It’s been a quiet offseason for three-time All-Star Whit Merrifield in his first trip through free agency, but the 35-year-old has been in contact with as many as five teams recently and expects to make a decision by the end of the weekend, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports.
Merrifield has twice led the American League in hits and has also paced the league in stolen bases on three different occasions. He’s coming off an uneven year at the plate, having enjoyed an excellent four-month stretch to begin 2023 before a sluggish two-month finish weighed down his end-of-season numbers.
Merrifield batted .272/.318/.382 overall, with 11 home runs, 27 doubles and 26 steals, but his production looked far more impressive before the calendar flipped to August. As of July 31, Merrifield boasted a robust .303/.351/.430 slash (118 wRC+). Over the final two months of the season, though, he fell into perhaps the most prolonged slump of his career, hitting just .212/.250/.288 in his final 196 trips to the plate for the Blue Jays.
That downturn at the plate, paired with his age, has likely tempered some of Merrifield’s earning power. On the one hand, he had some poor fortune on balls in play down the stretch, evidenced by a .247 BABIP that’s nowhere near his career mark of .321 or the .347 mark he posted through the season’s first four months. On the other, chalking the slump up to “bad luck” wouldn’t be accurate.
Merrifield’s already-low 85.4 mph average exit velocity and 26% hard-hit rate dipped to 83.4 mph and 20.4% from August onward. He didn’t see a marked uptick in strikeouts but did hit nine hapless infield flies over those final 196 trips to the dish after hitting just six such balls throughout the season’s first four months. More than a quarter of Merrifield’s batted balls from Opening Day through the end of July were line drives; over the final two months of the season, his line-drive rate was just 15.2%.
That tough finish to the season derailed what was shaping up to be a bounceback season for Merrifield. He’d still been a productive player in the 2021-22 seasons, but his offensive output had fallen off from his 2017-20 peak, when he batted a combined .297/.345/.452 (111 wRC+). Instead, his 2023 output wound up closely in line with the .265/.309/.386 slash he posted in 2021-22.
Beyond Merrifield’s lengthy track record of piling up hits and stolen bases, his defensive versatility has long been an appealing aspect of his game. He’s spent more time at second base than any other position, but Merrifield also has 2775 career innings in the outfield (where he’s played all three slots) in addition to briefer looks at first base (97 innings) and third base (31 innings).
With the Jays in 2023, Merrifield evenly split time between second base (595 innings) and left field (594) in addition to a handful of innings in right field (37). Defensive Runs Saved pegged him as a plus-plus defender at second base as recently as 2021 but has given him negative grades in each of the past two seasons. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric remains bullish and has pegged him as an above-average second baseman in each of the past four seasons, including a +4 mark in ’23. Defensive metrics tend to agree that while Merrifield had some solid defensive showings in the outfield earlier in his career, he was below-average last season (-4 DRS and OAA alike).
That versatility is undoubtedly still part of Merrifield’s appeal, though he spoke earlier this offseason about the pros and cons of moving around the diamond as much as he has. Back at the Winter Meetings, Merrifield sat down with Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds on MLB Network’s Hot Stove to discuss free agency and his versatility (video link).
“I’ve said for a long time now — second base, I feel, is my best position,” Merrifield explained in early December. “When I get to play second base every day, I feel defensively I’m as good as anybody, when I can stay there and play sharp. But I know there’s value to being able to bounce around now, especially in today’s game. The versatility aspect of it is big, but then again … when you start talking about a player’s value, when you bounce around, you’re just not as sharp in certain areas. … There’s give and take. I can bounce around, but I can also be a pretty good second baseman.”
Those comments speak to a preference for second base, but Merrifield has also emphasized that he’s open to playing anywhere and recognizes how that willingness can benefit him in the free agent process. There aren’t many clubs at this stage of the offseason with a glaring hole at second base specifically — the White Sox, Brewers and Pirates could all potentially use help there, speculatively speaking — but the majority of contenders could easily fit a hitter with Merrifield’s track record into that familiar second base/outfield hybrid role in which he’s excelled in recent seasons.
Are the Reds adding him to their infield collection?
I think I saw him today in Goodyear,AZ , which is home for both the Reds and Guardians. It seems like he could be the RH hitter with better numbers than Myles Straw.
Maybe he’s versatile enough to toss a few innings out of the bullpen. I would dread the 6th through 8th innings this year if I were a Reds’ fan.
I have said for two offseasons they need to improve the bullpen getting to Diaz. But too many “fans” believe it is all sunny and rainbows.
The Red’s can’t play all the infielders they’ve got . Why would they bring in Merrifield just to watch him sit on the bench behind McClain and India?
Why would they sign Candelario and Josh Harrison?
C’mon White Sox! It’s another ex-Royal! Gotta catch ’em all!
l thought they were collecting ex-Braves
The Royals have been wannabe Braves for years…lol
The Braves and Royals
Past 10 years, one WS title each
Past 20 years, one WS title each
Past 50 years two WS titles each
Doesn’t seem like the Royals are Braves wannabe’s, looks like their success has been the same.
For years the White Sox were most known for collecting ex-Cubans. Their Royals collection has become more prominent in recent years including farm director turned GM Chris Getz (originally a White Sox player) and manager Pedro Grifol.
The Braves collection mostly happened this offseason with the Aaron Bummer trade. The White Sox also added catcher Max Stassi who had been a Brave for just one day before he was flipped to Chicago following a separate deal with the Angels.
Getz is obsessed with ex Royals this really wouldn’t surprise me…
Which means Whit is next.
Soft Kitty enjoyed his time with the Royals. Who treated him like he was a bonified major leaguer instead of a AAAA player whose lack of power made him all but unplayable at the Major League level.
I thought they were collecting ex-Astros catchers.
Padres to play CF?
OPS+ of 93, 90 and 94 over the last three years. He doesnt walk and has no power. He is very overrated.
This. Whit is an old-school hitter from circa 1995. Over-aggressive with superb hand eye skills, he makes tons of contact and gets hits. But without his speed and some power, it’s still well below average. And he’s old now.
@seamaholic, I’m not sure the numbers back up your assertion.
In 1995 there were 156704 plate appearances and 14240 walks drawn, a rate of 9.1%.
In 2023 there were 184104 plate appearances and 15819 walks drawn, a rate of 8.6%
Batters in 1995 more regularly drew walks than in 2023.
Surprised by the discrepancy between plate appearances considering the new rules in extra innings. Would expect total appearances to be down.
Kripes, two teams joined the league in 98. Making for more plate appearances. Still a surprise to me that walks are down
He’s better than Adam Frazier imo. And Drazier got a pretty good deal
He was bad in the beginning of the season too. Took him awhile to adjust. I might consider him on a one year deal, but I’d be wary of him starting and signing for more.
I did not realize he was already 35 years old
He got a late start to his career, which means he was never able to fully monetize his best years when he was under team control.
I remember when he got called up. I’m a twins fan, just didn’t realize he wasn’t in his earlier 20s when he got that call
How Tony Clark has not been removed from his position continues to baffle me.
The Royals kept him down in Triple A way too long because of Mondesi ..
Omar Infante, not Mondi.
How is that? Mondesi made his debut only 6 months before Whit.
His versatility and still good speed means he probably delivery more value to a team than his WAR shows, but how much more? He’s been pretty consistent the last three years, slashing .268/.312/.385, with a wRC+ in the low 90s. There’s value, but I’m not surprised his market has been tepid.
Age and the last few months are probably deterring teams to commit. He’s a late bloomer so I think he’s still got stuff left in the tank.
I could see a possible fit in Washington if he doesn’t care about playing for a contender.
They got luis garcia. I imagine they will just go with him. He has great bat to ball and is 23
Every team could use a player like Whit. I think he goes to Boston
Not true. Nearly everyone has a 2B and he’s not a playable CF anymore. He can play corner OF, but he doesn’t hit enough for that. There’s a reason he hasn’t been picked up.
Seam
He’s better than the worst player on nearly every roster
Boston’s too cheap now and they probably want to bank on Grissom and Valdez. And possibly Yorke.
I doubt it, but it depends on what his price is. Valdez has some promise and is minimum wage, and being a lefty, he can be a soft platoon for Grissom.
We could use a righty OF, but wouldn’t Duvall fit better? Merrifield would have to be like $2-3M before I’d consider him.
I’m thinking San Diego because they only have 2 OFers on their 40 man roster.
I had a pretty strong intuition on Merrifield to the Sox at the start of the off-season. The roster fit was there and he just kind of felt like a Sox guy. The roster fit isn’t as clear and natural now in light of their moves so far but I wouldn’t rule it out
Kinda hoping the Phillies are in the mix for him. Rodolfo Castro has options, Whit could play some 2B vs. LHP and spell Marsh on occasion in LF. Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber have played in at least 150 games two years in a row. Not sure you can count on that for a 3rd straight year. He’s a guy who can pinch run for Schwarbs or Caste late in games, speed on the bases and solid defensive sub. He would be a strong veteran addition to most teams, I’m surprised he’s still available.
The Phillies don’t need a defensive sub if they keep Pache.
He hits way more then pache ever will and plays trade off defense with more versatility. See ya.
I could see that and like it. Especially if they keep Rojas on the big club. He’s versatile in the field and a proven pro hitter. A guy goes into a funk he can spell them a bit. Merrifield and Duvall should be the Phillies priorities this weekend. That and another proven reliever is my recommendation.
I maintain and always will,this philles team as constructed are a stopper away from 100 plus wins and a championship. Sadly that guy isn’t present.
You are so right. That is the bullpen piece I’m talking about. Jansen has been rumored, the guy from Cleveland too. Who knows. I feel like they have a lot of 5th through 7th inning guys right now and the ones that were once setup or closer guys lost a little.
You gotta watch the games; you can’t always go by the numbers. I don’t where the hell they got those numbers about his exit velocity. He was hitting absolute laser home runs in Toronto.
Maybe they counted some bunts in there by mistake
You should probably familiarize yourself with the concept of “average”.
You don’t know what your talking about. Do not answer to me.
… my wife keeps telling me this
If it helps, I would assume that HRs probably have more lasers to them than IF pop flys.
It’s possible that the exit velocity on a pop fly isn’t markedly different than a home run if the pop fly goes really high.
Huh? I watched him all year. Most of his homers were fence scrapers.
It’s either diminished bat speed and/or injury causing his decreased exit velocity. Nine infield flyballs hit from August forward is pretty telling. His seasonal 85.1 mph avg. places him at the bottom 1% of the league.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/whit-merrifie…
Pirates & White Sox need help in the 2B department and seem to not want to compete this year, so those would be my guess unless he’s willing to take a bench job with a contender.
I don’t see Whit at this stage of his career as a slam dunk upgrade over any of the Pirates’ internal 2B options. Any one of them is wholly capable of matching Merrifield’s stats from last season at a fraction of the cost. If the Pirates signed him for $10 million, I’d accuse the Pirates of looking to blatantly waste money – and I’d be the first person to ever accuse them of that.
Fair enough. I’m just looking at the FG WAR for 2nd base by league and the Pirates are last in the league with a 1.0 WAR for a combination of 5 guys. Merrifield put up a 1.5 fWAR in 2023 and expected to be a 0.4 fWAR in 2024. Honestly, That’s assuming he plays 100 games in the season, not 140+. But you might be right, why not let the younger guys that are cheap to play and see what happens. I was just answering the question of the topic at hand.
Pirates won’t block Nick Gonzalez
He said it very clearly, second base is his best position… I don’t understand teams constantly moving guys around to play positions they aren’t as good at. And then when there are those fringe plays that occur where a guy is playing a secondary position and his lack of experience and skill at that position get exposed and he blows a play, that’s how a team loses a game, and sometimes an entire season comes down to one game- I think it’s foolish to underestimate that. I also think it messes with a players confidence, which in turn makes them a lesser hitter. The psychology seems huge, the smallest things seem to have snowball effects.
Like moving Xander to third base.
LS
“that’s how a team loses a game, and sometimes an entire season comes down to one game”
No. That’s not close to how it works
Teams have multiple opportunités in each game. It never comes down to just one
Suppose a player playing out of position fails to make a play and a run scores
Unless it was a four base misplay (pretty rare) something else had to have happened for a run to score
Plus, every batter that came up to bat in that game had a chance to homer. If they had, that run wouldn’t have lost the game
I have to constantly remind the kids I coach of this. So and so misplayed a grounder — well what about when you struck out with the bases loaded and one out two innings before that? Losses, just like wins, are always a team effort. Guy makes an error that gives up a run, but the pitcher walked a guy after getting ahead 0-2, giving the next guy an opportunity.
I start a lot of games by asking the same question: “What’s the most important play in baseball?” Answer: “The next one.”
There are only 13 active roster spots for position players. If you want playing time and you’re not an everyday quality player, you have to be able to play more than one position.
He actually fits in Seattle. If the price is right. He can come in and fight with Rojas and Urias at 2nd, while moving Polanco to 3B.
I don’t think he’d have to settle for signing on with a team where he’d have to fight it out with others to make the team. While his numbers have taken a hit these last few years, he’s still useful enough to be an everyday player, even if it is as more of a bottom of the lineup kinda guy.
And he could be the 4th outfielder with the Mariners and platoon with Raley and the oft injured, Mitch Haniger.
With Sánchez deal with brewers off the table now, how about brewers?
I could see a 1/2 year deal 10M seems reasonable with bonuses for hits that can put him to 15m. maybe a vesting option at 150 hits at 20m or something.
He is a bit old for a prove it contract but young enough to give a chance to play close to his prime. 10m is about the limit I would feel comfortable with.
Pirates could use a stand in 2nd basemen who can play OF if a young guy plays well.
I’m not sure he could outproduce Triolo, who has a similar skill set and would be about $10 million cheaper. Not to mention they already have at least 2 other guys who count 2B as their best position; Bae can actually play CF and Whit is past that point in his career. Just don’t see the fit. He’d have to have otherworldly numbers to get any value out of a flip contract, and I don’t have any faith that he’d actually do that.
I’d rather them waste their money on Lorenzen if they’re looking to spend money on a vet who’s going to put up pedestrian numbers. At least Lorenzen can pass for a pitcher every so often, and that still has value around the league.
which is why i qualified Whit as a stand in. If a young guy is playing well and needs the position Whit can move to OF if he is also playing well. So far none of them have performed except triolo. All have a short mlb sample.
I would like to see the money go to a quality starter if it is an either or situation.
Quality starters, from the very beginning of free agency, have been out of their price range, save one (Perez) and we signed him. His numbers weren’t pretty overall for the season, but they’re indicative of 4 or 5 bad games, not consistently terrible performances. If you look at his game log, he was at least as good as pre-All Star break Keller. He lost his rotation spot to Max Scherzer, it wasn’t like the Rangers demoted him because they got Connor Overton off the waiver wire and wanted to give him starts.
I don’t see them adding anyone for $10 million, unless the Boras guys are still unsigned like a minute from the start of the season and by some miracle they come to the Pirates. That kind of takes the “quality starter” or Whit off the table – there isn’t a quality guy left at $10 million and Whit isn’t worth $10 million. At this point, the best spend of that money would be to look for cheap depth, which is exactly what they have been doing.
Based on what they said about increasing payroll, I don’t think a middle of the pack starter would be out of the question. or that guy playing in Japan but you know..yeah.
Perez wasn’t good pretty much all season, barely a 4/5 guy under normal circumstances in 2023. The blow outs hurt for sure but he really didn’t start improving his stats until he moved to the pen. He gave 5 innings and kept them in Grand Slam reach most of the time but that doesn’t tell the tale. based on the things like fip and whip and my minimal watch time on him, he got lucky.
Marco hasn’t been all that great either but he did have a handful of better seasons strung to geather. The team philosphy seems to be hoping that these guys can keep them in it until a young guy hopefully steps up. If skenes, Jones and Priester get near their ceilings or at least off their floor. Okay, but getting a handful bottom of the rotation guys does not inspire confidence.
“he had some poor fortune on balls in play down the stretch, evidenced by a .247 BABIP that’s nowhere near his career mark of .321 or the .347 mark he posted through the season’s first four months.”
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That’s a kind of ridiculous statement. BABIP was created to account for luck/variance. There really isn’t a reason to break down luck by months. It’s like saying you had 55% heads in the first 50 tosses, and only 45% heads in the second 50 tosses.
All that matters is how his full-season BABIP impacted his full-season OPS.
You also have to consider quality of contact being made, so there’s certainly more to the story than just luck.
I don’t get how batting average is a useless stat but batting average for balls in play is not. I could spend all day poking holes in how BABIP tells you almost nothing. Brett Butler back in his heyday would break BABIP, for instance.
When a guy shortens up and dunks a single into the opposite field with two strikes on a very regular basis, it’s not lucky, he’s good. BABIP would dictate that something like a .350 BABIP is unsustainable – when it is actually expected for a talent such as Ichiro, for example. If you’re a dead-pull righty and you constantly ground out to short, it’s not luck, you’re not good enough to make adjustments.
That being said, breaking it down by months is silly. Like for two months the guy is playing through a tweaked muscle affecting his swing and his BABIP drops accordingly. He’s not having bad luck, he’s not executing.
I think that’s especially true for guys like Merrifield who are not discerning swingers and put a lot of balls in play. There are going to be stretches where they fall in at absurd rates and stretches of bad luck. You can create BABIP “luck” in certain ways. But Merrifield doesn’t have the quality of contact indicators that suggest he should be able to sustain well above average BABIPs. His legs might be his best trait for legging out a few more infield hits than average. But that’s about it. He doesn’t hit the ball hard enough to find holes in the defense and he’s not a discerning swinger, so he’s not swinging at pitches that he can hit line drives on at a consistent rate.
There are some correlations between quality contact and BABIP, but one of BABIP’s downfalls is that it doesn’t account for the hitter’s intent – for instance a soft grounder to 2B with a runner on second and no one out that’s done with the intention of moving the runner up reflects poorly on quality contact (barrel rate, EV, etc.) while being far more useful than a selfish guy trying to hit a HR when the situation doesn’t call for it, who ultimately hits a bullet right at the SS.
If you want to measure “luck”, track how many times 95+ MPH EVs become low probability outs – diving catches, ranging INFs who have no business getting to a ball, let alone making a throw that results in an out. BTW, you’re right about Merrifield for the most part, save for the number of times he sacrifices quality contact to make any contact in situations where putting the ball the play in any fashion is preferable to a strikeout. He does it more often than most, and it’s hardly a mark against him unless you view the game through a purely statistical lens.
That argument might hold water if Merrifield was being used situationally more than the average player and if he was making good contact in situations that called for it. But I don’t see it. He doesn’t sacrifice quality of contact to make any contact only in situations where it calls for it. He swung at over half the pitches he saw in nearly 600 plate appearances. He wasn’t giving himself up for productive outs, he was chasing hits and in so doing was swinging at way more than his fair share of pitches out of the zone and well executed pitches in the shadow resulting in a lot of easy outs often early in counts. And when I talk about quality of contact for Merrifield as related to BABIP, I’m not even talking about EV. He has a limitation on his raw power and so he shouldn’t necessarily be trying to hit the ball harder.. But it’s not a surprise that he is unable to sustain high line drive rates if he’s trying to make contact on pitches all over the zone (and out of it).
Bench piece of the Phillies.
This actually makes sense, though it’s not enough to keep the Braves from waving as they fly past Philly in the standings.
It does make sense, and no it’s not enough to”movbe the needle” it’s a depth piece.
Braves can wave all they want, how’s that panned out over the last two seasons?
You would be stupid to have him on the bench.
At second base over Bryson Stott? Hardly.
Not over stott but in the outfield mix with Rojas and Marsh. But he’s got the skill to give stott a breather once a week. I think he’s a nice insurance policy for aromas as well as a no pressure vet presence to allow Rojas to develop.
I* believe Merrifield would be a great to give Stott a breather, especially against tough lefties. He could spell the outfield folks as well as cover for both Bohm and Turner.
Philly could easily get him darn near full time play. Also makes Sosa potentially expendible in a trade. While Sosa’s good defensively and young (and Merrifield is in his twilight), if he brings you something back that can help, it has to be considered
I wish the Tigers weren’t so tight. There are several players, perfect for the stadium the Tigers play in. They already have some.guys to hit long balls. Sad, solo hrs, with no one on base.
Somehow, idiots think only home runs excite baseball fans.
There’s something wrong with thier heads in Detroit.
Tigers will win the AL Central this year.
If Whit wants to play for a winner – he’ll sign with tbe NY Mets
You spelt whiner wrong
White Sox won’t sign him.
Have Enjoyed watching him play for a long time ,but he is really only a bench player at this point who may get only 300 ABs tops..unless your a garbage team desperate for a name
You have to be pretty desperate to consider Whit Merrifield a big name…
They said Montgomery was close to signing 2 weeks ago. Among others. So, we’ll see, I guess. These guys need to hurry up so we can get a more complete picture.
Wiz Whit?
Sounds like the last piece for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Padres make sense.
This could be a Mike Rizzo special. Sign for one year and see what you can flip him for at the deadline like Jemier, Gallo and others since the rebuild started.
Nats 2B currently looks to be between Luis Garcia and Darren Baker, not optimal.
Dodgers should sign him to play 2B so they can move Betts back to RF to prevent Heyward from playing full time.
I’d rather have him at 3B than any of Madrigal, Wisdom, Mastrobuoni, or Morel. Cubs should sign him and dfa Mastrobuoni.
Two years max length of contract if the team who lands him is smart. Merrifield’s best years are behind him but he will have his hot streak moments. He is a spare part at this stage in his career.
One year max
Sox could take him on a one year contract, but anything else isn’t really worth it at his age.
He should sign with Texas or the Angels
Maybe a 1 year contract with an option for another