Each offseason veteran players with experience at the upper levels of the minor leagues and in the majors routinely qualify for minor league free agency and test the open market in search of fresh minor league agreements with clubs willing to offer them an invite to major league Spring Training. Such arrangements have been increasingly difficult to come by this winter, however, and Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper recently explored a significant reason why.
As noted by Cooper, the new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and minor league players gave the league the right to limit the total number of domestic minor league players to just 165 ahead of the 2024 season, with a limit of 175 players during the offseason. Cooper notes that reduced figure slashes a total of 450 roster spots around the league or 15 per club. That limited roster flexibility gives clubs far less opportunity to offer minor league free agents deals that have long been considered “no-risk fliers,” as now clubs will often times be forced with potentially cutting a younger minor league player early in their professional career to make room for an interesting veteran journeyman.
While minor league deals are typically regarded as low-risk signings that are relatively unlikely to result in a given player making an impact at the big league level, one needn’t look very hard to find examples of players heading to camp on minor league deals only to provide considerable value to that club throughout the year. Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward and Rangers outfielder Travis Jankowski are two examples of veteran hitters who came into camp on minor league deals last year, earned a spot on the Opening Day roster, and played well enough to earn a big-league deal with their respective clubs after returning to the open market this winter.
More from around Major League Baseball…
- The Phillies have long been known to be on the hunt for another relief arm after losing veteran closer Craig Kimbrel in free agency this past winter, with the likes of Phil Maton and Jakob Junis reportedly on the club’s radar prior to the pair signing with the Rays and Brewers, respectively. That being said, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer indicated this afternoon that the club is unlikely to pursue further bullpen additions this winter after adding depth starter Spencer Turnbull on a big league deal earlier today. While Turnbull has options remaining, he has enough service time at this point in his career to a refuse a minor league assignment. That leaves Philadelphia with minimal flexibility in their bullpen which would only be further reduced by the addition of another veteran arm. According to Lauber, six arms are all but locked into the club’s relief mix already, leaving just two spots for a group that includes non-optionable hurlers Turnbull, Connor Brogdon, Dylan Covey as well as optionable pieces like Yunior Marte, Kolby Allard, and Michael Rucker.
- USA Today’s Bob Nightengale this morning indicated that the Yankees discussed right-hander Corbin Burnes with the Brewers prior to the ace being traded to their division rival in Baltimore, though the club “rebuffed” Milwaukee in talks once the club requested outfield prospect Spencer Jones in return for Burnes’s services. The 22-year-old Jones was the club’s first-round pick in the 2022 draft and has generally impressed to this point in his minor league career, though he struggled with a .261/.333/.406 in a 17-game stint at the Double-A level last year. Previous reporting indicated that New York was unwilling to include Jones in a package for White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that the club also passed on parting with the youngster for a rental arm like Burnes.
All the Yankees have to do is sign Trevor to get #27.
We already got #27 back in 2009 but thanks for your concern.
A mediocre-at-best SP who is a massive headache, to say the least, is a guarantee win the World Series? Not even close.
“This Bauer guy might be the best pitcher in this teams history. And I’ve seen a lot of ’em”
-VS
Bauer was better than mediocre but carry the hatred with you. It’ll serve you well.
I’m talking about now. He was around average in NPB last year.
You’d still be incorrect with the same level of hatred. Downplaying NPB would also be foolish.
Here’s the thing with Baur and I’ll bet most folks will agree: I don’t care if he’s in the league, I just don’t want him on my team. Add 2 + 2 there…
LET’S
GO
O’S!
Spencer jones is a Clint Frazier waiting to happen if they hold on to him.
Well, if Spencer gets a concussion that could happen…
But I think there are too many uneducated fans in the world who don’t have a clue….
Frazier would have been great if he hadn’t gotten injured
Same for Bird
Same for andujar
yankees are hoarding spencer jones because they believe he’s projected to become a lefty swinging aaron judge in the majors. He was projected to go in the 2nd round in the draft but the yankees drafted him in the first round. You can see how much the yankees value this guy.
The next Blake Rutherford, who also destroyed A ball pitching, then struggled with AA.
Have you seen him play? Completely different style of play compared to Frazier.
If Spencer Jones would have gotten Burnes, Cashman is an idiot for not doing the deal.
He’s selling out for this year….so do it right!!!
Spencer Jones would have been part of a package of players for Burnes. Not sure if you noticed, but Cashman has done a terrible job in the trade market since the 2022 deadline. The Yankees need to stop giving away homegrown talent and thinning out organizational depth.
I think jones a low level pitcher with high upside and some international money would have probably got the deal done
Considering orioles gave up a higher ranked prospect and a mlb ready pitcher and a high draft pick. No your offer isn’t good enough.
Cashman’s philosophy seems to always have been that he’d rather stand pat and let a hyped prospect become a dud than risk trading someone who becomes a star.
Very few players he traded away over the last 25 years have become great after leaving. The only ones I can think of were Ian Kennedy, Marc Melancon, Tyler Clippard, and Austin Jackson, and none of them were really superstars.
Note: I’m speaking only of players who were traded when they were still viewed as prospects. Not including guys like Melky Cabrera.
Cashman’s full trade history is listed onbaseball reference. His first two involved trading Eric Milton and Christian Guzman to the Twins, then Mike Lowell to the Marlins. Since 2021, we traded Thairo Estrada and Ezequiel Duran when they were still prospects.
Even if we’re limiting ourselves to players traded as prospects, he’s surrendered a ton of surplus value.
Cashman has yet to trade away a true star player despite all of his numerous trade moves over the years. Ian Kennedy had one really good year, Melancon had a few good relief seasons, Estrada & Duran are good but not great. Same goes for Milton, Clippard, Austin, etc.
You conveniently fail to mention all of the good to great trades over the years, it seems. What about the solid contributions from Knoblauch, Justice, Mondesi, Boone, Abreu, Didi, Swisher, Green, Voit, Urshela, Holmes, Rizzo, etc. For every two bad deals (especially last year’s moves which all backfired, he has at least 2 or 3 more successes. All of those players were acquired to help down the stretch and none of them cost us a big star.
You might be misrepresenting several trades. We gave up a reliable innings eater in Westbrook for Justice. Knoblauch gave us 2 good seasons before the yips ruined his career. Rizzo has been so so and we gave up a top 100 prospect in Alcantara.
Cashman has certainly won trades before, but the overall body of work is negative.
By the way, Lowell, Guzman, Milton, Lilly and Cabrera combined for 10 all star appearances.
Perhaps Jay Buhner?
The discussion is Cashman’s trade record. Buhner was dealt a full decade before he became GM.
Both of these comments are true. Cashman is an idiot and he has done a horrible job with trades.
I’ll add that Cashman has also done a terrible job with roster construction.
You dont trade a talent like Jones for a 1 yr rental and even with Burnes they still not winning a WS so why do the trade.
I’m glad the Yankees didn’t trade Jones, but they aren’t doing themselves any favors by packaging multiple youngsters for a single veteran. Since the 2022 trade deadline Cashman has traded Montgomery, Sears, Waldichuk, Medina, Wesneski, King, Brito and Vasquez. So the notion of even having to consider Burnes is infuriating.
I’m not defending Cashman for all his faults. Besides Monty who wouldn’t have made much of a difference for an anemic offense last year, there’s no one they really miss. King, Brito, and Vazquez are TBD. If Soto flops, then you would be right.
Montgomery would have been a massive upgrade over Rodon’s production.
Since 2021 alone, the Yankees have traded Thairo Estrada, Ezequiel Duran, Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela. The anemic offense is a product of repeated bad trades.
That’s easy to say in hindsight. Monty was a reliable backend starter coming off TJS before the trade and then subsequently finding his own. Rodon was injury-prone but had much higher perceived ceiling than Monty. The bad offense was due to the over-reliance of analytics and betting on older players being able to stay healthy and retain bat speed. Cashman also ignored platoon splits for way too long thinking homeruns can solve all problems.
Criticisms were made at the time of the acquisitions. There were concerns about how Stanton would age, trades that amounted to Monty for an already injured Montas and injury prone Bader. Rodon had never started 30 games before 2022.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of concerns that were known at the time so attempting to claim hindsight is factually incorrect.
He’s done a terrible job period putting together this team for years now. But in case YOU didn’t notice….they are 100% selling out for THIS year. I don’t agree with it at all. But that’s what you’re doing, then dont half ass it. Trade Jones for Burnes and give the team the best chance to win it all. As of now, he’s sold out for this year and they STILL don’t look good enough
I don’t know about Cashman, but your comments are definitely not good enough. Do better, ya dip.
Thanks for taking time from your homework to weigh in. Now run to home room and let the adults talk
I’m sure also offering Yamamoto $350MM+ may have changed the offseason outlook as well.
YanksPhan: I think the Yankees see they have maybe 3-4 years before Judge and Cole start to decline, so they are stepping things up.
Cashman should have built this team better to start with instead of continuing to look for expensive band aids.
If you have a $300m payroll, you don’t have a ton of questions in the rotation.
If you have a home field short porch, you don’t give the other team the advantage for years by having no lefty mashers.
Don’t get me started on the poor signings and prospect hugging passing on Verlander, etc etc. Yankees win in spite of Cashman at this point.
The porch hasn’t been short since before the 1976 renovations… Death Valley was taken out in 1988… every righty they have has tremendous ability to go oppo there…. The lefty – righty balance is important for ALL parks, not necessarily Yankee Stadium
One of the dumbest responses I’ve seen from a Yankees fan. The porch is STILL short down the line and constantly…. if you actually watch…. you’ll hear them discuss how that a homer just hit would only be a homer there and no other park. Also, if you think that going oppo is just as easy as a strong lefty pulling the ball, you never played the game. It isn’t. A visiting team with left mashers would have an advantage. Obviously.
You ARE correct with saying that the balance is important in general. A common sense position that Cashman has failed to realize for years. Just like the stupidity of him saying that who needs lefty relievers when the righties we have have great numbers vs lefties.
LF line (318) is only 4 feet further than RF line (314) since 1988 and was only 2 feet further from 1976-1987 (312 to 310). Yes, it helped lefties with “warning track power” like Gardner but Soto, Gallo, Rizzo etc. hit the ball out of all parks. The “short porch” was pre 1970’s renovation when it was 296 feet.
True, and the Stadium dims are way overplayed by commenters on this site…..hear it over and over. again….how many mention that the Green Monster is what 283 feet….or the Pesky Pole…..does Boston create their roster to take advantage of that and fear other teams coming in with either lefties who go the other way, or righties who pull the ball….most major leagues stadiums have some type of field quirks…….its an advantage that’s way overstated just like the “short porch” at the stadium…….
28rings despite the similar dimensions you are talking about two different parks with two different wind factors and pretending they are the same park. That’s rather odd to cite changes made to a park that no longer exists.
I agree – it’s rather odd to call it a short porch when it no longer is and hasn’t been since the renovation of the first park across the street
To me, anything under 320 ft is a short porch. But I hear what you’re saying.
So then I guess they have a short porch in left too at 318 ft
Why would the Brewers want Spencer Jones? Already have many top outfield prospects.
6 years of control vs 1 year of control. They like him better than anything else in the Yankees system.
Spencer Jones will hopefully stay with the Yankees organization for his entire career. Watched him play last year. The guy is a stud. He’s different. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the everyday center fielder before the end of 2025. I feel the same way about Drew Thorpe. It’s unfortunate that they traded him away for a possible one year rental in Soto. Thorpe is going to be a beast of a pitcher. Just sign Snell or Montgomery already.
wow– another Yankee prospect who is “different”.
Have you seen him play?
Thorpe is going to be Padres ace within 2 yrs! I hated that trade and adding King gave the Padres 2 very good starters with Brito and Vasquez as excellent depth pieces. Soto is very good but honestly I would have preferred Bellinger keeping these guys and used the pieces to get Burnes in a trade instead. At least Bellinger would have been around for 6 yrs longer and they could have made a run for Soto in 2025
The veteran minor leaguers Deeds writes about are seeking invites to major league spring training, not minor league spring training.
Yay another conversation about closers! Alvarado probably holds the job for them to start the season, but the strength with this bullpen is that there just aren’t many weak spots. They can hold teams 1-8 in that bullpen, even if 1 isn’t necessarily the best.
That being said, if Alvarado pitches as well as he did last season, I’d be comfortable with him in October.
Last year’s yankees team was bad but also a fluke. They were never healthy.on paper they were good enough to win but injuries all year. You can blame Cashman all you want for depth but when guys that aren’t injury prone are hurt that can’t be on cashman.he needed a left handed bat and could have corrected it but ownership said no because they didn’t want to ship out prospects for a band aid with youth coming.i think cash has done ok this off season. I’d like to see Soto get a extension but outside of spending 500 million they have addressed a lot. You took a 300 million shot at yammomoto and missed signed stroman for pennies. (Do you really want snell for 200 mill? I don’t he is a 5 Era when not on. Monty for 150 million plus? For what a 10 and 10 record? He’s a good pitcher but he’s a solid 3 or a good 2 not a ace. And they are both still out there. Bullpen. You needed depth lost middleton and wandy. But picked up Ferguson, Victor Gonzales and effross is back not to mention depth signings like Luke weaver Cody Morris the bullpen will be good. Infield wise Cabrera, peraza are young and good versatile defenders. They have depth. Outfielders Soto is huge, Grisham is a great defender and Verdugo can be a good hitter if he buys in. They should easily win 93 to 95 games. Nestor, Rodon and clarke schmidt need to stay healthy and pitch well
Cashman acquired aging, injury prone players in Donaldson, Rizzo, Stanton and Rodon. Their injuries weren’t one off, fluke occurrences.
Rizzo was great until his unfortunate failed diagnosis of a concussion.
While Rizzo’s play was affected by the concussion, he had already begun to cool off. Between May 15 and the concussion on the 28th, he went 14-50 with just t2 HRs. Personally, I think it’s naive to to assume he would have held up for the entire season
You took a .280 BA in a 50 at-bat sample size to make your argument. I guess it’s tough to debate with a strawman pitchfork.
Anthony Rizzo wasn’t injury prone. The rest of the team was.
A concussion to rizzo is a fluke. Donaldson isn’t really injury prone over his career he is on the back 9 however and yes that is a bad trade. Stanton gets hurt a ton but always manages to still hit and get hot for about a month and thT never happened. But when you have a outfield with Mckinney, Calhoun and Greg Allen you have injuries and your not going far that’s whT I was getting at
93 wins is gonna be 3rd/4th.
Let’s see what 93 to 95 wins does in the east. You have to remember baltimore theoretically isn’t as good on paper they lost 2 starters and gained a very good 1 but he also may have been hurt as his numbers weren’t lights out for a portion last year. The orioles strength was there bullpen and there closer is out their replacement is not shut down anymore I think they are still going to be tough but they should probably win around 95… Toronto and the rays don’t have enough. It’s NY or Baltimores divison
i wouldnt really say that their strength was their bullpen. I’d say it was more of the offense
I’m sorry to break it to Yankees fans, but both players the Orioles traded are better than Jones. Not really sure why Brwers would need him. Outfielders aren’t the problem area in Milwaukee.
Much better. Jones would have only gotten them 1/3 of the way there. Yankees fans are among the most clueless in sports
It has a lot to do with the New York market. More coverage, more fans, so more scrunity. You ask a Yankee fan and Vilpe is the 2nd coming Jeter.
Are they? We’ll see how this comment ages in ten years. I’ve watched Jones play at both levels so far, I’m not going by stats on baseball reference.
There is a lot of swing n miss in his game. Nearly 30% SO%.
It will be corrected. He’s young and has the same coaches and trainers working with him as Judge did. Talked with an opposing players’ father at a game last season. He was telling me how at the Tampa complex in spring training, Jones was hitting the ball harder and further than Judge. Be weary of stats, especially from the minors, usually doesn’t tell the whole story. I’m not saying it’s 100% that he’s the real deal, I’m saying that the talent and physicality is there, and the Yankees would be foolish to trade him.
I had no idea that an opposing players father said that he was hitting the ball harder than Judge in BP, clearly he’s going to be a star. Also, every player in the Yankees farm system has the same coaches and trainers as Judge, so are all of them going to turn into as good of players as Judge as well?
And what’s MLB league average these days….north of 23% at least….
Not that I agree or disagree with your assessment of Jones when compared to the O’s prospects, but can you really say definitively that he isn’t as good when he was ranked above them?
Personally, I think it’s a bad argument either way (for trades) because prospects are only as good as the acquiring team feels they are. Nothing else matters.
As far as Ya Kees fans being the most clueless in sports, I was unaware that the “clueless” all gathered together to root for a specific team. Good info to know.
Some places Ortiz is ranked higher. Then again the consensus among evaluators this year is after about 40-45 there is a big drop off in talent.
Jones at best is a 3 true outcome guy and outside Judge who exactly have the Yankees developed and put on their team. Don’t say Volpe because the jury is still out.
Yankee fans believe all their prospects are better.
Jack, so you say that “at best he’s a three-true outcome guy,” but then say “the jury is still out on Volpe?”
How can you say you definitively know a young guy in the minors is limited to TTO, yet a guy in the majors is not assessable? If he’s that bad, why do teams want him so much? You can’t have it both ways.
This reeks of anti-Yankees biases. The problem with Yankees-haters are that no Yankees prospect has potential in their eyes, therefore they are all subpar, and any disagreement with that preordained narrative is just Yankee fandom overhype. It’s the exact antitheses of how you are describing Yankees fans. And, it’s a straw man.
I’m not sure the Spencer Jones link above is correct. This is the Yankee CF prospect:
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=jon…
Bro, you passed on Burnes for Jones who wasnt so hot so far in Double A? And now a division rival has him. Come on now, Cash, that’s one of the best pitchers in baseball there. Serious fail.
Burnes is 1 year… no guarantee he is back same goes for Soto but why trade minor league depth for 1 year when there are free agents available that may give you the sane result
Depends what the overall deal would end up being tbh. I thought Soto sapped too much, but I think Burnes was going to significantly less. Like Jones +1. That’s a deal worth making. If you have Judge+Soto and Cole+Burnes, man, you’re looking like a good WS contender already.
Because the FA available want 200M. Burnes makes sense for the Orioles as he may want to stay with that potential there. Soto did not make sense as he will not sign an extension as he is going for Ohtani money. If you are gonna pay that then you need that talent you traded away.
yankees are hoarding spencer jones because they believe he’s projected to become a lefty swinging aaron judge in the majors. He was projected to go in the 2nd round in the draft but the yankees drafted him in the first round. You can see how much the yankees value this guy. My guess is that they will now look at Bieber but they’ll probably ask for Spencer Jones as well.
The roster size issue will benefit the independent leagues like the Atlantic League, and probably caused a lot of players’ agents to look overseas to find a decent contract. The fact that good performance, particularly in the KBO and NPL leagues, can pave the way for a better contract when coming back, adds to the attractiveness of that option.
You need to look no farther than Eric Fedde,or Eric Thames or Miles Mikolas to see that a little discipline and focus to their craft developed overseas, while pocketing more money than an AAAA ballplayer can make, can turn into a smart career move.
And secondly, the competition is good enough there to warrant MLB clubs to seek and sign the native Japanese or Korean players wanting to come to North America.
The Mexican League probably has some AAAA talent there, but the salaries there do not make it attractive to ex-pats.
Old news. I want new. 🙂
Roster size shrinkage is another sign expansion is needed. These teams are so greedy they would rather use Portland, salt lake and Nashville as leverage to take taxpayer funds.