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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.

Padres To Move Xander Bogaerts To Second Base

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Padres manager Mike Shildt told members of the media today that Xander Bogaerts will be moving from shortstop to second base, with Dennis Lin of The Athletic among those to relay the news. Ha-Seong Kim will cross the bag in the other direction to take over the shortstop position.

It was just a little over a year ago that the Padres signed Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280MM contract. At the time, it was a bit of a puzzling fit on the club’s roster. Fernando Tatis Jr. was supposed to be the franchise shortstop once upon a time. In February of 2021, he and the Friars agreed to a historic 14-year, $340MM extension to keep him on the club for the bulk of his career. He ended up missing the 2022 season both due to injuries and a PED suspension, but he was expected back early in 2023. While he was out, Kim provided excellent glovework at the position.

Going into 2023, there was a bit of uncertainty. Tatis was coming off an entirely missed season and the club was thinking about moving him to the outfield. But even if that scenario, they still had Kim to cover short. It wasn’t really expected that they would head into the offseason looking for a mega deal but they landed Bogaerts nonetheless.

Bogaerts’ first year in San Diego resulted in fairly typical offensive production for him. He hit 19 home runs and slashed .285/.350/.440 for a wRC+ of 120. Defensively, Outs Above Average gave him a positive grade of +3 but Defensive Runs Saved had him at -4. He has long been considered a candidate to move off of shortstop, even as a prospect, and it seems the time has now come. For his career, his tallies at short are -31 OAA and -54 DRS.

In the short term, the move is probably best for the 2024 version of the Padres, as Kim is excellent with the glove. He has played 1,505 1/3 innings at short in the majors, just over a full season’s worth. In that time, he’s tallied 22 DRS and 7 OAA. Having him at short and Bogaerts at second should give the club a great middle infield, as even mediocre shortstops often provide solid defense on the other side of the bag.

But taking the wide view, the decision making from the Padres becomes questionable. Twice now in recent years they have given around $300MM to a shortstop on a deal longer than a decade, and now neither will be playing short. Tatis, who has now been moved to right field, is under contract through 2034 and Bogaerts through 2033. Kim is set to become a free agent after 2024, as his deal has a mutual option for 2025 and those provisions are almost never triggered by both parties.

Assuming Kim reaches free agency a year from now, the club will then be looking for a solution at short for 2025 and beyond. They could always move Bogaerts again but he’ll be 32 years old by then and his abilities at that position will only be trending downwards with age. One of the club’s top prospects, Jackson Merrill, is a shortstop who reached Double-A last year. He could perhaps be a solution at that spot down the road but he is reportedly coming into camp as an outfielder, with the club trying to get creative in covering the spots vacated by trading Juan Soto and Trent Grisham. He could move back to short in 2025 but that might be a bit tricky if he spends this year in the outfield with the big league club instead of getting reps in Triple-A.

The Soto/Grisham deal was necessary because the club is paring back spending this winter. That’s partially a result of their TV deal with Diamond Sports Group falling apart but also connected to their extreme aggression in recent years, which includes giving a massive deal to a shortstop they didn’t really need.

Dodgers, Justin Wilson Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have agreed to a deal with free-agent lefty Justin Wilson, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’ll be a minor league pact with a spring training invite for the ACES client, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic adds.

Wilson, 36, has been limited to just 3 2/3 innings over the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and a lat strain. That brief sample of work came with the Reds and saw Wilson create some intrigue with a bump back to his peak velocity levels (95.1 mph average fastball). He faced only 13 hitters as a Red but fanned seven of them and didn’t issue a walk. Surgery cut his season short, however, and he signed with the Brewers on a one-year deal with an option. The TJS rehab and subsequent lat strain wound up combining to keep Wilson off a big league mound for the entirety of the 2023 season.

Prior to those health setbacks, Wilson had enjoyed a lengthy run as a quality setup man for the Pirates, Yankees, Tigers, Cubs and Mets. From 2013-21, the lefty rattled of 458 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball with 132 saves and 18 holds. He’s never had great command (career 10.7% walk rate), but Wilson has fanned just shy of 26% of hitters in his MLB career and sat north of 29% with his strikeout rate from 2017-20 after shelving his sinker and ramping up the usage of his four-seamer.

The Dodgers lost some left-handed depth in the bullpen this winter, trading Victor Gonzalez and Caleb Ferguson to the Yankees in separate swaps. Alex Vesia and Ryan Yarbrough are currently slated to manager Dave Roberts’ left-handed options in the ’pen, with fellow southpaw Matt Gage also on the 40-man roster (and still possessing a minor league option). Wilson and veteran T.J. McFarland give the Dodgers a pair of experienced lefty relievers who’ll be non-roster invitees in camp. They’ll be joined by NRI righties Daniel Hudson, Dinelson Lamet, Nabil Crismatt and Jesse Hahn, among others, in looking to win a spot in a crowded Dodgers bullpen.

Atkins: Jays Would Need To Subtract To Accommodate Significant Acquisition

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As the Blue Jays opened Spring Training, general manager Ross Atkins met with reporters yesterday. The GM implied the bulk of the club’s offseason activity was complete, minimizing the chance of making an impactful free agent strike without offloading someone from the roster.

“At this point, additions that would be of significance would mean some level of subtraction,” Atkins said (link via Kaitlyn McGrath of the Athletic). “We feel good about the team that we have. Feel good about the work that’s been done over the last five offseasons, the last four trade deadlines and now coming into another trade deadline, we’ll have another opportunity, I hope, that we’re in a strong position to add to that team (and) I know that we will.”

It wasn’t quite as firm a declaration that the team was finished with notable acquisitions as executives with other clubs (i.e. Nationals, Rangers) have made. Atkins noted the Jays remain in contact with player representatives as a large number of free agents are still unsigned. It nevertheless downplays the chance of Toronto jumping in on anything more than depth additions.

That’s an apparent reflection of a franchise-high payroll. Roster Resource projects their 2024 spending in the $236MM range. Their competitive balance tax figure sits around $249MM, into the first tier of luxury tax penalization. Toronto paid the tax a year ago, so they’re subject to heightened penalties. They’re taxed at a 30% rate on spending up to $257MM and a 42% rate on the next $20MM, with higher penalties in the unlikely event they push past the $277MM mark.

On the one hand, the Jays have pushed their Opening Day spending past last year’s approximate $210MM figure. Team president Mark Shapiro suggested at the beginning of the offseason they anticipated keeping payroll steady. They have instead increased spending. Yet the Jays have also come up empty on their most significant free agent swings. They’d been linked to high-profile targets from Shohei Ohtani to Jorge Soler.

Their largest guarantee was a five-year, $32MM pact for Cuban swingman Yariel Rodríguez. They signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a two-year, $15MM deal and inked one-year pacts with Justin Turner ($13MM) and Kevin Kiermaier ($10.5MM).

While Atkins didn’t address any specific free agents — team personnel are prohibited from declaring themselves out of the market on individual players — his comments seem most notable with regards to Matt Chapman. The Jays appeared an on-paper fit to bring Chapman back. Their closest direct replacement at third base is Kiner-Falefa. Coming off a .242/.306/.340 platform showing that is broadly in line with his career numbers, Kiner-Falefa is better suited as a utility player for a team with playoff aspirations.

Toronto also allowed Whit Merrifield to hit free agency. He’s expected to make his signing decision within the coming days. While a return to Toronto isn’t out of the question, the Jays look content to allow a handful of multi-positional types to battle for playing time at second and third base.

Beyond Kiner-Falefa, the Jays have Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal, Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement and prospects Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Leo Jimenez on the 40-man roster. None of Martinez, Jimenez or Barger has played in the majors. All three have reached Triple-A, although Jimenez struggled in a brief look there last year. They’re longer shots to make the Opening Day roster. Veteran Eduardo Escobar will also be in camp after agreeing to a minor league contract last night.

Biggio, Espinal and Schneider are virtual locks to make the team. They’ve all shown flashes in their careers but none is a clear everyday player. Biggio had a league average .235/.340/.370 line over 339 plate appearances a season ago. After posting solid offensive numbers in his first two seasons, he has been an average or slightly worse hitter three years running.

Espinal was a surprising All-Star selection amidst an impressive 2022 campaign. His production dropped precipitously last year, as he hit .248/.310/.335 over 254 plate appearances. Schneider had a scorching start to his MLB career after being called up last August. He raked at a .426/.526/.894 clip over his first few weeks before slumping to a .174/.321/.406 line while striking out a third of the time in September. It was still an extremely impressive debut showing in aggregate, yet he’ll have to make his own adjustments as he faces MLB pitching over a full season for the first time. Clement, meanwhile, has been a utility player throughout his career. He’s out of options, so he’d have to secure a spot on the Opening Day bench or be placed on waivers.

Manager John Schneider told reporters yesterday that Biggio is a bit delayed after battling tendinitis in his left shoulder this offseason (relayed by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). He is not yet facing live pitching. Assuming he’s ready by Opening Day, he’s likely to compete with Kiner-Falefa and Espinal at third base. Davis Schneider has split his time in the minors fairly evenly between second and third. John Schneider said that Davis Schneider is focused on second base and left field as his main positions for the upcoming season (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).

Angels, Ehire Adrianza Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran infielder Ehire Adrianza, manager Ron Washington announced to beat writers in camp this morning (X link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). It’s a minor league deal, although Adrianza hasn’t completed his physical, so the Warner Sports Management client’s deal is not official just yet.

The 34-year-old Adrianza knows Washington well, having spent the majority of the past three seasons in the Braves organization where Washington was coaching before being hired back to a manager’s post in Anaheim this offseason. He’ll bring some versatility to camp and compete for a spot on the Halos’ bench.

Adrianza has appeared in the majors in each of the past 11 seasons, typically filling a bench role. He’s suited up for the Giants, Twins and Nats in addition to the Braves and sports a career .238/.308/.352 batting line in 1550 trips to the plate. He appeared in only five big league games and another 15 Triple-A contests with Atlanta last season due to an elbow injury that sent him to the 60-day IL for the bulk of the 2023 campaign.

Though his numbers from 2022-23 are unsightly (.159/.248/.187 in 121 plate appearances), Adrianza was an important utility piece for the Braves as recently as 2021, when he hit .247/.327/.401 and played six positions during Atlanta’s World Series-winning season. He’s played every position other than catcher in the big leagues — including three innings of mop-up work on the mound. At this stage of his career, Adrianza isn’t considered the plus infield defender he was in his 20s, but he’s unlikely to be a liability in the infield, either.

The Angels’ bench right now will include backup catcher Matt Thaiss and outfielder Aaron Hicks, who signed a big league deal earlier this offseason. The other two spots are more open for the taking. Former top prospect Jo Adell is out of minor league options and will need to make the club or else be traded or placed on waivers. Infielder Michael Stefanic could make the club as a bat-first utility option, but he does have a minor league option remaining. Adrianza will join fellow non-roster veterans Hunter Dozier, Miguel Sano and Richie Martin (among others) in vying for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Brian Cashman Discusses Possible Extensions, Current Roster

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke with the media this week and addressed various topics. Notably, he downplayed the possibility of an extension for either outfielder Juan Soto or infielder Gleyber Torres, both of whom are impending free agents. He also indicated it’s still possible for roster additions, with pitching a likely target area.

“The odds are this is a one-year situation,” Cashman said about Soto, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “I don’t see too many things stopping him from reaching free agency.” That assessment of the situation tracks with publicly-available information, as well as logic. Soto is just 25 years old but already has six years of elite production in the major leagues. Most free agents don’t reach free agency until they are around 30 years old but Soto is on track to get there around his 26th birthday, which will be at the end of October.

Despite his youth, he’s already hit 160 home runs in 779 career games, while also drawing walks more often than he strikes out. He’s hit .284/.421/.524 overall for a wRC+ of 154 and has never posted a wRC+ lower than 143 in any individual season. That combination of youth and talent has long made it seem as though a trip to free agency would be fairly inevitable. While with the Nationals in 2022, Soto reportedly rejected a $440MM extension offer, which is what led to him being dealt to the Padres.

The Yankees sent five players to the Padres this winter to get Soto and Trent Grisham, likely knowing full well that it was probably going to be a one-year proposition, with Cashman’s comments today reflecting that. Now that Soto has moved closer to free agency, his earning power has only increased since he turned down that $440MM offer, making the odds of keeping him from the open market even lower. The Yanks will have a chance to bring him back via free agency, but they will have to compete with the other clubs around the league in what is sure to be a hotly contested market.

As for Torres, it was reported back in November that the club had not engaged Torres on any extension talks. The infielder even replied “I wish” when asked about the possibility. Cashman confirmed to Greg Joyce of The New York Post this week that the club has not had any extension talks with him. Torres has been a solid player for the Yanks, hitting 123 home runs in his 734 contests thus far. His .267/.334/.454 batting line translates to a 116 wRC+. His defense at second base has been passable at times, though it was graded poorly last year.

While he’s set to be a key piece of the 2024 club, the Yanks likely feel they can pivot to a post-Torres era fairly easily. Oswald Peraza was still considered a top 100 prospect before he exhausted his rookie status last year, but he’s blocked from his natural shortstop position by Anthony Volpe. Peraza still has one option year remaining and could perhaps take over the keystone when Torres hits free agency. They also have multi-positional guys like Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu who could factor in at that spot.

As for the rest of the roster, Cashman said that it’s not “pencils down,” per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. “I guess it’s always pitching,” he added about a concerning area. The Yankees project to have a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt. That’s a good rotation if healthy but that’s a big “if” as each of Rodón, Cortes and Stroman missed significant time last year. The club also subtracted from their depth when they included four possible starting pitchers in the Soto deal.

Adding to that group would be sensible but the finances may be tight. Roster Resource has the club’s competitive balance tax number at $307MM right now, well beyond the top tier of $297MM. As a third-time payor at that level, any additional spending comes with a 110% tax. Since they have five rotation spots allocated and they effectively have to pay double on any future signings, they may stick to depth signings on minor league deals, though a significant injury can always change that calculus.

Marlins Made Recent Offer To Tim Anderson

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The Marlins recently made an offer to free-agent infielder Tim Anderson, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Miami has been on the lookout for help at shortstop throughout the offseason. Their interest in Anderson isn’t a new revelation, but the fact that they just recently put forth an offer is certainly of note.

The 30-year-old Anderson became a free agent back in November when the White Sox declined a $14MM club option. That would’ve seemed unthinkable a year prior, as Anderson was one of the game’s top-hitting middle infielders from 2019-22. During that time, he led all qualified big leaguers in batting average and turned in an overall .318/.347/.473 line in more than 1600 plate appearances.

Fortunes can change quickly, however, and Anderson’s 2023 season was nothing short of calamitous. His average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage somehow all clocked in south of .300; his overall .245/.286/.296 slash and one home run rendered him one of baseball’s least-productive hitters. Anderson saw his exit velocity and hard-hit rate both drop, but the larger issue may have been a sky-high 61.1% ground-ball rate — a jump of nearly 10 percentage points over the 52% mark he’d posted in his career prior to the 2023 campaign. No matter how fast a player may or may not be, it’s difficult to be productive when close to two-thirds of batted balls are hammered into the ground.

On that note, it bears mentioning that Anderson’s speed took a notable hit in 2023. It’s not uncommon for players to lose a step as they enter their 30s, but Anderson’s downturn could well be due to injury. Anderson missed nearly a month early in the 2023 season due to a left knee strain, and the fact that his average sprint speed (per Statcast) dropped by about a full foot per second seems likely to be related. He’d sat between 28 ft/sec and 28.7 ft/sec every season of his career prior to 2023, never ranking lower than the 74th percentile of MLB position players. In 2023, he averaged 27.2 ft/sec and clocked into just the 45th percentile. He still went 13-for-15 in stolen base attempts, but Anderson has always been deft in that regard, evidenced by a career 81.3% success rate.

On what would presumably be a one-year contract, Anderson is a sensible buy-low candidate for a team in need of middle infield help. The Marlins fit that bill and could certainly stand to improve the lineup — which a healthier Anderson could well achieve — but the Miami defense is already quite suspect, which makes Anderson a less optimal fit. With Jake Burger at the hot corner, Luis Arraez at second base and Josh Bell at first base, the Fish already have three questionable infield defenders. Defensive metrics have panned Anderson’s glovework at shortstop for the past two years — making it harder to blame any shortcomings on last year’s injury. Questions about his defense were substantial enough that Anderson voiced a willingness to shift to second base following the ’23 season.

Presumably, that wouldn’t be necessary in Miami, although the Marlins could conceivably shift Arraez to first base and deploy Bell more as the designated hitter. Before trading Arraez to the Marlins, the Twins utilized him more at first base than at second base due to concerns about his defense and his history of knee troubles. Such an alignment could improve the overall defensive outlook of the team, though it would leave the Marlins with the same hole at shortstop they’re currently looking to fill.

It’s not clear how much the Marlins have to spend. Miami is the only team in baseball that has not signed a free agent to a big league contract this winter. They’ve effectively sat out that portion of the market, instead operating only in minor league deals and small trades around the fringes of the roster. Catcher Christian Bethancourt and utilitymen Nick Gordon and Vidal Brujan — all acquired via trade — are the only new additions to the roster so far. Miami has also added veterans like Curt Casali, Trey Mancini, Yonny Chirinos and Matt Andriese on minor league deals.

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