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Braves Non-Tender Ramón Laureano, Griffin Canning

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The Braves made five non-tenders this evening. Most notably, they parted ways with outfielder Ramón Laureano and recent trade pickup Griffin Canning. Atlanta also dropped lefty reliever Ray Kerr and righties Huascar Ynoa and Royber Salinas.

Laureano caught on with the Braves in May after being released by the Guardians. He had a surprisingly strong finish, hitting .296/.327/.505 with 10 homers across 226 plate appearances. Laureano’s dismal early-season production with Cleveland left his season batting line right around league average: .259/.311/.437 with 11 homers through 309 trips to the plate.

The late-season turnaround was Laureano’s best extended stretch since his 2021 suspension for performance-enhancing drugs while a member of the A’s. It’s fair to wonder if that was more than a small sample mirage. He struck out at an elevated 28.3% clip while walking only 3.5% of the time with the Braves. Laureano has never been an elite contact hitter, but he drew walks more consistently during his best years in Oakland. Atlanta wasn’t sufficiently convinced to retain him at a salary which MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected at $6.1MM.

Canning’s non-tender may come as a bit of a surprise. The Braves just acquired him three weeks ago in a one-for-one swap that sent Jorge Soler to the Angels. That was far more about shedding Soler’s salary than an indication that the Braves valued Canning in particular. The Angels were willing to assume the remaining two years and $26MM on Soler’s contract, which wasn’t a tenable price for an Atlanta team that has Marcell Ozuna locked in at designated hitter.

Indeed, MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted within our Soler writeup that the Braves could cut bait with Canning entirely if they didn’t agree to a deal below his $5.1MM projected salary. Atlanta could’ve viewed the righty as a candidate for a “pre-tender” deal that checks in below his projection so as to avoid a non-tender. Whether the Braves never pursued that or Canning simply didn’t have interest in signing at a discounted rate, the result is the same. He’ll hit free agency, which probably would’ve been the case had he not been traded. The Angels would likely have non-tendered him themselves.

Canning will look elsewhere for a landing spot after struggling to a 5.19 ERA in 32 appearances for the Halos last year. The UCLA product has battled injuries over his five-year career, though he’s intermittently flashed mid-rotation potential. He had a 4.32 ERA with a near-26% strikeout rate in 127 frames a year ago. Canning should be able to find an MLB deal, presumably with a lower base salary than the arbitration projection, now that he’s a free agent.

The other cuts were about clearing roster space rather than shedding salary. Kerr and Salinas have yet to reach arbitration. Ynoa was arb-eligible but projected for a salary barely above the league minimum. Kerr underwent Tommy John surgery in June and will miss the bulk of next season. Ynoa hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2022, while Salinas has yet to make his MLB debut. Atlanta could look to re-sign any of them to minor league deals. They’ll likely try that route with Salinas, in particular, as they just claimed the 23-uyear-old off waivers from the A’s three weeks ago.

Tigers Claim Bailey Horn From Red Sox

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The Tigers claimed lefty reliever Bailey Horn from the Red Sox, according to an announcement from Boston. The Sox had not previously announced a DFA for Horn, so their 40-man roster count drops to 39.

An Auburn product, Horn has bounced around the league as a pro. He was drafted by the White Sox, traded to the Cubs, dealt back to the White Sox and then flipped to Boston. The 26-year-old southpaw pitched in his first 18 big league games this year. Horn allowed 14 runs (13 earned) over 18 innings. He recorded 13 strikeouts, walked 10 and surrendered five home runs.

Throwing strikes has been an issue for Horn throughout his career. He has walked nearly 13% of batters faced over four seasons in the minors. That’s bordering on untenable, even for a middle reliever. A few teams have been intrigued by his raw stuff, though. Horn averaged 95 MPH on his fastball during his big league look. He still has a couple option seasons remaining, so there’s time for the Tigers to try to smooth out his control if they’re willing to keep him on the 40-man roster.

Pirates Acquire Peter Strzelecki

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The Pirates acquired reliever Peter Strzelecki from the Guardians for cash, the team announced. Cleveland had designated the righty for assignment on Tuesday when they set their 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft.

Strzelecki, 30, spent one season in Cleveland. The Guardians acquired him from the Diamondbacks in a DFA trade just after Opening Day. He only made 10 big league appearances, allowing three runs over 11 2/3 frames. Strzelecki fanned nine while issuing a trio of walks. He spent the bulk of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Columbus, where he allowed a 5.01 earned run average across 46 2/3 innings. The ERA isn’t especially impressive, but he struck out 27.1% of batters faced against a 7.9% walk rate.

Cleveland’s bullpen was deep enough that the Guardians never had room to give Strzelecki a consistent look. He has fared reasonably well over parts of three MLB seasons between Milwaukee, Arizona and Cleveland. Strzelecki carries a career 3.44 ERA with a 24% strikeout rate in 83 2/3 frames. He’s out of minor league options, so there’s a decent chance he breaks camp in Derek Shelton’s middle relief group.

Blue Jays Non-Tender Jordan Romano

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The Blue Jays non-tendered closer Jordan Romano, tweets Jeff Passan of ESPN. The two-time All-Star had been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $7.75MM salary in his final season of arbitration. He goes directly into free agency without landing on waivers.

That lofty projection made Romano one of the more obvious high-profile candidates to be let go. His 2024 season was wrecked by injury. The 31-year-old righty pitched in 15 games, allowing 10 runs over 13 2/3 innings. In early July, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to address an impingement in his throwing elbow. That ultimately proved to be a season ender. While the Jays initially expressed hope that Romano could return in September, they fell out of the playoff race and had little reason to rush him back to action.

The Jays weren’t comfortable risking a near-$8MM salary on a rebound. Romano nevertheless becomes one of the most intriguing buy-low targets for teams looking for bullpen help. He was an elite back-end weapon between 2021-23. Romano has recorded 103 saves over the past four seasons, including consecutive 36-save performances in 2022 and ’23.

He topped 55 innings in each of the three seasons preceding this year and turned in a sub-3.00 ERA showing in each year. From 2021-23, Romano posted a 2.37 earned run average through 186 innings. He struck out more than 30% of opposing hitters against a tolerable 9.2% walk rate.

Toronto already needed to address the bullpen, which ranked 29th in the majors with a 4.82 ERA. Only the Rockies had a more troublesome relief group. Moving on from Romano, while understandable, simply adds to that urgency. The Jays also non-tendered Dillon Tate, opening a second bullpen spot. Erik Swanson and Chad Green project as the top in-house options for leverage work. GM Ross Atkins and his staff will certainly look for at least one, and quite likely multiple, back-end arms during the coming weeks.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat this afternoon, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

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2024 Non-Tender Candidates

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The non-tender deadline is tomorrow evening. Teams need to decide whether they want to offer contracts to their arbitration-eligible (and pre-arbitration) players. Those who are not tendered contracts are sent directly into free agency without exposing them to waivers.

As is the case each winter, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz has projected salaries for the arbitration class. Teams have already made a few cuts among that group — either at the beginning of the offseason when players returned from the injured list or prior to Tuesday’s deadline to keep prospects out of the Rule 5 draft. The Cubs, for instance, have already taken Adbert Alzolay and Patrick Wisdom off the 40-man roster and could officially non-tender them tomorrow.

Not everyone who is tendered a contract will know their salary this week. Some players will sign “pre-tender” deals that lock in guaranteed money. Many of them are borderline non-tender candidates who will take salaries below their projection to ensure they stay on the roster at all. (Scott Kingery and Seth Brown have already signed deals of that ilk.) Those who don’t sign but are tendered a contract could have a few months of uncertainty. They’re free to continue negotiating with their clubs to find a mutually agreeable salary until the date of their arbitration hearing.

As we do each offseason, we’ll take a look at arb-eligible players we believe have a realistic shot at being let go. To be clear, this is not a list of players we think are likelier than not to be non-tendered. These are players we consider to have at least a 10-20% chance of being cut — a broad group who wouldn’t strike us as completely surprising.

At least a few of these players will likely be traded, as some teams will have more willingness than others to accommodate various projected salaries. MLBTR covered a few candidates for that kind of deal in a post for Front Office subscribers yesterday.

Onto the list, with Matt’s projected salaries:

Catchers

First Basemen

Second Basemen

Third Basemen

Shortstops

Center Fielders

Corner Outfielders

Starting Pitchers

Right-Handed Relievers

Left-Handed Relievers

* Have avoided arbitration since the list was published

Royals Have Shown Interest In Juan Soto

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The Royals have reached out to Juan Soto this offseason, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It doesn’t appear talks got far, as Heyman unsurprisingly adds that Soto’s asking price is out of Kansas City’s comfort zone.

At the start of the offseason, Heyman reported that a pair of small-market teams were among 11 clubs to reach out to Soto. The Rays were quickly reported as one of those suitors, and it seems the Royals were the other. In any case, there’s nothing to suggest either Tampa Bay or Kansas City has shown more than cursory interest. The teams known to have met with Soto — the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Dodgers — are all big-market franchises. The Phillies hadn’t scheduled a meeting with Soto as of Tuesday, though they’re also expected to sit down with the star outfielder and agent Scott Boras at some point.

The Royals were surprisingly active spenders last winter. Kansas City committed upwards of $110MM in free agency, headlined by deals for Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Those contracts worked out incredibly well. Lugo finished second in AL Cy Young balloting. Wacha continued to post quality mid-rotation numbers. He opted out of the second season of his first K.C. contract before returning to the organization on a three-year, $51MM deal.

Kansas City’s biggest investment came on the eve of Spring Training, as they extended franchise shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. on an 11-year deal that guaranteed him nearly $289MM. Witt turned in an MVP runner-up showing as Kansas City surprisingly snapped a nine-year playoff drought.

Witt’s contract is easily the biggest deal in franchise history. Soto’s asking price is surely more than double that. While they’re not going to get the market’s top free agent, the Royals could be involved on anyone else in the outfield class. Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernández, Tyler O’Neill and Jurickson Profar are candidates for three- or four-year contracts. It’d be a surprise if anyone from that group reached nine figures, though Santander has an outside chance. K.C.’s corner outfield tandem of MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe is very weak for a contender, making that an obvious area for the front office to upgrade.

Nationals Avoid Arbitration With Mason Thompson

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The Nationals announced they’ve avoided arbitration with reliever Mason Thompson. The team did not reveal salary terms. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected him for an $800K salary that is marginally above the $760K league minimum.

Thomspon, who turns 27 in February, underwent Tommy John surgery early in Spring Training. He obviously missed the entire season but could return relatively early in 2025. A former Padres draftee, Thompson went to the Nats at the 2021 deadline in the trade that sent veteran reliever Daniel Hudson to San Diego. Thompson made 102 appearances for Washington between 2021-23. He posted a 4.57 earned run average with a middling 17.8% strikeout rate.

This was the first of the righty’s three seasons of arbitration eligibility. Washington had a nine-player arbitration class before waiving Ildemaro Vargas. Catcher Riley Adams and relievers Derek Law and Tanner Rainey are potential non-tender candidates before tomorrow evening’s deadline.

Astros Have Made Offer To Alex Bregman

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The Astros have called re-signing Alex Bregman their top offseason priority. Whether that’ll happen remains to be seen, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that Houston has made an offer to their longtime third baseman. It’s unclear whether any other teams have made a formal proposal, but Heyman reports that Bregman’s camp has also fielded interest from the Tigers and Red Sox.

Terms of the Astros’ proposal aren’t known. If Houston is going to retain Bregman, it’d probably require the largest investment in franchise history. Their previous organizational high is the five-year, $151MM Jose Altuve extension from 2018. Bregman has a decent shot at six or seven years at more than $25MM annually. He’ll presumably view Matt Chapman’s recent six-year, $151MM extension as the floor and could look to beat $200MM.

Houston general manager Dana Brown said early in the offseason that the Astros may need to creatively manage the books, potentially by trading a veteran or two who is playing on a notable salary. Owner Jim Crane said earlier this week that the team has the flexibility to exceed the luxury tax threshold for a second straight year.

That’d essentially be a prerequisite to re-signing Bregman. RosterResource calculates Houston’s competitive balance tax number in the $234MM range. That’s not far below the $241MM base threshold. Even if the Astros trade veteran setup man Ryan Pressly and offload his $14MM salary, a Bregman contract will send them past the CBT mark. They’re also looking for help at first base and could try for a more affordable bullpen pickup if they deal Pressly.

This is the first direct tie between Bregman and the Tigers. That has been a longstanding speculative match with former Astros manager A.J. Hinch leading the charge in Motown. Detroit’s third base mix is unsettled. Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry and prospect Jace Jung all took a decent number of at-bats at the position. Vierling and McKinstry are multi-positional players. Third base is the clearest fit for the 24-year-old Jung, who has 34 games of major league experience. If the Tigers were to land Bregman, Jung could push Spencer Torkelson for playing time at first base. He’d also be a potential trade chip as Detroit looks to solidify the rotation behind Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson.

Finances are the much bigger obstacle. While Detroit has run payrolls north of $200MM in the past, those came when the late Mike Ilitch was running the franchise. The Tigers have dramatically reduced spending since Christopher Ilitich’s ownership tenure began in 2017. Much of that came amidst a rebuild that was firmly closed by Detroit’s late-season run to the AL Division Series, so they could loosen the purse strings this winter. The Tigers only have around $80MM on next year’s payroll, according to RosterResource, nearly $20MM below this past season’s Opening Day mark. They should be active on the free agent market, but a Bregman deal would almost certainly top the $140MM Javier Báez contract as Detroit’s biggest under Christopher Ilitch ownership.

The Red Sox appear more likely than either the Astros or Tigers to make a huge free agent splash. Boston brass continues to forecast an aggressive winter. A strike for a top starting pitcher is a clearer fit than a run at Bregman. Heyman suggests the Sox could move Rafael Devers across the diamond to first base to accommodate Bregman. That’d push Triston Casas to designated hitter and presumably force Masataka Yoshida off the roster.

The easier solution might be to leave Devers at third base for another season and deploy Bregman at the keystone. The Sox had one of the least productive second base groups in MLB this year. Bregman has barely played second base because of Altuve’s presence in Houston, but agent Scott Boras said at the GM Meetings that the star infielder was willing to slide to the right side of the infield if necessary.

Bregman declined a qualifying offer, so the Tigers and Sox would forfeit a pick if they were to sign him. Detroit would lose its third-highest pick in next year’s draft. Boston would relinquish its second-highest pick and $500K from its international bonus allotment. The Sox’s penalty is higher because they do not receive revenue sharing, while the Tigers do. Houston wouldn’t give up anything to re-sign their own free agent, though they’d pass up the chance to collect a compensation pick after the fourth round if Bregman walks.

Mets Agree To Minor League Deals With Joey Meneses, Hobie Harris

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The Mets are in agreement with first baseman Joey Meneses and reliever Hobie Harris on minor league deals. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported (X link) the Meneses deal, while MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported the Harris addition (on X). Meneses is a client of the MAS+ Agency; Harris is represented by Gaeta Sports Management.

Both players are former Nationals. The 32-year-old Meneses spent two and a half seasons in Washington. He had a monster showing in a limited sample as a rookie in 2022, hitting .324/.367/.563 in 56 games. The rebuilding Nats gave him two seasons to see if he could build off that surprising debut, but he hasn’t maintained anything near that form. Meneses was a roughly league average hitter in ’23, turning in a .275/.321/.401 slash with 13 homers over 154 contests. His numbers declined sharply again this year, as he finished with a .231/.291/.302 mark and a trio of home runs across 313 plate appearances.

The Nats waived Meneses at season’s end. He elected minor league free agency after going unclaimed. He’ll need to earn his way back to the big leagues. Meneses will battle for a job as a right-handed bench bat. Mark Vientos will lock down one corner infield spot. That could come at first base if the Mets allow Pete Alonso to walk. Vientos could move back to the hot corner if the Mets re-sign Alonso. Jesse Winker also hit free agency, so there could be a path to some at-bats at designated hitter depending on how the offseason plays out.

Harris, 31, has limited big league experience. He pitched in 16 games for the Nats in 2023, allowing 12 runs over 19 1/3 innings. Harris issued 13 walks and managed just nine strikeouts in that brief stint. The Pittsburgh product pitched in Triple-A with the Twins this past season. He allowed nearly seven earned runs per nine through 54 1/3 innings. Harris has struggled in the upper minors in consecutive years. He can run his fastball into the 94-95 MPH range and missed bats on an impressive 14.6% of his offerings this year, though. That was enough for the Mets to bring him aboard as minor league bullpen depth.

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