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Padres Among Teams Interested In Michael Lorenzen

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The Padres have expressed some interest in free agent righty Michael Lorenzen as they look to fill out their rotation, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The 32-year-old Lorenzen is among the more notable free agent starting pitchers yet to sign this offseason.

Lorenzen is a free agent for the third consecutive offseason. The longtime Reds setup man hit the market two winters ago in search of an opportunity to move back to a rotation — the role in which he broke into the majors as a rookie. That led to a one-year, $6.75MM deal with the Angels that produced solid results but was cut short at 97 2/3 innings due to a shoulder strain. Lorenzen took another one-year deal last offseason, this time landing a $8.5MM guarantee from the Tigers. The end-of-season results look solid — 4.18 ERA, 17.8% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate — but also don’t necessarily tell the whole story of his season.

A strong first half (and a generally underwhelming Tigers roster) helped to both propel Lorenzen to his first All-Star Game and position him as a trade candidate who was in relatively strong demand. Lorenzen turned in a 3.80 ERA as a Tiger, soaking up 105 2/3 innings in 18 starts (5 2/3 frames per outing) while fanning 20% of opponents against a 6.5% walk rate. The Phillies eventually acquired him to help stabilize the rotation down the stretch, and in the early stages of his Philadelphia tenure the trade looked like a masterstroke.

Lorenzen’s Phillies debut was sensational. He tossed eight innings of two-run ball against a contending Marlins club, limiting the Fish to a pair of runs on six hits and a walk. One-upping that type of debut is no small feat, but he did so in spades, tossing a no-hitter against the Nationals in his second start. Lorenzen looked like an instant Phillies success, but things went downhill quickly thereafter.

Whether due to a career-high workload, some type of minor injury or a simple run of poor performance, Lorenzen wilted in such substantial fashion that the Phils eventually dropped him to the bullpen. In the five starts immediately following that 124-pitch no-hitter, Lorenzen allowed 26 runs (23 earned) on 37 hits and 11 walks with just 14 strikeouts in 26 innings. His first outing as a reliever for the Phils saw him serve up another four runs in just one-third of an inning. He recovered with four shutout innings over his final three relief appearances, but what looked like a breakout season in mid-August ended with a whimper.

Even with that wobbly finish, Lorenzen is a sensible target for a Padres team in need of solid innings and rotation depth. The right-hander built up to 153 innings in 2023, and while he may have faded down the stretch, that workload might also make him less likely to deal with any late-season fatigue in 2024. San Diego’s current rotation includes Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Michael King, with a host of unknowns vying for the final two spots. Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito, Pedro Avila, Matt Waldron, Glenn Otto and Jay Groome are among the options for the final two spots.

It’s a deep collection of arms, all of whom other than Groome have at least some MLB experience, but no one from that bunch has proven much as a starter. Even King, whom the Padres acquired from the Yankees in the Juan Soto blockbuster (alongside Vasquez and Brito) has never pitched a full big league season as a starter. An injury to Musgrove and/or Darvish — both of whom have spent time on the IL in recent seasons — would render the Padres heavily reliant on a cast of general question marks. Lorenzen has some questions himself, but he’s also pitched 250 2/3 innings of 4.20 ERA ball over the past two seasons. There’s little doubt he’d be a steadying presence.

The question for the Padres is one of payroll. San Diego was reportedly aiming to scale back payroll by as much as $50MM this offseason, which was the driving factor behind the Soto trade in the first place. They also swapped out an experienced but relatively expensive reliever (Scott Barlow) for a less-proven and lower-cost bullpen arm (Enyel De Los Santos) and have allowed Josh Hader, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez to depart via free agency (with Blake Snell likely to follow). The Friars have spent some money, bringing in NPB reliever Yuki Matsui and KBO reliever Woo Suk Go on low-AAV multi-year deals, but the offseason has been more focused on subtracting big salaries than bolstering a win-now roster.

As things stand, the Padres’ payroll sits at a projected $156MM, with $212MM of luxury tax obligations, per Roster Resource. That’s a massive $100MM shy of their end-of-season 2023 payroll level, which ought to leave the Padres with some money to make modest additions between now and Opening Day. Lorenzen, who’s also drawn interest from the Orioles, makes as much sense as any fit on the market, but the Padres presumably have limited resources with which to work and holes in the outfield, on the bench and at designated hitter.

Orioles Notes: Trade Market, Urias, Zimmermann, Akin, Hall

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Orioles fans have grown increasingly frustrated with a listless offseason on the heels of last year’s division title and quick playoff exit. The O’s entered the offseason with a wide-open payroll outlook and deep farm system, ostensibly setting the stage for either a major free-agent pickup and/or a splashy trade to address the starting pitching. Neither has transpired to this point, although general manager Mike Elias insists it’s not due to a lack of effort on his behalf. The Orioles are “probably being as aggressive as any team out there” on the trade market, Elias told reporters over the weekend (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner).

Options on the trade market this offseason have been few and far between — particularly if, as one would expect, the O’s are reluctant to part with their glut of top-ranked, near-MLB-ready infield and outfield prospects. Dylan Cease has long been connected to the O’s, but many have begun to express doubt that anyone will meet the White Sox’ asking price before the offseason is up. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has spoken openly about his aversion to trading young starters like Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo. The Marlins are at least listening on a handful of starters (Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera among them), but the ask figures to be similarly steep there, as each has at least three seasons of control remaining.

The Orioles, meanwhile, are rife with young big league-caliber talents. Gunnar Henderson is locked in on the left side of the infield — likely as the long-term third baseman. Jackson Holliday, the former No. 1 overall pick who’s currently ranked as baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect, could debut as the team’s long-term shortstop this year at just 20 years old. Middle infielders Jordan Westburg, Connor Norby and Joey Ortiz have all been ranked among the game’s 100 best prospects within the past year. Ditto corner infielder Coby Mayo, who could be pushed across the diamond to first base, where the Orioles also have Ryan Mountcastle and former No. 2 overall pick Heston Kjerstad as options. Kjerstad can also play the outfield corners, while still yet another top prospect, outfielder Colton Cowser, is a deft center fielder.

Baltimore’s veritable embarrassment of riches on the prospect front has yet to lead to a trade, however. Fans might quibble with whether Elias is truly being as aggressive as he indicates, based on that lack of a move, but the top-ranking O’s baseball ops exec also exercised caution on the trade front.

“You can look back and teams make aggressive trades, and it can really set the franchise back if the guy shows up and he gets hurt, or if you trade guys and you miss out on their long careers,” Elias said, noting that there are just such examples in Orioles history.

Elias didn’t mention any specific examples, though as with any franchise, they’ve had their share of “ones who got away” (my words, not his). Eduardo Rodriguez and Jake Arrieta come to mind as one such pair (under prior leadership, before Elias was hired), while the Orioles’ acquisition of Adam Jones in exchange for Erik Bedard (also under the former front office regime) is perhaps the prime example of Baltimore being on the more favorable side of that proverbial coin.

Of course, the enviable stock of position-player depth the Orioles have cultivated under Elias could also be a catalyst for smaller-scale trades. The team might balk at the notion of trading someone of Westburg’s ilk, but the sheer volume of MLB-ready infielders could make current bench options like Ramon Urias available. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko suggested as much on Monday, noting that a roster including each of Urias, Ortiz and Holliday would have some redundancy and could lead to Urias being squeezed out — though that scenario is framed in mostly speculative fashion. There’s no indication the Orioles are shopping Urias, but it stands to reason that other infield-needy clubs would have interest.

The 29-year-old Urias, who’s earning $2.1MM in 2024 and is under club control through 2026, has given the Orioles above-average offense and solid defense for much of the past three seasons. He’s a career .264/.330/.404 hitter (107 wRC+) who can handle any of second base, shortstop or third base.

Urias had plus defensive grades at the hot corner, in 2022 in particular, but has broadly rated as a capable defender at any of the three spots. The O’s also gave him 63 innings at first base in 2023. Though he bats right-handed, Urias has far better career numbers against righties (.278/.342/.416) than lefties (.237/.306/.380). That’s not ideal for a team seeking a righty bat to pair with a lefty around the infield, but a club that’s just looking for general infield help overall could well see its interest piqued by an affordable and versatile option like Urias. He alone wouldn’t fetch the Orioles the rotation upgrade they seek, but he could either be dealt as part of a package or could perhaps simply net the O’s some modest help for the farm system to help replenish depth after surrendering some prospects in a larger-scale deal.

On the depth front, the O’s did get some good news in recent weeks. Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski that he’s in Florida for early workouts and expects to be a “full go” when spring training opens. Zimmermann underwent core muscle surgery in mid-October. He pitched to a 4.42 ERA in 21 Triple-A starts last season and has a lifetime 4.15 ERA in 229 2/3 innings at that level. He’s struggled to a 5.57 mark in 158 1/3 big league frames, but Zimmermann has a minor league option remaining and gives the O’s some experienced depth if injuries create an opening in the rotation.

Similarly, reliever Keegan Akin told Melewski and others that he’s “right on track” for spring training after missing the better part of three months last summer due to back troubles. Akin attempted to come back multiple times but experienced continued back issues each time. He’s since had the time to rest and rehab his way to full strength. The southpaw clearly wasn’t right in ’23, pitching to a 6.85 ERA in 23 1/3 innings, but he was a key bullpen member in 2022 when he piled up 81 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 49.3% ground-ball rate.

Assuming he’s healthy, Akin will give the O’s yet another southpaw option in the ’pen. Danny Coulombe and Cionel Perez are locked into spots after each avoided arbitration over the past week, and 25-year-old DL Hall seems likely to join them — if the Orioles don’t give him another look in the rotation. That decision could hinge on any future acquisitions; Elias said on Friday that the Orioles still view Hall as a starter in the long-term but was less clear about the southpaw’s role in the shorter term (X link via Kostka). Hall, a 2017 first-rounder and former top prospect, pitched to a 3.26 ERA with excellent strikeout and walk rates in 19 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in 2023.

The Top Unsigned Left-Handed Relievers

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about two weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. Over the past week, MLBTR has already taken a look at the remaining catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops, center fielders, corner outfielders designated hitters and starting pitchers. Next up, we’ll run through some of the top remaining left-handed bullpen options out there.

  • Wandy Peralta: From 2021-23, Peralta logged 153 innings of 2.82 ERA ball with a 21% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and huge 56.5% ground-ball rate as a member of the Yankees’ bullpen. In addition to keeping the ball on the ground at a strong clip, Peralta manages hard contact quite well. He’s been in the 88th percentile or better in opponents’ average exit velocity in each of the past four seasons, per Statcast. Peralta had some uncharacteristic command struggles in ’23. His walk rate jumped from 7.6% to 13.6%, and he plunked a career-high six batters — as many as he’d hit over the four previous years combined. Still, the track record is good, he kept his ERA below 3.00 even with the shaky command, and at 32 he’s younger than most of the other southpaws available. Both the Yankees and Mets have been reported to have interest, but there are surely quite a few other teams who’d be happy to plug him into the bullpen.
  • Brad Hand: Hand, 34 in March, posted a 4.54 ERA in 35 2/3 innings with the Rockies before getting rocked for a 7.50 mark in 18 innings following a trade to the Braves. That was due largely to an alarmingly low 49% strand rate — a mark so low that it’s assuredly fluky. (Hand’s career 73% strand rate is right around the league average.) Hand had his best strikeout and walk rates since 2020 last season, whiffing a quarter of opponents against a 9.3% walk rate. He was one of MLB’s premier relievers from 2016-20 (2.70 ERA, 104 saves, 33.3% strikeout rate), and while those days are probably in the past, he posted serviceable or better ERA marks in 2021-22. Hand will probably command another affordable one-year deal.
  • Jake Diekman: Diekman has never had even close to average command, but despite the fact that he has only once posted a walk rate under 11%, he’s still caved out a nice 12-year MLB career. He’s 37 now, but the southpaw’s 95.6 mph average heater in 2023 was a dead match for his average velocity over the preceding seven seasons. Diekman was rocked in 11 1/3 innings with the White Sox to begin the year but — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — completely turned things around upon being picked up by the Rays. In 45 1/3 frames, Diekman recorded a sparkling 2.18 ERA while striking out 28.6% of his opponents. Diekman throws hard, keeps the ball on the ground and misses plenty of bats, but command will always be an issue for him. A big league deal could still be in the cards for him.
  • Aaron Loup: There’s no getting around Loup’s ugly year in 2023, when he posted a 6.10 ERA with his lowest strikeout rate since 2014 and highest walk rate since 2017. But Loup has an extensive track record at the big league level, including a terrific run from 2017-22 when he notched a tidy 3.06 ERA in a combined 241 innings across six seasons. Now 36 years old, Loup will look to bounce back to prior form — presumably with a new team. To his credit, Loup kept the ball on the ground at a strong 46.6% clip and still had a nice opponents’ batted-ball profile, per Statcast (87.9 mph average exit velocity, 37.2% hard-hit rate). Last year’s sky-high .373 average on balls in play undoubtedly drove up his ERA. Metrics like FIP (4.36) and SIERA (4.33), while still not painting a great picture, were far kinder to Loup than his more rudimentary ERA.
  • Jarlin Garcia: Garcia didn’t throw a single pitch in 2023 due to a nerve issue in his biceps. However, he only just turned 31 years old on Jan. 18 and enjoyed very strong results from 2019-22. In that time, the lefty tossed 202 2/3 innings of 2.89 ERA ball between Marlins and Giants. Garcia averages 93.4 mph on his heater, and while his 21.6% strikeout rate from ’19-’22 was a couple percentage points shy of average, his 7.2% walk rate was better than average and he kept the ball on the ground at a solid 42.1% clip. Garcia has benefited from low BABIPs and playing his home games in cavernous settings, but he’s still a capable middle reliever who’d be a lock for a big league deal if not for last year’s injury. He won’t be game-ready for the start of spring training but recently resumed throwing and is expected to be back on a mound around May 1.

Honorable mentions: Joely Rodriguez, Richard Bleier, Amir Garrett, Justin Wilson

Mariners Acquire Samad Taylor From Royals

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The Mariners announced that they have acquired infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor from the Royals in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported earlier that the two sides were working on a small deal so that Kansas City could open up a roster spot for Adam Frazier, whose deal is now official.

Taylor, 25, was able to make his major league debut with the Royals last year, after coming over from the Blue Jays in the 2022 Whit Merrifield trade. He made 69 plate appearances in 31 games, striking out at a 31.9% clip but also drawing walks at a healthy 10.1% rate, finishing the year with a .200/.279/.267 batting line. That offense was obviously subpar, but he also stole eight bases without getting caught and provided defensive versatility, lining up at second base, third base, left field and center field.

He has fared much better with the bat in the minors. In 89 Triple-A games last year, he paired a 15.9% walk rate with a 20.5% strikeout rate and slashed .301/.418/.466 for a wRC+ of 128. He swiped 43 bags in 53 tries while playing the same four positions that he played in the majors. If he could bring some of that offense up to the majors with him in the future, it would pair nicely with his speed and ability to shuffle around the diamond.

Though he got squeezed off the Kansas City roster, the M’s opened up a spot in last night’s Jorge Polanco trade, sending Justin Topa and Anthony DeSclafani to Minnesota. They will use that to add Taylor into their position player mix. He still has a couple of options and could find himself getting regular reps in Triple-A if he doesn’t secure a bench spot. Polanco will be the regular at the keystone while Luis Urías and Josh Rojas could be platooning at third, while players like Dylan Moore and Sam Haggerty will be in the mix for part-time/bench roles. In the outfield, Julio Rodríguez, Mitch Haniger and Luke Raley could be in line for regular playing time with players like Taylor Trammell, Dominic Canzone and Cade Marlowe on hand as depth options.

Royals Sign Adam Frazier

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An active offseason for the Royals continued Tuesday, as the team announced the signing of veteran second baseman/left fielder Adam Frazier to a one-year contract with a 2025 mutual option. Frazier, a client of McKinnis Sports, will reportedly be guaranteed $4.5MM in the form of a $2MM base salary in 2024 and a $2.5MM buyout on the 2025 option, which is valued at $8.5MM.

Frazier hit .240/.300/.396 over 445 plate appearances with the Orioles last season, after inking a one-year, $8MM contract back in December 2022.  Brought in to provide some veteran leadership within a young Baltimore infield, Frazier got the bulk of starting second base duty, with Ramon Urias acting a platoon partner in the first half of the season and then Jordan Westburg stepping into the platoon after making his MLB debut.  With Westburg tabbed for a bigger role and star prospect Jackson Holliday also on the verge of his Major League debut and joining Gunnar Henderson in the Baltimore infield in 2024, the Orioles seemed content with moving on from Frazier and turning things over to their impresssive young core.

In signing with Kansas City, Frazier is basically assuming the same role as an experienced big leaguer on an overall young team, even if the Royals have been aggressive in adding some veteran help.  Most of their moves have come on the pitching end (i.e. Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, and a host of relievers), though the Royals also addressed their position-player mix by signing outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a two-year, $13MM pact and utilityman Garrett Hampson on a one-year, $2MM contract.

The platoon fit isn’t quite as clean in K.C. as it was in Baltimore, as presumptive second baseman Michael Massey is also a left-handed hitter.  However, Massey has yet to show much against big league pitching, with only a .233/.284/.379 slash line to show over the small sample size of 655 career PA.  The Royals obviously still want to see what they have in Massey, and Frazier’s ability to play the corner outfield also creates some room for both players to be in the lineup when a righty is on the mound.

It is also fair to wonder what the 32-year-old Frazier can deliver at the plate, given how his own numbers have been subpar for the better part of four seasons.  Frazier has a .260/.323/.370 slash line and a 94 wRC+ over 1926 PA since the start of the 2020 season, and those numbers are buoyed by a great first half of the 2021 campaign.  Frazier was even named to the 2021 All-Star Game based on that early showing, yet a hefty BABIP suggested that some regression was in order, and that downturn came after Frazier was dealt to the Padres at the trade deadline.

Frazier has been one of the better contact hitters in baseball over the course of his eight-year career, as only 22 qualified hitters have a lower strikeout rate than the 13% number Frazier has posted since debuting with Pittsburgh in 2016.  The problem is that Frazier’s hard-contact and barrel rates are near the bottom of the league in that same period, and with a subpar 7.4% walk rate, Frazier’s offense has tended to wane unless the batted-ball luck is swinging in his favor.

Usually a very solid defensive second baseman, Frazier’s glovework tumbled last year in the view of public defensive metrics.  His 0.2 UZR/150 was just slightly above average, while his -4 Defensive Runs Saved and -15 Outs Above Average painted a more dire picture.  Frazier has been passable enough as an outfielder that he could get more looks in the corners if Massey hits well enough to draw regular work at the keystone, and he could complement Renfroe in right field or MJ Melendez (another left-handed bat) in left field.

While none of the Royals’ expenditures this offseason have individually counted as splurges, the club had already spent $101MM on free agents even before signing Frazier.  K.C. is projected by Roster Resource for an $111.5MM payroll without Frazier’s still-unknown price tag added, so the Royals have topped their $91MM payroll from 2023 by a healthy margin.  This tracks with general manager J.J. Picollo’s statement in early December that the Royals were going to increase their payroll around $30MM this winter, with some possible flexibility to spend even more in the right scenario.

After winning the World Series in 2015, Kansas City was a .500 team in 2016 and has now posted seven straight losing seasons.  A rebuilding process has either yet to fully materialize or has stalled out entirely, given how the Royals’ 106 losses last season matched the highest total in franchise history.  Picollo (who took over the front office late in the 2022 season) might have gotten some leeway in his first full year as GM because a lot of focus was placed on revamping the team’s developmental system, yet it is clear the Royals are aiming to be much more respectable on the field in 2024.  Most of their offseason signings have been pretty short-term in nature, so if necessary, K.C. could pivot to trading any of these veterans at the deadline if the club again isn’t in contention.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the agreement between the two parties. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported the financial terms.

Diamondbacks Designate Collin Snider For Assignment

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have designated right-hander Collin Snider for assignment. His roster spot will go to Joc Pederson, whose deal is now official.

Snider, 28, has never suited up for the Diamondbacks, having just been claimed off waivers last month. Prior to that waiver claim, he had spent his entire career with the Royals, having been drafted by Kansas City in 2017. He made 62 major league appearances for the Royals over the two most recent seasons, tossing 54 2/3 innings while allowing 5.93 earned runs per nine. His 13.4% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate were both worse than league average but he kept 51.9% of balls in play on the ground.

That’s generally been his profile in the minor leagues as well. Over the past two seasons, he’s thrown 64 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 5.74 ERA, 18.3% strikeout rate and 15.7% walk rate while getting worm-burners on more than half of batted balls.

The Snakes were intrigued enough by those grounders to grab Snider but he’s now been nudged off the back of the roster. They will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the club as non-roster depth. But he still has an option remaining and could appeal to another club looking to bolster its pitching staff.

Yankees, Greg Allen Agree To Minor League Deal

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Fleet-footed outfielder Greg Allen is returning to the Yankees organization on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The CAA client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that Allen would earn at a $1.1MM rate if selected to the big league roster. There’s another $400K available via incentives, per Sherman, which takes the form of a $50K bonus for every 50th plate appearance beginning at 150 and ranging through 500. Allen hasn’t reached 150 MLB plate appearances since 2019 and has never topped 291 plate appearances in a season.

It’s the third stint with the Yankees for the 30-year-old Allen, who was traded from San Diego to New York back in 2021. Allen appeared in 15 games that season and has since bounced from the Pirates, to the Red Sox, back to the Yankees, to the Brewers and now back to the Bronx.

Allen spent the bulk of the 2023 season in the Yankees organization but was designated for assignment in August and elected free agency after going unclaimed on waivers. He took just 28 plate appearances with the Yanks — his only big league action last season — and slashed .217/.333/.478 with a homer and three steals in that tiny sample. The rest of his season was spent in Triple-A, where he batted a combined .252/.388/.371 between the Yankees, Brewers and Red Sox organizations.

In parts of seven of MLB seasons, Allen is a .231/.300/.340 hitter with 11 homers, 31 doubles, eight triples, a 5.7% walk rate and a 23.4% strikeout rate in 828 plate appearances. He’s a switch-hitter with minimal pop but plus speed and strong defensive skills across all three outfield positions. Allen won’t have an easy path to a big league roster spot on a team whose outfield mix consists of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo, Trent Grisham and Giancarlo Stanton (though he’ll primarily DH). That said, he’s a fine depth piece to stash in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the season, which seems to be the likeliest role for him unless injuries create some openings on the big league roster during spring training.

Diamondbacks Sign Joc Pederson

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Jan. 30: The D-backs have formally announced the signing of Pederson to a one-year deal with a mutual option.

Jan. 25: The Diamondbacks continue adding to the lineup. They’re reportedly in agreement with designated hitter/outfielder Joc Pederson on a one-year, $12.5MM guarantee. The Excel Sports Management client will receive a $9.5MM salary next season and is due a $3MM buyout on a 2025 mutual option valued at $14MM.

Pederson, 32 in April, has been a potent slugger in the big leagues for a decade now. Since his 2014 debut, he has launched 186 home runs while playing for the Dodgers, Cubs, Braves and Giants.

That latter club has employed Pederson for the past two seasons. He signed a one-year, $6MM deal going into 2022 and gave the club plenty of return on that investment. He hit 23 home runs and walked in 9.7% of his plate appearances. His .274/.353/.521 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 146, indicating he was 46% better than league average. His defense continued to be a liability, but that offensive production was excellent.

The Giants were clearly impressed, as they surprisingly extended a $19.65MM qualifying offer to Pederson going into 2023. He accepted that offer and returned to San Francisco for another year, which led to results that were a bit more mixed. His walk rate jumped up to 13.4% but his batting average dipped and he only hit 15 home runs on the year. His .235/.348/.416 batting line led to a wRC+ of 111, still above average but a big drop from the year prior.

Despite the down year in terms of results, there are reasons to be bullish, something recently explored by Leo Morgenstern of MLBTR. Pederson’s Statcast page continues to glow with a crimson red, as his hard hit rate and average exit velocity are both in the top 10% of qualified hitters. Despite continually pummeling the ball, his batting average on balls in play dropped from .310 in 2022 to .268.

That latter figure exactly matches his career BABIP, which arguably points more to 2022 being an outlier than the most recent season. But on the other hand, 2023 was the first year with the ban on defensive shifts. As a slow-running left-handed power bat, Pederson was the exact type of player the shift ban was supposed to help, and yet his BABIP dropped by over 40 points as his quality of contact stayed strong.

Even if the BABIP fortune doesn’t change, Pederson can be a valuable platoon bat. His .242/.344/.490 line against righties in his career translates to a 125 wRC+, compared to a line of .209/.293/.329 and a 73 wRC+ against lefties. His 2023 results were pretty close to those career marks, with a .241/.351/.435 slash and 115 wRC+ with the platoon advantage and .186/.327/.279 and 80 wRC+ otherwise.

Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen has been open for some time about the club’s willingness to add a full-time designated hitter, and Pederson would fit the bill. He can play the outfield a bit, and has seen brief stints at first base, but his glovework has never been highly rated and his time spent on the grass has declined over time. He only made 23 starts in the outfield in 2023 and logged just 204 innings there for the year.

Those figures may decline even further in 2024 if a deal gets done with the Snakes. They will likely have Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. as their regular outfield, with Jake McCarthy and Dominic Fletcher on hand for depth. With those outfielders on the roster, they wouldn’t need Pederson to don a glove very often.

After making a surprise World Series run in 2023, the Diamondbacks have been active in reloading the roster for 2024. They traded for Eugenio Suárez to take over as their third baseman and signed Eduardo Rodríguez to strengthen their rotation. If they are able to get a deal done with Pederson, it would add another threat to the lineup.

Those moves have pushed the club into unprecedented payroll territory, despite the fact that their RSN deal with Diamond Sports Group collapsed in 2023. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the club’s franchise record Opening Day payroll is $132MM. Roster Resource now projects next year’s payroll figure above $142MM.

ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported the Diamondbacks and Pederson were in discussions. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported the sides were closing in an agreement. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com was first to report the sides had agreed to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2025. Piecoro reported the salary breakdown.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Marlins Have Interest In Adalberto Mondesi

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The Marlins are known to be exploring the market for infield help, with a specific eye on shortstop options. Free agent Adalberto Mondesi is among the names they’ve considered, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Few can question the raw talent of the now-28-year-old Mondesi, who was touted as one of the game’s top prospects prior to debuting with the Royals and has at multiple points in his career flashed star potential. In just 75 games during the 2018 season, for instance, Mondesi cracked 14 home runs and swiped 32 bases, showing off a rare power/speed combo that could lead to some historic counting stats over the course of a full season.

Of course, as most fans know by now, that “full season” caveat is an immensely important one for Mondesi. Perhaps the game’s most oft-injured talent, Mondesi has never appeared in more than 102 games in a season and has never reached even 450 MLB plate appearances in a given year. He tallied a career-high 433 plate appearances in 2019 but has since appeared in just 109 games and taken 423 turns at the plate in four years combined.

Mondesi spent the 2023 season with the Red Sox after coming over from Kansas City in a trade that sent lefty reliever Josh Taylor to the Royals. He was recovering from a torn ACL that wiped out nearly all of his 2022 campaign in K.C., but myriad setbacks and a lack of progress in his recovery led to Mondesi missing the entire 2023 season as well. In addition to what’s now pushing a two-year absence due to that ACL tear, he’s suffered a pair of shoulder subluxations, the second of which required surgery in 2019. Mondesi has also had IL stints owing to oblique, back, groin and hamstring injuries throughout his career.

Although he has a full six years of MLB service time, Mondesi has appeared in just 358 Major League games. That speaks to the staggering volume of time he’s spent on the injured list with that litany of health troubles over the years. But in just 1336 career plate appearances, he’s also managed 38 homers and an eye-popping 133 steals. Mondesi rarely walks (career 4.4%) and strikes out too often (30.2%), but his blend of power, speed and defense (career 23 Outs Above Average, per Statcast) are tantalizing, particularly given the fact that his prolific injury history should lead to an affordable deal.

The Marlins are the only team in baseball right now that hasn’t signed at least one free agent to a major league contract. The Fish also haven’t made many trades of note. Miami added catcher Christian Bethancourt in a cash deal with the Guardians, and they’ve acquired former top prospect Vidal Brujan and righty Calvin Faucher in a trade with the Rays. Newly hired president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has been open about his desire to beef up the team’s catching and infield depth, but so far the biggest acquisition has been buying low on Brujan.

The Marlins currently project for a payroll around $97MM, which is $13MM or so shy of their end-of-season mark in 2023. As it currently stands, their top shortstop options include Brujan, fellow prospects Xavier Edwards and Jacob Amaya, and veteran utilityman Jon Berti. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is no stranger to shortstop, but it sounds as though the current plan is to keep him in center field for another season (and moving him would only create a similar hole in center anyhow).

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