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Archives for November 2024

Giants Re-Sign Justin Garza To Minors Contract

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The Giants have re-signed right-hander Justin Garza to a new minor league contract, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.  Garza returns for a second season in the organization, after posting a 3.42 ERA, 26.7% strikeout rate, and eight percent walk rate over 52 2/3 bullpen innings for Triple-A Sacramento in 2024.

Initially signed to a minors deal last March, Garza’s first year as a Giant didn’t see him receive any time on the active roster, so his MLB experience remains the 47 innings he posted with Cleveland in 2021 (28 2/3 IP) and Boston in 2023 (18 1/3 IP).  The righty has a 5.74 ERA to show for his time in the big leagues, as well as a 21K% and 13.7% walk rate.

Garza has always had his share of control problems, though this year’s Triple-A walk represents more of a step in the right direction.  After beginning his career as a starter, a move to bullpen work in 2021 bumped up Garza’s strikeout rates, thus earning him that initial look in the bigs.  His minor league numbers declined in 2022 and the Guardians parted ways after the season, and Garza signed on with the Angels on a minors contract that offseason before being claimed by the Red Sox in April 2023.

His solid numbers in Sacramento last year impressed the Giants enough for a fresh contract, so Garza will enjoy a bit of stability as he enters his age-31 season.  Garza still has two minor league options remaining, giving San Francisco some flexibility in shuffling him up and down between the MLB and Triple-A levels if they do ever select his contract for another look in the Show.

Giants Interested In Tomoyuki Sugano

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The Giants are one of the teams considering longtime NPB ace Tomoyuki Sugano, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi writes (via X).  The 35-year-old is a full free agent and is expected to sign with a Major League club this winter on the heels of 12 outstanding seasons with the baseball world’s other Giants franchise, the 22-time Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants.

Signing Sugano would be an intriguing move for the San Francisco version of the Giants in Buster Posey’s first offseason as the club’s president of baseball operations.  Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Kyle Harrison are assured of rotation jobs, Jordan Hicks will be in the mix if the Giants want to use him as a starter again, and a variety of less-experienced younger arms (i.e. Landen Roupp, Hayden Birdsong, Mason Black, Keaton Winn, and top prospect Carson Whisenhunt) are also vying for rotation.

While Sugano would obviously be a rookie in terms of MLB experience, he does bring more overall seasoning than most of San Francisco’s in-house rotation candidates.  If the Giants chose to accommodate Sugano by adopting a six-man rotation to emulate the Japanese standard of pitchers starting once per week, such an arrangement might also help manage the innings of the younger pitchers, though Webb or Ray might prefer a more traditional five-man schedule.

Due mostly to his age, MLBTR projected Sugano for a one-year, $12MM contract this winter, though a two-year pact certainly seems feasible.  Such a relatively inexpensive deal might be of particular interest to a Giants team that is reportedly planning to reduce spending after going over the luxury tax threshold in 2024.

RosterResource projects San Francisco’s 2025 payroll at just under $155MM at the moment, with a tax number of $182.28MM.  That leaves the Giants still with plenty of spending flexibility before they reach last year’s Opening Day payroll of roughly $208MM, as well as the $241MM luxury tax threshold.  Since the Giants have been linked to such hitters as Willy Adames, Ha-Seong Kim, and even Juan Soto this offseason, it could be that Posey is planning to make a bigger splash to address the club’s greater need of hitting, and then spend more modestly on pitching help.

This isn’t the first time that the Giants have been linked to Sugano, as they were one of several Major League clubs interested in his services when the Yomiuri Giants posted him during the 2020-21 offseason.  Sugano didn’t end up finding an acceptable contract and ended up re-signing with the Yomiuri Giants on a four-year, $40MM deal that included three opt-out clauses.  Sugano chose not to trigger any of those opt-outs and instead finished out the contract’s full four-year term.

Sugano has been one of Japan’s best pitchers of the last decade, posting a 2.43 ERA over 12 seasons and 1857 innings.  While not a big strikeout pitcher, he has exceptional control, with only a 4.68% walk rate over his entire NPB career.  Sugano’s long list of career plaudits includes two Central League MVP Awards, two Sawamura Awards as NPB’s top pitcher, and eight All-Star nods.  Even in his age-34 season, Sugano still excelled in 2024, with a 1.67 ERA over 156 2/3 innings.

Dodgers Sign Giovanny Gallegos To Minors Contract

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The Dodgers have signed right-hander Giovanny Gallegos to a minor league deal, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports (links to X).  Gallegos will receive an invitation to the team’s big league Spring Training camp, and a $2.5MM base salary if he makes Los Angeles’ active roster with $1.5MM more available in incentives.  The deal has three opt-out dates, giving Gallegos some flexibility if the Dodgers have no plans to select his contract.

A veteran of eight Major League seasons, the 33-year-old Gallegos is best known for his tremendous four-year run with the Cardinals from 2019-22, when he posted a 2.84 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, and 6.6% walk rate over 228 1/3 innings out of the St. Louis bullpen.  This performance earned him a two-year, $11MM extension in October 2022 that covered Gallegos’ remaining two arbitration years, and gave the Cardinals a $6.5MM club option on Gallegos’ services for 2025.

Gallegos’ performance took a step backwards with a 4.42 ERA in 2023, as his strikeout rate dropped and his home runs totals spiked.  This was the harbinger of the right-hander’s very rough 2024 campaign, as Gallegos had a 6.53 ERA in 20 2/3 innings with a host of subpar metrics, as well as six homers allowed in that small sample size.

Between the lack of production and a little over six weeks spent on the IL due to a shoulder impingement, Gallegos pitched himself out of the Cardinals’ plans, as they designated him for assignment and he elected free agency at the start of August.  The Twins quickly inked Gallegos to a minor league deal but he didn’t see any time on their big league roster after posting a 4.26 ERA at Triple-A St. Paul with more walks (10) than strikeouts (8) over 12 2/3 innings.

While the arrow has been pointing down on Gallegos over the last two seasons, the Dodgers have a long track record of helping pitchers reclaim past form, or finding new levels of performance.  If the L.A. coaches and player development staff can find a fix for the right-hander’s recent woes, the Dodgers could unearth a low-cost arm that can be part of their 2025 bullpen, and perhaps even their late-game mix.

Yankees Release Cody Morris

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The Yankees released right-hander Cody Morris, as per Morris’ MLB.com profile page.  Morris was initially acquired from the Guardians in a trade last December, and the reliever was outrighted off New York’s 40-man roster back in July but remained in the organization until this week.

A seventh-round pick for Cleveland in the 2018 draft, Morris debuted in the Show with a 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings with the Guardians in 2022, though both a teres major strain and continued control problems resulted in a 6.75 ERA over just eight big league frames in 2023.  These 31 2/3 total innings remain the entirety of Morris’ MLB resume, as he didn’t receive any official playing time with the Yankees even though New York gave him a couple of brief call-ups to the 26-man roster.

Morris instead spent most of the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he posted a 4.03 ERA in 38 innings, along with a strong 27.1% strikeout rate.  Morris has long been able to miss bats dating back to his college days with South Carolina, yet he has increasingly run into control issues in both the majors and upper minors.  He had a 15.3% walk rate at Triple-A this season, and Morris’ brief time in the big leagues saw him post a 13% walk rate during his 31 2/3 total innings.  The loss of control has more or less coincided with Morris’ move to being more or less a full-time relief pitcher over the last two seasons.

Since strikeout ability will always catch a team’s attention, Morris is likely to land somewhere on a minor league contract.  At age 28, Morris still has late-bloomer potential, and an enterprising pitching coach or two might have some ideas about how to solve Morris’ control problems.

Reds Re-Sign Reiver Sanmartin To Minors Contract

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The Reds have signed left-hander Reiver Sanmartin to a minor league deal, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.  The southpaw will return for what will be his sixth on-field season in the Reds organization, not counting the canceled 2020 minor league campaign.

Three of those seasons saw Sanmartin appear at the MLB level, as he posted a 5.77 ERA over 82 2/3 innings from 2021-23.  Fifty-seven of those innings came in 2022 when Sanmartin had a 6.32 ERA in 57 frames, mostly out of Cincinnati’s bullpen.  His 2023 campaign was limited to 14 innings due to a UCL-related surgery in July 2023, and though the Reds non-tendered him last winter, he was quickly re-signed to a new minors deal.

Sanmartin made it back to the mound in July, even if the results were rocky.  The left-hander had a 6.33 ERA in 21 1/3 minor league innings split across three levels of Cincinnati’s farm system, with Sanmartin posting a 7.36 ERA, 20% strikeout rate, and 7.8% walk rate in 18 1/3 innings at Triple-A Louisville.  A whopping .377 BABIP contributed to these struggles, as bad batted-ball luck is particularly deadly to a grounder specialist like Sanmartin.

Despite the mediocre bottom-line numbers, the Reds saw enough to bring the 28-year-old back on another minors contract.  It could be that the team feels Sanmartin’s performance was hampered by the BABIP gods, or simply that he’ll pitch better now that he’ll have a normal and healthy offseason in front of him.  The signing also gives Cincinnati a bit of extra left-handed bullpen depth behind Sam Moll and Brent Suter.

Josh Sborz Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Will Miss First 2-3 Months Of 2025 Season

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The Rangers announced yesterday that they’d avoided arbitration with reliever Josh Sborz, as the two sides agreed to a one-year, $1.1MM contract for the 2025 season.  However, the right-hander is going to miss a big chunk of the season after recently undergoing a shoulder debridement surgery, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (X link).  Sborz is expected to miss the first two or three months of the 2025 campaign while recovering.

It isn’t surprising that Sborz went under the knife, as an ailing shoulder limited him to only 16 1/3 innings and 17 appearances out of the Texas bullpen last year.  Sborz was sent to the injured list four separate times — twice due to a right rotator cuff strain, and then twice due to fatigue in that same shoulder.  He pitched just once after August 7, and he told Grant at the end of the season that he was going to consult Dr. Neal ElAttrache to try and “get clarity” about the root of his shoulder issues.

Sborz earned a $1.025MM salary in 2024, and was projected to get just a slight bump up to a $1.3MM salary in his second year of arbitration eligibility.  Undoubtedly the surgery was a factor in Sborz agreeing to an even more minimal raise, though the agreement does give him some contractual piece of mind as he can now focus on a lengthy rehab process.  The Rangers probably at least thought about non-tendering Sborz in the wake of the surgery, yet $1.1MM isn’t a huge amount of money to invest, plus Sborz is also arb-controlled through the 2026 season.

Sborz (who turns 31 in December) has pitched in parts of the last six MLB seasons, breaking into the Show with the Dodgers in 2019 before the Rangers acquired him prior to the 2021 season.  He posted a 3.97 ERA over 59 innings with Texas in 2021, though elbow problems factored into a 6.45 ERA over only 22 1/3 frames in 2022, and Sborz also had a 5.50 ERA in 52 1/3 innings in 2023.

It adds up to a 4.86 ERA over his time in Arlington, though with a much more impressive 3.46 SIERA.  Sborz’s numbers are somewhat inflated by his issues keeping the ball in the park, as well as some unfortunate batted-ball luck (primarily a .396 BABIP during that rough 2022 season).  A 10% walk rate also hasn’t helped, but Sborz has missed a good number of bats, as indicated by his 28.7% strikeout rate.  The 2023 season was particularly inconsistent for Sborz, though he got on track when the Rangers needed him most — Sborz had an 0.75 ERA in 12 playoff innings to help Texas secure the World Series title.

Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Jose Leclerc, Jose Urena, and Andrew Chafin are all free agents, so rebuilding the bullpen is a priority for the Rangers this winter.  Retaining a familiar face in Sborz will add one piece to the puzzle, even if it’ll be a while before Sborz is able to make his 2025 debut.

Reds, Royals Finalize Trade Involving Brady Singer, Jonathan India

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The Royals and Reds made the biggest move of the non-tender deadline. Kansas City acquired infielder Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer from Cincinnati for starting pitcher Brady Singer. The Royals had space on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding moves were necessary.

It’s a swap of big league veterans between teams that expect to compete for a playoff spot. India and Singer are former college teammates at Florida who each went in the first round of the 2018 draft. Both players got to the big leagues within a couple seasons and have been solid contributors over four years at the MLB level. They’re each under club control for another two seasons.

India started his career with a bang. He won the National League’s Rookie of the Year award in 2021, hitting .269/.376/.459 with 21 homers and 34 doubles while appearing in 150 games. India hasn’t quite maintained that level in the ensuing three seasons. That’s partially due to injury, as he missed time with hamstring and foot issues over the next two years. He combined for a .246/.333/.394 slash with 27 homers in 222 contests over that stretch. That’s middling production for a player who spent his home games at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, arguably the league’s most hitter-friendly venue aside from Coors Field.

He rebounded to an extent this past season. The Reds toyed with using him in a multi-positional role, but Matt McLain’s Spring Training shoulder injury pressed India back into everyday work at second base. While most of Cincinnati’s infield sputtered, India ran a .248/.357/.392 slash with 15 homers across 637 plate appearances. He avoided the injured list and turned in his best numbers since his rookie year.

India doesn’t have huge home run potential. He hasn’t reached 20 homers since his debut season. He’s unlikely to find more over-the-fence pop at spacious Kauffman Stadium. India has solid gap power and a good awareness of the strike zone. He drew walks at a career-best 12.6% clip while keeping his strikeouts to a modest 19.6% rate this year. India has hit at the top of the Cincinnati order for most of his career, a role he’ll now play in Kansas City.

The Royals got very little out of the leadoff spot in 2024. Skipper Matt Quatraro used glove-first third baseman Maikel Garcia as his primary leadoff option. Garcia hit .231 with a meager .281 on-base percentage over 626 trips to the plate. The Royals prioritized finding a more consistent on-base presence who they could plug in atop the lineup. That’ll allow MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. and middle-of-the-order bats Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino to come up with more opportunities to drive in runs.

India should step into the leadoff spot, though it remains to be seen what position he’ll play. He has played the entirety of his nearly 4000 innings in the majors at second base. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have graded him as a subpar defender over his career. Statcast felt he turned in average glovework this past season, though DRS rated him 10 runs below par.

Overall, India’s 2024 season wasn’t much better than the production turned in by incumbent second baseman Michael Massey. The lefty-hitting Massey batted .259/.294/.449 with 14 homers over 356 plate appearances while batting early-season back injuries. India gets on base more consistently, but Massey has higher power upside. They’re each middling defenders who are unlikely to win any Gold Gloves.

Acquiring India to move Massey to the bench would be puzzling. The Royals could look to bounce India around the diamond as the Reds considered last spring. He was a third baseman at Florida and in his early minor league career. The Reds could try him at the hot corner while kicking Garcia into a utility role, though Statcast has graded India’s arm strength as middling even by second base standards. (Playing him at third could free the Royals to shop Garcia to teams that might play him at shortstop.) The Royals could bump India or Massey into the corner outfield, curtailing playing time for the underperforming duo of MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe.

In any case, it’s clear the Royals placed a premium on getting a leadoff hitter. They’re paying a significant price to get him. Teams are generally loath to part with controllable starting pitching. Singer is a quality mid-rotation arm. His career 4.28 ERA reflects some inconsistency, but he has posted a sub-4.00 mark in two of the past three years.

That includes a 3.71 showing over a full slate of 32 starts this year. Singer racked up a career-best 179 2/3 innings with generally impressive peripherals. He struck out a decent 22.3% of opponents while getting ground-balls at an above-average 47.1% clip. Singer has always been a quality strike-thrower, and he again kept his walk rate to a tidy 7.1% mark.

Singer’s stuff isn’t overpowering. He’s primarily a sinker-slider pitcher who sits around 92 MPH with the heater. The breaking ball is his best swing-and-miss offering, while the sinker generally plays for grounders. Singer has never found a changeup to neutralize left-handed hitters. Lefty batters have hit him at a .261/.342/.442 clip over his career and teed off to a .291/.367/.488 slash this year. Singer dominated right-handed opponents, though, holding them to a paltry .208/.252/.311 line.

The platoon issues probably cap Singer’s upside to that of a third or fourth starter. That’s still a very valuable player, and Singer’s track record of durability holds a lot of appeal to a Cincinnati rotation that was hit hard by injuries this year. He’ll slot behind Hunter Greene and alongside Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott in the middle of the staff. Top prospect Rhett Lowder could have the inside track on the fifth starter role, while Nick Martinez is back after accepting a $21.05MM qualifying offer. Martinez is no stranger to kicking between starting and late-inning relief. He could begin the season in the bullpen and move to the rotation as injuries inevitably arise.

It’s a nice get for Cincinnati, who again had questions about where they’d have played India. McLain will be back after missing all of last season. With Elly De La Cruz at shortstop, the keystone is his best path to everyday at-bats. The Reds could’ve deployed India in a utility role between first, second, designated hitter and the corner outfield. The Reds had previously been reluctant to move India, who had emerged as a leader in the clubhouse. They’ll need to fill that void off the field, but dealing him for a mid-rotation starter more effectively balances the roster.

It’s a similar thought process for the Royals, whose lineup wasn’t deep enough to match the strength of their rotation. Kansas City still has an excellent top three in Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and the re-signed Michael Wacha. Righty Alec Marsh could step into the fourth starter role. That’d leave Kyle Wright and Kris Bubic battling for the fifth starter job pending outside acquisitions. Wright, who posted a 3.19 ERA over 30 starts for the Braves in 2022, is returning after missing the entire ’24 season to shoulder surgery. Bubic rehabbed a ’23 Tommy John procedure and returned to action in a relief role last summer. The Stanford product excelled in short stints (2.67 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings) and could stretch back into a starting role.

On paper, Singer seems like the more valuable trade chip than India. That’s partially balanced by the inclusion of Wiemer, who’ll compete for a spot in K.C.’s corner outfield. A former Brewers’ draft pick out of the University of Cincinnati, Wiemer emerged as a top prospect thanks to a huge power-speed combination. The longstanding question is whether the 6’4″ outfielder would make enough contact to tap into that upside.

That hasn’t happened to this point. Wiemer, who turns 26 in February, has hit .201/.279/.349 with an elevated 28.5% strikeout rate in 438 big league plate appearances. Milwaukee moved on from the right-handed hitter at last summer’s deadline, packaging him to the Reds for a few months of Frankie Montas. Wiemer carried a .242/.387/.358 line in Triple-A at the time of that trade, but he finished the year with a dismal .190/.280/.229 showing in 118 plate appearances for Cincinnati’s top affiliate. That understandably wasn’t enough to warrant an extended look in the majors. Wiemer only took one at-bat in a Reds uniform.

Wiemer has one option year remaining and comes with at least five seasons of club control. He could be a long-term piece if he hits his stride in his mid-20s, but he’ll need to take a leap forward with his contact skills for that to happen.

The trade is close to a wash financially. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Singer for an $8.8MM salary in his penultimate arbitration season. That’d likely jump into the $12-14MM range for 2026. India will make $7.05MM next year and will go through arbitration again in the following offseason. Wiemer will play for around the league minimum for at least another two seasons. Depending on Singer’s ultimate arbitration price, the Reds are adding about $2MM to their payroll.

C. Trent Rosecrans and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported last week that the Royals and Reds had discussed an India/Singer framework. Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Royals were acquiring Wiemer.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Dodgers Hire Chris Woodward As First Base Coach

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The Dodgers announced the hiring of Chris Woodward as first base coach. He replaces Clayton McCullough, who departed to take the Marlins’ managerial job two weeks ago.

Woodward returns to Dave Roberts’ staff after two seasons in the L.A. player development department. The 48-year-old spent three seasons as Roberts’ third base coach, a position he held between 2016-18. Woodward earned a reputation as a top managerial candidate over that stretch. He landed that gig in Arlington over the 2018-19 offseason. He managed the Rangers for nearly four seasons. Texas compiled a 211-287 record over his tenure. The Rangers fired Woodward towards the end of the ’22 campaign. They hired Bruce Bochy the following offseason, which proved a precursor to their 2023 World Series run.

In a press release, GM Brandon Gomes announced that Woodward will serve as a baserunning and infield instructor. Third base coach Dino Ebel will be responsible for working with the outfielders. Woodward played parts of 12 seasons in the big leagues as a utility infielder.

Cubs, Phil Bickford Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are in agreement with reliever Phil Bickford on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). The Rep 1 Baseball client qualified for minor league free agency at the start of the offseason.

Bickford only made eight appearances at the big league level this year. He pitched 8 1/3 innings across two stints with the Yankees, allowing nine runs on 10 hits. The 29-year-old righty turned in solid numbers in Triple-A. Bickford worked to a 3.40 ERA with an excellent 30% strikeout percentage while limiting his walks to a 7.7% clip. While that didn’t translate in his brief big league look, the former first-rounder has shown the ability to miss bats at the MLB level.

Over parts of five big league seasons, Bickford sports an above-average 26.1% strikeout rate. He punched out a quarter of opponents across a career-high 67 1/3 innings between the Dodgers and Mets in 2023. That came with a personal-worst 12.8% walk percentage, though, and he allowed nearly five earned runs per nine that season.

The Cubs have an inexperienced bullpen with a handful of roster spots up for grabs. Nate Pearson, Porter Hodge, Eli Morgan, Tyson Miller and Keegan Thompson probably have Opening Day jobs secured. Chicago tendered a contract to Julian Merryweather, who is out of options. That gives him the inside track on a middle relief job if he’s healthy. That’d still leave two spots available. The Cubs will surely make additional moves to deepen the relief group over the winter, but it’s a solid landing spot for Bickford as he tries to pitch his way back to the big leagues.

Red Sox Re-Sign Bryan Mata, Isaiah Campbell To Minor League Deals

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The Red Sox brought back right-handers Isaiah Campbell and Bryan Mata on minor league contracts, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Both players were designated for assignment on Tuesday when the Sox added a pair of prospects to their 40-man roster.

Boston waited until tonight’s non-tender deadline to cut them loose, thereby sending them to free agency without needing to run them through waivers. They evidently had a handshake agreement with both pitchers to circle back to the organization without occupying a 40-man spot. Both pitchers will be in big league camp as non-roster invitees, per Cotillo.

Mata, 25, was once among the most highly-touted pitchers in the Boston system. The Venezuela native posted excellent numbers in the low minors and earned a 40-man roster spot after the 2020 season. He unfortunately hasn’t made it to the big leagues four years later, largely because of injury. Mata underwent Tommy John surgery early in the ’21 campaign. He hasn’t topped 83 innings in a minor league season since then.

A hamstring strain limited him to 22 2/3 innings between four minor league levels this year. Mata turned in a 4.37 ERA as he tried to work to the majors. He has allowed 4.87 earned runs per nine through 87 career Triple-A frames. Mata has struggled to throw strikes consistently, but he routinely posts huge ground-ball numbers.

Campbell, 27, also lost most of the season to injury. Acquired from the Mariners last offseason for infielder Luis Urías, he only pitched 6 2/3 innings in a Sox uniform. Campbell was blitzed for 13 runs in that small sample, a far cry from the 2.83 ERA he posted in 27 appearances for the Mariners as a rookie. The Arkansas product missed time with both a shoulder impingement and elbow inflammation amidst a difficult year. He fared much better in a limited sample in Triple-A, where he struck out 19 batters while allowing only four runs over 16 1/3 innings.

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