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Cubs Sign Hector Neris

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The Cubs have signed right-hander Hector Neris to a one-year, $9MM contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via X).  There is a $9MM club option attached for the 2025 season, and that vests into a player option if Neris makes at least 60 appearances this season.  Between that option and additional incentive bonuses, the deal could be worth as much as $23.25 over the two seasons.  Neris is represented by Octagon.

Best known for his time as the Phillies’ closer, Neris has spent the last two seasons in Houston, and is coming off (technically) the best year of his decade-long Major League career.  Neris posted a 1.71 ERA over 68 1/3 innings out of the Astros’ bullpen, with an excellent 28.2% strikeout rate and some of the best soft-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball.

There were a few red flags, however, which is likely why the righty landed what is officially just a one-year guarantee.  Neris’ fastball velocity dropped to 93mph in 2023, rather markedly down from the 94.3mph average of his first nine seasons.  He also had an 11.4% walk rate, marking the third time in the last four seasons that Neris’ walk rate has sat within the bottom 23rd percentile of all pitches.  With a tiny .219 BABIP and a big 90.5% strand rate also aiding his efforts, Neris’ 3.89 SIERA was over two runs higher than his real-world ERA.

It’s fair to assume that some regression is in order, and these troubling secondary metrics aren’t exactly a great sign for a pitcher who turns 35 in June.  However, even if Neris’ 2024 ERA is closer to that 3.89 figure, he still figures to bring value to Chicago’s relief corps in terms of both results and durability.  Neris has a league-best 307 appearances since the start of the 2019 season, and a stint on the COVID-related injury list in 2020 marks the only time Neris has ever appeared on the IL during his big league career.

This kind of durability holds particular appeal for a Cubs team that was hit hard with bullpen injuries down the stretch, which contributed to Chicago’s 12-16 record in September and subsequent near-miss of a wild card berth.  The Cubs were naturally known to be looking for relief help, though president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has traditionally been wary about committing big money to the pen given the year-to-year volatility of many relievers.

In that sense, Neris’ contract represents more aggression even if it remains a one-year deal, considering that the Cubs haven’t gone beyond $5MM on a relief pitcher since signing Craig Kimbrel in June 2019.  Should Neris eat his usual amount of innings, hitting the 60-appearance threshold shouldn’t be too much of an issue, and thus he would top the two-year, $15MM deal that MLBTR projected for the reliever at the start of the offseason.  Neris ranked 46th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents.

Neris has a similar clause in his previous deal, a two-year/$17MM pact signed with Houston in the 2021-22 offseason.  The Astros held an $8.5MM club option ($1MM buyout) on Neris for 2024 that vested into a player option if Neris both passed a physical after the 2023 campaign, and if he made at least 110 appearances over the course of the two seasons.  Neris ended pitching in 141 games, and then opted to decline his player option to re-enter the market in search of a richer deal.

Adbert Alzolay blossomed as the Cubs’ closer in 2023, and Neris will now step right in as Wrigleyville’s top setup option.  Neris joins Yency Almonte as newcomers in the relief corps, and it can’t be assumed that the Cubs are now done with their bullpen shopping.  Adding another veteran on at least a minor league deal seems like a possibility, and if Neris represents a bit of a splashy spend, perhaps Chicago could look for another reliever on a guaranteed deal within that sub-$5MM comfort zone.

The Cubs’ payroll now sits at roughly $196.3MM, and there’s still plenty of room to go before Chicago hits the $237MM luxury tax threshold.  A big-ticket signing like Cody Bellinger could naturally absorb a lot of that remaining space, but there’s still plenty of flexibility for Hoyer during what has been a pretty quiet winter overall for the Cubs.  The Shohei Ohtani pursuit carried a lot of the team’s attention in the offseason’s first month, though the Cubs have since added Shota Imanaga and Neris in free agency, while also adding Almonte and Michael Busch in a trade with the Dodgers.

The Astros, Cardinals, Mets, Rangers, and Yankees were all linked to Neris at various points this offseason.  Earlier this month, it seemed as if the Rangers and Yankees were looking like the favorites to sign the right-hander, but Chicago ended up emerging to win the bidding.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Rangers Notes: Scherzer, Montgomery, Garcia

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Rangers fans received good news during the club’s FanFest this weekend, as future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer provided an update on his health following back surgery earlier this winter. As noted by Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today, Scherzer noted that he has yet to suffer any setbacks in his recovery in the six weeks since he went under the knife, and added that he expects to begin working out in about three weeks. While that timeline puts him on pace to begin workouts shortly after Spring Training begins next month, there’s still a lengthy rehab ahead for Scherzer, who GM Chris Young indicated when announcing the surgery last month would be sidelined into June or even July of the coming campaign.

An eight-time All Star and three-time Cy Young award winner, Scherzer’s return to the rotation over the summer is sure to provide a major boost to the club’s pitching corps. The veteran righty pitched to a 3.20 ERA and 3.41 FIP in 45 innings of work for the Rangers down the stretch before being sidelined in September due to the back issues that would ultimately require surgery. Scherzer managed to work his way back onto the mound for three short starts during the club’s championship run before ultimately being shut down for the season following three scoreless innings during Game 3 of the World Series against the Diamondbacks.

With Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and offseason signing Tyler Mahle all expected to open the 2024 season on the shelf, the Rangers have plenty of questions marks in the Opening Day rotation. The starting five in Texas currently projects to be Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford as things stand, without much healthy depth behind that quintet to protect against additional injury woes. The club’s clear rotation needs have paved the way for the club to be tied to a reunion with lefty Jordan Montgomery throughout the winter, though Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently cast doubt on the likelihood of the sides coming together on a deal when all is said and done. During a recent appearance on a the Foul Territory podcast, Grant noted that while he believes that both sides have interest in a reunion, he thinks that the club would rather rely on minor league pitching talents to step up and contribute at the big league level early in the season while Scherzer, deGrom, and Mahle rehab than offer Montgomery a hefty deal in the 5-6 year range.

While the Rangers have a trio of pitching prospects in Owen White, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker who were recently very well regarded, both Leiter and White had difficult 2023 campaigns while Rocker made just six professional starts before undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of last year and may not even reach the upper levels of the minors in 2024, much less the big leagues. Given those question marks, it’s hardly a surprise that the club has at least remained engaged with Montgomery. Speculatively speaking, the club could perhaps look to lower-tier alternatives remaining on the starting pitching market such as Mike Clevinger and Hyun Jin Ryu to bolster their depth in the event Montgomery signs elsewhere.

Moving from the rotation to the offense, Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press recently reported that the Rangers remain at odds with star outfielder Adolis Garcia regarding his 2024 salary with arbitration hearings just around the corner. The only Ranger who didn’t reach an agreement with the club prior to the deadline earlier this month, Garcia requested a salary of $6.9MM while the Rangers countered with $5MM. That $1.9MM gap is the widest among all players who failed to reach an agreement before the deadline. While many teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to salary arbitration, meaning that they do not continue negotiations after figures are exchanged, Young noted that the club has remained in contact with Garcia’s camp and that the club is “very encouraged” by the dialogue between the two sides.

For Garcia’s part, the 30-year-old slugger said he wasn’t sure if there was a chance of avoiding an arbitration hearing and added that he’s “just a little bit disappointed” about how the process has gone. Garcia enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2023, slashing .245/.328/.508 in 632 trips to the plate as he notched his second career All Star appearance. The slugger also earned a Gold Glove award for his work in right field and posted a .323/.382/.786 slash line in the postseason en route to MVP honors for the ALCS.

Byron Buxton Planning To Return To Center Field In 2024

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As noted by Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Twins center fielder Byron Buxton assured fans at this weekend’s TwinsFest that the club’s star defender would be back in center field for the 2024 campaign.

Buxton, 30, was limited to DH-only duties during the 2023 campaign as he battled knee issues before ultimately undergoing knee surgery in October. The nagging injury woes, in addition to stopping Buxton from playing defense last year, may have contributed to his diminished results at the plate last season. In 347 trips to the plate, Buxton slashed a modest .207/.294/.438 that was roughly league average by measure of wRC+. That’s a far cry from the .258/.316/.558 slash line he compiled from 2019 to 2022. The offensive potential Buxton showed during that four-year stretch, when combined with his elite defensive abilities and quality baserunning, made the outfielder one of the league’s most valuable players on a rate basis.

Buxton’s potential has been limited, however, by constant struggles with injuries over the years. Across nine seasons as a big leaguer, Buxton has only appeared in 100 games once, during his 140-game 2017 campaign. Since then, he has averaged just 65 games a season while never appearing in more than 92 in a single campaign. Given his long-standing struggles with staying on the field, the club hoped that by making Buxton their full-time DH in 2022 they would be able to keep him on the field more frequently. That, of course, didn’t pan out, and returning their star center fielder to his natural position has long been acknowledged as the ideal scenario for the club in 2024.

Earlier this offseason, reports indicated that Buxton was fully healed from his autumn knee surgery and was expected to return to baseball activities before the end of the 2023 calendar year, with club officials hoping he would be able to return to regular work in center field in 2024. Since then, Helfand notes that Buxton has resumed baseball activities on a daily basis. Evidently, the return to activity has gone well enough to this point that Buxton and the Twins are confident he’ll be able to act as the club’s every day center fielder to open the year. That may help to take pressure off the club’s front office to find a replacement for center fielder Michael A. Taylor, who stepped in as a regular at the position last year while Buxton was unable to take the field. Internal options to back up Buxton in center currently include the likes of Austin Martin, Nick Gordon, and Willi Castro.

As noted by Helfand, Buxton isn’t the only Twins position player recovering well from offseason surgery. Both first baseman Alex Kirilloff and outfielder Jose Miranda under went surgery back in October and have been progressing well in the run-up to Spring Training. Both youngsters indicated that they hope to be ready to go once camp opens next month. Miranda’s big league career kicked off with a bang in 2022 when he impressed with a .268/.325/.426 slash line in 125 games, but his sophomore season didn’t go nearly as well as he was limited to just 40 games in the big leagues by injuries and ineffectiveness. Kirilloff, meanwhile, enjoyed something of a breakout season in 2023 as he slashed a respectable .270/.348/.445 in 88 games while splitting time at first base with Donovan Solano and Joey Gallo.

Roki Sasaki Re-Signs With NPB’s Lotte Marines, Discusses Future

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Right-hander Roki Sasaki re-signed with the Lotte Marines of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball today on a one-year contract, per Stephen Wade of The Associated Press.

The deal puts to bed rumors that percolated earlier in the offseason that Sasaski would attempt to make the jump from NPB to MLB this winter. Such an arrangement would have been unusual for a Japanese player look to continue his career stateside. MLB posting rules stipulate that players must be at least 25 years old and have played in at least six professional seasons before they can sign with a big league club on anything other than a minor league contract.

Some players (most notably Shohei Ohtani) make the jump prior to those benchmarks, though in doing so they limit their own immediate earnings to what clubs can offer them from their international bonus pool. Said pools range from $4,144,000 to $6,366,900 for this year’s signing period, and it’s unlikely a team would be willing or able to commit their entire pool to one player. Ohtani, for example, received a bonus of just $2.3MM when he first signed on with the Angels prior to the 2018 season.

Given Sasaki’s talent, there’s little question that he would be able to command significantly more than that if he were to proceed normally through the posting system. Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed the richest free agent deal for a pitcher in MLB history earlier this winter, and it’s possible Sasaki could look to rival that sum through the posting system given his career 2.00 ERA and 34.4% strikeout rate in 46 NPB starts. Sasaski pairs a fastball that touches triple-digits with a forkball that has allowed him to dominate in the World Baseball Classic and become the youngster player in NPB history to throw a perfect game while setting an NPB record for strikeouts in a single start with 19.

Per a report from Kyodo News, Sasaki made no secret of his MLB aspirations during a recent press conference. The phenom was quoted as saying he has a desire to play in the majors “in the future,” that he has communicated that sentiment to Lotte every year, and that the club understands his goals. The report also includes comments from a Marines executive, Naoki Matsumoto. Matsumoto indicated that there was no truth to rumors of discord between Sasaki and the club regarding the right-hander’s future plans and that Sasaki’s desire to play in the majors was known to the club prior to the 2023 campaign.

Wade notes that some reports out of Japan have indicated that Sasaki has negotiated the ability to depart for the majors ahead of the typical posting timeline, perhaps even as soon as next offseason. With that being said, however, neither Sasaki nor the Marines have given a hint as to a timeline for the righty’s jump to the big leagues. When asked about a timeline for his move stateside at the aforementioned presser, Sasaki demurred in favor of focusing on the coming 2024 campaign. Whether that move ultimately comes next offseason or sometime in the future, Sasaki has flashed the potential to be a game-changing arm for any club and would instantly become one of the most attractive free agents in the class he joins.

Angels Designate Trey Cabbage For Assignment

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The Angels announced that first baseman/outfielder Trey Cabbage has been designated for assignment.  The transaction creates a 40-man roster spot for Matt Moore, whose one-year, $9MM deal is now official.

Cabbage was a fourth-round pick for the Twins in the 2015 draft, and he was a member of the Angels organization for the last two seasons after signing as a minor league free agent.  He didn’t show much at the plate over his first five pro seasons, but after sitting out 2020 due to the canceled minor league season, Cabbage’s bat suddenly caught fire.  A .283/.377/.574 slash line over 414 Double-A plate appearances was followed up by a .306/.379/.596 slash line in 474 PA at the Triple-A level, and it resulted in Cabbage getting a look on the Angels’ active roster this past season.

Despite only a .553 OPS over 56 PA in the Show, Cabbage at least finally made the big leagues, debuting slightly after his 26th birthday.  He might now find himself on the move to another team in the event of a waiver claim or if the Halos opt to simply release him after the DFA period, though one would imagine Los Angeles might just hang onto a player who has performed so well against minor league pitching.  Cabbage’s age could be a slight caveat to his numbers, though his performance can’t even be chalked up just to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, given how Cabbage’s breakout started when he was still in Minnesota’s farm system.

After getting some time as a third baseman and shortstop earlier in his career, Cabbage has settled into a first base/corner outfield role.  His DFA could indicate that the Angels simply prefer other options at those positions — Nolan Schanuel is penciled in for regular first base duty and Brandon Drury can also play the position, while Miguel Sano and Hunter Dozier were recently signed to minors contracts.  The corner outfield picture is also pretty crowded, and could be even more crowded if Mike Trout is moved to left field in order to both help keep him healthy and to improve the defense with a more glove-focused center fielder.

Phillies Interested In Jakob Junis, Phil Maton

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Right-handers Jakob Junis and Phil Maton have both drawn interest from the Phillies, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.  Beyond these two specific names, Lauber speculates that the Phillies have “likely” explored most other available relievers on the market, as the club continues to look for depth in its pitching ranks.

Junis would be an interesting asset to both the rotation or bullpen, given his experience as a swingman over the last few seasons.  Junis has started 27 of his 79 appearances from 2021-23, though his four starts in 2023 are more correctly described as opener/piggyback duty.  The Giants used Junis and several other pitchers in somewhat haphazard fashion to cover three rotation spots, making for a wide array of opener/bulk pitcher scenarios, bullpen games, and two swingmen working in concert for multi-inning duty.

This type of flexibility might make Junis particularly useful on a Philadelphia team that already has a set starting five (Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Taijuan Walker, Cristopher Sanchez).  President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently spoke of the difficulties in attracting quality depth options to a club that doesn’t have any openings if everyone is healthy, whereas another club with a less settled rotation can offer a free agent more of an opportunity to earn a starting job.  However, Junis’ history of moving back and forth between pitching roles means that the Phillies could possibly regard him as just an available arm, rather than strictly as a depth starter or a reliever.

After posting a 4.75 ERA over his first 627 1/3 MLB innings from 2017-22, Junis had a 3.87 ERA in 2023, finishing well above the league average in walk rate, strikeout rate, and hard-contact rate.  The latter two statistics are particularly noteworthy, as Junis had usually posted below-average numbers in those departments during his career.  This could suggest that the mostly multi-inning relief role agreed with Junis, as it allowed him to lean harder on his best pitch — a slider that batters hit only .216 against in 2023.

Dylan Covey, Nick Nelson, and the newly-acquired Kolby Allard look like the top depth options in the event of an injury, plus the Phillies could also consider using Matt Strahm as a starter again.  If signed, Junis could simply push everyone down a step on the depth chart, with Allard, Covey, and Nelson competing for perhaps just one big league job.  Covey is also out of minor league options, perhaps giving him some leg up on the competition.

Maton would be a straight-forward addition to the bullpen, and a durable addition at that — since the start of the 2021 season, only eight pitchers have appeared in more games than Maton’s 200 outings.  In a swap that now looks like a steal for the Astros, Houston acquired Maton and Yainer Diaz from Cleveland for Myles Straw at the 2021 trade deadline, and Maton has since delivered a 3.67 ERA over 157 regular-season innings and a minuscule 0.49 ERA over 18 1/3 innings in the postseason.  Maton didn’t participate in the Astros’ World Series run in 2022, however, as a fractured pinkie finger kept him off the playoff roster entirely.

Maton turns 31 in March, and he has found success despite a fastball that averaged only 89mph in 2023.  His above-average strikeout numbers speak to his elite spin rates, and few (if any) pitchers in baseball are better than Maton at limiting hard contact.  Maton’s barrel rates are good but not outstanding, as he is prone to giving up homers on the rare occasions that batters are able to really square up on his pitches.

The Cardinals and Yankees have been linked to Maton’s market this offseason, while the Astros reportedly showed only limited interest in a reunion even before Houston signed Josh Hader.  Junis’ market has been more of a mystery, as the Phillies are the first team known to have any public interest in the right-hander all winter.

Nationals Designate Israel Pineda

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The Nationals announced that catcher Israel Pineda has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for Joey Gallo, whose one-year, $5MM contract with D.C. is now official.

Pineda was a member of the Nationals’ 2016 international signing class, and he has spent his entire career in the organization.  Still only 23 years old, Pineda has hit .231/.291/.374 over 1529 plate appearances in the minor leagues, though he hit quite well at Double-A in 2022 and earned his first MLB call-up that September when Keibert Ruiz went on the injured list.

After appearing in his first four big league games, Pineda didn’t make it back to the Show in 2023 due in large part to injuries.  A fractured ring finger and an oblique strain limited Pineda to just 41 total games, and he had only a .496 OPS over 153 PA split over three minor league levels.  This rough year made Pineda expendable on Washington’s 40-man, though there might be a chance he simply clears waivers and remains in the minors as a depth option.

Ruiz and Riley Adams have the catching situation covered at the MLB level for the Nats, leaving Drew Millas (with 11 games) as the only other backstop in the organization with any Major League experience.  If Pineda isn’t brought back, the Nationals figure to be in the market for some veteran depth to bring into Spring Training on a minors deal.

Nationals Sign Joey Gallo

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TODAY: The signing has officially been announced.  The deal also contains a mutual option for the 2025 season.

JANUARY 23: The Nationals and first baseman/outfielder Joey Gallo have agreed to a one-year deal, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post (X links). The deal for the Boras Corporation client, which is pending a physical, is for $5MM with another $1MM available in performance bonuses.

Gallo, 30, has been the poster boy for the “three true outcomes” in a major league career that’s almost a decade old at this point. Having debuted with the Rangers in 2015, he has played in 863 games, with 198 home runs to his name in that time. He has struck out in 37.9% of his plate appearances, which is much higher than par. For reference, the league average in 2023 was 22.7%. But he’s also drawn walks in 14.8% of his career plate appearances, well beyond the 2023 league average of 8.6%.

It’s an unusual combination but one that still allows Gallo to be a productive offensive contributor when taken all together. Though his career batting line .197/.323/.466 has him below the Mendoza line, the walks and the homers still help him translate that into a wRC+ of 109. He signed a one-year, $11MM deal with the Twins for 2023 and batted .197/.323/.466 for a wRC+ of 104, hitting 21 home runs while striking out in 42.8% of his plate appearances.

It’s perhaps worth highlighting that the tenability of this oddly-shaped performance has declined over the years. Gallo had his best run with the Rangers from 2017 to 2019, slashing .217/.336/.533 in that time for a wRC+ of 120. He hit a rough patch in 2020 but then bounced back with a strong showing early in 2021, enough for him to be traded to the Yankees alongside Joely Rodríguez. But Gallo’s production fell off again after the deal and didn’t rebound in 2022, with the Yanks flipping him to the Dodgers midseason. He finished that season with a line of .160/.280/.357 and wRC+ of 86 before putting together a decent campaign with the Twins last year.

Despite the huge pop in his bat, the up-and-down nature of his past few seasons would make him a risky bet for a contending club. But for the Nationals, it’s a sensible fit for a number of reasons. Last month, it was reported that the club was looking to add some left-handed power to its lineup. That was a logical target with their outfield mix consisting of Lane Thomas, Stone Garrett, Joey Meneses, Victor Robles, Jacob Young and Alex Call, all of whom hit from the right side.

Beyond that, the club isn’t likely to be in contention this year, having been aggressively rebuilding in recent seasons. Last offseason, they gave modest one-year deals to bounceback candidates like Corey Dickerson, Dominic Smith and Jeimer Candelario. The first two of those didn’t work out but Candelario played well enough to be flipped to the Cubs for a couple of prospects.

The Nats can insert Gallo into the middle of their lineup and hope that he is producing enough to follow a similar trajectory to Candelario last year. If he is having another rough campaign like he did in 2022, he can simply be released like Dickerson was.

The fit also makes sense with the prospects in the system. Outfielders James Wood and Dylan Crews are two of the most highly-rated prospects in the league, and each could plausibly be nearing a major league debut. Wood spent most of last year in Double-A and will likely begin the upcoming season in Triple-A. Crews was just drafted last summer but managed to join Wood in Double-A by the end of the year. Robert Hassell isn’t as highly rated as those two but is another notable outfield prospect who finished last year at Double-A.

With those prospects potentially pushing for major league at-bats by the summer, Gallo can be seen as a placeholder. If he is mashing, he can be traded for prospects. If not, he can be released. In either case, he would yield second half playing time to someone in that group. If each of the prospects are struggling and aren’t justifying a promotion, perhaps Gallo could stay in Washington through the end of the year, as Smith did in 2023.

Gallo is also considered a solid defender, which is a plus. His outfield glovework has led to career tallies of 42 Defensive Runs Saved, four Outs Above Average and a grade of 15.0 from Ultimate Zone Rating. His work at first base isn’t graded as strongly, but he’s passable there as well, with over 1,000 career innings at that spot. Meneses is currently slated to get the bulk of the playing time at first base but the club doesn’t have a strict designated hitter, giving them some ability to rotate players around based on health and matchups.

Rockies Re-Sign Josh Rogers

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The Rockies have signed Josh Rogers to a new minor league deal, according to Rogers’ MLB.com profile page.  The left-hander has now signed minors contracts with the Rox in each of the last two offseasons.

Even though Colorado was beset by pitching injuries in 2023, Rogers didn’t get any big league action during his first year in the organization.  Rogers had his own struggles to worry about, as he posted an 8.02 ERA over 104 1/3 innings (starting 13 of 30 games) for Triple-A Albuquerque.  The southpaw had only a 13.1% strikeout rate, and opposing batters had a whopping 22.8% homer-to-fly ball rate.

Even accounting for the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League, Rogers’ 31 home runs allowed is an eye-popping number, and it continues the extreme homer problems that have plagued Rogers for the better part of five years.  Rogers underwent a Tommy John surgery in 2019 that sidelined him for most of that season and all of the 2020 season, and he simply hasn’t been able to keep the ball in the park since his return.

Since his fastball barely cracks the 90mph threshold, Rogers doesn’t have much margin for error with his pitches, leaving him susceptible to heavy damage if a batter guesses correctly.  The introduction of the three-batter rule may have also cursed Rogers’ career — left-handed batters have a .411 OPS over 121 plate appearances against Rogers in the majors, while right-handed hitters have an absurd 1.048 OPS against Rogers in 268 PA.

An 11th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2015 draft, Rogers was dealt to the Orioles as part of the Zack Britton trade in July 2018, and Rogers ended up making his MLB debut with Baltimore about a month later.  Rogers has a 5.42 ERA over 88 career innings with the Orioles and Nationals at the big league level, with 22 homers surrendered in that pretty brief sample size.  His last MLB appearance came on June 2, 2022 with Washington, and after being released by the Nats, Rogers didn’t get a call-up during a brief stint in the Marlins’ minor league system.

The PCL isn’t exactly the best place for a homer-prone pitcher to find his form, but Rogers will return for another season as a depth option for Colorado.  Rogers has started 12 of his 30 career Major League games and 117 of his 142 minor league games, though his extreme splits suggest that a relief role might be best so Rogers’ team can shield him as best they can from right-handed batters.

Guardians Sign Tyler Beede To Minors Contract

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12:07PM: The Astros, Marlins, Padres, Pirates, Twins, and Yankees all had some interest in Beede, according to KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander (links to X).  Beede has shown some improved velocity, with a fastball that now sits at 97mph after averaging 94.6mph during his previous MLB tenure.  There are incentive bonuses within the contract tied to both starting and bullpen appearances, and Beede can opt out of his deal if he doesn’t make the Guardians’ Opening Day roster,

11:11AM: The Guardians announced that right-hander Tyler Beede has been signed to a minor league deal containing an invitation to big league Spring Training.  Beede is making his return to North American baseball after pitching with NPB’s Yomiuri Giants in 2023.

Drafted 14th overall by the (San Francisco) Giants in 2014, Beede drew some top-100 attention heading into the 2017 minor league season, yet he struggled in his first taste of Triple-A action.  The struggles continued into 2018 through Beede made his big league debut with two appearances for San Francisco, but some quality Triple-A work in 2019 didn’t translate to success in a longer look at a MLB level.  Beede then underwent a Tommy John surgery in 2020 that cost him the entirety of that season and a big chunk of 2021, and returning to good health didn’t help his results, as Beede had a 5.14 ERA over 61 1/3 innings for the Giants and Pirates in 2022.

With a 5.34 ERA to show for his 187 career innings in the majors, Beede headed to Japan for a fresh start, and posted a 3.99 ERA over 49 2/3 innings for the Tokyo-based Giants.  Working mostly as a reliever, Beede had a modest 16.36% strikeout rate over his 30 total appearances.

It was enough to get Cleveland’s attention for a minors deal, and the 30-year-old Beede will now get a chance to win a roster spot at the Guards’ spring camp.  There’s no risk to such a deal from the Guardians’ perspective, and the team’s longstanding track record of pitching development could perhaps unlock something to help Beede finally get on track as a consistent Major League pitcher.  Beede also has a personal connection with Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt, as the two were teammates in San Francisco in 2019.

If all goes well, Beede could provide depth for either the bullpen or rotation.  In the latter category, the Guardians have parted ways with both Cal Quantrill and Zach Plesac this winter, so some type of additional starting pitching would help Cleveland withstand injuries or any downturns from their young rotation core.

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