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Reds Notes: India, Marte, Candelario

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The Reds infield has been a story as far back as last summer, as opposing teams have tried to leverage Cincinnati’s depth in that regard in trade discussions. GM Nick Krall and his front office have resisted that kind of move, maintaining they’re happy to stockpile position player talent which they can rotate through the outfield and/or keep in Triple-A.

Manager David Bell addressed the infield mix this afternoon, again pointing to an expectation they’ll bounce players to various positions (relayed by Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). That’s particularly true of Jonathan India, who has played exclusively second base in nearly 3000 career innings on defense. Krall suggested earlier in the offseason that Cincinnati could get India work at first base, while Sheldon writes that the 27-year-old could also see some left field reps.

Bell affirmed today that India is on board with a multi-positional role. “He just wants to be on the field and in the lineup as much as possible,” the manager said. “Obviously as a second baseman, but depending on how things shake out, to be able to get him on the field as much as he wants to be and as much as I want him to be, there may be other positions that he’ll need to play.”

India has graded as a below-average defender at the keystone over his three MLB seasons. Seeing increased action at first base or in the corner outfield could improve his defensive metrics, although more frequent work at a bat-first position would put additional pressure on him to rebound at the plate. India hasn’t taken the expected step forward since his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2021. He owns a league average .246/.333/.394 slash over the past two seasons.

While India’s mediocre defensive grades are a factor in potentially moving him to a bat-first utility role, the bigger driver is Cincinnati’s glut of young middle infield options. Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz and Noelvi Marte all debuted last season. McLain was excellent, hitting .290/.357/.507 over 89 games while splitting his time between the middle infield positions. De La Cruz flashed the massive physical tools that made him a top prospect, but he ultimately struggled to a .235/.300/.410 line while striking out more than a third of the time in 98 contests.

Marte had the least amount of experience of the group. He played in 35 games after being promoted in the middle of August. He made a strong first impression, running a .316/.366/.456 slash while playing mostly third base. He’s in the mix for the Opening Day job at either shortstop or the hot corner. Marte’s winter ball season was cut short by a hamstring injury, but Krall said this morning that the young infielder is recovering well and remains on track for Spring Training (relayed by Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer).

While the Reds weren’t generally expected to pursue infield help this offseason, they bucked expectations by adding Jeimer Candelario on a three-year, $45MM free agent deal. Unsurprisingly, Bell stated that the veteran switch-hitter will be in the lineup on an everyday basis but could see action at a few different spots. “Between DH, first base, third base — he’s going to be an everyday player,” he said of Candelario. “There’s plenty of playing time to go around there.”

Christian Encarnacion-Strand also finds himself in the corner infield/DH mix. Spencer Steer impressed as the primary first baseman a season ago, hitting .271/.356/.464 with 23 homers in his own rookie campaign. The Candelario signing is expected to push Steer to left field on most days, although he’ll likely pick up stray DH and first base reps as the season goes along. There are a lot of options at the organization’s disposal, at least so long as everyone is healthy.

Latest On Marlins’ Rotation Trade Possibilities

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As the free agent starting pitching market thins, there’s been some chatter about the Marlins as a team that might subtract a pitcher in trade. That attention has generally been centered on left-hander Jesús Luzardo and young righty Edward Cabrera. Last week, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote that Cabrera had the better chance of that duo of changing hands, although it wasn’t clear how likely Miami was to move either player.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald added some context on the trade possibilities involving Miami’s starters this afternoon. Jackson writes that the Fish are willing to consider offers on each of Luzardo, Cabrera and left-hander Braxton Garrett, although he indicates there aren’t any proposals under “active consideration.”

A trade still seems a possibility but isn’t necessarily likely. The Fish haven’t done much under first-year president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. Miami is the only team that still hasn’t signed a free agent to a major league deal this offseason. Their biggest moves were trade pickups of catcher Christian Bethancourt, reliever Calvin Faucher and out-of-options infielder Vidal Bruján.

It’s an underwhelming offseason for a team coming off a surprising Wild Card berth. The Fish seem likely to lose a 36-homer hitter after Jorge Soler declined his player option. They’re looking to add at shortstop, but the free agent class at the position is dismal. They could use another bat in the corner outfield/designated hitter mix.

For all the lineup questions, their biggest loss in 2024 is one to injury. Sandy Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery during last year’s postseason. With the 2022 NL Cy Young winner missing the entire season, the Fish project for a season-opening starting five of Eury Pérez, Luzardo, Garrett, Cabrera and Trevor Rogers.

That’s still a promising group, but their once vaunted rotation depth has thinned. In addition to the Alcantara injury, the Fish dealt Pablo López and prospect Jake Eder last year. Depth options beyond their front five include Ryan Weathers and Bryan Hoeing. Miami should get a boost from former #3 overall pick Max Meyer, who is 18 months removed from his own Tommy John procedure. Jackson writes that the new front office still considers Meyer a viable starting pitcher; prospect evaluators were divided on whether he was better suited for a high-leverage relief role before the injury.

Meyer only made two MLB starts before the unfortunate ligament tear. Rogers was limited to four starts, all in April, last year by biceps and lat injuries. Pérez, widely regarded as the sport’s top pitching prospect before an impressive rookie season, logged 128 innings between Triple-A and the majors last season. Miami could still be cautious about expanding the 20-year-old’s workload too far beyond 150 frames.

Luzardo and Garrett are Miami’s only healthy starters who topped 100 MLB innings a season ago. They both had strong seasons. The former posted a 3.58 ERA while punching out more than 28% of opposing hitters in 32 starts. With three years of arbitration control and a fastball approaching 97 MPH on average, he likely has more trade value than anyone in the Miami rotation aside from Pérez (who certainly isn’t getting moved).

Garrett has a more extended control window, as he won’t get to free agency for another five seasons. The former #7 overall pick allowed 3.66 earned runs per nine in just under 160 frames. Garrett doesn’t have the huge velocity of most of his rotation mates, sitting around 91 MPH with his heater. Yet his strong secondary offerings and plus command have translated into mid-rotation results for the last two seasons.

Cabrera is a more volatile young arm. The 25-year-old righty worked to a 4.24 ERA across 99 2/3 MLB frames. He generated an impressive 27.2% strikeout rate and 54.3% ground-ball percentage with a fastball that sits above 96 MPH. His control remains a significant question, however. Cabrera walked more than 15% of opposing hitters last season and has handed out free passes at a 14% rate over parts of three years in the big leagues. As with Garrett, he’s under club control for five more seasons.

The Top Unsigned Center Fielders

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We’re less than three weeks from pitchers and catchers beginning to report to Spring Training. While the offseason is theoretically winding down, there are still a number of noteworthy players on the open market. The top unsigned position player headlines the group of remaining center fielders.

  • Cody Bellinger: Bellinger rejected a qualifying offer from the Cubs at the beginning of the offseason. That was an easy call as he sought a long-term deal after a successful rebound campaign in Chicago. The 28-year-old is coming off his best season since his 2019 MVP campaign. He hit .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs across 556 plate appearances. Bellinger’s batted ball metrics (a 31.4% hard contact rate, 87.9 MPH average exit velocity) aren’t as impressive as one might assume from his 25+ homers and early-career power impact. That said, he seemingly made a concerted effort to put more balls in play. His 15.6% strikeout rate last season was a career low, a marked improvement after he fanned in a quarter of his plate appearances between 2020-22. The Cubs are most often linked to Bellinger, who has also been loosely tied to the Blue Jays and Angels at points this offseason.
  • Michael A. Taylor: Taylor is a solid glove-first regular. Even as he nears his 33rd birthday, he continues to post well above-average defensive grades. Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast estimated he was between five and seven runs better than the standard center fielder in a little under 1000 innings for the Twins last year. Taylor paired that with one of his better offensive showings. He hit a career-high 21 home runs and swiped 13 bags in 129 contests. That came with a subpar .220 average and .278 on-base percentage, as he struck out more than a third of the time. The whiffs are part of the package with Taylor, but he has enough power to profile as a bottom-of-the-lineup regular so long as he continues to defend at this level. The Angels, Padres, Pirates and Red Sox are among the teams that have been linked to Taylor.
  • Adam Duvall: It’s debatable whether Duvall qualifies as more than an emergency option in center field. He’s been a left fielder for the majority of his career. The Red Sox moved him more frequently into center last year, an odd choice for a player in his age-34 season. Duvall’s defensive grades in 478 innings of center field work were predictably below-average. He’s still a solid defender in left who can moonlight up the middle, however. More importantly, Duvall had a rebound year at the plate. He blasted 21 homers in only 353 plate appearances, running a .247/.303/.531 slash. As is the case with Taylor, teams looking at Duvall will have to live with some strikeouts and a low OBP. He has a trio of 30-homer seasons on his résumé and might have gotten a fourth last year had he not missed a couple months with a wrist fracture. The Angels and incumbent Red Sox have been tied to Duvall this offseason; Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggested last week the bidding may come down to those two clubs.
  • Aaron Hicks: By late May, it wasn’t clear how much longer Hicks would remain in the big leagues. He was released by the Yankees as he seemed en route to a third straight poor season. The Orioles somewhat surprisingly added him on a big league deal. From that point, the switch-hitting Hicks had a resurgence. He closed the year with a .275/.381/.425 slash over 236 plate appearances in Baltimore. Hicks walked at a massive 14.8% clip while striking out only 20.8% of the time. That won’t erase the memories of his struggles toward the end of his tenure in the Bronx, but it should land him a guaranteed MLB roster spot again. He’d be essentially a free pickup for whatever teams signs him. The Yankees are still on the hook for next year’s $9.5MM salary and a $1MM buyout on a 2025 option. A signing team would only pay Hicks at the $740K league minimum rate for whatever time he spends on the MLB roster, which would be subtracted from New York’s obligations.
  • Travis Jankowski: The lefty-swinging Jankowski had a nice year as a role player for the World Series champion Rangers. He hit .263/.357/.332 and stole 19 bases in 20 attempts over 107 games. That should be enough to land him another MLB deal on a low base salary. Jankowski’s offensive upside is limited by bottom-of-the-scale power. He has excellent contact skills, a patient approach, and enough speed to factor in on the bases and at all three outfield positions. He’s a solid bench piece.

Marlins Exploring Free Agent Infield Market

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The Marlins are the only team in MLB that hasn’t signed at least one free agent to a major league contract this offseason. This morning’s minor league pact with Trey Mancini stands as the team’s most notable free-agent pickup to date, and the trade front hasn’t been particularly active either. The Fish acquired catcher Christian Bethancourt from the Guardians for cash and bought low on former top prospect Vidal Brujan and reliever Calvin Faucher in a trade with new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix’s former club, the Rays.

It seems as though some modest activity could at least be on the horizon. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the team is looking into a thin crop of free-agent shortstops and hoping to add someone on a big league deal — ideally a player who could also handle some third base on occasion.

This offseason’s crop of shortstops is the worst in recent years, and one of the better names is already off the board: Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Notably, Jackson adds that the Marlins made an offer to Kiner-Falefa but balked at adding a second guaranteed year. He instead signed with the Blue Jays on a two-year, $15MM contract.

Looking elsewhere on the free agent market, there’s not a lot to be had. Tim Anderson will likely sign a one-year deal in hopes of bouncing back to his previous All-Star form, but he’s coming off a catastrophic 2023 showing in which all of his slash stats checked in south of .300 (.245/.286/.296). Anderson has never played third base in the majors, but he did say a few months back that he’s open to a move to second base if need be. Presumably, that means he’d be similarly open to spending occasional time at third base.

Other options on the market include Amed Rosario and longtime Giants cornerstone Brandon Crawford. Rosario, like Anderson, is seeking a rebound opportunity after he hit .263/.305/.378 last season — his worst production since the shortened 2020 season. That batting line checked in 12% south of league-average, by measure of wRC+, and it’s worth noting that Rosario has also never played third base in the big leagues. But he’s put in over 6000 innings of shortstop work since his debut, in addition to occasional work at second base and all three outfield spots. Presumably, he’d be comfortable moving to the hot corner.

Crawford, 37, is a lifelong Giant and could well be averse to traveling clear across the country to continue his career on a team that is, at best, a Wild Card contender. He’s looking to bounce back from a career-worst .194/.273/.314 performance at the plate last season. Statcast still pegs Crawford as a plus defender at shortstop, while Defensive Runs Saved feels (rather emphatically so) that the opposite is true. Regardless, he’d likely be available on a one-year deal and ought to be capable of handling third base on occasion, given his nearly 14,000 career innings at shortstop.

Veteran infielder Gio Urshela represents one more speculative option, though it’s far from clear any club will give him everyday work at shortstop. He’s been more of a third baseman since establishing himself as a regular, and he’s now coming off a season-ending pelvic fracture sustained last June during his lone season as an Angel. The Halos gave Urshela 71 innings at shortstop last season, but that was the second-highest total at the position in any single season. A full-time role at shortstop is probably a reach, particularly coming off an injury of note.

The market has a handful of other options, but most are generally going to be available on minor league deals. Elvis Andrus, Nick Ahmed, Yu Chang, Adalberto Mondesi and Matt Duffy all know their way around the shortstop position; Chang, Mondesi and Duffy have quite a bit of experience at the hot corner as well (Duffy in particular). All have been below-average hitters more often than not in recent seasons though, and Mondesi has one of the lengthiest injury histories of any active player in the game.

Beyond that, free agency doesn’t have much in the way of shortstop options. A creative trade still seems viable — particularly if the Marlins remain amenable to dealing a controllable starter like Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett or Jesus Luzardo. If the plan is to find a short-term option in free agency, however, the options are few and far between.

Angels Interested In Joey Votto

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The Angels are one of the clubs with interest in free agent Joey Votto, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

Votto, 40, is a free agent for the first time in his career after spending parts of 17 seasons with the Reds. His performance was excellent in many of those years but he’s coming off some recent struggles. He has been dealing with a significant shoulder injury that required surgery in 2022, with the effects lingering into 2023. He hit just .204/.317/.394 over those two seasons, production that translates to a wRC+ of 95, or 5% worse than league average.

But he has been among the best hitters in the game in the past and was in good form as recently as 2021. He hit 36 home runs that year and drew walks in 14.4% of his plate appearances. His .266/.375/.563 slash line during that season led to a wRC+ of 140, or 40% better than league average. He also received strong grades for his glovework at first base, helping him produce 3.8 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs and 3.7 WAR per the calculations of Baseball Reference.

Perhaps it may be asking too much for a club to expect Votto to get back to that kind of production as he is now 40 years old, but if he’s able to get beyond the shoulder issues and produce at a level beyond the past two seasons, he could still be a useful contributor. His hometown Blue Jays have also been connected to him in rumors this offseason but a return to Cincinnati seems to be off the table.

With only three weeks until pitchers and catcher report to Spring Training, the Angels have question marks both at first base and designated hitter. The DH spot has been utilized primarily by Shohei Ohtani in recent years, though he has now moved across town to the Dodgers. At first base, Nolan Schanuel was rushed up to the majors to take over the position last year. He was only just drafted in July and made a handful of minor league appearances before making his debut in the big leagues.

Remarkably, he managed to carry himself well despite the short track record of professional experience. In his first 132 plate appearances, he showed Votto-esque discipline, drawing walks at a 15.2% clip while striking out only 14.4% of the time. He only hit one home run, giving him a hunched batting line of .275/.402/.330, though that was still good for a wRC+ of 112. Despite that solid debut, Schanuel has just 51 games of professional experience and just 29 in the majors. For a club like the Angels with plans on contending this year, it’s a risk to be relying on him.

The club would be wise to get some insurance in case he experiences a swoon or the league figures out a way to attack him. Brandon Drury is on the roster and could play some first, but he also may be needed at second base or third base. Anthony Rendon is the on-paper option at the hot corner but he hasn’t played as many as 60 games in a season since 2019, meaning Drury may be needed over there. Miguel Sanó was recently added into the first base mix via minor league deal, though he sat out the 2023 season and had a rough injury-marred season the year before. Hunter Dozier was also signed to a minors pact but his only two above-average seasons at the plate were the juiced ball season of 2019 and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Bolstering the first base mix makes plenty of sense, especially with the designated hitter spot open for extra at-bats in the event Schanuel is justifying a regular role. The first base market has recently started to move, with Sanó, Rhys Hoskins, Joey Gallo and Trey Mancini all signing in the past few days. Cody Bellinger is capable of playing some first base and still out there, though will be primarily considered an outfielder and is in a different stratosphere than the other available free agents.

Brandon Belt, Garrett Cooper and Carlos Santana are some of the other guys out there with Votto. Justin Turner isn’t likely to be counted on for everyday action in the field but can play the infield a bit while mostly DHing. The open market also features names like J.D. Martinez, Joc Pederson and Jorge Soler, who could be used as primary designated hitters with varying degrees of outfield playability. The Halos have been connected to big bats like Bellinger and Martinez in this offseason.

The Angels should have plenty of payroll space available, assuming they are willing to get close to the competitive balance tax line again, as they did last year. Roster Resource currently pegs their CBT number at $187MM, which is $50MM below this year’s base threshold of $237MM. Replacing an elite bat like Ohtani’s won’t be easy but they should have resources available to make upgrades to the current lineup in some form or another.

Yankees Outright Oscar González, Jeter Downs

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The Yankees announced that outfielder Oscar González and infielder Jeter Downs were both outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That indicates that both players passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment in the past week. A third player that they club put on waivers, outfielder Bubba Thompson, was claimed by the Twins.

González, 26, debuted with a splash while with the Guardians in 2022. He hit 11 home runs in 91 games and slashed .296/.327/.461 for a wRC+ of 125. He also endeared himself to fans by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and hitting a series-clinching walk-off home run in the 15th inning of a game in the Wild Card round against the Rays.

But things went off the rails last year, as his poor plate discipline got worse and his production couldn’t stay afloat. His 3.9% walk rate in 2022 was already less than half the league average and that mark fell to 2.8% in 2023. His 19.6% strikeout rate also ticked up to 25.6%. He hit .214/.239/.312 in the majors and spent most of the year on optional assignment.

Poor pitch selection seems to be a clear issue for him, as he has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career thus far. That’s the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. He still managed to hit enough to be useful a couple of years ago but his stock has clearly fallen since.

The Guardians put him on waivers earlier in the offseason, with the Yankees making a claim in early December. The fact that he passed through waivers this week means that all 29 other clubs declined to give him a roster spot. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he will stick in the organization as non-roster depth.

The 25-year-old Downs is in a similar situation, having just been claimed by the Yankees last month. Fairly or unfairly, he is best known by many fans for going to the Red Sox in the deal that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers. Once a top prospect, he hasn’t been able to hit much since that trade. He has produced a batting line of .200/.309/.365 in the minor leagues over the past three years, leading to a wRC+ of 80. He’s only been given 50 major league plate appearances in that time and hit just .182/.260/.273 in those.

He has gone from the Red Sox to the Nationals and now the Yankees via waivers, but today’s transaction indicates no club was willing to give him a roster spot. Like González, he lacks the necessary service time or previous outright to elect free agency, meaning he will stick in the organization as depth without taking a spot on the 40-man roster.

Twins Claim Bubba Thompson

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The Twins claimed outfielder Bubba Thompson off waivers from the Yankees, per an announcement from the Yankees. He’d been designated for assignment last week in order to open space on the roster for right-hander Luke Weaver. The Twins had a pair of open spots on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary.

Thompson, 25, is the game’s fastest player by measure of Statcast’s average sprint speed metric (30.4 ft/sec). He’s also one of the sport’s lightest hitters. In 241 career plate appearances at the big league level — all coming with the Rangers, who originally took him in the first round of the 2017 draft — Thompson is a .242/.286/.305 hitter. That modest slash line comes in spite of a hefty .351 average on balls in play and masks (to an extent) a career 29.9% strikeout rate. Thompson’s top-of-the-scale speed is countered by bottom-of-the-scale ratings in terms of average exit velocity (career 84.1 mph) and hard-hit rate (21.9%).

As one might expect for a player with such prodigious wheels, Thompson grades as a sound defender in his limited MLB action. He’s logged 595 innings in the outfield and been credited with a +1 from both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average. The former high school football star has drawn praise for off-the-chart athleticism dating back to his amateur days, and Baseball America has previously credited him as a plus-plus runner and plus defender in center field while also cautioning that he’s a below-average hitter who lacks consistency from at-bat to at-bat.

It hasn’t yet manifested in game settings, but Thompson draws praise for his above-average raw power. He’s never topped 16 home runs in a single season, however, and he’s only reached double-digit home runs twice in his pro career. He hit six home runs in 362 plate appearances in 2023 — all coming in the minors. Thompson is a career .284/.347/.440 hitter in 677 Triple-A plate appearances and a .268/.329/.436 hitter overall in the minors.

Thompson will give the Twins some depth in center field and a strong defensive alternative in the event that perennial injury risk Byron Buxton isn’t able to suit up in the outfield. Knee surgery limited Buxton exclusively to DH work in 2023, though the organization’s hope is that he can return to the outfield in 2024. As it stands, lefties Matt Wallner and Max Kepler are expected to man the corners at Target Field, although Kepler’s name has once again been floated as in trade rumblings throughout the offseason as Minnesota looks to pare back payroll and Kepler enters the final season of his contract.

Thompson still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so the Twins can freely shuttle him between Triple-A St. Paul and the big league team this coming season — assuming he sticks on the 40-man roster for the remainder of the offseason. If things go well, he can take help to offset the loss of free agent Michael A. Taylor, though Thompson has a long ways to go before proving he has enough bat to stick on a big league roster with any degree of consistency. If the Twins can succeed in coaxing more out of him at the plate, he can be controlled for another six seasons.

Poll: Should The Red Sox Trade Kenley Jansen?

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The payroll has become a topic of conversation for the Red Sox. Despite chairman Tom Werner’s “full throttle” comments earlier in the offseason, CEO Sam Kennedy recently admitted that this year’s payroll will probably be lower than last year’s. It was reported last month by Chris Cotillo of MassLive that the club could look to shed some more payroll in order to improve their ability to pursue their free agent targets.

Per Roster Resource, the club’s payroll currently sits at $178MM. It hasn’t been that low in a full season since 2014, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, but it seems the pursestrings are getting tight nonetheless. The club has been connected to some big name free agents that are still available, such as Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, but perhaps they need to free up a bit of cash before they can earnestly pursue any of those. More affordable options would include Mike Clevinger, Michael Lorenzen, Hyun Jin Ryu and others.

Cotillo’s report identifies Kenley Jansen as a possible candidate for such a salary-clearing deal, which is a logical fit. He signed a two-year, $32MM deal with the Sox last offseason, with even salaries of $16MM in each campaign. His first season in Boston was solid, though not spectacular. He recorded 29 saves in 33 chances, posting an earned run average of 3.63 on the year. His 27.7% strikeout rate was above league average but the lowest single-season mark in his career. The club has reportedly received trade interest in him.

With the Chris Sale deal, the club flipped the soon-to-be-35-year-old for a younger second baseman in Vaughn Grissom while effectively replacing Sale by signing Lucas Giolito. Perhaps the club is thinking of a similar path with the bullpen, as they have been connected to relievers like Jordan Hicks and Robert Stephenson, though those two have now signed with other clubs. With Jansen now 36 years old, they could perhaps exchange him for whatever the market will bear, then pivot to a younger arm to bolster the relief corps.

They could also consider replacing him internally with someone like Chris Martin, though there would also be some logic to consider trading him as well. He was signed to a two-year, $17.5MM deal last offseason, with $9MM of that still to be paid out. Per the Associated Press, he’ll make a $7.5MM salary this year and a $1.5MM payment of his $4MM signing bonus is scheduled for June.

Martin, 38 in June, is coming off a dominant season in a setup role. He posted an ERA of 1.05 in 55 appearances, racking up 23 holds in the process. He struck out 23.1% of opponents, walked just 4% of them and got grounders at a 51% clip. Martin’s never really been a closer in the majors, with just 12 career saves, though he did have a 21-save season while pitching in Japan in 2016.

Similar to the logic with Sale and Jansen, perhaps the club would consider making Martin available on the trade market and then replacing him with a younger free agent. Or perhaps they would like to trade one, keep one in the closer’s role and use the saved money to further address their rotation.

The relief pitching market has recently started to move, with many dominoes falling of late. In addition to Hicks and Stephenson, Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman and Matt Moore have come off the board in the past little bit. That leaves David Robertson, Ryan Brasier, Phil Maton, Héctor Neris, Adam Ottavino, Wandy Peralta and Brad Hand as some of the best bullpen options still available. With the market getting thinner, perhaps the Sox can flip Jansen and/or Martin, then use the money saved to address their rotation.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently identified the club’s rotation locks as Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta, with Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, Josh Winckowski, Cooper Criswell and Max Castillo among the options for the back end and depth jobs.

What do you think? Should the Sox subtract from the bullpen in order to upgrade the club in other ways? If so, who should they move? Have your say in the poll below!

Should the Red Sox trade Jansen or Martin?
Yes, trade Jansen 46.61% (3,770 votes)
Yes, trade both 30.19% (2,442 votes)
No, keep both 19.67% (1,591 votes)
Yes, trade Martin 3.52% (285 votes)
Total Votes: 8,088

Tigers Sign Drew Anderson To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have signed right-hander Drew Anderson to a minor league deal, reports Evan Woodbery of MLive. It’s unclear if the righty will be in major league camp with the Tigers.

Anderson, 30 in March, got scattered major league time from 2017 to 2021. He suited up for the Phillies, White Sox and Rangers, appearing in five straight seasons but never making more than nine appearances in any individual campaign. He threw a combined 44 1/3 innings in 19 games over that stretch, allowing 6.50 earned runs per nine frames. His 8.3% walk rate was around average but his 14.7% strikeout rate was well below.

After that run, he headed overseas to join Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Over the past two years, Anderson tossed 115 innings in 34 games for the Carp, with a 3.05 ERA in that time. He struck out 20.7% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.4% clip.

On the heels of those solid results in Japan, Anderson now returns to North America and will join the Tigers. He has worked both as a starter and a reliever in his career and it’s unclear which role the Tigers have in mind for him, but he would seem to have a steep climb towards a starting role.

The club has Tarik Skubal, Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty in the rotation, with Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and Sawyer Gipson-Long likely batting for the spots at the back end. Other options on the roster include Alex Faedo, Mason Englert, Joey Wentz and Keider Montero. Top prospects Wilmer Flores, Ty Madden and Jackson Jobe are getting close to their major league debuts, with Flores having already secured a spot on the 40-man.

Nonetheless, as the cliches say, you can never have enough pitching depth and there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. For Anderson, he will get a chance to show himself to MLB scouts after a couple of years abroad and try to get back to show.

Latest On Yankees’ Bullpen Targets

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The Yankees are primarily focused on bullpen additions at this stage of the offseason and have been tied to various free agents over the past few weeks. Right-hander Hector Neris has been among the most oft-cited potential targets for the Yanks, and while SNY’s Andy Martino writes that the team has indeed spoken to the 34-year-old Neris, he also has “serious” interest from teams outside New York. The YES Network’s Jack Curry, meanwhile, hears that Neris isn’t likely to land in the Bronx as of this moment (video link). Reunions with southpaw Wandy Peralta and/or righty Keynan Middleton seem likelier than signing Neris, according to Curry.

Neris, 34, has been an eyeing a one- or two-year deal worth $7-11MM annually, per Martino. For a Yankees club that’s well into the final tier of luxury tax penalties and is a third-time CBT offender, that’d mean effectively paying Neris between $14.7MM and $24.2MM in 2024; any additional free-agent spending at this point will come with a 110% luxury hit. As such, it’s not particularly surprising to see the Yankees looking at lower-cost alternatives.

The 32-year-old Peralta has been a fixture in the Yankees’ bullpen for the past three season. From 2021-23, he logged 153 innings of 2.82 ERA ball with a 21% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and huge 56.5% ground-ball rate. 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. The Mets have also spoken to Peralta in recent weeks, though they face the same CBT status and probably feel less urgency to get into any sort of bidding war, as they’re in more of a transitional state than the clearly win-now Yankees.

Middleton, 30, was a deadline pickup by the Yankees and pitched to a 1.88 ERA with a 30.4% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate in 14 1/3 innings down the stretch. Inflammation in his right shoulder cost him most of September, but he did make it back the mound for one final appearance on Sept. 29.

That nice showing with the Yankees capped a fine rebound season for the former Angels hurler. In 50 2/3 innings between the White Sox and Yankees, Middleton notched a 3.38 ERA, 30.2% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and career-best 56.6% ground-ball rate that was 24 percentage points higher than the career mark he carried into the season. The right-hander threw his four-seamer at a career-low 26.3% clip and tossed his changeup at a 42.9% clip that was far and away the highest of his career, which likely accounts for the stark uptick in grounders. Middleton threw more changeups in 2023 (367) than he had in his entire career combined (237). Opponents beat the offering into the ground at a hefty 64.6% clip and managed only .209 average when putting it in play.

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