have found decent offers in free agency. But they evidently believed there was risk of him accepting the QO in the event they offered it. Since they chose not to do so suggests that having him back in Seattle next year at a salary of $20.325MM was an undesirable outcome for them.

That perhaps doesn’t bode well for next year’s budget for the club, but it’s also possible they are trying to keep powder dry at this early stage of the offseason. The Mariners, along with many other clubs, are expected to pursue Ohtani as a Plan A this winter with all other options Plan B. As the Mariners assess their odds in that pursuit, perhaps they didn’t want to risk having a sizable chunk of their budget already spoken for by Hernández.

This only helps him out as a free agent, since receiving a QO has a negative effect on a player’s earning power. Being saddled with draft pick forfeiture will cause some clubs to lower how much they are willing to spend on a given player while some other will steer clear of such players completely. By avoiding the QO, Hernández can avoid any such worries.

Braves Claim Angel Perdomo, Outright Jackson Stephens

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The Braves have claimed lefty reliever Angel Perdomo off waivers from the Pirates, according to an announcement from Pittsburgh. Atlanta reliever Jackson Stephens was outrighted from the 40-man roster and elected free agency in a corresponding move. Pittsburgh also announced that Yerry De Los Santos — previously reported as on waivers — went unclaimed and was outrighted from the roster.

Perdomo, 29, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons. He logged a personal-high 29 innings with the Pirates in 2023 after signing an offseason minor league deal. The 6’8″ southpaw showed promise, working to a 3.72 ERA while striking out an elite 37.6% of batters faced. He generated swinging strikes at a solid 13% clip and held opposing lefties to a .125/.205/.225 line in a small sample.

Were he healthy, that likely would have been enough to hold a spot in the Pittsburgh relief corps. Unfortunately, Perdomo landed on the injured list with a season-ending elbow problem in August. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported over the weekend that Perdomo underwent a Tommy John procedure a month ago. He’s likely to miss all of 2024. With no injured list during the offseason, the Bucs felt it best to let him go.

Atlanta will carry him on the 40-man roster, at least for the moment. Should he stick on the roster all winter, they could place him on the 60-day IL during Spring Training. He’ll step into the spot vacated by Stephens, who made five appearances late in the season. The 29-year-old righty posted a 3.28 ERA over 24 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s likely to find another minor league deal this offseason.

Athletics Claim Miguel Andujar From Pirates

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar off waivers from the Pirates and selected outfielder Lazaro Armenteros. The A’s also outrighted left-handers Anthony Kay and Easton Lucas, as well as right-handers Tayler Scott and Chad Smith to Triple-A Las Vegas. The move on Armenteros was reported last week.

Andujar, 29 in March, had a tremendous season with the Yankees in 2018, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting to Shohei Ohtani. But since then, he hasn’t been given an extended stretch of playing time in the big leagues. Shoulder surgery put him out of action for much of 2019 and Gio Urshela stole the third base job in the Bronx while he was gone. Since then, he has generally crushed in the minors but struggled when given brief looks in the majors.

2023 continued that pattern, with Andujar in the Pirates organization. He was up in the majors for a couple of weeks from late April to mid-May but hit just .161/.212/.387. But his Triple-A season was far stronger, as he hit .338/.404/.536 at that level. He got back to the big leagues as a September call-up and was able to post an excellent line .302/.351/.528 in the final month of the season.

Given that encouraging finish, the Bucs could have held onto Andujar but he was projected for an arbitration salary of $2.2MM and is out of options. He was also limited to playing first base and the outfield corners in 2023, both in the majors and in the minors. The Pirates decided to move on but the A’s have come in to claim him.

The latter club has traded away their most established big leaguers in recent years, which perhaps makes Oakland the ideal landing spot for Andujar. He will be competing for playing time in the first base/corner outfield/designated hitter mix with Ryan Noda, Seth Brown, Brent Rooker, JJ Bleday and others. If he is finally able to click in the majors again, he can be retained for another season via arbitration, though the A’s would likely trade him in that scenario.

Kay, 28, was just claimed off waivers a couple of weeks ago. He has a 5.59 ERA in 85 1/3 career innings at the major league level. He tossed 40 2/3 innings in the minors this year, between the Mets and Cubs, with a 3.76 ERA in that time.

Lucas, 26, just came of the A’s in the deadline deal that sent Shintaro Fujinami to the O’s. He was added to the roster in early September and made his major league debut, allowing six earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. He tossed 46 2/3 frames in the minors for the year across different levels and organizations, with a 3.86 ERA across those clubs.

Scott, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in July. He had a 5.60 ERA in the majors in 2023, splitting time between three different clubs. Between three different Triple-A clubs, he logged 38 1/3 innings with a 1.64 ERA.

Smith, 28, was acquired from the Rockies in the last offseason. He went on to throw 13 2/3 innings for the A’s in 2023 with a 6.59 ERA. His 34 2/3 innings in Triple-A didn’t go any better, with a 7.53 ERA in that time.

Phillies Do Not Extend Qualifying Offer To Rhys Hoskins

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The Phillies will extend a $20.325MM qualifying offer to right-hander Aaron Nola but not to first baseman Rhys Hoskins, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

Hoskins, 30, was an interesting borderline case for a QO. On the one hand, he had slugged 148 home runs in his career and slashed .242/.353/.492 for a wRC+ of 126. But he then missed the entire 2023 season after tearing his left ACL in Spring Training.

That could have been a tricky decision for the Phils but it seems they have opted against giving Hoskins the QO, seemingly expecting that he would have accepted it. That would have been logical from his point of view, returning to a familiar environment while hoping for a bounceback campaign. A salary of $20.325MM for Hoskins would have been reasonable if he were healthy, but it’s also a lot of money to tie up right at the beginning of the offseason, in addition to the risk of him having some rust after the lost season.

The Phils also have some flexibility now that Bryce Harper got playing time at first base in 2023 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery and couldn’t play the outfield. The outfielder picture has Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Johan Rojas, Brandon Marsh, Cristian Pache and Jake Cave, so perhaps they didn’t want to lock up a first baseman like Hoskins and push Harper back into the outfield on an everyday basis.

This only helps Hoskins out as a free agent, since receiving a QO has a negative effect on a player’s earning power. Being saddled with draft pick forfeiture will cause some clubs to lower how much they are willing to spend on a given player while some other will steer clear of such players completely. By avoiding the QO, Hoskins can avoid any such worries.

Phillies Outright Michael Plassmeyer, Erich Uelmen

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The Phillies have sent Michael Plassmeyer and Erich Uelmen outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the team announced. Presumably, both pitchers will soon elect minor league free agency.

Plassmeyer bounced from the Mariners to the Rays to the Giants before landing in Philadelphia in June 2022. The southpaw got off to a strong start in the organization, pitching to a 2.83 ERA in his first 11 starts at Triple-A. That was enough to earn him his first call to the show, where he threw 1 1/3 scoreless in his big league debut. However, Plassmeyer ultimately only made just appearances for the Phillies over the past two seasons, largely serving as rotation and bullpen depth at Triple-A. The 2024 season will be his age-27 campaign.

Uelmen, for his part, made just one appearance for the Phillies in 2023 after coming over from the Cubs in an offseason trade. While he made 25 appearances for the big league club in Chicago last year, he posted a 4.67 ERA and -0.2 FanGraphs WAR in 27 innings of long relief. In other words, he didn’t make a particularly strong first impression in his rookie campaign. Not too surprisingly, he spent almost all of the 2023 season at Triple-A. He turns 28 next May.

Mariners Outright Ryder Ryan

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The Mariners announced this afternoon that right-handed reliever Ryder Ryan has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A. There had been no previous indication that Ryan was on waivers. The move puts him in line to become a minor league free agent.

Ryan was drafted by the Guardians twice, first out of high school in 2014, and again in 2016 after his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina. He signed with Cleveland the second time around and made his professional debut that summer. After a year in the Guardians system, the righty packed his bags for New York, heading to the Mets in return for veteran slugger Jay Bruce. He rose through the ranks with his new organization, reaching Double-A in 2019. 

In 2020, Ryan was traded once again, this time to the Rangers in exchange for Todd Frazier. He spent the next two seasons at Triple-A Round Rock, pitching to a 4.49 ERA in 85 appearances out of the bullpen. After the 2022 campaign, Ryan signed a minor league deal with the Mariners, with whom he finally earned his first taste of major league action. He was selected to the 40-man roster in August, and at 28 years old, he made his big league debut, pitching a single scoreless inning against the Orioles. The righty was optioned shortly after that.

Ryan will be eligible to elect minor league free agency, although it’s certainly possible he’ll return to the Mariners organization in 2024. Under the provisions of his last contract, he opted out of his first deal with the Mariners in June, only to re-sign with the team two days later. Two months after that, it was Seattle that gave him his first chance to pitch in the show.

Marlins To Exercise Club Option On Jon Berti

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The Marlins are exercising their 2024 club option on utilityman Jon Berti, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. He’ll be paid a $3.625MM salary next year and will be arbitration-eligible one final time in the 2024-25 offseason before reaching free agency after the ’25 campaign.

Berti, 34 in January, has emerged as a utilityman extraordinaire in Miami, capably fielding three infield spots (second base, third base, shortstop) in addition to frequent work across all three outfield spots. He’s paired that versatility with excellent speed and baserunning value — 91 for his past 111 in steals, including an NL-best 41 in 2022 — and typically average or better production at the dish over the past five seasons.

Dating back to 2019, Berti is a .259/.338/.367 hitter in 1536 plate appearances. That production is weighed down by an off year in 2021, but Berti is fresh off a .294/.334/.405 showing that included a career-best seven home runs in a career-high 424 trips to the plate. He’d have remained arbitration-eligible and under club control through 2025 even if the Marlins had declined the option, but the strength of his 2023 performance likely would’ve ticketed him for a salary greater than the price of this affordable option. The Fish secured this option by agreeing to an eleventh-hour deal with Berti just before his arbitration hearing last offseason, and they’ll now avoid a potential hearing months in advance this time around.

Heading into the ’24 season, it’s unlikely that Berti will be penciled in for regular at-bats at one particular spot on the diamond, but his ability to bounce around in nearly seamless fashion should ensure that he’ll play a prominent role regardless of a nomadic defensive role on the roster. Between Berti, Josh Bell, Avisail Garcia and Sandy Alcantara, the Marlins have just over $41MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books, although a 13-player arbitration class — headlined by Luis Arraez, Jesus Luzardo and Tanner Scott — leads Roster Resource to project a payroll of more than $99MM.

Michael Wacha Opts Out; Padres Give Qualifying Offers to Blake Snell, Josh Hader

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The Padres have extended qualifying offers to free agent lefties Blake Snell and Josh Hader, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The club also announced a batch of transactions, which includes each of Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez electing free agency. Meanwhile, Matt Carpenter exercised his player option to stick with the club. Additionally, the club outrighted right-hander Nick Hernandez and claimed right-hander Jeremiah Estrada off waivers from the Cubs.

The decisions of Lugo and Martinez were previously reported, as was the news on Carpenter. As for Wacha, it was reported on the weekend that the club was declining a two-year option to retain him for 2024-25. Wacha then had the opportunity to trigger a $6.5MM player option for 2024 but has now turned that down.

Wacha signed a four-year deal with the Padres, though one with a convoluted structure. The club would first have to decide on a two-year, $32MM option for the 2024-25 seasons, which they declined. Wacha then had three straight player options which could have paid him $6.5MM in 2024 and then $6MM in the following two seasons. But he has now turned that down, leaving three years and $18.5MM on the table in search of a new deal.

Although he was largely injured and/or ineffective for much of the 2018 to 2021 period, Wacha has now had two straight solid seasons. He posted a 3.32 ERA with the Red Sox in 2022 and a 3.22 mark in his first season in San Diego. Injuries still limited his total volume of work, as he logged 127 1/3 innings for the Sox and 134 1/3 for the Friars, but the combination of workload and effectiveness was nonetheless the best form he’s showed in years.

He’ll now head back to free agency in search of his next deal. The starting pitching market is headlined by guys like Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Aaron Nola and Jordan Montgomery but Wacha will be somewhere in the tie of solid mid-rotation or back-end guys, alongside Lugo, Jack Flaherty and Mike Clevinger.

The fact that Snell and Hader received $20.325MM qualifying offers is no surprise. The two of them are going to be some of the top available free agents this winter, making them a lock to reject them, something recently highlighted by MLBTR. Snell posted a 2.25 earned run average in 2023 and could receive the second Cy Young Award of his career in the coming days. Hader has long been one of the most dominant relievers in the league and had a 1.28 ERA in the season that just ended. Both should be able to receive nine-figure contracts even with a QO attached.

Any impending free agent can receive a qualifying offer as long as they spent the entire season with just one club and haven’t received a QO before. If Hader and/or Snell sign with other clubs after rejecting the QO, the Padres will receive draft pick compensation.

The departures of Wacha, Snell, Lugo and Martinez will leave the Padres fairly short-handed in their rotation. They still have Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove but they are followed on the depth chart by unproven options like Matt Waldron, Jay Groome, Adrián Morejón and Pedro Avila. They will presumably be looking to add to that group but will have to do so while juggling significant financial concerns.

Hernandez, 29 next month, was just added to the roster in September. He made two appearances, allowing four earned runs in three innings, giving him a career ERA of 12.00 in that tiny sample. He threw 61 innings in the minors in 2023, split between Double-A and Triple-A, with a 3.84 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. Any of the 29 other clubs could have added him to their roster today but decided to pass.

Estrada, 25, made 17 appearances for the Cubs over the past two seasons with a 5.51 ERA in that time. His 25.9% strikeout rate is a bit above average but his 18.5% walk rate is concerning. That’s generally been a pattern in the minor leagues as well, with Estrada striking out 31.2% of hitters at Triple-A in 2023 but walking 18.8%. He is still optionable next year, so the Padres will add some pitching depth that comes with roster flexibility, while they will presumably try to help Estrada improve his control going forward.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rockies Claim Jalen Beeks Off Waviers From Rays

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The Rockies announced this afternoon that they have claimed left-hander Jalen Beeks off waivers from the Rays. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 36.

Beeks, 30, made his big league debut in 2018 as a member of the Red Sox, but made just two appearances with Boston before being shipped to the Rays in the Nathan Eovaldi trade. Upon joining the Rays for the stretch run, Beeks pitched to a 4.47 ERA and 4.45 FIP in 44 1/3 innings of work, before largely repeating that performance over a full season in 2019 with a 4.31 ERA and 4.41 FIP across 104 1/3 innings. Beeks took something of a step forward with the Rays in the shortened 2020 season, pitching to a solid 3.26 ERA with a sterling 1.76 FIP bolstered by a 32.1% strikeout rate. Unfortunately, his 2020 season would be halted prematurely by Tommy John surgery, which wiped out his 2021 campaign as well.

Upon returning in 2022, Beeks posted the best full season of his career with a 2.80 ERA and 3.49 FIP in 61 innings of work. Things took a turn for the worse in 2023, however, as the southpaw struggled badly to a 5.95 ERA in 42 1/3 innings despite a solid 3.82 FIP that was reminiscent of his standout campaign the year before. Beeks is projected for a $1.8MM salary this season by MLBTR’s Matt Swartz, a level at which the Rays clearly weren’t comfortable committing to the lefty after his tough 2023.

That being said, it’s easy to see why the Rockies would take a chance on Beeks. The lefty has posted a 27.3% strikeout rate against a 9% walk rate in 122 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season, and Colorado is in desperate need of addition pitching depth headed into next season. Beeks has had most of his success in short-inning relief throughout his career, but has been stretched out for long relief in the past, giving the Rockies a flexible left-handed option out of the bullpen for 2024, particularly valuable for a club that’s losing left-hander Brent Suter to free agency this offseason.

Braves Exercise Club Option On Charlie Morton, Decline Options On Kirby Yates, Collin McHugh

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The Braves are bringing back veteran right-hander Charlie Morton for another season in 2024, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, as the club will exercise their $20MM team option on his services. Meanwhile, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays that the club is expected to decline their club option on veteran reliever Kirby Yates, opting to pay him a $1.25MM buyout rather than a $5.75MM salary for 2024. Atlanta also announced they’ve bought out right-hander Collin McHugh for $1MM instead of a $6MM option.

Charlie Morton | Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Morton at one point publicly indicated uncertainty as to whether he’d pitched beyond his mid-30s, but he’s remained a high-quality starter who’ll now return to Atlanta for a fourth year in what will be his age-40 campaign. The veteran righty started 30 games with the Braves this past season, pitching to a 3.64 ERA with a 25.6% strikeout rate, 11.6% walk rate and 43.3% ground-ball rate over the life of 163 1/3 innings. That walk rate was abnormally high for Morton, who’d issued a free pass to just 8% of his opponents in the past six seasons combined, but his fastball velocity held strong at 95 mph.

While Morton isn’t necessarily the top-tier starter he was during his first season in Atlanta, he remains a quality mid-rotation arm. Given the strength of Atlanta’s pitching, he needn’t be any more than that, either. Lefty Max Fried and young righty Spencer Strider rank among the National League’s best starters, and Morton gives manager Brian Snitker and the organization a playoff-tested veteran to slot into the rotation behind that excellent pairing.

Righty Bryce Elder’s breakout 2023 campaign likely secured him a 2024 rotation spot as well, and the Braves currently have righties AJ Smith-Shawver, Michael Soroka, Ian Anderson (returning from Tommy John surgery) and lefties Dylan Dodd, Jared Shuster and Kolby Allard as depth options beyond that group. Kyle Wright will miss the 2024 season after undergoing October shoulder surgery, making Morton’s return and the steadiness that he brings to the table all the more pivotal.

The $20MM price point at which Morton returns has become the going rate for mid-rotation help — particularly given the short term of the deal. Fellow righties like Jameson Taillon (four years, $68MM) and Taijuan Walker (four years, $72MM) secured $17-18MM annual salaries on longer-term deals elsewhere in the league with the general expectation of functioning as third/fourth starters. With that salary now locked in, Atlanta’s payroll pushes north of $202MM, per Roster Resource — though trades, potential non-tenders and future free agent dealings will surely alter that number in the weeks and months to come.

As for Yates, he’ll head back to the open market after spending the past two seasons in Atlanta. The Braves inked him to a two-year, $8.25MM contract in the 2021-22 offseason, knowing he’d miss the majority of the ’22 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The former All-Star closer and 2019 NL saves leader (41) was one of the game’s best relievers during a brief two-year peak, but he pitched just seven innings in 2022 and battled considerable command issues this past season.

While Yates’ 3.28 ERA during his second Braves campaign was plenty solid, he also walked 14.6% of his opponents. At his best, Yates anchored the Padres’ bullpen with a 1.67 ERA, 38.7% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate, but that form wasn’t on display in Atlanta this year. The Braves were discouraged enough — and possess enough pitching depth — to turn down a net $4.5MM call on Yates, who’ll now head back to the open market in search for a new opportunity in advance of his age-37 season.

McHugh also spent two years as a Brave after signing as a free agent. He had a strong first season but struggled to a 4.30 ERA with a modest 17.5% strikeout rate in 2023. His season ended in early September when he landed on the injured list with inflammation in his throwing shoulder.

Meanwhile, Atlanta will rely on a relief corps headlined by Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter and recent re-signees Joe Jimenez (three years, $26MM) and Pierce Johnson (two years, $14.25MM). Both trade acquisitions were set to be free agents before putting pen to paper on new contracts within the past five weeks.

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