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The Top Unsigned Catchers

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about three weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. MLBTR already took a look at the center fielders still available and will now take a look at some notable catchers.

  • Gary Sánchez: Sánchez has always had big power in his bat, having launched 173 home runs already in his career. But he’s often paired that with low batting average/on-base numbers, strikeouts and questionable defense. He wasn’t able to secure a major league deal last offseason, signing a minor league pact with the Giants and then opting out and signing another with the Mets. The latter club added him to their roster but quickly put him on waivers, with the Padres putting in a claim. From there, he went on to have a terrific season. He hit 19 home runs in just 75 games, keeping his strikeouts to a palatable 25.1% clip before a wrist fracture ended his season in September. His glovework has also improved lately, relative to earlier in his career. His joining the Padres coincided with Blake Snell completely turning his season around and eventually winning a second Cy Young. Snell spoke positively of his relationship with Sánchez during the year, as relayed by Dennis Lin of The Athletic, perhaps suggesting his game-calling could be viewed as a plus. There are warts on his profile but he’s clearly a strong player and should be able to find a better deal than he did a year ago. He’s going into his age-31 season.
  • Yasmani Grandal: Grandal has long been a strong backstop on both sides of the ball, but he has tapered off lately. He hit .240/.355/.451 from 2012 to 2021, combining power with a keen eye at the plate, but that batting line has dropped to .219/.305/.306 over the past two seasons. He’s still a strong framer and was good against lefty pitchers as recently as 2022. The switch-hitter slashed .257/.409/.365 against southpaws that year but just .186/.265/.241 against righties, though that split evened out last year. Now 35 years old, he may not be able to get a job as a club’s primary catcher, but his defense, framing and switch-hitting ability should make him a fit somewhere.
  • Curt Casali: Casali has never been more than a part-time player, but he’s been a solid one. He’s appeared in each of the past 10 MLB seasons, though never in more than 84 games in any individual campaign. He has popped 47 home runs in 1,454 plate appearances while walking at a 10.7% rate, leading to a .220/.314/.380 batting line. His 89 wRC+ is below average overall but pretty close to par for a catcher. He’s generally considered a capable defender as well. He’s coming off a disappointing season wherein he hit poorly in 40 games for the Reds before landing on the injured list in July due to a foot contusion and not returning. He’s now going into his age-35 season.
  • Manny Piña: Similar to Casali, Piña has long been a serviceable part-time catcher. He has appeared in 10 MLB seasons, only twice playing more than 76 games. He’s hit 43 home runs in his 1,255 plate appearances and slashed .243/.312/.410 for a wRC+ of 91. He’s only played nine big league games over the past two years, primarily due to wrist issues. He underwent surgery in May of 2022 while with Atlanta, then was flipped to the A’s going into 2023 as part of the Sean Murphy deal. The wrist issues lingered into last year and he was released in August. He’s now going into his age-37 season.
  • Mike Zunino: As recently as 2021, Zunino showed off his huge power at the plate, launching 33 home runs for the Rays. But the year after, he required thoracic outlet surgery and wasn’t able to bounce back. The Guardians gave him a one-year, $6MM deal for 2023 but he was nowhere near his previous self. Strikeouts have always been a problem for him even when he was at his best, as evidenced by his career rate of 35.1%. However, that rate was all the way up to 43.6% last year as he hit just .177/.271/.306. Zunino was released in June and didn’t sign with anyone else after that. His defense is considered strong, so he could be a useful player if his offense improved with a bit more remove from his surgery. He’ll be 33 in March.

The Opener: Neris, Pirates, Votto

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With less than three weeks until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Neris up next?

There’s been a run on relief arms throughout the week, with top free agents Josh Hader and Robert Stephenson both landing multi-year deals from the Astros and Angels, respectively. Aroldis Chapman ($10.5MM) and Matt Moore ($9MM) landed respective one-year pacts with the Pirates and Angels. The run on relief arms leaves right-hander Hector Neris as arguably the top reliever left in free agency, though the market also features established veterans like David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, Phil Maton, Wandy Peralta, and Ryne Stanek.

The 34-year-old Neris has gotten plenty of buzz recently. He’s been connected to the Yankees and Mets in recent days but is a sensible addition for any team still hoping to add a leverage reliever. The Cubs, Cardinals, Mariners and Rangers are among those still on the hunt for bullpen arms. Texas has previously been described as a potential “frontrunner” for Neris’ services.

2. What’s next for the Pirates?

The Pirates made a somewhat surprising splash on the free agent market by agreeing with Chapman to that aforementioned one-year, $10.5MM deal earlier in the week. The deal helps to back up recent remarks from owner Bob Nutting, who indicated that the goal for the Pirates this year is to remain in contention “throughout the season.” Even after adding Chapman, however, the Pirates still have a ways to go before they catch up to the other clubs in the division; they finished fourth with an 86-loss season in 2023 and have largely stood pat this winter while their division rivals have made multi-year plays for significant players such as Sonny Gray, Shota Imanaga, Jeimer Candelario, and Rhys Hoskins. It appears that adding a veteran arm to a young and unproven rotation could be the next step Pittsburgh looks to take, and the club has already been connected to the likes of Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen in recent days.

3. Votto’s market:

Veteran first baseman Joey Votto has a secure legacy as one of his generation’s best hitters and a potential Hall of Famer. That hasn’t stopped him from looking to add to that resume by continuing his playing career, however. Previous reporting this winter has indicated that at least three teams (including the Blue Jays) have interest in the 40-year-old’s services for the 2024 season, and a pair of reports helped to further clarify Votto’s market yesterday. It appears that Toronto is joined by the Angels in the hunt for Votto’s services, where he could act as a veteran mentor to up-and-coming first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who made his big league debut last year just weeks after being selected in the first round of the 2023 draft.

Meanwhile, it’s becoming all the more clear that the one place Votto all but certainly is not signing on is with the Reds, the organization he spent more than two decades with after being selected in the second round of the 2002 draft. At the outset of his first foray into free agency, Votto indicated that he would pursue a role with a new team if the Reds did not decide to bring him back for the 2024 campaign. Recent comments from Cincinnati GM Nick Krall made clear that, at least as things stand, the club does not plan on pursuing a reunion with the former face of the franchise.

Brewers, Christian Arroyo Agree To Minor League Deal

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8:23am: The two parties are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal contains a $1.5MM salary at the big league level, and Arroyo would have the opportunity to unlock an additional $500K via incentives. Those incentives are tied to plate appearances, a source told MLBTR while also confirming the terms of the deal. Arroyo will be in camp as a non-roster invitee when spring training opens.

8:13am: The Brewers have agreed to a deal with free agent infielder Christian Arroyo, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Terms of the arrangement are not yet known. Arroyo is represented by O’Connell Sports Management.

Arroyo, 28, has spent the past four seasons with the Red Sox but was designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster not long after the 2023 trade deadline. He elected free agency at season’s end. He’s six days shy of five years of MLB service, meaning that he can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration, if the Brewers choose.

The 2023 season was a rough one for Arroyo, who had a pair of IL stints due to a hamstring strain and an ankle sprain. He appeared in 66 games when healthy but scuffled with a .241/.268/.369 batting line over the course of 206 trips to the plate. Coincidentally, Boston cut him loose in August after acquiring infielder Luis Urias in a trade with the same Brewers organization that Arroyo will now join.

Prior to his 2023 struggles, Arroyo had a solid run at the plate with the Red Sox. From 2020-22, the former first-round pick (No. 25 overall by the Giants in 2013) and top prospect slashed a combined .273/.320/.427. He walked at a well below-average 4.7% clip but also showed off above-average contact skills and a 19.4% strikeout rate that was a few percentage points lower than the league average.

While he’s played all over the infield and also logged 108 innings in right field in 2022, Arroyo has played primarily second base and third base in the big leagues. Defensive metrics generally agree that he’s a sound defender at second base, where he’s tallied 12 Defensive Runs Saved and an 8.5 Ultimate Zone Rating in 1332 innings there. Statcast’s Outs Above Average considers him to be essentially average there. His grades at third base aren’t as strong, but he’s also only logged 447 innings at the hot corner in the big leagues. Beyond his work at second, third and in right field, Arroyo has 195 career innings at shortstop and another 53 frames at first base.

Arroyo’s experience around the diamond should serve him well for a Brewers club that has question marks at each of his primary positions. Former first-rounder Brice Turang will likely get the first crack at second base in Milwaukee, but he hit just .218/.285/.300 in 448 trips to the plate as a rookie. Turang was optioned multiple times in 2023 and ripped through Triple-A pitching in Nashville (.298/.365/.561), but he’s yet to find his stride in the bigs.

It’s a similar story at the hot corner, where 26-year-old Andruw Monasterio hit .271/.343/.371 to begin his MLB career but saw his production crater in the season’s final few weeks. Monasterio finished out the season with a .259/.330/.348 slash that checked in 12% below league average, by measure of wRC+. He played strong defense at the hot corner, which surely helps his cause as well, but as a career .257/.365/.370 hitter in three Triple-A seasons, he’s hardly a lock to provide enough offense to carry the position at the MLB level.

Both Turang and Monasterio have minor league options remaining, so it’s feasible that Arroyo could challenge either for a larger role in the Milwaukee infield. He could also win a bench job over current right-handed-hitting utility infielder Owen Miller, who hit .261/.303/.371 with the Brew Crew in 2023 (81 wRC+). Like Turang and Monasterio, Miller has a minor league option remaining and could thus be sent down to Nashville (without needing to pass through waivers) in the event Arroyo outplays him this spring.

MLBTR Podcast: The Broadcasting Landscape, Josh Hader and the Relief Market

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Does J.D. Martinez make sense for the Angels? (24:30)
  • With the Mets in rebuild/retooling mode and the Mariners in need of another infield bat (and a surplus of controllable young arms), is there a trade there? (27:55)
  • How odd is it that we are this late in January and have several players likely to get multi-year deals? (31:55)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

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.

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