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Archives for February 2024

Marlins Hire Sara Goodrum, Brandon Mann

By Darragh McDonald | February 12, 2024 at 3:50pm CDT

The Marlins announced that they have hired Sara Goodrum as director of special projects. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald relayed the news prior to the official announcement. They also announced that former big leaguer Brandon Mann has been brought aboard as a pitching strategist and announced their previously-reported hiring of Sam Mondry-Cohen as vice-president of player personnel. Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported the hiring of Mann last month.

Goodrum has been working for the Astros for the past two years. She was hired late in 2021 to be director of player development and served in that role until the organization parted ways with her in October. Prior to that, she worked as a minor league hitting coordinator with the Brewers.

Mann got a brief taste of major league action as a pitcher, getting into seven games for the 2018 Rangers. Since then, he’s worked as pitching coordinator for the Lotte Giants of the KBO and spent the past two years working with Driveline Baseball.

The Marlins have been busy reworking their baseball operations department this winter after general manager Kim Ng moved on. Peter Bendix was hired as president of baseball operations and has subsequently added Gabe Kapler as assistant general manager and Rachel Balkovec as director of player development.

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Miami Marlins Brandon Mann Sara Goodrum

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Mets Sign Ben Gamel To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2024 at 3:20pm CDT

3:20pm: Gamel will make a salary of $1.2MM in the majors or $35K per month at Triple-A, per Joel Sherman of The New York Post.

11:55am: The Mets have signed veteran outfielder Ben Gamel to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. The Wasserman client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee during spring training.

It’s the latest in a lengthy series of minor league deals and waiver claims of veteran depth options for the Mets this winter. The 31-year-old Gamel has appeared in eight big league seasons, spending the majority of his time with the Mariners and Pirates. He’s a career .252/.332/.384 hitter with strong plate discipline but minimal power. Gamel has walked in 10.1% of his career plate appearances, including an 11.8% clip since 2021 (838 trips to the plate). He’s never topped 11 homers in a season, however, and his career .131 ISO (slugging minus batting average) is well shy of average.

Defensively, Gamel has played all three outfield positions in the big leagues, but he’s best suited for left field work. Between the majors and minors, he’s played more than 2600 innings in center, but he’s only appeared at the position for one inning over the past two seasons. He’s also appeared sparingly at first base, giving him a bit of extra versatility.

There’s no immediate path to a roster spot for Gamel, as the Mets have the trio of Brandon Nimmo, Harrison Bader and Starling Marte slated to handle regular work, plus outfielders DJ Stewart and Tyrone Taylor on the 40-man roster. Gamel seems likely to join Trayce Thompson as a depth option in Triple-A Syracuse, where he’ll be the most experienced outfielder. That could make him the first man up in the event of an injury that creates a need for either an extra outfielder or a left-handed bat off the bench.

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New York Mets Transactions Ben Gamel

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Getz: White Sox Expect Cease To Be Opening Day Starter

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2024 at 2:56pm CDT

Trade chatter on White Sox ace Dylan Cease has died down over the past month amid reports that first-year general manager Chris Getz has set an extremely high asking price and has shown no willingness to back down, even as the season draws nearer. Getz himself threw more cold water on the possibility of trading Cease today, plainly telling the Sox beat: “I expect [Cease] to be our Opening Day starter” (X link via Chuck Garfien of NBC Sports Chicago).

Like the majority of baseball executives, Getz didn’t speak in absolutes. There’s always the chance of a late offer that’s simply too good to turn down — particularly if a contending team loses a starting pitcher to a long-term injury this spring and feels emboldened to make a trade that was previously deemed too costly.

That said, Getz also didn’t need to go out of his way to frame it as likely that Cease would be on the Opening Day roster, either. Choosing to voice that is a firmer stance than speaking in generalities about remaining open-minded and considering all avenues. That’s the route Getz took just one month ago, publicly stating that a Cease trade could potentially come in the offseason, at the deadline or even at an atypical time like May or June, if the right offer presented itself then.

Entering the offseason, Cease stood out as one of the likeliest trade candidates on the market. The White Sox fired longtime GM Rick Hahn and executive vice president Kenny Williams last summer, promoting Getz from assistant GM. He began the offseason making clear that the Sox would be open for business, even going so far as to candidly state, “I don’t like our team.” The South Siders have indeed proven active, trading relievers Aaron Bummer and Gregory Santos, acquiring young outfielder Dominic Fletcher and swinging a trade for veteran catcher Max Stassi.

Many of the Sox’ dealings have focused on improving the defense; Getz said in today’s media session that early talks with free agent pitchers this winter showed a reluctance to sign in Chicago because of the team’s poor glovework (X link via CHGO’s Vinnie Duber). Recognizing that limitation, Getz acquired Nicky Lopez and glove-first infield prospect Braden Shewmake (in the Bummer deal), signed Paul DeJong, and landed a pair of catchers with good defensive reputations (Stassi and free agent Martin Maldonado). Fletcher, acquired from the D-backs in exchange for pitching prospect Christian Mena, is regarded as a plus defender at all three outfield spots.

Amid all that roster shuffling, there was a general expectation that Cease would eventually be moved. That no longer seems nearly so certain. There’s clear risk in hanging onto the 28-year-old righty. A spring or early-season injury could prove catastrophic for the Sox, tanking the value of their clear best trade chip. At the same time, trading Cease this summer won’t necessarily reduce the asking price, particularly if teams simply weren’t putting forth compelling packages for him this winter.

Cease is coming off a pedestrian 4.58 ERA, but he’s only one season removed from a runner-up showing on the AL Cy Young ballot, when he pitched 184 innings of 2.20 ERA ball. His strikeout rate and velocity both dipped a bit in ’23 from their ’22 levels, and he gave up more hard contact than usual. The extent to which those red flags combined to impact offers for him can’t be known, but if Cease can come out looking like the 2022 version of himself, it’s conceivable he could even command more near the deadline — particularly since the supply of starting pitching will be much smaller than in the offseason, when there’s a wide bank of free agents to consider.

Cease is controllable through the 2025 season via arbitration. He and the White Sox agreed to a one-year, $8MM deal earlier this winter, avoiding an arb hearing in the process. The right-hander leads all of Major League Baseball with 109 starts dating back to the 2020 season. In that time, Cease sports a 3.58 ERA with a 28.5% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate, 36.5% ground-ball rate and 1.03 HR/9.

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Chicago White Sox Newsstand Dylan Cease

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Pirates Sign Connor Sadzeck To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 12, 2024 at 2:02pm CDT

The Pirates announced today that three right-handers have been added to their camp as non-roster invitees, indicating they have signed minor league deals with the club. Two of them, Wily Peralta and Brent Honeywell Jr., were previously reported. The third was for Connor Sadzeck, a client of Frontline.

Sadzeck, 32, spent the 2023 season in the Twins’ organization after signing a minor league deal with that club. He tossed 35 innings over 25 Triple-A appearances, allowing 5.40 earned runs per nine frames. His 24.6% strikeout rate was quite strong but his 15.2% walk rate was untenably high.

That has generally been the recipe with the righty, who features a four-seamer and sinker that each have mid-to-high 90s velocity, as well as a slider in the high 80s and the occasional changeup. But as is often the case for pitchers with that kind of power arsenal, control is an ongoing concern.

He has 36 innings of scattered major league experience, having pitched for the Rangers, Mariners and Brewers dating back to his 2018 debut. He has walked 16.4% of major league hitters he has faced, though the baseball gods have helped him keep them from scoring. He has a 2.75 ERA in that small sample of big league work, thanks in part to a .245 batting average on balls in play and 84.3% strand rate. His larger Triple-A résumé now consists of 166 2/3 innings over four separate campaigns. He has a ERA of 4.00 in that time, striking out 25.6% of batters faced but also giving free passes to 12.1% of them.

For the Pirates, there’s no risk in bringing him into camp to get a close-up look at the stuff, while seeing if he can better harness his arsenal throughout the year. All clubs need depth arms throughout the season and the Bucs may be likelier than some others to reach into their minor leagues. They have David Bednar and Aroldis Chapman set to be the high-leverage arms in their bullpen but things are a bit flimsy beyond that as Ryan Borucki is the only other reliever on the roster with more than two years of service time. Guys like Colin Holderman, Dauri Moreta, Carmen Mlodzinski and José Hernández have some intriguing numbers but are still fairly light on experience.

To add some non-roster depth, the club has signed guys like Peralta, Honeywell and Sadzeck, as well as Ben Heller and Ryder Ryan. If Sadzeck is added to the roster at any point, he is out of options but has just over a year of service time.

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Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions Connor Sadzeck

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Twins Still Exploring Starting Pitching Market

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2024 at 1:14pm CDT

The Twins lost a trio of starters in free agency, as Sonny Gray signed with the Cardinals, Kenta Maeda signed with the division-rival Tigers, and Tyler Mahle signed with the World Series-champion Rangers. The acquisition of Anthony DeSclafani helps to replenish some depth, but they’re still poking around the market for further starting pitching help.

Both Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Jon Morosi of MLB Network (video link) have suggested recently that Minnesota could make some further additions before long. The Twins, who’ve scaled back payroll while spending much of the offseason facing questions about their television broadcast rights, aren’t likely to sign Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery. The Twins reportedly had interest in Michael Lorenzen prior to adding DeSclafani, and Morosi suggests that pitchers like Lorenzen and Noah Syndergaard are in the general price range the Twins are actively considering.

As things stand, the Twins still have a solid group of starters, though the depth isn’t as strong heading into 2024 as it appeared to be in 2023. Pablo Lopez had the third-most strikeouts in all of baseball last season while finishing ninth innings pitched and logging a 3.66 ERA. He’ll lead the staff, followed by righties Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. The former carried a sub-3.00 ERA with outstanding K/BB marks through his first 15 starts before fading down the stretch. He’ll look for a stronger finish to the 2024 season but has nonetheless cemented himself as a useful big league starter. The latter touts a 3.37 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate and 5% walk rate in 200 1/3 frames dating back to 2022.

Beyond that trio, the Twins are hoping to get a full season’s worth of starts from righty Chris Paddack, who returned from Tommy John surgery late in 2023 and pitched well out of the bullpen. The former Padre allowed three runs in 8 2/3 innings between the regular season and postseason, turning in an electric 14-to-1 K/BB ratio in that time (41.8% strikeout rate, 2.9% walk rate). However, the 28-year-old has just 40 2/3 innings total since 2022 (minors and postseason included), and he’s only reached 100 innings in two MLB seasons. Counting on him for 30 starts seems wildly optimistic.

The veteran DeSclafani and 26-year-old right-hander Louie Varland will vie for the final starting job. DeSclafani, 34, has battled injuries over the past two seasons and pitched poorly when on the field, but he gave the Giants 31 starts of 3.17 ERA ball as recently as 2021. The Twins are only on the hook for $4MM of this season’s $12MM salary, with the Giants paying $6MM and the Mariners kicking in $2MM as part of the Jorge Polanco trade with the Mariners that also brought reliever Justin Topa and top prospect Gabriel Gonzalez to Minnesota. Varland has pitched 94 innings of 4.40 ERA ball in the big leagues. He was immensely homer-prone in 2023 (2.12 HR/9), but he boasts strong strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates, leading metrics like SIERA and xFIP (which normalize home-run rate) to peg his 2023 performance at solid marks of 3.77 and 3.81.

It’s a fine top six, but the departure of Maeda and particularly Gray, who finished second in AL Cy Young voting this past season, still loom large. The Twins will surely be banking on more consistency from Ryan and more innings from Paddack, but there’s no getting around the fact that the group looks weaker than it did in 2023 — particularly late in the season, when Gray and Maeda were both pitching quite well.

Barring some type of surprising trade, it doesn’t seem likely that the Twins will find a way to replace the quality of Gray’s innings. Free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery are still out there, but the Twins have been cutting payroll due to their murky television situation. Minnesota formally announced a one-year extension of their deal with Diamond Sports Group/Bally Sports today, though presumably at a lesser rate than they received in 2023. The outlook beyond that point remains unclear, too. A major splash for Snell or Montgomery would come as a shock.

Deepening the group by bringing in someone like Lorenzen probably wouldn’t give the Twins the same type of Game 1 or 2 playoff starter they had in Gray, but springing for quantity has some merit as well. Even adding 150 or so league-average innings would help to safeguard against injury concerns among the current group (Paddack and DeSclafani, most notably), push DeSclafani to a long-relief role to open the season and push Varland to Triple-A, where he could work out of the rotation and be summoned as injuries dictate. Roster Resource currently projects a $123.5MM payroll for the Twins — more than $30MM shy of last year’s season-end mark but in the general $125-140MM vicinity they were reportedly targeting for the upcoming season.

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Minnesota Twins Michael Lorenzen Noah Syndergaard

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Red Sox Sign Lucas Luetge To Minor League Deal

By Nick Deeds | February 12, 2024 at 1:10pm CDT

February 12: Alex Speier of the Boston Globe relays that the minor league deal is now official and that Luetge will make a $1MM salary if he cracks the roster.

February 10: The Red Sox and left-hander Lucas Luetge are in agreement on a deal, according to a post on Luetge’s own Instagram page. Luetge didn’t specify the terms of the arrangement, though it’s likely a minor league pact that includes an invite to big league Spring Training.

Luetge, 37 next month, made his MLB debut back in 2012 as a member of the Mariners. The southpaw pitched decently during his rookie season, posting a roughly-league average 3.98 ERA and 4.03 FIP while striking out 21.3% of batters faced and generating grounders at a 46.9% clip. Solid as those peripheral numbers were, Luetge’s overall performance was dragged down by control issues as he walked an elevated 13.5% of batters faced during his first season in the majors.

The left-hander spent the next three seasons shuttling between Triple-A and the majors for the Mariners, pitching to a 4.66 ERA and 4.47 FIP in 48 major league appearances while managing a slightly stronger 4.21 ERA across 94 appearances in the minors before he was outrighted to the minors in late 2015. He elected free agency shortly thereafter but would not return to the majors until 2021, when he joined the Yankees as a member of their bullpen.

Luetge enjoyed the best seasons of his career in the Bronx as he pitched to a 2.71 ERA and 2.92 FIP across 129 2/3 innings of work from during the 2021 and ’22 seasons. He struck out 25% of batters faced across those two seasons while walking just 5.8%, numbers impressive enough to earn him plenty of high-leverage opportunities with the club. Luetge’s tenure in New York came to a surprising end during the 2022-23 offseason when the Yankees designated him for assignment to make room for Tommy Kahnle on the 40-man roster.

He was traded to the Braves shortly thereafter and opened the 2023 campaign in their bullpen, though he didn’t last long on the club’s roster after allowing eleven runs in 9 2/3 innings of work during his first nine outings with the club. He was outrighted to Triple-A and remained with the Braves for the rest of the season. He returned to the big league club after the All Star break and pitched four scoreless innings across three appearances down the stretch, though that wasn’t enough for the club to retain him on the 40-man roster headed into the offseason. Luetge was outrighted off the club’s roster once again in late September and elected free agency the next month.

Now, Luetge returns to the AL East in search of his next big league role. The Red Sox only have one left-handed relief option currently expected to make their major league bullpen in Brennan Bernardino. Luetge figures to join fellow non-roster southpaws Jorge Benitez and Cam Booser in the club’s bullpen competition this spring alongside Bernardino and Joe Jacques, both of whom are already on the club’s 40-man roster. If Luetge can return to the form he flashed during his time in New York, it would be a huge boon for a Boston club that posted a 4.18 ERA out of the bullpen last year, a figure that ranked just 16th in the majors.

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Boston Red Sox Transactions Lucas Luetge

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Latest On Jorge Soler

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2024 at 10:59am CDT

Free agent slugger Jorge Soler has seen his potential landing spots dwindle a bit, with previously reported suitors like the Blue Jays (Justin Turner), Mariners (Mitch Garver) and Diamondbacks (Joc Pederson) all going in different directions to sign their primary designated hitters this winter. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi touched on Soler’s market this morning (video link), reporting that the 31-year-old is still seeking a three-year contract in free agency. The length of the pact has been a hold-up, as Soler has had teams willing to go to two years but has yet to be offered a guaranteed third season.

The Giants were reported to be in talks with Soler last week, and Morosi suggests they’re among the teams comfortable at two years but balking at the third season. Other teams that have been tied to Soler this offseason include the Red Sox, Nationals and, to a much lesser extent, the incumbent Marlins. Soler himself said last month that Miami hasn’t shown real interest in a reunion, however. The D-backs, notably, are still looking for a right-handed bat to pair with the lefty-swinging Pederson, but it’s hard to imagine Soler signing anywhere without a clear path to full-time at bats. A timeshare with Pederson at DH plus some occasional corner outfield work would be a surprise.

That’s due in no small part to the fact that Soler is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He belted 36 home runs for the Fish in 2023, slashing a robust .250/.341/.512 (126 wRC+). Long known as a strikeout-prone player, Soler’s 24.3% strikeout rate last year was the second-lowest of his career and only 1.6 percentage points higher than the league average. His 11.4% walk rate, meanwhile, was the second-highest of his career. He paired that improved K/BB profile with his typical brand of loud contact. Soler averaged 91.3 mph off the bat, hit 48% of his batted balls at 95mph or greater, and barreled 15% of his batted balls — all ranking in the 81st percentile of MLB hitters or better, per Statcast.

Spring training’s looming start date could put some added pressure on Soler and other free agents to consider a drop in asking price, although that cuts both ways. Teams seeking offensive upgrades have watched alternative options come off the board and have fewer avenues to pursue. The onset of camp also generally brings about quite a few injury scenarios of note, any of which could radically alter the market for Soler and other free agents. An injury for someone on one of Soler’s rumored suitors (Giants, Red Sox, etc.) or even on a contending club that hasn’t yet shown interest could prove to be a catalyst for his market, just as we saw with the Astros and Josh Hader (who signed in Houston following a season-ending injury to Kendall Graveman).

Soler opted out of the final season of a three-year, $36MM contract with the Marlins at the beginning of the offseason, turning down a $13MM player option. That he’s had teams willing to offer two years suggests he indeed had more earning power than that $13MM on the open market, but many free agents have seen muted interest as teams throughout the league deal with uncertainty regarding their television contracts. A multi-year deal still seems likely for Soler. Speculatively speaking, however, if no three-year pact presents itself and the two-year interest he’s received has been at average annual rates that aren’t to his liking, Soler could follow Teoscar Hernandez and max out on the largest one-year commitment he can find, then take another shot at free agency next winter.

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San Francisco Giants Jorge Soler

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Padres, Jurickson Profar Agree To One-Year Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 12, 2024 at 10:35am CDT

Free agent infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar and the Padres are in agreement on a one-year deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The MVP Sports Group client will be guaranteed $1MM, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, with the deal still pending a physical. Profar can also add another $1.5MM via incentives based on plate appearances, per Murray.

Jurickson Profar | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a bit of an early birthday present for Profar, who turns 31 next week. His career has been extremely up-and-down, something that MLBTR covered in 2022. Last year was another downswing on that sine wave, with 2023 his worst season to date. He opted out of his previous deal with the Padres at the end of 2022, taking the $1MM buyout instead of the $7.5MM salary. He lingered onto the market until the middle of March but did eventually get a one-year, $7.75MM deal from the Rockies, narrowly edging out the money he left on the table.

The move to Colorado didn’t suit Profar. His 18.2% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate were pretty close to his career norms, but he hit just eight home runs in 472 plate appearances. Given the expectations of the hitter-friendly environment at Coors Field, his tepid .236/.316/.364 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of just 72. His defense was graded poorly as well, and the Rockies released him in August. He returned to the Padres late in the year and finished strong, but in a small sample of just 14 games. FanGraphs considered him to be two wins below replacement on the year while Baseball Reference had him at -1.3 WAR.

Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was a key figure in the Rangers’ international scouting department when Profar originally signed and was eventually ranked the top prospect in all of baseball. Multiple shoulder surgeries have derailed his trajectory, but Profar has still shown inconsistent flashes of solid MLB production and Preller clearly still holds an affinity for him. This will be his fifth season suiting up for the Padres, for whom he carries a .246/.334/.376 batting line in 1321 plate appearances dating back to 2020.

From the team’s vantage point, Profar helps to fill a dire need for outfielders. Prior to this signing, San Diego only had two outfielders on the 40-man roster: Fernando Tatis Jr. and light-hitting Jose Azocar. They’ve also been working top shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill out in left field and could consider the 20-year-old as an outfield option at some point this season, should that experiment go smoothly, though as it stands Merrill has played just 46 games at the Double-A level and has not yet played a single game in Triple-A.

The Friars have also been working to cut payroll throughout the offseason, so securing Profar at barely more than the league minimum surely held appeal. Profar at least gives the Padres three big league outfielders on the 40-man roster, but his signing likely doesn’t rule out the addition of another more notable signing/acquisition who could push the 27-year-old Azocar into a fourth outfield role for which he’s better suited. With Profar added to the fold, San Diego’s payroll now sits at a projected $159MM, per Roster Resource — more than $90MM south of last year’s franchise-record $255MM mark. The Padres have about $215MM worth of projected luxury tax considerations, however.

In all likelihood, there are still some additions to be made by the Padres between now and Opening Day. Their outfield depth remains perilously thin, and they’ve reportedly been exploring both the trade and free agent markets for ways to change that. Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran is reportedly one potential target. The Padres also have questions in the fourth and fifth spots in their rotation, behind top starters Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Michael King. In-house options include Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe, Matt Waldron, Pedro Avila, Jay Groome and Glenn Otto, among others, but the Padres are also still looking into the lower tiers of free agency. They reportedly have some interest in Noah Syndergaard and in Michael Lorenzen.

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Newsstand San Diego Padres Transactions Jurickson Profar

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Submit Your Questions For This Week’s MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!

By Darragh McDonald | February 12, 2024 at 9:54am CDT

On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we’ll frequently answer questions from our readers and listeners.  With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.

Spring Training is ramping up but there’s still many notable free agents unsigned and possible trades not consummated. If you have a question about a recent transaction, a future transaction or anything else related to the offseason or upcoming season, we’d love to hear from you!  You can send your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.

Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it.  iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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MLB Trade Rumors Podcast

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The Opener: Marlins, Signings, Free Agency

By Nick Deeds | February 12, 2024 at 8:51am CDT

With Spring Training creeping ever closer, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. What’s next for the Marlins?

The Marlins swung a trade with the Twins over the weekend, parting ways with lefty reliever Steven Okert to acquire utilityman Nick Gordon from Minnesota. Gordon, 28, missed most of the 2023 season but slashed a solid .272/.316/.427 back in 2022 while splitting time between second base, shortstop, and the outfield for the Twins. The former first-rounder struggled at the plate in both 2021 and in an injury-ruined 2023 season. The addition of Gordon adds some versatility to a club that entered the offseason in need of additional talent at shortstop and in the outfield. Gordon has just 33 games at shortstop in the majors, and the Twins viewed him as a better fit in the outfield and at second base. Of Jon Berti’s 86 games started at short, 52 came last season. He handled himself well in part-time duty there, but he’s a 34-year-old utilityman with only 764 career innings at short. Given that, the club could be best served relying on Gordon as a member of the outfield mix and pursuing a free agent shortstop. They’ve been tied to names like Tim Anderson or Amed Rosario, among others.

2. Signings to be made official:

A pair of free agents found new homes over the weekend as catcher Yasmani Grandal landed with the Pirates while the Phillies reached an agreement with right-hander Spencer Turnbull. Both clubs have full 40-man rosters at this point in the winter and will need to make a corresponding move to clear space for the new arrivals. For the Pirates, that can be accomplished by simply waiting a few days until the 60-day injured list open upon the start of Spring Training and the club can utilize the roster spots of injured players such as Johan Oviedo and Endy Rodriguez. The Phillies have no obvious candidates for the IL, however, meaning they’ll likely need to designate a player for assignment or work out a trade of some sort to open up space on the 40-man for Turnbull.

3. Last minute deals in free agency?

Spring Training is a matter of days away for most clubs, and plenty of free agents remain on the open market. While the quartet of star free agents at the top of the market in Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Matt Chapman are unlikely to feel added pressure to sign with the start of camp looming, it’s possible some players lower on the free agent hierarchy could have extra incentive to find deals in order to enjoy a full spring with their new club. The likes of Brandon Belt, Adam Duvall, and Michael A. Taylor are among the mid-tier positional free agents who remain on the market, while the mid-tier pitching market includes names such as Michael Lorenzen, Mike Clevinger, and Hyun Jin Ryu.

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The Opener

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