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Archives for April 2025

Yankees Sign Adam Ottavino

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The Yankees have signed veteran reliever Adam Ottavino to a major league contract, the team announced this morning. The right-hander was released by the Red Sox in March. Devin Williams has been placed on the paternity list, temporarily opening a space for Ottavino on the active roster, while JT Brubaker has been transferred to the 60-day IL, thereby making room for Ottavino on the 40-man.

Ottavino, 39, is a veteran of 14 MLB seasons. Over 724 regular season appearances, he has pitched to a 3.49 ERA and 3.44 SIERA, amassing 46 saves and 194 holds. Despite his advanced age, he has remained reliable in recent years. He has made at least 60 appearances in each of the past four seasons with a 3.41 ERA and 3.52 SIERA in that time. While his 4.34 ERA with the Mets last season was not particularly impressive, his 3.19 xERA and 3.27 SIERA offer reason to believe he can bounce back in 2025. While his ERA does not show it, he was equally good at racking up strikeouts and inducing weak contact. That’s usually a good recipe for success. On top of that, Ottavino is only one year removed from a 3.21 ERA performance in 2023 and only two years removed from a 2.06 ERA performance in 2022. That’s not to say Ottavino is a sure thing to succeed with the Yankees. There’s a reason the Mets left him off their NLCS roster last fall, and there’s a reason the Red Sox cut him this spring. Still, his long track record is the reason the Yankees are giving him another shot. After all, this team knows the highs and lows of the Ottavino experience as well as anyone. The righty was a Yankee for two years in 2019 and 2020. He pitched to a 1.90 ERA in 73 games his first season with the club and a 5.89 ERA in 24 games in his second.

The Yankees’ bullpen has not been hit by injuries quite as hard as their rotation. However, they are currently without Ian Hamilton (virus), Jonathan Loáisiga (rehab from elbow surgery), and Scott Effross (hamstring strain). Ottavino can offer some helpful depth, at least in the short term. When Williams returns from the paternity list, the Yankees will need to make another move if they plan to keep Ottavino in their bullpen. The most likely course of action would be that they send Brent Headrick to Triple-A. Headrick, 27, has one option year remaining.

Brubaker, 31, broke three ribs early on in spring training. He will now be unavailable until mid-to-late May. Acquired from the Pirates last March, the right-hander has not appeared in the majors since 2022. He missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he was limited to just a handful of minor league rehab appearances in 2024. He looked like a capable back-end innings eater when last healthy, making 61 starts for Pittsburgh from 2020-22 with a 4.99 ERA but a 4.04 SIERA, averaging just over five innings per outing.

Lance Lynn To Retire

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Veteran starting pitcher Lance Lynn announced his retirement today on his and his wife’s podcast, Dymin in the Rough. In his own words, “I am officially retiring from baseball right here, right now… from Major League Baseball, I am done pitching.”

Lynn spent his final season with the Cardinals, pitching to a 3.84 ERA and 4.40 SIERA over 117 1/3 innings. The team went 15-8 in his starts. It was a fitting way to go out, pitching for the same team with whom he spent the first decade of his professional career. The Cardinals selected Lynn in the first round of the 2008 draft, and he made his big league debut just under three years later. He would quickly become a key contributor in the Cardinals’ bullpen, helping the team to a World Series championship in the fall.

Taking on a full-time starting job for the first time, Lynn was an All-Star in 2012. Overall, across six seasons in St. Louis from 2011-17, the right-hander threw close to 1,000 innings. He went 72-47 with a 3.38 ERA and 3.94 SIERA. He then spent most of his thirties bouncing between organizations, pitching for the Twins, Yankees, Rangers, White Sox, and Dodgers before returning to the Cardinals. Although Lynn had a couple of rough seasons in that time, he also had a few of his best. He earned Cy Young votes each year from 2019-21, finishing fifth, sixth, and third, respectively. He was also an All-Star in 2021, when he pitched to a career-best 2.69 ERA. All told, Lynn threw just over 2,000 MLB innings and collected just over 2,000 strikeouts. He pitched to a 3.74 ERA and won 143 games.

Some might have worried that Lynn was nearing the end in 2023, when he pitched to a bloated 5.73 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers. It was only the second time in his career that he posted an ERA above 4.00. That being said, he still made 32 starts that year, and his respectable 4.33 SIERA was an encouraging sign. The Cardinals clearly had faith in Lynn, signing him to a one-year, $11MM guarantee with a club option for 2025, and he proved them right. While right knee inflammation limited him to 23 starts, he looked like a perfectly solid back-end starter in those games. Aside from one blowup outing in July (2 2/3 IP, 11 R), he gave St. Louis a chance to win each time he took the mound. However, the Cardinals declined his $12MM team option for 2025.

While Lynn did have some suitors over the winter, the Cubs were one team known to have interest, he says, “The money didn’t work out.” He adds that he wasn’t particularly interested in the possibility of signing with a team mid-season. In other words, prolonging his career was not his top priority. To that point, he might have also had a chance to prolong his career by transitioning into a reliever – an option he seemed at least somewhat interested in when he discussed the topic with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in January. Yet, his comments suggest he is quite happy with the way he ultimately went out.

Verlander: Astros Were Not “In A Place To Make An Offer” This Offseason

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Justin Verlander reportedly drew interest from several suitors over the offseason, but the Astros, his former team, were the only club known to have spoken with the three-time Cy Young winner before he signed a one-year, $15MM contract with the Giants. Yet, a new story from The Athletic’s Chandler Rome suggests a reunion between Verlander and Houston was never even close to a reality. Although the two sides kept in touch over the winter – Verlander told Rome he spoke with owner Jim Crane “a lot” and that they had “mutual interest” in a deal – the Astros did not make the veteran an offer.

According to Verlander, he continued his talks with Crane after the Giants made it clear they were interested in his services. At that point, however, Verlander says Crane told him that the Astros were not “even in a place to make an offer.” To some, this might not come as much of a surprise. After all, one could argue that the writing was on the wall for Verlander in Houston as soon as the Astros left him off their postseason roster last October. On the other hand, Verlander himself did not see it that way. He told Rome that he did not truly consider, at that time, the possibility that his final start with the Astros last season might be his final ever outing with the club.

The Astros paid the luxury tax for the first time in 2024. While Crane told reporters (including Rome) in November that the team had “the wherewithal” to continue spending at the same level in 2025, Houston ultimately ended up cutting payroll significantly. According to the estimates from RosterResource, the club’s payroll is $25MM lower right now than it was at the end of last season, while their luxury tax payroll is about $3.5MM below the first tax threshold. It’s not as if GM Dana Brown had no money to spend this past offseason; he signed Christian Walker to a three-year, $60MM deal. However, the Astros also let Alex Bregman walk and shaved payroll by trading Kyle Tucker. Meanwhile, Brown’s only notable addition to a starting rotation that certainly could have used some help was Hayden Wesneski, acquired in the Tucker trade. The 27-year-old right-hander comes with promise and former top prospect upside, but he has never started more than 11 games in a season. He is scheduled to make his Astros debut this evening against the Giants.

All that to say, it sure seems like the luxury tax was the primary obstacle that got in the way of a reunion between Verlander and the Astros. Rome’s reporting suggests the same. While neither Crane nor Brown ever explicitly stated that the team needed to get back below the first luxury tax threshold, Rome reports that the club operated as if that were the case.

So, was last season the end of the line for Verlander and the Astros? Not necessarily. There is clearly a strong relationship between the two. Crane’s Astros have traded for Verlander twice, extended him once, and re-signed him in free agency once. Meanwhile, Verlander told Rome he would “always entertain the idea of coming back” to Houston. With that said, he is now 42 years old, and it’s not far-fetched to wonder if this season could be his last. Then again, Verlander hasn’t given any indication that he’s thinking about retirement. Last fall, he told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) that he felt like he still had “a lot more to give pitching-wise.” He showed as much in his first start of the 2025 season, giving the Giants five innings of two-run ball, striking out five, and walking just one. If Verlander is looking for a team again next winter, and the Astros are willing to spend a bit more cash, it would hardly be surprising to see the two linked once again.

The Opener: Braves, Red Sox, Debuts

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On the heels of some early morning news, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Outfield uncertainty in Atlanta:

Yesterday, the Braves received some tough news when their biggest offseason addition, outfielder Jurickson Profar, was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for PEDs. The 32-year-old will miss the remainder of the first half and be ineligible for the postseason this year due to the suspension. The news leaves the Braves scrambling to fill out an outfield that looked solid entering the year. Ronald Acuna Jr. is still about a month away from returning to action after last year’s torn ACL, which has left Jarred Kelenic to handle right field on an everyday basis. With Kelenic in right, Bryan De La Cuz and recent waiver claim Stuart Fairchild appear most likely to be tasked with handling left field for the time being, though the club did sign outfielder Alex Verdugo late last month and could lean on him once he gets up to speed after missing most of Spring Training.

2. Extension season in Boston:

The other big news yesterday was a report that the Red Sox and left-hander Garrett Crochet have reached an agreement on a six-year extension that guarantees the southpaw $170MM. The news came as something of a shock after the sides reportedly tabled extension talks when the start of the season came and went without an agreement, but Crochet will now put pen to paper on an agreement a week after the regular season begins. The Red Sox have not yet officially announced Crochet’s extension, though that can be expected to happen in relatively short order. With Crochet locked up long-term, the question remains if any other key pieces of the club’s future will land long-term deals of their own. In particular, eyes will be on second baseman Kristian Campbell after reports over the weekend indicated that Campbell’s camp and the Red Sox are deep into discussions regarding an extension for the well-regarded prospect.

3. Harrington, Smith to debut today:

The morning began with some news on the prospect front, as the Pirates are poised to select the contract of right-hander Thomas Harrington ahead of his big league debut against the Rays later today. The 23-year-old is set to take on righty Shane Baz in Tampa at 7:05pm local time this evening, but he’s not the only player scheduled to make his big league debut today. On the south side of Chicago, right-hander Shane Smith is poised to debut against the Twins at 6:40pm local time this evening. The club’s pick in December’s Rule 5 draft is just a few days shy of his 25th birthday and will celebrate by making his first big league start opposite Minnesota right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson, a former consensus top-100 prospect who pitched to a 4.17 ERA and 4.12 FIP in 28 starts for the Twins last year.

Pirates To Select Thomas Harrington

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The Pirates are poised to promote right-hander Thomas Harrington to the majors for today’s start against the Rays in Tampa, according to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Harrington is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will need to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for Harrington before he can officially be selected.

Harrington, 23, was a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2022 draft. He was the 36th selection in the draft, the Pirates’ second pick after infielder Termarr Johnson went number four overall. After he posted an impressive 2.53 ERA and 30% strikeout rate in 15 starts for Campbell during his draft year, the Pirates held off on putting Harrington in pro games until 2023. He more or less picked up right where he left off despite the layoff with a 2.77 ERA and 26.7% strikeout rate in eight starts at the Single-A level. That got him a quick promotion to High-A, where he faced a bit more adversity but still managed a solid 3.87 ERA in 127 1/3 innings across 18 starts while punching out 28.2% of his opponents.

The right-hander built on that solid first season as a pro with a dominant one in 2024. Though a rotator cuff injury cost him some of his 2024 campaign, Harrington made the most of his opportunities when he was healthy enough to take the mound, with an incredible 2.24 ERA and a 27.4% strikeout rate in 68 1/3 innings of work at the Double-A level. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A, where his strikeout rate dropped to just 21.2% but he nonetheless managed to post a solid 3.33 ERA across eight starts. Harrington’s breakout performance last season and success at the highest level of the minors put him on the radar for a big league debut this year, and he’s now set to get that opportunity later today.

The righty’s strong performance in 2024 was also enough to make him a consensus top-100 prospect, rated as the #74 prospect in the sport by Baseball America and #79 by MLB Pipeline at the outset of the 2025 season. He’s since moved up a spot on both lists following the graduation of Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews yesterday. Harrington features a deep pitch mix headlined by a fastball that tops out at 95mph and an above-average slider, though he also features a cutter and curveball, both of which grade out as roughly average. The main selling point of Harrington’s overall package is pinpoint control, however; he walked just eight batters in 46 innings at Triple-A last year and has a tidy 6.1% walk rate across all levels of the minors.

When Jared Jones went on the injured list to open the season, Harrington was in the mix for the fifth starter job with the Pirates but ultimately lost out to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, a former first-round pick in his own right with a 2.91 ERA in 86 1/3 career innings at the big league level entering the 2025 season. With that being said, it still did not take long for Harrington’s call to the big leagues to occur. It’s unclear whether today’s appearance will strictly be a spot start for the youngster or a more significant opportunity, though it should be noted that Mlodzinski surrendered four runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings of work during his first start of the season last night.

That’s the sort of performance that could, at least in theory, open the door for Harrington to claim a rotation spot with a dominant outing. As a consensus top-100 prospect called up in the early days of the season, Harrington would be eligible to earn the Pirates a prospect promotion incentive draft pick if he sticks on the active roster for the rest of the 2025 campaign. Harrington would need to win the NL Rookie of the Year award or finish in the top three of NL Cy Young award (or MVP) voting during his pre-arbitration years in order to bring back a PPI pick for Pittsburgh.

Rotation depth is perhaps the biggest strength of the Pirates’ roster. An on-paper starting five of Paul Skenes, Jones, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Bailey Falter is already one of the most solid rotations in the National League, and the presence of youngsters like Harrington, Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft, and star pitching prospect Bubba Chandler serve to lengthen out the club’s depth chart significantly. That rotation depth is robust enough that the Pirates felt comfortable trading a controllable young arm in Luis Ortiz even after a season where he posted a 3.32 ERA in 137 2/3 innings of work. That trade netted the Pirates a comparably controllable young hitter in Spencer Horwitz, who opened the season on the injured list due to wrist surgery but figures to settle in as the club’s everyday first baseman once healthy.

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