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Phillies Sign Whit Merrifield To One-Year Deal

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The Phillies announced they have signed infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield on a one-year contract. It’s reportedly an $8MM guarantee that takes the form of a $7MM salary this year and a $1MM buyout on an $8MM club option for 2025. There are also bonuses for the Warner Sports Management client that can take the full value to $16.6MM over two years.

Merrifield, 35, reached free agency at a late age, due to both being a late bloomer and signing an extension with the Royals. He made his major league debut in 2016 at the age of 27 and didn’t truly establish himself until the year after, his age-28 campaign.

From 2017 to 2020, Merrifield was solidly above-average at the plate and in other areas as well. He only walked in 6.3% of his plate appearances but limited his strikeouts to a 15.4% clip. His .297/.345/.452 batting line in that time amounted to a wRC+ of 111, or 11% better than league average. He also stole 111 bases in that time while providing quality defense at second base and all three outfield positions.

In the midst of that stretch, Merrifield signed a four-year, $16.25MM extension with the Royals, with that deal having a club option as well. He didn’t have a lot of leverage since his late-bloomer status meant that he wasn’t slated to reach free agency until after his age-33 season. That extension allowed him to lock in some decent money while giving up his age-34 season via that club option. The Royals would later trigger that option in advance, as part of restructuring his deal in early 2022.

The past three seasons have seen Merrifield’s production slip, a period of time that saw him traded to the Blue Jays midway through. Since the start of the 2021 campaign, his walk and strikeout rates have both stayed low as he has hit .269/.313/.392 for a wRC+ of 92. He added another 94 steals but his defensive metrics have taken a step back. In the outfield, both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have considered him to be subpar in those recent years. OAA still likes his work at second base, whereas DRS gave him +14 at the keystone in 2021 but negative numbers in the past two years.

Coming into the offseason, MLBTR predicted that Merrifield could get $18MM over two years. This contract takes roughly that same shape but only half of it is guaranteed, with the second half depending on whether or not that option is picked up.

For the Phillies, Merrifield is likely to serve as a bench/utility piece, though one that could see fairly regular playing time. The club has Bryson Stott at second base, though he’s a left-handed hitter. Merrifield is right-handed and has modest traditional platoon splits in his career: .289/.335/.458 batting line and 111 wRC+ against lefties compared with a .282/.328/.407 line and 97 wRC+ the rest of the time. Stott actually has reverse splits overall but was even in 2023.

In the outfield, with Bryce Harper now entrenched at first base and Kyle Schwarber likely to be a regular as the designated hitter, that leaves Nick Castellanos as the everyday option in right field and Johan Rojas in center. There’s some uncertainty with Brandon Marsh in left after he recently had arthroscopic knee surgery. The Phils are still hopeful of him being ready for Opening Day but it will be tight. He also hits left-handed has strong platoon splits for his career, with a .272/.347/.438 line and 115 wRC+ against righties but a .223/.278/.312 showing and 63 wRC+ against southpaws.

If Marsh were to miss time, the options to replace him weren’t terribly inspiring. Neither Cristian Pache nor Jake Cave have hit much in their big league careers. It seems Merrifield could see some left field time, either covering for Marsh or platooning with him once he’s healthy. He could also cover second on occasion if Bryson Stott needs a breather. He has a tiny bit of experience on the infield corners so could perhaps spell either Harper or Alec Bohm from time to time, as well as serving as a pinch runner if he’s not in the starting lineup. After the Marsh injury, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski downplayed the club’s likelihood of acquiring outfield help as they didn’t really have the playing time to offer, but Merrifield’s versatility makes him a better fit than a traditional outfielder.

The move brings the Philadelphia payroll to $246MM, per Roster Resource. That’s a bit north of last year’s $243 Opening Day figure, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. RR has their competitive balance tax figure at $261MM, above the second tax tier of $257MM. They also finished last year between the second and third tax tier. Going over the third line, which is $277MM, would require the club to have its top 2025 draft pick moved back 10 spots.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com first connected the two sides on an $8MM guarantee and first had the $1MM buyout. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first relayed the 2025 option and details.

Mets, Ji-Man Choi Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mets are in agreement with first baseman Ji-Man Choi on a minor league contract, according to a Korean-language report from Naver Sports (h/t to Homin Lee). It’s a split deal that’d pay Choi at different rates for time spent in the majors versus Triple-A. While the deal’s base value is still unclear, Naver reports that the contract could max out at $3.5MM if Choi hits all his performance bonuses.

Choi, who turns 33 in May, is seeking to rebound after injuries ruined his 2023 season. The Pirates acquired the eight-year veteran from the Rays last winter to rotate between first base and designated hitter. Choi suffered an Achilles strain within the first two weeks and spent a couple months on the injured list. By the time he returned in early July, he found himself on the trade block.

Pittsburgh sent Choi to the Padres alongside Rich Hill at the deadline. Unfortunately, injuries again quickly intervened early in his stint with his new club. A ribcage strain sent him to the injured list by the middle of August. Choi suffered a Lisfranc injury when he fouled a ball off his right foot during his rehab stint. He was reinstated in mid-September but the Padres were out of contention by that point.

Choi finished his year with just 119 plate appearances over 37 games. He hit .163/.239/.385 in that minimal sample. Choi was quite a bit better for Tampa Bay over his four and a half seasons there. The left-handed hitter ran a .245/.352/.431 batting line in more than 1500 plate appearances with the Rays. That makes him a sensible depth acquisition on a non-roster deal.

The Mets have Pete Alonso locked in at first base. It seems likely they’ll take a look at Mark Vientos at designated hitter, although they’ve at least kept tabs on the market for J.D. Martinez. Choi could look to crack the roster as a lefty bench bat and complement to the righty-hitting Vientos at DH.

Manfred: Toronto, Chicago Could Host Upcoming All-Star Games

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Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed future All-Star host sites as part of his media scrum on Thursday. While the plans have not been finalized, Manfred implied that the Blue Jays and Cubs have good chances to host the festivities in 2027 and ’28 (link via Evan Drellich of the Athletic).

“With respect to those two years, I am strongly influenced by two things. One, when did you last have a game? Toronto stacks up pretty well on that variable. I think Chicago is older,” the commissioner said. “The city being willing to step up on those issues is the other big variable. Our All-Star (events), what’s become most of the week, we need certain facilities and certain kinds of support in terms of security.”

Toronto has not hosted the All-Star Game since 1991, the only such time in franchise history. The city of Chicago has hosted seven times, more than any other save New York. Chicago last hosted in 2003, although that was at the White Sox’s stadium (then known as U.S. Cellular Field). The All-Star Game was last played at Wrigley Field in 1990. The Friendly Confines has hosted on three occasions: 1947, ’62, and ’90.

The next three All-Star host cities are already finalized. It’ll be in Arlington this summer, the first time Texas hosts since opening Globe Life Field four years ago. The festivities go Atlanta in 2025. (The Braves were originally slated to host in 2021 but MLB moved that year’s game to Colorado in response to Georgia election laws.) Philadelphia was awarded the ’26 Midsummer Classic to coincide with celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The 2027-28 games will be the final of Manfred’s tenure as commissioner. He announced yesterday that he’ll retire at the end of his current term in January ’29.

Angels Sign Hunter Strickland To Minor League Contract

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The Angels announced the signing of reliever Hunter Strickland to a minor league deal this evening. He’ll be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee.

A veteran of nine big league seasons, Strickland has appeared at the MLB level with eight clubs. The Angels are among that group. The right-hander made nine appearances with the Halos back in 2021. He allowed nine runs in 6 1/3 innings in an unexceptional stint before being designated for assignment and flipped to the Brewers in a cash transaction. Strickland went on to turn in a 1.73 ERA in 35 appearances with Milwaukee.

After a strong four-plus year run with the Giants to begin his MLB career, Strickland’s performance has been more volatile in recent seasons. Following his strong finish to the ’21 campaign, he struggled for the Reds in 2022. Strickland was tagged for nearly five earned runs per nine over 66 appearances. He settled for a minor league pact a year ago, returning to the Cincinnati organization.

That second stint proved brief. The 35-year-old pitched 12 times for Triple-A Louisville, allowing 14 runs over 11 frames. The Reds released him during the second week of May. Strickland sat out the remainder of the season but will give things another go this spring.

It’s unlikely he’d be able to land a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. The Halos have Carlos Estévez, Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis García, Adam Cimber and José Cisnero as virtual locks for the MLB roster. None of that group can be optioned to the minors, nor can swingman José Suarez. Strickland will presumably head to Triple-A Salt Lake to serve as injury insurance.

Latest On A’s Plans For 2025-27

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9:44pm: By contrast, Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that the A’s remain focused on Oakland for the 2025-27 campaigns. However, Akers echoes Drellich’s report that the three remaining possibilities are Oakland, Sacramento and Salt Lake City.

8:07pm: The A’s are running low on time to figure out where they’ll play home games between 2025-27. That has been a priority for team officials over the past few weeks. In addition to touring a handful of stadium sites, the A’s met with Oakland officials yesterday about a potential three-year lease extension at the Coliseum.

While that is still on the table, Evan Drellich of the Athletic reports that Sacramento has emerged as the front-runner for temporary hosting duty. According to Drellich, the two additional possibilities still under consideration are a lease extension at the Coliseum and playing in Salt Lake City. Previously, the A’s had considered a few other options: Reno; Summerlin, Nevada; and sharing Oracle Park with the Giants.

A’s and Oakland officials were fairly quiet coming out of their meeting on Thursday. The organization released a brief statement yesterday, calling it “a constructive and positive meeting with the City of Oakland and Alameda County” and noting they were “focused on continuing conversations around a lease extension at the Coliseum.” However, Drellich writes that the fraught relationship between the city and the A’s remains a significant obstacle.

The A’s lease at the Coliseum expires at the end of the upcoming season. The team’s new park on the Vegas Strip isn’t expected to be ready until 2028. If the A’s leave the Bay Area, that jeopardizes their local broadcasting contract with NBC Sports California. The network can drop their TV deal — which will reportedly pay the organization around $70MM in 2024 — once the team leaves Oakland or San Francisco. Sacramento is not included in the Bay Area under the terms of that contract. A short-term lease extension with Oakland would allow the A’s to collect those revenues for another three seasons.

That’s not of concern to Oakland and Alameda County, of course. Oakland mayor Sheng Thao has suggested the city could have significant demands to approve a lease extension. She has floated requiring that the franchise leave the A’s moniker behind — a non-starter for the organization — or that MLB guarantee the city a future expansion team.

To that end, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Thao’s office has had “preliminary talks” with MLB about conditioning an A’s lease extension on the guarantee of a future expansion franchise. Thao’s chief of staff, Leigh Hanson, implied that’s a necessary trade-off from the city’s perspective.

“If a three-year extension was to be offered, and granted, then our expectation is that the city of Oakland would retain an MLB team,” Hanson told Ostler. “I recognize that (team president) Dave Kaval and (owner) John Fisher are not in a position to negotiate that point, so I think our further conversation will have to include the commissioner.”

Whether that’ll ever be a legitimate consideration for MLB remains to be seen. For now, it seems the league’s hope is that the A’s can make something work in Sacramento. Drellich suggests they could try to renegotiate the TV deal with NBC Sports California if they head to the California capital. That’d very likely come with reduced rights fees but could allow the organization to maintain some portion of the money that they’d otherwise lose if they left Oakland next season.

Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park is the home stadium of the River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants. Its fan capacity is a little above 14,000.

Minter: No Extension Talks With Braves

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Left-hander A.J. Minter is now a year away from free agency but he tells Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he hasn’t heard from the Braves about an extension, though the Excel Sports Management client would like to stay.

“No,” Minter said. “I mean, obviously, who wouldn’t want to play in Atlanta? Atlanta, in my opinion, right now it’s the best organization in baseball. Obviously, I would love to stay in Atlanta. Who wouldn’t? But yeah, that’s something that’s kind of out of my control at the moment. Obviously, you’ve gotta come in here and treat it like it’s my last day. I’m gonna come in here and do everything I can for this organization, and pitch to the best of my ability and go out there and try to win a World Series. I’m going to put it into the organization’s hands (in terms of) what they want to do. Just got to go out there and show them what I’m made of.”

Minter, 30, has somewhat quietly been a very effective reliever over the past four years. He’s tossed 208 2/3 innings in that time with a 2.89 ERA. He has struck out 30.7% of batters faced while walking just 7.8% of them. He’s also kept 40.3% of balls in play on the ground. He’s done that while moving into high-leverage spots, having earned 15 saves and 83 holds in that time. He’s also been a key part of the club in the postseason, throwing 12 playoff innings during their 2021 title run. Raisel Iglesias is the club’s closer but Minter projects as the top lefty, with Tyler Matzek and Aaron Bummer also in the mix.

Atlanta hasn’t been terribly shy about spending on relief pitching recently. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, since Alex Anthopoulos was hired in November of 2017 to lead the baseball operations department, the club has given eight-figure deals to Will Smith, Joe Jiménez, Kenley Jansen, Pierce Johnson, Chris Martin and Collin McHugh. There’s also Reynaldo López, though he may wind up in the starting rotation this year. Atlanta also acquired Iglesias from the Angels with three-plus years remaining on his four-year $58MM deal.

Minter would be in line for a nice deal himself if he continues pitching well this year. He’s in his final season of club control and agreed to a $6.22MM salary with the club in order to avoid arbitration. The club could keep him around by putting some money down on the table, as they did with Johnson and Jiménez. Both of those pitchers were slated for free agency at the end of 2023 but Johnson got a two-year, $14.25MM extension in October and Jiménez a three-year, $26MM deal in early November, the day after the World Series ended but before free agency officially began.

If no deal is worked out and Minter signs elsewhere in free agency next winter, it will be his first time in another organization. He was selected by Atlanta in the 2015 draft, going 75th overall, and has been with the club ever since.

Tigers Sign Keston Hiura To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have signed free agent Keston Hiura, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a minor league deal, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Petzold adds that the CAA Sports client will earn $2MM plus incentives if in the majors.

Hiura, 27, has put up huge power numbers but also worrying strikeout totals. The Brewers selected him ninth overall in 2017 and he debuted in the big leagues with that club in 2019. He hit 19 home runs in just 84 games in what was later revealed to be the “juiced balls” season. His 30.7% strikeout rate was on the high side but he was a 22-year-old rookie and it was hoped he could bring that down as he matured and got more exposure to big league pitching.

But instead, the opposite happened. The strikeouts kept mounting and he was frequently optioned to the minors. He got into 200 big league games from 2020 to 2022, hitting 31 homers but also getting punched out in 38.5% of his trips to the plate. He came up as a second baseman but his glovework was considered poor. He gradually spent more time at first base and left field, less-demanding positions from a defensive point of view but ones where the offensive expectations are higher.

Going into 2023, he had exhausted his option years while the Brewers had Rowdy Tellez and Luke Voit blocking his path to playing time at first base and an abundance of corner outfielders as well. They put him on waivers at the end of March and he passed through unclaimed. He and the club had already agreed to a $2.2MM salary and no other club was willing to take that on. He technically had the right to reject an outright assignment since he had over three years of service time, but he lacked the five years of service time necessary to both reject the assignment and keep the money.

Instead, he reported to Triple-A Nashville in order to keep that salary in place. He made a few trips to the minor league injured list and played 85 Triple-A games last year. He hit 23 home runs in that time while keeping his strikeout rate to a 24.5% rate. That’s obviously far better than his time in the major leagues, but a more modest improvement compared to his previous Triple-A stints. From 2019 to 2022, he struck out in 29.1% of his 508 Triple-A appearances.

Hiura never got the call to the big leagues and qualified for free agency at season’s end. For the Tigers, there’s little harm in bringing him aboard via this minor league deal to see how he looks. The power potential is unquestionable and he could be a nice under-the-radar pickup if he’s able to get the strikeouts under control.

He actually has tremendously reversed splits for his career, so would be best served being in the lineup against righties, despite being a right-handed hitter. He’s hit .201/.283/.323 against southpaws in his career but .253/.332/.508 the rest of the time, leading to a split of 64 versus 122 in terms of wRC+.

The Tigers have Spencer Torkelson at first base while their corner outfield and designated hitter time should be split between Riley Greene, Mark Canha and Kerry Carpenter. Torkelson has hit lefties better in his career thus far: .225/.299/.458 batting line and 106 wRC+ compared to a .220/.304/.379 showing and 91 wRC+ against righties. That arguably creates a path for Hiura to earn some at-bats but the Tigers won’t be eager to platoon Torkelson since he’s a former first overall pick and still developing, with the potential to be a key part of their future. Canha and Greene both have fairly even splits while Carpenter is best against righties.

Hiura is somewhat blocked at the moment but injuries are inevitable in a long baseball season. If he’s mashing in Triple-A again and the Tigers find themselves with a hole in their lineup, he might get a shot at filling it. If he’s selected to the roster, he is out of options but he could be controlled beyond this season if things go especially well. He has three years and nine days of service time, meaning that he would be three years from free agency even if he made the Opening Day roster. If he were added a few weeks into the season, he wouldn’t be able to reach the four-year mark this year, thus pushing his free agency back another year.

Alec Bohm Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Phillies

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Infielder Alec Bohm has won his arbitration hearing against the Phillies, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Boras Corporation client will make a salary of $4MM this year as opposed to the $3.4MM figure the club was hoping for.

Bohm, 27, is coming off arguably his best full season in the majors. He hit 20 home runs while reducing his strikeout rate to just 15.4%. His 6.9% walk rate was still on the low side but his .274/.327/.437 batting line translated to a 105 wRC+, indicating he was 5% better than league average at the plate. He split his time almost evenly between third base and first base, covering the latter while Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper were both unavailable due to injuries. He didn’t receive especially strong grades at either spot but the versatility is surely still valuable to the club.

This was the first time he qualified for arbitration and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Bohm for a $4.3MM salary this year. The two sides couldn’t reach an agreement prior to the filing deadline and both of them filed under that projection. The arbiters decided to go with the player’s camp and awarded him the higher figure.

Players get raises based on their initial arbitration figure so establishing a strong base in the first year is often important for them, while the clubs conversely want the base to be low in order to tamp down future earnings. All players tendered contracts for 2024 now have their salaries determined except for Marlins left-hander Tanner Scott.

Yankees Claim McKinley Moore From Phillies

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The Yankees claimed right-hander McKinley Moore off waivers from the Phillies, per announcements from both clubs. The Yanks put right-hander Lou Trivino on the 60-day injured list to open up a roster spot.

Moore, 25, was designated for assignment by the Phils earlier this week when they signed Spencer Turnbull. Originally a draftee of the White Sox, he came to the Phils in the 2022 Adam Haseley trade. Moore has shown a powerful arsenal but has also struggled to harness that stuff.

Last year, he made his major league debut, which didn’t turn out to be the dream scenario. He issued five walks and allowed seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. That means he currently sports a gruesome earned run average of 18.90 in his career. But that’s obviously a tiny sample size and he at least averaged a potent 97.2 miles per hour on his fastball in that time.

Looking at his minor league work, he threw a combined 120 2/3 innings over the past three years at various levels. He posted a 3.88 ERA in that time, giving out walks to 13.1% of opponents but also striking out 32.9% of them. The Yankees are known to favor ground ball guys and Moore has kept about half of balls in play in the dirt throughout his career.

The righty is obviously not a finished product but he has a couple of option years remaining and just a few days of service time. He’ll provide the bullpen with a bit of depth that can be summoned from the minors when needed, while they will presumably try to help him rein in the command.

As for Trivino, the 32-year-old was just signed a couple of days ago, but the club was well aware that he underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year. He’ll now be officially ineligible to come off the IL until late May, which likely wasn’t going to be a possibility anyway.

Orioles Claim Diego Castillo, Designate Livan Soto

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The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo off waivers from the Phillies. Fellow infielder Livan Soto was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

The 26-year-old Castillo has bounced from the D-backs, to the Mets, to the Yankees, to the Phillies and now to the Orioles all in the span of two months. He appeared in only one game at the MLB level for Arizona last year and went hitless in a single plate appearance. A year prior, he logged 283 trips to the plate with the Pirates but mustered only a .206/.251/.382 batting line in his debut campaign in the majors.

Though he’s yet to have any big league success, Castillo possesses an outstanding track record in the upper minors. He hit .313/.431/.410 in Triple-A Reno last season, walking more often than he struck out: 17.4% versus 14.2%. Castillo has played in 177 Triple-A games to this point in his career and delivered a stout .296/.410/.407 line thanks to that keen eye at the plate and his excellent bat-to-ball skills. He’s walked 124 times in Triple-A against 125 strikeouts. Beyond that, he’s experienced at second base, shortstop, third base and in left field.

While Castillo has never been touted as a top prospect, he’s a versatile and contact-oriented hitter who can provide some depth — hence the whopping five teams he’s now been with in just two months. That said, there are reasons he’s been unable to hold down a roster spot. Castillo hit just three homers last year and has only twice reached double-digits in plate appearances. He’s never swiped more than 13 bases in a season. He’s generally considered a below-average runner with below-average power and a sub-par (albeit versatile) defensive skill set.

But Castillo has a minor league option remaining, and there’s still value in a bat-first utilityman with plus bat-to-ball skills. He can provide cover for the Orioles at a number of different positions, and as shown by last year’s .323/.445/.439 slash against lefties, his right-handed bat is particularly interesting in platoon situations.

Soto, 23, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels eight days ago. He’s hit .375/.414/.531 in a tiny sample of 71 big league plate appearances but benefited from a sky-high .469 average on balls in play during that time. Despite that strong showing in the majors, Soto has typically been a light-hitting but solid defensive shortstop in the minors. He split the 2023 season between Double-A and Triple-A in the Angels system, hitting a combined .237/.342/.358 between those two levels.

The Orioles will have a week to trade Soto or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he goes unclaimed, they can retain him without dedicating a 40-man roster spot.

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