D-backs Win Arbitration Hearing Against Josh Rojas
The Diamondbacks won their arbitration hearing against infielder Josh Rojas, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll earn the $2.575MM salary submitted by the team, rather than the $2.9MM sum at which his camp filed.
Rojas, 28, has solidified himself as both a versatile and valuable player for Arizona over the past two seasons, batting a combined .267/.345/.401 with 20 long balls, 57 doubles, four triples and 32 steals in 1060 plate appearances.
Originally acquired from the Astros as part of a four-player return for Zack Greinke, Rojas has gone from a jack-of-all-trades utilityman to the team’s primary third baseman, logging 740 innings at the hot corner in 2022. He’s logged at least 296 innings in both outfield corners and at every infield position other than first base, with defensive metrics generally agreeing that he’s a quality outfielder but a below-average glove on the infield (particularly at shortstop, where he didn’t log an inning in 2022).
With Nick Ahmed healthy again, former top prospect Geraldo Perdomo perhaps vying for a bench spot and top prospect Jordan Lawlar ascending the minor league ladder, Rojas’ days at shortstop are likely all but finished anyhow. He can still play there in a pinch, but as far as 2023 is concerned, he’ll likely split time at third base with veteran Evan Longoria and perhaps shift into the outfield corners and spell any of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas or Jake McCarthy from time to time. Because all three of those Carroll, Thomas and McCarthy can handle center, manager Torey Lovullo can slide Rojas into a corner whenever one of those outfielders needs a breather.
This was Rojas’ first trip through the arbitration process. As a Super Two player, he’ll still be eligible for arbitration in each of the next three offseasons. He can’t become a free agent until the completion of the 2026 season.
Diamondbacks Sign Andrew Chafin
Feb. 15, 2:40pm: Jon Heyman of the New York Post provides details on the bonuses. Chafin will receive $250K by appearing in 55, 60, 65 and 70 games. There’s also a one-time $250K bonus for getting traded.
Feb. 15, 11:40am: Chafin has passed his physical, and the Diamondbacks have formally announced his signing.
Feb. 11: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a reunion with Andrew Chafin, as the veteran left-hander will rejoin his original team on a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season. Chafin will earn a $5.5MM salary in 2023, and Arizona’s club option is worth $7.25MM (with a $750K buyout). Up to $1MM in bonus money is also available for Chafin if he makes at least 55 appearances in 2023. Chafin is represented by Meister Sports Management.
Chafin was drafted 43rd overall by the D’Backs in 2011 and he spent his first seven MLB seasons in an Arizona uniform before being dealt to Chicago in a 2020 deadline swap. That initial stint with the Diamondbacks led to mostly positive numbers, as Chafin logged a 3.68 ERA over 271 2/3 innings in his first go-around with Arizona, though he was struggling (albeit in the small sample size of the abbreviated 2020 season) at the time of his trade to the Cubs.
In the two full seasons since that trade, Chafin has taken things to another level while pitching for the Cubs, A’s and Tigers. Over 126 innings since the start of the 2021 campaign, Chafin has a 2.29 ERA, 47.9% grounder rate, 7.5% walk rate, and 25.7% strikeout rate. That above-average K% is further bolstered by very strong chase rates in the last two seasons and an 87th-percentile 31.4% whiff rate in 2022. Chafin has also done a very good job of inducing soft contact.
On the basis of a good platform year with the Tigers in 2022, Chafin declined a $6.5MM player option for 2023 in order to seek out a longer-term contract in free agency. Even though Chafin was one of the better relievers on the marker this winter, he couldn’t find a multi-year pact, and will now end up receiving slightly less (in guaranteed money) than the amount he rejected on his player option. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently wrote that Matt Strahm‘s two-year, $15MM deal with the Phillies seemed to throw off the market for left-handed relievers, to the extent that Chafin, Matt Moore, and Zack Britton were all still looking for new deals despite quite a bit of interest from multiple clubs.
It puts some added pressure on Chafin to continue his good form as he enters his age-33 season, yet he’ll get to pitch in a comfortable and familiar environment in Arizona. The deal becomes a two-year, $12.75MM pact if the Diamondbacks do exercise their club option, which still unexpectedly puts Chafin behind Strahm in total value.
From the Diamondbacks’ perspective, landing Chafin at a relative discount price is a very nice outcome for a team in sore need of bullpen help. After the relief corps was a weak link in 2022, the D’Backs have responded by signing Miguel Castro and Scott McGough to MLB contracts, and brought in a wide array of experienced arms (including Jeurys Familia, Austin Brice, Zach McAlister, Jandel Gustave, Sam Clay, and several others) to camp on minor league deals.
Arizona heads into Spring Training with plenty of competition for bullpen jobs, so Chafin will be one of relatively few Diamondback pitchers that are assured of spots on the Opening Day roster. With an unsettled closer’s position also up for grabs, Chafin could even be a candidate to make some saves, even though he has mostly worked as a setup man throughout his career.
MLBTR ranked Chafin 39th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, and projected the left-hander for a two-year, $18MM deal. Jurickson Profar and Michael Wacha are the final two players still unsigned from that 50-player list.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) was the first to report the signing, and the general financial parameters. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links) had the specific financial breakdown, and reported that the D’Backs held a club option.
Diamondbacks Designate Tyler Holton For Assignment
The D-backs announced Wednesday that they’ve designated lefty Tyler Holton for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for fellow southpaw Andrew Chafin, whose one-year deal to return to Arizona has now become official.
Holton, 26, made his big league debut with the Snakes in 2022, yielding three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks with six strikeouts in nine innings of work. The 2018 ninth-rounder spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A Reno, where he worked to a 4.43 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate against a 9.3% walk rate in 44 2/3 innings (22 relief appearances, two starts).
The 2022 season as a whole represented a sizable turnaround for Holton, who split the 2021 campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, combining for a 6.72 ERA in that time. There was some promise under the hood even amid those ugly bottom-line results, however, as Holton fanned 26.5% of his opponents against a solid 6.5% walk rate.
Holton has regularly posted strong strikeout and walk rates and a solid 45.2% ground-ball rate in parts of three minor league seasons. He’s also generally avoided the long ball, even when pitching in hitter-friendly settings like Reno. Since he was just selected to the MLB roster last year, he has a pair of minor league options remaining. All of that could hold appeal to other clubs either on waivers or via a small trade, but Holton has never been considered among the D-backs’ very best prospects and doesn’t have the type of power arsenal teams so frequently covet, averaging just 90.5 mph on his heater in this past season’s brief MLB debut.
The D-backs will have a week to trade Holton, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.
Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters
The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.
Without further ado…
Angels
- Glenn Albanese Jr.
- Jaime Barria
- Gustavo Campero
- Alan Carter
- Jhonathan Diaz
- Carlos Estevez
- David Fletcher
- Jake Kalish
- D’Shawn Knowles
- Shohei Ohtani
- Jose Quijada
- Luis Rengifo
- Gerardo Reyes
- Patrick Sandoval
- Mike Trout
- Gio Urshela
- Cesar Valdez
- Zack Weiss
- Aaron Whitefield
Astros
- Bryan Abreu
- Jose Altuve
- Ronel Blanco
- Luis Garcia
- Colton Gordon
- Cristian Javier
- Martin Maldonado
- Rafael Montero
- Hector Neris
- Jeremy Pena
- Ryan Pressly
- Andre Scrubb
- Kyle Tucker
- Jose Urquidy
- Derek West
Athletics
Blue Jays
- Jose Berrios
- Jiorgeny Casimiri
- Yimi Garcia
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- Spencer Horwitz
- Alejandro Kirk
- Otto Lopez
- Damiano Palmegiani
Braves
Brewers
- Willy Adames
- Sal Frelick
- Alex Hall
- Matt Hardy
- Joel Payamps
- Rowdy Tellez
- Abraham Toro
- Luis Urias
- Michele Vassalotti
- Devin Williams
Cardinals
- Nolan Arenado
- Genesis Cabrera
- Tommy Edman
- Giovanny Gallegos
- Paul Goldschmidt
- Ivan Herrera
- Matt Koperniak
- Noah Mendlinger
- Oscar Mercado
- Miles Mikolas
- Lars Nootbaar
- Tyler O’Neill
- JoJo Romero
- Adam Wainwright
- Guillermo Zuniga
Cubs
- Javier Assad
- Owen Caissie
- Danis Correa
- Ben DeLuzio
- Roenis Elias
- Miles Mastrobuoni
- Matt Mervis
- B.J. Murray Jr.
- Vinny Nittoli
- Fabian Pertuz
- Liam Spence
- Seiya Suzuki
- Marcus Stroman
- Pedro Strop
- Nelson Velazquez
- Jared Young
Diamondbacks
- Dominic Fletcher
- Jakob Goldfarb
- Gunnar Groen
- Merrill Kelly
- Ketel Marte
- Eric Mendez
- Dominic Miroglio
- Emmanuel Rivera
- Jacob Steinmetz
- Mitchell Stumpo
- Alek Thomas
Dodgers
- Austin Barnes
- Mookie Betts
- Freddie Freeman
- Clayton Kershaw
- Adam Kolarek
- Miguel Rojas
- Will Smith
- Trayce Thompson
- Julio Urias
Giants
Guardians
- Enyel De Los Santos
- Dayan Frias
- Andres Gimenez
- Bo Naylor
- Richie Palacios
- Cal Quantrill
- Cade Smith
- Meibrys Viloria
- Josh Wolf
Marlins
Mariners
- Matt Brash
- Diego Castillo
- Matt Festa
- Harry Ford
- Teoscar Hernandez
- Milkar Perez
- Julio Rodriguez
- Eugenio Suarez
- Blake Townsend
Mets
- Pete Alonso
- Jonathan Arauz
- Edwin Diaz
- Eduardo Escobar
- Dominic Hamel
- Elieser Hernandez
- Francisco Lindor
- Jeff McNeil
- Omar Narvaez
- Cam Opp
- Adam Ottavino
- Jose Quintana
- Brooks Raley
- Claudio Scotti
Nationals
Orioles
Padres
- Xander Bogaerts
- Nabil Crismatt
- Nelson Cruz
- Jarryd Dale
- Yu Darvish
- Jose Espada
- Ruben Galindo
- Luis Garcia
- Ha-Seong Kim
- Manny Machado
- Nick Martinez
- Evan Mendoza
- Juan Soto
- Brett Sullivan
- Julio Teheran
Phillies
- Jose Alvarado
- Erubiel Armenta
- Malik Binns
- Jaydenn Estanista
- Vito Friscia
- Brian Marconi
- J.T. Realmuto
- Kyle Schwarber
- Noah Skirrow
- Gregory Soto
- Garrett Stubbs
- Ranger Suarez
- Trea Turner
- Taijuan Walker
- Rixon Wingrove
Pirates
- David Bednar
- Tsung-Che Cheng
- Roansy Contreras
- Alessandro Ercolani
- Santiago Florez
- Jarlin Garcia
- Antwone Kelly
- Josh Palacios
- Jeffrey Passantino
- Tahnaj Thomas
- Duane Underwood Jr.
- Chavez Young
- Rob Zastryzny
Rangers
Rays
- Jason Adam
- Jonathan Aranda
- Randy Arozarena
- Christian Bethancourt
- Trevor Brigden
- Wander Franco
- Andrew Gross
- Joe LaSorsa
- Francisco Mejia
- Isaac Paredes
- Harold Ramirez
- Graham Spraker
Red Sox
- Jorge Alfaro
- Richard Bleier
- Rafael Devers
- Jarren Duran
- Ian Gibaut
- Rio Gomez
- Norwith Gudino
- Enrique Hernandez
- Nick Pivetta
- Henry Ramos
- Alex Verdugo
- Masataka Yoshida
Reds
- Donovan Benoit
- Silvino Bracho
- Luis Cessa
- Fernando Cruz
- Alexis Diaz
- Arij Fransen
- Kyle Glogoski
- Tayron Guerrero
- Evan Kravetz
- Nicolo Pinazzi
- Reiver Sanmartin
- Vin Timpanelli
Rockies
- Daniel Bard
- Jake Bird
- Yonathan Daza
- Elias Diaz
- Kyle Freeland
- Justin Lawrence
- German Marquez
- Michael Petersen
- Alan Trejo
Royals
- Max Castillo
- Robbie Glendinning
- Carlos Hernandez
- Nicky Lopez
- MJ Melendez
- Vinnie Pasquantino
- Salvador Perez
- Brady Singer
- Bobby Witt Jr.
- Angel Zerpa
Tigers
- Javier Baez
- Miguel Cabrera
- Chavez Fernander
- Andy Ibanez
- Jack O’Loughlin
- Jacob Robson
- Eduardo Rodriguez
- Jonathan Schoop
- John Valente
Twins
- Jose De Leon
- Edouard Julien
- Jorge Lopez
- Pablo Lopez
- Carlos Luna
- Jose Miranda
- Jovani Moran
- Emilio Pagan
- Christian Vazquez
White Sox
- Tim Anderson
- Kendall Graveman
- Eloy Jimenez
- Lance Lynn
- Yoan Moncada
- Nicholas Padilla
- Luis Robert
- Jose Ruiz
Yankees
Diamondbacks Sign Yairo Munoz To Minor League Contract
The Diamondbacks have signed utilityman Yairo Munoz to a minor league deal, as indicated on the team’s list of non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Munoz elected free agency after being outrighted off the Phillies’ 40-man roster following the season.
Munoz signed a minors deal with Philadelphia last winter and ended up appearing in 29 games for the NL champions, hitting .211/.250/.404 with three homers over 60 plate appearances. His time on the active roster mostly coincided with Jean Segura‘s stint on the 60-day injured list, as Munoz saw a lot of action at second base while Segura was recovering from a broken finger. Most of Munoz’s other playing time came as pinch-hitter, pinch-runner, or late-game defensive sub.
Beginning his career as a shortstop, Munoz has settled into a role as a versatile fill-in at second or third base, or either corner outfield spot in a pinch. Josh Rojas has a similar role in more of an everyday capacity with the D’Backs, and might be bounced around the diamond a bit more in 2023 now that Evan Longoria could handle some third base action when not DH’ing. Emmanuel Rivera, Geraldo Perdomo, Diego Castillo, and other non-roster invites Jake Hager and Phillip Evans are among the names who will be competing with Munoz to win a job on Arizona’s bench.
Munoz has appeared in each of the last five Major League seasons, with 108 of his 242 career games coming in his 2018 rookie season with the Cardinals. After an impressive .273/.350/.413 performance over 329 PA in that first season, Munoz has since struggled to recapture that form, and left the Cardinals under rather controversial circumstances during Spring Training in 2020. Munoz then caught on with the Red Sox, appearing in only 17 MLB games with Boston in 2020-21.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Diamondbacks Shortstop Nick Ahmed
Nick Ahmed was drafted by the Braves in the second round of the 2011 draft out of the University of Connecticut after playing alongside George Springer and Matt Barnes. After his first season of minor league ball, evaluators started recognizing his excellent shortstop defense, but Nick had the misfortune of being in an organization that employed Andrelton Simmons at the big league level.
In January 2013, the Braves traded Ahmed to the Diamondbacks as part of the seven-player Justin Upton deal. The D’Backs used Didi Gregorius at shortstop primarily in 2013 and ’14, but then traded him in another big three-team deal in December of 2014. Finally, the path was clear for the defensively-gifted Ahmed to compete for the club’s starting shortstop job.
Ahmed took hold of the Diamondbacks’ shortstop position in 2015, but endured hip surgery in 2016 and then suffered a fracture in his hand and wrist separately in 2017.
Known for his defense and leadership, Ahmed once again took hold of Arizona’s starting shortstop job in 2018, and he hasn’t let go since. Ahmed broke out with 3.7 WAR in 2018, winning the Gold Glove award. He nearly replicated the performance in ’19, picking up another Gold Glove while hitting a career-high 19 home runs.
In February 2020, Ahmed signed a four-year extension with the Diamondbacks, which runs through the upcoming season.
In each individual season from 2018 to 2021, Nick led the Diamondbacks in innings at the shortstop position. That string was broken in 2022, as a nagging shoulder injury led to June surgery. Last Friday, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reported that Ahmed is at Salt River Fields, getting ready for the start of spring training. Ahmed will celebrate his 33rd birthday in March. According to Piecoro, “He does not expect to be limited when spring training begins.”
Ahmed’s defense remained the best in the game at shortstop in his most recent healthy season. In the 2021 season, Ahmed ranked fifth among shortstops in the Statcast Outs Above Average metric. And while defense is his calling card, Nick has 68 career home runs, including bombs off Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, and Stephen Strasburg.
Nick recently launched a new platform called 7 Pillar Health and Performance. He explains, “Within this new platform I will be sharing everything I’ve learned about optimal health and peak performance on and off the field.” You can check that out here, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @NickAhmed13.
Nick took questions from MLBTR readers for over an hour today, talking about his faith, handling trade rumors, training to play defense, the elimination of the shift, and much more. Read the transcript here!
If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to host you for a live chat! It’s fun and easy and you get to choose which questions to publish and answer. Click here to contact us.
D-backs, Jandel Gustave Agree To Minor League Deal
The Diamondbacks have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Jandel Gustave, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll be invited to big league camp this spring.
The 30-year-old Gustave has spent the past two seasons with the Brewers, turning in solid bottom-line results despite some shakier secondary marks. Gustave carries a 3.69 ERA in 46 1/3 innings over 41 games with Milwaukee dating back to 2021, and he’s averaged a hearty 96.7 mph on his heater during that time. Fielding-independent marks are a bit more skeptical of his efforts, albeit not overwhelmingly so (4.52 FIP, 3.94 SIERA).
Despite his strong velocity, Gustave owns a sub-par 20.1% strikeout rate since 2021. His 8% walk rate during that time is a bit better than average. It’s worth noting that he did up his strikeout rate in 2022 (22.5%), but that was accompanied by an uptick in walks as well (9.2%). Gustave wasn’t particularly homer-prone with the Brewers (1.17 HR/9), and his overall 48.2% ground-ball rate (50% in ’22) is also comfortably ahead of the 42.9% league average.
Injuries played a part in Gustave’s departure from the Brewers. A strained right hamstring cost him more than a month in the first half of the 2022 season, and he was placed on the injured list on Aug. 2 with a forearm injury that wound up ending his season. Gustave never wound up requiring surgery, but his final pitch of the 2022 season nonetheless came on July 31. The Brewers non-tendered him back in November despite the fact that he had two years of club control remaining and a projected salary of just $900K (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).
Assuming he’s healthy, Gustave figures to have a decent chance to crack the D-backs’ bullpen at some point, whether it be on Opening Day or early in the season. Arizona has a generally unsettled mix of relievers, with a few exceptions. Lefty Joe Mantiply had a breakout showing in 2022, and the Snakes will hope for better results from veteran Mark Melancon in the second season of a two-year deal. Veteran Miguel Castro was signed a to a one-year deal earlier in the winter, and 28-year-old righty Kevin Ginkel (29 in March) impressed in 29 1/3 innings down the stretch after posting rough results in 2020-21. The Diamondbacks also once again tapped into the NPB/KBO market by signing former Marlins righty Scott McGough to a two-year contract on the heels of a terrific four-year run in Japan.
Beyond those names on the 40-man roster, Gustave will join Jeurys Familia as a non-roster invitee of particular note this spring. Other minor league signees with varying levels of MLB experience in the bullpen include Austin Adams, Austin Brice, Jesse Biddle, Sam Clay, Ryan Hendrix, Zach McAllister and Eric Yardley.
Diamondbacks Re-Sign Jake Hager To Minor League Deal
The Diamondbacks have re-signed infielder Jake Hager to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, as announced over the weekend by the Triple-A Reno Aces.
Hager spent the majority of the 2022 season with Reno and slashed .261/.342/.391 with five home runs and eight stolen bases in his 303 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He also got into 28 games at the MLB level and batted .240/.345/.280 with zero homers and zero steals across 59 plate appearances with the D-backs.
The 29-year-old journeyman — 30 in March — has proven capable of handling every position on the infield defensively, but he will lug a rough .197 career major league batting average and a .531 career major league OPS into camp in Arizona. Hager is probably going to be viewed as organizational depth leading into the 2023 campaign, an option to step in and at least provide competent a glove should something go awry with the Diamondbacks’ projected infield starters and bench fillers.
The current Arizona roster outlook has Josh Rojas and Emmanuel Rivera platooning at third base, Nick Ahmed handling shortstop duties and Ketel Marte locked in at second. Evan Longoria is an additional candidate for playing time at the hot corner, though it sounds like the D-backs mostly want to use him as their DH. 23-year-old switch-hitter Geraldo Perdomo is a good bet for an active backup role between third, short and second. Perdomo still has two options remaining and could see more regular action at Triple-A as well after a rough rookie season at the plate.
Injury Notes: Kirilloff, Maeda, Ahmed
Twins first baseman/outfielder Alex Kirilloff started swinging a bat earlier this month, and is currently taking 50-60 swings a day according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Kirilloff underwent season-ending wrist surgery in August last year.
Kirilloff has long battled wrist injuries, landing on the IL four times for that reason since making his big league debut in 2021. The once highly touted prospect hasn’t hit much in his time in the majors, compiling a combined .251/.295/.398 line with 11 home runs over 387 plate appearances. That’s a disappointing return for a bat-first player, although it is fair to wonder just how much these wrist issues have hampered his output even when he’s been on the active roster.
The Twins have a crowded outfield picture at the moment, particularly after acquiring Michael A. Taylor from the Royals, but the trade of Luis Arraez has seemingly opened up first base for Kirilloff. Given the injuries and output to date, there’s quite a bit of risk in relying on the 25-year-old as the primary first baseman, but there’s also significant upside too. Kirilloff was one of the top prospects in baseball before reaching the big leagues, and if he can show he’s past his wrist issues and unlock some of his potential that Twins could find themselves with a valuable middle-of-the-order bat.
Here’s some other notes from around the league:
- Sticking with the Twins to begin with, starter Kenta Maeda is set for a normal spring training with no restrictions, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Maeda missed the entire 2022 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. Maeda, 35 in April, is entering the final year of his contract and set to earn a modest $3MM salary. Given he underwent internal brace TJ surgery which typically requires a slightly shorter recovery time, and there had initially been hope that Maeda would be available towards the backend of last season, it’s not a huge surprise that he’s shaping up nicely for 2023. Maeda’s most recent sample of work came in 2021, when he worked to a 4.66 ERA over 21 starts.
- As he works his way back from shoulder surgery, Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed has begun hitting and throwing, per Nick Piecoro of AZ Central. Piecoro adds that Ahmed is not expected to have any restrictions by the time spring training rolls around. Having been hampered by shoulder problems for the past few years, Ahmed underwent season-ending surgery in June last year having been restricted to just 17 games in 2022. Ahmed has never been a huge threat at the plate, but has been one of the game’s best defenders at shortstop, amassing 154 Outs Above Average since 2016, trailing only Francisco Lindor‘s 161 for best in baseball in that timeframe. Ahmed, 33 in March, is entering the final year of his contract and will take home a $10.375MM payday in 2023.
D-backs Sign Austin Adams, Jesse Biddle To Minor League Deals
The Diamondbacks have signed righties Austin Adams and Eric Yardley and left-hander Jesse Biddle to minor league contracts, per Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle.
Adams, 31, has spent the past three seasons with the division-rival Padres, at times looking like a potential late-inning weapon. Injuries and command issues, however, have undercut the righty’s enormous strikeout numbers. Adams has appeared in 108 games and tallied 97 innings at the MLB level (mostly with the Padres), working to a solid 3.90 ERA along the way. He’s punched out a massive 34.2% of his opponents in the big leagues, walked 15.5% of them and, remarkably, plunked 6% of his opponents as well.
Troubling as that lack of command is, Adams misses bats at an elite rate, and when opponents do make contact, it’s rarely high-quality contact. He’s held opposing batters to a dismal 86.2 mph average exit velocity in his career, yielded just a 29.7% hard-hit rate and allowed only six home runs in 97 innings (433 batters faced).
Adams has been intriguing enough for the Mariners to trade for him and for the Padres to push for his inclusion alongside Austin Nola in the trade that sent Ty France and Andres Munoz to Seattle. There’s some obvious talent, thanks in no small part to a wipeout slider, but in addition to being his difficulties locating the ball, he’s endured a torn ACL in 2020 and a flexor strain that required surgery in 2022, limiting him to just two innings. Because of that latter procedure, which was performed in August, it’s possible Adams will be delayed to begin his season. If he makes it back to the big leagues, the D-backs will have at least two years of club control over him.
Yardley, 32, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons, spending time with the 2019 Padres and 2020-21 Brewers. He’s notched a tidy 3.52 ERA in that time, although fielding-independent metrics are far more bearish than his ERA — due largely to a tiny 13% strikeout rate and a slightly elevated 9.7% walk rate.
Yardley has offset that lack of punchouts in part with a massive 60.8% ground-ball rate and a solid 1.01 HR/9 mark. The righty’s submarine delivery has helped him to keep the ball on the ground and in the yard, although as is often the case, it’s also given him a notable platoon split; lefties have clobbered Yardley at a .312/.382/.468 clip in his big league career.
As for the 31-year-old Biddle, he’s returning from a one-year stint with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he pitched to a 4.02 ERA with a 24.4% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate out of the bullpen. The former first-round pick (27th overall by the Phillies in 2010) has appeared in parts of four Major League seasons, working to a 5.07 ERA in 103 frames. Biddle has fanned 22.2% of his opponents, issued walks at a bloated 13.1% clip and also recorded a hefty 52.8% ground-ball rate in that time.
Back in 2018, the Braves looked like they might’ve benefited from a shrewd waiver claim of Biddle, who pitched 63 2/3 innings of 3.11 ERA ball for them as a rookie that season. Since that solid debut, however, Biddle has been tagged for an 8.24 ERA in 39 1/3 big league innings.
Both pitchers will have the chance to factor into the Arizona bullpen at some point during the 2023 season. The Snakes have a handful of veterans on guaranteed contracts, including Mark Melancon, Miguel Castro and Scott McGough. They also enjoyed a breakout year from lefty Joe Mantiply and a strong 30-game run from 28-year-old Kevin Ginkel in the season’s second half. There are still multiple spots up for grabs, however, and injuries throughout the year will of course create additional opportunities for veterans of this ilk.