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White Sox, Kevin Pillar Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox are in agreement with outfielder Kevin Pillar on a minor league contract, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams (X link). The All Bases Covered Sports Management client would be paid at a $3MM rate if he cracks the major league roster.

Pillar spent the 2023 season in Atlanta. The veteran outfielder inked a non-roster deal with the Braves last winter and cracked the MLB team out of camp. He spent the entire season on the big league club in a reserve outfield capacity. The 11-year MLB veteran appeared in half of Atlanta’s games. He hit .228/.248/.416 through 206 trips to the plate.

The righty-hitting Pillar connected on nine home runs and 10 doubles in a fairly limited sample. A minuscule 2.9% walk rate and a .255 average on balls in play led to a very low on-base mark. That’s the profile Pillar has had throughout his career. He has had a sub-.300 OBP in five of the past six seasons, but he’s reached 15 homers in four different campaigns.

Early in his career, Pillar was one of the sport’s preeminent defensive outfielders. He posted plus defensive marks over his first three-plus seasons, working as a regular center fielder for the Blue Jays. Those grades dipped in 2018-19 as Pillar neared his 30th birthday. He has seen increasing action in the corners in recent years. Pillar started 40 games in the corner outfield while getting the nod in center on three occasions a season ago.

The White Sox have Luis Robert Jr. locked into center and will give Andrew Benintendi a rebound opportunity in left. There’s a vacancy in right field, where the Sox got a dismal .219/.271/.344 showing. Oscar Colás and Gavin Sheets still stand as the top in-house options despite rough 2023 campaigns. Both players hit left-handed, so Pillar could battle for a short-side platoon role. He owns a roughly average .272/.298/.494 slash against southpaws over the past five seasons.

White Sox Interested In Dominic Smith

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Free agent first baseman Dominic Smith has interest from five different clubs, per Robert Murray of FanSided, with the White Sox the only one to be specifically identified.

Smith, 29 in June, has had an up-and-down career. He was selected 11th overall by the Mets in 2013 and was often on top 100 prospect lists on his way up through the minors. But he didn’t hit the ground running in the majors. He got 332 plate appearances over 2017 and 2018 and hit 14 home runs, but he paired a 28.9% strikeout rate with a 5.4% walk rate. The result was a combined batting line of .210/.259/.406 and wRC+ of 78 in that time.

He finally clicked in 2019, getting his strikeout rate down to 22.3% and his walk rate up to 9.6%. He hit 11 home runs in 89 games for a .282/.355/.525 batting line and 134 wRC+. But it wasn’t all perfect, as he had to move from first base to left field thanks to the breakout of Pete Alonso. He also missed most of the second half due to a stress reaction in left foot. But he was healthy again in 2020, hitting .316/.377/.616 in that shortened season for a huge wRC+ of 166.

But he hasn’t been able to get anywhere near that output since. He hit just .233/.298/.345 over the next two seasons, wRC+ of 80, while dealing with injury challenges. He played through a partially-torn labrum in 2021 and then suffered a right ankle sprain in 2022.

He was non-tendered by the Mets and landed with the Nats on a one-year deal with a $2MM guarantee and $2MM of bonuses. For the rebuilding Nats club, it was hoped that a move from left field back to his natural first base position would help Smith get back on track and perhaps turn him into a trade candidate. But that didn’t exactly work out.

He stayed healthy enough to take 586 plate appearances over 153 games last year but had limited impact at the plate. His 15.5% strikeout rate was about seven percentage points lower than most of his previous career work, but he hit just 15 home runs for the year. He finished the season with a .254/.326/.366 line and wRC+ of 90. That’s not disastrous output but less than ideal for a first baseman, where a potent bat is generally the expectation.

Defensively, the move back to first was a success, as Smith earned five Defensive Runs Saved, one Out Above Average and a grade of 5.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating. But the Nats decided to move on nonetheless. They could have retained Smith via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a modest salary of $4.3MM, but Smith was non-tendered and sent back to the open market.

Perhaps he traded too much power for contact. As mentioned, his strikeout rate was abnormally low in 2023 compared to his previous work. Striking out less isn’t a bad thing, but his 86.3 mph average exit velocity was at least two miles below every other season of his career. Getting back to focusing on doing damage would perhaps lead to more punchouts but also more homers. So far this offseason, his market has been fairly quiet. He had reported interest from the Pirates, but that was before they signed Rowdy Tellez.

For the White Sox, they have Andrew Vaughn at first base and Eloy Jiménez likely in the designated hitter spot most of the time. Jimenez can play the outfield, as can Smith, but neither is strong out there on the grass. Jiménez has received some trade interest this offseason and could perhaps find himself on the move, or maybe the club is just eyeing Smith as a backup in the event of injury. Jiménez has dealt with various ailments throughout his career and hasn’t yet topped 122 games in a major league season.

Smith won’t command a huge salary. The Nats presumably called other clubs and tried to gauge trade interest before letting him go for nothing, meaning that no club around the league was willing to pay a few million to get Smith in November. That means the Sox could presumably sign him for a fairly modest fee, even if they only envision him as a bench bat or part-time player.

The club is doing a roster retool of sorts and should have plenty of money for such a move. Roster Resource estimates that their 2024 payroll is set to be $151MM. They had an Opening Day figure of $181MM last year and were at $193MM the year before that, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. If they pull the trigger on deals for rumored trade candidates like Jiménez or Dylan Cease, it would only drop them further from those numbers.

Mets Sign Jake Diekman

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The Mets announced the signing of free agent lefty Jake Diekman to a one-year contract. The veteran reliever, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, is reportedly guaranteed $4MM. There’s a matching club option for the 2025 season, which Diekman would vest if he appears in 58 games this year.

Diekman, 37, is a veteran of 12 major league seasons. The Mets would be the southpaw’s ninth club. He’s never had even average command of the strike zone (career 13.3% walk rate), but he’s a power-armed lefty who misses bats in droves and has managed to overcome his penchant for walks more often than not.

The 2023 season was an uneven one for Diekman, who opened the year with an ugly 11 1/3 innings in the White Sox bullpen before (like so many pitchers before him) making a 180-degree turnaround upon signing with the Rays. Diekman was rocked for 10 runs on 11 hits and 13 walks with the ChiSox but gave the Rays 45 1/3 frames of 2.18 ERA ball with a 28.6% strikeout rate and 13.5% walk rate. He averaged 95.7 mph on his heater during his time with Tampa Bay — right in line with the 95.6 mph he averaged over the seven seasons prior.

While Diekman has had some rough seasons interspersed throughout his mostly solid career, he’s never posted an ERA of 5.00 or higher and has kept his earned run average south of 4.00 in eight of his dozen MLB campaigns. On the whole, he sports a lifetime 3.82 ERA in 570 1/3 MLB innings, including a 3.67 ERA over the past four years.

Tampa Bay changed up his pitch usage a bit, as Diekman threw his changeup at a career-high 15.8% clip as a Ray. He’d previously never thrown the pitch at more than a 7% clip in any full season. In fact, Diekman entered the season with just 149 total changeups thrown in his career … before throwing 137 of them in 2023 alone. The results were strong: opponents batted just .176/.222/.294 in the 36 plate appearances that Diekman finished off with a changeup. His slider and four-seamer remained effective as ever; opponents hit just .161 and .175 while slugging .290 and .228 against that pair of offerings, respectively.

Lack of command has been the primary flaw holding Diekman back from standing as one of the game’s elite lefties. At age 37, that’s unlikely to change. But even with a bloated walk rate, the quality of Diekman’s pitches should continue to produce plenty of whiffs and a deluge of weak contact. Opponents have averaged a below-average 87.8 mph off the bat against him in his MLB career and hit just 33.6% of batted balls at 95 mph or greater. In 2023, opponents mustered a pitiful 84.6 mph average exit velocity and similarly feeble 26.4% hard-hit rate against him.

The Mets signed a quartet of free agent relievers to major league contracts before talks with Diekman gained traction, adding Jorge Lopez, Michael Tonkin, Austin Adams and, most recently, Adam Ottavino on one-year deals. That group figures to join returning veterans Edwin Diaz, Brooks Raley and Drew Smith in a revamped Mets bullpen.

One thing the Mets lack in the bullpen, following that slate of veteran additions, is flexibility. None of Diaz, Raley, Smith, Ottavino, Diekman, Lopez, Tonkin or Adams can be optioned to the minors, nor can Sean Reid-Foley or Phil Bickford. That sets the stage for the Mets to further shake up the relief mix, either by designating someone like Reid-Foley or Bickford for assignment or perhaps finding a trade partner for one or both of those holdovers.

The Mets are already in the highest tier of luxury taxation and are entering their third straight season exceeding the tax threshold. As such, every dollar they spend at this stage of the offseason is taxed at a 110% rate. Effectively, they’ll pay just over double whatever Diekman’s salary is in order to add him to the bullpen for the upcoming season. The Mets had a projected $309MM payroll and $322MM of luxury obligations even without Diekman, per Roster Resource. Both numbers jump even further north by $4MM.

Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Mets and Diekman were nearing an agreement. SNY’s Andy Martino reported the Mets had offered a one-year deal with a vesting option at around $4-5MM annually. Martino confirmed the sides had an agreement. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported the $4MM guarantee, while Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the $4MM option that vested with 58 appearances.

White Sox Sign Juan Then To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have signed right-hander Juan Then to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Charlotte for now but could perhaps receive an invite to major league Spring Training.

Then (pronounced “Ten”) will be turning 24 on Wednesday, so it’s a bit of an early birthday present for him. The righty made his major league debut with the Mariners last year, getting into nine games and logging 11 innings, allowing six earned runs. He only struck out five opponents but also only gave out two walks, while 63.4% of the balls in play he allowed were on the ground. He was outrighted by the Mariners in August and was able to elect free agency at season’s end.

Originally an international signing of the Mariners, he was traded to the Yankees in 2017 for Nick Rumbelow but then came back to the M’s via the 2019 Edwin Encarnación trade. Primarily a starter in his earlier years, the Mariners added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2020 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He then struggled in 2021 and was mostly injured in 2022. He was heading into his final option season last year, so the Mariners moved him to the bullpen.

In addition to the aforementioned major league work, he tossed 36 1/3 innings in the minors with an ERA of 8.92. That’s obviously an unpleasant number to look at, but it appears worse than it is. His .411 batting average on balls in play and 54.3% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side, which is why his FIP was more than three runs lower than his ERA at 5.87.

That FIP still isn’t terribly exciting, but Then is still quite young and he was considered the Mariners’ #17 prospect as recently as two years ago. FanGraphs still considered him that club’s #28 prospect as of July of 2023. Most of the results were poor last year but he had a ground ball rate higher than 50% at Double-A, Triple-A and the majors. For the White Sox, there’s no harm in bringing him into the organization in a non-roster capacity. Given his age and 27 days of MLB service time, there’s long-term upside if things break right, as he could theoretically be cheaply retained beyond this campaign.

The Sox’ bullpen has seen plenty of turnover in the past year, with Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo López, Aaron Bummer, Keynan Middleton and Joe Kelly all traded since last summer. Liam Hendriks had his 2024 option declined as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery. The club is also planning to stretch out Garrett Crochet as a starter to see how that goes. The Sox have added Tim Hill and John Brebbia via free agency, while Rule 5 pick Shane Drohan is in the mix, but there could be a path for a non-roster player like Then to carve out a role. However, he is now out of options and will face a challenge in holding a roster spot even if he gets one.

Nationals Outright Israel Pineda

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The Nationals announced that catcher Israel Pineda, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Rochester. He will stick with the club but without taking up a roster spot.

Pineda, 24 in April, was added to the Nationals’ roster in September of 2022 when Keibert Ruiz was injured. Pineda was kept mostly on the bench, only playing four games, hitting .077/.143/.077 in his 14 plate appearances. He then endured a challenging 2023 season, beginning the campaign on the injured list due to a right finger fracture. He was slowed by an oblique strain while rehabbing and wasn’t reinstated from the IL until early August, getting optioned to the minors at that time. Between his rehab stints and optionable assignment, he hit just .176/.229/.268 in 41 minor league games on the year.

Defensively, Baseball Prospectus looks fondly upon his work with the throwing game but is less enthused about his framing and blocking. That tracks with a scouting report from Baseball America, with that outlet still considering Pineda to be the #21 prospect in the system, but noting that his framing is a work in progress.

Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright or three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to reject this assignment. He will stick with the Nats as non-roster depth behind Ruiz, Riley Adams and Drew Millas. Pineda will look to get back to the form he showed at the plate in 2022, when he hit 16 home runs in 99 games across three different minor league levels. He finished that year with a combined slash line of .258/.325/.458 and wRC+ of 111 before getting called up to the majors.

Diamond Sports Group In Agreement With Rangers, Twins, Guardians For 2024

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Diamond Sports Group has an agreement in place with the Rangers, Twins and Guardians, meaning Bally will plan to broadcast the games of those clubs this year, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic. The agreements are still pending court approval. The judge is expected to rule on these agreements February 9, per Alden González of ESPN. Drellich adds that the three clubs retain their streaming rights but each contract has a clause preventing them from doing anything with them this year.

“We are pleased to have reached agreements with the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers that work for all parties and enable us to continue delivering high-quality, live game broadcasts on Bally Sports to dedicated fans through the 2024 season,” reads a statement from a Diamond spokesperson, per Drellich.

The Guardians confirmed their agreement with a statement relayed by Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal. “We can confirm we have reached an agreement with Diamond Sports Group for the 2024 season,” the club statement reads. “That agreement is currently pending court approval.”

It was reported earlier this week that the league expected Diamond to work out new deals with each of those three clubs and it now seems that the agreements are in place. The Twins’ previous deal with Diamond expired at the end of 2023. The Rangers and Guardians still had contracts in place but Diamond threatened to abandon them as part of the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, citing them as unprofitable.

The details still aren’t known, but the reporting from earlier this week suggested the clubs would likely be paid at least 85% of what they were getting previously. The Guardians reportedly made $55MM from their deal in 2023 with the Rangers reportedly at $111MM. Even if they are going to get lower fees compared to the past, a new deal could at least give them some clarity over their 2024 finances, which could then impact how they proceed with roster moves in the coming weeks.

Not too long ago, it seemed as though Diamond was going to be abandoning live sports entirely after 2024. But a couple of weeks back, they announced a restructuring deal involving an investment from Amazon, a deal that Diamond believes can get it out of bankruptcy. If the bankruptcy court approves all of these details, Amazon will acquire the streaming rights of the Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers and Rays. Per González, the ruling on that restructuring deal is expected February 26, with Diamond then having until March 22 to finalize the details for presentation in court.

Diamond only had the streaming rights for those five clubs, meaning it couldn’t sell rights for the other clubs that it broadcasts on television. The Rangers, Twins and Guardians will retain their streaming rights but won’t be able to work out a new deal this year. For fans in those markets hoping for changes to the direct-to-consumer model, it seems they may have to wait another year, assuming everything ends up being approved in court.

Angels Win Arbitration Case Against José Suarez

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The Angels have won their arbitration case against left-hander José Suarez, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The team filed at $925K with the lefty’s camp at $1.35MM, but he will make the lesser figure this year.

Suarez, 26, qualified for arbitration for the first time this offseason. He seemed to be establishing himself as a viable rotation piece over 2021 and 2022. He appeared in 45 games for the Angels in that time, 34 of them starts, logging 207 1/3 innings while allowing 3.86 earned runs per nine. His 21.5% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate were all reasonably close to league averages.

But 2023 was undeniably a struggle. He allowed 26 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings to start the season, then landed on the injured list in early May due to a left shoulder strain. He didn’t return until mid-September and made five shorter appearances down the stretch. He had a 4.82 ERA in that brief return but his season-long ERA still finished at 8.29 thanks to his early struggles.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a salary of $1.1MM for 2024. That ended up being roughly the midpoint between the two filings figures, but arbiters have to pick one number or the other and can’t pick midpoints.

Since they opted for the team’s figure, it will result in some small short-term savings for the Halos while reducing the earning power for the southpaw. He is still slated for two more passes through the arbitration system and those future raises will be starting from a lower starting point. He will try to put the injury-marred season behind him and get back on track in 2024.

The Angels’ rotation mix should feature arms like Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, Patrick Sandoval and Tyler Anderson, while Suarez will be battling for a back-end job with the like of Chase Silseth, Zach Plesac, Sam Bachman and others. Suarez is out of options so he’ll need to either earn a rotation job or be bumped to the bullpen, unless the Angels are willing to remove him from the 40-man roster altogether.

The club still has one more hearing to go, with outfielder Taylor Ward having filed at $4.8MM while the Angels filed at $4.3MM.

Twins Claim Daniel Duarte, Designate Ryan Jensen

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The Twins claimed right-hander Daniel Duarte off waivers from the Rangers, per announcements from both clubs. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Minnesota designated fellow righty and fellow waiver claim Ryan Jensen for assignment.

Duarte, 27, made his big league debut with the 2022 Reds but pitched only 2 2/3 innings that year due to inflammation in his elbow. He was healthier and posted generally solid run-prevention numbers in 2023, totaling 31 2/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball for Cincinnati. That earned run average masks some much shakier K/BB numbers, however. Duarte has fanned a well below-average 16.7% of his MLB opponents and walked an unsightly 15.3% of them. He’ll need to improve one or both of those areas in order to stick in the big leagues.

That said, there’s reason to hope for improvement. Duarte has fanned 26.8% of his opponents at the Triple-A level, and while his 11.6% walk rate there is still too high, it’s a far sight better than his big league mark to date. He’s averaged a strong 95.7 mph on his heater, and scouting reports on the right-hander tout his plus slider. Duarte has a minor league option remaining, so he can be an up-and-down arm for the Twins this season if they hang onto him for the remainder of the offseason and into the 2024 campaign.

Jensen, 26, was the No. 27 overall pick by the Cubs back in 2019 but hasn’t made his big league debut. The Twins claimed him off waivers in early January. Command issues have plagued him throughout his minor league tenure, and Chicago placed him on waivers shortly after the trade deadline, surely hopeful of sneaking him through in order to retain him without committing a 40-man roster spot. That didn’t happen, as Seattle claimed him on waivers. He’s since bounced to the Marlins and Twins via the waiver wire, and he’ll now spend no more than a week waiting to learn his next stop. The Twins have seven days to trade Jensen or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

In 2023, Jensen split the year between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a combined 5.32 earned run average in 64 1/3 innings of work. He operated primarily out of the bullpen, his first season doing so after spending the first few years of his career as a starting pitcher. He sports an overall 4.42 ERA with an above-average 26% strikeout rate and ugly 14.5% walk rate in his minor league career.

Jensen has a mid-90s heater, plus ground-ball rates, above-average strikeout rates and a pair of minor league options remaining, so the Twins would surely be glad if they’re able to pass him through waivers and keep him in the organization. But he’s also been designated for assignment thrice in the past six months and claimed by a new club each time, so there’s a decent chance another team will scoop him up in hopes of tapping into some of the former first-rounder’s latent potential.

Red Sox Acquire Tyler Heineman, Designate Max Castillo

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The Red Sox have acquired catcher Tyler Heineman from the Mets, per announcements from both teams. The latter club, who designated Heineman for assignment earlier this week, receive cash considerations in return. The Sox designated right-hander Max Castillo for assignment in a corresponding move.

Heineman, 33, is a switch-hitting catcher with part-time exposure in the big leagues since his 2019 debut. He has appeared in 104 games over four campaigns combined, walking in just 7.1% of his plate appearances but striking out at just a 12.4% clip. He has just one home run in that time, leading to a batting line of .218/.297/.282.

He finished the 2023 season on the Blue Jays’ roster but was claimed off waivers by the Mets in December. He lasted almost two months with that club before being nudged off the roster when they signed Adam Ottavino.

His major league track record is limited but he’s generally produced intriguing Triple-A results in a low-power, strikeout-dodging fashion. He’s stepped up to the plate 1,328 times at the Triple-A level and only has 23 homers in that time. But his 9.3% walk rate is fairly solid while his 15.1% strikeout rate is quite low. For reference, last year’s major league averages were 8.6% for walks and 22.7% for strikeouts. All of that has led to a line of .276/.350/.402.

Defensively, his track record is quite solid. Statcast considers him to be above average both in terms of throwing and blocking. Baseball Prospectus agrees and both outlets consider him to be a good pitch framer as well. The Sox have Connor Wong and Reese McGuire lined up to be their catching tandem in 2024, but Heineman still has one minor league option. That means he can be kept in Triple-A as depth until an injury creates a need at the big league level.

Castillo, 25 in May, has 59 2/3 innings of major league experience. He got those innings over the past two years, split between the Jays and the Royals. He has a 5.43 earned run average in that time, along with an 18.1% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.7% ground ball rate. He spent most of last year at Triple-A, posting an ERA of 4.58 in 116 innings at that level.

The Sox claimed him off waivers from the Royals a month ago but he’s now lost his roster spot a month later. Boston will have one week to work out a trade or try to pass him through waivers. He still has one option year remaining and could appeal to clubs looking for extra pitching depth.

A’s Sign Alex Wood

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The A’s announced the signing of starter Alex Wood to a one-year free agent contract. The left-hander is reportedly guaranteed $8.5MM with an additional $1MM in performance incentives. Wood is an ACES client.

Wood, who celebrated his 33rd birthday earlier this month, will remain in the Bay Area for Athletics’ final season in Oakland after spending the past three seasons as a member of the Giants. A second-round pick by Altanta during the 2012 draft, spent the first several years of his career as a quality mid-rotation arm for the Braves and Dodgers with a 3.29 ERA (117 ERA+) and 3.36 FIP across 803 1/3 innings of work from 2013 to 2018. Things took a turn for the worse for Wood after he was traded to the Reds as part of a multi-player blockbuster that also sent Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp to Cincinnati. The lefty managed just 16 appearances between the 2019 and 2020 seasons and struggled to a 5.96 ERA and 6.02 FIP across the 48 1/3 innings he was able to muster during that time.

That pair of injury-marred campaigns didn’t stop the Giants from taking a chance on Wood, however, and they were rewarded for that decision almost immediately. The lefty made 26 starts for San Francisco in 2021, pitching to a 3.83 ERA with a 3.48 FIP in 138 2/3 innings of work as the Giants stormed to a 107-win season and their first division title since 2012. The club rewarded Wood with a two-year, $25MM contract that offseason, though his second contract in San Francisco was nowhere near as successful as the first.

Wood struggled to a 5.10 ERA in 26 starts with the Giants in 2022 despite peripheral numbers that indicated a much stronger performance, including a career-best 5.4% walk rate paired with solid strikeout and grounder rates. Those struggles led the club to use Wood as a hybrid starter and bulk reliever in 2023. The veteran southpaw recorded more than 12 outs just three times after the month of June last year but struggled in the swing role with a middling 4.33 ERA to go with a 4.47 FIP. Unlike 2022, Wood’s peripherals backed up the lackluster results in 2023 as his walk rate ballooned to 9.8% while his strikeout rate dipped to just 17.2%.

Despite his struggles over the past two seasons, the addition of Wood could be a significant boost for an A’s club that lost 112 games last year thanks in part to a rotation that finished 2023 with a collective ERA of 5.74, worst among major league clubs that do not call Coors Field home. Even Wood’s diminished production of a 4.77 ERA and 4.07 FIP over the past two seasons would be a notable improvement over that figure, and if he recaptures the mid-rotation form he flashed earlier in his career Wood could be a valuable piece for the A’s to flip at the deadline as they continue their rebuild. In the meantime, Wood figures to join JP Sears and Paul Blackburn in the Oakland rotation with the likes of Luis Medina, Joe Boyle, and Joey Estes among the possibilities to round out the club’s starting five.

The deal for Wood takes another starting-caliber arm off of the market for clubs in search of pitching help. Teams in search of starting options can still look to Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery in terms of impact options, but the lower levels of free agency have begun to dwindle with arms like Michael Lorenzen and Hyun Jin Ryu representing some of the next-best options remaining after the top-of-the-market southpaws. As for the A’s, the club has previously indicated they expect to increase payroll over their 2023 figure. Pending the terms of Wood’s deal with the club, RosterResource projects the club for a microscopic $41MM payroll as things stand in 2024, $17MM below where they stood last year. That should leave room for the club to target further rotation additions or perhaps help at shortstop in the run-up to Spring Training next month, though they remain unlikely to shop in the higher tiers of free agency.

Robert Murray of FanSided reported the A’s and Wood had reached agreement. Melissa Locked of the Athletic first reported the $8.5MM guarantee and the $1MM in performance bonuses.

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