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Lucas Giolito Expects To Be Ready For Opening Day

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Lucas Giolito is going into what he hopes will be a rebound year. His first season with the Red Sox was wiped out by a Spring Training elbow injury that required an internal brace procedure to repair his UCL.

The internal brace is generally a less invasive operation than a full Tommy John surgery. That can shave a few months off the projected recovery timeline. Giolito underwent his surgery in the middle of March. With Spring Training opening one year later, the right-hander expects to be on the mound in exhibition play.

“I’m going to be ready for a full Spring Training and a full season,” Giolito told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. “I find it funny when I see stuff online saying that I’ll be coming back in June. I don’t know where that came from. I have no idea. … Everything’s going great. I look forward to a full year.”

Giolito said he is towards the tail end of his rehab process at the team’s complex in Fort Myers. He indicated he expects to progress to throwing off a mound soon. Giolito added that teammate Garrett Whitlock, who underwent the same procedure in late May, is at a similar stage in his own rehab work.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke with reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe) this morning. Breslow wasn’t as firm as Giolito had been about the pitcher being ready for the start of exhibition play, but he said that the team indeed expects to have both Giolito and Whitlock available for “the bulk of 2025 if not all of it.” Breslow added that reliever Liam Hendriks, who’ll be a year and a half removed from August ’23 Tommy John surgery, will be a full go for Spring Training. That’s the expected outcome, as Hendriks had a chance to return at the end of this past season before minor arm discomfort led the Sox to shut him down in September.

Giolito conceded that he may need to compete for a rotation spot in what is shaping up as a new-look pitching staff. The Sox have added Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler this offseason. They’re likely to lose Nick Pivetta, who remains unsigned after rejecting a qualifying offer. Crochet and Buehler join Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford in the projected starting five. If Boston prefers to open the year with a five-man rotation, Giolito (assuming he’s indeed on track for Opening Day) may compete with Crawford for the #5 job. Crawford has experience working out of the bullpen but took all 33 turns through the rotation this year.

In any case, the Sox will likely need to rely on all six pitchers to start games over the course of a 162-game schedule. Whitlock, who has yet to reach 80 MLB innings in a season, could be a candidate to head back to the bullpen. Boston moved Whitlock into the rotation to start the ’24 campaign, but he went on the injured list with an oblique strain after four appearances. He injured his elbow during a minor league rehab assignment. Given the durability questions, a return to a two- or three-inning relief role may be appropriate.

Giolito will play next season on a $19MM player option. The Red Sox hold a $14MM club option for the 2026 season. Giolito would convert that to a mutual option valued at $19MM if he’s able to log 140 innings next year. If he opens the year on the active roster, that’s a reasonable target even though he didn’t pitch this past season. Durability had been one of the righty’s biggest pluses coming into this year. Giolito had made 29+ starts in each of the preceding five full schedules. He tossed a career-high 184 1/3 innings with a combined 4.88 earned run average between the White Sox, Angels and Guardians in 2023.

Astros, Miguel Castro Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Astros are in agreement with reliever Miguel Castro, as first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 specifies that it’s a minor league contract with a non-roster Spring Training invite. Castro, a client of Premier Talent Sports and Entertainment, would lock in a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the MLB roster, according to Alexander.

Castro, who turned 30 last week, is aiming to pitch his way onto an MLB roster for an 11th straight year. The well-traveled righty has suited up for six different teams. Castro carries a 4.20 earned run average in nearly 500 MLB innings. He’d generally posted an ERA in the low-4.00s, including a 4.31 mark through an NL-high 75 appearances for the Diamondbacks in 2023. That triggered a $5MM vesting option for the ’24 season.

That didn’t work out well for Arizona. Shoulder inflammation sent Castro to the injured list midway through April. He was shelved until the All-Star Break. Castro made 11 appearances and surrendered nine runs over 13 2/3 innings. Arizona designated him for assignment just before the trade deadline. They released him at the start of August. Castro spent the rest of the season in free agency.

Houston has a thin relief group that should give Castro a real chance to earn a roster spot out of camp. Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu and (barring a late-offseason trade) Ryan Pressly will be at the back end. Tayler Scott is out of options and pitched well enough to lock down a middle relief job. That leaves as many as four spots up for grabs. Even if the Astros bring in a veteran on a low-cost MLB deal, Castro could vie with Shawn Dubin, Forrest Whitley and Kaleb Ort for low-leverage work.

Rangers Designate Grant Anderson For Assignment

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The Rangers announced they’ve designated reliever Grant Anderson for assignment. The move opens the necessary 40-man roster spot for Joc Pederson, who has officially signed his $37MM free agent deal.

Anderson has been on the roster since May 2023. The low-slot righty has made 49 big league appearances as an up-and-down reliever. His major league work hasn’t been great, as he has allowed 6.35 earned runs per nine over 62 1/3 innings. Anderson’s respective strikeout (21.5%) and walk (8.8%) rates aren’t far off league average. He has had massive home run issues, though, giving up 16 longballs (2.31 per nine innings) in his major league career.

That hasn’t been as big a problem in the minors. Anderson didn’t allow a single homer over 27 2/3 Triple-A innings this year. He fanned 28.3% of minor league opponents and turned in a sub-3.00 ERA in the Pacific Coast League. Anderson has a 3.87 mark over parts of three seasons for the organization’s top affiliate in Round Rock.

After the New Year, the Rangers will have a week to trade Anderson or attempt to run him through waivers. The 27-year-old has just over one year of major league service. He has one option remaining, so another team could keep him in Triple-A next season if they’re willing to carry him on the 40-man roster.

Tigers, Dietrich Enns Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Dietrich Enns. The 33-year-old southpaw announced the news on social media last week.

Enns is trying to work his way back to the majors for the first time since 2021. He tossed 22 1/3 innings across nine relief appearances for Tampa Bay that season. Enns turned in a 2.82 earned run average in that limited sample. That caught the attention of the Seibu Lions in Japan. Seibu finalized a deal to purchase his contract. Enns spent two seasons there, combining for a 3.62 ERA through 176 1/3 innings at the NPB level.

The Central Michigan product changed countries but stayed in Asia for the ’24 season. Enns signed with the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins. He started 30 times and logged 167 1/3 frames of 4.19 ERA ball. Enns struck out 22% of opponents against a 7% walk rate. After the season, the Twins brought in Yonny Chirinos and re-signed Elieser Hernández to serve as their foreign-born pitchers for 2025.

Enns figures to open the season with Triple-A Toledo. He can start or work in long relief on a Detroit staff that’ll place a premium on flexibility. A.J. Hinch used plenty of openers and bulk relievers behind Tarik Skubal this past season. That’ll presumably continue in the final two rotation spots after Skubal, Reese Olson and Alex Cobb.

Tigers Moving Colt Keith To First Base

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Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris met with reporters this afternoon, shortly after the team finalized its one-year deal with Gleyber Torres. The team provided video of the 16-minute media session.

Harris confirmed the Tigers will play Torres at second base. Colt Keith will move to first base. Harris indicated that Keith could return to the keystone in future years but noted that “for 2025, our best team has Gleyber at second base and Colt at first base.” Keith spent the entire ’24 campaign at second base, where he logged nearly 1100 innings as a rookie.

Keith’s defensive grades were mixed. Statcast rated him as a slightly above-average second baseman. Defensive Runs Saved was a lot less enthusiastic, estimating he was eight runs below par. Scouting reports on the 6’2″, 211-pound infielder have pegged him as a bat-first player. Keith may be a capable defender at the keystone but wasn’t likely to develop into a Gold Glove winner.

That was the youngster’s first full season as a second baseman. Keith was drafted as a third baseman and continued playing the hot corner until midway through the ’23 campaign. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press wrote this morning that the Tigers weren’t willing to move Keith back to third base because of concerns about a prior labrum injury in his throwing shoulder.

Keith’s bat guarantees him a spot in the starting lineup. The lefty hitter had a .260/.309/.380 slash with 13 homers. Those numbers are weighed down by a terrible first few weeks. Keith had a .154/.222/.165 showing through the end of April. He hit .282/.328/.426 in 457 plate appearances from the start of May onward. Keith managed solid production against pitchers of either handedness. He should be in the lineup against almost all right-handed pitchers. Skipper A.J. Hinch could shield him from a few lefties, but the Tigers are unlikely to relegate Keith to a strict platoon role.

If the Tigers aren’t willing to play Keith on the left side of the infield, the Torres deal essentially forced him to first base. Torres has been a full-time second baseman since the Yankees moved him off shortstop in 2022. The Nationals showed interest in moving him to third base. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last night — before Torres signed with Detroit — that the infielder rebuffed Washington because he didn’t want to change positions.

Between the infield shakeup and some early offseason chatter about the Tigers potentially pursuing a veteran first baseman, it’s fair to wonder if former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson still has a role on the roster. Unsurprisingly, Harris suggested publicly that remains the case. Detroit’s front office leader said he spoke with Torkelson before the Tigers announced the Torres signing. “My message to Tork was: ’if you have a big offseason and a big spring training, there’s a role for you on this team.’ This team needs more right-handed power and we’ve seen Tork do that in the past,” Harris said.

The Tigers have sought right-handed hitting since the start of the offseason. Torres addresses that to some extent, though he’s more a solid hitter than a great one. His 38-homer showing from 2019 looks like a clear outlier. Torres respectively hit 24 and 25 homers in 2022 and ’23. That dropped to 15 round-trippers this year, in part because of an ice cold April in which he didn’t hit a single home run.

Torkelson connected on 31 homers with a .233/.313/.446 slash line in 2023. A strong second half provided optimism coming into this year. Instead, he stumbled to a .219/.295/.374 mark with 10 homers through 92 games — struggles that led the Tigers to option Torkelson to Triple-A Toledo for a stretch. A change-of-scenery trade still seems a distinct possibility.

Kerry Carpenter should get the bulk of playing time at designated hitter. The lefty-swinging Carpenter will be in the lineup at either DH or in the corner outfield against all righty pitching. He’ll probably be shielded from left-handers, but carrying Torkelson as a short-side platoon bat with limited defensive value isn’t a great use of a roster spot. Harris said today that the Tigers don’t view Torkelson as a candidate for any reps at third base or in the corner outfield, though he opined that “with the DH plate appearances and opportunity at first base, there are still plenty of plate appearances for him.”

Justyn-Henry Malloy, a righty hitter, is also in the DH/first base mix. Malloy has been a high-OBP bat in the minors. He hit just .203/.291/.366 with eight homers in 71 MLB games as a rookie. He still has a full slate of minor league options, but he’s another hitter without a clear defensive fit and a limited major league track record.

The Tigers are one of a handful of teams that has been recently linked to the top unsigned position player, Alex Bregman. While the Torres signing doesn’t directly impact third base, it deepens the infield more generally. Harris declined comment on Bregman, as the CBA prohibits team personnel from saying whether they’re in or out on specific free agents.

He indicated there’ll be more moves on the horizon while suggesting he’s encouraged by how the roster is shaping up. “The roster isn’t done yet. It’s not even 2025 yet. There’s still some time in the offseason to fully flesh out our roster. But when I stare at our group right now, this is the deepest we’ve ever been — on both sides of the ball,” Harris said.

Since signing Alex Cobb, the Tigers have downplayed their desire for another starting pitcher. The exception is their pursuit of NPB star Roki Sasaki, who’ll be limited to a signing bonus below $10MM because of his status as an international amateur. Harris said that the Tigers have presented an initial presentation to Sasaki’s representatives at Wasserman. He indicated that the Tigers are awaiting a response from Sasaki’s camp as to whether they’ll get an in-person meeting after the holidays.

Agent Joel Wolfe suggested at the Winter Meetings that Sasaki, who took preliminary meetings with a handful of teams last week, would begin narrowing the field after returning to Japan for the holiday. The Tigers don’t seem a likely landing spot for Sasaki, but they’d certainly welcome an opportunity to make a pitch to the 23-year-old righty.

Phillies Sign Guillo Zuniga, Nabil Crismatt To Minor League Deals

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The Phillies signed relievers Nabil Crismatt and Guillo Zuñiga to minor league contracts earlier this month. Both deals are reflected on the team’s transaction log at MLB.com and the players’ respective social media accounts.

Both pitchers logged limited major league action in 2024. Crismatt, who turned 30 on Wednesday, made five appearances for the Dodgers early in the year. He spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A, which he divided between three organizations. Crismatt pitched in the minors between Los Angeles, San Diego and Texas. He had a tough showing in the Pacific Coast League, allowing 5.81 earned runs per nine through 79 innings. Crismatt struck out a slightly below-average 20.7% of batters faced against a decent 7.5% walk rate.

The Colombian-born hurler has struggled over six Triple-A seasons. His major league track record is quite a bit better. Crismatt owns a 3.71 earned run average through parts of five MLB campaigns. Most of that production came during a strong two-year run in San Diego between 2021-22. He has logged 20 major league innings over the past two seasons.

Zuñiga, 26, debuted with two appearances for the Cardinals in 2023. St. Louis dealt him to the Angels in a cash deal in February. Zuñiga made 15 appearances for the Halos. He tossed 17 2/3 innings, allowing 10 runs with 12 strikeouts and eight walks. Zuñiga pitched 26 innings at the Triple-A level, where he turned in a 5.19 ERA with a well below-average 14.3% strikeout rate. The Angels designated him for assignment when they acquired Travis d’Arnaud and released him a few days later.

This year’s drop in strikeouts marked a bizarre change from the bulk of Zuñiga’s minor league career. He’d fanned a quarter of batters faced over 29 appearances in Triple-A during the ’23 season. His strikeout rate frequently pushed 30% during his time in the low minors. Zuñiga averaged 97 MPH with his four-seam fastball this year and sat just under 99 MPH during his limited MLB stint with the Cardinals in 2023.

Red Sox, Noah Davis Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Noah Davis last week. The former Colorado pitcher announced the news on social media on Saturday.

Davis has pitched in the majors in each of the last three seasons. That included a career-high nine outings for the Rockies this year. Davis tossed 20 1/3 innings of 5.85 ERA ball with a below-average 15.6% strikeout rate. The 6’2″ righty owns a 7.71 earned run average across 51 1/3 frames in his major league career. He has started six of 18 appearances.

The UC Santa Barbara product has also worked in a swing role at the Triple-A level. Davis has started 23 of 34 outings for the Rockies’ top minor league team. He has a 5.06 ERA across 133 1/3 innings in the Pacific Coast League. Davis has fanned just under 20% of batters faced against a higher than average 11.3% walk percentage.

While the numbers aren’t especially impressive at either stop, Davis has had the misfortune of pitching in difficult environments. He averaged nearly 94 MPH on his sinker in a multi-inning role for the Rox. That hasn’t resulted in huge swinging strike or ground-ball numbers. The Red Sox will try to translate that repertoire into more consistent results in a new setting.

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

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Gary Sutherland Passes Away

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Former major league infielder Gary Sutherland passed away on December 16 at age 80. His obituary was provided by a Monrovia, California funeral home.

Sutherland was an L.A.-area native who attended USC. He signed with the Phillies out of college. The right-handed infielder debuted during his age-21 season. He appeared in parts of three seasons for Philadelphia. The Phils lost him to the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft. Sutherland was the everyday second baseman on the inaugural Montreal team. He played three years for the Expos, hitting .234/.287/.299 over 368 games.

Montreal dealt Sutherland to the Astros after the ’71 season. He barely played over two years in Houston before he was on the move again. The Tigers acquired him during the 1973-74 offseason. Sutherland took a career-high 672 plate appearances during his first season in Detroit. He hit 20 doubles with a .254/.282/.313 showing. He played three years in Detroit. Sutherland finished his playing career with brief stints between Milwaukee, San Diego and St. Louis.

Over a 13-year playing career, Sutherland picked up 754 hits with a .243/.291/.308 batting line. He appeared in more than 1000 major league games between seven teams. Sutherland remained in the game after his playing days as a scout and worked as a special assistant in the Angels’ front office into the 2010s. MLBTR sends condolences to his family, loved ones and friends.

Corbin Burnes Reportedly Seeking $245MM+

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Corbin Burnes is the remaining headliner of the free agent class. The top starting pitcher is still unsigned despite the generally robust and quick-moving rotation market.

Most of the recent chatter regarding Burnes has centered on some combination of the Blue Jays, Giants, Red Sox and Orioles (albeit to a lesser extent in Baltimore’s case). Mark Feinsand of MLB.com writes that San Francisco has had a standing offer on the table, though he notes that the Giants could elect to move on to other targets if there continues to be no resolution on Burnes’ part.

Terms of San Francisco’s proposal are not clear. However, Feinsand reports that the former Cy Young winner is looking for a deal that would at least match the $245MM guarantee which Stephen Strasburg received from the Nationals over the 2019-20 offseason. (The net present value of Strasburg’s contract actually checked in around $229MM after accounting for deferrals.) The pre-deferral guarantee is the third-largest pitching investment in MLB history, trailing Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s $325MM contract with the Dodgers and the $324MM Gerrit Cole deal with the Yankees.

It’s unsurprising that Burnes and agent Scott Boras are shooting for Strasburg money in this market. MLBTR predicted Burnes to land seven years and $200MM in early November. Essentially every starter who has signed so far has equalled or beaten those (and most other) predictions. Max Fried was the biggest beneficiary. He landed an eight-year, $218MM contract at the Winter Meetings. That beat MLBTR’s prediction by two years and $62MM. Fried landed an extra season and $43MM than Aaron Nola received last winter.

Virtually every prognostication had Burnes above Fried. That makes something in the $220MM range feel like the former’s floor. Creating a notable separation would push Burnes close to or beyond Strasburg money. Burnes is nine months younger than Fried. He hasn’t had any injuries of note. That differentiates him from Fried, who missed three months in 2023 because of a muscular flexor strain in his forearm. Burnes has also reached bigger heights, winning the National League ERA title and Cy Young in 2022.

The one question has been a recent dip in swing-and-miss. Burnes fanned upwards of 35% of batters faced between 2020-21. That dropped to roughly 30% in 2022. It has continued to trend down over the past two seasons, falling to a slightly above-average 23.1% rate this year. Even the “diminished” strikeout rate essentially matched Fried’s 23.2% rate, though, so Burnes isn’t at a disadvantage in that regard.

That’ll be weighed against the question of which teams still have the willingness to offer a deal well north of $200MM. The Yankees would’ve been an obvious Burnes suitor if they hadn’t landed Fried. They’re probably out of the mix now. The Mets seem unlikely to make a massive commitment to a starting pitcher. The Sox have already acquired Garrett Crochet and agreed to terms with Walker Buehler on a one-year deal, adding significant upside to their rotation. They might have the payroll room to remain involved on Burnes, but they’re no longer facing the same sense of urgency to add an impact arm.

San Francisco might offer the best blend of spending capacity and need for an ace. Logan Webb is a legitimate #1, but the Giants haven’t replaced the production they lost when Blake Snell walked. Beyond Webb, San Francisco’s rotation consists of upside plays with questions about their durability and/or performance track records (i.e. Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong).

The Giants have made two nine-figure investments in recent months. They extended Matt Chapman for $151MM in September before adding Willy Adames on a seven-year, $182MM free agent deal. RosterResource calculates their luxury tax number at approximately $208MM, which puts them around $33MM shy of the base threshold. Their actual salary commitments sit around $167MM. That puts them almost $40MM below last year’s spending level. It’s not clear if ownership is willing to again push beyond $200MM in Opening Day payroll, but they could theoretically add Adames and Burnes without a significant spike in relative spending.

The Giants relinquished their second- and fifth-highest draft picks and $1MM from their ’26 international amateur bonus pool to sign Adames. They’d surrender their third- and sixth-highest selections and another $500K from the international pool if they were to land Burnes, who declined a qualifying offer from Baltimore.

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